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xp_logsInez confronts Quentin about his behavior and extracts some amount of conciliation from him.
Inez didn't get mad, not very often. No, there were times when she'd get bothered or even annoyed, like when tracking a particularly persistent bounty who just didn't know when to stop. When that happened, usually catching the target and/or beating the crap out of them for resisting or fleeing from her would help.
When she got mad, they didn't need to flee or resist her. They just had to be in her way, and woe betide the few who'd fallen into that rarified air.
Pushing the door to XFI open just a little harder than was necessary, Inez was still unsure if Quentin's actions had made her annoyed or mad. She knew they had made Darcy upset, that much was certain, and, given her feelings for the woman, she was inclined to feel some kinda way about it too. Even if Quentin was her superior at work, Inez couldn't just let something like threatening her - wait, what was Darcy to her, exactly? That was something to worry about later - threatening Darcy slide without saying a word.
So she wordlessly strode across the office, heading for Quentin's office in the hopes of having a word or three with them, cracking her knuckles as she went.
After Sydney had read him to filth, Quentin felt it safest to retreat to his office and stay there all day. Maybe all week. There was plenty of work to do, support his team needed that was his job to provide them. Sometimes that meant payroll, which was awful, but busywork and staring at numbers was an effective way to hold his attention and keep him from brooding. He was halfway through the task when he sensed a dark cloud approach.
Oh no.
He was intimately familiar with the psi signatures of all of X-Factor Investigations, but he had never seen Inez's colored like this. This was going to be bad.
She stopped outside of his door and rapped loudly on it, three times, before remembering that maybe just barging in might have a more dramatic effect. She wasn't here for a friendly chat after all, Inez reminded herself, then she turned the doorknob and headed on in.
"Q," she said, spying him sitting and working away. Bringing herself up to her full height, she crossed her arms and loomed over him from the opposite side of his desk. "I've been talkin' to Darcy, an' I reckon it's time you and I had a little chat too."
"I reckon we do. Do you want to hover over me or sit?" he asked, shutting his laptop with one hand while indicating the chair with his other. "Good job on the Wells case the other day, by the way. They won't be missing any more child support payments."
Inez hesitated at that, both the offer to sit and the unexpected compliment. She wasn't sure about sitting because she liked the idea of reminding him that she was being deadly serious here, but then again if she's there to talk about threatening people is wrong should she really be acting in a threatening fashion? And then the compliment nudged her off balance a little bit more.
Finally she decided to take a seat, but kept her arms crossed as she did, nodding at the positive feedback. "S'good t'hear, no one should have to put up with that kinda crap. An' speakin' of puttin' up with crap," she said, attempting to segue into the real reason she was there, "what the hell was all that about, exactly?" She crossed her legs to match her arms, sitting back and hoping for a good answer because while she personally had no quarrel with Quentin - rather she liked him from what little she'd known of him so far, to be honest - she was more than a little surprised at how he'd treated her... whatever her relationship to Darcy was now.
"It was . . ." Quentin thought back to the similar conversations he had with Maya and Kevin, and chose his words carefully this time. Inez was not someone he could dismiss. "An impulsive reaction born of frustration and misplaced rage, and an embarrassing reaction at that, to be quite honest. I'm sorry you saw it."
"It was fuckin' stupid, yeah," Inez agreed, dumbing it down more than a little, but she called it like she saw it. "An, honestly, I'm not upset that I saw it. That's not the whole point of this here conversation," she said, leaning forward a little and putting both hands on the desk. "I don't care who saw, Quentin, I care for what y'said, and, more importantly, who y'said it to." Her thoughts flared angrily at that again, which he likely could've picked up on even without his powers being what they were.
Here Inez had to brace herself a little; she didn't want to be a white knight and standing up for her - dammit, again she'd have to circle back on what to call things - for Darcy's benefit, but someone in a position like Quentin's shouldn't be threatening people period.
"Your choice of words makes me wonder just how sincere y'are about the whole thing, if I'm bein' honest," she said after collecting herself. "If you're genuinely sorry 'bout it, it ain't me y'should be talkin' to." She squinted a little and leaned a bit closer still, her knuckles growing a little white as she gripped the desk harder. "Y'do actually mean it when you say that, yeah?"
"Yes, yes, I get it. Please be gentle, that's mahogany," he pled, eyeing her hands. She was dangerously close to tearing his desk in half, which would have been one of the worst consequences of this whole confrontation.
"I don't think . . . Look, Inez. You're right. I am sorry for losing my temper and threatening Lewis. Her own cruel and improper reaction to Madin aside, I shouldn't have said what I said."
"It did get outta hand in more ways than one, yeah," Inez conceded. She relaxed her grip on the desk after he mentioned it; that hadn't been her intention, to damage the desk, but better an inanimate object than an actual person she told herself. "An' again, it's not me that needs t'hear it. Even if she did go to far, for fuck's sake, Quentin, you're runnin' this place, people look up t'you and expect better. Deserve better," she added, having been one of those people.
She sighed and got back to her feet, turning her back on him. "I know you've already been read the riot act, I imagine, so I'll shut up about it, but before I do I just need t'know that you're aimin' to make things right." As much as he could, anyway, some people's trust would be hard to win back, if ever... and if he even had it in the first place with some people, but Inez couldn't worry about that part of it. She turned to face him again, arms still crossed.
"Y'got a plan for that, I hope?"
A hundred people would interpret "make things right" a hundred different ways. What would satisfy one person would not satisfy another. Anyone with half a brain (and Quentin maintained that he had two halves) knew the key was to find the biggest overlap, even if it meant every party had to compromise. And while that word was usually anathema to him, Kevin and Inez (and even Maya) made it clear that Quentin was cornered and had no other option.
"Let's start locally," he conceded. "Call the team and we'll go from there."
~*~
Quentin takes the high road? No, that can't be right.
Quentin was the last of X-Factor to enter the meeting room. He took his usual seat at the round conference table, met everyone’s eyes, and nodded.
“All right, here it goes. I messed up badly on the journal system the other day. I threatened a fellow resident with hostile, lethal use of my telepathy. To me, that’s just locker room talk. I . . . you know, never mind. What I was thinking is irrelevant.
“I want to simply say ‘I regret not comporting myself in the manner appropriate to my position,’ and just leave it there. Because I can’t expect you all to work with me if that’s how I talk to people when I’m pissed off. So that’s that, right? I’m an embarrassment, I embarrassed you, and I’m sorry for that.
“I started here as basically Frost’s and Worthington’s gopher because I wanted to do something besides complain. And working with you all, we’ve helped so many people, made this shithole of a city a little better. I gave myself meaning. And now I’m here, running my mouth and actively disassembling that. You all built this agency into something really uncanny, and everything we’ve worked so fucking hard for, I jeopardized.”
He paused for a short moment to assemble his words. “But that’s all missing the point. Worse than that, it’s ignoring the point. The problem isn’t what I did to myself. It’s that I decided to express my resentment for someone I don’t like, who only said something I found abhorrent, by threatening her life. And that’s really fucking stupid. So I’ve got to fix it. I’m going to. I just, I guess, I wanted to let you know first.”
“Do you truly mean this?” Hope sharply raised an eyebrow, eying him doubtfully. “You have learned from this? You truly believe you'll be able to restrain yourself next time?” Finally she met his eyes. “A veneer of respectability is a powerful asset. Something easily lost and very hard to regain… You might want to consider that carefully.”
“Yeah, I do.” He returned her gaze. “Especially considering what it’s going to cost if I fuck up like this again,” he added telepathically.
A slim finger traced along the edge of her coffee cup as Sue raised her gaze to settle on Quentin, tilting her head to the side as she considered him carefully. “The mansion, the agency here, all of this is built on the idea of second and third chances. People shouldn’t be defined by who they are in their worst moments, we’ve all had moments we’re not proud of.” The ceramic mug clinked softly as the blonde set it down on the table. “If you’ve learned, grown, then I’m behind you. You all gave me a family, family stands by one another.”
Inez took in everyone’s comments from her seat, arms crossed over each other, before adding her own two cents. “Y’know how I feel already, an’... yeah, acknowledin’ it is a good start,” she admitted. “I know nobody’s perfect but … yeah, no need t’drive home the seriousness of it. I just hope that y’follow through on what you just said.” There was really nothing more for her to say other than that - especially given their one-on-one conversation earlier - so with that she just nodded and slouched back into her seat again..
“Also sensitivity training. Some mindfulness. It is important to note that there are students at the mansion now.” That, of all things, came from Arthur. His words were pitched as if this was merely a natural thing to add in, like building a grocery list. “I have already pulled some names and forwarded them to you!”
Truth be told, a mere tap of his phone resulted in Quentin’s own device chiming a tiny ping of acknowledgement. Arthur’s eyes didn’t leave Quentin’s, though, as he concluded: “You and I have talked about actions and their impact before. I suggest that all of us decide on a signal for when Q just needs to stop and put his phone down.”
“Thank you, Sue, Inez, Arthur,” Quentin said neutrally, “I’ll take that into consideration.” A beat as Arthur’s gaze bore through his head. “I’ll review and set it up tomorrow.” Another brief pause as Quentin fought back a grimace. “Today,” he finally relented.
Hope glanced around the table, taking in the expression from Alex and the rest. Narrowing her eyes, she made sure to meet QQ’s eyes again. “What you did here, can be a beginning. But I would strongly suggest apologizing to Darcy if you had not considered that yet.” She sent him telepathically, her voice just as firm.
Inez didn't get mad, not very often. No, there were times when she'd get bothered or even annoyed, like when tracking a particularly persistent bounty who just didn't know when to stop. When that happened, usually catching the target and/or beating the crap out of them for resisting or fleeing from her would help.
When she got mad, they didn't need to flee or resist her. They just had to be in her way, and woe betide the few who'd fallen into that rarified air.
Pushing the door to XFI open just a little harder than was necessary, Inez was still unsure if Quentin's actions had made her annoyed or mad. She knew they had made Darcy upset, that much was certain, and, given her feelings for the woman, she was inclined to feel some kinda way about it too. Even if Quentin was her superior at work, Inez couldn't just let something like threatening her - wait, what was Darcy to her, exactly? That was something to worry about later - threatening Darcy slide without saying a word.
So she wordlessly strode across the office, heading for Quentin's office in the hopes of having a word or three with them, cracking her knuckles as she went.
After Sydney had read him to filth, Quentin felt it safest to retreat to his office and stay there all day. Maybe all week. There was plenty of work to do, support his team needed that was his job to provide them. Sometimes that meant payroll, which was awful, but busywork and staring at numbers was an effective way to hold his attention and keep him from brooding. He was halfway through the task when he sensed a dark cloud approach.
Oh no.
He was intimately familiar with the psi signatures of all of X-Factor Investigations, but he had never seen Inez's colored like this. This was going to be bad.
She stopped outside of his door and rapped loudly on it, three times, before remembering that maybe just barging in might have a more dramatic effect. She wasn't here for a friendly chat after all, Inez reminded herself, then she turned the doorknob and headed on in.
"Q," she said, spying him sitting and working away. Bringing herself up to her full height, she crossed her arms and loomed over him from the opposite side of his desk. "I've been talkin' to Darcy, an' I reckon it's time you and I had a little chat too."
"I reckon we do. Do you want to hover over me or sit?" he asked, shutting his laptop with one hand while indicating the chair with his other. "Good job on the Wells case the other day, by the way. They won't be missing any more child support payments."
Inez hesitated at that, both the offer to sit and the unexpected compliment. She wasn't sure about sitting because she liked the idea of reminding him that she was being deadly serious here, but then again if she's there to talk about threatening people is wrong should she really be acting in a threatening fashion? And then the compliment nudged her off balance a little bit more.
Finally she decided to take a seat, but kept her arms crossed as she did, nodding at the positive feedback. "S'good t'hear, no one should have to put up with that kinda crap. An' speakin' of puttin' up with crap," she said, attempting to segue into the real reason she was there, "what the hell was all that about, exactly?" She crossed her legs to match her arms, sitting back and hoping for a good answer because while she personally had no quarrel with Quentin - rather she liked him from what little she'd known of him so far, to be honest - she was more than a little surprised at how he'd treated her... whatever her relationship to Darcy was now.
"It was . . ." Quentin thought back to the similar conversations he had with Maya and Kevin, and chose his words carefully this time. Inez was not someone he could dismiss. "An impulsive reaction born of frustration and misplaced rage, and an embarrassing reaction at that, to be quite honest. I'm sorry you saw it."
"It was fuckin' stupid, yeah," Inez agreed, dumbing it down more than a little, but she called it like she saw it. "An, honestly, I'm not upset that I saw it. That's not the whole point of this here conversation," she said, leaning forward a little and putting both hands on the desk. "I don't care who saw, Quentin, I care for what y'said, and, more importantly, who y'said it to." Her thoughts flared angrily at that again, which he likely could've picked up on even without his powers being what they were.
Here Inez had to brace herself a little; she didn't want to be a white knight and standing up for her - dammit, again she'd have to circle back on what to call things - for Darcy's benefit, but someone in a position like Quentin's shouldn't be threatening people period.
"Your choice of words makes me wonder just how sincere y'are about the whole thing, if I'm bein' honest," she said after collecting herself. "If you're genuinely sorry 'bout it, it ain't me y'should be talkin' to." She squinted a little and leaned a bit closer still, her knuckles growing a little white as she gripped the desk harder. "Y'do actually mean it when you say that, yeah?"
"Yes, yes, I get it. Please be gentle, that's mahogany," he pled, eyeing her hands. She was dangerously close to tearing his desk in half, which would have been one of the worst consequences of this whole confrontation.
"I don't think . . . Look, Inez. You're right. I am sorry for losing my temper and threatening Lewis. Her own cruel and improper reaction to Madin aside, I shouldn't have said what I said."
"It did get outta hand in more ways than one, yeah," Inez conceded. She relaxed her grip on the desk after he mentioned it; that hadn't been her intention, to damage the desk, but better an inanimate object than an actual person she told herself. "An' again, it's not me that needs t'hear it. Even if she did go to far, for fuck's sake, Quentin, you're runnin' this place, people look up t'you and expect better. Deserve better," she added, having been one of those people.
She sighed and got back to her feet, turning her back on him. "I know you've already been read the riot act, I imagine, so I'll shut up about it, but before I do I just need t'know that you're aimin' to make things right." As much as he could, anyway, some people's trust would be hard to win back, if ever... and if he even had it in the first place with some people, but Inez couldn't worry about that part of it. She turned to face him again, arms still crossed.
"Y'got a plan for that, I hope?"
A hundred people would interpret "make things right" a hundred different ways. What would satisfy one person would not satisfy another. Anyone with half a brain (and Quentin maintained that he had two halves) knew the key was to find the biggest overlap, even if it meant every party had to compromise. And while that word was usually anathema to him, Kevin and Inez (and even Maya) made it clear that Quentin was cornered and had no other option.
"Let's start locally," he conceded. "Call the team and we'll go from there."
~*~
Quentin takes the high road? No, that can't be right.
Quentin was the last of X-Factor to enter the meeting room. He took his usual seat at the round conference table, met everyone’s eyes, and nodded.
“All right, here it goes. I messed up badly on the journal system the other day. I threatened a fellow resident with hostile, lethal use of my telepathy. To me, that’s just locker room talk. I . . . you know, never mind. What I was thinking is irrelevant.
“I want to simply say ‘I regret not comporting myself in the manner appropriate to my position,’ and just leave it there. Because I can’t expect you all to work with me if that’s how I talk to people when I’m pissed off. So that’s that, right? I’m an embarrassment, I embarrassed you, and I’m sorry for that.
“I started here as basically Frost’s and Worthington’s gopher because I wanted to do something besides complain. And working with you all, we’ve helped so many people, made this shithole of a city a little better. I gave myself meaning. And now I’m here, running my mouth and actively disassembling that. You all built this agency into something really uncanny, and everything we’ve worked so fucking hard for, I jeopardized.”
He paused for a short moment to assemble his words. “But that’s all missing the point. Worse than that, it’s ignoring the point. The problem isn’t what I did to myself. It’s that I decided to express my resentment for someone I don’t like, who only said something I found abhorrent, by threatening her life. And that’s really fucking stupid. So I’ve got to fix it. I’m going to. I just, I guess, I wanted to let you know first.”
“Do you truly mean this?” Hope sharply raised an eyebrow, eying him doubtfully. “You have learned from this? You truly believe you'll be able to restrain yourself next time?” Finally she met his eyes. “A veneer of respectability is a powerful asset. Something easily lost and very hard to regain… You might want to consider that carefully.”
“Yeah, I do.” He returned her gaze. “Especially considering what it’s going to cost if I fuck up like this again,” he added telepathically.
A slim finger traced along the edge of her coffee cup as Sue raised her gaze to settle on Quentin, tilting her head to the side as she considered him carefully. “The mansion, the agency here, all of this is built on the idea of second and third chances. People shouldn’t be defined by who they are in their worst moments, we’ve all had moments we’re not proud of.” The ceramic mug clinked softly as the blonde set it down on the table. “If you’ve learned, grown, then I’m behind you. You all gave me a family, family stands by one another.”
Inez took in everyone’s comments from her seat, arms crossed over each other, before adding her own two cents. “Y’know how I feel already, an’... yeah, acknowledin’ it is a good start,” she admitted. “I know nobody’s perfect but … yeah, no need t’drive home the seriousness of it. I just hope that y’follow through on what you just said.” There was really nothing more for her to say other than that - especially given their one-on-one conversation earlier - so with that she just nodded and slouched back into her seat again..
“Also sensitivity training. Some mindfulness. It is important to note that there are students at the mansion now.” That, of all things, came from Arthur. His words were pitched as if this was merely a natural thing to add in, like building a grocery list. “I have already pulled some names and forwarded them to you!”
Truth be told, a mere tap of his phone resulted in Quentin’s own device chiming a tiny ping of acknowledgement. Arthur’s eyes didn’t leave Quentin’s, though, as he concluded: “You and I have talked about actions and their impact before. I suggest that all of us decide on a signal for when Q just needs to stop and put his phone down.”
“Thank you, Sue, Inez, Arthur,” Quentin said neutrally, “I’ll take that into consideration.” A beat as Arthur’s gaze bore through his head. “I’ll review and set it up tomorrow.” Another brief pause as Quentin fought back a grimace. “Today,” he finally relented.
Hope glanced around the table, taking in the expression from Alex and the rest. Narrowing her eyes, she made sure to meet QQ’s eyes again. “What you did here, can be a beginning. But I would strongly suggest apologizing to Darcy if you had not considered that yet.” She sent him telepathically, her voice just as firm.
