Strawberry Delight

"Strawberries!"

Ayabun was so excited, it was her favorite time of all. Strawberry season. The little greed bun could hardly get enough of them. It was time to bust out all the strawberry bakeware, and all her favorite strawberry dishes.

"But first, I need the strawberries, they have to be the freshest, sweetest, strawberries!"

Flopping down onto her bed sent the leaf green pillows bouncing off the strawberry bedspread. She reached out and gave her Furdin Alch a good few pats as she made her plan "First things first, we need to hit multiple berry fields. We'll go early tomorrow morning to the most popular ones first, and work down the list."

With her plan set in motion, she spent the rest of her evening off, pulling out her recipes, and getting the fridge and freezer ready. On a whim, she gave Nivea a call to see if the bun would be interested in joining her. Nivea wasn’t willing to get up early enough to go to most of the picks, but the afternoon was good. With the plans set and ready to go, and the kitchen ready for her return, Ayabun pulled Alch into her arms giving him extra love after having neglected some attentions during her planmaking.

In the morning, she was up early, Alch her Furdin was still shaking off sleep as he hopped off the bed and stretched. Ayabun waited patiently for him, and gave him a quick scritch listening to the soft sounds he made. “You ready big guy?” Gathering up snacks for the day she loaded them into a wagon. It would be perfect for bringing berries back later, and Alch could rest in it if he got tired too.

The first berry picking spot was near empty as the day had just started, even the farmer barely seemed to have their first coffee in them yet. Ayabun left her wagon near the start of the neat rows of vibrant green and red, cheerfully humming a tune to herself and Alch as she went along. Pausing only for moments here and there to comment how sweet the berries smelled. A few times she tucked one under Alch’s nose for a sniff. “These ones are going to be the best ones!”

It was tempting for her to just pick every berry bush clean, Ayabun had to remind herself over and over that other buns would want strawberry delights too. As other buns began showing up to the fields that she decided she was done. Looking at the number of baskets she had filled already. “Alright Alch, lets get moving. We need to pay for these and get going to the next one~”

The Furdin made a noise in her direction, before nudging her leg asking for affection. Loading the last of the baskets into the wagon she scooped him up in her free hand and held him close. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you have plenty of attention later okay? We’ll take a break for snacks after the next field.”

Ayabun had been having so much fun picking berries all morning, it was well past lunchtime when she remembered Nivea. It worked out well, it gave her time to go home and get the first baskets dropped off, some loaded into the fridge, others on the counter, and some left in cold water already to soak and wash up.

Nivea wasn’t as excited about the berries as Ayabun was, but they were still out for two hours. Nivea spent most of their time talking about things that had been going on around burrowgatory. Nivea regaled Ayabun with tales of the latest trends, and how the ice cream shop was doing, about the bookstores latest additions, and relationships that had started and ended while Ayabun had been busy. They spent most of the time talking, while Alch slept in the wagon.

After Nivea bade their farewell, Ayabun called it a day at the fields. She’d made a good haul, and goodness knew even she was getting tired with all the running around. And she still needed to keep her promise to help Limon over at Ione’s place. She also needed to save some energy for cleaning, coring, and baking all the berries she had picked. Okay, maybe not all of them. Some would be great just as they are, perfect little snacks. Some could be frozen and- she was getting carried away.

As she was putting things away at home, Alch rested on the stool in the kitchen. Ayabun gave a quick call to Limon who answered as cheerfully as ever. “Hey Limon, are you still good to go if I’m over in about a half hour?” Limon still seemed a little busy, going by the noise in the background but Ayabun just hummed quietly until the other bun had a moment to answer and confirm.

“Of course! But can we change the time slightly and you meet me at Ione’s directly? I’m a little caught up with- Oh yes of course, one double chocolate fudge swirl with a mint chip, you got it! - With the parlor right now, it will be quicker for me to go straight there after too.” Limon never lost that happy tone to her voice, and the high energy only helped to boost Ayabun as well.

“Sounds great, I’ll see you there then, don’t work yourself too hard, and watch out for the-” The thunk in the background before Ayabun could say anything, told her all she needed to know. Limon just bumped into something. Likely the side counter as she was trying to go and make that order she just rattled off. How the bun did it, she could never guess. “Please be careful Limon, I don’t want to have to tie you up to stop you from getting hurt.”

A giggle on the other end of the line reminded her why she should be careful teasing this bun. But she only smiled and bid her friend farewell for now. She took the extra time to wash as many berries as she could, setting them all out to dry naturally, and taking time to feed and care for her imps. A nudge from Alch had her looking at the clock and off the went to Ione’s.

Limon was already there thankfully, Ione was nice enough, but Ayabun had yet to get her foot in that door enough for them to be comfy with her showing up at random. Waving to the two buns, she watched Ione’s almost cold expression flick over her, a hand barely lifted in a wave as she was nearly tackled by a tripping Limon coming in for a hug. Squeals of joy and thanks filled her ear, and the sweet smell of citrus and ice cream surrounded the bun.

“Come on then, lets get this done.” Ione was the first to break it all up, and the girls followed behind chittering away.

Working in the gardens was fun, and while Ione appeared as grumpy as ever, there were small hints that they didn’t dislike the company. No doubt if it was just Limon the bun would have been more comfortable, but Ayabun considered it progress nonetheless. Ione kept them on track, Ayabun tried to help keep Limon away from anything overly sharp. Over all it was a good time.

Ione invited them in for coffee when they were finished, and that’s when Ayabun grabbed the big bag she had brought with her, pulling out some simple chocolate dipped strawberries in a neatly wrapped box. Ione gave her a disapproving look as she loaded her coffee with enough milk and sugar that it could no longer be considered coffee, but it only made her giggle and ask what the worst thing a customer had ordered was. They laughed over things drowned in multiple syrup flavors, and folks who added more sugar than Ayabun had, and those with a single coffee order that sounded like a full menu.

Seeing her friends enjoy the treats, and watching Ione open up just a little over coffee talk was almost better than the time they spent in the garden. Come to think of it, last time she visited, Ione hadn’t even lifted a hand in a wave. Perhaps there had been more progress in this little friendship than she thought. Limon made a small comment on the berries and Ayabun smiled, “I don’t mind sharing sometimes with my friends. Besides they’d go bad if I didn’t~”

Taking another sip of her ‘coffee’ Ayabun caught Ione given her another strange look. Though she didn’t have time to question it, Ione turned away. Oops, had she upset them? Shifting slightly in her seat she glanced at the time, it was still a little early but maybe she could make some excuse to leave. As she was thinking it over and listening to Limon talk about one of her late fun filled nights however, Ione walked back over and placed a new cup in front of Ayabun.

“Try this instead.” Ione’s expression was unreadable and flat, their tone however wasn’t rough. She couldn’t see what was in the cup, so all she could do was trust the bun and take a sip. But did she dare? Ione drummed their fingers on the counter for a moment, that gaze not leaving her. Ayabun sniffed at the cup, it smelled sweet at least.

Picking it up she took a tentative sip. There was coffee in it for sure but…it tasted more like a dessert. And way better than the milk and sugar she had added to her previous cup. Taking another sip she closed her eyes, trying to sort through what she was tasting. Whipped cream? White chocolate? A hint of…STRAWBERRY!?

“This is…delicious.” Staring up at Ione with wide eyes, she saw the bun crack a smile. Their head lifted up with pride in their work. “What is it?” Ione waved a hand, saying it was a double shot of espresso in white hot cocoa with some strawberry syrup. Still coffee, but a little bit fancy. “It’s Perfect! I love it~ Thank you!” At least now she knew what she could order anytime she was around the coffee shop. Maybe she could enjoy coffee if it was like this.

Limon started giggling then, and Ione shot her a look. Limon tried to get a handle on it for all of two seconds before blurting out how “Nice” Ione was being with a huge smile on her face. Ione clicked their tongue in a tsk and made a gentle swipe at Limon who ducked it by leaning backwards. Though she was scrambling after to grab the counter so the whole seat didn’t go over. A small scoff, almost like a chuckle left Ione. “Serves you right” They said.

Limon just smiled. “Aren’t you the one who serves though? You know I bet Ayabun wouldn’t mind being se-”

Ayabun quickly put her cup down slapping a hand over her friends mouth when she caught the tone Limon was taking. While a few buns knew about her ‘actual’ job, she wasn’t sure if Limon had told Ione before or not, but this was not the time to bring it up.  Of course, she also didn't know that Limon's comment would be harmless as Ione wasn't interested in that kind of thing anyway. Clearing her throat she smiled. “Served me another coffee like this sometime. Hehe, what’s called? Maybe I can order it at the coffee shop properly sometime?”

Ione’s cold stare levelled on Limon for a moment. “Just call it a Strawberry Mocha Express. I’ll remember.” Ayabun nodded, glanced at Limon, and slowly removed her hand. The rest of the visit went well and she had a new drink to enjoy. Bidding her friends farewell, it was time to head home and make more strawberry treats.

She spent hours baking, and mixing, fluffing, and stuffing. If not for Alch pawing at her around midnight, she may have pulled an allnighter. They got some rest and she was up early the next day. Thank goodness for weekends and days off. Opening up the fridge, she pulled it out, a stunning, small two tier cake, perfect for couples. It was stuffed with freshly diced strawberries, and whipped cream, and chilled to be a perfect warm weather delight without being too heavy. Thin layers of cake separated the mix, and shaved chocolate was scattered atop.

Ayabun made special treats for most of her friends, this one was for one of her favourite couples. Packing it up in a box carefully, she placed that inside a larger box and surrounded it with ice so it would be safe on the trip. It wasn’t long before she was knocking on Kikeko’s door. The gorgeous dark furred bun opened up with a bright smile. Alch tried to tuck himself behind her legs as much as possible when they stepped in, but it was too late. A small hoard of Imps were bouncing around greeting the guests with excitement.

“I’ve brought you and your lovely partner a treat today~” Ayabun chimed as she carefully weaved her way over to place the box on the counter. Kikeko was beaming as she called Bon Bon. Of course the two were together. And they looked so cute.  Bon bon came in carrying Sprinkles, and the two looked so cute with their matching sprinkle fur. Ayabun watched the couple for a moment as Kikeko filled her partner in, before turning to unbox the cake she had brought. The berries she had cut and carefully arranged into a heart on top were all still in place as she removed it carefully. Setting it down she turned it so the couple would be able to see the heart in perfect view.

Carefully keeping a few stray imps from the cake until Kikeko and Bon Bon got a chance to see it, she placed two forks and a knife down. The other buns were delighted, offering for her to stay and have some too. “It’s just a little gift from me to you, for always making me feel welcome~”

Kikeko chimed in first. “Of course! You know you’re always welcome anytime, you didn’t have to do this, it’s so sweet. Thank you!”

Ayabun gave her a hug, while Bon Bon swiped a fingertip of whipped cream for a quick taste. The delighted hum that left the other bun had her smiling. All her efforts were well worth it. A small outcry from Alch had her turning around to see him piled under many other imps. “Ooops” Scooting the little critters away she scooped him up in her arms, giving Bon Bon a half hug. “I suppose I should get going and let you both enjoy~”

Leaving the happy couple, she got to go home, sit down with some strawberry wine and just relax with her own imps for a while. Maybe tomorrow, she could bake some more and visit her other friends too.