Unexpected Birthdays

[radiantchicken]

Who:Torin and anyone who should come across him.
What: Torin discovers that he, too, has a birthday.
Where: Espresso Yourself.
When: A slow news day. Late morning, November 4.
Warnings: Baby parrots. Torin being awkward.

The news has been mercifully quiet today. No news of any more attacks on the numbered or pink flashes in the sky or strange landmarks popping up overnight. Just a quiet, ordinary day. Torin is glad for that; the TV that plays the news in one corner of Espresso Yourself sometimes becomes unbearable otherwise.

In fact, today, the late morning news is spending a bit of time talking about an event at the Locke City Zoo, that's just how slow it is. "And there's a big celebration going on at the zoo today!" exclaims the perky female anchor. This catches Torin's attention enough that he glances over at the TV from the table he's busy wiping down.

"That's right, Cheryl!" the equally perky male newscaster exclaims as the camera cuts away to footage of some very gangly-looking baby parrots hatching out of their eggs. "Seven years ago today, the Locke City Zoo welcomed the birth of a litter of parrots! We have footage from that day seven years ago, when these five Red and Blue Lories came into the world! The Red and Blue Lory is an endangered parrot from Indonesia, and as part of the zoo's breeding program, this little flock marked the only time these birds have been successfully bred in captivity..."

The TV has, by now, grabbed Torin's full and undivided attention. He's mostly ignoring the newscasters jabbering on about what to call a group of baby parrots as he stares at the gangly birds on the screen, though if it's quiet enough in there and one is close enough, one might hear him mutter under his breath, "it's a pandemonium of parrots..." but aside from that, he's just staring dumbfounded at the TV. He's even dropped the cloth he was using to wipe down the table.

"And so today, they're having a parrot birthday party!" The TV cuts to a shot of four parrots--the fifth one is missing, and Torin wonders if they'll mention him--chewing up paper birthday hats and pecking at a birthday cake made of berries and seed pellets. There's another cut to a shot of elementary school aged kids watching the festivities and partaking of a parrot-shaped cake of their own, along with the newscasters continuing to talk on about the parrots and the zoo's various conservation and educational programs, and how the parrot birthday party was a yearly event at the zoo.

At this point, Torin's decided he's seen enough. He picks up the cloth he was wiping the table down with and very quickly walks back to the manager's office, where there is no TV talking about parrots at the zoo. It might be possible for anyone who is not staff at Espresso Yourself to intercept him, and anyone who does work there will easily be able to find him in his office, where he's sitting at his desk looking a little weirded out. He's just seen his own birth spontaneously broadcast on the TV, among other things. Give him a moment.

Comments

[dead_black_eyes]

Lazarus has been at work today, but he hasn't been concerned with selling coffee or cleaning or even fixing the wear and tear on repairable objects, which has been one of his primary ways to keep busy since he got his hands fixed. Hammer, crowbar, and nails in hands, he has been going around, chipping holes in plaster and drywall and creating strange pockets in wall and floors, chiefly around the buildings foundations. It seems harmless enough, if odd... but such behavior is hardly unusual for the shop's eccentric owner. He's probably got it in his head to install new light fixtures.

He glances up, though, when he hears Torin's activities behind the counter growing quiet as the once-parrot pays especially close attention to the news. Listening himself, L is able to put two and two together and figure out why.

Straightening, he sets aside his tools and follows Torin to the back room, poking his shaggy, slightly dusty head through the door.

"You know..." he starts, biting his lip. "Our birthdays are only five days apart. That's pretty cool, isn't it?"

[radiantchicken]

Torin jumps a little when L enters his office; he'd been lost in thought. If L can see his computer screen, it looks like he's on the zoo's website at the page to donate to parrot conservation. "Ah, really? What a coincidence!" He actually sounds a little embarrassed. "It's...never anything I really thought about before now. Having a birthday." He considers this. "You saw the television just now, I take it. They...showed the hatching." Which just made it weird.

[dead_black_eyes]

He catches a glimpse of the screen; the view from the door isn't perfect, but there's that sliver of light, the distinctive colors of parrots, a fairly prominent "Z". It's not hard to figure out what's going on here, and L cracks a pale smile.

"I've never celebrated mine," he comments thoughtfully. "There's enough going on on Halloween night without some poor idiot demanding recognition for surviving another year, but... that being said, it's all right to feel good about it."

He pauses, thinking about witnessing hatching.

"...it's also OK to feel weird about witnessing your own birth. I would, definitely..."

[radiantchicken]

"You haven't? That seems like something we should remedy..." He suddenly snaps his fingers. Having another birthday to worry about other than his own helps. "I'm going out to buy a cake, then. For both of us."

There's a chuckle. "I'm not even certain which of the hatchlings was me, but it was...not really anything I'd care to watch again. It made it stranger than it already was. This time last year, I'd likely only just gotten my sentience, or was just about to get it. I've changed a lot since my last birthday."

[dead_black_eyes]

"No, I..."

He jumps, slightly startled when Torin snaps his fingers.

"I mean, I like cake, but it's really not necessary. I'm an adult, and it's just..."

He shakes his head, glancing at the ground, seeming momentarily agitated and troubled.

"...do you want to get candles, too?"

[radiantchicken]

"I'm seven. I think cake's a fine idea." Torin sounds rather amused. Even if he feels awkward about having a birthday and realizing just how different he is now, something about cake is a cheerful thought. And somehow, having someone to celebrate with makes it better. More acceptable. Easier to deal with. It's not exactly misery, but he does appreciate the company.

The second question, however, gives him pause. "Candles?" Because open flames hadn't been a thing with parrots at the zoo. He doesn't know why there would be candles.

[dead_black_eyes]

L bites his lip but ultimately seems to accept that they are getting cake. It's happening. It's a thing. And he joins Torin completely in the sentiment that it's just better with company, getting older and dealing with all those implications.

"Yeah... candles," he says, smirking uneasily before clearing his throat. "The idea is to light one for every year old you are, make a wish, and blow them out, and if you get them all in one breath, your wish comes true. I mean, when I had cakes growing up, sometimes they had candles, sometimes they didn't. One year my uncle forgot until the last moment and lit the Menorah. But only eight candles, which made it extra weird because I was actually turning nine that year. It was kind of awkward."

[radiantchicken]

"We could do the candles the right way, then," Torin suggests. "With proper numbers and everything." He chuckles. "Wishes aren't quite as serious as everything else has been lately. It will be good for the both of us."

[dead_black_eyes]

"As with most matters of this sort... I defer to your judgment, Torin," L replies with a shallow sigh. "There's a bakery not too far from here. I guess we could close the shop early and go find a cake..."

[radiantchicken]

"Or we could see if they deliver," Torin suggests. See, that way, he'd be happy because they'd get a cake, and L would be happy because they wouldn't have to close early. Compromise! "And I'm sure they'd have some candles, as well, if cakes and candles are so closely linked for birthdays."

[dead_black_eyes]

It's a good idea, and L can't deny it. By this point, he's actually in the mood for cake for its own merit, rather than simply opting to humor Torin for the sake of surviving a difficult day.

"Yes, of course. I'll do so straightaway," he says, pulling out his cell phone, looking up the number and phoning it.

"Hello... yes, I need a birthday cake. Ready-made? Yes, that's fine. Um... 'Happy Birthday Torin and Lazarus,' I guess? Sure, thanks. Marble's fine. Delivery to Espresso Yourself, please, yes the coffee shop. ...I assure you it's quite safe. ...yes, I understand. The additional charge isn't a problem. And... 33 candles, if you could also provide those. See you soon."

[radiantchicken]

"Excellent." Torin's looking forward to this cake. It's his first birthday cake that isn't made out of parrot food, and even if the idea makes him feel a little awkward, a celebration seems to be in order. "I'll make some coffee to have with it."

[dead_black_eyes]

L nods to signal his consent, opening his wallet and setting a few crisp bills on the counter for when the delivery person arrives. Rather than hover by the coffee machine to wait for the coffee to finish brewing, he wanders toward the bar, taking down a bottle of barrel-aged scotch and pouring himself three fingers.

Shortly after, a pudgy woman in an apron pokes her head into the store. "I have a birthday cake order for Lazarus and Torin?" she says timidly. She eyes L with unease and Torin with outright fear.

"You can come in," L says, tilting his head, and she blanches. She sets the cake on the floor and just slides it forward about a foot.

"No, it's fine... you can just bring the money to the door and I'll take my leave."

L nods, going back to the counter and fetching the cash. As soon as the woman has it in her short-fingered hand, she's making a hasty retreat. L watches her go, shaking his head, before turning back to Torin.

"Since it's really your birthday, you can go first," he says briskly, unwrapping the candles and placing seven of them in the frosting. He raises the cake to a table, reaching into his pocket for a lighter and wordlessly lighting them.

"So... you make a wish, silently, and if you blow them out, it'll come true."

[radiantchicken]

Torin is sadly used to people being alarmed at his presence, but it's likely not worth attempting to reassure the delivery woman. For there is cake to be had, and L is handling the financial part of this.

He looks at the candles, thinks a moment on a wish--peace in Locke, the mafia stopping their actions, that sounds good--and tries to decide how he's going to blow out those candles. Blowing is kind of hard with a beak, after all. He flicks one of his wings, and the gust of wind blows out the candles. "There." He sounds satisfied with that.

[dead_black_eyes]

The beak had occurred to L as a potential problem, but Torin seems to have it under control, extinguishing the candles with an easy flap of one large wing. "Good job," he says softly. "That means your wish will come true."

When they're out, he plucks them out of the frosting, and then carefully places each of his own 26 candles in silence. Each one seems slightly more difficult after the twentieth; they were, after all, years he didn't think he'd see, and this is his first time dealing with a birthday cake in years. The last time was before his troubles, the bathtub, White Pines... He lights the candles, watching the flames waver and sway, inhaling deeply.

He closes his eyes and thinks of his wish, then opens them. His plan is to exhale in a controlled way, blow out the candles from one side of the cake to the other... but his plan fails. He has to turn away quickly, stifling a cough into his sleeve, three candles remaining lit. He turns back and registers them sadly.

"The thing about birthday candles is... the older you get, the harder it is to make your wishes come true," he says, puffing out the final three candles and preparing to cut the cake.

[radiantchicken]

Torin moves to get the coffee to go with the cake. "That just means it's all the more satisfying when they do." Melancholy? Come on, now, L, none of that. It's a birthday! And Torin doesn't see much good in dwelling on sad things, certainly. "And that you may have to take things into your own hands rather than relying on some sort of magical tradition, but that's doable."

[dead_black_eyes]

"More than doable," he agrees, shaking his head and seeming at least somewhat amused by the moment of melancholy. He plucks out the candles and starts to slice it, taking a second to grab a pair of plates and forks.

"If I've learned anything about being Numbered, it's that I can in fact change luck to some degree or another. I'm grateful for such a revelation."

[radiantchicken]

Torin sets down the filled cups of coffee. "As am I. As long as we're brave enough to make our own luck and keep pushing forward, I don't believe anything could stop us in the long run."

[dead_black_eyes]

L doesn't waste much time in drowning his coffee in cream and sugar, more than most people could even conceive of being palatable.

"Bravery is just... acting, regardless of what one feels. I'm convinced of that by now. If I'd stopped when I was afraid, I would have given up a long time ago... long before my 26th birthday. I... imagine it's very different to feel things like fear when you're a parrot," he suggests, gazing indistinctly toward the back wall.

[radiantchicken]

Torin adds a little sugar to his, though nothing anywhere near on the level of what L's adding.

He chuckles. "When you're a small parrot, there's always the vague idea that something somewhere may decide to eat or otherwise harm you. Bravery's when you're willing to risk that to get what you need."

[dead_black_eyes]

Ever since L got that particular echo back, he's admittedly been succumbing to ever more of a sweet tooth.

"'Need' implies that the risk is worth taking, when it's applied properly," he points out. "I think that any living creature would risk its life for what it needs, whether it's to mate or to find food. Sentience brings with it higher ideals and more needs, of course, but... even for humans, and those with human intelligence, those same basic needs are doubtless still important."

[radiantchicken]

"There's a balance, I think. I had all my needs taken care of in the zoo. But when I became sentient, I found my bravery. I could have stayed in the zoo and been safe, but I wanted to see what was outside." Now, hopping into a stroller and pretending to be a stuffed animal didn't seem too terribly impressive, but at the time, he'd been quite proud of himself. "There are different needs--the need for food and shelter, and the need for...I suppose one might call it mental stimulation."

[dead_black_eyes]

L knows that need achingly well, and nods near instantly to confirm his familiarity with it. The months that had turned to years in White Pines, coloring pictures and humoring people who didn't even try to understand his diagnosis, had taught him well enough what that was like.

"That's exactly what it's called. You can literally go crazy without it," he confirms, softly and a little sadly.

[radiantchicken]

"I believe that." Torin sighs sympathetically. "It was worth leaving my home and my flock for...it's odd. I hadn't really given them much thought until today, and I'd been feeling very distant from them before I left...yet part of me is quite relieved to see that they're doing well." He takes a piece of cake for himself. "And on some level, I think I regret not being there at the party."

[dead_black_eyes]

"That's where you came from, Torin," L says, watching him serve up a slice of cake for himself. "It makes sense that you would be glad tl see them thrive. I'd feel the same if I heard that my family was doing well. And they are your family, in a sense, just like your friends are your family, just in a different sense. As for being there... I mean..."

He pauses.

"Do you want to go see them? I don't know if you'd dare risk it but if you wore a disguise, maybe..."