Participants:
| Scene Title | Do The Hokey Pokey |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | … and turn yourself around! Daphne's sage advice to Magnes is to quit talking and just do it already, with whomever's handy. |
| Date | January 20, 2010 |
Magnes' Apartment
There's one place Daphne's never been, as far as he knows at least, and that's Magnes' room. Sometime around noon, trying to keep himself from sulking over the fact that Claire will indeed not be coming over like she used to, he decides to try and get other things in order, and calls Daphne over. His room is still full of comic, movie, game and anime posters, the largest being his three life sized ones. The Lois Lane and Baroness posters over his bed, the Starfire in a bikini poster on the wall next to his bed, and the Mary-Jane from Spider-Man Loves Mary-Jane poster on his door (/in/ the apartment).
The bookcases of comics and TPBs as well as his Batman and Superman beanbag chairs should show how much of a geek her employer is, but he's indeed sitting on his bed, shoeless, in loose bluejeans and a red t-shirt with a Spider-Man symbol, watching new episodes of Smallville burned to a DVD. "Can't believe I missed so much…"
Having nothing pressing that day, Daphne arrives in just a few minutes — of course, that's simply because she's a speedster, and not because she was that eager to visit or hanging around nearby! It's cold outside, so she's dressed for the cold in some plaid Sorrell snow boots, thick black tights, and a warm gray sweater dress, under her wool coat. Her shock of white-blonde hair is all but hidden under a tweed cap, and her cheeks are rosy from the cold, even if she was only outside for a few seconds. A fingerless gloved hand knocks on the door.
Magnes looks to the door, but doesn't stand up to get it. His bed isn't far from the door, and the door simply unlocks and opens for her. The first thing she'll see is him sitting on the bed, and, well, the comic shop that vomited all over his room. "Hey, Daphne. Sorry I haven't been paying you. It's, well, a really long story, but it's got a lot to do with why I called you before. Government kidnapped me with a bunch of other people so we could keep the world from flooding. Vanguard nukes."
She tilts her head at the opening door and arches a brow at him. "That's new, huh? You got a new power or just learning to use yours better?" She heads in and looks for a place to sit. "My guess is if you were kidnapped by the government to save the world, you probably aren't supposed to tell everyone that. But I'm not everyone, so I guess it's safe enough with me. Maybe. Vanguard nukes? Am I supposed to know what that means?" She's not involved with the terrorist groups or the freedom fighters or the urban guerrilla warfare of the city. "I'm good. I just did a big job that should take care of rent for the rest of the year. I didn't do much once the cash stopped coming, though. Nothing new to tell you. The stuff is kick ass though." She means the Refrain. He probably didn't intend for her to do it when she took the gig, but c'est la vie.
"You should really not do drugs, it could screw with your ability or something. And you're right, you're not just anyone, you're my most valuable and useful contact. And the government compensated me, so if I need you, I can actually afford you now." Magnes raises his hand, causing an invisible force to kind of wrap around her waist, trying to move her to a beanbag to sit. "And yeah, I learned to use my ability better. We should really practice combining them some time. So, back to the drugs… you're not addicted or anything, right?"
The pixyish woman, several years his senior, rolls her eyes up at the ceiling, looking like she could be a kid sister exasperated at an older brother's warnings. "Whatever," she says to the Just Say No spiel, frowning a little as he tugs her, but letting herself sprawl on the bean bag. "No, I'm not addicted. It kinda knocks you flat for a bit, and it's not really my thing. Not long-term anyway. I did it a couple times, just to see what the fuss was about. It's pretty cool, but I can't be fast on it. It's a slow trip, and I'm not into slow."
"Well, good. I just wish you were in Argentina with us, we'd have finished in a few days instead of a few months." Magnes floats from the bed, legs still crossed, then lands himself on the beanbag next to her's, looking over at the TV briefly before focusing on her. "With the scholarship I'm getting from the government, I'm dropping this vigilante stuff and going to college. But, I still wanna hang out and stuff, if you want to. And I'm sure I'll end up needing to pay you for something again." He pauses, cheeks going red, then he taps the side of it with one finger. "That came out totally wrong…"
Daphne laughs at Magnes' blush. "Gutterhead. The only reason it'd sound wrong is if you were thinking in that direction in some way," she points out. "Good for you. I never went. Was too … otherwise engaged." She makes it sound like it was due to her criminal ways, perhaps, but in fact it's because she was holed up in her family home, feeling sorry for herself. "What're you going to major in?"
"Sorry, my brain's just been… had a breakup, sulking, and for whatever reason that leads to sex in my head." Magnes shakes said head, moving on when she asks about majors. "Well, I was gonna go to law school, but I'm gonna talk to my friend Cat to see if there's anything more suitable for me. And hey, if I do become a lawyer, I have the best evidence collector."
She screws her mouth up at the word break up. She has no good advice for him on romance — she's never had anything but flings. "I'd see you doing something more outdoors and stuff, but hey, if you want to be a lawyer, that's cool. Especially if you do criminal law, because you never know, I might need a legal eagle one day," Daphne quips. "I think real evidence has to come in a certain way or it doesn't count, though," she adds.
"It does make sense that law might not be my thing. I mean, I had to resign from the NYPD. They're so hung up on PR and all that stuff, they expect me to not use my ability. Well, I'm sorry, but if a chopper is about to land in a crowd, I'm gonna use my ability, I don't care if they think I'm being a show off." Magnes stares up at the TV again, before deciding it's a distraction, and leans forward to press pause on the DVD player.
"I've never been able to really think about what I wanted to do. It's always been my parents saying 'You're a physicist'. But, screw my parents, they don't want me so I don't care." He lays back, the upper half of his body laying on the dark blue carpeted floor with his arms spread out, bottom half of his body still on the bag. "This year I think I've been more focused on girls and saving the world than anything else. Now I'm completely over the hero thing, and still haven't passed second base, so I can say that it's about time for a new direction in my life."
Daphne snorts. "That's two big different focuses. I don't think two focuses count as a focus, do they? Girls, and saving the world. Thanks for doing that, I guess, by the way. I didn't know we were in danger or anything, Gravity Boy. Sorry about the girlfriend too. Maybe you shouldn't worry about getting all serious about someone and just, you know, have fun. You're too young to be all serious and shit."
"I don't know how to just… have fun. I mean, I can't just walk up to a girl and say 'Hey, let's do it', I don't even know how to do it, except, well, sex ed." Magnes doesn't say 'my therapist', he figures that's just not something you tell strangers. He's staring up at the ceiling from his sprawled position, eyeing an Iron Man poster, possibly wondering why he hasn't taken that down yet. "This would be a lot easier if I went to school with other people, at least I'd be, well, adjusted. But nope, got home schooled, my entire life, and wasn't really allowed to go out much."
"You don't just says 'hey let's do it,' you just … hang out and suddenly find yourself doing it, and if it's not someone that's like, your dream girl that you want to marry, it doesn't have to mean anything other than what it is," Daphne says with a smirk. "And believe me, I know what it's like to be … not normal, and not hanging out with other kids. But you can get past it. College is probably a perfect idea for you, come to think of it. You can kinda look at the other people and figure out how they do things. Go to parties. Meet girls. You're a little older than the normal college freshman, but that might give you some allure."
"I never saw myself as the 'doing it' type until recently, now I feel like puberty kicked in late and I just keep thinking about doing it. I feel guilty 'cause I just got out of a complicated relationship. I mean, it was all 'You hang up first' 'No you hang up first', then the end of the world looms, she gets shot in the head, grows her brain back, and loses her memory of our entire relationship." Magnes shakes his head, suddenly pulling his entire body up until he's upside down on one hand, then lightly drops down so he's sitting with his legs crossed, behind the bag now. "Delilah actually thinks I'm hot, I mean, me, hot." He's still not come to terms with the fact that he's not a meek geeky boy anymore.
"Every guy is the doing it type, Magnes. So is every girl. I mean, unless they're priests or paralyzed or something," Daphne says, standing up with a shake of her head. "So go find this Delilah chick and do the hokey pokey with her, and there you have it." Simple as that, right? "You'll figure it out. Quit thinking about it and quit talking about it and quit worrying about it, and then it'll just happen." She moves to the door. "I gotta go. You got my number if you need it." She doesn't have time to be a sex counselor today.
"Stop thinking and worrying. I thought I was the one who made unreasonable requests in this arrangement." Magnes chuckles, then drops back and sprawls again. He'll be down there for a long time. "I wanna practice combining our abilities one day, like seriously practice. It could be useful to both of us. But yeah, I'll talk to you later, hopefully I'll be done slacking by then."
"Go work for the pizza man again for a bit, it will give you something to do besides mope," Daphne says with a smirk as she reaches the door. "And free pizza. That's always a perk." With that, she's out the door, and before it closes behind her, well on her way home.