It hadn't been hard to decide what I was going to offer to Melissa for her birthday - she'd made her desires all too obvious even though she hadn't intended to invite me. Why, I still wasn't sure - pride, lack of thought, maybe she thought I would have been offended by the invitation? All were possible reasons, but in the end, they meant nothing - I had been invited by Cassidy, and I think this was one kindness I did owe my ROB.
I was lucky that the Arborous titanis were bearing fruit when I went to look for specimens to use as my gift. It hadn't been hard to find the plumpest of the fruits, which I quickly planted and subjected to biogenesis E-DNA powers, so that they would go from fruit to sapling in a matter of minutes. I dialed back on them after that - no need to let them grow gigantic before I gave them to Melissa. They could grown mighty after she had planted them, but not before.
Once my gift was ready, I used some directions Cassidy had provided to build a modified dimension gate that could send me to Melissa's hub world, which deposited me right outside of my ROB's abode. It only took a few minutes to reach the designated entrance point, where my ROB was welcoming the last of her guests. My appearance provoked a good deal of shock from her, but before she could question me, Cassidy explained everything. That was somewhat odd, considering that she had asked me not to tell her mother about the invitation. Maybe she had wanted to explain things herself rather than have me do so?
Whatever the reason, Melissa had allowed me to join the festivities, and with surprisingly few stares from the rest of the party goers. What had followed was a period of eating and relaxing, all while final preparations were made for the eating of cake and the unwrapping of gifts for the focus of this day. Among the refreshments offered were some really weird foods, including some type of eel covered in spines. Normally, I'd turn down such offering, owing to having a rather narrow diet, but with all the kindness Melissa had shown me, I felt obligated to try the alien cuisine. Most of it actually tasted pretty good.
Among the faces I saw and recognized at the party were Iacturos, Celm, Queneeria, Tau and Zeta, the latter two coming as total surprised to me, since they seemed to despise my ROB. Perhaps they still had some lingering feelings of camaraderie toward her? Either way, seeing them here, actually making the effort to enjoy themselves, and NOT being total asses, was actually rather heartwarming. As for the others, I recounted a woman who spent the majority of the time with Celm, whom I eventually confirmed was his wife, though I missed her name. Queneeria was joined by several of her own subordinates, while Iacturos had over a hundred other guests with him, who were all, apparently, his siblings. Something told me that, even if egg laying was involved, Iacutros parents must have not only been fond of each other, but also very difficult to tire, but for now, that was besides the point.
Throughout the festivities, I attempted to make conversation with my fellow guests, if only to learn more about them, but was unsuccessful. At best I received answers that lead to more questions, at worst I was rebuffed before I could even offer a question. When that happened, I would steal a glance at my ROB, examining her (admittedly difficult to observe) physique, before turning my attention to her shadow. Here, with more time to examine said shadow, more details came into focus: it had large, membraneous wings, as well as numerous fins and tentacles in it. In fact, I could easily observe traits from many different sea creatures on it, including what appeared to be lured like those that angled fish used. Before long, though, Nelissa would notice my staring, forcing me to look away. Still, every sight counted here.
Eventually came the time for the singing of happy birthdau, followed by the eating of the cake and the unwrapping of gifts. Oddly, the sheer familiarity of this ritual was what surprised me the lost with this celebration- I guess I had expected things to be more different from what I knew, not more of the same. Still, the familiarity was not unwelcome, and it was only a few minutes before I was enjoying a slice of strawberry ice cream cake, while Melissa was tearing through her gifts. Eventually, she came to mine. The minute she saw it, she grew very still for a moment, before turning toward me and giving probably the cutest smile she had ever given me.
It would have been really sweet, except that when she did that, her hair, which had been up until this point pure white, began to rapidly change between white, purple, orange, and green. Oddly, though, it never changed into anything else, be it a color, or into the tendrils/feathers I saw in her shadow. Was her shadow merely a 'red herring' as to her actual appearance?
Whatever the case, apparently I wasn't the only one staring, seeing how the room had just gone very, very quiet. Melissa had started to blush, though her hair quickly returned to its normal colors. For a moment, I thought something was going to happen, but then everything went back to normal, though there was still a feeling of unease in the room. I think everyone had mentally agreed to just ignore what they had seen, though that didn't erase the fact that they had seen it. Still, it seemed that even mentioning what I assumed was a glamor failure had become taboo, given that no one, myself included, chose to talk about it.
Eventually, as the festivities drew to a close, the guests filtered out, until, of the guests, only I remained.
I took one last look at my ROB, waved her off, then turned to leave.
"Wait."
I stopped.
"Could I have a word with you?"
"...Do you really have to ask? I more or less exist as I am now to sate your desire for amusement."
"True, but I still think it necessary for what I have to say."
"Fine. So, what do you want to say?"
"First off, thank you for coming. And I'm sorry I didn't invite you."
"You're welcome. WHy didn't you invite me, though? Just curious."
"I assumed my compatriots would think poorly of me if I did so. At least, the ones who are roughly equal in rank to me. Those who are higher on the totem pole than I am wouldn't really ba an Ieye to me inviting you over."
"I see. Do you have more to say?"
"Yes: Thank you for the gift. It's beautiful."
"Glad to hear you like it."
"It reminds me of home."
"...There are glowing plants where you come from?"
"Plenty. I used to cultivate dozens of them in the garden with my...parents..."
The moment she said that word, Melissa became more morose and quiet. Something told me this was a touchy subject.
"You didn't have the best of parents?"
"No, they were good. I just had a...falling out...with them."
"Oh." Time to let that topic lie.
"So, what else would you like to talk about?"
"Well, now htat that is out of the way, I would like to thank you for not making a big scene out of my...hair color issues."
"...That was rather odd to see, though it isn't the strangest thing I have witnessed."
"are you referring to my shadow?"
"...What?"
"I know you were looking at it throughout the party, and while it is impolite to stare, I will forgive you this time since my shadow is a...particularly interesting sight."
"...Well, thank you for that. So, anything else you want to tell or ask me about?"
"Just one, and it is a request. A 'birthday favor' if you may. IF you fulfill it, I will fulfill one for you at your next birthday."
"Okay, so what do you want me to do."
"...Could you...um...sing...for me?"
...Wat?
"Why?"
"I know for a fact that you are a ccpable singer - not enough to make a career out of it, and you would lakc the creativity to write your own songs, but nonetheless I would like to hear you sing."
"...Why?"
"...I just want you to."
"...Okay, but do you have any genre requests?"
"None at all. I do have a list of songs that I would like you to choose from, if you don't mind? You only have to sing one song."
"I don't mind much, so let me look at them."
Instantly, she produced a list of songs, which I began reading through in earnest. Some of them had actually been published after I had been taken from my home, so I decided not to sing those.
Except, for some reason, I feel like singing one of them, even though I didn't know the lyrics. For reasons even I couldn't understand, though, I could felt I could sing it well if I tried.
Melissa seemed to notice which song I was looking at.
"So, you're looking at that one. Good choice."
A moment later, a screen was projected onto a nearby wall, and on it were the lyrics of the song, which was beginning to play.
It only took me a moment to get in sync with the lyrics:
I believe kids oughta stay kids as long as they can
Turn off the screen, go climb a tree, get dirt on their hands
I believe we gotta forgive and make amends
'Cause nobody gets a second chance to make new old friends
I believe in working hard for what you've got
Even if it don't add up to a hell of a lot
I believe most people are good
And most mama's oughta qualify for sainthood
I believe most Friday nights look better under neon or stadium lights
I believe you love who you love
Ain't nothing you should ever be ashamed of
I believe this world ain't half as bad as it looks
I believe most people are good
I believe them streets of gold are worth the work
But I still wanna go even if they were paved in dirt
I believe that youth is spent well on the young
'Cause wisdom in your teens would be a lot less fun
I believe if you just go by the nightly news
Your faith in all mankind would be the first thing you lose
I believe most people are good
And most mama's oughta qualify for sainthood
I believe most Friday nights look better under neon or stadium lights
I believe you love who you love
Ain't nothing you should ever be ashamed of
I believe this world ain't half as bad as it looks
I believe most people are good
I believe that days go slow and years go fast
And every breath's a gift, the first one to the last
I believe most people are good
And most mama's oughta qualify for sainthood
I believe most Friday nights look better under neon or stadium lights
I believe you love who you love
Ain't nothing you should ever be ashamed of
I believe this world ain't half as bad as it looks
I believe most people are good
I believe most people are good
I believe most people are good
Well, I do - and my travels had reinforced that. I'd seen plenty of horror on my journey so far, but I'd also seen so much beauty, and that had always kept my faith in the good of others alive. Who knows, maybe I'd one day mode that faith, but not today.
I was promptly pulled out of my post-song thoughts by the sound of clapping...from more than just Melissa. When I looked at her, I was surprised to not only see Cassidy, but also all of my children giving me an applause. Before I could question this, a flicker from the projected screen caught my attention, as new words replace the lyrics.
...oh, so that's what had happened - Cassidy had invited them over and not told me.
Well, a few people were going to go three days without any sweets.
"So," I began," do you desire more?"
"No, I'm good," was her response, after which she stood up and asked her companions (that is, her daughter and my kids), to get ready to leave, then began to walk toward me.
She promptly slipped on a discarded peace of paper and started falling.
One teleport later and I was holding her inches of the ground, one hand on her shoulder, another around her waist.
No, she didn't hit me when I righted.
As I righted her, though, I noticed that her sleeve had come lose from her shoulder. While she quickly fixed it, there were a precious few moments where I did get to see her exposed shoulder.
Well, I would have, except that said should was covered in bandages. Lots of bandages. In fact, the strips of cloth extended up to the base of her neck and beyond, all the way to her other shoulder, at least from what I could see.
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Considering she taken down a skull crawler with barely a scratch, and that her papers more than likely included a healing ability, I was more than a little worried that something existed that could leave her with injuries that actually needed to be bandaged.
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AN: Yes, I can sing, and yes, I like country music. So what?
Read and Review! This is Foameal15k, signing off.