A/N: I have no idea why a lot of my favs' birthdays all land between, like, September and March but here we are.

This is the first birthday fic I have written for Shen! Now this one deals with other fics where I explored their early, pre 2003 years when they knew each other. If you'd like to "Catch Up"(it's not necessary! This can be enjoyed on its own, but I mean I love new readers so feel free), you can check out the three one-shots Forbidden Knowledge, Dusk Before Dawn and Betrayal if you want the "Full" story, in order.

I'd say this takes place shortly before Ash came into their lives.

"Good morning."

"Ugh! Why the hell did you show up so damn early?!"

"You said to come by when I woke up."

"Goddamnit. I forgot you always wake up at five or some shit."

"Only when I sleep at night."

Shen Woo rubbed his eyes, standing at the door of his apartment at six in the morning. He wore only a pair of boxers, and he had slid those on in a hurry, hoping it wasn't his landlord or something.

Instead, he found his friend Duo Lon standing there calmly, leaning against the door. The man had two sleeping schedules-he was either up all night and sleeping most of the day, or he would nap for a couple hours at dawn. Unfortunately for Shen, today happened to be the latter. The eerie tattoos on the assassin's arms-which he had been adding to over the past couple of years-stood out against his pale skin, and his long, deadly nails tapped on the side of the door. Despite being dressed down-in a sleeveless shirt, black jeans, and boots-his hair was in its usual, incredibly long braid, though he didn't have on the massive, heavy weights as he usually did, opting today for smaller ones. The larger ones-upwards of seven kilograms-could be dangerous if he accidentally whipped his head around and hit a bystander while maneuvering around the city center.

Reaching down to his belt, he pulled his long, black lacquered pipe out and began to fill it with a bit of tobacco. He glanced inside at Shen's still-dim apartment. He could hear the hum of his window air conditioning unit and feel a bit of the cooler air from the inside.

"Are you going to let me in, or make me smoke outside while you stand here in your boxers?"

"Tch. Fine," he said, standing aside. "I guess I'll get the coffee on."

A half hour later, the two men were sitting around Shen's living room, the air conditioner doing a nice job of cutting some of the early September heat that had crept back. On the table were two bowls of soy milk, one sweet and one salty, a large pile of fried dough, and the coffee. Duo Lon had offered to try to make a few buns on the side, but Shen, as usual, seemed to be out of dry ingredients. He made decent money doing whatever he did-be it legitimate or not-but he still mostly couldn't be arsed to cook or stock his fridge most of the time, and mostly lived out of restaurants and from kiosks. That said, the pile of youtiao was massive, and was more than enough to stuff the young men. Shen had flipped the TV on, which was blaring some sort of news in the background; the brawler could remember back when music video stations played, well, mostly music instead.

Uttering a jaw-cracking yawn, Shen sipped some more of his cup as Duo Lon swished some of the dough around in the sweet milk, taking a bite. "So…why the hell are you here so early?"

His friend swallowed and smirked. "Besides you telling me to come when I woke up? Happy birthday," he said.

"Aww, shit. You're right. It is my birthday ain't it?" He rubbed his hair, still not having put on anything past his boxers.

"We can go out to eat after this, too, if you want." He snorted laughter. "My treat."

"Well, I can't say no to free food. To make up for you bumming this off me at an ungodly hour of the morning when it's my goddamn birthday."

"It will give you an excuse to refill your fridge. It's quite empty, except for the lime that seemed to pre-date humanity."

"Since when did you become such a smartass?" Shen asked, throwing a playful punch at the man. As he always would, Duo Lon's hand snapped up, catching his fist in midair just like he did that first meeting. The brawler knew, despite throwing a decent one, that the man would catch it; onlookers would probably be confused.

"I suppose one's company can rub off," he replied, dropping his fist and grabbing another piece of dough.

A few hours later-after taking Shen downstairs to a small place for a more proper breakfast, hanging around his house chatting and smoking, and then heading out for a walk, the two were on their way toward the dock area where they would hang out. Before they arrived, they had stopped by a liquor store, with Duo Lon grabbing two big bottles-one of baijiu, Shen's favorite drink, and one bottle of absinthe for himself for later.

"I still remember when we would drink out here sometimes," Shen said, taking his first swig. "It always seemed to be after some disaster. Not that we met all that long ago. Two years, was it? About?"

"Yeah," the other man said thoughtfully. "Strange how it always worked out that way. This being our…disaster drinking spot."

"Well, now's as good a time as any to christen it for something happier, eh?" Shen tilted the bottle back, taking a second big swig before passing it to Duo Lon. He took his own deep drink, allowing the liquid to warm him on its way down.

"Have you been to any tournaments lately?" he asked after taking one more drink and passing the bottle back.

"Nah," Shen answered. "Just some bullshit in bar basements. Wouldn't call those tournaments." He shook his head. "Goddamn, you could clean up in those things. Why the hell don't you enter? Yeah, you say fights should 'matter' but isn't that mattering?"

He shook his head. "I make enough to do what I need."

"Ahh, that's right. You…yeah." Shen rubbed his neck, knowing how much an assassin of Duo Lon's skill could charge. In the underworld, he knew some ordinary thugs who were nonetheless skilled enough at their jobs to get paid well; Shen himself made enough to pay for his apartment, drinking and gambling habits for the most part. While he and Duo Lon didn't discuss money-they never had to, mostly just splashing drinks and food for one another without really mentioning it-he knew his friend pulled in enough to own his house in an area in the middle of nowhere, keep his apartment in Shanghai, and travel wherever he had to in order to do whatever work he needed to.

He imagined the couple hundred he'd pull in from an underground ring fight would be a fairly paltry sum.

Not wanting his friend to think he was shunning his activities, he gave him a small smile. "At least you got me sparring and into the occasional barfight."

"You know what? I'll take it," he laughed, sitting next to him.

After some time of trading the bottle back and forth, Duo Lon slid his favorite pipe out and slid some of the tobacco out of his pocket. Shen decided to pull a smoke out as well, the buzz of the alcohol starting to hit him.

Duo Lon shoved the pipe into his mouth and lit it as he was done filling it, blowing some smoke out of his nose. "Where did you usually go to hang out growing up?"

Shen rubbed his hair. "I…wish I could remember a lot of it before I was a teenager," he said. "After that, wherever I could stay out of trouble. Or get into it. I know I was born here, at least." He shook his head. "What about you?"

"When we were allowed out and about, I just preferred to go out on my own toward the forest or mountains," he said.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Shen chuckled. "Heh. Like I said, most of my memories start from my teenage years. And I remember being bored the couple times I visited the sticks."

"We would occasionally get into trouble coming to the city for the first time. Freedom and all."

"That's right, you guys didn't even see anything bigger than a village in person until you were…?"

"About ten," the assassin replied.

"Wow," he said. "I mostly remember living in Shanghai. But I don't remember living anywhere that wasn't a city. Where it's indeed easier to get into trouble," he chuckled. "Sometimes I even need bailing out." He looked at his friend, slightly tipsier now, he could tell, referring to the time Duo Lon bailed him out of a tight spot.

"I think we all do."

"You?" the man laughed. "You can take down a room while drinking with the other hand."

"There's more to things than just fighting, my friend."

"I mean…probably," Shen chuckled, taking another drink.

The long-haired man looked over, blowing out some more smoke. He paused for a moment before speaking again.

"I…don't think I ever properly told you. Thank you," he said earnestly. "I…don't know what I would have done this past year if you had not been there."

"Wha?" Shen looked confused. "I dunno. You're still the one that has it all together. You'd have been fine."

"If you had truly known my state that night…I don't know if I would have been. Nor others around."

"I…couldn't see you cracking that badly."

"I…did not know at that time," he said, remembering the man in the bar, who he likely would have killed if not for Shen's intervention.

"Ahh, c'mon," the big man said, staring at the bottle of baijiu in his hand.

"No, you deserve the thanks," the assassin answered, the soft smoke billowing from his pipe. "I was a mess."

"Hey," Shen answered, smacking the assassin's sinewy, tattooed arm with the back of his hand before clapping him on the back. "You didn't have to trail me that night you saved my life. I was just a pain in the ass in those days draggin' you to bars and into barfights. You had no reason to go that far, but you did anyway."

"You did far more than that," Duo Lon answered. He had never told the story to Shen about the shape he was in that night that they had met, after the incident with his old drinking buddy. "I was lost that first night we met…you don't know the whole story. And I'd have been even more lost after…everything else. You never shut up or left me alone in my thoughts, and I needed that."

Shen rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, taking a swig of the strong liquid and passing it over. He knew exactly what happened the second time-but he still didn't know the whole story about the first night they had met in the bar, this weird, tall, long-haired guy with the beginnings of tattoos on his arms, who was capable of catching his fist in midair. All he knew was anyone who could do that, he wanted to buy a drink for.

He looked back at him after he gathered his thoughts again. "Damnit. I don't take compliments well. Unless it's about my fighting."

Duo Lon took the bottle and took a drink himself. "What? You fight sloppy and leave yourself open," the assassin said with a smirk. "But you force me to exert myself some, at least."

"Hey, here I am trying to be…all…I dunno, something, and now you gotta lecture me," the brawler replied indignantly, fumbling another smoke out of his pocket as the assassin lit it with his black lighter. Blowing a few rings out, he looked over at his friend again. "Remember that place we ordered from back when that weird night happened? Is it still around?"

"It is," he said. "It is my go-to for when I need to stay in Shanghai." He peered at the other man. "Are you in the mood for some?"

"I know it seems like a weird night to want to remember, what with me almost getting killed and you goin' off on those dudes but…" Shen rubbed his head. "Look, it was the first time someone stuck up for me like that without wanting anything in return."

"Make better underworld friends," Duo Lon said jokingly, flexing his large hand.

"I'm trying," he poked back, taking a drag of his smoke, blowing it out and taking another swig from the bottle.

"We can go order dinner whenever you want," the long-haired man said, taking another long drink.

"I think I wanna drag you to a bar first," he grinned. "Birthday boy's choice."

"Oh, I know what that means."

"Yeah, you're gonna have to deal with some shit."

Sighing, realizing that a barfight tonight was likely inevitable, the assassin reached into his small pack to break out his bottle of absinthe. Thanks to the man's ability to burn out about any sort of toxin, getting buzzed was a challenge for him, but at least absinthe was strong enough that, in large enough quantities, he could reach some level of it for a short period of time.

"Cheers, then," he smirked at his friend.

"Heh, man, I envy you. You can drink whatever the hell you want." Shen was already heading past buzzed and into tipsy, thanks to the baijiu they had been drinking most of the afternoon.

"Sometimes I envy you," he said. "My…training comes at a cost." He stared at the bottle of nearly one-hundred-and-sixty proof bright green liquid. Sometimes, he would love to drown in the stuff to forget certain things, but he was simply unable to. Even other substances burned out of him far too quickly to make a difference.

"Okay, look. I'm the birthday boy, and I say you need to cheer the hell up," Shen said, wrapping one arm around him and shaking him. "This is my night, and I say we're getting you to a bar, right now."

Tugging the man up, he started pulling the assassin to his favorite seedy bar, located perhaps a twenty-minute walk away. Shen was determined to make this birthday a night to remember, and he was happy to have a buddy that, these days, he could make that happen with.

Looking over, the fact his friend was smirking was enough for him.

A/N: This was the first time I got to hit up Shen's birthday. I decided to make this a little bit more backstory oriented, for once. Just a little! I wanted to also show again that Shen is more than just a fight-man, and to celebrate some of the cooler things he's done, even if it was just him being there for someone. I mean, he IS a fight-man, but I wanted to show what might count for his slightly sentimental side.

I definitely treat these guys as a Supreme Bromance, if that wasn't obvious. Besides the stories above (which explain a lot of little things), there's a few things for the notes:

-Duo Lon, who basically can turn his blood to poison like Hizoku apparently can, is probably all but immune to the effects of alcohol. I sort of HC him as basically being like Legolas or something that it *might* start to affect him after a short bit.

-The 7 kilo weights on Duo Lon's hair are legit. It's on his character sheet. His tattoos, however, are my HC for him. He'd look badass.

-The little humor about catching Shen's fist-he does this in the XIII Team Story to prevent him from demolishing a table, so I thought it would be funny if it were a sort of ongoing thing for them. The way it was written, it sounded like it wasn't the first time that happened.

-A lot of Shen's past is a mystery. He seems to have some sort of partial amnesia dealing with his youth, but the game doesn't go completely into it. Truth be told, I'm still trying to figure that out. He was mostly raised in Shanghai but there were implications he may have traveled a bit in his youth.

-2003's team story makes it clear the three all knew beforehand, and the reason I wrote Shen and Duo Lon meeting even before that was that it implied those two knew even longer. No details were found, so I decided to tell those stories myself. Again, see the mentioned stories for more!

Anyway, happy birthday, big guy! Thanks for reading!