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

From:

moreofaponchoguy

"I mean, he wasn't wrong. You didn't need to do all of this," Cal said quietly. "You could have just... I don't know, had everyone sign a card or something." Because of who he was, he looked around at all the food. "Is that ice cream in that cake?"

From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

"Could have," Arden said. "Ooooorrrrr we thought about it and agreed that we wanted to celebrate you with more than that because of how much we like you and how much better our lives are with you in it." She shrugged. "Seemed like pretty simple math to me."

People liked you and were happy you were around, Cal. And they were just going to keep showing you until you accepted it.

She looked at the cake and then back at him. "Ice cream in it? Nah." She paused. "It's all ice cream. Chocolate and pistachio. I seem to remember those being some of your top flavors, once upon an ice cream exploration." So saying, she reached for the gift she'd asked Kamala to bring along and handed it over. "Happy birthday, Cal."

Inside was a leather bound photo album. The first two-thirds were filled with pictures: BD posing with various animals in Pet Photography, one of Cal the first time he met Patches, some of the pictures Cal had texted her while she was in Daventry, some of the pictures of her from Daventry, pretty pictures of the island, snapshots of the places they'd visited in class, one of Arden posing over triumphantly over Cal's paint-spattered body...just picture after picture of adventures on the island and off. Cal and BD, Cal and Arden, Cal and Kamala, even Cal and Lydia. On the beach, chilling in Midnight, up on the roof, bopping around the island...

Didn't matter who was in it or where it shot, every picture was a memory.

And the picture on the front of the album? A field of dandelions.

From:

moreofaponchoguy

These presents were really pushing the limits of Cal's emotional ~~stunting~~ control, and it helped that he had some time to look through all of the pictures to keep from choking up when he tried to talk. "I didn't realize I'd done so much here. And I didn't realize you were capturing it. This is amazing," Cal said. "The dandelions are a nice touch." You know, to put it mildly. "All of this is so nice. I don't even know where to start to thank you."

From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

"Bet you underestimate your impact everywhere you go," Arden murmured softly, because it wouldn't be a conversation between them if she wasn't reading him for filth in it. Hopefully the way she leaned against him helped make it a little easier to hear.

"I don't have any pictures from before I got here," she said. "It's like the first eighteen years of my didn't exist." You know, except for all the trauma. "So I try to take a bunch so there's some kind of record, outside of my memories. Proof that I was here and I had friends and we did a bunch of stupid stuff together and had fun and..." She shrugged against him. "Something I can keep with me so that no matter what happens or where I end up, I know that once I have here and you and everything. Thought maybe you could relate. The rest of the pages are for you to fill. You know, if you wanna."

She reached for his hand and squeezed. "Just saying 'thank you' is fine. You just being you is enough, Cal."

From:

moreofaponchoguy

Was it really a hangout with Arden if he wasn't getting read for filth? Clearly not. "Being me hasn't been enough for a while, but I'm starting to realize who I am here is different. Otherwise, I wouldn't have something like this," he said, motioning to the photo album. "I'll have to make sure there's more pictures there from our future adventures."

Because how could he want to go anywhere else when everyone here was so amazing?

From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

They both knew he wasn't going to stay, though. Maybe for a little while, but Cal wouldn't abandon his galaxy to the Empire. Didn't matter how amazing the people were here or what adventures he had; duty would call him back.

But having him for some time was better than not having him at all, dammit.

"I'm pretty sure you're the same you as you are in outer space," she said. Just with fewer expectations to put on his shoulders. "But either way, we all think you're pretty great. Which is why you get--" She gestured at Kashyyyk. "BD insisted you deserved the best and the rest of us agreed."

From:

moreofaponchoguy

No, he couldn't stay forever, but he was here now, and maybe he should really start making the most of that. "BD insisted, huh?" he said, giving the droid a little fistbump. "I've got to stop letting him out of my sight, or you've got to stop listening to him. About anything but food, I mean, that table looks amazing. I guess we've eaten enough meals together now that you really do know my tastes."

Being seen was never going to get easier, even if it was for mundane things.

From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

"All that buying me dinner you did had some unexpected benefits," Arden teased. "And you can try, but BD and me are an unstoppable force, even without me speaking binary. Ain't that right, baby?" She grinned at the little droid, taking a second to be unbearably smug about it all.

Patches could never.

She slung her arm around his waist. "If it helps any, next year will probably be more lowkey? If only because you know we know your birthday now."

From:

moreofaponchoguy

Cal let out another long sigh. "If I wanted people to know my birthday, I would have told all of you," he said with the tiniest of petulant whines. "At least I can be part of the drinking classes now, which feels weird considering how often I've been to Caritas already."

From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

Arden elbowed him. "Is the reason you didn't want us to know because you feel weird having people celebrate you, like you haven't done enough to earn it?"

It wasn't that Arden went out of her way to read him! He just made it the only option she had available!

From:

moreofaponchoguy

She could try a little harder to not read him! She had the strength!

"I didn't want people to make a big deal out of it," he said, before thinking about how that sounded when she had made a big deal out of it. "I'm not used to birthdays being a big deal for me. It's just another day, you know? I appreciate all of this, I really do. It's just... a lot in this moment."

From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

Nobody was that strong, Cal. Nobody.

Arden nodded, exchanging a guilty look with BD-1. "Okay," she said. "Sorry. We got a little carried away. But birthdays are supposed to be about what you want, not us. Sorry, Cal, for real."

From:

moreofaponchoguy

"You don't have to be sorry. This is amazing," he said. "I just... I wouldn't have expected so many people would want to celebrate my birthday. It's that weird kind of nice-guilty-happy feeling. Like when something good is happening but it feels wrong to take it?" He didn't know how to describe the mix of happiness and discomfort he was feeling but maybe Arden, as awesome as she was, would understand.

From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

"Like maybe you haven't earned it?" she hazarded, for once not trying to turn it into a read, just trying to make sure she understood. "Feeling sorta guilty because you're getting something nice that other people deserve but you don't, so it almost feels like cheating?"

From:

moreofaponchoguy

Cal just nodded, because even a gentle read was still a good read. "But you guys think I've earned it, or you wouldn't be here, right?"

From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

Arden wanted to point out that he didn't have to earn it, that he just deserved it, but she was pretty sure that that would actually not be helpful at all.

So instead she just nodded, unconsciously taking his hand and squeezing. "We do," she promised. "Look at all these people who do."