( reunion )

[mayuzumi]

It's a beautiful summer day for a reunion of sorts. True, the reason the reunion is taking place at all is a bit, well — there were good times and there were bad times, but it must be said that if it weren't for that stupidly dangerous mansion, there were a lot of things that would never have come to pass — experiences that would've remained mere possibilities — people who would have remained strangers. The reunion itself is, uh, a picnic or a party or something. Or whatever. It's whatever you want it to be. In true NSS fashion.

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2/2

[sewards]

[[ or, well, it wasn't faltering. of course, when someone ever so rudely stomps past her and bumps an arm into her (let's be real: it was probably burch), her face turns somewhat surprised.

and when she literally spills her entire drink as a result of said bump, which is flying right towards elliot's shirt, she looks horrified. you know that spiel about time stopping when really bad shit happens? to aly, this is really bad shit, and she's just watching the fruitiest cocktail fall right on elliot's nice (albeit probably wrinkled) shirt.

why can't things just go well for her? ]]

[placidity]

[ It's okay, Aly. Elliot has a phrase for this kind of incident. He calls it "basically every single time I go out drinking, more or less". ]

Oh.

[ His voice is tinged with the existential disappointment who has resigned himself to the fact that he shouldn't even be within a few feet of alcohol. It hates him... ]

Oh, uh... don't worry about it, Aly. I'll just, uh... go dry off a little, it'll be fine.

[sewards]

[[ now that reality is playing at the right speed, the decibels of aly's internal screaming are off the chart. she flounders a little bit, looking up at elliot with the face of a kicked puppy (even though she's not the one drenched with baby booze). ]]

I-- I'm really sorry! I r-really didn't mean to do that, I--! [[ she shoots a glare over elliot's shoulder, most likely at the back of whoever just caused this trainwreck. ]] L-Let's find you some, uh, some napkins! T-That won't get the stain out, though. Jesus, I'm so s-sorry!

[placidity]

[ Elliot just sort of. Witnesses the flailing for a few moments, and then thinks to himself oh wow I should do something, or react, or yeah before reaching out and putting his hand on her shoulder. ]

I'll just rinse it in the bathroom and then hope the blow drier works well enough. Really, don't worry about it.

[ At this point, he's more concerned about Aly than his wrinkly shirt... ]

[sewards]

Or that works. That works, too.

[[ she inhales deep, trying to shake off her rattly nerves. she still looks upset, though, so apparently she's not doing a super great job. ]] This is ridiculous. Figures that I would do something like this. Where is the b-bathroom, anyway? Do you know?

[[ at the rate this night is going for her, she might need to retreat there herself to give herself the silent self-lashing of a lifetime. yay, being social! ]]

[placidity]

Yeah, it's just over there — [ He gestures. Unisex bathrooms, how progressive! ]

... And really, don't worry about it. It's fine, I'm used to it. [ He smiles briefly, if ruefully. ] Stuff happens. And it's not your fault, anyway.

[sewards]

Oh, yeah? [[ she sighs a little bit. ]] Used to it? No wonder you don't go to parties often, then.

[[ she isn't exactly smiling at that small pseudo joke, but she's not freaking out anymore, either. compromise. ]] I'll, uh, wait by the door. Or something. [[ any excuse to move farther away from the crowd is good enough for her, right now. ]]

[placidity]

Well, you know, this and that happen sometimes...

[ And it's true, this is why he is not particularly the life of the party. He starts walking towards the bathroom, pausing for a moment at the door. ]

And really, don't worry about it in the least.

[ When he's in the bathroom, he really earnestly scrubs at it the best as he can given his resources at hand (a sink, handsoap, a hand blowdrier...), mostly because he's pretty sure that if it mostly comes out, she'll feel better. Alas, there is only so much he can do, but he re-emerges when he thinks it looks alright... for the most part... ]

[sewards]

G-Got it.

[[ right he is on that. she spends most of her time by the bathroom mulling about what a jerk she'd feel like if the shirt came out stained. but when elliot comes out looking (mostly) alright with the situation, she feels her shoulders get a little lighter. ]]

A-At least it wasn't tomato juice. Lucky for you, I don't really like bloody marys, hehe. [[ check out that WICKED sense of humor. all in all, she looks pretty sheepish, despite her attempts at cracking wise. ]]

[placidity]

[ It's more seeing Aly looking less down than her joke that has him smiling, but hey! He's smiling. ]

Right? It could always have been worse. I even knew what was spilled on me, sometimes it's just... mystery liquid.

[ Ah the beauty of mysterious alcoholic concoctions. Jungle juice is terrifying... for many reasons... .... ]

Anyway, do you want to get a replacement drink? [ He gestures to over where they're serving them. He can always just get... juice or water or something. Like a responsible adult who doesn't want to black out. ]

[sewards]

Ah, unless you want something, I'm fine. I'd hate to spill another drink. [[ because lord knows that is totally a possibility. ]] Thank you for asking, though.

[[ that brings up the question of what to do instead... parties are hard. other than drunk and canoodling (which neither of them will be doing in the foreseeable future), the other major options are small talk and... ]] Do you want to take a picture?

[[ bam! smartphone! even though she rarely uses it to actually keep in touch with people, she picked up a small hobby for using the camera feature. ask to see her extensive collection of landscape photos! ]]

[placidity]

Oh, a picture? Sure, I'd love to... should I take it for us?

[ He figures, his arms are longer, so it makes for a better selfie angle... well, okay, he doesn't really know that much about how selfies work, he's taken like maybe three. Except that once, he was told that they're more flattering when taken from a high angle. ]

Now that I think about it, we don't really have a lot of photos together... I guess we're both kind of camera shy.

[sewards]

[[ she grins, offering the phone to him. it's an iphone in one of those cute clunky dog character cases, who woulda thunk? ]]

I guess not... We don't see each other that often anymore... Oh! I do have that scrapbook you gave me for Christmas, though. [[ she looks thoughtful for a moment. ]] I didn't think things from HQ would come home with us, but... it did. I'm glad for it!

[placidity]

[ Cute... it definitely fits her, he thinks. He leans in, slinging an arm around her shoulder as he attempts to find a good selfie angle. It might... take a while... ]

Well, I'm glad for that much. There are a lot of memories in it, huh...?

[ And he did work pretty hard on it! ]

Okay, from three, then. Three, two, one...

[ He presses the shutter button a few times, just in case. At least one of these must be a winner!! And then he passes it back for Aly to inspect the pictures. ]