<blockquote><div><cite>Kruft wrote:</cite>Chris never really got tired of watching this kind of thing-and seeing as he was going to be involved in it this time, having gotten over his natural awkwardness, he was doubly excited. "Y'know, I was expecting something with nuts." He clapped a paw over his mouth. "Whoops. Herm joke." He giggled, before taking the knife.<br/><br/>He got up, carefully angling the knife downwards, and sliced in, grinning at the feeling. "Interesting..." he said, reaching underneath the squirrel girl to push the piece up, before pushing most of it into his mouth and chewing. "Mmfh!" he mumbled enthusiastically. "You taste great!" He gulped it down, handing the knife back to Foxglove. "I'm going to enjoy this."</div></blockquote><br/><br/>The cake was as good as Chris had hoped. The jam was strawberry, and the sponge cake was a dark brown, deliciously moist, noit soggy or dry, with a taste of cinnamon, nutmeg, and indeed nuts. The outer surface was a layer of strawberry icing, with the fur actually being made of strands of sugar, like combed out candyfloss, that matched the appearance of the original to a remarkable degree, and probably couldn't have been created without magic or unbelievable levels of skill.<br/><br/>Maria was looking down, and put her hand to the new hole, reaching around the back to poke her forearm through and wave the sticking out hand. "I always loved those stage illusions where the magicican put a hole right through the middle of an assistant, and now I get to do it for real!"<br/><br/>She was already sitting up, and now moved to get down. "I'd suggest chopping my feet off next, but before you do, I want to stretch my legs, while they're still attached."<br/><br/>She walked up and down, upraised tail swaying proudly behind her, heel and toeing, hand still exploring the wedge cut in one side. "Wow! There must be some kind of structural support effect, because a cake built like me would crumble without support. Not to mention my tail..."<br/><br/>Foxglove made tea, and looked over at Chris and Maria. The squirrel shook her head. "In my present condition, I'm not sure what it'd do to me... though I'd love a cup, my mouth is dry... which I guess makes sense."<br/><br/>She climbed back up on the table, now seemingly unconcerned by her exposure to Chris's gaze.  Sitting back up on the serving tray, legs spread out, she said, "You may cut when you are ready, Ms Foxglove!"<br/><br/>"Don't mind if I do!" The bat sliced down with the cake knife, chopping off one of Maria's feet at the ankle with a single blow. She stuck the knife in the squirrel's calf and picked up the foot, which had wiggling toes. She licked the sole, then nibbled a toe off, crunching the toeclaw. "Mmm, it's like a butter candy! And the toe pad is a gummy sort of sweet." She took a bigger bite of the foot, and a sip of tea.<br/><br/>Maria pouted. "Darn! You make me sound so tasty, I want to try some of myself..." She thought for a second, then put her hand to her mouth, and bit off the end of a finger. She chewed for a few seconds, then swallowed and frowned. "I can chew and swallow alright, but without saliva or taste buds, all I get is a texture!"