3. Video

[sleepallthewayhome]

[Newt appears on the screen again. She's back to looking nervous but this time for a different reason. She's sitting on the ground with stuffed ponyta toy in her lap.]

Hi...um I just had a question about....birthdays.

Mine was last week. But when I was home I'd already had my birthday for the year. So am I eight now? Or am I still seven.....

Was I six the entire time I was here and didn't realize it? I don't know how it works....I just want to know how old I am.

[She's confused okay.]

Comments

[Video]

[tearsofademon]

[Here, have a sleepy man brushing a sleeping Komala.]

Not that I'd really know, but I don't think there's any kind of standard for counting it around here, so I'd go with whatever feels right to you.

[...he's trying to be helpful, really]

[Video]

[sleepallthewayhome]

[She appreciates it.]

I'm not sure....what feels right. Maybe seven still....or ....

I guess it doesn't really matter. But I would like to know.

[Video]

[tearsofademon]

Well, ahh... Hmm. About how long ago did you turn seven, where you're from?

Video]

[sleepallthewayhome]

Umm....

[She takes a moment to list the months in her head as she counts on her fingers.]

About three....and I've been here for about three months too.

So I've been seven for ....six months?

[Video]

[tearsofademon]

About halfway, then.

[If it was just a difference of a couple months on one side or another, that might make things easier, but the halfway point...]

...Haa, I mean, you could probably just call your birthday here your half birthday or something, but that'd probably be overcomplicating it...

[Video]

[sleepallthewayhome]

[Newt seems to think this over.]

Maybe....then I'd have a different birthday. ....I'm not....sure.

[She's a bit conflicted about that because part of her wants to cut off all ties to her dead family and another part wants to cling to whatever she has left.]

[Video]

[tearsofademon]

...Sorry. I kind of didn't really have a birthday until I showed up here and Rose decided I needed one, to be honest, so I'm probably not the best person to try to help, am I...

[Video]

[maybeitsmabelline]

[Mabel is thinking hard about this one, arms crossed as she reclines on a bench, tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth.]

I think..you should go with what feels right...but celebrating your birthday twice over! Double cakes! And double presents!

[Video]

[sleepallthewayhome]

[Newt goes quiet.]

.....I don't really .....want to celebrate it.

[Video]

[maybeitsmabelline]

[And there goes Mabel deflating.]

Wha...why not? It's your birthday! Birthdays are supposed to be--

[Mabel stops, going quiet for a second.]

...Did something bad happen on your birthday?

[Was she like Soos?]

[Video]

[sleepallthewayhome]

No.....but everyone who knew about my birthday is dead.

I grew up on colony on a moon out in space. .....Alien...monsters killed everyone there but me. So there's no one who it matters to anymore. ....well maybe three but they're not here and didn't know it.

I wouldn't have brought it up if I wasn't confused about how old I am.

[Video]

[maybeitsmabelline]

[Oh..oh no.

Mabel's shoulders slump and she looks heartbroken for the other little girl, torn between wanting to cry and wanting to do anything she can to try and cheer Newt up. But how--what could she even do??]

Well...I think you should go with being a year old then you were! And just go with that from now on!

[She pauses, chewing on her bottom lip.]

I'm sorry about your birthday.

Video]

[sleepallthewayhome]

Maybe....I'll think about it.

[She's getting a lot of different opinions, which is helpful but just means thinking more.]

It doesn't matter, it's just a day. ....but I guess it means I survived another year. That's good. Surviving is always good.

[Sorry Mabel, this small child has been through non Disney sanctioned horror.]

[notclearwater]

Well, your birthday itself can be just.. a celebration with friends. Then, when your age technically should change it would just change over. You know? Your birthday is special, but.. but a lot of people say age is just a number.

[sleepallthewayhome]

It's an important number though. If I was six without knowing that means I was littler again. Or maybe I'm seven for a longer time....till next year. or ....half a year from now.

[She's very confused okay. Also sad looking.]

I guess it doesn't matter anymore though.

[notclearwater]

Maybe.. we could celebrate both. But I think we should go by what you were turning towards. So.. eight years old, correct? We might have missed a little time there, but you still have a lot of time ahead of you, so its okay. We can celebrate this birthday, then your half birthday, just to make sure we cover everything.

[sleepallthewayhome]

......I don't really want to celebrate my birthday.

I only brought it up because I was confused about how old I was. I wouldn't have told anyone if I knew I was eight, or still seven.

[notclearwater]

We don't have to then.

[ He gives a small smile to her. ]

I understand. I think it should be how you feel. Okay?

[sleepallthewayhome]

Good.

[She was worried he might try to convince her she was wrong. She's glad he didn't.]

Um.....I'll have to think about it some more.

Video;

[schachmeister]

To be honest, I was in the same sort of situation when I first arrived here.

In my opinion, your exact age isn't really what makes a birthday important, so you'd probably be fine referring to yourself in whatever way you wish. If it was close to your birthday back home, you could call yourself older, but if it was still far away, you can keep calling yourself seven and simply add a year the next time your birthday happens.

Video;

[sleepallthewayhome]

It was three months after. ....so I guess it makes more sense to say next year I'll be eight.

[She's quiet for a moment. She was a reason she hadn't told anyone her birthday was last week until she realized she didn't know how old she was anymore.]

Age is the only thing that matters about birthdays now. At least for me.

Video;

[schachmeister]

[Armin hesitates for a moment. He has a feeling where this might lead --she wouldn't be the first orphan he has met-- but after a moment he does proceed, his words cautious.]

What makes you say that?

Video;

[sleepallthewayhome]

My family died. And so did everyone else on the colony but me.

[Just matter of fact.]

No one else knows my birthday. I would have told Ripley but this place took me away from her too.

Video;

[schachmeister]

[Armin winces slightly. It is as he suspected and probably was the wrong subject to bring up.]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up.

[He tried, awkwardly, to change the subject to one that isn't 'dead parents'.]

Uhm. You could probably tell people your birthday here. If you wanted

Video;

[sleepallthewayhome]

It's okay. I'm used to it. I was just leaving when I was taken off the ship with the three survivors from the marines, so it comes up a lot when people ask me things.

[Where are you from, why are you afraid of eggs, why are you sleeping under the bed, why do you keep asking if we're SURE monsters don't kill people here?]

....I'm not really sure if I want to celebrate it. I guess it could mean I survived another year....instead of a family thing. That's the most important thing....surviving.

[She's seven.]