Emo Bomb

Participants:

elaine_icon.gif magnes_icon.gif

Scene Title Emo Bomb
Synopsis Elaine walks into one of Aaron's negative emotion mines, and Magnes has to calm her down.
Date 2010 May 17

The Lighthouse


It's again one of those late nights when the kids have all gone to bed, and Magnes finds himself sitting back on the couch alone, watching Futurama DVDs. He's wearing a long-sleeved red shirt with a small black Spider-Man symbol in the middle, and his blue jeans and socks. He hasn't been bugging Elaine as much lately, but then, he's still been quite stressed since Hailey snuck out and was rescued with a broken leg, as well as a mauled Gillian up in her room. So he can be seen downstairs, late at night, alone quite frequently now. He's completely still, with the television light flickering against his face, all of the other lights turned off.

The Lighthouse was once her home and, as such, Elaine has been prone to wandering it. Revisiting familiar grounds is not something she'd ever been the type to do, but in this particular case, it was where she was stuck. It was like her own personal memory, like she was living life in reverse again after having figured out everything. So, for some time, she's been wandering the halls as soon as it was late enough that no one would disturb her.

But instead of the walking helping her get over her own insecurities and feelings from the past, she was suddenly finding herself overwhelmingly overcome by the sensations. There was still no real place for her, no real home, and those around her could just as easily have her replaced with someone else. She began to head downstairs, but she paused in the stairwell, just sinking down to the steps and sitting there, hugging her knees.

Magnes hears her walking down the stairs, then pauses the video and heads over to stand in front of her, looking down at her. "Elaine?" he asks, crouching and placing a hand on her cheek. "Are you alright? You don't look so good."

She practically flinches at the touch of his hand on her cheek. "I'm /fine/," Elaine snaps, the tears welling in her eyes almost visible. "J-Just go back to whatever it is you need to do that's more important, okay?"

"Nothing's more important than however you're feeling right now." Magnes gently assures, being eye level with her now. His hands slide down to her's, staring as if he's trying to see what's wrong somehow. Unfortunately only Gabriel seems to be able to do that. "I'm listening, Elaine, just tell me."

Elaine's hands are a little shaky, and she's trying not to cry. "I.. I can't. I just can't be here… it's not right. I'm not wanted or needed here. I-I should leave." She takes in a deep breath. "I don't have a purpose. It's just like everywhere I've been all over again, and no one wants me to stay. They don't want /me/. M-Maybe they want /someone/, but not necessarily /me/…"

"Elaine, what are you talking about? Everyone loves you, the kids love you, half of the lesbians in here want you, and everyone else thinks you're really nice. Why do you think no one wants you here?" Magnes let's out a small sigh, keeping a firm yet comforting grip on her shaky hands. "I want you here, I need you here, I'm starting to lose it too."

She clutches for his hands. "I-I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm sorry, Magnes.." Elaine murmurs, shutting her eyes for a moment to hide the tears that flow in spite of herself. "Being here is bringing everything back.. since the bomb I've had no one and nothing and nowhere safe. No one wanted me around. I just kept moving.. because that's all I had to keep going.. and now I'm stuck in here…" She takes in another deep breath and opens her eyes. "You really want me here?"

"Come on, get up and come to the couch." Magnes stands, trying to carefully pull her up, which isn't too hard with the ability to shift weight. "You're safe here, you have friends, you don't have to keep moving anymore. I really do want you here, you can come with me where ever I go, Sable sure does." he jokes, offering a sympathetic smile.

Elaine gets up to her feet, giving him a slow nod. "I suppose.. I just don't know what to do with myself, sticking around. I feel like as soon as I.." She trails off, words catching in her throat as she moves over to the couch and sits down. "I-I should go.. I don't know what I'm thinking.."

"Don't think." Magnes suggests, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, then unpauses the DVD. "Just don't think, Elaine, I know it feels bad, but everyone's there for you, you do your part just like everyone else, even if it doesn't feel like it."

Elaine takes a deep breath, leaning in against him. "What if I don't even have a real part, though?" She murmurs, though she shuts her eyes again. "I'm just more worried about what might happen if.." She shuts up again. "I'll try not to think."

"Despite how screwed up I might be, I know enough to know that I do play a part, that everyone plays a real part. You know what they say in acting? There are no small parts." Magnes goes quiet for a moment, and finally asks, "Is any of this because of me?"

She shakes her head a little, shifting to look at him. "No.. not like that. I mean, it's not like you did anything wrong. I just lose people I care about, that's all." Elaine states, just flat out saying it before she lets her eyes flicker to the TV for a much needed distraction.

"You won't lose us all, I promise, I won't let it happen. I do my best to protect my friends, I told you that, and my friends are your friends." Magnes lays back on the couch, pulling her with him so they can lay there and watch television, sighing softly. "You'll be fine, just try to relax, and you can talk to me about anything."

Elaine leans against him, glancing back at the TV as she slowly seems to let the frustrations go. "I know. You've been really good to me, Magnes. Thank you so much.. for everything.." She kisses his cheek lightly before settling fully against him. "… are you okay, by the way? I.. just haven't seen so much of you lately. I'm not in your way, am I?"

"I've just been stressed still, a bit on edge since Hailey snuck out. I keep worrying, like what if one of the other kids tries to sneak out, and what if I don't find them this time." Magnes flicks a finger to float the remote over to him, then switches to the next episode when the other ends. Nibbler is introduced! "I'm trying to make sure Hailey isn't lonely, since she can't leave her room with her leg broken. So I read to her a lot."

"Yeah.. it's really sweet of you. You're wonderful with them." Elaine studies him. "But you shouldn't worry.. you're doing your best to make it so that no one needs to run off in the first place. You make people here feel safe.. so I wouldn't worry so much. If I had someone to look up to when I was their age, maybe I would have found a real home."

"You have a real home, now is what matters." Magnes takes another deep breath, seeming to get a little closer to sleepiness. "Go to sleep, Elaine. I'll be here, it's alright now."

There's a tiny smile. "Thanks… I'm glad to have a home, at least." Elaine murmurs, nuzzling against him. "Promise you'll be here?" She asks, seriously.

"I promise, I won't go anywhere without telling you." Magnes seems to be saying that a lot lately, maybe he should just give people walkie talkies. "Good night, Elaine."

That causes a very warm smile from Elaine, and she nods slowly. "Thank you, Magnes. It means a lot." She shuts her eyes again, murmuring a 'good night' in response.


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