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xp_logs(slightly backdated) Sam introduces Paige to Alani and they make their way to Kirby's for drinks. The Guthries are a treat, to no one's surprise.
Sam pulled Paige by the wrist to ensure that his headstrong sister didn't decide to wander off on her own on their way to Alani's room. His best friend and his other best friend needed to meet, consequences be damned. This was important.
He knocked on Alani's door and called out. "Alaniiiii, are you ready yet?"
“I can walk on my own, y’ain’t gotta pull,” Paige said, willingly following Sam along. Despite her complaints, Paige was really excited to meet Alani. Sam hadn’t had may friends back home, on account of him starting in the mine so early and dedicating most of his free time to helping around the house. It was nice to see Sam happy and excited after the last two weeks, too. Jay was still not doing well, but at least Sam had perked up a bit for their outing.
Paige had heard a lot about Alani from Sam and she couldn’t wait to see what all the hype was about.
The door opened an instant later, and while Alani was holding her earrings in her hand she was stepping out to meet them - well, to meet Paige. A quirked brow down at Sam's hold on his sister before shaking her head, grin still playing on her lips. "Hello, Paige? Can I hug? Freeing you from your brother's shackle and leading you into a world of glitz and glamour and the hell of a PhD?"
“Yes, absolutely!” Paige said, pulling her wrist free from Sam’s grip. “It’s so good to meet you. Sam talks about you all the time. Which is new for him. He used to always say I was his best friend.” She wrapped her arms around Alani’s shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Your best friend privileges were revoked when you didn't tell me you manifested powers." Sam teased with an exaggerated fake pout, but quickly gave out for a smile. "You did make up for it by making me the proudest older brother in the world though, so I suppose I can forgive ya."
"Oh no, she's adorable. You don't need two best friends, Samford, we'll be cutting you out," Alani stuck her tongue out at him as she hugged Paige. Before releasing her and giving her a quick look over. "Ya know, it's not fair. You Guthries are all tall, I was hoping I'd be able to see you as a little sister too."
"We still have siblings who are just entering middle school." Sam said with a wink. "I'm sure they'll still be shorter than you for a while yet. Though Lewis is growin' like a damn weed, I swear."
“He grows every time I’m not looking,” Paige said fondly. “By the way I love your earrings, they’re so cute. Sammy, why didn’t you tell me she was cute?” Paige elbowed Sam in the side lightly before turning back to Alani. “Are you ready to go or do you need a minute?”
"Awwwww, and she's a flatterer. I am good to go," though as she spoke, Alani reached a hand back to grab a purse from behind the door and pulled it shut behind her. "Come on, I wanna hear about what your planned focus is in your psychology program."
Paige linked her arm with Alani’s and began to walk off, leaving Sam to follow them. “I’m going into Counseling Psychology. It was a long debate between Clinical and Counseling, since they’re so similar, but I think the Counseling focus is closer to what I want to get out of my degree, so it felt like the right choice. Though I did have to make a lot of pro-con lists to reach that decision. What about you? Sam said you’re getting a degree, too?”
“I am, I’m technically Clinical with a Child and Family track, but I’m in year 2, my externship is with a clinic in Brooklyn… which… reminds me I need to remember to talk about them working with the Centre- sorry, that’s nothing for either of you, work after work is something I try not to do. So,” and Alani paused to give a Sam a look, “did you go Paige’s parent-teacher conferences?”
“Sometimes? Paigey didn’t really have them once she hit middle school cause she was so damn smart they didn’t have nothin’ to complain about. And I’m only two years older than her so I had all her teachers just two years before so it didn’t really matter.” Sam shrugged. “That was mostly for Jay n’ under. I also never grounded Paige because I’m afraid of her and I know Mamaw taught her which plants make poison.”
"Hey, I'd only poison you if you really deserved it. And I never did anything to deserve being grounded, I was perfectly well behaved." Paige tried very hard to keep a straight face throughout, but couldn't help but crack a smile at the end. "And anyway, it's not like you could have stopped me from doing anything if you wanted to."
Sam frowned a minute and then turned to look at Paige in dawning horror. “Please tell me that time Mama said you broke your ankle fallin’ outta the hay loft that you didn’t jump? And please tell me that you didn’t jump because I can fly an’ you were testin’ one of your theories?”
"Sure, Sammy," Paige said very unconvincingly. That's exactly what she had done, and she had already gotten an earful from her mother about it. But it had healed fine, so no harm, no foul. "Anyway, Alani, what do you do besides work and hang out with my brother?"
"I have three jobs, not including my classes, so... everything I can. Which brings us to the question Sam I believe had, which is: Yes, I'm taking Namor home with me. A rich man I watched porn with bought me plane tickets." A beat before Alani looked back at them. "It's not what it sounds like. Either of them, honestly. I teach sex ed as one of my jobs and Namor's like my cousin, if people kept implying I was with my cousin."
"Okay but you did show up to the bar on Halloween in couples costumes and he was wearing a crop top." Sam objected. "You ain't exactly helpin' matters."
"Noooo, Nani and Stitch aren't a couple! Don't say that, Nani was a parentified teenage girl and Stitch is a monster who showed up in her home- Oh no, Namor and I are the real versions but it's his house I showed up in. I don't like having realizations when I'm not drinking." Alani groaned. "Paige, please tell me you'll still think I'm cool."
“Please tell me you were the one dressed as Stitch!” Paige begged. “And how could anyone see that as a couple costume? It’s a girl and her dog-alien. Of course you’re still cool, Lilo and Stitch is a classic!”
"No, I gave Namor my Stitch onesie and he cut it up to make a crop top." There was indignation still, the wound still fresh to Alani. "If you haven't met Namor yet... well, he's built different. He works with Clint and I, and you're likely to meet him eventually. Who else should you meet? Sam?"
“Oh Sooraya for sure. We’re gonna have to get you to the community center at some point. And you’ll probably have to meet Q eventually, he’s my boss and made me go shopping with him because he hated my clothes.”
“You want me to meet your boss who bought you clothes?” Paige had been expecting to meet Sam’s friends, not his boss. But if Sam said she should meet him, she would.
“I just think that you’d like to study him.” Sam said with a shrug. “Also he’s kinda my friend. I mean he did hit on me before I applied for the job.”
Paige blinked. “I need to know less about your love life. First guy gives you pearls on the first date, this guy hits on you and buys you fancy clothes…” She trailed off, letting the implication set in.
“If it makes you feel better, Sam isn’t special on the clothes. A number of rich people sometimes live here, and I don’t mean ‘comfortable rich’ — I mean ‘can buy a prime hotel in the heart of the city’ rich, ‘could fund a small country’ rich.” Alani tried to reassure her, but the poking fun at Sam had to be done. Until. “Oh saying that aloud sounds insane. But a lot of them are also real nice people? Is that better? God I didn’t even pre-game and I’m already trying to make things sound better than they are. Congrats, Paige, you’re in for a real treat here — we even have a bus stop into the city outside of the front gates and down a little.”
“Oh. I wasn’t aware of that.” Maybe she should ease off Sam a bit. “It’s really convenient the bus stops so close to the house. I’ll have to go explore the city soon!”
"I'd love to take you." Sam said quickly. "I'm still learnin' my way around, but I've picked out a few spots I thought you'd like in case you ever came up to visit me...."
“Then we definitely need to take a day to go exploring.” Paige liked her arm with Sam as well, joining all three of them in a line. “I’m open to suggestions, too,” she said to Alani.
"Ohhh, don't worry, I have a whole list of places that I keep on hand in case people want to know where I've snooped around the city," Alani grinned. "I've heard in passing, but in your own words what do you like and what do you wanna try now that you're right next to the biggest city in the US? I finally went to the Olive Garden in Times Square, and ya know, it happens."
“Well…” Paige hesitated. This was going to sound really nerdy. “The main branch of the New York Public Library sounded really interestin' and I heard they have collections they display sometimes. The Met also sounded really interestin'. And you know, Times Square might be interestin', too.”
“Yeah we could do that sometime.” Sam said easily. “We’ll have to figure out what days work with our schedules but I’d love to explore the city with you. Clint says that we have to check out the Rockefeller Christmas tree so we’ll have to make time for that next year.”
"Yeah, that would be nice! I think there's ice skatin' there, too." Paige glanced over at Sam. "Maybe Clint could join us, too."
“I know you’re sayin’ that so I’ll fall on my ass and embarrass myself in front of him but it’s an olive branch and a damn sight better than you sayin’ he’s a serial killer so I’m gonna take it.”
Alani shouldn’t have laughed, but she couldn’t help it, hand coming up to smother the laugh as she beamed at the siblings. "Oh my god, have you told Clint that? Does he know? I promise he's not a serial killer, that I know of," she tacked on quickly. “I’m sure we can one day swing an eXcalibur drink night, and I’ll make sure you’re both invited. Just gotta have someone babysit the chapel.” This time as she spoke she’d begun to tap notes into her phone. Better for remembering to send Paige a link to her New York sights doc.
“He knows that Jay said he’s a serial killer, yes.” Sam said dryly. “It was a whole thing right before Christmas.”
Talking about Christmas made him pause and he cleared his throat. “Anyhow…… Kirby’s- am I drivin’ us into town?”
Sam pulled Paige by the wrist to ensure that his headstrong sister didn't decide to wander off on her own on their way to Alani's room. His best friend and his other best friend needed to meet, consequences be damned. This was important.
He knocked on Alani's door and called out. "Alaniiiii, are you ready yet?"
“I can walk on my own, y’ain’t gotta pull,” Paige said, willingly following Sam along. Despite her complaints, Paige was really excited to meet Alani. Sam hadn’t had may friends back home, on account of him starting in the mine so early and dedicating most of his free time to helping around the house. It was nice to see Sam happy and excited after the last two weeks, too. Jay was still not doing well, but at least Sam had perked up a bit for their outing.
Paige had heard a lot about Alani from Sam and she couldn’t wait to see what all the hype was about.
The door opened an instant later, and while Alani was holding her earrings in her hand she was stepping out to meet them - well, to meet Paige. A quirked brow down at Sam's hold on his sister before shaking her head, grin still playing on her lips. "Hello, Paige? Can I hug? Freeing you from your brother's shackle and leading you into a world of glitz and glamour and the hell of a PhD?"
“Yes, absolutely!” Paige said, pulling her wrist free from Sam’s grip. “It’s so good to meet you. Sam talks about you all the time. Which is new for him. He used to always say I was his best friend.” She wrapped her arms around Alani’s shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Your best friend privileges were revoked when you didn't tell me you manifested powers." Sam teased with an exaggerated fake pout, but quickly gave out for a smile. "You did make up for it by making me the proudest older brother in the world though, so I suppose I can forgive ya."
"Oh no, she's adorable. You don't need two best friends, Samford, we'll be cutting you out," Alani stuck her tongue out at him as she hugged Paige. Before releasing her and giving her a quick look over. "Ya know, it's not fair. You Guthries are all tall, I was hoping I'd be able to see you as a little sister too."
"We still have siblings who are just entering middle school." Sam said with a wink. "I'm sure they'll still be shorter than you for a while yet. Though Lewis is growin' like a damn weed, I swear."
“He grows every time I’m not looking,” Paige said fondly. “By the way I love your earrings, they’re so cute. Sammy, why didn’t you tell me she was cute?” Paige elbowed Sam in the side lightly before turning back to Alani. “Are you ready to go or do you need a minute?”
"Awwwww, and she's a flatterer. I am good to go," though as she spoke, Alani reached a hand back to grab a purse from behind the door and pulled it shut behind her. "Come on, I wanna hear about what your planned focus is in your psychology program."
Paige linked her arm with Alani’s and began to walk off, leaving Sam to follow them. “I’m going into Counseling Psychology. It was a long debate between Clinical and Counseling, since they’re so similar, but I think the Counseling focus is closer to what I want to get out of my degree, so it felt like the right choice. Though I did have to make a lot of pro-con lists to reach that decision. What about you? Sam said you’re getting a degree, too?”
“I am, I’m technically Clinical with a Child and Family track, but I’m in year 2, my externship is with a clinic in Brooklyn… which… reminds me I need to remember to talk about them working with the Centre- sorry, that’s nothing for either of you, work after work is something I try not to do. So,” and Alani paused to give a Sam a look, “did you go Paige’s parent-teacher conferences?”
“Sometimes? Paigey didn’t really have them once she hit middle school cause she was so damn smart they didn’t have nothin’ to complain about. And I’m only two years older than her so I had all her teachers just two years before so it didn’t really matter.” Sam shrugged. “That was mostly for Jay n’ under. I also never grounded Paige because I’m afraid of her and I know Mamaw taught her which plants make poison.”
"Hey, I'd only poison you if you really deserved it. And I never did anything to deserve being grounded, I was perfectly well behaved." Paige tried very hard to keep a straight face throughout, but couldn't help but crack a smile at the end. "And anyway, it's not like you could have stopped me from doing anything if you wanted to."
Sam frowned a minute and then turned to look at Paige in dawning horror. “Please tell me that time Mama said you broke your ankle fallin’ outta the hay loft that you didn’t jump? And please tell me that you didn’t jump because I can fly an’ you were testin’ one of your theories?”
"Sure, Sammy," Paige said very unconvincingly. That's exactly what she had done, and she had already gotten an earful from her mother about it. But it had healed fine, so no harm, no foul. "Anyway, Alani, what do you do besides work and hang out with my brother?"
"I have three jobs, not including my classes, so... everything I can. Which brings us to the question Sam I believe had, which is: Yes, I'm taking Namor home with me. A rich man I watched porn with bought me plane tickets." A beat before Alani looked back at them. "It's not what it sounds like. Either of them, honestly. I teach sex ed as one of my jobs and Namor's like my cousin, if people kept implying I was with my cousin."
"Okay but you did show up to the bar on Halloween in couples costumes and he was wearing a crop top." Sam objected. "You ain't exactly helpin' matters."
"Noooo, Nani and Stitch aren't a couple! Don't say that, Nani was a parentified teenage girl and Stitch is a monster who showed up in her home- Oh no, Namor and I are the real versions but it's his house I showed up in. I don't like having realizations when I'm not drinking." Alani groaned. "Paige, please tell me you'll still think I'm cool."
“Please tell me you were the one dressed as Stitch!” Paige begged. “And how could anyone see that as a couple costume? It’s a girl and her dog-alien. Of course you’re still cool, Lilo and Stitch is a classic!”
"No, I gave Namor my Stitch onesie and he cut it up to make a crop top." There was indignation still, the wound still fresh to Alani. "If you haven't met Namor yet... well, he's built different. He works with Clint and I, and you're likely to meet him eventually. Who else should you meet? Sam?"
“Oh Sooraya for sure. We’re gonna have to get you to the community center at some point. And you’ll probably have to meet Q eventually, he’s my boss and made me go shopping with him because he hated my clothes.”
“You want me to meet your boss who bought you clothes?” Paige had been expecting to meet Sam’s friends, not his boss. But if Sam said she should meet him, she would.
“I just think that you’d like to study him.” Sam said with a shrug. “Also he’s kinda my friend. I mean he did hit on me before I applied for the job.”
Paige blinked. “I need to know less about your love life. First guy gives you pearls on the first date, this guy hits on you and buys you fancy clothes…” She trailed off, letting the implication set in.
“If it makes you feel better, Sam isn’t special on the clothes. A number of rich people sometimes live here, and I don’t mean ‘comfortable rich’ — I mean ‘can buy a prime hotel in the heart of the city’ rich, ‘could fund a small country’ rich.” Alani tried to reassure her, but the poking fun at Sam had to be done. Until. “Oh saying that aloud sounds insane. But a lot of them are also real nice people? Is that better? God I didn’t even pre-game and I’m already trying to make things sound better than they are. Congrats, Paige, you’re in for a real treat here — we even have a bus stop into the city outside of the front gates and down a little.”
“Oh. I wasn’t aware of that.” Maybe she should ease off Sam a bit. “It’s really convenient the bus stops so close to the house. I’ll have to go explore the city soon!”
"I'd love to take you." Sam said quickly. "I'm still learnin' my way around, but I've picked out a few spots I thought you'd like in case you ever came up to visit me...."
“Then we definitely need to take a day to go exploring.” Paige liked her arm with Sam as well, joining all three of them in a line. “I’m open to suggestions, too,” she said to Alani.
"Ohhh, don't worry, I have a whole list of places that I keep on hand in case people want to know where I've snooped around the city," Alani grinned. "I've heard in passing, but in your own words what do you like and what do you wanna try now that you're right next to the biggest city in the US? I finally went to the Olive Garden in Times Square, and ya know, it happens."
“Well…” Paige hesitated. This was going to sound really nerdy. “The main branch of the New York Public Library sounded really interestin' and I heard they have collections they display sometimes. The Met also sounded really interestin'. And you know, Times Square might be interestin', too.”
“Yeah we could do that sometime.” Sam said easily. “We’ll have to figure out what days work with our schedules but I’d love to explore the city with you. Clint says that we have to check out the Rockefeller Christmas tree so we’ll have to make time for that next year.”
"Yeah, that would be nice! I think there's ice skatin' there, too." Paige glanced over at Sam. "Maybe Clint could join us, too."
“I know you’re sayin’ that so I’ll fall on my ass and embarrass myself in front of him but it’s an olive branch and a damn sight better than you sayin’ he’s a serial killer so I’m gonna take it.”
Alani shouldn’t have laughed, but she couldn’t help it, hand coming up to smother the laugh as she beamed at the siblings. "Oh my god, have you told Clint that? Does he know? I promise he's not a serial killer, that I know of," she tacked on quickly. “I’m sure we can one day swing an eXcalibur drink night, and I’ll make sure you’re both invited. Just gotta have someone babysit the chapel.” This time as she spoke she’d begun to tap notes into her phone. Better for remembering to send Paige a link to her New York sights doc.
“He knows that Jay said he’s a serial killer, yes.” Sam said dryly. “It was a whole thing right before Christmas.”
Talking about Christmas made him pause and he cleared his throat. “Anyhow…… Kirby’s- am I drivin’ us into town?”
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Date: 2024-01-19 01:00 am (UTC)Marie-Ange is Suddenly Very interestedin Paige Guthrie
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Date: 2024-01-19 05:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-22 01:59 am (UTC)You and me both, Alani.
The casual banter here was delightful — Alani's relationship with Sam moving easily to liking Paige, to the siblings and their shared history.
I do want to see all of them explore NYC more.