Happy Birthdays
A Mystery Room Fanfic
by I Need Sleep
Lucy held her creation back, feeling proud and satisfied. She examined the little doll, turning it over to check the seams. She was fairly happy with how it turned out – a neat looking representation of the placid side of one Alfendi Layton, with a kind smile and bright button eyes. She placed it on to the table next to the other Alfendi puppet with dark button eyes and an adorable frown.
She cast a glance at the clock next to her fridge. She should be heading off to bed soon – she has work in four hours. But she had to place finishing touches to her presents, and she pulled out the ribbon and began to tie bows over their necks, as neat as she could make them. She stepped back to admire her handiwork and stifled a yawn, brushing off bits of thread that attached to her pants. Time to go to bed.
Morning came too quickly, and the young detective constable pushed herself off the bed. She needed to get to work early. After a quick shower, she pulled her uniform on and stepped out of her bed room with a bag slung over her shoulder. After grabbing a boxed cupcake from the fridge, she took the two bowed dolls from the coffee table and walked out towards New Scotland Yard.
She slammed the door open with excitement. "Happy birthday, prof!" she greeted her tired looking boss who had jumped in his seat due to surprise. She made a show of checking her watch before saying, "I made it on time, eh?"
With bright cheeks, Alfendi nodded. "It's a pleasant surprise," he joked, before taking a deep breath to calm his heart. How could she have caught him so off-guard? "Thank you, Lucy."
She pulled out the box from her bag and took out the cupcake on the messy desk, lighting a candle as Alfendi watched with curiosity. In the back of his mind, he could vaguely remember blowing out candles as a child, being sung to by his father and his sister. Lucy pushed the cake towards him and motioned for him to blow it out. She began to sing 'happy birthday' cheerfully, making Alfendi's cheeks turn an even brighter red.
I'm not a child, he heard his other personality say, How dare she.
It's quite pleasant, he thought, and he blew the lone candle dead. I've never had the chance to blow out birthday candles before.
Lucy applauded as the smoke billowed up from the candle. "I have a present for you," she said, reaching into her messenger bag. She handed him the two dolls, nervous. She wasn't really that good a seamstress, and he was a bit too old for little dolls, but she hoped he would appreciate it, nevertheless.
Alfendi was in shock. Even his other personality was stunned to silence as he held the two identical looking dolls in his hands, putting them next to each other.
"Happy birthday to you both," Lucy said, as she began to cut the cupcake in half. She licked the icing stuck on her finger with a happy hum.
"There's no point to saying happy birthday to someone who doesn't really exist," his gruff voice said. She looked up to find Potty Prof glaring at her. They stared at one another, uninterrupted, until he cleared his throat. He got up and turned towards the bookshelf, where he placed the two dolls carefully. "But thank you," he said, somewhat bashfully. "And… he says 'thank you', too."
AN: It makes me sad to think that Placid Prof has probably never blown out a birthday candle before, and that all he has is Potty Prof's memories from childhood. Just a quick drabble to take a break from all the homework. Apologies for grammatical errors.
