You'd better relax, it's your birthday! [CLOSED]

[stampeded]

Characters: L and Vash
Content: It's L's birthday, and Vash is also determined to help him relax. The only question is, how successful will he be?
Setting: The captain's cabin
Time: The Long Night, in the evening
Warnings: PG rated slash, might even stray towards PG-13 this time!

Comments

[sugarforteatime]

He was, as most of the crew had likely noticed, not in the best of moods. Everything had been weighing down on him more than he was used to. If anything it made it more obvious how vulnerable he had become over the last year, almost a year and a half now. He was not by any means an emotional person, but these emotional things were effecting him more often.

Loss hurt more than he expected, happiness felt sweeter, he might not be the best at expressing it, but he though the understood emotions more now too. It was disconcerting, though.

"You may come in, Vash." He tucked his journal away where he'd been setting down his thoughts and slid it into a drawer. "Did you bring cake?"

[stampeded]

He opened the door and slipped in with a smile, "No... I guess I should have, huh?" Vash knew he had forgotten something... well, he could always see about raiding the kitchens with him later. There was bound to be some sort of cake in there.

"I didn't forget what day it is, though... so happy birthday, Ryuzaki!" Vash stepped up to his desk, extending the hastily-wrapped present to him. "So how old are you now? Would we still be able to see the cake under all the candles?"

[sugarforteatime]

"It is twenty seven. There is still sufficient room to see the cake." He definitely didn't have to ask Vash the same question. It would be enough to cover a table. He stretched, standing in his chair and then stepping down and taking the present. He didn't open it yet, instead placing it on his desk and then he leaned forward and gave Vash a rare, soft, peck on the cheek.

It was Long Night, after all, and, well, he supposed certain crew members wanted him to be more affectionate, even if they didn't know what they were encouraging exactly.

"Thank you. Should I open it now?" He picked the present back up and inspected it from both the top and the bottom.

[stampeded]

He broke out into a smile when Ryuzaki kissed him, his face even flushing a bit. Ah, that was why it paid to remember important dates! It was even more special today, since they had been fairly busy lately. This was their first night alone in a while... they hadn't even been going to dinner lately, which was something Vash was going to change.

"Yeah, go ahead! I just hope you don't already have one." It was hard finding a good gift for him, but Vash was counting on this one at least being decent. He edged in closer as Ryuzaki took a look at the present, putting a hand on his back.

[sugarforteatime]

He shook the package a little, before finally peeling off the paper and opening the box Vash had packed it in. A ... purse? He looked at it again, it was actually just the right size for a difference engine. He held it up in two fingers, expecting the brown leather exterior.

"It is a very thoughtful gift." He put it down on the desk again and ran his fingers over it. "Thank you. It is good to be thought of. I did not have sufficient time to purchase you a gift..."

He felt a little bad. He hadn't been the best of friends lately and, well, he had promised himself he would try.

[stampeded]

"Ryuzaki, it's your birthday. You're the only one that's supposed to be getting gifts." The Long Night wasn't even the kind of holiday where presents were given. Though Vash had gotten something from him last year, that had just been Ryuzaki being really sweet.

"And you know... I think about you all the time already." He said it with a small grin, leaning in to wrap him in a hug, cheek brushing against his hair. It really had been too long, and Vash was very happy to get a chance to be a little more clingy now.

"If you want to do something for me, you can let me help you relax. You need some time off for yourself, and now's the perfect time to do it!"

[sugarforteatime]

"Relax? What did you have in mind?" If it was alcohol that absolutely would not do! The last time he'd had something to drink he'd felt awful for days at least. "I suppose it would not hurt to relax."

He carefully stretched so that his hunched back popped rather magnificently and then he scratched his stomach, looking a little young for his age at the moment.

Was that ... supposed to be something sentimental? Vash though about him all of the time. Was he supposed to think about Vash all of the time? "I think about you a great deal." Hopefully that would do.

He did think about Vash, when he wasn't thinking about crime or running the ship or sweets. That didn't leave much time to think about Vash, but it was far more than any other person got.

[stampeded]

Vash's first intention had been to suggest curling up by the fire to get some snuggling in. The last time they had done it had been wonderful... but, hearing Ryuzaki's back pop like that gave him a much better idea.

"Why don't you let me massage your back?" He asked it with a wide smile, raising his hands and wiggling his fingers. "It looks like you could use it. It'd make him feel a lot less stressed, probably, and Vash might even get to touch him a lot more than he usually did... it was a perfect plan, if Ryuzaki would only agree to it. As close as they were, they had minimal physical contact, and Vash wasn't sure if this would be too big a step or not.

[sugarforteatime]

He looked at Vash, eyes wide and a touch confused. He supposed that would feel good. He pulled his lip and looked around, and even wondered if Vash would be any good at a backrub. "Where would you like me?"

He didn't think his desk chair would work very well. He supposed he could stand on the floor like he was now. The more he thought about it, though, the more it was like his back whined in protest.

It seemed like he really should take Vash up on this. Well, there were worse things.

[stampeded]

"It would work out better if you were on a bed... maybe your bed? Uh, but don't worry, I promise to be a gentleman!" Vash wouldn't have suggested a bed if he didn't have to, it was the truth! And he was going to be a gentleman... mostly. Luckily, he was pretty good at resisting temptation, most of the time.

"We could even pick up some cake on the way there. The kitchen ought to have candles..." And if the kitchens also had donuts for them to raid, that would make their evening as perfect as it could get, in Vash's opinion.

[sugarforteatime]

He considered the offer for a long moment before picking up his new difference engine bag, popping his engine in, slinging it over his shoulder and started to head out of the door. "I appreciate very much that you are a gentleman."

He reached out and took Vash's hand and gave it a squeeze in two fingers before exiting, Vash in tow, and closing the door behind them.

He hadn't even realized how much he'd been missing Vash until he had shown up. His First Mate was very good about that, he supposed. He rarely noticed something was missing, at least emotionally, until it returned, but Vash -- sometimes he missed. "Perhaps we can find some donuts as well, as long as we do not get crumbs on the bed."

The trip down to the kitchens didn't take long, thankfully.

[stampeded]

"Would either of us let any crumbs escape?!" Well, maybe one or two, but Vash could be careful about it. Used to the strange way of holding hands, he just gently curled his fingers around Ryuzaki's, letting him lead the way.

There were a few people in the galley, since it wasn't all that late yet, but the two went straight to the kitchen. The cooks knew them very well by now; there were a few cake containers set out that Vash could see, and he had a pretty good idea of where the donuts would've been stashed.

"Pick out whichever one you want!" Vash said cheerfully, only letting go of his hand to look through the cabinets. After finding a container of what had to be about a dozen donuts, he went looking in the drawers, and succeeded in finding a box of matches and a handful of sparkly pink and yellow birthday candles left over from someone else's birthday.

[sugarforteatime]

"Only if they were unnoticed." He stared for a moment, longingly, at a very neatly made carrot cake. He hadn't remembered asking for one, but there was no way he was going to turn down a birthday happenstance like that and carefully picked up the whole cake. He could polish it off in the next day or so.

Cake selected he went to find Vash and even touched his back lightly for a moment. He'd been trying that, touching just a little more. He was unused to it, but it seemed like it was having a good effect.

"I have selected my cake." He headed out of the kitchen door and waited in the galley for Vash to follow. "Thank you, for taking the time to celebrate my birthday with me."

[stampeded]

He turned to give Ryuzaki a smile, then followed, pocketing the matches and candles. He was certain they weren't particularly in colors Ryuzaki would like, but they'd only be used for a moment, so it wasn't a big deal.

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be. It's always a lot of fun to hang out with you." Vash gently bumped shoulders with him as they now went out of the galley and towards Ryuzaki's room. "So do you want cake first, and then your massage? It's all up to you." Vash didn't mind waiting on him at all; the man was hardly demanding, and it was fun to get to spoil him for a change.

[sugarforteatime]

"Can I eat cake and get a massage?" He thought that was an excellent idea. There was no reason not to enjoy both, it was very likely that the cake would make the massage better. The odds of this were very high. "I believe that would be the optimal solution if you can still eat your donuts that way."

He opened his door carefully and stepped in, before pulling out two plates, a fork and a knife, poised to cut the cake, more eager for cake than for blowing out candles.

[stampeded]

"If you're sure you won't fall asleep in your cake..." It was a pretty weird request, but it was Ryuzaki's bed. Vash didn't mind, as long as he wasn't held responsible for any cake-related accidents.

"Oh, wait a minute!" He whipped the candles out of his pocket, sticking five of them in the cake. Then he used a match to get the candles lit, shaking the match out afterward. "I could sing if you really want, but you at least need to make a wish!"

It was a little juvenile, but making sure Ryuzaki had some fun on his birthday was more important!