IC contact for maskormenace

[devoutish]

You've reached Alfie Solomons. Leave your name and state your business.

Alfie can be reached via the imPort network, or via a home phone and answering machine. He does have a cell phone, but it's not publicly available.

Comments

[trouvaille]

Deeply socially awkward?

[devoutish]

Not playing off everything with jokes.

[trouvaille]

I like me better the other way.

( It feels significantly less vulnerable, for one thing. )

[devoutish]

I'm sure you do.

[trouvaille]

Anyway. You don't have to do anything. I hope whatever you're doing works for you annnnnd I'll leave it at that.

[devoutish]

Will you also be doing poorly with this news?

[Which, hey, tacit admittance that he's doing poorly himself.]

[trouvaille]

December's like a month long winter festival, at home. The whole extended family descends on my father's place just before my birthday onwards, and Daddy is constantly trying to outdo himself, which at a certain point is just terrifying and ill-advised. We'll collect a few stray friends who weren't going anywhere or friends of partners or whathaveyou, fill the whole place up. Nobody's entirely sober til January. Live music with the lot of us and at least one punch up or it's not Christmas.

( Yes, but she was already doing poorly. )

[devoutish]

I'm sorry.

[And that he does mean, genuinely.]

Trying to recreate it here is a poor fucking imitation, isn't it.

[trouvaille]

I thought it would be. I haven't even told anyone it's my birthday.

( Or, well, now she's told Alfie. Not anyone who would want to do anything about it. )

[devoutish]

Is it? You're 13 now?

[Just casually harkening back to that old joke of theirs about her being super young and him being super old.]

[trouvaille]

A whole fifteen, thank you, Grandpa.

( Plus or minus (okay, plus) ten years, sure. )

[devoutish]

Happy birthday.

[trouvaille]

Thanks.

[devoutish]

Come for dinner. I'm doing nothing at all for Christmas.

i / ii

[trouvaille]

The day after.

[trouvaille]

If that's all right.

[devoutish]

Or tonight. I'm having Archie over as well.

[trouvaille]

I can do tonight. Do you want me to bring anything?

[devoutish]

He's bringing wine, you can do the same.