Laurie & Julio: Surprise!

[x-wallflower-.livejournal.com]

Laurie leads Julio to his surprise birthday party.

Set: Saturday 7th July 2007 Time: 7:00pm




Laurie knocked on the door to the suite Julio and the other boys shared, a blindfold clutched in her hand. She hoped he wouldn't ask too many questions about why a blindfold was needed, but she supposed she could always tell him she was kidnapping him and selling him to the Cubans for cigars. Lot of money in Cuban cigars...probably.

There were many scenarios Julio had envisioned which involved a pretty girl and a blindfold. Unfortunately his reaction to opening the door and seeing Laurie clutching one, his only immediate reaction was: "Er?"

"Come with me if you want to live." Laurie said in her best 'Hollywood star' impersonation. She paused for a moment, eyeing him to see how he reacted to that and then held out the blindfold. "Also, put this on."

Julio's eyes flicked from the blindfold in the girl's hand to her eyes. "Um." He said intelligently. "This is not going to end in my horrible early death is it?"

Laurie's eyes widened, her expression one of almost cherubic innocence. "Don't you trust me, Julio?"

She was possibly laying it on a bit thick, but you took your moments of fun where you could get them and the look that Julio was currently wearing was way too much fun not to continue along with. She really did like being cryptic, it soothed a particular dramatic urge in her.

"About as far as I can throw you," Julio said, absolutely serious. But he let Laurie tie the blindfold around his eyes anyway. He had good reason to be wary. Unlike some of his suite mates, he was not in the habit of forgetting his own birthday.

"You wound me, Sir." Laurie said, placing a hand on his shoulder and slowly leading him down the hall. "Besides, the human traffic market is on a down slide right now, I'd never get enough money to start up my own cartel."

"You could stick a wig on me, call me Julieta?" Julio said helpfully. His natural uncoordinatedness was being magnified a thousandfold now that he was being dragged around and he couldn't see. He had visions of Cain holding him upside-down by the ankles and shaking him because he broke a credenza or something.

"Julio, my friend, you are many things but an attractive woman is not one of them. Although, I suppose we could always wax everything and just say you were a spectacularly ugly woman." Laurie replied, gently leading him around the various priceless antiques with a sure grip. Which was hard when he seemed almost determined to walk into things.

"I am very pretty!" Julio protested. "Everyone tells me that." Especially after he'd done something dumb. "Are we there yet?"

"They're humouring you." Laurie replied with a big grin. Of course, Julio was gorgeous as hell but she'd never actually _say_ that to him. That way lay blushing, and being tongue tied and weird. "And, we are almost there. Just a flight of stairs to navigate. But not to worry, I got an A in stair navigation."

"Great," came Julio's flat reply. He was vindicated when he tripped and knocked his shin against the stairwell. "Ay! A la verrga," he muttered sourly and rubbed at his shin. "Are we there yet?" he said again. A few more steps. "How about now?" Two more stairs. "Now?"

"I bet you drove your Grandmother to drink when you were a child, didn't you?" Laurie replied, moving him toward the front door.

They'd decided to use the Pier on the boathouse for the birthday party, considering it was outside where it was nice and cool and far enough from the mansion that Julio wouldn't be able to see them putting up streamers and the various things that a birthday party needed.

"Repeatedly." Julio said. He could feel the breeze on his face and hear the lapping of waves against the lake shore. And that meant one of two things. He stopped and refused to go farther. "All right, I have played your game long enough. But I know what day it is. And I refuse to be Laked for it."

"I'm not going to lake you." Laurie replied, exasperation evident as she pulled at his arm. "Come on scaredy cat. I promise you the trust is worth it."

"Think about who I live with," Julio said. "It is a survival instinct, que no?" But he let himself be pulled along. He was so getting laked. He just knew it.

"Yeah, but this is me. I am as pure and innocent as the driven snow." she replied, snickering at the end and spoiling the whole thing. "And, we are here!"

She pulled the blindfold off and stood back grinning as those gathered yelled 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!' at the top of their lungs.

Julio jumped back in surprise, and then ducked his head and laughed. One year ago, covered with bruises and the weight of cold horror weighing on his chest, that was how he celebrated his 16th birthday. Alone in a hospital bed. Now he stood, faced with his friends in the bright afternoon sunshine. And he laughed. It felt good.

"You guys," he said, shaking his head. "I totally knew. The entire time."

"Suuuure you did." Laurie replied, grin almost hurting her it was so wide. "Now, come and blow out your candles and make a wish."