[Closed] The sweetest summer gift of all

[talesuntold]

Who: After the End Times staff
Where: Floor 9, room 69.
When: 10/19
Rating: PG/PG-13
Summary: Auntie Maggie summons everybody over for dinner and movies.
The Story:

Everyone on the After the End Times staff received a message this morning.

Hello After the End Times staff,

I'm Maggie Garcia, and I've taken over as head of the Fictional department.

I still haven't met all of you, and with our crew as small as it is here in Wonderland, that hardly seems reasonable. Come by floor 9, room 69 this evening for a very informal staff meeting. Introductions, dinner, and a relaxing movie night. I'm currently taking requests for both food and films, though I reserve the right to veto the latter. I have to draw the line somewhere.

See you later, darlings!

--

True to her word, Maggie spent the afternoon cooking. (She likes cooking; why order from the closets what she could make herself?) A meal is laid out honoring any requests she got, and the public half of her room has its usual assortment of comfortable antique chairs and couches, plus a projector screen set up for movies once they're done eating and talking.

She also has a popcorn maker and plenty of ammunition for it. No movie night is complete without popcorn.

((Feel free to use this post as a mingle. Post top levels, tag around, etc! If anyone wants to respond to Maggie's initial message, you're also welcome to do that, just specify in the subject line.))

Comments

[fishandclips]

They haven't met, but Mahir didn't get to be Georgia Mason's second in command (and eventual replacement, but that's become much more complicated and uncomfortable now that she's alive again, and something Mahir is determined not to focus and obsess over, particularly tonight) by not doing his homework. He's read her articles and files and he knows who Tim is when he sees him, but he hasn't had the chance to go greet him before he's being approached.

To be fair, Mahir didn't get to be Georgia Mason's second in command by being a social butterfly, either. Even if he may as well be, compared to Georgia herself--either version of her.

So he offers Tim a legitimate, genuine, friendly smile. "Not yet, sadly. I'm Mahir Gowda. I'm one of Georgia's original reporters, back when we were young and foolish."

As if any version of Georgia Mason was ever young and foolish.

[postictal]

"Foolish? George?" He draws the word out dryly, which is, in the Tim Wright version of interpersonal relations, something roughly equivalent to a friendly smile. He can't really manage good humor, but he can sell a deadpan like no one else. That's kind of like being earnest and approachable, right?

Something like that.

"Name's, uh...Tim. Not - I mean, I'm the other Tim. There's two Tims."

Boy, he's starting this off just great.

[fishandclips]

Deadpan sarcasm, thankfully, is a language Mahir speaks fluently. He nods, his own expression smoothing into something neutrally serious, while still somehow friendly. "Terribly foolish. You should ask her about her expose on manufacturing regulations in the energy drink industry. I heard there were two Tims; you must be the too serious for his age teenage Tim?"

[postictal]

"You got me," he says, equally wry. "Carded every time I go to the supermarket."

Not that he drinks. Or can drink. Which is probably a good thing; he's already a chain-smoker. He doesn't need to add alcoholism to the list of things his body profoundly hates him for.

"Energy drinks, huh?"

[fishandclips]

Mahir shakes his head ruefully, looking very sympathetic to Tim's plight. "It must be terribly difficult for you. You have my sympathies."

He gives a small shrug of a shoulder, his gaze traveling to Georgia on the other side of the room. "Energy drinks. It feels like several lifetimes ago, now. I suppose everyone has to start somewhere."

...That was more honest than he intended, or typically volunteers. He turns his attention back to Tim to change the topic. "So. How long have you been in Wonderland?"

[postictal]

Everyone starts somewhere. Some people start with crappy student films that don't go anywhere at all except a road straight to the kind of neurological hell that Tim wouldn't inflict on anyone. Like hell he's mentioning that here.

Instead, he rakes a hand through his hair with a low sigh and the air of someone who kind of regrets having to think about the answer to that question.

"...over a year, actually." Weird to think about.

[fishandclips]

Mahir grimaces, giving a shake of his head. He knows Shaun and Georgia have almost been here that long themselves, and that others have been here even longer, but the idea of being stuck here that long... It's incredibly depressing.

"My condolences. Any advice for the relative newbie?"

[postictal]

"Brace yourself." That's it. That's the advice. He can elaborate, sure, and he - fuck it. If there's one thing he can do for someone else, it's give them the full scoop on how bad things can get here.

"If you have any worst fears or bad memories or things anyone can exploit - it'll find a way to make them real. Or real enough to you for it to matter."

It's not great advice, especially since there's nothing that can really be done in the face of that besides just grit your teeth and hope it doesn't go too badly. But a warning's better than nothing.

[fishandclips]

Mahir grimaces; he’s a private person, for all that he spends his life exposing other people’s secrets and reporting the news. Maybe not as private as Georgia, but who is? He’s not as black-and-white about the truth and the public’s right to it as she is, either, but if he didn’t agree with her to a certain extent, he couldn’t work with her, and she certainly wouldn’t have left him in charge of her factual news division. Still, as much as he’s been made aware of Wonderland’s antics, having them confirmed with every new veteran he speaks to is a bit disconcerting. “That does seem to be the general theme of the advice I’ve been receiving. At least it’s been consistent?”

[postictal]

"Should give you a pretty good idea of what we're dealing with, yeah." It's not exactly what anyone would call pleasant, but hey - nothing brings you and everyone else closer together like mutual disgust over having your traumas broadcasted across the entire world, right?

Yeah, he wasn't sold on that point either.

"It's just...kinda common, around here."