a/n- wassup? it be tobn here with a brand new valentine's day-themed story!

yeah, this is weird. and unexpected! it's been ages since i've written a valentine's day story, and i still don't have anyone to celebrate the holiday with. but hey, being single isn't all that bad...right? right?

anyway, do you remember when i said this on february 10th, 2015?

"i had originally planned on doing a different thing for valentine's day, but i figured this [mission cupid] was a better choice because i was less pressured and i was more prepared. maybe next year!"

yes, my 2015 valentine's day fic (which you can find on my profile and give it a read because it's v good #cheekyspon) was actually supposed to be this story, originally named "the fourteen valentine's day antics of ethan morgan" (title is long on purpose). i was supposed to update once a day until valentine's day, but it was a new idea at the time, and i decided to go with the safer route and start "mission cupid".

in 2016, i wanted to make the idea a reality, i really did. but i literally held it off for so long until it was january 29th and i haven't started yet. naturally, i thought i could do it, but turns out the first chapter was actually terrible because of how rushed it was, so i decided to put it off, swearing i will start weeks before the posting date.

it's 2017. i started writing this story one and a half weeks before the posting date.

which isn't bad, considering it was me doing it. luckily, i had a plan to finish half the story before the due date, and continue writing while i'm posting daily so that by the fourteenth, i should already be done the whole series. of course, i had to sneak in some other updates, but this has been a project for a majority of my 2017 so far.

so hopefully my procrastinating-for-two-years has been worth it up until this moment! i guess there's only thing to do, and that's to

ENJOY!

*disclaimer: i still don't own mbav or its characters. big surprise there.

Day 1: "He mentioned that he'd simply fall in love with whoever gave him a cupcake."

X~*~X

"First of all, shut up," Ethan said, phone on his shoulder as he walked into his house, "and second of all, be quiet."

Benny laughed on the other side of the line. "You know it's true, E — 'Galaxy-Man' 64 was much better than 'Galaxy-Man 78'."

Ethan rolled his eyes, closing the door and throwing his bag aside. He kicked off his shoes, still holding his phone between his cheek and his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Benny, but there was something about Galaxy-Man 78 that was more appealing than '64. I think the graphics were much better, and the story was actually more clear."

"Sure the story and the graphics were more compelling, but the game-play was so much better than '78! And '64 actually progressed the plot, while '78 was just milking that franchise dry."

"Ouch, tough critic, B," Ethan chuckled, picking up his bag and heading upstairs. As he was the first one home, he began to blast loud music on his speakers and put Benny on speaker phone as he began to change.

"Not to mention the soundtrack in '78 was much better," Ethan pointed out. Benny over-dramatically gasped.

"Are you comparing 'Galaxy-Man 78's soundtrack to 'Galaxy-Man 64's soundtrack? Did you hear the disgusting 'Mind-Dementor's Palace' theme in '78? It was the most anti-climactic song in the whole universe of 'Galaxy-Man'."

"It was written that way on purpose!" Ethan protested.

"I cannot believe you are taking Rory's side with this," Benny grumbled. "If that wasn't the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard…"

Ethan rolled his eyes. "Listen, B, I have to go. Semester two has already brought many opportunities to be as lazy as possible, so I'm going to try to fight back."

"You do that," Benny said, and Ethan can almost hear the smile on his face. "I'll call you later, dude. Cool?"

"Of course cool," Ethan readily agreed, smiling dumbly. "I'll talk to you later then."

"Last word!" Benny exclaimed, and before Ethan could respond, he was met with a dial tone. He chuckled to himself, throwing his phone on his bed and staring at it.

'You're doing it again,' his conscience reminded him. Ethan rolled his eyes at the thought, flopping on his back. He let the music wash over him and sighed.

'You got to stop living like a musical cliché,' his mind said. 'It's actually quite silly now. Everyone is getting tired of it, including your own brain.'

Ethan shook his head in disbelief, even if he knew it was true. The only thing that consumed his thoughts were green eyes, striped shirts, and this indescribable magic he had. It was a bit ridiculous, he would admit, but it was true — for a multitude of reasons, he fell in love with Benny Weir.

'You're doing it again,' his brain repeated dully.

His phone suddenly rang once again, and he snapped out of his daze to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, honey, it's mom," his mom said. "I just wanted to ask if you can start making the cupcakes that I am making for my book club."

Ethan sat up. "Wait...you have a book club?"

"...is that really the response you have for me?"

"I-I mean, when do you need the cupcakes?" he stuttered, rushing up to his feet and running downstairs to the kitchen, phone still in hand.

"I need it tonight, but I won't be home for a while because your dad and I are going to Jane's school curriculum night, so you'll have to make them."

Ethan smiled nervously. "Are you sure you trust me to bake?"

"I'm sure, honey," she answered distractedly. "I pre-made the reduced coconut milk and the frosting, so you just need to put it all together. The recipe is on my laptop, so you should be able to find it."

'You can make one for Benny,' a part of his brain whispered. 'He would love it if you made him a cupcake, and then you can just tell him. Tomorrow is the first day of February after all — season of love, isn't it?"

"How much do they make?"

"Eighteen."

"How much do you need?"

"Seventeen."

Ethan grinned. "Then I'm on it."

He brought his speakers downstairs, along with his mom's laptop. As he tied his mom's bright pink apron on, he scrolled down the recipe.

"Vanilla-bean coconut," he murmured, skimming through the article; "a recipe from 'Cupid's Cupcakes'."

'Vanilla is his favourite,' his brain cheered, 'and he really liked Moana!'

Ethan smiled to himself as he got the bag of frosting and the bowl of reduced coconut milk out of the fridge. He placed them on the kitchen island and read the ingredients for the cupcakes.

"Two cups of all-purpose flour," he muttered, before looking at the cabinets lining the walls. Humming to the music, he opened the cabinet that conveniently had a sticky note scrawled with 'all-purpose flour' in messy handwriting.

'Too convenient?' his conscience rationalized. Ethan shrugged, dismissing the thought before opening the cabinet and—

"Argh!" Ethan exclaimed, stumbling back as a bag of flour fell on him. He coughed out fluffy white clouds, and caught sight of another sticky note that said 'take that, Susie!' on it.

'She did say she was going to get revenge on Susie for corrupting her cupcakes once she came over again,' his conscience reminded him, and he groaned, grabbing the kitchen island to keep him from seeing. He rubbed his eyes before he realized his mistake.

"Shit!" he cursed, getting some flour in his eye and desperately tried to rub it out. However, it made it worse, and a sharp stab of pain shot at his eyes.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" he yelled, running to the sink in attempts of washing it out. The flour became sticky, and in frustration, he grabbed his phone on the counter and dialed his mom.

"Jane's stupid prank just got all-purpose flour in my eyes!" Ethan yelled furiously when his mom picked up. He could hear Jane snicker in the background.

"Oh dear, I think there might still be some in the basement?" his mom prompted, and as Ethan blindly walked out of the kitchen, he slipped on some stray flour and fell on his back.

He could hear Jane laughing, and he groaned loudly before hanging up. He lied down on the ground and refused to get up.

'For Be-nny,' his mind sing-songed. He rolled his eyes and pushed himself up, brushing some flour off and stomping his way down the basement for more flour.

When he found it, he went back to the kitchen and as he dusted some of the flour off the kitchen island, read on.

"Baking powder," he muttered, and slowly checked every cabinet. He slowly cracked them open before hiding behind the cabinet door in a swift motion. He warily peeked behind it in case of another prank, and sighed, grabbing the baking powder and slamming it closed.

He grabbed some salt and sugar from the bottom cabinet, and then proceeded to get butter.

"What even is salted butter?" Ethan grumbled, annoyed at the fact that it has been ten minutes into his baking adventure and he was already failing. As he opened the fridge, the website helpfully reminded him that he needed three large eggs.

He stared at the eggs in the fridge and frowned — surely they were big enough, weren't they?

'Get a ruler,' his mind immediately compromised.

"I'm not measuring the damn egg," he murmured, staring at the size of the egg. "That has to be a large egg...right?"

'Measure it,' his brain pressed. 'You want this to be perfect, don't you?'

Ethan sighed, defeated, and stormed to find a plastic ruler that could be easily bent.

After determining that yes, it was a large fucking egg, he carried on to get some vanilla beans ("Vanilla beans are an actual thing?" he exclaimed in shock when he found the small box of vanilla bean his mom kept) and and set the reduced coconut milk aside.

Ethan preheated the oven to 176˚C and lined eighteen cupcake cups in a tray, getting a marker and marking a heart one of them.

'Fucking dork,' his mind retorted, but he did it anyway.

He took the measurements for the purpose flour and got out a medium-sized bowl. He dumped two cups of all-purpose flour into the bowl, coughing once more as powder from the flour flew in his already-white face. He added the baking powder and salt before realizing; "What do you mean I have to whisk it?"

Ethan stood back, looking around before finding a metal whisk. He sighed — 'this is going to take a while, isn't it.'

An eternity later, he successfully mixed the flour mixture and set the bowl aside. It was then time to use an electric mixer — "I could've just used this?" he huffed in frustration — to mix the butter.

Unfortunately, it didn't occur to him that there were different settings, and Jane was very hellbent on getting Susie back.

"Fuck!" he cursed when the high-speed mixer splashed chunks of butter all over his clothes and the table. He quickly lowered the speed and huffed, trying to remain positive by humming the song playing in the background. He proceeded to add the sugar and mixed it until it was light and fluffy.

"Well that wasn't so bad," he murmured, looking at the mess he made while his conscience screamed at him.

He went back to his mom's laptop — which he placed in the back of the kitchen for obvious safety reasons — and followed the next step.

" 'Add two eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl. Beat in seeds from vanilla bean and remaining egg'," he read aloud, before staring at the large eggs he placed in a bowl.

"This shouldn't be too hard," he said to himself, taking an egg and cracking it softly on the edge of the kitchen island.

It barely made a mark, and he huffed, tapping it lightly again. This time, there was barely a hole, and Ethan threw his head back in frustration before slamming it on the edge of the table.

The egg broke and egg yolk spilled onto his apron and dribbled down his pants. Ethan stared at his yolk-covered hand as his conscience continuously laughed at him.

He grabbed another damn egg and started again.

After an hour of avoiding potential disasters, he pulled the cupcakes out of the oven from their twenty-minute bake (admittedly, he baked it for twenty five, but if he put enough frosting on, no one would see the burnt edges) and placed it on the messy kitchen island.

"Decoration time," he said to himself, hand on his hips as he stared at the frosting bags. There was a small bowl of coconut flakes and, not resisting the temptation, nibbled on a few and practically melted.

"Consider the fucking coconut indeed," Ethan murmured.

'That was a weird thing to say'

"Shut up."

He danced around the kitchen island, sprinkling coconut flakes on the spirals of frosting he made, and reserved the one for Benny was carefully sprinkled.

Eventually, all seventeen cupcakes for his mom's book club were done, and the cupcake for Benny was carefully placed aside.

"There isn't possibly anymore screw-up's that can happen now," Ethan said confidently, but that was when the door opened, and he silently groaned.

Ethan carefully walked in the school, cupcake in hand. People gave him strange looks for dodging everyone, but he was not prepared to lose his cupcake to the forces of other people.

"Easy going, come on, just a little forward—"

"Hey, E!"

Ethan jumped as he turned a corner, and in almost slow motion, the cupcake flew in the air.

Wide, green eyes were all he saw, and they almost sparkled in the added light in a cute kind of way that made them seem—

'Can you focus please?!' his conscience screamed, going into override. 'You went through hell for that cupcake and it's about to fall on the ground!'

Luckily, Benny caught it with one hand, the cupcake falling flat onto his palm. He slowly rose it to Ethan's level, and he took a deep breath.

"Thanks, B," he said, suddenly nervous. Benny grinned a toothy smile.

"Anytime!" He winked, and Ethan rolled his eyes. "Anyway, funny you should bring a cupcake over, because—"

"Y-Yeah, I know," Ethan mumbled as, unbeknownst to him, that Benny was actually not listening. "They are actually for y-you, because I know you like cupcakes, and vanilla is your—"

"Anyway, this girl actually gave me a whole batch of vanilla coconut cupcakes!" Benny exclaimed happily, showing Ethan a tray of perfectly lined cupcakes, that mirrored the cupcakes in the article.

'Are you actually kidding me,' Ethan thought wearily.

"Yeah, apparently her dad owns some small website called 'Cupid's Cupcakes'," Benny explained. "I just walked in and she gave me these cupcakes! And Ethan, oh my god, I already ate three and they are heaven in breadcrumbs and sugar. Do you want one?"

"No thanks," Ethan said sadly. Benny looked at the cupcake.

"Say, that looks a lot like the ones she gave me, except the frosting is a bit...smushed." Ethan blushed, reeling his hand back and putting the cupcake close to his chest.

"I, uh, made a cupcake," he said dumbly.

"For who?" Benny wriggled his eyebrows suggestively. "I see you scrawled a little heart on it — anyone I should know about?"

'You,' Ethan thought bitterly.

"M-Me," he stuttered instead, and stuffed it in his mouth with a small smile. Benny frowned, slowly lowering the tray of cupcakes down.

"Um...okay then," he said slowly. "I'll...see you later, Ethan. Enjoy your cupcake, I guess."

As he walked away, Ethan faced the direct he left in, wiping the bread crumbs off his mouth.

'Stupid, stupid, stupid,' his mind helpfully reminded him.

A gust of wind blew past him, and Rory appeared in a blur of blonde.

"I smelled vanilla coconut cupcakes from my locker!" Rory chirped, and before Ethan could open his mouth, he grabbed the remaining of the broken cupcake and sped off.

Ethan sighed, and walked to his locker — tomorrow's another day, he supposed.

a/n- well there you have it! the aim of this story, if you couldn't already tell, was to have a goofy rationality v.s morality going on with ethan, which is the point of view of the story. it's meant to be kind of poorly written because it's mostly him thinking, and kind of silly as well. i hope you feel the vibe :P

anyway, until tomorrow, i guess! thanks for reading, and drop a review if you liked it if you like :)

"維持し続ける!"
*keep on keeping on