noteful | Birthday Party for Laura/X-23

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Birthday Party for Laura/X-23

It's a pretty low-key party, all things considered, and not significantly different than the one Parker or Meg would have thrown in a dorm room for a friend at home, not-exactly-traditional menu not withstanding.

There's music, low enough to talk over (and maybe with a little more folk in the mix than one expects to find a party). Balloons and streamers in purple and blue and red. A place to leave presents. People to meet or catch up with.

And, most importantly, a chance to wish X-23 (or Laura) a very happy birthday.

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"I don't believe so."

She smiles.

"I'm Meghan Ford. Meg."

"Alanna," is offered in return. "I work with X."

Her eyes widen slightly.

"Er. On bar security."

Not at the Delicate Flowers. The very thought makes her grin with amusement.

Meg would not have assumed that, anyway, but details are helpful.

"It's very nice to meet you, Alanna.

"I'm glad you could come."

"And you, Meg." It's genuine. "Is this your party? I confess I skimmed the invitation."

Her deportment masters would be horrified by such an admission. Good thing she always enjoyed annoying them.

"Well, it's Laura's, um, X's, party. Parker and I are just throwing it.

"And so long as you knew when to be where, you got the important things off an invitation, really."

The rest is just formatting.

"That was my approach to it," Alanna grins. "It's nice of you, to do this for her. I didn't even know it was her birthday."

They don't tend to talk about such things.

"Um, she picked it out. Not too long ago. So . . . I don't suppose it was, but now it is, and so . . . party.

"And she's a good friend. I'm glad she let us."

"Oh."

Picked it out? That makes Alanna tilt her head slightly.

"I'm sure she appreciates it. Lilly threw a birthday party for my twin brother and I one year. It was a bit overwhelming, but memorable. In a nice way." She smiles sheepishly. "I've never been very good at social gatherings."

"I hope so."

She had seemed very surprised by the idea.

"I don't know Lilly, I'm afraid. And I'm not always good at them, either."

She better, actually, when she's hosting, because then there's a prescibed set of things to be doing.

"Overwhelming how?"

"Lilly is..."

Smirking, Alanna sucks in air through her teeth. Where to begin? There was the hot tub, the groping, the drinks that made her say and do things she never would otherwise (that's her defense and she's sticking to it) -- Lilly is Lilly.

"Well, she's from California. I'm a knight from Tortall. It was unlike anything we'd ever seen." She smiles at Meg. "Before Milliways, I spent most social gatherings at court hiding behind a curtain." Often with her friend Raoul and a bottle of wine. "Manners dictated I dance with eligible ladies, or anyone my knight master felt appropriate. It was awful."

Meg grins. "Parker's from California, too. And she's fond of throwing me for loops, I think."

And a very good friend.

"It sounds it.

"I've never gone as far as hiding behind curtains, but I tend to spend a lot of time in kitchens, helping with the food," she confesses.

Meg pauses, because there's a somewhat important detail missing, and while she's trying not to make assumptions about other worlds . . .

"Eligible ladies?"

"Helping with food in the ktchens is an excellent way to spend a party, I feel."

That might have been the best part of being a page. Well, after the swords and the horses and all the rest of the fighting.

At Meg's question, her eyes dart sideways.

"Yes." An awkward silence. "I had to pretend to be a boy for eight years."

"Oh," says Meg.

She thinks back, piecing the parts of the conversation together.

"To become a knight?

"That sounds . . . uncomfortable, I think, is the word I want. To have to pretend something like that for so long."

She nods.

"Girls weren't allowed to try for their shields. There were parts of it that were very uncomfortable indeed," Alanna notes, lips twitching into a mischievous smile. "Otherwise it wasn't horrible. A few very good friends were in on my secret and made sure I remembered who I was and what I wanted."

"Good things to remember.

"And I'm glad you had friends to help. Seems like it would be a pretty hard thing to pull off alone."

Not just because it would seem to beg the question of just how non-observant the other knights in Tortall are.

"Has the rule changed? I noticed you said weren't allowed, rather than aren't allowed."

"It has."

Rocking back on her heels, Alanna allows herself a smug smile.

"One of the friends I mentioned, Jonathan, is now king. He and his queen have ushered in several reforms, including a proclamation that noble daughters can train for knighthood alongside noble sons. The conservatives had fits."

Her smile fades.

"None have attempted it yet."

"Friends in high places are good things to have," Meg says.

She notices the fading smile.

"It . . . sometimes people just need time to get used to new ideas. And that sounds like a pretty big one to get used to.

"So . . . maybe some will soon?"

"Maybe," Alanna agrees quietly. "I'd hoped it would be my daughter."

Her expression turns fond, if mildly exasperated.

"She has other ideas."

"Daughters have a way of doing that."

Sisters, too.

"How old is she?" Meg asks.

"Seven," Alanna answers, "though she acts at least ten. I think it comes of having so many adults around. And being the boss of my other two."

She rolls her eyes. Secretly, of course, she finds it hilarious.

"Do you...?" Meg looks young, but it's Milliways. You never know.

"So she might change her mind," Meg says.

And then looks faintly (and possibly amusingly) horrified.

"Oh, no. No, I'm . . . maybe someday, but . . . I'm not ready to even think about . . .

"I'm in university right now. It keeps me busy enough."

She's never met anyone she wanted to have children with, either.

Biting back a smile, Alanna nods.

"Oh, I imagine. What are you studying?"

"My long term goal is to be a doctor," Meg says. "But I just started in the fall, so I haven't really specialized that much yet."

"That's a good goal to have," Alanna replies. "I saw a doctor in London."

She says this like it's a novelty.

"The machines and medicines and huge hospitals -- it's all very different to the healing I do."

But not in a bad way. That's clear in her voice.

"I think it's one of those things that changes a lot, from time to time and world to world."

A slight tilt of her head.

"What sort of healing do you do?"

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