Dango 101

Grim had become a regular customer to Dan’s dango shop at this point, and that was completely fine for both parties - Dan certainly appreciated the business (though he certainly did not seem like he was hurting financially - there was always a steady stream of buns in the store) and Grim appreciated the high-quality products that he was buying for both him and Paroli, his Sceil. Today was one such trip to the city, and he was feeling the heat of the summer beat down on him as he commuted to Burrowgatory’s center. There were still plenty of buns out and about, but they had more or less shed their clothing to lessen the chance of warmth sticking to their skin.

He longed to enter a place with AC, so he picked up the pace and soon arrived at his destination. A little chime would signal his entrance, and much like other times, it wasn’t Dan who was manning the counter but a surprisingly not as sleepy Shibani. He actually greeted Grim this time with a cheerful smile.

“You’re actually awake this time.” the purple bun said before realizing that it was potentially rude, so he quickly apologized after saying so.

The pale bun waved it off without a care, “I’m pretty energetic today! Anyway, don’t let me stop you, I’ll just wait for you to finish your shopping~”

There were a few other buns around in different parts of the store, eyeing various dango and sweets displayed on the shelves. Back then, he used to get an assortment to see which one he liked best, but now he would pick the ones he and Paroli liked best. That included the Ube Dango and the Black Sesame Dango.

Before he could pick out all of the dango packs he wanted to buy, though, he heard Shibani talking to another customer. Something about looking for potential buns that were interested in making dango. Perhaps it was because he was the sole maker of them and couldn’t keep up with the demand? Curiosity got the better of Grim (and he liked talking to Dan) so he approached the counter once more to ask about it.

“Oh, you want to try it out, dear customer?”

“Err, if Dan would have me.”

“I wouldn’t mind, you did help me with the mochi pounding last time.”

The owner of the shop was by the door that led to the workshop. He was pushing one of the hanging blue cloths aside, his expression neutral but somehow curious. “You have time today for some kneading? Thought you might be busy.”

“You jest, my schedule is certainly freer than yours.”

Dan showed a small smirk before beckoning him to the back. Grim asked if it was okay he could leave the basket on the counter, to which Shibani happily took it and stored it somewhere to the side. Letting out a soft, thoughtful noise, he followed the dango shop owner, but in the corner of his eye he noticed that the pale bun let out a yawn. He wouldn’t be surprised if later he would be asleep on the job again.

The backside of the shop was becoming more of familiar territory to Grim, but instead of going to the large mochi making fixture in the center of the room, he was led to a wooden counter that had a number of containers and the already prepared dough. They came in different colors and looked like a little rainbow. A part of Grim was tempted to take a piece and bite into it, but he suppressed the urge and listened to Dan attentively. There wasn’t much to explain - he wanted someone to help form the dough into balls suitable to be skewed into the sticks. Each stick required three balls, which were finished with a matching glaze. Dan just wanted Grim to practice forming the balls so that they could work together more efficiently.

“I’m surprised you haven’t hired someone to actually train, Dan.” he remarked while forming a piece of dough with his hands. He needed to make sure that they were damp so that it wouldn’t stick and actually take shape.

The other bun let out a grunt. “Too much pay and likely unreliable. You might find this surprising, but I’ve been able to handle the shop perfectly fine for the past couple of years. I have no clue why though but recently there have been plenty more buns around.”

“Heh, maybe because of social media?”

“I don’t get that. I think Shibani mentioned BunTok once.”

“It’s possible. How does this look?”

Grim showed the little squishy sphere to Dan, who turned to his direction and narrowed his eyes. “Not bad. A little too small, take a pinch of the dough and add it in.”

“Like this?”

“Yeah. Stick to that size.”

It would take him a few more tries to get a consistent size, but he was able to eyeball something that worked, and soon he had a row of pink dango balls. Dan then approached him to examine his handiwork. He would nod once before taking them and then ask to continue rolling more.

So two hours would pass in relatively comfortable silence. Outside, Shibani’s voice can be heard, greeting the customers and manning the counter. By the end of it, they were able to skew a good number of dangos, and the glaze really made the difference from a plain looking dango to one that looked quite delectable. Ah, but Grim couldn’t help but feel self-conscious about how some of them didn’t align; one would often be bigger or smaller than the other.

“This is a good start. Maybe I should really train someone in earnest after all.” he muttered that last sentence mostly to himself, “Wanna try practicing at home? I can give you instructions and ingredients.”

“Really?”

“You’ll have to pay.”

“Ah, figured it was too good to be true.” Grim let out a small chuckle before nodding once, “I’d be interested in trying it out. At least Paroli wouldn’t have to wait so long to get more dango.”

“Your imp, right?”

“Yes, he loves your Black Sesame Dango.”

“Glad to hear it.”

After Grim washed up, he was allowed to take one of his creations home with him for free (well, he still had to fork over extra cash for the ingredients). After that, he went to where Shibani was, who was surprisingly still awake but was notably sleepier than earlier.

“Ohhhh, guess staying up for the whole day is too hard…”

“Chin up, Shibani. Maybe you can ask Dan for a snack?”

The pale bun had a dreamy look on his face, “I’d like to have him for a snack…”

Grim let out a small laugh, “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

It was only after he left the shop that he was starting to feel the pain of having spent more today than he had initially budgeted for, but the experience was worth it, he felt. It wasn't every day that one got to work under the tutelage of a dango maker after all, and a rather famous one at that. It did cross his mind that maybe Normal would also be interested in his creation. He seemed to like receiving the mochi he made last time. Well, he should start as soon as he can, then.