The twins were in the kitchen doing the catering while the rest of the students were actively decorating the food court.
Standing in the middle of the room,
Rhydian stood on a chair, moving his arms about like a conductor before an orchestra. The streamers were busy stringing themselves all along the ceiling and across doorways as he used his powers to direct them. He looked over at the twins and grimaced, "I still don't think this is a good idea...since when does she like surprises anyway?"
"Since when does that girl like anything?" asked
Penelope as she set up the DJ stand on the far end of the food court.
"Hey, just so you know, she absolutely loves music."
Rhydian shot back at her. "And not the junk you listen to. So you'd better not have any of that stuff you used in the Mojoverse loaded in there." He hopped off the chair as the last of the streamers tied itself off and swirled down from the ceiling. "And do
not even think about playing one of her dad's songs, Pen. Seriously..."
Junior had been moving tables out of the way and folding and stacking them at the back of the room. When Rhydian mentioned Waya's dad's music he paused. He'd given Penelope copies of some of his files. She certainly had enough of Kurt's music to send Waya off in a flying rage. "Yeah..." He agreed with Rhydian. "Pen, if you brought any of her dad's stuff, get rid of it. That's a sure fire way to ruin this whole thing..."
"Oh piss off boys. I know what music she likes."
Penelope said, "Criminey...ha
ve some faith in me, would you? I know she doesn't like most music. I'm keeping the selection tonight limited to her preference."
"Please Pen..." Junior said. "None of her dad's stuff..." Waya had a very wide range of music she enjoyed, it just wasn't anything like the music Penelope liked.
"Not even one." Rhydian reiterated sternly. The entire party would be nothing but a waste if she walked in here and heard one of his songs...
"Okay okay- let's not accuse me of a crime I didn't commit, shall we?" Penelope asked, irritation in her voice rising. For fuck sake she didn't even do anything nor had she been planning on it.
"Just making sure..." Junior said. "So Rhyd... what did you get her?"
"A present." Rhydian told him with a wide smirk. He wasn't sure if he wanted anyone else to know until she did, but it was good....
Maribel was over by a long table on the other side of the room, minding her own business and laying out the table cloth. Her arm was doing better and could manage fine with just a wrist brace.
"Oh come on..." Junior said. "We got her a new Who's-eye hoodie. Since her's got left back in the Mojoverse. It was Mari's idea." He smiled at Maribel. "It's one of those heavy duty hoodies. Some kind of super weave or something."
"I...I don't even know if I want to give it to her at the party..." Rhydian admitted, he didn't want to embarrass her after all.
"Just spill it, Rhyd." Penelope said into the microphone, listening to it echo loudly against the walls and bounce back. Good thing this place was sound-proof.
Rhydian groaned and put a hand on the back of his head, scratching it lightly. He sighed and caved in, before the twins could start in on him. "I got her a classic record player..." It didn't sound like a very good present, not given the technology they had at their fingertips now.
"Really?" Junior asked. "Like... one that plays vinyl and everything?" Waya's dad had had an extensive record collection just gathering dust in her parent's room. "That's pretty cool... better than a hoodie..."
"That would be what makes it a record player..." Rhydian replied with a smirk. "It can play all three standard RPMs, 78, 45, and 33. I wasn't sure what sizes he had collected." He explained his choice, he was rather pleased with it.
"That's pretty kickass. Why would she be embarrassed about something like that?" Pen asked.
"It's personal." Junior said. "Waya doesn't... do personal. But she'd love it. Though if you do give it to her in front of everyone, she'll hide it... maybe it would be a good idea to give it to her later."
"That's what I was thinking." Rhydian replied. He looked over at the kitchen doors, wondering what the twins had gotten her. "What do you think they got her?" He asked Junior curiously. He seemed to always have to compete with them as far as gifts went. He had limited funds...they were princes... It just wasn't fair.
Meanwhile, Penelope went back to her work, leaving the boys to chat.
"No telling." Junior said. "But it'll be good."
"No. It'll be extravagant. There's a difference." Rhydian replied, shaking his head slowly.
"You know what we need? Servant robots." Phinagin said as he was looking one over. "I mean, we have the resources."
"Why?" Rhydian asked him in return. If they got servant robots, no doubt George would get offended by it. He'd probably try to start up some sort of robot rebellion...
"Just a thought. Maybe, help keep the place clean." Phinagin suggested, "I'd be much better then having to dust the place yourself."
The door to the food court opened and Strawberry walked in, "New kid just showed up. Should be able to keep Waya busy with the help of Jeremy."
"I think we do a pretty good job of keeping the place clean." Rhydian replied with a shrug. It would be nice to not have to do it all by themselves though...
"When you're a walking Disney Princess sure." Junior smirked. "I love that trick you do with the walking brooms."
Maribel finished decorating the table and various chairs. She stood back and marveled her work for a moment. It would look perfect with the twins' lovely food on it. Well... lovely to some people. Not so much to her. Since the incident a month earlier in the kitchen, no one had seen Maribel eat. She always took meals up to her room and ate in privacy.
Phinagin shrugged, "Just say the word." He turned and looked around the room, "So what else do we have to do now?"
"Check on the food..." Rhydian offered with a shrug. The decorations were complete, the dj booth set up and he could only assume that Pen had all that ready to go. That just left them with the catering. "The twins have been in there all morning preparing...Maybe we should check on them..."
"Hey guys." Jeremy said with a heavy sigh as he came inside "Close call. Waya almost came in here."
"She's probably wondering where everyone else is. We should disperse until the twins finish dinner." Penelope said.
"Somebody's gotta tail her, make sure she doesn't come in here." Rhydian pointed out with a grimace. If they were to just lock the doors, she'd probably get suspicious and break the door down.
"I guess that means Invisaboy..." Junior said. "Considering she'll suspect me if she sees me and cant read my mind while I'm using my powers..."
"Do I have to? I mean..." Jeremy scratched his head with a little grimace "My powers have been acting weirdly lately." No they hadn't, but other stuff had, other stuff he wasn't going to talk about.
"Me, Jer." Junior said. He knew Jeremy hadn't been exactly well since the incident with Spiral. So long as he didn't sprout two more arms and start dancing everywhere he figured he was going to be ok. "I'll tail Waya and try to keep her out of here."
"Oh... right. Sorry." Jeremy said with a rub of his head and a little groan "I'm... not sleeping properly."
That gonna be your new callsign? Rhydian asked with a smirk. "How are you going to keep her from coming here if you're intangible?"
"I can head her off at the pass." Junior said.
"She's a bit grouchy today." Jeremy warned him "Well... like every day... recently."
Rhydian thought for a moment, chewing on his lip. "If you have to run into her, tell her I'm looking for her." He said after, a grin on his face. "I'll head out and start 'looking' around the other end of the school. Send her my way, and I'll give her her present. That should be enough of a distraction to keep her from over here."
"So... what should I do?" Jeremy asked as he looked around "And has anyone seen George? I mean... is he... avoiding her birthday or what?"
"George has been working on something downstairs." Junior said. "I think he's working on a new face. He wants more expression. He might have forgotten or is ignoring his calendar." That wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth. He turned to Rhydian so no one would ask him anything further about George. "And that is a great idea. Why don't I just send her to you and you can keep her occupied?"
Rhydian's cheeks flushed deeply when Junior suggested that. He hadn't thought about just outright trying to keep her occupied himself. He bit his lower lip and looked at the boy who was the closest thing he had to a brother. "That'd be great..." He said slowly with a smile.
"Good. I'll go head her off at the pass." Junior said. "Where did you say she went Jeremy?"
"Kitchen." Jeremy said with a nod to Junior "Should still be there. There's a new guy with her too. I... he looks a bit odd, I will admit. Very odd."
"New guy?" Junior asked. "What new guy?"
"He was at the door just now. He's... I dunno, he's pale. He talked a bit strange, sounded as if he didn't understand half of what we said." Jeremy said with a frown.
"Is he cute?" Penelope asked, hopping out from behind the DJ stand.
"I guess I'll head out then." Rhydian said and headed for the far door. "I'll be upstairs. That would probably be best. How long do you think I should stall?"
"I duno." Junior said, not caring about how cute the new guy was. "I don't smell cake yet-" His senses weren't hypersensitive like Waya's, but anyone could smell a baking cake. "A little more than an hour I guess. I don't know how long till the twins are done. Animate a paper airplane or something and send it to find me. I'll write you a note and it can bring it back to you." Just like they used to pass messages when they were kids and supposed to be in bed.
"She might think it suspicious that I throw a plane that never returns." Rhydian pointed out with a grin
"Paper planes don't usually return." Jeremy pointed out "Just slide a piece of paper under the door or something." He then turned to Penelope and said, very carefully "I... don't... really consider him cute... No."
"Damn." Penelope cursed with a hand on her hip. "So looks like we're all ready except for the food. Junior, you should probably go follow Waya now. I guess I'll check on the twins since no one else is volunteering."
"No, the suspicious part will be when it returns." Junior said. He turned to Penelope. "I'm going." He said. "She's with them. Two birds, one stone, chill." He left then, going to the kitchen through the hall entrance rather than the commissary entrance which might allow Waya to see the decorations.
"You just want to see the new guy don't you?" Jeremy asked Penelope with a raise of his eyebrow "And what's this about searching for cute guys? Twins not cute enough for ya?"
Penelope laughed at Jeremy's comment and wrapped her arm around his shoulder, "Their can never be enough cute boys around this school, right?"
"There could be more..." Jeremy admitted with a small sigh and a rub of his chin. He really wanted a boyfriend.
"Uh huh... well you're going to have to fight me for it, Jer." Penelope said with a friendly smirk. "It's been slim pickin's around here."
It must've been a while since Rhydian had messed around with his powers. Every paper plane he ever threw always came back. He headed out quickly. He had to get upstairs before Waya did. Junior probably didn't give much leeway on that end...
"It's hardly going to be much choice if they're gay." Jeremy pointed out with a little raise of an eyebrow.
"That is... a valid point." Penelope said, removing her arm gently. "Aren't there any gay bars in this city? We should go have a night out on the town. It'll be fun!"
"I look like I should be buried six feet under. I don't think most guys would like me until I've won them over with my amazing personality." Jeremy said with a soft laugh, shaking his head "And you know... mutant relations not being so good... and mine being an obvious physical mutation."
"Well...you could use a makeover, that's for sure. Maybe some... moisturizer and some...well... a lot of concealer." Penelope said.
"All of my skin is green. Aaaaall of it." Jeremy pointed out "It's going to be difficult to conceal that without some kind of hologram."
"Then use one of those holo-watch things." Penelope said, "Duh?" She smiled and bumped him with her hip. "Besides, some of my songs are real big in the gay community. I could hook you up."
"Ehhh, I don't really fancy a hook up..." Jeremy said with a little sigh and a shrug "I'm pretty sure I could get a hook up any time..."
"Oh you think so, do you?" Penelope asked, curious to where the sudden self esteem came from.
"The twins don't exactly say no..." Jeremy said with a scratch of his head. it wasn't really a burst of self esteem, it was more his previous experience with the twins.
"So why not see if they want to date you? Or at least one. Hey- you can have one and I'll get the other." Penelope joked.
"They wouldn't want to date someone separately." Jeremy said with a little shake of his head "They don't do anything apart, and if they said 'alright, which one', I'd basically have to just decide really quick and try not to be awkward about barely being able to tell them apart sometimes." They were not really out of each other's company often, and it would just be... awkward.
"Alright alright..." Penelope waved the thought away, "Do it your way."
Jeremy tried not to comment that 'his way' might involve Junior not dating Maribel, which he disliked about himself, since he liked Maribel. "So what can I do to help around here?" he asked.
"Everything is pretty set right now. All we are waiting for is-" Penelope was cut off by the sound of Junior and the new kid bringing in some large dishes and bowls. "Speak of the devil."
Merril's frame was rigid with nervous excitement. He smiled, perhaps too widely and therefore foolishly as his eyes darted around the room. His small figure was further emphasized by the large tray he had volunteered to carry.
"Don't call me the devil." Junior said, overhearing Penelope. "It's Hellian thank you very much."
"This... is uhhh..." Jeremy paused, squinted at Merril, then said "Merril? Right?" He sniffed slightly and crossed his arms, wondering if he'd got the name right.
Penelope snickered at Junior's comment and went over to help with their things. "I can take that." she offered her arms to Merril. "Jeez- just got here and they are already putting you to work?"
Merril nodded at Jeremy before he froze in wonderment at the sight of Penelope. He could only manage a little sigh of "yeah," as he handed the pan off.
Maribel came over from decorating the table. She was pleased to see that not only were the twins done cooking, but also that they had a new student. She recalled what she thought when she first arrived at Xaviers when she heard there was no faculty and wondered if Merril thought the same.
"Good, good." Jeremy said with a little nod, letting out a breath and going over to decorate the table a bit more. He hoped Waya liked this.
"Mari, this is Merril." Junior said, seeing her walk up. He put down what he was carrying and went to her, kissing her cheek gently as she arrived. He didn't normally display such affection in front of the others, but he subconsciously wanted Merril to know she was taken.
Maribel really wasn't expecting the kiss, but took it gladly. They had only been "dating" for few weeks so the gesture was still pretty new. She looked at Merril and smiled, then used sign language to Junior that he should tell Merril her full name, not just his nickname for her. Maribel was pleased that there was another mutant who didn't really look "normal". She and Merril shared a muted color palette.
Jeremy got up, leaving the new guy to be introduced as he went to straighten out a few of the fixtures around the room. A birthday, something which they really didn't celebrate enough of around here. They really didn't celebrate enough of anything. They'd missed months...
"Oh sorry." Junior said. "Maribel... is mute. We can get you a neural implant that will let your mind translate what she's saying."
"Really?" Merril asked. "How does it work? Does it send me her thoughts?" It was nearly overwhelming how interesting things were for the little twitchy fellow.
Maribel airily chuckled, but no sound came out.
"No, the transplant just allows you to understand sign language." Penelope explained.
"You can do that?" Merril cried, his voice cracking with a slight squeak. He faked a cough to make his squeak seem like a throat tickle.
"Sign language, Latin... algebra." Junior said. "It's a neural interface with a system that downloads information directly to the brain while you sleep. Surely you've heard of the E-Learner chip. That was developed by one of the teachers who used to work here." And it was another reason money never seemed to run out at the school.
"It's pretty handy." Jeremy admitted with a little nod to Merril "Can be a little scary putting it in at first but you get used to it."
"Yeah, it just goes right behind your ear." Junior said. "Rhydian can manipulate his to download what he needs when he needs it, but his ability is to animate inanimate objects. I guess it qualifies."
Penelope left to put the food on the table and help set everything up.
"He can what?" Merril asked in regards to Rhydian. "Do you think he'd agree to make some broomsticks dance while I wear a wizard's hat? I used to watch fantasia a lot."
Junior smirked. "you should have been here earlier when we were decorating. You'd have gotten a kick out of it."
"He helps around the place a lot." Jeremy said with a nod "We've got quite an odd family here. You haven't even met the robot."
A short while later, the twins came in with the last of the food and a large, chocolate cake. It contained swirls of white creme frosting and little blue flowers around the base and top. They set everything up on the long table and confidently said, "We're done!"
"Rhydian is keeping her occupied." Junior said. "Has anyone scrounged Liz up from downstairs? She promised she'd come, but you know how she forgets things."
Maribel lifted her hand to Junior, signaling that she would go get her. She turned and went into the elevator.
"Thanks Maribel." Jeremy called out to her, giving a wide smile at her and giving a little nod.
Eliza popped out from the little express elevator they had, a wide grin on her face and wearing a skirt of all things. She straightened it a little, since she wasn't used to wearing one, and stepped out with a smile. "All ready I see."
"You're oddly quiet Penelope..." Junior observed.
"Uh... what's it been...two minutes?" Penelope asked, a hang on her hip.
<hr<
Junior shrugged. "The only ones any quieter are the twins." He said. "And Mari, but she doesn't count." He planted a smooch on her temple and hugged her to him.
"Can I help do anything?" Merril asked, excitedly watching the scene.
"Ah... who's this?" Eliza said, pointing to Merril. They'd not been introduced after all.
"Oi! I think we need a bigger introduction... I wasn't introduced properly either." Penelope said, offering her hand to the lad, "My name is Penelope Carrington. Yes, the one who sings whom you've probably heard about."
Merril's shoulders rose as he smiled bashfully and shook her hand. "Do you have singing powers?" he asked.
Jeremy gave a little smirk, trying not to look as if he was about to break out laughing at that. "Eliza, this is Merril." he said, waving a ahnd towards the boy "He's new, just arrived. Waya's still... sorting out the details if he wants to stay or not."
"You could say that, yeah." Penelope said, trying to hide the fact she was a bit bummed he hadn't heard of her. "I can transmit audio vibrations into energy vines."
"She's also my half sister apparently." Junior told Merril. "We just found out right after Christmas."
A small paper airplane slid underneath the door, then lifted back up into the air. It flew slowly towards the group of students, targeting Junior.
Junior snatched the airplane carefully and opened it. "Rhydian is asking if we're ready."
"Ohhh... I hope she likes my present..." Eliza said, squirming slightly on the spot and bouncing slightly. She was pretty sure some people wouldn't understand WHY she'd gotten it, but some would.
"We're all set." Jayden said.
"Should we turn the light off or something?" asked Jaden.
"She can see in the dark dude..." Junior told Jaden. "If you wanna pump in a thousand watts of light you'll have a better chance of uprising her... She'll probably end up with a good burn too." Junior took a pen from his pocket, wrote "yup" on it, folded it back into a plane and instead of throwing it, he held it in the flat of his hand. It took off on it's own, animated to return by Rhydain's powers.
"No jumping out guys." Jeremy said with a wave of his hand "Lets just wait in here and yell surprise when she walks in the door."
"What did you get her?" asked Jayden to Eliza.
"Later, later." Eliza said with a shake of her head, giving a smile to Jayden "I think she'll like it."
"We hope so." Jaden added with a smile. Waya had been to down on herself lately and they really wanted Waya to let loose and be not stressed for at least one night.
"You look adorable by the way." Jay added.
Veronica came in with a small wrapped box tucked under her arm. "Oh wow guys... This place looks great! I'm not too late am I?"
"She's on her way. We should probably get ready." Penelope said.
Veronica held up the present she had for Waya. "Do we have a gift table or are we all just giving them to her when she shows up?"
"I put my present over there." Jeremy said, pointing to the table he'd put the flat present down on "Though I think we should just hand them over when she comes in."
"Definitely not." Jayden told Jeremy. "Food is first before it gets cold."
"Thanks Jer." Veronica said with a smile and went to set her gift down beside his. "So what all are we having? I smell fried potatoes."
"Waya's favorite of course. Fried pork steaks and fried potatoes. Of course we also have corn, pasta salad and baked beans too."
"Really?" Junior asked, looking over at the food. "Ohh you got into her mom's recipe box didn't you?" He went over and picked out a slice of potato. He groaned at he tasted it. Waya's mom didn't cook often, but when she did it was always southern and fantastic. The twins made it just as good."
No one had answered Merril's question about helping, so, not wanting to get in the way, he quietly watched the proceedings rather awkwardly.
"Perhaps... hopefully we didn't give it away when Waya walked into the kitchen." Jayden remarked.
After setting her gift down on the table, Veronica turned and looked at the new guy. "Who're you?" She asked curiously.
"Veronica... manners." Penelope said, elbowing her quickly. "He's new. Be nice."
"I was being nice, you git." Veronica sneered, punching Pen in the arm. "I just asked who he was."
"Merril," Merril said with a large grin, exposing his dark purple gums. He offered a hand to shake.
"Hello, Merril." Veronica said, taking his hand and shaking it lightly. She smiled when she saw the dark purple of his gums. "That's a lovely shade."
Merril blinked, momentarily confused what she was referencing. "Oh," he said and tapped a finger under his purple eye. "Thank you."
Veronica smiled and nodded. "You planning on staying?"
"YES," Merril said enthusiastically and then returned to bashfulness. "Well, I mean, if I'm allowed."
Penelope was amused by Merril's enthusiasm. It was about time they got more people around were who weren't depressed sticks in the mud.
"Of course you're allowed, Merril. The more the merrier." Jaden said.
"Yeah, who said you wouldn't be allowed?" Veronica asked curiously. She'd not heard of this school turning anyone away before.
"Waya's a bit... She's suspicious of people who jut turn up on our doorstep, ever since... well... EVERYTHING that happened really." Jeremy explained from his seat "Understandable, but I think he'll stick around."
"So you've adopted him already I see." The girl in question said from the door. Waya stood with her arms crossed and did not appear very happy at the festivities that had been planned for her.
Penelope looked across the room at Waya. Despite her angry posture, Penelope threw her hands in the air and shouted "Surprise!"
The twins joined in as well and shouted "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Hopefully she hadn't been there long.
"Happy Birthday Waya!" Jeremy called out, laughing slightly, grinning at the girl but not jumping up or being too drastic.
"Happy Birthday." Eliza said, moving towards her and grinning widely as she moved over towards the girl. "Oh come on my dear, let's have some fun."
Veronica smiled and waved to Waya, shouting, "Happy birthday!" along with everyone else.
Rhydian grinned and gave Waya a little pat on the back, pushing her forward. "Happy birthday." He said quietly.
"A party." Waya said, not looking at all amused. "Do you even have any idea who I am? What in the hell were you thinking throwing me a surprise party?"
"We were thinking we all badly need this, including you." Eliza said softly, being very near her at this point in time and looking quite serious "Waya, this'll be fun, you know it, because this is the chance for all your closest friends to show you how much they love you."
"I know!" Waya snapped a little. "And what really gets me is that despite all the shit I've put all you through lately-" Her tone began to gradually diminish from snapping at them to how she really felt. "You still care about me enough to go through all this trouble. I have been a first class grade A bitch all this time and..." She didn't intend to get emotional. She'd intended to snap at them and have a laugh when she thanked them for it, but now that she was actually doing it, a tear spilled over onto her left cheek. "You guys deserve a lot more than how I've been treating you... I'm sorry.."
The last thing everyone wanted was for her to start crying. The twins approached her along with everyone else and said, "Oh it's okay, Waya...really."
"We all wanted to do this."
Perhaps wanting to take some attention off of her, Jayden said, "Come on everyone, let's eat before it gets cold!"
Junior slipped away from Mari and went to Waya. He gave her a napkin from one of the tables. "Who are you and what have you done with Waya?" He asked, wanting to make her laugh. He hugged her, despite her probably not wanting him to.
Waya took the napkin and hugged him back. "Thank you guys. I mean it..." She smirked at Penelope. "So long as you don't play any of that crap you call music."
"Oh no no no... I made a playlist specifically for you as a matter of fact." Penelope said with a smile and walked over to the large DJ station. She turned it on and began playing some music. She kept the volume at a reasonable level so everyone could talk and enjoy dinner.
"This is why you need this." Eliza said with a little smile as she let Junior give her a hug. She was smiling at the girl though, not playing around like Junior had. "Come on, the Twins have been slaving over a hot oven all day." she said with a nod towards the table "We should eat."
Jeremy had sat there rather awkwardly as things played out, first angry, then crying, it had all been a little awkward. He couldn't help but feel a little... unnerved that she'd started crying though. He stood up and, noticing people were already crowding her a little, decided that he should move over to the food with the Twins.
At mention of food, the twins pranced over to the table and made last minute touches to the spread, lifting the lids from the plates. Hopefully some good food would cheer her up.
Waya seemed more collected, but she hugged Eliza and as they parted said, "I knew something was up when I saw the twins fixing all this. But I forgot it was my birthday till Rhydian reminded me."
"How did you forget your own birthday?" Veronica asked her in disbelief. Even after all she'd been through, she'd never forgotten her own birthday.
"Waya's like that." Eliza said with a little shrug and a smile, before turning towards Waya "Oh, and we've got presents."
"It's been a rough year Ver." Waya told her. "And you guys didn't have to get me anything."
"No presents. Food first." Jayden said from the table in a slightly demanding voice. Damnit they worked all morning on this and it was getting cold.
"Lets go through what you've got here." Jeremy said, his fingers inching towards the fried potatoes that Junior had eaten some of.
As everyone gathered around the table, Penelope brought back another chair from the supply closet now that Merril would be joining them. She did a final count and sat down.
"So we're keeping him?" Waya asked as she sat at the head of the table where Junior had pushed her. She meant Merril, but she was both thankful and disappointed that Rhydian was seated so far away.
"It's not exactly up to a vote." Jaden said. "The X-school never turns anyone down."
Merril attempted a cute, charming smile but again his giant swirling purple eyes and dark gums just sorta made him creepy looking.
"It's not like we're short on room or anything." Veronica pointed out as she sat herself beside the new kid. "Besides, he's very lovely with those purple tones." She smiled to him and reached out to pour herself some tea.
Rhydian could've choked whoever it was that shoved him so far away from Waya. He sat down and looked across the table at her, trying very hard to keep the want from showing on his face.
"I'm lovely," Merril mused to himself, lightly bouncing his shoulders.
"Down Bessie." Penelope said to Veronica, scooting in her chair a bit. "He just got here." Not to mention, she called dibs with Jeremy earlier in regard to the new kid.
"Bessie?" Veronica asked her, arching an eyebrow curiously. What the hell was that supposed to mean? She set the pitcher down and tilted her head to the side, looking at Pen. "I know he just got here. That would be why I introduced myself to him like 5 minutes ago."
Waya didn't have anything to interject but she smiled as she watched everyone banter back and forth. She hadn't felt this normal in a long time.
Penelope snickered and chose not to reply. Instead, she placed the napkin folded neatly on her lap before beginning to fill her plate up.
Maribel looked around one more, making sure they weren't missing anyone. After a scan of the room she noticed that George wasn't here. Tapping Junior's arm, she used sign language to tell him that she would venture downstairs to retrieve him. Berry too was AWOL.
"Now ladies, he could be gay." Jeremy said gently to the two of them, placing his skeletal hands on Penelope and Veronica's shoulders, shaking his head and smiling slightly. He chuckled gently and looked around at Waya "Come on, you should grab some food. You know how the Twins' cooking disappears."
Eliza smiled and hugged Waya slightly. She seemed very happy and emotional at the moment, after all, she'd reduced Waya to tears with a few words. Either Eliza developed some entirely new empathy power or she was enjoying this more than usual.
It was more than just Liz that moved Waya to tears. It was the whole thing. She smiled when Jeremy offered the food and fixed her plate quickly. "This smells really good guys. I've not had this in a long time."
"Pass that this way next." Junior said. "We've not gotten any down this way." He, Maribel and Rhydian were still waiting. He was getting up as he said this though and not wanting to interrupt anyone he was signing to Mari. 'I'll go get him. You stay and make sure they don't eat everything before I get a share.'
Maribel smiled and nodded in response.
"Thank you. It's probably not as good as your Mom's, but we gave it our all." Jayden explained.
"Bet you can guess what flavor the cake is." added Jaden with a mischievous grin. She had her favorite cake flavor for as far back as they could remember.
Merril's smiled faded at Jeremy's comment and he tried to subtly shake his head in disagreement at the girls. He didn't want to offend anyone, but he also didn't want any lady repelling rumors around.
"Chocolate." Waya said. "And if that's Mom's Seven Minute Icing, I might just fall in love with you."
Junior slipped away from the table with the intentions of finding George.
The twins smiled, but it was a sad sort of smile that didn't reach their eyes fully. Why did Waya have to say things like that? Of course it was a figure of speech... but after what happened between the three of them, it was in bad taste. "We'll just have to see." they said.
Maybe it was bad taste, but they were the ones dragging what happened between them around like a rotting corpse. Waya had not quite moved on, but she didn't let it effect her like it had before. Not now that they'd revealed the truth. There was an uncomfortableness between them that she tried to ignore, just wanting things to be normal again. It bothered her a little that they no longer called her 'Petal'.
Extended discussion between the Twins and Waya was always a little awkward, so Eliza grinned and reached out to take her own plate "Ohhhh... I miss the meals you guys cook when I'm working downstairs..."
Rhydian's heart skipped a beat when she said that about the icing. He looked across the table at her, and she could see the worry on his face. The worry that he might lose her over something as trivial as icing was ridiculous, but it still frightened him.
Veronica turned her attention to the food that the twins had made. They'd worked very hard on everything and it all smelled fantastic. She was comforted by Merril's little shake of the head. It was nice that there was some fresh meat around here for them to flirt with. She wasn't planning on doing anything to back any of it up, for the most part she was just flirting to get a rise out of Pen.
Maribel ate pleasantly, finding the food delicious. Lifting her hands, she signed to the twins that she enjoyed it. Sadly nothing she communicated could be understood by Merril as he hadn't gotten the transplants yet.
"Really? Oh." Jeremy sighed, seeing the little shake of Merril's head himself, then giving a little shrug and trying not to look actually disappointed.
"You know what guys... I was thinking- we should really take a field trip somewhere." Penelope said. "Just to the city. Maybe for a shopping day or just an outing. It could be fun."
"Oh, I'm sure we'll find... something to busy ourselves with." Eliza said, a wide grin on her lips as she thought about... well, a secret "No worries."
Merril cringed guiltily when Jeremy caught him. He then listened to the conversation, getting more and more excited by the discourse.
"Every time we go into the city we nearly get killed. Waya said. "If we go somewhere, lets put some thought into it and actually go somewhere where we're not going to get targeted by hate groups or steam rolled by some bad guy."
"What about the beach?" Rhydian offered, looking up from his plate. He reached across the table and retrieved a small yeast roll from the basket. "Hardly anyone ever gets mobbed at the beach."
Eliza gave a shrug and a little giggle, chewing on a little of the food and smiling widely to herself as if she had a secret no one else knew. Which she did, several, but this was more related to the task at hand "I'm sure we'll think of something."
"Oh that is great!" Penelope exclaimed, "I'm sure we could even find a secluded spot where we won't even have to wear those image inducers. It's been hot all week, it would be perfect if we went! I love that idea."
George edged carefully into the room, looking around at everyone, then pausing at the sight of Merril. This must be the new person Junior had told him about. He wondered how Merril would react to a large robot standing rather awkwardly just beside the door.
"I know you can't eat George." Junior said, coming in behind him. "But you can still join us."
"You sure you won't want to wear your inducer?" Veronica asked her with a smirk. She looked over at Merril and gave him a playful wink. "After all, I'll be going."
Hearing about bad guys and battles was only making Merril more determined to stay. He caught onto Eliza's behavior and was sitting in suspense when Veronica looked his way and blinked. He wasn't sure what she was insinuating, but he couldn't help putting on a cat like, upturned lip smile. The ladies distracted him from the robot.
"I'm just... you know..." George rubbed his head, giving a weak smile down to Junior before stepping a little further into the room. He didn't make very good small talk either, not really. He scanned the food. "Looks good."
"The beach..." Waya said, disappointed in that idea. She could go to the beach, but she couldn't do anything. Her white skin wasn't as sensitive as her father's (he had to shield himself with his shadows constantly when he was outside) but with out a full body condom, she'd have to spend her entire time under a beach umbrella. "Can we come up with some more options that don't end with me turning into a member of Blue Man Group?" She turned blue when she burned. "If you all want to go to the beach that's fine, but it'd be nice to do something we can all to together."
"Come on fradey cat." Junior told George. "You wanna stay on the fringes for the rest of your life?"
"Is that honestly an option?" George asked, looking around at Junior and giving a little shrug.
"Well, there's always the cinema or something. Or a water park." Eliza said with a shrug "We'll think of something I'm sure." She looked around. She was oh so eager to give out presents.
"I have the same deal with water parks as I do with the beach." Waya said. "I'll go, I don't want you guys to never get to go anywhere fun because I'm a wet blanket. It'd be nice to go somewhere warm with a foot of snow on the ground outside."
"Maybe we can wait for a nice overcast day." Jaden said. It wouldn't hurt Waya as much as a blue sky, sunny day. He cut up his meat and ate with everyone else.
"Overcast I can do." Waya said. "I might need a little sun screen but if it's good and cloudy I should be ok." She actually seemed a little excited about the idea now.
Rhydian had a thought about how to help her out with the sunblock bit. He'd save that for later though. There was no need for everyone else to know, not yet at least. He was glad everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves for a change.
"We really should move on to presents soon." Jeremy said gently with a little elbow to Jaden's side "Before our fingers get too greasy or something. Or think of a game to play."
"Right- well if everyone is done eating we can move on to presents and then cake to follow." Jaden commented.
"If I keep eating I'm not going to have room for cake." Waya said. "Is there ice cream?"
"Two tubs full." Jayden replied, "In the freezer of course."
"Of course there's ice cream. What kind of birthday party doesn't have ice cream?" Veronica said with a smirk.
George thought about himself. He suddenly felt a little depressed that he didn't have a birthday, after all, there was no reason to celebrate him coming into the world.
"Someone who's lactose intolerant." Eliza laughed gently to Veronica "But I'm looking forward to some ice cream myself."
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