Summary:Quinn reveals the truth to Bobby on their first 'Date'. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongNone |
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Bobby's office is on the main floor of the Institute; before he took over, it was kind of a mess, with huge piles of paperwork stacked on the desk, a rather disorganized filing system, and a thin layer of dust settled on everything that didn't get touched with any kind of regularity. Now that he's taken over the accounting job here, not a whole lot has changed; what, you thought Bobby Drake was going to be the pinnacle of organization and cleanliness? He's sitting at the desk, where he's cleared enough space to work on whatever he's working on, and there's a laptop with a spreadsheet open. This, apparently, is how the Institute's bills get paid.
The door bursts open without so much of a knock; Bobby had to known it was Quinn who was marching down the hallway, not mad, but it was just the way she walks. Like a drag queen with heels that were too tall, instead of strutting she's prancing like a horse, all hips and sway. But once inside, the door closes. And locks.
She approaches the desk, her arms folded about her chest, rocking back and forth as she waits to be acknowledged. And then, impatience. "Bobby. Robert. Bobby look at me."
Bobby ignores Quinn. He's concentrating on something, scratching some figures on the pad of paper beside him as he does some calculations, and enters the results on the spreadsheet with his off-hand. Every time Quinn says his name, his expression sours just a tiny bit more, as she's trying to distract him. Finally, he finishes whatever he was doing, and puts the pencil down, and looks up at Quinn. "Hi Quinn," he says, letting out a bit of a sigh. He's a bit annoyed by her pestering, but it's over now; he'll deal. "What's up?" No-one ever comes down here, and when they do it's usually because they need money budgeted for something. It also means Bobby can usually be promised peace and quiet to work, but apparently not today!
"Bobby. Roberrrrrt." She even stomps her foot. Once he does finally put his pen down, she drags a chair over to plop right down upon it. "Listen. I know you're busy but I haven't seen you in days ever since we left from my parents house." Maybe.. maybe just what the maid said was embarrassing enough for him to keep away. She doesn't know, and doesn't want to pry. "What are you doing? What are you doing?" She was pushing papers, but she knew what he was doing. And she knew what -she- was doing. She was annoying him.
"Okay, I'll stop." She says, leaning back into the chair. She really, really just wanted company. And someone to help her go through her mess again. To find her friends. "I do need your help though. My missing friends. Could you see if they've ever returned to the school after? Talk to Charles or.. I don't know, maybe we go to their houses." They were her Quinnettes, the Omega Bitches. Her .. well, the band of monsters that really only ever understood her. "I know I'm all one track and.. sure I was there when the police station blowed up but.. y'know, about that! Who the fuck died and put Scott Eyeball Summers in fucking charge?"
Bobby closes the laptop, puts his papers away, and drops the pen in the little cup on the desk with a bunch of other ones, most of which no longer work. "You ever read Lord of the Flies, Quinn? Summers is Ralph, and always has been. I'm like.. I dunno, Simon. Definitely not Piggy." It doesn't end well for Piggy. No-one wants to be Piggy. "Ralph ends up the leader because he's the only one who really tries to lead at first. He's the one who sees the need for order and rules, when everyone else just wants to look out for themselves." He leans back and looks at Quinn properly, finally. "No-one put him in charge, he just.. is." And that's the way it's supposed to be. "You know I'm happy to help you figure out what happened to your friends, Quinn. I don't know how much I can really do, but let's give it a shot. But if you want someone to talk to the Professor, it should be you, not me." He'll come with, but Bobby isn't on point here. "If you want to do the legwork, we can go door to door and try to track them down. Just.. if you're not gonna buy me a new car, stop ragging on the one I've got," he says with a bit of a sarcastic smirk.
Story time! Though Quinn doesn't look thrilled. She -actually- for once came to Bobby to ask him for help. So as he continues, her arms fold around her chest, her eyes narrow, it seems as if her hair grew darker in that moment, along with the red of her cheeks. She was -slowly- getting furious, but then she eases up, taking in a deep breath and..
"Scott is.." She takes another deep breath, then blows it out with a breath of air. "Okay." Change of subject, now onto the professor. She shakes her head, her hand snatching up as if to dismiss the entire notion. "Ever since you got a new car I said -nothing- about your old car." She even leans forward, pointing a hand towards the surface of the desk. "We -technically- don't even need a car. I was just doing that to help us. Like, I ain't keen on flying ever goddamned where." She snuffs a little, but then flops back into the chair, staring into the corner with her arms crossed again.
"You hungry or what." She mutters, still frowning.
"I could ice-slide around everywhere too, but there's logistical concerns, and the fact that people would probably notice," Bobby says with a bit of a smirk again. He can tell his little speech got on her nerves, but hey, turnabout is fair play, right? She knows how to press his buttons, he knows how to press hers. "Okay, okay. Look, let's just make a deal, Quinn. Let's both just agree to be nice today, okay? No sniping, no teasing. Yes, I'm hungry. Let's get sandwiches and make a plan." Plans are always better with food. Plans are even better than that when they're about the food. Bobby stands, and holds out his hand for Quinn, like he wants to shake on the agreement. Probably already failing at not annoying her.
Quinn Quire says, ""
Quinn doesn't stand right away. In her mind, she technically asked him out on a date. Would he actually realize that? Probably not. But, she bounces her leg as she stares at his hand, sniffing a quick sniff, then reaches out to take his hand. But, the way she held it wasn't designated for a shake.
So as she rises, she takes ahold of his hand like he was asking to be led, then pulls him around the desk to head for the door. "Fine. I'll try to be nice. Just don't say stupid shit." She squeezes his hand, and if he could tell, she was just a little bit grateful to not be alone today.
"What you wa.." She clears her throat, then corrects herself. "Pick a place. I'll buy."
"Saying stupid shit is kind of my brand, Quinn, but I'll do my best," Bobby says. The holding of hands sure comes as a bit of a shock, but he'll roll with it, and gets led around to the door and beyond. She actually seems to be.. being nice. Which is nice. A bit confusing, but nice. Did he pick on the fact that she asked him on a date? Not in the least. Because boys are oblivious to that kind of thing. "You know me, I'll eat pretty much anything," he says with a bit of a shrug. Wait, she was trying to be nice, don't just shrug it off. "I know a place. You'll like it, trust me." He gives Quinn a smile, and moves ahead, leading her now, but not letting go of her hand, on the way out of the mansion.
Quinn says nothing. They had a deal, she had to be nice and well, she was practically using him for company. Or was she? If the truth were able to be revealed some day, one would find she actually fancies him. He's actually giving her a -chance-.
"Okay.." Is all she murmurs, allowing herself to be followed, not even snatching her hand away from Bobby's as they move out into the open and prying eyes. "Good thing you're driving.." She mutters, still.. it was nice, right? Her being nice. To her, it felt just.. odd. "Listen." She says, tugging her hand away once they were halfway to the car. "I.. know you kind of.. you.." She shifts a little. "..fuck it. Let's go. We can just plan in the car."
In truth, it feels a bit odd to Bobby, too. But hell, he'll take it if he's not going to be derided. They continue to walk to the car, and he gives her a sidelong look when she kind of trails off and changes her mind about whatever it was she was gonna say. "Indecisiveness doesn't become you, Q. Just tell me whatever you wanted to tell me; one-time exemption from the rules, in case it wasn't gonna be nice. I'm a tough guy, I can take it," he says, giving her a grin. Probably gonna regret that. Oh look, the car!
Quinn lets out an exasperated sigh, then stomps her hand to turn to face him. "Fine. I know you're only doing this because you're supposed to, okay? Now I can't go back and say I want a clean slate after all of the things that happened, and I know I can't just up and expect you to help me. Alright?" She was walking to the car now, not wanting to look him in the eye. "So like, from here on out. I can be on my own, I can do this on my own. It just.. felt.. a bit nice to have someone around even if I kinda forced the issue."
Once she reaches the door of the new Hyundai, she waves her hand over the door to unlock it from the inside, but she waits to get in. "So.." She inhales, then lets it out. "..lets not talk about it. We're going to go where the investigation takes us. Let's just.. eat. That cool?"
"Heh." Bobby stops before he gets in the car, and looks solidly at Quinn. "I don't have to help you. No-one told me to, no-one asked me to but you. If I didn't want to, I wouldn't. You're trying to do the right thing, and I want to help you get there." It doesn't hurt that, well, he kind of likes her too. For reasons. "But okay, no talking about it. Let's go do the thing." The eating thing first. Bobby unlocks the car (unnecessarily, apparently) and gets in the driver's side, waiting for Quinn to climb in as well, and starts the car. It's not a long drive to where he has in mind.
Quinn rolls her eyes. She so hates that word, but she keeps it to herself for the sake of being nice. "Well.." Is all she could say about that. He was completely right. As he gets into the car, she soon follows, plopping into the passenger seat and buckling her belt. She waits for him to take off, then mutters quietly. "Don't know if I said thank you and all.." And that was that. It was her thank you. Awkward, really.
"Well, you're welcome, Q," Bobby says with a turn of his head and a smile to the young woman. He means it, and she'd most likely sense that. He really is just too much of an after-school special. The drive isn't far, and within not much more than ten minutes or so, they're pulling up in front of a diner. Dukes, it says on the window, and a few cartoony pictures of food as decals. Bobby puts the car in park, and turns to Quinn again. "Okay, so you have to have kind of an open mind. The owner's a bit rough around the edges, and the place doesn't have a lot of.. I dunno, polish. But the food is fantastic."
She sensed it. With as much time they've spent together, they were starting to form a connection that.. was rather unhealthy, in Quinn's mind. Still, the rest of the way she was quiet, and when they arrived at the diner, she just stared out the window. Even as he talked, her hand reached out to press against the glass of it, her eyes nearly glazing over, her head pounding just a little as she feels the small vestiges of a memory come through.
No. They weren't going to talk. Quinn had decided, without Bobby's permission, that this would be a date.
"O..Okay.." She says hesitantly, her hand shaking as she reaches for the door and pushes herself out quickly, at least before Bobby could know that anything was wrong. She sniffs hard, then steps away to slam the door behind her, wiping away at her face and fixing her hair, as well as that black jean jacket that she wears. "Hurry the he-.." She stops herself. "Lets go."
Bobby climbs out of the car and comes around to Quinn's side, offering her his hand again. Why? He couldn't really tell you, it just felt like the thing to do. He can tell she's really trying here, so her minor little slip-ups in patience and choice of words are ignored. Whether or not he has the wherewithal to tell if he's being stupid or annoying though, that's another question. He'll lead her inside, and immediately find a booth to sit in with her, because apparently that's the kind of place it is. Menus are already on the table, and it's not terribly busy, but there are a few people eating. And if Quinn looks at the food, it's pretty standard diner fare; but the burgers are -huge-. Which would explain why Bobby seems to love the place. It probably didn't even occur to him to make sure Quinn didn't have any dietary restrictions.. vegetarian, or vegan, or anything.. no time like the present, right? "Oh, uh.. you're not like.. vegetarian or vegan or anything, right? Allergies? I've got this whole thing planned out here in my head, but I didn't even think to check.."
The hand was taken and squeezed, and instead of tugging him close to her, she leans into the arm. As they enter and he leads her into a booth, another memory begs to surface, but with as much control as she could.. she shifts it to the side for now.
"No. I can eat anything." Which was true, there were a few things on her list that she wouldn't dare touch. Diner food? Definitely on the list of 'must devour now', because there was usually no failing that. And surprisingly enough, she was hungry.
The menu was picked up and held out in front of her face, hiding herself so that she could mentally shift. Her eyes were twitching quickly, nearly phasing into a brief spot of white before snapping back to reality again. She didn't 'block' the memories persay, but she made them less prominent, trained herself to push it away, maybe into a dream. This place -definitely- hit her mark.
Slapping the menu down, she quickly grabs a napkin, dabbing at her soon to be bloody nose as she mutters quietly. "I got my order ready.." She looks up towards him and tries to smile. "What you getting?"
"Nachos to start, house burger with fries and gravy, two corn dogs and banana cream pie for dessert." He didn't even look at the menu. Clearly not Bobby's first rodeo. He had watched Quinn as she hid behind the menu, and then drops it just as quickly. "Are you okay there, Q?" He's not completely oblivious, only mostly. Exactly what's going on, he really has no idea, but he can tell there's something on her mind at the very least. He'll even reach his hand over to take hers again, if she'll let him. Again, not sure what possessed him to do it, but it felt right.
Quinn leans over to look underneath the table just to see Bobby's physique. He was skinny so.. how in the hell was he able to hold all of that food down? Whatever! As she pops up, her hand is lightly touched, and her gaze falls upon his fingers and her hand slowly slides from underneath them. "Yeah. Just a little headache. Probably more hungrier than I thought."
Lies you tell!
"I'm going to head to the bathroom. You know what I want."
Double bacon cheeseburger; fried onions, once slice of tomato, hold the lettuce, sweet pickles and american cheese layered, ketchup, mustard, pinch of mayo. Chocolate malt and a hot apple pie with an ice cream scoop for desert. Nothing -too- bad.
As she passes by him, she does give him a touch to the shoulder, then moves into the back. Manuvering her place around there felt second nature, but to her it was odd.
Bobby's mutant power is actually an interdimensional portal in his stomach, obviously. The ice stuff is all just a convenient side-effect. In truth, he's just always had that kind of metabolism where he could eat massive amounts of junk and not gain weight. He's just lucky that way.
Quinn's short explanation doesn't necessarily gain his belief, but he's not going to press her on it. As much as he doesn't really know Quinn -too- well at this point, he knows enough that pushing her to talk about something when she's not ready to isn't going to go well. "Alright," he answers with a nod. And the sudden realization that he -does- know what she wants is met with the lightest of grimaces; it's not something he'll ever get used to, but again, he doesn't make a fuss about it. He'll give her a smile as she excuses herself, and let her get on her way. Never interrupt a lady on her way to the restroom. In the time she's gone, Duke himself will come over to get their orders; a surly man in a plaid shirt and a backwards ball cap, but he's congenial enough and Bobby seems to know just how to talk to him. That done, Bobby taps his fingers on the table a bit, re-freezes the ice-cubes in both their waters, and glances toward where Quinn walked off to see if she's one her way back yet. Resisting the urge to pull out his phone and play some stupid game. Or worse, Facebook.
Once in the bathroom, Quinn immediately goes for the sink, turning on the water to splash her face and pat it awake. All she needed to do was focus, once this little.. whatever it was, was over, she could come back to the diner. It was backwards. She asked him for help, but instinctively, she didn't want his help when it came to this.
As she looked into the mirror, she quickly rights herself, then exits the bathroom. A quick bump into a waittress had her glancing back with a scowl, and right towards the booth she goes to plop down and sit.
So, she was going to come out right with it.
"This is our date." She states, then grabs her glass of water to sip with her straw. "You like it or no?"
Uh. Bobby blinks and stares for just a moment. It takes him that long to process it. "Date. Okay." He furrows his brow a moment in thought, and then apparently decides. "Yes." See, oblivious. In all honesty, he didn't need to think about it. Pretty girl, smart and interesting, if perhaps a little on the.. oh I don't know, cruel and radical side? What's there to think about? "Okay, so a date. That kind of changes the parameters. For one, I should have asked for no onions on my burger." Amateur mistake, Drake. "Two, my signature move has always been a milkshake for us to share." Which should come as no surprise. Bobby and a frozen treat? Come on. "But.. yes. This is probably where I would have taken you anyway.."
Quinn watches Bobby work through everything, and a slow grin appears upon her face. He -was- oblivious. It was enough to distract him from what was briefly wrong with her, but it wasn't a bad idea to actually tell him that's what was going on. Hell, she decided it was a date when they were back at the office.
"I got the milkshake already. And I don't like to share." Boom, there was rude Quinn again, and she quickly counters.. "But I'll share with you." She smiles, prettily in her attempt, then leans back and looks around. "I probably would have taken you somewhere else. Not .. something upscale even though I have refined tastes but.." She shrugs. "There's this place that sells a plate of chicken for one hundred bucks. Totally worth it. Twice fried."
Bobby will, again, let it slide. He smiles at her. It's a bit goofy, but that's Bobby for you. "For a hundred bucks a plate, that better be the best damn chicken in the world," he comments with a grin. He's a man of simple tastes, for the most part; diner food and cream pie are his idea of a great meal, after all. "You let me buy you dinner here today, and I'll let you take me for twice-fried chicken. Deal? Oh, and yes, you have to share your milkshake."
"Maaybe.." And for once, Quinn plays up the shy and coy. In fact, asking him on another date after this one was a terrifying concept. At least she could feel that he was at least genuine, even though she lacks the empathy needed to tell. But, he was already on it! A second date was in the works and she just puts her hand upon her chin to keep her mouth closed, partially hiding a smile with her fingers as her gaze falls to the outside of the window. She could feel the nagging bits of another memory and.. it was shelved away. And it hurt.
See, Bobby's not completely useless! He's smooth, and it's not just the perpetual babyface. "Afterward we can argue about which one was better," he jokes, looking out the window as she does, maybe trying to see what it is she's looking at. "So.. how long have you been wanting to do this?" Yep, make the girl spill her secrets. Pro dating that, Bobby.
"Hmm?" Quinn mutters, pulling her attention away from outside to Bobby. "Oh. I don't know. Probably after the tenth time we had sex." Was it ten? Quinn forgot. But such bold admittance of their prior bad acts could be a telling sign of danger. At least for Bobby's brain. Maybe. She wasn't sure. She still nearly wants to erase everything that he's possibly heard from her parents maid.
"Or do you mean just coming here and doing nothing at all?" She shifts now, leaning back as the waittress delivers their food. Quinn doesn't wait for Bobby to eat, she was already devouring the onion rings without so much as breathing, and readily picking apart her burger to eat.
Bobby nods. That makes sense. Wait. "What? I mean.. ten?" He counts on his fingers, but doesn't get past one. And that was.. well. Yeah. Even as the food arrives, he looks at her with confusion. She wouldn't, would she? She couldn't. She didn't. She's just messing with him. Because that'd be.. no. Clearly a prank. With half an eye still on Quinn, Bobby starts on his nachos. Because no matter what is going on, there's no reason to let good nachos go to waste. And then he puts it down. "TEN?!"
Quinn doesn't bother answering; she was too busy focusing on the flavor of her damn well cooked burger that her eyes nearly watered. Not because of his realization or questioning, but.. this was damn good! The onion rings had a super crisp and the burger was juicy and greasy. Once she was done with her few bites, she lifts her napkin to dab against her lip. "Mmhmm.." She says quietly, then swallows.
"In my defense, we both said things that we really shouldn't have said. You know that." Well.. yeah. "So. I want to start over."
Bobby just stares. "Why don't I remember any of this, Quintavia?" Yep, full name. His food is going untouched. Twenty-Minutes-Ago-Bobby is dying a little bit on the inside, because burgers are meant to be eaten. "You want to start over? Start by telling me the truth."
Her burger was big enough for her to take a bite from, which she does. She wasn't going to waste the burger because he wanted something as silly as the truth. He was here with her, that's all that mattered right? She was just probably going to wipe him in the end, after the day is out!
But, she does put it down, wiping at her mouth again as she pushes her plate of food aside. She was about to speak, when the milkshake was delivered with two straws. Fine. Truth.
"The first time was a fluke." She says honestly. "The other times were deliberate on our parts. Equally. But.." She sniffs a little, then looks out the window. Yeah, she's definitely going to wipe his memory. "The last time, I opened up my heart to you and told you that I loved you and you didn't say it back. So what was the point of me even attempting to move on from that without having us start with something.." She gestures at the both of them, and this place. "..nice. To see. I guess."
Bobby lets his mouth fall open as Quinn speaks. Every word like a dagger. When she's done, he just sits silent for a moment, staring. "I.. I can't believe.." Words fail. "WHY DON'T I REMEMBER ANY OF THIS QUINTAVIA?!" He's mad. There's a lot that Bobby can deal with; he's usually pretty chill, no pun intended. "Put it back. All of it. Now." The memories. He wants to know what the fuck happened.
Quinn stares at him, her jaw set. With a blink and a final glance around the room, she huffs. "Drink your damn water because this is going to hurt." She gives him a moment, and others as well. They -were- looking, and suddenly, they were not. Not because she pushed them to not look, because they were embarrased by the way that Quinn glared at them. The owner, couldn't give a flying fuck.
If he chooses to drink the water or not, she'd lean over to touch his hand, gripping it hard as she begins to push the memories back. It was a quick dump, one that would cause a ice-pick like pain in the skull that would be over as soon as she deposited.
And now, she sits back and waits.
"OW." She wasn't kidding about that. Bobby winces with pain, screws his eyes shut tight, and when he opens them again there's even tears starting to form. Again, he just sits and stares at Quinn. "I.." Nope. "We.." Double nope. "You.." It's gonna take him a minute to work through it all. "What the fuck, Quinn." But, he's not getting up and walking out, which is probably a good sign. He leans forward, resting his head in his hands, and takes a breath. "Okay." She's clearly hurting, and he's not exactly been innocent in all this. "You want a fresh start? Here it is. We start over, from this spot." No more mind-meddling. Everything is remembered, the good, the bad. "I like you, Quinn. Let's start with that, okay?"
Quinn immediately lets go of his hand when she was done, staring at him with searching eyes. Now he would know, as much as she tried to put on a steele and angry resolve at things, he could tell that half of it was rooted in falseness. It was all a joke to protext her exterior.
She leans back into her booth, looking out the window again, her jaw set as she nods in agreement to his terms. Maybe, just maybe, she won't wipe him again. She may well just let him keep everything. "It's not fair." She says quietly though, turning to him now.
"They're out there somewhere. Probably dead. Probably torn apart emotionally or probably captured. It's not dead and here I am with you. No reprecussions save for two years of my life that's just.. gone." She shakes her head, then reluctantly grabs and onion ring. "Maybe that's why I acted rash. Because that little family I built. I'm living a life they probably won't ever have." She bites the onion ring, then offers up that bitten onion ring for Bobby to take.
It might take Bobby some time to fully come to terms with what Quinn did, but for now he's at least able to function. "Maybe," he says quietly, taking the onion ring and biting it, and giving the last bite back to her. "You're right. It's not fair. But life isn't about what's fair. If it was, we'd have all had idyllic childhoods, not accidentally almost killed our friends, gone to a regular school, and been able to do all the things regular kids could do. But as much as life might not be fair, we also have to take responsibility for ourselves, and live with the consequences of our choices, and try to make right what we can." He picks up his burger, and takes a huge bite. He's waited long enough. "So let's not mope about past mistakes, Quinn. Let's find your people and figure out how we help them. Who's first on your list?"