meadowlarklogs | you learned to breathe underwater

WHO: caroline forbes & you!
WHERE: the safehouse
WHEN: october 10
WHAT: an impromptu birthday celebration.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: excessive cheeriness.

[ by mid-day, a new message appears on the network from a new user, @caroline.forbes: ]

It's my birthday, apparently, so I made cake. Please don't make me eat all of it!

[ it's a fairly short message, but it's at least accompanied by a few photos of a cake, surprisingly delicious looking for being made of everything but chocolate.

those in the safehouse will have likely heard caroline baking up a storm all morning, and may be aware that the photos show her fourth attempt at this extremely finicky futuristic cake. by the time she posts her photos, all the evidence has been scrubbed clean from the countertops (and dishes and floor and tabletops and trash cans) of the safehouse kitchen. ]

—

ooc note: feel free to have your character reply on the network, come by in person, or a combination thereof. this post is a combo pack because i didn't feel like making a network and log post on the same day. #lazy

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Iiiii heard it was somebody's birthday?

[prompto pipes up soon as he steps inside the safehouse, walking his way down towards the kitchen area where he is sure to find the cake that was advertised on the network.]

[he's carrying a bag, containing an impromptu gift, and boy is he glad he nailed it on thinking it was a girl who made the birthday post, because he totally assumed it because of how her hand looked, and got her a summer hat (which he won't know is actually useless to caroline).]

Here, for you.

[he raises the bag towards the girl with a grin, trying hard, after all.]

Happy birthday~

[ she doesn't expect gifts. to be honest, caroline doesn't expect much of anything — she's still new, still a stranger to the rest of the displaced. still very much different, especially without the familiar circle of silver around her index finger, and very much apart.

but this stranger gives her a gift, and caroline can't help the smile that pushes its way onto her features, one that grows into a full blown grin as slim fingers pull out a colorful sun hat. ]

Oh my god, thank you? [ yes. thank you. ] I love it!

[ she's just going to jauntily set it on her head, striking a southern belle pose with her mussed apron held out like a full skirt. ]

How do I look?

[to be fair, prompto did not expect her reaction to be so-- enthusiastic. and that, certainly, has prompto staring at her like a deer in headlights, wondering why he got himself into this when he knows full well he has a weakness for cute, blond girls with a perky personality and a cute voice to match the enthusiasm.]

[he has already resigned himself to this hell.]

You look -- great!

[smooth, argentum. he's going to groan for a second and put a hand to his head, then smooth himself over and put a hand on the table, leaning in all casual and suave (he's not any of these things, tense shoulders and a cough to make his voice a bit deeper than usual).]

I'm glad it's satisfactory.

[lame LAME]

[ he might be tense and he might sound like he has a frog in his throat, but caroline is overwhelmed with gratitude and unable to just — stand there while he coughs awkwardly around the table. no, she's going to hug him, because hugging someone is a normal reaction to being given a very sweet and very unexpected gift.

it's also a great way to unintentionally bloom up that empathy bond between them, bright cerulean flooding between their bodies as her arms wrap tight around his neck and shoulders. ] It's better than satisfactory, [ sincerely given, her chin resting against his shoulder for a moment.

she doesn't quite let go, but she does pull back enough to beam brightly in his direction. ]

It's definitely the best birthday gift I've gotten thus far.

[he is, insofar, deceased.]

[making a noise of protest at her easy attachment onto him, prompto finds his face heating up in perhaps a more than comical manner, his hands left to pause in midair as he doesn't know whether to return the hug or not...]

[but man, she sure has gotten comfortable is the hug--her chin on his shoulder--and before he can even make up his mind on hugging her back, she's pulled back to look at him and he's pretty sure the empathy bond will give away the fact that he's overheating.]

Uh, uhm, well, you know...

[his brain has peaced out]

...you're welcome?

[he's ready for his early death, eyes darting away and onto the floor as he colors all the way up to his ears. let him live.]

[ poor guy. he looks uncomfortable — and for the briefest of moments, caroline wonders if it's something she'd done. she's always been easily affectionate, willing and able to hug a stranger if the situation called for it, but the flush of anxious energy that comes through the bond even as her arms drop away really only underscores her own guilt. ]

Sorry, [ a little sheepish, but still smiling, trying to smooth over his own discomfort as she adjusts the hat atop her head. ] Do you want some cake?

[ maybe that'll be less weird for him. she hopes, anyway; it's worth a shot to turn away and give him a moment of privacy while she busies herself with cutting and plating a wobbly slice. ]

[geesh, way to be an awkward prick that makes girls question just how friendly they get to be with others. he coughs into a hand and is grateful for her turning around to do the caking cutting bit, just as he rearranges his hair (unnecessarily so) with a hand and tries to regroup his "cool factor."]

Cake sounds great. You made it all by yourself?

[yeah, maybe just steer this into more distanced topics of conversation...]

Being cooped in ain't any fun at all, huh. You'll be out soon, though.

I'll go out tonight, [ casual, so casual, as she busies her hands with slicing and plating and fork-accompanying a bit of cake for her new friend. because, really, that was all it took. be nice, don't kill her, don't insult her, and she was already half of the way there. a gift for her birthday unexpected just sealed the deal. ]

I just can't go outside in the daylight, is all.

[ a beat ]

I have really bad allergies. To the sun.

[ thank you, dr phil, for airing an episode of "i'm a night owl and i hate it" while caroline had been on self-imposed vampire house arrest. ]

[prompto makes a face at that]

Sucks.

[he offers, grabbing at the plate with the cake. gods, he hopes there aren't any bugs in the mixture. if he bites into anything crunchy or chewy, he might actually throw up--]

It's way too hot during the daytime, though. I do most of my stuff at nighttime if I can help it. [with a smile, prompto takes a bite -- and his expression shows how pleased he is with the flavor despite his initial (inner) hesitation). he puts ah and over his mouth, as he finishes chewing but wishes to keep talking.] Where are you from? I'm from Eos.

Eos? [ the way she says it might make it clear she's unfamiliar, but caroline hasn't quite connected the dots on why she's never heard of it. ] Is that in Greece?

[ technically, that's ios. but no. ]

I'm from Mystic Falls. Virginia. It's okay if you've never heard of it, though, it's a pretty small town. [ with a super weird assortment of people. ] I still can't believe we're in the future.

No- what? Eos is the planet I come from. Which, yes, I know it isn't Earth, but also it has a lot of similar things to Earth according to the people I've been talking to.

[he takes another bite, chewing around the thick layer of cake.]

...uh.

[he scrunches his nose a bit]

There's a lot of things that are kind of unbelievable in this place...

Oh. [ well, rey's also not from earth, so that checks out. weird how all these supposed aliens still look like they'd be from earth. ] Okay. Is that like, far away, then?

[ how did he get to earth? does he have a spaceship? is he secretly a little green man with three eyes? caroline doesn't know, but it feels like it'd be rude to ask. ]

I hope it's — [ she gestures to the cake he's biting into ] — okay. I mean, I made like four and then ran out of bananas so I just gave up on making anymore, but. I hope it's okay.

I dunno how to count space-distance.

[all these questions that she isn't asking him are being answered by a mild, irrefutable shrug, eating some more of the cake. he's all about watching what he eats -- but boy, is he a sucker for sweets and cakes. he'd keep eating without restrain if he could.]

[it's at her worry that prompto grins.] It's pretty great stuff, y'know. I'm more for the fluffy type, but I'd be happily converted.

you learned to breathe underwater —

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