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The dark expanse of the star speckled sky stretched over calm and quiet New Hermitville. Settled on the outskirts of the village, a campfire sat in the dark, a cozy warmth catering Keralis and BDubs from the mild briskness of the night.
BDubs threw another log into the flames, a chain of crackles and pops erupting as the wood began to char. The vibrant sparks that burst from the fire almost resembled little fireflies. Though they didn’t have them here in the server, it made the night feel a little more magical.
Keralis tore open a bag of marshmallows, taking one and squeezing it over the tip of a blaze rod. He did the same with another rod, quietly handing it to BDubs and receiving a hushed, “Thank you.” In reply.
The two of them casted their rods into reach of the flames, watching the fire lick their marshmallows golden-brown. There was a comfortable silence for a while. That was until Keralis’ marshmallow began to set aflame.
“Keralis, buddy, your marshmallow’s burning.”
“Oh! Oh my goodness I almost didn’t notice that, um—“
With a deep, panicked breath of air, Keralis began to blow away the flames, simultaneously twisting the rod as to not let the goopy marshmallow leak onto the grass. It took two more good blows for the flames to be exterminated, but all that was left was a somewhat sad glob of coal black.
“This isn’t exactly what I was hoping for when I wanted to try roasting marshmallows.” Keralis chuckled. “Er—should I just throw it in the fire?”
BDubs pondered for a moment, “Well, burnt marshmallows are actually pretty good. Like, really, pretty good." He handed him a graham cracker from a box. "Try it and tell me what you think.”
Keralis lifted his eyebrows, a little suspicious about the claim. Regardless, he took it and slid the marshmallow onto the cracker, fitting a nice square of chocolate on top of it. “Bubbles. I really hope you aren’t lying to me.”
Bdubs snickered, “Oh just eat it already!”
Keralis grinned before fitting the s’more in his mouth, crunching down on it. His face lit up in glee no less than a second later, Bdubs chuckling at the sight. “I told you it’s good!”
Keralis nodded his head vigorously in agreement.
He quickly finished up the rest of his s’more, sliding another marshmallow onto his rod and throwing it further down into the fire. His marshmallow set aflame once more and Keralis blew it out with delight.
Bdubs marshmallow was yet to fully cook, and he stared at it quietly as it did so. A faint smile still held on to his lips, one that turned somewhat bittersweet within seconds.
Keralis glanced over at him, noticing the fragile look in his eyes. “Bubbles,” Keralis called ever-so-gently. “Are you alright?”
BDubs paused, mouth hung open silently, trying to collect his words to say. “Yeah. Yeah I’m all good. It’s just kind of crazy to be back on the server, you know? Like, uh, hoof.”
He tensed his grip, taking a quick moment to breathe. “I was just gone for so long that—that it’s just nice. It’s nice to see you guys again.”
Keralis smiled, offering a pat on the back to his friend. “It’s nice to see you too. And, I really think everyone really appreciates you coming back. Even if I wasn’t there to see you gone for very long, I can tell everyone missed you a lot.”
“Thank you. Tha—um—Thank you, very, very, very much. That’s how it goes, right?"
Keralis chuckled at the impersonation, “Spot on.”
He smiled at his friend. It was comforting hanging out with Keralis. He was a friend of his for a long time, and talking with him felt.. safe. He was honoured he got to work with someone so kind and understanding for the new village.
He turned his eyes back to his marshmallow, only to find it charred black by the campfire. He sighed, slid it off his blaze rod and onto a graham cracker, quickly crafting a s’more. “They kind of taste better burnt anyways.”
“I agree with that.” Keralis chimed. “Cheers?”
Bdubs smiled. “Cheers.”
They carefully clinked their burnt s’mores together, munching down onto them under the night sky.