Participants:
| Scene Title | I Said Never Again |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | …but here we are. |
| Date | March 30 |
Yana's Apartment
The week so far has been rather productive for Yana in the long run. She has made quite a bit of progress on things in the past few days, and has taken a step in the right direction of unraveling the secrets of Cillian. And Calvin Rosen's recent visit and offering of his services has placed her on a separate side mission. She decided to put Magnes to work, and would even have to play on his infatuation for her a bit. She had him sit upon the couch as she explained things. The events of the other night, involving the bullying of homeless Evolved who were going to be livestock for her virus farming, and how she stepped in to help them, only to be brutally attacked by a nosey and heroic girl.
"The monstrous girl flung some type of.. I can only assume to be a particle beam of some sort in my direction, destroying my phone and maiming my hand." Yana says as she gently unravels the wrapped bandage from around her hand, revealing the red, burned and blemished skin underneath, fingers pink, just a little swollen from being bound. "I want her found, Magnes. I need a name and general location. She was blond with straight hair, blue eyes, an over extended mouth, and she walked with a cane. She was obviously unstable, tossing dangerous beams at bystanders, unprovoked. Find me that Evolved girl."
"I only know one unstable blonde, but she shoots electricity, not particle beams, and I wouldn't know how to find her anyway. This other girl… I can ask a few friends and check the database." Magnes is in a black suit jacket and white buttoned up shirt, with blue jeans and red Chucks. When she called he was already out, so he has a fancy black and purple 'Cambria' bag with him. "I'll do my best, I promise. And uh, I wanted to show you this."
He reaches into his jacket and pulls out a folded piece of paper, and it looks like some sort of contract at first glance. "I know it's strange, but I thought it would be an interesting approach to you, since you're often so business minded."
His answer isn't quite as acceptable as she would like. She wanted a yes ma'am, I will find her. "Electricity, particle beam, whatever. She wounded me, and I want her removed. I am taking measure to ensure that retribution is brought down upon her. People such as her have no place within my world, unless they are properly shown whom and whom not to cross." He is getting a bit of a taste of Dr. Blite, speaking through Yana's emotion of indecency. "Find her." she orders, before she settles down and begins to rebandage her hand.
As he presents her with the slip of paper, Yana peers at him cautiously, "What is this?" she quips, and opens it up to take a read. She sorta whispers it aloud as she scans over it, "I find you attractive and desirable. In an effort to get to know you better and explore new opportunities, I propose we spend a romantic night together. Any activities we engage in must be mutually agreed upon. I promise my intention is to get to know you, with no harm intended, either physical or emotional. Although some intimate powers of romantic persuasion are acceptable, I will never attempt to force you to do anything you do not want to do. Our goal is to get to know each other in as many ways as possible. This is a personal desire of mine. I want you. I agree to keep this experience between us. It is strictly confidential. No one else needs to know. Friends, relatives, even strangers, and especially our mothers will not find out, or ever need to—" She doesn't get all the way through the letter before she is looking up at him with a deadpan expression on her face.
"Is this your idea of a joke? Did you believe this would be something humorous to present to me, or are you quite serious? While I admit, the approach is innovative and bold, I fail to see how you believe I would respond with a different answer than I have already given." she shakes her head, actually uncertain how to handle the situation immediately. She folds up the letter and hands it back to him, "Perhaps it is my week to attract unusual come-ons. First, Mr. Rosen and his inappropriate statement, and now you with this." she shakes her head, "Cold shower, Magnes."
"Oh, yeah, you fell for the joke!" Magnes clears his throat, not looking exactly like someone who's just played a joke, and instead looks incredibly nervous as his hand goes to the back of his neck. "I apologize, I uh, you've been a bit tense, so…" Save face, save face, ctrl alt del! "That was rather immature of me, it won't happen again. But who was this person being inappropriate with you? I'll teach him not to do it twice…"
"Yes, a joke.." Yana's eyes peer at him narrowed and suspicious. She obviously doesn't believe him in his saving face. And there is even a shift of her jaw, almost tightening. She lets several seconds of silence remain after her deadpan response, making Magnes stew in the juices of his own paranoia about if he has finally done the ultimate wrong thing to make the widow strike. She breaks it finally by moving, pulling her hand back from him with the contract still in it, deciding a place that it should actually go. She walks toward her study, "Oh, an associate that dropped by with a marvelous proposition. His attempt at flattery fell a little short of vulgar language, but it really wasn't a big deal. He meant well, and he didn't persist to continue down that line of debauchery, so there is no need to go after him. Other than that slip up, and his appearance, he was a rather charming man.." Yana moves into her study and pulls down a leather bound book with various documents inside, depositing the contract amongst them before putting it back.
"Have I ever been charming?" Magnes asks, a little ensure. He's not sure if he's ever heard her refer to him in that way… how could this vulgar person be more charming than he is?! I was out learning things for you. A professional gave me everything I need to become better at massages, and I have to visit him again later. And I'll be learning to waltz soon too."
As she comes back into the room, she sees that Magnes is perhaps a bit jealous by Yana's wording. He is really reading too much into it, as usual. Though in all honesty, she probably meant to illicit that response from him. "Charming? No. When you first came to me, you had all of the charm of a 9 year old boy. In fact, that was the image you produced in my mind when your name was mentioned. A 9 year old with an infatuation for older and mature women. You've progressed a little since then, I have you at about 14 now, which is a slightly old enough to know better, but in no way able to be considered a man." Over on the mantle of her wall, Yana has a set of ancient looking coins in a display case, which she regards fondly for a moment, "Have you heard of the Merovingian dynasty? They date back to the early 500's. I don't think that I told you that Gregori was a descendant of the Merovings. He was technically of royal blood, and he acted as such.."
"But if I tried to act like royalty, don't you think I'd come off as a bit silly?" Magnes asks, not to depreciate her late husband of course, but simply trying to state that it might be a bit strange to copy the behavior. "But uh, while we're on the subject of behavior, you should know that I'm currently on a journey of self improvement. The massages and learning to waltz are only the beginning. I also plan to learn etiquette and such from actual teachers."
"You aren't royalty, Magnes. And you rather lack the capacity to act like it at this point. Perhaps with the proper instruction and many years of conditioning, you could develop some small likeness to it. Perhaps." she expresses her doubt over the subject, "You know.. Mr. Rosen was actually a little on the odd side. Interesting odd.. wearing latex gloves in fact. What has me curious is.. Are those a normal part of his outlandish appearance? Or did he adorn those in order to pay me a visit. Knowing of my ability, and seeking protection in case I decided to complete the Institute's execution order." It is something for her to ponder, but it brings her to another bit of thought, "Hm. I need to learn to make my infection vectors airborne to prevent that type of protection. Just something good to have, if I ever really needed it." she shrugs and looks back over to Magnes, "Self improvement? From how many sources?"
"Before meeting with dangerous people, you should call me over for extra protection. I don't know who this guy was, couldn't have been West since he doesn't sound like you described, but what you can't handle with viruses, I can handle physically." Magnes explains, watching her movements and facial expressions with a great deal of attentiveness. "I'm not sure how many it will ultimately be, but I'm trying to improve myself in every possible way that could suit you."
"That is a very noble gesture of you, Magnes. But I have Christopher here as well. He normally scares off people from wanting to steal my purse of mug me. Granted, he wasn't here at the time, and Mr. Rosen stopped by unannounced.. But I handled it well. I actually suspected it was you for a moment, in some kind of trouble or injured, unable to call first. But it wasn't. Besides.. we're working on something that will change the world, making it so Evolved can no longer be singled out for the Evo flu ever again. Mr. Rosen is providing the very thing I asked you for. He seems like a rather resourceful man. Used to be a work associate of mine."
"I laid out names that you could have used…" Magnes frowns, and suddenly a previous comment is registering as well, so his mood is rapidly declining. That's when he just stands, looking down at her with a hand gripping the handle of his bag tightly. "I'm not fourteen, I bend over backwards and jump through hoops, I go through an incredible amount of effort to improve and make myself more acceptable. I know I slip up, but I'll tell you this, a real man wouldn't simply sit down and take such ungrateful behavior from anyone."
His balled up fists are practically shaking for a few moments, closing his eyes to collect himself, then he looks her right in the eye and says, "Apologize for disrespecting me."
Yana? Apologize? Perhaps if she believed she were wrong. Which she realizes that she is.. but not for what he is asking for, "Oh. No, wait. I asked you for Evolved. Which you provided, yes. Mr. Rosen is providing non-Evos. Bad choice of words, on my part. It doesn't happen often, so don't expect to catch me on it." She doesn't quite let on how she feels about him making a demand of her. There is no way to tell how effective of ineffective his sudden gumption is. Yana is calm, which can be eerie in itself, because Yana is the type of woman that will simply smile and say 'I never did mind about the little things'.. And the next thing you know, your favorite drink is laced with arsenic.
"But since we're on the subject… again.. Acceptable to whom? You make such an effort at trying to impress me for affection and intimacy, that your forget what you initially came to me for. You wanted me to teach you, and mold you into something better than you were. You even agreed to hold back your boyish infatuation with me in order to reach the goal that was set.. at first. Now we are going all the way back to square one again. You're going around like a Mobius strip, Magnes. And you're letting your emotions cloud your mind right now." Yana turns away from him, with her usual bored, rich person expression, moving to a note pad she has laying on the counter, scribbling a quick note or two. "I believe we have reached the end of this evening. You need to go home and deflate. Have a cup of chamomile tea, put on some relaxing music and reflect. Your perception of disrespect from me is a bit confused, obviously, so you should go and get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow, and we can discuss things further." As for right now, the discussion is over.
"Our relationship changed a bit, I'll admit it, but it was working." Magnes starts heading for the door, still angry as he reaches for the knob. "I tried to be more acceptable for you, and so I can maybe find myself in some way. But for you to just call me a child and belittle me…" There's a long pause, and he finally adds, "I thought we had a mutual respect for eachother." That's when he's opening the door, ready to step out completely.
"If I didn't respect you, believe me, I would have had you dismissed a long time ago. I've infected people for less offenses than what you caused me in the beginning, and there is not a single person other than Christopher who can say that they see me in a more than business manner on almost a daily basis. Not to mention, you and Christopher being the only two individuals that share knowledge of my most darkest of secrets. My ability, and the things that I have done with it. My own father is ignorant to what I can really do." Yana is content to talk to his back as he is leaving. She isn't going to be chasing him. She isn't that girl. "So yes, you go ahead and think that I don't respect you, when I treat you as I would anyone else in several aspects, yet in others, you are more privileged than even the man who gave birth to me. You are not trying to change yourself completely, Magnes. Take a look at your actions: knowing how I feel about touching, intimacy, and relationships, yet you continue to push with the massages, the jealousy and that contract? If anyone has the right to be frustrated, it is I. You are trying to change me. And I'm sure you can figure out just how effective that will be. I don't want an apology, because we have established that sorry implies that you will not do it again. But…" she eyes him, letting the rest speak for itself. She has said it before. "I'm full up on apologies this month."
"I appreciate that you've opened up to me, and I apologize if I've made you uncomfortable, but maybe you're right, maybe I can't change. And maybe aspiring for a woman like you, for any woman. is a bit beyond my means." Magnes then closes the door behind him, and he's off down the hall to head home.
As he walks out the door, Yana gives but a simple and quick, "Hm." One can almost hear the 'so much for that' to follow, if there was someone actually there. Not quite the types of fights that she had with Gregori, but the result is still the same. Perhaps it is because she isn't seeing Magnes that this one was so mild. He asked for an apology, and ended up apologizing himself instead. It doesn't do to argue with Yana.. or any other woman for that matter. This is a harsh lesson that Magnes must learn. Perhaps after he has had a nap, she can start the next experiment involving him. The results of today's progress are interesting. Much to document…