@samsa, text

[anthropophagite]

This might be a silly question. But how do you suppose we should be counting our birthdays here?

I technically should be 19 now, I think.
But if it's Halloween, I'm still a bit away from my birthday, too.

Should I be 18 or 19?

Comments

[anthropophagite]

[ what is he meant to do with cake, Daniel ): ]

Do you bake, Daniel-san?

[miyagimagic]

Sure. I made birthday cakes all the time for my kids back home.

You could say I'm practically a professional.

[anthropophagite]

[ he is suck a dad!! ]

Although in this place, birthday cakes would pop out of nowhere if you thought about them.

[miyagimagic]

You mean in the restaurants?

Those don't count. You don't know how those are made. [ Granted, it's not like Daniel is going to fully stop kids from going to the restaurants, since most of them can't cook for themselves..

But he still doesn't trust those places. If he could cook for every single kid in this place, he would, alright. ]

And there's certainly no birthday magic in them.

[ Daniel, Kaneki is-- He's probably a little too old for this kind of talk, sir-- ]

[anthropophagite]

[ do they know what anything is made, though? Kaneki has no idea where they are getting his food, either. He doesn't want to ask. ]

There is birthday magic, now? [ he is teasing ]

[miyagimagic]

[ Daniel figures that the boy is probably teasing, or just going along with it to humor him, given Kaneki's age, but.. well, it's still a fun concept, so of course Ultimate Dad Daniel is going to push it a little. ]

Of course.

You've never heard about the birthday magic? I'm the first person to tell you?

[anthropophagite]

[ it's a good way to move away from the main topic which is cakes and food that kaneki can not have. ]

And wishes when candles are blown?

[miyagimagic]

Yeah!

That's the most important part of a birthday, isn't it? My kids always loved it!

[ ... ]

Or, well, Sam did, at least. Anthony mostly only when he was much younger. [ Dangit, Anthony. Not going along with your sappy dad's birthday celebrations.. ]

[anthropophagite]

Anthony grew up and became too cool for birthdays and wishes?

[miyagimagic]

He hardly grew up! He's still way younger than you.

I still loved birthday cakes and blowing out the candles even when I was seventeen, so I'm not sure what's wrong with him.

[anthropophagite]

Children go through phases, right? Perhaps it's just one of those.

[miyagimagic]

[ .. okay, reading that kind of amuses him.

(It also helps him think a little bit more in general and a little bit less of Anthony specifically, because thinking about his kids back home for too long still hurts - for an entire variety of reasons.) ]

Aren't you a little bit young to say that?

[anthropophagite]

I'm not that young. I'm 18.

[miyagimagic]

That's exactly the kind of thing I said when I was 18.

I was very young.

[ But Daniel knows that sort of thing takes perspective.. Really, you've got to be quite a bit older before you realise just how young you actually were at 18. ]

Besides, you don't want to sound like an old man to all your friends, right?

[anthropophagite]

I was already told I sound like an old man at times. I don't particularly mind.

[miyagimagic]

You've got to be the very first kid I've ever met who says they don't care about that sort of thing.

[ Most kids want to be hip to their peers, right.. They wish to be the cool type..

(It's been so long since Daniel was a kid, what does he even know.) ]

Just make sure you're still actually enjoying your youth, or you'll really turn into an old man.

[anthropophagite]

[ kaneki is totally not the cool type ]

I am. I do plenty of young things.
I go to the movies and university.

[miyagimagic]

[ Is-- Is university really a cool thing, though. Daniel probably can't judge, being middle-aged and also never having enjoyed higher education, but he feels like it's probably not the coolest thing among young people..

... ]

Well, I guess it's all fine as long as you're happy with who you are.

[ Nailed it. Great parental advice. ]

And as long as you're not getting bullied.

[anthropophagite]

[ there is a long pause ]

I'm no longer eight. Such a thing doesn't happen. [ not anymore. When he was younger, perhaps ]

[miyagimagic]

You think you have to be that young to get bullied?

[ Kaneki, are you shaming those among us who got bullied in high school. At seventeen.

Like Daniel. ]

[anthropophagite]

That's not what I meant.
I meant that I'm okay. I don't get bullied.