sixthiterationlogs | [Closed] Surprise birthday

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[Closed] Surprise birthday

WHO: Seifer Almasy
WHERE: House 16
WHEN: December 22nd, morning
OPEN TO: Nida and Rinoa
WARNINGS: The usual swearing and possible discussions of past trauma

The last thing on Seifer's mind when he woke up was what day it was. Most of what was on his mind was that he was cold and wanted some breakfast. Maybe he'd be lazy and not run before eating today. That was a choice he could make now, to not jog two miles first thing. He could just not do that. It was a strangely liberating thought. He could just not and there would be no one to reprimand him for it.

Quietly he picked his way through the house, gingerly stepping over the Julia obstacle who seemed to magically appear every time she detected breakfast might be made soon. The question of what to make was soon answered by a mysterious package on the counter, with everything he could want to make a batch of pancakes. And... candles? It took him far longer than it should have to figure out the purpose of the 1 and 9 shaped candle in the box before it finally dawned on him what day it was. Evidently someone cared a hell of a lot more about it being his birthday than he did.

Strange.

And so soon enough should his roommates become curious they'd find him making up a batch of blueberry pancakes, the candles set off to the side for now. He'll go enjoy those in private, later, wondering which one of them even thought about doing such a thing. Rinoa, had to be Rinoa, why would Nida care? Hopefully she didn't plan on making it a bigger thing than it had to be. He was just pleased someone cared to remember at all.

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Well, wherever the box had come from, it hadn't been from Nida. That much was for sure. There wouldn't be time for him to manage it, because frankly unlike Seifer he did put in two miles first thing, after making sure to wake up early enough to stock up the wood-burning heater in the basement. Apparently he was less able than Seifer to shake off expectations.

Nida, originally intent on heading back to his room after that morning jog, found himself pausing instead as he heard noises from the kitchen. Seifer would be in there, and even after their sparring session he'd been working to give Seifer space. It was more than clear that he wasn't really tolerated by the blonde, so he didn't intend to push into his space. And yet...

And yet he knew what today was. Had read Seifer's file a few times after the war, on jobs to try and check in on the wayward knight. Letting Seifer knew he knew was another matter entirely. His fingers felt into his pocket, the familiar weight of the gloves there. Squall's once, his now. Or they were, until he moved into the kitchen with purpose.

Not like he was that friendly toward the strangeness of Julia anyway. And Seifer could use the cat.

"Hey," he said, poking his head into the kitchen, and then he froze, gift forgotten. "What the... where did you get blueberries from?"

Rinoa had thought ahead of this for at least a week now. It only took her looking down at their calendar to go oh! Seifer's birthday! Because of course she would never forget that. She had a perfect memory when it came to the sentimental things, and she asked him his birthday when they were still flirting and in the early stage of dating. She suspected he wouldn't want a big deal made about it, but a little deal was going to be made whether he liked it or not.

They all were early risers and she came out of her room already fresh and ready for the day. His present was in her pocket and she had her gloves on, which she always wore in the house so she could swoop up Julia like now. The kitten was placed on the couch and seemed content to curl up there ... for now. Rinoa had been working on her holiday gift request that mysteriously came to her whenever possible, and would probably go back to it once they celebrated a little.

If only she could make him a cake!

She smelled the pancakes though and was surprised, walking past Nida into the kitchen to see what Seifer was doing. "I'm going to have to second him. That's amazing but also, shouldn't you be letting us make you birthday breakfast?" She poked his side playfully.

Excuse him it is his birthday and the first day since he's been living there that he hasn't put in two miles. He'll do it later. It's not like he doesn't get plenty of exercise working at the forge. Hitting things with hammers is strangely cathartic and great for one's arms. Also, evidently Nida completely misread the sparring session if he thought Seifer barely tolerated him. Guy's too hard on himself, Seifer's just eternally paranoid it's not Nida's fault.

"Mornin'," He rumbled to them both, skillfully flipping a nice golden pancake. It'd been a while since anyone let him do campfire cooking and pancakes were his go to. Frankly he was enjoying having access to a kitchen, even if it was a very rustic one. Rinoa's friendly poke earned a slight twitch, he's a tiny bit ticklish, but mostly just surprised at how comfortable she was with him already. The question was what really threw him and he shot Rinoa a perplexed look. "I thought you put this here?"

If it wasn't Rinoa, and it wasn't Nida, then who? He glanced at Nida. "Definitely not you?" They had break-in faeries who leave gifts rather than take things? Oh, also. "You guys want some?" He should feed them as well it looked like enough for everyone to have a little breakfast.

Friendly wasn’t exactly their modus operandi, right? Nida felt the assumption was fair. For now he stayed there in the doorway considering the whole scene. How... domestic. Strange to see Seifer there, cooking. At best Nida managed potato porridge when he was in charge. He could char meat but little less. He hadn’t done as well in that part of classes.

“I’ve heard sometimes things just appear,” Nida offered, looking to Rinoa. She was the most experienced one here. “Like how our power happened, and the whole appliances thing here.”

There was no denying the vacuum had not been there when he arrived. Still... if pancakes were offered, he was in.

“And here I thought I was the only one who remembered your birthday. Maybe I should keep my gift.”

Rinoa arched an eyebrow at him and then over at Nida. "No, it wasn't me." Nida though got there faster than she did, and she snapped her fingers, nodding. "Yes, they do that. People get unexpected surprises that way, sometimes very helpful supplies. Weird, right?" Her fingers went instinctively to her necklace, because that was an example. A particularly cruel one since she got it the same day Squall disappeared, but she wasn't going to let that stop her from wearing it. As a constant reminder he was out there somewhere, waiting for her.

She laughed. "Oh I never forget birthdays. Which is why you should tell me yours, Nida, so I can be sure to plot a present." She also didn't forget things like favorite foods, favorite colors, a multitude of other details about the people she cared about that were locked in her brain permanently. At least Seifer seemed to have assumed she remembered, if he thought the pancakes were from her.

"I would make you stop but you're clearly better at it than I am. Burned pancakes are not a good birthday breakfast." She was determined to take cooking lessons here and get better at it. "Should we wait to give him our gifts then for food?"

How does one pull off friendly, anyway? It is a mystery. Domestic, apparently, just came naturally when it involved kitchens and breakfast. Thing was, even though he didn't have a lot of experience at it Seifer enjoyed cooking. Making things was cathartic. Be it nails or pancakes.

"That what it is?" Mysterious delivery boxes, huh? He probably shouldn't trust this. "...Never heard of it being anything bad, right?" It all looked and smelled normal so far. He couldn't imagine why their alien overlords or whatever would go to all the trouble to bring them there, experiment on them, and then poison them. That'd be insane, right? Surely.

Wait there's a gift. He does look over at Nida with clear curiosity and interest, but it's also clear he's biting back the desire to ask what it is. Don't bait him like that, Nida, so mean. He's offering you breakfast here! Seifer definitely expected that Rinoa remembered, he knew enough of her to know she found those kinds of things very important. She also didn't have nearly as much GF induced brain damage to make them so hard to hold onto. Don't do Guardian Forces kids, it's bad for you.

He just grins, it's a rare thing, this genuinely delighted one he didn't often show anyone. "I don't mind cookin'." Whoever gifted him with breakfast fixings new just the thing. "Wait now you're bribing me for my own gifts? Y'know it's a good thing I was already gonna offer to share." He shakes his spatula at her in mock reprimand. Teasing is the best way to show affection.

"I really don't see a point, Rinoa," Nida objected when she asked for his birthday. This is the grand total second thing resembling a birthday celebration that he's ever been too. Was too busy during Squall's one. While Rinoa may not be from his point in the timeline, he definitely remembered stories of the one she threw him.

"Thing is, orphans don't really get used to the concept, you know? Seifer, tell her not to make a fuss of me. I mean, you two I get."

They were connected, they'd dated, they shared something now in their particular traumas. Nida was just... Strange, he almost felt like a third wheel this morning. But her suggestion that they wait until there was food to give gifts over worked for him. He finally entered the kitchen fully. But just enough to lean against a cabinet instead. Perhaps he was channeling Squall today, right down to the crossed arms.

"Never heard of it being bad, and I definitely don't cook much, so let's leave it to you, Seifer."

"Nope, I haven't heard of anything being bad. They are supposed to be helpful. And I guess in this case, delicious." Rinoa pulled out a few of the plates she borrowed from the inn for them to use and cups for the three of them. She set them next to the stove for now. This was exciting, actually! She hadn't enjoyed any food that reminded her of home since getting here, so it was a nice treat. And nice of him to share.

Rinoa shot Nida an incredulous look, starting with furrowed eyebrows and followed by hands firmly on her hips. It was her oh you're about to get talked to stance. "All the more reason that we're going to celebrate your birthday too. That's what friends do." She glanced at Seifer and then back to him, laughing. "Oh don't think he can stop me from making a fuss, he can tell you how relentless I am." It was technically how she landed two boyfriends, but she would do it for friends too.

She changed tactics and softened her face. "You were there for me when ... things were bad." A quick look to Seifer and then back to him. Generally she didn't bring Squall's disappearance up. "I promise we don't have to make any bigger a deal of it than this." A general gesture to the three of them. Having breakfast and little gifts. It wasn't like she was going to throw him a big party.

This year.

No promises.

If they like it, maybe he'll make a habit of making breakfast more often. Seifer wouldn't mind that. Be a nice thing to do, he thinks. Actually kind of excited to see if his cooking is tolerable. Is that a weird thing to be excited about? Probably. Nida's attempt to rope Seifer into defending him just received a barked laugh.

"Oh no, I know better than that. You better tell her or she'll make one up for you anyway." Thing was, Nida shared things with them too. Maybe not Rinoa as much but he and Seifer grew up together, if distantly. In the same environment, experiencing the same things. Both being orphans. There was a familiarity there he couldn't have as easily with Rinoa, not to mention their shared trauma was also incredibly awkward so it was nice pulling him in and making him part of the balancing act. Come, Nida, accept the peace offerings. No third wheels here.

As he finishes cooking he starts loading pancakes onto the plates helpfully set there by Rinoa, thank you. No comment from the peanut gallery about Squall's disappearance, he's just cooking. Pancakes will be done soon. "Everyone like blueberries?" He sure hopes so they're in the batter it's too late.

Oh geez, Rinoa looked serious, and Nida didn't know what to do with that. No help from Seifer either. Did the man not understand that they were comrades now? They had beaten each other silly. That was what comrades were back at Garden. People who you beat up and who beat you up and didn't hold it against you.

After a long moment he shook his head and sighed. Fine, he might as well give in. If only this had taken another few weeks to get to.

"The thirty-first," he said. Didn't provide a month. Did he need to? "And blueberries are nice. Worse than blackberries, way better than strawberries which constantly try to kill me."

Rinoa smiled at Seifer and shrugged, because he was right, he knew her well enough. She didn't grow up the same way as they did, but she was isolated in a way, from a lot of people her age. She constantly tried to find better ways of connecting with her SeeD friends since she didn't grow up at the Garden. But she didn't begrudge the friendship and understanding being from a similar background gave them. She was glad.

"Ooooh, you almost got away with it." She tsked at him and ticked her finger back and forth. Yes the plates were set there for the pancakes. This meant she'd have to work hard to find him something too as well as finish the holiday gift she was mysteriously assigned. She was fine with that, it gave her something to do! "March 3rd is mine. I look forward to seeing you both try to sing happy birthday to me." She grinned at that.

"Any other allergies?" She glanced over at Nida. "Dogs and strawberries." She remembered! Rinoa missed her dog so much, but she would have felt sorry to put him through that. At least Julia's lack of normal animal fur helped make her less troublesome. Outside of the whole drugged skin.

They all had their commonalities. Maybe they could make this strange situation they were thrust into work. Part of that was that the camaraderie he now shared with Nida? Well that meant he was getting pulled in on these birthday antics. And he was going to get roped into helping Seifer figure out what to do for Rinoa's birthday. At least they had a few months to figure hers out.

"This month? Pretty close. Blackberries, I'll see what's around." They're probably out of season now but it was the right kind of area for them to grow. He'd go have a foraging adventure later. Everyone's just going to have to deal with pancakes.

Which, speaking of, as the plates were filled up Seifer moved them over to the table. Sit, eat, he'll join as soon as he's done. "Joke's on you, I have a beautiful voice." No he doesn't, he can't hold a tune for the life of him. It'll be terrible.

Should he do the candles? Rinoa's not going to let him get away with not doing the candles will she?

"I mean, if we trust this calendar here to line up with ours," Nida said, because he didn't. It was May thanks. But he did nod to confirm. This month. Nine days away. He had gotten close to getting away with it too. But with Rinoa's song thing...

"I'm not singing for either of you," Nida said, raising his hands defensively. "I'm a dancer, not a singer. I'll make signs or something. Or get someone to sing to you who is good at it. And no, no other allergies that I know. Except the usual like death."

He won't hold out hope for blackberries, those are insanely out of season. He's been checking. But that wasn't here or there. What was here was the fact that pancakes were done, and they were good. As he moved to the table he stopped, catching sight of the candles, and he smirked.

"Those have to go on yours. I can't accept anything else, Seifer. Someone sent you candles, you have to use them. I think it's a tradition or something."

Edited 2018-12-24 04:28 (UTC)

Rinoa looked over at Seifer suspiciously when he said he had a beautiful voice. That would be a wonderful surprise, but she was very skeptical. "Uh huh, let's hear you." She was teasing though, poking him in the side again as her go-to display of cautious affection. "Seriously? You don't have to sing well to sing happy birthday, it's the thought that counts!" Ugh, boys. She huffed at them and took a seat at the table.

"Oh! Yes you have to use the candles." Rinoa clapped her hands, excited. "And I will sing for you, and then you make a wish and blow out the candle." Apparently neither of them had this experience and if she thought too much about it she'd be sad and hug them both until they got awkward and uncomfortable. So instead she was going to settle for this ceremony without making too big a deal out of it.

Truthfully Seifer didn't know what month it was supposed to be anymore, his sense of time had been pretty well obliterated by the end of the war, but he was quite certain it wasn't winter yet. Whatever, time and space warping nonsense was just par for the course at this point. Rinoa had already explained they came from different times, though theirs were fairly close. Nida's quite a bit ahead of them.

"Ah, Hyne," Seifer grumbled. He'd been hoping to get out of having to use them but now he was caught. "Anyone got a way to light 'em?" Matches, or a stick he can light on the stove? And no, he won't sing right now, he just gives Rinoa a cocky grin while otherwise keeping his mouth shut. She'll just have to wait and see. It'll be horrible don't worry. "You make a wish?" Was that part of the tradition? "Like what?" He didn't know what to wish for. Maybe his posse. Though that might be cruel he didn't know.

Don't think too hard on the sad things, Rinoa, you will only be depressed. Seifer was determined to enjoy his day no matter how strange it was to be in this world making himself birthday pancakes.

"How about for a good singing voice," Nida suggested as he rose to dig through a mound of wood he'd brought up just for the kitchen and the stove. Soon he found a piece of wood that he was able to strip a bit of bark off of, more than long enough for him to get some fire to light the candles with. He presented the bark to Seifer with a flourish.

"Your Fira spell, my good sir," he said in a slightly mocking tone, because come on, you had to make light of things at a time like this. But then he did look to Rinoa. "I... don't remember wishing on candles. GFs and all that. What... what would you wish for?"

he is not talking about singing because he might feel bad if she pushes a bit further and asks him to.

Rinoa would answer Seifer but then Nida joked about the good singing voice, and she laughed at that. It was on the tip of her tongue! She smiled warmly at both of them. If she was stuck in this place, at least she got to keep the two of them for now. She laughed again at the fira reference. "It's too bad your birthday wasn't last week when we could set things on fire!" Rinoa learned how to use it once and then never did again. She was very hesitant around any form of magic.

She would wish for Squall, obviously. And their friends. And home. And a lot of things that would never be helpful right then. So she wasn't going to worry about any of that. "I used to wish for silly things when I was young, but it's supposed to be things that you might possibly get. Sometimes I just wished for world peace. Or a million more wishes." Rinoa didn't really want to admit how shallow and silly those wishes felt now. She wanted dresses and a car, they were orphan soldiers. It was a big difference.

"Like if you didn't already have these, you could wish for a birthday breakfast, and voila. But keep it obtainable. Like I wish for a new exciting project, or learning a new skill, or getting an impressive fish." She put a finger to her lips. "Only you can't share it because it doesn't come true if you say it." Rinoa smiled. "Yeah it's definitely a silly tradition now that I think of it."

"Tch, you don't know." Nida's on to him, his singing voice was atrocious. Now he was going to inflict it on them just to spite them. They asked for it, whether they knew it or not! However, his brief stint of sullenness was quickly lifted by Nida's antics, which earned a chuckle as Seifer accepted his gift of Fira.

"Hah! Why thank you," He rumbled in amusement, using the bark to gingerly light his candles before shaking it out. Since he didn't see any reason not to he just stuffed them into his small stack of pancakes. Perfect. Blueberry pancake... cake. Totally counted. 19 in a strange world far from home. With an unexpected pair of... friends? Were they friends? He'd like to think they were on at least reasonably friendly terms, considering they were living together. What an odd time and place to be alive.

"Yeah, I got to use it for a handful of days over at the forge, too bad it's gone now." He already missed his awesome fire powers. Even if magic was still kind of a weird thing for him too. Part of him enjoyed the power and fun of it all, the other part was knee-jerk leery to outright panicked about it. Hard to internalize, Rinoa probably understood. Not something he wanted to think about too much right now.

"Hm. I dunno, we seem to be pullin' off world peace here." He mused. What would he want? His posse. Maybe even Squall back? More for Rinoa than himself, he wasn't sure he was ready to face Leonhart after everything he'd done. A coat? Funny that his gunblade wasn't even at the top of his list. Easy to fall into the comfort that was accepting they didn't need to fight here. Not like they had to back home. Sometimes shallow wishes made the world seem less dark.

Her explanation earned a quietly huffed sound of amusement. Obtainable, huh? Well... maybe he knows just the thing after all. After some long consideration, watching the flames gently dance on the ends of his candles he bent down to blow them out, looking satisfied.

Of course he can't tell them what it was that'll be breaking tradition. Was he supposed to wait for singing? Oops.

What Nida would want wast attainable, so thanks for letting him know Rinoa. Not like he needed to remember his parents anyway. But he does settle in his chair and seem happy over his own pancakes. At least they look good. Won’t take a bit until Seifer has blown out the candles.

And even then...

Nida fishes the gloves out of his pocket. He had tied them together with a poorly made bow using scraps of the paper from the goody bag he had gotten at Kamala’s party. Didn’t save the whole thing because paper was a great fire starter. He slid the gloves across the table like it was no big thing. Only Rinoa needed to know how Nida has lamented a lack of gloves his first few days. Before Squall had disappeared and Nida had inherited his.

“You seem to look really eager to pet Julia.”

Rinoa clapped her hands when Seifer blew out the candles. "Okay I was supposed to sing first, but that's okay, I can do it after presents." Either way he was going to have to deal with hearing it! At least Rinoa did have the singing voice of an angel. So things could be worse. She glances over to see what Nida gave him and smiles warmly. She does know about him lamenting the gloves so it's a very thoughtful choice. "Julia really needs more pets!"

She picks out the compass from her pocket and sets it down next to him. She really wishes they were back home where she could have had a lot of options to pick from to give him something, but this would have to do. At least they all knew the situation they were in. It still means if they're still here next year, she's going to get started on a real gift sooner. Something very thoughtful and heartfelt!

Before he could argue, she smiles brightly and sings for him. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Seifer, happy birthday to youuu."

A wish was a wish, what did it matter if it was attainable or not? Just superstition, in Seifer's mind. Oops, he had the good grace to look slightly sheepish at jumping the gun and blowing the candles out before Rinoa could sing. Still, he waited to sit down until she was done, unable to hide the slightly dorky grin at the whole thing. It was silly, but it felt nice to have people care anyway.

He even looked a little more touched at the effort Nida had gone to to somewhat wrap those gloves. Granted he didn't know they were Squall's, or how much Nida had bemoaned not having any, but was he ever right in that Seifer had wanted so much to pet the cat. And had anyway despite the high that came with it. ...Okay maybe partially because of it too. Feel good, no hangover? What's the drawback? And a compass? "You guys didn't have to get me gifts," He laments, but he looks delighted. He'll have to try to do something nice for them in return. "These are gonna be really useful, thank you."

Rinoa may not think it's much but for someone who likes to explore? A compass is invaluable. He can't help it he actually smiles, a real one, the one people very rarely get to see out of him. You guys made his day.

"And yet, we did. Apparently we like you. Who could have imagined that?" Nida answered. Sorry, he was made of snark in the mornings which was part of the reason why he didn't bother interacting with people early in the day. Was that silly? Yes, but he did what he had to do anyway. In part to keep himself sane.

With that comment out there he turned his attention to the meal because... well, now he just felt awkward. Being here. Doing this. Seifer, though, deserved something good.

That smile of his was rare, and she knows that, and Rinoa can't help but smile back. He did deserve it, even if he didn't think he did. She stuck her tongue out at Nida playfully, and then turned her own attention to the meal.

[ooc: this feels like a pretty good wrap you two, thoughts?]

(ooc: agreed)

(ooc: sounds good!)

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[Closed] Surprise birthday

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