Participants:
| Scene Title | First Pizza |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Magnes makes Elaine her first pizza since arriving and the two discuss just how weird things can be. |
| Date | February 23, 2012 |
Elaine and Magnes' Home
There's been a lot of settling in, a disagreement about a large Batman picture that Magnes wants to hang up. It currently sits on the floor leaning against a wall.
They currently have a couch, a coffee table and a chair in their modest townhouse, with a dining room that also connects with the kitchen, a basement that he's expressed interest in using for projects, and three bedrooms.
He's wearing a white button up with a black tie, blue jeans, and black Converse, and has been working at a lab assistant when he's not around. She hasn't been told anything particularly stressful, he's mostly just tried to show her good things, give her a normal, happy life in this almost two months they've been here.
While it's early evening, he's been baking something for a while, and before that he took time to work on something by hand. He told her not to come into the kitchen, he wanted to surprise her.
What ends up on the dining room table is a large pizza, with chicken and various herbs and a bit of parmesan baked on top of it. "I wanted your first pizza in years to be something I baked for you. I told you I could make pizza from scratch."
Elaine has been settling into her life as Eila as best as she can. She's no longer afraid to go out on her own (just a little nervous) and she's managed to get used to buying groceries and taking little walks around the neighborhood. Mostly, she's been resting and, more importantly, studying up on the world around them.
The pizza comes as a surprise. She knew he was planning something but his instructions not to come into the kitchen had her curious. She agreed, however, and stayed out of the kitchen until everything was ready. She stares at it, a little more surprised than he might have expected.
"I forgot about pizza," she says, leaning in close to take in the bready scent. "This is amazing, thank you. I really hadn't expected this."
Magnes walks behind her, sliding his arms around her sides to gently rest his hands onto her stomach. "I have a lot of skills to show you. I need to start making you some maternity clothes." because of course he makes clothes. "I just want you to relax, and enjoy things. I know that I want to go home and all, but that doesn't mean that we can't live some kind of life here and enjoy things for what they are."
"We have to save some for Isabelle. She's always using her fire for no reason, and that takes a lot of energy." He closes his eyes and rests his chin on her shoulder from behind. "I can feel the baby, you know. It's still small."
"It'll be a little bit before I need maternity clothes, so you've got a bit of time for it." Eila leans up against him, shutting her eyes for the moment. "It would be nice to live for a while somewhere I can see the sky and walk around in the sun. I'm sure you'll find a way home eventually, but we don't know how long that'll be. It's best we make as much of a life here as we can."
She peers over her shoulder at Magnes. "The baby's small, but it'll get bigger. I just hope we're up to the challenge as parents. I think I'm going to do a lot of research, since now we've actually got the ability to research things."
"I can't imagine myself as a dad. You know, I don't have a reputation with being responsible. Eventually you'll meet the Elaine from my world and she'll give me that look that she gave me every time I fucked up, then she'll tell you about all those times I bet." Magnes unwraps herself from her, then grabs a pizza cutter and starts dividing it into equal sections. He's clearly done this a million times. "I know that my ex girlfriend was literally you and all, but your personalities are pretty different. She had a lot of bad experiences that you didn't have, since she was homeless and all…"
"I had to fight her invincible crazy ex boyfriend." He takes a slice of pizza, then holds it up to her mouth with both hands. "It's strange, when I think about it. I got back into thinking of her as a friend, accepting that her and Quinn are together now. I started to kind of fall for this other girl, and then I met you and everything changed."
"With my world's Elaine, yeah, everything got ridiculously sexual on the very first night we met, and then we just sort of ended up together. But I wasn't good at prioritizing, and we were so very different about so many things. Me and you, I feel like for some reason we have more in common? I'm not even sure how that's possible…" He shakes his head. "Alternate realities are weird. I didn't want to talk to you about her before, not very much, because I'm afraid you'll feel weird about it…"
"I mean, I can't be totally terrible about it. I've spent the past few years looking after kids of different ages… never babies, though, the baby thing will be a bit new." Eila shakes her head, watching him cut the pizza.
"I was homeless too. For a while. It was… it was pretty bad. Taught me not to trust anyone, to look out for myself, to protect anything important to me and hide it away. I don't know what she experienced, but we're probably more similar than you think. And maybe different," she says, eyeing the pizza hungrily at this point.
"I mean, being in the Hub really shaped me. I spent a lot of time in my head and maybe I think more than her. I mean, not that she's dumb, I'm sure she's lovely. She's just not the same as me. She hasn't gone through what I've gone through. Maybe it's a little weird to talk about, but… I don't know. I guess it's interesting to know what you could have been, right?"
"I really did love her, but I just wasn't what she wanted, I got myself hurt, I didn't think things through very well, I took stupid risks. I had to grow up a lot, I don't think I was quite mature enough for her. I think I've changed a lot between her and you." Magnes admits, then tries to feed her, because of course he's trying to hand feed her pizza. "It's weird to think that I made most of my stupid immature mistakes with a different version of you, only to end up with this you who doesn't have to deal with it… well okay, I'm still going to do stupid things, but I like to think I'll be more considerate."
Eila takes a bite of the pizza, taking it carefully from his hand. "This is good!" She exclaims, mid-bite. "And also hot!" She fans her mouth with a hand before finishing the bite and continuing the conversation. "Well, I like how you are now. Maybe she had to go through the rough stuff with you, but at least you're you now."
She goes back to eating the pizza, speaking now between bites. "I'm sure you'll be considerate, because I'll be sure to tell you if you're not. We're a family and we look out for each other and want each other to be the best we can be."
"You do realize that we have the strangest relationship history and family of probably anyone else literally on Earth, right?" Magnes asks, because, well, curious if she's aware of it.
He takes a slice as well, blowing on it a few times while he watches her eat. "Me and other Elaine have an adult daughter from an alternate future who is actually older than you, when we get back home, you and her will sort of exist in the same space, you and other Elaine, I mean, we're still friends." Shaking his head, he takes a bite of pizza. "Not to mention the fact that my father is an asshole who makes clones of me and is one of the leaders of a shadowy secret organization."
"You sure you don't miss your Hub life?" he asks, smiling.
"I like being strange," Eila laughs. "I mean, I want to fit in, I don't want people to think I'm crazy or anything when I'm out on the street or something, but I like being a bit weird. So having a strange and unusual family and history is something I enjoy."
She pauses before taking another bite, thinking. "Well, okay, so I get to meet the other me? What if she doesn't like me? I mean, that's the weirdest idea ever. Running into myself… but like, a different me that went through different things. I'd probably annoy her with all the questions I'd ask."
Eila laughs. "I don't miss it. I'd much rather live this weird superhero life than be stuck fearing for my life in that hole with no future. Out here I can do things, I can really be someone."
"Well, other Elaine was a big part of my life, even after we broke up. And I think she'd probably ask you just as many questions. By the way, she'll probably tell you that I'm boring in bed. I try to apply all of her critiques to you, even though I know that's probably not the most ethical thing, you know, to basically use cheat codes and prior knowledge…" Magnes can't help but stare and wonder if there's a point at which she hits him.
Chewing and staring is all he can do sometimes.
"I wasn't, like, with anyone after her, if you get my drift. But, even in that way, you're both different." He doesn't get into why or how, he just reaches over to touch her face, then immediately brushes the pizza dust from her cheek. "You're great at languages. I never really thought of this when I was back home, but why don't you try doing the whole Doug thing, from the X-Men. Use your language gifts for computer code."
"I think it would be extremely weird to talk to myself about bedroom stuff about the same person. I think that would be the weirdest thing." Eila laughs, taking another bite of pizza. "Besides, we're still different. She had more experience than I did when I met you so like… our experiences would be different? I don't know how people change their preferences and likes and dislikes. You could do all kinds of neat studies about that sort of thing."
She doesn't, in fact, hit him but takes another slice of pizza while turning her head to look at him. "I thought about it. I've kind of missed using the computer while I was in the Hub too. I'd have to do a lot of research to really accurately use code though. My ability would help me translate code but I won't know what to do with that information without training." She pauses. "Oh! Do you think I'd be able to get into a college?"
"Tamara could probably help. She got me a lab assistant position by just fudging my credentials so that I can learn everything hands on." Magnes reaches to take her hand when it's free, leaning in to peck her cheek right next to her lips. "You might not be able to transfer a degree across universes, but I think I have enough connections in my world to make some things happen, if you work really hard here and get those degrees."
"Somehow, for some reason, Kimiko Nakamura is dead in this world. But back home I know her, she's in charge of a very large company, one of the largest in the world. She taught me martial arts." because of course that story makes perfect goddamned sense.
"Don't need the actual degree. With computers, if you can prove yourself you can get a job anywhere. I've heard big companies will hire you if you prove yourself skilled enough. Plenty of people learn without a degree. I think that the college would have more access to material than I could just learn online." Eila nods a bit. "I'll work hard, too."
The story about Kimiko goes way over her head. She doesn't get it. So she doesn't say anything.
"Not that I'm suggesting it, but if you met the Magnes in this world, you'd probably experience some of what the other Elaine did." Magnes considers, because, well, all he knows is that this world's Magnes is a bitter drunk.
He grabs a second slice of pizza, stands up, and starts heading into the living room. "Enjoy the pizza. I think we're both filthy. It's, what, 6pm? I think we both need a shower, at the same time, for efficiency reasons."
"I'll talk to Tamara about college when I can pin her down. We also still have a lot of things to shop for, like a TV!" he calls out as he's walking up the stairs, and starts getting ready for a shower.
"I don't know if I'd want to meet another Magnes. I like mine just fine." Eila giggles, finishing up her slice of pizza as she follows him into the living room. "A shower?" She trails after him with a grin. "You and your efficiency." But she doesn't complain or make any sort of protest, she just heads up to take the shower.