#as you can see i have a flavor of fic that i rlly enjoy lmao

[dontwritemeoff]

Damon's birthday!

a lil something something for our dear assassin/spy/bastard's birthday! (07/17)

TW: none ? I'm writing this on mobile so there will prob be some typos I'm sorry, it's easy and I'm lazy

DAMON

Damon certainly wasn't going to tell you about his birthday himself. It's nothing to do with embarrassment, if people want to celebrate him, be his guest! He just didn't see anything to celebrate about himself. So rather than make a big deal out of it, he'd mentally add another year to the tally and get on with his life.

So when you get a com message from an unknown number you're suspicious, but then relieved when the sender identifies themself as Alisa. You're not sure how she even got your com number, since you certainly didn't have time to give it to her on Cursa, but you decide not to dwell on it since her network of Intel was simply too big to wrap your head around.

"Hello little prince (ess), I'm assuming lover boy didn't give you much personal information about himself, right?"

You look past the most likely not well meaning nickname and take pause at the meat of her message. You didn't exactly want to learn something important about Damon without him telling you, but you also trusted that Alisa would never breach his privacy in a way that truly would hurt him. In reality, her first priority was to make sure you didn't hurt him.

"Hi, Alisa! :) You'd be right about that."

You respond, hoping that matching her formal-ish tone would be the right move.

"Then I find it important I let you know that his birthday is a week from today. The 17th."

You process the message for a moment. While on the surface this seemed like something trivial to message you about out of the blue, but upon deeper reflection you realized that her reaching out about it means that she thinks you're someone special to Damon, and that she trusts you enough to give you emotional power. Not to mention a new way to get in touch with her. You can't imagine many people have a direct com line to the leader of the Crimson Dusk.

"Oh! That's so soon! Thank you for telling me!"

When she simply responds with a 👍 you set your com down and get to work thinking on how you can make the day meaningful for Damon without overwhelming him, and how in the world you'll even get him to sit still long enough to appreciate it.

For the latter problem, you felt confident enough in Damon's growing soft spot for you to be able to at least convince him to cuddle in your room for a moment. With the former....you had to do more digging.

~

The morning of Damon's birthday comes and goes and he thinks that he'll make it through another quiet birthday when you approach him in the hallway, your face lighting up upon seeing him.

"Damon! Do you have a moment?"

His lips curl in a devilish smirk, "Well, honey," the pet name being said with both enough playfulness and affection that you can't discern whether he's teasing you or not, "with me you might need more than a minute. I am known for my...stamina."

You give him an unimpressive look, despite the heating of your face, and attempt to move on.

"Very clever, but really, it would mean a lot to me if you'd give me some of your time today. I know you're busy on babysitting duty and sharpening your knives or what have you, but I've missed you lately."

While the last point was to get him to go to your room with minimal suspicion, it wasn't exactly a lie either. The distance between Chrono and Tilaarin wasn't too big but it was still long enough to have the crew on edge. Everyone was keeping themselves busy just to keep from speculation and anxiety. What you were grateful for, however, was that Alisa had gotten her message to you before your pit-stop on Chrono and thus you had time to scope out a small gift for Damon.

He huffs exaggeratedly, but there's a small smile on his face.

"I think I can spare some time. For you."

You smile so widely at him your eyes crinkle to small slits, and you gently take his hand and lead him to your room. Upon entry nothing looks particularly off, and Damon thinks to himself that maybe this wasn't a birthday thing and he really would have another unremarkable birthday. Well, not really unremarkable, because he had you and your presence now, which was a huge improvement to any birthday prior. But he also has it every other day too, which he feels grateful for every day.

Yet, his eyes follow your hands as they reach for a small box on your desk. It's not even wrapped, just a box to open up, but you hold it up to him with a shy smile and he stares at it like it's made of pure Kitalphanite.

"Happy birthday, Damon!" You say cheerfully, yet fully gauging his facial expressions for any signs of annoyance or discomfort.

"Why?" is the only thing that he can think to say. He doesn't mean to sound ungrateful, but he also genuinely doesn't understand how you know and why you'd get him anything at all. He still doesn't really understand why you're even pursuing a relationship with him, why you'd forgiven him in the first place.

"Um, it's a birthday present, silly!" You say, still taken slightly aback by being questioned on your intentions.

"I-[YN], I know that, just because I didn't go to school doesn't mean I'm dumb, but...how did you know? And....I guess I don't really understand why you would put the effort or creds into getting me anything."

Your heart breaks a little at his words but you understand where he's coming from. Being in a relationship built on only caring and affection is something new to him, and honestly new to you too, and so processing something given to him without an ulterior motive must seem suspicious. Unreal.

"I have my new bestie, Alisa, to thank for the Intel, and as for why....because I care about you, dumbass."

"Please never call Alisa your 'bestie' again."

"Is that what you really got out of that?"

He chuckles but pulls you into his arms, burying his head in your neck and hair. He stands there, breathing in your scent and soaking in your presence until you pipe up and ask,

"Now I love your hugs and feel glad that you're comfortable enough to do that, don't you want to see what I got you?"

He pulls back, still smiling, but you can see some tear streaks on his cheeks. You decide not to say anything.

"Now what junk did you get me, hm?" He's sarcastic in tone, but is having some difficulty keeping his voice from wobbling, "Do you even have any creds?"

"Um, yes! I got my first cut of the crews pay, which you literally already know, Mr. Second-in-Command."

You sound defensive, but humor him just the same. When he opens the box to see a music box, similar enough to the one you had received from Nerissa, though obviously of much cheaper materials, and there are some crackles and audio distortions in the tune that it plays, he looks at you with brows furrowed in confusion.

"Ok, I know what you're going to say!" You start before he can even open his mouth, 'it doesn't fit your tough guy vibe, 'when did I even give you the impression I like music boxes' blah blah blah, I get it. But I couldn't exactly get you knives or something, knowing me I'd get you something cheap and shitty and you wouldn't even be able to use it. But with this, it ties us together. I'm tied by music to the two most important people in my life, and if I'm ever gone and you've lost your memory," he chuckles at that, "you can use it to remember me. It even opens with the same mechanism as mine!"

You clasp your hand around the metal ball and squeeze and it pops open and starts playing a bittersweet tune, audio distorting just slightly.

Damon stays silent for longer than you're comfortable with and you shut the box again.

"I-Im sorry if I overstepped, I know we're just getting to know each other and figure out what we mean to each other but I felt like I should give you a symbol of my feelings and what you mean to me."

With that, you finally look into Damon's eyes and they're full of unshed tears. He takes the back of your head ever so gently and rests his forehead upon yours. You both close your eyes and breathe, before he whispers,

"I could never forget you."

#HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAMON!! #damon reznor #andromeda 6 #a6 #andromeda six #damon a6 #damon x reader #as you can see i have a flavor of fic that i rlly enjoy lmao #i will branch out tho i promise #these just come easier to me