open & ongoing~!

[mumbled_truth]

When; Sunday, April 25th~
Rating; Ahahaaaa probably PG? This is not a wild party, folks.
Characters; had_not_lived, mumbled_truth, any & all of their friends plz~ <3
Summary; It is was Neil's birthday, so it's time for a (belated) surprise party~ in the park :D
Log;

So it wasn't the most grandiose plan, or even done far in advance, and luck may have turned so that it was on a curse weekend after all, but it didn't seem so bad. Things came together, even if it wasn't a big production, and even if it was a curse, it wasn't a particularly harmful one. Disturbing, in some ways, maybe, but Todd was doing his best to ignore certain stories on the Network.

As expected, it wasn't difficult for him to get Neil to the park, bringing him straight into the surprise party that was waiting for him. Todd smiled widely as he did, stepping back slightly and watching Neil's reaction as he made his entrance. Even if Todd wasn't the most social person in the City, these were their friends... and he knew there were few things that would make Neil happier than having all of them here. This was a slight crowd he could certainly handle.

[ooc: Tag in wherever! Just give the setting in your comment - when it is, if it's open, if you're addressing someone, etc., etc., I'm sure we all know the drill <333 OBVIOUSLY SUPER BACKDATING FRIENDLY sob]

Comments

Open!

[treadingdawn.livejournal.com]

Caspian X is at the party with Peter Pevensie in tow though where the High King is at this very moment is not for the Telmarine to say. After all, he doesn't keep his friend on a leash...often. Ahem, there's a fresh box of churros tied with ribbon on one of the tables, a perishable gift for Neil's birthday meaning they'll have to eat them as soon as possible! Presently the brunette sits upon a bench under a tree, watching the events of the party unfold, enjoying his glass of...hm. Is wine permitted on the premises? Ah well, he sips.

[inmyothertights]

Billy isn't sure how Caspian managed to get booze into this party, but then he remembers that in the fifties sex hadn't equated with drugs, alcohol, and rock and roll yet. Clearly no one has given Neil or Todd the cancer lecture.

But he sort of sits down next to his fellow brunette. All the gay teenagers in the City seemed to come in pairs of blond and brunette, and Billy would muse on that except it's in public and he's pretty sure that even without a weapon Peter could clobber him.

"Is that really wine?"

[treadingdawn.livejournal.com]

It's not very nice to clobber someone almost half your age but then again Peter is Peter, underground fights and all. Of course Caspian doesn't speak for the blond nor can he read minds, therefore this thought of Billy's goes unaddressed. Instead, the brunette turns to his peer joining him on the bench.

"Well."

He offers the glass to Billy for a sip. It's a white wine.

[inmyothertights]

It wouldn't be the first time someone twice Billy's age beat him up. Being a superhero has it's dangers, after all.

Billy takes a careful sip. While no lush, he does have an extremely Jewish grandmother who insists that four glasses of wine for anyone over the age of thirteen at Passover is sacred, so Billy's had wine before. Of course, Manischewitz isn't exactly quality but the point is the same.

"Where did you get it?" Billy asks. It's not exactly on the party table next to the cake. He pauses at that. "No, no, nevermind. Anyway. Having a good time?"

[had_not_lived]

On his own, Neil might not take a break from wandering around and socializing, but spotting Caspian offers him an excuse to sit in the shade for a few minutes and catch his breath. He's gone with soda instead of wine-- a matter of preference of course since by his own standards he's now old enough to drink, and besides there's a certain degree of anarchy to Neil's poetic philosophy. To each their own.

"Caspian!" he greets the Telmarine, grinning as he settles beside him on the bench. "Having a good time?"

[treadingdawn.livejournal.com]

Oh good because the last thing Caspian wants to do is break etiquette for the guest of honor. However if the guest of honor fancies a glass himself sometime later, Caspian can definitely procure a serving. Ahem, anyway he smiles to the other young man and nods once.

"Neil. Happy birthday," in case he hasn't said it before, "and I am having a good time. Although it is more important that you do, are you?"

[had_not_lived]

Somehow a dignified glass of wine in the light of day, while certainly suitable for a young King, lacks the poetic excitement of a borrowed flask or a filched beer passed around beside the campfire and therefore loses a lot of its appeal.

"Are you kidding? This is great! Of course I'm enjoying it." His smile leaves no room for doubt.

open!

[moresake.livejournal.com]

Yuuko is there, brightly dressed and as always standing out among a mostly-shorter crowd. She has a glass of some amber liquid in one hand and an easy smile on her face as she moved through the group, socializing easily as she tends to do. She loves parties and surprises, and she had been happy to help Todd figure out what he wanted to do for Neil. To Yuuko, that is the gift that she's given-- physical presents are hard to arrange when any exchange between her and someone else can be considered a transaction. He doesn't need to owe her anything. And she's known Neil for longer than a year, now, though, and she doesn't think he'll mind.

She laughs at something that another guest said and takes a healthy drink.

[had_not_lived]

The absence of a material gift isn't likely to even occur to Neil; not that he doesn't like getting things (because, really, who doesn't?) but because it isn't a matter of course to him. The time and sentiment of the party is more to his tastes.

Yuuko is always difficult to miss at a gathering, and he waves at her from a small distance, smiling, not wanting to interrupt her if she's conversing with someone already.

[moresake.livejournal.com]

After a moment, Yuuko makes it over to see the guest of honor. She grins down at Neil.

"How does it feel to be a year older?" she asks. Not that another year meant much to, well, either of them, when it came to actual age.

[had_not_lived]

"Not all that different," he admits. Another year, or two-- he'd skipped his last birthday in all the excitement of adjusting to the City-- or fifty-something, depending how you did the math. "But it's a good excuse for a party, isn't it?"

OPEN and I will tag in other folks / backtag tomorrow sob <3

[had_not_lived]

Neil's reaction, of course, is pure delight. One might have expected, given the fuss he'd made over Todd's birthday, that his own might have merited mention; but it had seemed less important. Besides, it had fallen on one of those wild, unpredictable weekends-- and he'd found himself incapable of stringing together more than a word or two at the time.

A party was the best possible gift, in his opinion-- something he could enjoy doubly, because his friends would enjoy it as well. And so he's got a smile for everyone, even if it isn't really his birthday and even if the months and years don't quite add up right.

[adamantined]

Claire isn't quite tall enough to give anyone a surprise in the way that she wants to, but when she's wearing heels she at least has a slight advantage. If you consider losing momentary balance and leaning heavily into the back of the individual you are trying to surprise an actual advantage, which Claire doesn't, really, but she goes for it all the same: up on her toes with her hands trying to cover Neil's eyes as she says, "Surpri-III-se."

The vocal inclination comes as she does lose her balance and does start falling against Neil's back, one hand moving to catch herself against his shoulder while the other holds out the large chocolate cupcake that she's brought for him so that the icing doesn't get smudged. She's already laughing by the time she lets go and moves around him, surprise ruined. In a sense. "Happy Birthday."

[had_not_lived]

Scrawny though he may be, Neil manages not to be bowled over by his ill-balanced well-wisher. It's certainly surprising-- perhaps not in the fashion intended-- and he laughs as well, with a half-bow of gratitude as he takes the cupcake.

"Thank you! You all right?" Though she seems fine, and he hasn't stopped laughing either.

[adamantined]

"I'm fine. Totally fine." Said with an air of trying to brush off the situation, though it's hardly anything to be embarrassed about. If anything, it just takes care of the hug that she was going to end up giving him eventually, even if Claire isn't the sort of person to skimp on actual hugs and won't disappear from the place before giving him at least two more. The breath that comes next, after she's flattened her hair, is held in for a moment and then expelled quickly, and Claire says, exclaims, "How are you? Having a good birthday?"

[deadly_legacy]

Wearing a somewhat overly fancy dress, she arrives after being invited by Todd. She's never actually met Neil, but she comes armed with a book of poetry neatly wrapped for his birthday. She looks around for faces she may recognize amongst his friends, and tries to guess which one is Neil.

[mumbled_truth]

Todd's uniquely aware of the difficulties of being the stranger in any situation, so as soon as he spots Euphemia he goes over to greet her. If he's noticed that she's overdressed, he isn't saying anything about it... that really wouldn't be his style.

Putting on the brave social face he's been working on, he approaches her with a smile.

"Hi. I'm glad you came."

[deadly_legacy]

"Hello, Todd." She smiles easily at him. "It looks like a very nice party. Thank you for inviting me."

[had_not_lived]

It's a bit of a surprise-- though hardly an unpleasant one!-- to see people he doesn't know here. He'd ended up inviting a couple of effective strangers to Todd's birthday, but wouldn't have expected his shy friend to be equally outgoing in planning this get-together. Neil, however, is always happy to meet new people; and so he heads over to introduce himself.

"Hello!"

[deadly_legacy]

Euphie smiles warmly at the approaching boy. She also enjoys meeting new people and has plenty of experience being at social functions even if they were usually more formal than this one. Though she certainly prefers these smaller gatherings. "Hello. Are you Neil by any chance?"

Open!

[primrosella.livejournal.com]

After the generally mortifying experience of having her super-secret personal-indulgence writing put up on the Network for everyone to see, Rosella is glad to get out of the house and go to a party--and especially so, considering that it's for Neil's birthday. Though anyone who knows her will recognize that she's clearly still a bit miffed about the curse, she refuses to let that slight detail put a damper on the good mood of the occasion.

So she makes her way around the party, smiling and chatting with the people she knows, and keeping Neil's carefully-wrapped gift (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outdoor_Book_for_Adventurous_Boys) under one arm, ready for when she inevitably runs into him. It's a lovely day, despite the curse, and everyone seems to be having a good time. Good, she thinks, letting a pleased smile cross her face as she surveys the crowd. That's exactly how it ought to be for Neil's birthday, after all.

[had_not_lived]

Curses are called curses for a reason, and Neil has long since learned that even the silliest of them can wreak havoc. This one seems harmless, by and large-- though he can't quite shake a certain uncomfortable paranoia about some of what he's read-- but that doesn't make him any less glad to be unaffected. He can't imagine what he'd write, but doesn't doubt that it would be awful in every way. It's something he keeps in mind as he makes the rounds of his guests, some of whom might not be so lucky.

So if he notices any air of frustration about Rosella, he doesn't react in the least, greeting her warmly with a hug once they cross paths.

[primrosella.livejournal.com]

"Oh, there you are!" Rosella says happily, returning the hug just as fondly and shifting the gift out of the way so it's not poking anyone uncomfortably as they embrace. "Happy birthday, Neil! Even if it is a bit belated, of course. And how are you today?"

[mumbled_truth]

Well, it may not be his birthday, but when Todd spots Rosella he navigates his way through the crowd to reach her.

"Rosella--" He smiles brightly as he sees her, "I'm glad you came."

Not that he expected her to miss Neil's party by any means, being one of their absolute closest friends in the City, but still. He's happy the curse didn't manage to keep her from showing her face in public. Were he affected, he suspects he'd have spent the entire day in the apartment.

[primrosella.livejournal.com]

"Hello, Todd!" she chirps back, waving at him. It's hard to be moody when she's in the company of friends, honestly, and Todd is one of those few people that she'll never fail to have a smile for. "I'm glad I did, too. Everything looks so lovely!"