Alright, we're back on track! Still feeling a little off, but I'm trying not to let that stop me. We're doing PanPrice today, and the theme is: Food! I won't keep you waiting; see you at the bottom of the page!

Dave deserved the world. To Rupert, this was an indisputable fact. He worked hard and did his best, even if he sometimes came up short, and he was completely genuine in every way. He was the kindest person Rupert had ever met, and when push came to shove, Dave could gather his courage to do the right thing, even if he was scared out of his mind the whole time.

But poor Dave, sweet and honest as he was, had very clearly been dealt a bad hand in life. He mumbled and stammered his way through most conversations, he tended towards ditziness on a regular basis, and most recently, he'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up trapped in a tiny prison cell by dangerous criminals for months. After everything he'd been put through, Rupert firmly believed that his boyfriend deserved the world.

Unfortunately, the world was not Rupert's to give, so he had to think of something else to give Dave for his birthday.

Now here he was, standing in the kitchen of his and Dave's apartment, with his sleeves rolled up and frilly pink apron tied around his waist, surveying all of the ingredients he'd laid out on the counter to make a cake. Rupert was not a stranger to baking; he'd helped his Mum bake all sorts of things when he was young, but his relationship with that skill was much more distant than it had been. There wasn't much free time to spend baking in the military, and even if there were, Rupert didn't want to deal with any unnecessary attention from his fellow soldiers, positive or negative. Baking was something personal for Rupert, and he had always made a point to keep his personal life as far from his work life as possible.

He had the recipe. He had the ingredients. He even had the bloody hideous apron on to help get him in the spirit or whatever. He just needed to get started.

Sucking in a sharp breath through his teeth, Rupert began measuring flour and sugar into the biggest mixing bowl. He knew Dave's taste better than he knew his own, and the recipe he'd chosen would suit him perfectly… if he got everything just right. Not even just right; he had to make it perfectly.

He deftly cracked a few eggs and tossed the shells in the sink. Rupert knew that he had an unhealthy relationship with perfectionism, but was it really so bad to want the best for Dave? Dave deserved the best cake in the world at the very least, so getting something store bought was out of the question.

He picked up a mostly empty bottle and opened it, letting the single item inside slide onto the cutting board. Taking a knife, he slowly made a slit on the long side of the vanilla bean and began to carefully scrape out the insides. When he was certain he'd gotten every bit of goodness out of the pod, he put the remaining bean back in its bottle along with several spoonfuls of sugar. He set the bottle back in the cupboard, feeling pleased with himself. Dave wasn't much of a cook or a baker, but maybe he'd appreciate the vanilla sugar as a bonus present.

A part of Rupert worried that Dave might not consider the cake to be enough for his birthday. He certainly wouldn't complain- Dave rarely looked a gift horse in the mouth- but a lot of people seemed to consider birthday cake to be a given. Unfortunately, Rupert was strapped for time. Duty had called much more than usual over the past week, leaving him unable to find time to get a proper present for Dave. He certainly wasn't going to cheat his way around it; cards were the kind of thing children would get for their parent's birthdays, and Rupert was absolutely not going to say that he was the birthday present. Just thinking about such a thoughtless "gift" made him want to punch himself for even considering it.

So no, Rupert decided firmly as he poured the batter into a pan, the cake would have to do for now. Maybe at a later date he'd take Dave to the movies or something; there had to be something playing that he liked, right-?

Some of the batter spilled over the edge of the pan as he slid it into the oven, spattering against the bottom with an angry hiss. Rupert swore and pulled back quickly, glaring at the mess as it began to harden in the heat. The oven was too hot for him to clean it off now, and turning it off meant that the oven wouldn't be ready again for at least another hour. Dave would be home by then, and dammit, Rupert was not going to give him a half-arsed cake for his birthday!

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. It didn't look like too much of the batter had spilled… It'd be a pain to clean up later, and the apartment might smell a little smoky, but this was just a small setback. He could save this. Rupert blinked firmly and closed the oven door, setting the timer for twenty five minutes. More than enough time to make the frosting. It'd be a piece of cake, no pun intended.

"Dammit all to bloody hell!" Rupert shouted for the third time. Apparently, more of the batter had spilled than he realized, and the whole apartment was horrid with smoke. He'd at least saved the cake; it was edible, but clearly needed at least two more minutes to bake. He couldn't very well put it back in the filthy oven though, so he hoped that covering the whole thing in heaps of frosting would help.

Unfortunately, the icing had come out thicker than he meant it to be, and the skin of the cake tore and mixed into the icing every time he tried to spread it with a knife, making it look like bits of human skin had been scattered throughout. The box of strawberries he'd planned to use for garnishes must have broken while he was bringing it in from the store, because they had dried out and grown fuzzy on the edges. Now his lighter wasn't working, and Rupert was trying very, very hard to light the birthday candle, and not set the whole building on fire. He was certain that the fire alarm would go off at any moment. How the hell was he going to explain this to the landlord? How the hell had he screwed this up so badly? And how the hell was he going to explain to Dave that he didn't have anything to give him for his birthday?

He set the lighter down carefully in the sink, which was the last amount of self control he had before he slammed his head onto the counter and covered it with his arms. He growled a few more curses into the tiny dark space he'd created for himself. Too much was going wrong for him to think clearly, making it impossible to figure out what he was going to do. Was there even anything he could do? Dave was going to be home any minute!

…Actually, shouldn't he have been home five minutes ago? He'd promised to be home right at five-

It was only then that he heard it: a light knocking sound coming from the entryway, as well as a muffled voice that most certainly belonged to Dave. Crap, had he been knocking on the door this whole time?!

Rupert rushed for the door, tripping over himself multiple times until he managed to open the door, coming face to face with a wide-eyed Dave Panpa.

"Rupert? Are you okay? I forgot my key, but you didn't answer the phone when I called you…" Rupert sank to his knees and dropped his head forward, groaning tiredly. "Did you hurt yourself?" Dave fretted, quickly patting him down for any wounds. "What happened? Why are you sticky- is that smoke?" Rupert groaned again, and he scrambled for his phone. "I-I'll call a doctor-"

Rupert reached up and pushed the phone out of Dave's hand. "I'm not hurt, Dave. I don't need a doctor."

"O-oh, okay… but then, what happened? Please talk to me Rupert, you're scaring me…"

Rupert forced himself to look at his beloved Dave. Even with his hat askew and his clothes covered in pet hair, he looked stunning. There was a flush to his cheeks that was fading fast, no doubt from a particularly good day at the animal shelter he worked at. Dave had loved the therapy animals he'd had access to just after being rescued, so he was happy to return the favor by helping adorable puppies and kittens find their forever homes.

He'd had to stay an hour later than usual today, which should have given Rupert the perfect amount of time to bake his birthday cake. But he'd made a complete and bloody mess of it… why did it feel like he always screwed up just when things needed to be perfect?

He stood slowly, and Dave wrapped his arms around him, ready to catch him in case he collapsed. There was nothing to do except explain what had happened, and hope that there was something he'd be able to do to redeem himself. "I… was making something for your birthday," he said slowly as Dave helped him back into the kitchen. "But I, er… I messed it all up. I'm so sorry, Dave…"

He watched Dave survey the damage, a stunned expression on his face that finally settled on the "cake" that had been at the center of this whole mess. "You made me a cake?"

"I tried, Dave, I really did," Rupert said, dropping himself into a chair by the table and running a hand through his hair. "I'm so sorry…"

Dave was silent, and Rupert closed his eyes, not wanting to see the disappointment that was no doubt gracing his boyfriend's face. He knew he'd see it inevitably, but God was it going to hurt. He could hear Dave fiddling around with the items on the counter, then felt him approach. "Rupert, can you look at me?"

He sighed and raised his head… though apparently, he wasn't fast enough, because Dave grabbed him by the chin and pulled his face upwards. Rupert's cheeks grew hot at the bold gesture. "D-Dave? What are you- Mmmph?!"

Dave stuffed a forkful of something into his mouth. It took a second for his brain to reboot, but the flavor finally came through: sweet and fruity, soft and chewy, even if the frosting wasn't as smooth as it should have been. Dave watched him chew and swallow his mouthful of cake, still holding him by the chin, then said seriously, "you made an amazing cake, Rupert." He pulled Rupert forward and pressed their lips together, licking some of the frosting from the corners of his mouth in the process.

Rupert's face burned all the hotter, blinking rapidly even when Dave finally pulled away and gave him a small smile. "Do you still think you 'messed up?'"

"Uh," he managed, "no?"

"Exactly," Dave said with an emphatic nod. "You put in so much effort just for me… that means everything to me, Rupert. Thank you." Then he glanced briefly around the kitchen. "...It is pretty messy, though."

"Uh, right then," Rupert stammered, making to stand up. "I'll clean it up right quick; you just-"

Dave pushed him back into his seat. "You don't have to clean it up now."

"...I don't?"

Dave shrugged, taking the plate the cake was sitting on and bringing it over to the table. "The cake won't get any fresher, you know? And the mess isn't going to get worse, so I think we're okay. Now," he scooped up another forkful of cake and presented it to Rupert, a glint in his eyes that was doing something to Rupert's heart rate. "Open up."

Rupert gulped. "I can feed myself…"

"I know," Dave replied, promptly giving him another mouthful.

Rupert relaxed as another kiss was planted on his lips. How he had managed to get together with someone as perfect as Dave, he'd never know. He could wonder about that later, though; after he got some more sugar.

I love it when characters who act all big and tough can bake. Give me a big, scary looking fella in an apron with oven mitts and a plate full of cookies. Never fails to make me happy.

Dave's feeling a little bold today, as you might have noticed. Rupert's in for a lot of sugar. ;)

I'm not sure why I've locked so fiercely onto the headcannon that Rupert struggles with being a perfectionist; I think it has to do with the way his in-game bio cards seem to imply he wants to do "as much good as possible". That screams "I have to be perfect and exceptional at all times and if I'm not then I'm not worthy of anything" to me. I'll be exploring it a lot more in Liminal Love, my PanPrice Backrooms fic that I'm also working on at the moment, so go check it out if that's your cup of tea. God, I love putting this guy into situations.

Anyway, that's all for today! Day 6 and 7 are around the bend! Leave a review and tell me if you liked this one. I'll see you tomorrow; until then!