Participants:
| Scene Title | Serious Deja Vu |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Magnes arrives at Claire's room with food so that they can try and talk. |
| Date | January 04, 2010 |
Having been walking and/or floating around the ship for most of the day, Magnes finally decides to at least try to talk to her, more so he'll be able to sleep than anything. He stopped by the cafeteria to grab two chocolate milk boxes and a plate of two turkey and cheese sandwiches, with some crackers on them. He leaves the tray floating off next to him, knocking lightly on the door. "It's, uh, Magnes." he nervously announces.
Glancing at the door, Claire's eyes widen a bit. Uh oh… There is the sounds of movement in the small room, as she has to hunt down her pants, which she took off to laydown. Taking a moment to tug them on, she moves to unlatch the door, peeking out at him through the crack,"Um.. Hello… Magnes, right? What.. brings you here?" She asks softly, letting the door open a bit more, showing that her hair is a bit mussed up from laying there.
There's a slightly pained wince when she's unsure of his name, but he nods, then reaches over to pull a tray that was apparently floating next to him, into his hands. "I just thought we could talk, that's all. Is that alright? I mean, I don't wanna make you feel like you have to try to remember me, I just needed to see you. Thinking about seeing you again is what got me through all that stuff in Argentina."
Teeth catch her lower lip and she chews it thoughtfully, looking for a moment like she might say now, before Claire slowly open the door for him to come inside. "Um.. Sure." She sounds a bit nervous and uncertain herself. "Come on in… So far I haven't seen my bunk mate." She shuts the door softly behind him once he's in and asks. "So you were on one of the other teams?"
"I hate them put crackers on sandwiches, the way you like." Magnes offers with a soft smile, holding the tray out once he enters. "Yeah, I was in Argentina. We fought robots, believe it or not. One cut my eye and they can't really do anything about it, so I'm stuck with this patch for now. We were in the jungle for a good month or so, with those things cracking us like animals."
Grimacing, Claire studies that bandaged eye as she takes the plate from him, before motioning for him to sit on one of the bunks. "Thanks.. though I haven't felt much like eating lately." Her tone is rather bland as she offers the words as a form of apology. "Too much is still fresh in my mind….makes it touch to stomach anything. She sits the plate on the desk, before leaning back against it, ankle crossing.
"Sounds a bit like a sci-fi movie." Her tone sounds slightly amused… " And… I'm sorry about your eye." She means it too.
"It's alright, I mean, I only need one eye to see you, and at least I'm not dead, y'know? I lost my eye saving Dahlia, so, it was worth it for her to survive." Magnes takes a seat on the bunk, opening his container of milk as he watches her, occasionally smiling, then looks back down at the carton. "You made me shoot you in the heart, to convince me that you'd be fine and that I could stop trying to protect you, but, it looks like you can be hurt…" He sounds truly pained by everything that's happening, but he tries to keep up a smile for her.
"I… made you shoot me?" Claire almost sounds disbelieving, but then she thinks on it, "I guess I would do that. I use to always kill myself or hur myself over and over to see what would happen." The smile she gives him a small one, kind of awkward. "Yeah.. I can get hurt… but I can't die at least." She might have though, if Sanderson hadn't put her head back together again as best as she could. The blonde keeps that little bit to herself though.
"I'm.. sorry I can't remember you.. I'm finding I lost a lot.. Liz… I have no memories of and I barely remember Richard….Cat I've known a lot longer." Claire sighs softly, "So much is a jumbled mess."
"Claire, if you never remember me again, I can't say it won't hurt, but, don't worry about me, alright? I just want you to make sure you're alright when all of this is over, get your life together, you'll have a pardon. I just…" Magnes stops to take a sip of his milk, then looks up at her after taking a deep breath. "I hope we can be friends, if nothing else. You're one of the most amazing people I know."
One arm crosses around her middle and another hand presses to her mouth as she watches him, listening to him. Her eyes close for a long moment as she again tries to find a scrap of memory anything at all, finally defeated, Claire lets the hand drop from her mouth. "Don't go starting to talk like that.. You sound like you've been beaten… giving up." She holds her hands up and makes a stopping motion. "Just… there is too much to take in."
Her hands then comb through her loose blonde hair, almost like she'd like to tear her hair out in frustration. "I need time to get use to all this… but… for now… Yes.. we can be friends."
"Well, it's not that I want to give up, I'm just afraid of, like, somehow making it worse." Magnes smiles, snickering slightly as he shakes his milk in slow circles. "It's almost embarassing, you have to learn that your boyfriend is an awkward mess all over again." His mood seems to have become genuinely lighter, then flicks the unopened milk carton in her direction. It floats very slowly, as if they were in a space ship, and eventually stops near her head for her to grab.
"I guess I just don't know how to react, or, like, how to help, y'know? So my first instinct was to just back off. But, maybe we should stop worrying about it right now?" he suggests, yawning slightly. "Sucks that we missed Christmas, I wanted to have dinner with your family, and actually meet your mom properly, not, just, randomly on the street not knowing who she is. I wanna meet your father, but, I'm still afraid he's gonna punch me in the face, 'cause of all the stuff I read in the comics."
Claire watches the milk carton dumbfound, it's like she's never really watched him do things like that before. Slowly her hand reaches up to take the carton, a small smile of amusement on her lips. "That a neat trick," She compliments glancing back at him.
"Christmas with my family? Kind of tough." Claire comments blandly. "I don't talk to my father and my mother is still all the way over in Costa Verde." Brows drop a bit as she considers her own words.. "Or is that more that I've forgotten?"
"You've forgotten a lot more than I thought." Magnes sounds patient though, now that things don't seem quite as… bleak as they did, now that they're actually talking. "Your mother came back, I saw her before you, didn't know who she was. She taught me how to make an apple pie, and I met Mr. Muggles. When I told you about everything, you realized it was your mother, and you kind of freaked out about your father letting her come back, or something like that. I'm pretty sure you visited her since then. I've still never met your father though, I don't know much about him. And, well, you told me everything else about you too, in case you wanted to know. I mean, the stuff about the President, and Midtown, that no one's really supposed to know. I won't say it outloud." He motions around the room, where they are. On a military ship, potential spying…
She looks surprise, even shocked, as she leans heavily on the desk. "My mom is in New York?" Her voice soft and worried. "It's too dangerous for her there." Words she had said only a few months earlier spill out of her mouth again, "Why did dad let her do that?" A hand drops to the desk chair, pulling it out enough for her to sit heavily in it.
"I am so having a talk with my father when I get back to the states." Hands rub over her face as she leans forward to rest elbows on her knees. "God, if I saw her before I left, she must be totally freaked out that I'm gone."
"This is some serious deja vu." Magnes notes, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. "You said almost the exact thing a few months ago. At least you're… still you. Maybe we can find a way for you to contact her? Or maybe you'd rather wait until your memories are better?" he suggests, peering over at her in a way that says he clearly has a question he won't ask, biting his bottom lip to hold it back.
Her head turns, so that Claire can look at the young man on her bunk, hair falling like a curtain form her shoulder. "I'll probably wait till all this is done." Claire says softly, looking back at the ground in front of her. "I lost so much memory… they said a shot gun to a head would have just blown apart my head… They don't know how I healed from it, maybe it was Sanderson holding the pieces together as she was dying herself." Something in her throat catches and she has to clear her it to continue, but it still wavers. "But they said I probably won't recover most of what I lost. It'll be rare for me to remember things down the line." A hand lifts and she brushes her thumb at a tear gathering at the corner of her eye.
"Oh…" Magnes swallows hard, mood dropping again, just going quiet for a few minutes. "I don't wanna get upset, you're the one who might not get her memories back, but, fuck." He sits his tray aside, leaning forward to place a hand on his forehead, shielding his face from her view. "Life shouldn't be like this, the most we should have to worry about is college, and movies, and just… fuck, this sucks so much." He seems to finally be breaking down, unable to really hold it in any longer, tears starting to fall to the floor in his hunched position.
Blue eyes widen as Magnes starts breaking down right there, not something Claire was expecting. She glances towards the door as if not sure what to do, it felt strange to have a stranger crying in her room. But this wasn't stranger according to everyone.
After a moment of hesitation, Claire slowly climbs to her feet and moves to settle on the bunk next to him. A hand moves to rest on his back, even as she clenches her jaw against the emotions fighting to take her over. It still wasn't time to feel anything yet. "Hey, Magnes… It'll be okay. Once we go to Antarctica and save the world.. we'll have our lives back."
"I'm not crying for me." Magnes wipes his eye on his arm, looking over at her with a bit of redness in his gaze now. "It's just, you've been through so much, and I know you've told me a thousand times not to worry about protecting you, but… I'd give anything for you not to have to suffer like this, even if I had to be in your place, even if I had to lose both eyes, you don't deserve this."
Claire gives him a small smile as he explains, her head tilting a bit as she studies him. "Magnes… I chose this life." She explains softly. "I made that decision a long long time ago after Midtown blew up… and I graduated high school. I went to New York and joined PARIAH." Her other hand touches his knee lightly so that he looks at her.
"While… no, I didn't expect it to end up this bad.. To get dropped in a war zone.. But I brought myself to this point." Claire explains softly but a touch of firmness remains. "So… don't cry over what I don't deserve. I brought myself to this point in my life."
"Seeing you like this feels like the time I saw Abby trying to speak with her tongue cut out, when we were kidnapped. Sure, what you did led up to this, but, I don't have to like it. And even if you can't remember, I can't help but see you as my girlfriend, and seeing you in pain, at all, it's just…" Magnes moves a hand to lightly touch her back, though he tries to keep it platonic. "We've been dating for four or five months, you're my first real girlfriend, there's all sorts of things I wanted to say to you, about how I feel. And, I guess what I'm trying to say is, there will never be a time where I won't wanna cry over you being in pain."
There is a mix of emotions running over her face, she looks like ther is something she'd say, but instead she slides to her feet. Putting a bit of distance between them Claire seems tense, putting her back against one of the gunmetal gray wall of the room.
"That long?" She asks finally, looking confused… "So… I've lost a good part of almost half a year?" Claire looks a bit nervous, kind of spooked. "We were close.. I…" something seems to snap in her, and she gets a pained look, as she inches for the door, hands searching for the knob. "I'm… I'm sorry.. I… need to go." As soon as the sentence finishes the door squeaks open, so that she can flee.
It's too much for her, too much to handle… It's like she woke up from a long sleep and everyone knows what she did, but her. It's all so alien.
"I didn't mean to upset you, I just couldn't hold it in." Magnes stands, heading for the door himself, leaving the tray. He moves to place a gentle hand on her's while she has the knob. "You get some sleep, Claire. Don't apologize to me for something that's not your fault. If you wanna talk more, I'll be in my room. I'll leave you alone for the night, so, don't worry, and try to eat." He puts on a gentle smile now, trying to calm her.
Claire goes perfectly still as she comes close, hand resting on hers. She gives a quick, jerky little nod, pulling away from him a little. "Sleep well, Magnes." She knows he'll probably sleep about as well as she does, which is hardly at all, but she offers it anyhow.
"I'm sorry." She murmurs softly, as she wait for him to leave. "I… just need time." Or at least, Claire hopes so. "And… thank you for bringing the food."
"Just don't push yourself, I'm a patient guy, I think that's one of the things you like about me. That and my cooking." Magnes leaves her with his light-hearted comment and a smile, closing the door behind him.