Amber is a totally random vampire hunter newbie. Unlike most of the group, she's still willing to associate with JJ. The rest is self-explanatory history dumb.
9:42 AM 1/31/05
"I call bull," Jaina said flatly.
"Oh yeah, why? 'Cause you can't stand the thought that someone's better than you?" Amber snickered in positively bimbonic manner.
"No, actually. There are betters out there. I'm not the pinnacle of all achievement." After a moment's pause, Jaina added, "Duh!"
Amber went instantly into giggle spams. Jaina resisted the urge to cluck her tongue and claim the young were heading for a handbasket ride.
Before long Amber had pulled herself into a semblance of togetherness. "Seriously now. Addy broke its teeth with her fingers. Goddess' own truth."
"Uh-huh," Jaina responded. "You saw her punch?"
"Well.... no."
"So I call bull."
"And it wasn't fists! She used her fingers, no knuckles involved!" Amber insisted.
Jaina sighed. "Amber."
"What?" Their mutual annoyance rang clear.
"Have you ever actually been around a zombie?"
"Of course!"
"Outside of training?"
Amber bit her pouting lip. If she was trying to look cute, the effort was wasted on Jaina. "Not yet."
"Are you familiar with the concept of decay?"
No response. For once, Amber kept her mouth shut. Finally all she said was a meek, "...oh."
Jaina felt sorry for the new girl. "I'm not saying she's not strong."
Amber nodded mutely, so Jaina plunged ahead. "I just mean that maybe isn't a good example. Zombies fall apart over time, so breaking them..." She trailed off, unwilling to rub it in too much.
A light went off behind Amber's brown eyes. Without realising or desiring to, Jaina recoiled from it.
"You should see Addy against the beasts though, JJ; she just slaps them away! I'm telling you she's gonna break your records!"
Jaina gave up.
4:05 PM 2/1/05
"What the fuck do you want me to do about it?" Jaina's left eyeball twitched as she asked the question.
Amber ignored her friend's irritation. "You know she's out there--"
"I know that you're gonna be out there if you don't shut the fuck up!"
"So end it!"
Jaina seemed to collapse into herself then, so completely withdrawn that Amber began to worry -- a rare occurrance.
"I can't end it," Jaina said softly.
"Why not?" Amber felt it was her turn to be irritated.
"I can't end her."
Jaina's eyes focused on Amber then, but they seemed to stare through her to something in the distance. Something Amber would never be able to see even if she turned and stared too.
"Look," Jaina said with astonishing tenderness, "you're new to this. This life. You had parents; you had a normal life with normal sex and all those goodies you took for granted then. But -- you never got to have her. She was special. She was very special to me."
"Oh God," Amber choked. "You didn't `do' her, did--"
"No!" Jaina's horror palpably struck the younger girl. "Goddess, no! Fucking hell, how could you even think that?" The redhead looked ready to throw up.
Amber moved to awkwardly pat Jaina on the back, but got rebuffed. "I -- I didn't mean -- I'm sorry."
"Not your fault," Jaina mumbled miserably. "It's them is what it is. They're just so -- Goddess. They're fucked up and fucking up and they don't fucking stop. They get into your brain and they never leave."
"Like magic or something?"
Jaina chuckled then and wiped her check on her denim-clad knee. "The magic of parenting maybe. Far as I can tell anyway, but how the hell would I know? I'm just comparing myself to the normals again, counting the ways in which I am a total freak of nature fit for centuries of careful scientific study."
Amber grinned so wickedly that Jaina was forced to ask warily, "What? What am I about to kick myself for asking about now?"
"You know how it's only illegal if you get caught?" Jaina nodded uncertainly. "You're only a freak if they notice. Most people are idiots; ergo they won't notice; ergo, you're not a freak, won't get studied, yadda shmadda, get studded maybe."
The redhead rolled her eyes but supressed a half-smile.
"See?" Amber asked, pleased with herself.
"You are the biggest dork. Ever. Hanging out with undesirable elements like me."
"`Elements' is singular."
"Me and my breasts then."
"Damn right."
"Damn skippy! Now where's the vodka?"