theirlawyer | [for Josh] - backdated to early Jan.

[for Josh] - backdated to early Jan.

Ainsley had resolved to do one thing right and she could do many, many things properly, she just wanted to make sure this didn't crash and horribly, horribly burn before she even had a chance with things. This all meant that she had to talk to Josh and pray this didn't turn into some kind of fight, seeing as it apparently only ever took a spark to ignite them into a fire of bickering and shouting.

Which meant talking to Josh calmly.

If such a thing were possible. She took a deep breath and lightly knocked on his doorframe. "Josh?"

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Josh's eyes blew wide, pretending to look appalled. "What! I just meant that you'll have to tell me how it goes." He shrugged. "Y'know. Like friends do." He smiled warmly. "I wanna know if this guy is good for you." He held up a hand preventatively. "I know, I know, it's none of my business. But, as a friend, I insist on being someone you can talk to about this stuff." If he was gonna do this, he was gonna do it right.

"Well, maybe," she conceded, giving Josh her most stern, completely serious look. "You are one hundred percent not allowed to say a word of it to anyone after. Got it?"

"Ooooh, secrets." He grinned impishly. "Do we pinkie swear?" He held up his pinky, ready. He couldn't help it. Being a friend to Ainsley was... fun. Cute. Normal. It felt right. He had no idea if he'd miss the other part of their relationship, but for now, he was happy just to be with her without snapping.

"Josh, I'm hardly a thirteen year old!" she protested with great heaviness, crossing her arms over her torso. "I refuse to pinkie swear."

Josh chuckled. "You may hardly be a thirteen year old," He leaned forward, lips curled in a smile. "But you still knew what I meant by pinkie swear, and thought I was actually serious." He wiggled his eyebrows. If he wasn't getting laid, he might as well have a good time some other way.

"Well, you are Josh Lyman," she reminded him, dryly. "There are stories about some of the things you're serious about. Washington has no end to those."

Josh cocked a rueful eyebrow. Hmmph. "The DC rumor mill never sleeps." He took a slow breath in through his nose, his voice coming out high and even. "Only a very select and lucky few people knew the real Josh Lyman."

"And those few would be?" Her curiosity is riled at the same time as her amusement rises at that funny little tone he got.

Josh frowned, thinking. "Sam. Toby. CJ. Leo. Donna." He paused. "I'd like to say the President, but..." He pressed his lips together. He didn't intend to answer this so seriously, but there it was."He did see the real me, from time to time. It's just so intimidating, y'know."

"Honestly, I couldn't even imagining carrying a conversation with the President of the United States of America, let alone having him know the real me," Ainsley blustered nervously, twisting her hair with her fingers.

Josh cocked his head and furrowed his brow, slightly confused. "Wait-- Ains, you worked at the White House. In the West Wing. As Counselor to the President." He paused, blinking at her. "You've met the President." Right?

"No, I have not met the President, Josh, I worked at the office for a single day and I worked in the Steampipe Trunk Distribution Venue," she added, with every inch of sarcasm thick in her voice. "I can't imagine why we hadn't met."

Josh raised his eyebrows. Huh. "Really?" He stared a bit off in the distance a moment, letting it register. Life in the West Wing without the President. "Really??" He turned to her at that, looking confused. "You haven't met the President." He paused. "Huh."

"I worked there for all of a day!" she protested. "Would you like the list of people I hadn't met because I am, in fact, fairly sure that it begins at my head and continues to my toes and does not stop in the middle for breath."

Josh rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I mean, you didn't meet me, and that's kind of impressive. That you avoided it, I mean." He had his fingers in everything back home, and even though he may not have remembered Ainsley, she probably would have remembered him. I mean, he was Josh Lyman.

"I just somehow thought you'd have met him by then." He scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "Not sure why, though."

"I did meet you, actually," she provided quietly. "Although, it's not like we talked much. We exchanged about two sentences in which you got my name wrong and then Sam went and defended your honor by going on at length about how I'm evil because I believe in the amendments."

Josh cocked an eyebrow. This sounded like it could develop into a Statement of Political Beliefs, and he was wary of those, especially from Ainsley. But most of the time, you really couldn't avoid them. She was, if anything, persistent.

"Ainsley is an unusual name. I'm lucky if I remember my own name, generally." He paused. "Sam defended my honor? By calling you evil??" He wrinkled his forehead, somewhat confused. He thought Sam liked Ainsley.

"I think Sam takes it upon himself to defend anyone's honor," she said, very evenly. "Because a day later, he was basically fighting for me as if he'd put on armor that morning instead of a suit."

Josh snorted, leaning back on the bed, his palms pressed into the cover. "God, that does sound like him." He stared off to the side, smiling fondly.

As if he'd put on armor that morning instead of a suit. He could swear, in that moment, his heart literally hurt. He took a slow breath in and out through his nose, trying to make it stop.

"You miss him?" Ainsley asked quietly, watching Josh's reaction with intrigue and sympathy all at once, definitely along with the feeling that she had no clue how to deal with this.

Josh blinked, looking back at Ainsley, as if suddenly remembering she was still there. He leaned forward again, his eyes skittering from the wall to his hands and back up to Ainsley, suddenly at a loss.

"Yeah." His voice was lower and rougher than he'd like, but it's not like he could really stop it. "He was my best friend." He stared down at his hands, suddenly missing Sam like a limb.

Ainsley couldn't solve this. She definitely didn't have an easy band-aid or quick-patch or anything resembling something that could cheer Josh up and she frowned, not sure what she was supposed to say. "You could do something to honor him?" she suggested. "Write something, maybe?"

Josh snorted and looked up at her. "Me? Write something for Sam?" He shook his head. "Nah, I'm more likely to go out and get a black eye in his honor than to write anything worth keeping." He shrugged. "I write laws, not prose. That was all Sam." He could still hear Sam's words from the President's mouth. He heaved a sigh, smiling at her. "Remembering him is enough, for now."

"I'll help when I can," Ainsley promised, because she might have only known Sam for a short while, but he was a good man in the time she had known him. His actions had solidified him as a person worth knowing.

Josh nodded, smiling. He was lucky to have Ainsley. Even if sometimes, she really was a Republican. "Thanks, Ains."

[for Josh] - backdated to early Jan.

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