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The bright colorful made by Caine had been shut, leaving behind the only two humans still in the circus to their own devices as they had momentarily witnessed all of their friends go in for one of Caine’s new adventures. Kaufmo blinks as he adjusts his gloves, with Ribbit coughing a little at the awkward silence and rests her arms behind her back, looking away for a second.
It was just them now, with whatever time they had the entire day to kill time or just do mindless leisure’s on their own. Or together.
“Soooo…” Ribbit says as he glances at Kaufmo, with a side smile, “…Wanna get something from the café?”
“Sure, I’m in.” Kaufmo replies causally with a smile as he begins to follow her to the café.
There really was no plan in Ribbit’s mind when she made her way to the café with Kaufmo, as the only reason they stayed behind was because they simply didn’t wish to participate. They didn’t feel lazy but, Ribbit felt like between her and Kaufmo, she wanted to spend more alone time with him.
In either case, they made their way inside the well lit, cheerful, and relaxing café. It had received an upgrade, with plants and flowers in pots lined along the walls, pictures hanging above made by Gangle, lights that made the room feel less uncomfortable, and a bigger kitchen. Additionally as Ribbit sat at the booths, holding a menu, there were more items to work with thanks to everyone’s pitch to Caine.
“Hmmm…thinking maybe I should get the quiche or…” Ribbit ponders with a hum.
“…How about their boba tea Gangle has been raving about? Looks promising. Plus, it’s got different flavors and types of boba here. See?” Kaufmo says as he shows her the pictures.
“Ooohh…looks promising!” Ribbit exclaims in delight.
Browsing through the selection of boba options, from different flavors of the drink itself to the different flavors of the boba pearls, Ribbit noticed that even the pearls themselves had unique shapes. Some looked like generic boba, others white bubbles, some in weird shapes and colors, and some in different colors or animal shapes. She didn’t know how that was possible but then again the circus was always about doing this the “impossible” way. But what caught her eye was the animal selection; specifically the frog boba pearls.
“Heh…” Ribbit snorted, “…I think I’ll try the frog pearls with mine.”
“Huh?” Kaufmo hummed in confusion, then looked at the picture, “…Oooohh, oh that’s funny. You really wanna eat your own kin?”
“Pshh…” Ribbit grinned as she nudged him, “don’t make this sillier than it already is.”
“No can do, Froggy.” Kaufmo jested as he winks at her before looking for his options.
Ribbit then looks for the slip that’s left behind for all café goers to write their order down, slip it through a ticket machine that takes the order paper, and registers it in the system which will create the treat.
“Pretty nifty system don’t you think?” Ribbit asked as she inserted her ticket.
“Yeah, pretty nifty is the right word.” Kami replies as he writes down his order on a ticket.
Ribbit hears a few miscellaneous noises coming from the kitchen, such as liquid being poured in a cup, stirring, and for some reason a random SFX of a frog croaking. She blinked as a side smile appeared as Kaufmo perked up, watching as a boba tea materialized in front of Ribbit.
“Ha ha! Perfect!” Ribbit delightfully declared as she picks it up.
The tea itself was a bright greenish liquid mixed with brown sugar, stirred with milk, and had frog shaped boba pearls at the bottom of the tea. The frog pearls them selves had tiny smiley faces, which can all be consumed by the prepared blue straw that was already in the cup for Ribbit as she holds it.
“What kind of flavor is that?” Kaufmo asks as he waits for his order.
“I’m trying the green tea out, and I added a little extra milk and sugar.” Ribbit says as she takes an experimental sip.
The sweetness and floral taste of the tea hits her tongue like a freight train, immediately making her sigh in bliss as the tea tastes both soothing and sweet. She also gets a couple of the frog bobas which she lightly chews, popping them, and getting an extra kick of texture to her already savoring tastebuds.
“Mmmmmm…..ok, this is good.” Ribbit hums as she closes her eyes and licks her lips.
“Is it?” Kaufmo asks with a raised eyebrow.
Ribbit grins at him as they both hear the same sounds from the kitchen, with the added sound effect of a horn honk, something like a honking of a clowns nose, before a boba tea for Kaufmo materializes in front of him. It was a very vibrant looking tea, a mixture of what looks strawberry and banana tea, with blue and white boba pearls that make it stand out. Picking it up, Kaufmo takes a sip from his yellow straw.
“Mmmhmmm….perfect.” Kaufmo says with a smile as he glances at Ribbit.
“Looks great!” Ribbit says with a gentle laughs as she gets up with her boba drink.
“Huh? Where are you headed to?” Kaufmo asks as he takes another sip.
“Oh, I was just thinking we can go outside and enjoy our drinks as we walk.” Ribbit says as she swishes her boba tea with a smile.
Kaufmo perks up at the idea before he gets up with his drink, smiling as he offers his free hand to her.
“Sounds like fun.” Kaufmo says as he feels Ribbit take his hand.
“Great! Let’s get to it.” Ribbit says as she pulls Kaufmo along outside of the café archway.
Hand in hand, Ribbit and Kaufmo walk outside the café and down the stairs as they begin to talk about the brand new things that Caine had added into the circus. Thanks to everyone’s pitches, Caine had been more than willing to add a few new things here and there with him joining alongside them to enjoy it all himself.
“I feel much has changed since we all had come to from our abstractions…” Ribbit says as she looks at all the new things in the circus.
Kaufmo takes a sip of his tea as he savors the well blended mix of banana and strawberries entering his tastebuds, refreshing him as he sighs in delight.
“Oh yeah…more than just the delicious treats.” Kaufmo says as he squeezed her hand, “…I say it was more than just the circus. But us too, well, all of us if I have to be honest.”
“It’s a good change for us…if Pomni and Kinger hadn’t found out a solution for us, we’d be all stuck in the cellar still.” Ribbit says as she steps out inside the open sunshine.
Everything outside had also changed drastically as there are more flowers along the dirt path, fences, and new decorations along the way like stone statues and even a wooden swing set by the crossroads. Kaufmo and Ribbit took the pathway down to the Digital Lake, feeling the sunlight hitting their skin, as they see more and more flowers along the way.
Ribbit takes another sip of her boba tea, tasting the refreshing liquid gushing against her tastebuds as the frog boba pearls also join in as she pops them with her teeth. She was staring at all the lavenders along the way, alongside poppy flowers.
“…And it’s good thing Ragatha and Jax reconciled too.” Ribbit says as she looks at the way the poppies and lavenders stand out.
“I’m glad they did too…between you and me, I always believed they had a thing for each other?” Kaufmo says with another sip of his tea.
“Really?” Ribbit asks with absolute surprise.
“Yeah! What? Don’t tell me you don’t notice the way Jax has always been talking about her, even now he talks about her like she means the whole world to him.” Kaufmo replied after savoring his drink.
“Oh I’ve always noticed! But I didn’t know you caught on.” Ribbit says as she squeezes his hand gently.
“Oh no I did. I catch onto a lot of things really, some things you might not actually know that I do know.” Kaufmo says with a growing smile as he sees the lake approaching.
“Yes? Oh, try me oh observant one. Tell me something I may not know.” Ribbit says cheekily as she sits down on a patch of grass nearby the edge of the water.
Kaufmo thinks as he sips on his banana and strawberry boba tea, his eyes glistening with wonder and thoughtfulness. He could easily give her a random fact or something he saw someone do but where’s the fun in that? Instead, Kaufmo sits by her and wraps his free arm around her shoulders.
“Well let’s see…I have a beautiful,” Kaufmo says as he doesn’t look at Ribbit, grinning ear to ear, “intelligent, courageous, and sassy girlfriend who’s confident and has a great sense of humor.”
Ribbit’s face flushed as she looks right him, seeing him glance back and wink at her. Oh that smooth son of a gun.
“…You…” Ribbit tried to say and she can’t argue back as she looks away, sipping her boba with a smile to try and cool her hot face.
“Come ooooon, froggy…” Kaufmo teases as he brings her in close, “…You didn’t know how impressive you are to me, do you?”
“No, not really! But that can’t count!” Ribbit retorted quickly as she turned and buried her face in his shoulder.
“Oh yes it does.” Kaufmo says as he leans in and kisses her forehead.
“You are such a tease…” Ribbit says as she closes her eye, relaxing under the kiss.
“But I’m the best kind of tease…” Kaufmo says as he smiles with an idea, “…May I try your tea?”
“Huh? Oh sure…here.” Ribbit says as she offers her cup.
Kaufmo leans in and takes a small sample sip, humming as he gets some of that froggy boba too. With a smile, he nods and licks his lips.
“Refreshing…smooth…I like this a whole lot.” Kaufmo says as he then grins at Ribbit, “Now, you should try mine.”
Ribbit smiles at the idea but notices Kaufmo taking a big sip from his own tea, humming as he drinks a good chunk of it with ease. He makes a pondering expression as his tongue sticks out after, with him thinking.
“Hey Kaufy, going to let me try it or…” Ribbit asked.
“Yup, here.” Kaufmo says as he brings himself closer to her face.
Kaufmo is quick to give her a kiss on the lips, with Ribbit perking up at the taste of Kaufmo’s tongue brushing against her lower lips. In an instant, she deepens the kiss and tastes the sweetness of strawberries and bananas on his tongue on top of the lingering taste of popped bobas there which tastes like blueberry. It was sweet, savory, and made her hum in bliss as she pulled away.
“…Sneak.” Ribbit whispers as she looks at him with half lidded eyes.
“Worth it.” Kaufmo replies without any guilt and laughs as he is given a kiss on the cheek.
“You are d#mn right it is worth it.” Ribbit said without thinking twice, and kisses him on the cheek back.
Kaufmo’s face turns a bright shade of pink before he laughs after and pulls Ribbit close, with their teas still on hand as they look to the lake ahead of them. It was a nice day with the air feeling both cool and the sunlight hitting them just with the right amount of warmth, the lake rippling thanks to the wind with the sound of the air hitting the trees around them.
Taking sharp intake of breath into the crisp clean digital air, Ribbit sighs as she sips her boba one more time to finish the whole thing.
“….Mmm…mmm….” Ribbit hums as she finishes the drink, “…I am definitely getting more of these in the future.”
“Which one do you think you’ll get next?” Kaufmo asks as he looks out at the lake with her.
“The one you ordered for sure. It’s fresh, sweet, and very fruity. I especially love the blueberry flavored boba pearls. What about you?” Ribbit asks as she sets the empty cup beside her and hugs her knees.
“…I will try the one you had. It tasted so good, I could definitely get more than a second helping if I tried.” Kaufmo says as he inhales and exhales, relaxed and enjoying the day with her.
“Don’t get yourself too much or you’ll get sick of it.” Ribbit replies with a laugh as she rests an arm around his chest.
“Eh, I doubt it since you’re the one that made the combination.” Kaufmo says as he takes a hold of that hand after setting down his almost empty boba cup.
Ribbit’s eyes sparkle when she hears that, leaning against Kaufmo’s body with a content sigh, she looks out at the lake with a comforted smile on her face. Kaufmo holds her close in return before he leans down and kisses her forehead again, rubbing her back gently as he feels more at ease now that she’s around.
Things have changed for the better this time, and that makes the life here for them almost as sweet as their tea.