[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

I promised the other day that you'd get nothing but prose from me ever, so... surprose!

[16autumnroad]

Chouji thought some guests might be unfamiliar, given Ino's invitation, but it still comes as a little bit of a surprise to see a stranger at the party. Someone he didn't know came to celebrate his birthday. And she brought food. Chouji likes her immediately.

He grins as he approaches. "You didn't have to bring anything, but it smells delicious."

And then, slightly sheepishly, unsure of how to introduce himself at a party in his own honor, he adds, "I'm Chouji. Thank you for coming, and for the pie!"

WONDERFUL!

[windandrain]

Saori beams at the young man, holding out the pie in both hands. She felt a little odd, having him introduce himself, but she was the party crasher. As unusual as that was for her.

"I thought it might be appropriate. I apologize for coming as a total stranger. I know Lee and Shikamaru, though. And I felt that after everything last week it might be nice to do something nice for a stranger on their birthday. So...happy birthday!"

She dips her head slightly in greeting. "I am Saori, and it's a pleasure to meet you. I hope you like apple."

[16autumnroad]

"Ino invited everyone, I think, so you have no apologies to make. And this is Shikamaru's apartment too. I'm lucky to be the recipient of your good deed." Especially when it comes in the form of baked goods.

"It's good to meet you too." Chouji takes the pie, still smiling. "I like everything. Apple is wonderful, and it's Linda's favorite, so it was exactly the right thing to bring."

The pikachu's preferences play a large part in determining the apartment's menu. A vegetarian dish with every meal, spicy foods every once in awhile, and no one is to take the last apple from the kitchen because it belongs to her. Chouji does his best to consider everyone's preferences, but Linda is the most vocal about hers. "I don't see Linda at the moment, but she's my roommate's pokemon. We should save her a slice."

Chouji brings the pie over to a full table of food, shifting another dish to make room before setting it down. He takes his own slice immediately, intending to show appreciation for Saori's contribution.

[windandrain]

Pokemon. Oh, right, Pokemon. She knew a little about those, she'd seen some fighting on the drafts at least. As for what the mysterious creatures did, well, she had no idea. But if they liked apples, then she'd probably like them too. After all, what was better than apples, aside from eggs and rice?

She follows along behind the young man, looking at the food on the table with an appreciative smile. It certainly was a fine looking spread. And that sent any thoughts of retreating from the party scampering away. Because the food all smelled wonderful, and for a goddess she was still a bit of a foodie.

"I hope you enjoy it," she finally says with a happy cant of her head. "It's fresh, at least."

[16autumnroad]

"Feel free to take anything that looks good. If there's something you're looking for or want to avoid, I know what went into just about everything on the table." Not including the chips, there are only a couple things that he didn't cook.

After all, he should make sure Saori gets something to eat before he starts in on what she was generous enough to bring. Chouji tries the pie and nods once. "It tastes as good as it smells, and it's still warm, even. You made it just before you came?"

[windandrain]

"Oh. Well, I'll eat just about anything. But..." she picks up a bowl of rice. "Rice is probably my favorite thing."

As Chouji starts in on the pie, she starts on the rice, beaming and nodding excitedly. "Yes, I did. It finished about twenty or thirty minutes ago at most. I'm glad you like it. I'll admit I added a bit more cinnamon than I might usually have."

[16autumnroad]

Chouji files this away in the mental list he keeps of everyone's favorite foods. He does try to predict what each of his friends would like to eat, and anyone who brings a fresh-baked pie to a stranger for his birthday is well-worth befriending.

"I'm glad I made plenty of it, then."

The slice of pie vanishes at an almost alarming rate. "Maybe it is more than usual, but I don't think that's a bad thing. Who doesn't like cinnamon?" Chouji was entirely sincere when he said he liked everything. The cinnamon doesn't completely overwhelm the apple, so the recipe works well in any case.

[windandrain]

Saori eats her bowl in several quick gulps, poking around the table for other things. Sharing food with a stranger was one of the most important things one could ever truly do.

"You...didn't happen to prepare eggs in any form did you?" she asks as she watches him chow down with a genuinely pleased look. She's delighted to have made something he so obviously enjoys. "And I'm very, very glad you like it. Cinnamon is a truly wonderful spice, it adds such an interesting flavor to everything."

[16autumnroad]

"I didn't, but eggs are easy enough that we could just detour to the kitchen and make some." It wouldn't take long, and Ino decorated the kitchen anyway. Technically, cooking wouldn't even involve leaving the party. Chouji wouldn't have offered unless he were sincere; he truly wouldn't mind making eggs in the middle of his birthday party.

He nods eagerly. "I agree, even if I don't cook with it too often." This is mostly due to the fact that Chouji makes more main courses than he does desserts.

[windandrain]

"Well...if you don't mind." replies with a genuine smile. Eggs were a sure way to make her follow you home and give you a blessing. She loved well prepared eggs. "I would not want you doing anything on your birthday that you didn't absolutely want to do."

[16autumnroad]

"I cooked most of the rest of this today," Chouji gestures to everything on the table. "If I minded cooking, I wouldn't offer. What kind of eggs do you like? Scrambled? Fried? Boiled?"

Eggs are Shikamaru's least favorite food, so Chouji doesn't cook them often. He likes everything, so he generally pays attention to other people's preferences. Eggs will be a nice change. He leads the way toward the kitchen, down the butterfly and streamer covered hallway.

[windandrain]

"Well...um. An omelette? Would that be alright?" She asks this almost tremulously, a faint quaver in her voice. Chouji, you've just become the most beautiful young ninja in the world to her. Anyone who makes her omelettes, or eggs at all? Well, they get a special place in her heart.

[16autumnroad]

"Of course that would be alright! What do you want in it?" Chouji is already at the fridge getting out eggs. He plans to cook enough for both of them, plus a little extra in case someone wanders into the kitchen hungry while they're cooking. Food seems to be the focal point of this party, and Chouji refuses to deprive anyone of what they want to eat on his birthday.

He's eating whatever he wants today, and so should everyone else.

[windandrain]

"Cheese, maybe a little ham if that's alright?" If he's cooking so willingly she may as well be a little extravagant. She leans against the counter, not sure if she should help or just let him work. It is his kitchen, after all.

"Can I help? Or would you like me to make you something too? A trade, since it is your birthday after all."

[16autumnroad]

"It's fine." Why cook food for her if he isn't going to cook it the way she'd like it? He pulls additional ingredients from the fridge.

Chouji just smiles and shakes his head at the offer. "Didn't the pie count as you making something for me? You're welcome to anything here but the last few apples if you'd like to cook, though. I rarely turn down an offer of food. Or you could slice or grate the cheese."

[windandrain]

"Well, as I'm a little out of ideas on what to cook, I'll just help for the moment." She's more than willing to go along with whatever he'd like. It's his birthday, after all, and he's the one making her food. She takes up a bowl and a bit of cheese and starts grating away.

"So, may I ask. How long have you been in Luceti?"

[16autumnroad]

After setting a pan on the stove to heat, Chouji cracks eggs into a bowl as he answers.

"I've been here about a month and a half." He frowns, considering the oddities of time in Luceti. "My birthday was just a couple months before I arrived, though. So I shouldn't be eighteen yet, and I was already seventeen before." He's going to keep calling himself seventeen, regardless of the birthday party, because that's certainly truer than the alternative.

[windandrain]

Still grating, Saori nods. She could understand that. Time didn't always match up. And it was sometimes a bit more...wobbly.

"So you're fairly new then? Oh, that's nice. It's a good time of year to arrive I think. Better than winter when everything is cold and the Malnosso leave you to freeze."

[16autumnroad]

"Yes, new enough." The mention of freezing, though, makes him frown. "Do they leave people in the exact same clothes in winter as spring or summer?"

He whisks the eggs before turning his attention to the ham and getting that ready. "I guess I should just be grateful for their timing!"

[windandrain]

"They do," she nods. "It truly is a wonder nobody has frozen to death yet."

[16autumnroad]

Smiling, Chouji pours the eggs into the pan, sprinkling bits of ham in as well. It will be ready for cheese soon enough. "I'm very glad not to have been the first."

[windandrain]

"As am I," Saori grins, patting him on the shoulder. "I have a feeling about you. A good one. It's nice to meet such a generous young man."

[16autumnroad]

He blushes slightly at the praise, shaking his head. "Generous? You're the one who came to celebrate a stranger's birthday. You even baked a pie for someone you'd never met before."

[windandrain]

"Well, birthdays are special. Even I celebrate them, and I'm four hundred and seventy two." She laughs, watching the eggs cook.

[16autumnroad]

"Four hundred seventy two!?" The incredulous words slip out before Chouji realizes he's being rude. His apology is stilted and sheepish. "I'm sorry, I just... would never have known." After another short pause, he decides he's already been rude, so he might as well ask quietly, "Are you really four hundred seventy two?"

Chouji supposes that anything is possible, given how different some worlds are from his own. This was unexpected, though.