Episode 064 Previous Episode	Next Episode
“The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” Albert Einstein As Everett leaned on the right side of his chair, rubbing his eyes, Marilyn looked past him to the mounds of papers that were scattered around his computer desk. “What’s that?” she asked, desperate to change the subject. Everett looked over his shoulder at the papers, then went back to wishing the world wasn’t there. “Stuff on the Crimson Rose.” “Really?” Marilyn exclaimed, standing up. Everett considered trying to stop her, but thought better of it. “I thought you’d lost interest in the Rose.” She walked over to the papers and knelt down; picking the map Everett had been reviewing. “Gosh, has the Rose really been to all these spots?” “Yeah,” Everett said. “He’s coming up on, I think, his thirtieth or something sighting.” “Probably a lot more than that,” Marilyn said with a smile, looking at the map with great interest. “I mean, thirty or whatever sightings are just the ones that have been reported.” She looked at Everett, her smile enchanting him. “So are you going to try to catch the Rose again?” “That’s sort of the plan,” Everett confirmed, sitting up, realigning himself. “I just, I’m not sure where to start.” “How successful have you been in the past?” she asked. “With trying to catch the Rose, I mean?” “Moreso than I think we should be giving ourselves credit for,” he said. “We’ve come within a hair’s breadth of having him except, once again, my determination to avoid a confrontation allowed him to escape.” “And you think he’s a knight, or no?” she asked, still marveling wide-eyed at the map. “Opinions vary,” he said. “Mine varies every couple of days.” He stood up and took off his white shirt, leaving the white tank top beneath. He tossed the shirt into his room and stared over her shoulder at the papers. “I don’t know. When I look at it on paper, when I consider analytically how the Rose seems to think, it seems like he’s got to be a knight. But when I’ve seen him, seen the way he moves, I just can’t accept that he’s sworn to Chivalry.” “But, it seems like something a knight would do,” Marilyn ventured, returning to the couch. “I mean, trying to stop crime at its root.” “Stopping crime at its root is done economically,” Everett argued disinterestedly, pacing again. “People don’t steal because of evil in their hearts; they steal out of desperation.” “What about big corporations who…” Marilyn started to ask. “The Rose isn’t going after Enron,” Everett maintained, turning to look at Marilyn. He headed into the kitchen, taking out a bottle of water. “Want anything?” he called. “I’m good,” she answered cheerfully. Everett came back in, thinking. “Who do you think the Rose is?” she asked. “I’m thinking it’s somebody connected with Alan,” Everett said, staring off, unscrewing the bottle. “I think it could be one of his people. I’ve met them, and read a dossier on each. There’s one guy, Eliot somethingruther, that I think could be the Rose. He strikes me as having the right kind of build and from the dossier, seems to have the right sort of background for it.” “Right sort of background?” Marilyn remarked with a smile. “What’s the right sort of background?” “Mental instability,” Everett said, sipping from the water bottle. “Mental instability?!” Marilyn exclaimed, startling him. “What’s so mentally unstable about wanting to make the world a better place? What’s so mentally unstable about trying to help people, people who are in need?” Everett turned to her calmly, facing her indignation. “Why are you protecting this guy so much?” he asked simply. “Because I wish I was him!” she yelled. “I wish, I wish I was out there, stopping people from doing bad things and keeping people safe.” “Then join the police,” Everett suggested. “The police,” Marilyn scoffed. “Yeah, right. The police in this town are all corrupt. They’re all a bunch of racist fascists who carry a badge just so they can push people around.” “Wasn’t it you who said ‘be the change you want to see in the world’?” Everett asked. “It was Gandhi actually; I was just quoting him,” she said glumly. She sat back, leaning on her hands as she looked away from Everett. “I just, I can’t stand how you look down on the Crimson Rose, just because you have a different view of the world.” “The Rose is a threat,” he said. “He’s a danger, to people around him, to himself, and to knights.” “Because he wears black and red,” Marilyn disputed. “Because the knights have some kind of trademark on black and red.” Everett decided not to respond. Marilyn looked away. “Besides, now that you guys are wearing blue and white, that shouldn’t be that big of a deal.” Everett chuckled. Marilyn looked up, angry. “What?” she asked. He simply kept laughing. “What?” she demanded, smiling now. “That’s a good point,” he conceded, coming around the chair to sit down again. This time, though, he sat down next to Marilyn on the couch. With the bottle of water in his hands, he stared out at the small, but comfortable apartment. “Did I tell you that Armand and I are going to be getting a new place?” “No, where?” she said, shifting to sit facing Everett, leaning against the back of the couch. “One building over,” he said. “Same building as Ledger’s in. If we get the apartment over him, we may cut a hole in the floor and put in a fire pole.” Marilyn smiled. “I always thought that’d be cool,” he said, “to have a fire pole and stuff.” “The dreams of children,” Marilyn quoted before yawning. He smiled. “It’s getting late,” he whispered. He turned to look at Marilyn as she looked to him with sleepy eyes. “You know, Armand’s staying out with Roland and Ledger. He won’t be coming home until tomorrow.” Marilyn grew a huge smile, her cheeks burning. “Awfully forward, aren’t we?” “No, just, if you don’t want to drive home,” Everett offered harmlessly, “you could sleep in the bedroom. I could crash out here on the couch.” She smiled. “I’m not going to kick you out of your bed.” Everett tried to keep his smile down. “I did hope you’d say something like that,” he said sweetly. “But I can’t stay,” she said remorsefully. She reached to him, putting her hand on his. “If I stay, then…” She looked at him and smiled sweetly. He breathed in, losing himself in her eyes. She lingered a moment with him, the two staying within one another’s company. But finally, she stood from the couch. She unlocked the door and opened it, pausing to look back at him. He turned in his seat to look to her. She smiled sentimentally before turning and heading out.
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