Croquant

His eyes wandered over the kitchen, watching Streusen do his magic. He couldn't help but think about his time in the kitchen with this man as his head chef. 'That man is supremely competent, I learned a lot from him. He's still a sadistic arse, though.'

He stepped into the room and alerted the experienced chef to his presence. The whole kitchen crew stagnated when he froze, only to pick up the work even faster than before.

They had to cover for their head chef after all, since he'd be busy. "So you are back, young master." A false benevolent smile appeared on his aged face.

"Would you stop the act? We both know, that you are not a friendly old man. More of a sadistic ancient geezer really."

Streusen clicked his tongue in annoyance, but then he shrugged as a nasty smirk made it's way onto his lips. "This time you really outdid yourself. I've rarely seen her this upset about anything not food related."

Croquant sighed. He knew that already. It was, after all, the reason for him making his way to the kitchen before even visiting his other siblings.

"I have with me 20 samples of different ingredients with me, that you most likely haven't even heard about.

I have also theorised more than 50 new recipes for you, that will only work with your devil fruit. All I want from you is help. Help me throw the most decadent, the most glamorous family banquet this kingdom has ever seen and it's all yours."

Streusen

The annoying brat's voice had gone from annoyed to tempting within seconds, as he started to feed him with details surrounding his new dishes and ingredients while never quite giving away anything vital.

It was one of the reasons, why he couldn't stand him. He always knew just what to say. How to get a man to sell his soul while thinking he made a bargain.

It was a skill, that wasn't useful in a kitchen, this 'Devil's tongue'. He could appreciate the art with which he weaved his unescapable net of words, but a cook as talented as him should belong into the kitchen, not to be sent into diplomatic missions, that could spell his end with a single word out of place, damnit!

He had started to groom the boy to take over as head chef, but then he went and took that fancy position as 'Minister of foreign Cuisine'.

He'd likely never forgive the brat for that, but at least he kept up his skill in the kitchen all the while.

"Alright, alright! Stop rambling and tell me your plans. Of course I'll help." He wanted to say more, but couldn't, as he was suddenly lifted and hugged by an overenthusiastic brat.

How dare he lay hands on the head chef! "Thanks, old man. I couldn't do it without you!" The sincerity in the brat's voice stayed his hand from turning his innards into custard.

That, and the ridiculous level of passive Bosushoku the boy had. Even stronger now, after duking it out with Garp.

After finally landing on the ground again, he cleared his throat, righted his uniform and tried to look dignified.

He ignored the hidden amusement from his kitchen crew. They'd experience hell's kitchen if any of this made it past those doors and into the rumour mill, after all.

He'd help the boy. After all, despite his misgivings, that whelp was still his best student, his protegé.

And so, they started to plan something grandiose. He really had to wonder about some of the more... Out-of-the-box dishes, that were thought out in that strange brain of Charlotte Croquant.

He would have never even tried to integrate some of those ingredients into his dishes... And yet, they worked. If there was a single thing he'd criticise about himself, then it would be a slight lack of creativity, of Imagination.

Croquant had that spark, but wasn't quite on his level in technique yet. He sighed. Even if the monster in front of him, who was fully immersed in the planning of a frankly ridiculous party, refined his techniques into the realm of a master chef, he still wouldn't take over the kitchen as a head chef.

'Who'd have thought, that the most talented person in terms of eating would birth the most talented person in terms of cooking.'

With that amusing thought, he temporarily let go of his resentment and started to tweak the plans with his tremendous amount of experience in organisational matters.

Croquant

He had honestly thought, that it'd be harder to convince Streusen. Oh, he knew why the oldtimer held a grudge against him.

He could even understand him. The man was well on his way to his 90th birthday, after all. He wanted someone worthy to inherit his kitchen, to continue his legacy.

Croquant was passionate about cooking, but not quite enough to make it his exclusive career. He loved exploring new and exciting things as well as his relative freedom too much to simply stay in a kitchen.

This created a crack in their relationship, that was never quite bridged. 'Today has given me a bit of hope, though. Planning that party felt almost as if we were back in my apprenticeship with him. This time I could give him a run for his money, though.'

He sighed as he continued to form the marvel that would be the centerpiece of the banquet. A cake, if you want to call it that. Nearly 20 metres in height, this thing probably would have made some people faint from sugar overload with it's mere presence.

Deep in the New World, there was an island, that consisted completely out of dough with rivers of an unidentifiable syrup running through it.

'That syrup is extremely sweet or savoury, changing it's taste based on temperature, with higher temperatures increasing it's sweetness.' It also changed it's texture, becoming more viscous at lower temperatures.

He used that fact plus a hot caramel core, another oddity from the same island, that somehow produced copious amounts of hot caramel until completely digested, to shape the enormous confectionary.

It's form was that of a volcano, with a light chocolate based dough covering the saccharine insanity. They left a chamber in the base of the cake with an opening upwards.

The timing had to be just right, otherwise they'd either wait forever or miss the eruption. A satisfied smile made it's way onto his face as he gazed upon the finished product.

'I'll have to make sure, that she doesn't accidentially swallow the core again. Last time, she was in a food coma for two days since it continued to produce caramel until every last bit of it was digested. Anyone else would have died.'

He found the island, she claimed it and ate... a sizable chunk of it in a single sitting, accidentially swallowing one of the cores. That whole day was a panic attack and a half...

While the centerpiece was 'resting', he continued on with some of the favourites of the family.

He wanted everyone to enjoy themselves, so he did his very best, even using Seimei Kikan and Haki in the process.

Brûlée

"*Sigh* He's going overboard again." She watched him work the day away in his own 'little' corner of the kitchen with a face, that expressed both, fondness and annoyance.

"At least he won't drown since he hasn't eaten a devil fruit." She looked at the person besides her with an impressive deadpan. "That one was bad and you should feel bad."

Smoothie laughed. "Relax, he's having fun while creating something amazingly delicious. We may not have her appetite but we do have her appreciation for good food."

Brûlée nodded with a hum. "Indeed, bit he's been at it for hours. He could use a break. Why don't you try getting his attention?"

Smoothie nodded, closed an eye and bit the tip of her tongue while taking aim. She then threw the house sized banana, that suddenly appeared in her hand.

"... Why are you keeping giant fruits in your mirror pocket?" Brûlée couldn't help but ask. She didn't get an immediate answer, though, as Smoothie was watching wide eyed as the fruit was pulled into a vortex of knife slashes, functioning better than any blender.

Turning back to the scene, that enthralled Smoothie, she had to confess, it was impressive. The skin was removed so fast, that she couldn't even perceive it before it flew into the compost collection.

The rest was mixed with several ingredients, some of which she couldn't even name, before being worked over with hasshoken in a very specific pattern, that would be hard to repeat for even masters of the martial art.

All of this happened without any kind of container and without wasting any of the ingredients.

"Is this the first time you've seen him work recently?" She asked her longlegged sister curiously. Said sister snapped out of her daze and nodded absentmindedly.

"First time in 4 years. His progress is stunning."

Smoothie reflexively caught the oversized dessert glass, smelled an alluring aroma and took a sip unconsciously.

Her eyes widened before closing. She then released the most sensual moan Brûlée had ever heard in her life, causing her to blush as she stared at the offending party incredulously.

Smoothie caught herself with a breathy sigh and looked completely unapologetic. "You'd know why if you'd try this." She said with a shrug, only to look down at the drink and back up to Brûlée, eyeing her suspiciously. "...I'm not sharing."

Brûlée let out a longsuffering sigh and simply accepted this as another one of her sibling's antics. ... She was getting good at that. Acceptance.

She noticed the writing on the dessert glass and took a closer look. "I'll be out in a bit, just finishing up and giving everything it's final touch. See ya soon, Brûlée-Chan and Juice Box!"

Below the text, there was a chibi drawing of Croquant winking, grinning and giving the peace sign.

Smoothie pouted. "He's still using that ridiculous nickname..." Brûlée giggled and gave her an amused smile.

"You were the first one calling him Croccy, and it stuck and spread in the worst ways possible, you know?"

"It wasn't intentional, it just slipped out..."

"At his debut banquet." Smoothie cringed. "He'll never let me live this one down, eh?" Brûlée answered with an uncharacteristically lackadaisical "Nope." She even popped the p!

'He's a bad influence...' She grumbled internally, while badly hiding her amusement at the outrageous pout that had formed on Smoothie's face, who was even going as far as petulantly crossing her arms in front of her fairly impressive chest.

"... I'll juice you." she threatened only to receive Brûlée's retort. "You don't drink people anymore after Croquant listed all the crap they ingest in their lifes, informed you of the average sum of calories you consume with every person and told you that 'Those people are just not healthy! At least rear them yourself if you crave some sentient creatures, then you know what's in them!'"

Smoothie glared at her beligerently. "Don't have to drink you after I juice you." A teasing grin appeared on Brûlée's face as she answered. "Now you want to waste ingredients? It's as if you want to trigger our dear little brother."

Her sister grumbled for a while before answering with a sigh. "I hate you." The teasing grin had never left Brûlée's face before she laughed and pulled the taller woman into an embrace. "Love you too, sis."

Smoothie acted reluctant before reciprocating the embrace. After enjoying the affection for some minutes, an excited gleam appeared in Brûlée's eyes. "Now... Let me tell you about the apple of Croquant's eye!"

Croquant

A soul deep shudder ran through him. 'Someone's talking about my daughter and I'm not there with my promotional material!' He took a deep breath and calmed down.

'I'll just brainwa-... Show them the proper way to cherish my daughter next time, no worries.' After reassuring himself, he smiled at his work.

'Finally done with my part, now: Storage.' He placed them in the timestagnating mirrors, that were used for dishes and ingredients with a small shelf time. The Molten Lava Cake had exactly 60 seconds left until eruption, which was enough for presentation.

'I have around 3 hours to kill until I'll have to get ready for the banquet. What shall I do with that time?' After thinking for a bit, he decided to catch up with Smoothie, since she was with Brûlée at the moment.

'Three hours should be just enough time to start the brainwa-, the educational process on proper care for Merry, in case she'll be over soon. Should I invite the strawhats to the banquet?...

Not this time, Luffy Big Mom is a volatile combination without preparing either for the encounter.'

He whistled while geppoing out of the window and spreading his senses until he found the two sisters. They made their way to one of the small sugar cane parks close by. He gave them a light nudge with his Haoshoku to alert them and landed on the left side of Smoothie. "Sup, Juice Box?"