capeandcowllogs | 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.

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

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