"I can't believe Benson's making me work on my birthday!" Rigby complained, trying for the umpteenth time to rake a single stubborn leaf into his pile. "And where the H is Mordecai?! How long does it take to take out the trash?! He better not be messing around!"

He finally gave up on the attempt and bent over to physically pick the leaf up between his fingers. "...at least, not without me!"

Rigby placed it triumphantly atop the pile and "Hmm-hmm!"ed in satisfaction.

Then a gust of wind came and blew the leaves asunder.

"AUGH!" he raised his rake and threw it angrily on the ground. "This blows! I quit! I'm not lifting a finger until he gets here!"

Crossing his arms, he sat down and waited. Ten seconds went by. Then twenty. Thirty five. A minute...

"This is BOOORING!" Rigby jumped up and began pacing. "I won't forgive him for ditching me on my birthday! That lousy-"

HONK-HONK

"WOAH!" the little raccoon jumped out of the way just in time to avoid getting run over.

"I'm back!" Mordecai announced cheerily as he exited the golf cart.

"You almost killed me!" Rigby raged, pointing accusingly at the spot he'd been standing a few seconds ago.

"What happened to your leaf pile?" Mordecai asked, ignoring the statement. "Were you slacking off the whole time I was gone?"

"ME?!" the smaller bro's eyes went wide. "YOU'RE the one who-"

"It's okay, I'll help you out in a second," Mordecai interrupted. "But first," he smiled mischievously, "check this out!"

Rigby leapt to his feet and followed his friend to the back of the cart, curiosity overriding his indignation. "What? What'd you find?" he asked at Mordecai's butt swishing in the air as he bent over searching the trunk. "Is it still alive?"

"Ta-da!"

"Is that..." Rigby's eyes widened until they took up half his face "Is that an Elite-series, gold hot, dual-shock, wireless gaming controller... with built-in speakers?!"

"Heck yeah it is!" Mordecai replied in that high pitched tone they used when building up to something. "So, do you like it?"

"Like it?" he looked at his friend incredulously. "I LOVE IT! I could kiss you, bro! No homo, though."

"Well pucker up, buttercup," the bird pointed at him sideways with his head cocked coyly, "Because I also got you..." he bent down again and retrieved something else from the trunk. He held it aloft and Rigby gasped.

"Chyock-o-lit cay-yake!" they sang out in unison. "Oooooh!"

"You thought I forgot about your birthday, didn't you?" Mordecai winked.

"Well," Rigby cupped his chin in mock seriousness. "The thought did cross my mind."

"Make a wish, bro," Mordecai said, passing him the plate and a fork. A single white candle with rainbow sparkles stood proudly in the center, it's cheerful flame dancing merrily.

Rigby closed his eyes and was silent for moment, then he opened them again and blew out the candle.

As the smoke rose from the extinguished flame, the raccoon lifted his fork, ready to dig into the chocolately goodness... when the flame flickered back to life.

"Aweh, what?" he asked, confused.

Mordecai covered his beak to muffle the escaping chuckle. "Looks like your candle blowing ability really... blows, bro!"

"Shut up!" Rigby glared at him, turned back to the candle, took a deep breath and blew it out again.

And again.

And again.

For like, 5 minutes.

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the persistent flame fed off the smoldering embers of the candle wick and kept coming back to life.

Rigby was breathing hard, wheezing like an old man as he regarded the fire with a mix of fear and awe. "What the H, man?! WHAT THE H?! What's wrong with this thing?!"

Mordecai was rolling on the floor, practically dying of laughter. "Oh, dude! Dude! Ahahah! I can't take it! I can't take it! HAHAHA!"

Rigby held his precious cake up above his head and ran over to kick his friend in the stomach. "Stop laughing, you jerk! Tell me what's going on!"

"They... they're... AHAHAHA!" Mordecai barely registered the kicks, his sides were already hurting from laughing so much.

"Shut up and say something!" Rigby demanded.

"They're magic candles, bro!" his friend finally managed to say. "They suck up the wax vapors and keep the flame going!"

"That's..." Rigby thought for a minute, then lowered the cake and stared at the candle again for a few seconds. "That's... pretty cool, actually!"

"Right?!"

"How do you turn it off, though?"

Mordecai stopped laughing. He sat up and began tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm... I dunno. Maybe you have to spit on it?"

"GROSS, dude!"

"Dunk it in water?"

Rigby sighed in exasperation. "Any ideas that DON'T ruin my birthday cake?!"

Mordecai shrugged.

The raccoon rolled his eyes, "You really thought this one through, didn't you?"

His friend tried to suppress a laugh, but ended up snorting it through his nose. "I just thought it'd be funny!"

"Well, yeah," he admitted. "But now what?"

"What do you mean?" Mordecai finally stood and brushed off his dusty feathers. "Just toss the candle, dude. The joke's over."

Rigby stared at him as if the blue jay had just suggested he commit murder. "I can't do that!" he protested.

The other raised a curious eyebrow. "Why not?"

"My wish won't come true if I don't blow out the candle!"

"Oh... you have a point," he admitted.

The two went quiet as they gave serious thought to the problem at hand.

"Maybe I just have to keep trying," Rigby finally concluded.

"Dude, I don't think that's-"

"I just have to wish really really hard!"

"That's not going to-"

Rigby closed his eyes in concentration, took a deeeeep breath, and blew with all his might.

The candle blew out.

They waited an entire minute just to be sure. The flame was dead.

"Wow," Mordecai said with surprise. "I honestly didn't think that would work. That wish must've been really important."

"Yup!" Rigby nodded in agreement.

"So?"

The raccoon blinked at him."So, what?"

"Sooo? What did you wish for?"

Rigby smiled slyly, "That's a secret."

"Aw, come on! You can tell me." Mordecai leaned down and whispered in his ear, "Unlike some people, I can keep a secret."

"That was ONE time and you said you forgave me for it!" he protested. "Besides, you know the rules. If you say your wish out loud, it won't come true... how about this?" Putting a hand on his hip he said cheekily. "If my wish comes true... I'll tell you."

"Hmm," Mordecai stroked his own chin, considering. "Fair enough." He pointed at a nearby park bench. "Go put the cake down there. I'll bring more forks and sodas so we can get this party started!"

"You bet!"

"Oooooh!" they unisoned.

As he made his way to the bench, Rigby looked back to watch his friend fetch his party supplies. He grinned and thought again about his birthday wish.

I wish I could have a girlfriend as cool as my best friend.

A/N: If anyone wants to help me so I don't get lazy with future chapters, please let me know.