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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At some point, Elle decided to get some garlic bread. And then promptly forgot about it while she was staring at the balloons.

And so, in attempt to warm it up again, Elle raises her hand and fires a few sparks from her fingers.

All this really accomplishes is to leave the bread slightly burnt. But it is rather eye-catching.

The sparking catches Kate's attention, and she looks sideways, eyes widening.

Already the smell of too-toasted bread wafts over.

"You, uh, like your garlic bread well done?"

To test it, Elle picks the bread up, and bites a piece off the end.

After finishing: "It's okay."

"Garlic bread's always better hot."

Even if it is slightly burnt.

"You're not a friend of Laura's from back home, are you?"

Elle shakes her head.

"Nope. She's just like me."

Beat. "Sorta."

"Fair enough."

She turns to look over a little more fully. To say she's not exactly used to people displaying powers or whatever is kind of an understatement.

"Bet you could give a purse-snatcher a hell of a surprise."

"People don't usually try to steal from me."

This is usually because most of the people she's ever around already know about her.

"Do people not do things like that in your world?"

"Toast their bread by shooting sparks out of their fingers?"

With a crooked smile and raised eyebrows, she shakes her head.

"If anyone does, I've sure never seen it."

Elle breaks off a piece of the burnt bread this time.

"That doesn't mean it doesn't happen."

"That's true," she has to acknowledge. "Can't see everywhere at once."

Her smile's still kind of skeptical, though.

"But how long can you keep that kind of thing a secret from everybody?"

"It's what we do."

She gives a small shrug. "And we've been around for a while."

Curious, she raises her eyebrows again. "How long's a while?"

In her experience, secrets often have a habit of coming out eventually.

"Must be pretty hard. If I could do something like that, I bet I'd be tempted to do it in public sooner or later."

"One of us is ... three hundred or something."

Beat.

"Because he doesn't age." Er. In case that wasn't clear.

Her mouth falls open a little. "Seriously?"

She hesitates for a second.

"Is it that he can't be killed?" Because you'd think that a guy who doesn't get in any life-threatening situations in over three hundred years is incredibly lucky. "Or is it only that he doesn't age?"

"Most things can't kill him."

Elle talks about this as though it's a fairly normal occurrence. "And he doesn't really get sick."

She reaches up and absently pinches her earlobe. "That's--"

Crazy. But the person who just toasted her own bread with sparks from her fingers probably isn't gonna think so, is she?

Her lips press together. "What about you? Were you born being able to do that?"

"It's usually how it works."

Her attention had turned to the bread at this point, but she looks up to add, "But it takes longer to start up."

She just can't keep all trace of skepticism out of her face, even after seeing the sparks with her own eyes.

"Guess you're not doing things like that" -- she nods to the bread -- "much in public when you're not here."

Whether the other woman believes her or not doesn't make that much difference to Elle.

"Nope," she agrees.

She also doesn't go out in public all that much, either. "Most of us who know about it don't."

Edited 2009-03-03 02:59 (UTC)

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Birthday Party for Laura/X-23

Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests