capeandcowllogs | The other day I got invited to a party but I stayed home instead

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The other day I got invited to a party but I stayed home instead

WHO: Laurie Juspeczyk & You!
WHERE: A drinking establishment with jazz music!
WHEN: December 2nd, throughout the night
WARNINGS: Language, possibly
SUMMARY: It's Laurie's birthday again and she's celebrating by drinking.
FORMAT: Your choice!

Normally, she'd stay at home if she wanted to drink. Or she'd go to someplace expensive and order something incredibly overpriced. But Laurie didn't have an expense account in the City, and since moving into Sally's now vacated apartment, she didn't feel much like celebrating her birthday with all of her mother's things. That was pathetic and sad, and Laurie was anything but. Even if she was choosing to celebrate by drinking alone. At least she'd do it in public.

She was seated at the bar, listening to a pianist pick out "Misty", waiting for the bartender to bring her another scotch mist. Her trusty trenchcoat was draped over the stool next to her, eyes fixed on nothing in particular as she soaked in the atmosphere and tried to enjoy this odd little birthday alone in the City.

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Oswald had spent probably far too much time perusing the local establishments. Some of it was a recruiting exercise, finding some of the finest dancers he could, and some of it was figuring out what other people had done. He wasn't about to create an establishment that was anything but unique, and he couldn't do that if he didn't know what other people had done.

Tonight, it was this particular establishment, and tonight he caught sight of the lovely young lady drinking alone. To him, it was a damn outrage. No lady should be drinking alone, and further no lady as lovely as that one should, no matter the circumstances. He made his way (okay, more like waddled) over to the bar stools, moving for the opposite side from her coat, and lifted a finger to the bartender.

"Let me take care of that for you, my dear."

Laurie hadn't been paying any attention to the man wobbling toward her. She was quite engrossed in the music, very grateful for the distraction it was providing. Loathe as she was to admit it, she truly did miss Sally. And she missed Jon. She missed being surrounded by familiarity in 1985. She missed it all so much, she had to do a double take when she realized she was being addressed.

"Oh?" She blinked in surprise, a small, curious smile curving across her lips. She had to remind herself that it was very rude to stare. She always seemed to have trouble remembering that. "Thanks. That's real kind of you, Mister."

He looked at her over the length of his nose, a smile breaking his face. "Please, it's nothing. It's the least I could do," he grinned at the bartender, who only looked down his nose at him. One of the problems with being so squat, but that was irrelevant. "All alone tonight? That hardly seems fair to you."

Laurie laughed, not actually embarrassed, but compelled to make a show of being modest. She might not admit it, but she was her mother's daughter, and she could act an awful lot like Sally when she wasn't really thinking about it.

"Alone, save for the bartender and the music man," she said, relaxing a bit. This fellow was odd looking, he seemed so much larger than he really was. Laurie figured it must take a lot of effort to seem so imposing in spite of his stature. He was impressive really. And nice too, to get her a drink and all. "You're welcome to join me though, if you'd like."

It took a moment, but he was much more spry than the stature really gave him credit for. Oswald hopped right up on a bar stool, and with an elbow on the bar itself, he leaned to face the young woman. "Well, at least there will be more company for you, then. I'm Oswald. Oswald Cobblepot," and his face split into the kind of grin that was charming, but still sharp. Not danger, but well, there were some habits that didn't always melt away. "Hopefully my company will agree with you more than simply a bartender and a musician."

Laurie's danger sense was pretty lousy anyway. She was out of practice, and even when she had been in practice, she still ran around and did a lot of dumb things. She felt more at ease with Mister Cobblepot, extending a hand to shake his. "Laurie Juspeczyk. It's real nice to make your acquaintance, Oswald."

Jack knew it was Laurie's birthday today, because he knew things. (Also he had access to her personnel file) And he knew she would be lonely and in need of company but not a party, because her mother was gone. From there, figuring out which bar she was most likely to be at was just a bit of deduction combined with finding out her musical tastes.

Once he picked her out in the bar, Jack walked up behind the stool next to Laurie that wasn't currently wearing her trenchcoat. "Hey Laurie," he said casually. "This seat taken?"

"Jack?" Laurie couldn't help but smile, chuckling quickly to mask her surprise at seeing him. She hadn't expected to see a familiar face in the club tonight. "No, of course not. Please, sit."

She fidgeted slightly, hoping she wasn't too intoxicated to appropriately socialize with her boss. "Funny seeing you here!"

"Thanks." He took a seat and ordered a drink, nothing fancy. He wasn't here for that. It was good that Laurie was smiling, at least. "Yeah, it's not my usual kind of place. Just thought I'd give it a try. How are you liking it so far?"

"It's pretty ritzy for me," she admitted, taking a quick drink of scotch. It burned a bit, and she made a bit of a face. "But I wanted to go someplace nice tonight. It's my birthday, you see."

"Really? I didn't know." Jack was a very good liar, but right now he wasn't trying very hard at it. "Happy birthday Laurie." And he handed her a small box with a simple card. The box contained a bottle of new perfume, nothing too fancy but not cheap crap either.

Laurie opened the box, an eager smile spreading over her face. She couldn't help but laugh when she saw the perfume, opening it immediately and spritzing some of it onto her wrist.

"This smells fantastic! Now I won't have to smell like that old Nostalgia perfume anymore!" She spritzed some onto her other wrist, inhaling the scent with a happy sigh. "Thank you, Jack. This was a very thoughtful present."

"I'm glad you like it," he said, and he meant it. Jack wasn't the world's best gift-getter, but it was good to have made Laurie smile. She had enough grief already.

"Every time I wear it, I'll think of you." She grinned at him, smelling her wrist again. It might be an odd thing to say to her boss, but she was just tipsy enough that it sounded alright in her head.

She's not the only one drinking by herself tonight. There's some guy with a stache at the other end of the bar with some kind of whiskey.

It takes her a moment or two before she recognized Floyd at the end of the bar. She narrows her eyes, certain she must be seeing things, laughing softly when she realized she wasn't. She cleared her throat, raised an eyebrow, "Hey, you."

Floyd's eyes shift, not expecting to be approached.

"Hey."

She's drinking alone. Huh.

"Bad day?"

She shakes her head, managing something of a smile. "You could say that. It's not everyday a gal turns thirty-seven."

An eyebrow lifts, then he gives her a nod.

"Drinks are on me, then."

There's your present and your 'well-wishing.'

"Good to see you're not one of those women feels the need to bullshit about it, though. If it helps, I would've put you at 30, tops."

"Thanks," she shakes her head, obviously not quite convinced, but still grateful for the complement. "It's all the scotch and cigarettes. They're preserving me for forever."

A slight smirk and a shrug to that.

"What brings you here? Did you bail out of your party or somethin'? Some friend try to pull the 'jumping out of a cake' crap on you?"

"I'm here on my own, actually." She sighed, staring at her glass. "My mother was ported out recently. And most of my friends. But I'm tired of moping, so here I am."

"Sorry 'bout your luck," he offers, in a tone that might imply that 'luck' isn't something most people should bother hoping for.

"Bright side, a lot of people would be glad to get their mom outta their hair."

A beat.

"And don't you have any cop friends? That Bauer guy seems all right."

It was actually a relief to be rid of Sally in someways, but it was too fresh for Laurie to consider all of that now. She liked feeling sorry about it, for awhile still anyway.

"Bauer's a good man. And he's my boss. I'm not sure asking him out for drinks would go over well."

Floyd shrugs, as if he's ready to argue the point, but then decides to avoid harping on how piddly shit like that doesn't matter for once.

"Oh yeah. You're married to a nuke or something anyway, aren't you?"

"Just as good as." She managed to say that with absolutely no enthusiasm in her voice. "Nineteen years we've been together. An entire fucking lifetime."

"It can take a lot less than 19 years to make a lifetime," he responds, darkly, in a slightly quieter tone.

"Sounds like you want out."

Laurie frowned, crossing her arms. Floyd's assessment was fair, even if she wasn't too keen on verbalizing it herself. After a long moment, she exhaled, slowly nodding her head in agreement. Small steps, baby steps. Acknowledging it out loud was the first step to fixing the problem. "Maybe I do. We all want a change sometimes, don't we?"

"Yeah."

He stubs out a cigarette in an ash tray, a look crossing his face that speaks of experience in that area.

"Really easy for the whole thing to just stop workin'. Gotta put it down, or things'll just get worse."

She nods, she knows that look all too well. She's seen it in the mirror on more than one occasion. "Time goes by and things just aren't like they used to be. It's no one's fault, but that's how it is."

A slow shake of his head.

"Somebody wants the other one to be something they're not. Something they won't ever be. Makes no sense to have 'em keep pining for it, when they might find what they're lookin' for somewhere else."

His fingers wrap around his freshly refilled whiskey glass.

"Happens every day. Fact of life."

"It'd be easier if Jon saw life the way we do, the way people do. Instead, talking to him is like... talking to a robot or something. He just doesn't understand me anymore." Laurie tried to keep the bitterness from her voice, but it just kept seeping in. She hated being mopey and sounding pathetic, but she was too intoxicated to shut her mouth. Talking was nice. Making some sort of human connection made her feel normal again.

"Sorry. I guess I'm rambling again." She chuckled softly, tracing her fingers around the rim of her glass.

Floyd just gives a soft shake of his head.

"Ramble all you want. It's half the point of drinkin'."

A shift in his seat, facing her a little more directly.

"Was it the nuke thing that made him a robot, or was he always like that and you're just noticin' now?"

"I wish I could say. I mean, I've only ever known him like this. But it's getting worse." She sighed, expression somber. "I hate faking human connections. I just want things to feel real again."

He just gives a dark little smirk with a shrugging tilt of his head, pulling out a pack of smokes.

"The grass might seem greener, so I hate to break it to ya, but human connections are a damn sight overrated," he cynically notes.

"Most of us are assholes."

That warrants another tipsy laugh from Laurie as she eyes his cigarettes longingly. So much for trying to quit, she'd been smoking like a chimney since arriving back in the City, and even more once Sally was ported out.

"You're probably right," she shook her head, fishing a lighter from her purse. "Can I bum one from you?"

Floyd finishes tapping down the pack, and pulls one out for himself before tilting the open end towards her.

"Sure, if you can spot me a light. I think I'm out of fluid," he replies, flicking his zippo a few times to no avail.

Funny enough, at least to his perspective, Eddie was going out tonight to celebrate the same thing. Only for him, this was more the way he celebrated every year. Hell of thing. In this City he'd gotten used to stumbling on Sal every now and again in some dive, striking things up like they were kids and stupid again. Nothing had ever given him the idea he'd see the birthday girl herself this time around, though, sitting at the bar like she belonged there. And Christ didn't she look like her mother, all except for the hair...

He couldn't get drunk easily anymore, but that wasn't going to stop him from trying. Or from doing so by taken a seat on the stool next to her.

Laurie didn't notice him at first. Or rather, she was trying to be polite and not pay any mind to the person sitting down beside her. It wasn't until the bartender brought over her drink that she happened to look up and recognize that sneering, scarred face.

"You!" She almost choked on the word, teeth gnashing together. "What are you doing here?"

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The other day I got invited to a party but I stayed home instead

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/gently slides in here

(fuu)