Hanging around, without a frown, above the ground.

Once inside the building, Hijinks hopped off kioni's back. "Not bad I s'pose. I've had worse." She noted where the broken windows were so she would not step on any broken glass later on. "So... We gonna eat now? An apple a day doesn't keep the doctor away, despite what everypony else says. You gotta eat more than that."

"Yup, but we're gonna eat on the roof. If I fancied up the main floor then people might get suspicious. That and looking up at the night sky is cool. For me at least." Chuckling he walked slowly over to the flight of stairs and started to make his way up them.

Hijinks nodded and followed Kioni up to the roof. "I like looking up at the sky sometimes too! Unless there's sun, otherwise it's too bright to look." she happily prattled on as she made her way up the stairs.

As the two passed the second floor a few beds scattered around, but the roof was different. A few items leaned against the wall, including a small personal safe that was locked. Something that resembled a tent was off in the corner which had a few beds inside it. 

Setting the cake down he pulled out the black sack that had the fruits and such and pulled them out. Thinking for a moment, he let out a long sigh and face clawed. "I knew I was forgetting something... Princess, do you have a knife or something of the sorts on you? If not then you'll have to excuse me for a moment to go grab it."

"No worries!" Hijinks said, pulling out her super secret hidden dagger from its sheathe. "I'm always prepared!" She happily handed him her knife. "Be careful with Stabby. He's a feisty one."

"Will do." He said with a smile as he took the knife. Turning back around to the cake he sliced it into 8 large pieces. Wiping the knife off with a napkin he pulled out from a pocket. Once the knife was clean he handed it back to her. "Thank you Princess, now, how about we dig in?" He asked with a smirk while taking one of the pieces for himself.

Hijinks quickly put away her knife before digging into her own slice of cake. "Mmm! That's good! You know it's been ages since I had an actual cake cake." She took another bite, this time savoring the taste a bit more. "Wait... isn't cake for the actual party?" Hijinks gasped. "Oh no! It's not your birthday right now, is it? I haven't got you a present!"

"I don't remember the last time I actually had cake, much less had someone other than my family at my birth day." He chuckled and waved a dismissive claw at her while taking another bite out of his piece of cake. "You don't have to get me a present Princess and you can eat as much as you want. But id i'd have to guess...it might be about an hour away till I turn 16."

Hijinks cocked her head to the side. "No presents? But presents are the best part!" Hijinks rummaged through her bag which seemed to progressively become more and more impossible as she pulled out wooden knick-knacks and other children's toys. Try as she might, she found nothing that could count as an actual present. "Guh! I don't have anything cool!" Her mind shifted to her talent in explosives. "How about fireworks?" she asked hopefully. "You like fireworks, right?"

All he did was shrug. Honestly he was fine without a present. But, fireworks would be nice. "Yeah I like fireworks, Princess. I'm guessing that you have some with you?"

Hijinks checked her bag. "Uhmmm... I got a bunch of mini fireworks and some bombs meant to destroy stuff but no 'fireworks' fireworks." She sighed.

Chuckling slightly he reached a claw over to pat her on the back. "Don't worry about it Princess. You've done more than enough today. Plus, all that fun we had earlier is more than enough to count as a present." He gave her a smile before removing his claw.

Hijinks pouted. "But if it were my birthday, I would want a present..." She decided now was the time for more cake so she took another slice and shoved it in her mouth, not caring that it didn't really fit. "Hyph nefah wot wah pweba of mmph buphbay buphfv." She said through a mouth full of cake.

He titled his head in confusion as she tried to talk with a mouthful of cake. Not to mention that it didn't fit either, but, he couldn't deny how funny this looked or hold back a chuckle. But he could tell that Princess wasn't so happy at the fact he didn't receive a gift. He tired to think of anything that would count as a gift. "Well Princess, what would you ask for as a present if it was your birthday and someone needed to think of a quick gift to give?"

Hijinks somehow managed to swallow her cake; although, there was now a lot of cake around her mouth. She tilted her back and stared at the ceiling, pondering Kioni's question. Eventually, she spoke up. "I dunno!" She half shouted in frustration. "Anything! A teddy bear or a toy train or even a girly doll! Just anything..."

You shouldn't get upset during his birthday, a voice inside her head chided her.

Suddenly, her whole demeanor changed as she sat upright and put the biggest grin on her face. "But don't worry! I'm sure I have something!" She dug around in her bag once again but this time she pulled out a small wooden figurine of a pegasus. As she looked at it, she dropped her happy facade. She treasured this toy and she was kind of hesitant to give it away. After staring at it for a good ten seconds, she held it out for Kioni. "Here..." She said softly.

The griffon nodded his head at Princesses' words. 'She must really like parties or something...' He thought quietly to himself as he tried to yet again think of what to ask from her. Really, Kioni was fine without a present, today had been fun since she had tagged along and to him, that was more than enough. But Princess didn't seem to see it that way.

Kioni blinked a few times as she tried to hand him something. He could tell it was a toy but... she seemed sad about offering it. Smiling warmly at her he put his claw over the toy and pushed it gently towards her. "You must really like this a lot Princess and I wouldn't feel right taking it." Still keeping his smile he raised a claw to pat her on the head. "Now what would be a good gift..." He said quietly to himself.

Hijinks was surprised that he refused. Was it not good enough? It was a little kid's toy after all... She gently placed the toy back in her bag. Without thinking, Hijinks embraced Kioni in a hug that was more genuine than the previous hug. "It's not fair..." She mumbled.

Kioni hugged her back, although this had surprised him a bit. Smiling, he chuckled slightly as she mimbled. "I can't hear you if you mumble like that Princess." No matter how much he looked at it, he couldn't understand why she cared so much about getting him a gift. It confused him greatly. The lifestyle he lived meant that things like friends weren't to common due to trust issues. All it would take is one tip and he could be sent away with the rest of his family.

He let out a small sigh, and quietly he whispered. "If you really want to get me a gift, then how about being my friend? But, not just any friend. I want you as a best friend. Sound fair, Princess?"

Hijinks tightened her grip on Kioni. "Hijinks." She blurted out. "My real name is Hijinks. But I don't mind Princess... It's nice having a nickname." She sniffed. "I... don't usually get upset like this... It's just that I never really had a proper birthday with friends and presents... I dunno." She decided that she was more content to stop talking and just hug her new friend for the time being.

"Hijinks. That's a nice name." He smiled as he gently patted her back with a claw as he heard her sniffling. "I'll keep calling you Princess for a little bit longer though if you don't mind. But... I understand, i've never had to many friends... in fact, I think its safe to say your one of the few I can actually call that. That's probably the reason I think its okay that you didn't get me a gift." Having nothing else to really say, Kioni let out a small sigh as he continued to hug Princess.

Hijinks sniffed a bit more as a few stray tears rolled down her cheeks. She tried her best to not cry but the tears were building up. "I... I'll get you a good present next year." she said as she broke the hug. After spending a moment wiping away the tears with her fetlocks, she asked, "Can I stay with you tonight?... I don't have a home so I just sleep wherever anyways."

"And i'll make sure to get you a good gift on your birthday. If i'm invited of course." He waited for Princess to wipe those tears of her's away. Smiling, Kioni nodded his head up and down at her request. "I wouldn't mind if you stayed here with me. Besides, this place is to big for just me anyway." He chuckled a little.

Hijinks yawned. "Yay." She mumbled before dropping to the floor and curling up in a little ball. She sighed contently as she closed her eyes and got ready for sleepies! Though the floor was a bit uncomfortable...

"She didn't..." Kioni shook his head slightly but couldn't stop himself from having a little laugh. "Well... wouldn't be very kind of me to leave her on the roof now would it." He spoke quietly to himself before very gently scooping her up and setting the sleeping pony on his back. To make sure that she didn't fall off he opened his wings but kept them level with his body instead of opening them fully. Taking one final check he began to make his way down to the second floor.

Once reaching the second floor he looked around until he spotted a bed that was in better conditions than most and even had a blanket to go with it as well. Walking carefully over there he crouched low enough on the ground to make sure that it would be a soft landing for her before tilting his body to the right. Making sure that he didn't wake her or anything from that he would then use the blanket to cover her up.

---Time-skip to tomorrow morning---

Hijinks groaned as she opened her eyes. She was pleased to know that Kioni carried her to bed just as she planned. She also noticed that she had a blankie that wasn't wet or had holes in it! Deciding to have a bit of fun, Hijinks rolled herself up in the blanket and began rolling around  on the floor. "Weeeeeee!" She cheered.

A groan echoed nearby as the very sleepy Griffon started to wake up. He struggled to open just that one eye that was now peering around just in time to see Princess rolling around the floor. Doing his best to shake his head at her, which was really him letting out another groan he tried to sit up.

Once Kioni got up he let out a loud yawn and began to stretch just like a cat would. Sitting back down he rubbed both of his eyes until they would open. "Good morning Princess." He called out tiredly with a small smile.

Hijinks giggled as Kioni did the kitty stretch. Too bad teh Kitten nickname was taken. "Heya Kio!" She said happily while still rolling around. She stopped rolling and began rolling the other way, releasing her from the confines of the blankie. Getting up, she wrapped the blanket around her neck like a scarf. "That was great. Can I keep it?" She asked, gesturing to the blanket.

Kioni's smiled brightened slightly as he nodded his head. "Of course you can keep it Princess. Its a nice look for you anyway." Getting up on all fours, he laughed a bit before walking over to the pony. "So, how'd you sleep?" He asked stopping a bit away from her.

"By closing my eyes!" Hijinks responded. "So..." she rubbed the back of her head. "I kinda got a thing I need to do today. I kinda have a sorta place I hang out sometimes, if you wanna meet again. It's over in the Western district. Here, I'll draw you a map." She said as she pulled out a paper and a pencil and drew a crude map on it. She handed it to Kioni. "There you go! The zebra that's running the shop is super nice. Just tell him you're my friend and he will love you forever!"

The map was a tad bit hard to read, but, compared to some other things he had to read, this wasn't that bad. "Will do Princess." He said with a smile. The part about the Zebra shop owner loving him was a bit confusing he must admit. But, that was something he would just have to see for himself.

Shaking his head quickly to focus he smiled once more at her. "It was nice meeting you and again, thank you for helping me celebrate my birthday."

Hijinks gave Kioni a quick hug before dashing out of the building. "Cya Kio!" She yelled back at him as she left. Today she has plans...

Giving her a quick hug back before she was able to get away, he waved her off with a claw. "I'll make sure to stop by sometime!" Kioni yelled after Princess as she dashed outside and disappeared from his view a bit later. "Wonder what I should do today..." He said quietly to himself before shrugging.

-Summary-

Characters: Hijinks, Kioni

Summary: Kioni meets Hijinks in the park. Together, the two play pranks on innocent bystanders. The two then raid a bakery for cake for Kioni's birthday. Approaching night, the two set up in an abandoned building to eat cake. The two become good friends during the party. The two then rest in the building and then part ways the following morning with Hijinks giving Kioni directions to Tayari's shop: Potent Prepared Potions.