Birthday Party for Laura/X-23

[noteful]

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.

Comments

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[isaysimplewords]

"Cal Chandler." He smiles, with the ease of a lot of social interaction, and offers a hand to shake.

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[gavemea_45]

"Hi," he says, meeting Cal's hand with his own. "Sam, as you know; the last name's Winchester. Nice to meet you."

He grins.

"Us tall guys have to stick together."

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[isaysimplewords]

"Nice to meet you too, Sam."

Cal laughs.

"Isn't that the truth. We are few and far between." Relatively speaking, anyway.

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[gavemea_45]

"No kidding. In fact, I've only seen one other guy as tall around here." Sam shakes his head.

"So, where you from, Cal?"

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[isaysimplewords]

"Even in Milliways, we are underrepresented," Cal agrees.

Never mind that there isn't any particularly pressing reason why the average height in Milliways would be taller than anywhere else.

"I came here from New York, 1997. You?"

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[gavemea_45]

"Another American," he observes. "Better and better."

"It's a little later for us, though. 2007."

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[isaysimplewords]

The first comment draws a delighted chuckle from Cal. He's made similar observations more than once himself.

"You've noticed the overabundance of Brits, too, huh? Too many people from the early two thousands, too," he adds slyly.

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[gavemea_45]

"Don't forget the Canadians, or Meg won't let us hear the end of it."

Sam grins at him.

"Feeling outnumbered?"

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[isaysimplewords]

"What, you mean the country we keep in the attic?" Cal scoffs. It's not terribly convincing, as scoffs go, since he's still grinning.

"I've met, I think - two other people from the nineties. Yeah, a little outnumbered."

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[gavemea_45]

"Uh-huh. So how many from the early two thousands?"

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[isaysimplewords]

"I'm not sure I can count that high," Cal says. "Definitely the majority. The vast majority."

Even more than the Brits.

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[gavemea_45]

"Guess you could consider yourself one of the elite, or something," Sam offers.

Helpfully.

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[isaysimplewords]

Cal laughs. He can't help it.

"God, I've had enough of that, thanks," he declares.

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[gavemea_45]

"Oh yeah?"

He's grinning; the other man's amusement is infectious.

"Sounds like I hit a nerve."

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[isaysimplewords]

"Kinda, yeah," Cal says. "My family's a big deal back home - um, I've talked a little with some other people, and it sounds kinda like what John Kennedy's family became on the worlds where his wife didn't catch him with Marilyn Monroe."

It is, in fact, exactly like that.

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[gavemea_45]

"Oh. Yeah, I'd say that's pretty elite."

A beat.

"Congratulations?"

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[isaysimplewords]

"It - has its ups and downs," Cal defers, hesitating over the verb tense. But it's been a rough week and this is a party, so he chooses the one that will let him keep things light. Not the past tense.

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[gavemea_45]

"I'd guess. There's this one guy who comes here sometimes, Josh Lyman?"

He gives Cal a quizzical look to see if the name sounds familiar.

"White House Chief of Staff? Nice guy, but he gets kind of stressed."

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[isaysimplewords]

Cal shakes his head.

"I haven't met him. We - haven't made it to the White House. My dad got close, but he died not long before the election."

Cal sounds fairly matter-of-fact about this. It's been almost twenty years since Reed Chandler died. Cal finished grieving a long time ago.

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[gavemea_45]

Cal looks as though he's okay with it, but a twinge runs through Sam all the same.

(It's been less than twenty years since John Winchester died. A lot less.)

"I'm sorry, man."

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[isaysimplewords]

"Thanks," Cal says, "but it was a while ago. Went into politics myself after that. Sort of taking his place. So what do you do?"

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[gavemea_45]

"Private investigator. Me and my brother, both."

Saving people. Hunting things.

"It's a family business."

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[isaysimplewords]

Cal smiles.

"Your family business sounds a hell of a lot better than mine."

He said more or less the same thing to Captain Kirk. Sam's in good company.

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[gavemea_45]

Sam grins back at him.

"Guess it all comes down to the kind of stuff a guy's interested in, right?"

Re: Mingle with the other guests

[isaysimplewords]

"Guess so," Cal says. "I wasn't really that interested in politics." He considers. "Well. Not politics the way most politicians do it."

The way he'd done it, for far too long.