PASSAGES - EPISODE 4, ACT 1
Dec. 9th, 2007 05:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kashiwritesPreviously: Episode 3
For reference: Cast of Characters
I.A.) HOLLISTER KITCHEN. Moira, Dawn, and Connor are bustling around the kitchen, collecting various items from cupboards (candles, goblets, a couple of ornate knives, a salt shaker), and putting them in athletic bags. Dawn goes to the back door window and peers out.
MOIRA – I wouldn’t worry, dear. Ryan will be here shortly.
CONNOR – This is all for his benefit, after all. It wouldn’t make sense for him not to show up, after he requested this himself.
DAWN – Oh, I know he’ll be here. I just want it to be now. I just want to know he’s alright, after yesterday.
MOIRA – He’s fine, Dawn. He’s stronger than people think he is. (FILLS A THERMOS WITH TAP WATER AND PUTS IT IN AN ATHLETIC BAG) Connor, how is the temperature outside?
CONNOR – Pretty chilly, and likely to get colder as the evening goes on. I brought some extra warm clothes.
MOIRA – That’s what I expected, so I packed a few things. I hope you’ve got some extra layers on, Dawn?
DAWN – Lots. I’ll be alright. By the way, Connor. How was your hot date last night?
CONNOR – Hot, of course. (GRINS)
DAWN – Details, I want details!
CONNOR – If you think I’m going to oblige, you are certifiably insane. And I’m more interested in your latest adventures, Dawn. They’re far more exciting than mine.
DAWN – (GROANS) Don’t remind me.
MOIRA – Sounds interesting. What adventures are these?
CONNOR – Dawn! You haven’t told her?
DAWN – She just got home, Connor. There hasn’t been time.
CONNOR – Of course there hasn’t.
MOIRA – I grow more intrigued by the moment. Tell me about these adventures, Dawn.
CONNOR – Or I suppose, mother, that you could wait to hear it on the news.
DAWN – Connor!
MOIRA – Excuse me? The news? (STOPS WHAT SHE’S DOING AND LEANS AGAINST A COUNTER) Now I’m beyond intrigued. I’d really like to hear this, Dawn.
(DAWN FLASHES CONNOR A NASTY LOOK, BUT HE CONTINUES LEISURELY GATHERING THINGS UP AND PUTTING THEM IN THE ATHLETIC BAG.)
DAWN – Well…the protest got a little out of hand, that’s all.
CONNOR – “All.” Rioting, arrests. Everything but shootings and tear gas, from what I heard.
DAWN – It wasn’t as bad as that. If it weren’t for the spray paint, I think things would’ve stayed –
MOIRA – Spray paint? Oh, Dawn. The furs.
DAWN – Yes. The furs. A couple of rabble-rousers showed up – we’d never seen them before – and started spraying the furs with red paint.
CONNOR – Ah, the poignant symbolism.
DAWN – Shut up. So naturally, that was when the police intervened.
CONNOR – You’ll never take me alive, copper!
DAWN – You know, for a sensitive, enlightened, modern kind of guy, you’re behaving an awful lot like a typical male.
CONNOR – And that was an awfully sexist remark.
MOIRA – Can we dispense with the politically correct rhetoric just long enough to get this story told, please? So the police intervened. Were you arrested?
DAWN – No, thank the gods. We ran. We knew there wasn’t much point in trying to explain that the paint sprayers weren’t part of our group. Things were too frenzied for explanations, and we didn’t want to get tossed in the clink with everyone else.
CONNOR – I suppose they wouldn’t have believed you anyway.
DAWN – Probably not. And with good reason.
MOIRA – So now your group’s credibility has suffered.
DAWN – Oh, yeah. No question there.
CONNOR – And you can imagine what the press is going to make of it.
DAWN – Don’t remind me. What a mess this has become!
MOIRA – Of course you’ll have to find some way to counteract the bad publicity.
DAWN – Barb and I are already working on it. But I don’t know if we can undo the damage entirely. We already look very, very bad. Which means that Blythe Chambers probably looks very good – (STOPS. A THOUGHT OCCURRING TO HER.) You don’t suppose she hired them herself, do you?
CONNOR – Intriguing thought.
MOIRA – But I doubt it. Unless the damage to the furs was superficial, I doubt she’d want to absorb the financial loss. She’d need a lot of new customers to compensate.
DAWN – Unless the furs just need a good dry cleaning to be good as new.
MOIRA – Dawn, you don’t know this woman. Don’t judge her so harshly.
CONNOR – You know, for an enlightened, modern kind of woman, you’re making an awful lot of ungrounded assumptions here.
DAWN – Connor. Support me. I’m having a crisis.
MOIRA – But I really do think you can’t lay this at Ms. Chamber’s door, Dawn. I think she’s too clever to hire thugs, from everything I’ve heard of her. Hired guns are too easy to trace, and too hard to control. These men – did you say they were men -- ?
DAWN – No, but they were.
MOIRA – Well, these men were probably there for their own amusement, just to create trouble.
DAWN – That’s what Ashwin said.
CONNOR – Who’s that? (THE DOOR BEGINS TO OPEN AS HE SPEAKS) You said…Ash…? Ashley?
DAWN – No. (DISTRACTED AS THE DOOR OPENS AND PENNY STEPS IN, FOLLOWED BY ASHWIN) No, I said…Ashwin. And…there he is, conjured up by my words. I don’t believe it.
(PENNY AND ASHWIN COME FURTHER INTO THE ROOM, AND AUDREY PEERS CURIOUSLY AROUND THE DOOR FRAME. PENNY TURNS TO HER.)
PENNY – Come in, Audrey, do. I promise no one in my family bites.
(AUDREY STEPS IN GINGERLY AND SEES DAWN, JUST AS DAWN SPOTS HER AND JUMPS TO HER FEET)
DAWN – What is she doing here? (A SMALL SILENCE, AS EVERYONE STARES AT HER. SHE SITS DOWN, DEPRESSED AND DEFLATED.) Sorry. I seem incapable of being civil today.
PENNY – Ashwin and Audrey are both here as my guests. I invited them in for a cup of tea before they go home. I thought it was the least I could do for them. After they both got me out of jail.
(CONNOR FUMBLES WITH SOMETHING AND ALMOST DROPS IT. EVERYONE ELSE STARES IN ASTONISHMENT AT PENNY. AUDREY SMILES A LITTLE TO HERSELF, ENJOYING THE SHOCK VALUE.)
I.B) VICKERY HOUSE, FRONT HALL. Ryan stands near the front door. There is a back pack near his feet, and he is putting on a winter jacket. Kevin comes down the stairs behind him.
KEVIN – Ryan.
RYAN – (TURNS AND SMILES) Oh. Kevin. Hi.
KEVIN – Where have you been all day? I’ve been looking for you.
RYAN – Oh, I’ve been around.
KEVIN – You weren’t at breakfast this morning.
RYAN – I really needed to sleep in. It’s been a rough week.
KEVIN – All day? That’s a lot of sleep.
RYAN – No, I’ve been around. You must have kept missing me.
KEVIN – I thought you’d be looking for me. You said you wanted to talk.
RYAN – I do. That is…
KEVIN – Then how about now? Now that I’ve finally found you.
RYAN – (LOOKS WARY. GLANCES AT THE DOOR) Now? I can’t, really. Not now. Sorry.
KEVIN – Are you going out?
RYAN – Yeah. (SMILES APOLOGETICALLY)
KEVIN – Maybe I can come with you –
RYAN – (TOO QUICKLY) No! I mean…it’s sort of a private meeting.
(KEVIN REGARDS HIM SILENTLY FOR A LONG MOMENT. RYAN SHIFTS UNEASILY)
KEVIN – You’re avoiding me, aren’t you, Ryan?
RYAN – Avoiding you? No. Why would I want to do that?
KEVIN – That’s what I’m wondering myself.
RYAN – That’s ridiculous, Kevin. I really do need to talk to you. I’ve been waiting for days.
KEVIN – Then why not skip your meeting and we’ll go somewhere and –
RYAN – No. I can’t.
KEVIN – You can’t? Or you won’t?
RYAN – I want to talk, and we will. Tomorrow. But tonight I have to go to this meeting. It’s just too important to miss.
KEVIN – And you won’t let me go with you to this “private” little meeting. Must be a pretty exclusive little club, Ryan. What do you do there – sacrifice babies?
(RYAN IS SHOCKED SPEECHLES FOR A MOMENT, STARING AT KEVIN. THEN HE GRABS HIS BACKPACK AND SLINGS IT OVER HIS SHOULDER, SPEAKING THROUGH CLENCHED TEETH)
RYAN – I’ve forgotten how hateful you can be when you put your mind to it. I’ve had enough of this. I’m going.
KEVIN – Ryan –
RYAN – No! (FLINGS THE DOOR OPEN) I’m going before I’m late. I’ll be back later and we can talk tomorrow. If I still think it’s worth it. (HE RUSHES OUT THE DOOR. KEVIN FOLLOWS TO THE DOORWAY)
KEVIN – Ryan! Don’t just walk out. (NO REPLY. RYAN IS GONE. KEVIN STEPS BACK INSIDE, CLOSES DOOR, AND LEANS AGAINST IT) I’m going to find out, Ryan. Whatever you’re hiding.
Next: Episode 4, Act 2
For reference: Cast of Characters
I.A.) HOLLISTER KITCHEN. Moira, Dawn, and Connor are bustling around the kitchen, collecting various items from cupboards (candles, goblets, a couple of ornate knives, a salt shaker), and putting them in athletic bags. Dawn goes to the back door window and peers out.
MOIRA – I wouldn’t worry, dear. Ryan will be here shortly.
CONNOR – This is all for his benefit, after all. It wouldn’t make sense for him not to show up, after he requested this himself.
DAWN – Oh, I know he’ll be here. I just want it to be now. I just want to know he’s alright, after yesterday.
MOIRA – He’s fine, Dawn. He’s stronger than people think he is. (FILLS A THERMOS WITH TAP WATER AND PUTS IT IN AN ATHLETIC BAG) Connor, how is the temperature outside?
CONNOR – Pretty chilly, and likely to get colder as the evening goes on. I brought some extra warm clothes.
MOIRA – That’s what I expected, so I packed a few things. I hope you’ve got some extra layers on, Dawn?
DAWN – Lots. I’ll be alright. By the way, Connor. How was your hot date last night?
CONNOR – Hot, of course. (GRINS)
DAWN – Details, I want details!
CONNOR – If you think I’m going to oblige, you are certifiably insane. And I’m more interested in your latest adventures, Dawn. They’re far more exciting than mine.
DAWN – (GROANS) Don’t remind me.
MOIRA – Sounds interesting. What adventures are these?
CONNOR – Dawn! You haven’t told her?
DAWN – She just got home, Connor. There hasn’t been time.
CONNOR – Of course there hasn’t.
MOIRA – I grow more intrigued by the moment. Tell me about these adventures, Dawn.
CONNOR – Or I suppose, mother, that you could wait to hear it on the news.
DAWN – Connor!
MOIRA – Excuse me? The news? (STOPS WHAT SHE’S DOING AND LEANS AGAINST A COUNTER) Now I’m beyond intrigued. I’d really like to hear this, Dawn.
(DAWN FLASHES CONNOR A NASTY LOOK, BUT HE CONTINUES LEISURELY GATHERING THINGS UP AND PUTTING THEM IN THE ATHLETIC BAG.)
DAWN – Well…the protest got a little out of hand, that’s all.
CONNOR – “All.” Rioting, arrests. Everything but shootings and tear gas, from what I heard.
DAWN – It wasn’t as bad as that. If it weren’t for the spray paint, I think things would’ve stayed –
MOIRA – Spray paint? Oh, Dawn. The furs.
DAWN – Yes. The furs. A couple of rabble-rousers showed up – we’d never seen them before – and started spraying the furs with red paint.
CONNOR – Ah, the poignant symbolism.
DAWN – Shut up. So naturally, that was when the police intervened.
CONNOR – You’ll never take me alive, copper!
DAWN – You know, for a sensitive, enlightened, modern kind of guy, you’re behaving an awful lot like a typical male.
CONNOR – And that was an awfully sexist remark.
MOIRA – Can we dispense with the politically correct rhetoric just long enough to get this story told, please? So the police intervened. Were you arrested?
DAWN – No, thank the gods. We ran. We knew there wasn’t much point in trying to explain that the paint sprayers weren’t part of our group. Things were too frenzied for explanations, and we didn’t want to get tossed in the clink with everyone else.
CONNOR – I suppose they wouldn’t have believed you anyway.
DAWN – Probably not. And with good reason.
MOIRA – So now your group’s credibility has suffered.
DAWN – Oh, yeah. No question there.
CONNOR – And you can imagine what the press is going to make of it.
DAWN – Don’t remind me. What a mess this has become!
MOIRA – Of course you’ll have to find some way to counteract the bad publicity.
DAWN – Barb and I are already working on it. But I don’t know if we can undo the damage entirely. We already look very, very bad. Which means that Blythe Chambers probably looks very good – (STOPS. A THOUGHT OCCURRING TO HER.) You don’t suppose she hired them herself, do you?
CONNOR – Intriguing thought.
MOIRA – But I doubt it. Unless the damage to the furs was superficial, I doubt she’d want to absorb the financial loss. She’d need a lot of new customers to compensate.
DAWN – Unless the furs just need a good dry cleaning to be good as new.
MOIRA – Dawn, you don’t know this woman. Don’t judge her so harshly.
CONNOR – You know, for an enlightened, modern kind of woman, you’re making an awful lot of ungrounded assumptions here.
DAWN – Connor. Support me. I’m having a crisis.
MOIRA – But I really do think you can’t lay this at Ms. Chamber’s door, Dawn. I think she’s too clever to hire thugs, from everything I’ve heard of her. Hired guns are too easy to trace, and too hard to control. These men – did you say they were men -- ?
DAWN – No, but they were.
MOIRA – Well, these men were probably there for their own amusement, just to create trouble.
DAWN – That’s what Ashwin said.
CONNOR – Who’s that? (THE DOOR BEGINS TO OPEN AS HE SPEAKS) You said…Ash…? Ashley?
DAWN – No. (DISTRACTED AS THE DOOR OPENS AND PENNY STEPS IN, FOLLOWED BY ASHWIN) No, I said…Ashwin. And…there he is, conjured up by my words. I don’t believe it.
(PENNY AND ASHWIN COME FURTHER INTO THE ROOM, AND AUDREY PEERS CURIOUSLY AROUND THE DOOR FRAME. PENNY TURNS TO HER.)
PENNY – Come in, Audrey, do. I promise no one in my family bites.
(AUDREY STEPS IN GINGERLY AND SEES DAWN, JUST AS DAWN SPOTS HER AND JUMPS TO HER FEET)
DAWN – What is she doing here? (A SMALL SILENCE, AS EVERYONE STARES AT HER. SHE SITS DOWN, DEPRESSED AND DEFLATED.) Sorry. I seem incapable of being civil today.
PENNY – Ashwin and Audrey are both here as my guests. I invited them in for a cup of tea before they go home. I thought it was the least I could do for them. After they both got me out of jail.
(CONNOR FUMBLES WITH SOMETHING AND ALMOST DROPS IT. EVERYONE ELSE STARES IN ASTONISHMENT AT PENNY. AUDREY SMILES A LITTLE TO HERSELF, ENJOYING THE SHOCK VALUE.)
I.B) VICKERY HOUSE, FRONT HALL. Ryan stands near the front door. There is a back pack near his feet, and he is putting on a winter jacket. Kevin comes down the stairs behind him.
KEVIN – Ryan.
RYAN – (TURNS AND SMILES) Oh. Kevin. Hi.
KEVIN – Where have you been all day? I’ve been looking for you.
RYAN – Oh, I’ve been around.
KEVIN – You weren’t at breakfast this morning.
RYAN – I really needed to sleep in. It’s been a rough week.
KEVIN – All day? That’s a lot of sleep.
RYAN – No, I’ve been around. You must have kept missing me.
KEVIN – I thought you’d be looking for me. You said you wanted to talk.
RYAN – I do. That is…
KEVIN – Then how about now? Now that I’ve finally found you.
RYAN – (LOOKS WARY. GLANCES AT THE DOOR) Now? I can’t, really. Not now. Sorry.
KEVIN – Are you going out?
RYAN – Yeah. (SMILES APOLOGETICALLY)
KEVIN – Maybe I can come with you –
RYAN – (TOO QUICKLY) No! I mean…it’s sort of a private meeting.
(KEVIN REGARDS HIM SILENTLY FOR A LONG MOMENT. RYAN SHIFTS UNEASILY)
KEVIN – You’re avoiding me, aren’t you, Ryan?
RYAN – Avoiding you? No. Why would I want to do that?
KEVIN – That’s what I’m wondering myself.
RYAN – That’s ridiculous, Kevin. I really do need to talk to you. I’ve been waiting for days.
KEVIN – Then why not skip your meeting and we’ll go somewhere and –
RYAN – No. I can’t.
KEVIN – You can’t? Or you won’t?
RYAN – I want to talk, and we will. Tomorrow. But tonight I have to go to this meeting. It’s just too important to miss.
KEVIN – And you won’t let me go with you to this “private” little meeting. Must be a pretty exclusive little club, Ryan. What do you do there – sacrifice babies?
(RYAN IS SHOCKED SPEECHLES FOR A MOMENT, STARING AT KEVIN. THEN HE GRABS HIS BACKPACK AND SLINGS IT OVER HIS SHOULDER, SPEAKING THROUGH CLENCHED TEETH)
RYAN – I’ve forgotten how hateful you can be when you put your mind to it. I’ve had enough of this. I’m going.
KEVIN – Ryan –
RYAN – No! (FLINGS THE DOOR OPEN) I’m going before I’m late. I’ll be back later and we can talk tomorrow. If I still think it’s worth it. (HE RUSHES OUT THE DOOR. KEVIN FOLLOWS TO THE DOORWAY)
KEVIN – Ryan! Don’t just walk out. (NO REPLY. RYAN IS GONE. KEVIN STEPS BACK INSIDE, CLOSES DOOR, AND LEANS AGAINST IT) I’m going to find out, Ryan. Whatever you’re hiding.
Next: Episode 4, Act 2
