Ingress' 10th Birthday Party Extravaganza!

[smallestopener]

Out by the lake, there is a large construction dedicated to the 10th birthday of Lady Ingress of the House of Arch. Ingress has had birthday parties on this site before - there was a birthday princess ball her 7th year, a playground party for her 6th.

This party is different from either of those. Tom, Door, and Ingress worked on the design for months.

There are three ways to get into the birthday party.

Guests can go through the hedge maze. It's enchanted, of course, but the walls shift places at a docile rate. The path is wide and firm, so this is the easiest way to enter the party.

Guests might also try the obstacle course of tubes to crawl through, walls to climb, ropes to swing over deep ball pits, curly slides to fling themselves down. The only enchantment on this entrance are anti-falling charms.

Or guests can bounce through the giant bouncy castle!

Once they've passed through either of the three entrances,they will enter the clearing for the birthday party proper. Picnic blankets are spread out over the grass, and there are plenty of chairs scattered about. Paper lanterns float above people's heads with purple and green streamers linking them together.

A long table overflows with plenty of cold water, birthday treats, and other refreshments. There is a cake with lots of icing roses, of course, and ice cream. Each guest may help him or herself to a Wizarding cracker in a large basket at one end of the table, and there is space beside it for gifts, should guests wish to bring one. Gifts are not expected, however.

Most importantly, there is Ingress, a little girl in the comfortable gray uniform of a Herald-in-training, who is not so little anymore.

Come and have fun!

Comments

Bouncy Castle

[smallestopener]

Oh, Ingress loves the bouncy castle. The roof is taller than it looks, so you can bounce and flip to your heart's content.

You can go in with shoes, too, thanks to one of Tom's charms.

[nomorekaraoke]

It should go without saying that Lorne opts for the Bouncy Castle. He also opts for taking his shoes off beforehand, as he's given to understand shoeless feet enhance the experience. They're very bling-y shoes, this pair. A silver pair that perfectly glitzes in the sunshine, because he remembers Ingress telling him one time he should have glittery shoes too.

Since he does, well... Maybe his favorite birthday girl is a year older now, but he hopes she can appreciate the sentiment. He hopes she'll never be embarrassed by his antics, either.

Meanwhile, there's a green and red demon bouncing like a little kid in a Bouncy Castle. With the past few months (and with the months to come, revealed in OOMs), boy does he need this.


"Wheeeeeeeeee!"

[smallestopener]

Ingress gleefully bounces over.

"Lorne, Lorne, hi!!! Isn't this bouncy castle the best thing ever!?!"

She hasn't seen the shoes yet. That will be a happy-making event, too!

[nomorekaraoke]

They'd be in his hands if he wasn't already holding on to a small box with bow and sparky wrapping like his life depended on it. His shoes are hanging on haphazardly from around his neck - shoelases tied together nice and tight... and if they've smacked him more than once upside the head, no one will say a word about it.

"Oh! It's fantastic! It's the best thing since Motown!"

[smallestopener]

"What's Motown?"

Then she notices the shoes.

"WOW, Lorne, those are the coolest sparkly shoes ever!!!"

Her sneakers are white with a few areas of sparkle. The sparkly Mary Janes she owns are not conducive to obstacle courses.

[nomorekaraoke]

"It's a record label. Best there was, back in the day."

Okay, that wall looks like it would be the simple most fab thing ever to run up and bounce off. After doing just that, albeit not too gracefully, he has to concede that yes, yes it was. Bouncing back over here; "Aren't they just? Haven't worn them in ages, but I figured they'd be perfect for this occasion. I told you about them, didn't I?"

Oh, to have such a sparkly common ground. It's so, so darling.

[smallestopener]

"I think so," she says. "I like your clothes and your shoes, Lorne. Oh, hey, watch this!"

She bounces three times and with the third, leaps high enough into the air to do a flip. She doesn't quite stick the landing, but hey, that's not the point.

[nomorekaraoke]

It isn't the point at all, the point is that she's the coolest kid on the block. Lorne's quite impressed, and we do mean that for real.

"Be still my ticker, when did you learn to do that?"

Bouncy Castle newb, seriously.

[smallestopener]

She grins smugly as she continues bouncing, first on one foot and then on the other. "I'm talented."

Re: Bouncy Castle

[shoeless-ed.livejournal.com]

"Wheeeeee!"

"Arf! Arf! Arf!"

Look! Here are two uninvited guests!

A skinny girl with wild red hair and a Welsh corgi are making their way through the bouncy castle. Well, sort of. Mostly they're just bouncing and only incidentally making their way towards the birthday clearing. Ed is curious about what lies beyond this bouncy castle, but at the moment she is more interested in the castle itself.

Re: Bouncy Castle

[smallestopener]

Ingress bounces by, all smiles and waving as she does.

"Hi! I don't think I know you, but I'm glad you came! I'm Ingress."

Re: Bouncy Castle

[shoeless-ed.livejournal.com]

"Ed...is...Ed!" Ed introduces herself between bounces. She jerks a thumb at the Corgi. "Ein...is...Ein!" She does an impressive split and toe-touch in the air before falling down with a shriek and coming to rest. She rolls into a sitting position and grins at Ingress. "Nice to meet you, Ingress Blue Hair Girl!"

Re: Bouncy Castle

[smallestopener]

"Cooool," Ingress says, watching the split. Then she laughs and keeps bouncing. "Can you do a flip, Ed? Or Ein?"

Re: Bouncy Castle

[shoeless-ed.livejournal.com]

"Ein does not like flips. They make him go barf." Ein whines.

"Ed can do flips!" she bounces a few times to get sufficient air, then turns over in midair - though not quite all the way. She lands on her back. "Whoo!"

Re: Bouncy Castle

[smallestopener]

"I always land on my back, too."

Ingress bounces up and down enough to do most of a flip. She lands on her side, laughing like crazy.

"Or on my side. I hope Ein doesn't mind getting bounced, though. He's little and light."

Re: Bouncy Castle

[2woolongdatadog.livejournal.com]

"Arf!" says Ein. He likes bouncing, as long as nobody lands on him.

Re: Bouncy Castle

[smallestopener]

She scritches Ein's head. "He's a nice dog. Does he ever talk or anything? Sometimes cats and horses and dogs do here."

Re: Bouncy Castle

[shoeless-ed.livejournal.com]

"Ein talks! He says 'arf!' and 'woof!' and 'grrrr!'"

Re: Bouncy Castle

[smallestopener]

"Oh, oh, and you know what he says, right? That's how it is when Door and I talk to pigeons and rats. They say their regular sounds, but we know what they mean."

Re: Bouncy Castle

[shoeless-ed.livejournal.com]

"Sometimes Ed knows! It means 'Ed, Ein is hungry!' or 'Ed, Ein does not like it when you jump on him!' or 'Ed, Ein needs to go outside to go potty!'" Ed shrugs. "But a lot of times it is just 'arf, woof, grrrr.'"

Re: Bouncy Castle

[smallestopener]

"That works, too," she says, and pats Ein again.

"He can have cake and ice cream, too, if you want him to. This is all for my birthday party. I'm ten!"

Re: Bouncy Castle

[shoeless-ed.livejournal.com]

"Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear Ingress Blue Hair Girl!
Happy birthday to you! Yaaaaaay"

Ed claps as she bounces.

"Arf! Arf! Arf!" says Ein.

Re: Bouncy Castle

[smallestopener]

She bounces and claps in time with Ed.

"That's the best birthday song ever! I'm so glad you came and I got to meet you! You're lots of fun, Ed. And Ein, you're fun, too!"

Re: Bouncy Castle

[2woolongdatadog.livejournal.com]

Ein's jaw drops into a doggie grin and he wags his tail.

"Ed is glad you liked her song!" Ed does a few celebratory bounces.

Re: Bouncy Castle

[puckishly.livejournal.com]

Puck despises shoes.

But he is very intrigued by this "bouncy castle" notion Ingress had mentioned-- and, thus far in the experiment, delighted.

Half the fun is in the journey; therefore, he may be turning just a few more somersaults than are strictly necessary on his way through the castle.