A birthday ficlet for the one and only ProfessorSpork.

When Peter takes away his hands, she finds a lumpy mound of green and blue frosting sitting on the table in front of her.

"Ta-da!" he exclaims with a nervous enthusiasm as he hovers behind her, like he's waiting for her to get it.

She's really, really trying to. "Is there cake under there somewhere?" she jokes, and she's so glad to hear a breathless laugh in her ear. Her eyes narrow as she studies the frosting, peering carefully at the seemingly random shapes and trying to make some sort of sense out of—

"Wait." She pauses and glances up at him over her shoulder. "Is that supposed to be the United States?" she asks, pointing at one of the green blobs.

Peter nods vigorously.

She glances at the cake again. "Which I suppose means that's South America, and that's Europe…"

More nodding. "Uh-huh."

"Why didn't tell me you were so good at decorating pastries? You would've been a rockstar during the Renaissance."

He grabs a knife and starts cutting her a slice. "It's the world." His tone is so pointed, and oh god, she's definitely missing something.

She smiles. "It's great, Peter. Thank you."

He laughs softly. "And here's a piece of it," he says, handing her the plate. He's still looking at her, waiting for something, and she really wishes she could ask the audience or phone a friend. Peter clears his throat as she takes a bite. "It's a piece of the world." He scratches his head. "Y'know. A world piece."

It takes her a beat, but then she finally gets it. "Oh my god. You got me world piece."

Peter stuffs his hands in his pockets. "I mean, you told me you wanted world peace for your birthday, a-and I really wanted to do that, but Spider-man is only one guy, and—"

Gwen is out of her chair in an instant and throws her arms around his neck. "Thank you," she murmurs into his t-shirt, and she feels a laugh vibrate inside his chest.

"You should probably thank Aunt May instead. She saved it from looking like a cow."

"A green-and-blue, semi-spherical shaped cow?"

"Well, like, they have those blobs all over."

She squeezes her eyes closed, trying to hold in her laughter. "Let's eat some cake." They both sit back down and she takes another bite; she has no idea how involved Peter actually was in the baking process, but it's delicious. "Man, if people understood how tasty world peace is, everyone would want it."

Peter chuckles and starts to dig into his own slice, but then he pauses. "You have a little, uh, Pacific Ocean on your chin."

"Where? Here?" she asks, trying to wipe it away with her finger.

"No, it's—" He gives up and reaches out to get it himself, but she gathers a glob of green frosting and smears it just above his jaw.

"Ooh, sorry, you've got some Africa on your cheek." She smirks through another bite of cake and watches as he scrubs at his face with a napkin. "Peter, I have a very serious question for you."

He stops immediately and looks at her with wide, attentive eyes. "What is it?"

She sighs heavily. "Would you judge me if I ate the entire Northern hemisphere?"