A World Away

10. Partying

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!" Eve shouted the next day, thudding on his door. Mike groaned but got up. "OPEN THE BLOODY DOOR," Eve shouted. "Coming, coming," Mike mumbled, still sleepy. He opened the door and Eve almost jumped on him. "Happy 19," she said, her voice muffled against his shoulder as she hugged him.

"Thanks Evie," he said. Eve smiled; he only called her Evie on special occasions. "So... where is my gift?" He asked. "Your materialistic ass will get it after you get ready," Eve said rolling her eyes. "Today is going to be EPIC," Mike shouted as he ran to get ready. Eve chuckled and hastened to the dining room to check on everything.

******

"Ok, all set?" Eve asked for the fifth time. "Eve, relax. It's set," Azriel told her. Cass, Mor and Bri were doing last minute touches to the training ground. Amren would meet them later. Eve was getting more anxious per minute. "Oh god, what if he doesn't like it, what if-" Eve's eyes went wide with that trail of thought.

Az sighed. Deciding it was the only way to stop her escalation, put his hands on her shoulder, gripping it tightly, not enough to hurt though. Eve sucked in a breath. "He will love it," Az told her softly. She nodded, calming a bit. The scent of his leather and pine calmed her a bit. She looked up to see Az already staring at her, and suddenly the space between them seemed to be way less. Just a few inches. Luckily, (some might say unluckily), Mike's cough was heard. Eve turned, quickly walking towards where he stood.

Az was irritated. His shadows hadn't told him Mike was near. He was also irritated at the fact that Eve would always leave his side for Mike's. Grumbling, he followed the two best friend's to the training ring.

******

Eve had blindfolded him. "Ready?" "Ready, now remove the blindfold already!" "I hope you like it," Eve muttered and removed the fold. In front of him stood a table with paintballs. He scanned the area which was now converted into a paintball war zone. Mike was impressed to say the least.... It was like the laser tag he had visited with Eve a long time ago.

"Wow, this must have taken so much effort and time, I- wow," he turned towards his friends. "So, you like it?" Mor asked him. "Like? Nah, love? Yeah," he replied, now grinning. What a great way to start his day... with throwing paintballs on his friends' faces.

"Let's have some fun," Mike grinned wickedly. After a bit of bickering, the teams were decided by chit system. Mor, Bri and Cass against Eve, Mike and Azriel (with the rule of no extra advantage by using shadows though). At start, Az did feel that he was going to feel left out between the duo but was pleased to see that they did not just work well together... they also beat the shit out of their opponents.

"That was bloody brilliant," Bri said, trying to remove the paint from her face. Unfortunately, all she did was make it worse. They laughed as they made their way back to the hall for further celebrations where they were met by Amren shaking her head.

******

"Come on birthday boy, cut the cake," Bri said, she had herself made the cake and to say it was pretty was an understatement. Mike had of course given her a huge hug much to Bri' satisfaction.

"Yeah, I wanna devour this cake, it looks amazing," Eve said. "Jeez, patience people. Let me make a wish at least." Eve huffed but waited patiently as Mike made his wish. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was thinking about from the glazed look in his eyes and from the way he squeezed her hand.

Eve had been right. The cake was delectable.

"Now what?" Mike asked Eve after everyone had eaten (Amren had her usual goblet). "Now, we go to Velaris and shop for you, my treat. Then we come back in the evening and hang out with everyone else till at least three of us are passed out," Eve replied.