(no subject)

[crackedpuzzle]

Having regained control of his assets made Francis feel like he had regained control of his whole life. But looking into it all made him groan. Finances were good, more or less unchanged. But his home! His stuff! Okay, so stuff didn't matter so much, but his downtown apartment had aways been his place of refuge. And now he found that they had put all of his stuff into storage, and used his apartment as an occasional safe-house.

That was simply Not Cool!

At least Marcus Flynn had been agreeable, when Francis had said in no uncertain terms what whomever they had in there now, if they had anyone, could be considering themselves booted out as soon as possible. They had other apartments, other houses, other places to use.

A week after Francis talk with Flynn he was standing in his mess of an apartment. All the things had been delivered from storage, box upon box upon box. This was going to take ages to sort through. Not to mention that some of the furniture weighed a ton and would require some help to move. And Ford had gone on Vacation with Darcy, and obviously not available to help. But... Quinn was still around. Actually, asking for assistance would be a terrific reason to get in touch with her again.

So he got into his car (thank the heavens that nothing had happened to his car!) and drove over to Darcy's house where he knew the younger sister Schumacher were currently staying. He hoped that she would be home, as he didn't have a phone number to reach her otherwise.

Comments

[quinn_pro_quo]

Quinn felt fairly useless. She'd moved out of Ford's place, because it didn't feel right being there and stayed in Darcy's place, which was at least more like being home, even if she couldn't remember this place. She wasn't sure she'd ever really been here. Quinn had done so much running around and not staying in one place that it was odd having to stay in some home and not move much. She was restless and bored and though she'd never say it out loud, she was lonely.
 
With her sister gone, though their relationship had never been the strongest, she felt like she was alone. Greyson, who she'd always been closer with, seemed uninterested now that he knew she was okay and Quinn knew he felt betrayed by the fact that something had been going on and no one kept him informed. And, sadly, she didn't have the companionship of the only person who actually understood what she was going through, but she kept that to herself.
 
Today, she decided to snoop through her sister's stuff to see if she'd find anything interesting; she didn't. Darcy was quite possibly the most boring person in existence. She didn't have any incriminating evidence, her place was spotless, she kept everything organized. It was boring. So she gave up after a while and sat down on the floor by the coffee table, flipping through one of her charting books with photographs of the stars and notes made beside them.
 

[crackedpuzzle]

There were no signs of anyone being home when Francis pulled up on the driveway with his Bentley, and when he got out he didn't hear anything indicating that either. But that didn't mean much, did it? Well, the best way to find out of she was there or not would be to ring the doorbell, right? So that was exactly what he did.

[quinn_pro_quo]

She definitely wasn't expecting the doorbell, but she stood up, leaving the journal open where it was and walked over to the door. Looking through the peep hole by standing on her toes, she saw none other than the red-headed man she'd been wondering about not too long ago. Quinn unlocked the door and opened it, grinning wickedly, "What brings you this direction?"

[crackedpuzzle]

Ah, she was home! Lovely. And, how could he not smile when he was greeted by such a wide grin. "Well, you. Obviously," he said, all smiles and charm. And really, why else would he be there knocking on her door? "Can I come in?"

[quinn_pro_quo]

"Obviously," she smiled and stepped back and opened the door more. Only then did she notice the Bentley outside and she tried to contain her surprise. Maybe it wasn't his? Maybe he stole it. It could be one of the neighbors... or not.
 
"Come in," she said, shutting the door behind him. "How have you been?"

[crackedpuzzle]

"Rather busy," he said as he stepped past her into the house. "I had my grand reappearance at the office the other week. Without any sort of warning I was back, mind you. I had a lot of fun turning heads with that." His grin was every inch as wicked as hers had been just a second ago. "You?"

[quinn_pro_quo]

"I wish I could have seen that," she laughed, imagining what it would be like to walk back in there just as yourself without anyone knowing what to expect. It wouldn't have the same effect if she did it, because most didn't know who she was, but she could dream, right? Right. 

Quinn shrugged when he asked how she was, "Bored." It was the word that best summed up the whole situation, though she was pretty sure lonely, frustrated, annoyed, useless, etc. would all have been other things she could have said. She stuck with 'bored' for now. "Can I get you anything?" after all, she should play host if she could, right? 

[crackedpuzzle]

If she was bored, odds were that she wasn't busy, right?

"Actually, I was hoping that I might ask for your assistance for the day." He looked equal parts apologetic and hopeful. "You see, my apartment is a mess of unpacked boxes and misplaced furniture at the moment. So I was hoping that maybe, if I bribe you with dinner later this evening, that you might help me move some of the larger things at least?"

[quinn_pro_quo]

Quinn was a little surprised by what he asked next. He came all the way this way just to ask her for help unpacking? Not that she minded, really, but it seemed odd that of all people, he chose her. She wasn't even sure she was going to be any help since Quinn knew she was the type to do as little work as possible to get by if she could. But hey, dinner.

"Yeah, I can do that," she replied finally, 

[crackedpuzzle]

He chose her because he had been wanting to get in touch with her anyway, to see how she was holding up. This was a great excuse to do just that. They had both been through similar, terrible experience, her and him, and as such he felt they had something in common that they didn't have with anyone else. They could try to explain it until their faces turned blue, but who else were going o really understand what it was like to have been trapped inside their own heads? Or to lose years of their lives?

"Great!" The task of getting started with organizing the apartment immediately felt less daunting. "So, should I wait until you're ready to go? Or would you rather show up later?"

[quinn_pro_quo]

"I... don't have a car," Darcy's car was here, but Quinn wasn't insured and she didn't have much money and she didn't have a valid license. She had gone into the public system, like she was  a crazy person so they'd taken her license from her. So, yeah, there'd been a lot of waling places going on lately. "Just give me a second," she said.

Turning away she went into the spare bedroom and grabbed some clothes and shoes and returned with her hair pulled back so it was out of her face. "Let's go."

[crackedpuzzle]

He waited patiently while she grabbed what she needed. He had had the Organization caring for his things, and so everything was more or less simply waiting for him.

Francis had a thing for quality. He had money, yes, but he'd never really splurged on items of luxury. But what he did spend money on, his car, his large and airy apartment, and to some degree clothes, gave him a certain air of sophistication. And really, with the long hair he'd decided to keep, he had made a point way back in Ford' bathroom the day after his awakening. He did look like a bloody rockstar.

"So how do you think they are doing?" He asked once they had been on the road a few minutes. "Think they have managed to keep the peace so far?" They were of course Darcy and Ford.

[quinn_pro_quo]

Quinn was trying really hard not to sit there and gawk at the car for too long or to touch everything, but she felt weird sitting in a car that cost more than she'd ever made in her lifetime. And then all the questions about how he obtained all this came up in her head, because Quinn spent a lot of time undercover with criminals. She broke a lot of laws and may or may not have stolen a couple cars before.
 
She looked over at him when he broke the silence, "I don't know how they stand each other. Darcy seems like she'd be too fragile to put up with him and he seems like he's too impatient to put up with her, but they aren't back yet, so I'm assuming it's going okay."

[crackedpuzzle]

How had he obtained his nice things? A combination of an inheritance, wisely placed money and a lot of hard work.

"They are an odd match, aren't they?" He had more of a feeling for Darcy than he actually knew her. His memories were too vague and distorted to give him many details about her. But that feeling he had of her? Maybe, just maybe, she was exactly what his jaded friend needed.

"So what do you want for dinner tonight, then?" A promise was a promise.

[quinn_pro_quo]

"Yeah, they are," she said. Mostly she wanted to make sure that Darcy was taken good care of. She knew that her older sister could handle herself and she had, even if there'd been a lot of mental illness going on there, but she was alive and mostly fine. She wanted to be sure that Ford took care of her like he should. That was her primary worry. She didn't want to bring that up now.
 
"Um," she thought, slouching in her seat, "I don't care. I've been eating peanut butter sandwiches and cereal, so anything is better than that.

[crackedpuzzle]

He glanced at her by the corner of his eye while he drove. "Well, that makes me want to suggest a night on the town. If you're up for it." She wasn't dressed for that, though. If you cared about that sort of thing. "Though I could go for pizza among the mountain of boxes too. I'm not much of a cook I'm afraid."

[quinn_pro_quo]

The suggestion for a night on the town had her mind reeling quickly through all those awful outfits she used to wear, but she did know how to rock them. It made her want to go out in spiked heels. Sadly, those were packed away somewhere in storage and she'd yet to go get them since she wasn't the name on the lease for it and she had no way of getting there.
 
"Rain check on the night out," she said, "once I get my stuff back when Darcy is back, I'll actually have more to wear than just jeans and t-shirts and sneakers. But I'm a cheap date, so dining in is fine."
 

[crackedpuzzle]

"Another day it is." He fully intended to make good on that promise too. Heck, he could use a night out too, probably, and company was always desirable. "So, take-out, then?" Please, please Quinn. Don't make him cook.

[quinn_pro_quo]

"That is fine with me, though I'm curious as to how bad of a cook you actually are," she teased, because she wouldn't force him to cook if he didn't want to, but it was definitely something she wanted to witness. Quinn could cook pretty well, but she hadn't in a long time and she didn't have ingredients to work with at Darcy's place. Besides, cooking for yourself isn't as fun.
 

[crackedpuzzle]

"I manage breakfast just fine," he said, looking a bit sheepish. "But if I try to accomplish a proper meal it always ends up either burnt or undercooked." And yes, that it was boring to the point of sad to just cook for oneself did have something to do with him never really learning to cook. "But I have developed a rather steady relationship with the staff at the restaurants around my neighborhood. Or, well, I had, at least." He would have to start working on that again.

[quinn_pro_quo]

Quinn started to laugh at him and didn't even hide that she was laughing at him. It was simply funny that a grown man couldn't cook mroe than breakfast. She was, of course, alright with eating out, because she was tired of whatever was at Darcy's place and if he was only just now moving in again, what could she expect to find in his fridge?
 
"Okay, we are going to teach you how to cook, Francis," she swallowed the last few giggles. "I will not make you cook for me, seeing as I don't want food poisoning."

[crackedpuzzle]

What she could expect to find in his fridge? Absolutely nothing. He hadn't even spend a night there yet, as the thing shad been delivered this very morning.

He let her laugh at him best she wished. He even smiled at it. It was nice to hear laughter. "Quinn, really, it is a lost cause," he protested. "Toast, scrambled eggs and bacon really is the extent of my culinary skills."

[quinn_pro_quo]

"No, Francis, there are basic requirements that every human should know. I refuse to believe that you are a lost cause. I don't believe in lost causes. I never have. Especially not on something as silly as cooking. We'll start with recipes, like homemade mac and cheese," she suggested, giving him that look of, I can't believe you'd argue with me. It's true, Quinn was used to getting her way.

[crackedpuzzle]

He could argue, if he really wanted to. But, he supposed he could humor her, with some protesting for the sake of it. "But I don't even like mac and cheese."

[quinn_pro_quo]

"Well, that's good, because I'm sure when you're done with it, it will be inedible anyway," she retorts right back. Of course! She was not about to let him win just because he wanted to be pouty about cooking. People should know how to cool and maybe it would give her a reason not to be alone all the time, but she wasn't about to say that out loud.