Welcome to Gaia! ::

Humming softly to herself, Myth flipped the little open sign in the front window to closed, though she didn't lock the door just yet. Elaine had asked to speak with her and it was just as easy to have her come to the shop. And as she was usually fairly punctual, Myth saw no reason to flip the deadbolt.

Besides, anyone trying to barge in for nefarious purposes was likely to end up being used to mop the floors.

As she waited, she began to tidy up the shop. Might as well since it had to be done anyway. But there was wine in the mini fridge in the back room and she could use that to reward herself for successful adulting. I wonder what Elaine wants, she thought, glancing at the windows. And isn't it a good thing that I finished her Christmas present. Even if it's a little late. So she'd be getting two things accomplished. Huzzah for her!

[quote="Rejam']

Grinning, Myth made a beeline for the pair, "Well don't you both look lovely and cozy! Give the deadbolt a turn, would you? How have you been?" She held out a hand for Petitcru to sniff, in the hopes that the little dog might one day accept her an an Okay People. "And I got input. Whether you like it is a whole other thing."

She wrinkled her nose in a smile to show she was teasing before trying to shoo Elaine to a chair.

"Sit, sit! Get comfy! Can I get you a drink? I have some freeze dried chicken if you think Peticru will like it."

Bustling around, she made sure of where the bulky, wrapped gift for Elaine was before grabbing a glass and pouring herself some wine. Then, interest shining in her eyes, she sat and leaned in. :So, what do you need my input for?"

Holding up a hand, myth gave her friend a long look before chuckling, "Slow down there. For why do you need catering? Obviously, you're planning something, but without more information, I can't make an informed opinion."

Even as she spoke, she was scanning the list and raising an eyebrow at some of the pricing. Good grief, people really paid that much for dishes? No wonder Elaine was considering the likelihood of her guests puking! "I'm going to assume that you've already considered the more common food allergies with this? I don't think I've heard of half of these dishes," Myth was laughing in earnest now, more at her own ignorance than anything else. Clearly she needed to watch more cooking shows.

"Oh!" Myth exclaimed in a faint echo of Elaine's. A fancy, catered party was not at all what she'd thought Elaine had been talking about for her birthday. And here I was, she thought a little ruefully, thinking about offering to bake up a cake. Duncan Hines definitely would not have fit the vibes this menu suggested! "Well, that makes sense now. I really should have been able to figure that out for myself. Holiday brain rot, I guess."

Now that she had a better idea of things, she read over the list once more. Honestly, she'd be willing to try just about all of it and said as much. "It's your party, so what you want should take precedence. Though I will say the sliders sound incredible. And, depending on the space you're doing this in, I would probably recommend against anything involving shellfish."

Scanning everything again, she grinned, "I'm not so sure that I'd do anything beyond cake, champagne and cherries myself. But a little real food would be smart just to avoid any diabetic comas."

The Indian buffet can stay," Myth protested with a laugh. "Only that's going to be a you and me thing and it'll be my treat." The idea of Indian food practically made her mouth water, but not everyone liked it. Safest to not have it be for a wholeass party. Instead, she nodded and looked slightly rueful. "Ugh, I should have realized that this would be at the Garde. I swear to god, my ********' brain."

She was distracted by the mental image of Niall despairing over ruined couches and closed her eyes. She'd promised to hold her tongue where he was concerned, though none of her words held any real rancor. But she didn't want to have to see the ghost upset over his home being thrashed. "I will personally drown whoever soils the couches," she declared. "Also, fondant is the worst and if your friend is a real one, they'll listen and use something sensible like buttercream. Now, if you want a little dessert platter setup, I do know a couple of little pastry shops that would be willing to work with you..."

Whipping out her own phone, she did a quick search and began to copy and paste links into a text to Elaine. "The second place I sent does killer eclairs and individual tarts. They also have a peach mousse that is to die for." Myth paused briefly, clearly thinking. Then, she seemed to reach a conclusion and hopped up. "Speaking of gifts, wait right there." She bustled to the back room before emerging a few minutes later with a wrapped bundle. "I was going to hold on to this until your birthday, but if we're going to be at the Garde, it seems silly to wait. Go on and open it."

She wisely bypassed the question of karaoke. She knew she sounded like a dying frog and she also knew that given enough encouragement in the moment that she'd be up there singing and not caring if she was making eardrums bleed.

Upon being corrected again, Myth buried her face in her hands and began to laugh softly. "Oh my god, shoot me now. I swear I'm not this slow normally." Well, if this shindig was going to be at a friend's house, then she didn't have to worry about Nail. Or anything really.

Except maybe karaoke.

And her gift was well recieved. Taking her face from her hands, she watched, grinning as Elaine opened the bundle and shook out the velvet cloak. Myth was particularly proud of how well it had come out. Especially since the velvet she'd used had been a b***h to find matching liner fabric for. And the hunt for ethical fur had been a nightmare. But here it was and Elaine was happy and for the moment, all was well within Myth's world.

"Well, even if the party isn't at the Garde, you're there often enough where that'll be handy, so it's all good. Now, since I think it's clear that my brain is about as useful as mashed potatoes, how about you tell me your whole plan before I say another stupid thing."

Then, she thought of something and decided to just throw it out. "So, you're getting catering. Is there a particular theme you want for the food? Because I know you mentioned Indian food, but also liked the slider idea. You could get paneer sliders, maybe? Or like... tofu banh mi? And maybe some easy sides that don't require too many dishes and cleaning up. Maybe skewers?"

Listening intently, Myth realized that, in this particular instance, there probably wasn’t anything she could say that would be helpful. She’d really never had sets of friends that she’d kept separate and she’d certainly never worried about how old was too old when it came to her own interests. Antiquing had no upper age limits and very little worry about looking like a creep. One could look like a pretentious a**, certainly. But creep? Not so much.

And she sure as hell had never been anything but a cake and presents type of girl.

Thinking carefully, she spoke slowly, clearly wanting Elaine to know that she was genuinely giving this matter thought. “Of course, thirty isn’t old. This isn’t Ye Olde Tymes anymore where you would have been expected to be a great-grandmother by this point. And for what it’s worth, you don’t look like you’re remotely near your thirties, babe, so I don’t think you’d have to worry about people at the club treating you like a creep. But this is about how you feel and not what they think, it seems to me.” She paused, face thoughtful as she considered all the angles. In all honesty, she’d never seen Elaine as the type to worry about things like too old. “I’m going to be super honest with you, I don’t tend to think about things like this so I am a bit out of my depth. But this is something that is important to you and because we’re friends, that means that I’m going to be here for you and I’m going to support you.”

She paused again and gave Elaine a smile and a hapless shrug. “My friend, do the things that make your heart happy. So long as you’re not causing yourself or others actual harm, have as many ragers as you need. Make out with as many cute boys and girls in the shadows as you want. A very good friend,” she gave Elaine a pointed look to let her know exactly who that friend was, “once mentioned that there needed to be joy in life to help us get through the not so great stuff. I realize I’m paraphrasing. If these things bring you joy? Do ‘em. I can’t say we’ve only got this one life since being what we are makes that a filthy ******** lie, but the sentiment is there.”

Getting up to pace a little to help her thought process, Myth walked the length of her shop twice before returning to lean over the back of her chair, arms crossed as she gave Elaine a musing look. “If you aren’t planning on settling down, why are you letting yourself worry about being too old? I’m not going to feed you that crap about only being as old as you feel, but girl. You are ******** gorgeous, you’re smart and an amazing conversationalist. Who cares if you’re thirty? It just means that you’ll be the Hot Older Woman on the scene and you’ll be treated like a queen. Enjoy it. And we’ll throw you a ******** rager for your birthday and you’ll have a blast and get some good memories stocked up, right? And next year, if you decide in your heart that the club scene isn’t for you anymore… And I mean you, yourself, not what you think others’ perceptions of you might be, well. Then, we’ll find some swanky, glamorous club to crash and introduce them to karaoke and shots. And we’ll make sure you keep enjoying life and making good, joyful memories, right?”

”Hey, I’m all for memory farming so long as I don’t end up with a crop of ‘oh my god what the ******** whyyyyyyyy’,” Myth answered with a grin. “And I will happily play the Sophia to your Blanche anyday. Or maybe Dorothy since I lack any stories about Sicily.”

Straightening up and moving around the chair, she gestured to the cloak, “Try it on real quick, if you’d be so kind? The only thing I didn’t put on it was a permanent clasp since I wanted to see where one would be most comfortable for you. I have a whole box of pretty, fancy clasps for you to pick from and I can get you all squared away very quickly.” Bustling about, Myth wondered, again, why Elaine of all people would have worries about being too old to enjoy herself. There had to be something she’d missed, but as Elaine was currently smiling, she opted not to prod. Why pick and pick and risk starting an argument? It was easier to sit back and watch and figure these things out on her own gradually.

“Also, assuming you have time, there’s a new cafe that opened up not far from here and I thought we could try it out. I saw dogs there last week, so I’m pretty sure Petitcru won’t be an issue.”