How Green Becomes Wood

Generally, Sloan didn't love the Happy Birthday song experience. She never knew where to look or how to respond. But at least, with how many people they were, and how hard they were trying to make it silly, it was at least a little more tolerable than normal, because she was so focused on trying to keep up with what they were saying.

Afterwards, she cut the cake, still maintaining the childish trait of wanting a full rose on her slice, and distributed it. Benny slunk around to try to get some of the cake and after pretending like she'd withhold it, gave him a slice too.
 
Rumy and Alec both said hello to Benny, Rumy not realizing Benny was Sloan's little brother, and when Alec explained to her, her greeting was far more enthusiastic. She tried to talk Benny's ear off until Sherri came by and distracted her with cake.

Xander, of course, would not be distracted from cake. He stood at the back, waiting patiently for his turn, his eyes on the prize. One large slice of ice cream cake! Possibly with a flower. Sloan wasn't the only one who still wanted a whole flower. It was an extra prize to get one!
 
Benny talked with his sister's friends kind of awkwardly, because he was fourteen and still hadn't quite learned how to talk to girls. He loved them, and definitely no longer whined about going to gymnastics competitions, but he did not know how to actually talk to them. He absolutely tried, but as soon as he was free to slip away he did.

Sloan did her best while cutting the cake to make sure none of the roses were dissected, but because of the number of them, and the fact it was a sheet cake, there were only so many available. Ardently refusing to pick anyone else's pieces, after she had hers, she handed the serving utensil to the nearest person and let them handle it for themselves.
 
The nearest person was Sherri, and she turned out to be rather good at handing out fair pieces. It didn't take long until everyone had a piece and could enjoy the cake before it melted.

Xander wandered over to Sloan once he'd achieved his piece and leaned on the wall next to her. "So, on a scale of one to ten with one being the worst, how much does this party suck?" he asked mildly, teasing her in his dry way.
 
"Thanks." She replied, tipping her head back for a moment before having another bite of her cake, "It's weird. Being eighteen. I could go and... join a war. I wouldn't. But I could. I could move out tomorrow, if I could afford it."
 
"Yeah." She agreed with a little sigh, "It'd feel different if my birthday were right before I went to college. But I basically have to spend a whole more year living like I always have. This is basically what every birthday part of mine has ever been like. And I like them, don't get me wrong, but it's weird."
 
"You'll be getting your dose of freedom pretty quick," Xander said with a bit of a nod. "I mean, a year ain't exactly short, but it's better than eighteen more of them." He fell silent a moment before asking, "What are you hoping to get as a gift? You can tell me because I'm damn sure I didn't get it for you, whatever it is."
 
Sloan thought about it for a little while, "I don't know. I really don't. It feels almost... hard, to think of what items I want. I guess that's how you really know I'm an adult, I'm not just thinking about items. Except my shoes, I guess. I really wanted these shoes."
 
"Yeah... that would be pretty cool. I really want to see California. But there's no shot of that happening, at least not this year," Sloan said taking another bite of cake, "What about you? Where would you go?"
 
Xander considered this as he carefully set his flower aside to eat last. "I like cold places better. I'd want to go somewhere like... back east, I guess, except it's really crowded. Maybe Alaska. Greenland. Nova Scotia. Somewhere with moody weather and craggy rocks."
 
"Sounds like you'd like Ireland and Scotland," Sloan replied, "I'm pretty sure it's always moody and craggy there. It's not necessarily the heat that I want, it's just... I don't know. The distance, I guess. I think, the redwood forest, the ocean, the anonymity... I don't want to go to LA, but California is a big state."
 
"The redwoods would be pretty cool to see," Xander admitted. "Alec wants us to go on a road trip sometime. Maybe if you go to a college near there, we can turn it into a road trip and go together."
 
"I dunno. Sometimes they surprise me with how much they let us do, and then they resist other stuff. I think if we behaved ourselves between now and then they'd let us go," Xander told her. His cake was gone, so he delicately ate the flower and nodded in satisfaction.
 
"Probably not before you're eighteen," She countered, although even she knew it wasn't necessary. Obviously, not before they turned eighteen, it'd be wildly irresponsible, "Is there like... a method behind what they do and don't let you do? Because with my parents it can be impossible to judge. My dad is easier than my mom, but he doesn't have a spine."
 
"Eighteen is just a number. I can be mature at sixteen or a moron at twenty-five. What's the difference?" Xander countered back. "But for method, they're usually easier on us for stuff they did when they were our age and harder for stuff we didn't do. Seems backward to me, but there you have it."
 
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