Quinn's Code (Daria AU): The Lab Mouse, the Geek and the Convention - Part 2

[fardell24]

Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Kevin arrived at Schloss Morgendorffer a third time. “Hi again, Kevin, watching the Pigskin Channel again?” Jake asked.

“Of course, Mr. M,” Kevin said.

“Cool,” Jake said.


Quinn had seen Kevin park his Jeep through her bedroom window. She grabbed her cell phone.


Jennifer and Mack were in Jennifer's garage, training the mouse. Jennifer's phone rang. Jennifer dropped the mouse in surprise. “Where did it go?” she asked.

“I'll look for it whilst you talk,” Mack said.

“Thanks,” Jennifer said. She pressed the answer button. “Hi.”

“Hi, Jennifer?”

“Yes?”

“It's Quinn.”

“I know, what are you calling about?”

“It's about Daria, and Kevin. She's not letting him participate in their lab project!”

“Have you talked to her about it?” Jennifer asked, she didn't want to broach the subject with Daria.

“Not yet,” Quinn said.

“Talk to her about it, see if she could give him something for him to do.”

“Yeah, Cindy said something similar.”

“Good, anyway I have to go, the mouse is being difficult.”

“How can a mouse be difficult?”

“You don't want to know, bye.”

“Bye.”

Jennifer put the phone in her pocket. She turned to Mack. “I'll help, don't want it getting into my food...”


Quinn hung up after her conversation with Jennifer. 'I guess I would have to talk to Daria after all,' she thought as she went to her closet to get out her so-far-incomplete costume for the convention.


Brittany finished filing Upchuck's disgusting magazines. 'I don't want to touch them ever again!' She went back to the Rutthiemer's garage.
“Ok, I have finished filing your magazines!”

“There are more chores I have in mind for you, otherwise...”

“Ooh!”


Hours later, Jennifer collapsed into bed, exhausted. She and Mack had been unable to find the mouse...




Friday November 24, 2005
Kevin arrived at Schloss Morgendorffer a fourth time (as Daria didn't want him over on Thanksgiving). “Hey, buddy, let's watch a re-run of Superbowl XXXII!” Jake said.

“Sure, thing, Mr. M.”


Quinn entered the garage from the dining room. She saw Daria training the mouse. “Daria, we need to talk.”

“About what, Quinn?”

“Could you possibly find something for Kevin to do and still contribute to the project?”

“No.”

“What do you mean, 'No'?”

“Exactly what I said, Quinn. There is no way in which Kevin can contribute in a meaningful way.”

“You're underestimating him.”

“I'm not!”

“Surely, if he can be a quarterback, he can follow simple instructions!”

“He would mess it up!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes! Damn it! Remember, I'm in some of his classes, and I observe that he's incapable of taking in the simplest of information!”

“All I'm saying is, give him a chance!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“No!”

Daria and Quinn continued arguing.


After a few minutes the two sisters stopped their argument. “What is it to you anyway?” Daria asked.

“Kevin deserves to be treated better than the way you treated that duo back in Highland.”

“He is being treated better!”

Daria watched Quinn leave the garage, heading back towards the living room through the dining room. 'Now I have to find a way to include him,' she thought. It wasn't often that Daria conceded that Quinn was right.


Elsewhere, Brittany was tired of running errands for Upchuck. “Ooh!” She entered the Rutthiemer's garage. “Okay, I shined your spoon collection, filed your disgusting magazines and finished your shopping.” She pushed some of the shopping into Upchuck's arms. 'I wanted to do my own shopping on Black Friday!' “Can I go now?”

Upchuck put the shopping down on a bench and took out a jar of honey. “I'm sorry, Brittany, but I specifically said I wanted the honey that comes in a bear, not a jar.”

“Ooh! You, you... weasel!”

“"And remember, Kevin, it was the week that you two had broken up, so I don't think you should be too angry with... Back-Seat Brittany."”

“Ooh!” Brittany stalked away. 'This has to stop! Kevie isn't staying at the Morgendorffer Temptresses house any more!'


Over at the Burns Residence, Mack and Jennifer were still searching for their mouse.


Brittany approached the Morgendorffer's house as the sun was beginning to set. 'I will sneak in, grab the mouse and then get away,' she thought.


Brittany came up to the side of the house and looked into the garage. It was empty. The mouse was just waiting in the maze for her to grab it! She tried the side door, next to the window. Locked! She edged along to the sliding door and looked into the kitchen. Perfect! The kitchen was deserted. “Yes!” She said. She then heard a noise above.

She heard Daria saying “Who's there?”

'Oops!' Brittany thought. She leaned against the kitchen door, so as to not be seen by Daria. 'Of course her room has to be on this side of the house!' She waited a few moments before opening the kitchen door.
She opened it a bit. It made a noise, as the ball bearings did their thing. “Eep!” She stopped. After a few moments she restarted opening the door. Slowly and slightly lifting it so as to not have so many bearings making noise...

Having opened the door a quarter of the way, she then tried to slip into the house...

However, there was a problem: Her chest. Or more accurately, the large amount of padding in her bra. “O-ooh!” 'Of course!' She then pushed the door open further, a few bearings rolled. She paused, no noise, other than that of the Pigskin Channel in the living room. 'Right!' she thought. She squeezed through. There was pressure on her chest, but no worse than what she had subjected herself to at the beginning of puberty.

Brittany; having squeezed through the door, fell sideways into the kitchen. She quickly put her leg out and ended up doing the splits next to the table. She quickly got up and looked around the kitchen. 'Now, which door goes to the garage?' she thought. She tried the first door. Dining Room.
Second door. Downstairs bathroom, and stairs down to the basement. “OK...” She went back to the Dining Room. She then saw an extra pair of doors opposite to the kitchen. Brittany smiled.


The cheerleader entered the garage. She grabbed a box which lay near the door and approached the maze. “Now don't say a word,” she said. She grabbed the mouse, which bit her hand. “Ouch! You icky, little... animal!” She trapped the mouse in the box. “Now, you Morgendorffer Temptresses. You are going to need a new excuse if you want to drag my Kevin over here now.” She quickly let herself out via the side door...


Daria came downstairs to investigate the noises that she had heard. She saw the sliding door slightly open. 'Uh, oh!'

Daria ran into the garage, she saw that the side door was open, that one of the boxes was missing and that the mouse was no longer in the maze. “Oh no!”


Quinn was playing Guild Wars when Daria slammed open the door to the room. Quinn turned from the computer. “What is it, Daria?”

“The mouse is missing!”

“I'm surprised as you are, Daria.”

“You're saying that you had nothing to do with it?”

“Exactly,” Quinn said.

Daria could see that Quinn was telling the truth. “Great! Now I have to ask Kevin.”

Quinn smirked as she turned back to the online game. She knew that Daria was in for a tough time.


Daria came downstairs and flicked off the TV in the middle of a play. “Hey! I was watching that!”

“I have some bad news, Kevin.”

“What's so bad that you had to turn off the TV?”

“Listen, our mouse is gone.”

“What?”

“Without the mouse, we fail, and we won't have time to train a new one.”

“Bummer, I wish there was something I could do, but what?”

“Did you take it?”

“What? I haven't been in the garage!”

“I see,” Daria said.


Brittany arrived home and carried the box with the mouse in it to her brother's bedroom. As always she dreaded entering that place, with its weird smells and weird décor. She opened the door slowly and walked over to where her brother was sitting at his desk. He got up making the chair fall back. “Hi, Britt!” Brian Taylor said.

“Don't let this mouse out of your sight, okay?” Brittany asked as she handed Brian the box.

“Sure,” Brian said in an unnerving tone.

“Look after it!” Brittany said as she turned and left the room. She didn't notice the evil smile on her brothers face...


At the Burns' house, there was a clattering as Mack dug through bits and pieces of old furniture in the garage.

Jennifer sighted something running out from behind an old television. She leapt for it and grabbed it. “Yay,” she said.

“You've got it?”

Jennifer nodded.

“Finally,” Mack said in relief.

Jennifer placed it back in the maze. “But now we only have the remaining three days to train it!” she said.

“True, but I bet yesterday was tense,” Mack said.

“We had Thanksgiving at a relatives house,” Jennifer said.

“That makes sense.”

“Yeah.”


Daria re-entered her room. 'I need to find out who took that mouse.' She opened her closet and took out a notebook. 'Time for investigating,' she thought.

She started writing out a list of suspects.


Brittany Taylor
…


Later that night, Quinn put the finishing touches on her convention costume. “Done!” she said.



Saturday, November 25, 2005
Early in the morning, Cindy and Kristen approached the Morgendorffers house. “This is going to be a great convention,” Cindy said.

“So you say,” Kristen said. She had heard Cindy and Quinn go on and on about it for the last week, along with Quinn's complaints about Daria's treatment of Kevin.

“You are going to enjoy it, just wait,” Cindy said as she pressed the Morgendorffer's doorbell.

“Of course,” Kristen said with a sigh.


Quinn heard the doorbell as she came down the stairs. She drew the coat around her as reached the bottom and went to the door.

“Hello, Cindy, Kristen,” she said nervously.

“Hi Quinn, you're ready?” Cindy asked.

“Yeah,” Quinn said, running her hand through the chin length wig, and still showing nerves in her voice.

“Show it,” Kristen said with a smirk.

“OK, but I'll put the coat back on until we get there,” Quinn said. She dropped the coat to the floor, revealing a Mew Ichigo costume, complete with a replica of Mew Ichigo's weapon, hanging on Quinn's right hip.

“Cool,” Kristen said.

“Very cool,” Cindy said as she pulled the door closed behind her.

“Um, yeah. I'm not used to showing this much skin,” Quinn said.

“Well, there shouldn't be too much trouble at the convention,” Kristen said.

“True, but I hope that Upchuck wouldn't be there.”

“I wouldn't worry about that. Apparently he has been annoying Brittany all week,” Cindy said.

Quinn picked up her coat and put it back on. “Yeah.” she said. “Let's go.”