Symbiosis

The Lion Awakes

Notes:

Their time has come! 🥳🎉🎉

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It was Taiju's idea to create a calendar to keep better track of time. Even if Senku could argue that he knew exactly what day it was, he decided to do it instead and save himself from having Taiju (and perhaps even Gen) asking what day of the week or month they were on every day.

"Ah! Since Gen's birthday is the day before mine, why don't we throw a big party and celebrate them together?" Taiju suggested, little after he noticed that April was looming upon them.

"A 'big party'? It's still just the three of us, Big Oaf," Senku snickered, receiving a light nudge on the arm from Gen.

"Sounds like a lovely idea, Taiju-chan~!"

"Really? You're okay with sharing your birthday, Mr. Celebrity?" Senku asked, raising an eyebrow at Gen's easy acceptance. "Unless, it's not really your birthday."

"Again with that?"

"I'm just double-checking..."

"And how would it benefit me to hide my birthday?"

He had a point, of course, but Senku wasn't going down without a fight.

"I wonder the same thing, but you are too strange and unpredictable."

"Thank you, I guess?" Gen replied with a laugh. Right, being 'strange and unpredictable' probably came with his job description. "I'm surprised it bothers you so much."

"It doesn't bother me," he corrected him, perhaps too quickly.

Yes, he had definitely made a mistake seeing how Gen's stupid smirk widened.

He decided to refocus the conversation on the planning of said 'big party', earning an enthusiastic cheer from Taiju and another softer smile from Gen that he definitely didn't spend hours analyzing later that night.

Given their limitations, in the end they chose to hunt and gather as much as they could in an attempt to make a feast for the occasion. He even found himself looking for herbs with Gen that could upgrade the food taste to another level as well as non-alcoholic (due to Gen's insistence) drinks that they could have instead of their usual water.

Once everything was settled, they sat around the fire and shared stories until Senku declared it was midnight and threw a package to Taiju, who easily caught it and began cheering when he found sweets inside. Since they still didn't have the basics needed for an actual cake, and a smartphone was definitely out of question, that was the second best thing he could offer.

Then he handed another package to Gen.

"I still don't know if it is actually your birthday or not, but here," he said, earning a chuckle that neither confirmed nor denied if that was the case.

"Soap?"

"Perfumed soap, shampoo and conditioner for your spoiled self."

"Luxury products in a time like this? Who are you?" Gen joked, taking his time to admire each one of them.

"Shut up. You were the one who said that wanted 'a nice bath'," he bluntly replied, watching Gen freeze for a second. Apparently he didn't expect him to still remember that.

"I was joking... well, mostly, but you didn't need to go all out," he finally said, looking back at the scientist. "Thank you, I really appreciate it."

"Don't–don't mention it," Gen's sincere smiles were really dangerous. "Besides, you gave me a present first, the least I could do is return the favor," he huffed, feeling his face warm up at the laugh that followed.