The Adventures of Leafy and Firey (A BFDI/ BFDIA/BFB/TPOT Fanfiction)

Chapter 7 Cooking Challenge

After a few weeks, Firey and Leafy had fallen into a rhythm of waking up, having breakfast, doing chores such as fishing, crabbing, looking for lobsters and clams, scouting for food such a coconuts, fruits, and berries, eating lunch, working on the hut and maintaining it, playing games, eating dinner and watching the sunset before sleeping.

It seemed to be a wonderful little life. And the best part was that Firey and Leafy were together like the best friends they were.

Two friends and living large on a Dream Island with no worries about anything.

What more could anyone want?

Well, that was a question Firey brought up.

Yes, Firey loved his new life, but he also wondered if he could break from routine and do something new.

Such as play a game.

No! Not the kind of games that poor Firey and Leafy were subjected to back when they were contestants, but the kind of game were it was nothing but fun and relaxing with no eliminations or being unfairly punished for getting eliminated by being locked up in a metal box, or being sucked up into Four, or even being forced to spin around very high up in a cage connected to a big rotating building via a single chain!

Yikes!

Firey simply wanted a smooth game were he could have harmless fun with Leafy.

***************

Leafy awoke one day to Firey sitting in the main room eating breakfast. Leafy yawned and made her bed and did her morning routine. Afterwards, she joined Firey and ate her breakfast alongside him.

"Good morning, Fire-man!", she said, happily. "And a happy good morning to you, too, Leafster!", Firey shot back with a smile.

Firey smiled as he noticed Leafy was slowly but surely recovering from her horrible experiences from the shows' seasons. Leafy's eyes were not always red anymore when she woke up. (Indicating that she cried herself to sleep the night before.) Also, Leafy was smiling a lot more and sleeping peacefully rather than having nightmares. (Leafy wrote in her diary all the details she could remember from her nightmares and once woke up Firey by screaming in terror from being woken up by one, resulting in Firey and Leafy sleeping on the couch that night near each other for comfort.)

Firey wanted to have a change in his routine and thought that it would the perfect time to bring up his idea of playing a new game. Especially since it could help cheer Leafy up even more and help with her recovery.

"Hey, Leafy.", he said to get her attention. "Yes, Firey? What's up?", Leafy replied. " I was wondering if you wanted to play a new game with just each other, no eliminations, no stressful contests, no being locked up or absorbed into Four, just a simple game that we can play and have fun together.", Firey explained.

Leafy pondered for a second then lit up like a light. "OK, sounds good, I am in!", she said. "What's the game?"

"Well, the game is to cook a delicious meal for lunch using only three ingredients that you must pick at random, then we eat each other's dish and judge them and we eat our own dish and judge them with no bias. Then, we determine which the winner is based on our own unbiased opinions. So, what do you think?", asked Firey. "As long as we voice our negative criticism in a nice and polite manner, then yes! Let's do it!", she agreed. "Of course we should be nice and polite to each other, but let's do it, then. So, it is settled.", said Firey in response.

"Let the games begin!", cheered Leafy.

***************

The contest had begun and Firey and Leafy immediately ran out to grab their ingredients for their meal. Leafy grabbed a banana, a coconut, and a lobster. Firey grabbed a handful of berries, fish, and some freshly baked bread that Leafy made from scratch on the island during the past few weeks.

They both got right to work.

Leafy mashed her banana and cracked open her coconut. She drank some water and offered the rest to Firey, who accepted it. Next, Leafy scooped the meat out of the coconut and cooked it over the fire in the outdoor fire pit. She took the meat out of the lobster shell and cooked it, as well. Then, she chopped up the meat into cubes, placed the cubes on a plate and used her mushed bananas as a topping sauce.

Firey, on the other hand, was working with a few mistakes. The berries were smashed when Firey accidentally dropped them and stepped on them, forcing him to go and get more, then he burned his fish to a crisp to the point it turned into ashes and couldn't be eaten, forcing him to toss it the fire and fish for a new one.

By the time, Firey restarted, Leafy was nearly done with her dish. Firey hurried yet paid attention to detail as he went to make sure he didn't make anymore mistakes, especially in his rush.

Firey mashed the berries to make a delicious berry sauce. Next, he cooked the fish... carefully. Then, he went and crushed his bread slices into crumbs and cooked them in a frying pan over the fire and covered the fish with the crumbs. For the final touch, he slathered the berry sauce all over the breaded fish.

The dishes were finished.

**************

After the cook-off, Leafy and Firey looked at their dishes and smiled at each other. It was time for judging.

Leafy ate Firey's dish first. She instantly loved it.

"Wow, Firey, it is very good. I love how you used the berry sauce to add the kick to the fish and make it really good. However, one thing I must say is that if you are making berry sauce next time, make sure to wash the berries because I can taste some bitterness and use the same berries rather than different berries at once.", she explained. Firey nodded and took a bite of his own dish. He could taste that Leafy had a point in what she had to say.

"I understand, Leafy. Thank you.", he said.

Now, it was Firey's turn to eat Leafy's dish. Firey ate it and was... amazed!

"The favoring was just right, the lobster and coconut meat blended perfectly and the banana gave it the sweetness it needed to bring out the meal itself. I loved it, Leafy. But, just to let you know, that next time, try to use less banana sauce in your dish as too much sweetness can overthrow the taste in a dish easily.", he said.

Leafy nodded as she took a bite of her own dish, just like Firey did with his before. Leafy was surprised Firey liked her dish because she wasn't all that impressed with it. Leafy figured out that Firey probably never had exotic meals before and that was probably why he enjoyed the dish while she, herself, did not.

"You want to finish eating our dishes?", Firey asked. "Yes, let do it, but can I eat yours? I liked yours more than my own for some reason.", Leafy asked, shyly. "Of course, Leafy, that's what best friends are for."

Leafy smiled.

So, for lunch, Firey and Leafy ate each other's awesome dishes. From a game that was not like the regular contests they battled in..., a game that was much better.