A Birthday for Gertrude

Gertrude opens the egg carton and regards the... rocks?

"Um. Thanks, Wren. I can tell you put a lot of work into this," Gertrude says to the adventurer. Her tone is one of gentle ambivalence.

"Ha, haw, heh.. huh." The gift goes over about as well as Wren had predicted, but they go on, "That one’s from Australia—Christchurch, New Zealand, technically—and that’s from Asia. Well… Furano, Japan, to be precise. The Europe rock is from Lesbos, Greece, and these two? Antarctica and the Arctic Ocean. Long story on how I got that one!

"Aw, but I don’t wanna bore ya. A rock from each of the seven continents and the five oceans. They’re, uh… labeled." Wren lifts a rock and there’s a sticker with "SA" printed on it. "Salvadore, Brazil for the South America rock," they mumble. "Yup."

Gertrude's mood brightens again when she sees the Moon Prince's sketch. "Oh, wow, M.P. This is beautiful. You are a wonderful artist! The palace looks amazing. Maybe you'll be able to take me to see the real thing one day?"

Wren mumbles to themself, "I coulda got her all the rocks in the world, but no rock on Earth outshines a moon rock."

The pilot says that, then stares blankly at Ptisilith with its sunbright glow. "Well, after eating my words, I got no room for cake. Ha."

Wren fires their grappler gun at a tree to swing away from the party and escape. The grappler gun slowly reels a broken branch into the open window. Wren decides to just use the door and the stairs to exit, butt-waving to whoever they pass on the way out.

Gertrude follows Wren's gaze to the Ptisilith lying inert on the floor. "Um, is it okay? It's not... dead or anything, is it?"

While waiting for the other guests to approach her with presents, somebody hands her a slice of Robin's cake. She lifts the bottom of her mask slightly to take a bite. It's sweet and fluffy and tastes somewhat of... anchovies...

"Mmm," Gertrude says as she politely puts the cake down and slowly steps away from it.

Mel grins and wags her tail as Gertrude takes the gift.

"My friend Merv and I got this for you! Hope you like it!" she says. Then she remembers the confetti she made and throws a handful of shredded rainbow paper into the air, shouting "Happy Birthday!"

She wolfs down her piece of the birthday cake and goes back for another, entranced by the tangy, savory taste it has.

Gertrude opens the gift from the strangely familiar werewolf. She holds the necklace up to the light, watching it sparkle. "Thank you. And tell Merv thank you, too. I really like it."

Her cheeks flush behind her mask. This is the first piece of jewelry she's ever owned. She slips the necklace over her head and touches the pendant as it settles in over her chest. It feels nice.