Work Text:
"Happy birthday!" arriving guests announce while passing by Epel and Yuu's oldest. The teen's face softens each time, shy about the attention, until one of their friends comes in and the little rascal picks that friend up and jokingly shakes her down for their present. The two walk over to a table and join the rest of their friend group.
As the room grows more vibrant, adults keep on checking in about the latest trends with "the youth" and the 17-year-old huffs "I am not a kid anymore!!!" and squirms away as their face grow red with rage. Yuu is reminded of another lavender-haired person. Their eyes skim for their husband.
The house booms with numerous friends and family. There are activities abound: board games in one corner, blastcycles and brooms outside, multiple food tables with delicacies from Harveston, and a little petting area for the family rabbits.
Yuu glances outside the sliding glass doors and sees Epel grilling his favorite kabobs marinated in his signature secret sauce with apple slices in between the pieces. He swears the secret is love, but Yuu is pretty sure it is just the high quality juice squeezed from the apples from his hometown. He dawns a lavender apron splattered with small spots of grease and a smile that reaches his eyes.
After graduating from Night Raven, Epel decided to study engineering so he could work on building his own blastcyle. He ended up creating a whole workshop for people who wanted customs. With Cater's help, Epel became Magicam famous and got a lot of high profile customers.
He was still androgynous, but his frame became more refined, especially after focusing on working out (both to be better at working on blastcycles and for his own ego). He never got to be as buff as Jack or Vargas, but he gained a sleek muscled physique closer to Jamil's the longer he was on T. After all of the lessons with Vil, he still toyed with makeup: a little kohl to maximize the piercing quality of his aqua eyes, a little contour to strengthen his jawline. Really, it was gender affirming to have techniques to hone in on what Epel was proud of. Just thinking of it made Yuu melt at how much he had grown into himself.
Yuu's eyes trail from his hands to his face and stops to appreciate his medium long hair held back by a slight ponytail. Short, patchy stubble runs along his jaw from both his lack of shaving technique and the fact that it just does not grow that fast. Yuu still finds it endearing.
Epel looks up and waves Yuu over; His grin going from pleasant to beaming. With a kiss on their head, Epel says, "How is our birhday kid?"
"As excitable as ever. They get that from you, you know." Yuu's eyes soften as they smirk. "How's the cooking?"
"It's almost done! Do you have our presents prepared?"
"I do! The letter is hidden inside of the kit and I placed it on the gift table." Yuu winks.
"Perfect. Let's give it to them before cake. I am just wrapping up here."
Yuu walks to the center of the room, "FOOD TIME! Get in lines or else, you gremlins." they pointedly stare at the kids, but in the background there is an affronted "Hey!" from Grim, only hearing the first part of the noun.
As the crowd forms into semi-orderly clumps near the tables, Yuu opens up the top of tin foiled containers and sticks serving utensils in each one. There are separate tables for veggies, meat, and all of the glutenous dishes so there is no cross contamination.
"Eat up everyone!" Yuu encourages, as if that had stopped anyone from grabbing food as soon as the serving spoons were in.
Yuu grabs a kabob and some green beans and settles down next to Epel. They wipe some sweat off his brow with a paper napkin and grin when he leans into the physical affection.
"Ew!" The birthday kid fake gags with their friends seeing the domestic display, which makes Epel and Yuu cackle. Some other laughs join in from the other adults in the room as well.
As they finish up their food, Yuu grabs a trash bag and walks around collecting the assortment of leftovers that would be promptly forgotten once cake comes.
Afterwards, they tap on their kid's shoulder. "Can I steal you for a second?"
The teen raises their eyebrows, then nods, standing up and following after their parent. Yuu grabs a wrapped present from the gift table and hands it over. "Can we open this one in your room?"
By the time they both meander down the hallway, Epel is already sitting on the bed, his leg shaking from anticipation. His child sits down next to him with the gift and starts unwrapping it. As the paper is ripped off, a toolkit is revealed. Near the handle, there is an embroidered blastcycle with apple wheels. A gasp escapes the teen, and they hug their parents.
"Look inside." Yuu prompts. As the toolkit is unbuckled and unzipped, a piece of paper is revealed. When it is unfolded, an official name change form is displayed. The teen stares stunned.
"You know the story of how we got to change our names when we were seventeen, right?" Epel's eyes tear up. "We wanted to give you that chance for yourself. That's part of the reason why we've always been so insistent that you have different nicknames and to not limit yourself by having them sound like your given name." Yuu's eyes soften as they hand Epel a handkerchief. "You don't have to use it anytime soon, but we just wanted you to know that you have the option."
The seventeen-year-old's eyes widen and start tearing up themselves. They jump up and jostle their parents into a hug, maybe pressing a little too tight on their necks as Yuu makes a teasing choking noise. Both parents hug back as they release slightly from each neck.
"It's perfect. And…" their eyes search before lighting up. "I know exactly which name I want."
"Ready to tell everyone?" Epel smirks.
"Absolutely!"
The hug ends and Yuu stands up to assist Epel and their kid with each hand.
"Last back to the party is a dry kabob!" Yuu runs off.
The remaining two laugh and run after them. Epel grabs his partner's torso while the kiddo runs ahead. He kisses Yuu's cheek and in their daze, lets go and runs ahead.
He breaks into the party and rushes to the best spot for an announcement.
"Hey everyone! It's time to celebrate my birthday kid!" Epel proclaims fondly while shepherding his child to the main table. The teen rolls their eyes, already having lost the 'Kid' discussion multiple times over the past month.
The room falls to a hush as heads swivel toward the guest of honor. They look a little uncomfortable, so Yuu clears their throat to recapture attention. In their hands, Yuu carries a cake shaped like a blastcycle with 17 candles, eyes focused as to not drop it. They place it on a table towards the center of the room.
The crowd sings celebratory words and somehow the spirits of the room lift even more. The teen softens under the atmosphere of friends and family coming together just for them.
They blow out the candles, hold up the name change form, and smirk in a way that reminds Yuu so much of Epel.
"My official name is-"