hell of a party

[middlingalong]

Ivan must be drunker than he thought he was. He could have sworn he knew his way around Vivienne's parents' house, since she wanted to introduce him last week and showed him the place, but maybe they have a... secret... upstairs... bar? where Vivienne's room is supposed to be? And most certainly was last time he checked? He's never going to find the sweater she sent him up looking for here, anyway. Why is there a secret upstairs bar in Vivienne's parents' house?

Comments

[middlingalong]

"Poker has not stuck very well, least on Barrayar. Do you want to teach me something or vice-versa?"

[dream_me_up]

"Oh, you teach me, that sounds much more entertaining."

[middlingalong]

"And I'm sure you have inexplicable Mark reasons for that. Okay, whirligig it is."

Ivan proceeds to outline the rules of whirligig.

[dream_me_up]

"Inexplicable Lalita reasons," he says cheerfully, and attends to the explanation.

[middlingalong]

"Mark was here first."

[dream_me_up]

"Sure."

[middlingalong]

Cards cards cards.

[dream_me_up]

Cards!

Lalita is good at cards.

[middlingalong]

Ivan is not that good at cards! But he has some experience with genetically engineered people and picked a game that's mostly luck.

[dream_me_up]

It's fun.

[middlingalong]

It passes the time.

[unmarred]

Is that the sound of somebody coming down the stairs?

[warpfairy]

"Oh, is that them?" wonders Isabella.

[isthisart]

"Unless someone else has been upstairs the entire time, yes."

[or_the_broken]

Dr. Hall glances over in idle curiosity.

[dream_me_up]

Lalita's curiosity is rather more than idle.

[unmarred]

"...Hell of a crowd all of a sudden," Mark observes, when he and Stalas emerge from the stairwell.

[thisvorlunatic]

They are holding hands. Stalas can't quite stifle a self-conscious glance down at this point of contact.

"Yeah, where'd all the extra come from?"

"A world with real FTL, apparently," says Miles.

"I have no idea what that means," says Stalas.

[warpfairy]

"Faster than light travel."

[isthisart]

"For more direct transit from point A to point B through the horrifying void."

[middlingalong]

"Bar says this one," says Ivan, pointing at Lalita, "is your half-alt, or something, Mark. Same half that finds me mysteriously entertaining."

[warpfairy]

"Your half-alt is my husband Lalita, and I'm Isabella, and this is Dr. Hall."

[unmarred]

"But Ivan," says Mark, "all of my halves find you mysteriously entertaining."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Hello," says Stalas, looking mildly uncomfortable. "Uh, this is Mark and I'm Stalas."

[middlingalong]

"You know, that's what Lalita said, too."