Time to live it up in here!

[hiken_ace]

Who: Anyone!
What: Marco's surprise birthday party.
When: October 6th, in the afternoon.
Where: Community Housing 3, Room 40
Summary: It's Marco's birthday. Ace planned a party. Need I say more?
Rating: Uh, PG? Since there will be pirates here, I'm hoping not to go above PG-13. PLAY NICE, KIDS.
[Ace wasn't going to go overboard on the decorating. In fact, he had to leave a lot of it up to everyone else since his injuries prevent quite a bit of movement. But soon enough, there were a decent amount of streamers up, and a nice big banner that says "HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARCO". He had to work extra hard to get the cake to look just right. The cake is surrounded by the presents, and there's a few separate tables for food and drinks. Fruit punch for everyone, and some alcohol for the adults and pirates.

Come on, people, this is a party. Let's live it up a little! And don't forget to embarrass congratulate the birthday pirate. Feel free to leave your own comment below, just for mingling, or just doing something silly, or giving Marco your present! Have at!]

Comments

let's do this choose your own adventure style

[tibias]

[ at the party ]
[ he's drinking almost all afternoon, mostly because he's a functional alcoholic. and maybe partly because it keeps a large amount of alcohol away from ace. he's got a wrapped up basket with him most of the time—marco's birthday present. every time he looks at it he starts giggling a little because he thinks he's clever. and he can't wait to see the look on marco's face when he opens it.

if you catch him towards the end of the party, you may be able to get some stories out of him from his younger days when he and his crew encountered whitebeard's, and thus marco's. but only the really funny ones, and ones where he can mention the fabulous fabio hair that whitebeard had when he was younger. ]

[ post-party ]
[ afterwords he can be found outside the housing building or on the roof, still drinking. mostly because an incredibly drunk marco is too easy of a trolling target and he doesn't want to end up pissing his frenemy off on his birthday.

... well. he doesn't want to piss him off anymore than he probably already has, in any case. ]

I'm going to do both! During Party first

[fierybluebird]

[Whitebeard was a very pretty man once upon a time, here, have Marco joining in on such story (before opening that basket, he's still blissfully unaware.)]

Aye, Pops taught me almost everything I know about sparkles!

[Pauses.] Or was it vice versa?

[Shrugs!] No matter. He used to get tons of nurses with his manliness sparkles and long hair. [Serious nod.]

[First person to point that Marco was unable to manage the long hair thing gets elbowed hard.]

[tibias]

[ marco, shanks is so amused right now. and he's so glad he's mostly sober so he'll remember all this for later. ]

Oh, is that how he did it? I thought it was the hat and the muscles. [ are they actually talking about this... ]

[fierybluebird]

I'm sure being able to best the world in any contest of strength also helped.

He started off with a bandana, eh? Ah, but that was probably before your time.

[Marco is so old jeez.]

[tibias]

Ah, probably. He had the hat around the time the Battle in Edd War happened, didn't he?

[ edd war is one of those battles by which shanks tells time. it was a year and a half after he joined roger's crew, so anything before that is likely to be from before his time.

... even so they sound like two old men, reminiscing about the good old days before all the young whippersnappers came and ruined everything. ]

[fierybluebird]

[Rubs his chin.] I can't remember. [It's not like he was around during it.] I know by the time Shiki showed up after his escape from Impel Down, Pops had a new hat.

Man, that takes me back.

[tibias]

[ it did make quite a, heh, splash though. ]

You're getting old.

[fierybluebird]

[True. And have a light shove Shanks.]

Shut up. I still remember all the important things.

[tibias]

[ he's not even going to touch that one. it would be too easy. ]

Speaking of getting older... [ he tosses the wrapping paper covered basket at marco. ] Open the present first, then the card.

[ the basket is made to look like a bird's nest with a large chocolate bird in it surrounded by chocolate creme eggs. the card isn't actually a card so much as it is a large piece of cardstock. on it is written "happy birthday, marco! i'm moving out. —shanks" ]

[After Party -- Troll away Shanks, troll away]

[fierybluebird]

[Marco heads up to the roof himself to get a moment away from the party, a smoke, and share some rum with his Pops' memorial.]

[Which is when he notices Shanks, much to his surprise.]

Oi, hadn't expected you up here, eh? [Not that he minds. Though being a little tipsy still, helps. That said, he fumbles over his words trying to piece out the next part.] I wouldn't take you for the type to get bored with the noise.

[Before in Luceti, Shanks had made a habit of going to the rooftop to find Marco when necessary, but since Shanks didn't seem to remember Luceti, Marco doubted he'd remember that. Not that he minded either, just a small curiosity.]

B)

[tibias]

[ he looks over his shoulder and gives marco a small smile. ]

I didn't get bored. I thought there was probably only so much of me you could stand in one night.

[ still, he shifts so marco can come sit by him if he wants. he's not going to turn down company from drunken marco if he offers it. ]

B)

[fierybluebird]

[He grabs a seat next to Shanks almost leaning back to back.]

I don't always hate you, eh?

[Laughs teasingly.] I just have to be drunk to do it. [That's a joke and a lie, hopefully Shanks catches it.]

[tibias]

[ he laughs at that before taking a drink. ] You're going to regret saying that in the morning.

[fierybluebird]

Why, planning on getting me drunk from now on? My girlfriend might suspect you're up to something.

[Oh were you going to troll him? Too late, he's preempting your attempts. Which is bound to backfire.]

[tibias]

Of course not. I would never do something like that!

[ he's not actually planning on that, but just saying that straight out is no fun. so he's acting like he is, in fact, planing to get marco drunk on a regular basis. ]

[fierybluebird]

You can try.

[But he only gets drunk on special occasions you know. Also stop stealing his deadpan shtick. What, they reversed now that Marco's the drunk one? There are secrets of the universe being unlocked by this...]

But braver men than you have tried and failed. [Well, maybe not braver such as "more idiotic" but close enough. Look at Marco, making it sound like some grand epic quest.]

[tibias]

[ oh, well that just makes him smirk. ]

That almost sounds like a challenge. If I didn't know better, I'd think you might be baiting me.

after party manly talks and such (yea)

[hiken_ace]

[After the party died down, and most people went home, Ace snuck out with a bottle of sake to go out and find Shanks. By chance, he decided to check the roof first, and lucky enough he found him. Silently, he walks up to him, giving him a light smile when he stands next to him.] Mind if I join you?

(yea)

[tibias]

[ oh, this is a surprise. shanks was expecting to move out a day or two from now without ace getting over some of the uncomfortable awkward. still, it's a pleasant surprise, so he shifts over to make room. ] Not at all.

[hiken_ace]

Thank you. [There's a tense silence for Ace as he takes a seat next to Shanks. There's also a question he wants to ask. Not a lot about his dad, just one. It's hard, though, managing to muster up the courage to ask it. After a sip or two of sake, he lets out a low sigh, staring at the sky.]

Was... he a good captain?

[tibias]

[ the tense silence is expected, but still a little hard to deal with. thank god for booze. the question is a little surprising, but shanks really doesn't mind answering. ]

He was the best.

[hiken_ace]

[There's a slight bit of relief when he hears that, possibly because it's the only good thing he's ever heard about Roger.] ... good.

[But now he's curious. He's always met people who hate Roger, so how does he react to someone who liked him? What if Shanks has different stories to tell?He'd rather have the truth, anyway.] What... was he like? As a person.

[tibias]

He was... larger than life in some ways. He liked doing things in a grand manner. Big parties, big fights... you name it. He never ran from a fight. Ever. There were a lot times when I wanted hm to back down from something, but he never did. Once his mind was set on something, that was that. [ he laughs suddenly ] Which landed us in some sticky situations. Captain Roger was reckless as reckless can be—he was a lot like Luffy in that respect.

[ there's a pause and shanks' voice softens a bit. ] He really cared for his nakama, and the people he respected. He took even the smallest slight against us personally, and did everything he could to make sure we were okay. That meant everything when I was growing up.

[hiken_ace]

[As Shanks tells his story, Ace becomes more and more confused. This is... practically the opposite of everything Ace has been told about his father. Was Roger really that good of a person? Then why did so many people hate him? Roger... he was so many things, Ace didn't even know who he was.] He was really like that? He sounds... like a good man.

[tibias]

[ so ace really didn't know much about roger. shanks had suspected, what with how much he didn't like his biodad. that is... really, really sad. ] He was one of the best. Your father wouldn't have liked him so much if he wasn't.