your_talents (your_talents) wrote,
@ 2011-08-07 20:13:00

AU - This is What Happens When You Don't Keep People Informed
Lisa was enjoying her afternoon off. Julian's secretary had informed him he'd stepped out for a few hours, so she'd taken it upon herself to slip into something less comfortable but a lot more interesting, and wait for him in his office. She made herself comfortable, setting herself up in his chair with the laptop he'd gotten her, and a bottle of good scotch.

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	yourtruecolors 2011-08-07 10:24 pm UTC (link)
	Minnie blinked. "I'm Minnie, Julian's assistant, Miss Graves," she says politely, then her voice gets more gentle. "And I believe there's a misunderstanding. He... really should have been more clear with you about the nature of your friendship. Julian doesn't have 'significant others'." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

your_talents
2011-08-07 11:08 pm UTC (link)

"Oh, so you're Paolo's replacement?" Lisa tilts her head, curious. Her expression then starts to stiffen. Julian's gal Friday has some nerve.

"Hm. Apparently nobody told him he doesn't have them, as those were his exact words to me, when I asked him to define our relationship." Lisa takes her feet off the desk, sitting up straight now, but not rising.

"And the signet ring I had designed for him is a bit more intimate than I'd have made just for someone I was sleeping with." She's still rather proud of how well he took to that gift. "And I don't think he'd have brought up how his father had one like it with someone he was just fucking." Julian was too privacy-minded for that.

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yourtruecolors
2011-08-07 11:12 pm UTC (link)

"Yes, I'm replacing Paolo. Before that, Paolo replaced me, except in certain significant capacities. Which did not carry with them any ridiculous labels, because Julian doesn't do that. So you talked to him at a vulnerable moment and got him to Mr. H. Well done. I'm impressed. We should trade notes on a few things. That doesn't mean you should go making up silly stories about the nature of the relationship."

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your_talents
2011-08-07 11:35 pm UTC (link)

Now? Now Lisa is standing up, pouring a bit more scotch, even as she keeps her eyes on Minnie.

"Call me a hopeless romantic, but I don't think someone of sound mind and emotion telling you that 'only one person can be truly significant to you' is the result of a vulnerable moment."

A pause, as her smile twists.

"I hope being jealous doesn't affect the quality of your work."

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yourtruecolors
2011-08-07 11:40 pm UTC (link)

Something goes bright and brittle in the back of Minnie's eyes. Julian didn't say that. He wouldn't say that. He wouldn't give up on Minnie. Not when Minnie was doing it all for him.

At first, there's something quiet and...well, dead in her voice, as she says "No, the quality of my work won't be affected...." but the pressure builds as she speaks, and it ends in a snarl, "You lying little gold-digger!"

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your_talents
2011-08-07 11:49 pm UTC (link)

Lisa can't help but just laugh as the calm breaks, raising her glass to Minnie as she quells her amusement. "I'm sure he'll be glad to hear it." She brings the glass to her lips, as her gaze stiffens.

"I'm going to ask you once to take back calling me a liar. 'Gold digger', that I'm used to hearing... from insecure bitches who just wish they were in my position."

Accenting the word 'position', she leans forward, bracing herself on the desk and pushing her hips backwards, towards Julian's chair.

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	yourtruecolors 2011-08-07 11:50 pm UTC (link)
	Minnie winced, but looked up, staring at Lisa intently. "I have no grounds to take anything back. Your statements fly in the face of 16 years of experience." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	your_talents 2011-08-07 11:51 pm UTC (link)
	Lisa arches an eyebrow. "Well apparently all it took was one year to outgrow you. Take it back, or get the hell out." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	yourtruecolors 2011-08-07 11:52 pm UTC (link)
	There's tears in Minnie's eyes, but she keeps them fixed on Lisa. "I'm not going anywhere." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

your_talents
2011-08-07 11:59 pm UTC (link)

Lisa stands again, and starts walking around the desk, keeping her gaze fixed on Minnie.

"Security-wise, we've got equal rights to be here, so you have two options.

You take it back, now, and we wait around to see who Julian wants to reschedule, or I make you leave."

And that's when Lisa gets just the inch closer she needed to, to notice something different about Minnie.

"Oh... I see."

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	yourtruecolors 2011-08-08 12:03 am UTC (link)
	Minnie fights with everything she has to keep her voice even instead of breaking. "And just how do you intend to do that?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	your_talents 2011-08-08 12:05 am UTC (link)
	"Well... for starters, I could see what your talent is." Lisa looks at Minnie hungrily. "Find out if that does any good in getting your tiny ass out of here." She starts tensing the little part of her brain that wants to, that always wants to, feed. "It's still your choice." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	yourtruecolors 2011-08-08 12:08 am UTC (link)
	Minnie's confused for a moment, then remembers something she saw on the show. "I have no good reason to believe I was mistaken, but you will keep your grubby little hands off my abilities," she says, staring her down. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	your_talents 2011-08-08 12:10 am UTC (link)
	Lisa advances. "Then leave." She steps right up to her, looking down at her, close enough that the right movement has the ties of her dress swinging out and brushing against Minnie. "I'll have him call you when we're finished." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	yourtruecolors 2011-08-08 12:13 am UTC (link)
	"If you understood how things worked, I'd actually have no problem with that," Minnie says very, very quietly. "But since you're delusional, I think he's entitled to know." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

your_talents
2011-08-08 12:16 am UTC (link)

"Honey, you're the one who doesn't understand.

Julian is mine, and I'm his. Happily, I might add. If I were a gold-digger, I'd have plenty of less challenging options, but I'm with him.

I feel for you, really... As jealous as you are, you must be close... and he didn't even think you mattered enough to tell you."

Lisa reaches behind her to put the glass down on the desk, shifting her footing slightly as her jaw tightens.

"Maybe you just wanted to be his girlfriend." She emphasizes the word with the same disdain Julian has for it.

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yourtruecolors
2011-08-08 12:25 am UTC (link)

This wasn't an undercover mission. Minnie didn't have time to prepare, to get into character. Didn't even have the absolute certainty that evil liars are evil liars, though she's still clinging to it -- there was now way Julian would honestly tell this tramp she was the only one who mattered to him. Was there?

At the last part, hearing the contempt, as if Minnie had been desperate for a petty distinction she'd never asked for, it was too much. The girl was right in her face, and Minnie started to shove her out of it, yelling "SHUT UP!"

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your_talents
2011-08-08 12:29 am UTC (link)

Lisa staggers slightly, then her gaze sharpens with hell in it. She had every right to be here. She'd let Julian get closer than anyone else in her life. She dealt with the tabloids. With Perez Hilton. With the anti-mutant activists. But this was her ground now, and she wasn't about to let some sidekick just breeze in and call what she was daring to allow herself to have with Julian a lie.

"FUCK YOU!"

She takes a hard step forward, pushing at Minnie's shoulder. Before she even makes contact though, she lets the nerve in her mind go off, and she feeds.

She gasps as the world explodes into colors that shouldn't exist, just a heartbeat before she pushes.

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	yourtruecolors 2011-08-08 12:31 am UTC (link)
	And Minnie's eyes go dull. "My eyes... my eyes! Give me back my eyes you gold-digging tramp!" Minnie bounces back from the near-shove to seize Lisa's wrists. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

your_talents
2011-08-08 12:53 am UTC (link)

"Kiss my ass, and get the hell out, witch!" Lisa screams back, struggling not only against the grabs to her wrists, but to hold onto the power. It's more distracting than helpful right now, but there are few things a sufficiently determined person won't do for spite.

The two of them end up spinning around a bit as Lisa finds her grip surprisingly strong. She ends up tripping over a footrest, and reaching out as she falls, knocking over a pitcher of water from the wet-bar.

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	yourtruecolors 2011-08-08 12:56 am UTC (link)
	"Delusional, borrowing someone's mind control -- I don't care what you are; I'm not leaving you alone with him." Minnie rolled right into the crashing and spilling without letting it distract her, trying to pin the taller, younger girl down. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	your_talents 2011-08-08 12:59 am UTC (link)
	Spitting out water, Lisa twists a leg around the other girl, rolling them over and turning her hands, even if she can't get them free, to go for Minnie's face. "Psycho secretary bitch, I belong here! Where the fuck do you get off barging in? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	yourtruecolors 2011-08-08 01:03 am UTC (link)
	Minnie holds her back for a few minutes, but eventually size wins out -- along with Minnie's sudden problems with depth perception in the face of her visual confusion. Minnie taks a couple of fingernail-scratches to the cheek. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	your_talents 2011-08-08 01:08 am UTC (link)
	Lisa struggles, the two of them rolling again until they bump against the desk. She tries to kick free. "Take it BACK!" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	yourtruecolors 2011-08-08 01:12 am UTC (link)
	And those little dancer's legs will contortionally hook around Lisa's, holding things down even as Minnie's back is slammed again into the desk by the larger girl, things falling everywhere. "I'll never believe that nonsense unless I hear it from him!" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)