Happy (Birthday) Hour

[seat_five_girl]

Ako makes a face at the cake Bar-san has provided.

This is... not what Ako was looking for.

So instead she rounds the counter at writes on the specials board.

Specials
Cake.

No, I am serious. This is too much for me.

Girl with birthday cake and glasses for drinks. Step right up.

Comments

[zodiac_rabbit]

Momiji has been bouncing around, but the sight of candles and colored frosting prove too much for the boy. In a flash he's at the bar.

"Is it your birthday?"

Yes. Momiji is rocking from tip toes to flat feet and back again.

[seat_five_girl]

"In the calendar Bar-san uses, yes," says Ako, "It's still June back home."

June for years now, but details, details.

[zodiac_rabbit]

"But that's so cool! Happy Birthday!"

Momiji wishes he had a gift to give, even if it was just something small. Everyone deserves gifts on their birthday!

[seat_five_girl]

"Thank-you. Do you want some of the cake? There really is way to much for me."

It's kind of huge.

[zodiac_rabbit]

"Do you have any friends coming? And, yes please."

He jumps on a stool near the bar, his legs only coming down half-way on it.

[seat_five_girl]

"If they come, they come," she says cutting a square and sliding it onto a plate with a fork, "I didn't plan anything ahead of time."

[zodiac_rabbit]

"Thank you," Momiji takes a big bite of cake. It really is good!

"But, Birthdays are important! There should be friends, and cake, and lots of laughter."

Well, at least she has cake?

[seat_five_girl]

"I'll have a bigger one when it's my birthday back home," she says, "Time here doesn't count the same way."

[zodiac_rabbit]

Momiji frowns at this. "But it's still real. And Birthdays still matter."

His mind is made up. "I'll be RIGHT back. Don't go anywhere okay?"

He doesn't wait for her response before dashing away and out through a door.

[seat_five_girl]

Ako blinks at that. A couple of times.

She may even sigh a little at the door popping into and out of existence when he throws it open and dashes through.

[zodiac_rabbit]

She shouldn't wait for too long though, because in moments the door opens again to admit Momiji. (For which he is grateful, after he'd dashed out he'd wondered for a moment if the bar would let him back in.) He takes a moment to bow to the bar in thanks, then finishes his quick trot to Ako.

"Birthdays should have gifts. Here."

He holds out a small stuffed rabbit with a bow around its neck.

[seat_five_girl]

"Thank-you," she says, "What's your name Gift Bearer-san?"

[zodiac_rabbit]

Momiji beams. "I'm Momiji Sohma!" His voice is bright and happy, like ray of sunshine.

"What's your name Birthday girl?"

[seat_five_girl]

She smiles in response. She can't help it.

"Izumi Ako."

[zodiac_rabbit]

"It is very nice to meet you Izumi." He looks up at the specials board, "Did the bar hijack you with cake, and ask you to look after things too?"

Momiji says this like being hijacked with cake is the best thing that could ever happen to anyone.

And honestly, it probably is.

[seat_five_girl]

"Mostly she just surprised me with cake," explains Ako, "I help out sometimes when she takes a break and it seemed like a good way to deal with the extra."

It certainly beats boxing it up into her sylladex and forgetting about it.

[zodiac_rabbit]

"That makes sense. Cake should never be wasted."

Momiji pulls himself back up onto the stool and takes a big bite of his cake.

[seat_five_girl]

"It certainly beats other ways to be surprised."

[zodiac_rabbit]

Momiji nods to that. "Like with big spiders or something. I'd rather take cake. So Izumi, what do you do when the bar isn't handing out cake?"

[seat_five_girl]

"I read a fair bit, or practice guitar. Some days I'll go out to the part of the beach where it's warm all the time."

[zodiac_rabbit]

Momiji blinks. "There's a place where it's always warm?"

That's so cool!

[seat_five_girl]

"Almost always," says Ako, "The weather is weird, like a beach resort all year round."

[zodiac_rabbit]

"Can you go swimming and everything?"

[seat_five_girl]

"I don't know about everything, but it's on the lake edge so there's a beach and plenty of sand."

[zodiac_rabbit]

"How much longer do you think the bar'll make you work? Maybe we could go look together."

[seat_five_girl]

"She needs to sleep for a few hours before she can start again," says Ako, "How long do you normally spend here at a time?"

[zodiac_rabbit]

Momiji shrugs. "Sometimes just a little bit, sometimes a lot. Time doesn't seem to matter, and people are super nice here."

And it's nice to get away from Akito. He can't reach him here.

[seat_five_girl]

"They generally are," agrees Ako, "But I was thinking more about being here being like staying up late. It's easy to end up tired if you stretch your days here but don't get any extra sleep."

[zodiac_rabbit]

"Oh, if I get sleepy I just fall asleep for a bit on one of the couches, or out in the forest."

The demon bunnies are more than willing to keep the boy warm.

[seat_five_girl]

"I'd be careful about sleeping out in the forest," says Ako, "There are werewolves out on the full moon and there were worse things out most of October."