Well it's time to celebrate your birthday, it happens every year

[pinprick]

WHO: Anders, Nathaniel, and invitees!
WHAT: Fancy birthday party in Camp Shady
WHEN: Harvestmere 27, evening
WHERE: Camp Shady
NOTES: Will update.

Since many Wardens moved into the Kestrel House, there is plenty of space in the camp for a big top tent. Finding enough candlesticks, tables, and chairs required a lot of time and a number of bribes to pull off. The tables are nicely draped with fabric lent by one of Anders' patients, and each is decorated with flowers. The tent is alight and smells like good food--more donations from grateful patients.

One of the Wardens is known for her fiddling, and she plays lively dances and crooning ballads. In the center table is an ice sculpture of a cat chasing a butterfly (you guessed it--donated by a mage patient). It glitters spectacularly in the candlelight.

On the menu is a slow-roasted pig, spiced hot cider, spectacular salads, jams, cakes, delectably seasoned vegetables, a lamb-flank, and your choice of wine. There is even a hard-won bottle of Antivan brandy Nathaniel had to win several card games to achieve.

Relax, enjoy, greet the birthday boy, and mingle. The nights will be cold soon, but under this tent, life glows.

Comments

[justice_is_blond]

Anders nods, smile softening.

"You're not of this world. You don't need to feel pressured to assist; I'm sure there's demands on your time as it is. But if you choose to, I could help with the materials as well. I've got what I need and after today it looks like nearly everything I could want." It's all a little ridiculous, really, in the best way. He hadn't thought that nearly half as many people would show up for this. "And I can even set up a chair in the healing tents, which I keep nice and warm, if you'd like a place and some company while you work."

[bookish_lioness]

"Are you sure you're not just suggesting this so you have some company yourself, or for Purrelden to be sufficiently distracted by a ball of yarn and allow you to work?" It's as much a serious question as it is teasing, though Hermione knows that Anders wouldn't joke about something that could genuinely help people who are in distress.

So she smiles up at him, remarking, "I don't have to be of this world to care for the people in it, Anders. Especially not when among their number are people like you, who earnestly care about the well-being of others. If this is something you want to do, then I can certainly make the time for it."

[justice_is_blond]

And now his smile widens again.

"I can't deny that I enjoy company while I work. Purrelden is nice to have around, but I like having people around. It's an old... habit." That's not quite the word for it, but he doesn't want to use anything approaching the right one. It's a scar.

"I'll set up a chair, and when you've time, drop by. I can even see if I can get Bethany involved; she knits things as well." A beat, and his expression turns a little sheepish. "Or this can stay small, rather than me trying to make a project out of it like I've a tendency to do." With everything.

[bookish_lioness]

"If you'd like Bethany to get involved, that's perfectly fine," Hermione tells him with a small shrug. "This is, after all, your birthday party, so far be it for me to disagree with you. Besides, I don't know Bethany very well; it would be nice to get to know someone new."

Someone new that Hermione can be reasonably sure right off the bat isn't going to judge her for being a rifter or for being able to do magic, given that what little she knows of Bethany would make such a thing seem a bit peculiar for her. And if she ends up being wrong in that silent assumption, she can always concentrate extra hard on her knitting or play with Purrelden.

[justice_is_blond]

"I think you'd like her. She's entirely too much of an optimist and the only times I've seen her be unkind have been under extreme circumstances. I've no idea how she does it." Maybe he does. Maybe he just doesn't have the energy for the effort it would take to be optimistic and always kind, and that might be another point in Bethany's favor.

"She cares, is the point, and she'd more than likely be glad to join and to meet you. I'll speak with her about if, and then when all three of us have the time, we'll convene?"

[bookish_lioness]

"I think I tend to get along better with realists than optimists," Hermione brings up dryly. "But then, most of my friends are largely pessimists, so what do I know?" Granted, it can very well be that most people here are realistic about how terrible things are, so they seem to veer more towards pessimism, but that's not exactly the cheeriest thing to think about.

"For now, just enjoy the gift and your party. We can worry about attempting to better the world after we've managed to raise our collective spirits." Pausing for a moment, she wonders if that turn of phrase is used in Thedas, causing her to sheepishly add, "That's an expression, by the way. Raising literal spirits wouldn't make for a particularly good party game."

[justice_is_blond]

He gives her a wry smile. "We know what low and high spirits are. This would be where there are high spirits, but don't say that too loudly else they may wind up launching an investigation into the party." A beat. "Which is likely a little more pessimism than realism, but it's certainly on the borderline there."

Anders looks around the group again, smile returning to regular. "Enjoy the party as well, Hermione. I'm very glad you came."

[bookish_lioness]

"Let's call it sarcasm and keep everyone happy," Hermione replies, returning Anders' dry smile with one of her own. "There's no need to split hairs, after all."

Genuinely glad to see Anders looking so happy and also grateful that they've mended their friendship back to something resembling normal, she gives him a small nod and steps away as she tells him, "I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Happy birthday, Anders."