fandomhighdorms | Sixth Floor, Thursday Evening -- Merlin's Birthday Party

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Sixth Floor, Thursday Evening -- Merlin's Birthday Party

If Arthur had still been back at Camelot, the idea of holding celebrations for a servant's birthday would have seemed preposterous. But he wasn't, and it didn't, and if he were really honest with himself he'd admit he enjoyed it (or at least in as much as it involved picking out presents that made him fret some on the inside and yelling at people about getting decorations in).

The Sixth Floor was decorated rather decadently for a birthday party. There were some CDs of painfully carefully selected songs playing through the system - the ones Arthur had judged least likely to shatter eardrums (and maybe tending towards the classical and medieval).

And there was food. Courtesy of Francine.

Arthur didn't like half-measures much.

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"Good to know," she said, winking at Tara. That pout might be Kennedy's most potent weapon. "I gotta say," albeit grudgingly because it was Arthur she was talking about, "he did a good job setting this up. Talk about setting the bar high."

She miiiiiiight be thinking of how to set the bar even higher, already. Stupid competitive instinct.

"You like the music?" Tara asked, not exactly surprised but definitely trending in that direction. Somehow, Kennedy did not scream 'I love Celtic ballads.' "But yeah, he and Francine did amazing. Think everybody will try to top this all year?"

"Oh, well." Kennedy laughed. She wouldn't scream 'I love Celtic ballads' even under extreme duress. "I'm actually not a fan of the music, but that's my deal. I know I'm definitely gonna try and top this when it's your birthday again."

"See, if everybody does that all year, by October we'll have to have parties where -- we play elephant polo in India," Tara said, grabbing for something extravagant. "When's your birthday? Maybe I can try to top this then."

"Maybe if we can get permission to use the Danger Shop. Can't we do something with ostriches instead? Elephants are slow," Kennedy suggested, only half joking because that actually sounded like fun. She took another sip of her wine, swirling the glass's contents around. "May 20. So we'll be done with finals, and probably into the summer session."

"Mmmm. We might be in cabins then," Tara said, nostalgic.

... she was one of the weirdos who liked the cabins.

"We could do a pool party with ostriches."

Because that totally made sense.

"...cabins?" Kennedy looked almost nervous at that. Her last cabin experience had been in ninth grade out in Maine somewhere, when she'd been going to a school that thought freshman orientation should include a week-long mandatory camping trip for "bonding" purposes.

It had been one gigantic bunkroom for all the girls. Most of them had been the epitome of the private prep-school girl stereotype. Kennedy'd been ready to climb the walls after a day. (She took that impulse out on the campground's rock-climbing wall.)

"As long as I don't have to go home for my birthday," she said, blustering on past that topic before she might actually flail, "I will totally be fine if the ostriches are too hard to book."

"They're fun!" Tara enthused. "There are campfires, and everybody gets their own little alcove, and you can really see the stars. And s-sometimes the teal deer come out at night."

Somehow, she didn't think she was selling this to Kennedy.

"I'll try to get you an ostrich, anyhow. One ostrich."

The alcove part was a little bit of a comfort, at least, but Kennedy didn't look tremendously reassured here.

"One ostrich is cool. Long as I get to ride it," she decided. "Does everybody have to stay in the cabins?"

"That didn't really come up?" Tara said. "I mean, I guess if you threw a fit they couldn't make you. It's only a couple weeks."

"I don't do roughing it," Kennedy groaned. Oh, Tara, don't give her ideas about throwing a fit. "Maybe if I get put with people I can stand, but camping is so not my thing."

"I'll take care of you!" Tara offered. "I'll make sure no icky bugs eat you alive, or anything. It's not that bad, the cabins have running water and AC and everything. Just ... rustic."

"I don't need defending from the bugs," Kennedy protested, but it was a halfhearted protest at best. Still, the offer was sweet, and she moved in to put an arm around Tara. "I did fine when we went to Kellerman's. I just don't want to have to end up making lanyards or anything like that."

Tara snuggled under the offered arm, finishing her own wine. "No lanyards," she promised. "Lots of s'mores, though. Are s'mores okay?"

"S'mores are always okay," Kennedy told her. "You really like the cabins, don't you?"

"Not in like a crazy, I want to go live in the woods with the squirrels forever kind of way," Tara reassured her. "But it's peaceful. It's a nice break."

"I guess I can give it a try," Kennedy said slowly, though she still wasn't sold on the idea. "It's not that big an island anyway, right? We're not talking a million miles from civilization. Plus, if I can get you to feed me chocolate..."

She trailed off, looking slightly mischievous.

"It's like ten minutes from the dorms," Tara promised. "And we'll probably be able to mange some chocolate."

And then she realized they were planning for something four months away. That was ... nice. It was just a way of talking, but it was still nice.

It was nice. Kennedy hadn't yet looked at the conversation in that light, or her usual composure might have a crack in it, but she was at least vaguely aware that it felt... comfortable.

"I'll stock up beforehand," she said, nodding. "Make sure we have enough to last us the whole time."

"Good idea," Tara laughed. "You don't want to get caught if there's a chocolate emergency. It'd be bad."

"And I know you love your chocolate," Kennedy added, turning to brush a kiss against her cheek. "Gotta make sure you're good to go there."

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Sixth Floor, Thursday Evening -- Merlin's Birthday Party

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