Participants:
| Scene Title | Painting a Bad Picture |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Two women meet in the midst of chaos; a new friendship forms, while the meeting also signifies the beginning of the end for another relationship. |
| Date | November 8, 2010 |
It's quiet down here in the corner of Redbird Security's basement. They were sure to put her in this quiet corner, where she could rest. Elle Bishop is in a bad way today, definitely not doing too well. Her forearm is in a cast up over her elbow, bent at a slight angle to keep her arm still; her abdominal area is horribly bandaged up, the white bandages concealing the stitched up stab wound from the blade that quite literally ran Elle through. And finally, her right leg is in a hard brace to keep her knee immobile while it heals from the grievous injury that caused it to be dislocated. And one can't forget the stitches in her scalp from her adventure back in time.
She's laid out in a bed, enjoying what's left of the morphine that is still hooked into her arm from the hospital, her eyes half-closed as she stares up at the ceiling. This is awful. The city is burning, and the electric blonde is laid out in a bed, trying to recover from being stabbed the night before. And when the morphine runs out, she'll be in pain again. Every so often, blue eyes drift up to the morphine bag that hangs off of her wheelchair next to the bed, a frown creasing her face.
Is it bad that she is somewhat itching to actually get out there and see what is going on? Something about chaos just sorta turns Harmony into a sensation junkie. But no.. no no, she is going to be a good girl. Even if her powers are itching for her to burst out, she is safe where she is, so no ventures from the curly haired blond. Cardinal has been pretty accommodating at least, even if the basement isn't the most comfortable of places, she found herself a bed to rest on, with her backpack sitting open at her side. With a groan, Harmony rises up like a zombie, sitting in her bed with a frown on her face. Not enough sleep.. It was hard enough actually getting to sleep to begin with, now she's groggy and tired.
A hand comes up to rub across her face, pushing away some of the tension, and she takes a moment to survey the area, looking for other people. She catches sight of the patched up Elle, and a blond brow raises, curious. Huh. She's new. Must have slept a little deeper than she thought she did. They snuck her in! "Not your day, huh? Well.. at least you have drugs, so you're one up on me right now." she speaks up and gestures to the drip.
The electric blonde's eyelashes flutter a bit as Harmony groans and then speaks up, turning blue eyes toward the woman and peering at her. Then, a slightly rueful grin is offered in the curly-haired blonde's direction, if you could call it a grin. "Not been my week, really. And these are all the drugs I have. When I run out…well, I'm going to be hurting pretty bad, I think."
She tilts her head to one side, peering quietly at the woman. "I'm Elle Bishop. One of Richard Cardinal's bitches, or something to that effect." She shrugs.
It's like someone dropped a big sack of 'doh' on her head. She honestly wasn't expecting to encounter Elle just yet. The conversation with Warren she had JUST happened. Did he send her? No! Don't be stupid, Harmony. Look at her! She's practically in traction. It's just.. how the world works she guesses. Hey, maaaaybe this is her chance to clear the air. While she is drugged and injured and probably in no condition to go crazy like Warren said, and try to kill her. "Elle?" Harmony arches a brow, turning to the other girl as she sits up, "Warren's Elle?" the words leave her mouth faster than she can second guess speaking up about it. "Wow.. Wait.. real quick.." she reaches up with a finger, scratching the bridge of her nose, "Warren didn't.. do this to you did he? I mean.. don't zap me for asking, but.. you guys don't have this crazy relationship where you like putting each other in the hospital, do you?" Obviously, someone has told her about Elle's powers.
Elle blinks sluggishly over at Harmony, the words taking a few moments to register with her drug-addled mind. She arches her brows slightly, raising her good arm to rub at her forehead. "I wouldn't call me Warren's." That's her first response. "I don't belong to him, I'm not with him right now, and I don't even know if I will be with him. Get that straight." She pauses for a moment, peering at Harmony.
"No, Warren wouldn't hurt me. Strained as things are between he and I, he'd never lay a hand on me, both because I don't believe it's in his character, and he knows that it would mean his death if he tried anything like this on me." She would kill him, too, if he tried to hurt her. "What the hell are you going on about?" Her words have the classic slur that accompanies heavy painkillers.
Harmony's hands go up in a defensive pause gesture, "Whoa.. didn't mean any offense or anything. I was just curious." Already, the girl is regretting opening her mouth. Which doesn't usually happen for her.. Huh. Feels weird. She looks at the space on the floor in front of her for a few moments, knitting her brows together, wondering what to say. "Um.. yeah. I dunno exactly where to start, honestly. I mean, don't get me wrong, Warren is cool, buuuut.." Harmony lifts her gaze to focus on Elle again, "He kinda painted a pretty bad picture of you. Let's just say.. Well, we'll just say that he is a guy and leave it at that. He helped me out one night when I was late for curfew. I thought he was a nice, single guy, and we got to know each other. Come to find out, according to him, he's got a girlfriend. And.." she wrinkles her nose, "She'd kill me if she ever found out that I know him. Or.. something like that." Harmony rises to her feet, "Look, there's more to it really! I just— It was a really messed up phone call."
Silence greets Harmony's explanation, at first, as Elle quietly puts it all together. The drugs don't help with clarity, but she tries anyhow. She did at least inherit her parent's brains, even if she doesn't always know how to apply them correctly in most situations. Finally, she manages to put the pieces together; this must be the girl that Warren slept with. She's kind of dumb, pretty much confessing that she's the one that Warren 'cheated' on her with.
There's another long period of silence as Elle stares at Harmony with that drug-glazed look on her face. "A bad picture of me? He said that I'd kill you?" Her brows knit together. "You're the one who he slept with, aren't you?" Another long period of silence probably adds to any tension in the room.
Then, Elle turns her gaze back up to the ceiling. "I'm not going to kill you. I probably won't even try to hurt you." She's quiet, though her face is getting a bit more angry looking. "I might try to hurt him again, but not you. I know how it is. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time…"
Harmony has gone through this scene in her head quite a few times since the phone conversation with Warren. It has been one of those things that just nags at the back of your head, and you drive yourself crazy thinking about how to fix it so everything works out. Plus, the stress of being stuck down here, while the world around her is going to shit. It's the time to make bad decisions and blame it on the Apocalypse. Even she realizes how dumb it is, after saying it.
Elle seems to figure it out though, which makes Harmony feel a /little/ better. A weight lifting up off her chest. "Yeah.." she admits, "We did. Which by the way was unusual for me to be honest. Normally? Yeah, I flirt like crazy, it's what I do, but that night, he sorta saved me, and put on a pretty noble act." Harmony recalls the evening, her eyes looking at the corner of the wall, trying to picture. "Oh, yeah. He was cute, funny, heroic and a little geeky. I kinda thought he was adorable. Then he like.. totally flipped the switch and bluntly told me he was trying to make a pass at me, and he made it really clear that he wanted to hook up. Had no idea he was involved. He didn't act like he was, so I didn't ask." The blonde girl's shoulders lift in a shrug.
"Anyway.. the other afternoon, I called him, because he wanted me to help clean up the radiation over the city, and to check up on him because I hadn't heard from him, and I was worried… He gives me this big story right? About how he's sorry.. how you're giving him another chance.. he never meant to hurt you.. that you've been crapped on and he promised he wouldn't be the one to do that.. Annnnnd that you're kinda psycho. With electrical powers. Drove. Me. Nuts." she cuts her hand across the air, "How do you tell someone that?! Oh! Oh! And THEN he told me to forget he said anything. Like.. really? We're doing takebacksies? I usually don't run into these kinds of guys.."
Elle blinks a few times, turning to peer thoughtfully over at Harmony. "I'm psycho. And I'm going to kill you because you slept with Warren. Is that what he said?" She frowns. "Well…I guess I know what he thinks of me, now. I should have fucking killed him instead of just putting him in the hospital." Suddenly, she's scowling up at the ceiling.
"Thank you for telling me these things. It saves me a lot of trouble in the long run. I think he's ruined his chances with me." She frowns. "He's certainly ruined his second chance. Oh no, he's not crapping on me at all by telling random strangers that I'm going to kill them." Sarcasm drips from her voice, despite the morphine that drips into her IV.
Okay. Talking about killing him isn't really helping to dispel the notion she had implanted in her brain about Elle. "Yeah.. he mentioned that.." Harmony's lips purse together, "That's kinda what had gotten me worried, and it sorta made what he said seem.. real. When you told me your name, I thought eh.." she makes a seesaw hand, "I'll chance it, seeing as how you're kinda doped up. I don't like letting stuff linger on my head. I'm highly neurotic, and I worry, so thinking there is some girl out there that will fry me for sleeping with her boyfriend, when I had no idea he was her boyfriend, is kinda something I wanted to nip in the bud." blond brows come to pinch towards each other, "I mean.. if it helps, he sounded really sincere about what he said. He really wants to be with you and wanted to make things right. My heart melted and went out to him a little when he said that." she gives a half smile, "Till he went on with the psycho thing." Harmony mutters.
"Look.." she crosses over to stand new where Elle's bed is, leaning back against the wall, folding her arms over her chest. "I don't think he really meant anything by it? I mean.. I'm sure his 'guy gene' just kicked in and made him do all kinds of 'fuck-up'. Buuuut.. if you're up for it, payback is pretty possible." she smirks.
"Yeah, sincerity doesn't help the fact that he turned around and said that I'm a psychopath. It really lets me know what he thinks about me." Elle frowns. "I wasn't even sure if giving him another chance was a good idea. I mean…he didn't even wait a month. Two, maybe three weeks, tops. Then he goes and talks about me in ways that could negatively impact potential relationships."
The little blonde sighs, shaking her head and rubbing at her face with her good hand. "Sorry, I don't mean to rant at you. It just kind of pisses me off, you know? I mean, I really am not mad at you over whatever happened. He's the one who couldn't even wait two weeks before going and finding another girl." An insanely pretty one, at that. "I just…don't think I'll be with Warren any longer.
So now, she feels a little bit bad about it. It was initially something that she could drop if things were just sorta laughed off, but Elle is actually hurt over it. It makes it difficult for the joking wild nature of Harmony to help in this situation. "Hey.. I mean, I guess I did hit on him a little.." she makes a sheepish face, "Wait.. I did hit on him, it's what I do.. But I still didn't know he wasn't single! So.. yeah.. I guess that is kinda messed up. Wow.." Harmony slumps back against the wall and plops down on her butt, on the floor, "I've never been a homewrecker before. I totally said I wouldn't be that girl." Harmony looks a little disturbed at this point, pensive if you will. "Goddammit! Thanks a lot, Warren!" she frowns, "Yanno.." she turns her blue eyes to look at Elle. "How could he do this to you? To me too!? I thought he was one of the good ones.. Of course, I knew because of that, he wasn't the one for me, but I thought we could be friends and stuff. Well.. friends, but.. Man.."
"I don't think you did anything wrong, really. All you did was flirt with a guy who probably acted like a single man." She frowns over to Harmony, scratching at her arm at the edge of the cast. This thing itches already, and she still has another 4 to 6 weeks in it. "It's pretty messed up that he'd not even wait a month before he goes and tries to find someone else."
She sighs softly. "Such is my life, I suppose. It's nothing new. Nothing I'm not used to, having everyone stab me in the back in one way or the other." She frowns, turning her eyes up to the ceiling again. She can't help but be a little bit upset over this. "I thought he'd be different, too. That's why I was going to give him another chance. But now…I really don't want to."
"You know what?" Harmony frowns, "We need good guys. Both of us! I'll be honest, there are totally like.. three guys that I've kinda got something going on with?" she pauses as she realizes how bad that sounds, "Not sex, but there has been a lot of flirting back and forth. But I think.. maybe that sex is just the end goal or something? I dunno.." she shrugs her shoulders, "It's weird. I'm pretty laid back and free spirited and stuff, no real hangups about having fun? But man.. I miss being someone's girlfriend. And I think I deserve better than.." she waves her hand in the air, "This. you deserve better than this. I'm hot, you're hot.. Boys should be lining up on their knees to love us. We should be taking applications. What is wrong with the world, huh? We should go out, or something.." A second of silence as she looks at Elle, "Erm.. well of course not right now, but when you get better."
Elle watches Harmony thoughtfully; by the time the woman is done speaking, the wounded blonde is actually smiling, just a little bit. "Sounds like a plan. Whenever I'm not all stabbed and crippled, we should definitely go out some time. Meet some guys or something." She offers a faint grin, closing her eyes for a moment. "Maybe Richard's right, though. Maybe I shouldn't worry about men right now. Still…it'd be nice to feel loved, and all." She sighs, then.
"Warren made me feel like that. He's— he's not bad. But…I don't think I can be with someone who would say things like he said behind my back. Who knows what else he's saying about me?"
Oh, yeah, that's right. She's like.. hurt. Harmony of course noticed, but curiosity didn't settle in until just now. She has to wonder about Elle's injuries. It's something she can ask about a little later. "Amen.." she nods in agreement, "Warren's cute, and he was pretty nice, but.. honestly? If I were in your shoes? He'd have totally been given cancer by now." Of course, Harmony is pretty sure she wouldn't go that far, but it's kind of an ongoing and running thing with her. "Oh.. that's kinda my ability. Not actually giving people cancer, but my ability can cause it. I kinda generate radiation. Which is why he initially wanted to get to know me. But yeah.. I'd be pretty pissed." Harmony sighs, draping her arms across her knees where she sits.
"Now Richard.." the girl grins, "Heh.. let's talk about Richard Cardinal for a second. I know I went on about the boyfriend thing and all that? But I.. totally wanna see him with less clothes on. Not completely naked? But al dente.. He was such a gentleman the first time we met, and the other night. It was nice to just kinda relax without someone trying to jump in my pants."
Elle frowns. "I already put him in the hospital when he told me that he slept with…well, you, I guess. I mean, seriously, he only waited like two weeks before going off and doing that stuff with you, and I never actually said that it was over." She shrugs quietly. "It's like the world doesn't want he and I to be together. I'm sick of fighting all of that shit off. I have enough on my plate without the drama that he's brought into my life." She sighs softly.
Talk of Richard prompts a small smirk on Elle's face. "Oh, I know exactly what you're talking about. That man has saved my life more than once. He's like…my knight in shining armor. But I know his type." She tilts her head to the side. "He's a total heart breaker, I can tell just by looking at him. But damn if I wouldn't like to see less clothes on him." Her cheeks flush.
"You know, I really hate that whole Forbidden Fruit is always sweeter phrase. It's so true." Elle grins.
Harmony grins, jaw hanging open a little while her tongue curls, the tip inspecting over her teeth idly, "Ohhh yeah. I know what you mean. Total heart breaker. He's one of those types that runs through women, until there is one that runs through him. I caught me one of those, once.." she gets thoughtful for a few moments, "Broke. His. Heart.. Not on purpose! I just.." the blonde girl searches for the right explanation. "I was sure he was going to go back to his wild womanizing ways. I just didn't feel he was the one." she turns her gaze to look pointedly at Elle, "He cried. It was awful. This big masculine, bad ass bad boy, reduced to a blubbering mess because I said I didn't wanna see him anymore. I felt bad, but it was very hard to pity him."
She sighs, "Maybe someday for us, Elle.. There's gotta be someone out there that fits with us."
Elle tilts her head to one side. "I don't want to think of how Warren's going to react to what is almost certainly to come. I'm actually kind of glad that they erased memories I had of him, now. It makes it a lot easier to break things off when I don't actually love him." She frowns. "He's going to be sad, and I'm going to feel horrible, but…I don't think it's meant to be. There's just too much trouble that comes from even interacting with him."
"Well.." Harmony wrinkles her brow, "I'd take him off your hands? But for one thing, he probably won't be too happy with me, most likely. And two? I'm not too sure how I feel about the drama thing. That's kind of a deal breaker.. I've got my own personal drama, and Warren? I kinda have a feeling it'd be nothing but with him." she sighs and pushes a few stray curls from her face, tucking it behind her ear. "So what's that leave?" she ponders, "We've got: Richard, which.. yeah, we know how that goes, the guy that lives down the hall from me, Luke, who has powers kinda like mine. But.. eh.. I dunno if anything could come from that.. He's fun but probably not boyfriend material. Oh!.." she grins, "There is this Irish guy that's pretty close to frickin amazing, but he's got so many hang ups.. I'm pretty sure that a close physical friendship is all we might get outta that." she snaps her fingers and gasps with the notion of idea, "I wish my ability was to make one! That would be awesome, the ability to create your ideal guy, and then alter him how you need. I'd never complain again."
Elle smirks. "He is quite a bit of drama. I just…don't know if it's worth it." She sighs faintly, turning her eyes up to the ceiling. "He's not a bad guy, really. I just don't think that he and I are a good match." She closes her eyes, then, rubbing her forehead with a hand. "Sure…he's saved me a few times…but maybe he's just better off as my friend. Maybe I'm better off that way."
A smile is cast to Harmony. "They sound nice, but I don't know about the one material. You're further than me, though. I have a crush on Cardinal, and am about to break up with the guy who can hardly be called my boyfriend."
Harmony realizes that an already pretty messed up situation remains pretty messed up. She feels bad, knowing Warren will be hurt in all of this. But she understands that it's better for them both to be alone than be unhappy. Something she understands more than anyone. "It.. might just work out. I dunno." she tells her, "Being friends. I'm sure Warren is a pretty strong guy, he'll bounce back. Annd— Wait a minute." she pauses, and a grin cracks across her lips, "Does Richard know you have a crush on him? Or.. is it one of those far away things? He sorta needs some encouragement, I think. He's having a pretty bad week. Well.." she gestures around, "All things considered. I thought about throwing him a little party or something? When stuff calms down, just to sorta say thanks."
"Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Who knows?" She shrugs, frowning at the ceiling. Then, blue eyes turn back to Harmony, brows raising. "It was supposed to be one of those far away things…but thanks to a run-in with someone with a Gaze of Truth or something, he knows I have a crush on him. He and I— we kind of pretend that didn't happen, I think." She tilts her head to one side. "I think a thank you party would be nice. I wish I could thank him properly— he's saved my life like three times, now."
"Oh man!" Harmony chuckles, "That sucks! I mean.. not the letting him know kinda thing? But the fact you're acting like it didn't happen! I try my best to not regret too many things I do or feel. Grab life and swing from it like a light fixture.. That's kinda how I do things. For one thing? After he found out? I.. probably would have jumped all over that. I at least wanna know how good of a kisser he is." Harmony grins, her eyes idly rolling from one side to the next, "I wonder if guys know that we can sit back and oggle them like pieces of meat too. Furthermore, I wonder what guys like Richard would think of it. Could get him drunk and ask him." she chuckles, "Yeah.. we should totally throw him a party. I've got ideas for where.. but.. there is time to hammer those out, I'm sure. For now?" she looks around, remembering where she is and the situation at outside, "I might have to take another nap. Or.. I could go see if I could track you down some more pain meds."
Elle grins quietly. "That might be fun…but I also think that Liz kind of has a claim on him. I don't want to be the other woman either, even if he does seem to be in a rather…polyamorous state." She shrugs. "I don't want to make things awkward between he and I." Then, Elle closes her eyes. "Maybe I should get some sleep…I just had to have a blood transfusion." She grins faintly. "Whatever you want to do…I think there's pain meds here."
Harmony just grins, "Heh. The other woman.. I guess you're right." the girl moves and pulls herself to her feet, giving her arms a stretch over head. "Annnnyway.. I'm gonna go see what I can drum up.. Maybe give my brother a call, see if he's okay. You.." she turns to look down at the injured blond, "Get some sleep. We'll continue plotting later. And don't stress yourself out about Warren. It's a bad situation, but.. it'll work itself out, hm? Buck up." the girl smiles, "I'll catch ya later."
"You take care, then. Don't end up like me, okay?" She grins faintly, then waves her good arm. "See you later, Harmony. We'll have to keep in touch." She smiles faintly. "Thanks for telling me. I appreciate it." She nods toward the girl. "It's better to know than to be blissfully unaware." She sighs softly, closing her eyes again. "I'm gonna sleep now…"