forthedog: (Default)
Mike Pinocchio ([personal profile] forthedog) wrote2014-09-16 06:13 pm

(no subject)

When the sun sets, they light the torches.

It's nothing large, nothing much besides a standard barbecue - which had been insisted upon. There's a grill hot and a fire burning in the pit, and the marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate the girls had begged for are laid out on the long folding table with the rest of the food. Multiple coolers are fully stocked and the smell of smoke and cooking meat floats deliciously through the air.

In truth, a lot of this is Mack and Flo's doing, insisting on a real birthday party because not having one is some kind of unbearable abomination. So there's cake - chocolate - and there are even some balloons, and the girls - with help - have flung streamers haphazardly into some of the smaller trees. They're very pleased with themselves. Daddy may not care hugely about this, but it's the principle of the thing, and Daddy's opinion ultimately doesn't matter much.

Which is fine. As far as Mike is concerned this isn't even necessarily just a birthday party. It's a last goodbye to another summer, which feels like an achievement in itself. So in the flickering torchlight, with the moon rising through the trees, everyone is welcome.
hiddeninsnow: (Girlish.)

[personal profile] hiddeninsnow 2014-10-17 04:27 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah?" That really did provoke a grin, an almost careless and glad expression that lingered for a few seconds. "Someday, I'm going to want to meet your friends." Be more than the dark, sullen girl in the corner.

It was a comment that could be taken more than one way; for Lisbeth, it was a simple acknowledgement that she would want such a thing. To be acknowledged.