Happy Birthday Chloe | Open

Chestnuts roasting, snow lightly blanketing the ground and the sound of Christmas music filled the streets of Clover, mostly cheery music and elegant music, however every now and then those old classic Christmas songs filled the streets. Mavis had knew it was Chloe's birthday, she was excited to be in charge of getting Chloe's party together, she had sent a message out to all and any Blue Pegasus members, except for Chloe, it was to get them all to gather at the Guild-Hall for Chloe's party. However it wasn't a surprise party, Chloe already knew Mavis was up to something, but she had promised Mavis to act surprised when she walked in. Mavis had decked the halls of Blue Pegasus with ribbons and balloons both multi-colored and all sorts of colors as well. Along with a poster that read, "Happy Birthday, Chloe."

Mavis had sat at a round table waiting for everyone else to arrive, then once they arrived Mavis would tell them to hide giving them banners and confetti poppers. They would all blow them when Chloe had arrived in the guild. Mavis wanted to make sure this was an extra special party for Chloe. She even got a cake that consisted of frosting paintings of Mavis and Chloe twerking at the gym, it symbolized the first day they met. Hopefully it would make Chloe smile and remember that one fateful day. Mavis had gotten in position hiding behind the bar counter. Hopefully everyone else found great hiding spots.

Lanta had just ran into the guild hall having received the message by a random person who he must have been seen with a lot, and so was running through possibilities in his head for what was going on in the guild that he had seen so little of really. He nearly slips on the snow on the doorstep from his rapid deceleration as he skids to a halt.

After getting his instructions and instruments he smiles, glancing around the room for a hiding place in the guild hall, his mind running through possibilities, his eyes resting on a barrel to the side as he dashes over with his items, checking it was empty before jumping into it, crouching so he is hidden as he puts the lid of it on afterwards, keeping it up slightly at the back so it couldn't be seen, but could be opened easier, smiling like a cheshire cat. He had never done any of these birthday things but there was no greater joy than surprising someone with a good surprise. He peers through a hole in the top of the barrel to watch things unfold.

Why a time for celebration certainly was an uplifting view for the empty man, Luard, still trying to wrap his head around this whole ordeal was instructed to come to the guild hall for a party celebrating the birth of fellow member, Chloe. It made him contemplate his own date of birth while he made his way around the hall, looking about at the decorations and the rather lack of guests so far. Luard was rather early since this idea fascinated him far too much to get here after most others. He casually waved towards Mavis with his bright smile before finding a nice seat in the side as he waited for further details, asking for himself would be rude so patience would have to play nicely today.

More and more people appeared till Miss diligence began to speak of instructions to hide, being the point to surprise the guest, what an odd way to greet someone but he was all for it! In fact Luard was already in a spot that he felt was more than unexpected for most. So it would seem at least, while Luard was getting nice and cozy in his wooden barrel, preparing to be a human Jack-in-the-box, a creek and a small crash next to him was heard. Well what a turn of events, he knocked towards the spot of the noise four times before complementing the spot, stating well isn't this a coincidence pal. Of course it would be the first random guess he met at the guild, being the suave Lanta, even the more enjoyable.

"Well, let us make this a good scare my encased friend." Luard said softly giving a thumbs up even if Lanta wouldn't be able to see it, it felt appropriate nonetheless. And now the waiting game began as he rocked back and forth in anticipation.

Akeya wasn't a fan of Christmas.

It wasn't really anything against the holiday itself. Akeya didn't celebrate it herself, but she was fully willing to acknowledge other people finding it important enough to celebrate and granting them that opportunity without causing trouble. It wasn't the snow or the cold either, since she had grown up in a village high up in the mountains so even the winter in Clover Town still wasn't much beyond a fresh day for her.

The annoying part was mostly the excessive noisiness. Akeya had sharp ears. She didn't appreciate that during Christmas they tended to mostly pick up the same songs being repeated over and over. They weren't even very good songs. They primarily had the tendency to have tunes and jingles to them that assured that you'd keep hearing them for ages after the actual song had already died off. For the sake of other people celebrating Christmas Akeya had to endure weeks of hearing the same repetitive music over and over as it kept bouncing around inside her head.

No, she didn't mind that other people liked Christmas and wanted to celebrate it. She just really wished they could celebrate it without forcing her to listen to other music in a vain attempt to get those damned jingles out of her head.

Which was why she tended to either be far away from Clover Town or stay hidden inside the grand libraries which occupied a large portion of the guild halls. The library was always a pleasure to be at, since it was a trove of knowledge and study. It just became even better during the holidays when the demand of silence meant it was also a safe haven from those Christmas jingles. Thousands, tens of thousands of scrolls and books, and the silence in which to read and study them, looking for more clues about the nature of magic and how to best make use of it. Unlike those who only studied the surface layer, that which allowed them to figure out how to train and develop their own magic, Akeya was a real magic theorist. Not only her own magic was studied, but that of all types that had been recording, as well as the studies performed by mages from the past. Where would magic come from, how did it work, how could one create, shape or destroy it.

This study was one of Akeya's personal hobbies. The fact that it made her more effective as a mage and an assassin was a nice benefit. Knowing magic meant that when you were facing another mage you knew better what to do.

However today she was alerted that she was expected to leave the libraries and go to the main hall. Apparently it was the birthday of one of the newer members, and they wanted as many of the mages of Blue Pegasus to participate as could be managed. That happened to include the dragoness, since she was still a mage of Blue Pegasus. Akeya rarely bothered to celebrate her own birthday aside from not taking any jobs on that day if not necessary. Her lack of importance for her own birthday meant she also didn't put too much importance into the birthdays of others. Which meant she didn't have too much motivation to participate. The only reason she eventually decided to actually leave the library was because it was another opportunity to learn more about this new members of the guild. One could study them when they were going about their daily lives, but you also had to know what they were like when they were on missions, and what they were like when there was a special occasion.

Such as a birthday.

Entering the main hall Akeya could already hear the music, making her grimace. She silently accepted the confetti popper, then looked around with faint amusement as she saw that everyone else was frantically trying to find a place where they could properly hide. Her speciality was stealth, so all these vain attempt to stay hidden were somewhat of a joke for her personally. She didn't say that out loud though, instead preferring to show the kind of standard she was used to by stepping into a shadow and simply disappearing, becoming as visible as the air itself. For a Shadow Dragon every shadow was a place to become hidden.

While standing in the shadow Akeya wondered what the best method for dealing with this situation would be. She wasn't the type to actually act cheerful or happy, and she wasn't good at pretending otherwise either. She absolutely wasn't a social person either, so openly partaking in the festivities sounded like a bad idea. She wasn't the type to form strong bonds and she wasn't the type to automatically become the centre of attention... well, that wasn't entirely true considering her form was quite appealing to the eyes. She wasn't the centre of attention when there was more to be done than just stare at each other.

Maybe it would be best if she just stood a bit to the side. And had Korikami use the confetti, since at least the shadow fox would find it an amusing opportunity. Calling forth her pet Akeya handed the strange creature the item that would have to be used the moment Chloe entered the room, the shadow fox (hidden as well as Akeya herself) grabbing it with its tail before beginning to wait for Chloe to arrive just as Akeya herself did. From that point on the dragoness only really had to observe the room, keeping an eye on all the others trying to hide while they all waited.

She wondered about these birthday parties. She was pretty sure she had them as well when she was a child, but she couldn't really remember if she had found them important even then...