{YOTB 6} - Wild Berry Float

“… and so I walked up to the altar, and he was like ‘Ey Sho, dear, maybe this won’t work out so well for us… you kinda blew up the Church’ and then well… I couldn’t really deny that! Like there were still wisps of smoke comin’ from some o’ the pews, and Mercy was given’ me this real dirty look from the sidelines…”
“Wow… how many times have you blown up the church, Sho?”
“WELL… it was just that once, I promise! I swear, the only thing that I consistently blow up is my workshop…”

For a good hour or so, Dagasho and Shibani sat on a bench in front of the Wonderland Casino (and Rabbit Hole) after successfully procuring ingredients from both Hops and Angora. Shibani’s minor fright prompted a rest, and Dagasho couldn’t help but tell stories… so there they were, with Dagasho knee-deep in the middle of the story of his second divorce, when—

“AIEEEEEEEEEE! NO, NOOOOO!!! SOMEONE STOP THAT LUNELL!”

Dagasho and Shibani looked up… and down the street, a lone lunell bolted forward, its leash flapping in the wind behind it. A flustered Hutch quickly followed with about five other lunells on leashes; they looked red in the face… they’ve probably been at this for quite a while. Almost instantly Dagasho was on his feet.

“I GOT IT!” And Dagasho dashed after the runaway lunell; he actually managed to get a hand on its leash, but it was so incredibly rowdy that it started dragging him along. “OH DEAR DEMONS!”
“SHO!!!” Quickly scrambling to grab the strawberry bin and the matcha cup, Shibani toddled after the group as fast as his legs could carry him… geez, those other two were FAST.

It looked like this was gonna take a bit, so at least Shibani could take it easy and try to appear where those two were probably heading…

…

Just as Shibani thought, eventually Dagasho and Hutch’s chase led them back around to the Imporium; he looked up as they came… oh, and that rogue lunell was soundly tucked underneath Dagasho’s beefy arm. They managed to actually get that one under control! Though… that couldn’t really be said for the other lunells that Hutch had on leashes.

“Heya guys!”
“O-oh, Shibani! I thought I saw you earlier… sorry for only now saying hi to the both of you.” Hutch chuckled nervously looking from Dagasho to Shibani and noticing the containers sitting by Shibani’s side. “Were you guys running errands together? Oooh… s-sorry to distract you, but… thanks for the assist, Dagasho sir. I thought I had ‘em all under lock and key, but then one got away, and the others started making a ruckus…”
“Don't’ even worry about it, kid. I’m always up for exercise; keeps the bones limber!” Dagasho smiled—

KA-RAASH!

“Uhh… that came from inside, innit?”
“Yuppp… I’ve been sitting out here for a while, and I’ve been hearing those banging noises…”
“S-shibani, how often has that been happening…” With a concerned look, Hutch turned to look at Shibani as their knuckles became slightly whiter…
“Oh, every now and then. I was waiting for you guys because I thought it’d be rude to go in without you…”

Almost instantly, Hutch shoved leashes into both Shibani and Dagasho’s hands; the two couldn’t help but follow along as Hutch threw open the Imporium’s door to witness… PANDEMONIUM. Most of the other imps were well-behaved, but… each and every lunell had managed to get out of its cage and was reigning terror against the shop. Snoozing phloofs were getting terrorized, inkaps and the goo they secreted were being used as slip-and-slides, loafkis and bonezos were cuddling together for protection… all the while, lunells flitted about through the Imporium’s air. It was a miracle that no more managed to escape, but…

“Nooo… noooooo… NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”

Hutch fell to their knees in the face of a Mochi Moon disaster; carefully Shibani and Dagasho filed in after the distraught bun, making sure to close the door sturdily behind themselves. The ingredients could be safely placed off to the side, but upon seeing the lunell activity in the shop the ones that Hutch had previously caught started wiggling.

“Ey, fellas… can’t y’all read the room? C’mon.” With a judgemental look, Dagasho pouted at the leashed lunells… who then instantly wilted. They did indeed know of guilt… interesting! But with a sigh, Dagasho handed the leashes he held—and the leash of the lunell under his arm—to Shibani. “D’ya think you can handle these guys while I help Hutch round up the others?”
“Sure thing! Come come guys, let’s go back to our cages…”

As Shibani led the leashed lunells to their cages, he momentarily turned back to see Dagasho pick Hutch up off their knees… the two rushed towards two different areas of the chaos. And when he turned back… the lunells looked at Shibani expectantly.
“What’s up? Do… you guys wanna help?”
They jumped and twirled; despite how wild the others were, these ones seemed genuinely interested in helping…
“Well… y’know, I wouldn’t be able to help in any other way… how about we do it together?”
With a chorus of delighted chirps, each lunell deposited the handle end of its leash into Shibani’s hands…

And then they took off. Shibani’s feet picked up off the ground as the group of lunells started flying Shibani towards each lunell… and whaddya know, each one they passed joined in on the ‘lifting Shibani’ fun.

“UWAAA—UP UP AND AWAY! C’MON EVERYBODY! LET’S GO!”

Hutch and Dagasho weren’t making much progress, but when some lunells escaped them to go join Shibani’s parade they couldn’t help but look up.
“S-SHIBANI?! RASPBERRY, BLUEBERRY, BLACKBERRY, STRAWBERRY—YOU GUYS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HIM?!” Hutch was busy putting other imps in cages… but he couldn’t help but show interest; he’s NEVER seen ANYTHING like this before from the lunells!
“OOOOOOOOH SHIT! HANG IN THERE, BUDDY!” Meanwhile, Dagasho ran to grab any sort of cushioning… though was there really any panic? Shibani didn’t seem stressed, and well…

“Weee! I’m having such a good time!”

Oh geez. Well just as long as he doesn’t fall…

…

Shibani’s flying feat rounded up all the lunells smoothly; eventually Hutch and Dagasho managed to both catch Shibani and get all the lunells back in their cages without TOO much hassle. 

“Really guys, I’m so sorry… I’m so thankful for your help, but oh dear demons…” Hutch wiped away a drop of sweat as they finally managed to sit down after such a long night… in a show of camaraderie, they brought out a couple chairs for Dagasho and Shibani to sit as well.
“No worries, no worries. T’was a lot more energy than I thought it’d be, but I’m always up for a good challenge!” Dagasho smiled and swirled the cup of water he’d received. “I got to see somethin’ amazin’ tonight too.”
“Ehehe… I had a lot of fun.” Shibani blushed. “Oh right, shouldn’t we get those ingredients back to Dan now? We gotta keep those strawberries cold…”

“Ingredients?” Hutch looked up… their eyes trailed to the strawberries and matcha off to the side. “Ohh wait, yeah! I remember Dagasho said you g-guys were helping Dan make mochi…”
“Yuppers. We got those ingredients from the Casino.”
“Went through an obstacle course an’ a half to get ‘em!” Dagasho huffed, and Shibani giggled. The two looked at the ingredients—silently agreeing they should take them soon—and then back to Hutch, who tapped their chin in silent contemplation.

“Actually guys, I think I have a way of thanking you. Wait here.” Instantly Hutch got up, left to the back for a bit… then came back with a simple bag. “Black sesame seeds! I have a whole bunch of these for taming imps, but I think they’d be g-great in mochi too. I always have some in stock, and you really wouldn’t be able to find them around at this time of year. D… Does that work as a good gift?”
“Oh really? Ya’d just let us have ‘em?” Dagasho’s eyebrows went up as Hutch placed the bag in his hands; with interested eyes, Shibani leaned over to inspect.
“Oooh… wait, that’s perfect! Now we have a lot of different flavors to choose from… and Dan’s mochi will be perfect!”
“Y-yeah! I’d love to contribute like that. But yeah… now that things are calm here, you guys better head off and get those ingredients to Dan, fast fast. No need to worry about clean-up, I got it.” As Dagasho and Shibani stood, Hutch wandered over and slid their chairs back.

“If ya say so, kid. Thanks a million! And… happy Mochi Moon to ya.”
“Happy Mochi Moon, Hutch!”
“If you guys have any leftover black sesame mochi, I’d love to have one for the imps… that berry bunch of lunells did a great job today. Happy Mochi Moon! Watch out for stray chirops!”

As the two carried their ingredients out the Imporium door, they waved Hutch adieu. Certainly with all of these fillings, they’d be able to help Dan make the best mochi in all of Burrowgatory!