Birthday Cards by Agent Midnight
Standard disclaimers apply
Every year on this very day, I step across the transitional line
from hallway to kitchen and see a brightly-colored envelope sitting
innocently on my dining table between the salt and pepper shakers.
In the obscenely bright envelope is an even more obscene store-bought
card.
The first year, I opened the envelope and was immediately assaulted
with horrendous images of balloons with smiles cheerfully announcing
that I was becoming a "big boy" now. Inside the card was
a hand-written song lyric with his name scribbled haphazardly close
to the bottom.
The next year, it was two elderly women sitting on a park bench
with a crow perched atop one of their gray heads. The crow was pecking
on the woman's glasses as she stared at the friend sitting next to
her.
"At least you're not dead yet!"
Love, always-- Duo.
He always adds a little smiley face towards the end of his name
to show that he means well and he doesn't want to offend me. Either
that, or he actually thinks I'm getting old enough to try and comfort
me because of my age.
After that there was the card with the dragon sitting on a table
with a birthday cake in front of it. The dragon was slouched over
itself and trying to put out the sum 500-odd candles on the huge cake,
but it was unsuccessful because he kept breathing fire onto the burning
wax.
"You've been alive this long; maybe you'll get it next year!"
Misses and Kisses-- Sexy-mutha Duo!
Quatre saw the card and thought it was cruel (to the dragon), Wufei
mentioned that he had never seen a card like that and leave it to
Duo to find the odd one in the store, and Trowa laughed. Come to think
of it, Trowa laughed for about an hour, even going so far as to slap
his thigh. I think he had to wipe away some tears.
"You're getting old, Heero."
And he laughed harder.
The next card was a tad-bit nicer, in Wufei's opinion. It had two
old men on it, dueling with their canes. One had a metal cane, and
the other had an old-fashioned wood one. The wooden cane was breaking
at the top, and drawn so it was paused in a half-broken state.
"At least you're the one with the metal cane!"
Like the Energizer Bunny, Heero, you keep going!!-- Duo.
He must have sensed some hostility from me about that one because
the next year he gave me a card with two children on it, holding huge
balloons and floating up towards the sunny blue skies. They each had
captions near their huge heads.
The girl- "Growing up isn't so bad."
The boy- "Growing up can be fun!"
XOXOXO-- Dr. O' Love (a.k.a. Duo M.).
Then there was the one with a teenager standing next to a beaten-up
old Chevy, his hands raised towards the sky while a police officer
frisked him and pulled out a bottle of vodka from his low-slung pants.
The kid's eyes were impossibly wide, dirt smudged on his face and
liquid oozing from his grinning lips.
"Legal yet?"
Well, are ya? Smooches!-- Grand Masta D.
The card this year is right where it should be, sitting inbetween
the pepper and salt on my small two-person table. The envelope is
an obnoxiously off-colored red with yellow polka-dots sprinkled across
the front. Even in the doorway, I can tell he drew the dots on himself.
I silently prepare myself for the worst, and snatch the card out
of its temporary holder. The envelope's flap is already open ("Hate
licking the damn envelopes, Heero."), so I unfold it and pull
the card out to begin my brief study.
A comical cat stares back at me, his huge eyes watering and his
lips turned in a grin that I would swear Duo has made before. One
big paw is extended and giving me the thumb's up sign, the claw poking
out a little, his tail playfully moving (symbolized by little black
squiggles, of course).
"Don't fret! It's only one more year!"
Love you-- Duo.
"You like?"
He's standing in the hallway, peeking around the doorframe to shoot
me a curious stare. I crook a finger at him and he comes around to
prop himself against the wall by the light switch.
"Well? Do ya?"
I shake my head and let the card make a slow descent towards the
light green tablecloth, dropping the envelope so it can join its friend.
He snickers at my reaction, and shrugs his thin shoulders before shuffling
towards me, his slipper-covered feet sliding across the tile easily.
His arms wrap around my waist and tug me into a gentle embrace,
burying his face into my neck and softly kissing below my ear. We
stand like that for about two minutes, his breath tickling my ear...
myself making small tugging motions with his braid... then we separate
just enough for him to raise an eyebrow at me.
"What don't you like about it?"
"Everything."
His nose scrunches up as if he was completely and utterly insulted
by my blunt statement, but he finally gives in and rolls his eyes
before giving the back of my neck a small squeeze. After unwrapping
himself from my arms, he slips a hand into his pajama pants pocket,
and shifts his weight to one foot.
"I don't need a card anymore."
His eyebrow lifts again.
"Well, I have you this year. I don't need nonsense words to
make me feel better anymore."
His tired eyes light up, his lips curling into a soft smile.
"Happy Birthday, Heero."
He shuffles back to stand in front of me, propping himself up on
tip-toes to place a kiss to my lips. With a yawn, he settles back
down and peeks at the clock. I follow his gaze.
12:04.
"You're officially twenty-two!"
He jumps and lands in a bent-knee pose, one of his hands lifted,
his palm facing me. I walk right passed him, ignoring his childish
antics. I do, however, stop in the doorway and turn to see what he
always does when I refrain from giving him a high-five.
He slaps the raised limb with his other hand, making a soft "Woo!"
to join the action.
"If you don't get your ass out here now, Duo, I'm locking the
bedroom door and you can't join me at the beginning of my birthday."
Duo skips out of the kitchen towards our room, grasping onto my
night shirt and tugging me along with him.
Now that he's in my life, future birthdays are looking very bright.
*******
The End
*******
Back to Agent Midnight's Fan
Fictions
Back to Fan Fiction Index