houseofcards_rp | [OTA] Beware of Greeks bearing gifts

Zoe's twenty-first birthday had started well enough, with murmured birthday wishes from Victor and a promise of dinner tonight before he left to start his day either in his office here or the one over at Club Castle. And it had, for a few hours at least continued well. She dropped in on the accounting office to check on Penelope - she might be taking the day off, but her assistant was still new enough that she liked to check in before disappearing for the day. Then she'd dropped into the Head of Finance's office to hand over the expenditure reports for September and smile at Edison's side-eye. He was a Six, after all, and had some idea that Zoe had plans to challenge him at some point, but there was little he could do about that.

And he wouldn't be wrong, anyway.

The day only went south when she headed down the hall and found a pair of Heart Twos with a box. The library was quiet this time of day, and she hated to let people into Victor's rooms, so she nodded in that direction, letting them put it on a table deep in the stacks and dismissing them before she opened the note. She recognized the handwriting, after all.

Darling, Happy Birthday and a belated congratulations on your impressive achievement of Five. Of course, if you'd stayed put, you could be a Nine with your dear, dear brother by now, but I'm sure you're intelligent enough to not realize that.

I'd hate to leave this day unacknowledged. These are some things I thought you'd enjoy, dear.

Charlotte Huntly Kattalakis

Well, Zoe thought as she picked up the yellowed letters and unfolded the first. They ran the gamut: letters from Charlotte, letters from Aunt Maggie, letters from someone named Maria. Correspondence of a more...professional sort - off-Deck jobs, compensation for them.

It was all supposed to upset her, Zoe thought. And it...didn't, really. She'd known even if she'd pretended not to, what kind of man her father had been. She'd seen things, she thought, and then she blinked when she saw a black velvet box tossed carelessly in the corner of the box, reaching over to pick it up. Inside were earrings, and a note old enough that the paper had started to yellow.

Για Ζωή, για εικοστό πρώτο έτος της ηλικίας της.

"Papa," she murmured, and leaned back in the chair as she looked down at the jewelry. Would he be upset with her for what she'd done with her life? Did it matter? It shouldn't, certainly, especially not after this summer, but...

Well.

Maybe it did, a little.

[Translation: For Zoe, on her twenty-first birthday.]

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Annie will come bouncing by in the middle of the day with a pretty box of candied almonds and a card. Or rather, she'll come bouncing by Zoe's office and not find her, which will start a search. When she finds Zoe at last, she'll be starting to droop, but she still has a big smile. "Heard you had a birthday going on."

She took the day off, because really, if there's one day you shouldn't be crunching numbers, it's your birthday.

"Number twenty-one," Zoe says, leaning her elbows on the library table as she nibbles on the scone that a Two had brought her with her tea. She has a small pile of jewelry boxes on top of a Manolo Blahnik box, but she's examining the ingredient list on Evan's present of Kraft Dinner. "Sit down a while?" She adds when she sees the familiar droop. She and Annie have been friends a few months now, after all. She's got the signs down.

And it's much appreciated, going by how Annie's smile edges just a teensy bit bigger. The box, card tucked into the wrapping, is set leaning against the shoe box before she sits down. "Big day-- what is that and why do you have it? That's, like, betrayal of the kitchens." Don't let Chives see it.

"It's Evan McCartney's idea of sending me a little bit of Canada for my birthday. I think Chives might burn it if he sees it." And it wouldn't be such a loss from what she can tell. She hasn't read this many chemical names since she had a chemistry tutor.

Still, she sets it aside to pick up Annie's box. "This, on the other hand?" She says as she opens the candied almonds. "Far less likely to send him into palpitations."

"See how thoughtful I am? Nothing that will cause trouble for you on a day like this." She winks and leans forward. "Maybe the worst thing today is if you try and eat that. It's been years, but lemme tell you, that stuff is practically devilspawn in supposedly edible form."

"I wasn't going to. I mean, look at the color. There's no way that actually occurs in nature." Not even in Canada, frankly. "That bad, though?"

She picks out an almond, though, and offers Annie the box.

"Twice a week for three months before we mutinied against Dad. Then it was PB&J until my brother and I figured out our way around a stove." There's a pause before she tacks on, almost as cheerful, "This'd be my older brother. Not Martin."

An almond seems like just the thing now.

She makes a face at the twice a week, then her face takes on a calm expression as she pops a nut in her mouth. "I imagine if Charlotte...if my mother had ever had to cook, we would have been doomed. Or eating a lot of takeout."

"Going down every night to beg a late meal from the kitchen?" Annie suggests, crunching the almond on one side of her mouth. "Would Sean have just let it go every time or would he've eventually gone all sarcastic like Chives does?"

"Oh, no, no sarcasm. Disappointment. So much Disappointment." She grins as she fishes out another almond. "Mostly in Charlotte's direction. I would have just gotten cookies."

Annie snorts, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Quite deservedly. Any kid inflicted with bad dinners needs a good dessert to make up for it. Good thing you're cut loose from her now."

"And Chives is making sure I can cook, too, so there's no worries there." Her lips twitch. "I can even make real macaroni and cheese."

"Fantastic." She gives Zoe a slow round of applause, smirking a little. "We can all turn to you if the kitchens go on strike."

"As if Chives would ever let them." She grins, though. "But if they somehow manage it, I'm your girl."

[OTA] Beware of Greeks bearing gifts

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