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Veronica sat at her dresser and sloppily applied make-up to her face, she needed to look absolutely perfect for the big day. What day may that be? Her birthday of course! The Butler hung out behind her, waiting patiently for her to finish. She had to give him the invite letters to her friends, but wanted to look presentable before she did so. She put down the brush and spun around to face hip, hands clasped together and giving him a big smile.
"Done M'lady?", she nodded and hopped down the stool, then strolled over to the table that she had stacked the letters on and picked them up. She turned back around and thrusted them into the Butler's face.
"Here you go! And be quick, I don't want to wait forever!", he nodded and took the letters from her and exited the room to give it to her guests, she was so excited! She couldn't wait for them to arrive, she wondered what they would bring? They better bring something or she didn't know what she would do, maybe lock them in a room to teach them a lesson for not being proper party guests. She skipped out of her room and down the hall, then down the stairs and into the celebration room. The Craftsman was there getting the place ready for her, hanging strings on the roof and tying balloons to chairs. "Make sure it is perfect! Wouldn't want them to be disappointed, no that doesn't go there!", the Craftsman sighed and moved the cutlery to the place she was pointing at, just a few more things and he would be able to get out of here and return to his usual work. He left momentarily and Veronica sat down at the end of the table in a large chair just for her, all the dolls had been cleared from the smaller chairs to make space for her guests. Soon enough the Craftsman returned with a large cake in his grasp and gently placed it down on the table, her eyes widened. "Its perfect, thank you! They will love this!", he grunted then left the room, now all she had to do was wait.
-
Raine was cheerfully humming a tune while standing outside the Nest, busy patching up her old hot-air balloon. She was so distracted sewing patches of fabric to the tears in the balloon that she didn't notice the Butler floating up behind her, until he cleared his throat and startled her. She spun around and got to her feet, then eyed the adult carefully. Just because she and the Pretender, now coined Veronica, were friends now didn't mean she started being careless around the adults, the adult in question merely floated closer and held a letter in front of her with an invisible grasp.
"I'm sure you should know this already, it's miss's birthday. Don't be late.", she took the letter and opened it, the Butler backed up before leaving her to her own devices. Her eyes widened, she almost completely forgot! It was Veronica's birthday! She slapped herself and groaned, how could she forget?! She gasped, she needed to get a present! What would she like? A toy? Make-up? Oh, she knows! She smiled and giggled, then ran back to the Nest. Yes, she would love what she planned for her.
-
"Hey get back here!", Seven sprinted across the wooden flooring of the Residence after a nome that had stolen his flashlight, it rattled mischievously and skittered away into a hole. "Oh come on I need that!", he squeezed in and crawled after it through a system of vents and tunnels, the nome being much smaller than him was quickly increasing the distance between them. He sighed and followed after its incessant chittering until the walls opened up into an empty dining hall, the nome scampered up the stairs and out of the large heavy doors. He ran after it into the shining sun and soft sand, the sound of crashing waves filled the air. The nome stumbled and crashed into the sand, before it could get up he jumped and snatched it up into his arms.
"Gotcha", he snickered, the nome wriggled in his grasp before stilling and trilling happily. He hugged it and let it go, then picked up his flashlight and stashed it back into his pocket. The nome stood idly by his side, he looked down at it and patted it on the head. Suddenly it tensed up and scrammed away from him, back into the Maw. He felt a shadow pass over him, his heart beat rapidly in his chest. He slowly turned around, his eyes landing on an adult with a sagging face and large coat.
"Hello there", they waved at him, he clenched his jaw. The adult didn't seem to acknowledge his silence and rummaged around in its pockets before pulling out a small white envelope, then reaching out and presenting it before him. "Mistress of the Nest has given this to you, Y'know the Pretender right?", his eyes glinted with recognition and he grabbed the letter out of the adult's hands, was this from the girl that visited the Maw not too long ago? He remembered her, she was a bit snobby but she was nice. He hadn't understood how she was so relaxed around adults, but when she spotted him she had demanded to be friends. It took time but eventually they did become friends. He opened the letter and squinted his eyes, trying to make out the messy handwriting.
You are invited to Veronica's Birthday Party!
Bring presents.
Birthday Party? His face paled, he was invited to a birthday party? He had no idea what it exactly was but he had heard stories, but the problem was he didn't even know what the girl liked! Nevermind how he was going to get there in the first place, he was completely stumped. He looked at the adult, a boat was perched in the sand behind it. He supposed it was waiting for him to come along, whelp problem one solved. He looked around for anything that might be worthy of a gift, before his eyes landed on a nome coming around the rock outcropping. That would have to do, he walked over to the nome and grabbed it. It produced a surprised squeak but quickly melted in his embrace, then he turned back to the adult and nodded.
"Got yer present? Good, lets go", it lifted him up and placed him in the boat, they set off towards the Nest.
-
A small white letter drifted down the cracked streets as rain drizzled softly onto the ground, a pair of feet pitter-pattered up to it and soon snatched the letter up. Mono opened the letter and tilted his head at the contents, his bag crinkling from the motion. He tried to make out what was said on it before another pair of feet came up behind him and snatched the letter right out of his hands.
"Hey!", he spun around to face his companion, she looked at him and stuck out her tongue. "I was reading that!", he tried to grab it from her but she just ducked and dodged his poor attempts.
"You can't read, Mono", Six sneered, then looked at the words on the letter.
"Neither can you!", he snapped back, she just rolled her eyes.
"I can read better than you idiot", he gasped, putting his hand to where she guessed his mouth was.
"That's it-", he tried to grab her but shadows enveloped her and she disappeared, then reappeared behind him and shoved him to the ground. He crashed face first into the rain soaked ground, it took him a moment to recompose himself all the while Six cackled like a maniac. "Not fair!", he shouted, she stuck out her hand and helped him back up. "What does it say?", he looked at the letter in her other hand curiously, she glanced back at it and shrugged.
"Dunno, something about a birthday party and to bring presents", she squinted and gave it another look over, with Mono hovering over her shoulder. "Oh, its from that girl, the one I told you about.", he frowned beneath his bag.
"Veronica?", she nodded, oh shoot. Was it her birthday? "We should go! You know her better than I do, what does she like?", Six groaned, before a mischievous smile spread out on her face.
"We can get her a dead rat."
"No! That wouldn't be nice!", he gasped, Six chuckled to herself.
"I don't like her that much anyways, it would be suitable", she shrugged, she could tell by the way his bag shifted towards her that he was not impressed.
"Six!", he scolded, she scoffed. "Whatever, I have an idea anyway. Maybe she will like..a hat!", Six cringed internally and rubbed her face. "What?", he asked innocently.
"You are an idiot.", he crossed his arms and his shoulders tensed up, there was an aura of annoyance surrounding him.
"I think I am a genius, do you have any better ideas?", she gave him an incredulous look, then shook her head. "Right! Then we are getting her a hat", he exclaimed with glee and grabbed her hand, then started dragging her through the empty streets.
-
Veronica jumped up from her seat as soon as Raine entered the room and enveloped her in a big hug, they both giggled then she released Raine.
"You came!", Raine nodded, then pulled out a package from her pocket.
"Of course I would, wouldn't miss my best friend's birthday!", she handed her the gift and Veronica gratefully took it, she walked back to her chair and sat down, Raine followed close behind. "Open it, you will love it", and so she did, she removed the ribbon tying it together and took of the top. Her eyes glistened as she saw the gift inside, it was a necklace with a sparkling gem hanging from it.
"I love it, thank you so much!", she hugged Raine again tightly, the girl chuckled softly and later pulled back. More footsteps could be heard and they turned to see a boy not much older than them entering, holding a nome in his arms.
"Oh hey Seven!", Raine grinned at him as he entered the room, just as he was about to reach them a loud whine tore through the room. They all turned to see the TV on a shelf light up and the screen warp, with the speakers producing an ear piercing screech. The lights flickered and a pair of hands pressed against the other side, then suddenly two bodies shot out of the device and crashed to the floor.
"Get off me! You're heavy!", the smaller figure in a yellow raincoat shoved at the boy that had landed on top of her.
"You decided to cling to me so tightly while we traveled through the TV!", the boy in a trenchcoat and bag atop his head scrambled up to his feet and snapped at the girl.
"I didn't want to get left behind in whatever hell dimension you travel through when you go between TVs!", she snapped back, a low growl escaped past her bared teeth.
"Ahem.", Veronica cleared her throat and crossed her arms, the two children's gazes snapped to her. "Good to see you made it to the party, even if its a bit late", she smirked, she saw a hint of embarrassment pass through Mono.
"Sorry, but this idiot decided to chase after a rat and made us late", he looked back at Six who just rolled her eyes in return.
"I was hungry.", she said bluntly.
"You're always hungry!", he exclaimed, before another argument could start Raine stepped in between the two.
"Hey Six, glad to see you again!", she greeted and hugged the girl, Six hugged her back but not for too long before wriggling out of her grasp. Mono mumbled something under his breath then turned to Veronica and rummaged through his pockets, before pulling out a hat that looked like a crown.
"We got you this, we hope you like it", she could hear the smile in his tone, it wasn't a fantastic gift but she appreciated it nonetheless.
"More like he got you that, I wanted to get you a rat.", Six sniggered.
"Six!", both him and Raine shouted in unison.
"What?", she looked at them as if she had done nothing wrong, then her gaze wandered away and landed on the large cake on the table. "Oo, food", she zoomed over to it and was about to grab a chunk of cake with her hands.
"Hey!", Veronica shouted, but was ignored. Mono suddenly warped in front of Six and blocked her path, she sidestepped him but he reached out and grabbed her by the back of her hood.
"Let me go!", she snarled and struggled in his grasp.
"It's not time to eat the cake yet, stupid. You have to wait."
"I will eat your fingers.", she whipped around and bit down on his hand, he yelped and pulled his hand away from her.
"You-"
"Hey hey lets not-", Raine tried again to diffuse the situation but it was of no use, a petty argument broke out between Mono and Six.
"Stupid"
"Idiot"
"You're so greedy!"
"And you are so needy"
"Hey! Let me remind you that you left me in the Tower for such a long time, are you really going to blame me for being-"
"And I'll do it again, besides I saved you later didn't I?"
"You little- Come here!", he started to chase after her while she cackled maniacally, Raine went after them both to try to diffuse the situation. Veronica sighed and sat back in her chair, before taking a cup of tea and drinking from it. She watched as chaos erupted all around her, then her attention was drawn away when Seven timidly walked up to her and held up the nome in his hands.
"I got you this..sorry for the whole mess", he said with a sheepish smile, she looked at the nome and it chirped happily.
"Thank you, it isn't your fault"
"HEY GIVE THAT BACK!", she looked over and saw Six had stolen Mono's bag, sitting atop a shelf and waving it in front of him with a malevolent grin. Veronica sighed and leaned back.
This was a disaster.