[video] Happy Birthday, Laura!

[shoplifter]

[Laura has not really been on the network much, since the kidnappings had happened. She had been scarce in general; just because she was held captive all her life, after all, did not make it any easier to be thrust back into that terrible sort of world. But now she's back and has at least had some time to try and heal from those nasty little metaphoricalwounds, chewing on her pencil thoughtfully before lowering it and smiling a little from where she sits at a table in the community housing..]

I am twelve now... I have never had a birthday before, so I am not sure what to do other than to say so; since I have been here for a year now, I have decided that August is my birth month.

[She grins a bit, rather impish.]

And since I do not have the exact day, I guess every day in August will have to be my birthday. Gracias.

[LAURA NO—

Oh, the feed ended on that note.

Guess August is National Laura Month, so sorry.]

Comments

[breqintopieces]

You're not requesting presents?

[She'd gathered that was a common option for her lieutenants, but then again, most of them couldn't get time away for those birthdays.]

[shoplifter]

[She considers that with owlish eyes.]

How many are normal, for birthdays?

[breqintopieces]

[This is where Breq has to stop and consider for a half-second, as her knowledge of the celebrations begins to run dry. In the end she shrugs.]

As many as you can get away with, I suppose.

[shoplifter]

[She does smile a little at that.]

I'm starting to like birthdays even more.

[B^)]

[breqintopieces]

[Breq should probably apologize to Laura's guardians for what she's just unleashed on them. She won't, though. This is much better, in her opinion.]

They're meant to be enjoyed.

[shoplifter]

Do you enjoy yours as well?

[Adults seem to veer from them more, in her short experience.]

[breqintopieces]

[She shrugs.]

As old as I am, there's no need to celebrate the passage of every year.

[shoplifter]

Why is that? Every year is good. It means you have survived another year, doesn't it?

[breqintopieces]

It does mean that, but the more years you survive, the less significant each individual one becomes. One looks to larger milestones, instead.

[Decades, even centuries, in the case of Justice of Toren. Breq as she is now won't survive nearly that long, but considering the twenty years since she was fully herself, the passage of that time is just as painful as it is notable.]

[shoplifter]

... Ah. Ya veo lo que estás diciendo...

But you at least still have cake, yes?

[breqintopieces]

I can still have cake, yes.

[A subtly different answer to a question that wasn't exactly asked, but Breq hopes it will satisfy anyway.]

[shoplifter]

[She smiles a bit.]

Then definitely get cake when it is your birthday. That's the important part of birthdays.

[Get yo'self some free dessert, y'know????]

[breqintopieces]

I will take that suggestion to heart, then. In the meantime, enjoy your own. Don't make yourself sick.

[shoplifter]

I don't know if I can get sick from overeating.

... It is something worth looking into.

[laura no]

[breqintopieces]

[Breq doesn't make a face, exactly, but it does take her a full second to process and respond to that.]

I would presume you can, but that doesn't mean it's an experience worth striving for.

[shoplifter]

Perhaps not.

[.............. She's gonna try it.]