happy birthday, you did not accomplish much

[nojohnyouare]

Who: Mai and you
What: Mai is one of those pet owners who throws birthday parties for their pets.
When: September 20
Where: The roof
Warnings: None so far

[There's something going on on the roof, apparently. Not much; Mai's just brought up a cake with a weird red glaze, as well as some random leftovers from the fridge heated up, and set them out on tables. There are party hats sitting there, too, made of art paper with crudely-painted bears on them.

Bear-san is wearing his new knitted bear suit for the purposes of looking a bit more like he did as a real bear, and she's crafted a party hat out of her art paper and stuck it onto him... or she had, before he decided to knock it off his head and try to vacuum it. Or maybe she's got him chasing a remote-control car or playing tug-of-war with a dog toy. Point is, the bear is there and being entertained.

If you come onto the roof, Mai will look up and nod at you.]

Party. Cake?

Comments

[bastilashan]

[Bastila sees Mai carrying the cake up to the roof. She decides to follow.]

Hi. Is this party for anyone in particular?

[nojohnyouare]

Bear-san.

[The little robot in question makes a curious noise.]

But the food is for everyone. Since he can't eat it.

[anarchia]

[Carnivac paws up to the roof and, before he has a chance to transform, he takes note of the entire setup - and is then greeted by Mai.]

It's for bear-san?

[nojohnyouare]

[Mai nods. Bear-san pads up to him in his knitted bear kigurumi.]

The day I found him. Since I don't know when he was programmed.

[bastilashan]

[Bastila actually blushes. That is a rare experience for her.]

Actually, I was asking if anyone can attend. Still, it is a party for Bear-San? Then is it his birthday?

[nojohnyouare]

The day I found him. Since I don't know when he was programmed. Or when his body was manufactured. ...Anyone can come. It's a small station anyway. So people usually go to the same things.

[bastilashan]

I see. Well, thank you for having me.

[Bastila turns to Bear-San.]

Thank you, too. Happy found day, I guess.

[nojohnyouare]

[Bear-san makes a confused noise and snuffles around her. He vacuums up another bug.]

Do you like them? Animals.

[anarchia]

[Carnivac gives a nod, and turns to the little robot.]

Well, congratulations, Bear-san.

[It's rather flat for a celebratory message, but he's sure Mai doesn't mind.]

How long has it been?

[nojohnyouare]

[Bear-san responds with a proud little roar and a beep.]

A year. Though it's felt like shorter sometimes. They took us offline for a while in the simulation.

[plentyfriendly]

Uh... sure.

[Phi will never turn down food.]

Who's the party for?

[stormkingofshepherds]

What flavor is it? [Nathaniel is staring oddly at the robot bear running around.]

[bastilashan]

Yes, I love them... when they are not trying to kill me.

[nojohnyouare]

Oh. Dangerous where you live. That makes sense. Though even dangerous animals... I also like those.

[nojohnyouare]

Bear-san.

[Bear-san looks up and gives a metallic-sounding roar. She reaches down from her seated position and pets him.]

I found him a year ago. In a simulation. Since I don't know when they programmed him... Birthday.

[nojohnyouare]

Yellow cake. With orange. Lemon. ...The Flavourtown recipe used cranberries too. We don't have those. But I used cranberry juice and royal pom seeds.

[Bear-san, for his part, is having a great time chasing the RC car.]

[bastilashan]

Yes, it is frequently dangerous where I am from. So, would you tell me about how you found Bear-San?

[plentyfriendly]

Well then happy birthday, Bear-san.

[He deserves the cuddles, even as... non-fluffy as he presumably is now. Phi is assuming that he was bear-shaped once.]

[nojohnyouare]

...A long story. But I and others were in a realistic simulation. Wildlife was programmed in. One day, he appeared. A bear-san cub eating our garbage. I watched for a few days. He had no mother. And Lee was fine with me taking him home. ...He broke a lot of things and ate a lot of things. And probably still would if his robot body were more like a real bear-san. But he's good.

[nojohnyouare]

[Bear-san gives a happy beep. At least the little... what is that on him, a robot cozy? Do you call it a bear suit if he's already a little metal bear? Either way, he looks a little more huggable now.]

The cake... Unique. But maybe people will like it. How are you.

[anarchia]

[Bear-san, you are a majestic creature.]

...Offline?

[He tilts his head.]

What do you mean?

[plentyfriendly]

Doing fine.

[She does take a bite.]

...Zesty.

[nojohnyouare]

When I found him... Trapped. In a realistic simulation. One day, some people helped us contact our friends outside it. But they were caught. And the network shut the simulation down.

When they brought us back online... It had been months. And we didn't know.

[nojohnyouare]

Flavourtown recipe. I tried to learn a lot of them. ...They're excessive.

[plentyfriendly]

I didn't think Food Network operated in Japan.

[Space isn't out of the question, though.]