People are slaves of routine, Berry Blue and Firefly being no exception. Their chain was a roof of a semi-tall building that had exactly five residents and one dog. Not like they counted. If those people knew they had been meeting up here for the past year, they didn't do anything to show it, and heroes appreciated that.

Firefly wasn't surprised when he saw his partner in a skin tight blue suit sitting near the edge, just as she didn't flinch as he landed with no grace on the opposite side. After he'd set his stuff aside, prepared the gifts and hid them behind his back, he made his way over to her. Coughing slightly to get her attention, he revealed his right hand.

"You brought me a cupcake!", Berry Blue gasped at the sight of a lemon cupcake peeking from the box in Firefly's hand. The book she was reading dropped from her hands. She grinned mischeviously, turning around to pull out something behind her back. "Oh, but I come prepared, Firefly. Mint chocolate."

She held out a beautiful chocolate cake dressed in dark green paper. On top was an impressive tower of minty mousse. Berry's teeth sparkled as brightly as the silver sugar sprinkles in that tasty miracle. His mouth watered at the sight.

"Mint!", he breathed out, looking at the green topped cake like it arrived from heaven. "Oh, you're good, Berry, very good," he smiled as Berry's grin turned into a confused, slightly scared expression, "but you'll have to do a bit better. When life gives you lemons, you make some lemonade to go with your cupcake."

It was his turn to reveal his left hand that was resting on the small of his back. A blue thermos bottle with a floral design and two plastic cups sitting upside down on the bottlecap.

A sigh escaped her lips. Her expression dropped into a frown. "You're impossible."

"I'm the master of my craft," Firefly said as Berry took the cupcake from his hand. Today she wore her hair in a short ponytail. The ends of her hair curled, so it resembled a tropical palm more than a ponytail, actually. It was among his top five Berry hairdos, placing in the third spot. It did fit her personality perfectly on a relaxed day: playful, cheery and a bit childlike. "You have a lot to learn, but you're on the right track."

Firefly sat down by her side and poured them both some lemonade. 

"You've managed to spoil me rotten, mister," she pouted as they exchanged a chocolate mint cupcake for lemonade. He could imagine her eyebrows scrunch behind the mask. "Treating me to sweets and deserts every time you see me? My dentist is gonna fullfill his Hawaiian dreams sooner than planned."

"Hey, let's not be hypocrites. You're spoiling me, too."

"No, I do not," she was quick to retort, eyeing the cupcake with slightly too much interest.

"You don't think I've noticed you slipping me packets of sour worms every time we go home?" he couldn't help raising a playful eyebrow. Berry's eyes froze on the cupcake. "That hand on my almost-butt part of back isn't exactly subtle," he added, biting into the cupcake. Oh, Lord, that's going to be the death of him.

"Alright, fine. Maybe I do," she mumbled through a hefty bite, "but I don't hear you complaining, so I'll assume the candy is good."

"Oh, more than good. Heavenly," he sighed happily. Warmth enveloped his heart, spreading through his body like ripples. Gravity was slowly losing its grip on him, but not enough to carry him to the skies. Familiar feeling of heat was building up just under his skin. 

"Anyway," he cleared his throat, raising his cup. Berry let out a little oh as she smiled and quickly raised her lemonade. No, not smiled, beamed. And it was brighter than he had ever glowed in his life. "Happy anniversary to you, Miss Very Blue Berry. It's been an amazing year, and we actually managed to stay alive. Let's keep that streak going."

She giggled, a light shade of red coloring her cheeks. Can she be any more adorable?, Firefly asked himself as he etched this moment in his memory. This was her berriest giggle of the month. Rubbing the  temples, shaking head in dissaproval and sometimes scolding - those were her specialties. Giggles were a rarity, especially pure, unrefined and unforced kind like this one. 

Most days, her expression was serious and he could see numerous cogs turning constantly inside her mind. She did smile and laugh at his lame jokes, but it wasn't so free. Granted, he did have a tendency to joke around at the worst of times. Always so focused, she caught on things like a professional assassin from some movie. 

If she was so amazing in a tight blue costume, what kind of a person was she without it? The question was on his mind a lot lately. When his tongue itched to ask her for her name, his brain would hammer the breaks. He can't ask her that. They agreed to keep their identities under a thick, black veil of mystery.

He felt like a cat who was shown a beautiful ball of fluffy yarn and told not to unravel it. Of course he wasn't going to do that. He was just going to tap it lightly, see how it would feel to roll it around.

Was she a highschool student, like he was, and acing her classes, like he wasn't? Or was she a student at some private university, being a hero out of defiance to her parents? Or maybe a cute, smiling barista who wished each customer a nice day as she handed them their coffee? 

Whoever she was, Firefly knew one thing for sure. Berry Blue was a badass and no one could convince him otherwise.

Berry raised her cup. That gentle smile made him worry. He loved it, the way it lifted her cheeks, how her dark, almost black eyes twinkled and how soft her face became. But the words that usually came with it did things to his emotions. It wouldn't be a problem in the slightest if feelings didn't hold the strings of his body.

"Happy anniversary, Mister Adorable Lightbulb. I'm glad I met you that night. You're one of the best people in my life."

And just like that, she made his chest clench and his heart continued beating with more vigour. Her words echoed inside his body, making him feel like a soda pop. Heat that pooled under his skin seeped out, much to his dismay. He forced an image of a zombie girl clawing at him into his mind. 

Halloween five years ago was not a happy memory. It wasn't his fault girls are so good at makeup and painting their bodies into zombies with such accuracy. He could almost hear her high-pitched laugh. Oh, and those nails. There were none, but there was so much goo, and it even smelled awful.

None of that helped. Berry's words were an allmighty repelent against everything bad and evil.

"Don't say stuff like that," he pouted a bit, still trying to counter the fluster that kept on bubbling out, "it feels like I actually died that night and you're speaking at my funeral."

"You don't actually mean that," she chuckled. When he shot her a look of denial, she lightly tapped her cheek. He raised the cup to his face. White plastic reflected traitorous pink glow of his face. Feeling even more flustered, he put down his half-eaten cupcake and lemonade. 

Rubbing his face maybe wouldn't help with the glow, but with a little luck, he might be able to get rid of the skin. Human tissue was still red last time he checked his biology book.

"I'm sorry," she chuckled. Her gloved hands cupped his, gently pulling them away from his face. "But I really think you should know how much you mean to me. You're my partner," she forced his left palm off, "my friend," the other palm was off as well and now he was forced to look into her eyes, bracing for the end, "and the best friend I don't deserve, but I got anyway."

His cheeks heated even more. Fizzy bubbles were joined by one big bubble that lifted him off the roof. Before he could be dragged off to space by his feet, Berry tightened the grip on his hands. Curly palm tree on top of her head extended its white strands, reaching for his stomach and wrapping around it. 

Quiet chuckles she hopelessly tried to contain as she pulled him back to the solid concrete were a two-edged sword, one edge hitting his heart and the other one chipping away a small piece of his dignity.

Screw dignity and other imaginary concepts, his mind quipped. The hot pink of his glowing aura turned to tender yellow as she errupted into a hearty laugh.

Initially, this was supposed to be paired up with another chapter, but I decided to split them into multiple parts because this first chapter was just stretching out into infinity. That was actually causing me to procrastinate on writing, and it's just the weirdest thing, lol

We got to meet our two main protagonists, fingers covered in icing sugar and just overall adorableness. What do you think of them? Please share your thoughts in the comments, I'd be more than happy to hear them!

Til next chapter! Toodles!