genessia | [Anonymous text]

I want to go out for dinner tonight. I'll pay. Can you come?

Smoker, you can bring Ace too.

I would love to. It's been a while since I actually just went out to something like that.

[Suddenly he's far more excited about celebrating. Rapunzel is one of the few people he's close to here that's not from his world. He's not sure she'd consider him a friend, but she likes him enough to hire him and allow him to do charity work with her. And she likes him well enough to accept the offer for a dinner out.]

There's a place that lets you cook your own food right at the table! How does that sound to you?

Wait... There's a place that lets you do that? That sounds amazing! I would love to see that.

[It's not a place she has ever seen to before, so it was an exciting thing for her. Plus it was with someone she would consider a friend.]

There is! They bring out your ingredients and side dishes! And then you cook it however you like with your friends! I think that's where we should eat tonight.

Sounds wonderful and fun. It's a place I've never been to before. So I am looking forward to it even more.

Do you think you could be there in an hour? I'll send directions.

I will try my best. Even if I have to swing with my hair.

If you're late that's fine! The restaurant is open for a while and there will be plenty of food left for you!

Okay, but I will try and not be late no matter what. I am actually on my way now just to be sure.

I have a table in the back. I'll wait for you there!

Edited 2019-07-26 00:07 (UTC)

The back, huh? I guess that is where it is usually most quiet.

It's also where they have the bigger tables.

Got it. Oh! I think I see the building now.

[She really was not far now and was happily making her way towards the door.]

[Supplies have been gathered, food purchased, and the futons requested are already at the site. All they need to do is head out.] Ready to go?

Edited 2019-07-15 03:19 (UTC)

Yes.

[no]

I need a vacation. [he hasn't been doing anything but attempting not to have low key anxiety]

Here. [an absolute riot of a bouquet. He wasn't sure what else to do with it] For the house ....boat.

I thought so. [Wow that is sure some bouquet. Rosinante takes it with a grin, it's pretty over the top but he likes it anyway.] They'll brighten up the houseboat. [He does a final mental checklist, and it looks like they have it all. But he's still wondering...] I swear we're forgetting something.

Mm... Well let's leave before we remember. If we forgot it's worth forgetting.

[he steps on the houseboat, then, after a moment of thought, offers Rosinante a hand. Not that he needed one, but sometimes you have to make the offer regardless]

At least I think I walked Smoker this morning.

We'll make do without even if we did forget something. We brought enough.

[Rosinante accepts the hand and help up. And even with that hand to pull him up he still slips and ends up with his face smooshed into the flowers.

Oof. Oh well. He rights himself, fluffs the flowers back up to almost as good as new, and that's that.

The comment about Smoker gets a snort out of him.]

You tease him too much. [The dorky grin says otherwise though.]

[he tries to catch him before he does too much harm to himself, and ends up with a somewhat awkward arm around his shoulder. He drops it before it can become much more awkward and unties the mooring from the dock.]

I'm his superior. It's my job.

[not so much any more but...]

Someone has to. And he enjoys it.

[They're not off to the best start in the romantic department, but Rosinante is happy anyway and he's having a fantastic birthday. And even if a house boat is nothing like the ships he experienced back home, it's still somewhat nostalgic to be on the water again.]

Is that the excuse you're going with?

[They're hardly in the same chain of authority now. There's no Marines to be had here, and authority means nothing in the end.] He likes the attention, even if he protests. [And does he ever. No one throws a fit about love, friendship, and family like Smoker does. He's a mess when it comes to feelings.]

It makes him feel better. [he smiles and, while there is a motor, grabs the pole to push them out into the bay, slow and laconic.]

Have you been to Water Seven?

Then how could we deny him that? [Rosinante is still all smiles, a good mood that keeps bubbling over, despite awkward and nervousness.]

Once. It was starting to become a pretty exciting place. But I didn't get to stay long.

Yes, if you want to, but only then. It's not like time passes even if you're not dead. But my boyfriend was dead and still like celebrating his birthday.

I haven't celebrated my birthday since I was sixteen, and I'm still alive.

I think I want to, but it seems silly to bother with it. Maybe I can just do something simple and not tell people about the occasion. No one knows the date anyway.

It's not silly at all. Another year alive is something significant and it should absolutely be celebrated. I've just lost track of time so much that I just focus on one day being alive is good enough for me. For my friends, an entire year is a much bigger thing.

It's not even been a whole year! But my birthday came anyway, and even if I was ready for my death and had accepted it, I wasn't ready to be alive again. So I'm kind of throwing myself back into living.

It's probably best to just focus on one day at a time.

Edited 2019-07-16 04:14 (UTC)

Yes. I did.

More specifically, I started to celebrate the day I found myself in a world like this as my birthday.

Does it feel good to celebrate it still? For me it seems frivolous somehow. Almost like I'm using it to try to cling to the idea of being 'alive'. But I want to anyway. Even if it's silly.

Edited 2019-07-15 04:56 (UTC)

It feels good to celebrate another borrowed year. I forgot when my original birthday was and it didn't matter when I was alive.

This 'birthdate' is more real to me.

I've managed ten years past my death. I think that's something to celebrate, don't you?

It is something worth celebrating. Ten years must feel like an achievement!

Maybe it's not so silly to want to continue on with my birthdays after all. I think I'll see if I can do something last minute.

[Tohru feels a chill just from reading those words. Writing them makes her feel that much more uncomfortable.

She decides not to make this person elaborate: It sounds like a tricky subject. Painful, most likely. And she can put two and two together based on what she's learned already. So Tohru calms her nerves, breaths in, and sets to typing:]

I still celebrate my Mom's birthday. And she celebrated Dad's birthday too. Birthdays are about being happy someone was born and that they affected your life.

Lives don't stop having meaning once they're over. Every day, the little things Mom did for me still have an impact. So it's like she's still here... And I'm still glad she was born.

[This is powerful and it hits Rosinante in a way that he wasnt expecting.

Lives don't stop having meaning once they're over.

What wonderful, gentle wisdom. He sits back for a moment and breathes. Taking in the words on the screen. He wonders if the little moments still affect Law, long after his death. If Sengoku still tolds any of their old hobbies or traditions.

He hopes they still think of him. And that he brings good to their lives even now.]

You're probably right. The people who loved me back home might still think of me. And my life had meaning to them.

The man who raised me always celebrated mt birthday with me. Maybe I should continue the tradtion here.

I'm sure they're celebrating your birthday right now. If you listen, maybe you'll hear it.

Things like love don't follow normal rules, so I think a loving birthday can be celebrated together even if you're far apart.

At least, that's what I think. I hope you'll feel their love.

Thank you. I'm not sure that's possible. But the idea of love being something that could reach past death and through the barriers between worlds is something that makes me really happy.

I'm not sure I believe it's possible. But I want it to be. I want them to think of me and feel the love I still have for them.

I love the idea as well. I'm sure if you love them strongly enough, your happy birthday can reach them.

Oh, but my manners. I realize this is anonymous, right? But regardless, my name is Tohru Honda. Happy Birthday, Stranger. I'm glad you're here to talk to me.

You made what might have been a rough day a little more hopeful. Thank you, Tohru Honda. I'm glad I'm here too. Maybe someday we can talk without it being anonymous.

My own would be this coming September, but time is strange here. It was December in my world when I died and September when I woke here. I suppose that means I have already turned 20, though truthfully I cannot tell if I have aged.

But I do consider myself alive, even if it is borrowed time. My heart beats and my lungs draw air. That tells me I am alive.

As for there being a point, I believe there is one if you want there to be one. If it is something you wish to celebrate then do so.

It's jarring isn't it? It's hard getting used to the idea of being alive again. I don't know if I'll age or if I'm really 'alive' at all.

You're right about heartbeat and breathing though. My body at least thinks that it's alive. So I guess that's life here, or something close enough to it at least. I'm probably less than bones now back home. So it's hard to decide how I feel about anything.

I think I'll celebrate anyway.

We think and feel, our bodies function. What is that if if not life?

I understand. My husband is present here, and to him I have been dead for nearly fifteen years. Even after all these months I still have difficultly conceptualizing it.

I think you should.

Do you want to live as if you are dead? You should buy a casket if so.

Charming idea.

Have you died before?

[Anonymous text]

[Text] Sent to Smoker, Kuzan and Rapunzel

[Text] Sent to Smoker, Kuzan and Rapunzel

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[Action] Locked to Kuzan dated for the fifteenth

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[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]