A Slice Of Apple Pie

Participants:

claire2_icon.gif magnes_icon.gif

Scene Title A Slice Of Apple Pie
Synopsis Magnes talks about the lady he met in the park, who he finds out was none other then Claire's adoptive mom.
Date November 06, 2009

Magnes' Room


Early in the afternoon, Magnes has finally finished making his apple pie, and for once his apartment is filled with that sweet smell instead of pizza as the pie cools on his nightstand, in the absence of having a couch or a coffee table. His apartment /is/ kind of a glorified bedroom. When Claire enters, she can see the stove that he uses, he one at the bottom of the stairs outside of his room, with cinnamon and flour sitting around.

When she finally enters the room, she'll be greeted with the sight of him waiting for the pie to cool, wearing a white t-shirt with a white apron, a picture of a lobster with an electric guitar that has the words 'Rock Lobster' written in black under it. He's wearing his blue jeans and black sneakers, eating discarded apple peels from a bag while watching Doctor Who.

She didn't dress up for him today, as she's wearing a black turtleneck, a pair of worn black jeans and, boots. Claire's hair is pulled back into a tight ponytail on the back of her skull, giving her a bit of a severe, ready to kick ass look. There has been a lot of training going on lately and it doesn't leave much time for trying to drive a man crazy.

"Hey." Claire greets softly as she closes the door behind her, leaning back against it for a long moment as she watches him fuss over the pie. "Sorry I'm a little late, the bus was running kinda late." A small amused smile graces her lips. "Looking rather Martha Stewart today."

"Ah it's alright if you're late, gave me time to work. This dog breeding lady taught me all about making apple pies yesterday, so I spent the morning making a crust and peeling apples. I could only fit eight apples in, but it was my first try. She insisted that if you do it right, you can fit ten." Magnes thumbs over at the pie, and the crust is a bit crumbled and broken. "I screwed up the crust a bit while it was baking, but I think the pie came out pretty good other than that. I made it for you, thought you'd appreciate the effort of something I never tried to make before."

"Smells good." Claire offers, still looking rather amused. Pushing away from the door, she moves to examine the pie. My mom use to make apple pie. Nothin' more American." She muses softly, looking at the pie. Reaching down, she breaks off a bit of crust and pops it in her mouth before turning an affectionate smile to Magnes. "Thank you." She move to slide arms around him and place a kiss on his cheek. The gentle action seems odd, considering the severity of her dress. "Feels so weird, like it is all in reverse. I should be the one offering you pies. I know how too, my mom taught me."

"So tell me about how you ended up in the company of a apple making dog breeder?" Claire hasn't of course made any connections, millions of people breed dogs and bake pies.

"Well, started with this little dog, he got away from her. Mr. Muggles, you know, like your dog. So then the woman came and picked him up, and we just started talking. One thing led to another, and she was teaching me about apple pie and giving me relationship advice." Magnes smiles and reaches up to lightly stroke her hair, then reaches to take a piece of crust for himself. "I know you're really busy, and while I know I'm busy too, you've got more responsibilities than me, so you don't need to worry about being Stepford Claire right now. Besides, I like doing things for you."

Claire's mind literally freezes at the mention of the small dogs name, her whole body stiffens and her arms tighten slightly around his waist. Anything else he says is lost to the haze of shock. Se stares at him for a long moment, before she blinks a bit. "The… dog was named Mr. Muggles?" There is a wondering tone to it. It can't be, her mom should still be in Costa Verde. That strange wondering is still in her voice as she asks cautiously. "Did she says what her name was?"

"Yeah, cute dog, I never pet a dog so fluffy!" Magnes allows her to tighten while he's reaching back to untie his apron, then pulls it from inbetween them and rests his arms around her shoulders. "Her name was Sandra Butler. She knows a lot about relationships, made me feel better about a few things I felt stupid about."

There is a soft surprised gasp that escapes Claire before she can stop it. Hand in a flash are gone from his waist to clamp to her mouth, her eyes are wide too many emotions passing over her face to really know what she's thinking. "Mom is here?!?! " Claire gasps out one she removes her hands enough to say it. Then anger flickers across her face, "And Dad let her?!?!" Her voice rising slightly. Then she focuses on Magnes again, her face full of hope and an almost yearning. "Where did you meet her?"

"Wait, she was your mom? Oh god I asked your mom for relationship advice…" Magnes' cheeks are flushed, but his expression turns to concern at her reaction, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Greenwich, she seemed happy enough. I think she was just out walking Muggles. He gets all excited and barks at me a lot."

"When we lived in Costa Verde's our last name was Butler. It has to be her, Magnes!" Claire sounds scared and excited all at once, hands moving to press against his chest. "She i here in New York….." Her face falls into strict worry. ".. where the future isn't so certain. With what White is going to do… what if she gets hurt!" Her voice is rising again with a touch of panic. "I've seen the copies of paintings.. I read the stuff Cardinal has.. She should be in Costa Verde safe and sound."

"Don't worry, Claire, she'll be fine, but what is White supposed to do? You know no one tells me anything." Magnes points out, though he seems to have accepted his belief that most of the people he knows would likely let him get blown up or exploded with whatever prophecy they've read or heard, so he's very casual about it. "Whatever White is up to, I can stop it when I master using my augmented ability with Gillian. And if we don't have time for that, I can always fly your mother away somewhere. I'll make sure she's safe one way or another."

"He's going to sink Liberty Island soon. Cardinal and Shard have a plan.. don't worry. We'll get him." Claire doesn't sound completely certain of this, but she knows the best effort will be made. "I do.. I want you to stay nearby and be ready to take off with her…. and Mr. Muggles…. Oh god… I hope Lyle didn't come with her." Claire chews her lip worried.

"I need to talk to her." Claire states suddenly, "I need to find her." There is a grimace and a sigh. "I have to call my dad." She doesn't want to talk to him, but if anyone would know where her mom is, it's Noah.

"Oh man, I wonder if she figured out who I was, I mean, not a lot of adopted ex cheerleaders named Claire who have show dog breeding moms running around. Stuff just kind of came out, I said she reminded me of my girlfriend's mom a few times, well, what you've told me about her. She didn't seem threatening or anything, I was just comfortable talking to her." Magnes suddenly lays back, groaning with his arms over his face. "Sorry, I'll protect your mom, as soon as I stop feeling like an idiot. And I'm not letting Liberty Island sink, even if Cardinal and Shard fail, if I have Gillian, we can do anything."

Watching him, from where she is standing, Claire can't help but smirk despite the rolling panic in her stomach. "Oh course, she knows. It's probably why she helped you with the pie even though your a complete stranger." She moves to sit on the bed. "Don't go flying over to Liberty Island." She states firmly. "Have some faith in the rest of us to do the job." A hand reaches out to pat lightly on his leg, "Okay? Your not the only one in this city that can save everyone." Her words are gentle, yet firm. "Let the other good guys do some of the work too, huh?"

"That's roughly the same advice Gabriel gave me, that last night I talked to him before you told me to stop. Guess I still have a bit of a trust issue. Man, I hope your mom likes me…" Magnes looks up at her, then reaches for her hand and just lays there. "Alright, I promise Claire, unless it's just absolutely an emergency, I'll stay away from Liberty Island. And above all else, I'll protect your mother, no matter what. Just try not to die, and I like the Statue of Liberty, so kick the crap out of White."

Giving him a smirk, "How did Mr. Muggles react to you?" Claire asks curiously, arching a brow, her head tilting a bit as she waits to the answer. It may seem like a weird question, but sometimes the smallest thing can have great meaning.

"He got all excited and started barking and sniffing. Let me pet him and everything. Your mom's like, so confident and sure of herself, I can see where you get it from, well, except when you're doubting yourself and not believing how awesome you are." Magnes sits up and plants a light kiss on her lips, then turns around to the pie. "If we weren't talking about your mother, I'd totally make out right now, but instead, let's eat pie."

"If he was growling, then you'd have something to worry about." Claire points out helpfully, before returning the kiss and moving so her can get to the pie. "Lets have some pie." She agrees, "Then I need to hunt down my dad." Her tone going a touch flat.

"I can help you, y'know. I mean it must be a pain having to take buses and walk around. Lately I'm mostly just sitting around waiting to get fired and I occasionally go out and stop a few muggings, but I haven't been investigating Refrain or doing any serious vigilante work, I'm starting to realize it wasn't the best idea." Magnes lifts a knife sitting next to the pie, starting to cut it. "Besides, it's about time I meet the guy."

Eyes widen a bit and she shakes her head. "Oh no.. I'm not going to talk to him face to face.. I'm going to call him." Claire gives him a tight smile as she watches him cut the pie. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll get your chance in time." She does not seem at all happy about the idea of her dad meeting Magnes. Last thing she needed is her father damaging her boyfriend.

"I keep thinking about my conversation with your mother, trying to remember if I said anything that's gonna get me in trouble." Magnes' cheeks are perpetually red at the thought, handing her a warm piece of pie on a napkin. "Y'know, worrying about parents and stuff, it's almost like we're normal."

The piece of pie is taken carefully and Claire gives him a bit of a sheepish smile. "Yeah, seems rather normal doesn't it?" She looks down at the pie and smirks. "Seemed like growing up I was always trying so hard to be normal… Now normal seems kinda weird when it happens."

"One day normal will be normal." Magnes takes a bite of his pie, giving her a momentary glance, then looks back down at the napkin. "I've been trying to find a way to get an ability like yours. If I find a way, I don't intend to change it right now, but when all of this is over, somewhere down the line, I just don't want you to, well, outlive everyone. I don't know how similar you are to Wolverine, but even if one day we break up, I still wanna be there for you if you turn out to be some sort of super long-lived person."

Claire starts to take a bite and stops, the pie lowering again as she kind of stares at him. She catches her lower lip in her teeth before she says softly, "Don't change, Magnes." She looks a touch worried, "Don't go trying to change yourself for my sake. There is no way to know if I will… live forever." She smiles a bit, but then it falls. "But don't go trying to change yourself."

"Well, I don't know, I kind of saw it as a long term thing, so I don't intend to do anything rash, y'know? Especially not without your permission." Magnes scoots a bit closer, sliding an arm around her waist. "Why's that worry you so much, anyway? I mean, yeah, flying's awesome, but if we did learn you lived forever, well, I guess I just wouldn't like the thought of leaving you behind. But I wouldn't do anything without asking first."

A hand lifts to cover his mouth and she gives him a pained look as she whispers, "Lets not talk about that right this moment. Okay?" Her eyes glance around, before focusing him again, "One problem at at time." Her hand lowers then so that she can place a soft kiss on his lips, before turning back to her piece of pie.

"Sorry, I'm an idiot. " Magnes stands up, quickly finishing his small piece of pie, then offers a hand. "Come on Claire, let's go somewhere and escape for a few hours. Anywhere you want, I'll take you. We can bring the pie."

Setting her piece of pie down, she stands. "Magnes…. your not an idiot. It's just.. So much going on.. and now my mom is back." Slipping her hand into his, she steps close. "I think going somewhere is a great idea, maybe a movie? Something funny? So I can take my mind off stuff for awhile."

"I like your mother." Magnes grabs the pie pan, then grabs his jacket as he heads for the door. "I'll take you to an IMAX, I bet there's tons of stuff playing." He holds the door for her, stepping off to the side so she can get by. "And I'll try my best not to put my foot in my mouth."


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