Il Pollo, Sunday Evening

[arboreal_priestess]

It was Pride, but it was also Liam's birthday. Liam's sixth birthday, in fact, an event that caused Verity no end of amusement. So, like a good girlfriend would, she made a reservation, got a cake, and left handwavy messages for people to come and celebrate with them.

And if his cake had a little "six" candle and the card she'd gotten him seemed a little weird, well, Verity was prepared to explain it all away as inside jokes. So long as Liam was keeping his identity quiet, she'd help.

...While trolling him merrily along the way. Like a good girlfriend would.

[For him named and anyone else who wants to join them! If you want an invite, you got one!]

Comments

[firstofitskind]

So... another year, another birthday. Which someone Liam’s apparent age should be used to by now, but last year had been the first time he’d so much as acknowledged the date, let alone celebrated. A lot had changed in a year, though. Including the fact that this time, he actually had someone to celebrate with.

“Oh, you’re hilarious,” he said, with a theatrical groan as he spotted that cake.

[arboreal_priestess]

"I know," Verity said with a grin. "You're so lucky to have a girlfriend who's both hot and funny."

[firstofitskind]

“You’re not wrong,” Liam said, leaning over to press a quick kiss to her cheek.

[arboreal_priestess]

"I'm telling everyone that you lost a bet," Verity murmured into his ear under the guise of kissing his cheek. "Just to get our stories straight."

And then she did kiss him. But that was just because she liked to.

[firstofitskind]

"I figured you'd have a good cover story," Liam murmured back. Which was yet another tick in the 'pros' column when it came to dating Verity. "Thanks."

[arboreal_priestess]

"I'm good at what I do," Verity teased back at a normal volume. "Which tonight includes throwing parties and embarrassing you out in public."

Was the waitstaff gonna sing?

...Maaaaaybe.

Look, Liam had a whole host of birthday traditions he needed to experience. Verity was helping.

[firstofitskind]

"Oh god," Liam dropped his head in his hands. "What are you planning?"

[arboreal_priestess]

"You trust me, dontcha sweetheart?" Verity asked, batting her eyes at him.

[firstofitskind]

"With my life? Sure," Liam said, without hesitation. "When you call me 'sweetheart'...?" he let that dangle, figuring that was answer enough.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Your life but not your dignity?" Verity asked, laughing. "I can see where that would be a fair proposition."

[what_the_shock]

Miguel hadn't known it was Liam's birthday until he got the invitation, so he'd sort of scrambled for a present, and remembering radio from a while back, had gone with an Ikea gift card.

He smiled and waved at Verity and Liam as he showed up. He side-eyed the cake, but hey, whatever.

[firstofitskind]

“Hey, you made it!” Liam said cheerfully. Was that a side-eye directed at the cake? It was hard to tell, given that Miguel presumably had his customary sunglasses on, but if he wasn’t going to ask, Liam wasn’t going to say anything.

[what_the_shock]

One benefit of the glasses: undetectable side-eyes.

"From all the way across the island," Miguel answered cheerfully. "Happy birthday." He handed over the gift card. "Good thing Verity told us."

[firstofitskind]

“Thanks,” Liam said, blinking in momentary confusion at the gift card. “What’s this?” It was a present, Liam. You knew that.

[what_the_shock]

"Your birthday present?" Miguel said. "I heard it was something you could probably use."

[firstofitskind]

"Right, right," Liam said, nodding as he smiled sheepishly. "I just... wasn't expecting anything, is all. You didn't have to. But thanks."

[what_the_shock]

"No problem," Miguel said. "Happy birthday."

[arboreal_priestess]

"He lost a bet," Verity said cheerfully when she noticed Miguel noticing the cake. She was proactively deflecting any cake questions just to be safe. "You'd think that he'd know by now that I only offer suckers' bets, but, bless him, he tried."

[what_the_shock]

Miguel grinned. "Can't blame him for trying."

[arboreal_priestess]

"And, honestly, as far as consequences go, this is him getting off lightly," Verity said with a laugh. "My little sister would have demanded cosplay."

[what_the_shock]

Miguel laughed. "Remind me never to bet against your sister if she visits. What kind of cosplay?"

[arboreal_priestess]

"She's a Y-People fan, so probably...one of them." Verity had no real interest in comics or cosplay, so she couldn't really narrow it down from there. She and Antimony had come to an agreement; they would talk about their individual hobbies for exactly as many minutes as the other person did. And since Antimony cared as little about dance and Verity did comics, that number of minutes was generally zero.

"They wear leather right? Hmm, maybe I should have thought about this a little longer."

[what_the_shock]

Miguel snorted. "Now you know what your next bet-forfeit should be."

[arboreal_priestess]

"Surely you don't think he'd be so foolish as to take another one, do you?" Verity asked slyly. "That would suggest he didn't learn his lesson from this one."

Well, they were still dating, so there was a good example of Liam not learning his lesson already.

[what_the_shock]

"There's always another time," Miguel said wryly. "Guys are stupid."

He spoke from experience, yes.