Work Text:
Jabber was never really a fan of his birthdays; for a long time, it was just another date with no significance, and at one point in his life, he even came close to forgetting it.
That's why, after the mess his life had been and after entering the bloody system for several months, the last thing on his mind was his birthday.
Or at least that was the case until two months after his new family accepted him at sixteen.
Jabber cherishes the moment every time his birthday approaches: the memory of a small celebration, several gifts, and a warm moment is enough for the emotion to anchor itself in his chest and a silly, excited smile to spread across his face.
That's why he wasn't really surprised when Zodyl was the first to intercept him, specifically in the living room, just moments before he left for university.
“Here” he had said as he handed him two new books still wrapped in plastic.
Jabber had taken them with joy and excitement, smiling as he read the titles, letting his excitement show.
“No way!” he had shouted as he carefully tore the plastic off the first book, a heavy and rather thick book.
The title Whispers of Botany in the Fifteenth Century gleamed before him, Jabber leafing through it excitedly and enjoying the familiar smell of a new book, only to move on to the second one, ecstatic sounds escaping his mouth as the title Strong Toxins: Flowers, Plants, Fungi, and Roots rolled off his tongue, fascinated by the illustrations of plants and flowers.
“Bloody hell, Zodyl” he had said as he leafed through it with excitement and impatience, closing the cover once he decided to read them that very afternoon. “This is incredible, thank you!”
Zodyl just nodded briefly in agreement before turning and walking away down the corridor.
Jabber waved him off cheerfully before heading out to start his day.
───⫷『 ᥫ❈ 』⫸───
The second person to intercept him was Cthoni, who had made time to see him during her free hours.
In reality, they hadn't said anything: Jabber was leaving one of the laboratories with a container in his hands, and the woman had simply greeted him and handed him a small gift box, placing it in one of the pockets of his lab coat.
Jabber quickened his pace to leave the instruments in the other laboratory and see what Cthoni had given him.
“Very well, very well, what could it be?” he had said with amusement as he took the box out of his pocket; it wasn't very big, but it wasn't small either, so he ruled out any kind of jewellery.
He didn't expect what she had given him: several neatly folded and arranged handkerchiefs, all of different colours. Jabber immediately recognised what they were and confirmed it when he read the little note the woman had left:
‘So you can polish Mankira’
For the next half hour, Jabber chased Cthoni around with a big smile and every intention of hugging her.
───⫷『 ᥫ❈ 』⫸───
Jabber didn't wait for Noerde's gift.
His relationship with her was, to put it mildly, complicated: there was a certain affection, that was undeniable, but in general their personalities clashed in a rather turbulent way.
Jabber was leaving campus when his phone vibrated. He ignored it the first time, continuing on his way back distractedly, intending to take one of his usual detours.
Noerde called him a total of three times.
“Why the hell aren't you answering, Jabber?!” she had shouted with clear irritation; the voice was such that Jabber pulled the phone away from his ear with a mocking smile.
“Don't shout so much, Noerde, you'll rupture my eardrum” he had teased as he looked around with amusement “Anyway, what's up?”
Noerde's brief curses ceased when Jabber asked her; he could imagine her taking a breath and stroking her forehead in an attempt to calm her irritation.
“You're out of college now, aren't you?” Jabber replied with an amused hum, nodding his head as he placed the phone in front of him “Good, come to the salon”
Noerde hung up before Jabber could answer, and he let out a slight groan when he realised that his home address was the opposite of the salon where Noerde worked.
“Noerde...” he muttered irritably as he put away his phone and turned away.
The salon where Noerde worked was nice and attractive; he had gone there a few times to have his dreadlocks touched up, something he couldn't do in the comfort of his own bathroom.
The sound of the bell was enough to make Noerde stand in front of him.
“Right, come here” she said without further ado, taking him by the wrist and forcing him to sit down in one of the chairs in front of a mirror.
Jabber soon realised that Noerde was giving him some kind of treatment: washing his hair, making some not-so-necessary touch-ups and putting a new pair of decorations in it.
“All done” the woman was proud of her work, carefully spreading out the impeccable dreadlocks and tying them into a bun.
“Bloody hell, Noerde” was the first thing that came out of Jabber's mouth when he touched his hair, an impressed and satisfied smile hanging on his face “This is incredible, thank you”
Jabber gathered his things to leave, not expecting the bag full of bottles that Noerde had handed him.
“When you finish it, just let me know” she said before saying goodbye.
Jabber nodded excitedly and said goodbye with a big smile.
───⫷『 ᥫ❈ 』⫸───
Jabber was too close to Fu and Momoa; perhaps it was the fact that the three of them were the youngest in their strange family.
To be honest, he did expect their gifts, but he didn't expect the two of them to intercept him so abruptly and without saying anything.
Momoa took him by the wrist and Fu quickly and somewhat clumsily helped him put down Noerde's bag and his university bag.
He wasn't surprised when Momoa took him to Fu's room, nor could he say much when two perfectly wrapped boxes were placed in front of his face.
“Open them” Momoa had said as he sat down next to him, his face as stoic as ever.
Fu, on the other hand, just nodded with a rather weak smile.
“I'm coming, I'm coming” he chuckled to himself as he picked out the box that was clearly Momoa's.
“This is a joke, right?” was all he could say when the decorative wrapping no longer covered a certain part of the box.
“No, it's not” she replied with a slight smile. Jabber couldn't contain his cry of ecstasy and finished tearing the paper.
“HOLY SHIT, MOMOA!” Jabber raised the box before hanging on to Momoa, who kept smiling and pushed him away after a few seconds. Fu just laughed at his reaction.
“Where did you get this?” Jabber asked as he took the box wrapped in plastic.
“Fu helped me” Momoa said calmly, nodding towards the other boy.
“It turns out one of my acquaintances has a good vinyl supplier” the boy explained, waving his hands a little.
“You got a pretty good discount” Jabber just laughed at Momoa's words.
“This is incredible” he said as he took out one of the vinyls, smiling contentedly “Thanks, Momo”
Momoa just rolled his eyes and chuckled softly.
“Well, how about you open mine?” Fu smiled slightly as he handed him his own box.
Jabber nodded happily and carefully put the vinyl back, taking Fu's box and eagerly tearing off the paper.
Momoa and Jabber covered their ears.
“HOLY SHIT, IT'S ZENTO!” Momoa and Fu could have sworn that scream was heard throughout the entire house.
“Damn you, Fu!” Fu just laughed as he watched him shake the box excitedly. Momoa took the box of vinyls, aware that Jabber's excitement would only increase.
“No way” Jabber said, noticing a rather striking image, his mouth opening like a fish. He jumped out of bed, his hands trembling as if he were holding something precious. “It's the exclusive promotional figure... how the hell did you get this, Fu? Only five hundred were made”
Fu smiled proudly.
“It's a gift from me and my supplier, Shikage” Fu said, taking a piece of paper with protective wrapping and handing it to Jabber “He also said it's a way of thanking you for the cards you gave him”
Jabber reflexively handed the box with the figure to Momoa, who took it carefully and placed it on his lap.
“You're going to make me faint, Fu” Jabber said, taking what Fu handed him.
An even louder scream was heard in the house.
“HOLY SHIT!” Jabber pushed away the poster of Zento signed by his seiyū and dedicated exclusively to him with “Happy birthday, Jabs!”
Ultimately, Jabber loved Momoa and Fu.
───⫷『 ᥫ❈ 』⫸───
Jabber was in his room when Bundus knocked on his door.
The man no longer lived with them; he had moved into his own flat a few months after Jabber arrived and Zodyl, along with Cthoni, formally got their jobs.
“May I come in?” he asked as he carefully opened the door, receiving a warm smile from Jabber.
Jabber was very fond of the older man: he had been his main support during his first months in the house, being a great listener.
“Yes, yes, yes” he replied as he opened the door and let him in. The box he was carrying in one of his hands did not go unnoticed when he sat down on his bed, causing a slight creak.
“Did you have a good day?” he asked as he carefully set down the box and smiled. Jabber sat down next to him excitedly.
“Absolutely!” he laughed as he pointed to the gifts on his desk “I have a date with Zan-Zan in a few hours! So the day couldn't be better”
Bundus laughed warmly as he nodded, giving the presents a second look.
“Noerde really did a good job” he complimented, pointing to the still-intact bow, the dreadlocks shining proudly.
Jabber nodded in agreement.
“She said she was sure Zan-Zan would like it” he said as he played with one of the dreadlocks.
“I bet he will” Bundus agreed as he took the box and smiled at Jabber's expectant gaze following him.
Jabber took the box and tore off the wrapping paper when Bundus handed it to him.
“Trainers!” he smiled when he saw the familiar shoebox. He opened it and saw the pair of purple trainers.
“You said at some point that you needed to buy new ones, right?”
Jabber nodded excitedly as he looked at all the details, then laughed with satisfaction and hugged Bundus.
Then he pushed him away, saying he had to get ready for his date.
Bundus just nodded and laughed amusedly as he wished him luck.
───⫷『 ᥫ❈ 』⫸───
Jabber was very proud of his relationship with Zanka; it had been a real challenge to convince him to go on a date with him: exactly one full month of begging and a favour from Momoa, but those details didn't matter.
They had been together for exactly six months and counting. Jabber was excited about what Zanka had planned; he, personally, already knew what he was going to give him in a few weeks.
The date was quiet and pleasant, a little evening stroll at a light festival. Jabber stopped looking at the lights when he noticed that Zanka was more willing to return his kisses.
The best, if you asked him.
After some hot chocolate and a couple of cuddles, they both ended up on a bench in front of some of the lights, at which point Zanka decided to give him his gift.
“It was actually quite difficult to decide what to give you” Zanka admitted quietly as he handed him a small box decorated with a pretty purple bow.
Jabber took it and laughed when he saw Zanka's expectant face; he knew he would like anything just because it was from him.
He couldn't help but blush when he saw a pair of clearly hand-woven bracelets. He looked up at Zanka, who was smiling shyly.
“Did you make these?” he asked as he picked up the blue bracelet, observing the woven pattern of different shades.
“Yes... I know it's not much, but...”
“You're joking, right?” Jabber laughed at his confusion, carefully put down the box, and kissed him with a silly smile “I love it”
From then on, no one failed to notice that Jabber began wearing a blue woven bracelet on his right wrist, complementing the purple one Zanka wore.
If you asked Jabber, he could only wait impatiently for the following year.
In short, it was the best birthday ever.