Murphy woke to what small amount of dull daylight wasn't blocked out by the adjacent building and made it through his window. That was another thing he missed about home; in a crowded city like this, it was hard to get much natural light. But then, the sky in Gotham was perpetually dreary to look at anyway. Oswald was still sound asleep at his side, breathing softly. He'd spent much of the night tossing and turning, occasionally starting awake before settling back against Murphy. Now that he was finally sleeping peacefully, the last thing Murphy wanted to do was wake him.

He slipped away from Oswald carefully, so as not to disturb him, and tucked the blankets back around him, before getting dressed quietly and leaving the room, shutting the door softly behind him to keep Fester from wandering in. Then he headed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast, the cat rubbing against his legs as it followed him.

Some time later Oswald tiredly slid his hand across the cool sheet, reaching out for Murphy but found the space empty. He jumped awake and looked around the empty room, a bit of light shining through the window enough for him to see.

"Murphy?" He asked.

Murphy heard Oswald call for him, and quickly returned, pushing the door open, a folding tray in his hands. Oswald still looked confused and disoriented from sleep, his hair sticking out in all directions.

"I'm right here," Murphy said, walking in and setting up the tray for Oswald. "I just … thought I'd make breakfast. I found this recipe for scones and wanted to try it … I think they turned out pretty well, but you'll have to let me know how authentic they are."

In addition to fresh-baked scones, there were also eggs, toast, and a cup of English breakfast tea. The tray was even decorated by a flower in a little vase… Upon reflection, Murphy realized that he might have gotten slightly carried away.

Oswald looked down at the tray stunned and confused for a moment before he sat up against the headboard with a sigh. "Murphy ... Are ... Are you doing this because of last night?" He asked. "What time did you get up at to do this?"

"Not as early as you think," Murphy said, sitting down on the edge of the bed next to him. "I wanted to let you sleep in. Mostly, I just wanted to surprise you." Though a part of it was guilt over last night… he couldn't shake his worries that maybe it had been too soon after all, maybe Oswald had felt pressured, or had done it just to avoid disappointing him… He looked back at Oswald, trying to keep his tone light as he spoke, but the concern was still evident in his eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore ... But I'll be fine. Don't change the topic." Oswald said. "You didn't have to do this."

Murphy shook his head. "I know," he said. "It's not just that … I just wanted to do something nice for you. I'm allowed to do that, aren't I?"

"I suppose." He said picking up the scone and biting into it. "It's a bit crunchy. Very American ... But you get an A for effort." He said putting the scone back on the plate and taking a sip of his tea. "You are, however, fantastic at preparing a cup of tea." He said staring down at the plate. He felt a little uncomfortable with all this. He'd never had someone do this for him ... It still baffled him that Murphy did this kind of thing.

He glanced up at Murphy with a shy smile on his face. "Thank you ..." He said looking down at the flower and plucking it from the vase. "How did you know lilies are my favourite?"

Murphy smiled back at him. "Lilies are classic," he said. "I figured it suited you." He leaned in and kissed Oswald on the cheek. "I'll keep looking for a better scone recipe, though. I want to get it right."

"It has nothing to do with the recipe and everything to do with the talent." Oswald said with a slight chuckle. "You baked them too long. But it's still edible at least." He said chuckling as he picked up his fork to eat his eggs. He jumped slightly as Fester jumped up onto the bed. "Oh right ... You exist." He said pushing the cat away as it tried getting at Oswald's scone.

" 'Everything to do with the talent'?" Murphy repeated in an offended tone, though he was still smiling. "That's some harsh criticism, Oswald," he said, scooping up Fester before the cat could make another attempt to sneak up on the tray. "I'm not sure my pride will ever recover."

"I'm sure you'll be fine." Oswald said dipping his toast in his ketchup. "Wish we had some peanut butter." He said quietly. "We should go pick some up later."

"Yes, Your Highness," Murphy said, trying to keep a hand on Fester, who was still trying to squirm away to go invade Oswald's breakfast. "It's already on the list."

"Oh I like that." Oswald said. "You may call me that." He said cheekily.

Murphy laughed. "Oh, may I?" he said. "Good to know I have your royal permission."

"So if I'm the king of Gotham, what does that make you? My royal jester?" He asked finishing off his toast.

"Why am I the jester, exactly?" Murphy questioned, as Fester gave up trying to escape his arms and started trying to climb him instead.

"Because you entertain me ... Now dance fool!" Oswald said with an exaggerated pompous British accent, looking down his nose as he pointed to a spot on the floor.

"You play the part far too well," Murphy laughed. "You really are getting to be quite demanding lately."

"Oh, and are you complaining now? Here I thought you liked spoiling me." He said with a fake pout.

"I do," Murphy said, running a hand over Oswald's leg. "More than I think you realise." But he couldn't deny that Oswald at least seemed to appreciate it, even if he didn't seem to quite understand why Murphy did it.

Oswald finished eating his breakfast and put the tray down on the side dresser. "Did you at least eat before you spoiled me rotten?" He asked.

"Of course," said Murphy, ruffling Oswald's hair before getting up to collect the tray. "That's the best part of cooking … and I had to make sure the recipe turned out okay before I brought it to you, didn't I?"

"Mmm ... So do we have any plans today?" He asked, tossing a tiny piece of leftover crust at him. "Other than procuring peanut butter?"

"Well," Murphy said, as Fester dove after the piece of crust that Oswald had just tossed at him. "You're off tonight too, right? Maybe we could go out somewhere."

"Oh? You want to take me out on a date?" Oswald asked. "Where to?"

"I was thinking we could go to a nightclub for fun for a change," Murphy suggested. "Since we spend all our time working in one, we might as well check out the other side of things … There are a few that sound like they'd be worth a try."

"We should maybe go to one of Mooney's other establishments … if we go to one of Maroni's and someone sees us, she'd have our hides, or worse." Oswald said, though he'd never really been to a nightclub before. Well, outside of working in one, but he didn't really count that.

"True …" Murphy admitted. Everything in this city was complicated that way. "Though, now that I think about it, you're still not 21 yet, are you? You may not be able to get into most clubs as a customer… Maybe we should do something else."

"I'm 21." He said quietly. "It'll be fine. We can go wherever you want."

Murphy stared back at Oswald. "Wait, what?" he asked, uncertain whether Oswald was messing with him… If he'd had a birthday coming up, surely he would have mentioned it? "When did you turn 21?"

"Last week." Oswald said as if it was no big deal.

"Last week!?" Murphy put the tray back down again and crossed his arms indignantly. "Your birthday was last week and you didn't tell me!?"

"I didn't think it was a big deal. Me and mother had some cake like we usually do." He said with a shrug.

"Not a big deal?!" Murphy waved his arms in frustration. He felt terrible about this. He should have asked Oswald when his birthday was back when they first started dating, so this wouldn't happen … But how could he have known Oswald wouldn't even be bothered to mention it? "Oswald, even if turning 21 isn't a big deal to you … Did you really think I wouldn't care about your birthday?"

"Why would you?" Oswald asked confused.

Murphy looked at Oswald, completely taken aback by how genuinely bewildered Oswald seemed. But then… maybe no one but Gertrud had ever cared about his birthday before. Maybe it simply hadn't occurred to him that anyone would now. "Oswald …" Murphy said quietly. "Celebrating someone's birthday is a pretty widely-accepted way to show that you care about them, that you're grateful for having them in your life … And I missed an opportunity to do that for you."

As much as Murphy tried to make him happy, sometimes he still wondered if Oswald had any concept of how much he really cared about him.

"You already do that all the time." He said pointing at the breakfast tray. "Why would my birthday be any different?"

"And it's a good thing I did too," Murphy grumbled, glaring down at the breakfast tray as if it had somehow offended him. "Since you let me miss your birthday …" He shook his head and looked back at Oswald. "It's different because it's a special occasion, and you deserve for your boyfriend to at least acknowledge it … Even if you didn't want anything elaborate, I should have at least wished you a happy birthday."

"It doesn't matter." Oswald said quietly. "Where do you want to go tonight?" He asked changing the topic.

Murphy was about to argue with that, to try once again to explain why it did matter… but he let Oswald change the subject. He hadn't been making much progress anyway… the whole concept just seemed foreign to Oswald. At least he knew when Oswald's birthday was now. Assuming they were still together this time next year, Murphy could at least prevent this from happening again.

"Right," Murphy said, determination in his voice. "We absolutely have to go out now, to make up for it …" He thought for a moment about what Oswald had said, that they'd be safer if they went out somewhere under Miss. Mooney's control … yet the idea was repellent to him. Didn't they spend enough time under Fish's control already? "What if we just skip the politics entirely and go to a gay bar? Then, it wouldn't matter who owned it; no one would be able to say they saw us there, since it would mean they were there too."

Though Murphy was starting to accept the way that Gotham operated, he was tired of having to constantly think about what territory belonged to whom… He didn't know how anyone could ever relax while worrying about that.

"Do you really think that would stop someone from telling? They could easily just say they were passing by and saw us go in. But we can go to one if you want to. I believe Falcone does own one or two."

"Gotham takes the fun out of everything," Murphy sighed. "But you're right … It can't hurt to be careful. Would you be up for visiting a gay bar, then? So long as it's a Falcone-affiliated one?"

"So long as we don't piss off Miss. Bitch Queen, I don't care where we go." He said. "I wouldn't mind having some fun, and I can't do that if I'm constantly worrying about who's watching us."

"Agreed," Murphy said. "We'll stay within territory that won't provoke the Mooney Monster's wrath." They hadn't even been near the club the last time they'd done something to piss her off… And he didn't want to repeat that any more than Oswald did. "As long as I get to go out with you."

"Aw, and here I was going to send out my doppelgänger, hang around here with that festering pain instead." Oswald said pulling the blankets off, still naked from their activities the night before.

"Now Oswald," Murphy said, pausing on his way to take the dishes out, his eyes moving over Oswald's body. "You know I wouldn't leave you behind… though if you do have a doppelganger running around, I'm disappointed that you hadn't told me."

"Funny," Oswald said picking up his pants and waving him off. "Be gone with ye, fool."

"Yes, Your Highness," Murphy smirked, heading for the door. If he stuck around much longer, Oswald wouldn't make much progress getting dressed, and not much else would be accomplished that day either. He left for the kitchen, nearly tripping over Fester, who was right at his heels, clearly hopeful that he would drop something.