Happy Birthday! [open, multi]

This was not a Surprise Party but Lei was surprised anyway because for the most part he thought it was a joke.

Lei mentioned his birthdays to him offhandedly before. They were extremely public affairs with the entire village gathering up at the square, making food and offering him presents. It would've been nice if it wasn't celebrated... as a goddamn festival. It was always the same thing. Sit nice, look pretty and say thank you, Lei. Tell them how much you appreciate their generosity, Lei.

(A bunch of no good son of curse word, how about you stick it into someplace or other.)

The day's itinerary was supposed to be: dress nice, go out to a bakery, eat an entire birthday cake somewhere and let the earth claim his finally legal body so it could be eaten by crabs and other sea creatures, but then stupid sexy Sid told him, hey, here's the time and place for your sweet-ass birthday party! P.S. This isn't a joke.

Lei wanted to pretend his hopes weren't way up. Which they were. They were super high. He put on his nicest vest, clipped his sheep bow onto the back of his hair and freshened up with a bubbly cologne that he was pretty sure was top notch but was actually teenage girl bubblegum perfume. Lei half-hoped, for the first time in his sad, pathetic life, that Sid would continue to impress him and flip this stupid day into an actual good one because Sid was good at that — making things better, reassuring him that things would be okay even if everything in his life dictated otherwise.

The other half of him was fearing that his friendship with Sid was just an elaborate joke to humiliate him at a key point of his life and officially turn him into the school's worst meme (TM).

Worst case scenario? Probably. But Lei wasn't used to extravagant acts of kindness, especially not like this.

When he entered the Ballroom, it was...

It was exactly what Sid told him.

He felt like crying right now.

"Holy grandma's tits on a roller coaster, what the everloving fuck?" He clutched the side of his face, still taking his time trying to register this was not a dream and not an elaborate joke. "WHAT. WHAT."

Deith arrived a few minutes later, a small gift bag in hand.

He didn't seem all that cheerful, despite his attempt not to look tired and dejected. He had gotten into a more-intense-than-usual fight in Fight Club the night before, gotten a bruise near his left eye and a cut near his lips, but he masked those with some concealer and then some illusions. And he felt so disappointed with himself for only knowing this very day that it was Lei's birthday. Why the fuck didn't he know? He felt like the biggest jerk in the world.

It was his first time in the academy's ballroom. He entered, his eyes wandering ahead of him to familiarize himself with the place, and to search for Lei. And for Sid, the person who apparently threw this party.

"Hey," he greeted as he spotted them, and then he quickly walked closer to Lei, giving him a soft kiss on his temple. "Happy birthday, Lei. I'm sorry I uh... I only have this for you. I'll put it on the table." He showed the gift bag before heading for the table to put it there. He had picked it up on his way here, because he really wasn't prepared for this. It was a custom-made wristwatch in this shop downtown that sold all kinds of accessories that had beautiful patterns and etches, and all of the designs were one of a kind. The wristwatch he picked up had small silver roses and thorns and leaves for accents on the cuff. It was secured in a Prussian Blue velvet box.

Yuki panted to herself as she ran into the room, holding a wrapped package in her arms. She was out of breath, obviously having run here.

The shark girl was not in her normal attire. She had wanted to dress nice for today, and so she had bravely decided to forgoe her hoodie for the day. Yuki was wearing a light blue sundress that was a shade lighter than her ice blue hair. The dress had small sharks embroidered along the hem, each looking like it was going to bite the tail of the one in front of it, along with a pair of light blue flats that matched the dress. Her hair was held in place by a grey bow, as to match the sharks. She caught her breath, and smiled brightly to Sid and Lei.

"Sorry i'm late, I couldn't find my dress! Happy birthday Lei!" She yelled, happily. She held out the package to Lei, a square box covered in blue wrapping paper. The paper itself was dotted with small sheeps and little hearts. Inside was a custom made sheep-hoodie, just like Yuki's shark one. It was just Lei's size!

Yuki blinked, before smiling sheepishly. "Oh, I guess I have to put it on the table?" She asked, still smiling sheepishly.

Well shit. He hasn't even been here for more than a minute but Deith could already feel that this day was, at least to him, going to be awkward as fuck. Right after putting his gift on the table, he turned to the person that was grinning like an idiot at him.

This person, this drow, whose name was such a bad word in his own dictionary. Deith's immediate thought as he looked at him was that he was a potential danger, merely because he was so close to Lei, and they've technically already met once upon a midnight in the city slums.

"Hi." Deith was not smiling when he shook Sid's hand. He was staring right into his eyes, his grip was firm but not painful, just as how handshakes should be. But if it weren't Lei's birthday, if they weren't in front of Lei, he'll be crushing that hand. "Yeah, name's Deith. A pleasure to meet you."

Oh, the decencies. Deith hated them. But they were decencies, and he had to be decent while they were in a decent setting. Finally, he attempted to smile, but he only managed to curve his lips up a little.

Thankfully, there was the next person to arrive, most likely another friend of Lei. Deith still felt terrible, and he would feel even more terrible as he continues to realize how much about Lei he didn't know. He didn't know the people Lei hung out with, he only knew Sid. And he hated the guy.

Should he even stay for the celebration? He wasn't even capable enough to know beforehand what an important day today was...

Clarence brought a damn chocolate fountain, because hell if he wasn't always one to make an entrance.

And when Sid texted him, presumably at least half joking, about wanting such a thing he simply thought to himself... you know, why not?

So Clarence had a huge chocolate fountain, that had to be brought in on sturdy, wheeled table and directed by two lackies he'd roped into helping him for good credit alone. They'd been thrilled. It was hooked up to a little generator under the tablecloth, and along the table around the main piece were an assortment of strawberries, marshmallows, and fancy little desserts. Listen. Crowthers went all bloody out. Especially Clarence Crowther. When you were a pretty little rich boy, you had to own it- that was just about Clarence's whole motto, summed up.

So, when he got to Lei's little party, he came in with that. The first words from him, to the general population, was an ever so casual (but not lacking in flourish) "Sorry if I'm late! Had to get this lot to drag my addition to your birthday party in. Hope it's alright, Sid texted me about it, possibly only half serious, but I couldn't resist. Only turn eighteen once, right?"

After the fountain was settled in, cronies gone, and Clarence had set down his offerings to the meme queen on the gift table- A sheep sweater he'd texted her about, some ridiculous high-heeled expensive shoes he felt she'd end up unironically liking (plus some actually rather cute shoes Clarence was weak to), and one of those personal coupon books (the kinds people made for friends and family that said stuff like 'coupon for one backrub', 'can be exchanged for car wash', or 's'mores party with friends'- and may or may not have one that said 'free milkshakes' in there in this one's case)- Clarence made his way over, just like everyone else, to Lei. Star of the day. The princess. Honestly, whenever he saw both Sid and Lei he wanted to pull them into him and ruffle 'em up. Big fucking nerds they both were. He had it bad.

His eyes also caught another person, who was being introduced to Sid.

And the guy gave Clarence a very uncomfortable feeling. As in, hey, this guy might be a bit off somehow in a way I can't place perfectly, but also something... weirdly awkward. Like Clarence being around him at all was some kind of ironic joke. And that was... oddly specific. But on a whole level there was something that reminded Clarence of his twin, Val, which was... most definitely not a good thing. Clarence had gone through so damn much with Val, so if he hadn't developed a certain very special instinct through that, then... well, he wouldn't be the dead man walking he was today. He'd probably have broken down too far to ever come back again, as anything other than a puppet.

He didn't let a damn thing show in his posture, expression, anything. That wasn't what today was about, and neither was Clarence Crowther one to show his weakness or suspicion upfront. Clarence was subtle. He'd been trained to be that way for his entire life, and when he'd messed that up just once, the consequences had been the worst. You learn a lot from dying, mostly involving heavy trauma and caution. So he just joined in by standing himself right next to Sid and offering a little wave to both him and Lei.

"Hey kids. How're we all doin' here today? How's today's royalty doin'?" He asked, chipper, affection for his two losers (who really, weren't losers at all,) swelling in his chest. God. He had it bad. Smitten. With two damn nerds. Awful.

Two Lonelies, a male and female, as well as a small, wandering male Sad had chanced upon each other just outside the ballroom. The two older forms held their tails close as they conversed, both several inches taller then the little 6" Sad that was scurrying around them. Things seemed friendly enough between the three of them before something distracted the male.

There was a scent in the air... A delectable, sweet, melty, originating from choco beans scent, and the male was going to find where it was coming from. Dashing off, the female made a "mya?" noise, then dashed after him with one hand extended and a "Nyuuuu". The Sad followed after them, mimicking the female's actions.

Coming to a halt at the base of a windowsill for one of the big panes to the ballroom, the male stared at it for a moment, before bouncing a few times to get up next to the window. It was open a small crack, allowing the smell of the melting chocolate to drift out into the sky. The male set it's tail down carefully and pressed itself against the window to try and see where the delicious smell was coming from... then the window creaked slightly as it swung in.

A surprised squeak echoed through the hall, followed by a "minyaaaaanyaaaaaanyaaaa" as the male fell into the room and began bouncing forward. The Lonely continued on it's bouncy course through the curtains, and didn't stop until it collided with a leg of the table and began a slow roll backwards. once it stopped the male just lay there on it's back, breathing heavily.

The female and Sad had followed all the way, and bounced their way up to the window just in time to be confused as to where the male had gone. they in turn wandered into the room and passed the curtains much more casually before running over to see if the male was okey.

@"Trahnael"

"Deith!" Lei grinned and turned to face his boyfriend, giving him a brief hug. When he took a look of his face, he didn't seem all too happy. But why? Birthday parties were supposed to be happy, right? Knowing him, he was probably upset he just found out, but Lei was just happy he was here. "Hey, you ok? You don't look so hot, babe."

Before he got the chance to answer, Lei turned his attention to Sid, grinning from ear to ear.

@"Anzellous"

"It was on the spot, asshole!" he said, giving Sid a good, deserved punch on the shoulder, which hurt more for Lei anyway. He shook his hand, hoping the pain would fade soon. "Shit, dude, I can't believe you pulled this shit off." His voice cracked. He was starting to tear up. Aw, hell. "It's like. Why."

Don't cry in your birthday party, moron.

Just like their usual, Lei launched himself at Sid's chest, faceplanting on his stupid sexy pecs.

There were more people coming in, though.

@"King"

"Steak buddy!" Lei called out, walking over to Yuki's direction. "I'm so glad you could make it... for me?" He took the present. The wrapper was the cutest thing ever. What the hell. Yuki was getting a hug too.

"So this is what you look like without your hoodie, huh?" He laughed. "Yuki, you look bomb! Holy shit. Your dress is super cute."

And then...

@"Tom Marvolo Riddle"

There's this asshole.

It wasn't enough that Sid surprised him with a totally rad birthday party filled with good people and decent food he hadn't tasted in years, oh no. This shitty ass punk had to make his grand entrance LIKE USUAL with his large assortment of gifts and chocolate fountain. Lei expected Clarence to enter like a normal person, but nah. He was a goddamn overachiever.

"BITCH, DON'T ACT LIKE YOU WOKE UP THIS WAY." Lei was legit crying. There were legit tears falling down his face. It was gross. He went over to give Clarence a hug too and rubbed his disgusting tears all over his ugly varsity jacket. That'll teach him.

This was, no doubt, the best party ever.

@"Nightstripe"

But it got even better.

A couple of adorable animals WITH HATS entered the ballroom, and Lei had to stop her gross sobbing just enough to see them go inside.

"W-what are those? Are they part of the party?"

And if they weren't, they sure as hell were now.