Participants:
| Scene Title | Future Blame |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | A visit from a woman worried about someone else's past sheds light on recent events. |
| Date | April 19, 2011 |
Village Renaissance Building: Elaine and Quinn's Flat
It's early, just before lunchtime, when Elaine and Quinn get an unexpected visitor at their front door. A familiar one, just unexpected, which is unusual. What's more unusual is Melissa's wearing no makeup, which never happens, and her eyes are rimmed in red from crying. She doesn't look miserable, despite the evidence of tears. And while she waits for the door to be opened after knocking, she leans heavily against the doorframe, shoulder and head resting against it.
It's Quinn who gets the door this time. Because really, lately, you have no idea who may show up at the doorstep, and what their relation may be, a joke she's just shared with Elaine as she rose up from her seat at the table, where she'd been working on some paper work. When the door opens, though she peers. Given the joke, and recent events, she can't keep herself from turning back to look at Elaine with mock disappointment.
It's just Melissa!" she calls back. But when she looks back at her former boss, she peers at her a bit. Well, this doesn't look terrible right. "Melissa? Are you okay? Holy shit, Junko's okay, right?"
"Melissa?" Elaine peeks her head from the kitchen and slowly heads towards the door as she hears the tone in Quinn's voice. That's got her worried. She hurries over, eyes wide. No makeup? Red from crying? Quinn's asked the obvious question, but Elaine gently pokes at another potential topic. "Nothing, um, happened with Perry, did it?"
A hand is waved absently. "Junie's fine. She's at the babysitters, being a kid, having a blast. Perry's at home, he's fine. Kendall's fine, Devon's fine." There's a moment of quiet, then, hesitantly, "I…can I come in? I needed some girl talk. Need some girl talk. It's…this month has been…" She closes her eyes, rubbing at them with the heel of one hand. "It's tough to explain."
Okay, now Quinn looks a little worried, stepping aside so that Melissa can make her way in. "Yeah, totally." Tough to explain covers so much lately, Quinn stepping from the door over to the table, where she starts gathering her papers. "Elaine, do you mind grabbing what's left of that pie from the other day? I think we're going t' need some serious comfort food over here."
God, tough month? I'd say tough life. For all of us," Elaine admits with a sigh. "I'll get the pie. And some milk." She moves off to the kitchen, pulling the pie out. She fetches plates—and then stops, mid-plate, and puts them back. Instead, she just gets forks. This is an eat-from-the-tin type of conversation, she feels, and so she brings the pie and three forks out before returning to the kitchen to get milk and glasses. Can't have oreo pie without milk to wash it down with!
The smile Melissa gives Quinn is shaky, but genuine. "Thanks." She glances at Elaine, then downward, away from the woman, before she moves inside and nearly collapses in the first seat she comes to. "I needed to talk, to a woman, but I don't really know where to start," she murmurs, fidgeting, which is something she doesn't tend to do.
That actually gets a rather dark, serious look from Quinn. A statement like that only has a few connotations, a hand placed on Melissa's back as she guides her towards the couch. "That's a loaded statement, Melissa. Either someone's hurt you in the worst way, or you're about t' come out t' us. Please, tell me it's the latter." And not for any lewd reasons. She doesn't want to see her friend hurt.
The pie is set down on near them as Elaine moves to find a seat. "God, is that what people say when they come out?" She looks between the two of them. "What happened, Melissa? Please, please don't bottle shit up like I do." Clearly Elaine's been thinking about her own problems a bit lately.
The pie is looked at, but not touched immediate. Instead Melissa shakes her head. "No, I'm not coming out. I love Perry. Girls are sexy and all, but I love him too much to consider switching teams," she murmurs. After a moment she glances up, at Elaine. "I've had a couple of dreams lately. Unique ones. You were in one of them."
Oh. This. Quinn's gaze darts up to Elaine. That explains a lot. She takes her seat, Melissa in the middle, and places a hand on the woman's shoulder. And and all jokes about lesbianism she had are thrown out the window as she moves to tightly (and chastely) hug her friend. "We know those dreams," she says gently, shaking her head.
The oreo pie left in the tin, plus a fork, is offered towards Melissa from Elaine. "You aren't the only one having dreams. I'm afraid, though, I don't know about the one you're talking about… I didn't have any dreams with you in them. Do you want to talk about it?"
"I know I'm not the only one. Kendall had one too," Melissa says as she takes the pie, gets a bite on the fork, then sighs. "I guess I should start with the first one. They…they're all related, though they don't go in chronological order." She takes the bite of pie, leaning into Quinn. "The first one, I was giving information to Messiah. Two people were there, they aren't Messiah, not know. I was…Helping them, I wanted them to kill the current mayor of the city. I blamed him, for someone's death. I think I know whose, but that's later."
She takes another bite, falling silent for a moment. "The mayor was my ex. My current ex, I mean." And here she looks at Quinn. "Brad Russo." She doesn't elaborate, call him names like usual, but muted as she is, her loathing still translates clearly. "That was pretty much it, for that one."
Quinn's eyes widen a bit. Of course she knows Brad Russo. She works with him, he came to her concert. "I've… seen some awful things in my dreams. But that's… somethin' else. I'm sorry, Melissa." She quirks her lips a bit, looking over to Melissa. "I hope they aren't all bad. We… there's been good dreams too."
"Oh. That's… not so good," Elaine admits, reaching her own fork to steal a bite of pie. "I've had two pretty good ones, and one bad one… I'm pretty sure, though, that it's kind of telling us something." She pauses. "But go on."
"Not all bad…but I'm not sure I'd term any of them good either," Melissa says with a wry smile, before getting another forkful of pie. "The second one…it was Christmastime. Few days before, few weeks before. There were decorations." She nods to Elaine. "You showed up. You…were bringing me pictures of Junie, and a letter. She wasn't living with me, I don't know why. I wasn't even allowed to see her."
There's a longer pause now. "We chatted, just a bit. You were normally the one who brought the pictures, Quinn. This time it was Elaine. Then you asked about my son…" A look of pain flashes over her face, and she blinks rapidly as she looks down. "Before I could answer, there was a gunshot. Kendall…he'd shot himself. I held him while he…" She shakes her head. "I found out the next day that he'd had a dream that night as well. Connected to mine."
Quinn closes her eyes. "Wow," is said as gently as she can manage, but she can't help but sound a little shocked. "I-I'm sorry, Melissa," she continues, hugging the other woman a bit tighter. "Junko, maybe… she's with The Ferry. My dreams- had us on the run. In hiding. People dying. Among other things." She takes a deep breath, a comforting hand running through Melissa's hair. "I'm… sorry about Kendall." Even though it didn't happen yet, she knows that feeling of losing someone in the dreams.
"Kendall… shot himself?" Elaine swallows hard. She'll let Quinn cover the hugging portion. She's good at that. "I'm sure she was safe. Maybe you had to give her up because she needed to be in hiding… I was definitely on the run, working with the Ferry, hiding out. I bet Junko needed to be safe because of her ability or something."
"I don't even know if she's evolved or not. I haven't gotten her tested. Not until…not until she's mine, legally," Melissa says, before shrugging. "And maybe. I don't know. It was vague. And yes, he shot himself. In his dream his girlfriend had died. He was on negation drugs and sick with grief. I guess it just…pushed him over the edge." The hug and hand in her hair seems to relax Mel a little, but something about her manner suggests that she hasn't yet gotten to the real cause of this visit.
"Tch, negation drugs…" Quinn shakes her head. "I've… heard aboutt hose bein' in a few other dreams. It sounds like… the government kinda hates us in teh future or somethin'. I dunno. I've heard, an' I think seen, full blown ghettos an' shit." She doesn't stop trying to comfrot the other woman. Particularly when it sounds like there's more to come.
"Yeah, there were negation drugs mentioned in one of mine… I think you're right, though. In the future the government decides we're the Jews in Germany…" Elaine shrugs a little bit. "You sound really shaken up…"
Melissa nods. "I am. Those two were bad enough. And connected. I blamed…him…for Kendall's death, it seems, and because of it, got Messiah to kill him. Which…well…The last dream is somehow the…" She hesitates. "Not disturbing, not worse in the way it means, but…" She shrugs and takes another bite of pie.
"The third dream was very simple. I was working in a home office, and my…" She swallows, eyes closing. "My son came in. He sat on my lap, I hugged him, kissed his hair, and we talked. He wanted me to take him ice skating, and we spoke about how he should always try to help people." She smiles. "He was so beautiful, so eager to help."
The smile fades. "There was a picture, on the wall, of me in a wedding dress. Apparently this was before the dream with messiah because…well…seems I was getting them to kill my husband."
QUinn's eyes widen whenn Melissa mentions a song, Eyes move, to look past her at Elaine. She suddenly feels like she might know where this is going, considering their recent experiances. But in the event it's not, she keeps it to hersself for now, instead turning her attention to back to Melissa. "That's… awful. But… a son! That's… fantastic, isn't it?" Never mind that Melissa was plotting to kill his father. "I… had a dream where I took in a friend's daughter. It's not… quite the same, but… that feeling is nice. Even when you know it's for terrible reasons…" Does that make her a bad person? That good feeling she got at taking in Jolene, despite that it meant Gillian's death?
"A son?" Elaine smiles, faintly. "I hav—had a daughter, in mine." She looks back towards Melissa. "That's… pretty bad. Killing your own husband… I don't know how you'd ever be able to manage that… that's pretty tough stuff."
"Honestly? I would throw a party if he keeled over today. Don't know that I'd kill him right now, but…" She shrugs, then the smile returns, a little firmer than before, but not much, and Melissa nods. "It was fantastic. He was just…it wasn't a long dream, not that I remember, but he was such a wonderful kid. But…" Of course there's a but. There's always a but.
"A while back, someone won a date with me, at one of my auctions. We went ice skating. His ability is sort of an internal version of mine. He nulls his own pain. For Christmas he got me ice skates. Black, with pink skulls. For his birthday, he wanted me to take a vacation, to take care of myself, relax. And…in my dream, I called my son Cade. The man who did all that for me?" Mel's gaze shifts to Quinn now. "His name is Kincaid."
Hold up, stop the presses, hit the brakes, all those other classic phrases that mean wait a goddamn minute. Quinn's expression goes blank for a moment, her eyes wide as she stares at her former boss. Because she was there when Kincaid bought her. She works with him. Hell, she made a somewhat lewd foursome joke. She even let him watch Junko most of a work day. "K-Kincaid?"
"Wait, what?" Elaine looks between Quinn and Melissa. Mostly because she doesn't get what's going on in this case. "Um, I'm gonna take a hunch and say that you guys know someone who is named Kincaid." Which, of course, would mean Kincaid is likely friends with Lene and Adel.
Melissa nods slightly at Quinn. "Studio K Kincaid. You were there, the night he bought my date. His boss bought yours, and his." She draws in a deep breath. "I saw him, yesterday. He'd been avoiding my calls, but he came to see me, at the foundation. We…Oh god." And here is the real for this whole thing, and the specific topic that has her breaking. She all but drops the pie and turns into Quinn, face pressing against her shoulder as she bursts into tears.
Melissa is held close, a look offered to Elaine. "I think I know where this is going," Quinn says softly, but she doesn't elaborate. She'll let Melissa say it, both so she can admit it out loud and so that she can be sure, before jumping to conclusions.
"Oh, Melissa…" Elaine murmurs, taking the pie tin and the forks and setting them aside. Tears are a little hard to eat through. She falls into silence, letting the other woman cry as needed. She knows that feeling all too well, especially if she says what she thinks she's going to say.
There's a minute, or two, where Melissa does nothing but sob into Quinn's shoulder. Then, in a whisper, she says, "He's my son. He…he called me mom. It was the sweetest thing I've ever heard. Even better than when Perry said he loved me. But he's hurting so badly and I…I can't fix it. I can't fix any of it."
Yeap. For the moment, Quinn just holds keeps Melissa close as she cries, a hand moving through her hair. "I never would've thought, that Kincaid…" She shakes her head. Then again, she wouldn't've suspected Adel. Or Jolene, either. But she doesn't broach that topic yet. That there's more.
While Elaine's more than willing to share the fact that she's not the only one with a kid who came from the future, timing is everything. And really, it doesn't seem like the right time. Not with Melissa crying like that. Elaine takes a bite of pie, looking downward.
"I…I knew something was up. I didn't expect this though," Melissa admits before she sniffles and draws back, a little. Still accepting the hug, but no longer getting Quinn's shoulder wet with tears. "He was too concerned with my happiness. Him and this girl I met at this party. It was weird. But now it…" She shakes her head. "He can't go back, his future doesn't exist anymore, not since I won't ever…I just want to make it all better for him. I can keep Junie safe, keep Kendall from killing himself, but I can't…I can't fix his childhood." And it's killing her.
She looks between them, eyes pleading. "Tell me I'm not crazy. Tell me that I'm not…this isn't me. Quinn, you know this isn't me. I don't get like this. Tell me that I can…" She shakes her head. "I don't know. Make him happy, even if I can't get his girlfriend from the future."
There's a guilty look on Quinn's face as she looks down at her lap. "You're not crazy, Melissa," she says quietly. "About any of it. I- " She pauses, looking voer towards Elaine. "Time travel's a feckin' bitch," she states more bluntly than what she had in mind. "I dont'… I don't blame you. For wantin' t' help. I know I would. Fuck, I do. Not- for…" Quinn takes a deep breath, eyes sliding shut. "You're not the only one. Who's kids've come back. I- got t' meet my adoted daughter the other day, and…" Now she's looking over to Elaine, expecting her to pick up.
"I've got a daughter," Elaine murmurs, looking back to Melissa. "Adel… the drummer for the band? That's her." It feels weird, saying that. "I kept freaking out… I kept wondering if somehow I was going to mess things up and she'd never be born, that somehow she'd disappear. I think the idea is, though, Melissa… that while he's yours and you feel the way you feel about him, you have to remember that you aren't that person. You haven't had the chance to make things better because it hasn't happened. You can't blame yourself for not doing a better job of something you never got the chance to do in the first place."
Quinn's words bring surprise to Melissa's face, but Elaine's caution, it has her expression darkening. "He is mine. I may not be the same Melissa who gave birth to him, but he's mine," she says fiercely. "I love him, he called me mom. I will do right by him." There's a pause, and the dark look fades, replaced by the same look she had when she stood at the door. "I don't think I've met Adel. But she's your daughter? She has to know 'Cade, then," she murmurs. "I didn't know there were more. I thought it was just…him."
Quinn lets out a bit of an exhales, shaking her head. "Jolene," she remarks quietly. "She's- not actually mine. Her mother's still alive. I'm… going t' try an' get her soon. So they can get t'gether." Her eyes close a bit, leaning back against the couch. "We can do what we can for them now. Certainly, I… intend t', for Jolene. An' Adel. But… Elaine's right. We are their parents, but… we're not. Don’t… blame yourself for things another you did."
"I never said he wasn't yours!" Elaine exclaims, tears welling up in her own eyes. Where did those come from. "All I was trying to get at is that you can't heal his past because it hasn't happened yet… all you can hope to do is help him how you can now that you know he's here." She looks down. "Anyways, I bet if there's Jolene and Adel and Kincaid too, there might be more."
Jolene? Melissa gapes at Quinn, mouth moving for a moment, though no words come out. "She was the one I mentioned. She was protective of me at this party, there was a bomber, she stuck super close to me." But she stops, and she thinks. "In my mind…he's my son. Regardless. I'm going to treat him like one. Love him like one. I want him to meet Perry, to see Kendall again, to know Devon as family rather than a co-worker."
She looks towards Elaine. "I'm sorry. I…please, forgive me. This just has me fucked up. And do you…do you think they all know each other? Kincaid said he didn't know any Jolene. Maybe it's just those three, for some reason, maybe they don't even know each other."
Somehow, hearing this about Jolene doesn't surprise Quinn terribly much. It actually makes her smile a bit, knowing that she was helping and being protective of her friend's parents. "Good for her," is said quietly, and - sorry Melissa - Quinn gives the pain manipulator one last hug and ruffle before she climbs out of her seat and moves down next to Elaine, moving to hug and comfort her as well. This, it seems, is Quinn's lot in life. But she's not complaining.
"Just be careful, Melissa," she says as she looks back to her. "We're just saying not t' try an' make up for his past. None of us can do that. An' don't go spoiling him an' get all obsessive overbearing parent on 'im." She grins a bit at that, but there is a very serious warning in there. "It's… not just those three. Adel has a boyfriend, from her time. Jay? An'… Ingrid. I've met her a few times, I think. She was at the concert; she's one of Adel's friends. An'… I think she was there when you got shot, Elaine? I remember seein' her inside, I think. So… maybe her too."
Quinn gives a bit of a shrug, looking between the other two. "I'm not… goin' outta my way to find the others. I'm dreadfully curious, I'm not gonna lie. But… they'll tell us or come t' us if they want us t' know or need our help. They're busy with this whole… fixin' the future thing. An' while some of it's sad, I'm not goin' t' go pokin' around quite yet. So, I think we should kinda keep this shit between us."
"I-It's not your fault, I'm sorry," Elaine murmurs, glancing back to Quinn with an appreciative smile at the hug. "Yeah, that's right… Adel mentioned her boyfriend. And… I dunno about the other one, Ingrid. I don't really remember all of who was there when I got shot. Priorities, I guess." There's a wry smile, but she looks between the two of them. "I kinda wanna know more. I'm not done asking questions yet, but… I'm gonna give them the benefit of the doubt, at least."
Mention of Ingrid has Melissa staring for a moment. "Well fuck. I went to this fight night thing…Ingrid was hanging out with Jolene, a guy named Calvin, and a guy named Joshua. Think they're from the future too? I mean, not all of their friends can be from the future. And…fixing the future thing?" She shakes her head, slumping back and picking up the pie, though she mostly pokes at it with the fork. "I think I fucked up Cade's future. I'm the one who caused his parents to die. I caused my own death," she murmurs.
Another sympathetic look is offered to Melisaa, and even though she still hugs Elaine, a hand reaches out to take Melissa's. Calvin and Joshua - she's met guys by that name, but she's not banking on coincidence too far. Melissa's right, they can't all be from the same group. "Jolene… she was adament that, they… aren't the big thing here. You must not ahve had the same dreams Elaine an' I have. Holding people at gunpoint, saving people from being raped by soldiers, fires… I've heard ofevolved having children being outlawed from more than one person. So… yeah, fixin' the future." She doesn't drag out Melissa's admittence that she cause dher own death. That's not something to dwell on.
"I killed people. And almost shot a pregnant woman," Elaine murmurs, looking back towards Melissa. "You have to remember that he's still here. As Adel put it, her past is still her past, we aren't changing her past, just our future. Sure, there was potential, I guess, for that to happen… but them coming back? That already changed things. I'm not married to Sable, for one."
Melissa shakes her head. "Just the three I told you about. Hiring Messiah, Kendall's death, Kincaid…" Then she's blinking at Elaine. "Married…to Sable?" She shakes her head. "Can't see it, in any future. You're sitting next to the only person I can really see you with."
Quinn blushes a bit at Melissa's sentiment, hugging Elaine a bit tighter. A smile on her face. Even when she speaks up nect. "I… was with Ygraine. She an' I took in Jolene after her mother died. We were together t'gether. I seems like she wasn't married t' Jen anymore. So… yeah, things are already different. I doubt you're going t' cause your own death now, Melissa."
Elaine laughs a little bit. "Thanks. I bet Robyn feels a lot better hearing that, though. She didn't take the dream where I got married so well." She leans in against Quinn's shoulder, looking back to Melissa. "Well, in some alternate future Sable and I worked out, I guess, and we used Magnes so I could get pregnant. Theoretically, that could still happen… but it doesn't mean that things would be the same. Plus the timing that would have to go into doing that? How do you know exactly when to do things so that they happen the same, especially now that we know. Just them being here changes things, like I said. So I think we can't assume that all of this will happen… but it doesn't mean we can't help prevent the really shitty things from happening. Like the government treating us like shit."
It's bad luck that Melissa was just trying to take a bite of pie when the subject of sperm doners comes up, and she chokes. It passes briefly, but then it's hard to tell whether she's more amused or horrified. "Magnes? For the love of god why? You do that in our future and I'm going to have you both committed. And Ygraine's no better for you, Quinn, than Sable is for Elaine. You guys break up, I'm hurting you both."
"Hey, if Magnes can produce Adel, he has a pass in my book," Quinn says with a bit of a laugh, though she does peer at Melissa. "He's Quinn Approved, if only for that purpose." Which is funny. A montha go, Quinn would have balked at the thought. "But… yeah. It's… bad. I don't blame them for coming back. It makes me sad, knowin' what they have t' give up. Best we can do is make things good for them now, best as we can without overdoin' it or gettin' in the way."
"It makes sense. I love and hate Magnes. He's smart but doesn't have common sense. He's attractive, and it's not like I haven't slept with him, which takes the hard procedures out. Besides, he'd be all for it," Elaine laughs, looking back to Melissa, then back to Quinn. "We aren't breaking up, though. We don't plan on it, at least. It'd take some pretty bad shit for that to happen. But yeah… that future's no good. I mean, it must be scary as hell for them to leave that behind. I dunno if they can go back. Honestly? I'm okay with them staying. Adel is fantastic just on her own… and she means a lot more knowing who she is. I feel like she makes me a better person. She makes me want to be a better person."
Melissa falls silent, her expression thoughtful, and she nods. "Yeah…yeah, I can see that," she murmurs, setting aside the pie. "I'm already doing what I can, to make the future easier for the evolved. A foundation, dedicated to that. Small, simple right now, but I hope it'll grow. To be something big and great and able to help with just about anything. You guys know anyone who wants to work on something like that, anyone you know is definitely pro-evolved, send them my way."
There's another pause. "I want to be the mom that I couldn't be to Kincaid, and I wish, so badly, that I could bring his girlfriend from his future. He was so sad that she's stuck there and that he's stuck here," she murmurs.
"The person I know who was most all about that is… kinda on the run now." Quinn closes her eyes, rolling her shoulders a bit. "An' I want t' be a mom t' Jolene to. I'm actually - going t' get her real mom, so they can meet. But I just… I'm being careful. So I don't accidently hurt them. Or myself. I don't know how all of them feel, but it feels… nice t' be called mom by Jolene. An', I guess Adel. It's just… I dunno. I dunno how t' really put what I feel t' words."
"It feels good. It feels right and yet it's weird. I mean, it's time travel. It was weird enough seeing Sable as a kid," Elaine murmurs, letting out a slow breath before snatching a bite of pie. "Do there have to be words? Can't it just… be?"
Melissa smiles, going a bit teary again. "I know how you feel. It's the same way I felt when 'Cade called me mom." She gives a shaky laugh. "I used to freak when Kendall called me mom, but 'Cade…God, I'd love to hear it over and over." She nods to Elaine. "It is weird. I went back to eighteen-something, and went back to keep Kendall from dying. It's weird but…I'm glad he came back, but I'm also so sorry that he had to leave behind everyone he was close to in the future."
"1890." Quinn hasn't forgotten that trip to save Kaylee. Mostly because she remembers spending the next few days tending to Ygraine and herself's injuries. "No, there doesn't have t' be words." A beat. "Maybe lyrics, but there's a difference." Quinn leans agaisnt Elaine, letting out a sigh. "We;ll see how all of this goes, I guess."
Elaine giggles. "Actually… that'd be good songwriting material. Maybe we've got to pen a few, you know?" She looks back to Melissa. "I know. Adel said I was the best mom. It's… I don't know. It really feels good. I'm glad Adel's got her boyfriend here… but I'm sorry about Kincaid. Maybe there'll be a way. Who knows… I don't know how any of this stuff works."
"Yeah, I guess we will…There's still so many questions I have for him. Things I didn't think to ask, or didn't get a chance to. Mostly…I just want to spend time with him though, the rest is unimportant," Melissa says, smiling.
"Oh, Christ, yeah, there's… lots of questions." Quinn shakes her head. "I'm not pressing, though. Unless I feel like there's something I should know. They'll… tell us what they want to. But with how different their lives are… I don't really look forward t' bein' told how happy I was with Ygraine, for instance…" That actually feels a bit uncomfortable, Quinn's eyes going half lidded as she rests her head against Elaine's shoulder.
A gentle kiss is pressed to the top of Quinn's head, and Elaine looks back to Melissa. "Yeah. Unless it's important, I'm fine with not knowing most details. I mean… I don't mind knowing. About Sable. It'd be nice to see her really caring about things." Nothing bitter in that tone, really! "I do want to just spend time with her. I feel like… if she's not going to be born in my future, then I want to make the most of what time I can have with her here."
"I wasn't happy. Especially after Kendall. 'Cade noticed, even as young as he was," Melissa murmurs before nodding. "Yeah, I'm the same way. He's promised that he won't be a stranger, and he wants to meet the rest of my family. Which just…thrills me."
"Jolene promised the same thing. I don't think she's lyin', but… we'll see. They're busy, with doin' what they're doin' an' havin' a normal life." Quinn chuckles a bit. "Jolene was busy looking for a new job when I asked her t' come by Studio K. Gotta let them be adults an' all now. Kinda sad. Havin' kids but missin' out on the whole raising them thing. At least, we did."
"I think they'll be around. I think they like having a normal life, too. I got the feeling they didn't get much of that, in the future. It's nice to know I've got potential, you know? To raise a kid like that. Even if none of us are perfect, I think we did well with what we had," Elaine murmurs, glancing between the two. "Kind of makes me more ambitious to strive for making things right. So that our kids don't have to grow up in a world like that."
Melissa nods at Quinn, then smiles at Elaine. "Want a job at the foundation? That's what it's all about, after all. I'm hoping I can make a difference with it, anyway."
A glance over to Elaine at Melissa's invitation, and Quinn smirks. "I know. It's nice t' know that I can get things right if I try. Jolene told me when I get older, I don't act like it. That I treated her like I grownup once we got her. That kinda thing is so heartwarming."
"I might be interested. I'm thinking about trying to get a job at the UN or something as a translator, looking for a job that's using my ability and what I'm interested in. Baking's just… not quite the same," Elaine admits. "It's weird, thinking of them as both kids and adults. Cause Adel's older than me."
"Kincaid didn't say I was a good mom," Melissa murmurs, brow furrowing. Then she pauses, trying to pull herself out of that. "I could use a translator, Elaine. Or at least…maybe being able to call you, if I have need of one? I only speak English and some Mandarin. But around here I'm more likely to run into Spanish."
"Or Italian. Or Chinese." Never mind that Melissa alreay said Mandarin. "Depends on what part a' town." A bit of, Quinn angling another look at Elaine. "You could be a language consultant, at least. That'd be a good way t; make some money on the side, you know." And then Quinn laughs. "I think Adel's older than everyon but me an' Magnes. An' Magnes died so early for her…"
"Did you ask?" Elaine questions, rubbing the back of her neck. "I asked Adel if I was a good mom. She told me I was the best. Considering she was practically raised with four moms… I kind of felt a little better, knowing that." She nods to Melissa. "I could consult, at the very least. I'm trying to learn all the most common language spoken in New York. I've got a list of 'em."
"Well…mostly I'm hoping to get volunteers, at least at first. I'm going to hire a few fulltime people, but for now we're small. Very small," Melissa admits. "So I wouldn't be able to pay you much. And…no. It seemed…well, he said I never took him skating, and I wasn't happy." She shrugs slowly. "I guess I don't think I was a good mom."
That hand Quinn had placed over on Melissa's squeezes. "I'm sure you did the best you could," she says gently. "Bein' married t' Brad, wantin' t kill him… I don't guess anyone got out of that one well. Don't blame yourself about it. Particularly since that wasn't you you." Come to think of it, hadn't the Joshua she met warned her about Russo? Hmm.
Elaine shakes her head. "Maybe because you got your heart broken with Kendall's death. You can't be blamed for that. I'm cure, other than that, you were a wonderful mom. And I could volunteer, for a bit, but I can't count on Robyn to bring in all the money so I don't know how much I could do. But I could certainly help."
A greatful smile is given to Quinn. "I hope so." Melissa nods to Elaine. "I'll pay you what I can when I can. That's, unfortunately, the best I have to offer right now," she says apologetically.
"Hey, wait a second. You don't think I can make the money?" Quinn's, of course, joking. She tries to sound serious, but as it is she still gets checks from mum to help out. Granted, she probably always will, but still." A look over to smile, and Quinn shakes her head. "You'll be fine Melissa. Trust me."
Elaine snorts. "Robyn, I meant I didn't want you to feel obligated to support me. You'll make bucketloads more than me." Her eyes look back to Melissa. "Don't worry about it too much for now. I'll help out when you need it, and later on if there's some money in it that would be nice too and I'd be able to put more hours in on top of whatever other job I have."
Melissa smiles at them both. "You guys are awesome, you know that right? And please, send anyone my way. I can take all the help I can get. I've got a guy who's going to do computer stuff for me, though he doesn't know it yet, and Devon, if I can talk him into it, and I've got a receptionist. That's it. Aside from you, now, Elaine."
"You're so silly," Quinn replies, reaching up and ruffling Elaine's red hair, before her eyes settle back between them. "You're both silly. You for worryin' about ebin' a bad mother," Quinn says, jabbing a finger in Melissa's direction. "If you need any advertising… I know you're not fond a' the place, but I can see about gettin' some a' that on the radio at Studio K."
"Advertising is good, regardless of where it is, I'm sure you could probably put aside any awkward feelings for something like that, right?" Elaine asks, offering a bright smile. "I'm glad you're going for your dreams."
Melissa shakes her head. "I've got no problem with Studio K, just one particular jackass who works there. But honestly, I don't think I could be in the same room as that man without pulling out the big guns. And I don't mean my forty calibre baby either," she confesses. "But Studio K is fine. I'm doing the gig at Tartarus soon. The proceeds from that are going right to the foundation. So there'll be that too. And word of mouth."
"Tch. I'll be mentioning more about the gig at Tartarus on my show as we get closer. I might see if they'll let me actually do a live show from there, broadcast the concert. That'd be good press for the both of it. Of not on the radio, at least stream it on the internet, now that I know how t' do that thanks t' Ygraine." Quinn shrugs a bit. It'll get figured out.
Elaine nods a little. "Well, that'll be nice. Plus the show will be fantastic. Robyn's already got fans." She won't mention the one who wanted to have ladybabies with Quinn. Nope. That one doesn't exist in Elaine's head. "I hope things work out for you, Melissa. I really do."
"That would be wonderful, Quinn, thanks," Melissa says, smiling warmly. Then she laughs. "Of course she has fans. You think I hired her 'cause she was talentless? Nope, she's good. Hell, I'm a fan. And thanks, Elaine."
Quinn does blush, but she tries to mask it by sitting up, positively beaming as people talk about her having fans, about not being talentless. Really, soon she's going to start getting a bit of a big head because of it all. For now, she's just soaking in the attention. "Least I can do, Melissa. You helped me get where I am now, don't think I've forgotten that."
"This is a way better outcome than you crying your eyes out, Mel," Elaine offers, grinning a bit. "Things aren't so bad. You'll be okay… and so will he." She leans over and kisses Quinn on the cheek. "Both of us are grateful for all you've done to help Robyn."
"I didn't do anything. That was all you. I just…I dunno. Controlled the platform," Melissa says, shaking her head. "And I already cried my eyes out. The moment he shut the door when he left, I was just crying and crying. Nearly made myself sick. It's better now though. Have Perry, have you guys, have Junie…You've all helped a hell of a lot."
"Oh, don't be like that. Working at Tartarus helped get my name around town more, gave Mad Muse it's first show, gave me money t' help afford recordin' an' producin' the album, an' I wouldn't getting backing from Studio K if I hadn't been there." QUinn gives Melissa's hand one more squeeze before she withdraws it, wrapping her arm around Elaine instead. "I miss working at Tartarus, though. I love DJin'. Just… the whole club an' party atmosphere. I miss it alot. So don't think I've forgotten!"
"So modest," Elaine laughs. "You helped her. And you gave her a job, and that always helps." She looks back to Quinn. "Getting word out about Robyn was probably the most important thing. Really… I think you're doing fantastic in helping her out. And… we can help you out a bit in return. Give back a bit."
Melissa laughs and nods. "Fine, fine. You wanna give me the credit, I'll take it. And I miss you working there too. And not just 'cause we frequently get asked when you're going to be back either." Then she grins at Elaine. "Do you know me? I'm not what anyone would call modest."
"Melissa's what we call a pain in the ass," Quinn jokes, trying to sound serious. "Definitely not modest." She looks back at her with a quirked eyebrow. "People ask about me? That's a little unexpected. I'll have t' see about stopin' in sometime then." Admittedly, she's said that before. Time is just hard to find these days, between recording, performing, having a radio show, and kids coming back from the future.
"Clearly not well enough," Elaine teases, then looks back to Quinn. "Oh, come on, you were good. I came in more than once to hear you DJ. You know what you're doing. You're fantastic at it, but… I could also be a bit biased." She says, sliding an arm around Quinn's waist and squeezing gently.
"Of course I am. Literally, on occasion!" Melissa says with another laugh. "And of course they do. You were our hottest DJ when you were there." She smiles at them for a moment then rises. "And I should go. I just sorta dumped Junie on the babysitter. And I need to find Devon and Kendall, do some work."
"You should dump Junko on us soon," Quinn replies, looking up at Melissa with a smile. "We may ahve kids now, but they're all grown up an' shit. I miss having the little one around. Maybe Delilah can bring Walter around again an' they can have another little playdate. Thing. WHich I guess means just rollin' around on the floor t'gether or soemthin'."
Elaine giggles. "Babies rolling around on the floor, though.. that's adorable. Can't pass that up. And yeah, bring Junko around whenever. We like babysitting. She's a darling. Besides, it's good to practice some mothering skills."
"They had a playdate?" Melissa says with a slight wrinkling of her nose. "And I will. Not for the next day or two though. I keep grabbing her and just hugging her until she squirms and demands to be put down. The dream where I didn't have her really got to me. But soon, I promise. I know you guys enjoy seeing her. Even if someone took her to work one day," she says, grinning at Quinn.
"What else was I supposed t' do!" is a lighthearted protest from Quinn. After all, everyone else was out of the feckin' country but her. "I couldn't leave her with Sable, an' I couldn't reach Delilah. But yeah, right before you came back from hawaii, Delilah came over with Walter. They had a wonderful time, far as we could tell.' She laughs at that memory, shaking her head. "Go on, Melissa, don't let us keep you. Be safe, alright? An' remember - no blaming yourself."
"You can blame that on me. I kinda bailed on Robyn when she could've used me to babysit," Elaine admits, sheepishly. "But go have fun. Give Junko a kiss for me. And she's right… be safe. And yeah, no blaming yourself. Or you'll just set off a domino of all of us hating ourselves and then where would we be?"
"Oh sure, put that pressure on me," Melissa says, grinning and moving to give both of them warm hugs. "And I wasn't blaming you, Quinn. Kincaid had just mentioned it, that's all. I didn't mind. I'm glad he got to see her then. But you two keep safe too, and keep your girls safe as well," she says, before moving towards the door.