strangetrip | [EP] A little fuss

Some time ago, Corbie had found a calendar and counted back from the spring equinox. And then ahead from the winter solstice. And settled on a date. And then she’d done it again the next day. And again the next, until she was finally satisfied that she’d correctly translated between calendar systems and definitely had the correct date. Caroline had caught her at it and pried it out of her that Corbie had been trying to figure out when her birthday was and, wheels turning behind her eyes, Caroline had left it there. And Corbie had forgotten all about it.

Which was how she could be surprised now as she was shunted into the cafe that Caroline had bullied cake out of Pike and had possibly bullied other people around the inn to come eat it.

Okay, that wasn’t fair. It was a kind gesture, since Corbie hadn’t told anybody. Hadn’t intended on telling anybody. Growing up, her birthday was only so big a deal. She and Gran hadn’t had very much money for presents or treats, though Gran had tried when Corbie was small; they were both always more concerned with having enough to get by. Birthdays were for rich kids. Or at least bourgeois kids. And then there was just the part where… well, what was the point? They were here. It made doing anything special for anybody kind of hard. If anybody cared enough.

… Okay, she was being entirely unfair, because here were two people who had cared enough and had tried for her and it was incredibly sweet.

Unexpected tears in her eyes, Corbie laughed and flitted to the café door, calling out to anybody in earshot. “Come help me eat cake!”

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Pike was proud of herself for waiting until after the cake had been presented before finding Corbie to wish her a happy birthday. Caroline had made herself very clear about waiting and she was frankly too scared of her to go against her. So when she heard Corbie call, she promptly collected the neatly wrapped parcel with its pink bow and hurried into the room.

"Happy Birthday, Corbie!"

"Pike!" Corbie grinned wide and knelt down so she could give the tiny woman a kiss on the cheek. "The cake's wonderful, thank you."

"You're welcome! It was the least I could do after all of the wonderful things you've made me," she laughed. The young woman's joy was thanks enough. Pulling the package out from behind her back, she held it out to Corbie.

"This is also for you." As soon as she had found out it was her birthday, Pike had made her way to Percy and asked him to make her a new set of different sized sewing needles in a fancy case.

Corbie took her time opening the package. It had been such a long time since she'd had a present, she wanted to savor the experience.

She grinned when she opened the case. She had been making do with what she could find in the hotel, but that was still nothing on a proper sewing kit. "Oh, this just made everything so much easier."

"Good!" Pike clapped, that had been her goal. "Percy can make you new ones whenever you need. I don't know much about sewing, but is there anything else you could use?"

"Could always use more pins," Corbie mused, because pins were always needed and always in danger of never having enough. "Thimbles, too. But mostly pins."

"Pins are the ones with the little knobs at the end, right?" She took a little mental note and wondered if Percy could make them by the end of the day. He probably could, he was kind of magical that way. "I'm sure it will be no problem at all."

Gesturing over to a few chairs, she motioned for Corbie to sit, "Have you made anything fun lately? Something more engaging than taking in an entire wardrobe for me?"

Corbie smiled as she took a seat. "Nothing fun exactly, not since a project I finished for Vax. Things've slowed down a lot since New Years." She'd needed some help from Regina to make that project the way it needed to be, but it had been mostly her own work and she was proud of it.

"Oh? What was it?" She tried to think back to Vax's wardrobe since the new year but couldn't place what it could be. "Unless it's something personal, then you don't have to say."

"He asked me to help him with a present for Steph," Corbie explained, sitting up a little straighter. "A cloak."

[EP] A little fuss - OTA

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