"Daryl, do you know what's four letter word for a close group?" Segai asked as he leaned back in his chair, tapping away at another crossword puzzle.
"How the hell am I supposed to know? I don't do those stupid crossword puzzles," Daryl said as he climbed out of his pod. Rowan hurried over to Daryl, trying to look for a way to help.
"What about a five letter word for joy?"
"Go to hell."
"Looks like someone's not happy, today. What happened? Did Funeral Parlor steal your endlave again?" Segai said and chuckled. as he saw Daryl purse his lips.
"Ah yes, "Kill 'em all" Daryl", poor thing couldn't even save his endlave... That's it! Happy!" Segai exclaimed, as he finished his crossword. "You know, Daryl, since we're all such good friends here, why don't we all come to your place for your birthday? We are invited aren't we? It would so hurt my feelings if you didn't invite me for some cake."
Rowan looked up from his computer and said. "Sounds like a great idea. Why don't we do something, Daryl?"
Daryl paused halfway up the stairs, a look of guilt written on his face. He fidgeted for a few seconds and said "Uh... Well you see... I don't really celebrate my birthday."
"Funny you say that, Daryl. I remember you reserving a table at a restaurant just the other day."
"How'd you get that?!" Daryl exclaimed, shocked.
"I'm the chief. I know everything you do, Daryl. So how about it? We could even invite Colonel Eagleman," Segai said, leaning onto his desk, a big grin spreading across his face. He reached over to his computer and pressed Dan's name.
"Scarface! Great to hear from you body! Never thought you'd call me! Always thought you were a creep that would watch people from afar!" came Dan's exuberant voice through the computer.
"You can't be serious," Dan said, panic spreading across his face.
"Say, Dan, turns out that today's Daryl's birthday. Why don't we all show our appreciation for him by throwing him a big birthday party?" Segai said smiling at Daryl.
"Brilliant idea, Scarface!"
"Hey, Dan? Here's an idea. Why don't you call up Daryl? The poor kid seemed so sad that it was his birthday today."
Daryl balked and looked towards Rowan, who held his hands up as if to surrender and said, with a slight smile on his face, "Sorry, but your on your own Daryl. I can't bail you out of this. You'll have to face Colonel Eagleman on your own."
Daryl felt a vibration in his pocket and then heard his phone begin to rang. He reached over to grab it, disgust splattered over his face and said, "You'll regret this. Don't you dare think you can put me in such a position and I won't fight back."
"Oooh. Sca~ry!" Segai mocked Daryl and leaned back to observe the result of his latest scheme.
Daryl held up the phone to his ear, ready to tell his superior that he was busy when Dan's voice burst through the speaker.
"Daryl! How ya doin' buddy? Listen, Scarface tells me it's your birthday. From what I understand, you don't have the guts to celebrate your own life! Now I for one think there's something completely wrong in that. Hell, back in the States, when one of us would turn eighteen we'd celebrate by getting drunk real hard! Course, we still weren't at a legal age to drink but that didn't matter. We did together and that's what made it fun!"
Daryl opened his mouth to speak up but before he could form a syllable, Dan's voice came racing through the speaker, no doubt powered by his exuberant patriotism.
"You know, I had a buddy back home. Rel coward. Pretended he was the most macho man out there, though. Real annoying. We wanted to teach him a lesson so we all dressed up as ghosts one night and chased him down. Poor guy nearly died. He got hit by a car as he ran away and ended up in the hospital. He learned through. You getting all this?" Dan said.
Daryl blinked and said, "How the hell is that supposed to be relevant?"
"The guy was pretending to be something he wasn't! Just like you! He also nearly got himself killed! So the moral of the story is that you need to have guts to face who you are and you shouldn't try to be something you aren't! Look at you! You pretend to be some big-shot killer and yet you're crying 'cause it's your birthday?"
"I am not crying!" Daryl screamed into his phone.
Dan refused to stop and kept on talking "How about I get some beer and bring Scarface and the Beret Boy around to your place? We can talk this out. It'll be good bonding time! We can even be all gungho and everything next time we face some of those cooky Japanese! Right?"
"...No," Daryl said, glaring at no one in particular.
"Daryl, what you need are some friends-"
"Shut up! I don't need you guys," Daryl said, and ended the call. Glaring once at Segai, he left the room.
Segai watched him leave and turned to Rowan and said, "I don't think he's going to be very happy tomorrow." A grin split open on Segai's face and he said, "Maybe we should have some of Dan's bonding time."
Rowan shook his head and returned to his paperwork.
Daryl opened the door to his apartment, and stood staring at his home. He remembered when he was a kid and he would have his birthday celebrated at home. These days, he was the only one attending. Daryl took a seat at his kitchen table. It had never seemed so big.