We Have to Stop Meeting Like This

[st_clare]

Julianna had been uncertain when she saw the notice in the faculty lounge about an event for Halloween. It wasn't that she was superstitious, and perhaps surprisingly the day wasn't known for extra trouble as far as the supernatural went, but this would be her first faculty event since taking up her teaching duties at UNLV. She was the only non-American in her department, and with the exception of a few of her already-tenured colleagues, she was one of the oldest people on staff. She wondered if she wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb.

Hopefully they'd at least serve alcohol.

So she found herself in a shop looking over their selection of costumes and feeling grateful that none of them were too tacky. If all else failed, she could pull something suitable out of her closet. When she wanted retail therapy, she shopped elsewhere.

The realization that Halloween was just a couple of weeks away reminded her that Christmas was closing in. No chance of snow here in Nevada. She'd just have to make the best of it.

Comments

[holiday_pirner]

Her hand dropped to her side, the corners of her mouth threatening to break into a smirk. "Oh. I would look washed out, you say? Hm." Holly had about ten possible retorts to that.

"Are you sure you're in the right store? I don't think they sell slacks or sensible shoes here."

[st_clare]

She would not lose her temper. She wasn't a girl anymore, and even when she had been a girl she'd been reasonably unflappable. Calm, level-headed Julianna.

The Watcher assumed a bland expression, lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "I'm only here because there's to be a faculty event at the university. I'm not normally one to play dress-up unless it's for a formal occasion, but there seems to be an unwritten rule and I'd like to follow it since it's my first chance to associate with the people I work with outside of the classroom."

And why was she explaining it? Holiday likely didn't care, or if she did it was so peripheral to her that it might not even register. The Englishwoman let her gaze wander over the brunette's possible costume choice again, the look merely assessing rather than passing judgement. As sarcastic as the remark had been, Holiday wasn't wrong. Gregory would not have approved.

[holiday_pirner]

"I'm sure they're all looking forward to that. Why, after three vodka gimlets, you might even be mistaken for human."

Holly picked up the silver dress that Julianna had been studying. "You know, you really do that judgmental gaze well. Have you thought of maybe nun?"

She nodded toward the black and white costume on display on the wall.

[st_clare]

That earned an arched eyebrow, that and an intake of breath as the Watcher's eyes drifted towards the nun's costume. Not a bad replica, all things considered.

"I'd never be able to pull it off," Julianna said with a muted snort. "I'm not pious enough, and I'm hardly nunnish in my private life. It would be too much like sarcasm to make the attempt."

There. Make something out of that, why don't you?

[holiday_pirner]

Holly rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. "Oh, my god. We get it, okay? You have sex." The cashier looked up at them, but she didn't bother lowering her voice.

"I am so very, very happy for you."

[st_clare]

Perhaps the two of them needed to get some new material. But then again, Holiday was the one who'd compared her to a nun, so it was difficult to decide who was really at fault. Julianna schooled her expression into a polite mask, ignored the stare of the cashier.

"Is your costume for a party or will you be answering the door for trick-or-treaters at your new flat?"

[holiday_pirner]

"As exciting as handing out candy to the nonexistent children that live in my building sounds, no." Holly walked back toward the changing room.

"Maybe I'll crash your party," the brunette said. "It sounds delightful. Are you bringing what's-his-name?"

[st_clare]

Something like regret crossed Julianna's face for a moment, and she quickly buried it. She'd thought about inviting Nathan, and if she was honest with herself she'd have been more at ease with him there, but her colleagues wouldn't have known what to make of it. An event at a hotel was one thing, but there were proprieties to observe at work.

"No, I'm not," she said evenly. The cashier had gone back to her register, taking her attention away from the two of them. "There are those who wouldn't understand, and you can't force someone to confront their prejudices in a single evening."

[holiday_pirner]

She shrugged, stepping into the stall that held her street clothes and pulled the small curtain shut. "At least he's not a student," Holly replied, unzipping the costume.

"Okay, so all bitchiness aside, I have a question to ask you." The brunette pulled a lightweight sweater over her head. It was easier to talk to Julianna without looking at her. Maybe they should have all of their conversations through a fitting room curtain.

"Do you know about, um, denizens of the underworld?" Holly borrowed Rhiannon's phrase.

[st_clare]

"Like...like demons?"

The change of subject was so abrupt that it left Julianna nonplussed, and she faced away from the curtain to study some more of the costumes on display. It just might be easier to talk if they didn't look at each other.

"There are all manner of things as far as supernatural creatures go," the Watcher said, lowering her voice to a discreet murmur. "Some are more human in appearance than others. Why do you ask?"

[holiday_pirner]

Fully dressed, she pulled the curtain aside. "Because I met one. When I first came to Vegas. She was the one who told me about Searchlight."

Holly put the costume back on the hanger. "It probably doesn't matter now. I guess I wasn't more freaked out at the time because of the drugs." She shrugged.