♪ ❝ seems like it crept up out of nowhere ❞

[masqueraid]

Who the P-Thieves & OPEN
When A Stop on the World Tour! April 23rd, 20XX
Where Arito, somewhere in-between "studious atmosphere" and "wild party"... (a book café?)
What It's a Special Day for your local Queen!
Warnings/Notes Please feel free to post your own top-levels! Food(?), beverages and... books? Are here for everyone to enjoy during the get-together! Just... don't touch the books unless your hands are clean. (We don't want to cause a scene. Yet.)

When you walk into the quaint looking café, maybe the scene that greets you wasn't exactly what you were expecting. Not the soft music overhead or the smell of old and new books that line the shelves... that's all pretty standard seeming. It's the makeshift banner that looks as though it was put together in a manner of minutes reading, “ℋAPPY ℬIRTHDAY ℳAKOTO—” that looks rather out of place.

There are a few tables lined with some food and drink, water, juice, tea and coffee— just the basics really. Only a little further down are some baked goods that could easily be mistaken for delicious cupcakes. Unfortunately, on such short notice and even shorter funds... the only thing Ren could come up with were some Kupo-Nut Cakes... if you're willing to try one though, you may just find yourself with a Guts +1 boost.

Well, at least the coffee seems decent.

Comments

[studdedcouncilprez]

A. The Busiest Birthday Girl

[Makoto was never one to settle down when there was work to do. The fact that it was her birthday only made her more anxious. During the course of her surprise party, one may find Makoto doing small things to tidy up. It starts with small things -- throwing away a little trash here. Tidying up the plates there. But left to her own devices she would be straightening up the banner before long.]


B. Feeling a Little Fruity and Nutty

[The coffee was divine, but the same couldn't really be said about the Kupo-Nut muffins. Wanting to make the party more open to different foods Makoto covertly gave the last of her gil to Kopuchi to buy "fruits, nuts... anything that doesn't really need prepared." In the end Kopuchi was able to bring a small gross of tangerines, dates and pistachios.]

[Makoto was grateful, but that required some more prepped. Thankfully she remembered her newly acquired ninja asterisk. When people weren't looking she would be seen chopping up the fresh fruit into small slices and placing it on anything nearby that wouldn't mind having fruit on it.]

[She's doing a pretty good job of it too, bringing in her past cooking knowledge with swift dagger swipes. Feel up to a little exhibition?]


C. What Comes Up

[No matter what happens, in the end even a busy body is going to get reigned in and enjoy her birthday party kicking and screaming. In truth she was grateful, and anybody coming by to give her well-wishes would be greeted with a warm but quiet...]

Thank you.

B

[witchwithoutacause]

[ Amanda's arrived just in time to watch Makoto absolutely going to town on that fruit, standing kind of awkwardly there watching her talents. ]

...cool.

[studdedcouncilprez]

[Makoto's aim comes down with one loud CHOP as she hears Amanda's comment. In a characteristically controlled panic she scanned the area. She felt relieved when she saw the tufts of red hair. Oh thank goodness: she wasn't Futaba or Ren.]

[Makoto smiled sheepishly as she went back to chopping the fig in swift, precise cuts.]

I used to do cooking at home for me and sis. The asterisk isn't helping me be a better cook, but its great for slicing and dicing.

[witchwithoutacause]

[ Good thing she didn't chop her fingers off!

Amanda's pretty sure she has the birthday girl pegged, and nodded back. ]

Ninja Chef sounds like a pretty cool reality crossover show.

[ Like. Ninja Warrior plus Iron Chef? Sick. ]

Happy birthday.

[studdedcouncilprez]

It does sound appealing, doesn't it? [Makoto agreed.]

[She stopped for a moment, turning once again to look at Amanda.] Thank you. Did Futaba or Ren tell you about this? I must confess that I didn't see any of this coming.

[witchwithoutacause]

[ Hey, Makoto is kind of cool if she thinks that sounds good. ]

Futaba, yeah. Is she in trouble?

[studdedcouncilprez]

[chop chop chop...]

Why would she be in trouble? You are her friend. She is allowed to invite anyone she'd like.

[chop chop chop...]

[Its the knife, isn't it?]

[witchwithoutacause]

Eh, no reason really.

[ ...only if Everyone shows up, given how Futaba put that invite out, but it looks like random people aren't swarming so that's fine. ]

[studdedcouncilprez]

[Uh... huh...]

[There was something about that look that... troubled her.]

Is there something you're not telling me?

[Her tone pressed in the way that she seen her sister did when she was interrogating a suspect. A small press but maybe one that could scare out something that was just below the surface.]

[witchwithoutacause]

Plenty.

[ Refuge in being technically honest. ]

Can't spill all my secrets even if it is your birthday.

[studdedcouncilprez]

[Oh good grief. This one is going to be an interesting influence on Futaba's life. The thought made Makoto smile. From her past encounter she seemed... rough and mischievous, but not dangerous. Little wonder then that they got along.]

Fair enough.

[She finished chopping the figs and starts to clean her knife.]

There's fruit and coffee. At the moment we're mostly just hanging out. Um... for your sake I would keep away from the kupo nuts.

Trust me on that.

[witchwithoutacause]

[ Truly, Amanda could only hope to be an influence on the Cool Criminal Gang that maybe exists here. ]

A real gourmet selection.

[ Although given her school's budget problem it's still not much of a downgrade. ]

...so what's up with the nuts?

[studdedcouncilprez]

Honestly? I'm not sure they're fit for human consumption.

Maybe we could give it to the moogles...?

C

[chefbayardee]

If I knew your birthday was coming up, we could've made a cake!

[ Hunk looks a little disappointed, because baking is his favorite. But then his eyes go a bit wide with realization, and he reaches into a pocket, pulling out an open envelope with "Makoto-SAN" written on it in pen. ]

And I got you a present, too. It's not much, but I hope you like it.

[ And in that envelope, aside from a basic birthday card, was a simple note with basic pen-scribbled borders surrounding:

GIFT CARD VALID FOR ONE:
Home-cooked meal.
Like, a meal from your home.
Or as close as we can get.

And Hunk simply stared at her, wondering if she'd even open it. Cooking was great, but trying to cook something from Earth would be wonderful, so this wasn't completely altruistic. Though he'd never admit that. ]

[studdedcouncilprez]

[Makoto smiled and accepted the card. She's frankly not used to this much attention and it probably shows. Still, she's not about to deny well-wishers and friends to celebrate her birthday either.]

I didn't think that it was worth discussing. With everything else going on, celebrating my birthday seemed like a non-event.

[She's touched by the card, and a soft smile comes to her face.]

How thoughtful! Thank you. I'll have to give this matter some thought.

But have you ever cooked Japanese food before, Hunk-san?

[chefbayardee]

[ He looks shocked, almost offended at the accusation, but he's still smiling. ]

Of course I have, Makoto-san! [ The fact that he remembers the honorific shifts his temperament straight into mirthful whimsy. ] I mean, I'm no expert, especially since I've spent so long eating space food.

[ He shrugs, and with it goes any hesitation. ] But it's a belated birthday present, so it's gotta be great. [ And he gives a confident thumbs-up. ]

[studdedcouncilprez]

[Ah! She didn't mean to offend... As she just realized what she just said Makoto recoils in alarm. Thankfully Hunk seemed to be okay with it? She felt a wave of relief when he used an honorific.]

R-Right... I wasn't sure because you...

[Wait.] Hmm..

It just occurred to me, I don't think we've ever discussed where you were living other than "Earth in the future." Though... I don't know if that is usually a topic that gets discussed very often?

[So there's that, at least.]

But I would like to know... if you're willing to share?

[chefbayardee]

[ Hunk just watches as Makoto speaks, as she parses through the differences in their universes, their places on the timeline. And then she asked. She asked him, and the universe didn't implode from a time paradox.

He'll keep worrying about that until it happens, honestly. ]

Space. I've spent most of my time in space, recently.

[ As much as he wished it was a lie, it's been far too long since he visited Earth. He doesn't even know if it's still there, and the uncertainty caused him no small amount of pain. Pain that's a little evident on his face. ]

But I can try and answer your questions.

1/2

[studdedcouncilprez]

This is... really hurting you, isn't it?

I'm... sorry... I just wanted to know where you consider yourself from. You know... your country?

[Maybe she could try cooking something from 'home' too... but this conversation was definitely not going where she wanted.]

2/2

[studdedcouncilprez]

...hey. Do you feel like some fruit? Or coffee? I... wouldn't try those muffins. They were made with kupo nuts.

[Anything to move this conversation away from the hurt. This was supposed to be a party, right? Of course, if Hunk needed it she could always lend him an ear.]

[chefbayardee]

[ Hunk sees the shift in the birthday girl's demeanor. Whoops, he messed that up! And on her birthday, too?! He needed to do damage control, which meant putting out the fires with a flood of humor! ]

Kupo nuts are... [ He chuckles. ] ...pretty nasty. I know from experience.

And I'm Samoan, but I don't know how much that matters since, well [ He looks sheepish, and rubs at the back of his neck while repressing a grin. ] I never liked history classes. But...

We probably had fruit there since, like, the dinosaurs. So I could really go for some fruit. [ He sighs, and there might even be a bit of drool coming from the corner of his mouth. ]

Anything's an improvement on food goo.

[studdedcouncilprez]

Oh, Samoa! I have never been, but did spend some time in Hawaii. I had heard that it is a bit like that, and the pictures I've seen were very pretty.

[She smiles, hoping to remove the edge of the conversation a bit more, offering the fruit plate to Hunk. Its full of desert fruit and is arranged in a simple arrangement.]

I'd imagine that the food in space would probably have to be very different to accommodate the change in gravity. I think I would really miss having a good tempura or grilled fish, myself.

[chefbayardee]

[ Hunk reaches over, and picks up a piece of fruit. Tangerines (or the closest Vaikunthan counterpart) were the sort of thing he never encountered in space, so he popped it in his mouth. And then grabbed another two. ]

Yeah, okay, but Hawaii's big on tourists, and that's a huge pain. [ He shrugs, the smile starting to genuinely return. The fruit helped, as did a chance to plug his culture. ]

See, gravity's not a big deal in space, at least not for us, because our ships can just turn on artificial gravity. So can most space stations. [ He looks a bit wistful at that mention. The space mall. Good times. ] The food in space is weird because alien life is weird.

[ And he nods like an expert, secretly taking note that "tempura and grilled fish" just got dropped in his lap. That had to be deliberate, right? ]

[studdedcouncilprez]

[That got a laugh out of Makoto.] Indeed so. When we were there I had some of my kouhai complain that many of the tourist booths and shops were able to speak Japanese enough that it was like they hadn't left. Its good for visitors, I'd imagine.

[But when the talk went to alien culture she is amazed. Secretly Makoto always was kind of a pop detective and sci fi fan. She was thrilled to get the opportunity to actually hear about what it was actually like.]

You know its funny. You mention just a little while ago that one place was too inviting to other people and cultures and the next moment you're complaining about alien culture not being accommodating.

[She catches herself, realizing how that might have sounded.] Er... not that I'm saying you're funny. What's funny is that you went from one extreme to the other.

[chefbayardee]

[ Hunk looks sheepish for a moment, and just starts laughing. She had a point... ] Alien cultures are pretty nice, actually! The only ones that haven't been happy to see us were the bad guys. [ And even then, some of them were. ]

My favorite one, the Balmerans, [ Yes, he plays favorites, and has no shame in saying so. ] they took us in, hid us from slavers, fed us... [ And then his eyes grow wide and he starts grinning ear-to-ear. ] And they even helped us free their planet! [ He sounds so happy. ]