Chapter Text
Blinding lights.
Swirling colours.
They woke up confused and naked, in the middle of what seemed to be a large party.
Before they managed to see their surroundings, a loud, cheerful voice boomed through their skull.
“Lookie, lookie! Who woke up just in time for the red velvet?”
They were hoisted up onto their feet by two pairs of yellow arms, and placed on a plastic chair facing a long, rectangular table.
Their eyes had finally adjusted to the light enough for them to recognize their surroundings.
They were, indeed, in the middle of a large party. Seated around the table were at least 20 people identical to the ones that set them at the table, which are currently seating themselves next to them. The beings looked almost identical to each other, sharing the same shiny, yellow skin, simple outlines, nakedness, and large smile painted on their faces. The room was decorated with bright balloons, colourful banners reading “HAPPY BIRTHDAY =)”, and speakers blaring what seemed to be “happy birthday to you”. A bright red ballon was tied to their arm, bobbling up and down as if laughing. An array of common party foods were placed on the table they were sitting at. There were frosted cupcakes with rainbow sprinkles, cookies of all sorts, sandwiches that barley contained their fillings, jugs of a red foamy juice…and in the middle of the table, right in front of them, a large velvet cake decorated with pink frosting and diced cubes of something red and wet.
“There, the first slice goes to out birthday thing!”
They finally located what was speaking. A large, three-tiered cake decorated with pink and green frosting was placed on the table. The cake jiggled a little as it spoke in its chest-vibrating blare.
The being seated next to their right immediately shot up to slice the cake, seeming unable to supress its enthusiasm.
As the dull edge of the plastic knife sunk into the dense form of the cake, the party cheered loudly:
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! =)”
The being continued to divide the cake into 8 pieces, two of which are almost double the size of the others. It gave one of those particularly generous slices to them, and the other it placed in front of the cake. Other beings seated near the cake started to rise from their seats now, and each of them eagerly took a piece.
“Congratulations, Orange. You are now a member of our party! Here, you will have endless parties to join, cakes to eat, and humans to hunt. Being a partygoer is the best thing you could wish for! +)”
The cake spoke again, in a voice so loud it seemed to go straight into Orange’s head.
Orange looked down at the red mass of cake in front of them. It gave off a sweet, metallic scent, and its colour reminded Orange of raw meat. As a matter of fact, now being able to see them close up, Orange recognized that the red cubes sprinkled across the cake’s surface are little pieces of raw meat. The pinkish-yellowish frosting was starting to dry up a little bit on the edges, almost rushing Orange to take a bite before it’s too late and the cake lost its wonderous flavour.
Orange picked up the fork next to their plate (slightly clumsily at first, guess they should be doing more coordination exercises), and looked up at their party. The partygoers who were given cake first were already digging in to it, either eating it by sending the pieces into a mouth located just under their stiff yellow heads, or by directly stuffing their hands, which apparently had mouths in the centre, into the cake. The large cake was also eating the cake, which seemed slightly amusing to Orange, by rolling pieces up in its long ribbon tongues that extended from a hole on its top tier. Orange was tempted to stand up and examine the weird cake from a down-looking angle, but decided that it was impolite to do so in the middle of a party—their party—where everyone seemed to be having fun.
“Stop gawking, Orange, and eat your cake before I do it for you.”
The partygoer who sliced the cake for Orange piped up in a less volumous, but equally penetrating voice.
Orange’s ears were already starting to ring now, and as the blinding brightness faded away, they noticed their vision was slightly clouded, like they were seeing the world through an old CRT TV.
Must be hungry, they thought. Orange yanked off the red balloon that tugged at their arm, scooped up a little cake, and shoved it into their neck.
As the moist cake came in contact with Orange’s tongue, they were overwhelmed by the complex, rich flavours of this seemingly plain dessert. Orange’s soul was struck by a flurry of sweetness, followed by waves of cream and blood, and small hints of cocoa fluttering in and out of existence like distant memories. The texture of the cake was also stunning. It resisted lightly under the pressure of teeth, but it melted happily when flooded with sweet saliva. A small, tough bit of meat remained, only to be crushed by sharp canines, releasing a small bomb of furious flavour.
“Wow! This is the best cake I’ve ever had! =D”
Orange spoke for the first time since waking up, discovering their voice was equally piercing as the others. It had a…kind of squeaky quality to it, like that of a kazoo.
“If you like it, eat it. Don’t wait for us. We found the human with the tenderest meat for this dessert; you should appreciate it.”
Something felt wrong about that, but Orange doesn’t care.
Why think when you have cake?