The All-Purpose Room, Midnight Manor, Saturday Afternoon

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

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!]

Comments

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[what_big_teeth]

"That's a pretty lofty goal," said Eleanor, snorting faintly, and entitely blaming her sudden bout of wit on recent poetry recitation clearly still having her feel a bit lyrical, "even for this elevation. But do you think she'll notice if I tried blending one into her Squishy one of these days?"

And she grinned back at Arden, a bit easier now with things getting under way.

"You guys have done a really great job with all of this, by the way," she added, figuring it wouldn't hurt to let Arden know her hard work had paid off nicely from her vantage so far. "It's beautiful ."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden grinned back, noting and appreciating the wordplay (not a pun! Important distinction!) "A cucumber might be doable," she mused. "Maybe red bell peppers?"

The praise made her grin, ducking her head a bit. "Thanks," she said. "I'd completely forgotten that this room existed until Kam's party. Though BD-1 gets most of the praise. I know I wanted it to look like Keshyyyk, but BD's the one who actually knew what it looked like and did all the programming."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[what_big_teeth]

"Well, then,I'll have to be sure to send him some compliments, too," Eleanor allowed, "but the idea was all yours, and that goes a long way, too! A good group effort overall, at least, any way you look at it."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"It's true," Arden said, grabbing a couple of slices of pizza because climbing up even a pretend mountain was no joke and she was starving. "We're a pretty great group, aren't we?" She looked around the assembled with a fond smile. "I don't know much about having friends, but I'm pretty sure we lucked out on having each other."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[what_big_teeth]

"We really did," Eleanor agreed, who supposed she didn't really know much more about having friends, either, but she did know that the one she had had been bad, and the world of Stm Bridgid's might as well have been as much as another planet as what this place was modeled after, compared to FU. And, of course, her eyes couldn't help drifting over toward Kamala, with that extra tug in her chest and a faint, grateful smile before turning her attention back to Arden.

"Thanks, by the way," she added, "for that, too. I never really started hanging out with people much until you sort of nudged me along a little. So I appreciate that."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden turned a surprised look over to Eleanor, one that quickly morphed into a warm smile. "And here, I felt I bad that I didn't do enough and was grateful that Kams pulled you firmly in," she said softly. "Either way, I'm really glad you're hanging out with us now. You're good people, Ellie. Really easy to talk to."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[what_big_teeth]

Eleanor thought about that a lot, actually, how things would still be if Kamala hadn't gone and invited her along with everyone on her trip home for Eid, and if that had been the whole point, that she , even then, just liked Eleanor and wanted to get to know her better, and not just that she was being nice and kind as she was by inviting that strange, quiet girl who mostly kept to herself...

"I try," she said, smile a little rueful, because none of them, not even Kamala, really knew how hard she did. But then again....did she really? Hadn't Arthur said something like that about her? But with Arthur, it was hard to guage how sincere he was. Eleanor liked to think she could tell, but that was just it, wasn't it? Of course she would think that. That was what he was made for.

Her head shook lightly, and she turned her thoughts and attention back toward Kamala, and a light smile drifted up.

"She's kind of like a whirlpool, isn't she?" she asked, and there they were, speaking in terms of water once more, but this time she was prepared for it. "But not a dangerous one. You expect it to be, because why wouldn't you? Whirlpools are supposed to br dangerous. But when you she pulls you in, you don't feel frightened or worried at all. You just feel safe. She makes sure of it. So all that's left for you to do is just kind of marvel at it and enjoy it while she keeps just spinning circles around you until you're dizzy...but in the best way possible..."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Yeah," Arden said softly and if her voice was a little thick, well, maybe Eleanor wouldn't notice. "There are a couple people here like that. And I don't think they know just how...important that is. Cause it's effortless for them. But making people feel safe--it's something special. I wasn't sure I'd ev--" She stopped, turning whatever she was going to say into an awkward cough.

"You say whirlpools, I say whirlwinds and the best part, we're both right. And both really lucky."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[what_big_teeth]

Considering that Eleanor's head tilted as she looked at Arden a little curiously, there was a good chance she had noticed at least...something.

But all she did was give Arden's back a light pat. To help with that cough and all...

"So," she asked, "how was the climb up?"

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Ellie..." A big sigh. "I am a fool. Even giving myself a bunch of foot- and handholds, it was still tiring. Apparently! Climbing up a wholeass mountain, fake or not, is really hard!" Who possibly could have foreseen that? Truly a mystery. "Unless you're Cal Fuckin' Kestis, however, and half fuckin' mountain goat."

She said that with all fondness. Really.

...Or would, tomorrow, when her arms stopped hurting.