Just Desserts
"…I feel a little bad about-a that."
Mario and his friends stood in one of the many damp, cool caves that wound through the island of Keelhaul Key. The remote tropical paradise was said to be home to the treasure of the ancient Pirate King, Cortez, but that wasn't why they were here- in fact, they had already claimed the Sapphire Star from the pirate's ghost.
The group of heroes was in the habit of visiting the Rogueport Trouble center, where they took various odd jobs to help people. Recently, they'd taken a job from a Goomba by the name of Goom Goom, who had asked for them to meet him at the Key.
It had turned out that his job was more of a hook-up request; the Goomba had asked them if they knew any girls he might like. But they didn't even need to go out and look, because once he'd laid eyes on the fiery, sassy Goombella, he'd been smitten.
Unfortunately, Goombella had turned down the date offer. Goom Goom, dejected, had simply given them their reward (a rather beautiful cake) and left.
Mario watched the Goomba go with concerned eyes, holding the cake dish in his hands.
"It wasn't your fault, dearie," Flurrie cooed.
"He was the one who put up the ad in the first place," Champ pointed out.
"Yeah, but…" Mario trailed off and shook his head.
There was an uncomfortable pause. Goombella bit her lip.
"Well, it wasn't a total loss," Champ spoke up, breaking the silence.
"Really?" said Vivian.
"Yeah. I mean, look! We got us some sweet cake!"
At that, Champ jumped up and attempted to nab a slice of cake with his trademark Yoshi tongue, but the dish was suddenly gone from Mario's hands.
"What the-"
Goombella, holding the dish, rushed out of the cave after Goom Goom.
There was a pause.
"…Um, how was Goombella holding that dish without any hands?" Koops wondered.
They all shrugged.
"Hey!"
Goom Goom turned around. "Wha- Oh…Hi."
Goombella sighed. "Look…About what happened back there…I'm sorry."
He shook his head. "It's nothing. I just…"
She smiled at him and held out the cake. "Hey, did you bake this?"
"Uh- Yeah, I did."
"Seriously? It's awesome!"
"Really?" he cried excitedly, blushing.
"Yeah, it looks great!"
"I got the recipe out of one of Zess T.'s cookbooks. It's…" He subsided slightly. "…It's called Couple's Cake."
"Oh..."
He started to head off again, but she stopped him.
"Where are you going?" she said, smirking and shaking her head. "Where are your manners? You're not going to stay and eat this with me?"
He was bright red by now. "You…"
"You want this to go to waste?" she continued. Turning slightly pink herself, she set the dish on a rock, like a table, and sat down before it.
He practically fell into his place on the other side, his eyes wide and his grin wider. "You mean…"
Goombella giggled. "Couple's Cake isn't meant to be eaten alone."
"Well, then…" He handed her a fork. "Let's eat!"