After having a good laugh I put the better cards in the decks, then stored them and chatted with Pokora about light topics for a few minutes.

The door to my room opened and we both glanced in that direction.

Alyssa walked out looking positively rested and made her way over to us.

“How was the nap?” I turned to her and patted the spot next to me on the sofa.

The Luzo sat down and wrapped her tail around my waist. “Pretty good,” she replied with a tiny yawn then turned to Pokora. “I hope you don't mind that I told Elena she could sleep in your room since there's two beds there.”

The Elf nodded. “She told me already. It's okay,” she assured her. “I'm staying here for free so I don't mind sharing.”

I hummed and chose to tease her, “Thank you, Poko-Poko.”

The woman visibly cringed and shook her head. “No.”

I nodded in understanding. “Poko-chan?”

The Archer closed her eyes and sighed. “That's gross,” she rejected the nickname again.

I thought for a second. “How about Poko in da blocko?”

“Absolutely not,” she denied it with a glare.

“Poko loco?” I tried for the last time.

“Fuck off,” she chuckled. “Don't give me a weird nickname.”

Alyssa giggled, “What did I wake up to?”

“No clue,” Pokora sighed.

I looked out the window and saw the sunlight painting the sky in orange and pink. “I feel like I'm forgetting something...” I muttered and checked my pocket watch.

It was half past eight.

“If you forgot then maybe it wasn't that important,” Pokora offered with a shrug.

I nodded. “Maybe, maybe not.”

Alyssa stood up and stretched. “Today's my turn to make dinner. Any requests?”

I shook my head. “Not really. Maybe not too heavy? We have a busy day tomorrow.” I gave my girlfriend a wink.

“True that,” the Cleric agreed with a blush.

“Busy how?” Pokora probed.

I turned to her and smiled. “Yolin's birthday is tomorrow.”

The Elf leaned back on the sofa. “Nice.”

“I was thinking we could have a few drinks after midnight with the alcohol you bought,” Alyssa proposed, moving towards the kitchen. “So I'll make something with that in mind.”

“Sounds great,” I cheered with a smile.

“Thank you, Alyssa,” Pokora chimed in with a smile of her own.

“Not a problem,” the Luzo giggled and went over towards the kitchen.

Pokora turned to me with a disappointed face.

“What?” I inquired with raised eyebrows.

“Leaving the cooking to your girlfriends? That's some lazy shit,” she accused me.

“First of all, fuck off,” I laughed. “Second, I don't know how to cook yet. Nothing like what they can make at least.” I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “I made pancakes twice... nobody really liked them.”

“Yikes,” Pokora muttered with a wince.

“I made Okroshka once and they liked it. Ran out of Kvass, though,” I lamented with a heavy heart.

Pokora's eyes widened a little. “You found Kvass?”

I shook my head and tapped my temple with a finger. “Made it myself.”

A smile formed on her face. “Well, you've redeemed yourself.”

A short laugh escaped me. “Maybe I can buy some ingredients tomorrow and make more,” I offered.

“How about I buy them?” she countered. “I don't want to leech off.”

“Fair,” I agreed with a nod. “I need koli bread, honey, sugar, yeast, raisins, and lemons.”

Pokora blinked a few times. “That's it?” she blurted out in disbelief.

“Yep. It's really easy to make,” I replied with a shrug.

The Archer produced a sheet of paper and a quill. “I need to write this down. Tell me the ingredients again, please,” she requested.

I did and she scratched the paper.

Pokora then asked about the process of how to make it, to which I happily answered in full detail, including the differences fermentation could have after varying amounts of time and temperature.

After a while of us going back and forth with questions and answers, Alyssa announced dinner was ready.

We gathered the group members and sat down at the table.

Alyssa made a pretty damn good salad consisting of ten different vegetables.

Once finished, and after I did the dishes, Lapia spoke up.

“Yolin's birthday is tomorrow,” she announced with a smile. “How about we have some drinks later to celebrate her existence?”

“That sounds great,” Bonte cheerfully replied and gave the Oni a smile.

“How old are you getting?” Thelea teased her former tournament opponent.

“Two hundred and two,” Yolin replied with a chuckle.

“Ah, youth,” Elena sighed with an attempt at wisdom.

I glanced at the three thousand year old woman and saw a smile on her face. Everyone here could be her grand-grand-grand-grand-kid... or more, I thought.

“An auspicious event,” Bromisnar added. “How do they do birthdays in Red Island, Lady Yolin?”

Elena looked like she wanted to answer, but turned to the Oni instead.

“It's super fun,” Yolin began with a big smile. “We hold tournaments every month where people born in that specific month join and fight each other. I got my ass kicked a lot when I was younger,” she recalled with nostalgia in her voice and eyes.

I tilted my head in confusion at a detail. “What about people with non-combat classes?” I inquired.

The Oni turned to me and smiled. “Well, Craftsmen are put in a group and they make equipment for them. Merchants handle the acquiring of components and the scheduling of the fights. Non-combative Performers are given the task to make a song, a poem, a play, or whatever their class is about out of the battles their group go through. We make sure no kid is left without a task no matter the nature of their classes. That helps a lot later in life.”

“That sounds cool,” I praised with a smile.

“Makes me want to go and watch,” Pokora commented.

“We may,” Alyssa giggled.

Yolin nodded. “If we end up visiting Red Island we'll watch a tournament for sure.”

We nodded in excitement and joy at the prospect of seeing that spectacle.

The conversation went on for a while and various topics were brought up like the different ways birthdays were celebrated by the many species of the world.

Tigeas went for small-scale celebrations within the family every month.

Satyrs, as it turns out, lean heavily towards Performer classes so they make large production in the way of plays or concerts where they share their life experiences and stories. Combative classes share their tales with their fellow Performers so that they can make something out of them.

Elves were more reserved according to Lapia, Elena, and Pokora, celebrating birthdays with those they are close to, and celebrating personal achievements when with family.

The Luzo, as Alyssa had said, have big festivals every month where their celebrate people's birthdays with dances, songs, and banquets.

Goliaths go hunt big monsters in the search of worthy opponents. Thelea mentioned it was very rare for a Goliath to choose a non-combat class but they were included nonetheless and protected during the chase for glory.

After their recounting of culture, they turned to me.

I shrugged and chuckled, “I have no clue. Maybe help a country or two then have lunch with the Gods?”

That got a good chuckle out of them.

I have to ask other Halves, I concluded.

Although having no parents, country, language, culture, or anything of the sort, ten thousand years of life surely was enough for a semblance of habits or something along those lines to form when we Halves interacted with each other.

There's just no way we don't have any of that, I considered. Like, a thousand years is enough and we get ten of those. I could come up with entire languages if I put my mind into it. I had a small moment of realization. Do long lives make people lazy when it comes to culture and tradition? Well, the pathetic desperation of wanting to make a change in the world can only be found in organisms that live less than a century, after all. I sighed and moved on from my apathy towards Earth Humans and focused on the present by checking the time.

It was almost midnight. We had talked for quite a while about birthdays.

I stood up from the table and went to the kitchen to get glasses, then put them on the table and produced a barrel of the whiskey I bought. I looked at Yolin for approval since the whiskey was her birthday present, after all.

She nodded with a big smile.

“Holy shit!” Bonte exclaimed in surprise at seeing the container. “Rumblefire?”

The Oni chuckled and gave the catboy a smug grin. “Maybe now you'll change your childish preferences after tasting such a fine liquor,” she teased.

Thelea laughed and patted Bonte's head with a comically large hand. At least compared to the man's head. “Don't be mean to Bonte, his tastes are cute!” she cooed and ruffled his hair.

“Oh, come on!” he complained and looked around. “Ale is perfectly fine, right?”

Alyssa nodded.

Pokora gave an unsure shrug.

Lapia agreed, “Ale is good. Wine is better, though.”

“Now that's just facts,” Brominsar pointed out.

The Tigea turned to me for support.

I gave him a complicated smile. “I mean... is it, though?”

The whole appeal of ale, beer, and that group of alcohol was the carbonation in my eyes. Without it, vodka was the superior poison without a shadow of a doubt.

Bonte closed his eyes and shook his head in despair. “Even the Protector betrays! Oh, the pain!” He clutched his chest for dramatic effect.

“What does Your Excellency prefer for a drink?” Elena probed with a respectful tone.

“Potato spirit,” I replied instantly. “Without nikontia in it, if I can choose,” I joked with a laugh.

Only Pokora chuckled. The rest shook their heads.

I sighed and lamented their lack of humor, then inspected the barrel. “How do I open this?”

“With this,” Yolin stood up offered a metallic valve. “You stab the little circle near the bottom. Be careful with your strength, though,” she warned me.

I considered for a second and shook my head. “You open it. I have no clue how to do it and might fuck it up.”

She laughed and walked over to me then plunged the valve into the cask in a single, fluid motion. “That's how it's done,” she educated me with a smile.

“Ohh,” I breathed out in amazement with a nod. “I see.”

Alcohol was served and each of us checked the time.

“Five!” Alyssa began as midnight approached.

Yolin's red skin darkened with a blush.

“Four!” we joined her with big smiles.

“Three!”

I hugged Yolin and gave her a smooch on the cheek.

“Two!”

“One!”

“Happy birthday, Yolin!” we cheered in unison and clapped.

I took the Oni's face in my hands and stared into her eyes. “Happy birthday, Yolin. I'm extremely glad you exist,” I whispered with all the affection I could.

A huge smile formed on her face and she giggled. “Thank you.”

I gave the two hundred and two years old Oni a juicy kiss and a tight hug.

Alyssa and Lapia stood up and joined us, then gave Yolin an equally juicy kiss each along with words full of affection.

“Awww!” Thelea's voice full of emotion reached my ears.

A sniffle coming from Bromisnar followed. “Lovely,” he muttered.

After that, everyone gave Yolin a hug along with words celebrating her birthday.

The Oni was all smiles and giggles, which warmed my heart and filled me with fuzzy feelings.

We sat down and grabbed our glasses.

“To your health!” We toasted and the drinking party began in full.