beyoncepadthai | i'll have what she's having

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i'll have what she's having

So, Mindy's last birthday went uncharacteristically uncelebrated. Of course, she shopped and drank and all of that, but this year she's more than in a partying mood and has more than enough invitees to put something on without seeming like a total loser.

Deciding to mix things up, Mindy's rented out a cool seat-reclining, wine and dine theater at High Street mall, splurged on snacks and booze and arranged for a viewing of her favorite film. Of course there are a bunch of cool new releases she could let her guests enjoy, but it's her birthday, and this is one way she can force everyone she knows to watch the wonder that is literally anything Nora Ephron.

She can hear Danny's whining already, and she couldn't care less.

What she can't help but care about is what Danny once said to her back in New York, his cruel reminder to her that she wasn't getting any younger, the promise of a hot husband and adorable children ticking away. She's all the more conscious of it this week, especially after freaking out momentarily thinking that Luke might have already moved on.

The right decision or not, a real relationship or not, it's one more shot at a future that she's managed to screw up.

Hence, the alcohol. Dressed to impress, Mindy arrives early to get her start on a super strong and super fruity cocktail while she waits for her first guests to turn up.

[Set to the night of the 20th of June at one of the fancier theaters at High Street Mall. From 8-ish cocktails (+ beer and wine) and finger food will be served in the bar area, and then the movie (viewable on YT, if you are so inclined) will be starting at 8:30. Tag Mindy, tag around, before or after the film. ENJOY.]

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There's a hot bartender at the bar and Mindy's been picking apart his brain about how many free movies he gets to see, arguing that he has way better job benefits than her. She can rarely even find the time to see a movie, save for the ones that are on in the dead of the night in between deliveries.

So this is super cool. It's a movie she's seen probably a million times, one that pretty much defined her childhood (even if the I'll Have What She's Having scene was lost on her for long while, she'd laughed hysterically all the same) but enough to hopefully reinforce her romantic notions of the world. Notions that have kind of been dwindling since her failed Valentine's Day and her failed not!relationship and basically everything she's thought or felt since finding out about what she'd missed back home.

Cheating sports lawyers and broken engagements and plane kisses, for example.

On second thought, Mindy's starting to wonder if watching this movie in public might be the worst idea ever.

"Can I get another drink?"

And today's not even her actual birthday.

[Before or after the movie, I don't mind!]

"Ooh, are we getting birthday drunk?" Kate asks when she comes up to Mindy at the bar after the movie. It's one she's seen a bunch of times, but mostly only in bits and pieces whenever it was shown on TV, and T had once very enthusiastically reenacted that whole diner orgasm scene when Kate was fourteen, which had been hilarious, but she's never actually sat through the whole thing until tonight.

It was cute. And Mindy likes it, which is really the only thing Kate thinks matters on her birthday.

"I am super into getting birthday drunk," she says. She also sort of wants to see when Mindy might be interested in having dinner with Derek, but she knows birthdays are weird sometimes. First thing she wants to do is feel out the atmosphere.

Luke hadn't thought even for a second to get dressed in anything other than jeans and a henley, one of his flannel jackets thrown over it, and when he sees Mindy he immediately feels like he should have known better. She looks great and he looks like he hadn't bothered to try, which is painfully true. Not because he doesn't want to try for anyone, but Luke has just been exactly who he is for such a long time that he struggles with pushing himself out of his comfort zone. This is practically a uniform by now and he frowns down at himself, feeling under dressed and out of place.

That he's nervous to begin with about having brought Reid with him makes him feel even worse about his choice of clothing. It's a stupid thing to focus on, but now that he's decided he should have dressed better, it's the only thing he can think about.

It isn't as if it's a date. They're just friends. But he's brought his just friend to the birthday of a former just friend he'd been sleeping with and he suddenly has no idea when his supposed love life got so strange. It's even more stupid to think Reid is looking at this as anything other than a friendly get together and Luke huffs out a sigh and wonders how much beer it might take to get him drunk.

Reid has absolutely no clue how to dress for a movie and cocktails birthday night. The last time he'd attended a birthday party, it'd been for Henry's fifth and he's almost one hundred percent sure that his five-year-old godson hadn't cared even in the slightest what he'd been wearing. His wardrobe in Darrow hasn't changed from what he wears back home, all button-ups and ties and vests and cardigans, and he thinks it might look odd if he tries to dress up too much; but he keeps doing this, keeps adjusting and re-adjusting his collar and tie before he leaves the apartment to meet Luke and for what? He continues to have no clue.

It's easier when they meet up, as it always seems to be. Luke had jokingly told him that he's been told he's comforting, that he had a soothing voice, and Reid had answered in the affirmative but without any playfulness intended. He's nervous each time they make plans together, mostly because he's been trying desperately to resist the feelings that go beyond friendly affection and couldn't possibly be returned, but when Luke smiles and says hello, something in him relaxes.

Of course, his nerves skyrocket again once they reach the party, and it isn't until he's avoided a number of bodily collisions and grabbed himself a glass of sparkling cider, which he's learned is a good enough beverage to hold to avoid questions of why he isn't drinking something stronger, that he manages to huff a sheepish sigh of relief as he returns to Luke's side.

"You were right," he says, glancing around at the crowd with an arched brow as he takes a sip of his cider. "She is popular. My birthdays at home were limited to a max of about eight people."

It doesn't make sense for him to feel both so nervous and so completely at ease around one person, but somehow Reid manages to inspire both feelings in him at once. Having a beer in his hands makes it all a little easier, it gives him something to do other than awkwardly shove his hands in his pockets and wonder if he's talking too much or too little. He wonders if people are staring at them, if it's as obvious to anyone else how much he likes Reid, because he feels painfully obvious. Since meeting Rae the other week he's been thinking about it, considering what it means to have seen someone with Jocelyn's face and still be able to be here with Reid and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he's not thinking of him as simply a friend. She isn't Jocelyn, he's not so delusional as to think that, but it had been a bit of a shock to see her face. It had certainly stirred things up, made him wonder what he's really doing here, and while he doesn't know the full answer to that questions, he's established one thing for certain: he's tired of waiting on someone who will never love him. Someone who isn't even here. It's alright for him to be thinking of someone else and it's alright for him to want something more.

Wanting something more from a person who likely only thinks of him as a friend doesn't quite seem to be in line with his sudden sense of empowerment, but at least it's something resembling a step in the right direction. Now if only he could manage to relax about it. If nothing else, Reid is his friend and Luke doesn't want to do anything to endanger that in any way. If that means he has to keep his feelings to himself, then that's something he's willing to do.

"My last birthday involved Simon and Clary insisting I wasn't old without me ever saying that I felt old," he answers with a small smile, remembering that day. His birthday is actually coming up soon, but he can't imagine doing anything remotely like this and expects he'll most likely spend the day alone in the store. It isn't that he's adverse to celebrating, but he remembers his last birthday so clearly, the way Simon had looked at him all wide-eyed behind his glasses and said, You're really not that old, you know that, right? And until that moment he hadn't felt particularly old, but he supposes to a pair of fourteen-year-olds, thirty-seven seems practically ancient. "And an ice cream cake that had a clown on it. I have a feeling they forgot to get me a cake and it was the last one in the store."

Not that he had really minded. He hadn't expected anything at all. The fact that they had remembered, that they'd gone out of their way for him, bought him a card and a book they thought he'd like, then run out for the cake when they realized they'd overlooked that part, it had all meant a lot to him and he smiles just thinking about it. "I can't remember the last time I had a real party, though. I might have been only a teenager." But Shadowhunter birthdays were never celebrated in the same manner. They were warriors before they were ever children and while Amatis had done her best, he'd never had parents to give him gifts or make the day special for him. The only person to ever throw him a party had been Valentine. And that isn't a thought Luke wants to dwell on, not tonight.

"When is it?"

It's not very tactful but then again, tact isn't what Reid would say is necessarily his strongest suit in the first place. His mind tends to work too quickly to really consider the consequences of a particular question or comment and sometimes, that does end up working in his favor but right now, he's too aware of himself and how warm his cheeks are having asked when Luke's birthday is. He doesn't have any plans to do anything with the information, at least not until he determines whether the date has passed yet or not, but he knows it sounds nosy. People don't like nosy.

Then again, Luke had invited him to this party after weeks of getting to know the way he operates so maybe it isn't such a terrible thing.

"Your birthday, I mean," Reid quickly continues, though he's sure Luke has understood that well enough. "I had the opposite experience with the team when mine would come along, I was always the baby of the group." JJ is only a little over a year older than him but that had never seemed to matter. He's suspected for quite some time that it has to do with his hair, though he hasn't been able to prove it. "Every year, I'd get a little cake, sometimes with a ridiculous hat, and I'd blow out the candles even though I would keep explaining that doing that started as a German tradition in the 1700s and really doesn't have any significance at all other than to commemorate each year of life but the thing is, it'd almost always be after solving a case so it just seemed... I don't know. Secondary, I guess."

He's not bitter about that, which he hopes is clear enough by his casual tone and shrug, it's just the truth.

"I'll be thirty-five this year, and I'm not going to have anyone reminding me that no matter how much older I get, I'm still the youngest." Reid pauses then, his shoulders dropping slightly as the corners of his lips twitch into a sad smile. "Now that I say it, I'm realizing how much I think I might actually miss it."

For a long time, knowing that the team had looked at him that way, like the baby brother who always needed protecting, had bothered him in some small way. It hadn't been offensive but at the same time, there'd been a part of him that felt that much more pressure to be better, whether it be in the field or out of it. The things that have happened to him over the years, things that he's barely scratched the surface of with Luke and is so worried will make this man that he's come to care about so dizzyingly quickly want to turn around without another word, they've all made it difficult to say that he's fine; but that had, in a way, also been a nice safety net. If he'd fallen, his team would be there to pick him back up.

He observes Luke for a moment, maybe even for a best too long, sipping thoughtfully on his cider before nodding just slightly to himself. Reid has decided it already, he'd decided it on the first day they'd met, but it seems important to confirm it with himself again. He trusts Luke. Maybe it'll work against him or get him hurt somehow one day, but he doesn't care. Reid trusts him and given the fact that he can't say that about a single other person in this town, he thinks that's a pretty remarkable to realize.

Admittedly, Molly isn't really big on romantic comedies. She doesn't mind them — the good ones, anyway — but it wouldn't really be her genre of choice, perhaps because her own approach to that sort of thing runs so contrary to what's usually depicted in the movies. Mindy, though, she is a fan of, and there's no way in hell she would have missed a night out to celebrate a good friend's birthday. June is full of them, it seems, something that will probably keep her busy, but not displeased for it. It's not like she intends to do much for her own, anyway. She might as well make the most of it for everyone else.

Standing by the bar beforehand, she orders herself a drink, the smile she casts at the bartender her typical warm one, though it occurs to her fleetingly that any flirtatiousness behind it is purely harmless, without any kind of intention behind it. She's not really sure when that started being the case, at least in terms of when she started feeling enough like herself to act forward again in the first place, but tonight isn't the time to question it. She's here for Mindy, determined to see to it that her friend has a good time.

"Are you kidding me?" Mindy starts, taking a sip of her drink (is it just her, or are they getting less and less strong as the night goes on?) before she turns to greet Kate with a smile. Yeah, she's minorly sad after seeing a movie she's seen a thousand times, but Kate's good company. The best company. "This is basically pre-gaming. The birthday drinking will be on Wednesday when I have aged up and given up. You should get one of these," she says, lifting the glass pointedly. "They're like candy."

Momentarily freaking out thinking that Luke had already moved on had been one of Mindy's lower points of pride, but she's totally, totally over it by now. Well, okay, she can't help but glance around to see who he's brought along, if for some reason he was lying to her and has brought some crazy bangable blonde.

Which is dumb. They weren't an item, she's done away with all rights to jealousy.

Regardless, she's glad he's made it, even if she's not sure whether When Harry Met Sally is going to be his (or his friend's) kind of thing. They won't be alone in that if it's the case, but it's her birthday and she'll make all of her nearest and dearest cry with her over Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal if she wants to, goddammit.

"Hey!" she greets him, grinning broadly. "You made it. I was worried I'd maybe scared you off."

"Okay," Kate agrees, gesturing at Mindy's drink when the bartender comes to see what she wants. Newt's around here somewhere and he'll be able to carry her home if she gets totally wasted on pink candy drinks, because that's what birthday parties are for. Not her own, because she actually hasn't had a birthday party since coming to Darrow, but that's not because she's sad and pathetic, it's because Olive throws a way better party than Kate ever could. So she enjoys that one and doesn't have to clean up after or anything.

"And what the hell, given up on what?" she asks as her drink arrives. She's noticed the hot bookstore owner is here, which maybe means that's not as over as Mindy has said, but he's also here with some gangly dude, so she doesn't know. "You can't give up on being awesome, it's just like, a way of life."

"Being awesome is actually kind of a lot of effort," Mindy muses, though she brightens up at Kate's compliment. Not that she's sad. At least, not exactly. It's her party and she's surrounded by the best people ever, it's just that birthdays breed a special mix of nostalgia for what was and desperation for what might never be.

Which is why people drink themselves stupid. "The clothes, the cool demeanour, having to be caught up on pop culture when some days you just want to watch old Seinfeld reruns..."

Luke isn't sure what Mindy thinks she could possibly do to scare him off anything, let alone her birthday party given what she's seen him do, but he smiles all the same and shakes his head. Being a werewolf isn't something he's going to talk about in a crowded, public area like this, but she'll know what he's referring to when he says, "You would think I'd be the one scaring you off with everything you've seen."

Maybe it's strange that her presence should relax him, but it does. She's always been easy to talk to, even when things hadn't exactly gone as well as he might have hoped. They've always communicated fairly well, even when Luke wasn't being as honest with either of them as he should have been.

"Happy Birthday," he tells her. "This is quite the party. I like it. I don't think I've ever had anything like this." Parties in Alicante had been far more extravagant than this, but they had never been thrown for an individual. Shadowhunters had never really been allowed to think of themselves as individuals.

"July twelfth," he says, then smiles as he looks over at Reid, the expression bordering on shy. "So if it's a party this impressive you're planning, you might want to get started on it." It's a joke, of course, because not only would he not know quite what to do with a party with this many people being thrown in his honour, he would never expect anyone to throw one for him, let alone Reid, a man he's really only just met a month ago. And yet he rather likes the idea that someone here knows when his birthday is. It's not the sort of thing that's ever really come up in conversation with anyone else and while he knows he has friends like Derek or Caroline who might go out of their way to find out when it is, it's too soon for anyone to really find out and do anything about it. Which suits him just fine. He's never done well being the centre of attention and even having to speak to the Clave on behalf of his pack had always been rather difficult. He's good at it, there's no doubt, but that's very different than having a party focused entirely on him.

"I'll be thirty-eight," he says. "So if you like, I can remind you that you're younger than I am. When is your birthday?" It feels like information he should have, especially now that Reid knows when his is. He's only ever really celebrated Clary and Simon's birthdays, though there was a period of several years when he had bought gifts for Jocelyn, only to eventually have her gently ask him not to. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate them, she had said, but that she knew the store was struggling. She didn't feel comfortable accepting gifts from him when she knew the money could be used better in other ways.

She had never seemed to mind much when he spoiled Clary, however, so he knows that hadn't been the real reason. But he had allowed her to have it, as he had allowed her to have many things. As she had allowed him to have his issues as well. He had told Clary once that love often isn't enough and it's only now, with time and a bit of distance, he's realizing just how true that is. Loving Jocelyn, knowing she loved him in return, though not the way he wanted, it had seemed like enough for a very long time. The more time he spends away from her, however, the more he realizes how unhealthy the expectations he'd placed on her had been.

If he ever sees her again, he has a lot to apologize for.

"I don't expect a cake or candles," he says a second later, looking over at Reid in time to catch him watching, and his cheeks suddenly feel awfully warm. "I'm not sure at what point it just becomes a little sad, but trying to fit thirty-eight candles on a cake just seems like it might be a recipe for disaster."

"The pressure's on," Reid answers, his tone serious but his smile teasing. He knows Luke wouldn't actually expect anything at all, but the truth is that the wheels are already turning in his mind. He wouldn't even know where to begin when it comes to throwing something extravagant like this. He'd have no idea who to invite or what to set up for beverages and food or anything quite like that, and it's true that he's a genius but rarely is he in top social form so parties, just in general, aren't things he often worries about.

Granted, the fact that he does want to do something for Luke when the day is barely a month away makes him cross an arm tightly over his chest, not at all because he wants to close himself off to his friend but because it only serves to remind him of how absurdly attached he's grown to someone he's only known for a matter of weeks. When he falls, he falls quickly, that's just who he is. It doesn't happen often and when it comes down to it, he's hardly ever aware that anyone is flirting with him at all unless someone points it out to him; but there have been moments, just flashes, when they've exchanged texts or noticed Luke's eyes on him that Reid has let himself imagine what could happen if they both threw caution to the wind. That, however, is not who he is. Impulsive as he may be once in awhile when he's out in the field or on the verge of solving a case, it's much different than letting himself get too close to someone he might just lose. Especially in a city like Darrow, the risk is so high and the odds simply not in his favor.

But then again, he thinks, smiling softly when Luke turns to look at him, sometimes the risk is worth it.

"The cake is actually non-negotiable," Reid continues, shrugging again as if to apologize, though he's very clearly not sorry. "I pour tons of sugar into my coffee every morning, it's my lifeline, so you're going to have to deal with sharing at least half of what I find for you." The last time he'd made plans like this with someone outside of the team, real plans that he fully intends on following through with, had been when he and Maeve had finally agreed to meet. It seems like ages ago now and that hadn't worked out like either of them have wanted; but maybe this could be different. Even if they only ever stay friends, which would be more than satisfactory for Reid, he thinks this could be different.

"And if you could keep reminding me of that, it'd be very much appreciated until it isn't. Mine is October fourteenth. Which is actually one of the most common birth dates because conception can usually be narrowed down to New Year's Eve." He blinks, wrinkling his nose and giving of a slight shake of his head. "Probably not information you needed, but I accepted a long time ago that what most people consider useless bits of trivia is what I excel in contributing to casual conversation."

A corner of his mouth turns up again, almost mischievously. "I think you're right about the candles, though. At the point of thirty-eight candles, I think it just becomes a fire hazard."

He's a little flattered to have been invited, if he's honest. Emmett has always prioritized work over a social life, and God knows he didn't exactly fit in with most of the other students at Harvard. The former has still been true in Darrow, too. There are a few people he might apply that label to, and Mindy would be one of them, but still, this had been something of a surprise. So he makes sure to clear his schedule for the night, especially with Elle obviously going, making sure he has everything for work squared away and won't be getting any unexpected calls. He isn't even sure that he's seen the movie in question, but that's beside the point. He's at least pretty sure he can't be the only person here for whom that will be the case.

Figuring he might as well, he goes to the bar to order a beer once he's inside, looking out for Mindy all the while, and to see who else might be showing up to this thing.

Mindy's pretty sure that her personality is way more terrifying than any lycanthropy, at least that's the impression she's gotten for most of her adolescent-to-adult life. She just grins and winks at the comment, though, still kind of thrilled that she's in on his little (or kind of insanely huge) secret.

"Thank you," she says, glancing around at the bar to take in what he says. It's not completely overwhelmed with people, which she likes, because in those kinds of situations it's next to impossible to be heard and if there's one basic need she has, it's that. "I thought I'd mix it up. I basically never have time to go to an actual movie theater these days, so. Where's that, uh, friend you were talking about?"

She glances around, looking for an unfamiliar face.

The trouble with most of her friends being crazy successful is that Mindy rarely actually gets to spend time with them, which is what makes tonight extra exciting (even if she tends to give off the impression it's all about the presents.)

Spotting Molly at the bar, Mindy makes her way over, already with 1.5 drinks in her and feeling a little lighter than she has lately. She so needs tonight, all birthday traditions aside. "I'm so glad you came!"

"Uh, not when you're just naturally amazing like we are," Kate answers. "Because that's what's so great about us. We wear whatever the hell we want and make it look incredible. The whole pop culture thing is just whatever. Especially in Darrow. I mean, zombie Todd Chad or whatever the fuck his name is? That's what we have to be all knowledgable about? Gross."

Because that's the thing, as far as Kate's concerned. Being amazing comes naturally to her -- and Mindy -- and they don't need to try to impress anyone. If someone isn't impressed, that's their own damn problem and she doesn't want to be around someone like that anyway. It's not like Kate's all that judgmental, she just wants to be around people who are as great as she is, which is maybe sort of arrogant, but she doesn't really care.

"And it's your birthday," she adds. "So happy birthday and remember that your rules are the only rules that matter for like, at least a week."

The second she asks about his friend, Luke feels himself getting nervous all over again and he wonders if that's visible in his expression. His gaze darts around, looking for Reid in the crowd that's gathered and then he nods toward the bar when he spots him there, presumably getting another glass of cider. In that moment, Luke can't help but think how different they look, Reid in his button down and tie, Luke in jeans and flannel. Given his fashion choices, how well put together he looks at all times, Reid is really much more suited to someone like Mindy, someone who makes the effort and goes out of her way to look beautiful. At the thought, he feels a little flash of fear, because wouldn't that just be his luck? To bring the man he suspects he might be developing feelings for to Mindy's party only to have the two of them hit it off in a way Luke could never hope for.

"He's over there by the bar," he tells her, figuring she'll recognize Reid simply because he's clearly the one person she hasn't invited. He stands out, too. His height, the way he looks around like he's just the slightest bit uncomfortable. He isn't familiar with anyone here except Luke and when he meets his gaze, Luke smiles slightly, unable to help himself. This doesn't make any sense, the way his heart beats a little faster, the way he throat suddenly feels dry, and he's just very glad no one else in this room is a werewolf -- that he knows of -- or they would easily be able to pick up on these minute changes in him.

Edited 2015-06-13 15:08 (UTC)

Luke smiles when Reid says he'll have to share half of whatever he finds and he thinks that will suit him just fine. He takes a sip of his beer to give himself time to recover, to give himself a chance to rein in the grin that he feels threatening. Now and then he's thought about what his birthday might be like here, how it might feel to celebrate without Clary and Jocelyn, and he knows he never would have really celebrated on his own. The day would have come and gone, he would have at least acknowledged it, but there wouldn't be any cake. There wouldn't be any celebration, there would have only been a quiet day in the store without thinking about it much at all simply because it wouldn't have been the same. Without them, the day just would have been a little darker and it isn't that Reid completely undoes the sadness that comes with being without them, but he thinks about being brought cake, he thinks about someone -- no, not just someone, but this someone in particular -- coming to wish him a happy birthday and suddenly he's thinking the day might not be so quiet and difficult to get through after all. It won't be the same by any means, but something doesn't have to be the same as it was before to be enjoyable. That there's the possibility his birthday might still be something worth looking forward to is more than enough.

"The cake is non-negotiable, alright," he agrees when he swallows his sip of beer. "I think can probably make do with a day like that." That grin he's been trying to hold back threatens to break free again when Reid tells him just how common his birthdate is and the reason why. It's not something he's ever given much thought to himself, maybe at least in part because he doesn't have many memories of either of his parents. He understands at some point they were married, they were happy. At some point they were in love and wanted to have a family, but he has barely any memories of his father at all, had been too young to remember much of his death. The same goes for his mother, given that she had left him and Amatis when he'd been only five years old. Logically he knows there was a point at which his parents would have been very much looking forward to a happy family, but the idea of that seems to foreign to him that he almost can't quite comprehend it.

"I've never given that much thought," he admits, cocking his head slightly. "It makes sense. I imagine October in general is fairly popular, given the whole month of December often being one big celebration." He wonders what that would have been like, having a family on holidays, being able to wake up on Christmas morning to breakfast and presents and parents who were present. At least partly. He knows Reid's life has been far from perfect, but Luke thinks he would have been happy if at least one of his parents had stayed. He does his best not to spend much time dwelling on it because he can't do anything about it now, but it's difficult not to resent his mother for the choice she made. "I'm fairly certain I was an accident. Sometimes I wonder if my mother already knew she wasn't cut out to be a parent before I was born. You think that's the sort of thing one might realize with their first child."

That isn't what he wants to be thinking about, though. Not now. Not at a party for someone he considers a good friend, not when he's here with Reid, someone he's found himself growing quite attached to. He laughs when Reid says the number of candles on his birthday cake might be considered a fire hazard and his nose wrinkles slightly before he shrugs, as if he's unable to deny the allegation. "We wouldn't want to be responsible for burning anything down," he agrees. "Especially if that something were my store. I'm not sure I've been open long enough for them to believe it wasn't arson."

Reid isn't sure at what point he decides it's a good idea to finally introduce himself to the guest of honor, but Luke has disappeared from his line of sight for a moment and she's standing right next to him, so it seems appropriate enough. He waits for her to get her drink, not wanting to be rude, and watches her take a sip before preparing his friendliest smile, which is probably just a purely awkward one, and steps forward to lift his hand in the air for a short wave.

"Hi."

There's a silent beat between them, and he realizes then how weird of a greeting that is when they've never met so he lets out a short, nervous laugh before slipping his free hand in his pocket.

"Sorry, hi, I'm Reid. Spencer. Either one. I'm Luke's... friend." It's still a little strange to be able to say that, even to think he's managed to make a friend here at all, though he's exceedingly grateful about who that had turned out to be. There's a small flare of panic in him, though, and he glances around quickly to see if he can spot Luke yet but comes up empty. He'd made the first move here, and he has no choice but to follow through.

"Anyway, I appreciate you letting me come to your party. Good birthday so far?"

Danny has come equipped with a survival kit - a pair of foam earplugs and a Ludlum tucked under his arm ready to read during the movie. He spots Mindy at the first place he looks, a gift bag dangling from his hand as he approaches the bar.

"A few days early, I know," he says by way of greeting, lifting the bag onto the counter, gift box buried inside among obnoxious amounts of colourful tissue paper. "More time for you to complain about the present. Hi." He flashes her a quick smile before pressing a kiss to her cheek. "You look beautiful."

"Oh, thank you," Mindy says, and she flushes a little in spite of her smile, something she'll put down to the super strong cocktail already in her veins. Absolutely nothing else.

She nudges him slightly with her shoulder, encouraging him to sit down. "I'm kind of surprised you made it. You hate this movie," she says, then grins even more broadly. "Am I allowed to open it, yet?"

"I do," Danny agrees because he has no desire to pretend otherwise. "But I've come prepared." At that, he reveals the book, sliding it onto the bar and flagging down a drink. He leaves the earplugs and headlamp in his pockets for later. "Knock yourself out."

"Okay, you're not reading your dad novel during my movie," Mindy says, making a face that's short lived as soon as she searches through the tissue paper excitedly. Admittedly she was just thinking that her friends are her favorite part of any party, but this is definitely second.

Her expression turns baffled as she plucks out a stuffed animal, turning it over in her hands. "A turtle?"

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