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High-functioning Marshmallow
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 Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 2:21 pm
Residents
[✿] Kade Waldroup (Temp. Owner)
[☽] Yoakim Jr. Waldroup
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Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 7:57 pm
It was a bit late, she guessed, to even begin starting this whole thing up, but Theresa had been on edge lately and needed a break. Besides, it just wasn't right to not celebrate your kid's birthday! She only had one more birthday to go before he may leave her to see the world, only sending cards with no return address because he didn't want his folks to track him down, but that would only mean Theresa couldn't give him a present or anything since she wouldn't know where he was. She hovered beside the phone for a moment as she considered calling her folks to try to apologize for being a crap daughter, but she would probably end up ranting to her mother about Kaleb instead like she always did. She sighed and went to check on the kitchen, where Kade and Junior were both preparing the most important part of a birthday – the cake!
“You guys managing in here?” She questioned as she went to glance over the batter, which looked very.. batter-y. Yeah, Theresa knew next to nothing about cakes, so she had no clue if this was turning out right or not. But Kade had insisted he had learned something while she was gone on baking. If it failed, she had a motorcycle out front to make a speedy trip to the bakery for a last minute cake and the number to the inn, which may or may not be able to deliver a pizza she could jam a few candles into.
“Yep! See, it's just like making a tart – except a lot bigger! I make tarts all the time.” He added as if Theresa had forgotten his halfway decent baking attempts. She nodded slowly with a small glance at Junior to see if maybe his abilities had improved. But, she was met with a furrowed brow as the man concentrated his attention on measuring the flour rather than the conversation going on. Either he was avoiding her now – doubtful – or he didn't want to say something that might upset Kade – more likely. ..Ah, well, how hard would it be to screw up something as simple as a cake anyway?
Theresa shrugged at them, “Cool. I'll go check on the kiddo, 'kay?” Brian should be upstairs playing video games, but she had to double check to make sure he wasn't trying to scope out his presents like he did when he was younger. ..Not that she could see him still doing that, but part of her wished he kept trying anyway. It was sort of fun stopping him in a weird way. She hesitated before leaving the kitchen to ruffle Junior's hair, jolting the man to looking her in the eye. She grinned, “Keep him from burning the kitchen down, kid.” The woman had made a half-assed attempt to whisper it, but Kade was only a foot or so away from her.
“Oh, shoo.” Kade shoved her after an exasperated huff as he went to get the egg beater out, Tess relenting from teasing the men with a chuckle. She had seen a brief smile from Junior, which meant she was satisfied with this pair.
She headed up the stairs, meeting Junior's ajar door behind which Brian was chilling on the ground with a controller in hand. She spared a quick glance at the screen, noted that it looked exactly like the same damned thing he played whenever she found him entertaining himself. She didn't understand the video games all that well – the racing ones were sort of fun, but firing off at fake zombies or soldiers or gangsters or whatever didn't seem to be all that thrilling. “Soo, guessing you're good here.” She started awkwardly from the doorway, the boy hardly giving her a glance before returning to his game.
“Yeah.” Short, curt, and all but screamed 'Go away, please, I'm busy.
“Not going to try to find what I got you?” Was that a little blatant? She guessed so at the brief, side-long stare he gave her.
“Nah.” She nodded and watched him play for a bit more if only to make the silence less weird. It was weird to feel weird around someone you raised, but that was what happened when kids hit 'that' age. She wasn't sure if this was the right age for it, but everyone was different. Thankfully, she didn't have to stand there for long before the doorbell rang and Kade hollering from below for someone to get the door. Junior probably had it, but Tess wasn't going to let a chance to escape go by.
“Well, yeah, glad to see you're being mature about this. I'm gonna go get that.” She waited a moment for him to acknowledge that, but it didn't come and she didn't plan on standing around for a hormonal teenager's approval. She left the door open as she headed down the stairs to let Jacob in, relieved to be around someone she didn't feel confused on. Jacob was at the door with a box that probably weighed a ton with how he was straining himself to look not exhausted. The walk from the church was pretty long, especially if you're carrying a box full of..
“Weights? Jesus, Jacob, he's seventeen.” She rolled her eyes at her younger brother as she took the box from him, letting out a soft 'oof' at the sudden weight. He frowned at her as he walked by, not hesitating to fall onto the couch.
“Yeah, well, good a time as any to start beefing up. He deserves it after ditching us at the Tomato Festival.” He said the latter with a snort, having somehow taken that just a little personal. Or he may have been throwing his agitation at having lost to a group of girls onto Brian, which she guessed was some kind of improvement. She shook her head at him as she went to the coat closet beside the door to unceremoniously drop the weighted box atop – oh, she hoped that crack wasn't a bad sound. She winced as she closed the door to drop down beside Jacob on the couch. Everything seemed to be going fine, they just needed the guests to arrive.☼✿☐☽✌
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High-functioning Marshmallow
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Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 4:00 am
Haruka was not really the party type, to be honest. She wasn't shy or socially anxious, so it wasn't like they made her nervous or anything. Staying home or being out with people, her stress levels were usually the same. But for some reason, parties filled her with a strong, unavoidable sensation of NO, an overwhelmingly negative emotion that usually was enough to dissuade her from social gatherings and prompted her to just stay home instead. She just didn't like the quantity of people, all crammed into one space, that's what the problem was. It was an issue of density, made her feel suffocated. And yet, here she was, standing on the Waldroup's front porch, about to embark on an activity that she didn't usually participate in. She had been working for Kade for twenty years, so even though she wasn't that close to the rest of the clan, she still felt like she should go and be a good friend-slash-employee, that to not go would be an insult to her boss. So, while she definitely wasn't comfortable, she was here, and that had to count for something.
Even though she had reached the house, she hadn't knocked or anything. She wanted to make sure she had everything -- a small, neatly wrapped box for Kade, her phone in case something happened with Axel, plus the tray of cookies she balanced in one hand -- before she announced herself, just in case she forgot something and had to run home to get it. She was poking through her purse with one manicured finger when she noticed she was no longer alone. A brunette woman had stepped on to the porch next to her, a woman Haruka recognized from around town and work, but didn't know beyond 'her name starts with a Y, Goddess why can't I remember her name'.
Yuri grinned at her porch-mate, but only got a cold stare in return. The younger woman didn't let it bother her; she had been a member of the King family long enough to get used to stares of all varieties. There wasn't much else she could do, so she stared back! The two women were the same height, of similar builds, and even their shoes seemed to add the same number of inches. Yuri straightened up and tossed her hair back over her shoulder, as gray unblinkingly met blue, and a tension crackled in the autumn air. For some reason, she wanted to demonstrate to this woman, somehow, her relationship with the Waldroup's. It was silly, it wasn't a competition... or was it?
Yuri flashed Haruka one more smile before stepping forward and opening the door, without knocking or ringing the doorbell or anything else that would have given them a chance to deny her entry. She simply stepped over the threshold, leaning onto the door with one hand and dangling a shopping bag of presents over her head with the other. It was now that she realized that Tess was there, and she let out a soft "Oh," at the realization. She didn't seem that thrown by it, and she broke into a grin as she greeted the old woman. "Surprise! Your guest has arrived! ...Where is everybody?" she glanced around as she closed the door right in Haruka's face. This was not the first time Yuri had barged into their house unannounced, but it was the first time she had done it bearing gifts.
Outside, Haruka's mouth had opened in a small O of indignation. That encounter had been rude on so many levels, she had to take a moment to stand in offended silence before she could do anything else. But after that, what else was there to do but ring the doorbell? Ugh, she felt so lame.
Coming up the driveway were two unlikely faces. Jian and Chun Fei wouldn't really consider Brian their friend, or they his. Sure, they had interacted a few times at school over the years, but that was hardly enough to consider him a friend, and did you have to be friends to go to someone's birthday party? That's what they had told their mother at least. Mei had seen the posting and rushed home right away to announce that they were going to the party. Jian had whined and Chun Fei had shed a few tears for good measure, but Mama Li had made her decision and there wasn't anything they could do to get out of it. ...Maybe they could have gone to the library or something instead, but the twins, despite their grouching, had decided that it was better to obey her than to risk making her angry. Their mother had never gotten truly angry before, and that's what scared them.
They came empty-handed, of course, and looked less than enthusiastic. Jian's face was twisted in a scowl, and Chun Fei fiddled with the bow on her dress nervously. They had walked here in silence, both teenagers preferring to stew in their dread rather than talk, and they stepped up onto the porch in silence as well, Jian with one large step and Chun Fei with a dainty little hop. They paid no attention to Haruka, and stood and waited for the door to open.
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Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 12:28 pm
Jacob had taken over the television before Theresa had a chance, not that she really cared either way. She didn't really sit back and watch too much television unless someone else was already doing it anyway. Between Brian and Kaleb, she didn't get much of a chance to figure out what she preferred, which suited Jacob just fine as he had it on some basketball game between two teams neither were really familiar with. But, there were balls involved and men being 'real men' so he was satisfied with it. At least until Yuri had entered the house without much warning, surprising Jacob into sitting up straight before he recognized who it was. They both smiled in a friendly manner as Theresa stood up and Jacob went back to the television. “Hey! Glad to see you made it, Yuri. Junior's in the kitchen with Kade baking, I think.”
Speak of the devil, just as she said that the doorbell rang and Junior had crept out into the hallway to make his way to the door. Not that he had a chance to reach it as Theresa had hooked his arm with one of hers and motioned to Jacob to get up with her free hand. “Don't worry, Uncle Jake's got it – look who showed up!” She indicated Yuri as if Junior couldn't see the girl, which she probably thought was the case with how long his bangs were getting. Truthfully, Junior had heard her from in the kitchen, which may or may not have been the encouragement he needed to go out and attempt to greet strangers into the home, considering the chances were high that he would see a friend.
He smiled at her, “..Hi, Yuri.” His smile lessened as Jacob snorted behind him, moving past the trio to open the door and greet the girls there. Really, it was pathetic to see his nephew acting like that around a girl at his age. It was forgivable for a time, but it was hard to not roll his eyes before he opened the door to greet Haruka and some kids Brian probably knew at school.
“Hey. You're,” He paused a moment to force himself not to make a face, “Kade's employee, right? He's in the kitchen.” Ugh, he didn't care how 'childish' Tess called it, that name gave him goosebumps just saying. He looked to the teens next, “For Brian, yeah? Okay, hold up.” He turned to yell up the stairs, cupping his mouth with his hands, “YO, BRIAN! People here for you!” There was a pause before Brian shouted back a quick affirmative, giving Jacob permission to motion the kids inside and head back to his spot on the couch.
Brian was coming down the stairs seconds later, disappointed for a moment that it wasn't Asa, but it was hard to maintain that when the cute twins showed up out of the blue for him. He looked over both because, one, they may have presents, but it was mostly because Jian and Chun Fei were totally on the top of his list of people he wouldn't mind 'hanging out' with, if you caught his drift. “Hey! I didn't think you guys would come! Cool.” He stopped to the side of the door to allow them to walk through, “There's video games upstairs if you want to play?” It was the only fun thing they could do for now, at least. Anything else would have to wait until after Theresa broke out the beer.☼✿☐☽✌
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High-functioning Marshmallow
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Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 4:01 pm
"HELLOOOOOOOO!!!!! I've come bearing gifts!" He said as dropped most of the on the ground, finally resting his arms, and getting a good look at who was there. Oh! There was that girl from the salon! He loooooved going there and getting everything done. They said that the real beauty was in the inside, which was true, but it didn't mean it had to come in a crappy package! Oh, and there was Jacob too! Jacob was a close friend of the family! He remember all those time him and his father had went out on camping trips, which had him so jealous of them growing up. Not that he cared much about camping, BUT THEY GOT TO HANGOUT TOGETHER WITHOUT HIM WHIHC TOTALLY WASNT FAIR. And then there was also a bunch of kids, none of which he knew. Man, high school was a long time ago... He wondered which one of them was Brian.. Oh. DUH. The one that didn't look asian. He rolled his eyes at not guessing that right away.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIDDO!" He quickly fumbled through the various gift boxes he had, took five of them and shoved them in Brian's arms... or threw them. It was the same thing for Wilhelm. In those boxes, the teen would find a soccer ball - he seemed to remember someone mentioning at some point that he liked soccer, which Wilhelm loved too, which totally made them immediately BFFs - and various sport magazines and posters of famous players, a next-gen video console -because kids loved video games, duh - , a variety of hair products -because you had to look good if you wanted to go on dates and which seventeen year old boy didn't want to go on dates -, as well as various clothes for the same reason. And the last box was filled with various chocolate, as well as some wine coolers, which Wilhelm would totally claim were supposed to go to Kade if anyone found them and started asking questions.
He then took another, smaller box and handed it to Tess, or he hoped to the Goddess that it was Tess. He hadn't seen the woman very often in his life and had to take a guess there.... by picking the one who looked the oldest. Thankfully, it had been a good guess. "For the lady of the house! " It was only appropriate that he got her something too, right? If he hadn't, she would hav ehtought him being rude, and hated him, and kicked him out of the house and then everyone who would have been there would have hated him too and then spread rumours about him and he would be without friends and then Peter would be ashamed of hanging out with him and John would too and oh my god he just had to buy her a small necklace and hope she liked it. Oh God, breath, Wilhelm, breath.... Okay, all better. "Because you're awesome and you did all that and needed to be rewarded too! ....please don't hate me." Maybe he shouldn't have said that last bit... Oh well. It was too late now. OH GOD HE WAS RUDE AND IGNORING THE OTHER GUESTS. "HIJACOBHIHARUKAHIKIDSIDONTKNOWHIOTHERLADYIDONTKNOWBYHASREALLYAWESOMESKINANDWHERESKADE?" Yeah, he had forgot about Junior, but the man was probably used to it by now.
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Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 3:48 pm
 
-Brooke Page-
Calling the Waldroups odd would probably be an understatement. And this was something Brooke repeated as she arrived at the home with a small gift in hand. It wasn't as if she spent any time here really, but Brian has been in her class for... well as long as she could remember and they got along enough. Besides it wasn't as if half the town didn't know about Kade's hyper antics, but then again she wouldn't know much since that was when she was a child. Oh well, there was buzz all about around them anyways, they were a fun bunch. So it sounded pretty good to come over to this, but Brooke was having some second thoughts on more than halfway over here. The sky seemed quite ominous, but she figured that would clear up. Probably... The weather wasn't that bad. Oh how silly of her to think so.
Of course she was almost at the home when things were pretty ugly, and by the time she managed to get to the place itself and slip in right after a very loud man which spent some holidays in the background to her... very loud background, well all hell definitely broke loose atmospherically wise. The girl barely managed to run a few hands through her hair so it would calm a bit from that hectic arrival before looking for Brian or his mom or anyone really. "Hey Brian. Happy Birthday" said the girl with a slight smile. There really was no comparison to the overexcited bundle next to her. She'd barely recognize some of the people here, not that she really knew them but those were the perks of a small island. You know everyone, but you don't really know everyone.
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Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 7:54 pm
Yuri hadn't realized she had startled Theresa and Jacob (though it was natural they would be, she had just barged in without any warning) so she simply returned their smiles, and would have given Theresa a hug if the older woman hadn't been on the move. "Of course I made it! I'd never miss an opportunity to party with you guys." She would have preferred it if it had been Junior or Tess or Jacob's birthday instead of Brian, just because it probably would have meant it'd be a more adult celebration. How much booze would there be, anyway?
For some reason, it was a bit of ticklish feeling to be associated with Junior right away, and if she had been younger she probably would have protested, like "I don't always have to go running to Junior" in that defensive way of hers, but she was grown up now, so she resisted the urge and simply looked in the direction of the kitchen. Just in time, too! Her orange-haired bff had appeared, and Yuri's smile spread into a grin. "Hi, Junior," she returned. "Happy not-birthday," she greeted him, as the door opened and she glanced back to see the stylist and some kids. She made eye contact with Haruka for a split second, then slipped her free arm around Junior's and smiled up at him. (How great was it to smile up?) "I brought gifts, where should I put them?"
All of a sudden, there seemed to be a explosion of sorts, and Yuri turned her head to see Wilhelm burst in. She recognized him from around town, but couldn't think of a name or anything. She was startled, but he had said she had awesome skin (she assumed he was referring to her, but she always assumed people were referring to her) and so she figured he couldn't be too bad. "Wow, I've been one-upped," she said pleasantly, looking at the mass of presents the new arrival had brought.
The door had been opened by Jacob, to Haruka's disappointment. It wasn't Kade, or Kade's son, or Kade's sister, who seemed amiable enough. It was the brother, who had never done much to impress her, probably because she worked with Kade and that doomed their relationship irreparably. "Haruka," she corrected him, but he had already focused on the kids who had come in with her. She had taken that 'he's in the kitchen' as an invitation to come in, and so Haruka stepped inside, looking around at how it was decorated. Even though they had been working together for a long, she and Kade had a pretty steady work-only relationship, and it felt strange to be in his house. "Hello," she greeted the other people in the entry, the Waldroup's plus Yuri, whom she looked at for a brief moment, her gaze flat yet packed with subtle judging. "Thanks for having me," she managed to get out before Wilhelm materialized out of nowhere. Haruka was as outwardly unflappable as ever, but decided she couldn't handle hanging around him for much longer, so once she had the chance, she slipped out of the entry and down the hall, to the kitchen.
It was much quieter there, and it was just Kade, and already Haruka could relax a bit. "Happy birthday, Kade," she greeted him with a small smile. "Belated birthday, I mean. What are you making?" She stepped into the kitchen and looked around. She liked kitchens. If it weren't such a dorky thing to do, she'd spend most parties in the kitchen. "Oh, I made cookies. You probably don't need them, but just in case," she explained, glancing around for spare counter space to put her tray.
Back in the front of the house, Jian and Chun Fei had been invited in by Brian, and so they stepped inside, but still lingered close to the door in awkward silence. Chun Fei stared at her feet, and Jian glanced around with mild disinterest. They were startled that he seemed pleased to see them, and had they been kinder people they probably would have felt bad for dreading this day. But they were not kind people, so they were just baffled instead. At the mention of video games, though, Jian perked up. "Games? What kind?" he asked, automatically beginning to walk towards the stairs. Now video games, he could get behind that. Chun Fei silently followed, until some strange man appeared from behind them and started yelling and throwing gifts all over the place. Jian scowled at Wilhelm, while Chun Fei looked at him in terror. She didn't like it when adults shouted, even if they were enthusiastic shouts because they still made her feel like something was wrong.
Another girl had showed up, and that seemed to fix Chun Fei a little bit. Her fear subsided as she had something new to focus on. Brooke was from their class, but that was the extent of her knowledge. To be honest, Chun Fei wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed that she wasn't the only girl anymore. Maybe it was mix of both.
Jian had paused to frown at the sudden, loud intrusion, but his impatience eventually won out. "So," he said loudly, to get Brian's attention; Goddess forbid he actually refer to the guy by name. "Video games? Are we gonna play or not?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 5:06 am
 Lily quite liked this house. Only one of the residents was her follower, but even Junior's father didn't seem that bad, and he had all those nice rabbits~ She didn't dare get too close, even bunnies were scary up close, but from a distance they were great~ On top of it all, Lily was quite fond of Junior. He was a little unlucky, but he did his best, and he was a good son and a good friend. And what a relief that he was the principal of the school now! Feeling quite proud of her follower's progress this year, Lily went to the living room after admiring the rabbits from a distance. On the coffee table, she set down a small blue box topped with a striped blue ribbon. Inside the box was a knit hat, in a nice grassy green color to go with Junior's orange hair, and topped with a large pom-pom. A blue envelope, one corner tucked beneath the box, displayed the name Junior Waldroup in neat lettering.
[ooc: ignore this paradox please, just posting really fast, sorry to interrupt the flow]
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High-functioning Marshmallow
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Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 2:19 am
“Whoa, whoa, slow down, dude.” Theresa winced after the sudden attack on her eardrums, drowning out any other entrances that could have been made and scaring Junior nearly to death, it seemed. She had never seem him look so pale in their own home, not since he was still an awkward little preteen still getting used to his name. Even Kade had poked his head out from the kitchen to look down the hallway at all the hubbub, before returning to whatever he was still doing back there, probably because Jacob looked like he was about to burst a vein. She couldn't tell what exactly he was feeling, but she knew for certain that everyone was overwhelmed outside of Brian, who had his eyes on the gifts. He was down there in a second, squirming between the small crowd to start grabbing at the presents and shoving them into Brooke's, Jian's, and his arms so they could carry them off before his mother had time to protest.
“Yeah, let's go. C'mon.” He urged with a nod of his head to the stairs before heading on up to show them the way, turning off into Junior's room quickly. He dropped the presents unceremoniously on the floor, which wasn't too bright of an idea if the sounds of glass rattling was any indication. He rose his brows at that one, but, considering the guy who had brought in all the presents, he had to guess it was just ceramic unicorns or something like that. Lame. He started to open the soccer ball instead, which was weird to see since he had sorta lost all hope for soccer; was there even enough kids in school to have a real match? He guessed he could just kick it around a bit..
Back downstairs, Theresa had noticed the stunt Brian had pulled, but she was a bit more focused on the box shoved onto her, her nephew, and her brother – ah, hell, she was going to need a drink quick. She dropped Junior's arm, secure the guy would probably either scurry out of the room shortly regardless of what she did, and turned to Jacob. “Hey, get me a beer, Jake? I'm going to finish the game with, uh,” She looked at Wilhelm, blanking on the name because she really didn't know him at all, “..this guy.” She indicated him with a nod as she shifted the package to one arm and grabbed Wilhelm to lead him to the living room. She thought he had said something about Kade, but, yeah, it was sort of hard to understand half of what he said and she trusted herself to keep him from blowing their ears out more than Kade. The man would just encourage it.
...If Kade wasn't so focused on the cake, that is! The man was staying out of the living room, yep, because, while he did love Jacob and felt they had such a chance at a brotherly friendship, he also accepted that he was the most likely one to get hit in that room if the guy came a little too close to that limit of his. Which always seemed a little small, but, whatever, Kade would muse on that some other time! He was busy figuring out the temperature for the cake – should he go with what he did with tarts..? It was similar enough, right? He just had his hand on the knob when Haruka greeted him, causing the man to turn quickly with an excited smile, “Haruka! I didn't know you were coming! Did you have something to tell me – oh.” Not a wedding invitation? Darn it.
He smiled anyway at the happy birthday anyway and took the tray from her, clearing the counter with one arm – most of it was empty cartoons of eggs, milk, and whatnot that he hadn't bothered to thrown out yet anyway. “Thank you! I didn't think anyone else would remember! I'm in charge of the cake!” He answered proudly as he glanced at the cookies – ah, they looked tasty~ He resisted, though, for the sake of his waistline. “They look great – I'm sure it won't be necessary, though. I'm making enough cake to fill everyone – it's going to be delicious too, might I add! Maybe it'll give you some inspiration on what to do for your wedding cake, Haruka.”
Back out in the living room, Junior was scrunching his shoulders and doing his best to fade into the background – which seemed to work, though it didn't really make him all that happy that it did. He was actually hoping for this party to go without him ending up in some forgotten corner of the pantry, but, oh, well. He got to say hi to Yuri, at least. He was just about to accept his fate as the invisible man when Theresa had tugged Wilhelm down to the couch, Jacob had left to get beer as requested, the kids were upstairs, and Haruka had gone away at some point during that. That left him and Yuri, who surprisingly hadn't forgotten him – or maybe she just needed someone to take the gifts from her? It was still better than he was hoping for previous! “..I'm.. sorry, I can take those for you, Yuri.” He said as he opened his arms to allow her to drop the gifts on him, not really wanting to go so far as to grab them from her – what if she didn't want him to touch them? He might tear the paper or drop them or maybe she would prefer to just not associate with him period outside of the basic pleasantries? He swallowed nervously and lowered his arms just so he could be sure she didn't feel pressured, like he was expecting her to trust him enough for that.☼✿☐☽✌
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Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 7:31 am
Jian frowned as Brian dumped some of those gifts in his arms, and he quickly passed them off to Chun Fei, who nearly dropped one of the boxes in her surprise. Stretching his arms back behind his head, as if demonstrating that he couldn't take the presents back, he looked at Brian and returned the nod rather blankly. "Cool," he said, following Brian up the stairs with determined steps. The kid hadn't answered his question about what kind of games, so he was curious. Chun Fei gave the others a quick glance before shuffling after her brother. She relaxed slightly once they were away from the adults, though she still felt out of place. No one really seemed to acknowledge her, which was frustrating on one level, and the boys were distracted being boys, and there wasn't much space for a Faye here. Silently moping, Chun Fei followed Brian and Jian up the stairs, and as she was the one still carrying gifts, she went by Brian's example and began to unload them onto the bedroom floor. Instead of just dropping them, though, she crouched down, tugging her skirt over her knees, and began to stack them gently on the floor. Brian may not have cared, but Chun Fei knew better than to make a mess.
Jian glanced at his sister tidying up the pile of gifts, and then shifted his gaze over to Brian, tearing into a packaged soccer ball. He didn't want to play soccer. He was not very athletically inclined, and team sports seemed like a big waste of time. He frowned at Brian, bothered by his nonchalance. "I thought you said videogames," he said sourly. Jian didn't like being lied to!
Back in the kitchen, Haruka murmured a small thanks as Kade relieved her of her treats, though her smile didn't last long -- he was making the cake? Had he ever made cake before? "I'm sure it'll be great," she said, reassuring herself that he must have known what he was doing. "You can eat these later if you want. They'll last a while as long as they're covered..." She glanced at the empty cartons scattered around the kitchen and reminded herself that this was not her party, she was a guest, and she couldn't control everything. ...At least not completely. "Would you like some help?" she asked, trying not to sound too concerned.
"...Wedding cake?" Haruka raised an eyebrow at this remark. "What wedding cake?" Was someone getting married? Had her mother volunteered her to help with the food again? It could have been an offhand remark, but she had been working with Kade for two good decades, and she knew that it was better to address these things.
The front of the house had emptied significantly, as the kids disappeared upstairs and Tess had gone to distract Wilhelm, and the others had slipped off as well. It was like someone had flipped a switch and everyone had dispersed. She glanced around, wondering if she wanted to track Jacob down to find the beer, or join Tess and Wilhelm, or wander into the kitchen -- but then Junior spoke, and she decided to stick with him for a little bit longer. "Thanks," she said warmly as she handed him the bag, feeling good without that weight on her arm~ "I slipped something in there for you too, just so you know. Your birthday's next, right?" she smiled up at him. For some reason, she reached up and patted him on the cheek, following an impulse. She could tell he was uncomfortable, her socially anxious boy. "Now, did I hear something about beer?" she changed the subject, clapping her hands together once. "I could use some booze, what about you, Junior?" she grinned. Ahh, she was really in her element, she felt more upbeat than she had in seasons~
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High-functioning Marshmallow
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Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 12:28 am
~Upstairs, in Junior's Room~
Brian had purposely avoided giving Chun-Fei stuff to carry, simply because she seemed too delicate to expect heavy labor out of – not that the presents were really hard to carry, but the point was his surprise at seeing her walk in with Jian empty-handed. They didn't look that alike, he couldn't have mistaken one for the other, right..? He didn't want to risk that, though, and decided to keep it to himself, just focus on Jian while Chun Fei had time to adjust or whatever she needed to get out of her shell. He snorted at the waspish statement, finding it humorous more than anything – hey, he enjoyed the hell out of Asa, didn't he? And the kid was as crabby as kids got.
“Yeah, like I'm going to play soccer in a bedroom.” He replied as he tossed the ball behind him, glancing to make sure it landed on the bed before turning to the screen to look at a freeze-frame of what he guessed was the colonnade he knocked over with the tank he had hijacked. The game was fun, but not the best graphics and he really doubted it would have a co-op mode anyway. He crawled up to the XBOX 360 and put away the game, “There's Halo, uh, Hawken, and.. I think maybe Killzone has co-op? And.. Tetris Evolution, huh.” He didn't remember that being at his cousin's. He shrugged and looked at Jian, “Take your pick! You don't have to play with me, though..” He scooted back so he could see Chun-Fei too, “Your sister and I can watch and hang on the bed.” ..s**t, did that sound too forward? He kept his calm regardless of the worry, leaning back to wait for Jian to decide.
~Downstairs, in the Kitchen~
Oh, of course he would eat those later! Kade was still eying them even after he had mentioned the cake, having trouble not snatching one of the up for a quick snack~ He was getting hungry, but he guessed having a drink may help somewhat? Luckily, Jacob had just entered the kitchen to get the previously request beer and, earlier worries of being struck already forgotten, Kade didn't hesitate to wave at him. Jacob didn't respond, keeping his attention fixedly on the task at hand, which didn't do much, anyway. Kade just opened his maw instead, “Can you get me a light beer, Jakey?” He chimed before looking back at Haruka so he could continue pressuring the girl into-- The refrigerator door was slammed shut and Jacob stilled, taking a moment of deliberation that drew Kade's attention back to the man. Finally, Jacob let out a sigh and reopened it, setting one of the low-calorie beers on the counter for Kade before stalking off without another word.
Oh, that was so nice of him! ♥ Kade was rather chipper as he walked to grab the beer, speaking again now that that tense meeting was out of the way. “Anyway, I don't need any help – it's all done! But if you ever need help, you know, planning anything... I can totally help. Maybe, like, a party? Something that, I don't know, vows eternal love and, like, other romantic things like thaaat?” Maybe he should just outright say it? But hinting was so much more polite and it wasn't like him and Haruka were close enough outside of work for him to meddle too much. Not that Kade ever meddled! He just gave his opinion when necessary, which happened to be a lot, but how was that his fault anyway?
~Downstairs, by the front door~
Ahhh, she trusted him with the presents! Of course she did, Yuri trusted Junior to bring her drunken self home regularly enough, she had to trust him! But, it was hard to stop the usual flood of doubts with the man, especially with all the stress of an open-house party like this. He clutched the presents to his chest carefully, not wanting to drop a parcel after she had thanked him. He was just working up the guts to tell her that he was always happy to help her, even in things that weren't just presents for his cousin. But, then he had been given a present and he felt his eyes burn because he was so persistent in believing no one would remember or bother with a day centered around something as pointless as his birth. He was just thankful she had changed the subject so quickly before he actually did start crying. “A-ah, I don't..” He didn't usually drink, but he guessed it wouldn't hurt to hold an open container and watch the rest of them. He didn't want to disappoint her, after all. “....Yeah, I'd like some, um, booze.” That word felt odd to say.
He opened the coat closet by the front door to carefully set the presents in, hesitating as he wanted to find which one was his and maybe run to his room to open it privately so he could spend the rest of the night crying about how wonderful whatever it was was. ...That was a bit of an exaggeration; Junior would probably never open the present and simply stare at it in wonder until tomorrow morning. In any case, Brian was upstairs, so he couldn't do any of that. He closed the door as Jacob came by with the beer, his uncle pausing to glance at them curiously, “Are you guys just gonna stand there? Kade's room's open if you need some space.” It would just make his day if Junior brought a girl to Kade's bed, of all places. He was almost hopeful at the thought, even if the idea was so implausible it killed what hope he had in the next generation of manly Waldroups the family had.
☼✿☐☽✌
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Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 2:26 am
Junior's room
Jian was glad the soccer ball had been tossed away, but he still frowned at Brian skeptically. On the one hand, he sort of admired the guy for not letting Jian's sharp tongue bother him, but on the other hand he sort of resented him for laughing. He was very used to his harsh demeanor having more of a punch than that. Still, he couldn't stay annoyed for long, not when there were videogames to be played! Mei was not a big fan of violent games, and while she could tolerate something tame like Nintendogs, she fretted whenever he mentioned games with guns. This was a rare opportunity, he wasn't going to ruin it by offending the key guy.
Maybe Brian was just being polite by saying that he could play alone, but that was all the permission Jian needed. "Okay, that's fine," he said solemnly, stepping forward to access the games. He really didn't care which one he played as long as he was playing it, so he swapped the closest one and held it out for Brian to put into the console; he didn't know how to work an Xbox afterall. "You can sit with Fei, I'll play." Already, he had stopped paying attention to what his sister and classmate were doing, his eyes were firmly fixated on the screen.
Chun Fei hesitated. Sitting on the bed with a boy? She didn't really trust Brian, but... well, that wasn't much of a problem, even though the idea made her turn pink. Besides, she was too accustomed to following her brother's commands to really say no -- he didn't demand it directly, but by giving Brian permission, he was essentially telling her to do it. Looking down at her feet, she pressed her bangs down then moved over to the bed, where she sat daintily at the edge, her hands folded in her lap. She didn't really want to watch her brother play games while she sat with this crude kid, but... well, it was an experiment. Raising her head, she flashed Brian a small, shy smile, before averting her gaze. That had been deliberate, but her pink face and anxiety weren't things she could manufacture so easily.
Kitchen
Haruka glanced at Jacob as he entered, pursing her lips as he passed by. It felt strange to chat with Kade in front of his brother, though it was probably just because she had never really bothered to get to know her boss's family. She just wasn't comfortable crossing that boundary just yet, so she remained reserved as long as Jacob was in the room. She watched him rather aggressively retrieve a beer for Kade, and once he had stormed out, she relaxed every so slightly.
Kade hadn't answered her question about the cake, which did little to soothe her concerns, but he had continued onto more potentially problematic topics! "Eternal love? Vows?" she repeated as it began to dawn on her what he was talking about. Not that it made her any less confused, it was sort of an odd time to bring this up. "Do you mean a wedding?" she asked, setting her bags down; she could give Kade his gift later. "Kade, I'm sure you more than anyone knows my mother isn't seeing anyone," she continued, feigning ignorance. "Or are you referring to Zelynity?" She was running out of names. Who else did she know, whose hypothetical wedding she'd hypothetically plan? Aside from herself, of course.
Entry
Yes! He hadn't said no! Junior probably should know better than to enable Yuri's drinking, but she also was guilty, since it was obvious how stressed out he was, and it was easier to get agreements out of people when they were overwhelmed. "Great! I could use some wine. I'll get you a glass too, unless you want something else?" She knew Junior wasn't a big drinker, but she couldn't resist the chance to tease. She was just in such a good mood!
The topic of wine was more or less forgotten, though, as she waited for Junior to finish putting away the gifts, and Jacob passed by. He said something about some space, and on reflex, Yuri smiled at him and winked. She didn't really know why she did, nor did she realize she had done it until the moment had passed and she was left to think about what he had said. She cocked her head to the side thoughtfully. She wasn't naive, so she knew what Jacob was getting at, but Junior? She looked at her orange-haired friend. Well, it wasn't like she hadn't thought about it before... But it had seemed sort of bizarre, what with everything going on and June and all that, she had just shrugged it off as an impulse. But yet again, she couldn't ignore the chance to tease. "What do you say, Junior?" she said in a low voice, leaning forward so he could better hear her. "Kade's room is open." This was such a fun party already!
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Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:50 pm
 Orchid’s next stop was to see Kade. They had been through a lot together. The ups and the downs, ohhh the downs were so awful! Orchid just wished that she could cradle his perfect little head while he went through any problem, but then he wouldn’t have any time to learn from them. No, she performed best when she stood back and let him work his way back to normal on his own. She was happy that he was getting back to normal and had all of those lovely little bunnies! Orchid rushed to Kade’s room and smiled at him. Ah, she wished he would dye that hair again. Brown did look nice, but where was the excitement! He owned a salon, after all. He needed to abuse his power and get a free makeover! Oh, now Orchid wished that she could go get her own makeover! That wasn’t important now, though. What was important now was how great Kade had been this year! Sure, he had experienced some trauma (thanks to Ilex), but he had made it through! He was stronger now! Orchid just really wished that he could find a big, strong man to carry him off into the sunset. The little bunnies would hop along behind! Oh it would just be so beautiful! She made her way over to his end table and placed a plush bunny with a large emerald for a stomach down next to an envelope with Kade Waldroup written on it in lovely handwriting. With that finished, she zoomed off to her next lovely little follower.
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Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 5:57 pm
~Upstairs, in Junior's Room~
Brian stared at Jian for a moment, honestly surprised the guy hadn't even hesitated to pick to play by himself. Well, that was cool with him! It just meant he got to chat with Chun Fei a bit~ He took the game Jian picked and put it in, only briefly glancing at the game because, well, he got a vibe that Jian hadn't ever played any of these things, let alone had a preference in what game he liked. So, he stuck his mental power on Chun Fei, who, after he glanced back to check on her, had given him the shyest, sweetest smile – okay, wow. He wondered how much cuter she would look when she wasn't so tense around him, but the only way to figure that out was to let her get to know him! So, he patted Jian on the shoulder and handed him the controller, “Cool! You're all set up, man. Don't knock out a tooth or anything, these games can get rough.” He paused a moment to wait for the laugh before realizing that was more of a family joke than anything. A lame, stupid family joke that had an even lamer story behind it that he shouldn't have brought up at all.
He turned before he could bask in the embarrassment for too long and went to sit next to Chun Fei, shaking the bed as he plopped down beside her with a casual grin. “Chun Fei, right? I don't think we've ever talked before.” ...They hadn't, had they? Oh, wow, it was weird that there was someone this cute in class and he hadn't bothered to say hi. He guessed he was just too busy hanging around Asa. “I guess we're always with someone else, huh?” Well, mostly him, but then he guessed he always saw Chun Fei hanging around Jian, so it was probably the truth for her too. “Well! I'm glad you came anyway – hey, I don't think I heard a happy birthday from you. Or anything, actually. You can talk, right?” ...He really hoped she wasn't, like, a mute or something.
~Downstairs, in the Kitchen~
Ah! Finally! Kade wasn't sure how much longer he could force himself to not just blurt out what he wanted to say – all those hints were so annoying and sorta hard to do without being totally obvious! He smiled brightly as she said the word, snapping open the drink as she continued talking and, oh, was that smart because he felt he needed a drink during that. How could she go from so right to so off in a moment? Kade was going to get frustrated at this rate, but he had to remain peppy, even if the beer tasted so.. bitter. Ugh, he knew Tess had said he would eventually get used to it, but he was [CENSOR] years old and it still tasted like, well, garbage! He didn't want to disappoint her, though, so he continued to sip at it, spinning the can lightly in hand as he waited for his chance to speak.
“Noooooo, sweet pea, I'm talking about you. You and Raiden, you know? You guys have been together for, like, ever and you even have a kid – but where are those wedding bells, honey? I can't hear them ringing!” He threw his hands up, hazardously jerking the beer that threatened to do more than simply splash loudly within the can, but Kade was on a spiel! He couldn't stop to think about where the contents of his can may go! “If you aren't careful, you're going to come home and see he's gone off to Europe because someone else showed they were willing to go all the way for their relationship.” That may or may not be a teensy bit of bitterness showing through from that one itty bitty situation a long time ago, but it was too late to pull back now. He wanted to be a bridesmaid, darn it, or at least a guest!
~Downstairs, by the front door~
Of course, he wanted to have whatever Yuri was having because Junior just really didn't drink and had no clue what he would prefer or what he wouldn't. The few times he had actually tried it – just to be.. a little more 'social', maybe, though that hadn't worked out very well – he couldn't remember what he had even drunk in the first place, let alone whether he liked it. Before he could tell her as much, though through a series of long silences as he considered each word carefully so as not to make himself look worse than he already appeared, Jacob had come and gone and Junior was left figuring out how to tell Yuri he would really, really prefer being alone with her than being in a room full of what was going to soon be rowdy family members and strangers.
He was just opening his mouth to tell her as best as he could when the hand he had absentmindedly left on the door had to grip because he was going to pass out, oh, God. Why was she that close? Why did she sound like that? Why did that once appealing idea of being alone with someone he was comfortable around sound simultaneously better and worse? He may have responded ignorantly to the implications, but Junior, however dead his social life, wasn't that naïve at his age. It didn't mean he couldn't feign it, though. “O-oh, maybe you should go close it because w-we wouldn't want tohavesomeoneaccidentallyinvadehisprivacyexcuseme.” His voice was close to a squeak as he danced around her, arms tucked closely to his person as he hurried away from the entryway and into the living room before someone did something and he just didn't know.
~Downstairs, in the living room~
Junior was gasping for breath as he entered the living room and dropped onto the couch next to Theresa, who was in mid-conversation with one of the few guests who had randomly dropped by. Whatever she was going to say quickly was wrapped up as she observed her nephew. She set a hand on his shoulder, “You okay, kid?” She asked quickly in a lowered voice, her worry hardly subsiding as he gave a quick nod in response. A muffled snicker from a seat closer to the television brought her eyes up, earning herself another dose of confused worry as she saw the source was Jacob. He averted his gaze 'innocently' as he took a large gulp of beer, which really didn't fool the woman at all. Buuut, Junior was calming down and she couldn't see Jacob being really malicious to the man. She let go of him and shrugged, choosing to take a drink and wave a hand as a guest or two left the room to either go home or just go elsewhere in the home.☼✿☐☽✌
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High-functioning Marshmallow
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Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 10:07 am
Junior's room
The moment Jian had the game controller in his hands and the game had started, it was like no one else in the world mattered. It was like he had slipped into a different dimension, one comprised of him and him alone. He plopped down onto the floor, sitting cross-legged, and with the steely determination of a middle-aged divorcee trying to convince herself that she was still young and desirable, he proceeded to try to figure out how to play the game through trial-and-error. Mostly error. But it didn't matter that he kept dying, he was still playing an awesomely violent video game. Besides, it wasn't like Brian could understand his under-his-breath cursing, because it was in Mandarin! So great.
Over on the bed, Chun Fei had tensed up so much her shoulders were almost touching her ears. Oh goodness, he had sat down next to her. She could almost smell his gross boy smell. Her first instinct was to lean away, but how often did she get a chance to experiment a bit? Not that often, to be honest. She had smiled at him, but once he was on the bed next to her, she kept her eyes firmly fixed on her lap as he went on and on... What was he even talking about anyway? What was even the point of boys sometimes. "Faye," she said once he was done. "You.... you can call me Faye." She flicked her eyes towards his face for one brief moment of eye contact before lowering them again. How long had she been trying to get 'Faye' to stick? A long time, that's what, and it hadn't really worked out yet. Was it because it sounded just like 'Fei'? Curse her Chinese-ness. "I-I'm sorry, it's just a l-little... embarrassing..." she explained in her soft, timid voice, referring to her lack of a birthday greeting. It was embarrassing, but also she just didn't really care if it was his birthday or not. Shifting her weight slightly, her knee bumped up against his. "Oh, I'm sorry," she turned pink and let out a small squeak of an apology, but she wasn't exactly rushing to move her knee.
Kitchen
Haruka had a feeling, more or less, that Kade had been hinting at her wedding, but that was very different from hearing it said out loud! For some reason, most of the people around them knew better than to talk about it; maybe they just assumed that if two people would go almost twenty years without making it legally binding, they probably wouldn't ever make it to that point. "What does it matter if we get married or not?" she said, her tone very matter-of-fact, as she looked for a dish towel to help clean up the mess Kade was likely in the middle of making. "We love each other and we're already like any other family, a ceremony's not going to change any that," she continued, as if reciting rehearsed lines. "Besides, my mother never got married, and it never bothered her." At least, as far as Haruka could tell.
She sort of had made herself at home, beginning to tidy up the mess Kade had made when he hastily cleared the counter for her, but her brain was already starting to move into overtime. Europe? Why Europe? "Raiden wouldn't run off to Europe, either," she continued, sounding much less sure of herself. There was a brief pause. "...would he?" she looked at Kade as a quick flash of panic crossed her face.
Entry --> Living Room
Was this birthday party for Kade and the kid, or was it for heeeeer? Yuri had managed to keep a straight face as Junior freaked out, but once he was out of sight, she clapped a hand over her mouth to stop from laughing out loud. Sweet Jesus that reaction was as satisfying as she could ever have hoped. Sure, a part of her was a little disappointed that he didn't go along with it, but Yuri Allen was always disappointed that people weren't constantly trying to make out with her, this was nothing special. Still, he was just so cute, that flustered reaction, that weird way he escaped the entryway... Ah, it was almost too much to take, she had to lean against the closed closet door, her legs had gone weak~ She loved Junior, but sometimes she had to wonder how he had ever gotten laid in the first place, being like that. ...Not that he had ever mentioned anything related to a love life, usually it was just Yuri telling really, probably inappropriately, detailed stories about past encounters. Huh. Well, that could be a discussion for another day.
As her knees became less wobbly and swoon-y, Yuri just about floated into the living room. She had forgotten all about wine, and was now focusing on sharing her good mood with some of her favorite people~ Waltzing into the living room, she left Junior alone... for now. They were all watching TV? It was a party, shouldn't they be mingling, drinking, having a good time? ...She was still relatively new to the whole 'family party' thing, though, so maybe it was just her. "Tess~" she greeted her friend, leaning over the back of the couch next to Theresa's head. "How have you been? Not working too hard, right?" Yuri really admired Theresa -- she was practically exuding cartoon hearts. "I hope all these boys didn't make you do all the heavy-lifting today," she flashed a quick grin towards Jacob and Junior, hoping that they wouldn't mind her attempts to start some Girl Talk interrupting their TV time.
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