November catch-all log } I'ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ғᴀʟʟɪɴɢ ᴀsʟᴇᴇᴘ

[dormition]

WHO: Minato Arisato and a bunch of people. Closed-ish; let me know if you want a start.
WHERE: Assorted places.
WHEN: And assorted times.
WHAT: And assorted things!
WARNINGS: Discussion of violence, death, and general morbidity, probably. It's Minato. Also in Hisoka's thread there's Hisoka being a pervy creepazoid, so, you know, it's Hisoka.

Prompts below.

Comments

Nico & Ken { ʜᴀʟʟᴏᴡᴇᴇɴ ɴɪɢʜᴛ

[dormition]

[Minato and Ken show up promptly at 9:00 at Nico's, Minato holding a medium sized, sedately colored gift bag and his violin case. Ken has a small pastry box. It's all the outfittings necessary for a tiny little birthday party.

Since they'd come from the masquerade, they're still in costume, too: Minato in 1920's noir style pants and suspenders, complete with fedora and candy cigars in his pocket, Ken dressed as Koromaru and Koro dressed as Ken. It's about as adorable as it sounds.

Minato knocks on the door.]

Thanks for coming, [he tells Ken a second later, effectively missing who is supposed to be thanking who in the average birthday scenario.]

[abandon_hope]

[ It's super adorable. Nico is ... well, he looks the same as always. Spooky as usual in his skull t-shirt and 1940s bomber jacket. He blinks at them for a moment, a bit disbelieving. They actually came. He's actually going to have a birthday ... He has to swallow hard for a moment before he swings the door open completely. ]

You came.

[amadaman]

[Ken smiles up at Minato, more than happy to come along and join in on a friend's birthday celebration. Koromaru's happy, too, being extremely fond of Nico that he is, and before Ken or Minato can even get a word in he's bounding inside and bumping against the birthday boy's legs.]

[dormition]

Of course.

[Seeing as he can't remember any birthday celebrations either, Minato can mostly understand Nico's incredulity. He'd just never wanted any... But if he were able to have one now, with all of his friends that he thought he'd never see again at his first one, he can imagine that it would mean something.

Minato brushes inside, following Koromaru more sedately. He'll let him take care of enthusiastically greeting the birthday boy.]

Happy Birthday.

[abandon_hope]

Th...thank you. I didn't - I wasn't sure you'd -

[ The place is clean but he hasn't decorated at all. Or done anything special, really. He hesitantly leads them into the kitchen with its table. ]

[amadaman]

[Ken's the last one into the house, carefully closing the door behind him and following the small party to the kitchen. He's putting the cake down before anything else, turning to face Nico with a smile.]

We wouldn't have missed it for anything. You didn't tell me it was today... happy birthday, Nico.

[dormition]

I only found out by accident, [Minato adds, setting his violin case down on a chair and the gift on the table. It's a plain black bag with silver paper, and inside is a black skull-textured sweater. He'd found it last minute at work yesterday.]

How old are you now?

[abandon_hope]

[ Oh. Oh that's ... He goes still for a moment, awed by the gift. It's perfect. (And the social link definitely gets a boost.) He immediately sheds the jacket in order to slip on the sweater. ]

I'm fifteen. Or eighty-four, I guess.

[amadaman]

[That's a really, really good sweater for Nico. Ken's going to offer to take a picture later, but for now he's laughing as he reaches into a pocket in Koromaru's bag and pulls out... a bunch of candles.]

I came prepared for both, but the latter might turn your cake into a beehive.

[abandon_hope]

[ Oh gods. Eighty-four candles. Nico looks a little overwhelmed just at the thought. ]

-- Just fifteen. Please. We might set off the fire alarm.

[dormition]

Looks good. [Minato gives him a very sober thumbs up at the sweater. He'd had to guess on size, but he's worked in the clothing store long enough to be pretty good at that by now.]

You can keep the other candles as a souvenir, [Minato suggests helpfully.]

[amadaman]

There's a hundred, so we have enough for four more birthdays too.

[If they're around here for that long, but Ken at this point isn't worried about that sort of stuff. He counts out fifteen and sets them by the cake, leaving the rest of the boxes on the counter.]

Were you okay with us coming over so late though?

[abandon_hope]

I don't know what I'm going to do with them ...

[ Except celebrate more birthdays? Maybe he can return the favor. He shuffles around uncertainly, gathering enough chairs for their tiny party. And then plates. And forks. And then just ... nothing at all, hovering aimlessly. H almost doesn't hear Ken's second comment. ]

-- Late? This is late?

[ Most days Nico may as well be nocturnal. And being used to living in the Underworld, he doesn't usually bother to keep track of time. ]

[dormition]

They're mementos. It's just for memory.

[It's not a concept Minato is all that familiar with, but he's gotten used to it after dating seven girls.

Minato gains a faint smile at seeing Nico shuffle around nervously. It definitely was the right idea to come over.] It's fine. Ken-kun and I are used to staying up. Here... Do you want to cut the cake?

[amadaman]

Haha... that's a lot of mementos, Minato-san.

[Ken doesn't think it's very late. For someone who seldom sleeps, nine isn't late at all. Since Nico doesn't seem to mind he opts to stop thinking about it, instead taking the hoodie and backpack off Koromaru so the dog can dash around and greet the birthday boy more properly.]

[abandon_hope]

Too many for me.

[ He will cut the cake - turns to get the knife out, in fact - but first, he has to say hello to Koromaru. Doing otherwise would just be rude. He smiles genuinely but faintly as he leans down to pet the puppy. ]

Sorry, Koro. I don't think you can have this cake too.

[dormition]

Is it possible to have too many memories? [he muses, thinking of Aigis.

That train of thought doesn't lead anywhere productive, so he discards it, setting his chin on his hand, propped up with his elbow on the table. It helps hide his amusement, which Minato is habitual about trying to conceal.

He glances down at Koromaru.] Sorry, Koro-chan. I'll take you to visit Shinjiro-senpai and we'll make you a treat later, okay?

[amadaman]

[Koromaru is getting a double-whammy from the two apologies. He stares, frozen, then whines sadly as he's denied the same snack as everybody else.

Ken is prepared though, and he shuffles over and nudges Nico's shoulder with a grin.]

Don't worry. Aragaki-san taught me how to make some of his treats a while ago so I have some. Do you want to give them to him?

[abandon_hope]

[ Too many memories, huh ... well, he can't say either way. Being memory-impaired himself. He flinches very slightly at the shoulder touch, more out of surprise than anything else. ]

-- Yeah. I'd like that.

[dormition]

Oh, have you been spending more time with Shinjiro-san...? That's good. [This is a drastic understatement, but it does warm Minato's heart a little.

He doesn't want to get derailed from Nico's birthday onto SEES drama, though. He turns back to him.] Maybe we should've had candles first. [He thinks that's how they do it.]

[amadaman]

We've been talking. [he shrugs.]

I don't think there's a particular order to this. I mean, even if there are, it doesn't matter to us, right? As long as Nico enjoys it...

[handing Nico a few treats. Koromaru's already waiting, nearly standing on the boy's feet.]

[abandon_hope]

[ Nico gladly leans down to feed the puppy. Definitely a dog person, this one. ]

It's still a birthday cake. That counts for everything.