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English
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Published:
2019-03-20
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1/1
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Birthday Magic

Summary:

It's Norman's birthday, and he is ready for another uneventful one. Emma is oblivious. Ray is done with all this shit, and decides to get involved.

Notes:

Happy birthday Norman!

Tried my hand at tpn fluff. Hope you guys like it!

If anyone screams about tpn in twitter please find me @SameWhenSquishd. I want to make more friends to fangirl with plz.

Work Text:

Norman turns fourteen today.

His routine, however, remains the same.

His hears his father leave for work as he is brushing his teeth. He considers popping down for a quick goodbye, but decides against it. He wouldn't remember anyway.

Norman cooks breakfast for himself. The utensils his father used are still on the sink, a wordless command to wash them, dry them, get them ready by the time I'm back.

He complies.

He hums happy birthday to me as he works his way through soap studs, washing the plates as meticulously as possible. Till his face is reflected on them, and he sees the deep frown.

Oh. I'm sad.

He irons his clothes- all dull, professional colours his father had picked out- and waits for the bus.

***************************

Ray tries to surprise him while walking to class. Tries, because Norman is never surprised.

"Happy birthday." He grins, and Norman finds himself reciprocating.

"Thanks."

"Doing anything special today?"

"Piano lessons and cram school. Though if father remembers, I might get cake."

"He hasn't remembered for years now." Ray muttered. "what makes you think he'll do it this year? You should just come hang out with me."

"I can't miss classes, Ray" Norman smiled.

Ray clicked his tongue in annoyance and turned away. "Okay, but the moment you feel lonely, you call me."

"Of course"

But he felt lonely everyday.

******************************

Watching Emma was one of his most favourite pastimes.

She was always animated. Balancing a pencil on her upper lip during class, racing down the hallway for the last cream bread, playing with the younger children after school-

Her bright hair made her stand out. But he had a vague suspicion that that wasn't the only reason she was the first person he would find in a crowd.

"You know, if you had a birthday party like a normal kid, you could've invited her." Ray opined.

"Watching her is good enough for me." Norman lied. He was terrified that she would find him boring.

Vibrant Emma. Like a rainbow personified. And he was so plain. So monotonous.

"You're too obvious." Ray sighed. "Makes me wonder how on earth she still has no idea".

"That's one of her charm points" He protested.

Ray groaned, but opted to turn his attention to his lunch instead of passing a biting remark.

"You'll die alone, Norman."

"I know."

He wasn't joking.

***************************

So when Emma ran straight to his desk after school, Norman thought he was in a dream.

"Ray told me it's your birthday today!" Emma grinned, "so happy birthday, Norman!"

"Tha-thank you" He choked out. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Ray mouthing the words 'My Present'.

"You know my name." He said shyly. Emma blinked. "Of course I do. You're Ray's best friend!"

Oh.

"-and I've noticed you around a lot! You're the top student in our grade! That's AMAZING!"

"You're second, though." He said, suddenly bashful.

"Yep. Tied with Ray." Emma pouted. "I've been tied with him for as long as I can remember."

Oh.

"I didn't know you two were friends."

"Ehehe. Ray got all shy about having a female friend in middle school so he told me we shouldn't talk much!" Emma giggled. "He's my childhood friend!"

Norman shot Ray a look. "He didn't mention that."

Emma reached out and grabbed his hands. "We're going to that new cafe that just opened up! Wanna join?"

"Ah- I have pian-"

"I'll treat ya! To new friendship!"

"…you know what? I'll join." Norman chuckled at her enthusiasm. "I just need to make a few calls first."

************************

Norman had prepared himself to be the third wheel, but was pleasantly surprised when Emma payed equal (if not more) attention to him as well.

She sat next to him in the dainty cafe, sipping on her coffee and occasionally engaging him in conversation. Ray stayed silent, his eyes shifting from one of his friends to the other.

"I honestly thought you'd be harder to talk to, Norman" Emma confessed. "But you're pretty cool."

"Give it a few days." Norman said.

"Bullshit." Ray countered. "I've been your friend for years, Norman. I've never gotten tired of you."

"But you got tired of meee" Emma let out huge, fake sobs.

Norman laughed, and stopped when he realised that Emma was suddenly staring at him.

"Yes?" He asked sweetly, his eyes softening.

The girl flushed.

Ray snickered.

She hit him on his head with her rolled up notes.

"It's nothing-" She replied.

Norman had a sudden urge to touch her red cheeks. It was adorable, and oh so refreshingly different from the usual faces he had seen her make.

The hue subsided too fast for his liking.

The cakes had come out, and he offered his cherry to her. The colour returned, and she expertly split the cherry in half before offering him one of the pieces.

Ray was wolfing down his piece.

"By the way, Norman" he managed in between his bites. "Emma here is a fan of your stories."

The girl produced an adorable sound of shock before punching him on his stomach.

Norman blinked. "From… my blog?"

"Yes" Emma said softly. "I chanced upon it while I was using Ray's computer-"

"-without my permission, by the way."

She punched the black haired boy again.

"Anyway.. since then, I've been a huge fan." She hid her face behind her hands.

Of all the things Norman had dreamed would being him to Emma's attention, the stories he wrote as a relief from the monotony of his daily life was the last. He wrote fantasies set in a different world, allegories of yearning for freedom. He blushed when he remembered that he had fashioned Emma into one of his major characters.

"And.. I wanted to give you this." She pushed a smartly wrapped gift towards him. "H-happy birthday."

He recieved it with both hands. "May I… open it?"

She nodded earnestly.

Inside was a beautiful pen. It was white and blue, and looked expensive.

"…thank you." He breathed, looking into her eyes.

Everything else disappeared. It was just him, and her, and this happiness he couldn't believe he was experiencing. Birthday magic.

Until Ray decides to snort, ruining the moment.

"Okay okay. You two need to stop." He laughed. "How about this, I'll make everything much simpler."

"Ray?" Norman asked, slightly worried.

His friend turned to him with a teasing smirk. "Norman! Emma loves you so much that she took a part time job just to get you this pen as a present cause it 'matches his pretty hair and gorgeous eyes' apparently "

"I told you thAT IN CONFIDENCE!" Emma screamed, almost tearing up in shock and embarrassment.

"And you, Emma-" Ray turned to her. "You should know that Norman has been crushing on you for like… three years now? And your dumb ass never noticed."

Norman flushed dark red. "Ra-ray you-" he stuttered.

"You two have been dancing around each other for too long, and I've had it. So hey-" Ray finished off the last bit of the cake. "-get together already. You're welcome, you can pay for my cake, Ray out." He nodded towards Norman. "I hope you like my gift, you insecure brat."

It was as if a tornado had come and left.

Emma was the first to break the silence.

"Y-you like me?"

"Y-yeah"

"Oh" She blushed, her lips stretching to a huge smile. "That's great."

"Yeah" he still felt like he was dreaming.

"So-" Emma reached out to entwine her fingers with his. He reddened even more, and she chuckled at the sight.

"Will you go out with me?" She asked.

"Yes-" he whispered, overjoyed. "yes, yes, yes!"

That was the happiest birthday of his life.

(…..or so he thought, until that particular day many years in the future, when Emma surprises him with a ring and asks him to marry her. )