pidge_out | Victory Road IC Inbox

[Pidge blinks. Looks down into the box. Blinks again.

Wait.

Wait.

It's her quiznaking birthday.

Aaaaand she's staring back up at Shiro again, eyes wide, cheeks colored in embarrassment.]

It's--- How did you-- Wha-- ?!?!

[Please hold. Pidge.exe is rebooting.]

[He makes a little Tadaaaa gesture with his hands. Nudging the other box toward her.]

Come on. You think I'd forget? [Pidge and Keith are probably the ones he remembers most easily -- Keith for obvious reasons, and Pidge for all the time spent with her family.]

I know it's not much. I... know you'd probably rather have your dad here. But... Hopefully you like it.

[He pauses.] And I swear, I did not do anything to the cake except put it in the box.

Happy birthday.

[For a good moment there she can really only stare. Shiro remembered. Shiro remembered and she'd forgotten. Then again maybe it shouldn't be so surprising, because it's Shiro, but still. It's thoughtful and kind.

And she's so grateful.

So it's hug time. She honestly doesn't even care that Rover's still in her hair and her sudden movement has disrupted his rest. She just moves in and wraps her arms around Shiro's middle and hangs onto him that way.]

I do like it. [The words are muffled against his shirt, but whatever.] Thanks for not baking.

[Somehow, the hug is... it's filling in holes he didn't think he had. Like the gap in their little space family is filling in around the edges. She's here. She's okay. And he can do this for her.]

[He returns it. Tightly. Both arms around her like some kind of shield. Yes, they lost someone, but others are here. And they're worth celebrating.]

You're welcome. Absolutely.

[He'll hold onto her as long as she wants. Rover can deal with it -- Pidge is worth any owl squawking.]

We're family, right? Families do this for each other.

[She chuckles against him, the sound of it soft and brief, but hey. At least it exists.]

You're my second favorite big brother. [Even though he's also very much like a dad.

She gives him a quick squeeze around the middle, ignoring Rover's renewed trills of protest, then finally steps back with a grin.]

And this cake looks awesome. Where'd you get it from?

[It exists. That's what's important here. It's the most important thing, aside from her birthday.]

Wow, not your first? I'm absolutely shocked and offended. [He is not. He absolutely is not.]

Botan's bakery. Ordered it for you. She gets a lot of business from this house. [Luna the Meowth chooses this moment to hop on the tabletop, trilling at Rover. Tail swishing.]

You going to open the other box or what?

[That comment earns her a little snicker.] Well, with a little effort I think you can knock Matt down a peg.

[It's mostly a joke. Mostly.

Pidge turns slightly to look at the other box, brows twitching together a bit in thought. Of course the man got her a present. She doesn't need one, not when she has her friends and family here and they're all happy and safe for once. But the gesture does warm her heart a little.]

I hope that's full of cupcakes. Peanut butter cupcakes.

[Rover turns to look at Luna with a little chirping noise, his feathers ruffling up a bit. Don't mess with him. Look how big he is with them fluffed feathers.]

Nah, I'd hate to take him off his pedestal. He looks good up there.

[If she can joke, he can be sappy. So there. That's his decree as second big brother.]

[He can only shake his head. Laughing a bit himself. No, it's not cupcakes. That's all in the cake. Instead, she'll find glow in the dark stars (to decorate the walls), and what looks like the pokemon world version of a Nintendo System.]

I remembered how excited you guys got, when you came back from the space mall. I... thought maybe the three of you could play together.

[Rover don't fluff up. Luna wants to bat at your feathers.]

[She's gonna throw a light punch to his arm for that, making a face.] Gross. Didn't need to hear that.

[So Pidge chooses to move away from that train of thought by really actually opening up the other box to look inside. And her entire face basically lights up. It's one thing to build her own gaming machine with Hunk. It's quite another to receive an actual official video game console complete with games that she didn't have to program herself. Pidge nearly squeals with delight, much to Rover's displeasure, as she pulls the machine from the box.]

Oh my gosh, this is awesome!! How're you even able to afford this?!

[Rover does what he wants. And that includes fluffing up more. Look at all these feathers, Cat-Mon. Be afraid!!]

You sure? I could go into the details.

[He's laughing, though. He absolutely won't go into those details, and she knows it. He's just got to tease her a bit -- what good are teasing rights if you don't use them?]

[And from there? It's sit back and watch. The look on Pidge's face as she realizes what's inside... is absolutely worth every bit of cash spent on the system. He beams back at her.]

Gym battles pay pretty well. I took on three of them in a row. We're set for a while.

[More than enough to handle birthdays.]

[Luna is not afraid of you, Rover. Let her play with those feathers.]

[She gives him a knowing look for the teasing, but then promptly mentally forgives him again. He's given her an awesome present, after all. And it's even one she can enjoy with her brother and her boys.

Gym battles, though. Is she supposed to be doing those? Maybe she'll ask Matt about it later.]

You were really productive while you were out, huh?

[Rover makes an indignant noise, shaking himself and immediately fluttering up to a higher place. So he can be EVEN BIGGER. Be afraid, Luna!!]

[This is ... this is great. The best. Her smile, her enthusiasm. That's the Pidge he knows and cares for. He hitches a hip onto the corner of the table, watching how excited she is, how much she's geeking out over it. No matter what's happened...]

[This helps. This is healing.]

Figured I might as well do it, since I was out there and all. We should try and get you and Matt out there sometime.

[Luna watches, her tail swishing. And then rolls over onto her side, yawning.]

[Pidge shakes her head real quick, just shaking out loose Rover feathers from her hair.]

Mm. That sounds like it involves traveling and walking around.

[Rover is still all puffed up, looking down at Luna with a tiny hooting noise. Is she... Is she bored of him?!]

I don't know -- you could always get a pokemon you can ride on. Let them do the walking.

[He'll just. Gently bat some of those feathers out of her bangs.]

[Luna... flicks her tail idly. Looking like she's falling asleep.]

I dunno. I kinda like my littler guys.

[Porygon is probably one of the bigger Pokemon she has at the moment. And it's not exactly big enough to ride.]

[...You have asked for it, Luna. Rover's gonna swoop down to land on her with a way too excited trilling noise.]

Maybe we'll get one for Lance, or Hunk. I've seen a couple that might be Hunk's style.

[Pidge he has some bad news about Rover in the future...]

[No sooner does Rover land, than Luna closes up like a bear trap. No claws, but she definitely folds up around him, intending to wrestle!]

[Pidge grins a little, shrugging.] I'm pretty sure Hunk would rather build himself a car.

[Excuse you, Rover is never going to evolve obviously what are you even talking about.]

[And of course as soon as he's bear-trapped, Rover lets out something like a squawk, flapping his wings in an attempt to break free. How dare!! How very dare!!]

Probably -- it'd have to be electric, solar powered, or something like that. I haven't seen anything running on any kind of fuel since I got here.

[No gasoline, no nothing.]

[But Pidge, Rover is going to evolve and get big. Which doesn't seem to bother Luna any. She kicks lightly at him, then rolls over and darts away.]

[You're it!]

Yeah, we noticed that. But we'll figure out something.

[She's pretty damn confident in the combined skills of hers and Hunk's, after all.

Rover trills and fluffs up some more, equal parts irritated and excited to be playing a game. And then he takes off after Luna, leaving a flurry of loose feathers behind.

Pidge barely glances over to see what's happened; it's weird to be so used to the little Rowlet's shenanigans now.]

I don't doubt it. Just... try not to get arrested on this one. All right?

[Yeah he's not going to let that go any time soon. At all.]

[Luna does that skittering zoom run cats are so good at. Until she makes it to the living room and skids under a couch. Haha! She wins!]

... I think Rover just made a friend.

[That gets Shiro a very, very cheeky grin. And maybe the glint of something in her eye that says "No promises."] Got it.

[Rover dives down toward the couch to try to catch her and... ends up just bonking his head against the lower half of it. And then sort of crumples to the floor with a low trilling noise.

And a beat later he's up on his feet again, hopping around the spot Luna disappeared under and making noises that almost sound like a chant. Come out Come out Come out!]

...I really do hope that's what that is. [Pidge just watches with a raised eyebrow.] He does seem happy, though.

Pidge... please.

[This is the look of a man who is very, very tired of seeing his adopted family in jail.]

[There is utterly no sound from under the couch. Not for a long while. Rover is welcome to sit there and chant as much as he likes.]

[Without warning, a paw will come out and bat at him. Before darting back under again.]

It is. She's not using claws or anything. [Luna is very gentle.] She's not a battle pokemon at all.

[She's still a minor. It's okay, Shiro. They can't hold her for very long.]

[As soon as that paw emerges, Rover lets out a little noise, fluttering up a few inches. The game is on again! But then the paw disappears and, confused, Rover lands again. And then tries to tilt himself in such a way that he can look into the crack under the couch. Come back, Luna! What happened to chasing?!]

Oh, it's not her I'm worried about. [Pidge nods toward Rover with an amused half-smile.] He's the one that gets weirdly proud and aggressive.

[Pidge that doesn't matter in this world.]

[It happens a couple more times. With Luna's paw darting out from under the couch to tap Rover's feet. Then slipping back under. Always a new angle. She's playing the game HER way now.]

He takes after you then, huh?

[Don't even protest, Pidge he knows you.] Don't worry too much. Luna's friends with all the Incineroars around here.

[Shhhh, don't spoil her fun.]

[At first, Rover doesn't like that the game has changed. That's super rude to switch on him! But he quickly gets into this new one, attempting to peck at her paw every time he sees it come at him. His trilling almost sounds like a growl, but it's really just because he's excited.]

[And then Pidge gives Shiro a petulant look at that, but it's clear she's not taking the comment too hard.] Har har har. I'm not as bad as he is, okay?

[She'll leave Rover to his playtime, though, turning back to get herself a slice of this amazing-looking cake. And also to take a quick picture of it and send it off to Lance and Hunk by way of an invite.] Well, now she gets to have an aggressive owl to wrestle with, too. I should really let him battle more to let that energy out.

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