Kratogenesis

Party (XLI)

The sun was setting. Book was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Her mind was not being kind to her: she failed as a team leader, she failed as a teammate, but most of all, she failed as a person. The departures of Taco and Ice Cube from her team were preventable. She flopped and put her face on the pillow, not wanting to do anything except for lying there and eating ice cream as a form of solace. She wanted to ignore everyone and everything. At least she'd make everyone happy that way! She pulled up the blanket on her bed and felt like napping, but could not close her eyes, as the thoughts intensified. After a while, she gave up on trying to sleep. In an attempt to clear her mind, she put on some lo-fi music from her computer, lay back on her bed and closed her eyes. She could feel the mellow notes guiding her imagination.

She heard someone knock on the door to the room she was in. "Hey Book!"

To show that she took notice of this, Book let out an indistinguishable noise similar to the cry of an animal in pain. "Go away. I'm not in the mood to do anything right now."

"Oh, come on!" Taco understood the situation Book was in, but she couldn't understand why she was dealing with it that way. "You can't just mope there forever!"

"What else can I do?" Book sighed. "I'm not in the mood to go anywhere or do anything."

"Well, I got a special cake just for you!" Taco bore the news in an attempt to lure Book out of that sad hole.

"Oh, wow. A cake." Book flailed her arms, which felt more like noodles.

Taco shook her head. Mentioning the cake wasn't enough, but she knew a detail that would surely attract Book to her side. "It's an ice cream cake!"

"As if that mattered!" Book initially skipped that small detail about the cake. She sat on the bed as her mind was thinking about that sentence again. Book was imagining the scene: eating an ice cream cake with her friends. Book regained a sense of happiness she had lost throughout those hours of moping. "Wait, did you say ice cream cake?"

Taco nodded. "A chocolate ice cream cake, no less!"

As soon as Book understood those words, she opened the door. She wanted to know more, and she wanted to know more right at that moment. "I'm sold!"

"I invited everyone else in your team, as well as some good friends of yours!" Taco smiled.

"Neat!" Book's happiness was back on her mind. "Oh, and by the way, did you prepare it with any special occasion in mind?"

"Not really..." Taco blushed and scratched the back of her head."But today can be the start of a new era!"

"Oh, you know..." Book chuckled. "Let me just get ready, then I'll be over at your place!" Book closed the door and fixed her messy appearance.

In the meanwhile, Taco got back to her adobe house. "Guys!" She grabbed everyone's attention. "A little birdie told me that today is also Book's birthday!"

"Oh, crud!" Blocky realized that something was off. "Where are the candles?" He put his hand behind the back, as if he were looking for something. A few seconds later, he was shown holding a bunch of candles. "Oh, right! I can just spawn them!"

"Just like you can spawn the ice cream cake!" Taco watched as Blocky indeed spawned the cake from thin air. "Does that also work with money?"

"Yeah, but I apply a 25% interest rate on my loans." Blocky grinned.

About half an hour later, someone knocked on La Familia's door. After hearing a quiet invitation to come in, she opened the door; the first thing she saw once she was inside was all the members of La Familia and iance holding a banner congratulating her. She covered her face in joy. Oh, they really didn't have to! "T-thanks guys!" She took a seat by the long table, where the cake was waiting for her.

"We saw you lying on the grass and looking at the sky..." Pen scratched his head. "We couldn't afford to just look at you sitting there and letting the sadness consume you!"

Soon after the introductory speech, everyone sat by the table and got a slice of the cake. Book was invited to grab the biggest slice, as everyone felt she needed it considering what she'd gone through. Taco looked at Book as she munched on the cake and let tears of joy flow through her cheeks. It was the first time she felt like she mattered to someone. She got up and hugged Book. "You go, girl!"

Book blushed. "Oh, thanks..." She could feel Taco's soft tortilla shell warming her back.