Nelliel never truly understood the significance of one’s birthday. Dondochakka and Pesche insisted they celebrate hers, so they did. It didn’t feel different from any other day, though, so she never put much emphasis on the celebration other than her fracciónes' apparent happiness. On one lucky occasion, they ate something a little different, a little special. In the next, they had gifted her a book about the ocean from the world of the living. How did they get their hands on such a prized possession? She never received an answer, and they seemed content enough seeing her carefully flip through each page as if it were fragile, as if she were memorizing each word, and to their unexpected gaze, she was.
Still, despite these instances, Nelliel did not entirely understand what many would. For if her fracción were keen to celebrate her birthday, then she would repay their kindness as well. They’d taken trips out of Las Noches, away from other Espadas, and she let them be free to their heart's content. As their master, she’d offer them that and so much more.
Hayden though... Nelliel didn’t know Hayden had a birthday until he mentions it on the day of. It appears as a joke, like he does with every other deprecating part of himself when he’s around her. Sometimes she thinks he wants her to say something, other times she knows he just wants to say things out loud and let the words seep in her ears and in the surrounding sand. He’s melancholic in the many ways he speaks, in his experiences and years of grief and solitude, and in his hands that are riddled with calluses. But he’s strong, too, has faced so much without her help or input, so she thinks he can handle a bit more, a bit harder.
But maybe Nelliel understands a bit of what Dondochakka and Pesche have done for her to celebrate birthdays, because like a lulling siren, she opens a garganta and leads them both to the world of the living. They’ve got gigai’s hidden in favorite spots and just as quickly, they blend right in with humans. Then they ask for directions, get lost, and end up on a bus that travels all the way to the shore. They continue to talk in light exchange, sometimes reviewing human facts, other times, quiet and taking in the passing scenery. By the time they’re dropped off at their destination, the sun is about to set. Nelliel’s never much liked the color red until now and she thinks a part of Hayden is thinking so, too. The crashing waves are loud, as are the flying seagulls, and she breathes in the ocean's smell.
And for that rare moment, features soften so inexplicably so, that she looks like a regular twenty-year-old-something human who’s never known the weight of survival and living for decades. Like a human girl running away from strict parents to celebrate her best friend’s birthday. She offers a genuine, toothy smile then and lightly punches his shoulder. “Happy Birthday, Hayden.” / @iaiadixdeus
