seattle ; monday afternoon

[necroslacker]

Sam's birthday was in a few days. He'd honestly forgotten about it just due to the other things that had taken up residence in his head lately. It'd taken Ramon bringing it up to remind him. And when Ramon had realized that Sam had forgotten, he'd decided to throw a small, impromptu party at the house. Sam had tried to get out of it but Ramon had insisted and Sam hadn't been able to get him to relent.

Ramon had promised small and Sam was glad he was keeping to his word. There were a small group of people in the backyard, hanging out and chatting away. Ramon had even gotten his mom and Haley to show up which amused Sam, at least. Some had brought presents but most hadn't been prepared and Sam didn't really care anyway.

After getting over his initial dislike of the idea, Sam was a little more relaxed now. He had a drink in one hand and was quietly talking with Brid while the party went on around them.

He'd been nineteen in a few days and Sam was kind of amazed he was still alive. So, he could relax and enjoy himself.

[NFB but open for calls/texts/visits. Sam wouldn't have told a lot of people about his birthday but if you think you know and that Ramon might have called you, feel free to show up or call or whatever!]

Comments

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie had had a bit of an internal debate over whether to show up or not, because she knew there'd be Sam's friends and family around, including people (or perhaps just a person) she wasn't particularly inclined to spend any time with.

But she showed up anyway, making her way around to the backyard when there was no one to answer the door.

[necroslacker]

Haley actually spotted her before anyone else. She came walking over, grinning and waving.

"Hi, Natalie!" Obviously, she was not the person that would make the party uncomfortable for anyone. "I didn't know if you'd come."

Sam did look over and did notice her as well but gave her a minute to ease into the whole thing and to talk with his sister.

[whenshewasnice]

Although Natalie's smile was faint, she was genuinely pretty glad that it was Haley that came over. The girl was yet to do anything wrong in her eyes.

"It would probably have been rude not to show up."

[necroslacker]

"Yeah, but Mom says this was last minute which meant it might be hard for you to come because you go to school in another state," Haley told her, shrugging. "I'm glad you did though. How are you?"

Sam had finally excused himself from talking with Brid and was weaving his way over. Brid kept her distance for the moment.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie refrained from noting that it was a special occasion, because those were such complete Arc Words. Instead, she gave Haley a one-shoulder shrug and said, "Fine. You?"

She was so amazingly talkative.

[necroslacker]

"Okay," Haley said, picking up on the fact that she didn't seem to really wanna chat. "I'll go find Sam, okay?"

But, Sam was already there and already smiling at Haley. "Hey, kid. Thanks for being a good host. Think Mom's got some candy for you somewhere."

Haley smiled and scampered off to find said candy.

[whenshewasnice]

Really, did Natalie ever seem like she wanted to chat?

She did give Sam a lopsided smile, though. "Hey."

[necroslacker]

"Heya," he returned, smiling back. "Ramon called everyone in my phone, I see."

[whenshewasnice]

"I was a little surprised," she shared, reaching for his hand. "I wouldn't have bet on him inviting me."

[necroslacker]

"I'm glad he did," he said, twining his fingers with hers and giving her hand a squeeze. "How's it going? School going all right?"

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie gave his hand a little tug for him to come closer. Maybe it was that possessive streak that sometimes came out when there were others around.

Or maybe she'd just missed him. Again. "It's the usual. Nothing to report since the insane weekend."

[necroslacker]

"Very insane," he murmured, stepping closer to her. "Always weird to die and then wake up on a beach covered in seaweed."

Not his best moment. "Hopefully tonight's relatively peaceful too."

He could hope!

[whenshewasnice]

"Hopefully," she agreed, resting her free hand on his shoulder, where it inevitably ended up closer to his neck. "It's not a huge party, though I can't tell whether that will help or not."

[godgavemecable.livejournal.com]

Toby didn't have classes, which meant there was no reason for him not to be here so... here he was. He recognized Ramon and Frank from their visits to Fandom, of course, but the rest of the guests (minus Sam and Natalie, obviously) were new faces, so he was just taking a minute to try and figure out who they were.

[ooc: may be subject to bouts of SP as I'm moving today, but as I'm moving DOWNSTAIRS, at least I have internets while I do so. ]

[necroslacker]

Toby was just lucky Sam found him first instead of someone like Brid or even Ramon.

"You look confused, man," Sam said, smiling as he wandered up. "Is it the house? The people? The house full of people for a slacker like me?"

[godgavemecable.livejournal.com]

"Well, judging by the voicemail I got, I can say with near certainty your slacker self wasn't the responsible for arranging this little shindig," Toby said with a snicker. "Mostly I'm just trying to figure out who's who."

[necroslacker]

"I definitely wasn't responsible," Sam told him, shrugging. "I was just gonna let the whole thing pass if I could help it. Birthday parties were never really my thing. Anyway, the guy who called you, Ramon, he's over there stuffing his face."

And he was. Ramon and food were very much inseparable.

[godgavemecable.livejournal.com]

Toby followed Sam's gaze and nodded. He'd thought the guy looked familiar, but while he'd actually talked to Frank during that Parent's Weekend visit, he'd only seen Ramon in passing.

"You don't like food and being the centre of attention?" Well. Probably more that second thing.

[necroslacker]

"No, I like food but I don't like being the centre of attention," Sam said, making a face. "Also, there's a few...interesting people here. Might make the whole...mind thing a little weird for you. Just a heads up."

[godgavemecable.livejournal.com]

"No kidding. But at least I know who I'm gonna hide behind if like, a dragon swoops in..." he eyed Sam. "You don't have dragons here, do you?"

[necroslacker]

"...not that I know of but it's possible, I guess," Sam said, glancing at the sky, "Look, I wouldn't be surprised at this point but I don't think we have them."

[godgavemecable.livejournal.com]

"Let's hope we never find out," Toby decided.

[necroslacker]

"There are a few hybrids here," he said, glancing around at the assembled masses. "Luckily, Ramon didn't invite too many members of the Council. A little less harsh on your head."

[godgavemecable.livejournal.com]

"Maybe I should thank him," Toby mused. "Even though he had absolutely no idea he was doing me a favour that way."

[necroslacker]

"You'll just confuse him," Sam joked, shaking his head. "Anyway, Frank's over there with Ramon and Brid's the girl over there talking to those two hulking brothers of hers."