16autumnroad | [Voice / Action: CH1 Floor 4, 5/1] Birthday Party (Joint post with Ino)

[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.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ino blinks upon bumping into Chouji, but once she heard his question and upon finding that pudding on his plate, she manages a smile. Trust Chouji to thank her with her favorite food.

"You don't even need to ask." She giggles a little, though he probably still should since she won't be reading minds all the time. Offering the plate filled with food to him, Ino grabs the one he's holding.

Of course, she's unaware of a possible hug, so Chouji's free to catch her off guard if he so desires.

Smiling, he refuses to relinquish the pudding just yet. Once both plates have been put down, Chouji wraps his arms around his teammate. "Thank you, Ino."

The pudding was thanks for the party. The hug is for everything else.

Once Chouji initiated the embrace, Ino returns it. It's strange how many hugs she received from him ever since he arrived, but she's not to complain any time soon. Letting go after, she gives him a wide smile, something she hasn't wielded in days.

"Hey, you're welcome. I'm actually supposed to be the one who should thank you, you know." You and Shikamaru and everyone else who had been with her all this time.

She has gotten this many hugs because there have been too many reasons to hug Ino since he arrived. First, Chouji's teammates had been here without him so long, and he arrived knowing exactly what happened to her father. Then they told her. Now, Ino has gone out of her way to do something for him, and she looks like she's enjoying herself for the first time he's seen in weeks.

"Maybe we should just stop thanking each other before we spend all our time doing that." Chouji grins back at her. "I'll stop if you will, but don't forget about it."

He's grateful for his teammates, and more so for the way that they've grown into automatically taking turns supporting one another. It's as silly for Ino to thank him for the same thing she's done over and over as it was vice versa. Chouji picks up the plate Ino prepared and takes a bite. She put together a good combination, and the presentation is nicer than he would have bothered with.

She nods, giving him a sheepish smile, because what he said is true. There's just so many things that happened recently that are worth thanking for and worth all the hugs Chouji gave her.

"Alright, fine! Consider it done."

Ino's grateful for them too. She knows it must have been hard for them to tell her but they did, anyway, and that alone warrants her gratitude. As her gaze follows what he's doing, her smile turns amused.

"So, how does it taste? I hope I didn't disappoint the birthday boy."

"Of course not. All of it works well in combination, and the plate looks wonderful too." Chouji cooked a good amount of what's on the plate, so he refrains from commenting on the taste of any one thing. He will stick to complimenting Ino's choices instead.

He smiles, nodding toward the pudding. "How about yours?"

Yes, Chouji should know that growing up with her already entails complimenting her for everything she does. Ino's known for getting what she wants and she's not good at taking rejections. Not that she'd take this all out on him since it's his birthday, but still.

At his question, Ino looks down at her pudding then takes a small taste. The expression Chouji receives from her should already indicate her approval.

"Mm, this tastes wonderful!" Alright, she'll just take another spoonful now. "Chouji, you're the best!"

That look is exactly why Chouji had no reluctance to cook on his own birthday, even if he didn't realize it till now. It's how Chouji feels about all food, and seeing that expression on other people's faces means that they feel the same way, at least for a few minutes.

He grins, nodding acknowledgement of the compliment. Chouji won't thank Ino, because they just finished promising to stop that, but his smile is probably enough. "I'm glad you like it."

Ino smirks at his response just because what she feels now is something even greater than what he just said.

"Like it? I love it! Promise me you'll make more of these in the future." And she'll be the happiest girl in the world.

He laughs, pleased by the enthusiasm. "Of course I will, especially if you think that highly of it."

Desserts have never been his specialty, but Chouji can follow a recipe. And since his own current policy is to know how to cook the favorite foods of as many of his close friends as he can, he could hardly fail to try out Ino's. This seemed like just the right occasion to do it.

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

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