As the clocked ticked ever onwards, Melissa couldn't help but grow more agitated.

Soon, it would be time.

Today was her birthday, and as it was her first one following her promotion to the head of the Commander Project, her subordinates had insisted on making it a grand affair, more so than normal. This meant a bigger cake, a grander feast, a more massive celebration, and so on, to the point that this party, when compared to all before it, could be described as more everything. All of that grandiosity only made the female ROB even more nervous, for the simple reason that this would be one of the few times her 'friends', if she could even say she had any at this point, would see her for a protracted length of time. That might not seem a big thing, but if she did something embarrassing, well, everyone would know about it.

As the time for the party drew ever closer, the guests began to trickle in. First came Celm and his wife, for once dressed in casual clothes. Following them were the closest of their followers, Iacturos and his hundred plus siblings, all bringing gifts, some large, some small. Following them was Queneeria and her underlings, whom she always felt oddly familiar with (well, more so than she already was), but never knew why.

As the time for the festivities grew ever closer, one more pair of guests arrived, ones that Melissa could not believe.

"...Tau...Zeta...you came?"

"Yes," replies the female operative, "we were invited. By you, if our invitations didn't mislead us."

"Additionally, even though we no longer see eye to eye, you have always come to our days of nativity with gifts that show great amounts of thought put into them. In the face of that, we are...unable...to refuse your invitation. Our...pride...refuses to let us do that."

Tau had claimed that they had refused out of pride, but he'd struggled to say the word. In fact, he'd looked disgusted saying that.

Did the duo still think she was their...friend?

...That was preposterous. They couldn't believe that. That bridge had been torched long ago.c

Sadly, Melissa was well aware that said torching was entirely on her head. All actions carried a price, even well intentioned ones.

Putting her thoughts aside, Melissa invited them in, then turned her attention back to the clock. Only a minute remained. It appeared all of the guests had arrived, plus some extras. Cassidy, who had taken it upon herself to make sure all of the guests had arrived, confirmed this.

Well, time to get to bus-

"Hello?"

Melissa froze up for a moment, then turned around. There, standing just outside the main door, was her pawn, Commander Flameal15k.

"...What are you doing here?" She asked, incredulous.

"I invited him."

That was Cassidy who said that. Turning toward her daughter, Melissa could not help but look somewhat betrayed, even if she was actually grateful the Commander had arrived.

"Why?"

"Because, Mom, he's really nice to you, and I think he deserves to be here more than some of the other guests."

"I brought a gift," intoned the Commander, apparently trying to back up her diaghter's claim.

"...I'm not going to send you any. Just come in and...please don't embarrass yourself."

"I'll try."

XXXXXXXXXX

With all of the guests having at last arrived, the festivities had commenced. Games were played, movies were watched, music was enjoyed, the like. Melissa wondered why she could see people who were supposedly so much more mature than she was enjoying things that might have seemed childish, but ultimately, she saw no reason to complain. Besides, the company was nice.

Idly, the female ROB noticed her pawn taking the time to enjoy himself, occasionally trying to chat with the other guests, though whatever he chose to talk about only left him unsatisied with what he heard. Occasionally, he would steal a glance at her, though oddly, the glance would only last a moment before he soon ocused on something else, often appearing behind her. Additionally, he made the effort to try and eat at least one fo every snack she had provided. Now, most people would find it out if you thought someone eating everything they could fit in their mouth was a nice thing, but considering how finicky her commander had been prior to his journey, and the fact that, according to what she had gleaned from his mind, he was refusing to maintain his finicky diet out of respect for her, she couldn't help but smile.

Then came the best part of the day: the cake and the gifts. The cake itself was absolutely huge, big enough that she could fit 713 individual candles on it. It was a strawberry ice cream cake, mixed in with mint chocolate chip in some parts - her two favorite flavors of ice cream. It'd taken Mortarax a week to make it, and he had exceeded all expectations.

After the singing of happy birthday (something her father had taught to her, divinities bless him), she'd took a deep breath and blown, using aerokinesis to ensure she blew out all of the candles. Then, at last, came the gift unwrapping.

First off we're the gifts of Celm and his wife, which took the form of a variety of bees and other insects - creatures she'd wanted to help her with her gardening, ones that she was worried she would be unable to recreate with her powers - at lest, not to the level of beauty they possessed in nature.

Next came the gifts of Iacturos and his kin . They had many gifts to offer, from art, to books, to movies, to games and toys. Among the more notable gifts was a collection of rock music Iacturos himself had recently acquired. She preferred the classics, but rock was good, too.

Queneeria and her followers had gone next, offerif an assortment of gifts of their own. The ship in the bottle Queneeria had offered herself was especially nice.

Cassidy had followed them with a beautiful vase, one she had forged with her own hands...which were currently still slightly covered in clay, as she hadn't made one that had satisfied her until just hours before the party.

Third to last were her closest subordinates gifts, a set of hand made jewelry commemorating their servitude to her and her devotion to them.

Second to last was Tau and Zeta, who had surprised her with their choices. Tau has offered her sheet music for the full score of Peter and the Wolf, specifically for the violin. As for Zeta, she had gone with something Humber, and purchased her an album of metal music. That Swedish band her Commander seemed to enjoy listening to, given what his ship had started playing it when she had rescued him in the previous universe he had visited. He had good taste.

Speaking of which, the last gift she opened was the one that Flame had given her. Careful to avoid damaging it, for he'd explicitly marked it as fragile, she removed the gift wrapping from he )somewhat smelly) present...

And froze.

There, right in front of her, were four Aurorous titanis saplings. Despite being no taller than she was, they were already magnificent in appearance.

This wasn't the best gift she'd ever received.

It wasn't even the best one she'd received at this birthday.

But it was the most spectacular looking.

And for that, she couldn't help but smile at her pawn...who seemed to be staring at her hair.

...Oh crap. Her glamour was failing. Quick, back to normal, back to normal!

XXXXXXX

AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!