Yeah, this is in response to Challenge #1 at Challenge Central. So, now that that's out of the way, onto the story!
For the one of the first times in his life, Roger was glad Maureen had come over unexpectedly. Why? Because the diva had brought a big bowl of strawberries and melted chocolate. Apparently Joanne had gotten it as a gift from one of her clients. Unfortunately for her, Joanne was allergic to strawberries and Maureen despised them, so she brought them over as a gift for Roger and Mark.
"So," Maureen said, twisting a lock of hair around her finger, "What are you going to get Mark for his birthday?"
"Eh, probably some new rolls of film. He's been running low," Roger answered simply, dipping another strawberry into the chocolate and stuffing it into his mouth.
Maureen glared at him. "Roger, I'm his EX-girlfriend and I'm still getting him something nicer than that!"
"And what might that be?"
Maureen grinned. "A chocolate bunny!"
Roger gave the woman a skeptical look. "A chocolate bunny? Like those things you get on Easter? Maureen, if you haven't noticed yet, Mark is Jewish."
Maureen rolled her eyes. "I'm well aware Mr. Know-It-All. But Mark's favorite animal is a rabbit and he loves sweets, his favorite being chocolate. So, by putting the two together, I've just created the perfect gift for him. Anyway, by being Mark's new lover you should have known both of those facts. Actually, I'm not really sure what Mark sees in you. He likes soft, fluffy, sweet stuff, and you aren't ANY of those!"
Roger glared at the brunette. "I can be sweet if I want to!"
"Yeah, prove it!"
"Fine, I will. Winner…winner…winner wins a prize. More specifically a chocolate bunny!"
"Deal," Maureen said, shaking Roger's hand to seal the agreement, "You have until the day after Mark's birthday, which is tomorrow."
Roger nodded and glared daggers at Maureen until she left. "I can be sweet," Roger grumbled to himself, "But how?"
Deep in thought, Roger dipped his forefinger into the bowl of chocolate and slowly licked it off. As the chocolaty-sweetness filled his mouth, Roger's eyes lit up with an idea. He could be sweet, and he would prove it…
Mark slowly trudged into the loft, deeply hurt and upset. Today was his birthday and everyone had remembered except Roger! During breakfast Mark had dropped as many hints as he could, but Roger just couldn't seem to pick up on it. Frustrated, Mark had stormed out of the loft and had spent the entire day filming and visiting his friends, all of which had remembered his special day.
Setting down his camera on the metal table, Mark scanned the loft for his lover.
"Roger!" Mark called, "I'm home!"
There was no answer.
"Roger?"
Mark heard something crash to the ground in Roger's room, followed by soft swearing. Slowly, Mark headed to Roger's room and cautiously opened the door.
"Roger…what the fuck are you doing?"
It took all of Mark's self-control to keep from laughing. Roger was strutting around in whitey-tighty's, picking up fallen candlesticks. Not only that, but he was covered in some kind of brown substance.
When he saw Mark, all the color that Mark could see through the brown drained from his face. "Shit!" Roger grumbled, "You weren't supposed to be home yet! I was almost done!"
"Roger…what's going on?" Mark questioned.
Roger smiled half-heartedly. "Well, basically, Maureen said I couldn't be sweet, so I decided to set a romantic mood for your birthday- which I did remember- and then cover myself in chocolate sauce because you like chocolate. But this stuff is really uncomfortable and flies keep swarming around me and I've been stung three times by various wasps and the candles aren't working and I ran out of chocolate sauce halfway through and had to run to the store to buy more except I couldn't go out as I was so I sent Collins and it took him FOREVER to get back! I'm sorry Mark, I tried."
With that, Roger disappointedly sat down on the bed, holding his head in his hands.
Mark smiled slightly and sat down next to his lover. "Oh Roger, it's okay," he soothed, rubbing his hands along Roger's sticky back, "You did a great job! And everything looks great! I could…I could just eat you up!"
With that, Roger's eyes lit up. "You could just eat me up? That was the entire point. You know…I have more chocolate sauce. You keep your sexy ass here and soon we'll be two chocolate bohos."
Mark grinned. "I couldn't have asked for anything more."