A very special day~ (Forward-dated to July 3rd)

[lostinmyway]

Who: Everybody!
What: Sophie Coolidge's birthday party!
When: The afternoon of July 3rd
Where: The rec centre
Summary: Sophie is having her fourth birthday! Come and share in her special day, and have lots of cake while you're at it. ♥
Rating: It's a four-year-old's birthday party. If this goes above G, Grune will come and kick your ass all the way around Luceti. :|
[Children's birthday parties aren't exactly common in Luceti, but this one has turned out pretty well despite the lack of practice. The gang at House 34 and their friends put a great deal of effort into making sure Sophie got the celebration she deserves, and it shows.

The rec centre is decorated up with lots of bright colours, thanks to Rapunzel's creativity and Mac's manual labour, with some interactivity to them, too. The tablecloths are made of giant sheets of paper with colouring supplies provided for the young and the young at heart. There are possibly a few more flowers around than most four-year-olds would have at their parties, but discouraging Grune is hard to do, and they do look nice.

There are games, too--mostly the sorts of things that would be appropriate for a four-year-old, like Pin the Tail on the Donkey or Pass the Parcel. There are balloons about to bat about and balls and blocks to play with, and of course no one would ever steal any spare balloons and make water balloons out of them. Of course not. :|

The food is awesome, of course, and definitely falls on the sweet side of things. In addition to Ryoji's cookies, there's lots to eat--the baking-inclined of House 34 went all out. And of course, there's a giant cake with tons of icing and the message "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SOPHIE!"

As for the birthday girl herself--well, she's looking pretty chill. But anyone who knows her well or looks carefully can tell she's definitely engaged and having a good time...even if she's not the most demonstrative of kids. Luceti, you done good.]

Comments

Both, please!

[everyonesconfidant]

[Hiro spots Grune first and cheerfully walks over.]

Hello, Grune! Happy birthday, Sophie! [He ruffles the child's hair. He can't help it, it's a habit he picked up...] How's the party been going? Looks like you managed to whip up quite a celebration... food, people, all sorts of things here!

Both it is!

[lostinmyway]

[Oh, it's the nice young man from her journal! Grune gives him a big smile and replies:] It's been going very well! Everyone is having a good time. Are you?

[Sophie, unfortunately, is much less impressed. She tolerates headpats...sometimes. Hair ruffling, however, is what you do to little kids. She's not a little kid--she's four now.]

[everyonesconfidant]

Oh, yeah! There's lots of good food and interesting people around here, so I've been people-watching for a bit to see if there's anyone I know. How's Sophie? Is she having a good time? That's the most important part.

[lostinmyway]

Oh yes, I think she is. [She looks down at the little girl.] Are you?

[She gets a couple of firm nods in response. This is a good party. She approves.]

[everyonesconfidant]

Good, good! Do you plan to send her to the school sometime in the future, or is that not in the plans for now?

[lostinmyway]

Hmm.... Well, Raine said that maybe she could start school in the fall. But we don't know yet.

[Sophie looks up at this. Wait, what? What's this "school" thing?]

[everyonesconfidant]

Ah, might as well start her early so she grows up good and smart! Haha!

[Suddenly, he pauses before changing topics.] Hey, Grune... I'm sorry if this is a bad time to ask you this, but you were on the draft, right? What did you do during it?

[lostinmyway]

[The tiniest frown appears on Grune's face, and one hand flutters down to the top of Sophie's head. The little girl heaves a sigh but puts up with it.]

Oh, I helped protect everyone.

[everyonesconfidant]

[Hiro can tell that was totally the wrong move to make. Oops. He's good at detecting little things like that frown, or when things are subtly amiss.]

You were behind the lines, I guess, then? [Beat.] I'm sorry. This was really the wrong time for these questions, wasn't it? I just wanted to hear your story. Sorry.

[lostinmyway]

[She shakes her head.]

It's all right. Maybe we can talk a little later.

[When Sophie isn't around and listening. Little pitchers have big ears and all.

Sophie, incidentally, is looking up at Grune. Why is there a hand on her head?]

[everyonesconfidant]

Yes... we'll save the scary stories for later. [He whips out his best winner's smile.] All we need to do now is celebrate little Sophie's special day! Everything's good as long as she's having fun. Did anyone set up any games for her or anything like that?

[lostinmyway]

[Grune smiles back unhesitatingly. That's better!]

Yes, there are some games over there.

[She gestures off to a corner where, among a couple of other games, there's Pin the Tail on the Donkey all set to go.]

[everyonesconfidant]

I see! Has Sophie been playing any of them? [Idea!] I wonder if the item store has a pinata to put up? Little kids love getting candy from pinatas!

[lostinmyway]

A pinata?

[Grune doesn't know what that is, but if it involves candy, it must be good, right?]

[everyonesconfidant]

It's this papery structure that you take turns hitting at parties till it breaks open, revealing the candy inside. Some of them are built like animals, some just say happy birthday on them... how does that sound to you? Should I go see if the shop has one?

[lostinmyway]

[This is definitely relevant to Grune's interests.]

My, that sounds like a lot of fun! I'll help you look!

[Grune, don't you have a party to run?]

[everyonesconfidant]

Um, I'd love to have you come with, but... shouldn't you wait here and watch over Sophie and the other guests? I'll be quick, so you won't be waiting too long.

[lostinmyway]

Oh. [She hadn't thought of that.] Yes, that's a good idea. Thank you!

[everyonesconfidant]

I'll be right back! [Hiro leaves to go look for the pinata. It takes him about 15 or so minutes, but eventually returns with a simple, round, purple pinata with "Happy Birthday" labeled on it in blue.] I'm back, Grune! I love how the item shop always has something you need in stock when you need it. What do you think of this one?

[lostinmyway]

My, it looks perfect! [Because Grune knows exactly what a pinata should be like.... But it really does seem pretty.] We should go find Sophie so she can play with it right away!

[everyonesconfidant]

[He looks around.] Did she wander off? I thought she was with you... Well, let's find a place to hang this up and get a good stick to whack it with! Maybe we can get a few other people to join in and help Sophie whack it if she has trouble.

[lostinmyway]

[Grune looks about.] I think she went over there.

["Over there" being by the refreshments table, where she's currently sipping from a plastic cup of juice.]

Sophie! Hiro brought you a new game to play!

[Sophie looks up in mild interest.]

[everyonesconfidant]

Ah, there she is! Okay, I'm going to go look for a good tree to hang this from and something to give it a whack with... [He goes off, beginning his search for the right tree and the right stick.]

[lostinmyway]

[And Grune goes to get Sophie! The little girl is quite happy to hear about a game that involves candy and hitting things, and so she'll definitely be on board for this one.

...Of course, Grune probably won't remember where Hiro went....]

[everyonesconfidant]

[Hiro finally finds a tree and a stick worth using. Once he hangs the pinata up, he returns to where Grune was with the stick in tow.]

Grune! Sophie! It's all set up! Come on this way!