The Green Tipped Bananas’ usual soloque block was set to begin in an hour, but Titan’s attention was focused on something else. A notification had popped up in their team Discord earlier that morning.

  Nior: “I’ll be on for solo queue later. No scrims, right?”

  Titan had replied casually at the time, but BladeSong had been the first to notice the small calendar icon next to Nior’s name in Discord.

  “It’s their birthday,” BladeSong had whispered into their private team chat. “They didn’t even mention it.”

  Balls had chimed in. “Typical Nior. They'll probably just play ranked all day like it’s any other Tuesday.”

  Titan leaned back in his chair, a grin spreading across his face. “We’ll make sure it’s not just another Tuesday.”

  When practice time rolled around, the team hopped into their usual Discord call.

  “Alright, let’s hit solo queue,” Titan said, his voice steady but with a hint of excitement he worked hard to suppress. “We’ve got a grind ahead of us.”

  He was cut off by a ping in Discord. A message from BladeSong.

  BladeSong: “Turn on your camera for a sec.”

  Nior’s reply was immediate: "No."

  BladeSong groaned. “C’mon, it’s your birthday. We’re just trying to say hi. Do you even exist outside this game?”

  Nior’s response was predictable and blunt. "You know I don’t."

  “Fine,” Titan said, cutting in smoothly. “Then let us say happy birthday like we do exist. We’re taking a break from solo queue for a bit.”

  There was a moment of silence. Then Nior typed: "...Why?"

  “Check your Discord DMs,” Hai said, laughing.

  Ten minutes later, the team was piled into a virtual karaoke session, something Titan had set up on a whim. To his surprise, the others went all in. Balls was belting out an off-key rendition of a pop song, while BladeSong added dramatic flair, waving his arms in front of his webcam. Even Hai, who was usually less interested in anything beyond the game, chimed in with a monotone version of a meme song.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "This is ridiculous", Nior typed, but her presence in the call didn’t waver.

  “Nior,” Titan said, his tone mock-serious. “We’re not stopping until you pick a song.”

  Her reply came after a long pause: "No."

  “Then at least let us do something for you,” BladeSong said. “We’ve got a surprise. Titan, you got it?”

  Titan grinned and shared his screen, revealing a custom graphic: a stylized team logo with Nior’s name and a banner that read, “The Backbone of GTB - Happy Birthday, Nior!” Below it was a message from the entire team.

  “Nior,” Titan began, reading it aloud, “we don’t know much about you, and honestly, that’s part of your charm. But what we do know is that you’re one of the most dependable players we’ve ever teamed with. You never tilt, you always focus, and your plays have saved us more times than we can count. Today, we just want to say thanks—and happy birthday.”

  The call fell quiet for a moment before Nior’s voice finally came through, soft but clear. “Thank you.”

  BladeSong gasped. “Wait. Was that—?”

  "Shut up", Nior typed, once again muted in the chat.

  The celebration continued with a casual ARAM game, something they hadn’t done in ages. For once, they weren’t analyzing strategies or trying to improve. They were just a group of friends having fun.

  Midway through the match, BladeSong suddenly spoke up. “Hey, Nior. Can I ask something?”

  A pause. Then, Nior typed in chat: "What?"

  “How old are you?”

  The question hung in the air for a moment, and the rest of the team waited. Finally, the answer popped up in the game’s all-chat:

  "Nineteen."

  “Wait, what?” Hai said, breaking the silence. “Nineteen? That’s it?”

  Another response appeared almost immediately: "Why does that surprise you?"

  “I don’t know,” BladeSong replied, laughing. “You’ve got this whole mysterious vibe. I thought you were, like, a shadowy e-sports veteran or something. Maybe pushing thirty with a secret career in DoTA.”

  "Guess not."

  The simplicity of the reply set everyone off laughing.

  As the night wound down, Titan reflected on the day. They hadn’t learned much about Nior, but even the smallest detail felt like a victory. Nior had always been the quiet backbone of the team, and tonight, for the first time, it felt like they were getting a glimpse of the person behind the calm, unflappable gameplay.

  The camaraderie was palpable as the team said their goodnights and logged off. Titan lingered for a moment, staring at his dark monitor. They were growing closer, and for him, that connection was more important than any scrim or solo queue session.

  Green Tipped Bananas wasn’t just a team—it was becoming a family. And nights like this reminded Titan why he was so determined to make it all work.