Haven Base [early evening]

[tatooine_doofus]

Not that he hadn't appreciated the effort, because he had, but Luke had to admit that his first joint birthday party with Leia had been a bit of an experience.

And not just because someone had left Janson unsupervised with the food. In his worst kitchen experiments with Gavin, Luke had never managed to turn something that shade of purple.

It had been nice to have some down time, though. Rogue Squadron's missions had increased in tempo and Luke had barely had time to breathe, let alone remember things like dates. The surprise part of the party had been complete: mostly because he'd forgotten it was his birthday at all. Leia had teased him about that for an hour.

He flopped onto his cot--a perk of being in command meant he didn't have to share his admittedly tiny quarters--and fiddled with something mechanical and complicated that Wedge had given him, enjoying time to himself. Artoo burbled happily in the corner, checking for new communications.

[OOC: Open for calls or emails. Up early for great SP justice!]

Comments

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"How weird this time?" Luke asked. "The strangest I've seen in weeks was the cake Janson made for the party today, and that's just because he can't cook."

[wannabehunter]

"The usual, pirates, drop-bears, and really odd food," Jo said. "Plus the adults turned into little kids again this last weekend, but I didn't run into any of them."

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"...Drop bears?" Luke repeated.

[wannabehunter]

"These really weird koala things that fall down on your head," Jo explained, making gestures that Luke couldn't see.

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke glanced up at the ceiling. "They do?"

[wannabehunter]

"Uh huh," Jo replied. "They flatten you, then bolt."

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"Of course they do," Luke said faintly. "I'm not getting one in the mail, am I?"

[wannabehunter]

"No, they seem to have all vanished."

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"That's too bad," he replied. His tone said otherwise. "Are your classes any fun?"

[wannabehunter]

"Pretty much," Jo said. "Even if I'm starting to worry about Professor Deadpool a little."

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"Uh oh," Luke said. "What's he doing now?"

[the_merriest]

"Awesome!" Still very much with the bouncing, yes. "Happy birthday!! How are you? Did you celebrate? Did you get lots of presents? My birthday got rained out 'cause of the volcano."

... and still very much with the ADHD.

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"Leia and I had our first joint birthday party ever!" Luke replied. "And Janson almost got shot for suggesting someone jump out of a cake! I don't really have room for presents, but I have things to put together and stuff that explodes and Artoo is singing Cuban Pete!"

His pilots wouldn't recognize the giddy kid Luke turned into when he talked with Rikku.

[the_merriest]

"You did??" Rikku grinned. "That's awesome! I didn't know he learned Cuban Pete! Things to put together like mech droids and all that? And how is your sister and do you guys get to see each other a lot? That's so great!"

Chirping was sort of contagious like that.

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"We can hardly avoid each other here," Luke said with a happy laugh. "It's kind of great. She's doing the political stuff while I'm off with the pilots, but we see each other at least once a week. And Artoo wants you to know that he learned all kinds of songs."

Artoo could probably be heard frantically whistling "I Think I Love You" in the background.

[the_merriest]

"Tell Artoo hi! And that I miss him! And that Sokka misses him 'cause Sokka liked getting him to tape stuff, when people embarrass themselves! Like now, 'cause Reno's a chocobo and I think we fail at dates." Rikku bounced on her toes. "So what kinda pilot stuff are you doing? Fighting or moving stuff around or going off exploring? Do you and your dad and Jaina all stay in touch, or does that get overlappy 'cause of dimensional stuff?"

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"What's a chocobo?" Luke asked. "And it's mostly fighting. I'm the commander of a squadron now. I keep forgetting that people here think of me as a hero type."

[the_merriest]

"It's a tiny little chicken-bird thing," she giggled. "He fits in the palm of my hand and he's trying to eat Petey and he's gonna get himself killed. I taped it and sent it to his boss."

Because she was evil, that was why.

"People back here kinda think of you as a hero, too, you know," she beamed. "I mean, saving a galaxy kinda trumps most of our save-the-world types. Show-off. What's your squadron up to?"

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"We're kind of the tip of the spear," Luke admitted. "If things are going to get wild, we're the first ones sent in. I've lost track of the number of systems we've been in the last few months, trying to convince the Empire to give up." He snorted. "Surprisingly, they still say no."

[wannabehunter]

"He's got a real thing for making the students wear dresses in class. All of them."

[the_merriest]

"Governments are stupid," Rikku sighed. "They're still pretending they haven't lost? I guess they can't lose well, that kinda thing. Idiots. So you go blow up their strongholds and point and laugh?"

Very simplified view of war, yes.

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"We save the pointing and laughing for someone else," Luke said with a small smile. "We just blow things up. A lot."

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"..." said Luke.

"All of them?" he finally repeated. "I don't suppose John or Gavin is in the class..."

[wannabehunter]

"All of them, and I'd have sent you the pictures if they were."

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"That's because you're the best Jo ever," Luke declared. "What kinds of dresses are they? I can't really picture you in something frilly."

Belatedly he added, "And what is the class, anyway?"