Birthday [Gathering]

[ffyddlon]

It had snuck up on them both, in a way, but when Gwen realises her birthday and Ianto's are only three days apart, they come to the joint decision that a party at the Hub would be just the thing to celebrate. There's a lot to celebrate, after all, not the least of which is the fact that Gwen's not fifteen any longer and she spends much of the day on Friday helping Ianto get the place ready for a party.

She doesn't know as many people on the island as she'd like but there's a few that she's really fond of and she hopes will show up.

She's even found a dress to wear for the occasion, deep red with a full skirt that swishes when she moves and for once, Gwen's honestly happy to be on the island.

Comments

[ffyddlon]

Gwen's making her rounds at the party, trying to find everyone she knows (and those she doesn't) in order to really make the most of thirty-one. It doesn't feel much different from thirty, really, but she suspects that might change once thirty one segues into thirty five and eventually into forty.

Right now, though, she's carefree.

[1000-cranes.livejournal.com]

After helping to set up all day, Charlie went home to get her and Cadi changed. For once, she's not in green; the clothes box has obliged her with a pretty dress in dark blue, cut neat and tight around her figure. She's bought flowers for Gwen. She'll sort Ianto's gift out once she gets home.

God, she loves a party.

[ffyddlon]

"Hi, Charlie."

Gwen's still staying with she and Ianto both but it's still a pleasant surprise to see Charlie at the party because she's gotten genuinely fond of her company over the few months since she arrived (rearrived?) on the island.

"The flowers are lovely!"

[1000-cranes.livejournal.com]

"I know it's pretty redundant bringing them all the way down here," says Charlie, brushing a curl of red hair back from her face, "when we have to bring them all the way back, but I wanted to have something to give you."

[ffyddlon]

"It's thoughtful," Gwen insists, burying her face in the bouquet to catch the scent before putting them safe behind the bar.

"So, when's your birthday? I love a good party and I've been cheated since Ianto's and mine are too close together not to have a joint one."

[1000-cranes.livejournal.com]

"April 24th," says Charlie, grinning as she watches Gwen with the flowers. "Last couple of years, me and Ianto have just done somethin' quiet. It'll be nice to have you around, Gwen."

She just catches herself before she says again.

[ffyddlon]

"It will," Gwen agrees. "I just missed it this year by a hair, think I got here oh, first week of May or so. Which, of course, you know, as you met me then."

Awkward, yes, but she buries it with a smile.

"And when is Cadi's birthday?"

[1000-cranes.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," she says, grinning broadly as she drapes her arm around Gwen's shoulder and gives her a quick squeeze.

"December. The 11th. So we'll know we're getting close when the snow starts fallin'."

[ffyddlon]

Gwen arches a brow at that. Snow? She's seen weirder on this island, even as recently as the age and gender fiasco, but snow on a tropical island?

"Seems a bit...off to have snow on palm trees, doesn't it? I didn't know it snowed here."

[1000-cranes.livejournal.com]

"Every year, December 1st, on the dot," says Charlie, and she knows how strange it sounds. "I arrived in the snow, actually."

Bleeding all over everything, but there's no need to tell Gwen that part; Charlie might be better at talking about it than she used to be but that doesn't mean she needs to inflict in on everyone.

[ffyddlon]

“Makes me suddenly very glad I showed up in the summer,” Gwen says, grinning wide. “I don’t think I’d like it too much if I disappeared from home and all my bits were freezing in the snow while I was trying to figure the place out.”

She still can’t imagine being here for as long as Charlie and Ianto have been, though.

“I’m really glad you’re giving me a chance. Since you knew me, well, before? I know it must be really odd sometimes.”

[1000-cranes.livejournal.com]

"I've near frozen to death a couple of times," she admits, because there was the year with the shrine and the shirt. She shrugs, her expression strange, for a moment.

"Ianto probably hasn't told you about Hiro," she says. "He was my wish."

[ffyddlon]

"No, he's not," Gwen says, wondering if she should follow up or just let it sit. She gives Charlie a smile and waves her fingers lightly, motioning for her to go on and tell the story if she feels like it. They have plenty of time.

"So, Hiro, then? Did he live up to the name?"

[bennet_beauty]

Jane would not miss Ianto's birthday and even though she is quite aware that soon she shall be confined to bed, she has resolved and argued that it is not yet -- not before she attends this party. She's unearthed an old dress and wears it as she brings with her a gift that she is unsure as to whether he will want.

Still, she cannot have as many animals in the house, which is why the young rabbit in the cage is the hopeful gift that she prays is accepted. If not, then she will welcome it home, but she wishes for Cadi to have a pet, just as Lydia has had -- but only if her parents agree, but of course.

[ffyddlon]

Gwen doesn't really know the pregnant woman who's showed up so she assumes she's a friend of Ianto's but Ianto's friends, on the whole, have been welcoming to her and Gwen doesn't see why she shouldn't say hello.

"Hi, I'm Gwen," she says, offering a hand. "Friend of Ianto's?"

[bennet_beauty]

"I am," Jane concurred in reply, a brighter smile appearing on her face given that she's much happier to be able to speak to someone rather than continue to stand so awkwardly. She adjusts the small carrying-container in her hands to shift it, extending a hand in the modern way. "I'm Jane Lipton. Ianto's been my friend for some time and, well, I could not miss his party!"

[ffyddlon]

She's kind of infectious, this Jane Lipton, and Gwen can't help but smile as she shakes her hand. She'd seemed a little nervous, before, and Gwen hopes she can ease that some by being warm and friendly until Ianto's free to talk.

"Have you been here very long, Jane? On the island, I mean. I just came back in May, myself."

[bennet_beauty]

"As of August the first, I have been here for five years," Jane admitted with a slightly amused laugh, as though she could hardly believe such a thing herself. "When I first arrived here, I was young and single and thought myself ready to be an old maid. With two children, I can safely say that is no longer the case."

[ffyddlon]

She's old fashioned, this Jane Lipton, and she reminds Gwen of the books she had to read in school: Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Sense and Sensibility. The island's just strange enough that Jane might be from one of those books but Gwen thinks it's rude to ask, so she decides not to. Maybe she can ask Ianto later, since they're friends.

"Can't imagine being here five whole years, Jane. Seems all a little mad I'm here at all, much less long enough to settle down and have a family. Is your husband still here, then?"

[bennet_beauty]

"My current husband is, yes," she replied, thinking that it answered the question adequately and should Gwen read into it, she might understand that the issue was not quite as simple as it might have been. "I have loved it here, truly," she insisted. "Ianto has been such a good part. And he does talk about you so! I feel as though I know you!"

[ffyddlon]

Gwen sobers for a moment, wondering if the first husband died, but then she thinks maybe he disappeared; people tend to disappear on this island almost more than they do in Cardiff. Gwen wishes she knew the how and why of it.

"Yeah? What's Ianto said, then? All good things, I hope?"

[bennet_beauty]

"He has been nothing but effusive in his praise," Jane insisted. And even if he had not said lovely things, Jane did not think that she could think ill of anyone, especially given their association to someone she cared such a great deal about. "I do know it is your birthday as well, but I was not sure if I should bring you a rabbit as well," she said, lifting the small cage in her hands.

[ffyddlon]

"Oh, no, just having friends around is enough for me," Gwen promises, beaming at her. "I wouldn't want to have to find a present for someone I didn't know, next to impossible. Just you being here is a present, I promise. Now I get the chance to know you myself, yeah?"

[bennet_beauty]

"That is the loveliest thing that I can imagine," Jane confirmed, wishing to settle the rabbit down upon the ground. It was lying dormant, but with her young one kicking her constantly, she seemed to have action appearing from each angle. "How did you know Ianto back home?" she enquired.

[ffyddlon]

Gwen gestures toward the rabbit cage as she speaks, wanting to set it down so she doesn't have to hold it. "Can I put that down for you? And Ianto, he worked with me back home, with Torchwood?"

[bennet_beauty]

Jane smiled politely, not wishing to seem outwardly emotional. "Please," she exhaled, grateful for such a help. "I do believe he has mentioned it, upon occasion. He has been so wonderful, I imagine he was the perfect man of employ. I know my Papa would thrill to have a man like him in his books."

[ffyddlon]

"Ianto's a perfect employee anywhere," Gwen agrees, taking the cage from her and setting it down somewhere safe. "Can't say I'm as organized but I do my absolute best. So, is your Papa here, then?"

[bennet_beauty]

"In a manner of speaking," she responded, her smile turning to one of great love and joy. "In a manner of speaking, I have two. I feel I am a greatly lucky woman for such a fact. Both the Doctor and Jack O'Neill have been so gracious and wonderful and kind to me. I hardly know how I have been this lucky."

[ffyddlon]

The Doctor, at least, was familiar as a concept if not as an actual person and Gwen nods, grinning.

"Very lucky, then. So I guess you're close to Rob, then, if you know the Doctor?"

[bennet_beauty]

"I do know him, yes. We are not close, particularly," Jane spoke, but she did not think they were quite so distant. "We are good friends and we speak when we can, though I do think he is not sure what to make of me. The Doctor treats me as a daughter, but he and I are mostly the same age."

[ffyddlon]

"Ah, that can be tricky," Gwen says, nodding along. "I haven't gotten any father figures along the way but I guess if I do, I'll be as lucky as you are. Do you know Jack too, then?"

[bennet_beauty]

"Harkness?" she replied brightly, as she always seemed to do when the topic of Jack arrived. "Yes, of course! He has been so lovely and so kind. I do not think I have ever met a kinder man. He has been so good to me since I arrived, as well."

[dr_robchase]

Birthdays and anniversaries. Two of the events that, before the island, Chase tried to keep his head down and ignore as much as he could. It wasn't hard, not when no one else remembered that the day was special. As it stood, though, he was getting better about remembering and that was why he was there for both of them, for Ianto and for Gwen, even if she barely knew him.

[ffyddlon]

When she sees Rob, Gwen can't help but beam. He's one of the first people who met her when she showed up and one of the few people she trusts to give her a decent picture of who she'd been before.

"See, now you can just do a joint present and get the whole birthday business done in one week. That's not so bad, is it?"

[dr_robchase]

Chase grinned at her, still feeling a bit awkward around her (which mostly had to do with Nate, anyhow). "Well, I feel like I don't really have the best present," he admitted. "Unless you find personal check-ups a good thing? I mean, that's...really all I have," he managed. "But still, I wanted to wish you both a happy birthday."

[ffyddlon]

"I'm sure if I end up getting myself injured, you'll be the doctor I want," Gwen assures him, not wanting him to be too fussed about not having a present. She touches his shoulder lightly, squeezing it.

"You being here's present enough for me, I think. Don't worry about it."

[dr_robchase]

Gwen's birthday party probably wasn't (definitely wasn't) the place to talk about how he had drilled holes into the last version of her's head. Maybe it could come up later, but as it stood, he definitely wasn't about to go into that. Nope, not here. "Still, I feel bad. I'd have gone to the boutique, but I don't know your size. And I've been universally told I have crap fashion taste."

[ffyddlon]

Gwen laughs and shakes her head; Rob's a nice guy and all but for someone seemingly gay, he's not much with fashion. Luckily, Karen's given her tokens to go to the boutique herself and she's actually excited about picking out something nice to wear.

"Do you know Karen? She's letting me pick something for my birthday. I'm thinking a dress might be nice, actually, never wear them back home."

[dr_robchase]

Chase grinned, feeling slightly more comfortable at the mention of a friend-buffer -- someone that he could go to if the conversation got dire. "I know Karen, yeah," he said, ruefully. "And she's well-aware of my fashion issues." She was also the woman half-responsible for forcing him into drag, but that was neither here nor there. "Dressing to impress?" he guessed.

[ffyddlon]

"Oh, not really," Gwen says, but it's partially a lie. She's not the sort to dress for a man but wearing something that Aidan thinks is gorgeous might be good, especially if he acts on it.

"Just thought the island is a good place to try new things?"

[dr_robchase]

"Yeah," Chase concurred, unable to help a wry smirk at that. "You're...definitely on the nose, there. I mean, I don't think that back home I would've married an alien. And whatever my boss had to say about my girlfriends, they were definitely a hundred percent human."

[ffyddlon]

"And women, apparently," Gwen says, but it's a lighthearted tease. She's had her own experiences with the same sex and while she wouldn't come out and say she's completely bisexual, she's more than a little curious about it.

"I guess I'm getting used to being here. It's good and bad, really, considering I still want to go home and I don't want to forget about concerns there."

[dr_robchase]

"I think that being here is easier when you don't have anything at home to miss," Chase admitted. He knew Gwen (just not this Gwen) and he felt comfortable confiding in her, even though he wasn't sure if she felt the same about him. "I had a job. It wasn't even a dream job. It was just a job that was comfortable."

[ffyddlon]

"Torchwood was everything," Gwen admits, more upset about it than she thought she was. Odd. "It's so strange not to have it here, not to have a purpose. I'm on the IPD but it's not the same, not even if I'd gone back to being a PC again. It's just...existing."

[dr_robchase]

"Lots of people find new places to fit," Chase said, considering he had made a career out of it on the island and others had practically written whole theses about it. "I mean, before this, I'd only done a couple rotations in psych. Now, I run a department. Though, I have been here near-six years. That's a lot of time to do anything."

[ffyddlon]

"Six years from now I'll either be insane or have learned how to do underwater basket weaving," Gwen cracks, wondering which is closer to the truth. "I'm hoping I get crafty, myself."

[dr_robchase]

"Honestly, if you're doing underwater basket weaving, I'll think that you have gone mad," he informed her with an apologetic look. "Crafty though you may be, no one really needs to learn basket weaving. Not ever. Not really."

[ffyddlon]

"I'll be sure to chalk that up to the first sign of madness," Gwen says lightly, grinning. "You'll have me for a patient the second I decide that making pretty things is more important than going home."