Participants:
| Scene Title | I'm Not Most People |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | When Magnes gets back after sneaking out of the Garden, Colette is the voice of reason somehow. I know, I'm scared too. |
| Date | April 22, 2010 |
By the time the sun has started to go down, most of the people responsible for last night's vaccine raid are no longer situated at the Garden. One of the stragglers remaining behind does so not out of obligation to this safe house itself, but rather because she's recovering from her injuries. Hunched up on the sofa downstairs, wrapped in a colorful knit quilt and draped in a too large gray Alpaca sweater, Colette Nichols almost looks like someone resting after a long day out skiing, given the cocoa mug she's holding. Though it's the fact that her arm is cradled to her chest in a sling that dispels that illusion.
The Garden itself is considerably quiet downstairs, no operator or other residents around, and given that Colette is by herself Tasha may finally be getting sleep upstairs after the long, harrowing night. Despite her injuries, Colette seems content on that ratty old sofa in front of the fireplace, lips curled up into a smile and green eyes distantly focused on the crackle of the flame.
For all she knows, everyone else in the house is asleep. Were Colette aware that Magnes had snuck off against Ferry orders, that smile well would probably have slipped from her lips. There's always room for disappointment, though.
Having removed his coat before he even got downstairs, Magnes is wearing his red long-sleeved shirt with the Robin R on the chest. He's got a thick light-blue blanket over his shoulders, with blue jeans and socks on. "Hey, Colette." he greets with an exhausted tone, curling up on her couch and pulling the blanket tighter around himself. "I hurt so much. I shouldn't have left against what the doctors said."
"Hey Mma— Left?" Colette moves to sit up straight when Magnes sits down, only to wince and breathe out a whimper as she moves her good hand to her chest. Teeth clench together and dark brows furrow as she leans forward, and when the jolt of pain from her ribs passes, Colette's offering an askance look to Magnes. "Why— why did you leave!?" Colette hisses out, trying to keep her voice down in case anyone else hears. "You— it wasn't just because you were hurt that we wanted you to stay here. Mm— Magnes how far did you go?" There's a worried tone to Colette's voice, green eyes wide. "Did you leave the woods around here?"
As she asks, Colette's good arm is tugging her blanket up and around herself a bit more, and the look on the teenager's face relays her worry clearly. Glancing to the stairs, her eyes depart Magnes' for only a moment before she looks back. "Please tell me you didn't go further than the woods."
"You know there's no way for anyone to track me back here, right? I had to meet someone, but I came right back." Magnes groans, holding his stomach and laying his head to try and get more comfortable. He seems to be in a great deal of pain, but is trying his best not to show it.
"You idiot!" Colette sharply breathes out, lifting her good arm and slapping Magnes' shoulder with the overly long sleeve. "Do— do you do everything you're told you shouldn't? Magnes you're not supposed to know where we are! This is a safe house and you're not officially a part of the Ferrymen yet, no— nobody told me if you are anyway. You weren't supposed to know how to get here, I mean, it was dark and we were moving in a helicopter yesterday so it was fine, 'cause you didn't know where we were but— "
Straining out a sigh, Colette rubs her hand over her forehead slowly. "Magnes, we— we told you not to leave for a reason. Now you know where this place is, and if for whatever reason you're not like, formally brought in than what? You totally know something secret. God Magnes this— " Colette scrunches her eyes shut, then looks up with a nervous expression.
"What was so important that you had to go running off all beat up like you are anyway? Flying in the middle of broad daylight over a city?" There's a whine of her voice there at the end, hoping that the answer is at least understandable.
"I still don't get this thing people have with me flying over the city. What, do people have some sort of binocular vision where they'll somehow see me?" Magnes asks with a slight head shake, grunting when his arm gets hit. "I already told you, I had to meet someone. It wasn't anything super important. And great, this just goes on the list of other secret locations in my head. Don't just assume I'm gonna go telling everyone, I hate that." He seems to have completely avoided the question of what he was doing.
"Magnes it's not about— " Colette scrunches her nose up and furrows her brows, lingering on something he says. There's a look in Colette's eyes, searching, ponderous. "No it— it's not about telescope vision. Somebody might see you, there's like not even a plane in the sky right now 'cause of the cold. I don't even know if there's birds out right now. Just— Magnes you can't keep doing stuff like that. You got told to stay put for a reason, just 'cause you can't think of a reason why they told you to doesn't mean there isn't one. You— you don't know everything."
Biting down on her lower lip, she looks over her shoulder into the kitchen, then back to Magnes. "Part've being in the Ferry is knowing how to follow orders and do stuff you're told. You said it wasn't even important, an' this is like— this is important. Lettin' somebody into the Ferry's a big thing, it's trust. How's anybody supposed to trust you if you can't even listen when you're asked not to do something and just— do whatever you want anyway?"
Pursing her lips, Colette tilts her head to the side. "If I learned that lesson a few months earlier, a lot've bad things wouldn't have happened to me. Sometimes you— you just gotta' do what you're told even if you don't like it. Would it've killed you to stay put for a little bit?" Shaking her head and breathing out a sigh, she looks over to the fireplace.
"I ain't gonna' tell anybody…" Colette adds in a quiet tone of voice, "'cause they'd probably get really mad at you and… after what you did yesterday you deserve another chance. Just— don't let anyone know you left, okay?" Green eyes look back up to Magnes, brows lifted. "I know you didn't mean to hurt anybody, but— you just gotta' learn to listen."
"I'm sorry, I really didn't know it'd be a huge deal if I left, I thought they just wanted me to stay for medical stuff, which I should have listened to anyway…" Magnes lifts his shirt, showing that what was already pretty bad bruises is now his entire stomach and chest almost look like purple is his skin color. "And thanks for keeping that I left a secret, most people wouldn't do that for me."
"I'm not most people…" Colette admits with a hint of a smile, her head tilted to the side and one dark brow raised. "Everybody deserves a second chance," it's the same thing Colette had said about Gabriel Gray once before, "If you mess up again though I'll totally whack you one though, Don't— don't make me look dumb for sticking up for you, I really want you to work with us, but you totally gotta learn to listen to orders."
Nodding her head once, Colette offers a crooked smile. "It's like Raith said to me once, any group that does not have a strong chain of command is bound for failure. He's like, super-smart too, he'd probably be a good guy for you t'listen to." Not that Colette is aware the two had spent months together in the jungles of Argentina fighting the leftover soldiers of a Nazi ghost. Not— that— Colette would believe that particular way of explain it either, though.
SCENE PAUSED