thenearshore | [Open] Birthday Partying

Entry tags:

nanako dojima | persona 4

[Open] Birthday Partying

Who: Nanako and Everyone else!
When: the afternoon of October 4th
Where: Nanshe's Temple
What: It's Nanako's 7th birthday! She's invited everyone over for cake.

[ The party is a little last minute, because Nanako hadn't exactly planned on having anything until a few days before, but it doesn't take much to make her happy and the decorating was simple enough to do, especially when she enlisted some of her friends for help.

Her temple is decorated with some streamers and colorful balloons in pink and purple, the doors swung open so people could go in and out as they wished, since the weather was still warm, even for October.

There's a birthday cake, too, although it's small and round and meant mostly for Nanako, seven candles placed carefully atop it, waiting to be blown out. Instead of making a cake big enough for everyone who might show up, she instead had asked for help baking cupcakes, some chocolate, some vanilla, the frosting in flavors of peanut butter or strawberry and mixed and matched between them.

Nanako herself is dressed up in a pink flowery dress, not quite so fancy as what she wore for the dinner party a few nights past, but something a little nicer than every day, her hair done up with pink ribbons. She looks a little nervous when the first few guests show up, unsure if anyone would really come, but once her friends start showing up, that's entirely forgotten as she is happy to see everyone who shows up to visit and happily bounces between all her guests to say hello and make sure they get a cupcake.

And if she looks like she's concentrating especially hard on her wish when she blows out her candles? Well. She's doing her best. Celebrating with her friends and almost-family here might not be the same as what her birthday might have been at home, but she's still happy for the chance, all the same. ]

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[I: Closed to Nanako]

[In the end, Nanako had asked Shun to come to the party, and he couldn't really turn that down considering he'd encouraged her to celebrate it. Finding something appropriate to get her last-minute was a little harder though, and the cat-shaped beanbag isn't exactly something he can hide easily or be subtle about.

But that just means he has to be a bit more careful with his entrance. Ultimately, he gets there a little bit early while things are still quiet, and teleports to a fairly secluded part of her temple ground before actually heading into the temple and finding the closest room to the main party area to hide the thing that he can manage without getting caught. Once that's been dealt with, he comes back to the main room to see if he can find Nanako herself.]

--

[II: OTA]

[Despite his lack of interest in parties, the fact that Nanako asked for him to be there means Shun is, however reluctantly, staying for the duration. He doesn't have a cupcake, but that might be because he's settled himself on the railing of one of the wooden walkways on the water and is throwing large pieces of what appears to be jerky or some other kind of preserved meat to the pelicans.

However, he's pretty easy to see from the main temple, especially considering his coat is trailing back over the railing in a very obvious way.]

[ Nanako isn't hard to find, considering only a few people have shown up so far, but she's greeting them happily. When she spots Shun, her eyes light up and she immediately comes over to him. ]

Shun-oniichan! You came!

[The shorter it takes, the better, and Shun raises a hand in some semblance of a greeting as she comes over.]

Of course I did. [Then, after a few moments, like he's forgotten the usual custom for this sort of thing:] Happy birthday.

[He nods back the way he came in.] I got you something, but it's big, so I put it in another room.

[...Because he didn't want anyone else to see it, but he's not mentioning that part.]

Thanks, Shun! [ She beams at him before her mouth drops open in surprise. ] You brought me a present, too? Where is it?

[Shun half-turns back the way he came, gesturing for her to follow.] Through here.

[It really isn't far - just down a hallway and in a room off to the side. There's not that much else in said room, so the soft white cat beanbag stands out pretty obviously.]

[ She follows him, practically bouncing in her excitement at his side as he leads the way into the temple. The rooms in here often change, depending on what is needed, the shelter itself adjusting for those who need it most. And apparently, this was a room Shun needed, since she's not sure she's seen it before. But all the same, as she pauses in the doorway and sees her gift, her eyes light up. ]

Is this it? For me, Shun-oniichan? Oh! It looks soft!

[ And she just... flings herself forward onto it facefirst, giggling happily. ]

[Shun has enough mostly-empty rooms in his temple that it didn't occur to him that this one might have appeared for his purposes. Though it was certainly a convenient distance...

In any case, he seems a little relieved that she seems to like it.] I figured since you seemed to like your brother's cats, you'd like something like that.

[Even if it seems he was right anyway, he has a hard time not explaining his reasoning for this sort of thing.]

[ She snuggles her cheek in against it, giggling, before grinning up at him. ]

I love it, Shun-oniichan! It's so soft!

[It's kind of difficult not to crack at least a brief smile at the cuteness of that image. After everything that's happened in the last few days, it's kind of a relief.]

I'm glad you do.

[ Pushing herself up from the beanbag, she comes back to where he stands to give him a happy hug instead. ]

Thank you, Shun-oniichan! It's a wonderful present. And I'm really glad you came today, too.

[Well, he was expecting that at one point or another. He's gotten more used to getting hugs from Nanako now, so he doesn't twitch away like he used to do, instead resting his hands on her shoulders in about the best semblance of a return hug he can do when he's this much taller.]

You said you wanted me to come, so I wasn't going to not come.

I did. I wanted to see you. [ She smiles up at him. ] Even though I know you probably don't want cupcakes. But I still wanted to spend my birthday with you, too.

[Shun still isn't really all that familiar with the feeling of people actually wanting him around, though he doesn't show that any more obviously than a slightly uncomfortable shift.]

Well, I'm here now, so I'll stay as long as I need to.

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welcome_home - 2018-01-23 16:45 (UTC) - Expand

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revolutionfalcon - 2018-01-24 13:48 (UTC) - Expand

[Though they met once, on his own arrival no less, Shun was a hard person to forget. He has a very imposing aura and Suou isn't sure what to think of him. Nanako has never said anything negative about the god. Seeing him show up to her party is strange since Shun really doesn't look the type to be at a seven year old's birthday party. But somehow he doesn't feel surprised by it.

Suou walks over, stopping just a couple feet short as he watches Shun feed the pelicans.]

Taking a break from the party?

[Shun's gaze turns to Suou as soon as he enters about a ten foot radius of him, observing the vaguely familiar face. Even if they haven't met for a while, there are certain details Shun tends to remember, among them that this guy was Nanako's shinki.]

I don't do well in crowds. [Shun throws a little more meat to a particularly small pelican off to one side who hasn't been having much luck so far.] I would have thought you'd be sticking close to Nanako.

[He frowns a bit at that, pulling his scarf up a bit more. Suou shadows Nanako often but it's also good to not smother her. He's been nearby most of the party and even now he's not really out of earshot.]

Homura is with her and she's surrounded by....a lot of friends.

[Suou doesn't bother explaining more then that. The goddesss is popular and it's good she has so many friends but having so many in the temple at once is putting him on edge. The last thing he wants to do is get snappy and upset Nanako.]

It's easier to breath out here.

[Shun eyes the guy's body language even as he speaks. It certainly seems like he's the more reserved type who'd prefer to stick to the fringes of the party, and while he seems like an odd match for Nanako, it also makes sense in a way. She has a habit of drawing people out of their shells.

He's never been that fond of Homura, but he knows she focuses on the safety of her charges above all else, so he trusts that much, at least.] I suppose. At least she didn't put out the invitations so publicly that others would start looking in.

[Shun has a lot of trouble not being paranoid about this sort of thing.] Of course. There's less people out here, and it's less enclosed.

Still a lot of people...

[He really should have expected such a result given Nanako's nature and friendly personality. All the people that had arrived thus far seemed father fond of the goddess. How different they all were from each other and in the range of appearance was interesting it itself.

Though he would rather be near her, he's more relaxed out here. Even with Shun nearby. He has space and more room to himself.]

Right...It's just hard to get use to. Nanako is happy though.

[He can't ask for more that that. Suou moves over to the railway by Shun but still keeps a small bit of distance between them. He crosses his arms before leaning on the rail so he can stare down at the water.]

A lot of people like her. [To Shun, it seems pretty obvious. Generally, people find it easier to get on with kids her age than they do a lot of other people, and Nanako's definitely not the kind of bratty kid that would annoy some people even more. So it's not a surprise, to him, that she's popular enough to get this kind of turnout to a party.

At least they can agree that that last thing is what's most important, though, and Shun nods.] I probably wouldn't be staying if she hadn't asked me to. But for someone her age, it's good to have a celebration like this once in a while.

[It's definitely not as important to someone like him, who hasn't marked his birthday in the last few years, but it's a milestone for younger kids.

On that note, he continues throwing scraps to the pelicans at large now that the smaller one's gotten a little more.]

[He doesn't respond for awhile, preferring to just watch Shun feed the pelicans. The party is still strange to him but if it made Nanako happy, it was fine. Every once in a while there should be celebrations like this? That seemed like a hassle.]

Considering how Nanako speaks about you, I shouldn't be surprised...

[Still, it's hard to picture Nanako's words fitting a guy like this. Still, she said nothing but good things.]

I'm glad she has other people to look out for her.

[Shun isn't too surprised that Suou's heard about him from Nanako, considering how enthusiastic she tends to get about him, but he can't say he isn't curious.]

What does she say about me? [Probably nothing that falls in line with the image he tries to give off, but then, Nanako doesn't see so much of that from him anyway.

He does give a faint hum of agreement at the last thing, though.] I'm not surprised, but it is good to have that kind of security.

Nothing but good things. She sees you in a different way but that's probably because of her bond with you.

[Sorry Nanako, he's not seeing the 'big bro' and super nice side of Shun. But he doesn't really expect to. Really its a very hard contrast compairing what he's heard about Shun to the sharp-eyed man standing next to him. Suou doesn't doubt Nanako's feelings on Shun but its just hard to picture. Then again, he just really hopes she won't go around and say how nice he can be too. Hopefully Shun will be the solo focus for that.]

[Shun gives a faint snort, though it doesn't seem like he's surprised by the answer.] Sounds like her. I did tell her I'm kinder to her than I am to most others, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

[She'd mostly just seemed confused about it before moving on anyway with the same kind of attitude. Not that he really wanted anything bad to come of it.]

She'll probably do the same sort of thing to you. I know she's fond of that other shinki of hers.

[Shun never got on particularly well with Homura, but at least she's got the protection of her gods as her focus.]

[Suou stiffens and blinks at that. He lets out a small scowl and looks away. He hopes not. That sounds embarrassing. He's fine with her thinking he's nice and what not but then going off to tell others that? He's not so sure.]

Then I hope you'll be more of her focus than me when she talks to other people...

[Sorry Shun but better you than him. You are her 'big bro' or whatever, right?]

[That gets a somewhat dry aside glance from Shun, because it sounds like this guy doesn't have a great deal of experience with children.]

She's seven. She'll have talk enough for all of us, not just me. [It's the kind of thing kids do, talk up people they think are cool or interesting. Nanako seems to think that of a lot of people, and he can't imagine she's limited to just talking about him even now.]

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