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starlitangels · 8 months

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Happy Birthday Pali! (2023 Edition)

@palilious Happy birthday my friend! I humbly offer this to you as my birthday present! 💜 Have the best day! 2.1k words

A note for everyone else: you can read this if you want but it is very much meant For Pali and not generalized

—

Softly-callused fingertips trail over the ridge where your neck meets your back as you return to consciousness. You hear Milo humming quietly, weak morning sunlight filtering into the room past blackout curtains.

An instinctive inhale and exhale to clear the haze of sleep out of your lungs alerts him that you're awake. He chuckles quietly. "Mornin' sweetheart," he says. Gentle and relaxed. Unhurried.

"Morning," you reply. Snuggling farther back against him in a half-asleep stupor. He slides his arms around you and holds you close, humming again. He always has this scent about him that's musky and clean and as you clear your lungs of sleep again.

"Guess what?" he says quietly, voice vibrating from his chest into your back.

"Hmm?"

His lips press to that ridge on your spine between your neck and your back, trailing up and down with lazy kisses on each vertebrae bump. "Happy birthday to you... happy birthday to youuu... happy birthday dear Paliii... happy birthday to youuu..." he sings, keeping his lips pressed to your skin so you can feel them moving. It tickles slightly, sending goosebumps down your spine. An instinctive shudder cascades down your spine. Milo chuckles. "Tickle?"

"A little."

"Sorry." He doesn't apologetic at all. He actually sounds cheeky.

You squirm in order to turn around and face him. His skin has a slight glimmery sheen in the weak, ambient sunlight and the scar that bisects his eyebrow glints. "No you're not," you say playfully.

He grins, bright white teeth shining out. "Nah. Not if it means I get to see this pretty face of yours." He brings a hand around from you back to brush a curl behind your ear and run the backs of his fingers down your cheek. Adding a playful little pinch of your chin when he reaches it. You swat his hand away with a laugh, which earns you another one.

"Charmer."

"You like it."

"Arrogant."

"You like that too."

You do but he doesn't have to sound so cocky about it. It's too hot and not fair.

Before you can make some joke about it, your phone starts ringing. Milo chuckles again. "So it begins," he says softly.

You reach over to the bedside table and pick up your phone to see a familiar name from your contacts list. Of course those two are first. "Mmhmm," you can't help but agree. The thing about werewolf packs is that when a birthday comes around, the whole pack calls to impart well wishes.

You slide the answer option.

"Happy birthday to youuu!" the familiar voices of Asher and his mate sing—his mate holding the tune much better than him. Neither of those two are morning people, especially on a Saturday, but you know Asher. He'd be damned if he didn't grab every single opportunity to celebrate even the smallest occasion with both hands and run with it.

By the time they finish the song, Asher's singing falsetto opera and his mate is laughing so hard you can hear them wheezing and unable to continue.

An obvious clue that whatever they see on their end of the call is some sort of dramatic performance on Asher's part.

"How's your birthday been so far, Pali?" Asher asks in that excited puppy tone of his.

"Barely started," you say as you hear something in the kitchen. Milo kisses right behind your ear and slides smoothly out of bed with the grace of a real wolf on a hunt, slipping out of the room.

"Awww," Asher's mate says.

"Were we the first to call?" Asher asked.

"Yep," you reply.

"Woohoo!" his mate says with a chuckle. "Well, we'll let you go before Asher or I keep you on the phone for an hour. Hope you have a great birthday, Pali!"

"Haaappyyyyy birthdaaayyy!" Asher drawls in agreement a little farther back from the phone.

"Thank you both! Bye!"

"Have a good day! Bye!" They hang up. You smile and set your phone back down on the bedside table, knowing David and his mate are probably going to call any second. David won't sing, but his mate will. Loud and enthusiastic and bubbly. David's just punctual.

The door to the bedroom creaks open and Milo carefully steps in. There's a tray in his hands. Laden with breakfast for both of you.

You gasp sarcastically. "Milo Greer? Actually allowing us to eat on the bed?" you tease. A trait he notoriously picked up from his mother, Milo was pretty strict about not eating on the bed because he hated having to shake crumbs out of the covers.

He grins. "Well, it's my sweetheart's special day. I figure I can make an exception for one day of the year." He sets the tray on the bed between your spot and his and climbs carefully on to sit beside you. "Made your favorite."

"A lots more beside," you add, eyeing how much food was on plates. "How early did you get up?"

He shrugs. "Eh. Couple hours ago. Woke up at my usual time anyway and couldn't get back to sleep. Figured I'd let you sleep in while I made you some breakfast." He leans over and kisses your cheek, voice dropping to a whisper. "Dig in, sweetheart. There's more fun to be had after you've gotten some food in you. I think we'll both need the energy." He winks playfully and straightens back to his spot and picks up his plate.

You're halfway through your own breakfast when your phone rings again. Sure enough, David's mate immediately belts out their happy birthday song while David audibly sighs affectionately in the background. "Happy birthday, Pali," he offers when his mate is finished singing.

"Thank you both!"

"Have a great day and do whatever you want and damn the consequences!" his mate exclaims.

"Angel," David warns quietly.

"What?" they ask, sounding defensive but not apologetic.

You laugh.

"Don't expect a song from Tank and Sam. Neither of them are the singing sort," David tells you. "They'll still call, but I don't think they'll sing."

"That's fine," you remark. "I appreciate all the well wishes no matter what."

"You're family. Shifter or not, you're part of the pack." David's stalwart resolute attitude is as unwavering as always.

"Thanks David." You grin even if he and his mate can't see you. They can hear it in your voice, you're fairly certain of that. They've known you long enough.

"Of course, Pali. You and Milo have a good day."

"Byyyeee!" David's mate says.

"Bye!"

They hang up.

Milo chuckles. "How David managed to land someone with that much energy, I have no idea."

"But considering how much they've gotten him to loosen up," you remark, "it's a good thing he did."

"Oh yeah." He nods and takes a drink of his orange juice. "So, sweetheart, which present do you want first?"

"There's more than one?"

"Wellll... there's the pretty thing in a box wrapped in paper in the other room, and then there's this gift right in front of you." He gestured to himself with a lopsided smirk that spelled Trouble from a mile away. You start to chuckle and roll your eyes, but he leans closer and cuts off your train of thought. "So which do you want first, sweetheart?" he growls, still smirking. "What'll it be?"

He lifts a hand and twirls one of your curls around his fingers, tickling the ends of it against your cheek.

You reach up and ball your fists into the chest of his loose pajama T-shirt and pull him close. "I think I'll take you first."

His crooked grin widens in that look that definitely made teachers wary of him. "Come 'ere and get me then, sweetheart."

You practically pounce on him as he kisses you and pulls you closer with a desperation that's never gone away, even after all this time together. A growl rolls in his throat. He hooks one leg around you to pin you close to him. His other hand grabs the tray and sets it down on the floor beside the bed.

—

An Unknown Amount of Time Later...

—

Messy curls and sweaty skin accompany heavy breathing as Milo pulls you close, nuzzling his nose into the hair on the side of your head. Somehow he looks fresh as a spring daisy under the sweat. His hair doesn't have a single coil out of place and his smile shines as bright as the sun. "I love you, Pali."

"I love you too, Milo."

He hums, chest vibrating against yours. "Good birthday so far?"

You manage a nod, still panting, with a smile.

Milo grins. "Good. Because I'd be damned if I didn't treat my mate and the love of my life to the best day of her year for her birthday." He kisses the end of your nose. You pucker your lips for another one—

Right as your phone rings again. Milo rolls over—you're not entirely sure when he ended up on your side of the bed—and passes it to you. "It's Tank 'n' Sam," he says.

You answer it.

"Happy birthday Pali!" they both say. Tank sounds brighter than you've heard them in years, and Sam sounds about as amused as you've heard since you met him.

Milo slips out of bed.

"Thanks!" You're fairly certain you're not panting when you reply.

You still hear Tank suppress a snicker, so maybe you weren't as subtle as you think. "Good day so far?" they ask.

"Yup. Very good day."

"I'll bet." You catch a bit of a teasing tone in their voice. "Well, we'll let you and Milo get back to your celebrations. We just wanted to wish you happy birthday."

"Thank you both."

"Sure thing. Bye Pali."

"Bye!" You hang up.

Milo comes back into the bedroom, having acquired pajama shorts from somewhere, and holds a hand out for you. You hop out of bed and throw on one of his T-shirts that had been sitting on the chair. His musky, clean scent clings to it. Filling your nose in a way that's always comforted and soothed you.

You take his hand and let him tug you into the living room. The house is so much nicer and quieter than the apartment without upstairs neighbors clanking around in their cinderblock shoes.

Milo tugs you into his lap on the couch and pulls something off one of the end tables. "I told you there was a pretty thing in a box wrapped in paper out here," he said. "Gotta spoil my mate just a little." He rests his cheek on your shoulder and sets the box—small and long enough that you assume it's a bracelet that's strung out flat—in your hand.

"Do I get to open it?" you ask.

He blows a raspberry into the skin of your upper arm. "It's your birthday, Pali. You get to do whatever you want."

You rip the paper off. The box is a little thicker than you thought. You pull the long lid off the top.

Not a bracelet.

A pen.

A very fancy pen. The kind with a shiny wooden handle.

You look down at Milo. "A pen?"

He nods. "It's one of those fountain pen things that's s'posed to be really good for inking. For all those, uh... pose studies you do with me as your, uh... anatomy model" He winks. "I asked one-a your artsy friends what the best kind would be for you, and this is what she recommended."

"Wait." You pop the pen out of the box and inspect it. "Aren't these like super expensive?"

He smiles that troublemaker's smile. "It's your birthday. Aaand once ya got the pen, ya just gotta replace the ink when it runs out. Which isn't so expensive. Way I see it, it's an investment for that one sketchbook that ain't allowed to leave our bedroom."

You chuckle. The sketchbook in question is definitely never allowed to leave your bedroom.

The pen in your hand winks in the sunlight. You look down at him. "Milo... thank you."

He kisses your arm and then puckers up facing your head. You bend down and kiss him. "Happy birthday, sweetheart. I'm so lucky to have you in my life and I don't know what I'd do without you." He brushes your curls out of your face and behind your ear. "You're the light of my life and the best mate a wolf like me could ask for. I'm so grateful for you."

"I love you, Milo."

"I love you too, Pali. More than life itself." He leans in close and lets you kiss him again. Sweeter and more tender. Without the raw passion. Just love and joy. "Happy birthday baby."

"Thank you, Milo. For everything."

"Nah, nah. I'm the one who should be thankin' you."

#Happy Birthday Pali!#Pali I love you #I hope you have a really good day #I wish I could do more for my friend's birthdays but alas. Fics have to do #my dad's the artist not me but I got him a nice pen one year and he used it until it was all gone.#I also got him a 500 prompt sketchbook and he filled the whole thing

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