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The smell of sweet pastries and warm bread paired with the aroma of rich bitter-sweet coffee wafted through the air, the fall atmosphere partnered well with the array of autumn themed scarves and jackets that filled the crowded market.
It’d been awhile since Pluto got the opportunity to come out of his house and be around other people, well other than his dungeons and dwarf planets group - he always thought it was a weird name for something that already had a normal, much more pleasant, pre-existing title but Makemake insisted that it was a ‘cool game’ - Pluto was just happy that he was able to reconnect with his old ‘friends’ again or maybe it was to finally befriend them? Either way he was adamant to make the most out of this trip.
Not to mention, this would be a good opportunity to spend more time with Charon, as much as he didn’t want to admit it, he hadn’t been the greatest to her lately. It wasn’t like it was completely his fault! He’d basically just gotten ghosted by most of his friends ‘out of the blue’, yes it was years ago and it was because they all went to pursue different things in their lives but still! Point was, he really wanted to make it up to Charon, even if she didn’t ask for it.
“He was supposed to meet us here! What is taking him so long?!” Uranus complained, flashing his watch in X’s face, “I knew we shouldn't have agreed to this.” Uranus couched down, busily typing on his phone impatiently. Uranus seemed kind of tense the whole trip here, it wasn’t like it was any of Pluto’s business but he was once his friend, he couldn’t just not do anything.
“Hey c’mon now, this isn’t that bad, I mean how often do we get to all hang out like this?” X shot back, pushing away Uranus’s arm.
“I guess mate.. But I'd still much rather be at the house, it’s so bloody cold out here.” Uranus grumbled, pulling his scarf up to his face. He wasn’t wrong, they were supposed to meet Earth here to buy ingredients for the party but Earth hadn’t shown up or left a text in awhile now, they were almost 40 minutes into waiting for him and Earth was still nowhere to be found.
“You never where one for cold temperatures where you Uranus?” X remarked, he sounded concerned, caring even but Pluto seriously doubted that, that was how Uranus took it, he wasn’t the most happy or calm at the moment.
Judging just the way he was slumped over - practically touching the ground - everything and everyone probably sounded snarky and annoying to him - though Pluto couldn’t blame him, he’d be pretty grumpy too if he was forced out of his house and now had to wait in the freezing weather against his will.
Looking around the different stalls, one in particular caught his eye. It was a cute little stall with handwritten coffee menus and signs, it wasn’t too far away either he could probably get a few coffees and get back in time.
“What are you looking at?” Charon asked, stretching her head as much as she could over Pluto’s shoulder.
“Charon-! Don’t sneak up on me like that..” Pluto yelped, stumbling in front, “but I’m looking at the stalls, which one do you think I should buy from?”
“Are you hungry Pluto? Wellll if you want we could look around first!” Charon suggested, a wide grin plastered on her face.
“That’s.. Actually a great idea Charon! Let’s take a walk.”
Charon excitedly grabbed onto Pluto’s wrist, pulling him through the small crowds of people as they skimmed through the large selection of food and drinks that lined the area.
Glancing through the different stalls and vendors Pluto saw quite a few yummy looking snacks here and there..teas..hot chocolates but he wasn’t really sure what Uranus liked in the first place, sweet? Savory? Maybe he liked bitter things, Pluto needed to find something that was general enough but not too basic - so it seemed like he put enough thought into it- This was all so hard and complicated, nothing seemed to fit what he was looking for.
“Mm, nothing yet?” Charon asked, coming to a gentle halt.
“No..what do you think he’ll like?” Almost immediately Charon jumped up, her eyes widening in excitement, Pluto had accidentally slipped that he was getting it for someone else and not himself - to her this was big BIG news, although it wasn’t the best to see Pluto go back on his old habits of trying too hard just to be accepted by others, it was still nice to see him do something for someone else. Especially if that something was a gift.
“Wait no–!” Pluto tried to undo what he had just done but by then it was probably too late.
“Who is it for?! Wait let me guess.. Is it Neptune? No, you didn’t react at that name, is it X? No– is itt Uranus?”
Exactly as Charon suspected, Pluto immediately made a face when Uranus was mentioned, “Ah-Ha! It is Uranus, I knew it!.. Well kind of.”
“Okay okay– keep your voice down, yes it’s him now help me find something to buy.”
They looked around for a little while more, Pluto was about to give up and just buy a cup of tea or hot chocolate or something, until a certain familiar sign caught his eye. Nicely decorated and adorned by pinecones and leaves, how could he have forgotten the first stall he saw! He’d been so aught up with shopping with Charon that he completely forgotten his original plan.
Although the sign was similar to the other signs they had seen before this one had a particular note written on it “Buy 3 get 2 free” It was obviously there to attract larger groups and they had exactly 5 people so it couldn’t be more perfect. Pluto would be able to get all of them a little treat.
“Let’s get this one.” Pluto said, pointing at the chalkboard sign.
Charon happily hopped in line, reaching her head over to take a quick look at the menu that was hung up front, “Sooo, what are you thinking about getting?”
“I’m not too sure but let’s just buy the same thing for everyone else, makes it a little easier, you don’t think they have any allergies do you?” Pluto inquired, as he squinted to read what was written on the menu.
“Mhm.. Nope, I don’t think so! Well at least I hope not, we'll probably be finee.”
Pluto awkwardly stood in line for a while, repeating his order over and over again in his head, ‘Five hot Caramel Apple Lattes..five hot caramel apple lattes..’ and soon enough it was his turn to order. Pluto sheepishly walked up to the vendor, taking one last look at the menu to make sure that he got the name right.
“Um, five hot care-meal apples lattes please..”
“Alright, five hot Caramel apple lattes right?” The vendor nicely repeated back to him, typing in his total into a small calculator they had on hand. “That’ll be.. $22.50!”
“Thank you..” Pluto muttered, before quickly picking up his coffees and walking away as fast as he could, ‘Care-meal?? What did that even mean!’ He was always awkward when it came to social interactions, you’d think he got used to the public humiliation he’d feel everytime he messed up an order or said something he shouldn’t have, which was a lot, but alas Pluto still felt the same amount of embarrassment every time.
Thankfully Charon didn’t pay much mind to it, she simply grabbed a few drinks from his arms and continued walking like nothing happened - Pluto always felt grateful for that- the rest of the way back to their meet-up spot wasn’t very eventful. They mostly walked without speaking, which Pluto enjoyed.
Basking in the comfortable silence, feeling the cold winds push lightly against him with only his clothes and the warmth from the coffees keeping him cosy. The pleasant atmosphere of couples similar to himself and Charon walking through the market hand in hand, the occasional small children running past him, occupied with games and toys that took up the majority of their young lives, Pluto could really feel himself unwind and relax.
He’d been so busy with his studies and his job he hadn’t really had much time to do anything else, let alone spent time with Charon or his friends. Speaking of Charon, he hadn’t noticed before but she really did dress up for this event, she was wearing a nice orange and beige scarf with a few cute black cats decorating the sides - a gift that even Pluto himself had forgotten about - he had gifted it to her last fall, honestly he just thought it was a cute scarf and didn’t think that much about it but Pluto could still remember how ecstatic she was when he gave it to her.
The way her eyes lit up and how her first instinct when she received it was to hug it firmly in her arms and proudly state that she would wear it every single day. He fully thought that she was joking but looking back now, Charon did wear it every time it was chilly out, sometimes she wore it in the comfort of her own house - Pluto would see her happily turn on the air conditioning and put it on once it got cold enough. He just never really paid that much attention to those things.
“Charon!” Pluto called out, running in front to catch up to her, “You look- nice today.” Pluto hesitantly said - god! Why was he so awkward all the time, that sounded so ingenuine.
Charon stared at him for a while, with the same wide eyed look she’d give whenever she was surprised, shocked,amused, anything really and it was adorable! Pluto could feel how flushed his cheeks were, they had already been dating for a while now and they’d already confessed ages ago but everytime Charon looked at him a certain way or laughed or just existed, he felt as if he was standing in front of her again all those years back. Charon holding a limited edition model of a character he particularly liked, sticky note with the words “will you go out with me?” on it , Pluto fully taken aback, almost stumbling into the pond behind him as a result.
How flustered and happy he was that day, and now here he was, Charon in front of him again. If he wasn’t holding three drinks he would rush over to hold her hand. Soon their trip came to an end, Pluto quickly spotted the three of them not too far up ahead.
“Uranus it’s not that bad! Look at all the food and pretty trees around, I’m sure this trip will be great.. Pluss isn’t it nice to go outside once in a while?” Neptune exclaimed, tilting his head to the side as he awaited Uranus’s response.
“Sure Neptune, whatever you say mate..” Uranus shoved his hands further into his jacket as he continued to observe the bustling passersby and vendors, the smell of food and freshly brewed coffee drifting in the air, it made the atmosphere just a little warmer and Uranus was immensely grateful for it. He was never one for pastries but looking at all the warm, fluffy muffins, scones and simple loafs of bread made him feel peckish.
Uranus would’ve continued to daydream about the abundance of baked goods he was going to indulge in, in the next few hours but he was quickly interrupted by a light tap on his back.
“Here.” Pluto held up a cup of what smelled like coffee towards him, “I wasn’t sure what you liked so I just got you the same thing as what I got for everyone else, it’s a Caramel apple latte.”
“Oh– thank you mate, you didn’t have to.” Uranus carefully took the cup from Pluto’s hands, making sure that he didn’t accidentally spill any of it, “How much do I owe you?” Uranus asked with a hesitant smile on his face.
“Nothing!” Pluto yelled, wincing immediately at how loud it came out.
“Coming on a little strong there but whatever you say.” Uranus teased, an amused snort coming through before he hastily cleared his throat and took a sip of the drink. It was sweet, almost too sweet, with a slight salty aftertaste from the caramel. Overall it was a pretty good drink, tasted just like apples and for someone who didn’t particularly enjoy sweet drinks, he surprisingly enjoyed it.
Uranus watched as Pluto handed everyone else the same hot beverage, and as expected X also seemed to thoroughly enjoy it, his eyes lighting up the moment Pluto handed it to him and even more so when he tasted it. Well, Pluto just made a friend for life that’s for sure, though Uranus wasn’t too sure about how Neptune would take it, although he seemed like the type of guy to indulge in sweet and what not, from the may years of knowing Neptune, that was actually far from the truth.
Curious, Uranus went up to Neptune, “So, how do you like mate?” Neptune took a few sips, squinting his eyes and looking back at the packaging of the cup a few times before turning to Uranus.
“It’s nice, I wouldn't get it butttt.” Neptune trailed off, a familiar cheeky grin on his face before taking another small sip of the drink. “Yeah, it was quite nice of Pluto wasn’t it.” Uranus commented, sighing softly.
It was nice to be able to hang out with the group again, Pluto hasn’t been invited to any of their hang outs in awhile let alone a party! Although it was true that Luna was the one who invited him.. But he’ll take what he can get.
“Soooo I see someone is getting closer to their old ‘pals’.” Charon jumped out from behind him, letting her weight rest on Pluto’s shoulders, his knees buckling slightly in response.
“Charon– don’t sneak up on me like that.” Pluto complained, a relieved look on his face, “I thought you were someone else.”
“Oo who?” Charon asked excitedly, a spark of curiosity illuminating her eyes.
“nothing,Nothing!”
“Oh C’MON!” Uranus shouted, clasping his face with his hands, “Earth said he can’t make it..” Uranus stated, banging his head in defeat against Neptune’s shoulder.
“There there Uranus, it’s okay, let it all out.” Neptune consoled, wearing a curious smile on his face as he patted Uranus on the back.
Pluto couldn’t help but bite back a laugh, there was never a dull moment with those three, he remembered all the times they used to interact - even if it was rarely - Pluto really did miss when they would invite him to go to places, he would have to savour every moment he had left with them.
Though his silent monologuing was abruptly interrupted by a nudge from Charon, accompanied with a warm, knowing smile, she knew exactly what was on his mind and knew very well how to snap him out of it.
“Alright alright, let’s just get whatever we need to get and we can leave okay?” X suggested, pulling up the text that Earth had sent them beforehand - honestly they should’ve seen it coming.
“Hm Let’s see..” X muttered, his tone almost sing-songey, “Looks like it’s all just baking supplies, is it anyone’s birthday?”
“Oh right mate! I remember now, I’m pretty sure it’s Luna’s birthday.”
“Huh..I genuinely thought it was a halloween party, guess not.” X commented, momentarily, looking up from his phone.
“It’s a bit of both really.” Uranus replied, before slowly taking out a perfectly crisp piece of paper he had somehow kept in the inside of his coat, and as if it couldn't get worse, X was soon almost scared to death by an oversized, fancy, white quill.
The thing was waving, practically fluttering, in the air, as if it were teasing him as Uranus busily wrote down a long list of items they had to buy for the party.
X just stared, dumbfounded, his jaw slightly agape. Before glancing over at Neptune, hoping, no praying, that someone else saw the madness that was playing out in front of him.
“Okay! I think we're set.” Uranus exclaimed, a bright smile on his face, as he hurriedly slotted the quill at the side of his coat.
“Let's get going?” Uranus shot a quick look at X, his unnaturally straight piece of paper in hand - only curling at the two ends, almost like a nice scroll.e
"Yea.. let's go.” X reluctantly said, cautiously trailing behind him, Neptune and the rest following suit further back.