This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours

Participants:

cardinal_icon.gif elaine_icon.gif magnes_icon.gif quinn_icon.gif sable_icon.gif

Scene Title This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours
Synopsis An afternoon among friends is interrupted by a surprise visitor to Magnes' apartment. What follows is question and answer session that's probably far less serious than it should be.
Date June 13, 2010

Gun Hill, Magnes' Apartment


After getting Rock Band all set up, Sable has the guitar, and Quinn has the drums, Magnes with the microphone. They're all dressed up, Magnes as the 90s Superboy with the leather jacket, Quinn as Supergirl, Elaine as Wondergirl, and Sable as a small Lobo, with some facial hair added with makeup and everything. He's singing now, and even dancing a bit, with a few songs he's got modded into the thing, "Wake up in the mornin' feelin' like P-Diddy. Grab my glasses, I'm out the door, I'm gonna hit this city!" He goes on like that, then goes into full blown dancing and singing mode, jerking his arms around and everything, "I'm talkin' pedicures on our toes (toes), trying on all our clothes (clothes), boys blowin' up our phones (phones)!" He motions for everyone to… join in. "Tik tok on the clock but the party don't stop!"

To say that Quinn is flailing about instead of playing drums might be a more accurate statement. She’s playing on easy, and with good reason – she uses electronic equipment for her drums for a reason. Her hand to foot coordination is nearly nonexistent, and she’s fine playing the pads until she tries to add the footpedal, which leads to her neglecting the pads as she footpedals away. Switch back to pads, and the reverse happens. It’s quite a sight to see, and as Magnes looks back to her and motions, she responds with backwards V. Granted, she’s ginning as she does, but she’s not sure which she’s more amused by: The fact that she drew the short straw and got drums, or the outfit she was wearing.

She’d had no idea there even really was a Supergirl, much less one who showed off so much midriff and wore such a just ridiculously short skirt. Clearly, there was much she was missing in the world of comics, between this and the Poison Ivy outfit. And Elaine’s outfit, whom she’d missed the name of.

Elaine is totally not drunk enough to join in on Rock Band singing. And she's already gotten drunk once this week, so she's not starting. She's laughing like hell, though, at Magnes' little performance, perched on the couch. She'd agreed to wear the costume, since everyone was doing it, but she was more than happy to sit on the sidelines and play cheerleader. The game was just as fun to watch as it was to play, and she couldn't help but watch, amused, at both Sable and Quinn's musical flailing.

What the hell.

The shadow that's finally managed to figure out where, exactly, Magnes Varlane has been laying down his head for the night feels very much like he's just walked into some sort of strange tribal ritual that's completely outside his frame of reference and understanding.

Richard Cardinal's voice, therefore, is a bemused whispering that comes out of absolutely nowhere from somewhere behind Elaine's head, "Is this some sort of… geek courting behavior?" Geeks…

Gun Hill isn't too hard to find, and neither is the fact that Magnes J. Varlane lives there if one knows who to ask, but he seems none the wiser that the weightless shadow has entered his residence. "Woah-oh oh oh! Woah-oh oh oh!" He's still singing and dancing with his Superboy shades and hair dyed black with wash away stuff. "Ain't got a care in the world, but got plenty of beer. Ain't got no money in my pocket, ain't got no money in my pocket but I'm already here!"

If Sable missed her cue, which she practices not doing, she certainly misses ghostly whispers. She gives a snarl as she activates her limited supply of star power, getting through a particularly messy part of the song. She doesn't look like someone who's having fun, but she also looks like she might bite you hard enough to draw blood if you interfered with her right now.

Whack whack whack whack. The sound of Quinn beating on the pads drowns out a lot of noise, and the whisper is among those. Despite how poorly she’s doing – just barely well enough to stay in the game – she’s smiling and laughing, the latter of which surely isn’t helping her stay on task. “You’re takin’ over this next, Magnes. Singin’s something I can actually do!” As a long green note appears on the screen, she goes just nits with a drumroll. Or, at least, as nuts as she can get flailing about as she does.

Elaine had been half sitting on the arm of the couch as she watched. And there was singing, and guitaring, and drumming. Y'know, that was normal. Then suddenly there's a voice behind her head. "Jesus!" She exclaims as she turns to face whatever it is behind her, which causes her to lose her balance and fall sideways off the couch and onto her back. "What the hell?"

A quiet little chuckle whispers from the shadows behind the couch, edges of darkness whispering in a slide between it and the wall itself - as though something was moving behind it. As Elaine topples over onto the floor, the edge of Cardinal's tenebrous form shifts to one side of the couch, a ripple of darkness to peek and see how she's doing.

Magnes quickly drops the microphone to let it float in the air when he hears Elaine, and she falls to the floor. He acts quickly, knowing all manner of things could be happening, like invisible men, or spiders. A hand is raised and the couch flies all the way to the ceiling, then he motions another hand and the sheathe to his saif flies over, which is quickly drawn as he steps in front of her. "What's going on? What is it?" He hopes to god he's not overreacting to a spider.

Sable has to make a very critical choice here. If she turns to see what's wrong, she'll lose her groove entirely, and she'll fail, humiliated once again by a fake guitar. The idea infuriates her. But Elaine's cry… damsels in distress are always an object of intense interest. It's a great feat for her, but she manages to growl and spin around, hands leaving the controller. Magnes asks her question for her.

Elaine and Magnes’ reactions get Quinn to ignore the drums entirely, though she stops drumming so suddenly that one of the drumsticks slips back and out of her hand as it comes to a halt over head, flying backwards and into the wall with a clatter. “The ‘ell’s goin’ on over there?” She swivels on her drummer’s perch, an eyebrow quirked, while at the same time the top of her costume down a bit.

"Getting a bit paranoid, are we, Varlane…?" Paranoid…? As if the lamp had just shifted somehow, a shadow spills up over the wall in a smooth and effortless glide, yet another silhouette to join with those cast by the lights of the television and its flashing lights and colours. The difference being, Cardinal's shadow doesn't waver or shift. "Good. It's a start."

Elaine's gaze darts about the room, not quite able to place who or what was in the room. "What the hell? Who's in here?" She slowly peels herself up off the floor, feeling a little uncomfortable with the fact that she can't at all see where the voice was coming from. She silently wonders if Magnes has a secret arch nemesis she doesn't know about.

Magnes' eyes are already on the shadows when he hears the voice. He knows it could be a number of people. "Kazimir? Or maybe you're that shapeshifter pretending to be Cardinal… If you're the latter, don't think I can't find a way to beat you." He seems to not be focusing much on answering the girls' questions, going into full blown defense mode, following the shadow's movements with the tip of his blade. "See, I fought Gabriel, and I've had a lot of time to think about how to kill you incoporeal form people. I can't hurt you while you're that way, but if I make sure you stay within my area of effect, which no one on Earth knows, I can destroy you as soon as you change back. So talk."

Oh no. This is crap from Magnes' other wacko life, before he turned things around and formed a band which ought to be his first priority. Sable lets the controller slip from her shoulder, setting it on the ground and moving over to Elaine, offering an arm if she needs it. She also shoots Quinn a look. A 'on your guard' sort of look. For what, she's not sure. But something the fuck is up. It always is when Magnes starts talking about things that make no fucking sense.

Most of what Magnes says floats right over Quinn’s head, the girl looking very confused as she blinks, head tilting – you’d think she was cosplaying the haircolour that goes with her outfit from her vacant expression. Kazmir? Shapeshifers and incorporeal forms? Well, obviously someone had more experience with Evolved folks than she did. As she catches Sable’s expression, though, she grimaces a bit. She’s not sure what to make of it, but it’s certainly not a good look.

At that, a roll of laughter stirs up from the shadow, whose head shakes slowly from side to side. "…okay, Magnes, that — that was funny. Seriously, where did you get that speech, I mean— Jesus Christ, did you seriously just announce your plans to destroy me? I understand if you're trying to impress the chicks here, but I think you can tone it down a few notches. If Munin couldn't kill me, I doubt your punk ass can, so put your pointy thing away. It's not like I'm trying to shoot you or anything." After a moment, the shadow offers, "Hello, by the way, girls. Sorry for intruding, I didn't think Spanky the Superhero here was going to have… um… whatever… this is, going on."

"This isn't a sex thing, right? God, I hope not."

Grabbing Sable's arm, Elaine hauls herself to her feet. There's a tense moment, everyone being all defense, and then there's the shadow, laughing. Elaine doesn't like that, she frowns, muttering under her breath. In /Gaelic/. It might likely be swearing, but it's hard to tell. There's a deep breath. "Haha, you're a riot. Very funny. We're all /rolling/ on the floor." She seems right on the cusp of saying more, but instead she keeps silent. Except for the mumbling. In Gaelic.

"Do you take me for some sort of moron? The average nuclear fission event releases two hundred million electronvolts of energy, there's no possible way in hell Cardinal would have survived." Magnes doesn't let down his weapon, he instead firms his grip around it. "Getting the enemy caught in an intellectual checkmate is a far more effective means of defeating them than going straight into combat. But alright, if you're Cardinal, tell me how you survived."

Despite the weirdness of the situation, Quinn still has some humour in her, snorting at the shadow’s last comment. “If it is, ‘e has the wrong girls.” But once Elaine starts talking in Gaelic and Magnes sorts talking about jiggawatts and survival and checkmate, she becomes quiet and confused all over again. “Most annoyin’ shadow ever,” she mutters, crossing her arms across her midsection. “Magnes, the ‘ell’s goin’ on here?”

"Actually, given your recent activity, yes, yes I do, Magnes," Cardinal replies in rather ashen-dry tones, the silhouette of a man that isn't there folding its arms, head cocking to one side a bit as the voice grows more serious, "Do you just repeat old adages, Varlane, or do you actually understand them? I was hoping that you'd grown up a little more than this… I survived because you can't just blow up a shadow." Survived…

The Gaelic? It hasn't stopped. It's mostly a murmur, likely all the things Elaine would like to spit out and say, but she doesn't. Her hands are balled into fists, but she's clearly listening to what the shadow's saying… and she doesn't necessarily like it. She doesn't understand everything, but what she does.. she doesn't like it.

"Recent activity? Most of what I do all day is work on costumes, band practice, and work for Tracy Strauss. I'm not in that crazy life you are anymore, if you really are Cardinal." Magnes doesn't seem very intent on believing it, then sheathes his saif and lightly tosses it back to the corner it was laying in. "If you have some point to being here, get to it. I'll figure out who you are eventually. There would be a lot of angry people if they knew someone was pretending to be him."

"You know… I don't think that I do have any reason here anymore, Magnes. I'd thought that maybe Apollo'd taught you something, but you're still the same caricature as before," the shadow replies with a rough snort of… well, it's not breath, but it's a good imitation. It loses its shape, flowing away across the wall and blending with the natural shadows and silhouettes that light in the room creates, though that quiet voice whispers still, "…but it really would be better for everyone if what you just told me was true, Magnes." Retired…

Okay, this is just a bridge too far. Magnes may in fact be a caricature, but Sable's hardly a person of normalized personality proportions herself, and this shitheel is just way too fucking smarmy. If there was a person to punch, instead of a shadow, Sable'd be winding up right about now. Her expression is utterly thunderous. "That's fuckin' it. I dunno what the fuck is goin' down, 'r who you are t' come in and start throwin' shit at my comrade in arms, but I've had far 'n' away too fuckin' much of it. I honestly don't fuckin' care what it is y' came here for. I'm tellin' you t' fuck off." She directs this stream of vitriol in the direction of Cardinal's voice. It's the best she can do right now.

Elaine doesn't normally get angry. That's not her thing. She's usually pretty calm, funny, sweet… but anger? Not her norm. So the soft swearing and the balled fists? That isn't her. She lets out a deep breath. "You know, it's my experience that no one can really judge someone based on one experience with them. Whole 'book by its cover' thing. So you're fucking wrong if you think you can come in here and degrade Magnes simply by what he chooses to do in his spare time. We could all die at any fucking moment, and if Magnes happens to be doing something dangerous, he's doing it cause it's the right thing to do. And if that puts him in danger? That's because it's something worth doing, something that /needs/ doing, and he's not flying in the face of it just to look good. He's a damned good person, and you're in no place to judge him, whoever the fuck you are. So go be a voyeur somewhere else."

"You can say what you like, you can delve into your pragmatism and terrorism with all those other insane bastards, you can use Claire for whatever bullshit you keep pushing her into, but I'm still me, I still make a difference, I still know who I am and I won't let this world change me into some bitter bastard who does nothing but compromise. And one more thing." Magnes points to the shadows he last saw him slip into. "You died first."

"You have no idea, girl. I'm one of the only people who is in a position to judge him…" There's no way to tell where Cardinal is now, even as he replies in a low, whispering hiss, "…and the world's made of compromise, Magnes. You should look at what you're fighting for… and ask if what you're doing is going to make the world better or worse. That's the last damn word of advice I'm giving you, though, Magnes. It's clear that you're never going to listen."

The shadow ripples outward along and over the window of the apartment as if some large shape had passed before the light, that whispering voice adding, "For the record - I liked the band idea better than what you're really doing, scarf-boy."

And then the shadows ripple, twist, spilling through the cracks along the window, and is gone.

Everyone’s getting mad and yelling and that’s really not Quinn’s scene and wait a second, did Magnes just say terrorism? Whatever this shadow is, it’s right full of itself, and suddenly it occurs to Quinn that it’s a shadow, and light + shadow = bad times. But even as she raises her hand and it starts to glow, the shadow is already undulating and moving across the room until it’s gone, and Quinn is left a bit speechless. “Feckin’ hell, Magnes, I know you know everyone, but this is a bit much…” She lowers her hand, and exhales sharply. “Seriously. What just happened?” She glaring at Magnes now, eyes narrowed and framed by her red hair.

Elaine is clearly still upset. She's still very much upset and wants to do something about it… but she can't. The shadow's already gone. She moves to sit down. If the couch is still in the air, she proceeds to just sit on the floor, tugging her knees to her chest and continuing her quiet conversation with herself in Gaelic.

Quinn's not alone in rounding on Magnes. Sable's eyes are narrowed. "I'm gonna believe not a fuckin' thing that cowardly shit related unto us, arright? I'm gonna treat it all as lies 'n' fuckin' slander, 'til you step in and make shit clear. But boy, I swear to God Almighty you better make turds shine like crystal by th' time yer done talkin'."

"He thinks the world works the way he says he does, he thinks his word is law and the only way to be a man is to approach everything the way he sees it. He doesn't understand that not everyone is him, not everyone is willing to compromise and whore out their soul for the greater good. He thinks I need to be a bitter old fool to have wisdom." Magnes waves a hand and lowers the couch when Elaine starts walking over for a seat, then sits back himself. "I don't care what he thinks about me anymore. He's wrong, in the end he'll be dead and I'll be the one making a difference. He can sneak around in the shadows all he wants, I'll do things my way, because that's who I am. Fuck him."

Quinn eyes Magnes for a moment after he finishes speaking, and then expression turns upwards, to a smile, to mirthfulness. She sits back down on her drumming stool, having completely forgotten about the wayward stick. “You know some right mazed people, Magnes, I’m just gonna let you know that.” She seems satisfied by what Magnes has to say, attempting to spin the stick she still has between fingers just to have it fall and hit the ground. “But… do let m’ know if there’s anyone else you know who’s gonna slip in and scare the knickers off all ‘a us again, please.”

"What an ass." Elaine murmurs, just curling up a bit on the couch. "Now my mood's ruined." She stares back at the TV, as if expecting it to do something, or the game to magically resume.

Sable seems mostly set at ease by Magnes' ferocious decrial of the interloper. If Magnes doesn't think he needs to explain the crazy details and accusations the shadow man made, then Sable will not press it. Scarfs and whatever else aside, Magnes's resolve seems true. Though to what, exactly. "I'm hopin'," the yellow eyed girl says, "That 'your way' means opening up hearts 'n' minds through the power of music. That's whatcha mean when you say that, eh?"

"I really just wish he'd stay out of my life." Magnes leans over and wraps his arms around Elaine's waist, laying his head on her shoulder. "You can all ask me one question. I know a lot of classified information, I don't feel safe telling you all everything, but I'll give you each one question that I'll answer truthfully no matter what."

Quinn wrinkles her nose. This kind of thing always takes her a few minutes – she’s usually willing to take people at their word, and pressing things like this aren’t her forte. A look of hard thought crosses her face, hand to chin. She glances to the other two girls, and then waves a hand dismissively, instead going to retrieve both of her drum sticks. If there were questions to be asked, chances are they had better ones than her. Unless she wanted to make jokes, and this may not be the time.

Can of worms, Magnes, can of worms. Elaine rests her head in against Magnes' when she hears his words. One question, truthfully, /no matter what/. "Alright. Fine, if you're gonna be honest." She lifts her head so she can look at him. "But I'm gonna have to make the same offer. I don't want this to be Magnes Interrogation Day or the Salem Witch Trials or something, cause you weigh more than a duck. So you get a question of your own." She purses her lips for a moment. "Alright. If you're being honest, if you were in a life or death situation, something where you very easily could die.. even if you couldn't tell me the specifics of the situation, would you tell me something was up.. or would you keep me in the dark to protect me?"

"Honestly?" Magnes takes a deep breath, then sighs and lays his head back. "If I thought you were in real danger, I'd tell you. If it was just my life… I'd keep you in the dark so you wouldn't worry." Magnes answers honestly, then sits up with an arm around her shoulders. "Since you asked me a hard question in front of everyone. Did you really mean it when you said I was the best sex you ever had?"

"Wouldn't want to be in the dark either way. I'd rather worry, but I appreciate the honesty." Elaine frowns, and then he proceeds to ask a 'hard' question. And yeah, there's a bit of red in her cheeks. Her answer, to start, is a punch in the gut to Magnes. "Jackass. Y'didn't have to ask me that!" She gives him a glare and shakes her head. "But if that's what you really want to ask, fine. Yes, I do mean it. Never had better."

Sable claps her hands over her ears, too late to miss Elaine's reply. "Awww no way man!" she exclaims, "My fuckin' innocence! That's my boy! Jesus!" She grimaces, and lowers her hands, glowering at Magnes. "Her deal's fair enough, though I don't much care f'r the results so far. But I ask first. Arright… Short of the whole fuckin' world endin', or your lady love intercedin', if I asked you t' make a gig, would you pass off whatever bus full 'f people you were fuckin' savin' to some other goddamn lunatic, 'n' keep this fuckin' band together?"

"It's nothing you don't already know I do. Hell, all those times I tried to worm my way into your pants when we were living alone, after drinking a ton of Guinness." Magnes pecks Elaine on the cheek, still rubbing his stomach after his gut punch. He's certainly happy with the answer. "And yes I would, Sable. I'd try very hard, because I take our band very seriously." He then grins, very mischiviously now that he has a question for her. "How old are you? Your real age, not just what's on your fake ID."

This is actually pretty easy. Sable just shrugs, "Dunno," she says, "Best I can guess… mebbe nineteen? I wasn't keepin' count, nor was anyone else." She flashes a grin, "Y' let me off easy. Sucker."

"Pssh. An' here I thought were were askin' serious queestion." A sable relates her apparently guestimated age, though, Quinn tlts her head with a bit of a look of disbelief on her head. "Really now?" A grin crosses her face, and her chair swivels again, the irish girl leaning forward. "Magnes! Seriously, do you know anyone else who's likely to worm their way up in here like that again?" The question is asked with a hint of seriousness, and she's genuinely wondering. "That wasn't really a fun experience, an' if we need a new place to hang out, I need to get lookin'"

"Well, unfortunately, I know a few, but they're not assholes and they certainly wouldn't do it when everyone's here like this." Magnes looks over at Elaine, then to the bedroom. "A few weeks ago someone did it, but she didn't quite realize the situation. He's an alright guy though."

Elaine tries to think for a moment, then recalls it. "Oh yeah. It was.. kinda awkward. I went to take a shower, I come back, and boom, there's Magnes in the bedroom talking to some guy. It.. was kinda creepy. Very glad I was wearing a towel."

Sable smirks, "What about Quinn's question, huh? She ain't gettin' away with not payin' the piper." Treachery!

"I think I need to step up the security in here a bit though… I'll talk to a few people." Magnes stands and stretches, then starts heading over to pick the microphone up. "Well, Quinn… Do you have a crush on Sable?"

Quinn’s smile takes an immediate downturn Magnes’ question with her gaze following, and suddenly she wished she’d stuck with not askin’ anything at all. She reaches back and scratches the back of her head, eyes darting over to Sable and then back to Magnes. Both already knew the answer to this, but, well… it’s complicated. “Blast it, Magnes. You heard how we met, right?” Quinn fakes a grin, looking back up. “I mean, that should answer your question well an’ good.”

Oh, see, that was not what Sable was hoping for. Normally she'd find the question a hoot. She laugh and say something smart alecky like 'oh, but who doesn't want this'? She would play it up. It would be awesome.

Right now? Not awesome.

Sable is trying to will herself not to go pink. The result is that she ends up red instead. Whoops. Her arms are crossed so tightly in front of her that it resembles a straight jacket. "Only got yerself t' blame f'r fuckin' that up, Magnes. Y' just had t' give her a fuckin' audition, didn't you, eh?" She's joking, she's joking. Yeeeees. Joking.

"Quite the band. Seriously, the whole lot of you.." Elaine laughs, shaking her head as she leans against the back of the couch a bit. "I like this whole questioning thing. Nice to be able to poke at things."

"Sorry Sable, but… you really don't need to have that rule for yourself, I mean, what's the worst that could happen? I broke every rule I have about women when I met Elaine, and look at how that turned out." Magnes explains, but just shakes his head and sits back. "Wanna go another around of this?"

Quinn coughs loudly and awkwardly, scratching the back of her head after Magnes speaks. “Eeeeh…” She feels a bit burned by that last question, but still, it’s fun. “Ah, why not. But, someone besides Magnes this time…” and her eyes begin to wander between Elaine and Sable. But mostly Elaine.

Sable hunches a bit, a posture that achieves the opposite of the desire for inconspicuousness she's after. This is the problem with having theatrical mannerisms - stage incognito is like a stage whisper, possessing all the form and none of the function. She seizes upon the chance at a subject change as soon as it arises. "Yeah. Another round. Elaine, yer a proper mystery. Ply us and be plied in turn!"

"If you had to choose one woman on Earth for me to be with other than you, who would it be?" Magnes suddenly decides to ask, perhaps wanting to get into his girlfriend's psyche with a tricky question.

Wince. Tough question. "Well, since we're being hypothetical… definitely not Abby. I've met her and she doesn't quite seem.. well, she doesn't seem the right fit for you. So if I had to give you up, I'd stick you with Claire. Pre-not-remembering-you Claire, of course. You seemed like you were happy back then, so I'd want you to be happy." Elaine gives a bit of a nod. "So that's my answer." And now he's in for it. "Alright, so.. same to you. If you had to pick someone for me, who'd you pick and why? Out of anyone you know. Or someone famous. No fictional characters, though."

"Well, if I had to choose… I suppose it'd be Hiro Nakamura, a friend of mine, because I know he'd take care of you…" Magnes shakes his head, crossing his arms as he waits for the others to ask questions.

“I got one for ‘ya!” Quinn suddenly exclaims, leaning forward with a grin on her face. “Seein’ as Magnes is so big on comics, from what you’ve seen an’ heard from him, what do you think about ‘em?”

Sable squints at Quinn, like she's crazy. "Feel free t' lie if y' feel the need, gal," she advises Elaine, "Or selectively fuckin' answer. Y' don't wanna speak ill of Magnes' first fuckin' love. Not, 'f course, that you would have t' lie, or ever would. Just… sayin'."

A decent question, and one far less prying. Elaine seems satisfied. "Well, I haven't read a /ton/, but I've been doing a little bit of search on Wikipedia and stuff, and reading some that Magnes happens to have around, and I'd say they're really interesting.. but the plots are so messed up with deaths and retcons and different author changes that it's almost as bad as a soap opera sometimes. Not to say I don't like 'em… they're just downright confusing, at times. That's my answer, and if I've dug my own grave, I'll bury myself, too, since I'm stickin' to it."

A smile, and Elaine leans forward to look over at Quinn. "Alrighty. While Magnes is busy reeling over the fact that I just called comics confusing… I'll ask you something. You and Sable and Magnes are all pretty much into the music scene. When'd you really start getting into music and what about it lured you in like a siren?"

Quinn leans back and crosses her arms, a smile on her face. “See, that’s easy.” She waves a hand dismissively. “My mum’s an artist, and I spent most of my childhood home with her while my dad worked. She’d listen to a lot of classical when I was a wee thing, and that was more or less what got me interested. ‘Course, then she got me a violin when I turned six, an’ that was the end of that. Still got that precious thing too.”

By many paths they come. Sable snickers a little at the way Quinn arrived to music. "Nothin' t' yer shame, hon," Sable explains, still laughing, "It's just the thought of li'l Quinn, only six, with a itty bitty fiddle…" It takes her a while to recover from this case of the giggles, but finally she does… and realizes it's her turn to pose a question to Elaine. This gets her serious.

"I can't ask this question 'f th' others, since too much'd ride on it," Sable says, arms crossed over her chest, giving Elaine a dead level, somewhat appraisingly look. "It's a question 'f, like, personal fuckin' philosophy. If you could be sure to have anything y' wanted, the one thing y' wanted more th'n anythin' else, yer soul's, like, deepest desire… wouldja be willin' t' die at th' age of twenny-seven?"

Magnes shakes his head at Sable's question, but listens anyway, curious to see what Elaine's answer is while peering over at her.

“Aint nothing wrong with violins. It's the only instrument I've ever learned to play." Elaine grins at that, then turns to Sable, noting the serious expression. Since this is serious, she relaxes a bit, taking a moment to really absorb the question. "No. I can't say that I would. I mean, first of all, while I'm young and twenty-seven seems a long ways away.. it's not all /that/ far away. S'not like it's fourty or something."

Elaine ticks off on her fingers. "Second off, souls are fickle things… one minute, I might want something more than anything but then a year or two down the road, who's to say that something else isn't my soul's deepest desire? I'm not sure I'd even have /found/ my deepest desire by twenty-seven."

A pause, then Elaine starts on her next point. "Then there's the fact that I'd wanna raise kids someday, and it wouldn't be fair to them or to anyone I loved to see me go when I might have more to contribute to the world somehow. To take an offer like that, hands down, is a bit selfish if you ask me."

That answered, Elaine looks back over to Sable. "If you knew the world was ending tomorrow, what would you do with your last night on earth?"

"Spend it with the woman I loved," Sable answers, without a moment's hesitation, "And if she was dead or didn't exist, I'd go t' the beach durin' the storm of buildin' armageddon, lie atop the hood 'f the car I'd stolen, and lie in the rain while listenin' t' Quadrophenia. Preferable with a bottle of whiskey in m' hand. Though that last bit's negotiable."

Sable's more serious question made Quinn think, answering it for herself in her head - granted, she's already twenty five anyway, so it's only two years to take into consideration. When she answers Elaine's question, though, she wrinkles her nose, grinning. "That's just like, Sable. You're getting predictable!"

"I never claimed t' be surprisin'," Sable says, lifting her chin regally, "I only claim t' be myself."

Magnes wraps an arm around Elaine's shoulders again, then suddenly points to Sable. "Let's do you next. And I'll ask…" He gives a bit of a pause, and finally springs the question, "If we weren't in a band together, on that night I tried to seduce you, would I have succeeded?" Oh yeah, he's curious.

Sable's brows lift. "Y' wanna waste yer fuckin' question like that?" she says, "Grateful as I am fer all the good y've done me, boy, there's just a few things y're lackin' and a few other things y've got that I don't particularly care for." She smiles and sets her hand on her chest, "Now, if nature hadn't done you the disservice 'f givin' you those ridiculous dangly bits, mebbe we coulda worked somethin' out."

Her head tilts, "So I'll ask you, eh. If y' weren't interested in fuckin' me, wouldja have joined up with th' band, 'n' let me crash 'n' all?"

"Well yeah, I mean, I didn't get interested until I got to know you. When you started living with me, I started feeling really comfortable with you. That's why I made the moves." Magnes answers without any real hesitation, nodding affirmatively. "So, yeah, the attraction came after I joined and we started living together. I'd never try to buy you or anyone else."

Quinn can't help but snicker at Sable's respond-and-ask exchange, shaking her head. "Haven't figured that out right and proper yet, Magnes?"

"Hope springs eternal," Sable says to Quinn, with a sly smile, "'n' with th' help of little blue pills, so do some other things."

Elaine shakes her head a little at Magnes' question. "You and your always thinkin' about sex. I think the world should be thankin' me for dating you, simply cause I'm keeping you from skirt-chasing." She looks back over towards Sable, taking a moment to think before she grins. "If the four of us were stuck on a desert island together.. what would happen, in your ideal world?"

Sable makes a variety of faces as she sets up the scenario in her mind, and lets it play out. One way makes her grimace. Another makes her squint. Another makes her bite her lip. The last makes her shake her head. "Naw, naw…" she says, banishing whatever was playing through her mind, "We'd fashion, like, instruments and shit outta coconuts 'n' fish bones 'n' our own hair, 'n' you'd learn t' play drums made 'f, like, cactuses 'r some shit, 'n' we'd play so fuckin' loud we'd be found 'n' rescued, 'n' the, like, resultin' press buzz would rocket us into stardom.

"Ideal world, 'f course," Sable says, "Leavin' out particulars." She appraises Elaine carefully before asking, in turn, "Y've got one decision y' could make differently in yer whole life. What is it?"

That's a bit of a face that Elaine's making there. "One decision I could make differently." She tries hard to think of something, it appears, but she keeps frowning every time she comes back to it. "I guess I wouldn't have gone to Europe.. maybe I coulda done things differently."

Now her turn to pose a question to Sable, Quinn looks thoughtful, a hand to her chin as she tries to think of something that won’t either be misconstrued, or otherwise seemly betray their earlier agreement. She taps a foot, eyeing Sable for several moments before she finally leans forward. “If y’ didn’t have Magnes an’ me for a band, what would you be doin’ now instead?” Not the first question she thought of, but the most appropriate.

Sable frowns. This question could be taken a lot of ways. The answer that seems to seem most true, however, she finds fairly quickly. "Waitin' fer cremation after fuckin' freezin' t' death in all that snow, with no name 'n' no one t' claim me," is the grim reply, given grimly. But she smiles right after, "So thank God f'r the lot of you, huh?"

"As f'r you, hon," Sable says, waggling her brows at Quinn, "Tell me, if y' hand t' lose one of three - yer beauty, yer voice, or yer vision - which wouldja sacrifice." Big fan of the hypothetical 'test' questions, Sable is.

Quinn’s eyes narrow a bit, though not maliciously. That seemed like a tough question at first, but her answer comes after only a few moments of though. “My voice, I think. At least I could learn sign language, and still ‘talk’ through music. An’ still land a pretty girl, I’d like to hope.” She smirks mischievously, nodding.

And then she stops, leaning back a bit. “…That means it’s my turn, doesn’t it?”

Magnes nods, grinning as he lets his arm lazily hang down Elaine like a piece of clothing. "I think I've got a question." He glances at Sable, as if trying to give her some hint of worry that it's something related to her again. "I may not mind if Elaine thinks comics can be confusing, she does try, but… in the spirit of things you don't entirely like or understand about the people you know, what would you change about each of us if you could remove or add one thing?"

Quinn wrinkles her nose at the question. She’s not sure at all how to answer that. “Well, I mean…” She sits back, running a hand through her hair. “That’s a bit hard only cause I’ve only known you guys for a few weeks.” Well, no, she can think of a few things. Probably not all appropriate for various reasons. “If you want a serious answer-“ She points at Magnes, smirking, “I’d rob you of your desire t’ dress people up, Magnes. Not that it isn’t fun, I admit, but… you’re a bit gung ho, boy.” Then a chuckle. “An’ if you want something less serious-“ And now she points at Elaine. “I’d bring her over with Sable an’ I, if you know what I mean.” A playful wink follows.

And a question for Magnes… “Now, Magnes, assumin’ you actually had the opportunity and means, an’ you had to pick between one of us-“ Arms wide, motioning to herself, Elaine, and Sable. “Who would it be?” She mostly just curious, but she last kind of likes embarrassing people when it isn’t awkward.

"Well I mean, of course I'd pick my girlfriend, especially considering the things she does. But if I take out the obvious answer and have to choose between just you and Sable…" He looks to Sable, clearing his throat a bit. "It's not that I like Sable more, it's just I always imagined sex with Sable would be akin to a religious experience."

Sable beams. "Aw, hell. I just try 'n' spread th' Word, is all," she says, actually pinking a little, "'n' as four prophets once said, th' Word is Love."

"A religious experiance?" Quinn's expression upturns into a wide grin, glancing over at Sable. She doesn't say anything, though.

Elaine leans forward with interest as she hears Magnes' question. That's a good one. She can't help but laugh, and perhaps blush a slight bit at the question Magnes gets in response. But she peers over to her boyfriend, grinning slightly. "You're damn lucky Sable's into chicks, or I'd probably be pretty freaking jealous."

Sable is rarely flattered into true flusteration, but this is an exceptional case. Once her color abates, the yellow eyed girl clears her throat and poses Quinn her question, "Ahem. So. Lemme see here… uh…" okay, starts trying to pose her question, "What th' one thing y' haven't done, but dearly want t' do b'fore y' die? Nothin' truly impossible. Somethin' y' just haven't been brave enough or had the opportunity 'r just haven't gotten around to."

“Perform at a real concert.” It’s a quick answer, followed by a nod. “Not, like, one of the small clubs here. A real, arena concert, or a famous club, or even a really hyped up piano or violin recital. Somethin’ in front of thousands.” She smirks. “That, or learn a bit more about producing and release a really popular remix of a song or somethin’.”

Her arms cross, tapping a foot again as she looks at Sable. She points at her, a surprisingly stoic look on her face. “So, what about you. If you could pick anyone in th’ world to be with, since we’ve had somethin’ similar go about.”

Sable gives Quinn yet another 'are you crazy?' looks. A long silence follows, and Sable is deep, deep in thought. Finally, she gives a small laugh, a tinge bitter. "Aw, Jesus. Here it is. Now y'all will know me for the vindictive fuckin' bitch I am," she shakes her head, "Arright. Fine."

Her lips curl into a hard smile. "Adelaide," she says, with cruel conviction, "So I could leave 'er and break her fuckin' heart."

Quinn’s eyes narrow at Sable. "I'm not sure that counts, but I'll let it slide."

"Aw, I'm not sure that counts either.. but I'm sure we'll let it slide. Juuuust this once." Elaine comments, leaning her head in against Magnes' shoulder. "Well, now I think we've all been suitably embarrassed."

Magnes suddenly lifts Elaine, then starts heading to his bedroom. "Well, I'm gonna go take a nap with Wonder Girl, you two make yourselves at home and watch a movie or something. It's been fun."

Sable teeters back and falls onto the couch, her costume crinkling around her as she spreads her arms. "Yeah, yeah," she says, grinning, "Go 'n' nap. I hope y' have a reeeeeal good rest."

Her eyes dart back to Quinn. "So, hon. You wanna perform somewhere big? Let's talk specific venue, eh?"

A grin. "Ain't never too early t' plan f'r yer dreams."


Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License