riverviewlogs | It's Party Time

Entry tags:

It's Party Time | Open to CR

who: Shiro, Keith, and close CR
what: Keith's birthday
when: Saturday
where: Shiro and Keith's house

A few days since the memories had stopped and a couple of nights of decent sleep and Shiro was back to his normal self. Now that he was feeling better, he remembered that he had missed something: Keith's birthday. Even Keith had forgotten it with everything that was going on. But Shiro needed to fix that.

As discretely as possible, Shiro had gotten an idea of who Keith's friends here were. Of course he also had some idea based on who had come to see Red when the lion had arrived. Some people had been generally curious while others had clearly heard about the lions from Keith and wanted to meet them in person. So he had used that as an opening to figure out how close Keith was to certain people. Once he had had an idea, he had begun to invite people.

The day of Keith's party, he made an excuse to get Keith out of the house for a while so Ed could come over. He needed help to get the decorations up in a short amount of time, plus surprising Keith wasn't necessarily the best thing to do so letting him know at some point there were people at the house was probably a good thing to do so Shiro would have to meet him or stall for time for everything to get arranged.

Which of course he did eventually have to leave to meet Keith once guests had started to arrive. Soon when he returned, it wasn't quite a surprise party for Keith... just a surprise it was for him.

However, Shiro couldn't leave without putting a party hat on Red. It was a party for her paladin after all so she should be festive.

[ooc: open to CR. Party crashers, be aware there are two robot lions - one the size of a liger - and if the host or guest of honor get annoyed with the party crasher, there will likely be a lion or two ushering them towards the door.

invited guests would be - Lola, Marinette, Ed, Hana, Al, Nico, Lyle, Genji, X'rhun. Shiro's going based on what he was able to gather]

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Marinette grinned, "It's fine, I'm just teasing." She grins. She's not one to talk though, her own birthday probably long passed without her even acknowledging it. "Whoah, twenty, really?" She grinned -- oh, and also stepped back out of the hug because .. yeah. Eheh, not wanting things to get weird and all. "So the big 2-0. Feel any different?" God Marinette, he's like, four years older than you, he's not an old man.

"Eh-heh..." When Marinette stepped back, Keith slid his hands into his pockets. Oye. Was hitting twenty such a big deal? Why did she back off like that? He tried to push that feeling down. It wasn't pleasant. Instead, he shrugged a little at her question about feeling different.

"Not really." He'd been basically living as an adult for a few years already. This honestly felt like just another day, if it hadn't been for the party. "I guess it just doesn't affect me anymore." Then again, it hadn't affected him in a looong time. He'd stopped celebrating his birthday once he was on his own. It just didn't seem all that important.

YEP. Not weird at all, no sir. She cleared her throat a little awkwardly, and reached down to pick up his present again, carefully since she didn't want to prematurely rip the wrapping. "Huh. And here I thought when people hit 20 it was supposed to be a big deal." Maybe that was 40?

Then again not everyone was big on birthdays or holidays, so she couldn't really judge. "Oh! Uh -- here." She held up the box, neatly wrapped in red paper - it's her favorite color, sue her.

"Is it?" Keith really was clueless about these things. "I never really thought about it." Which was actually pretty true. He knew how old he was because people asked and that was a thing, but, beyond that, it never really seemed important. And, well, being alone for something that people usually pushed as being a time to get together with friends and family to celebrate always just seemed really depressing. So, it was easier to just not think about it anymore.

He took the gift carefully. "Thanks..." Should he open it now? He hesitated, almost frowning a little bit, as he head worked through a few things all at once. And one thought just sort of pushed through to the surface.

"That doesn't make you feel weird, does it?" he asked. "That I'm twenty?" He had no idea how old she was, but she had seemed pretty close to him in age. Was he that off? Was it that much of a big deal?

"Well.. that's what they say anyway." You know, the vague 'Them' out there. That was a really sad way to consider it though - don't be depressed, Keith! She would rather he not think about it than be depressed. At his hesitation taking the gift, she rocked a bit on her heels - oh, maybe he'd rather open his presents later? She absently tugged her pigtail, oddly awkward, "Oh uh.. YOu don't have to open it now, you can open it later with the other gifts." Or even after the party!

Though his question got a surprised look from her. Eep, did she make him think she felt weird around him because of his age? She shook her head quickly, "No! No nono, absolutely not!" she answered hastily, "And you're not that much older than me anyway." She fidgeted a little, "I mean.. as long as you don't feel weird that I'm sixteen." Awk-ward. W H Y. "I mean, I always feel comfortable around you." ... because they're friends! It'd be WEIRD if she felt weird. Like now.

Keith shook his head quickly.

"N-no," he said. "I don't mind at all." Heck, Pidge was younger. Though, Pidge was also a lot different than Mari in terms of how he interacted with her. Pidge was more like a little sister. Mari was... well, Keith wasn't really sure about that, yet, but he knew he liked spending time with her, so that was good enough, right? "It's fine, really."

And, well, opening the gift now seemed like a good way to move on from the awkwardness about ages, so he'd do that. He hooked his finger into one of the folds in the paper and pulled it, tearing the end off the wrapping, and then slid the box out. He opened it carefully.

She lets out a sigh of relief she didn't even realize she was holding and smiled. "Good! Erm... Yeah, Good. That you don't mind." She has to mentally kick herself to keep it at that, a little embarrassed that the topic even came up. She did like spending time with Keith, so she would have been upset if he was uncomfortable hanging out with someone a few years younger than him. Even if that would have been silly.

Oh! He's opening the gift now then- she has to bite her lower lip to fight back her nerves. She had put a lot of work into it, but unfortunately, she hadn't been able to do as much with it as she had wanted since she had found out last minute about her friend's birthday. But she really wants him to like it - she really hopes he'll like it still.

SO when he opens the box, he'll see a carefully carved wooden figurine made to match in appearance of the Red Lion, sitting in a bed of some kind of soft paper with its head angled up. It's painted to match red's color scheme too, and there's a -lot- of detail put in the figurine. And closer inspection will show there are very small screws in the joints, showing that the legs, feet and tail can both be moved - in case he wants to have it standing on a shelf instead of sitting or something. There's also a small card hanging by a string from Mini-Red's mouth, with a little lever to make the mouth open or snap closed, similar to the 'magic' lockbox she made that she kept her diary in back home. The only thing on the card though, reads, "Happy Birthday, Keith! I didn't have as much time as I wanted to work on it, but I hope you like this anyway. L Best Wishes, Marinette".

Marinette meanwhile, waits with a mixture of embarrassment, nervousness and anticipation to Keith's opinion. Hopehopehope!

Keith's eyes widened a little as he saw what it was. He tucked the lid of the box under itself so he could lift the carving from the wrappings, and then put the box aside so he could read the note. The articulation was actually really cute, and he smiled a little as he looked it over, moving a few of the joints carefully.

"You made this?"

Yup. He was impressed.

And here Marinette wasn't 100% satisfied with it because she wasn't able to fix it up as much as she wanted. Still, Keith's response made her half to fight back a little blush, scuffing her foot a bit. "Yeah," she admitted, sheepishly, "Remember when I asked you if I could sketch Red? Well, that's why. I mean, when we were talking and you mentioned you didn't have any plush lions I was kind of joking around, but I figured..it might be nice for you to have something like that."

Another wave of her hand as if she wanted to erase what she said. "I mean, not a plush or anything. I, uh.." Gah, his impressed expression was making her embarrassed now. Moreso. "Guys aren't exactly crazy about plush dolls, so I figured.. that would be the next best thing." she leaned over a bit, "See?" She pointed at the Mini-Red's back, "I was originally going to get someone to help me with it - I was going to try to find some small lightbulbs to wire into it for her eyes, but.. I kind of ran out of time." She finishes, a bit apologetically. "Em... do you like it?" She always put her friends happiness before her own, so if he didn't like it, she would absolutely scrap it and try again if he didn't!

Keith sort of let Marinette babble a little, nodding that he remembered her asking about sketching Red, and then the day she had come over to do it. Red had actually liked the attention, moving around as Mari had requested so she could see the angles.

But, yeah... He was impressed, touched... this was really something. After all, she had made it. That meant a lot.

He tilted the figure a little as she pointed out a few things and mentioned the lighting idea. He shrugged a little.

"It's awesome enough without the lights," he said. "Not that it wouldn't be cool with them, either, because it totally would. But, wow. Thanks." Even just a solid carving would have been pretty cool, but she made it movable, and then had been thinking about lights? That seemed like a lot to him. He appreciated it.

Babble is exactly what she was doing too. She had a bad habit of doing that when she was flustered, or nervous, or embarrassed. She had already thought Red was awesome, but the lion moving around and enjoying the attention when she was being sketched was too precious. She loves that lion.

She exhaled, feeling a little more relieved that he liked the figurine, and a lot of the tension managed to just - eaase on out of her like a deflating balloon. "Phew. I'm glad you like it." All that work was more than worth it for that. "I could still get in touch with someone about making those alterations if you want..?" it was great practice, considering she doesn't work with wood as much as she did fabric.

Keith couldn't help the slightly amused expression at Marinette's obvious relief. He looked at the figure as she asked about getting the lights put in it anyway, and considered it.

"I mean, if you really want, that would be cool, too," he said. "But it's still really nice as it is." He shrugged a little, and then held it out to her. "If you really want to have it do that, then go for it."

He honestly didn't mind either way because, just as it was, it was still pretty amazing. But, if she felt strongly enough about having it "finished" by adding the lights and other things she had wanted to do before actually giving it to him, then he'd let her do that.

ACK, she didn't mean NOW. "O-oH! NO no!" She reached out to put her hands on his and push them back, gently so she didn't accidentally knock the figurine out of his hands, "I didn't mean now..! I mean, I don't even have what I need, let alone I'd rather test it on the prototype before adding it to this one - so I don't mess it up. Hang on to it, I can always call you when I have everything ready~!" Besides, she'd feel like an 'indian giver' with the Here have this cool thing, but give it back so i can make it cooler eventually.'

Keith blinked. He didn't mind, either way, honestly, but okay. That could work, too.

"Oh, alright." He shrugged a little. "If anything, it's a good excuse to meet up again, right?"

That was definitely innocent statement. After all, Keith wasn't the much flirtier Blue Paladin.

... he... that HAD to be an innocent statement. Yeah it was just... that weird reluctance she'd had after pulling out of the hug because they were just friends dangit. Don't go misinterpreting things, Mari. Good lord don't go misinterpreting things.

"Oh --well, yeah, of course..!" She grinned, "Although technically we don't really need much reason to see other beyond just wanting to." ... ... that... kind of sounds -- okay that was definitely also an innocent line, but saying it while still resting her hands on his? Kind of made it sound otherwise. She glanced down at her hands, then quickly pulled them away to rest them behind her back, rocking a bit on her heels, "Ah-ahahh, right?" Because friends don't need REASONS to visit.

Marinette's reaction surprised Keith yet again, and he found himself confused again. His eyes widened a little and then he shrugged.

"Yeah. I mean, we don't," he said. "Though, it makes it a little easier to have an excuse, right?" Heh. Heh heh. Why did this feel awkward again?

"Did you see the cake?"

Change of topic, yeah... and he had a feeling she'd like the look of it with the space design Shiro had gotten it done with.

She's just full of awkward derping today. This is Keith's birthday Marinette, don't make things awkward~! ...can she just crawl in a hole for the rest of the day, gawd. "Haha, Yeah, I guess you're right." Ahem. "SO that's the plan then. I'll let you know when I have what I need. You'll barely even notice it was gone." She'll be done that quick! Yeah. She could probably even do it on site.

At mention of the cake, her face lit up with a grin as she nodded, partly grateful for the topic change, and genuinely enthused, "Yeah! It looked amazing - I had to take a picture of it on this," she motioned to the network device, with a chuckle. "It's almost a shame to cut into it."

If she did it on site, he'd probably want to watch the process.

Either way, he gave her a small smile and nodded. "Sounds like a good plan," he said.

Her enthusiastic response to the cake though, was definitely worth the topic change and he nodded back.

"Yeah, it does," he said. "I'm kind of not surprised Shiro got that, though. Space is one of the major things he and I have in common." It had been something they had fallen back on a few times, especially if Keith had been having a rough time and gotten into trouble for something. He knew he'd been quite the handful once Shiro had gotten guardianship of him, but the fact that they both were into flying and outerspace had given them something to bring them together.

Well, that, and Shiro's tenacity to make sure Keith found a way to finally level out. Keith was still insanely grateful that Shiro had refused to give up on him.

She wouldn't mind that, though she probably wouldn't be very good company. When she was working on projects, she tended to get very focused on it. "Oh Yeah, you two met when you joined up, right?" And he kinda took Keith under his wing, or so Marinette got that impression. "I half thought he might have put the Red Lion on the cake too. Like one of those little cake decorations." She paused, "Although maybe that would have been too difficult to make." She had to agree though, she'd be super grateful to Shiro for helping Keith when he needed it most.

Honestly, Keith wouldn't mind so much. He was used to people getting absorbed in their projects, and he tended to be a good audience. He didn't distract people by talking.

"Yeah, sort of. I actually met him before that, and joined the Garrison because of him." He smiled a bit. "He's a really good friend. I guess... we're kind of like brothers." He'd never really admitted that to anyone else before. It had come up in the Trials, but it sort of stayed between Shiro and Keith, and the Blade of Marmora believed deeply in secrecy. There was no way anyone who saw it was going to tell.

That was an excellent point. She'd just be embarrassed afterwards, but that was her problem. "Aww~, that's really sweet~!" Oh wait, was that embarrassing? "Sorry," she scratched the back of her head with a chuckle, "It's really nice that you guys are so close, though." She.. probably should stop hogging Keith's attention at his party too, he had other guests to mingle with !

Keith gave her a small chuckle.

"Yeah..." He shrugged a little, looking down at the Lion figurine again. "Yeah, it is." He didn't have a lot of people in his life to be close to. He absently ran his thumb over the figure's back for a moment before looking back at her again with a smile.

"Thanks."

Marinette gave him a warm smile in return, "You're welcome. I'm glad you like it." She cleared her throat a little. "I.. guess I should stop hogging your attention though, heh." She was sure he had guests who wanted to share their gifts and chat with him and all that!

"Oh... right..." He ducked his head a little and then nodded. "Yeah." He was bad at parties, and definitely bad at being the reason for a party. He had to remind himself to actually go mingle. "I'll catch you later."

Marinette chuckled at him remembering he had to go mingle with Other People(tm). Silly Keith. BUT she does want to make up for the weird awkward hug she gave him earlier, so she scooted forward to give him another quick hug with none of the awkwardness attached. "Only if I don't catch you first." She teased. "Have fun, Keith! And Happy Birthday."

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tempredmental - 2017-11-16 20:02 (UTC) - Expand

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