Participants:
| Scene Title | How You Make Me Feel |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Magnes lays out his feelings and Claire cruelly stomps all over them. |
| Date | April 23, 2010 |
It's morning, and Magnes has been in pain since the last vaccine raid. Between an intense fight with Ash, two days of strain from saving people, and taking a concussive blast from Gabriel during the raid, it's all coming back to him. He's in pretty bad shape, though not so much so that he needs to be in a hospital bed. His face is covered in bruises, and what bit of his collar bone visible under his plain white shirt with Nintendo written across it in plain black letters, is just as bruised as his face. He luckily has no swelling anymore.
Curled up on the couch under a few blankets, tossing and turning on his back, groaning and having a nightmare, he's talking in his sleep again. He's not floating because he had the mind to ask someone to tuck him in very tightly. "No… stop!" he mumbles, his arms getting free of the blanket and moving around a bit. "Claire… wait… don't go…" He's reaching up, and by that time the real Claire is already walking by his couch slow enough to notice. "Wait!" this is suddenly exclaimed loudly, and he shoots up, pulling the covers free with his eyes wide.
He's staring at her, still in a dreaming state as he tries to register reality. He has a look of freight, pain, and a mixture of other emotions. He continues to stare, beginning to calm down with the blankets fallen to his waist, a look that's quickly turning to disbelief. "Claire? Your hair's black… like Badass Future Claire from the comic… Am I still dreaming? I bet I died and this is some death irony where death comes to me as the hottest thing on the planet…" By now, he's probably joking.
Having tried to sneak by without him noticing and having fail, Claire sighs softly. "Hey, Magnes." She says softly, turning to face him, a brow arching, her tone is mild, but not unkind, a small hint of a smile proving it, as she speaks. "Getting into things again, I see?" She doesn't move towards him, holding her ground. With the constant influx of people, the regenerator is almost tempted to started crashing at Ash's place.
Bundled up, Claire is ready to brave the cold world outside, though she looks tired and she sniffles, a hand lifting to brush across her nose. How long had Knox said they would be sick? At least her ability hasn't cut out.
Her fingers move to work the zipper of her coat, pulling it up, as she continues to get ready.
"Yeah, mostly thanks to you, but that's another story." Magnes groans, placing a hand on his stomach and hunching over slightly. "I'm leaving today, won't be back unless they invite me into the group officially. But getting hit by a concussive blast was more than worth it to see you, I had no idea you were here, I'm not even sure where exactly 'here' is." He smiles, laying down again, but he still looks up at her. "I always asked you not to dye your hair, 'cause I thought you were a beautiful blonde. Now suddenly I'm thinking I missed out a bit, I like this new look."
"Yeah well… My registration is blonde so the picture all over the wanted posters is blonde." Gloves are tugged out of her pocket next, though Claire doesn't put them on right away. "So the change was necessary. So at least at first glance people won't recognize me."
There is a cough, before Claire adds, her voice roughened by the stuff in her throat, "Plus I like it this way. Feels more me."
"You really are a new Claire, but, I like it." Magnes has said that before, but he seems to feel the need to repeat it. He stares her directly in the eyes, knowing this is probably the last chance he'll get to in a while. "This girl liked me, like, the first girl since you, but I ended up rejecting her. I felt pretty bad about it, but it wouldn't have been honest to go out with her. I met, uh, your ex," he doesn't say the name, since he knows it could be anyone's guess, but Claire would probably know who he means.
"He's silly, pisses me off, and makes me wanna punch him in the face, but he made me realize I'm not over you at all. I mean, if I were over you, I wouldn't be doing half the things I am right now." He doesn't say exactly what it is he's doing, he just has a bit of a somber smile, seemingly at peace with it all. "See, I was fighting it, and then when I met him, for a lot of reasons, I just accepted it. The guy's kind of a moron, but he's really good at inspiring an epiphany. I'm only telling you because… well… I can't really be at peace with it if I don't tell you, if that makes any sense."
What does she say to that, Claire doesn't know, so she doesn't really say anything. Her face seems almost unreadable. After a moment she blinks and glances down to start pulling on her gloves. "Yeah, well… that's West." She admits softly as she works her fingers into the gloves. "Good about digging up things he doesn't have the right to stick his nose into… unintentionally or otherwise."
"Tell me Magnes. Did you reject that girl cause you don't feel anything for her? Or cause your still pining for me?" Claire's eyes lift from the gloves, brows lift slightly in question. "Cause if you have any feelings for her, you should at least give it a shot."
"It's a little of both, to be honest. She's a nice girl, and for all intents and purposes, I know she'd be a good person to go out with, but I just… it's not worth it, y'know? I still want you, but I know you don't want me. I'm alright with that. I don't just have a little crush on you, it's not something I can just ignore with another girl. You're the first thing that pops into my head when I even think about dating again." Magnes gives her a calm stare, not upset, just plainly laying out how he feels about it all. "I know we might never be anything again, but if all I can have with you is taking down the government and having your back in the things you pursue, and if you'll let me, that's all I need. I don't need dating or girls or movies, I just want you to be happy, and safe, and secure."
"Magnes… stop." Claire snaps at him, glaring at him suddenly, the other glove gripped hard in her hand, knuckles white. "Every time I see you… you have to lay this guilt on me." How she manages to keep her voice down is anyone's guess cause the words are clipped and forced out between gritted teeth. "I don't need this."
Claire points a finger at him, her eyes on fire with barely contained anger. "I know your not over me… I know you love me, but I don't feel the same." She turns suddenly for the door, ready to leave. "And I'm sorry more then you know, even though I had absolutely no control over the shotgun that shot me." Booted feet clomp for the door, it's clear the regenerator plans on leaving. "I've got plenty of people watching my back that won't interfere with what I have to do or try to play hero when I don't need one."
"I'm not trying to lay guilt on you, I know you don't feel the same. You don't have anything to feel guilty about, you didn't choose to get shot in the head." Magnes stands up, pushing his blankets off to reveal a pair of blue jeans. He grabs his stomach again now that he's standing, wincing. "That's not what I'm trying to do, Claire. And I don't care what anyone tells you about me, and you didn't used to either, I'm not the kind of person who's gonna go and play hero and get everyone killed. Yeah, I end up in the news sometimes, but what do you expect from me? I can't just sit back and watch things happen when I could do something."
He starts to step toward her, still holding his stomach. "I'm not asking you to start liking me again, I know you don't need anyone to protect you, I just want to help you. It's all I know I can do. I don't like just sitting on the sidelines, waiting to see on the news what's happened to you next, I can't do that, Claire, I just can't. But don't feel guilty, I don't know why you feel guilty because it's not your fault. I'm the only one even remotely at fault right now, because I didn't realize how I was making you feel."
The regenerator pauses at the door, hand on door knob, her eyes on the wood in front of her. "Who says that how I feel now is cause of other opinions?" Claire says softly, before yanking open the door. "I don't know what happened to get the other me to like you… I'm just not seeing it, maybe it's my experiences in Madagascar that changed me."
Glancing over her shoulder at him, her expression is flat and lacking any real emotions. "Now you know how you are making me feel. I don't need your help." Stepping through the door she stops, eyes on the white scenes outside, biting cold pouring over them, she adds. "First time you cause us to fail cause of your inability to sit on the sidelines… I'll hurt you myself." With that she door slams behind her.
"It's not like that…" is all Magnes can say before she slams the door, then just falls back against the couch, closing his eyes and laying his head back. "Claire." he sighs to himself, then just sits there. He'll sit there for about an hour before he finally decides to ask someone to take him back to the city.