Eleanor Monarch-Sparke is the Black Canary (skree) wrote in musingslogs, @ 2011-06-09 02:29:00 |
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Entry tags: | arrowette, green arrow, lady |
Who: Eleanor Rex-Wood, Orin Monarch, and Valerie Anna
What: Awkward conversation over an awkward lunch
Where: Tom's Diner, a few blocks from Monarch Industries
When: The Wednesday after this conversation
Warnings: PG-13 for language.
Nell twitched anxiously as she waited, eyes glued thoroughly to every movement by the door. She was at the right diner, right? Monarch Industries had been pretty damn hard to miss, and she had walked the blocks around the building, just to be sure that she had found the correct diner. The only way she was at the wrong place was if Orin Monarch had meant something else entirely by the word ‘diner’. You’re being an idiot, she told herself. It’s just some dude who knew Gina.
She hoped that’s all it was. Something about the way he had talked about her mom, saying that he ‘knew her real well’, bothered Nell. It couldn’t be as harmless as he was trying to make it sound. Why else would he be bringing an ex-fiancee (who he was apparently still together with) to meet her? As far as Nell knew, she wasn’t a very imposing person. Certainly not enough to make a full-grown man need to bring his girlfriend as back up or moral support or whatever the hell was going on. No, there was something else the matter here, that was for sure.
The sound of cracking pulled Nell out of her circular thoughts, and she realized that she was the one making them. Cracking her knuckles; she must have been really nervous. Gina had always yelled at Nell every time she cracked her knuckles as a kid, saying something about how it would ruin her hands and her stability, and over the years Nell had pushed the habit away. Except when things were really bad. Forcing her hands to grip the sides of the table, Nell tried to concentrate on her breathing exercises. A half minute later, her leg was shaking enough to make the table wobble. All of this nervous energy, and nowhere to channel it. What time was it? She had been here for ages, hadn’t she? Blue eyes flicked to her watch for the briefest of moments, causing her to sigh. She wished the man would just show up so that they could talk about the ‘good ole days’ or whatever and move the hell on with their lives.
Orin had spent his morning doing math. In meetings, on conference calls, adding up years, months, ans trying to remember just when he and Gina had started and stopped. He’d been young, real young, not thinking about consequences. And he’d believed her when she’d said her husband hadn’t been near her bed in months. He hadn’t asked about birth control, because hell, what kid that age would? Gina might have been obsessive and near crazy, even then, but she’d also had a set of legs he could still remember, and she was real good at wrapping them around a man.
He’d figured some good numbers in his head by the time lunch came around, and he wasn’t feeling any less nervous for it. And Rescue’s information about a teenager archer in town didn’t help a damn bit either. It was too much of a coincidence for Orin, who didn’t put much stock in coincidences. Gina had been one hell of an archer, and she’d been real vocal about her feelings about vigilantism. If he was honest, Orin would admit she’d planted the thought in his mind for Arrow. But he wasn’t feeling real honest just then.
The black Town Car pulled up in front of the diner, even though it was only a few blocks to walk from Monarch Industries, and he waited on the sidewalk for Valerie, who didn’t know Eleanor was going to be at this lunch at all. Hands shoved in his pockets, white shirt open at the neck, he looked as carefree and wealthy as a man could without trying. There wasn’t enough money in the world to calm the turmoil in his stomach, though, and he was hoping Valerie would pull out some of that maternal instinct he hadn’t seen a drop of yet.
If sending a car for Valerie and expecting her to show up blind to a lunch date with potential offspring was Orin’s tactic for inciting maternal instinct, they were all doomed. The car, black and expensive just like the one that had brought Orin, deposited Valerie on the sidewalk, and she looked like something that had just stepped off a fashion magazine’s glossy page. She too looked relaxed and wealthy, but she was definitely trying. She wore pink and cream, slender ankles and waist over knee-high brown leather boots and layered leggings under a dress the color of a new dusk. Her blonde hair seemed to shine even without the benefit of actual sunlight, and though Seattle was overcast, Valerie herself literally glowed with health. People would be trying to figure out what bronzer she used for the next fashion season, unaware the effect wasn’t to be found on a store shelf.
Valerie shouldered a white leather handbag and gave Orin a strange little half-smile that was warmer than anything she had on. She spoke to him in greeting, but if you asked her a second later she wouldn’t remember what she said. The important part was that she walked over and curled a hand around his arm, affectionate without being inappropriate--and definitely clueless that there’d be any purpose to her presence besides a casual meal.
A flash of blonde outside the door caught Nell’s eye. She didn’t know what it was about the attractive couple that drew her eyes, but Nell instinctively knew they were the ones she was waiting for. Orin and... Val, right? At least that’s what she thought he had called his girlfriend-but-not-fiancee. They looked rich (not surprising, considering that they were just around the block from a building named after the guy), and happy. The sort of happy Nell couldn’t ever remember seeing her parents be. The sort of happy she always dreamed she could be some day.
Nell straightened up as the couple entered the diner. It had become an unconscious instinct, pushing back her shoulders and turning her already decent posture into a charm school (assuming they still existed at this point) instructor’s dream. She was dressed decently enough, she decided. Granted, her clothes didn’t scream wealth like Orin and his friends’ did, but she did have her Chloe bag with her (she had put her mother’s estate to good use), so there was that. And since no one had wrinkled their nose at her when they thought she couldn’t see, she was pretty sure she wasn’t carrying that distinct Hamartia smell on her self either. It’s just a lunch anyway, so what’s the big deal?
Outside, Orin’s hand slid possessively to Valerie’s waist, and he grinned at her as he led her into the diner’s silver lined door. It was a kitschy place, real popular and posh while pretending to be a lowly diner, and Orin nudged her forward. He was over her shoulder, then, just behind her, and he spoke quietly into her ear, the rumble of his voice something that came from his chest rather than his throat. “See the girl in the back? Think that’s who we’re here to see,” and if he felt bad for not warning her in advance, well, there was no sign of it.
Valerie’s day had been going rather well up to that point. She knew that grin on Orin’s face, however, and she was just starting to get wind that something was up when he was muttering in her ear. Her eyes flew across the room where indicated, blatantly obvious, and her expression blanked with surprise, discomfort, and then annoyance. “You could have said something. Why does she want to meet me?” She kept her voice down while they were still out of earshot.
“We want to meet her,” Orin said, nudging Valerie forward as he spoke. He raised a hand to the hostess, indicating they didn’t need her help, and he moved out from behind Valerie to stand beside her as he approached the table. “Eleanor?” he asked, loudly and from a distance yet. She was the only young blonde alone, but he still wanted to give her a chance to announce herself however she wanted.
Nell pushed herself to her feet as the couple approached the table. “Nell. I take it you’re Orin?” She held out her hand to the man, before turning her attention to the woman. “And this must be Val?” Introductions done with, Nell reclaimed her seat, tucking her ankles beneath the chair. She bit her lip nervously, wondering what to say. Should she wait until he said something? Should she be the one to bring it up? Damn, why didn’t she think to bring a friend along? Oh right, she didn’t have very many in Seattle yet. Damn.
“Valerie,” Valerie corrected, absently, attention focused mainly on the girl and the strange situation she found herself in. She was uncomfortable, and even though it didn’t show, she resolved to take it out of Orin’s hide later. Diplomatically, Valerie took a chair and set her bag on her lap. “It’s nice to meet you.” Valerie’s eyes flickered from Nell’s face the expensive bag, and then back.
Orin didn’t notice the expensive bag. He noticed she looked clean and fed, and he didn’t think she was out starving homeless anywhere. He looked for bruises, calloused fingers from a bow and arrow, a dip in her shoulder, a slightly stronger bow arm. He was quiet during the introductions, busy doing his looking, and then he grinned. He knew that tightness in Valerie’s voice, and he wasn’t scared of any hell to pay that might be coming. “Sweetheart,” he said to the girl, a term of endearment he used for any female under twenty. “You don’t take after your momma,” he said, waving the waitress over and smiling at both women, as if he’d just said something completely innocuous.
Nell didn’t know what surprised her more - the nickname or the comment. She quirked her brow, a wry smile on her face, “I’m going to assume you mean that in a good way.” From what she had gathered in their first conversation, Orin had claimed to know the fact that Gina had been crazy. What that said about his comment though, she wasn’t sure. Was he saying that she didn’t look crazy? Or was it something more simple, like she wasn’t brunette or 5 feet tall? Ugh, why was this so confusing?
“He calls everyone that,” Valerie put in, reassuringly. She didn’t have any further comment, however. She sat back and settled her elbows on her purse.
Orin glanced at Valerie, expecting her to do some more talking, but when she didn’t he looked back at his menu and ordered himself a burger. He waited for the women to order, and then he turned his attention to the girl, the one Valerie clearly had no intention of helping with. “I do,” he reassured her, agreeing with Valerie’s comment. “You been settling in good?” he asked, draping an arm behind Valerie’s shoulders in the booth. “You do archery, like your ma?” he asked, too, glancing at her hands again.
If the Valerie’s attitude bothered Nell, the girl didn’t show it. I feel you, lady. This can’t be any less awkward as a chaperon. “Yeah, it’s not bad. Have a few leads on apartments, so that’s pretty exciting. It’ll be nice to get out of Hamartia.” Nell caught Orin’s gaze flicker down to her hands, and understood where the question came from. “She started me young. Didn’t really have a choice, living in that household.” There was no trace of bitterness or resentment in her voice. The therapy had mostly seen to all that. Time had done the rest of the work. “Did you ever have the chance to watch Gina shoot? Or my dad? Did you know him too?”
“I met your dad,” Orin said, “but I didn’t know him real well. He and Gina were having some trouble when I knew your mother,” he explained, letting that settle without anything else to back it up, not yet. He nodded toward Eleanor - no, Nell - to her hands, and the corner of his mouth quirked. “You any good?”
Orin’s explanation didn’t surprise her. Nell might have been young, but she had still been smart enough to see that things between her parents hadn’t always been up and up. Her dad always traveled when he was alive, and watching him coach other Olympic hopefuls hadn’t been easy on Gina. Nell grinned. “I’m the daughter of two former Olympiads. What do you think?” Nell didn’t bother being modest, not when archery was concerned. She had once overheard Gina tell a friend that Nell was better at 10 than Gina had ever been (of course, her mom never said anything of the sort to Nell). Plus, now that she was here, she would be excellent even if half-asleep. “How about you?” Orin hadn’t been the only one checking out calluses and upper back and arm musculature.
“Better than I was on the other side. Better than I was when I knew your ma. She thought I should go do something professional with it. I was in high school, and just pointed arrows at things to burn off stress.” He looked over at Valerie, then, and he gave her a questioning look, which said he didn’t know whether to just tell the girl right off, or not.
Valerie wasn't sure what motherhood was like, but fortunately she didn't view this situation as something she needed to mother. Put to Valerie, she would prefer truth to obscure references and unconfirmed suspicions. Eleanor seemed like a strong, stable young woman to her, and if she chose to get angry and deny it, Valerie suspected she would come around eventually. Emotional coddling was not the way of the world. She gave Orin a small little nod, and then she turned to accept her iced tea from the waiter.
Orin thought mothering came normal to people who could be mothers, and he took Valerie’s nod to mean exactly what she wanted it to mean. He cleared his throat, thanked the waitress for his burger, and smiled at his maybe-daughter in a way he hoped was reassuring. “See, far as I know, your ma and dad weren’t together when you were conceived.”
“What?” Nell’s brows knitted together in confusion. “Wait a second. What are you trying to say?” Was he implying that her dad was not her dad? No, he couldn’t be. She was a Wood. Jeremy was her father, Sean was her uncle. So what the hell was Orin talking about?
Orin thought it was real clear what he was trying to say, and he shot Valerie a look that was desperation and annoyance mixed. Damn woman was supposed to be helping. “I’m saying your pa might not be your pa.”
“You can’t possibly know that.” Nell said flatly. “You were just some high schooler who shot arrows. How could you know something like that?” She sat back in her chair, arms crossed her torso, expression guarded. Her eyes said that he was going to have to provide an explanation, and provide one now.
“I slept with your ma.” Orin said - bluntly.
Valerie, who had been sitting quietly at her end of the table and watching Orin and her iced tea glass sweat by turns, finally had to cut in at that. She just stopped herself from putting one hand over her eyes at the man's indelicacy. "Orin is drawing logical conclusions based on the timing, your appearance, and your ability, and also what your mother told him at the time," she said, diplomatically. "It's possible he is wrong; but not likely. He's trying to help, believe it or not." She gave Orin a condescending little smile.
It was a good thing Valerie cut in when she did, because Nell was about to say something pretty impolite to Orin. Calm down, she instructed herself. There was no point yelling at perfect strangers in public. As the lady had said herself, he was working off of logical conclusions. Okay, logic. She could do that. Nell had always considered doing something in the sciences as a career. Now was her chance to show that she could be logical and analytical and rational and...
Screw it. She was going to do this her own way.
“Even if you did sleep with Gina,” Nell pointed out, recognizing that he probably wasn’t lying on that score, “it doesn’t make my dad not my dad. You don’t know for sure that she wasn’t also...” Nell swallowed, hard. She really did not want to be going here. “with my dad at the time. And as for my ability, both of them were archers too. Before you, even.” She tacked on the last part, completely aware that the timing of the abilities didn’t particularly matter.
“We could go on down and get a test done,” Orin suggested. “Clear this up real quick. And your dad isn’t any less your dad, sweetheart, no matter what this test shows.”
Nell shook her head at the man, trying to digest what all of this information meant. She had never wished Jeremy Rex-Wood were still alive more than she did at that very moment. Then she could get a damn paternity test and throw it in Orin Monarch’s face and pretend that this had never happened. But no, instead the only thing she could do was sit here and listen to his version of the truth.
“Why?” She finally asked. “Why does it matter to you if... if you’re...” She couldn’t say it. Even the thought made the back of her eyes sting. “I’m already an adult, and Gina’s gone and can’t hurt me anymore. So why?” The truth about her mother had slipped out accidentally, but Nell was too upset to even notice.
This was all starting to sound a little too familiar to Valerie, who hadn't the best relationship with her none-too-chaste mother. She lifted a hand and, employing as much subtlety as possible, laid it in a restraining fashion on Orin's arm. "Orin--," she began softly, intending on advising him not to push.
“It matters because my family matters to me,” Orin said honestly. “My folks are dead. They have been for a real long time,” he added, glancing over at Valerie’s hand on his arm. He gave her a look, what? without saying a word, and then he looked back at Nell. “Your ma’s dead?” he asked, realizing he should have known that; Gina wouldn’t have let her cross alone otherwise.
What? Family? Nell couldn’t even begin to consider the implication of all that. Nell took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair. What was Orin hoping for from this? She had a family. Well, she had an uncle. Yes, she had Sean, and Orin wasn’t going to take that away. Pushing her shoulders back again, Nell looked at Orin resolutely. “Yes, she is. But she was out of my life for the most part long before then.”
"What do you mean when you said she can't hurt you?" Valerie asked, not entirely without gentleness but not really with the kind of gravity the question deserved.
Nell turned to Valerie distractedly. “Umm,” she bit her lip again, playing back Valerie’s question. Hurt me? What did she -- oh shit, what did I say? “It’s not important. Not anymore. She’s gone, it’s done. I’m here.”
Orin assumed it had something to do with the fact that Gina was crazy as the day was long, and he was willing to put money on the fact she’d turned her daughter into exactly what she’d wanted to be back in the day. “Your ma put any thoughts in your head beside competing?” he asked, glancing over at Valerie and then back at Nell. “Been out at night with those arrows recent?”
Nell clenched her jaw. How could he know? What was this man’s deal? She had been in town for one week, count them: ONE. Yet he knew more about her and her life than anyone rightly should. “Who my mother was does not define who I am. I make my own choices.” Her voice was hard and low. It had taken her years of therapy to come to terms with this. Who did he think he was, making her question her own mind, her own feelings, and whether the thoughts in her head were really her own or simply a reflection of what Gina wanted her to think? She had tortured herself over the same thing for long enough.
Fighting back the overwhelming urge to either cry, run away, or both, Nell went on the offensive. “You seem to have made choices that are a lot like mine, and you weren’t raised by her.” She wasn’t sure of the statement when she uttered it, but once it was out Nell was certain it was the truth. The only way for Orin to know this much about her dual life was if he led one himself. He had already admitted to being a really good archer. She would bet an arm and a leg that he was the ‘Arrow’ character Rescue had mentioned. Ha! To think he was accusing her of not having her own thoughts. If she was nothing more than a clone of Gina, what did that make him?
Orin knew something had clicked for her, somewhere amidst the screaming and the outrage. He didn’t know what Rescue had told her about Arrow, but he was guessing Jeeves had said something. “I made my choices because it was what I wanted, not because anyone made me think I had to,” he said, half-aware that it probably wasn’t the best way to say it. “You out there because you want to be, or because your ma wanted you to be?” he asked.
Nell’s eyes flashed, cold blue steel against her tanned skin. “I already told you, I make my own choices. If anything, I’m out there in spite of her.” Shit, she was saying too much. Everything about this conversation was too much. But she gathered her determination and stayed where she was. Nell was an adult now, and had officially been one for over a month now. She couldn’t just run away when things were going somewhere uncomfortable now, could she? “So what do you want from me? I’m not saying that... we’re related, but even if we were, what do you want from...” she waved a hand back and forth between them, before throwing it up in the air, “this?”
He admired her fire, and he almost chuckled, but managed to hold it back at the last minute. “How about we start with some bloodwork?” Orin asked calmly. He didn’t intend to have it end with that, but he figured it’d buy him some time. “I got a lab. We can go down there at any time. Might as well know, unless you’re scared of finding out?” And that was intentional, the goading.
“A piece of paper isn’t going to make you my father.” It was harsh, but true. And damn it, Nell had earned the right to be bitter here. Her father had been dead for over six years and in and out of her life for most of the time before that, and now she was being forced to question the few precious memories she had of him. “But fine, let’s do this. I think we both deserve to know whether there’s a point to all of this or it’s just a huge waste of time.”
Orin didn’t argue her point about a piece of paper, because the girl was right. But she also didn’t know the Morgenstern clan, and if they couldn’t bring someone into the fold, well, no one could. “Finish your lunch,” he told her with an easy smile. “I’ll let Will know you’re coming around. Tomorrow sound good?”
Valerie didn’t see any reason why Orin and Nell shouldn’t get to know each other before all this science made things complicated, but she supposed Orin wanted to avoid the headache and the girl heartache. She didn’t think it was going to end well regardless of the results, and she shook her head. “There’s no need to rush,” she said, a little disapprovingly.
“I prefer it,” Nell grumbled, looking down at her untouched sandwich. “If there’s a chance I’m going to have my life turned upside down, I want to get it over with.” She had seen enough pain, enough things go absolutely wrong in her life to think that delays could be worthwhile. “Tomorrow morning works fine. Who is this Will do I find him?”
Orin glanced over at Valerie, and he gave her a smile. “‘Course there isn’t,” he said, not adding that he was buying time so the girl didn’t run away, not rushing. To Nell, he gave directions to Monarch Industries and the name of Will Lowell. “You can go by anytime. Just tell him I sent you,” he said with a grin that was far more relaxed than he felt. “And sweetheart, I hope you don’t think I’m walking out of your life if that test is negative.”
Nell didn’t grin back. She didn’t feel like smiling right now. All she wanted, was to to go back to Hamartia and hide under her friend’s blankets for the next three days. His last statement caught her by surprise. Her eyes searched his, confused. What did he want? Wanting to find out if a kid was yours made sense to her on some level, but not this. “Why?” she asked, still not understanding Orin’s motives. “If you’re wrong about me, then you’re scott-free.” She wasn’t a charity case, she could take care of herself.
“I knew your ma and your pa, and you got no one here. Plus, if you’re out there nights, then you’re going to need folks on your side. We’ll start with taking a look at the quality of whatever you’re using for a suit, and making sure you’re stocked up on weapons.” He waved over the waitress, and he asked for the bill with a wink that made the woman smile wider.
Nell wanted to counter with the instinctive ’I have friends’, but held her tongue. She might have a possible roommate, yes, and Aaron had been perfectly kind to her in the hallway, but that hardly made them friends that she could always rely on. Maybe with time, but as of right now, Orin had her. “I don’t really have much of a suit. Just training gear, and a mask.” Nell debated whether or not to bring up her lack of ammunition, and figured she had nothing to lose at this point. “Is there a good place to get arrows in this town?”
“Monarch Industries,” he said easily. “We’ll see what your sweet spot is for weight when you come in,” he said, already trying to get a feel for what materials she’d be able to work best with, and what kind of suit would give her the most mobility. Fighting the way they did, it was about staying far away and never having to throw a punch, and gear helped with that. When the bill came, he handed the waitress a hundred, telling her to keep the change, and he looked back at Nell. “Got some place to stay?”
Valerie thought this was moving far too quickly, and she thought that enclosing the girl and Orin in a small amount of space was not the best idea, but this was not her family. She noticed that Orin’s impulse was to gather people together for safety when he was uncertain, and then he tended to stick them somewhere he thought was safe. “Orin,” she said, in a tone of caution.
Monarch Industries. Of course. Nell had run a quick internet search on the man when he had first told her he wanted to meet her, and had found that he owned some sort of a weapons contract company. Why would he possibly need to go somewhere else for his supplies? “Alright, yeah. Although I’m pretty used to what I wear right now.” Her eyes registered the hundred being handed off, but she made no comment. “I’m staying with a friend at Hamartia right now, but I’m hoping to be out of there soon. Going to see an apartment tomorrow,” Nell added quickly, just in case Orin thought she wanted his help. Not that her want or need for help had anything to do with whether or not he offered.
“Let me know whatever you need to make that apartment happen,” Orin said, listening to Valerie’s cautionary use of his name and not insisting the girl come to Aubade, which was his initial reaction. Still, Hamartia was a damn mess, and no one he gave a damn about was going to stay there. And whether Nell realized it or not, she’d fallen smack dab into that category.
Valerie sat back, because the aversion of a demand was a good idea, and the offer was far superior. Since when did she play this role? Orin was supposed to go off and do whatever he wanted. She was supposed to pretend not to care. That was the way it was supposed to work.
“As long as the guy and I get along, I think we’ll be fine.” She paused, grinning to herself. “Maybe we’ll be fine even if we don’t. Anything to get away from the rats.”
The guy? “I’ll want to run a background check,” Orin said, his tone one that was generally known as don’t fuck with me.
“No. I think I’ll be fine.” Nell replied without missing a beat, in a tone that bore an uncanny resemblance to Orin’s.
Valerie smiled, but she put a hand over her mouth and turned away to observe the passing waitress to keep it from becoming laughter.
“His name and address,” Orin insisted, standing and giving both women a friendly smile. “When you stop by Monarch.”
Nell got to her feet as well. “Not going to happen. But,” her tone turned cheery, “I’ll be by Monarch tomorrow.” She was acting like a child she knew, but she couldn’t help it.
Orin watched her for a minute, and he’d be real damn surprised if she didn’t turn out to be his. She was acting like everyone in the damn family with that stubbornness. “Get in the damn car and let it drop you wherever you need to be,” he said, and he held out a hand to Valerie, to help her to her feet. “You, too, woman.”
Valerie accepted the assistance, but she gave him a serene smile. “As long as you plan on stopping in two or three places, I have errands to run.”
Orin hadn’t planned on running errands, and he realized he’d just been snared. He could have refused, but he didn’t. Damn women were going to be the death of him.
Years of talking back to Gina for no good reason except the principle of the matter had begun to kick in. Instead of blurting out another emphatic ‘No’, however, she forced herself to be civil. “I think I’m going to walk back to the bus.” A beat. “I have a lot of things to think about.” Ha. Argue with that, Mr. eager-to-give-orders.
“If you want to make it harder on yourself, go right ahead,” Orin said, adding.”I’ll just have the driver tail you to the bus stop.” And with that, he turned for the door, intending to do just that.
Nell rolled her eyes at Orin’s turned back. “Is he always this ridiculous?” She asked Valerie, unable to help herself.
Valerie was still smug about her recent victory, and she was not doing a very good job of hiding it. Perhaps because she was not trying. “Yes,” Valerie said, shouldering her back and readjusting her clothing, to the fascination of one or two people nearby.
Orin was already in the car, having done exactly what he said and informing the other driver to follow Nell to the bus stop. Women.