#also a bunch of other aai/2 characters but not quite enough to tag

[aquilamage]

I finally finished my Sebastian birthday fic!!!!! a little behind schedule but who’s counting? Special shoutout to @unnecessarygayfeelings for all the conversations we have had about this concept and other Seb-Kay friendship stuff, she really inspired and encouraged me to actually write this whole thing

Also on ao3 and ff.n

When Kay finds out Sebastian's never had a proper birthday before, she knows that something must be done about it.

It had become something of a ritual for the two of them: spending their weekend evenings at Mr. Edgeworth’s house, usually with Kay bringing something over to further her quest of catching Sebastian up on all of the stuff he’d never seen before. Tonight was Pink Princess (admittedly in part as an appeasement tactic, since last time she’d gotten them into a lively roasting of the Steel Samurai franchise before Sebastian realized Mr. Edgeworth been in the adjoining room for a while).

They were partway through a filler arc – the one involving the non-powered secondary characters having to defend the town by themselves – and the episode’s ending credits just started to roll when Sebastian slumped forward with a huff.

“Yeah, I know. This isn’t the best writing in the series,” she said, using the break in action to check her phone.

Another little sound. “It’s not that. It’s… they’re the same age as me, and they’re doing all this important saving the world stuff.” When she glanced over at him, he’d wrapped his arms around his knees, resting his head on them.

She shook her head. “Well yeah. But it’s made up, right? Besides, I think the cases we’ve been helping with lately have been pretty cool and important too.” Seeing him still looking downcast, she slid the popcorn closer to him.

That cheered him up, at least enough to be watching with some interest as the opener for the next episode started.

As the theme song started, Kay processed something else about what he had said. Oh. Despite herself, she couldn’t help but breathe out a laugh. When he gave her a look, she waved a hand. “Sorry. You just said you were the same age as these characters, so, you know...”

He only kept staring, tilted his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“Uh. Just that they’re eighteen, actually. Which is fine,” she added quickly, seeing him frown, “it gets mentioned like once, so it makes sense you might mess it up, especially when it’s that close anyway.”

A long silence. “But…I am eighteen.”

The smile dropped right off her face. “What?” she breathed, then “I’m serious; it’s fine.”

Mouth quivering slightly, he brought his hands up to his collar. “I am too.” The very beginnings of tears formed.

“…that you’re eighteen?” She huffed, flopping herself back against the couch. “Since when? Because I seem to remember you saying you were seventeen before.”

“Since…my birthday? Last month?”

She stiffened. “Wait, your birthday was last month and you didn’t even tell me?” An exaggerated pout. “I thought we were friends.”

He ducked his head. “It’s not like it’s important.”

Kay opened her mouth, then closed it. Looked down, frowning, hand on her chin. Tilted her head back up. Only managed an “uch-” sort of sound before giving up again. Finally, after a series of very expressive eyebrow and nose wrinklings, constantly shifting back and forth: “what do you mean it’s not important?!” When he jumped at the force and volume, she immediately backed up. “Sorry,” she whispered. “But really, it’s your birthday. Your eighteenth! That’s a big thing!”

With an uneasy frown, Sebastian half-shrugged.

“Aw, come on.” She softened a bit. “Look, I know it wouldn’t have been the same, but I know we all would’ve done something to celebrate if we’d known.”

There was a long silence. Then, slowly, he relaxed his shoulders and his arms wrapped around himself, a bit at least. “Can we not- not talk about this anymore?” His voice was thick and strained.

“Uh- Okay.” Much as she was suddenly curious and a little concerned, Kay knew she shouldn’t push. The number of times she’d actually seen Sebastian assert boundaries could be counted on one hand, and they were supposed to be encouraging him about that. She held up the remote. “You…wanna keep watching?”

After a steadying breath, he nodded once, sharply.

---

It was about an episode and a half after Mr. Edgeworth had gone to bed, tone suggesting that he thought they should too (although the droop of his eyes betrayed he wasn’t expecting that of Kay, nor did he see it as being worth his energy to try very hard to convince them), when Sebastian spoke again.

“I’ve never ca- celebrated it before.” The admission almost got lost in the onscreen dialogue, not helped by the fact that he didn’t give any real indication that he was doing anything but watching the tv.

Kay turned. “What do you- oh. Oh.” With only the flickering screen as lighting, it was hard to make out any expression. “What, like, ever?”

That habitual little half-flinch of arms to his chest. “Not that I can remember.”

She stared at him. In her mind flashed memories of every birthday event she’d ever had: family, school, friends – especially the ones when her dad had still been alive. She tried to picture all that, gone. Her brain couldn’t even grapple the concept, it was so foreign.

How did she respond to that? She’s noticed over the past few months, how much Sebastian had going on in his life that she couldn’t even imagine, but still. “…that sucks.”

He shrugged, but even in the darkness it was very obvious how hard he was struggling to keep his face neutral. “It’s fine. I- …I’m used to it.” Another deep breath, and then he broke down crying.

Cursing under her breath, Kay pushed herself up, but then stopped herself immediately. Too abrupt. Right, she’d messed this up last time and they’d talked it over after. Do that instead. She pulled the blanket off the top of the couch. “Can I, uh…?” She held it up.

He nodded. When she draped it over him, he kept still, but when she sat back down (a bit closer than before but still giving plenty of space), he pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders. Not quite relaxed, but free of tension.

As that happened, she shuffled around for the remote and switched off the tv. She didn’t know what else to say, so she sat there bouncing her leg, hands on her knees. It felt awkward, though she couldn’t say why until she finally realized that Sebastian’s crying was awfully quiet.

Which was why she immediately perked up when he moved.

“Do you ra- r- …where are the tissues?” He had one hand keeping the blanket on, the other on the arm of the couch propping himself up, and his face was a mess.

“I’ll go get them!” Because if nothing else it gave her something to do, and the situation did nothing to curb her usual fidgety tendencies. She found the box quickly, bringing it back over to him.

He practically cradled it in his lap. “Thanks.”

“Yeah.”

They resumed their positions. This time, Kay’s thoughts went back to the crux of the situation: Sebastian’s lack of proper birthdays. It was a smaller cruelty than many of the others he’d suffered, she knew that. But that didn’t make it not awful. Besides, unlike some of the ‘bigger’ stuff, this seemed – unlike some of the others, as she started to think it over – like one she could do something concrete about.

But first, she needed some information.

---

A stream of people poured into the lobby as the trial let out. Kay stood against the wall at just the right angle to keep out of their way, watching the crowd intently. The place practically cleared out, but then she spotted her. “Judge Courtney!” she said, rushing over.

“Ah, Kay. What brings you here?”

She crossed her arms. “Some questions. You’ve known Sebastian the longest out of anyone I know. What does he like?”

A pause, barely noticeable except for a blink and a slight tilt of the head. “May I ask what this is for?”

“Sebastian’s birthday.”

“Oh. Kay,” she held up a hand, “perhaps we should sit somewhere more comfortable.”

Hoo boy, that was code for ‘Serious Adult Conversation ahead’ if she ever heard it. “Alright.” Kay shrugged. Then as they started walking, she dropped her voice. “I already know it was last month.” She didn’t know Courtney knew that part about him, but considering how things were going, she figured it was a pretty good guess.

Courtney didn’t respond until they reached one of the benches outside, draped over with trees. As she sat, she smoothed out her dress. “I certainly trust that you have the kindest of intentions. However, I have to question if…whatever it is you have planned...is for the best.”

“I just want to throw him a party! He deserves to have one for once in his life.” Really, she’d thought Courtney would be more chill about this.

That gave her pause. “I don’t know what your understanding of the situation is, but,” she sighed, then put a finger to her lips. “I mentioned it to him before the date, and he simply told me not to bother about it.” As she spoke, she traced patterns on her gavel, face downcast. “It’s wonderful that you want to do something for him, but this might simply be too close to everything that’s happened for him not to be reminded how much things have changed.”

Kay frowned. “I guess.” That tracked, even if she would’ve thought that Sebastian dismissed his birthday because he didn’t think it was worth Courtney bothering. From what she could tell, though, it seemed like she wasn’t aware of the whole ‘hadn’t actually had a birthday before’ part, and honestly Kay wasn’t sure if it was her place to mention it now. She slid one foot off the edge of the chair and onto the ground. “But I can’t just not do anything. It doesn’t feel right.”

A car started up in the nearby lot, and the wind rustled through the trees, brushing Kay’s hair against her face and ruffling her scarf.

Courtney sighed. “I’m not going to be able to stop you.” She bowed her head, slightly, slowly, then looked back up at her. “Perhaps, then, I can at least convince you that whatever you choose to do, to remember to keep his best interests at heart.”

Of course she was doing this for Sebastian’s interests! That was kind of the whole point. Kay frowned.

“Including not pushing him further than he would be comfortable.” Folding her arms in her lap, she sat with an even more proper posture, a presence wholly focused on her, waiting expectantly to appraise her response.

Despite herself, she shrunk back a little. What Sebastian would be comfortable…hm. She supposed she hadn’t thought of that, at least not in the details of the situation which, yeah. Might be a bit much. Kay cleared her throat, and said, meekly, “yeah. I can do that.”

---

“Alright, so we’re gonna have to make some adjustments.” Sprawled out on her bed, she regarded her open notebook. The page was absolutely covered in notes of different ink colors, some highlighted, with little drawings in the margins and white spaces. On a post-it note, she scribbled “save for next year?”, stuck it on top. She flipped to a blank page. “Let’s try this again,” she muttered.

For a long time after, the room was quiet but for the light scratch of paper rustling and a lot of pen clicking. Finally, she sat up. This page had a short bullet-point list, made seemingly longer by the lines she’d crossed out.

Kay smiled. “Now we’re talking.”

---

Mid-knock, the door was yanked open. “I have a flight to catch in half an hour, so this had better be-” Franziska paused. “Kay Faraday. How can I help you?”

She grinned. “You can sign something for me.” With a flourish, she produced a blue-and-pink envelope.

A huff. “Well, let me see what…” Holding the paper stiffly, she looked at Kay with narrowed eyes. “Kay Faraday. Are you sure this is an appropriate thing to be doing?” In a lower voice, “I’m not sure I am the best person for this.”

“Aw, don’t be like that!” Kay sidled around next to her. “I just hit you up first because I had a deadline. You don’t have to do anything besides sign your name. Ok?” Seeing Franziska still waver, she leaned in further with the last line, tilting her head.

“…Very well.” Moving to her desk, she scribbled something down. For a second, she paused, pen hovering over the paper. But then she shrugged and resumed like it was nothing. “Here you are.”

Oh, she was going to have to resist real hard not to immediately read whatever was on there. Then again, if other people would be seeing it anyway, maybe… She plucked it out of her hands. “Awesome, thanks! Good luck on your investigation!”

Franziska crossed her arms. As the door shut, she sighed. “You might need it more, if you are doing anything like I might think,” she murmured to herself lightly.

---

“..and that’s when they switched over notation styles. Well, except for- Uh, Kay?”

Her train of thought flew away like the bird on the windowsill. “Hmm?” She looked back at Sebastian.

He still had his hands out in front of him from talking, his eyebrows slightly raised now. The lack of his voice in the air hung in the silence like an afterimage on the back of her mind. As that quiet went on, the line of his mouth gathered into a slight pout.

Kay’s thoughts felt like they were swimming through honey as she tried to process herself back to what was happening. The whole thing started from Sebastian getting antsy about Mr. Edgeworth’s meeting taking so long, she recalled, the stiffness from sitting in the rigid waiting room chair settling back into her awareness. He’d started fidgeting with his baton. So she’d asked him about it. Sebastian had immediately been distracted talking about the few concerts he’d been to- Oh, right. She had been listening intently, but after a while of having nothing else to do but listen, she’d found herself staring through the window behind him and that had been the end of her attention.

Seeing him start to tense, she cursed herself about it. “Sorry,” she rubbed the back of her neck. “I kind of spaced out for a bit. What were you saying?”

For a terrifying moment, his face went blank. Then, he blinked, and smiled. “Oh, that’s ok! I get disgruntled a lot when Justine’s explaining things, so I get it.”

“You mean distracted?”

“...Yeah! That.” He hummed something under his breath. When Kay didn’t say anything else, he stared down at his feet. “Do you actually want me to keep talking?”

Well, she had mostly been trying to occupy him, but there had been some curiosity there too. Besides, it was fun to see him so excited about something. Kay stood, stretching. “Give me a second, but yeah.” As she pulled her arm behind her head, “but, maybe a little more beginner level, if you can?”

---

“Wow pal, I can’t believe you’re asking me for help with this.”

“Of course I am!” Kay threw an arm around Gumshoe. She meant it too: he was the most friendly, enthusiastic person she’d ever met. Yeah, he didn’t know Sebastian as well, so it might be a little more difficult to- and he was already writing, brow furrowed in concentration. Huh. Cool.

With a thoughtful noise, he held it up to reread, chewing lightly on the end of his pen. Then, with a nod, he handed it over. “How about this?”

It was only a quick scan, but she could tell “Perfect. Thanks, Gummy.”

---

A spoon clattered to the table.

“Yeah!” Kay threw her arms in the air, sending her spoon skittering across the floor. “Oohf, I got it.” Ducking under the table, she picked it up.

Across from her, Sebastian watched with his eyebrows raised, putting his own spoon back where it belonged.

She flung herself back up. “So! If you really want to make it stay, the secret is to-”

“How was everything tonight?”

Immediately she put her hands down, smiling politely. “Great, thanks!”

The server nodded. “Great. And are we having dessert today?”

“Yeah!” Kay said, at the same time Sebastian dipped his head with a “no, thank you.” They looked at each other.

Kay spoke first. “Can we get a menu?”

“Sure thing!”

When they’d left, she leaned over. “Aw, come on, you should get something.”

“Eh.” Half-shrugging, with an uneasy frown, he looked away. “No, it’s fine.”

Hmm. She let him be for the moment. Scanning the menu, she made her own decision, then continued staring, counting to a minute(ish) before she moved. The laminated paper slid across the table. “I’ll pay if that’s the issue, but seriously. We’ve been working so much, we deserve something nice.”

Sebastian looked at her, briefly at the menu, then back to her. “Are you sure it’s okay?”

“…What, to order dessert? Yeah. That’s why it’s there.” She rested her chin in her hands. “You could show up and just get desserts, if you really wanted.” She paused. “Huh.” Then, she shook her head. File that in future developing plans.

“Okay.” Not sounding entirely convinced, he started examining the options anyway.

To give herself something to do, Kay pulled out her phone. She bounced between a couple game apps, refreshing the same website three times, replying to a conversation thread she’d been having with someone about Steel Samurai, checking a different site…

“Ready to order?”

About to answer for herself, she noticed Sebastian frowning, the menu making wobbling noises from him bending it in his hands. “Uh, can we get another minute?” Then, she picked up her chair from under her and dragged it over to sit next to him. “What’s up?”

Seemingly reflexively, he clutched the menu to his chest. “Sorry.” He relaxed slowly. “I don’t know…”

“Well,” she tapped one of the items, “they’ve got a sampler tray. How about we get that?”

An uncertain nod. But then, a tiny smile.

Kay insisted on handing each of the desserts to him individually, putting on her most exaggerated game show host voice to ask ‘the celebrity judge’s opinion on the contestant’s dishes.’ It took him a moment to warm up to it, but soon enough they were trading remarks and dishes back and forth with ease.

It made her feel energized and light to see Sebastian enjoying himself so much, and even more grateful to herself for this idea. Even so, she didn’t let that distract her from keeping notes about the whole thing in her head.

---

“Hey, Mr. Edgeworth.” Her usual singsong greeting had a little extra touch of sweet to it, in the cadence that led up to something rather than being a sentence on its own.

“Kay. What food have I run out of this time.” Sure, he did sound a little tired at that, but the sarcasm weighed that pretty lightly.

She leaned on his desk, taking a tone of false indignation. “No.” She paused. “I mean, you might want to pick up more cereal next time you go shopping, but that’s just my thief’s intuition.” Wagging a finger, she leaned forward just enough to push some of his papers askew. “I came here to ask a favor.”

Now, he finally looked up at her. All he did was raise an eyebrow (and narrow his eyes a little, but this instance felt more like squinting – because she was pretty sure at this point that he needed glasses), but it was pretty obviously leading up to a ‘Kay, what kind of trouble do you expect me to help you with now?’

“Kay, what trouble do you expect me to get you out of now?”

She laughed. “Hey! It’s not like that this time, and besides, it’s not even for me.” In one motion she pulled the envelope out of her bag and dropped it so it fell perfectly in front of him.

Still with a bit of trepidation, Mr. Edgeworth looked inside. He frowned, until he got to actually examine the contents properly. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” Sliding off the desk, Kay wandered over towards the bookshelf. She started poking at files randomly, mostly as an excuse to not look at him without just pointedly not looking at him. Although she did peek over her shoulder. Just for a second.

All she saw was him glaring down intently, anyway.

Several minutes later, he cleared his throat. “Here you are.” When she stepped back over to take it, there was a moment of hesitation from him. The hand holding the envelope faltered. “Kay. What else do you have planned?”

“Why, are you offering to help?”

“Ngh. No, I simply…wished to be forewarned.” He looked off to the side. “Rather than being thrown headlong into who knows what.”

Surprise party for Mr. Edgeworth: no, but it might be funny to let him think you’re planning one. She grinned. “You’re such a stick in the mud.” Before he could react, she snatched the envelope “but thanks for the help anyway!” and bounded off.

“Kay!”

She stuck her head back in the door. “What?”

“Do you have something else planned?”

“Yeah,” she said, drawing out the pause. “But nothing involving you, unless you really want.” This time was sincere, rather than teasing.

He relaxed, slowly sitting down. “I…think I will pass this time.”

“Alright, suit yourself.” That made things easier, since she hadn’t planned for him saying yes anyway. And then she was off again.

---

“Hey!”

Sebastian froze, head darting from side to side.

“Up here.”

He gazed up the stairwell to where Kay was, leaning over the railing to wave at him. “Uh, hi. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I-” With a shake of her head, she jogged down to his level, skipping a few steps as she went to land next to him. “So,” she huffed, “I was wondering. Instead of going to Mr. Edgeworth’s Friday, can we do my place?”

For a moment, he wrung his hands together, expression mostly empty with a tinge of confusion. But then, he nodded. “Sure.” He breathed in through his nose. “Uh, where is that?”

She blinked. “Right. Here, get your phone out.” And she dictated the address for him. “Good?”

“I...think so.” Furrowing his brow, he clutched his phone in a way worryingly like he would his baton if his grip were any tighter. “Is there anything I have to do?”

“No? Just show up.” She did her best to smile reassuringly. Sebastian had never been over to her apartment before, but it wasn’t that big of a thing. Well, for her at least, she supposed. “It’s not as fancy as Mr. Edgeworth’s, but I’m not going to get as uptight about things either. Actually, let me know if you want me to pick up any specific kind of snacks, but otherwise yeah. Same time and everything. Trust me, it’ll be great.”

---

“Was there something else?” It had been a while since their last conversation, but considering that one had been about Sebastian, and that those were the only times Kay had approached her on her own before, she supposed it was fair for Courtney to assume so. Besides, she was right.

Kay held out the envelope. “I had an idea. If you could get that back to me by the end of the day.” With a playful salute, she turned to go. “Drop it with Mr. Edgeworth, if you need to.”

She raised an eyebrow, but slowly opened the envelope. As she scanned the contents, her expression warmed into a soft smile. “I see.”

---

The door to Kay’s apartment swung open. “Hey! Come in.”

Shoulders tight, Sebastian stepped inside. “Uh, hi.”

She smiled. “Make yourself at home, okay. What do you want to drink?”

There was a bit of a pause before he said “water’s fine,” leaning over to take off his shoes.

Well, that was something at least. In the kitchen, she filled up both glasses – she’d get him to drink something else later. It was pretty quiet, Kay noted as she opened a cupboard. But then again, it made sense that Sebastian wouldn’t be a ‘having conversations from different rooms’ kind of person. Balancing the drinks and as many snacks as she could fit in her arms, she reentered the living room to find him standing in the middle of the floor. “Sit down, stay a while.” She dumped everything on the coffee table. Then she collapsed on the couch, patting the other cushion.

He followed her lead, tucking his legs under him. The glass of water was accepted, and as Kay started up the tv, he even reached for the bag of grapes.

“So. Do you want to start off where we were watching or do you want to play a game first?”

---

Three episodes of Jammin’ Ninja, a pizza, several rounds of Mario Kart, and five Guitar Hero losses in a row later, Kay dropped her controller in her lap. “I think I’m done with this one,” she said, flopping back.

“Hey, you are pretty good at this.” Sebastian leaned forward with his fork to slide another piece of pizza onto his plate (Kay was tempted to poke fun at him for that – it felt like such a Mr. Edgeworth thing, and she definitely would’ve gotten at him for it – but dropped it, considering). He smirked. “I guess I just happen to be better.”

Kay opened her mouth, but failed to find a smart remark that wouldn’t end up unnecessarily mean. Instead, she stuck her tongue out.

He stuck his tongue out back at her, and when she repeated the action, but more exaggerated, he burst out laughing. As he calmed, he simply sat watching her. Then, with a yawn like a cat, he stretched, arms over his head and back arching. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom.”

“Alright.” Kay stayed slumped against the couch until she heard the door shut, at which point she dashed to the linen closet. She had just enough time to throw herself into approximately the same position before Sebastian returned. “So, I have something for you.”

He tilted his head. “What?”

Grinning broadly, she lifted the gift bag from behind the couch. “I know it’s a little late, but,” she plopped it in the spot between them. “Your birthday present.”

In the background, the game’s menu music looped through again. Right, she’d meant to turn that off before. Not that Sebastian seemed to care or notice, with the way he stared wide-eyed at the multicolor balloon print. Finally, he started to lean forward. “Are you sure?” His voice was very small, a scared hesitancy that nearly broke her heart.

“Yup.” She nudged it closer to him.

Still cautious, he picked up the bag into his lap, and just…held it there, for a moment. His hands were still curled around it, but loosely, and he watched Kay over the top of it, as if waiting for her to…do something, she didn’t know.

“There should be a card on top; start with that.” She wasn’t sure prompting was exactly what he needed, but…

“Oh,” he said softly. “Oh, right.” He pulled it closer to himself then. With a delicacy that she hadn’t started showing until- wait, no, she still tore into presents like an excited three-year-old. Anyway the point was that Sebastian was very careful in opening the envelope flap and taking out the card. It was a rather generic design, but only on the outside. Sebastian looked at her, and she motioned for him to open it. When he did so, he let out a tiny gasp.

Kay tried not to stare at him as he read, but every time she tried to turn her attention away it kept skittering back. It was impossible to tell exactly what part he was reading when, but she already knew the contents. The card had only come with a simple “Happy Birthday” on the inside, but that was fine. They’d done plenty to fill the rest of the space

In the top left corner, written in smooth black ink and typographical quality cursive, was Franziska’s. It simply read, “All good wishes on your birthday. -Franziska von Karma”

While not much more in content, Gumshoe’s big round handwriting took up a lot bigger of a space, occasionally spilling across the fold line. “Happiest of birthdays, pal! Have a great day – you deserve it!”

Mr. Edgeworth’s looked as though he had lined up a ruler as a guide for writing it (honestly, she would bet money he had), and the actual lettering, while angular, was equally neat and consistent across the bottom right side. “We’ve only been working together for a short time, but even in that I have witnessed your great strength and dedication. It is an honor to continue to be a part of your journey.” There was just the tiniest dot of extra ink at the end of the sentence, the closest thing to an imperfection in the writing. “Happy Birthday, Sebastian.”

When she’d taken a peek at the card this afternoon after Mr. Edgeworth had handed it back to her, she’d been surprised to see that Courtney’s handwriting was somewhat jumbled. Then again, the fact that she’d had to make do with working around the space of everyone else’s notes probably didn’t help. She’d written, in pen that looked like some very dark color that was just off from black, “Sebastian. When we spoke about your birthday previously, I hope that my misunderstanding did not seem like a lack of care. If it did, I can only offer my deepest apologies, and the promise to try harder in the future to become the kind of person you would be more comfortable being open around. I wish you the best belated birthday possible, with love. Justine.”

And taking up a good third-bordering-on-half of the bottom right side (helped by the fact that she’d put a sticky note reservation there before handing it out), was Kay’s cursive-print hybrid, alternating sparkly gel pen colors every phrase or so. “Hey. I hope this isn’t overstepping, but you’re someone important to all of us, so I had to find some way to include everyone. You deserve to have your birthday celebrated, okay? This isn’t enough to make up for past stuff, but it’s still something, right? Happy Birthday. -Kay” In the space under the words, she’d doodled a little picture of herself making a heart with her hands.

Sebastian started crying very early into his reading. The first couple tears steadily developed until the paper shook and had to be in danger of getting wet (if it wasn’t already). Taking a big, shaky breath, he put the card on his lap.

At this point, Kay reached behind her for the box of tissues on the lower shelf of the side table, and held it out.

With a nod, he took it. He hadn’t stopped crying, so it was more damage control at the moment as he blotted at his face.

While he was busy with that, Kay took the opportunity to gradually turn down the tv volume. That didn’t take very long, though, leaving her to sit and wait. At least it was less awkward than last time.

Finally, he got his breathing and the tears mostly under control. Although when he sat up and looked at her he quickly ducked his head again, eyes watering. “I- uh… He sniffled. “…thank you,” he whispered, voice thick.

Oh, now her eyes were starting to sting. “It’s no problem at all.”

Sebastian smiled weakly, although his mouth still trembled.

They sat there for some time. Kay held in her impulse to say something, wanting to give him time to finish processing and let him move on at his own pace.

And eventually he did. Very carefully, he set the card on the top of the back of the couch and opened the bag. A few sheets of tissue paper, pulled out and scattered across the couch later, he held up a small box. He looked at Kay just long enough for her to give him a ‘go on’ nod, then opened it. “Huh,” he whispered upon seeing the contents. His mouth pressed together, clearly trying to keep steady as he examined a pair of dark blue socks patterned with tiny orange cats. “I love it.”

She grinned, leaning on the back cushion. “Yeah. That one made me think of you.”

A heavy breath, although the tears were framing a smile. It took him a minute, but he managed to steady himself again without fully crying this time.

“Hey,” she fake-whispered. “There’s more in there.”

He carefully lifted the socks, only to squint at finding just paper. The moment he saw what was on it, though, his hand flew to his mouth in a gasp. “Oh, this is…”

“That’s the right one, right?”

With a soft noise of agreement, he started studying it further. “I’ve never gotten to hear them, but I’ve heard the orchestra performance is- Wait, why are there two tickets?”

“So you can take someone with you,” she murmured.

The smile wavered just a little. He opened his mouth, then closed it. Carefully, he repacked the box. Still not looking at her, he said, “do you- would you want to go?”

Kay had figured it would come up, and she picked her words carefully. “If you want. But you know I don’t know a thing about your fancy music stuff.” It wasn’t that she wouldn’t go and at least have a decent time, probably. But for Sebastian’s sake, if he just wanted someone to talk at, it wouldn’t make much of a difference if Kay had actually been there or not. “You gotta know someone who would get more out of it than me.”

Chewing on his lip, he stared down at the cushions. “Well, there’s-” he paused, the little flinch of frustration that usually popped up when he started talking about some part of his life only to remember that, since the mess with his father, it wasn’t the same anymore. “...Uh. I’ll have to see,” he said, barely audible.

“Or you can go by yourself. It’s meant to be something nice for you, so if dealing with that part’s a problem, don’t bother. I can handle returning it and I’ll buy you lunch or something instead, alright? Focus on the cool music stuff.”

He mimicked her pose, hands on his hips. “Yeah!” The smile returned as he closed his eyes, arms drifting until he was doing tiny little conducting motions, probably not even aware.

When he’d calmed a bit to merely bouncing a little, she leaned forward, chin resting on her head. “You’ve still got one thing left.”

“Oh!” Again, he put the box to the side and shuffled through the paper, this time retrieving a much larger translucent plastic container. Sliding the bag out of the way on the floor, he pried off the lid. And stared at the contents.

The look on his face was so blank… “I picked cupcakes because I thought they’d be more fun.” Plus, a couple of them were much easier to fit in a gift bag than a whole cake. “The rest are in the kitchen, but I put one of each flavor… What?”

As she talked, he’d bowed his head, and his shoulders were shaking, breaths coming fast and unsteady.

“Uh, Seb?”

Then he looked up. Sure enough, there were tears at the corners of his eyes, but the light in them…

Kay stared. “What is so funny?”

“You-” He covered his mouth with a hand. “They’re, uh,” laughter tripping up his words, he tilted the box so she could see.

Nothing about it seemed out of the ordinary to her- three medium size cupcakes of different flavors (carrot, spice, chocolate: not Sebastian’s top three, but she’d gone with what he seemed to like and then whatever other likes that let her use the same frosting), although you couldn’t tell from this angle due to the teal frosting she’d painstakingly decorated with sugarwork music notes. “What are you talking about?”

“No, it’s-” he shrunk back slightly. “It’s really nice, but” his voice got quieter “you did write this all wrong.”

She crossed her arms. “But I looked at references and everything!”

“Well, you got the notes right, but if you actually look at the way the measures are laid out across these, none of them have a combination of notes that gives them the same amount of beats as the other ones, so it’s…” He trailed off as it was Kay’s turn to start giggling.

“I’m not laughing at you,” she said as she scooted next to him. “I did really mess those up, though, huh?”

At that, he relaxed. “Yeah. A lot.”

“I’ll get it right next year.”

There was a moment of silence. Then, he reached up to wipe away a single tear. “You better,” he said, smiling.