( She shoots him another grin, rollin' right on by and twisting around to then roll backward further inside once outside the range of his motion, the door, or any other obvious impedement. )
Happy Birthday, birthday boy! How's it feel?
( Second person she's been on time for when a birthday came up -- or third, she remembers Miles -- who hasn't been off galavanting with pirates or goodness knows what else at the time. )
I made this for you!
( She taps on the top of the (rather unremarkable) box. )
[ He closes the door behind her once she's outside that range before following her further inside. ]
Thanks! It feels . . . [ A dramatic pause before he declares, quite cheerfully: ] Like it's not my birthday at all! It's weird what with times being different between here and home an' all.
[ That, and he didn't get to celebrate Bookman's birthday on the fifth, so it just feels weird. A disturbance of yearly rituals, one of the precious few constants in his life. More than anything it feels like his time has stopped now that he's returned to Exsilium.
But that's not something to dwell on right now. His attention goes to the box in her lap and he crouches in front of her to study it with curious interest. ]
How far off are you from your birthday based on time back there?
( She's genuinely curious, even if she's subscribed to setting her mental clock to both here and a half ear spent thinking about home.
Though with him crouched in front of her like that, she has to grin. )
Isn't the birthday boy's supposed to open presents to figure out that answer?
( Teasing, she gets her hands under the box and slides it forward, closer to Lavi. It's pretty much a cube, and clearly fashioned from a box not meant to be that size. The ingenuity of necessity as a design. )
It's not much, but I had some free time when Gilbert was out of the kitchen, and I wanted to try again since last month, so...
( So it's her second attempt at a cake. And it is still ugly. There is nothing pretty about this cake, though it does smell nice, and the frosting looks like real frosting, and it is presumably mostly cake shaped, but there's no real getting away from the fact...
[ Home is not something he particularly wants to dwell on right now when he's not certain if he'll even have something to return to. Considering how bleak things were looking last he was there, he's not sure if he'll even make his birthday there. It's rather doubtful.
But hey, he'll take teasing as permission to plop down cross-legged and take the box from her to start opening in it. 'Kitchen' and 'self-made' are already big enough hints but it doesn't quite prepare him for what he finds inside—
That is one hell of an ugly cake.
He has to suppress a laugh and that much is obvious with the way he grins and raises a fist to his mouth. (He might as well have laughed.) Okay, so it's ugly, but . . . ]
( it's amazing where a lack of proper knowledge on when to frost a cake, how to frost it, how to get cakes out of pans, how to make layer cakes not decide to halve themselves or crumble in the process of, well, being layered... yes, quite amazing where that can get you!
She doesn't keep asking after home (she was there when he came back here, she remembers his nostalgia for Bookman, someone who has yet to arrive, though she won't say it's been too long or too short for that to happen). What she does do is laugh where he restrains himself, free of the burden of the cake and unapologetically amused at herself and his reaction. )
Lavi himself holds no hope for Bookman's arrival because he knows his luck and it tends to be terrible. He won't get his answers until he gets home and if he survives there. All in all an unlikely scenario. But thoughts of home are forgotten when Collette laughs herself and then he doesn't bother holding back anymore either.
Just give him a moment to collect himself again after. ]
I'm sure I'll find out very soon.
[ And with that he's rising back to his feet, carefully balancing the cake in one hand. ]
( She asks, the picture of amused innocence. And really, she is -- milk is around, but much more expensive than where she grew up. Something to do with relative scarcity... and specialized markets. )
Water's fine, or if you're boiling water, maybe tea?
( Pulling back a little and changing direction, she considers the unpresented options. )
[ Not a reference he gets, but he sees the amusement and knows there's more behind it so he reflects the amused innocence back at her with that simple answer.
'Ambrosia' gets something of a more obviously amused eyebrow raise. ]
Hah, I wish. Sorry, but it's gonna be tea.
[ So he'll just move to the kitchen where he can set the cake down on the counter too. ]
( From mock horrified to curious in a second flat. She's totally got this! Collette does look up at him sideways as she rolls on toward the table, giving Lavi a lopsided smile as she slowed to a stop. Which chair looked easiest to move... Ah-ha! )
Oz was busy with his survey on the network not that long ago.
( Something which she'll want to talk with him about later, in regards to the Abyss, but later is later, and Lavi is not Oz, so the thought is neatly sorted back into the not-quite-yet parts of her mind. )
I had some downtime, so I read through things! ( she likes people, it was people offering themselves up, so...! also because of an impending surprise celebration, but that is the worst way to ruin the surprise, and she refuses. )
Something that's supposedly Chai but doesn't really taste like Chai, your regular black and I've managed to get my hands on green tea.
[ The latter a lure for Kanda whenever necessary, but he's not averse to making it for someone else.
He returns the smile before he busies himself with grabbing the kettle and filling it, talking as he goes. ]
Snooping, huh? [ Not that he's one to talk. They're both like-minded in that way so Lavi believes her and takes that answer for what it is. ] That was a pretty interesting post.
Oh man, have I taken you by where Aziz and Bernie are? If you want Chai that tastes really good, even if it's probably not like, ancient people Chai -- ( she winks, making it a joke on their technical ages were this but their true home world ) -- it's delicious.
( For answers on what tea she'd like, that one totally managed to not actually be one. )
I was only bored! You do some intense reading when you're bored enough.
( She has enough downtime this is exactly what she does. )
People say the craizest things on there, though. It's way more intimate than the internet ever was for me! Playing two truths, one lie, the random confessions, the funny faces...
[ The joke gets a glance over his shoulder and a widening of his smile. ]
No, do they do coffee too?
[ And good thing he doesn't need an answer right away. He'll leave the kettle to boil and join Collette at the table. ]
Really? I don't have anything to compare it to so the way it's used here seems like the norm to me. I guess people get kinda personal when they're bored here? Might be the fact we're fighting in a war too.
They do, but I can't vouch for it. I'm not a coffee girl!
( She does enjoy caffeine, just more through soda, and then her real favorite is Gatorade oh yeah! Which exists in no form in this future. Sigh.
She rests her hands on the table, thumb and index fingers touching to form a triangle. )
People get personal 'cause people are people. The war helps! Anything that ties you to someone else, a similarity, that helps. It's when you think you're so different from those around you that things start getting weird.
( She gives a slight shrug of her shoulders, not having intended to say even that much. )
I wouldn't say a tenth of what gets said here on the real internet! And I still wouldn't say a tenth, knowing the Initiative reads it all. That's kind of personal, you know?
[ Not that he minds one bit because aw yeah, coffee. Hopefully delicious coffee.
What she says next gets a slight raise of an eyebrow as well as a knowing smile. ]
I know. But yeah, people are people and we're all in this together, can't fault 'em for wanting to create bonds in a strange, unfamiliar place away from everything they once knew.
Wouldn't fault them for it even if we were all in a familiar place! ( Bonds? Friendship is more how she thinks of it, ties in a distinctly different sort of community that lacks anything as a common backdrop except foreign, and without familiar things reflected back at them from the culture around.
Which... in some ways, isn't that strikingly new. )
Just wonder if warning them is worthwhile, too. Since so many aren't used to these kinds of technologies, but oh well. You live and you learn!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Thank you, Colls! You know I always have time for you, you're welcome to drop by.
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with a box resting in her lap. )
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A glance at the box and a cheerful smile before he steps aside. ]
Come in.
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Happy Birthday, birthday boy! How's it feel?
( Second person she's been on time for when a birthday came up -- or third, she remembers Miles -- who hasn't been off galavanting with pirates or goodness knows what else at the time. )
I made this for you!
( She taps on the top of the (rather unremarkable) box. )
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Thanks! It feels . . . [ A dramatic pause before he declares, quite cheerfully: ] Like it's not my birthday at all! It's weird what with times being different between here and home an' all.
[ That, and he didn't get to celebrate Bookman's birthday on the fifth, so it just feels weird. A disturbance of yearly rituals, one of the precious few constants in his life. More than anything it feels like his time has stopped now that he's returned to Exsilium.
But that's not something to dwell on right now. His attention goes to the box in her lap and he crouches in front of her to study it with curious interest. ]
Ohh, what is it?
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( She's genuinely curious, even if she's subscribed to setting her mental clock to both here and a half ear spent thinking about home.
Though with him crouched in front of her like that, she has to grin. )
Isn't the birthday boy's supposed to open presents to figure out that answer?
( Teasing, she gets her hands under the box and slides it forward, closer to Lavi. It's pretty much a cube, and clearly fashioned from a box not meant to be that size. The ingenuity of necessity as a design. )
It's not much, but I had some free time when Gilbert was out of the kitchen, and I wanted to try again since last month, so...
( So it's her second attempt at a cake. And it is still ugly. There is nothing pretty about this cake, though it does smell nice, and the frosting looks like real frosting, and it is presumably mostly cake shaped, but there's no real getting away from the fact...
... It is an ugly cake inside that box. )
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[ Home is not something he particularly wants to dwell on right now when he's not certain if he'll even have something to return to. Considering how bleak things were looking last he was there, he's not sure if he'll even make his birthday there. It's rather doubtful.
But hey, he'll take teasing as permission to plop down cross-legged and take the box from her to start opening in it. 'Kitchen' and 'self-made' are already big enough hints but it doesn't quite prepare him for what he finds inside—
That is one hell of an ugly cake.
He has to suppress a laugh and that much is obvious with the way he grins and raises a fist to his mouth. (He might as well have laughed.) Okay, so it's ugly, but . . . ]
It smells great! Thanks, Colls.
[ It's the thought that counts! ]
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She doesn't keep asking after home (she was there when he came back here, she remembers his nostalgia for Bookman, someone who has yet to arrive, though she won't say it's been too long or too short for that to happen). What she does do is laugh where he restrains himself, free of the burden of the cake and unapologetically amused at herself and his reaction. )
It tastes even better! As I'm sure you can tell.
( ...
laughing even more now )
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Lavi himself holds no hope for Bookman's arrival because he knows his luck and it tends to be terrible. He won't get his answers until he gets home and if he survives there. All in all an unlikely scenario. But thoughts of home are forgotten when Collette laughs herself and then he doesn't bother holding back anymore either.
Just give him a moment to collect himself again after. ]
I'm sure I'll find out very soon.
[ And with that he's rising back to his feet, carefully balancing the cake in one hand. ]
Want something to drink?
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( She asks, the picture of amused innocence. And really, she is -- milk is around, but much more expensive than where she grew up. Something to do with relative scarcity... and specialized markets. )
Water's fine, or if you're boiling water, maybe tea?
( Pulling back a little and changing direction, she considers the unpresented options. )
Or ambrosia if that's just lying around!
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[ Not a reference he gets, but he sees the amusement and knows there's more behind it so he reflects the amused innocence back at her with that simple answer.
'Ambrosia' gets something of a more obviously amused eyebrow raise. ]
Hah, I wish. Sorry, but it's gonna be tea.
[ So he'll just move to the kitchen where he can set the cake down on the counter too. ]
How'd you know, by the way?
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( From mock horrified to curious in a second flat. She's totally got this! Collette does look up at him sideways as she rolls on toward the table, giving Lavi a lopsided smile as she slowed to a stop. Which chair looked easiest to move... Ah-ha! )
Oz was busy with his survey on the network not that long ago.
( Something which she'll want to talk with him about later, in regards to the Abyss, but later is later, and Lavi is not Oz, so the thought is neatly sorted back into the not-quite-yet parts of her mind. )
I had some downtime, so I read through things! ( she likes people, it was people offering themselves up, so...! also because of an impending surprise celebration, but that is the worst way to ruin the surprise, and she refuses. )
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[ The latter a lure for Kanda whenever necessary, but he's not averse to making it for someone else.
He returns the smile before he busies himself with grabbing the kettle and filling it, talking as he goes. ]
Snooping, huh? [ Not that he's one to talk. They're both like-minded in that way so Lavi believes her and takes that answer for what it is. ] That was a pretty interesting post.
[ Yep. Curious about the Abyss thing too. ]
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( For answers on what tea she'd like, that one totally managed to not actually be one. )
I was only bored! You do some intense reading when you're bored enough.
( She has enough downtime this is exactly what she does. )
People say the craizest things on there, though. It's way more intimate than the internet ever was for me! Playing two truths, one lie, the random confessions, the funny faces...
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No, do they do coffee too?
[ And good thing he doesn't need an answer right away. He'll leave the kettle to boil and join Collette at the table. ]
Really? I don't have anything to compare it to so the way it's used here seems like the norm to me. I guess people get kinda personal when they're bored here? Might be the fact we're fighting in a war too.
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( She does enjoy caffeine, just more through soda, and then her real favorite is Gatorade oh yeah! Which exists in no form in this future. Sigh.
She rests her hands on the table, thumb and index fingers touching to form a triangle. )
People get personal 'cause people are people. The war helps! Anything that ties you to someone else, a similarity, that helps. It's when you think you're so different from those around you that things start getting weird.
( She gives a slight shrug of her shoulders, not having intended to say even that much. )
I wouldn't say a tenth of what gets said here on the real internet! And I still wouldn't say a tenth, knowing the Initiative reads it all. That's kind of personal, you know?
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[ Not that he minds one bit because aw yeah, coffee. Hopefully delicious coffee.
What she says next gets a slight raise of an eyebrow as well as a knowing smile. ]
I know. But yeah, people are people and we're all in this together, can't fault 'em for wanting to create bonds in a strange, unfamiliar place away from everything they once knew.
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Which... in some ways, isn't that strikingly new. )
Just wonder if warning them is worthwhile, too. Since so many aren't used to these kinds of technologies, but oh well. You live and you learn!
( So to speak. )
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I'm sure they realize that a lot of people can see what they post. I mean, they explain that much when they hand it to you, yeah?
So after that, it's up to them how they use it. You can't exactly stop them from over sharing.
[ Never mind that he blabbed about Tyki where everyone could see with Cross that one time, but eh. Live and learn indeed. ]
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( She laughs, less about Oz now, more about everything else. )
How many times has someone gone, "Oh! We need to do something about these Initiative folks!" Right there on their network?
( Gosh, but how she giggles over that now! )