A Late Birthday Party / MAY 26, 2063 Night

[therealbrianna]

[ After a short "vacation" at Tokyo, Brianna sends a text to her friends. It's a general invitation that stretches from her blade mates to her mentors, to well, the whole of Netsach (as long as she knows them. Also extends to some Zangyaku friends). Of course, she asks her parents for permission first. ]

SENT: 03:00 PM

Hello friend! It would make me very happy if you could make it to Haven this Saturday to celebrate my 520th birthday. Drinks on me. :)

- OOC note: Feel free to tag in whenever you like, whatever you like. 
- May 21, 2063: Date of text
- May 26, 2063: Date of party

Comments

because opportunity.

[thetalavega]

Cisco~

[Tala Vega is now clicking right over to you.]

Are you really having fun or are you working?

U BEST '^'

[kinesthesia]

[ Oh, Tala.

Smiling in greeting. Would make-beso, but it's always best to gauge the Changeling before strolling casually into her personal space. ]

Can't I have fun while working? [ A look that says: I'm good. Really. ] Besides, I haven't overseen a birthday like this in a while. [ The children are all grown up. And there was never really much time for parties like this once the Darkest Vigil took them in different directions. ]

Brianna looks lovely tonight. [ Nodding to where the girl is currently speaking with her own daughter¹.

And then blinking a little when Maggie's face brightens in a grin and her mouth clearly enunciates I love your dress.

Not sure whether to be thrilled or worried now. ]

[thetalavega]

[Giving Cisco a Look at that, but fine, her statement is passable --

-- and of course the new topic catches her fancy.]

Isn't she just~?

[Remarkably sounding like a proud aunt, or mother, or... pet owner.]

[kinesthesia]

[ Oy vey. ]

She really is. [ Still keeping half her attention on the two girls. Just in case.

And then, softly: ] Eli not coming tonight?

[thetalavega]

No, not this time. Lots of work to get done, and honestly? This really isn't his scene.

[Sigh. Husbando, why.]

[kinesthesia]

Nah, it wouldn't be.

[ Always the quiet kid. Didn't change a bit, that one. ]

Come over for dinner sometime. [ It is a stretch. But it has been a while. ] Both of you.

[ And hedging, just a little: ] Cen's getting a little nostalgic, seeing everyone here.

[thetalavega]

Is he?

[Lifts an eyebrow in his direction, playfully rolls her eyes.]

Never thought he'd be the type to care. And sure, we'll come over sometime. Dragging Eli away from his work isn't as difficult as everyone thinks it is.

[Actually, it is? But Tala is Tala.]

[kinesthesia]

[ Smiling at that: Tala is most definitely Tala. ]

Well, honestly. We both do, really.

[ Quiet shrug. ]

Just didn't think to say anything until I saw us all [ well, almost all ] in the Great Hall when Riley woke up. Guess I got a little nostalgic. [ To put it using her husband's words. ]

[thetalavega]

That was pretty nice, huh? All things considered.

[Because while she is happy to see Riley Falner up and about, she also knows the implications behind it. She knows them well, being the Key and all.]

[kinesthesia]

It was.

[ Watching Tala out of the corner of her eye now, before switching subjects. ]

Trade a drink for your thoughts on the new kids?

[ She knows you can get your own, but humor her a little? ]

[thetalavega]

I only really care about Brianna at this point.

[Lifts an eyebrow.]

Should I start caring about the others now?

[kinesthesia]

[ And for the second time in so many minutes: Oh, Tala.

Reaching for her cigarettes now; lighting up with a tug of a smile on the corner of her mouth. ]

Only if you want to.

[ Because, Tala. ]

But they're interesting kids. And they're the ones with the bigger chance of getting through to your father when the rest of us can't.

[ The rest aren't his daughters. They take what the can, when they can. It's simple fact, and if anything, she's glad that at least someone -- two someones -- from the three blades have that kind of pull. ]

[thetalavega]

Really? Do tell.

[That catches Tala's attention. She has her own suspicions based on the things that being the Key tells her and the dreams she has accidentally walked into over the past few nights, but it's always good to have some sort of confirmation from a reliable source.]

[kinesthesia]

[ She's going to take that as an opening.

Taking a drag now from her cigarette; exhaling while she tries to figure out how to phrase this. ]

Well. An'yu might give you a better idea of Brigade. Just as Tohru seems the best source for anything on Taning. Beyond seeing what they could do a Quiapo, I haven't really had a moment with either of them. [ She's sliding a look towards where Kaz Zobel de Ayala is hitting the dance floor hard, and she smiles at that. ]

Neeka will also be the best source of information on her grandson, but the kid's been talking to me. [ A pause. ] We've got... interesting life parallels. [ Felt like the kulelat of the blade, matriarchal figures with problems stemming from getting too caught up in the Hunt. ] But from what I've seen so far, Kaz is a good kid with a good heart. He's still growing into himself but everyone's got their own growing pains. He may have messed up in South Korea, but he's a lot more settled now, after his Walk with Paolo.

[ Another drag. ] Hikaru was also one of his seven. As was Alistair and Aidan.

[ Giving you a moment to think on that before she moves onto the rest. ]

[thetalavega]

[She's listening, of course, and looks entirely uninterested as she's doing it. Also enjoying her cigarette and her drinks.

You know her well enough, though, Cisco. She's assessing. She's still not quite impressed.]

Mm-hm.

[That is Tala Vega Language for "keep talking".]

let's situate this conversation simultaneous to josh and yulia finally talking? g?

[kinesthesia]

[ She's not worried about you not being impressed. And she doesn't mean that in a terrible way -- it just is. She respects your standards. You're Tala. ]

As for Yulia, as much as we all know your father saves people on a regular basis, his hand in helping her sister become her bloodsinger is interesting. [ It's not unusual, given how family matters a great deal to Hikaru. But it's interesting, especially since: ] He also helped the Brands make her mask.

[ Now she's going to take another puff, because she's actually discreetly tracking the movements of the last member of the Hounds as Josh LaRue one walks towards the Russian in question.

It is also interesting how she's noted that Hikaru has not been far away from the boy. Not all night. ]

sure!

[thetalavega]

[Watching that too. Hum hum.]

Bostova seems cute enough. Daddy has a thing for helping fucked up girls up, though.

[That is Tala Language, though, for "okay sure maybe I'll pay a bit more attention to her".]

[kinesthesia]

Well, your father has always had excellent taste. [ Chuckling at that. ] And a heart big enough to house the Fifth World.

[ Observing Joshua now, remembering the other night.

She'd texted Hikaru mostly out of instinct -- the Hounds were starting to look a little like what the three blades were once -- but LaRue has been on her radar ever since South Korea, and hugely because of the information that had been fed her way by a particular Mortician. ]

Joshua's a good kid. Like Brigade, I haven't really managed to find an opening to speak with the boy, but Kaz speaks of him highly, thinks of him as a big brother.

[ Her voice is going to go soft as she sips at her drink. ]

He's also either got zero survival instincts or a pretty good sense where it comes to reading people.

[ Standing up to Hikaru in South Korea? That takes balls, particularly when Brother Death is present. Granted, the situation could have gone a lot more badly than it had -- but it hadn't. And from what she'd heard, LaRue had been particularly adamant about second chances. ]

[thetalavega]

[Yawning even as she's listening (and you know she's paying close attention, Cisco, because the more casual and bored Tala appears to be, the more interested she actually is), and studying her nails.]

I'd say it's both, but that could just be me.

[Yanno. The Key who Sees Everything when she wants to.]

Well, he's not too bad looking. Kind of out of Daddy's usual range of types, though.

[kinesthesia]

[ She is going to roll her eyes fondly at you. Because the more comfy Cisco is around you, the more relaxed she is. ]

Your father's type is something I will reserve judgment on. [ Because it's too soon after the Measuring and Aria and That Mess. And don't get her started on the subject of your Daddystair.

Leaning back now, and adding quietly. ]

I'm just saying that it's nice. Seeing Hikaru consider the possibility of letting a new friend in.

[ You and Gi-- Eli and a handful of others are going to be around for a while Tala. But the rest of them aren't. It sucks, but its also the truth of the world. ]

[thetalavega]

That I can agree on. There are 'friends', and then there are friends with him. Friends that don't actually double up as 'family', by his definition.

[Glancing over in your direction, with a quirk of her lips that might be a smile if the look in her eyes wasn't... sad? Yes, that was it.]

He doesn't have enough of those. He thinks he doesn't deserve them.

[kinesthesia]

[ A quirk of both brows from this one, because she knows. Oh, she knows. Family was one thing -- and among the three blades, a number of them counted as family -- because family was a rock you could lean on when everything else stopped making sense, or until you were okay enough to deal with nothing making sense.

Aspiring to become friends with Hikaru Shinta though. That was like... pulling teeth, and then some.

She's sliding away a little from those somber thoughts, though, gesturing to the bartender for a drink on her for the both of them. ]

Did Selene tell you about the incident here the other night?

[thetalavega]

Nope. Maybe she thought that whatever it was, it wasn't worth my attention. Unless you think otherwise?

[And it's been long established that she trusts your opinion. You catch on to things really quickly, and you're also around Falner and other areas of interest a lot more than she is these days.]

[kinesthesia]

[ She does think it's worth your attention. Based solely on how she suspects it's why the Blade King is actually... hovering. ]

It might be nothing.

[ Smiling a quiet thank you to the bartender when those drinks arrive. Handing the glass she boughr for you now. ]

But your father is hovering.

[ A beat, and then: ] Joshua kissed Rethe.

I take full responsibility for texting him. But... [ trailing off at that. She doesn't like making assumptions. But its safe to guess that Hikaru followed up on that. And it's an interesting twist to things, to see him concerned. ]

Like I said. Probably nothing.

[thetalavega]

[Okay, that first part? Not too surprising. Rethe Kyriff-Clayce, the poor dear, got at least five random people all sexually confused and kissing him a year.

That next part, though.]

Hmm.

[Studying the pair now, with an unreadable expression. And then she's smiling, just so.]

Looks like I'll have to watch Mr. LaRue a little more closely now from here on.

[No judgment just yet, no assumptions. (Because a part of her doesn't want to hope.)]