"Poisoned?" Luke couldn't help but take offense for his roommate. "I'll have you know, Sacha's the best baker the dark side has to offer. If you don't want any cookies then Gargar can eat them all." He ignored her diaper comment and shared a secretive look with their guests. The boy cupped his hands around his mouth, then spoke in a voice that could hardly be considered quiet. "She eats a lot, don't tell Gargar, but she's starting to get a little fat." The entire thing had been whispered, but anyone who wasn't deaf would have heard the young man loud and clear. "Anyways, you don't have to eat, but Sacha spent a long time cooking...the least you could do is be a little polite."
Sheesh, had the humans always been this hostile? Uh...to be honest, he didn't really remember.
The redhead with the baseball cap looked serious and a few of the humans were talking amongst themselves in quiet voices. Maybe they were grumpy because they were hungry. Jasper and Toby made their way towards Gary and Nympha began causing another one of her scenes. That witch was such a handful, and he understood why C didn't want her around the property. "Ey, Inadi, right? You guys can go inside and say hello to everyone, but we're eating outside." He jabbed a finger in the human's direction. "C doesn't want anyone spilling soda on the carpets. Those things are freaking hard to clean—oh hey, Mr. Cuddles, someone was looking for you!" Luke's serious expression instantly shifted into an excited one, and he waved cheerily at the eight foot tall bear.
Harper placed a hand on Inadi's shoulder. It really was true, Mr. Cuddles was walking through the doors with a tray of cupcakes and there was no mistaking it was him. "Sorry," he had mumbled sympathetically before his grip on his bag tightened. Ace was right, they'd have to be ready for anything, and if these hooded criminals had a giant bear on their side, then they'd need to be ready to fight or run. They couldn't walk away from this party without the stolen items. He shot a glance at his friends and noticed that Lesley and Leila weren't too far behind.
Riley was also nearby, she was standing not too far from the others. A look of disbelief was plastered to her face, and she shot Inadi a sympathetic look before offering Ran a hand. "Hey, Mr. Cuddles." There was no mistaking the betrayal in her voice, but she wasn't about to flip out on the baker. "Those cupcakes look really good, it's been a long time since we've last met, huh? Then again, I guess time doesn't really matter here. Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what are
you doing with
them?"
"Inadi!" The bear lit up, nearly dropping his tray of cupcakes in the process. "I'm glad you and your friends made it to the party, I hope you don't think wrongly of me. I promise you," he placed the desserts on the giant table outside. "I'm only trying to help you and..." the bear's voice softened. "Whatever has been said of me isn't true." He turned to the hooded figures and placed a giant paw on Sacha's head. "They're good people, and they're just like you."
Harper's eyebrows had furrowed in irritation, but he didn't say anything about the time Gary had hit Haku in the head with a pole, about the time one of them had nearly drowned him, and about the time they stole the witch's heart.
Mr. Cuddles walked up to Inadi with open arms, hoping that the human would hug back. "Nothing is what it seems to be."
"I guess," Riley stated from beside Lesley and Leila, "I never thought you were a traitor." There was no hiding the hurt look on Mr. Cuddle's face. The giant bear lowered his arms and looked down at his feet. He couldn't bear to think of his assistant hating him.
Meanwhile, Rainbowzilla had scurried up on the chairs and was already burying his fangs in one of the jelly filled donuts. "EH...I suggest you humans grab a seat," Luke glared at the baby lizard before turning to look at Nympha. "Stop whining and just sit down! C's not going to be happy to see you again—ah, Gargar, it looks like she sat on your flowers. Anyways, the party is just about to get started!"
Not long after, several nobodies began exiting the house, each with some sort of delicacy balanced on a tray. They were a colorful bunch, but what struck everyone the most wasn't the food, but who the nobodies were. They were all familiar faces and Harper took a step back, unsure about what he was supposed to feel.
Othello, Marina, Ise, and another Nobody Harper couldn't recognize. He felt his stomach sink and he frowned. He didn't understand what was happening, or why Nobodies that had tried to help them in the past were here with these criminals.
"Toby, Ran!" Ise set a plate of pizza on the table before she gave them a smile and a wave. Cobalt peeked out from behind her and before Toby or Ran could say anything, the baby dragon was running around them and drowning the duo in slobbery kisses. "It's nice to see you here." Despite the cheer in her voice, Ise spoke warily, she wasn't sure how all the humans would react to this.
Marina was waving cheerfully at Jasper and Froggy had popped up beside Ace to pull her into a hug. "Where's Leon?" He asked with a soft smile and he wondered why the atmosphere suddenly felt a 100 times more heavy.
Harper waved weakly at Marina then looked at his fellow humans with wide-eyes. "What on earth is going on..."
"C! It's about time, we're all starving." He was cut off by Luke's yell and his eyes landed on the figure that had exited the hobbit hole.
"Welcome to the tea party."
It was the girl that had tried to drown him in the cave. Harper clenched his hands into fists while the nobodies began taking their seats. By now, the table was filled with all sorts of food. There was a golden brown turkey surrounded by brownies and pizza with fries scattered around it.
"So!" Luke slung an arm around Sacha's neck and grinned, "you're probably wondering why you're here, right?"
C made her way towards the table and out of the blue stated, "we're asking you to join us."
Harper gaped, "what?"
The stoic girl before him merely nodded her head. "We're asking you to join our group."
All the nobodies around the table nodded their head, but Riley, she laughed. "Wow, you guys really are crazy."
Scout
