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[sink_nor_swim]

For the most part, Mikal didn't bother to keep track of what the date was on the island. There just didn't seem to be much of a reason to be always aware of the day or month; holidays were usually made apparent, and it wasn't like the weather changed too noticeably with the seasons. It wasn't until she'd headed over to the Compound -- she'd been

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[seekingmiracles]

Eugene was with Zia, actually. He'd been sleeping when Mikal wandered out, leaving the dog to wake him up with some rather irritating yapping that eventually got him to roll out of bed. He was walking through the Compound with her under his arm, and the dog seemed content to be exactly where she was. He had a feeling they were spoiling her, but it was better than her running around freely and getting into trouble.

He smiled when he spotted Mikal in the rec room. Heading in, it didn't take long to cross the room to her.

"You know, you're lucky I like your dog," he announced, tuning the jukebox mostly out. He'd started doing that after all it used to play him was songs by the human Eugene. It got annoying after a while. Eugene's tail was beating against the back of his arm just at the sight of her. "She decided to wake me up for a walk."

Despite what he was saying, he was just barely biting back a smile.

[sink_nor_swim]

"Sorry," Mikal said, cringing sympathetically, though she couldn't keep a smile off her face at the sight of Zia carrying Eugene like that. The whole thing they were doing felt weirdly domestic, and she liked it, too, even if she'd never have thought she would. "I would've brought her with me, if I'd realized."

She would probably have to breach the whole birthday subject soon, she figured. It could wait, though. That was the sort of thing that probably needed working up to.

[seekingmiracles]

"It's okay," I say as I sit next to her. Eugene automatically starts trying to climb from my lap to hers. I don't stop her. "I probably should've gotten up by then anyway."

It was easy to get into a routine here, lately. I know I'm a lot more relaxed here than I've ever been, both back home and where I'd ended up after that.

[sink_nor_swim]

Mikal laughed when Eugene climbed into her lap, shaking her head a little as the dog curled against her. All of this only served to make her more grateful for what she had here, beyond just what being alive itself afforded. Had she stayed where she was, there was a chance she could've gotten sent back. She wouldn't have had any of this, though.

"So," she said, deciding on a whim that it wasn't worth staying away from the subject, "uh, it's my birthday. Today, I mean." She never had been anything other than blunt, after all.

[asinglechange]

"Is this your way of telling me something without telling me something?" Alice asks, half skipping as she bounds over the back of the couch, in a mess of navy blue and hot pink tulle. It was an outfit that had started out as something of a tragedy, but she's made it work, forced it into submission and it suits her quite nicely.

At least she thinks so. She laughs, folding her arms against her stomach. "Or not? Just a joke?"

[sink_nor_swim]

Mikal would have happened to agree on the subject of Alice's outfit, prone to dressing similarly herself. She didn't get to comment, though, before Alice's question, prompting a laugh out of her. The jukebox had made it painfully obvious, of course. She didn't think she minded.

"It's the jukebox's way of telling you something without telling you something," she corrected, not bothering to hide her smile. "And the calendar told me. I wouldn't have even realized."

[asinglechange]

"Happy Birthday then." Alice says grinning madly as she swings her legs onto the ground, sliding over to give Mikal a hug. She likes birthdays. They're a luxury of growing older, of people who get to remember their youth and their families and actually grow up.

"It's a good thing you were reminded then."

[sink_nor_swim]

"Yeah," Mikal agreed thoughtfully, sliding an arm around Alice with a smile. She doubted she would have really cared if she hadn't realized that her birthday was passing, but that made it even nicer to know. It was a big deal, after what she'd been through before. "You know, for a long time, I didn't even think I'd get to have another birthday at all."