Chapter Text
Kaboodle looked around in awe, the lanterns hanging between roofs casting the busy street into a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes. The trio was taking a break after completing the day’s mission, deciding to visit the local festival and enjoy themselves while they could.
She had ran ahead and gotten her hands on what appeared to be some kind of dessert native to the area, the ingredients were a complete mystery but it tasted good and wasn't toxic so she wasn't complaining. The breeze hit cold against her face but it felt refreshing and light, the townsfolk chatted with each other around her and children ran around playing and laughing.
Faint music comes from the square and Kab stops walking for a second to eat a bit more of her food, savoring its unique flavor and trying to come up with the best excuse to give to her friends when they inevitably asked why she didn’t buy one for them too.
tents filled with merchandise and foods lined both sides of the street, leaving a path in the middle for the people to walk, groups going up and down or sitting and eating in the businesses that had tables set up, idle chatter floated around and the smell of cookies and baked goods made Kab want to forgo the late hour and eat everything she could see. She was looking at a small tent selling some kind of jewelry when cold hands gripped her shoulders and she turned around to look at Boomie’s mischievous smile. She did not yelp, she did not.
kantje laughed at her despair and she shot a betrayed glare at him, “how dare you do this to me?” she exclaimed with a dramatic motion, looking away from him and covering her eyes with her hand as if she was acting in a play, making sure to pout as much as possible and make a fake sob.
“Oh yes, how dare I?”, mocked the raccoon playfully, “shouldn’t you be complaining to Boomie? he’s the one that startled you”
Said devil gasped and stepped back as if shot, putting a hand over his chest,“and you throw me under the bus?”
“yeah kantje, you throw him under the bus?”
The shortest of the group sputtered at her remark and stared back wide eyed “excuse me? you’re taking his side?”
Kaboodle didn’t hesitate to say yes in the most deadpan tone she could manage.
“you all hate me, that’s what’s happening, no one appreciates me anymore” he exaggerated
“oh yes, we all eat cake without you daily” Boomie teased, eyes crinkling with a smile that widened as he seemed to realize something, “talking about cake Kab, what are you eating?”
The girl in question stilled at the question and very slowly took a step back, “uhhh, nothing?”
“uh huh, you wouldn’t mind sharing would you?”
she shoved a spoonful of her dessert into her mouth and took off running, grinning at her friends' exclamations and following pursuit of her, she weaved between the people and laughed, carefree and happy, “come back here! You never bring enough for all of us, you jerk!" kantje giggled behind her, barely out of breath.
She looked behind her and blew a raspberry at him, colors and lights flew by them as the three of them sprinted down the street, Kab just managing to not get caught, and the other two thirds of the trio snickering behind her while trying to catch up.
Eventually she slowed down, panting and giggling, putting what was left of her desert on the table of a random establishment and trying to look composed, Boomie and kantje caught up a second or two later, equally out of breath and snickering all the same.
they all locked at each other for a second before cracking up, they must look so dumb, she thought, three grown adults cackling like little children after running like maniacs, Boomie tried to quiet down only to be sent back into a laughing fit by kantje’s giggles and she thought who cares.
They eventually calmed down and after a brief banter about the remains of Kab’s sweet they resumed walking, letting the path guide them and showing each other a trinket or another.
She stopped in front of a place selling a wide assortment of beauty-and-skincare related items, a small section of nail polish catching her eye, the small bottles of seemingly every shade in the market standing out from the rest of the stall, but the ones that grabbed her attention were two at the far back, in the neon section, a bright magenta alongside a vivid blue.
She looked behind her to check that the others were busy before buying them both, hiding them in her pants pockets, already thinking about how to get Boomie to paint his nails with her.
The sun had finished setting a while ago and the night sky could be seen between the roofs and lanterns above them, they wandered into the town square from the sidestreet they were in and enjoyed the view, bubbles littered the air, formed by a person selling bubble blowers waving a giant ring around, children played around them,trying to burst them or touch them before they hit the ground. Teens rode around in skates and bikes, racing each other and moving around in circles, bars and coffee shops filled to the brim with clients and music lined the sides of the square and decorations gave the space a mesmerizing feeling of peace.
They ended up seating at a small coffee shop, enjoying a drink, talking about nothing and everything, teasing and bantering and being anything but serious, kantje started a game of eyespy and she ended up sidetracking the conversation so bad Boomie forgot what the thing he had selected was, time flew by, and before they knew it shops were already closing and the moon was high in the sky.
As the trio stood up and picked up their things kantje made a comment about it being a good day and enjoying the afternoon with them. Kab nodded, smile on her face and thought yeah, it was a good day.