I Take It In But Don't Look Down

“Have you ever heard the cheerio story?” Chandler asked, the smell of alcohol on his breath obvious. “So there were a family of cheerios. There was a dad cheerio, a mom cheerio, and two children cheerios. And they wanted to go out to dinner one night. So, like, they drove in their little cheerio car to the restaurant but traffic was bad and they had trouble finding the place. They tried to find a parking space, but like cities are shit for finding parking. Then they got lost. They went down one street, but it was the wrong street and then they kept trying to find it but ended up in the same place they started. So they stopped and asked someone for directions and this guy cheerio was like ‘Oh it’s near the theater’ and so they find the theater and then the restaurant and they go into the restaurant. The daughter cheerio wants mac and cheese, and the son cheerio wants chicken tenders. The mom cheerio decides she’s going to get pasta and then the dad cheerio picks steak. They ask how he wants his steak done and he tells them medium rare. So then they order drinks - which is backwards but whatever it’s a story about cheerios so that’s not the biggest issue here - and the mom orders wine and the dad orders beer and the kids both order punch. And the waiter tells them they have to stand in line for it. So the mom cheerio asks ‘Where is the line for the punch?’ and the waiter says ‘There is no punch line.’“

Connor cocked his head slightly as Chandler began his story. He knew that the other man drank a lot, but he didn’t think too much of it. He had only just recently toned down the drinking himself, when he began worrying about how it might affect Ellie and Brendon. He did his best to follow the rambling story, and couldn’t help but laugh when Chandler got to the end of the joke. “Can I ask if there’s a point to them being cheerios?” he questioned before shaking his head any amusement. “Anyway, sorry. How have you been doing? I’ve been kind of busy, I know. Between classes, supervised sessions and the whole parent thing ... it’s been nuts.” he explained.

Assistance is being offered and it should be able to slightly ease his mind, but it’s no avail. It’s a rather dull question, but Luke can’t blame him for being curious. Luke responds with a shake of his head, struggling to find words. Tears burn at the corners of his eyes and he just remembers last night had been the last time he had a mental breakdown. Maybe this world hadn’t been made for him to wander in it. His life had been a tangle of unfortunate and troubling events, but he now finds himself wondering why he’s still soldiering on. “S-siting would be nice.” He finally speaks, with a wavering tone.

Connor nodded carefully, leading the man over to a table away from most of the others. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked carefully. He knew that he might not seem like the person mostly likely to understand about people’s troubles, but between his years of training and everything he had personally been through, he liked to think he was a good person to talk to.

Chandler thought of making a sarcastic comment like ‘Well, not all of us take money from our wealthy parents’ but he knew Connor’s relationship with his parents was just as complex as things were with John and Susan, so he thought better of it. “I know Julian can’t drink, but is there anything else I should know about?”

Connor grinned before nodding at the question, “He’s still on doctor-limited ‘screen time’, but that changes after just about every visit. You’ve mostly just got to make sure he’s resting, that he’s eating like he should, and taking any medicine he’s given.” he said before laughing softly, “Ah, maybe with less hovering then me? He didn’t complain too much but, I don’t know, I guess I just have a little Chloe in me. I just want him to get better.”

“Hmm.” Chris found himself grateful that had always been good at lying straight to someone’s face as he listened to Connor’s answer. Until he knew what Connor’s opinion on the matter was, he wasn’t going to reveal the fact that he had probably been one of the furthest people from the invite list. “From what I heard, there was some kind of e-mail chain that went around and that’s how people found out. Though it certainly made things a bit more interesting.”

Connor nodded, “I guess that makes sense.” he agreed before grinning slightly and sending the other man a conspiratorial look, “Honestly, I think this is pretty fun. If it was my party I wouldn’t mind at all but ... well, Ashley just always wants things a certain way.” he said with a small shrug.

“She looks adorable,” Victoria affirmed, a soft smile curving her lips as she shifted her gaze between the two. “Hey, a girl can never have too many outfits, so you might as well get used to it.” Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she tilted her head. “You’ve got plenty of years left to dress her up and go trick-or-treating, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”

“Thank you.” Connor said with a grin, smiling proudly down at the baby before looking back over at his friend, “Oh, obviously. I learned that early on being around Chloe.” he said with a grin, “Plus all the baby stuff is really cute, it’s just hard not to buy it all.” he added. He knew he was a little bit ... enthusiastic about all things baby, but really, that was just his personality. “You probably have a point. But still ... there’s only a couple until she’s old enough to pick her own costumes!”

Brendon stayed quiet as Connor talked again, the talk hitting harder than it had when he’d heard it drunk. The severity of Connors words hadn’t hit as hard as Connor had intended, but it definitely worked better than last time he tried to talk to Brendon about it. “I’m going to be careful, Connor… I promise” he said, but he was sure no words of his could have eased Connor’s mind. The only way Connor wouldn’t worry would be if Brendon showed up at the party with a giant garbage bag as a costume an a paper bag on his head.

“I won’t have to either, I can just throw it away immediately after, I’m never going to wear it again anyway” he shrugged. “Oh yeah, you definitely sound like your sister. The kid’s gonna be fine, he’s 17, he had a couple of drinks and got laid, kids do that all the time” he said simply, not seeing how it could be a bad thing. 

Connor laughed, “Well, you do have a point there. I guess I was more worried about anything else fake blood might end up on.” he said with a shrug of his own. “Well ... there’s worse people to sound like. Brendon’s just ... he’s innocent. I don’t think he’s ready for all of that. I don’t know, I guess seventeen just sounds a lot younger the older I get.”

“I’m not going to get assaulted by someone because I’m wearing a good costume” he said, and he truthfully believed it. Raised in the environment that he was, Brendon had grown up with the idea that men weren’t sexually assaulted, and that that was just something that happened to women and he would never have to worry about it. He’d never thought about it, because he assumed he wouldn’t have to. “I’m going to be fine, Connor, I will call you if anything happens and I want to leave, but I’m going to be fine”

“Fine, you can half ass the costume. I’m going to have a lot of fake blood for one of my costumes though, I love that shit” he smiled before raising his eyebrows as Connor talked about Brendon. “Christ, man, you sound like such a mom. He came home drunk with some hickies, so what, he’s 17 that’s not a big deal. I was doing that when I was 14, he’s fine”

“I’m pretty sure your costume will be awesome, even more so because I won’t have to clean any of it up.” he joked with a grin. He ducked his head at Ryan’s words before laughing a little. “A mom, so ... yeah, turning into Chloe, I guess.” he agreed. He tactfully didn’t comment on Ryan doing that kind of thing at fourteen. They might be best friends, but that didn’t mean Connor always thought his behavior was the best thing. Connor’s own teenage behavior certainly hadn’t been the best thing. “I just worry about him. I don’t want to see him get hurt.”

Looking down at the costume and then back over at Connor, Brendon paused for a second, unsure of how to respond. “So the costume looks……too good..then?” he questioned, Connor’s opinion being one that was very important to him. “I- I’m not…really planning on drinking anything, if..if that helps, at all” he blurted out, uncomfortably. 

“What’s the point of the costume without the blood, the blood is what makes it fun” he smiled. “I am going to so many parties for halloween and I’m forcing you to come to at least one of them with me. You can even bring the 17 year old, if you want, show him what a real New York party is like”

“The point is that I’m not getting enough sleep to scrub fake blood out of everything I own.” Connor explained before shaking his head, starting to laugh until Ryan mentioned Brendon. “What? Brendon? No, no. I don't even drink as much anymore cause it's a bad example for Brendon, and he was picking up on it. Turned up a few weeks ago drunk with hickies and I had to talk to him, and that was so awkward, but he’s only seventeen, Ryan and ... I've turned into Chloe, haven’t I?” he asked.

“I’m working the whole weekend, but I’m getting so much overtime for it so it’s definitely worth it” he nodded, “And there’s usually a lot of action on halloweekend so I shouldn’t be bored. I’ll be having my version of fun, I just wont be out partying- though sometimes I wish I could”

“Well, that sucks.” Connor said before grinning, “I’ll tell you what. Next year, when I can remember what a good night’s sleep is like, I’ll specifically plan a weirdly timed Halloween party you can come to. Even if you’re having your own kind of fun, you should still get to go to a party sometimes!”

Catching the hesitation in Connor voice, Brendon took off the mask of the costume to show his face. Showing his pleading frown, he spoke again. “You hate the costume, don’t you? I can hear you hesitating- is it because i look bad in it? Whats wrong with the costume- I know you dont want to hurt my feelings but I’m going to worry about this until you tell me”

flicking through the magazine she was holding, ophelia rolls her eyes at his (in her opinion) sickly-sweet interaction with the infant. lia takes a sip from her to-go coffee cup, and says, as if already bored with the conversation, “i don’t know, daddy warbucks, just take her in a stroller or something? worst thing that happens is that you get a bucket of candy to yourself.”

Connor paused to consider the idea for a moment, “Hm. I wonder if I could do that earlier in the evening, maybe have something explaining I’m collecting candy for the pediatric ward at the hospital? I was gonna take some up in the next few days anyway, next time I went up with Lady Fluffball.” he commented, choosing to completely ignore her tone.

My halloween costume came in and I like it and all, but I think it might be…kind of… too form fitting- I don’t know. What do you think?

“She is absolutely adorable” Alex said with a big smile, waving at Ellie, before looking back at Connor. “Any ideas I’d have for halloween, she’s too young for. I don’t even get to have any fun, I’m working on halloween from seven at night until seven in the morning, so there goes my night”

Connor laughed softly, “Thank you.” he told the other man before shrugging lightly, “That doesn’t mean you have to miss all the fun. Plenty of people do things the weekend before too.” he pointed out. “You could just ... celebrate on Saturday instead?” he added.

Ryan looked down at the baby and then back at Connor, “You should give her a cool costume, like baby dracula or something, get some fake blood” he said, both of them fully aware that they had to take whatever Ryan said about the child with a grain of salt because he knew absolutely nothing about kids. “Pawn the kid off to someone else and come party with the big kids, it’ll be fun”

Connor grinned, “Baby Dracula sounds kind of adorable, but the fake blood part sounds mostly like a mess.” he commented with a small shrug. “I’ll definitely consider the vampire thing though.” he added, already picturing it in his head. “There’s always the chance that Chloe might want to show her off for a few hours and I could do something. I don’t want to miss her whole first Halloween though.”