Spring Born [Open Mingle Log]

[vernal_miss]

Date: April 27th, Saturday
Characters: Open to all for the weekend, family for during the week as desired

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Spring term holiday may have ended Monday, however, waiting to come off of a short week is not so bad either when it comes to finding a time during which all of her friends would be available. Especially when that patience allows for a little time to regain a taste for sweets after Easter!

On the Thursday after the holiday, Ornella turned eleven years old officially. After school, she had hurried home to enjoy a quiet familial celebration of her birthday with a favorite dinner and gifts. Nothing too exciting, but certainly satisfactory for a school night.

The weekend is when the real fun starts.

In the afternoon on Saturday after a morning of preparation, Nel has her birthday party consisting of friends mostly her age from class. She had designed the theme of a water dwellers party - inclusive of merfolk and swamp creatures. All attendants are given a headband with paper fins sticking out on the sides, and paper fins to stick on their feet. The difference of the merfolk and swamp creatures comes from the personal touches. Merfolk are painted with glitter makeup and add paper sea shells to their headbands, while swamp creatures are facepainted and draped with a few green streamers. Blue plastic table covers serve to control mess and designate the 'water' zones for games. Fingerpainting of course is included, but other games occupy plenty of time. Especially karaoke, in honor of sirens. Snacks are kept simple as well with green jello swamp muck and wafer cookie clams with frosting holding them together half open with a sugar pearl. All of it goes over well, and those few hours pass smoothly with the indoor party kept under control.

After her younger guests have all departed, Nel lends a hand in the clean up in order to ready the house for a second gathering. Earlier in the week, her Mum had extended an invitation on the Network for the Numbered to come over for dinner. A chance to spend time together on Nel’s birthday celebration, and even meet her wife, Janice. No gifts necessary, but strongly encouraged. To anyone that wants to bring a present but is at a loss what would be suitable, Mary Ann has a list of ideas at the ready.

As other Numbered arrive in the early evening, Nel is there at the door to greet them with a bright smile, glitter lingering on her skin at her cheeks and eyes despite efforts to wash it off. The tween is dressed in a maxi romper with a teal floral print and has had assistance in wrangling her hair with a complex braid to hold the front back with the rest. Each one is welcomed into the house and offered an open seat in the living room to sit and talk until the dinner is ready. Not that anyone will be left waiting long before they are invited into the kitchen to dish up plates and return to the living room to sit.

Comments

Sure!

[dragoonrouge]

"Hello, Walter!" Sadie pulls Walter in for her customary hug greeting, "Isn't it great to have everyone getting together so soon after our first full meeting and for a much nicer event too!"

She glances around, "Do you two think it would be alright if I take my hat off and contacts out, Dr Tilly's wife knows about the Numbers right?"

So shall it be

[warped_replica]

Head bowed forward to their friend as Sadie takes Walter in a hug, Benjiro smiles behind his mask as he stays put. A birthday seems like the perfect reason to gather without focus on the Numbers.

Regarding the question from Sadie, Benjiro is able to answer readily being their neighbor, “Janice. She knows, but two of their children have not been informed. I don’t know if they’re around or not, so it might be safer to leave them on.”

Re: So shall it be

[iamnotgod]

Walter adjusts his stance in the hug, opening it into more of an angle, and offers a hand to Ben. Not necessarily an invitation to hug, but certainly a gesture of connection.

"I'd hazard on the side of caution for that one," he agrees. Unless they could be convinced it was a costume for now...

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie sighs and adjusts her beanie hat, "I'll keep them on then, maybe I'll be able to take them off later if the other kids leave."

Sadie gives Walter another squeeze and let's him go, taking a hold of Ben's hand, "How are you doing Walter?"

[warped_replica]

The separation does not bode well for a potential recurrence of a gathering hosted for the Numbered at the Tilly household, but that may yet be in the future some distance. For tonight, both he and Sadie will have to treat it like a public space, “If not, we won’t stay too late.”

That hand offered by Walter gets a glance, but in the second after Benjiro is apologizing as he reaches to fish his phone from his pocket, “Sorry, almost forgot. I left my phone on.” Turning the device off with a prolonged push of a button, he tucks it back into the same pocket as Sadie takes his other hand. As he looks up again to Walter, he is interested to hear the answer to Sadie’s query.

[iamnotgod]

It wouldn't be fair to wish a Number on someone regardless - perhaps Nel's picnic will happen as a separate occasion after all - but it's still a shame for Ben and Sadie to have to hide themselves partly just to attend the party without unwanted questions.

The unplanned retreat from the contact is noted; fortunately it's not Ben making an excuse, so Walter just lets it lie and answers Sadie's question.

"Oh, you know, doing," Walter says first, then shakes his head with a wry smile.

"Barring any further- bizarre interludes, I've plateaued for now. I've been calm, and productive."

Not obsessing over what had happened on Mother's Day, along with sending his sister something for her birthday, had taken the largest part of occupying his time.

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie nudges Ben, "I'll be fine keeping the hat on until its time to go home," The time to go either being the end of the party or when Ben is feeling ready to leave, whichever comes first. It's a relief to hear that Walter's been okay considering everything that's been going on, and to Sadie's ears Walter's words ring especially true.

"I'm glad that you've been able to settle, Walter. Calm and productive is honestly the dream and you deserve to have a bit of a break!"

[warped_replica]

The nudge is answered with a small squeeze to her hand and a glance to Sadie with a small smile. Given the company and the atmosphere, he should be comfortable through the full course of the gathering. Especially considering he has no obligation to speak in front of everyone.

“You really do,” Benjiro says in echo of the sentiment that Walter deserves a break, “Maybe with a real vacation.” Walter has the benefit of being self-employed and could set the time away to his liking. As quickly as he meets deadlines these days, it should be possible if their friend is so inclined.

[iamnotgod]

It will be a lot easier when the conversation is mostly one-on-ones and the objective is to celebrate the youngest present Numbered's birthday, not discuss the distressing things in their lives.

Walter's face flushes at the notion of a vacation, and one hand is pulled back to rub at the back of his neck.

"I spend less time doing the work than I do looking for it - but I know what you mean."

And the majority of that productivity wasn't even for work, not that Walter found himself ready yet to talk about specifics.

"Still - vacation to where? Would we all go to London?"

[dragoonrouge]

"Still, you're spending time and energy thinking about work and so you need a holiday!" Sadie's smile is enthusiastic, planning visits to places are one of the things she enjoys the most, "Well, you've got London, and from there you could get the Eurostar to Paris, or Brussels, or Amsterdam if you fancy it. Or you could just book a plane ticket and go and have a proper fortnight away, I could certainly recommend Barcelona."

[warped_replica]

“Japan is not expensive if you know where to go,” he offers as his only real area of expertise for travel, then addresses the matter of a group trip, “We could all go together with a few arrangements, but it would have to wait until summer break.” Immediately however, he reigns in the possibilities in an effort to make the focus back on Walter and a temptation that is less of a commitment, “Barring time out of Mossgate, you could always consider separating from your work and enjoying the local venues, if only for a few days.”

Walter's perspective on this is about the same as mine: '????' XD

[iamnotgod]

If Walter were reacting to their suggestions in realtime, they could probably better grasp his attempts to grapple with the possibilities. 'Wide-eyed' is one of the simpler terms to describe it.

"Going as a group sounds appealing," he admits.

Though, it's hard to walk away from work when one's almost continuously "plugged in" to the web. And dead zones didn't really count as vacation spots.

"As for local attractions - perhaps something like the arcade again?"

[dragoonrouge]

"A group trip could be really, really nice!" Sadie agrees enthusiastically, "Travelling is nice but it's even better when you have people to share it with and I've always wanted to go to Japan."

"But we can certainly do stuff more locally, especially as we both only have just about a month of school left and an arcade trip would certainly do wonders for exam stress wouldn't it Ben?" Sadie asks Ben encouragingly, gently slipping her hand against his back.

[warped_replica]

The idea of traveling as a group seems preferred all around, which prompts Benjiro to consider it a little further, “It would be convenient since I can translate, and there are a lot of places I haven’t visited.” In fact, tourism in the country had been severely limited by his parents so he could devote himself entirely to his studies.

Back to local potential, Benjiro nods in agreement that a run at the arcade would be welcomed, “Absolutely.” Leaning slightly towards Sadie with her hand at his back, he does consider how the games would be degraded viewing through the adaptive device Walter has to rely on currently. Then, another idea comes to mind, “Arcade or not, we could go camping inside the border but out of wifi range.”

[iamnotgod]

That brings out a smile on Walter's face.

"It would also be a good excuse for practice on my part," he reminds Ben gently.

The camping suggestion he has to pause and think more on.

"As long as it's not in the woods," he allows. Someplace they could see the stars would be pretty nice, actually...

[dragoonrouge]

"We could camp on one of the beaches?" Sadie suggests, "We would have to watch the weather pretty closely but some of the smaller coves remain above hightide all year long and could provide an extra bit of privacy."

[warped_replica]

“As time permitted,” he allows, however, the point of vacation is to enjoy the moment.

Looking to Sadie as she suggests the beach, he releases her hand to wrap that arm instead behind her back. “That sounds better than a field. The wind should keep any insects from bothering us at the beach.” There is the option of swimming as well at that location, but Benjiro would rather abstain.

[iamnotgod]

It would be surprising if any of them wanted to swim, given their last impromptu dunking.

"All that does sound like a good recipe for a quiet night out," Walter says.

"Still, I wouldn't bet on the wind keeping all the bugs away for us," he teases.

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie will certainly be going swimming, swimming pools are now a no-go and she still hasn't figured out a good way to hide her ears in the water for the more public beaches, even if the other two decline to.

"We can take some citronella to burn to get rid of the last of the bugs, and I know how to build a good fire to cook on too."

[warped_replica]

Well if Sadie is going to swim, there will be no helping it. It is merely a matter of how long until she convinces him and he resigns to swimming with a t-shirt on for cover to ease his worsening self-consciousness.

The cove might offer some shelter for bugs, but the candles should be adequate. The matter of a menu with an open fire presents numerous possibilities, “Which means more than just s’mores. I haven’t cooked on an open fire before, but I’d like to try.”

[iamnotgod]

Walter might wade at the water's edge, but he won't swim. He knows well that he can if he has to, however, and that's more than enough for him.

"You both certainly know how to package a trip," he says, bemused yet pleased.

"Though, don't expect to be able to keep me from all the work."

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie won't force anyone to swim but she'll be delighted for Ben's company and splashing about the shoreline with Walter would certainly be fun. That is where the best sandcastles are made afterall.

"We won't keep you from all of the work," Sadie grins, "But we can certainly keep you away from most of them. You can hardly relax if you're doing stuff."

[warped_replica]

There shall be such sandcastle building. Between the three of them, it will be worthy of many photos.

“I think we should decide what he can be responsible for ahead of time,” he says with his focus on Sadie while aware Walter is right here. “Expectations can aide in relaxation, in the same way the completion of a task list can. Clear, defined tasks to avoid having him look for more to do.” Then more directly to Walter he muses, “Assisting with setting up would be a good one. Joining in cooking for some of the meals. That should be enough, I think.”

This vacation idea excites me so~

[iamnotgod]

"I've seen it work the other way around," he remarks to Sadie, but he nods once Ben clarifies.

"Making it a team exercise and keeping tasks divided, rather than anyone's sole burden... that should work," he relents.

A compromise for his inner workaholic - and everyone else's, frankly.

Itll be the best mini holiday \o/

[dragoonrouge]

Smiling, Sadie raises an eyebrow and shakes her head at Walter's remark, "You need to relax, let us take care of most of the stuff!" Ben's suggestion does seem like a reasonable balance...

"That does seem like a good compromise."