Tea Party

It doesn’t take much to excite Taffy, but it was excited nonetheless. It looked down at its phone, checking the time as it walked through the apartment hallway. 

“I’m running a bit early, but I'm sure they won't mind!” It chirped to itself.

Taffy couldn't help but leave home as soon as it got ready for its tea party with Dove. As such, it was going to arrive at Dove and Jackal’s apartment about fifteen minutes before the agreed-upon time.

After double-checking that it had the right apartment number, Taffy knocked a sweet little rhythm on the door.

“Dooooove! I’m hereee!”

Some clattering noises rang from on other side of the door in response. Soon after, Dove opened the door.

“Oh dear! Is my clock late? I’m so sorry!” The cherubun stepped aside and held the door for Taffy. “Please, come in while I finish up the last touches! It’ll just be a moment!”

Taffy waved its hand to dispel Dove’s worries like they were made of smoke. “It's okay, I’m just early! I was excited about the tea party, so I had trouble waiting!” The succubun made its way to the couch and sat down.

Dove smiled as they closed the door. “Ah, I see! I’m glad that you're looking forward to it as much as I am!” After re-securing the lock, they approached their seated guest. “I’m a bit surprised, it's not often that people here are early to things—” Immediately, Dove’s hands shot up to cover their mouth. “I’m so sorry! I didn't mean for that to sound so tacky! Please don't pay me any mind!”

Taffy responded with laughter, contrasting with Dove’s panic like day and night. “I knew what you meant, don't worry! And even if you did mean it like that, it would be a fair shot, in my opinion.”

The two shared a giggle, and Dove’s shoulders relaxed as their hands fell away from their face. Hardly a second after, Taffy’s attention was fixed on a smell wafting from the apartment kitchen.

“Are you baking something?” it asked quickly, desperately resisting to urge to spring from the seat and see for itself.

“Yes! I had heard that you like sweets very much, so I’ve been baking a variety of treats to go with the tea.”

Taffy's tail thrashed a bit while it stared down the kitchen like an imp stares at dango. It took a while for it to come to its senses again. “Uhh… ahem. Would you like some help? I would feel bad making you rush just because I got here early.”

“No, no, it's okay! I’m almost done with the last batch! It’ll be just another five minutes or so until I need to take them out of the oven. I can start setting the other things out for us to enjoy in the meantime!”

“Well, if you insist!” Taffy relaxed in its seat as it watched Dove go to the kitchen.

Among the things that Dove carried out of the kitchen and set onto the lace-adorned coffee table where a teapot, two teacups, some cream and sugar, a plate of tiny cucumber sandwiches, and more. What interested Taffy most, unsurprisingly, was the various plates of different types of baked sweets.

“Ohhh, I just don't know what to start with…!” it murmured to itself, eyes scanning every detail to evaluate each treat.

Dove, who was setting down a little dish of lemon slices, smiled. “If you want my recommendation, I think I’m the most proud of the lavender scones.”

With a nod, Taffy plucked one such scone from the plate and took a bite. Exactly two seconds passed before Taffy was wiggling with delight, hands on its cheeks. “Sooo good!!! It's nice and floral, but it's sweet, too!”

“I'm so glad that you like them!” The sound of an oven timer rang, and Dove gingerly put on a pair of light blue oven mitts. “I’ll be right out with the last plate, and then we can officially start the tea party!”

As Dove made their way to the kitchen once more, Taffy gazed at the teapot. Taffy certainly had tea before, but it had never been to a tea party. It was excited to try it! The only thing was that it had heard that there's often a special emphasis on table manners during them. Dove was surely the last person in Burrowgatory to get livid over something that miniscule, but Taffy still didn’t want to show disrespect towards someone who was so nice to it.

Taffy decided to try emulating the idea of proper etiquette to the best of its ability. Back straightened, knees together, hands folded on lap, breath held, muscles tense, face turning purple, head getting dizzy…

When Dove walked back in with a plate of strawberry thumbprint cookies and was faced with this sight, they put down the plate and grabbed Taffy’s shoulders at once. “Are you okay?! What happened?! Are you able to breathe?!”

After a quick deafening gasp for air, Taffy was back to its usual self. “Yep! I’m okay! I was trying to be proper. I’m not really the best at it…”

Dove stared at their guest’s now-unpurpled face. One blink. Two blinks. On the third blink, they relaxed and let go of Taffy’s shoulders. “...Were you trying to force yourself to be mannerly for my sake?”

“Well, yeah! Perfect manners are, like, required for tea parties, right? I wanted to give it my all so I wouldn’t offend you!”

A soft-smiled sigh introduced Dove’s response. “I really appreciate your effort, but I value your company and safety more than a bunch of silly rules. I want to get to know you, and that can’t happen if you’re pretending to be someone you’re not… or passed out on the floor!”

Taffy tried to rub embarrassment off of the back of its neck. “Yeah… that makes sense.” Its eyes drifted downwards to the new plate on the table, and the awkward feelings left as soon as they came. “Those cookies are sooo cute!!! I need to try them next!”

Dove gently sat in a chair across from where Taffy was seated on the couch. “Then we best get started! May I pour your tea? It's sure to be cooled off enough.”

Taffy's teacup was eagerly held out before Dove had finished speaking. “Yes, please!”

The two began chatting, whirlwinding through topics at Taffy's lead, over tea and snacks. While the succubun guest didn't much care for the cucumber sandwiches, it enjoyed each and every one of the sweets. It also adored the tea, especially after a copious amount of milk and sugar was added. Above everything, though, is that the two got to know each other and enjoyed each other's sincere company.

“Well, I gotta run!” Taffy said as it set down its teacup and saucer. “I have a date with some friends at a club. You wanna come?”

“I’d love to, but Jackal will be back soon, and we have some plans already. I hope you have fun, though! Tell me if anything interesting happens!”

The succubun smiled and hopped up to its hooves. “Will do!” Right before it opened the front door, Taffy looked back at Dove. “And let's do this again sometime! I never knew tea parties could be so fun!”

“Absolutely! Oh…!” Napkin in hand, Dove stood up and spritely came over to Taffy. “You have some crumbs on your mouth still… there! I can get the door for you, too!”

“Thank you…!” Taffy said, touched by its host’s sweetness. It walked into the hallway and waved in a huge arc over its head. “I’ll be in touch! Have a nice day!”

Taking Dove’s warm smile and polite wave as its signal, Taffy took off, ready to make more memories with friends. It would be sure to tell its new friend all about it later.