afraid_of_marshmallows | The All-Purpose Room, Midnight Manor, Saturday Afternoon

As far as Cal was aware, Arden had set this whole thing up to celebrate his win in paintball. After remembering the All-Purpose room existed and getting permission from Steven to use it, Arden had programmed in a decent-sized mountain for them to climb. If her side had a lot more hand- and footholds than Cal Climbing-Would-Be-My-Middle-Name Kestis' had, well...sometimes mountains grew that way. Or whatever. Hush.

Of course, what Cal didn't know was that while Arden was keeping him busy with a climb, BD-1 (the true architect of this party) and Kamala were busy setting up everything for the party proper. The top of the mountain turned into a beautiful landscape dominated by verdant trees so big there were houses built into them, with mountains shrouded in mist far in the distance, dominated by a tree even larger still. Arden had been very glad that BD-1 was able to communicate with Midnight, too; he'd had a very specific idea of how Kashyyyk was supposed to look and there was no way that she could have translated binary well enough to have pulled it off. Of course, beautiful alien vista or not, this was an Earth birthday party and some things were absolutely required. So there were a bunch of ~~moddable~~ pizzas (including two vegan, and several with very spicy toppings), soda, bowls of chips and popcorn, a fruit and a veggie platter, and, the centerpiece of it all: a chocolate and pistachio ice cream cake from Chilly Boulder with HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY CAL! written on it.

And probably red Squishies, because Kamala had been deputized for setup.

Welcome to Keshyyyk, everybody. Hope you brought your party hats.

[Friends, neighbors, frenemies, and especially GFFA folks, please feel free to assume you've gotten an invitation emailed, texted, sent via droid and/or carrier pigeon...whatever! However it got to you, please show up and help Cal celebrate his twenty-first birthday in style!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Likewise," Steven said. "Grab a coffee or the like? We're... sort of splitting the week? In a way? Not a hard and fast line but it's worked out that I tend to need the end of the week for work and the like which leaves the front for him if he'd like to take it."

"Absolutely," Lana agreed. "With you and him both, separately or together, your choice."

"And of course you're welcome to pop by when we're working," Steven said, just to put more options out there. "Marc sort of hangs about his office on Tuesdays sometimes? You passed it on the way in, door next to this one. I will say that is one difficulty with friends who are teachers. Not as easy to pop in and say hello if you're not taking the class."

"You're always welcome to pop into one of my classes," Lana insisted, "but I take your point. I'll try to drop by more often."

"Is that possible?" Steven asked. "I assumed it wasn't allowed if you weren't a student. Taking the class, I mean. Not just - " Steven gestured to the younger party goers to demonstrate.

"I won't tell if you won't," Lana said. "You can come in as an associate teacher for one day."

"If you ever go to London I suppose," Steven said. "Could play local expert for you."

"Oh, I'd love to do that," Lana said. "I don't think we've been there yet. And even places we have been - we'll probably have to go back to Tokyo and New York, at least, there's so much to see."

"Couldn't do it in a day," Steven agreed. "None of them. London included. I used to work the British Museum, for what it's worth. Could do you a good tour guide job there in particular."

And odds were that in the version Lana went to nobody would know Steven to mention he hadn't actually been a tour guide!

"Perhaps I should do another class on museums around the world," Lana mused. "I'd certainly like to go there myself. For now, though, we're experiencing the cities and nature of this world. I imagine you could guide us to some good places in London, though."

Like the best fish and chips.

"Can certainly recommend places to go of all sorts," Steven said. "Loads of options for any interest."

Lana nodded. "I'd love to hear about anything you think might be interesting to tourists. We're really trying to see what each place puts forward as its best."

Which might not be its actual best, but it still told you a lot about a place.

"Depends on what you're in the mood for," Steven said. "Museums are out? Would castles be as well? Loads of history there. Then there's parks, shops - world's largest bookstore, for example. And the food."

"Any of that sounds good," Lana said. "All of it! Earth has so much to do for such a small planet, it's amazing."

"Highly diverse," Steven said. "Even in comparison to all the sorts we get in this place."

Steven gestured to the party goers to demonstrate.

Lana smiled. "Earth is as diverse as any several entire systems in my galaxy. It's amazing."

The All-Purpose Room, Midnight Manor, Saturday Afternoon

Re: Arrive and Mingle

Re: Arrive and Mingle

Re: Arrive and Mingle

Re: Arrive and Mingle

Re: Arrive and Mingle

Re: Arrive and Mingle

Re: Arrive and Mingle

Re: Arrive and Mingle

Re: Arrive and Mingle

Re: Arrive and Mingle

Re: Arrive and Mingle

Re: Arrive and Mingle

Re: Arrive and Mingle

Re: Arrive and Mingle

Re: Arrive and Mingle

Re: Arrive and Mingle