You never had your birthday celebrated.

König learned that fact when you were pitching in for someone else’s birthday present, and you mentioned it casually. Like it was not a big deal.

But it was a big deal.

No presents? No cake? No one to treat that day like something special?

He couldn’t stop thinking about it, and remembering all the birthdays he himself had as a kid. To think that you never had that…

It was what led König to look into your personnel file, so he could find out when your birthday was exactly. And then he started planning.

But no amount of cake recipes he read online could prepare him for what he had gotten himself into.

He thought it would be easier, just following the recipe step by step, right? But König was a man of battle, not baking. He tried his best, but he had very little patience, and even less grace.

His hands were big and clumsy, made for handling rifles and snapping necks, not for carefully mixing cake batter and frosting. And definitely not for cake-decorating. By the time he was finished his sniper hood was dusted with white flour, the kitchen looked like a warzone, and everything was stained with strawberries that he accidentally squished with his way too strong hands while trying to arrange them on the cake.

The cake itself… eh... it was wonky, at best. Kőnig actually got nervous. He wanted to make it a special day for you, and this… creation… was barely even a cake. But he spent all night making it, and he had no time for plan B. Even though this wasn’t good enough, König didn’t want your birthday to be forgotten this year again. He wanted it to be a special day, your day.

So, he took the wonky cake, stuck candles into it, and went to your room to surprise you with it first thing in the morning.

You were still sleepy, blinking your eyes and wondering if this is a dream. But no - König really stood at your door, with the ugliest little cake in the world, with his hood stained with flour and frosting.

“Happy birthday, Schatzi.” König said. “I wanted to make it special this year.”

And suddenly, it was the most wonderful cake in the world.