(Untitled)

[with_diamonds]

There'd been a time, longer ago now than she could really consider, that by the time she turned twenty, Lucy was meant to be a engaged to a handsome soldier, a scholarship student at a prestigious college, living the kind of life that girls were supposed to dream of. That had changed, of course, before she'd gotten any of it; in retrospect, she

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[neededproof]

Taking a seat next to Lucy, Ryan glanced at the book. "That thing driving you crazy again?" he asked, nodding toward the jukebox without looking away. It always seemed to give her trouble, though there were, at least, worse things to have played at you all the time.

[with_diamonds]

"Always," Lucy said with a slight laugh, shaking her head a little. "You know, I'd never heard of these Beatles guys before I got here, but I'm pretty sure I know almost all of their songs now, it's ridiculous." Equally crazy was how many times her name or the one of someone she knew appeared in the lyrics, but she chalked that up to some crazy island thing. There was no point in trying to make sense of it.

[neededproof]

Brushing her hair back, Ryan laughed, more breath than sound. "I still can't believe you never had them," he said. It was a little disconcerting, really, suggesting that, even if they'd been from the same time, it wouldn't have mattered. It wasn't important, though, here and now. "And they still know when your birthday is."

[with_diamonds]

"Well, I'd pin that one a little more on the jukebox than the Beatles," Lucy allowed, shrugging a little, not caring enough to overthink it just then. Things like that tended to drive her crazy, and it didn't seem worth all that when nothing would come of it. "But it is still weird. I guess there are worse things it could be playing, though."

[kirk_lazarus]

"Is it?" Kirk asked, resting his forearms on the back of the couch and peering over Lucy's shoulder at the book she was reading. All right, so it probably wasn't a good idea to get chummy with a sheila who'd nearly had a bloody coronary when he'd come out of character, but Kirk was bored and he'd been hanging around the rec room in the hope the jukebox might play Waltzing Matilda or some bollocks and piss him off so he could fight it.

Fighting inanimate objects, the highlight of his day. He much would've preferred paparazzi, but he took what he could get here.

[with_diamonds]

Lucy recognized that voice well enough without even having to look over, and as she did, she visibly tensed, jaw setting as she turned to face him. "Actually, yes," she said simply, giving a curt nod. Really, she'd been in too good a mood to get too pissed off at him, so she just sighed, willing herself to relax a little. "Yeah, it is. What, the jukebox give you a tip?"

[kirk_lazarus]

"Maybe," Kirk smirked. "You should just thank your lucky stars it isn't playing 'Happy Birthday' by Alvin and the Chipmunks on an endless loop." He glanced over at the machine quickly, frowning.

"Probably shouldn't have said that. Might've given the bloody thing ideas."

[with_diamonds]

"No, I suspect it'll stick with this," Lucy guessed, drawing out the syllables thoughtfully. "It does this thing - it really liked playing this band. When I'm around, anyway." Teeth pressing to her lower lip, she took a deep breath, still a little tense. It was hard to look at him and not think about that stupid, insensitive game he'd played, making her and so many other people think that he'd come from fighting in Vietnam, but she wasn't going to argue without prompting.

[because_thesky]

The tune snuck up on him in the compound halls, and he's already started humming it by the time he enters the rec room, eating a gingersnap off the makeshift tray of his sketching pad. He's wondering about the merit of connecting the leftover crumbs when he's finished to see what they make, weighing it between creativity and just being bloody-fucking-bored this afternoon.

Leave it to Lucy to breathe life into things, just being in a room. Life in this instance being conflict of the rather internal sort, though he pushes away their last meeting in favor of more recent memories, Max handing him his ass on a sandy platter just outside this building. It's not her, he tells himself, before he does something stupid like walk back out or play the apologetic interloper; you just hate feeling guilty."Biscuit," he's saying before he even puts together words and the idea of speaking them to her, holding out the pad with paper fanning from the edge and several more gingersnaps resting on the blank page. It's as good a move as any, he guesses

[with_diamonds]

Lucy hadn't noticed him there until he spoke, the voice registering immediately, and for all of a moment, she just stared, eyes wide in a skeptical expression as she looked up at him. Given their last encounter, she wouldn't have expected him to approach her so amiably, or at all, really, but she wasn't as displeased as she could have been. Maybe it was because things had been so good lately, or maybe it was just because it was her birthday, but she wasn't going to start a fight over nothing.

"Yeah," she replied lightly, almost cautiously, reaching out to take one of them. For all she knew, this could've been a terrible idea or he might walk right past without another word, but either way, she wanted to at least keep things civil for now. "Thanks."

[because_thesky]

He nods, still a bit surprised at the offer and its acceptance, but also relieved. "Is that for you then," he asks, nodding his head at the jukebox. It can be hard to keep track of dates here, especially when he barely gave each day of the week any consideration back home, every day the same as the last in his book; but when he considers the party signs that had been posted, he realizes that it's certainly that time of year. "I feel like I shouldn't have to ask, but how old are you now?"

[with_diamonds]

Lucy just nodded in response to the first question, pausing to take a bite of the cookie he'd given her before answering. "Twenty," she said, unable to help the look of slight surprise that crossed her face as she said it. There was something still strange, though she couldn't quite place it, moreso now than there would've been talking to anyone else. "My second birthday here. Hard to believe I was still in high school when we met."

[queensparkle]

The song caught Summer's attention before noting the girl. With a grin Summer strolled over to her. "You're not one of those people who hates their birthday, are you?"

Summer never knew what to do in such situations. Do you ignore the day? Celebrate despite the person's wishes?

[with_diamonds]

Laughing a little, Lucy shook her head, setting the book aside when she realized Summer had approached. "No, I'm not," she assured her, not wanting to give the wrong impression. The past few years, celebrating hadn't really been high on her list of priorities, but that didn't mean she didn't like it. Absently, she waved one hand in the direction of the jukebox. "This thing just likes messing with me, is all."

[queensparkle]

"It does that," Summer agreed, eyes narrowed at the jukebox, "every few days it plays music about California." With a smile, Summer turned back to Lucy, "so you won't be offended if I wish you a happy birthday then?"

[with_diamonds]

"Not at all," Lucy laughed, her smile widening. She knew about the songs from California from the times Ryan was around, after all; for herself, it tended to be songs with her own name, or people she knew from home, enough to make her worry, if she overthought it too much. "Thank you."

[the_support]

Ellie usually didn't take trips to the Compound in the middle of the day, but her stomach had been bothering her lately, and it seemed as good a time as any to go make herself some ginger tea and relax in the rec room for a while. A break from the heat helped, too.

The music playing was the first thing she really noticed. And while there were a few people mulling about, Lucy was the closest to the thing. Heading over, she smiled at her.

"Is that playing music for you?" she guessed. She knew it'd done the same on her birthday.

[with_diamonds]

Glancing up at the sound of a familiar voice, Lucy grinned, nodding. The jukebox was obviously insistent on making it more than apparent that it was her birthday, but she didn't really mind it. There were any number of far worse songs it could've been playing for her; she'd heard enough of them before that at least something more upbeat was practically refreshing.

"Yup," she confirmed, letting out a quick, not entirely sincere laugh. When it wasn't trying to drive her absolutely insane, the jukebox's antics really were just ridiculous. "It really likes playing songs by this band for me, it's like they've got one tailor-made for every occasion."

[the_support]

"Happy birthday," she said, before she even commented on the jukebox itself. She sat herself down in a nearby chair, pausing to take a sip of her tea. "It always plays this one song for me. I feel like I've heard it before, but I don't know where. Probably on the radio back home."

[with_diamonds]

"Thanks," Lucy replied, ducking her head just a little as she grinned. "Apparently they're called The Beatles? We didn't have them when - where - whatever I'm from, but this thing seems to really like playing them for me. I guess it's just because they have a song with my name in it."

And her ex's name, and her brother's, and just about everyone she'd ever known, but she didn't need to mention that just then. It was more than a little creepy.