Title: A Vase by Any Other Name
Fandom: Pan Am
Author: Alidiabin
Words: 1,171.
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Warnings/Spoilers/Rating: talk of illegal drug use || Up to 1x04 || PG
Parings/Characters: Colette Valois, and Laura Cameron.
Summary: Laura finds an unusual vase when Colette brings her housewarming flowers.
A Vase by Any Other Name
Colette rubbed the sleep from her eyes, as she walked down the hallway of the apartment building. Not long after they had returned from their trip to the orient, after being rerouted from Scandinavia, Colette had received a phone call from an anxious Kate. Kate was calling to tell her that Laura had moved out, choosing to stay at Maggie's. Colette had listened as Kate ranted about how Maggie would lead her astray, and how Laura would end up doing something stupid which would cost her wings. Colette had assured Kate that Laura would be fine, while Maggie's moral compass was skewed; Laura's was firmly in place, meaning she would never get into any serious trouble. Laura might live out loud for a little while, but she needed to rebel. Privately, Colette believed the arrangement might actually benefit the younger Cameron who needed to let lose for a while and maybe encourage her big sister to do the same thing.
Curiosity had gotten the better of Colette. She wanted to see how the arrangement was working out. She had been to Maggie's apartment only a few times for some of their louder debriefings, and was sure it only had a single bedroom. Colette wanted to know that what she had told Kate was right, that Maggie had not turned her easily-led little sister into her clone. She stood in the hallway of the apartment building, with a baguette brought from the bakery, which was nothing like the ones in France but good enough, and a bunch of flowers. From her understanding of American culture, both were acceptable housewarming gifts.
Laura answered the door in a pair of pastel green coloured leggings, a yellow blouse that was tied at the bottom and a pair of bunny slippers. Colette felt over dressed in her blue dress and black heels.
"Bonjour," the French woman cried, as she held up her housewarming gifts.
"Colette," Laura declared in surprise. She had not been expecting any visitors, then she remembered how close her sister and Colette were. "Did Kate send you to spy on me?"
"No," Colette replied honestly, Kate had no idea about the visit, and if nothing was wrong with the new living situation Colette would not mention the visit to Kate.
Laura let Colette in, and took the flowers from her. She was more interested in the bread, as Maggie's apartment lacked the basic necessities of food, and the bread was still warm. The smell wafted through the small apartment only making Laura more hungrier.
"These are lovely," Laura said admiring the flowers, which would make Maggie's apartment feel more like a home. "I'm sure Maggie will like them."
"Where is Maggie?" Colette asked, as she looked around the apartment, if anything Laura was a good influence of Maggie, as the apartment was cleaner than Colette had ever seen it.
"Out with someone named Mike," Laura responded, "Sharing a bedroom has its problems."
Colette smiled. It was not until she signed the lease on her current apartment that she had actually had her own bedroom. In the orphanage, the children were put in dormitories based on sex and age group, when she was training to be a stewardess she had shared a room with Bridget, and during her first stint at the Miami hub she had shared a small apartment with two other stewardesses and only got her own room when both of the others were flying.
"Oh," Colette said with a smile, growing even more thankful for her own bedroom and own apartment.
"I'll find a vase, and I don't know if we have anything to put on the bread," Laura muttered as she looked at the flowers.
"It is still warm," Colette answered as she ripped the top piece off and placed it on one of the mismatched plates that were on Maggie's counter. "We do not need anything to put on it."
Laura disappeared down the hall, before coming back up empty handed. Colette too looked around the apartment for anything resembling a vase. She found nothing. Maggie's shelves displayed great big books, not objects.
"I found one," Laura declared gleefully as she walked out of the bedroom. "It looks a bit funny though. Maybe it's by some friend of hers."
"Maggie has a lot of interesting friends," Colette answered as Laura finally emerged. Colette's eyebrows hit her hairline as she saw the 'vase'.
"That is not a vase," Colette declared, shaking her head for emphasis. Laura placed the not-vase on the kitchen counter.
"What is it then?" Laura asked as she tried to work it out for herself. It looked like a wacky vase to her.
"A smoking instrument," Colette answered diplomatically, knowing how very illegal the instrument was in America.
It did not surprise Colette, that Maggie had one in her position, she had met Sam and his beatnik cronies once or twice, and knew such activities were part of their scene. What did shock Colette, however, was how Maggie just left the instrument lying around. It struck Colette as careless.
"But Maggie only smokes cigarettes and not very often. Only when she's stressed. She smokes Camels," Laura declared proudly, she had tried smoking them once and ended up spluttering like she had chest infection.
"Not for tobacco smoking," Colette answered.
She was a little surprised at how oblivious the younger woman was. Was this kind of smoking, not a part of their high school culture or even college? Then again Laura had gone to good Connecticut schools where according to Kate that stuff did not happen which Colette did not believe for a second. She had been raised by Nuns and still had experience with god's grass, during those intervening years between leaving the orphanage and joining Pan Am.
"There is another kind of smoking?" Laura asked, as her face echoed her confused.
"Indeed," Colette answered, getting frustrated at her younger friend, "The illegal kind."
Shock burst over Laura's face. Colette was glad that the bong was sitting on the counter, because if had been in Laura's hands she would have dropped it. Colette may not use the instruments herself, she knew how expensive and hard to replace they would be. Not to mention the putrid smell that bong water had.
"But it's illegal," Laura cried. Colette nodded before letting the laughter that she had been holding back, erupt. Laura looked scared for a moment, before joining in the laughter. This would be quite a story to tell over the next few years. Maggie would probably find the whole thing hilarious too, though Kate not find it so funny.
"It is," she agreed, even though she too was guilty for doing illegal things, such as driving without a licence. Of course Maggie's special smoking was much worse than her unlicensed driving. "We should find an actual vase, or we could go out and buy one."
"Ok," Laura said as she took the bong intending to return it to where she had found it, while Colette just kept laughing.