Sane, Insane and More Insane

Participants:

diogenes_icon.gif elle_icon.gif zachery_icon.gif

Scene Title Sane, Insane and More Insane
Synopsis Elle meets Diogenes. Zachery is caught in the middle of it.
Date August 25, 2010

Zachery's Apartment

This once pristine apartment has seen better days. Although it's fairly spacious and most rooms contain large windows, the drawn curtains and overall lack of bright lights don't exactly give one a welcoming feel. Upon stepping in, one thing should immediately be clear: the owner doesn't like a lot of colours in their living space. With the exception of the hardwood floor nearly everything in sight is either black or white. Paled, dried out potted plants placed here and there look like they've simply given up, and a fish bowl which at some point must surely have contained something now hangs ineffectually on the coat rack near the front door. In the livingroom, an overly comfortable black leather three seater and accompanying chairs face a large flatscreen TV which doesn't look like it's been on in a while. Several large book shelves line the walls, carrying quite a collection of medical or scientific volumes, both thick and thin as well as new and old. Numerous more lie stacked up in piles around seats and on a table on one side of the room.

The adjacent kitchen, the bathroom and two bedrooms are equally colourless. If someone were to look in any of the various cabinets, cupboards and closets, they would find the usual necessities strewn in its place, bachelor-style. The fridge is home to several kinds of take-out foods, a few cartons of milk, and most of all— a pretty random assortment of alcoholic drinks..


Nestled in the most comfortable chair he can find, this finely dressed young peculiar man has one of his legs pulled up and crossed over the other, forming a makeshift table to support a folded magazine, which is providing him with a not so challenging crossword to entertain him while he waits. Diogenes is dressed as finely as he usually prefers to be: he is dressed in neutrally grey suit, a white shirt, a pitch black tie and equally dark moccasins. The only thing ruining his regal appearance is the unkempt mess that is his hair.

On the floor, at his feet, stands a half-empty beer bottle. A man needs a steady intake of alcohol if he is going to wait for owner-turned-guest - and the otherwise easy crossword becomes more challenging as well. He seems to be fairly relaxed; but why wouldn't he, considering it took him a fair amount of effort climbing up the damned fire and finding an item big and blunt enough to break one of the windows and enter the apartment. He deserved this rest.

Elle Bishop came to bring some news, and is planning on being just as ominous as ever while doing so, in ways that she knows Zachery is uncomfortable with. She's dressed up in a thigh-length black skirt, with a low cut red tank top and matching red heels. She's even taken the time to do her hair and makeup extra special for Zach, and she's looking as killer as she possibly can right now.

She's taking a more conventional approach: she's walking in through the front door, as she usually does. She pauses at the locked door, peering at the new, gleaming door knob with a thoughtful look on her face. She raps her knuckles thrice on the door…and then, without waiting for an answer, her hand moves down to the door knob. Diogenes will hear a crackling noise, and then the door knob has melted (this is the second time!), and Elle Bishop is making her way into the apartment.

"Honey! I'm home! Are you here?" She calls out in a charming purr, bumping the door closed behind her with her hip. She's certainly not expecting to see a suited man, sitting in a chair. Her eyebrows raise, and for a long moment, she simply stares at Diogenes, her brows raised. "Um…hi?"

Few things are less pleasant than sharing a conversation with the man. Meeting his heavy yet strangely penetrating gaze sent by the misty grey eyes is most definitely one of them. "Zachery", he addresses the blonde surprise in a low tone, fragmented by the grating voice, implicating a dry throat. Which is why he pauses, and slowly leans forward; as he resumes to chew on the pencil with which he has been filling out the crossword, his vacant hand reaches out for the beer. It is only after a swig that the bottle is set back down with a glassy thud.

"You've lost weight", he remarks. Despite the jestful nature of the comment, it's not until a few moments later that a lopsided grin starts to tug at a single corner of his lips. "Okay, I am facing two possibilities: Zachery is very desperate that he has to pay for it, or he's had a sex change. Help me out here. Which one is it?"

A delightful smile suddenly forms on Elle's face, and she laughs softly, promptly moving over to the couch and flopping down. "Neither answer is correct. I am, in fact, a business acquaintance of his, and I had a few things I wanted to discuss with our apparently mutual friend Zachery about his potential employment with my man." She reaches out, promptly grabbing the half-finished beer as it's set on the ground, taking a swig before setting it back in it's spot. Hope Diogenes isn't germophobic.

"So, since you're obviously not Zachery, who are you?" Elle asks this with a charming little smile, leaning back on the couch and crossing her legs. "If I may be so presumptuous as to ask, that is." Her brows raise.

"More of a pain in the arse than you are," sounds a third voice, promptly, from the apartment's entrance. "However hard that may be to believe." Zachery is already standing in the doorway, stuffing a car key in a pocket of his jeans, the look on his face almost as lackluster as his drab, featureless, brown shirt. He appears to be getting further away from 'casual' and closer to 'slob' each week. It's almost like the long years of strictly scrubs and suits never happened.

He proceeds forward, giving both of his quests little more than a glance on his way toward the kitchen, plus a brief squint at Diogenes' state. "I'm beginning to see the advantage of living in a box. Much less explaining why your door has spontaneously mel—" Only then does he notice the window, stopping dead in his tracks. "Oh, come on."

With that crooked smirk still stretching one half of the stranger's lips, the graphite tip of the pencil is swiftly snatched by one nimble motion, leading it to the magazine that is still resting on the man's lap. His attention reluctantly leaves Elle, trading her for the same magazine. Just as he inhales deeply and parts his lips to speak what quite possibly might have been a bothersomely cryptic introduction, Zachery steps in, putting the wide grin back on Diogenes lips as he quietly fills out the crossword.

"Did you know that the Atacama desert is the driest desert in the world? And yet more people know about the Sahara, because that one is the largest desert in the world." He snorts. "I guess size does matter, huh?"

The magazine is flung aside; it spins its way right out the broken window. The pencil is shoved into an inner pocket of the elegant jacket, and Diogenes finally rises to his feet, fetching the beer on his way up. Standing tall, he takes one more swig of the alcoholic beverage, ignoring the fact Elle drank from it. Guess that is one trait he does not share with the owner of the apartment. "My name is Diogenes. What I came here for has been made largely irrelevant in the most interesting way possible. So, tell me, Zachery, who did you sign your virginity off to?"

A grin forms on Elle Bishop's bright features as Zachery walks in. She too raises to her feet…and promptly hop-skips over to Zachery, in those bright red heels. Her arms are draped over the man's chest, and she promptly…well, hangs off of him, for the most part. "Zachery! Hunny-bunny, you're HOME!" She giggles. "You really should give me a key, otherwise you're just going to have to keep replacing your doorknob when I come over!" She giggles cheerfully.

An amused grin is turned toward Diogenes, and the little blonde offers a cheerful wave. "Hi! I'm Elle Bishop! Nice to meet you, Diogenes." She stumbles over pronouncing it. "Can I call you Dio? That's so much easier."

Zachery can't quite seem to decide whether he should be annoyed or embarrassed, and the combination just makes him look all the more awkward. Of course, most of the annoyance is replaced with what appears to be wide-eyed deer in the headlights fear when there is suddenly a woman hanging off of him. It's a good thing he tends to almost literally freeze in place when faced with things like this, or he might be falling over right about now.

For now, Zachery just stands. Maybe if he stays still enough, Elle will forget about him and move on. Eventually.

The question regarding a potential nickname prompts the well-clothed man to scoff with an ounce of contempt. "I'll tell you the same thing I've told the last blonde who called me that: I'm not a Fiat car."

His moccasins gently tap against the floor, carrying him forth. Diogenes circles the pair, watching them with keen and judging eyes, clearly not intending to make the embarrassing scenario any easier to endure for Zachery. However, the shark retreats, making his towards one of the windows who was fortunate enough to remain intact. He drinks some more of that deliciously intoxicating substance, looking out in a strangely casual manner. "Get off him. Take a seat, both of you; I want to hear what Zachery has been up to", he murmurs in a neutral tone before stepping away from the window and making his way towards the kitchen in hardly any hurry, with his eyes set on both Zachery and Elle.

The little blonde smirks. "Then I hope you don't mind me having trouble saying your name." She tilts her head up to Zachery, giggling softly. "Zachy-poo, I came over to talk to you about that thing I wanted to talk to you about." She grins, then, letting go and making her way back over to the couch. Smiling to Zachery, she pats the seat next to her. "He's not been up to TOO much. He's been slacking on that job offer that my man gave him."

She glances toward the kitchen. "Hey, could you get me a beer while you're in there? I always love drinking Zachy-poo's alcohol."

Oh thank God. If Diogenes was considered any sort of friend, Zachery would have thanked him for the near-order. And even a good few seconds after Elle's let go of him, Zachery stands unwavering. Though breathing once more, at least. Trying to keep a straight face. Despite Elle's oh-so-friendly pat on the couch, he sidles up to a nearby chair instead. He doesn't even bother responding to either of the people addressing him, merely mumbling under his breath, "My home is not my own."

"Why am I not surprised?"

Although the rhetoric question reaches the two from the kitchen, it's not too long before Diogenes is heard approaching the couch from behind. The sound of his steps curve around the furniture, following Diogenes until he stops in front of Elle, passing her an open bottle of same beer he's drinking - Rolling Rock. "Here you go, Christie."

"What sort of job offer?", he inquires, his glance shifting between the blonde girl and the unfortunate victim of this entire ordeal, who is currently mumbling to himself. "Please", he adds, "for all intents and purposes, just pretend that I am not here." Lazily, the man retreats to the chair that he had occupied mere minutes ago, so as to reclaim his throne. The bottle is set down back where it rightfully belongs, and Diogenes digs into the insides of his jacket once more, this time to retrieve a notebook of fair thickness, secured with a padlock, which - rather predictably - is unlocked and put into the front pocket of his jacket in due time.

"If something goes not like I want it to, Zachery will be sure to tell you how much of a psychotic princess I can become. But, please, do start without me."

"Thanks, Dee-oh-Gene." The little blonde takes the beer bottle, raising it for a moment with a small grin on her face. She takes a swig; then, when he requests she continue, the woman shrugs…and suddenly, she's up, and takes a half-running leap…right into Zachery's lap. Likely not a comfortable ordeal for him anyhow, without his discomfort with Elle's lack of respect for personal bubble space.

Then, she's reeeeaaaally close to him, stroking a finger along his cheek with a soft giggle. "So, there's been recent changes, Zachy-poo. I don't want you to go after Richard Cardinal. I'm not entirely certain about him, but I'm going to have to think up a new test of strength for you to gain my man's employment. Cardinal is not to be fucked with, or I will fuck your face up." She smiles cheerfully.

And just like that, Zachery is disallowed movement yet again. He sits with his back pushed into the chair, jaw clenching as Elle's finger makes its way down his cheek. "As - I am sure - you are painfully aware," He speaks slowly, eyes slowly trailing toward Diogenes as if in a silent plea for help, "I would prefer the very minimal amount of 'fucking' to occur, b-be it up or with." His attempts to appear at all collected and calm are about as transparent as the apartment's now broken window was.

It is a sad sight to observe, watching Zachery be so effortlessly and masterfully humiliated by the flighty blonde. With faint amusement to be seen in the form of a twitch in the corner of his lips, Diogenes cannot help but wonder what is the true nature of the woman's ability. On the other hand, as unfortunate as it might be, there is no real motivation for him to coax her into showing her darker side.

Aside from possibly saving Zachery's masculinity, but Diogenes is certain it's not worth jumping face-first into jolts of electricity for. "When I said you two should ignore my presence, I didn't mean you should just start doing it on the couch. Can we skip to the facts, or are you too strung up on drugs, Mandy?"

Elle giggles softly, turning an amused smile toward Diogenes. "Do it? Hardly. I think the poor guy would give himself a heart attack if he saw me in my underwear." She giggles softly, tapping Zachery's chin. "I don't know what I want you to do to get into Warren's employment yet, honey. I'll have to think of a few things." She rubs at her chin.

Then, she turns her blue eyes toward Diogenes, giggling. "Ask away, and I'll answer you as well as I can." She offers a thumbs up to Diogenes, before turning to peer at Zachery.

Who is, in turn, now glaring at a book case with far more intensity than needed.Zachery is staying out of this conversation if he can help it, even if it takes imagining being entirely somewhere else. Fortunately, the last few years have given him enough practise with this.

A quick chortle is duly suppressed by the man once he hears Elle forecast Zachery's reaction to seeing her nearly naked. The corners of his lips stay up for longer than just a fraction of a second this time, however. "Who is Warren, who are you, and what business do you have with him?", inquires the gaunt one, pointing towards Zachery with the eraser tip of his pencil.

Zachery receives a question, as well, as Diogenes is not about to grant the other man the luxury of escaping this little conversation: "And, I'm curious, why did you accept, Zach?" The pencil is set down against the white blank paper as he readies to start taking notes.

Still hanging off of Zachery, Elle smiles cheerfully over at Diogenes, even as she leans her head against the man's chest. "Warren Ray is my boyfriend. He also happens to be the leader of a gang known as Los Locos. More like a cult, really." The last part is mumbled as an afternote, the girl shaking her head. "In any case, he's also known as Mortimer Alex Jack or whatever you want to call him."

The girl reaches out, placing a hand against Zachery's chest with a soft giggle. "Zach here is special, because he's going to help my man build a new arm, or something. Warren's pretty gung ho about making himself a better mechanical arm to replace the one he's missing." She shrugs. "And in return, Warren is going to help him achieve whatever it is that he wants to do."

She glances to Zachery. "What do you want to do, anyhow?"

"I've been stripped of my title and purpose. The gears have stopped." Zachery replies in monotone to Diogenes' question, teeth gritted and eyes still on the books' spines. His voice is steady, but likely because that's the only thing he's focusing on right now. "All I want is to get them up and running again. I'll see where things go from there. The offer to work for— the Succubus Care Bear's Warren was conveniently timed."

Like Elle, Diogenes turns his attention to Zachery. He tips his head back incredulously and quirks a brow in mild confusion, echoing Elle's words: "Build a new arm?" Crumpling his facial features into a mockery of disgust, he is quick to ridicule the idea in his most typical fashion a mere moment afterwards: "What is he, Doctor Doom?" It is not up to Diogenes to question the goals of Elle's boyfriend. If he were to guess, Warren was every bit as crazy as the blonde girl over there.

Still, Diogenes can then be seen scribbling down words into his notebook, likely an echo of that which has been spoken, and perhaps even adding his own personal input on the subject matter, as well. And when he is done, his misty grey eyes are soon set on Zachery again. "I know the feeling. I also know what the feeling that follows it is. Desperation. And the last time I felt that, people died." As his gaze turns back to his notebook, he sighs softly, drawing a short pause before continuing: "You have to make careful choices."

The fop's attention returns to Elle. "You think you can look after him well enough?"

"Oh, don't you worry about that one. I'll look after this fella well enough." Elle suddenly wraps her arm around Zachery's neck, giving him a noogie. Then, she's standing up, dusting herself off and straightening her skirt. A glance is spared to Diogenes, grinning widely. "Not so much Doctor Doom. Just a very insane engineer. If you think I'm crazy, then consider the fact that I am apparently his anchor to sanity." She chuckles softly, returning to her beer and taking a quick swig. "If you're ever feeling desperate and want to help out, I'm sure we could consider hiring you, as well, after a background check."

She chuckles, and once finished drinking another few gulps of the beer, she passes this over to Zachery. "I just wanted to tell you that, Sir Zachery. Also, I don't know if you noticed, but I stole your yellow hula girl boxers."

The boxer comment is briefly frowned at, before Zachery decides that acknowledging its very existence would only spark more intrigue. Instead, he just sits like Elle's visit never happened, but nevertheless looking annoyed. And again, he just launches into muttering to himself. "I'm not a bloody puppy. Looking after me. Psh."

In a deliberately slow manner, Diogenes rises from the chair. It should become clear by now that most of his mannerisms suggest that he is in no rush, and that the tall lissome stranger believes time favours him. The notebook he carries with him is locked with the aforementioned padlock in a similarly languid fashion, before it is tucked away into the inner pocket of his jacket. His hand then wanders to the other inner pocket, reaching for a different item as the guy nears the pair.

"I don't have a background", he states, drawing a piece of paper that he had carelessly torn from a source other than his precious notebook prior to his visit here. He is about to hand it to Zachery when his hand jerks back. "Actually", he muses aloud, changing his mind, "I do have what you could loosely call a background, now that I think of it. You should look up who the real Diogenes was, and you'll know what I do and why I do it." The piece of paper is then handed to Zachery; it is an address of a location, found in this very city. "If you need me, leave a sign at the coffee shop at the appointed address, and I will find you on my own."

The woman laughs softly to Zachery, reaching out to pat him on the head. "Oh, but you are a puppy. You're my new puppy." She giggles softly, before pulling out her phone and peering at it. "Oops, I have to go! I get to go see a shrink today!" This is said with a wide grin. Then, Elle turns and promptly makes her way out of the apartment without another word.

What an insane girl.


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