Griselda's Birthday (Open)

She uncorked the bottle to sniff at it gently, her face lighting up with her tender smile. Then she sat the bottle carefully aside, rising to her feet to throw her arms around Miyu in a tight hug.

"Thank you, Miyu. It's lovely, as you are."

Miyu smiled and accepted the hug. Think about that. Miyu Chen, well-known for her disgust of Tremere, was not only buying one a gift, but smiling at one and hugging one very warmly. She even kissed Griselda's cheek.

"You're most welcome, Sheriff. You deserve so much more."

Then she moved off to let others give their presents.

She had to take a moment to swallow the lump of emotion that had risen in her throat. Once that was done, she slipped the ring onto her right hand middle finger, rising up to draw her father in for a tight, emotion-filled embrace.

"Thank you, Daddy," she said quietly. "I love you."

She stepped up and put a hand on Joseph's shoulder that was somewhat reassuring. Then she handed over her gift, which was a medium-sized box.

"Happy birthday, Red."

Her gift was very girly - an assortment of hair clips in varying colors and shapes.

She opened the box and started to laugh.

"Are you trying to tell me something, Orie?" she asked with a wink, then hugged the Tremere close. "Thank you, darling. These are lovely."

She laughed as she was hugged close.

"Thanks, Griselda. And while I'm convinced that your hair will never, ever be tamed, I figured something sparkly to put in it would look lovely on you."

She winked, kissed Griselda on the lips, then moved off to the side. It was mostly chaste, but the kiss lingered for a moment.

She returned the kiss to her lips, but it was fairly clear that not only was it chaste from her end, she wasn't really wanting to let it linger. She wasn't rude about it, but she untangled herself from Oriella rather swiftly.

She looked around for a moment and tilted her head.

"Is that all?" she asked, anxious to no longer be the center of attention.

Miyu wrote:

Miyu smiled and accepted the hug. Think about that. Miyu Chen, well-known for her disgust of Tremere, was not only buying one a gift, but smiling at one and hugging one very warmly. She even kissed Griselda's cheek.

"You're most welcome, Sheriff. You deserve so much more."

Then she moved off to let others give their presents.

Victor squeezed Miyu's hand. He knew how out of character and even difficult it must have been for her to come to terms with a good Tremere.

He frowned at the girls that were kissing, then held up a small box that was left on the table - probably Erik's present, actually.

"Here ye go, lass. Last one," he said, handing her the box. "And no, it's no from me."

She returned the squeeze to her hand and just watched Griselda. Because really, this was about her and as hard as it may have been for her to fathom not hating a Tremere, she realized that not very many good things came to the Sheriff. As such, she could do nothing but be pleased and feel blessed to be a part of this night with and for her.

She took the present and smiled.

"Thank you, Jamie." She tilted her head. "Who is this from?"

"Its an IOU from me, your present isn't done yet." kissing her gently "BUT it will be worth the wait - promise." sealing it with a kiss.

Laughing, she shook her head and accepted his kisses.

"You," she said, rolling her eyes and kissing him again. "You give me entirely too much. And you've already given me the best present ever." She grinned.

Only the best for you." kissing her passionately before them all.

She returned the kiss, letting the rest of the people there fall away. She was ridiculously happy, in fact. She could have left the party right then and there, but she knew she would have to stay for just a little while longer, at least.

"Brat," she muttered to Erik with a smile, then kissed him again.

Jamie had to take a moment to just watch his cousin. He had literally seen her in the presence of every single man she had ever been with. Every last one of them. He had never seen her smile like that. It brought a smile to his own face.

But there was a thing that needed to be done. He pulled a flag from his bag, turning slightly to the northeast, toward where his, Griselda and Joseph's homeland would be. And with his bare hands, he drove the flag into the ground so that it would wave proudly.

The twins took their cue from Jamie - and began to once again play. Possibly thankfully, they didn't sing along - they knew the music but not the words to this particular song.

That....was exactly the one thing that would tear her attention away from Erik. She heard her father singing and it was that song.

She didn't move away from Erik exactly. She just kind-of turned, toward the northeast. Toward Scotland. She grinned when she saw the flag Jamie had planted -- and then she was singing along with her father.

Because some things just had to be.

She glanced toward Matieu, Tisa and Erik -- "Don't judge me," she muttered.

Guivevere was by Jaime as the others started to sing with a smile at the flag and Scotland the Brave.

He reached over to take Guinevere's hand as he sang. God bless him, he couldn't carry a tune. It was just shy of offensive to the ear but he had literally not a musical bone in his body. But he sang along anyway.

Victor frowned and looked up the lyrics on his phone while joining in. His voice was mediocre at best, but he was rather curious how Miyu would sound singing.