Work Text:
Rem says that it is an earthly tradition to celebrate when a person is born. As Nai squints down at the cake and all its sugary infections, he’s not sure he gets it. His eyes trail among the thrown confetti pieces and ponders if all the mess is worth it. Then he hears a loud popping sound and more confetti fills the air. He blinks and looks over to his left. A young blond boy who looks just nearly the same sits beside him and wears a rather goofy mask. If it can even be called a mask. Being just a pair of glasses, a huge nose, and mustache in all. They both wear party hats at least.
He’s got a noise maker in his mouth. It flexes out a couple times as he looks over at Nai. Then he smiles and can’t stop laughing. The noise maker hits the table as Nai begins to laugh too. He can’t stop himself. His brother is such an idiot sometimes. A silly one for sure.
“ Happy birthday, you two! “
Nai and Vash both look away from each other. They still smile as they look toward the woman who cares beyond everything for them. She walks away from the camera, picture in hand. She wraps her arms around them and brings them close. Vash is warmly chuckling at this. She follows along. Nai doesn’t but he still finds himself happy with being so close to them both.
“ So you would really do this every year!? “ Vash asks eagerly as Rem pulls away from them both to join them at the table.
Rem brushes her black hair back and smiles warmly at him. She gives a quick nod and chuckles. “ Of course! Well-“ she taps her chin thinking about it. “ It can be different depending on what you want that year. You don’t have to even do anything big. “
Nai breathes easily at that. “ Just simple has to be nice. “
Vash gawks at him. “ What!? “ He whips his head around to Rem, eyes wide. “ Did you hear that, Rem? He’s gotta be wrong-”
Rem can’t help but laugh warmly at his panic. “ Don’t worry, Vash. Next year we’ll have more than just this. “
Vash calms down at this. Nai spares him a glance. He gives a clear smirk. “ No, it’ll be just a simple sheet cake and it’ll be all for me. “
Vash slowly turns in his seat to stare at his brother. Then his eyebrows furrow but Nai can tell it's really not that serious. Still his brother playfully throws confetti at him and swats at him. “ Noooo! That’s so boring!! “
Nai giggles as he barely blocks Vash’s weak attacks with his arm. Slightly closing his eyes just to be safe. “ It’ll be my birthday! I want it to be suuuper boring for you. You won’t even be in the room! “
Vash lets out a cry and almost falls off his seat. He looks desperately at Rem. “ Please please don’t let that happen! “ he claps his hands together, pleading while his brother laughs. “ Rem please! “
Rem looks at him sympathetically. “ You two share a birthday. Either you’ll compromise or you’ll spend your birthday without each other. “
Nai lightly flicks his empty plate. His laughter disappeared as he glanced at Vash. Vash looks back at him with a rather fake angry look. They both roll their eyes and chuckle as they look back at Rem.
“ That’ll be lame. “ Nai voices.
“ It's our birthday. I want my brother at my party. “ Vash says dismissively.
Rem smiles warmly and lightly chuckles as she gets up. “ Alright alright, Boys. Blow out your candles and we’ll have some cake. We can worry about your next birthday later. “
“ Oh! “ Vash seems suddenly excited. “ We make a wish here right? “
Nai spares Vash a glance. Surely he doesn’t believe such a thing, right? He glances at Rem.
“ Yup! “ she snaps her fingers and leaves her pointer out. Her point, “ Although you can’t say what it is! Or it won’t come true! “
Vash looks surprised at this rule. He looks in shock at Nai, who has a rather skeptical expression on his face. He really doesn’t understand that. Before he can voice it sarcastically, Rem notices the candles dripping onto the cake. Her eyes widen slightly, knowing Vash will try and eat the wax when he notices.
“ Hurry! Or else you won’t be able to make a wish at all! “ she urges quickly.
The twins panic at this time limit. Each twin has a candle. Rem argued that they both should have one, no don’t worry they’ll worry about having more another time. She didn’t want them fighting over having to share the candle as well. Of course the twins do partially shove at each other so they can make their wishes, so she was really just trying to mitigate disaster.
The candles are out the next second. The twin sits back, Vash relaxes now that it's over and happily digs into the slice of cake that Rem hands over to him. Nai sits back and curiously glances around.
“ How do we know if our wishes do come true? “ he asks Rem, his voice almost as small as he is.
Rem sets his cake slice onto his plate and smiles. She pats his head and leans back into her seat. “ It’ll take time. But they will. “
Nai raises a brow at this. So many rules for something as silly as wishing but he smiles. Wanting to believe it. He takes his fork and pokes at his cake, partially watching Vash try and cut himself another one. His cutting skills need improvement. Nai laughs and finally takes a bite of his cake when he sees Vash’s attempt fall smack onto the table.
Over a hundred years seem to fly by. There is not another party. The chance fell to the sandy planet with them. It crashed and burned. A promise torn to pieces by betrayal and time. It never stood a chance.
It's July twenty-first again before he knows it.
Nai blinks at the date on the newspaper as he leans against the wall. He never really thinks about this day. He tries not to. Sometimes he misses the day completely thanks to some other life threatening engagement. Now it stares him in the face. He throws the paper into the trash and clutches his cloak tightly to himself as he pushes off the wall and heads down the street.
He almost passes by a bakery before he stops dead in his tracks. He turns and takes three steps back. He stares at the cake in the window. It's a plain sheet cake with a sign detailing that you can get a custom design for half the price than normal. He presses his hands to the glass with interest. With some hesitation, he reaches into his bag for any currency. He pulls out a couple double dollars and frowns before he smiles.
He steps into the bakery and awkwardly stands before the counter. “ I’d..like just one slice of sheet cake please. “ he sets the couple dollars onto the counter.
The baker eyes him curiously. Then a sort of worry enters her eyes. She glances around him for anyone else before nodding. She disappears and comes back with a box in hand. “ It's got a plate already in there. “
He smiles and carefully takes it as the baker slips the dollars into her hand. He peaks into the box and he becomes nervous. He looks at her. “ This has more frosting and sprinkles than..” he glances towards the window display. The price might be out of his reach.
“ Is it your birthday? “
He blinks as he returns his gaze. “ Yes..”
She smiles sadly. “ Don’t worry about the charge. We give discounts on special occasions. “
Nai steps out of the bakery with a cake box in his hands. He holds it carefully and yet also somehow recklessly. He holds it just before him, as if afraid of the contents inside, but away from anyone that may knock it from his hands. He wonders if he imagined the soft look from the baker but tries to forget it.
He walks briskly back to the inn he has for the night. He hurries into his room and awkwardly shuts the door and puts the box onto the small table in the room. He draws the curtains of his windows shut. Then he steps back over and pulls the cake slice from its box and sets it on the table, grateful for the already given plate inside. Carefully he lights a candle and sets it on the slice, he sits down and leans forward, resting his arms on the table. He lays his head on his arms, letting it tilt to the side. That way he can stare at the flame. He sits like that. For a while. Watching the wax melt slowly onto the cake.
Nai draws in a deep breath and sighs softly. He lifts his head up, hesitating, then sits up straight. Suddenly unsure of himself.
“ Happy Birthday..” He whispers but doesn’t finish.
He leans forward and blows out the candle. Watching the smoke twist and fade into the air. He’s..not sure why he bothered. He gets up by pushing himself off the table and awkwardly brushes back his hair. He’s never really seen the need to celebrate..or eat cake..or set off a noise maker or whatever its called. He peers back at the table, at the slice of cake he bought, and his face scrunches up.
He knows why. Is Vash celebrating? Wherever he is..does he still celebrate? Did he even notice what day it is? Questions burn in his mind and it draws him back to his seat. Did Vash make a wish? Nai forgot to..no..he didn’t. He just knows his wish wouldn’t come true. Still in disbelief he bothered this year.
Somewhere else, maybe even in a ship. A spiky blond man sits at a table by himself. The remnants of a small little get together litters the table and floor. The man sits to the left on his seat, as if the rest of it is waiting for someone. The candles on his cake were blown out a while ago. The wax never hits the cake.
His blue eyes trace over the it. Slices have been taken out for guests, at his insistence. Then his gaze flicks to the empty seats around him. A memory of a bygone era quietly wades through his mind. He hasn’t cut the cake for himself. Someone else has. It sits before him but for once he’s not hungry.
He nudges the plate away and gets up from the table. His long red coat flows out at his sides as he promptly leaves the room. He’ll clean later. Hopefully. He walks without much thought to his room some hallways away. He heads in, unsure if the ship is silent or if he simply doesn’t wish to hear. He breathes out. This day is always hard when he has to remember that it will never be the same.
Then he sees it. Taped to his wall just above his bed. The same place it has always been. He steps over to his bed and peels the old photo off the wall. He sits down and rubs his gloved thumb over it. Where Rem is. He smiles slightly at the sight of his old long hair. He’s thought about having it long again, to be like her. To share one more thing. It's a nice picture overall. A good memory. Rem wanted at least one photo without the goofy mask, the same one just waiting on the table in the very picture he holds.
He looks at his brother, who sits beside him in the photo. The same long blond hair. The same cheerful look on his face. Nai. He’s frowning before he realizes. He gets up from his bed and retraces his steps all the way back to the mess hall. Where the table and cake reside still. He sets the old picture where his plate would be if he sat to the right.
“ Happy Birthday, Knives. “ He whispers.
I can’t wait to find you.
He smiles.