You smell like a monkey! And you look like one too!

[goingtodorking]

On her seventh birthday, Karen sits in the rec-room and watches The Lion King with her feet up on the couch. She's got new Doc Marten boots with silver sparkles and a new dress in an alarming shade of lime green. She's got books (but she left them at home) and a promise of cake later. ShorHor has new trainers and Shadow made her a doll with blue

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[agirlnamedchuck]

When Charlotte Charles had been the age that little Karen had only recently turned she had been full to the brim of notions of how things should and shouldn't be. From a stubborn fondness of being an adventurer in a far off land and an idea that cake was best when it was chocolate with chocolate frosting.

These were fairly normal concerns all things considered. Sitting down on the sofa next to the child who was less and less of one everyday, Chuck smiled. "I like the baboon best myself. And happy birthday Miss Karen."

[goingtodorking]

"Yeah, I like him too. And the hyenas."

Karen sighs and kicks her feet in the air and leans in against Chuck's arm, settling her chin against the top of Audrey's head.

"What did you like watching when you were a kid, Chuck?"

[agirlnamedchuck]

"Ooh, yes, the hyenas. I love their song and dance number."

The kick line in all of its overthetop glory had been something that Chuck had particularly enjoyed. There was also something good to be said about nice choreography.

"Water shows and adventures. I loved monsters." Demonstrating her best claws and monster face, she roared dramatically.

[goingtodorking]

"My dad always starts talking about Nazis when he watches it but I don't really understand why. My dad talks about lots of things that I don't...um...really understand."

Chuck's monster impression makes Karen laugh, a brief bright bubble of sound, the same way as she always laughs at her dad's T-Rex impression.

[callofkaren]

Hearing the familiar strains of music floating down the hallway, Karen makes a beeline for the rec room. There's nothing like a good Lion King watch to fill up the time, and it's not like she has much better to do.

When she notices who's doing the watching, Karen shuffles over to the couch. "Hey, mini-Karen. Mind if I join you?"

[goingtodorking]

"Hey there, Big Karen," says Karen, shuffling over on the sofa to make room for the other Karen. "You can watch. Do you like the Lion King?"

[callofkaren]

"I love the Lion King," Karen said, dropping down onto the couch gracelessly. "Who's your favorite?"

[goingtodorking]

"The hyenas," says Karen, without a thought. "They're really funny. I like Pumba, too. He sort of reminds me of my brother. He smells bad too."

[dumbassbastards]

Rollie decides today is probably not the time to discuss preparing for the new school term. There'll be time for that tomorrow. Today he can just try to make this best birthday he can without being able to give her the one thing she really and truly wants.

"So what are we watching?" he says, making room for himself on the sofa next to her, even knowing full well what they're watching and having watched it with her - and occasionally narrated with his own experiences - many times before.

[goingtodorking]

Karen cuddles in along side him the moment he sits down, Audrey tucked under her arm. She's got her new boots on and she props her feet up on his knee. She loops her arm through his and picks up his hand.

"Lion King," she says, glancing up at him. "Again."

[dumbassbastards]

"Again," he repeats, grinning at her. "Imagine what it would be like if every time a baby was born, its parents held it up and the whole place sang."

[goingtodorking]

"You like it!" Karen insists. "Sometimes you even sing along and stuff." She settles in more comfortably beside him.

"That would take ages," she says. "You're the Doctor. Would you have to be the one holding up the little baby?"

[giftless]

It wasn't all that much, but Edmund did have a gift for Karen, tucked away carefully into a pouch on his belt. He'd sort of expected a birthday party, because everyone liked a party, didn't they? But no, no party, just the chance that he might see her that day.

The music got his attention, and he wandered into the rec room, his eyes drawn to the cartoons on screen. Something told him Disney, and Edmund smiled to himself as he sat down with Karen. "Is this your favorite one?"

[goingtodorking]

"Today it is," says Karen, leaning against Edmund's arm and propping one sparkly boot up on his knee when he sits down next to her. She's pretty good at appropriating space from her favourite people.

"This one's the Lion King."

She's used to Edmund not knowing which movie they're watching.

[giftless]

He grinned a little brighter when the title was revealed. "Oh really? I know a lion king, too. But he's not from Africa." Edmund let Karen sprawl whichever way she wished, figuring she'd probably shift sooner than later, and made note of the African drums in the song. "What's it about?"

[goingtodorking]

"Well, there's Simba, right? He's the baby, and his dad is Mufasa, and Mufasa dies, which is really sad, so Simba goes off to live with a meerkat, like Puffin, and a smelly warthog called Pumba."

Karen raises one eyebrow and makes sure that Edmund's following all of that.

"It's a really good one, but you'd probably like Robin Hood better. More sword fights."

[butcivilization]

Karen, curled up on the sofa in her bright green dress, with her little boots poking out, looked about as content and comfortable as could be, and that made Combeferre smile. But then Karen usually managed to bring a smile to his lips. He wondered sometimes how much she thought of her family back home, especially on days like this, monumental as birthdays tended to be for little girls.

"I hear a rumor," he told her with a grin as he sat beside her on the couch. "Someone told me that it's your birthday. What do you think of that?"

[goingtodorking]

"Who told you?" asks Karen, both eyebrows raised as she shoots him a suspicious look. "Maybe they were lying."

[butcivilization]

"Everyone," Combeferre told her, gesturing expansively. "I am afraid that your secret is out, petite." He ruffled her hair.

"Though if they were wrong," he arched a brow slightly, "I suppose that means I shall have to find someone else to whom I can give your present."

[goingtodorking]

Karen starts to sigh, like there's no point arguing, but then she brightens, raising her eyebrows and grinning.

"You have to give it to me!" she protests.