Participants:
| Scene Title | Things Slipped |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Magnes comes to apologize to Peyton for seeing various things on the internet that he felt he shouldn't have. |
| Date | April 3, 2010 |
Peyton's apartment building
It's been night for around four hours now, and Magnes has had quite a day. Making up with his former therapist who's also a mad scientist, smoking pot with his former therapist who's also a mad scientist, then reading comics to orphans. He's pretty much got this whole karma thing figured out.
His short black leather trenchcoat is zipped up, falling to the upper parts of his knees, blue jeans with thick black spirals going down to his snow boots. He's in the lobby, heading for the elevator with a bit of an urgently surprised look on his face.
The revolving door of the lobby makes its whirr as it circles about with the entrance of someone into the building. It's Peyton, bundled up for a brief foray to the corner to return some overdue DVDs and get some new ones. She hadn't even watched most of the old ones. They turned out to all be thematically undesirable — too close for comfort with the problems of their world. The new ones are all old classics like Arsenic and Old Lace, My Fair Lady, Goonies, and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Some older and more classic than others, no doubt.
"Magnes?" Peyton says, furrowing her brow as she sees the man headed for the elevator. "You know someone else in this apartment?"
"Ah, no, I came to see you!" Magnes turns around, still looking rather surprised. He doesn't look as if he has urgently horrible news, more like 'Britney Spears just shaved her hair off' news. "I saw… I mean, on the internet!" He motions his hands around as if the internet needs further description. "You, pictures, I mean… things slipped!"
Peyton crosses her arms, arching a brow at him. "You came all the way here to tell me that there's pictures on the internet of me, Magnes Varlane?" she says with a bit of a scowl. It's not like she doesn't know. And it's not like anything is that bad. A flash of panties here, a dress a touch too sheer there, a notorious nipple slip at one red carpet premiere, but that's what she gets for wearing a deep-V with nothing beneath it. It's the risk one takes when posing for paparazzi.
"Yeah but…" Magnes' eyes stare at her chest for a second too long, then then avert to the floor again. "Alright I guess it was a little stupid, but I was shocked, and I can fly, makes you do stupid things over long distances, y'know? I also wanted to apologize for actually looking at them without your permission. I mean, it was an accident. I was trying to learn more about you and I just started seeing stuff."
"I told you innocence has nothing to do with looks, Magnes," Peyton says, with a shake of her head. He's probably the only person she knows who makes her feel worldly in comparison, since most of the time she spends not understanding half of what's going on. "You don't need to apologize that you saw them. I mean, it's not like I didn't try to be in the limelight. It's my own fault. Charming that Danko probably saw those when he was looking into me, isn't it? Alas, he's gay, so he wouldn't have gotten much out of them." The words are said in a feigned non-chalance, though her cheeks flush a bit.
"Danko's gay? I didn't notice, I don't think I've ever met a… oh right." Magnes remembers Teo and Francois. Still hasn't figured out that Raquelle is gay. His eyes glance up again, then right back down. "I didn't get anything, I mean, well, alright no point in devolving into lies. But I swear I will never look at them ever again. I won't even think about them ever again!" Though this causes him to pause, eyes looking up at the ceiling, thinking.
"Well, he might swing both ways, but trust me, he's at least a little gay," Peyton says, with a chuckle and looks away when he says what he did or didn't "get" out of her pictures. "So is that it? You came to tell me I have pictures on the internet? To warn me, or… apologize for seeing them, or what? Believe me, I know they're there, and the fact that people can Google them isn't a new concept to me, though if it helps, I can be newly ashamed and embarrassed and mortified."
"I'm feeling stupider the longer we talk about this. I came to apologize, and um, I guess I should have figured you'd already be used to it all." Magnes frowns with a hint of embarassment, finally looking her in the eye. "Sorry if I bothered you. I must seem like a total… uh… is spaz a good word?"
Peyton laughs and shakes her head. "I guess it's nice that someone finds it … um… something to feel bad about seeing. Most people find it funny or you know, take some sort of delight in other people's embarrassing moments. It's nice that you don't. You're a nice guy, and I appreciate that. It's just a little strange. No one has ever apologized to me for my stupidity," she says, with a shrug.
"I'm apologizing for looking at them. I mean if I walked into your bathroom and you were getting out of the shower and I accidentally saw you, I'd have to apologize for being rude, wouldn't I?" Magnes asks, apparently chalking up what he did to a rude accidental lapse in judgment, even though it was, again, an accident. "It's not every day I see girls I know like that. I'm certainly not complaining or anything, but I feel kind of guilty because I know you didn't choose for that stuff to end up on the internet, so it would be kind of taking advantage to see them because you aren't consenting… this all sounds pretty dumb, doesn't it?"
"It's sweet. But it's not your fault. I guess maybe I should be flattered you looked me up. It's not your fault what came up was less than innocent. And if I went around apologizing to people for everything I saw that was not meant for me to see… well. I'd never stop apologizing. Not that I go around looking at people's stuff I shouldn't all the time. Just when I need to." She shrugs. "You're a nice guy, Magnes, but almost too nice. You don't have anything to apologize for."
"Hey, I'm a bad boy too!" Magnes playfully defends, holding a fist up. "I broke the law today, on purpose." he says with a firm nod, as if that confirms everything about his bad boyness. "And just look at this leather coat!" Holding his arms out, he quickly crosses them, trying to do a 'bad boy' pose.
"Be careful with the breaking the law shit. The government is coming down on Evolved people pretty fierce, and you just got clean slated if I understand correctly," Peyton admonishes, apparently none too impressed with his breaking the law on purpose or his leather jacket. "Keep yourself out of trouble, Magnes. You would be eaten alive in prison, I'm pretty sure."
"I'm actually pretty confident in my ability to kick total ass, physically at least. But don't worry, I didn't really do anything dangerous or even that would get me thrown in jail. Plus I read to orphans like two hours later, I think that totally cancels out any badness." Magnes pats her shoulder a few times. "Trust me, Peyton. I didn't even really need that clean slate, I've never been wanted or arrested, except in Japan probably. I'm not the kind of person who goes around getting into trouble and making a bad name for the people I'm trying to protect."
"Even if you needed it, doesn't make you a bad person," she says quietly. "There's lots of people who were in trouble for doing good things, or they were set up. And I have been arrested, so there you go. I'm a worse person than you. But not because I got arrested. Because you're just a really nice guy, and I'm not the nice person you think I am." She heads to the elevator. "No one's what you think they are, Magnes. Just not everyone has pictures on the internet to surprise you."
"I associate with pragmatists and mad scientists, Peyton." Magnes offers her a smile, looking back as she heads for the elevator, apparently not making a move to stop her. "You're one of the nicest people I know, it'll take more than pictures on the internet before I think you're not a good person. The bar's set pretty high, better blow something up!"
Peyton chuckles as she steps into the elevator. "Give me time. You might be surprised," she says. After all, she doesn't know exactly what plans Endgame has for the future — in order to procure a future they agree with. She gives a wave as the elevator doors close, hiding her from sight and leaving him in the lobby.