( catchall ) time to celebrate

[rikugan]

WHO: aodh belli, gojo satoru rikugan + you
WHAT: catchall
WHERE: all over
WHEN: throughout dec 2024
WARNINGS: will cw on subject headers as needed

( ooc | a general catchall for both open and closed logs below! if we've made plans, don't hesitate to drop something in under the respective headers. otherwise, you can reach me at voicelog for plotting. ✌️ )

Comments

12/7 - GOJO'S BIRTHDAY PROMPTS 🎂🎁🎉

[rikugan]

JUST ANOTHER BIRTHDAY
— open to all / wildcard

[ gojo isn't prone to telling people it's his birthday, but since it is his special day, he is going to be treating himself with some of his favorite pastimes, namely hitting up different dessert shops, spending irresponsibly and pestering people.

at some point, he can be found in the kitchen on base baking a cake, which may be the only notable sign that something is up today.

otherwise, he will be popping in and out of hq, either dragging people out to eat, shop and/or ice skate with him or pelting any unsuspecting passersby with a snowball. he can even be seen making some truly ugly snow creatures they're curses near the winter illuminations to add to the aesthetics.

it is only when early evening arrives that his presence will be sparse, reserving the rest of that time to attend a small party and hang out with close cr. ]

BIRTHDAY SURPRISE
— closed to geto, nanami and yuji

[ a birthday only comes once a year and gojo satoru has been cooking up an arguably hilarious in his opinion surprise for suguru and kento.

he has invited the two and, of course, yuji to his favorite cafe in tokyo, where they can share a rare meal together. with maki's recent disappearance, he has even more of a reason to keep the affair small. who knows who will vanish next?

in any case, he has picked a nice corner booth for them to sit at. various dishes have been laid out on the table, along with milkshakes and desserts.

but of course, it's the cake that's the most important, kept inside a box off to the side until the end of the meal. when it's finally time, he pulls it out in all of its chocolate fudgy glory, slamming it firmly down with a wide grin on his face:

gojo already turned 29 a year ago, but since he was stuck in a timeless cube for like a month, he has decided to give himself some leeway, which is PRECISELY WHY the cake has numeric "2" and "9" candles stuck in it. More glaringly though are the words scrawled in blue frosting at its center—

𝐻𝐴𝑃𝑃𝑌 𝐵𝐼𝑅𝑇𝐻𝐷𝐴𝑌 𝑇𝑂 𝑀𝐸
𝐼'𝑀 𝐷𝐸𝐴𝐷!!!

he doesn't miss a single beat as he hops up onto his feet and spreads his arms wide open. ]

SURPRISE!!!

[tokakujuho]

[ it's feels cosy for a birthday, almost intimate, but with only so few of them around, it's to be expected. Nanami has let the cat doctor fit him with a new arm (not the eye though, not yet) so he feels almost normal, sitting at the table with the other sorcerers.

he's brought a small gift, too: a set of vintage digimon cards. he never got into it back in the day but the shop owner assured him this set would carry sentimental value for collectors and proceeded to charge that sentiment in hard currency. who else would he spend his money on, though, if not on the few people he still cares about?

then comes the cake. a chocolate monstrosity - unsurprisingly - and Nanami doesn't really realise what it's saying until Gojo puts on a show.

staring at the blue frosting, eye widening, before lifting his gaze to the birthday boy. ]

What...?

[rikugan]

I'm dead too!

[ he sounds far too high spirited right now, but he has been keeping this secret for almost a year. it feels great finally being able to share it. after all, the only reason why he has kept it to himself for so long is because megumi and nobara were here and they weren't caught up in the timeline yet.

with them gone, he figures that it's about time to clue suguru and kento in.

could he have done it ANY OTHER WAY? yes. but it wouldn't be nearly as funny in his opinion. ]

I died before I was brought here.

[tokakujuho]

Gojo...

[ far far far too high-spirited for the turn the evening has taken. all Nanami can do is stare and stare, face pale, mouth dry.

the 'who' conjures a horror scenario and it takes all his strength to not let his gaze swivel to Itadori, not even slightly. so he continues to stare at the other man, disbelief slowly yielding to something unspeakable that reaches into his chest and squeezes.

a soft pained sound escapes him, and then, to Nanami's horror, he feels a tear roll down his face, then another, and another. ]

[rikugan]

[ oh.

oh, that wasn't the response he was expecting. what response were you expecting gojo? he sort of expected anger as a possible reaction, but tears...? is there really any need for tears? it isn't like he's the only one who'd died at this table! ]

It isn't that big of a deal! [ it actually is a very big deal. ] I'm right here in front of you, aren't I?

[tokakujuho]

[ he's the only one who is supposed to be victorious!! ]

Not big... How can you say that?

[ there's an urge, something childish perhaps, to reach out for Gojo. to get his hands on the other man to... what? like Gojo says, he's right here in front of them. ]

[rikugan]

What else am I supposed to say then? I'm not gonna wallow over something that's already happened.

[ there is no point in throwing a pity party just because sukuna bested him.

besides, ] I have no regrets. [ enough time has passed for him to say that with certainty, especially after he realized that he won't be able to grow stronger here. a shame, but it is what it is. ] And the battle isn't over yet just because I'm dead.

[ his eyes also shifts towards yuji from behind his sunglasses. ]

So, quit cryin'. [ he holds out a napkin towards him. ] You won't be able to eat cake like that.

[tokakujuho]

Isn't over... And who-

[ he cuts himself off. asking who's left is such a pointless question, not to mention rude towards Itadori, but. it breaks his heart to think they all left the kids to fight this kind of impossible battle on their own.

there's nothing they can do about it, though. funny how they've ended up as useless adults. funny and maddening. ]

Why not? It's fitting for your weird birthdeath cake!

[redsoil]

[ Birthdays? Set barely comprehends the passage of time, since he doesn't experience it in the way that mortals do. It ebbs and flows, it turns over in increments that are called "seconds", "minutes", "days", "years". A cycle of perception, he comprehends; "days" are the most common to him, as they are marked by the passage of Ra through the sky, until she descended into Duat once more. A "birthday" seems a strange experience! An annual event, to... what? Celebrate something that will end? How silly.

Good thing, then, that he has ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA it's Gojo's birthday at all! No! He's not even thinking about time, or events, or special experiences at all. He's thinking of one thing, and one thing only as he lunges through the hall in pursuit of his strange, blindfold-wearing... friend. ]

Gojo! Gojo, come out to dinner with me! I have found a new place I wish to take you!

[ Since Gojo's dodged most of his other attempts ( because he was grumpy aka lame! ), or just wasn't going to the other celebrations ( he'd brought him a milkshake after the masquerade, though! ), Set's going to try and GRAB HIS ARM and wrestle his hand into the other man's. Hold his hand, you're going to dinner with him. ]

It has milkshakes, too!

[rikugan]

[ it has been a series of rough months for him, his mood on a downward spiral since the loss of both megumi and nobara. he is trying not to let all these cumulation of negative events knock him askew and, for the most part, he hasn't. even with the recent disappearance of maki, gojo has managed to remain chipper, at least outwardly. but december is the real test, isn't it? it may be the month of his birth, but it is also the month of his death — a reality that he has yet to fully acknowledge.

but that's what makes today so special! he is finally going to tell suguru and kento, the only two from back home now who is unaware of his dismal fate.

he had never wanted to keep it a secret for this long anyway.

it does seem that at every turn, an actually chipper little god is waiting to pounce out at him. his personality is usually off putting to others, so it is somewhat baffling that set has become fond enough of him to seek him out on his own (and to occasionally leave him presents like a cat).

glancing over at him with a vague smile, gojo drops infinity, allowing set the freedom to clasp his hand. ]

I have plans tonight, but I'll ditch 'em if you're askin' me on a date~

[redsoil]

[ I don't know if it's funnier to think that Set HASN'T collided with Infinity by now, so he has no clue that it exists, or that he has and he can be obnoxious about the fact that Gojo is allowing himself to be touched. You decide. Set clings to Gojo's hand regardless, linking a few of his fingers through the other man's as he beams up from the scant few inches difference between them. Whether he can see Gojo's eyes or not has never seemed to bother him, nor the difficult and oft-frustrating assurance the other has whenever confronted with a truth he can demolish simply by denying it.

Gojo's willpower is addicting, for a god whose own was completely demolished. He adores people with solid convictions, no matter what they are. ]

Yes, ditch them! My companionship is far better than anything else awaiting you.

[ horrible bastard man has no issue telling who or whatever to fuck off so he can covet his attentions ]

I will even permit you to refer to it as a date. Are you going to wear this the whole time?

[ Pointing up at Gojo's blindfold. ]

SORRY FOR HOW LATE THIS IS. please feel free to ignore if it's 2old.

[rikugan]

[ gojo typically lets people on base get away with touching him just because he doesn't want to draw attention to infinity. if set has observed him closely during kaiju battles though, then he could've picked it up. i will say that gojo most likely hasn't used it on set, so if we want him to find out later, i'm down. 😌

in any case, they're pretty much holding hands now, aren't they? he hasn't held anyone's hand in a long ass time, not particularly prone to physical touch without reason. it isn't half-bad, considering who the hand belongs to. ] Does that mean it won't be a real date? [ he was expecting set to be against the idea of it being a date at all, so this... didn't exactly pan out how he wanted it to, did it? ] How disappointing. [ he doesn't sound disappointed in the least. ]

What's wrong with what I'm wearing right now? [ he tugs at the edge of his blindfold slightly. ] Do you want me to switch to my sunglasses?

blows u a kiss before it all implodes in our faces.

[gorb]

( There's a manic edge to Gojo Satoru that usually Geto would have known spelt disaster, but unfortunately for everyone involved he'd given his once best friend some extra leniency. It was his birthday after all, and they didn't really do this, the small gathering, the group, and he'd promised to ignore it in favour of having a good time. Or trying to, because there was a certain level of nerves that came with playing nice and desperately wanting it to work.

His mistake.

Because the cake is plopped down with a dramatic flourish and Geto - mostly still because of the rest of the patrons, and the aforementioned desperation for things to be right - goes even more statuesque. A furrow flickers between his brows, gaze lifting. )

You don't look dead.

( Neither does he. Give him a second. )

it's what we deserve

[rikugan]

[ huh. maybe he should have been more specific...?

but there is a limited amount of space to work with on the cake. he would have had to bake a larger one if he wanted to go into more detail. ]

Well, that's 'cause I died right before I got here.

IS IT

[gorb]

( It's just the same as the first time, the sudden ringing in his ears, the sensation of the ground vanishing from beneath his feet, the sharp wrenching feeling inside of his chest like something might have gone completely awry. Geto blinks at him, face placid. )

Very funny.

( Voice strained, his eyes drift from Gojo to the cake and back again. ) You?

( If there's a sudden vaguely hysterical note in the question well, that can't be helped. Gojo has to be lying. He has to be, because nothing can touch him, and if nothing can touch him nothing can hurt him. It's not like the time in the school, with Fushiguro's smirk before him, because infinity exists. So it has to be a trick. Something cruel, but one regardless. )

it is~

[rikugan]

No, I'm serious.

[ he can be a real dick sometimes, but not enough to joke about dying on his birthday to the three people present at this table right now. that would just be downright cruel. he might be tactless with a horribly low empathy game, but even he wouldn't go that far. ]

I fought Sukuna and I lost. Haha.

😭

[gorb]

( His grip on the edge of the table tightens, the need for violence rising in one swift peak. He can feel the want for it behind his eyes, between his teeth, a sudden ravenous desire for brutality, for bloodshed. If he killed everyone here would it would make room for the screaming grief in his own body? Would it let some of the pain out? Could the others stop him if that's what he really wanted?

He stays still. Twenty-nine. That's what the candles say. )

What the fuck?

( Semi-breathless, a little too loud. )

Don't laugh.

he's the worst lmf

[rikugan]

I even got scars!

[ he sounds absolutely stoked about it, blatantly disregarding the tonal shift in the room. ]

Do you want to see 'em? [ they're his first ones!! he has been itching to show them off for a while and, now that his death is no longer a secret, it means that he can finally stop wearing long-sleeved shirts and avoiding the bathhouse. ] I can show you later~

[yuwon]

[ normally, yuwon wasn't interested in celebrations. to begin with, considering the extended amount of years a ranker or high ranker could live— time just seemed a lot more relative, and by extension... birthdays as well. naturally, there were some exceptions to this rule, and it isn't like he doesn't comprehend its meaning in other people's perception.

so perhaps, it's good that gojo keeps it relatively low-key.

it's not like yuwon was burdened by the man's presence, either. if anything, there was something a bit more... familiar about him. maybe it's the fact that he also seemed to hold the world at an arm's length to himself, or the fact that he didn't seem interested in anything but measuring his own strength and garnering whatever pleasure he could in the midst of battle. it reminds him a lot of a certain someone who yuwon has been thinking of more often lately.

maybe that's why he's here, sharing a meal with gojo. he puts a piece of meat and vegetable on his plate (a warning against all the sweets he's been eating), before breaching a topic he was curious of: ] Why were you baking a cake earlier?

[rikugan]

[ he does have a relatively healthy diet outside of sweets, y'know.

that said, gojo can appreciate the rare little displays of care and concern from yuwon, so he doesn't comment on the additional piece of meat and veggie on his plate. stabbing his fork into the beef first, he shovels it into his mouth as he meets yuwon's gaze through a pair of pitch black sunglasses. ]

It's a surprise for Nanami and Geto. Have you met them?

[yuwon]

[ even if he had been rejected his meat (and veggies), yuwon probably would have just brushed it off. but, maybe it's a show of their relationship being decent if he hasn't is all he really thinks, before answering him in tune. ] I had met Nanami before. [ but, then he disappeared.

then came back. still, it's none of his business, but maybe that explains why he may have kept a healthy distance from him. regardless, he gives a shrug as he chews on his own food. ] Are you close? [ like megumi? his mind briefly crosses that realm. while yuwon had been content on forgetting, it's always hard when old names crop up like that, even for him and his usual forced neutrality. either way, he knows better than to breach it as a topic. ]

[rikugan]

Kind of?

[ megumi and nobara's sudden departure was admittedly rough for him to accept, but he has always been one to roll with the punches, so now with maki gone as well, gojo has simply accepted how things are going to be in this world. buuuut let's not get into it. ]

He's my kohai.

[yuwon]

[ that was like the equivalent of someone younger than you that you took care of, right? or so yuwon is already translating in his head. except— ] Why can't I picture you taking care of someone like that?

[ going to chew another piece of meat as he talks. ]

[rikugan]

Hm?

[ he didn't exactly take care of nanami. actually, as they grew older, it was usually kento who took care of him — to the extent that he would allow anyone to care for him. ]

Y'know, I was a sensei. Right?

[eyescar]

[ Yuji shows up at Gojo's birthday with a present in hand (a lot of chocolate, and some manga that he thought he might like, and a funny tie with flamingos on it) which he goes to place on the table... and then he spots the cake.

Ah. Oh.

Hm.

For a long time, he stands, staring at the cake as if it has personally offended him, and he doesn't know what to do with it. There's an instinctive urge to reach out and smash the cake with his bare hands, but that doesn't seem fair, not really. He wants to keep this from Nanamin and Geto-san, but it might be too late for that (he seemed like the last person to arrive).

Looking around, he spots Gojo and stares at him, eyes wide and flickering. ]

Sensei...