OOM-but-Not

[noteful]

Meg Ford has her hands full as she comes into Milliways today.

And then, suddenly, she doesn't, as the bottom of her grocery bag splits in dramatic fashion.

She just (barely) manages to catch the bottle of shampoo, and the bread lands at her feet and stays there, but a half dozen oranges promptly go rolling in a half dozen directions.

Comments

[master_bruce]

He shrugs, as though it's no big deal.

'There's a board of directors. A ton of employees. I don't have to do it all myself.'

The rat returns then. He picks their drinks up, and places them in front of them before getting his own.

'What do you do on a ranch, Parker?'

[parkerlee]

"Thanks," Parker says, picking up her lemonade.

"A lot of it kind of boils down to event planning? It's a working ranch, but it's also a guest ranch. So, I've done everything from....showing a travel magazine editor around, to planning birthdays, to ordering cattle vaccines, to helping lead trail rides."

She sips her drink.

"Mostly we run around wishing we had clones."

[noteful]

Meg is honestly not sure there's a world in the multiverse that can handle two Parker Lees.

"She took us to the ranch's Valentine's Day dance this year. It was a lot of fun, even not knowing any of the music or dances or so on."

[master_bruce]

'Well, we all wish that,' he says to Parker. 'I'll have the R&D department look into it, OK?'

Kidding! He's kidding.

They already have.

'X went to a Valentine's dance?'

[parkerlee]

Parker grins.

"Oh, if they could make mine better at doing math in her head, that would be awesome."

It's sad to be a college graduate and occasionally have to stop and draw subtraction problems in the air.

"She did. Broke cowboy hearts left and right."

"Well, not really. But I think she could have."

She caught at least one local boy's eye.

[noteful]

"Of course she could have. Laura's wonderful.

"Someone asked her to dance, he was polite and took no for an answer."

Not that, you know, Laura would have given him much choice on that.

[master_bruce]

Bruce raises an eyebrow, but looks amused.

'So, I have no reason to be jealous? Honestly?'

[parkerlee]

"Nah. If there were ever anything for you to be jealous over, I'm sure Laura would tell you."

Girl doesn't go in much for subterfuge.

"And we have it on good authority--namely her's--that she likes you, so I think you're golden."

Don't turn out to be a jerk.

[noteful]

"And Laura has more integrity than anyone else I know."

But surely Bruce knows that.

Right?

[master_bruce]

He looks from one to the other, and picks up his drink.

Wow. He'd never intentionally hurt X, of course he wouldn't. But if he was the type who would, he'd sure hate to think what these two would do to him.

'Well. She says I don't make her miserable.'

Golden, for sure. Hopefully.

'And, yeah,' he says to Meg, with complete sincerity.

'She does.'

[parkerlee]

They'd have to kill him. Naturally.

"She did say that, yes."

Which, coming from Laura, is high praise.

She gives Bruce a measured, though not unfriendly look.

"You must be someone pretty exceptional, Bruce. Because for Laura to have a bonafide boyfriend? That's a big thing."

Not that Laura is any less capable of having a relationship than anyone else. But, from what Parker can tell, for her to want to is the biggest thing.

[noteful]

Laura has friends who look out for her, even when she doesn't need for them to.

(Much as she looks out for them.)

Laura also excellent judgment.

Meg doesn't say anything, just gives Bruce a similiarly meassured look, and waits to see what he has to say.

[master_bruce]

'I'm not exceptional.'

Their expressions are not hard to decipher, but he's not sure what they expect him to say. He and X get each other because of their backgrounds, and motivations, and because they just...do. He's not about to get into that with people he met ten minutes ago, no matter who they are.

He crosses his legs smoothly, and looks at both of them in turn, his expression turning cool again. Calm under pressure, always.

'I know it's a big thing for her. She and I hit it off. It doesn't make me special.'

[parkerlee]

It can't be easy, suddenly being ambushed by your girlfriend's friends. Parker doesn't take the coolness personally.

"Bruce? Take the compliment."

"We're just really glad that Laura's met someone who gets and appreciates her."

Apparently even the cats like him, and everyone knows that they're discerning little buggers.

Parker leans comfortably back in her own chair.

"And defintitely get her to tell you about the dragon. She was pretty incredible."

[noteful]

Meg will actually take the coolness as something of a good sign. She'd call it a sign of good sense to know who you're talking to before you start getting into the stuff that really matters to you.

Meg smiles, and settles her hands on the table in front of her.

"We'll have to ask you to forgive us for assuming that you're well above average. Neither of us has anything but respect for Laura or her judgment, and we know she likes you. It might have led us to a few . . . logical conclusions."

[master_bruce]

Again, he looks from one to the other.

Then he cracks a small smile.

'OK, well. Thanks. And it must turn around. You guys are her friends, so you have to be above average too.'

Stands to reason.

[parkerlee]

Parker grins, a bit more relaxed.

"That logic works for me."

She lifts her glass of lemonade.

"To the above-average associates of Laura."

[noteful]

"Cheers," Meg says.

So she's got a teacup.

There are worse things to toast with.

[master_bruce]

Hey, he has water. She should count herself lucky.

He lifts his glass, and tilts it in their direction, smiling lightly. They do seem nice. It's all fine.


'I do have a question.'

Which he assumes they won't mind.

'Why do you call X, Laura?'

[parkerlee]

Parker takes a sip of her lemonade.

"Well, back when I first met her, she said I could call her Laura, or X, or X-23. I don't know -- I just picked Laura."

"More name-ish I guess? And it suits her."

She looks to Meg to see how she will answer.

[noteful]

It's kind of a complicated question, actually. Or at least it's a question with a kind of complicated answer.

Meg looks down at her hands for a second, shifts the bracelets around on her wrist, thinking, and then looks back at Bruce.

"We met her a while ago, you know. And like Parker said, when Laura met people then, she used to give them both options. I think I picked Laura because when I asked what she prefered, it was the one at the end of her answer. It felt like her conclusion, I guess.

"I don't think she still does that. She came to visit me in Montreal earlier this year, and properly met Alain -- that's my fiance. And she asked if he would call her X.

"I asked her then if she'd rather I called her X as well, and she said no. So I still call her Laura."

[master_bruce]

'Yeah. She said that to me when we met, too.'

And, for some reason, he's never asked her properly why she now prefers X. It hasn't seemed to matter. But meeting her friends, when they so obviously call her Laura, makes him think it's something he should ask about.

'I kind of think X suits her better.'

Personal preference.

[parkerlee]

Different strokes and all of that. It's not like Laura doesn't seem perfectly happy to go by both.

"The two of you met here in Milliways, I take it?" Parker asks.

She is a little curious as to how they met, or at least how Bruce will tell the tale.

[master_bruce]

He nods, and takes a drink. This is far more the sort of question he was expecting.

'Yeah, we did. She was one of the first people who spoke to me when I found this bar.'

He thinks of it, and smiles a little without knowing it.

'I was kind of in trouble, and she helped just by talking to me. It was about eight years ago, for me.'

[parkerlee]

"That's our Laura," Parker says, fondly.

"She's a person you want around if you need help."