Requested by DallasStarsFan

* * *

In Dallas, the skies are pure blue as the sun glows every-so-brightly. Its warm rays stream through the glass door of Miro Heiskanen's apartment and land on Miro himself. However, even with the comfort of the sunshine, Miro stays slumped on his white sofa, eyes glazed ahead at the dormant television with sadness.

Complete sadness.

Like a machine, his hand runs through the fur of one of his Pomeranians, who cuddles up against him on his lap.

His other Pomeranian is scooped up from the wooden flooring and into Jesperi Kotkaniemi's arms. With it, Jesperi bounds up to its owner with a toothy grin.

"What are we gonna do today in yee-haw land?" He plops himself next to him. "Are we gonna ride horses? Lasso pigs? Is it gonna be..." He sticks his face into his. "...mint?"

Miro just snaps his small, blue eyes to him. Then looks back ahead at the dormant television. "No, we're not doing that."

"Then...what are we doing?"

Miro stays in the same position. He blinks.

Jesperi tilts his head with concern. "Heisky...!" He pokes his shoulder. "Where's that smile?"

Miro's shoulders drop, along with his head. "I don't know."

Jesperi pulls away with realization. "Ohhh, it's Moody Miro now!"

Miro readjusts his dog on his lap. "I guess. I don't wanna do anything today."

Jesperi's eyes light up. "This calls for...!"

His voice rings off as he springs from the sofa, letting the Pomerian go, and rushes into the small kitchen. He vanishes behind the kitchen island before reappearing with a box of cake mix in the air.

"...CAKE!" He slams the box down on the island's surface. "Nothing takes away moodiness like a nice cake." He cuddles with the box.

Miro peers at the scene, his eyes droopy. "Thanks, Jeppu, but...I don't want to."

"Wait, wait...!" Jesperi dips behind the island again and rifles through the cabinets again. This time, he reveals a container of frosting with sprinkles. "FROSTING!"

"I don't think you should eat that."

"Who says I'm eating this? This is for you!" Leaving the contents behind, Jesperi leaps back to Miro.

"Because you are moody." With two fingers, he pushes a smile up Miro's face by the corners of his lips. "And you gotta be happy! Because if you're moody, then—" He pulls his hands away and gives a large frown. "—I'm moody." He slumps onto the floor. "And everything is moody." He drops onto his stomach. "And we're all moody."

And Jesperi just lays down, displaying his own sadness. The other Pomeranian trots up to him and licks the side of his face.

"Miro." Jesperi peers up at him. "Why are you moody?"

Miro keeps his eyes ahead. "It just comes."

"Yeah. I guess."

Miro peers down at his back. Compassion forms on his face. "Okay, I guess I'll help you bake the cake." He then sits up, holding onto his pet.

Jesperi pops onto his feet, grabbing the dog in the process, and holds it up in the air. "Kippis!"

After placing the dog back on the floor, Jesperi darts to the kitchen and gathers all the utensils. Miro drags himself to be behind the kitchen island, completely contrasting Jesperi's bouncing-off-the-walls excitement.

Once Jesperi lands next to Miro, Miro asks, "Okay, what's first?"

Jesperi takes the box of cake mix and squints at it.

Miro notices the front of the box staring at the younger Finn. "Other side."

Jesperi turns it around and continues squinting. He then hands it to him. "I can't read."

With a huff, Miro reads it. "First, preheat the oven to three-fifty...Fahrenheit."

Miro catches Jesperi about to take off to the oven and throws out, "No, I'll do it." He then pads past him, to the oven.

Jesperi sighs and follows him with his eyes. "Okay, what should I do?"

Miro busies himself by pressing the buttons on the oven. "Open up the box and pour the flour into the bowl."

Jesperi's eyes light up. He spins to the box, tears it open, and fishes for the bag. With victory, he pumps the bag of cake mix into the air before grabbing the bag with his teeth and ripping it in half over the bowl. Flour spills into the bowl and clouds up, billowing all over his face. He coughs.

Miro peers over his shoulder at the sound of his hacking. "What now?" Then with confusion, he returns to his spot and gazes at the dusty mess. "How did you open this...?" He holds up the shredded box as if it's toxic.

Jesperi gasps for air, waving away the flour in the air. "There were no scissors."

Miro opens up the drawer beside him and pulls out a pair of scissors.

Jesperi halts his flailing and wheezing and stares at the tool with a powered face. "Oh."

After putting the scissors away, Miro has to hold up a curled piece of the box to read the instructions. "Okay, now add water, oil, and eggs." He puts down the box. "I'll measure them out."

"And me?"

"Clean yourself up." Miro shuffles away.

Jesperi wipes the flour with his shirt, only to get more flour on his face due to his shirt being full of flour. He coughs and sneezes some more.

Miro returns with the measured ingredients, including a clean rag, which he offers to the younger Finn.

Jesperi takes it. "Kiitos." He brushes off his face and hair.

Miro cracks one egg.

Jesperi pulls the rag away, his hair is messy and sprinkled with flour. His eyes widen in awe at the contents in the bowl. "I wanna crack the eggs!"

Miro pauses with a new egg in his hand. "Uh..." He holds it out to him.

Too eagerly, Jesperi slams the egg on the countertop. It splatters all over the countertop.

Jesperi freezes at his mess. "Whoops." He turns to him, his face growing red. "Can I...try again?"

Miro hands him another egg. "Gently. On the bowl's edge."

Jesperi follows his directions. The egg's shell snaps against the bowl's edge and allows Jesperi to split it over the bowl. All its contents slip into the bowl.

"Yes!" Jesperi tosses the egg shells aside before clapping and hopping in place. "I did it! Can I try another one?"

Miro gives him the last one. He then cleans the mess of the egg on the countertop as Jesperi cracks the last egg.

Done with his task, Jesperi drops the shells into the trash next to him and dusts his hands. "Okay, all done! Now?"

Miro peers up from wiping down the countertop. "Pour the water and oil into the bowl." He resumes cleaning.

With glee, Jesperi takes each measuring cup and pours the liquids into the bowl. "And now?!"

Miro throws away the dirty napkins. "Mix." He scoops up a whisk and holds it out to him. "With this. Gently."

Jesperi takes it with a frown. "Aw...no electric whisk?"

"No."

Jesperi stares at him with pleading, sparkling eyes. It's a look only a cruel person would say "no" to.

Miro sighs, defeated. "Okay." He plucks the hand-held whisk from Jesperi and exchanges it for an electric whisk.

He plugs it in. "Start on the lowest setting. Mix it around gently."

Jesperi bumps the switch up, turning it on. As the mixer hums, Jesperi works its spinning blades into the batter.

"Now, bump it up to a higher speed."

Jesperi pushes against the switch with this thumb, which slips; the switch swings up to the highest speed. The flying blades send batter into the air, splattering on the walls, appliances, and the two Finns. Jesperi lets out a scream at the mayhem. Miro dives for the outlet and yanks the plug out.

And silence draws upon the kitchen. Minus the two's panting.

"I want the normal whisk," Jesperi finally admits.

Miro removes the electric mixer from the bowl and hands Jesperi the whisk. Jesperi finishes mixing the ingredients into a smooth batter with it.

He taps the whisk against the bowl's edge and peers at the thick batter in the bowl. "Looks good?" He peers down.

Kneeling next to him, Miro wipes the batter off one of his Pomeranians. The two dogs are busy licking the batter off of each other. "Yeah!"

"Cool! Now?"

"Uhhh..." Miro rises to his full height and scans through the torn box. "Grease the cake pan and pour it in there." He points to the spray can and the cake pan on the edge of the countertop.

"Ooo, okay!" Jesperi snatches the two items and sprays the airy substance onto the pan. The two both squint as clouds form from the spray.

Jesperi finally stops. "Is this good?"

Miro gazes at the cake pan. Its inside is coated with white.

"Yeah, it's good. Now, pour it in."

Jesperi puts the cake pan down for the bowl and pours the batter in. His eyes glimmer at the sight.

Miro takes a wooden spoon and scraps the leftover batter into the cake pan.

He then places the spoon aside. "And I'll take it to the oven." He scoops up the cake pan and brings it over to the oven.

Jesperi watches as he slides it into the oven, closes the door, and sets the timer. He then returns to him.

"How long is it for?" Jesperi asks with hopeful eyes.

"It said thirty-five minutes on the box."

Jesperi cranes his head up and groans. "Ugh! That's a long time!"

"Well, we can do something in the meantime..."

Jesperi straightens down. "Like?"

* * *

Jesperi finds himself staring at the two cute Pomeranians. Their small, black eyes shimmer as their fluffy sand and tan-colored fluffy fur add to their adorableness. Miro sits next to Jesperi on the floor of the living room, concerned.

Jesperi points to the left dog. "That's Leo. No, no, no, no—" He points to the right dog. "—that's Leo. And the other's Max."

A beat passes by.

"No, that doesn't seem right—" Jesperi points to the right dog. "THAT'S Leo. And the other one is Max." He presses his lips and drops his hand. "No, but he looks too old to be a 'Max.'"

Miro gazes in helplessness.

The oven then beeps.

Jesperi's face lights up. "CAKE!" He flies to his feet and bolts to the oven. "YES! CAKE! GIMME!"

Standing in front of it, he hops in place. Miro steps up to it and opens the door. He takes a toothpick and plunges it into the cake.

He then pulls it out and presses his lips. "It needs five more minutes."

Jesperi's jaw drops, along with his excitement. "But-but-but WHY??"

Miro shows him the batter-coated end of the toothpick. "It's uncooked. You'll get sick if you eat it like this. It does have raw eggs." He closes the oven and sets the timer for another five minutes.

Jesperi cranes his head back. "Aw man!"

Miro tosses the toothpick into the trash and turns to him. "Is there anything you want to do? Other than eating the cake?"

He throws a pointer finger in the air. "I got something!"

* * *

Sitting at the dining table, Miro scrutinizes something ahead. Across from him, Jesperi holds a small whiteboard with a proud smile. On the board's white surface are scribbles of circles and lines.

"A...cow?"

Jesperi shakes his head.

"A...dog?"

Jesperi shakes his head again.

"A...bear?"

Jesperi shakes his head once again.

"A..."

The oven beeps.

"CAKE!"

Jesperi drops the whiteboard and speeds to the oven. Hopping up and down like before, he watches Miro opening up the oven and testing the cake with another toothpick.

Miro pulls away from the oven and sighs. "Another five minutes."

Jesperi halts his jumping. "WHAT?" He then collapses onto his knees and arches his body up to the ceiling. "WHY DOES LIFE HAVE TO BE SO CRUEL?!"

Miro peers down at him. "It's just cake." He then turns to the oven and sets its timer.

Jesperi plops onto his stomach and holds onto Miro's ankles. "AND I NEED THE CAKE NOW."

Miro huffs and peers down at him. "Okay, what did you draw that I was guessing wrong?"

"Oh!" He springs back onto his feet. "It was you playing hockey!"

Miro slightly gapes at him. "Oh. I wouldn't have guessed...difficult level."

"Now, your turn?"

"Alright."

They return to the dining table and settle in their spots. Jesperi hands his friend the whiteboard and marker.

Miro erases the whiteboard with his sleeve and sketches something. He then shows it to him.

Jesperi's face lights up. "That's a flower!"

Miro nods, erases, draws something else.

"That's a star. Easy!"

Miro changes up the picture.

"That's a cloud!" Jesperi drops his expression into concern. "Heisky, you know you're supposed to make the drawings hard to guess, right?"

Miro erases the drawing. "Uh...well, I don't know how to draw hard...?"

"Try to draw me playing hockey!" He flashes him a toothy grin.

"Okay..."

Having the whiteboard propped to display to Jesperi, Miro begins to sketch.

Confusion clouds Jesperi's face. "Uhhh...a happy flower?"

Miro eyes him. He continues drawing.

Jesperi tilts his head. "A happy...building?"

Miro looks at him, concerned. He adds onto the drawing.

"A....car standing up."

Miro adds the final details to his drawing. "It's supposed to be you playing hockey. You told me to draw it."

"Ohhh...that's right..." He chuckles in embarrassment.

The oven beeps again.

Jesperi darts his eyes to the oven, gripping onto the table's edge. "It HAS to be ready."

Miro gets up and strolls to the oven before opening it. Jesperi approaches him from behind. He spots the lonely, bare cake in the large, glowing oven—golden, round, and perfect to devour.

Miro takes another toothpick and inserts it into the cake. He removes it and holds it out to Jesperi.

At the sight of the clean toothpick, Jesperi gasps and pumps his fists in the air. "Yes! CAKE!"

Miro exchanges the toothpick for oven mitts, which he uses to move the hot cake onto the oven. He then takes the ripped box from the countertop and reads, "'Wait ten minutes to cool down before frosting.'"

Jesperi groans and drops his head onto Miro's shoulder.

* * *

To pass time, the two immerse themselves in a game of hangman. Jesperi holds up the whiteboard to Miro from across the dining table. The whiteboard shows four lines underneath the hangman station.

Miro examines it. "Uh... 'M'?"

Jesperi writes the letter on the first line.

"Oh! 'I'?"

Jesperi writes that down next to the "M."

"Is that my name?"

"No...!" He writes "R" and "O" on the side and draws out the head and back.

"Oh. Uh..." Miro leans closer to it with narrowed eyes. "Oh..." He pulls away. "'Mint.'"

Jesperi scribbles in the remanding letters to create the word "mint." "How did you know?"

"You say it all the time."

"Oh, yeah." Jesperi holds out the whiteboard and marker to him. "Your turn!"

Miro takes the items and resets the game with seven words.

Jesper's eyes widen at the long row of lines. "Oh wow! English?"

"Yes." Miro nods. "I can make it Finnish."

"No, I gotta work on my English."

"Okay."

Jesperi rubs his chin while staring at it with pinched eyebrows. "Uhhh... 'M'?"

Miro shakes his head. He adds an "M" on the side before drawing the head.

"Ummm... 'J'?"

Miro includes the back after adding a "J" besides the "M."

Jesperi drops back against his backrest of the chair. "Oh no..." He frowns slightly with determination. "Mmmm... 'I'?"

Miro puts in an "I" on the third line.

Jesperi's face lights up. "Oh yes! 'N'!"

He adds in two "N"s across the lines.

"'Finland'"!"

Miro writes in the word. "You're good!"

Jesperi smiles ear-to-ear, rocking back and forth. "Our country is always first!" He then glances at the clock on the oven. "Is the cake ready?"

Miro takes a look at the oven's clock. "Yeah, I guess. Let's frost it."

"YES!" Jesperi dashes up to the cake sitting on top of the oven. He then follows it as Miro transfers it onto a plate and brings it over to the kitchen island.

Jesperi lowers himself to be eye-level with the cake, his eyes sparkling. "Mint...!"

Miro uncaps the frosting container and hands it to him along with a frosting knife. "You can frost it."

"FROSTING!"

Jesperi drives the knife into the container, pulls out a load of the white, fluffy goodness, and smears it all over the cake. As he cakes the bread with the frosting, the frosting makes its mark on his face, clothes, and countertop. Miro stands aside, safe from getting dirty.

Jesperi scraps the last of the frosting and works it into the frosting on the cake. The cake sits on the plate, completely covered with frosting, which is uneven and sticking up at odd places.

Miro gives him a warm smile. "Pretty good!"

Jesperi gazes down at his work, with a proud grin.

He then holds out the opened palate of sprinkles to him. "Sprinkles?"

Jesperi nabs it and dumps the rainbow decorations onto the cake. The sprinkles sit on the frosting as a pile.

Miro rolls his lips at it. "Okay."

Jesperi toss the empty palate aside. "AND NOW WE—"

Miro holds out a saucer with a cake knife and fork. "—serve."

Jesperi sighs, lowering his level of enthusiasm. "Aw." He takes the items, cuts out a mound of cake, and plops it on the saucer. He hands it to him. "For you."

Miro receives it with a warm smile.

Jesperi then serves himself a load of cake before picking up a fork.

He pumps the plate up into the air and announces, "To the moody, moody moods we all go through!" He then lowers his plate, digs his fork into the mass of cake, and stuffs it into his mouth.

Beside him, Miro eats a forkful of cake. The sweet taste of frosting mingled within the soft, fluffy texture of the bread warms him up.

A smile works its way up Miro's face. He peers up at him. "This is perfect. Thank you, Jeppu."

Jesperi stops his mini dance and gives him a frosting-covered smile. "You're welcome! And the cake is mint!"

"The cake is mint."

Jesperi shimmies his shoulders as a little dance. "Mmmm, mmm, mmm! I'm having more!" He serves himself another helping before turning to the older Finn. "You want more?"

Miro halts from taking in another forkful. "Uhhh..."

"Come on. You can never have too much cake." Jesperi cuts out another piece of cake.

"Well, alright." He can't hold back his bashful smile. "I do want more."

With a grin, Jesperi serves Miro another slice.

And with that, they eat together without a hint of moody moods.

The End.