forever and ever embracing the fragments

[nojohnyouare]

Who: Mai, you
What: It's her birthday and she'll lineface if she wants to.
When: Forward-dated to the 29th.
Where: Station residential common room
Warnings: Possibly sad IC references to the recent dropstorm.

Mai doesn't say too much today, not that it's easy to tell compared to how she usually acts. She'll nod at people, get to work in the kitchen, and then make her way out to the common room. You might be forgiven for thinking she's just going to sit and play tug-of-war with Bear-san with a dog toy, but she's also got one of the tables out with some weird things she probably learned to make in Flavourtown, plus more normal stir-fry and rice if you want. There are a bunch of plastic plates and cutlery there, too, waiting for use. Also, a reused party banner from Christmas is hanging up again, booby-san painting and all.

It feels strange to throw her own party. Probably wrong. But these days, what else can you do?

If someone comes in, she looks up and gives a little smile.]

No games. Sorry. ...Unless you have some.

Comments

[have_hat_will_travel]

.... Erm. Dare I ask the context behind setting this up?

[Pidonus Marasia, at least, had missed the context of it being Mai's birthday, it seemed...]

[nojohnyouare]

Party.

[She pulls the dog toy and lets Bear-san pull it back.]

Birthday. ...Have things been okay. For you.

[have_hat_will_travel]

... Your birthday?

And, uh, okay. I would've tried to help if I'd known about this...

[nojohnyouare]

...Sorry. I didn't want to bother anyone. And... I didn't know who would be left.

[redmeguca]

You know, I would have helped out with this party too if you'd asked.

[Momo is once again atop Kyoko's head, and is currently sniffing at Mai.]

[nojohnyouare]

Arianna's friend. [Mai nods in greeting and puts her hand out for Momo.] ...Sorry. I didn't want to trouble anybody.

[redmeguca]

[Momo reaches out and places her head in Mai's hand.]

Sister, actually. And it's no trouble at all, Rosso Fantasma is perfect for this stuff.

[nojohnyouare]

[Pet, pet. Bear-san whines and snuffles around Momo, who the heck is this intruder.]

You work hard.

[hairpincurves]

[Oh, that banner, some food set up...

She smiles at Mai before going over and helping herself to a little bit of everything.]

Birthday, then? You should've let me know, I would've made you a cake.

[nojohnyouare]

Sorry. ...I know. But... Difficult, lately. To see who will still be around.

[hairpincurves]

Ah... that's fair. A lot of people are gone now, huh?

[She'll go ahead and start digging in after sitting down near Mai. She'll lean down to pat Bear-san, too.]

... Huh, these are pretty interesting recipes. [She's not sure how she feels about the crab on potato crisps right now, but the others... she's into them, honestly.]

[nojohnyouare]

Most of what I know... Flavourtown or instant.

[Bear-san snuffles around her and makes happy noises.]

[fistsofchange]

[Lin glanced around the common room without really understanding but also not really worried about that. "Vaguely confused" was an expression she wore comfortably.]

We celebrating something today?

[nojohnyouare]

...

[Mai gets up from playing with Bear-san and offers Lin a piece of cake.]

Birthday. I haven't had one. In a long time. ...People usually do this for you. But I didn't know if that was still feasible. Sorry.

[fistsofchange]

Oh!

[Lin accepts the piece of cake and give Mai a one handed hug.]

Well then happy birthday Mai!

[nojohnyouare]

[Mai flop-leans against her with a small sigh.]

Thank you. ...I didn't know who would still be here.

[founderinglight]

[Well, you know you can count on Izunia to try anything once. Which is why he's got a plateful of weird Flavortown food without even batting an eyelash.]

I might have a few, but even for you, this seems a bit somber to be called a celebration.

[You holding up okay, notniece?]

[nojohnyouare]

...I'm bad at this.

[She nods at the food, however.]

Should there be?

[founderinglight]

You're fine, my dear.

[Mai is good and we do not take alternative opinions.]

I just wanted to be sure that you're holding up alright.

[nojohnyouare]

...

[Mai stares at her own plate of food.]

Unsure. Who will be here from day to day. So I don't want to leave things to other people.

[coagmentatio]

What's... the occasion?

[ Guess who has never been to a party and never got a typical one even thrown as a kid! ]

[nojohnyouare]

[Mai?]

Birthday. ...You're supposed to throw them for other people. But I didn't want to trouble them. Hungry?

[coagmentatio]

[ That makes the two of them. :'> ]

Ah... [ soft... frown ] I doubt anyone worth worrying about here would see you as trouble.

[ He nods, though! ]

[beguiledcard]

... Oh.

[ He takes a moment to look around... and then he opens his mouth, only to close it.

... Then, he's reaching into his pocket to pull out a small, wrapped cupcake. It's not... one of his best, hence it being stuck in the inventory, but he's holding up a finger as a general "give me a moment" sign.

After that, he unwraps the cupcake and pulls out a small candle to stick in it. Once he's taken care of lighting it, he gives a small nod and a smile. ]

Make a wish.

[nojohnyouare]

[Mai's eyes widen and she takes the cupcake very carefully. She hesitates and blows out the candle.]

...?