kaisou | ota; ciao, alberto! ☆

Entry tags:

ota; ciao, alberto! ☆

WHO: Alberto Scorfano and friends (and any strangers they might bring!)
WHERE: Stardew Beach
WHEN: Monday, 25 September, late afternoon/evening
WHAT: Beach birthday party! Alberto's turning sixteen! And you know what that means... 🛵
WARNINGS: no warnings, but fond farewells, kaisou! It's been a blast~ grazie mille a tutti ♥

[ Today is a special day for Alberto, his highly anticipated sixteenth birthday! And Pepa (with Isabela's help) has been busy party-planning on his behalf — she's a mom, she had to throw him a big party. Like for Luca's birthday party last year, the boys have invited all their friends (and their friends' friends) to join them at Stardew Beach on Monday evening.

Pepa and Isabela have decorated with a festive banner stretched between two poles, and colorful balloons are tied up all over. There's an open table for gifts and things, plus a table with folding chairs for guests to sit and eat. Because another fold-out table boasts plenty of food for everyone: empanadas, arepas, rice, tortilla chips and guacamole, a nice selection of easy-to-transport tasty treats, mostly Colombian dishes. Plus, naturally, a large birthday cake, lovingly decorated. Pepa may not be as good a cook as her sister Julieta, but she can still throw down in the kitchen.

And of course there's music! What kind of party would it be without music? The Madrigal ladies may have insisted on handling all the party prep (cuz the kid can't bake his own birthday cake, c'mon!) but for his part, at least, Alberto made his own party playlist, a little Bluetooth speaker tucked away on one of the tables, collecting a mishmash of favorite songs to make his best guess at "party" music. After all, this is technically Alberto's first ever birthday party. He means to keep the energy high all evening! (There's also a whole case of Monster energy drinks by the food table, for anyone struggling to get on his level, ahem...)

Alberto's also got some fishing supplies propped up nearby, for friends who want to try their luck, and some spare towels and clothes for others who just fancy a swim. Luca's got his telescope situated a little farther off, not so near all the noise — for a nice quiet moment stargazing. The boys have also built a big bonfire, just like at Luca's party, with several fold-out chairs surrounding it. As eager as Alberto is to start giant fires with adult approval, they don't light the fire until the sun starts to set. In fact, the boys show up seemingly very late to Alberto's own party, only arriving well over a half-hour after the party was supposed to start. But when they do, Alberto and Luca are both radiating excitement and happiness — and Alberto's, uh, also holding a motorcycle helmet...? Three guesses why they're so late, hmm...

Til then, Pepa is running around making sure everything is right. Setting up paper plates and plastic cutlery and solo cups, fussing over the food, greeting guests as they arrive. ]

Presents can go on that table over there. Please help yourself to as much food as you like! There's plenty to go around!

[ Doesn't matter if you have an invite or not. Madrigal parties are always open to the community. And she could really use the noise and energy — even at Alberto's party... The more the merrier! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Isabela is going to pull out a lot of stops to make the best gifts she can deliver there and the following are what she is going to give Alberto:

a LEGO Vespa building model kit

a red Vespa brand mug

a friendship bracelet set

a tan pouch of crystals connected to friendship: Lapis Lazuli (Protection, Honesty, Trust, and Confidence), Rose Quartz (Harmony, Unconditional Love, and Reconciliation), Blue Lace Agate (Tranquility), Carnelian (Courage and Creativity), Unakite (Partnership), and Emerald (Long Lasting Love and Commitment)

[ Alberto's becoming overwhelmed with the outpouring of love from all his friends and— well, family! Slim as they are now, in a funny way, losing so many Madrigals one after another ultimately just cemented the feeling that this is Alberto's new family. Today, he's feels more a part of the amazing Madrigals than ever. Pepa and Isabela went all out arranging this party for him, and he's verklempt enough as it is. But when he starts picking away at the pile of presents on the table, bit by bit throughout the night, the emotions just swell more. Pepa's gifts already made him cry. He needed to take a break after that...! But when he finds Isabela's later on in the night, he has a similar experience: he opens one, gets moved; spots another, opens it, only to find it's even better than the first; and then somehow suddenly he's opened four gifts at once! He's barely able to keep his composure between his excitement and his gratitude. Reading the descriptions about each crystal is what tips the scales, though.

His eyes fill with tears, which he tries to choke back — but seeing as this is the second time he's started crying while opening his family's gifts tonight... well... maybe he should just give up trying to hide it. He spies Isabela over by the bonfire, thankfully alone for a moment, and hurries over to her. On his way, he snatches up a little gift bag, one of quite a few other mysterious gifts Alberto brought along himself. But first priority, before anything: a hug. He just rushes her, practically a sneak attack, wrapping his arms around her tight, smiling wide despite the tears in his eyes. ]

Bela! I found your presents...! Thank you, heh~

[ He can't help a little sniffle, as he pulls back from the hug, seeking her gaze earnestly, lopsided smile still on his face. ]

Thank you for everything, I mean. Ha... Here— For you.

[ He hands off the couple gift bags. Inside the first, she'll find an assortment of decadent, brightly colored bath bombs. In the second bag, she'll find a collection of handmade gifts instead — more typical of Alberto, for sure. Seems like he's back on his Shrinky Dink game like last Christmas, but this time he's decorated a couple strings of fairy lights, some with flowers, some with cacti. He's also made her more earrings: an approximation of sunflowers and (perhaps a little cheeky but sweet, given their conversation on the Zodiac post at the beginning of the month) a pair of forget-me-nots. And, naturally, he includes a cute hand-drawn Thank You card, topical for the occasion. He fully trusts Isabela will have a blast riding on his Vespa with him — he'll definitely be cruising by Casita every day this week now that he's got it...! So she'll have plenty of chances to run wild with her craziest "cousin" — Mirabel may have brought out her sister's wild side, much to Abuela Alma's chagrin, but at least she wasn't driving her around on a death machine at 50mph. Ahem... ]

This is Luz's best friend, and she is more than a little happy to see how good of a birthday he's having! So as stealthily as she could, Luz adds her own gifts:

- A record player with an antiquated feel.

-A scrapbook with all the pictures she has with Alberto and Luca, some of them even featuring Danny and Isabela!

-A painting with Alberto's favorite person!

- A small charm for Alberto to wear and think of her. Why a Zebra? Why not?

Edited 2023-09-25 19:27 (UTC)

Pepa has so much fun gift shopping. She loves spoiling the people she loves. And Alberto is getting extra spoiling because her kids aren't here to be spoiled. So gifts from her include:

● A giant art kit. Since he's always drawing.
● Lego gear bots.
● Lazer Tag
● A fort building kit
● And a boomerang. Totally not a bad idea at all. Definitely.

[ Later on in the party, after goofing around with all his friends a long while, Alberto finally gets the whim to peek at his presents. It's one of Pepa's gifts that Alberto opens first, just randomly plucking one from the pile of presents, having snuck off alone at some point to quietly pick at his presents by himself. He doesn't know how to birthday party, man. No one told him it's the done thing to wait for everyone to watch you open all the presents at once. That'd be creepy, right? So he opens one on a whim, drawn to the wrapping paper Pepa picked out. And the art kit makes him smile wide, always excited for new art supplies — some of this stuff he's never even seen before...! Fuzzy sticks?! Amazing!

Then he notices there's another gift wrapped with the same paper. And another. And another. And another... All of them from Pepa. He hadn't intended on opening five gifts in a row when he walked over here, honestly a little intimidated and deeply touched by the bulk of the gift pile itself. But each gift Pepa got him just kept getting better and better...! His face lights up at the laser tag, resolving right away that they'll probably use this tonight, here at the party! Then he becomes rather verklempt at the fort building kit, feeling emotion swell in his chest, immediately aware it's something he doesn't have room for at home — which just means he'll have to build it at Casita! And Pepa probably knows where he has in mind already... But for whatever reason, already feeling so moved and grateful and overwhelmed with emotion, the boomerang is what sends him over the edge. That's just so stinkin' cool...?!

And just like that, he feels the tears well up in his eyes, and his face scrunches up as emotion takes over. He hastily sets the boomerang back down, snatches up a little gift bag he had brought along (one of several mysterious little gift bags and boxes?), and suddenly rushes Pepa at the food table. Whatever she's fussing with is abruptly interrupted by Alberto launching himself into her for a tight, caring, practically desperate hug, burrowing his face into her dress — partially to hide that he's crying... He doesn't say a word at first, though. Just stands there hugging her and quietly trying (and failing) to hold back his little sobs of joy. ]

If asked, Katsuki would say his gift was teaching Alberto to drive. That was an Experience. One which maybe took a few years off his life expectancy. Or so he'd say.

But his actual gift is a custom built gaming laptop with a few games already purchased and installed. Pros of befriending the guy who specializes in computers.

[ Alberto's picking away at his present pile throughout the party, rather than opening them all at once. That's too many Feelings, nope. If he tried to open them all at once, he'd definitely start crying. So one at a time, he's unwrapping gifts and seeking out his friends to thank them — with gifts of his own...

He intercepts Katsuki by the bonfire pretty early on, wearing a touched, lopsided smile and carrying a gift bag. He holds it out immediately without a word, that smile betraying exactly how moved he's feeling — he must have just found his new computer, it's pretty obvious... ]

Hey. Here. ...Thank you, Katsuki.

[ He skips a beat, waiting until Katsuki accepts the gift bag before thanking him outright, smile softening even more when he does. Katsuki will notice upon taking it that the bag is surprisingly heavy...? Inside, Katsuki will find a couple thoughtful gifts. The first being a rather unique cookbook — something surely Katsuki would imagine Alberto had to snatch up if he found it by chance. But even taking the book out, the bag is still quite weighty; the book isn't that heavy... And the second thing Katsuki finds barely weigh anything at all, simply a cute pair of swim trunks with an axolotl print... Things Alberto must have deliberately sought out online, because how serendipitous would that be? He's even already sewed a tail hole into it for him. It's little things like this that shows the kid has more intention and foresight than he usually lets on. There's even a hand-drawn Thank You card, not unlike the one Katsuki received at Christmas.

But when Katsuki's left with a still heavy bag, Alberto's sweet smile widens even more, as he tries to swallow it and suppress sudden laughter. The only other thing in there, beneath the other two gifts... is a sock.

A fucking heavy sock. That jingles, like it's full of— ]

Pfffft! Ahahah...!

[ He can't hold his laughter in anymore, and bursts out giggling uncontrollably at his own little prank.

He didn't. He fucking didn't...

Of course he absolutely did... If Katsuki hit him with it like the butter-sock, it'd probably be well-deserved... even if it is his birthday. Monster child. Literal monster child... ]

He remembers well the gifts that Alberto had brought him--so of course he isn't just going to bring One and call it there. While he's no artist like Alberto is--there'll be a hand-written birthday card with a terrible doodle of a spaceship inside it.

Alongside, there'll be--

A basket of Fresh garden veggies and fruit, Kids need to eat their greens.
- A Build-a-mini-vespa kit, so Alberto can assemble and paint a mini version of his now pride Vespa,
  - And finally, a flag that is meant to be attached to one's bike--or in this case, Vespa.

Edited 2023-10-01 05:38 (UTC)

[ Alberto is too moved with emotion to open all his gifts at once, but he does open Vash's gift and Kni's back-to-back. Together their gifts move him most out of any, if only because they're the last ones he's opened and he's already brimming with emotion he can barely hide. Thankfully, he goes to Kni first, so he can do away with all that schmaltz... But after handing his unanticipated gift for Kni off, he excuses himself to fetch Vash and hand off yet another gift for him, too.

He interrupts him at whatever he's doing, holding out a simple gift bag with a smile. ]

Hey! Vash. Here, hah— I got your gift. Thank you so much — so much, heh~ This one's from me to you.

[ As Vash takes the gift bag, Alberto's smile turns somehow more... worrisome. Maybe because he's obviously trying to swallow it...? ]

There's, um— a book... Hah, it's useful!

[ And indeed, there is a book in the bag — it's a thin standard joke book, entitled Jokes for Blokes, containing all the cheesy jokes Vash may ever need on hand.

Likewise, Alberto's included a couple of his own jokes: notably, a silly hand-drawn card of the two of them on his new Vespa, ever-so-topical... But, uhm, a bit more mischievously, perhaps — clear right from the start by the way Alberto barely contains his laughter as he watches Vash dig into the bag — Vash also receives a, uh... a Thing. They've talked about this... He found another. It was at a secondhand store in the university district — probably some art student's handiwork passed on after finals. It seemed so kismet, though? He couldn't pass it up. He's practically snorting with laughter as he reads Vash's reaction, once he fully gets the Long Furby out of the bag, feeling like he's been very successful in this silly gift. It's obvious Vash is sort of being pranked, here, and Alberto can't hold in his giggles after a short while. But nevertheless, he manages some composure, pretending like everything's fine despite his almost uncontrollable laughter, beckoning Vash to follow him and glossing over this horrifying gift he just gave him... ]

Eheheh...! Dai, haha, c'mon~ This one's for you and Kni — he's over here, hehe~

[ He holds up the flat, square parcel still left in his hands, wrapped in brown paper and twine, as he gestures with a little nod toward Vash's brother, a short way's up the shore. He's still grinning ear-to-ear, though, like this is the funniest thing he's ever done in his life, no matter how much he tries to keep it together... Kids, man... ]

Edited 2023-10-03 08:31 (UTC)

While Kni will spare Alberto a terribly made (with love) card, he does have two gifts for him, both wrapped neatly with brown wrapping paper and tied with twine:

- A book about constellations, it's important to understand your planet's night sky!
- A few packets of "astronaut food", or what Alberto may refer to as "space food". See, he has a sense of humor!

[ Alberto picks away at his presents throughout the party, feeling too overwhelmed with emotion to open them all at once. Each one makes him wistful enough — it's his first ever birthday party, after all! So he's having a lot of Big Feelings, okay... Which is why, long before the party, he went ahead and prepared 'thank you' gifts for all his friends. He knows it's not the done thing, but he figures, hey, it's his birthday — he can do what he wants. That's the point, right? And he loved giving gifts on Christmas and Valentine's Day and other people's birthdays...! Why not give gifts back on his own birthday, if that's what makes him happy?

When he happens to open Kni's, he'll come find him, and spontaneously hand him a present likewise wrapped with twine and brown paper, though his has stars and planets and moons doodled on it. He keeps hold of a gift bag and something else wrapped in brown paper, large and flat and square. His smile is radiating both how endeared he feels over Kni's gift to him, and how smitten he feels over his own gift to Kni... ]

Hey! Kni! Thank you. I found your gift. Here— For you... Heh, I think we both accidentally went with a theme, ahah~

[ Inside the gift Alberto hands him, Kni will find a couple packs of glow-in-the-dark stars, and, much more exciting, an actual star projector, which rotates with some identifiable constellations. In addition to these, there's tucked away two notes of sorts: one, a hand-drawn card (topical, obviously); the other, a thin book made of the same brown paper and twine it's wrapped in, which boasts handwritten recipes for all the various dishes Alberto made over the past several Fridays spent eating human food together. Alberto doesn't wait for him to open it before clapping him friendlily on the shoulder after handing the parcel off, still holding the flat square gift and simple gift bag in hand. ]

You open that. I'm gonna go grab your brother. This one is for both of you to share, hah.

[ He gestures to one of the gifts he's holding, but it's unclear which... Before he sets off to find Vash and bring him over, leaving Kni to open his unexpected gifts privately if he'd like. ]

Edited 2023-10-03 07:36 (UTC)

GIFTS, etc ☆

Isa’s Gifts (because a certain somebody here is spoiling him big time)

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Pepa's gifts

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Gift from Katsuki

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wanna jump over to Kni's thread for a quick lil three-way?

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Alberto ☆ ota;

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Arrival

By the sea

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Arrival

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Isabela Madrigal | Encanto (OTA)

The Party

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vash the stampede -- ota

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