[zapdragon555]

What a year it had been. Normally when one says that sort of thing, they mean it in jubilant celebration, or in angry bitterness. Not so, this year. Cody acknowledged the ending of the year with quiet reflection--a year full of ups, downs, and most importantly, growth. Cody had felt growing pains of his own, from admitting to needing therapy and going, to seeking out a job to help support Zane and himself, to the pride and nervousness that was Zane graduating from college--the signaling of a lifechange.

New apartment, new setting, new job, new them, and it all felt so utterly... settling. All of the anxious lead-up to all of it, all of the feelings bubbling up uncontrollably in his chest, it all amounted to a kind of metaphorical sighing-out of relief that a change, for once, felt like the natural progression of things. Not an uprooting, but an off-shooting. A new branch. New leaves. Wider roots. Zane loving his job, Cody loving his, both of them able to come home to each other without Zane having to stress away at studies and homework and tests--

"Can I help you, sir?"

"Wha?" Cody looked up with a startled noise, blue eyes flickering with recognition behind his glasses. He stared for a beat, then reached into his pocket with a small smile, pulling out a small envelope. "Y-yes... ah, I just need to put in an order... it's a special occasion." He held out the envelope, then set it down on the counter with a small step back and a nod of thanks. "I trust you with it."

Totem Garudor
Valkyrie Yonyuu
Chow Sleepyheart
Eastern Zodiac Dog [Fellox]

{Gifts shipped}

[Silver]

Well, this was interesting. He had recently found out that it was one of his closest friend's birthday recently, and he had completely missed it. He felt really bad about it, but he was also wondering if she had ever actually told him when her birthday was. She didn't seem very interested in celebrating it. Nonetheless, he wanted to do something nice for her, to show her that she was welcome in his family and deserved to have something nice on her birthday... even if it was a bit late.

The shop was called 'Birthday Boutique' so he could only assume that he would get a good present there, though he had never been. What sort of thing did she even like? He puttered around the store to see what they had to offer, and when he had a good idea of what he wanted, he sought out the cheerful shopkeeper. "Hey, uh, it was my friend's birthday recently and I want to get her some things. Is it okay if I'm a little late?" He followed this up with his award-winning smile. Just in case.

Ordering: Papillon Fenling, Timeless Nyghtmare, Chow Sleepyheart, Nian Fellox

{Gifts shipped}

[SpringsSong]

"Yes, I'm still alive, stop acting so shocked about it!"

This was snapped by a familiar Placid Paragon as she strode into the building, having been apprehended by someone who recognized her and had apparently thought that she had died or something, given her long absence.  She approached the counter and composed herself, looking at Elie with a smile.

"So... that time of year again.  Spring's birthday," she said.  "She's out taking care of other things, so she sent me to do her business.  As usual." She paused as she looked over the selections.  "This year, I think we'll take... the following," she said, pushing a note forward.

Claiming:
Nian Kuhna
Annotated Barghest
Stranger Leplora
Guardian Hollowheart

{Gifts shipped}

[Mousen]

It was a few days until the birthday in question, but Chester knew how much was going on this month and he doubted he'd have time to pop by later. The garden needed seeing to and someone needed to double check the finances. All of which would be largely left to him. Then there was preparations for a birthday meal, presents, decorations, and working around everyone else's schedules. No, it was definitely better done early than late.

Chester stepped into the shop. It was familiar in the way that something visited only occasionally was familiar. It seemed to have changed little over the years, but he couldn't be sure.

"Hello! I've come to claim some birthday pets. I'd like a Constellation Shinzo, a Spirited Evergreen, an Annotated Barghest and an Ornate Leawolf. Thank you."

{Gifts shipped}

[ToxicShadow]

It was unusual that he ever stepped foot out of the Quest Master's Tavern, but after the twelve day long party, and several more days of cleaning up, the bartender realized that they had somehow ended up with an extra slice of cake. And, stranger still, it seemed to be made of plastic.

He'd been told this place could do something about it, perhaps recycle it or exchange it for something more useful, so here he found himself.

"Uh, yeah, I have this cake," he said, before pausing for a long moment, while holding the object he spoke of out on a plate. "Could you... take it off my hands?"

Redeeming


Birthday Cake (crow)
for
Papillon Fenling

{Gifts shipped}

[FrostWynd]

Amala always liked celebrating hatchdays.

They were always a great way to spend quality time with her family and to have a little fun whenever those special days came around. Though really she just liked any excuse to be together with them whenever possible.

And for today she would be going about thinking well ahead in advance when she went out to pay a visit to a shop in town, as she had heard there was one around here that supplied some of the best gifts around, and she wanted to find something really good to surprise some of her family members by the time their hatchdays came around.

It wouldn't be the easiest choice to make when she later discovered the fantastic things they had in stock, but with a little time Amala would pick out a few things that she thought would make excellent gifts.

Ordering
Nian Kuhna
Annotated Barghest
Spirited Evergreen
Russet Batti

{Gifts shipped}

[crow]

Age was a funny thing. Birthdays felt less important every year these days. It wasn't necessarily because there were so many of them, but as you got older, people fussed over you less, and there was less pomp and circumstance surrounding them. And if you didn't have that many friends, well...

Eating a cake alone was pretty grim, wasn't it?

But still, he'd always remembered. Tis was the first time he'd straight up forgotten, until seeing the date on a document he was processing at work.

He'd sat there, stricken with the realization for the space of maybe five seconds; and then his supervisor called him and demanded to know why she didn't have the report she'd asked for half an hour ago, and all was forgotten again in the pell-mell scramble of another workday.

Two days wasn't enough time to do anything anyway. So the morning of, he decided to treat himself to a nice meal and a little gift, and call it good.

Claiming:
Annotated Barghest (Staff bonus)
Ornate Leawolf
Spirited Evergreen
Stinging Bubble Spirit
Nian Kuhna

{Gifts shipped}

[Shaetani]

Blinker made his way into the area for the second time in two years and looked around with the rather stupid grin he sometimes had on his face. Oye, Ello?" Seeing the girl behind the counter he made his way over and looked at the information available. "I'd like to pick up a grab bag for Shaetani, as well as a Stinging Bubble Spirit, Stranger Leplora and a Spirited Evergreen please." His tie-dye shop was doing better than it was last year; it seemed others were finally starting to return to the joys if tie-dye. Actually, come to think of it he needed to check his records. Hmm. Yup, that was definitely odd. "Also could I request last years gifts to be re-sent? I can't find any record of having actually received them despite them being marked as sent." He wasn't sure if they could sort that out here or if he'd have to go back into their private office.

(163 words)

OOC: viewtopic.php?f=47&t=19403&start=150#p578539 is my post from last year; I looked and couldn't find any pm's or records of having gotten the gifts so if you could resend the PM or the codes and grab back so I know what I got in the bag I'd really appreciate it. or if this isn't the place to ask could one of the staff members pm me with which account I'd need to pm to discuss it?

{Gifts shipped}

[Lilith Michaelis]

Their footsteps made no sound as they walked towards the birthday boutique, the fabric of their robes flowing behind them. Their pace was brisk, urgent, but not panicked. The bell of the shop door tinkled as they slipped in, announcing the person's arrival. They were a strange sight to see: everything about them, from their hair to their robes, seemed to be white. Even their eyes were pale in colour.  They almost seemed to glow, as if they radiated moonlight.

The robed figure approached the counter, smiling graciously. "Hello. I'm terrible sorry I'm so late. I know this is all very last minute. My friend's birthday was awhile ago, I was hoping I could still pick these up for them."

Claiming:
Annotated Barghest
Ornate Leawolf
Guardian Hollowheart
Nian Kuhna

{Gifts shipped}

[Indigo]

It was the simplest errand in the world, certainly in the top ten simplest errands Amp had ever been asked to run, although maybe that said more about Amp's friends than it did about the nature of the errand. But regardless, it was fairly straightforward, and she could not imagine why she had put it off so long.

Well, better late than never, as she always said, typically in relation to things like sleep.

"Hey there," she said, "sorry about the timing. Could I order a Grab Bag, an Annotated Barghest, a Spirited Evergreen, and a Russet Batti? Thanks."

{Gifts shipped}

[Jaden Wolf]

The man who slipped into the boutique was rather snappily dressed in a dark red and black. He was the sort who actually pulled off the look of his fedora. He oozed charisma as he made his way across the shop, drawing most eyes towards him, mainly out of curiosity. There was just...something about him.

He stepped up to the desk. "Hello, friend," he chimed kindly. "I'm here to gather some gifts for the lady of the Beach. I believe she wanted..." he glanced at a list slipped from his pocket, "a Nian Kuhna, Annotated Barghest, Ornate Leawolf, and a Digital Frightmare, thank you very much!"

With that, he tucked the note back into his pocket and with a friendly smile, stepped aside so someone else could make their order.

{Gifts shipped}

[Shaetani]

Pastel made her way into the birthday store with a flower cluched in her paws and a bag held tight against her chest. This was so cool! She was finally being given tasks and things to do! Of course, it made sense that Tani would want her to recover from hatching from the egg and take some time to grow to her full form but still. This was her first solo mission and she was determined not to mess it up. "Hello, I've got some items I'm supposed to exchange?" She delicately set the flower down on the counter shop followed by a bag that the couldn't resist rubbing the fur on. "I was told to ask for a pet from the year 2011 for the flower." It was one of the years Tani had been away on a meditation retreat and lost from the world of Evelon for a while. Pastel was glad she was back.

Redeeming the following items:
year 2011

[Redeemed for; Hideback Lohlani, Gift Kuhna
Pets added to inventory]

[ToxicShadow]

Another year, come and gone.

But this year, Toxic was a little bit early, and she didn't step into the shop all alone. She was escorted by Z, whom she held onto the extended arm of, simply because she told him that she didn't want to go out all alone. He indulged her, since it wasn't a difficult task and it made her happy.

"Hello," she greeted the shop keeper with a genuine, but slightly awkward, smile. Toxic had gotten better at the whole "customer service," voice, but she still wasn't the best at dealing with people, in the general sense. "I'm a bit early. My birthday is exactly a week from now, but I was hoping it would be okay to pick things out early?"

Claiming:
Nian Kuhna
Annotated Barghest
Digital Frightmare
Ornate Leawolf
Stranger Leplora (Staff perk)

[Pets added to inventory]

[Freezair]

Shops in Evelon had to be built big to accommodate the land's... varying clientele, but an entire Garaganir? That was a bit much. And yet, despite filling so much of the space, the hulking creature didn't feel as if it was as large as it was. Its stony scales didn't creak and scrape as it moved. And there always seemed to be room to brush past it--just enough.

It sat, quietly, in the corner of the shop for what seemed like a long time, its eyes closed. Then its eyelids inched open, glowing whiteness pouring out. And it slowly rose a claw, never speaking, but instead pointing to several of the options in the birthday shop.

There should have been something creepy about its stillness and its perfectly blank, glowing eyes. But the tilt of its head and the coil of its tail gave off the strangest sense of gratitude.

Claiming:

Nian Kuhna
Annotated Barghest
Ornate Leawolf
Stinging Bubble Spirit

[Pets added to inventory]

[Sarah]

Hyx didn't see the allure of birthdays. Granted he had no idea when his birthday was, nor had he ever celebrated any one day as a stand in. Still he'd been asked to come on behalf of another in order to fulfill the birthday wishes of his master. He might not understand the importance of the day, but he did understand the importance of the person.

Claiming:
Nian Kuhna
Annotated Barghest
Ornate Leawolf
Spirited Evergreen

[Pets added to inventory]