Amanda, Manuel - Berlin, Friday night
Jan. 7th, 2005 09:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsAmanda and Manuel arrive in Berlin, but rather than see the Pack right away, they try and sort things out between them following the cleansing and what happened on Muir. They discover amnesiac empaths with remnants of evil psychic vampires in their heads shouldn't take drugs, for very good reasons.
Rated NC-17 for sexual scenes, drug references and some ickiness.
Manuel eased back into his side of the booth and drained his pint of thick dark German beer down to the dregs. He was avoiding looking at Amanda - he'd heard the stories of what had happened in Scotland while he was in London. He didn't want to think about what he'd done to her, or what that Bitch in his head had done instead. Not even Romany's, Homily's, and Aspen's best efforts could drive away the oil-slick stain in his mind, the corner of his mindscape that still shone crystal-clear and cold in the moonlight.
Oh, this was going to be a fun trip. Good thing the Pack was going to be around to distract her... Amanda sighed as she failed to catch Manuel's eye, yet again, the link still heavy and sluggish in her mind, but glimmers of guilt and self-loathing coming through all the same. It could have been her own feelings, given the mess that had been the ritual. She couldn't remember what she'd done, but Angelo had been practically skittish around her, and Moira hadn't been much better. And Nate had been looking at her with that Worried Face, even after Romany had gone and talked to him and Moira for ages... "Nice pub," she said at last, for want of anything better. "Come here often?" The last was a feeble attempt at a joke - neither of them had been to Berlin before, that she knew of, anyway.
"Very funny." Manuel said, topping off his pint and taking a deep swallow of its contents. Right now, oblivion held a great deal of appeal to him. "You got a better place to go than right here?" he snapped at her, and then sighed. "Sorry." he said after a moment's reflection. "This trip has been Hellish. On both of us. I think we deserve a night to ourselves, in a pub, with lots and lots of beer. Beer and sex." he said with a twisted grin. He then inhaled as something on the air currents tickled his mind. "Tell me, how much cash do you have on you?"
"So, you can't look at me, but you still wanna fuck me, is that it?" she retorted, before waving the remark away with a gesture. "Sorry, don't want t' start a fight." Rubbing her temples, she considered his question. "I've got a bit of cash, what were you thinkin' of?" She'd dismissed the smell of pot almost as soon as she'd smelt it - it was pretty common in pubs on the Continent - but at his exaggerated sniff, the ghost of a grin appeared on her face. "Oh, I get you." Glancing around the crowded pub, she caught sight of a group of uni students at a table in the corner where the smoke haze was thickest. "Be right back."
Manuel just grinned at Amanda. "Even with all the shit in our lives, I'd be delighted to fuck you silly." He watched her go off to the horde of students with a smile, then took another deep swallow of the German beer. He'd always liked darker lagers - he knew that now, knew it with a certainty that had been missing from his life of late. And while there were still gaps, important gaps as well as that cold icy patch, he remembered far more than he did even two weeks ago.
Oh, that was definitely the Old Manuel... Rolling her eyes a little, surprised at herself for being vaguely offended, Amanda joined the students briefly, glad that most Germans spoke English. Once they understood what she was after, they were delighted to help out - one of them was a Chemistry student making his way through university with a little home enterprise, and he handed her a ziplock bag with a generous amount of dope as well as a couple of Ecstacy tablets, as a bonus. "You and your boyfriend, you have a good time, ja?" he said, grinning lazily at her. "And if not, you come back and we'll show you a much better time, little English punk girl."
"Sure you will an' all," she said with a smile and a wink, playing up the accent, and the image. "Danke, lads. Have a good night." Heading back to where Manuel was sitting, she slid into the booth easily, the bag tucked into the back of her jeans under her sweater. "We're on. Wanna finish up an' go back t' the hotel? 'S probably a better idea, since this stuff tends t' muck about with the magic sometimes. I can pick up some cigarette papers along the way."
"Let's pick up some more beer. I feel like getting well and truly shitfaced. Now that I've got most of my memories back, I find I don't want some of them. Killing 'em off with beer sounds like a plan." He said with a grin. "Think I saw a place on the way back, or we could just grab something from the pub here." He paused for a few moments and then smiled tenderly at Amanda. "And we've got a lot to talk about." he said affectionately. "And not all of it is bad."
Her look was a mixture of caution and sympathy – she hadn't forgotten the whole bit about not looking at her, and he'd been... off ever since she'd gotten back from Muir, but she knew some of those memories wouldn't be good ones. "Sounds like a plan t' me," she said neutrally, picking up her glass.
***
Manuel closed the hotel room door behind him and collapsed onto their gigantic expanse of uncomfortable hotel bed with a sigh. "What a week." he said melodramatically, holding his hands up to his eyes. "I hear things got a little rough for you back on Muir, thanks to your friend and mine Selene?"
Amanda managed not to flinch at the name, but only barely. "I don't remember," she said quietly, busying herself with taking the beer out of the plastic carrier bag and stowing it in the mini-fridge, after separating a couple of the long cans. "Apparently I did stuff, but no-one will tell me what it was. Doesn't matter. How 'bout you? You all right? Rom said yer'd taken a bit of a beatin', magic-wise."
"It wasn't fun. I have less than zero desire to be a magical butt-monkey again any time real soon." he said with disgust and real feeling. "Apparently, she got into my power. I can't, I'm still mundane as far as I can tell. And I don't even want to talk about what she did to Romany and Homily ..." he added with a shudder. "Pass me a beer, please?" he asked her as he rolled onto his stomach.
"Here." She handed him one and flopped onto the bed herself, back against the headboard and legs stretched out in front of her, sans boots. Taking a long swallow of beer from her own can, she sat it on the nightstand and pulled out the plastic bag she'd gotten from the pub, digging in her pocket for the cigarette papers. "Rom said it had gotten rough, an' we had a talk 'bout some stuff on the train back," she said, still not looking at him as she busied herself rolling a fat joint. "She felt bad, 'bout leavin' me with Rack for so long."
Manuel snagged his can of beer and took a deep swallow. "Yeah, sorry about that." he said with a guilty wince. "Apparently I brought up a lot of stuff she had been dealing with. Damn, my power's really kinda scary when it comes right down to it. I violated all three of them - Aspen the least, but still." He groaned. "And now it's back to hiding wherever it's hiding in my head. And can I say how bad I feel that she reached out through the link and fucked with you?"
"It wasn't yer fault, Manuel," Amanda said, finally looking at him. "Any of it - I did a half-arsed job stoppin' her spell, an' that bitch took advantage of it. An' anythin' that happened t' me would've happened anyway, when she had the chance." She shrugged a little, licking the edge of the paper to seal the joint and carefully rolling it closed. "I just hope she's satisfied with whatever she got up to wearin' me face." Joint finished, she lit up and took a long drag, holding the smoke in her lungs a moment before exhaling. "Here," she said, holding it out to him. "'S good stuff - bloody strong, tho'."
"Doesn't mean I have to like it One Bit." he said with irritation. He took another pull off his beer, then accepted the joint and took a deep drag off of it. He exhaled through his nose, appearing briefly like a dragon from a storybook tale. "Yeah, that is pretty strong stuff. He cut this or something?" he asked, then shrugged. "Doesn't matter, I suppose."
"You don't have t' like it - 'm just sayin' don't beat yerself up on my account. Or for the rest of 'em - they knew goin' in it wasn't gunna be a walk in the park, an' there's always a cost t' magic. Looks like Selene fuckin' with their heads usin' yer power was it. But I'm fine, they're fine, an' yer've got yer head mostly back t' yerself, which means no more headaches. " She nudged him in the ribs with her sock-clad foot. "See? Wasn't all bad."
"Don't expect me to just sit and smile about it." He said irritably. "One of my distinctions between me and the old me is that I give a shit about that kind of thing now, whereas he didn't." he said. "I will admit that I don't mind not being all headache-y and nauseous all the time. That's really nice."
"You still take things t' extremes tho'," she replied. "I didn't mean you had t' throw a party any more than I meant you should jump off the nearest tall buildin' or make an' arsehole of yerself for the next week or so. Since yer've barely said two words t' me, an' haven't been able t' look me in the face until tonight until you remembered there's sex in it for you if you _do_ talk t' me." Shaking her head, Amanda set about rolling another joint, since he was holding onto that one.
Manuel sighed again. "Look, I'm still trying to figure this whole thing out. I'm sorry. I've had a whole lot on my mind, plus I'm rediscovering a whole lot of things about my life." he said with a grin and another toke on his joint. "Like my laptop passwords and journal passwords. Among a whole lot of other things. There's still gaps, stuff I should know but don't, but a lot of stuff got unlocked when Selene got kicked out. That's a win, and I'm really pretty goddamned happy about it." he said with a happy sigh. "And I'm sorry for shutting you out. Like I said, got a lot on my mind. I need to fix that, though. So tell me what's on your mind. Anything at all."
"I keep forgettin' what it's like for you - yer not used t' all the fucked-up shite that comes with bein' a Xavier's kid any more 'n someone like that new kid Forge is." Amanda gave him a slightly rueful smile - the first honest smile she'd managed all day. "Is it fucked up that I'm gettin' used t' it all? Like New Year's - that whole thing knocked me head for a loop, but a couple of hours of lookin' after the kids an' it's like nothin' happened. Fuck, I even managed t' get somethin' positive out of this whole business with Selene - even with her doin' whatever the hell she did t' Nate an' Moira an' Angelo, they still care 'bout me. They're still family. So I've decided while I'm here I'm gunna bite the bullet an' meet the woman who gave birth t' me, since it's not gunna change what I already have. If Selene couldn't do it, nothin' can."
Manuel nodded. "Family is still one of those dead spots." he admitted. "So I'm afraid I can't help you there. You want me to come with you, or is this something you'd feel better about doing on your own? Either way's cool with me - just leave me with some marks so I can get food and beer and maybe some entertainment." he commented, then took another drink of his beer. "We need food." he said with a sudden smile. "Want to order in?"
"I dunno - Wanda's comin' with me t' make sure I don't get kidnapped or nothin', an' I don't want t' make things hard for you. 'Sides, I would have thought yer'd have had enough of my family types for a while. The Pack'll see you right if you stay - we're meetin' up with 'em tomorrow, remember?" Amanda said, finishing rolling the other joint and lighting up. Oh, that was much better - beer and dope, what more could you need. Oh yeah, food. "Orderin' in is good. Lucky they have the English menu for us dopey tourist types..." The room service menu was too far away to reach, so she floated it over, grimacing at the heavy feel of the magic - Selene's influence. "Right, what did you feel like?" she asked, moving to flop on her stomach next to him, beer in one hand and joint clamped between her fingers. "They actually have pizza."
"You pick." he said cheerfully, watching her as she dialed and ordered. Mmm, seems that _some_ part of him was definitely liking what it saw. Another heavy swallow of beer and a toke later, and Manuel was willing to admit that life was pretty good right now. Pretty girl - pretty _perverted_ girl - beer, dope, food on the way, no worries, no cares, just the two of them and that's it. So what if his brain was still Swiss cheese and he had no job and no money coming in? She did, and so far she was perfectly willing to share it with him.
Hanging up the phone, Amanda finished her beer off in one very long draught, tossing the can over her shoulder and off the bed before turning and noticing him watching her. "What?" she said, a lot less defensively than she would have ten minutes earlier, ears turning slightly pink. "Yer've got the goofy look. Don't tell me yer off yer face already."
"Don't be insulting." he chided gently. "I haven't been paying attention to you lately. I'm trying to remedy that. So now that you have my attentions, what would you like to talk about?" he asked with another toke on his joint. "Come on, anything at all here. I am a captive audience."
"I wasn't insultin' you, I was teasin' - there's a difference," she said, poking her tongue out at him briefly before flopping onto her back. "Fuck, I dunno - yer've put me on the spot here." Taking a long drag, she thought for a long moment. "I realised, the other day - 's nearly been a year since I came t' the school, an' it made me realised how much I've changed since then. I dunno if you remember what I was like back then..." She couldn't help a brief giggle, remembering what the both of them had been like. "But I think... I hope I'm better than I was. 'M better at the school stuff, that's for sure."
Manuel made a thoughtful noise as he stared at the ceiling. "I still don't remember much about how I was when I first arrived. I remember a lot of pain, but that's about it." he said with a shrug. "I'm thinking that how I am now is an improvement on who I was then, even if I don't remember much about him. There's some stuff I wouldn't trade - you, for example - but overall? Better now than then."
"You were pretty much out of it when you came, from what I know, an' it took a long time for you t' recover." Glancing over at him, she smiled a little. "I think I like the person you are now better too - 's been hard, doin' things all over, but at least now we can have a conversation like this without yer brain tryin' t' crawl out yer ears. Makes it easier, workin' out where we are."
Manuel put his empty beer container down so that he could use that hand to trace a fingertip along Amanda's arm. "All things considered, I feel pretty good. No more headaches, no more throwing up. Now, if I throw up it will be from drink, not from trying to remember what color socks I like to wear." he said with a dismissive sneer. "I get the feeling I didn't really get along with many folks. That's kinda sad." he said quietly.
"There were... problems. With yer power, with the way you treated people," Amanda said honestly. "Later on, just before... the Hellfire Club, you _were_ tryin' t' change that. Only 'cause you'd been a git before, a lot of people wouldn't give you a chance. Some did - Kitty an' Angie an' Lee..." The last name slipped out before she realised, and she inwardly cursed. She had no idea how much he remembered now of that whole mess, but the last thing she wanted to do was to push him back towards the mallrat. Not after Halloween. "Any way, after you lost yer memory, people realised blamin' you for what happened back then was like blamin' Nate for stuff he did when he was conditioned. Or at least, I hope they do." All this talking was making her thirsty, and the beer was out of reach and in metal containers. Bugger. She tried, any way, managing to make the cans rattle slightly but that was about it. "Bloody metal," she grumbled, reluctant to get up now she was comfy.
Manuel reached over, using his superior position, and snagged a can of beer for her. "For the lady." he said with a far-too-tender grin as he handed it to her. "Lee? I don't remember anyone named Lee. Please tell me you don't mean the security guy." he said with a shudder. "Guy's way too grey for his own good." he said without thinking. "Out of the people I've talked to, most have been pretty supportive." he admitted. "That's kinda cool."
"Ta." Amanda sat up slightly so she didn't drown herself with beer, letting her knee brush his leg. Between the beer, the dope and the looks he was giving her, she was starting to feel rather warm and fuzzy. "I meant Jubilee, one of the students. We don't exactly get on." Well, _that_ was an understatement. "An' that's what the school's about, or so they keep tellin' me - givin' people a chance." She shrugged. "Fuck, I'm still there, even after dopin' half the school up with a love potion."
Manuel snickered. "And here I thought making people fall in love was my domain, not yours." he said with a grin. "Being the former empath and all. And you don't get on with this Jubilee person. OK. Did I?" he asked innocently. "I don't recall running into him while I was out and about."
"Bad practical joke that went really, really wrong," Amanda said with a roll of her eyes. "Got hit with it meself, an' it took you t' straighten me out enough t' cast the counterspell." Fortifying herself with a long swallow of beer, she went on. "You did get on with her. Jubilee, I mean. Like a bloody house on fire - that was part of the problem. She an' I got off on the wrong foot on me first night, but we were startin' t' sort it out when she an' you..." She couldn't believe she was telling him this. This Manuel might not be the same person as he was before, but he was still the Hormone Who Walks Like A Man - there was such a thing as too much temptation. "I told you how we had an open relationship, yeah? Well, she was yer bit on the side. Thing is, I couldn't handle it - I got that jealous, an' scared you were gunna leave me for her." She'd never actually admitted out loud to him that she'd been jealous; the fact this wasn't the same Manuel made something of a difference. "It got... messy."
Manuel had nothing he could really say to that, so he took another toke to give himself time to think. "My bit on the side, eh?" he said after a moment. "Well, although I am not him I'm sorry that you went through that. Although you had your own bit on the side - Beth, I think you named her? But it's over and done with now. I'm here, you're here, they're not. Pretty simple if you ask me." He took another toke and grinned up at the ceiling. "But hey, it sounds like I got to save the day. That's gotta count for something."
"Beth was more than... never mind." It still hurt to talk about her, and besides, Manuel was right, that was over and done with. "You did, tho' no-one really knew at the time - it was all 'bout finding out what had happened in the first place. But it counts with me, that an' the stuff yer've done later." There was a knock on the door and a girl's voice announcing room service in German. "Food's here!" Amanda exclaimed, bouncing off the bed to answer the door and let the girl in. Once she'd gone again (with a generous tip - she was blonde and rather cute and didn't roll her eyes overmuch at the smell of pot in the room), Amanda looked a bit sheepish. "I think I ordered too much," she confided. "I hope yer hungry."
Manuel's stomach picked right then to rumble loudly. "I guess I am." he said with a grin. "Starved, actually." He wandered over to the food and inhaled. "Damn, that smells good." he said with a happy grin. "And this thing over there is the color of lust." he admitted with a very old, very familiar grin.
"You remember the colours then?" Amanda asked, curious. Most of the food was standard European hotel fare - a selection of cold meats and pickled vegetables and crusty bread and cheeses and fruit, plus some random things from the desert cart, since she always got sugar cravings whilst stoned. She piled up a plate and returned to the bed, grinning as a memory surfaced of her and Jake and room service abuses. "Tho' of all the colours you'd remember, I'd expect it t' be that one," she added with her mouth full.
Manuel blinked. "Now that was weird." he said, sitting back down heavily. "Everything just went all - colorful and stuff. Really, really weird. This must be some good shit." he said with a leering grin. "Like someone else I know."
"So I'm a drug now?" she asked teasingly. "Flattery'll get you everywhere." Retrieving her joint from the ashtray where she'd propped it while she answered the door, she took another drag and squinted at him slightly through the smoke as she exhaled. "Yep, good shit."
Manuel grinned. "The perfect drug." he said with a nuzzle and a laugh. He then took another hit off of his smoke and laughed again. "Pot never used to hit me like this." he said with a grin and a random grope for the food tray. "Guess my poor overworked brain likes it." He said with another laugh.
"Think there's a little extra somethin' in there," she said with a careless grin. Manuel wasn't the only one feeling it, although the large amount of beer she'd drunk before even leaving the pub could have had something to do with it. That and the fact she wanted to be off her face right now. Samson would make that disapproving face and mutter something and transference and exchanging one addiction for another, but he wasn't here and he could go fuck himself right now. The person who was there however, didn't have to fuck himself at all. "I think yer poor overworked brain needs a break," she said, setting the mostly-empty plate aside and scooting closer. "An' since I'm yer drug of choice an' all..."
Manuel grinned at Amanda. "You are at that." he said with a laugh, then his eyes flashed red as he unconsciously shared that feeling of possession, of ownership and desire. Then he took another toke on hi joint, holding the smoke deep in his lungs before exhaling it out his nose.
Amanda blinked. Had he just... She had no idea why it was Manuel couldn't access his powers - she wasn't exactly in the loop, so to speak - but obviously whatever it was, it wasn't there as much any more. His eyes glowed red again briefly, and that train of thought was nicely derailed by another wave of possessiveness and lust, blending with her own feelings. He was hers, and she was damned if she was going to let anyone hurt him again... Almost fiercely she reached up and pulled his head down towards her, kissing him hard.
Manuel kissed her back, just as hard. She was his, body and soul, and nobody could tell him differently! In the back of his mind, a vague alarm bell sounded, but for right now he ignored it. This was what he wanted no, what he _needed_. It was his due.
It wasn't enough, she had to have more, right now... Pressing her body against his, Amanda tugged at his shirt impatiently, and when it didn't oblige, yanked harder, scattering buttons. She rolled over on top of him, dimly aware of a crash as something fell off the bed - the food tray, possibly - but dismissing it as unimportant. What was important was getting as close to Manuel as she could, letting his warmth sink into her, making him hers... Sliding her mouth down to his neck, she bit him hard, not enough to draw blood, but to leave a mark, at the same time her hands running greedily over his exposed chest.
Manuel strove against her just as much as she was striving against him - he was mad to possess her, to leave his mark upon her, to mark her as his own. The scars on her flesh? Meaningless. None of them were his. Her bite upon his flesh excited him, making him even harder, nearly painfully so. He returned the favor, sinking his teeth into her. The only difference is that his was hard enough to break the skin, and the blood on his tongue was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted.
She moaned as she felt his teeth penetrate the unmarked skin where her neck met her shoulder, aware of the pain but only as another sensation in the heady mix that had already swept away rational thought. Her nails dug reflexively into his chest, drawing blood of her own as she raked down, grinding hard against him as if she could get through two layers of jeans by sheer force.
Too many layers. They were stopping him from possessing her fully, and that Just Would Not Do. The food was forgotten. The joints, still adding their fragrant smoke to the air, were forgotten. The only things that mattered were her and her clothes and what he needed to do to make her his forever. He scrabbled to remove his own layers, to free himself for what it was that he felt compelled to do. Inside of his mind the psi-link blazed to life, pouring his want, his need straight into her brain unfiltered and raw.
Amanda stiffened and cried out as the full impact of his need hit her, obliterating everything else except the need to take him inside. With a half-growled "Sod this," she concentrated, and there was the sound of shredding material as she yanked off her clothes with a rough burst of the TK spell, heedless of the impact on her own skin. Manuel had managed to get his jeans undone, that was enough - she grasped him firmly, guiding him to the right place and almost roughly pushing herself down on him, gasping out loud at the sensation of him filling her.
Manuel screamed as he entered Amanda - inside of his head, something crowed in absolute victory. The link flared into a near-total merge, and inside of his mindscape something white and cold moved from a dark corner towards the link.
Driving down hard, as if trying to physically meld their bodies together, her mind ablaze with Manuel's presence, Amanda felt the briefest shiver on the link, a coldness that her mind reflexively recoiled from. It was enough to shock her back to some semblance of thought - almost savagely, she clamped down on the link, the amulet flaring into brilliant blue life as she drew on all the power she had. ~You were s'posed t' be gone, you bitch.~ she sent at Manuel's mind, full of rage and fury that was no less possessive than the love and lust before.
Manuel withdrew himself almost completely from Amanda before crashing back into her. Inside his mind, the cold white presence smiled. ~I cannot be driven away. The boy is mine. You are mine.~ it thought. It moved back towards the link, stopping just before the shielding spell. Although it lacked features or definition, it gave the impression of... smiling?
~I told you and that slug Alphonso once before, bitch, he's MINE!~ Light flared around her, fuelled by her anger, and Amanda drove her mind forward, down the link and into that icy presence, sheer determination shaping her power into a battering ram that pushed the coldness back into the darkness beyond the link. ~You want him, you deal with me. And I'm done playing nice.~
The cold white presence fought back with the best weapons it had - insinuation and fear. Fear of failure, fear of losing Manuel to Jubilee, fear of her own dark nature. But the fears were of the mundane sort, not backed up by Manuel's power. With each push, the cold clear whiteness grew a little more dim, a little less clear, a little more dingy.
Beneath Amanda, Manuel shuddered as he struggled with the conflict in his mind. His normally smooth pleasurings grew ragged and unpredictable. "Wha?" he managed to gasp out before the cold whiteness spent a little more of its faded energies and compelled him to taste her flesh, licking the trickle of blood from her shoulder.
Amanda countered each push with love, the fierce, protective love that had driven her into his mind that night at the Hellfire Club. Love and anger and the stubborness that had made her survive all these years, to hope for something better... Dimly she was aware of his mouth at the bloody mark on her shoulder, and smiled grimly. Blood was power, and whilst it was binding, it was also easy to twist, like all darker magicks. The scratches she'd left on his chest were oozing sluggishly - pushing herself up, so she was sitting on him, she dipped her finger into her blood, then his, before drawing a rune on the smooth skin above his heart. Protection. Warding. Love. Taking a deep breath, she ground against him, clenching around him as tight as she could and at the same time covering the rune with the palm of her hand. ~Take this, bitch~ she snarled at the presence, and let go with everything she had in her.
Manuel spasmed as the magicks ripped through him. The cold clear presence disappeared as if banished, and the drugs also vanished from his system. "Wha?" he said, before scrambling out from inside and underneath Amanda. "Somebody want to tell me what the FUCK just happened there?" he demanded with real fear in his voice.
Amanda didn't answer for a minute, concentrating on just breathing, her mind awhirl with what had just happened. Finally she raised her head, pulling herself up from the half-sprawl she'd landed in as Manuel had scrambled away. Her pupils were so dilated her eyes looked black. "She was still in yer head," she rasped out. "Well, some of her. What Rom an' the rest couldn't touch." Raising her chin almost proudly, completely heedless with the fact she was naked and her shoulder was still bleeding, she met his fearful eyes without flinching. "She's gone now."
Manuel blinked. Repeatedly. "Ummm, right." Then the pain hit. "Owwwww." he said, cradling his head. "And I have the WORST taste in my mouth..." he said with real disgust. "Tastes like - ass, basically. GUH!"
"There's still beer left..." she joked, but feebly as suddenly that whole unearthly feeling of calm left her and she started shivering. "Yer safe, now," she managed through chattering teeth as she weakly grabbed at the blankets on the rumpled bed. "Anyone else in the occult way of things that wants a piece of you will have t' go through me. There's..." she paused, not sure how he was going to react to this part. "There's my mark there t' tell 'em."
Manuel blinked once at Amanda. "Your mark." he said flatly. Then he slammed the remainder of his beer, then her beer, then the sole remaining beer as well. He then laughed. He laughed until tears rolled down his face, then laughed until his tears turned into dry sobs.
'How to drive your boyfriend insane in one easy lesson...' Amanda thought with bleak humour, even as she tried to summon the energy to reach out to him. Whatever happened, they were in this together, now more than ever. He pulled away from her touch, but she persevered, murmuring soothingly in Romany under her breath, nonsense words, calming words, the same she used for a distressed horse and perhaps which her own mother had used on her. "I'm sorry, love, but I had to. And She's gone now, yer free of her, an' she won't be touchin' you again..." Not if she had anything to do with it, any way.
Manuel finally pulled himself together after a few long minutes. "It's over." he said with a laugh. "It's finally over! I still can't remember some things, but she's GONE!" he said with another quasi-hysterical laugh. "I'm not sad, I'm not mad, I'm _FREE_!" he said, before standing up and twirling Amanda around the room effortlessly. "FREE!"
Laughing herself somewhat breathlessly (and probably with just as much hysterical relief), Amanda clung to his neck until the room (and Manuel) stopped spinning. And after, since her knees had gone rubbery with fatigue - the amulet was glowing brightly, indicating a major recharge. "Yer welcome," she murmured, resting her cheek briefly against the new tattoo on Manuel's chest, her rune of protection. The mystical equivalent of a sign warning anyone who had any sort of power that to fuck with Manuel was to incur some serious wrath.
Manuel ran a finger over his new tattoo. "Furious angels." he said with a grin. "Just like the song." He then let her go and began looking for the remnants of his clothing. "Come on. Sitting here alone isn't doing it for me any more. I want to go out, dance, drink, laugh, party. I want to drink deep from all that life has to offer. I want to feel it _all_." he said grandiosely.
"I'm gunna need t' shower at least first," Amanda said with a wry grin, feeling gingerly for the bite mark on her shoulder. She really needed to clean that up. And a shower would give her enough time to recharge enough to function, although Berlin was like London, carrying a pulse of its own that she could dimly feel, and draw on. "There's a club Dom told me 'bout - sound like a good idea?" It was hard not to feel his enthusiasm, bubbling down the link and energising her in its own way - he was _free_, and she'd had a part in that. She grinned wickedly. "I've been lookin' for an excuse t' wear the outfit Rom sent me - I think you'll like it."
Manuel grinned. "I'll join you." he said with a laugh. Already he could almost feel the beats slamming through his body. "We all set for cash?" he asked as he wandered towards the tiny little hotel bathroom. "I'm starving!"
"Yer as bad as me with the food, you realise that?" she teased, waiting until he was in the shower before following him in - it _was_ a small bathroom. "Don't worry 'bout it - I've got it covered."
Manuel grinned at Amanda. "Good, because I think we need to party." he said with a truly _evil_ grin before stepping into the hot, hot shower. He left plenty of room for her to come in and play if she wanted to, but his primary focus was on getting clean. Once he was done, he gladly switched places with her so that she could do the same. He was far less nice about it, though, preferring instead to see how close he could get her without her actually going over the edge.
Oh, she was going to so pay him back for that later... It took a while, but eventually clothes were happening. Well, clothes happened, and then un-happened, as the leather halter top and mini Romany had given her turned out to be very appreciated. But _eventually_ they were set to go. Grabbing the bag of dope, Amanda dug around for the ecstacy tablets, taking one and slipping one in her pocket for later - -she was going to need it to keep up, she suspected. No more drugs for Manuel - it did bad things to his head. Besides, he was on a natural high. "Ready t' show this place what for?" she asked with a wicked grin, bundled up in her winter coat against the winter chill they'd face outside.
Manuel grinned fiendishly. "Yes." he said with a gleam in his eye. "Let's go do this thing!" he exclaimed, then claimed one final kiss (with tongue, because the stud was just one more thing fueling his good mood) before heading out for the club Amanda knew.
Rated NC-17 for sexual scenes, drug references and some ickiness.
Manuel eased back into his side of the booth and drained his pint of thick dark German beer down to the dregs. He was avoiding looking at Amanda - he'd heard the stories of what had happened in Scotland while he was in London. He didn't want to think about what he'd done to her, or what that Bitch in his head had done instead. Not even Romany's, Homily's, and Aspen's best efforts could drive away the oil-slick stain in his mind, the corner of his mindscape that still shone crystal-clear and cold in the moonlight.
Oh, this was going to be a fun trip. Good thing the Pack was going to be around to distract her... Amanda sighed as she failed to catch Manuel's eye, yet again, the link still heavy and sluggish in her mind, but glimmers of guilt and self-loathing coming through all the same. It could have been her own feelings, given the mess that had been the ritual. She couldn't remember what she'd done, but Angelo had been practically skittish around her, and Moira hadn't been much better. And Nate had been looking at her with that Worried Face, even after Romany had gone and talked to him and Moira for ages... "Nice pub," she said at last, for want of anything better. "Come here often?" The last was a feeble attempt at a joke - neither of them had been to Berlin before, that she knew of, anyway.
"Very funny." Manuel said, topping off his pint and taking a deep swallow of its contents. Right now, oblivion held a great deal of appeal to him. "You got a better place to go than right here?" he snapped at her, and then sighed. "Sorry." he said after a moment's reflection. "This trip has been Hellish. On both of us. I think we deserve a night to ourselves, in a pub, with lots and lots of beer. Beer and sex." he said with a twisted grin. He then inhaled as something on the air currents tickled his mind. "Tell me, how much cash do you have on you?"
"So, you can't look at me, but you still wanna fuck me, is that it?" she retorted, before waving the remark away with a gesture. "Sorry, don't want t' start a fight." Rubbing her temples, she considered his question. "I've got a bit of cash, what were you thinkin' of?" She'd dismissed the smell of pot almost as soon as she'd smelt it - it was pretty common in pubs on the Continent - but at his exaggerated sniff, the ghost of a grin appeared on her face. "Oh, I get you." Glancing around the crowded pub, she caught sight of a group of uni students at a table in the corner where the smoke haze was thickest. "Be right back."
Manuel just grinned at Amanda. "Even with all the shit in our lives, I'd be delighted to fuck you silly." He watched her go off to the horde of students with a smile, then took another deep swallow of the German beer. He'd always liked darker lagers - he knew that now, knew it with a certainty that had been missing from his life of late. And while there were still gaps, important gaps as well as that cold icy patch, he remembered far more than he did even two weeks ago.
Oh, that was definitely the Old Manuel... Rolling her eyes a little, surprised at herself for being vaguely offended, Amanda joined the students briefly, glad that most Germans spoke English. Once they understood what she was after, they were delighted to help out - one of them was a Chemistry student making his way through university with a little home enterprise, and he handed her a ziplock bag with a generous amount of dope as well as a couple of Ecstacy tablets, as a bonus. "You and your boyfriend, you have a good time, ja?" he said, grinning lazily at her. "And if not, you come back and we'll show you a much better time, little English punk girl."
"Sure you will an' all," she said with a smile and a wink, playing up the accent, and the image. "Danke, lads. Have a good night." Heading back to where Manuel was sitting, she slid into the booth easily, the bag tucked into the back of her jeans under her sweater. "We're on. Wanna finish up an' go back t' the hotel? 'S probably a better idea, since this stuff tends t' muck about with the magic sometimes. I can pick up some cigarette papers along the way."
"Let's pick up some more beer. I feel like getting well and truly shitfaced. Now that I've got most of my memories back, I find I don't want some of them. Killing 'em off with beer sounds like a plan." He said with a grin. "Think I saw a place on the way back, or we could just grab something from the pub here." He paused for a few moments and then smiled tenderly at Amanda. "And we've got a lot to talk about." he said affectionately. "And not all of it is bad."
Her look was a mixture of caution and sympathy – she hadn't forgotten the whole bit about not looking at her, and he'd been... off ever since she'd gotten back from Muir, but she knew some of those memories wouldn't be good ones. "Sounds like a plan t' me," she said neutrally, picking up her glass.
***
Manuel closed the hotel room door behind him and collapsed onto their gigantic expanse of uncomfortable hotel bed with a sigh. "What a week." he said melodramatically, holding his hands up to his eyes. "I hear things got a little rough for you back on Muir, thanks to your friend and mine Selene?"
Amanda managed not to flinch at the name, but only barely. "I don't remember," she said quietly, busying herself with taking the beer out of the plastic carrier bag and stowing it in the mini-fridge, after separating a couple of the long cans. "Apparently I did stuff, but no-one will tell me what it was. Doesn't matter. How 'bout you? You all right? Rom said yer'd taken a bit of a beatin', magic-wise."
"It wasn't fun. I have less than zero desire to be a magical butt-monkey again any time real soon." he said with disgust and real feeling. "Apparently, she got into my power. I can't, I'm still mundane as far as I can tell. And I don't even want to talk about what she did to Romany and Homily ..." he added with a shudder. "Pass me a beer, please?" he asked her as he rolled onto his stomach.
"Here." She handed him one and flopped onto the bed herself, back against the headboard and legs stretched out in front of her, sans boots. Taking a long swallow of beer from her own can, she sat it on the nightstand and pulled out the plastic bag she'd gotten from the pub, digging in her pocket for the cigarette papers. "Rom said it had gotten rough, an' we had a talk 'bout some stuff on the train back," she said, still not looking at him as she busied herself rolling a fat joint. "She felt bad, 'bout leavin' me with Rack for so long."
Manuel snagged his can of beer and took a deep swallow. "Yeah, sorry about that." he said with a guilty wince. "Apparently I brought up a lot of stuff she had been dealing with. Damn, my power's really kinda scary when it comes right down to it. I violated all three of them - Aspen the least, but still." He groaned. "And now it's back to hiding wherever it's hiding in my head. And can I say how bad I feel that she reached out through the link and fucked with you?"
"It wasn't yer fault, Manuel," Amanda said, finally looking at him. "Any of it - I did a half-arsed job stoppin' her spell, an' that bitch took advantage of it. An' anythin' that happened t' me would've happened anyway, when she had the chance." She shrugged a little, licking the edge of the paper to seal the joint and carefully rolling it closed. "I just hope she's satisfied with whatever she got up to wearin' me face." Joint finished, she lit up and took a long drag, holding the smoke in her lungs a moment before exhaling. "Here," she said, holding it out to him. "'S good stuff - bloody strong, tho'."
"Doesn't mean I have to like it One Bit." he said with irritation. He took another pull off his beer, then accepted the joint and took a deep drag off of it. He exhaled through his nose, appearing briefly like a dragon from a storybook tale. "Yeah, that is pretty strong stuff. He cut this or something?" he asked, then shrugged. "Doesn't matter, I suppose."
"You don't have t' like it - 'm just sayin' don't beat yerself up on my account. Or for the rest of 'em - they knew goin' in it wasn't gunna be a walk in the park, an' there's always a cost t' magic. Looks like Selene fuckin' with their heads usin' yer power was it. But I'm fine, they're fine, an' yer've got yer head mostly back t' yerself, which means no more headaches. " She nudged him in the ribs with her sock-clad foot. "See? Wasn't all bad."
"Don't expect me to just sit and smile about it." He said irritably. "One of my distinctions between me and the old me is that I give a shit about that kind of thing now, whereas he didn't." he said. "I will admit that I don't mind not being all headache-y and nauseous all the time. That's really nice."
"You still take things t' extremes tho'," she replied. "I didn't mean you had t' throw a party any more than I meant you should jump off the nearest tall buildin' or make an' arsehole of yerself for the next week or so. Since yer've barely said two words t' me, an' haven't been able t' look me in the face until tonight until you remembered there's sex in it for you if you _do_ talk t' me." Shaking her head, Amanda set about rolling another joint, since he was holding onto that one.
Manuel sighed again. "Look, I'm still trying to figure this whole thing out. I'm sorry. I've had a whole lot on my mind, plus I'm rediscovering a whole lot of things about my life." he said with a grin and another toke on his joint. "Like my laptop passwords and journal passwords. Among a whole lot of other things. There's still gaps, stuff I should know but don't, but a lot of stuff got unlocked when Selene got kicked out. That's a win, and I'm really pretty goddamned happy about it." he said with a happy sigh. "And I'm sorry for shutting you out. Like I said, got a lot on my mind. I need to fix that, though. So tell me what's on your mind. Anything at all."
"I keep forgettin' what it's like for you - yer not used t' all the fucked-up shite that comes with bein' a Xavier's kid any more 'n someone like that new kid Forge is." Amanda gave him a slightly rueful smile - the first honest smile she'd managed all day. "Is it fucked up that I'm gettin' used t' it all? Like New Year's - that whole thing knocked me head for a loop, but a couple of hours of lookin' after the kids an' it's like nothin' happened. Fuck, I even managed t' get somethin' positive out of this whole business with Selene - even with her doin' whatever the hell she did t' Nate an' Moira an' Angelo, they still care 'bout me. They're still family. So I've decided while I'm here I'm gunna bite the bullet an' meet the woman who gave birth t' me, since it's not gunna change what I already have. If Selene couldn't do it, nothin' can."
Manuel nodded. "Family is still one of those dead spots." he admitted. "So I'm afraid I can't help you there. You want me to come with you, or is this something you'd feel better about doing on your own? Either way's cool with me - just leave me with some marks so I can get food and beer and maybe some entertainment." he commented, then took another drink of his beer. "We need food." he said with a sudden smile. "Want to order in?"
"I dunno - Wanda's comin' with me t' make sure I don't get kidnapped or nothin', an' I don't want t' make things hard for you. 'Sides, I would have thought yer'd have had enough of my family types for a while. The Pack'll see you right if you stay - we're meetin' up with 'em tomorrow, remember?" Amanda said, finishing rolling the other joint and lighting up. Oh, that was much better - beer and dope, what more could you need. Oh yeah, food. "Orderin' in is good. Lucky they have the English menu for us dopey tourist types..." The room service menu was too far away to reach, so she floated it over, grimacing at the heavy feel of the magic - Selene's influence. "Right, what did you feel like?" she asked, moving to flop on her stomach next to him, beer in one hand and joint clamped between her fingers. "They actually have pizza."
"You pick." he said cheerfully, watching her as she dialed and ordered. Mmm, seems that _some_ part of him was definitely liking what it saw. Another heavy swallow of beer and a toke later, and Manuel was willing to admit that life was pretty good right now. Pretty girl - pretty _perverted_ girl - beer, dope, food on the way, no worries, no cares, just the two of them and that's it. So what if his brain was still Swiss cheese and he had no job and no money coming in? She did, and so far she was perfectly willing to share it with him.
Hanging up the phone, Amanda finished her beer off in one very long draught, tossing the can over her shoulder and off the bed before turning and noticing him watching her. "What?" she said, a lot less defensively than she would have ten minutes earlier, ears turning slightly pink. "Yer've got the goofy look. Don't tell me yer off yer face already."
"Don't be insulting." he chided gently. "I haven't been paying attention to you lately. I'm trying to remedy that. So now that you have my attentions, what would you like to talk about?" he asked with another toke on his joint. "Come on, anything at all here. I am a captive audience."
"I wasn't insultin' you, I was teasin' - there's a difference," she said, poking her tongue out at him briefly before flopping onto her back. "Fuck, I dunno - yer've put me on the spot here." Taking a long drag, she thought for a long moment. "I realised, the other day - 's nearly been a year since I came t' the school, an' it made me realised how much I've changed since then. I dunno if you remember what I was like back then..." She couldn't help a brief giggle, remembering what the both of them had been like. "But I think... I hope I'm better than I was. 'M better at the school stuff, that's for sure."
Manuel made a thoughtful noise as he stared at the ceiling. "I still don't remember much about how I was when I first arrived. I remember a lot of pain, but that's about it." he said with a shrug. "I'm thinking that how I am now is an improvement on who I was then, even if I don't remember much about him. There's some stuff I wouldn't trade - you, for example - but overall? Better now than then."
"You were pretty much out of it when you came, from what I know, an' it took a long time for you t' recover." Glancing over at him, she smiled a little. "I think I like the person you are now better too - 's been hard, doin' things all over, but at least now we can have a conversation like this without yer brain tryin' t' crawl out yer ears. Makes it easier, workin' out where we are."
Manuel put his empty beer container down so that he could use that hand to trace a fingertip along Amanda's arm. "All things considered, I feel pretty good. No more headaches, no more throwing up. Now, if I throw up it will be from drink, not from trying to remember what color socks I like to wear." he said with a dismissive sneer. "I get the feeling I didn't really get along with many folks. That's kinda sad." he said quietly.
"There were... problems. With yer power, with the way you treated people," Amanda said honestly. "Later on, just before... the Hellfire Club, you _were_ tryin' t' change that. Only 'cause you'd been a git before, a lot of people wouldn't give you a chance. Some did - Kitty an' Angie an' Lee..." The last name slipped out before she realised, and she inwardly cursed. She had no idea how much he remembered now of that whole mess, but the last thing she wanted to do was to push him back towards the mallrat. Not after Halloween. "Any way, after you lost yer memory, people realised blamin' you for what happened back then was like blamin' Nate for stuff he did when he was conditioned. Or at least, I hope they do." All this talking was making her thirsty, and the beer was out of reach and in metal containers. Bugger. She tried, any way, managing to make the cans rattle slightly but that was about it. "Bloody metal," she grumbled, reluctant to get up now she was comfy.
Manuel reached over, using his superior position, and snagged a can of beer for her. "For the lady." he said with a far-too-tender grin as he handed it to her. "Lee? I don't remember anyone named Lee. Please tell me you don't mean the security guy." he said with a shudder. "Guy's way too grey for his own good." he said without thinking. "Out of the people I've talked to, most have been pretty supportive." he admitted. "That's kinda cool."
"Ta." Amanda sat up slightly so she didn't drown herself with beer, letting her knee brush his leg. Between the beer, the dope and the looks he was giving her, she was starting to feel rather warm and fuzzy. "I meant Jubilee, one of the students. We don't exactly get on." Well, _that_ was an understatement. "An' that's what the school's about, or so they keep tellin' me - givin' people a chance." She shrugged. "Fuck, I'm still there, even after dopin' half the school up with a love potion."
Manuel snickered. "And here I thought making people fall in love was my domain, not yours." he said with a grin. "Being the former empath and all. And you don't get on with this Jubilee person. OK. Did I?" he asked innocently. "I don't recall running into him while I was out and about."
"Bad practical joke that went really, really wrong," Amanda said with a roll of her eyes. "Got hit with it meself, an' it took you t' straighten me out enough t' cast the counterspell." Fortifying herself with a long swallow of beer, she went on. "You did get on with her. Jubilee, I mean. Like a bloody house on fire - that was part of the problem. She an' I got off on the wrong foot on me first night, but we were startin' t' sort it out when she an' you..." She couldn't believe she was telling him this. This Manuel might not be the same person as he was before, but he was still the Hormone Who Walks Like A Man - there was such a thing as too much temptation. "I told you how we had an open relationship, yeah? Well, she was yer bit on the side. Thing is, I couldn't handle it - I got that jealous, an' scared you were gunna leave me for her." She'd never actually admitted out loud to him that she'd been jealous; the fact this wasn't the same Manuel made something of a difference. "It got... messy."
Manuel had nothing he could really say to that, so he took another toke to give himself time to think. "My bit on the side, eh?" he said after a moment. "Well, although I am not him I'm sorry that you went through that. Although you had your own bit on the side - Beth, I think you named her? But it's over and done with now. I'm here, you're here, they're not. Pretty simple if you ask me." He took another toke and grinned up at the ceiling. "But hey, it sounds like I got to save the day. That's gotta count for something."
"Beth was more than... never mind." It still hurt to talk about her, and besides, Manuel was right, that was over and done with. "You did, tho' no-one really knew at the time - it was all 'bout finding out what had happened in the first place. But it counts with me, that an' the stuff yer've done later." There was a knock on the door and a girl's voice announcing room service in German. "Food's here!" Amanda exclaimed, bouncing off the bed to answer the door and let the girl in. Once she'd gone again (with a generous tip - she was blonde and rather cute and didn't roll her eyes overmuch at the smell of pot in the room), Amanda looked a bit sheepish. "I think I ordered too much," she confided. "I hope yer hungry."
Manuel's stomach picked right then to rumble loudly. "I guess I am." he said with a grin. "Starved, actually." He wandered over to the food and inhaled. "Damn, that smells good." he said with a happy grin. "And this thing over there is the color of lust." he admitted with a very old, very familiar grin.
"You remember the colours then?" Amanda asked, curious. Most of the food was standard European hotel fare - a selection of cold meats and pickled vegetables and crusty bread and cheeses and fruit, plus some random things from the desert cart, since she always got sugar cravings whilst stoned. She piled up a plate and returned to the bed, grinning as a memory surfaced of her and Jake and room service abuses. "Tho' of all the colours you'd remember, I'd expect it t' be that one," she added with her mouth full.
Manuel blinked. "Now that was weird." he said, sitting back down heavily. "Everything just went all - colorful and stuff. Really, really weird. This must be some good shit." he said with a leering grin. "Like someone else I know."
"So I'm a drug now?" she asked teasingly. "Flattery'll get you everywhere." Retrieving her joint from the ashtray where she'd propped it while she answered the door, she took another drag and squinted at him slightly through the smoke as she exhaled. "Yep, good shit."
Manuel grinned. "The perfect drug." he said with a nuzzle and a laugh. He then took another hit off of his smoke and laughed again. "Pot never used to hit me like this." he said with a grin and a random grope for the food tray. "Guess my poor overworked brain likes it." He said with another laugh.
"Think there's a little extra somethin' in there," she said with a careless grin. Manuel wasn't the only one feeling it, although the large amount of beer she'd drunk before even leaving the pub could have had something to do with it. That and the fact she wanted to be off her face right now. Samson would make that disapproving face and mutter something and transference and exchanging one addiction for another, but he wasn't here and he could go fuck himself right now. The person who was there however, didn't have to fuck himself at all. "I think yer poor overworked brain needs a break," she said, setting the mostly-empty plate aside and scooting closer. "An' since I'm yer drug of choice an' all..."
Manuel grinned at Amanda. "You are at that." he said with a laugh, then his eyes flashed red as he unconsciously shared that feeling of possession, of ownership and desire. Then he took another toke on hi joint, holding the smoke deep in his lungs before exhaling it out his nose.
Amanda blinked. Had he just... She had no idea why it was Manuel couldn't access his powers - she wasn't exactly in the loop, so to speak - but obviously whatever it was, it wasn't there as much any more. His eyes glowed red again briefly, and that train of thought was nicely derailed by another wave of possessiveness and lust, blending with her own feelings. He was hers, and she was damned if she was going to let anyone hurt him again... Almost fiercely she reached up and pulled his head down towards her, kissing him hard.
Manuel kissed her back, just as hard. She was his, body and soul, and nobody could tell him differently! In the back of his mind, a vague alarm bell sounded, but for right now he ignored it. This was what he wanted no, what he _needed_. It was his due.
It wasn't enough, she had to have more, right now... Pressing her body against his, Amanda tugged at his shirt impatiently, and when it didn't oblige, yanked harder, scattering buttons. She rolled over on top of him, dimly aware of a crash as something fell off the bed - the food tray, possibly - but dismissing it as unimportant. What was important was getting as close to Manuel as she could, letting his warmth sink into her, making him hers... Sliding her mouth down to his neck, she bit him hard, not enough to draw blood, but to leave a mark, at the same time her hands running greedily over his exposed chest.
Manuel strove against her just as much as she was striving against him - he was mad to possess her, to leave his mark upon her, to mark her as his own. The scars on her flesh? Meaningless. None of them were his. Her bite upon his flesh excited him, making him even harder, nearly painfully so. He returned the favor, sinking his teeth into her. The only difference is that his was hard enough to break the skin, and the blood on his tongue was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted.
She moaned as she felt his teeth penetrate the unmarked skin where her neck met her shoulder, aware of the pain but only as another sensation in the heady mix that had already swept away rational thought. Her nails dug reflexively into his chest, drawing blood of her own as she raked down, grinding hard against him as if she could get through two layers of jeans by sheer force.
Too many layers. They were stopping him from possessing her fully, and that Just Would Not Do. The food was forgotten. The joints, still adding their fragrant smoke to the air, were forgotten. The only things that mattered were her and her clothes and what he needed to do to make her his forever. He scrabbled to remove his own layers, to free himself for what it was that he felt compelled to do. Inside of his mind the psi-link blazed to life, pouring his want, his need straight into her brain unfiltered and raw.
Amanda stiffened and cried out as the full impact of his need hit her, obliterating everything else except the need to take him inside. With a half-growled "Sod this," she concentrated, and there was the sound of shredding material as she yanked off her clothes with a rough burst of the TK spell, heedless of the impact on her own skin. Manuel had managed to get his jeans undone, that was enough - she grasped him firmly, guiding him to the right place and almost roughly pushing herself down on him, gasping out loud at the sensation of him filling her.
Manuel screamed as he entered Amanda - inside of his head, something crowed in absolute victory. The link flared into a near-total merge, and inside of his mindscape something white and cold moved from a dark corner towards the link.
Driving down hard, as if trying to physically meld their bodies together, her mind ablaze with Manuel's presence, Amanda felt the briefest shiver on the link, a coldness that her mind reflexively recoiled from. It was enough to shock her back to some semblance of thought - almost savagely, she clamped down on the link, the amulet flaring into brilliant blue life as she drew on all the power she had. ~You were s'posed t' be gone, you bitch.~ she sent at Manuel's mind, full of rage and fury that was no less possessive than the love and lust before.
Manuel withdrew himself almost completely from Amanda before crashing back into her. Inside his mind, the cold white presence smiled. ~I cannot be driven away. The boy is mine. You are mine.~ it thought. It moved back towards the link, stopping just before the shielding spell. Although it lacked features or definition, it gave the impression of... smiling?
~I told you and that slug Alphonso once before, bitch, he's MINE!~ Light flared around her, fuelled by her anger, and Amanda drove her mind forward, down the link and into that icy presence, sheer determination shaping her power into a battering ram that pushed the coldness back into the darkness beyond the link. ~You want him, you deal with me. And I'm done playing nice.~
The cold white presence fought back with the best weapons it had - insinuation and fear. Fear of failure, fear of losing Manuel to Jubilee, fear of her own dark nature. But the fears were of the mundane sort, not backed up by Manuel's power. With each push, the cold clear whiteness grew a little more dim, a little less clear, a little more dingy.
Beneath Amanda, Manuel shuddered as he struggled with the conflict in his mind. His normally smooth pleasurings grew ragged and unpredictable. "Wha?" he managed to gasp out before the cold whiteness spent a little more of its faded energies and compelled him to taste her flesh, licking the trickle of blood from her shoulder.
Amanda countered each push with love, the fierce, protective love that had driven her into his mind that night at the Hellfire Club. Love and anger and the stubborness that had made her survive all these years, to hope for something better... Dimly she was aware of his mouth at the bloody mark on her shoulder, and smiled grimly. Blood was power, and whilst it was binding, it was also easy to twist, like all darker magicks. The scratches she'd left on his chest were oozing sluggishly - pushing herself up, so she was sitting on him, she dipped her finger into her blood, then his, before drawing a rune on the smooth skin above his heart. Protection. Warding. Love. Taking a deep breath, she ground against him, clenching around him as tight as she could and at the same time covering the rune with the palm of her hand. ~Take this, bitch~ she snarled at the presence, and let go with everything she had in her.
Manuel spasmed as the magicks ripped through him. The cold clear presence disappeared as if banished, and the drugs also vanished from his system. "Wha?" he said, before scrambling out from inside and underneath Amanda. "Somebody want to tell me what the FUCK just happened there?" he demanded with real fear in his voice.
Amanda didn't answer for a minute, concentrating on just breathing, her mind awhirl with what had just happened. Finally she raised her head, pulling herself up from the half-sprawl she'd landed in as Manuel had scrambled away. Her pupils were so dilated her eyes looked black. "She was still in yer head," she rasped out. "Well, some of her. What Rom an' the rest couldn't touch." Raising her chin almost proudly, completely heedless with the fact she was naked and her shoulder was still bleeding, she met his fearful eyes without flinching. "She's gone now."
Manuel blinked. Repeatedly. "Ummm, right." Then the pain hit. "Owwwww." he said, cradling his head. "And I have the WORST taste in my mouth..." he said with real disgust. "Tastes like - ass, basically. GUH!"
"There's still beer left..." she joked, but feebly as suddenly that whole unearthly feeling of calm left her and she started shivering. "Yer safe, now," she managed through chattering teeth as she weakly grabbed at the blankets on the rumpled bed. "Anyone else in the occult way of things that wants a piece of you will have t' go through me. There's..." she paused, not sure how he was going to react to this part. "There's my mark there t' tell 'em."
Manuel blinked once at Amanda. "Your mark." he said flatly. Then he slammed the remainder of his beer, then her beer, then the sole remaining beer as well. He then laughed. He laughed until tears rolled down his face, then laughed until his tears turned into dry sobs.
'How to drive your boyfriend insane in one easy lesson...' Amanda thought with bleak humour, even as she tried to summon the energy to reach out to him. Whatever happened, they were in this together, now more than ever. He pulled away from her touch, but she persevered, murmuring soothingly in Romany under her breath, nonsense words, calming words, the same she used for a distressed horse and perhaps which her own mother had used on her. "I'm sorry, love, but I had to. And She's gone now, yer free of her, an' she won't be touchin' you again..." Not if she had anything to do with it, any way.
Manuel finally pulled himself together after a few long minutes. "It's over." he said with a laugh. "It's finally over! I still can't remember some things, but she's GONE!" he said with another quasi-hysterical laugh. "I'm not sad, I'm not mad, I'm _FREE_!" he said, before standing up and twirling Amanda around the room effortlessly. "FREE!"
Laughing herself somewhat breathlessly (and probably with just as much hysterical relief), Amanda clung to his neck until the room (and Manuel) stopped spinning. And after, since her knees had gone rubbery with fatigue - the amulet was glowing brightly, indicating a major recharge. "Yer welcome," she murmured, resting her cheek briefly against the new tattoo on Manuel's chest, her rune of protection. The mystical equivalent of a sign warning anyone who had any sort of power that to fuck with Manuel was to incur some serious wrath.
Manuel ran a finger over his new tattoo. "Furious angels." he said with a grin. "Just like the song." He then let her go and began looking for the remnants of his clothing. "Come on. Sitting here alone isn't doing it for me any more. I want to go out, dance, drink, laugh, party. I want to drink deep from all that life has to offer. I want to feel it _all_." he said grandiosely.
"I'm gunna need t' shower at least first," Amanda said with a wry grin, feeling gingerly for the bite mark on her shoulder. She really needed to clean that up. And a shower would give her enough time to recharge enough to function, although Berlin was like London, carrying a pulse of its own that she could dimly feel, and draw on. "There's a club Dom told me 'bout - sound like a good idea?" It was hard not to feel his enthusiasm, bubbling down the link and energising her in its own way - he was _free_, and she'd had a part in that. She grinned wickedly. "I've been lookin' for an excuse t' wear the outfit Rom sent me - I think you'll like it."
Manuel grinned. "I'll join you." he said with a laugh. Already he could almost feel the beats slamming through his body. "We all set for cash?" he asked as he wandered towards the tiny little hotel bathroom. "I'm starving!"
"Yer as bad as me with the food, you realise that?" she teased, waiting until he was in the shower before following him in - it _was_ a small bathroom. "Don't worry 'bout it - I've got it covered."
Manuel grinned at Amanda. "Good, because I think we need to party." he said with a truly _evil_ grin before stepping into the hot, hot shower. He left plenty of room for her to come in and play if she wanted to, but his primary focus was on getting clean. Once he was done, he gladly switched places with her so that she could do the same. He was far less nice about it, though, preferring instead to see how close he could get her without her actually going over the edge.
Oh, she was going to so pay him back for that later... It took a while, but eventually clothes were happening. Well, clothes happened, and then un-happened, as the leather halter top and mini Romany had given her turned out to be very appreciated. But _eventually_ they were set to go. Grabbing the bag of dope, Amanda dug around for the ecstacy tablets, taking one and slipping one in her pocket for later - -she was going to need it to keep up, she suspected. No more drugs for Manuel - it did bad things to his head. Besides, he was on a natural high. "Ready t' show this place what for?" she asked with a wicked grin, bundled up in her winter coat against the winter chill they'd face outside.
Manuel grinned fiendishly. "Yes." he said with a gleam in his eye. "Let's go do this thing!" he exclaimed, then claimed one final kiss (with tongue, because the stud was just one more thing fueling his good mood) before heading out for the club Amanda knew.
