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Amber finds Mark having gone to the bathroom and after grabbing a bottle of water that she had set aside for him chugs it for a few seconds before going right back to the box. She goes about getting some water set up for later that isn't just bottled. She fills up the water filter she had bought with water and has it start building up their water supply. Once done she grabs it, dumps it into a jug and then repeats the process. She lets Chris have full access to use her third eye to do whatever he wants for the time being as she goes about putting away as much as possible.

But habits drilled into her over years of practice are hard to break and her body itches for having not done any physical training in a couple of days. And so Amber stretches out a bit and having nothing else to really use she goes about doing laps around the building. It is definitely strange for her to be working out in this form. Normally they did all of their training when she had that ring on simply because it was easier on them and wouldn't have made much of a difference. Christopher also seems to get in on this exercise, though whether to show off or actually train at using his ability on the fly using her ability as a guide she can't really tell. Either way she's unphased by it all having had to train alongside Amethyst. The point is to work on her own body, not try and compete against people with significant advantages in that capacity. Though lapping the building a few times does give her a really good idea on what all really needs to be cleaned up around this place. After lapping a few times she cools back down before going into their makeshift kitchen and setting some water to boil for their dinner. While that's going she actually makes a point of sitting outside and watching Mark try and move the box around. It's clear to her that he really does genuinely want this.

"So is anyone going to come looking for you two for me letting you stay out too long?" She asks as he drags the box back to one edge of the alley.

"Nah, we're both living out on our own. My gang may decide to check up on me and try to pressure me into helping them, but it ain't like I have to do anything."

"Have you broken the law?"

"Most I've done is destruction of property. The gang never really was much interested in stealing stuff, just in protecting their turf and I was usually a really good deterrent from anyone messing with them. Do you really think this will help me live a normal life?"

"There's no such thing as a truly normal life when it comes to those of us with powers," Amber shrugs. "If you could get someone to enchant an item to inhibit your abilities perhaps you could. The point of this exercise for you is to theoretically get you to train your body to the point that it knows how little pressure it takes to grab an object without breaking it. I'll admit I'm not entirely certain it'll do as I say as my ability doesn't see that far into the future. But I think if you can get to the point where you can push an empty box up and down the alley without knocking it over, you should at least be able to handle plastic and metal objects without breaking them. Then it'll be a matter of figuring out how to scale it down further than that," Amber's ears twitch as she can hear the water starting to boil. "Well, on that note I need to go get dinner started. She heads back in, seeing him nod at her in response. She grabs out everything that she had chosen for tonight's meal. This being the first time she's ever even been allowed to cook for herself she's not at all interested doing anything all that fancy. But spaghetti and store-bought meatballs should be simple enough for her to make. And for what it was worth for being another step of proving she was finally free to live her own life she was actually enjoying the experience a little.

Eventually it's done and she calls out to Christopher to come help himself, using some paper plates and plastic silverware since she's not yet confident enough in having a working dishwasher to want to use real utensils and plates. She actually goes about making a couple of plates of the spaghetti and grabs a couple bottles of water to wash it down. She takes both plates, making sure to keep the plastic forks from falling off the plates.

"Hey, Mark, food's ready. Come here and I'll help feed you."

"I don't really need help eating," Mark starts to complain as he heads towards her.

"Well it's basically this. Right now, your hands are likely extremely filthy. So you'd have to go and try to use the sink to wash your hands and then try to handle the plastic fork and paper plate to eat it, or you can just sit down on these steps and I'll help you. It really makes no difference to me."

Mark grumbles but obeys, coming up and sitting down on the seat next to her, staring at his hands as he does so. Amber uses a fork to get a portion of the spaghetti and holds it in front of him. Mark sighs and opens his mouth and takes a bite. After he pulls the noodles off the fork she puts it down onto his plate and then takes a bite out of her own.

"So how did they handle helping you eat?"

"They usually just give me things and then I just make a mess. Or they stick everything in a blender and put it in a metal thermos for me to drink from."

"So you've never really had much practice at actually eating food like a normal person?" She asks, bringing another forkful of food for Mark.

"Will I. I mean if your thing works, will I be able to eat food normally?"

"Don't know," Amber says honestly. "Honestly with people like us I don't think anything can ever truly be considered normal. It's a simple unfortunate effect that for some of us, truly having a normal life and we just have to come to terms with it. You will likely never have the freedom of being able to grab things with the casualness that Christopher or I can. I can grab your fork without ever worrying about it breaking on me just as you will never have to deal with the joys of going through shedding season. I cannot promise you a normal life, just as simply being associated with me will likely get you banned from any casino," Amber says, staring off in the distance before giving him another forkful of food. "The most I can honestly promise you is that I will try my best to help you gain at least some control over your strength so long as you're okay with doing a bit of muscle work here and there helping me get this place to a state that's at least livable. And then when you feel ready you can go and try to find something meaningful to do with your life."

"Is that why you left the Core? To find meaning?"

Amber doesn't answer the question, instead watching the road that ran in front of the building. But she doesn't forget what she's doing and after taking a bit out of her own plate she grabs another forkful and holds it up to him. She can feel him take a bite off the fork so she puts it down and allows her mind to wander. She does a quick search and finds that Christopher has apparently gone to the roof to go eat and gaze at the sky as well and isn't making any use of her ability so she ends that ability, leaving them all completely in the present. They spend much of the rest of the meal in this manner, of her just feeding him and herself without anything really being spoken between them for several minutes

"Though I have to ask," Mark says when their meal is almost done. "I know it is probably a bit much to presume, but you do have this big place all to yourself and I wouldn't be in the way. But do you think it'd be okay if I were to crash here tonight?" he asks sheepishly.

"Don't you have your own place to sleep?"

"Well I do, but not really. I have a place I could go, but me being there pretty much means that I have to help out the gang there. It's their stomping grounds and I just think it'd be far better if I were to try and start anew, to not have to worry about the people I'm around when I'm trying to get some sleep trying to pressure me into helping them bully others into getting what they want."

Amber sighs, "I guess I don't really have anything I can really say no to that. Though I am going to say right up front if you are staying the night I am going to put you back to work on helping me get this place fixed. I'll still pay for food again. I might as well. Though don't expect much fancy."

"But what can I really do to help? I'm useless in just about anything I try to do."

"Oy," Amber smacks him in the back of the head. "That's kind of the whole point of your training thing. Yes I can't trust you do handle anything delicate, but that doesn't mean there aren't things I can have you do. If nothing else I imagine there are mattresses that are bad and need being thrown out. Not to mention should probably start trying to patch the big giant hole. I can hit up a lumber yard, get some wood and then you can simply hold the wood in place as I hammer them into the walls. You should never just go through life trying to think about what all you won't be able to do. You need to think for yourself and find something that you know you can do and are perfectly okay with doing. Then simply work on doing that. Anyway," Amber says while standing up and collecting the plates and utensils. "I shall leave you to your training. I'll go put these away and see if I can't find something at least passable for a bed for you."

Amber walks back to her new home, her mind elsewhere. There were many thoughts floating around her head, many concerns that in the past she hadn't needed to ever address in the well-regulated confines of the core. She stops right in front of a bathroom and sees herself in a mirror. She frowns as she gets a look at her current appearance. Her clothing fit but only because she's still using the outfits that she had when she was in the Core. She'll eventually have to get some more. And probably a mask. Only someone with a power would have any chance of not looking human and even then it's extremely rare. She stands out far too much in a crowd for her liking and always has the scornful eye of everyone she meets. She's never really liked the way this form looks and rubs idly at the part of her hand where she had usually been wearing the ring. She moves over to her own room and sits down on her new bed. She'll eventually need to get a real job and without the ring that will certainly be extremely difficult, especially since she hasn't had much schooling to learn a trade. She can only imagine how someone with a high school education and looks like her will ever be able to find a job that would pay enough to even just pay the mortgage of a place this size. She could probably turn it back into what it likely was beforehand and just become the land lord. But she would need to spend a lot of time trying to learn the skills to do that and then find a way to get people to even want to live here. And if it didn't work then what?

And then another thought crosses her mind. She no longer has the protections of the Core. Meaning that at least for the near future she'll have to be wary about someone coming to try and get some revenge for taking out someone they cared about. For now she's probably safe since no one knows where she currently is, only that she's out. But it isn't like she can really hide her identity anymore. Even more reason for her to go and but some things to help her blend in with society. Of course, she reminds herself that she really shouldn't be trying to think of herself in regards to being of the Core anymore anyway. She's no longer Amber of the Gem Core, but just Kathy Smith. It's not like any villain could really do much to her. Most they could really do is just destroy her already dilapidated house. Though if she keeps having these kids hanging around that may complicate things. If it was just her and someone attacked she could simply leave and there'd be nothing they could do about it. She doesn't really have any real obligation to the building and it's not like destroying parts of her house would change much, just force her to start again. Which if she can find something that can pay for the repairs then it would be little more than an annoyance. But if there are others involved. If she keeps being in a situation where there are nearby civilians involved then what? She supposes she could probably just grab all of them and just take everyone elsewhere, but then what. And if they try to target them to get to her?

Amber sighs and comes to the realization that as much as she doesn't like the way the Core does things, that they don't appreciate anyone beyond what they do, there is one simple fact that she simply cannot ignore moving forward. She will always be a target, and if there are those who are hanging around her, then they need to be trained on how to handle themselves in a fight. But is it right for her to force them to learn how to fight when all they're really here for is to learn how to live a normal life? She'll have to find some time to discuss it. Assuming of course they even still want anything to do with her.

Either way, she'll have to get a sort of punching bag and some weights to help herself stay fit. She may be able to ease off eventually if it becomes clear that there will not be any retaliation for others. But that's something only possible long-term. For the time being she finds a somewhat beaten down mattress that would likely be thrown out eventually before it's usable and props it up against the wall and begins using it as a punching mat. She debates briefly on doing a sort of image training against herself, but those rarely turn out all that well for her beyond giving herself a headache. It's far too difficult to picture a version of herself fighting against the real her and not try and read too much into what either side is doing. Instead once she's done she goes about trying to find what the others have been doing. Mark has apparently gone right back to working on pushing the box back and forth. When she finds Chris he seems to be doing a lot of almost mental work at the moment. As she watches him for a bit he'd stare off into the distance for a good minute and then suddenly dash to and from a location, sometimes running into things, sometimes not.