Tuesday: Groovy Tunes

[wildgalegirl]

So, fity-eight years ago today the nunber one song was Wild Thing by The Troggs. Eighteen years ago a certain soon-to-be-Wild Gale girl was born. Coincidence? (Or a deliberate choice by the Mun just this morning when she saw the factoid in an email?)

The world may never know.

But today Wild Thing would be playing regularly at the store as Charlie barely even pretended to work as she fielded phone calls from Aunties, Allie, and her mother - who wanted to complain about Charlie's twin sisters. They texted.

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[pun_king]

Well, at least one phone call would be coming from someone definitely not related to Charlie at all!

Ring, ring, ring!

[wildgalegirl]

Charlie knew who that was - though, truly, wasn't Graham family of the heart?

"GRAHAM!!"

[pun_king]

Graham would have absolutely no issue with a classification like that!

"Charlie!" he answered back, his broad grin easily there in his cheerful greeting. "Hi! Happy birthday! Are you having an absolutely great and wonderful and spectacular one so far?"

[wildgalegirl]

"You know it!" Charlie said and let him listen to a little bit of Wild Thing. "I'm having a blast!"

[pun_king]

"I would expect no less," Graham admitted, with a fond chuckle. "And so you should be! It being your birthday and everything! I sent a present for you in the mail,by the way so keep an eye out for a nice sweater from Acorn! It's probably still too hot there to get much use out of it now, but come wintertime? You'll be all comfy, cozy and colorful!"

[wildgalegirl]

"No way!" Charlie said delightedly. "That's awesome, amazing, and absolutely fantastic of you! I can't wait! I may have to charm my room chilly just so I can wear it early!"

[pun_king]

"Ooooh!" Graham enthused, sounding impressed. "That's a great idea! And you'll have to send me pictures, too! So I can show Acorn how good it looks and how much you like it!

"So," his head tilted slightly, and his soft smile could definitely be heard in his voice. "Any big plans for your big day?"

[wildgalegirl]

"We have Earth Tourism today, so we're going somewhere cool," Charlie said. "And I'll probably go out and busk over across the causeway. Have some drinks. I wish you were here to join me - or us if I drag some others along."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden didn't call or text; instead she showed up directly! With a proper offering and everything.

"Happy Birthday, Charlie!"

[wildgalegirl]

"ARDEN!" Charlie was on her feet, smiling in delight. "You brought me a cupcake!"

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Well, it's your birthday," Arden pointed out with a small smile. "Was I supposed to just show up empty-handed?"

[wildgalegirl]

Charlie crossed over to her. "You could have," she said, "I'd be happy just to see you. So the cupcake, that's just, you know, the cherry on top."

She grinned at her. "Bonus points if you don't talk about my twin sisters the way my mom did. I think she called to wish me a happy birthday, but she got distracted."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Well, considering I've never met your twin sisters, I think those bonus points are in the bag," Arden said. Her return smile was less robust, but she was very clearly happy to see Charlie. "Are they coming for PW, do you know?"

[wildgalegirl]

"My sisters?" Charlie laughed. "I can't imagine anything that would get them here. Some of the Aunties have come the past two years, and I expect they'll be here again, but I don't think anyone else would be."

She sighed. "It would be nice if Allie came, but probably not."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Why not?" Arden asked. "You two are super-close, aren't you?"

[wildgalegirl]

"She's doing this intensive class/internship at the University and she's busy most weekends," Charlie said. "But she's going to try."

She made a face. "The Aunties could arrange for her to be free if they wanted, but I think they like coming here on their own."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Free rein to be as Auntie as they please?" Arden snorted.

[wildgalegirl]

"Exactly!" Charlie said. "They like to bug my teachers and flirt with the other visitors. And they think I'm bad!"

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"The Aunties flirt?" Arden said, eyes wide. "That...must be something to see."

[wildgalegirl]

"It's terrifying," Charlie said. "And the poor man never stands a chance."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"...What if he's married?"

[wildgalegirl]

"Oh, they don't do things like that," Charlie said. "There are rules. Which doesn't mean there might not be some light flirting, but they don't cross that line."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"What are the rules?" Arden asked, at this point just fascinated.

[wildgalegirl]

"Well, you don't interfere with committed people, for one," Charlie said. "Consent is everything. You don't use charms to, you know, coerce or change anyone that way. You can't try to use charms to really influence anyone who isn't family, and that's mostly because in the family the person would know they were being charmed, so that's more a game - and if it ever became more the Aunties would have our heads."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Those are good rules," Arden said with a nod. "So like, any birthday plans?"

[wildgalegirl]

"Not today," Charlie said, "but I thought maybe one night this week I'd think about having a party at the dorms. Or at least ordering a ton of food and see if people showed up."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Well, let me know if you do that!" Arden said. "I can't get into the dorms without being let in, but I'd come to a belated birthday hangout!"