Worth it

Birthdays

"No! No! Absolutely not, you stay out of here!", Lars had screeched as he heard footsteps come into the kitchen while he re-tied his apron.

Ronaldo pouted, "What, I was just coming in to see how it was going," and peered over at the light pink mixture in the bowl, "What flavor is that anyway?", and tried to stick a finger in, but was quickly swatted by the metal whisk the other was holding.

"Hands off," Lars scolded, "I told you I don't want you getting in my way. You'll get to eat this later."

"Well I'm bored!" Ronaldo whined, watching his boyfriend continue to work away on various dishes and mixes, adding spices where he saw fit, and tasting it occasionally.

"Well, uh, go find something to entertain yourself!", Lars huffed, "Didn't you plan anything with Sadie or Steven?"

The excitable man pouted, "No. Sadie's at the dentist's until this evening, and Steven is with the Crystal Gems," then laid his face on Lars' shoulder, bellowing dramatically, "I'm all alone on my birthday...poor little meeee..."

The cook groaned, and grabbing a small little spoon from a drawer, scooped it into the bowl of pink icing, and stuck it in Ronaldo's mouth, "There. Satisfied?"

Ronaldo nodded as he tasted what was jammed into his mouth, and grinned, "Raspberry? I love raspberry!", then hugged Lars tightly around the middle, nuzzling his face against his neck, "You're just gonna spoil me today, huh?"

"If by spoil you mean make you dinner and a cake, then sure," he snorted, squirming a bit with how ticklish he was, "Shoo."

"But I'm gonna be bored for the next three hours...", Ronaldo pouted, "And I don't think I can wait that long for your cooking..."

Lars sighed, "Alright, wait here a sec," and put the bowl of icing on the counter, checking the sizzling pan of frying meat and vegetables quickly, then stood on his tiptoes, pulling a gift bag off of the top of the fridge, and handed it over to Ronaldo, "Here, you can have your present from me early."

Ronaldo curiously reached his hand in, and gave a look of sheer joy as he saw the shiny plastic cover of that one video game he'd been dying in wait for, "Octopus Army Deluxe?", he grinned, "I thought this game wasn't even out in North America yet!"

"It's not," Lars grinned," and handed him another bag, a Japanese-English dictionary inside, "Have fun!"

"This is both so mean, but so nice!", Ronaldo cheered, hugging Lars tightly again, even as the other squirmed.

Lars snickered softly, glad Ronaldo liked his present. He hadn't been able to afford much that year, and seeing the deal on the game online was within his spending budget for gifts, he took the chance. He honestly was wondering if he should have waited for Christmas to gift him something, which was a handful of months away, but Ronaldo seemed happy, so he'd be happy too.

For the next hour, Ronaldo was doing his best to set the game up, cheering triumphantly when he was able to edit language settings on the game, so he didn't have to deal with translating everything, and could just handle broken English. Every so often, he'd call to the kitchen, thanking Lars for the game, and Lars would accept the thanks, and get right back into focusing on cooking.

When Sadie and Steven had arrived, they both joined Ronaldo in playing until Lars yanked them both into the kitchen, having them help him set up the food, as well as decorating the cake he had made, so everything would be ready by the time any other potential guests arrived.

The attendance was fairly small, with Peedee coming by after finishing work, Kiki and Jenny Pizza both coming by with a joint present (a gift card to their shop), Sour Cream with glow sticks, and Buck Dewey (Lars had to tell himself not to pay notice, that this was Ronaldo's party, not his).