Lara Follet (radioinmyhead) wrote in morningstar_mnr, @ 2008-04-26 22:10:00 |
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Entry tags: | lara, lis, stone |
Chicago; Saturday; Lis, Stone, Lara, and college NPCs
Jake Sterling and Patty Lass became Mr. & Mrs. Jake Sterling at a church on the north side of Chicago. It was a big wedding, way bigger than Lara had been expecting, but apparently both Jake and his dad worked for the local government, so they knew a shitload of people on top of all the old friends and family. The Hawthorne-Follet-Steve party ran a little late on their way to the church thanks to an accident on Lake Shore Drive, so they didn't get a chance to do much catching up with the friends they spotted before the ceremony actually started.
The ceremony itself was pretty typical. Crying mothers, flowers galore, white dress, younger cousins acting as flower girl and ringbearer, et cetera et cetera. As it was going on, every once in a while Lara or Lis or Steve would lean over to one another and whisper all sorts of "Isn't that..."s and "She looks familiar..."s and such. Lis was sitting next to Stone, so occasionally she would point out a random person and give him their name as well as a random pointless story, usually involving alcohol. It was very informative, but at least Stone wasn't being left out! Also, he was wearing fancy dress shoes, which also meant he got his wish for brass instruments in the tamale song, so no complaining!
Patty and Jake looked so happy. Lara would have been kind of sickened by it if she didn't already know and like the two of them. Once the bride and groom marched out of the church, all dopey smiles, there was a brief period of greetings and introductions between the Manorites and the college friends they were able to spot. There was shock that Lis was really married. There were strange looks due to the tabloid hoopla late last year. Lis totally wanted to play along with that shit, which Lara wasn't too happy about. She wasn't keen on her friends thinking she was a husband-stealing hussy, after all, even if Lis kept insisting to them that 'all was forgiven' and the three of them had moved past 'Stone's indiscretions'.
But there wasn't much time to talk at the church, and actual reunions would have to wait for the reception. It was being held at a fancypants mansion in Logan Square, and that's where Our Heroes headed next. They found their table, and judging by the placecards, were seated with a bunch of the old gang. Excellent! Now they just had to wait for said gang to arrive. In the meantime, there was talking. And looking around to see if friends could be spotted.
"Patty's dress was so pretty," Lis said, leaning on the table and dropping her chin into her hand. "That's my biggest regret about our marriage, baby. Not wearing a big dress at our wedding." She sighed and gave Stone a pat on his arm.
Yeah, actually, Stone felt pretty left out and fairly uncomfortable. First of all, he disliked weddings that didn't have Elvis presiding over them. Secondly, he was definitely the third wheel even though he was there with Lis. He was out of their little whisper sessions and he wasn't used to not being the one pointing out random people and giving scandalous stories about them. He was pretty sure a few people - the ones whispering about them due to the tabloid stuff of course - had turned off their flashes and snapped a few pictures of them. Stone wondered if they were going to try and sell them and hoped that if they did they got next to nothing for them. He rolled his eyes a time or two, but kept it to a minimum since people kept looking their way and whispering just like his three companions were doing. Fantastic.
He smiled and easily fell into the social introduction routine when it was time to meet the bride and groom at the back of the church, as well as with the other college friends he was introduced to. Great, college graduate kids. Double fantastic. He tried not to joke too much about the indiscretions stuff since Lara didn't look too pleased about it and he felt a little bad.
He was impressed with the mansion, actually, and had slowed down when they walked in so he could look at the outside. But then it was time to let Lis lead him around again. He was still feeling pretty left out when he'd held Lis' chair for her. He sat down right away after that so he didn't wind up wandering to any bar areas or cocktail servers. During the cocktail hour, in fact, he'd spent most of the time with his hands in his pockets, except for when he was shaking someone's hand upon introduction. He tried to make it look as laidback as possible, like he was just bored while waiting for them them to be allowed in to sit. He kept up the conversations around him as best he could, but being the outsider, it was easier just to fall silent and pretend to be intrigued by the surroundings until someone spoke to him.
He looked at Lis when she spoke about the dress and gave his arm a pat and then smirked a little. "Maybe we'll renew our vows in an official ceremony next year then so you can wear a big fancy dress?" He arched is eyebrows in a 'how's that sound' kinda way as he draped his arm across the back of her chair while he leaned back a little in his.
Lis' eyes widened. "Really? Why do we have to wait until next year? I say we do it this year!" It was, undoubtedly, the best idea ever. "We can invite everyone and make it an Event."
Lara could only imagine the kind of crazily extravagant plans Lis would be making for that little endeavour. She was grateful when their old friend Melinda - fellow business major, now currently working for pet food company in Baltimore, Maryland - sat down with her boyfriend.
Lara shared a grinny wave with her before Melinda turned her attention to Lis and Stone. "What kind of event are you making?" she asked with a smile, looking back and forth between them, but lingering on Stone a little longer because, hello, she wasn't expecting an actual celebrity to be appearing at the wedding. She still couldn't really believe it was true.
"Their vow-renewal," Steve replied with a slight smirk.
"Ooooh," Melinda nodded. "That would be so great, since we never got invited to an actual wedding!" So Melinda was making sure she invited herself to the renewal, apparently.
Stone's eyebrows arched. "Be....cause that's when our next anniversary will be?" He asked. He'd had a lot of spectacles in his life. He shouldn't willfully sign himself up for too many more, right? Too late, he supposed. He turned his attention to the new arrivals and gave them a small smile and a nod in greeting before falling silent to let the others talk since they all knew each other.
He let out a small chuckle or two and then cleared his throat and smiled, a little on the normal Stone smirky-lopsided-grinn-y side. "Yeah...only because it was a spur of the moment thing, really," He said before he turned to Lis and gave her an appropriate 'isn't that right, honey?' grin.
"Was it?" Melinda asked, smiling as Lis nodded at Stone.
"They were bored," Lara cut in. "And drunk. Y'know, like that night she and Billy wanted to drive to that chapel in Nashville."
Steve, Melinda, and Lis all laughed. "Yeah," Steve nodded. He looked at Stone and gave him a nod. "Good thing Patty's car got towed from the Union before they could leave or else your happy little marriage might never have happened."
"Hm," Stone let out the short hum and looked over at Lis. "Guess it was fate after all," Bring on all the cheesy comments Stone could possibly let out tonight, hell yeah. He had to do something to entertain himself tonight after all. He made a show of looking around. "I should've known not to bring you to Vegas with me that time, huh?" He smirked, clearly joking, naturally.
"And if you hadn't, think of how bored you would have been that night, sweetums," Lis grinned and reached up to pinch Stone's cheek. She was totally digging all the cheesy comments.
More people arrived at their table after that - Mitch, one of Jake's old housemates (now a lawyer), Cassandra, one of Patty's friends from class (now a media blogger), and Julia, another neighbor who was a few years older and therefore designated alcohol supplier in school (now a cop, go figure). And their guests, of course, some of whom were also from college and knew the Manorites (minus Stone) as well.
There was lots of and lots of chatting going on now that most everyone was seated. On one side of Stone, Lis was busy yammering to Melinda about her band, and on his other, Lara and Steve were explaining to Mitch that no, they were not dating again.
Stone played along with Lis' comment and all, but really, he was starting to feel really uncomfortable as more people joined the table. All of them, for obviously seating chart reasons, we college chums and their plus ones, who also went to colleges of some kind and either had a fancy degree or a fancy job related to their degree. And to make it all so much better, they were all chatting amongst themselves. He was trying to be cool about it, really, he was, chiming in when he got a chance or it was relevant and all that. Mostly he just sat around an listened, feeling inadequate for his college-related failure despite the fact that in technicality, he could own them all. He wasn't a total snobby prick though and wouldn't walk around acting like the jackass who could own them, even if for no other reason then the fact that they were Lis and Lara's friends and therefore had to be cool on some level, yes?
Part of him was interested in all of their stories, and in getting more stories about Lis and Lara out of them, but the other part felt like an insignificant contributer overall. He wondered when all the dinner stuff and the wedding announcement/first dance stuff was going to happen to get everything rolling. He also wondered when the bride's damn father was going to take his jacket off so Stone could finally take his off without making a disrespectful faux-pas of some kind. He wondered who had come up with that rule - that it was disrespectful to take your jacket off until the bride's father had. Whoever made it was an asshole in Stone's mind. He was also hungry, because he was Stone and Stone's stomach had a mind of its own. He also wanted a drink. A regular drink not an alcoholic drink.
He tapped on his leg with his free hand and looked over towards the doorway of the room they were in, which led out to the other room where the cocktail hour had been and where the currently open bars were and then he looked back around the table. "...Anybody want a drink?" He asked. He needed to get up and take a breather after all, not that Stone was anti-social or anything, because really he wasn't. He just felt, y'know...out of place. There were also still people at other tables looking his way and then talking to each other like he didn't notice. It was hard not to roll his eyes.
A few people paused in their conversations and looked over at Stone, including Lis and Lara. "Oh, sure, baby," Lis smiled, putting her hand on his arm. "Get me something girly." She leaned over and kissed his cheek before returning to her previous conversation.
As Steve continued catching up with Mitch, Lara gave Stone a small smile. "Bored, huh?" And uncomfortable, she'd noticed.
Stone felt even more out of place when everyone turned to look at him. You'd have thought he'd just told them that the center piece was a severed head or something and they hadn't noticed before. Well all right then. He smiled a little when Lis kissed his cheek and nodded. "Got it," He said as he pushed his chair back to stand up. He looked over at Lara. "Nah, can't keep up with all you ramblers." He smirked and gave her shoulder a light playful little punch-tap-thing. "Drink?" He asked her, eyebrows arched, since Lis had said yeah and Lara hadn't answered. Everyone else at the table hadn't answered either. He started feeling paranoid too, about how much they all might've known about him and what not. He didn't want to think about it, really.
Lara smirked at the punch and asked for a rum and coke. The rest of the people at the table who were paying attention either already had drinks or were waiting on some of their own, so a few of them shook their heads and thanked Stone anyway. Lara watched Stone head off before she started talking to Cassandra across the table about just how Patty and Jake had gotten together, since it was still a mystery to her.
Stone was tempted to loosen his tie as he turned and started for the bar, but he didn't. He'd do that all later - take the jacket off, loosen the tie, etc. For now, he slipped his hands into his pants pockets and made his way through the throngs of tables, nodding politely to people who looked at him on his way by, and through the double doors to the bar. He let out a sigh and waited his turn so he could order a girly drink for Lis, a rum and coke for Lara and a lame ass club soda for himself. With a lime. At least this way it would look like a gin and tonic or something. He leaned on his hands on the bar as he waited, after depositing a nice enough tip into the bartenders' tip jar. He wasn't looking forward to heading back inside and feeling out of place again. Good lord he needed a drink.
"You look familiar," said the woman standing next to Stone at the bar. She looked to be in her mid-forties, with curly blonde hair and way too much eyeshadow. "Oh, I know it! You're Jake's cousin Joey, right?"
She was there with another woman, who was taller and older and looked a little more put together, makeup-wise. That woman turned to see 'Joey', but once she laid eyes on Stone, she shook her head and leaned over to whisper in the other woman's ear. Yeah, she recognized him.
Stone's shoulders tensed a little when the woman spoke to him. He blinked and looked over, forcing a curious eyebrow up and a severely small half smile. "Hi," He said and then shook his head. "No I'm not..." He paused when he saw the other woman whispering. Awesome. "Related to the bride or groom," He answered the first woman's question. He didn't want to, but he held his hand out and introduced himself. "Stone Hawthorne," He told her. "My wife's a friend of both the bride and groom." He gave her an explanation for his presence at this here shindig.
The taller woman seemed pleased that she was correct in identifying Stone. The shorter woman just seemed shocked, and a little overwhelmed as she returned his shake. When he mentioned his wife, they both looked behind him to see if she was lurking, but apparently she wasn't. The fact that he was attending the wedding with her was kind of surprising, since they were having marital problems and all.
Both women introduced themselves with forgettable names, and the shorter one explained that they were aunts from Jake's mother's side of the family. "Well," the shorter one continued, "this must be quite a change of pace for you, isn't it? I'm sure you're more used to rubbing elbows with people more famous than us old broads." She turned to her sister with a smile.
The taller sister definitely wasn't warming up to Stone as much as the shorter one. She forced a smile, but had a slight sneer, as if Stone were Paris Hilton or something. Which, as far as she was concered, he pretty much was.
Stone smiled, easily this time. Once you fell into the routine of faking it, it got pretty easy - and easy to be convincing at that. It was almost creepy how easily you could fool someone too. He felt uneasy under the taller sister's gaze, but he decided to pretend she was one of his mother's 'friends' and that made it easy to ignore and to give her a fake charming smile. He glanced over his shoulder and gave a non-chalant wave of his hand. "She's catching up with some friends at our table," he told the shorter one with a little wink. He finished the champagne and set the empty glass on the bar, still waiting for his drink order.
He smiled still and then waved off her other comment, leaning in closer like he was telling a secret. "Actually, it's more fun at events like this than at the stuffy 'celebrity' events," He used the term loosely and air-quoted it, mostly talking to the shorter one since she seemed nicer and wasn't, y'know sneering at him. He would've been offended to know she was equating him with Paris Hilton, especially since he did well to try and avoid media attention whenever possible, unless it was to fuck up his parents' publicity crap. Maybe they just saw that as him being a spoiled rich asshole and would've sided with his parents though. Stone wanted another drink. Why did he have to go and get the ball rolling with that one?
The taller sister was concerned his presence would take attention away from the bride and groom. Already she had noticed a couple of people in the vicinity recognize Stone as well, and she hoped this wouldn't become a huge gossipy deal. Despite the fact that she was going to tell a few of her friends about him herself.
"Oh, I'm sure you're just saying that," the shorter sister said with a wave of her hand and a slight blush to her already overly pink-powdered cheeks. There was a moment of awkward silence as the woman racked her brain to figure out what to say to him next. Finally, she settled on, "It's good to hear that you and your wife have been able to weather the storm. That's the true test of a marriage." She concluded her bullshitting with a firm nod.
The taller sister let out a, "Hm," but didn't say anything else. She didn't really think that staying with one's cheating husband was the good kind of storm-weathering.
The taller sister was kind of freaking Stone out, but didn't make it obvious that this was the case. He waved away the first comment. "Trust me, I'm not," He smiled, and he actually was being truthful, even if he felt way out of his element and y'know completely inferior here. His cheeks went just tiniest bit pink at her comment. Oh lord. He shrugged innocently and looked around as if about to tell her a conspiracy of some kind as he leaned closer to them and dropped his voice. "Don't believe everything you hear in those magazines," He smiled and threw in another wink for good measure as the bartender finally put his drinks down in front of him. He nodded to the man and gave him a quick "Thanks, Before he gathered all three glasses in his hands. "If you'll excuse me, ladies," He smiled, "I must deliver a few drinks," He told them as he turned to aim himself toward the dining room area again. "Save a dance for me," He definitely meant it as a joke, and said it before he could stop himself, but there it was - Stone was an ass.
Both sisters arched their eyebrows when Stone leaned in, and the shorter one smiled and nodded knowingly at what he said. The taller one was still skeptical. Especially after his parting comment, which caused some more blushing in the shorter sister.
"Oh! I will!" she called after him. Once he turned around, her sister gave her a whack on the arm.
Stone smiled at them over his shoulder and gave them a nod before he headed back inside and through the throng of tables back to his own. He held the glasses out for Lis and Lara to each take theirs since he was holding them in a little triangle of glasses and if he let go, they would've all fallen. Then he sat down with his own, alochol-less drink. How sad. He took a drink from it and then set it down on the table i front of his plate. "What'd I miss?" He asked even though it was probably some more college stories. He hoped he didn't look too traumatized from his encounter at the bar. That tall sister was pretty creepy.
"What did you miss?" Cassandra repeated as she watched Lara take her drink from Stone. "What did I miss? You drink now?" she asked Lara, shocked and amused.
Lara took a quick glance around the table and nodded. "Sure do. I'm a grown-up." She smirked a little and took a sip, thanking Stone by way of a knee-bump to his leg.
Lis had taken the other drink and was about to explain to him just what he missed when a hush fell over the throngs of people at tables. "You came back just in time!" Lis grinned.
Stone smirked a little bit at...that lady whose name he already couldn't remember since there were so many of them and they only had to remember Stone's name's comment as he settled back into his seat. He pretended to shift around in his seat to get more comfortable so he could give Lara's knee a bump back, and stretched his arm out back across Lis' chair. Stone's eyebrows arched and he smirked at Lis. "Now there's a comment I here often." He gave her a lopsided little grin before he fell silent on account of all the hushed....well silence.
Lis gave Stone a big grin at that and grabbed his arm as the bridal party announcement started. When Patty and Jake came in, they could tear their eyes away from each other to look at the guests. Totally sickening, and kind of sweet. And kind of weird. But at the same time, it was hilarious (to some), since the music playing when they walked in was the their university's school song. The vast majority of the guests were a little confused by this choice, but (almost) everyone at the college tables was cracking up. It was an inside joke, y'see, but there was no time to explain it to people like Stone.
Once the couple sat down, Patty's dad did the welcoming thing, more jokes were cracked, the first round of dinner was served, and more drinks were ordered. The former college kids continued chatting, and the table sprouted into one big nostalgia-fest. More inside jokes didn't really start breaking out until toast-time. Jake's best man (Rick) and Patty's maid of honor (Lucy) were both college people, and the maid of honor in particular was well-known to Lara, since she was their other housemate for two years of school. Lara even scored a toast shout-out when Lucy explained the school song thing, since it tied into the first time Patty and Jake met. It involved loud house parties at Jake's on school nights, and retaliation in the form of school-song blasting at different times of the night and day by the girls next door. The song choice was Lara's idea, but since Patty's window looked right out onto the guys' house, she was the most gung-ho about getting revenge. The boys were pissed, the two houses met, and the rest was history, apparently.
After the toasts there was more eating, and more chatting and catching up and jokery. Lis and Lara tried to keep Stone more involved (Lara more so than Lis, since Lis' slight problem with being oblivious on occasion), but he was probably getting sick of having all sorts of stuff explained to him. Questions were also directed toward Stone eventually, asking what he did, and even where he went to school by the people who didn't know he was all rich and slightly famous and everything.
It was around the time the bride and groom were making their rounds to the tables that Lara (who'd had a few drinks) let it slip that Stone was going back to school. Well, she didn't really 'let it slip', since it wasn't a secret. Or at least it shouldn't have been. And no one was really judging him, she didn't think. Anyway, she realized after she said it (to the pet food business executive and the lawyer) that Stone might not be too happy about it. Whoops.
Stone had excused himself a couple of times to the bathroom. He didn't have to use the facilities as much as it seemed like he was, he was just making quick pitstops at the bar for himself. He knew he shouldn't have, but with Lara trying to keep him included and with trying to keep up with all the inside jokes and stories as well as the explanations for those inside jokes and stories, Stone needed a little help. He kept scolding himself the whole time but, oh well. He'd already started, he might as well keep on going to make sure he stayed loose and sociable and all that.
He did, however, freeze up a good bit when Lara went and blurted out that he was going back to school. He'd been okay telling everyone what he did, and skipping past most of the 'rich' and 'weird tabloid famous' stuff. He blinked at Lara when she let it slip and then cleared his throat a little and sat up straighter in his chair as he confirmed, yep, he was going back to school. Why? Because he'd dropped the hell out the first time around. He might've had a couple of drinks but he wasn't anywhere near drunk, or as drunk as he'd like to be now that this was the topic of conversation. He contemplated tapping Lis on the shoulder and asking her if she wanted to get out on the dance floor and bust a move already, but hesitated instead. It was pretty fucking sad that Stone would've felt more comfortable being forced to attend one of his parents' stuffy, crappy, publicity events.
Lara cringed a little, even though she wouldn't have if she wasn't all buzzed and such, and tried to make up for it by telling her friends and their guests just how cool it was that he was doing that. Cool and awesome. Wasn't it cool and awesome, she asked, and they agreed. And then, of course, the friends asked questions about what Stone was going back to school for and everything. Lara tried to think of a way to change the subject, but luckily she was saved by the announcement that it was time to cut the cake. Phew!
Stone answered the questions that came in, and tried not to make it painfully obvious that he really didn't want to talk about this with people who were practically strangers that happened to know Lis and Lara really well. He was so damn relieved when that whole cake-cutting announcement happened. He even hoped that Lara and Lis dragged themselves over to see the cake cutting so he could make an excuse to run to the bar for more drinks for them so he could snag a few himself.
Oh yeah, dude, pretty much everyone at their table got up, cameras and cell phones in hand, and went over to the cake. Lis, however, grabbed Stone's arm on the way. "Having fun?" she grinned up at him. She sure was. It was pretty awesome being the richest of all your friends and not even having to have a real job.
Stone's eyebrows arched. He smiled at Lis and nodded. "You bet," He lied, because why should he bring the mood down, right? He pointed over his shoulder, "I'm getting refills. go watch some cake shoving," He smirked and hoped that was good enough for Lis, considering she (and Lara too) had definitely had more alcohol than him already.
"Aw, you don't want to watch?" Lis asked with a pout as they walked in the direction of both the cake and the way out to the bar. Oh well, Stone was getting drinks - that was good too. "You better hurry back."
Stone smirked a little. "Much as I like cake....no," He answered as they walked. He gave her a little wave and a smirk before he departed to head for the bar - where he ordered refills for their drinks and two extra drinks - which he drank in nearly one gulp each before he grabbed their refills and headed back for the table inside. He didn't need to witness some cake-feeding-attacks, that was for sure.
The cake-feeding attack went on for a while, so everyone could get their picture shots in. There was a whole lot of whooping coming from that area of the building, until finally the spectacle was over and cake was served.
"Just in time!" Lis waved when Stone came back with the drinks for her and Lara. "You're being such a nice little fetcher tonight." She gave Stone a pat on his cheek and took her glass.
Lara had definitely noticed that Stone was constantly offering to get them refills, and while it was nice, she also realized it was likely because he was bored and uncomfortable. She took her glass from him and once he sat down, leaned over to say, "Sorry. For blabbing." She lifted her hand up next to her face and and made a talking gesture. "But it's cool, I mean, no one really cares," she added with a shake of her head.
Stone pressed his lips together and gave Lis a salute. "That's what husbands do, yeah?" He arched his eyebrows and lifted his glass - this one filled with gross club soda and lime again - and took a drink to wash down the other drinks he'd had at the bar. His eyebrows lifted again and he looked over at Lara when she leaned his way. He drank those last two drinks too fast, and he knew it too. He shrugged. "S'fine, just wait until I direct them to your Youtube debut video..." He smirked and nodded.
"Too late," Lara smirked back. "Lis already directed a bunch of them to it." She shook her head again and lifted up her drink to down some.
"I'm sure I can think of something to tell them," He smirked and let his eyebrows bounce up and down once or twice. At least he thought there was something he could think of - there had to be yes? Then again there was a long list of information both Lara and Lis could go spouting off about him too that was much worse.
Lara shook her head. A lot. "Don't you dare," she warned with a slight smile. "R'else you won't be getting some tonight." Ha! Yeah right.
Patty must have cleaned off after the cake mashing, because at that moment, the DJ announced the father-daughter dance. Just about everyone looked over at the dance floor. Lara watched Patty and her dad walk out as 'The Way You Look Tonight' played, and scrunched up her nose.
Stone was going to make a comment about his wife doing her wifely duties and picking up the slack but a) there was an announcement and b) he didn't want to make Lara all pissy like when they were dress shopping with Lis. So instead he grimaced and sighed with a shake of his head. "...Too bad there's a DJ and not a band, or we could get up there and play some good music...Not that Elton John isn't cool but...shutting up now." He looked between Lis and Lara and mimed zipping his lips.
"Dude," Lara laughed (a little too loud for the tender moment, maybe) and whacked Stone's arm with the back of her hand, "that's 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight.' This is Tony Bennett or something." She was still snickering as Mitch made some crack about something that had happened senior year, so she turned to him to jump into his conversation with Steve.
Lis sighed as she looked at the dance floor. "My dad never got to dance with me," she said with a glance back at Stone. "This is another reason why we must renew our vows as soon as possible. Do all of it properly."
Stone dropped his jaw a little, eyes narrowing and mouth making a little 'o', and then he shrugged and put his hands up innocently. "Equally lameness." He nodded. "Or, least completely boring..." He would've continued but yup, Lara attention - drunken attention at that - was elsewhere. He managed not to roll his eyes and then looked back at the dance floor. He turned his attention to Lis when she spoke. "...Why as soon as possible? You're supposed to do that stuff on the same date as when your wedding was, aren't you?" It seemed logical.
Lis turned all the way around to face Stone better. "Who says we have to wait a whole year? What if our marriage needed a vow renewal right away 'cause we were doubting the power of our first vows? We shouldn't have to wait."
Stone blinked at Lis, pretending that this idea was indeed news to him, especially in light of all that crazy tabloidness. "Damnit woman, didn't we have a Mormon talk about your dissent in the car on the way over here already?" He cracked and wound up smirking right afterward.
Lis grinned back at him. "I'm the wife who keeps you on your toes," she explained with a nod. "Lara's the one who keeps you on your back. It's time you got with the program. And don't worry, I can plan the whole renewing vows thing. You won't have to lift a finger, baby."
Stone let out a snort of laughter and shook his head. "Take the checkbook and do whatcha want, just tell me where to be and when. And make sure there's lots of cannoli there." Speaking of, he'd had a couple from the dessert tray - that coupled with the alcohol was dangerous.
Lis smiled, satisfied at last. She gave Stone a kiss on the cheek and picked up her glass for another drink.
The daddy-daughter dance ended, and it was not too long after that that all the party music started up. People were milling around all over the place, and plenty of them were fulfilling their wedding guest duties, being on the drunker side of life.
Lis had been talking to Patty for a while, but an ABBA song came on and she wanted to dance. She went over to Stone and saved him from having Melinda talk at him about her job in the pet food business. "Dance with me!" Lis said as she grabbed onto his arm with the one hand she wasn't using to hold a drink.
Stone was just drunk enough to be okay with dancing to ABBA. He managed to get Lis to let go of him long enough to get his jacket off at least. His vest and tie, however were still in tact. What? He looked good damnit, especially since that one guy came with a flannel shirt under his jacket - which had mismatched elbow pads. That was interesting. Anyway, Stone draped his jacket over his chair, grabbed Lis' drink - or what was left of it anyway - finished the last mouthful of it before smirking and setting it on the table. Then he grabbed her hand and spun her around - because it was always fun to do that to drunk tiny blondes - before proceeding to lead the way out on to the dance floor...to dance to ABBA.
Lis' eyes widened when Stone grabbed the drink, first because she thought he was making her put it down, and then because he actually drank it. This was fantastic! He was spinning her and being fun again! Not that he hadn't been fun all along, but he'd been getting more and more fun lately and that was awesome.
"I'm so glad you're having a good time tonight!" she called over the strains of 'Dancing Queen' after the spin. She grabbed onto his arm tightly, and got ready to cut a total rug once they hit the floor.
Of course Lis was happy about Stone's lack of will power, because it meant he'd be 'fun'. Whatever, Stone didn't really have time to dwell on it as he was too busy indeed being 'fun', by way of dancing...to a damn disco song. By ABBA. He made sure to get as many spins in there as he could without making Lis actually fall over, and wondered if that lady from the bar was really going to try and make him dance with her at some point.
Lis was getting dizzy from all the spinning, but that didn't mean she was slowing down at all. ABBA was fantastic and dancing with her husband made it even better. In addition to the spins, there were dips, and Lis was laughing and singing and yeah, there were some people looking at them. How could they not? Tabloid stars on the dance floor! Maybe they were hoping Lara would show up and have a dance-off with Lis.
That would've been amusing. Stone would have to make sure he got in a few dances with Lara in that case - slow ones at that, heh. He wanted to get a few more drinks in too, now that the dancing was drawing even more attention to him and Lis. Whatever, Stone was drunk. What did he care about how much attention they were attracting? At least dancing he didn't have to get stuck in some uncomfortable conversation with someone he didn't know and whom he felt inferior in comparison to.
The song ended way too soon, but Lis was plenty winded when it was done, from all the super-dancing. She laughed a lot and grabbed Stone in a hug. "We need to go out and dance more often!" she grinned. The fact that this would also involve heavy drinking was a given.
Stone smirked and hugged Lis back. He let out a small snort of laughter. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," He agreed though...yeah, he was really ready to jump back on the drinking bandwagon. At the moment, however, what the hell - he was drunk anyway so yeah. "Course we won't have time to once our super group hits it big." True story.
"Whatever," Lis smirked, pulling back and spinning Stone around by his arm just for the heck of it. "We'll make time. We'll open a string of dance clubs across the country. Then we'll have places to go no matter where we are."
Stone let himself be spun around and attempted to keep his balance as he came back around to face Lis. "I think that's a bit of overkill," He decided with a nod and a smirk. "Also, I should inform you that Mormon's don't drink...or I don't think they're supposed to?" He shrugged. "Therefore clubs would go against our religion, dear." He smirked.
"We have our own version of the religion, then," Lis shrugged. "And speaking of, it's nice to see you finally converted!" Her eyes widened as she asked, "Want to do some shots?"
"Who says I converted?" Stone's eyebrow arched up. "I gave in the night before your release party too but I didn't convert back, now did I?" He smirked and then added, with a few nods. "And yes, in answer to your question."
"You converted," Lis insisted as she grabbed onto Stone's hand with both of hers and started leading him toward the bar. This was going to be just like old times! She couldn't remember the last time she and Stone had some proper drinking times together. Because the release party stuff didn't count. They passed by some of her friends on the way, and invited them along as well.
"Have not," Stone insisted right back as Lis started dragging him off. The release part totally counted especially since it was so close to when he'd started on his drinking sabbatical. He was kind of sad when she invited people on the way but oh well, what could he do really? They were her friends after all.
Exactly. Lis kept ahold of Stone's arm as she told Lucy and Mitch all about her plans to open a string of nightclubs across the country. They both laughed with her as they figured she was only joking and everything.
When they got to the bar, Lis let go of Stone's arm and looked up at him with arched eyebrows - her way of telling him he needed to order.
Stone just shook his head, still smirking like an ass, which wasn't exactly abnormal for Stone after all, because he knew Lis wasn't joking. She was drunk, but she wasn't joking. Hopefully the drunk part would later cancel out the 'let's open a chain of clubs' part. Stone cleared his throat and tried to think of a good shot for this occasion. He smirked a little and looked around at those who'd joined them. "Hm," he looked at them and then at Lis and nodded his head toward her four accompanying friends. "Can they keep up with us?" He asked. He looked at the other four and grinned. "No offense...need to know before ordering." He grinned and bounced his eyebrows.
Yeah, Lis would likely forget she had even proposed the idea at all by the morning, as was the Lis way. She looked over at her friends, most of whom were giving Stone various scoffs saying that of course they could keep up, and then then turned back to him.
"Of course they can," she answered. "We're all legendary." The friends agreed, and that seemed to remind Mitch of a story, because he started retelling it. Well, half-retelling it, since the other five cut in with their own recollections, and to an outside observer, none of it made any sense.
Stone shrugged innocently. "Well okay then...just remember that I asked first." He turned to the bartender and smacked a hand lightly down on the bar, taking a moment to ignore this nonsensical story so he could order their shots. "Four Horsemen," He told them, "None of that rumple minze shit either, I mean the real one - Jim, Jack, Johnnie and Jose," He nodded and then stopped and pointed at the bartender. "And make 'em double shots." He grinned and reached in his pocket to get their tip out. He thought it was a ten but that time it turned out to be a twenty, lucky them! He dropped it into the jar and then turned around to pretend to pay attention to this crazy multi-storyteller story of nonsensicalness.
There was a lot of laughter about the time Stone ordered the shots, and only a few of the five of them paid attention to what he had ordered. They continued on with their chatting until the shots arrived, and then Stone was bombarded with questions about what they were about to drink.
Stone grinned and lifted his shot glass up, amused. He raised it, preparing for the toast with the extra large shot glass. "What happened to 'We're all legendary'?" He grinned and then looked at Lis. "I thought 'legendary' meant you weren't chickens?" He arched an eyebrow and gave no explanation of what they were about to drink.
"Hey, we're just curious," Lucy smirked as she picked up her glass.
Lis finally brought her full attention back to Stone and grinned at him before grabbing hers.
"What are we toasting to?" Mitch asked.
"Duh, everlasting love," Lis said as she raised her glass.
Stone grinned. "Drink first, curiosities while they're making the second round," He bounced his eyebrows and looked at the dude who posed the question. He smirked at Lis' answer. "To that thing my wife said." He grinned and raised his glass to clink against hers.
The rest of the glasses clinked, and the rest of the peeps downed their shots. Lis, admirably, was one of the few who didn't pull a face after swallowing. She also let out a whoop because Stone took a shot with her, and grabbed him to lay a big one on his cheek.
Stone smirked and downed his shot. Considering it had been forever since he'd been hardcore drinking, he was kind of amused that he didn't make a face after swallowing. He smirked and slapped the glass down as he leaned over when Lis pulled him down for the cheek kiss. He gave his stomach a nice little pat. "Round two?" He asked pointing first to Lis and then the others witch his eyebrows arched. What? They were 'legendary', right?
"Yes!" Lis cried. Only a couple of the legendary kids didn't agree, and thanked Stone before they got pulled over by another passing friend. But Lis and two others were still down with it, so there you go.
Stone smirked and waved goodbye to the so-not-legendary friends and gave a thumbs-up to the others before he ordered another round of the shot - still doubled. After which, he turned to the others to explain just what it was they'd ingested and were about to ingest again. He looked around too to see if he could find Lara. Maybe she'd join in. Actually...maybe she'd be mad at him? Hm. He leaned on the bar with one elbow and looked at the others, wondering what story they'd come up with next to tell.
The shot was a little overwhelming, but the legendary ones were totally pumped for another round. Or two rounds, since it was doubled and all. They had just gotten their new drinks when Lara passed by on her way back from the restroom.
Stone was in the process of picking up his shot and handing Lis hers so he didn't see Lara when she passed by as he was in the process of asking what this one was supposed to be toasted to. He was definitely going to regret this in the morning, he knew that even now while he was still drinking and was definitely drunk. Oh well, at least it was easy to dodge questions and inside joke stories while everyone was standing around doing shots and all.
Lara caught sight of them just in time to see Stone down a big shot. She furrowed her brow, wondering if she had missed something, and walked over. "Hey, guys."
Stone put his shot glass down after swallowing and was just wiping his mouth off with the back of his hand when Lara appeared. He gave her a big lopsided grin. "Just in time Follet. Your friends are in the process of proving to me just how legendary they are," He gave her a big cheeky smile. "Want a shot?"
Lara arched her eyebrows at Stone and then looked over everyone else, who seemed to be all smiles too.
"Yeah, c'mon, join us!" Lis grinned. She turned to the bartender and ordered another round.
"What...are you drinking?" Lara asked, looking back at Stone again. He was still abstaining before tonight, right? She was pretty sure of it, but she was a bitsy tipsy herself, so she wondered if maybe she forgot or something.
Right! He was, before tonight. Tonight, however, he was partaking. He felt less of an outcast now that there was something for him to join-in on that didn't make him feel inferior. His tolerance was lower than normal though from all those months of not drinking so it was hitting him faster than normal. "Four Horsemen," He grinned and draped an arm around her shoulders to bring her closer to the bar. "As in 'of the apocalypse'," He smirked. He jerked a thumb at the remaining Legendaries - that'd be a good band name - and grinned. "They claim to be able to keep up cause they're legendary. Two of 'em dropped out after one round though. You guys are putting up a good fight though," He grinned at them. "Well done." Cue the thumbs-up.
Of course the Legendaries put up a good fight, they insisted. They also wanted to see Lara down some shots, since she never partook in any of those shenanigans back in school. There was a lot of joking about this as the bartender brought them their new glasses.
"I told you, I'm a grown up," Lara smirked at them before looking down at the shot glass. "That's big," she commented. Then she looked up at Stone. "Does it have any brandy in it?"
Stone picked up his shot glass, his arm still lazily around Lara's shoulders. "No Brandy. It's the Four Horsemen," He smirked at her and raised his glass. "And therefore this one's too Jim, Jack, Johnie and Jose," He nodded.
"I just wanted to make sure..." Lara pulled her hand out of her dress pocket (dresses with pockets were the greatest invention ever and almost made up for the fact that she was wearing black heels instead of green sneakers) and picked up the glass. She looked around at everyone else as she tried to work out in her fuzzy brain exactly which brands all those J-names corresponded to.
Lis grinned at Lara and Stone and Stone's drapey arm as she lifted her own glass. "Okay, this one is toasting to...lack of sobriety!" It was a common theme now, of course!
Stone rolled his eyes. "That's not very healthy," He smirked but clinked his glass with everyone else's before doing the shot. He set the glass down on the bar and let out a little sigh. And then he used his other arm to pull Lis over by the shoulders. It made staying steady much easier, or sort of anyway. "Had enough or are we still going?" He looked around at everyone.
Lara made a big face, but got a clap on the back by Mitch, who was apparently proud of her for downing a shot. She smiled at him and then shook her head. "That stuff was sick. No wonder why it's only in shot form."
She looked up at Stone as she swallowed to get the lingering taste out of her mouth. She wanted to ask him why he was drinking, but even in her state right now she knew that might not be such a great idea.
Lis was totally ready to keep going, Mitch and Lucy were maybes, and Lara didn't say anything even though she was only on her first one.
Stone grinned at the maybes. He wasn't surprised by Lara's silence. He looked down at her, eyes a little droopy, with a dopey grin. "In or out, Thun-," He cleared his throat and amended his comment. "Follet?" He smirked.
Lara looked up at Stone and narrowed her eyes. "In. I'm in. Hit me." A second later, she whacked the surface of the bar to punctuate that request.
Lucy said she'd have one more, but that was her limit, and Mitch got waylaid by the best man, so he had to respectfully bow out.
Stone grinned and gave Lara's shoulders a squeeze. "Good deal," He looked around at everyone else to get their orders in, waving goodbye to non-legendary Mitch! He gave the bartender the order and then let go of Lis and Lara in preparation for picking up his glass when it was full. He reached up to loosen his tie too.
Lara grinned a little when he squeezed her shoulder, and then pulled her other hand out her other pocket so she could pick up the new glass.
"This time we're toasting to fourth rounds!" Lis declared as she held up her own shot. Clinky clinky, drinky drinky.
"Thanks for counting - I stopped two rounds ago," Stone smirked and went all clink happy before he did his shot and set the glass down on the bar. The bartenders were watching them apprehensively. It looked like they didn't want to give them anymore shots considering it was technically eight shots since they were doubles. Stone was feeling pretty wobbly. He'd definitely lost a good bit of his tolerance with all that abstaining.
Lara cringed even more after her second round. She definitely wasn't having anymore of that, that was for sure.
"I think I need to sit down," Lucy said. She thanked them for the good times and then wandered over to the tables.
Lis leaned against the bar and waved to Lucy. Then she looked the remaining two over. "More?"
Stone laughed and held his hand out for a high-five before she left. "You...are a trooper!" He called after her. Stone turned his heavy-lidded gaze toward Lis and nodded. Then he looked over at Lara and pointed. "In or out, Thunderpuss?" He asked now that it was the three of them.
Lucy blew them all a kiss in response, and Lara gave her a lazy wave over her shoulder. She looked up at Stone with a furrowed brow when he asked if she wanted more. "It doesn't taste good," she answered, and leaned her head against his arm.
Stone laughed and gave Lara a hip bump that through even his balance was pretty, y'know off. Then he looked at Lis and smirked before he ordered two more. "Hey! What time'sit?" He asked as he looked between Lara and Lis. He turned to Lara. "Do you want something else to drink?"
Lara almost fell off balance herself when Stone hip-bumped her, since she was in her heels and all. "I don't know," she answered eventually, in response to both his questions.
"It's time to do another shot," Lis told them. She leaned forward to look across Stone at Lara. "And yes, you want another one. You need to catch up." She signalled the bartender and requested another double.
Stone laughed, he did reach out to wrap an arm around Lara again to stop her from falling since he'd knocked into her. He grinned and smirked at Lis. "Well they have to pour it first. And if she doesn't want one, let her get something else." He said.
"I want one, I want one," Lara said suddenly. "And then I want a brandy and ginger ale." She caught the eye of one of the bartenders and did a lot of nodding to let him know he should maybe get on that. The bartender didn't seem all that eager. Lara didn't really pay attention, and instead leaned against Stone's side again. For balance, of course.
Stone laughed and shook his head. "You do not want a brandy and ginger ale. You hate them," He said to Lara. The bartender was definitely thinking about flagging them, it was written all over his face. Stone couldn't blame him, really. Stone grinned over at Lis as Lara leaned against him. "This is not converting by the way." He added.
Lara grumbled something in response, but didn't form any actual words.
Lis shook her head at Stone. "This is. Is, is, is, is, is. We're so going to go bar-crawling when we get home."
Lara lifted her head at that and looked up at Stone. "Why are you drinking?" she asked at last. It was clear by the look on her face that she was disappointed by this development, but she wasn't mad or anything.
Stone shook his head at Lis. "Nooooo, no, no, no, no - no we aren't," He smirked at her and shook his head again. And then he turned a dizzy gaze on Lara and blinked at her. He lost a good amount of the wind that was currently in his sails when he saw the whole...disappointment on her face and all. He frowned a little even and shrugged. He wasn't about to tell her the truth, especially not in such a public place. "Cause I felt like it?" He suggested unsurely, with a little frown.
"Oh," she said, accepting this answer for the time being. "Well, that sucks."
Lis so did not agree, but that was obvious. And where were their new shots?
The bartender took his time getting the shots but eventually they were on the bar. Stone shrugged. "It's just one night." He insisted at Lara's comment before he let go of her to pick up his shot glass, much less enthused about drinking it now as he looked down at it.
"Oh, okay," Lara nodded, but not like she was really buying that as an excuse. There was a new glass in front of her, and she picked up. This one would definitely be her last, no matter what stuff Stone and Lis said.
"Let's drink to many more rounds to come!" Lis suggested.
Stone lifted his hand to clink his glass with theirs. "Yeah...great," He smirked a little, definitely deflated. It wasn't his fault all of Lis and Lara's friends were smart, successful and intimidating - not to mention that people had been whispering about him and talking to him like a crazy - not to mention that group of teenaged girls who'd caught him after he'd gotten some cannoli and begged him to post for pictures with them and stuff. Just because he wanted to have some fun since everyone else was having it...Stone lifted his glass up and did the shot. He put the glass down and then pulled out another tip for the bartenders to thank them. "I'm gonna hit the restroom, I'll be back," He looked at them and then turned to head that way.
Lara did her shot and immediately after wondered why she subjected herself to that three times. It was a mystery for the ages. She didn't get her brandy and ginger ale after. The bartender seemed to have conveniently 'forgotten' it.
Both girls watched after Stone when he left for the restroom. He had barely gotten six feet away when Lara hit Lis on the arm. "Don't encourage him!" she scolded.
"What!" Lis frowned, making a show of rubbing her arm. "He's having fun. Why do you want to keep him from having fun? Unless you want to turn him into Noah or something." She laughed at her own joke, but only got a big scowl in return from Lara.
"Fun doesn't have anything to do with this," she said, now getting plenty pissed off at Lis' cluelessness.
Stone was feeling like crap by the time he reached the restroom. He used the first open urinal and couldn't even piss in peace without some middle-aged man making a comment about having read all about him in some tabloid his wife had bought. In his drunken state, Stone was tempted just to turn and piss all over the dude. He didn't though, instead he just minded his own business and finished peeing. He zipped up and turned and went to wash his hands. He blinked a few times and looked in the mirror and felt like even more shit. What the hell was wrong with him that he spent all the time getting back to normal without drinking and now he just spent a few hours fucking it up and getting his drink on? And why was it okay for Lara to be all disappointed at him for it when she gave in after...like...a decade of not drinking? He frowned and splashed some water on his face before drying his face and hands with some paper towels. He put on a smile like nothing was bothering him and sauntered out of the bathroom to go find Lis and Lara again.
Lara had gone back into the big room and sat down at an empty table. She leaned on it with her elbow and rested her cheek in her hand as she watched Patty and Jake get all dancey on the dance floor. Weddings were kind of depressing. Lis followed her and stood by the table, looking around for someone more interesting to talk to since Lara seemed kind of pissed at her at the moment. Obviously just because she was drunk.
Stone found his way back to the table, after being pulled into a couple of conversations he didn't want to be in and having to act sociable and happy. He was going to keep standing but all those shots were definitely caught up with him now, so instead, he sat down and looked between both of them. He frowned a little. First he looked at Lis. "This is not conversion." He stated firmly. Then he looked at Lara. "I'm an adult and I can take one night to get drunk when I feel uncomfortable around your smart friends to level the playing field." He said the one quiet enough that stragglers nearby wouldn't hear and then nodded and looked between them again. "Stop being pissy at each other." he reached up to loosen his tie some more as he leaned back against the back of his chair. The room was completely spinning. Stone couldn't really remember why he ever liked this feeling in the first place.
Lis smirked at Stone's first comment despite his seriousness, and Lara lifted her head from her hand and looked at Stone with a frown. "I didn't say anything," she protested, despite the fact that she had said a few things, but she wasn't, like, scolding him or anything. Right? Something like that. Anyway, the point was that Stone was apparently feeling inadequate around these people, and not merely bored. That sucked. She frowned further, but didn't say anything about his comment about them being pissy.
"No one is pissy, darling, ssh," Lis shook her head and ruffled up Stone's hair.
"You didn't hafta," Stone retorted to Lara's protest. She didn't have to comment on the pissy part either. Stone scrunched his face up at the hair ruffling and then tilted his head back to look at Lis. "Ya-huh," He nodded and then he set his head back so he could look at Lara. "An' it sucks." He added, because it did and now he got the blame of causing the two of them to not have a good time, or at least Lara cause she was all mopey-like.
To be fair, a lot of Lara's so-called mopiness had to do with the shots on top of the other drinking. And then there was Lis' annoyingness and wedding sappiness and then came Stone's disappointingness and stuff. "Well I'm sorry I had a reaction," Lara said holding her hands up, since she didn't know what he wanted her to do about it. "Next time, I'll like, y'know...wear a mask or something."
Stone tried not to frown. Who knew how many people were watching them and whispering, after all? He let out a sigh and shook his head. "I'm getting some more food." And by 'food', he meant cannoli...from the dessert table. Probably not a good idea to mix hyper with drunk, but whatever - when he was drunk he wound up extra hungry. He pushed his chair back and pulled himself to his feet. "Anybody want anything?" Stone wanted to go home, as in home, home. That fact really sucked. He was outside The City, he should not be feeling so...crappy.
Both Lara and Lis shook their heads.
"I think I ate enough tonight," Lis said before she got distracted by someone walking by. "Hey, Melinda!" she called, and promptly headed off in that direction.
Lara watched her go and then looked at Stone. "Carrots?" she asked, even though she had just said no to his question.
Stone''s brow furrowed a little but he nodded. "Okay," he added before he turned to go hunt down some cannoli...and some carrots. It took him a little while - a little while in which he barely managed not to returned to the bar to get another drink or two, but he returned with a plate of cannoli and a plate of carrots, which even had some dip on it, the plate that is - for the carrots. He set the plates down and then sat down next to Lara again. He wasn't sure he wanted to be the first one to talk, so he picked up one of the mini cannoli and took a big bite to start chewing the first half of it.
Lara was the first one to talk, because she said thanks. She was kind of overwhelmed by the huge plate, too. She had only been expecting a handful of 'em. But a plate also worked. She picked one up and dipped a little bit of it in the, well, dip before taking a bite. It made a big crunching sound.
Stone glanced at Lara with all the crunching but then looked at his other half of cannoli as he swallowed before he picked it up and started chewing. When the server came around with coffee, he flipped over his mug and let her fill his cup to help wash down the cannoli. He took a sip and then set it down and looked over at Lara. "Are you, y'know...mad at me?" He asked before he looked down at his remaining cannoli and tried to decide which one to eat next.
Lara chewed on her carrot as she watched the server walk away. When Stone spoke, she knitted her brow and looked at him. "No...do I look mad at you?"
Stone shrugged. His eyes were only about half open anyway, so. "No, but yer all...disappointyeyed." Totally a word - how many scrabble points would that be? Anyway, she had been, all disappointyeyed and all at him. Before.
Lara frowned and lowered her hand, currently holding a carrot, to the table. "M'sorry. Just sucks that you had to drink and stuff. But I'm not mad. And, y'know, m'sorry everyone's making you feel shitty, but you've got nothing to worry about 'cause they're all really nice mostly." She nodded a bit and then took another bite.
Stone looked down at his napkin next to his plate and played with a fraying seam on it. He shrugged. "I didn't have to..." Except he kind of felt like he had at the time and once he got down that first glass it kind of snowballed on him and he'd stopped caring. "And I know they are, your friends are anyway. They're just...smart." And Stone wasn't in his own opinion at the least, not to mention countless other people's opinions, he was sure. You couldn't really drop out of college and still be considered smart, could you? "'Sides there's some crazies here - I hada pose for pictures with a buncha kids an' they weren't creepy but the ladies at the bar were, an' dude who had to point out that he'd read all about me in his wife's magazines while standing next to me, pissing in a urinal doesn't really help," This rambled included a good amount of slurring and blending of words together. He actually hiccuped once or twice from eating that cannoli too fast too.
Lara frowned a lot more and took a look around the room as if she'd spot these people he was talking about. When she settled on him again, she said, "You're smart too. You run a business. And you know stuff. And you're funny and stupid people can't be funny."
Stone closed his mouth and pressed his lips together before he shrugged. "Plenty of stupid people run businesses," And he wasn't very smart considering he paid his employees way more than he should, and, y'know mostly kept the store open just so he'd have something to do with himself during the day to feel somewhat productive instead of just...sitting around.
"Okay, okay," Lara nodded, since he had a point. "But still...you're not stupid." And that was that.
Stone rolled his eyes a little and slouched in his chair as he leaned against the back. "S'not that I'm stupid," Not really. It was more the inferiority stuff. They all went to college, they had all these crazy inside joke stories - so many that he was pretty sure none of the Lis-Lara-Stone inside anything had even come up - and not that he could blame them since it was a reunion of sorts but, y'know it had to be pretty obvious how uncomfortable that could get. Especially when it was followed by loads of personal questions. "Just..." he shrugged. "Uncomfortable." He was not going to use the word 'inferior', hell no. 'Uncomfortable' would suffice. And anyway the point was, alcohol had helped in the fight against feeling uncomfortable, except that now he was having some wicked heartburn starting to form in his chest. Fun.
Lara nodded again, but this time more serious because this was serious and all. "Yeah. That makes sense. The night's almost over though, so you won't have to see 'em all again." And even right now with them sitting and talking, that had to be better right? Maybe.
It was still slightly awkward, on account of the seriousness and all. He nodded. "Yeah," It wouldn't be bad seeing them again, cause y'know they were nice and all. It was just kind of hard to deal with a barrage of that, alcohol all over, and not being able to do something as simple as relieve himself without having an intrusive conversation. It wasn't really fun to have someone bring up tabloids which happened to feature you while you had your dick in your hand and only had a small half wall barrier between you and some fat balding guy who was shaking his dry as he spoke y'know. He rolled his eyes. "s'is way too serious a conversation." He decided as he reached out to push his plate further away from him before he reached up to fold his hands behind his head. so much for, y'know, trying to have fun while out - and out of the City - with Lara and Lis.