This was a collaboration between burritorat on Tumblr and me.

For a series of correspondending, fluffy renders/pictures, please visit burritorat on Tumblr, and there the post /post/147817252487/happy-birthday-sam-everyone-knows-valentines (just attach it to her blog's url). Alternatively, visit her as raubkruemel on deviantArt, where she's posted the renders as well.

Text was beta read by ReasonsLost.

burritorat had been wondering whether Sam has a birthday. Since the answer was "no", she and I decided to change that. Based on thorough and extensive research, we figured that Gemini is a fitting Zodiac sign for her. (Apparently, we haven't been the first to figure that out.) So, it was the month of June. Because neither of us could find anything related to Sam that could help us decide on a day, burritorat suggested Sam's VA's, Arden Cho's, birthday: the 16th.
Tl;dr: We gave Sam the date of birth: 16th June 1990.

Because that date was around the corner, we decided to prepare something. Unfortunately, it took us a bit longer than expected, so we were a bit late.

Happy belated birthday, Sam!

May she live to celebrate her birthday again next year—with Lara. We miss you.

There was a bacon cheeseburger with a candle on top in my hand, and it filled me with pride.

I sparked the lighter with my thumb. Once the wick sticking out of the coloured wax was lit, I threw the lighter and one last glance back at the mess that was once our kitchen. One would think I'd tried to murder the breakfast instead of preparing one.

I wiped with the back of my wrist over my forehead and took a deep breath. Even though the clock tried to convince me it was only half past nine, it felt like I'd spent all morning in the kitchen. You'd think the stress would stop for a moment with the end of the academic year. Semester break had only just begun and, frankly, we both needed it. Even I required some rest from time to time. However, I had a feeling I wouldn't get to take much of a breather that day. But it was for a good cause.

Sam.

Looking at the meal in my hands, I straightened myself and smiled. I opened the door to my room and presented myself and her breakfast with my chest puffed out and a hearty, "Happy birthday!"

Silence.

I remained in pose for a few more seconds, but the blanket burrito on my bed showed no sign of life. I tried again in a softer tone, "Wakey wakey, Sam. Happy birthday."

She twitched under the covers, rolled over to the other side, and continued to snore.

I deflated.

The striped candle wobbled around when I poked the bun in my hand to test its temperature. I was convinced Sam would prefer the burger I'd spent half the day on warm, but was I allowed to wake her on her birthday? I figured I just had to be gentle about it, and once she'd see her breakfast, she'd refrain from killing me.

As first attempt, I held the burger in front of her and fanned its aroma into her direction. Sam wiggled her nose and sniffed, her mouth shifting into a crooked smirk. I had to giggle. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to wake her up, so I put the plate down on a night table and hopped into bed instead.

After prying the blanket out of Sam's death grip, I wrapped it around me and snuggled up to her. Although it was mid June and quite hot around midday, the sun hadn't risen far enough yet to warm up London. So the sudden change in temperature and the comfortable closeness to Sam almost put me back to sleep. It was tempting. I couldn't neglect the burger though. Not after I'd already spent most of the day on it.

"Sam." I stroked her cheek, waiting for a reaction. There was none.

She looked so peaceful, I almost felt guilty for trying to wake her. Almost. I placed a kiss on her forehead and then pressed my cheek against hers to whisper in her ear, "Wake up, darling, breakfast is ready."

I remained like that for a while, enjoying her slow breath tickling down my neck. My hand glided over her shoulder and along her arm until it found its place on her lower back. My eyelids dropped. "Sam, please wake up before I fall asleep."

When I pecked her cheek, Sam stirred shortly. I whispered her name while my lips touched her skin again. And again. My hand slowly moved up her back as I kissed down her nose and pecked its tip. Her lips. Her chin. Along her jawline. My fingers trailed back down her spine from between her shoulder blades to her hips. I buried my face in the nape of her neck and nibbled at her skin. She smelled so nice.

Sam moaned.

My head shot up. She smirked sleepily and said, "Oops."

"How long have you been awake?"

Sam shrugged and yawned loudly at length. I was afraid her jaw might fall off. "I'm not awake. But don't let that stop you from feeling me up," she murmured and tried to hide her face in my neckline under the duvet.

I backed away. "Your breakfast is getting cold."

"My what? I'm not hungry. Let me sleep." Since I didn't let her use me as cushion, she buried her head under the pillow instead.

"You can't snore the entire day away."

"Oh yeah? You'll see."

"Oh, come on. I've already been up for hours to make breakfast for you. Wake up," I said and stroked her back. "If you'd just—"

"Shut it," she muttered into the mattress, "I hate you and everything you stand for. Don't you have some marathon to run or something?"

"Have you forgotten what day it is?"

"The one I'll kick your cute butt out of your own bed if you—"

I lifted the pillow and said briskly, "Your birthday."

"My what?" She peeked out and gave me a tired, quizzical look. Then her face lit up. Slowly. "Oh! Ooooh."

I reached behind me to fetch the plate from the night table. "Happy birthday," I chimed and presented the burger. The candle was half melted.

Her eyes wandered from me to the burger and back. One of her eyebrows crept up her forehead. "Where did you get that in the middle of the night?"

"It's almost ten, and I made this." I puffed out my chest again.

Sam rubbed her eyes and then scrutinized the food again. "Oh, my God," she said in shock. "Is this..."

"A bacon cheeseburger."

"Maybe I'm a bit hungry after all," she murmured, staring at her breakfast and looking like she was about to drool.

"Make a wish and blow out the candle."

Sam pulled an exaggerated thinking-face and then looked up at me, wiggled her eyebrows, and blew through pursed lips.

I rolled my eyes and put the plate down between us. "Bon appétit," I said after removing the candle.

"Wait. You made this?" She leant down and sniffed. "Is this edible?"

"Hey!" She almost fell over when I shoved her.

Sam snorted and then threw herself at the meal. When she picked it up, her mouth gaped so much she could have put the burger in whole. She bit down and moaned so loudly while chewing in slow-motion, I was worried what our neighbours could hear her. Mustard, ketchup, and mayonnaise seeped down as Sam gobbled the burger down with gusto. It didn't take long until the only thing left on the plate was a tricoloured puddle.

Sam cleaned herself with the napkin before relaxing back into the bed with stretched out arms. "Ugh, now I definitely feel older. But, damn, that was good."

"I still don't know how you can eat something like that for breakfast."

"Cause I'm a real American," she said with a grin. I scoffed.

"Glad you enjoyed it. I spent all day on it." After the plate was placed back on the night table, I flopped down into the pillow and closed my eyes. With the deed of her birthday breakfast successfully done and well received, exhaustion settled in. In hindsight, I could and should have stayed in bed longer. When I yawned, Sam joined in. My heavy limbs sank into the comfortable bed.

The mattress shifted as Sam moved closer to me. She settled down half lying on me, an arm wound around me.

"Thank you, sweetie." She pecked my cheek while stroking the other. "The burger was amazing. You know how to make a girl happy." I had to laugh at that.

She kissed the same spot again, and then another, and another, and more all over my face.

Until she stopped. I pried my eyelids apart and saw her looming over me, her mouth mere centimetres away from mine. We smiled at each other as one of my hands ran through her hair. Once it found its place in the back of her neck, I closed the distance between us.

It started out slow. Sensual. Lips dragging over lips. Hands playing with hair. Gliding over skin. Playing with the fabric of our clothes. Once we parted after the first lengthy kiss, Sam became more needy. She latched onto my mouth again in an instant. Her body moved against mine. When lips weren't enough anymore, Sam kissed down my neck and collarbone. Her hand slipped into my shirt and sneaked up my side like a—

"Oh! I have another present for you," I announced cheerfully.

"Oh yeah, you do," she murmured into my cleavage.

"No, really." I wiggled out from under her to reach under the bed. And with an expectant smile, I presented a little, purple octopus plushie with button eyes and short arms.

Sam froze and stared at it suspiciously. "What is that?"

"An octopus plushie," I said still smiling.

"Duh. But—what is that?" Her expressions didn't change.

"Well, uh. It's—It's a plushie. I thought... you might like a new one after you lost your panda a while ago."

She slowly turned her head to me. "You mean the one you made fun of? The one you brought up when you told me how childish I am?"

"I... err..." I cleared my throat as my cheeks heated up. "But you really liked it."

Sam shrugged and rolled off me to stare at the ceiling. "It was cute and soft, and reminded me of... Whatever. I'm over it." After a brief pause, she eyed me and added, "I grew out of it."

"But this one is cute, too. And really soft and fluffy as well. Look!" I gave it a squeeze and then shook it to make its arms dance. Sam was so unimpressed, I felt lost for a moment. I wasn't giving up though. I cuddled up to her and held the plushie above her. "And—you see—it's an octopus, because it reminded of—"

Sam put an arm over her eyes and let out a loud groan that drowned me out. When she saw my confused look, she said, "Why would you get me a memento for that?"

"I... but... I thought we were having fun that day."

"Oh, I bet you did."

"But you laughed about it, too."

"That thing," she glowered at the plushie and stabbed it with a finger, "gave me a heart attack. I almost peed myself."

"Not like anyone would have noticed at the bottom of the sea," I murmured and Sam redirected her glare at me. I sighed. "I think you're misremembering something."

"Yeah, no. I have very vivid and traumatic memories of that day," she said with a shudder.

"Then you're misinterpreting them." With my head on her shoulder, I made myself comfortable and faux-cleared my throat. "Let me tell you the tale of the great warrior Samantha Nishimura."

Sam raised an eyebrow.

"In darken times, when little Lara still had her bed all to herself, there lived a media mogul whose daughter was very beautiful."

"Oh yeah?"

I made a wide arm movement above us before placing my hand on the back of her head. "So beautiful that the sun itself," I continued while slowly guiding her mouth to mine, "who, indeed, has seen so much, marvelled every time it shone upon her face."

"Suck-up." She grinned into my lips and gave me a squeeze.

"In the, more or less, vicinity of the girl's home there was a large, bright beach, and by this beach there was—lo and behold—the sea. In the heat of the day the girl and her companion would go out to the beach and lie in the heat of the sun."

"And with that you mean I had to drag you by your feet while you screamed and flailed and tried to latch on to everything."

I gave Sam some serious side-eyes and continued, "To pass the time they would jump into this sea to swim and frolic around in the water. And with that I mean the girl bugged her friend until she caved in."

"Because, you see, her companion is the girl's favourite plaything."

"I'm not..." The sentence trailed off into a groan. Then a deep breath. "Now one day it happened that the girl and her companion decided instead of being at the water's surface they wanted to dive below. So they took a scuba diving course, and the girl scuba dove into the sea with a camera and her companion. In that order."

"Hey, it was the first time I had a camera—under water. That was so cool. And I made some great shots. Also, I was totally rocking that diving suit. And so were you." She winked at me. I could only shake my head.

"At first, it was all fun and games. But the deeper they travelled, the less they could see."

"Seriously. The visibility was so low there, I could hardly see my hand in front of my face."

"But the girl bravely ventured forth into the unknown, unaware of what waited for her lurking in the dark." I positioned the plushie behind me so that its little eyes peeked over my side at Sam. She pulled a face at it and pressed herself into the mattress.

"The girl and her companion reached the bottom of the sea and came close to a patch of seaweed, which happened to be the home of Mr. Octopus." Sam almost completely disappeared into her pillow when I put the plushie on her middle and moved it around as if it was walking. "You see, Mr. Octopus had been very lonely all by himself, because he got lost in the murky water and couldn't find the other octopuses. So, when the girl came by, he was so overjoyed to meet new friends, he jumped at her to give her a hug."

Before I could reenact that, Sam's arms shot up from under the covers and pushed the plushie away. "Hug? It was trying to eat my arm!"

"Mr. Octopus was not trying to eat the girl's arm."

"Who made you expert in octopology? Didn't know you switched course."

"Because little Mr. Octopus here would never do that," I said with a pout to the plushie and wiggled it around. "Isn't that right, Mr. Octopus?"

Sam gave me such a bewildered look, it completely threw me off track. When the inevitable blush and subsequent need to disappear arose, I looked up at Sam and stammered, "I—I'm... sorry, I got carried away."

She just laugheded and gave me a squeeze. "You're so adorkable."

I let out a sigh of relief. Luckily, it was hard to throw Sam off. Though, glancing at the octopus, I wondered whether it was worth making a fool of myself for. I'd thought it'd be a decent replacement for her previous plushie, but it looked like Sam would disregard it out of spite. If only I could warm her up to it.

I cleared my throat again. "Where was I? Right. The girl was so surprised by his sudden affection that she screamed."

"Pff, I didn't scream."

"You disappeared in a cloud of bubbles. Either you screamed or you—"

"I—You would've screamed, too." Sam turned her eyes away from me and shrugged.

"Anyway," I continued with a smirk, "eager to shake the girl's hand, Mr. Octopus relieved her of her camera. But that was too bold and went too far for the girl's taste, so she decided to teach Mr. Octopus some manners."

"You mean I kicked squid-butt."

I had to laugh. "Surprisingly, you're not exaggerating for once."

"You hear that, Mr. Octopus? I made you my bitch." She poked the plushie, repeatedly.

"I'm serious. I was just as surprised as you. The least I expected you to do was to actually fight with an octopus on your arm for your camera."

"And I won!" Now Sam was the one puffing out her chest and taking on a victory pose. "So, wait. Are you saying I actually managed to impress Miss Hardcore Croft?"

"Maybe," I said with a smile. I took the octopus in my hand and let it dance around on Sam's tummy. "I'm sorry I took your camera," I said with deepened voice. "But if you accept me as companion and playmate, and let me sit next to you and sleep in your bed, if you will promise this to me, then I'll love you forever and be the fluffiest, little octopus you can imagine." The plushie walked up Sam's chest and huddled against her cheek.

She pulled a face at me again, but then rolled her eyes with a grin. "Fine." She took the octopus out of my hand and set it down on the edge of the bed. While she lay there staring at it, I snuggled up to her from behind and joined in. I had to admit that the plushie looked sort of ridiculous. But it was also cute, and knowing how soft it was, I almost felt like cuddling it myself.

"I'm sorry I made fun of your panda," I told her truthfully.

Sam shrugged. She took my hand into hers and pulled my arm around her. "So, what's the moral of the story?"

"I, uhm," hadn't thought about that."That, I don't know, I love you?"

She snorted and then slowly turned her head with a deadpan. "Can you say that a little less convincing, please?" When I stuck my tongue out at her, Sam laughed.

"So," she continued after a pause, "I gave you a double bed. And I get a plushie?"

"You gave me the bed so you can practically live in my room."

Her mouth moved into a telltale smirk. "You needed a new bed though. That old bastard would've killed your back. This is a lot more comfy, admit it." She swung her hips into the mattress to bounce and then wiggled her brows at me. "Especially with me in it." When I set about giving a reply, she raised a warning finger. "Watch what you say."

"Yes, the mattress is very comfortable," I said and rolled my eyes.

Before my tired brain knew what was happening, Sam tightened her hold on me and flipped me onto her. "Sam!" I shrieked.

"I'm not the worst pillow either," she said with a heavy-lidded look.

Since she didn't let go off me, I giggled a, "I guess so."

"You know, I watched a documentary some time ago where scientists managed to spot and film two mating deep sea octopi."

"Of course, you would watch a documentary on that."

"The thing is, they were both male and of different species." A wide grin spread over her face. "The smaller octopus was topping the other one and then caressed it with its reproductive tentacle, attempting to copulate. And the lager octopus liked it."

Even for me it was obvious what she was hinting at. But I felt way too spiritless for any 'mating'. I gave Sam a quick kiss and rolled off her. "Don't give Mr. Octopus any ideas."

Sam tried to hide it, but I could see her disappointment. It was probably my fault anyway, since I'd gotten carried away when I'd tried to wake her up. I mumbled an apology as I cuddled back up to her, and she took me back into her arms without pressing the matter. As we lay in mutual silence, she began stroking my head. With comfort came tiredness, and my leaden eyelids closed.

"You planned a birthday party for the weekend, right?"

"Yep, it's gonna be awesome," Sam chimed up.

"So, there's nothing planned for today?"

"Are you kidding? I'm twenty-one! We're gonna celebrate." I gave her a worried glance, and I could tell she was already mentally running through all the possible clubs and bars she could drag me to. When she looked at me, set on laying down her plans, her train of thought visibly derailed. "What?"

"I'm so sorry. But I'm quite tired."

"Hey, you were the one who woke me up. Now deal with it."

I just blankly stared at Sam in response. It irritated her.

"What now?"

"I'm waiting for the sleeping pills in the burger to kick in."

Sam gave me a playful shove. "We're not staying in. What's up with you anyway?"

"I just really need vacation. How aren't you half-dead?"

"I'm not the one who had two part time jobs and practised four sports during exam period."

"Hey, I—"

Sam cut me off with a raised hand. "Don't get all defensive again. I'm just sayin', not judging. At least this time." She took a deep breath. "Fine then. How about we go to the beach? It's supposed to be nice weather today anyway. We can snore away in the sun and go for a swim, if you're up for it."

"That'd be lovely. I'm sorry that you have to change plans because of me."

"Don't. All I want to do is spend the day with you anyway." She gave me a heart-warming smile and squeezed my hand before hopping off the bed. "We can eat at this cozy, little restaurant there. And when you photosynthesised enough strength, I know a great club close-by where we'll get wasted!"

"I don't think I can tolerate much alcohol today."

"Then I'll help you home for once."

"Hah, that'd be a first."

Sam pointed finger guns at me. "Leave it to me! Let's get ready, okay? Can't wait to get some suntan, oh yeah." She walked up to my wardrobe where she opened her drawer.

Ever since she'd bought the double bed for my birthday, she'd been sleeping in my room and, naturally, her clothes had started piling up. So I'd freed up one of my drawers for her. Sam had found that hilarious because of the implications, even though we lived in the same flat anyway. But I hadn't even minded seeing it as a symbolic stepping stone in our relationship. We'd been inseparable anyway even before we started the relationship, and I hadn't been as happy in a very long time as I was with Sam. My beautiful, bright, funny Sam.

I climbed out of bed and hugged her from behind. "I love you."

She turned around and wound her arms around my neck. "That sounded way more convincing," she grinned. "I love you, too, babe."

We shared a few intimate kisses. And when our lips parted again, Sam grabbed her clothes and left with a slap to my behind. I was still looking after her when—

"Holy shit! What happened to our kitchen?"