I'm No Party-Throwing Expert But I Do Think This Is Gonna Be A Good One!

[summerdude]

The first day of summer dawns bright and warm, a steady breeze stirring through the trees. The day itself is a flurry of activity: Magnus and Tress meet up in the kitchen early in the morning to start throwing together refreshments for Galahad's party. They make three kinds of cookies, and also a tray of flat brownies — Magnus has it in his head that half of the cookies and all of the brownies should be turned into ice cream sandwiches and, accordingly, tracks down Susan (who seems to know everything about this place) to get her to produce a deep freezer for Legoland. (She has that look on her face like he smells bad the whole time, but when he mentions it's for the bachelorette, at least she seems slightly less cold and standoffish.)

While the baked goods cool, Magnus ransacks the pantry for chips and candy and stuff for sandwiches. He lets Tress handle ice cream selection; when they find boxes of Bagel Bites in the freezer, he cheers. Legoland definitely has a microwave; they plugged the freezer into the same outlet. (Is a bachelorette the same thing as a slumber party? Maybe!)

It's early evening by the time everything is done and set up, even with Alex and Tress's help. He decides that the substantial food and record player should both be reserved for Legoland, partly because it does have electricity. They lug a big old table up to the top of the tower for the taste tests, and then an easel with giant post-it notes for the 'naming Mansion constellations' portion of the evening, and then a bunch of the smaller easels, sketchpads, and a selection of different art supplies (markers, crayons, watercolors, pencils, acrylic paints) he and Sunny have been tracking down and hoarding, for the bestiality portion of the evening.

After sending Tress and Alex off so they can get ready, he sets up for the taste tests: bowls full of different candies (white rabbit, hopjes, strawberry-flavored fizzing warheads, Reeses's cluster bites, Haribo gummy goldbears, hundred grand bars, red vines, salmiak licorice, candied verdant vines (Tress made them), and nerd ropes), bowls full of chips (Takis in the flavors angry burger, blue heat, and dragon sweet chili; Lays in the flavors Wasabi Octopus, All Dressed, Cappuccino, White Rabbit Rich Toffee (to compare with the actual white rabbit candy), and Pimento Cheese), and several cloth bags covering different red-flavored sodas, with wine tasting note cards so people can try to guess which is Code Red, which is Big Red, which is Cheerwine, and (in a fond nod to Alex), which is Tizer. He completes the array with a stack of paper for general ranking notes for the candy and chips. (There are also a couple child-sized easels and ranking sheets, for Mothwing and Sunny, but Magnus did also bring regular water for her and Sunny, a fish supplied by Drosera for Mothwing, and some carrots and apple slices for Sunny. There is also an easel and notepad for Shen Yuan, even though he's just a ghost and probably can't manipulate it, but he knocked once for yes when Magnus asked his growing body if he was going to make it.)

Finally, after convincing Drosera that she should absolutely wear a cute little bolo tie and party hat for this, he darts into the mansion for a quick shower, a change into one of the outfits Galahad picked for him when they tried on clothes, and to collect the groom himself. He presents Galahad with a white sash embroidered in gold; it reads GROOM TO BE. There's also a little tiara that he found in their bedroom. He assumes it's a cheap gimmicky one, but it's actually filigree red and white gold with real sapphires, diamonds, and pearls — he just picked it because it's delicate and will blend in with Galahad's hair in a way that will let the sapphires really pop.


Stages of the night will be posted in parent comments; everyone is welcome to thread with whoever in response to those! Awkward social interactions between people who aren't necessarily friendly are encouraged.

Comments

[biteybaby]

Sunny is wearing a very fluffy dress with pink flowers and green leaves printed on it. There was a matching headband with big fabric flowers, but when Sunny tried it on she decided she didn't want it, so instead her hair is in two tiny little pigtails that stick straight out, tied back with small green bows. She has on pink shoes that squeak when she walks.

[summerdude]

"Okay, your hair is so cute," says Magnus, kneeling down for a high five. "Wanna come show Alex how cool your dress is?"

[biteybaby]

She high fives back and then says, "Yes! Letsgo!"

[summerdude]

"Okay," Magnus says, and leans down as if sharing a big secret. "She's a flamingo right now. Do you know what that looks like?"

[biteybaby]

Sunny points to the flamingo. "Pink!"

[summerdude]

"Very good," Magnus says. "Alex really likes being the pinkest flamingo she can. Wanna lead the way?"

[biteybaby]

"Yeah!" she does reach up for Magnu's hand before she starts walking though.

[summerdude]

Magnus lets her lead the way to Alex.

[recognizance]

Oh, that's not going to get annoying at all. SecUnit keeps a wary eye on the infant as they squeak across its path. Are humans this small supposed to be at whatever kind of party this is?

[biteybaby]

Sunny sees someone she does not know, and as she is a very polite young lady, she does up to introduce herself. "Hi."

[recognizance]

It looks down (and down, and down) at her bemusedly. "Hi."

[biteybaby]

"I Sunny," she says, signing her name at the same time as well.

[recognizance]

"Nice to meet you, Sunny," Murderbot says, because it's not made of fucking stone, okay. (It actually gets along fairly well with children, but it hasn't encountered many that were this small, and it's not sure what the protocol is. Other than talking to them in a stupid mushy voice, which it is not going to do.)

[biteybaby]

Sunny appreciates that this stranger isn't talking to her in a stupid mushy voice, as that often feels like she's being patronized, which she does not like. "Introduce?" she asks, waiting for it to tell her its name.

[recognizance]

It blinks twice as the tiny, barely formed human comes out with a word that's arguably bigger than she is.

It blinks again.

"SecUnit," it says.

[biteybaby]

"Seyounet," Sunny repeats back. She extends her tiny hand for a tiny handshake.

[recognizance]

That is such a tiny hand, holy shit. Even if SecUnit was a fan of handshakes, the idea of that one would frankly be intimidating. Instead, it gives her a tiny wave. After a long¹ moment of thought, it tells her, "You can say 'Rin' if that's easier."

¹ .68 seconds.

[biteybaby]

Another person who goes by multiple names. That seems to be a running theme here. “Win,” she repeats, deciding that it is easier to say, even if she still didn’t say it correctly.

[recognizance]

Its face does a thing, a phrase which here means 'acquires the sort of expression you might make if you were inclined to smile, but had no idea how such a thing was done'. "Yeah. Are you friends with Galahad?"

[biteybaby]

She nods. “Galad friend,” Sunny says, then adds, “Magnu brother,” because Magnu said he is her forever brother now and that seems relevant.

[recognizance]

"Okay." It hesitates, even less experienced in small talk with small humans than with full-sized ones. (She's so small. The huge poofs of the dress just make her look even smaller.)

[biteybaby]

Sunny is, as SecUnit can see, quite small. As a result, she has a proportionally-sized attention span at times, a phrase which here means, "a very small attention span, much of the time". She gives it a hug around the legs, then says, "Kay bye!" and runs off, shoes squeaking, as she goes to find someone else to talk to.

[recognizance]

"Bye," it says mildly, only wincing a little as the squeaking starts up again, and wanders over to look at the easels.