Every year, Veronica Mars had noticed, the group of people changed. Mainly it shrunk, familiar faces disappearing between every birthday the rest of them had. That was all the more reason to be here tonight, wandering around the edges of Jim's party. The few friends she had, she might as well do her best to keep, even if she wasn't always that good at it. Making her way over to the refreshments for another drink, she stepped around someone else with a quick flash of a smile.
"Hey, Veronica," Pam said, smiling, waving a little with one hand and balancing a plate of food with the other. Of all the people to invite, she knew Veronica was one of the most important to Jim, and though she wouldn't have expected otherwise, she was pleased to see her there all the same. "You having a good time?"
"I am," Veronica said, nodding. There was a suspicious lilt to her voice, though she meant it. Maybe she wasn't as comfortable with Pam as she'd once been, long ago, but she was enough at ease to enjoy herself, at least. "This is great, Pam, really. Jim must be having a real blast."
"I hope so," Pam replied, ducking her head just a little. More than anything, she just wanted to make his birthday a good one, and how much everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves at least gave her an indication that she'd done something right. Party planning wasn't exactly her strongest suit; she hadn't actually put one together since two Christmases before. "With all of you here, I'm sure he is. I'm so glad you could make it."
"Oh," Veronica said, shaking her head, "yeah. Of course. I - I would not miss it." Jim was family now, for better or worse, and better at it than some of her actual family had ever been to boot. A hint of awkwardness, much faded over time, wouldn't suffice to keep her away. "I'd have to disappear before I missed the chance to see Jim look that shocked by something that happens every year."
Something about that didn't sound quite right to Pam, though there was no way she was about to say anything, or even let on that she might've felt the slightest bit awkward. This was for Jim, and she wanted it to go as well as possible. Besides, she doubted there was any actual intention in it. "Hey, it's not my fault he hasn't learned better," she laughed, shaking her head. "And that I'm good at keeping secrets."
"It's kind of adorable," Veronica deadpanned, "just how gullible he still is. But you get this many people, this bored, no one's gonna say a word." It was exciting for everyone, which was, admittedly, a little sad. Maybe it would have been just as fun at home, but here, it was like this was the only kind of secret anyone had to keep.
"That's part of the appeal," Pam said, grinning. She was pleased with the idea, anyway; if anything, she knew how much she had enjoyed her own, and based on that, had to figure that he would like it, too. "I mean, we've got to find something to do around here, right? So why not make a birthday memorable?"
"As long as your idea of memorable continues to not include clowns."
Better clowns, though, and middling surprises than the kind of memorable Logan had once been given. It was a strange thing to think of here and now, but it came to Veronica without warning, the memory of that time before when she'd still been with Logan, however secretly. That life seemed so long ago.
"Yeah, uh, no," Pam said emphatically, rolling her eyes a little. "Can't say I'm a fan." She wasn't outright scared or anything, but she just didn't see the appeal. She would much rather have had surprise parties like this every year. "Besides, I don't know where we'd find clowns around here, anyway."
"I've got an ex-boyfriend who'd do," Veronica deadpanned. She'd wanted to use the plural form, only to find herself stopped short. Duncan was long gone and Sam was, too. Sometimes she forgot that. She and Sam had started to mend their bridges, yes, but she still hadn't seen much of him after the break up. It was weird now, to think he was gone, that she had forgotten. "Sammy's lucky, growing up in a world without clowns."
"I know, right? I'm jealous," Pam laughed. As for the subject of ex-boyfriends, she had a feeling most girls tended to feel that way about their exes, and asking what qualified him as such probably wasn't the sort of thing to be doing at Jim's birthday party. Besides, no matter how much more comfortable she may have gotten around Veronica, she still didn't want to intrude. "Watch, now someday someone will show up in full clown makeup and we'll be the ones to find them."
Veronica was hard-pressed to imagine a situation in which she and Pam would just happen to be out wandering together smack-dab into a clown, but knowing this place, it wasn't entirely out of the question. "See, now you're just tempting fate," she said. "If that happens, there's only one thing to do. Take 'im to Vimes and let him do all the explaining. After we run."
"After we run," Pam repeated with a nod, to emphasize that point. She could say over and over that she wasn't scared of clowns, but she really had no desire to be around one ever. "I'd say that sounds like a pretty good plan." She was teasing, of course, but there were plenty of situations in which it could have worked. Clowns did have a tendency to be the villains in horror movies.
"Vimes is tough," Veronica drawled, "he can take care of himself. He's armed, too. Just in case Bozo doesn't get that no means no." Sometimes even she wasn't entirely sure what she was saying, but it usually sounded pretty good.
"Bozo might respond better to a water gun. Or one of those ones that has a little flag that comes out of the barrel instead," Pam pointed out, head tilting to the side a little as she smirked. "That's part of the whole clown thing, right?"
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Better clowns, though, and middling surprises than the kind of memorable Logan had once been given. It was a strange thing to think of here and now, but it came to Veronica without warning, the memory of that time before when she'd still been with Logan, however secretly. That life seemed so long ago.
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