(Heart shape) [mobile oops]
[I understand the mobile pain.]
Quentin didn’t usually celebrate birthdays anymore - he had never really done so originally, if he was honest. There was a small bit of cake (never too much, thanks to Mycroft’s interference) and a few obligatory presents that Quent appreciated but wasn’t incredibly interested in, and his age going up by one number. It didn’t help that he was usually away at Eton when it occurred - there were hardly any holidays during February, as it was just after the new start of term.
He’d had a bit of a surprise when he was walking back to his dorm after divs and he found Sherlock and his army doctor standing outside Penn, a wrapped present in John’s hands. He’d been handed the present with a warm “Happy Birthday, Quentin” from John and a nod from Sherlock.
Quent waited until they were inside his small dorm room to open the present - a book on black holes with an in-depth essay on quasars. He made an excited sound and moved toward Sherlock, giving him an impulsive kiss on the cheek as he reverted back to the French customs of his childhood. “Merci, Sherlock,” he grinned and set the book down carefully. He knew that only Sherlock would have been able to provide John with the information that he liked astronomy, thus allowing the doctor to select a book. He was surprised that Sherlock hadn't deleted the information. He turned to John and gave him a kiss as well. “It’s perfect. Thank you, John.” They’d both given him smiles and soon enough were on their way back to London.
A short while later Sherlock would be tipping himself off of a building and Quentin would cling to the book, thanking whatever power existed that he’d bothered to give Sherlock that final gesture of affection the last time he’d seen him alive. He didn’t know that Sherlock, very much alive, was fighting his own battles somewhere else or that he would see him again.
[I made myself sad. I hope you don’t mind that I put John in and made it pre-RF, if so I can write you another.]