[ Yesod has more questions to ask, but these will need to be postponed. He hears the kick, followed by Malkuth's commands, almost delivered in a tone reminiscent of her days as a Sephirah. The hats are harmless, though one individual's absence has become especially conspicuous...
Closing his eyes, Yesod relents, balancing his party hat atop his head. His eyes remain closed as he listens to the sounds around him: the door opening, Malkuth's footsteps drawing closer, an object coming to rest on the table's surface. Malkuth's voice, Gebura's.
Was Malkuth able to celebrate her own birthday — to acknowledge Elijah's — with anyone here...? ]
... Nope! Honestly, I don't think I ended up doing anything? Especially since I didn't know a real date... No cake, no gifts, no streamers or balloons -- but I had my first sleepover that month! So! I guess I'll take that.
[ thanks for not saying anything, gebura. even if she feels those eyes and she knows, she knows, but malkuth's still smiling and going through these small motions as she holds out gebura's party hat to her. c'mon. c'mon. ]
But it's why I wanted to make sure one of us had a real one! So Yesod's our lucky guy. You can open your eyes, by the way. Thanks for waiting for me.
[ Upon being prompted to do so, Yesod opens his eyes, in time to note Malkuth's party hat and Gebura's unwavering refusal to wear one. He catches sight of the painstakingly decorated cake, too — it doesn't matter that he can't eat it. Once again, Malkuth must have dedicated a significant amount of time to her preparations, even amidst the events of the weeks behind them.
Her answer for Gebura isn't all that surprising, considering her concerns at the time. The twenty-fourth of March... Delivering her pen to her door around then might have acted as a reminder of the distance that the circumstances had created, besides.
Would Malkuth have wanted to celebrate the occasion with all of her friends, then, colleagues and newer faces alike, similar to this? ]
Admittedly, I would have liked to give you my gift in person, Malkuth.
[ How did she react when she opened it? He was pleased to see the pen in her room, at any rate. ]
If you have cake preferences of your own, you should name them. As for today...
[ He isn't sure whether he wants the focus to be on him, on this remnant of Gabriel's life, particularly at the cost of Gebura's comfort and with the forced cheer in Malkuth's tone. With Netzach now missing from the scene, Malkuth's arrangement of wooden animals still incomplete. ]
... I would've liked to receive it in person too, Yesod. But it made me very, very happy, and I haven't used another pen since -- you're gonna have to get me a new one.
[ she looks thoughtful at the top of gebura's head, but relents and sets it beside the abandoned hat. freed from it... for now. malkuth releases a soft exhale and relax. no one's asking, so she doesn't have to answer. if she can keep them from asking, then she won't have to lie. horribly. ]
We'll talk about me and Gebura's next year, so ask me about everything then. [ to their resident smoker: ] Will you light the candles? Think of a wish, and if you want us to make it come true tell us after.
[ This has nothing to do with her, gifts to Malkuth and pens and the like, so Gebura focuses on what she can do--which is move to avoid the hat and pull a lighter out of her pocket. It's fine if they don't ask about her birthday. She definitely hadn't celebrated it back in the City, before death and beyond it. But she knows what some of them entail and honestly? Not her thing.
Maybe it is or isn't Yesod's thing, either, but he hadn't protested it, so here they are. and she touches the small, wavering flame to each candle. ]
If it was something we could grant, don't you think he would have told us already?
[ He can't help but feel pleased anew, relieved to think that the choice of pen had accomplished what he'd hoped, at least. It's also a relief that Malkuth hasn't seemed uneasy in his company, specifically, despite their conversation on that beach.
(Will they be here next year? LILITH's recruits come and go, without any say in the matter.)
Quiet at first, Yesod watches Gebura's hand move the lighter from candle to candle. Wishes have been a recurring topic lately... They won't come true simply because they were expressed on slips of paper or over lit candles — and the wishes that motivated him have remained out of reach.
Still, there is no reason to refuse. ]
Yes... While I have a number of questions, they do not qualify as requests to fulfill.
That doesn't matter, you two! Sometimes people can only ask for things when it's their day! Gosh, I really have to do everything around here.
[ but as ever, it doesn't bother her, even if she huffs about it and watches as they light, one by one.
these trick candles, which won't go out when blown. hehehe. she's so excited for him to try. ]
Not that you two really ask for anything in the first place. [ ignoring... the beach conversation,
well it's not like he particularly asked for anything then, except her acknowledgement, and she's still putting a pin in it for now. ] Keep your wish to yourself then, Yesod. I'll make Gebura tell me her birthday as a Christmas gift.
[ Why this. Gebura hesitates before she tucks the lighter away, as though she's debating lighting up a cigarette... but ultimately, she refrains, for as strong as the temptation is. ]
If there's something I want, I do something about it. And Yesod's got his own methods, too. [ She half-expects he'll politely knock on her door for Library answers sooner rather than later. ]
... Also that's a terrible gift, but sure. Look forward to it.
...We haven't ceased to work towards my wish, though I would have preferred a different route to the one that we took.
[ But the past is done, and they must look to the future. It isn't only his wish, either, and he leaves it at that. When it comes to the questions that he has yet to ask, it's just a matter of seeking his colleagues out with the intent of initiating those conversations.
Right now... He isn't opposed to thinking of something suitable. However, is he even capable of blowing out candles in his current form?
Maybe it's for the best that Netzach isn't forced to contemplate such things in addition to his existing thoughts. ]
Something feasible would be a photograph taken with a camera, if the two of you consent to it.
[ she's got her guarantee of being able to throw a small party for gebura in the future and that is gift enough for her, and also... the feasible wish makes her heart pang a little, sending a quick request to citrine for the hummingbird to retrieve her camera that's lasted her months now. ]
That's totally doable, isn't it?
[ because for all she might needle and push gebura into doing things like this, she does get a choice where permanence matters. ]
[ As uncharacteristically sentimental as it must seem. The aim is to preserve the memory as March and Malkuth do by using their cameras, nothing more — to convey that it does mean something that Malkuth wanted this, that Gebura endured it.
Yesod regards the candles for a moment, finally leaning closer. He can position himself to appear as though he will blow them out, he supposes, in order to determine whether that would produce any results. ]
[ she knows you have central cooling, that'll be breath enough for the illusion to take shape as they... flicker... at least.
...
maybe she should've done this for gebura's birthday... that'd piss her off. haha. but citrine zips in as malkuth opens the door and takes position, little claws adjusting to take the shot when instructed. malkuth motions gebura to lean a little down, while she takes forefront and rests against the table to give a clear shot of yesod and his attempts at blowing out the candles for their birthday photo.
as if citrine won't be taking sneaky shots throughout their get-together now that it's in here. ]
Blow harder, Yesod! Or do you need a hand? Gebura's got plenty of lung to help!
[ Truthfully, the exchange is amusing. Is this what Malkuth and Gebura have become accustomed to in the Library? How much have they all changed by then, individually and in their interactions with one another?
The flickering of the candles' flames stays feeble. Yesod glances between his colleagues. ]
Perhaps a combined effort is required from all three of us.
that's so cheesy... she's staring hard at gebura. ]
If that's what our birthday boy and Sephirah of the Information Team thinks is best, who are we to refuse?
[ hint! hint! gebura! do not mess this up for us! malkuth is pushing her hair behind her ear to not catch it on fire she did not force you to wear a party hat blow the candles out ]
[ One more sacrifice... for the greater good... (no)
It was an attempted joke on Yesod's part, although he realizes that his delivery sounded perfectly serious, and he fully expected resistance. The actual outcome is oddly touching now.
He feels no real attachment to Gabriel's birthday, and it didn't hold much meaning during his first life, either, as the years passed, but if they and their former employees are all able to experience moments so vastly different from their days in Lobotomy Corporation, that remains something not to take for granted. ]
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Closing his eyes, Yesod relents, balancing his party hat atop his head. His eyes remain closed as he listens to the sounds around him: the door opening, Malkuth's footsteps drawing closer, an object coming to rest on the table's surface. Malkuth's voice, Gebura's.
Was Malkuth able to celebrate her own birthday — to acknowledge Elijah's — with anyone here...? ]
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[ thanks for not saying anything, gebura. even if she feels those eyes and she knows, she knows, but malkuth's still smiling and going through these small motions as she holds out gebura's party hat to her. c'mon. c'mon. ]
But it's why I wanted to make sure one of us had a real one! So Yesod's our lucky guy. You can open your eyes, by the way. Thanks for waiting for me.
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No. Absolutely not. ]
March 24th. Before you ask, mine's already passed. Focusing on Yesod's is fine with me.
[ Even with one of their number gone. ]
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Her answer for Gebura isn't all that surprising, considering her concerns at the time. The twenty-fourth of March... Delivering her pen to her door around then might have acted as a reminder of the distance that the circumstances had created, besides.
Would Malkuth have wanted to celebrate the occasion with all of her friends, then, colleagues and newer faces alike, similar to this? ]
Admittedly, I would have liked to give you my gift in person, Malkuth.
[ How did she react when she opened it? He was pleased to see the pen in her room, at any rate. ]
If you have cake preferences of your own, you should name them. As for today...
[ He isn't sure whether he wants the focus to be on him, on this remnant of Gabriel's life, particularly at the cost of Gebura's comfort and with the forced cheer in Malkuth's tone. With Netzach now missing from the scene, Malkuth's arrangement of wooden animals still incomplete. ]
I appreciate it.
no subject
[ she looks thoughtful at the top of gebura's head, but relents and sets it beside the abandoned hat. freed from it... for now. malkuth releases a soft exhale and relax. no one's asking, so she doesn't have to answer. if she can keep them from asking, then she won't have to lie. horribly. ]
We'll talk about me and Gebura's next year, so ask me about everything then. [ to their resident smoker: ] Will you light the candles? Think of a wish, and if you want us to make it come true tell us after.
no subject
Maybe it is or isn't Yesod's thing, either, but he hadn't protested it, so here they are. and she touches the small, wavering flame to each candle. ]
If it was something we could grant, don't you think he would have told us already?
no subject
(Will they be here next year? LILITH's recruits come and go, without any say in the matter.)
Quiet at first, Yesod watches Gebura's hand move the lighter from candle to candle. Wishes have been a recurring topic lately... They won't come true simply because they were expressed on slips of paper or over lit candles — and the wishes that motivated him have remained out of reach.
Still, there is no reason to refuse. ]
Yes... While I have a number of questions, they do not qualify as requests to fulfill.
no subject
[ but as ever, it doesn't bother her, even if she huffs about it and watches as they light, one by one.
these trick candles, which won't go out when blown. hehehe. she's so excited for him to try. ]
Not that you two really ask for anything in the first place. [ ignoring... the beach conversation,
well it's not like he particularly asked for anything then, except her acknowledgement, and she's still putting a pin in it for now. ] Keep your wish to yourself then, Yesod. I'll make Gebura tell me her birthday as a Christmas gift.
[ easy. ]
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If there's something I want, I do something about it. And Yesod's got his own methods, too. [ She half-expects he'll politely knock on her door for Library answers sooner rather than later. ]
... Also that's a terrible gift, but sure. Look forward to it.
[ She's saying this in such a deadpan manner. ]
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[ But the past is done, and they must look to the future. It isn't only his wish, either, and he leaves it at that. When it comes to the questions that he has yet to ask, it's just a matter of seeking his colleagues out with the intent of initiating those conversations.
Right now... He isn't opposed to thinking of something suitable. However, is he even capable of blowing out candles in his current form?
Maybe it's for the best that Netzach isn't forced to contemplate such things in addition to his existing thoughts. ]
Something feasible would be a photograph taken with a camera, if the two of you consent to it.
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That's totally doable, isn't it?
[ because for all she might needle and push gebura into doing things like this, she does get a choice where permanence matters. ]
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[ Well, the pause is palpable, but then Gebura rolls her shoulders back with a sigh that's definitely her "this is silly, but whatever" tone. ]
It's fine with me. Just don't get too overzealous with it. And blow out the candles, already.
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[ As uncharacteristically sentimental as it must seem. The aim is to preserve the memory as March and Malkuth do by using their cameras, nothing more — to convey that it does mean something that Malkuth wanted this, that Gebura endured it.
Yesod regards the candles for a moment, finally leaning closer. He can position himself to appear as though he will blow them out, he supposes, in order to determine whether that would produce any results. ]
no subject
...
maybe she should've done this for gebura's birthday... that'd piss her off. haha. but citrine zips in as malkuth opens the door and takes position, little claws adjusting to take the shot when instructed. malkuth motions gebura to lean a little down, while she takes forefront and rests against the table to give a clear shot of yesod and his attempts at blowing out the candles for their birthday photo.
as if citrine won't be taking sneaky shots throughout their get-together now that it's in here. ]
Blow harder, Yesod! Or do you need a hand? Gebura's got plenty of lung to help!
[ her big ass
torso ]
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You're the long-winded one, so you could probably help him more.
[ Just because Gebura has bigger...
... Storage for air. ]
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The flickering of the candles' flames stays feeble. Yesod glances between his colleagues. ]
Perhaps a combined effort is required from all three of us.
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that's so cheesy... she's staring hard at gebura. ]
If that's what our birthday boy and Sephirah of the Information Team thinks is best, who are we to refuse?
[ hint! hint! gebura! do not mess this up for us! malkuth is pushing her hair behind her ear to not catch it on fire she did not force you to wear a party hat blow the candles out ]
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With a distinct lack of enthusiasm, but she's never really been enthusiastic in the first place, so that's nothing new. Yes. She will lower herself.
To assist with this doomed task of blowing out trick candles. ]
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It was an attempted joke on Yesod's part, although he realizes that his delivery sounded perfectly serious, and he fully expected resistance. The actual outcome is oddly touching now.
He feels no real attachment to Gabriel's birthday, and it didn't hold much meaning during his first life, either, as the years passed, but if they and their former employees are all able to experience moments so vastly different from their days in Lobotomy Corporation, that remains something not to take for granted. ]
...On the count of three, then.