Participants:
| Scene Title | Three's Company |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Geeks unite! Isis stops in to check on Kendall and instead makes friends with Magnes - lucky man has got two lovely ladies to share his abode. |
| Date | March 26, 2010 |
Magnes's Apartment
Evening, after Magnes has spent quite a bit of time at the Lighthouse, fast piano playing can be heard through his apartment door. Fantasie Impromptu. When Isis knocks, the playing stops and he answers the door, wearing a blue Fantastic Four shirt and baggy blue jeans he changed into out of the wet ones from earlier. He's not wearing any shoes at the moment. "Kendall? I took him somewhere safe, I couldn't take care of him while he was sick, I've got a lot of responsibilities and all. He'll be back soon though. Want some cocoa?"
Blink blink. "Gone?" Isis stands there looking a fool for a short moment. She's clad in her usual lacking-of-color wardrobe - skinny jeans tucked into her knee-high boots, a black, fitted turtle neck, and an awkward black scarf wrapped around the lower-half of her face. She lofts a brow beneath the hem of her winter, knit cap. "Is it safe in there?" she asks, leaning in the doorway before finally shuffling forward who can resist the call of cocoa, after all, evil flu cooties or not.
"He was mostly in one room, and I constantly kept the place disinfected. You'll be fine." Magnes smiles, closing and locking the door when she enters. She'll see the few book shelves of TPBs and graphic novels, the geeky comic and movie posters, and the entertainment center with an HDTV and lots of video games, from retro to newer stuff. There's a couch across from the center, and a solid wooden table in front of that, with cabinets and such under it. She'll see the piano sitting next to the table, and smell the cocoa in the air, which he promptly heads into the kitchen to get.
When he comes back out, he hands her the mug, making sure it's not too hot, then heads back to his piano to continue playing. It's quick and expert, but he keeps the volume low so they can talk. "I'm not sure I got your name. I'm Magnes J. Varlane." he introduces from his comfortable computer chair that was brought from his room.
Isis wanders through the main room of the apartment while waiting for her host to fetch the cocoa. She unwinds the scarf from around her face and even removes her jacket, setting them over the sofa's arm as she eyes a shelf of supreme nerdiness."I like your pad," she quips as the mug is passed off into her cold, small, eager hands. She watches the man's fingers dance across the keys, blowing at the swirls of steam eminating from her mug. "I-Joanne King. Nice to meet you.
She wanders nearer and taps a few choice keys to accent Magne's melody. "Seriously. You spoil yourself rotten… Ok. I got one for you. Ultimate nerd question: Do you D&D?" She grins - a wickedly sweet sparkle shining in her emerald eyes.
"Only since around the middle of 3.5. Been a bit too busy lately to find a group, or even one other person to do it with." Magnes smiles in amusement, playing a little slower so they pace can sink up a bit. "I don't think a girl has ever asked me that before. You teasing?" he asks a bit playfully, though he's pretty sure she is!
Isis grins and sticks out her tongue. "Three point five is the best, anywho. I bought a fourth edition book…" She makes a rather disapproving gagging noise before turning her attention back to the keys beneath her own fingers. Slowly her tensions ease, her smile warming into a manner that softens her pale features. "I've always been a nerd. A rebel, but a nerd. Algebra? Calculus? Books?" She feigns a little shiver running up her spine before allowing a soft, alto chuckle to bubble over her lips.
"Man, I met a gamer girl the other day, now I meet a full blown hot geek. Either someone upstairs is trying to tell me something, or I'm just lucky." Magnes laughs, then his fingers begin to shift into playing Beethoven's fur Elise. "I'm a bit too good with numbers, parents hammered it into my head for my entire life. A lot of home school and tutors, now I remember tons of statistics for my internship."
Isis tucks her head a bit lower, aiming to hide the soft blush at her cheeks in the shadow of her rosy curls. "Thanks," she mumbles before aiming to quickly change the subject. It was one thing to get a compliment when stashed behind the bar, it's another entirely to take flattery from a completely sober individual. "So, ehm… Nothing wrong with that. I didn't have anyone forcing it down my throat. I've just always enjoy learning." She taps at the keys still, keeping a simple harmony as backdrop to Magnes's more skilled fingers. "You said you were disinfecting like mad 'round here. Does that mean…?" She lifts her face, her blush fading slowly, to fix the young man with a curious expression. "You Evo?"
Magnes doesn't answer right away, instead he looks over at his coffee table, pointing to it. It starts to slowly float from the ground, a good two feet up. "No, but my coffee table floats sometimes, if that counts for anything." He laughs, apparently not keeping it a big secret, then goes back to his playing. "What about you? I noticed you hesitated to come in."
Isis grins at the floating coffee table. "Someone call the frickin' Ghostbusters." She flashes a friendly wink, but shies away when the question is posed in back upon her in turn. "Guess the flu-cooties make it a bit harder for us to hide, yeah?" She offers a bitter-sweet chuckle and withdraws her hand from the piano entirely, taking a closer grip on her mug and stealing a sip. "My ability is a bit more… awkward to show." She offers a shrug. "But, yeah, I'm Evo."
"It's alright, you don't have to show me. I've read enough comics to know that some things are difficult." Magnes lowers the table, finally stopping the playing himself, then stands and heads to take a seat on the couch, grabbing the remote. "This flu will be solved soon, we'll be fine."
"You really think so?" Isis's fingers dance on the mug as she rounds the edge of the sofa and invites herself to a seat next to Magnes. "How do you know? And, well… I'm a curious little cat - why did you send Kendall away? Something about responsibilities?"
"There's always people working on these things. An old friend of mine said I have to trust in other people to solve problems sometimes." Magnes drops the remote into her lap, then just lounges back and relaxes. "I have my job as an intern, which often involves me getting a sudden call. I have to take care of the kids at the Lighthouse now, since that dog attack. I'm trying to help them find the dogs that attacked, and I wanna give them an extra hand. Plus I'm pretty bad at taking care of a sick kid."
Isis looks down at the remote. "Ya know, I haven't actually vegged out and watched TV in ages." She grins and punches the power button. With a little wiggle of her shoulders, she snuggles back into the sofa. "Tell me 'bout it - who lets that kid walk out into the street?" She wrinkles her nose, but flashes Magnes an easy enough smile. "You help out at the Lighthouse?" She perks up a bit, looking to the young man with a new respect. "Is Brian still over there?"
"It's nice to just relax sometimes, y'know? Forget all the crap going outside for a few hours." Magnes lifts his cocoa from the coffee table, then starts taking a few sips. "Not sure, I'm kind of new there. You know Gillian? She's who invited me. We've been friends for a few years. And Kendall's parents kicked him out, that's why I took him in. I tried to talk to them, only time will tell if they change their mind."
"Poor kid," she mumbles. She looks down into the dark liquid within her mug. "You've got a nice outlook on life, ya know that?" She flashes a smile and looks up to watch the Pepto-Bismol commercial for a few moments. "What's your story? With your family, I mean. How'd you end up here playing Mr. Good for the Lighthouse and whatnot?"
"I'm still a bit in the grey area with my parents, they disappeared after the bomb but recently I learned from someone that they most likely abandoned me for some reason. I'm going to see them after the blizzard, for the first time in years." Magnes keeps his eyes pretty clued to the TV as well, but his talking lets her know he's pretty attentive to the discussion. "I lived above the pizza shop and worked for Mister Panucci since I lost contact with my parents. Everything else just kind of happened by chance, and from helping and wanting to help people whenever I could. But growing up, it was all homeschool. I was pretty repressed, didn't have friends until I was a teenager, my parents were trying to groom a physicist. I'm twenty-two and my first kiss was last year, to give you an idea."
The television suddenly becomes a great deal less interesting. There is that blank, blinking stare of hers again. "Last year?" She smiles a fun, wickedly amused smile. "Congratulations?" Her expression continues onward into a playful grin. "Boyo, after all it sounds like you've been through - you need to get out more! We might be nerds, but it doesn't mean we don't know how to party."
"I've been to two parties! They were both birthday parties, actually. I was in a club once, my friend gave me a drink that was way too strong, so I got drunk and everyone in the crowd started passing me around because I was making them float, so most of the club started floating while the band was playing." Magnes snickers, then squints and gives her a playfully inquisitive look. "How did you end up a nerd, anyway? I mean, no offense or anything, but you look more like the kind of girl who'd be calling me a dork. I like that you're a hot geek and everything, but you have to understand, it's kind of like seeing Big Foot for a guy like me."
Isis leans forward to set down her mug and throw up her hands in a surrendering fashion. "Alright, stop it with the 'hot' stuff!" she quips with a bright laugh. "Listen, I looked a bit different when I was younger. Not to say that I looked nerdy, but, uh… You know, different." She shrugs. "Anyway, what's the deal? I can't have brains and boobs?" She pauses a moment and suddenly squints in a thoughtful expression. "You know… you're right, I don't recall meeting any fairly attractive, nerdy ladies. What gives?"
Her first excuse defeated, she sighs and leans back, clasping her hands in her lap. "Honestly? I was just never much of a people person. Never liked them much. Always've kept them at a good distance…"
"Well, that's alright, we don't all have good social skills. Most of the people I know basically treat me like I have the plague." Magnes shrugs, though his eyes quickly looked down at her chest at the mention of boobs, he averted them back to the television. "Oh well, at least we can relate on some things. A quiet evening at home away from the blizzard's better anyway, right?"
Isis follows Magnes's gaze for a quick moment, subsequently staring most awkwardly at her own chest before hurriedly righting her gaze to a randomly selected portion of empty wall. Silly geeks. She fidgets in her seat. "Can't complain. I've been holing up in a hotel since I've gotten back into town. I hate the snow too much to venture out apartment hunting in this god-forsaken weather." Awkwardness easing once more, she slumps down in the seat, making herself cozy.
"Hey, why waste money on a hotel? We seem to know some of the same people, you can stay on my couch. My roommate won't mind, she's here free too." Magnes offers, though his gaze never really leaves the television, afraid his eyes might start moving on their own again. "We can play video games, watch movies, read…"
"No, no… I couldn't…" Isis pauses, letting her gaze slink back towards the kid at her side. "I mean, I shouldn't put you out like that." She gives her shoulders a little wiggle, sinking deeper into the plush sofa. "But, I mean, we could set up some D&D," she says with a sly smile. "If you're sure, I wouldn't mind a place with company that is more than the shallow echo of creepy neighbors coming through the walls…" She leans in closer to Magnes, lowering her voice to a whisper. "It's twisted the things you'll hear through paper-thin hotel walls." She shudders.
"Sure! We could get a whole campaign going! I'll be a Feyri Warlock…" Magnes smiles excitedly, though when she leans in and whispers, his cheeks suddenly go bright red, and he's stammering over his words. "Uh, I, um, yeah, I know, the walls, and stuff…"
Isis offers a lopsided smirk as she leans away. "Relax! I don't bite… hard." With a quick smile, she hops up from the couch. "Alright. But, I get to play a rouge Drow," she replies, painting on a falsely serious expression and pointing a finger back at Magnes. "Let me shoot over to the hotel and collect my things before some weirdo maid begins sniffing my panties or some such." She wrestles back into her jacket and scarf, carefully straightening her gloves before heading to the door. "Hey, Mags? Thanks. I appreciate it." With a click of the door she's off to gather her belongings.