Coral's first birthday party

[guppy_sandhu]

Outside in a quiet corner of the garden, well away from the lake, a birthday party has been set up.

There's a paddling pool with some toys in, a picnic spread out on a cloth, and a sign saying 'Happy Birthday Coral'.

Comments

[gotland_npc]

"Like tits!" Hilde giggles. "And worse things!"

[guppy_sandhu]

"Oh, like bollocks." Fry says.

"Fry! No swearing!" Guppy says.

"Then what do I call these?" Fry asks, pointing to his privates.

"Testicles, if you must talk about them..."

"Load of tess-tickles!" Fry shouts.

"That's enough." Guppy says sternly.

[gotland_npc]

"My mum says balls," Hilde giggles.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Balls and bollocks!" Fry shouts.

Guppy gets up, strides to the paddling pool and picks him up. Fry screams and wriggles, but his father carries him effortlessly over to the path and sits him down.

"This is the naughty spot. You were warned not to swear. You will sit here for two minutes."

Fry pouts, but doesn't get off the spot. He knows how this works. Guppy comes back to the party and turns his attention to his daughter.

[gotland_npc]

Hilde looks at Guppy, then at Teja, worried that the King will do something similar to her because she said rude things, too.

Teja just looks at her sternly for a moment. That should be enough.

[guppy_sandhu]

"How are the other children?" Guppy asks Teja.

Coral crawls over to Hilde and starts using her to stand up.

[ostro_goth]

She helps her up. "Do you want to dance, little baby?" she giggles.

"The twins are doing well," Teja says. "They are big enough to sit on their own and to roll around, now; able to escape from the bed-bench and get into mischief. Liuta has made them little pillows with animal heads, as I had been telling about the stuffed animals children from the future have. Valeria has a dog, and Myrtia a cat."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Real ones?" Fry asks, from his naughty spot.

[ostro_goth]

"No," Teja says. "They are pillows, more or less, with corners tied off and embroidered for paws, and a big corner for the head, with bits sewn in and on. And a braided tail."

[guppy_sandhu]

"That sounds nice." Guppy says, still ignoring Fry for the moment. No talking on the naughty step.

"I can't believe it's a year since we had Coral. She was so weeny."

[ostro_goth]

"It is the first of July now," Teja says. "They were born in the morning of the first of November. So they are eight months."

[guppy_sandhu]

"They grow so fast." Guppy says, smiling gently. "Fran joked the other day that we should start thinking of having another one."

[ostro_goth]

"I am sure Wachis and Liuta will have many others," Teja says.

Pause.

Hilde is well and truly out of earshot. "Adalgoth and Gotho, on the other hand..."

[guppy_sandhu]

"They're being careful, right?" Guppy asks.

[ostro_goth]

"So far, Adalgoth still swears he would not touch her ever again, as her life is far more important to him than more children," Teja says, grim.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Just give him a bunch of condoms, we've got about two hundred still in the infirmary." Guppy says, getting up and going back to Fry.

"You were put on the naughty spot for swearing. Say sorry and you can come off."

"But I'm not." Fry says, with an anguished look.

[ostro_goth]

Teja says 'Thanks,' but then, belatedly, he blushes a dreadful, utter crimson.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Swearing makes people sad, you don't want that do you?" Guppy asks.

"No." Fry says.

"So you're sorry for making people sad?"

"Yes. Sorry."

"Good boy, you can come off the spot now."

Fry runs back to the paddling pool and jumps in, sending a big wave over Teja.

[gotland_npc]

"You made the King wet, you miserable little southron!" Hilde exclaims, horrified.

"I am not king of anything here, Hilde," Teja says. "And I will dry again; the sun is warm here. And you must not call any names, based on where they are from. Even if your father does it. There is no north and south, east and west in this place!"

[guppy_sandhu]

Fry stands up and squares up to Hilde, even though she's a lot bigger than him.

"What's that mean?!" he demands.

[gotland_npc]

"I means you're awful," Hilde says, "and little, and from the south!"

"Hilde!" Teja says. "Please, do not start a quarrel with Fry. You are their guest, allowed in only on account of your injured leg. If you offend any for what they are, I must take you back to Gotland without cake."

[guppy_sandhu]

Fry looks at her for a moment, then shoves her away and gets out of the paddling pool.

"Fry..." Guppy senses he's about to make a break for it, and he's right. Fry's already looking around for a small space to hide in, and in absence of one, grabs the picnic blanket...

Most of the food gets tipped off as he pulls it over himself, before Guppy can stop him. He goes under the blanket and can be seen curled into a little rocking ball.

Guppy tries to rescue the food, knowing that if he interrupts Fry it's just going to prolong the meltdown.

[gotland_npc]

Hilde stares at him in astonishment, and then looks a Teja with vague dread.

Then, suddenly, she starts to cry, and runs up to him to hide behind his tyrian purple cloak.

"Guppy," Teja says, quietly, "would Fry accept an apology, or must this just run its course?"

[guppy_sandhu]

"He will, but he needs to calm down so give him a minute." Guppy says.

He moves around and crouches next to Hilde.

"Hilde, there are lots of different people in the world. Fry didn't mean to be rude to Teja, and when he's upset he likes to hide in a tiny space."

Coral climbs out the paddling pool and crawls over to the rocking blanket, peeping underneath, thinking this is a game.

[gotland_npc]

Hilde peers out from behind Teja's cloak, eyes puffy and mouth pouting.

"The King says so, too," she declares. "But he splashed him all over! And he is, too, small and from the south."

"Which is," Teja says, "merely relative, as you are from the far north. Guppy and his children are from Britannia, not even that much further south. And no matter what your father may say at times -- the south is not a worse place than the north! Some things are much better, even."