Just Watch For Big Destructive Messes

Participants:

elaine_icon.gif emily_icon.gif joe_icon.gif

Scene Title Just Watch For Big Destructive Messes
Synopsis Starting a search for Magnes Varlane in earnest, Joe brings Emily to meet Elaine, who… did not know he wasn't actually dead.
Date February 4, 2019

Brooklyn College


It's quiet.

It's rarely this quiet in the lecture hall, but it is. There are notes being copied down, but even Joe is quiet, not passing comments or asking questions about the slides up on the board. Emily's lapsed in taking down bullets, pencil hovering over the page.

It's not the first time she's done it in the last few weeks, zoned out like this, but it is the first time she's turned to look at Joe by her side. It might be his silence, or it might be a sudden realization that's prompted the interaction. "Hey," she leads softly. "You all right?"

No. Joe is most definitely not alright. Even when he's angry he's loud and talkative. Usually. Because someone is getting a lecture about morality when he's mad, or he's threatening to maim slavers or something else. Angry Joe is almost always talkative Joe. Happy Joe is talkative Joe. Sad Joe? Is not talkative Joe. He's sitting, taking notes robotically, his pen moving over the paper. He's taking down the info without really hearing it, just write what is on the slides so he has it to study later. It takes Joe a few moments to realize he's been spoken to. There's one blink, then two before his head turns, enough to glance to Emily with one eye.

"No." He murmurs in a soft tone, but doesn't offer any further explanation, turning his eyes back towards the slides. He finishes copying down the one that's currently displayed, then puts his pen down and lifts his hands, rubbing his palms over his face a few times, then puts his hands back down and picks up his pen again. "How are you?" He asks in the same melancholic tone.

The lack of follow-up with more information is what tips her off he's really not all right, Emily's brow slowly lifting up. She settles her pencil down, sitting upright after a few moments. How long had he been like this and she'd not noticed? Fuck. She looks him over quickly, trying to guess what could even be wrong. What could get him of all people down.

"Still shitty." Emily whispers back tentatively, glancing to the slides before deciding Joe's more important at the moment. "I had something I wanted to ask you, but…" Her hands start to shift on her notebook, pulling it closed. "You want to get out of here?" She doesn't even bother looking at how much time's left.

Joe is pretty incorrigible most of the time. The vast majority of the time. But not right now. He's left Emily alone for the most part. He know he upset her during their talk about Devon, so he gave her her space. But it's been a couple weeks since then. Maybe that's why she didn't notice. His head tips to her comment about still being shitty, a hand reaching out to pat her gently on the shoulder in what is an attempt at being encouraging, but there's really no heart in it. He did at least make the effort though. That is that.

"Can't. Need the notes." Because he is definitely not processing what he's writing down. He'll need the notes for later. "But really don't want to be here right now." He admits, one shoulder lifting in a downtrodden hug. He's like a sad little puppy. His pen scratches over the paper, leaving behind full notes as he watches the slides change. "Why shitty still? Still Devon issues?" He asks, his voice soft, and hushed so they don't get called out by the teacher for interrupting class.

Emily continues to sit how she was, hands over her knees in a full 'fuck this' mentality. She's not even looking at the front of the room at this point. The question about Devon does cause her to look away from him, arm lifting so she can swipe her notebook off the table, shoving it hastily into her bookbag. "H… Joe, you know a lot of people," she segues instead of responding, fussing with putting her pencil bag back together. "The name Magnes Varlane ring any bells?"

Joe doesn't miss that she didn't answer the question about Devon or her troubles, but he lets it go. Which is highly unusual for him. Highly. Joe is like a dog with a bone usually. He doesn't let things go. But this time he does. She asks her question but he doesn't answer right away, instead he finishes up with his notes before he leans to his left. "Hey. John. Would you mind if I copied the rest of your notes tomorrow? I need to go take care of something. Family stuff. Thanks man." He leans back, and tucks his stuff into his bag, and picks it up, shouldering it before he starts walking, his steps quiet so has not to disturb the rest of the class. Or at least disturb them as little as possible.

Once he's left the classroom he'll pause outside the door. "I know Magnes yeah. He used to read comic books to us in the Lighthouse. He’s stuck in an alternate reality at the moment. Could be back though. Not sure. Why?" His tone usually perks up at curious and interesting questions, but today it doesn't. He just walks, aimlessly. If Emily guides them somewhere he'll walk along with her, otherwise he will just wander, taking random halls and doors as he talks, not really heading anywhere.

Emily's somehow less quiet than he is, her footfalls heavier, spending less energy in deadening the sounds of putting her things together. If she's aware of that, she doesn't care. Once outside the room, her hand curls around her brow, side of her finger rubbing roughly against her forehead. Joe is glanced at out of the corner of her eye as he confirms, doing a double-take when he brings up alternate realities. There's a silent mouthed interrogative before her arm swings back down by her side, head shaking as she takes off down the hall. She doesn't know where she's going either, but they're off.

"Great. Well. If he's around — that's great. I mean, I'm assuming he's here, because…" Emily starts, one hand lifting up as she starts to try to explain, but words don't immediately come. She finally lets out a sigh a few moments later, looking ahead. The walking helps, honestly. It's like a mental reset. "I guess I'm looking for a guy named Magnes, because I've got a message for him about his family. From what I could find, he was dead, so … the alternate reality thing …" she tapers down to a mutter before shaking her head. "So. Great. He's not dead. Any idea how to find him?"

Joe can be very very quiet when he wants to be. You have to be to sneak through a room of kids and set up a prank on one of them, Lance, without alerting any of the other kids. And right now he wants to be quiet. But once he's out in the halls he doesn't bother with it, and just lets his sneakers scuff along the floor, occasionally leaving little streaks behind when they scuff too hard. Something he'd normally be aware of and not do because it makes more work for the janitors. His feet lead him, steps carrying them along, down a hall and through a door. There is at least a little sense in him when a chilly blast hits them both from the door. "Nope." He lets that door shut and steps back and turns to his left to resume walking down the hall.

"He isn't dead. Lots of people believe that he is though. We found a video tape that got shot into our reality from the an alternate future. Not sure if it was Virus future or Wasteland future. They were underground and underground would be a good place to hide from man eating robots. But anyway… we saw Elisabeth and Magnes in an alternate reality. And we know they were ours because Magnes referenced Mala and Denisa's deaths. Which I guess they could have lost them both too but I… it… they were from here. So no, not dead, just lost."

This subject would normally have Joe all hyped up, and admittedly he's a bit more animated than he was, but not by a whole lot. "Nope. Not a clue. But Elaine will know. If he’s back he could still be in quarantine. I mean Richard Ray, Lynette, Mateo and a bunch of other people all disappeared back in January. Squeaks too. Sooo I’m gonna guess that had something to do with bringing people back from the alternate reality since Lynette and Mateo are the portal makers. Or they were in the video we saw. But Elaine will know how to find him if he’s back. She's one of us. A little older than the rest of us, but she's one of us." And by us he means the LHK's.

"Okay," she states flatly, trying to rein herself back in. It's a little hard. Quarantine?? "Okay, so we can get in touch with Elaine." There's just a moment further before she stops abruptly, turning to Joe with one hand held up. "Wait, quarantine? The fuck?"

"I mean wouldn't you quarantine people that hopped dimensions and make sure they weren't infectious or especially violent and what not? Also make sure they're not serial killers in this world. Make sure everyone's stories line up. Standard government stuff really. Isolate, study, understand and then cover it all up. Can't let the public know about stuff like that." Joe's eyes roll and his head shakes a little bit.

"We only know about the alternate futures cuz some of the people we knew when we were little were from them. Didn't we have this convo? I think we had this convo. Or at least part of it. There's multiple futures. Brian wasn't as quiet as he thought he was when he talked about that stuff. I mean really we had Paul and he could phase an ear through the wall and what not. And we had Lance who could make us utterly silent so… we were pro at eavesdropping. Like super pro." Joe's shoulders roll in a slight shrug, resettling his backpack while he's doing it.

"So you have a message for Magnes about his family?" Joe asks, sounding a little bit curious. Curiosity sliiiightly piqued. Though there's still definitely a subdued air about it still. Something is definitely wrong with Joe. "I saw a strange red cloud the other day. Was zapping people with red lightning. Saved some partiers from it. They were having a rave out in the Bronx and it attracted it. Was weird. Not like lightning lightning though. Real lightning hurts. I can withstand it for a bit but not super long. This was more like a sting. Like a bee sting or something. I guess. I'm not sure what a bee sting feels like so…"

"Suddenly thinking it's you who should've gotten the internship letter from the government," Emily says, head dipping forward. Really, the way he fires that off is impressive. She rights her posture, hand still in the air… but he's off now, and there's no stopping him. On one hand, she's relieved he's starting to act a bit more like himself. And the longer she considers it, there is no other-hand scenario. She settles into place, waiting through it, and nodding to indicate they really have had this conversation before.

"Yeah, a message…" she starts before he segues again about lightning people, and her alarm returns. Jesus Christ. "Okay, but you? Getting hurt?" Emily reaches out to touch the side of his arm, brow furrowing. "Definitely not good. I'd ask why you know what real lightning feels like, but honestly, not even sure I want to know."

Joe shakes his head a little bit. "I can't be trusted with top secret info. I run my mouth too much. None of the agents we know would have put me forwards for the program." And that might just be a bit of a sore spot for Joe. Though why it would be given his distrust of the government is anyone's guess. "I'd make a good SESA agent if it weren't for my mouth. I've thought about maybe signing up for the NYPD when it reforms. I heard that they're looking at reforming it. I'd need to go to the academy and everything but… would be a way to help people. And try to keep an eye on what the government is up to. Not as good as everyone else will be but it's something."

"Fire, electricity and sonics hurt. I mean not right away. Like I can take some pretty solid electric current for a bit. Same with fire. It takes either super hot fire or prolonged exposure for it to start doing anything more than making me uncomfortable. But you coooould raise my temperature so high I start to cook inside my skin. Roast Joe. I haven't gotten to test my resistance to sonics but I imagine it's of a similar level. Skin protects me for awhile but eventually my insides would scramble. Outsides would probably remain intact though."

Joe's shoulders pop upwards, and there's a faint twitch of his lips, an almost smile. "Blame Lance for that. I mean it wasn't lightning but it was one hell of a power surge. Smarted pretty good. I imagine it would have probably killed most people. Annoyed the crap out of Brian though since it killed our power till he could get it fixed."

"Well…" Emily starts, trying to sound supportive of Joe's announcement he can't really be trusted with secrets. She knew that well enough. But it didn't feel right to agree, something off in his tone about the statement. She finds herself starting to shake her head, an action completed vigorously when he insists his plan isn't as good as the internship. "Hey, that requires work. Like a lot of effort. Something I know I probably wouldn't last through. And it'd be just as groundbreaking to help the NYPD come back. Probably moreso than some dumb internship, you know."

She's realized they're off track right about then, intending to bring it back around, but then he all but admits to sticking a fork or something in a power outlet. "Oh my god, Joe." Emily sighs at him, swatting his arm. She draws her hand back to keep from doing it a second time, limiting any further berating to a brief, judgemental stare. She shoots a quick look down the hall before back to him, waving her hand like she's cleaning the slate. "Okay. Getting back — Elaine, though. She in the Safe Zone?"


Yamagato Park


Inside the quaint window dressings and storefront of Common Sage is a comfortable cafe. Somewhere between a cafe, a diner, and a deli on a sort of upscale sort of flair, the place seems to have a fairly bustling crowd for the time of day. Not packed but certainly not empty. The food seems to be an eclectic mix of food mostly with an asian fusion to the cuisine, although it's clear their french pastries seem to be a favorite.

Seated in a booth near the back corner of the interior where she can easily see the door, Elaine sits, idly sipping a cup of cappuccino. She's dressed in a simple black dress with tiny white polka-dots and a red belt cinched just below her bust. Just below the edge of her dress, which reaches to about her knee, is a long pair of brown boots that seem to have gotten a bit of wear and tear over time. Her brown overcoat sits with her purse to the side of her.

Joe slips inside, holding the door open for Emily and letting it close behind her when she steps past him. "That's Elaine. Have you met Elaine before? She's good people. One of us like I mentioned." Joe's features are downcast. He's not his normal peppy upbeat self at all. But he's still leading Emily through the restaurant towards where Elaine sits. When he pulls up to her he offers her a smile, a bit forced but not for any reason to do with Elaine. "Hey Elaine. It's good to see you." He leans in and unless stopped will wrap her up in a hug, across the table and all. Joe hugs people. It's what he does. Whether they like it or not.

Once he lets her go he stands up straight, then slides himself into the seat across from her, scooting in so Emily can sit too. "You look good. Enjoying working for Yamagato?" His tone is politely curious, though the smile has quickly enough faded and settled back into neutrality.

Emily's not far behind Joe at all, sobered since their initial call to Elaine. The car ride had been spent in silence once they entered Yamagato Park, hands tightly clasped around her phone rather than fidgeting with it while she'd watched the storefronts and buildings pass by. She eyes Elaine from afar, only shaking her head slightly.

It's tempting to wonder if she's really 'good people' since Joe thought everyone was good people, but the 'one of us' thing he kept repeating tipped it. Honestly, it sounded like Joe was clinging to that notion of connectedness more than usual.

When they come up to the table, she slides her old cerulean backpack off her shoulder, kicking it under the table with the toe of a brown-leather boot. "Hi, I'm Emily. Thanks for meeting." she greets, bare hand offered out with a thin smile. Like Joe, it fades as soon as the politeness is shown. Shrugging off her beige coat, she adjusts the patterned scarf she wears over a simple black v-necked sweater, settling down into the seat next to Joe. While she's clearly got questions of her own, she glances back to Elaine to wait out the pleasantries.

Elaine is more than happy to welcome the hug from Joe as he and Emily head over to her table, and she grins at seeing the familiar face. "It's good to see you Joe, I hope you're doing alright." She nods politely as she sets her cappuccino down. "Yamagato is great, keeps me very busy but there are some nice perks and it can be exciting."

The redhead's attention goes to Emily, who she smiles warmly at. "Nice to meet you, Emily. Any friend of Joe's is a friend of mine. Although that's dangerous to say at times, Joe makes some very strange friends." There's a bit of a playful grin there as she looks between the two. It's to lighten the mood. Mostly because she has a hunch there's something up.

"Order whatever you'd like, on me. And feel free to spill the beans as to what's going on, Joe."

"I met a sparky red cloud that was throwing off red lightning a few nights ago. I may have lectured it for zapping people at a party. It tried to say hi then ran off. Not sure if it was a ghost or an Evolved that can't control their power. So… yeah. I do make some very strange friends." Joe agrees with Elaine, another faint smile ghosting his lips. "I'm doing as well as can be expected given well… everything that’s gone on as of late. Lots of chaos.”

"The park is definitely a cool place. Like walking into the future coming here." Joe's head turns to look at Emily. "Elaine is a Lighthouse Kid. Older than most of us when she came around. But she's one of us. That's what I meant by that. She's good people. And yes I know that I think everyone is good people. I mean not everyone. Just most people. There’ are the occasional people that I don’t trust." There's a wry little chuckle from Joe, but his attention settles about midway between both women. "Sooo have you heard anything about ohhh any odd incidents lately? Possibly involving people from other realities and what not? Say about mid January?" He asks curiously of Elaine. "I figured you would have since you were older then and the adults think you're one of them." There's a wink from him. Sure Elaine is an adult now, but she'll always be Lighthouse in his book.

That small smile of Emily's returns at Elaine's comment about Joe's friends, and she glances to him at her side. See, the look says. I'm not the only one who thinks so. Nevermind she's included in that number of strange associates, just by proxy. "The last time I told him he could have whatever he wanted, we cleared out an entire restaurant's worth of pie." she warns the woman in a tone that passes for conversational, traces of amusement in it. Elaine's efforts to lighten the mood aren't for nothing.

As for why they're there, though, her hands clasp together under the table as she wonders how to frame it. "There's someone I know who's going through a lot of effort to right wrongs that have been made," is how she decides to start, glancing back up at the woman across the table. "And I was given a message to pass on to someone named Magnes Varlane." She nods indicatively to the teen by her side. "Joe said he knew Magnes, who's apparently not dead, and that you might know where he is."

Elaine lifts the cup of cappuccino to her lips, sips from it, then pauses and just holds it there as she looks over the rim of her cup to observe Joe and Emily with a straight face. Well, or at least, she was trying to keep a straight face. Maybe she was a secret infiltrator to the ranks of Adulthood, but sometimes that ruse was just too hard to keep up.

Carefully managing to retain her composure long enough to set her cup down, Joe's talk of odd incidents almost gets entirely ignored in favor of two words: Magnes Varlane. "…you're… looking for Magnes…?" Now she looks between Joe and Emily.

"Oh, right. Of all the people to be looking for, of course it would be him. Dear god, not even the universe can keep him down." She puts her head in her hands for a moment, rubbing her face. "Has there been more? Has someone seen him?"

Well then! Joe was working on easing Elaine into it in case she didn't know about Magnes not being dead. He knows there's some history there. And now that he's older he understands what that history is. He didn't really get it when he was a kid. But hey, Emily came through like a bull on a mission and that China shop was in the way. Joe is nodding along with what Emily says, right up until the point that he realizes she's about to drop the whole Magnes is alive bomb. His mouth opens and a sound starts to come out but nope. He's not fast enough. He realized too late. His mouth closes and his cheeks puff out and stay that way a few moments.

"Yeeeeah. I was easing her into that Ems. The whole hey did you know about the reality hopping stuff and all that? Yeah that was me seeing if she knew her ex wasn't actually dead but was just trapped in an alternate reality for awhile." Joe arches a brow at Emily. "And people give me crap." He shakes his head slowly, tutting not so softly. When the waiter comes by Joe orders food. LIke a lot of food. Like way more food than he should be eating. Elaine said it was on her. And she works for Yamagato. Joe is not going to pass up free food. He pulls in a deep breath but Elaine's reaction is much better than he thought. "I should have known you'd roll with it. You're one of us." And rolling with the crazy weird shit is absolutely second nature for the Lighthouse Kids. Normally there'd be a big smile with that, but this time there isn't. A small smile maybe, but not Joe's customary huge grin.

"Sooo I got pretty chalk with this, but…" Joe swallows, hard. "I got word that a bunch of people disappeared in mid January. Like Cardinal, Squeaks who works for them and knows about the portals, Silvia said Lynette and Mateo were off doing something and well they are the portal makers." Joe's eyes dart left and right a little bit, a moment of hesitation from him. He’s gotten very chalk about this. "And only thing I can think of that they'd all need to be there would be to open a portal to another world like they were trying to do in the video tape that Squeaks found. Which led to the Demon in the dark blowing stuff up in Caspian's house when we watched the video. Anyway it showed Mister Ruiz and Lady Zeus, but not our Mister Ruiz and Lady Zeus. Because at that time Mister Ruiz could barely open a portal across the room, and this Mister Ruiz was opening huge portals. Also the tape was from right after the war started. And our Magnes and our Elizabeth were on the tape. Cuz Magnes referenced Mala and Denisa and said he wouldn't let them die again. I hope… I really hope they brought them with, that they lived. I know it wouldn't be our Mala and our Denisa but…" Joe is choking up this whole time, trying not to cry.

A couple more moments of thought as he ponders his own information before he nods his head as if confirming his suspicions internally. "But really the only reason they'd need Lady Zeus and Mister Ruiz would be to open a portal like they did in the tape. That tape got to Cardinal cuz Elisabeth was on it, so he'd know they could open the portal. So I put 35 and 29 together and got 64. So I'm not positive Magnes is alive but I'm pretty sure. Miss Elisabeth too."

Emily doesn't even blink when she realizes that Elaine didn't already know about Magnes, skipping straight to shock. Her head whips around to direct her stare at Joe rather than at Elaine, because it's him who deserved it. She seriously considers hitting him again, horrified at herself for being the one to accidentally not treat this with the respect and gravity it deserved. People who were dead not being actually dead and all.

"Are you kidding me?" she asks, her own composure faltering as her head sinks forward slightly. "You said — Joe, you said—" Emily's voice sharpens before her jaw locks, biting back anything else in favor of glaring at him, especially when he includes her in the 'one of us' business. It's hard to reprimand him when he starts to get emotional, her clenched fists remaining under the table and firmly away from the realm of swinging at him. She doesn't place an order, not even looking up at the waiter when they come by.

She does turn toward Elaine, though, any traces of humor gone. "Listen, I'm really fucking sorry about this. I had no idea you'd not…"

"I mean, I saw the whole tape thing but I didn't really understand that it was Magnes Magnes, nor that he'd end up here." Elaine glances between them. "The whole other world thing isn't a new idea. I mean, I've got Adel. She certainly wouldn't exist if it weren't for weird time travel universe-bending shenanigans." She swirls her half-drunk cappuccino around.

She gives Emily a wry smile. "Hey, don't worry about it. I mean, I saw the video it's just… it's one thing to write off a weird video, it's another for someone to tell you your ex is still alive. Like, actually alive." She looks back and forth between the two of them. "Right. So Magnes is here somewhere and you're looking for him. I obviously haven't seen him myself but I am willing to bet at some point he's gonna find some way to break into my apartment and show up randomly with some pizza."

She reaches in her purse and pulls out a scrap piece of paper and a pen. "Okay, I'm gonna make you a list of people that are still around here who he would probably look for. Places he might go. Uh, usually he's not stealthy so look for rumors of guys who are flying or big destructive messes when saving someone's life."

"Sooo Emily asked about Magnes, said he was dead. But he's not. Unless he didn't make it back with the others. But I'm sure he did. And she asked if I knew how to get a hold of him and I said if anyone would know." Joe looks at Elaine with an apologetic look on his face. "At the very least I figured you'd know who to get a hold of to find out if he's okay and where he might be. Given your uhh history." Joe's eyes dart around a little bit here and there before settling back on Elaine. "Surprise…" He wiggles his hands in the air a bit, and only then seems to realize that Emily is mad at him. "Why are you mad at me?" He asks her, he's still emotional, but he's trying to hide it behind some light humor. He's not doing too well with it though.

Joe's head tips to Elaine's comments about knowing about the other worlds. "Like I said." Joe remarks to Emily. "Elaine is one of us. She's pretty primal. Rolls with it all just like us." Us being the LHKs. He looks over to Elaine and tips his head a few times, offering Emily a small and hesitant smile. "Knew Elaine would be able to come through." His eyes move from Emily back to Elaine. "Thanks. I appreciate it. Emily has a message from Magnes family for him. Not sure what it is or what that means but I'm happy to try and help her out." Joe tilts his head to the side again, still thinking over his theories. He’s spoken to Silvia a couple times on the phone since her parents vanished.

Some day Emily might roll with the punches as smoothly as Elaine. For now, she remains in awe of it. She's only just now catching up with some of what Joe had said, from the lost Lighthouse children, to the Ruiz parents… to the rest. She lets out a slow breath as the two go back and forth, lapsing into silence for her part. She watches Elaine begin scribing the note, nodding gratefully for the hints it could provide, even if she blanches at the spoken clues.

"Really?" she blurts out, laughing under her breath. "Well… great. Maybe that'll work, or maybe the list will turn something up. It's not the first time I've gone door to door searching for a stranger." A small shiver runs through her, and she rubs her hands together under the table. Perhaps from a memory, or perhaps from the last vestiges of the cold outdoors.

She glances sidelong at Joe when he questions why she's mad at him, not trusting herself to answer immediately. The both of them aren't in the best state, and they'd already parted ways last time with her cursing him as she ran off. Instead, she looks back to Elaine. "I can take that, get out of your hair. Let the two of you catch up." she suggests.

Elaine smiles at them. She genuinely looks glad to help as she scribbles names down on the list. "I'm glad I can try and help at least, I mean, if there's anyone to ask about where Magnes might be I'm sure as hell a—" She pauses, narrowing her eyes at Joe. "Waitasecond. His family wants to get a message to him?" He did mention Emily was the one with the message.

Her gaze slowly shifts over to Emily, ignoring her mention of taking the list and leaving in favor of studying her intently. "You're sure it's Magnes' family wanting to send a message? Who? And what's the message?" She presses her lips together in a thin line. "If you can tell me, that is. You see, Magnes' family is a complicated subject."

As soon as she understand what's happened there, Emily lifts her hand to quickly indicate she'll help clarify. "No— no, it's a message about family of his." She's lowering her hand, glancing to Joe and returning to reticence after providing, "And I'd really rather it not suffer from making its way to him through a game of telephone."

Joe shakes his head to Emily's offer to get out of their hair. "You're my friend. Even if you're mad at me for giving you good advice. And mad at me for something I did tonight. If it's any consolation? When I see Richard I'm planning to give him a piece of my mind and maybe fist for risking letting the Demon in the Dark into our reality. I mean if he did. I’m pretty sure he did. Or well got Aunt Lynette and Mister Ruiz to do it. Even knowing there’s that Demon in the Dark out there that wants to get in. I'll give him a good kick for you too." Joe forces a smile for Emily, then leans over and bumps his shoulder against hers. "Come ooooon. Relax, stay. Eat something. Elaine is awesome people. You're awesome people. Awesome people should get to know awesome people." Joe's shoulders roll upwards in a quick shrug.

"I've been meaning to catch up with you Elaine. Just been busy with.. a lot. Like a lot a lot. Since getting back to New York. Fighting slavers on Staten. Investigating my boss's murder. Trying to help my friends. Starting college. Meeting new friends. Sorry I've been a crappy friend, though I guess you're more of a big sister than a friend. Which is better in my opinion." This time he does manage a big Joe grin, even if it's only there for a moment or two.

"Yeah, his family, that's what Ems said." He glances over to Emily, then back. "And yeah. I figured if anyone knew how to find him it'd be you." Joe pauses a few moments, then tips his his head to the side to look over at both Elaine and Emily. "Wait. If the world thinks Magnes is dead then how… why would his family be trying to send him a message? That confuses me." Then Emily clarifies and he ohs and tips his head. "That makes more sense yeah."

Elaine seems a bit relieved but still looks a little confused. "I mean, I'm practically his family at this point." She shrugs. "If you can't find Magnes, though, find Adel. She's his daughter. And mine. Sort of. I'll give you her info too. He would trust her with anything." She scribbles it down on the paper. "Just tell her Elaine sent you before you start babbling about any time travel or alternate universe stuff."

Emily settles back down reluctantly into her seat when Joe badgers her into staying, in part rooted by realizing Joe's reason for being upset at Richard as much as wondering if the 'Demon' he referred to could possibly be… She blinks slowly, breath halfway taken in to wonder out loud what happened, what it was that Eileen felt change that day, but she quiets. This was already a hard enough conversation without pointlessly asking after specifics none of them had.

That breath hitches at Elaine's add-on, and the information it provides her. Several questions die before being aired as she works through processing what she's been told. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wonders again just how many people from alternate universes are roaming around, countering it for the moment by asking herself how much it really matters anyway — a question that can't be answered in that split second.

"Add— Adel," Emily echoes, sounding confused now as well as she looks back up to Elaine. "Great." The pieces slide into place easily enough, but she's no less comfortable with them. Looking at the red-haired woman more intently, the confusion reigns for just a moment longer as she remembers a certain vibrant red-headed child whose name and identity she now questions. Regardless, she keeps her thoughts to herself; seems intent on keeping her cards close to her chest until she's full-ready to reveal them.

But really, when was that any different from normal for her?


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