April 9th, the day of Adrien's 24th birthday, started with a warm rain - its sound against the windows accompanied him out of bed and through his morning rituals. After washing and dressing himself, he made his way down to the main room; like every morning, he found Val sitting on his armchair and reading a book. When Adrien stepped towards him, Val set his book down on his legs and turned his head towards him.

"Good morning, Adrien", Val smiled. "Happy birthday".

A big smile spread on Adrien's face; he had hoped Val would remember. "Thank you", he said with a little bow of his head. He then noticed the two packages on the table. "Are those...?".

"Presents", Val said with a nod. "From your family and friends".

Adrien laughed. "Wow", he said, amazed that they had sent him something even as he was staying so far away from them. He picked up the bigger of the two presents - before even reading who the sender was, Adrien recognized the angular handwriting. "It's from my friend Julia", he said. He turned the package in his hands a few times; whatever was inside, it sounded like it was rolling inside its container. He tore the wrapping paper open, revealing a cardboard box - printed onto it in a thick, star-adorned lettering, its label read:

Taped to the back of the box, there was a letter. Adrien detached it and unfolded it open.

"What a well-made object", Val commented, impressed. "Can I hold it?".

"Of course", Adrien said, and passed him the kaleidrohedron and the booklet. The blue patterns on Val's fingers flared up; in his hand, the shape morphed into an icosahedron. Val read from the manual: "The icosahedron is linked to the element of Water, and represents a fluid and faceted state of mind".

Val smiled serenely; he run the palm of his hand over the shape's edges. "What a wonderful thing", he mused. Adrien chuckled; the present had been intended for him, but watching Val's eyes shine as he played with it felt like an even greater gift. He went to pick up the other box: this one was a present from his mother. The package was small and rectangular, and, when shaken, it didn't seem to contain anything that moved. Adrien ripped open the wrapping paper: it contained a small case made of pressed cardboard, decorated with a diagonal rainbow strip. He opened it. It was a writing set, containing paper and a pen; looking at the stack of paper from the side, the decorated borders of the sheets formed a rainbow gradient, too. "That's so nice", he commented, excited. He unfolded his mother's letter:

Adrien giggled to himself. "Wow, mom", he commented.

"That looks like a lovely present too", Val smiled, still playing with the kaleidohedron.

"It is", Adrien grinned. He crunched all the discarded wrapping paper into a big ball, which Val disposed of through magical means; he then set his letters and presents on one side of the table. Val looked up at him: "I have a present for you, too", he said. He stood up and drew a spell with the fingers of one hand; what appeared in his hand was the staff with the entwined vipers - the one that Adrien had been using to draw his spells in the practice tower. He offered it to him with a smile.

"But -- that's -- that's yours", Adrien said, looking up at Val with eyes as wide as they could be.

"Not anymore", Val smiled. "It suits you better than it suits me. I want you to keep it. It's yours, now". He set it in Adrien's hands. "Happy birthday".

Adrien blinked, still dazed. "I -- but --", he stammered, teary-eyed; he couldn't believe that Val would give him something so precious. "Thank you", he blubbered.

Val chuckled - and Adrien couldn't be sure, but, even through his misty vision, he got the impression that Val's eyes had become shinier than usual. He stepped forwards and hugged him tight. "Thank you so much", he repeated. For an instant, he rested his cheek against Val's shoulder - and was taken by a whirl of chaotic joy as the smell of his robe reached him; Val's arms held his back for a second, too - then each let go. Adrien sniffled a bit - he looked down, trying to avoid showing his patchy face to Val. His fingers tightened onto the staff. "Thank you", he said. He wiped his face with his handkerchief, then went to prop the staff against a cabinet. "Is it okay if I leave it here for now?".

"Of course", Val said, taking his seat back on the armchair. "You can use it whenever and wherever you want, too".

"I -- I can?".

"Of course you can. At this point, I trust you to cast magic responsibly, without my supervision".

Adrien couldn't help but giggle in response to that. "Should you really give me this much power?".

Val chuckled. "...Perhaps not", he said. "But I will anyway. Or, at least, if you must explode things, warn me first".

Adrien took a seat at the table. "I'll try to", he laughed.

Val smiled. "Anyway, would you like some cake for breakfast?".

"Ah -- not yet", Adrien smiled. "Right now, all I want is some bread and apricot jam".

"Of course", Val grinned. A twitch of his fingers, and the table was set. For himself, he'd magicked up a cup of coffee with chocolate biscuits; he picked up one biscuit, and dunked it into the coffee. "What sort of cake would you usually get for your birthday?".

"Ah -- my mom would go to this nice store and get me a Sachertorte", Adrien said, lifting his eyes for a moment from the slice of bread onto which he was spreading the jam.

Val smiled. "It's a pity I don't have that recipe", he said.

"I can teach the kitchen", Adrien said, grinning. "We were only missing the apricot jam last time, and now we have it!".

"Yes, we do... But, wait, Adrien", he chuckled, "you surely don't mean to bake your own birthday cake?".

Adrien's face turned red; then he laughed. "...Yeah, I guess not".

Adrien tried to smile in response - but the conversation had brought him in front of a tormenting thought that he couldn't ignore: that, if Val had all the time in the world, he did not - he really did not; and that his time at Val's tower was reaching its end. How much longer could he stay? He wanted to know, but he couldn't bear to ask. He knew that his alchemy training was almost complete; not much was left for him to learn in the Novice-rank course. He could not hope for his apprenticeship to continue for longer than a few more months. One thought leaped in the foreground of Adrien's mind: if Val was able to celebrate his birthday with him, he wouldn't be able to celebrate Val's birthday in the coming November. He knew that, by then, everything would have already ended.

"I'm sorry", Val said - pulling Adrien out of his head with a start. "Your birthday should be a happy day. Let's not talk about unhappy things".

"It's alright", Adrien said. He tried to take Val's suggestion to heart, and did his best to shove away his thoughts and ignore the feeling of cold that they had left within him. He spread jam over another slice of bread. "By the way, are we going to the alchemy laboratory today?".

"No... Of course not", Val said, his mouth twisting into an amused smile. "It doesn't seem right to make you work on your birthday".

Adrien chuckled sadly to himself. "Well, that's something nobody has ever said to me before".

"No?", Val said, tilting his face. The pattern of light that peeked from his neckline flared up. "My master, at the magical academy... He would have never let me work on a day like that. Whenever there was a special day, Master would call off all classes...".

"Lucky you", Adrien laughed. "I've had to prepare for exams on my birthday!".

Val's eyes widened. "How cruel", he replied, scandalized.

"I wish I'd gone to your school", Adrien mused. "Where was it?".

"Ah... I cannot say", Val smiled apologetically. "It was a school -- only for us demons", he then said. "The location is secret".

"Oh", Adrien could only say in stunned surprise. He leaned back in his armchair and stretched his arms. "In any case, if we're not going to the laboratory, what do we do today?".

Val's eyes landed on the viper staff, resting by the door behind Adrien. He smiled. "What about a friendly duel?".

Adrien's eyes widened. "A sorcerer's duel?".

"Yes", Val said with a nod. "Do you like the idea?".

"Oh -- oh, yes, of course", Adrien chuckled. "It's just -- well, you know -- you know that I can't beat you".

Val chuckled. "I'm not going to attack you with full force, of course", he smiled. "That would make it rather unfriendly, don't you think? No, I'll only be using the same kinds of spells that you know".

"Yeah, but you're going to win with those, too!", Adrien laughed.

"Not necessarily", Val said. "The outcome of a duel depends on many factors... The greatest sorcerer could still be surprised by a novice's brilliant idea. You cannot know until you're there", he said with a smile of his eyes.

Each began swirling; Adrien had already decided what to do - he would start with a Fire spell, since those always seemed to come easy to him. He spun it as quickly as possible, and, although the symbol he'd drawn was not the prettiest, it worked: a fireball shot out towards Val, who had to stop casting his own spell and draw an arc to protect himself with a wall of water, which flashed in front of him and swallowed the fireball. The water then took the form of a wave, which rushed towards Adrien - quickly, he drew a circle, and imagined a house with sturdy walls, made to withstand a storm - the circle around him shone bright, and, although the walls were not visible around himself, the wave could not touch him.

"Well done, Adrien", Val smiled from the other side of the room.

"Th -- thanks", Adrien replied, a little bit out of breath.

Val spun on his feet again and shot forth a fireball; Adrien imagined a wall of fire, which absorbed Val's attack. Now, Adrien knew that he had to try something different - he would not try with a Water spell, but he supposed he could do Air. However, when Adrien drew the spell, nothing happened. He scrambled to decide his next course of action, but Val had already cast his next spell: a flurry of fireballs flew towards Adrien, who had only enough time and thought to spin a circle - too late, as the last of the fireballs touched his back and shattered his protective spell with a cracking sound.

When the evening came, Adrien went back to his room - carrying the stationery set and the kaleidohedron in one hand, and the viper staff in the other. He placed the first two on his desk; then he sat on the side of his bed, looking at the staff that he held in his hands - the tigerseyes shimmered together with the fire of the torches. He breathed out; he lowered his head. His eyes eventually lost focus.In spite of the wonderful day he'd just spent, something still troubled him. He found himself thinking of all the kindness Val always had for him, ever since the first second he welcomed him in his house and let him eat at his table; every lesson, every word, each and every of his gestures had always been steeped in gentle care - he was giving to an extent that Adrien would have thought impossible; kind and beautiful in every aspect of his being. And yet, he wished for more; he wished for more of his words, wished for more time at his side - he wished for his love. There had been words trapped inside his throat, words that he could not release - there where he hid them, their presence tore at his heart; there had been a gash underneath his skin - it had been tearing itself apart ever since he'd first learned its name. In it, Adrien saw what he could not dare to ask for, what he could not have. In a few months, he'd have to return home; their future was already over. And yet, Adrien wished - and his wish burdened him. What did his flights of imagination matter, anyway? He and Val already shared such a bond. This stained fantasy of a fruitless romance - was it worth pushing a wedge between them, was it worth this gloom over the last of their time together, was it worth destroying what they already had?

He felt as if he was ruining everything.

He'd received the greatest of gifts, and he was breaking it.