I CAN'T IMAGINE THERE'S A WAY —

[retravel]

WHO: Fitz, SHIELD, and you!
WHERE: New Amsterdam's medium-est bar: Refraction
WHEN: 01 September
WHAT: Leo's turning 31 100
NOTES OR WARNINGS: TBA

[ On his actual birthday, Fitz celebrates with his two closest friends (the people who’ve kept him together, despite wobbles along the way). Bobbi and Daisy, however, know that when Fitz says I hate people and don’t want to celebrate in the middle of a secret war he means I hate being alone, even on days without symbolic meaning. Daisy and Bobbi send out the mass evite, and Bobbi uses her powers of persuasion to find a more upscale venue for a discounted rate. Due to the flipped schedules in the height of New Amsterdam’s summer, Fitz’s party happens in the morning (the new night for anyone working a 9-5 gig), sun rising high over the city as it begins.

Welcome to REFRACTION, a classy bar tens of floors off the ground, with a stellar view of the city, not far from the river. Beams of light weave across the back area of the venue, well-lit by various glowing fixtures. Something about the place has an old world flair, with its dark colour scheme and minimalist decor. Maybe today’s an acceptable excuse to dress smart, celebrate with a friend, and drink up:

— enjoy the food (which might have had British roots at one point, but it’s hard to tell given the variety of fusions on display in bite-size portions) and initial round of free fizz, compliments of the host (and the host’s super stem friends)
— buy drinks at the bar and get wankered (as the birthday boy will be, around the new midnight)
— people watch from the tables and sofas
— dance to NA’s top synth pop hits (coming through hidden speakers above and holograms of the singers at some tables, activated by the proximity of nearby implant viewers)
— try a piece of cake, reading Happy 100th Birthday, Fitz! and looking a bit like it came from the same space-themed, child's birthday do as the evite. If your piece of cake has a wee star inside it, it means you’re one of the lucky winners and get a freebie at the bar.

As a nice establishment, rowdiness will only get you tossed on your arse by the bouncers, so everybody be cool.

At one point, someone nudges Fitz forward to say something. Dressed in his finest blues, he cuts a smarter figure than the usual corporate cut-out. ]

Right. [ said in the tight voice of someone who is definitely on the verge of crushing the flute in his hand. ] I never know what to say, and I didn't have time to prepare because, ah. Surprise. [ he splays out his free hand. ] So I will just say that — that there's someone I wish was here, despite all the horrible happenings, but that I am so so grateful that you're all here despite them, too. It's not for — forever, but it's pretty nice. Right now. [ As another SHIELD agent said: We have what we have when we have it. That's it. ] Thank you. Cheers!

( if you don't think the SHIELD losers would have invited your character, please feel free to come up with a semi-plausible reason for attending. gatecrashing, plus ones, hearing the commotion and wanting to be nosy. all are welcome! )

Comments

[ ota ]

[kgbs]

[ this party isn't as loud and obnoxious as the last one. that one had to gather information but this one was to celebrate a birthday and while he would not admit it out loud, he actually didn't mind fitz. everything else aside, he would have like fitz because fitz had been the one to introduce him to the fights and those were great for getting restless energy out.

so, he arrives and leans against the bar for a few hours, drinking slowly from a glass. he doesn't order much, just stands and sips and watches before he retires to one of the tables and continues doing the same thing. sipping and watching.

dancing is, once again, a choice but he avoids it. he would much rather sit back and pick people people who look interesting from his spot in a very comfortable chair. later, he would get to his feet and get a piece of cake.

yes, just imagine a giant eating a tiny piece of birthday cake. it's quite the sight. ]

[retravel]

[ after seeing illya in the ring, fitz knows better than to sneak up on him — as a matter of fact, he doesn't think he could surprise the big guy. his comrade certainly has some form of service in his file, alongside an intelligence that matches his strength.

when illya spots him approaching the bar, fitz decides to hazard a clap on his associate-slash-maybe-friend's back, there and gone. he's a little chuffed that the guy came, okay. ]

Finally having a proper drink, are we, Illya. [ quipped as he walks around to face illya, a tumbler held in one hand. everything about him is looser tonight, with his smile a touch wider than his usual, measured expressions would allow. ] I'm honoured to warrant it, in some small part.

[ probably helps that illya's as off-duty as he gets, simply by showing up here. ]

[kgbs]

It seemed like the best occasion to do so. [ congratulations fitz, his first actual drink since he'd arrived. you were just ticking off a lot of his firsts in this godforsaken city. he raises his glass and nods. ]

Happy birthday. [ it's said gruffly but that's his default tone, really. the fact that he says it without provocation is what's important. ] I cannot remember the last time I celebrated a birthday of mine.

[ it had been a very, very long time. perhaps when he'd been a boy and his parents had still been together and cohesive. ]

[retravel]

[ his mouth splits wide, surprised by the admission and the birthday wishes. in truth, a lot of the presences here amaze him, in one way or another. he never thought he'd last this long without jemma — or find so many good people, at the furthest reaches of the multiverse.

illya's remarks, however gruff, make fitz think he's one of those people. ]

Thank you. [ too soft... but the rest of illya's talk doesn't surprise him. his approximate point of origin in the timeline isn't birthday-friendly. ] If we're still stuck here when your birthday rolls around, I'll buy lunch.

[kgbs]

That's kind of you. [ that would, of course, require illya to acknowledge his birthday, something he hadn't done for awhile now either. it came, it went and he was older. that was how time worked and he'd never seen reason to celebrate. ]

I don't think I want to be stuck here that long but I suppose it is not my choice, is it? [ it was...someone's choice but not his. ]

If I am still here on my birthday, expect to find me in the fighting ring, celebrating that way as well.

[retravel]

[ fitz won't press for a date (though after he sees illy and gaby speaking later, he might try another route to that information). his smile remains steady. ]

What are friends for, right.

[ not a question, that. oh, it's far too late now for takebacks now, buddy. ]

[ mildly, ] I take that to mean you're finding success there.

[ this may be his birthday, but illya sits at the nexus of friendship and strategy here. checking in now is — harmless. he can't make fight club every night or even every week, anyway. too busy. ]

[kgbs]

It's slow but yes.

[ he knows that he has to build up a reputation, build up trust. he cannot just walk into a place and be immediately let into inner workings of a gang just because he might be a good fighter. ]

Nothing worth talking about but I am getting looks. And a few of them have bet on me. [ which he takes as them paying attention, as them taking notice and he can cultivate that. ]

[retravel]

[ nodding. ] All steps in the right direction.

[ on track for building trust and securing alliances, yes. ]

Have you been picking up work anywhere else?

[ in the city or with Morningstar. it's all of interest. ]

[kgbs]

I haven't even looked.

[ which was his own fault. ]

I do not know what I'd do or how I'd utilize my previous skills into something here. I don't want to sit behind a desk.

[covertness]

Enjoying the cake?

[ bobbi's a tall woman and yet, there are plenty of men here who manage to tower over her. thor is one, illya is another. of the two of them, she speaks to thor far more often than to illya (though they don't... always... talk... if you catch her drift), but she remembers illya from when he'd first arrived.

he seems calmer today than he had then, but that's hardly noteworthy. ]

[kgbs]

I suppose.

[ no, that's a lie, he is. but, admitting that would seem...unlike him. besides, his enjoyment is probably evident in how much he has already eaten. ]

It is not bad. Whoever made it is a an average baker. [ they were certainly better than he was, that was for sure. so, his rather mundane compliments are actually quite a lot considering his doesn't typically give compliments at all. ]

[covertness]

High praise indeed.

[ is there amusement in her tone? does it sound like maybe she's laughing a little at him? —that might be because she is. he seems to determined not to be seen enjoying himself that bobbi can't help but be warmly amused. ]

[kgbs]

It has been some time since I've had birthday cake. [ probably over a decade or more. it wasn't like he celebrated his birthday or was close enough with anyone to celebrate theirs. so, fitz's birthday was his first in a long, long time.

what an honor for him it must be. ]

Did you make it? [ is that an out of the blue question? perhaps but she is here so she must know fitz so maybe she is the one behind the cake. ]

[covertness]

[ the question earns him a laugh. ]

No.

[ it's not necessarily funny, but —she can feed herself, but she's not great in the kitchen by any stretch of the imagination. ]

But I paid for it. [ well. used her powers to get a discount for everything here and then split the cost. ]

[kgbs]

Ah. [ well, good choice on the type of cake then. you picked something tasty enough for illya to compliment. ]

I would not have expected our second conversation to be at a birthday party. [ truth be told, she didn't seem the type to attend but he only had one conversation to judge her from. ]

[covertness]

Yeah, me neither.

[ but here they are. and it's a birthday party she's co-organised because it's for one of the people she's closest to, here, if not the person she's closest to. ]

Settled in okay? [ in as far as any of them can. ]

[kgbs]

I've been fine. [ any discomfort had been summarily hidden beneath the gruff facade that he tends to wear. but, while these accommodations weren't great, they weren't the worst he'd ever dealt with. ]

Nothing has killed me yet. [ living with gaby could be trying but it would not kill him. ]

I dislike the technology present but it seems there's little I can do about that.

[mechanisch]

[ He's been here longer than she has, but she also hadn't expected him here. It's not as if they've kept tabs on each other's whereabouts aside from those times when their paths occasionally cross in the small apartment, making some semblance of what passes for polite conversation before going their separate ways — and so when she sees him, outside of that context, for a moment it takes her by surprise.

She won't disturb him at first, only circling her way around once she's exchanged some pleasantries with the birthday boy — and then she approaches, drink in hand, while he proceeds to enjoy that piece of cake he's holding. ]

We seem to keep meeting like this.

[ At parties, she means, as if she hadn't just seen him only a few hours ago. ]

[kgbs]

[ the only thing that keeps him from being startled is that he'd seen her coming. he doesn't have something silly like a sixth sense when it comes to her but she's not hard to miss especially when he's very familiar with her. so, he's prepared when she approaches. ]

Are you surprised?

[ about their repeated meeting places, that is. ]

I know Fitz.

[mechanisch]

[ Maybe fortunately for him, she hadn't been trying to sneak up on him, aware of his awareness of her long before deciding to approach for this conversation. She steps to stand alongside him, her with her drink and him with his cake, realizing they must make an interesting picture to even the most casual observer. ]

That we seem to have found ourselves running in the same circle? Perhaps.

[ She doesn't mention the fact that to her, he's Leo, not Fitz, because that seems a moot point. ]

How did you two meet?

[kgbs]

During my first day here, at the safehouse. He filled me in on a few things that I would have otherwise not been aware of.

[ like the technology. like the way the city worked. like the different gangs that ran the place. ]

I have been working with him a bit to get information.

[ he'd been fighting and making money was actually what he'd been doing. but, he'd gotten eyes on him and that meant more people trusting him into at least betting on him. ]

[mechanisch]

Good.

[ It's more of a comfort than she expected to discover that Illya had encountered those who had been willing to share that kind of information for him, same as she'd had when she'd arrived later. Her understanding of Leo has only been limited to the one previous encounter, but he'd left an impression as someone helpful. ]

That still may be our best option.

[ Working with others, sharing what they know. She's still reluctant to fully trust anyone else apart from the man standing next to her but she's starting to come around to the idea that she may need to extend that sphere outward. ]

[kgbs]

[ he hums and decides not to tell her how he is getting this information. he's been focusing on the petrovs mostly since he knows they are his best hope of ingratiating with anyone with information that is needed. ]

I have nothing yet. But, I am getting there.

[ by beating the hell out of people. ]

How do you know Fitz, then?

[mechanisch]

[ She won't pretend to remain ignorant of his comings and goings, especially at certain late hours; it's still not her place to inquire about what he's doing with his time yet, but eventually her curiosity might get the best of her. It depends on just how much she wants to know about how he's choosing to garner certain information.

Or who he's asking for it. ]

Good. [ As long as progress is being made, can she afford to ask too many questions? ]

We met at the ball. He bought me a drink. [ After she'd marched up to him and told him to, that is, but her directness had paid off. ]

[kgbs]

Did he?

[ his expression doesn't change but there is interest in his tone. he does not know if fitz knows of the connection between them but he's gotten the feeling that fitz is just nice and would buy a pretty girl a drink if given the chance. ]

Sounds like you know him better than I do. [ it's a question in the form of the statement. he wants to know just how well they know each other. ]