Participants:
| Scene Title | Free Pizza Card |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Magnes comes to check on Peyton and give her a gift. Aaron is curious and rude. |
| Date | August 20, 2009 |
Peyton's Place - Upper West Side
Peyton Place, U.S.A.
There is a place I long to go, and I confess,
It's Peyton Place.
They've got a brand-new meaning for "togetherness"
In Peyton Place.
You should go there if you are feeling lost and lonely;
As you drive into town it says, "For Adults Only"
Peyton Place, that's where you'll find me,
Leaving my qualms behind me.
It's a quiet Thursday afternoon — Peyton hasn't ventured out, as she is already screening her calls and trying to avoid the media. The phones are turned to voicemail, the door is locked, and she's sitting curled up on the couch watching the news. So much tragedy.
The young woman is dressed in cut-off sweats and a t-shirt; her calf is wrapped in a bandage where she was grazed by the bullet and her fingers and wrists are still scraped and scratched from her escape. But otherwise, she's healthy physically. The emotional wounds will take longer to heal.
It took a while, but eventually Magnes tracked down Peyton's address after searching various listings. He's not even sure what he'll say, wearing his black faded t-shirt with a Batman logo, his comfortably fitting blue jeans, and his inline skates. He figured she's probably seen enough guys in suits, and, well, suits really aren't him.
He stops at her door, taking a deep breath, then just knocks. "My name's Magnes Varlane, I'm a police cadet and I represent Panucci's Pizza." Alright, maybe one of those will help…
Nor are suits Aaron's thing, which is precisely why he's just dressed in a light t-shirt and jeans. He's doing far better physically than he was while Peyton was abducted having eaten and gotten some sleep. At least his ability is useful for Peyton, even if he's not been as active with it as he could be. The visit from Detective O'Shea did not help matters much, and he often sits pondering the idea of registration. For now, however, he's napping next to Peyton, curled up in what must be a terribly uncomfortable position. He quite literally jumps at the sound of the knock and sits up, concern drawn over his face before it's replaced by confusion as he hears the voice calling through the door. "Did you order pizza?" he asks his roommate. He knows he didn't.
"No…" Peyton says, flipping off the television and glancing at the door. "That's weird. He didn't say he's bringing pizza but that he represents some pizza place? Who represents a pizza place? Is someone suing me?" She shakes her head and gets up, bare feet carrying her toward the door. She peeks through the eyehole. "We didn't order any pizza," she says loudly through the door.
"I didn't bring any pizza. I just came to talk to you. I'm a police cadet, soon to graduate, and, well, I saw what happened on TV. I really wanted to help, but someone explained that I should let the people on the case do their job." Magnes explains the first half, then holds up a cheaply lamented white card with a cartoonish Italian guy, the card having Panucci's Pizza written on it. "So, my old job, Panucci's Pizza, I got them to do something special for you. It's not much, but…"
"He represents a pizza place but didn't bring any samples?" Aaron asks tiredly. It's not like his brain can process much beyond restaurant guy coming and not bringing food. He flops back over onto the couch and stretches out a bit, now that Peyton's no longer taking up part of it. "Maybe, tell him to come back with pizza."
Peyton opens the door, keeping the chain lock in place, so only a fraction of her face peers into the hall. "Your pizza place did something for me?" she repeats, her brows furrowed with confusion. "Look, if you're trying to get me to speak out on behalf of Evos everywhere or anything like that, I really don't want to do anything like that. I'm just lucky to have gotten out alive and I'm no one's champion or hero, okay?" she say, tiredly. There are dark smudges under her eyes as if she's not been sleeping well.
"That's not it at all, really. I talked them into doing it because, well, I wanted to save you somehow, and I knew I couldn't, and after a while it started to seem hopeless. When I heard you were out, I had to do something, and I had to see how you were doing in person." Magnes holds the card out for her to take, offering a friendly smile. "What they put you through was one of the worse things I've ever seen, I've been kidnapped too, and I know getting over it isn't an overnight thing. My gift probably isn't gonna help much at all, but if you need anything, just order from Panucci's and flash that card and it's yours."
He doesn't explain how it'll be paid for, she doesn't need to know that, he just wanted to do something nice
The tired-looking kidnap victim takes the card. "So wait. I'm … what is it? If I ask for a pizza, I just get one, whenever I want?" she asks, a little bit of a smirk curving her lips. "That's nice of you. And thank you for worrying about me, and trying to rescue me." She smiles at Magnes. "Sorry for the chain. You understand, I'm just trying to be careful." She frowns at that. How long will she have to be "careful"? For the rest of her life?
"It's alright, my friend Abby was kidnapped with me, she went through a similar thing. Maybe I could give her a call about talking to you some time. I went through some pretty harsh stuff at the time too, but I don't think I coped with it as maturely as she did." So, Magnes pretty much chooses to disqualify himself from being able to help, which probably says something on his personal opinion of, well, himself, but anyway… "And yeah, you just ask and you get a pizza. Just, uh, don't order a hundred pizzas or anything…" he suggests with a light snicker.
Abby? Abigail? Aaron's eyes light up with recognition at the mention of Abby, until he thinks, no certainly not the Abby he knows…. She never mentioned being kidnapped, but then that's not really a casual topic of conversation. Of course, curiosity being what it is, he can't help but ask: "Not Abigail Beauchamp?" The topic of pizzas has completely left his mind with this particular piece of information. It actually takes a bit of the colour out of his skin, the idea of it.
"I won't. I promise." Truth be told, she probably won't call at all, but she smiles again. "That's very sweet. I appreciate it. Tell Mister…" She looks at the card, "Panucci thank you as well for me." She looks curiously at Aaron when he asks about the Abby girl, and steps away to go put the card on the refrigerator in the kitchen, leaving Aaron at the partially-open door.
"Yeah, Abigail Beauchamp, you know her?" Magnes asks, looking curious now, and gives Peyton an affirmative nod. "We don't talk much these days, I'm usually really busy with the cadet stuff, and side projects, and dating, but yeah."
"Huh," Aaron says. "Well, thanks for the card." And like that he closes the door on Magnes. He's normally more polite, but he's distracted by this new information as he heads back into the living room and before long meets Peyton in the kitchen. It's only when his stomach growls at him does he stop chewing on the idea of Abby being kidnapped. "So, what should we have for dinner?"