The Best Meals are Ones You Have to Work For

‘Buns all over Burrowgatory have been finding not only the hallucinogenic mushrooms that have been the talk of the city, but also a myriad of ordinary mushrooms as well! I had the opportunity today to interview a few chefs who have taken this chance to offer limited time mushroom dishes!’ 

Mosaic lightly skimmed the rest of the article. Why is there always so much to read before the actual recipe…? Finally, at the very bottom of the page, he found a link that led him to the website of a small restaurant he'd never heard of. The chef was apparently very experimental and got a lot of critique for it, but their creative use of the mushrooms sprouting all over Burrowgatory was bringing in customers en masse lately. 

Mosaic grabbed his phone and opened up the group chat he had with his littermates. 

<Can we go to the park and pick mushrooms?> He saw that Ari was typing and immediately sent another message. <For cooking with.>

There was a pause as Ari erased whatever he was going to type, and then replied with; <I’m not off until four! But I'm in if you guy wanna wait that long.>

Mosaic began typing a response, but he was bombarded as Manis joined the chat. Most of the messages were excited strings of random letters or emojis, except the last one. 

<We haven't had dinner together in so long!! I'll bring mead. And honey for your tea, Mos!> 

Mosaic smiled to himself; he could've predicted what his littermates’ responses would've been. <Sounds great, see you both at four.>

He turned back to the restaurant's website and skimmed their menu, taking inspiration from a few different items, and heading to the kitchen to take stock of what else they might need, mobile grocery app at the ready. 

~

The three buns - well, two buns and a doll - arrived at the park at about four-thirty. It was fairly empty, which wasn't surprising. Even though it wasn't raining now, the amount of rain Burrowgatory had gotten lately had turned most of the parks into sludgy marshes. 

Mosaic didn't particularly mind the feeling of the wet grass beneath his hooves; something about being trapped inside all day romanticized even the ‘annoying’ parts of being outdoors. Manis also didn't seem to care. That bun earned her Gluttony horns at every opportunity, and she was practically bouncing in anticipation for their upcoming task. Her Bimble Mallia buzzed above her head like usual, seeming to enjoy the fresh, humid air. The Bimble was joined by Ari’s two Sweetinea, and the three imps fluttered from mushroom patch to mushroom patch together.

Ari, on the other hand, could be heard grumbling as he stepped in yet another patch of particularly wet soil, a squelching sound coming as he pulled up his foot. He looked over to see Mosaic watching him and scowled, but there was no venom behind it. “Yeah, yeah, I’m glad I wore the boots. Don’t tell Kyril, it’ll get to his head.” 

Mosaic laughed softly and turned back to the book he held. It was a small volume on Burrowgatory’s common mushrooms, with a few notes he’d scribbled in during his research earlier. 

Manis trotted over, carrying the basket she’d brought along with her. She peeked over Mosaic’s shoulder and pointed at a mushroom as he flipped by. “These will go really good with that pasta recipe you showed us!” At his questioning look, she elaborated. “It was a weird request I got last month. Long story short, I had to try quite a few different kinds of mushrooms. Just trust me!” 

Mosaic turned the book to show Ari the picture - and the Lust doll was about ten feet away, playing some sort of chase game with his Impup and Floracoon. Chewie barked and spun in a circle, tail going a mile a minute as Fearne scrambled up Ari's leg to get away from the other, far more energetic imp. Mosaic could hear Ari's laugh from here; one of his genuine ones that few others had the privilege of hearing. 

He turned back towards Manis - who was completely absorbed in her mushroom picking, her basket already a quarter full. Mosaic looked down at his Bulbug Paci, who met his eyes for a moment, looked at the picture of the mushroom he had the book open to, and scuttled off towards a mushroom patch. 

“I… Okay.”

Mosaic took his time with his own contribution to their ‘hunt’, but still realized rather quickly that this would've been straight up impossible without his two littermates. Reaching down over and over again to pick the mushrooms was proving a lot more physically taxing than he expected. 

As if sensing Mosaic needed some extra support, the three winged imps fluttered his way. Mallia and Sweetpea both dropped some random mushrooms into his pile before going off to find more, but kept close. Emelia stayed by his side, joined by Paci as the Baby blue Bulbug gave a small flower to the more timid of the two Sweetinea. 

It wasn't long before Manis made her way over, basket full of mushrooms. Followed shortly by Ari, who was trailed by a muddy Chewie and a Fearne who looked twice her size from all the mushrooms she'd stashed away in her fur. 

Ari raised an eyebrow at them, watching Manis sort through Mosaic’s pile and add some of the mushrooms into the basket to bring home while pushing others to the side, discarded. “Are we good to go?” 

“Yep!” Manis chirped. “There’s easily enough in here to make this recipe twice and still have some put away in the freezer!” She looked over at Mosaic then, apologetic. “Sorry Mosaic, this was your idea, I didn’t mean to speak over you.” 

“It’s alright, Manis.” Mosaic studied her basket closer. “Wow, I didn’t realize how many mushrooms you’d picked, and in such a short amount of time!” 

Manis’ tail wagged as she held her head up high. “I got a lot of practice clearing out the gardens around my meadery.”

“Okay nerds, let’s go home,” Ari said in playful exasperation. “I’m hungry.” 

“Hungry? How many mushrooms did you pick?”

“I’m hungry too,” Mosaic piped in before any argument, no matter how lighthearted, could start. “Dinner will still take a little while to cook, so the sooner we get home, the sooner this mission will feel like it was worth it!”  

~ 

“Okay Mos, go sit down. I'll bring everything over.” Ari shooed Mosaic out of the kitchen and began scooping out three bowls of pasta. 

Manis had her arms full with a jar of honey and a bottle of mead, but she still reached out her elbow for Mosaic to hold as the two Gluttony buns headed towards the backyard. The picnic table was mostly made up already; a pot of fresh tea for Mosaic, a pitcher of water, several glasses, napkins, and cutlery. 

Mosaic poured himself a cup of tea and added a dollop of honey, admiring the shine of Manis’ mead as she poured a glass for herself and Ari, and then some water for Mosaic. By that point, the third of the littermate trio had joined them, effortlessly serving their dishes before taking his own seat. 

The meal Mosaic had made was a pasta with a thick and creamy sauce dotted with minced mushrooms, larger chunks scattered throughout along with plenty of cheese and spices. It smelled amazing; Mosaic just hoped that the mushrooms they’d picked would taste as good as they looked. 

Ari held up his glass of mead. “To Mosaic, for thinking up such an awesome dinner.” 

“To Mosaic!” 

Mosaic laughed softly and held up his water. “To you two as well, I couldn’t have done it without you.” 

The three littermates clinked their glasses together, and tucked in.