| A Visit from Nightcrawler |
| Summary: | Amanda has just come home from a flight when Kurt decides to visit after leaving the bamfs catching pokemon in the park. |
| Date: | 2016-09-20 |
| Related: | None |
| NPCs: | None |
| Scene Runner: | NA |
| Social/Plot: | Social |
| Players: |
 .. .. |
Having just gotten back from a long series of flights, Amanda has decided to spend the evening vegging out on the sofa. Her roommates are still somewhere on the other side of the world so she is doing this all alone as she tries to ignore her urge to go scrying for something.
Outside of Amanda's apartment comes the tell-tale sound of a certain blue skinned gentleman teleporting to the stoop. The wind outside is up, causing a breeze to flow across and rustle Kurt's hair as he lifts a hand to rap his knuckles against the door gently, yet with enough force to be noticeable. Afterward, he drops his hands and slips them into the pockets of his jeans, turning to peer out at the street for a moment before directing his attention back toward the closed door.
Amanda Sefton glances over her shoulder at the sound of knocking from the exterior door. It's not the first time someone's come that way but usually it doesn't happen unannounced. She uncurls her legs from the sofa and goes over to open the door. She smiles warmly upon seeing him, "Kurt. It's good to see you. Come in. You know you're always welcome."
Kurt offers Amanda a warm smile in return, the old feelings hard to ignore, even though he knows this Amanda is not quite HIS Amanda. He dips his head graciously as the doorway is opened and he is invited inside. "Thank you. I hated to drop by unannounced, but I was in the area and thought about you," he says, his voice pleasant. He does not give further details of what in the area means, after all, in the area for a teleporter could be quite the broad spectrum.
Amanda Sefton closes the door and heads back to the sofa, "Any time, any thing, any where. You are always welcome. You don't need to announce yourself, but if you'd come yesterday, I wouldn't have been here." She glances back toward the door after a second then asks, "The bamfs aren't with you? How'd you get them to do that? Leave them in Central Park hunting for Pokemon?"
Kurt follows Amanda deeper into the apartment, pacing her toward the sofa and after she sits, he seats himself on the opposite end, folding one knee over the cushion so that he can face her directly. He chuckles to himself, the glow of the light fixtures accenting the dark sapphire skin. "No, the Bamfs aren't with me. They are out tracking down Pokemon. It is the only way that I can keep them occupied enough to get a bit of privacy. They will likely be along soon enough." He shakes his head in amusement and then shrugs, "You wouldn't have been here yesterday? What were you up to?"
Amanda Sefton chuckles, "Very clever of you. Keeps them busy and out of trouble. I was in California on my way home yesterday. In fact three hours ago I wouldn't have been home. I've only been here about two hours."
Kurt nods again, the smile back on his face as he stretches his left arm across the cushions along the back of the couch. "Well, I wasn't here three hours ago myself, so I suppose that we are both fortunate," he says with a warm chuckle. "Are you planning to be in town for a while?"
Amanda Sefton nods, "I've been out of town for nearly a week. I have at least the next three days off without asking for more. I had to work a lot in a row to make up for taking some time off when I was in England."
Nightcrawler dips his head and says, "What do they have you doing, if you don't mind me asking?"
Amanda Sefton rubs at her chest unconsciously just over her left breast as she smiles, "I've been spending most of my time at the airline since I got here. There is something odd happening though. It seems to get worse when I try to study it though so I'm trying to ignore it."
Brows furrowing a bit at this news, Kurt's eyes track that hand moving across Amanda's chest with a concerned expression. "What do you mean there is something happening? Like with you? Are you in pain?" It is evident from his tone of voice that Kurt is concerned for Amanda's wellbeing.
Amanda Sefton glances down at where her hand is when Kurt's eyes go there and she lowers the hand to her lap again, "No. I'm not in pain. It just feels odd." She pauses before explaining, "A while back I started feeling some odd magic. I'm sure that happened around you once or twice before." There's an awkward pause as she looks down. She's comfortable with being the one and only Amanda Sefton with everyone but him since she knows a part of him is still mourning the other her. Finally she gives a single shake of her head to clear the feeling and looks back up. "When I tried to scry out what it was I realized there was a dimensional rift trying to form in my apartment. I was trying to close it and it opened up. Something reached out and tried to drag me through but Pete happened to come to visit at the same time and was able to keep it from dragging me through. Ever since that first time, I keep sensing them trying to form like something is testing for weak points."
Kurt's yellow eyes linger at the spot where Amanda's hand has just vacated for a beat before raising to her eyes once more. He frowns at the news, turning his head to gaze about the apartment. "Something tried to reach through and grab you?" he repeat. "Do you think that the continued efforts to open the rifts are a means of drawing you near enough to be pulled through? Is it only targeting you? In this apartment? Or do you sense them elsewhere?"
Amanda Sefton sighs, "Whether or not it is my presence causing it is the question of the moment unfortunately. There are happening all over the city. You obviously didn't see the video on youtube of what happened in Grand Central. I would have expected to see you before now if you had." Other people might not have recognized her or Pete in the video but Kurt surely would have. "There was a big rift there. One of the bystanders got hurt. Before that, I tracked an attempt to Hell's Kitchen but never quite located it because I got interrupted by an attempted mugging."
Kurt seems stunned for a moment, all at once shocked and then guilty as he realizes that he has not been more 'in the know,' has not been present to help Amanda. "Amanda… I'm sorry I have not been here. If I had known…" he says before trailing away with a shake of his head. He is silent in his contemplation, leaning forward to place an elbow on his knee and then dropping his chin into his lifted palm.
Amanda Sefton leans forward to place a hand on his knee briefly, "Hey. No. Don't do that. I didn't call you. It's not like it's been public knowledge. Well other than the thing in Grand Central which I got far more attention than I wanted after." She wrinkles her nose at some memory then straightens. "You don't need to apologize to me for anything. Pete was helping me." Was. There's definitely a definitive was there. "It hasn't happened again since I came back to the States so either it's over or whatever it is hasn't figured out I came home yet."
Kurt visibly relaxes as Amanda places her hand upon his knee, a familiarity there despite the fact that she is not HIS Amanda. He nods his heads along with her words before turning his eyes upon her. "Pete was helping you? But he is not any longer?" Kurt asks, brow uplifted.
Amanda Sefton actually rubs at the spot on her left breast for a moment again. "I'm sure he would if I called him and asked him to, but he's back in London and I'm sure he has other things to do." She sighs as she notices what she's doing with her hand then lowers it again, "We also had a little disagreement over the handling of something. I do see his perspective. I just don't agree with it."
Kurt nods his head again, slowly, and then she is rubbing the spot at her breast again and his brow furrows suspiciously. "What is that, Amanda?" he asks bluntly. There is a beat and he rolls his eyes, "Not that literally. But why do you keep touching there?"
Amanda Sefton murmurs softly, "When the incident at Grand Central happened, there was a man trying to meet a courier. Both he and the case the courier was carrying were touched by magic. Pete intercepted the case. When I was last in England, he had me help determine what was inside." She touches the spot briefly again, "When I pushed my scrying window inside the box holding the object, it used my window to mark me here." She lowers her hand again, "It hasn't felt quite whole since the mark was cut off."
Kurt is silent for a moment as he too looks at the spot. "Mark you how? Physically?" he asks curiously. "And what do you mean it hasn't felt whole? Like there is a piece of you missing?" Kurt is clearly perplexed by this, attempting to fathom the depths to which this runs.
Amanda Sefton nods, "It touched me and part of a summoning got inscribed on my skin. It didn't get the inscription finished before I closed the window. It was decided that for everyone's safety it couldn't be left there, so the mark was literally cut off. MI-13 used SHIELD synthskin to repair the damaged area so I would not scar. Since then… it sometimes feels like there's something missing." She closes her eyes, "And my dreams have not been good. I can't tell if that's just the effects of the stress of the incident still or something else." She opens her eyes then insists, "But I'm fine. Physically there is nothing wrong with me."
Kurt listens closely, nodding his head with her words. His expression is sympathetic as he reaches out with his left hand to place overtop Amanda's, unless she should pull away. "I understand. You're strong. But it's okay to not be fine too. You can talk to me, you know?"
Amanda Sefton leans toward him ever so slightly when he touches her. "I know I can always talk to you. You did say you would apply the vow we made when we were young to me as well. I just know… Well I'm not her and I can see the sadness that causes. I'm not stupid Kurt. I know you're never going to forget that I'm not the woman you loved. Not really. I just look like her. I didn't know if I could handle seeing that sadness right now. So I didn't…" She shakes her head. He knows she didn't call. She doesn't have to say it. "You know what I mean right?"
Kurt lifts himself slightly from the sofa, only enough that he can slide a bit closer to Amanda's side. His hand on hers squeezes gently and he nods his head. "I do know what you mean. And it is hard sometimes. I hope that you can understand that. But the world is hard sometimes. Things happen. Change happens. But I'm still here… and you are here with me. Together."
Amanda Sefton chuckles a little wryly, "Last time I mention it. I promise. And next time I want to call, I will." She scoots a little closer herself after he does and lightly allows her head to rest against his shoulder. "Thank you for coming."
Kurt nods, smiling and then even chuckling along with Amanda. He tilts his head so that his cheek rests against the top of her head and then squeezes her hand gently once more. "You don't need to thank me. I should have been here more often. I shouldn't have been gone so long. I should have been here watching out for you."
That produces soft laughter followed by Amanda assuring him, "I'm a big girl, Kurt. You don't have to look out for me all the time. I'm older than you remember?"
At the mention of Amanda's age, Kurt grows a tad quieter. He is silent for some time, the merriment subdued before he nods his head in agreement and says, "Yes, you are…" There is a pause before he turns to look Amanda in the eyes and says, "Do you ever wonder what would be if Stephan were alive?"
Amanda Sefton shakes her head. She shifts away from him so she can turn to face him instead of sitting beside him. Her left hand lifts to cup his cheek, "No. I don't. You did what you had to do. Even mother forgave you for that long ago. I don't think about it unless something brings it up."
Kurt's face turns into Amanda's hand, nuzzling against it softly as he smiles at her words. "It is just something that weighs on me from time to time. I hate the thought of killing. Even if it was an accident, I still can't seem to forgive myself completely of the guilt."
Amanda Sefton draws a slightly extended breath as he nuzzles her hand, "You are the best person I know Kurt. Always have been."