Participants:
| Scene Title | A Little Discussion |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | A few of them are had when Quinn and Elaine get an unexpected visitor |
| Date | April 23, 2011 |
There's a sudden knock at the door early in the evening, with "It's Magnes." said in a casual tone. He's all in blue denim except for the shirt under his blazer, hair slicked back and all. Sure, one could just burst through the door, but things are far more interesting his way.
"I got it," Elaine calls, setting her book down as she moves towards the door. "I didn't think Magnes would be coming by. Wonder what he wants." Her feet carry her to the door, and she unlocks it and opens it. Her nose wrinkles a little at the denim (what is this, the 90's?) before she notices the slicked back hair. "Uh…" She trails off.
Sitting on teh kitchen table, Quinn sits with her Ibanaz Glass Wonderland Custom across her lap, strumming along. Not that there's much sound, the amp is turned down real low, and her focus on that low sound is what causes her to be late to move to get the door - oops, Elaine's already on the way! Well, she'll just have to get it next time. "Tell 'im we don't want any," she says teasingly, looking back at her guitar. It's only when she hears the "uh…" that she looks up with a quirked eyebrow, not quite able to see Magnes from her vantage point. "Magnes, are you being daft?" is another teasing comment, watching the door with amusement.
"Excuse me." Varlane motions a hand to mentally push the door open, with her behind it or not. He's then reaching into his blazer to remove the Company gun, and marches into the apartment before slamming the door behind him. "We're all going to have a little discussion, if you don't mind. Do you happen to have any quail?"
Stumbling backwards out of the way of the push of the door, Elaine's gaze hardens upon the intruder. She didn't welcome him in, after all. "Robyn, it's the other one," she says, eyes flickering to her fiancée carefully before settling back on Varlane. "Sorry, I'm afraid I'm fresh out of game. What, uh, sort of discussion are you interested in having?" Him being here is quite a surprise to her. Even more so than Magnes himself.
The door being pushed open gives Quinn a good clue, her hand stopping mid strum as she watches Elaine back away and the pistol be drawn. She swallows down a bit of a lump of her throat when she hears that it's the OTHER one, and Magnes isn't just being a dumbass with a gun like she's seen before. "Christ, you're rude," she mutters, eyes on Varlane for a moment before they flick back over to Elaine, worried. Her hand slides down the frets as she moves the guitar, slowly setting it aside. "You realise you don't need the gun, right?"
"Well see, it's a force of habit with Ferry trash. I haven't decided if I'm going to piss off the other me by murdering one or both of you, or if I'm just going to make a game out of this like I did with Sable. It's very easy to manipulate yourself, even when you're dealing with a polar opposite." Varlane leans against the wall next to the door, watching the two intently.
The gun isn't particularly aimed at anyone, but it's definitely ready to be aimed. "Do you know the amazing thing about this surreally introspective journey I'm having? Realizing what terrible friends I have in this world."
"I don't believe you have friends in this world, considering you're not our Magnes," Elaine says, but the threat of murdering one of them is not taken lightly. She stays where she is, watching Varlane carefully. "What kind of 'game' did you play with Sable? Did you hurt her?"
Quinn seems largely frozen in place for the most part, but the talk of murdering people, of Sable has her pushing up off the table to her feet. Slowly, nonthreateningly - except for how her eyes are narrowed at him. "Whoever you are, I'd things not escalate, we're well an' good as we are, no need t' go about shooting anyone," she says, raising her hands a bit defensively. "But I swear t' god, if you lay one hand on her or hurt sable, I'll make sure you never see again." There's a bit to a shaky snarl to her voice, even though she's trying to remain calm. She's been through a lot in the last few months, but this is the first time she's been some place as safe as her own home with a gun pointed out her, and try as much as she is not to show it she is scared out of her mind.
"Sable, well, in a sense, but my little Raven isn't important right now." Varlane watches Elaine for a long moment, eyes narrowing. "So, let's assess the situation, shall we? Ex girlfriend who prefers the company of women, even if one woman completely crushes her feelings, and the other's monogamy is shaky at best. And then we have our big star, Robyn Quinn, who will assure us that she cares about this little band you're all involved with, and that she didn't mean to start dating his ex and rub it in his face. Am I accurate so far?"
He speaks very frankly about it all, and suddenly puts his feet up on the table, crossing his legs. "The fascinating thing about the me in this world is that he doesn't even seem to realize his lack of support, or why he's refusing to reveal the terrible position he's in to anyone. And when I'm done, he won't want you to, I'm going to expose himself to the truth of his own life, just as I'm exposing it all to you. I want you to be informed of just why he's going to abandon you when he does."
"You leave Sable alone," Elaine says through gritted teeth. She remains standing, facing Varlane as she studies him. "First of all, I don't always prefer the company of women, I've just found women to love. Secondly, my heart could have been broken by anyone and Robyn's loyalty is not shaky. Magnes is important to me, even if he pisses me off sometimes, and he knows that. I don't know what kind of game you're trying to play, but you're barking up the wrong tree."
"'Assures' you she cares about the band? Boy, do you even know who's been tryin' t' get us t'gether most over the past few months?" Quinn can't keep that indignant tone from coming through, her eyes closing as she watches him. "An', well, I broke a woman's heart so I could be with just Elaine. You really should fire your fact checker." She's moving, around and towards Elaine. "An' for your information, no, it wasn't somethin' I meant t' rub in his face. Hell, I- didn't even want t' do anythin' about it for months. Things change, stuff happens. Unless you think I meant for Sable t' crush her heart an' all the other bad shit that happened t' happen too."
She lets out a bit of a sigh, but her eyes never come off that gun. "I don't really hear a lot of truth so far. Bias an half facts."
"Here's a little truth. You are two of his closest friends, so why hasn't he told you a thing about this woman he's pursuing, Elvira Blite? If you knew what I knew, you'd be running over to give him a lecture, but he clearly doesn't think you're good enough friends to even know the most basic facts about his everyday life." Varlane suddenly aims the gun at Quinn, as if he has intent to shoot. "Just as I told Sable, he has no support structure, not like I had, that's why he's a mess right now and I'm not. But I'm fixing that, and you can't do anything about it."
"Don't hurt her!" Elaine cries out, her eyes fixed on Varlane's trigger finger, flickering between that and his eyes. "He's told me about her. And I've told him that she sounds like she's not the greatest person, that she treats him like shit. I don't know all that much about her, haven't really got the chance to meet her properly and all of that. If you want Magnes to have a support system… shooting his friends is not the way to go. If Magnes feels anything like what you feel we're like, then as a friend I'll do my best to make sure he knows just how much I care and want to help him."
When the pistol sweeps her way, Quinn instinctively recoils, head ducking down and a hand raising - suddenly glowing, bright light spilling out into the room - as if it would help. She lets out a high pitched shriek, eyes wide as she looks up at Varlane. She takes a ragged breaths before she straightens again, a bit mroe shakey than before. "I met Doctor Blite last night," she replies, trying, and not really succeding, to reclaim her cool. "I've never told my f-friends about every woman I've slept with, or b-been seein'. Being his friend doesn't mean havin' t' know every aspect of his l-life. Privacy's a great thing…" Her hands don't cease gloawing as her arms wrap around herself, a look offered over to Elaine.
Varlane ceases aiming the gun, shaking his head as he just relaxes against the couch again. "Dr. Blite is a sociopath, Magnes knows it, he just pursues her because he believes she's all he deserves, that she's the only one who'll give him guidance in life. She's his support now, and all she's doing is manipulating him. All the better, really, at least she'll turn him into something worth keeping alive."
He squints his eyes when she releases the light, but he never actually closes them, not wanting to give an opening while he can still bear it. "What could you do about it? Probably drive him even closer to her, not much else. What can you do other than watch him drift away from you, as she weaves her little web? How he feels about you is irrelevant, it's how he feels about himself that matters the most, and right now I would say that's 'not very good'."
Once the gun is lowered, Elaine broaches the gap between her and Quinn, moving to put her arms protectively around the other woman. "I think you'd be surprised at what we can do. You might somehow be similar to him, but you're a lot different as well. I appreciate the insight and I'll honestly have a talk with Magnes. If he really feels like shit about himself, then I haven't done my job as a friend and I apologize, but not to you. I don't exactly know what you want from us. From him. Don't interfere in his life. Magnes has made his own choices, let him continue to do that."
Quinn shakes a little when Elaine's arms wrap around her, still trying to look steely eyed ahead at the Mirror Magnes. She has a comment run through her head, something about things becoming an after school special. Smartly, she passes on voicing them. Instead, she just swallows. "Magnes is our friend. Whatever twisted palce your from has some bizarre idea of friendship. We're here to support him, an' w-we'll do what we can. But we can sti there and tell 'im what t-t' do. He has t' make his own mistakes." One hand rises, glowing as it points to the door. "Get the fuck out of our home."
Varlane finally removes his feet from the table, then starts heading for the door. "The thing you need to remember is that no matter how hard you try, no matter what you do, you can't change where this is going, where he's going. You missed your chance, I'm heralding the end of your friendship, and I want you Ferry trash to live long enough to witness it." That said, he opens the door and slams it behind him, casually walking down the hall and away from their apartment.
Elaine waits until he's gone from the apartment and down the hall before she releases Quinn, moving to the door, locking and deadbolting it. Her gaze turns back to Quinn, hurrying over to hug her tightly again. "We need to talk to Magnes."
Quinn is mostly still until the hug comes. It's only then that she turns and throws her arms around Elaine, face buried into her shoulders. She maanges to keep herself from breaking out into a sob, but she does whimper loudly as she squeezes the other woman tight, hands bunching Elaine's shirt in her grip. "Call him. Or s-something. I'm- gonna go curl on teh sofa for a little bit…"
Fishing her cellphone out of her pocket with one hand, Elaine guides Quinn to the couch. "I'm not letting you go. I'm right here. See, we're both okay." She moves to sit down with the Irishwoman. Her other hand presses the speed-dial for Magnes (#2 on her phone, ranked only below her fiancee). "Come on, pick up…"
"Elaine!" Magnes immediately answers as if in a bit of a panic, the sounds of the television in the background being heard over the phone. "That other me, he threatened Sable a few hours ago, but he let her go. He said some horrible things…"
QUinn lets herself be guided over to the sofa easily, keeping a grip on Elaine even once she's sat down. Legs are drawn up, head pressed against her knees and eyes closed as she leans agiast Elaine. SHe's quiet, mostly just trying to recentre herself and stop shaking.
Free hand stroking through Quinn's hair, Elaine holds the phone up to her ear with the other hand. "She's okay then…" Elaine breathes a sigh of relief. "Magnes, he came by. He had a gun, threatened to murder one of us… we're okay, just a little shaken up, but… the point is, Magnes… some of the things he said? They make me worry. They make me want to know that you're okay. That you understand how much we care and how much we're here for you." She pauses. "And… about that Elvira chick? The one that was treating you like shit…? I- I don't think it's a good idea for you to be hanging around her so much. Even he seemed to think she was bad news."
"He threatened you?!" Magnes sounds absolutely outraged at the thought, and then she's saying other things he has to try and calm down enough to really comprehend. "I know you care about me, I know that everything can't be like before where we're always hanging out, since we live so far apart now. This has nothing to do with Elvira…"
"No, what it has to do with her is that I'm not convinced she's not the sociopath he said she was. Look, you told me how she treats you. I just… I think you should maybe take some space for her. Okay? Would you do that for me? I don't want to see you get hurt." Elaine sighs heavily. "I really want you to know that I'm here and so is Quinn in case you ever need anything, I just… I want you to feel okay about yourself. Because you're a good person, Magnes. And you should know that."
"I can't do that, you don't understand. Elvira is like, my last chance, all that's in my reach. No matter who else I could possibly prefer, Elvira is what's best for me." Magnes takes a breath, once more collecting himself. "Look, just, make sure Quinn is alright. And don't make any meetings with me or answer the door for me unless I prove who I am."
Elaine shakes her head. "Magnes, she's not your last chance. She's treating you like you're some dog and you're following her like you are one. You're better than that. Look at what you're capable of. Look at Adel. You're better than someone that treats you like crap. Do you understand me? I'm sorry if this sounds weird but… it has me worried. Okay? And I know… we'll take care that he doesn't come back."
Finally looking up from her knees, Quinn sighs asher own hands run through ehr head, mussing it up as a bit of stress relief. "He called her a sociopath," she says loud enough that Magnes can hear. "Now, granted, I'm willin' t' take your word over his, but just let us know, at least, if she starts actin' all… sociopathy. We're not going t' stand for that, because you do deserve better." At the mention of him coming back, though, Quinn looks up at Elaine with a dark expression on her face. "If he comes back again, I'm not givin' him the chance t' point a gun at you or mebefore I shot him." Big talk, really. She'd like to think she means it.
"I… know all about her, just, it's nothing you need to worry about, I can handle it myself." Magnes tries to at least partially change the topic, quickly jumpong on the mention of Adel. "I'm proud of Adel, I'm proud that I made Adel, but do you know what it says? It says that in the future I'm still alone, all I did was give you and Sable and Quinn a baby. And what about me? I'm just… the guy in the band."
"That's not true. You were important to Adel. If you weren't, why would she have wanted to meet you so badly? To get to know you? And Adel is not just anything. You really don't think that's a huge thing? You were right there. You saw how happy she was as a baby with you. You would have been there. You were a part of a big family. Or you would've been…" Elaine sighs. "Magnes, you have to believe in yourself. That's the whole point. This other Magnes? He wanted to point out that our friendship with you was going to die, that it was going to fail and he was going to point out to you just how bad you have it. You don't want him to win. I can't make you believe in yourself or have self-confidence, but I want you to know that there's a reason it would be you who fathers Adel. Cause you're that important."
Quinn reaches over and takes the phone from Elaine, peering down into it like she expects to See Magnes' face looking back at her. "You listen t' me, Magnes J. Varlane," she says, voice still a bit shaky. "Adel… whatever the hell her real last name would be? Just because you died doesn't mean you gave the rest a' us a little girl an' that's that. We were all one big, happy extended family from the sound a' it, and I don't believe for a second you wouldn't've been part of that if you'd lived. Hell, we could still be one big family, in a way. So don't even say you would’ve been alone. Maybe not in a deep relationship with any of us - an' I understand why that sucks, an' I encourage you t; find someone - but don't ever say that you're alone. Because God Damn It, you’re not. Not as long as we're here." A pause. "I don't have much of an opinion on Elvira. She seemed kinda haughty an' stuck up when I met her. But if she really is treating you wrong, that's not right, an' you should stick up for yourself, an' we'll be there t' back you up. Remember that."
"It does suck. I think Adel is amazing, and I'm glad she had you all to raise her and that she's here now. But… if I went to anyone but Elvira, I'd just screw up like with Elaine. Elvira tells me what to do, she tells me what makes her unhappy the second I do it. What I'm saying is…" Magnes raises a hand to place it against his forehead, a hard breath briefly blowing into the phone. "Even if there was a girl that I related to and liked spending time with, she's way out of my league and I would screw it up anyway. I wouldn't stand a chance, it's safer with Elvira. That other girl wouldn't even think about me that way if I could shoot lasers out of my eyes."
Elaine moves, just pressing the speaker button on the phone. "Magnes, you're not her friend. That's not a relationship, that's slavery. Does she punish you if you do something wrong?" She sighs. "Magnes, you don't know that. You don't know that it's true. And you aren't ever going to find a real relationship if you stay following her around like a dog. Anyway, point is… be careful. If this crazed Magnes thinks she's a bad person… then who knows what she could be really like."
Quinn's said her bit, more or less, handing the phone back over to Elaine once speaker's been turned on. She leans in against the other woman, arms wrapping around her. "You'll never know if you don't try," Quinn says more quietly and less forcefully. "It's not like every girl I slept with or dated fell int' my lap. Or that I got everyone I asked. That's all I'll say. You just gotta give it a shot, an' eat the rejection if it happens…" She trails off, eyes closing as she leans against Elaine. "I think I'm gonna play Rock Band. I need t' unwind. Not think.”
"I'm afraid, I just… after you left… I can't do it, I can't stop, and I can't go after this other girl, where I am right now is safe. I'm sorry, bye." Magnes hangs up, not sure what else to do, perhaps backed into a corner. But it seems that's that, for now.
"Dammit…" Elaine mutters as she glances at the 'Call Ended' on her phone. "He's not taking me seriously at all." She nods towards Quinn, slowly releasing her as she gets to her feet. "Rock Band is a good idea. Just… get it set up. I need to go do something." She moves to retreat towards her bedroom.
She's got some contact information to find.