Mischievous Function

Old Wounds, New Tunes

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TUESDAY

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Teardrop rubbed her eyes one more time as she shuffled into the café for breakfast. Her hair looked like a mess and her clothes were wrinkled, but she was too sleepy to care. She looked up at the overhead menu to ponder the choices and was about to settle on a simple donut when a tap on the shoulder got her attention.

"Well, well." Gelatin grinned and clasped his hands behind his back as he stepped up beside her. "What's an exciting girl like you doing in a place like this?"

She rolled her eyes, but grinned and lightly punched him in the shoulder. "Morning to you, too, idiot," she thought to herself.

"Donut and Trophy are still asleep," Gelatin sighed, "and Fries is, uh...thinking about Puffball at the moment, so I've really got nothing better to do other than eat. What about you?"

Teardrop shrugged and crossed her arms. "Book's probably going to the library, and Dora's still sleeping, too," she thought. "And Eggy...well, she did her thinking last night."

"Not much, huh?" he guessed. "Either that or you don't really want to talk about it. Is there anything you do want to talk about?"

She rolled her eyes again and sharply elbowed him in the gut with a mischievous grin. "OW!" he exclaimed, his pained grunts soon devolving into light chuckles. Teardrop smiled back at him and motioned toward the menu. "Me?" he asked. "Eh, probably the same as yesterday. I kind of like it."

Teardrop nodded in agreement and gestured to herself. "Oh, you, too?" Gelatin asked. He smiled and pulled out his wallet. "Here, I'll pay for both of us."

Her eyes widened and she shook her hands, reaching for his arm to lower it back down. Gelatin, however, pulled his arm away and laughed. "Trust me, TD," he said with a shake of his head. "I've got more money than I know what to do with. It feels nicer to give than to take, anyway."

She hesitated to take her hand off his arm, but after another reassuring smile from him, she sighed inaudibly and pulled her arm back. They both turned back to the line in front of them and waited for their turn.

Only a few moments had passed before they heard a voice behind them. "Oh! Here's the café!" Fan said. "Come on, I'll buy you breakfast."

While Teardrop kept her eyes on the menu, still wondering if she wanted to try something else or not, Gelatin looked over his shoulder and waved. "Morning! Hey, you're Fan, right? I'm Gelatin."

"Oh, hi! Yeah, that's me."

"Morning to you, too, man."

"Weh-whoa, Weh-Wah-Win! Wood-wore-whing!"

Teardrop froze.

"Whi'll-weigh-wore-why-well," Woody insisted as Fan pulled out his wallet.

Fan shook his head and replied, "No, really! I insist! It's the least I could do after you let me watch your premium signed copy of the director's cut of the first episode of the critically acclaimed anime series Tetra Machine Dream Team Unite!"

"Whee-whee, whoo-whoa-wah-whoo—"

"No, I must! It would be an honor to buy a meal for the soul who opened my eyes to such quality audio-visual production!"

Fan pulled out his debit card, grabbed Woody's good arm, and put it in his hand. "Anything you want for breakfast today—on me. I gotta go to the bathroom now"—he ran back out of the café and turned a corner—"but save me a seat!"