Double the Dave.

[shenunigans]

Who| Dave, Davesprite and anyone who knows them, has mutual friends with them (feel free to mingle)
What| The not-twins are 17, technically. Some people threw them a surprise party because they're adorable.
Where| D9 suites
When| December 3rd
Warnings/Notes| N/A

Once the word had slipped that Dave's birthday was on December 3rd, some people were pretty quick to leap into action. Apparently, even in a horrible murder-fest dystopia, there's room for the joint party of a boy and another boy who is a copy of that boy from the future. Let's just call him his twin. His twin with wings.

He happens to be ambling along with the very same twin when he guides him to District Nine to ogle his bird. He has no idea what to expect when he opens the door, but needless to say his poker face is shifted for the longest damn moment.

District Nine is decked out with an appropriate, ironic amount of streamers. Tacos, nachos and as close as you can get to doritos are on the menu alongside a wide variety of disgustingly awful, sugary food. There's also a cake that.. well. It looks like someone put their heart into it. There's plenty of soda, but a distinct lack of booze. Alas, you can probably get your kicks from the party hats and the obnoxious hipster music playing from the stereos. Between one Arena and edging on another, it's a pretty chill, little shindig to relax at rather than whiling away the hours being a bummer.

Comments

Dave Strider - ota

[shenunigans]

By now, his expression has sort of tamed itself, but Dave still carries himself with a bemused air. No matter how many times he takes the red party hat off, he ends up with another one. He's not sure what to make of the whole thing, given that he's never really been one for birthday parties with most of his friends being online. It's, dare he say, nice. It's a nice gesture and a nice feeling, even better that Davesprite is included else it would have been weird.

The cake, however, is pretty damn questionable, but he continues to eat it whilst leaned up against the counter of the kitchen. He's been marked as the birthday dork, so he should probably express some appreciation for it by not freaking out and hiding in the air ducts like a chump. He'll nod at anyone in his vicinity, giving them a thumbs up for their trouble because that is a clear indication of enjoyment. He's not really a smiley kid, after all, but he's always pretty eager for chances to mingle around with his friends and pretend that a death match isn't approaching on the horizon.

"I don't think I look a day over sixteen." He mutters to himself idly, checking out his reflection in the sheen of the counter.

[silberfuchs]

Not having been strictly invited, Albert only intends to stop by and leave his gift. He's only met Dave once, but from the conversation he knows the boy has been having a hard time of things, and after the mini Arena he can't help but think it's likely only gotten worse. So here he is, slipping into the room as surreptitiously as a 5'10" cyborg can to leave a small box wrapped in silver glitter paper on a table near the door, the red tag emblazoned with "Dave Strider" in Albert's neat and tight script.

Though... he's not sure if he should have brought a gift for the other Dave too, even if he's never spoken with him. Or if the tag will actually differentiate between the two at all since they apparently have the same name? Though one is called Davesprite for whatever reason. He's not actually sure why, and the entire inner confusion leads Albert to stand there for just a moment longer than he means to, so easy to catch red handed.

[shenunigans]

It surprises Dave to see Albert drop in, even more so when he sees he's brought a present. He's watching discreetly from his post in the distance and his curiosity is piqued. He doesn't object his presence whatsoever, of course, but that doesn't mean he doesn't feel a little shy about approaching.

Fuck it. He must know what brings him here. He pulls away from the bench he's been camping against, striding forward a few steps with confidence before it becomes more of an awkward shuffle closer.

"You alright there, dude?" He cocks his head to the side curiously. "You look like you walked into the Temple of Doom without a map."

[rediscover]

If there's anything that's right up Anna's alley, it's a birthday party. And especially when it's a birthday party for one of her favorite people in the Capitol. She bounces into the D9 suites wearing a cute little sundress and a matching crown of roses in her hair. She's getting used to shorter dresses after a few months, and doesn't feel quite so gawky with her legs showing, and it shows in the way she bounds towards Dave, a package wrapped in gold paper tucked under her arm.

"Dave!" She's grinning ear to ear, freckle to freckle, braids akimbo. "Happy birthday!" She goes to throw her arms around him in a big ol' hug, but the package under her arm stops her.

"Oh--oh, wait, here, I almost forgot. I got you something!" She holds it out to him. She has no patience when it comes to gift-giving, that much is obvious. Inside, he'll find a green T-shirt with 'ᴛᴇᴀᴍ ᴀɴɴᴀ' stenciled across it in gold glitter. Anna bounces a little as she waits for him to open it. It's so good. She outdid herself.

[shenunigans]

Anna really knows how to enter a room, Dave has begun to notice this much in his time with her. His head whips away from his reflection to the veritable personification of energy whirling toward him. He's bracing for impact, unsure as to whether she's going to stop or if she's going to tackle him to the ground, but whoops there's a present being held out. Breathe. No princess tackles today.

"Happy birthday to you too." Never say he's not obtuse, he raises a brow at her for a moment before taking the package with thinly veiled suspicion. "Aw, you didn't have to. Thank you. Etcetera." With that aside, he slips open the package and unfurls the shirt, an amused scoff that almost sounds like a laugh escaping his lips. Only Anna could take something profoundly smug and make it seem perfectly endearing.

"Shit, how did you know I love it when my shirt says things that I like on them?" He raises a brow at her before setting the shirt down, inviting himself to strip off his shirt so he can swap it for the new one without much of a care. "How does it look?"

[frozenfractalsallaround]

Of all the parties Elsa's been to in her life- and in the Capitol- this is somehow the strangest one yet. Maybe it's because it's a lot more amateurish than any of the ones the Capitol holds. She can't really say she minds, of course, and in fact she kind of likes it. As strange as it is, it's kind of... cozy. It feels familiar, in the sense that it feels very Dave.

The hardest part about the entire thing had been thinking of something to get him. Dave's taste in things are very much not her own and she imagines a hug would probably be a very anticlimactic sort of gift. In the end, though, she'd managed to think of something. Instead of going for extravagant or expensive, she'd decided for simple. She hopes he can appreciate and that it won't come off as silly.

Elsa waits a little while before deciding to give it to him, letting the initial excitement of the party die down so that she can get home to himself.

"Hey, birthday boy," she says, a smile tugging at her lips as she steps into the kitchen, pretending not to hear his comment. There's no need to discuss how the Capitol prevents everyone from aging, that would just be depressing. "Are you having a good time?" She's holding a little red box in her hands, tied up with an icy blue bow.

[shenunigans]

Parties in general are pretty fricking weird to Dave. Sure, he's been to a few, especially now that he's been in the Capitol. But a surprise birthday party? That's new. It's not bad, but he's struggling to figure out what he should do other than hang around and nod at people. At least, when it comes to people like Elsa, he feels like he can relax a little more.

He both assumes and doesn't assume she got him something, because while he knows what she's like he also knows that he didn't exactly advertise the fact that his birthday was coming up. But of course they'd know. Someone always knows. He can't fight the inevitable, but he can slouch his way through it.

When Elsa approaches, he's picking a gummi worm off the cake alongside him with a critical look before popping it in his mouth. He pauses for a moment, almost as if he's been caught in the act, then swallows and nods. He tries not to zero in on the present, but it keeps falling into his line of vision, damn it.

"Hi." He says, finally. "Foods good." It's said so noncommittally, but he veers on a smile. "Don't tell me you were on the decorating committee, though. Otherwise we might need to have words. Also, what's that?" He cocks his head toward the box, finally.

[fintastic]

Since their last meeting, Feferi has spent a lot of time trying not to run into Dave. She's not avoiding him, but she's certainly working very hard at not putting herself in a position to cross paths with him. Mostly that's meant a lot of staying in her room, which has suited her just fine so far, but being Feferi and being a social creature, she can't stay cooped up forever. When the party comes around, it seems like a good time to get out of her room for something more than food and whatever else the Capitol dictated to her. Something fun. Maybe it'll do a good job of actually cheering her up.

As soon as she gets to the party, she spots Dave, and raises her hand in a little wave. She makes her approach slowly, an awkward attempt at a smile plastered across her face. She's dressed about as plainly as her wardrobe allows, and she's done a poor job of braiding her hair back, so that strands still fall into her face. Her usual pep isn't there, only a shade of her natural exuberance in the way that she at least tries to be happy. She doesn't want to ruin the party after all.

"Hey." It's the kind of greeting she thinks Dave would be more likely to give, but what do you say to someone after getting drunk with them on the roof of the training center and summarily avoiding them for a few weeks?

[shenunigans]

It's been sort of similar for Dave, but then it isn't hard to vaguely avoid someone who is vaguely avoiding you. He's pretty damn mortified that he both thought that was a good idea, went through with it and then got found by Davesprite of all people. It's just one of those awkward moments in life that needs to be harshly avoided until it starves and withers away.

Apparently, it hasn't quite died yet, because even seeing Feferi flickers that little light of Why The Fuck in the back of his mind. Still, he's happy to see her, even if he isn't happy to see her unhappy.

"Hey Princess." He replies quickly, as if he feels like he needs to compensate for her lack of pep. But what does he say now? How are you seems kind of lame right now, especially when the answer is pretty obvious. "Tried the cake yet?" He jerks a thumb toward the abomination, inwardly patting himself on the back for his quick thinking.

[smarterthanthem]

"Dave!"

The gentle pitter patter of thumping Clem feet run up behind him, quickly followed by a pair of skinny arms wrapping themselves around Dave's waist from behind where he has no way to avert the hug assault. "Happy birthday!"

Clementine hugs him tight, smiling against his back before pulling away and hopping round the counter so she's in front of Dave. She's excited to give Dave her present, one she's worked at hard by herself for the past two days, not just because she has no money with which to actually buy him something but because she'd rather make Dave something personally.

[shenunigans]

If Clem didn't call out to him, he still would have heard her coming. He shouldn't be surprised that she's all up in this thing. This is exactly her jam, but when the hell is her birthday? That's a very important question, one he gets distracted by long enough for her to wrap her arms around his waist. He pushes idly at her little arms but he's pretty much just letting it happen at this point.

"How did you know it's my birthday?" His tone is one of mock accusation as he tries to crane his neck around and look at her before he starts trying to grab at her. "C'mere you little sproglet, nobody touches the birthday boy." You know, the birthday boy who said it wasn't his birthday a second ago.

[a_minute_younger]

Dave may catch a second reflection in the counter's surface. He is familiar--bottle blonde, horrible haircut, eyes playfully narrowed and approaching quickly from behind. There appears to be a multicolored and egregiously fluffy feather boa in his hands. He may or may not be trying to sling it around Dave's neck without him noticing.

[shenunigans]

The timing is fortuitous, because Gary begins to approach just in time for Dave to see him coming up on the wayside. He lingers long enough to make it look like he doesn't see Gary up until the final moment of truth in which he ducks down and away so he can move to the side.

"Nope." He says, standing upright again and quirking a brow at Gary and his boa. "How many innocent birds died to make that?"

[plushaeusrumpified]

You wouldn't expect it by looking at him and the kind of person he is, but birthdays are pretty damn important to Bro. Back home, he'd always considered them an accomplishment. Another year without life fucking you over, another year without dying, that sort of thing. It doesn't really apply so well here, in the Capitol where you die brutally several times a fucking year, but it's still an important day in his opinion. If anything, it's only changed slightly. A mark of how long it's been that the Capitol hasn't taken him away completely, avoxed him, tortured him relentlessly. He's still alive. It still counts.

But there's something a bit bittersweet about the entire thing. From his perspective, his last memories of being back home, this ought to be Dave's 14th birthday. Instead, it's his seventeenth. It isn't often that he really thinks about it, but days like this really make it apparent how much he's missed as far as Dave's life goes. All those years he'd not been there to witness- like, yeah. He'd been pretty sure he wouldn't be there for it, but he'd also been prepared to be dead so he wouldn't have the opportunity to dwell on it.

Here, though- especially today- he's realizing that Dave's pretty much an adult and not that same scrawny thirteen year old who got his ass kicked on the roof all the time. He's somebody who can hold his own and- while he still dies a lot- is a pretty damn competent fighter. He's someone that all things considered is someone Bro is really damn proud of. He's dealt with a lot and made it through with his sanity- or, well. As much sanity as any Strider can actually have. The point is, he's proud of Dave's accomplishments.

He just wishes he'd been there to see it.

That part makes it hard to even figure out what to get Dave. He's never been the best gift giver, even if he tries in his own way to be thoughtful about it. It's even harder given where they are. It's on his mind a lot though, up until the day of Dave's birthday when he still hasn't bought any damn thing for the guy. That's when he decides on a cop out gift that he hopes doesn't fall as flat as it probably could. It's not the worst one he could give and it opens the door for a lot of possibilities, but he can definitely see how it could seem anticlimactic as fuck.

Either way, he catches what Dave says as he sneaks up behind him. "I dunno, I think I see a gray hair." As he says that, he's just gonna toss a balled up piece of paper at the back of Dave's head like the good brother he is. If Dave actually picks it up, he'll discover it is in fact his gift.

It's a fancy looking certificate declaring Dave has one free day to get Bro to do whatever it is he wants him to do usable any time and valid for twenty-four hours when used. The sky's the limit, Dave. He's pretty damn sure Dave is going to think this is the worst gift ever, all of a sudden.

[shenunigans]

Dave knows and doesn't know that birthdays are important to Bro, in a strange way. They never went unacknowledged in a way, but Dave was never the sort for parties. Primarily because you need friends for those and a porn and weapon infested apartment does not make for a fun setting. He was content without them, though, because for a while he was pretty sure all he needed was Bro. Then he hit twelve and realised that was fucking stupid, then he hit thirteen and he didn't have Bro anyway. Now he's seventeen, sort of, and he has more friends than he can count on top of family he never thought he'd meet and family he'd never see again. He has Bro, and he has a bunch of other stuff, so it's almost insulting that it's got to be here of all places that he's found some sort of emotional oasis.

In any case, it's hard to say whether he feels like he's grown up. Some times he can look in the mirror and feel proud of himself, like any normal person. With, y'know, time powers. He hasn't always done the best and come out on top, but he's endured and he's alive and that means a hell of a lot. It isn't like he's devoid of feeling like he's not living up to Bro's standards, but he feels like he's starting to measure up in his own ways. Three years without him made him feel independent, but it also makes him feel like he's regressed a little now that he's here with all these people coddling him as he checks himself out in a frying pan.

So, y'know, of course Bro would approach him then. There's a strange feeling in his gut, like they have something unsettled between them, but he can't put his finger on what it is. There's so much more important here, more important than his birthday even, but Bro is here and flinging shit at him like any other day. He needs to handle that. He picks up the paper, as if about to fling it back before realising that it's something for him, so he unfurls it.

"Well, at least it isn't a coupon for Bad Dragon. Again." He answers blandly, but behind his shades his eyes are widening a little. This is dangerous. In a good way. "So I can redeem this puppy whenever I want, huh?"

[crabmunicator]

When Karkat stops off on District 9, it's not a party he's expecting. It isn't that he doesn't know birthdays - he saw then on view screens, saw them in human movies, and has had three years of living with Dave on the meteor - but it doesn't stick in his mind. Human calendars never clicked like that for a sweep, and the idea of celebrating the anniversary of one's existence seems strange no matter how many times he's seen it.

He actually meant to check if Dave was around, maybe hang out, pass the time. He was bored. It happens.

But he does find him. Wading his way into the kitchen, the miscellaneous decorations start to make sense in light of the ugly hat (some cultural nonsense he'll never get) and the abomination of a cake.

It just doesn't stop him from asking, "What the fuck is going on?"

[shenunigans]

It doesn't really occur to Dave that Karkat will have no idea what's up. Days like this weren't worth celebrating on the meteor, honestly. It was just a mark of how long they were stuck and how much longer they would be stuck for. Of course, that still applies here in a sense, but there's a lot more to occupy the mind than chalk and sleeping and relationship charts.

Dave feels both very important and very stupid in his hat, but he's growing fond of it like he did his cape. It is a marker of his incredible power here, his power of being born on a day or whatever.

"Somebody died?" He says plainly with a lazy shrug. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Psii OTA

[biiowiired]

This wasn't at all what Psii expected to walk into when he was returning to his living quarters. He knew people liked to party here, but he didn't know Tributes got up to shenanigans as well. Psii couldn't tell what exactly this was supposed to be celebrating, but being an alien, he wasn't surprised. For all he knew, it was a party for the corpses everyone would soon be making. He stopped to look around. This party didn't reek of the Capitol's luxury. The streamers were out of control. The cake looked like a delicious homemade trainwreck.

Humans were so goddamn weird.

He must have stumbled on someone's personal party. What lame asshole would use the common area that everyone and their lusus had to trundle through anyway? Frowning, he snatched a cookie off a table for his trouble. Maybe he could escape without getting too many weird looks.

[shenunigans]

At first seeing Psii is a little like seeing a ghost for Dave. It's barely been a month since Sollux left permanently, though Dave refuses to admit that it's because he died. He just left, packed his nerdy pockets with red and blue candy and left.

So he balks visibly for a moment before he pulls it together and inhales through his nose. This guy isn't Sollux, he's seen enough of the older trolls to know that he's someone a little different. But why is he here? Did they seriously pull Sollux out and replace him with his ancestor? Sick fucks.

Ah well. It's his birthday and, even if he's not the host and can't figure out who the host is, he decides he should play welcoming committee like seeing this guy isn't traumitising him.

"You paying for that?" He asks dryly, not even trying to act like he's sincerely asking. "Cookies are strictly for my homies, and you only look a little like one of my homies." He decides calling him an Imposter is in bad taste.

[biiowiired]

He looked like someone? his descendant that Karkat mentioned, Sawlicks or something? Psii had always believed ancestors were a pretentious highblood myth until that moment. Half of him still wanted to deny it, but here was Signless's descendant alive and well. It was reasonable to suppose there really had been a younger, scrawnier, less scarred lisping asshole wandering around.

Or.... was this human kid talking about the Helmsman? Goddamn, Psii couldn't get away from his future shadow ever since he arrived. The memory of that pathetic snarky lisping bioengineered wreck followed him like a ghost with a fetish for self hate. Hey, douchebag, memento non mori until the Empress has run you ragged for an eternity.

"I'm not him," he said with slightly more force than necessary. He sighed. "But if I have to path through thith bullshit every time I go to my rethpiteblock, I should retheive thomething for my trouble. What'th thith for, anyway?" He waved vaguely at the streamers with his cookie'd hand.

Davesprite - ota

[anachronologistics]

It's really hard to tell how he feels about the whole thing.

On one level, it's... nice? Yeah. He'll go with that. It's nice. Warm, even, if weird. Birthdays were never a huge thing in the Strider household apartment, especially with friends that lived in different parts of the world. Even with Jade's attempt to throw silly little shindigs on the ship -- just one time, before he absconded to some abstract corner to give her space, no pun intended -- he's never really experienced an actual birthday party.

On another level... he sort of wishes that he could fuck off to his own district already. Let Dave take this one. It wasn't like the dude was set to be at a lack of birthdays in any set future, might as well let him enjoy this one.

But as much as he wants to disappear back to D11, he doesn't. However, he does quickly separate himself from Dave -- to let him mingle with his friends -- and skirts around to the outside edges of the party. The tacos are good, the nachos are even better. The "doritos" leave a lot to be desired, not that he expected anything less out of the Capitol, and the cake is actually pretty delicious, if a little heavy on the extraneous shit that usually isn't found on cakes. He mingles. Sometimes, there's a slight, acknowledging nod in someone's direction. Hey, sup, nice you could come.

It isn't long, however, before he breaks away and just lets himself into Dave's room like he owns the place. Might as well, right? It isn't like he wasn't Dave at some point; this is the one time he'll say that to himself. He came here for a reason, after all, and since the party started there has been someone left neglected.

Should anyone glance inside, they'll find him playing with Dave's bird, keeping him perched on this hand while he teaches him how to beatbox.

[a_minute_younger]

Gary manages to catch Davesprite early on, mostly because he's been looking specifically for him. There's no hiding from the excitable teen, no stopping at just a simple, appreciative nod--as soon as Gary catches Davesprite's eye, he sweeps his way through the crowd with a hearty, "Hey, how's it hangin'?" and aims a full-bodied bro hug at the orange-winged birthday boy. The squishy present in his hand has already been crumpled enough already, so Gary does not mind it suffering more abuse in the name of showing well-deserved appreciation for a dude's company.

[plushaeusrumpified]

Just as he has feelings of missing out on a large chunk of Dave's life, Bro is feeling pretty similar in regards to Davesprite. Adjusting to having two little brothers has been weirdly easy, even if one of them happens to be part bird. Okay, that part's pretty fucking weird but it isn't really a thing to Bro, if anything he thinks it's pretty fucking cool.

But either way, he finds himself thinking about the years he'd missed in Davesprite's life and wondering what it would've been like to be a part of it. He can't help think about it a lot in Davesprite's case, considering it had been him who'd been there when Bro had died. If things had gone just a little differently- nah, he'd probably still have died regardless, so it's stupid to dwell on that specifically.

It's his birthday, though, so he can't help but think about it considering he's watching the sprite turn another year older when his last memory had been of a younger Davesprite. He can't help feel a little nostalgic too, fondly remembering the days of dumping smuppets and strifing on the roof. Good times, honestly- even if Dave might think so, Bro thinks back on them pretty dang fondly. Back when things were normal and not what they are now. he misses those days a lot, just because his opinion things were way less shitty for everyone.

He has the same problem in regards to Davesprite that he did Dave, as well. He has no idea what to get him, aside from like. Bird seed or something. In the end, though, he decides to give them both the same gift- why treat one Dave differently than the other, after all? But mostly he's just shitty at the whole gift giving thing and it's all he can think to do. It takes him a bit to find Davesprite, considering it's not Dave's room he expects to find him in, but when he does he actually isn't all that surprised.

"Sticking with your kind, I see," he notes, leaning against the doorway with his arms folded over his chest. The same "Get Bro to do anything you want for a day" certificate is shoved in his pocket, to give to Dsprite in a few when he stops being distracted by the fact his bird bro is teaching a bird to beatbox.

He's so proud.

OTA

[arrogantalloy]

Someone had the foresight to clue Tony in on Dave and his winged-brother's surprise birthday, and as per Tony's usual way he was at late to the party. This time however it wasn't so much in the name of being fashionable so much as he had gotten caught up in nefarious and daring do.

In other words he got completely caught up in working on his hidden and secret computer which he had left to run final checks on the various programs Tony had finally manage to program into it before he was ready to start programming an AI into it, and lost track of time.

It was only a torn piece of paper left on the desk that even reminded him.

So when Tony walks into district 9 and looks around over his own glasses before pouring himself a soda and eyes a taco with vague suspicion and contemplation.

[shenunigans]

"You're late." Says Dave as he sidles up beside Tony, biting the end off a chip as he does as if for emphasis. "Lucky for you, I'm no diva. Otherwise I'd just kick you out right now." He doesn't sound even a little bit like he means that, of course.

He didn't even want a party, he's not sure who thought he did, but he won't really complain with the fact that he has Avengers here. Late Avengers, of course, but that doesn't negate the fact that he feels pretty damn awesome for it. As far as birthdays go, it's veering toward a favourite when he forgets the Arena approaching on the horizon.