Participants:
| Scene Title | Conflictions |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Magnes returns from errands and is none-too-happy about the visitor Elaine's had while he was away. She's left conflicted on some things and certain on others. |
| Date | July 14, 2010 |
Gun Hill - Magnes' Apartment
Elaine eventually got around to eating the lunch she had forgotten, earlier. Pizza reheated and finished off, the redhead was seated on the couch, thumbing through papers and organizing them, occasionally scribbling something on one page or another. Satisfied, she staples some of the papers together and slips them into a manilla envelope.
Magnes walks in with a large bag from a women's shoe store and a large box inside, wearing a pink button up shirt that says Badman in black letters on the back, some blue jeans, and his usual black sneakers. He locks the door, then holds up and bag and says, "New shoes. I'm sorry I stressed you out last night."
Elaine laughs a little, smiling at his words. "Don't worry about it. You were just jumpy and needed to calm down. It's all better now, right?" She sets her envelope aside, patting a spot on the couch. "C'mere. I missed you."
"I have to meet with some people later, to be prepared for whatever Messiah wants to throw at me, but I feel fine. The only person in the group who can catch up with me in the air is West Rosen, and I can kick his ass. And I know you're safe here." Magnes offers the bag to Elaine, nodding to it. "For you." then leans down and pecks her on the lips.
Taking the bag, Elaine opens it, taking the box out. "You keep acting like they're horrible people, going to throw something right at you. Magnes, I honestly don't think that's what they're about." She gingerly takes the lid off so she can peek at the shoes.
What Elaine finds are a pair of almost cowboy-style black boots, and he moves to sit next to her and slips an arm arond her shoulders. "What do you mean you don't think that's what they're all about? Have you seen what they've done on the news? Do you think every worker in those places they blow up deserve to die? Do you think Claire deserved to be used as a suicide bomber? Even if she can regenerate. I've been contemplating shooting Peter in the head since I heard that."
"What about those workers? Do you think they think they're curing cancer?" Elaine takes a moment to smile at the boots, leaning in to kiss his cheek. "What about the good Messiah's doing, though? What about those people you helped save… thirty people who were being pumped full of chemicals and stuck in a coma. Do you think that they deserved to be stuck in there?" She purses her lips. "Magnes, I don't think they're going to jump you in an alley. They go after the people who hurt them. They try to protect people. They wouldn't intentionally hurt innocent people."
"It's the government, I work for the government, we all have different clearance, we don't know everything that goes on in every department." Magnes sits up, very suspicious now as he turns to her, lifting one knee up on to the couch. "How do you know all of this? What's going on?"
Elaine shakes her head a little. "I don't expect everyone knows everything. It's probably good that way. It makes sense, you know, with all the secret-keeping involved. I don't think the purpose of doing these things is to go after the individual workers or targeting innocent people. They target people who make the flu that hits Evolved. They target people who'd like to throw us all in camps like the Nazis did the Jews."
She peers towards him. "I talked with Rupert. He came by looking for you, he said that he and some of the others were confused as to why you'd leave, that some of them were hurt, like Harrison. He wanted to talk to you, to understand what it was. He said that it was your choice, and that there were no hard feelings for leaving. Messiah isn't targeting you, Magnes. No hard feelings."
"You don't get it. People aren't just collateral damage, and all these things do is just make us look worse to tbe public!" Magnes stands up, apparently getting a bit excited. "They don't get that in the end, all they're doing is make the government want to do these things even more, and hurting innocent people to do it in the process."
His eyes just widen when she says she spoke to Rupert, and he starts heading to the bedroom. "I'm not here so he tries to brain wash you with this crap? Word it all nicely so you'll take their side? That's the last straw. I wanted to be neutral, but if that's how it's gonna be, then fine." He's already in the room digging through drawers, but he's not packing this time, he's looking for things.
Elaine blinks, getting to her feet as she moves after Magnes. "Magnes, calm down, we just talked. That's all we did. We talked! You didn't tell me about them. You said it yourself, the media portrays things worse… you said Gabriel was the one who everyone said was responsible for the bomb but that it was complicated and the media got it wrong. Aren't they just trying to make us equal? They're fighting, the don't want to hurt innocent people, they're fighting those who are already fighting against them. That's what they're doing. They're trying to protect people. Magnes, that's what you do. You protect people. You protect me!" She peers at his rummaging. "What are you doing?"
"What you don't understand is that the way they're fighting is wrong. Innocent people are getting hurt because of this, and it's only going to get worse. They think they're doing the right thing, think, but you believe me, we're all going to suffer as a result of what they're doing, and they're going to be on the end of the barrel of both the government and the other groups fighting against the government." Magnes pulls out a key and holds it up, then slips it into his pocket. "A key to some money I keep stashed away, in case Rebel ever decided to empty my bank accounts. I need to talk to Eileen and Raith, and I need to strike at Messiah before they start coming after me. You don't think they will, but I know better, I know how groups can be."
"Magnes, that was the whole point of the message from Rupert. There aren't any hard feelings. If you want to be neutral, be neutral, and they'll accept that. You made your choice. They know that was your choice." Elaine frowns, rubbing her arms. "How would you fight it, if that's not the way? Why are you going to fight them? Why are you fighting people who are fighting people you should be fighting if you're going to fight to protect people? You're just giving people who would hurt you an upper hand." She shakes her head, letting out a slow breath. "Magnes, don't make a strike against anyone."
"What am I supposed to do, Abby?" Magnes covers his mouth, then clears his throat. "Elaine, Elaine. Sorry. Anyway, what am I supposed to do? Take his word for it, and wait until something happens? They don't trust me, why should they? They're not just going to let me walk. And then the nerve, to talk to you…" His fist tightens around the key, leaning back against the dresser. "They need to know they can't just fuck with my life, they can't try to manipulate me or anyone around me. I need to send them a message to leave me the hell alone, Elaine. If that's not something you can accept, then I don't know what to tell you."
Elaine immediately stiffens. Her face begins to make some expression, but her teeth bite down on her lower lip and it stops. "T-Take care of what you need to, then. Do what you need to do. Send whatever message you feel you need to send to Messiah. Just remember not to hurt anyone innocent in the process."
Magnes watches how she reacts, then sighs and walks over to wrap his arms around her and pull her close to him. "Sorry, I'm sorry. God. I'm so used to Abby being on the other end of telling me I shouldn't be doing something or that I don't understand, she's usually the one trying to keep me from doing something stupid." He closes his eyes, making a conscious effort to calm down. "I still need to talk to Eileen and Raith about what to do, I can't just take Messiah's word, I need to talk to Peter too. I just want you safe."
Elaine is drawn in close, but she doesn't hug him right away. She stands there for a moment before she buries her face in against his neck and sobs, arms slowly moving up to hug him back. She tries to speak, a clear attempt, but she can't find any words. Instead, she just clutches to him and sobs.
"I'm sorry I made you cry… you don't deserve what I put you through." Magnes reaches down to touch her face, trying to gently pull her head up so she can face him. "Elaine, do you really want to stay with me, through all this? Do you even feel safe?"
Elaine is drawn back, one hand reaching up to wipe tear-stained eyes. "I choose to stay with you, Magnes. It's what I want. You keep me safe. I feel safe knowing you're okay and watching out for me. I'm not worried. I do feel safe, as long as you're here."
"Just promise me you won't let them get into your head. I'll introduce you to Eileen, if you wanna hear about people doing really good work." Magnes runs a thumb under each of her eyes, wiping tears from her face. "What is it you want? Be honest. What do you want me to do and say right now?"
Elaine nods a little bit. "I'll… I'll see. I'm not really sure what to think about all of this, I just… I don't know. Maybe I just need to not think about it for a while." She lets out a breath, looking back at him. "I want you to say you love me and that you'll protect me. I want you to be you but I want you to keep being someone I can trust. Can you do that?"
"I love you, Elaine, and I am always going to protect you. I'm sorry, I do what I can, I'm just so used to doing what I think I need to do as soon as it pops into my head, I forget I have someone to think about now…" Magnes leans down to kiss her again, this one a bit longer. "Can you forgive me?"
"Yeah, I forgive you." Elaine murmurs, looking back at him. "Still hurt, though." She frowns, but hugs him closer. "Just give things time and plan them out. I want things to be as okay as they possibly can, and sometimes that takes time."
"I know, I'll talk to Eileen, and I'm going to set up a meeting between you two, she can lay things out for you in a more balanced way. I don't trust whatever Rupert may have told you." Magnes just sighs, sitting there silently for about a minute, and says, "I didn't ever want to hurt you."
Elaine moves to hug him tighter, sighing softly. "I know, Magnes. Doesn't change that it did… and it's better that it's this and not something else. Everyone messes up once and a while, so I'm not gonna try and make it sound like you can go about living a perfect life, but… the few times there's been any messing up on either of our parts, I think they've been pretty tame and I think that says a lot about us." She shuts her eyes, leaning in against him. "I think I know what you mean about needing a break. Everything's coming in all at once.."
"We'll survive, I always do, I know you can too. It's time I really start following everything Kazimir taught me." Magnes gently breaks her hold, but keeps his hands on her shoulders. "Come on, you can try your boots on."
"I'm stronger and smarter than most people realize, I think." Elaine taps her head knowingly. She glances back towards the living room heading that way. "Thanks for the boots. I'll have you know I like presents."
"I just thought it'd be nice to see you strut around in a pair of boots." Magnes grins, moving to sit next to the box and pat it to gesture her over. "Come on, you can model and everything."
Elaine moves to sit, removing the boots from the box and she moves to put them on. She smiles. "You know, you're way more sweet and thoughtful than people give you credit for. Kinda pisses me off, a bit. People don't treat you the way you deserve." She smiles just a little bit, finishing up putting them onto her feet before she stands up. "Well?" She questions, moving back and forth to show off the boots. "Is it me?"
"I'm not what people think I should be. Unfortunately everyone has an idea of that, and what I want to do doesn't matter to most of them." Magnes reaches out to grab her hips and keep her still, then looks down at her boots, and back up at her. "They're definitely you. I need to buy you cute things more often."
"Well, you're more than welcome to buy me cute things. I'm glad you like." Elaine looks back down at him. "I'm glad you're trying to be you, at least. I'm proud of that. Everyone thinks you should change… but I don't."
"I'm glad you don't, but don't be afraid to tell me when I'm doing something stupid." Magnes gently pulls her forward, trying to motion her into his lap. "Come on, let's make an inside joke for every time someone sits on the couch."
Elaine moves to climb onto his lap, leaning in to kiss him lightly. "I'll be sure to remind you when you're being an idiot." She pauses. "Alright. But it has to be bad enough that we can't help but laugh every time. Inside jokes are better that way." She snuggles in close to him, content that things were okay, if only for a moment.