AN UNEXPECTED DATE

Atma looked at the ad for a Matentine’s Blind Date Buffet for a while, thinking about the possibility of doing something like that.

"I mean... The buffet part sounds amazing, mostly because of that incredible price! But a blind date...? I'm not suuure... I can invite Leith, too, right...?"

Atma was brainstorming with himself about what to do and looked at the terms of the blind date buffet carefully.

"Oh, it's an individual event, I can't invite Leith... Oh, but I can go and bring him food from there when I finish!”

He finally decided to take the chance and took a slip of paper to call and make the reservation.

"Cheap and infinite amounts of food, here we go!!", yelled Atma while going to the nearest phone.

Leith was reading some kind of manual or receipt on his room.

"...Ughh... I can't believe I entered this mess... I was so invested into that romantic dramatical novel that I inadvertently entered this "Blind Date Event" twice... Oh well, I-I think Master will be eating all the chocolate I cooked for him that day so he may not notice I'm not here..."

Leith thought about it, his face tinted in a light red blush.

"W-What am I thinking?! Why am I so doubtful of myself about Master? It's not like he's going to be mad at me... But…”

Leith was excited for his appointment tomorrow, but he couldn't shake the feeling of making his best friend mad, even if he didn't know why exactly...

"...Atma... I'm... "

He muttered, before falling asleep and dreaming about the last chapter of his novel.

It was finally time for the buffet, and Atma was really excited about it. He tried his best to not eat too many of the chocolates Leith left for him to make the most out of the buffet.

It was very delicious, and while eating he couldn't stop thinking about Leith. He went out earlier to do some errands, and he was curious about where he went. Also...

"Would Leith be mad if he knew I went to the buffet...? I mean, I just wanna eat, I don't care about the other bun..."

He wondered about Leith in such a way that even he was surprised. I mean, he was his best friend, it was natural, right?

But... he felt there was something else, but he wasn't sure what it was...

He realized it was almost time, so, leaving some chocolate for later to share with Leith, went out of the house.

He arrived and waited patiently for his date, getting a little anxious by a stray thought in the back of his mind, something he couldn't stop thinking about.

"Ugh, I just hope Leith doesn't see me here..."

Leith left the house hours prior to the meeting... date, whatever...

The time of the buffet arrived, and he certainly was getting some looks while getting in line to get accommodated in his seat.

"Right over here, sir, your date is already here..."

The host escorted Leith to his table, letting him know a bit of the rules of the buffet.

Leith was self-conscious of his looks, he wasn't paying attention to whoever was sitting in front and just stared at the red carpet with a feeling of discomfort on his mind.

"...Oh I wish I hadn't left him... But... *ahem* Good evening... Excuse myself, my name is----"

"Leith?!"

Atma was shocked when Leith himself walked up and sat in the chair in front of him. Oh... oh no... Now Leith KNEW Atma himself was here, and... Wait. Scratch that thought. Leith was here!!

"Wait... Leith, you're here! Now we can eat together like I wanted!!"

Atma felt, more so than shame or anxiety about Leith knowing he was in some stupid blind date thing, an immense relief.

"Hey, so... you may be wondering what I'm doing here, of all places. Well, it's a buffet!! I came to eat and wanted to bring you some take-out, but now you're here! We can do it together!!"

Leith was surprised at the gaze of Atma over the table. He had a dumbfounded expression while waiting for the other one to finish talking. He felt excited... it was like his novel! It... it was!

"M-Master... I actually do believe you engage in this kind of activity for the catering... hmhmm~ You even dressed up in your best attire..."

Leith giggled sheepishly.

"You look astonishing! I've been getting everybuns eyes on me since I arrived and it's extremely awkward... I just do not think my appearance it's a matter of such awe..."

"Oh, you look great, too! That's one of the best clothes I've seen you in, but... You seem uncomfortable about that. If anybun's bothering you, let me know, me and the spirit troupe will take care of it!"

Atma could feel Leith's happiness, and he, too, felt happy about being here with him.

"Do you think we can serve ourselves now...? We can eat and talk about how we got here; this is so amazing!"

"...Hmm... I don't see all tables full, but, I was wondering... You know I can make even more tasty and a larger amount of food than this buffet... S-So... Is it really just for the food that you came here...? Or...”

His face tinted a bit reddish. Leith's eyes swell a little bit.

"Are you looking for somebunny else... Atma?"

Atma was surprised about Leith breaking his butler persona but felt strangely good about being called by his name this time.

"Yeah, your food is AMAZING, I know that, silly! But for this day I wanted to give you some food, too, so you could rest~", said Atma matter-of-factly.

"And no, I'm not here looking for more friends, or more than that. C'mon! Honestly, I only need you, Leith, and I can say that with full confidence!"

"Even so! What if you were actually paired with somebun that was more like you? Better than me, I-I mean, it’s not hard to top... And... Well, I am here too... But because of a stupid novel and I wanted to feel what they had in paper..."

Leith was extremely embarrassed, and quite anxious. His eyes were shifty, and he tried to cover his face with his ears.

"Hey, Leith, stop", said Atma while getting closer to Leith and grabbing his head between his hands, while his spirits gravitated around them, attracting some creeped out looks from other buns.

"You're awesome, all right?? I don't know who made you think you were the worst, but you're not!! You have a lot of talents, and you can do stuff I can't even begin to understand. You're the best thing that happened to me, so stop with that!!"

Atma was speaking with a serious tone, not very common of him but it was clear he was for real.

"You got that, Leith?", said with a smile.

Leith started to cry, hiding his face on Atmas hooves. He was feeling extremely bad, especially now that he also made Atma’s patience reach his limit.

"I-I'm sorry... I always feel I'm not enough... I… ruin everything, and I just don't know if I'm actually worth it... You know what, forget it, I- I think I'm going home..."

"You don't need to go anywhere, Leith! I wanted to eat with you in the first place, so... please, stay. You didn’t ruin it, you made it all better!", said Atma with a genuine smile. "I was ready to just be abandoned by a random bun creeped out by me, but with you I feel so comfortable and free!"

Atma gave Leith a strong hug, and then took one of his hooves, guiding him to where the food was.

"Let's eat something and enjoy our date, ok~?"

"...Atma... Who would be put out by you? You're the most amazing bun I've ever met!"

Leith pouted a bit but still followed Atma.

"... It'd be a waste to not eat after already paying for this, so... I'll pick some pastries..."

When they were back, Leith laughed softly.

"Hm~ That's quite little for you, Mast--- Atma... You usually take thrice of that..."

Leith was trying hard to actually be himself. To honor the date.

The date...

"...S-So... You consider this a date? Like... A friend date? Or...?"

"Friend date...? Mmm... No, I-I think that, now that we're here, this can be a date date! If... you're ok with that...~"

Atma was smiling sheepishly while saying this, and a little embarrassed about it. Still, he said it seriously, and ate a bite of cake in the cleanest way possible for him.

"Oh, ahem... O-Of course, Mas- Atma..."

Leith blushed visibly, trying to hide his face using his fluffy ears... He was excited!

"Yes... I think we can try to relax. I don't quite know what to talk about of as of now, but I read somewhere that the Matentines Buffet was specially made with hormonal bun needs in mind, so..."

Leith stared at Atma before realizing what did he had just said.

"I-I MEAN... NOT THAT WE--- I-I meant that maybe it makes us talk more, n-not that it… never mind..."

Atma heard what he said about the food while he gladly ate.

"Hormonal buns...?", said with a questioning look, then tasted his food carefully. "I didn't know this had something in it... Maybe in the nutrients, but... It's ok, I don't mind!"

After a little while, Atma said something that was on his mind.

"Hey, Leith... Buns have that, like, "doll form", right? We haven't seen each other's yet, right? I'm just... curious, maybe we could check that back home, je!", said Atma with a smile, about to finish his food.

Leith gasped and almost choked on the food he so elegantly tried to eat.
After gulping loudly, he tried to hide his nervous smile.

"Please cover your eyes. Let me show you something..."

Leith waited until Atma closed his eyes, they already were on 'Doll Sized' establishments, but was optimized for bun forms, so it wasn't quite the shock when Leith shapeshifted to his doll form.

"Alright. Please uncover them now!"

And there he was! An elegantly dressed young man. He had a slightly dark skin, beautiful shoulder length curly hair with a soft and messy tie up at the lower back and neatly trimmed fluffy ears. His complexion was slightly toned, with a quite softer looking plumpness on his chest. His horns looked cute too...

“I- I actually already had my own planned and visualized thanks to the novels I read. Also… apparently doll forms depend on the perception of oneself…”

The young man rubbed his head in awkwardness.

“S-So… What is your opinion? Am I good-looking?”

"Wow, you look so cool and cute, that's awesome!! To be honest, I haven't really tried it myself until now... Not that I remember...? So, uhm, here I go, please don't get scared if it's something scary or gross...!", cautioned Atma before doing it, as he wasn't sure what his bone parts or spirits would do to his form.

He concentrated and began his shapeshifting. The result was a chubby humanoid form, which was kind of hard in some places. At first glance it seemed like the face around his left eye was burned or had a mask, but no, it was bones, just like his bun form, as well as his tail and his legs, but just starting down his knee.

He had messy brown and white hair, shoulder length, and his horns jutted out from the side of his head, and had the same spirits whirling around him, looking kind of amused.

"Oh, so I look like this... Not bad, but I don't think I look as cool as you, haha", said Atma with an embarrassed smile.

Leith looked at Atma for a few seconds. And when the other spoke, he just pouted.

"Hey... I told you it depended heavily on the perception you have of yourself. And your appearance is delightful! It really suits you. It was easy for you even this being your first time...”

"...If it helps... I think it's even cooler~. *ahem* it's very good... Master~ Hehe~"

Leith smiled softly.

Atma saw Leith's smile and heard his words and blushed a little.

"Gee, I don't know if I look THAT awesome, but really... thanks~ If you say so, it must be true! Also, don't call me "Master" right now, 'k? Call me Atma!"

Atma got close and, a little awkwardly, as he wasn't quite used to this type of body yet, hugged Leith, softly but firmly.

"C'mon, I don't think we both need to eat more. Let's go somewhere else!", said Atma while grabbing Leith hand and leading him outside.

When they were out, Atma gestured towards their home, and both walked together, Atma never letting go of Leith's hand.

"Y'know... I really had a good time tonight. I realized that, yes, you're my best friend! But also... I feel something... stronger than that. For you, I mean. I really like you, not just as a cool and awesome friend. You're also a cool, awesome and... cute bun, too."

He stood in front of Leith and this time grabbed both of his hands.

"So, like… Would you... would you like to be with me, as partners...? And not just business partners, as we've been doing but... liking partners. It's that how it's said...? Hahaha!", Atma laughed, glad to have said it at las, and looked at Leith with a nervous smile on his face.

Leith's eyes went basically blank. His mind was jumping from thought to thought.

"This is--- Is like lady's Carrance romance when--- AND LORD B-BRADY---- B-BUT...."

Leith looked away from Atma, it was hard since Atma was taller and- bulkier than Leith. Leith slowly, and without being conscious of it, started to lean more and more towards Atma's body. It was so cozy, and smelled like him... So safe...

"...Sorry, I thought you kept up with me because... well, I don't really know, maybe wanted to be nice? Or you didn't see me as a friend...”

Leith then fully fell into Atma's arms and chest.

"...You're so cool, and silly, but so nice and... F-Fuck you're so perfect... URGH What was in that food?!"

"I-I really don't think I'm perfect, but... We're two cool buns together, now!", said Atma while hugging Leith and caressing his hair softly.

Finally he took Leith in his arms and, after another nice hug, he took his hand again and guided him to their home.

"C'mon, let's go, it's getting late. We have some dessert to get at home, y'know! Wanted to share it with you when you came back, and... well, here we are, coming back together!"

Both flustered for a bit, but then moved onto the lounge to eat some of the desserts Leith prepared previously.

They were having the best Matentines so far... And it wasn't over yet...