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

[theirlawyer]

She'd been trying to remove herself from any kind of temptation, but now Sam is being so kind and gentlemanly as to help her with this, which means that she's back in the same situation. Still, she will persevere. "That would be very nice of you," she says, focusing on that aspect instead of how difficult he's making it, especially with bubbly champagne and delicious pastries in her stomach.

"At some point, I think there's a speech we're supposed to get back to writing."

[imnotrobin]

"Do you really think it's wise for us to write speeches while under the influence?" Sam always thinks he's wittier after a few beers but the truth is that he isn't and he doesn't want the president to have to use his words if they're in less than top form.

"Toby would string me up."

[theirlawyer]

"Well, given that you apparently have a plan to drink champagne until the bubbles do your head in, then I'd say you shouldn't be writing anything for the President, but this is just the Correspondant's dinner," she says wryly. "I don't know that anyone would notice if you wrote it while under the influence."

[imnotrobin]

"They would probably think it's funnier," Sam says, which is an occasional goal of his. Speechwriting can get very dry and it is only the occasional chances he gets to really stun his audience that make it worthwhile, be that through policy or comedy.

"We could write it in iambic pentameter?"

[theirlawyer]

Her delighted laugh is probably a little louder than it needs to be, which she'll blame on the champagne. "Sam, don't be ridiculous. You think that most people even know what that is, these days?" she asks, flipping the keycard in her hand as she gives him a fond smile. "Though I wouldn't mind hearing you try."

[imnotrobin]

"I think everyone should have a healthy appreciation for the Shakespearean sonnet," Sam scoffs. "And it wouldn't be trying - it would be succeeding."

He had done plenty of that when he was at Princeton all those years ago but he guesses the arena he plays in now is much bigger than any foolish wordplay he'd done as an undergraduate.

"Anything is better than dwelling on being in a place I don't recognize and not understanding how I got here."

[theirlawyer]

"Well, given that the likelihood of both of us going insane at the exact same time is pretty slim, I'd have to say this actually might be real," Ainsley says, which isn't something she's really used to thinking. After all, she likes seeing and touching things to prove that they're actually legitimately true. "Who knows? Maybe this is Leo's way of forcing you on vacation."

[imnotrobin]

Sam laughs sharply. He hasn't had a vacation since before he worked at Gage Whitney and he doesn't think he's going to start making a habit of it now. The thing is, working for the White House is not a job. It's a calling and a lifestyle and he's never felt the press to take time off. He knows if it were an emergency, he could, and he's happy to devote all the time he has to serving his country.

"I haven't had a vacation since I was in law school. Forced vacation? That would be someone's idea of a joke."

[theirlawyer]

"Well, I took a very nice vacation only a few months ago when I was still shilling my services for op-eds and television and radio shows, but this is a little nicer than the three-star dive that probably didn't deserve two of those stars," Ainsley rambles as she searches the numbers on the doors. "You should take more vacations, Sam," she idly says. "It's good for your health."

[imnotrobin]

"I wouldn't even know where to start on planning a vacation. Maybe I would just go home to visit my parents."

He knows he's very lucky to have grown up in one of the most beautiful places in the entire country even if it's crawling with Republicans who don't have legs quite like Ainsley Hayes.

[theirlawyer]

"Where do your parents live?" she asks curiously, because while she feels as if she and Sam have grown to know one another pretty well, there's a lot about him that's still a mystery to her and she'd like to change that, she thinks (no, she knows she wants to change that).

[imnotrobin]

"Laguna Beach. You would love it, it's behind the Orange Curtain and chock full of people who agree with you politically," Sam says, teasing her gently. "Of course, California Republicans are a little different than North Carolina Republicans but I think you'd see eye to eye on a lot of things. It's gorgeous there. I grew up right on the beach."

[theirlawyer]

"You're right, I would love it," Ainsley agrees with a smug smile on her lips, giving a soft 'aha' as she finds her door, sliding her keycard into it and feeling pretty good about the fact that she's not going to end up sleeping in the hallway just to avoid Sam in bed and what kind of thoughts Sam in bed causes. "Are your parents also liberal left-leaners?"

[imnotrobin]

"Dyed in the blue wool," Sam confirms. "And an anomaly among their friends. But you've had plenty of practice with working with people you don't agree with, right?"

All told, he has a lot of respect for Ainsley. She argues her points well and seems informed on the issues even if they don't always (ever) agree.

[theirlawyer]

"Possibly, but I had it in my mind that maybe your parents were reasonable Republicans who had a black sheep son," she says, which isn't at all what she'd expected, but maybe she likes the idea of having even more to tease Sam about. It gives her breath and life, after all.

[imnotrobin]

"Would that they were," Sam says, teasing right back. "Then I could bring you home to meet them and really score some points. Unfortunately, they'd argue with you as much as they do their friends. Which, incidentally, is not a bad thing at all."

[theirlawyer]

"I'm good with parents," she says knowingly with a nod of her head. "Really," she assures. "I'm smart, intelligent, and I know lots of words to popular top 40 songs that I can sing along to, if karaoke ever comes up. And, of course, any Gilbert and Sullivan is easy, which I fear is a common thing in your home, if the White House is any indication."

[imnotrobin]

"My mother taught me the best," Sam confirms. "They'd like you. I have no doubt in my mind. I haven't seen them in a while, though."

He tries to talk to his mother every other day but with the White House being what it is, he doesn't always hit that benchmark. Sometimes California might as well be the other side of the planet.

[theirlawyer]

"Maybe you should ask them to come and visit?" Ainsley suggests, getting comfortable as she begins to move around her room, trying to take in all the small aspects of it (though it looks like those infinitely same hotels that she'd stayed in for work). "I'm sure they'd be happy to play tourist while you worked."

[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.