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When Secretive Plotter woke up today, he was not quite expecting the messages blowing up his phone.
Lord Of The Abyss: It is no use. Plotter only awakens when the time strikes right.
Fujoshi trash: PLOTTER WAKE THE FUCK UP
mystery man: What.
ape together strong: Hey so SP do you remember that one time we all went to the circus
Fujoshi trash: WE DON’T TALK ABOUT THE CIRCUS
mystery man: Yes. What do you want?
ape together strong: to get the hell out of your house for like two hours at five
mystery man: What are you planning.
Fujoshi trash: Nothing bad, we swear! Pleaseeeee?
Lord Of The Abyss: Do as you have been ordered, Plotter. Great misfortune will befall you otherwise!
Secretive Plotter eyes the white wall opposite him. It offers no answers. He can’t come up with a reason for them wanting him to leave his house for two hours in the evening. But then again, it’s not like the trio have been anything resembling normal. He sighs. He does owe them one for that incident.
mystery man: Fine. I’m not bailing you out if you blow anything up.
ape no fight ape: LET’S GO
Fujoshi trash: We won’t do anything illegal!
Lord Of The Abyss: Hmph. I shall not conform to any sort of vow.
He hopes, very dearly, that he will not regret this.
7pm has him standing outside his apartment, key in the lock. He had run through multiple possibilities of what could be the cause of this whole situation again, having sent texts to Uriel with no response, Sun Wukong sent him a thumbs-up emoji, and ABFD left him on read. It had him debating whether to track them down, but he decided to give them the benefit of doubt and read at the nearby library instead. He opens the door cautiously and steps in, closing it behind him as he enters the living room.
"Surprise!" The lights flicker on, and Secretive Plotter is greeted by the sight of Sun Wukong holding a cake, Uriel letting loose her party popper to shower the floor with confetti, and ABFD at the light switch, looking smug.
"What." Is all he manages, taking in the balloons littering the floor along with the confetti, the lone lit candle in the middle of the cake, and all three of his friends looking expectantly at him.
"Happy birthday!" Uriel cheers, skipping over to him. "We bought the red velvet cake you like from that one cafe!"
"...How did you...?" He's fairly certain he never told them his birthday. He stubbornly ignore any requests to find out.
"We looked at your I.D." Sun Wukong says helpfully, without a hint of shame.
"It was but a simple matter." ABFD huffs. "You should pay more attention to your possessions, Plotter, lest someone with more unsavory intentions were to take note of them.”
Secretive Plotter stares at them and doesn't say that they managed to look at his I.D because he's grown comfortable with them. That someone he didn't trust wouldn't have been allowed into his apartment, let alone to snoop around in his wallet. Doesn't say no one has celebrated his birthday in years, including himself, and he had truly forgotten today was August 3rd.
Instead, he says: "I assume you picked my lock too?", which launches ABFD into a detailed retelling of that particular endeavor that has him making a note to put deadbolts or an electronic lock on his door.
Uriel hovers, still smiling but now with a touch of apprehension at his lackluster reaction. Secretive Plotter reaches for a reassuring smile, and finds a much fonder one spread on his face when Sun Wukong complains about how long ABFD took to pick the lock, starting an argument.
"Thank you." He says, and the bickering ceases instantly as three wide-eyed gazes focus on him. "I'm grateful, truly. I could have done with the confetti - which you will be cleaning up, by the way - but thank you. I'm glad you did this."
"Awww!" Uriel squeals, makes an aborted motion to hug him before visibly restraining herself. Secretive Plotter eyes her for a moment, before sighing and opening his arms.
The woman gapes at him for a moment, before flinging her arms around his neck while Sun Wukong swears, probably scrambling to put down the cake. He pats Uriel on the back, and raises an arm at ABFD, who blinks at him before huffing and joining the hug, mumbling something about this being an honor for them. Secretive Plotter wraps his arm around the chunni securely, and Sun Wukong bolt over to hug all three of them together, arms unable to wrap all the way.
"Thank goodness you liked it." Uriel sighs, cheek pressed against Secretive Plotter's shoulder. ABFD shuffles a little, trying not to be smothered by the woman's hair. "We were worried you were the type to hate celebrating your birthday!"
"I had nearly forgotten it was today." He admits as Sun Wukong rests his hand in ABFD's hair, which is the cue to remove himself from the hug before it dissolves into a fight. The blondes whine a little at the loss while ABFD lifts his chin in a prideful manner, as though he hadn't just been rather comfortably participating in the group hug.
"Let's go cut the cake." Secretive Plotter orders, ushering over to where the cake had been placed on the living room table.
"Make a wish!" Sun Wukong insists, pointing at the melting and still lit candle.
Secretive Plotter thinks of days passing by in a crawl without much thought of the date, weeks blurring into months and going home to an empty and dark apartment. Thinks of all of them sprawled around in his living room, him going to their houses, wandering the city and planning for trips overseas. Of coming home to an apartment filled with life.
He leans over and claps his hands before the candle, extinguishing it with the sudden burst of air, plucking it out before the wax can drip onto the cake.
"Blowing on it is unhygienic." He says blandly to the chorus of complaints from the sideshow, and moves to find a suitable knife from his kitchen. Secretive Plotter feels the smile stretch his mouth as he rummages through his knife drawer, laughter and conversation soon filling the apartment as he returns to cut the cake for all four of them.
It’s his first birthday celebration in years, and he really wouldn’t have it any other way.