It was early in the morning, Lilith was standing on the balcony and she was still dressed for bed. Lilith was enjoying the sunrise and taking in its warm rays. Oddly enough, she was happier than usual. It had to do with Murphy, when she was around him the guilt of losing Roland seemed to disappear. She still missed her old flame but she was ready to move on with her life, never looking back at her mistakes. Murphy found her, leaning on top of the safety rail on the balcony. He circled his arms around her waist from behind her.
"Good morning, how did you sleep?" Murphy asked into her ear as he rested his chin on her shoulder.
"I was pretty restless, I was thinking about you Jason" she said while smiling "How was your sleep?"
"With Axton's complaining about the sharks losing and his bickering about a blown call by the refs all night long, how could I get any sleep around here" he joked. Lilith turned her head to let him brush her lips with a quick kiss "I was thinking about you too while he kept me up though."
"Really?" she teased as she turned in his arms to face him "Well, if you ever have trouble falling asleep, you know where to find me" she wrapped her arms around Murphy's neck.
"Sounds like a plan" Murphy teased as he moved his hand over her thigh. Lilith enjoyed his newfound boldness and she played along with it.
"Someone's pretty bold today" she laughed as she gave him another quick kiss and leaned into his embrace.
"That's because you instill me with such confidence" Murphy lifted her chin up with his hand and gave her a longer, much more passionate kiss. She slowly withdrew and looked into his eyes.
"Before I forget, I think today is a certain occasion for a special someone" Lilith was of course referring to Murphy's birthday today. He just smiled as he held her close.
"Today is my birthday. I'm 38 years old, pretty hard to believe huh?" Murphy admitted.
"Really, I thought you were younger than that" she teased "Remind me, that thing you wanted, what was it again?" she teased him even more as she pressed her figure harder against him.
"I have everything I want standing right in front of me" He answered.
"You're so corny" she laughed as she held him tight.
"You did tell me we would have to work on that last night" Murphy joked.
"I think we have some free time right now to work on that, everyone's still asleep and the door to the room is locked tight" she advised, trying to give him some ideas.
"I like where this is going" he traced his hand from her thigh over her bum and squeezed it gently. He chuckled as she jumped, she raised her eyebrow in interest.
"Frisky one, aren't you?" she teased as her body enjoyed the interaction "I think it's time to unwrap your present."
"I guess it is" Murphy lifted her gently and she wrapped her legs around his hips as he carried her back inside the room. As he lay her on top of the table and began kissing her on the neck passionately, she clung to him as she wrapped her hands around his neck and began running her fingers through his hair. His lips trailed up her neck, across her cheek, and finally reaching her lips. Lilith kissed him eagerly in return. Murphy slowly placed his hands around Lilith's hips and her wrapped his fingers right under the waist band of her shorts, ready to undress the Siren while she was trying to unbutton his jeans. Before they could go any further, A.N.N awoke from standby mode and her visage flickered in front of them. They noticed her immediately and withdrew from one another, Lilith sat straight up on the table as she felt the heat of her embarrassment spread across her cheeks and Murphy began scratching his head nervously.
"Good morning everyone" A.N.N yawned, stretching her holographic arms in the air, completely oblivious to what was going on while she slept.
"Uh, good morning A.N.N" Lilith stammered, breathing heavily with ecstasy as she flicked some of her loose red hair out of her eyes "I guess I should dress up before the others decide to wake up too, we'll finish our discussion some other time Jason" Lilith placed her feet back on the floor and quickly walked out the room. Murphy stared at her as she left the room. A.N.N looked at Murphy with curiosity.
"Was I interrupting something important?" A.N.N asked.
"It's kinda hard to explain right now" Murphy answered nervously "I think it's best that we drop the subject entirely" A.N.N just shrugged and agreed to drop it.
"Happy birthday my friend, did you get anything special?" she asked.
"Well, I was in the middle of unwrapping my present but then you decided to wake up before I had the chance to… explore what was inside the box. I'll have to check it out some other time" Murphy tried his best to find the right words to say while trying to get what was about to happen with Lilith out of his head.
"Better luck next time I guess" A.N.N shrugged, still oblivious to what he was referring to "Also, I couldn't find that music player for your helmet. Sorry about that Murphy."
"Don't worry about it" Murphy answered "I'm gonna head to the munitions' store and see if Marcus has any new rifles on sale" Murphy said goodbye to A.N.N and he walked down the stairs. He exited the HQ to visit the store.
After a couple of hours, Murphy decided to head back to HQ to see if Erick or Brick had returned. When he entered the lobby, he was greeted by a huge roar of applause.
"Surprise, happy birthday!" shouted everyone in the lobby. All the Vault Hunters, including Brick, Erick with the bandages removed from his eyes, and A.N.N whose chip was sitting on the table, were in the lobby, eagerly awaiting his return. Brick had his pet skag, Dukino, next to him for the occasion. Montayva was carrying her baby and Mordecai had Junior on his shoulder. Gaige and Ari had a big box under their arms with a little bow on top of it. The room itself was littered with balloons and party streamers.
"How did you guys know?" Murphy asked with a bewildered look on his face, not expecting anyone to surprise him in such a way.
"Guilty as charged" Lilith said, raising her hand "I thought it would be better for everyone to celebrate your day, killer. A.N.N and I organized the whole party during my recovery period" she slowly walked up to the Enforcer and gave him a birthday kiss. Everyone started cheering and clapping their hands, glad the pair finally were together with the exception of Salvador who hated any type romance. He preferred blowing stuff up with two guns and partying any day.
"Ugh, this mushy mierda is making me sick to mi estomago, let's get this fiesta started!" Salvador exclaimed. Murphy nodded and the party went underway. Murphy walked up to greet Erick and Brick.
"Glad to see you back on your feet Ace" Murphy smiled and gave Erick a big handshake.
"You didn't think I was going to miss the party of the century, right Murph?" Erick said, wincing a bit due to his injuries. Brick gave Murphy a pat on the back.
"Happy Birthday slab" Brick bellowed "Before you ask, I brought the explosive with me when I got here. We'll head to Lynchwood tomorrow but right now it's time to party!" the skag Brick brought started to run around Murphy with joy.
"Who's this cute little guy?" Murphy kneeled down to face the large pup at eye level. The skag started licking Murphy in the face as he greeted the Enforcer happily. Maya walked up to answer Murphy's question.
"That's Dukino" Maya answered as she started petting the skag "We saved him a couple of years ago in Lynchwood back when it was still run by the sheriff. Brick decided to keep him as a pet afterwards" Axton tried to greet Murphy but the Skag started growling angrily at him. Axton walked away slowly, fearing Dukino would try to eat him.
"Keep that beast away from me!" Axton yelled. Maya had an evil smirk on her face and decided to bring Dukino closer to him.
"How can you call him a beast, look at this pretty face" Maya said teasingly, inciting his fear even further.
"That thing tried eating me!" Axton yelled, recalling the first time he met Dukino.
"He just wants to play with you, isn't that right boy? Am I right?" Maya said playfully as she petted the skag. Gaige and Ari walked in to hand Murphy the present they was carrying under her arm.
"Here you go Murphy, Ari and I spent the entire week making this for you" Gaige smiled. Murphy grabbed it and opened it. He found his helmet inside of the box and pulled it out.
"This is my helmet guys, this isn't exactly new" Murphy said.
"Press the button on the right and you'll notice a difference" Ari added. Murphy pressed the button and the Rolling Stones song, Gimme Shelter, started playing through the speakers.
"The music player I wanted!" Murphy announced with childish enthusiasm.
"That's right, Ari picked the songs while I installed the player to your helmet's hardware. It took a while but once I figured out how to connect the circuitry with the harddrive, it was a breeze" Gaige said proudly.
"And here's what I added in the database" Erick walked up and pressed the button again and Flight of The Valkyries started playing through the helmet. Murphy smiled at Erick's surprise as he remembered the beginning of the mission back in the Cauldron.
"Thanks Ace" Murphy laughed as he gave Erick another handshake.
"Happy Birthday old man" Erick joked and Murphy just gave him the evil eye.
"I may be old but I can still kick your ass" Murphy joked as well knowing he didn't mean any offense.
"Okay but mind doing that after my injuries have healed Murph, I'd rather not stay another five days back in the ER at Zed's" Erick joked. Mordecai walked in and pulled Murphy away from the conversation.
"Where are we going Mordecai?" Murphy asked as Mordecai pushed him toward a giant Piñata shaped like a bird.
"It's customary for the birthday boy to have the first swing at the Piñata" Mordecai answered as he wrapped a blindfold over Murphy's eyes. Salvador spun Murphy around three times to begin the game.
"Okay Tin Man, bust that hijo de puta wide open and everyone can get some candy" Salvador said with a grin. Mordecai handed Murphy the stick and he readied himself to swing for the fences. Murphy took a swing and knocked the Piñata wide open, candy poured out of its opened gut. Everyone started cheering and rushed toward the candy pile to get some delicious sweets.
"Did I get it?" Murphy asked as he removed the blindfold and took a peak.
"Yes you did" Montayva answered "In some cultures, it's considered good luck if you knock the Piñata open on your first try" soon, Zero emerged from the kitchen with a cake in his hands, a candle shaped like the number 38 was on top of it and lit up for the occasion.
"Ladies, Gentlemen/ after hours of labor/ the cake is ready" Zero announced as he placed the cake on the table. Murphy walked toward the cake to make his wish. He blew the candle out and made his wish.
"So what did you wish for Jason?" Lilith asked as she stood next to him. Murphy closed the distance between Lilith and himself and held her close.
"I already have what I wished for" Murphy teased as he kissed Lilith again. A heart shaped emote projected over Zero's helmet as he was glad for the two Vault Hunters' newfound relationship. Lilith withdrew for a second and looked into his eyes.
"I hoped there was more to your wish than just that" Lilith teased, alluding to a more private and personal wish.
"Maybe I wished for a little something special the two of us could arrange during a later time" Murphy informed while smiling. After hours of celebration, everyone gathered around to take a picture to remember the moment. Axton was setting up the camera timer and everyone was getting into position.
"Okay guys, the camera is set so everyone gather around" Axton rushed toward the group to get in the picture. Murphy stood in the middle, his arm wrapped around Lilith's waist while holding A.N.N in his free hand so her visage could be caught on camera. Erick stood on Murphy's left while wrapping his robot arm around Gaige's shoulder and Ari stood on his right in front of him. Mordecai stood next to Erick, he circled his arms behind Montayva while she held their baby in her arms. Junior was perched on his master's shoulder, wings spread out while he made a goofy face. Maya stood next to Lilith, placing her hand on her own hip and smirking in front of the camera. Salvador stood in front of Maya, flexing his big arms and giving a cocky grin. Axton stood next to Maya, giving his own cocky grin and throwing his signature peace sign in the air. Zero stood next to the Commando, placing his arms behind himself and projecting a happy face emote. Brick stood behind everyone while holding Dukino under his armpit so his pet could also be in the picture. The camera flashed and forever captured the moment for all of them to remember when they were older to reminisce about the good times.