Chapter Text
Sprout's head went straight against the desk, sighing in exhaustion.
By the time he finished his studies, Sprout had moved on with his life trying to find a job that could be related to his studies in gastronomy. Sprout's love for all things related to the culinary arts knew no bounds, he had always wanted to have his own restaurant or just to work for a brand in this area would be like a dream come true.
But as fate would have it, he ended up working in a company where there was nothing related to his tastes, relegated to sitting in a chair that would probably bring him some posture problems in the future. The workplace wasn't the best, and while his boss Dandy wasn't the worst human being in the world, he could be a complete bastard when he needed to be.
Sprout clutched his leaves with stress, trying not to fall asleep by accident.
"I'm not like Astro to fall asleep out of nowhere" He thought to himself as he sat back down in a more upright but still very uncomfortable posture, not hearing the hurried footsteps approaching him.
“Sprout!” A female voice was heard behind him, meeting Shelly who held in her hands a large, no large, HUGE, mountain of what was pure paperwork.
"Shelly? Why are you bringing all that?" Sprout's voice sounded serious, frightened by whatever was wrong with his coworker.
Shelly flashed him an embarrassed smile, still holding all that big mess in her hands. Sprout already imagined the worst was yet to come.
"What happens is that I forget about all this work I couldn't complete and... Oh I can't help it anymore I need help and you're the only one I can trust!" The weight of the papers made a loud sound on Sprout's desk, which had been in order until that very moment, order interrupted by Shelly's whimpering.
Sprout picked up one of the sheets, reading from top to bottom, reviewing the contents of it, feeling his head spin at the mere glimpse. His gaze went to the rest of the stack, thinking about whether to throw it all in the trash and tell his coworker to go fuck herself for being irresponsible.
But he didn't let that sudden attitude get the better of him.
"Pull up a chair Shelly... We have a lot to do" He got up from his seat, moving it to give a side to the ammonite who was crying like she had won the lottery.
"Sproooout! You are my savior!" tears of happiness were falling from Shelly's eyes, grabbing a chair that was closer.
"Quiet, let's finish all this paperwork right now, I don't want to waste any more of my Friday" He mentioned trying not to sound more stressed than he already was, waiting for Shelly to finish crying and they could get started at once.
︎ 🍓♡ 🍪
"Phew! At least we're all set with everything now!" Shelly said as she walked around the outside of the work building next to Sprout, who had a distinguished, slightly annoyed expression on his face.
"It was too much... How could you forget all that? It was perfectly noticeable on any desk" Sprout told her reluctantly and with a slight curiosity in his voice.
"I'm sorry I'm too absent-minded and you know it Sprout! It's just that with all the other work I had this week I forgot to check all that..." Mentioned the girl with a certain tone of guilt, a sigh escaped Sprout's lips. "But I promise to make it up to you! As a thank you for all the things you've done for me!"
This caught the berry's attention, now listening to her more attentively.
"I'm all ears in that case, I'll be more than up for something like that" He said smiling in a triumphant way, apparently he could take that opportunity and have Shelly treat him to lunch somewhere. It was a complete win for him.
Shelly took her purse from her beige bag, opening it. She swear for a second a little flying bug came out of this one. She swallowed as she felt Sprout's gaze on her.
"Ha ha! You're going to laugh at this..." She turned around to face Sprout face to face, almost feeling like a droplet was trickling down her forehead at her mistake.
"Shelly..."
"Wait! Before you get more upset with me I know something where we can get something delicious and at a good price!" the girl hurried to say confidently, trying to make the matter better if she could.
Sprout looked at her.
"It'll be weird to say it this way, but it's not a restaurant per se... Near our building there's a guy who on certain days starts selling samples, they're really good!" Her hands moved back and forth nervously, giving her best smile towards Sprout. “From what I saw he works for a bakery, or was it a coffee shop? I'm not sure but the food he makes is very delicious!"
Sprout continued to have doubts, not knowing what to do. He could reject Shelly's offer, but it wasn't even a store, just a guy selling a product that Sprout had no way of knowing whether it would affect his health. With this in mind, if he did that, he would save time and could go to his apartment early and take advantage of the fact that it was Friday. Perhaps he could continue with the series he had left pending on his list, cook a new recipe, or even just go to sleep and rest his battered back.
He glanced quickly at Shelly, seeing her amber eyes waiting for his response. They weren't the closest of friends, but Sprout knew she wasn't a bad person. Her invitation was one of genuine gratitude, and in a way, he felt a little pity and affection for this clumsy girl.
“All right, let's go see this ‘guy’ you're talking about.” He sighed, resigned to his own thoughts, with a small, involuntary smile, and Shelly jumped for joy at his response.
“YIPPIE! You won't regret it! He's very talented,” said Shelly, walking alongside her companion, heading in the direction of the dessert guy.
“Okay, but why haven't I seen that boy before? If this is the way I take to get home, and in all the time I've been here, I've never seen him,” said Sprout intrigued, looking down the street where different people were going about their business, probably heading home.
“He seems to come on certain days, like I always see him on Fridays. I buy something from him for breakfast and sometimes before heading home. The cookies he makes are really delicious.” Just thinking about it made her mouth water, and Sprout chuckled at that detail. “Or maybe you haven’t noticed he’s there, or you’re in too much of a hurry to get to work.”
“Maybe that's it, I tend to ignore everything when I'm in a hurry,” he said with some embarrassment, discreetly looking around to see if that boy was anywhere nearby.
“See? It must be something like that... And speaking of which, there he is!” Shelly said, looking in the direction where he should be, and Sprout looked without much haste.
But when he looked at it, something strange happened to Sprout, but it wasn't something negative like what had been happening lately. He saw a chocolate roll in the corner where Shelly had said, wearing comfortable clothes and with a big smile as he served a family. He had a pretty frosting neatly arranged on top of his head, and stars decorating his cheeks. It wasn't what Sprout had imagined. Each of his items for sale was neatly arranged, without looking tacky, and from what he could see of one of the products he handed to the family, everything was very clean. He didn't know why, but Sprout felt a very strange sensation, something like a sudden comfort and a desire to get to know that boy, still walking alongside Shelly, who hadn't said anything else along the way, until they finally reached him.
And oh my gosh, Sprout wasn't ready.
"Hey Cosmo!" Shelly greeted the boy, who, recognizing her voice, looked up, looking at both of them, his smile being remarkably friendly.
“Cosmo?” thought Sprout, now looking at the excited chocolate roll.
“Hello Shelly! How are you?” He said happily, his voice captivating Sprout even more, delighting in how sweet it was. Everything was becoming increasingly strange for the strawberry. “Have you been able to eat your breakfasts better?”
“Yep! I did, but your food is so delicious! I can't stop eating it!” Shelly said happily, making Cosmo laugh at her words, until he caught Sprout's eye, who became a little more nervous when he noticed. “That's right! As you can see, I'm not alone. I brought one of my coworkers with me. His name is Sprout.”
"It's nice to meet you, Cosmo. As Shelly said, I'm Sprout, and I can't wait to try your desserts." His hand rose, waiting to feel the boy's hand.
It seemed as if everything stopped when he felt the chocolate roll's hand. It was a little smaller than his, warm and soft. It was as if Sprout had discovered something new, and he tried to pull himself together so as not to appear strange in front of the charm of a boy he had just met.
“Thank you so much for those kind words. I sincerely hope you enjoy the food,” said the shorter one cheerfully, gently removing his hand from Sprout's and smiling at his a little nervously. “Oh, and since you're my last customers today, I have a small gift for you, on the house.”
He searched through his small container, where he seemed to keep all his products so as not to ruin them, pulling out some bags containing a large quantity of cookies. In the center of the bag was a logo that was clearly from some store, which only made Sprout even more suspicious of the seller standing in front of him.
He had to stop acting that way if he didn't want to look even stranger than he already did.
"Awww Cosmo, you're so kind!" Shelly said with a smile, taking the small food given by the boy between her hands.
"It's nothing! I figure they must be pretty tired and a little snack never hurts really" He mentioned as he started to put away everything he needed before leaving the place.
Sprout also had the cookies in his hands, opening the bag and taking out one of the cookies it contained. When he tasted it he felt how that delight transformed his mouth into the paradise never created for him, they were as Shelly had described them, a thing from another world almost, having a taste so good that it did not become too cloying, it was at the perfect point.
"Mmm! They're too good!" mentioned Sprout happily, feeling very pleased with the result of going over there, he really took back everything he had said before arriving.
Cosmo gave him a smile that could have killed him.
"I'm so glad to hear that!" Cosmo mentioned, looking at Sprout with encouragement, leaving him even more nervous, why was he like that? "If you need anything for a little break I'm always this way!"
Sprout was definitely going to die at the hands of Cosmo. Or his smile.