ax_main | Gilmore & Lu, Nolcorp Launch Party

Gilmore makes a new friend at the Nolcorp party. Will he and Lu ever meet again??
Spoilers: Yes.

The all-too-brief trip to Nolan's office seemed to have been largely unnoticed by most of the party guests, Gilmore thought. They had slipped back into the merriment mostly unseen, and he didn't think anyone would really notice that he'd lost the jacket from his outfit and was now strolling the party in a cobalt waistcoat and shirtsleeves. His cheek graced with a quick kiss, he had released Nolan back into the wild of his admirers again.

Gilmore wandered through the guests once more, but now he wondered about some of the things Nolan had said, about his concerns about Sebastian Shaw attending the festivities. Nolan tried to keep him from corporate intrigue, but there was something about Shaw specifically that worried his boyfriend. Therefore, it worried Gilmore, too.

He sauntered up to the bar again in search of a drink to distract himself, and found himself nudging in next to a young lady maybe about his own age. There weren't a lot of teenagers here tonight, so Gilmore flashed her a quick, friendly smile. "Hey, how's it going?"

"Not bad." Lu accepted her soda from the bartender and turned towards the guy who'd spoken, and smiled. "You're here with Nolan, aren't you? I don't think we've ever met; I'm Lu."

"I am," Gilmore agreed, his shoulders straightening a bit with obvious pride in that fact. The soda delivered to him had a shot of something extra in it, but only because Nolan had privately arranged that with the bartenders. These events were still a little rattling to him; the odd shot of whiskey in his Coke helped immensely. "Shaun Gilmore. An incredible pleasure to meet you, Lu. Are you friends with Nolan?"

"Well, I know Nolan." Lu smiled and shrugged a little. "I'm not sure I know him well enough that he'd call me a friend, though? Let's go with I'm a friend of Shinobi's, and Nolan and I have always been on good terms."

Gilmore stepped away from the bar to make room for a man in wire-rimmed glasses that he was pretty sure was NolCorp's CFO, but remained facing Lu. It was a bit of a dance to get out of the way of others while holding a conversation, but Gilmore managed it with panache. He liked to think he managed everything with panache. "You move in some admirable circles, then," he said warmly, quite ignoring that he did the same, these days. "I've never gotten to know Shinobi as well as I'd like. He's a darling, don't get me wrong. Hell of a karaoke star, too. How did you meet?"

Lu laughed and stepped away from the bar. "His father brought him along to a meeting with mine," she explained. Mostly to make a positive impression on her dad, she was pretty sure, but she wasn't comfortable saying as much to someone she'd just met. "We sat around for a while, got bored, and took off to explore the rest of the building." She smiled and shook her head. "They weren't exactly pleased with us, but we had a good time."

Not for the first time, Gilmore noted how inter-connected the kids of business tycoons tended to be. He didn't know anything about Lu's dad's business, of course, but if he was having meetings with Sebastian Shaw, then he was definitely somebody. "I see," Gilmore laughed, a very low and rich laugh that sounded effortless, and probably very frequent. "You got up to mischief with him. No wonder you became friends!"

"Exactly!" Minus a few details she was nearly positive Shinobi wasn't sharing with anyone any more than she was, herself - Nolan was a dear, and his friend seemed to be another, but that didn't mean she was eager to out herself as a mutant to either. If she were looking for a job at Nolcorp, sure - they had one of the most friendly workplace atmospheres she'd ever heard of. But given the potential impact on her dad? No. Shinobi knowing was enough. "And we've been getting into mischief every time we've gotten together since." She grinned and made a "what can you do?" gesture with the hand not holding her drink. "So you see, it was inevitable. How do you know him? And where did you and Nolan meet?"

Gilmore had practiced the official 'how we met' story for nosy reporters so many times that it was almost second nature now. "I got involved in NolCorp's foundation to support mutant entrepreneurs last year. We got to talking, and then some kind of madness overtook my soul and I asked him out," he explained with a fond laugh and a little shake of the head. He didn't have to feign the lingering disbelief that it had actually worked. "Once we started dating, meeting Shinobi was practically inevitable.

"It's a relief to know a few people our age at these sorts of things," Gilmore added, gesturing around the party with his drink. His mouth quirked in a lopsided smile. "This is all still a bit new."

Lu laughed and took a sip of her Coke. "I've been part of it for years now, and it still feels new," she admitted. "But I agree, it helps to know other people our age. I'm not sure I'd have survived the first few without Shinobi." She smiled. "I love the story with you and Nolan, though. Are you an entrepeneur, then?" She bit back the question as to whether or not he was a mutant. She wanted to know, yes - but she felt bad asking when she wasn't able or willing to admit the same.

"I love the story of me and Nolan, too," Gilmore confided with a hint of a twinkle in his eye. He had a low and resonant voice that could sound absolutely devious and full of innuendo even when he didn't mean it. "I am, in fact, the proprietor and senior craftsperson of an online handmade shop. I make jewelry, accessories, anything scented that you can imagine. Coming out as a mutant and being associated with the Nolcorp foundation has been simply glorious for business. Most of my customers are our age and you know how we young people adore anything revolutionary."

He paused, and his glance flicked deliberately toward the elevators that led up to the Nolcorp offices. "I'd offer you my card, but I seem to have left them all in my jacket." Which he was not wearing, anymore.

"I'm pretty sure you don't have to." Lu smiled, guessing she'd put the pieces together - and utterly charmed by his voice. Nolan, it seemed, had better taste than she'd have ever credited him with. "Is it the same online shop that was mentioned in a photo shoot with Warren Worthington in Vogue a few months ago? I hope so," she teased, just a little, "because if it is, I get to tell you how much I love your product line." Just a little sheepishly, she held up her wrist to reveal a bracelet with an inset purple and amber yin/yang symbol. "I couldn't resist?"

Gilmore's brows lifted and his eyes lit with delighted recognition. "Of course I remember! I needed to fashion the symbol myself, there simply wasn't anything acceptable out there. I always wondered what the colors meant to you," he added, briefly admiring his own handiwork on Lu's wrist. "I don't often get to meet my little creations again." Gilmore pressed a hand over his heart with a fond expression. "Hello there, little beauty, I hope you're making Miss Lu very happy."

Lu laughed at his grandiose gesture and nodded. "Very," she affirmed. "And as for the color..." She glanced around, then reached up to nudge her amber contact lens out of place just enough to show the violet underneath. "As mutations go, it's pretty benign, but it tends to draw unwanted attention." Her lips quirked up just a bit. "Also, it makes it really difficult to choose an eye liner color." All of which was true, and reason enough to explain the bracelet. Even if there was a lot more to the symbolism than that.

If they kept talking for longer than ten minutes, Lu would quickly learn that all of Gilmore's gestures were grandiose; he was medically incapable of toning it down. Even after just a quick glimpse of her 'secret', he seemed elated. "I don't think I've ever been so envious of anyone," Gilmore declared, lowering his voice to a more conspiratorial volume. "Purple is my favorite color."

"Mmm, mine too," Lu replied, just a little suggestively.

Stop that, Neutral demanded. We're not flirting with Nolan's boyfriend.

But he's hot, Purple complained. Besides, he's got good taste. And he's flirting.

I don't think he is, Orange added tentatively. Or not seriously, anyway. Just like Shinobi does.

Just hold it together, Neutral requested. We can't risk splitting here. There are too many people around.

On that much, they were agreed, and the other two fell silent. Lu just smiled and hoped Gilmore hadn't noticed the slight pause. "But anyway, I love the bracelet. Do you really make everything yourself?"

Shaun Gilmore was as gay as a very gay thing, but his assertively friendly manner did come across as flirting sometimes when he didn't mean it. He didn't intend to change, however. "I do, or at the very least, I make it myself the first few times. After dear Warren surprised me with the Vogue mention, I did have to bring on a bit of help. But everything bespoke, and all the jewelry?" He brandished his drink-free hand with a fluttering swirl of fingers, and a grin. "All from these hands."

"That's quite an achievement." Lu looked genuinely impressed. "Are you looking to expand further? Or just to keep it a one man plus help as needed operation?"

"Oh, I mean to have an empire of my own one day," Shaun promised, contemplatively sipping his drink. "Haven't decided what form it'll take. I love everything about the handmade world, but it is a bit tough to grow." He flashed a bright grin. "Don't get me started or we'll be here all night. Did you try the holographic prototypes yet?"

"Not yet?" Lu grinned back and jerked her head in the direction of the demo prototypes in question. "Want to do a demonstration while you tell me about your future empire?"

Gentlemanly, Gilmore offered her his arm, even if it was just in shirtsleeves. "Absolutely. You need to play holographic Angry Birds, it's a riot."