Work Text:
To Buster Moon, the first day of July was just like any other day. He would wake up like it was any other day; wear his over-the-top suit like it was any other day; and he would cue "The Crazy Old Lizard" and receive his almost always empty cup of tea from his assistant, iguana Miss Crawly. Unless Miss Crawly reminded him it was his birthday and baked him a small cake - something she ended up doing every year, the koala rarely remembered his birthday. And if he did, he did little about it.
As you would expect, this year was no different. Buster, now brushing his teeth, only knew that today was the end of June and the beginning of July. He brushed in circles - in an anticlockwise motion for four minutes flat, to be precise. He spat the toothpaste into the sink and flashed himself a wide, toothy and perfectly clean grin in the mirror above the sink. It was his typical showman smile everyone was so familiar with, that included himself. Smiling was a good habit of the koala: it always put him in a good mood.
But he had little time to smile to himself. If he had timed it just right, he should be open to cue the Crazy Old Lizard he so dearly loved.
"And cue the crazy old lizard," Buster said, climbing down the ladder that connected his office to his bedroom at the very top floor of the New Moon Theatre. Just then, Miss Crawly opened the door to Buster's messy office, briefly looked around the bombsite of an office and walked in with a cup of coffee in hand.
"Good morning, Mr. Moon," said Miss Crawly, a little more enthusiastic than usual, but Buster was a little too busy organising some scripts to notice that.
"Good morning, Miss Crawly." He replied as happily as he normally would every day while flipping through papers. He shuffled them in their correct page order. Miss Crawly could definitely see he had forgotten yet again. However, she decided not to tell him now. She eventually would later.
"I made some coffee for you, Mr. Moon." the iguana waddled up to him with the cup of coffee, one of Buster's favourite things to drink in the morning just to keep him going. Buster took it and checked if it was full, and it really did have coffee in it.
Wait, it did? Well, that was a change.
"Thank you, Miss Crawly." Buster beamed at his assistant, who smiled back and waddled away. He took a sip of the coffee and was pleasantly surprised. He found it strange that he enjoyed others' coffee more than his own, but that was Buster.
Miss Crawly turned around to say something before she left. "And Porsha and the others will be here in ten minutes, Mr. Moon."
"Ah, yes." Buster breathed. "I love our little family, don't you, Miss Crawly?"
"I do, Mr. Moon." Miss Crawly said with a small nod and thoughtful smile. "Wouldn't want to be anywhere else, would you?" she briefly looked up at the picture frame hung on the wall above the cabinets (and Buster's lucky bucket). The picture was taken after Out Of This World, with everyone donning their spectacular costumes for the show, along with big grins at the camera.
"I wouldn't, Miss Crawly. I wouldn't give the family up for anything." Buster flipped through a huge folder, making sure nothing was out of place. He needed to do this a lot more often.
And it was true. Not the bit about organising folders more often, but the part about the theatre family. Since their most recent show in Redshore less than a month ago, the troupe had expanded again, with the addition of the famous rock musician, Clay Calloway (who was leaving for Redshore in a week); a confident breakdancing lynx, Nooshy; and a sweet but dramatic diva-like wolf, Porsha.
He had taken Porsha in ever since her dad had been sent to prison for attempted murder. Porsha lived in the theatre now. She had her own room she and Buster had decorated together and everything. He loved Porsha a lot. He was like his daughter.
Speaking of Porsha…
"Boo!" exclaimed a voice frrom behind Buster, making him jump and yelp in surprise. He spun his office chair around , heavily shaking from fear. When he realised it was only Porsha, he was relieved and just a tiny bit annoyed.
"Porsha, you scared me there." he said in alarm, slightly whimpering with his ears pulled back.
It wasn't the first time Buster had been jumpscared. It would happen sometimes when Gunter suddenly played loud music, or when Buster spotted a flash of Clay's mane - which was the colour of Jimmy's fur to a T. Buster just didn't say anything because he didn't want to make the others feel like they were responsible.
They weren't.
"Sorry, Buster," Porsha apologised, a twinge of guilt punching her in the gut. She noticed his reaction and felt awful for making him scared. She hadn't meant to do that. "I didn't mean to-"
"Oh, it's okay!" said Buster assuringly. "That was just unexpected, is all."
"O...kay," Porsha went along with his words even if she wasn't one hundred per cent sure of his answer, judging the fact that he looked calm but still sounded scared. "Did ya sleep well? I slept like a log."
Buster sipped on his coffee. "Good. I slept very good."
If you were Porsha, surely you would have believed him and nodded along, like she had.
Well, Buster was lying. He had spent ages tossing and turning in his bed, his brain refusing to shut off. He had only slept for five hours at two in the morning. But the koala had a lot of energy, a good cover-up for the fatigue.
But seriously, could you blame the guy after nearly being thrown off a roof to die twice? He's bound to have nightmares and night terrors. Of course he wouldn't want to get the others worried.
Least of all Porsha, who's dad had tried to end his life.
Just then, Miss Crawly came back, peeping her head out from the doorframe. "Have you forgotten what day it is, Mr. Moon?"
"Have I…" Buster paused to think about what day it was. Ah! Of course, how could he forget?
"Of course I haven't. Today is Nana-Noodleman-comes-back-from-Germany day!"
And with that, the little koala jumped off his seat and out of the door right past Miss Crawly. The lizard shook her head with a small smile. Buster truly was forgetting what day it was.
"Oh, is it his birthday?" Porsha asked Miss Crawly, finally connecting all the dots. She had made sure Buster was gone bfore she spoke because he obviously didn't remember.
"He never remembers, Porsha." said Miss Crawly.
"Oh, we have to do something for him then. Think of it as a surprise party!" Porsha punched the air in excitement.
"Hmm," Miss Crawly hummed thoughtfully. "Yes, that is a good idea. shall we fill the others in on a plan?"
"Good idea, ma'am."
Buster was outside the theatre. He turned around to greet the squid—in the tanks on the theatre—with a wave directed above. Most of them returned the gesture with their tentacles.
Buster loved it when his day started like this. Really though, that was every day. He had become good friends with the glowsquid outside (who he had previously stolen from a restaurant to get them to perform for Nana Noodleman) and even a few animals down the block.
Buster bought a sandwich at the cafe that happened to be one of the two buildings which stuck to either side of the theatre like superglue. Now, he hadn't bought anything from this place before, but like he loved to say: change is constant. And it had proven a good idea to buy that sandwich, because it was the best thing he had ever put in his mouth. And for three dollars too.
However, he wasn't outside just to get sandwiches.
Buster mounted his little bicycle right outside the theatre and cycled all the way to his best man in the universe.
"Eddie!" Buster exclaimed happily when the sheep opened the poolhouse door that Buster had knocked on. Eddie looked down and smiled to see his best friend.
"Hey Buster," said Eddie, opening the door wider. His face suddenly turned skeptical. "Youre not in any trouble, are you?"
Buster had told Eddie every little detail that went on in Redshore. Needless to say, Eddie had flipped. He had vowed to himself to never let the koala out of his sight again.
"Not at all," Buster replied, shaking his head. He even beamed at Eddie's unsure face. "You were gonna come out of there, right? You know, greet Nana and all?"
Eddie's eyes showed a lot of surprise. "That's today?" He groaned at the mention of his grandmother.
"When did you think it was?" asked Buster with a laugh.
"In about a decade or something? I'm not prepared for this!" Eddie groaned once more.
"You dont need to be."
"You're right." Eddie said, lightening up. "Well be fine. You'll be fine! Besides, I'm none other than her useless grandson!"
"You actually like that that title?"
"Who doesn't?"
Buster and Eddie happened to meet Johnny and Nooshy (who was crashing at Johnny's garage until she found a good job with accommodation) on the way back to the theatre. The four of them talked about all sorts of jokes and pranks. Nooshy even storytold all the times she had pranked her maths teacher in middle school, erupting several fits of laughter. When the four reached the theatre, they found the rest of the troupe and Nana already there. As usual, Nana was in her glamorous attire, her white limousine parked next to Hobbs the penguin—and Noodleman's assistant. She had a folding fan in her hand and the slightest smile when she saw Buster.
Buster greeted the troupe (he got a big hug from Rosita) and Nana Noodleman.
"Well, if it isn't my useless grandson and Buster Moon, who still hasn't killed himself yet...impressively." she said, waving her fan around her face. Buster nervously laughed in response.
"How are you, Nana?" he asked the old black sheep. "You still don't look a day over—"
"Oh, poppycock. I'm only eighty-seven. Of course I'm not over ninety," Nana said with an eyeroll. "You better not be planning another trip to that monstrosity Redshore City."
Yes, Nana had also heard about Buster's near-death experience. By now, the whole town had heard about it. It was the talk of the town, and it would be until they found something better to ramble about.
Oh, and don't ask for Nana's reaction.
"You are the most immature koala in Calatonia. I dont even know how you're alive, but I'm glad you are."
Those were the exact words Nana had said right after giving Buster the lecture of his life, before throwing him out of her mansion...
"No, of course not, Nana." Buster assured, then added a little bit quieter, "Wouldn't want to wind up in such a situation again."
"Good." Nana could be very haunting sometimes.
"Nana?" Gunter said. "What did you even do in Germany?"
"I did a final performance. I'm far too old to be singing again, but I wanted to try just one last time for the fun in it." Nana replied, still fanning herself as if it were the hottest July in history.
Buster internally had his jaw dropped to the floor in shock. Did Nana Noodleman just say the word ‘fun’?
In public?
Well, that was a change.
"Oh, yes." Rosita hummed happily. "Who doesn't love a last song before retirement?"
"I heard Elephanto John just retired." Johnny informed. "I watched his last concert."
"I thought that guy was dead." Nooshy quirked an eyebrow in confusion.
Clay laughed as if Nooshy had said the funniest thing in the world. "Far from it, Nooshy. The guy's been out and about like he's a kid again."
"Elephanta whatever aside," Gunter interrupted. "Did you see za Great Wall of Berlin? My family'z houze is like two seconds away from there, ja!"
"Do you mean the treehouse at the side of the entrance full of German pigs?" Nana queried. "They threw me inside and gave me a roasted bucket of sausages, each of which they claimed had a different taste."
"Oh yes, that's them, ja!" Gunter said. "They sell sausages. I have seven piglet siblings and I live with my grandparents. They sent me off to live the American dream!"
Well, at least now everyone knew something about Gunter.
Buster could imagine the scene of elderly pigs smothering Nana with hugs, kisses and German sausages, and stifled a chuckle.
Hobbs waddled to Nana's side, holding a very large neatly decorated white parcel with a golden ribbon immaculately tied around it. The whole thing was on a sparkling crimson cushion, as if it cost a million dollars.
It probably did.
Nana took the gift of Hobbs's hands and knelt down to give it to Buster with an actual smile. "I thought I'd stop by and give this to you, Mr. Moon."
Buster received it with a happy grin, just barely carrying it from all its weight. He had never received a gift from Nana (besides rebuilding the theatre. That was one of the biggest gift of his life) "Thank you, Nana!" Buster grunted with effort. "Um, what's in it?"
"You'll find out soon enough," she waved her fan around even harder. How was she doing this? Her hand looked like a fidget spinner of some sort. "Now, I must go, I have a lot of business to attend to."
And with that, she got into her white limousine, whisked Hobbs into the driver's seat, and drove off at wedding-march pace. Some of the troupe members waved as Nana left, and she actually noticed and stuck a hand out of the window to wave back.
She actually did!
"You need help there, Buster?" Johnny asked, gesturing to the half-struggling koala trying to keep the box in his hands with all his might.
"No thank you, Johnny." Buster refused, flashing him a wide smile before walking back inside the theatre, probably to drop the gift in his office. "Let's get started with rehearsals now, shall we?"
"So we don't do rehearsals today, we plan his birthday party while we cover up for each other!" Porsha finished. She had been telling the rest of the troupe the plan backstage whilst Buster was in his office, doing who knows what.
"I don't know, Porsha. It could be risky. What if he finds out?" Ash asked.
"How will he?" Miss Crawly countered.
"Buying decorations? Cake? Suddenly walking into the room mid-preperation?!" She counted the reasons off her fingers.
"I have all the decorations." Porsha said, picking up a huge box from behind Miss Crawly. Bulging out of it were all sorts of party decorations imaginable. "There's a kitchen upstairs where we can lock the door while making cake. Buster will never find out. And that's why it's Gunter's job to distract Buster."
"It is?" Gunter question excitedly.
"Yes."
"Best day eva!" He exclaimed, punching a fist upwards into the air.
"Buster could hear you! Keep it down." Porsha whispered.
"Right." Gunter lowered his voice.
"Okay, without further ado, since we've mentioned everyone's roles way back, let's begin, shall we?" Porsha said, bubbling with happiness.
"And like Buster always says," Rosita motioned for the others to join in the motto.
"There's only one way left to go, and that's up!"
Buster finally set the box on his desk, heavily panting with slightly disheveled fur. Curious to know what was inside, he gingerly pulled the ribbon off the box and opened the flaps. Inside was a beautiful cream carpet rolled up absolutely perfectly. Buster smiled to himself. He absolutely loved it. He decided he would put it outside the office door later, as a symbol of joy and welcoming for whoever stepped foot in the office.
Buster also saw a note. He picked it up and read the following:
This is for the theatre. You've done so well, Mr. Moon. I'm glad I saw you get this far. I have no regrets buying that theatre.
You are a legend.
—Nana Noodleman
Accomplished couldn't even begin to describe Buster's feelings. Nana really did like him. He felt so amazing.
He really had done it all. Impressing Nana, finding a found family and even putting on great shows.
He wouldn't want to live as anyone else.
"Nooshy, I can't actually make the disco ball spin off the ceiling and fly above the stage. I was exaggerating!" Eddie explained. He seemed to have gotten Nooshy in a bit of confusion.
"You're just not doing it correctly. Let me come and do it!" Nooshy lunged over and fiddled with almost all the buttons on the control panel before Eddie could react.
"Hey, stop. You'll—whoa!"
The two looked up to see that the lights were actually flying above them. Well, not really, but it was a great illusion that made the light from the disco ball look like colourful bubbles drifting away waiting to be popped. It was beautiful.
"You," Eddie pointed at Nooshy. "Need to give me randomness lessons!"
"I know, right?" Nooshy grinned proudly.
In the kitchen upstairs, Miss Crawly, Johnny, Meena and Rosita were making cake. All four of them had themselves covered in flour. Johnny could be very messy.
"Johnny, could you please blend the frosting in the blender?" Meena asked, whisking a load of eggs and wearing a chef's hat she had insisted on putting on. Meena came from a family of bakers, so you could consider her a gourmet chef.
"Oh, sure, mate." Johnny pressed the blender button just as Rosita turned her head away from the cake batter she was stirring, and her eyes widened.
"Johnny, no. That blender doesn't have a lid on!" She cried. But it was too late.
Vrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
Soon, all four of them found themselves covered in pink cake frosting from head to toe. Johnny in particular had the most frosting on him. Meena picked a bit off her sweater and tasted it off her hoof.
"Not bad, Johnny. It tastes of chocolate. I'm sure Buster would have loved it."
There was a little interval of silence, and then the four burst into uncontrollable laughter. It was funny and very stupid at the same time, all of them covered in cake batter like pink zombies.
"Let's...make more...icing then?" Rosita suggested in between giggles.
"Of course." Miss Crawly said. "Right after I look for my glass eye, the darn thing."
Even. More. Laughter.
Meanwhile, Gunter burst into Buster's office with not one, not two, but ten
"Let's go, piggy power, ja!" He exclaimed and began dancing to TikTok by Kesha.
"No, no, no, no, Gunter, what are you doing?!" Buster exclaimed, freaking out at the piglets knocking everything of Buster's desk. He was horrified.
"Sorry, Buster. But this is necessary!" Gunter continued dancing like he didn't mean his apology. He did, but he was just too hyped.
"For what?"
"You'll find out soon enough!"
"Rosita, can you please come get Caspar to stop chewing my laptop? Please?!" Buster yelled in desperation.
Porsha, Ash and Clay were all busy on the decorations and song selection. You couldn't have a party without decorations, right?
"Hey, can someone help me out here?" Porsha said.
Clay and Ash turned to Porsha, who had somehow got herself entangled by fairy lights. She smiled sheepishly.
"What are you doing? You were meant to tie the lights to the curtains, not yourself..." Ash facepalmed.
Clay rolled onto the floor, doubled over at Porsha's state. Ash and Porsha watched helplessly at the lion, who was practically crying from laughing so much.
And soon, the wolf and porcupine were also doubled over laughing. Suppose Clay dying from laughter was a funny sight.
It took them a few minutes to compose themselves, before Ash and Clay finally got Porsha out of her trap.
"Okay, can we do the actual decorating now?" Ash asked, passing the string of fairy lights to Clay.
"We can, Ash." Porsha replied with a small laugh.
So, a couple of hours after Buster had composed his office again, he was lying there breathless on the floor from all the cleaning and work he had to do.
He could NOT believe what Gunter had done. They had even all left before Buster could ask what it was all for.
Then he realised...shouldn't everyone be at rehearsals now? What were the piglets doing at the theatre?
Buster got off the floor and made his way to the stage.
Absolute silence. No instruments, no singing, no dancing. And not even any light!
"Guys?" He called out, only to receive no answer.
"Guys?" He called out again. Nothing.
Before he could call a third time, the lights suddenly shut on, revealing the huge decorated stage. Ribbons, fairy lights, a hecking disco ball...you name it, it was there. Buster looked around in awe and slight confusion as to where everyone was.
Then, the music played, and the large moon prop lowered, featuring Ash on it with a microphone in hand. Then she began to sing.
You know it doesn't make much sense
There ought to be a law against
Anyone who takes offense
At a day in your celebration
'Cause we all know in our minds
That there ought to be a time
That we can set aside
To show just how much we love you
Buster had no idea what was going on, but he loved the music. He was surprised when Johnny and Porsha jumped in from backstage and sang the next line.
And I'm sure you would agree
Then he saw Clay, Meena, Rosita and Gunter also join in. What the heck was happening?
What could fit more perfectly
Even Nooshy, Eddie and Miss Crawly joined in on the next line, and...were those all of Rosita's piglets?!
Than to have a world party on the day you came to be
By the time the chorus had come, it had dawned on him. It was his birthday!
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday
The music faded away, and everybody yelled a huge, "Happy Birthday!"
Buster watched with his jaw wide open, and then a small tear formed in his eye. "It's my birthday..." He said. "How could I forget?"
"Who would ever forget something as great as this, Uncle Buster?" Caspar exclaimed, gesturing around the theatre.
"I..." Buster couldn't even form words. Everything was so...wonderful. He had never even had a birthday party before. His dad had just never had the money, and he was always fine with even just a birthday wish. But all this? "...this is beautiful, guys. It's amazing. I love it. Thank you so much. You didn't have to..."
Before he could finish, the piglets rushed to him, squealing, "Uncle Buster!" They enveloped him in a huge hug, and he could only smile and laugh in response, his feelings all over the place.
And soon, the troupe were in a large, messy group hug. Everyone at least had a hand on Buster, who was beaming with glee.
Finally, Gunter let go. "Let's go cut the cake! And plus, we have presents!" He said.
"Who's up for an acapella?" Meena offered.
Everyone clapped their paws, hoofs and claws together to the beat, singing as they made their way to the cake. It was a three-tiered cake, with multi-coloured squares on each tier. It looked just like a rubix cube! And at the very top, there was a small model of the theatre. Now, it wasn't perfect, but that was what made it real. Buster loved it so much he nearly burst into tears.
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday
And right there and then, singing along with everyone else at the top of his lungs, Buster knew he had family. He had a great one, a weird and ginormous one, but an amazing one he never wanted to let go of.
This, the first day of July, was officially the best day of his life. And not because of the party.
It was because of how many people he loved was there to celebrate his birthday with him!