A Birthday Boy

[onebetter]

Who: James, Keith and the people invited to James' birthday party (Toki, Ana, Adelaide, Nana, Ruby, Nadia, Allura & Yuya!)
When: August 13th (Keith part), August 18th (Party)
What: James' birthday (spent at home in Arizona) & James' Soleil birthday party, spent at a Café de la Lune in Soleil.
Warnings: None for party, mentions of NSFW in Keith & James', though anything explicit will be moved off-comm.

[ All people listed above will have received a text message on August 15th. ]

Hey there!
I'm currently out of the country, but my birthday passed recently and I'd like to celebrate with my friends a little once I return home. Are you free on August 18th? I'd love to get a group together and go down to Café de la Lune for the afternoon. It'll be my treat.

No worries if you're not free that day, but I'd love to see you there!

[ On the actual day of, everyone will find that James has reserved the biggest table in the café so everyone can fit comfortably. He's already ordered a few pastries for everyone and is more than willing to order more. James is pretty much beaming. Also his toad is here. Just sitting on his shoulder. Occasionally being fed bits of cake from a special toad-reserved spoon. ]

Thank you all for coming! If I'm honest, I actually had a bit of trouble making friends when I came here. That was new to me. I'm all the more happy to have met all of you. You made me look forward to coming back to France after vacation.

((Feel free to post open top levels and just chit-chat with one another / interrupt conversations, as it tends to happen at group tables. Also no pressure to tag in, anyone who doesn't will just be seen as having been busy that day and not as having skipped his party, haha.))

Comments

Arizona Adventures - closed to Keith

[onebetter]

[ It's strange to be back 'home'. James has been feeling that more than any other emotion. Oddly enough, it's a similar out of body experience as his first weeks in France had been. The two worlds are just too different and crossing the border from one to the other is not something he really thinks he can get used to.

That isn't to say he didn't have fun at his birthday party with all his old friends. It isn't to say that he doesn't love being seen the way he wants to be seen, existing in the mold he'd made for himself through all his teen years. It's relaxing to fall back into old patterns and be revered for it.

But when it becomes evening and the group dissipates, he finds himself breathing a sigh of relief. That safe and secure mold isn't him anymore. As comfortable as it may be, it doesn't fit.

He takes out his phone to text Keith. ]

People are leaving! Can you pick me up?

[marmoron]

[Being back in Arizona is every bit as weird as Keith had been anticipating it to be. Virtually everything about the place is exactly as he remembers it, but the familiarity of it isn't a comfort as much as it is a reminder of just how unhappy he was here. It;d been tolerable when he didn't have a better state of mind to compare it with so fresh in his mind, but as he waits out by the park in Platt City for James to be finished with his dinner, it's hard not to think about how all the things he'd really missed about being back here could be counted on one hand.

Or perhaps that's just how he feels when left to his own devices with nothing to do but wait. It's almost a relief when his phone vibrates and pulls him out of his head.]

be there in 15

[He gets up and hops back on his dad's old motorcycle, pulling on his helmet. It's definitely a lot easier to feel like he's NOT having an out of body experience in his hometown when he's around James or when he's at his dad's place and Cosmo doesn't have to be wearing his husky disguise. Or when there's nothing but him and stretches of desert canyon to speed his way through like nothing else matters.

But for now it's still Platt City with cops waiting to hand out speeding tickets. Keith makes his way to the restaurant where James had been eating dinner with his friends (...the crowd that had once looked down their nose at him and probably still would -- but he's not going to think about that. As indicated he shows up about 15 minutes later, give or take.]

Hey.

[onebetter]

[ Keith pulls up by the restaurant and James feels weirdly woozy. Being picked up by your biker boyfriend is definitely an experience he'd thought was desirable - to other people. Girls. Not to him, who's now living this cliché. It takes him right out of the nostalgic atmosphere that dinner with his friends had summoned. The perfect reminder of how much he isn't the person they think he is and how much he may not even want to be that person either.

He smiles at Keith - who is even wearing a helmet, which somehow strikes James as very sweet. ]

Hi. That was on the dot, I'm impressed.

Tag-in/threadjack open

[hippocarnival]

of course I'll be there!

[And he's glad he has a few day's notice to scramble for a gift. He's only five minutes late, with too many clashing bracelets and a bright graphic tee and jeans. His star goggles hang around his neck, bouncing against his collarbone as he pops in.]

Hey! Happy birthday. [He slides into a chair, holding a flat wrapped box out for James after his speech.] It's the same for me, I'm glad we got to meet.

[onebetter]

[ If you'd told James at his last birthday that he'd be inviting world's least fashionable 15 year olds to his next birthday, he'd have called you insane. Today, he's... still judging the outfit, but only for a small moment. Then he breaks into a smile and takes the box. ]

Thank you! I'm glad you had time to come by.

[ And now he's examining this box carefully and curiously.... so curiously, that Sir hops off his shoulder to land on the box himself. ]

[hippocarnival]

[One day someone with less patience is going to wrangle Yuya's horrible fashion sense into line.

He laughs when Sir pops down and reaches to pat his head.] So how old are you now?

(^･ｪ･^)

[yokeye]

[Toki is promptly on time, one thing having a personal guard is good for. Much like his roommate, his fashion sense leaves something to be desired; ripped jeans, a pastel pink t-shirt with sequined butterflies on it, and purple glitter flipflops. He has a wide black velvet ribbon tied around his wrist; the non-standard ribbon that he's been wearing with his school uniform since mid-June. Marcel follows behind him, dressed in his usual out-dated suit, and holding the leash and a purple gift bag. Toki waves when they enter the cafe.]

James~! Happy birthday! Thanks for inviting me!

[He didn't go to Yuya's birthday party in February for fear of making a scene in Germany, but James has chosen a closer venue, and Toki's taken precautions against unwanted visions. Marcel sets the gift bag aside and addresses James.]

"Mr. Griffin, would you prefer I leave you to your celebrations?"

[onebetter]

[ Maybe the real reason James only ended up judging Yuya's outfit for a second is that Toki's is so much worse and pretty much prepared him for anything. Toki looks like a complete mess and James suddenly thinks it is for the best that their school has uniforms for the younger students. Just for the sake of Toki's dignity.

And yet, James is not at all ashamed to be seen in public with him. Superficial thoughts aside, he's just happy to have Toki here. ]

Thank you!! [ And to Marcel: ] I would, thank you. We'll be fine here until about 6pm.

[ Because that is when the table reservation runs out. Really, James is grateful to have Marcel out of the way. He still can't get used to seeing Toki on that leash and it's much nicer to talk in private. ]

Threadhopping welcome!

[quintessent]

[Allura is here, dressed in her sunday best and accompanied by four freshly bathed mice, who occasionally sitting in her lap, getting fed secret bites of her meal, but also inevitably checking out what other animal companions are here. (See: taking a nap on Cosmo's fur if the puppo is present.)

She does get nervous, however, when she sees the other gifts that others are bringing. She brought one too, but it's in the form of a bouquet of pink flowers (native to the Outlands). It suddenly feels a little out of place compared to the boxes that others are bringing, but she still gives it with a smile.]

Congratulations on your [Hm. She doesn't know how old he is.] Birth Anniversary, James. It seems there is a lot to celebrate for you recently.

[Compared to everyone else, she still feels pretty new around here, but she's grateful for the friendship.]


A silly bonus extra prompt if anyone wants it:
[This cafe has a lot of good things, but the best thing of all: milkshakes. Allura ordered her first on a whim and after the first sip it disappeared in about 5 seconds flat. Since then, she's been varying between staring forlornly at her empty glass, and glancing (lustfully?) at another milkshake nearby, whether it belongs to someone at the table, or one nearby.

She.... really wants another one. But she has no money and she doesn't want to abuse James' offer to treat.]

MILKSHAKE

[marmoron]

[Keith's staying on the quiet side since social gatherings just tend to make him feel a little awkward, and he doesn't even have the benefit of having Cosmo around because Toki was invited... which is fine, but it means he's doing a lot of thumb twiddling under the table.

While others are engrossed in conversation, he can't help but notice that Allura seems hella distracted by his milkshake of all things. Instinctively he pulls it closer towards him, eyebrow raised.]

[yokeye]

[There's been a question Toki's wanted to ask Allura since she arrived. Well, two questions. An hour into the party, he just blurts them out when he's close enough to talk to her.]

Are you princess of a mouse kingdom!? Did the mice make your dress like in that old movie!?

[onebetter]

[ Finally someone who knows how to dress!! James had admittedly been mildly worried because you never know what to expect from someone who's lived in the Outlands this far, but Allura looks more than presentable and its raising the visual status of the whole table.

The flowers are accepted with gratitude. James is beginning to accept pink is just a color he has to live with now. ]

Thank you so much, Princess. August has been really lucky so far, it's true. I'm not holding my breath on that to last, so it's good to enjoy it now.

[ Cosmo may not be present, but Sir the toad is curiously hopping over the table to get a closer look at the mice. Finally some companions that are his size! It's interesting. ]

milkshake

[mfes]

[ nadia's off to the side going through the pictures she's taken so far. most of them are pretty good, and she'll definitely put this in the school paper once it's started up. she looks up from her camera to sip on her chocolate milkshake. it's almost gone, and when her eyes glance upwards...

she sees the pretty girl on the table next to her glancing at it. nadia raises an eyebrow, pauses her sipping...

and then sips it slower. it makes that obnoxious slurping noise, too, that grates on the ears. ]

threadhopping welcome!

[transfusionem]

[When Adelaide got the text she was surprised, but also excited. She supposes you become friends with people pretty quickly when you do things like try to kill a necromancer - not that she doesn't think she and James weren't friends before. She was just. You know. A little unsure, after the fight she had with Keith.

But! She was invited, and she's going to show up. It's a bit short notice so unfortunately she doesn't have anything to give to James, but hopefully he doesn't mind.]

Happy birthday!

[She's going to give James a hug, as soon as she sees him. C'mere, you.

For the rest of the evening Adelaide is as cheerful as ever, though she doesn't take more than a few bites of food. Which, considering most of the people here already Know, it's probably not a big deal. It's fine.

After a while, though, she leans over to the person next to them to whisper conspiratorially.]

How much do you think we can get away with before we get kicked out?

kinda wildcard-ish

[highelves]

[ ana sees adelaide, and it's awkward, being in the same space as her like this, but she doesn't fault james for it at all. adelaide is his friend, and this isn't ana's party, so she says nothing of it when she sees adelaide walk in at first.

a few hours into the party, however, ana approaches her with a cookie in hand. it's a small one, but it's...sort of a peace offering? ]

Hello, Adelaide.

[onebetter]

Thanks! I'm glad you could make it. Should've probably given longer notice but you know, always a whirlwind around here one way or another.

[ Hugs are good, hugs are appreciated! Even when they come from your vampire friend who's fed on one of your other friends. Such is just the life sometimes. ]

.... actually, more than the short notice issue, what's your food situation? It... didn't occur to me before.

ota!

[rwbyrose]

[ ruby is fashionably on time, more than excited to be here! she was pleasantly surprised when she received james' invitation, but she guesses that's just what fighting a necromancer does: brings people together. she's not really thinking about it, though, when she shows up to james' party with a gift box in hand. ]

James! [ she waves over at him. ] Happy birthday! Here you go! [ she holds the gift box out in front of her. it's a a flat rectangle shape! kind of like it could fit a shirt or something.

for the rest of the party, ruby can be seen with...a lot of sweets. a lot of them. she's munching away at them, too. they may or may not be taking up too much space on the table, which she realizes belatedly. ]

Sorry, heh. Guess I got a little carried away.

[onebetter]

[ James takes the gift and turns it in his hands, looking at the shape and feeling the texture with the intrigue appropriate for receiving a present from a new friend. He's smiling. ]

Thank you. Alright... I'm guessing clothing item?

ota

[mfes]

[ so. nadia has a gift bag for james and a funny little card for him. it's kind of like her gag gift to him (but she has a legitimate present for him inside). she arrives early to see if he needs help with setup; even if he doesn't she's still happy to be here, and she holds out her gift to him with a prideful smile on her face. ]

I don't think this tops the Teacher's Pet trophy I gave you back in high school, buuut it'll have to do.

[ and during the party, nadia can be seen with her camera, snapping pictures of everyone! some of them are candid shots, some of them are posed. for the posed ones, she waves over at whoever's nearby. she might even start taking some video, too, to make a birthday compilation video for james or something. ]

Smile for the camera!

[yokeye]

[At some point during the party, Toki's noticed Nadia taking some candid shots. It's something he feels that he needs to talk to her about.]

Hello! Girl with the camera!

[He approaches with a bit of a frown.]

You shouldn't be taking pictures of people without asking! It's very wrong!

[marmoron]

[Keith had more than likely been attempting to feed the toad part of a sugarcube when he hears Nadia's comment.]

Huh?

[Then instantly he puts up his free hand because GAH pictures, damn it Nadia!!]

Wait, I don't want my picture taken!

[onebetter]

You know, that's actually really relieving to hear.

[ That trophy was embarrassing! Kind of true! But embarrassing! Nevertheless, James is grinning widely. It's good to have her here. She'd been missing at his first party in Arizona and it'd been weird. They haven't been friends as long as James has been friends with some other Arizona folks, but she's definitely part of his core group.]

And I am still filled with fear.

ota

[highelves]

[ ana is here, bright and starry-eyed! she's never been invited to a birthday party before, so this is very exciting. it's at a cafe, too! how perfect.

her gift for james is in a small little box. it's quite tiny, and admittedly she's a little nervous about giving it to him, but she's one of the first to arrive and she taps his shoulder from behind. ]

Hello, James! Happy birthday! [ she holds out the box towards him. ] Thank you for your invitation! I'm very glad to be here!

[ for the rest of the party, ana will approach the other party guests. she's acquainted with pretty much everyone here, so no introductions are necessary.

though one will notice that she's a little more...jittery and hyperactive than usual. guess who decided to try a nitro brew? yep. ana did. ]

Hello, I hope I'm not interrupting anything? [ she sits down next to one of the party guests and...holds out her nitro brew towards them. ] Would you like to try some? It's quite bitter, but it's packed full of energy!

[hippocarnival]

Oh--sure! [He takes the cup, but stays with just holding it at first.] You look like you're having fun.

[onebetter]

[ It's really cute how happy she is and James is immediately pleased. ]

Thank you, Ana! I'm glad you could come, too.

[ He'll take this box and curiously peer at it before lifting the lid. ]