Bon Appetit

Everyone had finally gathered and Marianna could hardly contain herself. It wasn't often that everyone was able to gather like this, what with their busy schedules and all. Mari had her jazz singing  at night. Milky Way was always who knows where, lost in her own little world. Blitz usually had time but he also had things pop up from time to time. And Berry Dream... actually, Mari wasn't sure what Berry did for work still. She'd asked them before but the conversation got sidetracked into talking about baking and exchanging recipes. She'd have to try asking them again one of these days. But she did know they were probably even more excited than she was! They'd briefly alluded to how many things they were bringing and it sounded like quite a lot. Honestly, knowing Berry, they probably ended up making twice as much as everyone else combined! Mari was just putting the finishing touches on her tiramisu, sprinkling a little bit of edible gold dust on top. Gosh she just loved that dessert. It wasn't often she made it though. Once done, she set it back in the fridge to make sure it stayed cool. Just after she'd washed her hands, there was a knock at the door.

"One second!"

She looked around for a second before finding a towel  and grabbing it on the way to the door. On the other side was Berry Dream, carrying a platter of several different cookies. Chocolate chip, macadamia, sugar, raspberry and marshmallow maybe? And possibly some others hidden behind the rest. They looked a little scattered from the trip. "Berry! Great to see you! Just one thing? Didn't you say something about-"

"Oh trust me, there's more but I only have two hands, Mari. Lend me yours?"

The older bun laughed and nodded, moved past Berry on the way to the other's car. "Just place it on the table out back, okay?"

"Sure thing!"

Berry took great care as they headed to the backyard and immediately got to work reorganizing their cookies. Hopefully nothing else had gotten too jerked around on the ride over. Maybe, just maybe, they really should have made just a little less. Figuring out the transportation of it all really hadn'y crossed their mind until it was too late. And by that they mean early this morning after they'd finished the last thing and took a look around the kitchen. To their credit, things were a lot cleaner than one might have thought on account of cleaning everything along the way.

The final cookie was set in place and they stood up with a sigh, wiping the light sweat from their brow. "Hm?" They lifted a ear to get a better listen. It sounded like someone else had arrived!

"Berry! Blitz is here!"

"Blitz! On time for once?"

"That's a bit uncalled for, don'tcha think?"

Mari laughed as she and Blitz joined Berry in the backyard, both carring more containers of food. This time it was a cake decorated with strawberries and a delicious looking fruit salad. "I put the cheesecake in the fridge for you. Figured you wouldn't want it to melt," said Blitz as he set the bowl down on the table. "Yes, thank you! Can you help me with the ice chest? I packed some things in there for drinks." "Yeah, I got it."

Blitz joined Berry back to the car while Mari stayed behind to make sure everything was still perfect. No bugs in the food? Nope. Everything still covered? Oh, nope! She grabbed the glass cover that Berry had brought for the cookies and put it back over them. Then she grabbed a plate and set it over the fruit salad for the time being. A little while into this, the other two returned with the ice chest.

"So then I asked, 'did you really need a pie just for that?' And he said yes."

"Well what did you think he was going to say, Berry?"

"I don't know! I just hoped he had a better use for the pie I spent so much time making!"

Mari raised a brow at the two and considered asking for context but... maybe she preferred not knowing, actually. She headed back inside to grab some utensils and was just about to head back out when there was another knock at the door. This one was softer than Berry's had been and slower too. That alone let her know who it was. She set the utenstils back down and headed right over. But, much to her surprise, there wasn't just one but two other buns on the other side!

"Shibani?! What are you doing here?"

"Sorry. I ran into him on the way here and he wanted to come. I told him he couldn't unless he brought food, though."

"Heh, sorry sorry. Actually, Milky Way looked a little lost so I stopped to see if she needed help. I was only joking about joining, though! I don't want to interrupt your little gathering."

Mari was still standing there in mild shock and looked between the two of them, not knowing where to start. Milk was lost? But she knew the way to her place at the very least. How did she get lost? And Shibani... He didn't want to join? Give her a second here. Just one!

"Uh... No, no! That's totally fine! Please, join us if you have time. We have way more food than we'll be able to finish. Berry Dream went completely off the wall. But Milk, what does he mean you got lost? I thought you could get here just fine. Did something happen?" Milk shook her head in response and fiddled with the pins on her cape. "No... I was walking here and the leaves were really pretty so I took a nap. But when I woke up I didn't know where I was." Mari's eyes went wide then. "You woke up somewhere else?!" Again, Milk shook her head. "No, same place. I didn't know where I was went I napped. It was ah.... around the corner from that cafe." This helped Mari none. But to tell the truth, it sounded just right for Milk.

"I might not be one to talk, but you probably shouldn't take a nap just like that." Shibani gave a little laugh when Milk's face tinged pink in embarrassment. "Its alright Milk. At least you're still on time. Come on, you too Shibani! You really should join us now. It's the least I can do to thank you." "Oh no, you don't need to go that far. Buuuuut... a little food does sound great after that walk!"

The two were ushered in and Mari had Milk assist her in grabbing the utensils while she took out some more food from the fridge. It was finally time to get started. Berry's excited shout could be heard all the way from inside the house and she couldn't help but smile and shake her head. Safe to say no one had any qualms with Shibani's sudden appearance. Sure enough, by the time she walked back out, they were seated all around the table. Berry was talked Shibani's ears off and Blitz was helping Milk grab some food. (He was also quite familiar with her episodes of clumsiness and, er, general lack of luck around food). It looked like the two had also gotten to work on making some drinks while she was gone too. There were a couple of cocktails now set out with slices of strawberries dipped in. Man, everything just looked absolutely delicious. She gave a sigh at the sight. How nice it was when everything went well.

"Hey, wait a second. Milk, what did you even bring?" asked Blitz, suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Oh yeah. Don't you have terrible luck in the kitchen?" said Berry.

"Oh... Yeah. Mari helped me make um... a creme brulee."

"Creme brulee?" Shibani perked up at the mention.

"Mhm. We made two."

Mari took the chance to clear her throat. "No, we made one." The younger frowned at that and tried to chime in again but Mari beat her to it. "The other burned." Blitz scoffed at that. "Isn't that the point?" No, her brow wasn't twitching.  It was just a figment of imagination. "... It caught fire."

"What was that?" This guy.

"It caugh fire, okay?! I left for like two minutes and Milk set it on fire!"

Two two entered a back and forth then and Berry couldn't help but laugh as she helped herself to some veggie burgers. All the while, Shibani was engaged in some little talk with Milk to keep her from going back in her little world. It was just getting close to dinner time about now and everything was perfect. The weather was food with just a slight breeze and the sun wasn't very hot either. Honestly, they'd be hard pressed for the evening to get any more perfect. Smiling to themself, they brought out their phone and snapped a sneaky little picture to post online.

'You wish you were here.'