12127/Happy Birthday Jeremy

Happy Birthday Jeremy
Date of Scene:	05 September 2020
Location:	Rec Room - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	The New Mutants get together for Jeremy's surprise birthday party. He tells them his dark secret and gets cool presents. He's on top of the world.
Cast of Characters:	Faraday, SpyderByte, Aegis, Pixie, Cannonball, Nightingale, Ted Gammage

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Faraday has posed:
The rec room of the mansion has been taken over with party decorations. Streamers in blue and red, those spinny corkscrew paper things that are taped and hanging from the ceiling, confetti already covered most surfaces, and balloon occupying the rest. A giant hand-painted banner reads 'IT'S TIME TO ADULT!', which in itself completely contradicts the chaos of the other decorations. Someone already taped another sign scribbled on notebook paper under it that reads 'time to do everything legally that you've been doing since you were 15'.

Indira seems to have missed that addition amongst those coming and going setting things up, and she's just putting out several large tubs of chips and pretzels on one of the tables. She's got a black shirt with several holographic fireworks on it and white jeans tucked into black combat boots, because Labor Day isn't here quite yet so it still counts. "Ok. Snacks, check. Drinks, check. Cake, in the kitchen. We missing anything?"

SpyderByte has posed:
What has Jeremy been doing all day? He's been sitting in his room, staring at his phone. Staring. Staring. Staring. Staring. Please call. Please call. Please call. Please call.

As he stares at the phoen a bit longer, he finally realizes it's been almost three hours of staring. He started out strong too. Perky, happy, eager and expectant, and then slowly but surely, the energy drained out of him as the first hour ticked by, followed by the second. Now he's just slumped over on his desk with his chin over the tops of his arms. He lets out a sigh and pokes at his phone a few times, then scoops it up to put it in his pocket. Heading out the door and into the Rec Room, he is practically dragging himself as he chews on a cheese stick. He's wearing his long sleeved black shirt, his black jeans with chains hanging off them, and his black baggy hoodie. As he spies the decorations, he gives a long pause as he looks around, then settles his eyes upon Indira.

"Hi."

Aegis has posed:
Xio is already there, dressed in a pair of form fitting jeans with a red blouse that was a bit too tight and showing a little too much cleavage for a school setting. Thankfully, it's a party so it doesn't matter!

"We still haven't found the beer fridge," Xio mutters grumpily as she sets out the two-liters of soda next to red solo cups. There is a cooler next to it with ice, with a scoop inside so people are not using their fingers. Anyone uses their fingers, she will ask Indi to give them a zap.

"I didn't know what to give him so I have two things and he can just pick. Or go for both if he w--is already here! Hola, Jeremy!"

Faraday has posed:
"Oh it's here somewhere. Probably where all of the teachers hang out." Indira says towards Xiomara. "I was stuck for awhile too. Hopefully he likes what I got him." And lo, they invoked the party early. At the sound of Jeremy's voice, Indira swings around like she'd just been startled. Oh heck, they weren't ready. Well...

"Surprise!"

Indira does a grand gesture with outstretched arms with a wide grin towards Jeremy. "We were just about to find some excuse to convince you to come down here. Happy birthday!"

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn has been helping decorating the room too, although of course they weren't allowed to bring in real drinks which sucks! Still, they e got pop and popcorn and cake which is most important. When Jeremy steps in, she jumps out of nowhere and shouts "Surprise!" Umm...Is it still a surprise party?

SpyderByte has posed:
There is a slow blink from Jeremy as he looks fron indira to Xiomara. He takes in a deep breath, then lets out a visible sniff. Reaching up with his hand, he brushes the tears that break at his eyes. He looks overwhelmed with emotion, like a balloon that just exploded from being filled with too much air.

He opens his mouth to say something, but when Megan jumps out of nowhere to yell, he nearly leaps out of his skin as he gives a visible jolt, pinwheeling his arms for a moment as he stumbles on one foot. He even lets out a manly squeak.

Clutching his phone, he holds it up. << Thank you! Thank you so much! This means the world to me that you cared. >>

He gives another loud sniff, followed by a hiccup as he stands there, crying as his face scrunches up.

<< My parents didn't even call me. I have been waiting all day and they didn't call. I thought I was going to spend my birthday alone. >>

Aegis has posed:
"Oh, pobrecito!" the words are said softly as Xio is suddenly closing the distance. She suddenly grabs Jer in a big hug, regardless of whether he likes it or not. She just wraps her arms around his waist (considering their height difference, that's about as good as it gets) and squeezes him tightly in a big mama-bear type hug.

"You got us. Don't you worry about them. Family right here, always and forever. And we are even better cause you get to choose us!" She doesn't have his situation. Her parents are in her life still and hoping that this place helps her find the way back to the right track. She can't even imagine what he is feeling. All she can do is try to distract him from it.

"We got all the good stuff. Well, most of the good stuff. No beer. I will find that fridge!" Then she reaches up her hands to grab both sides of Jeremy's face, standing up on tiptoe and trying to tug his head down to give him a big ol' smoochie right on the lips.

Faraday has posed:
Indira Bhandari scoops a napkin off the table and walks over to Jeremy, holding it out towards him with a grin as bright as her sparks. She doesn't roll in for a hug, though there's a slightly regretful twinge in her expressions, but she's not about to shock the poor guy literally as well as figuratively. "She's right. You aren't alone, we're your family now. They don't know what they're missin', and I for one ain't giving you back. I don't think anyone else is either."

The smooch just has her trying to stuff down a snicker-giggle. "Come on, let's get some music blasting now that we don't have to keep this all quiet. Thanks for helping set up, ladies."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie will walk into the room, and hearing the last bit "If your drinking the booze now, no reason to celebrate 21." He says to them. He has a suit cased sized package wrapped in star wars droid wrapping paper. "Happy birthday Jeremy." He says to the young man. He looks for a place to set the present down.

SpyderByte has posed:
As he is squeezed by Xiomara about the hips, Jeremy gives her a smile and slides his arms around her in return. It's a rare moment for him to share affection as he hasn't done much of it since his return, but lately, he's been a bit more perkier over the last few days. He gives a loud sniff.

<< Thank you, Xiomara. It means a lot to know that I have my family here. >>

When she tugs his head down to kiss him, his eyes bug out widely for a moment. He's never been kissed before and has no clue what to do, or how to respond. His lips give the briefest of presses back before they break and he is left flushed bright red like a beet. He stares at her for a few moments as he blinks, then looks over to Indira as if anticipating she was going to give him one next. He isn't sure what kind of party this was turning into!

Giggling softly as he lets go of Xio, he takes the napkin from Indira. << I haven't had a real birthday party wtih friends before. I also don't know how to dance unless it's on a video game. >>

He has a cheeky grin as he waves to Sam as well. << Hello! Thank you! >>

Aegis has posed:
As the kiss breaks, Xio is giving him a huge smile. She steps back quickly, giving him room to move. "That was present number one. In case you don't want present number two. Hi, Sam!" She moves to help him with the present, showing a small pile of things already sitting by a chair they intend on Jeremy occupying for gift opening.

Then she goes to do just what Indi suggested. The music is next as she puts her phone in the dock and pokes at the screen a few times. The music that comes blaring out of the speakers is Rompe by Daddy Yankee. She starts to groove to the beat immediately. "It's easy, Jeremy. You just let your body do what it does to the rhythm!"

Faraday has posed:
Indira Bhandari seems the look and gives Jeremy a wink, "Yeah, hard to eat cake if you can't feel your mouth." And she declines on teasing the poor guy further on his birthday, only stepping up to give him a little bump of her shoulder which still carries that tingle of an electric charge. "Just pretend you see the arrows moving to the beat."

She looks over to Sam then and gives a quiet sniff. "Hey now, we are being entirely legal here. Besides, we haven't found any of the reported secret stashes. Probably a lie to torment bad students." Like them? She heads over to pour out some Cokes into red cups, lining them up for others to grab.

Nightingale has posed:
     What looks like a mountain from Minecraft on a large tray with legs comes waddling out of the kitchen. Legs--and wings. The detail in the cake is astonishing, every pixel captured in fondant, icing, and various sweets to round it all out. There are figures of various mobs from the game dotted about, and along the bottom of the tray are written the words "Happy Birthday Jeremy", with the 'T' in 'birthday' made to look like a diamond pickaxe from the game.

     "Help! Someone talk me over to the nearest table? I can't see a thing back here!"

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie will move to help Shannon with the cake. "Here I got it." He tells her, his longer arms and height helping with this. He moves it to a nice sturdy table, don't want it caving in any wobbly tables or anything.

Ted Gammage has posed:
A mountain of stuff wanders in the door. It's Ted, and he's over loaded as well. He has two huge sacks of chips and sodas and various noisemakers and party hats in one hand, the other seems to be a speaker with some sort of monitor and microphone attached to it. He ends up stopping pretty quickly behind Shannon as she calls for help, stepping back. "Ah brought chips 'n Karaoke," he says. Despite the many armloads, he obviously doesn't seem particularly loaded down. He eases the machine down in a corner for the moment and moves the other bags toward where all the other food-stuffs are as well. "Ah, ever' one is already here. Fashionably late, then."

SpyderByte has posed:
Bumping his shoulder back to Indira's, Jeremy gives her a warm smile. With the music on, he rocks a bit side to side with some swaying to his arms. The music is not his style that he listens to, being that he secretly listens to a ton of K-Pop as well as his gloomy Goth Metal, but he likes the beat of it. He definitley needs arrows. Arrows are the blue print to dancing.

As he spies Shannon and Ted come in, his eyes stare in shock at the Minecraft cake. << That is so cool! >> He claps his hands together joyfully, feeling like he's ten years old again and getting excited about cake and presents.

<< Hi Ted! I can't sing, but I will record everyone doing it. >> There is no way he can make it through a song and his stammer, but he is curious to how everyone else will sound. He is already picturing Ted rocking out to a Blake Shelton song.

Aegis has posed:
"Let me help you," Xio offers as the next song begins playing. Following with the Latin theme, this one is Suda by Melanie Pfirrman featuring Pitbull. "Shannon, ahead three steps then right two. You'll be perfect." She actually moves in front of the cake to be sure she's helping get it there in one piece.

It'll be in multiple pieces soon enough.

"You aren't late, Ted. Jeremy was early. Surprised the surprisers. We all got to sing and then there should be candles for him to blow out." She tries to peek at the top of the cake then around at the winged-one to see if there are candles!

Faraday has posed:
Indira Bhandari sees the cake incoming and quickly moves things to make space at the intended table. Then she buggers out of the way, carrying a red cup with her.

"If you can sing then you shouldn't be doing karaoke, you should be making actual money!" Says Indi with glee before looking back towards the arriving centerpiece. "The cake turned out awesome! You better open a bakery when you graduate."

"Ted, need an extra hand with anything?" She says, though she's already walking over to try and relieve him of refreshments so he can focus on the equipment.

Nightingale has posed:
     "Thanks, guys!" Shannon whuffs a sigh of relief, leaning against the pool table to catch her breath, and flashing a smile of gratitude to everyone for helping out. Sure enough, as Xiomara looks at the top of the cake, there is one Minecraft mob that outnumbers the rest--creepers! And each of them has a wick coming out of the head, where apparently, they were built out of fondant around the candle itself. Eighteen of them in total decorate the top of the cake, and she grins at Jeremy. "Thought you might like that," she says. "The cake's present number one. I had to leave present number two in my dorm so I wouldn't get cake stuff on it."

     As soon as she can, she skedaddles out the door again, only gone for a few minutes. When she returns, she has her arms full of a fairly large, soft package wrapped in gold paper, and tied with a silver ribbon. This, she adds to the pile of presents. And of course, unless Jeremy stops her, she draws him in for a hug, wings and all. "Happy birthday, may you see many more, and each be better than the last."

     Grinning at Indi, she laughs, and shakes her head. "You know, Miss Grey's been saying the same thing, but I'm pretty likely to stay on here and be either a teacher, a doctor, or both. If Mr. McCoy could do it, so can I."

Ted Gammage has posed:
"Well, ah figger y'probably wouldn't wanna anyway, but y'get the benefit of havin' all your friends look very goofy an' singin' off key." Ted grins, "Happy birthday n'all. Couldn't find y' any booze," he says with a wry chuckle, "though ah have ah great uncle that made his own moonshine, so ah suppose ah could've tried that."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks over to Ted, and says "Need to wait a bit longer than 18 on that, and when he turns 21 if he is still here and wants to try it, got some apple jack stowed away for 21st birthdays, and other drinking occasions.

SpyderByte has posed:
Returning the hug to Shannon, Jeremy gives her a firmer squeeze, followed by a bump of his cheek to hers. As he leans back from her, he is all smiles as he looks to all the presents. He brushes his hair away from his face, which is now beyond shaggy and wild. He peels a rubberband off his wrist and then pulls his hair back to tie it into a sloppy pony tail. He could probably manbun if it he knew how to do it properly.

<< Thank you everyone so much. It really means a lot to me. I'm going to be crying off and on all night I think. >>

As he glances down at his phone, he stares at it for a few more seconds, brushing his thumb over the glass. He finally taps in a text message to his parents: 'Hi Mom, dad. It's my birthday. You didn't call me. I miss you. Here's a picture of me and my new friends at school.' As he holds the camera up, he tilts it so that he can get himself and everyone in the shot, as well as the cake. After her sends it, he stuffs it into his pocket.

"Ssss. So. What d-do you waaant-t to d-do fff-ffffff..." He lets out a sigh. "FIRST." He is continuing to sway a bit to the music in that awkward white boy manner of his arms rocking side to side.

Aegis has posed:
There's candles! Crisis averted. She moves away from the cake to the side and glances over as Jeremy pulls out his phone. She's right there, front and center amongst the mob behind him, putting on a proper duck-face for the image on top of it. It's required for these kinds of selfies at least.

"Candles first. You brought fire, Si?" she asks Shannon, motioning for her to light the cancles so the serenade can begin. "Unless Jeremy doesn't want to melt the poor little whatever they ares." She does not play Minecraft and has no idea.

Faraday has posed:
"We have plenty of napkins." Indira casually remarks to Jeremy's warning of waterworks after the obligatory party selfie is partaken of. At his question on what to do, she just laughs and waves a hand at him, "It's your party! Want us to get the embarrassing stuff out of the way like singing to you and watching you open things, or wanna cut loose for awhile and enjoy the music?"

One finger is pointed towards Xiomara as she announces that fire is immediately required. "One vote for cake. I am no help there... that needs a Bic not a jolt."

Nightingale has posed:
     Holding onto the hug a moment longer--cheek bump and all--Shannon strikes a pose behind the rest of the group, her wings outspread to serve as a backdrop for the scene. She makes a goofy face in the perfect group photo sort of moment; for that instant in time, there is actually a bit of peace in her eyes. Perhaps the whole thing is an inadvertant present to her as well.

     "Creepers," Shannon replies to Xiomara. "Figured they'd make perfect candles because they are the most annoying creatures in the game. Perfect, poetic revenge! Only these guys won't explode." Frowning a little bit, she rolls her eyes and facepalms. "Scheisse! I forgot a lighter! Anybody got one or do I have to run back to my dorm again?"

Ted Gammage has posed:
"Er," Ted says to Sam, "Ah weren't serious," he says. "Well, ah do have that great uncle, but y'know, ain't talked to him in several years." He gives a shrug and smiles again, letting the others decide what all to do. He's never been good at parties, aside from eating all the food. He ends up just sort of looming in a corner, watching his friends have fun. He does offer up "Shame we don' know someone who can shoot fire."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie stands in the back in the picture there but being the adult and all. He looks around and says "I look like I create fire when I am blasting, but it does not catch anything a lit. He will say "Be right back," He heads into the kitchen to get a lighter from the utility drawer.

SpyderByte has posed:
Patting himself down, Jeremy gives a shrug of his shoulders as he doesn't have a lighter. But, it seems that Sam is off to fetch one. He gives a happy thumbs up to them at the announcement of having cake first, and blowing out candles. As he heads over to the cake, he admires the details, then takes out his phone again to snap another shot of it, trying to get it just right. He then gives a wiggle of his fingers to 'fix' the photo with some quick photoshopping to give it some better lighting and to make the colors pop.

"Th-T-Thisss issss ssssso c-c-cool. I liiik-k-e the creeep-p-ers." He gives one a poke in the head with his finger, giggling to himself in amusement.

"What ffflavor isss it?" He asks Shannon curiously as he continues to sway a bit to the music. He's not stopping at least. He just looks goofy doing it.

Nightingale has posed:
     "Thanks, big bro," Shannon says to Sam, scampering over to pull him into a hug. "We seriously need to catch up soon... miss ya." For a moment, she seems a bit small, almost lost, but the moment quickly passes.

     Glancing back over at Jeremy, she grins. "Glad you like it. Wasn't quite sure what your favorite flavor was, so I figured vanilla and chocolate marble cake would pretty much cover the bases, with vanilla frosting. And Indi?" She smiles over at her teammate. "I made sure everything about the cake is vegan, so you could still have some."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie did give Shannon a hug back before heading out and comes back with the lighter, and looks over to Jeremy "Want me to light them or do you want the pleasure of setting them ablaze?" He asks the young man.

Faraday has posed:
"Aw, you didn't have to do that!" Indira says to Shannon, looking just a teensy bit embarrassed at an entire birthday cake for someone else being tweaked for her. "It ain't my party. I have a stash of ice cream in the freezer, I'd have been fine with that. But thanks." She adds on before making room around the cake for others to all cram their way in.

SpyderByte has posed:
"You c-c-can Luh-luh-light it up." Jeremy says as he gives a grin to Sam, practically bouncing on his feet a bit in excitement as he squeezes his hands together. He gives a lick of his lips in anticipation. He looks pleased as it seems that Shannon was thoughtful to think of Indi's diet preferences. Cake is cake to him, vegan or not. As long as it's delicious, he'll devour it.

Unzipping his hoodie, he shrugs himself out of it to reveal his lanky body and the black t-shirt. As he puts it to the side, he pushes his sleeves upwards to reveal his scarless arms. His skin is still pale and free of being kissed from the sun, but his past injuries are now gone.

Aegis has posed:
Once the candles are lit, Xio springs into the song that everyone else should be joining in on. "Happy Birthday to you...."

She doesn't have a bad voice but she certainly won't be making a living singing. But she is happy and full of joy as she belts it out with everyone else to ring in the next year in the adventure that is Jeremy's life!

After the song, they can cut the cake and get to him opening presents!

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon joins in with Xiomara, grinning from ear to ear. "Happy birthday, dear Jeremy, Happy birthday to yoooooooooooooooooou!", singing the last couple notes a third above Xio as a harmony. Her voice is actually pretty good, though anybody who knows her, knows her opinion of her own singing. And that, dear reader, will be left for another time!

     She motions for Ted to come join the fun, grinning. "Come on, if we have to sing, so do you!"

     Indi gets a smile and a shrug, with Shannon's wings ruffling behind her. "Don't say that, of course I did. Come on, the man's only got one eighteenth birthday, I was sure as hell gonna make sure /all/ his friends could have the cake!"

Ted Gammage has posed:
"Ah, a'ight," Ted replies and does join in. He's cool like that. His Happy birthday is decent, got an ear for it at the very least. At the end, he does grin and say, "Happy birthday, Jer. Hope it's a good'un. Despite th' lack of moonshine." He folds his arms over his chest a moment, watching the others, his nature to sort of step back so he's not "looming" so large trying to kick back in.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie will sing along as well after lighting the candles. He looks over to Ted and notices the urge something akin to what Sam might have felt at times but for different reasons.

SpyderByte has posed:
Once the singing stops, Jeremy gives a smile to them, then leans forward and takes in a deep breath. With a mighty blow, the fire extinguishes with a puff of smoke. He gives a quick clap of his hands as he steps back proudly, then takes a piece of cake once Xio begins to serve it. He dives in hungrily once everyone else is served.

"T-Th-ank you eh-eh-veryone. It mmmmeeeaaans a luh-lot." His voice, though stammery and scrambled is full of honesty and emotion. He is overwhelmed and touched by their generosity.

Faraday has posed:
Indira isn't the best of singers, but she's an enthusiastic one and can't resist swaying to the iconic tune even if it isn't the best of tracks to dance to. The whoop she drops at the end when candles are blown out rings, though she only does a few claps before leaving off as a few too many sparks fly and there's a lot of confetti and paper decorations around.

As she's eating cake once it's handed out, she finds herself a seat to relax in while saying, "Glad to do it. We all got reason to celebrate! Speaking of, Jer, I see some things are missing. I heard one of the big name healers was back. You had a run in, huh?"

Aegis has posed:
"Cut the first piece then we'll take over. Then you go sit and start opening presents!" Xio directs, moving to grab some plates from the table of snacking supplies and bringing them over by the cake. Then she brings over plastic forks as well, so they can get everyone munching.

"Let me know when you are ready for mine. I didn't wrap it."

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon's not blind to the scars on Jeremy's arms--or rather, the lack thereof. Her eyebrows loft, and she just smiles. "So that's what wiped Josh out. He's a freaking omega-level healer, and he looked ready to drop." Her smile widens, though, seeing how much more relaxed Jeremy is. "But it looks like it was worth it."

     Looking over to Indi, she's a bit more solemn now. "Yeah, you heard right. Name's Josh Foley. Codenamed 'Elixir'." Pause. "He was my first mentor here. Left with no warning nearly a year ago, not real long after I got here. Got to talk to him, found out it was life getting in the way. So at least there's finally knowing what happened."

     Once everyone else has their piece of cake, she gets one for herself, also loading up on some of the other treats. "Hey, that ice cream's not a bad idea, Indi. Never had the vegan stuff, is it any good?" Everyone gets a smile, and she motions to the treats. "Come on, mange! The more we eat, the less there is to clean up!"

Ted Gammage has posed:
Ted manages to unloom enough to get a bit of the cake. Well, two bits, he's a big boy afterall. He slides himself into a cozy chair off to the side, out of the main party area, as so not to accdentially bump someone through a wall while he enjoys his cake. He's better lately, but still a bit overzealous when it comes to not bumping into folk when he can help it.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie will find himself a seat, and pulls his own phone out sitting it on his leg, to film Jeremy when he opens presents.

SpyderByte has posed:
Glancing down at his arms, Jeremy gives a nod of his head, then takes another bite of his cake. He fishes his phone out so that he can talk and eat at the same time. Once he places it down, his robot voice comes out digitally from the speakers.

<< He walked in on me in the showers at the gym and saw my scars. Told me he could take them away. I still feel weird with them gone, but it's a good kind of weird. I feel free now, not having those words on my back anymore. >>

He takes another bite of his cake before he glances to the rest of his friends. He stubs his foot against the ground a few times.

<< Only Shannon and Doctor McCoy knows, but, I was raped in juvenile hall when I was being held for crimes against the government. They were older kids. They beat me until I blacked out afterwards and carved their names into my back with a piece of glass. >>

As he says his truth, he shuffles a bit uncomfortably, poking at the cake with his fork. << The scars felt like a prison to me. I won't be fixed for a long time, but Josh helped give me a chance for me to at least move forward and not feel ashamed to take my shirt off at the pool now, or hide in the locker rooms after gym once everyone else have gone. I feel like I have a part of me back that they took from me. >>

He takes another bite of his cake. << This birthday party means the world to me. This is the first time in my life I have felt that someone loved me. >>

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon's voice goes deadly low and quiet. "If anybody EVER tries something like that on you again, there will be hell to pay," she says to Jeremy, hugging him fiercely as if to shield him from the hurts he had suffered, her wings forming a soft, feathery cocoon. "You have all of us, and that's not going to change. If we can help it, nobody is going to do anything like that to you ever again."

Faraday has posed:
It's a multitude of expressions on Indira's face, from fury to sorrow, but she eventually settled on a proud satisfaction as he mentions regaining a bit of himself. "One victory at a time, right? But I'm sure I can speak for everyone here, but anyone tries to make you feel like anything less in *any* way is going to answer to a whole lot of angry mutants." She gives a single, firm nod in agreement as Shannon's sentiments echo her's.

"Course we love ya, Jer. I'm sure there will be plenty of times we're all grumbly and grouchy at one another, but we're all here together. If we don't have each other's backs, who will?"

Aegis has posed:
"Happens again, you let me know, mi amigo. I'll get expelled with no problems if it means kicking someone's ass who tries to hurt you. Won't be my first time in juvie. Doubt that was my last," Xio says to him from her spot sitting, munching on cake.

"And if we aren't enough, I got others I can bring in. You give me names, I can get them fucked up in a heartbeat." It's meant to be a vow of allegiance...in her own way.

Ted Gammage has posed:
Ted just takes Jeremy's words in with a bit of silence, though he does frown a bit and his jaw tenses some. He lets out a breath through his nose, as the others gather protectivly around, and he does smile lightly. "Yeah, ah mean, y'know ah'm th'first one that'd get in th' way of harm to y'. Geeze, ah don't know how y'carry all that around with you, Jer." Ted is, honestly, a bit of a stranger to pain.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie nods abit listening, not sure what to say but lets the others speak for now.

SpyderByte has posed:
There is a ping on Xio's phone as Jeremy gives a slow blink of his eyes. He glances over towards her for a moment before he leans into Shannon's arms, giving her a hug in return. Once he leans back, he reaches for his cake again to take another bite. Yum. He's hungry.

<< Thank you. I'm fine though. I'm safe here. Getting out of Metropolis was the best decision that was made for me. I feel normal here. I no longer feel like an irregular in life. Tomorrow though, I'm going swimming for the first time. Someone will have to teach me how. >>

He can't help but laugh at the idea of it all. He can't swim! But he's going to at least drown trying. He gives Shannon's shoulder a playful bump before he heads over to the presents. << Let's open some of these and then sing like stray cats. >>

Nightingale has posed:
     "If you'd like, I could teach you, Jer? Swimming's a real gentle way for you to build yourself up, too, especially if you're not used to a lot of physical activity." Yes. Cake! Shannon steps back from the hug after another moment, going for her plate full of goodies, smiling at everyone.

     "So, who gets to kick off the karaoke?"

Faraday has posed:
Indira Bhandari sets aside her empty plate to fetch up a thick but relatively squat rectangular box wrapped in bright silver paper and pass it up to Jeremy. "Here, I took forever trying to pick something out and it's probably lame, but figured you'd still like it."

And within the box is a sleek, fitted style black hoodie that's more athletic than three-sizes too big. Tight woven and black, with a triple chevron over the right chest and a grey stripe running from neck to the front of the hood. There's also a pin that she's affixed to it, with a vintage style neon hand and the words 'Don't panic, I'm synthetic' on it.

Aegis has posed:
"Mine is just these." Xio pulls out two pieces of paper. They are handed over to Jeremy for inspection.

Both are drawings. Two very different images. One is of a spider, looking like the Widow family by the body structure. It is resting on a web. The other is of a more modern circuitry, like those found inside a computer.

"I mean, it's your choice. My idea is more permanent. I would do a combination of these two as a tattoo. The first part would be visible in regular light. Whichever you prefer, be it the spider or the circuit. The other I would do in UV light so it is hidden. Only will show up under black light. That's what my gang used for our tats, to mark us as members for life. The UV ink. But if you don't want to go tat, I get it. The pictures will be the present then."

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon heads on over to the pile of presents to scoop up the gold-wrapped package in one arm. She's bouncing about on the balls of her feet as she waits to give the gift to Jeremy, giggling like a little kid at Christmas. As soon as he's opened Indi's gift, she plops hers down next to him. "Made this for you. I remember a favorite episode of Doctor Who that involved Van Gogh, and he described the blackness of the sky as not being really black, but rich shades of dark blue. You're more than you seem, too, and this will always keep you safe and warm. Happy birthday."

     Inside the package is a queen-size quilt that has been carefully pieced together, to resemble Van Gogh's famous 'Starry Night' painting. Though it looks thin, the quilt actually has a good bit of weight to it, wrapping one in a soft, warm cocoon of nighttime hues.

SpyderByte has posed:
As he unwraps the hoodie, Jeremy practically squeaks happily. He throws it on and zips it halfway up, giving Indi a big hug real quickly. << Thank you! I love this designer. I have some of their stuff already. This is so cool. This is my favorite geeky gamer clothes. >>

Next, he takes the quilt from Shannon and gives her a wide grin. She knows him so well. He looks over the picture and nods his head to her. << Thank you, Shannon. I like this a lot. I'll put it on my bed tonight. I love Doctor Who. >>

When Xiomara shows him the designs, his eyes nearly bug out of his head. Him? Getting tattoos? Last week the idea would have freaked him out, but now? He traces his fingers along the artwork, shifting his jaw in thought, followed by a quirky grin upon his face. << I want to do it. On my shoulder. The left one. Just don't laugh at me if I start to cry because I've never had one before. Someone can hold my hand. >>