[OPEN; Party Post!] B-i-r-t-h-d-a-y boys in Ten Forward

[stark_spangled]

Steve's been spending a lot of time with Akito since he woke up. He feels responsible for the kid, even if the accident wasn't his fault. Since the knock to his head affected his memories, Steve kinda feels like the only guy on this ship who remembers who he is, and when the topic of a health care guardian came up with Dr. Crusher he seemed like the only real choice. Looking over his medical file a few days ago, he looked up and smiled.

"Hey, you've got the same birthday as my best friend," he had said.

Akito had just blinked at him. "I do?"

There was never much folding green* lying around back when he and Bucky were kids, so birthdays were usually marked by the usual pinch-to-grow-an-inch and a 'Happy Birthday, Punk,' and sometimes -- on good years -- a flat cake (because they were always out of baking soda) decorated with candy corn they'd saved from the last fall. He had frowned, realizing Akito and Bucky may have shared something else in common. Neither of them could remember ever having a birthday party.

So there's a cake in Ten Forward. A real one, with layers and frosting and 'Happy Birthday' scrawled across the top in icing. There are some balloons and music, and the bartender has helped out with punch and drinks and other snacks. Next to the cake there are a few wrapped presents. Hey, Steve got Natasha an alien space dog for her birthday; there's no way he was going to forget Bucky and Akito. Even if, to get them to come, he told Bucky the party was for Akito, and told Akito the party was for Bucky. Hey, it's the truth. Sort of.

It's not a huge party -- Steve wouldn't know the first thing about throwing one like that -- but it's festive and open to the whole room. Steve's friendly to everybody, helpful where he can be, and as long as everyone is on this ship he figures that makes them part of the same team. So come get a slice of cake.

(*slang for extra spending cash
ooc: HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUCKY BARNES AND WANIJIMA AKITO!! As if Steve would forget. So this is set up party post style, where we'll have subheadings for various party activities, but if we forget anything fun or you have ideas to add in, start your own header threads! Then tag around wherever you like, using the subject line to say if you're OTA or locked to certain people like Steve, Akito, or Bucky. Steve would have made the invitation to the party public, so there's no need to worry about crashing. EVERYONE IS INVITED!)

Comments

[akito]

"Um..." Hello, young girl. Thankfully Akito's shoes brings them closer to eye level (he is a respectable 4'10" with the platforms and relishes in it), which makes things slightly less awkward than they could be. "Thank you... Isn't this Bucky's party though?"

He knows today is his birthday, since Steve was thoughtful enough to mention it, but only came on the assumption that it was Bucky's party. Akito finds it neat that he shares a birthday with the man's best friend... He isn't so sure about sharing a party - is Bucky even okay with that?

"I... We've met?"

He makes a mental note to ask Steve how long he'd been here before he forgot everything.

[abyssum_invocat]

"I think it's supposed to be for both of you?" she says, though it's a question more than a sure statement.

"I...don't know. I've never been to a birthday party," Sinthia murmurs. "We met once. I think when you first got here. You didn't like me."

[akito]

Well, of all the things Akito had been expecting her to say, it certainly hadn't been that. He doesn't plan on being instant friends with anyone, and perhaps his before-self felt the same, just more strongly? In any case, he also don't plan on being mean to anyone, either.

"Oh. Ah... I don't... Really remember anything from before a few weeks ago. So, um. Sorry if I was mean to you before?"

[abyssum_invocat]

She chews on her lip and shakes her head once. "No, you weren't mean." Not really, anyway.

"It's okay. My name is Sinthia, if you don't remember."

[akito]

He can be glad about that, at least.

"It's good to meet you! Um... Again."

[abyssum_invocat]

"It's good to meet you too," she replies, with a quiet smile. "Again. Do you know how old you are?" she asks, genuinely curious.

[akito]

That gives him pause, because he hasn't really thought about his age very closely. "They mentioned something about how my growth was stunted, but I don't remember the medbay telling me my age. I think they were too busy making sure the coma and head trauma weren't going to cause any permanent damage."

Another thing he'll have to ask Steve about, after.

[abyssum_invocat]

"But you're okay now?" she asks. "Head injuries can be bad."

Sinthia knows some of the gruesome facts about human injuries far too well for a girl her age, but that's all normal knowledge for her. "I know how old I am, but I don't know when my birthday is. I suppose you're ahead of me then."

[akito]

"I'm okay," he says with a wave of his hand, as though the gesture is dismissing the idea of him not being in perfect health right now. "Steve wouldn't have let me come if I wasn't okay."

And anyone who has known Steve Rogers for even the briefest amount of time can agree with that assessment.

[abyssum_invocat]

She hums thoughtfully at that, though Sinthia does not nod, nor does she shake her head. She's been wounded in front of Steve only once, and it was not his fault, and though she remembers it, the memory is muddy from too many feeling and thoughts all having been jammed into her head at once.

"I didn't know you were supposed to bring a gift," she admits. "Or I'd have brought you something." What exactly that might have been, she isn't sure, but she would have at least tried.

[akito]

Akito dismisses that thought as well, offering a tentative smile. This whole birthday business is new and strange. And meeting someone he's forgotten. That's always pretty strange. "I don't need any gifts, so it's fine! Don't worry about it, ne?"

[abyssum_invocat]

After a studious look at Akito, Sinthia tries to reciprocate the smile, though hers is a little unsure still.

"Okay," she murmurs. "I like your shoes. They're pretty," she says, glancing down at her own shoes; they're plain black mary-janes, sturdy and utilitarian. The fact that her hair is dark, and her dress and blouse are as well, just makes the picture complete.

[akito]

The comment is a surprise, but a welcome one. "I got them from a replicator. If you like them, you can get a pair too!"

[abyssum_invocat]

"I don't know how to walk in them," she blurts out, for a protracted loss of anything more intelligent to say. "I've never worn heeled shoes like that. Or ones that tie on."

[akito]

"I didn't know how to either," he answers, head tilted slightly, curious. "You mean like ones with shoe laces? Nobody taught you?"

[abyssum_invocat]

"Nobody's ever taught me, no," she answers, shaking her head. "But I've watched soldiers do up their boots, I know how to tie them. I meant like yours tie on to your ankles--" she says, pointing.

"I've just never worn them. My shoes have always been like this." Flat, black, utilitarian. Easy to clean, and with little mind to the extraordinary vanity her father views himself with.

[akito]

"Oh," he says intelligently. "It's the same idea! You put your feet in the shoes and then tie the ribbon around your ankles."

[abyssum_invocat]

"It must affect your walk," she murmurs. "To be put in digitigrade like that."

[akito]

Akito doesn't think to question how he knows what 'digitigrade' means, much like how he hasn't questioned most of the more advanced or uncommon things he seems to know. "It makes your legs look good and your butt look really good," he declares. "You still walk using your heels - put your weight on the heel, then the toe. Heel, toe, heel, toe. It sounds so cool on hard floors, and people will take you more seriously because wearing heels is badass."

[abyssum_invocat]

Sinthia's face had been shifting into progressively deeper shades of disbelief, until Akito mentions that people will take her more seriously if she wears these shoes. Because that is something she's been trying to achieve since she got here, and it's effectively the magic words to use to guarantee her interest in basically anything.

"I have to get these shoes," she says seriously. Not because they'll make her look any different, but because the possibility of no longer getting looked at as a silly child is incredibly enticing.

[akito]

"Start with a pair that has shorter heels first, ne? Then work your way up as high as you want once you get used to them!"

[abyssum_invocat]

"Why would the height matter? You're walking on your toes either way," she says dubiously.

[akito]

"The higher the heel, the more angled your ankles are. It distorts how you move even more drastically so it's best to get used to a shorter heel first," he answers easily. "It's not like you would start tightrope walking between skyscrapers - you start lower to the ground and work your way up."

[abyssum_invocat]

"Oh," she says lightly. "I'll think about that." Not for long, admittedly, because she thinks the talents she has might mitigate it some, but she will try.