Happy Bert-day!

Bert had no concept of time. She had only recently begun to understand that her name was now 'Bert', and she did not give much thought to the rising and setting of the sun as she traveled on her big red perch's shoulder.

She had spent most of the day watching as he and his family—a demon and a starwolf—walked through another ghost town to look for something called a 'carnival'. The big red one stomped happily through the town's ruins without tiring, but after a while, the demon began to lean more and more heavily onto his cane, and after some arguing, the starwolf finally convinced him to take a break.

Now, the three of them were all sitting around a small campfire, and Bert had abandoned her spot on the big red's shoulder to try to make a nest out of the demon's curls.

"Stop that!" He shrieked and swatted at her with his hands.

"Bert likes you," said the big red.

"Well, the feeling is not mutual! Get him off me!"

The starwolf took a step forward, baring her teeth, and Bert hurriedly fluttered back to her big shiny perch.

"There," said the starwolf. "Is that better?"

The demon huffed.

"You don't have to be afraid of Bert, Polly! He just wants to be your friend!"

"I'm not afraid," the demon spluttered. "I-I—How long do I have to keep traveling with this annoying little creature?"

"Bert has been with us for almost a year, Apollyon," said the starwolf. "I think you will have to get used to him eventually."

The demon shuddered and put his face in his hands.

"One year?" The voice of the big red rumbled from below Bert. "Then it will be Bert's birthday soon!"

The starwolf chuckled. "In a way, yes."

Suddenly, her perch jumped up and bounded over to his companions. "We need to have a party!"

The demon stared at him. "A... party?"

The big red nodded, his skull bobbing excitedly in its dome. "A birthday party!"

"A birthday for Bert," the starwolf muttered. "So, a Bert-day?"

Her perch let out a happy little noise, and Bert had to hold onto him as he rocked back and forth in excitement.

The demon groaned. "Yaretzi, why?"

But the two others weren't listening to him anymore as they began to plan Bert's very first birthday party.

***

"Hold still, Bert!" the big red called when Bert fluttered her wings. "You need to put on your party hat!"

The "party hat", Bert observed, looked more like a mushroom cap than anything else. She quickly jumped away when he tried to put it on her again.

"Bert!" The red perch groaned unhappily. "It's not a real party if you don't wear your party hat."

Bert didn't care much for parties—with or without party hats—but something about the big red's voice made her pause. She hopped towards him again, tilting her head in confusion. He sounded... sad?

"Do you miss your friends? All the other seagulls?" the big red asked suddenly. "Polly and Yaretzi are my best friends, but after Polly woke me, I really missed my fish sometimes."

He sighed. "I know I'm your friend, but that's not the same. I thought if we had a birthday party for you, you wouldn't miss the other birds so much."

Bert nudged her perch's big hand with her beak, and he looked down at her in confusion. "Bert?"

She dragged the little hat over to him with some effort and gave him a pointed look. His eyes lit up, glowing the same green as hers, and he placed the hat on her head, far gentler than one would expect from a creature his size. It fit her perfectly.

Bert flew to sit on his shoulder again, and Mort beamed. "Thank you for being my friend, Bert."

***

Looking unexpectedly pleased with herself, the starwolf stalked into their little clearing and, after she had changed back to her more human-like form, dropped a little leaf-wrapped bundle in front of Bert.

"An early birthday present for you."

Bert tilted her head curiously, then tore the leaf open with her beak—

She squawked in delight and almost dove headfirst into the big fish the starwolf had brought her, before stopping herself to give the starwolf a questioning look.

The starwolf chuckled. "Go ahead. I caught it for you."

Not needing to be told twice, Bert began to dig into the fish, savoring every bite. It was full of black water, of course, but so was she, and it tasted delicious.

"Did you think I would not notice that you do not catch fish anymore?" the starwolf asked softly. Bert looked up at her in surprise. "You do not want to harm Mort's little friends." It was a statement, not a question.

Bert thought about her big perch—how his glowing green eyes would light up whenever he spotted a swarm of colorful fish in the river, how he would sit by the water for hours just to watch them.

"You are hungry, like me," the starwolf continued. "I used to be a hunter, too. But you do not want to go back to your colony, and I do not want to eat my demon's heart. So we must adapt to this new life—even if it is not always easy."

The starwolf changed back into her wolf form and turned around three times before lying down and closing her eyes. "Do not tell Mort about this."

Bert squawked in agreement before continuing her feast.

***

Bert flew down from the tree she had been hiding in, and the demon yelped at her sudden appearance. She settled on a nearby branch and looked over his shoulder curiously.

"Hey!" He protested, trying to hide whatever he was working on from her view. "This is none of your—Ugh, why do I even bother. It's not like you can understand a single word I say."

He continued to arrange the twigs and moss in front of him, muttering softly to himself. Bert tilted hear head in surprise. The thing he was building almost looked like... a nest? Curiously, she flew towards it.

"No, no, get away!" The demon shrieked. "This isn't finished yet!"

Bert squawked disappointedly.

The demon sighed. "Oh, don't give me that look. This is supposed to be your birthday gift, you have to wait until tomorrow."

He went to pick up some colorful leaves and flowers for decoration, and when he wasn't looking, Bert tried to sit in the cozy-looking nest again.

"Listen to me, you feathery little menace. You and I both know that I do not like birds in the slightest." The demon sighed. "But for some reason, this birthday party is very important to Mort. You are important to Mort. So we are going to pull ourselves together and get along. For Mort. Please?"

Bert stared at him, unblinking.

The demon looked back towards the big red and the starwolf. "I don't know how much time with them I have left. The Industry might come after me any day now, and... I just want to have a nice day with my family."

Bert tried once again to fly towards the nest that was still sitting in the demon's lap. He flinched slightly, but didn't stop her this time.

After a moment, he cautiously reached out to stroke Bert's feathers. "Look after them for me when I'm gone, alright?"

Bert squawked softly and fell asleep.

***

Bert woke up to the sound of whispering. She blinked open her eyes and found herself still in her new nest, with a small blanket that looked suspiciously like the demon's floral suit draped over her.

"Look, he's awake!" The big red called as soon as he realized that she had woken up. "Happy birthday, Bert!"

"I'm glad to see you like your new nest," the demon said, a small smile on his face.

"Yaretzi said she couldn't find a gift for you." The big red sighed sadly, and the starwolf winked at her. "But she had a better idea!" He placed a small piece of paper in front of her. "We made you a birthday card!"

"It's a picture of you," the starwolf explained softly.

"And Polly and Yaretzi and I all wrote Happy Birthday on it, see! Because it's your birthday!"

Bert had no concept of time. This day in particular was no more special to her than the one that came before, or the one that would follow. But as she watched the big red and his family laugh and celebrate together, she thought she could get used to having a birthday.