victory_road | backdated to 6/25

Entry tags:

backdated to 6/25 | party? party!!

Who: Sandalphon, Corrin, and all their CR (if you've talked even once to them you're invited)
What: Celebrating Corrin's Birthday! (this is a mingle log)
When: June 25th!
Where: Ecruteak City!
Summary: Sandalphon, while (almost) having no idea how to do so, hosts a birthday party for his boyfriend. Does it go well? That's to be discovered

[ sandalphon's made the best arrangements he could, making it clear that the angel's put a lot of effort into this party, despite not understanding the custom like most do. the party is mostly held indoors to avoid the heat, but the outside gardens were decorated all the same to match corrin's general preferences. from string lights hung across both venues to the dinnerware almost being pulled out of a fantasy book, corrin's party was ready to begin.

the party's main attraction was corrin's cake, painstakingly baked and decorated for the birthday boy from his boyfriend. a whole day and a couple of burnt fingers later resulted in a stunning four tier cake with several edible flowers decorating the sides. the surrounding area was meant to be an area for guests to leave any gifts they had brought for corrin, but they were also free to simply give the gift directly to him instead.

the buffet table was littered with finger food, with small plates available to the side for the partygoer to load up as much as they can. the table also has entrees for those whose appetites lean on the bigger side, if they do not wish to indulge on the snacks. the beverage station was filled with icy cold drinks as well, but there was an odd addition for such a summery themed party: coffee. if asked, sandalphon will easily whip up a fresh cup of coffee; hot, iced, and everything in between.

off to the side, there was a pokemon play area: for those who couldn't dare leave their pokemon at home, they are free to find themselves playing with sandalphon's pokemon, who are more than gleeful to bring joy to any new possible friends. the area was a vast field surrounded by plants and flowers, with a large shade tree providing solace from the fiery sun. water pokemon even have a pool available to them to enjoy.

all in all, it's time to wish corrin a happy birthday! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Huh?"

Shrike's initial reaction to being addressed like that is surprise, but he quickly recovers, at least. And then very quickly realizes that there's really only one person here likely to make that sort of comment.

"Oh, are you Corrin?"

"Yes! Sorry. I should've introduced myself. I didn't mean to come across as rude like that. I was just excited!"

The prince smiles and offers his hand to shake - if that's the sort of greeting Shrike doesn't mind.

"I am Corrin, yes! And I understand you are Sandalphon's travel partner. I've wanted to meet you for a while, now! Thank you so much for coming to the party!"

Wow that's.... That's really a lot of cheeriness. Especially since most people Shrike's gotten to know so far have tended to be somewhat less energetic. Or downright grumpy, in Sandalphon's case in particular. He's not entirely sure what to think of it, though he can't help smiling maybe just a little in return. Even if it might be hard to tell with the way he wears his hood to obscure as much of his face as possible.

For that matter, he really has no idea how to respond.

"Oh! Uh... you're welcome." Well, there's that at least, part of the manners Sandalphon's been insisting on teaching him. Actually, on that note, while it does take him a moment, he eventually remembers that one is supposed to shake hands, too. Though he's pretty quick to pull his own hand back after.

"Yeah, I met him in Cherrygrove City... He was going to walk to violet City without any supplies!"

That statement makes Corrin only broaden his grin, because that sounds very much like something Sandy would do.

"Ahh, sounds just like him. Lucky he bumped into you, isn't it?" He takes a moment to consider whether Shrike knows the story of how he and Sandalphon met. Oh, it's a good one. And absolutely worth telling.

"Has he ever told you the story of how the two of us met? I promise it's really good. And very hilarious! Heehee!"

It says something when a thousands of year old angel has to take basic travel advice from a sixteen-year-old. Who looks even younger than that.

"No, he doesn't talk about things a lot..." Shrike is definitely curious though! Very curious. He won't outright ask, but you can practically hear it in his tone.

"Is that so? How wonderful!" Whatever could he mean by that? Probably because he has a feeling Sandalphon would miss out a lot of the fun details if he told the story!

"Well, I'm about to tell you a fantastic story about how I met Sandalphon!" He clears his throat. Oh, where to start? He finds it difficult to conceal his grin, or stop himself from giggling.

"One day, I was minding my own business, browsing the network feed on an average day ... then all of a sudden--" He covers his mouth and erupts into laughter. "Hahaha! I saw a video feed broadcast by Sandalphon, who was buried in an avalanche of Milcery! Ahahahaha!" Give him a minute. He just needs to laugh it off. Oh, he'll never forget Sandalphon's face!

"You should've seen his poor face! He was so stuck! Surrounded by a big pile of wiggly milk Pokémon! But they weren't actually Milcery, though. They were Hisuian Zoruas! Pulling a prank on him. He looked so funny! So many Milcerys!" Right. Okay. Enough roasting his boyfriend! "Anyway ... naturally I came to his rescue. But I could hardly contain myself, hahaha! I couldn't stop laughing! I cracked a few jokes, just to lighten the mood. He was NOT amused as you can imagine!" Because, you know, it's Sandalphon. Already so grumpy being buried under a bunch of scheming foxes, then calling for help, only for Corrin to find great amusement in the situation. Sorry, Sandy!

"I remember I said like ... you know, because they're all milk looking Pokémon - 'Hey, Sandalphon! It looks like you have a latte to deal with!' Hahaha! And that this was an udder catastrophe!" Ahem. Back on track! "So after several terrible jokes on my end, I found him in the Goldenrod department store after yelling at the top of my lungs. We managed to lure the Hisuian Zoruas away with treats, and it worked! We kept two of them for ourselves, even after all that mischief. They always did remind me really fondly of such a hilarious day." It's kind of a miracle Sandalphon and Corrin started dating, come to think of it. What a hot mess of a first meeting! "Then he treated me to tea, and, well ... heh. The rest is history! But I'll spare the boring, sappy part for you though if you'd rather not hear all that."

That is... quite the story. There's probably some stifled giggling from Shrike before the end, there.

"Ah... I think that was when we were staying in Azalea Town? He went to Goldenrod a lot."

Shrike almost never went with, until it was time to travel there and face the gym, because the sheer size and population density of the city, well. It kind of terrified him. And still does, somewhat, though he might be slowly getting better about crowded places.

"It's nice that you helped him. He always acts really grumpy but he's really nice."

The muffled giggling from Shrike makes him really happy to see. Corrin is glad his storytelling can provide entertainment! Shrike's shyness fondly reminds him of his younger sister. Should the opportunity arise, the kindhearted prince would be elated to help him grow a bit more comfortable in crowds. But, baby steps.

"He really is, isn't he?" He casts a quick glance over to Sandalphon, who seems to be in his element with the coffee catering. A dreamy sigh slips from his mouth. "He has a heart of gold deep inside, and he cares so much ... I'm so happy that we are together. I often feel like 'I love you' isn't enough to convey how I feel about him."

He cuts himself off with a cough and a blush once he realises what he said out loud there. "Oh! Yikes! Sorry. I said I was going to skip the sappy things, wasn't I?" Even after months of dating, Corrin is still in the honeymoon phase. It can't be helped. "I will happily tell you the romantic part of what happened after the Zorua incident if you can stomach mushy things."

There's definitely a lot of ingrained shyness here to overcome, but at least Corrin has the advantage of being someone liked by a person Shrike's come to trust near implicitly. If Sandalphon likes him so much, then surely that means he must be a good person too, right?

That said, now that Corrin's directly addressed the subject, Shrike has a confession to make:

"I don't know what 'sappy' or 'mushy' means...."

He's pretty sure Corrin isn't referring to what drips out of trees or what happens if you're careless handling the berries you just picked.

Oh - bless him. He reminds him a lot of himself, actually. Corrin was kidnapped when he was a child and only became exposed to the outside world not long before his arrival in this place. He can recall frequent occasions where he felt overwhelmed by language or other things that he did not understand.

"I see ... don't worry about not knowing. I promise it's okay. Both of those words just mean 'romantic' one way or another."

"Oh."

Let him think about that for a moment, then, now that he knows what Corrin meant by his earlier remarks. Then again...

"I guess I don't know much about romantic things, either..."

Just random bits and pieces, some of which he frankly has no idea how they might be connected to each other. Being encouraged to socialize wasn't exactly part of his upbringing, though there are at least a few things he's picked up on from observation.

Edited (typo!!) 2022-07-10 01:12 (UTC)

"Aww, that's okay. We can forget it! I only wanted to tell you if you wanted to hear a cute story."

From experience he knows that younger people can sometimes get a bit grossed out about romantic things involving their caretakers, and Corrin would never overstep a boundary in this way. He only intends to share the joy of their love story but if it's for the best, he'll save that story for another day.

"I didn't know a lot about romantic things, either. I had to learn it all as I went. Same with Sandalphon, actually ..." he laughs, and smiles. "Kind of funny how neither of us had a clue. But there's a lot more I don't know about life and still learn all the time. I was locked in a tower from as long as I can remember, you see. I was kidnapped by an evil king. I only earned my freedom about ... a year or so before I arrived in this place. There's still so much I don't understand, and so much I'm learning. Even if our circumstances are different, you should never have to feel bad to not know. Learning can be a blessing in its own way."

Shrike himself doesn't know whether it'd bother him or not, it'd be a totally new, unfamiliar circumstance. But perhaps a birthday party isn't the best time to experiment and find out. Corrin's story, however, definitely gets his attention.

"Why were you locked up?" Evidently he doesn't yet have enough social skills to realize this could be an insensitive question. "That sounds like something from a story..."

Corrin's expression falters into a little bit more of a sad one, casting his gaze down slightly. It's not the first time he's heard the story comparison, either, definitely not helped by the fact that he is a prince. He appears more somber discussing his past like this, but ... he wasn't still affected by it. Not too much, anyway. Not since Sandalphon.

"Ah ... it was against my will. I was kidnapped by an evil King when I was a baby. After he murdered my adoptive father. He held me in a tower my entire life, I was never allowed outside. I had never even felt grass beneath my feet until last year."

"How did you get out?"

Shrike is, for better or worse, now rather invested in this story. It's, well, it really is almost like meeting the hero out of a storybook. He can't help being curious about what happens next.

Bless him ... he can see his enthusiasm. And so he'll do his best to provide.

"Well ... I had to earn it. The King who stole me told a horrible lie to me and pretended that he was my father. I had to believe he would allow me to go if I proved myself to be strong enough in battle ... so I trained every day under the crown prince from the age where I was strong enough to hold a sword in my hands. And eventually, I was allowed to go."

... Which is a much more diluted version of the story. He doesn't want to traumatise Shrike, after all. He leaves out the details that the King only released him to try and kill him, and murdered his mother. Unless Shrike asks of course. It's a shame the story isn't as sunshine and rainbows as it may seem.

Edited 2022-07-10 02:25 (UTC)

With no reason not to, Shrike will take the story given to him at face value. Sure, there's probably other things that happened, too, but that doesn't mean they're necessarily interesting or important things to the story. Besides, there's plenty just from that to focus in on.

"Did you have to do a lot of fighting?"

Unlike before, though, he sounds more... concerned, if anything. Shrike is not a fan of violence.

"Yeah ... lots." He'll spare the gory details, though. "I didn't like it at all. My ideals are all bound by peace, which is what I fought for. It seems kind of ironic, doesn't it? Fighting for peace and all ... but there was no other way. It was war."

He smiles, after a moment of looking quite dour.

"But the good news is that we won."

Believe it or not, that's actually a sentiment Shrike's encountered before.

"Fighting to stop the fighting..."

He still may not like it, but he understands that sometimes it may be necessary. The only way to protect those unable to fight from those who'd take advantage of that. The assurance that Corrin's side won is encouraging, though.

"Ah, that's good!"

And maybe that means Tetson will win, too, and put a stop to the fighting and banditry. Maybe one day Shrike will be able to go home to a place where a farmstead or small village that's there one season might be pillaged and vacant the next.

"It is good. Very good! I came here not too long after the war, right before I was due to be crowned King. How funny the way things change like that!"

It's a funny thought to consider that if Sandalphon somehow travelled back to Corrin's world with him, he'd be betrothed to royalty if they ended up getting engaged, and he would eventually become King himself alongside Corrin. It's a fun thought that Corrin has entertained himself with from time to time. ~~Mostly because he would love to marry Sandalphon. Shh.~~

Shrike, for one, is glad to hear things had a happy ending. That said...

"You're a king??"

Or, well, soon to be king. Close enough, right?

~~If only Shrike knew some of the things that await him in his own distant future back home....~~

"Almost. I didn't make it to my coronation because I arrived here instead, so I would assume I'm still a prince." He's given it thought before but missing the ceremony due to his arrival here made him assume that he's ... kinda sorta not quite king yet. But maybe one day this will change. Who can say.

"I don't think my status as a prince counts for much here, anyway. I have no royal duties nor servants like I used to. It's been quite a change, but it's nice. Learning to live independently has been a challenge!"

Shrike is still pretty impressed, okay. And it does make the whole thing sound even more like a tale out of some storybook, at that. Perhaps fortunately in this case though, he has no real experience with things like royalty or nobility, to the point where there's no real sense of deference to be found. He just thinks it sounds really cool and impressive.

"I don't think I've met a prince before, either... You mean it was hard to know what to do with traveling and finding food and places to stay here?"

He's thinking of Sandalphon trying to go on a trip with no supplies again.

"Haha, more or less. Although to be honest, where I'm from is ... ah ... how to describe it. A lot ... older time-period wise? We didn't have things like electricity. We had to rely on candlelight." Only adding to the fairytale imagery he would imagine. "It took some getting used to, but I don't travel as much as Sandalphon does. I mostly stay at home raising baby Pokémon, since I'm a breeder."

"There's no electricty where I was either. Or pipes for water, usually it's just wells."

He finds all these modern things terribly fascinating, though.

"Although if you know magecraft you can make lights that way instead of candles and lamps..."

Shrike, buddy, permanent mage lights are not beginner-level magecraft--

backdated to 6/25 | party? party!!

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