Participants:
| Scene Title | Still Fighting It |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | After gettinga text from Elaine, Quinn checks in on Magnes, who's in pretty bad shape. |
| Date | September 14, 2010 |
Siann Hall: Magnes and Elaine's Apartment
In the middle of the afternoon, Magnes hasn't been leaving the house at all. He hasn't gone out in a week or so, barely able to resist the compulsions to join Messiah still, he doesn't want to tempt himself. And on top of that, since Elaine's been gone, there's Guinness bottles all over the table, and one currently in his hand. This could be the first time Quinn's seen him with any facial hair, not shaving or really doing anything, he's just curled up on the couch with a Dexter's Lab DVD on the monitor.
He is an utter mess, trying to control himself.
A bit to Quinn’s surprise, the door had been unlocked when she tried it – she always tries the knob after knocking, now that Sable’s insistence that she come right on in has started to sink in a bit too deep. But what she sees when she steps in isn’t even remotely what she was expecting. “Jesus Christ,” she intones quietly as her eyes move over the scene, finally settling down on Magnes. “Hey, Magnes. Thought I’d stop by an’ see how you were doin’…” She trails off a bit, reaching back to lock the door behind her. She begins her way towards the couch, hands in teh shallow pockets of her bright blue skirt, and wearing a white button up shirt. “But t’ be frank, you look like shit, boy. What can I do t’ help?”
"Nothing." Magnes deadpans as he just sits hunched over his bottle, sighing in exhasperation without the least bit of his usual energy. "The compulsion's too strong. Every day I feel like I'm just gonna leave and go find Peter. But just staying in the house, drinking, I know he'd never take me seriously, he'd never let me join… I don't know what else to do to fight it."
For the moment, it escapes Quinn’s mind that she actually went to a party the night before with this mysterious Peter, her attention instead focused on Magnes as she plops down on the couch beside him with a worried expression on her face. “You can fight it, Magnes, I’m sure,” she says reassuringly, reaching over and rubbing his back. “You’ve done it this long, I’m sure you can keep it up until Kaylee an’ Eileen figure somethin’ out.” She’s actually not so sure about that, but she can’t let him know that. “Just think of Elaine, you know? Let that keep you form runnin’ off.”
"I don't wanna hurt Elaine, or anyone else. I just…" Magnes sits the bottle on the table, then leans over to lay his head on her shoulder, closing his eyes. "I want everything to be normal again, why would someone do this to me? I know I've made a lot of mistakes, but I never made anyone suffer.
When Magnes leans on her, her arm rises up and wraps around him. “As long as you stay strong, Magnes, an’ hope an’ believe that you can fight it, you’re not going t’ hurt anyone.” She leans back into the couch, hand running comfortingly up and down Magnes’ arm. “I don’t pretend t’ know or approve of everythin’ you’ve done, Magnes, but no one deserves this. It’s horrible, an’ I can’t believe someone would do it. But don’t worry. When Elaine gets back, we’ll start talking t’ people again, figuring out what more we can do. If you want, I’ll hang around here until then. Try an’ help you not run off.”
"You'd stay here with me?" Magnes asks, sounding almost surprised as he looks up at her from her shoulder. "Sometimes… I'm surprised that I have s many awesome friends." he says in a bit of a drunken haze, apparently one of those drunks. "I'm always afraid that everyone's secretly judging everything I do, like every choice I make is under a microscope. I'm afraid every day that Elaine's gonna come to her senses…"
Quinn chuckles quietly, giving a bit of a shrug. “I know we don’t always get along or agree as much as we’d like, but you’re still a friend, Magnes, an’ I still want t’ help you get through this. Maybe when things are as normal as you want them t’ be, we’ll totally be on the same page, an’ that’ll be awesome, right?” She looks down at him with a hopeful smile, patting his arm. “Besides, even if I wasn’t awesome, I’m sure Sable would be over here in a heartbeat, Magnes. I bet if she were… you know, straight, she’d be livin’ here with you instead of Elaine. She thinks really highly of you.” Quinn clears her throat, tone becoming a bit more nervous as she continues. “Any time I’ve been upset with you about something, she’s always there t’ tell me how good a person you are. So yeah, you totally have awesome friends. Don’t forget that.”
"I won't go out in a costume, or do anything like that when this is over. I'm just gonna have the band, and Elaine. And I need to get a new job." Magnes carefully pulls away, falling over so he can lay on his side on the couch cushion. "Sable's really nice, and pretty, you and Elaine are lucky. I can always trust her, I don't wanna ever lose Sable."
“I don’t think that’s something you ever have t’ worry about,” Quinn says with a laugh. “You two are thick as thieves.” She watches as Magnes plops down, rising up from the couch to her feet. “You eaten yet? I can’t cook like you can, but I can at least heat somethin’ up for us, or go pick somethin’ up. Whatever works, if you want.” She shrugs, rocking back and forth on her heels. “You’re going t’ get through this, Magnes. Just fight it a while longer.”
"Pizza, me and Elaine made a pizza together, warm some slices." Magnes almost lets her go, but then turns to look up at her with a worn stare. "Who died? You said one of our friends died the other day… who died?"
Quinn’s already turned and started to walk when Magnes’ question freezes her in her tracks. Jesus, she hadn’t had the chance to tell him up front, and she’d totally forgotten. Her hands fall down to her side, and her head hangs as she turns back around. “Christ, I’m sorry Magnes. I… meant t’ tell you, but I forgot cause a’ everything.” She reaches up, idly scratching her arm. “Um… Kendall. There was an accident apparently; Melissa’s been cagey on the details. Don’t blame her. But… yeah.”
"What?" Magnes suddenly sits up, eyes wide as alertness rushes through him. "That's… that's not possible. I let him move in with Melissa because I trusted her… What did she get him tied up into?" He flings his hand in the direction of the table, causing multiple empty bottles to fly into a wall, though not in her direction. "Damnit, this is because of Messiah… and I still want to join them. This is so fucked."
Quinn takes a step back reflectively as the bottles go flying, flinching as they crash into the wall. “Jesus feckin’ Christ, Magnes!” she explains, both out of surprise, and as a chastising measure – she’s going to have to clean that up, probably. “What in the world are you goin’ on about? It was an accident, what’s Messiah got t’ do with it?” She looks at Magnes with a mix of worry and surprise for a moment, before she starts back into the kitchen for a broom and a dustpan.
"Melissa's in Messiah, I know they have to have something to do with it. This terrorist crap gets everyone killed." Magnes stands, stumbling a bit, then just starts floating to the bedroom. "I need to get some sleep, you don't have to cook if you don't want to."
Once again, Quinn’s stopped in her tracks as that is dropped, causing her to do a sudden pivot back on her heels, eyes narrowed. “Magnes, think very hard before you say somethin’ like that again. You’re sure someone hasn’t been playin’ in your head? Because I don’t believe for a second that Melissa’d be in Messiah. She’s too nice for that.” Quinn’s tone is indignant, an expression on her face to match. “Yeah. Go get some sleep. We’ll talk about it later, okay? I have t’ go t’ work tonight-“ Ironic, that,” but I’ll be back later, okay?”
"I know who nearly all of Messiah's members are." Magnes notes before he opens the door, then looks back and nods. "Yeah, alright. I'll be here… bring a milkshake back, please? Nothing mint." That's the last thing he says before he closes the door, clearly not in the best of moods, but trying to reassure her even if in a weird way.
Quinn can’t help but grimace and shake her head as she remerges from the kitchen with the broom in hand. “Yeah, sure. I’ll stop somewhere and get ‘em for both of us.” Never mind that she has to drive a scooter around, she’ll figure out a way to keep them steady. Eyes are cast to the door, and then to the broken bottles. Her eyes ring of a lost, distant expression, accentuated by a long sigh as she begins sweeping up the broken bits of glass.