May 4

[notfaking_it]

When their roles are posted, Lily smiles knowingly at Nina across the small crowd of mostly disappointed dancers, then crosses over to her and tells her they're going to have a party to celebrate. She tells Nina to invite whoever she wants, says she'll host it, it'll happen this weekend, then she disappears to make plans. She leaves Nina without time to protest on purpose.

On the night of the party, she has drinks and food set out in her kitchen. She's invited most of the people she knows and even a few she doesn't -- dancers, mostly, because she doesn't want to leave them out -- and there's already music playing even before anyone has arrived. The intention is to be casual, relaxed, but there are pills in Lily's pocket, for anyone who knows her well enough to ask, for anyone she thinks might need to relax a little.

Nina's doing better now, but Lily has no problem helping her come out of her shell if it comes to that. And she has no problem helping anyone else either.

Comments

[fatherslove]

"That we went on a date. That I like you." He shrugged. "Not a lot. I haven't..." His smile turned slightly awkward. "I'm not sure what to tell her. Like I told you before, I've never done this before. Going on dates. Being a father, like I am now. Any of it."

[notfaking_it]

"I think you're doing a fine job. At both," Lily said. "And I like you, too." It was easy enough for her to say, she liked plenty of people, but she knew, even as she said it, it was different somehow.

"We should even try going on another date," she teased. "That's how much I like you."

[fatherslove]

"I would like that, too." If he was honest he had been thinking of it before now. Wondering what he should do, wondering what the next steps might be. Wondering where those steps might eventually go.

"Do you like the beach?"

[notfaking_it]

Lily smiled and said, "I grew up in San Francisco," before she realized that might not actually mean much of anything to Delta. In fact, she imagined there were plenty of people on this city who might not know what she was talking about. It wasn't very different from the island in that regard. "It's on a peninsula, so I spent a lot of time in and around the ocean. Which is to say, yes, I love the beach."

[fatherslove]

"Good." San Francisco, at least, he had heard of, from books... And he was almost sure from somewhere else, too. But it didn't matter just then. "We should go together. Some day soon when it's warm."

[notfaking_it]

"Alright," she agreed, still smiling. "I'd like that." It wasn't California and never would be, but she'd always loved the ocean and even though she knew she couldn't leave by her own free will, being able to see it somehow helped her feel better about being stuck here. "You like the beach?"

[fatherslove]

"I didn't use to. It reminded me of... unpleasant things." He gave a half shrug, smiling faintly. "Now it's just the ocean. There's no threat in it, and nothing is going to come out of it and pull me back down."

[notfaking_it]

"And even if something tried, I have a feeling they'd have a hell of a fight on their hands," she said, her smile growing a little. She had a feeling that if anyone tried to take him away from his daughter, they might be surprised by just how hard he fought back and there was something interesting in that. Something she'd never experienced herself.