[center][h1][b][color=#ed0000]Bryant O’Connor[/color][/b][/h1]
[hr]
[hr]

Connor looked down at his phone as it buzzed with a text, then checked his watch. 10:15, there was no reason for someone to bother him, at least not right then. He hopped up from his computer desk, and threw on one of his collared shirts, and a pair of jeans, wondering who was texting him and trying to remember if he had any obligations that day. Frowning, he picked up the phone and his eyes grew wide as he read the text from Natalya. “[color=#ed0000][b]Oh, fuck me runnin- Wait! I got her presents a few weeks ago. That’s that genius mind coming into play, I guess…[/b][/color]” Smiling slyly to himself, Connor left his room and reached hit a button on his phone, turning on the surround sound he’d long ago had added to the apartment. Slowly, he moved his head to the music as it filled the rooms, “[color=#ed0000][b]Hail mary,[/b][/color]” he muttered along to the lyrics, walking over to the sign he had hung on the wall that boldly declared “Days Since Last Incident.” Happily, the man reached up and rubbed the 5 out of 995, and changed it into a six.

The sign was an indication of the last time he’d had to speak with his parents, or family in general. He was very happy to be so close to day 1000, but he had decided that he’d save the celebration for the moment he got to add a fourth digit. Smiling to himself, he wondered if he’d be able to convince Sam to bake him a celebratory cake when the day came. ...After a few moments of consideration, he decided that probably. He probably could. Sliding his finger around on his phone, he typed out a message to Nat:

[b]To: Natty

[color=#ed0000]What?! Me?! Forget your birthday and prepurchase your expensive birthday gifts weeks ago to avoid this very issue!? Never. ;) See ya soon, bud. Give Tas my love and a wink.[/color][/b]

Dragging himself over to the hall closet, Connor opened it and moved a few things around, eventually coming to his target: a large paper bag that contained three presents, wrapped in incredibly tacky wrapping paper, with pictures of puppies and kittens on it and one envelope. The envelope had a birthday card that he’d thought was positively [i]hilarious[/i], and 3 twenty dollar bills, and two quarters, one New York and one California. The boxes contained: what he considered the essential kung fu movies: The Protector, Enter the Dragon, The One, Hero, and the Forbidden Kingdom, a boxed set of IMDB’s top romance films, and an expensive, high quality scrapbook.

It was an oddly sentimental, expensive gift set, but Connor thought that with their past relationship, it was fitting. He’d explained to Dom that he and Natalya had known each other when they were younger, but had never really given details other than that they were friends. Putting the presents to the side, he punched in another text on his phone, this time to Tas:

[b]To: Dr. Chill

[color=#ed0000]Hey, baby. Is the Dominator there? Should I do a present drop and run? I still gotta do my morning workout… I don’t wanna miss it. I’m bad at situations like this. Guess I [i]could[/i] do it a little later and make a breakfast appearance. What’s my play?[/color][/b]

Sighing, he pulled on his expensive shoes, already knowing what the play was. Without waiting for an answer, he began to stroll toward the Mighty Bean, bag of presents in hand. Though he knew his phone would buzz soon, probably with responses from both girls, he felt he already knew what he had to do: spend the entire day celebrating his friends birthday.[/center]