dan garner, (future) JD

pawn / democrat / law student

[danielgarner]

mari-ana-mendoza:

maygarner:

“Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry,” she said, pressing her lips together. “That’s no fun. After the holidays, we should go out for a drink to celebrate your birthday, yeah?” May smiled, touching her knuckles to Mari’s elbow for just a moment.  “I’m fine - oh! Listen, remember the conversation we had last month, about setting you up with someone?” she asked, eyes drifting from Mari’s face to the other side of the room, where Dan had just emerged from the bathroom. “Let me introduce you to my brother. He’s just about to graduate from law school and I think you two are just about the same age – twenty six, right? He’s such a sweetheart, and uh- he’s headed this way so, think fast,” she said, grinning, watching Dan as he walked towards them through the crowded living room.

May was a welcome distraction from the thoughts roaming in Mariana’s head. The woman’s warmhearted spirits settled onto Mari like a blanket, and she smiled. “Birthday drinks sound amazing.” Mari was close to charging into another question - something about May’s Christmas plans or the holiday decor around them - when May’s eyes flitted from Mari to a point beyond them. 

“Oh, yes! I remember-” She trailed off, listening to May describe the bare bones of her brother’s character. She nodded. Meeting someone wasn’t what Mari had had in mind for the evening, but she felt herself straighten up, a crooked smile passing over her lips as she raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Yes! Yes, I’d love to meet him,” she responded, turning towards the approaching man. 

Dan dried his hands on his pants after washing them in the sink– Julian Berkeley’s sink– and pulled the door open, stepping back out into the living room. He stood in place for a moment, glancing around the party until he spotted his sister, waving him over from across the room. As Dan walked towards her, his lips parted, just barely, and he forced them into a small smile. Next to May was the woman he had pointed out as soon as they’d walked in the door. “Hey,” he said, as he came to a stop, looking at his sister. It was only one word, but he knew May would feel the weight of his eyes as he stared at her– maybe, she could’ve given him a little warning. His hands were barely dry.

As May made the introduction, he turned to face the woman, a small smile on his face.  “Nice to meet you, Mariana,” he said, holding his hand out in greeting. “Have you been to one of these holiday parties before?”

[danielgarner]

quicovidal:

He answered like he had flash-cards tucked away, somewhere – like a recitation, the way his eyebrows dipped to draw lines in his forehead  – and it pulled Quico’s mouth into a smile that he had to work to hide. Everything looks softer once it’s far enough behind you. He could still remember quizzing himself on all the faces and names. “Oh, good,” he nodded, still nodding. “Don’t let her forget that.”  

As if Mr. Berkeley could slip Dan’s mind – as if Dan could slip May’s. Quico had followed Dan’s eyes across to where she was standing with her face turned away, but when he looked again, this time, he caught her looking back. He traded the wine between hands so he could throw her a thumbs-up, hidden by their shoulders and nearly-shared height. “Hell of a thing to do on a family visit,” he said. “And this is your first visit, too, right?” He shook his head, small, in some quick kind of disbelief. “How long are you here for?” 

He nodded as Quico did, a mirror, so slight that he didn’t even realize he was doing it. “Just until the end of the week, then back to Berkeley for New Year’s. But, yeah, this was my first visit. Got to see the new house and all,” he said, eyes widening slightly. There was a pause, and he shifted his weight, remembering what May had told him-- we’ve known each other since you were in high school. Even as strangers, they weren’t strangers. As Dan slid his hands into his pockets, he felt the muscles in his shoulders loosen.

“And you know, of course, May only invited me to this party after I got here, so we had to take a trip to Macy’s this morning. She bought me this sweater, actually,” he said through the smile that was spreading across his face. As a gesture, Dan pulled the maroon fabric at his chest. “An early Christmas gift, I guess,” he said, dropping his hand back down to his side.

[danielgarner]

quicovidal:

Until he threw his hand out, May’s brother was a stock photo in Quico’s head: a yearbook photo with the face rubbed out, stretching from a suit that didn’t fit, hair in his eyes. Braces, maybe – he couldn’t remember. He made up the details himself, so shamelessly inaccurate that when the real Dan Garner finally stepped into focus, Quico almost forgot he knew his voice from the phone. “Dan! Oh, good, you made it.” He shook his head as they shook hands. “Quico. Seriously. My dad taught, so Mr. Vidal... it’s not my nameplate.”

Sure sounded good, though. Anyone else – hell, even Intern Dan couldn’t get the professionalism right. “I’m great,” he said, and his voice was light enough to mean it. “Holiday cheer. Good chance to take a step back from all the work we’ve been doing and actually talk to people.” Quico gestured to the side with his wine-glass hand, at the party sitting and standing and playing music quiet enough to speak over. “Have you gotten to meet anyone yet?” 

“Quico, okay, got it,” he said, and the name sounded right on his tongue. It was how May had referred to him all along, even when she’d given him Quico’s phone number, and promised he’ll be nice. And he was, nice enough at least for Dan to exhale the one long breath he’d been holding the entire evening. He nodded as Quico spoke, eyes following the wineglass to the people milling around the living room. 

“Oh, yeah, May introduced me to--” he paused, trying to pull the names from his memory, worrying for half a second that he’d forget everyone who he’d met that night, “--Nick Elliott, from the Post. Um, Juliette Jacobson, not sure if you know her--she’s pretty good friends with May, too. I do really want to meet Mr. Berkeley, still. I think May said she could introduce me later,” Dan said, eyes shooting over to where his sister stood on the other side of the room.

[danielgarner]

maygarner:

nelliott:

In his quest to find someone new to occupy his time with, Nick came across May. He walked towards her, a genuine smile overtaking his features as he noted the cookie - one that was quickly replaced with a more familiar smirk when she started to speak. He took a moment to contemplate asking her to the bathroom (he figured she’d probably say yes) before speaking: “I don’t know if I get to judge that but hopefully, I’ve earned a cookie at least.”

“Do you want my eggnog by the way?” So far, he’d taken one sip from the glass and regretted it instantly. “It tastes like shit but saves you looking for a waiter if it’s your thing.”

“Yeah, have it, please,” May said, lifting the plate up from where it hovered just below her chest. When he took the cookie, she dropped her hand and stepped forward, tilting her neck slightly to look down at his glass. “I’ve never actually had egg nog before, and you’re not exactly selling me on it. I’ll try it, though.” As soon as the liquid hit her tongue, she wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Mm, you were right.” As she brushed her hair back over her shoulders, her focus pulled away from him for a moment. A waiter brushed past with a tray of dishes, just long enough for May to hand off the empty plate and the half-empty glass.

As she turned to speak to him again, a third figure joined them, stepping towards her with a bewildered smile on his face. Her lips parted as she glanced from him, back to Nick. “Oh, uh, Nick, this is my brother Dan. Dan, this is my- uh, friend, Nick Elliott. He works for the Post.”

Just when he thought he’d wiped the admiration from his eyes, he turned on his heel and there was another hand to shake. He’d asked the congresswoman from Washington about the energy bill, of course, and she’d plenty to say about glacier reduction and rising sea levels in the Puget Sound. And then, who are you, again? she’d asked, which hurt more than he thought it would. One day, Dan thought, as he shook her hand goodbye, that he’d come back to Number One Observatory Circle, and he’d be more than just a plus one. The planet needed saving, and he’d do it one way or another, whether or not Representative Murphy from Seattle knew his name.

By the time he found May again, halfway across the room, she was standing with a tall man he’d never seen before. The smile on his face was hardly genuine as he extended his hand for the hundredth time that night. “Nice to meet you, uh- Mr. Elliott? Nick?” Dan nodded, glancing at his sister, wishing at once for the ease he’d seen so many times-- the way she put her hand on someone’s shoulder and looked them in the eye, so warm he could feel it. Instead, he looked back at Nick and picked a piece of lint off his sleeve. “The Post, wow, that’s... one of my roommates had an internship there last summer, actually. Must be a great place to work.”

[danielgarner]

@quicovidal​

“So nice to see you again, Qui- Mr. Vidal,” he said, extending his hand forward, as if Quico was any more familiar to him than a voice over the phone, a name at the top of his LinkedIn profile. May swore that they’d shaken hands once before, but Dan wasn’t so sure. It might’ve been, if his memory stretched back that far. He never paid attention to much of anything at fourteen, let alone his sister’s friends, and especially not ones he’d met once at a wedding twelve years ago. “How are you doing tonight?" A small smile spread across his lips as he looked at Quico. It felt like staring his future in the face.

[rarespecimen]

Simonas Pham