Welcome to Gaia! ::

Dacj stood in front of the closet she shared with her sister, half the bar devoted to children's clothes and dresses (some of which she occasionally borrowed from Phoebe—Dacj's chest was nothing much to boast about, and the full length dresses Phoebe wore made for long tunics on the bigger yet chronologically younger tentacle monster) and the other half to Dacj's preferred wardrobe, mostly gathered skirts or miniskirts with ample fullness, more than enough to accommodate for her tentacles, and sundresses or slip dresses and long t-shirts or tunics. She still didn't know how long she'd been staying at Sorcha's, and it wasn't like she couldn't make a clothing run back home if she really needed to (though she wasn't certain she'd be able to go herself, Eli might just grab things as instructed and then deliver them to Sorcha's home) but nonetheless she still stood and stared blankly at the closet, wondering what to dress for. She was definitely nervous about living with her girlfriend, however temporarily, and though Sorcha had promised to take things slowly, Dacj wondered if the other girl really knew what “slow” meant...

She heard a knock behind her and whirled around in alarm—she was definitely not ready, not yet!--but the visage leaning against the doorframe did not belong to her brother. No, it was her elder sister (cousin? They were sort of siblings, but Missy always called Mom 'Auntie' so Dacj was never really sure what they were to one another, besides vaguely living in the same house...) Melisande, looking impeccable with perfectly tousled curls and a knowing look on her face.

“Come on, I've been looking for an excuse to shop. Let's just outfit you entirely for the duration,” she said cheerfully, and all Dacj could do was nod dumbly. It was the same way she found herself bundled into the passenger seat of Mena's van and barreling down the road to the nearest large mall. Melisande chattered away about the latest fashions and color palettes and magazines and Dacj tuned her out entirely as she stared out the window at the landscape rushing by, wondering exactly what Missy was up to. Sure, she liked excuses to shop but...she'd never felt the need to bring Dacj along before. Didn't she usually employ personal shoppers to carry things for her? And just have everything shipped home? She had everyone's measurements, definitely, because she was always online shopping as well. In fact, it was something of a surprise if a huge truck with a department store logo didn't drop by the Cottage every couple of weeks...

“Come on, we don't have all day Dacj,” Melisande said loftily, and the kraken started as she realized they'd pulled into the mall parking lot and parked while she was having her reverie. Hurriedly she followed after Melisande, who set a brisk pace that Dacj was always somewhat in awe of—and how Missy wore high heels with her cloven pig's feet was something Dacj had always been curious of. Maybe she got them made specially? It wasn't as if she didn't have the relationship with retailers to be able to do so...

Melisande eventually reached back and pulled Dacj's arm into her own, tucking it in the pig's elbow and steering her with determination to the first of several large anchor department stores, forcing Dacj to trail helplessly in her wake. Melisande in her natural element was like a force of nature, a storm that blew in, drawing various shopgirls and shopboys to her like flies to honey as she pointed and gave orders which were followed to the letter. It wasn't long before Dacj found herself in a large dressing room with Melisande, and a pile of clothes nearly as big as the kraken. “You are not shy to change in front of your sister, no? Go, try on,” Melisande said, waving a hand in easy command. Dacj picked up the first item, a purple beaded tunic, and held it in a club as she slipped off her t-shirt and skirt, clad only in her bra for a moment as she slipped on the first piece of the day. She was given a chance to look for herself, told to turn slowly, and then Melisande gave her thoughts on the tunic, and the many pieces following. Somehow the pile began to migrate, one pile seemingly the “keep” pile, while another was nearer the dressing room stall door and presumably the “send back” pile. It was not for Dacj to know why one piece ended up in one pile or another; no, all of that was Missy's domain.

It turned out the first pile was not in fact the “keep” pile, but the “let's try a second time, with coordination” and Dacj was growing a bit weary. Would they really be doing this at multiple stores? Really? And couldn't she opt out or something?

“Now, tell moi why Auntie Mena and Eli have been running around like chickens with their heads cut off,” Melisande said, halfway through the second try of the clothes. Dacj blinked. Had this been the purpose of the outing all along?

“What do you know?” Dacj found herself asking cautiously.

“The basics. Your magic is all wibbly wobbly, and it is so because you and Seth had some sort of traumatic rendezvous that somehow culminated in him going to Noelani and Noelani breaking up with him,” Melisande reported, sounding utterly uninterested as she looked over the garment Dacj currently wore. “But that is nothing. What happened with Seth?”

“You know all you really need to know—and what does anything that goes on between Seth and I have to do with you?” Dacj asked, getting defensive. It was a sore spot still, even if she'd been in the same room with Seth again already and things hadn't been absolutely horrible. If he hadn't been training though, and if he'd been forced to interact with her more normally, then surely he would remember...remember that this was, in a very large way, very much her fault.

“He and moi are of an age; moi keeps an eye on her peers,” Melisande said, casting a measuring look Dacj's way. Dacj flushed and looked away. “Though moi has never really been interested in him...it is because he is too much the settled type, yes? Moi prefers quick, romantic, passionate—but I can see what you see in him,” she said, conspicuously dropping her usual air as she gave Dacj a conspiratorial wink. “Granted, I've never seen him and Noelani much together. I think the vibe you two have together is something different than his with Noe was. And I've been meaning to tell you for some time not to take Noelani personally. I wasn't in love with her boytoy and she still hated me. I don't think she does well with female competition.”

Pot calling the kettle black much? was Dacj's startled first thought in reaction at Melisande's frankness. “I wasn't really trying to compete,” she offered weakly. “It just—she was treating him so badly and I just couldn't stand it anymore, so I...”

“Stood up on his behalf? I would've loved to have seen that,” Missy said with a bit of a snort. “So easy to misdirect, even as a child. I think when he was very young he had a bit of a crush on Kamiko, I had to run a bit of interference on Eli's behalf.”

“So that was why you danced at the wedding!” Missy tilted her head in unspoken questioning, and Dacj flushed again. “I...kind of...read his journal.”

Melisande broke into laughter. “Oh, Dacj, you are so entertaining! You know how private he is!”

“That was kind of why I did it...” the kraken muttered darkly.

“Well I don't expect it will help him trust you much in the future,” Melisande said, gesturing for Dacj to slip off the current garment and holding up another to try on in its place. “Moi will not pretend to understand what you were thinking.”

“It was just...lying right there!” Dacj said helplessly. “And then from there...well, he got angry and I was angry but then I got upset and he sort of comforted me and then he was being all stupid, like 'oh, I shouldn't have gotten as angry with you as I did about reading my personal thoughts' and I told him he was an idiot and of course he could be angry. From there, it turned into 'let's bash Noelani' night and...” The words poured out of the kraken and would not be stopped, Melisande listened seriously (if perhaps looking a bit detached, her first concern always did seem to be the clothes Dacj slipped in and out of) and nodded along.

“Well, the damage is done, and that's that. Remember that the choice was Noelani's—I doubt Seth would've broken things off yet, he'd have given her another couple months at least. You can't really be blamed for Noelani's stupidity when it comes to matters of the heart and relationships, yes? She's the one who kept him waiting, who left. If moi was at all inclined to settled down—well, it's best to settle down as soon as the wedding can be arranged, isn't it?” Melisande asked, her questions apparently rheotorical. “She has made her choice. You, I think, have made yours too.”

“It's just—now he hates me! He must!” Dacj protested. Sure, he hadn't seemed like it during the training session, but if he'd had a moment to think about it properly then surely... Just because Reira had said he didn't detest her at that moment didn't mean...

“Seth does not 'hate', except only in the most dire of cases I think,” Melisande said thoughtfully, pursing her lips from one side to the other before shaking her head and pulling off the latest tunic-dress off Dacj herself . “And since you have not killed or kidnapped anyone he cares for, I think you safe in that regard at least. And he does care for you, enough to do friend-things with you that carry some risk, yes? He has not had water balloon fights with Noelani.”

“He's hunted with her and stuff though,” Dacj pointed out, grabbing the next garment perhaps a little too roughly.

“Well, and he was engaged to her. It's only to be expected,” Melisande said, with an idle shrug. “I am just saying, your odds are not awful, little sister.”

“Like he'll even want to be close friends with me after this,” Dacj muttered.

“Moi rather thinks he will. You are good for him, in a strange sort of way. I won't pretend to understand half of what you two go on about—such silly things! But moi thinks he will not be able to stay away for very long. At the very least, you are good company, and that is hard enough to find around Hytech,” Melisande said knowingly, placing her hands on Dacj's shoulder to peer into the mirror before the kraken from Dacj's perspective. She eyed the reflection, gave a self satisfied nod, and then let go. “Come on then, let's finish with this store and move onto the next~”

“We don't seriously have to keep this up, do we? There's no way we're doing the whole mall today...” Dacj said, going wide-eyed in alarm. Melisande only chuckled; a vaguely sinister sound to the kraken. It was going to be a very long day, wasn't it...

*
It ended up being such a long day they had to stop for food in the food court of the mall—Dacj was ravenous (who knew trying on clothes was going to take so much energy?!) and Melisande seemed to have quite the appetite as well. They even managed to eat in silence before Missy cast another knowing look at Dacj and said, far too innocently, “Moi thinks we ought to hit up the lingere stores next--” and Dacj began to choke on the bite of food currently in her mouth. She pounded her chest and gasped as she managed to swallow, reaching for her soda and taking a few mouthfuls to wash it all down. Missy tucked her chin against her hand as she propped her elbow up on the table, looking amused. “Moi takes it you don't like the suggestion?” The pig was definitely having fun at her expense!

“Sorcha and I aren't exactly...to the lingere stage yet...” Dacj admitted reluctantly, loathe to give Missy even that much ammo.

“So? You are staying with her for who knows how long, it is best to be prepared, yes?” Melisande said, batting eyelashes over her brilliantly baby blue eyes. “Moi is sure even someone like Sorcha would appreciate the sight of her beloved all nicely wrapped up--”

“Oh, I'm sure Sorcha would appreciate it too,” Dacj said brusquely, trying to focus on her food instead of her elder sister's smirk. “But Sorcha doesn't always get everything she wants...”

“Oh? You do not want it as well?” Melisande asked, tone going lofty again as one blonde eyebrow arched high.

Dacj flushed. “It's—do we really have to talk about this in the mall food court?” she asked helplessly. Melisande nodded. Dacj sighed and threw up her hands, moving as if to gesture as she spoke but the gestures were more helpless sorts of wigglings and waves and jabs. “I kind of have enormous body issues. I mean, I'm a friggin' tentacle monster, and to boot my...um...”

“Ladyparts?” Melisande offered helpfully. Dacj snorted.

“Oh, you've been in Mom's lab too, you can probably guess how...everything's...arranged,” Dacj said, words coming stiff and reluctant at the end. Melisande cast her head to the side and upwards, sending blonde curls tumbling off her shoulder in a way Dacj swore was probably intentional as the pig Hyte assumed a pose of thoughtfulness. She remained so for several moments before the epiphany struck, cherry red lips forming a tiny 'o' as she looked back to Dacj, curious.

“Is it like a real beak, then?” she asked, sounding genuinely curious—and Dacj believed that much.

“No, our creators weren't that cruel,” Dacj said dryly. “However, it is something of...an obstacle, to be certain.”

Melisande waved a hand in dismissal. “Oh, darling, there're always obstacles. And it's not like Sorcha's got a regular arrangement either, probably, with being satyr-y from the waist down. I'm sure you can figure it out as you go.”

Dacj was blushing furiously at this point. “But I--”

“As for your other issues, remember Eli was strange to begin with and that's nothing to do with you. I mean, honestly, you're a tentacle monster who's afraid of sex so where does he figure you're going to run about raping him?” Melisande said, managing to sound tactful as she laid out the situation with painfully blunt honesty. “Darling, your tentacles may have a mind of their own, but it's not like they're going to go about sticking themselves places where you aren't directing them, right?”

“They've got sharp bits on them—I'm not sticking them in anywhere!” Dacj said, whispering furiously now and praying Melisande too kept her voice down. It was bad enough they were having this conversation, but they were having it in public! With other people and small children about!

“Well there you go,” Melisande said sensibly. “And you don't have to involve--” she broke off at a glare from Dacj, though she still smiled. “You don't have to go all the way on the first try, silly. Just let things happen and stop worrying about it. And get cute yet sexy lingere to be prepared, just in case.”

“It's not like I have any say in this anyway—you'll make me buy some whether or not I want to,” Dacj said morosely, wondering if this feeling of getting pushed along by Melisande or situations in general was how Eli felt all the time.

“Oh, absolutely,” Melisande said with a cheery smile. “But moi is rather hoping you'll start having fun with it somewhere along the way.”

“Not particularly likely,” Dacj said, frowning.

*
After the lingere store (and Dacj given into the inevitable demand that was Melisande and actually chosen a few pieces herself...mostly to avoid the really really skimpy stuff) and a blitz through a smaller boutique that Dacj had actually enjoyed, a shop of a collection of several independent designers who all seemed to use medieval or fairy tale or romantic inspiration, where Dacj picked up several longer dresses in the style of her preferred first adult outfit, it was back to the car after a stop at customer service to collect all the bags and chivy the customer service assistants to help them carry it all out to the car. Dacj was amused as they headed back inside the mall, generous tips courtesy of Melisande stuffed eagerly in their pockets. “The mall staff must really love you,” she said, shaking her head lightly.

“Oh, moi tries to do them all on a circuit so they do not feel as if moi favors one or another too much,” Melisande said wisely, glancing back over her shoulder from the driver's seat to peer at the various bags taking up the entire trunk as well as a majority of the body of the van. “Hmm, that should last you for a couple weeks at the least,” she added, nodding to herself in a self satisfied manner.

“Or, you know, the next three months,” Dacj teased. She wasn't certain how they were all going to fit in the suitcase she was bringing with her to Sorcha's. She had the suspicion that Missy knew how to pack clothes in a way that she seemed to be utilizing hammer space. After all, even Missy probably couldn't bribe airline security (Dacj was almost certain she'd probably tried at one point...) and the airlines to carry more than the allotted bags. She paused, and then said, “Thanks. For...this. And the unsolicited advice too, I guess.”

“Anytime,” Melisande said, with a chuckle.

He had sent a text to Mena two hours prior as a warning that he would be showing up and not to get too involved in any experiments or research. When he arrived at the Cottage, the place seemed to be completely deserted. That didn't surprise him though, for he knew exactly where everyone had gone. Casting only a cursory glance around the home, he padded over to the nearby statue and took the teleport down to Mena's lab.

Though he had used it once before and had traveled via dragon back several times before that, it was still mildly disconcerting to have the scene around you change between blinks. Perhaps he would get more used to it with time. "Hello?" he called out as he exited her 'bedroom'. He didn't see her in the immediate vicinity...

"Just a minute!" Philomena called, her voice sounding oddly muffled--probably because she was in one of the large terrarium tanks that lined one edge of the lab, this one home to her largest specimen of "domesticated" tentacle monster. It was slightly smaller than she was, even on tentacle-tip, but it was still large enough to be alarming to the casual observer. The cat woman patted the tentacle she'd been inspecting, reached into a belt pouch and threw something small and food-looking towards the monster. It snatched the treat with another tentacle and retreated to one edge of the terrarium behind a rock, while Mena moved towards the clear wall. She passed straight through what had, until just a moment ago, appeared to be solid glass, and waved to Seth. "Now, what's this all about?"

She was... in the terrarium. With the tentacle monster. Huh. Seth watched with a vague sort of fascination as she dealt with the creature and had to shake himself back into reality once the other feline had emerged. Mena, why he was here, right. "I have something I need to show you, but it wasn't anything I could bring to the lab," he explained. "I think it'd be best if you came with me for the time being to see it yourself."

"Oh?" Mena asked, curious. Was it some kind of strange effect of the pills, maybe? She couldn't really think of why else he'd be coming around. Especially after...well, best not to talk about that. "Then where are we going?"

"Hytech," he explained, gesturing for her to follow along as he started back for her room. "I can't really describe it. It's probably best if we hurry."

Best if they hurried huh? Mena let out a tiny sigh. Something had gone wrong again, hadn't it...she hoped it wasn't her fault this time. It was always nice when it turned out to not be her fault.

At Hytech, last minute preparations were being put into place. Eli was frosting the requisite cake, Melisande was fussing over the arrangement of the presents on a small table, Phoebe was flopped onto one of the couches merrily hacking and slashing away on her DS, and Dacj was distributing party hats to general fussing and "do we really have to"s. Melisande had to argue valiantly to acquire a hat that did not clash her with her party outfit.

The kraken hovered nearer the door when the task was accomplished, listening for the sound of a car pulling in to signal to the others to duck for cover.

The ride from the Cottage to Hytech was mildly awkward, but they mostly kept to safe and enjoyable small talk on the way there. Once they arrived, Seth 'accidentally' slipped as he was getting out of the car and briefly laid on the horn. "Whoops. That had to annoy the neighbors," he said jokingly, getting out properly this time and walking around the car to help Mena out. "Anyway, let's head inside. We need your professional opinion on this."

"Oh, it's not too late, they'll be fine," Mena said, more worried about what might be contained inside that "needed her professional opinion." Why couldn't she have chosen a nice, non-emergency-responding-to career? Like... librarian-ship or something. Well, she knew why'd she chosen it, but it was still kind of a pain-- She steeled herself for whatever she might see inside as they stepped through the sliding doors.

"SURPRISE!" And suddenly there were children everywhere, Eli and Missy and Phoebe and Dacj, all donning party hats and grins. Mena blinked, and then somewhere, far back, remembered that it was her birthday--hers and Colton's and Desi's, though she was the only one here to see it. Soon, though...

"Okay, I'm totally surprised," the cat woman admitted with a laugh, gazing around at the streamer-decorations, several balloons tied and weighted in little arrangements around the wide area, and even the pile of presents--what on earth had they gotten her? "I'm surprised you lot remember my birthday, I didn't even until just now."

"Well, someone had to remember it for you then," Seth replied, grinning now. "You just happen to have a lot of someones who remember. Happy Birthday, Mena. Um, sorry if I worried you before." It had taken quite a bit of acting to be able to keep a straight face the whole time in picking her up. He didn't think he'd be able to replicate it again very easily.

Mena laughed again at Seth's apology. She had been worried, though that was more a reflection on her state of mind than his acting skills. Come to think of it, the clumsiness in hitting the horn should have been a clue... "Nah, it's all right. I am glad there's no viruses or strange things to fix though!" She accepted the party hat proffered by one of Dacj's clubs and stuck it on her head with a smile.

Phoebe wigged over on her own four tentacles, half-bouncing as she went. "What do you want to do first, Mom? We've got cake and there are presents and we even have games but Missy said this was an 'adult' party not a kid's party but I think adults can play games too--"

"I can play something with you, sweetie," Mena said, patting the jellyfish girl on the head. "Though what say the rest of you?"

"S'your birthday~" Dacj said, gesturing wide. "We are all at your beck and command."

"Oh, I do like beck and commanding~," Mena said with a chuckle. "All right, maybe I'll be greedy then. Presents first?" she said, looking to Phoebe.

The blue-skinned girl nodded enthusiastically. "Presents are good too!"

"That would be this way then," Seth replied, indicating toward the pile of presents on the table. The group joined walked over along with the birthday girl, waiting to see what she would choose first. The gift that the cheetah Hyte brought was in a fairly small and thin package, mostly out of the way.

"How about that one in the middle?" Mena asked, pointing to a largeish sized wrapped rectangle managing to precariously balance atop the rest. Phoebe retrieved it with a grin, and the cat woman checked the tag. "Ah, I see. You and Dacj went in on something together, eh?"

"Yup!" Phoebe said, still grinning wide, and Dacj leaned over to poke the jellyfish in the side as if to warn her not to be too obvious about their mischief. "Well, we had the same idea. So we did it together."

Mena raised an eyebrow, and she opened the present carefully, wrapping paper yielding to a white garment box, which opened to a layer of tissue paper obscuring the contents inside. Brushing that inside, her expression changed to a rueful smile as she retrieved a white fleece hat, set of mittens, and a scarf, all of which appeared to be polar bear themed. "Gee, thanks girls."

"We tease because we love you so~" Dacj said, high-fiving Phoebe. Both girls offered their mother irrepressible grins.

"Then I feel very loved," Mena said wryly, wrapping the scarf around her neck and hoping it would be enough to placate them. Did she really have to wear that hat...? "Thank you, girls. Melisande, I suppose I'd best ask for your present next."

"Yes, polar bears definitely qualify as 'fashion emergency,'" Melisande said, rolling her eyes at the younger Hyte and mer's antics. The pig Hyte retrieved a smaller package from the grouping and presented it to Mena. "Happy birthday, Auntie Mena~"

This package yielded a set of intricately decorated metallic googles, that would be a perfect match for a certain steampunkish metal brooch she'd worn on her wedding dress, and would no doubt look a little dressier than her regular set of brown leather googles. "They have all those requirements to be serviceable as well," Melisande interjected. "Because heaven knows you may need them to be a proper set with the way you get into trouble." Mena chuckled.

"Thank you, Missy," she said, trying them on to adjust the straps and to double-check the fit in front of her ears. Not that she didn't trust Missy to have thought of that already. "I will endeavor to get into trouble when I am properly dressed up, just to put them to good use," she added.

Eli, who had been hovering quietly in the background, gave Seth's present to Phoebe to give to Mena. He was honestly hoping to make a little less of a presentation of his own gift to his mother, but that might not be possible. Oh, well...it was nothing the others couldn't see. And, well...Phoebe and Dacj might appreciate it to. He was still worried though...

Mena glanced towards Seth in surprise when she read the tag. "Oh, you didn't have to go to all the trouble, Seth!" It wasn't that she didn't like having him here--between Eli and Dacj's friendships with the cheetah, Noelani notwithstanding, he really was part of the family. But she wasn't sure if he knew that, after everything with Noe. Just because there were no ties like marriage the rest of the world might recognize didn't mean he wasn't still a part of everything. In deeper than some of the rest, with his dedication to helping her bring back Colton and Zane from wherever they might be, whatever might be holding them. She should be giving him something, not the other way around.

The cheetah Hyte smiled and shook his head. "It's your birthday, Mena. It was no trouble at all." He just hoped she would find the gift useful. It was hard to think of something to get a scientist, but his mother's suggestion had actually been a fairly good one. Of course, it was only through her that he could have even acquired such a thing, but still...

Mena opened the small, thin package curiously, and considered the obviously hightech-y thing that vaguely resembled a pen with careful green eyes. It could extend, a bit. There were several buttons, and the press of one yielded a strange whirrwhirr sound and a bright blue light. And then she remembered her science fiction geekery properly, and abruptly stop pressing the buttons, however interesting the noises might be. "Is this--is this a real sonic screwdriver?" she asked, eyes wide as she looked to the cheetah for confirmation. It certainly was no plastic toy. It might be a very good replica, but...

Oh, it would definitely come in handy in the lab!

Seth simply smiled, glad that Mena was able to recognize it. "My mother has some very good connections. Hope it's helpful." He wasn't even going to ask how she had gotten a hold of such a thing. He had found over time that it was just generally best not to ask when it came to things involving his mother.

"Connections as good or better than Shimy's, I'd say," Mena said with a chuckle, rotating the screwdriver in her paw and eyeing the room. She'd be testing it out a bit more later...probably in a more controlled environment. With her luck, she'd end up accidentally exploding things as she worked out the settings. "Thank you, Seth. I think it's going to come very much in handy."

Eli recognized the screwdriver as well, though it seemed his sisters didn't, and was also impressed with Seth's mother. As well as Seth for...well, having the gumption to suggest such to his mother? Though he kind of wondered exactly how elf had talked the Doctor out of the Gallifreyan tool...

Phoebe handed Mena the last present with a flourish, and Eli blinked, nervous still. He knew she'd like it but he was still worried about her reaction. Would it be bad or good if she did cry? Wasn't it a bad thing to make your mother cry? "Ah, Elti helped me out with it, so it's from both of us really," he offered.

Mena unwrapped the last gift carefully, and was just as curious to find a sort of scrapbook within. That gave her a hint of what to prepare for, but opening it and seeing the reality... "Oh, Eli," she breathed, her vision blurring with the presence of tears welling up. A photo album of the history of their family might've been enough to make her cry, but this--it wasn't just regular photographs of Colton and her with the young kuppy trio. They moved, all smiles, as they cuddled together, played together, even a bit of running about. As she flipped through, he hadn't left out Missy, or Phoebe, or even Dacj either, though heavens only knew how he'd managed through a bit of baby squid photo editing via magic--or whatever he'd done to bring it all together. "I love it." And she really did.

Dacj and Phoebe had wiggled up close to get a good look once they'd realized what the photos were of. Phoebe had seen her adoptive father and other older brother in person perhaps once, and Dacj of course never at all. Both had seen the occasional video, but these moving photographs were something else entirely, and had no doubt required prodigious use of magic, hence Eli involving Elti as well. Dacj could tell the kuppys' younger days must have been a very happy and very carefree time for her mother and her brother--and even the gloom of the Empire hadn't yet intruded, if she remembered correctly. Placing a hand on her mother's shoulder, watching over her shoulders as Mena turned the pages carefully, Dacj felt an intense desire to somehow bring that feeling back to her mother, to their whole family, in any way she could. As she glanced over to Eli, who looked wistful, and Melisande, who patted Eli on the shoulder, she thought that both of them probably felt the same.

Heck, Dacj'd even put up with Noelani being back all the time if it made her mother happy. It would complicate things for the kraken but...really, sometimes the welfare of others was more important. The better question was...where was Colton and Zane, anyhow? Why weren't they here too?

Seth only caught a brief glimpse of what was inside the scrapbook before making more room for Dacj and Phoebe to view. Curious though he was of the kuppy-trio's younger days, he didn't want to see any pictures of a younger Noe right now. Besides, this was Mena's moment to enjoy (although the pictures of Zane and Colton certainly had to be bitter-sweet). That was a truly thoughtful gift from Eli and Elti. How was he dealing with all of this? It had to be just as hard for the empath, having his father and siblings disappear without a word of farewell or even knowing where they were. Not that knowing about Colton and Zane would make things any easier on him.

It was some time later, after Mena had relinquished the album to a curious Phoebe who toted it back to the couch, and after the cat had used the sleeve of her shirt to dab at her eyes, that Eli felt it necessary to project a low level of cheeryness back into the party. It was his gift that had rather changed the mood, so it was only fair he restore the prior good mood. Mena gave her slightly shorter son a grateful hug, and offered the rest a smile. "So, what's next? Games? Cake? Ooh, cake sounds good."

"Cake it is!" Dacj agreed, bouncing on her tentacles as she moved retrieve it from the kitchen. "Are there already candles on it?" she called back, halfway to the door.

"Should be," Eli said. "And I can light it...ah, plates! We remembered plates and forks, didn't we?"

"Moi did," Melisande said, as she retrieved a plastic grocery bag from under the table and unwrapped the plastic from paper plates. Next she fished out plastic forks, just in time for Dacj to reappear toting the cake in.

"Light 'em up, Eli!" she said, grinning, as she placed the cake onto the newly empty table they'd used for presents, and Melisande dug serving utensils out of the grocery bag.

The candles on the cake were lit and everyone joined together to sing Happy Birthday to the birthday girl. The cake was cut into slices and split, but fortunately for the cheetah Hyte he managed to get out of having a piece. Mena did insist on the side though that he take some home with him, to which he agreed simply to be polite. After the cake came the games, and all in all it was a rather nice time.