Participants:
Scene Title | Bonnie & Clyde |
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Synopsis | Magnes and Monica taste once in a lifetime burgers, and then have a chain of awkward moments that are mostly just awkward for Magnes. |
Date | May 7 2010 |
It's very early Saturday morning, so they have a bit of a long weekend ahead of them, and there isn't much left between the road to Atlantic City from New York. They pass by a few small Jersey towns, and they'll soon be approaching the stop with the Bob's Big Boy. Magnes has been letting Monica drive for the most part, unless they were in very populated areas.
And now he finds himself in the passenger seat, in some red Chucks, blue jeans, a white buttoned up shirt, and a black blazer. He keeps the window down so he can feel the wind hitting his face, sighing. "We're actually doing this." he says after about ten minutes of silence from some other short conversation.
"We sure are," Monica says, her eyes mostly on the road, an arm hanging out the window while her other hand hangs on to the wheel. She's trying not to drive crazy, which is just proof she shouldn't have watched so many race car drivers after she found out about this power of hers. Ah, youth.
"And may I remind you that taking off was your idea," she notes with a chuckle. Nevermind that she chose the destination. "Unless you're having second thoughts, we should be there pretty soon."
"No, no second thoughts, I think this is great. Let's try not to cheat in the casinos too much. Let's make enough money to have a comfortable trip, then quit while we're ahead. Between gravity manipulation and your photographic reflexes, we're gonna get a honeymoon suite and order some seriously expensive room service." Magnes points out of the window to a small stop full of lots of little stores connected inside like a tiny roadside mall, and a Bob's Big Boy that uses roughly half the space by itself. "Let's check that out! My father used to take about this place all the time."
"I've never tried it on gambling before. But I can watch without watching, so don't worry about /me/ cheating. You, I don't know about, you're like having an infinite number of loaded dice on hand." Monica looks over at him, though, lifting an eyebrow. "Honeymoon suites don't usually have two beds. But I can get on board with the expensive room service."
When he points out the shops, she looks over before getting over too pull off the highway. "Hamburgers, right? It looks All American." she doesn't generally eat a lot of fast food, but it's a special occasion.
"These places are hard to find, might be the only time we see one in our entire lives!" Magnes opens the door when they park, taking the keys himself since they're going to be getting on a major crowded highway again soon, with cops and such. He continues the previous discussion while they're headed for the restaurant. "Oh yeah, well, don't they have suites with two beds? I want a room with a fruit basket!"
"That's probably true," Monica concedes with a crooked smile. And soon enough, they're out of the car and she takes a moment to stretch. Which also gives her a chance to look around and check for things like cameras and cops. New Jersey isn't all that far from New York. "Well," she says when she comes around the car, "I'm sure there's a suite with a basket that has space for everyone," she adds, amused.
"I probably should have suggested separate rooms, it was totally suspicious and weird that I said honeymoon suite, wasn't it?" Magnes asks, despite not actually realizing that they'd only have one bed to begin with. He holds the door for her, and luckily there aren't a lot of people exactly packing the place. "I wonder how you get a job serving burgers in the middle of no where."
"Honeymoon suite was a little over the top, yeah," Monica says, giving him a little bump with her hip, "You'll figure it out." She's not holding it against him, apparently. "You start by living in the middle of nowhere. Then you see what places near the highway have job openings."
"I can't imagine living out here, there's probably not a comic shop for miles." Magnes just goes right for it, ordering The Big Boy double-deck cheeseburger itself as he takes a seat in one of the stools at the counter. "Kind of feels like we left reality, doesn't it?"
"Probably not, but I imagine the internet reaches this far." Monica takes a little longer with the menu and ends up ordering something smaller, but then she's a gal with a delicate appetite and Southern sensibilities she hasn't shaken off yet. "It is a far cry from the city, that's for sure. We're spoiled up there." Although, for her, there's a bit of relaxation. It feels freer. Fresh air, room. Easy to stop forgetting she's a fugitive.
"So what are we going to do first when we get to Atlantic City? Immediately hit a casino and try to make enough for a room? Then boardwalk?" Magnes asks as they start to cook, and he's just hunched over the counter. "I wanna try some of those boardwalk games, I always wanted to win a stuffed animal for a girl or something."
"What do you think? Hitting the tables first could be good or bad, moneywise," Monica says with a chuckle. "But I think we're lucky enough to gamble tonight and run rampant through the boardwalk tomorrow. First thing, even. I've never done any of those games."
"You should stick to dice, I'll… I'm not sure what I'll do yet." Magnes decides as their food finally comes, and he's already taking a bite of his burger. "These really are good." He approves, and licks his lips a bit. "When we get back home, remind me to cook dinner for you. Then you can cook dinner for me the next night."
"Yeah, I can hear the craps tables calling to me from here. You know what you could do? Roulette. That is if you don't want to put on a gold dress and blow on my dice." He would make a terrible Lady Luck. But the idea amuses her enough to get a grin from her. "You know, I really am a good cook. Don't get much practice now, but it's like riding a bike."
"Usually everyone says I'm the best cook, so I always wanted to have another awesome cook around so I can be the impressed one getting stuffed." Magnes turns around after paying, finishing off his burger and picking up his drink. "Come on, let's go get a crazy hat. And roulette makes a lot of sense, but we've gotta get in and then get out with that sort of thing. Between the two of us, we should make around fifty thousand and then call it a weekend so we can enjoy it."
"Well, lots of home cooked meals at my house. Lots of practice." Monica doesn't quite finish, but she brings the rest along for the ride. "Crazy hat?" While she follows along easily, the number he quotes makes her trip a little. "Fifty thousand dollars?" It's a bigger number than she's used to.
"Yeah, I mean, I'll give you ten thousand, and I'll take ten thousand, and we'll try to make a twenty-five thousand dollar profit each, that way we'll have enough money to spend and stay in a nice room without completely screwing my savings. We can do this, and if we can't, well, at least we tried." Magnes drapes an arm around her shoulder as they walk, offering a reassuring smile. "We're young, we're on a crazy vacation that none of our friends know about. Let's be totally irresponsible."
Monica just needs a moment to wrap her head around those numbers. It's a good thing he's driving. She looks over at him at the arm around her and gives him a somewhat shaky smile in return. "You talk about it so nonchalant. We'll have to work up to it. I don't think I've ever seen that much money in one place before." Certainly not her pocket.
But those last words get a more genuine smile and she nods a little. "There's a first time for everything, I guess."
"Money is important, that's a truth I won't deny, but there are so many things in life that I've loved and lost that mean so much more to me than money. For once I am going to use money to make myself happy beyond comic books, and I want you to share." Magnes releases her and heads into a small shop, putting on a hat before saying in quiet tones, "I think I've found the craziest hat of them all." He crouches down and points both fingers at the I <3 NJ cap.
"Important, but not the most important, I agree." Monica smiles a bit as he goes on, "You're very generous. Thanks for inviting me along. This is pretty much a once in a lifetime thing for me." And a bit of a calm before the storm. But she doesn't voice that part. Mostly because she doesn't want to start thinking about seeing the future and time travel and such.
Following him into the shop, she's looking around a bit before he gets her attention again. And a laugh. "Somehow, I find it hard to believe. You Heart New Jersey."
"I did say it was a crazy hat. You should get these." Magnes grabs a pair of feminine looking sunglasses, shaped almost feline-like, then moves to carefully place them on to her face. "Suddenly it's like we're in Thelma & Louise."
"I did say it was a crazy hat. You should get these." Magnes grabs a pair of feminine looking sunglasses, shaped almost feline-like, then moves to carefully place them on to her face. "Suddenly it's like we're in Thelma & Louise."
"I'd say Bonnie and Clyde, but we're not robbing banks." Monica turns to check out the glasses on her in the mirror. "If you try to put cat ears on me, we're gonna have words," she teases, adjusting the glasses on her face as she turns back to him.
"And not dating, uh, I mean unless there was an implication in excluding that part and… I'm gonna shut up while I'm ahead and you can just not answer that." Magnes awkwardly rubs the back of his neck, doing a great job of embarassing himself as he places a five dollar bill on the counter, then he's ready to head for the car with her.
Monica doesn't really answer, but just looks at him all amused as he pays. When they're heading back out to the car, she lifts an eyebrow his way. "You know, you need to learn how to relax."
"It's not that I can't relax, just…" Magnes holds the door for her and walks out after, straightening his new cap. "Certain situations, and uh, certain people when I'm, like, I mean, in certain emotional states, and then I don't wanna make an ass of myself more than normal. God this makes no sense."
He opens the driver's side this time and slides his keys in after slamming the door shut. "Er, I'm making a terrible argument for being relaxed, aren't I?"
"Yep." Monica smirks over at him while she buckles up. "Don't worry. You'll learn eventually. Or explode, maybe. Which would be unfortunate, by the way. You shouldn't worry so much about looking bad. Friends are friends through all manner of embarrassments and such."
"Just remember that you are fully capable of making me explode, so be careful with the fuse." Magnes finally pulls out of the lot, and soon they're back on the highway. Just in time for him to realize something. "That so didn't come out how I intended."
Monica doesn't seem to pick up on it until he mentions that it can be taken the wrong way, but she looks over at him and shakes her head with a smile. "Boys. You know, if you can't just relax and be yourself by the end of this weekend, then I'll be considering the trip a bit of a loss. Just so you know."
"I will relax!" Magnes says with a determined nod, removing one hand from the wheel to rest his elbow in the window. "Totally relaxed, one handed driving, oh yeah." he tries to whistle, but it, well… he can't whistle.
As he tries it out, Monica hangs her arm out the window, too, and tries not to look terribly amused. "You'll get it one of these days." Call it a goal. She always likes having a mission.