} 062 - [VOICE] - back again

[creatingalegacy]

So.

[Amanda sounds...indifferent. Not honestly indifferent; it's got an air of practice to it, like she rehearsed her tone.]

I'm back.

[There isn't much she wants to say to the general population at the moment, all things considered, so...have her lackluster public announcement.]


[Private to Lua]

Are you back yet? [Please be back. Amanda's missed her like crazy.]

If you are, I'm sorry. I didn't expect to be gone so long, but I needed to wait for something.

[Private to Rhade]

[A little playfully:] Miss me?

[Private to Hoffman]

[There's nothing on the network for him. Instead, she's left a newspaper in front of his door. It's an issue of the New York Times, dated 2003...a new 2003.

She's used a red marker to circle a small article: the announcement of Gideon Kramer's birth, the first child of renowned civil engineer John Kramer and Jill Tuck, his philanthropist wife.]


[OOC: Sorry I vanished! I had to hiatus suddenly due to my perpetually shitty health.]

Comments

private

[creatingalegacy]

[That DOES make her proud. Incredibly proud.]

How'd you do it? Did you have any of your self-defense kit on you, or did you improvise?

private

[surrenders]

Didn't have time to do anything but shoot them.

You want to come over? Got space, this time.

private

[creatingalegacy]

[Oh man, Amanda's REALLY hoping that gun was the one she gave Lua.]

Of course. Just give me a few minutes.

[surrenders]

[The door's unlocked, and it's definitely a different room, blue and white and girly and somewhere she's made hers from the beginning, instead of something she had to carve a space out of. She calls out at the sound of footsteps, but has her head in the refrigerator for just a second before the door opens, looking for something to make a good time of this that she knows Amanda will actually touch. It's going to be all right. There's no reason to be
scared, it's her brain screwing with her.]

[creatingalegacy]

[Amanda opens the door and enters with a wave, and gazes appreciatively at her surroundings for a moment.]

I'm really liking what you've done with the place.

[She smiles at Lua when her former inmate looks at her, and Amanda looks...younger? Her face is less lined, and she carries herself a little differently.]

I missed you, Lua.

[surrenders]

[It's hard to look, and she doesn't like what she's picturing when she does, but she's almost prepared for it now, and it's her. And she's better. So Lua breathes in, like it's going to be all right (it has to be all right), and she almost runs over to wrap her arms around Amanda, any plans she was trying to make forgotten.]

Missed you too.

[creatingalegacy]

[Amanda hugs her back, tight. It's a while before she lets go.]

How are you doing? When did you get back?

[surrenders]

Been back about a month. It's been busy, so it didn't feel like it.

...you look good.

[creatingalegacy]

[Amanda shrugs, smiling a little.]

I had to turn back the clock six years--six from my perspective--so I guess it's a fringe benefit of my deal.

[She's counting the two birthdays that passed after she came aboard. How does she 29, Lua? HOW? She was drugged out of her mind the first time around.]

[surrenders]

So it worked? [Her smile's about to break off her face at the thought, even if it's a little less real than usual.]

[creatingalegacy]

[Her attempt at being cool and collected falls apart, and she grins.]

Gideon was born a week ago.

[surrenders]

[One of her friends, when she went back, had a baby, a little boy just starting to get around. She'd been happy, even if it was just them, and it's that that Lua thinks about for just a second before seeing Amanda even happier than that.]

Perfect. You did it.

[creatingalegacy]

I wouldn't have had the chance, if not for you.

[She hugs Lua again, even tighter, and speaks softly.]

And there's no one else I would have rather helped.

[surrenders]

I had to. It was better. [She can't accept the thanks she's hearing, even now.]

It's worth it, okay?

[creatingalegacy]

Just seeing you like this would have been worth it.

[Even if she hadn't gotten her deal.]

[surrenders]

[wow Amanda way to accidentally make her feel bad for keeping secrets, but she found something to make her proud with, and that helps.]

Like how? [She knows that how she thinks changed, but that isn't something you see.]

[creatingalegacy]

Independent. Aware of your own strength, aware of the value of your life.

[surrenders]

Still wish I could let everyone else handle things. But I can't now.

[creatingalegacy]

[She shrugs with a small smile.]

It gets easier.

[surrenders]

Still miss it. But I can't let him, not with what he does.

[creatingalegacy]

That's what he's here for. His warden will help him.

[Hopefully. She doesn't have any more faith in the wardens as a whole than she did before Lua graduated.]

[surrenders]

[She's not too sure about that; Duo hasn't done much she's seen, and she sees a lot.]

Even after he's out of here, I can't.