(I/H) 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐄 || mewgulf

market-town.

"Thanks for helping me, Tul," Mew shuffled to his feet after managing to hug all at once three paper bagfuls of groceries, to the point a gigantic celery stick in one bag covered half of his vision yet enough for him to make out his way back home.

After a while of chilling beside the pond, Mew realized that his weekly groceries almost ran out so they gathered themselves and strolled to the town market. Crowds flocked the stalls like bees to have their own choice of produce, emitting body aura that intermingled seamlessly with the sweet scent of cheese wafted from afar. Both lads calmly walked into the wormy path to pick the food and Mew felt glad since he had Tul to help him pick the finest ingredients from even the most hard-fisted sellers. Therefore, it was the first time, or it might have been too long ever since Mew completed a whole round in the town market. Stepping out of the entrance, the older breathed in a lungful of fresh air, enjoying the tingliness in his insides before looking over at Tul, who was still occupied in reminiscing the items on his mind-built checklist. Both of them chuckled after Mew nudged his elbow on the younger's side, continuing to mind their own conversation regardless of the chitter chatter revolving around them.

"Oh my, Pi!" Tul gasped out of the blue once they came to a halt in front of Mew's studio and looked up at the older, who was facing his back towards him.

"Hm?" Mew hummed questioningly while his hands fumbled his pockets for his keys, waiting for the younger's answer.

"You forgot your marmalade!"

Oh, right.

How could he forget the thing?

Mew loved marmalade more than anything that stepped into his life (well not entirely right since Art was still his religion). Nothing could start off a morning more decent than marmalade on toasted wheat bread, nothing could pair with afternoon biscuits and Earl Grey more well than marmalade and nothing could be a greater a cheat than the orangy goodness itself. The sweet taste that hit him right after he tried it, the crunchiness of the zest not entirely grounded and the mild bitter aftertaste, all of which created this heaven in a jar. Mew said it, nothing can possibly beat the orange angel, neither strawberries nor chocolate.

Therefore, he felt his heart sink when a week or two of no marmalade for him to snack on was here. His nightmare, second worst to not capable of drawing anymore.

Mew turned around to look at the younger who was still in realization for merely a second and laughed it off sonorously. The lock clicked as he took off his boots to put the paper bags on the kitchen, to which Tul just followed suit.

"It's okay," Mew brushed it off, occupying his hands with the mason jars of seeds and herbs and looked at the younger next to him, still visibly pouting because he forgot his friend's favorite snack. "Besides, I can always go to the market to grab one later."

"As if, Pi," Tul rolled his eyes and crouched down to pull out the woven basket to put some more eggs in, to which Mew stole a glance before sneakily popping an almond into his mouth. "You won't even bother because I know you're even lazier than a sloth."

"Hey!" Mew hit the younger's shoulder seeing that he smiled cheekily. "At least I spent my morning with you."

"No, like, for real, Pi." Tul said and pulled his serious facade on, to which Mew just snickered at the kid. He could be a tough nut to crack most of the time. "The marmalade I usually get you is at the end of the stalls, so I admit, it's far even for a health-freak like me."

Mew nodded, finally surrendering to the younger, who had seemingly persuaded him that he wouldn't stand a chance getting his favourite treat whatsoever. Yet, Mew wondered why Tul would argue with him about the marmalade at the end of the market, or rather, how far it would be away from his home. He could walk for more than ten feet away, pay a few nick-nacks and spend the rest of the week snacking on that jar of bliss while painting the rocks glistening under the peaceful pond he had seen in the morning. Or maybe Tul was just truthfully saying what Mew had had in mind, going out once in a while and then staying in his studio until he ran out of things to do and stuff to feed.

"Well, now what?" Mew shrugged his shoulders since he didn't see where this argument was going. Frankly, he had a feeling they were back in high school all over again, just bickering about small things. Both of them were so young and they hadn't changed since then.

Tul looked over at Mew, who now fully snapped himself out of the trance he was in. The older looked at the lad with confusion laced in his mysterious obsidians while Tul's veiny hands were lacing up his boots and the sound of joints popping filled up the sunlit cabin.

"I remember there's another place.."

A/N: Thank you for the milestone over 100 reads 💕 I love you more than you guys could imagine.