Chapter Text
Shadow milk was tired. Well, that was an understatement. Absolutely exhausted seemed a more apt description for his situation.
Rebuilding the spire was harder than he thought.
Candy apple and black sapphire were off somewhere else, busy spreading lies and rumours, and would likely be quite busy for at least a week or more. Doing all they could to bring more power to their master.
Power he was immediately siphoning to the spire, desperately trying to fix it all. It wasn't going too well. They'd been staying in one of the old, abandoned milk-carton houses at the base of the crumbled spire in the meantime. It was old, dusty, and riddled with more than a few gaping holes in the roof, but it was enough to keep them mostly out of the freezing wind.
It was mind numbing work, painstakingly placing each destroyed fragment back into its correct place, sealing the cracks with raw dark moon magic. A puzzle of far too many fragmented pieces.
He was so, so tired.
Shadow milk just wanted to go home. To relax for a brief moment, before he had to return to scheming. He longed for his room within the spire, safely locked away beneath layers of enchantments, hidden from any prying cookies. He missed the silky soft blankets, the dusty old books, the desk with all his half-made cardboard puppets, the collection of familiar items each more comforting than the last.
Shadow milk cookie wanted to go home.
They were cold, tired, in pain, and to top it all off; it was beginning to rain.
They couldn't catch a break, for even one day?
Everything felt far too big. As if the world had suddenly grew around him, or as if he'd merely shrunk. With his penchant for shapeshifting, the idea wasn't even too far out of the question; but that didn't mean he enjoyed it by any means.
It felt scary, being so small in such a vast place. A childish fear really, but he couldn't shake it off like usual.
As they huddled into the only mildly dry corner of the decaying old house, there was only one thought running through the jester's mind.
They wanted pure vanilla.
Really, quite a stupid thing to want. The healer had betrayed them, and despite the feeble lie of ‘friendship’ he'd offered, clearly the time spent together as truthless recluse had meant nothing to him.
And yet..
They still wanted pure vanilla.
…
Knock knock knock
The waffle cone door swung open, almost blinding him for a moment as the light inside hit his eyes. Far brighter than it had been outside, the shadows creeping ever closer as the sun had set.
“..shadow milk cookie?” That familiar voice, gentle yet disbelieving. As if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.
Rain ran down his face, seeping into his already waterlogged hair and dough, the typically flowing strands simply hanging limp at his sides. Shivering like a fragile leaf, looking as though a brief breeze would knock him out of the air. Form unconsciously shifted to be far smaller, compared to his typically large and looming height.
Shadow milk cookie, the once feared beast of deceit.. reduced to a soggy, whimpering mess.
“..didn't know where else to go.” The beast sniffled pathetically, clinging to the open door frame. Their magic was beginning to wane, and they didn't want to lose balance when they inevitably fell from the air.
“Oh dear.. please, do come in!” Pure vanilla quickly ushered them in, removing his outer cloak to wrap it around the now smaller cookie. It almost swallowed him whole, completely oversized yet warm enough to be worth the tripping hazard.
The king led him through the halls, pausing after shadow milk stumbled far too many times to reach over and gently grab his hand. The contact made him wince, biting back an equally pathetic whine. They were cold and scraped up from his journey to the castle, and the gentle warmth felt more akin to fire. Apparently they hadn't hidden it well enough though, as they soon felt the tell-tale sparks of healing magic flowing from pure vanilla's palm.
The healer didn't ask any questions, and so shadow milk didn't answer any. He didn't think he could do so even if he wanted to, silver tongue reduced to a quivering mess.
A little bit of rain and stress, and they'd been reduced to this.
He would've found it in himself to feel some form of self loathing, if it weren't for the fact that his head was fuzzy. As if stuffed full of cotton, almost dizzying with how slow each thought was. It was almost nice, in a way. Not having to think too hard for once.
He was soon led to a bathroom with a bundle of clothes, replacing the rain soaked clothes in favour of a warm, oversized robe. Likely one of pure vanilla's old ones, though clearly one he'd since grown out of. They almost tripped over the fabric as they were once again led elsewhere, head too foggy to think of much on the way there.
“-ow milk cookie..?”
It was then he realised pure vanilla was trying to talk to him. Offering a spoon and a bowl to him, concerned at his lack of response.
It was warm, and smelled surprisingly good.
Any other time, they'd have been more suspicious. Wondering what possible tricks had been slipped into it, refusing to go anywhere near that wretched bowl of.. soup? Whatever it was, they wouldn't have trusted it.
Yet shadow milk just took the spoon with all the grace of a wobbly fawn, spilling half the contents in his attempt to eat.
Pure vanilla quickly took the reins after that, not wanting to waste any more soup. It was almost embarrassing, having to be spoon fed like a child, but instead it only made that pleasant fuzz grow.
“Shadow milk.. are you alright?”
“Mhm.. why?” He mumbled between spoonfuls, fidgeting with his sleeves. Still oversized.. he didn't remember pure vanilla being shorter than him, let alone short enough to have clothes far too big for him, but he couldn't recall why he was suddenly so much smaller.
“Well.. you're just not acting like yourself, and you're actually here too.. I'm just worried, that's all.” Pure vanilla gently smiled as he reached over to hold their hand once more, rubbing small circles into the back of their hand in an act of comfort. He looked almost surprised when they didn't pull away immediately.
“..spire's all broken still.. candy n sapphy are gone, everythings too big.. an it was cold and raining, everything hurts... just didn't wanna be alone.. m sorry nilly.” He sniffled once more, scared once more as all those feelings came rushing back. Tears pricked at his eyes, falling despite his feeble attempts to swipe them away.
“..oh.. that's alright, bluebird, you don't need to apologise for anything. How about you stay here for tonight, okay? We'll figure this all out in the morning.” The tone of the healer's voice quickly changed, as if he were speaking to a frightened child rather than the fearsome beast of deceit. Yet the softer tone certainly helped him feel more at ease somehow.
Shadow milk nodded, finishing the last few bites of soup. It had definitely helped, he felt far less cold and shivery than before; certainly far warmer than he'd been even before the rain had started. The abandoned house didn't have much in the way of heating after all.
They yawned, gently chewing at the sleeve now tucked between their teeth. Pure vanilla just sighed fondly, taking the bowl and spoon away to clean them.
He sat there for a little while longer, resting his face against the table in the meantime. Seems the exhaustion was catching up to him after all.. he was so tired. So incredibly tired. At least here was warm, and safe.. he could surely rest for a little bit, right?
“Bluebird? Are you still awake?” A quiet whisper, following by a slight nudge to their shoulder. Shadow milk simply whined in response, blearily blinking up at the cookie who'd interrupted their attempt at sleep.
“Ah- I'm sorry, dear.. let's get you to bed, okay?” Pure vanilla hummed as he gently lifted them from the chair, cradling them like a little kid. Somehow the comparison only made them feel more comfortable, beginning to fall asleep already.
It was okay.. they'd be okay here. It was safe. They were safe. Pure vanilla was here after all, how could it ever not be safe?
He simple relaxed further into the arms holding him, allowing the slight rocking of pure vanilla's arms to lull him to sleep.