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[m_pinocchio]

Today doesn't feel any different than any other day. He gets up early, gets his coffee, and instead of drinking it in the kitchen he takes it outside to the Compound steps, sits down on them and listens to the Island come awake

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[flowers_on_skin]

The girls were in their stroller, which was a strange enough occurrence and Eostre was singing as she walked along the path and saw Mike, sitting on the compound steps. She knew what day it was. She'd always kept a count.

"Another year older," she said, as she walked up to him, the girls giggling and screeching for their daddy. "I'd say it was a bloody miracle but I, of all people, should know better."

[m_pinocchio]

"I think it's a miracle," he says with a small smile, setting down his mug and lifting Flo into his arms, kissing her forehead. "A little one." When he thinks about the fact that he's still here, it's moderately surprising.

"I like when you sing. Usually means you're feeling good."

[flowers_on_skin]

"That's because you're you, and humans see miracles everywhere." When she thinks about it, she kind of likes that idea for her girls. That they'll see miracles everywhere.

It'd be some way to grow up.

"Usually means everyone else is feeling bad," she joked.
Eostre had long been aware of the fact that she couldn't actually carry a tune.

[m_pinocchio]

"Have to keep things interesting," he says, settling Flo on his knee. She says something long and only half comprehensible and grabs for the chain around his neck.

He smiles up at her and shakes his head. "I don't care what you sound like. I still love it."

[little_moons]

Max wakes me up, the little fucker.

He's hungry, he wants a walk, he wants to play, he wants whatever. It's still kind of like having a hyperactive toddler.

Even the walk up to the Compound doesn't really wake me up. I'm still bleary-eyed, feet shuffling along, yawning every few minutes, in sweats and a t-shirt that's kinda big and might be mine or might not. Who knows. I'm running a hand through my hair, scrubbing at my face and biting back another yawn when I make it to the Compound steps, mouth curling into a tired smile at the sight of him there.

[m_pinocchio]

"Well, look who it is." He laughs quietly and raises his mug in salute. "The hell're you doing up? Usually a goddamn grenade can't shift you." Not that he's complaining. It's nice to be out here alone but alone can get old fast.

[little_moons]

Pointing at the dog sniffing around his feet, I plop down beside him on the steps with a grunt, leaning my weight against him a little bit and maybe it's only partially 'cause I'm trying to be obnoxious.

"Happy Birthday," I mumble, lips twitching at the corners.

[m_pinocchio]

"Fuck you," he says amiably, and he shifts his mug to his other hand and settles an arm around Neil's shoulders. He doesn't mind it being mentioned, honestly. Just doesn't want a fuss. No fucking party.

"You still got any of that green stuff left?"

[out_of_realm]

"Well, I didn't bake," Tom called from inside the compound, balancing a plate in one hand, utensils and a cup of coffee for himself in the other, "But I did make breakfast."

He settled down beside Mike on the front stoop, passing over the plate carefully. On it were two eggs sunny side up, toast cut into triangles and a few rashers of bacon. It had been carefully arranged into a smiley face. One of the pieces of bacon had slid in transit, giving the face a kind of malevolent squint.

"I'm better at eggs than baking," he explained, yawning as he leaned over to kiss Mike on the cheek, settling close enough that their biceps were brushing. He looked tired and immensely proud of himself.

"Happy breakfast, birthday boy."

[m_pinocchio]

He looks down at the plate and back up at Tom and he's not immediately sure what to do. He could roll his eyes at the presentation. He could just eat it. He could give into the warm and faintly gooey feeling in his middle.

Instead he leans in, curls a hand around the back of Tom's neck and kisses him more fully, quick and just a little hard before he pulls back again, picks up a piece of bacon and crunches it.

"You remembered I like 'em burned," he says, feeling that gooey feeling threatening again.

[out_of_realm]

"Um, yeah," Tom said quickly, feeling a warm, happy flush at Pinocchio's reaction. He'd honestly expected to be laughed at, which would have been okay, too. "I totally remembered that."

He snagged a piece of toast, dipping it in his coffee before taking a bite. "Thirty-six, huh?" he said, glancing over at him with a slight smile. "What are we doing for the occasion, Pinocchio? A day long hike? A long run on the beac? An afternoon of looking into eachother's eyes? Or maybe just some more quality alone time with the twenty year old in our lives?"

[m_pinocchio]

He laughs quietly, his hand reaching down and settling against Tom's knee almost like it's an accident. "Any of the above," he says, and pauses for a few seconds, like he's trying to figure out how to phrase something.

"I talked to Eostre," he says finally. "A little while ago. I think... things are okay now."

And if he's going to get ridiculous about birthdays, it's really all he'd wanted for his.