The Party

Cramped under the Vanguard's table with about fifty balloons Charle tried not to laugh out loud. She could hear other Guardians snickering from their various places around the Hall and she silently berated them for their lack of professionalism.

"Says the one hugging a bouquet of balloons." Her Ghost, Smithy, whispered. She shushed him with a look and shifted her weight slightly. A few of the balloons made screeching noises as they rubbed against each other, drawing more giggles from throughout the room.

They had already been waiting for about half an hour for the Vanguard to return after seeing to various things. Ikora was in the archives. Commander Zavala was talking to the Speaker, and Cayde-6 was in charge of making sure Zavala didn't return early and ruin the surprise. It was possible at this point, however, that Cayde had done his job a little too well.

Charle signaled to Max who was crouched in one of the little alcoves on the wall. He peeked out to glance toward the door before turning back to her and shrugging. Rolling her eyes Charle briefly looked through the Hall before ducking her head to fix her brightly colored, pointy hat.

Most of the Guardians were well hidden in various nooks and crannies, and the rest were trying their best to continue to look casual after thirty minutes of staring at the same frame, or book, or board, or half inch of railing. A few Guardians were awkwardly shifting around various packages attempting to keep them hidden but also give their tired arms a break. Somehow the giggles still continued.

The idea of bailing on the surprise was just beginning to be bandied about when Cayde-6's over amplified voice came drifting into the Hall. "It wasn't that much water. I mean, it was all the kids' idea anyway."

Everybody quickly prepared. Those in hiding places pressed further back into the shadows, and those standing around made an effort to look believable, a few of them striking up casual conversation with each other.

Commander Zavala said something to Cayde-6, his words inaudible due to the fact that he was talking at a normal level.

"How was I supposed to know that those barefooted rascals weren't supposed to know how to gamble?"

There wasn't time for Commander Zavala to answer that question for the second the pair stepped over the threshold a confetti cannon exploded leaving them both covered in tiny, brightly colored pieces of paper as Guardians came out of everywhere yelling and blowing paper horns. Because of his prior knowledge of these events Cayde-6 managed to dodge out of the way just in time to avoid the silly string. Upbeat music exploded through the PA system and balloons swirled past Charle into the ceiling as she beamed at the confused Commander.

Zavala immediately looked to Cayde who shook his head slightly before indicating the other Guardians in the room. "All their idea. I was merely the early warning system." He held complete eye contact as he slid a bright green pointy hat onto his head, snapping the cheap elastic under his chin dramatically.

A Titan slipped past the pair in a blue hat and quickly set a red hat on Zavala's head. Before he could react a Hunter twirled past, pulling the elastic under his chin, and wrapping silver streamers around his neck.

Ikora Rey stepped into the room and was immediately handed a neon pink hat and a kazoo, which she accepted with a smile.

Charle glanced at Max and he winked, indicating that everything was currently going as planned.

"What is going on?" Commander Zavala finally asked.

Stepping forward Charle signaled for the cake as Zavala was ushered toward the table. The light dimmed and the music softened. "We are gathered here today," she started solemly, "to celebrate the life of a very special Guardian."

The cake appeared, being lowered slowly from the ceiling out of the cloud of balloons, and two spotlights, created by committed Ghosts, followed both Zavala's and the cake's journey to the table.

"We don't actually know how old you are." Charle added as Zavala came to a halt in front of the cake. It was a 3-D cake built in the likeness of the wall that surrounded the Last City. Lined across the top and sticking from all sides were exactly one thousand five hundred and sixty eight candles. The candles were lit by one very precise Warlock in a state of Radiance as everybody but the still confused Zavala began to either sing something that was almost "happy birthday" or play it with their kazoos or paper horns.

"Happy birthday to you!" Confetti cannons exploded. "You live in a house!" More confetti cannons. "You look like a grape-y." One of the cannons misfired and a handful of Guardians yelled in surprise before awkwardly tossing the shell away and returning to the song. "Aaaand you smell like a mouse!"

Before the now smiling Zavala could blow out the candles the cake collapsed into a half-melted, sticky mess, most of the candles extinguished in the mess.

"It lasted longer than expected." Max shrugged, raising his eyebrows. "It lasted alot longer than expected." Charle nodded in agreement before going to join a circle of Guardians watching a blindfolded Warlock do the worm.


Trying to sneak a donkey through the Tower hallways and up the elevator was easier said than done. Unless you said it five times fast like this: Bluffing borrowed buro up to birthday bash. But, honestly, who would say that? Also, who would try to sneak a donkey wearing a top hat and three piece suit through the Tower?

Elle, that's who.

Why? Because Charle had asked her to. So armed with both carrot and stick Elle was awkwardly riding the elevator up with a few other Guardians trying to act like this happened every day. It didn't. Maybe once a week, though.

"What's the, uh, donkey for?" One of the others asked.

"He's my attorney." Elle answered with a straight face. "Graduated top of his class at Harvard."

"The donkey got into Harvard law?"

"What? Like it's hard?" With a smug grin Elle stepped out of the elevator, the donkey following closely behind her in pursuit of a potential treat. She led him into the Vanguard Hall, weaving through partiers that had spilled all the way out to the Watch. She stopped just inside the Hall to wait until either Charle or Max noticed her and waved her forward.

The party appeared to be in full swing. Everywhere she looked there was commotion. As she watched someone ran past her yelling, balloons tied to their head and party hats down their back like spikes. They were followed by somebody in a full T-rex costume, who was followed by a Ghost dressed as a platypus.

Ikora Rey stood on the table draped in various colored streamers singing karaoke. At the moment she was belting out "Single Ladies" and her voice was actually quite beautiful. She was backed up by about three other Warlock's who were eerily in sync.

Over by the wall Cayde and Zavala seemed to be locked into a very serious dance contest with various other Guardians. Cayde actually seemed to be losing to the Titan Vanguard, which was actually not completely surprising.

A Titan was painting the face of another Titan with melted frosting. A Warlock was doing magic tricks. The Speaker was swaying to the music. Two frames were in the midst of an elaborate tango. A Hunter and Holliday were heatedly discussing the Sparrow Racing League in the corner.

In the back of the room Elle could see a few figures scurrying through the shadows. Elle assumed it was Charle, Max, and some helpers setting up the final surprise so the three could make their escape. Which meant that it was almost time for the donkey. She slipped the creature a carrot, bouncing up and down in anticipation.

Zavala won the dance contest with an air guitar and a skid across the floor on his knees.. Cheers erupted, and Charle finally noticed Elle and the donkey through the flashing lights. She motioned her forward and hurried to catch Zavala's attention. Max lowered the music slightly as Charle spoke over it.

"We have a special surprise for our favorite Vanguard. We were able to track down his long lost identical twin!" She said with a flourish.

The spotlight focused on the donkey as Elle tossed a carrot at Zavala's chest before melting into the crowd. As the dapper donkey surged forward toward the utterly flabbergasted Zavala, Charle also disappeared from sight, probably back toward the fireworks she and Max had set up in the back of the room.

Laughter burst forth after the brief moment of shock, Zavala himself laughing the loudest as he patted the donkey's head.

Elle stayed just long enough to watch the first fireworks go off. It was a gold fountain that managed to scorch the ceiling as firecrackers exploded in random places throughout the room. The fireworks were mostly intended to push the crowd outside. They also existed because Max had casually mentioned three years ago that he thought indoor fireworks would be cool.

Running for the Watch as the crowd began to pull away from the smoking spectacle Elle noticed Eris Morn dancing distractedly to the music. They should have known she would like rock. Max was at her side by the time she got to the top of the stairs and they split, each running for the the opposite sides of the Watch.

Banshee-44 was telling the same three jokes to a very patient audience. Tess and Master Rahool were arguing about something Elle couldn't understand. She rolled under the stick being used for the limbo contest, a contest Shaxx was inevitably commentating on. "Nice dodge, Hunter!" he yelled after her and she nearly flew over the railing because she was too busy laughing to pay attention to what she was doing

She managed to catch herself in time to glance over at Max who raised a hand in salute before lighting his end of the wick. Elle lit her's with the practiced flick of a knife, paused for half a second to make sure it was burning, before backing into the crowd. She ran into Charle who started pulling her toward the Hanger.

The first mortar went off, eliciting cheers from the audience, and a moment later the Watch was lit up in red.

"We're running behind." Charle shouted over the next few explosions.

"Then run faster!" Elle yelled, following her own advice and quickening her pace.

Max was already in his ship ready for launch when the pair dashed into the Hanger. Once Charle was in her ship she was the first to leave, leading Elle and Max in tight formation. They circled the Tower widely before squaring up for their final approach.

"High speed fly-by, then Mars until we're sure Zavala isn't going to skin each of us alive." Charle announce, going over the plan for the last time.

"Break in the mortars is coming up. We're cutting it pretty close."

"Just follow me and everything will be fine."

Elle and Max laughed, rolling their eyes at their teammate's abundant confidence. The three rocketed toward the Tower, watching a blue and green cloud fade barely in time for their fly over.


Cayde-6 watched the three ships fly over, laughing as the back two nearly lost their tails to a row of silver stars, but they made it just fine. He shook his head at the antics of the headstrong fireteam while throwing an arm around Amanda's shoulders. "It's not an Alliance friendly friendly bar on U-Day, but it'll do."

~ASDFGHJKL~

Guuuuuyyysssss this was so wonderfully fun to write it killed me! My birthday was pretty good, there were balloons and pointy hats, but no donkey sadly. By the way, Zavala totally keeps the Donkey. He names it D.D. (Dapper Donkey) and, yes, there will definitely be more of Zavala and D.D. later XD. Please tell me what you think! I'll even take a smiley face or random screaming because I love hearing from you guys so much!

(that was a Legally Blonde/Parks&Rec/Firefly reference your eyes do not deceive you)