Bon Anniversaire a Toi

[halfbread]

Who: Jehan, Demeter Cabin, anyone wanting to wish the tiny Frenchman happy birthday
What: Jehan's surprise party, because it's his birthday
Where: Cabin 4, the party cabin!
When: Today, March 6
Warnings: No clue!

Of course Peeta's doing something for his brother's birthday, although unlike the café last month, this is more low-key and informal. Over the past couple of days he's spread the word around camp quietly, a word in an ear at a pegasus riding lesson or at an encounter on the training fields, and hopefully no one's told Jehan. When the time finally comes for the party, a collusion with Naomi has gotten Jehan away from their cabin to help her practice her powers. Though knowing Naomi, she'll likely end up in a tree somehow. At least it gives him and whoever shows up to help him time to set up.

There's food, of course, though it's all simple stuff this time and not anything so elaborate as Valentine's Day: various sandwiches, vegetable sticks, fruit slices, a few bowls of candy and pretzels. And of course a cake, because this is Demeter Cabin and this is just what they do, and Jehan has a sweet tooth that's bigger than his body. Anyone's welcome to stop by and grab some food or say hi to the birthday boy, but any fighting will be ejected in a rugby tackle from Peeta so just warnin'.

Comments

[shylyintrepid]

Surprise, Nico! As soon as Jehan spots him, he hurries over to the Hades boy and pulls him into the biggest hug ever.

"Bonjour, Nico!" He kisses his cheek, smiling. "There, now if you wish to leave all the people you can without feeling guilty. I won't make you stay, if you'd rather not."

[deathdiduspart]

He thinks his brain just fried for a second there. He just isn't expecting both a hug and a kiss at the same time. Why does he like the crazy and affectionate guys? Like seriously?

"What, and miss the look on your face when I give you your present?" Nico rolls his eyes, though his tone is teasing. He pulls out a slim, wrapped parcel from his jacket once Jehan lets him go, and hands it to him. It's a book with various poems in it. There's also a bookmark on the page that has The Lady of Shalott.

[shylyintrepid]

In Jehan's defense, he's French and was raised in a very affectionate household. Nico should have seen this coming.

Just like he should have seen the look of utter joy on Jehan's face when he's handed the book and the slightly unearthly sound of glee when he sees the poem the book is marked to.

"How did you know my copy of Shalott was ruined?" he asks, hugging the book to his chest for a moment. "The book it was in had a hot chocolate dropped on it!"

[deathdiduspart]

Nico blushes, and it only gets worse when he mentions Shalott.

"Uh...well," he runs a hand through his hair nervously, "That particular poem is a favorite of mine. I had my mom read it to me a lot when I was little, and she'd helped me interpret it."

He thinks the Fates are dying of laughter somewhere out there.

[shylyintrepid]

They totally are and do not care if anyone hears them.

If it were possible, Jehan would be grinning even more at that. "I adore King Arthur and this poem," he explains. "I have a whole collection of Arthurian stories, if you'd like to read them! I'll be happy to share my books with you, Nico."

[deathdiduspart]

Gods damn it all. Why does Jehan have to be cute?

"I'd love to, if you don't mind I take a while to read them. My dyslexia isn't severe, but I can still be pretty slow." That, and his mother had given her children little tricks on how to read with their dyslexia.

[shylyintrepid]

Fate?

Jehan waves him off. "Yes, yes, of course. We're all dyslexic, aren't we? Except for the magicians and the Norse, anyway. I've a few books in a font designed to make it easier for dyslexics to read, but I honestly can't tell a difference. You can read them and tell me if you do, though."

[deathdiduspart]

Screw you, Fate.

He looks amused.

"It doesn't matter what font it is. If there's too many consonants and vowels, I'll probably mix them around. I will admit that words aren't as bad as math to me. I'd swear to you that numbers float around everywhere on a page."

[shylyintrepid]

"Shush!" Laughing, Jehan covers Nico's mouth at "math". "We dare not speak the name of the Evil One!" he informs him, completely mock serious. "Numbers and That Which Shall Not Be Named are the bane of my existence and I hate them, unless they are telling me how to brew my poisons."

[deathdiduspart]

Okay. Nico can't help it. He laughs, and pulls Jehan's hand away from his mouth.

"Raspberries and anything to do with numbers are evil. Got it," he replies with just as much mock seriousness as Jehan is giving him. "Are there any other evil words or am I just going to have to stumble head first into them?"

[shylyintrepid]

"Alas, I cannot say the Evil Words--they are evil, after all." He grins. "You'll just have to stumble across them!"

[deathdiduspart]

"Of course I do." Nico sighs somewhat dramatically. "Actually, speaking of words. Have you made any new poems recently?"

[shylyintrepid]

"Nothing I can share." Jehan shrugs, a little apologetic but not overly so. It's his work, after all. "It isn't ready yet."

[deathdiduspart]

Nico just nods. He can understand not wanting to show unfinished work. Heck, the kid still has Jehan's poem to him in his pocket.

"When you're done, I'd like to take a look, if you don't mind?"

[shylyintrepid]

Jehan suddenly turns a bright pink and splutters a bit. The poem is about Nico. He can't show it to Nico! He'd kill the other boy.

"M-maybe! I may decide to simply trash it," he explains, reaching for a glass of water or something. "I do that an awful lot."

[deathdiduspart]

There is a part of Nico that is so triumphant at finally getting a blush out of Jehan it's not even funny. The other part is just trying to get over the fact that once again there's something cute about the son of Demeter.

"Sounds like an occupational hazard."

[shylyintrepid]

"Yes, it is." He shrugs, still a pretty shade of pink. "Writing is about seventy percent trashing your work in someway, either completely or partially."

[deathdiduspart]

"Well, the end result will most likely be great, as long as you think so." Nico has confidence in Jehan's talent, though he knows better than to be overly so. That tends to make another Arachne situation happen and yeah no.

[shylyintrepid]

And that, naturally, just cases Jehan to blush even more and stumble over his words, eventually giving up on speaking altogether and opting for a piece of cake instead.