somethingwithturquoise | MHA #8; Saturday Evening [01/13]

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MHA #8; Saturday Evening [01/13] - Stark's Birthday Party!

There had been a handful of oh-so-handwavey flyers popped into the most obvious spots, but Summer was relying heavily on the age-old method of massive group texting (and general word of mouth) to let everyone know about Stark's birthday party tonight at his apartment because it really was just going to be a super chill, lowkey, casual sort of fling this time around.

She'd spent the majority of her prep work in splashing the apartment with decorations (blue and gold and black again) and bmaking a variety of different jello shots in pie and cupcake and other dessert-like forms, so, needless to say, she definitely ordered out for the the cupcakes themselves.

Other snacks and drinks were also available and moddable, and there was also a very moddable but totally curated, for real, music playlist, and she'd even dusted off the karaoke machine from the GxG birthday party years ago and dragged that up, just in case anyone was feeling up to getting that going.

Definitely not exactly her best, most extravagant party, but, hey, not all parties could (or even should!) be epic. Sometimes, they could just be kind of quiet and cozy with a lot of cupcakes. Which just suited the birthday guy better anyway, really.

[[ open party is open! as always, feel free to mod having gotten a text, seen a flier, been told by Summers or squirrels or ghosts of parties past or just swing by to borrow a cup of sugar, i don't care, I'm not your boss ]]

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Steven of course wanted to wish Stark a happy birthday, and what better what to do it than in person? So there he was, looking around for the birthday alien himself so he could wish him many happy returns.

Nell smiled at Steven. "Hello, sorry I didn't get to stop by on Thursday. I got a little busy, but I was thinking of you!"

"Don't give it another thought," Steven assured her. He'd been thinking of her as well thanks to certain radio reports, but he wasn't going to broach that topic in case Nell didn't want to talk about it.

(Or in case it wasn't true, since radio reports could sometimes have a questionable relationship to what actually happened.)

"In a bit of good news I might be able to pop by on Monday?" Steven said. "For your gathering? No promises but it looks like ~~real life scheduling~~ circumstances might allow it."

"Oh I'd like that!" Nell said cheerfully. "I'll be so good to have you! Is there anything in particular you'd like me to make? We have lots of snacks and such, but I always try to make at least some sort of actual dinner type food for people."

She might still have a bit of dust in her braid or a smudge on her face after helping to shift books (and clean the shelves) as Gladio was packing books.

"I'm sure whatever you'll make will be fine," Steven said. "No need to go to extra work on my account, please. Your cooking is always wonderful. But it's kind of you to offer."

"Well, as I'm cooking anyway," Nell said, "I wouldn't mind at all, but I'll just be happy to have you. It's very low key as I'm sure the Detective has told you. Just friends spending time together."

"Here's hoping nothing gets in the way of me making it," Steven said. "I do have class that afternoon but otherwise no current other plans? How about you? You're doing well I hope?"

"Very well," Nell said with a smile. "Helping move some of Gladio's things over today, so a bit tired, but otherwise just fine."

"So he is moving in then?" Steven asked. "I'd heard mention on radio but didn't want to assume."

"He is," Nell said, "Though we just really decided about it last night. We did talk about it as something to do on Monday, though."

She smiled at him. "I'm very happy about it. A little nervous, but happy."

"I'm happy for you then!" Steven said with a big smile. "That's a huge step. How wonderful for you both. Is Monday to be a celebration of it then?"

"I hadn't thought about that," Nell said. "It, hmmm... I hadn't really thought about it as a thing to celebrate, just as a wonderful thing that's happening. So... maybe?"

"Something to think about," Steven said. "I know you don't like a fuss being made about things sometimes. Regardless, all the more reason I'm glad I might be able to be there Monday."

"That's reason enough to celebrate," Nell said with a smile. "And I do forget sometimes how quickly everyone finds things out thanks to the squirrels. It still often comes as a surprise to me when people know something like that."

"Part of why I didn't want to assume," Steven said. "On the one hand sometimes what's said on the news bares no resemblance to what happened. Other times it's too personal. I figured even if it was true it was best to wait to hear it from you directly. When you were ready to talk about it, of course."

"It's no secret," Nell said easily. "But still very new. Though he's spent so many nights there that it shouldn't seem different, but it is somehow, isn't it?"

"I know what you mean," Steven said. "Llewellyn had spent over a week at our place but it still felt different when we agreed to take the step of moving in together."

"Then you understand," Nell said. "I'm very happy about it, but it's going to be a change. A good one, I think, but it will still take some getting used to."

"It being your place as well, I imagine," Steven said. "You've had over a year to make it your own, and now you're sharing. With someone you care about and want to share with, to be certain, but it is an adjustment period all the same."

Steven had encountered this not with Llewellyn, but the other person he shared his life with. So he was guessing it might apply in Nell's case as well.

She nodded. "I'm happy about it, so happy, but it will be a change. I'm sure we'll have things we have to figure out here and there."

"And it's nothing that needs figuring out on the first day or even week," Steven said. "Work in progress always, I think. What works for Llewellyn and me is communication. No burying resentments because we think they're not worth mentioning. Just makes it worse, you do that, if you ask me."

Re: Arrive & Mingle - Stark's Birthday Party, 01/13.

mylandmyrules - 2024-01-15 01:21 (UTC) - Expand

And, just as with Watts, Summer really did appreciate that any of the bad blood between her and Steven now wasn't going to bleed all into what was Stark's day, because she knew that kind of thing was important to him, and she wouldn't want to be a terrible host, either, so she gave him a nod when she saw him and offered a greeting that would hopefully just be relatively quick and painless for the both of them.

"Hey, Steven," she said, "thanks for coming, and, bee-tee-dubs, the cupcakes are vegan so you guys can go totally hog wild on those if you want. Just so you know."

Steven likewise appreciated that Summer seemed to be on the same page there as far as differences being put aside for the sake of Stark's birthday. He had been nervous about how things would go.

He hadn't looked at the food yet to notice that about the cupcakes, and was thus pleasantly surprised by the information. "Are they? That's kind, thank you."

Especially as anything related to birthday cake could considered the main event at a birthday party, so it would have been more than understandable if it had been the reverse and no vegan option offered there at all.

Summer shrugged a little, as if to dismiss it, although, yeah, that was just about the response she expected out of Steven. "Yeah, well," she said. "Good thing about vegan cupcakes is that almost everyone can eat them, and it's really only the asshole who'll complain about 'em, even though they probably wouldn't even know the difference if no one told them."

"Luckily the guest of honor certainly isn't an arsehole," Steven said. He hoped what he was saying was coming off as the polite and friendly comments he intended them to be. "And I can't imagine you picking something substandard to serve at a party no matter what dietary requirements they meet. I look forward to trying them."

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