04 - still the stars will find a way | Video

[innercactus]

Who: Asteffiel
Broadcast: Yes
Action: Tourist if they want
When: sometime 9/29

I need help. [ There's a little bit of a whine to his voice today. He is holding up a pair of small-ish apples. They're definitely ripe, just on the small side. One has a bite taken out of it- ]

I grew them, but they don't taste good at all... Does someone want to make sure it isn't just me?

[ HE WANTED TO GROW THESE SO FENRIS WOULDN'T HATE HIM, but.. giving him gross apples would make it worse, wouldn't it. ]

Also, how do you know it is your birthday? I feel like it ought to be, because the date says so, but... Are you supposed to feel any different? How do you count, after you reach one year? Do you keep adding months?

[ Yes, Asteffiel the adult looking plant hasn't had a birthday before. Sylvari. ]

Comments

Action

[preformthisneigh]

[You want to know who DIDN'T forget this date when it was offered to him? His name begins with Cheese and ends in Sandwich, that's who. So, while Asteffiel is mulling over all this, a SHADOW creeps up behind him. A tiny horsey shadow.

Which EXPLODES in a ball of confetti, balloons and streamers. There stands Cheese, complete with birthday cake and accordion. ]

♫ Happy happy birthday to you!
This seems to be your first big to-do!

...Which is honestly kinda weird
You look pretty grown up
Maybe it's some kind of plant thing...

ANYWAY

Have a happy happy birthday, to yoooooou! ♫

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[innercactus]

[ Yes he did forget he told the horse person that he has a birthday coming up, and so here is Asteffiel, jumping a good foot straight up in the air and climbing on the table. Think "startled cat" only, y'know, adult looking plant.

Only when he's perched in safety and.. realizes that wasn't anything hazardous does he perk back up and clap. Because that's what you do with people singing, right? ]

There's a birthday song! [ Yes that is clearly the most important part. ]

[preformthisneigh]

[Cheese nods happily, shoving the cake forward with his muzzle. ]

Yeah there is! And cake too!! Happy birthday!

[innercactus]

Do you want some of the cake?

[ He's not sure its for just him or if it's for like.. his whole crew. Given he hasn't had a birthday before, his confusion is no surprise. ]

[preformthisneigh]

[He waves his forehooves in the air. ]

Oh no no, it's your cake. I don't need any, I'm the bringer of the cake.

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[wolfuncaged]

[Yeah. He's avoiding the birthday question completely, given he has no idea when the hell his even is. He DOES like apples though, so he'll just squint at the screen a bit. Maybe this is a trap. ]

They...look fine?

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[innercactus]

I thought they did! But they taste like... like... [ He doesn't even know how to explain it, so he takes a bite of the one he already took a bite of, and

It looks sort of like he took a bite of a lemon. Perhaps an un-ripe lemon, by how long he stays with a grimace, and how he ducks off screen and then comes back up with no chewing motions. ]

It tastes like gross with a bit of apple. And that's not what they're supposed to taste like...

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[wolfuncaged]

[Why would they do that. Fenris knows sweet F.A about farming. He squints a little. ]

I do not know. Perhaps they do not grow well in space?

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[innercactus]

... But they're getting sun and a little change in temperature like they're supposed to. My herbs are coming out fine...

[ He looks so defeated. ]

[thezerothlaw]

Birthdays are anniversaries. I don't believe you are supposed to feel different in any way. It is primarily a way of marking time. My understanding is that counting in months is typical for the first few years, and from there, most only count the year. If one lives long enough, eventually a switch is made to counting in decades, though that seems to be more typical of societies where ages of several hundred years are usual.

[Hi. He's helping.]

[innercactus]

[ He's like the book that tells you what words mean!

Except Asteffiel only has to say them. ]

... So I can go on to a year and a month? Then maybe around two years, give up on months?

[thezerothlaw]

If you wish. To be frank, Asteffiel, you are free to count in whichever way you find most convenient.

[innercactus]

Hmmmm. [ That's something to think about. ]

I will figure it out later.

[iamawaited]

Is that fruit? I'll eat it.

[innercactus]

It is fruit! Just... not as good tasting fruit as it should be. I think.

[ But sure, he'll let someone else try it too. ]

I am on the.. tourist? Yes. That one. I will meet you?

[ He's tall, with red leaves for hair and pale purple 'skin', he's pretty sure he will be recognizable. ]

[iamawaited]

Yeah. Where? On the surface?

-> action?

[innercactus]

... Surface is good. There's that spot where we usually land? Near there?

[ He will be there, apple in hand, in his usual leaf-clothing.

Plant people. ]

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[unbearablynaive]

Happy birthday. [It's okay, the Vision is even younger - he hasn't had a birthday yet.]

What's wrong about the taste? Are they sour?

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[innercactus]

Thank you~ [ He's pretty sure that's the response- ]

Very very sour. And a little like, when you bite a lemon, and it stings? That too. Very little... apple taste...

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[unbearablynaive]

Acidic? Some varieties are naturally like that, such as crabapples. However, I'm told they can be very good in certain dishes, such as pies or preserves, or even certain sauces.

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[innercactus]

That could be why I don't know what to do with them. I am very bad at cooking. [ So having the machine spit out a brick for him to slice up into sticks and put some goo on is pretty nice- ]

Do you want to try using some? If you can cook with them, I wouldn't mind giving you the tree...

[nextlineis]

[Well, since he just had a birthday, this clearly makes him an expert on these matters!!]

What? Of course it feels different on your birthday! It's your day!

Then again, I guess it doesn't mean a whole lot if you don't have people close enough to you to make it special.

[innercactus]

....? But I wasn't the only sylvari to wake up that day. [ Excuse his sylvari terms, but it is more or less the same thing.

He feels like he's missing something important with that sentence, and fiddles with the coral earring for a bit, but that last bit- ]

... That could be it. [ ... He's doing his best not to droop a little. ] I don't have Crocus or Winter Rose or Hibiscus here...

[nextlineis]

So? A lot of people were probably born the same day I was, maybe even at the same hour and minute. But that doesn't make it any less of my day.

[A beat.]

So, uh, do you talk to plants or something?

[innercactus]

Ohhh... [ Because his friends, it's his day? Something like that. ]

... Oh! They have plant names, but they are Sylvari like me. So they are also plants, like I am a plant, but not rooted, and they can talk back.

[ He pauses. ]

... I also talk to my plants in pots, but that's different. They don't talk back. [ Important difference. Carrots don't talk, so it's okay to eat them. ]