friends, festivals, and... fish?

Byakko really loved food.

Not just the tasty side of it- though that certainly was his favorite -but the culture that surrounded food, too. There was food for every kind of occasion; festivals, celebrations, holidays, parties. Food had a life of its own outside of just how good it tasted. 

Which was why, by all accounts, the Festival of Changes was one of the tiger’s favorite festivals of the year. The streets of Eternia flooded with food vendors from all corners of the world, joining together to mark the beginning of a new year and a joyous celebration of life moving forward. There was only one problem- there was no way that Byakko would be able to try everything by himself.

So, naturally, he had dragged Slug along with him.

“God, I despise this noisy-ass celebration.” Slug groaned, not nearly as thrilled to be wandering the packed streets as his friend was. “You despise everything.” Byakko immediately corrected him, giving the Snugzi a gentle nudge with his arm. “So lighten up, Sluggie! There’s no room on these streets for debbie-downers like yourself.”

“Do not call me Sluggie, you freak.” Slug hissed, shooting a glare at the tiger that was simmering with irritation. “My name is Slug. S-L-U-G, not ‘Sluggie.’ Call me that shit again, and I’ll leave your ass stranded here in the middle of the street with all these other sad losers.”

Byakko merely laughed and pulled the smaller Snugzi into a hug, his tail flicking happily as he gave the pup a happy squeeze. “You’re so grumpy, Slug.” The tiger chirped, not at all phased by the other’s threat. He’d known Slug long enough to not believe such heated things. Besides; if Slug had really wanted to abandon him, he would have done so long ago.

Slug’s eye twitched with irritation, shoving Byakko away to grumble unhappily beneath his breath. That damned tiger would be the death of him. As much as he would have loved to leave Byakko alone and ditch this damned festival, he knew he’d feel like an asshole when the day ended and tomorrow’s sun rose in the sky. So, for now, he was stuck in this nosy downtown area and forced to endure the atrocious nickname ‘Sluggie.’

“Cheer up, Slug.” Byakko frowned, worried that he’d legitimately upset the other. “You can pick the first food to try if you want, as an apology.” The smaller immediately perked up as the tiger spoke, his irritation vanishing in the blink of an eye as it always did. “Wait, for real?” Slug crossed his arms over his chest, sounding the most tolerant he had all night.

“Of course.” Byakko grinned, “My treat. Anything you’d like to try, we can!” The Tiger wasn’t picky. He wanted to try everything, and if having Slug pick out the first food would help the smaller’s mood, then it was a no-brainer.

“Fine.” Slug begrudgingly accepted the ‘apology.’ “Lucky for you, there is something I wanna try. Don’t get the wrong idea, though- I still hate this goddamn festival.” Ths smaller reached up to grab ahold of Byakko’s blanket trim, practically dragging the tiger along behind him as he marched through the crowded streets towards a vendor in particular.

“Eek! Slow down, Slug! Just ask me to follow you, next time.” The tiger yelped as the other let go, Slug crossing his arms and tapping a foot against the sidewalk. “This place. Now. I wanna try the Grilled Prismfish Skewers.” He cocked his head towards the vendor’s menu, and Byakko felt his stomach growl at the sight of such delectable food. “Okay! I can definitely get us some. They look so yummy, I think I’ll keel over if I don’t try one.”

Sure enough, Byakko got his paws on two Grilled Prismfish Skewers in a matter of minutes. He felt a little bad about wanting to eat it; the food was just so pretty. He held one out to Slug, not wanting to dwell on it lest he decide not to eat it at all. “Here, Slug.” The tiger murmured, giving one of the Prismfish to his companion. The second the other had taken it, Byakko urged the smaller to take a bite. Slug rolled his eyes with an irritated huff but obliged the tiger anyway, sinking his fans into the skewer to take a small chunk out of the fish.

Byakko didn’t think he’d ever seen Slug look so speechless.

“Oh, fuck.” The Snugzi groaned, looking like he’d just taken a bite out of the best thing he’d ever tasted. “This is heaven on a stick. Hurry up and try this shit, Tiger.” Byakko happily bit into his own Prismfish Skewer, the larger having a very similar reaction as his tail flicked happily back and forth. “Oh my goodness, Sluggie, this is amazing.” Byakko spoke through a mouthful of food. The mutt was too busy chewing away on his skewer to even bother correcting the tiger about the nickname. It seemed as the food had, in fact, turned the entire festival experience around for Slug.

“This is so good. I’ve decided that this festival isn’t entirely dogshit if it has stuff like this.” He muttered, clutching the skewer close to his chest as if someone might try to swoop in and grab it. “Relax, Slug.” Byakko laughed, his own Prismfish practically devoured, “We can always get more later if you still want to.” Slug perked up a little at that, eyeing the tiger with muted suspicion. “Really?” His voice was a little gruff. “Really.” Byakko replied, grinning at the sight of the smaller enjoying himself.

“Alright, fine. I’ll stop being such an ass, but only because you offered to get me another skewer.”

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word count: 953
focus characters: slug & byakko
prompt: festival flavors