Alain's birthday

[key-youth-bert.livejournal.com]

It's almost sunset, and the preparations are almost finished.

Cuthbert, Lilly, and the waitrats they've roped into helping out have set up tables with food out by the lake. On one of them, there's a small CD player currently playing The Beatles.

A few games are set up in the surrounding area--the kind you'd find at any country fair or picnic--but on the whole, there's nothing elaborate.

All that's needed now is for people to show up.


[Summary: Alain has a birthday party. Roland, Cuthbert, Susan, Lilly, Faith, Ace, Meg, and Gavroche attend. There are snow cones and lovely presents and a general mood of "there's doom all around, so let's make this one thing tonight happy and fun".]

Comments

[honest-johns.livejournal.com]

He smiles at her -- also unshadowed, because sometimes there are celebrations you set your cares aside for -- and holds out his hands in greeting.

[sai_delgado]

She puts both hands in his, and squeezes for a moment, looking up at him-- and then Susan lets go, and moves forward in order to throw her arms around him and hug him tightly, beaming.

"Happy birthday, Alain."

[honest-johns.livejournal.com]

He laughs, and hugs back.

"Thankee-sai."

[sai_delgado]

"Lilly and Cuthbert did well in their planning, I wot," she says. A beat. "Ye're lucky not everyone's meant to be wearing Fair-Day hats or something else of the sort."

[honest-johns.livejournal.com]

He snorts.

"Aye, and I know it."

[sai_delgado]

Susan giggles, and then takes a small package, hand-sized mayhap, from her jeans-pocket and offers it to him. It's wrapped in cloth-- a deep blue bandanna.

"For ye."

[honest-johns.livejournal.com]

He takes it, with a smile of pleased thanks, and unwraps the bandanna.

[sai_delgado]

She watches as a finely-woven bracelet appears, in three colors of earth-toned leather. Close examination will show that it's made of nine thin strands, braided in sets of three and each of the three resulting small braids woven again into a larger flat one, with a hammered metal clasp.

"I didn't know if ye'd have such in Gilead-- but it's a style the vaqueros wear in Mejis, and I've always liked it-- so I thought I'd make one for ye."

[honest-johns.livejournal.com]

"Aye, so I saw there -- it's lovely, say true. Thankee."

It's a little awkward, to clasp a bracelet around your own wrist. He could probably manage it, but instead he holds an arm out to Susan, in silent request.

[sai_delgado]

She smiles up at him and takes the bracelet, fastening it around his wrist-- and smiles again at the fit, which is not tight enough to be restrictive and yet not so loose as to slide around and be troublesome, say true.

"There. It suits ye well, I think."

[honest-johns.livejournal.com]

He smiles back.

"I like it."

[sai_delgado]

And oh, but she beams at him, delighted.

"I'm glad, Alain, say true."