Mikhail had much time to contemplate his existence, place, and purpose in the universe. Having centuries to do so meant there was a lot of time for many things. There had been time to found a new country, turn it into an empire, get married, have a family, and even learn how to break dance. And tonight he had one thing in particular he was contemplating.

He turned in bed onto his side to face Haruto. Haruto was snoring peacefully but Mikhail wanted to talk, so he pinched Haruto's nose closed before kissing his lips. Just a moment later, Haruto snapped away, awake and gasping for breath.

"Good, you're awake."

Haruto sputtered and rubbed his eyes. "Why do you always wake me up like that?"

"Would you prefer I use our son's method and jump on top of you?", Mikhail offered.

Haruto shook his head through a yawn and turned on the lamp on his side of the bed. "So? What is it?"

"Why do we still celebrate birthdays?"

"Seriously? This is what you woke me up for?", Haruto complained. "Why wouldn't we?"

"Because we're immortal. After some time, the years don't really matter do they?" Birthdays had never been a huge deal for Mikhail. If anything, the yearly physical he underwent as a cadet at Karlstein Academy came with more fanfare than his actual birthday.

"Birthdays are to celebrate milestones. Important moments in your life."

"I think we've gone through all the milestones we'll ever have", Mikhail pointed out. They were way beyond the age of getting a driver's license, drinking, marriage, and other things people normally celebrated with age. And honestly most of the time they didn't care. When you ruled your own nation, you made the rules. Haruto had commanded a war machine before ever getting behind the wheel of a car.

And Mikhail had matured beyond his years thanks to his military service before ever drinking a drop of alcohol. Those things that teens looked forward to had never really applied to them.

"It's also to celebrate getting another year older. And thinking back to how much you've grown in the last year. And looking forward to how you'll change."

"We've done as much growing as we'll ever do", Mikhail said, looking to his youthful hands.

They hadn't aged a day since Haruto had begun to take runes from him. A previously unknown aspect to the exchange was that Mikhail was now immortal too, so long as Haruto fed on him regularly. Haruto sat up and scratched his head, trying to think of a way to make his husband appreciate birthdays. But Haruto barely won arguments half the time when he was at full brain capacity.

He was at a disadvantage being abruptly woken up from a deep sleep. Mihail continued to lay down and waited patiently for Haruto's next line of argument. While he did, he admired the messy brown hair, the blue eyes that were a dark midnight when only lit by a single lamp, his shirtless torso, completely unmarred by any sign of combat.

Which Mikhail was glad for, honestly. He'd rather not be reminded constantly of his rather callous treatment of Haruto in their early years.

"Birthdays are for...for other people", Haruto finally said.

"And how did you come to that conclusion?"

"Because it's super awkward sitting there while other people sing happy birthday to you. I feel happy that so many people care about me, but I never know what to do with myself", Haruto explained. "Sometimes it feels like too much. And that's the point. Birthdays aren't just for you. They're a day when everyone you know can shower you with all their love without holding back. And you just have to take it."

"And what if I refuse?"

Haruto moved to hover on top of Mikhail his hands framing either side of his head. "You can't. That's the whole point of birthdays. It's our day to show how happy we are that you're in our lives."

"Hm", was all Mikhail replied with, which was his way of saying Haruto had won the argument. He closed his eyes as Haruto leaned down, their lips meeting in a soft kiss.

Haruto glanced at the clock and then smiled. "Happy birthday, Mikhail."

"Are you going to try and kiss me for the number of years again?", Mikhail grinned.

"This year I can do it", Haruto said resolutely. It was certainly better than Shouko trying to fit people's candles onto a single cake. After fifty it became prudent to just get candles shaped like the numbers.

Haruto kissed his lips again, then a third time, then a fourth, then as his lips began to move other places Mikhail found himself starting to see the value in appreciating birthdays no matter how many hundreds of years a person lived.