Happy Birthday, Taylor! (No Longer Open!)

Taylor pulled out her phone and quickly began looking for a number. Natalia started singing. Taylor grimaced. She looked around at everyone else, as if asking for help. "Okay, Celine Dion, it's okay to suck but it's not okay to suck LOUDLY..." She found the number, and before she could dial it she cringed again and stopped just shy of putting her face in her palm. Natalia just loved to tease and poke and jab at Taylor.

"THE ONLY THING PEOPLE LIKE ABOUT YOU IS YOU BOOBS!" She shouted back and hit send on her phone, dialing Johnny. She wished he was there. She wished he didn't live in another city. She sighed. "Everyone, this is Johnny, he's like my boyfriend and stuff, everyone say hi I'm gonna put him on speakerphone."

She put the phone by the middle of the table. "Johnny? Meet a bunch of lesbians. Hi!"

"BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI!"

Akashi shouted as Natalia began to sing. She was too loud herself to be able to really judge Natalia's singing. She laughed and clapped when Natalia was finished. She was glad there were smiles and even though it still seemed like there was a little big of tension or awkwardness in the air, it seemed things were back to normal.

Taylor's cake was a white cake with white frosting. Akashi knew nothing of American deserts and so this is what she ended up with. It read: HAPPI BASUDEI TERROR! And when Akashi saw the cake, she groaned. "Baka cake makers..." She grumbled. But she figured that if anyone would find it funny, Taylor might. Though she wondered if Taylor would even believe that it was a legitimate accident. It also had a la combination of cute happy pandas and evils skulls that looked bloody. Akashi was slightly ashamed and turned her head and slumped down off the table and slithered into a booth.

Johnny was in his apartment in Kyoto. He was in the middle of a work out and contemplating winding down and watching some TV before giving Taylor a ring and heading to bed. But before he could even put those thoughts into motion, his cel phone rang.

He scrambled, nearly dropping a weight on his foot and stumbling forward and nearly falling over before diving at his Cel phone.

"Hah ... hah... hah..." He panted through Taylor's words.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYLOR-CHAN! OH SHIT NO!" He shouted and realized he just yelled on speaker phone. "Fuck... duuude!" He protested, but it was obvious he was grinning and embarrassed. "Are you out with your bros?" He said with a little chuckle. "Havin fun?" He asked and then paused. "Oh, shit... lesbians? That's fuckin hot. Yo! How's it hangin' Ha! I mean. uh.. yeah, yo... Make sure Taylor-san has a rockin birthday and if you're out drinkin make sure she gets home safe, ok?"

Akashi raised an eyebrow at Taylor when she dialed Johnny. She hadn't met him yet, even though Taylor hadn't met her girlfriend yet. Akashi was exciting and chomping at the bit to say something and when it seemed like there was a pause, she charged forward and slid into the booth next to Taylor and pushed her aside so she was pressed up against the wall and away from the phone. She leaned in and licked her lips. "Johnny-kuuuun." She said in a sultry tone. "Don't worry, I'll take goood care of Taylor-chan and keep her nice and warm for you."

"Uh.... uhmm..." Johnny let out a nervous little stutter and then there was silence for a moment. "Taylor....?" He said. Akashi beamed widely and sat in her chair and looked at Taylor with a wide grin. She was quite proud of herself.

Natalia bursted into laughter when she saw the cake. "Happy basudei Terror!... I mean Taylor..." She immediately sit down and produced a big kitchen knife while Taylor spoke with her boyfriend.

"Here" she said giving Taylor the knife. "Cut the cake, Terror-chan,...don't kill Akashi..." Natalia said giggling a little impatient about eating cake.

Taylor stared down at the cake, speechless. She gathered her thoughts and looked up at Akashi.

"Akashi." She said. "This is... the best freaking cake I have ever seen." She broke into a big grin. "I love it! It's so perfect I don't want to cut it! Johnny, I wish you could see this, it's beautiful. Maybe we could- HOly frick!" Natalia stuck a giant knife in her face and she jumped. "Don't kill me! Give me that."

She took the knife from Natalia and looked down at the cake before Akashi shoved her over and took over her phone. "Hey!" She giggled. "Man, I don't deserve this. Johnny! Don't worry, killer, I only have thighs for you." She laughed and pushed Akashi back. She looked at the cake again. "Okay Johnny, I gotta go, but I'll see you real soon, okay? Bye!"

She ended the call and took a picture of the cake with her phone before grabbing the knife and cutting the cake into quarters. "There. Eat up! Actually..." Taylor stood up on the seat and leaped into the next booth to get around Akashi. She grabbed her hamburger and in a matter of seconds she had plowed through half of it, but then she had to put it down. After another moment she's recovered enough to speak.

"Okay, I figured Akashi would take a big piece, and Natalia, by the looks of it you're used to about that size piece. You," She pointed to Ciara. "You probably don't eat anything that doesn't have steak in or around it, but if you want you can have cake too. You're here, after all."

She leaped back into her seat on the inside of the booth. "I am Terror Parker! You will all eat my cake!" She found a fork and dug in.

Akashi recoiled at Taylor's words. But when she said she LIKED the hideous cake, Akashi secretly rejoiced once more. Man. She was just fricken good. She felt good. She was glad Taylor was happy.

"Aww, shit a Cake!? Dude, save me a piece! Mail it or something!" Johnny said with an audible chuckle that followed.

Johnny laughed at what he heard and with Taylor's words he let out a little elated sound. Akashi yelled in the background with a big grin.

"For NOW, Johnny-kun! Enjoy it while it's lassssts! I'm not giving uuuuuuup!" She let the last note linger as Taylor hung up.

"Oh! Yeah, see ya Babe Have fun!"

Johnny let out a sigh when he hung up and plopped the phone onto the table nearby and went for a cold juice. "Shit man, are ALL her friends crazy lesbo sex fiends?" It seemed to be a trend and he wondered how Taylor had managed to come away from that sort of group unscathed. He was a pretty lucky dude.

Akashi nodded at the mention of a large piece. "Oh... oh yes..." She said and cut off a little bit of the cake. "I.. have to save a little bit for Mina-chan though." She said as she took a big huge bite from her cake. Akashi wasn't a very graceful eater but looked up at Taylor and then to Natalia and then back at Ciara. She sighed contentedly as she licked the frosting off her fork and dug in for another bite.

"Ahh..."

Akashi then blushed. "So um yeah..." She began. "There's one more gift but, um... I would actually like you to save that one. I would like you to stick with tradition and not open it in front of me, if that's ok?" She said pointing to a small little cube shaped present with rather plain looking beige wrapping and no bow or anything.

Ciara had to clamp a hand over her mouth to keep from bursting out laughing, but her shoulders still shook with mirth. "Heh heh, these 'basudei' sound more fun than birthdays, Akashi. But damn, that's got to be a tasty cake." She flashed a grin at Taylor as the call wrapped up. "You're one lucky miss, by the way. I can hear the bells and read the invitations already, Johnny & Terror. Damn, girl."

Ciara sighed, half out of exasperation and half out of longing. A real proper steak, it'd been a while. "Yeah, I got steak from time to time, if you count it as being in a package, dehydrated, and garnished with whatever powder they stuffed into it at the time. Heh, but everyone jumps to conclusions about my bod, it's OBVIOUSLY about the veggies. Besides," Ciara declared as she gulped down the last of her burger, "looks like I got my beef for the day."

"Thanks, Taylor. Was a pretty stupid day earlier, but cake makes it all better." Ciara cut herself a sizable piece, then nodded appreciatively at Akashi as she saw the last gift. "Good move. The best presents don't need any flashy metrosexual wrapping."

Natalia's lovely mouth was watering as she saw the cake. After all, thanks to some fat dumb jerk bunny-girl, she hadn't eat anything at all. So when Terror Parker offered her a big piece of cake, she gladly accepted.

"Well...if you insist." She said licking her lips as she snatched the knife from Taylor's hands and cut herself a slice that approached the one-quarter size, immediately sliding it on her plate to start eating it voraciously. Soon her mouth was covered with chocolate.

"I am Natalia. And I approve this cake!" she said feeling much better now that she had finally ate something. ^_^

...And then her food arrived...

Taylor swatted furiously at the incoming hands of Ciara and Natalia. "Heyheyhey! I already CUT it, dumbass! Eat your piece! Nobody is leaving until their whole piece is gone, except maybe me because I can't eat that much." She demanded.

She grabbed the last box and looked it over, felt it's weight. "You mean your tradition. Okay. I'll just leave it here on the table where I can stare at it." She put it on the table immediately in front of her and watched it while she began to eat her quarter of the cake. "Kashi... Should I meet Mina-chan? I feel weird that I don't know her. I don't even know what she looks like, and there are a hundred Mina's in Friction and stuff. Should we, like, double date or something?"

She yawned and thought about it for a moment, then went back to the cake. It was weird, as good of friends as her and Akashi were, they sort of knew very little about the other's life.

Akashi did not have to wait around for Taylor to give the signal and began to hungrily devour her cake once her piece was given to her. It was even more delicious than it looked! She gulped down the cake as quickly as she was able to and looked at Taylor with a thoughtful look.

"A Double Date would be awesome but I don't know if I could handle all that hyperness..."

She paused. "I think it would be great for you to meet Mina-chan and I'm sure that she would love to meet you. Mina pretty much loves everything though..." She said as she put a finger to her lips in thought. "She's got more energy than even you...."

She paused. "But if you think that I'M a flaming lesbo, Mina probably outdoes me there...."

Natalia looked at the cake then at the hamburgers and fries they had just brought her. It was a ton of food she would never be able to eat. "Oh well... I'll take a little of everything ...and give the rest to Akashi" she said as she pushed her cake piece to the side, placing it in a secure corner away from everybody else. She then grabbed her hamburgers, one in each hand, and started taking small bits.

"You are a flaming les nympho, Akashi-sama..." Natalia said giggling not really paying much attention to the conversation. But after a few more bits of hamburger, Natalia realized they were talking about Akashi's girlfriend, Mina. "Oh she is?... They I need to meet her..." Natalia would add teasingly almost choking with her food as she giggledm