(Untitled)

[neptune_sleuth]

Welcome to birthday numero quatro here on mystery island. Sure, there are days I'd like to be back in California, going to Stanford and getting a pony for my birthday, but evidence suggests that wasn't going to happen anyway. I'll trade the uncertainty of what's behind door number one for what I've got right here. At least on Tabula Rasa, we keep

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[little_moons]

"I've got oatmeal and coffee, and that's about it," I say from my place at the kitchen table, brow arched, Mack waving from her highchair with a spoon sticking out of her mouth. Flo's off with her Daddy -- both of them -- and we've had a fairly quiet morning.

"I always forget you and Logan's birthdays are so damn close, Vee. I'd've gotten you a present." I smirk. "What do you get for the girl who has everythin'?"

[neptune_sleuth]

"That is the curse of my life," Veronica agreed, smiling with a tilt of her head as she headed over toward Mack. "Lucky for you, McCormick, all I need's your sweet, sweet smile. Heya, Mack, how's it hanging?"

So I've got a soft spot for Eostre's kids, so sue me. Even so, I can't help thinking of an old friend of mine every time I say the kid's name.

[little_moons]

I pluck the spoon from Mack's mouth so she can say, "Hi, Vee," but with the sticky oatmeal and the fact that she's two, it comes out sounding more like Hi, Bee.

"So, how old are you, now? Sixteen? Seventeen?"

[neptune_sleuth]

"Oh, how you tease." Veronica waved a hand, shaking her head. "I'm fifteen now." It was still weird, thinking of herself as twenty-two, but that was always the case with birthdays - she got used to them just in time to hit the next one.

[neptune_noir]

"Oh, no," Keith said, looking up. This might count as busted, but only if Veronica believed in birthday sandwiches. He assumed a look of vague befuddlement, as if he'd misheard. "This is for me. It's someone's birthday? Anyone we know?"

[neptune_sleuth]

"You're gonna hurt Taser's feelings if you forget her birthday again," Veronica warned, wide-eyed. Heading over, she leaned against the counter, tipping her head up with a grin. "I'd settle for a cup of birthday coffee."

[neptune_noir]

"Oh! Well, a cup of coffee, I guess that's doable," he said, looking around, as if 'coffee' was a strange and miraculous process, alien to him. "Guess I'll just let the unicorn go, then..."

[neptune_sleuth]

Laughing, Veronica jabbed him with her elbow. "Hey, I'll take that, too, mister," she informed him, mock-serious. "No way you're giving up my unicorn." Nevermind that she couldn't get anywhere near the unicorns. That was just one more aspect of island life that ticked her off. What good were unicorns when a girl couldn't even ride them?

[jim_halpert]

Sam was at an age that all he had to do was suggest drawing something for Veronica for her to be completely for it. He got up early with her and, with Pam's permission, let her use some of her art supplies to make a somewhat messy - but colorful - piece of artwork. She was a mess after, so he opted to get her washed up before they went searching for her. He'd just stopped in the kitchen with Sam, fresh out of her bath, to grab her some juice before they went, when he heard Veronica speak. Sam went off towards her before Jim could even turn around.

"Much better than a cake, as you can see," he said once he turned around, biting back a grin as Sam held up her picture up for her to take.

[neptune_sleuth]

Veronica grinned, kneeling down to get a better look at Sam's picture. "Look at that," she marveled, reaching out to tousle the girl's hair with one hand and take the picture with the other. "How did you know exactly what I wanted, Sammy? This is beautiful. It's going up on my wall." So far as she could tell, there wasn't any wrong the kid could do.

[jim_halpert]

"It was all her idea, too." Jim supplied, heading over to them as Sam beamed at the praise. "Happy birthday, Veronica."

[neptune_sleuth]

"I knew she was a genius." Veronica glanced up at Jim - and then further up - with a lopsided smile. "Thanks. I take comfort in the fact that I will never be as old as you."

[echolls_cursed]

Logan had been staring at the coffee pot for nearly ten minutes, as if by staring at it he could will the coffee out of the pot and into his cup. Of course, the reality of it was that he was simply tired. Tired to the point where it took him longer than usual to realize someone was talking.

Turning his head, he looked at Veronica with a puzzled look for a long moment, and then back at the cup.

A beat later and his brain seemed to catch up, and Logan rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he forgot about the coffee and leaned back casually against the counter. "Right, your birthday, I knew that," he replied, scratching the back of his neck as he looked her over.

"I did actually know that," he assured her, not wanting her to think he was simply being a prick, and he yawned softly before getting a second cup out and pouring not one coffee, but two. "You wouldn't want to eat anything I baked though. How about coffee instead?"

[neptune_sleuth]

"Looks like you need it more than me," Veronica observed, brow raising as she headed over. Leaning against the counter, she tipped her head to the side with a wry smile. "That is not, for the record, your cue to tell me about your late night." Jokes aside, she searched his expression for some clue as to whether or not he was upset or just tired. Reaching for one of the cups, she stirred in some sugar.

[echolls_cursed]

"I'm all out of pervy stories," Logan assured her, dumping some sugar into his own cup and taking a sip. "Just not sleeping well still," he admitted with a alight shrug of his shoulder.

"Between getting shot a few weeks back and the magic coma from this weekend, sleep just hasn't come easy, you know? But enough about me, let's talk about you, Ronnie. ...Get anything good for your birthday?"

[neptune_sleuth]

Veronica shrugged, glancing sideways at him. It had been busy for Logan lately, that much she knew for a fact. That was nothing new, nothing she could do anything about. Wasn't her job to watch over him now anyway.

"An all-expense paid trip for two to a tropical island," she said, grinning. "Which is fabulous, because I just - I really needed the vacation."

[dr_robchase]

Chase glanced over his shoulder, a struck deer-in-headlights look on his face for a very long moment as he tried to figure out if pudding could be construed as birthday-anything. It wasn't like you could stick a candle in it. "If I were baking you a cake, this place would be on fire," he admitted apologetically. "How about stolen pudding? M'sure the Doctor won't mind too much."

[neptune_sleuth]

Veronica laughed, shaking her head as she wandered over. "I do like pudding," she said, "but I'd hate to rob the Doctor of anything. I mean, other than your company. How's it hanging, Chase?"

[dr_robchase]

There were a dozen terrible ways to respond to that comment, but he corralled his mind away from the lascivious places that it was drifting to. "Well, I've had better days," he said mildly, knowing it was an understatement and an overstatement at once. "But I'm pretty sure none of that matters when it's a birthday," he said, feigning confusion. "Someone's, I'm sure."

[neptune_sleuth]

Veronica might never have been good at talking about her own feelings, but part of her wanted to ask after Chase's. He was a friend, one of her oldest here, and she knew things had been rough. With the change of subject, though, it seemed ill-advised. "Huh," she said instead, thoughtful. "I'm sure I heard something about that. Now if I could just remember who..."