Law sat alone in his office ignoring the hustle and bustle of the outside while his crew were preparing his surprise birthday party, it wasn't really a surprise if he knew about it. Being as it was a small submarine there weren't many secrets that could kept hidden for long. Law had locked himself in his office to avoid such commotion, he was hoping that if he stayed in his office long enough his crew would try themselves out and forget the birthday.
The cup of coffee he made had long gone cold and bitter, he subconsciously reached for it and took a sip ignoring how heavy it felt in his mouth. Forcing himself to swallow, though bitter and cold it still had the caffeine boost that would help him focus on his work. The paper his crew had carefully gathered from the recent mission, he had been scanning over every detail with a fine-tooth comb.
He stretched his long limbs over his head, cracking his back as well. How long has he been sitting? What time was it? It was hard to tell with the passing of time. He locked himself in his office since the mission had been completed. His fingers brushing through his dark hair, the words on the documents seemed to be dancing around and it was becoming increasingly more difficult to read.
He sighed, pushing away from the desk and letting his body go limp for a minute, he needed more coffee. Stronger coffee, he was losing his steam but first he needed to figure out how to sneak to the kitchen without his crew noticing him and dragging him to the birthday party they prepared for him. He was in no mood for a party, and there was so much work to be done to even think about relaxing.
He glanced at his hand, he could always 'Shamble's' the coffee to him, but he didn't know if the coffee brew would be fresh or not. Leaning back on the chair, he weighed his option, the chances of him being caught if he left this office were high, his crew would be extra vigilant today. After all a surprise party was supposed to be…well a surprise. But he needed to get out of his office, his legs were starting to feel numb from the lack of movement and he would need to get the blood flowing in his body again.
He made his choice stretching his long limps, he silently stalked to the door, pressing his ear to the door, he listened for any sign of movement. He felt a little foolish trying to sneak past his crew, he didn't want to celebrate his birthday. It was a foolish holiday to celebrate getting another year older. He couldn't understand the notion of it, but he would have a hard time saying no to his crew if they did want to celebrate his birthday.
Slowly he unlocked the door, the hallway was empty. He raised a brow but gave no thought to it, most of them were probably in the den preparing for the celebration. He shuddered to think of the cheap direction ordering the wall while his crew hid in less than obvious places waiting to shout surprise. He would walk the opposite direction, less chances of running in his crew and disappointing them when he wasn't surprised and spent most of his time trying to wiggle away from the party.
His footsteps echoed in the hallway with each step, only increasing his alertness. He glanced around him curious of where his crewmen were, he figured he would have felt the presence of one by now. They would have altered the other members that their work-acholic boss had left his office. Or the more logical idea was that they were guarding the coffee, holding it hostage.
He neared the kitchen and there was still no sound of his crew, puzzled he opened the door surprised to find a simple Happy Birthday Banner taped to the wall and under it was a plate of fresh rice balls and some sake. A note was placed on top of the neatly wrapped rice balls with his name on it.
He was a bit surprised; he was expecting a huge celebration when he opened the kitchen, or maybe someone waiting for him before dragging him to the party after he got his coffee. He walked to table, his stomach rumbling at the sight of the rice ball, he had forgotten to eat again due to overworking himself. Unwrapping the rice ball he took a large bite and read the note with his free hand and smiled.
'Happy Birthday Captain,
Don't forget to eat and rest after a long day,'
"You may come out," he called to his crew, he was feeling their presence through the other door. Food in stomach he could feel some energy fueling him. He finished one rice ball reaching for another as the door swung open and white fur blocked his view.
"Captain," Bepo shouted hugging the man tightly, "We are so glad you came out of your office; we worried you were going to die in there," he shared the conversation that had been shared amount the crew. A few members nodded in agreement, also glad to see their captain out and about.
"Oi," Penguin shouted, "you are going to strain his back if you keep holding him like that,"
"Let the man eat," Shachi said right after. They surrounded their captain with concern on their face as Bepo rubbed his cheek on Law's cheek. Law gave a half smile in response, before Bepo finally pulled away with tears in his beady eyes.
"Did you like a surprise?" he questioned, "we didn't want to make it too big of a celebration,"
Law glanced at the 'Happy Birthday' banner barely hanging by some tape on the wall before glancing back at the plate of rice balls and taking another bite. "I thought you guys had a bigger celebration planned," he spoke with his mouth full of food.
He slides into the kitchen booth with Penguin and Shachi following right after. The rest of the crew found their seats and a few of them handed out the rice balls they had made, all wanting to share a meal with their captain.
"We thought about it but figured you don't like big celebrations, we figured you were probably hungry and tired," Penguin said, he figured Law would have overworked himself and would need some rest and food their goal was just to make sure their captain had some shut eye after having a full stomach.
Law smiled as he glanced around this crew, they were discussing with another, laughing and smiling. Sake and rice balls being shared around. The celebration was simple but seeing a crew of his most loyal friends…..his family didn't seem half bad.
"Don't forget you need to head to bed right after," Shachi lectured. Law agreed feeling a bit of drowsiness. He sipped his sake and took another bite of the rice ball his crew had prepared for him.
"Thanks you guys, this is the best birthday," he raised his glass to cheer.
''HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAPTAIN," the crew shouted also raising their glass in celebration.