Four, Please

Participants:

magnes_icon.gif veronica3_icon.gif

Scene Title Four, Please
Synopsis Magnes and Veronica share an elevator after finding out they are neighbors. Veronica's not as happy about the fact as Magnes.
Date March 1, 2010

Dorchester Towers

Dorchester Towers is a huge white building surrounded by a carefully landscaped stretch of gardens. The spacious lobby almost has more window than wall, white and green marble floor tiles gleaming in the light; it is occupied by doormen and a concierge to assist renters and guests. Nine high-speed elevators provide convenient access to upper stories; every floor has its own laundry room. Closed-circuit TV monitors the lobby and grounds, and every apartment has a security system, double-bolt door locks, and even window locks. The complex has its own garage, a bicycle room, and a sun deck.


Magnes is still wearing his black five-hundred dollar business suit when he arrives home from Tracy's office. In his right hand he has a black briefcase, likely full of files, and in his other he has a bag of Chinese food, for two. Sables need to eat too!

He looks very unlike the Magnes Veronica last saw, both in the Company and in Argentina. Right now he looks like he's actually coming home from something important!

Wait, home is in Dorchester Towers?! Surely he's coming to visit someone this evening…

As for Veronica? She probably looks more like she did when he saw her in Argentina — wounded and with a bruised ego. She gets out of the cab that pulls up to the apartment building. She's in jeans, her tattered and worn Berkeley sweatshirt, and a pair of fleece-lined boots. Her hair is in a ponytail and there's no makeup on her slightly pale face — but the most interesting accessory is a cast on her right arm. She heads into the lobby, not even noticing the expensively-suited Magnes Varlane as she brushes by on her way to the elevator. Though she moves fast, clearly eager to get to her apartment, there is a stiffness that suggests the arm injury is not the only one she sustained.

"Veronica!" Magnes excitedly greets, rushing into the elevators, flying through the doors before the close, then promptly lands in front of her. "What are you doing here? What happened to you?" he asks, looking down at her arm with some concern. She can already feel the cast getting a little lighter, as he'd usually do with her wounds in Argentina.

She lifts her eyes from pushing the '5' button for her floor. The dark eyes are dilated, drugged as she still is with pain killers. "I live here, Magnes," she says with a faint smile. "Work happened to me. All in a day's work, right? It's not a job well done unless someone gets hurt." She obviously isn't feeling very well, and her bitterness is showing. "Don't worry about it," she adds. "What floor?"

"Four, please. And you live here too?" Magnes smiles and leans against the elevator wall, watching her. "I've kind of left all that behind me, or at least I'm trying to. I have friends in too many walks of life. No matter what side I choose, I have to hurt a friend, so, a few grateful people later, and I'm Tracy Strauss' intern, starting today. I moved into this building so I'd be closer to her, since I know she does a lot of work at home, and she's stubborn when she's sick or stuck in the house for some reason." He sounds like he knows her a bit.

The name Tracy Strauss and moving close to her to be near her for work gets an arch of a brow. "Does she know you moved into the same building as her to help her work because that sounds kinda creepy, Magnes," Veronica says, punching the number 4 button with her good hand. She had the wrist set the day before, when she and her "dream team" headed to the emergency room. But today she met with the orthopedist and had impromptu reconstructive surgery — Brian is going to kill her when he finds out she had surgery without him there with her. Speaking of Brian, she'll have to tell him to be careful around the building. Just what they need.

"Good luck with the job, though. I didn't peg you for politics," she adds. Her voice is flat, though not rude or intending to be mean spirited.

"She knows, and not too happy, but I'm killing two birds with one stone. I needed to move out of that pizza shop, and I won't have to fly across the city while we're going through that 'Make me coffee' phase. Well, technically three birds, I thought it was time my roommate had her own room too." Magnes sighs down at the briefcase, shaking his head. "I'll be going through this stuff for hours."

You can dress a Magnes in a $500 suit but he's still a Magnes. Veronica chuckles and shakes her head, ponytail swinging. "Well, you clean up nice," she says, a little fondness leaking into her flat voice. The elevator dings, and the doors open at the fourth floor. "Look, I shouldn't tell you this, but some of the Vanguard are here in New York. I think it's more the Russian team they're after, but watch your back, all right? And call me if you see Feng Daiyu anywhere… you have my cell?" She puts a foot in the door to hold it open.

"Killing off their parents and stuff, yeah. I was told to stay out of it, so, I am. I'm currently still out of contact with my parents, but I suppose now is good as any to go find them." Magnes nods when she asks about her number, grabbing the door with his hand. "If I hear anything, I'll let you know. Oh, and you didn't hear this from me, but if you don't already know, you might wanna look into Raith. But I'm told he's being taken care of, so…" He shrugs. "I trust you more than Abby's friends."

"I believe I'm aware of his involvement, but it's good to hear it from someone else. Might let me look into it from the 'little birdie told me' sort of angle. And yeah. Don't go vigilante on this one. They did a number on us, though I blame …" she sighs, looking tired. The list is too long, but it starts with Paulson. Then Martin. Then herself. "Oversights. But they're dangerous, and I think if you don't get involved, you won't get hurt. It's not our team they're after — I don't think they even recognized me, and they got a pretty good look."

"I'm not getting involved, this is just one battle and in the long run, this probably won't even put a dent in things to come. I plan to make an impact, somehow. Tracy will teach me." Magnes suddenly seems inclined to change the subject as he starts to step through the elevator doors on his floor. "When you're feeling better, you should come over for a house warming dinner or something, then you can meet my bandmate, Sable. But uh, before I go, I wanna ask one question. When I was with, well, you guys, I remember dating someone who was just a little crazy. For curiosity's sake, what was her name?"

Veronica looks at the lit '5' and shakes her head. Stupid painkillers, she shouldn't have let it be known what floor she lives on. "Maybe. Just call me first, don't come looking for me around here. You know how it is." Classified! She shakes her head. "No, you don't need to know that, Magnes. You shouldn't even know me, and my new boss isn't as nice as the old one. I haven't seen her in a while, but it's best you let that memory just fade away. Trust me on that one."

"Yeah, I guess so…" Magnes doesn't sound like he agrees, and if he does, it's very reluctantly, but he seems inclined to let it go for now. "Don't worry, I won't get you shot in the head or anything. If you want me, I'll be here, and I'll call." He smiles, nodding, then steps off the elevator completely. "Good night, Veronica."

"Good luck with Strauss," Veronica says with another shake of her head. She's heard stories about that woman. She just might be the end of Magnes J. Varlane, slayer of robots. She brings her foot back into the elevator and the doors slide shut, allowing the lift to bring her to her own floor, and the rest and sanctuary that beckon from within her apartment.


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