Couldn't resist. :)

The Dead Men were sitting in the same ditch they had been in for the last three days. It was cold, it was wet, and it was muddy. Every man was tired- beyond tired, in fact. They were hungry and freezing. Well, everybody except for Pleasant, of course.

Pleasant wasn't exactly cheery, at the moment, but he was exhausted. For some reason, the fatigue hit him just as it had hit everyone else. He was so still and so quiet he may as well have been dead. Actually, he already was dead. He was most likely meditating.

Yes, even at a time like that.

His skull was between his knees and his arms were wrapped around his legs. The wind blew fierce, but his fedora stayed firm on his head. The rest of the men- Larrikin, Dexter, Hopeless, Saracen, Shudder and Ghastly- were left shivering in the mud with no hope of catching any sleep.

Suddenly, out of the wallowing sounds of rain and general miserable behaviour, Hopeless spoke up. "What's the date today?"

"1850." Groaned a tired voice.

"Not the year, you idiot, the date,"

"It's been three days," Pleasant said, waking from his mediative state.

Saracen rubbed his temples, pushing away the oncoming headache. "It's almost Go Time. A couple of hours or so after the sunrise, Lads,"

There was a general murmur from all of the men and as the sun began to rise, so did their fogged minds and sour moods.

Larrikin was the first of all to be sprightly. Shudder was the last. He was never sprightly, in fact. He was always 'sobered', as he would put it. He never, not a once, smiled on Dead Men missions. He wasn't one to inspire great happiness. Larrikin, on the other hand…

As the sun was illuminating the raining sky, Larrikin suddenly slapped his hands together and rubbed them vigorously. "Gentlemen, I do believe that we all know what day it is today. Don't we? Yes, it is Go Day, but, what else?"

Before anyone had a chance to utter a syllable, Larrikin interrupted. "It's Shudder's birthday."

The men all stared in silence at the confused fellow who was getting an enormous grin from the man beside him.

"No it's not." He said, bemused.

"It is indeed! And do you know what a party calls for, Lads?" His movement became more animated with every second.

Dexter tilted his head, "Cake? A party? Women?" A chuckle broke from every able bodied soul in the ditch. Ghastly got an elbow in the side from Pleasant and a wink from Saracen. A few weeks earlier, Ghastly had been… away… for the weekend with a girl named Françoise. As it turns out, The Dead Men had thought that he'd been captured by Serpine and was being tortured.

"Almost, Vex! But, I do quite fervently believe that we need a cake, and a sing-song for him! Whose with me?"

Shudder shot a piercing glare at Larrikin that would have made an average man crumble. "I will give you twenty Euros if you shut up."

"But, it's your birthday. You should be getting presents. Dead Men, bring forth Shudder's cake."

Larrikin lunged forward to hug Shudder but he was caught by his upper arms and was trying to be held away. Larrikin, being ever persistent, lunged forward to hug his friend further. His shoes were scraping in the mud, flicking it up.

He tumbled over Shudder's ankles and landing on his back in the mud. By this point The Dead Men were all trying not to crack up laughing. Shudder kept Larrikin pinned to the muddy ground. "Stop it. I can't see why you're being so reckless. It's dangerous! Do you know how close Mevolent's men are?"

"Shudder, I'm merely trying to celebrate your birthday! Do you not think it is worth enjoying?"

"Not when there are circumstances such as these."

"These are absolutely fine."

Shudder shoved Larrikin away, but he came back twice as hard. It quickly turned into an extraordinarily quiet wrestling match. The Dead Men were still trying not to laugh. Most of them didn't contain well.

Larrikin smiled widely and was almost laughing himself, Shudder on the other hand, was silently furious and was still thinking that Larrikin was an idiot. Larrikin was smiling so bright, it almost hurt his face muscles, that is, until Shudder got him into an astonishingly tight headlock. Still, he smiled bright, which only made it more difficult for the Dead Men who were still trying not to laugh.

He quickly reached inside his clothes, desperately searching for something. And then, he procured a bun. A single small bun that was crushed and practically crumbs.

Shudder's grip loosened for a second before tightening again. Larrikin held the bun tight, not wanting it to fall into the mud, and with his other hand, he pulled a candle and stuck it in the bun.

Shudder's grip loosened a little bit more, and Larrikin used this opportunity to wriggle out of his headlock. He sat beside Shudder and held the bun to his face, smiling like an idiot again.

The candle suddenly flickered to life and Shudder cracked a smile. It was small, but it was the first they'd ever seen him pull on a mission.

"Happy birthday, Shudder,"

Shudder smiled at Larrikin, almost as idiotically as the man with the candle-bun. "You are an idiot."

"A very kind idiot,"

"Indeed,"

Did that sound vaguely Shuddikin to you? Apologies if it did… I think. *Shivers*

(Shuddikin or Larridder?)