Lucy set down the large wrapped box she was holding onto the gift table, then spying Denise, or as she appeared to be this evening Obi Wan Kenobi, Lucy made a beeline in her direction. She hadn't seen her in a few weeks, not since she and Michelle had travelled up to Connecticut to drop Mark off. She was keen to catch up and hear about how he was doing at university. The two former colleagues turned friends exchanged a brief hug before Lucy greeted Michelle whose face was coated in orange face-paint and masked by a pair of large round goggles, arms to elbows covered in bangles. "Er…?"
"Maz Kanata" offered Michelle in response to Lucy's blank wasn't much clearer. Although she'd caught bits and bobs, she really wasn't sure how many of the films she'd actually seen. Sure they'd been played numerous times in the bunker, always at Rufus' insistence despite Jiya's mock protests being the avid Star Trek fan that she was, but Lucy would usually end up distracted by a book (or pretending to read while watching Wyatt during the action sequences, when his face would break into that childlike fanboy grin that made her tummy tickle). "She's played by Lupita Nyong'o" she explained, "she's an innkeeper, smuggler, and a 1000 year old rebel with a thing for wookies." In response to Lucy's look of surprise she added, "I'm a bit of a fan of the films. Have been ever since I was a kid. And they're so much more than action movies. They've got these great stories of good versus evil, politics, human conflict, choice, faith, loyalty… and they are full of amazing diverse characters including strong women like Leia, all battling together to protect their worlds from an evil empire."
"Sounds like a few other people I know," Denise winked.
Lucy turned her head to look back at her husband who was laughing with Rufus and Jiya in the kitchen – the little team of rebels who had spent 2 years battling to save the world and save history from an evil empire of their own – yep it sounded like a few people she knew too. Star Wars suddenly seemed a heck of a lot more interesting.
A few minutes later, Michelle and Denise were filling her in on Mark's progress at Yale when she felt an arm reach round to place a cool bottle of beer in her fingers at exactly the same time that a warm pair of lips grazed the back of her neck. Wyatt.
"Evening Ma'am. Hello, Michelle – good to see you." he greeted the two older women as he stepped from behind Lucy, before gesturing to their glasses "I was just getting my beautiful wife a drink. Can I get either of you a top-up from the bar?"
Denise smiled warmly at the surrogate son she'd come to adore. He might not be comfortable calling her by her first name – she was still his boss afterall – but theirs was a relationship of mutual understanding and affection. And her affection for him had only grown when he'd shyly asked her to officiate at the wedding. She couldn't be prouder of the man he'd become. "No we're good thank you Wyatt. We've got an early start tomorrow as Olivia has a soccer game in the morning, so we're taking it easy."
"Oh how is she getting on? Is she still enjoying it?" asked Lucy.
"She loves it. Even more so since Mason Industries sponsored them; they've got all new kit and hired this fantastic coach although from the way Connor gets involved from the side-lines you would think he was the coach!" she chuckled. "Who knew he was such a fan of soccer, or rather 'football' as he is always pained to call it." Wyatt rolled his eyes.
"Um, I think you'll find that's because it's the correct name. We English did invent the game after all" said an approaching voice with an unmistakeably British accent. "Not that stop every 2 minutes, poor man's rugby you call football – you throw the bloody ball half the time for god's sake, how can you call that 'foot'ball?"
Wyatt raised his eyebrow and turned towards him, giving him a look he usually reserved for Lucy when she was questioning his car hotwiring abilities or passing comment on his cooking (which was frankly a hell of a lot better than her burnt offerings). His look of mild disdain quickly changed into a smirk though as he took in Connor's outfit. He was dressed in an open necked shirt and cape, but it was the moustache and curly wig plopped on his head that had thrown him. He snorted. Well of course he'd come as Lando Calrissian – businessman, engineer and a general in the Rebel Alliance, Mason probably thought he was a real life Lando. And hadn't he had used the name back in 1936 with Robert Johnson come to think of it? Not that Wyatt had been there at the time but he'd heard about it and Mason's recording of Crossroad many, oh so many times.
Lucy for her part had been about to explain that the sport as we know it today had as Connor pointed out originated in England in 1863, although in fact earlier forms were known to date back to third century BC China as part of military exercise regimes, but was also distracted by his rather disconcerting appearance. He sort of suited the hairy lip accessory but the roadkill on his normally smooth head not so much. The bizarre sight caused the whole group to chuckle, quickly shunting all debates over appropriate sporting naming conventions to one side.
"You didn't think Mace Windu was a better option for you, then?" laughed Wyatt, "would have saved you from putting whatever the hell that is on your head! He was played by Samuel L Jackson" This last comment directed at a puzzled Lucy who let out a quick 'ah' of understanding. Bald, got it.
"Hey I look good! And this is a high quality toupee made with real hair I'll have you know." huffed Connor in faux outrage. "And I think I'm rather like Lando actually. Swap spaceships with time machines and we're pretty similar I'd say" he added with conviction.
'Nailed it' chuckled Wyatt to himself, he really did think he was a real life Lando. He liked Connor a lot but damn he could be an arrogant ass at times. Finishing his beer and noticing that Lucy's was empty too he caught her gaze and gestured over to the bar that had been set up for the evening. She nodded in reply and excused herself happy to leave the 'grown-ups' to it and avoid trying to make sensible conversation with Mason while he was wearing that ferret on his head. Wyatt placed his hand on her back to guide her across the yard, and kept it firmly in place as he ordered their drinks. He relished the feel of her body under the thin slinky fabric. If his hand happened to slip a little lower and gently squeeze her ass, making her start in surprise, well that was purely accidental.
After admonishing him with a playful raise of her eyebrow, she took a quick sip and left to see if Jiya needed a hand with anything, but not before giving his butt a generous pinch in reprisal. "It looks like Rufus wants you anyway Sweetheart" she pointed across to where their friend, grinning like a loon, was holding a box and waving Wyatt over to join him. He looked giddy with excitement.