"Gil! Gil Gil Giiiil!"

Said raven-head looked up from his place at the sofa where he had been peacefully reading the morning paper and sipping his morning coffee only to see his blond-headed master barrel down the stairs two at a time. The smaller boy ran up to him and grabbed him by the shoulders, his eyebrows furrowed with worry.

"Uh... yes? What's wrong Oz?" Gil responded calmly, far used to Oz's random outbursts and his sudden loud behavior. The raven-head set the paper down and pushed his cup out of the reach of Oz's flailing.

"What does Elliot like? Besides Holy Knight I mean... he has to like something right? Not even Elliot can hate everything." Oz said quickly, his grip on Gil getting tighter with ever word he spoke.

"Um, he likes a lot of things I'm sure. What's with the sudden interest?" Gil asked curiously as he gently pried Oz from himself, instead patting the spot beside him motioning for his master to sit beside him. Oz did and let out a sigh.

"Gil how could you forget? You're his big brother right? Shame on you for not remembering your own brother's birthday." Oz pouted, crossing his arms and glancing at Gil. Golden eyes blinked before Gil chuckled, moving one of his gloved hands to cover his mouth as he silently shook with laughter.

"So that's what this is about. Don't worry Oz I already had Elliot's birthday present delivered to him last night." Gil smiled gently and ruffled Oz's hair before grabbing the paper once again. The blond frowned and grabbed the paper out of his hands, putting it down on the table non too gently.

"No Gil you don't understand, it has to come from ME." Oz said, kicking the coffee table lightly, the pout back on his face and, Gil could have sworn, a light blush had crawled onto Oz's cheeks when he spoke again. "After all... I'm his friend now... He said so..."

Gil blinked again, this time keeping quiet for a bit longer before he spoke. "Well if it's a birthday present from a friend I can't help you much. I don't have many friends worth giving presents to and I usually just bake them something." He gave Oz a look over before continuing. "No offense but you cooking skills are still as bad as they were ten years ago and I'm pretty sure you don't want me to do it for you."

"No, it has to come from me..." Oz sighed again, propping his elbow on the sofa's arm and frowning.

"Otherwise it's not the same..."

"Maybe you should ask Sharon or Le-"

"NO." Oz shouted, cutting Gilbert off halfway. "I'm sorry but I will not take any more advice from those two! When I asked Leo what I should get Elliot for Christmas he suggested I dress up as Lucina (Elliot's favorite female character from Holy Knight) and.. and.. "He looked away then, a much darker blush clear on his face now. "In any case those two are no good for presents."

"..." Gilbert's face had paled at the very idea of what Leo had meant to happen with that suggestion. "Y-yeah... maybe that's a no go..."

"Ugh, fine, you're just as useless as ever Gil." Oz glared. "If Dinah was here... ah! That's it.. I'll go ask Ada." Oz said, smiling as he stood up. "She goes to school with him so maybe she would know something!"

"Uh... alright, see you Oz..." Gilbert sighed, shaking his head.
...

"A gift for Elliot-kun?" Ada asked, petting her white cat Dinah who was curled up comfortably on her lap. Her golden hair blew in the breeze and her light pink dress stood out in the outline of the park they were sitting together at.

"That's right, I'd completely forgotten about his birthday and I don't have anything to give him..." Oz sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that day. Ada blinked, looking down at her feline companion as she thought.

"Elliot-kun likes to play the piano and he likes to read..."

"I know that much Ada but he already has a piano and I gave him a copy of Holy Knight for Christmas!" Oz replied, running a hand through his soft bangs. "I need something new..."

There was another gentle pause from Ada before conversation continued.

"He likes flowers." She said, smiling sweetly at her brother.

"... Flowers? Elliot likes flowers?" Oz couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her as she continued to smile stupidly. She nodded, tying another ribbon around Dinah's tail.

"I once heard him and Leo-kun talking about the language of flowers. If I'm not mistaken they seemed especially fond of the one called Statice." She nodded as she spoke, her emerald eyes sparkling with fondness at the memory of the boys she admired speaking excitedly about flowers like little kids. Oz laughed and patted her head.

"Thank you Ada, I'm glad you came out here to meet me. I can't really give him flowers though, especially not as a birthday present." He leaned over and kissed her cheek fondly. "I guess there's no choice but to go into town and look for something there." Oz said as he stood up, smoothing out his shorts and giving her a gentle wave.

"See you around Oniichan!" Ada called sweetly, waving back.
...

Oz walked around for a good two hours, not finding anything that was particularly eye-catching or Elliot-worthy as he examined stand after stand.

"Man, I could've sworn that the market had lots of interesting things..." He muttered to himself. In truth the market was packed even more today than other days and there were plenty of interesting or eye-catching things that Oz could have easily afforded (as a noble and an agent of Pandora) but none of them really seemed to speak "Elliot" to him. He frowned and continued walking, saing a polite farewell to the owner of the stand that he'd been looking at. He passed a couple of sweets and food stands before coming across a stand of stuffed animals.

He paused and looked at the colorful animals and dolls hanging around the stand. There were several kinds and colores to look at. An old lady sat beside the stand, watching Oz with a gentle smile. "Feel free to look at any of them." She said.

Oz nodded and thanked her, looking back at the different toys. He spotted a brown cat with a frown on his face and picked it up. He snickered as he examined the cat's grumpy expression.

"You look a little like Elliot little guy... You're even the same shade of brown as his hair..." Oz said aloud, not really caring that he was speaking to a stuffed animal. He stroked the cat's ears and tail. "I think Elliot said something about liking cats..." Oz muttered, wondering if the cat would make a suitable present.
He shook his head then, gently placing the cat back in its original spot besides a rabbit plushie and taking a step back. "It's cute but Elliot definitely isn't the kind of guy to keep stuffed animals in his room. He'd probably sock me if I gave him this."

Oz shook his head, thanking the old woman before continuing to search.

"Flowers! Fresh picked flowers!" A little girl called as Oz walked past. She padded up to him, her soft red hair bouncing as she reached him. "Mister, would you like to buy a flower?" She asked, holding up a handful of blue flowers to him. Oz looked down at her smiling.

"Sure, what kind do you have?" He asked, leaning down to her.
...

The clock seemed to tick by especially slow back at the Reinsworth mansion. Oz glanced at his pocketwatch again. 7 p.m. There was no way he was going to find a good present and get it to Elliot now. The blond layed down on his bed, placing his arm over his eyes to block out the light overhead.

"Man this sucks... in the end I didn't get anything..." He said, glancing at the small table beside his bed where he had placed the small blue flowers in a glass vase with delicate decorations. "Statice, huh?" Another sigh escaped him as he sat up. he picked it up gently, walking over to his closet and pulling out a cool blue ribbon that he gently tied around one of the stems.

He pulled his boots back on and swung open the door to his room, heading out towards the entrance. "At the very least I should say happy birthday to him... these will just have to do..." The blond muttered as he stepped towards the living room, intending to continue past it and out the front door but he stopped dead in his tracks.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN BY THAT GILBERT." The unmistakeable tone of Elliot Nightray sounded across the room as the brunette stood up from his place on the sofa, pointing his finger at his older brother who was calmly sitting across from him. "YOU REALLY HAVE NO SHAME." Elliot barked, his other hand on his sword as if to look threatening.

"Um.." Oz coughed, setting the vase down on a table out of sight before slowly walking into the room. "Did I miss something? Why are you here Elliot?" He asked curiously.

Elliot glanced at Oz then returned his gaze to Gilbert, glaring once more before sighing and sitting back down with his arms crossed. "Nothing in particular." Elliot said, his ice blue eyes glancing at Oz. "If you're gonna sit down then sit."

Oz rolled his eyes at Elliot's usual insensitivity. "You're as sweet as always." He replied, sitting down beside him, pulling his knees up to his chest, watching Elliot curiously. "Though I know you're really a big softie right?" He said teasingly, his eyes narrowing playfully.

"What the hell? What would you know chibi? Besides I don't wanna hear that sort of thing from a moron like you." Elliot growled, crossing his arms again and looking very much like a child having a tantrum. Oz laughed. Gilbert, who was still there but hadn't said anything opened his mouth to protest but Oz spoke up first.

"I'll only let that one go because it's your birthday... idiot." He added, smiling as he always did with Elliot.

"Tch. Don't look at me like that, it's annoying." Elliot said, looking away. Oz blinked and shrugged, playing with his necktie instead.

"Um... I'll go make us some tea or something." Gilbert said standing up.

"Don't worry about it, I just want to talk to Oz for a bit." Elliot stood up, motioning for Oz to do the same. "Do you mind if we head up to your room?" He asked, looking at him. Oz blinked, why would they need to go to his room? A small blush creeped up on him but he quickly shook his head, willing it away. "S-Sure!" He said.

"Come on then." He said as Oz stood up. The two of them made their way towards Oz's roo leaving a confused and slightly worried Gilbert behind.
Oz wondered silently what Elliot needed to speak to him about privately and wheter it was that important. It was then that he noticed that besides his usual sword he was carrying a little white bad with a bulge. The blond blinked and looked at Elliot curiously.

"What's in the bag?" He asked, gripping the vase (which he'd made sure to grab subtly on the way) behind his back. Elliot glanced back at him but didn't respond until they'd walked into Oz's room. The brunette then closed the door behind them quickly and practically shoved the white bag into Oz's arms.

"It's for you. So take it." He said quickly, crossing his arms as soon as Oz had a good grip on it and he was sure he wouldn't drop it. Oz blinked down at the bag, glancing at Elliot before pulling out its contents. "This is..."

Oz was now holding the grumpy brown cat he'd seen earlier at the market. The blond stroked its ears and confirmed that it was definitely the same cat. He then looked back at Elliot with confusion clear on his face.

"Why...?" He started, holding the cat gently. Elliot narrowed his eyes and looked away.

"I was running some errands earlier and I happened to see you looking at that thing. You seemed to really like it but for some reason you didn't buy it so I figured you must have forgotten your money or something... If you don't want it just throw it away." He said quickly, still avoiding Oz's gaze for fear of what his reaction would be. Elliot had hesitated a lot before deciding to buy it and if Oz didn't like it he'd feel incredibly stupid.

But Oz laughed. He clutched the grumpy cat to his chest as he shook with sweet and gentle laughter. Not the mocking kind that he used when Elliot slipped and said something stupid, it was a different more genuine kind of laugh. Elliot looked at him for a second before relaxing and smiling a bit.

"What the hell is so funny brat?" He asked with a much gentler tone than he had been using earlier when Gil had been around. The brunette gently shoved Oz. "You laughed enough moron." Oz stopped and glanced up at him, eyes sparkling from the tears that had begun to form due to all the laughing.

"Why are YOU giving ME a present on your birthday you idiot?" Oz asked, causing Elliot to blush.

"S-shut up, I thought you liked it..." Elliot narrowed his eyes, forcing himself not to look away this time, holding Oz's gaze. Because if he was honest with himself, he really loved Oz's eyes, espacially when they sparkled with happiness like this.

"Alright alright... thank you... I really appreciate it." Oz grinned again before setting the stuffed cat down and taking the vase once again before handing it to Elliot gently. He looked down then, ashamed and a bit upset.

"I'm sorry, I looked really hard and I asked lots of people but in the end I couldn't find you a proper present. This is all I have for you..."

Elliot took the vase and looked at it.

"Statice..." He breathed. "That's... 'forever unchanging.' " The brunette looked up at Oz, smirking suddenly. "Are you proposing to me? Or do you really have no idea what you just gave me?"

"Huh?" Oz asked, tilting his head. "Ada said that you liked this flower so..." Another chuckle from Elliot

"So all of you Vessalius are equally airheaded?"

"Hey!" Oz opened his mouth to protest but Elliot quickly put his hand over it. "Alright I get it, sorry. In any case is it really that hard to tell what I like?" He asked, leaning closer to look Oz in the eyes.

The blond nodded, pushing his hand away. "It's just really hard to tell when you really like something considering you complain about everything. Like, do you even really like anything or do you have something against everything in the universe?"

"Well most things do annoy me, but I'm not that bad idiot. You make me sound like an old man." Elliot scoffed.

"Besides there's things I like that I complain about." He added.

"Really? Like what?" Oz asked, looking at him curiously.
"Let me give you a hint." Elliot smirked, gently pushing Oz against the wall and kissing him.

...

A/N: Hii! I know I've been procrasinating on my other fanfictions... but this had to be uploaded today on Elli's birthday. Anyways it's gonna be a two-shot and I'll try to finish the second half by tonight. Oh and the next half contiains lemon, nsfw, all that jazz. Be warned.