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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Aw, that slight blush. So cute, Senku. It's not often that Inigo gets into conversations that involve blushes that aren't his own, so he gets some time enjoy being on the other side for once!

"Hey, it's not like you have to win people over on purpose to get people to like you. Sometimes it just happens!" He pulls his shoulders up into a shrug, but it's light, energetic. With a smile still on his face. "I like to think I'm not trying to win over people on purpose either, yet there are definitely some people here on the train who like me. See, it just happens!"

Someday humans would invent a way to be robots and things like blushing would be a thing of the past!

Or maybe not, but it was fairly rare to catch Senku that off guard.

"I suppose so. Seems a little strange but I'm not complaining. It's a lot easier when people aren't trying to kill you."

That may seem like a fairly exclusive problem.

"Aww, come on! You only think our friendship is 'easy'?"

Inigo knows he doesn't mean it that way, okay. Or at the very least he knows Senku doesn't mean anything negative by it, but he just can't resist poking at it just a little bit. At least he definitely doesn't seem offended - Inigo is smiling as he says it.

"I thought you'd at least think something like 'ah, that Inigo's such a great guy, I'm glad to be friends with him!'"

"Well, I wouldn't want to lie." Senku teased back. "Kidding." He told him, just in case he misunderstood. His tone was light and his expression wasn't at all serious, if anything he sounded a bit fond.

"I'm...glad we're friends." There, Inigo, he said it. It wasn't going to happen again, most likely.

Thankfully Inigo is used to being teased at this point (thanks, Tidus) that he knows Senku isn't being serious even before the other says he's just kidding. It doesn't even surprise him, nor does it make his smile disappear.

But the next part? That's what gets his cheeks to grow slightly pink.

"Uh.. what?"

He's so baffled.

"Senku, did you really just say that?" Senku? Of all people? Saying he's glad they're friends? Inigo is clearly daydreaming over here, it's the only explanation.

"Don't know what you mean, I think you're hearing things." Senku commented, scratching at his ear with his pinky, glancing away.

He would deny it forever Inigo, he never said anything so mushy, ever.

Nope, it's too late. Inigo may be baffled, but he does know what he heard! If only he had some way to record it, just to preserve it forever..

So once Inigo finally gets over his initial surprise - sucking in a breath - he starts smiling instead. His cheeks may even be getting a little pink as he turns over the thought inside of his head. Senku is glad they're friends. Even though they started out a little rocky, he's glad!!

"Hehe, I'm glad we're friends too, Senku. I didn't know you could even tolerate a guy like me, and now look where we are!"

"Ah, I was never worried. You confuse me sometimes but that's not out of the ordinary. I have all kinds of different friends at home." He said, nudging Inigo's arm lightly with the back of his hand.

"My best friend is nothing like me. He's a big strong guy who never gets tired and he's dumb as a rock." He chuckled lightly. "I don't mean that in a mean way. It's just how he is. But he has a good memory and if I tell him something he remembers. He's good at physical stuff I can't do."

That definitely sounds like almost the exact opposite of Senku. Inigo is trying to imagine it inside of his head right now, but even that is giving him a hard time. Senku being friends with some guy who practically looks like a bear..

He shakes his head, unable to fully reach the mental image.

"It sounds like you like him a lot, if you're going around saying good things about him like this." Even without said guy being present on the train.

"In my experience, people don't consider my calling people dumb to be a good thing." Senku snorted. "We've been friends since we were seven or so." He hummed. "So we've known each other forever."

Which meant, of course, he had full teasing privileges.

"I mean, everyone is dumb compared to you."

Getting close to Senku levels of smarts is a very, very high bar to aim for, okay. It's not like Inigo thinks he's anything but dumb to the guy, especially since Inigo doesn't think he even hits average standards of intelligence, let alone anything higher than that or even close to where Senku is..

"So I don't see it as an insult as much as a.. description when you're the one saying it." That clearly makes sense. In Inigo's head. "Besides, everything else you're saying about him doesn't sound so bad!"

"Yeah, well, I can't really argue with that." Senku chuckled lightly. "And when I was younger, I definitely would've told people that." In some ways, he'd changed. Now he had a perspective that people had skills and all were equally valuable.

"It is an accurate description. He's in charge of our farming. He protected me when we were kids, that's how we became friends and he's helped me a lot, so yeah. I don't really mean it to be that insulting. If I'm gonna insult him, I'll do it to his face."

Inigo is quiet for a moment, thinking about the words Senku is telling him here. Though when he does speak up again, he doesn't seem to be focusing on anything the other is directly telling him, as much as he focuses on something he can't help but be curious about after that explanation.

"Do you miss him? While we're here, I mean."

After all, no matter how weird Senku is when it comes to certain emotions or social situations, he seems plenty capable of caring when it matters.

Senku leaned back a bit and considered the question. They'd been apart a few months. They were apart here and there for various periods of time, but usually they could talk, if they needed to. He wasn't one for chatter, but he couldn't deny accepting the odd call from Taiju just so his friend could talk to him enthusiastically.

"It's not the longest we've been apart." Senku began softly. "But yeah, I guess. Yuzuriha too. Kohaku...all of them." He admitted. "There's a lot of people I miss, but it would be the same if I went back. I'd have a lot of people I'd miss from here."

Gen certainly seemed like his best friend these days, and in some ways he was, but it wasn't the same because their relationship was so much more than that.

"Ah.."

Something about Inigo's expression, especially the look in his eyes, says that he can very much understand it. Missing your friends from back home, but also being worried about missing people from here instead when you'd go back and see them again..

But rather than allowing the thought to make him sad, Inigo forces himself to smile instead.

"Don't worry about it! No matter where our paths may lead, I'm not going to forget you, Senku. If I can see whether the Outrealm Gate works properly once I'm back home, I could even try to come visit you sometime!"

"That's a real sappy thing to say." Senku complained. "But it's mutual. I pretty much can't forget things anyway." He tapped his temple.

"You could try, hopefully by then we'll have a nice bustling society for you to see." At the moment, there was not much but a lot of wildlife to see. There weren't even bears to hunt!

Wow, Senku, shouldn't you be used to hearing sappy things just by being friends with Inigo? Talking about sappy stuff comes just as easily to him as breathing does!

"Well, it might be a while, anyway." Even if Inigo does manage to make it over to his world at one point, which isn't exactly set in stone (pun unintended). "I first have some things I need to finish up back home, and I'm not exactly sure how long that'll take. But I am fairly sure it will keep me busy."

"That's true, but no matter how busy we are, we always make time for people to relax." Senku hummed. "My Captain's really insistent on it."

Not that he minded so much, but sometimes he forgot that other people needed things like rest.

"I'm sure we'll have something of interest to show you sometime in the future."

"Knowing you, I'm fully expecting to see a place filled with flying carts," look, Inigo is not quite used to the concept of cars yet, let him imagine some weird cyberpunk medieval future, "and streets that do all the walking for you. Surely you can invent that much in the time it'd take me to come over!"

Senku is so incredibly big-brained, after all. Inigo is mostly joking, sure, and that's shown by the smile on his face. But if Senku genuinely pulled it off, he wouldn't be surprised either. That sounds just like him.

"I could, if you give me enough time. The technology exists, but I've got a lot to go first." Senku hummed.

"When I go back I'm seriously going to miss the hot showers. That, I will admit, is a damn luxury." He grinned.

Wow, Senku, Inigo hadn't even considered that yet. He got so used to the showers that he didn't even think about having to miss them again later.. It's amazing how much you can get used to something in so short of a time.

"Can't you invent a way to have hot showers back home? Just.. Just use hot water!"

Yes, Inigo, just throw a bucket of straight up boiling water onto people. Great idea, my dude.

"I wish I could. The infrastructure to make a functional shower takes a lot more manpower than I have. It will probably take a couple of years to get running water, and then we'd need to find a way to heat it up. It's one of the projects that would be nice, and likely good in the future, but one I have to abandon for now." Senku huffed.

"As it is, our use of power is extremely limited too."

...

That's a pause. Where Inigo is staring. And something about the sheer look in his eyes indicates that some gears up there are really turning hard as he does so.

"Why.. would the water run?"

Yes, there's running water on the train, but no one ever introduced Inigo to that being the term for it, okay. So now he's just imagining water running away from Senku or something.

Senku blinked at Inigo a moment and hummed thoughtfully.

"You know how on in the kitchen, or in the shower, you turn the tap on and water comes out?" He asked.

"That's called having running water." He said by way of explanation. "As opposed to having to go to a stream, or cleaning yourself with a bucket. It's meant to signify the fact that the water is coming continuously. Anyway, we don't have that and the infrastructure is too much of a problem to build, that's what I mean."

"Oh." Well, he understands that concept, at least. Thanks to the train and the way water seems to just come out of all sorts of places automatically. Inigo was kind of assuming it was some sort of magic..

"That's an odd way to call it, but I understand. Is there no magic in your world that could just make water appear?"

Happy Birthday, Senku!

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