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!]

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From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

"It was his idea!" Arden protested. "I was simply a pair of hands and sometimes the supplier of Earth know-how. It was the cutest thing, actually. He snuck into my shift at the library and played charades and used book covers to let me know Cal's birthday was coming up and he wanted to throw him a surprise party."

From:

hasaknightjob

"Isn't that sweet?" Steven said. "Well done, him. Clever of him to think of doing it that way. And you for translating I suppose."

From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

"Oh, if it weren't for the pictures, I'd've been lost. I get confused halfway through 'hello' in binary. I have no idea how Cal can just like, translate it so fast." Arden sighed. "Jealous and can't even pretend to hide it. My claim to a foreign language is singing part of Despacito."

From:

hasaknightjob

"Takes practice," Steven said, with sympathy. "Depends on the language as well. Still working on learning Mandarin, for example."

From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

"I'm struggling to continue learning Japanese," she admitted. "Professor Tanizaki is..." Arden tried to find a nice way to put it. "...Well, she really like my barbeque."

From:

hasaknightjob

Steven nodded with understanding. "Yes. Some teachers are... more skilled than others, I've found. True of all professions I suppose. But can be frustrating if you were hoping to learn something."

From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

"You were in the crazy vampire doctor's class one time, right?" Her voice was all sympathy.

From:

hasaknightjob

"It was... educational?" Steven offered by way of confirmation. And an attempt at diplomacy.

From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

"I'm sure it would teach you just how crazy she is," Arden snorted.

From:

hasaknightjob

"I... learned many things about writing," Steven said. In a manner which did indicate he didn't necessarily mean the lessons had been on what to do.

From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

Arden snorted. "Ask Kams and Cal about learning about romance from her."

From:

hasaknightjob

"Romance writing?" Steven asked, because he was forever an optimist.

From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

"Nooooooooooooooooope," Arden said, really popping that 'p.' "I mean, I've mostly heard about it from Kamala. I guess she got a complex from, like, the third class."

From:

hasaknightjob

"Oh the poor thing," Steven said. Given the things Navaan had stressed in writing class, Steven suspected what her romance class might talk about. "And she's not much experience in that area, does she? Dating?"

From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

"I think Ellie is the first person she's dated," Arden said, skipping over the awkward triangle with Bruno. "So either romance class was more useful than you'd expect--" sounded sus "--or her common sense kept her from learning anything terrible."

From:

hasaknightjob

No one needed to talk about Bruno.

"Kamala's always struck me as having a good head on her shoulders," Steven said. "Oh! Did I tell you she knows about Marc and me now? All squared away there. Very understanding."

From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

"Oh good, I'm so glad!" Arden said. "Yeah, Kams is really good and understanding about stuff like that. I'm happy you were comfortable enough to tell her."

She nearly mentioned that Kamala had also been very understanding about her stuff before remembering that Steven didn't know about it.

"Is that everybody in the house now?"

From:

hasaknightjob

Steven took a brief moment to double check he remembered who had been told. "I believe so, yes. It's the ones from worlds like ours that can be difficult. Never know if they might share the viewpoint that Marc and I are... not an ideal situation."

Steven's diplomacy skills were getting a workout today, clearly.

From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

"Really?" Arden said, confused. "I would think that folks from worlds like yours would be more understanding. Like, there's just so much happenings all at once that, I dunno, it feels like they'd just kinda roll with it."

Kamala was a mutant and maybe an alien and there was something with magic bangles...? Like, how was what Marc and Steven had more complicated than that?

From:

hasaknightjob

"You would, yeah," Steven said. "And some are understanding. But, er, many haven't been."

Steven debated how much detail to give, then decided to err on the side of fewer specifics. There was no need to burden Arden with the worst of it. "Lack of understanding. Not - not insurmountable but not automatic either. As an assumption. When meeting people."

From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

"Another kind of coming out," Arden said with a nod. "You never know when someone's gonna be a rampaging asshole about something that doesn't affect them at all." She tilted her head. "But would you want someone like that living in Midnight?"

From:

hasaknightjob

"Yes, precisely!" Steven said, as Arden's comparison was rather apt. "And no. I suppose not. Still hurts though. Losing someone you considered a friend."

From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

"Yeah," Arden murmured, understanding that sentiment all too well. "I'm glad that you don't have to worry about that in your house, at least," she said firmly.

From:

hasaknightjob

"Agreed," Steven said. "We want everyone feeling welcome and safe as they are."

Not that Steven knew if the person he was speaking with particularly needed to hear that message or anything.

From:

afraid_of_marshmallows

Whaaaaaaa??? Arden?

Nooo...

Though, hmm. She should maybe mention to Marc about the fight in Baltimore. And feel guilty that it had taken her this long to say something. She just wasn't used to thinking of stuff that way.

"We do," she assured him. You know, even the folks here not yet ready to be fully upfront about who and what they were. "Did you know? It's been weeks since I grilled anyone about whether or not something was free."

Partially because she'd been spending time with people who had assured her they wouldn't ever do that, but even trusting that much was a step!

Partially because she knew everyone she'd been spending time with,