Flynn held on to the box in his hands as tightly as he could. It took him a lot of hard work, but he finally made it. He had baked a beautiful cake, and it was just in time for that special day. Now, he couldn't wait to give it to Yuri and have him taste it. There was a part of him that just wanted to show Yuri how his cooking wasn't as bad as he liked to tease, but he was also happy to finally be able to share a good meal made by himself with the most important person in his life. It was a great way to celebrate the occasion.

Ever since he could remember, Yuri was always there with him. Always. They always shared everything, so it was only natural that they wanted to share their birthday, too. The tradition started when they were still kids. To Flynn, having a special day didn't mean much if it couldn't be his best friend's special day, too. So, after a little discussion and lots of arguing, they decided to celebrate both birthdays together on the anniversary of the day they met... Which was today.

His knock on the door was low and shy, but Yuri answered almost immediately.

"Are you sure about this?" Yuri complained when he noticed what Flynn was holding. "I still remember last year's cake."

He glanced at the package with that face, as if it was poisonous. Flynn hated when he looked at his cooking like that, but that never stopped him from looking anyway.

"Why don't you see for yourself?"

He left it in Yuri's hands and walked in. Yuri closed the door, opened the box and took a quick peek inside. While he expected to find a half-burned cake like the last one, this time he was surprised to see a perfect-looking one, covered with strawberries and cream.

"It looks better, I'll give you that."

"Why don't you try it, then?"

"If you want me to take that risk, I'll have something for you as well," Yuri stated with a smirk.

He left the package over the table and started looking through his stuff. Flynn was curious, but he knew Yuri wouldn't say a word, so he quietly found a place to cut the cake and tried to find the best looking piece to serve. It took a while, but Yuri finally pulled a long paper box from under his bed and held it easily with both hands. When he offered it to Flynn, there was a new smirk on his face.

"If you want me to risk my life tasting your food, then you'll have to open this first."

"That's not fair!" Flynn complained. "You're obviously pulling a prank!"

"And you might be trying to have me killed," Yuri replied. "I can't risk not seeing the look on your face when you see this."

"Fine," Flynn sighed in defeat. "On the count to three, we both try out gifts. Deal?"

"Deal," Yuri agreed with a nod.

They both prepared for the count, Yuri grabbing his cake and Flynn holding his mysterious long box. Surprisingly enough, it didn't feel heavy.

"Who counts?" Yuri asked.

"Together?" Flynn suggested with a smile.

They exchanged a nod at each other and started counting in unison.

"Three… Two… One… Go!"

Before the first bite, Yuri closed his eyes right the fork entered his mouth. He waited for anything that tasted bad, weird, or just out of place, but… Nothing happened. He could feel the cake and the cream inside his mouth, but it tasted like a vague sense of sweetness.

While he tried to swallow the first bite, Flynn was staring at the inside of the box as if the content had him mesmerized.

"Where did you find this?" His voice was shaking in excitement when he spoke to Yuri.

"That old thing? Dunno. It was kinda lying around, and you liked it a lot for some reason."

"Yeah, of course. It was the first toy we had. How could I forget it?"

Flynn had a huge smile on his face when he started swinging the toy sword around. For a moment, it felt like he and Yuri were kids again, still dreaming of having a real sword. After they finally bought one, the toy was left behind and Flynn always wondered what happened to it. He didn't think it still existed, and seeing it again brought all those happy memories back.

However, his joy was ended in a rather quick and abrupt way; by the third time Flynn swung his wooden sword, the blade fell to the ground while he just stared at it. The noise made Yuri turn his head, and they exchanged a very awkward look.

"I, uh… Well, I was surprised it didn't break several years, to be honest," Yuri tried to force a laugh.

"So am I," Flynn admitted. "We used to hit anything in sight with it, remember?"

"Yeah. And if we could find something to chase, we'd make something up."

They both shared a real laugh this time, but Flynn avoided Yuri's eyes afterwards. He looked embarrassed, and Yuri could swear his cheeks were starting to blush.

"I have a confession to make," he mumbled.

Flynn was acting as if he had a huge secret to reveal, but Yuri seemed to be as calm as ever. He sighed and waited for Flynn to say anything else, but when his friend didn't say a word, Yuri made his guess.

"You forgot the sugar, right?"

"I thought you would notice," Flynn admitted. "Is it that bad?"

"It's kinda tasteless, but that's a huge improvement for you. You probably worked very hard on it," he said, and ate another bite.

Even though Yuri used his typical voice, Flynn knew the man he loved enough to understand the real meaning in every word he just said. And that was all he really needed.

"Even if there isn't much I can do with this anymore," Flynn started as he picked up the wooden blade on the floor, "I'm really happy to see it again. I'll make sure to keep it safe."

"Knew you would," Yuri agreed. "That's why I wanted you to keep it."

Yuri stepped forward and moved closer to Flynn, reaching out to hold the piece of their old toy. When they looked at each other in the eyes again, there was no need for more words. Everything they loved and cherished in one another was right there, in front of their eyes.