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"Close your eyes, Daisuke."
"...Huh? Why?"
"Christ, just get on with it, kid!"
The younger man shrugged slightly but did as ordered. He'd developed a slight distaste for things unexpected after everything, but he couldn't help it. He was always eager to find things out.
He tensed up slightly as he heard shuffling but forced himself to keep his eyes closed in order to not spoil anything. He instead focused on the soft breeze of Swansea's yard and the pleasant sound of his kids laughing nearby.
"C–Can I open them yet?" He asked, his impatience apparent and urgent in his tone as he rubbed the nape of his neck, his brows raised fully as he waited for a response from anyone.
He slightly flinched as he felt something being placed around his head, feeling a string go around the lower part of his chin, making him swallow dryly. The string felt uncomfortable, but he resisted his urge to fidget with the material.
"Yep. Go ahead, Daisuke." Anya's familiar soft tone cut through the silence, and that was all the reassurance Daisuke needed to immediately open his eyes, desperate to find out what he'd missed out on seeing for 5 seconds at most.
The young man's jaw dropped as he took in the sight in front of him, his slender eyes shooting wide open. There it sat. The most BEAUTIFUL, VOLUPTUOUS, PINKEST cake he'd ever seen in his 20 something years. God, it almost brought a tear to his eye. He finally let his hand fidget with the string around his head, growing even more excited as he found out it was a party hat on his head!
And on Anya's!
And Curly's!
And gosh, he didn't believe it, but Swansea's!
"Woah-hoh-oh! What're we celebrating?"
"Your birthday, Daisuke." Curly stated, in such a matter-of-fact tone that Daisuke questioned for a moment if today *was* actually his birthday. He realized he was a little off, yet he couldn't keep the wide grin off his face, the corners off his lips curving upward in a smile that lit up all of his youthful features.
"Ah, Cap! You're actually off by a few months. And by that I mean, like 8 months. But it's cool! That's not that long if you think about it."
"Yeah, figures," Curly chuckled slightly, fidgeting with his collar. "You remember how we were planning to celebrate your fake communal birthday next delivery before we, uh... got laid off?" The blonde man explained, his sheepishness showing despite his self-assured tone. "Well, uh, yeah! Here it is. Happy 8-month early birthday, kid."
The tanned man practically was about to jump up and down in excitement as Anya placed a few candles on the cake. Three, to be exact. A small apologetic smile had found its resting place on her lips as she spoke up, gazing at the empty space on the cake. "We had to get the smallest pack of candles... It was that or a 'jumbo pack'. Didn't expect there to be only three... Sorry, Daisuke."
Daisuke nodded, a wave of understanding and sympathy passing through him. He knew most of Curly's left-over money had gone into supporting his crew members. He'd spiraled pretty bad after his, as he put it, horrible leadership, insisting on paying for psychological help for Anya, as well as help handling her pregnancy. Anya had insisted for him to attend therapy with her, an offer he refused adamantly, before he had to cave and go with. Turns out he had a few unresolved issues of his own, but we probably already knew that.
He didn't really forgive himself for not taking initiative back on the ship– and for struggling so much with his testimony against her assaulter when they landed back on earth. Anya could swear she'd never seen a man stammer so much during one sentence.
The rest of his money he tried to offer to Swansea, almost for compensation, who stubbornly refused to take anything from him, saying he was way too old a geezer to be battening on him.
"I could've bought the candles, you guys!" Daisuke pouted slightly. He was definitely in the best situation financially, and his parents had been so worried for him the time he'd been gone that they'd probably buy him a whole country if he asked for it. He still remembered seeing his mother's face when he came home, how she soaked his flowery shirt in her tears. Seeing her cry only made him cry, and he'd never felt more relieved to do so. Unsurprisingly, his mother signed him up for psychological help, too. Honestly, Daisuke didn't mind it, he loved talking, and he gave lots of answers such as: "it was, like, really scary, but we totally had it all under control".
"Tch, what will be will be. It's better like this. It reflects his age better," Swansea gruffly said, slapping Daisuke's back as an appreciative gesture. "doesn't it, you layabout?" Daisuke let out a soft 'oof' at the gesture but then turned to the man, grinning.
"Hey–" Daisuke spoke up, but his words were cut short and his attention immediately shifted as his gaze trailed up. "That hat was made for you, Swansea!"
"You'll never know how long it took to convince him to wear it." Anya chimed, chuckling tenderly as she tilted her head, finding the youth's enthusiasm refreshing.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't make a big deal out of it." The older man said as he shook his head, but he couldn't keep the smile off his face, either.
"Speech, speech, speech." Anya cheered, her voice slightly shy, her mind hazy with the memories of last time they'd done this.
Daisuke's eyes glinted at the thought of a speech. He was practically vibrating from excitement. He cleared his throat.
"Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for gathering here today on my *birthday*! Um, it feels kinda silly to say out loud, but I only saw this kind of image in my dreams, back on board? I knew we'd make it back, since we had...an amazing captain and–a, a great crew! Mostly. Yeah." Daisuke's voice shook slightly, but he continued to speak. "It was absolutely terrifying and I don't think I ever want to see a bottle of mouthwash ever again. I wasn't really sure if this was the kind of work I wanted to do, and now I'm absolutely sure I don't want to, haha..! But, uh...Thanks, Swansea. For writing a good reference for me and, just, totally not giving up on me. Ah...Yeah. Thanks everybody." Daisuke cut his speech short as he observed the faces of his past crewmates watching him, messing with his hair as he felt his face flush and his nose get slightly runny.
He leaned in slightly, blowing out the three candles as the others clapped their hands, sharing a few of his sentiments themselves, though in many varied shapes and intensity. Nobody wanted to mention, or think about, their 5th crewmate. He fit in better behind bars.
"There's no need for thanks, Daisuke. We'd have given up hope a long time ago without you around," Curly spoke up as he awkwardly rubbed his shoulder, before speaking up. "...You're gonna go on to do great things."
Anya gave Curly a small approving smile before she picked up the knife, handing it to the excited man by the blunt end.
"Oh, man, I get to cut it, too?!" Daisuke paused, trying to be nonchalant in the way he rubbed his forearm against his eyes, receiving the knife from Anya without sharing the same care with it as her. "You guys went above and beyond, huh?"
The rest of the crew shared small smiles at how easily pleased the man still seemed to be. He approached the cake, practically salivating at the pink frosting on it. He lost himself wondering if it was strawberry or raspberry, or who knew, maybe it was some other horrible synthetic fruit flavor, it didn't matter to him, he'd enjoy it either way.
"You gonna slobber over the cake or eat it, son?" Swansea shook the man's shoulder slightly, earning a small abashed chuckle from Daisuke. He lifted the knife, adjusting his party hat for a moment before he got closer to the small and ancient table that had been sitting in the backyard for who knows how long. Swansea had never thought he'd miss such an old and crappy thing, alas, he did.
"Y–Yeah! Sorry!" Daisuke chuckled before lining up his knife and cutting the cake down the middle, and then into small slices, already intoxicated by its sweet smell, the smile on his face bright, unwipeable even after all he'd gone through. After being on board for so long, he'd developed an even deeper appreciation for food that wasn't served in plastic bags.
He lifted the slice, messily transferring it onto a plate as he tried to cut another slice with his free hand, getting cake on Swansea's raised hand, his brows immediately shooting up as he noticed his mistake. "Oops. My bad."
The more experienced of the two let out a small sigh before raising his hand to wipe the frosting from his hand and smeared it onto Daisuke's nose, being met with a small surprised smile from the youngster.
"Happy birthday, kid. Enjoy your cake."
Daisuke blinked a few times before his almond eyes slimmed yet again at Swansea's words, a dumb grin on his face as he stared back at the cake. He stuffed a forkful of cake into his mouth, his eyes lighting up as he raised a hand to his mouth, speaking before barely swallowing the food in his mouth, causing the elder man to shake his head dissaprovingly. "Mmf–Strawberry!"