tampered | Rosella's Birthday Log // Ongoing // Open

Blair doesn't know Rosella as well as some of the people here do. But the news reached her that they were throwing her a surprise party, and she also remembers the birthday girl dropping a hint about a month ago. Besides, they were apparently best friends, and while the girl is painfully naive, Blair is not in a position to turn down any friends.

The party is too low-key to be her usual thing (http://www.style.com/slideshows/fashionshows/S2010RTW/RACRA/RUNWAY/00330m.jpg), but the lack of beer kegs or open barbecues leads her to believe that she might last long enough to see the birthday girl open the presents (http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:mwIWNqESy8fm4M).

Taking a seat on one of the empty tables, she picks up one of the cookies and wonders if they are one of Claire Bennet's creations.

Penny doesn't immediately recognize the girl sitting by herself. She suspects she's spoken to her at least once... about shoes, maybe? But no matter. She's alone and that is more than enough to make her fair conversational game. Penny takes a break from her semi-frantic party preparations to stand by Blair's table.

"Hey," she says cheerfully. "Can I get you anything? A drink, maybe?"

Penny is, as Penny is wont to do, running around like a crazy person. Everything seems to be in place and ready, but she can't help but feel that she's forgetting something. The cake's out, food's out, drinks are out, her present for Rosella is wrapped, everyone in the City--except Rosella, hopefully--knows about this party, and Blue agreed to bring the birthday girl. Surely everything's covered.

In an attempt to distract herself from things that she may or may not have forgotten, Penny starts to socialize. She's a bit out of her element; in spite of the fact that she frequently finds herself playing the role of greeter or hostess in the City, Penny isn't the boldest or most outgoing people. Never mind that! She started this party business and she's going to make sure everyone has a good time and feels included. In for a penny...

Looking up from the cookie, Blair flashes a smile at the redhead. "Hi."

She turns to put the baked good back to where it was before gesturing for the other girl to sit near her. "Maybe you're the one who needs a drink before our guest of honor arrives," she comments. "Wouldn't want to have the hostess all cranky once the party really starts."

Doll has been doing whatever she can to help Penny out with the preparations - she might not know the birthday girl or even have much of an idea what to do at a birthday party, but she's still enjoying making herself useful. She's rather in awe of how lovely everything looks, because the decorations might be simple enough, but together with the roses they make the area seem like one of the prettiest places she'd ever been to.

But it's not really time to stop and stare, so when she sees Penny again she quickly goes up to her to see if there's anything else left to do before Rosella arrives.

"I'm a cranky-free force of cheer and enthusiasm," Penny replies, perching next to Blair. This is said without sarcasm because, of course, she is entirely serious. "Have we met before? I'm Penny."

Penny immediately traps Doll in a quick hug. Without her help, the cookies would never have been finished and Penny's head would likely have exploded. Doll's quiet, unwavering help doesn't go unnoticed and definitely isn't unappreciated.

"Thank you so, so much for everything you've done, Freckles. You're a life-saver."

Blair grins in reply, meaning it more now. Penny does seem like the embodiment of a bouncing ball of joy.

"I don't think so, no." Although she might be another of the multitude who apparently knew Blair 1.0. She offers her a handshake, "I'm Blair Waldorf."

She isn't expecting that hug but grins and returns it. "'ey, 'm glad to 'elp! 's been a lot of fun really. D'you think everythin' is just about ready now?"

It looks more than ready to her but of course she's not the best judge of what's needed at a party. "There's a lot of guests comin', ain't there? Ain't really sure what to do with myself."

Rin's been around since the setup began, as promised, and helped with the decorations as much as she could. Right now, she's adjusting a last paper rose and stepping back to look at her surroundings. Food, drinks, cake and decorations are all arranged very neatly, and Rin nods to herself in satisfaction. Hopefully Rosella will like this, and it will cheer her up some. Rin still doesn't know what exactly happened last week, but she knows it had a disastrous effect on Rosella. She also suspects Rosella is probably not in a partying mood, yet she doesn't really know what else to do. If there's anything to do at all.

As she's looking around, she spots Penny hurrying around, making an impression of being a little over-worried and out of breath. Rin goes up to her, smiling. "Uh, hey. You doing okay there?"

Rosella is no stranger to the concept of a surprise party, but she has to admit, adding the secondary surprise of holding it on the day after someone's birthday is a decidedly clever twist on a traditional idea. Which is probably why she didn't see this surprise party coming at all, really; she might've perhaps anticipated some sort of get-together in the Warehouse on her birthday, for example, but certainly not a garden party on the day after.

Though she still feels a bit off-kilter after the events of the past week, it's hard not to be delighted when she's surrounded by her friends--who clearly don't hate her for anything that transpired, which is another small relief--and roses and sunshine and yes, plenty of good things to eat, too. And she is happy, really, seeing everyone milling around and enjoying the company and all. Though a wistful look might occasionally cross her face during one of the lulls in conversation, it's always quickly gone again as soon as something draws her attention back to the proceedings at hand. And with so many things to look at and admire, drawing Rosella's attention is hardly difficult at all.

It's not quite her birthday, but it is her birthday party, and she's happy. And that's how it ought to be, shouldn't it?

And so she leisurely makes her way through the partygoers, greeting her friends and stopping to chat whenever she is hailed for it. Once the music starts, she'll eventually find a seat near Blue to listen to him play, but for now she is content to mingle and see what there is to see.

Penny shakes Blair's hand enthusiastically. "It's great to meet you, Blair. And thanks for coming! It'll mean the world to Rosella, having a bunch of her friends here."

"Even the part where I was a dog yesterday and probably got dog hair in the frosting?" But no, that was kind of fun, too. Hopefully the cake was fur-free. "Yeah, I think it's about as ready as it's going to be."

Penny smiles and musses Doll's hair, mindfully leaving the hair over Doll's ruined eye alone. "Tons, give or take a few. Don't worry about them, though. If you start feeling uncomfortable, it's totally fine if you don't want to stick around." Not that Penny's eager to have Doll leave, but Rosella has a lot of friends and even Penny is kind of intimidated by the sheer multitude of people that could be coming.

Penny has put some thought into whether or not the party is a good idea. While a lot of people need time alone to work out their problems, Rosella seems just the opposite. Maybe being around people who care will help her forgive herself for what happened last week. At the very least, it should be a distraction.

She stops and returns Rin's smile. "Hey! I'm good--great! Everything's ready, I think!" Maybe. Penny's still almost certain she's forgetting something, and triple-checking a few things wouldn't be bad. She doesn't usually arrange things like this and that, coupled with the fact that she wants everything to be absolutely perfect for Rosella, is making her somewhat frantic (albeit in a cheerful kind of way). "The decorations look really amazing, Rin... thank you so much for helping out."

Penny is quick to ambush Rosella with a hug as soon as she sees her. After all of the haphazard planning, she'd almost been afraid that something would go wrong and Rosella wouldn't make it to her own party.

"Happy birthday, Rosella!" She lets her go and adds, "Well... late birthday, but it was kind of hard to do any happy birthday-ing yesterday."

She pauses to gauge Rosella's reaction. At first, Penny hadn't been entirely sure that a party would be a good thing; some people like to be alone after going through rough times. With Rosella, though, a party seemed like it could only help. Maybe she would be able to forgive herself somewhat if she was reminded that all of her friends still adored her. If nothing else, she'll at least be distracted for a while.

"Oh! And this is for you!" Penny hands Rosella--what else?--a box wrapped in rose-red paper. (When Rosella opens it, she'll find some thematically-appropriate bath soaps (http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t92/cheat_reality/rosesoap.jpg) and a delicate little necklace (http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t92/cheat_reality/rosenecklace.jpg) inside.) Business aside, she adds, "How're you doing? Having an okay time?"

"'specially that part! You an' Tiger seemed t'be 'avin' a lot of fun. An' 'm sure the frostin' is fine, was right careful with it." And she really had been careful, she'd been determined to get everything right. "Good." She lets out a sigh. "'m glad it's all done in time."

Her visible eye blinks a few times at the gesture, her smile faltering because that reminds her so much of exactly the way her siblings would pat her on her head, so very careful not to expose her scars. But the grin returns stronger than ever in just a few seconds, because it means that Penny knows her really well. It's nice to have someone around who understands hee almost as well as her brothers and sisters would. "Well, maybe I'll stick around long enough to wish 'er 'appy birthday? 's only polite."

Edited 2010-03-23 00:48 (UTC)

Doll doesn't know Rosella personally but she's been around the City long enough to have an idea who the other long-term residents are, so it's not too hard to spot the birthday girl once she arrives. She still feels a bit awkward being there when they're not even acquainted, but it only seems right to approach her and wish her many happy returns of the day.

"Rosella?" She gives her a smile, suddenly wishing she was slightly better dressed for the occasion rather than being in her usual boyish clothes. "'m a friend of Penny's. Just wanted t'say 'appy Birthday!"

Rosella is, in fact, utterly delighted by the surprise party, and the look on her face reflects it as she hugs Penny tight and manages to get a "Oh, Penny, thank you!" out amidst her laughing and hugging. As she steps back and carefully accepts the gifts, her smile turns faintly nostalgic, and she continues, "It was, wasn't it? But that's all right. I'm glad it turned out just the way it did, honestly."

She spends a moment looking around the party once more, taking in the sight of all her friends and the decorations and the lovely natural scenery, then looks back to Penny and grins. "Oh, I'm having a marvelous time. However did you manage all of this?"

Rosella probably wishes she were a little better dressed for the occasion herself, honestly, since it wasn't exactly as though they could've told her to dress up for her own surprise party. But then again, nothing says she needs to look like a princess today--her friends already know she is, and most of them befriended her before she ever told them, anyway, so it's hardly as though a lovely dress would make any sort of difference.

Though a tiny part of her does wish she had her court gown on. She is a teenage girl, after all, and not entirely immune to such whims.

But when Doll walks over, the last thing Rosella is paying attention to is her attire; she's much more focused on the lovely smile on her face, and on replying with one of her own in return. "Well, any friend of Penny's is certainly a friend of mine! It's lovely to meet you, and thank you so very much!"

Blair may not know Rosella as well as some of the other guests do, but Rosella certainly knows Blair, and it's particularly nostalgic to see her here today, since last year's birthday was spent at a party of Blair's. She's certainly not about to start drawing comparisons between the two, of course, but nostalgia is nostalgia, and she's pleased to see Blair in attendance at this one, looking just as lovely as always.

"Blair!" Rosella says cheerfully, wandering over to where Blair is seated at the table. "It's so lovely to see you! How are you today?"

Edited 2010-03-23 02:00 (UTC)

"...Yeah." It feels like her hands are going to come off. "Friends are nice," Blair says, suddenly feeling nostalgic. But there's no point in dreaming about people you are not with. It is stupid to miss the ones right in front of you. So she thinks.

"Do you need any help with the logistics?"

Blair was lost in some thought or another, watching people greet and chat with the others. But when Rosella calls her name, she doesn't remember anymore what she was thinking about. "Hello friend," she smiles fondly.

For all her naivete and Disney Princess aura, Rosella is a nice girl. So much so that Blair is sure that it is impossible for her to ever stab anyone in the back or spread nasty rumors or even have evil thoughts. It's a nice break from the common folk. Blair stands up to give her a hug, "Happy Birthday~"

It is really a very fortunate thing that Blair did not voice that particular surety aloud, since stabbing her best friend in the back--literally--is exactly how Rosella happened to be spending her day a week ago today. But she doesn't plan to dwell on that today; she's determined to enjoy herself, and the hug is entirely welcomed.

"Oh, thank you! I had a fine day yesterday, and today is looking to be just as wonderful, as well," she answers with a smile. "It really is pretty out here, isn't it?"

Blair thinks that it is a miracle, one of the wonders of the world, that Rosella can be so chipper and filled to the brim with good intentions all the time. It ranks up there with Serena's hair. "It's all a labor of love," she says. "Your friends picked the best place for you out of love~"

Then, remembering about presents, Blair opens her bag to fetch a small velvet pouch fastened with drawstrings. "For you."

"They really did, didn't they?" Rosella agrees, giving the garden's wild roses a fond smile. "I do like roses best, after all. I'm glad there are some out today--though I do like the paper ones, too, very much so!"

When the gift appears, she accepts it with a look of delight, but doesn't immediately go to open it since she's not sure if it'd be more polite to do so now, where Blair can see it, or to wait and do it later alongside any others that might potentially arise. "Oh, thank you, Blair!"

"The paper ones are lovely," Blair says, even surprising herself that Rosella has influenced her into saying words like lovely. It is quite unbecoming of a Blair Waldorf.

"It's just a trinket, really," she says, not being intentionally humble, but saying it as she thinks it. "I don't know what you like, aside from medieval dresses and roses."

"Oh, well, that does rather cover a lot of it, really," Rosella says with a slight laugh and a shrug. "But I do like all sorts of things, and I very much like learning about modern things that we don't have at home, too."

She pauses. Blair has always been a good source for modern things, and how modern girls ought to look and act and behave. She can't help but wonder, briefly, if Blair will think her silly for being so interested in the things that modern girls like her generally take for granted. "And no matter what it is, trinket or not, I'll treasure it," she continues fondly. "It's not the gift that matters, after all, but the thought behind it."

Blair thinks that it is adorable how Rosella is so curious about the so-called modern life. Anyway, she has always liked playing the mentor figure, the one guiding young girls through the treacherous path towards social standing. She deals in handing out what-to-dos and especially revels in telling them the what-not-to-dos. It gives her a sense of importance.

"Well, maybe I should have gotten you a sky-high gladiator platforms instead," she says with a laugh, although she is completely serious about it. Rosella may have problems with rising hemlines, but rising heel height shouldn't be an issue providing she has insurance.

"Sky-high gladiator platforms...?" she repeats, her mind flashing to the pair of entirely impractical shoes and matching dress currently hanging in her closet, courtesy of the previous Blair; fortunately, she just barely manages to catch the look of uncertainty and vague apprehension before it makes it to her face. Instead, taking her cue from Blair, she smiles and chuckles as well. "Well, perhaps! But believe me, I'm sure I'll adore this, too."

This current Blair would most likely put her stamp of approval on those shoes and dress too. Unlike Serena and some of the other girls in school, she sticks to her style despite whatever the runways dictate --not that she would ever be caught dead in anything last season.

"Of course you would," Blair trills. But she makes a note in her mind to find a pair of sky-high gladiator platforms for real. A pair for her and another for Rosella. The thought almost makes her regret that her party will be shoeless.

With the brief, fleeting thought that she will possibly regret this later, and knowing that she is probably sealing herself into another fate of uncomfortably modern attire and impossible shoes, Rosella offers, "Perhaps we could go shopping together sometime, though. It'd be great fun, I'm sure."

Perhaps this time if they go, she thinks, she'll be confident enough to assert herself in the face of Blair's overwhelming expertise with fashion. At least a little. Even if it's only to insist on shoes she can actually walk in, that'd be an entirely acceptable amount of assertion.

She releases Blair's hand (hopefully it hasn't sustained any major damage). "They are, even in a place like this where there's no keeping them forever."

Penny gives this a moment of thought. "I don't think so... but would it be okay if I got back to you if something slipped my mind?"

Ooh, bad idea, Rosella. The lack of a Serena or any of her minions means that Blair is currently undergoing shopping withdrawal, and an promise like that will not go unclaimed. Moreover, Rosella will be her real life mannequin on which to try out the newest trends, to see how they work. Flats are, of course, out of the question. Despite the recession, heels and hemlines are getting higher than ever.

"It'll be on me, then~" Blair grins. No amount of assertion will get the Daventry royalty into anything lower than a seven-inch.

Never let it be said that Rosella is not one to make sacrifices for the people she cares about. And besides, she has a feeling that it must be rather lonely for Blair, being back in the City with so many people who know her and yet without any memory of them on her own part. Sometimes, one just needs a friend to spend time with, and if there's one thing that's been on Rosella's mind all day today, it's the thought of just how lucky she is, that she has so many friends here in the City to call her own.

Besides, spending time with Blair is always interesting, to say the least, and in a way she doesn't exactly mind the frenzied pace of power-shopping; it's fun in a sense, though it can certainly be exhausting as well.

"Well, if you insist!" she agrees, glad to see Blair in such a pleased mood. "Just let me know, then, whenever is most convenient for you."

Oh, good--the surprise party idea apparently wasn't a horrible mistake! Rosella seems incredibly happy. All is right with the world. "It was kind of nice, even with curses. And hey, you got to see your brother!" Granted, no one else could see her brother and he wasn't there in a technical sense, but sometimes shadows are close enough to the real thing to count.

At the moment, though, Rosella is surrounded by very real friends who cared enough to help throw the party together, and Penny couldn't be more pleased with Rosella's reaction. Sam was right; if anyone deserves a little surprise happiness, it's Rosella. Sure she needs some cheering up after last week, but even more, perhaps, Rosella needs to see that her perpetual kindness and stubborn optimism have won over loyal friends who aren't going to run away after some unfortunate curses... or refuse to help with a last-minute party.

"Good... I'm glad," Penny says, hugging Rosella again. She laughs. "I didn't manage all of it! Sam and Cain had the garden idea--well, and Sam drew me a map of this part of the garden so I could scope it out without getting lost, which was awesome... and Blue was on drinks and said he'd get you here. Chase put some money towards snacks, Rin helped a lot with the decorating, Freckles--you don't know her, I don't think, but she's amazing--lent a hand with baking. ...And there were a ton of other people who helped, really, so it was a group project."

"It was fun--that curse, I mean, although I'm sorry for being not-so-helpful." There's no doubt, though, that Doll was careful, and that makes the possibility of a furry cake one less thing to worry about. "Really, Freckles... thank you. There's no way everything would've gotten done without you."

Penny notices the brief change in Doll's expression, but it's gone before she can give it too much thought. "That'd be great! You really, really will like Rosella, I think."

Todd was early, of course, helping wherever he could, though he was obviously not equipped with a dearth of experiencing planning or setting up parties. He wasn't even very eager to be at most parties, still, though he'd gone to more than a few for the sake of the friends he was very grateful to have in the City.

Rosella, of course, is both one of the first friends that he's made and one of the closest ones he has now, so it goes without saying that he'd make the effort to come and do what little he could to help make her party a good one. He's been concerned about her this week, and rather self-conscious about what feels like a failure on his part to really be there, given the aftermath he's been dealing with from curses. Things seem fine between them as far as he can tell, but Todd's always prone to worrying, so he's been sticking close to Neil, even more so than usual.

After a short while, he does manage to relax a little, and takes advantage of one of the rare windows when Rosella isn't being accosted by other guests and strikes out on his own to approach her. He walks directly up to her with a bright smile, the sort of gesture that he only really manages for a select few.

"Happy birthday, Rosella."

"I did!" she agrees happily, thinking back to the fine day she'd spent in the company of her curse-brother--which was how she'd rather thought of him ever since she figured out that he was, in fact, a curse, and therefore wasn't really real, and wouldn't remember any of it later. Strangely, that thought didn't bother her, somehow; it was enough, the chance to look and see her own face reflected in his, and to have him there beside her the whole day. Even if he was nothing more than a curse, it was comforting. And she knows she can use all the comfort she can get, at the moment. "He didn't really come, of course, but it was lovely to see him, just the same. It's been some time since I last had the chance."

And as Penny hugs her, she listens intently as Penny goes down the list of everyone that helped with the party, smiling so wide her face is beginning to hurt a bit from it and biting her lip to try, albeit unsuccessfully, from letting it happen. "I'm so glad," she says quietly, the emotion evident in her tone. "I'm glad it was a group project, as you put it--that it was all of you together."

Todd is definitely not getting away from this encounter without being enveloped in a massive hug, especially not when he intends to walk right up to her and smile so winningly; it's just so nice to see him so confident, and especially so in a setting with so many people around. Perhaps it's a little odd to feel so proud of him for something as simple as that, but hey, it's her birthday party, she's entitled to some measure of oddness, after all.

"Thank you, Todd, and I'm so very glad to see you!" she answers cheerfully. "Are you enjoying yourself? Everything looks so lovely, I can't imagine how you all ever managed it!"

"Then it was almost as good as really having him here! I mean, he wouldn't remember the City either way, so there's not too much difference between a curse-brother who seems real and a real-brother who is real." Or something very like that. Penny doesn't necessarily follow her own train of logic half the time.

Penny releases Rosella again so the poor girl doesn't end the day with hug-induced bruises. She's a bit alarmed to note that Rosella looks like she might be on the verge of tears. Surely they'd be happy, oh-gosh-all-of-these-people-really-do-care-and-they're-not-just-saying-it-because-we're-friends tears. "It really was. I don't think there's anyone here who didn't at least offer to help out."

"That's true, you're right about that. And we did have a lovely conversation, too." Though Rosella can't help but wonder, fleetingly, if the reason why they had such a lovely conversation was because it was the curse showing her how she thinks her brother should be, or how he really is. She hopes it's the latter, but there's really no way to be sure.

While she's not quite on the verge of tears just yet, she's absolutely moved by all the work that went into the party on her behalf. And yes, she is indeed still grinning like the happiest person in the world at the moment. "It's lovely. Just--absolutely lovely. I couldn't imagine a nicer gift to receive, really."

That smile makes all of the running around and flailing more than worth it. "It's nothing that anyone here didn't want to give you."

Doll's smile grows wider and even more genuine at such a friendly greeting from the other girl, feeling much less self conscious now. "'s really nice to meet you too! Oh, an' 'm Doll, almost forgot to say that. You're welcome - I 'ope that you like everythin' we chose for the party." She's taking to her immediately, just like Penny said that she would.

"How old are you goin' to be then? I forgot to ask anyone..." She's not at all sure how people socialize at parties, but it seems like an easy enough question to ask.

"Nah, don' worry 'bout it! Long as you 'ad fun. I did too, after all! Poor Tiger, think 'e was lookin' for 'is new friend this mornin'. Really should think about maybe gettin' 'im another puppy to play with..." She smiles at the idea, nodding to herself. "You're welcome, you know I like 'elpin' out."

"'m sure I will if you say so! She won't mind me bein' 'ere if she don' know me, right?"

"And I do thank you all for it, believe me. So very, very much," she answers happily.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Doll. And I do! I like it all very much, believe me. It really is just lovely, and I'm so very flattered you all went to all this trouble for me," Rosella answers with a kind smile.

"And I'm nineteen today--well, yesterday, really, but it's my first real day of being nineteen today, so."

"Aww... maybe Tiger does need a puppy. That'd be nice, having two dogs who'd play together." Because Doris the duck, although she doesn't seem to mind Tiger, absolutely refuses to play with him.

She smiles. "Of course Rosella won't mind! She'll like you... there's no way she couldn't."

"You're very, very welcome," Penny replies.

Rosella's Birthday Log // Ongoing // Open

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