[DARROW] November 5th

[unseentides]

My own birthday had passed without any sort of affair, though that was entirely my own doing. It just hadn't felt right to celebrate the year that I had lived beyond Tommy and Ruth and the rest of them. I wasn't even sure how many people in the city even knew when it was, save for those that might have seen my administrative files.

But I knew I couldn't let the same happen for Marius. He brought too much joy into my life – and into the lives of so many others – for the day to not be acknowledged, be celebrated. I hadn't known what to do until I realised that he wasn't the sort of person that demanded much, and that was part of the reason why I loved him. He could live simply. We both could.

So I made dinner and wrapped a selection of my favourite books up for him in bright red paper, tying it with a gold-colored bow. Most of the gifts I'd bought before had been from the Sales, it felt strange to have the whole city to search through. But I wanted to share what I loved of literature with him.

I made tea instead of buying wine, straightening the dress of my skirt when he returned from work. "Happy birthday," I said, kissing his cheek.

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[unseentides]

"I'm sorry,' I said, guilty for bringing up something so sore on what was meant to be a day that was anything but sad. I had a lot of questions about his grandfather, but I knew I'd save them for another time. In that moment, all I wanted was for Marius to be happy. I lifted my voice, smiled. "We'll have to make up for that. Dinner, presents, and I even picked up a cake. Would you like some tea while we wait?"

[pontmercyfriend]

"Oh, no," he tells her, kissing her quickly again. "You have nothing to apologize for; this is so lovely. This is the best birthday I've ever had," he tells her, meaning every word. His grandfather and his birthday parties of the past are just that: memories to be left behind in the wake of the new ones he's making with Kathy currently. Kathy, who has done so much for him, especially on this day. "I would love some tea. What kind did you make?"

[unseentides]

"Just Earl Grey," I confessed, wondering for a moment if I should have gone for something more extravagant for the occasion. I managed to talk myself out of that, though, pouring Marius a cup and then one for myself. It was simple, classic, something that I knew the both of us had a tendency to appreciate. "We never did much for our birthdays," I said, hesitating for a moment before I continued. "Sometimes I'd buy something for one of my friends in the Sales, but there were too many of us for the guardians to make much of a fuss."

Things had changed a little when we moved onto the Cottages, but we still only lived on the basic stipend they'd given us each week. Maybe that made us all the more sentimental, though. We couldn't afford to buy each other the latest trends but I treasured Tommy's art and my Judy Bridgewater cassette more than anything that could be found in a department store. "Maybe it's time we started some new traditions."