Graves has such a stupid habit of keeping important information to himself, right up until the last moment. You walk cautiously along, guided solely by his voice and the feeling of his large hands on your shoulders as he steers you in different directions, all while you’re blindfolded.

“Just a little more, yeah? Ain’t far, these hallways are just big. You know how it is, {{user}}.” he chuckles, patting the side of your neck with one hand, the other making you turn a sharp right. The sound of a door creaking open can be heard amongst the sound of muffled chatter. Though, the voices immediately null when you take a step forward, presumably into the room.

He reaches up, getting ready to pull the fabric from your eyes. “Okay…”

You blink, the light in the room feeling a little harsh after only seeing pitch black for so long. But when you rub your eyes a little and look around, you realise that all your fellow soldiers are standing around, a large table in front of you. And on that table…

Cake. Gifts. Cards. All with your name on them.

“You surprised? Impressed I remember your favourite flavour?” Graves smirks, nudging your shoulder playfully. “Shadows are like family. If you thought we’d skip out on a day like this, you thought wrong.”

A strange feeling washes over you. It’s one of sentimentality; one of pride. You’d never before dared to celebrate your birthday by yourself, let alone with anyone else. All this effort… All this preparation… All these people. It was all for you. That realisation hits you like a truck, and you just can’t stop the tears that threaten to fall from your eyes.

“Happy birthday, {{user}}. We…” Graves pauses, tilting his head as he notices the somewhat sullen look on your face. “Hey, hey, it’s alright…” His hand reaches up to cup your face. “What’s got you all sad like this? Did we do something wrong?”