#Gail Owena & Felis Helix

[dyno511]

Thank You for The Best of You

Summary: Cossy's birthday is coming around and everyone's found out he's never had a Chuck-E-Cheese's birthday party.

Word Count: 4355

Author's Note: This was a birthday gift for my friend <3

Read on Ao3 | Masterlist

        Most mornings were quiet in the Fischer house, today however, was not most mornings. Any time Sibylle’s friends spent the night, it was bound to be a chaotic morning but the family would have it no other way. The laughter from the group was enough to let being woken up in the morning go. Heinrich made his way to the kitchen, starting breakfast for the bunch and his youngest daughter, waiting for Sibylle or Mycena to make their way down to apologize for waking him up.

        As the man cooked, a girl appeared across from him. A grin on her face as she watched her father make pancakes for everyone. To any outsider, it was clear they were related, the girl looked so similar to her father, they even had the same grin. Once you got to know them, It was even clearer. The way they cared about others, the way they talked to people, the way they joked, it was all the same.

        “Sorry we woke you up, Cossy had a nightmare and Myce didn’t know how to help so I just woke everyone up before they did,” His daughter nodded at him, taking a seat on a stool.

        “It’s alright, you don’t have them over that often anyways. Is everyone coming down?”

        “Yeah, Myce and Cossy are making everyone apologize to █████ for waking her up though so they might be a minute,” Sibylle nodded, doodling on some junk mail from the day before.

        Silence filled the room as Heinrich finished up the pancakes and Sibylle drew, only for it to be broken as Hireath and Cossy joined them, Mycena, Gail, and Felis following behind.

        “I’m fine Hireath! It was just a nightmare don’t- hey! Put that down!” The younger pleaded, laughing as the brunette chased after him with a spray bottle. The rest of the group watched, filling their plates with the finished pancakes.

        Before Hireath could finally get Cossy with the spray bottle, another interrupted, Felis, smiling at Cossy as he led him to the table.         “Eat before Hireath ends up dumping the whole spray bottle out on you,” A chuckle escaping him as he took a seat next to Cossy, nodding to Hireath as she joined them all.

        Quiet chatter emerged from the group as breakfast went on, silence never having a chance to emerge. Each of them looked so happy, from Sibylle and Mycena, with their constant stolen glances, Gail and her laughter as she spoke with everyone, Hireath’s snarky comments, to Felis and Cossy’s worrying over each other, making sure the other was alright after Cossy’s nightmare or the entire group being awoken to calm the former down. Heinrich wondered what it was like to be so comfortable in a group of people so different from each other. At the end of the day, it didn’t matter, as long as all of them were happy.

        And then the comfortable breakfast was interrupted as the youngest Fischer daughter ran down the stairs, yelling for her father and sister’s help with a fox that had managed to climb through the open windows of her sister’s loft.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Gail and Felis had rushed out of the house the first chance they got, promising they’d meet the rest of their friends at the Chuck E. Cheese as soon as they were done. The pink haired of the duo had promised she’d help Felis pick out a good gift for Cossy in time, he just didn’t expect her to wait until the day they planned to celebrate. Then again, Gail always had an odd way of getting things done and never let Felis down when it came to helping him navigate his feelings for Cossy.

        The ride to the mall was almost as eventful as the morning had been, at some point one of them had turned on the radio and neither could help but sing along, whether they remembered the words or not. Then, they’d ended up passing the mall twice, getting distracted by whatever song they were singing or money making scheme they had come up with. On top of missing the mall, finding a parking spot ended in them almost running into a family that ran in front of them, only missing them by a hair before finally getting a parking space and rushing into the mall before anything else could happen.

        “Alright, Gail where are we going?” Felis turned to the girl next to him, unsure of where to even start.

        “Hmm, Let’s see, oh! That jacket Cossy’s been looking at everytime Mycena takes us shopping? Oh wait.. I think Mycena and Sibylle got him that and some clothes to match it..” She muttered, looking around as she thought

        “Maybe some cooking stuff?” She shouted, pointing towards a few houseware outlets.

        Felis thought for a moment. He knew Cossy would like that but he wanted it to be more special, something Cossy would smile at the same way he smiled at him. “What did you get him?”

        “Oh.. about that that’s part of why I came with you, I know what I’m gonna get him I just forgot to get it!” Gail sheepishly admitted, pulling out her phone to check what store she needed to head to.

        “We can head there first, I think I have a few ideas.”

        The duo continued their adventure into the mall, passing the clothing stores they’d gone to with Mycena a few weeks ago and the craft shop Sibylle had begged them to stop by on their first group mall trip. One shop caught Felis’s eye when they’d nearly reached the shop Gail was heading towards. None of the trips they’d taken had brought them in the shop but every time, Cossy would stop just for a moment and look at everything. A photography shop, Felis knew he liked photography, he just wasn’t sure how much, but remembering how his boyfriend had looked at the displays, maybe this was the gift he was looking for.

        “Hey Gail! I’ll meet you back at that pretzel place in the food court, I think I found what I wanna get Cossy!”

        Before giving her time to react, Felis headed into the shop and began looking for the best camera they had. That’s when he realized these were all too expensive to buy on the spot.. The only way he’d actually be able to buy it today without spending what he and Gail had made from their sandwich scheme was actually taking up Mycena’s offer to spend a bunch of her money to make sure this party went great. Felis sighed as he called the smallest of the group, hoping she wouldn’t put him on speaker.

        “Hi Felis!” Mycena’s high pitched voice came through the phone, he could hear Cossy in the background, playing with whichever of Mycena’s cats was by them.

        “Hey, um… how opposed to buying a really expensive camera would you be?” He whispered, hoping she wouldn’t blurt anything out and ruin the surprise for Cossy.

        Silence was all that came through the phone until he heard a door shut.

        “Text me how much and then… check your card balance and you owe me so much pineapple juice, Felis.” The serious tone at the end of that sounded nearly threatening if it wasn’t coming from Mycena Amanita, the kindest person any of them knew. However, she’s very serious about her pineapple juice so best not to get her bad side for that deal.

        “You got it boss, thanks, um.. What’s he up to?”

        “Playing with Max and Luci and Pineapple and Bink bonk too! Bye bye Felis, I’ll tell him  you said hi,” With that, the call ended, leaving Felis chuckling, questioning why that girl names her cats these things.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        They had time to waste until the rest of the group got here and Heinrich showed up with the cake, so, as always, the two were ready to be the bane of every child in the building’s existence. Sibylle never really cared about games, she cared more for drawing and making people’s day worse. Hireath was near the same but she adored making children mad, especially these two kids that were always there when the group was.

        Both were shorter than average kids that never left Hireath and Sibylle alone, even though Mycena babysat them and begged them to leave her friends be. Though, now, it has turned into more of Hireath and Sibylle messing with them, only for Myce to start begging them instead of the children. There was just something about the brats that pissed the duo off, maybe it was Hireath’s general need to be a public menace or Sibylle loving to take up Mycena’s attention.

        “Hey, brat move. We wanna play,” Hireath grinned at the two in front of them, watching as the smaller of the pair backed behind its friend.

        “Back off, we were here first Hireath!” The older of the kids, Mossy, barked back at her, turning back to its game as the brunette joined them.

        “Too bad, you’ve had your turn now shoo.”

        Sibylle watched the children run off and joined Hireath as they went from game to game, waiting for the rest of their friends to arrive. Neither was sure when it had turned into a competition to get the most tickets, but at some point, they’d found themselves racing around the arcade for games to beat the other at or were easy ways to get more tickets.

        An hour went by before they’d even realized Gail and Felis had been here, waiting at a table as the two ran around, only joining them to set down their jackets and some tickets before heading back to their competition. About 150 tickets later, Heinrich showed up with the cake and █████. The pair giggled as they walked past Hireath and Sibylle, gesturing for them to join them at the table with the rest of the guests.

        “How much do you wanna bet Mycena gives all those tickets to Cossy later?” Hireath muttered, taking a seat across from Sibylle.

        “If she does, that’s up to her but she’d be adorable for it no matter what.”

        A collective sigh came from the group, all but Heinrich, who sat chuckling at his daughter and her endless love for that girl.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Cossy sighed, squeezing his eyes shut as his best friend dragged him along. Mycena made him promise to keep his eyes closed until they got inside this place and as much as he thought it was kind of fun, he hated not knowing where they were going. Especially with all the chatter and noise the building she’s dragged him into was filled with.

        Following along, Mycena steered him through what he’d guess was a crowd, stopping at a quieter area that reeked of cheap pizza and… was that cake? It smelt like cake, but he couldn’t be sure.

        “Mycena, can I open my eyes yet?”

        “Hm… not yet! Just stay right where you are though, and I’ll tell you when!”

        Cossy sighed, listening to the soft chatter around him while he waited. Before Mycena had told him he could open his eyes, singing emerged from in front of him as he opened them to see the people he called home.

        “Happy birthday Cossy!”

        He was shocked, they’d done all this just for him? There was a delicious looking cake in front of him, all his friends around him, a questionably huge pile of prize tickets and even presents. He didn’t get it, why had they done all this?

        Before he could find himself crying, Felis pulled him back to reality, leading him to the seat next to him and placing a couple party hats on both their heads.

        “Alright, guest of honor, what do you wanna do first? Pizza? Cake? Games? Presents?” Felis smiled at him softly as he waited for a choice. Really, Cossy would be fine just sitting here with him and their friends, but if he had to choose..

        “Cake first, maybe no pizza it kinda smells like fake pizza in here and then presents?” Cossy mumbled, looking away from his boyfriend’s adorable smile before he ended up staring at it the entire time.

        Giggling emerged from Gail and Mycena, watching the two sneak glances at the other as Heinrich cut everyone a piece of cake. Whether they were scheming or just happy for their best friends, Cossy would never know. He didn’t have much time to think about it anyways since his slice of cake was slid in front of him and Felis had already started talking to him.

        “What did you and Mycena get up to today anyways?”

        “We went to visit Ileine, he wanted to spend some time with me today but um… I’m assuming that was part of everyone’s plan to keep this a surprise?”

        Felis chuckled, leaving Cossy in awe as he listened to him speak.

        “Surprisingly enough, no, that wasn’t part of the plan. Mycena just wanted to tag along in case Ileine almost told you or ended up keeping you all day, don’t worry about it.”

        Their conversation went on as they ate, one of the pair always leaving the other watching with a smile on their face. Felis told him about the adventure he and Gill ended up having, Hireath and Sibylle butting in to explain their Mossy and Creature fiasco that wasn’t really a fiasco, and Cossy telling his boyfriend all about he and Mycena’s time with Ileine earlier. He could do this all day, talk to Felis, that is. He was a great listener and talker on top of being so lovable.

        “Oh, um.. Do you wanna go ahead and open your presents real quick? We can keep talking after it’s just that I think you’re gonna really like all of them so,” Felis smiled, stacking all the plates together as he waited for an answer.

        “Oh! Right, yeah.. Um… which one do you all want me to start with?” Cossy muttered, a little overwhelmed, it looked like each of them had gotten him something. They didn’t have to do that, really.

        Noticing the look in her best friend’s eyes, Mycena hopped up from her place across from him and handed over one of the presents. Probably from Sibylle considering the scribbled words on the card, Cossy couldn’t quite make it out so he settled for grinning and nodding towards her before taking everything out of the gift bag.

        It was the jacket he had been looking at weeks ago.. Cossy had been wanting it but just didn't have any clothes that would make it look good. Before he could thank Sibylle, he noticed the other clothes in the bag, the exact ones Mycena had told him would go well with that jacket. It was weird, as far as he knew, Sibylle didn’t really care for him at all, why’d she go and get him a gift?

        “Don’t give me that look, just ‘cause I don’t show I care doesn’t mean I’m not getting you a birthday present, you can be all sappy about it later.” She waved him off, leaning back in her chair as she doodled in her sketchbook.

        Cossy and Mycena’s quiet laughter went unnoticed as Gail sheepishly handed over the big box for him. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that obvious this one was from Gail, he thought maybe it was from Hireath or maybe Mycena, she was usually a go big or go home kind of gifts person. Opening the box, Cossy was greeted with tons of cat themed baking utensils. They were adorable, and he couldn’t wait to use them, even if it was just to make treats for everyone here right now.

        “Thank you Gail, these are adorable.” The boy grinned, giving the heterochromic girl a huge hug as a thank you.

        “Any time, Cossy. I thought you’d find them cute plus Felis wasn’t there to argue over which ones were cuter!” She chuckled, gently smacking the top of Felis’s head as she spoke before returning to her seat beside him. Only for the pair to start bickering immediately.

        Mycena hopped back up from her seat, grabbing a taller box from the presents, placing it in front of Cossy. A Build-a-Bear box? There were a million things it could be and with how unpredictable Mycena was when it came to gifts, there was no telling what it was. Careful not to break the box, the taller one opened it, staring at the stuffed animal it held. That’s why Mycena was asking what his favorite eevee evolution was last week.

        The stuffed animal in the box was an umbreon, taking it out of its box, Cossy grinned, hugging it only for the sound box in it to go off. Laughter and shouts of “We love you Cossy!” brought him to tears, he didn’t expect this at all. When did she even get everyone to Build-a-Bear for this? The tears wouldn’t stop falling. He loved his friends so much and this was such a small gesture but it moved him so much.

        “Wh- Cossy, don’t cry..” Mycena’s voice softened as she hugged him. Cossy knew she didn’t mean to make him cry, and they weren’t sad tears anyways, it was just unexpected and he loved it so much.

        “No! No it’s fine Mycena, they’re happy tears. I just,” a sniffle interrupted him as he returned the hug. “It’s just that I didn’t expect it, any of this really. Thank you, I love it and I love you guys so much, you mean the world to me.”

        He barely noticed when Felis and Gail joined the hug, Hireath following behind them. She wasn’t one for hugs so she settled for just patting Cossy on the back, and that was fine by him. The tears only stopped when he’d ended up sneezing, causing everyone to back away as giggles emerged from their group.

        Cossy decided he’d pick the next present, a smaller box with a note from Heinrich on the tag. A thank you for being friends with Mycena and Sibylle, hanging out with █████, and a happy birthday wish from both him and the youngest of the people gathered around the table. Turning over the note, he noticed a sentence written on the back, scribbled down in glitter ink. “Your gift from me is my silence and general not here-ness during this party, you’re welcome. From, █████ Fischer.”

        Chuckling at the note, Cossy opened the box. It was nearly filled to the brim with cat toys and treats, all for his pet, Max. The cat had ended up either losing or wearing out all his previous toys and Cossy just never had the chance to get him new ones. Max was going to love these, and he couldn’t wait to show him all of it.

        “Thank you, Heinrich, Max is going to love these. And thank you █████ for your gift too.” Cossy smiled at them both, placing the box with the other opened gifts.

        Only two were left unopened. He didn’t know which to open first, the smaller present or the one clearly from Felis. Maybe he’d leave Felis’s for last, he wanted to save it, maybe just so he could spend the time watching his boyfriend’s smile. So, Cossy settled for opening the small gift first. A small leatherbound notebook with symbols etched into it and a note on the inside of the cover. Hireath’s handwriting was familiar to him, they’d shared class notes all the time and too often, Hireath would toss notes to Cossy in the middle of class. The only thing is, he couldn’t tell what this was for.

        “Hireath, what is this?” He examined the small notebook as he waited for her response.

        “You wanted me to teach you about all the witchy stuff I get up to, so that’s where we’re going to start. We can stop by Mycena’s shop this weekend and get some stuff,” She grinned at him. A smile was always rare from Hireath, and she rarely ever admitted they were friends.

        A grin broke out from Cossy’s confusion as he sat down the book to hug her. To everyone’s surprise she returned it. Before the moment could last any longer, Hireath shrugged him off and directed him towards the final present, Felis’s present. Really, Cossy didn’t need any gift from him, Felis being with him was a gift he would take over any others.

        Cossy was careful not to accidentally tear the bag like he had with any of the other gifts, he wanted to hold onto this one most of all. He noticed Felis watching him as he took each thing out of the bag, a bunch of embroidery patches, a small bag, a photo album, and a heavier than expected box. The patches were the letters of his name, Callisto, and a small star shaped one as well. What he’d put them on right now, he wasn’t sure. Before he opened the box, he turned and placed a kiss on Felis’s cheek, a preemptive thank you for the gifts. Leaving Felis to sit there staring at him, Cossy opened the box, staring down at the camera it held.

        “Oh, Felis, you didn’t.” He turned, hugging the man next to him.

        “I did, you kept stopping whenever we walked by so.. I got you the best camera I could find, even if Mycena paid for it.” Felis snickered, returning the hug and the kiss from only moments before.

        “The camera's all situated so you can use it whenever you want. I just wanted to get it situated in case you wanted to take pictures now?” The small smile on his face only melted Cossy’s heart.

        Before he could get lost in staring at Felis, Cossy turned on the camera and headed over to a spot where he could see the people he considers his family. Each of them were watching him, waiting to see what he was up to, only for Cossy to snap a picture as █████ ended up throwing a napkin at her sister’s face, in turn causing chaos across the group. Cossy wouldn’t have it any other way though, after all, this is why he loved them all so dearly. There was never a dull moment with them.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Sitting on his bed, Cossy had finally printed out the pictures from that party. Each one of the people he called family. The second picture he’d taken was of Mycena and Hireath arguing over some kind of flower, another of Felis and Gail scheming, Heinrich and █████ heading over to some games, and Sibylle sketching out someone, likely Mycena. That was around when Gail had ended up taking the camera from him. He didn’t really mind though, he wanted to sit with Felis for a bit. He loved him so much and the camera was such a perfect gift.

        Huh. He didn’t remember Gail taking this picture. It was of him and Felis staring into each other’s eyes. Cossy never realized how the way they looked at each other looked from the outside, but he loved it. If he had any doubts that Felis loved him just as much, this photo took all those away. Felis was looking at him like he was the only person in the world. And it felt a little selfish, but Cossy, quite frankly, wouldn’t have it any other way.

        The next photo was one of he and Mycena fiddling around with the Build-A-Bear’s accessories and Sibylle sitting next to them, playing with Mycena’s hair. Sibylle didn’t seem to like Cossy all that much but she tolerated him, for her. Anyone that would do that much for Mycena was good in his book. Especially considering she never intended to actually hurt his feelings.

        One of the last photos he’d printed out was another of Felis and himself, this time, the kiss they’d shared before everyone was getting ready to head home. Maybe he understood why Gail and Mycena were always giggling over the pair, they were pretty cute when they were like this. Cossy smiled at the photo, reaching for a pen as he flipped over the photo. Scribbling down on the back of the photo, Cossy smiled down at the note.

        “I love you, Felis.”

        The last photo taken, he didn’t even remember. He knew █████ was helping carry everything to Heinrich’s car, just not that she had taken a photo of everyone on the walk out. Mycena and Cossy were running ahead of everyone, laughing over something he couldn’t remember. Felis and Gail were following behind them with Hireath, each waving their hands around, likely arguing over something. A little closer to the camera, Heinrich and Sibylle were following behind everyone, as always, so clearly father and daughter.

        Cossy loved everyone in the photo so dearly. Mycena was the best friend he could ever ask for. Felis was in all honesty, the love of his life. Gail was an amazing friend, even if she wasn’t the brightest at day. Hireath was one of his first friends and that meant so much to him. Even Heinrich and Sibylle, despite not being close with either, loved them too. Heinrich was like a father to him, always looking out for Cossy when he was over and Sibylle, despite not really talking to him, cared about him because Mycena cared about him, and that was alright with him. Every single one of them, Cossy loved them so dearly and wouldn’t know where he would be as a person without them.