Participants:
| Scene Title | First Fight? |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Honeymoon is over! Claire and Magnes get into a little arguement, among other things. |
| Date | September 13, 2009 |
Magnes' Room
After spending the morning sneaking around some high class cruise they weren't supposed to be on, mostly stealing their food and pretending to be a young rich couple while seeing how long it'd take them to get caught, Magnes and Claire have finally returned to his place.
Magnes, wearing a vest with a popped collar, which is totally the opposite of something he would wear, and Claire in a cheap dress that just manages to pass for something expensive. The door shuts behind them, and once it's locked he's leaned down to eagarly press his lips against her's, hours of sneaking around more or less getting the best of him.
It was a day for escaping the strangeness in their lives, so Claire went along with it. And admittedly, she had fun. Once she steps inside his place, Claire sheds the high heels she was wearing. Kicking them to the side of the door, before Magnes pulls her into a kiss. She wraps arms around him, leaning into him. When the kiss finally breaks, she grins up at him, the fingers of one hand comb through hair at the back of his head. "You got lucky there, slick." She teases gently, "They probably think we fell over board. Which would be better then them thinking we flew off."
Briefly licking his lips, Magnes smiles and heads for the bathroom to change, grabbing his Squirrel Girl t-shirt and blue jeans along the way. "I think it was worth it, but I still think I'm terrible at playing a rich snob. But since I got that tarot reading, I don't know, I just feel like I should enjoy myself more, enjoy my girlfriend, and try to separate my personal life from business. I mean, it could all end at any moment, so I wanna live to the fullest."
While he's getting dressed, Claire moves to sit on the edge of his bed, legs crossed. She rests her hands behind her and waits to him to step out. "Tarot reading?" Her brows lift high, "You don't believe something like that do you?" She asks curiously, her head tilting a bit. She smiles a bit, looking him over, "Seems odd you change your life based on a set of cards."
Zip, and he's walking out in his jeans and t-shirt, sitting down next to her as he playfully wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. "You can go change if you want, your clothes are still in there. I, uh, not that I was looking at them or anything." His cheeks are red, but he quickly moves to what she was saying before. "It was really accurate, I mean, I can't say accurate, but they were relevant. She said they're more guides to help you with your life, and that they don't necessarily tell the future… at least I hope not, since both my paths more or less end badly."
One of his hands unwraps from her waist, moving up to her cheek. "I don't know if they mean anything or not, but nothing said I wouldn't have a girlfriend in the end."
"I dunno.. I'd believe one of my friends visions before that." Claire admits and then gives a little shrug of her shoulders. She studies him as she presses her cheek lightly into his hand and gives him a small smile. "So what did the guide say?" Her tone a touch amused, she moves to stand and then turns her back to him. "Can… you get the zipper?" She asks turning a bit so that she can look at him out of the corner of her eye, her brows lift with the question.
Magnes doesn't quite stand so much as ascend to his feet behind her. "S-sure…" he answers, because it's completely not obvious that he's a tad eagar to comply. "Two leaders, one charismatic, and the other inspiring trust or something like that. She said it's rare that so many kings and swords pop up in one reading. But uh, basically, I have to be very careful which one I choose. One could get myself and my friends hurt because I ultimately fail to change or something like that, and with the other, I unknowingly aid in a lot of stuff being destroyed, and my past mistakes come back to haunt and make me fail. So basically I fail no matter what choice I make, but like she said, they're only guides so I can see my own flaws or come to the solution to personal issues easier. The way I interpret it, I have to be careful who I follow, I have to think through my choices more, maybe fix loose ends I've left behind, grow up a little…"
Zip, again. He's suddenly done speaking about tarot when he starts slowly pulling her zipper down, seeming as if he intends to pull the zipper all the way down. "Awesome…" he whispers to himself, but it's easily heard by her.
"I don't know.. sounds rather bleak. So what do you do? Fail or fail? Doesn't sound like much of a guide." Turning back around, a hand pressed to her chest to keep the dress in place, Claire has a smug little smile. She goes up on her toes to give him another kiss. "Thank you." She whispers before heading for the bathroom to change, the door closing with a soft click behind her.
"You know, when I was younger and skated around guys who were near my current age, I never really understood what they meant when they said a girl was being a tease." Magnes leans against the wall next to the bathroom door, sighing in his usual flustered tone, releasing a light chuckle at the situation. "But um, the cards. They're not meant to literally tell the future, she says they're supposed to give us insight into ourselves. The two bleak futures are just a way of making me see my personality flaws, what I should change about myself or my life. They're, well, kind of like a creepily accurate rorschach test."
He can't see Claire grinning there in the bathroom as she dresses in her jeans and baby doll t-shirt with its low neck. Once the shirt is on, she opens the door and leans against the door jam, "I'm guessing you know what they mean now?" She teases, giving him that smug smile again. Reaching up behind her with both hands, she starts undoing the tight bun they had put her hair in. Thinking about what he saying, she suddenly sighs. "It all sounds confusing to me," she admits with an apologetic smile.
"I don't quite get it either, but it made sense." Magnes reaches for her hand to guide her back to the bed again, appearing generally less tense than he has in a while. "And boy do I know, I wish I didn't know, but I think that's one of those things that're important for me to experience. It's really weird," he says as he takes a seat on the bed, still holding her hand. "I kind of hate it, but I kind of like it too."
Giving her head a shake, her hair falls around her shoulders, as she takes his hand and follows him. "Well, I'm glad I could give you that little bit of experience." She teases, both her hands moving to comb through his hair as she stands there, in front of him. "Glad you stopped slicking back your hair." She mentions quietly, "Wouldn't be able to do this." She continues to brush fingers through his as she talks, "Any little thing can change the future, Magnes. I'm sure you know that from Hiro." She smiles a bit, "I dunno.. Just don't take too much stock in it all."
"I won't, trust me, I took what I needed from the reading, I see my flaws a bit clearer, and, well, yeah." Magnes stares up at her, releasing her hand to move both to her hips. He's clearly in deep thought, that or using his imagination, but he finally looks up at her again and says, "So, I still haven't shown you my secret room, and I probably should before we start making out or something."
Her hands brush along his cheeks, before they drop away, and she pulls away from him. "Alright Batman.. Show me your secret bat cave." Claire grins reaching out to take his hands as if to help him to his feet. "I've been curious about this room of yours."
Magnes pulls himself up, lowering his weight so she can easily support him, then releases his hands and heads over to the bookcase near the TV. He touches the side, then pushes it to the right, revealing a hidden door that's quite locked up. After removing all the locks and opening the door, he steps aside to allow her to walk in. The room was obviously some sort of spacious storage area, and he has plenty of costumes, wigs, makeup kits, and shoes lined up on the left and right sides, like the back of some sort of play. And at the end end of the room is a large desk with a pretty impressive flat screen monitor for his PC. There's information all over the screen, mostly Refrain and pictures of the RNA symbol in various locations. He's also got lots of news clippings on Refrain plastered around the wall, and a small New York map in the middle of it all with little thumbtacks stuck into, and lots of sticky notes with things like 'Rumored Refrain dealer' and 'Humanis First assault'. "Like it?"
Claire slowly moves through the room, a hand lifts to brush against some of the costumes, her expression curious. "You made all of these?" There is a touch of awe to her words. "I'm impressed." She glances at a few of them, before moving to the back, her eyes going to the map first. "You're really taking this saving the world thing seriously, arn't you?" She glances back at him. "This is really impressive, Magnes."
"So far only you and Gillian know about this room. I've known Gillian for a few years, so I didn't see the harm in showing her." Magnes looks over a few of his older costumes, which were not too good at all. "And yeah, I made them all. I frequent conventions, I always dress up. The female costumes are mostly for the girls I know, but so far I've only gotten two to dress up. I've made costumes for Gillian, Abby, Delilah, and there's a few in here I remember making, but I think they're for those people I can't remember. Guess I had friends in whatever that organization was."
He slowly walks over to the computer, placing a gentle hand on her back. "I make Delilah dresses, I only just started experimenting with that. Only reason I haven't made you anything other than the cheerleader outfit is because I've never seen you in a dress, I'm not sure what you'd like." Then, staring over at his little crime hub, he asks, "You really think that's impressive? And yeah, I've been trying hard, helps to have access to police reports and stuff…"
"Now a days, I don't have too many reasons to dress up so nice." Claire explains, leaning against him briefly, before leaning towards the map again, looking at the various notes. "It really is impressive." She then turns and motions to the dresses, "And this.. If you ever lost your job, I somehow think you could live on this skill, maybe not great.. but still."
"Delilah's a big help. She's teaching me a lot about how actual fashion works, since I used to just go on comics. Me and you should do some kind of project some time, like an outfit for you." Magnes pulls his comfortable computer chair back, moving a hand up to gentle pull her into his lap again. "What do you think of Cardinal? I'm trying to decide just how much I should tell him, but I honestly don't know who to trust lately, other than my friends. I trust your opinion, and, well, I just wanna know…"
Claire settles into his lap, resting an arm across his shoulders. She studies him, her brows lifting. "What do I think of him? I trust him. He's trying in his own way to save the city." Fingers brush against the back of his neck. "I met him when I was at my sickest. He didn't know me.. and I didn't know him, but he sat there with me. And even carried me when I was too weak to walk and dying. How many strangers will do that?" She asks with a shrug of her shoulders. "I don't know what to tell you."
"If you're alive because of him…" Magnes leans over to peck her in the lips, then smiles. "Then I guess I owe him again. Alright, I've decided, you can tell him he's allowed to come into this room if he thinks I have information he needs and I'm not here. I switch over to my safe hard drive when I use the internet, then I disconnect and switch the information to my primary hard drive, to avoid anyone hacking, y'know? There's police files and stuff, and I imagine going into my computer is safer than having to break into a station or something… though my information is pretty low on the police food chain."
"He helped…" Claire admits readily. "Along with Abigail and a healer who repaired the infection just long enough for me to get my ability back. I did die right before though.." She trails off as her thoughts turn inward for a moment. "But yeah… I'll tell him," she says finally, brushing a hand over his head. "Next time I see him anyway."
"I'm glad you're alive…" Magnes whispers, pulling her closer as if she were going to slip away at any moment. "So, has anything been on your mind lately? We don't really, uh, you know, talk about feelings and stuff too often…" His cheeks flush just squeezing the words out of his mouth, but they're out!
"I'm pretty glad too.." Tilting her head a bit, Claire frowns slightly. "You mean besides you?" She asks, giving him a small smile. It falls a bit as yet again she turns thoughtful, "You know how hard it is sometimes to be who I am? My uncle blew up midtown.. My father is a the President and I doubt ever thinks of me. My grandfather was this horrible man, experimenting on people and taking peoples abilities…. Well… until Richard killed him. He took mine, my grandfather… It's why I almost died. The list goes on." She glances at him and shrugs, "So yeah, I do tend to have a lot on my mind…. I just…. tend not to talk about it." She rests her hand on his chest, her thumb brushing across a wrinkle of his t-shirt. "I haven't seen either set of parents in years. I guess you could say right now, I'm trying to not think about all the stuff in my life."
Magnes lounges into his chair, gently stroking her hair as she speaks, just listening. He shakes his head and sighs, briefly closing his eyes, knowing there's really nothing he can truly do about it. "But why can't you see your adoptive parents? If nothing else, it doesn't seem like they tried to destroy the world. Would it really be so bad to just talk to them, if you can find them? I mean, in the end, they're your real family…"
That gets a frown, "No." Claire states firmly. "My dad burned that bridge." Her tone is flat, if a touch sad. "Look… lets not talk about this, okay." She looks away and starts to slide out of his lap. "This place is very cool, Magnes."
"Sorry…" Magnes isn't really sure what to add after that, placing a hand on her shoulder as she slides out of his lap, not stopping her, just a modest attempt at comforting her. "Hey, you can try on anything you want, I'm sure you don't get to, well, dress up much anymore."
"You made these for other woman." Claire says with a smirk, glancing back at him. "It would be kinda weird." She gives a little wrinkle of her nose. "Don't you think?" She looks thoughtful running her hand down one of the costumes. "I bet people would pay you good money to make their costumes. All I'm good at anymore is being a terrorist. No useful skills." She rolls her eyes a bit, "Unless someone needs a person that can come back to life."
"That's not true, I'm sure you have at least one talent, and if you don't, just get one. I mean, it's not like I was born with some sort of talent, I had to work at everything I'm good at. Well, except maybe being a geek, but that's easy." Magnes places a hand on her cheek, frowning slightly. "And don't call yourself a terrorist. I mean, technically speaking, but… I don't know, I just hate how it makes you sound. But you can be more than that, we just have to find something you like and I'll help you work at it." Smiling again, he stares into her eyes with a very hopeful look.
"I had this detective ask me once what I wanted to do with my life." Claire shakes her head slowly. "I… couldn't come up with anything. Probably, why I throw myself into all this stuff. Why I throw myself into the cause. " Shrugging, she starts her way out of room, "I imagine I'll think of something."
"I didn't upset you, did I?" Magnes asks as he walks after her, sounding mildly concerned. "I'm sure you'll find something. The "cause", or whatever else we're doing, we can't let it take away our lives. I know this is all very important, but… don't you deserve more?"
"Not exactly," Claire murmurs softly, her eyes on the floor as she steps out of his secret room. The mention of the cause and not letting it take away from their lives.. It makes her turn towards him, guilt plain on her face. "If it wasn't cause of me…. we'd all have normal lives." She says the words without meaning too, and she looks a little panicked as she realizes it. "I… I should go." The words stutter out, as the ex-cheerleader starts looking for her shoes.
"Wait, Claire!" Magnes is clearly worried now, because something is bothering her. He follows her to her shoes, sighing a tad helplessly. This boyfriend thing is hard! "What do you mean? How's anything your fault? Claire, if something's really bothering you… well, I thought we were being open with each other?"
"I can't…" Claire says with a shake of her head, dropping to sit on his bed so that she can put on her shoes. "This I can't be open about.. This is my burden to bear." She tugs on each shoe tying them, almost frantically.. "I'm sorry Magnes, I shouldn't have even said anything. I opened my mouth without thinking."
"Calm down, Claire." Magnes softly says as he leans down, moving to take her face inbetween his hands and look directly into her eyes. "If you can't tell me then, well, you can't tell me, but one day I want to know. Nothing you tell me is going to change how I see you or what we have right now. I don't even see how that stuff at Kirby Plaza could have been your fault, Hiro took me there, I didn't see you."
"That's cause I wasn't there." Claire says sadly, as she's forced to look him in the eyes, "I was in Paris." She jerks her head out of his hands and starts tying again, but then stop. "I was suppose to be." Her voice is soft as she starts to explain, her foot sliding to the floor with a soft thump. "Peter asked me to help him.. To stop him from exploding…. I can't remember how he found out it was going to happen, but he did." Her hands move to rest on the edge of the bed, but she doesn't look at him. "Instead… I went to Paris." She sounds almost disgusted with herself as she says those words. "And he….. blew up."
"But how could you have possibly stopped him? How could he expect you to do something like that?" Magnes asks, suddenly sounding a bit angry, but obviously not at her. "What were you supposed to do, kill him? You were just a kid, he saved your life, he was your uncle. What else could he have expected you to do? How could he put that kind of burden on you at all…" Peter is suddenly not his favorite person again.
"Yes and I was the one who knew how to do it." Claire says fiercely, hoping to her feet. "Don't you dare blame him for this. He couldn't control it. I would have been there.. But my grandmother convinced me it was the best for everyone if I would go to Paris. So I did." She looks down at him, her expression apologetic. "If I had stopped him, we wouldn't need to do all this. I don't deserve better. I don't deserve what I have, Magnes."
"Alright, fine, we don't have to blame him, but we don't have to blame you either, Claire. You were afraid, you were young, you're still young. How can you possibly blame yourself for not choosing to kill someone? I could go out and kill Gabriel right now, but I haven't. Does that mean if he destroys something or starts killing people again it's my fault? I don't know, but I like to think that I'm either being optimistic or having compassion, or maybe faith that everything will turn out alright. I was at Kirby Plaza with Hiro, Hiro could have stopped Peter, does that make it his fault? I could have stopped Peter, is it my fault then?" Magnes doesn't touch her face again, but he gives her that same look, as if he just wants her to understand. "People died, lots of people, but you didn't kill them, Peter didn't kill them. The weight put on you, it's just… it wasn't even fair! God, Claire, you didn't kill those people…"
She can't and won't see the truth in his words, Claire knows where the blame lays and being as stubborn as she is, he won't change that. The young woman is completely convinced that if she had been there, if she had pulled the trigger…. "I could have stopped him." She voice quavers a bit, but there are no tears, just sadness and guilt. Years of guilt she's lain on herself.
"A lot of people could have done a lot of things, Claire." Magnes finally sits next to her, but tries to give her space, not sure if she'd even want him touching at the moment. He's a bit calmer, taking a deep breath. "I don't believe it's your fault, it's not all on you. Hell, your grandmother is one of the people who planned this crap, Peter said so himself. You trusted her, you can't blame yourself for that. I'm not gonna keep pushing this, all I can really do is hope you change your mind one day, but Claire, just remember… I don't blame you." A bit afraid of full on hugging her right now, unsure of how she'll react, he lightly places a reassuring hand on her back again.
Claire sighs softly and then climbs to her feet. How can he not blame her? Everyone should if they knew. "I need to get going." She sounds somewhat distracted as she talks. Turning back to him, she leans down to give him a light kiss. "I'll call you. Or call me if you need me." A hand lifts to brush his cheek, before she straightens to leave.
"Claire…" Magnes says softly as she begins to leave, briefly licking his lips again, occasional post-kissing habit. "We're okay, right?" he asks, unsure of how she's feeling again, despite the kiss.
Glancing back, hand on the doorknob, Claire gives him a small smile. "Yeah… we're okay." She glances down and then away as she opens the door and slips out, letting it shut softly behind her.