Happy Birthday//Welcome Home!

[alittlehinky]

The garden is flourishing, a riot of blooms at one end, plants heavy with fruit at the other. The chickens are in place, over two dozen of them in an oversized coop at one end of the property. The barn is unfinished, but the moonshining shed is massive, shiny and new, with locks on the doors and storm shutters on the windows, in case of another winter like the last.

The house is not huge, a sturdy two-bedroom place built with thick stone walls. It contains single floor for living, a small attic, and a deep split-level cellar. The furniture has been moved in; it's all secondhand but repaired and refinished.

By Cricket's own standards, the place is practically a palace. He never dreamed he would own so much land--granted, this is the Nexus so the topography and acreage may fluctuate, his claim may be challenged legally, whatever--it belongs to him right now, he bought it with money he earned, and he's got the living space upon it arranged to his liking.

It's sunset, and there are fairy lights strung up on the porch and in the yard, tables with food and moonshine set out, and beneath the treeline off to the right of the house there are fireflies flickering. There's a radio playing music, and lots of blankets spread on the grass for sitting or watching the stars. It's meant to be a low-key affair, but enough people wanted to see Cricket's place he felt like a party was the right idea. A small one. A quiet one.

(This is the Nexus, and there are Lokis. There is always a chance small and quiet may not stay small and quiet.)

The cake, in case anyone wants to know, is vanilla with blackberry filling. There's no writing on it, but it's the centerpiece of the food table. Cricket's not in the habit of demanding attention on his birthday, but...blackberry cake.

[[ETA: Please feel free to assume if your character knows Cricket they were invited via text or face-to-face discussion. If your character doesn't know Cricket personally but you want them to drop in, feel free to PM me and we'll figure out a reason to get them there.]

Comments

[outpostcook]

"Don't mind if I take you up on that offer. McReady sent you his regards, and says he very much likes your moonshine. He said he met you once, and he regrets he wasn't here to offer his help during the winter. But things turned out all right in the end, mostly." Except they lost a few people, but Kinner won't mention that here.

Kinner's already cut himself a slice of cake, though he hasn't eaten it yet. He's pretty hungry himself.

"Yeah, I know Mr. Murdock. We worked together when the two Spider-Men got lost in the snow and needed our help, and we were both on the convoy team when we had to take food from the Fallen. We didn't talk much, but we know each other. It'll be nice to talk when nobody's in danger or lurking in the woods shooting at us." Kinner knows that the Fallen are still out there and still hostile, but he found fishing spots far from their territory.

"Yeah - I made sure to make and sign bookplates for all of them. Mr. McReady signed the Antarctica one, too. That book used to belong to him, back when we were on the expedition together, but when I told him your birthday was coming up he decided to let you have it."

[alittlehinky]

"Well, any of your friends are welcome here," Cricket says conscientiously, although he's actually a bit wary of McReady. He seems like a good guy, but also potentially someone who might shoot first and ask later if confronted with a shapeshifter at the wrong moment. Cricket's in favor of no violence at all, if it can be helped.

"So you can tell McReady he's welcome to visit another time if he wants. On that note, though, uh..." He glances around and lowers his voice. "He don't know about Bob yet, right? How are we gonna handle that?"

Discussion of the fishing trip will be lighter and more fun and can come soon enough, but Cricket feels he should maybe bring up his concerns since they've got a moment.

[outpostcook]

Kinner nods in agreement. Next time there's a party, he's thinking of bringing Van Wall. The gruff chopper pilot could stand to have a day out. McReady might need more time.

"I've taken a few precautions ahead of time. I told Bob to avoid Mac if he sees him. I'm planning to break it to him when Bob's hidden - don't want anybody to jump to conclusions. He's not bad, but the only Thing we bumped into was a bad one. A friendly Thing might give him a shock."

He sighs. "But given the nature of this place, he's going to find out there's a Thing here eventually. I'm going to have to tell him."

[alittlehinky]

Cricket hums thoughtfully. "Well, you're right that you can't hide him, that's for sure."

He rubs the back of his neck. "Maybe...if we sort of prepare him a little? Introduce him to some of the other non-human people around? I mean, I guess I don't blame him for bein' jumpy about a Thing bein' around. I'm not sure we could do anything about it if Bob ever decided he didn't want to play nice after all, but that's the case with a lot of the folks around."

[outpostcook]

Hiding Bob is possible, but likely wouldn't work forever. There needs to be a permanent fix, Kinner thinks.

"That's a good idea, showing him some friendly aliens. I don't think Mac's necessarily got an issue with aliens in general, but between the Thing and the Fallen he might be suspicious of them. He came here to help fight the Fallen, if he told you that. The reason he's not picking a fight is to respect the ceasefire, and we're outnumbered and outgunned besides. But he's on edge."