tampered | Log; Ongoing

Log; Ongoing

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!]

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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?]

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!"

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."

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.

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.

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."

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."

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.

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?"

She smiles brightly then inspects her shoes, hoping they will give her a conversation-starter. No such luck. "You really didn't have to. ...The presents, I mean. But it's super thoughtful."

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!"

"Blue, thank you," she says with a bright smile, taking the rolled-up sheets and wondering what songs are in there. "Really. Playing the same three songs over and over was probably driving poor Freckles nuts.

"We should have a jam session sometime." Penny reexamines the sentence and adds, "I mean, you can't exactly jam with a violin, but you know what I mean. You, me, Rosella--whoever else. It could be fun."

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?"

"You're welcome," he says. Of course, you're welcome; she's more than welcome, in his opinion. "I figured you probably would be happy for a change," he explains, smiling softly.

"Sure thing!" he agrees quickly to her suggestion. "If you want to come over, anytime, really. I'll even play classical music."

"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?"

"Great! And hey, who says it has to be classical? I'm sure violins and jazz can go together." She doesn't sound like she's joking. "Anyway, it wouldn't be fair to play just what I like playing."

Blue laughs. "I'm sure we could figure something out, then. A compromise. If only to keep Rosella from playing Greensleeves." It's not the Blue hates Greensleeves...

Well, okay, it's because Blue hates Greensleeves.

If Penny is the least bit unhappy, she's hiding it horribly well (and, given her relatively poor acting skills, this isn't likely). Blood-thirsty sheep, homesickness, and all other unpleasant things have officially stopped being concerns.

"Did Freckles help?" Penny guesses. That would explain the mysterious baking smells lingering in the apartment the other night. And she had seen Blue and Curt playing their respective instruments, so they had been in on it. It's sweet that even one person had gone out of her way to throw a party; that more people had been involved is overwhelmingly touching. Penny vows to do another hug-and-thank-you circuit before people start leaving.

She smiles the smile of someone who is indeed having a lovely time but can't quite articulate the fact. "Of course! This is amazing, having everyone here--and by the lake, too!" Because some of the ducks waddling about are very familiar.

Penny returns the laugh. She almost has to be joking when she says, "How about a jazzy remix of Greensleeves? Specially written for trumpet, violin, and flute."

"She did, yes! And I understand she worked very hard at making sure you didn't notice what she was up to, either." Which makes for a rather adorable mental image, really; Freckles seems like a lovely girl, albeit a bit shy, and the fact that she'd gone out of her way to help with the baking and still manage to keep it a secret (well, relatively, anyway) from Penny is really quite endearing.

The mention of ducks, however, sparks a moment of recognition with Rosella. "Oh! And that reminds me," she adds, handing Penny her present before reaching into one of her skirt pockets and producing a little bag, which happens to be full of scraps of bread. "These are for you, also. Well, they're more for the ducks, actually, but--in any case, I thought that since our snacks wouldn't do very well with the ducks, they ought to have a little something of their own, as well."

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.

"She did a good job. And so did you, and everyone else." Rosella has the questionable distinction of being the first person to get another hug and thank you. "Thanks--I can't say that enough, seriously."

The unfortunate part of saying thank you again, of course, is that Penny is left with nothing original to say when Rosella hands her the present and the bread. "Rosella! That's--thank you!" Who needs originality, really. "That's so sweet."

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!"

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.

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?"

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Log; Ongoing

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