Wash woke with a start. He stood as still as possible, keeping his breathing regulated, listening for what had woken him.
There was a crash after a second.
In an instant, Wash was on his feet, gun in hand. His socked feet made barely any noise as he snuck toward the source of the noise. He cleared Tucker's room and the common room and was about to head to Caboose's quarters when he noticed a light on in the kitchen. He sighed and put away his weapon, coming to lean on the doorframe.
Caboose looked up from the floor, frowning. "I was being very quiet," he said.
Wash smiled and pulled him to his feet. "Yes, you were. What were you doing in here?"
Caboose scuffed his toe on the tile. "It was supposed to be a surprise."
Wash lead him to the sink and started washing the flour and chocolate off his nose.
"You were sad today."
At that, David paused, washcloth perched right on the bridge of Caboose's nose. "You noticed?"
Caboose nodded and sneezed.
Wash sighed and turned the cloth inside out before continuing. "I thought I was hiding it."
"Tucker did not notice," Caboose said. "I did not tell him, either. But I wanted to make brownies in case you were sad again tomorrow. Brownies make people less sad."
"Today, now," Wash mumbled, checking the chronometer. "Thanks, Caboose."
Caboose shrugged. "What were you sad about?"
David shook his head. "That's not important."
Caboose grabbed his hand gently and took the washcloth from him, draping it over the sink before entwining their fingers. "It made you sad, so it was important to you."
David shrugged. "It was my birthday."
Caboose frowned. "Birthdays are happy days."
Wash shook his head. "Not always. My dad didn't really like me and my mom died when I was little. And my big sister…. Well. We never celebrated my birthday."
"That is sad," Caboose said. He tilted his head like he was considering something, then leaned down and kissed Wash. "We should make brownies for your birthday. And I will find you the bestest present tomorrow."
David chuckled and held him close. "Making brownies with you would be the best present ever." He turned to the mess and sighed. "But we're going to have to clean this up if we're going to make them right."
Caboose grinned and kissed him again before turning to clean and promptly tripping, sending a bag of flour and its contents flying everywhere.
David sighed and picked up his boyfriend. "On second thought, where's the fun in that? Plenty of time for cleaning afterwards."