This is the longest chapter so far, well the title should explain its self. this is another one of my favorites.
Ch. 10
Happy Birthday
It had been five days since Amanda's funeral, Krystal could tell Josh was still mourning her, but with every new day he started to go back to his natural happy, caring self. Today was as she discovered by the holo calendar being marked July 3rd, it was Josh's birthday. Krystal wasn't sure how humans celebrate their birthdays, so she was going to give him a Cerinian birthday. Which was called name days back on her planet, and how it went was that first the person would receive their favorite breakfast meal, next there would be a big feast and all the family members would eat. Stories would be shared and lastly gifts would be given.
She then remembered that his relatives had died long ago so it would only be him and her, then she remembered Ms. Evergreen, she was a nice old lady who clearly though of Josh as a son, surely she could show up. All Krystal had to do was leave for a few hours to get everything ready, sadly she had no idea what his favorite breakfast was and would have to skip that step.
She walked out of the bed room to find Josh asleep on the couch, he looked so peaceful as he slept, she couldn't help but smile at his sleeping form. She zipped up her flight suit and turned on her disguise; if she wanted this party to work she was going to need the old woman's help."
Krystal walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a piece of paper and started to write a short message telling him she went over to Ms. Evergreen's house for a few hours. She placed the letter on the counter and walked out of the apartment.
Krystal knocked on Ms. Evergreen's door. She waited for a few moments, a few people walked by the sidewalk and she waved and said hello or good morning. After a little bit longer the door opened and Ms. Evergreen poked her head out, when she saw Krystal her mouth formed into an open smile.
"Well good morning Krystal, isn't this a nice little morning surprise." She said, Krystal smiled, she really liked Ms. Evergreen.
"Hello Ms. Evergreen…I was wondering if I could get some help from you?" She asked.
"Of course would you like to come in?" She asked, Krystal quickly shook her hands.
"No thank you, I was wondering if you would help me plan Josh's party for tonight. It's his birthday and he goes back to work today and when he gets home I want to surprise him." She said, another open mouth smile appeared on the older woman's face.
"Oh it's his Birthday? Oh lord I would be more than happy to help you with Josh's party." She said. Krystal held her fist up to her chest and shook them in triumph.
"Yes." She said, "Would you come to the store with me so I can pick out the stuff we need?" She asked.
"Yes my dear, let me get my coat, keys and wallet and I'll be out in just a moment." She said and walked back inside her house. When she was gone Krystal jumped in place like a little girl.
"Yes! I will make this the greatest Human name day ever." She said and waited patiently for Ms. Evergreen to return.
Krystal and Ms. Evergreen arrived at the local grocery store in her green station wagon, Krystal got out of the car and was excited, so excited her hidden tail was swaying to the left and right, Krystal shut the car door and felt a jolt of pain ride up her spine.
She yelped and grabbed her sore tail, however to anyone who was watching it would have looked like she was holding on to nothing.
"Are you alright Krystal? What happened?" Ms. Evergreen asked and approached the wounded girl. Krystal painfully wrapped her hurt invisible tail back around her waist.
"I…I slammed the door on my hand, I'm such a clouts sometime." She painfully chuckled. Ms. Evergreen still had a worried look on her face, Krystal waved her hand at the grocery store building. "Shall we?" She asked.
"Yes lets." The older woman replied and the two walked into the building.
Once inside Krystal was amazed to see how the Grocery story almost seemed the same as some of the ones at Corneria in the Lylat system. However this place was less advance…and less shiny.
"Well Krystal, do you have any idea what all you will need for Josh's party?" The old woman asked, Krystal started to scratch the back of her head.
"Well…We need food for a big feast…" She started to say but stopped to think.
'Although seeing how it will only be the three of us, the feast wouldn't need to be all that big, that would just be a waste of money.'
"Okay, we need food for three. Where I come from, we make what's called a Kabatorn." Krystal said.
"Oh my…That sounds quite exotic, what is it?" Ms. Evergreen asked.
"Well you get what you would call a Turkey and stuff it with all sorts of different types meats, herbs and spices and vegetables and cook it, it's usually served with wine and bread." Krystal said and smiled at a memory she had of watching her mother make the meal for the last name day she had on Cerinia. It was ten years ago yet the memory was as fresh as if it had happened yesterday.
"Oh, that's sounds like it would be interesting to try." The older woman said, "Well, how about you get the stuff for that and I'll get some party supplies." She said and grabbed a buggy and walked off with it. Krystal turned to look at the grey buggies, they seemed somewhat like what was used in Lylat, only these didn't float.
Krystal started pushing the buggy and made her way to the meat section of the store, she looked around at all the frozen meats and started looking for a large Turkey, she managed to find the largest on she could find, then she started searching for the other meats to put into it, she wasn't too sure what Beef or Pork was, but it sounded somewhat nice so she tossed them into the buggy, she then noticed chicken and was relieved to find something she was familiar with. She picked the pack of meat and placed it in the buggy as well.
Next she started looking for spices and Herbs, she checked each isle for what looked like spices and herbs. On the fifth Isle she check she found a rather small section of herbs and spices, the store only had about fifteen different selections, and just as Krystal feared, she didn't know what any of them were. Other than salt and pepper, she knew those two, other than that she was clueless.
"Ah there you are." Ms. Evergreen called out, Krystal looked over and smiled at the older woman, she noticed her buggy was filled with party decorations and ice cream, she then noticed the white icing cake with 'Happy birthday Joshua Grant' written in red and blue icing.
"Good you're here, I'm not sure what any of these really are and I was hoping you would." She said, Ms. Evergreen walked over to the spices and pulled out a pair of glasses from her purse and put them on, she then picked up a bottle and read the name. She placed it back and grabbed another.
"Lucky for you, I was a cook. Back in my day I worked at a fancy restaurant for eight years, sadly I was let go after they found out I was making love to one of the co-workers in the freezer." She said, Krystal looked at the old woman with a shocked look. She looked up at Krystal. "I was young once, come on don't act like you've never…" She stopped talking when she noticed Krystal adverting her eyes.
"So you and Josh aren't?" Krystal's quickly went wide eyed and she shook her head.
"No, no, no…Were just friends, and doing it with him wouldn't be possible" She stopped and started to think, it wouldn't be impossible. She had her woman parts and he had his man parts, so them mating together wouldn't be impossible. Her cheeks turned bright red at the thought of her mating with him and what it would feel like. She had never mated before so according to her world's terminology she was considered untouched. Krystal blushed even more at the thought and tried to rid it from her mind, but an image of him and her laying on a bed holding onto each other while they were naked kept popping up.
"Are you all right dear?" Ms. Evergreen asked, Krystal looked at the older woman and nodded. "Well these should do the trick." She said and picked up four bottles of spices and placed them in the buggy.
They bought bread and red wine to go with the meal, they paid for the stuff and left the store. They later arrived back at the apartment and started to put the groceries away, they still had seven hours before Josh would be home. Ms. Evergreen went home but promised to return to help with the decorations.
Krystal went ahead and started the turkey as she wanted it to cook all day, with nothing else to really do she deactivated her disguise and sat down on the couch and started to watch TV. Later she decided to take a nap, she walked into the bed room to set the alarm to wake her up in a few hours. She closed the bedroom door and fell asleep.
The alarm woke her up at 3:00 P.M just like she wanted it to, Josh would be home in two hours. She got out of bed and walked back into the kitchen to check the Turkey, it was just about done, she pulled it out and grabbed the other meats from the fridge and the spices from the cupboards, she patted the meats in the seasonings and then started to jam them into the turkey.
She shoved it back into the oven to finish cooking, she washed her hands and started to dry them off, that was when a knock came at the door. Krystal made her way to the door and reached for the knob, and then she noticed her blue fur covered hand. She was still wearing her flight suit so all she did was push the button on her wrist-com and she morphed into her disguise. She opened the door and just as she thought, Ms. Evergreen was standing there with a smile.
"Ms. Evergreen please come in, Josh will be home in two hours." She said, she stood out of the way from the door so the older woman could walk in.
"Well, that should give us plenty of time to set up the decorations." She said. The two spent the next thirty minutes blowing up balloons, placing banners that said 'Happy birthday' on the walls and lots of other stuff you would expect to find at a little kids party, but Krystal didn't know that. She put her heart into it and that was all that mattered.
"I hope Josh likes this." She said as they added the last few finishing touches to the decorations.
"I'm sure he will love it…He's very lucky to have someone like you around who puts so much energy into doing things for him." Ms. Evergreen said. Krystal smiled.
"He's been a very good…Caring…Loving friend to me…" She started to trail off as she thought about him and how he had taken care of her. "I haven't had a friend like him for a very long time." She then thought of Fox, She shook her head and told herself not tonight, tonight was Josh's night and she was going to enjoy it with him, Fox wouldn't be ruining this moment.
An hour and half past and the Kabatorn was finished, Krystal pulled it out of the oven and sat it on top of the stove, the scent of the spices filled her nose and her mouth began to water. Sure it didn't smell like her mothers, but there was no doubt in her mind that it would taste good. Krystal quickly picked up the home phone and called Josh's cell. It rang a few times before he answered.
"Hey, what's up?" He answered.
"Nothing much, just wondering when you will be home?" She asked trying to contain the excitement in her tone.
"Ugh…Five minutes." He said, Krystal's invisible tail started to wag a little, she then realized Ms. Evergreen was standing next to her and quickly wrapped her tail back around her waist.
"Okay, see you in five. Bye."
"Bye." Krystal hung the phone up and quickly walked to the refrigerator and pulled out the red wine. Ms. Evergreen grabbed the loaf of bread and placed it in the oven.
"If I haven't already said it yet, thank you so much for the help." Krystal said. Ms. Evergreen smiled.
"You are welcome my dear, it was my pleasure." She said.
"I wouldn't have been able to do all this without your help." Krystal replied and approached the older woman and held out her arms. Ms. Evergreen smiled and hugged Krystal.
Josh pulled up the drive way and got out of the car, He let out a loud sigh and started to rub his face.
"God what a day." He said and made his way to the door, he opened it and walked in. "Krystal I'm home."
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The two women shouted, for a brief moment he felt his heart leap out of his chest.
"Oh my god!" He nearly shouted and placed his hand over his chest, "You scared me…Wait what?" He asked. Krystal approached him and gave him a hug.
"Happy birthday." She said and pulled away.
"My Birthday?" He asked, Krystal pointed to the holo calendar in the kitchen.
"The date is marked as your birthday." She then noticed him looking around at all of the decorations hanging up, then a smile appeared on his face and he let out a slight chuckle.
"I guess I forgot." He said, Krystal held onto his arm and brought him over to the counter where he saw the Kabatorn, "You baked a Turkey?" He asked and looked at Krystal, who had a wide smile on her face, she just looked so happy that he had to smile back.
"I made a dish that's made on someone's birthday…where I'm from." She said and winked at him, Josh then looked over at Ms. Evergreen who was pouring three glasses of wine. "Where I'm from birthdays are called Name Days, and this dish is called Kabatorn and is served with bread and wine." Just as she said that Ms. Evergreen reached into the oven and pulled out the loaf of bread which was now toasted. Krystal turned back to Josh still smiling; she then clapped her hands together.
"I hope you're hungry?" She asked
"Famished." Krystal's smile got even bigger, which Josh thought would have been impossible; such a wide smile looked like it would hurt. Yet she showed no pain, she then grabbed his hand and lead him into the kitchen to the table.
Josh sat down and Krystal walked back to the counter and started to carve the Kabatorn, she placed the pieces of meat on to three separate plates, she then took the toasted break and cut it into three equal pieces and placed them on the plates. Then brought the plates to the table and sat them down. Lastly she grabbed the glasses of wine and brought them over. She sat down next to josh and across from Ms. Evergreen.
"Well, diner looks amazing Krystal." Josh said as he inhaled the tasty scent, Krystal held out a hand to Ms. Evergreen.
"Ms. Evergreen helped a great deal; she helped with the decorations and got the seasonings for me since I didn't know what they were." Ms. Evergreen swatted a hand as if to say 'Oh you.'
"Well, it smells and looks just delicious, ladies." He said and picked up his fork to eat; suddenly Krystal remembered something and quickly stood up.
"Before you eat, I have to say something." She said and picked up her glass of wine and held it up as a toast, she cleared her throat and looked at Josh with another smile, though thankfully not another wide mouth splitting smile.
"Akanu tatia quana zeta furuta gitah corauld tahs inos alok aftora hofo zeta furuta." She spoke and then was about to take a sip of the wine, but stopped when she noticed the confused looks on the two human's faces.
"Oh…Apologies, I said another Name Day has arrived, you have grown older and wiser, may you have many more Name Days ahead of you." She then sat down and took a sip of wine as did the other two.
Krystal then watched and waited patiently as Josh picked up his fork and stuck it into the meats, he lifted the multi meat and brought it to his mouth, all the while Krystal was on the edge of her seat praying that he liked it. He opened his mouth and placed the fork in his mouth and pulled the empty fork out, he slowly started to chew the food.
It had a certain taste to it, the seasonings defiantly added to the flavor. As he chewed the food he could feel the juices leak down his throat. Josh turned his gaze to Krystal who was nervously tapping her fingers against her legs under the table. She clearly wanted to know what he thought about the meal.
"Very good Krystal." He said to her. She happily sighed which let out all the air she was holding in.
After they finished eating the food they all cleaned up, making the work go by much faster, there would be pliantly of leftovers to last for a while. In Cerinia the whole family feasted, immediate family, uncles and aunts grandparents and cousins. However there was only three, so she wasn't too surprised that there were leftovers. After everything was cleaned they ate cake and ice cream, after that Ms. Evergreen said she was tired and left to go home leaving the Cerinian and the Human alone together.
They brought what was left of the wine into the living room and sat down on the couch, Krystal had deactivated her disguise and Josh poured her a glass of wine, she took the glass with a smile and he filled up his glass, Krystal had told him that the last part before gifts were given was that they would share stories of childhood times and the likes.
"Well, let's see…I can't really think of anything too exciting about my childhood worth talking about…We could just talk though if that's okay?" He asked. She nodded and crossed her legs.
"What was your childhood like?" She asked, Josh scratched his chin and thought about it.
"Well…It was good, I didn't have too many friends, but I had my younger brother. We were just about inseparable, Dad worked for the power company and had to work late many nights, so we didn't get to see a whole lot of him but the times we did see him, he would always spend the whole day with us. Mom was a stay at home Mom, she always made sure the house was clean and always had snacks ready for when we got back from school. I had a good Childhood, until that day I lost them…It was very rough for me, I felt like no one could understand the pain I was going through, I would have done anything to get them back, or at least spend one last day with them, I never got to say goodbye. Which was the worst of it…Subject changer what about your child hood?"
Krystal lowered her head; she didn't really talk about her family much as it always broke her heart to think back to the time they were alive and all together, Josh noticed her saddened look.
"I'm sorry, you don't have to answer." He said and noticed a lone tear fell from her eye; she used the back of her hand to wipe the tear away and looked up at Josh.
"My Father's name was Aron; he was a highly respected politician, you could consider my family to be the highest of nobility, second to the Royal family that ruled Cerinia. My Mother's name was Elena, she was the King's betrothed before she met my father and fell in love with him, which caused bad blood between our families' for some time. I also had a little brother, his name was Ronan. He's was born exactly one year after I was, which meant we shared Name Days." Krystal took a sip from her wine and then took a deep breath.
"When I turned eighteen, my father gave me his staff. It was gold and had blue engravings all over it. The staff wasn't the only thing I got…My Mother and Father had started to set up suitors to be my future Mate. I'll admit that some of them were very handsome, but I just couldn't get a connection with any of them…There was one, his name was Rye…we were engaged for a few months…That's what these tattoos on my arms and legs mean, there the Cerinian version of an engagement ring. But one day my Father decided my future mate for me, I was so angry that I left Cerinia for a week…I returned when I felt like my Father had worried enough about me…" Krystal started to cry a little
"But…When I came back…Cerinia…It…It was destroyed!" She had lost it and began to sob uncontrollably; she placed her hands over her face and cried into her palms. Josh quickly held onto her, the second she felt his arms wrap around her she leaned her head onto his shoulder and cried some more.
"Krystal…" He started, he didn't know what to really say to her, but he said whatever came out. "I won't sit here and try to act like I know how it felt like to lose all that you have…I lost my Mother, Father and little brother…But not my planet, but I am truly sorry about what you had went through." Krystal sniffled a few times before she leaned her head up to look at him.
"Look at me, crying on your Name Day…I'm sorry." She said and started to wipe her eyes. Josh then looked over at the holo calendar and smiled.
"You know…I think I do have a story for you after all." Krystal looked at him.
"What is it?" She asked, Josh stood from the couch and walked to the calendar.
"I went out one morning to buy a few groceries for me and Amanda…I saw this and thought that it would be cool to have, so I bought it. As I was setting it up, it fell out of my hands and hit the ground…Now every once in a while it messes up and…" He pointed to the sensor bar of holo calendar. "You have to give it a little tap."
Josh tapped the bar and suddenly Krystal noticed the date went from July 3rd 2035, to August 3rd 2035. Her eyes widened a little and her mouth hung open.
"Wait…So, you're telling me…" She stopped and looked at Josh.
"My Birthday was last month…You just seemed so excited about it that I didn't have the heart to tell you." Krystal stared at Josh for a few more moments before chuckling a little bit.
"Wow…I feel like an idiot for not making sure." She said, Josh smiled and sat back down next to her.
"To be honest Krystal…Today was so much better than how my real birthday went." She looked back at him and her ears lowered.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"I didn't even celebrate it…Amanda left to be with her friends and didn't call to wish me a happy birthday…At first I thought she had some special plan set out for later that day but…Nope…She either forgot or…Didn't care…But you put all this together for me Krystal, you have no idea just how much that means to me…Thank you." He said and gave her a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him back, then remembered she had a small gift for him. She pulled away and reached into her flight suit.
"Close your eyes…I have your gift." She said, Josh smiled and closed his eyes and held out his hands. Krystal waved her hand in front of his face just to make sure he wasn't peeking, when she came to the conclusion he wasn't she reached back into her flight suit and pulled out a dog tag necklace, similar to the ones he wore, She then placed it in his hand.
"Open." She said, Josh opened his eyes and looked down at his hand to find the dog tag, the side that was faced up was blank, he flipped it over and found an engraving, the engraving was in blue and it looked like the face of a fox. He looked up at Krystal.
"So you will always be reminded of me." She said, He then laughed. After he laughed he placed it around his neck and it hung to his chest. He looked back at Krystal and smiled.
"I like it." He said, they then shared another hug before deciding on calling it a night and heading off to bed.
And there we go, another two chapters down and many more to come. I should add that we are getting close to focusing on the plot of the story in a few more chapters, so now is the last time I'll take some ideas before we get there, PM me or tell me in the review.
I want to thank all you guys again for enjoying my story, I have never had this much fun writing one before. I didn't think this story would get the attention it's getting. Last week the views were 845 and now they are at 1289. I'M SO HAPPY.
Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far, I really like to read about what you guys and gals think about it. the longer the review the better, but I'm also fine with short ones.
Also side note, another Space Mercenaries pic is on my DA account so check them out and tell me what you think.
until sometime next week.