祝你生日快樂

[invocate]

WHO: Xiaolang & Friends
WHERE: Hong Kong House Leon's apartment
WHEN: Friday, June 13, afternoon
WHAT: SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY
WARNINGS: disgusting levels of cute in in any Xiaolang/Sakura thread, you have been warned

While Sakura distracts Xiaolang, Leon and Li-Na get to work. Li-Na has spent the better part of the week prepping the food for the party over at Noah's. Once retrieved from the Marlowe's freezer, she spends the next couple of hours steaming and frying everything and lightly decorating the apartment. Nothing too ostentatious, as Xiaolang's not one for grandiose gestures. Just a 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY" banner, some balloons, and a green tablecloth.

On that table, is a spread of food. The centerpiece is of course the cake, chocolate with a lightly mint flavoured icing. Next to it are mint oreo truffles, which are rediculously decadent for only having three ingredients. Next to these is a cold noodle salad and red deviled eggs. And then there's the dim sum. Egg tarts, jian dui, lo mai chi, baozi, siu mai, and jiaozi. Li-Na was careful to select dishes that would either keep for a day or could be prepped, frozen, and then cooked on the day of. Suffice to say, she actually made more than is available for the party, as some was required to reward Noah for his help. Of course there's a fruit tray and chips and other assorted snack food, but that's for when Li-Na's cooking runs out.

In one corner of the living room is a karaoke machine (thanks for the loan Derek!). Li-Na's phone is hooked up, providing a selection of American pop, Hong Kong Cantopop, Taiwanese Mandopop, and K-pop. Feel free to connect your own phone and provide your own music. Near the front door is a photobooth. Grab a prop or two and have Li-Na's golem take your picture. The picture can then be printed by a portable printer and added to a photo album (Li-Na will also email copies afterwards). Take a picture with the birthday boy, or simply leave a photo of yourself for him with a birthday message.

During the party, Li-Na will attempt to teach everyone how to wish Xiaolang 'Happy Birthday' in Cantonese (and depending on how successful they are, they'll sing it before he blows out the candles on his cake). Even Leon's dog, Jasmine, is getting in the festive mood.

[x x x x]

Comments

[invocate]

PREP

Li-Na stares at the bags of dumplings in front of her on the counter. It looks like a lot, but the hardest part is already done... making them in the first place. Now all she has to do is pop them in the steamer and cook them. She asked Sakura to keep Xiaolang busy for at least two hours, so at the very least, that's how long she has. Between two steamers and a wok, she's fairly confident she'll be able to get everything cooked in time.

PHOTOBOOTH

"Hey, let's take a picture!"

Says Li-Na to pretty much everyone at some point during the party. Figuring out how to get her golem to communicate with the portable printer had been a challenge. But in the end it worked.

She drags her latest victim over to the photo booth and points at the box of props.

"Pick something fun!"

CANTONESE LESSONS

Something else most of the party guests will hear Li-Na say to them:

"Do you want to learn how to say 'Wishing you a Happy Birthday' in Cantonese?"

Though, from the way Li-Na smiles, this is less a casual offer and more an ultimatum. At the very least, if you can get the pronunciation halfway down, singing 'Happy Birthday' is pretty easy. You don't have to worry about the tones when you sing.

photobooth

[cardcaptured]

[And, of course, the first person to wind up dragging Xiaolang in for pictures had to be his sister. Figures!! Normally he'd put up some sort of protest, or struggle a little, but Li-Na had worked hard in putting together this party for him. The least he could do in thanks was indulge in these sort of things with her, even if it made him look a bit silly.

... although he can't help but ogle over the array of props and the booth in general, clearly at a loss for words.]

How did you even get all of this in here?

[HE WAS GONE FOR ABOUT TWO HOURS, LI-NA?? WHERE THE HELL DID THIS COME FROM]

Re: photobooth

[invocate]

[PLANNING. LOTS OF PLANNING. And friends willing to hide things.]

Actually, it is very portable. The frame for the backdrop folds up and then everything else just stays in boxes.

[Using her golem saves her the trouble and expense of renting camera equipment... even if they could afford it.]

Now.... I want... this one and this one.

[she grabs a feather boa and an 'Eat all the cake!' sign and puts an arm around her younger brother's shoulders once he finds props to his liking]

PREP

[redarm]

[Luckily as tempting as it was to eat all the food, Noah was considerate enough not to do that for a kid's birthday. Rather he's here in help mode. He's got an apron on, and Timcanpy is somewhere nearby wearing his own tiny chef's hat.]

Okay, where do you need me?

Re: PREP

[invocate]

[Bless Timcanpy and his tiny cat collection]

Platters are in the cupboard there way at the top.

[Li-Na points to one particular cupboard]

Line them up on the counter so I can put things on them once they're done in the steamer.

[Li-Na digs the two steamers out of a lower cupboard and gets them set up on the stove]

Cantonese Lessons

[blondferret]

[Derek took French while in school and to be honest, he wasn't that good at it. After he graduated from 6th form, he forgot most of it. So, when Li-Na asked him if he wanted to learn a Cantonese phrase he grimaced a bit.]

I'll try, but I can't make any promises. Foreign language was never my strong point.

Re: Cantonese Lessons

[invocate]

[Li-Na gives Derek a skeptical look]

If you need to learn a language, you will learn it. Lucky for you, this is a short sentence. If you have trouble with anything, it will be the tones.

[she does her best to explain the tones he needs to use, she really does]

[keystaff]

Food:

This all looks so good! What to try first?

[Probably not the cake. That could be saved for dessert. But also there were a few different options. And some of which she isn't as familiar with, given some differences with Japanese and Chinese dishes and all. She hovers at the table, glancing at the dishes in trying to decide what to start with.]

Photobooth:

Ah! Photos! Let's take some together!

[Yes, this does mean she might take the other person's hand and drag them into the booth. Picking borders or a filter and letting it take photos of the two of them together. Taking poses and smiling, possibly laughing at one point. This sort of thing was familiar at least, if less common now with the decline of arcades and this not being in Japan like when she grew up initially.]

Cantonese Lessons:

So this means 'happy birthday'? Okay. I'll try.

[She repeats the phrase, initially a little hesitant since this is new in her learning some Cantonese, but she tries. Wants to make an effort to surprise Xiaolang. It's softer, quieter at least initially as she says it, testing the sound, the new words.]

Like this?

photobooth because GIVE ME ALL THAT SHIP CONTENT

[cardcaptured]

[Xiaolang's already working on his third Oreo truffle (he's going to have to ask Li-Na how she made these later, they were amazing--), when he feels a small, familiar hand hook into his, pulling him towards the front door. He nearly chokes on his snack, a bright scarlet flush blooming hectically on his face, the double whammy of Sakura's intentions and her hold on him making him sputter unintelligibly for a moment or two.]

S-Sakura, wha-- wait...!

[Once he finally gets some sort of control over his words, he ducks his head, trying to hide the fevered look on his face.]

I-- I'm going to look weird in them.

[HE'S SEEN THE PHOTOS LI-NA TOOK.... he's certainly not unphotogenic, but he gets so awkward with these things....]

Ship cavities ahoy

[keystaff]

Weird? No. You look fine, Xiaolang-kun!

[Besides. It's his birthday. He should get at least one photo from the day in marking the occasion. At least, so Sakura figures anyway. Though of course, she isn't about to force him, so she doesn't pull him in to the booth just yet. She pauses at the door to the booth, or what constitutes as the door anyway, as she gives a smile in trying to reassure him, tucking some of her hair behind her ear that will probably quickly fall back forward in front of her ear in framing her face.]

At least one photo? To remember your birthday?

Photo

[redarm]

[He had just finished eating....who knows what number plate...when Sakura grabs his hand and drag him over. He laughs and lets himself be dragged]

Haha, okay! There's no food on my face right?

[Fortunately he should PROBABLY be okay. ]

[keystaff]

I don't think so? At least, not that I can tell. You're good!

[She is not surprised in the least with finding Noah with the food. Honestly that is pretty much her usual strategy in finding him if she ever loses sight of him. Given how often he snacks and how much he eats, it is a fairly solid strategy that usually works out.

She can't help but to giggle before she gets them both to the booth to wait for their turn next.]

foooooooood

[invocate]

I am probably super biased, so would you like to know what is in each of them? Some are lighter than others.

[That was Sakura can chose whether she wants to nibble lightly or tuck into a more substantial plate.]

[blondferret]

[When Sakura grabs his hand and starts pulling him towards the photo booth, how could Derek say "no" to his precious little sister? It's just not done! When in front of Li-Na's golem Derek looks at the props and picks out a cardboard cake cut out that says, "Eat all the Cake!" on it. He holds it up for Sakura to see.]

How about this? Oh!

[Derek grabs the pink feather boa and drapes it over Sakura's head.]

You should wear that!

[hairstroke]

PREP

[ If Leon were to cook, then the whole apartment would be burned to the ground. So, his services are required in the decorating department instead. Even though they don't live in a large house, there's still a lot to do in order to get set up. Between cleaning the apartment, setting the tables and making sure there was plenty of room for the guests, his hands are tied up.

Once the manual labor was done, he's doing his best to blow up some balloons with his mouth. He's really kicking himself for not getting a helium tank but it's not like they needed it. Most likely they would only end up using it once, anyhow. But still, after the tenth balloon, he's practically gasping for breath. Jasmine on the other hand, is bopping the already blown up balloons on the ground with her nose and playing with them. She's helping!!! ]

KARAOKE MACHINE

[ For the longest time, Leon has been nervous about singing because it's not something he's used to do doing. But after Li-Na's karaoke birthday party and his karaoke date with Mio, he's gotten much more comfortable with belting out a tune.

He's also gotten more confident at singing which isn't a good thing for his already inflated ego.

Thus how he ends up at the corner of the living room, hooking up his phone through the machine and scrolling through the list of songs that Li-Na selected. ]

Want to sing a song together? I promise I won't show you up too much.

[ He'll say that to anyone that happens to be near the karaoke machine. Because naturally, he has to use this as an opportunity to show off. ☆ ]

JASMINE THE FESTIVE DOG

[ Food! Excitement!! New friends!!!! The mind of a fluffy poodle is a simple one but she was able to figure out that this is a special day for her amazing boy Xiaolang and she couldn't be any happier. Throughout the party, Jasmine has been an excitable ball of fluff at how thrilling everything is.

The best part of all this was seeing so many different people. She couldn't wait to make new friends!! Of course, the next best thing is the food. Which is precisely what's on her mind right now as she happily approaches anyone that happens to be nearby, decked out in the birthday hat that Li-Na chose for her. Her mission: trying some of that delicious smelling food.

Extra points if you happen to have a plate full of food because she's definitely eyeing anyone with plates but she'll happily accept pats on the head as well!! ]

Karaoke Machine

[blondferret]

[Derek smirks at Leon and picks up one of the mics.]

You do realize this is my karaoke machine right? This could very well end in me showing you up.

[Ooooh, a challenge!]

Did you have a particular song in mind?

FESTIVE DOGE

[cardcaptured]

[Jasmine was Xiaolang's Very Best (non-human) Girl, and when she trots over to him, silly birthday hat perched upon her head, he can't help but crack the slightest of smiles. He brushes the hat back a bit, to give the fluffy fur hidden beneath it a fond ruffle, but he knows this little dog well enough to realize her true intentions. Not that he blames her for wanting a bit of this food-- it probably was driving her crazy with how good it smelled.

Normally, he'd hold back, not wanting to get her too hooked on human treats, but... today was special, and a tiny bit couldn't hurt, right? He picks off a small chunk of what he deems to be the safest thing for her to eat (in this case, the jian dui, since rice and sesame were both good for dogs), offering it to her on his finger.]

Here. But only this, okay? We don't need you getting sick tonight.

Prep

[redarm]

[Being one of Li-Na's best friends, of course Noah's helping out with the setting up. He'll be coming in when Leon is gasping for breath, and coming over with concern]

Hey, you okay?

jasmine

[invocate]

[It's amazing what you'll find online. She'd stumbled upon the dog hat completely by chance, but the moment she saw it, she knew she had to get it for Jasmine. And luckily Jasmine had consented to wearing the accessory once it arrived, because it really was adorable.]

Awwwww~ There is our pretty girl!

[Li-Na crouches down to give Jasmine a scratch behind the ears... then plucks a dumpling from her plate and offers it to the poodle.]

What do you think? Is the recipe a keeper?

[blondferret]

Gift for the Brat [Closed to Xiaolang]

Derek arrives a little late to the party due to his shift at the hospital running a bit late. Nevertheless, he's here and there is a long tin package wrapped in green wrapping paper under his arm. It's actually has some weight to it too. He looks around for the birthday boy and sees him near the food.

With the package under his arm, he taps Xiaolang on the shoulder and motions to the package.

"Happy Birthday kid."

Derek hold the package out the Xiaolang.

[When Xiaolang opens the package he will find THIS inside.]

Food

Due to Li-Na's friendship with Noah, Derek has eaten a lot of her cooking and is thoroughly enjoying the food at the party. He can often be found piling his plate with the various dumplings and noodles.

"Oh my gosh, why can't the cafeteria food at the hospital be this good?"

Karaoke

It is his karaoke machine, so of course Derek is going to sing a few songs on it. He's scrolling through list of songs what when he turns to the nearest person to him.

"Do you want to sing a song together?"

[cardcaptured]

[He's busy loading a few more cha siu bao onto his plate, already nibbling on the first one (look, they were super tasty, okay, he couldn't help himself--), when Derek's tap on his shoulder gets him to blink up at him owlishly. It takes him a second to adjust himself, to put the bun back down onto his plate and settle it upon the table, surprised to see him there in general. He knew Derek was a busy person (medicine didn't seem to be a forgiving profession), and attending a teenager's birthday party might not have been his thing, but...

... well. Despite some of their disagreements, it was nice to see him, nonetheless. He accepts the gift with a shy, stuttered thanks, thrown off by the unexpected weight. Just what in the world was in here...?

Carefully unwrapping the paper, his eyes light up upon seeing the portable desk. Not that he had issues working at his own, but this opened up a world of new possibilities.]

Ah...!

Derek, wasn't this a lot?

[BECAUSE THIS THING IS KIND OF BIG.... he definitely likes it, no doubt, but HE DIDN'T WANT DEREK TO SPEND A TON ON HIM]

Food

[redarm]

[Yeah Derek should not be at all his surprise his little brother is a frequent at the food table. He's coming by for another round when he overhears him]

'Cause then people wouldn't want to leave the hospital?

[cardcaptured]

{ arrival }

[In all honesty, he hadn't been expecting this.

Xiaolang was a private boy by nature, and he wasn't the type to make a huge fuss out of his birthday to begin with. Really, the only people who knew about it was his family and Sakura-- he hadn't brought it up to anyone else over the past few weeks, and didn't intend to, either. So while he's suspicious when Sakura suddenly drags him out for a few hours, obviously distracting him for some reason, he doesn't make the connection that it could be related to this.

So it makes the look on his face all the more priceless when they finally return to the apartment, expression quiet and more than a bit dumbfounded as his eyes fall upon the subtle decorations, the party games and all that food.]

Wha-- What is all of this...?

[NOT THAT HE DOESN'T KNOW, but the fact that all this work was done on his behalf is leaving him a bit overwhelmed and somewhat flabbergasted.]

{ food }

[Once the initial shock wears off, and the party is fully underway, you can spot him lingering about, nibbling and noshing on pretty much everything Li-Na had whipped together for this thing. For someone who liked to complain about other people eating too much, he was certainly eating his fair share of the food, but he was a growing boy, okay!! And Li-Na's cooking was always a favorite of his-- she taught him a good chunk of what he knew, after all.

If he sees anyone deliberating over what to choose with the Cantonese dishes, he'll nudge them towards one of his favorites, before adding:]

These are really good. Li-Na can make these a lot better than I can.

[Not that he isn't skilled at cooking himself, but he was more modest about his abilities.]

{ karaoke / photobooth}

[While he's still not sure HOW exactly Leon and Li-Na managed to smuggle both a photobooth and a karaoke machine into the house in the scant hours he was out, he's content to watch other people have fun with them, even cheering on those who wind up tackling the harder karaoke songs. Any attempts to get him to join, though, are met with varying degrees of protest, because it's his party, and he can be shy if he wants to!!! But, given the work that was put into all of this, it's not hard to make him cave, figuring it's the least he can do to in thanks for all of this. Not that he's not going to grumble a little over it, though.]

I'm really not good at this...

{ birthday wishes, presents and cake }

[Aside from all of that, he'll be mingling about the edges of the party, less shy about doing so given it's his own house and he knows a majority of the people here, anyway. Feel free to catch him as he wanders about, to wish him a happy birthday (and surprise him with some Cantonese), hand off your presents, or just chat and tease him about things. (And with Sakura about, there's definitely a lot to tease him about)

When the time comes to finally sing him happy birthday, he's going to cover his face with his one of his hands, fingers trembling a little, the tips of his ears and bits of his skin not concealed a bright, rosy red. Is he happy? Embarrassed? Both?? WHO KNEW. But when the singing is done, he lowers his hand, a small, gentle smile breaking across his face, eyes softer than they usually were around most people. It was a modest party in comparison to other birthdays he's had back home, but this was probably the best one he's had in his entire life.]

... thank you.

[... now to blow out the candles and try to keep the cake and the rest of the food from hungry doggos who don't take no for an answer!!]

Presents

[redarm]

[Watching Xiaolang react to his birthday party? Was a treat as sweet as any of the desserts being served. He's really glad to see the kid react so well to the party his sister threw him, since you never know how kids that age will react ("kids that age"- like Noah isn't only a few years older). It was great seeing all of Li-Na's hard work pay off, and that Xiaolang was happy too.

Sometime after the birthday song (which Noah gave his best attempt in Cantonese, truly), Noah will approach him with his own wrapped gift. It's in the shape of box, big enough to be DVDs or something of the sort]

Happy birthday Xiaolang! Here- [he offers the gift] You don't have to open it here, don't worry.

[It's anime, you closet nerd.]

present

[invocate]

[Xiaolang will be getting his birthday present in two parts. One part the day of his birthday and the other part the day after. While everyone is enjoying the cake, Li-Na sidles up to Xiaolang and holds out a modest sized box.]

Happy birthday, Younger Brother.

[Inside, he'll find a sharpening stone set. Because she's seen him watch videos of Jun sharpening his knives more than a few times.]