As said in the description, this story is two parts. Here is the second. Enjoy!
Of Birthdays and Bashes Part II
A toast was made. The company finished their drinks, then dispersed into the living room.
"Yeah, I remember when we were staying here, I asked both Novo and Etta where the living room was," Sparks was saying. "Because I wanted to watch TV. So I get to the living room and I'm looking around for a TV and then I realize… the TV was a lie. 'Cause what you guys call the family room, we call the living room. Heck, I didn't even know there was a difference."
"Oye, livin' rooms are us'ally more formal-loike, ones fa entertaining guests, an' they dun't always have televisions in 'em. The family room is less formal, ya know, tha one Novo uses ta watch spohts and stuffs, 'er where Spahkey watches 'er soaps."
Novo snickered. "I'll even watch the Spanish soaps Sparkey watches. I like not knowing what they're saying and then adding my own words or listening to the music in the background. 'Hacks Sparkey off, but that's the fun of it."
"You watch soap operas, Sparkey?" the blonde female had her eyebrow raised.
The one addressed nodded and shrugged. "Call it a guilty pleasure. And cop shows. My favorite is La Mariposa, or The Butterfly. That one's actually a cop show."
"We get so many friggin' foreign channels…" The combatant rolled his eyes. "Etta actually had to rig our television to switch between different cable providers. Elaina has all of these cooking channels, Sparkey's playlist has all her soaps, my channel list is either sports or sitcom channels, and Etta's channels have the funniest of Aggie comedy. We all love those."
"What about Annie?" Otto asked. "You mentioned them all but Annie!"
"A word of the wise. Never leave Annie in front of the TV after midnight."
"Leet us puh somezing in perspective," Elaina added onto her male teammate's comment, and was one of the few whom did not sit down once in the family room. Instead, she leaned herself over a loveseat and propped her elbows to fold her hands in front of her. "Zhe meal I jus' may vous. I only use chef keet, ze size of briefcase, no? It 'ad all my knives, all my tool, brush, graters, whisk, zings like zat. Zis does no' include pot, pans, deeshes, silv'are. Anyways, do vous know wha' taye up moe zhan seexty percen' of our entire cabinet spay?"
"Uh… food?" the male engineer blinked.
"No, no, my love. We ah team of weemon, no' men. Wha tay up all zhat space is Annie's damn keechen gahgeets. An' when eh boils down to it, do vous know wha' all zhose fancy dancy gadgets ah?" She frowned playfully. "Zhey ah all knives. All jus' fancy, electronic knives."
The Powersquad commander huffed. "You make it sound like I'm a shopping addict or something! Not everyone has the time and knowledge to do all of those things by hand!"
"No, no, no, vous 'ave to tay ou' five diffahrent geezmos an' zhen clean zhem all up just to make suppah! Et tay so much time jus' fo' vous to assemble an' dissemble an zhen clean everyzing up an' it tay time an' spay in our dishwasher. Buh I 'ave my lee-tle knife set zhat takes all of ten secon' to clean!" The other looked towards the Hyperforce in disbelief. "She 'as little pwong zing, like, zwee pwong fo' nozing buh sturring! An' it may zis weird engine of ze car soun' when it rotaye in zhe pot!" She raised an imaginary spoon to her mouth, then smacked her lips. "Hm, great soup! Deed vous stir it weez robots?!"
"For being the chief of science on this team, it is both amazing and frightening to me how anti-technology you are! What, to keep someone's vitals, do you put your ear on their chest? Do you test someone's hearing by screaming at them?" The magenta-eyed female huffed and crossed her legs. "Not to mention that, oh, I don't know, you're part mechanical yourself?"
"'Ey, 'ey, 'ey," the other's gaze narrowed. "Two zings. Fo' one, I am Rosarian. An' oh, I dunno, we only foo' cap-eetal of ze worl'. God forbeed if we know a zing or two. An' I nevah see Shuggazoo' professional chef go on an' use ze crazy gahgeets vous sometimes geet."
"I have received many compliments on the food I make with those things, Gigi. And I'm not the only one that uses them, either! Especially with that new ninja blender– "
"WE 'AD TO PER-CHEESE MOE CABINEET JUS' TO FIT ALL YO' STUFF!"
"Woa, woa, woa, WOA!" Novo intervened, not laughing as perhaps expected. What the Hyperforce didn't know, was they had this argument many times before. "No catfights, or else I will pick your little butts up and haul you out of here, and don't think I won't. Everyone here is hammered except for you. And with your, I will say, petite, stature, that would only take a good whiskey to get you to shut up. I don't think the Hyperforce came here to watch you two fight."
The fellow combatant shrugged. "Not particularly, but I'm entertained, either way."
"Where're the kids?" Sparks asked, as he was gazing at one of the paintings decorating the room. At the bottom was written, 'AxML,' which he knew was Axonal's signature. "Aren't they both really into watching plays and stuff?"
Etta smacked her lips. "Oh, they ah, but they were both occupied tonight an' coul'n't cancel. Chico 'ad recitals today, an' Axie has a weekend art conference."
"Chico had a recital?" Nova echoed. "Aw, I wish I would've known."
"If you didn't know, it's because she forgot to tell you," the female pilot consoled. "But she has, like, five performances this weekend. One was yesterday, two today, two tomorrow. Matinee at four, and evening at seven thirty. We have tickets if you want them. They're doing some kinda spring play, forget the name, and Chico has a supporting role. We saw it yesterday and it's pretty good, if you don't mind seeing half naked men in tights."
The blonde gave a facetious smile. "Oh, I think I could bear it for Chico."
"One bloke– No, two blokes, 'ave to'ally been makin' tha moves on Chico," the teal female laughed at merely the thought. "I drove her ta practice one day, but somefing worked out awl funny an' it was hard for us ta make arrangements ta get 'er back. We were about to call you lot, but then I sees this hunky guy who was waitin' at tha door of tha studio, an' then took Chico by the arm an' said hello to me, bein' all sweet. He looked like a Greek guy, with olive skin an' this black hair flowing in the wind. Anyway, he said he could drive Chico home an' I was like, 'Oh-kay!'" she said with a suggestive slur in her tone. "An' then there was another guy who looked like a Shugga surfer dude. Has this sun-bleached hair, bronzy skin, awl thot. Name was Daniel, we 'ad him ovah fo' dinnah an' awl of us was ooglin' at 'im 'cause he wos awl eye candy. An' 'ee was givin' us awl tha compliments undah tha sun! 'Course Chico was screaming at us 'He's just a friend! He's just a friend!' An' we were awl like, 'Yeah, yeah, roight, we idiots.'"
"Poor Ax, though." Sparkey shook her head. "Ax goes to all of these art things, and he's really a social butterfly when he's there despite him being such an introvert at home. We always ask how his time was, who'd he met, etcetera. And he'd say, 'Oh, I meant so-and-so and we exchanged e-mails.' Surprisingly, Ax has a huge little black book filled with e-mails, you think he's a womanizer when he's anything but. Then he brings out his camera where he takes pictures of everyone and everything, and then we sees these girls and we're like– " She emitted a muffled exclamation of disgust one would give when shown a disturbing photo. "That chick is ugly!" She made a weak laugh and rubbed her face in a grimace. "And I know that sounds so terrible and vain to say, but I'm serious! Because he is surrounded with genuine nerds. Genuine nerds– Not just what you call a smart person, but the actual, textbook definition of a nerd!"
She counted off the points with her fingers. "These chicks don't style their hair, don't wear a stitch of makeup, have no fashion sense, all-out just don't take care of themselves. Don't wash their face so disgusting puss is leaking out, their hair is barely brushed and it's frizzy, plastered to their head because they don't shower. I mean, it's just bad!" She laughed and looked towards her teammate. "Whereas Gilson and I dress him up to make him look like Mr. GQ. I mean, Ax is no supermodel, but he's a handsome young man. Gilson buys him these designer clothes, I cut his hair and teach him how to style it and give him this nice cologne. So we both dress him up to be Mr. Lady-Killer, only to have him attract the ugliest people on the planet. Whereas Chico, who's on a different side of the arts, attracts all these supermodel guys." She shook her head. "I know I sound like such a terrible, vain person, but it's true."
"At least Ax lets you give him advice," Nova rolled her eyes in true annoyance and put her cheek in her hand. "We're all telling Chiro to get a different haircut but he's stubborn and he'll cut his hair himself and it looks really bad. Not to mention we can barely drag him to go to formal events. Every time Gibson or Antauri try to teach him how to iron a shirt or how to tie a tie, he completely ignores them. I sorta get it, because they're usually the ones acting as his teachers and they can be sticks in the mud. So Sparks tries to look the best he can, so he talks to him about it, but Chiro only half listens to him, too."
"Where is bucko, anyway?" Novo's asked. "You just stuff 'em in the closet, or what?"
"Nah, nah, nah, we came up with an ingenious plan to get rid of him," the crimson male bore a devilish grin. "Otto and I both chipped in and got him a free day pass to Ma and Pa Shanko's. Then we gave him two hundred bucks cash and told him to do whatever he wants." He chuckled and waved. "We left him with the cycle and said 'Kid, I've got a hot date tonight, and you ain't gonna get in the way of it. So, goodbye!' And he was gone in a flash."
"Ha." The jade green-eyed man laughed and lazily clapped. "Good going."
The pilot chuckled. "One nice thing about the kid, is it's easy to get him out of our fur."
A sudden realization came to Anna as she glanced to the end of the room. Normally used for decoration, a desk now served as a present table separated into five groups of gifts marked with place cards. For several moments she felt like an idiot, but then realized that since there was such sweet fellowship going on, a little waiting wouldn't hurt anyone.
She cleared her throat, her way of letting everyone know to listen. "Well, then, would everyone be in agreement if we move on to gift opening time, now?"
"Ha, I didn't even notice that until now." The crimson male smirked.
Antauri leaned back in his seat. "I don't believe they're any protests."
"Splendid, then! Who wants to go first?" The Powersquad commander was taken aback when all the fellow team did was look at each other, expectant of another to take the offer.
The Hyperforce leader gestured. "Um… ladies first."
"And the lady says she doesn't want to be first." Nova crossed her arms.
Their engineer raised his hand. "I'll go!"
"Super! Novo, if you could please…?"
The combatant arose and brushed himself off, then headed for the table's far right, where Otto's stack was placed. Yet instead of going to one of the boxes on the surface, he went to the side, where there was a gift about as tall as he was. He lifted it with ease and set it in front of the green male, and then handed him the card that came with it.
Otto opened it excitedly and then read it aloud, sharing that it was a birthday greeting from Etta. After which, he tore off the wrapping paper, and his eyes widened dramatically. In front of the box was a large picture of a crimson red toolbox that had compartments of all shapes and sizes, with built in extending trays and LED lights. Its print read, 'Deluxe Master Tool Cabinet.' The green male was clapping as a child and saw the tape keeping it sealed had already been sliced through. Upon looking inside, it was completely empty.
"Wow, I get a box!" he said, not the slightest hint of disappointment on his face. Without any warning he flipped the thing over and put it over his head. The box covered him entirely, leaving his feet out to kick in amusement. "Awesome!"
Etta cackled manically and clapped her hands. "Ah, ha, ha!" she addressed the company. "Otto an' I were talkin' tha otha day an' he said all he wanted was a big box to play in!"
"Etta!" her leader gasped, her hands over her mouth in appall. "That was just mean!"
"Nah-UH." The other's nose wrinkled. "Where'd ya fink I gots da box from, Annie? Tha tool cab'net es in my workshop 'cause I 'ad ta assemble it, buh the thing's sucha stonkah I coul'n't wrap it. Eht's as tall you ah, and it's all yours, Otto!"
"You actually got me a tool box that big?!" The green male scrambled inside of the box and launched it off him. He looked towards the other with the biggest eyes he could have.
"Yeah huh!" the female nodded. "'Cause I sees ya with awl ya belts an' li'le tool boxes an' then in ya workshop ya only use a pegboard an' ya constantly get fings awl sixes and sevens! Thot cabinet roight there 'as wheels so ya can take it anywhere ya need, an' it has foam inserts so they ain't knockin' around everywhere an' makin' Gibson go batty bonkahs."
"And I also have a box to play with!" The other bounced in his seat with a smile so wide it couldn't be wiped off. "Thank you, Etta! Thank you so much!"
"Yes, thank you, Etta," a teasing smile was on Gibson's face. "Because I do not wish to go 'batty bonkers' anytime soon." The woman laughed at his wit.
Without warning, the Powersquad male plopped a present in Nova's lap, a large box that sounded and felt hollow. The blonde raised her eyebrow and proceeded to open it. A metal case emerged, with two latches on the side and a handle on the top. Inside were several trays that folded out as a butterfly, each of them loaded with various colors and types of makeup.
Yet instead of an expected reaction, she glared at the golden male. She flicked the card in her fingers, tapping it as one would tap their foot. "So what the heck are you trying to say, Novo?"
The other spun around and pointed accusingly at the rest of his team, who were already laughing at what was unfolding. "I TOLD YA'LL," he said. "But no-oh you guys said women like getting makeup. Novo CALLED THAT, didn't he?!" He turned back to her. "Seriously, what am I supposed to get you? I don't spend all day with you like I do with these chicks," he pointed behind him with his thumb. "So I don't know what your deepest desires are!"
"Excuse me, I'm on a team of four men, and they all got me presents," Nova said matter-of-factly. "And Otto did the smart thing. He got me chocolate. Basic, but effective."
"Yeah? Well I'm not your teammate, chica! Half the things I could get for you, I can't get away with!" Novo retaliated. "If I got you chocolate you would've given me that same look and went," he mimicked a valley girl's accent. "'Ew, Novo, you're hitting on me. You pig.'" He pointed towards her crimson teammate. "What did you get her?"
"A video game."
"Gibson? What did you get her?"
The blue male opened his mouth, only to have an unsure groan escape. "Uh… this..." he gestured the size of the gift with his hands in a vain attempt to describe it. "Foot bath, thing…"
The golden male's gaze switched as he looked at the other from the top of his eyes, his voice dropping low and suspicious. "You're telling me that you gave Nova a foot bath?" The onlooking company burst in laughter, yet the combatant remained silent. The other glared at him for purposefully twisting his words and leaving him with no way of defending himself.
"I want Gibson ta give me a foot bath!" The Agness native kicked her feet instinctively. "That's not fair! I wanna foot bath for my birthday, now!"
The jade green-eyed man lost his self-control. He pinched the bridge of his nose and laughed into his palm. "Just the mind picture of that… is just weird."
Gibson cleared his throat and waited for a moment to speak. "That is not what I meant and all you know it. It's an electric tub you put water in, it heats the water, has moving knobs that knead your feet, and bubbles erupt from the bottom. You see them often in salons and shopping malls."
The slate female gasped in realization. "Oh! Are you talking about a foot spa?"
The other snapped his fingers and agreed. "That's it. The word was escaping me."
"That was a good call," Sparkey nodded, biting her lip thoughtfully. "Nice."
"Now this will be interesting," the male combatant rubbed his hands and turned his attention to the onyx male of the party. "What did you get Nova, my friend?"
The neon-eyed man cleared his throat and replied, "I got her a personal coupon booklet."
Novo gave a blank stare. "…Say that again."
"A coupon booklet."
"No, you said personal coupon booklet!" the Powersquad male spun around to point at Nova. "Damn, Nova. You got yourself a little man harem! You got Otto bringin' ya chocolates, Gibson givin' ya foot baths, Antauri giving you personal coupons. And Sparks– Well, Sparks don't count 'cause he's a jerk."
Antauri looked to the ceiling, exasperated. "I don't understand how coupons are suggestive."
"You've never heard of personal coupons, Antauri?" When earning a shake of the head from the other, the pink female chuckled and propped her chin with her hand. "Makes sense, I guess. Sometimes on holidays when people can't get anything else, couples will make or buy love coupons, basically IOU's for favors. Like, a coupon for twenty kisses, or a backrub, or a date, and other things that only married couples should do that are implied. Things of that nature. So the only way you can save yourself now, is telling us what the coupons are good for."
"Ah. I see." The ebony man made a casual nod. "I am now enlightened. Thank you." He cleared his throat. "The coupons are good for various things, such as free passes to the movie theater with a package included, with others, she can redeem prizes such as music. Others are similar to gift cards for major restaurants or stores."
"I want Antauri and Gibson ta get me awl my presents when my birthday rolls around!" Etta said, clapping her hands in delight. "'Cause they clevah an' know what ta get!"
"No," the Hyperforce female leaned back in her seat with a sly smile on her face. "Better yet, I'm just going to leave 'em with you guys as your personal menservants for the day."
Sparkey gestured with a pinch of her fingers. "Can they have little bowties and cuffs?"
"Oh, the ones without the shirts?" The blonde nodded. "Sure, why not?"
"WOO! YAY!" The female engineer was suddenly ecstatic and cheering in delight. This was followed suit by the rest of the Powersquad women, whom were manically laughing at the mere thought of such an event. In fact, the men became so flustered they were forced to bury their faces into their hands just to avoid making eye contact with the others.
"You people are sick!" Novo protested. "And that's disgusting!"
The blonde swiped her hand. "Oh, no, Novo, we'd get rid of you well beforehand."
"Novo," his commander's voice was muffled, as she had buried her face into a pillow on the arm of her seat. "Just give someone else their present. Please."
"Ya see that, guys? Annie's the biggest pervert out of all of us. She can't even look at us, now." The man retrieved another present from the stack and plopped it into Sparks's lap. It was silver, no bigger than a jewelry box, and tied together with a red velvet ribbon.
From the package he took a small card and cleared his throat to read it. "'Sparks, expect for a package with your name on it to be delivered to your Robot sometime this week. Inside will be a fifty eight inch plasma TV with built in Sonicwave surround sound and 3D viewing. I'd help you install it, but I know nothing about installing TVs and I'm sure Otto will do it. Happy Birthday– SPARKEY?'" He smacked a hand over his mouth, completely and utterly shocked. "You're kidding me!" he exclaimed. Yet the woman only shook her head. "You're kidding me!" he said again, slapping the couch beneath him.
Sparkey waved him off. "Don't you know TVs are dirt cheap these days?"
"That TV is bigger than me!"
"I know." The pink female shurgged. "It's more of a gift for me than you, because now you'll have something to occupy you than to make up excuses to come here."
The red male snickered, trying to recover for himself. "You won't come for movie night?"
"Nope. It'll be for whatever you dub your man cave for you to do man things."
The acting gift distributor brought Antauri a large box, heavy enough that he set it on the floor. The other scooted to the edge of his seat and lifted the lid off. He nearly did a double take when he saw that inside was a trunk, taller than it was wide, and he lifted it out by a handle on the top. The front was emblazoned 'I Vini di Lilithia.' It took him a moment to rack his mind of what little Italian he knew before he realized it said, 'The Wines of Lilithia.' When he opened the trunk he saw there were six dark bottles, still sealed.
"Remember when Gigi and I took the trip to Lilithia and sent you guys the spontaneous goody box?" Anna asked, not really expecting an answer. "Well, now you have some Lilithian wine to appropriately put in your Lilithian crystal glasses! These are all the number one award winning wines of their nation for the past six years."
He only half-heard what she said, though, as he noticed that tucked in a seam of the wine carrier was a card. Upon examining it, the card's inside was filled with the giver's beautiful calligraphy style handwriting, and an extra two pages had been stapled in the middle to give her all the writing space she needed. It was obviously a personal piece and he was eager to read it, but thought it best to save it for later. He tucked it back in the seam and closed the case.
"Thank you very much for the thoughtful gift, Anna." The leader gave the warmest of smiles he could produce. "I have no doubt I'll enjoy it greatly."
"You're very welcome, dear."
Gibson was next, another receiver of a gift bigger than his lap. He fumbled with the plain white box under the wrapping, and then had to the gift out. The first thing he noticed was the sharp smell of new leather. He was nearly in denial when a dark brown, hard-sided leather briefcase emerged from it. It was tailored so well he wasn't surprised to find the emblem from one of his favorite designers. The hardware was shiny brass and made duel combination locks with four digits. Upon opening it he discovered the inside was light suede, and both sides had accordion file pockets along with other compartments lined with a caramel colored satin.
A card was inside. "'Gibson, I find it a shame that such a polished man like you walks around with a worn-out, threadbare suitcase. So I took the liberty of finding one for you. I hope it meets the need and lasts for many years. Happy Birthday, Sparkey.'"
Sparkey raised her eyebrows. "Surprised, ain't cha?"
"Indeed!" the other nodded. "Pleasantly!"
"I have a confession to make, though," the pink female adjusted her seating. "When I said I was coming to take Nova for lunch, it wasn't because I wanted to take Nova to lunch. I mean, I did, but the real reason was so I could sneak into Gibson's lab, office, whatever it is. So I did, and picked the lock on your suitcase. But don't worry, I didn't look at any of your love letters, I just took some notes in shorthand of your interior preferences, because I sorta saw it as being like a purse would be to me. Because I see Gibson, who dresses so chic and classy, carrying around this hunk of trash for a suitcase, and I just couldn't stand it any longer." She shrugged. "So that's my story and I'm sticking to it."
"I was wondering!" the scientist nodded and set it aside. "I suppose the breaking in can be excused. And you would be right, Sparkey. I'm so picky with my suitcase and so stretched on my time, I was content with it as long as it still held papers. But this is absolutely exceptional, it really is! I don't think I could thank you enough."
"The combination right now is all ones. I checked to see if the lock worked before I bought it. There's a leaflet in there on how to change it but I'm assuming you'd already know."
"I am curious, though." The blue male continued, "You said that you know shorthand?"
"Um hm. Same kind the stenogs used. They teach that at the academy."
"That's impeccable! …Then wouldn't Sparks know?" Gibson looked to his teammate. "Or is it something added to the curriculum since then?"
"Heh, heh," the pilot gave a dry chuckle. "Yeah, they did teach us a lot of codes, one of them being shorthand. I can't write it, but I could read it after a headache and some cursing."
The magenta female shrugged and gave a sly grin. "Sparkey knows a lot of things Sparkey doesn't let on. I have a thing about collecting cards in my sleeve."
"Alright, well, as long as we are at a natural pause…" the Powersquad commander cleared her throat and looked to the back of the room. She nodded her head as a gesture. This directed the attention to behind the couch, where Elaina was intently looking down. Following this, a hiss mixed with soft crackles accompanied by sparks erupted from behind the couch.
"Hit the deck!" The crimson male spun around in his seat and peered over.
Otto cried. "It sounds like you just lit dynamite!"
From behind the couch, the sky blue woman rolled out what was a small serving cart. A three tiered cake covered with fluffy taupe frosting and drizzled with chocolate glaze that trickled down the sides made for an impressive load. Sparklers, flickering energetically, were placed for finesse. The cake was smoothly, but quickly, transferred from the cart to a coffee table. An excited chorus of 'Happy Birthday' was finished just before the sparklers burned out. The makeshift chef removed the items and then proceeded to portion the cake.
The green male suddenly lit with an idea as he was the first to be handed a slice of the delicious looking item. "Hey, hey, hey, Gilson!"
"Oui?"
"How do you sing 'Happy Birthday' in French?"
"Es ze same tune, vous jus' say, 'Joyeux anniversaire.'" She continued to carve the treat and pass servings around. Once finished, she flipped over the cloth covering the food cart, and underneath was an arrangement of flowers already in a vase. "'Eere is yo' bouquet, Nova." She raised it to the other's view, then set it behind what was left of the cake.
Nova gave a befuddled look. "I have flowers?"
"Oui. Es tradition. Ze woman geh flowahs fo 'er berz-day."
"Oh, well, thanks!" The other nodded. "So what do men get?"
Elaina shrugged as she returned to the cart to guide it out of the room. "I dunno. A strippah?" A few snorts or muffled laughs followed. "I mean, men, zhey canno' do much weez flowahs."
"What about on Agness?" Otto asked. "Do they have any special birthday thing?"
The teal female raised her finger to signal she needed a moment to chew and swallow her food. "Not songs, no. Buh we do 'ave a tradition thot we'd take ya by tha legs an' ahms, and then bop ya on tha ground fo' each year you're old, an' then one moe for luck!"
"Back at the academy we'd have a tradition of beer shots. You had to drink one shot of beer every minute for every year you were born. And you had to be at least twenty one to do that so you'd have at least two beers in twenty minutes."
"I remember that one!" The fellow pilot exclaimed, nudging the pink female in the shoulder. "I'm glad at least that hasn't changed."
"Yeah. The academy might be all glitzy now, but the neighborhood around it has gone downhill. It really has. Not the glory days like you were in."
"Seriously. The nearest bar was a planet and a moon away when I was there. And that was a family-friendly sports bar in a hotel, not one of those sleazy ones."
"'Family-friendly sports bar.'" The female rolled her eyes as she felt his arm lay on the couch above her. "Now there's a term that dates you." Her attention then changed when she saw her scientist teammate had entered the room once more, this time carrying a platter of nearly a dozen cocktails. They were red drinks served in martini glasses, with froth and sugar on the edges. She was currently serving Gibson a drink and working her way counterclockwise.
"Novo, you asked earlier if we've ever been over the limit?" The blue male smirked and wagged his eyebrows as he raised his glass. "Well, here you are." The one addressed responded with a mere, unenthusiastic clap of his hands. Unexpectedly, the scientist felt something press against his ankle. His gaze narrowed as he observed it was Sapphire, who had been let out to mingle with the company. He subconsciously withdrew, not wanting her fur to get on his suit.
"What's the matter, Gibson?" Sparks gave a grin worthy of the Joker as he plucked a cocktail from the platter and sipped it, not taking his eyes off his teammate. "Don't you like animals?"
"Ah– Of course I like animals!" the other replied with that silent, subtle look of infuriation only he could give to his crimson teammate. "I just do not favor their fur on my suit."
"You didn't like Thingy!" Otto exclaimed, the most confused of expressions over his features. "You said that you hated pets!"
"I did not! I said I could barely tolerate pets that are filthy and unmannered!" Had one been looking closely, they could see the subtle blush that came across his cheeks. "But Sapphire is no such pet. In fact she's a refined, pedigree feline, bred to be a companion. She has good manners and is kept very well. She is not some unidentified intergalactic, Skeleton King infected spawn."
His green teammate pouted, but his eyes revealed a twinkle of an idea. "So what if Thingy was clean and not Skeleton King infected spawn? Could we take him back?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because he's annoying."
"What if he wasn't annoying?"
"No. Again. Because his species is not apt for domestication, nor do we have any information pertaining as to how to care for said species."
"Making an educated guess, here," Novo bore a sly grin, pointed, and twirled his finger. "But, uh, I'm thinking Gibson has a biff with Thingy. Whatever Thingy is."
His fellow combatant burst in an almost evil sounding cackle, just at the thought. "You have no idea." She shook her head and merely smiled towards her teammate. "And just to think. All that trouble, because you didn't let him lick you. All he ever wanted was for you to love him."
"And that can be a story we save for another day when it is not your birthday!" Anna chimed in with a clap of her hands. "Because it is also Gibson's birthday and I think we should all take the consideration to make it just as pleasant for him as everyone else. But Otto, should you ever want to take care of a pet, we will gladly lend Sapphire to you."
"No way!"
"Nuh uh! Sapphie is ours!"
"Non, nous ne le ferai pas. {No he will not.}"
The male Powersquad member chuckled. "Uh, I don't think they'll let you."
"Well, then," the slate female bore a surprised expression at this outburst from her team, but cleared her throat. "Otto, you are always welcome to visit Sapphie."
"You can come over for a sleepover!" Etta said with a laugh.
The green man clapped. "Oo! I love sleepovers!"
"Righto!" the Agness native cheered. "We can eat a whole bag of popcorn, and then a whole gallon of ice cream, an' then we can stay up real, real late watchin' movies an' then as we're goin' ta sleep we can tolk about boys!"
"Yea– " Otto's automatic response was cut off by a blank look of realization. This was replaced with an awkward, agape expression as he shook his head. "No-oh… I don't want to stay up late or talk about boys…"
The Powersquad pilot laughed. "We can skip that part."
"'Kay. Where's Sapphie no– " the green male stopped, his eyes widened nearly out of their sockets when he saw the Birman happily kneading and purring in the lap of his leader. Antauri had detached himself from the conversation and was occupied in petting her. He lovingly scratched her on the head and neck, and stroked her back as if she were his own.
At the silence, the neon-eyed man's gaze trailed across the room. "…Yes?"
"Can I have Sapphie?" Otto made a pout. "I want her."
"Of course. Uh…" At a loss, the onyx male lifted the cat up and out.
"You can just call her, y'know." Sparkey muttered. "She'll come."
"Sapphie! Oh, Sapphie!" the other tsked his tongue. With a stretch of her legs, Sapphire hopped off and joined the engineer, whom happily accepted her with open arms.
Upon looking down at himself, the commander realized his suit had been completely inundated with ivory hair. Before he could say anything, the pink simian retrieved a lint roller from the table behind the couch. "We've got one of these in just about every room in the house. 'Cause no matter what, that fur gets everywhere. I'd toss it to ya, but it's very painful to be hit by this thing. So…" she trailed off.
Her magenta-eyed teammate curtly stood up, brushed off her dress, and retrieved the item. Yet instead of simply delivering the item, she proceeded to rip off the top layer and run it up and down his chest. All eyes in the room widened, including his own, as she brushed him just as casually as she would do to herself. It was only after several moments she realized exactly what she was doing. The strokes abruptly slowed and then stopped. Her gaze locked with his royally shocked expression, and a blush plastered onto her face. She softly screamed in embarrassment, put her hands over her mouth, and scurried back to her seat.
"I– I am so sorry," Anna cried, her cheeks red and her voice broken by trying to hold back nervous giggling. "I am just so used to my team…"
The majority of the company was already laughing at the incident. Etta slapped her knee and wiped at her eye. "Thot's one way ta get her ta touch ya, yes it is!"
The onyx male only shook his head as he brushed at his lap. "I was scared to do or say anything, on account of the last time I did so, I was struck in the face."
Novo gave a shake of his head and leaned back in his seat, his eyebrows risen with casual pity. "I've tried to tell ya, but none of you believe me."
Etta smacked her lips and waved her hand. "Ignore 'em and open ya present, love."
The statement was directed towards Nova, whom was given a card and a letter opener. She read, "'Nova, Because you both deserve and need some pampering more than anyone else I know. Let this be a taste of investing in yourself for once, Annie.' Well, actually she put 'Anna,' but I call her Annie." Her eyes widened with a moment of surprise and she paused to let it sink in. In the letter was a gift card with its amount written on the back, and in obligation, she held it out for the others to see. "This is a five hundred dollar gift card for the Spa Peonies at the Nuncio Mountain Inn Resort."
"That is our all-time favorite Shuggazoom spa." The teal woman went onto explain. "And oh, girl, please get the contemporary massage package. You need it."
Her commander agreed with a sigh of reminiscing. "Oh, and the facials there are absolutely divine. Tell them we sent you and they'll give you perfect recommendations."
"Get Michelle!" Etta exclaimed. "You need. Michelle. We fight over Michelle."
Nova chuckled and nodded. "Wow, she must be pretty good, then."
"He."
The blonde's eyebrow rose. "…He?"
"He is very good, yes." The Agness native nodded rapidly. "Michelle is a man. Men are stronger and have big, warm hands." She shrugged. "It's not sexist. It's just a fact."
"So Annie gave Nova a gift certificate to get dolled up at a spa and a massage treatment from a man named Michelle." The male pilot rolled his eyes in a telltale fashion. "Yeah, there's nothing at all weird or suspicious about that."
Anna curtly replied. "No there is not."
As her golden teammate set down a rather large box at Sparks's feet, he muttered, "I was thinking that, too."
The other chuckled, and upon trying to lift the gift up, found it weighed greatly. He tore it open to see glossy, jet-printed cardboard, telltale that its contents were drinks, and a note taped onto its top. "'Sparks,'" he read. "'Believe it or not, Aggies have a higher drinking rate than Shuggas do, so here's the best of Jinny beer. If this doesn't make you a regular beer connoisseur, than you're just an idiot. Best of Aggie luck to you, Etta.'" He looked up and put on a patronizing smile. "Aw, Etta, you shouldn't have. How'd you know?"
"'Cause Jinnies ah tha only ones thot know 'ow ta make ale." Etta retorted. "An' I know you an' Novo jus' finks es so cute when li'le Etta cawls ya an idiot."
The pilot smiled even wider so his eyes would shut, shook his head, and tutted as a parent would. "Oh, yes we do, you feisty little Aggie, you."
The teal woman spat. "Feh."
The Rosarian native rounded the front of the couch. "Min' eef I…?"
"Oh, no, not at all." Gibson scooted himself against the couch's armrest to accommodate the other. He slipped out a throw pillow sandwiched behind him.
"Merci," she said, lifting her skirt to take a seat. She crossed her legs and took the pillow, placing it in her lap to put her hands over.
The waft of a wonderful, sensual floral smell reached for his nose and embraced it. He was unaware he made a pleasant smile while saying, "My, that's nice. Might I ask what you are wearing this evening?" The female turned to him with an opened mouth, but the words escaped her. Her lips curled into a bashful smile as she looked to the floor. He attempted to ignore Sparks, who had craned his head with a taken aback, gawking expression.
Elaina breathed out with an unsure giggle. "Ees, uh… My perfume!" She smacked her lips before explaining. "I got eh… A fwiend, ee may eh fo me at a boutique. Merveilles d'Hélèn, ze Wonders of Helen. So I canno' tell vous wha' exactly eet is, buh I can tell vous wah eh in eet. Uh… floral. Vi-oh-let, lavendah, shasmeen, hroses, iris, an' moosk. I lye reech floral sen', nozing swee', weez stron' moosk er ambah as bay."
The other nodded. "Ah, I see. Isn't that akin to Manon number four?"
"A leetle. I zink zhey use sum citrus, zough."
The blue male made a curt nod and bow of his head. "Well, it's very, very lovely."
"Aw, zank vous, Geebsoh." She cooed and patted his arm. "Vous ah too kye."
On the other hand, the pilot's gaze went from shocked to annoyed, and with a roll of his eyes he slapped his back into the couch. "Wow. That didn't go where I thought it would."
Novo chuckled, "That only works when you're talking on the phone, Sparks."
"Yeesh, it's a perfectly classy question to ask a lady." The blonde female said, hopelessly looking to the ceiling and shaking her head. "Speaking of asking a question, what do you mean he made a perfume for you at a boutique?"
"Ya see, that's something that never caught on in Shuggazoom. I have no idea why," Sparkey answered for her teammate. "I find them everywhere else. Shalom, Agness, wherever luxury is appreciated. Just like a gourmet bakery specializes in baking and can make orders, perfume boutiques make custom fragrances in the shop. So I could go to one and say I'd like a fragrance with an amber base, a musk entry, and, I dunno, woods and spices as the main scent. And they'd make it for you right there in the shop."
The blonde female nodded her head with a wide-eyed gaze. "Wow, I didn't even know that was possible, that perfume could be made that quickly."
"Sometwimes ya make an appoin'men'." Etta commented. "One of these days, we need ta take Lady Novie fo' vacation ta awl our favorite spas an' shops an' fings!"
"My goodness, this is heavy," the onyx male's voice floated, and it grabbed attention. In his lap was a gift in red, embossed wrapping paper and a black cloth bow set off asymmetrically. On it was a silver seal set in such fancy cursive one could barely make out it said 'J–P' with an 'M' in the middle. He carefully looked around the box to see how to open it, but it appeared seamless. He cleared his throat and started to pull at the ribbon.
"Vous pull off ze top, cher," Elaina murmured.
The commander felt along the seams of the gift for the top lid, which reached to the very bottom. "Ah, yes, thank you." There was a mahogany wooden box with the seal and the name 'Jean-Philippe Co.' underneath it. The inside of the box was lined with purple velvet to gently cradle five whiskey glasses and a decanter, made of crystal and intricately cut.
Before the receiver said anything, Novo piped up, "You always know what present's from Gilson 'cause French people never wrap their own gifts."
The Rosario native snickered. "Ah vous keeding me? We too lazy."
Nova had craned her head to see what the present consisted of. Her eyes widened and a chuckle of disbelief came from her throat. "…Wow."
"Well?" the female engineer hopped in her seat. "Whot es it?"
"It's an incredibly elegant whiskey set." Antauri announced as he held a glass for all to see. He handed it to his female teammate in order to remove the decanter to show as well. "This is truly a breathtaking present, Elaina. Thank you."
"It looks like something you see from a movie!" Otto said.
The blonde female grinned. "Ironic thing is, I got Antauri his favorite whiskey."
Her pilot teammate snickered. "Two presents in for Antauri and both are alcohol related."
The golden male replied, "That's 'cause Antauri needs a drink to loosen up a little."
Sparkey snapped her fingers and pointed at the Hyperforce commander. "Antauri's favorite whiskey as of thus far would be… Quincy J. Royal, bronze brew, year 1936. I remember because he was telling me his old favorite was Jean-Luke Black."
"You would be correct." The onyx male nodded. "Both of which are scotches."
The pink-eyed female gave a perplexed snarl for an expression. "When did you start talking to Antauri about liquor? And how do you even remember?"
"I think… Annie and I, and Gibson and Antauri, went to a liquor tasting. Naturally you talk about liquors at a liquor tasting. And Sparkey has the memory of an elephant."
"And did you sit there and smoke a cigar like a baddie?"
The pink female gave her date a look as if she were shooting nails from her eyes and he was the dumbest target in the world. She gave him a light backhand on his shoulder. "You don't smoke a cigar as you taste fine liquors! Yeesh, you've watched one too many movies." She pantomimed holding a glass in one hand and a cigar in the other. "'Oo, look at me, I'm intoxicating myself in two different ways at once!'" She shook her head. "Alcohol is by far the worst thing to have to enjoy a smoke. Why don't you go ahead and gargle pickle juice before sampling chocolates? You don't try two different items of connoisseurs in the same sitting! Never in all my life, have I actually smoked and drank at the same time. God, you're a moron." She muttered as an afterthought. "I smoked afterward, though."
Anna tsked. "Come now, Sparkey, how's he supposed to know that?"
"Sorry." Her pilot gave a comical grin. "It's just a very sensitive subject for me. And I'll have you know I went to a tobacco tasting convention, and the only thing they served there was water and some fruit, I think, just for that reason."
"Ah ya gonna open up ya present or not, love?"
"Wha…" his fellow engineer's comment raised his attention, and he realized he had been given an elongated box. "Oh!" Otto put his cake on the coffee table before opening the gift. Inside, there were two plastic cards with the words 'Season Pass' emblazoned on them, and he didn't even have to read it to clap his hands with excitement. "Wow, how cool! Just in time for the start of the season! Novo, how'd you know who my favorite baseball team was?"
"I asked Sparks. But I had an idea because I thought you told me before. Those are for you and a friend, and then if you have more friends they get in for half off, and all your concessions are half off. They also come with exclusive tickets for the All Star Circuit."
The green male swayed in his seat. "So cool… Do you wanna go, Novo?"
"Nah, I'm not big into baseball. You take Sparks or the kid."
"Novo's favorite spoht is rugby an' skiing!"
"Shut up, Etta," Novo's lips were pursed, eyes flared. "You shall not speak of that!"
"…Rugby, Novo?" The crimson male raised an eyebrow. "…Really?"
"Blame her!" the combatant pointed accusingly at his teal teammate. "She totally hooked me onto it! And don't even act like you've watched rugby before, because you obviously haven't. Forget football, man. Rugby is brutal. They have no padding, no nothing."
Etta shook her head in confusion. "Football ain't thot bad!"
The jade green-eyed man cleared his throat. "Shugga football." He was met with a giggle.
"What's in this cake, Gilson?" Otto asked after wiping his lips midst a swallow. "'Cause I've never had anything like it and it's really, really good!"
"I wo' not know, my love. I deed no' may it. Ask Annie."
Yet the slate female didn't have to be addressed to explain. "Oh, Gigi and I got into a debate because I'm a girl and I naturally like to use cocoa, but she was claiming men don't like cocoa as much as other things. Novo came in and set us straight. So I used a semi-sweet fudge mixture and some caramel for the inside filling layers. Then I whipped up some peanut butter cream icing mixed with toffee bits, and then drizzled some chocolate syrup on it."
"This is what this whole thing got started over, y'know," Nova sliced at some of her dessert. "We ran into Etta and Annie at the grocery store and I asked them where I could get a cake, and of course they wanted to know why I needed one. But all in all I think this is better than anything I could have gotten from a store."
"Of course!" The blue male chuckled. "The cake is scrumptious, Anna."
His commander added. "We greatly appreciate your efforts to make it."
"Yeah, what they said." Sparks muttered.
Anna giggled in the most delicate of ways. "Oh, thank you, everyone. It was my pleasure and I am so glad you like it." At first she had finished the statement, but after several moments, a thought came to her. She sported an impish smile on her face as she muttered, "And I used my wonderful batter and icing tools to make it."
Immediately her scientist countered, "'Ey, now. Baking is diffahrent. Cooking is an ahrt, baking ees a science. Vah-ree many fine bay-ka-ray use technologhee to 'elp tay out human error fro' delicate chemistry. Buh when vous cook, no, no, vous mus' use ze tool of yo' creativity! Arteests 'ave use canvas an' brush fo years. Vous keep yo filzhy, rah-teen gahgeets away from such an' ancient ahrt-for'."
The magenta-eyed woman laughed. "So you are saying baking is a science and you don't favor it, despite that an extensive knowledge of chemistry is in your job description?"
"Eh…" Elaina chortled in amusement. "Ashually, I 'ave confession to may. I wah alway' bee-ter ah mazh zhan ah sci-ahnce." When she looked over, the blue male was gazing at her with a shell-shocked expression, eyes wide and mouth agape. Her expression changed into an open-mouthed, awkward smile. "…I did no' know vous fell so strawly aboo' zhis, Geebsoh."
"Wow." Sparks said, onlooking from the side. "All this time I've known Gibson, and yet I have never seen that look from him. Ever. It's… really weird."
"The timing of that was perfect." The blonde female commended. "Usually we know when Gibson's surprised because he'll try to act like he's not. He'll flinch. He goes– " She abruptly gasped and made a horrified expression. "And then– " She propped her elbow on the armrest and stroked her chin, speaking in a proper tone, "'Hm, that's rather unexpected.'" She frowned, as the scientist didn't even appear to be listening, rather had raised his hand to cover his muzzle. Whatever was inside his wooden box, he was gawking at as if it were a national treasure. She cleared her throat. "Earth to Gibson, did you even hear what she said?"
He muttered. "Yes, yes, she thinks she's better at math– She's told me that." His head made slow shakes. "Elaina, I'm not even sure if I can accept this from you!"
"No-seh!" The Rosario native put her hands over his shoulders, squeezing them in an affectionate manner. "Vous know vous wan' to. Vous jus' can' geet over ze fact zhat I am buying vous somezing zhis time, Monsieur Gigi-can'-buy-'er-own-coffee-eef-I'm-aroun'."
Novo rolled his eyes, as the recipient only kept quiet. "Gee, Gibson, can you at least act a little surprised?" He laughed, "What's in there, dude? A marriage certificate?"
"It better not be!" The male pilot involuntarily exclaimed. In the moment afterward, his gaze darted to his right. "I just said that aloud, didn't I?"
Sparkey smacked her lips, annoyance worn on her face. "Yeah. You did."
"And all of us heard you." Nova said. "And I wish we had a camera for that look."
Anna gasped, and as if she were shot, slammed back into the loveseat and hopelessly looked to the ceiling. "Eugh, I knew I forgot something! And– Oh! I asked you all to bring a change of clothes, didn't I? Darn it, darn it, darn it, darn it…"
"Anna, really," her fellow commander consoled. "We're all having a wonderful time! Besides, none of us are that photogenic. You don't have to worry about taking pictures."
Without even moving or looking at him, the woman lifted her finger straight at him, sighing as she said sweetly, "Screw you, Antauri."
The female combatant groaned and chuckled. "Oh, Annie, I want to be you so bad."
The other nonchalantly mumbled as she left the room, "No you don't."
"So…" the sky blue woman leaned to her opposite side, raising her chin in a curious manner. "Vous eizher really love eh, or really 'ate it."
"It's, ah…" Gibson slowly shook his head. "I don't even know what to call this. A formal variety pack? A– " he made a silent gasp, as she pushed the lid all the way down, where three more trays folded out to reveal quadruple of what he thought was inside. "Great Scott, it even has shirt studs! And I can't remember the last time I got a tie ring." Finally, he flipped the box around for the company to see. "Elaina, what do you call this?"
"Jus' a suit accessory boss. Zhey ah vah-ree popular where I come from."
"What all does it have in it?" Nova had craned her head and sat on the edge of her seat to see the contents. "I see a lot of fancy cloth and metal pieces."
"Basically any accessory vous can' wear weez a suit, bee-sighs vests or waistcoa'. So…" She thought and counted off her fingers, "Vous 'ave all diffahrent types of tie, bowtie, neh'tie, an' cravat. Zhen vous 'ave yo' ozher clozh, lye 'andkerchief an' cummahbun'. Zhen yo 'ave yo jewelry, eh… Tie peens, hrings, an' bar, shir' stuh, an' cuffleen. Cuffleen of 'course. I 'ave never seen Geebsoh wear shir' wizhout cuffleen."
"What's a tie ring?" the blonde was further inquisitive. "I've never heard of that."
"Eet's a…" Elaina reached for the pack. "May I?" After a nod of approval she pulled out a scarf and began to tie it around her own neck. "Leh me see eef I can remember zhis… Tie hring is wor' weez neh'tie or cravat fo'ded een neh'tie."
Sparks cleared his throat. "Gilson, how do you know so much about menswear?"
"I'm French," she curtly replied as she fiddled with the cravat. "Een Rosario vous ah expehteh' to know aboo' all dress, man, wooman, formal, casual. Saying vous dun know 'ow to tie ties eh lye saying vous dunno ze alaphabeh. Ees somezing young chill-shren loo' forwar' to learn, lye tying zheir shoes, zhey wan' to know 'ow to tie Papa's tie." She smacked her lips and picked at the tie. "Well, zhis is 'ow vous wear eh." She folded it and put it back. "Ees no' perfeect, buh vous geet idea. Een Rosario, moe zhan 'alf ze population wear suit to wor', so zhese ah vah-ree common. Buh becau' Geebsoh wear zhem so much I zought 'ee woul' already 'ave one. I ashually call Antahree to ask, an' 'ee 'ad no idea wha' I wah talking aboo', an' zhen I wah shok to fye out zhey do no' exist on Shuggazoo'!"
The pink female made a casual sigh. "A lot of things don't exist on Shuggazoom that should. Custom perfume boutiques, whatever that thing is," she pointed to the gift. "And don't even get me started on when Etta was infuriated to find out they didn't have any tea shops on Shuggazoom, and all of them were replaced with coffee shops."
"And plants." Etta nodded with a resentful grin. "Plants don't exist on Shuggazoom."
The red pilot snorted in disbelief. "What, the jungle ain't good enough for ya?"
"Nah. It. Ain't." The teal female scoweled. "'Cause ya 'ave no plants in yer actual city. Ya'ave stupid plastic trees! Plastic. Trees. Thot's jus' pathetic."
"Here's some Shugga attitude, then." The blonde female snickered. "You like Agness so much, you go back there and leave us all alone."
"I would if my job wasn't here." The female engineer grinned. "Love ya, Novie."
"Love ya, too."
"Alright! I've found the camera!" The Powersquad commander trotted in with a large, professional camera, and instantly snapped a picture before anyone could react. She made a large grin as she leaned back from looking in the lens. "Don't bother to pose or look at me. I like taking candid shots. So after everyone's done with opening presents, we're going to take a quick break to change into some more casual clothes, of which I will direct you to the guest rooms to do so. And then we're going to have some fun party games available!"
Sparks lazily raised his hand. "I vote for spin the bottle!"
His date scoffed. "Spin the bottle is what drunk high-schoolers play."
Anna raised the pitch of her voice to sound professional. "We're going to play games that all participants will have fun in. Maybe Take it or Tell it, which is a more mature version of Truth or Dare. Uno is always a favorite. And because all of you gentlemen are here, Sparkey was kind enough to get the game 'Battle of the Sexes,' which I believe is a game that men ask women questions about masculine subjects and vice versa. And then I also think we have Taboo, Pictionary, Yahtzee, Cranium, and Catch Phrase."
"Oo! I want to do Catch Phrase!" Nova tapped her armrest in excitement. "And I want Antauri and Gibson on my team because they kick butt at that game."
"I love Pictionary!" Otto said. "It's so much fun because you get to laugh at everything!"
"You try playing that game with Ax and he'll get really nitpicky." The pink female shrugged. "But no duh, he's an artist, what do you expect?"
The slate female cleared her throat. "We shall vote democratically with the Hyperforce's votes counting double because it is their birthday and they are our guests."
"Tolk about an unfair bias." Etta cackled, "Why, thot's a rigged election, yes it is!"
"Never mind that, now. We've still got a lot ahead of us." The magenta eyed woman shooed them with her hand. "Continue with the present opening!"
"Two AM. It is two AM, and none of us even realized."
"Eh… twime flies when yer havin' fun, yes it does!"
Nova finished the final sip of a juice cocktail and placed it on the end table. Crumbs had mysteriously accumulated on the caramel brown vinyl of her pants, sported with a matching biker styled vest. Truth be told, she hadn't worn the ensemble in over a decade, but the old styles were returning, and the Powersquad couldn't stop talking about it. She couldn't help but feel like she had to dress nicer around them, or she would be the unfashionable misfit.
"So does that limo service cater at 2AM?"
"Aw, we made sure thot it ran twenty four seven!" Etta, on the other hand, was in a nude colored blouse tucked into a grey pencil skirt. "I finks Annie went ta cawl 'em, so thot's awl yer waitin' for! 'Sides, ya con't tell me we're tha only pahty ta get out after midnight, yeah?"
"Honestly…?" the combatant chuckled and looked around her. The living room, formerly the center of the party, had been cleared of guests. "'Kay, I'm tipsy, so I guess I'm gonna get a bit sensitive. Really, I don't remember the last time I've had this much fun. Heck, I don't remember last time we as a team, have had that much fun. Or played party games or sat down and had a good drink together or nothing…"
"Ya haven't sat down an' 'ad a drink as a team for awhile?" the teal female tsked and shook her head. "Naw, I don't believe that."
"No, no, we've gotten into some pretty bad habits," the blonde female gave a shrug of dismay. "We used to eat at the table for every meal. These days we only sit down for lunch. And the last time we all had a good drink together was… Well, it's been awhile. We kinda stopped doing group things after Mandarin left. I know it's kinda silly to say, but it's true. He always pushed for us to do things as a team, but Antauri isn't so much that way. He's tried to get us together for things, no doubt, but… it was never the same." She kicked one leg over the other. "Then again, we were much younger, and much more naïve."
"Ain't thot funny, though?" the other woman's tone dropped to a serious one. "How much chaps con change in jus' a few years."
"What was Maddy like?"
"Madday would've made a well business CEO." The engineer giggled at the thought. "She was always so fohmal-like, real composed and awl calm, face din't change thot much. Buh Madday was jus' like Spahkey er Novo– She always kept a cool 'ead no matter whot. She was well organized, very neat, 'er desk was always clean, I remember. She could pull out anyfing in ten seconds, yes she could! Always 'ad this funny fing, though, thot whenevah she'd give ya a compliment, she'd usually followed whiff critique! So everytwime she'd say somefing, we fought she'd start critiquing, an' she'd look at us awl funny when she di'n't."
"Believe it er not," the teal female continued. "Madday's best friend was ac'tally Spahkey! Dun tell 'er I said thot, though. It's tha only fing Sparkey dun like ta tolk about." She nodded at the memory. "But aw, yeah, Madday and Spahkey were tha best o' chums. They'd go out an' smoke an' tolk all day long. She even made Spahkey second in command! An' Annie an' I, we was tha best a friends, still ah, but back then we was closah to each otha than anyone else we knew. Aw, boy, though…" she pouted in thought. "After Madday left, Spahkey was our commandah for a li'le while, but then she an' Annie 'ad a li'le tolk. No one knows whot they said, but when Annie came out, she wos tha commandah!"
Nova's head bobbed and she bit her lip in thought. "Yeah, you're right. Sparkey would be qualified to run an entire ship, wouldn't she?"
"Spahks would be, too. It's standard when ya go ta tha academy." The other shrugged. "But Madday was always a strong, silent one. Mostly leave us alone in the workday. Di'n't do fings for the team much but ta celebrate fings, like holidays er birthdays. But Madday was smart as a whip, yes she was. Why, with Elaina being a Rosie, me being an Aggie, language, cultah barriers, we woulda awl clawed our own pelts off ehf it wosn't fer Madday."
"But there was good thot came out of Madday leaving!" Etta said with a wide smile. "Annie was third in command, then second fo' a li'le bit, then first, so we gots ta see 'er as a leader, an' she really let 'erself staht shinin'. She was tha shyest fing when we first met! 'Cause she was sor'ah left out, ya know, 'er job wasn't in'ertwined with ours. Ya know, engineering connected ta piloting, piloting connected ta combat, combat ta science, science ta engineering. It was a circle, and she wos left out. She jus' kinda floa'ed 'round as the counselor, di'n't say much. But when she gave it welly, oo, boy! We awl fell in love whiff her, yes we did! She welded us awl tagetha."
"Mandarin was…" The combatant trailed off. "Well, y'know."
"Yeah! Ya told me!"
Nova wanted to change the conversation. "…Man, we've got to play Battle of the Sexes again. Who knew someone as cute as you would know so much about guy stuff? I swear, I would've needed to pick Sparks's jaw off the floor. Sparkey was awesome, too."
"I know rioght? Spahkey's used ta awl 'er men folk." The other laughed. "It was really a competition jus' 'tween Novo, 'Tauri, an' Gibson, versus Spahkey, an' me, and you! 'Cause Novo gets awl tha girl stuff from us an' we get awl tha guy stuffs from our jobs!"
"And I had no idea Antauri could draw that well. I didn't know that man could be right brained in any way, shape, or form. I mean, it isn't Picasso, but it's better than my stickmen. And that was shocking for me because, dang, I've known the guy for twenty years and I would've never guessed."
Etta shrugged. "Well 'Tauri likes music and art. That's right brained for ya."
"Guess you're right…" the combatant chuckled at an oncoming thought. "Otto… 'It's a banana skiing down a snowy mountain!'"
"Otto's such a charm." She waved her hand. "Gawd bless 'em. Whot about thot Cranium game, yeah?"
"I didn't think it'd be as easy as it turned out to be."
"It just occurred to me. If you stirred at three o'clock this morning, you've been awake for nearly twenty four hours."
The dishwasher had already been filled to its capacity, and that only included small dishes. Elaina was bent over the sink cleaning cooking tools and drink glasses. Her eyes burned, her feet ached, her arms were tired from lifting platters all day, and her dress felt damp. But she would never let that on, as she had company. Gibson sported an ensemble of a white shirt and khakis, accessorized with a burgundy tie and an argyle sweater vest. The woman had opted not to change, as she didn't mind moving in the dress she had on.
She said with feigned annoyance. "Geebsoh, vous ah no' suppos' to be een ze keet-chin."
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Wha' eh wrong weez vous an' yo' Shuggazoo' way? I do no' een-vie vous ovah to wor', I een-vie vous ovah to relass an' may merry. Vous ah no' my servan'."
Gibson chuckled. "And you aren't ours, either. So your argument is a moot point."
The woman sighed in defeat and retired her dish wand. "Wha do vous wan', Geebsoh?"
"I wanted to see if I could help you. But if you refuse to allow me, I suppose I simply favor company as we await our transportation back home."
She spun on her heel and gestured to herself with open arms. "Well, vous ah in my company. An' I am 'appy to oblige. Now wha do vous 'ave behye yo' back?"
"Was it really that obvious?"
"Oui."
The man sighed and took the arm bent behind him to reveal a long gift bag, obviously made for a bottle. It had glossy print of elegant grapes and fruit, and curled ribbons to tie its handles. "With Antauri's initiative, I took the liberty of walking to the package store."
"Aw, Geebsoh…" The Frenchwoman shook her head and tutted. Her lips parted in a delicate way as she scanned the deep red bottle. "Oo, sherry! I canno' remember ze las' time I 'ad a goo' sherry." She reached for a drawer on her left and retrieved a bottle opener to remove the cork. Upon retrieving a pair of delicate cordial glasses, she filled them with the crimson substance. Both raised their glasses. "Á votre santé. {To our health.}"
"Á la vôtre. {Cheers.}"
They made a toast and consumed the drink in a single sip. After which, Elaina chuckled. "Quelqu'un a étudié le français. {Someone has been studying their French.}"
"Mais bien sûr. Il n'ya pas de bonne excuse pour une ne pas avoir le temps d'apprendre quelque chose de nouveau. Nous devons réunir pour une autre leçon, comme je suis devenu de plus en plus à l'aise avec il. {But of course. There is no good excuse for one not having the time to learn something new. We should get together for another lesson, as I'm becoming increasingly confident with it.}"
The woman giggled with glee and gently nudged him. "Vah-ree goo', buh vous nee' to wor' on assent. Vous an' all ozher Anglais, try too 'ard to pronounce rye. Vous soun' lye tea-sher talking to person 'ard of 'earing." She thoughtfully took the bottle and further read its description. "Ze sherry is divine. Buh one canno' expeh any less fro' vous, no?"
"It's the least that we could do for you, Elaina. A card of gratitude, alone, would be inadequate in expressing what a joy it has been. In fact I feel as though anything is insufficient at this point. The effort and talents you and your team put into this night are truly unmatched, and beyond a doubt, unforgettable. All in all, we cannot thank you enough."
"Aw, Geebsoh," she gave him a very close embrace. In reaction he took in a sudden breath, only to be met by a heavy concentration of her perfume. "Eht was a labor of love, ma cher. Vous do no' 'ave to feel obligated to do anyzing, becau' zhe best zank you vous can geeve us, ees us know-een vous 'ad a ma-jchic-cal nye."
"I read your card." He grinned softly. "I never knew that you could be so eloquent with words, but really, I should have expected as much. It was nothing short of lovely."
"Oh, eet wah no' too 'ard?" she asked, gazing into his eyes. "I canno' tell vous 'ow mooch I debated zhat. Buh I am so mooch moe comfortable weez my tongue zhan writing Anglais, I jus' zought zhe language barrier woul' tay away from eet."
"No, no, of course not. It was lovely in every sense of the word."
Elaina embraced him again, grasped his cheek, and fondly kissed the other. "Vous an' yo' team ah 'eld vah-ree deeply weez-een our 'earts, an' we treasure yo' companionship."
Something flipped in his heart and stomach. His pulse raced and his throat developed a lump. He made a very painful swallow and the sides of his neck and jaw flushed hot, as if he had placed a scolding cloth on it. He honestly didn't know why he was experiencing these unpleasant sensations, but figured it must have been all the alcohol from the evening finally inducing its side effects. He forced himself to return the gesture and then bid her adieu.
'How odd,' he thought. 'How odd, indeed.'
Anna took in a deep sigh and set down her tea cup, rubbing at her eyes. She picked at her collar, a cowl neckline on a pastel blue pencil dress. "The most wonderful thing is that you can nearly fall asleep in the car and then trudge over to bed without having to worry about anything. I have very few nights like that, and I always love them."
"I wouldn't be surprised." Antauri was with her, changed into a simple blazer and shirt with slacks. "Every time I visit, you seem to be working on something. Making candles, cosmetics, cooking, cleaning, running errands. I considered myself to be a bit of a workaholic, but I can barely fathom how you can manage to have time for yourself."
"One of the many secrets of women, Antauri," she made a mysterious giggle. "I admit, I sometimes ask myself the same question."
The male took a cracker from a plate between them. They were situated at a small, two person table in the study. "I must say, this is a wonderful cheese. What is it, exactly?"
"Garlic and herb goat cheese, Perry's. I would have put poppy seeds on it, but I didn't feel like being self-conscious about my teeth. The crackers are wheat rosemary."
"I would have never thought those flavors would taste so splendid together." He chuckled. "Quite frankly, I don't know how I could still be eating after that fantastic meal, let alone all of the food and drink served after the matter."
"Neither did I, until I tried it! We merely forget our bodies are made for grazing, and a little at a time goes a long way. Even with our mealtimes, someone always winds up making a snack and then passing it around for the rest of us. Oh…" she rubbed her eyes and sighed.
The male smiled gently, "You look tired, Anna. You should get some rest. I could only imagine with you coordinating all of this, how much energy you've spared."
"Oh, pish posh. I'm not going to bed until you've left. Now how uncouth would that be as a host?" She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "It won't be much longer. The service is only a twenty minute drive from here." She hummed, "Twelve hours, Antauri. Can you believe it's been twelve hours since we picked you up this afternoon? It doesn't seem that long at all."
"What is the old saying? Time flies when one is having a good time?"
"More like time burns like hay, I'm convinced. An hour is to me what a minute is to others. Once, in a teaching at Curaladol, where they were speaking of taking time to meditate, the teacher said, 'There are twenty four hours in a day. Twenty four hours is a long time.' And I remember trying not to laugh, thinking, 'No, it is not. By any means, it is not.'"
The onyx male took a sip of tea. "I used to plan my days very meticulously, very long ago. But then I found it caused me more headache than profit."
"It does, doesn't it? I've found a list of things I need to do for the day and relatively when is far more efficient." She paused to eat a cracker. "So… how did you like your presents?"
The other made a bemused shrug and grin. "I couldn't have asked for anything better. The watch kit is going to be put to great use, I assure you. And Etta's tea sampler made me nostalgic to the days Nova, Mandarin, and I would go tea shopping."
Anna smiled and nodded. "I am so glad."
"And of course your gift was nothing less than extraordinary. Tomorrow, I will attempt to amount to the wonderful words you shared in your card as I write my own."
"Aw, you. Too humble for your own good."
"Frankly, you're the one to talk, Anna." The man paused and contemplated his next words. "…Have you sampled the wines you gave me? Out of curiosity?"
"Only one or two of them, I believe."
"Well, then," he leaned back in his seat. "We should arrange to do so. Would you be available next weekend?"
The slate female blew out of her lips in thought. "Oh, no, I'm afraid not. That's the closing weekend for Chico's performances and I promised to help. Etta, Elaina, and Sparkey will all be out of town. The weekend after that, I'll be available, though!"
"I'm afraid I have a conference, then."
"Oh, poo," her lips puckered in a grimace. "What about next Wednesday?"
"Wednesday nights aren't good for me, unfortunately." An unsure smile slowly crept onto his face. "What about tomorrow evening?"
"Well, Mr. Antauri," Anna giggled and kicked one leg over the other. "That's on rather short notice, but I do say I don't see any conflicts with it."
"Tomorrow it is. Seven o'clock?"
"I'll be there." She agreed. A natural silence passed before she looked at the ground in thought. "Did you have a nice time tonight, Antauri?"
"How could I not? Learning that a light, alcoholic liquid used for removing unwanted facial oils is called toner, was quite intriguing." The Hyperforce commander allowed the other to chuckle at the mention before he continued into a more solemn mood. "I don't know what it is about you, a woman's secret or not, but you and your team have such a way of bringing us together. Somehow we all forget that we can grow tiresome of each other in both living and working with the others. Even when we return home, I can feel a sense of relief and renewal throughout my comrades that reverberates for days to come. You have a way that…" he trailed off in thought. "A way that, even I will admit, I cannot duplicate on my own. And I cannot even begin to tell you how much I truly appreciate that."
"Oh, dearie, we're happy to do it." The slate female loped a hand over his own. "And you're not alone. Why do you think my teammates go out so often? We'd go batty bonkers if we didn't." The two chuckled at the reference. "It is truly a pleasure having you here as well. My team always looks forward to spending time with you and the others."
"Ze rye eh 'ere." Elaina came into the room with her fellow scientist following. She gave a dark green bottle to the neon-eyed man. "Buh 'ee nee' time to loh up all ze gifs, so feef-teen minuhtes, I expeh. Anyways, 'ere is zhat moscato vous lye. Only zhird of bottle. An' dun say vous canno' excep' eh becau' we 'ave so mooch wine leef over, I do no' zink we will be able to feenish it befoh eh oxidizes."
Antauri rolled the bottle in his hands. "Oh, well, thank you very much, Elaina."
She looked to her commander. "'Ee an' Geebsoh brough' us some sherry."
"Ah! It's nothing more than a mere liquor exchange! You could swear we're alcoholics!" The magenta-eyed female giggled and rubbed her eyes. "I think I've had more liquor tonight than I've had in weeks!" She shook her head, snapping her gaze towards the two men. "And I told you two not to get us anything, but no. You are too darned stubborn."
Gibson chuckled and gave a roll of his eyes. "Oh, please, Anna, we beg you forgive us for such a transgression."
"And now Gibson's mocking me." The slate woman cleared her throat. "Gigi, have you beckoned the others, or is that endeavor still in progress?"
"I grab Nova an' gave Oht-to ze muscadine." The sky blue female gave a shrug and shook her head. "I'm no' suh if 'ee'll drink it, buh whatever."
The other scientist bit the inside of his lip. "Otto at least knows the difference between white and red wine glasses, or at least I think he does. Sometimes, I'm not entirely sure. Otto is more into the mixed drinks such as rum and cola or whiskey and water."
"'Ey, nozing wro' weez zhat." The fuchsia-clad simian clapped her hands. "Well, we shou' go, now. Wee'll see vous off in ze cah."
There was nothing quite like a freshly clipped and lit cigar to unwind to. Sparkey didn't usually smoke this late at night because she would brush her teeth before going to bed, which would prematurely end the aftertaste. But she figured her team had all worked hard in the mere week they had in preparation for the party, and she deserved a treat afterward. On a scale with ten being her best and most favorite, her current beauty was perhaps a seven, enough to feel indulgent with a meager excuse. To fit her relaxation, the female sported a slim fitting, nude colored dress, with sleeves to the elbows and the skirt to her knees.
The climate on Shuggazoom was much like Shalom, the planet that dwelled under the orbiting pilot's academy she originated from. If it were up to her, she would have been nocturnal. The cool nights clouded with dewy fog from the humid, hot days had a mystique she couldn't resist. She would practice making smoke shapes in the air for her own amusement. Hearts were always the hardest.
The sound of an automated door echoed from behind her, followed by a casual voice. "Mind if I join you? Or've you had enough of me for one night?"
The pink female emitted a chuckle as she parted the cigar from her lips and blew out a tunnel of smoke. "Sparks, it'll take a lot more than you to really hack me off. Even my own team hasn't managed to do so. 'Just hope ya don't mind the cigar smell."
Sparks let out a weak laugh as he headed to the edge of the Battle Droid's head. Sometimes it amused him how similar the two teams could be. "Nah." He sat beside her. Upon looking out of the corner of her eye she saw he was clad in a butter yellow polo with brown jacket and khakis. "Hey, so… sorry about the cigar comment earlier."
The female snarled in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"When you were talking about sampling liquors and I said…?"
"You mean that?" She rolled her eyes and laughed in near disbelief. "Sparks, that was nothing! What're you apologizing for? And if anyone, I should be apologizing for hauling off on you and making you look like an idiot in front of everyone."
He blew it off. "Phft. Too late for that. I'm already the stupid one."
The other chuckled halfheartedly. "You're not stupid, Sparks." She tapped ashes off her smoke. "You couldn't graduate from Starcraft Academy, be a pilot, and be stupid. Now, do you lack in good judgment sometimes? Oh, yeah. But don't we all?"
The man smirked and shrugged to himself. "I guess. I was on the Honor Roll."
"Aligantí sure spoke fondly of you, though I could count the actual conversations I had with her on one hand. When she mentioned you, I thought she was talking about some other human or humanoid pilot." She tasted her cigar, slowly inhaling it and relishing the taste. White clouds escaped from her pearly lips, the elegant display entrancing her company. "I still can't figure out how that one slipped past me."
"Yeah," Sparks shook off his fixation. "Just a few years back, I went to the twenty year reunion and saw her. Funny thing, she didn't mention you."
"If it was before June of that year, then I hadn't been there, yet."
"Ah, that makes sense," he said, with precise enunciation. Several moments later, a thought came to him. He chewed on his lip and shook his head. "Wow, Sparkey. Sometimes I really don't get you. You gave a giant plasma TV, to a jerk like me."
"You're not a jerk." The woman was quick to correct. "There is a vast difference between being a jerk, and acting like a jerk. Sometimes you act like a jerk, but you're not a jerk."
"And just where is the difference?"
"A true jerk would throw his buddies under the bus if something goes wrong. A person acting like a jerk would complain about his buddies, but still take the fall with them."
The crimson male huffed in thought. "Never looked at it that way."
"I don't know where in the blue moon you got the idea, Sparks, but I don't hate you."
This caught the other completely off guard. His eyes shot wide and he found himself looking at nothing. He slowly parted his lips, "I– Uh, I know that."
"Then why do you act like you're walking on eggshells whenever you talk to me? The almighty pilot, SPRX-77, who messes with everyone else, apologizing to me for saying something that wasn't even offensive?" She looked at him and shook her head with casual grin. "I'm not convinced, flyboy." She paused to smoke. "I sometimes hate the things you do. Why? Because ninety percent of the time you're better than that. And I think you know it. You could save yourself a lot of trouble sometimes, if you would just stop and think. Just because everyone else underestimates you, doesn't mean that you should underestimate yourself. Blow them out of the skies, for all I care. We all wish you'd do that more often."
This statement confused him, and it showed on his face. "Wha…"
"You kick ass as a pilot, Sparks. I'll swallow my pride and admit that I admire you. You know what's right and you're loyal to that cause. You're a great friend and you've always got your buddies' backs. There's no doubt that you'll always pull through and meet the challenge. There's no shame in being proud of your talents, there's just a fine line between being proud and celebrating and then gloating. But you don't even gloat that much, if you ask me. I think your team is a bit too serious when it comes to that." She gave a smirk. "In moderation, stroking egos is healthy. You know our Powersquad girls will always cheer for you." She chuckled at seeing his absolutely dazed expression.
"Yeah, me saying all of this is out of the blue." Her lips pursed around the cigar in a particularly long breath, her cheeks drawing in with suction. She swiftly pulled it out and rapidly closed and opened her lips, sending out a flurry of small smoke circles that shot out like bullets. They would erupt into puffs as soon as they hit his face. He chuckled in amusement to her teasing as she retreated the cigar back in between her teeth. "…But I think you know why I brought it up."
She took another pause to inhale the tobacco, and this time, she popped her head crest and reached into the compartment. "You're not some guy who annoys me, Sparks, and I'm sorry if I've come off that way to you. You're my friend. We're brothers in arms. And flyboys and flygirls stick together 'til the end, no matter what. The academy pledge is still the same, even after the decades it's been." Unexpectedly, she tossed something to him. He barely caught it before it could have gone toppling over the edge of the Droid. He gingerly took the item in his grasp, a ring with a key, a small remote, and a tag with yellow and black decals. "And I don't lend my Starspeeder to just anyone."
"Woa, woa, woa, woa!" Sparks made an out-of-breath chortle and pointed to her. "Sparkey, girl, I think it's time for an intervention. You've been drinking since two o'clock this afternoon." He held the keys out, but the other didn't move, so he plopped them into her lap. "You're drunk. And you really don't want to do this."
"I think I know when I'm drunk, and I've been sticking to the one drink an hour rule. It's your birthday, Sparks, and I know you've been drooling over that thing since day one. I ain't some overly possessive rocket freak." The female reached for the keys in her lap and returned them to him. "Just have it back before Friday with minimal damage, is all I ask." When she heard thumping sounds underneath her, she craned her head forward and peered over the edge of the Droid. The limousine had arrived, and the chauffeur was packing up their things. "Well, I think that's your cue to leave."
All the pilot could find it in to do was give a grateful smile. "Thanks, Sparkey."
The other set down her cigar, and without warning, she grabbed his collar and pulled him in. She kissed him, and it was so sudden that for a moment he didn't realize what was happening. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the bitter taste of tobacco on her lips, and instead experience that they were supple and hot. Just as quickly as it seemed to happen, it ended with an abrupt retreat of her head.
She nudged him on the shoulder. "You have fun. And don't take that the wrong way."
He stuttered with a weak grin. "'Course not."
Yet how he wished it was more. Despite the mystery of the unsaid, Sparks left with an excited hop in his step, and whether it was from the conversation or having new privileges to the Starspeeder, he wasn't sure. He found he couldn't wait for tomorrow. Mentally, he sang to himself as he neared his ride home.
'Best. Birthday. Ever.'
And it is done! I hoped you liked! Please click that little review button to tell me what you liked and didn't like so I may keep it in mind for the future. 8D
Thanks for taking your time to read!
