[Gift] Candlelit Night: Prompt

The Candlelight Market Festival, a small community event in the main city of Burrowgatory during the days leading up to All Sinner’s Day was a tactic used by the community to attract many buns, both goods sellers and shoppers alike. For one purple-furred bun, receiving a personal invitation from the event organizers to set up a booth during it was one of her highest achievements as of late - it was like a breakthrough in Devona’s baking career. She was beaming with excitement leading up to the festival, hard at work promoting her baking blog and BunTube channel where she would show off her superb baking skills, which gained her a sizable following. Seeing her efforts pay off was as sweet as apple pie… and speaking of apples, she invited Mckenna, her close friend and supplier of apples, to attend the festival with her. While she didn't pressure them to attend, they ultimately relented for the sake of supporting their friend, and out of curiosity about what other booths would have to offer. 

While there was nothing special about the venue during the day, it was a completely different sight to behold once the sky had darkened and several hundred candles and paper lanterns lit up the area. The main attraction was the huge stage set up in the middle, surrounded by various booths on all sides. Wanting to get her booth up and running before visitors began pouring in, Devona and Mckenna had the foresight to arrive at the venue early, before the dark. While Mckenna busied themself with decorating the table, stringing up orange fairy lights to keep the theme of candlelight, Devona was putting the finishing touches on the homemade sweets she brought. With a piping bag in hand, the gluttony bun added a generous amount of chocolate cream on the vanilla roll cake, carefully topping it off with two more uniform swirls along the cake.

“There, that's the last one! I think I’m done here, Mckenna– woah, where did the time go?” When Devona finally lifted her head from her work, she realized the change in her surroundings. The lighting began to dim as day shifted to night. One by one, the event organizers and helpers began to make rounds lighting up candles and paper lanterns. Both buns at Devona’s booth watched in awe as the venue filled with the warm light; the flickering of the open flame was similar to a dance, just as mesmerizing. Paper lanterns were placed on some of the structures, some were secured onto little boats set to float across the shimmering surface of the pond that separated the booths from the seating area. The lighting of the candles was the cue for security to begin letting eager guests into the venue, allowing for the long-awaited market festival to begin. Some helper buns came by to help switch on the fairy lights that lined the booths, having opted them in to prevent potential damage to the goods.

Devona took in the view, completely awestruck, until the visitors began to queue up at her booth, drawn to the sight and scent of the sweets she had on display. Cake slices and cookies sold at a quick pace and her backup stock began to dwindle while more hungry buns came and went. It started with the huge, vanilla-lavender and apple chiffon cakes; even though Devona had the foresight to bake at least ten of each, they were sold out within the first hour or so, thanks to some customers opting to buy the entire cake instead of individual slices that she originally marketed. She was sure that Mckenna, too, would be proud of that, given that the apples came freshly picked from their prized orchard. Next came the chocolate vanilla roll cake, an instant hit with the crowd, and soon all fifteen rolls were bought out.

The tip jar was almost completely filled with carats when a pink-haired envy girl approached the booth, clutching her wallet. Her ears twitched with delight from under her pink veil as she scanned the selection of baked goods, all while trying her best not to drool. “Ummm, hi, excuse me…” she spoke gently, trying to get Devona’s attention as the purple bun was busying herself with replacing yet another cake on the stands. The last two slices were bought by a blue-haired greed bun, who was happily munching away at one of the generous servings of strawberry cheesecake she held in each hand, making her way over to the benches. The familiar voice caused Devona to finally shift her attention to the matchmaker, waiting patiently to be noticed.

“G-good evening, Ms Satin!” Devona greeted her warmly, hoping Satin would not be able to hear the slight tremble in her voice. Seeing her in her gorgeous doll form made Devona blush slightly, quietly wishing it wasn't obvious to her customer. “Good evening to you too, I see business going well for you tonight! Everyone has been talking about your cakes, Devona, so I had to try some for myself!” That compliment only seemed to make Devona’s face redder, she could already imagine Mckenna snickering next to her, watching her go weak in the knees for someone as lovely as Satin. “T-thank you! I was surprised by how popular it’s been all night! At this rate, I could definitely open a little cafe… that'd be most ideal for me!” “I think that is a wonderful plan, Devona! Given your popularity tonight, I’m sure things will look up for you.” Satin chimed in supportively, clapping her hands together. That was when Devona took notice of the contents of the bamboo woven basket that hung from the envy bun’s shoulder: several candle sticks, what seemed to be pieces of folded paper, and some markers. Satin tilted her head and followed the Gluttony bun’s gaze before chuckling.

“Oh, these? I figured I would bring some paper lanterns for this new thing I thought of, for all those lonely buns here tonight seeking love or companionship. These paper lanterns are rather thin and light… I figured that if we could write down our wishes and have them float up high, the candle flame should be powerful enough to generate that push.” Satin explained eagerly. “Just think of how pretty it’ll look, just a bunch of glowing lanterns drifting up, it’d fit the theme of the festival and also just look gorgeous!” She giggled with a huge grin on her soft features. “I can explain more about this later, but first I’d like to make an order! I don’t want to take too much of your time, and Jackal must be wondering what is taking me so long.” She nervously scratched her cheek with her finger when mentioning the other envy bun that she was with here, looking around the area nervously.

“I think that will be a fun thing to do during this festival, I'd love to check out what you're going to do with the paper lanterns later!” Devona, who was originally gazing back at Satin dreamily (as if she had already sent her heart adrift on a floating paper lantern), was snapped back to reality when the matchmaker mentioned ordering some of her sweets. “O-oh right! Sorry about that, yes, let me know what you’d like!” Satin’s gaze was now directed at the variety of sweets on the counter, with the large strawberry cheesecake drawing her attention the most. “I would like two slices– no, make it three slices of strawberry cheesecake! I’m taking one of the pieces to Jackal, but I’m sure she won't mind me having an extra slice, since it's my carats I’m spending.” She brought her hand up to her chin and chuckled. “I would like some of those campfire smores cookies.” She said, gesturing to the cookie jar filled with large, perfectly round cookies, topped with lightly toasted marshmallows. The description next to the jar promised a melted chocolate center as well. “I would love to grab five of those! I think that’s all for now, thank you!” Satin smiled and began to dig around her wallet for the right amount of carats, showing it to Devona before dropping the payment into her carat jar.

As Devona began to pack Satin’s order, an unexpected question from her customer caught her off guard once again. “I’m surprised that you have been managing all these orders by yourself… didn’t you have an assistant with you? I saw a brown bun earlier but I don’t see them now…” Satin exchanged confused looks with the baker while receiving her packed sweets. “Yeah… I think I must have been too focused on my customers to notice them disappear. I’ll go look for them. Thank you once again, Satin.” Devona replied sheepishly, this time it was her turn to scratch at her pink-tinted cheeks. “I’ll see you later!” With one final nod and a wave, Satin disappeared into the sea of festival goers.

“Mckenna?” The realization of Mckenna’s sudden disappearance seemed to worry Devona enough to look around her immediate area, in case they were still around. She silently hoped that one of her customers hadn't accidentally mistaken the fluffy Angora bun for a plush toy earlier. Mckenna’s refusal to be in their doll form in public did make finding them a bit more challenging. Thankfully, it did not take much effort for Devona to locate them; when she paused searching and listened carefully, there was a faint sound of labored breathing, easily drowning in an ocean of chatter around them. Lifting the tablecloth to look under her booth, the baker managed to locate her friend, hiding away from public view. A look of relief on Devona's face was soon replaced with worry when she noticed the state Mckenna was in: they were sitting on the grass, trembling and holding their tail, their shaky breathing a clear sign of their anxiety. Their bangs were a mess and they were digging their hooves into their fur, gray eyes slightly visible and darting around, trying to focus on something, literally anything, that could help ground them.

“Mckenna?” Devona repeated their name to get their attention, crouching down and reaching over to tap them on the shoulder. She was greeted by a terrified expression, a pair of wet eyes staring back at her through the hairs. “Are you alright?” She asked, looking at the brown bun with a concerned expression while she offered them her hand. Mckenna hesitated for a second before grabbing onto one of Devona’s fingers for comfort. “I’m sorry.” They apologized quietly. “I’m happy that your business is going well, I truly am… and I was glad that I could see that happen, but… I think I want to take a step away. It’s getting too crowded for my liking…” They muttered, their voice laced with guilt as their little hooves kneaded at Devona’s hand like a pillow to ease their stress.

“No, it’s alright, Mckenna. I appreciate all your help and support today, but I think I can handle everything now. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable being here. I’ll call Eden to pick you up and take you back to the farm, okay?” With a small nod, the brown bun fully climbed into their friend’s arms, admiring the warmth of the candlelight glow through their hazy vision. While waiting for their partner to show up, they silently accepted pets from Devona. The crowd soon seemed to disperse as a performance was taking place, which brought ease to Mckenna; they seemed a little more relaxed, enough to start accepting treats from Devona, who passed them a small slice of strawberry cheesecake to munch on and distract them from any anxiety-inducing thoughts.

It did not take long for Eden to finally show up after Devona phoned him, hurrying over with several bags of snacks hanging on his arms and a look of slight worry on his usually stoic face. To save the need for small talk, Devona had explained the entire situation on call earlier, leading to the pride bun’s quick arrival to her booth. Even though Mckenna and Eden were typically together, the latter had some business to attend to before coming to the bazaar, having dropped Mckenna off with Devona to help with the booth before the event started. “Eden, you’re here…” The brown bun shimmied out of Devona’s arms and down onto the table, holding out their arms in requesting uppies. The sad, wet trails on their face, along with their messy fur with strawberry cheesecake crumbs in it, evidence of Devona feeding them, just made them look pathetic, so pathetic, in fact, that they look cute. Eden didn’t vocalize that thought, instead helped wipe the mess from Mckenna’s face with a tissue.

“We’ll take our leave now.” Eden announced, carefully picking Mckenna up and letting them climb onto his shoulder. Once seated comfortably, the brown bun nuzzled into their partner’s ear, letting out soft purrs before looking back at Devona. “I’m sorry about not staying for long,” They apologized again. “But you are doing well by yourself, I’m sure you’ll get the rest sold out in no time.” They looked around and let out a half-hearted sigh, they were clearly recovering from their previous anxiety episode. “I would love to stay a little longer to look at the lights.” “Well, you can always light some candles around the farmhouse, or put up some fairy lights? Or you could even get some paper lanterns!” Devona suggested as she tapped her chin thoughtfully, remembering what Satin was up to. “You could even take a relaxing shower with some scented candles, one of the booths nearby is selling some.”

“That sounds like a good plan, thank you.” Mckenna nodded, right as Devona seemed to remember something; she told the two to wait before she pulled out a box from behind her booth. “For you!” She smiled, handing it to Eden. “I saved you some slices of vanilla-lavender and apple chiffon cakes… I know how much you take pride in the apple farm, I’m sure you’ll be quite pleased with the fruits of your labor. Thank you once again and goodbye to you two. Happy All Sinners’ Day and have a safe trip home!” She said, waving the two off as they left after thanking her. Mckenna seemed a little more relieved to be leaving the crowded venue.

In the end, Devona managed to sell out her entire stock, even taking additional orders from interested buns. She was definitely thrilled about the future prospects of her baking business, humming to herself as she packed. Eventually, after she closed down her booth, the gluttony bun went to look for Satin by the pond, who was watching the little candle boats go by. The two spent some time chatting together before setting off some paper lanterns of their own, watching them carry away their wishes before deciding to spend the rest of the evening exploring booths together. It truly was a spectacular, candlelit night.