Participants:
| Scene Title | Not Just A Girlfriend |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Linus stops by Magnes', but gets Elaine and Quinn instead. A small amount of geekery ensues. |
| Date | August 14, 2010 |
Siann Hall: Magnes' Apartment
According to his slick new smart phone, the time is 4:49 PM as Linus made his way down the hall to the door Magnes told him was his new apartment. He'd been keeping in touch with Magnes during the wintery months through electronic means, one of the last messages Magnes sent him being the address of his new place. Shaking some of the guilt away for not keeping in better contact with a quick jerk of his head, Linus lifts his arm and hesitates just a moment before giving a knock to the door. Knockknockknock. Knockknock.
The knock has Quinn perking up from where she’s sprawled across Elaine and Magnes’ couch, a copy of Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe held open and aloft so she can read it while still being completely and utterly lazy. The book falls down to her stomach, the Irishwoman eyeing the door qith squinty eyes. For several moments even, and for a moment, she’s shifting like she’s going to get up and get it.
But no, she just falls back backwards and sighs. “Elaine! Someone’s at your door! Are you gonna get it?” If no one knew anyone was home before, they do now!
It's not Magnes that opens the door—it's a pretty young redhead named Elaine, who peers skeptically out at an unfamiliar face. A glance is shot back to Quinn to see if it's anyone she knows. "Uh, hi!" She states, cheerfully, tilting her head, curiously. "Uh..?" Yeah, she's at a loss.
If it is any consolation, the guy on the other side of the door frame looks just as confused. "Uh.." Lot of that going around. "I'm.. My name is Linus. I am the Iron Fist and I know Kung Fu." Blink. "Okay, not really. My name is Linus, though. I was looking for Magnes?"
That gets Quinn to sit back up fully, peering over the edge of the sofa at the figure in the doorway. “The Iron Fist?” she remarks, Irish accent clearer without the door in the way. “Didn’t I see somethin’ called that when Magnes took us by the comic shop?” Eyes are rolled, Quinn looking over to Elaine.
"Iron Fist and Kung Fu?" Elaine chuckles. "Yeah, you're a friend of Magnes' alright." She peers over at him. "Actually, though.. he's not here. He's kinda… indisposed. At a secret location. I don't even know particularly where he is at the moment. You can come in, though, if you want. I'd hate to chase you off if you came out here to see him… he's not likely to be back soon, though."
Linus pokes his head through the space between the door frame and Elaine to see who was talking on the other side, scanning around comically until he spots her. "Yeah! Iron Fist." He looks upward to Elaine, nodding, but he quickly frowns at Magnes not being home. "Well, that's a bummer. I finally decide to stop being a crappy friend and he's not even here." He straightens up, then steps inside when offered. "Secret location? Knowing Magnes, that can't be any good."
“Tell him that the next time you see him,” Quinn half grumbles, rolling her eyes again. Moving red hair out of her eyes, she laughs. “You can totally hang out with us if you want, though!” She says, assuming it’s okay from Elaine’s comment. “But it’s like she said, dunno when he’ll be back.”
Elaine gives a nod towards Quinn, shutting the door behind Linus as she moves back over to the couch. "Yeah, it's not good. He's gonna get a good talking to when he finally decides he's coming home." She frowns a little, plopping down on the couch.
"Oh, yeah. I walked over from work, so it'd be cool to relax for a bit before heading home." Linus stuffs his hands into the back pockets of his jeans, looking around the apartment casually. Then his eyes focus on Quinn and Elaine on the couch, and he looks around again like he just realized something important. He clears his throat, rocking back and forth on his heels. "Oh, uh.. just you two here?" He certainly looks nervous.
“For now,” Quinn says with a shrug. Friend of ours was here, but she stepped out for a bit. No idea how long she’ll be. She snickers as she sees him milling about, and extends a hand across the back of the sofa. “Robyn Quinn! Pleasure t’ meet you, Linus.” The graphic novel sits beside her, a glance down to Elaine as she plops down next to her. “See, now I’ve lost my make shift bed! How sad.”
"She might be back soon. Who knows." Elaine comments, but she offers a smile. "I'm Elaine. Magnes' girlfriend. I live here." She sticks her tongue out at Quinn. "Yeah, so… nice to meet you, even if it's under odd circumstances."
Linus nods as if he's listening to something deeply important, then swallows again. "She?" He looks nervous once again, looking down at Quinn's extended hand. "Um.." His eyes look away and find the graphic novel, and his whole demeanor shifts. "Scott Pilgrim?" He shakes his head. "Terrible. It panders way too much to the nerdy audience. It's a generic love story wrapped up in pop culture and geeky references."
Quinn looks back at the book and laughs. “I dunno, I like it, an’ I’ve never read many comics or played many games. It’s just fun. Whimsical. An’ Wallace is the best asshole ever.” Quinn smiles wide – for once she can talk about a comic and not sound totally lost! “Magnes got me t’ read it. He thought I’d like it, I guess ‘cause a’ the music stuff in it. I think we might go see the movie later…”
"Well, I haven't read it, so… I'll just pretend like I'm totally getting your references and smile. Just keep talkin'." Elaine insists, laughing as she settles more comfortably on the couch. "You can sit, you know. Plenty of room." She pauses. "Oh, is that why Magnes wanted you to read it? Magnes just kinda throws stuff at me when I don't have things to read. And he always comes home with new stuff, so… I just have to be careful to have a book or something or I'll drown in comics."
The smile that had begun to form on Linus' face slowly fades as Quinn announces she is in fact, not much of a gamer. "Oh. Uh, well, yeah. I guess it's cool to read if you're into the music aspect.." He tries to play it off that he doesn't care half as much as he just seemed too, but he doesn't do it very well. "Sit? Oh.. yeah, sure." He finds a place to sit that is not on the same couch.
“Magnes has got me doin’ a lotta things lately,” Quinn admits with a laugh, eyeing Linus as he sits elsewhere away from them. “Reading Scott Pilgrim, reading Green Lantern… between him an’ Kendall, I’m half convinced I need t’ buy some sort a’ gaming system so I can play more Rock Band.” Magnes’ influence on Quinn, now that she’s been less worried about him running off and getting himself killed (at least until last night) is pretty clear. She looks up at Elaine, and snickers. “Next time you come by my place, give one of ‘em a read. Then you don’t ahve to deal with Magnes showering you with ‘em.”
Elaine turns a bit more to face Linus, although she addresses Quinn. "Really, the movie looks good but I don't think I'll pick up the comics on that one. I don't mind the shower of comics, I just gotta be careful that he doesn't tell me to read a whole series and then stack two-hundred-issues on me." She chuckles.
Rubs his hands on his knees, one foot tapping idly as he continues to look around the place when he's not being addressed specifically. "Green Lantern? Not much of a DC guy, myself.. I try to stick with Marvel. DC gets too convoluted for my tastes. And I actually test video games for a living." He smirks at that. After all, most people Magnes would hang out with would be amazed to hear that. Magnes was, anyway. "So, uh.. are you guys.. you know, like Magnes?"
Quinn laughs, nodding at Elaine. “God, I know that feeling. I think I’ev opened Pandora’s Box by letting him talk me int’ buying that Green Lantern stuff.” She shrugs, slouching down in her seat. “But it’s fun enough, I guess. If kinda weird.” She looks up to Linus, cocking an eyebrow. “They pay people t’ test games? I imagine that must be right fun. An’ what, you mean total geeks? Not the same way he is.” She laughs again, grinning at Linus.
"Magnes kinda died when I mentioned I'd actually touched video games before and read a few comics, but not nearly as crazy as he is… I'm more of a literary nerd. I could talk Charles Dickens until my face turned blue." Elaine chuckles, though, at what he does for a living. "Cool, I bet Magnes wanted some free swag or something." She shifts on the couch a bit.
Linus tries to calm himself, sitting back in a more relaxed position and crossing one leg over the other to rest the ankle over the knee. "Nah, he was cool about it. Dickens? Yeah, he's great. Did you know he died five years to the day after he was in a train crash and went unharmed? Crazy, right?" His attention pivots to Quinn, and he blushes. "It's not weird. And no, I meant something else. I wasn't asking if you guys were geeks."
Quinn laughs, noting the blush. “Not readin’ them. If that was weird, I probably wouldn’t be hangin’ out with Magnes. But, like, the stories an’ characters are… weird t’ me. I’m not really used to taht kinda stuff outside a’ movies an’ cartoon.” She shrugs, slouching, a glance up at Elaine. “Dickens is good. I just wish people would remember somethin’ besides A Christmas Carol exists.” And then, back to Linus, eyeing him carefully.
"Great Expectations is brilliant. One of my favorites, but don't get me started on the Brontë sisters." Elaine peers at Linus, looking a little surprised at the fact. "That's… bizarre. Strange. Kinda cool coincidence." However, as he clarifies that he wasn't asking if they were card-carrying members of Geekdom, she peers cautiously over at him. "What exactly did you mean, then?"
"I hate A Christmas Carol. It's so.. I don't know. And I meant, you know.. Evolved." He looks around the room again, almost as if he's making sure nobody else is there to hear what he's about to say next. Then he leans in, and half whispers. "I saw him talk about a vigilante on TV. And I know he's Evolved, and.. so am I." He holds his hands up, a bright heat emanating from them briefly before fading away. "I figure anyone able to hang around Magnes is either a total nerd like him, like I am.. or an Evolved like him."
A wide smile quickly forms on Quinn’s face as she leans forward, her own extended. It only takes a moment – quicker than Elaine’s seen in the past – before it begins to glow and emanate light, bathing the room in white light. “It is always so cool t’ meet someone who’s willin’ t’ talk about their ability!” she enthuses, her head tilting.
"Ah, you meant like that. Magnes hangs out with all types, though. Plenty of people who aren't Evolved or nerdy. He's kinda all-around-friendly." Elaine chuckles. "He helped me out before he even know what I was like at all." She notes Quinn's glow. "See. Mine's not nearly that flashy."
Linus jerks backward when Quinn's hands light up, almost as if he was surprised that the two of you would actually be Evolved. "Oh, uh.. well I'm not.. I wouldn't say I'm that. I'm still.. weirded out about it, some. But it's cool, you know.. super powers!" He's clamming up some, his words stuttered. "Yeah, I could tell that about him. He was the first person I told about my power.. I guess that makes you guys the second."
“I don’t really think of it like super powers,” Quinn remarks with a grin, her hand returning to normal as she leans back to the reclined position she was in earlier. “I mean… I guess there’s not much else t’ call ‘em. I just never really thought of it like that until I met Magnes.” She shrugs, and then looks surprised. “Well, I mean- I don’t go around tellin’ everyone. But it nice t’ meet someone willing to talk about it.”
"First time I met Magnes he blew the door off of a warehouse and saved my life. He was pretty superhero right there…" Elaine points out, but she laughed. "I don't really consider my ability a superpower of any sort. Heck, if I don't point it out to people, most of them wouldn't even know unless they were looking closely."
"Not a super power? Come on, my power is totally like Havok from the X-Men!" He leans back to point at some character on the nerdy comic tee he's wearing. "This guy. Cyclops' brother?" He looks at both of you like he expected you to know. "He can blow a roof off with his gravity powers? That's incredible. I.. well, I can melt through steel." With the shift in conversation, it's almost as if he forgot he was talking to girls. You know, with boobs. And cooties.
Quinn looks a little lost, but she does laugh. “Well, I guess like that, you could call it a super power. I know Magnes would.” She shifts, tilting her head and smiling at Linus. “I just make light. I’ve been… told what that’s capable of, but I can’t really do any a’ that crazy shit.” A finger taps her cheek, the woman looking thoughtful. At the very least, she’s not totally lost. She actually knows who Cyclops is.
Elaine laughs. "Quinn, you're more of a superhero than I am. You look better in the costumes, too. You've got that whole light ability thing, so you can stun people and do shiny stuff and at least look cool. Half of what superheroes do is look cool." She snuggles into the couch a bit, hugging a throw pillow.
Linus waves his hand dismissively at Elaine's statement. "That's totally not true. There are a lot of heroes who aren't that flashy. I mean, there's Barbara Gordon, who supports the people of Gotham City with news and computer help on the fly. There's Amadeus Cho, who has a super brain.. there's Pete Wisdom, I mean all he wears are suits. Not every hero is about wearing a costume, flying around and shooting energy beams." He gives her a smile. "Me, I could never be a hero. I'm.. not cut out for it."
“Jesus, neither would I be,” Quinn says with an amused tone, glancing over at Elaine. A hand reaches over, ruffling the other girl’s hair. “You make a good Mary Jane. At least.” Granted, the only reason she knows to say that is because of the movies, and Magnes having said it along the line. “I never thought about stunning people with light…” she sounds throughful for a moment, a devious smile creeping up on her lips.
"Good. Because that's a better thing to do. You aren't going to just go 'Oh, hey, I have secret stuff I can't tell you about', and then rush off and do something dangerous but possibly heroic. That's a damn good thing, Linus." Elaine wrinkles her nose at the suggestion of MJ. "No, see, I'm not gonna be Mary Jane. Because you know who Mary Jane is? She's Spider Man's chick. Without Spider Man, who's Mary Jane? But if you don't have Mary Jane, Spider Man is still Spider Man." She frowns. She'd get to her feet dramatically if this were a comic or a movie, but instead she hugs the throw pillow. "I'm not just Magnes' girlfriend and half the time that's what people see." An apologetic look is thrown to Linus. "Sorry. I'm having issues. You can just ignore me."
It's clear Linus doesn't really know how to handle this situation. Sad girl. Oh, man. He doesn't get girls when they're happy, let alone sad or angry at their boyfriends! He looks down, eyes shifting away for a moment as the wheels in his brain turn. Then he looks back. "Well, you know.. Mary Jane had her own novel. Yep. It was about her. And it was a novel, not a graphic novel or a comic book. Mary Jane is somebody, too. So are you." Then he glances to Quinn, as if to check if he made some grave error.
Quinn gives a smile and a nod to Linus, indicating he’s on the right track. Hopping to her feet, she wraps arms around Elaine. “Well, I mean… from what I know a’ Mary Jane, she’s a beautiful, talented, loyal, friendly, and supportive woman. You can be that for anyone, not just Magnes, because you’re a great person.” She tips up, a quick peck on Elaine’s cheek. “So perk up, because you’re plenty a’ somebody.” A look back down to Linus, and she waves a hand dismissively, mouthing “it’s fine”.
Elaine peers over the top of the throw pillow. She looks at Linus. Then at Quinn. Then at Linus again. "Mary Jane has a book?" She slowly sets the pillow in her lap. "… what sort of stuff does she do in it?" It's almost like Linus has shed a light on the situation. Sure, in the comics there was Mary Jane, the girl Spiderman loved. But if there was a book… this changed her view. She leans in against Quinn a bit.
Linus lets out a silent, mouthed sigh when Quinn gives him the okay sign. Of course, with Quinn's position at the time, Elaine doesn't see it. "Uh, yeah. Two, actually. They're kind of old now, they came out in like.. 2004 or something. You could probably find them, though. They're basically just teen romance novels about MJ and Peter Parker, but from her point of view. It's not the best literature out there, but it's better than Twilight."
“Teen romance? Screw that,” Quinn furrows her brow and shakes her head, stepping back from Elaine. “You know what you’re going t’ do Elaine? You’re going t’ be a much better story than anything about Mary Jane,” Quinn says with a nod, and a smile over at Linus. “Still, a book from her perspective? That’s pretty cool.” A thumbs up is given to Linus, Quinn laughing. “Like I said, perk up.”
"Teen romance or not, point is, she got a book." Elaine points out, smiling a little more. "Hey, Linus? Thanks. I appreciate it. And I'm sorry Magnes isn't here to chill with you or something. I'm sure he'd appreciate you came over here, though."
Linus pushes off the chair he's on, giving Elaine a thumbs up and a winning smile. "Hey, it's not a problem. If I happen to see a copy of it anywhere, I'll nab it for you. I'm going to let you two hug it out, though. Let Magnes know I stopped by, alright?" He looks at the time on his phone, then at the door. "Yeah, I should probably get going."
“You don’t have t’ head off, but we’ll totally pass it on,” Quinn says with a nod. “Any friend a’ Magnes’ is a friend of mine. I’d say come by work sometime, but you don’t strike me as the type t’ come to a nightclub.” She doesn’t mean anything rude by it, even though it might seem so. “But Tartarus is fun! Ask Elaine.” With that, she turns to Elaine with a smirk. “Next time I go int’ work, I keep an eye out for one a’ those books.”
"You know, the last time I was at a bar.. well, it didn't go very well. But you know what, I'll stop by just to see you." He delivers an awkward smile to Quinn as he tucks his phone back into his pants. "And hey. You're welcome, Elaine. There's no reason to be sad. I know you're worried about Magnes, but that guy is too off the wall to not come back to you." He heads for the door, opening it up while giving a half wave with his other hand. "I'll see what I can do about getting Magnes to 'bro' up, but I'm probably not the best guy for the job."
Quinn snickers, nodding at Linus. “It’s in the Lower East Side, I’m sure you can look it up online. I doubt there’s many places in in town by that name.” She gives a wave and a grin to Linus before plopping back down on the couch. “Yeah! Teach ‘im somethin’ about bein’ a stand up guy!” she shouts back, giggling.
"He'll come back, yeah, I know." Elaine grins a little bit, giving a nod to Linus. "Take care! Stop by anytime! I'll tell him you stopped by!" She calls again, feeling it necessary to repeat all the things she's previously said. It's what you do when people leave, after all. She plops back on the couch, then lets out a sigh. "Nice guy."