You Can't Run From a Birthday [Elijah]

River thanked the aurae for the basket of food and wandered off toward the Principia.  She knew her best friend hated birthdays, but she wasn’t letting him off that easily.  Last year had been his eighteenth birthday, and he hadn’t had a party.  In fact, she hadn’t seen him at all on his birthday.  It was a travesty, and it was one she intended to resolve this year.  Unfortunately, it had gotten a little complicated when she remembered that the 11th of April was also the boy’s anniversary with Jack.  Elijah would definitely want to see him, and Jack would obviously have some special celebration planned.  When she asked, Jack admitted that he didn’t have much planned, but he did demand to have Elijah in the evening and overnight.  River didn’t even bother to argue.  She knew what Jack had in mind, and there was no way she was going to fight that.  Instead, she had agreed to let Jack steal Elijah for the night if she could have him in the morning.  If it had only been Elijah’s birthday, the three would have celebrated together.  But the fact that it was their anniversary as well screwed everything up.

To say it screwed everything up was a bit harsh.  Everything had gotten so much better in the past nine months.  River was actually getting along with Jack, and it made her relationship with Elijah that much stronger.  Elijah was brighter and happier, and he seemed so much more relaxed.  The three of them could actually do activities together, and Elijah had stopped monitoring his speech.  To top it all off, River could listen to her best friend when Jack upset him without feeling the need to murder the son of Venus.  (She did still get mad sometimes and she often threatened to smoke Jack, but she never meant it the same way she used to.)  All in all, everything was much better, but the daughter of Trivia was still upset that Elijah’s birthday coincided with his anniversary.  It was mostly because the anniversary prevented them from celebrating as a group.  And it meant she was on her own in convincing Elijah that he couldn’t completely ignore his birthday.

At least she had a chance this year.  The son of Discordia wouldn’t be able to ignore her if she showed up at his door with breakfast.  It was a somewhat unconventional way of celebrating a birthday, but it was a sacrifice and a compromise.  She was getting time to spend with her best friend, and that was better than nothing at all.  And as much as Elijah hated his birthday, she knew he would appreciate the gesture.  For someone so stubborn and violent, the son of Discordia did know how to take kindness with grace.  It was one of those rare things that River was convinced she got to see just because she was his best friend.  It definitely wasn’t limited just to her, but she had been one of the first to see the softer side of the boy.  It obviously still meant something.

Arriving at the Principia, she put her back against the door and shoved her way in.  The main room was completely empty, which meant Elijah was likely back in his room.  It was late enough that the boy would be back from his usual morning run.  Even if he had slept in, it was beyond the hour that he would have slept.  Unless Elijah had snuck out for something else, there was no way he could be anywhere other than his room.  Knocking on the door, River called out, “Elijah, I’m coming in!”  Once upon a time, she would have just barged in.  However, after the embarrassment of catching Elijah in a mid-state of undress, she had learned to knock and announce her presence first.

Lo Elijah's nineteen years on the planet, he had never had a friend to celebrate anything with.  Not his birthday, not a friend's birthday, not an anniversary, not anything.  But things had changed a lot in the past few years the boy had been at camp.  Because now he had friends, and he had a boyfriend, and between his birthday and his anniversary with Jack, April 11th had become a very busy day.  Not that the boy necessarily wanted it this way...if he had his say in things, April 11th would be exclusively held for his anniversary with his boyfriend.  Birthdays weren't exactly a fun thing for Elijah...not even the thought of them.  It was like how his father and step-mother stopped even bothering to get him a cake after he had decided to become a vegan at age twelve.  That would leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth, as far as the boy was concerned.  Of course, Jack had sort of shaken that up two years ago when he baked Elijah a cake for his seventeenth birthday, even if the meaning had been a bit skewed then.  The boy didn't want to admit it, but maybe a birthday could be okay.  He still preferred April 11th just as his and Jack's anniversary.  The little chocolate cake had been okay last year.  Hopefully that was it at the most this year.

Besides, it was just another non-important year.  Eighteen was an "adult".  Nineteen was just biding time until the next big one (twenty-one, Elijah supposed).  Not that was the type of thing that really mattered at camp.  Elijah had been in a leadership position for years now, his age had nothing to do with that one.  He couldn't get tattoos or cigarettes when he turned eighteen.  They were all just numbers, no matter how much people ascribed meaning to them.  Perhaps the son of Discordia was bitter, but he couldn't be the only person out there who just hated birthdays.  Some people were just like that.  Maybe he should try again with River and Jack.  Or maybe not...that one would take a lot of thought before the boy even as much as brought it up.  He had a feeling that the second he mentioned that, his best friend and boyfriend would just run with it.  That was a risk that Elijah couldn't take just yet.  Now was not the birthday for that, though.  Now was just a birthday...more importantly, it was Jack and Elijah's two year anniversary.  That was the important celebration anyway.

Jack would get him all night, but Elijah still had his day.  He wasn't planning to do much of anything out of the normal...his alarm was set for quarter of six like normal, and the boy had gone on his normal morning run and normal morning training session.  Birthday or not, the Praetor just wanted things to be normal.  Things would get exciting enough when he was with his boyfriend, celebrating their anniversary.  Until then, Elijah was treating this day like a normal day.  It didn't matter much...as far as the small boy was aware, the only people who knew it was his birthday were River and Jack, and both of them knew better than to make a big fuss.  Though upon second thought, they were the type to want to celebrate with him, forced or not.  It was completely out of love, of course, and Elijah figured he should respect that...if he had to.  Hopefully it wouldn't come to having to do anything.

After his morning routine, Elijah had allowed himself a longer shower, enjoying the hot water over his rather stiff muscles.  It was always harder to sleep at night without Jack being there, and for whatever reason, his boyfriend had insisted staying the night in his barrack.  Well, the boy knew that had to happen every now and then, especially since the older boy was the First Cohort's Centurion, but it still made Elijah a little grumpy when he didn't have his human pillow.  And they definitely wouldn't be getting much sleep that night...not if Elijah had his say, not that Jack would even try to fight that one.  It just made the boy sort of wish he had gotten a much better night's sleep.  A towel tied around his waist, the small boy wandered back into his room, running a comb through his hair.  At least Jack not being there the night before had given Elijah the chance to touch up the purple dye he'd been using the past year.  Looking in the mirror, he wondered if he'd ever grow tired of the look...not that it really mattered at the moment.

Slipping on a pair of boxers and a comfy pair of blue jeans, Elijah ran the towel through his hair...another white towel ruined with purple hair dye.  Hopefully no one was keeping track of all those.  Throwing the towel to the side, the boy was about to find a t-shirt when he heard a knock on the door.  Well that was weird.  Even weirder was hearing River call out to him...after a bit of an embarrassing state of half-dressed, since Gods only knew a shirtless one wasn't an issue, but the boy's best friend had taken to checking these days.  Making sure he had on pants, even if not a shirt, Elijah opened the door before the girl could open it for him.  "River?" he raised an eyebrow, hugging his best friend tight anyway.  "This is a surprise!  What are you..." Elijah trailed off, holding the daughter of Trivia at arms length.  "Oh no...you wouldn't dare..." but of course she would dare, because she was his best friend and it was his birthday.  At the very least, he would demand some sort of explanation.