Of all the disadvantages that came with a winter birthday, having to go to work on it was by far the worse. Shirley trudged down the hall to her apartment, rubbing her stiff neck, tired from the long day at the office.
As she unlocked the door and turned the golden but worn doorknob, she sighed, knowing that her friends would drag her to a bar in celebration of her finally being old enough to drink. When the door opened, though, she was greeted by confetti and streamers and a party she already knew she wouldn't want to clean up.
Takei was already sitting awkwardly sitting on the couch, a large cake placed on the coffee table in front of her, and the crowd made sure to quickly seat Shirley down beside her.
The cake had white and bright pink icing and more candles than Shirley thought was possible to fit on it so that the writing could still be read. The words "Happy Birthday Junko and Shirley" shined slightly in the candle light.
The crowd went on to sing "Happy Birthday" in, from what Shirley could tell, at least five different languages, and after some mild encouragement, both she and Takei blew out all the tiny flames. They cut the cake and poured enough alcohol to make the local bar rich and gave the joint-birthday girls congratulatory hugs and shoulder pats.
In a few hours, the last of the party-goers departed, leaving a messy apartment and its exhausted residents behind.
Shirley sat in the pitch darkness of the apartment's small kitchen, legs propped up on the kitchen table. With one hand, she swirled the liquid in a plastic cup.
"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" The voice sounded equal parts tired and amused.
"I would," Shirley agreed, tipping her head back to look at her roommate and grinning, "but we've got all this booze, and I'm finally old enough to drink it legally."
Takei sighed, returning the smile. "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Especially not at," she paused and checked the stove clock, "12:38 in the morning."
"Happy belated twenty-third," Shirley joked, lifting her glass in the air. "It's water, don't worry."
"Happy twenty-first," Takei responded laughingly as she walked up to Shirley and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. "But I think it's bedtime."
Pressing a kiss to the top of her head, Takei stepped away and grabbed one of Shirley's arms to pull her to the bedroom.
Shirley placed the cup on the table and followed obediently, "Does this mean I'm getting birthday sex?"
Chuckling, Takei slipped her hand down to intertwine their fingers. "Only if you keep your voice down; Lucchini's asleep in the guest room."
"We can go ahead and wake her up. She was the one who let the others into the apartment, anyway."
"Yes, but do we really want to hear about in the office tomorrow? You know she would tell everyone," Takei answered, yanking Shirley into the bedroom and closing the door behind them.
Shirley smiled and sat down on the bed, arms inviting Takei to join her. "Here's a solution: let's skip tomorrow."
Takei didn't say anything in response, but as she and Shirley fell to the bed, lips locked together, they both knew they'd be calling in sick.
A/N: Happy birthday Shirley, Takei, Chuck, and Junichi!
In retrospect, I'm actually kind of ashamed of writing this when I consider that Chuck is still alive, and I just put him in a genderbent, homosexual crack!pairing with a long-dead Japanese pilot. It's good to know he'll probably never see this. Probably... hopefully.
This is actually one of those strange, awkward, wish-fulfillment crack!pairings where you put two of your favorite characters together because you can. Takei is by far my favorite Fusoan witch (because, really, how can you not like Takei?), and Shirley is probably my favorite witch in general (which I blame on a combination of growing up a Chuck fan and my soft spot for fellow West Virginians). Anyway, I hope you readers enjoy this product of sleep deprivation and Shirley/Takei fanart.