[Open] Stuck in the middle of the 28th and the 1st

[padadin]

Who: Shiro and you
Broadcast: Yes, fleetwide (morning)
Action: Yes, later at the Iskaulit (evening)
When: Today, March 1st

Hello. This is Shiro, captain of the SS Blameless.

[An introduction he's made before, but hey, you never know when someone new may be getting this. Or someone he's spoken only through text. Anyway, Shiro's sitting on the pilot seat, both hands quite busy as he speaks: one with a mug of tea, the other on his dog's head, which happens to be on his lap right now. Procyon is finally tall enough to reach him, yay!]

I wanted to talk about the security systems on the ships. We were boarded quite easily by those cannibals some months ago, although to be fair our ships were damaged. Recently I've talked with my crew about the possibility of security cameras in the ship's system, and I'm happy to report that thanks to the combination of our communication and engineer officers, we managed to install--

-POP!-

[Shiro's super serious talk is suddenly interrupted by a flutter of confetti exploding above him, and a colorful banner rolling behind the pilot's seat. As Procyon shakes his body to get rid of the confetti, Shiro turns around to see what's going on.]


[...yeah, Shiro is not amused, and it shows. Leap year baby jokes get old fast. He's about to say something else to the camera, but gets interrupted again, this time by an enthusiastic Lance that glomps the hell out of him.]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHIRO!

Lance! You said we would say it together! [Keith enters the screen too, ignoring Lance sticking his tongue out at him and putting a birthday hat on top of Shiro's head with a smirk. Little shit.] Happy birthday, Shiro.

I found this by the door. [Ulaz is the last one to arrive, and leaves a box on the console before turning to Shiro.] Happy birthday, Shiro.

Thanks guys, I--

Is that Atroma's gift?

OOOH! SHIRO, YOU HAVE TO OPEN IT! OPEN IT, OPEN IT!

[Shiro turns to look at the banner again and, after considering Atroma's history with gifts, he reaches the most obvious conclusion.] No.

Come oooooon, Shiro, don't be a spoilsport!

[So Lance being Lance, he takes it upon himself to open the box and take out the gifts. Shiro immediately pinches the bridge of his nose when the teasing starts. They're, of course, kiddy gifts. For the 6 year old. A wolf onesie, glow in the dark stars, a coloring book about space with crayons, toy rockets, the plush of a weird looking alien that a VERY PALE Shiro gives to his dog without a second thought and a NASA kids' program sticker that Lance sticks to his chest. And while the boys keep snickering at the presents, Ulaz -who's been keeping a very good poker face- notices something and reaches inside the box.]

You seem to have forgotten something. [He takes out a book, and proceeds to read the cover with the same poker face as before.] "How to get your sex drive back" by Alicia Gray. The most successful ways to increase a man's libido and--

[OH, LOOK AT THAT, THE FEED IS SUDDENLY TURNED OFF. Oops? (The gifts btw.)]

------

[In the evening, you can find Shiro and the others in the Lion's Den, the space they have in the Iskaulit. Time to party! There's food, drinks and 6 year old jokes, like the cake being decorated for children and a game to put the tail on a donk- no, wait, a lion. Don't ask.

Shiro will socialize with everyone, drink some beer and maybe even dance a bit if you convince him. Come wish him a happy birthday!]

Comments

Video

[alwayscomeback]

[He's staring at all of this, confusion moving onto and making camp on his face. Six??? Sex drive??? A Onesie?? ]

I have... so, so many questions.

[padadin]

I'll answer them if you promise no more actual 6 year old jokes.

[alwayscomeback]

Okay but see this is a part I'm confused with. I thought you were older than me- but now maybe not? Like...what's up with that?

[action] At the party!

[the_tailor]

[He's made sure to put together as good as a party as he could manage. Nothing overly fancy, of course; he knows Shiro didn't want it to be a giant occasion, but he wants to make it special at least.

(And he tried to be light on the six year old jokes, he really did...but he also couldn't help it. It's his first time getting to celebrate Shiro's birthday, okay, cut him some slack.)

Lance slings an arm around Shiro's shoulder and grins.]

How's it goin', birthday boy?

[padadin]

[Shiro smiles at him and nudges him playfully, careful not to spill his beer.]

Not counting the put the tail on the lion game? I'm good. I'm... great, actually. I admit this is really nice. Thanks, guys.

[the_tailor]

Oh, come on, that's a great game! And that lion drawing is totally boss, too. You gotta appreciate my artistic abilities.

[Still. He gives his shoulders a squeeze.]

I'm really glad you like it all, though. I wasn't going to let my hero's birthday be a dud!

video;

[universal_charm]

_{[ He's laughing to hard to say happy birthday but he gets it out between breaths somehow. ]}

[padadin]

[.....]

I should hang up.

[universal_charm]

Hey, I had nothing to do with the whole '6 year old' bit. I didn't even know they were doing this.

I promise to take you out for big-boy drinks later?

Video

[kill_switch]

I'd be interested in hearing more about your security ideas, when you're done celebrating.

[A little bit of a sly smile, she's not exactly enthusiastic with Atroma's sense of festivites, either.]

[padadin]

[He returns the smile - he appreciates the sentiment.]

It's alright, I can talk now. We'll have a small party later - you can come if you want. [Although Furiosa doesn't exactly come off as the party type.] The security idea is simple - we manage to install security cameras. I can access every room of the ship from the main console now.

[kill_switch]

Thanks, I might stop by for a moment.

[Parties? Not so much. But, it is a chance to get to know people and get to see another ship. Security cameras - she doesn't have a lot of experience with, but by now she has a pretty good idea what the basic idea is.]

Okay. I can see that. By every room, to you mean personal living quarters, too?

[Video]

[goldenglasses]

Wait... are you actually a six year old trapped in the body of an adult? [He doesn't look his age of over 130 at this point so he's curious.]

[padadin]

[THE BIGGEST SIGH!]

I'm turning 26 - or 27, I'm not sure. The 6 year old comments are bad jokes.

[goldenglasses]

Huh... I don't get the joke.

party

[tempredmental]

Well?

[Keith looked a little smug.]

Happy birthday.

[padadin]

Mmmh? Well what?

[If Keith's gonna play smug then Shiro is gonna play innocent just to be a bit of a little shit too.]

Thanks, Keith. This is pretty nice.

party

[scalpelofmarmora]

[Ulaz of course stayed for the party. He seemed much more observant of the whole custom rather than diving into the games or things like that. But finally at some point when most of the other guests were distracted on other things than the "birthday boy", Ulaz approached Shiro, a beer in each hand and offering one to Shiro]

So the custom is to say "Happy Birthday"?

[padadin]

[He accepts the beer with a "thank you" and a smile. It's a bit funny, kinda weird, to have one of the aliens from home (and a BoM member at that) in such a normal, everyday thing like a birthday party. But it's also very welcome.]

That's correct. Thanks, Ulaz. I hope the guys didn't nag you too badly about this.

Party

[passingthrough]

[She doesn't want to steal too much of his time, but when she sees others have cleared from being around him, Kitty steps up to Shiro.] Hey. Happy birthday.

So, were you born on the leap year, or do you have a complicated backstory?

[padadin]

Thanks, Kitty. [He shakes his head, actually a little amused. He'll take this kind of joke over the 6yo stuff any day.] Leap year baby. But you're right, complicated backstory is an actual option here, isn't it?

[Considering Billy...]

[video]

[tough_love]

[Well, at least one person's seen this who's pretty much guaranteed not to make any jokes about it. Knowingly, anyway. She looks more confused than anything else.]

...I evidently need to revisit my assumptions about humans. I thought you were older.

[Also, those gifts, Shiro...]

[padadin]

[SIIIIGH.] I am. It's not six, it's twenty-seven. Don't listen to the bad jokes.

[iskaulit - action]

[mongoosecrow]

[Gil is a little late to the party, but he was doing some finishing touches on his work so he figures Shiro won't be too grumpy about it. When he arrives he finds his Captian and gives the man a grin.]

Happy birthday. I'm assuming it's more than six though?

[padadin]

[Shiro definitely won't be mad at Gil for finishing his work! Besides, it's not like they put a strict schedule on the party.]

Thanks, Gil. [He sighs, then nods.] Yes, it's twenty-seven. I'm a leap year baby.