"Insomnia" (4/4)
Finally, Pete spoke up. "Stalemate," he laughed. "'Strewth! You're
stubborn!"
"So are you."
"All part and parcel of the Wisdom charm."
"And I bet you wonder why you don't get more dates." Her voice dripped
sarcasm.
"You mean to say you're not totally enthralled by my presence?" he asked in
mock amazement.
Amanda rolled her eyes.
"Ouch. You injure me, dear lady! Let's get back to the subject at hand before
my fragile male ego crumbles to dust!" Pete quipped.
"You're not going to let this drop, are you?" asked Amanda.
Pete grinned in return. "Not a chance."
"Serves me right for playing show-and-tell," Amanda pouted. "Fine. Let's get
this over with."
His crooked grin faded. "Right. We've established that you still care about
Wagner. Why aren't you having this discussion with him?"
Her shoulders slumped. "He's made it pretty apparent that he doesn't want me
in his life."
"Have you asked him?"
"I don't need to," she replied matter-of-factly.
"'You don't need to?!'" he exclaimed in exasperation. "I don't believe this!
How the bloody hell do you know he doesn't want you if you don't talk to him?"
Amanda narrowed her eyes. "I've known Kurt my entire life, Wisdom. I know him
as well as I know myself. I think I have some idea." The tone of her voice
was frosty cold.
Pete snorted.
"Would you mind telling me what's so damn funny?"
"You X-folk are a bunch of masochists. Whine, whine, whine! Is there a single
functional relationship among the lot of you? Do you all enjoy being
miserable? Why do you make it so hard on yourselves? You and Wagner have a
long history. You said yourself that you hated this place and would never have
come back if he hadn't called you for help. Obviously, you care for him."
"Of course I do. I love him, " Amanda murmured.
"And obviously he still thinks something of you, otherwise he wouldn't have
called you in the first place. I mean, it's not like there aren't a few local
blokes who can work a little magic. Wagner could've easily called in one of
the locals."
"So? What's your point?"
"'What's my point?!' So what's with this 'he doesn't want me' talk? Stop
making yourself miserable! Bloody hell, stop making me miserable! Stop
feeling sorry for yourself and talk to him, you silly bird! For all you know,
he's annoying one of his teammates with the same self-pitying crap you're
giving me. The way I see it, you've got nowt to lose, 'cept maybe some workout
time."
She sat silent for a long moment, then chuckled ruefully. "I guess I have been
hanging around the X-Men too long."
"You're practically an X-Man by default."
"Am I a pathetic nutcase or what? 'Masochistic sorceress stewardess mutant
groupies... on the next Jerry Springer Show!'"
"That explains the Bionic Woman routine."
Pete was pleasantly surprised when Amanda flashed him a beautiful smile.
"Yeah, I sort of got carried away with the working out, didn't I? I guess I
thought that maybe if I were stronger physically, it would be harder for the
next psycho who had a beef with the X-Men to victimize me. Not too neurotic,
huh?"
"But aren't you a sorceress?"
"Yep. But my skills haven't proven very useful in combat."
"Can't you just, you know, zap them or liquefy their brains or... "
Amanda wrinkled her nose in disgust. "No! I won't use magic to hurt or kill
someone willfully. I made that choice a long time ago. I won't taint my soul
that way."
"Right. But aren't there other spells you can learn that will disable an
enemy? Non-lethal ones? Turn 'em into pigeons or something? Then you can
leave the rest to us unscrupulous types!"
"Of course there are, but mastery of the Arts can take a lifetime. It's a very
demanding discipline," she muttered sheepishly.
"And you have a day job."
"Exactly. My mother devoted her entire life to studying magic, but I never
wanted that. I just wanted a nice, boring, normal life."
"I guess hanging out with the X-Men sort of dashed that 'boring, normal life'
all to pieces, eh?"
"Oh, the irony," Amanda intoned sarcastically.
The X-Men seemed to be a sore point with Amanda. Pete decided a change of
subject was in order. "So, Sefton... you're looking for a way to defend yourself
that doesn't involve magic?"
Amanda nodded. "Stupid, huh?"
"No, no, not at all. It's just that... well..."
Amanda arched an eyebrow. "What?"
"Er... um...you've done a wonderful job of getting in shape, and I'm sure all the
men around here appreciate your hard work," he cleared his throat, "but the
only way it's going to help you in an attack is that you'll be able to run away
faster. No offense."
"None taken. I've just never been taught to defend myself. I mean, at work we
were trained to be passive when a passenger got violent. They thought it was
safer for everyone that way," she snorted, "as if they had to worry about the
flight attendants kicking ass all over the cabin. 'Please place your seats and
tray tables in the upright position... sir, please SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP before I
break my foot off in your ass!'"
"I'd pay to see that!" Pete laughed.
Amanda snickered, "I'd be lying if I said that I've never fantasized about
beating one of the jerks from First Class into submission."
Pete grinned evilly as an idea began to take shape. "I'll tell you what,
Sefton. I'll make a deal with you."
"Oh? This should be interesting."
"You talk to Wagner and make with the nicey-nice..."
Amanda started to protest when Pete stopped her with his best "I mean business"
glare.
"I'm not telling you to go and shag him rotten. Just talk to the man! I'm
getting sick of all the bloody angst around here. Tell him how you feel, let
him tell you how he feels, and get it all out."
"That's none of your business."
"You made it my business when you spilled your guts, Sefton."
Amanda grumbled a few choice insults under her breath.
"Oh stop, you'll hurt my feelings," he remarked sarcastically. "Hear me out.
I'm trying to help you. If you talk to Wagner and bury the hatchet, I will
teach you how to fight, my way. You're a stubborn thing, and I can tell you've
got one hell of a nasty streak. You've got potential. We'll make a scrapper
out of you yet."
"You want to teach me how to fight?"
"Don't act so surprised. I may not be the secret agent man Kitty told you
about, but I am a government-trained killer," he stated with genuine pride. "I
was one of the best... still am! I can teach you a few basic defensive skills or
we can go all out. It's up to you."
Amanda said nothing, but it was clear to Pete that she was considering the
offer.
"You want to teach me how to kill?" she finally asked hesitantly.
Pete laughed, "Spoil sport! Fine. If you want to take the high road, then
I'll teach you non-lethal force only." His icy blue eyes gleamed with
mischief. "But that don't mean it can't hurt like a bugger!"
"What do you get out of it?" she smirked.
He could barely suppress a delighted grin. "Besides regular aerobic exercise
with a gorgeous lady like yourself?" Pete leered as Amanda rolled her eyes.
"It will annoy the hell out of Wagner to learn that I'm going to be teaching
his sweetheart how to fight dirty! I can see it now: Sefton's Revenge! 'Ach
du Lieber, schveetie! Bitte removen youren kneesen from meine vindpipen!
Ow-ow-ow, it hurtsen!' Ha ha ha! Finally, an opportunity to tweak that
Teutonic sense of honor!"
Amanda frowned and shook her head. For a moment, Pete worried that he had
crossed the line. Then a devilish grin slowly spread across her features.
"C'mon Sefton. What do you say?" He extended a hand.
"Mr. Wisdom, you have yourself a deal." She laughed and shook his outstretched
hand.
"First lesson, Grasshopper. Cut the formalities. Call me Pete."
"Okay, Pete, but only if you call me Amanda. Not Sefton and especially not
Mandy. Call me Mandy and you die."
"I'd like to see you try, Mandy! Now go get some sleep. We start tomorrow...
provided you keep your part of the deal."
Pete was still cackling with malevolent delight when Amanda opened the heavy
soundproofed door to leave. "GOODNIGHT MANDY!" he sang out loudly.
Amanda smiled innocently and extended her middle finger as she shut the door
behind her.
As she showered away the sweat and grime from her workout, Amanda reflected on
her discussion with Pete. It certainly didn't assuage all the tension and
anxiety she was feeling, but it was exactly what she had needed. It felt good
to talk, and even better to laugh. Pete was a surprisingly attentive and
thoughtful listener.
'I wonder why everyone in Excalibur seems to dislike him so much. Sure he's
crude and obnoxious, but he seems to be a decent person. So far he's the only
person on this island who has bothered to talk to me at any length.'
Amanda glanced at the bedside table as she crawled under the covers. The clock
read 4:00 am. Only a few hours until the other inhabitants would begin to
stir. She stretched out and closed her eyes. She tried to think of what she
would say to Kurt in the morning, playing out different scenarios in her mind.
Eventually, exhaustion won out over anxiety. The tension in her body relaxed,
and the doubts seemed to fade away into the darkness. For the first time in
many days, Amanda Sefton fell into a deep, tranquil slumber.
Finally, Pete spoke up. "Stalemate," he laughed. "'Strewth! You're
stubborn!"
"So are you."
"All part and parcel of the Wisdom charm."
"And I bet you wonder why you don't get more dates." Her voice dripped
sarcasm.
"You mean to say you're not totally enthralled by my presence?" he asked in
mock amazement.
Amanda rolled her eyes.
"Ouch. You injure me, dear lady! Let's get back to the subject at hand before
my fragile male ego crumbles to dust!" Pete quipped.
"You're not going to let this drop, are you?" asked Amanda.
Pete grinned in return. "Not a chance."
"Serves me right for playing show-and-tell," Amanda pouted. "Fine. Let's get
this over with."
His crooked grin faded. "Right. We've established that you still care about
Wagner. Why aren't you having this discussion with him?"
Her shoulders slumped. "He's made it pretty apparent that he doesn't want me
in his life."
"Have you asked him?"
"I don't need to," she replied matter-of-factly.
"'You don't need to?!'" he exclaimed in exasperation. "I don't believe this!
How the bloody hell do you know he doesn't want you if you don't talk to him?"
Amanda narrowed her eyes. "I've known Kurt my entire life, Wisdom. I know him
as well as I know myself. I think I have some idea." The tone of her voice
was frosty cold.
Pete snorted.
"Would you mind telling me what's so damn funny?"
"You X-folk are a bunch of masochists. Whine, whine, whine! Is there a single
functional relationship among the lot of you? Do you all enjoy being
miserable? Why do you make it so hard on yourselves? You and Wagner have a
long history. You said yourself that you hated this place and would never have
come back if he hadn't called you for help. Obviously, you care for him."
"Of course I do. I love him, " Amanda murmured.
"And obviously he still thinks something of you, otherwise he wouldn't have
called you in the first place. I mean, it's not like there aren't a few local
blokes who can work a little magic. Wagner could've easily called in one of
the locals."
"So? What's your point?"
"'What's my point?!' So what's with this 'he doesn't want me' talk? Stop
making yourself miserable! Bloody hell, stop making me miserable! Stop
feeling sorry for yourself and talk to him, you silly bird! For all you know,
he's annoying one of his teammates with the same self-pitying crap you're
giving me. The way I see it, you've got nowt to lose, 'cept maybe some workout
time."
She sat silent for a long moment, then chuckled ruefully. "I guess I have been
hanging around the X-Men too long."
"You're practically an X-Man by default."
"Am I a pathetic nutcase or what? 'Masochistic sorceress stewardess mutant
groupies... on the next Jerry Springer Show!'"
"That explains the Bionic Woman routine."
Pete was pleasantly surprised when Amanda flashed him a beautiful smile.
"Yeah, I sort of got carried away with the working out, didn't I? I guess I
thought that maybe if I were stronger physically, it would be harder for the
next psycho who had a beef with the X-Men to victimize me. Not too neurotic,
huh?"
"But aren't you a sorceress?"
"Yep. But my skills haven't proven very useful in combat."
"Can't you just, you know, zap them or liquefy their brains or... "
Amanda wrinkled her nose in disgust. "No! I won't use magic to hurt or kill
someone willfully. I made that choice a long time ago. I won't taint my soul
that way."
"Right. But aren't there other spells you can learn that will disable an
enemy? Non-lethal ones? Turn 'em into pigeons or something? Then you can
leave the rest to us unscrupulous types!"
"Of course there are, but mastery of the Arts can take a lifetime. It's a very
demanding discipline," she muttered sheepishly.
"And you have a day job."
"Exactly. My mother devoted her entire life to studying magic, but I never
wanted that. I just wanted a nice, boring, normal life."
"I guess hanging out with the X-Men sort of dashed that 'boring, normal life'
all to pieces, eh?"
"Oh, the irony," Amanda intoned sarcastically.
The X-Men seemed to be a sore point with Amanda. Pete decided a change of
subject was in order. "So, Sefton... you're looking for a way to defend yourself
that doesn't involve magic?"
Amanda nodded. "Stupid, huh?"
"No, no, not at all. It's just that... well..."
Amanda arched an eyebrow. "What?"
"Er... um...you've done a wonderful job of getting in shape, and I'm sure all the
men around here appreciate your hard work," he cleared his throat, "but the
only way it's going to help you in an attack is that you'll be able to run away
faster. No offense."
"None taken. I've just never been taught to defend myself. I mean, at work we
were trained to be passive when a passenger got violent. They thought it was
safer for everyone that way," she snorted, "as if they had to worry about the
flight attendants kicking ass all over the cabin. 'Please place your seats and
tray tables in the upright position... sir, please SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP before I
break my foot off in your ass!'"
"I'd pay to see that!" Pete laughed.
Amanda snickered, "I'd be lying if I said that I've never fantasized about
beating one of the jerks from First Class into submission."
Pete grinned evilly as an idea began to take shape. "I'll tell you what,
Sefton. I'll make a deal with you."
"Oh? This should be interesting."
"You talk to Wagner and make with the nicey-nice..."
Amanda started to protest when Pete stopped her with his best "I mean business"
glare.
"I'm not telling you to go and shag him rotten. Just talk to the man! I'm
getting sick of all the bloody angst around here. Tell him how you feel, let
him tell you how he feels, and get it all out."
"That's none of your business."
"You made it my business when you spilled your guts, Sefton."
Amanda grumbled a few choice insults under her breath.
"Oh stop, you'll hurt my feelings," he remarked sarcastically. "Hear me out.
I'm trying to help you. If you talk to Wagner and bury the hatchet, I will
teach you how to fight, my way. You're a stubborn thing, and I can tell you've
got one hell of a nasty streak. You've got potential. We'll make a scrapper
out of you yet."
"You want to teach me how to fight?"
"Don't act so surprised. I may not be the secret agent man Kitty told you
about, but I am a government-trained killer," he stated with genuine pride. "I
was one of the best... still am! I can teach you a few basic defensive skills or
we can go all out. It's up to you."
Amanda said nothing, but it was clear to Pete that she was considering the
offer.
"You want to teach me how to kill?" she finally asked hesitantly.
Pete laughed, "Spoil sport! Fine. If you want to take the high road, then
I'll teach you non-lethal force only." His icy blue eyes gleamed with
mischief. "But that don't mean it can't hurt like a bugger!"
"What do you get out of it?" she smirked.
He could barely suppress a delighted grin. "Besides regular aerobic exercise
with a gorgeous lady like yourself?" Pete leered as Amanda rolled her eyes.
"It will annoy the hell out of Wagner to learn that I'm going to be teaching
his sweetheart how to fight dirty! I can see it now: Sefton's Revenge! 'Ach
du Lieber, schveetie! Bitte removen youren kneesen from meine vindpipen!
Ow-ow-ow, it hurtsen!' Ha ha ha! Finally, an opportunity to tweak that
Teutonic sense of honor!"
Amanda frowned and shook her head. For a moment, Pete worried that he had
crossed the line. Then a devilish grin slowly spread across her features.
"C'mon Sefton. What do you say?" He extended a hand.
"Mr. Wisdom, you have yourself a deal." She laughed and shook his outstretched
hand.
"First lesson, Grasshopper. Cut the formalities. Call me Pete."
"Okay, Pete, but only if you call me Amanda. Not Sefton and especially not
Mandy. Call me Mandy and you die."
"I'd like to see you try, Mandy! Now go get some sleep. We start tomorrow...
provided you keep your part of the deal."
Pete was still cackling with malevolent delight when Amanda opened the heavy
soundproofed door to leave. "GOODNIGHT MANDY!" he sang out loudly.
Amanda smiled innocently and extended her middle finger as she shut the door
behind her.
As she showered away the sweat and grime from her workout, Amanda reflected on
her discussion with Pete. It certainly didn't assuage all the tension and
anxiety she was feeling, but it was exactly what she had needed. It felt good
to talk, and even better to laugh. Pete was a surprisingly attentive and
thoughtful listener.
'I wonder why everyone in Excalibur seems to dislike him so much. Sure he's
crude and obnoxious, but he seems to be a decent person. So far he's the only
person on this island who has bothered to talk to me at any length.'
Amanda glanced at the bedside table as she crawled under the covers. The clock
read 4:00 am. Only a few hours until the other inhabitants would begin to
stir. She stretched out and closed her eyes. She tried to think of what she
would say to Kurt in the morning, playing out different scenarios in her mind.
Eventually, exhaustion won out over anxiety. The tension in her body relaxed,
and the doubts seemed to fade away into the darkness. For the first time in
many days, Amanda Sefton fell into a deep, tranquil slumber.