Participants:
| Scene Title | Want The Best For Him |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Elaine visits Yana to try and implore her to help do what she thinks is best for Magnes. |
| Date | May 6, 2011 |
Yana's Apartment, Dorchester Towers
It hadn't been too hard for Elaine to figure out where it was that Yana lived. Considering how unique her name was, it wasn't as if she was going to be hunting down every Smith she could find an address for. Heading over to the Dorchester in the afternoon, the redhead taps her chin lightly as she waits for the elevator to head up to Yana's floor. Arriving at the apartment, Elaine taps lightly at the door, waiting patiently for a response from within.
Yana is weary. She is a little on the exhausted side and might be coming down with a bit of a headache. After all, majorly altering a virus and then releasing it into a Correctional Facility over the past few days has been a heck of a usage of her power. It is no wonder she isn't at her best. She also wasn't exactly expecting company, as she lies stretched across a leather chair in the front room, one not unlike a seat you would see in the psychiatrist's office. Wearing a sheer silk gown for casual lounging and laying with one arm over her eyes, she looks up as there is a knock. It is Christopher's job to answer the door, which he stops in his current task of working in the kitchen to walk over and open the door. The tall man peers at the woman behind it, not recognizing her.
"May I help you?" he asks.
"Oh!" Elaine isn't exactly expecting to see a man. Really, she's a bit confused as to his presence. Maybe she got the wrong address? "I'm looking for Elvira Blite? I wanted to speak to her regarding Magnes Varlane. Uh, do I have the right apartment?" She inquires politely.
The man is dressed in the manner of a majordomo. He barely registers his confusion as to the presence of the woman, though some words in what she says sound legitimate. Yana is up from her spot a second later, pulling her gown up onto her shoulder which had previously lazed off. "Christoper? Who is it? Someone looking for Magnes?" she had at least heard his name, "Go ahead and let them in." A hand rising to rub the front of her forehead, hoping the headache doesn't suddenly decide to go full blown.
The tall man moves to the side and opens the door wide to allow her enterance.
Elaine steps into the apartment, clearing her throat as she steps inside. She nods towards Yana. "I hope I'm not interrupting. I suppose I really should have called. You're Elvira, right? I was hoping to talk to you about Magnes."
Yana regards her with a scrutinizing gaze. It is unusual for someone to come around regarding Magnes of all things. Her most rational explanation is that Magnes is possibly injured, and couldn't call so he had someone come to Yana to tell her. Which would be typical. "Yes, I am Elvira. I take it he is in some kind of trouble? It isn't really like him to send someone. I don't believe we've met?"
There's a bit of a laugh from Elaine before she smiles. "No, Magnes isn't in any kind of trouble. God, at least I hope he's not. I've probably just jinxed it by saying that." She offers a small nod to Yana. "I'm Elaine Darrow. Magnes and I used to date." A pause. "I'm actually here to just… discuss Magnes, actually. He doesn't know I'm here, and I'd prefer it remain that way."
It makes a bit more sense to her now, "Mm, so then you are Elaine. There has been quite a bit of talk of you from Magnes' end." Her suspicions melt away a bit, allowing her to relax enough to accept the situation. "I figured it would not be too long before we had met." Now that she is more comfortable, she looks over to Christopher and makes eye contact, in which unspoken and an ungestured gesture is given with just her eyes, the man knowing her well enough to get pick up her meaning just from the look and from simple courtesy, and he moves to prepare water. "Please, come in, have a seat You'll have to forgive my weariness, it's been a busy few days."
"Oh, no, that's perfectly alright. Again, I'm sorry I didn't call in advance. I just wanted to meet you and have a frank conversation about Magnes," Elaine says, moving further into the apartment as she smoothly moves to take a seat. "I'm sure, by now, you're quite aware of… just how unique Magnes really is."
Yana takes her own seat, resting quite elegantly, and delivering one leg to cross over the other. Not seconds after she settles in are two empty cups brought over and set on the table in front of Elaine and Yana by Christopher. "Quite." Yana responds rather dryly, "So much so, that he is trying to kill himself, it seems." Yana lifts her gaze to look at Elaine as she lets the phrase linger a few beats, "I assume you are aware of his alternate running around and causing problems."
Elaine nods, offering a smile towards Christopher as he brings the cups over. She looks back towards Yana. "I'm aware. I've actually met him, unfortunately. However, it did put a few things in perspective in regards to Magnes. I'm rather hoping you'll help me regarding him. I'm a bit concerned. I'm sure you know what a loose cannon he can be…"
"I've heard quite a few opinions and stories from several people. And in the beginning, he was something of a rough edge." Yana nods, "However, Magnes as of a few months ago, tries to be on his best behavior. He has this undying notion that he needs to refine himself in order to impress me to view him as more than just a pupil." A hand lifts for her finger to push her hair back from her face, "I've had repeated discussions with him to curtail this behavior, but I am sure you know how well he listens to the things that you say. He can be difficult. Though I will admit, he hasn't done anything outlandish while acting like this, so there is a plus side."
"Yes, I agree that he's been… well, a little better behaved. That's a good thing. However… one thing Magnes himself pointed out is something that made me believe it would be wise if you were to… discourage him from hanging around," Elaine rubs the back of her neck. "Granted, I cannot tell you what to do, I can just tell you what I know from Magnes and what he himself mentioned in our last conversation that leads me to believe that him continuing to spend a lot of time with you is detrimental to him."
"Discourage him from hanging around?" Yana arches a brow, quite curious as to what she might mean. "Well, at this point, I'm not sure anything short of personal injury or termination would keep him away. In fact, discouraging him would only bring him with more questions as to why, and what he could do to change my mind, which in turn would make him come around even more than he does now." Yana mulls over the request, considering on how she is going to feel about it herself, "This is really something that you should likely take up with Magnes, as opposed to me. If I start suddenly changing the way things are now, then he'll get curious and when he gets curious… well you see where I'm going with this."
"I already tried to talk to Magnes. He hung up the phone on me, which he's never done before. The thing is… Magnes works well when you point out a fault he has or tell him something honest about himself he may not be willing to admit until someone else calls him on it," Elaine says, leaning forward a bit. "The reason he's hanging around and doing exactly what you say is because he doesn't believe he can do any better. He's playing it safe, not risking a real relationship because he doesn't think he can get one. He thinks you're his only option, that you're what's best for him because he can't have anything else. He's unhealthily obsessing over you because he doesn't believe he's worth anything. And you continuing to let him believe that he has some kind of chance of something romantic."
The hot tea kettle is brought over, and water is poured into the cups, along with the production of tea bags, which Yana dips into her steaming water. "I see. So you think that I let him believe that he has a chance at something, even after I have.. repeatedly told him that it isn't going to happen. I've not only told him that I have no interest in pursuing a romantic relationship, but I've also reprimanded him on constantly bringing up the subject of relationships whenever he encounters me. I've done what I could to disused him so far, short of being rude, which is a step I shall not take." Yana shakes her head, adding a bit of cream and sugar to her tea, "I again, believe that this is something you need to take up with Magnes, unless you suggest I take extreme measures to get rid of him?"
Elaine purses her lips a little, dipping her tea bag into the hot water carefully before she lets it steep. "Oh, no, I don't believe you've led him on at all. It's more that he's gotten it in his head that whatever his friendship with you is, that it can take the place of a relationship with a woman because it is the best he can do. He's not going after romantic opportunities because he believes he can't do better. He's holding himself back because he doesn't believe in himself. I'm not asking you to be rude or use extreme measures, but anything I say just makes him defensive. What I'm asking you to do is encourage him to pursue other things. Redirect his efforts. He listens to you… at least in as much as he wants to please you. If you can get him to believe in himself, gain some self-confidence… he might not take his obsession to such an extreme. He eats up praise… if you can point out his good points, perhaps he'll realize he has options." She pauses. "I wish I could make him see this myself, but he isn't looking to me for his self-worth. He's looking to you."
Yana's smile is slight, her eyes on her tea as she lifts the bag with the spoon and wraps the string around it to squeeze the water back into her cup, "I'm in a bit of a position. I also recently told him to stop trying to please me and not take our relationship to that level. From what I've observed of him, at this point, if I were to.. start praising him, it would not only ignite the hope that he has somehow melted my heart, but he will no doubt double his efforts to 'win' me as it were. I've been trying to steer him to focus on business when he stops by, and encourage him to take his personal problems to his friends. I'm not sure how effective it's been, but I haven't seen him in week or so." Yana brings the cup to her lips and sips gently, "I'd like to avoid giving him an inch for him to take a mile? So to speak. I've been down that road with him, and it is difficult to turn back off of it once he's been on."
Dunking her teabag carefully, Elaine removes the bag after a moment and pours some cream in. "I see what you're saying. The real problem is, though, is that he doesn't believe in himself. He needs to realize he's got more potential, but in a way that isn't you just praising him. I think we just need to find a way to trick him into realizing he's not worthless. It just requires a little… thought. I just want to be sure we're on the same page with things, at least. I mean… you do understand what I mean about Magnes, though, don't you? Do you believe it's unhealthy?"
"For a normal person." Yana nods, "And for me at times, yes. But Magnes isn't a normal person. He came to me believing he was worthless and he continues to believe he is worthless no matter what he does. I simply just let him be in that aspect, and instruct in on what he requested me to. If the current object of his attention, which would be me, were to start feeding his need for approval, then it would create a whole different monster in itself. And honestly, I do have more important things to focus on than Magnes as of late. I can't pay him the attention he craves, as I have been busy with work, and given the news reports, I'll probably get even busier." She presses two of her fingers to the bridge of her nose and massages firmly with a sigh, "The best advice I can give is to just let him be. Perhaps he'll move onto something else."
"I don't need advice on what I should do," Elaine says, frowning just slightly. She stirs her tea, staring into it for a moment before taking a sip. "I'm not asking you to pay attention to him or spend any extra effort on him, I'm only asking that you are honest with him should some topic come up in which you can use to get him to stop obsessing. Even for Magnes, this is unhealthy."
"That is just it. I've been nothing but honest with Magnes. Brutally in fact, which would be one of the reasons he respects me. However, there are personal secrets which I choose to keep from expressing to him, as I do with anyone else. We all have those. But with most everything else, I have been upfront and honest. Our meeting now," Yana lifts her eyes from her cup to look at Elaine, "Would mark the second thing for me to not be honest with him about." There has been one other who requested that Magnes not be informed of meeting her, and so far she has kept that secret. "It does seem like he has stopped obsessing about you… and believe me, in the beginning he was. And if I did that by being honest with him, then perhaps that is the key to get him to focus on other things."
Elaine chews on her lower lip as she observes Yana, reaching for her cup again and sipping from it. "I understand. I just mean that, should the opportunity arise, I would appreciate it if you would tell him it's unhealthy. That he is capable of a healthy relationship with a woman who is not you and he should not hesitate in seeking someone out. It would do him a world of good to have that little seed planted in him and he wouldn't believe it coming from me. But if you've always been honest with him… there's no better person to point it out. Should the opportunity arise, of course."
Yana shakes her head, "He didn't believe me." Which means she has already done that or something very similar. "When he initially spoke of this whole.." she waves her hand through the air in a rotation gesture, "Celibacy thing, he went on to talk about how he compared other women to me and the way that I carry myself. I admit to a greater degree of refinement, which he spoke of being attracted to. But he also doesn't know any other women like me, so naturally he feels others pale in his comparison. Were he to find someone similar, who is interested in a relationship, I believe he would untangle, so to speak." Yana shrugs, giving a few more sips which finishes her tea. "But, I'll see what I can do. I can't promise it will work of course, or that he won't become something else other than obsessed. But it is good to know that he has people that are concerned about him enough to come to me. It does make things a bit easier." Yana smiles. "You'll have to excuse me for now, Miss Darrow. I'm afraid I've exhausted all of the free time I have. I need to get back to work. I'll make sure not to inform Magnes of our meeting, and I'll give some thought as to how to go about your request. Thank you for stopping by."
Getting to her feet, Elaine offers Yana a smile. "I'm grateful that we had the chance to talk. It's much appreciated. I don't know that there's much else I can do on my end to help Magnes right now, so whatever you can do would be important." She moves towards the door, glancing back over her shoulder. "And thank you for the consideration, it means a lot to me that you'd try and help. Magnes is a good friend and even if he sometimes forgets he has friends and people who care about him, we're still here and want the best for him."