A Very Merry Hobo Birthday... To You!

[tsunbird]

Who: A whole lot of losers (this can mean you). Specifically, Ankh, Eiji, probably all of the Senshi, Martin, Elly and Fei. Nozomi? Possibly more Love Lives?? A WHOLE LOT OF LOSERS... I tagged everybody I knew would be here that I knew the canons for. :<
What: Hino Eiji's birthday!!
When: October 22! All day, all night, as long as y'all wanna celebrate this hobo.
Where: Hikawa Shrine.

He was pretty sure Rei had said something about it being Eiji's birthday. He didn't actually care overmuch, since she had come to him with the request that he take Eiji and distract him until a specific time, and given him the idea of making him buy ice cream. Ankh liked ice cream. In fact, it was about his favorite thing. So when it had been suggested that he could force Eiji into buying him some, whilst still fulfilling some kind of request from Rei, it meant he was getting ice cream and having the grumpy Shrine Maiden indebted to him (at least, in his own mind). So while there was the vaguest of concepts in his head that this was a distraction for some kind of celebration in honor of Eiji, he was mostly interested in the fact that he was making the vagrant buy him something.

And so here they were, Ankh dragging Eiji by the sleeve, heading into town.

"You walk too slow, how do you walk this slow? You're taller than I am."

Comments

Decoration!!

[tsunbird]

Be glad Ankh isn't here to help you guys set up. No, really. Be glad.

[inthenameofthemoon]

[ Hey guys. See this young lady rushing around the shrine grounds with an arm full of colorful streamers, followed by a Clefairy that's also got her arms full of bags that have confetti as well?

That would be Usagi, scampering excitedly where the majority of the festivities are going to take place to continue helping her pokemon with the decorating. Her Bellossom is off to one wall, putting up what looks like a Pin the Tail on the Blitzle game, and her Gourgeist and Eevee are making sure the table cloths are nice and straight...

Even her Talonflame is doing some work by flying up and placing streamers in the harder to reach places (since her human is on the short side) whenever she's given the means to do so... ]

Here you go, Lucky! More streamers!

[ Speaking of which... time to put up more colors! ]

[actsmagnificent]

Spritzee.

[ Haruka isn't here yet - you can't expect her to show up early for a party - but her Spritzee has been stretching her wings and fluttering all over the city, working on her stamina. Trainer told her to fly a certain number of miles a day! Diligence and loyalty are excellent traits!

But this gathering looks curious, so she alights in a tree and blinks down at everyone bustling about. Whatever's being prepared here? There was a festival in these parts not long ago. Are humans really so prone to spontaneous gaiety?

More to the point, are those streamers....pink and green?? ] Zee?

[inthenameofthemoon]

[ Why yes those are pink and green streamers amidst all the other colors of the rainbow. What a good eye you have Spritzee!

Usagi doesn't seem to notice the new audience member that's watching them decorate, but, the Bellossom sure has... at least once he's done putting up the games on the wall. Whenever he's done, he's about to float on over to his human to see if there's anything else done when he spots a familiar shade of pink in the tree a little ways a way.

Oh! A face he remembers!

Well, while everyone else is busy, he just moves on over until he's at the base of the tree and waves up with a smile. ]

Bellossom!

[ Do you remember him, Spritzee. Perhaps you don't. He was a ugly purple looking thing that smelt really terrible before. But, it's still him! ]

Can't have a OOO birthday without CAKE

[unbalancedlove]

Fu fu fu~

[A very cheerful girl arrives to the shrine with very slow and careful steps, her mood not dampened by the fact that her speed is limited. Why is she walking so slowly to begin with? because Kotori is carrying a handmade cake with a very delicate design that she really doesn't want to ruin out of clumsiness.

Leafy and Deery seem to keep watch around her, trying to make sure the sweets aren't lost on the way.]

Almost there... ~

IM SO GLAD FOR THIS CAKE

[underwearfortomorrow]

[This comment isnt here obviously.]

Surprise!

[tsunbird]

And then, at the designated time, Ankh returns with a one Birthday Hobo in tow and a popsicle stick in his teeth. He's punctual and everything!

He spun on his heel and turned his back to the room, likely darkened, and grinned crookedly with the stick in his teeth. Let the mass leaping out of nowhere and shouting "surprise" begin, Ankh wants no part in this.

BIRTHDAY HOBO

[underwearfortomorrow]

[OH GOD WHAT IS HAPPENING WHY IS EVERYONE SHOUTING IS THAT CONFETTI???]

[Oh. Wait- OH. Today was his birthday, wasn't it? Wow. Um.]

[Eiji passes a glance to Ankh, who has probably fucked off by now, and then to the room full of people in front of him. They threw him a surprise party.]

[Oh.]

[For a moment it looks like he might cry- but instead he just smiles broadly and bows just a bit.]

Everyone... Thank you.

[faithfulflame]

You're welcome!

[Rei may just sound a bit more exuberant than usual. She's glad to see him this happy, honestly. It's just like when they were kids.

Only, with more Ankh.]

[allergictoloveletters]

[Ami waits for the birthday boy with a baby Cottonee in her arms and offers him a bow. She is feeling incredibly nervous since she has never actually spoken to Eiji before now. Still, she couldn't come to a party and not wish the birthday boy in question congratulations and best wishes.]

Ah, no, I hope you have a wonderful birthday.

[She should honestly just leave it at that. She knew what was expected, light conversation at the least and actual discussion at the most. She had his birthday present in her hand. True to form, it was a book, because Ami couldn't think of anything better than a book for a gift. At least she had geared it towards a fun book of brain puzzles as she didn't know Eiji's hobbies and interests all that well.]

It's nice to properly meet you.

[tsunbird]

[Ankh is gonna move forward at some point and noogie you, sorry not sorry.]

So now I get to call you an old man, right?

[incousinswithyou]

[have they met properly yet? At the very least, she's seen Rei wear your face, so you're somewhat familiar.]

And many happy returns.

[and no, she's not the sort to leap out and yell surprise, so she'll be coming up to you a bit afterwards.]

Mingle!!

[tsunbird]

There's food, and probably a ridiculous amount of confetti, and someone (probably Usagi) put a party hat on Eiji. Ankh, for his part, is probably trying to throw darts at it for most of the evening.

[warriormouse]

Martin is glad he was able to be here for this.

Even if Laterose is getting into everything and has accidentally poisoned at least two Pokémon already. Oh well.

He's wandering around, enjoying the food, regularly brushing confetti out of his eyes and steadfastly avoiding any party hats. Come bug him!

[tsunbird]

And Ankh backs right up into him, taking a step backward to try and throw another dart at Eiji's hat. He starts, yelping, and fumbles with the dart as he whirls around to stare owlishly at Martin.

"Shit, I didn't see you." He didn't apologize, but it was pretty close to an apology in Ankh Language.

[underwearfortomorrow]

[Eiji still has the hat on and he is going to shove one on Ankh if he hits him with another dart. Either way, he will slide over to Martin with a raised eyebrow.]

How long were you in on this?

[faithfulflame]

Rei is definitely present at the party, having arranged for a sizable amount of it. She'd cooked, set up food, and taken care of various other arrangements that included wrangling Ankh into being helpful. And now that the party is in full swing, both she and Deimos are acting as hosts, making sure people have drinks and food and whatever else they need.

When it's clear that things are going smoothly she takes a rest, getting a drink of her own. With a little bit of red wine, barely half a glass, some fine cheeses, and definitely no party hat, she has a seat with the Gardevoir next to her and just observes the gathering.

It's definitely a happy time, and it's wonderful to see Eiji so happy.

[tsunbird]

Ankh wasted almost no time in zeroing in on Rei as she rested, sneaking on over to her and looming beside her.

"You did a pretty good job, organizing all this," he said, remarkably appraising. He still had a handful of (blunted, plastic-toy ended) darts in one hand, periodically looking across the room at Eiji and his hat-turned-target-practice.

[warriormouse]

One particularly strange sight they might see is Martin chasing around his new Klink and eventually pulling it away from some poor guest's Pokémon who had called Clink out on its grandstanding and complete lack of knowledge regarding machines. Once he has Clink under control, he makes his way over to a quieter part of the party.

"--can't take you anywhere, can I?"

[allergictoloveletters]

Ami felt incredibly out of place, not because she didn't know how to attend upper-class parties, her mother's insistence on attending finishing school essentially saw to Ami being able to function at any venue. But it was more that Ami had no idea who anyone was and felt out of place going to a birthday party when she didn't know the guest of honor.

Still, Rei had invited her and Ami wasn't really able to say "no" anymore to Rei than she was Usagi or the other girls (except when it came to studying). She looked around, her baby Cottonee, Arber, in her arms since the little fluff ball was to young to leave alone by herself and Aurora a constant by her side. The massive Luxray let out a long purr as she saw the raven-haired priestess long before Ami did.

She came up beside the other girl and offered a small smile.

"You look very nice, Rei-chan." Was she doing a good job in hiding how uncomfortable she felt in such a situation, Rei? She hoped so.

[actsmagnificent]

[ What is Haruka even doing here? She barely knows the guy. And she's hardly the type to feel obligated to attend just because he's a relation of Rei's.

But the time for the party arrived and Haruka found herself somehow against the farthest wall that could still be considered "in the party", a party hat on Gold the Jolteon's head since he'd fetched it for her but she'd refused to wear it. For now, she intends to observe, maybe mingle later once she's gotten a feel for things. There's someone she has a hunch helped set things up that she's not sure she wants to encounter or not.

Gold, for his part, has wandered off to enjoy the party....but hasn't quite realized that his cold, wet nose conducts electricity yet. So if you're minding your own business and all of a sudden something sparks against your leg, yeah. Sorry... ]

[inthenameofthemoon]

[ If Haruka didn't really want to encounter said person, then really, going to a party that she helped decorate is counterproductive to that decision.

Mainly because Usagi's floating around like the social Butterfree that she is because fun. games. friends. shenigans. It's only a matter of time before she finds herself on Haruka's side of the party whether it be because she's trying to make sure everyone's got something to snack on or just in general making sure everyone feels like their part of the party.

Which, Haruka seems determined to not to be in Usagi's eyes and regardless of how their last conversation had gone... Usagi isn't going to let it stop her from at least trying to have a decent relationship with the older woman.

So, here she is, with two glasses of delicious fruit punch in her hand with one very obvious motive in mind. ] Here! Everyone's been saying the punch is pretty good so I figured you'd like to try it!

[allergictoloveletters]

[The luxray stares down her nose at the Jolteon who was giving her a playful tug on her fur. The spark didn't bother her, being an electric pokemon herself. She swished her tail to discharge any static they built up an there was a small snap from the action.

The snap is what drew Ami's attention away from her book and she looked at the Jolteon. Her Cottonee was nearly asleep and the snap woke her up with a loud yawn.]

Ah! I remember you. [Ami smiled.] Aren't you Haruka-san's Jolteon? Gold, if I recall. Is Haruka-san here?

[She snapped the book shut and started looking around.] Let's see if we can find her, shall we?

[She stood up and Aurora discharged the energy again while Arber, Ami's Cottonee was snuggling back in for her nap. Ami followed Gold back to Haruka's side.]

[incousinswithyou]

[Michiru's here! There might also be a Togepi with a party hat, but Michiru is just quietly enjoying the atmosphere as she patiently spoonfeeds baby.

Vaporeon, meanwhile, has found that her new head fin thing kinda gets in the way of party hats, so she's just lazily batting one around on the floor.]

[actsmagnificent]

[ Haruka has been waiting for a good moment to get Usagi alone for a Talk. She's not sure she wants to do it tonight but her eyes have been following the girl...and so she only realizes once she looks down at her plate that she's absentmindedly mashed up her piece of cake.

So she walks it over to Michiru and offers it to the dutiful mother as a treat for baby. ] Ready for dessert?

[ Gold approaches Martelé. Hey, uh....he's sure you've noticed this but....your hat fell on the floor. Is everything okay? ] Jol?