Work Text:
Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars
“Damn it,” Jesper hissed, immediately shoving his finger in his mouth. “The one time- ”
Wylan poked his head through the door, his face a perfect picture of concern. “You alright, Jes?”
“When am I ever?” Jesper said drily, taking his finger out of his mouth and wrapping it in a clean cloth. The bright scarlet immediately bloomed across the white, resembling one of those tropical flowers that Inej occasionally brought back from her travels.
“You know that’s not what I meant,” Wylan scowled, fondly exasperated. “What were you doing with the knife, anyway? … And why is the kitchen on fire?”
“I tried my hand at cooking something new and miserably failed.” Jesper grabbed a nearby bucket of water and threw it on the small flames. “Don’t worry, nothing permanent has happened to your kitchen… yet.”
Wylan looked as if he was about to protest, then closed his mouth. “Goddammit, Jesper,” he sighed. He was about to leave when he suddenly saw from behind Jesper the charred remains of… “Is that a birthday cake?”
In other words, hold my hand
In other words, baby, kiss me
“... Yes.”
“Why would you use a knife to bake a birthday cake?”
“... Don’t ask.”
Wylan prodded one part of the cake that was not burned, soggy, or had fallen apart. He grabbed a silver fork from a drawer, hesitantly lifting a small piece of frosting and bread to his mouth. “Hey, this actually looks pretty good-”
As soon as he took a bite, he choked, hid his face in his sleeve, and turned away precipitately to, Jesper presumed, compose himself. When Wylan turned around, he was smiling bravely, but the darkness in his eyes spoke the truth of the frosted monstrosity that he had willingly brought upon himself. “It’s… it tastes great.”
“Don’t bullshit me, Wylan, I know it sucks,” Jesper said, throwing the rest of the cake into the heap of garbage in the area of what seemed to be the trash can. “What was wrong with it?”
“Salt instead of sugar, and the frosting was sour,” Wylan replied with a sympathetic look on his face.
Jesper uttered a groan and fell back in his chair, remembering that he had given a last hasty powdering to the berries out of one of the two boxes on the kitchen table, and had neglected to put the milk in the refrigerator. “Screw this.”
Wylan gave him a small peck on the lips. “Hey, I’m just grateful that you remembered to do anything for me at all. Thank you so much.”
Fill my heart with song and let me sing forever more
You are all I long for all I worship and adore
“Of course I would!” Jesper exclaimed. “What kind of shitty boyfriend do you think I am?” Just then, something clicked inside of his mind, and he turned around. “Wait. How many birthdays did you get with Van Eck?”
Wylan gave an awkward shrug. “Pretty normal, for the most part…. until he learned that I couldn’t read…” His voice trailed off.
“Seriously? That’s… wow.” Jesper suddenly realized something else, and he buried his face in his hands, mortified. “So does that mean that today was your first birthday among friends in a long time, and all you got was a burned cake?”
“Jes, really, I’m just happy that you remembered,” Wylan said, gently pulling Jesper’s hands away. “What do you say that we make one together? Just you and me… Where did all of the servants go?”
“I chased them out so that I could make the cake myself,” Jesper said unabashedly, shrugging.
In other words, please be true
Wylan gave a soft laugh, brushing a bit of soot off of Jesper’s collar. “You’re incorrigible, Jesper Fahey.” The fond look that he gave Jesper made his body tingle pleasantly as if he was being dipped in liquid warmth.
In other words, in other words
“Hey, ‘incorrigible’ is my middle name,” Jesper joked, tilting his head slowly. He leaned forward, capturing Wylan in a kiss. Wylan melted into his touch, the familiar sensation of their lips pressing together. This is never going to get old. They finally broke apart once they ran out of air, Jesper tracing Wylan’s freckles with a long finger. “Love you, Wylan.”
“I love you too, Jes.”
I love you.