Surely To Their Credit

[theirlawyer]

The trouble with arguing with Sam isn't that it's annoying or exasperating. He's frustrating because he's a Democrat with several misinformed beliefs, but that's not really the problem with arguing with him. As Ainsley helps to balance coffee cups on the tray as they take the stairs, her ponytail swinging behind her, she knows the real problem.

She likes it.

She likes arguing with Sam to the point that if he looks like he's in a good mood, she's tempted to bring up the ideal size of government just to see him start ranting. If she can get him to take off his reading glasses to make one of his points, all the better. Flicking her hair over her shoulder, she turns to back her way up the last door, opening her mouth to goad him on a little more, not really thinking beyond the repartee she's sure to get (that makes her feel alive, that makes her heart beat a little quicker, that makes her skin flush).

"You know," she begins, "at this rate, you'll be switching parties faster than I can say Abraham Lincoln was one of...ours..."

She trails off because Sam's not following her anymore, but that's not the problem. The problem is that it looks like the White House managed to get a new decorator in the time it'd taken them to go downstairs to the cafeteria for some coffee. Gingerly, Ainsley steps forward, the tray of sugars and creams still in her hands.

"...Sam?" she calls out around the next corner, trying not to let herself believe this is all the beginning of a horror movie. She's fine. She's in the White House, she's fine, and she sees and hears stranger things in the Steampipe Distribution Venue every single day.

Comments

[imnotrobin]

"Once I'm not stuck here, absolutely. I'm sure they'd love to go see all the museums while I'm stuck writing speeches."

This is said wistfully because he would like to go see the museums instead of being holed up with work but that's beside the point.

[theirlawyer]

"You know, you could possibly ask the President for one day off," Ainsley says. She understands a sense of duty because she holds one just as strong as the next person, but she also thinks family is the most important thing a person can have. "You could even go see the museums with them. I'm sure Toby could manage for one day without causing Bartlet's presidency to fall."

[imnotrobin]

"I think Toby would tell you that he could manage every day without me and ensure the presidency remains intact," Sam says, laughing. "I think, after a year and some months, he may finally have warmed up to me but Toby is Toby. He doesn't delegate if he can possibly help it."

[theirlawyer]

"Remind me why you have a job?" Ainsley replies with a sharp smile on her lips, even though there's a large degree of fondness there that might not have existed so much a few months ago, but she's grown to really, really like Sam. It's probably why she's doing as much as she can to distance herself from those feelings to stay professional. "I mean, I know why you don't have a career in television, given your last appearance with me..."

[imnotrobin]

"You wound me," Sam says, putting a hand over his heart and wincing dramatically. Honestly, he's very blessed to have a job in the White House and with a president he truly believes in. These opportunities don't come around every day.

"I'll have you know that I write a mean birthday card when I need to."

[theirlawyer]

"Then I look forward to receiving it in May," Ainsley says, sitting with a little bounce on the bed, trying to get comfortable in this strange place with all the strange things, but at least one familiar friend in Sam. "You can get back to searching for home, if you want," she says. "I think I might take advantage of our sojourn into the unknown and nap." It had been getting late, before, and now she's found herself some respite.