who: bunny and fallon (@sullngirl)
where: the stonesโ basement party
when: night
Parties sucked. The Stonesโ parties ruled. Both of these truths Bunny fully believed.
If you had stopped Bunny on the street (theyโd walked here) and asked them, โWhere you headed?โ, they wouldโve lied. Without a thought. One of the convenient things about being a Bend Records employee was that Bunny could, if and when they preferred it most, pretend that the activity before them was actually a requirement of their job. โIโm actually doing a little research for work tonight,โ Bunny couldโve said to that hypothetical passerby. Or, if they were going for humor: โTurns out my coworkers are huge. Fans. Of doing your job right. And as it stands todayโฆIโm that hard worker that canโt say no to the perfect lesson in exceeding expectations.โ They would pause. โIโm kind of a mystery, and I exceed โexpectationsโ just by being normal for once.โ
But it wasnโt for research purposes that Bunny was standing in the Stonesโ basement. Nor, they realized as they stared straight at some would-be party king peeling off their T-shirt, were they here to surprise people. As fascinating and unique as that wouldโve been (and Bunny was all about unique), Bunny was here to have fun.
Parties suckedโฆbut everybody always said the Stonesโ parties ruled, so why not benefit from that for once?
Mostly they were at the party to drink and listen to good music. (And the music was delivering.) But Bunny caught sight of Fallon Wuโmaybe the last familiar face theyโd ever be prepared to encounter in that basementโand they knew instantly, intrinsically, that they would be socializing a little more than planned.
Bunny set their beer on an end table (they needed a reason to come back to that particular spot, and it had been a great, unproblematic spot) and picked their way through the crowd toward Fallon. She was alone, thank Christ.
โIโm really glad youโre here,โ Bunny told her honestly. (This was unusual for Bunny to ever say, let alone thinkโthey prided themself on being โgladโ about very few things. โGladโ meant, as if it were plastered on the biggest billboard around, โI need this!โ) โThis is, believe it or notโactually, guess. Guess if Iโve been to this place before. Iโll give you a hint, and itโs that I spent my first half hour here tonight staring down some football player from my high school who was glaring at me. Genuinely glaring. Iโm an acquired taste, but holy shit.โ
The incredible, cool thing about Fallon was that she probably thought the party was somewhat silly, too.