The Gilded Frame

7- Jam Stains

*+*Wintertime*+*

Snow falls from the sky as cookies chase each other around the park.

Snow Sugar started a snowball fight.

GingerBrave runs behind some trees for cover, but trips on something buried in the snow.

He slowly gets up, dusting the snow off himself before turning around, "Was that a tree root?"

He uncovers part of it, then steps back in horror before screaming and running to find Almond, who's supervising the kids.

He runs into Almond's legs, then pulls on his coat, "ALMOND! THERE'S A DEAD COOKIE BY A TREE AND I TRIPPED ON THEM!"

Almond picks him up and hugs him, "Behind which tree?"

GingerBrave points to it, "They're buried in the snow!"

Almond gently hands GingerBrave to Cocoa, who starts helping him calm down.

Almond walks over to the tree and completely unburies the cookie.

It's Eclair.

Almond steps back, then turns to Cocoa, "Get the kids somewhere safe! I gotta call backup!"

Walnut yells, "Dad can I help?!"

"Not this time, sweetheart, this case is a bit much for a kid like you. You can help Ms. Cocoa escort the other kids to safety, alright?"

Walnut crosses her arms, "I'll be old enough to help someday!"

"I know."

Walnut goes to help Cocoa while Almond gets out a walkie-talkie and requests backup.

While the kids are walking with Cocoa, Pancake asks, "Can we go to the Wafflebot Hangar? Strawberry Crepe has a ton of cool stuff there!!"

"As long as they're ok with you all being there, I don't see why not!"

GingerBrave is still shivering. "Why is this so much worse than the mudflats in the Créme Republic?!"

Walnut opens the door to the Wafflebot Hangar just in time for them all to hear Strawberry Crepe yell "IT'S MINE NOW!"

"GIVE BACK MY COFFEE! YOU'RE TOO YOUNG TO DRINK THAT!"

"WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO? GROUND ME?"

"YES!"

"YOU'RE NOT MY DAD!"

"I MIGHT AS WELL BE! HAND OVER THE COFFEE OR I'M TAKING YOUR PHONE!"

"FIIIIIIIINNNEEEE!"

After Strawberry Crepe hands the coffee back to Espresso, they look over at the doors, "Oh. What do you want?"

Pancake pokes his head in, "Can we play in here? GingerBrave found a dead guy so Almond said we aren't allowed in the park right now!"

Espresso chokes on his coffee, "Wh- Hold on- What?!"

"Can we play here?"