[Gift] Mochi Munching at the Manor

Click, click, click, click - 

The sound of Thorne’s Glassy hooves hitting the polished stone of the manor floors echoed slightly through the hallway as he made his way towards the kitchen. 

He’d not forgotten about Mochi Moon; it was impossible for him to, given how the dropping temperatures of the current month made his Marionette joints require extra daily maintenance. However, he hadn’t expected that the manor would be celebrating it. Master Wolfsbane didn’t often indulge when it came to food-based holidays. He was generally very picky with what went into his body; Thorne would know, as it had taken nearly a year of serving Master Wolfsbane before he’d been able to find suitable kitchen staff. 

One such kitchen staff had quickly proven themselves reliable in handling other tasks as well, and it was that specific bun that Thorne was seeking at this moment. 

As he turned the corner, he found the one he’d been looking for. Fawn was on a stool tall enough to bring them to the countertop, and was carefully washing some leafy vegetables that looked fresh from the garden. So fresh, in fact, that the gardener was still there, unloading his basket as the two chatted quietly. 

They both looked up at Thorne as he entered. Fern took off his hat and nodded to him, while Fawn sputtered a greeting and tried futilely to brush the dirt from her hooves. 

"Chiffon. Ferngully.” 

“Sir.” 

“H-Hello, Thorne!” 

“It’s convenient that you’re both here; I’ve got an errand for you to run.” 

Chiffon - Fawn - paused her ministrations and tipped their head at him, the Flora sprouting on their body seeming to lean in and listen. “Of course! What can we do for you?” 

Thorne pulled a note from his pocket and handed the neatly folded paper to Fawn. “Master Wolfsbane will be hosting a small dinner to celebrate Mochi Moon.” He gestured dismissively as Fawn opened their mouth in panic. “A small dinner. Just staff and Master Brandy.” 

The Sloth sighed softly in relief as she opened the note and looked over the shopping list Thorne had handed her. “Oh, okay. Yes, we can go shopping for it. What time will dinner be?” 

“A little later than usual, in the true spirit of Mochi Moon.” 

“Yes sir!” 

Thorne nodded his thanks and turned to leave. He was barely out of the room before he heard Fern’s soft voice asking Fawn ‘who’s Mister Brandy?’

~~~

Wolfsbane propped his chin in his hand as he looked over at Casque, quietly listening as he and Fern exchanged gardening stories. As far as he could remember, this was the first time the two had met each other, and Wolf was happy to see that they were hitting it off just fine. He knew that sometimes two buns in the same line of work could get competitive - and not in a playful, encouraging way - but he didn’t see any signs of that being the case here. 

“While of course I always appreciate the business, there’s only so many bottles of ice wine I can make before I start getting bored of it, so I’m excited for the weather to change so I can focus on something else.”

Fern nodded, raising his glass that was half-full of said ice wine. “Makes sense! This is awesome though Mister Brandy, I can’t wait to taste your spring collection.” 

“I’ll always provide the manor with quality wine, don’t you worry.” Wolf’s wings twitched as Casque looked over at him with a soft smile. “I’m here all the time anyways, aren’t I?” 

Wolfsbane smiled back, feeling his face heat up with a slight blush. “It’s an honour to have you here, Casque Brandy.” 

Luckily, before Casque could say something else that would turn Wolf’s face bright red, Thorne and Fawn entered the dining room. Fawn had small dessert plates in their hooves, and Thorne carried a huge serving platter, piled up with mochis of all colours and flavours. Thorne placed the platter in the center of the table while Fawn handed out the plates. Fawn pulled out a chair and climbed up beside her littermate Fern, while Thorne took his usual spot behind Wolfsbane. 

“Thorne, come join us.” 

“Please don’t fret over me, Lord Wolfsbane.” 

“Nonsense, there’s lots of mochi for everybody.” 

“Sweets aren’t to my taste, unfortunately, so - “ 

“I’ve got these for you, Thorne!” Wolfsbane looked over at Fawn as she spoke up and saw that she was holding a pitch black mochi up towards Thorne, a gothic web design on its surface. “This one is black licorice flavour!” They seemed to notice suddenly that everybody’s eyes were on them, the Gossamer wings on her head fluttering slightly in embarrassment. “It… It shouldn’t be too sweet for you…” 

Thorne stared at her for a moment, a stray moonbeam landing on his Gilded facial markings and making them shine. Then he took off one glove and delicately plucked the mochi from her grasp, careful not to prick her with his claws. After glancing at Wolfsbane - who nodded encouragingly, of course - Thorne turned his back to the table. The Pride doll took off his mask and took a bite of the mochi, chewing thoughtfully. 

Wolf turned away from his bodyguard-turned-butler and glanced over the platter of mochis, eventually picking up one that Fawn informed him was a ‘sparkling wine’ flavour. The deep taste of red wine flooded his mouth, drawing a pleased hum from his throat as his fangs sank into the soft treat. 

Casque chuckled, bringing a blush to Wolf’s face once more. “That good, huh?” The Envy reached over to grab his own sparkling wine mochi and took a bite, nodding. 

The conversation picked up again as the two buns and three dolls - yes, Thorne included - continued to share the large platter of mochis. There was a moment of tension as Fern bit into a mochi the colour of demon peppers and had to leave the table until his coughing fit subsided, but after a large glass of water and a sheepish apology, he seemed perfectly fine. 

They mingled for nearly an hour, sharing inconsequential stories about the week. When their stomachs were finally full, they discussed which flavours were their favourites. 

Fern chose the floral mochi, which didn’t surprise Wolfsbane in the slightest, given that Fern had a small shop where he sold things like floral infused drink syrups when he wasn’t at the manor. 

Thorne’s favourite ended up being the black licorice mochi that Fawn had originally handed him. This didn’t surprise Wolfsbane either; in fact, other than a translucent mochi that looked as if it was filled with rain clouds, Thorne had barely cast a second glance at the other flavours. 

What did surprise Wolf, however, was Fawn’s meek admission to loving the demon pepper mochi that had caused tears to stream from their littermate’s eyes. 

And of course, wine bringing them closer in yet another way, Wolfsbane and Casque both favoured the sparkling wine mochis. 

Eventually, one by one the diners began to lean away from the table, stomachs full. Wolf’s own vest was tighter than it’d been when they started, and he couldn’t wait until he and Casque were cozied up in his quarters. 

“Well, let’s leave the rest out for Allocer, shall we?” 

Thorne’s comment had Casque raising an eyebrow and casting him a quizzical look. But Wolfsbane knew that Thorne wasn’t interested in leaving gifts out for a demon; in fact, Casque was likely the only one at the table that took Thorne’s comment at face value.

“That sounds like a great idea, Thorne.” Wolfsbane played along, thanking Fawn softly as the Sloth bun leaned in to rearrange the mochis left over to make the platter seem a little fuller. Wolf stood, quickly followed by everybody else. “Thank you all for joining me for dinner and this small Mochi Moon celebration! I’ll see you all tomorrow.” He turned to Casque. “Shall we?” 

~~~

Five, ten, fifteen minutes passed after the party left. All the light sources scattered around the room had been put out other than one lone candle illuminating the platter of leftover mochi on the table.  

Blink slowly pushed open the door, peeking into the room from where he'd been hiding in a servant's passage. He was in his doll form, his cloak hanging over his shoulders and rustling quietly as he looked this way and that. 

When he was certain the coast was clear he entered the dining room, stepping carefully to avoid the squeakier floorboards as he made his way over to the table. 

“Thorne, you dummy,” Blink snickered to himself. “If these mochis were only for Allocer, you shouldn't have left them somewhere so easy to get to!” His eyes quickly flickered over the plate of mochis and he grabbed one that looked as pale and soft as the Chirop perched between his horns. Blink took a bite and frowned at the barely-there flavour. “Mm… boring.” 

He put it back on the plate and took another, this one as bright red as Ellie's eyes. His companion made a soft chirping sound as she wriggled. “You can't have any! I like you the way you are.” Ellie batted at his ears with her wings until Blink relented and gave her the mochi's cloud-shaped decoration to play with. This mochi caused Blink to curl up his nose, smacking his lips in an attempt to get rid of the odd texture that the - he took a closer look at the bright red treat - ‘gold dust???’ had left In his mouth. 

Abandoning that mochi as well, Link's hand hovered indecisively over the platter. “Hmm…” He felt a gentle wind ruffle his hair as Ellie lifted off his head and landed on the table. The doll's and imp's matching upright ears twitched in sync as both of them studied the small collection of mochis left… Until Ellie used her tail to point towards a brown mochi covered in sprinkles and a dollop of whipped cream that had only just begun to melt. 

“That one?” Blink picked up Ellie's mochi of choice. “Hopefully the third time is the charm, hey Ellie?” Before he could bite into it, however, the sound of familiar Glassy hoofsteps had him freezing with the mochi halfway to his mouth. Blink looked sideways at the door, hoping Thorne would just pass by… 

But as the hoofsteps got closer and closer, Blink panicked. He grabbed one of the cloth napkins remaining from the dinner set up and frantically grabbed as many mochis as he could reach, putting them semi-safetly into the napkin. He turned on his heel and ran back towards the still ajar door to the passage he'd come out of, closing it behind him - and Ellie, who carried one last mochi in her claws - just as the door to the dining room itself opened. Blink didn't stick around to see if Thorne was going to discover him; he scurried down the passage and up the small staircase that would eventually lead to the room he'd made his own.