It has been a few weeks since Skeppy met my friends. Since the meet-up was a success, I planned out more hangouts with my friends, bringing Skeppy along with me. He really enjoys going out a lot. He's gotten closer to my friends. Honestly, I think it's safe to say that my friends are also his now. I can tell that they adore Skeppy.

Of course, even though we have been going out more often, it doesn't mean that Skeppy and I have stopped doing what we usually like to do together at the house. Whether that is eating together, chatting on the couch, or being outside at the back of the house. Even though it isn't very noticeable at this point, I feel like Skeppy and I slowly continue to get closer as time goes on.

Right now, Skeppy and I are hanging out with our friends again. It was decided to eat at a bakery today for the hang-out. We are all looking through the menu at our table to see what snack we want. I quickly make up my mind, deciding on a good ol' muffin. So once I look up, my gaze lands on Skeppy, who is still reading the menu. But for some reason, Skeppy looks a little... lost? He's looking at the menu, but it looks like his eyes are going over different parts of the menu, not really reading it. It's like he's skimming over the words, not really processing the information on them. I tentatively ask, "Skeppy... do you know what you want?"

Skeppy glances at me before looking back at his menu. After a moment of silence, he says, "Um, I don't know... what do you recommend?"

Skeppy sets his menu down and looks at me, waiting for an answer. I say, "Well... I normally just order the same thing from here- the muffins. They're my favorite pastry. They have different flavors here, but I prefer the chocolate chip one." (Wow, how original of me.)

Skeppy looks at me, almost dumbfounded, with a blank look in his eye as if not knowing what to think. I tilt my head to the side a bit and ask, "What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Skeppy blinks a few times before starting to look nervous. He stutters out, "Um- well- I-..."

He then cuts himself off, probably thinking about how he should say what he wants to say. He then subconsciously leans a bit towards me and says in a lower tone, "Well... I actually don't know what a muffin is-"

He then abruptly stops at the sound of an exaggerated loud gasp. Both Skeppy and I turn to look at Puffy sitting across from us at the table, looking utterly shocked from what she probably just heard, Skeppy say. The others are also paying attention now after that obnoxious gasp. Puffy exclaims in a mixture of shock and astonishment, "What do you mean that you don't know what a muffin is, Skeppy!?"

This makes everyone else look at Skeppy and shout in sync, "What!?!"

From the corner of my eye, I notice Skeppy flinch from the sudden outburst. After a good moment, they all burst out laughing at the situation at hand. Foolish says throught a fit of laughter, "Dude- how do you not know what a muff-in is? Have you been living under a rock or something??"

I watch as Skeppy falters even more at that, increasingly getting more nervous. I can feel myself getting tense just from watching the scene unfold. I clench a fist in my lap to release some of that tension. Poor Skeppy. I know that the others are trying to tease him right now, but I don't think he knows that that's what's going on. Sometimes the others can't catch a hint when they're taking a joke a bit too far. Before Skeppy can respond to Foolish, Sapnap snickers and says, "Now you just HAVE to eat a muffin, Skeppy! You don't know what you're missing out on. They're so good!"

Skeppy simply gives a small nod at that, not knowing what to say yet. After a good second passes, I start thinking that they'll move on from this, but then Red, who is still recovering from his laughter, asks, "But seriously though- how do you not know what a muffin is?"

Skeppy looks greatly uncomfortable at this. It almost looks like he wants to cry but is successfully holding back any tears from forming. That does it for me. Just when Skeppy opens his mouth to say something, I cut him off by saying, "Oh, ignore these muffinheads, Skeppy. They're trying to tease you. Right, guys?"

The others look a bit surprised at my strong emphasis on the word 'right'. Thankfully, it seems to give them a wake-up call to how Skeppy could be feeling right now. There's quickly some guilt evident on their faces. Ant turns to Skeppy with an apologetic smile and says, "Yeah, Skeppy. We're just joking around. It's actually no big deal if you don't know what a muffin is. Sorry if we made you feel bad."

Skeppy looks pleasantly surprised at the apology. A small smile appears on his face, and he says, "It's fine. I forgive you guys. ...And- well... I guess I'll get a muffin of you guys think it's that good."

Sapnap grins and exclaims, "Yup! It's actually really good. I genuinely recommend it!"

"Then that's what I'll get."

I turn my body to face Skeppy, catching his attention. I say, "Alright, but what muffin flavor do you want? They have a variety here-"

Skeppy quickly says, "Oh, I'll just take a chocolate chip one, like you said earlier."

I pause for a moment before saying, "But... don't you want to check what other flavors they got first?"

"N-no, it's fine. I'll just get a chocolate chip muffin. You know that I'm not picky with my food anyway."

I stare at him for a short moment. You would think that someone would at least check the options if they are going to try something new to eat. But I guess it's fine if he doesn't want to check- I turn my attention to the rest and say, "Well, I guess that means that we're ready to order. What about the rest of you?"

The others agree and say that they're ready to order, so we call over a waiter. We catch the attention of a waiter here, Karl. I look at Sapnap and notice some blush on his face as he looks at Karl. A knowing smirk is shown on my face. I want to tease him, but I don't want to bother him right now. We've all known Karl for a few years because of this bakery, but he isn't really our friend, more of a nice aquantaince. Sapnap has had a crush on him for almost as long as we've known Karl. Karl comes over to our table with a kind smile and says, "Hello, guys! What would you like to order today?"

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Once we gave Karl our order, we waited a couple of minutes and received our food. We watched expectantly as Skeppy grabbed his muffin and took a bite out of it. The reaction is almost immediate as Skeppy freezes for a split second as his eyes slightly widen, and he lets out a pleased short hum, almost like a whine, similar to when he first ate at my house. Though, I have noticed that he has that similar reaction every time he eats a new food. It makes start to question some things... but for now, I'll put those thoughts in the back of my head as I watch Skeppy happily eating and giving us a sign of approval for the muffin. Our friends quickly start whooping and cheering at that. A bit of an exaggerated reaction, but they are just goofy like that.

(Happy early Thanksgiving to anyone who celebrates it! 🦃)