Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ever didn't throw himself at the hostess when he arrived -- nor did he throw himself at anyone else. Instead he slid in, quiet, dark eyes flicking around the crowd and then to the food. His presence -- and his presents, especially -- were mostly for the sake of appearances and fostering of good will, but they were at least in part because it was hard not to like America. If he hadn't known her, he wouldn't have bothered.

And there was just about no one else on the island who he'd have bothered bringing a gift, even so simple a gift as a bottle of cheap vodka with a cloth ribbon tied around its neck. It had her name on it, and then his, so he'd find a table somewhere to just leave it. Understated.

She could find it when she wasn't swamped with friends, and he could steal something to eat off the table.

"I'll keep that in mind," someone said, and America would find that Jordan was grinning teasingly at her. He waited politely until she had put Peyton down, then presented her with a plainly wrapped present that was suspiciously book-shaped. (He had, in fact, been caught by surprise and without a present and scanned his own bookshelf for something that might work. It was probably not the book he would have picked if he'd had time to prepare beforehand, but America would have gotten a book either way.)

"Happy birthday," he added, and then wandered off toward the food.

Her tackle turned into being spun around, which was just dandy in her book. She laughed, returning that big smooch before America set her back on her feet. "You have! Now we're an even more invincible team!" Hard to believe, shew knew, considering how amazing they had already been.

"I got you a thing," she announced happily, digging into her pockets as she tossed a smile to the boys that were gathered around before her attention turned down to her hands and the little silver chain that was dangling between closed fingers. It wasn't wrapped, but she really didn't think America would mind. "So I remembered our rings from wonderland, from that teapot wedding things, and I found someone that could duplicate them." With a thoroughly pleased grin she opened her hand to let the band fall to the bottom of the chain as she held it up for her bestie.

She'd not only gotten America's, but both of her own, as well as Noah's. One of her's was on the chain tucked down the front of her shirt along with a new goldfish charm. The other was tucked away with Noah's for his birthday in a month.

Lawr noted the glance in his direction and the subsequent dismissal and was left with few options available to him, he could go over and address her but it would have to be via Jan because of the others milling around or he could stay here and take advantage of the provided drinks.

Butch commented on the sharp edge of alcohol and presented him with a bizzare flurry of mental images, a tipped can spilling lager onto a ratty carpet, a man stumbling, broken glass. Having the creature in his head was often like having a television with a corrupted signal blinking on and off

He intended to simply because there was nothing else for him to do and given that he was not a regular drinker, it would be an experiment to pass the time. Finishing his first glass he did note that he felt somewhat unusual, most likely due to his small stature and light weight, but he was not concerned, no one would be the wiser.

With an air of grand importance and what he hoped was fashionable lateness, Prince Edgar paraded into the space designated for America's birthday celebration. He spoke to no one, and even went as far as to elbow partygoers out of the way to make a path directly to the figure of importance here.

That was what royalty deserved.

"Yon fair maiden, thine President of Kingdom Basement!" The greeting was paired with a nod of his head, but he reserved the bow for later, if she happened to prove herself worthy. "We bequeath to thee a token of affection on thy day of celebration for thy birth!"

He extended a wooden box, which resembled an old-fashioned shipping container, complete with hinges on one side and a latch on the other. An American flag was burned into the wood on the top, but there were no other indications of what its contents might be.

Taking the bucket with a laugh, America pulled Noemi in for a one armed hug, "Homemade food? How could that ever be a bad gift? Thank you, it smells delicious as ********, however, got a pinch to the a** instead of a hug, though the whiskey was taken with a great deal of pleasure.

Gazing down at Edgar from her superior height (even more superior now that she'd grown a good inch) America graciously accepted the gift with a dignified, "Oooohhh, gimme." The box itself was met with great approval even before she undid the latch to see what was inside.

"Damn right, I am." Throwing her head back, America laughed loud and long with utter delight at what was immediately revealed. With terrible glee, the girl tossed the tea into the kiddie pool, shouting, "LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF AWESOME!" And then seeing the vodka underneath, picked Edgar up, spun him around. Tears in her eyes, she was tempted to toss him in the pool too, but instead opted for a big messy kiss on his cheek. (If she'd have seen the painting, he'd have gotten tongue right then and there.)

Messing up his hair with giggling abandon, she declared a temporary peace, and verbally freed Edgar from his status of Political Prisoner.

Dakota made a small oof sound at America's pinch on his booty. And bit into the chicken because the urge to pinch her bottom back was high and he needed to keep his hands busy. OH LOOK MORE FOOD.

"ARE WE THROWING TEA INTO THE SEA?!!??" Dakota shouted from him his pot as there was tea thrown into the pool, "BOSTON TEA PARTY TIME. LESS TAXES ON US ADULTS!!!" The moon hunter was grubbing hardcore otherwise he'd have jumped in the pool for the sheer tribute to independence.

And because it sounded fun.

---

Noemi sighed in relief as America hugged her, taking the gift and patted the redheaded mistress during the hug. She was slowly, SLOWLY getting used to hugs here on the island. It seemed to be a thing.

To Edgar though, she blinked at his weird way of talking and just...He was kind of funny, but in the sense that he just...presented himself very strongly.

Another pair of arms descended on her just as the bucket left her hands and she turned her head over to see Milo's face. O...Oh hey there. "Milo!" She squeaked a little, her face turning red but mostly because she was pulling conversations around him. All those questions that made her just...

Anyways, she fidgetted in his arms before giving him a shy smile. "Happy independence day Milo." She brought her hands up to his arms and...patted him. She didn't mind his hug after all. Okay she minded a little bit, but she didn't think it was bad. Okay maybe it was a little bad, but not like bad in like NOOOOOOOOO it shouldn't happen but more of NOOOOOOO why do I like this, NOOOOOOOO why do I think of why I like this!??! NOOOOO why can't I shut my brain off.

If only people could hear the internal debates and anxiety Noemi carried around. It would give headaches.

She noticed Shu and waved at her best friend. "Shu~" She let her voice carry a little, "Happy independence day to you too Shu!"