Archive of Our Own ^beta

Zayne rubs the sleep from his eyes, looking at the clock. He sighs. After six years at the orphanage, he knows his birthdays usually pass by quietly.

“Why the sigh, birthday boy?” His roommate, Caleb, is lying on the bottom bunk, tossing a beanbag. Zayne shakes his head, smiling slightly, his mood lifted just a little. Zayne had been standoffish with his roommate of now two years when Caleb first arrived, but Caleb was persistent– eventually finding out about his not-so-well-known love of video games. The two had grown close in the first year that Caleb had arrived, and now they were really good friends. Caleb was tasked with distracting Zayne until 10, so he asks Zayne about the latest book he’s been reading, knowing Zayne can’t resist discussing. Caleb keeps an eye on the clock, engaging Zayne about his latest read, then gestures at the door when it’s time. “Come on, I know Pipsqueak definitely wants to see the birthday boy.”

In another room, Rafayel shakes Xavier awake. “Come on, if you don’t get up, she’s going to come in to pinch both of our cheeks. Really hard.” With the two of them constantly getting into trouble, you could always hear a ruckus coming from their room, and this morning was no different. Rafayel and Xavier had been told to gather the gifts from the secret hiding spot and bring the cake to the playroom. Madam, the orphanage caretaker, had been kindly running errands for the kids to prepare for Zayne’s birthday, helping them pick up Zayne’s gifts and cake. Xavier sleepily rubs his eyes as Rafayel stands with his hands on his hips, annoyed. “Madam has already put the cake in the fridge!” Xavier slowly gets out of bed, opening the door mid-yawn. “Alright, let’s go find the gifts.” Xavier mumbles.

In the playroom, she looks around as Greyson and Yvonne hang up the decorations. She gives them both a silent thumbs up, grimacing as Yvonne wobbles on the stepstool. Greyson and Yvonne were new additions to the orphanage. While both absent-minded and clumsy, she could always depend on the two of them to be there when she needed them. On the other hand, Xavier and Rafayel were a different story.

“Where have the two of you been?” She whispers as Rafayel sets the cake on the table. Rafayel rolls his eyes, jerking his shoulder towards Xavier, who is yawning as he comes over with the pile of gifts. There’s a set of color pencils from Rafayel, a book from Xavier, an IOU voucher from Caleb to let Zayne play his newest video game, and a new notebook from Yvonne and Greyson.

The small blue cake is decorated with macarons, Zayne’s favorite. She saw it in the bakery window during one of their outings into town, and she knew it was the perfect cake for Zayne’s birthday. After gathering the courage to ask the shop owner for the price, she had to get everyone to look at the cake in the window while Zayne was distracted elsewhere and convince them to chip in allowance money. Thankfully, Madam had accompanied Zayne into a nearby bookstore, and she had scrambled to get everyone to the window. “Look, isn’t it perfect for Zayne?” she pleaded to the others. After some squabbling and distracted discussion about other pastries in the window, she managed to get enough together to reserve the cake, which was now waiting on the table for Zayne to arrive.

She hears Zayne and Caleb approaching. “Quickly, everyone sit down!” As Zayne rounds the corner, they shout, “Surprise!” Zayne’s eyes widen as he takes in the cake and the pile of gifts. Rafayel snaps his fingers to light the candle. “Make a wish!”

He slowly walks up to the cake, closing his eyes and blowing out the candle. “Thank you, everyone.” He smiles genuinely. As he looks at the gift tags, he realizes there’s one missing. He looks up at her, tilting his head questioningly. He hadn’t expected gifts from everyone, but she was the last person he would expect to forget. Having been a new source of chaos and joy in his life since she arrived 2 years ago, the two had quickly grown close. Her insistence and self-proclaimed title of Zayne’s best friend had wormed its way into his heart, and they were now inseparable.

“Ah, it’s in my room. Want to come with me to get it?” she gestures. She leads him to her room. “Hold out your hands.” He obeys, curious. She places her palms over his, squeezing her eyes tightly as she tries to channel his Evol. Ever since their Evols had surfaced, Zayne had been trying to teach her how to make snow. Since she couldn’t practice without Zayne, she would imagine the process every night. Up until now, she had failed to produce anything that held a shape, so she concentrates as hard as she can.

A small, oval snowball plops onto his hand. “I’m sorry, I thought I could make it perfect in time for your birthday,” she says as her lip begins to wobble. Zayne moves forward to draw her into a hug. “No, it’s perfect. See?” He draws a smiley face on it, giving it ears and a tail to turn it into a snow seal. “Thank you,” he says quietly as he looks down on it fondly.

“You know what I wished for? To always be your friend.”

Her eyes widen for a brief second, then looks at him determined. She sticks out her pinky. “Pinky promises can’t be broken, so I pinky promise to always be there for you.” Zayne smiles, linking his pinky with hers. “Pinky promise.” He echoes. His heart warms as the promise echoes in his mind, the weight of the snow seal grounding him to the present.

She catches movement in the corner of her eye through the window. “Look, Zayne, the leaves.” Small flurries of leaves fall off the trees, creating a blanket of gold on the ground. “Happy birthday, Zayne,” she murmurs. As they look out the window, gazing at the autumn colors, Zayne realizes that his birthdays don’t have to be so lonely anymore.