Edér Teylecg was a man of simple tastes, he told himself as he grudgingly worked his way into the fancy attire Lenneth had sent up to his room. Simple foods, everyday ales. Simple and comfortable clothing you could do a fair day's work in, out in the fields or mucking out stables. Clothes that could be dirtied or torn without worrying about what they must've cost.
Well, if he spilled fancy wine on these fancy togs or got into a fancy duel and got a fancy slash cut in the doublet, Lenni could worry about the cost. Besides, it already had so many fashionable slashes, who'd notice another one? And the heavy wool fabric was already pretty close to wine-colored. Not a problem. Edér grinned at the thought of all the retaliatory trouble he could get into in this garb. Serve his Watcher friend right for making them all attend her fancy party. Maybe this mysterious visiting dignitary they were greeting merited a big to-do, and sure, Brighthollow was looking especially bright and shiny these days and could pull off a fancy dinner party, but none of that meant Edér really had to be there, right? Especially not in overembellished Vailian clothes.
A knock at the door, which Edér hadn't even bothered to close (hey, if the hose ate him alive, he didn't want to lock out a rescue party), revealed Aloth standing outside Edér's room and casting a critical eye over his sartorial progress. The elf, though also attired far more fancily than his usual discreet armor, had been allowed to forgo the Vailian style for something Edér guessed was Aedyran, and its drapery looked far more comfortable than the Vailian doublet. "Almost ready?" Aloth asked, sounding as if he could not quite bring himself to believe that Edér would ever work out this textile puzzle. That was reasonable; Edér couldn't quite believe it either.
"Sure," Edér said, "long as half a doublet is an acceptable style." He pulled his arm out of the sleeve it kept getting stuck in, what with the longer false sleeve hanging down from the slash he was apparently supposed to stick his actual arm through. With a longsuffering sigh, Aloth approached and held the garment in place for Edér to maneuver into.
With a friend's assistance, the process became much less frustrating, though Edér felt that only reinforced the idiocy of clothes that required assistance to get into. After a bit more of fabric-shifting, Aloth gave Edér's shoulder a pat and pronounced him acceptable for fashionable society. Edér groaned. "All right. Let's get this over with, then."
He made his way down the stair to the first level of Brighthollow, Aloth following quietly. Edér stepped out into a riot of sound and color and heavenly aromas. He looked around, dumbfounded, and caught the eye of Lenneth, standing near the door. The Watcher herself was gussied up in a gown that also appeared to be of Aedyran style, one shoulder bare, her hair pinned up in a dozen tiny clips. While Edér was boggling at the idea of Lenni in a dress, she squealed and rushed over to hug him. Chuckling at the awkwardness of a hug with his doublet's puffy sleeves, Edér glanced around and noted that the rest of their friends were assembled and watching him expectantly. One and all, they were dressed more lavishly than usual, but he noted that not a one of them besides himself had been forced to endure anything as silly as his Vailian outfit. Well, except Pallegina, but she always dressed like that so Edér figured she couldn't be much inconvenienced by the slightly fancier and less armored suit she'd worn to this party. All eyes were on Edér, but the mugs in their hands seemed to hold sensible everyday ales and ciders, none of the fancy wines he'd more or less expected at a fancy party. And the table was spread with a hearty array of roast beast and fowl and piles of bread rolls and pies and at least four variations on potato casseroles that he could see at a glance. None of the fancy party foods he had assumed Lenni would serve her visiting dignitary.
Speaking of that mysterious visitor, he glanced around again and realized that he saw no one he didn't recognize. Lenneth, Aloth, the rest of their traveling companions, a handful of Caed Nua's hired folk, but no dignitaries. "Huh," Edér said. "Guest of honor not here yet? Figured as long as it took getting into these togs, I'd've missed half the party."
Lenni laughed, her eyes alight. She exchanged a look with Aloth, who had broken into the sort of cunning smile that usually meant Iselmyr was about to cause trouble, which certainly brightened Edér's outlook on this party. Lenni answered, fairly bouncing with pent-up delight, "Well, he's here now. Happy birthday, Edér!" and hugged him again.
Edér stood frozen in surprise. It took him a moment, while Aloth echoed the birthday greetings and shook his hand, to even recall what day it was. And another few moments, while the rest of the group lined up to greet him likewise, to confirm that, yes, the date of today was, in fact, the date of his birth. By the time he'd worked this all out, he looked at Lenneth to find her grinning smugly while the receiving line continued to file by. "Well, I'll be," Edér chuckled. "How'd you even figure that out? I'd near forgotten it myself."
"Oh, I have my ways," she said slyly with a wink to Aloth.
"Aw, you can tell me, Lenni…" Edér cajoled.
"Oh, fine," she readily relented. "We went back to the ruined temple in Gilded Vale. Priests like to keep records of births and marriages and things like that, right? Took a bit of searching…"
"The better part of three days," put in Aloth dryly.
"...but we found you there, all right. I know your birthday, and also," she winked, "how old you are. Plus your parents' names, and grandparents, and, well, let's just say we made the most of the opportunity."
"I have it all written down," Aloth offered.
Edér whistled slowly. "Guess all that just...stopped being worth thinking of, in the years on my own in that town. You, uh, went to a lot of trouble for this, Lenni."
"Well," she said, squeezing his hand, "you're not on your own now. Besides, after that time we'd just finished restoring Brighthollow and you teased me that it was getting too nice and if I started throwing fancy dinner parties we couldn't still be friends? I just couldn't resist."
"I said that?" Edér laughed.
"I remember it distinctly, Edér."
"Leave it to you to get me back for that with a fancy birthday party. That why you made me get all dressed up?" He tugged at the doublet's uncomfortable sleeves.
Lenneth grinned. "That, and it kept you busy long enough for us to set things up."
"You could've set up three parties in the time these sleeves took me," Edér groaned. "Next time, I want what Aloth's wearing."
"That's still pretty fancy," Lenni pointed out, eying the wizard appreciatively.
"After this," Edér waved his arms so that the false sleeves flapped in the breeze, "anything's an acceptable compromise."
"Done," Lenneth nodded. "And…" she regarded him with a sly grin, "fancy clothes and dinner party notwithstanding, we can still be friends?"
"Oh, we're still friends, Watcher. Just wait'll I think up a way to get you back for this."
"Can't wait," Lenni giggled. "Now, come enjoy your day."
And Edér did. The doublet might have ended up with a few more stains than could have ended up there by chance, and the slashes newly added to it were neither for fashion nor from any duels, but from the games Lenni had set up out in the yard. At some point, Edér deliberately slashed off the false sleeves after tripping on them a time or two in his attempts to catch a greased pig, and several of the new slashes were definitely claw-marks attributable to wrestling Hiravias in his spiritshifted form. Among the comfort foods on Brighthollow's table, there turned out to be a birthday cake, laden with Rauatai cocoa, in the shape of Edér's favorite hound, and little cookies of some brittle Aedyran dough, in the shape of Eothas' sun-and-stars symbol, more or less. With no lack of favorite drinks and foods and friends, Edér had to admit, as the party wound to a close, that not even ridiculous attire could hinder one's enjoyment of a birthday, so long as the company fit more comfortably than the clothes.