[open] // HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE GROUND

[velveteenmage]

Who: Waver, Palmon, and you!
What: Certainly not a birthday party. That's silly. You're silly.
When: October 3rd, afternoon
Where: Newbie apartments lobby.



"What - are - you - doing?!" sputtered a horrified Waver. He'd gone looking for his suspiciously absent partner, only to find the plant Digimon decorating the lobby with streamers and balloons mostly in shades of red and gold. She stopped mid-inflating a balloon, surprised enough to let it go and send it rocketing around the room in an erratic streak of scarlet and noise of 'pffthpthpthth'.

"What's it look like?" Recovering from the sudden interruption, Palmon's hands went to her hips (such as they were on both counts) as she responded indignantly. "Don't lie, red and gold are your favorite colors, aren't they?"

"It looks like something I specifically asked you not to do, now doesn't i--who did you invite?!" Flushing about as red as half the decorations, Waver's frustration snapped right back to abject horror in midsentence.

"Nobody...well, nobody specifically. It was kind of an open-ended thing."

And that was all the color draining from Waver's face. This kind of technicolor reaction couldn't be healthy.

"WHY." he demanded in a voice that suggested a nervous breakdown was mere seconds away.

"Why not? You need to get out more and have some fun for once, and this is a perfect chance for it." Waver's arguments were for a moment reduced to emphatic flailing of both arms and choked interjections that were not quite words. It seemed entirely possible that Palmon's insistence on his birthday being a thing that happened may have actually broken the student on some level.



"You...you...you traitor!" Once proper use of the English language returned to him, Waver stammered and threw his hand out to point accusingly at his offending partner. "This is the worst, unforgivable! 'Palmon' isn't terrible enough--your name should retroactively, presently, and eternally be Rafflesia, because you're clearly just as useful as one!"

A tense silence fell between them--tense mostly due to Waver, who looked so angry steam might well have been coming off of his head. In complete contrast, Palmon broke out into a lopsided smile and clapped her hands (vines? leaves???) together.

"You're doing that thing where you pretend you're angry when you really aren't. And you even gave me a nickname! You're the best partner ever, Waver." It was then that the indignant magus found himself dealing with an armful of plant giving him a birthday hug.

"What--no! You've got it all wrong! Entirely wrong! You couldn't be more wrong, I-I'm obviously really angry, s-so get off of me!"

Ladies and gentlemen, the defense mechanisms of a Waver Velvet in his natural habitat. You may note flailing, stumbling, and probably even falling over.

And a lot of shouting.

But don't let that stop you from enjoying the impromptu and hastily planned party. There's probably even going to be a cake courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Saori.

Comments

[fullofthorns]

After work, Roze went straight home, She showered and dressed fresh, headed to the cafeteria, then went back up to her room. by the time she arrived at the party it was late in the afternoon, creeping into the evening.

Roze had been wandering down and making her way into the lobby when she'd heard the shouting. She was tired-looking and dressed remarkably conservative considering her usual flair for exposure. Today it was her recently adopted style of an oversized turtle-neck sweater, tights tucked into sneakers and the only skin visible being her face and fingertips. Her hair was up, though only in a simple long braid and her hands had a small white box and an even smaller paper bag with white tissue paper peeking from the top.

Stopping in the entrance of the lobby she arched a brow slowly, catching raised voices. Well, someone didn't much like birthdays.

"Uhh...should I just, leave these here?" she called out, gesturing with an elbow in a vague direction. "I don't want to be a hassle or anything."

Funny coming from someone that hassled everyone, always. Then again, she looked beat, and the burns and scrapes of her recent fall into a dark area while healing were still angry testimony to her stupidity.

[velveteenmage]

Waver looked up from where he'd fallen over under his partner's weight, seeming as though his next logical step was to give up on life. When one had a grinning plant-thing sitting on them, it was hard to opt for anything else.

". . . thank you." he muttered reluctantly. It was a little hard to be all that mean to Roze, even in his usual fashion of 'not really angry but it's not like I like you anyway'.

"Heheheh, I knew you'd see things my way."

"I-I wasn't talking to you! And get off of me already!"

[fullofthorns]

Clucking her tongue thoughtfully for a moment, Roze squinted and walked over to Chosen and parter, setting the bag on the box and balancing it in one hand so she could reach down, grab Palmon by its tail and hold the Digimon out at arms length, quite off of Waver.

"Uhh....Happy birthday," she mumbled, chewing her bottom lip as she held out the box and bag, tossing the Digimon over her shoulder without a pained grunt, for once. And she was four-inches shorter than usual! Much less towering.

[velveteenmage]

"Hey, come on!" Palmon protested, squirming ineffectively. Meanwhile, as Waver stood up he looked from Roze to what she was holding in legitimate confusion before carefully taking it.

"You...wait, you got me something?"

[fullofthorns]

"Well no, not exactly," she murmured, glancing off to the side uncomfortably. "I didn't really have a lot of money left after some things came up. So all I could really do was make some things myself."

She shrugged, sliding Palmon off her shoulder and setting the critter on the floor carefully.

"Its...well its probably stupid and I apologize for the quality. Its just a little bit of cake and a small present."

Inside the white box was one small personal cake made of red velvet and topped with a crisply made bit of icing rose. In the bag was something else entirely.

It was a hand-made UFO catcher-style plush of Rider, stitched carefully with little bits of leather, fleece, brushed yarn and anything else she could find to get as good a replica as possible, right down to his mess of red hair and little red-bead eyes.

Roze scuffed her feet on the floor, sneakers squeaking as she looked anywhere but Waver.

"So yeah. I just wanted to stop by and drop these off for you."

[needsteaplz]

The cake is not a lie, ladies and gentlemen.

As per Palmon's request, it would be a red velvet cake unlike any other. Just because there were quite a lot of people in Terminal meant, a backup cake or two would be good. Saori brought them lobby from the kitchens. She was out for a dark field mission the day before but when she returned, she made a beeline for the kitchens. It's been awhile since she did an allnighter, but it'd be worth it.

"It's been a while since I made a red velvet cake but hopefully it's to everyone's liking."

[velveteenmage]

Waver was the picture of despair at this point, having apparently accepted his inevitable fate and dropped into a chair. It was a miracle there wasn't a visible stormcloud over his head.

"I really hope you didn't go to too much trouble."

[needsteaplz]

She shook her head. "Oh, don't worry about it at all, Waver. And happy birthday, by the way. I love cooking for people so I'm always happy to share."

Guren, her Elecmon, was about to interject but Saori gave him a look that stopped him. "The cake choice was your partner's idea, by the way."

[velveteenmage]

"I wish I was surprised. She probably got the idea from listening to Roze talk or something." He punctuated that with a long-suffering sigh. "Thanks anyway, though. It was nice of you to make anything at all."

[needsteaplz]

"Yeah, she did mention Roze's nickname for you was velvet cake. And, not a problem at all. Since we're all in this together, we could use an act of kindness now and then."

Of course the cake wasn't the only thing she had planned. While the two talked, Guren snuck around to where the gifts were being placed to put an envelope down. While it was a few bits inside a simple birthday card, she figured he could buy something for himself.

[orphism]

Attending a birthday party for someone you don't know may be strange, but Minato has long since accepted and embraced strange into his life. Not only that, seeing as this party was in the lobby of the apartments, it would be terribly rude to simply pass on through it without saying hello and wishing the birthday boy a happy birthday.

So when he and Eurydice went out for the day, Minato made sure to pick up a card on his way back in. It wasn't much, but he didn't know what to get for a gift and that may seem a bit too personal to give to someone he doesn't know.

But when he opens the door and steps into the lobby, he's just in time to witness tail end of the spectacle that is Waver Velvet yelling at a plant.

"Should I just leave this here?" he asks no one in particular, holding the envelope over a table.

[velveteenmage]

At that point, it was less shouting and more 'Waver Velvet trying to pry a clinging plant off his waist'.

Either way, quite the spectacle. And one that stopped cold at Minato's interruption.

"U-uh..." Waver was suddenly very aware how strange this looked, as well as how strange a first impression it was. "I...er--"

"Come on in~" Palmon interrupted. "Waver needs more friends anyway."

"Y-you--Who asked you?!"

I'm so sorry, Minato.

[orphism]

Well. This was certainly...awkward. Yes. That was the word he was looking for. His response at first is to put the card down on the table. He wasn't aware that this was a surprise birthday party, and a very unwanted surprise.

"We could...pretend it's just a normal party?"

And ignore the fact that it's clearly a party of the birthday persuasion.

[velveteenmage]

"That's-..."

Actually a pretty good idea, he had to admit. If Palmon was going to insist on it even as Waver pried her off of him, then this wasn't a bad alternative.

"...that's not a bad idea."

[orphism]

Wait, it was a good idea? It was simply something Minato came up with on the spot while being dumbfounded by what was taking place in front of him. But he recovers quickly.

"We don't want to waste a perfectly good party, don't we?"

[notmyprophecy]

After learning the significance of birthdays, of course Hollyleaf has to go...but she feels a little bit awkward as she tries to approach Waver.

"I hope everyone didn't bring one...I don't think there's enough people to eat it all."

There's a cake. Strawberry.

[velveteenmage]

"Hollyleaf--?" Waver blinked in surprise, looking from her to the cake. "You didn't have to--I mean, thanks. I just didn't want anyone to bend over backwards for my sake."

[notmyprophecy]

She shakes her head in response. "Don't. Just think of it as another part of my studies! Human customs...and I suppose food too."

[velveteenmage]

"I...guess if you want to put it that way..."

He trailed off, shaking his head.

"Just...I hope it wasn't any trouble."

[notmyprophecy]

"Why would you think that? Birthdays are things humans celebrate, right?"

She places the cake on a nearby table.

"I'm following your traditions!"

[for_granite]

Have you calmed from all the interaction, Waver?

Just when he thinks he's got a moment to himself, right as things quiet...

A noisemaker erupts by his ear. Looks like Terra's following Beastboy's teachings.

[velveteenmage]

That was a rather feminine shriek of alarm, Waver. Good work.

"Wh-wh-WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

[for_granite]

Terra slaps him on the back enthusiastically. "Happy Birthday cheers!"

[velveteenmage]

"B-but did you have to do that right in my ear?!"

[for_granite]

"This is a party, and you're not partying!"

Yes, Waver. Yes she did.

"Cheer up, I scoured the town, found you books in English."