This Sleepover Thing (Official Subtext Loop) [Grey's Anatomy; Meredith, Cristina, Izzie, Callie; PG]

[dangermars.livejournal.com]

Title: This Sleepover Thing (Official Subtext Loop)
Author: zvi (witchqueen)
Summary: It behooves us to befriend her. Because otherwise it would be awkward and cause tension. Which is totally unlike the way we normally operate.
Rating: PG
Fandom: Grey's Anatomy
Characters: Meredith Grey, Cristina Yang, Izzie Stevens, Callie O'Malley
Spoilers: Takes place after My Favorite Mistake
Original story: Compare and Contrast by Amy (fox1013)

Stance on Warnings

"This is very peculiar," said Meredith to Cristina.

"That's not peculiar at all. It's a Shiraz. The Official Drinking Menu of the Official Girls-Only Slumber Party is Wine Cooler, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Shiraz, and a liter of water each."

"No!" Meredith stamped her foot, and realized just how much drunker than usual she was. "Look at the glasses!"

Cristina looked at the glasses on the table. There were only two, because Callie and Izzie were still nursing wine coolers. "That is peculiar. Also, you and I should drink water now."

Meredith nodded, put the wine back on the counter, and got out two plastic bottles from the refrigerator. She handed one to Cristina and took her seat at the head of the table, Callie and Izzie to either side. "It's sort of missing the point to do this sleepover thing while we're sober."

"You mean while they're sober," said Cristina.

"Yes, right." Meredith nodded. "While you are sober. Why are you sober?" She looked first at Izzie, who did that funny pinched mouth/head duck combo she'd had around George for a week, and then at Callie, who shrugged and picked up her wine cooler, put it down without drinking.

Cristina sighed and rolled her eyes. "Let's review why we're here, people. George is the friend of everyone at this table, except Callie, who is his husband. His wife. He is her husband."

Meredith nodded encouragingly.

"Since Callie is Mrs. O'Malley — and, can I just clarify that I am not going to be Mrs. Burke? or even Dr. Burke — it behooves us," and she smiled at Meredith in the superior way which meant I can get drunk off my ass and maintain my tremendously superior vocabulary, "to befriend her. Because otherwise it would be awkward and cause tension."

"Which is totally unlike the way we normally operate," muttered Izzie.

"What? What was that?" asked Meredith. "Dr. Stevens, you have the floor. Please explain tonight's alcohol consumption."

"You told me I had to be on my best behavior, Meredith. My behavior isn't," Izzie pulled out the airquotes, "'best' when I'm drunk." Izzie looked at the table and hunched in on herself a little.

Meredith was too drunk to find fault with that reasoning, so she turned her attention to the other side of the table. "Calliope?"

"I only get drunk with friends, and she," bottle tilt across the table at Izzie, "and she," another tilt, to Cristina at the foot of the table, "have made it clear that I'm not. Their friend. Also," she cut her eyes at Cristina, "I am George's friend." Eye cut to Izzie. "I'm his best friend."

Izzie snarled, but silently, and Meredith waved her off.

"Okay," said Meredith. "Okay. But am I your friend? Am I at least possibly in the future your friend?" She cocked her head and smiled and tried hard to look darling.

"Yes," said Callie, looking at the table, picking at the foil wrapping on the wine cooler. "You are my friend today, even."

"Good," said Meredith, and bounced in her seat a little. "So, you are my friend, and you are my good friend George's wife. And I'd like you to be friends with some of the people that George and I are friends of. Okay?"

Callie shrugged. "I don't think your friends want to be my friends, Meredith." She looked at Izzie and said, "In fact, when I asked if Izzie was going to be here, you said you hadn't asked her, and I said, 'Okay, then I'll come.' Which, you know, I thought strongly implied that I wasn't coming if Izzie was."

Izzie rolled her eyes. "Oh, princess, don't worry. Meredith didn't tell me you were coming either." Then she shook herself and grabbed her bottle, took a swig.

"She told me," said Cristina. "That both of you were coming. And I came to participate in her friendship project thing anyway."

"Points for you, Cristina," said Izzie, and then she covered her face with her hands. "This is not the night, Meredith. This is is not the—I'm going to bed." She got up and took her wine cooler with her, walked out of the room without looking back.

"Well," said Meredith.

"Well," said Cristina.

Callie didn't say anything for a minute, then looked at the space where Izzie wasn't anymore. "Should I go? I can call a cab." She waved vaguely toward the front of the house.

"No," Meredith waved her down, patting the air to keep Callie in place. "No, I want you to stay." She stood up, walked around the table to stand by Callie. "I promise, Cristina is a lot of fun when you can get her to stop hating everyone for being stupid."

Cristina stood up and walked around to Callie's other side, leaned her ass against the table. "I've even been told I'm pretty fun once you convince me that you're not stupid."

Callie laughed at that, crackly and loud. "You two are inviting me to be a mean girl?"

"Hey, we're not mean girls!"

Cristina snorted. "We're not mean girls exactly."

"We're the sluts sleeping with the attendings, and we're the idiots who helped Izzie cover up what she did with Denny, and I'm the girl who almost died on a rescue mission, and I'm dark and twisty Meredith—."

"I'm a misanthrope. Who wants surgeries too much. So they say."

"—so we're entirely too fucked up to be the mean girls."

"But we laugh at other people anyway, because people are stupid."

"You can have in on the joke, if you want." Meredith held out her hand, palm up, fingers curved, asking.

Callie looked at the hand, and Meredith couldn't see her expression, but she could see Callie's shoulders, tight and pulled forward. Dangerous, cornered shoulders. "If we were twelve, I would know this was a trick. And if we were twenty, I would know it wasn't." She looked up. "I'm almost thirty years old and I'm scared the popular girl is going to laugh at me with all her friends, again. The amount of lame in this chair right now…." She put her hand in Meredith's. "Don't kick me in the head, okay?"

Meredith pulled until Callie stood up, then gave her a hug. "I won't."

Comments

[fox1013.livejournal.com]

Eeeeee, the GIRLS.

Thank you so much for taking a stupid throwaway joke story and making it, you know, SOMETHING. This made me all achy for the characters! And didn't make me feel like any one of them was being particularly jackassy! And they were SO IN VOICE!

...Um, I am much pleased, and do not know how to properly express that, so. Thank you. For serious.

[zvi-likes-tv.livejournal.com]

You're welcome.

I'm really glad the characterizations worked, and I'm glad you didn't think I was picking on anyone. (I know you like Izzie, and I thought you might think I was making her worse than canon.)

Thank you so much for taking a stupid throwaway joke story and making it, you know, SOMETHING. Well, you had so many stories, and for a lot of them, I felt like you had told the whole story, or at least all of the interesting parts, but for this, I felt like there was, well, a story that could be draped on top of the um, subtext of the original story, which is that someone (probably Meredith) was trying to be friends with Callie, particularly after George and Callie got married.

I was also working on the porny version of Compare and Contrast, but I can't quite make it gel. If I do get it to work, you mind if I post it?

[fox1013.livejournal.com]

No, dude. You made Izzie bitchy, but... that's part of Izzie. One of the reasons I like GA characters so much is their flaws. It totally worked.

And. Are you KIDDING? I was all ready to start begging you to write more GA fic, because you have the voices SO WELL and turned a really dumb drabble into something that made me all achy, and you're saying "Hey, I want to write femslash, do you mind?"?

Dude, go for it. Seriously. I will cheerlead, beta, or bribe if I have to.

[zulu]

Oh, awesome. (I am totally overusing that word today but plz notice as I DO NOT CARE). This is great. I love that Izzie and Callie still aren't friends; I love that Cristina comes over despite knowing it's going to be girly bonding time. Go you, mystery writer!

[zvi-likes-tv.livejournal.com]

Thank you. It's my theory that Cristina and Meredith are meant to be (http://jennyo.livejournal.com/784833.html?style=mine), so, like Cristina was willing to eat cake for Burke, she would submit to girly bonding for Meredith.

And I don't think Izzie and Callie are going to be friends until George is out of the picture, so, like, never.

[tornyourdress.livejournal.com]

Oh, so cool. Adored this.

[zvi-likes-tv.livejournal.com]

Thanks a lot.

[carlyinrome.livejournal.com]

I really liked the original, because I heart Amy big and pretty much think she can't do wrong. But you took the original and made it . . . a different thing, with excellent dialogue and sneakily painted in undertones, and . . . just lovely work. I'm very impressed.

[zvi-likes-tv.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Going through Amy's stories and trying to decide which one to remix was really hard because she had so much stuff that had pretty much covered the important parts. I was glad to find Compare and Contrast because it had good wiggle room.

[dingoaction.livejournal.com]

This is fantastic! I read it like two days ago, and thought I commented (clearly i hadn't, which I realized when I came back to re-read). It's the girls! Being them! (which is to say you've got their voices dead-on; a pleasure to read)

my favorite line was about christina. It seemed like it rang particularly true: she smiled at Meredith in the superior way which meant *I can get drunk off my ass and maintain my tremendously superior vocabulary*.

[zvi-likes-tv.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I really tried hard to make them true to themselves, and I'm glad the characterization worked for you. :)

[blueinkedlines.livejournal.com]

This is awesome. *adds to memories*

Mind if I rec it to a friend?

[zvi-likes-tv.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. Rec it to a friend, rec it in your journal. Posting is sharing!

[jadelennox]

I *love* this. True to the characters *and* true to life!