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

[mfes]

[ oh, she wasn't expecting this at all?! ]

Uh, no it's not. This is a public area.

[ stares... ]

People do it all the time for special occasions. Relax! I'm sure there's nothing unflattering of you in here.

[ she points to her camera. ]

[yokeye]

[Every picture of him would be unflattering, considering his attire for this party, but that's not his concern.]

No, no! That's what I thought too, that it was okay to take pictures of people that are just walking around or doing things, but it's absolutely not! You can get in like a lot of trouble if you post them anywhere or maybe even if you're found in possession of them! It's also really rude and uhh... in poor taste!

[There's probably something else he's missing, but those valid points.]

[mfes]

I'm not posting them anywhere, geeeez. I'm making a birthday video for James after all of this is over!

[ she really doesn't see the big deal here. ...and maybe a picture of james might go in the school paper but it'd probably be a posed one, so that's besides the point. ]

[yokeye]

Oh, okay. Carry on~!

[He glances around the room before leaning in to whisper.]

But like, delete them after so no one knows you have them because they will find out and use it against you!

[mfes]

[ okay, good, at least things deescalated. but holy shit, dude. ]

What? Why are you so paranoid? It's just you guys and definitely not blackmail material.

[yokeye]

[Nadia unfortunately uses a word that instantly brings both anger and panic, and he can't stop himself from yelling.]

I'm not paranoid! They're watching and listening all the time and they know everything you do and everything you think! You can't be too careful about these things! Do you want a leash!? Do you!?

[His warnings should be heeded.]

[mfes]

[ she's taken aback at first by all the shouting, then: ]

Really?

[ she's just. so unimpressed right now. ]

I am not having this conversation with you right now in the middle of my best friend's birthday party. You wanna scream at me, scream at me later.

[ her voice is raised, and she could very well get into a shouting match right now...but she's going to try her damned hardest not to, for james' sake. deep breaths, nadia. ]

[yokeye]

[At the mention of the party, he's suddenly very aware of where they are and what he's doing. He takes a step back.]

I'm sorry! I was just- I- you had to be warned... and it's- I have to go now!

[Toki abruptly turns away from her and heads for the door. He needs to leave before something else happens. James should have an incident-free party.]

[onebetter]

[ It is.... pretty hard to not pick up on whatever is happening here, considering the raising volume, so here's the party host. His first cause of action is to walk after Toki, because he can't let this sit and make Toki feel bad. And also because he is quite literally responsible for Toki and isn't sure he's allowed to let him wander out of sight before Marcel comes back. He hates that this is a thought he has to have at all, but this school SUCKS sometimes. ]

Toki, wait. It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong. Nadia's new here, she's not used to the Daybreak way of... everything yet.

[ And he'll talk and mediate to Nadia as well but Toki's the one threatening to bolt so that's priority. ]

[yokeye]

[Oh shit. He was hoping to leave before James noticed, and that he hadn't heard the exchange.]

What? No, I did! I yelled at her and that's- it's not okay! I just- I wanted to maybe warn her about things and I did it in the wrong way.

[He eyes the door, and then looks back at the gathering in the cafe.]

I can wait outside. I won't run off...

[He doesn't promise, but he hadn't intended to do anything except sit outside until six.]

[onebetter]

On your own? You really don't need to do that. Maybe you could have been more quiet, but you're right, you aren't paranoid. It's alright to defend yourself.

[ Well, maybe Toki is a little paranoid, but James is currently of the opinion that it's a defensible amount - in light of everything that is going on. He's decided that making Toki feel secure and trusted with his friends is the main priority for now anyway. ]

It's okay. I can explain the situation to her.

[yokeye]

[The "it's alright to defend yourself" statement might come back to bite him, depending on what Toki considers self-defense.]

You're right. I shouldn't be by myself.

[He may have taken that as an admonishment of sorts.]

It's fine, I'll stay...

[He doesn't make a move to return to the party, though. Instead, he sits at the nearest table, by the exit. He's still technically attending and James won't have to worry that he's outside in Soleil on his own doing whatever.]

[onebetter]

...okay. I'm going to go talk to Nadia, alright?

[ Though after he has done that and somewhat outlined the Situation (tm) in hushed voices, he returns to where Toki is seated, bringing the offering of muffins. It's his party and he won't let one of his guests just sit there sad in a corner! ]

Want some?

[yokeye]

[When James returns, Toki is a little surprised, but there's also an indescribable feeling welling up from within. It hurts, and also doesn't. James is so nice, and he didn't have to come back, and the muffins are certainly undeserved.]

Muffins...

[He tentatively takes one, sniffling. Soon, inevitable tears drip down to salt the muffin.]

[onebetter]

[ If there is one thing James knows and understands about this situation it's that he is not equipped to handle it. Even though he thinks he's come to understand Toki a little, there's still an element of a ticking timebomb to him.

Maybe life was a little easier when Toki was just a weirdo and not a person with a backstory and concerns that are in part deeply relatable to James. But when life was easier, he was also being kind of an asshole. James thinks he knows that now.

So he sits down next to Toki and decides to give his best. ]

Do you want to talk about this? I'm not mad at you at all, for the record. I'm glad you came today.

[yokeye]

[For once, he doesn't want to talk. Doesn't know what to say. It's still overwhelming when he realizes anyone cares about him, at all. The words come slowly.]

I- no... It's just... it's me, I'm sorry- just give me a second.

[For the most part, he manages to reign in the tears, though he's crushing the muffin in his grip a little.]

Thank you, for being my friend. It means a lot, and I'm sorry I... did that. [He gestures towards Nadia.] I wasn't thinking clearly, I guess. You should go, though. It's your party; you're supposed to have fun.

[onebetter]

I can spare a few minutes.

[ Can't exactly take off when someone is crying. James may or may not be bad at 'giving people space' though. ]

And apology accepted. Every birthday party, somebody ends up arguing. Even in my friend group from my old school, where everyone knew each other for years.

[yokeye]

I know it wasn't that big of a thing, but...

[He doesn't finish his thought, because he doesn't really know where he's going with it. He tries the muffin, something to do while he finishes composing himself. Then he smiles.]

Okay! It's party time!

[onebetter]

[ That was a pretty smooth and fast recovery, but James isn't complaining. Even if it may not be 100% sincere, it'll probably turn to real fun if Toki just sticks with it. He grins back. ]

Yeah, sounds good to me.