"Last dinner together this year!" Braxton plunked his tray down on the table next to his friends, a wide grin on his face. "We're going to make it a good one!"

"You're making a scene," Matt laughed.

"I'm about to make a bigger one." Braxton shot back. "Varian, the supplies!"

Varian immediately grabbed his satchel and pulled out some party hats, of which he passed half to Braxton. Braxton handed 628 one and put his own on, before securing one on the top of Matt's head as well. Even Mellow had one perched on his head, an especially entertaining contrast considering his facial proportions.

Before Jim could register what was happening, Varian had stretched a thin band of elastic around his face and adorned him with his. The strap dug into his skin not painfully, but a little irritatingly. Still, it was worth it to see all of his friends wearing various patterned pink party cones.

"Polka Dots are so your look, Brax." Jim teased goodnaturedly.

"Why thank you," Braxton batted his eyelashes. "They're very en vogue this year. I must say, though, Matthew, your stripes are simply fetching! I think you might even start a new trend."

"Oh, please," Matt responded as he looked away modestly and touched his fingertips to his chest. "This old thing? Why it's nothing compared to the chevron 628 is sporting."

628 tipped his head to the side.

"Your hat." Matt prompted with a smile.

628's ears perked up, effectively hiding the aforementioned accessory from view. "My hat pretty! Is the best hat. Yes."

"Well, it is hard to argue with that," Hogarth jumped in, clearly intending to keep the playful banter going. "But I do have to say, I think Varian is simply stunning in his gingham. Very Valentino."

"Oh thank you." Varian replied happily. "I do love a good Vichy check. However, Mellow, I think you truly take the cake. Solid may be simple to some, but you make it a standout."

Mellow ducked his head and flexed his pincers, though he was smiling. He seemed pleased to be included in the game, an observation reflected in his tone as he replied, "Too kind. It's nothing compared to Hogarth. The diamonds are a cut above the rest."

"Stil, though," Braxton clearly relished his role as host of this little impromptu party. "I must say, it truly is Jim who is the creme de la creme à la Edgar. I mean, such a bold fashion statement as that, really, it's just daring. Haute Couture. Honestly, I think everyone could agree that-"

"Okay," Jim interrupted his friend before he could lay it on any thicker. "What am I wearing."

Matt snickered. "Well, you see…"

"It says 'Birthday Princess' on it." Varian piped up eagerly, unable to hold it back any longer.

Jim raised an eyebrow. "And you just so happened to have pink birthday princess hats in your bag?"

"Hogarth gave them to me!"

"And Hogarth just randomly had them?"

"I actually wrote my mom last month and asked her to send me some." Hogarth answered with a grin. "We were going to use them for Varian's birthday, but Braxton thought this would be more fun."

Braxton didn't even try to hide his smugness. "I was right."

Jim shook his head fondly. His little party hat made a slight whooshing sound as it waved through the air on his head. "Yeah, alright. I gotta admit, it does feel pretty good to be a unicorn."

Even Mellow was laughing at that one.

"Got one more?" Stalknew growled as he settled into the seat beside Jim. His tail flicked casually behind him and his ears were relaxed, indicating that he was approaching on friendly terms. Jim had seen him and Braxton go at it often enough to recognize when it was a hostile approach or a neutral one.

Without any hesitation, Varian pulled another birthday hat - this one with horizontal stripes, in contrast to Matt's diagonal stripes - out of his satchel and handed it over. Stalknew managed to make the little elastic cord fit around his much-larger-than-intended head and settled it between his pointed ears.

"Thanks."

Jim flicked his eyes to Braxton, half expecting this to be another prank for his last night. Braxton, however, had nothing to say about his school rival joining them. If anything, he looked as confused as Jim felt.

Stalkenew wordlessly speared his steak with one of his claws so he could start eating. It was pretty obvious he'd gone down the carnivore line, based on the lack of vegetables on his tray. Somehow Jim was both surprised and aware that he shouldn't be so surprised by that expectation. Stalkenew was literally a leopard, after all.

Matt glanced around the now silent table before giving Stalkenew a bright smile. "It's nice to have you join us. Any special occasion, or did you just get jealous of our awesome hats?"

Stalkenw grinned. "Obviously I wanted a hat." He answered with amusement. "Also, I promised a friend I would keep an eye on your group. Keep you out of trouble for a while. I know Braxton well enough to sniff out any mischief he's up to."

Braxton rolled his eyes. "Great. So I get rid of one tattlebrat and gain myself another. Just what I wanted."

Stalkenew's ears flattened and his lips pulled back into a snarl. "I am here as a favor to a friend, not to turn you over to the authorities. All I care about is making sure you're not dumb enough to get caught. Again."

Matt set his hand on Braxton's arm. "You're always welcome here, Stephen. Thank you."

Stalkenew relaxed again. "Thank you, Rudforest."

Varian wasted no time in initiating the new species into what it means to be his friend. "I have a few questions. Are you an obligate carnivore like all known-to-me members of the feline species, or are you eating meat primarily as a pleasurable meal with the ability to consume plant matter as a principal dietary source?"

"Uh."

"You'll get used to it." Braxton reassured their newest tablemate.

"How would you describe the sensation of receiving input through your whiskers? Is it tactile, like when you brush your fingertips on something, or would you call it more of a sixth sense? Maybe seventh, if you count chronoception as one of our senses, or eight if you consider thermal, oh, and I don't want to forget vestibular - would your whiskers fall more under somatosensory or something closer to visual? I understand echolocation is much more visual, but through the use of sound, so it's hard to pin which category I would put that one under, are your whiskers like that where they cross categories?"

"Um."

"My guess is that they fall under a somatosensory sense, but that's just speculation at this point. Is it similar to running a finger over your hair, sorry, fur, when it stands on end?"

Hogarth nudged Varian gently. "Eat first, science after. You won't have dinner if you start in on this now."

Jim smiled. He might be wearing a silly hat in the middle of the cantina eating his last dinner on this planet, but he was surrounded by his friends (and also Stephen), and that made it a good night. No matter what was coming tomorrow, he was going to enjoy these next few hours.