Il Pollo, Sunday Evening

[glacial_queen]

After a long "discussion" about the proper venue (Re: argument with much grumping and sulking, and plenty of each on both sides), Karla and Jono had agreed to have a modest birthday dinner at Il Pollo, as opposed to, say, Cafe Fina (Karla's choice) or nothing at all, ever, okay, maybe a lager but not out in public, bloody hell, Karla (Jono's choice). The food was tasty, filling, and good; not particularly expensive; and varied enough that no matter the dietary restrictions or tastebuds, anyone invited would be able to find something to eat.

The invitations were sent out via email and text, as befitting the informality of the affair (which Karla had reluctantly agreed to since Jono had gone to the dance as instructed). She'd been able to commandeer a small private banquet room, in deference to the number of people invited, and the reservation had been made for seven, with people invited to show up a little bit earlier for drinks. Dessert was going to be a collection of cannolis and a cupcakes, so there'd be plenty of different types to sample.

With an (admittedly smug) smile, Karla helped herself to a glass of wine and toasted the grumpy birthday boy, waiting for the invited guests to show up.

[Said grumpy birthday boy modded with permission. Open restaurant and if you think you got an invite, you absolutely did! No OCD, feel free to make all the messy threads you want!]

Comments

[furnaceface]

Jono... was kind of okay with this, honestly. Food? Jonothon was a fan of food. It was sort of habit-forming, that eating thing, and he found himself doing it pretty regularly since he'd gotten his ability to eat back.

Doing it with friends was a completely different matter. Something he hadn't really done before, unless it was one-on-one. And for his birthday? For his sake? He hadn't even let people throw him a birthday party while he was still a student here. What was this, then?

Dinner. It was just dinner. That happened to take place on his birthday. So he was going to handle that.

"They're licensed here, right? I can order a drink to go with whatever else I happen to get?"

If anybody told the serving staff that it was his birthday, he was going to leave.

[glacial_queen]

HA! Karla already had!

...But only to ask them to forebear from singing 'Happy Birthday' to Jono no matter who asked or how muched they begged. Because otherwise there'd be no keeping him in the building at all. And getting him here had been hard enough, Mother Night.

"No, Jono," Karla sighed. "Not licensed at all. This is actually an elaborate training exercise for the troopers."

[trigons_child]

"I am pleased I was able to see you today after all," Raven said, approaching Jono after she arrived. "Happy birthday."

[icecoldfrost]

"I'll pay for a bottle of wine if you stop dithering about the fact you're getting a birthday party." Emma, don't be mean, and she flagged down a waiter. "I'm rather sure I can drink you under the table."

Look, her legit ID put her at the right age! She just...wasn't. Yet. Time-lived-speaking, that is.

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"They have wine," Squall offered helpfully. He'd been here on a number of dates with Rinoa, after all. "It's good."

[angelo_wings]

"Did you want drinks?" Rinoa chirped. "Should I have got you a bottle of wine? Oh! Are you opening presents now?"

Incoming. Jono was getting hugged. Sorry, Jono.

[glacial_queen]

Karla was reading the menu hungrily. She was starving and contemplating ordering ALL THE THINGS. Because food was delicious and she hadn't eaten in...hours. A few of them. More than three, easily.

So, yeah. All the foods. Evers.

[life_inshadow]

Tara leaned over toward Karla, grinning. "So, do you think the kitchen staff is a little afraid of us yet? And hi!"

She'd missed Karla.

[icecoldfrost]

"So, are you going to pick up that box I have on layaway for you before you leave again?" Emma asked lazily as she contemplated stealing Karla's menu. "There's more chocolate in it for you."

Totally Dirty.

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"This isn't a very elaborate affair," Squall told Karla with a Very Serious look on his face. "I'm surprised."

This was his idea of a joke.

[trigons_child]

Of course Raven was there, and upon arriving she went to give Karla a hug. "Thank you for convincing him to agree to this," she murmured.

[glacial_queen]

Karla was glad to give her a big hug back. "I just feel bad for not getting the chance to bring you in on it," she returned. "It was a last-minute idea. And I spent most of the time convincing Jono that it wouldn't kill him to celebrate."

And then arguing about whose definition of 'celebration' they were going to use.

[brat_inslayage]

Surprise, Raven, there was Kennedy all of a sudden, reaching out to sling an arm around your shoulders.

"Total surprise seeing you here."

Spoiler not you, Steph: that was a joke. Shh.

[life_inshadow]

Tara went over to give Raven a hug, too.

"I keep not being in the same place as you," she said. "I need to cut that out."

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Squall waved at Raven in a friendly sort of way. "Hey."

[brat_inslayage]

Hey, Kennedy was around, Kennedy was so not missing a party with friends she hadn't seen in a while.

"Okay, now I don't feel quite as bad about missing out on the dance after all."

Because getting Jono to celebrate his birthday? That was totally a bigger event.

[glacial_queen]

"I managed to drag him to that, too," Karla bragged. Because she figured that a) Kennedy would understand, and b) Kennedy would forgive her a bit of bragging. "I think he's mellowing in his old age."

[furnaceface]

"Glad we could take advantage of the fact that I'm an old man now to make up for that," Jonothon mused, offering Kennedy a bit of a wry smile from where he was idly fidgeting with his menu. "It is good to see you again, though, Kennedy."

You know, even if it meant acknowledging his existence to people in a social setting. God, who did that?

[icecoldfrost]

After pestering Jono, Emma was going to shove her way to a seat near Kennedy. "Shooooooooopping," she practically begged. "There is none here. None. Go out with me sometime instead of hopping dimensions or teaching children."

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"Landing on the moon is a strange reason for a dance, anyway," Squall told her. "Even considering that your moon doesn't have monsters on it."

[life_inshadow]

Tara had skipped the dance the night before, because ha ha seriously, like she was going to get dressed up when there was a Top Chef marathon on, she didn't have a date and nobody was going to make her leave her dorm room?

But Jono's birthday was enough to tempt her out of being a hermit. She dropped a small wrapped box onto the gift table and claimed a glass of wine, then looked around to see who else had come.

[furnaceface]

One of those people, funnily enough, was Jonothon. Weird, how much of a battle it had been to get him out of the Boards for this, considering whose birthday it was.

"Tara, luv," he greeted with a little smile. "Good to see you could make it."

[brat_inslayage]

Kennedy waved at her with the hand that wasn't holding a wine glass. "Hey, you made it!"

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Squall wouldn't have missed this, of course. He didn't say much, he didn't smile much... but that was just him being his usual.

He didn't bring a gift, just a birthday card. With a very nice-looking letter tucked inside informing Jono he had a one-year membership in a dessert-of-the-month club (http://www.amazingclubs.com/dessert.html).

[angelo_wings]

"Should I have signed your name to my gift?" Rinoa asked.

No, she did not trust Squall to shop.

"I can open the envelope and add it."

[angelo_wings]

Rinoa was late, but she preferred to call it fashionably late. Besides she had some gifts for Jono and that was what counted, right?

She was going to snag a glass of wine and bother people. Probably Jono. And probably Squall.

[glacial_queen]

And a Karla, too, right?

"Oh good, they're just about to take our orders for appetizers," Karla said when she spotted Rinoa. "And there's some tasty stuff on the menu you might have missed."

Except for the part where Karla had ordered one of everything, on top of what everyone else had ordered.