Sweet Lolita

The bell on the door jingles welcomingly as Revoir arrives at Dan’s Dango five minutes earlier than arranged. Inhaling the familiar scent of confectionery, they smile and readjust their hair bow. 

“Good morning, Dan! I’m here for the dango-making lesson!” 

Revoir’s voice is bright, cheerful, and loud enough to turn a few customers’ heads, but it does the trick of alerting Dan, who steps out from behind the counter and grips Revoir’s hand in a firm shake. 

“Welcome. Join me in the kitchen in ten minutes - that should be enough time to find some more… appropriate attire.” 

Their clothes cover their body far better than the garments of some succubuns in Burrowgatory, so it is not often that Revoir’s sense of fashion is called inappropriate. A silk blouse, a jumper skirt with a dango pattern, a fluffy petticoat, stockings, high heeled shoes with tiny bows, and more than several hair accessories… Dan’s issue with Revoir’s outfit lies in the fact that their clothes are just too nice. Or too elaborate, or too themed, or too fancy. Impractical. 

Foreseeing Dan’s lack of appreciation for sweet lolita, Revoir packed an apron and their plainest dress. But they did not think it would come to this. Having to change out of a cleverly themed outfit in a public toilet is humiliating, and as Revoir strips down, they question a few of their life choices. 

As they struggle to find a place to leave their precious outfit, they start contemplating leaving Dan’s Dango altogether - because the only option is leaving their beloved jumper skirt in the care of Shibani. Who certainly cannot be trusted to guard even a single carat, let alone a sweet lolita coord, on account of being perpetually asleep. 

Still, Revoir is far too proud and stubborn to back down, and it would be even more humiliating to be defeated by the intricacies of their fashion sense. As they gingerly place their folded clothes next to Shibani’s pillow pile, they wonder if threats or bribery will work better on him. They settle for both: if every article of Revoir’s clothing is in place by the time they get back, Revoir will personally buy him three dangos of his choice - but if their clothes are missing, they will poke him with a dango stick until he bleeds. 

Shibani nods and manages to keep his eyes open as Revoir stares him down, thoughts racing through their head. Namely: “maybe the kinky little shit would be into being poked with a dango stick until he bleeds” and “there’s no way it hasn’t already been ten minutes”. Taking a deep breath, Revoir walks very briskly to the kitchen. 

Dan looks pleased with Revoir’s change of dress, though his expression hides his impatience. Seeing how rattled Revoir looks, he cracks a wider smile, and so they sigh in relief. 

“I’d just like to say, Dan, that I’m really excited for this lesson! I love the food you make, so I’d love to learn how to make it myself!” 

“Oh, I know. You buy from us in bulk. The third Wednesday of every month. That’s in a few days, actually, what changed?” 

“I thought that this time, I’d surprise my friends with something handmade - seeing you advertise your dango lessons just made it all click for me!” 

“Well, we better get to work, then. You can choose two flavours to make.” 

“Let’s see… red bean, because that’s my favourite. And cocoa? I know someone who’ll just love that. My boyfriend, actually!” 

“Good choices, good choices. We’ll start with the red bean.” 

Dan explains the dango-making process very clearly, but he moves fast, and Revoir has to ask him to repeat a few of the steps. Part of their forgetfulness is the very real stress of Shibani being an improper guard of clothes, but another part of Revoir’s mind is caught up in the daydream of bringing a perfect cocoa dango to Emerald’s house and being lavished in praise and kisses. They have to remind themself that the only way they’ll achieve this is by listening to Dan and trying their very best.

The dango balls come out moderately misshapen, but the red bean sauce Revoir prepares has a lovely consistency. They skewer the mochi with a vicious precision, and salvage their wonky shapes with a smooth and picture-perfect application of the glaze. Dan nods in approval and chooses not to mention the ovoid balls - he knows that Revoir knows, and pointing it out would only be cruel. 

“Good job, especially on the sauce.” 

“Aha, thank you! I’ve decorated cupcakes before, so that part came naturally to me!” 

“Well, a dango is far from a cupcake. Anyways, you should try it. I think you’ll like it.” 

Beaming with a childish pride, Revoir digs in. They try to be dainty with their dango, but the instinct to feast wins over, and their enthusiasm is palpable. It would be tactless to say that their own dango is better than Dan’s - but Revoir now finally understands why people say that homemade food is the most delicious. 

Neither Revoir nor Emerald are particularly good cooks, and Emerald drinks more than they eat, so the excitement to cook dango for their boyfriend doubles in Revoir’s heart. 

“Mmm, thank you so much for teaching me how to make this! It’s delectable! And I’m sure the cocoa one will look less strange too!” 

“It better.” 

To ensure that the cocoa dango looks as good as it tastes, Dan gives Revoir a quick repeat of all the preparation steps, and Revoir adamantly gets to work. 

By the time Revoir is done making the cocoa dango, their simplest dress has its silken black sleeves completely covered in rice flour. Every time they look down at their arms, they grimace, but remind themself that it’s for the greater good. 

Fortunately with the extra physical effort, the cocoa dango looks much more presentable. Dan gives Revoir not only a smile, but a thumbs up and a little box for them to take it home in. 

“I hope your boyfriend likes it. But didn’t you say you were going to be cooking for friends? I can give you some ingredients. We have the finest rice flour in all of Burrowgatory, this beats store-bought any day. Made it myself.” 

“Yes please! And thank you so much for the lesson, Dan! Just you wait, I’ll become a master confectioner in no time.” 

“A master confectioner could afford to have some plainer outfits.” 

With those words, Revoir’s mind exits its dango-making trance, and they remember that their coord is (hopefully) still at Shibani’s side. Wide-eyed and trying their hardest to leave gracefully, Revoir finally escapes the kitchen with their chocolatey prize. 

At first glance, their clothes seem to be missing, but they are actually underneath Shibani. Taking the promise of two free dangos very seriously, he used his entire body to protect them from trinket thieves. Revoir honestly can’t tell if they are delighted that their coord is safe and sound, or disgusted that it was used as a pillow-bedsheet hybrid. 

Still, a promise is a promise. Jostled awake from Revoir pulling a petticoat and a jumper skirt and some stockings and a blouse and several hair bows from underneath him, Shibani expectantly looks at Revoir with eyes full of rheum. 

“I’ll have a cocoa dango… and a red bean!”

Unbelievable. Revoir protectively clutches the cocoa dango reserved for Emerald to their chest, and proceeds to the counter. Dan is a man of few words, so Revoir prays to the demons that he won’t ask why they require more confectionery.

The coincidence is too funny to not be made into a conversation topic. As Revoir defensively explains the situation, the booming laugh Dan lets out reaches the pillow pile and echoes in Shibani’s ears.