Quentin, Paige, & Sam, Thursday afternoon
Apr. 11th, 2024 12:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsPaige was the (mis)fortune to meet her brother's boss, who hassles her for some Guthrie lore.
Paige walked through the XFI office doors, bypassing the lobby this time. After Warren, she thought it best to just go find and bother Sam rather than risk another screaming session ruining her scarf for the second time. She wasn't sure where Sam's office was, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. Walking down the hallway, Paige could hear some faint strains of country music echoing. Bingo. As she followed the sound, she couldn't place the artist or the song. Maybe Sam was getting recommendations for new music again.
Paige stopped in front of the door the music was issuing from and knocked before opening the door. "Hey, Sammy, you ready to...wait you're not Sam." The pink haired man sitting in the office was definitely not her brother. "Sorry, thought this was Sam's office. Could you tell me where it is?"
"Observant." Quentin looked up from his laptop to inspect the visitor. Given the voice, the hair, the face, and the search for Sam, her identity was obvious. "He's at the library right now. You're one of his sisters?" He racked his brain trying to remember all their names, because he was sure Sam had told him. "Story or Novel or something?"
“It’s Paige. Sorry for bothering you, I heard the music and kind of assumed it was Sam. Who is that, by the way? I don’t recognize the voice.” Paige pushed the door open and stood more in the doorway. “Oh, sorry, what’s your name?”
Quentin knew better than to gawk at Paige for her musical ignorance, but it was a difficult instinct to ignore. Still, he was a professional and could school his expression when needed. "I'm Quentin Quire. PI," he added, although the credential never actually impressed anyone. "And that was Beyonce. She's conquered most other genres, and now she's coming for country."
“Oh, you’re Q!” Paige perked up. “Sam’s mentioned you a few times. This song is really good. I’ll have to look up the rest of her new stuff.” Remembering why she was here, she backed out of the door frame. “Anyway, where’s Sam’s office? Sorry again for bothering you.”
Someone being happy to meet him rather than backing away in terror because of his reputation, that was new. He immediately decided he liked her for it, although he had to wonder what lies Sam had told her to give her a good impression.
"You passed by his desk on the way in. You wanna wait for him there or . . .?" He quickly dashed off a text to Sam to alert him to his sister's presence, and a brilliant thought occurred to him. "Actually, take a seat. Why don't you tell me about Sammy? Humiliating childhood stories, preferably."
Tempting as it was to gossip about Sam, Paige wasn't sure she should. "Aren't you like his manager or something? You're not going to use this against him, right?"
"I just want to get to know him better," Quentin reassured her, and it even was the truth. In a way. "He's under my employ. I hired him because he believes he can do good for this community, and I think he can, too. Doesn't mean we can't have fun around here."
Paige paused for a moment before checking to make sure Sam hadn’t come back yet, then stepped into the office and closed the door.
“Ok, so, you know how Sam used to play baseball? He had a huge crush on one of his teammates, and when he found out the teammate was straight, he spent hours laying face down in the livin’ room listenin’ to Dolly’s Little Sparrow on repeat.”
"Can't say I've ever pined over a breeder with sad music, but I can understand the impulse. The heartache I felt every time Alex rejected my advances," Quentin bemoaned with a grin. "Sam does seem like the kind of person who Feels Big. Both useful and detrimental in this line of work."
“I can imagine.” Paige didn’t really know exactly what Sam did all day here, but she knew it was vaguely related to PI work. “Sam also named his first baseball glove and he liked it so much, I think he slept with it for a bit.”
"You all are straight out of The Waltons, I swear. If John-Boy were a fa . . . laming homosexual." Quentin quickly caught himself, since not everyone casually threw around in-group slurs in everyday speech. "Are you all like this? Full of fascinating and wholesome stories?"
Sam poked his head into Quentin's office with a bag of take-out in hand. "Oh, there you are Paigey, I grabbed food on my way back since we were meetin' for lunch... I see you met Q. I take it you were fillin' him in on all the times I shoulda been arrested but the sheriff let me off cause I was friends with his nephew?"
He winked for dramatic effect, let Q decide for himself or not if he thought it was true. Sam knew the reputation he had here- and he knew his sister and the kind of stories she was likely to tell.
“Was bulidin’ up to that. Thought I’d start out with tellin’ him about Harper.” Paige gave Sam a huge smile and leaned back in her seat. “I like your boss.”
Quentin put his hands over his heart and smiled beatifically at Paige, an expression he rarely shared with his colleagues. "I like you, too. Sammy, she's beautiful, she's smart, she's a good storyteller. I'ma have to fire you and hire her instead. Just promise me you'll only put Little Sparrow on loop for one hour."
"Good luck gettin' her away from her studies." Sam said with a laugh, shaking his head and ruffling his sister's hair just a little. "'Sides, you'd get bored if you couldn't pester me about boys. Paigey doesn't have any tragic boy stories to share. You'd be missin' out."
Paige batted Sam’s hand away and attempted to fix her hair. “True, but I got plenty of stories about you. Like how you follow the all the Cabots on Facebook so you can gossip about them.” Satisfied that her hair was faire, she dropped her hand. “If would cut into my classes though, so I have to decline. Guess Sam’ll just have to do.”
"Get back to me when school's out and you need a job, then. And in the meantime, text me whenever you remember another fun tidbit about Sammy. And you . . ." Quentin's countenance returned to the more familiar boss mode as he turned his attention to the elder brother. "Quick lunch, then come back here. Show me what you found about the Willman case."
"Brought lunch back for a reason." Sam said, rolling his eyes. "And already got most everythin' in a physical folder for you as well as in an email so you have it both ways, just gotta hit send."
Paige got up from her seat and waved at Quentin. “It was so lovely to meet you, we have to do this again sometime.” She looked over at Sam. “Thanks for lunch. Hope you got something good.”
"If it's more fucking bacon, I'm going to go all PETA on you and fire you even if Paige won't take your place."
Paige walked through the XFI office doors, bypassing the lobby this time. After Warren, she thought it best to just go find and bother Sam rather than risk another screaming session ruining her scarf for the second time. She wasn't sure where Sam's office was, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. Walking down the hallway, Paige could hear some faint strains of country music echoing. Bingo. As she followed the sound, she couldn't place the artist or the song. Maybe Sam was getting recommendations for new music again.
Paige stopped in front of the door the music was issuing from and knocked before opening the door. "Hey, Sammy, you ready to...wait you're not Sam." The pink haired man sitting in the office was definitely not her brother. "Sorry, thought this was Sam's office. Could you tell me where it is?"
"Observant." Quentin looked up from his laptop to inspect the visitor. Given the voice, the hair, the face, and the search for Sam, her identity was obvious. "He's at the library right now. You're one of his sisters?" He racked his brain trying to remember all their names, because he was sure Sam had told him. "Story or Novel or something?"
“It’s Paige. Sorry for bothering you, I heard the music and kind of assumed it was Sam. Who is that, by the way? I don’t recognize the voice.” Paige pushed the door open and stood more in the doorway. “Oh, sorry, what’s your name?”
Quentin knew better than to gawk at Paige for her musical ignorance, but it was a difficult instinct to ignore. Still, he was a professional and could school his expression when needed. "I'm Quentin Quire. PI," he added, although the credential never actually impressed anyone. "And that was Beyonce. She's conquered most other genres, and now she's coming for country."
“Oh, you’re Q!” Paige perked up. “Sam’s mentioned you a few times. This song is really good. I’ll have to look up the rest of her new stuff.” Remembering why she was here, she backed out of the door frame. “Anyway, where’s Sam’s office? Sorry again for bothering you.”
Someone being happy to meet him rather than backing away in terror because of his reputation, that was new. He immediately decided he liked her for it, although he had to wonder what lies Sam had told her to give her a good impression.
"You passed by his desk on the way in. You wanna wait for him there or . . .?" He quickly dashed off a text to Sam to alert him to his sister's presence, and a brilliant thought occurred to him. "Actually, take a seat. Why don't you tell me about Sammy? Humiliating childhood stories, preferably."
Tempting as it was to gossip about Sam, Paige wasn't sure she should. "Aren't you like his manager or something? You're not going to use this against him, right?"
"I just want to get to know him better," Quentin reassured her, and it even was the truth. In a way. "He's under my employ. I hired him because he believes he can do good for this community, and I think he can, too. Doesn't mean we can't have fun around here."
Paige paused for a moment before checking to make sure Sam hadn’t come back yet, then stepped into the office and closed the door.
“Ok, so, you know how Sam used to play baseball? He had a huge crush on one of his teammates, and when he found out the teammate was straight, he spent hours laying face down in the livin’ room listenin’ to Dolly’s Little Sparrow on repeat.”
"Can't say I've ever pined over a breeder with sad music, but I can understand the impulse. The heartache I felt every time Alex rejected my advances," Quentin bemoaned with a grin. "Sam does seem like the kind of person who Feels Big. Both useful and detrimental in this line of work."
“I can imagine.” Paige didn’t really know exactly what Sam did all day here, but she knew it was vaguely related to PI work. “Sam also named his first baseball glove and he liked it so much, I think he slept with it for a bit.”
"You all are straight out of The Waltons, I swear. If John-Boy were a fa . . . laming homosexual." Quentin quickly caught himself, since not everyone casually threw around in-group slurs in everyday speech. "Are you all like this? Full of fascinating and wholesome stories?"
Sam poked his head into Quentin's office with a bag of take-out in hand. "Oh, there you are Paigey, I grabbed food on my way back since we were meetin' for lunch... I see you met Q. I take it you were fillin' him in on all the times I shoulda been arrested but the sheriff let me off cause I was friends with his nephew?"
He winked for dramatic effect, let Q decide for himself or not if he thought it was true. Sam knew the reputation he had here- and he knew his sister and the kind of stories she was likely to tell.
“Was bulidin’ up to that. Thought I’d start out with tellin’ him about Harper.” Paige gave Sam a huge smile and leaned back in her seat. “I like your boss.”
Quentin put his hands over his heart and smiled beatifically at Paige, an expression he rarely shared with his colleagues. "I like you, too. Sammy, she's beautiful, she's smart, she's a good storyteller. I'ma have to fire you and hire her instead. Just promise me you'll only put Little Sparrow on loop for one hour."
"Good luck gettin' her away from her studies." Sam said with a laugh, shaking his head and ruffling his sister's hair just a little. "'Sides, you'd get bored if you couldn't pester me about boys. Paigey doesn't have any tragic boy stories to share. You'd be missin' out."
Paige batted Sam’s hand away and attempted to fix her hair. “True, but I got plenty of stories about you. Like how you follow the all the Cabots on Facebook so you can gossip about them.” Satisfied that her hair was faire, she dropped her hand. “If would cut into my classes though, so I have to decline. Guess Sam’ll just have to do.”
"Get back to me when school's out and you need a job, then. And in the meantime, text me whenever you remember another fun tidbit about Sammy. And you . . ." Quentin's countenance returned to the more familiar boss mode as he turned his attention to the elder brother. "Quick lunch, then come back here. Show me what you found about the Willman case."
"Brought lunch back for a reason." Sam said, rolling his eyes. "And already got most everythin' in a physical folder for you as well as in an email so you have it both ways, just gotta hit send."
Paige got up from her seat and waved at Quentin. “It was so lovely to meet you, we have to do this again sometime.” She looked over at Sam. “Thanks for lunch. Hope you got something good.”
"If it's more fucking bacon, I'm going to go all PETA on you and fire you even if Paige won't take your place."
no subject
Date: 2024-04-12 02:12 am (UTC)Why is Quentin liking Sam's siblings scarier than Quentin not liking them?
I do enjoy the detail about Sam following the Cabots for the "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" of it all. It's so petty.
no subject
Date: 2024-04-12 03:27 am (UTC)I love Paige's willingness to roll straight into dishing out dirt on her brother here, matched with Quentin's mischievous quips and snark. The flow of this log is great between Paige and Quentin, matched with Sam joining seamlessly to continue the pleasant vibe.
"If John-Boy were a fa . . . laming homosexual." Oh, Q, the statement works both ways!
no subject
Date: 2024-04-12 03:04 pm (UTC)Anyways, great log, fun to read!