[ic] [hector] Birthday
For the better part of the week Lacroix had been carrying own his own plans amid the usual background buzz of tasks around Castle Styles, as some things just couldn't be done under the watchful eye of his mentor. Thankfully that had been made easier by the fact that Hector had been hiding away in his room even more so than usual, sneaking around was far easier without a looming shadow.
Lacroix had been very careful about just how to decorate, as his version of birthday wasn't the same as Hector's; the latter involved far less birthday and more stoic. But, as it was an event that only came around once a year, Lacroix was determined to make it as interesting as possible; and if Hector's solitary life were any indication he was willing to bet the man hadn't indulged in a proper attempt at a celebration in a long while.
To be honest Lacroix hadn't either, his own birthday had stopped being important around the the point of his tenth year of life since that was when his classmates in school stopped being so obvious about their own birthdays that his father felt obligated to at least remember the date.
But Lacroix had carried out his own solo endeavors in his teenage years once more, picking back up and doing his own celebrating.
But the chance to plan for someone else though was entirely the sort of stressful distraction that he loved; and he did want Hector to actually enjoy the day, in spite of not knowing the actual date other than it being while he was going to be out of town. But Lacroix didn't want to miss Hector's birthday, being out of town was unavoidable, but celebrating was not; it was the first chance at anything close to a holiday around Hector and he did want to remind the man that even with their....differences of opinions about things he still enjoyed Hector's company and appreciated all the effort in trying to help him Hector put forth.
So the weekend before his trip to the Ukraine would have to do, it was the thought, after all, that mattered more than the exact specifics.
The dining room would have looked more festive with the usual balloons and tissue paper streamers, but there was really a limit to how festive skeleton chairs and a black background really could be, and Hector wouldn't have liked that anyway.
Instead there were candles of various sizes placed around the table, black with white skulls or else white with black, somewhat festive in a morbid sort of way, right down to the skull plates.
Hector's gift was situated on the table, all wrapped up and looking so deceptively subtle beside the cake itself.
The cake was a work of pure effort, and the end result of several long hours of studying online; a silvery-crimson work of fondant with an overlay of white spiderwebs in thick icing, split leveled with thick black sugar roses between the layers and a pale, white chocolate skull atop it with an arc of ebony candles around the back of it. Granted, the skull was just a little imperfect in the fact that one of the eye sockets was just a bit larger than the other; but it had taken a while just to get it that good.
It was all about as close to decorated as possible and still stay within Hector's perspective of good; Lacroix was rather happy with it none the less.
What was more important though was that Hector was happy, and with any luck maybe he could at least surprise the man if not actually amuse him with the takeover of the dining room for the sake of his birthday.
Part of that was the actual meal, which had taken him several hours and a bit of sneaking around to manage; keeping a careful eye out for Hector just to be on the safe side while he carted things over to the table and watched to make certain the food didn't burn. That sort of disaster would have been difficult to explain away, and sure to spoil his planning if the fire alarm had gone off in the midst of all Lacroix's hard work.
Having taken into consideration Hector's stance as a rather carnivorous creature, and knowing the man's eating habits after months of living with him, Lacroix had put his cooking prowess to use to good use in probably one of the more ridiculously proper and expensive meals he had cooked while staying with Hector. The thick scent of bacon-drenched foie gras lingered in the kitchen, accented by the subtle truffle undertone; poor Grim had been pacing all day the edge of the Lacroix's bedroom door where the kitten had been left to avoid him getting underfoot or stealing things, able to smell the kitchen and none too happy to be excluded.
Lacroix had rushed to clean up, put away dishes and move the rest of the food into the dining room before it had grown too late into the afternoon.
Then, finally, Lacroix had retrieved the bottle of wine waiting, another skill he was subconsciously putting forth some effort to learn influenced by Hector was pairing wine with food, and set it on the kitchen counter while he fished his phone out of his pocket and called Hector; it was decided more safe than walking around yelling and much faster than waiting for the other man to get around to checking his email.
While he waited for the line to pick up Lacroix went hunting for wine glasses, Hector had them in abundance, and he had forgotten to leave them on the table so he had to scurry back into the dining room to do that before returning back to the kitchen.
Lacroix had been very careful about just how to decorate, as his version of birthday wasn't the same as Hector's; the latter involved far less birthday and more stoic. But, as it was an event that only came around once a year, Lacroix was determined to make it as interesting as possible; and if Hector's solitary life were any indication he was willing to bet the man hadn't indulged in a proper attempt at a celebration in a long while.
To be honest Lacroix hadn't either, his own birthday had stopped being important around the the point of his tenth year of life since that was when his classmates in school stopped being so obvious about their own birthdays that his father felt obligated to at least remember the date.
But Lacroix had carried out his own solo endeavors in his teenage years once more, picking back up and doing his own celebrating.
But the chance to plan for someone else though was entirely the sort of stressful distraction that he loved; and he did want Hector to actually enjoy the day, in spite of not knowing the actual date other than it being while he was going to be out of town. But Lacroix didn't want to miss Hector's birthday, being out of town was unavoidable, but celebrating was not; it was the first chance at anything close to a holiday around Hector and he did want to remind the man that even with their....differences of opinions about things he still enjoyed Hector's company and appreciated all the effort in trying to help him Hector put forth.
So the weekend before his trip to the Ukraine would have to do, it was the thought, after all, that mattered more than the exact specifics.
The dining room would have looked more festive with the usual balloons and tissue paper streamers, but there was really a limit to how festive skeleton chairs and a black background really could be, and Hector wouldn't have liked that anyway.
Instead there were candles of various sizes placed around the table, black with white skulls or else white with black, somewhat festive in a morbid sort of way, right down to the skull plates.
Hector's gift was situated on the table, all wrapped up and looking so deceptively subtle beside the cake itself.
The cake was a work of pure effort, and the end result of several long hours of studying online; a silvery-crimson work of fondant with an overlay of white spiderwebs in thick icing, split leveled with thick black sugar roses between the layers and a pale, white chocolate skull atop it with an arc of ebony candles around the back of it. Granted, the skull was just a little imperfect in the fact that one of the eye sockets was just a bit larger than the other; but it had taken a while just to get it that good.
It was all about as close to decorated as possible and still stay within Hector's perspective of good; Lacroix was rather happy with it none the less.
What was more important though was that Hector was happy, and with any luck maybe he could at least surprise the man if not actually amuse him with the takeover of the dining room for the sake of his birthday.
Part of that was the actual meal, which had taken him several hours and a bit of sneaking around to manage; keeping a careful eye out for Hector just to be on the safe side while he carted things over to the table and watched to make certain the food didn't burn. That sort of disaster would have been difficult to explain away, and sure to spoil his planning if the fire alarm had gone off in the midst of all Lacroix's hard work.
Having taken into consideration Hector's stance as a rather carnivorous creature, and knowing the man's eating habits after months of living with him, Lacroix had put his cooking prowess to use to good use in probably one of the more ridiculously proper and expensive meals he had cooked while staying with Hector. The thick scent of bacon-drenched foie gras lingered in the kitchen, accented by the subtle truffle undertone; poor Grim had been pacing all day the edge of the Lacroix's bedroom door where the kitten had been left to avoid him getting underfoot or stealing things, able to smell the kitchen and none too happy to be excluded.
Lacroix had rushed to clean up, put away dishes and move the rest of the food into the dining room before it had grown too late into the afternoon.
Then, finally, Lacroix had retrieved the bottle of wine waiting, another skill he was subconsciously putting forth some effort to learn influenced by Hector was pairing wine with food, and set it on the kitchen counter while he fished his phone out of his pocket and called Hector; it was decided more safe than walking around yelling and much faster than waiting for the other man to get around to checking his email.
While he waited for the line to pick up Lacroix went hunting for wine glasses, Hector had them in abundance, and he had forgotten to leave them on the table so he had to scurry back into the dining room to do that before returning back to the kitchen.