I hear it's @thefreakandthehair's birthday... happiest of days pal, enjoy the fluff!
Eddie is nervous.
There's no getting around that fact. He's been planning his surprise for days, knows all the ways it can go wrong, even has a couple of back up plans if it all goes to shit. Yet, the nerves in his gut bubble up and toil around in his gut like bad food.
See, Steve's birthday is something special. It's the day he was born, so Eddie is especially glad for the occasion. Steve, on the other hand, is not. Up until meeting Eddie and being honest about his dislike of the day, Steve never celebrated. Between shitty parents and an overall lack of interest, the big day rolled by every year without a single present, balloon, or muttered 'happy birthday'.
It's the sort of travesty that Eddie's going to spend the rest of his life remedying.
So, there's a bit of pressure (all self-applied) for Eddie to make the day a little extra special. The first year, he threw Steve his very first family birthday party. The one following, Eddie took Steve to a Tears for Fears concert in the city. That trip is still one Eddie looks back on fondly - the gift ended up being amazing for them both.
This year, Eddie's decision to keep things on the down low is driving him a little mad. While he knows it's the right decision after the last few months they've been through, Eddie's still trying to come to terms with his very small, though still big and heartfelt, gestures. He doesn't want Steve to think any less of a day that's more important to Eddie than his own day of birth. His husband isn't that sort of person, yet Eddie feels the sting of nervousness all the same.
Instead of something big and flashy to start the day, Eddie gets out of bed a little early and makes breakfast. He's careful about the color of Steve's toast (because if it's too burnt, he'll eat it out of petulant stubbornness, not actual enjoyment). The good orange juice is sitting in Steve's favorite cup and the eggs are just about ready. Everything is going perfectly when the creaky floorboard gives Steve's presence away.
"You're cooking, babe?" Steve asks as he wraps his arms around Eddie from behind. His nose settles into the curve of neck and shoulder - Eddie still loves the feeling of Steve breathing him in there.
"Yes! And you're supposed to be in bed. I was going to bring this to you." Eddie tries not to let the pout leak into his voice, but Steve's arms tightening around his waist give him away.
"I think I like this better. I can hold you while you finish up and then we can eat together."
It's so sweet and beautifully mushy that Eddie lets this ruined surprise slide. He can't be disappointed when Steve beams at him like they're still newlyweds throughout the entirety of the meal.
Except, the rest of the day is pretty off, too. Eddie gets caught in a meeting at work that blows up his plans to take Steve lunch. He employs Dustin to head to the sub shop Steve likes to pick up the food, instead. He's late to get home and misses Steve before his husband takes off for his evening run, so the pre-workout blow job is off the table.
By the time dinner rolls around, Eddie's feeling less than and so disappointed in himself. Steve finds him at the kitchen table with his head in his hands after his post-run shower.
"Baby, what's wrong?" There's that sickeningly sweet care in Steve's voice that have the tears in the corner of Eddie's eyes finally falling.
"Today's been all wrong, Steve. You deserve the best and today just wasn't it. Nothing went as planned." He swipes at the rebellious tears but more fall in their place. "I wanted your birthday to be perfect."
Shower-warm hands frame his cheeks; Steve uses his grip there to tilt Eddie's head up so they're looking eye to eye. "Eddie, I love you but my birthday has never mattered to me. It's just another day. You love me so well all year that an entire day of spoiling me is just gluttonous. I'm a happy man, baby. Let's celebrate that together, instead."
Eddie is too moved to say anything, so he leans in to seal their lips together. The kiss lingers long enough for Eddie to forget about his troubles and simply enjoy the moment.
Later, when they're tangled up in the sheets together, blush and sweat still marring their skin, Steve rolls over to press his lips against Eddie's ear. "Best birthday ever," he whispers, a smile in his voice.
It's real and genuine and Eddie knows he means it.
obligatory intermittent post once again requesting more people make pjo askblogs. pretty pretty please. they're very fun I promise and askblogs are a dying species. i'm very sad that for like the past 6 years there's usually only been one or two riordanverse askblogs active and I'm one of them.
"but i can't-" there's options! text-based askblogs! illustrated/drawn-response askblogs! cosplay askblogs! voice acting askblogs! combinations of the above! whatever else your heart desires! get funky with it! getting funky with it is really cool!
also do your local askblogs a favor and send them some asks sometimes. here's a list of illustrated pjo askblogs I have curated, and a list of other formats of pjo askblogs. I'm also working on another list of general askblogs so if you have any other askblogs you should tell me about those ones too.
I was scrolling google for pictures of moths for a reference picture and a post from 2021 where I sent you a bunch of pictures of my favorite moths popped up lmaoo
The post reminded me that you said ur fav moth is the cecropia moth and I had painted that moth on a patch I made for my backpack lolz
OMG OMG OMG THEY LOOK SO COOL PERI THATS SO SICK OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
✒️ this is almost like we are writing letters to each other
I hope you have a peaceful and serene kind of evening <3
(That headstone is supposed to say RIP but anyways --)
Meg you are such a huge writing inspiration to me and always a wonderfully spooky, funny person. I have loved bonding over Saw and The Passenger these past few months. Also you got me into Spiritbox and I can't thank you e-fucking-nough for that 💜
Ok uhm. I am back again:> hi, hey you. Yes, youuu.
Would you like to see something I did because I found the voices that my characters of Sky would have? I mean, they're quite similar.
Since I learned how to animate in these days...
It looks quite "cringing" to me, but maybe someone will like it? :D
Oh also, I guess it's natural to see after I posted of these two so often, but they're not father and daughter as the characters that originally sang this-
This is something that - excluding the song - could happen in a sequel of my fanfiction...:>