Participants:
| Scene Title | All the Best Ways to Cock Things Up |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Quinn introduces Ygraine and Rue. How could things possibly go south? |
| Date | December 4, 2010 |
Pollepel Island: Bannerman's Castle - Living Quarters
"Come on, come on, it'll be fun!"
I hope.
Dragging people through the halls of Bannerman Castle isn't exactly something Robyn Quinn has made a habit of doing on her trips to Pollepel Island - it leads to not paying attention and running into people. Which might be a little ironic, given how running into someone is what had led to what's about to happen in the first place.
Introducing current girlfriends to former ones also isn't exactly something Robyn Quinn has made a habit of doing… ever, really. A few incidents, but nothing intended. And yet, that's exactly what's about to happen, and why she's leading Ygraine Fitzroy by the hand through the castle as she looks for someone in particular. Honestly, she can't believe she's doing this. But Rue had wanted to, and Ygraine's typically an agreeable person, so maybe this isn't as bad an idea as it seems.
Maybe.
"Rue~" is called out as the pair reaches where Quinn recalls Rue's room being. Really, there's more important things Quinn should be doing. Finding Eileen or some other council member is at the top of that list. But she'll be here all weekend. There'll be time for that, for sure.
This? This needs to get done, in case it turns out to be a disaster.
Latched onto Quinn's hand, Ygraine is laughing as she's towed along. Though she, too, is somewhat apprehensive, she is doing her best to hide it, and present Quinn with a reassuringly relaxed and confident demeanour.
Rue's door opens and she scurries out in her oversized Spider-Man sweatshirt, a pair of drawstring yoga pants (which are layered over a pair of jeggings of all things), and her black Chucks. "Quinnie!" She beams a smile, about to take the steps forward to throw her arms around the other redhead when she notices her hand is wrapped around her companion's.
The curly-haired girl skids to a halt and though she keeps her smile in place, her eyes have that deer in the headlights quality. "This must be Ygraine," is surmised, a hand offered out to the other woman. "Rue Lancaster." Her eyes flicker to Quinn briefly, then back to Ygraine. "Quinn and I are old friends."
Rue stopping short of giving a hug doesn't prevent Quinn from stepping forward to give one herself, releasing Ygraine' hand to do so. Rue, though, seems to have introductions in mind, so instead, Quinn just steps aside, leaning against the wall as she watches the two. "Sorry t' just… drop in, Rue. I just got back in t' the island a bit ago, so I thought I'd drag Ygraine on by." She eyes the natural redhead for a moment with a quirked eyebrow. "I really hope you don't mind?"
Ygraine raises her free hand in greeting, cracking a grin as she looks Rue down and up - whether checking her out or taking in that odd attire might be hard to judge. "Ygraine FitzRoy," she provides by way of confirmation and introduction as she shakes that offered hand, her voice distinctly tinged with the crisp tones of an educated Briton… before turning her head to crack a grin at the woman she's still holding onto. "Quinnie, huh?"
The hug Rue gives Quinn in return is brief in comparison to the hugs she usually gives her ex. She's quick to withdraw and give her attention to Ygraine. "Nice to meet you."
When Quinn is teased for her nickname. Rue's cheeks flush pink, and though she hides a grimace, she's still caught wincing faintly and looking sheepish. "You're taller than I thought you'd be," she admits, dragging the conversation away from the note of embarrassment. Though she's still taller than both girls, having five inches on Quinn without shoes, and two on Ygraine.
"What about it?" is Quinn's ginning reply to Ygraine. Quinn thinks it' s fine nickname! But the topic is changing, and Quinn's not going to hold things back too much. "I've never been sure exactly how I always end up surrounded by women taller than me. I think Sable the only exception!" she proclaims, forgetting to parse that Rue doesn't know who Sable is, not yet. Hands slide into her pockets as she looks between the two with a nervous expression. "So! Uh… Yeah! Rue, Ygraine. Ygraine, Rue! Maybe we can walk and talk?"
Ygraine blinks in surprise at Rue's comment, interrupting her own look of guilt for picking up on the nickname. Then she grins teasingly at Quinn. "She seems to like taller women. As well as redheads." Her own hair, of course, is dyed the exact same shade of red as Quinn's.
Attempting to reclaim Quinn's hand, she moves slightly, leaving plenty of room for Rue to either step fully out of her room, or to grab Quinn's other hand. "Walking and talking sounds fine, though… privacy's a bit hard to come by in this place."
Rue double-checks to make sure the door to the room she's sharing is shut tight behind her before she walks alongside Quinn, shoving her hands in the pockets of her hooded sweatshirt. "Sure. Walking and talking would be great." Her lower lip is tugged between her teeth, nibbled at uncertainly. "Do you, uh… Are you in the band, too?" she asks Ygraine.
Quinn looks ove to Ygraine with a smile as her hand is taken, before looking over to Rue with the same smile. "Yeah, yeah. Redheads, whatever." She shakes her head, laughing. "Ygraine's not in the band, no. She's not too bad with a piano, though." There's a bit of a shrug. "Oh no, trust me, there's places t' be alone. I spent a few nights in spots playin' music when I was here earlier in the month."
Ygraine cracks a grin, shaking her head at Rue before nodding to Quinn. "No, I'm not… which is probably for the best. I'd have killed one of the supposed band-members by now, useless bloody tosser that he is. But Robyn has talked about drafting me in to do some backing vocals at some point…"
She shrugs slightly. "As for privacy… I can find us somewhere readily enough, if you don't mind it being a bit weird. I can get us places pretty much no one else can. I admit I've spent more time exploring up high than I have down on the ground, really."
"Up high?" Rue glances between Quinn and Ygraine both at that comment. "I hardly ever seem to find any place to get some privacy around here. So… Well, I welcome the change." Giving the vote of confidence in Ygraine and whatever she may actually be suggesting.
"Up high?" Quinn echoes, needing a moment to understand exactly what Ygraine means. "Oh. Well, that's an option." She looks over to Rue, grinning. "You want a surprise, or wanna know what we're gettin' int' first? Nothin' too bad, really. Might be a good bit of fun!"
"If Shorty, here, knows of somewhere private, we should probably make use of that", Ygraine says with a smile, giving Quinn's hand a squeeze. "But we can take either option, to be sure. If we do go up high, we'd need to keep our voices down, to stay private. Somewhere underground, or surrounded by trees and shrubbery, might be easier in that regard…."
Rue shrugs a little helplessly. "You two lead, and I'll follow." Though the idea that they're about to get into something leaves the younger woman feeling a little nervous. "Do you fly or something?" she asks Ygraine. "Or… teleport maybe?" She could grasp at straws forever. Instead, she quiets and allows the lady in question to elucidate.
"It's nothin' so flashy. It's actually rather cool once you get past the bit a' dizziness that comes with it!" Quinn gives a wide grin towards Rue, before letting go of Ygraine and moving a bit ahead of the other two, spinning back to face them. Walking backwards - a truly perilous venture for Robyn Quinn. "So, what've you been doin' all week, Rue? You must be rather bored here."
"Nothing remotely so flashy," Ygraine says with a wry smile. "I'm a wall-crawler. Like Spider-Man, but without the webs, the strength, the durability, the spider-sense….." She grins and shrugs. "But I do get to share it with people. I can help you to climb walls, walk across ceilings, and so on", she explains, before lapsing into silence.
That elicits a low, appreciative whistle from Rue. "That is awesome. All I can do is see ghosts. Who… may not actually be ghosts." She shakes her head with a frown, "I-dee-kay, it's a weird sitch right now."
Next topic! "Not a whole lot to do around here," Rue admits. "I've been practising my ballet a lot, that's for sure. It's a bit difficult without my shoes, but I get by. Gotta keep getting my exercise, right? Who knows, maybe when I get off this rock I'll run right into the person who's gonna make my career! Gotta look my best!" She smiles. It looks impish on her cherub-like face.
"You know…" Quinn starts after a moment of thought, a hand reaching up and settling on Rue's shoulder. "Let me know when you get back t' town. I might know someone who can find somethin' for you t' do. May not be modelling, but might be in limelight that could open a gateway." She flashes Rue a smile, before laughing a bit. She doesn't elaborate, however, on Rue's power. Given the situation at the moment, it's complicated and likely touchy.
"It is pretty cool," she admits on the subject of Ygraine's ability. "Just don't eat or anythin' right before hand, until you get used t' it, it's really disorientin' an'… yeah. Makes me really dizzy sometimes."
Ygraine grins, clearly flattered by Rue's response to her ability - though her own earns her a distinctly curious look. Then, "ballet and modelling? Really? Wow. Maybe we can get you a gig dancing with the band, eh?", she suggests with a wink. "Though if we keep adding people there'll not be a stage big enough to hold everyone who's meant to be getting some kind of a role. And I'd personally rather help Quinnie, here, achieve glorious fame and stardom than the whole band. But I might be considered biased."
"I'm not a ballerina," Rue is quick to clarify. "But I like ballet better than aerobics. My best friend w-" she catches herself, "is a dancer. I try to practice with her, but compared to her, I'm so clumsy." A nervous glance is sent Quinn's way, gauging her reaction to the subject of her friend. Then, she blushes and adds, "I think Quinnie's great. You don't even need a band to get famous. You're really good on your own."
Quinn laughs, the hand on Rue's shoulder moving, the Irishwoman wagging a finger at Ygraine as they walk. "Now now, no stealing each others nicknames. You don't want me t' get confused, do you?" She's joking, of course, and she can't help but laugh again at her own joke. The mention of Samara gets a bit of a smile, Quinn looking back at Rue just in time to miss the natural redhead's own look. She doesn't mention Samara - again, possibly touchy subject - and instead chooses to focus on other things.
"Hey, if not dance, Rue could be an album cover model!" She grins, looking between them. "You're probably right. I probably don't need a band. But there's just something so… amazing about being part of a band. I've still got my own stuff in the works, though. If I haven’t cocked up the recordings I've been working on, I've almost got my own demo done. Just need t' record a few more parts, get Elaine t' help with some violin…" She clears her throat, an apologetic look given to Ygraine as Quinn turns attention to Rue once more, that hand returning to the perch on her tall shoulders.
"There was, like… this date auction thing the other day. At the club I work at, we do them every now and then. Some woman who runs a television an' radio station bought me, apparently t' put me t' use at the studio somehow. I could always introduce you t' her."
Ygraine grins broadly, giving Quinn's hand a squeeze as she beams across at Rue. "I think that we should team up and try to persuade her of that", she suggests with a playful grin. "I've been pushing her to get a professional portfolio shot - give her some top-grade publicity shots, and the like. Things she can use to properly promote herself, and to show to people who're looking for 'the complete package', or whatever. And she's serious about the radio thing, too."
"Well," Rue reasons, blue gaze flickering to Quinn's hand fleetingly as it leaves her shoulder, "if you like being in a band, then you should be in a band! It'll be mine and Yggy's little secret that you're the most talented. Right?" She flashes a grin over to Ygraine, like they're in on the conspiracy.
"A date auction?" That gets the natural ginger's brows to raising. "So some bird bought'cha and doesn't even want a proper date? That's almost sad." A another grin is slanted at Ygraine, "But it saves you from having to beat someone up, right? Don't you keep her on a short leash?"
"I can do both, no problem," Quinn replies with a confident grin. "It's nice t' have my own stuff to do anyways, particularly since out bassist is kinda a dick and likes t' vanish for a while at a time. Guitarist is serious, an' our drummer seems t' be though." She lets that sit for a moment, before her grin widens. "But you're totally right." Modesty: Not Robyn Quinn's best virtue. She blushes a bit at Ygraine's comment about her being "the whole package", looking over at the Briton. "I think you just want pictures t' show off."
With that, she looks back to Rue, giving an emphatic nod. "Yep, a date auction! Third one we've had. First time, Ygraine bought me. Then some guy who turned out t' be an illusionist I know. Now a TV producer who wants t' use me probably for ratings." She shrugs a bit, withdrawing the hand from her shoulder again. "It's actually a lot of fun. But, the point is - I have connections now, and I so would not mind using them t' help you find something to do. You're certainly pretty enough for TV, I'm sure she can find something."
Ygraine grins very broadly at Rue as Quinn talks, before chipping in herself. "Robyn on a leash? Ooooh. Interesting idea. Maybe we can suggest it to the photographer…." A wink to Rue, then a fond smile and another hand-squeeze for Quinn. "But no - I don't keep her leashed. Would be a bit hypocritical, since I've got a girl in each port myself. I'm, ahhh, married to a girl in the UK, myself. But… well. Quinn accepts the complication, for some reason. Crazy woman that she is."
"Did you know I tried to get that Registration job? I'd have been perfect for it. But I guess I'm not exotic enough or something. I should have come in with my best Scottish accent. Scot-Irish is in right now." But when Ygraine mentions being married, Rue's eyes just about pop. "Married? Whoa. I had no idea." She suppresses an accusatory look to Quinn. "I, uh, hope I didn't offend you or anything. Not that I meant any offense? I just, uh… Wow. Married? Really?" She shakes her head. "Sorry. Just didn't expect that. That's cool, though, that you two have a relationship like this." Like what? Rue is not one hundred percent certain.
The redness on Quinn's cheeks deepens a bit, Quinn reaching up and scratching the back of her head in a nervous gesture. "Aah. I had meant t' tell you that, but I guess we kept gettin' side tracked by other stuff. Sorry." The apology added because, well… that's kinda awkward, and judging from Rue's reaction, it's probably needed. "Trust me. I didn't expect it either." She coughs, looking a bit off to the side. "I don't think I could do a leash. That might be a bit much."
"Nor did I. Expect it, that is", Ygraine says gently. "Though I suppose I didn't think I could do a leash, either", she adds with a teasing wink. "But… ahhh, yeah. I never really thought I'd wind up with a girl. And… now I've got two. And they both seem happy with it. It's all rather weird. But amazingly flattering."
"You're bi then?" It seems easier to focus on than the whole married thing. A quick shake of Rue's head dismisses Quinn's apology as unnecessary. "I've known I was all about the ladies since I was in junior high, at the latest. Boys are weird and their bits are dangly and they're just gross." It's flippant, but humour seems to be Rue's predominant flavour.
Quinn chokes a bit at that openly asked question, but it's followed quickly by a laugh and a look over at Ygraine. "That's because the ladies are just that good at what we do, hmm?" Quinn notes with a wry grin. "This has been proven time after time!" But then she clears her throat, looking back at Rue. "You know, I met the woman who got the registration job. I accidentally won her at one a' the date auctions, when I was really just tryin' t' drive up the bids." She pauses dramatically for a moment before continuing. "Personally, I think you would have been a much better choice."
"I… was straight. I thought," Ygraine says somewhat awkwardly. "Or very slightly bi. I snogged - made out with - a couple of girls while drunk, but never anything more. And I thought that if I ever did wind up with a girl, she'd be a.. strong athlete. Someone sleek and predatory, perhaps. But my wife's short and curvy, and Robyn, here, is one of the clumsiest people I've met." The woman in question receives a fond hand-squeeze and a grin. "You're incorrigible, buying half the city as a personal harem…."
Rue's posture grows tense for a moment. It's something that Quinn's familiarity allows her to pick up on, but may be less obvious to Ygraine. Quinn having won a date with the girl who beat her out for what could have been the job to make her career has her - perhaps understandably - feeling a little jealous and a little wounded. But when Quinn assures her that she would have been the better choice, she begins to relax again.
At least until Ygraine speaks up. Rue laughs it off, that's so funny, Quinnie with a harem, but her eyes perhaps betray some of her vulnerability, if one happens to be looking for it. "Thought you'd be into the butch girls, huh? Funny how preference works out, huh?"
"I do not have a harem," Quinn insists gently - partially because she doesn't think of it that way, and partially because she thinks she knows Rue well enough that she so would not be happy to hear such a thing, particularly not after the bristly moment that was experienced. "She's straight anyway." Quinn waves a hand dismissively between the two. She releases Ygraine's hand, instead opting to slip both of her into her coat pockets. Deep inside, though she'd never admit it to either of them, she's really starting to think this was a terrible, terrible idea.
Ygraine's face crumples a bit. "Ooh, not a classic American butch, no. Definitely no unshaved armpits, or aggressively masculine haircuts. And certainly not a hammer-thrower sort of look, either. Definitely someone feminine, but… more Denise Lewis than Jessica Rabbit." She cracks a rather self-conscious grin, blushing slightly. "I've always been a sucker for good legs. And I always liked being with someone who could sweep me off my feet, literally. Now I do that for people, which is… different, but also good." She ventures an encouraging smile at Quinn.
Where is Samara when Rue needs her the most? Or any distraction, really. She won't admit it to Quinn either, but she's also thinking this may have not been one of the Irishwoman's better ideas. "That makes sense," she responds to Ygraine, about a half second too late to completely cover her distraction. Her hand comes up over her mouth to cover a large yawn. "Oh, excuse me. Sorry. You aren't boring me at all. Must not be getting enough oxygen or whatever."
"Tired? We can… let you go, if you want?" Quinn replies with a look over to Rue, her pace slowing down significantly. "I mean… I know rest is thin around here." She isn't intentionally looking for a way out, but it's hard to keep it from feeling like that. "I probably need t' go looking for Eileen anyway… or Barbara or Lynette or someone. She shrugs a bit, smiling up at Ygraine.
It's taken Ygraine a little longer than the other two to worry about things going wrong… but Rue's distraction certainly suggests very bad things about this meeting. And with two long-standing friends together yet things distinctly, tensely, awkward, there's one obvious conclusion to reach about who's responsible for things having gone wrong with this three-way conversation.
Surprise, worry, hurt and confusion briefly war for dominance in Ygraine's expression, then she musters a forced smile as she starts to move away. "I… should probably be on my own way, actually. Double-check the watch rota. And chase up the tutoring schedule for the kids. I, ummmm. Yeah. It… it was good meeting you, Rue", she says, tone earnestly sincere. "And if you want that trip up a wall some time, let me know."
Raising a hand in farewell, she turns to disappear off into the ruins - intending to as take a rather direct route up and over the nearest obstacle, to get her out of range of somehow fucking things up any further.
Rue had been about to sleepily murmur something like you don't mind and excuse herself, but Ygraine saved her the trouble of playing up her tiredness. After the Briton's gone, she turns to Quinn with a nervous expression. "I—"
Actually, playing tired would be really helpful now. So Rue yawns again. "I guess I really am sleepy. I probably should try and get some rest. It gets so cold that I have trouble getting enough sleep, you know." Never has Quinn known Rue to complain about the cold, being from Chicago where things can be just as bitter, but then again she's always had a home with heating to retreat to. And this is different than enduring the cold, waiting in line for twelve plus hours for concert tickets.
"I'll catch up with you later, okay?" All the same, Rue doesn't retreat just yet. She'll wait for Quinn's dismissal first. She's got enough spine for that.
Quinn watches Ygraine leave with a frown, only looking back to Rue when she speaks again, a distinct frown on her face before her gaze almost immediately moves down to look at the floor ahead of her, Quinn coming to a more or less complete stop after a few more paces. She lets out a long sigh and nods."Y-yeah. The cold gets pretty bad around here, I don't blame you for not bein' able t' sleep." No, she's never really known Rue to complain about the cold, but at the moment she doesn't really blame her.
She does finally look back up at Rue, offering a weak smile. "Don't be a stranger, okay?" Hands retreat back into her pockets, the musician rolling her shoulders. "I have my guitar again…" Because maybe that can rebridge the conversation? At least long enough for it to end on a good note.
Rue starts back toward her room, but stops after she's only managed a few paces. "That was really stupid, you know that?" She turns and fixes the faux redhead with a pursed-lipped, narrowed-eyed expression. "You should have warned me. Not about bringing her by, but about all those… things. Like that she's married? Or that you two are in some kind of open relationship? Or that you have some kind of harem? Those are all things that it would have been really nice to know before you showed up. So I didn't make faces at your poor girlfriend." Who is totally not to blame for any of this, in Rue's mind.
"What were you thinking? That I would just… grasp that things were weird all on my own and roll with it? And what are you trying to get at with your… girl in every port type of mentality anyway? Do you think I'm gonna be your piece on the side or something just because Yggy Pop says it's okay?" Rue looks disgusted. "I don't want that. I don't care what you and Yggy do. If you two want to have an open relationship, that's fine. But you should have warned me. I feel like an ass for how I reacted to her face. It's one thing if I give you a what the fuck are you thinking face. We know each other. I- Just- You-"
The model's hands go up in the air. "That wasn't fair!" To either of them. Any of them.
Quinn tips back on her heels a bit, as if actually hit but the words Rue suddenly unleashes - enough so that it dovetails into a stumble back into the wall. "J-Jesus, Rue, calm down," is said gently - as if that's going to make everything better, you know? "Hey, now, wait a moment!" Quinn suddenly blurts out, sounding awfully defensive as she pushes back off the wall. "Don't- Christ, don't listen t' everything she says. She exaggerates. I do not have a harem. Never have, an' I never will." The words re firm, even if her tone and body language isn't. She has no defense for not telling Rue ahead of time that Ygraine was married. To be entirely honest that was information that she had hoped someone would be smart enough to keep to herself until she'd been able to say something to Rue about it before hand.
"I wasn't tryin' t' get at anything, Rue!" Quinn continues with crossed arms, and now she's progressing from simple defensiveness to "wait, really?". "Jesus, I'm not a whore. It's not like I brought you here t' try an' pull you int' bed, if I wanted that, I would have taken that opportunity when I had it!" Granted, considering that that still ended in Quinn kissing Rue, probably not the smartest thing to being up. "I didn't expect she'd just- start- argh!" Her face lands into her hands, Quinn taking a deep sigh. She hadn't been meaning to raise her voice, but it had come at the end of that.
To "That wasn't fair," Quinn simply shakes her head, still buried in her hands. "I didn't mean for it t' take that turn," she says quietly.
"I made a fool of myself." And that's the worst thing, in Rue's eyes. "She probably hates me." A hand waves off in the direction Ygraine exited in vaguely. "I don't want things to be weird." They're going to be, regardless. Things not being weird is a literal impossibility. "I want her to like me, or she's not going to want you and I to be friends."
The younger woman wraps her arms around herself and stares down at the floor between her feet. "I'm sorry I yelled at you." Even if she didn't raise her voice that much, the intent was still there without the volume. "I'm just… Embarrassed. And worried. I didn't want to fuck this up."
Okay, if anything, Quinn seems a bit more relieved, some of the tension leaving her. Whether or not relaxing is called for is yet to be seen. She even laughs a little - not a taunting, mean-spirited laugh, but a relieved, amused laugh. "Lord, hate you? God, if you knew some of the people she's had t' put up with, you wouldn't be worried, Rue. "I mean… we all made a bit of an ass of ourselves. Trust me, she's going t' like you just fine, an' even if she didn't…" She trails off a bit, taking a bit more pensive tone before she continues. "It wouldn't matter. I mean, she doesn't decided who I'm friends with or not."
She lets out a bit of a sigh, shaking her head. "You didn't fuck up, Rue. I'm pretty sure this is entirely my fault - except for that stupid harem bit - an' I'm really sorry for that."
Rue shakes her head slowly. "Would you tell her I'm sorry? And that I didn't mean to offend her? Either of you? I think she seems really nice, and I hope she'll want to be friends with me…" She glances up to Quinn again self-consciously.
"Yeah, I'll pass it on t' her, I know I'll see her again before the day it out." Quinn looks of to the side, then down at the floor. "You didn't offend me. Don't worry about all that."
"Good," is all Rue can manage in response. "Ah… I guess I'll see ya, 'kay?" Then she turns around again to head back to her room.