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

[onebetter]

[ Good to see that Cosmo has forgotten the earlier tug-of-war betrayal and now has reclaimed James as bastion of safety. He is right to do so because James isn't interested in retrieving the slingshot from the puppy at this moment. His attention is focused on Keith, who seems to get more poetic the more sentimental he feels. James takes a step closer to his boyfriend. Cosmo resumed chewing the slingshot in the meantime. ]

Do you still miss the desert? I do sometimes. The French forests are beautiful, but it's not the same. I miss the desert more than the people, these days.

[marmoron]

Well... who wouldn't miss the largest backyard in the world?

[Keith turns his face towards James, half smiling.]

I missed riding my bike out here a lot. Used to be the only thing that'd help clear my head after a bad day.

[onebetter]

France has too many pesky things like roads and traffic cops in comparison, huh?

[ The teasing is gentle as James smiles back. ]

Driving here was really fun though. I never really went off-road when I got my license and I only ever drove in a car anyway. Also feels good, but... not as good. I will admit.

[marmoron]

[Keith rolls his eyes a little at the teasing, but turns more to give James his full attention.]

Learn how to ride a bike and we could race some time.

[onebetter]

I could probably ask Professor Jailbreak about it. She gives Driver's Ed for cars, so why not a bike? I know she knows how to ride one, though her own possession of a license seems doubtful...

[ But that's Jailbreak for you. James is learning to deal with it. ]

[marmoron]

[A huff.]

You don't trust me to teach you. I see how it is.

[onebetter]

[ A pause of sincere consideration follows. ]

Okay, if you put it like this.... I trust you more than Jailbreak. Way more. I was mostly thinking of her because she's got the power to hand out legal licenses somehow.

.... I hope they're legal. The school board is in on it, so they should be.

[marmoron]

Does it really matter so long as you know how to drive and nobody else is getting hurt?

[A beat.]

Never mind.

[Forget he asked. Of course it matters to James. Keith peels himself away from the window to glance back towards Cosmo who is still chewing on his old slingshot. Not that he minds terribly, but... he shakes his head.]

[onebetter]

... yeah. Yeah, you got it.

[ Look, he's not asking about Keith's license, but for himself... ]

You should show me how to start it up while we're in the desert though. Nobody here who can get run over.

[ He wouldn't be eager to try this if he didn't have a license for a car already, but as it is he at least feels kind of qualified to try and drive another vehicle. ]

[marmoron]

If you want.

[He mutters something that sounds a little like the word "stickler" quietly to himself as he crouches down towards Cosmo again. Grabbing one end of the slingshot, he gives it a firm tug, but to his surprise the wolf simply lets go and he falls backwards on his butt. Cosmo blinks the immediately saunters up to Keith who ends up grumbling a bit more audibly:]

.... should have seen that one coming.

[onebetter]

[ James stares for just one second and then breaks out into loud laughter. Like pup, like owner. The way Keith and Cosmo look the exact same when landing on their behind is absolutely hilarious and he has to literally hold onto the wall as laughter shakes him. ]

Oh my... He's a fast.. haha... he's such a fast learner. We've got a genius puppy. Holy shit.

[marmoron]

[Keith continues to look disgruntled as all hell while James laughs, Cosmo on the other hand simply jumps up to lick his face.]

Keep laughing and you're sleeping on the floor tonight.

[In gentler tones, he boops Cosmo's nose, then:]

He's a terrible influence, buddy. Stop learning things from him.

[onebetter]

It's my birthday, you can't toss me out of bed!

[ Though hey, he does stop laughing and simply smiles instead as he walks over to give Keith a hand and help him up. ]

[marmoron]

[Cosmo nuzzles against his side for a moment, then scampers back out towards the hallway. Keith sighs a little, but grabs James' hand to pull himself back up.]

My house, my rules -- birthday or no birthday, babe.

[onebetter]

[ James raises an eyebrow. ]

All birthday right violations get you spoiling points taken from your next birthday, just a warning.

[ Not a warning he thinks of very sincerely, since he's definitely planning to make Keith's birthday the best ever, just on principle.

Now with his boyfriend back on his feet, James returns to snooping through the room. He bends to look at the bookshelf. ]

Oh! Hey, I read some of these when I was a kid!

[marmoron]

Huh? [A blink.] But I don't wanna be spoiled on....

[He trails off, suddenly unsure if he's supposed to be doing the party thing in October, but the thought just makes him want to crawl under the floorboards. He's relieved when James changes the subject all on his own.]

.... you were into mysteries, too?

[onebetter]

[ (Too bad Keith, you will get spoiled, and this is not negotiable.)

James pulls out a volume from one particularly prolific kids' detective series and nods. ]

Not nearly as much as you were, but I loved these. I had a shelf dedicated to them, though I think I gave all my volumes away when I was 14 and had some attack of 'I am too mature now'.

[marmoron]

[Keith meanwhile rakes a seat on the old mattress, making the springs bounce.]

... I think I drew stuff in my books. Not sure if anyone would wanna take 'em off my hands at this point.

[onebetter]

My curiosity is instantly piqued.

[ It is time to flip through the issue he has in hand. Any masterpieces? ]

[marmoron]

["Masterpiece" is a fairly loose term here, but as James flips through, he'll find an artistic rendition of a pirate with a pegleg and a speech bubble that reads "Yarr matey!!." It's at least thematically relevant as the title happens to be "The Mystery of Pirate Pete's Island." It's very childish and clearly drawn by a kid who did not know what a pegleg was.because the pirate has a literal peg for a leg.

James can enjoy this for about 2 seconds before Keith reaches over with a groan.]

This is embarrassing.

[onebetter]

[ Awww, Keith, but James was smiling at it!! Don't deprive him of this joy!! Baby Keith's art is really cute when it isn't in marker on the door, after all.

But he doesn't put up a fight and lets Keith reclaim the book instead. ]

I think it's sweet. But okay, I won't dig around for any more dark deep secrets. Wanna move on?

[marmoron]

I wanna at least feel like I got some dirt on your childhood.

[The phrase slips out of him before he can think better of it, and by the time Keith realizes how that might be taken, he hastily gets to his feet and shoves the book back into the shelf.]

Never mind. Let's just go back to the cabin before it gets dark in here.

[onebetter]

[ James raises his eyebrows. Dirt on his childhood...? Well, he supposes this isn't surprising. He can't even feel negatively about it. It's just how they've always used to be, throwing cheap shots at one another, scrambling for superiority. Even now that they're in love, it doesn't feel unnatural. So instead of commenting on it, he just makes his way to the door. ]

Alright. Though now that you talked about the sunset, I kind of want to watch it...

[marmoron]

[Keith pauses, biting the inside of his lip. Expression guilty, he's not sure if he ought to take James' cue in not mentioning what he said again, or if he still ought to apologize. In the end, he does the in-between and nods.]

We could watch it from the roof since Cosmo can get us up there.

[He reaches over to brush James' fingers.]

...Sorry. I just meant... that I kinda want to see your house, too. [A beat.] .... probably don't want me arounnd your parents though, huh.

[onebetter]

[ Brushing won't cut it - James immediately reaches out further and turns it into proper hand-holding. He knows this stands between them, he knows it's awkward, it's... He grabs a little tighter. ]

I don't mind you coming over. If you want to, you can come by tomorrow? My dad's just... kind of gruff. A lot of my friends found him intimidating. I can't guarantee he'll make you feel welcome.

[ James knows that Keith hates being looked down on. And even though his father had always wanted Keith for the Garrison, so much of his opinion towards Keith has always been condescending. The idea of that confrontation is unpleasant to James, and that's not even touching the coming out issue yet. ]

Not that he'll follow us to my room, of course. We can be alone there.