Sherry Birthday

“Is this really what you want? Nothing else? You don’t need to hold back you know?”

“Nope! This is perfect!”

What a strange girl. Hanna carefully compared the packages of flour in front of her. This one technically had more value but were they really going to use that much flour? It would make more sense to buy the smaller one then… but it’s possible that they would use it for something else. Flour was a versatile ingredient after all. Right. Yes, it made sense to get the most gram for her buck. Hanna put the other bag of flour back after being satisfied with her own logic.

“Oh! Let’s get some of these too!” Sherry excitedly pointed at the snack aisle. “These would go great on top!”

“Just what kind of-” Hanna stopped herself. This wasn’t her cake she was baking, she reminded herself. This was Sherry’s cake. If she wanted to put a bunch of random snacks on top then who was she to say no? Sighing, Hanna gave in. “Alright, well, just try to remember I’m going to eat some too okay?”

“Yay!”

That was all Sherry needed to hear. She grabbed fruit gummies, chocolate bamboo shoots, chocolate mushrooms, chips, and more. Hanna closed her eyes and pretended that she wasn’t seeing the mountain of very uncakelike toppings being added to their combined cart.

At least Sherry didn’t want to something drastic with the base cake ingredients themselves. Hanna shuddered at the thought of Sherry suggesting to use something like soda instead of milk. Her heartrate accelerated as she watched Sherry reach out to the refrigerated drink section thinking that somehow Sherry had read her mind.

“No! The snacks were okay but I have to draw the line somewhere!”

Sherry looked at Hanna confused. “What are you talking about Hanna?”

“You can’t use soda to bake a cake!” Hanna said in exasperation.

“Well, obviously! I just wanted a drink!”

“…Oh.”

Hanna cleared her throat. Trying to hide her flushed cheeks, Hanna quickly made her way to the next set of ingredients they needed for the cake.

With the spread of ingredients laid out before them, Hanna figured now was a good a time as any. “Have you ever baked a cake before Sherry?”

“Nope!” Sherry cheerfully responded.

Right. “Listen Sherry, it’s important to be precise and careful when combining all the ingredients. Baking is a delicate science that requires precision, and- Hey!”

Sherry looked up after having dumped some of the flour into a bowl with a smile plastered all over her face. “It should be fine!”

“Just where do you get your confidence from…”

This is pretty much exactly how Hanna expected things to go. When Hanna asked if Sherry wanted anything for her birthday, she was surprised to hear that all Sherry wanted was to bake a cake together. Wouldn’t it make more sense for Hanna to bake the cake for Sherry? But nope, Sherry insisted that she wanted to do it together.

And of course, Hanna had expected this to happen. She looked at the puff of flour covering Sherry’s face and bits of egg shells in the bowl and scolded Sherry.

“Didn’t I just tell you to be more careful?” She tried to frown as she wiped some of the flour off but couldn’t suppress her smile.

Sherry giggled in response. “Ehehe!”

“Don’t laugh! Think about who has to clean up after you!”

“Both of us!”

Hanna laughed. “I suppose so, since we’re both making it, it’s only fair we both clean right?”

“Mhm!”

The rest of the cake making process was a messy affair. It made Hanna glad that she ended up buying the larger bag of flour as at this point who knows if more flour ended up in the batter or out of it.

One messy pour of half a Sherry-proclaimed-cup of whole milk later and the batter was ready. Hanna knew they were supposed to be alternating between flour and milk but she was convinced doing so would end up with the bowl on the floor somehow. At least Sherry had the stamina and strength to mix it all together all at once.

“Now we just have to put it in the oven and wait.” Hanna wiped the sweat off her brow. Cake making wasn’t supposed to be this exerting but then again, she supposed nobody had ever try baking a cake with Sherry before.

“Yay!” Sherry threw her sticky batter covered arms around Hanna.

“Hey!” Hanna tried to protest. But she smiled anyways. “Come on, let’s clean up now so we don’t have to clean up later!”

“Okay~” Sherry began placing their used and empty dishes in the sink. The two of them worked in sync at washing and drying the dishes.

It was a good as time as any to ask. “So, why just baking a cake together?” Hanna asked as she wiped dry the bowl they had used.

Pausing to think of an answer, Sherry tilted her head. “You know those stories of people cooking together with their family and how happy they were?”

“Hm? Of course, what about them?”

“I never really understood.” Her voice quieted. “Everyone looked so happy and excited and my parents had even asked on occasion to make things with me.”

Her parents always looked like they were having a good time. Sherry put on a smile and laughed, hoping that it would make her seem normal. Yet within, she thought it was just like any other moment in the day. The same feelings she’d get when her parents asked her to clean her room or do any other chore.

Hanna listened without saying anything, but she wondered. Why did Sherry ask to bake a cake together then if she thought it was like a chore?

Sherry passed the last bowl to Hanna. She smiled gently. “But now I get why they did it. It’s fun to do things with the people you love!”

It was less about baking the cake Sherry realized and more about just doing something together. Is that why her parents wanted to cook with her in the past? Part of her felt bad for not being able to reciprocate those feelings. At least now though she could understand.

“Hmph!” Hanna looked away momentarily to hide her embarrassment. “Well, I would hope you enjoy your time with me!”

“Always, Hanna. Didn’t we promise?”

She felt Sherry hug her from behind. Her heart felt like it was about to leave her chest. Slowly, Hanna turned around and looked up at Sherry’s golden eyes.

“I know.” Hanna slowly pushed herself off the ground and-

Ding! The oven let them know the cake was done. Sherry whipped around and let go of Hanna.

“Oh, Hanna, look! It looks so yummy!”

“…”

Taking a deep breath and trying to remind herself that they were making Sherry’s birthday cake, Hanna thrust the oven mitts into Sherry’s hands.

“Go on, it’s your cake right?” Hanna smiled.

Sherry’s eyes lit up as she deftly put it on. Part of Hanna wondered if this was going to be a mistake, but she remembered how excited she was to take out the first cake she baked herself. The smell of the cake wafted out as Sherry opened the oven door. She carefully lifted the cake tray out and put it on the wire rack Hanna had placed earlier. Freshly always smelled so good. Sherry looked incredibly excited.

“Look! We made that!”

“Indeed we did. Now come on, let’s make the frosting and then we can…” Hanna glanced at the pile of toppings. “Put the finishing touches on.”

“Yay!” Sherry hurried over and followed Hanna’s instructions on whisking the butter, sugar, and vanilla as Hanna poured in the milk slowly. It was incredible how Sherry could whisk like an electric whisker but Hanna wouldn’t complain about that. The cake cooled and with the frosting complete, it was time to decorate the cake.

Just how was Sherry planning on doing this anyways? Hanna watched as Sherry grabbed her mishmash of snacks.

Excitedly, Sherry opened the bags and just started tossing them onto the cake. “I’ve always wanted do this!” Sherry said, much to Hanna’s amusement. It was hard to remember that the two of them were adults when Sherry still acted like a kid. But again, it was her birthday, so Hanna wouldn’t criticize her.

The top of the cake was like if a candy army was trying to defend against a bomb of snackatcular proportions. A rainbow of gummies laid underneath a dusting of cookies, chips, and other various snacks’ crumbs. Hanna’s brain couldn’t comprehend what it was going to taste like.

“It’s your cake Sherry, why don’t you cut it?”

Sherry smugly shook her head. “No, it’s our cake! Let’s cut it together!”

Oh this silly girl. Hanna smiled and grabbed the knife together with Sherry. This… wasn’t how their wedding cake would be right? Hanna blinked. She was getting ahead of herself and felt embarrassed for thinking that. And before she knew it, Sherry had already thrusted their hands down, cutting right into the cake.

“Gentler!” Hanna said. “We’re cutting it into pieces, not trying to kill it!”

“Oops!”

With that warning in mind, they were able to cut out two vaguely similarly shaped pieces. They took their cake slices to the dinner table and Hanna carefully picked up a piece with a fork. It was at least edible. But-

“Mmmrmrm!” Sherry took a large bite out of hers. “That was way better than I expected!”

That’s promising, Hanna thought. She took a bite.

“Urk!”

It was like a sugary burst followed by a salty and bitter aftertaste. The chips added crunch to it that didn’t seem right with this kind of cake and it was honestly… not very good. However, this was the cake Sherry wanted, so Hanna be damned if she was going to spit it out. She swallowed it.

“…I suppose so?” Was the best she could manage.

“I thought it’d be inedible!” Sherry nodded her head, eyes closed. “Yet I guess because everything was edible the end result was going to be edible anyways.” And she took another bite.

“Wait.” Hanna put her fork down. “You KNEW this cake was going to taste bad?”

“Well, obviously! How could a cake with these toppings taste good Hanna? I thought you were an expert at baking?”

“But you chose them! Why would you choose to make it taste bad?!”

As was routine at this point, Sherry put on another smug smile. “Because if I still had fun even though the cake tasted bad, then that would be proof that it was the act of baking the cake together I found fun! Aren’t I a genius? Praise me, praise me!”

Praise was perhaps the last thing on Hanna’s mind. In fact, words in general were pushed to the back of Hanna’s mind. Her flabbergasted expression appeared to serve to somehow prove Sherry’s own hypothesis that Hanna was stunned at her own genius. Hanna’s brain gave up on processing the information and just accepted that Sherry would be Sherry.

“Happy birthday, oh genius and ace detective Sherry.” Hanna said, and while there may have been a bit of sarcasm, she ultimately still meant well.

Somehow Sherry was still able to stomach the rest of her cake slice. Apparently the experience (and therefore experiment) wouldn’t be complete unless she did so. The more intelligent of the couple Hanna decided that she would simply scrape off the toppings and eat them separately instead of a combined mess. After all, the ingredients themselves were fine.

With their slices completed and the rest in the fridge for a later date, their plans for the night were complete. Hanna yawned and looked at the time. It was about time to head to bed.

“Oh!” Sherry punched her palm. “I thought of something else I wanted!”

“Hm?” Hanna double checked the time. “Well, it’s late so maybe I can get it for you tomorrow?” She didn’t know if any stores would still be open tonight.

But strangely Sherry shook her head. “It’s something you can give me tonight!”

What? Hanna looked at Sherry quizzically. “And what’s that?”

Sherry pulled Hanna in and kissed her deeply. Hanna’s eyes widened in surprise but eventually let herself melt into Sherry’s embrace.

She used to make fun of her stupidly strong strength but in their time together, Hanna came to love it. The feeling of Sherry’s arms wrapped around her body made her feel secure. Hanna returned the embrace, trying to pull Sherry into herself as much as she could.

Eventually the two of them separated. Their faces were flushed and both of them were panting. No words were exchanged as Sherry eagerly pulled Hanna into their bedroom where she would claim the rest of her birthday gift for the night.

Afterword

Happy birthday to our dear loveable detective! This one ended up longer than the Hanna one, mostly because I had more time to prepare this time around haha. The fanart for these two have been pouring in and I couldn’t be happier!

I initially thought about making this a much more romantic/intimate one (and part of that was still there are the end) but I always find a strange barrier every time. Maybe it’s because I’m so used to my current fics being the way they are but who knows, mayhaps one day I’ll get more intimate than what I’ve written haha.

Anyways, hopefully you enjoyed this (perhaps overly) sweet fic of one of my favourite couples of all time!