Everyone raise your glasses!

[thenormalsquint]

When; Evening of Tuesday, August 13th
Rating; PG-13, at best. Angela's on her best behavior tonight.
Characters; It's Ginny's birthday party and everybody Ginny knows was invited. Let's handwave that and just show up. BTW, IT'S BLACK TIE. PUT ON YOUR SUITS, BOYS.
Summary; There's no legal drinking age in the City, but who says we can't party like there was one anyway?
Log;

This party was four years coming. The restaurant has set aside a large room just for this event and on short notice too. The food is plentiful and of various cuisines, with even a large selection of vegetarian options for those who prefer that. But of course, there is more alcohol than one has ever seen because Angela knows the people she invited and knows quite a few of them have liquor in their veins instead of blood. Rule of thumb: more liquid than solids every time.

Everything's set and ready for the birthday girl to make her appearance, so for the time being, Angela's flitting around the place dressed in more subdued colors than usual, choosing black because no one gets to stand out more than Ginny tonight, and socializing with the few guests that have shown up already.

Sadly, there are no strippers. Ginny nixed that one hard.

Comments

[logistical]

[Spock was a teacher. It comes with the territory.]

Not in the way you have described, but certain procedures must be followed precisely.

[Beat.]

A wand?

[hexuality]

A wand.

[Where does she pull it out from? All of a sudden, she's got it in her hand, ten and a half inches of beautiful hazel and a core of dragon heartstring.]

We receive them when we're eleven years old and on our way to school.

[logistical]

[For a moment Spock doesn't even care that it might be magic or whatever. He's just entranced by the craftsmanship.]

Fascinating. What is its function?

[hexuality]

We've all got magic in our blood, this helps us focus it to perform more complex spellwork. Wandless magic's possible, but it's really difficult.

[She twirls it in her fingers and it throws harmless gold sparks.]

The wand chooses the witch or wizard. We try a few in the shop and we connect with the one meant for us. This was the seventh wand I tried. [She stops spinning it and holds it between both hands now to show it to him.] Hazel, ten and a half inches, dragon heartstring, resilient.

[logistical]

[He leans in to examine it closely, tilting his head when the sparks fly. Ginny is a complete question mark to him: sometimes she says things he can understand, and sometimes she does things like this, which make zero sense in his system of logic. He takes the wand, studies it, and then hands it back to her, seemingly satisfied that it's made of the wood she says it is, although he's not sure he can believe the dragon part.]

Are you still able to donate blood, in case of emergencies?

[Because he's going with the "weird stuff in the blood" as an analogue to Khan's regenerative blood and. Well. That road doesn't lead anywhere good.]

[hexuality]

[If you simply accept it as true, Spock, she'll be a little less confusing. But as it is, she lets him take her wand because it won't go off for anyone else anyway, and she takes it back when he's finished. She doesn't tuck it away, though, just holds it for now because it's nice to have the comforting warmth of her wand's core in her palm.

At his question, she shakes her head.]

We've got Blood-Replenishing Potions in my world. But I've received—transfusions? Is that the word?—in the City before, because obviously I didn't have that potion on hand when I needed it.

[She's been in hospital for more than just a magical plague, in other words. The City is rough and regardless of age (she was seventeen at the time), you will get hurt.]

[logistical]

"Transfusions" is correct.

[It's similar enough to dermal regenerators that he can accept it as plausible. In fact, if he just replaces "magic" with "advanced technology", as Clarke said...]

There were no ill-effects?

[hexuality]

[Wryly,]

No, I was a little more bothered by the sling I was stuck in.

[logistical]

It was uncomfortable?

[hexuality]

I couldn't fly.

[It means everything to her because even with the memory of it, there's still longing shot through her voice. Then she smiles,]

And I couldn't use my wand. I'm right-handed. [She looks down at it and her wand and back.] But I taught myself to spellcast with my left. You never know when you might need to swap hands.