While Lily had certainly wished her husband a happy birthday on his birthday, they really hadn't had any time to do anything else, let alone properly celebrate. Not with the pirates attacking and all of the injuries, and certainly not with the unexpected loss of Emmeline. Lily felt that loss like a hole in the middle of her chest, but she knew Emme wouldn't want her to grieve in a way that wasn't living life bigger and better as though for both of them, so Lily did what she did best: chin up, head held high, and push forward.
While she knew that James would want to celebrate, soon, with everyone, she wanted to do something special for him while there were on these islands in the Pokemon world, and she surprised him with a trip to Dinosaur World.
"I told you it was a surprise," she told him as she led him up to the gates. She had put a charm around him, so that he could only see and hear her, knowing that he trusted her enough not to let him fall into any kind of major danger. Once they arrived, she gave a flick of her wand and the charm faded. "So… surprise!" Grinning from ear to ear, Lily stepped aside and motioned sweepingly at where they were. "And happy birthday, sweetheart." She pressed a loud, wet kiss to his cheek.
--
James was a big fan of surprises, particularly birthday surprises (although he still couldn’t decide which he liked best, being the one surprised or the one surprising someone else). He followed Lily trustingly, grinning at her the whole time, since she was the only thing he could see. He didn’t mind that either; she was an excellent thing to be able to see, and definitely what he would have chosen to see out of everything around them, if he could only choose one thing.
He was also eager to see what she was going to show him, though. As soon as the charm disappeared, he looked around, surprised and pleased to find himself in front of the Dinosaur Park.
“Dinosaurs!” he said, his grin widening immediately. He hugged Lily, lifting her briefly off the ground before setting her back down gently. “Yes! You’re the best.”
--
"I know I am," Lily said cheekily as her feet landed back on the ground. She rubbed his arm and then hooked hers through his. "We've got the whole afternoon to spend here and then afterwards we'll go have supper with some of our friends, yeah?" She knew this wasn't as special as it might have been a week ago, or even before …
She tipped her face up to look at James and smiled, her eyes bright. "But right now, it's just you and me and dinosaurs. Where do you want to start first?"
--
James grinned at her. He always told people they were the best, and he was always glad to hear that they knew it. If they didn’t know it yet, he made a point to say it over and over until they got it. The people he liked deserved to feel confident in themselves.
“That sounds amazing,” he agreed. It sounded like a very good birthday plan, one which he might have chosen himself. And thankfully at least the two of them had cheered up enough to make it a happy one, which was really what mattered most.
He could not resist that bright-eyed smile, and gave her a light kiss on the lips. Then he slid his hand into hers and looked back up at the gates. “Do they have a T-Rex? I want to see a T-Rex.”
--
When Lily was with James, she knew she would be happy, even when she had too much on her mind. Like she did now, as upset she was over the loss of Emmeline, she could push that aside when she was with her husband. She squeezed her hand and shook out the guide she had with her other hand, looking it over for the highlights. "They do have a T-Rex," she told him. "Do you want to start there or save that for the end?"
While she had planned the trip and got them here, surprised James with it, she didn't have every minute planned out for them. "All I want to do is make sure I try some of those dino nuggets I saw on the menu. I mean, I know they aren't made from dinosaurs -" She stopped, looked at him, eyes wide. "You don't think they are made from them do you?"
--
James considered that carefully before deciding, “Let’s save the best for last.”
He might have made a different choice a few years ago, before he showed up in Mt Weather, before he’d grown up faster than he’d ever imagined possible. Now he wasn’t actually sure if he would end up liking the T-Rex the most. He was really just happy to be hanging out somewhere fun, with Lily, and that was the main part he was going to remember.
At her question, all he could offer her was a shrug and a grin. “I have no idea. People were eating dragon in Mt. Weather. I didn’t, but other people did.”
--
"Good," she said, rubbing his arm as they walked in quickly, a bounce in her step. Which faltered momentarily at his admission that people in Mt. Weather had been eating dragon. "Dragon?" she echoed. "Eating it? Why?"
--
“A dragon attacked us,” James said with a shrug. The movement looked more casual than he felt; he’d been very upset about it at the time, and had adamantly refused to eat the dragon. It was hard to say precisely why it had bothered him so much, but he would try to explain, if Lily really wanted to know. “So people had no choice but to kill it. They’d tried to contain it and help it, but it didn’t work, so that was fair, I guess. And then people didn’t want to waste the meat. There was always a worry about food shortages there.”
He shrugged again, this time a little more morosely. “I wasn’t happy about it. Charlie was even less happy about it. But anyway, people eat weird things in some places.”
--
Lily paled a little bit, glad she hadn't been around when that happened. She wasn't certain what she might have done. She decided not to think about it, rubbed his arm, and nodded once. "Well, at least it hasn't come to something like that here. And like I said, I'm fairly certain the dino nuggets will not be actual dinosaur, but we can steer clear of them all the same if that's the better idea."
She stopped and looked at her husband, sliding her hands up to his shoulders. "Happy birthday, James," she said suddenly, smiling, and kissed him quickly. "I know I've said it, even just a few minutes ago, but I needed to say it again. That and, I love you, and I'm glad we're doing this together."
--
“I’ll try them first,” James offered. He didn’t particularly want to eat dinosaur, but on the other hand, it would be a great birthday story to tell later.
He stopped when she did, and grinned back at her, all traces of soberness vanished from only moments before. He kissed her back, and wrapped his arms around her shoulder. “I’m really glad to be here with you, in general, and here today, too. And this is a brilliant birthday outing, love.”
--
"I'm glad to hear that, James," she said, leaning into him and hooking her arms around his waist. "Now, let's make it an even more brilliant birthday outing by seeing some real life dinosaurs." Lily tugged at James's hand until they got inside.