[Voice / Action: CH1 Floor 4, 5/1] Birthday Party (Joint post with Ino)

[16autumnroad]

[VOICE, INO]
[A loud, familiar voice would be heard throughout the network today. Good thing it's not so early in the morning when it hollers or there'd be a lot of ruined mornings today despite the important announcement.]

Hey, Luceti! We've all had a lot of drama these past few days so, what do you all say about a little party? It's Chouji's birthday today and, of course, that needs celebrating!

Come by the first community building and you'll find the happenings on the fourth floor. See you there!

[With a little giggle, the announcement ends there.]

--

[ACTION]
It was only a little bit of a surprise to Chouji when he received an invitation to his own birthday party, delivered to the apartment door. These were things you just had to expect and accept with Ino as a teammate. Everyone on the floor along with Kiba and Asuma received paper invitations. Then he heard her network post, inviting pretty much everyone in the village. Ino.

He'd laughed and grinned when he woke up to a knock on the apartment door and the smell of chips that morning, a purple whirlwind demanding entrance to the apartment so she could decorate it. A glance down the hallway showed a trail of butterfly decorations, marking the path of Hurricane Ino.

Chouji gladly spent half of his birthday in the kitchen, likewise decorated with butterflies, cooking for his own party. He'd always been the team's cook, and there was no reason for that to change just because it was his party.

By dinnertime, the common areas as well as Chouji, Shikamaru, and Masaomi's apartment held enough potato chips to feed an army even without all the food Chouji cooked. Barbecue, of course, along with vegetables, rice, fish, chicken curry, miso soup, and one or two desserts. He made sure to include pudding, his thanks to Ino for her thought and effort.

Now they just needed some guests to help eat it all.


((OOC: I am very close to done with the semester and will be back to full tagging speed ASAP! I'll match whatever format you tag me in, prose or brackets.

Open to anyone! Threadhopping and mingling highly encouraged! It's a party.))

Comments

[stilldontgotit]

[...Riku had to laugh at Ino's enthusiasm. After knowing her for so long, it didn't strike him as surprising, but such an open invitation? It made him wonder what Chouji would even think.

But, hey, Ino being in brighter spirits sure beat her earlier tears. And besides, he probably needed to meet the guy, anyway.

So, after following the butterfly trail, Riku slips inside glancing around for familiar faces as well as the birthday boy himself. He may help himself to a handful of chips as well.

Oh, and please don't mind the overly friendly bat traveling with him. He's all smiles and chirps, really, fluttering every which way like an overactive child.]

[16autumnroad]

[Chouji also laughed at Ino's enthusiasm, even if his was tinged with mild embarrassment; at least he and Riku were on the same page.

He recognizes Riku, has seen him around, and knows how important Riku is to Ino. Chouji can't believe he's taken this long to seek Riku out for a real conversation. He supposes a lot of things have been going on, but he definitely intends to fix that now.

Momentarily distracted by the most lurid animal he's ever seen, Chouji smiles.]

Are all bats that color in your world?

[stilldontgotit]

[Well, there's one easy conversation starter! Hearing Chouji's question, Riku fights back a snicker. His Dream Eater hovers around the two of them both for a few seconds before fluttering down to Riku's shoulder.]

Nah. Sonar's not exactly your average bat.

[As if his colors weren't enough proof, his body starts to glow the moment Riku scratches behind his ears.]

He's what you'd call a Dream Eater.

[16autumnroad]

[Chouji is all about easy conversation starters tonight. No difficult conversations, at least not without easing into them. There have been enough of those on the fourth floor in the past month.

The easy affection between Riku and Sonar makes him smile, even as the glow takes him by surprise.]

What's a Dream Eater? How does something eat dreams? [And, he wonders, what does that do to the person who was dreaming them?]

[stilldontgotit]

It's... kind of complicated.

[He takes a moment to watch his bat spring into the air again. Taking a Dream Eater out of the Realm of Sleep does make their existence kind of boggling.]

Normally, these guys exist in the Realm of Sleep. Again, complicated, but just consider it as a place where dreams take physical form, and it's a little easier to take in.

As for the what... well, Dream Eaters feed on dreams. A Spirit like Sonar swallows up nightmares and leaves only good dreams behind, but there are Nightmare Dream Eaters that basically act like polar opposites. They're more vicious monsters than anything.

[Riku would mention the fact that he became a Dream Eater, but one thing at a time. The laws of his universe tend to confuse those from other worlds. Why spew too much info at once?]

I am SO SORRY this is so late.

[16autumnroad]

[The description of the Dream Eater is enough to garner another smile from Chouji, and he nods at Sonar. Anything that eats nightmares and leaves only pleasant dreams to be had deserves appreciation, regardless of whether he's doing so here in Luceti.]

When I first got here, I'm not sure I would've believed that, but now... [Chouji shrugs. He's seen enough strange things since he arrived in Luceti that he's more openminded than ever.]

Thanks for coming, Riku.

I am equally sorry for the lateness /)(\

[stilldontgotit]

Hey, don't mention it. Any friend of Ino's a friend of mine.

[He smiles. Really, Chouji seems nice enough. And besides, as an old bean by Luceti standards, it never hurts to reach out to newcomers.]

[16autumnroad]

[A grin and a chuckle] Thanks for that too.

[Then he sobers slightly. Well, if Riku is going to bring up Ino... Chouji is hardly the type to give the threatening, "hurt her and I'll hurt you" speech. Ino can take care of herself, and he's seen just enough to know that plenty of the support Ino had after the news of her father's death came from Riku. That's enough, as far as he's concerned.

He makes his observation in a fairly neutral tone, but it's relatively obvious approval from someone who considers Ino the closest he has to a sister.] You've helped her a lot this month.

[stilldontgotit]

Well, she means a lot to me; it wouldn't be right to do nothing. It's not something I've really experienced myself, but I know that losing any kind of loved one's about as painful as it gets.

[If he were to lose Sora, Kairi, Mickey, or either of his parents, he imagines he'd react the same way. For as much as Riku internalizes, a blow that heavy would shatter his cool exterior in an instant.

His expression softens at the thought, and a frown inches across his face for a few seconds before he shakes his head.]

I'm just glad she's doing all right now.

[16autumnroad]

[very softly, as he thinks of Asuma-sensei and of the day that he thought he lost his own father] Yeah.

I'm glad she is too. The party planning was a surprise, but I could hardly say no. It was nice seeing her busy and excited.

[stilldontgotit]

Yeah, no kidding. It's almost crazy looking back, since she's back to her usual, spunky self.

[He hopes that it's out of genuine happiness and not to hide anything. After all, Riku's buried his emotions before; he'd understand the temptation to do so.]

[generalflirt]

[Man did he have that bat back when he'd seen Riku in drafts, particularly Vaskoth? He's not sure. But as it is, Linda who is finally back with him has her eyes narrowed at it on his shoulder. Some sort of enemy she can fight? To regain her pride after all the problems she's had lately. Masaomi pats her head to discourage her for that, but Masaomi saunters over towards Riku either way]

[stilldontgotit]

[Oooh, what's this? Is that some kind of spirit? Huuuh? Whatever the case, Riku's bat lets out a trill in greeting before fluttering over to the two of them with his usual goofy grin. Riku just laughs at Sonar's enthusiasm before facing Masaomi with a wave.]

She always this feisty?

[generalflirt]

You have no idea.

[He says this while making sure she's being petted, because Linda through motions and piis is basically talking shit now at Sonar]

[stilldontgotit]

[And Sonar is none the wiser, practically beaming at her insults before doing a light flip in the air and... landing on Masaomi's head.

This can't end well.

In fact, Riku immediately waves his hand at the bat.]

Hey, c'mon. I know you're excited, but give the guy some space.

[generalflirt]

[What, bitch don't even. She won't just attack because she knows that would get Masaomi in trouble, but she will swat at the bat with her tail, pouting and shouting some insults. Masaomi for his part bows his head (even if it's surprisingly not as heavy as it could be) some]

[stilldontgotit]

[Oh, is this a game? Sonar once again fails to acknowledge the insults and opts to... swat at her tail with one of his wings. Is he doin' it right?

Sigh. Riku's just gonna... mosey on over to try and retrieve his technicolor pet.]

Sorry about that. He's always like this with strangers.

[generalflirt]

Miiight want to work on that survival instinct. [Just a little blase statement as he notices that Linda coated her tail in metal (a pre-iron tail) before he pulled slightly on one of her ears, which made her pout and dismiss it]