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[This is not his first time in Washington D.C. He's been before, for meetings with senators to deal with privacy and security legislation for mobile devices, although he's not a lobbyist and a specialized consultant only. His grandmother sends him because he's the most qualified executive for the job, despite only edging on thirty, and because she is trying to groom him for the eventual takeover.

It is, however, his first time at a White House party. He's found himself invited on behalf of his grandmother's company and because of the Turkish ambassador, and he's spent half the night skirting around officials, trying to avoid getting asked to dance by women who know who he is and what he's set to inherit, and making very small talk with the ambassador himself.

It is a very lively garden party, one of the cherry blossom viewing kind, and he manages to find a quiet corner to sit and take a breath. He wishes he could say this wasn't his scene, but that wouldn't be the truth, precisely.

However, the corner he chooses isn't exactly empty.

He knows TJ, they have met before. Always in vaguely formal settings, but Oren likes him; there is something so attractive about him, something that makes Oren forget the should a and shouldn'ts of his life. This is what happened with Logan, too. But he can't help it.

TJ makes him smile.]

If I sit down, will you promise not to talk to me about foreign policy?

[He says it with a bit of an exhausted smile on his face.]

Edited 2015-09-03 11:31 (UTC)

[This is, unequivocally, not TJ's first White House garden party. So far as this particular rodeo goes, he's been on the horse since he was eight years old and, right now, the ride's showing no signs of letting up. And, since he's yet to figure how to throw himself off with any kind of grace, TJ's become pretty resigned to going with it.

He did what he usually does at these events - the 'spare son' deal where he showed up, played a few tunes, charmed a few ambassadors wives and otherwise kept to the edges of things, gently liberating a series of glasses of champagne.

He's holding one now, half empty, the stem caught lightly between finger and thumb, and he looks up as... Oren walks up to him. The name takes a second but the face is pretty enough to be solid in his memory.]

Are you kidding? I was just wondering who I could corner to debate the highs and lows of Asian pork markets.

[If he was Doug, he'd have a better idea of exactly what business Oren might be here on. But he's not and he has literally no clue.]

[He laughs, then, and he sits down. His tux has just the right touch of blue at the trim to make it unorthodox, and he has the grace to tug his pants up when he sits, just a bit, without it making him look too much like an idiot.]

How unfortunate for you. I think that the ambassador from China is right there, if you want me to get him for you.

[He points, where the ambassador, a man known for his scowl and his inability to laugh at any joke, is having a staring contest with a crudite. Oren has had to deal with the man very vaguely - one of his cousins handles that sort of thing - but he knows.

Oh, he knows.]

I'm surprised your mother lets you hide here.

Surprised, but pleased.

[TJ, in turn, seems surprised by that notion. His eyebrows lift, and it's not in response to the Chinese ambassador almost missing his mouth with a cocktail wiener.]

I'm not the son mom likes to show off.

[It's well known enough that TJ gets the moniker "troubled" attached to his name whenever it appears in the press. His drug habits, past and present, have been a national talking point - or at least a human interest story on The View.]

Show up, play something pretty and keep my mouth closed. That's pretty much the ideal. [He didn't miss the 'but pleased' part, though.] So were you scouring the dark corners looking for company, or just me?

[Oren is actually a little distracted by that. Why don't people know how to eat like humans, he wonders-]

You're the handsomer one, if it's any consolation.

[He says that so matter of factly, he doesn't even think of it as flattery. Instead is just comes out as something that's true - the sky is blue, the Chinese ambassador can't eat cocktail wieners, and TJ is more attractive than Dougie.]

You can talk to me. I would rather hear what you have to say than be cornered by the Turkish Ambassador's daughter.

[He looks over, then-]

So maybe it was just you.