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Shane opened his eyes, stretching his arms over his head. He had Ryan's body pressed against him and a decent amount of sleep under his belt, and this was the best gift he could have asked for. He'd kept his lips sealed for the entire month, prepared to wait until several days after his Day of Birth to break the news that his birthday had passed. Sure, several birthdays had passed before, they'd been together for nearly four years. He'd celebrated each of Ryan's birthdays in these years, he'd Extra-Celebrated Wyatt's birthdays in these years as well.
But one thing to remember about Shane was that he was very charming.
Shane was charming and he was old and he'd cut out birthday parties decades ago. It was just another reminder that he was stuck in a loop of time. Besides, he'd surrounded himself with human acquaintances for centuries, and it would never get easy to slowly watch people age while he stayed dormant. He knew how to dismiss and deflect questions about his birthday.
When the topic of his own birthday was breached, it was a simple task to redirect conversation. Wyatt was still at the age to get distracted by certain things, no matter how smart he was; toys, jokes, fun facts, tickles. Nine years on earth. He was getting older, much to the chagrin of Shane, who would gladly keep the kid as a toddler for the rest of his life.
Ryan was a bit more difficult, though. He was persistent and stubborn and a father--Jesus, his fatherly instincts and sternness could shut Shane down faster than any salt circle or ancient spell--and Shane was weak for him. But Ryan was a sucker for compassion, and Shane had bucket loads. A kiss and a firm hand on his hip and Ryan's mind would completely blank out.
He wanted to start to get back into things. Now that he had Ryan and Wyatt, a real family, the chance to age again. He missed finding new flaws. He would never be entirely human again, but he'd get all the fun parts and keep the wings. Shane was getting antsy, counting the seconds until he could read his vows and grow older once again. Growing old with Ryan. That was the dream.
But today was May 16th, and Shane was officially 102 years old and it was nice. It was nice to finally have the opportunity to wake up with a person in his arms and be able to definitively say that he'd get to spend the rest of his life with them. And a kid! If he'd been able to tell his past self that one day he'd be considered a father figure (or a bird), his old self would have laughed himself into the next century.
Ryan stirred. He opened an eye, "Shane?"
"Yes, darling Ryan?"
"Time?"
"... An illusion," Shane said, not even attempting to dodge the slap to his ribs as he reached to the nightstand, unlocking his phone. "Nearly ten."
"Ugh," Ryan said, moving himself upward to bury his face into Shane's neck. "I want to sleep for a hundred years."
Shane pressed a kiss to his hair with a sigh, but he said nothing. There was a long silence, comfortable and warm, the sort of morning silence Shane had been envious of for a century, now. It was only fitting that he could have such a nice morning conveniently placed on the day of his birth.
Ryan blinked a few times. "What?"
"What's up, dear."
"It's... your birthday?"
Shane glanced down at him, concern and a bit of betrayal on his brow, "How... in the world did you know?"
"I can... huh." Ryan sat up, looking around the room before letting his attention lock on Shane again, "I can hear you."
"I know you can hear me," Shane said quietly, his eyebrows drawn together.
"No, I mean. Something else," Ryan fidgeted with the comforter, staring at Shane's face but not quite focusing on him, "I could hear your voice in my head. Something about centuries."
Shane stilled. "Well, that's an interesting development."
-
"Can you hear mine?" Ryan asked, hours later as they walked (well, Ryan walked and Shane trudged) through a party store, Wyatt skipping and weaving through the two of them as Ryan grabbed armfuls of bright colors and threw them into the basket on his arm. "My thoughts, I mean."
"Nope," Shane admitted, his hands in his pockets. He grimaced at the yellow streamers that Wyatt tossed into the basket. "I wonder why that is."
"I'd quite like to know," Ryan said, bumping his shoulder against Shane's arm, "I'd also like to know why you didn't tell me today was your big day."
"Everyday's my big day, Ryan, this is a bit excessive," Shane held a hand out to stop Wyatt from opening the container of glitter. "Wy, no. No glitter."
"Why nottt?"
"Do you remember last time I let you use glitter?" Shane shuddered, the failed proposal clear as day in his mind, "It took months to get rid of it all."
"You still haven't," Ryan mumbled, pointing out a sparkly patch on Shane's jacket.
Shane groaned. "I don't want a party Ryan. You're spending a lot of money on a very quick thing. It'll happen and be done with in, like, seconds."
"Yeah, but you'll remember it forever," Ryan said, turning around the corner. Shane followed him with a defeated look. Wyatt took a bag of confetti from the bottom shelf and held it to his chest, running after both of them.
-
"Can I come out, yet?" Shane practically whined, knocking on the inside of the bedroom door.
"No," Ryan called back. "We've got some more decorating to do."
"Ryan, this is pointless, you know." Shane sunk down to the floor, crossing his long legs over each other. He rested his head on his hands, "I'll have a good birthday with you regardless of the decor."
"Yeah, well, how long has it been since you've properly celebrated?"
Shane blew a sharp gust of air out of his mouth, his hair flaring outwards before resting against his forehead. "Alright, alright. No need to make me feel old."
"You are old!" Wyatt's voice said, muffled through the door. "So old."
Ryan scolded his son in a whisper, but Shane smiled anyway. It had been awhile since he'd gotten special treatment.
"See?" Ryan said, "It's been awhile. You deserve this."
"I don't know how I feel about this one-sided mind-reading thing," Shane muttered. "What I'd give to know what goes on in your head, Ry."
"You just need to stop thinking," Ryan laughed, his voice distant. There was a lot of shuffling, a lot of giggling. Shane could easily use any one of his shortcuts--peer through the door, transmit himself into the living room, even open the door with his hands--but he didn't want to. He loved Ryan--
"I love you too!" Ryan interrupted.
--and besides. He liked surprises.
"Okay," Shane scrambled to his feet as he heard Ryan's voice. "We're all done."
"Boy, oh, boy," Shane rubbed his hands together before placing his fingertips on the doorknob, "Ready for me to come out?"
"Yes, Bird!" Wyatt practically screeched.
Shane opened the door. He laughed as he was met with a curtain of yellow, taped to the top of the door frame. He brushed it aside, sticking his head out, smiling and ready to catch a glimpse of his family. He pushed himself through the streamers and crossed his arms over his chest, looking at the living room with glimmering eyes.
"Wow, fellas," Shane breathed, raking his eyes over all of the colors and then some. He wondered if he could leave the living room like this year round. "This is nice."
"Like it?" Ryan piped up from behind him. Shane jumped and spun on his heel, glaring at Ryan, whose face was under-lit and orange from the cake he held in his hands.
"Cake?" Shane asked, maybe a bit too enthusiastic to be an adult. He smiled at the outline of the icing, a crude yet beautiful presentation of Chicago, "Oh, it's wonderful! When did you get that?"
"The second half of the party store trip. You kind of zoned out at some point," Ryan shrugged. He held the cake out. "Make a wish?"
"I've got all I could ever wish for." Shane thought for a moment before stooping down, blowing the candles out and nodding contently. "But a swimming pool would be nice."
"You said it out loud," Wyatt mumbled, holding Shane's present out at an arms' length.
"Yeah, but I'm an adult," Shane bent down and pulled Wyatt up, placing the nine year old on his shoulder with little to no effort. Ryan's heart skipped a beat. "I can just buy a swimming pool."
"That's right," Ryan said.
Wyatt held the box down in front of Shane's face, a bit in awe of his bird's powers, "Here's your present, Bird."
"Thank you," Shane accepted it, peering at it with laser-sharp eyes. "Thin box. Do I dare shake it?"
"Just open it, Shane." Ryan stepped to the side, sliding the cake onto the coffee table. "It won't kill you."
"It may," Shane said, looking down at him with a smirk, "This heart of mine is quite weak."
"Shut up," Ryan said, gesturing to the box. "Open."
Wyatt dug his fingers into Shane's hair, peering over his head to watch as Shane cautiously opened the box, searching for any loose wires that would trigger an explosion. There were none.
But, there was a wedding invitation.
"Oh, Ryan," Shane removed the little card, tossing the box somewhere to the side. He brought it to his face, "I like the black accents. Very nice. Very clean."
"Thought you'd like it," Ryan said. "Is that date okay, and everything? I haven't sent anything out yet, I figured I needed an official okay from you to get stuff goin'. You're helping arrange everything."
"If there's one thing I love to receive for my birthday, it's the promise of work in the future," Shane joked, though his eyes were watery. "Jokes aside, love, this is beautiful."
"I'm glad." Ryan walked forward to wipe the tears but Shane met him in the middle, pulling him up into a hug. Ryan stuttered, wrapping his legs around Shane's hips, "Shane! Don't - "
"You're very light," Shane muttered, his mouth just below Ryan's ear. Wyatt hugged their heads together and Shane laughed.
"You're just strong," Ryan replied. squirming out of Shane's hold. Shane carefully set him down, making sure he got to the ground safely (Shane seemed to get taller every day, a fall from that height could very well be lethal).
"Maybe so," Shane sighed, bending down slightly to let Wyatt crawl down him to the ground. He kissed Wyatt's cheek, standing back up to look at the invitation. "I love it, Ryan."
"I'm so glad," Ryan stood beside him, looking at the card with him, "We also got you some socks."
"Oh! Thank God," Shane sighed out, an arm around Ryan's shoulders, "I needed some."
"I know! You've been complaining about it for ages."
"Hey, there's cake," Wyatt said, reminding the adults in the room that he was little and couldn't use a knife without Ryan yelling at him.
"Right, right," Shane wedged the invitation into the frame of the picture of himself and Wyatt before kneeling beside the coffee table, "What piece do you want, bud?"
"All of it," Wyatt said, clasping his hands over his mouth and repeating in a harsh whisper, "All. Of. It."
-
Shane tossed his shirt in a random direction and fell onto the bed with a sigh, a sated smile on his face as he stretched his wings and tugged Ryan closer to him. Wyatt had just been put to bed, blabbering so hard and for so long that he'd tired himself out, falling asleep while standing (Shane had felt comfortable enough to jump across the room to catch him).
"Good day," Shane said, pressing a chaste kiss to Ryan's chest. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Ryan brushed his fingers through a few stray feathers, "Good birthday?"
"Yes," Shane grinned, "Absolutely wonderful. Best birthday I've had in a long time."
"I'm so glad," Ryan shook his head. "You realize that this is ridiculous, right?"
"Which part of it?" Shane brought his head up, resting his sharp chin on Ryan's skin.
"The fact that I'm gonna marry a demon," Ryan said simply. "And you're so..."
"Oh, be careful," Shane warned, though a smile was humming on his lips, "Been a great day so far. Don't insult me, baby."
"I would never."
Shane just watched him, waiting for some explanation to the abrupt sappiness that was oozing from Ryan.
"You, when I met you," Ryan twirled his fingers in Shane's hair, thoroughly mussed from Wyatt's constant pulling when in need of attention, "and you now. Completely different. You're much softer. Soft demon."
"That's to say I wasn't soft before I met you," Shane raised an eyebrow. "I'm not an intimidating person, Ryan."
"But you are a demon," Ryan reminded him, as if it wasn't the one thing about himself he'd longed to change for what felt like millennia.
"That I am," Shane closed his eyes, "Wish I wasn't."
"Why?" Ryan's hands ceased their ministrations in his hair, refusing to move until Shane answered.
"It's just been so long," Shane smiled, though it was a heavy smile, "I've waited for you and Wy for a long, long time."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," Shane tapped his palm against Ryan's cheek, which was hot with blood, "I wish I knew you for longer."
"Eh," Ryan shrugged, sliding further down the bed as Shane's wings tightened around him, "If we met earlier in my life, I would have scared you away."
"Oh?" Shane waggled his eyebrows, "In what sense? I don't scare easily."
Ryan found his palms increasingly fascinating.
Shane gasped, "Oh. In the fratty sense?"
"No. Well... yes. But I wasn't very, uh. Accepting of... myself."
"Huh," Shane smirked, "No home for homos?"
"A bit," Ryan cringed, "I'm afraid I might not have given you the time of day."
"I think I would have flashed these puppies," Shane flared his wings and darkened his eyes and Ryan let out a surprised laugh, "and you may have reconsidered."
"Who knows. But I've got you now."
"Right," Shane said, serious and warm. He pushed himself from Ryan, wings wide and a bit overwhelming. "Do you want to go to Tokyo, Ryan?"
"Right now?" Ryan blinked. "We'd have to find a sitter..."
"Mm, then what about we just... go up." Shane pointed with his finger and Ryan rolled his eyes. "Just a few feet! C'monnn, it's my birthday."
"I'm,,, I'm not dressed to go out."
"It's dark," Shane said, tugging Ryan up. "C'mon, Ry. We won't go high."
"This is gonna be scary."
"It'll be romantic," Shane said, pulling Ryan through the doorway. "Do you have a strong diaphragm, Ryan?"
"I... don't know."
"I'll bring the mask anyway."
"This seems very complicated, as compared to something else we could be doing on your birthday night," Ryan grumbled.
"We can in the air, if you'd like," Shane opened the door and ushered Ryan out.
Ryan gasped, eyes wide, "Let's... let's not. Let's just fly and come back. To the ground. And see what happens."
"Smart," Shane said, closing the door behind them.