01 Some Things Never Die... Some Things Do

[Double Fire]

Mandy said nothing as she left the training session, after a long hot shower and changing into fresh clothes she made her way to the kitchen for a snack. She was surprised to see Sharon coming down the stairs fastening the belt to her jeans.

Stopping a moment, Mandy watched her. She had always admired and revered her mentor, even now in seeing the depression on Sharon’s face. She approached the woman who had been like a second mother to her. “Snow, are you sure you're all right?”

Before she could answer, Garston approached with Achilles and Venus. They held an air of seriousness as Achilles supported an unconscious Benny. “What is it, Sir?” Sharon asked.

“There’s an urgent matter that needs tending to.” Garston said. "We'll be at The Consortium's East Coast House, if you need us."

“I saw Hollow earlier. He said something about going into town for a few things,” Sharon placed a hand on Mandy’s shoulder. “Looks like it’ll just be Arcas, Astral and us.”

“Torque is hanging around.” Arcas came around the corner, joining the group with a small pack. “We should only be a few days at the most.” He winked at Sharon with that endearing smile she adored. “Take care.”

That was the one thing she never told anyone, she and Arcas had a connection they kept to themselves. They had agreed a long time ago that it was best for the teams.

After the group left, Sharon walked with Mandy to the kitchen on the great snack quest.

“Since he didn’t say anything about you being up, I’m guessing it means Garston thinks you’ll be okay?” Mandy was worried about what had happened; she had some of the details but not all, she didn't have the ones inside their heads. Mandy could only imagine the agony.

*

Except for being without her abilities, everything seemed “normal” to Sharon. Not that she was comfortable with the block, she was grateful not to have to face the visions implanted into her mind. Still, it was oddly distorting to view people without her telepathy. “I suppose, either that or he’s too short on time to chastise me.”

In the kitchen they found several white delivery bags on the counter with the logo of Dante’s emblazoned on them. There was a note attached to the front most one.

Darling Daughter,
Astral tells me you’re ill and not up to visitors, I hope this helps you. Come to Dante’s when you’re feeling better. Love Mom

They opened the bags and found containers full of Sally’s home cooking; there was herb chicken, vegetable soup, sweet bread rolls, broccoli salad, and apple cider. In the bakery box they found a small collection of cinnamon rolls. Mandy got the glasses while Sharon moved their feast to the table.

Spending time with her mentor typically had ways of calming her down and improving Mandy's spirits. As usual, she found their conversation evolved to concerns of her, Matt, and their friendship.

[Archivist]

22 Hollow

Not wanting to intrude on what he saw as a private ‘woman moment’ in the kitchen Matt saw no reason to stick around. He'd spend the rest of the day in the garden. It’s not like he had anything better to do than exercise his martial arts skills or meditate in the privacy of the labyrinth of rose bushes.

After he had grown tired of the rose bushes, he headed inside. B lining for the kitchen again, and the dr. pepper he had hidden in the very back of the fridge. His head and most of his shoulders were hidden in the refrigerator. Half of the things that were on the shelf he was digging into were out on a counter. The Dr. Pepper was just in reach; victory would be his.

Behind him, Mandy folded her arms as she watched Matt raid the fridge. She snuck up behind him and clasped her hands onto his back. "Boo!"

The sudden clasping and the yell startled him. Reflexes caused him to jump and try to stand. There was a loud thud and a slight rattling from the things on the shelf above as his head hit the impacted. "Ack! Damn it!" what could he say, it slipped.

She took a quick step back as he jumped; she couldn't help but laugh. "To easy!"

He knew who it was. He grabbed his Dr. Pepper and extract himself from the fridge, his free hand rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, yeah, I figured... Just didn’t think it would hurt so much." opening his dr. pepper, he took a drink, and looked to the stuff on the counter. "So.... who made the mess…? Mandy?" that sly, playful grin slithered on his face as he looked to her.

“Not even," Mandy grabbed a vanilla coke that had fallen on the floor and started to open it. The release of pressure sprayed the soda everywhere. On reflex, Mandy dropped the plastic bottle which made things worse. The bottom of the bottle cracked making the soda spray even more. It hit both of them, Mandy's white shorts and legs were speckled with the dark caramel color of the soda. Matt's pants were sprayed and speckled as well from the explosion. Not even the counters were spared.

"Gee thanks, never had a cola shower before." Matt griped.

Mandy sneered and grabbed for the paper towels. She crouched down, wiping off the cabinets then stopped to look up at him. "Why don't you help me clean up?" She stood and dropped the bundle of paper towels into the trash.

Smirking, he walked over to the utility closet and pulled out a couple of mops passing one to her. Glancing to her, he hopped up on a clean counter. Watching her, he took a drink of his Dr. Pepper. "Hey...in your past life were you a servant chick on a pirate ship? Cause, you look like you’re used to being on your knees...scrubbing the floor." he grinned as she looked up at him.

She was obviously annoyed, the look of irritation said it all. "Get back to work laughing boy."

As he watched her look back to where she was scrubbing, he could have sworn there was a hint of a playful smirk. He rolled his eyes; he wasn’t going to let her do all the work, so he hopped off the counter and got to work. It wasn’t long before they finished; they even put back the stuff he had set out on the counter.

With the mess cleaned up, Mandy put the mops away and stepped to the sink to wash, splashing water on her face as she did. Grabbing a dry towel, she pressed it to her face and dried her hands, then threw the towel at Matt.

"All right flyboy, I think you need a lesson here, CAP style." She stepped out, hooked her ankle around his and grabbed hold of his arm twisting him and pinning his arm behind him, she trapped him against the counter. "One smart ass around here is enough."

"I knew you liked me." He smirked.

"You have no idea." She released him with a sudden jolt and stepped away. What the hell am I doing? This isn't me. She thought. Turning away from him, she folded her arms as she looked out the window. His words had caught her off guard and she felt her heart race.

Matt stepped to her side. "Hey, you okay?"

"No, I'm not." She turned her face to him. "I'm sick of the games, the teasing but I'm not going to put myself in your path."

Matt put his hands up in submission. Her being down, brought him down. She was one of the few people he hated to disappoint, anger, or sadden. Very few, in fact he could count the number of those people on one hand. "Look... I’m sorry; I didn’t know I was bothering you. I was just playing around. If you want me to stop, I’ll stop." He wanted to put his hand on her shoulder for reassurance, but he wasn’t sure if she'd accept it, or flip him over her shoulder and into the sink.

He grabbed the Dr. Pepper and waved it back and forth in front of her, just where she could see it. "Peer pressure, peer pressure." he wanted to make her smile. Offering her a Dr. Pepper like the coke was something bad, was his first attempt at seeing that. If it failed, he'd try something else, even if it involved grabbing a lunch tray and sliding down the stairs railing... again.