open | i'm with the party rock crew

[vaccination]

WHO: You, Jesse Pinkman, and some party people.
WHERE: A conveniently located park in Heropa.
WHEN: Saturday.
WHAT: Jesse's birthday! Turning 12. Feel free to tag in wherever or make your own sections.
WARNINGS: God only knows.

NOTE!!! Anyone is welcome to come, whether they replied to Skye's post or not. Stumble into a party, assume they saw the invite, whatever!

[For a last minute thing thrown by a two people who don't have much experience with birthday parties, it's all come together pretty well. Nevermind that they actually didn't have a place to hold the party until not too long ago (minor detail), but hey, that's what public parks are for. Covered seating, a hearty amount of streamers and cheap, brightly colored table cloths, food scattered around the tables--this is probably what a birthday party for a younger kid would look like.

Whatever, it's charming.

There's a man made lake and a few fire pits for cooking nearby, though it looks like meat was probably forgotten in favor of baked goods, chips, dip, pizza, soda, and beer.

If one pays attention, they may catch sight of Ellie and Skye exchanging high fives throughout the party. Well done, ladies.]

Comments

[earnedmystripes]

[The easy part of all this was offering to help out with hanging the streamers and such. He and Jesse couldn't be described as anything approaching close, but once he knew about the younger man's birthday, he'd wanted to do something.

It had seemed uncomplicated enough at the time--help set up at the party, get him a gift, and then slip away unnoticed so he didn't intrude on the actual celebration and Jesse's time with the people he probably didn't constantly have uncomfortable conversations with.

The problem was that he had literally no idea what kind of things Jesse liked, and this time Blue Rose wasn't even here to offer suggestions. What he ends up with is honestly absurd, and several times he considers just throwing it in the trash and leaving, with no evidence that he'd ever actually been there.

He sighs, leaving the shoddily-wrapped package on the table behind one of the other boxes. Maybe Jesse will laugh at how stupid it is.

(Maybe he'll chuck it at his head the next time he sees him)

Escaping unnoticed, however, is interrupted by nearly crashing into the birthday boy himself. Excuse the vaguely deer-in-headlights stare.]

Uh.

[. . .]

Happy birthday.

[hostage]

[Jesse hasn't gotten around to the presents yet, so he has no idea what's in store for him there. But he is in an exceptionally good mood - you know, since people here actually give enough of a shit about him to throw him a birthday party. So when he sees that Kotetsu's one of the guests, he flashes the guy a grin and gives him a friendly slap on the chest.]

Hey, man. Didn't expect to see you here.

[earnedmystripes]

[Well, at least Jesse doesn't look unhappy to see him. That's good. Hopefully he can get through smalltalk and then leave him to his actual friends without incident. Kotetsu doesn't quite relax, but he does lose some of the tension in his frame. An arm comes up to rub at his neck as he gives Jesse a faint, lopsided grin of his own.]

Yeah, uh, there was a post--[oops, maybe he shouldn't have said that. oh well, too late now.]

So...I figured I'd drop by.

[A beat.]

Enjoying the party?

[hostage]

[What actual friends? Most of the people here are his employees or just people Skye knows. So it doesn't surprise Jesse to hear there was a post about it. He kind of figured. Why else would people show up to a party of his that didn't include free drugs?]

Best birthday party I ever had.

[Honest to god, he looks really happy about it.]

[earnedmystripes]

That's great.

[His smile even seems a little less awkward at how happy Jesse looks. It's nice to see. Which means it's probably time for him to go, huh?]

I should let you get back to it, then.

[He's about to turn and leave, but his eye catches the gift table again, and then he hesitates. Turns back around, digs a crumpled receipt out of his pocket, and offers it to Jesse.]

Listen, I ah, I got you a thing, but it's kind of stupid and if you hate it you can totally give it back and get something else.

[hostage]

[Half a year ago, Jesse said almost the same thing to Mr. White: "I left the receipt in the box in case you wanna exchange it." Hearing Kotetsu say something like that now is a lot more jarring than when he said it himself. Who would give back a gift like that? Someone put thought into that. He knows he did.]

Nah, man. I bet it's awesome.

You in a hurry to get someplace else?

[earnedmystripes]

I dunno, I'm pretty crap at gifts. Just ask my partner, heh...

[He sincerely doubts that Jesse will find it awesome, but he supposes insisting the younger man takes it might make things weird, and he's trying really hard not to let anything get weird today. He shoves the the receipt back into his pocket. He supposes he can always give the thing to him later if Jesse decides it's awful enough to not keep even as something to laugh at.]

--No, it's not that.

[...crap, maybe he should've taken that out, though. He pauses, rubs at his neck, shifting his weight a little from foot to foot. The honest answer to why he's all flighty is one he's definitely not giving, so he needs to scramble a little to find another excuse.]

I just...haven't been to a birthday party in a long time, s'all. Kinda rusty on what to do at 'em, y'know?

[And he totally makes a dumb squeaky sound to punctuate that, laughing at his own dumb joke.]

[hostage]

It's a party, man. What does anybody do at parties? Grab a drink, have a hot dog.

[He can already guess, however, that rustiness has got nothing to do with it. Kotetsu's general weirdness around him continues to be fucking weird.]

[earnedmystripes]

...Right. 'Course, what was I thinking, eh? [He raps on his skull, poking fun at his own denseness.] I'll do that. Uh, later.

[Since his attempt to bow out gracefully earlier was a failure, so now small talk. And awkward fidgeting. Happy birthday, Jesse.]