Give you something good to celebrate. [Gathering; Pre-dated to 6/5/15]

[oddthatway]

Tris ought to know well enough by now that I never go back on my word, once given. Especially when it comes to something as important as celebrating her 19th birthday. (And I have no doubt her and Four will find their own ways to celebrate later, but I try not to think about that. For my own sake.) She also still doesn't know that this celebration is about far more than her almost not being a teenager anymore. I'm putting my all into this because, back home, Tris doesn't get the chance to live this long. Back in Chicago, the Tris I've left behind is resting in a morgue.

I have the living room all decked out because of the rabbit. While Tris still isn't here, I'll admit: the damn thing's cute. And at least Tris had the sense to get a pet with Dauntless colors. It makes the whole pet thing seem far less Amity.

I've worked hard, tying ribbons of various colors - vibrant, spring colors like sky blue and lavender - and balloons around every available edge and corner. Behind the couch, I've put a banner that I've painted myself, which is why the writing looks so sloppy. Again, I've used the colors of the ribbons and the balloons, to write a simple message of 'Happy birthday, old lady!'

Not that Tris is old at all. Far from it. But I can't resist a bit of teasing, even for my best friend's birthday.

On the table rests a cake I bought at one of the local bakeries, in the shape of a bird, with some berries on top. It's the kind of quaint that I think Tris will appreciate. Next to it, my gifts: a slinky, shimmery light blue dress, because one can never have too many sexy dresses, and the other, a beautifully designed knife with crows etched onto the handle of the blade. Both were hardly cheap, but for Tris, I would be willing to spend far more.

So now I'm waiting, pacing through the living room, adjusting the various decorations while keeping an eye out for Tris.

I've invited others, of course. It wouldn't do to just be the two of us. Slowly, I'm beginning to understand how much Tris' friends here mean to her. So I've invited as many people as I've been able to get a hold of. Now all I can do is wait.

Comments

[oddthatway]

I keep pacing. And rearranging drinks and snacks. And straightening the edges of the presents gathered on one of the living room tables. I am never this nervous. But it is Tris' birthday, and I refuse to let anything mess this day up. Including, as it might turn out, myself.

Once guests begin to arrive,e I shift gears into helping guide people towards the food and drinks. My honesty and lack of regard for how others might perceive my honest makes me a terrible choice for hostess, but what are you going to do? I can't just leave the tending of Tris' 19th birthday party to just anyone, after all.

"Damn it, why didn't I think of a pinata?" She presses her hand against her forehead, letting out a sigh. Of course she thinks of the bright ideas after everything's all set up.

[priordivergence]

"Because we've never needed to designate something that's especially going to be hit by sticks?" I point out. "A Dauntless would just hand everyone a blunt weapon and watch." Giving Christina a teasing look, I recall her words about the Ferris Wheel when we played Capture the Flag, "And good look to you!"

I wrap an arm around her shoulders, comfortable enough with Christina to do it without any hesitation. I try not to think of the people who should be here, like Peeta, but I smile. "This is my first real birthday party, you know."

[oddthatway]

"Okay, fair enough," I laugh, recalling all the adrenaline rushes we'd chased as members of Dauntless. Our game of capture the flag comes to mind, first and foremost. The thrill of giving chase and trying to defeat Erik's team. Even if I did let petty jealousy get the best of me. "Maybe I should find some sticks anyway."

Throwing my own arm around her shoulders, I grin. "Not surprised. Abnegation always was allergic to all things fun. And how is being 19 treating you so far?"

[priordivergence]

We were both short sighted then. I was too aloof and ambitious, but we've moved past that game. Now that we've had to do things for real, the mistakes we did in games no longer matters.

"Well, I do seem to have a cake. So not bad at all."

[oddthatway]

It was a different time, back in those days, really. Back when we were both still mostly unaware of the corruption and the deceit going on around us. We had still been mostly naive then, as adolescents.

"You think I would throw you a party without cake?" I ask her, teasing. I made sure to find a decent bakery. It wasn't Dauntless cake, but it was damn good, nonetheless. "That's the real reason for this party to begin with."

[priordivergence]

"Well, maybe before you joined Dauntless." Not even then. Surely Candor has chocolate somewhere and Christina would have made sure it was handy.

"It's a good thing, though. You never know when Uriah could show up hungry."

[oddthatway]

"Hey, Candor might value honesty above all else, but it doesn't mean we don't appreciate sweets," I smirk, falling again into the familiarity of teasing Tris. "We're not Abnegation; we like to enjoy the flavors of what we eat."

She mentions Uriah and I can feel the color drain from my face; his name hits me like a punch to the gut. Not only had I lost Tris back at home, but they had just told us that they had pulled the plug on Uriah, too. And him and I, we had been growing closer. Slowly. But of course, those fledgling feelings had died with him.

This Tris doesn't know that, though.

"Yeah, Uriah and his bottomless stomach," I say, a feeble attempt at hiding the hurt so evident in my expression.

[priordivergence]

"Christina?" I may not be Candor, but I know Christina well enough to guess that she's hiding the truth and nothing but the most dire of circumstances would ever prompt her to do something so intrinsically unlike her. "Something happened to Uriah, didn't it?"

I touch her arm, "You don't have to tell me what happened, not today, but you don't have to pretend everything's fine, okay?"

I don't want to burden her with that.

[oddthatway]

"I will tell you," I say, chewing on my lip before glancing up at her, my best friend who is miraculously still alive in this city. The threat of tears stings at the edge of my vision, and I have to blink several times to clear that feeling. "But not today. Not on your birthday. You deserve to be happy, today. And to celebrate." Not mourn, I think, knowing how much there is to tell her.

"But yes," I manage a nod. "Something happened to Uriah." The way something happened to Al. Will. Marlene. Tris herself. The list of my dead friends kept extending, back in Chicago.

[priordivergence]

I take in a long, tired breath and I know we're thinking the same thing. There's a tally of people who have had something happen. Without thinking, I roll up my sleeves and press my thumb into the tattooed crow that represents Uriah.

"But you don't have to deal with this alone," I promise. She can be truthful, like a Candor, and I will help her with her burden, like an Abnegation.

[oddthatway]

I can tell by the way she inhales that she already knows. She's too familiar with loss, and she knows me too well, to not understand the things I've left unspoken. I watch her press her finger to one of the crows on her arm; I wonder what it means. "More birds, huh?" I ask, nodding to her tattoo.

I thought I would have to. Back in Chicago, I had to. Losing my best friend and someone on the cusp of becoming more than that in one fell swoop. I close my eyes and take a steadying breath, myself.

"I know," I tell her, with a small smile. "And I appreciate that. But don't let me bring down the mood for the day, okay? It's your birthday! You should celebrate and be happy."

[priordivergence]

"They're for people I thought I'd never see again after months and months of being alone in this city," I explain. It goes unsaid that one of the crows is for Christina too. Not because she had died but because she had sill been lost to me, all the same. "For Tori and Will. Cara, Fernando."

Even Al. He had been my friend once upon a time.

"I got the first crows for my family. It made sense to keep going."

[oddthatway]

"They're beautiful," I tell her. I'm not selfless enough; I'm not from Abnegation. I would not have thought of using birds to represent the important people in my life on my body. But seeing how much Tris revers her tattoos makes me think I have a good idea of where to start when I go for my next tattoo, which will certainly be sooner rather than later, in this city.

I can't think of any teasing words, so I point towards the cake instead.

"Let's go grab some, yeah?" I tell her with a sly grin. "Before everyone else eats it all."

[likeahero]

Oliver recognizes the look of someone who has thrown together a party for a friend and is spending the entirety of it worrying that everything's perfect. He's seen it enough in his mother, though he was lucky enough that the party planning gene didn't really get passed on. (Rather, he let other people plan for him, when he was still in his party phase. Other people, or just Tommy.)

He heads over to Christina once it looks like she's free for a moment and maybe not so stressed out. For her to go to such lengths to throw Tris a party -- Tris, of all people -- meant she had to be a good friend, and Tris' new happiness confirmed as much. The girl seemed brighter than usual with the arrival of her friends, and Oliver knew just how much that changed life in the city.

"This," he says as he approaches Christina, "is a fantastic party."

[oddthatway]

I'm just finishing rearranging the napkins by the fruit salad when I hear another person approach. I turn, raising an eyebrow at the really attractive man addressing. Damn, Tris has a whole collection of good-looking friends. If I were insecure, I'd be intimidated. As it is not the case, I at least enjoy the various amounts of eye candy.

"Well, thank you," I tell him, grinning at the compliment. It means a lot, to hear that party guests are appreciative of the effort I've put in in pulling this together. "I tried. It's for Tris, after all. I couldn't not throw her an awesome party."

I extend my hand for him to shake. "I don't think we've been properly introduced yet. I'm Christina, her friend from Chicago. And you appear to be one of a number of hot men she's collected as friends here. I'm going to have to get her to show me her ways." I offer another grin, hoping he gets that I'm more joking than actually hitting on him.

[likeahero]

Oliver returns the grin as he shakes Christina's hand, struck almost immediately at the difference in the two girls - if only by how much Christina speaks and how much Tris doesn't. Or rather, how much Christina speaks to someone she's just met.

"I'm Oliver," he says, and shakes his head. "I'm not sure I can comment on a hot men collection."

[oddthatway]

People sometimes seem surprised by the fact that Tris and I are friends. Watching Tris interact with some of the other guests, I can see how she still keeps part of herself reserved. She's much more open than she used to be, but, I think, fondly, you can take the girl from Abnegation, but you can't take the Abnegation out of the girl. And honestly, I think our differences are what, in part, make our friendship so strong.

"Nice to meet you, Oliver," I say, laughing at his observation on my comment. "You don't need to comment. Just bask in it."

[likeahero]

Seven years ago, Oliver just might have. Now, he takes the compliment with some embarrassment, but takes it in stride.

"I'll try," he says, letting out a small laugh in return. "Looks like you're settling in well."

[oddthatway]

I can tell he's embarrassed from the sound of his small laugh. But he's a good sport about it regardless, and I can see how Tris likes him as a friend. They seem to me to share a similar reserve about themselves.

"Trying to," I say, glancing out at the party around us. Settling in as much as one can when one knows what I've left behind in Chicago. "Not the first city I've been trapped in, so I think that helps."

[likeahero]

Oliver knows what being trapped is like, though Lian Yu was a vastly different experience from here. There was some comfort in familiarity in Darrow, but he knew from what Tris told him of their Chicago, it was not the same for her or Christina.

"Chicago, right? Tris told me a little bit about your world."

[oddthatway]

In Darrow, at least, the citizens who are brought here from outside the city are aware of the situation. Not like Chicago, where, until some of us broke free of the confines of the city, everyone remained ignorant of their own status as an experiment. It does make me wonder, though. The so-called 'native' Darrow citizens. What keeps them convinced that they've always been in this city?

"Yeah," I nod. I'm sure he doesn't know all of it; least of all, he can't be aware of what I've seen in our world. "And I don't know how much Tris has told you, but yes. Chicago was a bubble, like Darrow. Except we all thought we were the only ones left."

[likeahero]

"She told me that much," Oliver says with a nod, a bit of his lightness melting away with the reminder of the world she'd come from. He still sees her nearly drowning in a glass box sometimes, and wonders what kind of world would do that to someone as a test.

Probably a world not to different from his own, considering the journey he went through before he finally got home to Starling.

"Darrow's a bit nicer than your Chicago sounded like."

[oddthatway]

"Yeah, at least this place doesn't have serums, to mold people to their way of thinking. Or erase their memories entirely," I say, the bitterness exuding from every word. Not that I trust that there isn't some dark, ulterior motive to this place; Darrow's secrets seem more subtle than those of Chicago, but present, nonetheless.

He speaks with genuine understanding, and I remember what Tris told me, that he knows how to make a weapon out of anything. I suspect he has his own experiences with places like Chicago.

"When we left, Chicago was in the middle of a power struggle," I admit. "And outside the city, well. They made it seem nice, at first. But in the end, all we ever were was an experiment to the government." I glance over at Tris, who doesn't know this yet. I'm glad for her.

[likeahero]

"That's...new," Oliver says, brows rising. He assumes Tris doesn't know this, otherwise she would have mentioned it at some point, considering how much she's told him about herself and her world -- which does bring up the occasional bout of guilt in Oliver as he doesn't quite reciprocate that trust yet.

[oddthatway]

"It's how they kept people in line, in their own Factions," I state matter-of-fact. Perhaps I should feel some guilt at being so open with a person I've just met, but that potential guilt barely holds up against the way the words just kind of come out. "Different Factions incorporated these serums into their initiation rites, even."