A/N: No actual gift giving, sorry OP I hope that's ok. But plenty of birthday feels :)
Nile sighs heavily as she walks up the steps of the latest safe house. Another safe house, another city, another day just like any other. Except it’s not like any other. It’s her birthday, her first birthday since her… first death.
Her first birthday of having no contact with her family.
Soon, she reassures herself. We lay low for a while, make sure Copley really has cleaned our trail, a year, maybe two. Soon.
But not now. Not in time for her birthday. What is her mom thinking today? Her brother? She knows it’s hard on them, knows from her dad’s passing just how hard death is, but now it’s her and she can’t quite fathom what they must be feeling, especially today.
With so many thoughts swirling in her mind, she’d had to get out of the house. What could she say to Andy, to Joe and Nicky, about this, that she’s sad ‘cause she doesn’t get a birthday party? No, best to leave it be. There’s nothing to be done anyway. No need to drag the mood down for the rest of them. She had hoped a walk in the crisp fall air would clear her mind, but now the sun’s going down, her ears are cold, and her thoughts are as chaotic as ever. And she’s likely missed dinner. She sighs again, taking one last moment to herself before unlocking the door and stepping inside.
At her entrance, Andy looks up from her place on the couch. “Nile’s back,” she calls across the house.
“Uh. Yeah,” Nile winced. “Sorry, didn’t mean to get back so late.”
“It’s fine.” Andy shrugs and gets up to start towards the dining room. “Dinner’s ready.”
Nile frowns at her retreating back. “You didn’t have to wait for me.”
“It’s fine,” she repeats over her shoulder. “Com’on and eat.”
When Nile gets to the dining room, Andy is already seated, slumped back in her chair and listening with half an ear to Joe ramble quietly about something Nile can’t make out. Joe is casually leaning against the doorway to the kitchen with crossed arms but stops talking when he sees Nile. He grins wide and mischievous at her appearance and sneaks a look at Andy that Nile can’t decipher.
Nile stops just inside the room and takes in their body language, immediately suspicious. “Hey.”
“Hey, how was your walk?” Joe asks, his smile turning warm.
“Good. How was your day?”
“Fine, fine,” Joe says breezily.
Nile narrows her eyes at him. The last time Joe had been this blasé when asked a question, it had been Andy asking where her vodka had disappeared to after a rough day. Down the sink, had been the answer. Andy had not been as laid back about that state of affairs as Joe, at which point it took Nile and Nicky both to keep her from strangling him with her bare hands. It had been worth it to not see Andy killing her now-mortal liver and stave off a night of morbid drinking. But still. “Anything interesting happen while I was out?”
“While you were out?” Joe touches his chin, pretending to think. “No, nothing very interesting.”
Andy snorts softly, but not quietly enough to stop Nile from turning a skeptical gaze to her. “Is that so?”
“It is so,” Joe declares.
Andy cracks a smile at that and gestures to the chair across from her. “Take a seat. Nicky will be in with the food in a sec.”
Nile meets her eyes for a long moment, just long enough to make it clear that she knows something’s up, but Andy just raises an eyebrow and stares her down until she’s seated.
Joe laughs at their display and pushes off the doorway to join them at the table. “Your suspicion wounds us, Nile.”
“You’ll heal,” she says dryly.
“Never. I will remember this day forever.” Joe’s eyes twinkle as he speaks and Nile can’t resist the smile tugging at her lips, bemused.
“What’s got you in such a weird mood?”
Joe blinks at her as if startled. “It’s a very special day, isn’t it?”
Nile’s eyes widen in surprise at the implication – Is it a special day? Does he mean what she thinks he means? – and her surprise doesn’t lessen any when Andy swats at Joe’s head with a groaned, “You’re terrible at this.”
It’s as Nile watches Joe squawk and try to fend off Andy that Nicky enters the room.
With a cake. And candles, lit candles, SO MANY candles on it.
Nile isn’t sure what her face is doing anymore, but as Nicky sets the cake in front of her and they all start singing happy birthday, she is sure it’s something they’ll tease her about later. Right now, she’s too busy staring at the giant fire-hazard of a cake – chocolate mousse, she thinks through the fog of shock and growing delight, it must be chocolate mousse cake, Nicky asks about my favorite desserts every new place we visit, he made me chocolate mousse cake – with its 27 candles burning away on top and strawberry slices ringing the bottom.
“Happy birthday, dear Nile! Happy birthday to yooooou!” The three voices suddenly split into a harmony for the final note and that’s the last straw. Joy and relief and confusion bubble up inside her and she bursts out laughing. Just like that, the dining room fills with cheers and laughter, the others crowding close around her.
When she can speak through her giggles, she shakes her head at it all. “What is this?”
“What, you don’t know what a cake is?” Joe teases. Then he pauses and frowns in concern. “Wait, do you not do cake? We can do something else –”
“No – I mean, yeah, I do cake, I’ve done cake for – but I thought immortals didn’t do birthdays?”
“Of course we do birthdays,” Nicky says with a smile. “It is flexible for us because we do not have a date for when we were born, but we were born, and that is worth celebrating.”
Andy shrugs when Nile looks at her. “Time runs together after a while, but it’s good to have these markers. Anniversaries. Celebrate the good things.”
You’re one of the good things, is what she doesn’t say but what Nile hears loud and clear. Nile can feel her smile going wobbly around the edges as she blinks back sudden tears.
A warm hand takes hers. Nicky squeezes gently as she swallows around the lump in her throat. “It is customary to make a wish. Go on,” he encourages. “Then we can eat.”
“Dessert before dinner?”
“Always,” Andy nods firmly.
Nicky huffs indulgently but also nods. “Dessert before dinner. And then you can open your gifts.”
Nile hiccups wetly around another laugh. “There’s more?”
“Yes!” Joe leans in excitedly. “So hurry up and blow out your candles so you can see what we got you!”
Andy drags him back into his seat by the arm, then grins at Nile. “He’s been like a puppy with a new toy since we bought them. And they’re not even for him.”
Joe waves off the accusation. “I’m just excited. We haven’t done a proper birthday in so long.”
“We are all excited,” Nicky adds. “You should have seen Andy, though.” He smirks at Andy, who rolls her eyes back. “She was very concerned about choosing the perfect gift. It was sweet.”
Nile can’t help how soft her voice comes out when she says, “I’m sure they’re great.” She looks around the table, past the glow of the candles, at Joe’s bright grin and Nicky’s gentle eyes, at the relaxed slope of Andy’s shoulders and the way her gaze is focused on the here and now, with them. The here and now is good.
She looks at the 27 candles melting on her cake. She breathes in deep and lets it go.
Fill: The Team & Nile + Celebrating Nile's Birthday
Nile sighs heavily as she walks up the steps of the latest safe house. Another safe house, another city, another day just like any other. Except it’s not like any other. It’s her birthday, her first birthday since her… first death.
Her first birthday of having no contact with her family.
Soon, she reassures herself. We lay low for a while, make sure Copley really has cleaned our trail, a year, maybe two. Soon.
But not now. Not in time for her birthday. What is her mom thinking today? Her brother? She knows it’s hard on them, knows from her dad’s passing just how hard death is, but now it’s her and she can’t quite fathom what they must be feeling, especially today.
With so many thoughts swirling in her mind, she’d had to get out of the house. What could she say to Andy, to Joe and Nicky, about this, that she’s sad ‘cause she doesn’t get a birthday party? No, best to leave it be. There’s nothing to be done anyway. No need to drag the mood down for the rest of them. She had hoped a walk in the crisp fall air would clear her mind, but now the sun’s going down, her ears are cold, and her thoughts are as chaotic as ever. And she’s likely missed dinner. She sighs again, taking one last moment to herself before unlocking the door and stepping inside.
At her entrance, Andy looks up from her place on the couch. “Nile’s back,” she calls across the house.
“Uh. Yeah,” Nile winced. “Sorry, didn’t mean to get back so late.”
“It’s fine.” Andy shrugs and gets up to start towards the dining room. “Dinner’s ready.”
Nile frowns at her retreating back. “You didn’t have to wait for me.”
“It’s fine,” she repeats over her shoulder. “Com’on and eat.”
When Nile gets to the dining room, Andy is already seated, slumped back in her chair and listening with half an ear to Joe ramble quietly about something Nile can’t make out. Joe is casually leaning against the doorway to the kitchen with crossed arms but stops talking when he sees Nile. He grins wide and mischievous at her appearance and sneaks a look at Andy that Nile can’t decipher.
Nile stops just inside the room and takes in their body language, immediately suspicious. “Hey.”
“Hey, how was your walk?” Joe asks, his smile turning warm.
“Good. How was your day?”
“Fine, fine,” Joe says breezily.
Nile narrows her eyes at him. The last time Joe had been this blasé when asked a question, it had been Andy asking where her vodka had disappeared to after a rough day. Down the sink, had been the answer. Andy had not been as laid back about that state of affairs as Joe, at which point it took Nile and Nicky both to keep her from strangling him with her bare hands. It had been worth it to not see Andy killing her now-mortal liver and stave off a night of morbid drinking. But still. “Anything interesting happen while I was out?”
“While you were out?” Joe touches his chin, pretending to think. “No, nothing very interesting.”
Andy snorts softly, but not quietly enough to stop Nile from turning a skeptical gaze to her. “Is that so?”
“It is so,” Joe declares.
Andy cracks a smile at that and gestures to the chair across from her. “Take a seat. Nicky will be in with the food in a sec.”
Nile meets her eyes for a long moment, just long enough to make it clear that she knows something’s up, but Andy just raises an eyebrow and stares her down until she’s seated.
Joe laughs at their display and pushes off the doorway to join them at the table. “Your suspicion wounds us, Nile.”
“You’ll heal,” she says dryly.
“Never. I will remember this day forever.” Joe’s eyes twinkle as he speaks and Nile can’t resist the smile tugging at her lips, bemused.
“What’s got you in such a weird mood?”
Joe blinks at her as if startled. “It’s a very special day, isn’t it?”
Nile’s eyes widen in surprise at the implication – Is it a special day? Does he mean what she thinks he means? – and her surprise doesn’t lessen any when Andy swats at Joe’s head with a groaned, “You’re terrible at this.”
It’s as Nile watches Joe squawk and try to fend off Andy that Nicky enters the room.
With a cake. And candles, lit candles, SO MANY candles on it.
Nile isn’t sure what her face is doing anymore, but as Nicky sets the cake in front of her and they all start singing happy birthday, she is sure it’s something they’ll tease her about later. Right now, she’s too busy staring at the giant fire-hazard of a cake – chocolate mousse, she thinks through the fog of shock and growing delight, it must be chocolate mousse cake, Nicky asks about my favorite desserts every new place we visit, he made me chocolate mousse cake – with its 27 candles burning away on top and strawberry slices ringing the bottom.
“Happy birthday, dear Nile! Happy birthday to yooooou!” The three voices suddenly split into a harmony for the final note and that’s the last straw. Joy and relief and confusion bubble up inside her and she bursts out laughing. Just like that, the dining room fills with cheers and laughter, the others crowding close around her.
When she can speak through her giggles, she shakes her head at it all. “What is this?”
“What, you don’t know what a cake is?” Joe teases. Then he pauses and frowns in concern. “Wait, do you not do cake? We can do something else –”
“No – I mean, yeah, I do cake, I’ve done cake for – but I thought immortals didn’t do birthdays?”
“Of course we do birthdays,” Nicky says with a smile. “It is flexible for us because we do not have a date for when we were born, but we were born, and that is worth celebrating.”
Andy shrugs when Nile looks at her. “Time runs together after a while, but it’s good to have these markers. Anniversaries. Celebrate the good things.”
You’re one of the good things, is what she doesn’t say but what Nile hears loud and clear. Nile can feel her smile going wobbly around the edges as she blinks back sudden tears.
A warm hand takes hers. Nicky squeezes gently as she swallows around the lump in her throat. “It is customary to make a wish. Go on,” he encourages. “Then we can eat.”
“Dessert before dinner?”
“Always,” Andy nods firmly.
Nicky huffs indulgently but also nods. “Dessert before dinner. And then you can open your gifts.”
Nile hiccups wetly around another laugh. “There’s more?”
“Yes!” Joe leans in excitedly. “So hurry up and blow out your candles so you can see what we got you!”
Andy drags him back into his seat by the arm, then grins at Nile. “He’s been like a puppy with a new toy since we bought them. And they’re not even for him.”
Joe waves off the accusation. “I’m just excited. We haven’t done a proper birthday in so long.”
“We are all excited,” Nicky adds. “You should have seen Andy, though.” He smirks at Andy, who rolls her eyes back. “She was very concerned about choosing the perfect gift. It was sweet.”
Nile can’t help how soft her voice comes out when she says, “I’m sure they’re great.” She looks around the table, past the glow of the candles, at Joe’s bright grin and Nicky’s gentle eyes, at the relaxed slope of Andy’s shoulders and the way her gaze is focused on the here and now, with them. The here and now is good.
She looks at the 27 candles melting on her cake. She breathes in deep and lets it go.