Sparkle On

Andi stared dubiously at the sparkler in her hand. When was it supposed to start, well, sparkling? Everybody else’s seemed to have lit up properly, but hers… just hadn’t.

Spying Dan on the way to grab some mochi, she trotted nervously to catch up to him. “Hey Dan! Uhh… are there any spare sparklers? Mine hasn’t worked yet so…”

Dan must have been more tired than he would ever want to admit to, because he didn’t actually question it when the dumbest succubun he had ever met said her sparkler didn’t work. “Yeah, Shibani has a big box of them,” he said, pointing out where the other bun laid.

Of course, Shibani wasn't really... awake. Even without his pillow pile to rest in, he had managed to fall asleep on the folding chair he was using for the party tonight.

Regrettably, this left Andi free to go through the sparklers alone.

She felt hopeful at first, as she took out one and waited for it to light. When that did nothing, she dropped it in the wet grass and pulled out the next.

Around her tenth one, Wave danced over to her, a whole sea salt mochi bulging from her chest, which she had distended in order to absorb it before any other imps. Brill was hot on her heels slithering after her, clearly determined to wrestle the remainder from the impup - up till they both found a sparkler dropped on them by the oblivious Andi.

They both expressed their disapproval - Wave with a yelp, Brill with a furious hiss... It at least, finally woke Shibani up, even as Kaili hurried after the imps.

"Guys come on," she started, pausing in her tracks as she saw her girlfriend.

Shibani looked back and then looked at the ground. Slowly, he sighed, and covered his eyes, somehow controlling the urge to laugh. "Andi... what are you doing?" he asked.

Andi looked confusedly at him. "Oh, my sparkler didn't light, so Dan said I could come get a new one," she said. "But none of them are working."

She looked so utterly crestfallen that Shibani couldn't laugh at her, much as he wanted to do so. "Oh Andi... How did you try lighting them?" He had a feeling he knew the answer, unfortunately, but he just wanted to be certain.

"Like this!" To demonstrate, Andi held out the one currently in her hands and waited, smiling at Shibani. He was smart, he would figure it out!

Kaili covered her eyes with her hooves, understanding exactly what had happened.

Shibani had to cover his mouth this time to avoid laughing. "Why don't you try using a lighter this time?" he asked, offering one to her.

Andi's mouth opened and closed silently as she tried to comprehend the suggestion. You had to actually light the sparkler for it to light???

Kaili nudged her hand, and so, finally, Andi took the lighter.

It took her a few clicks to actually get it to light, as she had never used one before - but at last, she held the flame to the sparkler's tip...

...and it didn't light. She gave Shibani a deeply distressed look.

Shibani groaned. "Wrong end, Andi... Flip it in your hand, then light it," he instructed.

Andi flipped it and tried again - and at last, blue-white sparks began to shoot from the sparkler. She whooped with joy and raced back towards the bulk of the party, Wave and Brill hot on her heels.

Kaili waited a moment longer, glancing at Shibani. "...the dark savior thanks you," she said, before hurrying after Andi.

Dan, finally heading back, stopped as he saw them all running, and noticed the pile of sparklers. "...oh no," he said.

"You didn't check that she knew how it worked, did you?" Shibani asked.

"I always forget how she is," Dan sighed. He took two sparklers from the box, and lit one for each of them. "Let's go join and distribute this mochi," he suggested.

The party continued, but there would be many more to come for Mochi Moon.