As I understand it, today happens to be a very special day for a fellow Gatchamaniac, and the founder of the Bradbury's Jar challenges. Join me in wishing Ame a very happy Birthday And celebrate with a contribution or two!

Happy birthday, Ame!

Joe wonders into the Snack J carrying a pristine glossy white cardboard box. A slight gusto in his step, he'd planned the moment to the last detail, using his prize money to make her feel special. Ken sitting in his normal seat at the bar glaces with a slight twig of his eyebrow. "Whats that?" He comments, taking a long swig of his beer. "Its my girls birthday today." He replied winking at Jun. That one action caused a stir in the Eagle Joe had anticipated. "Its your birthday?" Ken quizzes Jun. She winks back at the Condor as he pulls out the cake. Ken's awkwardness, as he flounders around trying to read her mind, Joe stifled a chuckle with a cough, watching the mighty Eagle trying to figure it all out. Within minutes a stunning woman with long sparkling Amethyst locks, and soft blue eyes like a precious gem opens the door of the small joint. Long delicate fingers touched her rosy cheeks as Joe pulled out the carefully decorated cake. "Thats my girl...Ame." A roguish turn to his lips as she approached him. "Joe." She breathed, as he captured her warm lips with his in a long passionate embrace. From the corner of his eye, he noted Ken had nowhere to go. nd Jun was giving the Eagle hints that were flying over his head like a runaway plane. Amused by what he witnessed in a few seconds- He couldn't exactly stare at his teammate in a lip lock, and Ame had his full attention. Ending the wanting kiss, enjoying the moment he lit the candles to celebrate her special day.

A belated Happy Birthday Ame, and a big hug! ETA: Ebonyswanne -- and what did Ame do next?

[unrecoverable text]

Lol! Ken had his own plans for the money. Better to spend it quickly before the rest of the team spend it for him.

Better late than never. Happy belated birthday, Amethyst. The cactus had pride of place on Anderson's desk. Anderson had no idea what kind of cactus it was. He had assumed, correctly as it turns out, that there are in fact a great many different kinds of cactus indigenous to Sol-3. (In addition, there are several thousand kinds of cactus known to botanists in the Milky Way Galaxy, and several million undiscovered species on the as-yet unexplored but catalogued planet Betelguese-7, better known as Ix*). What Anderson did know was that Jason had been smirking and sniggering as he'd handed over the gift box. The box was a shade of vivid lime green precisely calculated to be offensive, and was tied with a purple ribbon. Purple. And green. The box was labelled (in red), 'A gift to match your personality on your special day!' Half-expecting something akin to a Mister Potato Head doll in a Spectran infantry uniform, Anderson had called upon every last scrap of patience, guile and diplomacy as he thanked Jason and surreptitiously watched 7-Zark-7's security icon in the lower right hand corner of his tele-comm screen for the green indicator that would tell him Zark had scanned the box and found nothing dangerous inside. Anderson wouldn't have put it past Jason to give him a snake, a live tarantula, or an exploding jar of home-made sauerkraut with extra mustard... Or a snake and a tarantula together with an exploding jar of home-made sauerkraut with extra mustard. Of course this would have then brought on the predictable pleading from the general direction of Keyop to be allowed to keep the snake and/or the tarantula and the corresponding amount of screaming from Princess, who had a thing about invertebrate life forms both real and synthetic. For a very brief and wistful moment, Anderson had wondered how he'd react if the box contained Zoltar's severed head, but he was pretty sure that he would have noticed the smell if it did. So, he lifted the lid of the box and beheld... the cactus. "A cactus," he said, arranging his features in what he felt was possibly something close to the kinds of glassy-eyed smiles he often saw on the faces of diplomats and politicians. "How thoughtful." "And the card!" Keyop proclaimed, waving the item in question. "Don't forget the card!" Anderson took the card in its (again -- where did Jason find these things?) lime green envelope and removed it. The words, 'THE BIG FIVE-OH!!!!!!' were emblazoned and embossed on the front of the card. Manfully, Anderson managed not to sigh. "Thank you," he said, making eye contact with Keyop, and then with Jason, his expression shifting just enough to convey the possibility that there might just be Antarctic patrol duty looming large in G-2's immediate future. "I certainly won't forget this." The office door opened to admit Mark, Princess and Tiny. Princess was holding a gift bag (charcoal grey with a silver band at the top) and drew herself up when she realised (a) who was in the office with Anderson; and (b) what it was that they were doing. "You didn't," she said. Jason turned to his team-mate and grinned. "We did!" "Keyop," Princess said, "we talked about this." "Itwasn'tmehonestitwasallJason'sidea!" Keyop babbled. "Way to push me under the bus, squirt," Jason said. "You deserve it," Princess said. She approached the box somewhat apprehensively and peered cautiously into the depths. "Oh!" she relaxed. "It's just a cactus!" Anderson raised an eyebrow. "What did you think it might be?" he asked. "Oh, look at the time!" Jason exclaimed. "Got practice at the track. Gotta run! Bye!" Jason neatly dodged past his colleagues and fled the office with Keyop hot on his heels. "Sorry," Mark said. "I didn't think Jason was going to follow through when he was talking about possible joke gifts." "What were the other options?" Anderson asked. Tiny laughed nervously, running one hand through his messy brown hair. "A jar of snakes with nuts in it," he recounted. "A rubber spider... and possibly an exploding jar of home-made sauerkraut with extra mustard." This time, Anderson did sigh. "Here's your real present," Princess said, and handed over the gift bag. "If it makes you feel any better, Jason and Keyop both contributed to it." "Thanks," Anderson said, and drew a bottle of single malt Glenturret whisky from the bag. "I really do appreciate this. I think I may need it." "FIgured you might like something useful," Mark said with a smile. "We'll see you later. Happy birthday!" "Thank you," Anderson said. "All of you." Mark, Princess and Tiny left Anderson alone in his office with the whisky and the cactus. Anderson put the whisky bottle in the bottom drawer of his desk, then rummaged in the top drawer for a magic marker. Very carefully, he took the cactus out of the box and held it up by the base. He pulled the cap of the magic marker with his teeth and wrote the letters, J A S O and N on the terracotta pot before placing the plant neatly on his desk. "Takes one to know one," he muttered, and put the magic marker away. *Betelguese-7 (aka Ix) had been on the Federations's 'to do' list several decades before the outbreak of war with Spectra, but it was pushed back down the list following the Great Collapsing Hrung Disaster. The name Ix is from an obscure Rigan dialect and means, "World whose observers are unable to satisfactorily explain what a hrung is, nor why it should choose to collapse on Betelguese-7, particularly.'** ** Yes, I did steal that from H2G2. Douglas Adams is gone, but not forgotten.