Log; Ongoing

[primrosella.livejournal.com]

When; May 20, in the afternoon
Rating; G?
Characters; Penny (horrible_penny) and all of her friends! So if you're her friend, then this means you!
Summary; It wouldn't be a proper birthday without a proper party! Rosella and friends are therefore throwing one for Penny by the lake in Xanadu.
Log;

According to Penny, this birthday is the one that officially marks her as a spinster; as a direct result, Rosella has decided that it is her solemn duty to ensure this party makes Penny feel just the opposite. As requested, it's not a particularly large or formal sort of affair. There are a few tables set up and covered in light tablecloths, ready to hold plates of sliced fruit, cupcakes, cookies, and a bowl of punch; there are also some blankets spread on the ground to accommodate anyone that wants to sit on something other than the grass. A short distance away lies the edge of the lake, and the sound of the ducks swimming and quacking near the shore is unmistakable. But, of course, it only seems fitting that a birthday for Penny would somehow involve ducks, wouldn't it?

All in all, the whole thing has an "afternoon picnic" sort of feel to it. Penny's friend Curt has promised to provide some music with his guitar, which adds to the lighthearted atmosphere of the occasion, and thus far, everything is looking perfect. Rosella would certainly know; she's checked things over at least four times now, just to make sure that everything's set exactly as it should be.

The only thing left to manage, then, is the cake. That's important enough to warrant a table all its own, and she takes extra pains to make sure it looks perfect, too. She also makes it a point to remove the note she'd stuck to the box earlier that morning--Please take note that this is Penny's birthday cake, and while I am sure she'd forgive anyone who ruined it before she even had a chance to look at it, much less taste it, that really speaks more to Penny's capacity to forgive and not to the severity of the offense--and crumples it in her hand before stuffing it into one of her skirt pockets.

There. Everything is set and ready; all that remains is to sit back, enjoy the company, and await Penny's arrival.


[OOC: It's Penny's birthday! Set up threads, threadjack each other, congratulate the birthday girl once she gets here, engage in passive-aggressive note-leaving shenanigans...have a ball!]

Comments

Open to everyone ever

[horrible-penny.livejournal.com]

Penny knows that it's her birthday. She is, however, not expecting much to happen, as the day typically passes as most other days do. She has plans for the evening, of course--dinner and cake with her parents, a tradition that being deceased and in an alternate universe could not toss by the wayside. Penny had celebrated the same way last year, shortly after her arrival in the City. Last year, however, she had still been alive.

Not that being a little more dead this time around is a big deal. Everything happens, and death falls under 'everything.'

The note she had found in the Welcome Center that morning (it had had a vaguely threatening feel to it, although it had been polite enough) indicated that today wouldn't be wholly uneventful. Lacking specifics, Penny had followed the note's directions and headed for the lake in the afternoon. Much to her surprise, there are a number of tables and people in the lake's vicinity. There is also a cake. Penny, knowing the signs of a birthday party when she sees one, is absolutely delighted. She doesn't dare assume that it's a party for her, as any number of people could have birthdays on the same day, but all parties are good parties.

(And, just maybe, this one is for her.)

[ooc: I need to do a few RL things, but I wanted to put this up here. ♥ Feel free to spam the heck out of this/make threads that happened prior to Penny's arrival/whatever else makes you happy?]

[freckleddoll]

Yes, this party was indeed for her. Doll was glad Rosella had suggested it. Penny did so much for other people, she deserved something in return, something to cheer her up and celebrate her birthday. Something to help her smile a bit more, because Doll had seen how upsetting it was for her to lose so many friends to the City's whims. She hoped this would help take her mind off it for a while

She'd helped with the preparations where she could, managing to make the cupcakes Rosella had asked for without Penny noticing it. And now that the birthday girl herself had finally arrived she tried sneaking up on her for a birthday hug - though her plan was promptly foiled by Tiger recognizing Penny and rushing up to fawn over her, to Doll's amusement. Her puppy had grown as fond of her roommate as she had, it seemed.

"'appy Birthday, Penny!"

[horrible-penny.livejournal.com]

It has been made clear to her that this is indeed her party (all suspicions were confirmed after the third or fourth person had wished her a happy birthday) and that Rosella is the primary conspirator. Penny, intent on finding Rosella to thank her--and on the way, perhaps, thank everyone else--nearly trips over Tiger. She kneels to ruffle his ears. And where Tiger goes...

And there's Doll! Penny stands to intercept her hug with no small amount of enthusiasm. "Freckles! Thank you!" She's immensely pleased to see her roommate there, even if it would have been silly to think she wouldn't show. It just wouldn't have been right without her, and now Penny can introduce Doll to all of her friends she hasn't met yet. "Thank you so, so much. This is..." she trails off, searching her vocabulary for a word that properly encompasses all she wants to express without any luck, "...it's amazing. Seriously, having everyone here? And you and Tiger..."

Penny hugs Doll tightly. Hugs, after all, speak louder than poorly-constructed sentences.

[freckleddoll]

Doll hugged her back just as tightly, grinning, glad to see her friend looking so happy. "You're welcome - 's good that you like it all! 'ad a right job to make sure you didn't suspect anything." Because she could be terrible at keeping secrets sometimes when she was excited about something, but she could see that Penny hadn't expected it at all.

[justcautious.livejournal.com]

Since Rosella announced Penny's birthday, Chris has been spending his time when he's not at work trying to figure out what birds like. Or what Penny likes, anyway, because if they might go on some other date in the future, that means he has to start thinking about these things. Probably. Anyway, people deserve gifts on their birthdays, whether they're potentially a girlfriend or not. It was lucky that Rosella had brought it up, anyway, because otherwise, he wouldn't have known.

After his prolonged period of deep thought (for him) he's ended up with some nice soap (because birds like soap sorts of things, he's fairly convinced of that) and some chocolates (because everyone likes chocolate). The soap is cruelty-free, if only because he didn't realise that there were cruel sorts of soap and who'd want cruel soap anyway? Certainly not Penny.

He arrives a bit later than the proposed beginning of the party because initially, he'd gotten lost, but once he finds his way there, he heads directly over to Penny.

"Hullo," he says, and hands over his badly-wrapped parcel a bit nervously. "Happy Birthday, Penny."

[horrible-penny.livejournal.com]

Penny's mildly surprised to see Chris, but only for a moment. She hadn't told him about her birthday, had she? Then again, word has a way of traveling in the City and of course Chris would have come to a party for her. He's a nice guy--a nice guy with second-date potential in spite of the unfortunate happenings at the first date. He's also not a mad scientist with plans to rule the world and stalker tendencies or a super-strong hero with an ego the size of his gigantic biceps, which puts Chris in relatively good standing.

She takes the present--bless Chris' attempts at a neat wrapping job--and hugs him. "Aww, thank you, Chris. Thank you twice."

[justcautious.livejournal.com]

It's probably good that Chris doesn't know of Penny's previous...beaus because he'd feel a bit outranked.

Hugging her back, he steps off, beaming. "You're welcome...um. Twice?"

[playstheblues.livejournal.com]

Blue can't help but he happy for Penny. He had gotten her some sheet music for her violin; nothing too special, but thoughtful just the same. He's waiting there with the trumpet, providing background noise, and when she has a moment free he goes to with her a happy birthday. After all, Penny is so sweet, and she's been kind to him more than once.

[horrible-penny.livejournal.com]

Blue's presence--made quite audible by his skillful trumpet-playing--had been noted and Penny is working her way around to thank him for coming. He finds her before she makes it to him, however, and so she thanks him and gives him a hug. Perhaps Penny and Blue don't talk as much as some of the other guests, but she does think highly of him; the violin and the generous donation to the Welcome Center have earned Blue a permanent spot at the top of Penny's friends list.

She lets him go and accepts the sheet music gratefully. "I can't thank you enough for coming, Blue. Your playing's amazing."

[playstheblues.livejournal.com]

Blue smiles when she hugs him and he hugs her back. It's rare that Blue finds people he can love, even though he has many friends; most of them he doesn't allow so close as people like Rosella, and to an extent, Penny. She's impossible not to want to see smiling, truly. He moves away a little and blushes when she gives the compliment. "Thank you, but today is not about me."

He reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out the music, wrapped up like a scroll and tied with a ribbon. "I know it's not much, but I thought maybe you could use a little more to practice with." He knows that she likes the violin he gave her, and it wasn't as though he was using it.

[primrosella.livejournal.com]

Rosella isn't anywhere near the sort of event planner that, say, her mother or Blair are, but practice does make perfect and she's currently determined to make sure this one goes off without a hitch. Once she's certain that Penny has successfully arrived (and appears to be enjoying herself, too!), she immediately retreats to the background, checking everything over one last time to make sure it's all running smoothly for the birthday girl.

But once she's sure that everything is just as it ought to be, she retrieves the carefully-wrapped gift (http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv60/Fortunes_Wings/Polychromatic/emk-cross-body-bag-green.gif) she'd purchased for Penny and starts to search through the crowd for her. The shopkeeper had assured her that it was an item especially made with vegetarians in mind, and though Rosella's not exactly sure what any of that has to do with not eating meat, she's willing to trust the word of the expert on this one.

When she spots Penny, she hurries over with a wide smile on her face and a very cheerful, "Oh, there you are, Penny! Happy birthday!"

[horrible-penny.livejournal.com]

Aha! The elusive Rosella appears and Penny's search for the party's planner--she is absolutely convinced that it's Rosella, and she was the only one Penny had discussed birthdays with recently--ends. She greets Rosella with an exuberant hug. "Thank you! Rosella, thank you a million times! Did you put this together?"

[primrosella.livejournal.com]

"Well, I did have help, of course," she answers, her cheeks flushing a little. She's pleased to see Penny looking so excited, especially after the past week with the sheep, and particularly since her one-year anniversary in the City had fallen on such an awful day. She certainly deserves to have this birthday as happy as Rosella can make it, and then some, besides. "You're enjoying yourself, I hope?"

[is-paranoid.livejournal.com]

Stork is still shy about attending any place in the open where he's not familiar, but it's a party and THOSE SHOULD BE RELATIVELY HARMLESS RIGHT?

In any case, he's got a cute little box wrapped up with a bow (and do you know how hard it is to tie a bow when only 4 fingers?) and inside is, yes, a <href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/preview.canstockphoto.com/canstock1812427.png">mechanical duck. Because Stork remembers the ducks and this one doesn't need a cage.

[horrible-penny.livejournal.com]

Of all of the people that Penny didn't expect to see, Stork was at the top of the list. As such, seeing him there was something of a welcome surprise. "Stork!" She gave him ample warning before giving him a hug, hoping to keep any panicking to a minimum. "Thank you so, so much for coming!"

I WAS TOO TIRED LAST NIGHT TO NOTICE MY HTML FAIL. /BIGGERFAIL

[is-paranoid.livejournal.com]

Stork had already inoculated himself with about a dozen antibiotics before attending the party, so he tolerated the hug rather well. Although there was an awful lot more of Penny than there had ever been of, say, Piper; so that was new.

"You're welcome," he answered, a little surprised by Penny's excitement at his arrival. He held out the wrapped box. "Um, happy birthday."

[thewildone]

Curt arrives once the party's already underway, guitar case in hand. He's being good. He didn't even bring booze, unless you count the bottle of wine, but that's a present and doesn't count because it is classy. He is also wearing pants and they are totally normal pants, just a bit tight, and admittedly he is wearing a woman's shirt but there is a reason for that and the point is he is fully clothed.

He's a little keyed up just because he hasn't really gone out lately--well, a few nights including last night, hence the shirt that is definitely not his--but overall he hasn't been spending a lot of time with others. Too busy trying to adjust and figure things out and get a job and also too busy sitting around composing moody shitty songs on the guitar which he keeps having to abandon halfway through because they keep ending up being about Brian. He hasn't actually played anything for anyone in the City and he feels--well, something--about that. He hasn't figured out exactly what.

He looks around for the birthday girl and spots her quickly, thanks to the hair. "Hey, Penny. Lookin' good." He grins and holds out the bottle.

[horrible-penny.livejournal.com]

Curt's appearance warrants a double-take (which says something about his wardrobe choice, as Penny and some of her friends have rather unique styles of their own). Is that shirt a--? Not that it matters, of course, because this is a judgment-free party and Curt can wear whatever he likes. Anyway, it's good to see him out and about. He didn't seem to be adjusting well to the City.

"Hey, Curt." He gets a slightly more hesitant hug than everyone else. Penny doesn't want him to take any displays of affection the wrong way. "Thank you! You're looking pretty good yourself." In a scruffy, unwashed, wearing-borrowed-clothing sort of way, but it's not really a lie. Really.

She looks from Curt's grin to the bottle of wine. The last time a grinning man had handed her wine, things went poorly. "Is that for me?"

[thewildone]

If Curt cared what people thought about his appearance he--no, that's a lie. If Curt cared about getting a positive reaction to his appearance, he wouldn't really be Curt.

He hugs Penny back as much as he can without putting the guitar down. He's comfortable with physical affection and even if his hands were free, he would not be putting them anywhere inappropriate. He's into Penny the way he's into, well, a lot of people, but he's not the sort of person who reads into things where there isn't anything.

"For you, for the party," he shrugs. "And I have some good news."

[supercompacted.livejournal.com]

It was a beautiful day out, and Fred was just glad for that. Penny could use a really nice day- heck, they all could. But Penny especially.

Fred came by a little late, mostly because she didn't think it would take as long as it did to make up her present. But when she did finally arrive, she waited until there was an opening and then headed over to Penny, carrying a large fabric shopping bag. She was clearly trying to be careful with what was inside of it, but she looked up as she approached.

"Happy birthday, Penny," she said warmly. "Hope you're having a good one."

[horrible-penny.livejournal.com]

Late or not, Penny's delighted to see Fred. Noting how carefully Fred's handling the bag, Penny reigns in her enthusiasm and hugs her gently. "Thank you, Fred! And it's great--amazing! So many people came, and now that you're here, I'd say that almost all of my favorite people in the City showed up."

[supercompacted.livejournal.com]

"Aw, Penny," she replied, her smile turning into a big grin. She carefully set the bag on the ground, then practically tackled Penny in a hug. "I'm glad you're happy."

And it's only after a moment of that when Fred pulled back and opened up the bag. "I couldn't really wrap these, but they're presents for you. The first-" She pulled up a pot that had a an array of fruit coming out of it, arranged like flowers. There was crinkled watermelon and cantaloupe carved and honeydew carved into crude petals. The main feature, however, was the number of chocolate-covered strawberries in it. "Mom used to make these, and- well, mine's not as pretty but I'm sure it tastes just as good."

There was another thing in the bag, and she handed the fruit-pot to Penny to get it out. "And these are..." She pulled it out, revealing purple orchids set into a light gray pot. "Ice orchids. You give them three ice cubes a week to water them, and make sure they have plenty of sun." She had thought of putting together some sort of device, but since her devices usually came out kind of scary looking, she figured Penny would probably rather have something growing.

Sob sorry so backdated.

[worksmart.livejournal.com]

Chase arrives too late to be part of the surprise but for once looking like he hasn't just stepped out of the clinic, although it's hard to tell that a polo-shirt and jeans lurk behind the armful of flowers barely contained in the crook of one elbow. Last week had marked the end of his first full year in the city, too, though he'd kept that quiet, and it surprised him to hear that Penny had arrived almost in tandem with him. It has to be to her credit that her smile feels like a fixture, one he isn't sure he's ever admitted to appreciating.

So it's quieter by the time he arrives, the rush for birthday girl and birthday food largely over, and he stands at the edge of the group, turning his face up to the afternoon sun for a moment before going back to trying to find her red hair in the crowd.

Don't worry--backdating is my bf. Or something very like that.

[horrible-penny.livejournal.com]

Penny, on the lookout for any new arrivals who haven't been thoroughly thanked and hugged, spots Chase easily enough--or, rather, she's quick to spot the walking bouquet that happens to be Chase. The doctor is one of the people she hadn't expected to come; he stays so busy at the hospital that seeing him in person is something of a rarity. As such, she's exceptionally pleased to see what of him she can through the flowers (which, of course, has nothing to do with the fact that she thinks he's quite possibly one of the cutest guys in the City. Not at all).

"Chase! Hey!" Penny can't quite work out how to hug him around the flowers, and so refrains for the moment. "You have no idea how great it is to see you--and look at you, all outside and non-doctory."

I thought it was MY bf. I'm so betrayed.

[worksmart.livejournal.com]

"They do let us out for good behaviour once in a while." Chase is laughing as he speaks, and he looks comfortable in a way he never quite does at work. There he's efficient, usually in control but working hard at keeping things that way. Relaxation is probably a more unusual look than the casualwear.

The flowers are large and bright, in as many shades as the florists could provide. "Didn't know your favourite colour," he explains as he tips the bouquet from the support of his arm and hands it over, "so I got them all."

Only with the first gift passed across might the small bag hanging from one wrist become apparent. He'll get to it in a bit. "And it looks like you've got half the city here for you, too. Happy birthday."