fandomtownies | Fandom High 20 Year Reunion Mixer, Community Center, Saturday Evening

Fandom High 20 Year Reunion Mixer, Community Center, Saturday Evening

The bulky booze reserves Tamsin had reeled in during their last stop had no real end in sight. So great was their wealth that this time around, they'd actually just put wine and beer barrels out to function as tables across the community center.

The decorations were nice, though. Just a dusting of gold and blue glitter, nice tablecloths, and a wide selection of food. That was all you needed, right?

[ocd up!| Arrive/Pick Up A Name Tag | Food/Open Bar | Dance Floor | Dark Corners | OOC]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"You were always very polite to him!" Kathy protested. "...Which probably should have told me everything right there."

She sighed and drank more of her tequila sunrise.

"Man. You spend your time between three different worlds and everybody nags you about not taking enough time for yourself." Or your marriage, but details.

Yeah, bouncing around three realities probably wasn't super conducive to healthy relationships, unless the spouse was coming along for the ride.

"Well, you've got that time now, huh?" Sparkle gave a little grin. "You know, now that you're here, I'm going to have to claim you for that Uno game sometime. We are way overdue."

Kathy really had no idea.

Kathy was starting to get an idea. That's what happened when people came up to tell her, 'I thought you were dead!'

"It's true!" Kathy said with a grin. "I haven't kicked your ass in like forever. Ugh, I've been far too busy to hang out and beat you properly."

"And I... haven't been that busy, so I have no damn excuse." Except for Kathy's being dead thing. "So, what do you say? Uno and beer date? I have been desperately needing to kick your ass at that game for a while."

"Desperately trying to kick my ass sounds about right," Kathy teased. "It's a date! Though, warning you now, Sparkle. I'm not coming home with your afterwards. I'm enjoying my single status for awhile."

Sparkle was doing it. Sparkle was making that 'pfft' sound, falling back into an old rhythm of banter that he hadn't had with a certain somebody in a very long time.

"Oh, my heart breaks," he replied, putting the back of his hand to his forehead. "And here I was about ready to break this dry spell of my own and ask you if you wanted to go steady. Now what will I do?"

Maybe hook up with a dude who wasn't looking for something long-term either.

Hey. Sounded like a plan. It had been two years, Sparkle. Two years.

"Sorry, sweetheart," Kathy said, seeing nothing heart-rending about reconnecting immediately. "You know I'd just fall madly in love with you, and it's too soon for my poor battered heart."

A fair bit longer for this particular Sparkle. Oooh yes.

"And you know, I'm really not emotionally prepared to be anybody's rebound," Sparkle quipped. "It's not you, it's me."

"Well, that's a nice switch from my last relationship then," Kathy said with a laugh that managed to not be bitter.

"And mine," Sparkle replied, his own smile a little bit wry.

Somebody still wasn't completely over Lewis.

Still.

"At least, the last one I ever really hoped would go anywhere. But you know, we'll always have Uno, you and I."

Until whatever was happening here had ended, and Kathy went back to being dead. Sparkle had learned to take advantage of whatever weirdness Fandom allowed him, when it amounted to bittersweet reunions like this.

Hey. She'd be going back to her own world where she was still alive! And remain that way!

"Big talk," Kathy challenged. "Put your cards where your mouth is. I know you've got a deck handy. You always do."

"A deck... in my suit?"

Sparkle wasn't sure how to point out that he really hadn't needed to carry an Uno deck around in case of surprise Kathy since she'd died twenty years ago.

"Mouse. Mouse. It would ruin the lines of the fabric."

That didn't stop him from having sparklers in his jacket pocket, no, but maybe she wouldn't notice?

It would still be better than how some people had told her about her undead status. Minako, for example, had done so via weapon.

"And you do look snappy," Kathy said softly. "...I'm dead for you, aren't I."

Sparkle's mouth twitched. Not into the smile that he'd been trying to keep holding, but into something a little more damaged, something tired and wrung out and, god, older than he had any right looking. When he spoke, his voice was a little thicker, and he couldn't quite meet her eyes.

"Yeah," he said, quietly. "You've been dead for a long time."

Kathy nodded, shoulders slumping a bit. "Yeah. So I heard. I'm dead for pretty much everyone. Since my senior year, right?" She knew the time frame. It was burned into her mind from her own life. "I was locked out of portals home. I couldn't get there before I tried. And god, I tried."

"You were dead before you could even graduate," Sparkle murmured, not quite sure what the hell to say, besides. He licked his lips, and then gave a ragged sigh. "It wouldn't have made a difference, not if it was over that fast. Maybe the way that you went through it, you went on to do great things anyway."

He sighed and bit his lip before speaking again.

"I didn't want to ruin it. It was good to see you happy."

Edited 2016-05-29 05:03 (UTC)

"You didn't pull a weapon on me," Kathy said softly. "You're probably winning at reactions, honestly." Looking up at him, she added, "Can I give you a hug?"

A real hug. With both of them knowing who they were and where they stood.

"I will cry on you," Sparkle cautioned, but he was holding his arms open anyway.

Yeah, he needed a hug. Maybe they both did, right then.

"C'mere, Mouse."

Kathy threw herself at him without another thought, clinging tightly and hugging him close. "I'm not even complaining about the stupid nickname," she sniffled. "Even thought it's been years since it was appropriate."

She was an X-Men now, Sparkle! Or at least was before she'd gotten divorced, oops.

Oh, bah. Like a little divorce could end your tenure with the X-Men. If they could take guys like Magneto in every now and again just because it was convenient, a little relationship drama was nothing.

Like, had she even seen the way the boys all fought over Jean?

"Mouse will never not be appropriate," Sparkle mumbled, clinging on tight. "You will be Mouse until the day I die, and you're going to have to, you know... live with that fact."

Fair enough! And god, yes, she had. It had been ridiculous. Still was ridiculous. She and Jubilee had spent a great deal of time shaking their heads over it.

And why people kept confusing her with Blink. Look, running with the X-Men had been weird.

"I guess you told me," she murmured. "Nothing to do but deal with it." There was a long pause and then she whispered, "I'm sorry."

For his loss, for not being the Kathy he wished she were, for the other version of herself that had run off and left them all to die. She had a lot of reasons to feel sorry.

"Yeah..." Sparkle gave her one more tight squeeze, and then leaned back to give her a tired smile. He'd thank her to not mention the tears in his eyes. It had been twenty years, but there was nothing like seeing a friend alive and well and not the same person to make that old hurt sting like new. "So am I. But it is good to see you. God, it's good to see you."

Somewhere in the multiverse, there was a version of Kathy who was alive and well. Hell, somewhere in the multiverse, there was a Sparkle who was not-so-silently snarking about her ex-husband and totally waiting for the good news about the papers going through, which they'd no doubt celebrate with beer and Uno.

As was tradition.

As was tradition!

Though poor Alex. Kathy still didn't know why none of her friends liked him. He was really very nice! That was...kind of his defining feature. (Maybe it was a reaction to his brother, who was the world's douchiest houseplant.)

"I'm glad I get to see you, too," Kathy said, resolving to drop in on her Sparkle and hug the hell out of him when she got hom. "I'm sorry if it hurts, too. I understand."

It was apparently the weekend for being the wrong Kathy.

Hey, Alex could be the greatest guy in the universe, and Sparkle would still take Kathy's side.

Anyway, he didn't trust people who were too nice.

"It does, but that's not your fault either," Sparkle replied, giving her a faint smile. "But hey, maybe Portalocity will let me get a letter through to you now and again or something. Just what you need, right? Two Sparkles?"

Everyone should be so lucky!

"That would give me someone else to play with while the other one is sulking because I kicked his ass in Uno..." Kathy mused. "Everyone should get to have two Sparkles. Besides, I'm pretty sure you're convinced it takes two of you to keep me properly dressed."

Not that Kathy was slacking off in the fashion department now, but then, she always made sure to wear Alluka originals whenever she came to the island.

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