Hey, guys, life's kinda hectic right now, stuff's being stupid, and I'm super low-energy. I was working on a small story for Pride Month this year, but my motivation just kinda dipped so yeah. Instead, you can have this little snippet of Chapter 44 that I already wrote God-knows-how-long ago. Think of it as a preview or a trailer, if that makes sense. Enjoy, I guess.
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As they walked into the café, Teardrop looked around and noticed that a few of her friends were already here. The café itself was quite quaint and small, with only about ten tables. But, to Teardrop, it seemed to have a homely atmosphere. Some wall-mounted lamps gave the place a faint yellow tint, and the café smelled like fresh coffee and hot dough. She wouldn't mind having breakfast here. Plus, it would help her learn to appreciate the smaller things in life.
"We don't know what we want yet," David's expression read as they approached the front of the line. "You can go first if you want."
Teardrop nodded and was about to step forward when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Gelatin standing there, smiling. "Yo! Hey, TD!" he greeted warmly. "You're a bit hungry, too, huh?"
She smiled back and shrugged before gesturing to David and Dora. "Ah, Double D," Gelatin said as he waved at them. They glanced at him and waved back.
Gelatin turned back to Teardrop, motioned with his head to a nearby table, and smiled warmly. "Hey, since you're here, why don't we sit down? I got some food over there; help yourself."
Teardrop glanced back at David and Dora hesitantly, but David only nodded and gestured to the table Gelatin was talking about before turning back to the menu over the counter. She turned back to Gelatin and nodded gratefully before walking toward Gelatin's table with weak knees. The toll of the long trip was starting to pile up on her body.
She sat herself down at the table and reached into the brown paper bag sitting there. A few seconds later, she pulled out a small jam-filled pastry and took a bite. Her eyes lit up and she stared at the pastry in amazement. "Wow. This is...really good."
"Like it?" Gelatin asked as he walked back to the table, now with a second cup in his hand. "It's awesome, right? I'm gonna be eating here for breakfast every day, I can tell you that much. Coffee?" He held out one of the cups for Teardrop and sat down. Teardrop, surprised, started to fumble through her pockets for her wallet, but Gelatin raised his hand and shook his head. "Nah, don't worry about repaying me. Fries's off with Puffball again and Donut's sleeping like a log in his room, so your company's enough for me."
Teardrop inaudibly sighed in relief and reached for her coffee. "Yeah...this is nice," she thought as she took a sip. "I really ought to relax more, huh?"
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(I don't even know anymore to be honest)
For those of you wondering how Chapter 44's going:
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