[ open ] birthday time!

[picky]

WHO: Marcille, Ryoji, and YOU!
WHAT: A party for the April (and May) birthdays!
WHERE: LILICO Game Center in Akihabara
WHEN: April 20th
WARNINGS: TBA

No matter who you are, you receive a text early in the morning from Ryoji (memors):

Good morning! Did you know it's a special someone's birthday today? Actually, we have several birthdays to celebrate, so join us today at the LILICO Game Center! There will be cake! Lots and *lots* of cake. Hope to see you there!

This is an open log, so feel free to tag out or top level or respond to the prompts below. Have fun!

Comments

[the_fourteenth]

[Raidou gives in to Marcille's demands, too polite to fight too hard about it. But now he's standing around at this party even more awkward than he already is at parties. Turns out he likes it better when he's in charge of them, because then he can busy himself with keeping things stocked and clean and avoiding small talk and socialization.

Anyone who approaches him while he's wearing his purple crown and birthday sash will get cut off before they can finish their birthday greeting.]

It's not my birthday.

[Blunt as ever, but still polite.]

--Sorry. It's not for two weeks yet.

[ignoreher]

[ -- oh. malkuth's mouth claps shut, but she grins despite the (polite) bluntness and picks at raidou's sash. wow. thank goodness hers has already passed month wise, this looks soooooo embarrassing. ]

So you're a May baby, huh? At least I'll have time to get you a gift now. Mine's already past by. Got any plans, Kuzu?

[the_fourteenth]

[He shakes his head.] Ah, thank you, but it's not necessary. Really.

[Celebrating birthdays here seemed so strange to him, but he also didn't want to get in the way of anyone's fun. They should take it where they can get it here.]

Ah, n-no, not yet, but...

[His eyes drift to wherever Yuji might be at this party at the moment. Heaven knows Raidou probably wouldn't be here if he wasn't. Whatever his plans are will probably be planned by Yuji, not Raidou.]

I don't know if it's right for me to claim it as a birthday. It was mid-June when I left my home, and December when I appeared here. I lost six months of being seventeen.

[ignoreher]

[ it's not necessary? he's gonna get one anyway...

malkuth's gaze moves with his, curious, but it draws back to raidou himself at that. ]

In that case, why not treat the first as your half birthday and make up those six months in the meanwhile? At the end, you can accept that you're finally eighteen -- and maybe being nineteen'll come easier to you.

[ birthdays are a social construct anyway. everyone goes up a year at the new year's don't they? what's wrong with applying what one or a few Districts in the City do to here, ]

[the_fourteenth]

Ah... I suppose?

[Seems like a lot of thought to put into something he never really thought much of about in the past.]

Are birthdays really that important...?

[They definitely did to the kids at the high schools, both at home and here. And apparently to the adults too, if this party is anything to go by.]

[ignoreher]

I think they should be, if they aren't. Though maybe that's just because I've never really had a super exciting time of my own.

[ no real parties, nothing of the sort. she remembers talking about it with yesod closer to a month ago now -- how she'd been more excited when she was younger, or must have been, since that would be the one time out of any that she'd see a little color...

snatches of it, fleeting bits of wonder and happiness in candles and cake, swallowed too soon by black and white and black and white and ]

More of my birthdays, I think, were spent treating it like any other day, studying for a test or doing homework, staying after class to make sure I had what I needed and working hard to keep up with the people around me. And then that continued when I graduated -- it wasn't a special day, or at least no one treated them like it should be. So I think they oughta be!

[bowtography]

Happy pre-birthday, then!

[ She will not be thwarted, Raidou. ]

[the_fourteenth]

[March please]

Ah, thank you, but-- It's not necessary, I promise.

[This is already too many people Perceiving Him and it's getting uncomfortable.]

[bowtography]

Am I only allowed to do things if they're necessary?

[ Raidou please ]

[the_fourteenth]

[He opens his mouth to answer when he realizes he doesn't have one. Touché.]

I... suppose not, but. It's fine. I never really had celebrated it in the past, no need to start now, I assure you.

[bowtography]

... Um, no offense, but that's a terrible reason to not celebrate it now that you have the opportunity.

[ Won't someone think of the amnesiacs ]

[cranekin]

Eh?! (He jumps when he hears Raidou,) It already passed?!

You should have said something, Raidou-kun. I would have prepared a surprise.

[the_fourteenth]

No, ah-- Two weeks from now. Not--

[Wait, didn't he just say that? Is he walking into some kind of trap here where he's confirming it so Tsuru has an excuse to... do something like this? Or whatever else people do for birthdays?]

I-It's fine. Really.

[cranekin]

(Just roll with it, Raidou,)

I'll have to prepare a surprise for next time. (Yes.) My... how old will you be, Raidou-kun?

[the_fourteenth]

Eighteen, technically, but... well, I missed six months of being seventeen, which it why I don't really think it counts. It was June in the Capital, and December when I arrived here.

[Should he move his birthday to October now? How does this work?]

[cranekin]

Time complicates things when you travel, doesn't it...

(He hums to himself, thinking about how the missions back home can take literal lifetimes but they always return back home to only a short time having past.)

Well, your time is what you make of it. You're as old as you feel in this case.

[queenofkur]

[ Oh... She can easily guess by the way he's talking that someone forced convinced him to wear that crown and sash against his better judgement. Well, on the bright side that means she won't have to go through the awkwardness of wishing someone a happy birthday face to face! Especially someone she's never talked to before. She was getting anxious at the mere thought... She'll be able to do that through the network!

But the matter of the gift remains... What are the odds she'll see him on his birthday to give him a gift? ]

I see... However, as it is impossible to tell whether we'll meet again or not:

[ Ereshkigal is holding a wicker basket with multiple bouquets of flowers inside. She takes a bouquet of black flowers and extends it to him. ]

It is not much, but please do take it.

[the_fourteenth]

[Hello fellow person who prefers to communicate over the network. Raidou is ten times more eloquent on the network than in person when he has time to consider his words and thoughts. In person, and especially with all this attention, he's lucky to not just keep stammering out the same things over and over, which is what he's mostly been doing.

That is, until, a girl approaches him to give him flowers, something that has never happened to him before. She seems pretty earnest about it, too.

Raidou accepts it with a small, sheepish smile, and a slight bow in thanks.]

I, ah. Thank you.

[He can't help but remark on that one comment, though.]

Are you an Outsider? Then I'm sure it's more than possible that we would meet again.

[queenofkur]

[ Ah, it looks like he appreciates the gift! That's good. She'd been afraid people might think flowers are not an appropriate present for a birthday party. She's never been to one before, so how could she know? ]

Oh, my apologies. I meant before your birthday. I do not leave my temple often when I'm not working.

[ ... Her temple is what she calls her room. It's not weird at all, what do you mean? ]

Besides, though unlikely and undesirable, it is possible you will die. Or I. Or this world. The future is ever uncertain.

[ You never know! Though she hopes not... ]

[the_fourteenth]

Ah. I see.

[Excuse this child, he is very awkward.]

Your... temple?

[Well. She's not wrong about all that, but. He's not sure how to respond.]

True, I suppose. Life here can be unpredictable. But, ah, let's hope for the best, shall we? [It's a birthday party, let's not bring the mood down, right?]

[queenofkur]

[ What's her temple...? Now that she has to say it out loud, she realizes how silly it's going to sound. But there is no walking back. She clears her throat and tries to sound as confident as possible.

(which is to say not confident at all). ]

That... That's the place where I sleep.

[ And believe her, it's better than her "old temple." She's so busy with her work, she's never had the time to build anything besides a few columns and a big rock she calls her throne. That and really, human mattresses beat sleeping on cold stone or using levitation to float. ]

R-Right... [What a disaster. Who talks about the possibility of dying at a birthday party? Nobody, that's who.] My apologies, I-I am still unaccustomed to the social norms of the human world.

[likemybooks]

Then you can start celebrating now! [Taryon has found a party hat and places it on Raidou's head, inside the purple crown. Even without the string taut against his chin, it won't fall with the royal ridges keeping it in place.] Two entire weeks of partying, how's that sound?

[the_fourteenth]

[Tarry why. Raidou just stares at him through this, confused.]

It sounds like a bit much.

[He appreciates the thought, really, he does.]

It's not that big of a deal. Is it?

[likemybooks]

It's a celebration of your existence. Your friends are all here because they like you.

[And Taryon may be a bit envious of this attention from Raidou's peers. It must be nice, being young and having a decent social circle.]

I'm pretty sure most people need a major deal of relaxation after a fight.

[the_fourteenth]

[Raidou has made many friends here, several times over than he ever had back home.
It's hard for him to believe sometime. His face reddens slightly at the idea that so many people would honestly want to celebrate his birthday.

He is really lucky, isn't he.]

That's true, isn't it. After the last battle, I got people together to cook dinner, but this time...

[He got really messed up after that mission. He was down for the count for several days after and never got a chance to organize anything.]

I'm glad we decided to do this, then. I'd never been here. Everyone seems to really be enjoying themselves.