voidtreckerexpress | Happy Birthday, Senku!

Entry tags:

Happy Birthday, Senku!

Who: OTA
Where: Dining Carriage
When: Jelly 4
What: Prompts are under the cut. Create your own top levels! Tag around! ~~Get more points!~~
Warnings: more cake than the recommended serving size

Birthday Prep! (OTA except Senku)

Setting up food!

Plenty of people have offered to bring a number of treats - cookies, savory dishes, snacks ... Gen was placing a half-sheet cake, decorated with planets and with 'Happy Birthday Senku' written in frosting on the table. He looked quite pleased with himself, and would help lend a hand with other food.

Setting up decorations!

There were roughly a hundred origami stars to fold, which Gen would spend most of his time doing, especially if he didn't have any help. But after, he'd be stringing them up all around the dining car, creating an effect like a starry sky from the ceiling.

Setting up party favors!

Then, of course, there were paper flower crowns to fold. Gen had no idea how many people would end up coming, so he wanted a fair number - any extras could sit in the Arms Band or up his sleeves as part of a surprise to spring on people later. You never knew when you needed a paper flower crown!

Setting up the escape room!

This is really what Gen hoped he'd get the most help with. He only had so many math tricks up his sleeve, and he was very certain that Senku knew them all already. At least Nita would be lending a hand! Otherwise, Gen was sure any room he'd make, Senku would solve in minutes.

BIRTHDAY PARTY

Greetings!

Gen would greet the newcomer with a bright smile and an origami flower crown - placed right on their head! He'd direct them to the food, and let them know of the escape room upstairs. Have a lovely time!

Food!

Cake! Cookies! Popcorn! There's some spicy, savory food that's been made by other passengers, too. But hey, at least take a slice of cake. That's what this party's all about!

Escape Room!

Featuring math, puns, and clever little questions fellow Voidtrain passengers could come up with. Of course, anyone can enter and leave as they'd like, but perhaps if they look particularly stuck on a problem, another person could help them out?

Birthday Boy!

Somewhere in this mess, Senku would be available to chat with. Probably. He's not really expecting a party, or gifts, or even a kind thank you - but all would be appreciated.

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Oh, yes.

He sure does get it.

It's exactly why there's suddenly one of those paper stars hitting Tidus right in the forehead.

"H-Hey, that's different! It's way different!"

How did Inigo's face get red this quickly? It's a mystery. He must have some real good blood circulation..

The star smacks him (not even that), flopping onto the table and Tidus's smile being the result left behind in its assault. A huff of a laugh escapes him, and Tidus leans back, arms folding loosely over the table.

"And why's that," he asks with all the thick humour that he's been keeping in. But no reason to do that now, Inigo knows what's up! "'Cause it's not you?"

Will Inigo admit to it?? Or will he just whine.

"Because she's great at it!"

And no matter what anyone would say, Inigo will forever be insecure about his dancing. How could he not be, considering he's already insecure when it comes to just about anything else too?

At least he doesn't leave that as the only reason, perhaps already realising what Tidus may say to that one.

"And because no one thinks it's strange for Rapunzel to paint."

He looks back down at the paper on the table, starting to - perhaps a little too intensely - fold a new star again.

(He's just whining, yes.)

Look at Inigo going off into his own little world, trying to avoid this conversation that Tidus - unfortunately for the prince - isn't ready to drop. Can Inigo feel the way that Tidus is staring at him, the smile that has yet to leave? His arms not quite folding on the table, but he's leaning slightly in, looking pleased with himself. Just letting that silence hang for a second, before-

"And who on the train thinks it's strange for you to dance?"

Huuuuuuuhhhhhhh, Iniiiigooooo?

UGGGGGGGGH.

Just look at that face. Just look at it! Here Inigo is bearing his heart, and yet Tidus is looking at him like that. Smiling like that. Leaning in like he doesn't even pretend to hide he knows exactly what he's doing here!

But you know what? You know what!! Inigo actually has an answer to this. A valid answer.

"Reno, probably."

HAH. Eat that, Tidus!!

Except there's no triumphant attitude about it. Instead it's just an embarrassed mumble as Inigo finishes up the star and immediately starts on another, not even pausing for a second.

Pfft. "Reno's invalid. He just dislikes anything if he cares about that."

Would Reno? Who knows. He thought jerking around Inigo and getting into fights with him was fun for some reason.

"You started caring what a guy like him thinks anyway?"

Inigo looks up from his star, right at Tidus.

"I'm not sure if you've noticed." That's a full stop, since he just outright pauses. For dramatic effect? Who knows. "But I care a lot about what just about anyone thinks of me."

Why do you think he's so shy and nervous all the time! It's hard when you have no self worth to call your own and instead have to live off other people's impressions of you, okay.

"Would he be able to stop you from running inside a burning building to save a kid if he said you couldn't do it?"

Were they the actual words that decided to leave Tidus's mouth in response to that? Apparently. But you know what? He is absolutely waiting for an answer here.

"No."

At least he answers that fairly easily. But, as if he already has his own idea about where this line of enquiry on Tidus's end is going, Inigo puts up a hand.

"But that's different. That's easy." Risking his life? That's nothing, compared to risking the terrifying ordeal of being known by dancing in front of people. To have to fear their judgement over something he enjoys. "I don't even have to think about it when it's to save someone else."

"Well, you should apply some of that into your dancing! I want this kid to live, so I'm going to do this - I want to dance, so I'm going to dance!"

It's the same old tune Tidus has always sang when it comes to Inigo's confidence. Though really, when it comes to this-

"But you shouldn't listen to Reno anyway. What I was saying was, that's one guy out of how many on a train? I told Taiki anyway we should hang out together more in the music car," he goes on, just bringing that up because he can. "And he agreed, so now you have to dance more: because we said you should."

There. Brilliant logic.

Wow. Is Tidus going to use his weakness when it comes to Taiki against him? Is that what's happening here? Because Inigo can't possibly say no when Taiki is involved?

He immediately looks a bit more defeated at that, like Inigo himself is realising what corner he's rapidly running himself into.

"I do dance here now." Regularly, he means. "Just.. not.. in front of other people."

That's the problem! The dancing part is fun. It's exciting. He loves doing it by himself, even when it's a little more anxiety-filled here on the train where anyone could walk in on him.

"I tried dancing in front of Taiki before too, but I got all nervous and dumb about it."

"You're not going to get used to it right away." So Inigo getting flustered around Taiki makes sense... but he pauses, thinking. "So you don't mind doing it on your own? You're not worried about walking in and freaking out?"

He's being gentle, honest. He's just looking out for you, bro! Gotta make sure Inigo's as comfortable as he can be! ...even if some pain comes first.

"I am worried about that," Inigo honestly admits.

Because it's just the truth. And he worries about everything ever. But this in particular - someone seeing him dance, even just by accidentally walking in on him - is terrifying.

"I usually make Jumblie stand guard, but she's not a very good one." Jumblie seems unbothered by that statement, still just playing with the paper. "She just lets anyone pass right by her."

Should he let that small laugh slip while looking over at Jumblie? He's not even really sure if she's doing a bad job... Jumblie just living their best life.

"Welllll," wellllll, "I told Taiki anyway we're going to do it, so now we have to." So. No stopping that now! They clearly can't just not go through with it. "Did you get him to dance with you too last time? I asked him about Tai and dancing, but he didn't know if people really do it."

He can't believe Tidus is using the 'I already told Taiki and you can't let down Taiki, can you?' card against him. This is vile. Cruel. The lowest of the low. Of course Inigo can't disappoint Taiki!

Which is why he may be realising his defeat here. And as he does, he's letting out the most dramatic groan ever before just slumping forward onto the table. (Though making sure to not squish any paper stars under his giant dumb baby body.)

He's given up.

"I danced with him before at a party," he just mumbles against the table.

You know what? This is all about the fun of the process, isn't it. Not that Tidus has actually been making any more stars and decided his new forever job is hassling Inigo about his hobbies. Senku won't mind, surely. He's never been good at really finicky paper work anyway.

"Yeahhh?" Hear that tone, Inigo? That tone of ohhhhh, teasing and playful. "Did you like it?"

Give Tidus all the juicy details here, bro! The juicy details of if it was nice.

"Seriously?!"

Inigo rises once more. Not as a zombie, thankfully, but as a huffy teenager. Staring Tidus right into those teasing eyes as he speaks up.

"Are you seriously going to pull this one again?!" Don't think he forgot Tidus doing this exact same thing only a few days ago! And that was even about Taiki too!

Tidus laughs, unashamed.

"What? You're the one always getting so chummy with the guy! --and you make it easy," is the more truthful reasoning of yeah, I'm doing it again.

And that call out should be plenty reason to give this up - if this wasn't Tidus, leaning comfortably with his hand resting under his chin. Staring right back into Inigo's eyes, mouth forever a crescent moon.

"So? You don't wanna go dancing with some other cute guys?"

UGH. What's so wrong about getting so chummy with Taiki? Or at least, what's there to joke about it! Isn't it good for Taiki to receive all the affection he should have been getting all this time? Inigo's making up for everyone else!

And he feels like this line of inquiry isn't going to go anywhere good. It's not going to go anywhere but straight to Tidus Amusement Land. Hence why he starts folding stars again, at least doing something productive while he's enduring this torture.

"What cute guys should I be dancing with?" It sounds so pouty that it's hard to take the question seriously. It's as if Inigo is saying just get it over with. Make your dumb punchline, Tidus!

"Hmmm." Here's Tidus putting on his thinking cap. And he does have to, since who would he consider cute? And a pick that comes quick isn't a guy he'd describe as cute, but-

"What about that Devvo guy? You know, from the meeting? Devero. Didn't he talk about dancing too?" Framing it like that, it's like Tidus isn't just here to tease Inigo now and is making reasonable suggestions!

"Why don't you ask him? You can show him the dance magazines you've been getting from the train for an opening." In case just asking the guy outright about dancing is too much!

Oh no. Out of all people to bring up, why did Tidus have to go for mister tall, dark and handsome? "You know, from the meeting?" Tidus says, as if Inigo doesn't have that moment imprinted right onto his brain. For all of eternity.

Suddenly Inigo leans really hard over the star he's folding.

And he mumbles.

.. something? It's totally inaudible. The only thing that's clear is that he's mumbling something.

"...Inigo?"

Is that a normal reaction? Is it because Inigo is thinking about having to speak to Devero, a stranger, about dancing? Actually, that's probably what this is, and the smile that flatten for a moment finds it spark again as Tidus nudges Inigo's foot under the table.

"I can ask him for a dance."

--which wasn't actually what Tidus was planning to say, but admittedly, he didn't know what he was going to say either. His mouth chose for him, and now this is where they are.

It's the nudge that gets Inigo to look up again, actually look at Tidus.

"I, uh." Attempt #2, since Inigo is realising Tidus will get entirely the wrong idea if he doesn't own up to what he's about to say. And then he'll look so dumb if he asks Devero..!

"I did dance with him. Already." If Inigo ever sounded shy while talking about dancing, then for some reason the effect is enhanced by about a thousand times now. Because Devero was obviously a good dancer, and a hunk of a guy on top of it despite being too old for Inigo's tastes, and just thinking about it reduces Inigo to a goo on the inside.

At least he's really trying to convey the full story to Tidus here. Because he doesn't want to hide it from his friend if he's asking about it so blatantly. "H-He said.. He said it was a joy to dance with me.."

!!!!

Listen to this guy! Listen to him go! It seems to take a moment for this news to register in Tidus's brain. But the second it does, Tidus starts gesturing, waving his hand in a positive motion before he slams it down to give Inigo a hearty pat on the shoulder.

"See! That's great! You went and asked!" Inigo, Tidus is so proud of you right now!! "And what did you think? How did it go? Well? How was he?"

Tidus scoots up closer to Inigo, legs side by side and his voice even dipping to bring this exchange between them into private territory. He wants to hear everything, wants to know Inigo's feelings! Which sure, are very blatant right now, but this isn't telling him how Inigo really felt about the session deep dow.

Does Tidus scooting closer to him help when Inigo is in a super flustered mood already? No, it does not. Of course it doesn't. It only serves to make his cheeks flare up even more, though it's easy to blame that on the topic being so sensitive for him, as he tries to fumble his way through his words over here.

"He.. He's a very good dancer." There we go. First words spoken. And it's just an objective truth, so he doesn't have to worry about those words. If anything, Inigo thought Devero was even better than him, no matter how many words of praise the other had for him. "Though he only seems to know dances for.. erm, well, for pairs.."

So Tidus can probably imagine how that went. Even at the very thought Inigo is nervously fretting with the paper star in his hands, accidentally tearing it in the middle of his flusterfest.

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