happy birthday, how much more can you take?

[roundandaround]

WHO: Rinku, Evangeline, everyone who knows the latter even a little
WHAT: Evangeline birthday party number 1: The SFW One
WHEN: February 8
WHERE: Shining Karaoke
WARNINGS: None so far, this is the clean party.

Rinku had booked out the biggest room at the karaoke bar for the entire night. Everyone who had so much as an acquaintanceship with Evangeline was invited, so it might get a little crowded even so. The machines had just been updated with songs from all over, allowing everyone to sing whatever they wanted – though maybe holding off on the inappropriate ones would be good, at least while the kids were awake.

Pizza had been trucked in, many different kinds. Of course they had plenty of pepperoni mushroom, the birthday girl’s favourite, but Rinku had also ordered everything from cheese to spinach feta to spicy pepper, shrimp and mayo, dill pickle, and a heavy, topping-laden one just labelled ALL. If there’s one you want, it’s probably there. Drinks were available to order from the bar, including all kinds of non-alcoholic options. Cake and ice cream also came in by request; the cake is a large chocolate one with an abstract creature that the cake decorator clearly thought constituted a “cool monster” on it.

Karaoke, discussion, food, presents at a table at the room door... what else did a party need?

Comments

[abnormalizes]

It's a thing where you can pick a song from a selection, from that book there [she points] and then you punch in the code for it, and it plays the instrumental and shows the lyrics so you can sing to it. It's pretty fun even if you're bad at singing.

[She assumes Levi is not a fantastic singer.]

[wingbound]

Pass.

[ He'll make up for the rudeness -- or perhaps merely excarbate it -- by gently shoving the aforementioned gifts he brought for Evangeline at her chest. ]

For you.

[ Happy birthday! ]

[abnormalizes]

That's fair.

[It doesn't really seem like his thing.

She will gladly accept the dessert tray, though!]

Thank you! They look delicious. Did you make these?

[wingbound]

[ Oh good. At least it seems his choice of presents is validated. ]

Yes. [ Somehow, that is what makes him look a little embarassed, though not in a bad way. More like a realization has hit him just how much of a homebody he's turning into. ] I, uh, I've had time to practice.

[ It certainly helps that his spouses besties all seem to have a sweet tooth. At this point he can make chocolate from scratch. ]

[abnormalizes]

That's really impressive!

[At least she seems genuinely admiring?]

I don't know how to bake at all. My cooking abilities are pretty much limited to roasting meat and preparing something that came in a box.

[wingbound]

If you're impressed now, you should see what I can do with flour and water. Rarely had much else as a kid.

[ Did he just say that he had to cook water pancakes for himself since he was little? He might have just. Pre-packaged food wasn't even a concept back home. ]

[abnormalizes]

You've been cooking since you were a kid?

[It sounds an awful lot like that!]

[wingbound]

When I didn't manage to steal bread or apples, yeah.

[ Not a lot of ready-made stuff made it down to Underground markets! Cheese was a treat and anything like ham was expensive and guarded too closely for him to manage a grab at it. ]

[abnormalizes]

Huh.

[She doesn't have full context, but she doesn't really need to to get a picture.]

...I'm glad you got out of that situation.

[wingbound]

Yeah. Me too.

[ One could argue that he never truly got out of it until he was blackmailed into joining the military in his mid-twenties. But he was definitely doing much better by then. Stealing better things, and having friends to help. ]

[ Today's not about him, though, and he takes a moment to look around. ]

...that's a lot of people.

[abnormalizes]

Yeah, isn't it wild? I didn't have nearly this many friends at home.

[She liked the Abnormalities, but she'd hesitate to call any of them 'friends' due their minds working fundamentally differently from hers.]

[wingbound]

Guess people have better chances to live long enough to become friends here.

[ She hadn't told him that much about her world but the picture is clear enough from what he did hear so far. ]

I don't think it's "wild", though. I'd say it's pretty fitting.

[ Damn right, that's a compliment. ]

[abnormalizes]

[What the fuck, that's a really nice compliment?? From Levi???

He gets the rare opportunity to see Evangeline flustered.]

Well, I - um. Thank you? I guess I still picture myself as someone who pushes people away, so this is just - surprising, for me. I guess it's obvious to other people...

[wingbound]

[ Indeed! What a milestone, for both of them. ]

Guess you're losing your touch.

[ His tone is blank as usual, but there's a glint of something like amusement in his eyes. ]

Didn't you hire me to yell at someone when we first met? Hardly counts as pushing away.

[abnormalizes]

Well, yeah, but I didn't know that guy, that's different. Fuck that guy.

[wingbound]

I meant me.

[ Entering a business partnership with someone is absolutely not pushing away! ]

[abnormalizes]

Oh. Well, I mean. I was never so isolated that I wouldn't do business with other people. I wasn't, like, a hermit in the woods.

[wingbound]

Is that what we are?

[ It's just a little facetious, though he would definitely like to think they're friends rather than a business venture. But hey, let it never be said he shies away from saying the worst possible interpretation aloud and watching people scramble to correct it! ]

[abnormalizes]

No! That's not what I meant!

[Alarmed scrambling is absolutely occurring.]

Like, it was a business thing first, but we're definitely friends now.

[wingbound]

[ Just as planned. ]

Guess you're not as off-pushing as you thought.

[ Is that a pun? Lord help us all. ]

[abnormalizes]

-You totally said that to make me panic, didn't you.

[Squint.]

[wingbound]

Maybe.

[ He may be kind but he's also kind of an asshole. ]

[abnormalizes]

Rude. At my own birthday party, even.

[She's not that mad.]

[wingbound]

Hey, you're the one who invited me.

[ Her own fault tbh! (He's not mad either.) ]

[abnormalizes]

Clearly a mistake. Next year you're not allowed to come.

[She's joking!]