Sweat and Sweets [River]

River looked up at the noble visage of Dan’s Dango, an ornate and warmly decorated shop that smelled of cooking rice and sweets. River had gained a few pounds recently from binge eating through his sorrows after his losing streak at Wonderland Casino and was looking forward for his next food obsession.

River pushed through the doorway and looked around, vaguely drooling at the lineup of display dango’s premade at the first hour of the day. He could faintly hear the straight grunts of Dan in the back room, and the slap of rice mochi being hit with his signature mallet. River decided that work was best left to the professionals for today and looked over the display dango as well as the names. 

Black Sesame, Strawberry, Matcha, Coconut… they all sounded amazing. He walked further down the row. Hanami dango, now that sounded utterly delightful. River knew the adverse effects it had on imps, turning them pastel, and imaged himself with a pastel palette. Would his ears just be a softer purple, or maybe a blush pink? He smirked and mused over the thought. 

“Can I help you?” Dan asked gruffly, walking up to the counter. River looked up and nodded happily, pointing down at the Hanami Dango.

“Could I get 2 of the Hanami, please? I’ve never tried that one but I heard it’s really good,” River responded, excitement notable in his voice. The Lunell imp in his crossbody bag wiggled around, probably hoping to steal some of the treat once they were purchased. Dan nodded, and pulled out the tray from behind the glass, using his tongs to tuck 2 Hanami dango into a bag.

“Alright, anything else for you?” Dan asked, seemingly already annoyed as he wanted to return to his more important task in the back of the room. He set the paper bag of the hanami dangos up on the counter. 

“Well, I was wondering, since you’re the local famous dango maker, do you have any special recommendations for me? Maybe something extra tasty?” River asked, batting his eyelashes. He was doing his best attempt at laying on the charm just like Angora showed him. 

“Hmm… well, have you ever tried the coconut dango? It’s white, creamy, and tastes good all the way down.” Dan responded with a cheeky grin. River blushed– he didn’t expect this to go his way so easily. 

“Oh, that sounds, um, delicious! Hah, yeah, I’ll take one of the coconut dango, then.” River responded, his face a dark tint of cherry. Dan nodded and got out a stick of coconut dango, putting it aside in it’s own paper bag. River walked over to the register, signalling he was done ordering. He was still trying to settle the thoughts in his head about Dan’s comments while he fumbled to dig out his wallet. Dan walked over to the register with River’s items and put them down in between them. He slid them a few inches towards River. 

“How much?” River asked, still picking out his Capital Bun card from the tight corner of the wallet with his nails. Dan shrugged, clicked around on his register, and nodded his head over to where it read “0.00” on the screen.

“Damn, guess this old thing’s giving out on me. Guess it’ll have to be free for today. Maybe you could pay me back at a later time, hm?” Dan responded, shooing the dango's forward with a hand. River gratefully took them, and with a charming wink and nod, exited the shop. He wanted to get out of there before Dan changed his mind!

River made his way to the park to enjoy the treats in blissful peace. He thought about how long the day had been, how much money he still owed Angora- and worst of all how his stomach rumbled. River found a cozy place to sit on a park bench and stretched out wide, letting out a hot puff of breath in the cold winter air. He pulled out the hanami dango, and observed the enticing pastel colors. His Lunell imp Lavender managed to wiggle out of his bag and was now nosing his leg in anticipation, wanting a bite. River sighed and mused, he did have a whole extra Hanami after all. 

"Okay, fine, but only a little," River said, leaning over with the stick of dango closer to Lavender and shaking it a bit to pique the imp's attention. To River's shock, the Lunell hopped up and in one comedically large bite, slid all the dango down the stick and ate them! River gasped and pulled back the stick so the little imp wouldn't choke itself. Lavender chirped, and to his surprise, had already began changing shades! It started inky black as all imps do, then faded to a deep purple, then settled at a pale lavender purple with soft blue detailing. 

"I... guess you finally match your name?" River said, half asking the imp, and it chirped in response and nuzzled his hand. His stomach rumbled again. 

"Right, right, well. I am still hungry. This time you don't get any, okay?" 

The imp chirped again, quieter and slipped back into the warm of River's crossbody bag as it was now sated. River shook his head and laughed a little, wondering if he would leave the imp brightly colored or invest in a Black Sesame Dango next time he came around to purify it.

"Ah, well." River mumbled, pulling out the next hanami dango. This time it would be his alone to enjoy.