Disclaimer: The Tin Man Characters are not mine, sadly =[
"I can't find anything in this box!" Glitch exclaimed, from the other side of the room.
Cain closed his eyes and sighed, before turning to face Glitch. They only had about an hour, maybe even less before DG and Jeb brought Raw in. It was all Glitch's idea to throw together a surprise party for Raw.
Raw had been so helpful to them during the fall of the witch, even saving all of their lives quite a few times. Most particularly Cain's. Having been shot a few times, and being bitten by a vicious papay, Cain owed Raw a lot.
A surprise party for Raw would surely do it. Raw had never really had a birthday celebration before in his life. Normally, a birthday would be like any other day for Raw.
Maybe Raw would get a little more nap time, but that was pretty much it. Raw also felt as though he didn't really fit in at all. Cain had spent a lot of his time with Glitch, or rather…making sure Glitch didn't get in trouble.
DG, Jeb, and Azkadellia had also spent a lot of time together. They were basically kids in their twenties. Of course they wanted to hang around with each other. Cain did have to admit that he was slightly jealous of his son spending more time with the two princesses than with him.
He hadn't seen his son in eight years, and he wished they would spend more time catching up. But then again, DG seemed to have bonded quickly with Jeb. Cain guessed they probably had found a lot in common. With Jeb thinking he had no more parents, and DG feeling out of place so many times in her life, Cain couldn't blame him.
"Glitch, I told you…those…party hats…" Cain paused, trying to remember what DG had called them. "Are in the blue box…" he finished, after a few seconds thought.
"Oh, the blue box! Right!" Glitch said, looking around. Glitch out his finger against his mouth, in thought. "I think I left that one out in the hallway…" Glitch said, thoughtfully.
Glitch went to walk out, but Cain called after him. "Glitch, wait…" Cain said.
Cain turned to face Zero, who was sitting in a chair at the table. Zero looked completely miserable. He had gotten sick of folding napkins for the past thirty minutes. Especially since Cain had yelled at them for twenty five of them because he kept folding them wrong.
Cain smiled slightly, feeling very satisfied. "Hey, Zero…why don't you go out in the hallway to get them?" Cain asked.
Zero shot Cain a death look, and Cain's smirk grew slightly.
"Oh that's right…you're under house arrest. You can't leave this room…you're stuck with me for six months of this….before you go back to jail and the judge sentences you to about…the rest of your life doing this…" Cain said, standing up from where he was kneeling on the floor.
Zero snarled at Cain's back, as Cain disappeared out the door.
Glitch turned to face Zero. "You know, Zero…I think Cain is being very generous. I mean, you could be sitting in a jail cell at central city prison right now. Instead you get to help us throw a party and have fun…" Glitch said, with a smile.
"Oh yes, Cain is very generous. I've got to do everything he tells me to do for six months…under his watch for six months…" Zero snapped.
"But it beats sitting in a dirty jail cell…" Glitch stated.
"Where I have my own space to walk around, get my own sleep hours, get to go outside for about three hours a day, and….don't have the only place where I can sleep packed with party people…" Zero growled.
Glitch looked away. "Oh…maybe that is a bad thing…but you get to eat cake!" Glitch said, his smile coming back.
Zero turned away and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to get rid of his headache. The Zipperhead just did not get it. Zero began to wonder how Cain could spend almost all of his time with him, when Zero could barely stand him for five minutes.
Not Even.
The door opened, and Cain reappeared carrying a large blue box. He shot Zero a look. "Why did you stop folding those napkins? You still have glasses to fill with that apple cider stuff too…..pick up the pace!" Cain snapped, setting down the box.
Glitch ran over, excited. "Whoa, easy there…sweetheart…" Cain said, holding his hand up to Glitch, with a small smile. Glitch returned the smile, blushing slightly.
Zero rolled his eyes. "That's disgusting…" Zero spat.
Glitch frowned, and turned away. Cain stepped up to Zero, and placed a firm hand on Zero's shoulder. Zero grunted slightly the hard touch.
"Did you say something? Because the only thing I expect you to be asking is how many glasses of cider do you need…" Cain said, his icy blue eyes glaring at the side of Zero's face.
Zero rolled his eyes. "How many glasses of cider do you need?" Zero asked, mockingly.
"There we go. I'll say about…ten…" Cain said, before turning away.
He looked to see Glitch tearing through the boxes, and pulling out the hats. He placed one on his head, and began to do a little dance.
"Hey, Cain! Let's do that dance we did last week!" Glitch exclaimed, extending his hand to him. Cain shook his head. "Not here or now, Glitch…" Cain said. Glitch let out a small whine.
"Well, at least wear one of these hats…" Glitch said, picking up a red sparkly party hat, and reaching to take off Cain's gray fedora. Cain grabbed Glitch's hand at the wrist, and looked down at him.
"No, I don't think so…" Cain said, with a small smile. Glitch stuck his tongue out at Cain. "Party pooper…" Glitch said, with a teasing expression.
Cain turned away, and looked at the machine that DG had called the 'ice cream maker'. Cain titled his head. "Now, you sure you know how to work this, Glitch?" Cain asked, cautiously.
Glitch nodded, excited. "Oh yes!" he said, before looking for a place to set the hat. He looked over at Zero, before plopping the hat on his head.
Zero stopped pouring the cider, to turn and give Glitch a cold glare. Glitch was too fascinated by the machine to notice.
"Okay…Cain had me the ice cream first…" Glitch said, pointing to it. Cain looked at the container, before handing it to him. Cain watched as Glitch happily put the ice cream in the stirrer.
"Alright, now squeeze that chocolate syrup in here…" Glitch said, to Cain. Cain picked up the bottle, and turned it upside down. He began to squeeze the bottle, but nothing came out.
"Come on Cain, really squeeze it…." Glitch said.
Zero let out a chuckle, and Cain gave him a glare. Zero turned away, and went back to pouring the cider.
Once Cain had successfully gotten the syrup out, he waited for Glitch's further instructions. "Alright now hand me the cookies. Don't worry about how big they are….this should just grind them up…" Glitch said.
Cain picked up the bag of cookies that were next to him. He pulled out about five of them, realizing they were about five inches big.
"Um…Glitch…you sure we should break these apart first?" Cain questioned.
"Oh trust me, they are fine…" Glitch said, waving his hand as if to dismiss the matter. Cain looked at him hesitantly. "Come on Cain! We've only got…three minutes to whip up this sundae!" Glitch exclaimed.
Cain sighed, before slowly placing the cookies into the machine one by one. With each cookie Cain put in, the machine seemed to grunt out in protest.
"Glitch, are you sure this is a good idea?" Cain asked. "Cain! Shove those last three in at once! We've got to hurry! I hear footsteps! Abort three minutes! Abort! Abort! Abort!" Glitch exclaimed.
Cain hit Glitch in the chest, and Glitch stopped. "I got it, I got it…calm down sweetheart…" Cain stated.
Zero rolled his eyes. There they went again with the whole 'sweetheart' thing….
Cain slowly shoved the cookies into the machine. It seemed to screech for a few seconds, and Cain held his breath. After they finally set in, the machine stopped screeching.
Cain smiled, satisfied.
Glitch grinned. "See Cain? I told you-"
Glitch was cut off by the sound of the machine screeching again, as it exploded.
Zero watched as all of the ice cream, chocolate syrup, and cookie fragments splattered all over Cain and Glitch.
Cain slowly turned to face Glitch, most likely out of anger. But it was hard for Zero to tell because of the ice cream that was completely covering him.
Zero began to laugh, and both Cain and Glitch turned to look at him. Again, it was most likely a glare, but it was hard to tell.
"On the plus side, the ice cream really brings out both of your eyes…" Zero stated.
Before Cain could reply, the door opened and DG stood there with: Azkadellia, Jeb, Ahamo, Lavender Eyes, Toto and Raw.
They all stared at Cain and Glitch, too shocked to move. DG covered her face, and turned away. The first thing Lavender Eyes saw was the "Happy Birthday Raw!" banner, before her eyes lingered on the ice cream soaking Tin Man and Advisor.
No one said anything for a few minutes. It was then that Raw let out a laugh. Everyone turned to look at him, and their fear of his disappointment had vanished.
DG turned to look at Jeb, before laughing herself. She laced her arm through Jeb's and Jeb joined in on the laughing. Eventually, everyone but Cain and Glitch were laughing. Glitch watched as his best friends laughed at him, and he turned to face Cain.
He had a grin on his face as he looked up at the Tin Man. "Come on, Cain! This IS funny…" he said, before laughing.
Cain looked down at Glitch, trying to do everything but laugh.
Glitch watched as a few drops dripped off the edge of Cain's hat, and his smile grew even wider.
"You know you love me…" Glitch said, with a teasing smile.
Cain returned the smile. "And I'll never understand why….." Cain stated,
Zero rolled his eyes. He was sick of the way Cain and Glitch seemed to look at each other longingly.
He looked at Azkadellia, who was now standing next to him.
"Where is the best place for me to throw up?" he asked. Azkadellia turned to face him, with a glowering look.
Zero looked away. "Never mind…" he said, before pouring the last glass of cider.