Room 220, Friday Evening

[swerval_zero]

Zero had chucked most of the mess into her closets and covered Fish's cage. On top of the dresser was an array of takeout containers from Ching Tai: rice, spring rolls, dumplings, Kung Pao shrimp and Sichuan chicken, along with other selections. Chopsticks and forks for the less brave were sitting nearby, and ginger beer was chilling in the fridge, which could also provide milkshakes if anyone wanted those instead.

Now all she needed was the rest of the band.

((Closed to the band people. Minimal OCD going up. All right, have at it. This was supposed to go up earlier, but Comcast thought it would be cute to shut off my cable for maintenance.))

Comments

Re: Eat and Mingle

[nadiathesaint]

Nadia was there, not at all late despite the mun suddenly running out to dinner with the fam. Free food? Always a good thing.

Re: Eat and Mingle

[swerval_zero]

"Nadia, hi!" Zero said brightly. "Glad you could make it!"

Re: Eat and Mingle

[nadiathesaint]

"Thanks!" Nadia finished loading up on food and found herself a seat. "I have, um, what might be a really awkward question."

Re: Eat and Mingle

[swerval_zero]

"Shoot," Zero said. "Except not literally shoot because hi, enclosed space."

Re: Eat and Mingle

[nadiathesaint]

"Also, no guns allowed. Um." Nadia sighed and dove right in. "I need to ask why you picked me and not Pip. I'm not complaining, except that Pip was really disappointed and he's the one who first taught me how to play and gave me my guitar, and I promised him I'd ask."

Re: Eat and Mingle

[swerval_zero]

Zero set down her chopsticks, going quiet for a long moment before she asked softly, "Do you think I should have chosen Pip over you?"

Re: Eat and Mingle

[nadiathesaint]

"Well, I don't know. I've had a lot of time to practice without him around, since he's got missions and things to go on, and I was home for a year. But he is a better guitar player. I'm really happy you did choose me, and I definitely want to stay in the band, and if you wanted a back up singer as well as a guitarist, then I might have been a better choice, but . . . I still kind of feel bad for him."

Re: Eat and Mingle

[swerval_zero]

"All right, first off," and Zero was starting to get mad, "I would have appreciated it if he'd asked me his own self instead of guiltin' you up." Then she took a deep breath and calmed down before continuing with her actual answer. "Secondly, because you're still learning, I'm hoping your playing style will be more flexible than someone who's been doing this a while and has their own way of doing things. Does that make sense? Also you're a girl, and the more girls the merrier. The world needs more girl rockers. Although I don't hold his being a boy against Chad," she added quickly.

Re: Eat and Mingle

[nadiathesaint]

Nadia winced at the anger, but then nodded. "Okay. Just so long as there's a reason, you know? And I do try to be flexible with my playing. I know a lot of Spanish songs and Tango, but since getting here, I've learned a lot more about music, and I want to be able to play almost all of it."

Re: Eat and Mingle

[swerval_zero]

"No," Zero said teasingly. "There was no reason. I just drew your name out of a hat. Sorry you had to find out this way."

Re: Eat and Mingle

[nadiathesaint]

Nadia smiled slightly. "Okay. I'm sorry that it got all . . . weird. I just wanted to know, you know? And he did, too."

Re: Eat and Mingle

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Hey, Nadia. How goes it?" Parker waves a bottle of ginger beer at her questioningly. "Want some?"

Re: Eat and Mingle

[nadiathesaint]

"Ooo, yes please. And it's not bad. I went shopping with my little this afternoon, and Walter's birthday went really well last night."

Re: Eat and Mingle

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Here," Parker handed it over, and settled back with, "Who's your little sib? And wish him a happy birthday for me. I don't think I've seen him in a while, we didn't have any workshops together this summer."

Re: Eat and Mingle

[nadiathesaint]

"I will. And Naomi Wildman. She's from space. And has horns that look like bindy dots, and she's really nice. Just a little overwhelmed still, I think."

Re: Eat and Mingle

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"A lot of them are. I've noticed a lot of shell-shock, here and there. I think we're lucky they're getting a chance to adjust and nothing's attacked yet." Parker grinned. "Space? Cool. Always a new thing. I think I saw her at the Meet'n'Greet." She sighed, looking down. "With Xander," she muttered.

Re: Eat and Mingle

[nadiathesaint]

"Have you heard from him?" Nadia hadn't, but was hoping he hadn't ended up with the same problem she had when she'd gone home. And that if he did, he didn't think they were ignoring him.

Re: Eat and Mingle

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker looked up from her food, and closed her eyes. "Damn. Right. No, I haven't." Parker took a breath. "And neither has anyone else. And they're probably not going to."

Re: Eat and Mingle

[nadiathesaint]

Nadia nodded. "The same thing happened to me. I just hope he knows that we miss him and we're thinking about him. Stupid Fandom, messing with communication,"

Re: Eat and Mingle

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," Parker sighed, because really, that's enough for now. "Bridge thinks it might clear up... but it could be years down the road." She swirled the bottle, then shook her head. "Happy things. Happy things. The band. Yay. Do you need anything to get ready? As your agent-manager, I'm empowered to start a Fan Club for you guys." She grinned. "Although it would be way, way premature."

Re: Eat and Mingle

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

Chad held up his chopsticks in a wave-salute to Nadia.

Re: Eat and Mingle

[nadiathesaint]

Nadia waved back with a similar gesture. "How are you?"

Re: Eat and Mingle

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

"Great," Chad replied, with an actual hint of emphasis in his voice. "You?"

Re: Eat and Mingle

[nadiathesaint]

"Pretty good. I'm hoping for a quiet weekend." Nadia immediately knocked on the nearest wooden object. "I'm going to the beach tomorrow with some friends."

Re: Eat and Mingle

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

"Yeah?" Chad said, mostly to continue urging conversation; he knew he wasn't going to talk much, but it felt awkward if others were just as quiet. "That should be fun."