"...I told you so." Delivery Dee #1 stared out of the open truck window with a blank expression, his face flat as he took in the clouds slowly passing by overhead. "I told you that we should have filled up on gas before we got back on the road, but noooo, this truck can run a hundred miles on empty, right?"
"Oh, that's great, just what I need right now." Delivery Dee #2 hissed in exasperation from outside the truck somewhere behind the popped-up engine hood. His uniform, decked out in the pale and dark blue livery of the Kawasaki Catering Co., was getting stained with grease and oil from his position atop the hood's rim, trying to wring enough juice from the dry engine so that they could at least get within walking distance of civilization. Kawasaki's catering gig had been booming lately ever since the food thief - with no one feeling safe to keep food around their house, people have just been making orders to Dreamland's best chef to eat instead. This is good for business, but most of the orders were in and around Cappy Town, so when the rare long-distance delivery has to be made, the two Delivery Dees moaned and groaned the whole way - and now their truck broke down, so there was a lot more moaning and groaning than usual. "You know this would go a lot faster if I had some help."
"No, it wouldn't. It's out of gas, plain and simple. No amount of pounding the engine with a hammer or whatever you're doing will help us." Delivery Dee #1 reclined in his seat and tilted his peaked cap to prevent the sun from hitting his eyes. "I say we stick to my plan."
"Your pl-...what plan!? You don't have a plan!" Delivery Dee #2 hopped up to reach the hood and slammed it down, jostling the truck slightly. Delivery Dee #1 lazily looked out from his cap to observe his partner glowering at him atop the truck's grill. "Your idea is to sit around doing nothing and wait for someone to rescue us! That's even stupider than mine! Do you not see where we are?" The angry Waddle Dee gestured wildly to where the truck had broken down, and the calm Waddle Dee wearily shifted his gaze to hilly grassland on either side. This was the Peanut Plains, lush with the green canvas of grass, sheltering the ground below in silk ribbons that glinted in the high sun. It was a beautiful place, the grass waving in the wind like a heaven-weaved quilt, and the Delivery Dees might have been able to appreciate better how their movements were synchronized yet independent, their hues so close yet unique, if they were not stuck in the middle of nowhere with no one for miles to call for help. The only other people around were crickets and birds being sunned.
"Okay…then we walk, then." Delivery Dee #1 yawned, idly observing the flowers that sprouted along the old road in vibrant shades of red and gold. The meadow meandered soft to the breeze, the green flowing in bonny waves as any river would be proud to do. The meadow has a casual grace, as if it has a peripheral awareness of its beauty yet would rather be at peace in this warm sun. "I'd rather nap, of course, but if you're so insistent on completing the job…"
"I'm not walking! Especially not with the food - we can't carry a week's worth of food over ten miles of stupid grass! No, we…have to push - yeah, that's it!" Delivery Dee #2 nodded to himself, satisfied that he was able to come up with such an ingenious idea. He hopped down from the hood and walked around to the back of the truck. Delivery Dee #1 sighed in pity, unable to rest as his ears were assaulted with various grunting noises of exertion from his partner. This cacophony lasted for about three minutes before it abruptly stopped, followed shortly by Delivery Dee #2 opening the driver's door with a defeated expression. "That didn't work." He looked miserable as she took his seat, shutting the door and hitting his head against the wheel. The resulting horn honk echoed flatly across the empty fields. The bees buzzed around their blue cornflowers, scarlet poppies, and white asters, unconcerned about the plight of the Kawasaki Catering Co.
"..hello?" A voice was heard to the right of Delivery Dee #1, accompanied by some light knocking on his side's door. The liveried Waddle Dee turned his head and saw a blue chinchilla hovering in the air on the other side of the window. "Do you guys...need some help?" Dreamland was known for its odd sights, but Delivery Dee #1 still felt compelled to rub his eyes and pinch himself to ensure this wasn't a dream.
"Huh - looks like my plan worked." Delivery Dee #1 blinked while his partner scrambled over his lap to open the door, overwhelmed that someone was out there to save them. The teal-colored flying rodent forced a smile as Delivery Dee #2 articulated nonsensical gibberish to the effect of how grateful he was, how they had been stuck here for half a day, and how #1 had been of no help whatsoever. #1 tucked into the back of the truck for a moment and came out with an apple, which he promptly shoved in #2's mouth, making him shut up. "Sorry about him. We're the Kawasaki Catering Co., 'serving food that puts you in a good mood,' and we would love to be doing just that, but our truck has an allergy to not being fuelled." #1 received a forceful shove from #2 in response to his introduction, his partner's face indignant and flushed though his mouth was filled with apple flesh.
"Oh no, that sounds awful!" The mouse sympathized - though something about it felt a little exaggerated. "So you guys have been stuck here, alone, with no means to escape, far away from anyone who could help, with a whole truck filled with food?" The teal chinchilla wrung his paws in 'worry' and leaned closer to the two liveried Dees the more he spoke.
"Er, uh, ah, y-yes, that succinctly summarized our pre-predicament." Delivery Dee #2 stepped back from the tiny flying critter, a little intimidated by his odd mannerisms. It did not help that he was cast in the shade since the sun was at his back. "We're s-sorry to trouble you, b-but do you think you could please help us complete our order? The customer must be starving by this point."
"Actually, that's why we're here!" The chinchilla nodded happily as his tail began to wag hard. "We're the guys that placed the order; we were so worried about what was taking so long that we just had to come out and see what happened, and thank goodness we did! Otherwise, all that food would have gotten spoiled. Ah, and we a-always like to help out folks in need." The rodent hastened to say, looking away for a brief moment.
"...You're the customer? Really? But there's seven days' worth of food in the back of this thing, and you're so...uh, size-challenged." Delivery Dee #2 narrowed his eyes until he heard two feminine, feline throat clearings from his right. Both Dees inspected the noise and jumped up in shock at the sight - the blue mouse was accompanied by a leopard and a bobtail, both massive in height and width, weighing hundreds of pounds, with greedy, impatient smirks on both of their cherubic faces. The leopard was leaning on the truck's side, and the vehicle tilted from the pressure she casually exerted. The snow-white cat breathed heavily weirdly, making both Delivery Dees creep out. "Uh-huh...cool friends you got there, sir. But this order still ain't for you - unless the chef made a mistake filling out this sheet." #2 brought a clipboard and handed it over to the flying rat. The mouse's fur bristled as he poured over the details of the order -
Kirby's order.
"...yep, that's us! We're the Kirbys!" The teal mouse regained his composure almost instantly and nodded with a chipper attitude, eliciting shocked expressions from both Dees. "We get mixed up with Kirby all the time; we get it. Oh, where are my manners? My name is Elfilin Kirby. Shiro Kirby is there to the left, and that's Carol Kirby, but you can call her Clawroline." The bobtail and leopard blinked, looked at each other, and nodded in agreement to #1 & #2. Both liveried dees snatched the clipboard back from Elfilin's paws and looked over the information, scratching their heads over the error. Kawasaki was a great chef, but restaurant management was not one of his best skills, so sometimes mistakes were made regarding the fine print. But they saw him this morning, and he sounded 100% serious that this food was for the pink puff - then again, why else would these guys be out in the middle of the Peanut Plains if they weren't looking for their food?
"O-Our apologies, Mr. K-Kirby...! That apostrophe must h-have just been a mistake..." Delivery Dee #2 bowed his head in shame while #1 kept rereading the sheet, squinting at the various blotches of ink that made up the letters. "Well, now that you're here...would you mind if you could help us get the food to your house?"
"We could..." Elfilin's grin took on a mischievous quality, a sinister glint appearing in his iridescent eyes. "But, then again, we're so exhausted from all that jogging we've done to get here, and after the day you've had, I think you guys would rather just get this job over with, so...why don't we have a picnic?"
"A picnic?" Delivery Dee #1 took his gaze off the sheet and looked around at the Peanut Plains. It was a lovely day for a picnic - the sun was shining but not too hot, the breeze was soft, and the grass and the flowers were a lovely backdrop. But... "You want to eat all the food now? Are you..." #1 was interrupted by two very, very hungry stomach gurgles coming from the fat felines - they sounded hungry enough to eat an elephant!
"Open the truck, please," Elfilin demanded in the disguise of a request with a too-wide grin.
un: 
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