Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s a lovely day in the kingdom. With winter getting closer, nice days like these are rarer.

Cookies are enjoying the sunny weather with friends.

Most cookies, at least. Others enjoy staying inside and working on their own stuff, like Espresso.

He sets down his cup of coffee, preparing for another experiment with coffee magic, when he realizes he’s missing a vital ingredient.

“How could I forget to stock up on these? I thought I put it on my list yesterday.”

He walks over to another table, picking up yesterday’s ingredients list.

He had forgotten to write it down.

He sighs. “It is a good thing I haven’t started the experiment yet. Now, where did I leave my cape?”

He doesn’t wear it when experimenting, ever since an incident which resulted in his cape catching on fire.

He looks in a mirror and smooths down his hair before clipping his cape on. He adjusts his glasses, grabs his wallet, and heads out.

Cookies greet him as he walks to the shops. He politely returns the greetings, but continues on his way.

After getting the ingredient, he takes a different route home. As he nears the donut shop, he realizes he’s hungry.

He thinks to himself “I should get a box of donuts. I can eat some on the way home, and the rest later.”  

The smell of donuts gets stronger as he gets closer. He smiles slightly, then goes inside.

There’s a small line, but that’s alright with him. He can wait a few more minutes.

Just as he reaches the counter, he hears loud, hearty laughter outside of the building.

“Oh no.”

He quickly orders, when the door swings open. Madeleine smiles and starts talking to the people in the shop.

Espresso waits silently for his order to be done, not wanting to be noticed.

Soon, his order is ready. He does a polite smile and quietly thanks the cookie before turning to the door.

He’s halfway there when Madeleine spots him. “Espresso Cookie!”

Espresso walks faster.

Madeleine watches as Espresso hurries out the door. “I guess he has other things to do.”

Then he goes to order some donuts.

Meanwhile, Espresso is speedwalking slightly to get further away. He turns and sees that Madeleine isn’t following him, then slows down.

He opens his box of donuts and starts eating one while walking home.

When cookies say hi to him, he smiles politely and waves. It would be rude to talk with his mouth full.

“Of all the places on Earthbread, why is that obnoxious cookie always near me?”

He eats another donut, slowing down more without noticing.

“It’s not very likely for us to always be in the same general area, and yet he’s here.”

Another donut gone. Cookies greet him, but he doesn’t notice them.

“There has to be some type of magic involved. Did someone curse me to be stuck near him?”

Two more donuts gone. “It’s the only way I could possibly make sense of this.”

He reaches for another donut, only to grab nothing. “What?”

He looks down and sees that the box is empty. “How lost in thought was I?”

He looks around. “I walked past my house.”

He closes the empty box and sighs. “Even thinking about that cookie causes trouble.”

He turns and starts walking home.

“How far did I walk-“

He runs into someone.

He starts apologizing, until he realizes who it is. “Oh. It’s just you.”

Madeleine smiles. “Indeed! Are you alright?”

“I’m perfectly fine.”

He starts trying to move past Madeleine, who asks “Are you sure? You did just run into me.”

“I was lost in thought.” He gets past Madeleine and speed walks home.

“Even getting around the kingdom I run into him! What on Earthbread is happening??”

He reaches his house and goes inside. He takes off his cape, hanging it on a hook.

“I should try to find out why he’s always showing up near me. Maybe that could show me how to stop this absurdity.”

He looks at his bookshelf. “Where do I even begin? Could this be a curse? I don’t have many books about curses.”

He puts everything he’s holding on a table, the experiment now forgotten, and walks over to his shelf.

“I should check the books I do have before asking anyone else.”

He looks through all the books on his shelf, picking up the ones about curses. It’s only a few books.

He sets them on the table next to his chair, then makes a fresh cup of coffee before sitting down.

He takes a sip before setting the cup down and picking one of the books up.

After many hours of reading, he lowers the book. He pinches the bridge of his nose. “It can’t be rotten luck. Bad things only happen when he’s involved. He’s like a trouble magnet.”

He looks at his door. “Perhaps discussing this with someone else could lead to a solution? But who do I go to?”

He taps his finger on his leg a few times before picking up his cup and taking a long sip.

“Wizard cookie has more books than I do about this subject, and he may know others who can help as well.”

He tucks a bookmark in the book, then closes it and sets it on the small stack.

He stands up, finishes his coffee, then walks over to his cape. He sets the empty mug down on a table.

Just as his hand touches the cape, he hears loud, hearty laughter. He walks over to his window and peeks through his curtains.

Madeleine. He’s talking to Wizard cookie.

Espresso steps back from the curtain. “Of course he’s there. He always gets in the way.”

He looks over at the small stack of books, then at his cape. He sighs and starts walking over to it.

“I should at least ask Wizard if he will be available to talk later, even if it means I have to be near Madeleine.”

He clips on his cape and leaves his house. Wizard notices him approaching. “Hi there, Espresso cookie!”

Madeleine smiles. “Hello, friend!”

“Hello.”

“You seem stressed. Would you like a donut? I have bought a few extra.” Madeleine holds up a sugarcoated donut.

Espresso leans slightly away, staring at the donut before hesitantly grabbing it. He turns to Wizard. “I have a question for you.”

Wizard raises his eyebrow. “What is it?”

“I’m having a bit of an issue with some magic. Not any spell I’ve cast, but it is something beyond my knowledge. Could you possibly help me?”

Espresso takes a bite of the donut, patiently waiting for an answer.

Wizard thinks to himself “Espresso asking for magic help? That’s a first.”

He nods. “I should be able to help, but I need to know what the problem is.”

Espresso looks at Madeleine, who’s trying to see what the biggest bite of a donut he can take.

Espresso rolls his eyes. “You might choke on that.”

Muffled, Madeleine responds “I’ll be fine!”

Espresso sighs, then looks at Wizard. “I would rather explain when this.. cookie isn’t around.”

Wizard asks “Where should we talk?”

“My house should suffice.”

Madeleine, as predicted, starts choking on the donut.

Espresso thinks “If I don’t help, the Madeleine issue will solve itself.”

He shakes his head a bit, confused at where the dark thought came from, then immediately helps Madeleine.

As soon as Espresso knows Madeleine is ok, he takes a few steps back.

“I warned you earlier. Why didn’t you listen?!”

“I did not realize it was still too much donut for one Madeleine.”

“You.. You absolute idiot. I need to confiscate the remaining donuts so you don’t choke again.”

Madeleine holds up the box. There’s five donuts left.

Espresso grabs it. “I’m not taking it because I care about him. I’m just taking them because I’m hungry.” He’s lying to himself.

And he knows, but he doesn’t want to admit it. 

Chapter Text

Espresso looks at Wizard Cookie “Could we go inside and discuss the magic issue?”

Wizard nods. Madeleine smiles “I would like to join you both!”

“No.”

They both look at Espresso. Madeleine stops smiling. “No?”

“Don’t you have cookies to protect? Maybe there’s someone who requires your assistance.”

Madeleine smiles again. “Then I shall go assist them! Farewell, friends!”

He waves as he runs off. Espresso sighs, then walks over to his door. “Shall we discuss the issue now?”

Wizard nods and follows him inside. He looks around the room. Espresso usually doesn’t let people into his house.

Espresso puts the donuts on the table, then picks up the mug and refills it with fresh coffee. 

He grabs a chair and pulls it near his armchair. “You may have a seat. Would you like coffee?”

“No, I’m not thirsty.” Wizard says, sitting in the chair. Espresso sips his coffee before sitting in his armchair.

Wizard asks “So, what is your problem exactly?”

Espresso puts down his mug. “It’s Madeleine. Everywhere I go, he appears. The likelihood of it being coincidental is very low at this point.”

“How is this a magic issue?”

“He follows me like a curse! Plus, there’s always trouble with him around. He’s a walking disaster magnet, and he constantly tries to stay near me.”

“Again, not much of a magic issue. Have you tried talking to him?”

“If I ask him to leave me alone, he does so for a day at most. He pesters me again the next day. You saw him choke on a donut despite me warning him. He has horrible luck.”

Wizard cookie shifts in his seat uncomfortably. “Espresso cookie, this isn’t a magic issue. You should talk to someone else about this.”

“What?”

“This sounds like a friendship issue.”

Espresso takes off his glasses, covering his eyes with his hand. “We are not friends.”

“Well, I wish I could help, but this isn’t something I can help with.”

Espresso sighs. “Thank you for talking to me. Please don’t tell anyone about this..”

Wizard stands up. “I can keep this a secret.”

“But it doesn’t mean I will. GingerBrave and Strawberry need to be aware of this.”

Espresso stands up, putting his glasses back on. “Allow me to get the door for you.”

Espresso walks over to the door, setting the cup on a table on the way. He opens it, and Wizard leaves, waving as he walks away. 

Espresso waves back, then closes the door.

He sighs, then walks over to the table where the experiment is set up.

He picks up the list, then the last ingredient.

The reason he even left the house today.

He double checks his ingredients, and he has everything.

“Oh good, I don’t have to deal with Madeleine for the rest of the day.”

For someone who hates Madeleine, he sure thinks about him a lot.

He walks over to the table and opens the box of confiscated donuts.

He grabs his journal and starts writing stuff before the experiment while eating the donuts.

When he finishes writing, he makes a fresh cup of coffee. He takes a sip while walking over to his table.

“Focus.”

Elsewhere, Wizard cookie meets up with GingerBrave and Strawberry, unaware of some watchful eyes.

Chili Pepper and Adventurer cookie, both in separate trees, spot the three cookies.

GingerBrave asks “Wizard cookie, why did you want to talk to us out here?”

Strawberry pulls on her hoodie strings a little. “Is there a dangerous monster on its way to the kingdom?”

Wizard shakes his head. “You know Espresso and Madeleine?”

GingerBrave looks confused. “Those two? What about them?"

“Espresso was complaining about Madeleine. He said that Madeleine is like a curse following him around.”

Strawberry shivers. “Is Madeleine cursed?”

Wizard shakes his head. “Madeleine’s fine. I’m concerned about Espresso comparing him to a curse.”

GingerBrave is even more confused. “Wait, why is this so concerning?”

“Have you ever noticed that Espresso leaves the second Madeleine shows up, unless he’s in the middle of something? And he’s always annoyed near him. I'm worried he may try to hurt Madeleine if his mood is too bad one day.”

Strawberry quietly adds “Now that you mention it, the looks he gives Madeleine are scary…”

GingerBrave asks “Ok, so what should we do about this?”

Wizard suggests “We should keep an eye on them when they’re near each other. If Espresso gets more aggressive, we need to separate them and make sure Madeleine stops trying to go to him.”

As the three leave, Chili Pepper and Adventurer look at each other.

Chili Pepper whispers “We should tell some of the others.”

“No kids though. They would give it away.”

Chili Pepper nods.

~*~The next afternoon~*~

It’s slightly cloudier than the day before, but it’s calm. Espresso finishes what he was doing, then looks at the clock on his wall.

“A brief walk in the woods would be nice, since I have a scheduled break. I should be back in time to start my next experiment.”

He puts on his cape and leaves his house, not noticing a few cookies staring at him.

It’s nice and peaceful. Birds are chirping. Espresso has a small smile.

A gentle breeze makes his cape flutter.

It gets slightly darker as he wanders deeper into the woods.

He rubs his eyes. “When was the last time I slept? It must’ve been at least four days ago..”

He stops walking. “Wait.. I crash every four days.”

Instead of sleeping normally, he drinks coffee to stay awake. Every four days, he’ll collapse and sleep, whether he wants to or not.

He looks around, now realizing he’s lost. “This is.. bad.”

He turns around. His footprints are lightly pressed in the ground. He starts to follow his own trail.

“I can’t crash in the middle of the woods. There are monsters out here.”

The bushes rustle. Espresso quickly turns to the sound.

A lone cake hound walks out of the bushes.

Espresso raises his hand to deal with it, but he’s shaking.

He starts feeling lightheaded, so he ignores the cake hound and runs along the trail.

The hound chases him, barking happily.

Espresso is getting dizzier every step, trying to keep his eyes open. He trips on a root and falls to the ground, his glasses getting flung off his face from the force.

The cake hound catches up, then starts chewing on his cape.

Espresso tries to get up, but it’s too late. He passes out.

The hound stops chewing his cape, then starts sniffing his hand.

Another cake hound walks out of a bush, then starts chewing on part of Espresso’s hair.

The first one howls, and several more run over.

Chapter Text

Madeleine and Fig are following Espresso’s footprints. Fig is carrying Madeleine.

They both hear the howl, and Fig speeds up.

They had been talking when one of Fig’s bird friends flew over and told Fig about Espresso going further into the woods than he should’ve.

Madeleine notices something reflective in the dirt. “His glasses!”

Fig slows down. Madeleine gets off their back, walking over and picking up Espresso’s glasses.

He turns and sees Espresso, passed out on the ground. Several cake hounds are chewing on his cape, two are trying to eat his hair, and one is sitting on his back.

Madeleine already has his sword in his hand, mostly to just scare them away. “HEY!”

Most of them get spooked and run off. A few stay behind. They run as soon as Madeleine gets closer.

Madeleine puts his sword away. He hands Espresso’s glasses to Fig, then scoops up the sleeping cookie.

He turns to Fig. “I suppose we walk back?”

They nod. “I can’t carry any otha cookies. D’ ya want me to carry ‘Spresso?”

“I saved him, so I carry him.”

Espresso quietly snores.

~*~The next day~*~

Espresso groans, too tired to move right now.

“Didn’t I crash in the woods? Where am I now?”

He moves his hand slightly. He’s laying on a plush bed with soft pillows.

There’s a blanket pulled up to his shoulders.

“I crashed on the dirt. Why is there something soft here??”

He rubs his eyes before pushing himself up. His hair is a mess. He looks down. “That’s a blanket, and it doesn’t belong to me. Where are my glasses??”

He tries getting up to find his glasses, but he falls off the bed instead.

He hears loud footsteps, then the door swings open. Espresso quickly sits up.

Madeleine runs over. “Espresso! Are you alright? You fell off the bed.”

Espresso leans away. “Where did you put my glasses?”

“I had to get the one lens replaced because Fig dropped them on our way back from saving you.” 

He hands the repaired glasses to Espresso, who puts them on. “You got the correct lens?”

Madeleine sits in front of Espresso, leaving a comfortable amount of space between them.

“Indeed!”

Espresso looks at Madeleine, who’s not wearing any of his armor. “What happened to your armor? You wear it everywhere.”

“While my armor is gorgeous, I don’t wear it around my home.”

Espresso looks around. “This is Madeleine’s house?”

“Why did you go into the woods alone? It’s very dangerous, especially since you were tired.”

“I didn’t realize I was beginning to crash until it was too late.”

Madeleine raises an eyebrow. “Crash?”

Espresso freezes. “Do I tell him? He’s so bothersome when he isn’t concerned, and this would only make it worse.”

He unfreezes, looking down and tapping his finger on his knee. “Then again.. He’s seeing the aftermath of a crash. It would probably be worse not telling him.”

He sighs. “A crash happens every four days. It’s my body forcing me to sleep. It takes roughly a day of sleep before I wake up again.”

Madeleine sits up straight. “That is very concerning.”

“Please don-"

“I will keep track of it and keep you safe!”

“It’s fi-“

Madeleine stands up. “I must ensure your safety! What would happen if you forgot again? Next time could be worse than cake hounds chewing on your hair.”

Espresso tries to stand up, but his legs are still shaking too much. Madeleine catches him. He looks at Madeleine.

“Wait, there were cake hounds eating my hair?!”

“And cape, yes, but one look at my sword and they were fleeing!”

“Could you please stop hugging me.”

Madeleine looks at Espresso, then smiles “Alright!”

He picks Espresso up. “I have ceased hugging.”

Espresso doesn’t know how to respond, so Madeleine carries him to the main room. Espresso’s cape is hanging on the wall next to Madeleine’s.

He sets Espresso down on a chair. Espresso finally snaps back to reality, and realizes there’s a familiar smell in the room.

Madeleine sets a cup of coffee down on the table, then a plate of food.

Espresso looks at the cup. “You made coffee?”

“Latte assisted. I made most of it on my own, though.” He gets food for himself and sits at a different side of the table.

Espresso eats the food, but doesn’t touch the coffee. “It most likely tastes similar to Latte’s coffee, or it tastes horrible. He did say he made most of it.”

He gets up, then walks over to his cape. Madeleine asks “Would you like a hairbrush?”

Espresso touches his own hair. “Yes. Do you have a mirror?”

Madeline points to the mirror. “Indeed I do, my friend!”

Espresso walks over, taking the hairbrush from Madeleine. “As soon as I get home, I am making more coffee. I can pretend this whole situation never happened.”

He notices Madeleine picking up the coffee. He finishes brushing his hair, sets the brush down, then walks back to his cape.

He clips his cape on, but before he can even touch the door handle, Madeleine walks over, holding the coffee cup.

“Espresso, you forgot the coffee. You can take it! You can give the cup back if you ever desire more of my coffee!” He smiles.

Espresso looks at the cup, then at Madeleine.

He hesitantly takes the cup. “That’s.. very kind of you.” He reaches for the door handle.

“You shall always be welcome here, friend!”

Espresso tightens his grip on the cup, then opens the door and starts walking home.

Some cookies look confused by him walking out of Madeleine’s house.

Espresso looks at them, but they all look away. “That’s.. mildly suspicious…”

He keeps walking. The smell of the coffee grows more and more tempting, until he finally gives in and takes a sip.

His eyes widen and he lowers the cup. “That wasn’t bad. Not as good as my own coffee, of course, but this is something I wouldn’t mind drinking occasionally.”

He looks at the cup. “Oh wait.. It’s Madeleine’s coffee…”

He drinks more of it as he walks home.

When he reaches his door, he goes for another sip of coffee, but there’s only air in the cup.

He stares at the empty cup, his hand resting on the doorknob.

He can still feel people staring at him.

Chapter Text

“ESPRESSO!”

He jerks his head up from the cup, then turns to see Madeleine running down the road. He only has his cape, boots, and the wings of his headpiece on.

Espresso tightens his grip on the doorknob.

Madeleine stops on Espresso’s walkway, catching his breath. Espresso slowly turns the knob and pushes open the door.

Madeleine holds out his hand. “You forgot your tie.”

Espresso looks down and realizes that his tie is indeed gone. He grumbles a thanks while taking his tie back. He hands the cup to Madeleine.

Madeleine looks in the cup, then smiles when he realizes it’s empty. “He drank it! He enjoyed my coffee!”

Espresso turns around and goes inside, kicking the door shut.

He quickly moves to his window and peeks out through the curtains. He notices two cookies looking at his door and whispering.

“Something must’ve happened while I was asleep.”

He shrugs. “I can ask about it later.”

He takes off his cape and hangs it up, when something yellow catches his eye.

He looks at the cape. There are some areas stitched together with golden-colored thread.

“Did Madeleine..” He shakes his head.

He takes it off the hook. “I need to get a new cape.”

He goes into his room, which has a comfortable couch that he usually crashes on. No bed. That would waste space.

He walks over to his closet and picks out a new cape. It looks identical to his old one, minus the new gold stitching.

He goes to throw the old one away, but doesn’t let go of it.

“Why can’t I bring myself to drop it..”

He puts the cape in the closet. He goes back to his main room and starts preparing for a new experiment.

Outside, Madeleine is walking home with the cup in his hands. “If I practice my coffee making skills, he will enjoy it even more!”

Wizard and Strawberry watch as he walks away from Espresso’s door.

Strawberry whispers “How are we going to help him if he keeps going to Espresso?”

Wizard responds, also whispering “I’m not sure yet. I’ll see if there are any spells, but that’s the last resort. We may be misjudging the situation a little.”

Strawberry nods, then asks “Why was he wearing less armor?”

Wizard shrugs.

~*~Two days later~*~

Espresso looks at the list, then at all the ingredients he has. “Of course, I appear to be missing several key ingredients.”

He sighs, then gets up. He’s avoided going outside so he doesn’t have to deal with Madeleine.

Or the staring.

“What causes them to stare? Nothing about my physical appearance is different. I haven’t done anything to warrant their staring either.”

He clips on his cape. “I should order an excess of these ingredients so they don’t run out as quickly.”

He grabs his wallet, then heads out.

As he walks to the shops, he notices cookies watching him. “This is getting ridiculous.”

Halfway through his list of ingredients, he reaches the donut shop.

He walks inside, and sees Madeleine trying to take another huge bite of a donut.

“Madeleine.”

He takes the donut out of his mouth. “Yes?”

“I believe cookies prefer it when you aren’t choking on a donut.”

Madeleine is confused for a second, then remembers. “Oh.”

He takes a normal sized bite.

Espresso rolls his eyes. “He needs some common sense. I’ll get donuts on my way home.”

Espresso leaves, but Madeleine follows, wanting to hang out with him.

Espresso tries his best to ignore him.

“Why is he following me? It hasn’t been four days yet. What could he possibly want from me?”

Then, Madeleine starts choking on a donut. Again.

Espresso turns around and helps Madeleine without hesitation.

He starts walking away after Madeleine is ok. He shakes his head. “That cookie is going to get himself killed someday.”

Someone walks up to Madeleine, asking for help with something. Espresso isn’t paying attention anymore.

Madeleine gladly goes to help the other cookie.

Espresso checks his list. “Halfway through... I must ask one of the staring cookies why they’re watching me. It’s unsettling.”

He continues walking.

After purchasing the last ingredient he needs, he turns and walks to the donut shop.

He goes inside. Adventurer and Chili Pepper are discussing a new map Adventurer found. 

In the past, they worked out an agreement where they help each other, then split the treasure at the end.

That doesn’t stop Chili Pepper from swiping a few extra things though.

They both look up and see Espresso, who walks over to the baker and orders some donuts.

He glances at them, but waits for his order first.

When he has his donuts, he walks over to them. Chili Pepper leans back in her chair. “What do ya want?”

“Has anything transpired here recently? I was occupied for a day, and I’ve noticed cookies staring at me.”

Both of them glance at each other, then at  Espresso. Chili Pepper stops leaning back. “Oh uh, nothin much happened.”

“Then why am I being watched?”

“Uhhh..”

Espresso’s eyes narrow. He quietly asks “Has Wizard cookie spoken with anyone about the private conversation we had?”

Adventure cookie nervously mentions “He told Strawberry and GingerBrave but uh..”

Chili Pepper interrupts him. “We overheard.”

Espresso’s eyes widen. “You two spread that information.”

They both move their chairs, ready to run.

Espresso stares at them. “It would be useless to go after them now. Plus, it would tarnish my reputation more than it already is.”

He sighs, then turns and leaves.

As he’s walking, a kid sees him. “Espresso cookie!”

He stops himself from groaning in annoyance. “I’m a busy cookie!”

He looks down at Snow Sugar cookie. “Long requests in writing, please. If it is short, please state your business in less than a minute.”

“I heard that culture plays a big part in life at the republic across the sea. Is that true?”

Espresso thinks “Oh, a curious child. Very well, I can chat for a bit.”

He nods. “Yes. There are many concerts, exhibitions, and theatrical premieres.”

“That sounds amazing! Some of us were talking, and we agreed our kingdom needed something like that too. Since you’re from the Republic… Can you help?”

“I suppose. A cultural pastime worthy of this kingdom…”

A loud booming voice behind him yells “How about a theatrical drama depicting the glory of victory?!”

Espresso jumps away, turning and glaring at Madeleine. “How… When did you get here..?” Espresso sighs, turning away. “I must take my leave.”

And with that, he walks home.

Chapter Text

~*~After some time~*~

Espresso returns to the construction site, looking around. “Hm? Where has that cookie gone. I have a specific task for him.”

Snow Sugar helpfully replies “I think Madeleine cookie went to the smithy.”

Espresso rolls his eyes. “Such is the fact of life… Never there when needed. Very well, I will handle this myself.”

As he starts walking, he thinks to himself “How does that cookie always show up when he is not wanted, but disappears the second he could possibly be useful?”

He enters the ruins to search for the Rarities needed. At that moment, Madeleine approaches Alchemist and Snow Sugar.

They’re upset. He joins the conversation. “Tell me! What troubles you?”

Alchemist turns to him. “Madeleine! Espresso is in danger!”

“Where has he gone? I must save him!”

“He went to the ruins to get the Rarities we need, and he went alone!”

Madeleine starts running. “I shall return with Espresso as soon as possible!”

When he reaches the ruins, he sees evidence of Espresso’s battles.

He takes a deep breath. “ESPRESSO COOKIE!”

No response.

“Can you hear me?! Answer me! ESPRESSO?!”

More silence. He runs deeper into the ruins. He rounds a corner, and sees Espresso, who asks “Huh..? What is going on this time?”

Madeleine gasps, smiling and running over to him. “ESPRESSO!!!”

He hugs him, then lets go. “Have you been waiting long? I have come to save you!”

Espresso quickly defeats a monster who was about to attack Madeleine. “Correct me if I am wrong, which is not possible, but… I believe it is I who have saved your life.”

Madeleine looks behind himself. “Speak true, good friend!” Then he notices more monsters. “Were it not for my timely arrival, you would have struggled to return.”

Espresso stares at him. Madeleine gestures to the monsters.

Espresso turns and sees them. “… I will admit this one fact. Perhaps you are not as useless as I initially judged. Break through their lines.”

He prepares a spell “I will cover you from the rear.”

Madeleine nods, then charges at the monsters.

~*~One intense battle later~*~

Espresso helps Madeleine up. “You were too reckless.”

Madeleine coughs, then smiles. “I vanquished the enemy, did I not?”

Espresso drapes Madeleine’s arm over his shoulders, then wraps his arm around Madeleine’s side to keep him from falling.

“Defeating the enemy at the cost of your health is not good, Madeleine!”

They start walking, Madeleine leaning on Espresso heavily. He coughs more. “I assure you, I am perfe-“ he coughs mid-sentence “Perfectly fine.”

“You are not fine.”

Madeleine looks at Espresso. “You have sustained injuries as well.”

“None are nearly as severe as any of the injuries you have.”

Madeleine coughs. “The Light protects me.”

“You say that, yet you are more injured.”

After several minutes of Espresso scolding Madeleine for being reckless, and Madeleine trying to make sure Espresso is ok, they reach the edge of the construction site.

The sun is starting to set.

Snow Sugar sees them. “Alchemist cookie! Look over there!”

Alchemist turns, then sees them. “They’re back!”

Espresso gently sets Madeleine down. “I have procured the rarities we need. Madeleine has sustained injuries and requires treatment.”

Madeleine coughs. “The Divine watches over me. Tend to Espresso’s wounds first.”

Espresso shakes his head.

Snow Sugar quietly mumbles “Espresso.. Madeleine..”

Alchemist, who’s heard the rumors, says “Looks like you two found some common ground.”

Madeleine is confused. “Pardon? Did we not already establish a rapport?”

Espresso rolls his eyes “What makes you think that?”

Alchemist crosses her arms. “Hmph! Just rest for now. We’ll handle everything from here.”

Madeleine starts coughing again. Espresso sighs. “Herb cookie is a healer, correct? Where is he?”

Alchemist cookie points in the direction of Herb’s flower shop, giving directions. “Why do you need to know?”

Espresso looks down at Madeleine. “Let go of the shield.”

“But-“

“I will grab it later. Let go.”

Madeleine frowns, but lets go.

Espresso picks up Madeleine, using a small amount of magic to make him feel lighter.

Madeleine coughs, then looks at the ground, slowly wrapping his arms around Espresso’s neck.

Espresso grumbles about Madeleine being reckless while carrying him to Herb’s flower shop.

Madeleine is trying to figure out how Espresso is carrying him. “He is injured, yet he can carry me with such ease? Has The Divine blessed him with great strength as well?”

~*~The next day, at the puppet show~*~

Snow Sugar looks up. “Hi, Espresso Cookie! Welcome!”

Alchemist cookie looks at Espresso. “When is Madeleine getting here?”

Espresso shrugs, looking away. “I do not, and dare not, know. He has probably surrounded himself with other cookies again.”

Alchemist starts calling out “Last come, last served! Come on! The party’s about to start!”

Espresso moves to the side as the puppet show starts. “Where is Madeleine? I know he’s not dead.”

Even later, Madeleine shows up. “Apologies for being late! I was busy shaking the hands of every cookie in this kingdom! Never a dull day for a knight, so many cookies wish to witness my glorious self!”

Espresso rolls his eyes. “Endless nonsense is also said to be a skill. You are quite skilled in that definition, are you not, Madeleine cookie?”

Madeleine smiles “Of course! The Divine has bestowed this blessing upon me! Are you envious, Espresso?”

Espresso sighs. “I must take my leave. Ah, I must inquire about one thing before I go. Who brought the sugarcoated donuts? They are quite scrumptious.”

Alchemist cookie looks over. “Oh, those? I did. Madeleine asked me to bring some before the party. Sounds like you two have similar tastes too.”

Espresso looks at Madeleine, who’s boastfully talking about how he saved Espresso.

“That troublesome cookie.. He enjoys the same donuts as I do.”

Espresso shakes his head. “The laws of probability state that… Never mind. Nothing ever goes to plan with that cookie involved.”

Espresso grabs one last donut, eating it as he navigates his way through the crowd. He sways slightly, but doesn’t notice.

He’s stopped by Madeleine.

He glares at Madeleine, who quietly asks “Will you be doing anything important later?”

Espresso glares more. “Why are you so inquisitive all of a sudden?”

“Today is the fourth day.”

Espresso’s expression changes as he notices the lightheadedness. It was there before, but he was ignoring it. “I need to get home.”

“Would you like me to escort you?”

Espresso stays quiet, mostly because the lightheadedness is getting worse.

Madeleine moves slightly closer. “Espresso?”

Espresso leans closer to Madeleine before his legs give out.

Madeleine catches him. Espresso looks up at him. “Two Madeleines? That’s not right…”

Madeleine picks him up. “You are going home.”

“Why?”

Madeleine starts walking. “You have to sleep.”

Espresso chuckles. “I can drink coffee, not sleep.”

“Sleep is not a beverage.”

“That is why I cannot drink it.”

As they get closer to his house, Espresso yawns. “Could you put me on the couch? It is in my room.”

“Do you not have a bed?”

“Beds take too much space.”

Madeleine adjusts how he’s holding Espresso, then opens the door. He walks inside.

Espresso looks around. “This is my house.”

“Indeed it is.” Madeleine sees the door to Espresso’s room, so he carries him inside.

He gently lays Espresso down, who unclips and tosses his cape on the floor, then Madeleine picks the blanket up.

Espresso tiredly grabs at it, but misses.

Madeleine lays the blanket on Espresso, who smiles. Then he takes Espresso’s glasses off so they won’t get broken.

He sees the glasses stand on the table next to the couch, so he leaves them there.

He looks at Espresso, who’s softly snoring.

Madeleine smiles a little. “May the Divine bless you with sweet dreams, dear friend.”

He quietly leaves, closing the doors behind him.

When he gets outside, he notices the cookies staring. GingerBrave asks “What happened to Espresso cookie?”

“He was tired, so I brought him home before he would collapse on the ground.”

“Will he be okay?”

Madeleine nods “Most likely. He just needs to rest.”

Chapter Text

While Espresso peacefully sleeps, a single cake hound runs deep into the enemy cookie’s territory.

It bumps into someone’s leg.

They look down. “Oh, do you have news for me?”

The cake hound barks. The cookie gently pets it’s head. “You’ve traveled far, come, let us get some food for you.”

The cookie gently picks up the hound, carrying it to the cake hound’s feeding grounds.

They gently set down the hound, who eats a bunch before coming back and barking more.

“You say that a cookie collapsed in the woods? Do you know who it was?”

The hound barks more.

“It was Espresso cookie? And he mentioned ‘crashing’ every four days? This is very useful information indeed!”

They pet the cake hound. “You have done well! Now, go rest. You’ve earned a good break.”

The cake hound happily makes its way to its favorite resting spot.

Red Velvet stands up to his full height. “I must tell the others about this.”

He turns and starts walking.

~*~the middle of the night~*~

Madeleine walks down the road, holding a box. He isn’t wearing any armor, and his hair is tied up in a ponytail.

No one who saw him would be able to recognize him easily.

A few cookies are awake at this time, usually on night watch duty. Blackberry cookie is one of them. 

She watches Madeleine from a distance, not sure what to do yet.

Madeleine trips on his own pants, but catches himself.

He then walks up to Espresso’s door, opening it just enough to push the box through.

Once the box is inside, he closes the door and turns to leave, but is met with Blackberry staring at him.

He yelps, then calms down. “Oh, Blackberry! You startled me.”

“Madeleine? What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?”

“I was bringing food to Espresso, but I shouldn’t enter his home without permission, so I put it just inside the door.”

“Why were you bringing food?”

“When he wakes, he will need something to eat.”

Blackberry smiles a little. “It’s nice of you to help him.”

“He is my friend, and as a knight it is my duty to help protect the kingdom and its citizens.”

Blackberry nods. “Well, I should get back to my patrol. You should rest.”

Madeleine nods. “You are a great protector.” Then he yawns. Blackberry gently turns him towards his home. “Go rest.”

“Mhm..” Madeleine starts walking home.

Blackberry looks at one of her ghosts. “Make sure he gets home safe.”

The ghost nods, then follows Madeleine.

The wind picks up, making the bushes rustle. The movement of a creature goes unnoticed.

Far away from the kingdom, a meeting is taking place.

Red Velvet shares the information that the cake hound found.

Licorice cookie hums slightly. “This is an upper hand against Espresso cookie, but what would we even do with him if we managed to capture him?”

Pomegranate looks at her mirror. “He possesses coffee magic, and his main ability is quite destructive. He would be very useful if we could get him to join us.”

Red Velvet pets Chiffon, who’s sitting on his lap. “Should I prepare a mission to capture Espresso cookie?”

“We need some sort of leverage against him first. Send your best spies to find out what we could use against him.”

Red Velvet nods. Licorice asks “What if it’s another cookie? Would we kidnap them too?”

“If they are the only thing, yes.”

“How will we keep him from using his magic against us??”

Pomegranate chuckles a little. “We keep all caffeine away from him. He’s weaker without it. And, if it’s necessary, we can use magic to control him.”

They start finalizing the plan.

~*~The next morning~*~

Espresso is still laying on his couch, moving slightly in his sleep.

He rolls over so he’s facing the back of the couch, his expression changing to one of discomfort. “No.. No!”

He pushes against the back of the couch, which makes him fall onto the floor. He sits up, awake.

He grabs his glasses and puts them on, then stands up. “It was a nightmare. Nothing happened to.. It was not real.”

He tries to ignore the few tears on his face, walking out to the main room. “It will not happen. It cannot happen. I shouldn’t cry over a pathetic nightmare.”

He spots Madeleine’s box.

He picks it up and opens it. He sees the food Madeleine got, and a note. He reads it out loud.

“‘Dear Espresso, I hope you aren’t mad that I carried you into the house. I got this food for you!’”

There’s a small doodle of Madeleine smiling.

Espresso’s hand starts shaking. “The probably- The probability of this being the nightmare is extra- is extremely low.”

He puts down the box. “Besides I.. I don’t care.. about..”

He wipes his tears away. “It.. would not.. It wouldn’t hurt to check.”

He stands up, then looks at his mirror. He fixes up his hair, then walks outside.

He sees cookies talking. “Where’s Madeleine?”

Espresso starts walking to Madeleine’s house. As he reaches the top of the hill, he sees Madeleine, who’s happily talking to other cookies.

He stops in place.

Madeleine looks up and sees him. He grins “Espresso!”

Espresso holds his tie, sniffing a little and trying to keep himself from crying. “See? He’s fine. It was only a nightmare. It was just.. just a nightmare…”

He lifts up his glasses and wipes the few tears away. He turns to go back home, but he sees Madeleine walking over to him.

Madeleine tightly hugs him. “Good morning! Did you get the box? Was your sleep good?”

Espresso nods. While the nightmare is what woke him up, the rest of the dream was very nice.

He won’t look at Madeleine, who notices, then quietly asks “Have you been crying, dear friend?”

Espresso tries to get out of Madeleine’s hug. “No..”

Madeleine stops hugging him, but keeps his hands on Espresso’s shoulders. “You look as if you were crying.”

Espresso pulls Madeleine’s hands off his shoulders. “I have experiments to run.”

Madeleine watches as Espresso walks home. He doesn’t like seeing his friends unhappy.

“I shall find a way to cheer him up! Perhaps I could bring him donuts. I know he enjoys those!”

He smiles while he walks to the donut shop. Meanwhile, Espresso is resting his elbows on his table, looking at the food Madeleine left for him.

He covers his eyes with his hand. “Why am I crying over an insignificant nightmare? I know it was not real.”

He takes off his glasses completely, hiding his face with both hands now. “It felt so close to reality. Plus, I rarely dream or have nightmares.”

He moves the food out of the way, then folds his arms. He rests his head on his arms.

“This is ridiculous. I should not be crying this much..”

He looks at the food, then takes a small bit and eats it. 

He slowly eats the rest of the food.

The quiet of his home is disturbed by a knock at the door. Espresso puts on his glasses, then gets up, dragging his feet as he walks over to the door.

He opens the door a tiny bit. Madeleine asks “May I come in?”

Espresso looks at the table, then at Madeleine. He moves so no one can see him, pulling the door open more.

“Why am I letting him in?”

Madeleine walks in, and Espresso notices the donuts. He closes the door, then walks over to his room. Madeleine follows.

“I brought donuts, since I know you like them.”

Espresso stands next to the couch, quietly saying. “That was nice of you.”

Madeleine hands the box to him, then takes off his chestplate. Espresso stares at him, raising his eyebrow.

Madeleine sets it on the floor, then looks at Espresso. “Is it alright if I ask what happened?”

“No..”

“Is there anything I can do to cheer you up?”

Espresso stays quiet, then sets the donuts on the table before hugging Madeleine.

Madeleine is slightly startled, but hugs back. He wasn’t expecting Espresso to hug him. He thought he’d be the one to hug Espresso first.

Espresso starts crying again. “This is humiliating. I shouldn’t be crying in front of him. I shouldn’t have let him in.”

He tightens his grip on the back of Madeleine’s shirt. “Why am I crying like this? I’m awake now. Madeleine is alive.”

Chapter Text

Madeleine yawns. “Would sitting on the couch be more comfortable?”

Espresso nods a little, letting go. Madeleine sits down, rubbing his eyes and yawning again.

Espresso sits next to him. “Did you sleep?”

“A little, yes.” He rests his head on Espresso’s shoulder.

“You usually sleep most of the night. How come you stayed up?”

“I had to deliver the package, but I could not fall asleep again.” He yawns, gently hugging Espresso.

Espresso gently combs his fingers through Madeleine’s hair. Madeleine doesn’t mind, since it’s helping Espresso calm down.

Espresso whispers “Maybe you should take off the rest of your armor to be more comfortable.”

Madeleine sits up. “You are very good at thinking.” He takes off his headpiece, then he takes off his boots. He unclips the wings from his cape.

He sets the armor down with his chestplate.

Espresso grabs his pillow and hands it to Madeleine, who puts it on Espresso’s lap.

He lays down, then looks up at Espresso, who’s not sure how to react. Madeleine smiles, half asleep.

“The Divine has blessed you.”

Espresso rolls his eyes. “Why are you bringing that up?”

“You were blessed with..” He yawns. “You look gorgeousss…” He falls asleep.

Espresso’s face heats up, but then he shakes his head. “He’s just tired. It’s a tired compliment.”

He gently plays with Madeleine’s hair. “His hair is so soft.”

Madeleine’s hand twitches slightly, then he mumbles “Only Espresso… touch my hair…”

Espresso stops touching his hair. Madeleine grabs Espresso’s hand, gently holding it.

He mumbles a bunch of random stuff that Espresso can’t understand.

Espresso picks up a book from the small table, reading it while Madeleine sleeps.

Occasionally, Madeline moves a bit or mumbles something, but he never lets go of Espresso’s hand.

~*~4 hours later~*~

Madeleine wakes up, his cape wrapped around himself.

He looks up and sees Espresso, who’s focused on his book.

Madeline realizes that he’s holding Espresso’s hand.

He stretches, then sits up.

Espresso looks up from his book, then tries to hide his laughter. “You might want a hairbrush.”

Madeleine looks at him. “You cannot pretend your hair is always perfect.”

Espresso nods, then sets the book down. He opens the drawer, and pulls out a hairbrush. “I haven’t used this one yet.”

Madeleine pulls a hairbrush out of a pocket. “I appreciate the offer, but I always have mine with me.”

He starts brushing. Espresso watches for a minute, then grumbles “This will take forever..”

“I only have one hairbrush to tame all my hair.”

Espresso gently grabs a small section of Madeleine’s hair, then starts brushing.

“How do you manage all this hair?!”

“I braid my hair every night so it won’t require brushing like this as often.”

He rolls his eyes “This is why I keep my hair short. Much easier to manage.”

After four minutes, Espresso mumbles “How is your hair this soft..”

“The Divine has blessed me with the softest of hair! Easy tangling is a small price to pay for long luxurious hair such as mine.”

Espresso whispers to himself “If I had a blanket as soft as this.. I might sleep more.”

Madeleine hears. This gives him an idea. “I will find the softest blanket for him. Then he shall sleep in a healthier manner!”

He happily continues to brush his hair, fully aware of Espresso’s gentle brushing.

When they’re finally done, Madeleine stands up and throws his hair behind his shoulders. It’s even poofier than normal.

Espresso asks “Can you leave now?”

“What?”

“I have work to do. Other cookies are distractions, but you are the most distracting of them all.”

Madeleine starts putting his armor back on. “Do you truly think of me that much?”

Espresso stops moving, feeling his face get slightly warmer. “What?”

Madeleine clips the wings to his cape. “If I distract you this much, you must think about me a lot.”

He pulls on his boots, then puts on his headpiece, when Espresso gets up and starts pushing him out. “You have to leave!”

“Why?”

“I told you, I have important work! You have knight duties, correct?”

Madeleine opens the door and lets Espresso gently push him outside.

Madeleine hugs Espresso, who warms up slightly.

Madeleine lets go, smiling. “Thank you for assisting me with my hair.”

Espresso snaps back to reality. “Yes. Of course.”

Madeleine waves and walks away. Espresso closes the door.

Madeleine is unaware of something watching him from the shadows.

~*~The fourth day~*~

The past few days have been fairly uneventful. The staring has died down.

Espresso is sitting on a bench, reading his favorite book. Madeleine is nearby, showing off.

There’s rustling in the bushes behind the bench. Espresso turns to look at the bushes, but the rustling stops.

He shrugs and goes back to his reading.

The rustling starts again. Espresso turns and stares at the bushes, which stop rustling. He gets up and starts walking closer to Madeleine.

There’s a bark, then one of the kids yells “CAKE MONSTER!”

Espresso and Madeleine turn and see it. The cake hound jumps up and grabs Espresso’s book. “HEY!”

It starts running into the woods. Espresso chases it, with Madeleine close behind him.

The cake hound runs under a tall wall of bush. Espresso uses a bit of magic to fly over the bush and continues chasing the hound.

Madeleine can’t fly, so he starts cutting his way through.

Espresso stumbles slightly, the lightheadedness getting worse.

Madeleine finally gets through the bush, and he looks at the ground. He sees Espresso’s footprints, so he starts following the trail.

A few monsters jump in his way.

He immediately starts to worry more about Espresso. “There are probably more monsters further in the woods, and he is going to crash at any second!”

Espresso hasn’t encountered any other monsters yet. He’s still trying to get his book back.

He stumbles and starts slowing down. The cake hound turns and stares at him.

He tries to grab it, but it backs up.

He stops, trying to catch his breath.

He hears movement, but can’t figure out where it’s coming from. “What..”

He tries to take another step, when his legs give out. He crashes to the ground, passing out immediately.

Chapter Text

Madeleine finds himself in the clearing where Espresso passed out, but he isn’t there.

There’s still a trail to follow, but there’s more footprints.

Madeleine picks up Espresso’s book, tucking it into a pocket before following the trail.

He hears talking.

Licorice is complaining about having to do all the dirty work, while Choco Werewolf Brute is dragging Espresso, who’s fast asleep.

Madeleine tightens his grip on his sword hilt.

Madeleine steps on something, and a monster screeches.

Licorice turns and sees Madeleine.

He grins, then holds the scythe blade close to Espresso. “Well well well, who do we have here?”

“Let Espresso go!”

“Why? You can’t do anything to us.”

Madeleine gets ready to jump at them, but Licorice moves the blade closer to Espresso’s neck.

Madeleine takes a step back.

Licorice chuckles, then lets Choco Werewolf drop Espresso and attack Madeleine.

Madeleine tries to fight back, until he sees Licorice raising his scythe.

Madeleine reaches for Espresso. “No! Don’t hurt-“ He gets hit in the head.

Choco Werewolf picks up Madeleine, carrying him like a sack of flour.

Madeleine tries to get out, but Licorice says “If you don’t stop immediately, I will hurt your precious friend.”

Madeleine looks at him. “You wouldn’t dare…”

Licorice laughs. “I would.”

~*~A day later (magical fast travel sped it up a bit)~*~

They’re approaching the enemy's base. Madeleine looks around, worried. “What do they want from Espresso? Why have I been captured too?’

A cake wolf runs over and starts sniffing the air, then Red Velvet shows up shortly after.

He notices Madeleine. “How did you manage to catch him and keep him under control?”

Licorice grins “It’s amazing what threatening to hurt his friend can do. Do you have cages prepared?”

He nods. “They are prepared, and guards are ready.”

Red Velvet easily picks up Espresso with his cake claw. “I will take them both from here.”

Madeleine gets dropped on the ground. Red Velvet grabs part of Madeleine’s hair and pulls him up so he’s standing.

Madeleine looks at Espresso, even more concerned than before.

Red Velvet pushes Madeleine. “Come on. You can’t stand there forever. Don’t try to run. You won’t make it very far.”

Madeleine quietly goes with Red Velvet. “Espresso could make a plan to get us out of here. I must wait for him to wake up.”

Red Velvet looks at Madeleine, then quietly remarks “My spies told me you were loud and annoying. You are quite different from what I expected.”

Espresso moves a little.

Red Velvet looks at him. “And I never expected this one could sleep so long.”

Madeleine looks at Espresso. “It took a day to get here. He should wake up soon.”

Espresso, who’s been awake for the past hour, is trying to think of a way to escape.

Madeleine asks “Why do you want him?”

Espresso reacts, but quickly lets his body go limp again. “Since when was Madeleine here?! He hasn’t spoken a word for at least an hour!”

Red Velvet replies “It doesn’t concern you.”

“Yes, it does. You have captured my friend, as well as myself.”

“You are leverage.”

They stop walking.

Espresso opens one of his eyes just enough to see, but they appear to be closed as long as you aren’t looking closely.

There are different types of cake monsters running around and doing tasks. Espresso closes his eye as Red Velvet moves him. He’s upright now.

Red Velvet grumbles “I thought this one never slept.”

Espresso opens his eye just enough to see again.

Madeleine is looking at him, worried. There’s a cage in front of them.

Red Velvet turns to look at Madeleine. “You, get in the cage.”

Madeleine takes a step away.

Red Velvet tightens his grip on Espresso. “Do you want me to hurt your friend?”

Madeleine looks down, then walks closer. Red Velvet’s grip loosens. Espresso opens his eyes fully, escaping the cake claw.

He throws Red Velvet away with a spell, then unties Madeleine’s hands. “Where’s the exit?”

“This way.” Madeleine grabs Espresso’s hand and starts running.

Espresso keeps monsters from catching up to them, but more monsters show up.

His attacks are getting weaker as well.

“Madeleine-“

Madeleine draws his sword, then raises it and a blinding light makes the monsters stunned.

He puts his sword away, scooping up Espresso as the floating shields protect his back.

Espresso looks over Madeleine’s shoulder. The monsters are recovering, and Red Velvet is with them.

Espresso holds out one of his hands, blasting the side of a tower, which falls and blocks the monsters.

He stays looking over Madeleine’s shoulder.

After roughly six minutes, Madeleine starts to slow down.

Espresso taps his shoulder. “Madeleine, you can set me down now.”

Panting slightly, Madeleine shakes his head. “Have to get.. you to safety..”

“You need to rest if you want to protect me.”

“But.. What if.. monsters find us..?”

“We’ve gone through several streams, and I knocked over one of the towers while you were running. It will take much longer for them to find us.”

Madeleine slows down more. “But..”

“No buts. You need the rest.”

Madeleine gently sets Espresso down, then collapses.

Espresso catches him, helping him sit down.

“This is why you have to rest. You were sprinting while wearing all your armor, and carrying me!”

Madeleine smiles. “The Divine has.. blessed me with great strength.”

“Even if that is the case, I weigh more than you. Regardless of your strength, that is still more than you should carry while sprinting in armor.”

Madeleine leans on Espresso a little. “We aren’t far enough yet. After I finish resting, I will carry you further.”

“No. You are not carrying me.”

Madeleine looks up at Espresso, pouting.

Espresso isn’t looking. “I’m not falling for your sparkly eyes trick. I will not be carried.”

He stands up, then scoops up Madeleine and starts walking.

Madeleine rests his head on Espresso’s shoulder. “As long as you are safe, I will be fine.”

Espresso feels his face heating up, but he does his best to ignore it.

Madeleine stays quiet, closing his eyes. He isn’t asleep though.

Espresso sighs, then quietly says “You really are a magnet for trouble.”

Madeleine mumbles “You are good at getting me out of trouble.”

“Are you still awake?”

“Yes.”

“May I carry you on my back instead?”

“If that would be more comfortable for you, yes.”

Espresso gently sets Madeleine down, then unclips his cape. He folds it up and tucks it into his pocket.

Madeleine stands up, leaning on a tree.

Espresso squats down so Madeleine can get on easily. Madeleine drapes his arms over Espresso’s shoulders.

Espresso stands up, now carrying Madeleine on his back. Madeleine rests his chin on Espresso’s shoulder.

He smiles. “You are very strong. The Divine must have blessed you as well.”

“Can you please stop talking?”

“Why?”

“You are distracting.”

“My melodious voice has that effect on people.”

Espresso rolls his eyes. Madeleine starts quietly singing.

Espresso tries to ignore it, but the singing is in his ear.

Chapter Text

~*~Later~*~

They reach a town. Madeleine stops quietly singing. “A town! We can rest there, then get directions and supplies.”

“I can finally put you down.”

“I offered to walk hours ago. You refused.”

“You would’ve picked me up and carried me instead.”

“Hey, that’s not.. no.. that is true.”

Espresso rolls his eyes, a small smile visible.

Madeleine looks at Espresso. “So shall we-“ Espresso turns his head to see Madeleine. Their faces are very close.

Madeleine freezes up. “He is close enough for me to kiss- Kiss?? What am I thinking?! Espresso is my friend!”

Espresso tilts his head to the side slightly. “Shall we what?”

Madeleine blushes and looks away, laughing nervously. “I uh- We should um..”

His voice drops to barely a whisper “I dare not suggest what I am thinking.”

“What are you mumbling about?”

“I will not tell you.”

“Why are you blushing?”

Madeleine blushes more. “I am not blushing!”

Espresso gently sets him down, then looks at him. “Yes, you are. Even more than before.”

Madeleine pulls some of his hair in front of his face to hide. “You cannot see my face, therefore you do not know.”

Espresso gently moves Madeleine’s hair out of his face.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, I am fine.”

Espresso still looks a bit concerned.

Madeleine turns to the town. “Supplies! Let us go get those!”

“Maddie-“

“And directions!”

Espresso lets out a long sigh, then follows Madeleine. “Let me handle the talking.”

“Then I shall carry stuff.”

“As long as you stay quiet and don’t draw attention to us, you can do that.”

Back in enemy territory, Red Velvet is following the trail of broken branches Madeleine left behind.

“They couldn’t have gotten too far.”

Licorice asks “How did you manage to lose someone who was asleep? Even I could keep track of a sleeping person.”

“He must’ve been awake for some time, pretending to sleep.”

“What will we do about that annoying knight?”

“I’m not sure yet. He needs to be alive though. At least, until Espresso truly joins us.”

There’s a small clearing, then the destroyed branches become much scarcer.

The cake hound smells the ground, then follows the trail.

A few branches have long strands of Madeleine’s hair tangled around them.

Red Velvet looks at one. “They must’ve switched who was carrying who.”

Licorice thinks for a minute, then says “There’s a town ahead. Do you think they went there?”

“Most likely.”

~*~Ten minutes later~*~

Espresso thanks the shopkeeper for the directions, then he and Madeleine leave the town.

Espresso looks at the woods, then notices a long strand of hair tangled around a branch.

“Madeleine, they’ll track us with your hair.”

“What?”

“It gets tangled on branches.”

“I can braid it.”

Espresso looks at him. “How quickly can you braid?”

Madeleine sets down the supplies, then takes roughly a minute braiding it. He ties the end so it won’t come loose, and smiles at Espresso.

“Is that good?”

“Yes. Perfect.”

Espresso picks up some of the supplies, leaving the rest for Madeleine.

They start walking, Madeleine slightly ahead of Espresso.

Espresso looks at his braided hair. “It’s so weird seeing him without his hair covering his back. How long has he had that design on his cape?”

Madeleine is still trying to figure out what happened earlier.

“He just looked at me. Why did I want to kiss him? Espresso is my friend. I don’t think he would like getting kissed.”

He looks at Espresso, who’s moving his hair out of his eye.

Madeleine looks ahead again, his face heating up. “He’s so pretty..”

He tightens his grip on the bag strap. “What am I thinking?! I have never thought anything like this before! When did this feeling show up?”

They walk through a stream.

Madeleine quietly asks “Espresso?”

“Hm?”

“How long will it take to get home? I know when they kidnapped us, they had magic to jump some of the distance.”

“It might take four days. Most likely five if I crash.”

Madeleine looks down. “Five days with Espresso. Five days alone with him.”

He blushes more. “Five days to figure out what feeling this is.”

They walk in silence for a few hours, then Madeleine yawns.

“Espresso..?”

“I’m guessing you would like to sleep.”

He nods “Mhm…”

“There should be a safe spot for us to stay soon.”

Madeleine moves closer to Espresso. “It is cold.”

Espresso sees a safe spot. “Stop here.”

Madeleine yawns, putting down the stuff. Espresso gets everything set up. It starts to rain.

Espresso looks up. They have a makeshift roof over their heads. “We should be fine.”

Madeleine takes off his armor, then stretches while reaching for Espresso.

“Spresssssooo…”

He looks down. “What?”

“It’s cold and you’re always warm.”

He moves closer to Madeleine.

Madeleine gently pulls him down. Espresso tries to get up, but Madeleine hugs his waist.

“Smells like coffee.”

“Why are you smelling me?”

“It’s a strong smell.” He yawns. “I like it.”

Espresso stays quiet. Madeleine pulls his cape so it’s draped over Espresso too. “Sleepy.”

Soon, Madeleine is asleep.

He snuggles closer to Espresso, who heats up a bit more.

He always gives off some ambient heat, but it will change with his emotions.

Madeleine mumbles “Can you float..? Or are you tall.”

Espresso chuckles a little. “What on Earthbread are you dreaming about?”

Madeleine hugs Espresso tighter, whining “Stop being taller than me! It isn’t fair!”

He mumbles into Espresdo’s shirt. “It is harder to kiss you because I can’t reach your face.”

Espresso couldn’t hear most of it. “What?”

Madeleine stays quiet.

Espresso sighs. “This is going to feel so much longer than it already does.”

“Cease being tall.”

“Maddie, I can’t shrink.”

“Squat down, then.”

“We’re laying on the ground.”

“Then why is your face too far away?”

Espresso is confused. “Why is it too far?”

“I can’t reach it.”

“Why do you want to reach my face??”

Madeleine snores.

Espresso sighs. “I’ll just ask if you remember your dream when you wake up.”

Espresso gently hugs Madeleine, resting his chin on his head.

He yawns.

“I need caffeine. I can’t stay awake without it.”

The rain gets heavier, and for the first time since he discovered coffee, Espresso peacefully falls asleep instead of crashing.

Chapter Text

~*~The next day~*~

They’re on the road again. When Espresso asked about the dream, Madeleine quickly said he didn’t remember anything, despite the fact that he does.

Now they’re walking next to each other, though Madeleine stays slightly behind Espresso. “How soon should we reach the next town?”

Espresso looks at the map. “Hmm.. About thirty minutes. Why?”

“Am I not allowed to be curious?”

“I was only wondering. You haven’t talked much today”

“Would you rather I talk? I can find plenty of things to talk about.”

“No-“

“I can complain about you being too tall if you’d like me to.”

“How am I too tall?”

Madeleine speeds up so he’s in front of Espresso, then puts his hands on his cheeks.

Madeleine pulls Espresso’s face down to be eye level with him.

Espresso looks at him. “Please remove your hands from my face.”

“Look at how far you have to bend down!”

“I don’t have far to bend. This does feel uncomfortable, though.”

Madeleine lets go of his face.

Espresso stretches. “Hopefully they have some form of caffeine I can get.”

“You have coffee magic. Can you not make your own coffee?”

Espresso stops moving for a second, then facepalms “I can make my own coffee. I just need a cup.”

Madeleine giggles, and the two continue walking together.

Espresso crosses his arms “I haven’t had caffeine for roughly two days now. I’m bound to forget stuff. Plus, I’ve been focused on getting home.”

“You were asleep last night.”

“How do you know if that was true?”

“You were snoring.”

“I do not snore!”

Madeleine chuckles “Yes, you do snore!”

“Well, you talk in your sleep.”

Madeleine’s face goes red, and he stops talking.

After a few minutes, Espresso asks “Why did that make you so quiet?”

“I most likely said something embarrassing…”

“You were mumbling something along the lines of ‘something something can’t reach your face.’”

Madeleine’s face somehow gets more red. “Oh.. That.”

“What was the rest of that sentence? I’m curious.”

“It.. Is too embarrassing to tell.”

“Are you sure?”

Madeleine mumbles “I could not reach your face to..” He gets even quieter. “Kiss you…”

“What?”

“I have forgotten what I said!” Madeleine walks faster. “We should get to the town.”

Espresso furrows his eyebrows. “He’s acting strange.”

When they reach the town, Espresso loses track of Madeleine. “Oh no. He- Where did he go?! How did I even lose him? He’s taller than nearly everyone but me.”

He looks over the crowd, but there’s too many people walking around.

“Did he go into a building?”

He weaves through the crowd to get to the side.

He goes to one of the buildings that’s open. A shop, but no Madeleine.

He buys a cup there before continuing his search.

After ten minutes and some awkward asking if anyone’s seen him, Espresso finds Madeleine.

Madeleine is drinking grape juice, giggling a little.

Espresso sighs and walks over. “What are you doing?”

Madeleine looks up at him. “Heyy- -spresso! Want to drinking for- -with me?”

“We have to keep moving.”

“Hmmmm can you ca- -arry me?”

Espresso sighs. “Yes.”

Madeleine tries to get up, but falls over. Espresso catches him.

Espresso looks at the bartender. “Has he paid yet?”

They nod.

Espresso picks up Madeleine, who giggles more “Woah! Tall!”

On their way out, Espresso gets a small cart to carry all the supplies.

When they’re out of the town, Madeleine pokes Espresso’s cheek. “Spresso.”

Espresso doesn’t answer.

“Spressoo.”

No response. “Spresso I would- -would like to see youuu..”

Espresso looks at him. “What do you wa-“

Madeleine kisses him.

Espresso stops walking. Madeleine moves away, then smiles. “I reached y- -your face!”

Espresso heats up. Madeleine rests his head on Espresso’s shoulder. “Warm..”

Espresso shakes his head a little. “You had too much to drink.”

“You have t- -too much pretty. The Di- -Divine blessed y- -you well!”

Espresso heats up more. Madeleine stops leaning on him. “Ouch. Now you’re is t- -too hot.”

Espresso puts Madeleine down, then covers his face with his hands. “You- You aren’t thinking straight.”

Madeleine giggles. “My dreams is truueeee! I g- -got kissed you!”

Espresso sits down. “Why did you do that??”

“You are pretty, I h- -have saved you. Knights are a- -allowed to kiss pretty people th- -they save, with permission-“

He stops smiling. “Oh no.”

He looks at Espresso. “I- I forgot to ask! Sorry!” He starts crying.

“I messed up!”

Espresso looks at him. He’s sitting in front of Espresso. “Spresso, I am- -am very sorry! I should have asked.”

Espresso covers his mouth with his hand. “It.. It’s fine.. It was only a kiss…”

“But I am supposed- -I need to ask!”

“Maddie, please calm down.”

“But-“

Espresso gently grabs his shoulders. “Madeleine!”

Madeleine stays quiet.

Espresso sighs. “I told you, it’s alright. You don’t need to worry. You know to ask me next time, correct?”

Madeleine nods, then asks “Next time?”

Espresso lets go of his shoulders. “I- I will probably tell you no, but knowing you, you’ll ask anyways.”

Madeleine leans closer. “Can now be- -be next time?”

Espresso doesn’t know how to respond. Madeleine patiently waits.

Espresso looks away and mumbles “A kiss on the cheek is fine.”

Madeleine smiles “Today is a b- -blessed day!” then he kisses Espresso on the cheek.

Madeleine starts rambling about random stuff. Espresso touches the area that Madeleine kissed.

“Why did I tell him that he could kiss me.. It’s probably to make him happy… When did I start caring if he was happy or not??”

Madeleine moves closer to Espresso. “Hi!”

“Hello?”

“Can I steal a hug?”

“What??”

“From you. A hug.”

Espresso opens his arms, not saying anything. Madeleine gasps and leans on Espresso, who hugs him. “Thank you!”

Espresso looks away. “He’s drunk. He’ll forget about this later.”

Madeleine looks up. “Warm Espresso.”

“What?”

“You are a cozy pillow.”

“Thank you..?”

Back at the kingdom, several cookies are fighting off monsters.

GingerBrave hits another away. “Why are there so many trying to invade the kingdom?!”

“I do not know, but you have to get past them!”

“Who will defend the kingdom?”

“I will assemble a team of defenders. You must hurry!”

GingerBrave looks to Wizard. “Should we bring anyone else?”

“We need someone with healing magic! Herb would be a good cookie to bring with us!”

GingerBrave nods. “We should get supplies.”

“You two should go! I’ll hold back these monsters!”

GingerBrave nods again, smiling. “Thanks, Madeleine!”

Chapter Text

~*~Two hours later~*~

Madeleine closes his eyes, then mumbles “Strong Espresso..”

Espresso chuckles a little. “You keep saying that.”

“Is it not true?”

“It is true, but not necessary for you to point out every ten minutes.”

Madeleine yawns, opening his eyes again. “But how will you remember?”

“I have a fairly good memory. I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.”

Madeleine pokes Espresso’s face. “But what if you do?”

“It wouldn’t be difficult to figure out. Please stop poking my cheek.”

He stops. “Hmmm.. What if you forget how pretty you are?”

“I’m not that pretty, Madeleine.”

He gasps “How dare you say that about yourself! And it is a false statement as well!”

“Stop yelling in my ear.”

Madeleine drops to a quieter voice. “I apologize. I did not realize I was yelling.”

“That explains a lot.”

“About what?”

“It explains why you almost always yell instead of talk.”

“Oh.”

Madeleine looks at Espresso. “Some of the colors in your hair appear to be fading.”

“I’m surprised the dye has lasted this long.”

“You dye your hair?”

“Yes.”

“How glorious would my hair look with some blue?”

Espresso looks down. “I do not recommend it. Using the wrong dye could damage your soft hair.”

Madeleine chuckles a little. “You seem to enjoy petting my hair. Do you like how soft it is?”

Espresso stops walking. “I only do that when he’s asleep or very tired. How does he know?”

“Why would I ever want to touch your hair?”

Madeleine shrugs. “I do not know. You touch it when my eyes are closed. Did you think I was asleep?”

“..Yes…”

He laughs a little. “You do not have to wait until I fall asleep. You can touch my hair whenever you would like to.”

“But you prevent everyone else from doing so. Why am I the exception?”

“I’m certain you will never attempt to cut my hair. I trust you.”

Espresso starts walking again, footprints leading away from him.

Footprints that a cake hound is sniffing, near the town they left two hours earlier.

The cake hound happily barks. Red Velvet pets them, smiling. “Good job! Licorice cookie, we’ve found their trail again.”

Licorice gets up. “About time. Espresso is better about hiding the trail than Madeleine.”

“We’ll have to find a way to capture Espresso while he’s awake.”

“We just have to grab Madeleine. If we threaten to hurt him, Espresso should do what we tell him.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“That’s how we caught Madeleine. I threatened to hurt Espresso and he stopped fighting back.”

“If this mission fails, I will blame you.”

The two cookies, along with their cake monster companions, follow the trail.

~*~Three hours later~*~

Madeleine is poking Espresso’s face again. “Espresso.”

No response.

“Espressoooo.”

No response again.

“Espresso I would like to walk now.”

“Are you going to attempt to carry me again?”

Now it’s Madeleine’s turn to be quiet.

Espresso rolls his eyes. “Of course you were planning to do that.”

“You deserve a break from carrying me and the supplies.”

“I have coffee now. I will be fine.”

“Your feet must be hurting at this point. You’ve been walking for five hours with hardly any breaks!”

“We need to keep moving.”

Madeleine tries to get off of Espresso’s back, but he’s stopped. “Espresso, I’m concerned about you!”

“Stop being concerned.”

“No. I refuse to cease any concern.”

Espresso stumbles slightly. “Well, I still refuse to put you down.”

Madeleine waits a few minutes, then takes off Espresso’s glasses.

Espresso stops walking. “Madeleine..”

“Put me down. We are resting here tonight.”

“I would like my glasses, Madeleine.”

“I’ll give them back when you are resting.”

Espresso death glares Madeleine. “I said give my glasses back.”

Madeleine shivers, but refuses.

Espresso sighs and puts Madeleine down. “My glasses, please?”

“Not yet.”

“I put you down!”

“You are not resting yet!”

Madeleine grabs stuff, then sets up a temporary camp. He gently makes Espresso sit down, then gives his glasses back.

Espresso immediately tries to get up, but the pain in his feet is too much, so he sits down again.

Madeleine starts preparing some food. “See? You need a break.”

“It wasn’t this painful when I was standing up. What did you do?”

“You were used to standing up. The pain is noticeable now because you’ve had a chance to relax.”

Everything around them darkens as the sun goes down. Madeleine glows faintly, still cooking.

Espresso sighs, leaning against the tree. “As soon as I’m fine, we are leaving.”

“As long as I get to carry you.”

“No.”

“Then no leaving.”

“Maddie, we have no clue if they’re tracking us or how close they could be. We should stay on the move.”

“Then I am carrying you.”

“No I-“

Madeleine stares at him. “You won’t care for your own health, so I will. You scold me for being reckless, then do stuff like this.”

Espresso stays quiet. The sun sinks even lower. The faint glow looks a tiny bit brighter.

“Why do you glow?”

“What? I don’t glow. I sparkle.”

“You have not sparkled once since we’ve been kidnapped.”

Madeleine focuses on cooking. “Angel cookie must’ve been napping. They’re the reason I sparkle with radiant light.”

“So why are you glowing now? I haven’t thought about it much before because I was tired.”

Madeleine finishes the food, then stares at Espresso. “Are you alright?”

“Other than my lower legs, yes.”

“Why do you think I’m glowing?”

“Look at your hand compared to the dark areas around us.”

Madeleine, still confused and very concerned, holds up his hand.

He notices the faint glowing as well.

“Oh. Perhaps the Divine is the reason for this?”

Espresso rolls his eyes, but says nothing.

Madeleine sits next to Espresso. “Here, I made food.”

“I’m not hun-“

“You are going to eat this food, even if I must force you to. You need it.”

“No, I do not.”

Madeleine picks up some of it. “Yes, you do.”

“No!”

“At least try some!”

“N-“ Madeleine manages to get some food in Espresso’s mouth. He keeps his hand over it so Espresso can’t spit it out.

“You need food, Espresso!”

Espresso crosses his arms, making an angry sound.

“Don’t glare at me. I’m trying to help you.”

Espresso glares more.

“I will not move until you eat.”

Espresso looks away, then grumbles a little before eating the food.

Madeleine moves his hand away. “You ate it!”

“You were not going to move unless I did.”

Madeleine holds up more food. “Have more!”

Espresso takes it from him. “I- I can eat on my own!”

Madeleine gives the plate to Espresso, then grabs food for himself.

Espresso slowly eats, while Madeleine eats his food a bit faster than most people would.

He rests his head on Espresso’s shoulder. “Thank you for eating.”

Espresso doesn’t say anything for a minute. “It.. It’s not that hard to eat food.”

“Then why were you being so difficult about it?”

Espresso stays quiet.

Madeleine wraps his cape around himself. “It’s cold.”

Espresso finishes his food and moves the plate. He drinks a cup of coffee before gently nudging Madeleine. “I would like to lay down.”

Madeleine moves, but Espresso pulls him down. He hugs Madeleine, who’s blushing. “I- Espresso??”

“You said you were cold.”

Madeleine snuggles closer to Espresso. “That- That is true…”

He yawns, mumbling “Thank you.”

Espresso plays with some of Madeleine’s hair. “You’re welcome.”

Madeleine smiles, falling asleep.

Espresso enjoys the relative silence. Occasionally, Madeleine will mumble something into Espresso’s shirt.

As the moon rises higher, Espresso hears the bushes rustling.

“Wait.. Isn’t that the direction we came from?”

Red Velvet and Licorice walk out of the darkness. Licorice chuckles “Aw, now isn’t that adorable? Too bad we’re he- OW!”

He stumbles back from the blast.

Espresso is sitting up now, hugging Madeleine with one arm. “Leave us alone!”’

Red Velvet dodges the second attack. “We can’t.”

“I’m fairly certain you can.” Espresso tries to get up, but the pain in his leg spikes. He falls down.

Madeleine makes an upset sound, but doesn’t wake up.

Red Velvet moves closer, so Espresso tries to hit him with another attack. He dodges again, then reaches out and grabs Madeleine with his cake claw.

Espresso clings to Madeleine, but one of the cake monsters bites his arm.

Red Velvet backs away, holding Madeleine. “Will you stop struggling?”

Espresso glares at him, still trying to get his arm free.

Red Velvet holds his sword up to Madeleine’s neck. “Stop trying to escape.”

Espresso stops. “Don’t hurt him.”

“I won’t, as long as you do whatever we tell you to.”

“What do you want from us?”

“Oh, we only want you. Your powers are very useful for what we’re doing.”

“Then why drag him into this?”

“Would you listen if I wasn’t threatening him right now?”

Espresso stays quiet.

Red Velvet looks at the cake wolf. “You can let go now.”

The wolf drops Espresso’s arm.

Red Velvet asks “Can you walk?”

“I would’ve run away if I could.”

Red Velvet puts down his sword, then picks up Espresso and puts him on the back of a large cake wolf.

Licorice mumbles “Why did this work so much better than when I did it?”

Red Velvet picks his sword up again. “Because the annoying one is asleep.”

Chapter Text

~*~The next afternoon~*~

In the forest near the kingdom, Sorbet Shark is exploring.

They start following a bird, when they hear voices.

They duck into a bush, then peek out. “Madeleine cookie? Talking to monsters?”

Madeleine grumbles “Do you think I like pretending to be this cookie? I have to help them fight against you guys, and they would attack me if they found out!”

“Why don’t you leave?”

“Boss’s orders. The kingdom cookies can't know that the real Madeleine is missing as well.”

“What about the cookies attempting to break through our lines?”

“It’s time to let them through. Lessen the attacks on the kingdom, and focus on those five.”

The cake monster nods.

Sorbet Shark narrows their eyes. “I knew something was wrong. Madeleine was acting wrong after Espresso vanished. This is why.”

Fake Madeleine says “Lower the attacks here, and I’ll tell them I found a weak point. Let them get through, then intercept them before they can reach the next town.”

The cake monster nods again. Both of them are out of eyesight now.

Sorbet quietly crawls out of the bushes, then runs back to the kingdom.

They look around, then spot Wizard.

They run over to him. “oO0Oo0o!”

He turns to them. “Oh, hello! Do you need something?”

Sorbet tries to tell him about Fake Madeleine, but all they can make is bubbling sounds.

Wizard is very confused. “I can’t understand what you’re trying to say.”

Sorbet looks around, then sees a stick. They pick it up and draw Madeleine in the dirt.

Wizard looks at it. “Madeleine? What about him?”

Sorbet draws a second Madeleine.

“Two Madeleines? Do you like drawing him?”

Sorbet shakes their head. They add to the second one, changing the eyes to the monster eyes and drawing sharp teeth.

“Madeleine isn’t evil.”

Fake Madeleine runs over. Sorbet stands up and covers the drawings with their boot.

Fake Madeleine smiles “Wizard cookie! I have discovered a gap in their defenses! You should be able to break through!”

Sorbet makes more bubbling sounds, trying to warn Wizard, but he runs off to get the others.

Now it’s just Sorbet and Fake Madeleine.

Fake Madeleine smiles. “Hello, friend! How are you?”

Sorbet glares at him. “0oOO0o..” “Imposter..”

Fake Madeleine is confused. “What was that?”

Sorbet messes up their drawings with their boot, then narrows their eyes. “oO0O.” “Faker.”

Wizard returns with the others. “Where’s the weak point?”

“Follow me!”

They run into the woods.

Sorbet turns and runs further into the kingdom. “Someone here has to be smart enough to figure out what I’m trying to say!”

With the real Madeleine, who’s awake now, there’s some yelling.

“Will you stop kicking me?!”

“No!”

Espresso is covering his face with his hands. “Madeleine please-“

“He insulted my hair!”

“Kicking him will only make things worse!”

“But-“

“I said stop!”

Madeleine huffs, but stops kicking Red Velvet.

Espresso inhales. “Madeleine, this is the second time we’ve been kidnapped within a week. Do you think kicking them will do anything?”

“Yes.”

“I wish I could smack you. No, it won’t do anything other than make them want to kill you more.”

“That is still something.”

“It's BAD!”

Licorice groans “Will you two ever shut up?!”

In sync, they reply “No.”

Red Velvet looks down at the cake hound. “I wish I could pet you, but my hands are a bit full.”

The cake hound barks.

“No, I can’t put him down.”

The hound whines.

“Fine..” He leans his sword against a tree, then squats down and pets the hound. The others stop.

Madeleine looks at Espresso. “Wait.. Have you been crying?”

Espresso looks away. “…No.”

Madeleine reaches for him with his free hand. “You have.”

“I have not.”

“You are crying right now..”

Licorice rolls his eyes. “He’s been crying all night. Thank goodness it’s quiet, unlike you.”

Madeleine reaches more. “Espresso.”

Espresso looks at him.

Madeleine quietly asks “What happened while I was sleeping?”

Both Licorice and Red Velvet stare at Madeleine, surprised at the quietness.

Espresso pulls on the cuffs of his sleeves a little. “They.. threatened to kill you.”

Madeleine’s arm falls. “Why didn’t you escape?”

Espresso looks down. “My legs were still in pain.”

“And I didn’t want them to hurt you..”

Red Velvet stands up, then grabs his sword. “We need to keep moving.”

After a while, Madeleine starts complaining.

Espresso rolls his eyes, before stepping on a piece of ground that isn’t as stable as it looks.

He falls for a few seconds, then starts floating to catch himself.

He looks down. It’s a massive drop. He covers his mouth and flies up, landing on solid ground.

Red Velvet looks at the hole, then kicks the unstable ground.

It rumbles, and all of it crashes into the deep hole.

“A giant jelly worm must’ve tunneled here.”

Madeleine is staring at Espresso. “You can fly?!”

“Not much. It’s very tiring. I also hover during powerful spells, but I can’t control that.”

Licorice looks at the new ravine. “How are we getting across that?!”

Red Velvet looks at him. “We have magic too.”

“Oh yeah.”

Madeleine kicks Red Velvet again.

Red Velvet glares at him, then holds him upside down.

“Hey!”

“You should not have kicked me.”

“I want to walk.”

“I can’t let you do that.”

“Why?”

“You and Espresso could escape.”

“Why is that bad?”

“Because we need Espresso.”

“Why?”

“You aren’t allowed to know.”

“Why?”

Red Velvet grumbles and stops answering.

Espresso chuckles a little. “Why don’t you answer his question? I’m also curious.”

“I don’t have to tell you.”

“I feel like I should know why you’ve kidnapped me. Also, Madeleine is about to throw up.”

Red Velvet sets Madeleine down. “I don’t know the exact reason why we have to kidnap you.”

“Then why kidnap me? If you have no completed plans, there’s no point to all of this.”

“But then we would have to do this later. It’s better if we already have you.”

Both of them move away when Madeleine throws up.

After a few seconds, Madeleine sits up. “That was unpleasant!”

“Why do you sound so cheerful?”

“I do not know!”

He looks up at Espresso. “You are much taller than before.”

“You’re sitting on the ground.”

“I wanna be tall.”

“You are tall, when you’re standing.”

“Hmmm.. That does make sense.”

He continues to sit.

Espresso goes to pick him up, but Red Velvet stops him. “No.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to let me hold him for a few minutes.”

“I’m not stupid.”

Espresso crosses his arms. “Well, he wouldn’t complain as much. He’s usually somewhat quiet when I’m carrying him.”

Madeleine nods, standing up and undoing the braid. “That is true. I think.”

Red Velvet picks up Madeleine again. “No.”

Espresso shrugs. “I guess you will have to deal with him. Madeleine, do you have any interesting stories about yourself?”

Madeleine’s face lights up. “Do I have any? Of course! I have hundreds of tales of my courageous deeds, daring rescues, and dangerous travels!”

Red Velvet looks at Espresso. “What have you done?!”

Madeleine is already loudly telling a story. Espresso smiles innocently. “What do you mean by that? I haven’t had a chance to listen to his stories yet.”

Since Madeleine’s one hand is free, he’s adding dramatic gestures to his storytelling.

Red Velvet glares at Espresso, but Espresso is looking at Madeleine.

Chapter Text

~*~They’re at the bad guys base now uh oh~*~

Madeleine is still rambling. He’s very tired, but determined to tell all his stories.

He yawns. “Then.. Then…”

He starts to close his eyes. “Then I..”

He falls asleep.

That determination could only keep him awake for so long.

Red Velvet sighs with relief. “Finally! I’m putting him in one of the cells. Take Espresso cookie to Pomegranate.”

Espresso tries to hide the sense of fear building, but the fact that he’s cooling down gives it away.

Licorice asks “Why are you so cold all of a sudden?”

Espresso doesn’t answer, watching as Madeleine is carried out of his vision.

Licorice catches on. “Ah, you’re scared. That is a good thing for us! Now, come with me.”

Espresso follows him, now shivering. He’s not used to feeling cold.

Even during the winter, he’s warm enough to melt the snow.

When they reach an ominous looking room, Pomegranate looks up from her mirror. “You finally succeeded.”

Espresso shivers more.

Pomegranate gestures to a chair. “Have a seat, Espresso cookie. There are some things I would like to discuss with you.”

She glares at Licorice. “Alone.”

He nods, then turns and leaves. Espresso hesitantly sits in the chair.

Pomegranate looks at him. “How destructive is your ability?”

“Normally I- I would be able to destroy a house. It could be more if I have enough energy..”

“Have you ever seen the limit of how destructive it can be?”

Espresso shakes his head.

“Hmm.. You are still destructive, even when weakened. That is the important part.”

She stands up. “You will join us. You know what will happen if you refuse.”

Espresso nods.

“You will eventually have to fight other cookies, and when that happens, you will not hold back. If you do, we’ll hurt that annoying cookie you somehow care about. Understood?”

He nods again.

“Good. This room is yours. You will be locked in here until we need you. Fresh food will be provided.”

She leaves, the door closing behind her.

There’s only one thing Espresso can do now.

Cry.

~*~The kingdom, the next day~*~

Fake Madeleine is talking to a few cookies. Sorbet is watching from a distance, lost in thought.

“I still haven’t found someone.. Wizard cookie is gone, I wouldn’t need to do this if Espresso wasn’t missing, Almond is busy with a different magic issue, and I can’t think of anyone else.”

Alchemist cookie walks over. “Are you ok, Sorbet?”

Sorbet looks at her, then shakes their head.

“What’s wrong?”

Sorbet looks around, then finds a stick. They crouch down and draw Madeleine.

Alchemist tilts her head slightly. “Madeleine?”

Sorbet draws another Madeleine.

“Two Madeleines! Why two?”

Sorbet draws a circle around the first, a few cakes, then an arrow pointing away. Then they change the second Madeleine to look like Fake Madeleine.

They draw the castle, and draw an arrow from Fake Madeleine to the castle.

Alchemist taps her foot lightly while thinking. “One Madeleine was taken by cake monsters?”

Sorbet nods.

“And the one here is a fake?”

Sorbet nods more, happy that someone finally understands.

Alchemist cookie thinks out loud. “That.. makes sense. The real Madeleine would’ve tried everything to save Espresso, not turn around and panic about it.”

Sorbet erases the Fake Madeleine and castle drawings, then draws Espresso next to Madeleine, expanding the circle so they’re both in it.

“The real Madeleine got kidnapped with Espresso? Well, GingerBrave is taking a group to get Espresso, so they should get him too.”

Then she looks at Sorbet. “How long have you known?”

Sorbet erases all the drawings, then draws themself and Fake Madeleine. They draw the monster he was talking to, then they draw GingerBrave in a castle.

“Just before the others left?! Have you been trying to tell people this whole time??”

Sorbet nods.

“We need to make a plan to deal with the Fake Madeleine.”

Sorbet erases the drawings, nodding. “Oo0o0O!” “Plans are good!”

Fake Madeleine walks over. “Greetings, friends! How are you on this fine day?”

Sorbet glares at him. Alchemist replies, fairly loudly “I’m fine. Oh, it’s been about a month. Have you gotten those special ingredients I requested?”

She’s lying, but Fake Madeleine wouldn’t know that.

Fake Madeleine nervously laughs. “It must have.. slipped my mind..?”

Alchemist narrows her eyes. “Are you sure you didn’t write it down?”

Several cookies are watching.

“Well I must’ve forgotten before writing it down.”

“Where’s the real Madeleine?”

“I- What??”

Alchemist crosses her arms. “The real Madeleine has a fairly decent memory, and he wouldn’t be here now. He would’ve gone and saved Espresso no matter what, or died trying.”

Fake Madeleine got caught. That is probably a good thing.

Unfortunately, the cookies who went to save Espresso don’t know that the Fake Madeleine was, well, fake.

~*~about two weeks later because not much happens so now it’s time for pain and angst~*~

GingerBrave and his group finally made it. They’re here to save Espresso.

They cautiously move through the enemy base.

Then they encounter Red Velvet, who’s talking to someone they can’t see.

The cake hound at his feet barks at the cookies. Red Velvet turns to look at them. “Oh, you finally decided to show up?”

“Where’s Espresso?!”

Red Velvet simply moves out of the way.

Espresso cookie looks at the ground, crossing his arms.

Red Velvet looks from Espresso, to the cookies. “You’re too late. He’s joined us now. But you wouldn’t want to hurt a former friend of yours, would you?”

Espresso pulls on his sleeves more.

Wizard cookie notices. “Espresso, you can come home with us! You don’t have to stay here!”

Espresso shakes his head. “I cannot leave. You should run away while you still can.”

“But you can come home!”

Espresso shakes his head. “I can not.”

Red Velvet interrupts their conversation. “That was a nice attempt, but he’s staying with us. You can try to take him back if you win this fight!”

He whispers to Espresso “Don’t hold back.”

Then he targets Chili Pepper, and goes to attack.

Espresso holds up his hand, which is shaking. Before he can activate his ability, Wizard cookie uses magic to trap and hold him in place.

Wizard walks up to him. “Espresso, we’ve been trying to get here this whole time. There were so many monsters in our way, more than we’ve ever seen before! Come with us!”

Espresso starts crying. “No, I can’t go with you.”

“Nothings sto-“

“They have Madeleine. They’ll hurt him if I don’t do what they want. Please, save him first.”

“What are you talking about? Madeleine’s back at the kingdom.”

Espresso stares at him.

Chapter Text

Espresso is confused.

“No he- he’s been with me.”

“Did you hit your head or something? He came running out of the woods ten minutes after you vanished.”

“Do you really think he would leave me behind? You’ve seen how often he bothers me.”

“Wait..”

There’s a bright flash of light from around the corner, then Madeleine runs out. He looks at the two. “ESPRESSO!”

The magic holding him in place fizzles away. He runs over and hugs Madeleine.

Madeleine coughs. “Ess, I am still very injured.”

Espresso lets go. “Sorry! Wait, what happened to you?”

“Oh, all these injuries are from escaping.”

Espresso reaches to move Madeleine’s hair, but stops.

“What happened to your hair?”

It only reaches his shoulders now.

“Oh.. I will tell you later.”

“How about we talk when we get back to the kingdom?”

In the background, they don’t notice Red Velvet yell “Wha- Hey! Give back my sword!”

Madeleine smiles, his eyes sparkling. “We can eat donuts together!”

Espresso sees Red Velvet’s sword. It’s going to hit Madeleine.

Espresso grabs him, trying to move him away, but the sword hits.

Madeleine tries to move his head. “Espresso?”

Espresso doesn’t say anything. He can feel the sword get pulled out of his back.

“Espresso, what happened?”

“N.. Nothing important.”

Madeleine looks up. “Why are you crying?”

“It isn’t important.. Help the others get home.”

“Why are you excluding yourself?”

“Well-“ The pain gets worse. “I can’t go with you.”

Madeleine is very concerned. “You are acting like you’re dying.”

“Because I am.”

“WHAT?!”

Espresso smiles “It will be.. be fine…”

He collapses. Madeleine yells for Herb.

Espresso closes his eyes.

He sits up and opens his eyes, looking around. “I.. didn’t die?”

“Espresso! You woke up!” Madeleine smiles and hands Espresso his glasses.

Espresso smiles. “I’m glad you are ok as well.”

It’s muffled, but he hears someone yelling.

“Espresso!”

Madeleine is gently holding him while Herb heals his back.

Madeleine is crying, pleading in his head for the Divine to let Espresso live. “Please, wake up!”

Espresso shivers, but doesn’t wake up.

Madeleine smiles. “So, shall I get the donuts while you find a good spot to eat?”

Espresso nods.

“Today is perfect. I’m glad to spend my time with you.” Madeleine says before turning and walking away, his long hair-

Long hair?

Espresso stares at it, feeling the ground shake under him. “His hair should not be long.”

“Espresso..”

He looks around.

“Please.. Wake up.”

“But I’m not asleep?” The ground shakes more. Massive cracks spread through the dream he is being held in.

Herb looks at Madeleine. “There’s nothing else I can do.. I wish I-“

“So he’s going to die?!” Madeleine hugs Espresso, carefully so he doesn’t hurt him.

“He can still wake up, but the longer he stays asleep..”

Madeleine realizes Espresso is starting to cool down. “Espresso, wake up! You’re getting cold! Please, don’t die!”

The dream shatters, and all Espresso can feel is pain.

He stops breathing, his body going ice cold.

Madeleine stays quiet. Pomegranate grumbles “I wanted to kill you, not the useful one.”

Before Madeleine starts screaming at her, someone grabs part of his cape, gasping.

“ OW. ”

Madeleine lets go of Espresso, who leans back a bit. He puts his hands on Madeleine’s cheeks. “Dying is very painful. I do not recommend it at all. It has to be the worst experience I’ve ever had. Do not do it.”

Madeleine smiles. “Espresso! You woke up!”

Espresso moves his hands off of Madeleine’s face. “I don’t have time to die.”

Red Velvet takes his sword back from Pomegranate, then starts yelling at her.

Madeleine is close to Espresso’s face.

Espresso looks away, sighing. “Yes, you ca-“

Madeleine kisses him. Espresso immediately heats up again.

Madeleine is the one to move away first. “We should leave while those two are arguing.”

GingerBrave nods.

Madeleine stands up, carrying Espresso, who has an uncharacteristically goofy grin on his face.

Espresso takes a minute to snap back to reality. He stops smiling. “Madeleine, put me down.”

“No. You died, so I will ca-“ He coughs “-arry you.”

“You are severely injured. Put me down.”

“I’m fine. I am a knight, after all. The pain in my arm will not stop me.”

Espresso starts trying to get out of his arms. “You got upset at me for walking five hours without injuries! Where are my glasses.”

Herb gives Espresso his glasses. Espresso thanks him, then continues to try escaping Madeleine.

Madeleine tightens his grip, but he lets the one arm relax more, since it’s hurting.

Espresso glares at him. “Do not make me levitate you the whole way home. Because I can and will do so.”

“But you need to rest.”

“So do you.”

Herb puts a hand on Madeleine’s shoulder. “Espresso is ok to walk for a while, but you are not, especially when you’re carrying someone else. I still have to heal you.”

Madeleine tries to protest, but one of his legs decides it doesn’t want to work anymore, so he falls down.

Espresso catches him with magic.

Espresso stands up, gently setting Madeleine on the ground.

Chili Pepper looks behind them. “We should keep moving.”

Herb is healing some of Madeleine’s injuries already. “If someone was carrying him, I’d be able to heal while walking.”

GingerBrave looks at the others. “Who’s strong enough to carry Madeleine?”

Chili Pepper thinks for a bit. “I might be able to. I don’t know how strong Espresso is. I can try-“

Espresso interrupts her “I’ll carry him.”

They all look at him. Madeleine shakes his head. “You were injured as well.”

“Other than the pain when I initially woke up, I feel fine now.”

Espresso picks up Madeleine, who’s upset about it. “What if you get more injured?”

Espresso looks down at him as they continue walking. “Herb already healed me. You require healing.”

Espresso makes sure to match Herbs speed.

Madeleine continues to be concerned about Espresso, who ignores him.

After a few minutes, Herb smiles “There!”

Madeleine looks up. “You can put me down now.”

“Are you going to pick me up again?”

Madeleine stays quiet.

“Well then, I’m not putting you down.”

“But Espresso, I can walk now!”

“I do not care.”

Madeleine pouts, but Espresso is looking ahead.

Madeleine pokes Espresso’s cheek. “Espresso.”

“No.”

He pokes his cheek again. “Espresso.”

“Stop poking me.”

Madeleine puts his hand on Espresso’s cheek.

Espresso glares at him. “Are you drunk?”

“No.”

“Why are you behaving this way?”

Madeleine leans his head on Espresso. “I want.. warm warm Ess..”

Madeleine yawns, trying to snuggle closer to Espresso despite the fact that he’s already as close as he can be.

Espresso looks ahead again. “Ah, that’s why.”

Chapter Text

~*~When they finally get back to the kingdom~*~

GingerBrave runs out of the woods first. “HEY GUYS!! WE GOT ESPRESSO AND MADELEINE!!”

Other cookies crowd around the group, asking questions.

Then someone notices Madeleine’s hair. “Madeleine, where’s the rest of your hair?!”

Madeleine stays quiet. He barely slept the night before, and walking didn’t help with how tired he is.

Espresso doesn’t want to deal with people, so he starts walking home.

Madeleine grabs his wrist. Espresso looks at him. “What?”

Madeleine moves closer, then leans on Espresso’s arm. “Home..?”

Espresso sighs, then picks up Madeleine. “This is the last time I’m ever going to carry you.”

Madeleine frowns, but lets Espresso carry him.

Cookies follow the two tired cookies, until Espresso glares at them. They stop.

Madeleine asks “Going to.. Espresso house?”

“No. I’m taking you to your house. I have experiments to catch up on and I do not want distractions in my house.”

Madeleine pulls on Espresso’s shirt. “But I like your company, Espresso.”

“I do not enjoy yours.”

Madeleine frowns more. “Why are you acting so rude?”

“It is not a life or death situation. Plus, I’m not stuck with just you.”

They reach Madeleine’s house.

Espresso goes to set him down, but Madeleine tightly hugs Espresso.

“Madeleine, I am tired and would like to go home so I can brew some coffee.”

“You should sleep.”

He opens Madeleine’s door and carries him inside, kicking the door shut behind them. “No.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t need sleep.”

“Yes you do!”

Espresso tries to put Madeleine down on his bed, but Madeleine won’t let go.

“Madeleine, let go.”

“No.”

Espresso tries to pry him off, but it doesn’t work.

“Madeleine!”

“No!”

“MadELEINE!” He shrieks as he’s pulled onto the bed.

Madeleine quickly grabs his blanket and wraps Espresso up. Espresso is trying to get out. “MADDIE!”

“You need to sleep!”

“I don’t ne- HEY! Give back my glasses!”

Madeleine sets them on the nightstand. “No, I don’t want them to accidentally break. I don’t think you would like that either.”

Espresso glares at him, then tries to escape again.

Madeleine lays down on top of Espresso. “Pillow.”

“Get off of me!”

“You need to sleep first.”

“I do not need sleep!”

“Yes, you do! You wouldn’t crash every four days if you didn't!”

Espresso grumbles “How did you manage to find a good point..”

Madeleine yawns. “Goodnight..”

“Don't fall asleep on me!”

“mmmmmmmmmmmmnnnnn pillloowww..” He’s resting his head on Espresso’s chest.

“Madeleine, I want to go home.”

“This is a home..” He yawns again. “May the Divine bless you with good dreammmss…” He falls asleep.

Espresso sighs, staring at the ceiling.

He yawns. “I need coffee.”

In the castle, the cookies gather to discuss the whole Fake Madeleine situation.

Fake Madeleine is there as well. The only easily noticeable differences are his eyes and teeth.

Latte trapped him in a magic circle.

When he sees GingerBrave, he sits up. “They rescued Espresso and Madeleine...”

GingerBrave and his friends walk over to Latte and Fake Madeleine.

Wizard asks “Why were you impersonating Madeleine?”

“It was so no one would realize he was missing. Boss didn’t want Madeleine to be rescued.”

“I’m genuinely curious, what did you do to look like Madeleine?”

“I was made to look like him.”

“What??”

Fake Madeleine crosses his arms. “I was created to be a copy of him. There’s some minor differences since they were working from memory.”

GingerBrave is curious. “Who made you?”

“My boss did. They didn’t tell me their name, and they made sure none of the other cookies there knew I existed.”

Alchemist asks “Was there a plan to get you out if you got caught?”

“The plan was.. was…” He trails off.

He looks down. “There was no plan. They.. didn’t care if I got caught…”

It’s quiet in the room.

Then Latte asks “Would you like to stay with us? We can give you a makeover so you don’t look like Madeleine, and you can pick your own name.”

He looks up. “You’re ok with me staying?”

Latte looks at the others. “Can we let him stay?”

They start talking, then agree after a few minutes. “He can stay.”

He stands up, and Latte drops the magic circle. “Let’s get new clothes for you!”

He follows Latte. “Can we cut my hair first? This long hair is so hard to manage.”

“Of course!”

~*~Sometime close to midnight~*~

Espresso wakes up. Madeleine is sprawled out on the bed, faintly glowing in the dark room.

Espresso gets out of the blanket, then sits up and stretches.

“Why is the room so dark?”

Madeleine mumbles in his sleep “Ess.. Come back…”

Espresso looks down at him. “I just sat up.”

“Too far..”

“I’m right next to you.”

Madeleine reaches for Espresso’s arm, but misses. “I can not reach.”

Espresso sighs. “You’re asleep. I need to find my glasses.”

“Nnnoo.. Stayy…”

“I have work that needs to be done, especially since I’ve been missing.”

Espresso starts to get up, but part of the blanket is still tangled around him. He falls to the floor with a loud thud.

Madeleine wakes up. The glow gets slightly brighter.

Espresso groans, and Madeleine looks over the edge of the bed. “Espresso!”

Madeleine gets out of bed, then gently picks up Espresso. “Are you alright?”

“Your bed is too tall.”

Madeleine sets him down on the bed. “My bed is average bed height. Why were you leaving?”

“I need my glasses so I can see.”

“Are you going home already?” He looks at the nightstand.

Espresso nods. “I have important work to do.”

“It’s the middle of the night! Can you at least wait until the sun is up?”

“Why should I?”

“Because.. because…” He’s trying to think.

Espresso crosses his arms “There is no reason.”

“It is too dark outside. Even with your glasses it will be hard to see. I can barely see right now.”

“Why do you have no lights in your room?”

“I do have lights, but they are not on.”

Madeleine reaches over and turns the lamp on the nightstand on. He looks at Espresso.

“I will not let you leave yet.”

“Madeleine!”

“You need food before you go.”

Espresso manages to grab his glasses and puts them on. “I do not.”

“You barely ate on the way home!”

Espresso gets up. “I will be fine.”

“You are very bad at taking care of yourself!”

Espresso starts walking to the door, but Madeleine gets in his way. Espresso pushes him to the side.

Madeleine picks him up. “You are not leaving until you get some food!”

“Put me down!”

“No!”

“Madeleine!”

“I said no!”

Madeleine carries Espresso back to the bed. “Now, you will wait here while I make food.”

“But-“

“No. You need food.”

“Maddie-“

“Even if you leave, I will bring the food to you. It is easier if you wait here.”

Espresso grumbles a “Fine..” before crossing his arms again.

Madeleine smiles, then leaves the room. Espresso leans back a bit, then lets himself fall onto the bed.

“He’s probably going to bother me more now. Maybe I can give him a time where he can check on me for a bit.”

He sighs “That could at least manage it so he won’t interrupt anything important.”

Something hits the ground and shatters in the kitchen. Madeleine curses before grabbing a broom.

After a minute, he hears his bedroom door open. He looks up and sees a confused Espresso.

Espresso lets go of the door “Did something happen?”

“It’s fine now.”

Espresso looks down at the glass shards. “Did you drop a jar?”

“I knocked it off of the counter with my arm.” Madeleine sweeps the shards onto a dustpan before throwing them in the trash.

“I never thought I would hear you swear.”

Madeleine puts the broom back. “Why would I swear?”

“I heard you through the door.”

“You must be hearing things.” He checks the ingredients, but half of them are too old now. He tosses those in the trash.

“But I know I heard it.”

Madeleine shakes his head. “I do not swear.”

Espresso gives up, then starts walking to the door.

Madeleine stops him. “I said you stay until you eat.”

“But-“

“No buts! I will take care of you since you don’t want to!” He pushes Espresso over to a table and makes him sit in a chair.

He goes back to cooking.

Espresso looks around. “I don’t think I got a good look at this room last time.”

The kitchen isn’t walled off from the living room, so there’s a lot to look at.

Well, there would be. It’s surprisingly plain looking.

“I thought he would have a lot more stuff. The fanciest thing here is his sword hanging on the wall. Why is most of his stuff chaotically scattered across his bedroom instead?”

His thoughts are interrupted by Madeleine. “Do you want to make your coffee? You know how to make it better than I ever would.”

Espresso gets up. “Yes, that statement is very true.”

“Maybe you could teach me how to properly make coffee?”

Espresso pauses. “He’ll want to make coffee when I crash, like he did before. It would be better to teach him.”

“Yes, I will show you.”

Chapter Text

~*~A few hours later~*~

The sun is starting to rise, however, the clouds blanketing the sky keep it hidden.

Espresso looks at the clock on Madeleine’s wall. “How has he convinced me to stay this long??”

Madeleine rests his head on Espresso’s shoulder, quietly humming.

Espresso finishes the last of his coffee before setting the cup down on the table. “I should go.”

“But Espresso, the sun is not up yet.”

“It must be cloudy. Look at the time.”

Madeleine glances at the clock. “Oh.. Please stay longer?”

Espresso gently pushes him off. “No, I’ve fallen far enough behind with my experiments already.”

Madeleine pouts, but Espresso is already waking to the door.

He gets up. “Wait, I should escort you home!”

Espresso grabs the door handle “Absolutely not!”

Madeleine runs over to him. “But I-“

“No! I may care about you, but I need a break from you! You can be so tiring to deal with!”

“But..”

“Madeleine, I said no.” He opens the door, and a gust of cold wind hits him in the face. It doesn’t bother him though.

Madeleine shivers. “There’s a blizzard? You sh-“

“No. I will be fine. You know that I generate enough body heat.”

“Ess-“

Espresso walks into the snow, slamming the door shut behind him. He crosses his arms while trudging through the snow to reach his house.

The snow melts around him.

Madeleine is silently staring at the door. He quietly says to himself “I.. I just want to help…”

He looks down, then turns to clean up any mess left behind. He sees Espresso’s boots next to the couch.

“That’s right! He kicked them off earlier to be more comfortable! Wait..”

Madeleine walks over and picks them up, then looks at the door.

“He left without shoes.”

Madeleine quickly pulls on his own boots, then grabs his winter cloak. He clips it on, flicks the hood up, then turns off his lights.

He takes a step outside. The winds are harsher than he initially thought.

He looks down at the boots he’s holding, then the faint path left in the snow. It’s filling up, but it’s still there.

Madeleine pulls his door shut, then tightly holds his cloak closed with one hand while walking.

The winds pick up, harsher than before. He struggles much more than Espresso did.

One particularly strong gust of wind knocks him over, and he lands in the snow.

He sits up, makes sure he still has Espresso’s boots, then keeps walking.

He gets knocked down a second time, and it takes longer for him to get up.

Espresso is in the middle of brewing some fresh coffee to drink, when he hears something hit his door.

“There’s no way that idiot cookie followed me all the way here. Plus, it’s been roughly forty minutes since I left his house... Checking wouldn’t hurt.”

He goes over to his door, then opens it. Madeleine, who was leaning on the door, falls to the floor.

Espresso pulls him all the way inside before closing the door. “MADELEINE?!”

He holds up Espresso’s boots. “You fo-forgot these.”

Espresso grabs the boots and tosses them near the hook where he keeps his cape. “You should have waited until after the blizzard!”

Madeleine sits up, shivering a lot. He looks at Espresso. “You wo-would have had no- no boots!”

Espresso picks up Madeleine, who tightly hugs him to feel warm. All Espresso can feel is how soaked and cold Madeleine is from the snow.

“You need dry clothes.”

“I will go home a-“

“NO YOU WILL NOT!”

Madeleine flinches at the sudden yelling. “But you did??”

“I generate more body heat than you! The snow melts around me, so I knew I’d be ok! You, on the other hand, do not do that!”

“Then what dry clothes will I wear?”

“Some of my clothes should be fine. They will be a bit big on you.”

Espresso sets him down, then grabs clothes for him. “I will be out in the main room.”

Madeleine takes the dry clothes. After Espresso leaves, he changes. 

When he finishes, he walks over to the door. He opens it, but leans on the doorframe.

Espresso notices him and rushes over. He moves Madeleine to the couch, grabbing a very thick blanket and wrapping it around Madeleine.

“Were you even thinking before going into the snow?!”

“Yes.”

“The fact that you aren’t dead yet is astounding! Sit down please. Going out in a storm like that has to be one of the top ten stupidest things you have ever done!”

Madeleine sits on the couch, looking up at Espresso. “I..” he sneezes.

Espresso grabs a tissue box and gives it to him. “And now you’re probably sick.”

“I am perfectly healthy.” he sneezes again.

Espresso pulls the trashcan over. “I doubt that. I have to go get medicine from someone who would actually have it.”

“But you said I can’t go in the snow!”

“ You can’t. I can.”

Madeleine tries to get up. Espresso pushes him back down. “I’m locking you in here so you can’t follow me and get more sick.”

“But-“ He sneezes.

“I’m not letting you die because of your stupidity!”

Madeleine crosses his arms. “What if the snow hurts you?”

“It can’t. I’m too warm for the snow.”

Espresso gives him something to drink (it’s not coffee) before leaving the room.

He grabs his house keys, locking the room Madeleine is in.

Through the door, Madeleine yells “Espresso, don’t go!”

“I will be back in thirty minutes at the most. If it makes you feel better, I’m wearing winter clothes.”

“But-“

“I don’t have everything to take care of you right now! This is a very necessary thing for me to do!”

Espresso looks at the coffee he was brewing. “Why is he back. Why is he bothering me again. In my own home no less!”

He puts the keys in his pocket, then pulls on a thick cloak. The design on it is similar to his cape, but the cloak has a hood.

He pulls the hood up before walking out into the snow.

Chapter Text

~*~close to 25 minutes later~*~

Espresso puts the cloak away, then kicks off his boots.

He walks over, then unlocks the door. When he opens it, he sees Madeleine curled up on the couch.

He quietly walks over. “Madeleine?”

Madeleine looks up at him. “You came back!”

“Obviously. This is my house.”

“Oh. That makes more sense.”

Madeleine stares off into space for a minute.

Espresso taps his shoulder, and he snaps back to reality. “Oh, hi Espresso!”

He sits up. Espresso sits next to him. “I got some food for you.”

“Thank you!”

“I haven’t even given.. Nevermind.” He hands the food to Madeleine, who happily starts eating.

Espresso grabs the hairbrush from last time. “Your hair is a mess.”

“I know.”

“Do you have a ribbon I can tie it up with?”

Madeleine reaches into his pocket and pulls out a long, blue ribbon. The color matches his cape.

Espresso takes it, then gently grabs some of his hair to start brushing. Madeleine tightly grabs his wrist. 

Espresso lets go of the hair. “Ow-“

Madeleine glares at him, then realizes it’s Espresso and stops. “Oh, sorry. You can brush my hair.”

He lets go of Espresso’s wrist and goes back to eating like nothing happened.

Espresso is still cold. “What just happened?”

After a bit, Madeleine looks at him. “Espresso?”

“Huh?”

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, I- I’m fine. Everything’s fine I just.. got lost in thought.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Madeleine looks concerned, but starts eating the food again.

Espresso hesitantly grabs some of Madeleine’s hair, but nothing happens this time.

He starts brushing it.

When Madeleine finishes the food, he sets the bowl on the floor, then sits the way he was before.

Espresso gathers most of Madeleine’s hair up, then ties it in a ponytail.

Espresso puts away the hairbrush, but before he can get up, Madeleine leans on him.

“Madeleine, please stop leaning on me.”

Madeleine looks up at him. “Hello Espresso!”

“Can you get off of me?”

“I’m tired.”

“That has nothing to do with this.”

Madeleine reaches up and tries to take Espresso’s glasses, but he grabs Madeleine’s wrist. “No.”

Espresso gently pushes Madeleine off.

He picks up the medicine, reading the label. “It will take five days to work completely, but the usual length of the sickness can be around a month.”

He looks at Madeleine, who’s squinting at a book. “There are no pictures?? I like picture stories.”

“If this is how he acts when he’s sick.. This is going to be a long week…” Espresso sighs.

“Madeleine, can you sit up please?”

Madeleine sits up, smiling. “Why?”

“I have some medicine for you.”

“I’m sick?”

“What- Yes you’re sick!”

“When did that happen?”

Espresso pulls on part of his own hair. “Less than an hour ago!”

“Huh.”

Espresso gives Madeleine the right amount. “Just- eat it. Please.”

Madeleine shrugs and eats it.

Espresso gets up. “I have work to do. You should try and rest. If you need anything, I’ll be in the other room.”

Madeleine pouts “Why are you leaving??”

“I’m not leaving the house. I’ll be right out there. I can even leave the door open if you want me to.”

“Please?”

Espresso nods, leaving the room. The door stays open.

He hides the medicine. He looks at his lab area. “I can’t do anything big or extremely important.. Only small scale experiments.”

He walks over and starts setting up. There’s gentle knocking at his door.

He walks over and opens it. “Snow Sugar? What are you doing here?” It’s a genuine question.

Snow Sugar smiles “Oh good! You’re ok! I’ve been walking around and checking up on everyone with my snow creature's help, since I can handle the cold.”

“Ah, well, you don’t have to check Madeleine’s house.”

“Why?” They tilt their head, curious.

There’s a loud thud, and Espresso looks at the doorway before running into the room. 

Madeleine is on the floor, wearing one of Espresso’s normal outfits instead of the casual outfit he had on earlier.

The dresser got knocked over, which is what the thud was.

“Madeleine what-“

“I tried to float but it did not work.”

“Did you jump off the dresser?!”

“Yes.”

Espresso picks him up. “Why are you wearing my clothes?”

“I was wearing your clothes before.”

“Yes, but those were more comfortable clothes.”

Snow Sugar walks up to them. They closed the front door so the cold wouldn’t get in. “Is.. Is Madeleine ok?”

“He’s sick. He was out in the snow for at least forty minutes before he ended up at my door.”

Madeleine tries grabbing Espresso’s glasses again, but Espresso puts him down and pushes his hand away. “No.”

Madeleine pouts.

“I said no.”

He leans on Espresso.

Espresso looks down at Snow Sugar. “Do you need anything else?”

Snow Sugar thinks for a moment. “Hm.. I can’t think of anything right now. I’ll be back if I do!”

“Alright.”

Snow Sugar leaves, closing the door behind themself.

Madeleine grabs Espresso’s glasses. Espresso quickly snatches them back. “Stop! Why are you taking my glasses?”

“To finish the outfit.”

“You can’t have the ones I’m wearing! I need these to see.”

“Oh.”

“Why are you trying to copy my outfit?”

“Because you are pretty.”

Espresso stares at him. “What??”

Madeleine smiles “Pretty!”

Espresso sighs. “You need to rest.”

Madeleine frowns. “But I don’t want to sleep. You don’t sleep.”

“Could you at least lay down for a bit? Resting isn’t always sleeping.”

Madeleine thinks for a bit, then walks over to the couch. He flops face first onto it.

Espresso picks up the blanket. Madeleine turns his head to look at Espresso. “A very pretty.”

Espresso tucks him in. “If you need anything, I’ll be in the other room.”

“But what if I need you?”

Espresso heats up. “What???”

“It’s safer when you are here. You’re really smart.”

Espresso looks at the door. “I have work that needs to be done.”

Madeleine yawns. “But I’m.. You are safe?”

“We are both safe here.”

“That is a very good thing.”

Madeleine falls asleep.

Espresso quietly leaves the room.

Chapter Text

~*~a few hours later~*~

Espresso sips some coffee before writing stuff down on the chalkboard.

There’s a soft thud, then Madeleine groans.

Espresso quickly finishes writing, sets down his cup, then goes to check on Madeleine.

Madeleine sits up. “Falling is scary..”

“You fell off the couch.”

Madeleine looks at it. “Oh.”

He looks at Espresso “Do you have food?”

“Good question- I don’t remember.” Espresso turns and goes to the kitchen, checking for food.

Madeleine follows him. Espresso gets more frustrated as he realizes most of the food went bad while he was missing.

He pauses his search, resting his head against one of the cabinets. “Most of it expired.”

“So that is a bad thing?”

“Yes. I have to get new food.”

“But there is snow outside.”

Espresso goes back to searching. “My average body temperature is higher than yours. I can go outside and the snow will melt around me.”

“So what you are saying is.. you’re hot?”

Espresso quickly stands up to his full height, hitting his head on an open cabinet door. He curses and slams the cabinet shut.

He looks at Madeleine, who’s leaning away.

Espresso rubs his head where he hit it. “I uh.. I am sorry about that…”

He briefly glances at the cabinet. “I need to remember that I’m not alone in the house.”

Madeleine gets up and walks over to Espresso’s lab. Espresso runs over and picks him up. “No!”

“But I would like to taste it!”

“One, you are sick. Two, I don’t know how you would react to caffeine. Three, it would be way too bitter for you.”

“Let me taste it!”

“No!”

“Espresso, please let me taste it.”

Espresso carries him back to the couch. “I have to buy food. You wait here and rest. Please don’t get hurt.”

Madeleine pouts, but Espresso leaves. Madeleine watches as the door is pulled shut.

He stands up, walking around.

Espresso adjusts his cloak, then pulls on his boots. He grabs his money and keys.

He makes sure the front door is locked before disappearing into the snow.

The wind isn’t as bad as it was before. The snow is just as heavy though.

“It’s hard to navigate the streets when I can hardly see anything..”

After five minutes, he looks around. “I.. I think I’m in the city center?”

He sees Latte and Snow Sugar talking to each other. He walks over. “What are you doing out here, Latte?”

“I should ask you the same thing. Most cookies would freeze out here.”

Espresso gestures to his feet, where the snow is melting. “My body temperature is high enough to melt snow.”

“Mine is too. I’m only a little colder than you.”

Snow Sugar smiles “And I like the snow.”

Espresso nods, then says “I really need to get food. I can’t leave that idiot alone for too long.”

Latte asks “Who?”

“Madeleine. He was out here for forty minutes until he arrived at my house. He’s sick, and acting like a child.”

“Ohhhhh.. Why the food though?”

“All of my food expired since I went missing.”

Latte taps her fingers on the side of her spoon. “Hmmm.. Oh! What if I get the food for you? That way you keep an eye on Madeleine!”

“That would be splendid! How much would you like me to pay you?”

“How about I buy the food, then you give me the same amount of money. That way I don’t run out.”

Espresso nods. “That should work. Thank you so much, Latte.”

Snow Sugar smiles “I can help too!”

Espresso looks at them. “Yes, you can help too if you would like.”

Snow Sugar says “You should probably go check on him.”

“You’re right- Thank you both!” He waves as he runs home.

Inside, Madeleine is bored, so he tries to open the door to the main room. It works.

“Espresso forgot to lock it? Silly Espresso!”

Madeleine looks at the thing he wants to taste.

“Espresso isn’t here, so he can’t tell me no.”

Outside, Espresso is struggling. “I just went in a circle! If I can figure out where I am, I should be able to map out a way home.”

Eventually he does get home. When he opens the door, he sees Madeleine standing on a table, and the rest of the room is a mess.

Madeleine looks at him. “HiEspressoI’mreallytallnow!”

Espresso closes the door behind himself. “Oh no..”

“Madeleine.. Why is my house a mess?”

Madeleine looks at the mess, shaking a little. “Whendidthathappen??”

Espresso stares at the mess. “He drank all of it, didn’t he?”

Madeleine jumps off the table and runs over to Espresso. He tightly hugs him. “WarmEspressoisbest.”

Espresso tries getting out of the hug. “Madeleine-“

He lets go of Espresso. “YouareverytallEspresso!”

Espresso covers his face with his hands. “I was right.. This week is going to feel so long…”

Madeleine sees something. “Whatsthat?” he runs over to it. Espresso stops covering his face. “MADELEINE NO!”

He picks Madeleine up. “You already destroyed this much, I’m not about to let you destroy more!”

Madeleine keeps trying to get out.

He succeeds.

He runs into the other room. Espresso chases him, picking up the blanket.

Madeleine keeps running, avoiding Espresso. “This is a fun game!”

“This is not a game! Stop running!”

Madeleine jumps over something, but Espresso trips on it and falls down.

Madeleine looks at him. “Espresso?”

Espresso stays still. Madeleine walks over. “Espresso?!”

Espresso jumps up and catches Madeleine in the blanket. He makes sure Madeleine can’t get out.

Madeleine tries getting out. “This game isn’t fun anymore!”

“It’s not a game! You destroyed half of my equipment!”

Madeleine stays quiet, but he’s clearly upset.

Espresso picks up Madeleine, then walks over to the kitchen. “This is going to require so much coffee..”

“Can I have coffee?”

“No! You’ve had enough caffeine already!”

Madeleine complains more while Espresso makes coffee for himself.

There’s a knock at the door. Espresso sets Madeleine down on a chair, then picks up the fresh cup of coffee.

He walks over and opens the door. Latte looks at him. “Are you ok? It hasn’t been that long since you ran home.”

Madeleine falls out of the chair. “OW!”

Espresso looks at him, then back at Latte. “He drank a whole pot of potent coffee I was working on.”

Madeleine gets out of the blanket and tries to run outside, but Espresso grabs him. “NO!”

Madeleine tries grabbing Espresso’s cup, but Espresso holds it out of his reach. “I’m not giving you more!”

Latte is very concerned. “Do you want me to stay and help?”

“I can’t ask that of you.”

Madeleine climbs onto Espresso’s back, trying to grab the cup, but Espresso loses his balance.

They both fall over.

Latte catches the cup with magic, making sure none of it spills, then she helps Espresso get up. “Are you sure you’ll be ok? I don’t mind helping.”

Madeleine sits up. “Snow!”

He tries running out again, but Espresso picks him up.

He sighs “Maybe some help with cleaning up and hiding stuff.. He can’t break anything or hurt himself if there isn’t anything there.”

He moves so Latte can come in. She puts the food on the counter while Epsresso closes the door with his foot.

Madeleine is trying to escape.

Espresso sees an empty box. It’s big enough for Madeleine to sit in.

He looks at Madeleine. “I will put you in the box if you don’t stop.”

Madeleine stares at him. “What box?”

Espresso walks over to it. “This box.”

“Oh no. Is that the box for bad cookies???”

Espresso stares at him, then sighs “Yes. It’s the bad cookie box.”

“I do not want to be in the box!”

“Will you behave?”

Madeleine nods.

Espresso sets him down.

Latte looks over. “Is he actually going to behave?”

“For at least five sec-“ Madeleine runs over and tries to eat something that is not food.

Espresso takes it from him. “Stop trying to eat everything!”

“But I want food!”

“This is not food!”

Espresso picks him up and puts him in the box.

Madeleine looks at the box, then starts crying. “Espresso! I don’t belong in the box!”

“Yes. You do. You can get out of the box after we clean everything up.”

“But..”

“I will make some food for you.”

 Madeleine is still sad.

Latte hands the coffee cup back to Espresso. “At least he’s staying in the box.”

Espresso drinks most of the cup, then walks over to the kitchen. “Yes, that is good.”

Espresso quickly makes something for Madeleine to eat, then gives it to him. Madeleine stops crying. “Food!”

Latte ties her hair up in a ponytail. “You weren’t kidding about him acting like a kid.”

Espresso starts picking stuff up. “He’s going to be acting like this for five days.. And he’ll be awake all night due to the caffeine.”

Latte also starts picking stuff up. “Oh, that’s not gonna be fun to deal with.”

“You don’t have to stay and help the whole time. As long as my stuff is secured, it shouldn’t be too bad..”

Chapter Text

~*~90 minutes later~*~

Madeleine looks around at the now clean room. “Am I allowed to get out of the box now?”

Espresso looks at him. “In a few minutes.”

Madeleine is a sad.

Espresso turns to Latte. “Again, thank you so much for helping me clean up.”

Latte nods, then notices the clock. “Oh! I have somewhere I was supposed to be! I’ll come back later to make sure you’re ok!”

Latte runs out.

Espresso sighs. “I should get her a watch. Even then she might manage to be late though.”

Madeleine leans on the one side of the box. “Espresso, am I allowed to leave the box now?”

“Yes, you can leave the box.”

Madeleine leans too far forward, which makes the box fall over.

He gets up, then runs into the other room. Espresso follows him.

Madeleine finds Espresso’s spare glasses, then puts them on. He turns to look at him. “I’m the Espresso now.”

“Take those off!”

“No.”

Espresso walks over to him. “Madeleine, I said take them off.”

“Why? You aren’t wearing these glasses.”

“Because I keep those glasses in case I break the ones I’m wearing right now.”

Madeleine takes off the glasses. “But now my outfit is incomplete.”

“You don’t need glasses. I do.” Espresso takes the glasses and case from Madeleine.

Madeleine looks around, then runs over to the closet.

Espresso quickly puts the spare glasses back, then follows Madeleine.

Madeleine is holding one of Espresso’s capes. “How do you wear this?”

“I will not tell you.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want you wearing my capes.”

He takes his cape back and puts it away. Madeleine reaches for another, but Espresso pushes him away from the closet.

Madeleine walks over to the dresser. “Clothes!”

Espresso follows, stopping Madeleine from opening the drawers. “They are not your clothes.”

“But I am wearing some of them.”

“I gave you the first outfit, then you took those without me knowing.”

“You’ve been wearing that outfit for a long time now.”

“Then can you leave the room for a minute so I can change? Don’t go looking for stuff.”

Madeleine smiles. “Alright!” He leaves the room, and immediately starts looking for stuff.

Espresso grabs a random shirt and pants. Just as he finishes changing, there’s a crash from the kitchen.

Espresso runs out of the room to see Madeleine sitting on the floor with some broken plates around him.

“What happened?”

Madeleine looks up at him. “I dropped some plates. Sorry.”

“Why did you have plates in the first place??”

“I wanted to see if there was more stuff in the cabinet.”

“I specifically told you to not look for stuff.” He picks Madeleine up, then walks over to the box.

He puts Madeleine in the box.

Madeleine is very sad now. “Why am I in the box again?”

“You.. You did the very thing I told you not to do, and you broke my plates.”

“I said sorry.”

Espresso gives up trying to explain it and grabs a broom to sweep up the broken plate pieces.

~*~the next day~*~

The blizzard is over, but snow still blankets the kingdom. Cookies are dressed in warm clothes, playing in the snow.

Espresso is trying to catch Madeleine again. “STOP TRYING TO EAT MY BOOKS!”

“BUT I MUST CONSUME KNOWLEDGE!”

“YOU DO NOT DO THAT BY EATING BOOKS!”

Madeleine runs towards the front door. Espresso jumps forward, tackling Madeleine.

Madeleine tries pushing Espresso off. “I want to play in the snow!”

“You got sick because you went out in the snow!”

“But I can wear warm clothes!”

“I don’t want to risk you getting more sick!”

The door opens. Both of them look up at Latte.

She opens her mouth to say something, but closes it again. After a bit, she says “You know what? I’m not even going to ask.”

Madeleine manages to push Espresso off, then he runs to the window to look outside.

Latte walks inside, closing the door.

Madeleine accidentally pulls down the curtains.

Espresso covers his face with his hands. “How. How have you managed to break more of my things?!”

Madeleine looks down. “Sorry..”

Latte asks “Do you need help, Espresso?”

“I don’t know.”

Madeleine looks out the window. “Snow! I would like to go outside.”

Espresso uncovers his face, then readjusts his glasses. “You are not going outside.”

“Why not?”

“You got sick from the cold. I do not want to risk worsening your condition.”

Madeleine looks around, when he stops at a chair. “Hmm..”

“Madeleine, don’t.”

Madeleine picks up the chair.

“Madeleine! Put the chair down or I’ll put you in the box!”

He puts the chair down, then turns to the window and starts running towards it.

Espresso tackles him again. “NO!”

Madeleine tries escaping, but it doesn’t work this time.

Espresso puts him in the box again. Madeleine starts crying again. “Not the box!”

“You were going to break my window!”

“I want to go outside!”

“I’m sorry but I cannot let you.”

“Why?”

Espresso takes a deep breath, then turns to Latte “Will you be fine watching him for a minute?”

“Yeah, I should be.”

Espresso goes into the other room, then grabs his pillow and screams into it.

After a minute of that, he drops the pillow and goes back to the main room.

Latte is very concerned. “Espresso, are you ok? I’m sure I can get some other cookies to help with Madeleine.”

Espresso sits down. “I’m fine. Everything is fine. It’s fine.”

“Ok, I’m getting help and you can’t stop me.”

She leaves before Espresso can say anything.

Madeleine looks at him. “Espresso?”

“What.”

“Are you crying?”

“No.”

“Your hair is messy. Can I brush it?”

“No, you can not.”

“Why?”

“I don’t like people brushing my hair.”

Madeleine leans closer, then the box falls over again.

He gets up and runs into the other room.

Espresso doesn’t get up until he hears the dresser get knocked over again.

He runs into the room. Madeleine is sitting on the dresser. “Look! It’s a new chair.”

Espresso stares at the dresser. “If I leave it on the floor, you can’t knock it over again.”

“You look tired.”

“I am tired!”

“Then why are you not sleeping?”

“If I sleep, you will somehow injure yourself or run outside.”

“But you need to sleep.”

“So do you.”

Madeleine gets up. “If I sleep, will you sleep?”

Espresso doesn’t respond.

Madeleine walks over to him. “Espresso you need to sleep.”

“I have coffee. I will be fine.”

There’s knocking on the door. Espresso opens it. Madeleine yells “SNOW!”

He tries running out again, but Espresso catches him. “No snow.”

Madeleine crosses his arms. “How dare you.”

Chapter Text

Herb looks up at them. “Uh, Latte said she was looking for someone to help you?”

Espresso looks at Madeleine. “Maddie’s sick.”

“My name is Madeleine, not Maddie.”

“I said Madeleine.”

Herb shakes his head. “You said Maddie.”

Espresso is very confused now. He shakes his head. “Nevermind. Would you like to come in?”

Herb nods. Espresso moves so he can come in.

Madeleine looks at Herb. “You have leaves on your head.”

Espresso closes the door once Herb is inside. “That’s his hair, Madeleine.”

“I have hair too! It is long and beautiful.”

Espresso looks at him. Madeleine smiles. “You like my hair!”

“I.. Yes. Your hair is very soft.”

Herb is a bit confused. “Isn't his hair-“

Espresso whispers. “Don’t tell him.”

“Why?”

Madeleine looks up at Espresso. “What is it?”

Espresso sets Madeleine down. “I’ll tell you when you aren’t sick anymore.”

“Alright!” He goes into the other room again.

Herb quietly asks “Why don’t you want him to know his hair isn't long anymore?”

“He keeps forgetting. There’s no point in repeating it.” Espresso looks at the doorway.

“Did something happen when you told him the first time?”

“Nothing happened.. he just forgot again.”

Herb decides to not ask about it. “Something happened. There’s probably a reason he won’t tell me.”

Espresso looks lost in thought.

Probably because he is.

“I only told him about his hair once.. I’m not telling him again. He cried in the closet for an hour…”

Herb looks up at him. “Espresso?”

“Huh?”

“You were staring into space.”

“Oh. Sorry a-“

There’s a loud thud. Espresso runs into the other room. 

Madeleine is laying on the floor. He looks at Espresso. “I cannot fly.”

“Did you jump off the dresser AGAIN?! ”

“Yes.” He gets up and walks over to Espresso. “Why are you crying?”

“I’m not crying.”

“Then why are there tears on your face?”

“What??”

Madeleine reaches up and gently wiped the tears off of his face. “There! I am still curious as to why you were crying.”

“I.. I don’t know why.”

“Do you feel ok now?”

Espresso stays quiet. Madeleine hugs him. “Warm Espresso.”

Espresso reaches up and gently pets Madeleine’s hair.

Madeleine leans on Espresso more, yawning.

Espresso gently moves him over to the couch. Madeleine lays down.

Espresso picks up the blanket, but Madeleine grabs it. He wraps it around himself, then smiles at Espresso.

“Now I have a cape!”

“That is a blanket.”

“A sleep cape.”

Madeleine falls asleep.

Espresso sighs, then turns to Herb. “I will be fine. You can leave if you wish to.”

Herb is still concerned. “I’ll check on you again later, ok?”

Espresso nods. “Mhm..”

Herb quietly leaves. Espresso sits down on the floor.

~*~day four of sick Madeleine~*~

The past few days have all felt the same to Espresso.

Constant annoyance.

He’s drinking the most potent coffee he can make. “If I crash and no one else is here.. That will be bad.”

Madeleine accidentally ripped the curtains off again a few minutes ago, so now he’s looking at all the snow.

“I would like to go outside!”

“Hopefully you can tomorrow.”

“Why not now?”

“You’re still sick.”

“You appear to be sick as well.”

Espresso looks at him. Madeleine shivers and moves further away.

Espresso finishes the coffee. “I’m not sick. I’m tired. I haven’t been able to sleep for FOUR DAYS because I’m trying to keep YOU alive!”

Madeleine backs away more. “Scary Espresso…”

Espresso stands up to get more coffee, but that thing happens where you stand up and your vision gets fizzy and your legs would like you to sit down again.

He leans on the counter until it stops.

He gets more coffee. He drinks some, then turns to Madeleine.

Madeleine isn’t there. The window is still intact, and the front door is closed.

Espresso checks the other room. Madeleine is sitting on the couch, wrapped up in the blanket.

Espresso leans on the doorframe, drinking more of the coffee.

Then Madeleine tries to eat a book again. Espresso stops leaning. “Madeleine NO!”

Madeleine looks up at him. “The knowledge must be consumed.”

“You are supposed to read it, not eat it!”

Madeleine tries to eat the book. Espresso runs over, but he trips and falls on his face.

Madeleine stops trying to eat the book. “Espresso?”

Espresso groans, but doesn’t get up.

Madeleine is worried. “Espresso..?”

Espresso moves his head just enough to look at Madeleine, who now realizes Espresso’s glasses are broken.

Madeleine rushes over. “Espresso! Are you alright? Should I get the other glasses?”

Espresso sits up. “Glasses.”

Madeleine goes over to the drawer and starts looking for the spares, when there’s a knock at the door.

Espresso gets up, then walks over to the door. He opens it and looks down at GingerBrave, who doesn’t look up immediately.

“Hey Espresso, I thought I’d che-“ He looks up at Espresso’s face.

Espresso’s hair may be tied into a small ponytail, but that doesn’t mean it looks good. Loose strands of hair are going everywhere.

The very visible eye bags and broken glasses don’t help either.

GingerBrave takes a step back. “What happened to you?!”

“Sick Madeleine. I haven’t slept in four days but it feels like I’ve been awake for a month.”

“You need to rest!”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, everything is under perfect control!” He sounds like he’s going to cry.

GingerBrave sighs. “It definitely isn’t. I can watch Madeleine so you can sleep.”

Espresso moves. “I just drank coffee.”

“At least sit down! Herb and Latte will be here soon to help.”

Espresso closes the door. “But.. I..”

Madeleine runs out of the room, holding the glasses case. “I found the-“ he trips on his blanket.

He catches himself though, then continues running. “Glasses!”

He gives the case to Espresso, who changes from the broken glasses to the not broken ones.

GingerBrave looks up at Madeleine, who smiles. “Hello, friend! How have you been?”

“I’ve been great!”

Espresso is shaking. Madeleine notices. “Espresso?”

Espresso walks into the other room. The other two are even more concerned.

Madeleine quietly walks over to the doorway.

Espresso is leaning against the side of the couch, hugging his legs. He’s holding his glasses in one hand.

His face is hidden by his arms. He pulls on part of his hair with his other hand.

‘Useless.. The others are taking care of him better than you.’

Espresso pulls on his hair more. “The others aren’t here for more than a few hours. I’m the only one who’s stayed with Madeleine the whole time.”

‘But he listens to the others more than he listens to you. You should give up.’

Madeleine sits next to him, but he doesn’t notice.

“I can’t give up! He’s almost better now. He would be upset if I gave up.”

‘But does he truly care about you? He would listen to you if he did care.’

“He does care. He’s clearly been worried any time I’ve fallen down or started crying.”

‘But why does he refuse to listen? You would not get into such situations if he liste-‘

“SHUT UP!”

Madeleine gently touches Espresso’s arm. “Espresso?”

Espresso still doesn’t notice.

‘Why should I, Espresso? You know I am right.’

“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!”

‘I can not do that. I am here.’

“You are not me! You don’t belong here!”

Espresso starts laughing quietly. ‘Correct.’

Chapter Text

Madeleine shakes him slightly. “Espresso!”

He looks up. “Huh?”

Whatever was bothering him in his head disappears.

It might’ve been something to do with sleep deprivation, but who knows.

Certainly not Espresso.

Madeleine is more concerned. “Are you alright? You are crying. Would you like a hug?”

Espresso nods a little.

Madeleine gently hugs him, then starts quietly singing.

GingerBrave looks at them. “Will you two be ok? There’s uh.. there’s a monster attack so I have to go help-“

Espresso interrupts him. “Yes we will be fine. You should go help.”

GingerBrave nods, then leaves.

As Madeleine continues singing, Espresso calms down.

He’s so tired, but he can’t sleep. Not yet.

Madeleine, however, does fall asleep.

Espresso realizes he’s quiet, and looks at his face. “Oh, he’s asleep. Hopefully he’ll be better when he wakes up. Herb did give him that tea to help the other day.”

Espresso moves him onto the couch. Madeleine grabs Espresso’s hand, still asleep.

Espresso leans on the side of the couch, holding Madeleine’s hand.

He doesn’t notice that he’s starting to cry again.

Madeleine mumbles “That’s a rude.”

Espresso looks at him. “I wonder what he’s dreaming about.”

Madeleine is currently complaining to a talking flower about something. Dreams are great.

Espresso looks at the floor.

‘You are crying again? Pathetic.’

“Go away.”

‘Why would I do that? It is much more comfortable staying here.’

“Get out!”

Espresso lets go of Madeleine’s hand, then gets up.

Espresso blinks, then shakes his head. “Why did I stand up?”

Madeleine reaches for Espresso. “Come back..”

Espresso sits next to the couch, then pets Madeleine’s hair. Madeleine smiles. “Espresso is.. yes. Good.”

~*~Two hours later~*~

Madeleine stretches, then sits up and rubs his eyes. He notices Espresso organizing the now upright dresser.

“Espresso..?”

“Yes?”

“Why am I in your clothes?”

“I don’t know. You took them.”

“Why would I do that?”

“You were sick.”

“Oh! That does make some sense. I cannot remember much of what happened though.”

Espresso leans on the dresser, trying to not fall over. “You aren’t sick anymore..”

“Are you alright, Espresso?”

Espresso is smiling “I don’t have to take care of you anymore. I don’t have to keep you from eating not food.”

Madeleine gets up. “Espresso, you sound unwell.”

Espresso turns around. “I feel like I’ve been awake for MONTHS! It’s only been FOUR DAYS!!”

Madeleine is very concerned, but also scared. “Why are you smiling? It is very unsettling..”

Espresso walks over to Madeleine, who backs up. “You are somehow more annoying when you’re sick. I don’t have to deal with that anymore!!”

“Es- Espresso, you- you’re scaring me-”

“I don’t.. I…” He’s trying to stay standing. ‘I do not care that much.’

Espresso starts laughing, but it makes the lightheadedness worse.

He starts to fall over, but Madeleine catches him. Espresso passes out.

Madeleine gently lays him down on the couch. He takes Espresso’s glasses and puts them on the stand.

Madeleine gently moves Espresso’s head enough for him to untie the small ponytail.

He combs his fingers through Espresso’s hair, making it look neater.

Espresso pushes his hand away.

Madeleine picks up the blanket, gently tucking Espresso in. “I hope you have pleasant dreams, Ess.”

He quietly leaves the room.

He looks around for his clothes, since they have to be here somewhere, right?

“Wouldn’t they be in his room?”

He steps on a piece of crinkled up paper. He picks it up. “Why do I feel like I dropped this? I might’ve when I was sick.”

He opens the paper, reading it quietly “Espresso can’t find my clothes so I get to stay in his fancy clothes now. Little does he know, I have hidden them.”

Madeleine pauses. “Why did I want to stay in Espresso’s clothes??”

He continues reading. “They aren’t in his room because that would be too easy. Good luck.”

Madeleine turns over the paper, but it’s blank on the back.

He puts it on a table, then looks around the room. “Where would I hide my clothes?”

He tries all the places he can think of, but they aren’t there. He doesn’t find any new clues either.

He checks on Espresso again. Still peacefully asleep.

Madeleine then looks at the door. “I should get home. I will have to get new food after changing. I can always come back later to look for my clothes.”

He walks over to the door. “I can return Espresso’s clothes later as well.”

The only thing of Madeleine’s that isn’t missing is his cloak. It’s hanging on the wall next to Espresso’s.

Madeleine puts on his cloak, then pulls the hood up. He holds the cloak closed while walking home.

He sees someone he doesn’t recognize talking to Latte. He walks over to the two of them.

Latte looks up. “Oh! Madeleine, are you feeling better?”

“I am indeed feeling better! Espresso is sleeping now.”

Latte smiles “It’s good that he’s finally sleeping. Oh! Madeleine, this is Vanilla Cupcake!”

Madeleine holds out his hand for Vanilla to shake. “It is a pleasure to meet you!”

Vanilla looks at Madeleine for a few seconds, then shakes his hand. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

Latte notices Madeleine’s sleeve. “Are you still wearing Espresso’s clothes?”

“Yes. I failed to find my own clothes. I’m better at hiding clothes than I expected, so I am headed home. I will return Espresso’s clothes once I am done.”

“You should probably get going, then I can finish introducing you two later.”

Madeleine nods. “I look forward to meeting you in a more proper manner, Vanilla!” He smiles as he walks home.

Vanilla looks at Latte. “Should.. Should I tell him I was sent to impersonate him? Or would that be a bad idea?”

“Maybe you can say that you were traveling when you found the kingdom and decided to stay. If he asks about your eyes, you should probably tell him.”

Vanilla nods.

A cake hound jumps over a snow drift. Vanilla looks over. “What??”

The cake hound hops over to him and barks.

“What do you mean by ‘visitor’?”

Another bark. Vanilla picks them up. “Red Velvet cookie’s coming to take Espresso and Madeleine again.”

Latte sits on her flying spoon. “I’ll get GingerBrave so we can prevent another kidnapping.”

Vanilla nods. “I’ll stay here with Sprinkles, since they know where Red Velvet is.”

Sprinkles barks. Vanilla chuckles a little. “Yes, you can have a treat.”

Latte flies up, looking around for GingerBrave or anyone else who could help.

Chapter Text

Latte returns with GingerBrave and Raspberry, who was talking to GingerBrave and decided to help.

Vanilla sets Sprinkles down. “Do you remember how far he was, Sprinkles?”

They bark. “Not too far.. Where did you see him?”

Sprinkles turns and runs into the woods, making sure they aren’t so fast they lose the others.

Vanilla follows, with the three cookies not far behind.

It doesn’t take long for them to find Red Velvet, who’s talking to some cakes.

Sprinkles tries to stop, but they slip on some ice and slide out of the cover of plants.

They bump into Red Velvet’s foot.

Red Velvet looks down. “Oh, another cake? Where did you come from?”

Sprinkles barks.

“Oh, you’re a wandering hound. Well, I hope you stay safe.” He gently pets them.

Vanilla is hidden, watching to make sure Sprinkles is ok.

Sprinkles hops over to Vanilla.

The cookies step into the small clearing, from a different direction than where Vanilla Cupcake is. 

GingerBrave asks “Why are you here?”

Red Velvet turns to them. “How did you find me?”

“We were.. on patrol.”

“Well, I am only here for two cookies. If you hand them over, we can avoid a fight.”

“We won’t let you kidnap anyone in the kingdom!”

Red Velvet raises his sword. “You will regret that decision.”

Red Velvet targets GingerBrave, while the cakes go after the other two.

Vanilla backs away, not wanting to be dragged into a fight while weaponless.

“If I find a good stick, then maybe I can help? A strong stick is a good makeshift weapon.”

Sprinkles helps him.

While they’re doing that, the others are fighting, and they’re starting to win.

Red Velvet notices. “The battle has barely begun! I underestimated them..”

He yells “CAKES, RETREAT! I’ll stay behind!”

The cakes are worried about Red Velvet, but they listen.

Red Velvet gets pushed further away from the kingdom.

A different cake hound walks over to Vanilla. The cake barks, and Vanilla looks down. “Oh! Hi!”

Red Velvet sees Vanilla, who’s facing away from the fighting.

GingerBrave yells “You won’t get past us!”

Red Velvet tightens his grip on his sword. “That’s what you think.”

He runs towards Vanilla, raising his sword. Latte screams “VANILLA! MOVE!!”

Vanilla turns his head to look at them. He sees Red Velvet and screams, jumping away.

It’s not far enough, and his foot slips.

Red Velvet freezes, staring at Vanilla.

He lowers his sword. “Your eyes.. Are you part cake too?”

Vanilla is still terrified. “What??”

The cookies surround Red Velvet, but don’t attack. It would be rude to interrupt a conversation, especially since Red Velvet isn’t attacking anyone.

Sprinkles moves in front of Vanilla Cupcake, growling at Red Velvet.

Vanilla picks up Sprinkles. “It’s probably fine now..”

Red Velvet repeats his question. “Are you part cake?”

Vanilla shakes his head. “I’m all cake. I was made to look like Madeleine though, which is why I look like a cookie.”

“Why would you need to look like him?”

“I took his place so the other cookies wouldn’t be suspicious, but they figured it out. They let me stay, since the person who made me didn’t…”

Vanilla looks at Sprinkles. “They didn’t care if I was caught and killed.”

Red Velvet tightens his grip on his sword handle. “There is only one cookie I know who would do that.. I will have to speak with her about it.”

Vanilla looks up again. “Even with magic, traveling back will take a while. Would you like to stay for a while and rest?”

The cookies all stare at Vanilla.

“What?? You let me stay, even after I told you why I was here.”

GingerBrave looks at Red Velvet, then Vanilla again. “He came here to kidnap Espresso and Madeleine.”

“Well, we can keep an eye on him then. It would be very hard to kidnap two cookies directly from the kingdom anyway. They had to lure them into the woods last time.”

Raspberry looks at Red Velvet's sword. “What about the giant sword?”

“We can hold onto it while he’s here, then give it back when he leaves.”

Vanilla looks at Latte. “Do you have anything to add?”

“Oh, me? No. I’m worried about how Espresso and Madeleine will react.”

Vanilla looks at Red Velvet. “So, would you like to stay?”

Red Velvet thinks to himself “If I stay I could find useful information. I can take Madeleine and Espresso later.”

He looks at Vanilla, who’s petting Sprinkles.

“They let a cake stay. Maybe there’s something different about this cookie kingdom with how they treat cakes?”

Red Velvet nods. “I will stay.”

Something bumps into his foot. He looks down. “Chiffon! Did you follow me here? That was dangerous, you could’ve gotten hurt!”

He gently picks up Chiffon, who barks.

Raspberry takes Red Velvet’s sword, then they all go back to the kingdom.

~*~Next Day~*~

Espresso wakes up, but doesn’t move immediately. He still feels tired.

All he remembers about yesterday was Madeleine and passing out.

“Wait- Madeleine!!”

He quickly sits up, grabbing his glasses and putting them on. Then he remembers that Madeleine isn’t sick anymore. “Oh..”

He sits there, staring into space for a while, when someone abruptly knocks on his door.

He gets up and opens it. He’s met with a happy Madeleine. “Espresso! I wasn’t sure if you were awake or not, but I did make some food for you!”

Espresso looks at the box Madeleine is holding, then the cup. “Why the cup?”

Madeleine hands it to him. “I made coffee, the same way that you showed me how to!”

Espresso looks at it. “The smell is so tempting..”

Madeleine quietly asks “Is it alright if I come in? It’s a bit chilly today.”

Espresso moves so he can come in. “Yes. It is warm in here.”

Madeleine walks in, then sets the box on the kitchen table. Espresso closes the door.

Madeleine opens the box. “I vaguely remember breaking some plates, so I bought new ones for you. Would you like to sit down?”

“I- I just woke up.”

“That is why you should sit.”

Espresso sighs, then sits in the chair. “You’re acting like you live here and I’m the guest.”

“You overworked yourself. I was, and still am, concerned for your health.”

“Not this again…”

Madeleine sets a plate of food down in front of him. “Yes, this again. You refuse to take care of yourself, so I will.”

Espresso puts down the coffee cup, which is now mostly empty. “I am able to take care of myself!”

“Then why don’t you?”

“I am a very busy cookie! I still need to order replacement equipment for everything you broke while sick. Without it, I cannot continue my research!”

Espresso drinks the last of the coffee. “Do you have any idea how expensive that equipment was?!”

Madeleine looks at the lab area. While there was some cleaning done, there’s very obviously broken equipment scattered around.

“Oh dear. I apologize for that, and I will pay for everything.”

“What?”

“I’m the Knight Commander, which means I can most likely pay for all of it.”

“Why on Earthbread..”

Madeleine takes the now empty coffee cup. “I am the one who broke it, correct? I must replace it for you.”

“Give back the coffee.”

“You drank it all. There is none left.”

“I did not drink all of it.”

Madeleine shows him the empty cup. “You did.”

Espresso stares at it. “How.. How did I not notice?”

Madeleine asks “Would you like me to make more?”

“Huh? Oh- no. I prefer my own coffee.”

“You drank this faster than I have ever seen you drink coffee before.”

Espresso heats up slightly. “I- Why are you still here? You dropped the box off already.”

“I need to make sure you eat it.”

“I will eat it. You will leave.”

Madeleine crosses his arms. “If I leave, I will not know if you really ate it.”

Espresso stands up. “This is my house. You need t-“

Madeleine glares at him. “Sit down and eat.”

Espresso shivers, but sits down. Madeleine smiles. “Thank you! Where do you keep your coffee beans?”

Espresso points to the cabinet.

Madeleine thanks him again, then starts making coffee.

Espresso stares at the food Madeleine made for him, only taking a few bites.

Chapter Text

Madeleine sets a fresh cup of coffee in front of Espresso, then sits next to him.

Espresso stops eating. “There. I ate.”

“You should eat more than that.”

Espresso crosses his arms. “You aren’t eating.”

Madeleine smiles, then pulls more food out of the box. “I came prepared!”

Espresso leans away. “Of course he did.”

Madeleine starts eating. Espresso drinks the coffee, but doesn’t eat any food.

Unfortunately for him, Madeleine noticed.

Madeleine picks up Espresso’s fork. “I will feed you myself if necessary.”

Espresso looks away.

Madeleine sighs, then stabs some food with the fork. He gently grabs Espresso’s chin and turns him so they’re looking at each other.

He holds up the fork. “Will you eat this on your own, or must I feed you?”

Espresso grabs the fork, so Madeleine lets go of his face.

Espresso eats the food, trying to hide his face.

Madeleine happily eats his food, when a random thought decides it wants to exist.

“This is like a date.”

As soon as Madeleine processes it, he nearly chokes on his food.

Espresso quickly turns to help him, but Madeleine holds up his hand, still coughing.

It doesn’t take long for the coughing to stop.

Madeleine glances at Espresso, then turns to hide his face.

More thoughts similar to the date one start to show up and Madeleine doesn’t know how to handle it.

Espresso sets his fork down. “Madeleine, are you alright?”

Madeleine stands up. “Yes I am perfectly fine I forgot I have to go do a thing at a place!”

“What do you have to do?”

Madeleine slowly moves closer to the door. “I do not remember the specific details of the thing but it is definitely real and not made up!”

“Madeleine, why are you making up excuses to leave?”

“It is a very real thing I must do!”

“Why are you blushing??”

“I must go!” He turns and runs out of the house, leaving Espresso very confused.

Madeleine is running home as fast as he can.

People say hi to him, but he doesn’t notice.

He trips and falls face first into a snowdrift. He gets up and shakes the snow off.

Snow Sugar walks over. “Are you ok? Your face is very red.”

“I- I’m perfectly fine! I have uh- business! Business to attend to!”

He starts walking, but Alchemist stops him. “Madeleine, what’s going on?”

“I’m- I have to go!”

He moves around her, then runs home. When he gets into his house, he locks his door and leans on it.

He slides down so he’s sitting. “Why am I thinking these things?! Why does Espresso look prettier every time I look at him?! What is happening???”

He somehow ends up laying on his carpet and staring at the ceiling.

Espresso is currently eating the food, trying to figure out why Madeleine left like that.

“He was blushing a lot. Was it from embarrassment? Or something else?”

He finishes the food.

“And why did he almost choke on his food again? Maybe it was an embarrassing memory or thought.”

Espresso doesn’t want to think about the something else. 

Outside, Red Velvet is getting more annoyed at cookies stepping on his hair. He knows it’s accidental, but that doesn’t make it less annoying.

Vanilla Cupcake hums a little, then he gets an idea. “Oh! I could braid your hair! It would still touch the ground, but cookies won’t be able to step on it accidentally.”

Red Velvet looks at him. “What?”

“I have an idea to keep cookies from accidentally stepping on your hair, and it does not involve cutting it.”

He looks at Red Velvet's hair. “We should go to my house. I have a hairbrush there. Or was it two? I can’t remember.”

Red Velvet picks up his hair so it stops getting stepped on, and they go to Vanilla’s house.

Chiffon and Sprinkles run around the house. Red Velvet looks around the room. There’s some toys for the cake hounds on the floor.

There’s a cozy looking couch facing the fireplace. Soft carpets cover most of the floor.

There isn’t much else, but it’s still a cozy home.

Vanilla is digging through a drawer. “I thought I left it in here.. Must be the other drawer.”

He looks up. “Oh! You can sit down wherever you want.”

Red Velvet sits on the couch while Vanilla looks through other drawers. He finds the hairbrushes.

“Found them!”

He vaults over the back of the couch, landing on the cushion next to Red Velvet.

“Can I brush your hair?”

Red Velvet nods.

Chiffon jumps up and sits in Red Velvet’s lap.

He pets Chiffon while Vanilla brushes his hair. “This place is nice. It wouldn’t hurt to stay a few more days.”

Vanilla asks “Do you have any stories? Like, cool things you’ve done or interesting things that you’ve seen?”

“Hm.. Well, there was a cookie who broke into the cake factory.”

“What happened to them?”

“In the end, she ran away. All she would talk about was the ‘godly’ witches.”

“That sounds annoying.”

“It wa- ow!”

Vanilla moves the brush away from his hair. “Sorry! There’s a stick stuck in your hair.”

Both cake hounds sit up and look at Vanilla.

“Oh no-“

He gets knocked over by both cake hounds.

They’re trying to find the stick, but Vanilla doesn’t have it.

Red Velvet picks up a ball. Both cake hounds notice. He throws it to the other side of the room, and they chase it.

Vanilla sits up. “Thanks.”

He gets the stick out of Red Velvet’s hair. “Do you want it tied with a red ribbon or a white ribbon? I have other colors too.”

“Oh uh, you can pick.”

Vanilla smiles and starts braiding. “Ok!”

When he’s done, Red Velvet stands up. Vanilla stays seated. “There! Now they won’t accidentally step on it!”

Red Velvet looks down at the small bit of braid touching the floor. “Thank you..”

“It’s not a problem. Would you like to continue going around the kingdom, or stay here and rest for a while? I’m fine with either.”

“Can we stay here?”

“Sure! I’ll go make some food.”

Vanilla gets up and goes to the kitchen. Red Velvet sits on the floor and starts playing with the cake hounds.

“So far, most cookies have been kind or a bit scared of my arm. But they calmed down after Vanilla introduced me to them.”

He looks up at Vanilla, who’s cooking.

“Living in this kingdom would be nice.”

Chapter Text

~*~Two days later~*~

Espresso sets down his coffee cup, staring at the door. “Ok, something is wrong. He hasn’t bothered me once since he ran out two days ago.”

He looks at his still destroyed lab. “And my schedule is, unfortunately, very open now.”

He gets up, brushes his hair, pulls on the winter cloak, then walks outside.

After a few minutes of aimless wandering, he sees Madeleine talking to Raspberry and Princess.

He walks over to them. Princess sees him first, and waves. “Hi Espresso!”

Madeleine looks up at him. “Oh- I-“ He looks at his wrist despite the fact that he doesn’t have a watch. “Look at the time! I have uh- something important to do!”

Madeleine starts to walk away, but Espresso grabs his wrist. “You don’t have a watch.”

“I- Oh, I don’t?”

“You don’t even own one, let alone wear it.”

Madeleine tries pulling his arm out of Espresso’s grip. “I still have to go!”

Espresso grabs his other wrist, turning Madeleine to face him. “You’ve avoided me for two days. Usually it would be me avoiding you.”

“I haven’t- I’m not avoiding you I’m just- I’ve been very busy lately!”

Princess raises an eyebrow. “Really? You’ve just been walking around or hiding in your house. That doesn’t seem busy to me.”

Madeleine’s face is very red now. “I-“

Espresso quietly asks “Are you alright?”

Madeleine makes a very quiet squeak sound as he tries to fall down.

Espresso pulls him up so he’s standing. “Madeleine, I’m concerned.”

“I can assure you I am perfectly healthy.” He says as he tries falling again.

Espresso sighs and picks Madeleine up. “I’m not letting you lay down in the snow.”

Madeleine loses his ability to speak words.

Princess whispers something to Raspberry and they both start giggling quietly.

Espresso looks at Madeleine, who’s holding his tie for some reason.

Espresso is confused about that, but ignores it. “Why is your face so red?”

Madeleine pulls his hood down so his face is hidden. “I am not blushing!”

“You are.”

“No.”

Espresso chuckles a little “Yes, you are!”

Madeleine doesn’t respond. He moves the hood so he can see Espresso.

He blushes more and hides his face again.

Raspberry asks “Why are you hiding in your hood, Madeleine?”

Madeleine mumbles “Espresso’s face is too pretty.”

Espresso heats up. “What?”

“What??”

“Why did- What makes you think I- What???”

Madeleine squirms out of Espresso’s grip, then takes the hood off so he can see. 

“I would love to stay and chat but I must go now!”

Then he runs away. Princess asks “Why does he have Espresso’s tie?”

Espresso snaps out of his confusion. “He WHAT??”

He looks down and sees that his tie is gone. He runs after Madeleine.

Madeleine glances behind himself and sees Espresso. “Oh no.”

Espresso yells “GIVE BACK MY TIE!”

“NO! I LIKE IT!”

“MADELEINE!!”

Cookies watch with confusion and concern as the two run past them.

Espresso is catching up.

Madeleine runs to the city center. It’s a park with a fountain and a playground for the younger cookies.

A few are near the playground, making an army of snowcookies.

There’s some adults talking on the benches, keeping an eye on the kids.

Espresso reaches out to grab Madeleine, but a snowball hits his arm. He glances in the direction it came from.

Rye cookie is holding a second snowball, getting ready to throw it.

Espresso tackles Madeleine, who screams.

Espresso props himself up with one arm while trying to get his tie back with the other.

Madeleine rolls over so he’s laying on his back. He starts blushing, somehow it’s even more than before.

Espresso gets his tie back. “Are you alright?”

Madeleine nods.

“Are you sure? We hit the ground pretty hard.”

Madeleine nods again.

Espresso leans to the side, then flops into the snow. “Why did you have to run..”

“I do not know.”

“What were you thinking?? Stealing my tie like that?”

“I..” All he was thinking about was Espresso. It’s still the only thing he can think about.

“Espresso.”

“What?”

Madeleine stays quiet.

Espresso sits up. “Madeleine?”

Madeleine sits up. “I.. too many thoughts…”

“About what?”

He hides his face with his hood again. “I cannot say!”

Espresso scoots closer. “Alright. Is there anything you would like before I go inside?”

“Kiss you.”

“What?!”

“I said that instead of thinking it.. didn't I?”

“Y- Yes.”

Madeleine peeks at Espresso. “May I..?”

Espresso whispers “Not around all these cookies.”

Madeleine gets up, then pulls Espresso to his feet. “Where shall we go, then? Oh! Let's go get donuts!”

“That would be nice.”

Madeleine is still holding Espresso’s hand, so he starts walking. Espresso lets himself be pulled.

They sit at a table inside the shop. Madeleine orders, then brings the donuts over. 

Espresso picks one up. “You’d better not choke on a donut again.”

Madeleine laughs “Am I the kind of person to do that?”

“Yes.” Espresso takes a bite of his donut.

“Oh.”

They eat in relative silence. A few cookies are going in and out, buying stuff.

Espresso has to keep pulling Madeleine’s hand back so he doesn’t bite off more than he can chew.

After a few minutes, Espresso says “Oh, you still haven’t told me what happened to your hair.”

Madeleine freezes. Espresso looks at him. “You don’t have to tell me if it makes you uncomfortable.”

Madeleine shakes his head. “It is fine. All that happened was Pomegranate cut it off in the middle of the night. I was awake though.”

His hand rests on the table. “Then she threw my hair into a fire.”

Espresso stares at him. “She. Did. WHAT?!”

“She burned the hair she cut off.”

Espresso gets up. Madeleine grabs his arm. “Espresso, no. It will be alright. Hair grows back.”

“It could take years for your hair to regrow!”

“Espresso, sit down.”

He does, but he crosses his arms. “Isn’t she the one who tried to kill you?”

“Yes, but we can do something about that later. You like plans, correct? We should make one before going there.”

Espresso grumbles “Stop finding good points.”

Madeleine smiles “Plus, my hair is short like yours! Now we can match!”

Espresso covers his mouth with his hand, heating up.

Madeleine finishes the donuts, then gets up and holds his hand out for Espresso to take. “Shall I escort you home?”

Espresso sighs, standing up. “You will regardless of if I want it or not.”

Madeleine smiles and grabs Espresso’s hand, walking home with him.

When they reach Espresso’s doorstep, Madeleine looks up at him. “May we kiss now?”

Espresso looks away. “Fine..”

“That is not a yes. No kisses.” Madeleine is a bit sad, but he starts to walk away.

Espresso grabs Madeleine’s arm.

Madeleine moves in front of him again. “What?”

Espresso is hiding his face with his hands. “I’m.. bad at asking for things like this…”

“So you do want a kiss?”

Very quietly, he responds “Yes, I would like that.”

Espresso moves his hands off his face. Madeleine gently pulls Espresso down so he can actually reach his face. “Are you sure?”

Espresso nods.

Madeleine smiles “Yay!”

He kisses him.

Chapter Text

Madeleine is the first one to move away. “Ouch. You’re too hot for me to touch.”

Espresso tries to respond, but he can't make any words.

He doesn’t know how to handle being kissed on the lips like that.

Madeleine is concerned. “Espresso??”

Espresso quickly stands up “ThankyouMaddieI’mgoinginsidenowbye!!”

“I shall see you later, then!”

Espresso nods. Madeleine goes home, giggling.

Espresso quickly goes inside and falls onto his couch. He puts his glasses on the stand.

He rolls over so he’s on his back. He covers his face with his hands. “Why did I say yes?? Why did.. Why am.. Why are emotions???”

He sits up, moving his hand over his mouth. “Why do..”

“Why do I want more?”

He heats up more. He walks to the middle of the room so he doesn’t burn up the couch.

He starts pacing around the room. “Why did I enjoy it so much?!”

While Espresso continues to have a gay panic, Madeleine is giggling on his way home.

He suddenly stops walking.

“Why did I like that so much? Do I like Espresso? He’s very pretty and smart and pretty- wait, I already said pretty.”

He blushes more. “I think.. the answer is yes. I have fallen for Espresso.”

He covers his mouth with his hands, whispering. “I love Espresso.”

~*~The next day~*~

Vanilla Cupcake and Red Velvet are walking their dogs. Pancake cookie flies by, yelling “NEW COOKIE! IN THE CITY CENTER!!”

Vanilla looks at Red Velvet. “Do you wanna go meet them?”

“I’m worried about them seeing my arm and freaking out.”

“We can stay at the edge of the crowd. That way we can easily leave.”

Red Velvet thinks for a bit, then nods. “Let’s go.”

They go to the city center, but stay on the edge of the crowd.

Madeleine and Espresso aren’t here.

GingerBrave notices. “Oh, where are Madeleine and Espresso? I know Espresso sometimes misses meeting a new cookie, but Madeleine never does.”

Strawberry looks at him. “Should we send someone to check on Madeleine?”

GingerBrave nods.

Raspberry volunteers to do that, then runs to Madeleine’s house.

She knocks on the door. Madeleine opens it, in the middle of pulling his boots on. “Y- Yes?”

“Why are you blushing?”

“Ah well, I.. figured out some feelings yesterday and I forgot to sleep.”

“You like Espresso, don’t you.”

Madeleine blushes more, nodding. “How did you know??”

“You aren’t exactly subtle when showing your feelings. Oh! The reason I came here! There’s a new cookie visiting.”

Madeleine grabs his winter cloak, not even bothering with the rest of his armor. “Say no more!”

The two of them head to the city center, but stop at Espresso’s house.

Raspberry knocks.

Espresso opens the door, yawning. He isn’t wearing his glasses. Madeleine counts the days in his head. “Oh! Espresso you should lay down.”

“I was going to but then you knocked.”

Madeleine looks at Raspberry “You go ahead, I’ll catch up later.”

Raspberry nods.

Madeleine walks inside, gently moving Espresso to his couch. Espresso sits on it, then grabs Madeleine’s shirt collar and pulls him down.

There’s not much space between them. Madeleine is blushing a lot. “A- Espresso???” 

“Kiss?”

Madeleine nods. “Yes, I like kiss- mph?!!”

He’s caught off guard by Espresso pulling him down more to kiss him on the lips.

The kiss ends with Espresso passing out. Madeleine lays Espresso down, tucking him in.

He kisses Espresso’s head. “May the Divine bless your dreams, Espresso.”

Espresso softly snores.

Madeleine leaves, closing the door. He looks at the table and sees a paper. He walks over to it.

It’s a list of all the equipment Madeleine broke, and all the prices. There's math adding up to the total, which is circled at the bottom of the paper.

Madeleine carefully folds up the list, then puts it in his pocket. He leaves Espresso’s house, making sure he closes the door.

He walks to the city center, still blushing.

The new cookie is standing in front of the fountain, along with GingerBrave, Strawberry, Wizard, and Custard Cookie III.

Chili Pepper is probably trying to pickpocket people in the crowd.

When Madeleine arrives, GingerBrave gets everyone to quiet down. He nods to the new cookie.

She introduces herself. “I am Pastry cookie. I heard that a new kingdom had been founded, so I decided to visit. It looks to be a very nice place here. I might stay a while.”

The cookies start introducing themselves.

Red Velvet gently grabs Vanilla’s sleeve. “She’s the one who broke into the cake factory.”

“We should leave befor- Sprinkles!”

Sprinkles is running towards the fountain.

Vanilla chases them, weaving between cookies and apologizing.

He catches Sprinkles, but Pastry cookie already saw them. “A cake monster?!”

Vanilla stands up, keeping his eyes closed. “This is my cake hound Sprinkles!”

“You are keeping it as a pet?”

“They are a very nice dog. I should get going. My friend and I have to finish the walk we were on.”

He turns around, opening his eyes so he can get back to Red Velvet, who moved into a more hidden spot.

Vanilla finds him though, since he was only hiding from Pastry.

“We should go.”

Vanilla makes the mistake of glancing at Pastry, who sees his eyes. It’s far enough away that she doesn’t notice that they’re different.

The two of them leave, their dogs happily playing in the snow in front of them.

Cookies start to leave, returning to their normal activities.

Pastry turns to GingerBrave “Why does that one cookie have a cake monster for a pet?”

“Vanilla? He’s allowed to have a pet. Everyone is allowed to keep pets!” He smiles.

“They’re allowed to keep cake monsters as pets?”

“Yep! As long as your pet doesn’t endanger other citizens, you can keep it.”

Pastry is concerned about these cookies. “Why don’t they see that cake monsters are tainted beings? They’re always a danger!”

“Aren’t all cake monsters dangerous?”

Latte chuckles “Of course not! If that were true, we wouldn’t let them stay here.”

Pastry sighs “I must learn more about this kingdom. Hopefully they can be saved.”

“Could I have a tour of the kingdom?”

Latte looks at the clock tower. “Oh, I would give you one but I have a very important meeting and I really don’t want to be late for that.”

She gets on her spoon and flies away.

Madeleine walks over. “Is there anything I can help with today?”

GingerBrave looks up. “Oh! Could you give Pastry cookie a tour? Also, why is your face red?”

Madeleine laughs nervously “Oh I.. realized something last night. Plus, it is cold.”

“Do you know why Espresso isn’t here?”

“Espresso is getting some much needed rest. I can indeed give the tour!”

Chapter Text

Partway through the tour, they run into Vanilla and Red Velvet. Pastry immediately recognizes Red Velvet’s cake claw.

“What is that cookie-cake doing here?!”

Madeleine looks over. “Oh! I do not know. I haven’t properly met Vanilla yet either.” He nervously laughs again.

Vanilla and Red Velvet look at the two.

Now Pastry realizes that Vanilla’s eyes look different.

Red Velvet is very worried now. Vanilla smiles and waves. “Hi!”

Madeleine smiles and waves back. “Hello!”

Madeleine walks over to the two of them. “I haven’t been able to properly meet you yet, Vanilla.”

Red Velvet stands to the side, keeping an eye on Pastry.

Vanilla fidgets with the end of his sleeves. “Well, uh, I’m Vanilla Cupcake.”

“I am Madeleine cookie. You have very interesting eyes!”

Vanilla looks down, no longer smiling. “Oh.. well.. I’m a cake. I was made to look like you. They didn’t want the kingdom to know you were missing.”

Madeleine looks at Vanilla, who has short hair with sprinkles in it. He has a warm sweater with fluff on the collar.

Madeleine smiles. “I am glad you have found your own self to be!”

Vanilla smiles again “Thanks! Oh, and this is Sprinkles!” He pets Sprinkles.

Pastry glares at Red Velvet, reaching to load her crossbow.

Madeleine sees. “Pastry, while we allow anyone to openly carry weapons, they are not allowed to harm others without reason.”

“But they are both at least half cake.”

“So? Red Velvet was nice to me before, and Vanilla seems to be nice as well.”

Vanilla looks at Red Velvet, who mumbles “He was doing the puppy eyes…”

Pastry stares at Madeleine. “But all cakes are dangerous. And that one,” she points at Red Velvet “That one attacked me in the past!”

“You broke into the cake factory. I even offered to let you stay and work instead of immediately attacking. You attacked first.”

Chiffon growls at Pastry, staying in front of Red Velvet.

Madeleine moves between the two. “There are clearly unresolved issues here and while I am good at many things, helping with this is not one of them. Pastry, you and I shall continue the tour.”

Pastry tries to protest, but Madeleine gently grabs her wrist (the one with the crossbow) and pulls her away. “Let us leave these two alone.”

The rest of the tour goes smoothly. They end when they return to the city center.

Madeleine smiles “And that concludes the tour! I hope you enjoy your stay here!”

He then pulls the list out of his pocket. Pastry raises her eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“This? Oh, it is a list of things I need to buy for Espresso.”

“Espresso?”

“Espresso is asleep right now, so I want to get as much of this bought as I can before tomorrow.”

“You’ve mentioned Espresso multiple times now. You must really like Espresso.”

Madeleine laughs nervously “Well yes, but it may be a bit more than that. I should go now. Maybe you can meet Espresso tomorrow!”

Pastry nods. Madeleine waves as he walks away.

As soon as he’s out of sight, she starts looking for Red Velvet and Vanilla.

She finds them standing and talking about snow while the dogs play.

Red Velvet hasn’t seen her yet.

She aims at Vanilla, but when she shoots, he quickly squats down to pet Sprinkles. The bolt goes over his head.

Red Velvet quickly looks at where it came from, then glares at Pastry. “Why did you try to shoot him?”

Vanilla stands up. “Shoot who?”

Pastry aims at Red Velvet. “You two foul monsters have tricked this kingdom into caring for you.”

Vanilla loudly says “I’m very bad at tricking people! Can you please put your crossbow down? It’s dangerous!”

“It- It’s supposed to be dangerous!”

Vanilla crosses his arms. “Well you aren’t allowed to use it!”

Raspberry runs over to them. “Pastry cookie! Put down the crossbow!”

Pastry sighs, but does as Raspberry says.

Vanilla picks up the bolt that Pastry shot. “Oh hey, what’s this?”

Pastry walks over and snatches it back. “That is mine.”

Pastry storms off. Vanilla shrugs. “I guess she has something else to do.”

Red Velvet stares at him. “Vanilla, she tried to kill you.”

“She did? Well that was very rude of her.”

Red Velvet and Raspberry sigh.

Vanilla starts playing with Sprinkles again.

~*~The next day~*~

Espresso wakes up on the floor. He groans, then sits up. “Did.. I fall off the couch again..?”

He rubs his eyes, then stretches. He grabs his glasses and puts them on.

“What happened before I fell a-“

He remembers, and he heats up. He grabs his pillow and screams into it. “WHY DID I DO THAT?! WHY ON EARTHBREAD DID I DO THAT?!!”

There’s knocking at his door. He stops screaming.

More knocking.

He doesn’t move.

Madeleine decides to sit on Espresso’s doorstep and wait.

When Espresso realizes the knocking stopped, he slowly gets up. He changes into his normal outfit, then goes to the kitchen to get food.

He can’t decide on what to eat, so he doesn’t.

He turns to his lab, then sighs. “Still broken..”

He looks at his door. Outside, Madeleine is leaning on it. He woke up early to make food for Espresso, which is in the box on his lap.

He’s starting to fall asleep.

A few cookies look at him, a bit confused.

Espresso opens the door, which makes Madeleine fall. Espresso jumps away, so Madeleine hits his head on the floor. “OW!”

He sits up, rubbing his head. Espresso asks “Madeleine, why were you leaning on my door??”

Madeleine holds the box up to Espresso. “Foods..”

Espresso takes the box. “Why are you so tired?”

Madeleine yawns, starting to fall over again. “Had to food early.”

Espresso sets the box on the table near the door.

Madeleine falls over, then groans a little. He doesn’t try to sit up again.

Espresso gently picks him up. “Madeleine?”

“Hmmm..” He’s asleep.

Espresso closes the door with his foot, then walks into the other room. Madeleine mumbles in his sleep.

“Essssspressooooo..”

“What?”

“Let me get this ring for you..”

Espresso heats up. “Wh- What??”

Madeleine mumbles a bunch of stuff, but Espresso can’t understand any of it.

He sighs and goes back to the main room. He picks up the box Madeleine brought, then sits down at a table to eat the food inside it.

Chapter Text

~*~A somewhat warmer day~*~

Pastry cookie is preparing to try to kill Vanilla and Red Velvet again.

Said people are talking about their favorite places to walk their dogs.

Pastry is hidden from their view. “Those two monsters must be dealt with.”

She aims at them, but before she can do anything else, someone grabs her arm.

Latte digs her nails into Pastry’s arm. “Here’s some advice..”

Pastry makes the mistake of looking at Latte’s face. Latte is smiling, but she’s clearly angry.

"Don’t shoot random civilians. Especially those two.”

Pastry nods, shivering. Latte lets go, then cheerfully says “I hope your stay in the kingdom has been nice so far!”

Pastry is holding her arm where Latte had grabbed her. “Ow, my arm!”

Latte walks over to the other two and starts talking with them.

Pastry shakes her head and leaves. “I have to take care of them when they are completely alone. They’ve done something to the residents.”

As she walks down the street, she hears yelling.

She looks up from the sidewalk to see Madeleine and Espresso, who are both in front of Espresso’s house.

Since she hasn’t met Espresso yet, she doesn’t know who he is.

Madeleine yells “But you do not take care of yourself!”

“That doesn’t mean you barge into my house, uninvited might I add, to bother me!!”

“You forget to eat! Who else is going to remind you??”

“I can take care of myself.”

A few other cookies are watching.

Madeleine raises an eyebrow. “Are you sure? If you actually did take care of yourself, I would not have to do any of this!”

Espresso starts to say something, but pauses. “Nevermind. I will be fine.”

Espresso turns to go inside. Before he can shut the door, Madeleine stops it from closing more. “You still have not eaten the food I prepared for you.”

“I will eat it later. Leave.”

Madeleine leans on the door more. “I will leave after you eat. Even if I must spend the night.”

Espresso pushes him out of the house. “You’ve spent the last few nights here. You do not live in my house, so stop acting like you do.”

Madeleine gets an idea. Espresso stares down at him. “No. I know exactly what you’re thinking, and the answer is no.”

Madeleine is sad. “Oh. Why?”

“You know how small my house is.”

Madeleine hums slightly, then smiles. He quietly says “We could get the sugar gnomes to build a second floor, or a new house in a different area.”

Espresso doesn’t know how to respond. He sees the other cookies, then whispers “We will continue this discussion later.”

He sees Pastry cookie. “Who is that?”

Madeleine looks over at Pastry, then back to Espresso. He smiles “That is Pastry cookie! She is visiting the kingdom.”

“How long has she been here?”

“Since the day you crashed, why?”

“I should properly introduce myself.”

Pastry walks over to them. “Are you both ok..? You were yelling a minute ago.”

“Yes, we are both fine!” “No, Madeleine is being annoying.”

Espresso sighs, then looks at Pastry. “I have not properly introduced myself yet. Would you like to go first, or shall I?”

“I will. My name is Pastry cookie, and I am visiting the kingdom for a bit. I may stay though.”

Espresso nods. “I am Espresso cookie. You may not see me around much, especially after my lab equipment gets replaced.”

Madeleine reaches into his pocket. “Oh! Espresso, I bought most of the smaller things, but I wanted to wait until you woke up so I can make sure the larger equipment is the exact kind you want.”

“Thats.. sweet of you.”

Madeleine smiles, quietly saying “If we were to live in the same house, you could have more room for more equipment.”

Espresso puts his hand on Madeleine’s face, gently pushing him away. “Stop trying to move in with me.”

Madeleine moves Espresso’s hand off his face. “But Espresso-“

“No.”

“You do not take care of yourself!”

“I am capable of doing that.”

“You may be capable, but you do not.”

Pastry cookie slowly backs away.

Espresso moves into his house. “I will be fine, Madeleine.”

He turns around. Madeleine tries to run inside, but Espresso kicks the door shut.

Madeleine gets hit in the face with the door.

He stumbles backwards, covering his nose with his hand. “Ow!”

Espresso hears him, and quickly turns around. He opens the door.

Madeleine is still standing in front of the house.

Espresso realizes what happened. “Did I kick the door shut on your face?!”

 Madeleine nods.

Espresso walks up to him. “I didn’t know you were there. Why were you following me?”

“You need to eat.”

Espresso stares at Madeleine, who’s still covering his nose.

Espresso sighs, then turns around. “You can come in.”

Madeleine happily follows Espresso, closing the door.

While Espresso isn’t looking, Madeleine moves his hand away from his face.

His glove is red.

He quickly covers his nose again. “How hard did I hit the door?”

Espresso looks at Madeleine. “Why are you still covering your nose?”

Madeleine laughs nervously “Am I not allowed to?”

“Are… Are you bleeding?”

“… No?”

“Your gloves are usually white. Why is there suddenly red?”

“New gloves..?”

Espresso sighs, then grabs a tissue box. He moves Madeleine’s hand.

Madeleine quickly takes the tissues.

When his nose stops bleeding, Espresso reaches for his hand to take the bloodstained glove.

Madeleine yanks his hand away. “What are you doing?”

“You shouldn’t wear that for too long. Plus, the sooner we get it washed, the less likely it will be stained.”

“Hold on.”

Madeleine turns around so Espresso can’t see what he’s doing.

He takes off the bloody glove, then hides his hand in one of his pockets. He turns around again and gives the glove to Espresso.

Espresso takes it. “Why are you hiding your hand?”

“My hands get cold very easily.”

“Oh. Alright.” He’ll ask more later if he feels like it.

Madeleine let’s out a quiet sigh of relief. “He bought the lie.”

Chapter Text

~*~It’s nighttime~*~

Madeleine yawns, leaning on Espresso. “Sleep..?”

Espresso looks at the clock. “How did you- Why are you still here?!”

“I would like to sleep.”

Espresso groans, but helps Madeleine get to the couch. Madeleine falls asleep a few seconds after Espresso tucks him in.

Espresso grabs a book, then finds a comfortable part of floor to sit on.

Madeleine mumbles stuff in his sleep, but it’s too quiet for Espresso to understand.

Madeleine rolls over so he’s facing the back of the couch.

(headcannoned backstory stuff? hell yeah)

He looks at the book he’s holding. He’s borrowing it from Espresso. Well, Espresso doesn't know he’s borrowing it.

It’s Espresso’s notes as he started experimenting with Coffee magic.

He ties his hair up in a ponytail. It reaches the lower half of his back.

He’s sitting in the yard of his old home.

He was younger when this happened. Current Madeleine watches the memory unfold, unable to do anything about it.

Younger Madeleine opens the book, reading Espresso’s somewhat messy handwriting. Espresso never intended for someone other than himself to read it.

Younger Madeleine stops on a certain page, then picks up the small bag of coffee beans that was sitting next to him.

He sets the open book in front of himself, then picks out a few coffee beans.

He sets the bag down again.

Current Madeleine is trying everything he can to look away or change the dream, but he can’t move.

He did his best to forget this for a reason. He can’t remember the reason, but he knows there was one.

Younger Madeleine rereads the spell a few times. It’s a very basic spell.

Then he tries to do it.

It works for a few seconds, and he’s happy, until his head starts hurting.

The spell stops working.

The dream skips ahead a few minutes.

Young Madeleine is laying on the ground. The headache is gone now, but his hands hurt.

He hears people running over, so he quickly sits up and hides Espresso’s book.

He looks up and sees two of the maids, as well as his mother.

She asks “Madeleine, were you trying to do a different type of magic?”

Young Madeleine nods. That was the wrong thing to do, though, because it made her very upset.

“Why? Do you not believe in the Divine enough?”

“It’s Coffee magic. I wa-“

“Of all the magics out there, you tried to tamper with coffee magic?!”

“I want to do the cool spells Ess can do. Can I not use two types of magic?”

“Our house exclusively uses Light magic. I thought you would know by now. No other magic is greater than Light magic. ESPECIALLY coffee magic.”

“But-“

“No buts. You will never try to use a different magic again.”

She grabs his wrist, looking at his hands. “Because this is what happens when you do.”

Madeleine wakes up.

His head hurts, so he groans and pulls the blanket up even more. Now he’s fully covered by the blanket.

Espresso asks from somewhere else in the room “Are you awake now?”

“Mhm..”

“Why were you mumbling about Coffee magic?”

Madeleine doesn’t respond.

He feels Espresso’s hand gently rest on his shoulder. “Maddie?”

Madeleine moves the blanket enough for him to look up at Espresso. “Hm?”

“What happened to your hand?”

“What- What are you talking about?”

“You were moving in your sleep, and at one point your hand was visible.”

Madeleine hides under the blanket again, not answering.

Espresso pulls the blanket away, and Madeleine hides his hand under the pillow. “I am fine, Espresso!”

“Maddie, you were mumbling about Coffee magic, and your hand has burn scars on it. Do you think I won’t be concerned? Especially since the last time I saw your hands, they weren’t scarred.”

Madeleine stays quiet for a minute, then mumbles “They have been scarred for years. When I don’t have the white gloves on, I have gloves on that are made to look like my hands, but unscarred.”

“May I ask how they got scarred? You do not have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Madeleine sits up, taking off the other glove and staring at both of his hands. “I tried to do Coffee magic.”

“Was it a complicated spell?”

Madeleine shakes his head. “It was a basic one, but my head started to hurt so it failed.”

“When did this happen?”

“Roughly a year before you stopped talking to me in the Republic? I can’t remember. My memory is very fuzzy when it’s about you and I in the Republic.”

Espresso stays quiet, then says “That's why you started wearing gloves everywhere.”

Madeleine leans on the back of the couch. “Most likely.”

He stares at his hands. “Why is it so hard to remember? I remember everything else about growing up clearly. Why is Espresso the one thing I can’t?”

He yawns. “Why did you stop talking to me?”

“You kept bringing up the Divine and talking about Light magic like it’s the only magic worth learning. It wasn’t that bad until after you started wearing the gloves.”

Espresso gently pushes Madeleine so he’s laying down. “Then you slowly started bringing it up more and more until I couldn’t stand it. Plus, your family did not like it when I came over.”

Madeleine looks up at him. “Why would they not like you? You were always nice to them.”

Espresso shrugs. “It must’ve been related to me practicing coffee magic.”

Madeleine is starting to fall asleep again. “I am glad we are still friends.”

Espresso stays quiet.

Madeleine is asleep.

Younger Madeleine is walking through a dark hallway.

He stops next to a door when he hears voices.

He hears his parents talking. Some of the words are too muffled. Those words are blocked from his memory.

Then, one section of the conversation can be heard clearly.

“I told you we shouldn’t have let Madeleine be friends with that young coffee mage.”

“Madeleine doesn’t have many close friends. Telling him to stop talking to Espresso would not end well.”

“What if we get Espresso to stop talking to him first?”

“Espresso wouldn’t listen to us. You’ve heard him complain about Light magic.”

“There must be a way to chase away Espresso. Shall we continue this discussion in the morning?”

“Yes. Goodnight, dear.”

Madeleine starts speed walking back to his room, but he was spotted.

“Madeleine? Why are you awake right now?”

“I was..” His head starts hurting. “I was… I do not remember.”

“Well, why don’t you go back to bed?”

He nods, then walks back to his room.

Espresso is tapping part of his pencil on the blank notebook page.

Madeleine moves in his sleep.

Espresso looks at him. “He mentioned his memory being bad, but only specifically with him and I in the Republic.”

Madeleine mumbles “Head.. hurts…”

Espresso picks his notebook up, then walks over to Madeleine, who wakes up again.

Espresso is concerned. “Do you normally sleep this inconsistently?”

“No.. Espresso, do you have books about magic?”

“Obviously. I did have to hide certain ones though.”

“Why?”

“When you were sick, you kept trying to eat those books. It was only those five, though.”

Madeleine rubs his eyes, then sits up. “What books were they?”

Espresso gets the books, bringing them over to Madeleine. “These. I didn’t even realize I had this one.”

He picks up the top book, handing it to Madeleine.

He reads the title. “The Dark Side of Light Magic?? Why does he have this?”

Chapter Text

Madeleine puts his hand on the cover, but he doesn’t open it.

“More importantly, why was I trying to eat it while I was sick?”

Espresso asks “Are you going to read it?”

“I.. I can’t.”

He gives the book back to Espresso. “I can’t read it.”

Espresso looks at the cover. “Were you considering it?”

“A little.”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure.. Why did I feel like it would explain something?”

Espresso looks at his notebook, then at Madeleine. “It is strange that you can’t remember a specific period of time.”

“I agree.”

Espresso opens the book, starting to read through it. Madeleine is tired, but not tired enough to fall asleep again.

After a few minutes, Espresso stops reading. “You said your head started to hurt, yes?”

Madeleine nods. “I think I dreamt a memory? I heard my parents talking, then one of them saw me. My head started hurting after that and I couldn’t remember why I was there.”

Espresso looks at the page, then at Madeleine. “How often has that happened?”

“I.. It’s closer to all of the fuzzy memories? I can not remember accurately.”

“It might be good for you to read this.”

Madeleine leans away. “Why do you say that?”

“It should explain the fuzzy memories.”

Espresso holds out the book for Madeleine to read, but Madeleine won’t look at it.

“Madeleine..”

“No. I do not want to know.”

Espresso gets up and starts looking for a bookmark. “It is not the whole book. It is just this page.”

“It could start as just the page, but then I could continue reading and that scares me.”

Espresso finds a bookmark. He sighs “I do not understand your faith in the Divine. I will not read it to you unless you ask, though.”

He puts the bookmark in the book, then closes it. “I will leave the book on the nightstand.”

Madeleine nods. Espresso sets the book down, then sits on the couch.

Madeleine leans on Espresso’s side. “What else have I forgotten?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“I don’t remember anything I did with you clearly. All I know is you were my best friend. Most of my other friends were the children of other nobles.”

Espresso looks at Madeleine. “Well, I remember you talking about how boring you thought the other nobles were.”

Madeleine nods. “They were very uptight. No fun conversations. They didn’t want to explore because they wanted their clothes to be spotless.”

“You get upset at the slightest amount of dirt on your sword.”

“My sword is very precious to me. It is different from clothing. Clothes can be replaced much easier than weapons.”

“That is true.”

Madeleine hugs Espresso. “What else?”

“You would buy me stuff. A lot. I still don’t know why.”

Madeleine closes his eyes. “I would buy a mansion for you.”

“Why? Why would you- Why??”

“Can we live together?”

“Why do you want to live with me?”

“Yes.”

Espresso rolls his eyes. “I was not asking if you want to live with me. I was asking why you want to live with me.”

“I want to live with you.”

“Why??”

“My house is lonely.”

Espresso gently pets Madeleine’s hair. “The house would have to be big, both for my lab equipment and your disorganized stuff in your room.”

Madeleine looks up at him. “We could have two floors, and you could have a whole room be your lab!”

“That would be nice.”

Madeleine smiles “We should design a house together.”

“Mhm..”

~*~A week later~*~

Madeleine is resting his chin on Espresso’s shoulder. “Are we done?”

Espresso taps the pencil against the table. “Is there anything you want to add?”

“No. This is perfect.”

Espresso puts down the pencil. “How did- How did you convince me to do this??”

“I only asked two or three times.”

Espresso stays quiet.

Madeleine gently hugs Espresso. “Shall we go to the sugar gnomes? Or perhaps on a walk?”

“We could do both.”

“Yes!”

Espresso flinches. Madeleine quietly apologizes for yelling. He lets go and moves away so Espresso can get up.

Espresso stands up, stretching. He picks up his coffee, then asks “How long have you been here?”

He starts drinking when Madeleine replies “I have been here for a week.”

Espresso chokes on his coffee. Madeleine quickly takes the cup and puts it on the table.

Espresso coughs, leaning on the table. When he recovers, he looks at Madeleine. “Wh- What?”

“It’s been a week.”

“How did.. Why did I.. How did I not notice?”

Madeleine shrugs, then grabs the drawing and Espresso’s wrist. “Time for outside!”

“Madeleine your hands-“

“Huh?” He stops walking towards the door, then looks at his hands.

He isn’t wearing his gloves. “Oh.”

He gives the drawing to Espresso, then hides his hands in his pockets. “We shall stop by my house, then. I need to change into new clothes as well.”

Espresso nods.

They head out. The sun is shining today, which Espresso finds annoying.

Small flowers are starting to bloom.

Several people are picking flowers and playing together.

One of them is Vanilla Cupcake, who wandered away from everyone else.

He’s alone.

He’s crouching, looking at the flowers, when he hears movement.

He looks over his shoulder and sees Pastry cookie. “Oh! Hi Pastry cookie! Do you want to pick flowers too?”

She takes a step back. “Uh-“

Vanilla stands up, smiling. “I know where more flowers are if you want different co-“

Click

“-lors..”

Pastry has her crossbow loaded, and aimed at his chest.

“Fallen creatures such as yourself must be purged. How have you managed to convince the cookies that you are innocent?”

Vanilla holds up his hands, slowly backing away. “Convince? They offered to let me stay.”

“What?!”

“Why do you have a crossbow?”

“To- To release you of all temptations!”

Vanilla takes another step back. “To kill me. She wants to kill me.”

She takes a step forward. “Stop moving.”

He does. “Why do you want to kill me? I haven’t done anything to you.”

“All cakes are tainted beings!”

“No we- We really aren’t-“

“BEGONE!”

She fires the crossbow.

Chapter Text

Vanilla holds part of the crossbow bolt, yelling “Oh OW! Why did you do that?! It hurts a very lot!”

“Good. Monsters like you deser-“

Vanilla starts laughing. He stops holding the bolt up to his chest, which is unharmed. “You- You actually thought you hurt me?? I sounded so fake!”

“WHAT?!”

“That was hilarious!” He throws the bolt to the side, where it gets stuck in a tree.

“In all seriousness though..” His tone grows dark.

“If you ever try that again, I will kill you with your own crossbow.”

“You? You’re too weak. I’m surprised you don’t keep a weapon on you at all times.”

“I don’t have to.”

Pastry tries to shoot him again. He catches the bolt. “What did I just-“

GingerBrave sees the two of them, but Vanilla is facing away from him. “VANILLA! There you are!”

Vanilla quickly turns around, smiling innocently and hiding the bolt behind his back. His tone goes back to normal 

“Hi GingerBrave! Do you need something?”

“No, we were just worried when we couldn’t find you.”

“Why were you worried?”

GingerBrave looks at Pastry, who still has her crossbow aimed at Vanilla. “Pastry cookie is- She’s aiming a crossbow at you!”

Vanilla looks at her. “That’s rude.”

Pastry takes a step back. “He threatened to kill me!”

“Why would I do that?”

“You’re an evil cake monster!”

Vanilla tilts his head slightly. “What do you mean? I’m harmless.” He snaps the metal bolt in half while saying that.

He drops the two pieces and turns to face her. “You should put the crossbow down. It’s dangerous, and you wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt, would you?”

She takes another step back. “I need backup if we need to save this kingdom.”

Vanilla gets distracted by a bird, so Pastry shoots.

He reacts a second too late.

Luckily he did turn enough so that it only hit his arm.

GingerBrave yells for the others, then starts fighting with Pastry to get the crossbow away from her.

She does manage to shoot Vanilla in the leg before GingerBrave knocks her down.

The others show up and move to protect Vanilla while Herb heals him.

Pastry cookie sees how many cookies are willing to defend Vanilla. “This whole place is full of tricked cookies! I must tell Reverend Mother!”

She gets up and runs away.

Once Vanilla is fully healed, Herb asks “Are you ok now?”

Vanilla looks at where Pastry ran. “I told her she shouldn’t try to shoot me again.”

The cookies are confused, so he points to the bolt in the tree.

Vanilla gets up, then smiles “Everyone’s ok, so it’s fine now.”

“You could have died! Why are you smiling??”

“I’m not dead, and that’s good.”

He turns and walks home. He sees Red Velvet and Latte, who are talking to each other.

Latte sees him, then smiles and waves. He walks over to the two of them. “Pastry cookie left the kingdom.”

Red Velvet mumbles “Good riddance.” while Latte asks “Why?”

“She shot me in the arm and leg, but some of the cookies who were nearby helped me, then she ran away. Herb healed me.”

Both of them don’t know how to respond at first. Vanilla stretches “I’m going to take a nap.”

Before they can ask anything else, he goes home. He looks at himself in the mirror. “Maybe threatening her wasn’t the smartest idea. It probably convinced her more that I would be evil.”

He plays with part of his hair. “But she was also trying to kill me. She’s been trying to kill me ever since she realized I’m a cake. Plus, hiding every dodge as a random action was tiring.”

He walks away from the mirror. “But if the cookies remember that I can fight and defend myself, will they kick me out of the kingdom?? Everyone seems to have forgotten that I replaced Madeleine.”

He opens the drawer of his desk, picking up a paper. “I had to know how to fight. They would’ve figured it out so much faster if I couldn’t.”

On the paper is a drawing of a sword. One he designed for himself. “What if they get upset at me because I could’ve defended myself the whole time?”

He puts the drawing away, closing the drawer. “I like living here. I don’t want to get kicked out, but I don’t want to play ‘defenseless cake’ the whole time either…”

He flops face first onto his bed. “Maybe I can tell Red Velvet and Latte. They are my closest friends, after all..”

He curls up in his blanket. “I can decide later.”

He yawns, then falls asleep.

Outside, Espresso and Madeleine run into Latte and Red Velvet.

Espresso stays between Red Velvet and Madeleine.

Red Velvet turns and sees Espresso. “Oh. I’m surprised we haven’t run into each other before now.”

Espresso looks at Latte. “How long has..?”

“Not too long after you got back.”

“Wouldn’t that be close to a month?”

Red Velvet freezes. “Wait- I’ve been here for a month already?!”

Latte nods. “Yep.”

“I only wanted to stay for a week at most. How did a month go by without me noticing?”

Latte shrugs.

Madeleine moves so he’s next to Espresso. “Oh! Hi, Red Velvet!”

Espresso looks down at Madeleine. “What??”

“He was nice to me and he let me pet his dog.”

“Oh.” He looks at Red Velvet. “Madeleine did the sparkly eyes trick, didn't he?”

Red Velvet nods.

Madeleine starts to take his hand out of his pocket, but Espresso grabs his arm.

“Well, we should get going. Madeleine somehow stayed in my house for a week, and he needs clean clothes.”

Latte looks at Madeleine, then Espresso. “Ah, well don’t let us stop you.”

Espresso nods. “I hope you two have a wonderful day.”

Espresso walks with Madeleine.

They reach Madeleine’s house, and Madeleine opens the door, not thinking about any nearby cookies.

Espresso didn’t notice anyone either, but someone did see them.

They were too far away though, so they couldn’t see Madeleine’s hand.

Espresso waits on Madeleine’s couch, still trying to figure out how he ended up agreeing to this.

He won’t admit to himself that he’s glad Madeleine is helping to keep him alive.

He chuckles “Moving in with him.. It’s almost like we’re a couple.”

It takes him a second to process the thought, then he starts heating up. “What?! Where did that thought come from?!”

He hides his face with his hands. “We’ve even kissed! Four times, I think? Not only did I ask for one, but I pulled him into another!”

He pulls his legs up to his chest before hugging them and resting his head on his knees. “Why did I do that?! Why am I moving in with him?!”

He doesn’t notice when Madeleine sits next to him.

“I’ll have to see his stupid, pretty face every day! … Pretty?”

Madeleine gently shakes his shoulder. Espresso looks up. “Huh?”

“Are you alright, Ess?”

“I don’t know anymore.”

Madeleine gently hugs him. “It will be alright. I will be here for you.”

Espresso leans into the hug, mumbling “You act like you are my boyfriend.”

Madeleine blushes a lot. “I- Well- Uh- I’m- I- Would you like me to be??”

Espresso heats up more “What?”

“You said I already act like I am, so wouldn’t it make sense?”

Espresso leans on him more, hiding his face with his hands again. “Not yet..”

“That is fine.”

They stay snuggled on the couch for a while.

Chapter Text

~*~Later~*~

They’re showing the sugar gnomes where they want the house built.

Espresso is still blushing, but it’s not easy to notice.

The sugar gnomes let them know how long it’ll take to make the mansion, then what materials they need.

Madeleine looks at the materials list. “I can get most of that on my own, but there’s a few things in the opposite direction.”

“I’ll get those.”

“Alright!” Madeleine smiles.

Espresso looks at what and how much he has to get, then turns and walks away to get said supplies.

Madeleine goes to get the rest.

It doesn’t take too long for them to get everything for the sugar gnomes, who start construction immediately.

Alchemist cookie walks by, but looks up as the construction noise gets louder. She sees Madeleine and Espresso.

She walks over. “Do you two know what the sugar gnomes are building?”

Madeleine smiles “A house for Espresso and I to live in together.”

“You’re moving in together?”

Espresso crosses his arms, looking away. “I have no clue how he roped me into this.”

Madeleine hugs him. “You did most of the planning.”

“Shush. You have a chaotic mess of a room to pack up.”

“Oh! That is true! I will bring you dinner tonight!” Madeleine lets go, running home before Espresso can argue.

Espresso sighs, then walks home. He looks at the box he put Madeleine in when he was sick. He wrote Badeleine Box on one side.

He chuckles a little, then finds some other boxes to pack his stuff in.

He still has the boxes for most of the small equipment Madeleine bought.

He’s carefully packing his books, when he finds Madeleine’s shirt. “Why on Earthbread? Oh… He hid it when he was sick.”

He tosses it onto his armchair.

While packing his own clothes, he finds Madeleine’s pants shoved as far back as possible in one of the drawers.

He just stands there for a minute, then puts the pants with his clothes. He grabs his capes as well.

~*~When the house is built (didn’t take too terribly long)~*~

Espresso is holding the last box from his house. He and Madeleine already got his furniture moved to the new house.

The box he’s holding is the Badeleine Box, but the words are facing him so no one can see them.

Espresso looks down at the top of the box. “Why did I agree to this? I won’t have a quiet house anymore.”

Madeleine runs over. He got all his stuff moved in already. “ESS!”

Espresso looks at him. “Huh?”

“We should go so we can set up! Then I can make lunch!”

Espresso rolls his eyes. “I do not eat lunch.”

Madeleine smiles. “You will now.”

Espresso starts walking, so Madeleine happily follows.

People have seen them carrying boxes all day, but separately. A few curious cookies follow the two.

Madeleine holds the door open for Espresso, who goes inside and sets the box down.

He turns to Madeleine, who asks “Can.. kiss?”

“No.”

Madeleine is a bit sad. “Oh.”

Then he remembers they live together now and he can ask again another time. “Let’s start unpacking!”

Espresso nods. He’s blushing.

Anyways, let’s check on Vanilla Cupcake.

He’s sitting near the fountain in the city center, petting Sprinkles.

Kumiho cookie sees him. Pancake cookie glides over to her. “Kumiho! Do you think you could-“ he sneezes, “use your magic on Vanilla?”

“I can, why?”

“I-“ he sneezes again, “wanna see what happens!”

“Alright, but you should watch from a bit further away, so you don’t get caught.”

Pancake nods and glides away. She mostly said that so Pancake wouldn’t be bothered by sneezing.

She walks over to Vanilla, who looks up. “Oh, Hi! How are you?”

“I’m having a very good day today.” She smiles, then activates her charm.

Vanilla scrunches up his face a bit. “aaAAAAAAH- ᶜʰᵉʷ” His sneeze is a very quiet one.

He looks up again. “Was that supposed to happen?”

“No. You should be affected by my charm, but it seems like nothing is different?”

“Huh?”

“My charm is supposed to make cookies attracted to me. No one can resist it.”

“OH! Yeah, I don’t feel any type of attraction towards anyone. Except wanting to be friends with people? I don’t know if that counts though.” 

She sits down. “Really? I’ve never met someone like that before.”

“Oh, you haven’t?”

She shakes her head. “This is very interesting! All my charm did was make you sneeze?”

He nods. “Yep.”

~*~ok this is boring, back to the gays~*~

Espresso is getting his clothes organized. “How did I end up here?? I’m living with Madeleine. I know he’s trying to take care of me, but he’s so annoying!”

He aggressively rolls up another shirt before shoving it into a drawer. “He’s so clingy! He keeps hugging me and doing that beautiful smile!”

He heats up slightly as he processes the thought.

He folds, then rolls up a pair of pants, shoving it into a different drawer. “He’s so dumb and adorable, I can’t stand it!”

He slams the drawer shut, since that was the last pair of pants.

‘You are very bad at recognizing emotions.’

“Shut up and get out.”

‘No.’

“Leave me alone!”

‘Do you want to stop feeling these strange emotions? Do you want the thoughts to stop?’

Espresso leans on his dresser. He has a mirror above it.

“How would you do that?”

He looks at himself. His eye is faintly red when the voice says ‘I will make sure you do not need to see him. I can chase him away from you.’

The glow goes away. Espresso narrows his eyes. “You’re going to kill him, or use my body to severely injure him.”

The red glow is brighter. ‘An excellent guess! I have been saving my power for this.’

“Wait what are you-“ Espresso is cut off.

He stumbles back. Espresso is trying to make himself fall over, but whatever the other thing is keeps his body standing.

He stumbles more, then trips over a box. He hits the floor with a loud thud.

His glasses land on the floor nearby.

Espresso curls up, despite The Voice trying to get up.

They both hear Madeleine run into the room. “Espresso?!”

Chapter Text

Espresso manages to yell “Get one of the other mages!”

The Voice takes over, making sure Espresso can’t talk.

‘Everything is fine.’

Madeleine takes a step back as The Voice makes Espresso stand up.

‘Come here, Madeleine.’

Madeleine only backs up more. “You don’t sound fine.”

Espresso is holding himself in place, but The Voice is pulling more.

He stumbles forward. Madeleine runs. “I need to get help. Something is very wrong.”

Espresso is getting tired, while The Voice only gets stronger.

It forces Espresso to chase Madeleine.

“STOP!”

‘Why should I? You were complaining a lot about him.’

“I DON’T WANT HIM TO GET HURT!”

Espresso trips and falls down, landing face first on the sidewalk. It hurts a lot, but he doesn’t care.

Anything that can stall The Voice is helpful.

‘Fool, I cannot feel any physical pain that you do.’

“I don’t care.”

He slowly gets up. Madeleine is further away.

The Voice forces him to chase Madeleine again.

Espresso manages to trip himself a second time. Everyone around him is concerned.

The Voice tries to make him run again, but when he fell, he hit his knee hard on the sidewalk. He’s limping.

“You may not feel the pain, but my body does. That slows you down.”

‘I will get what I want eventually.’

“You would kill me in the process.”

‘You would prevent yourself from dying.’

The Voice makes him stomp once with his more hurt leg, which makes him yelp.

“I would rather die than let you use my body to kill someone I care about. The plan you have? It’s not going to work.”

Espresso stumbles more as the pain gets worse.

He sees Madeleine talking to Alchemist, Latte, and Wizard.

At least, he’s pretty sure it’s them. They’re very blurry.

Madeleine turns and makes eye contact with Espresso, despite the blurriness.

The Voice tries to make him run again, but he trips himself a third time. He hits his chin on the sidewalk.

He can’t get up, no matter how much The Voice tries to move him.

‘WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!’

“You can’t hurt him now.”

‘From how much you complain, it seems like you hate him!’

“I don’t hate him.”

‘Well-‘

Espresso screams “GET OUT OF MY HEAD!”

‘DID YOU JUST-‘

“SHUT UP AND GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!”

Madeleine runs over. “Espresso?!”

Espresso looks up at him. “It wants to kill you-“

The Voice stops Espresso from talking. ‘It is fine.’

Espresso closes his eyes. The pain is getting progressively worse.

“Ow.”

Espresso passes out. The Voice tries moving him, but it can’t.

Latte, Alchemist, and Wizard rush over to help.

~*~a while later~*~

Espresso wakes up with Madeleine hugging him from behind. They’re laying on their bed.

The Voice is gone, along with the injuries.

Espresso groans a little, still groggy.

Madeleine quietly asks “Awake now?”

“Hhhhnnnnmmmmmyyeeahhh?”

“Whatever was controlling you is gone. It will never return.”

“That's good…”

Madeleine snuggles closer, and Espresso fully registers the position they’re in. “Wh- Why are you hugging me from behind??”

Madeleine is resting his chin on Espresso’s shoulder. “It makes me feel tall.”

“Oh-“

Madeleine’s grip loosens as he moves a bit away. “Are you uncomfortable? I can stop.”

Espresso grabs the blanket and pulls it up to their shoulders. “No..”

Madeleine snuggles close again.

After a few minutes of silence, he asks “Are we together?”

“Physically or do you mean dating?”

“Dating.”

Espresso hums, then very quietly says “I don’t know. Why are you asking?”

“I can’t figure out if we are or not.”

Espresso blinks. “Why would that be confusing? Especially to him??”

Madeleine yawns. “We live together now, and we’ve kissed at least five times. You also heat up when I call you pretty.”

As if to prove his point, Espresso heats up a bit.

Madeleine giggles. “See? You don’t do that with anyone else.”

Espresso rolls over and smushes his face against Madeleine’s shirt, hugging Madeleine. “Stop being smart. That’s my job.”

“Aw, I love you too.”

Espresso heats up more. “I- I never said- I haven’t said I love you to you!”

“You just did.”

“That wasn’t directed at you, or anyone for that matter.”

Madeleine is sad. Sadeleine.

He tries to hide it though.

“Oh, that makes more sense.. Do you want me to stop hugging?”

“No.”

Madeleine yawns again. “I am..”

“Tired?”

“Yes.”

“Would you like to sleep?”

“Mmhmmm.” he’s falling asleep.

Espresso looks up at Madeleine’s face.

Madeleine is asleep.

Sitting in his yard, Younger Madeleine is talking to Younger Espresso.

This was before the gloves.

Madeleine is excited, listening to Espresso talk about Coffee magic.

Espresso looks at Madeleine’s house, seeing the disapproving glare of Madeleine’s parents.

He looks at Madeleine. “You and your parents believe in the Divine, yes?”

“Yep! I do not have as much faith as them though..”

“Well, to be fair, your parents are the most extreme believers I have ever met. You would probably count as a normal believer.”

Madeleine nods. “Why did you ask in the first place?”

“The Divine treats everyone equally, right?”

“Yes! Even if they do not believe, the Divine cares for them the same as believers.”

Espresso glances at the window.

“Your parents seem to despise me on the grounds that I do not practice Light magic.”

Madeleine is confused. “Why would they? They are very clear that I must know the will of the Divine.”

“Well, they are glaring at me right now.”

Madeleine looks at the window. His parents quickly pretend they weren’t watching them.

Madeleine did see them though. The dream looks blurry further away from Madeleine.

He looks at Espresso. “That is very strange.”

Espresso nods. “Can we go somewhere they can’t see us?”

“We would have to leave the garden. We can take the horses though!”

Just after saying it, there’s a sharp pain in his head. Espresso helps Madeleine stay standing. “Madeleine??”

Madeleine leans on Espresso. “Head.. hurt…”

Espresso looks at the window. He sees Madeleine’s mother, who’s doing magic. She quickly stops.

Madeleine stops leaning on Espresso, who asks “Did your head stop hurting?”

“Yes. I do not understand why the headaches happen.”

“When do they happen?”

“Only when I talk to you near my house. That.. That is very strange.”

“I am beginning to suspect that your parents have something to do with it.”

Madeleine mumbles in his sleep “But why would they..?”

The dream changes.

They’re inside the mansion, sitting in the library.

Espresso is looking through the books, while Madeleine is studying Light magic.

Espresso pulls a few books off the shelf, when he notices a partially open compartment in the back of the shelf.

He sets the books down, then pulls it the rest of the way open.

Inside is a dusty book.

Espresso picks it up and reads the title. “The Dark Side of Light Magic?”

Madeleine looks up. “What?”

Espresso walks over and shows him the cover. “There was a hidden compartment, and this was inside.”

Madeleine takes the book, dusting it off. “This looks very old. One of my ancestors must’ve hidden it.”

He holds the book. “But why would it need to be hidden like that?”

Madeleine opens the book.

He wakes up. 

He realizes that he’s still hugging Espresso.

He looks at Espresso’s face. “Ess?”

“Huh? Oh, you woke up. Is something wrong?”

“Yes.”

Madeleine sits up, so Espresso does the same. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Madeleine nods. “I keep having vivid dreams. They feel so real, like they’re memories instead of dreams, but I can’t recall them well when I’m awake.”

“Is there any way that they’re connected?”

“You are there, or at least talked about, and it’s always in the Republic.”

“I should be able to tell you if it happened or not, then.”

Madeleine looks at him. “One was in the garden behind my home. You were talking about how my parents seemed to hate you. We talked about it until my head hurt an-“

“I remember that. Someone called you inside, then your mother came outside and blamed me for your head hurting.”

“But you didn’t.”

“Exactly. Why would I intentionally hurt you??”

“You wouldn’t.”

Madeleine leans on Espresso’s shoulder. “There was another one, in the library.”

“The one in your house?”

“Mhm. You found the Dark Side of Light Magic book there.”

Espresso takes a minute to remember, but he does.

“That did happen. You started to read it, when we heard someone enter the library. You quickly hid it in my bag and asked me to keep it safe from your family.”

“I don’t remember why I told you that, or what the book even said.”

“All I know is the next day we met up near my house, and you read through most of the book. You said you didn’t want to go home after that.”

Madeleine looks at his hands, then takes off his gloves. “What.. Why did I want to stay away?”

“The only explanation I got was ‘They have twisted the will of the Divine.’”

Madeleine looks closely at his burn scars. Something he hasn’t done in who knows how long.

Usually he zones out or doesn’t focus on them, but this time, he’s looking at the details.

There’s a small amount of skin that’s more burned than the rest. It’s the same shape as the blue gem in his headpiece.

It’s in the center of both of his palms.

“Espresso.. Where is that book?”

Chapter Text

Espresso gets up, grabbing his glasses off the nightstand and putting them on because he would like to see.

He opens one of the boxes, quickly finding the book, then hands it to Madeleine.

Madeleine looks at the cover.

He opens the old book. The first page is a note.

I pray that whoever found this book has not had their views distorted by the rest of the family yet. With the help of the Divine, I have gathered the knowledge of those who twist and distort Light Magic.

Make sure the others do not find this, for they will burn it. They do not want their distorted views to be challenged.

They do not acknowledge the bad things Light Magic can do. All types of magic can do good and bad things, including Light.

Madeleine rereads it again.

“They do not want their distorted views to be challenged..”

He looks up at Espresso. “I know why my parents hate you.”

“What?”

Madeleine shows him the note. “You were keeping me away from their twisted version of the Divine’s will.”

Espresso reads the note, then looks at Madeleine. “How did I keep you safe?”

“My family is convinced that every magic, other than Light, is lesser and only capable of bad things. You showing me Coffee magic kept me from thinking that.”

“Then why did you suddenly change after you went home?”

“My parents must have done something.”

Madeleine leans on Espresso again, quietly saying “Maybe we can figure it out by reading?”

“Most likely.”

“Can I sit in your lap?”

“Yes.”

Espresso moves so it’ll be more comfortable for Madeleine.

Once Madeleine’s sitting on his lap, Espresso grabs the blanket and wraps it around them.

He gently holds the book so it isn’t covered, then rests his chin on Madeleine’s head.

The longer they read, the more upset Madeleine gets. They reach a page talking about blocking memories.

Madeleine grabs Espresso’s wrist. Espresso lets go of the book. “Maddie?”

Madeleine gets up, shaking.

Espresso puts the bookmark in the book, then closes it.

Madeleine pulls his hair in front of his face, trying to hide. Espresso is quiet “Madeleine?”

Madeleine turns to look at him, crying. “How much.. How much have they made me forget? How much of my life is missing?? There could be events that I can’t remember at all!”

He grabs his cape, tightly gripping it. “They could have taken so many things from my memory! It is already hard to remember being with you in the Republic, what if they took more?!”

Espresso gets up. “We haven’t finished reading yet. There could be a way to reverse it. It said the memories were blocked, not erased.”

Madeleine looks at his hands, then let’s go of the cape. He tightly hugs Espresso, crying into his shirt.

Espresso gently hugs back, not sure what else to do. He isn’t the best at emotions.

Madeleine quietly speaks. “My mother burned my hands just to keep me from trying more Coffee magic. The spell I did worked, but she tampered with it.”

His grip on the back of Espresso’s shirt tightens. “Even if we do find the treasure we were sent to get.. I do not wish to see my family alone. We will leave as soon as possible, if we return to the Republic.”

“What if we are called to return early?”

“Why do you say that?”

“There’s a snow white messenger bird flying into the window repeatedly.”

Madeleine looks at the window. He lets go of Espresso, who walks over and opens the window.

The bird flies over to Madeleine and perches on his shoulder. He unties the letter from its collar.

He reads it out loud. “‘My dearest son, Madeleine, you have been away for far too long. You will return to the Republic for one week to celebrate your birthday. The birds will pick you, and whoever your worthless companion was, up shortly after you read this.’”

Madeleine rips the paper in half, crinkles it up, then throws it on the floor. “WELL THIS DAY HAS BEEN JUST GREAT!”

He stomps on the paper. “POSITIVELY SPLENDID!!”

Espresso backs away. “Maddie, the window is still open-“

“IT'S ONLY BEEN ONE BAD THING AFTER ANOTHER! I BELIEVE MY ANGER IS JUSTIFIED!!”

“Madeleine, I will be there with you.”

“I know, but why is life being cruel?!”

“I don’t know.”

Espresso picks up the book again, quickly reading the next few pages. “There’s a way to stop the spell from working, as well as reverse it.”

Madeleine walks over. “What’s the stopping? I need to know that as soon as possible.”

Espresso shows him.

The bird on Madeleine’s shoulder chirps.

He quickly takes the book and hides it, then looks out the window. He grimaces. “The birds are here..”

He squints at them. “At least, I think those are the birds. They’re the same color as clouds which is confusing.”

Espresso puts his spare glasses in his pocket (obviously inside the case).

~*~Anyways we’re skipping to when they’re at the republic because yes~*~

The birds gently drop them right in front of Madeleine’s old home.

Madeleine is holding Espresso’s hand.

Espresso winces when Madeleine tightens his grip more. “Maddie, my hand is not invincible.”

Madeleine loosens his grip. “My apologies.”

He looks at the grand doors. “I suppose we should go inside..?”

“Most likely.”

Madeleine lets go of Espresso’s hand, walking up to the door.

Just before he can knock, the doors are pulled open by maids.

There is his mother, Canelé cookie.

She smiles “Madeleine! I’m so glad you could come home!”

“I did not have a choice.”

She stops smiling. “Don’t snap at me like that. It is impolite.”

“Apologies, mother, I am extremely tired.”

“That doesn’t mean you snap at me. Regardless, we have a feast prepared for you!”

She looks away from Madeleine and sees Espresso, who’s standing further back. “Why is that coffee mage here?”

“He and I were sent together, remember?”

“Ah. No wonder I forgot who you left with. I thought it was some servant or a peasant.”

Madeleine is shaking. He starts to move his hand, but Espresso grabs his arm.

“You said your hands were cold earlier. Did you forget your gloves?”

Madeleine looks at Espresso. “He’s right.”

“Oh. I did forget, didn’t I?”

Espresso pulls Madeleine’s gloves out of his pocket. “You are lucky I remembered them.”

Canelé watches with both mild confusion, and much distaste towards Espresso.

“Why don’t you come inside?”

Madeleine quickly takes his gloves from Espresso and puts them on. Madeleine goes inside, and Espresso stays close to him.

His mother is very displeased. “Coffee mage, why are you following him? This is a family matter.”

“Your letter said I would be picked up alongside Madeleine, did it not?”

“Well, we have no room for you to sleep in.”

Madeleine moves closer to Espresso. “That’s alright. He’ll sleep with me, if he even sleeps.”

Chapter Text

Espresso follows Madeleine to the dining hall.

At the head of the table is Madeleine’s father. Sitting around the table are Madeleine’s extended family.

They look up when the two cookies enter.

Espresso is very aware of the several death glares directed at him.

Madeleine pulls him over to the two remaining empty seats. His father grumbles the same question as his mother. “What is that coffee mage doing here?”

“He was sent on the quest with me, remember?”

“Oh, I was convinced it was a nightmare.”

Neither Madeleine nor Espresso respond.

One of the uncles asks “May we begin the feast now?”

Madeleine’s father nods. “Servants! Bring us the food!”

Soon, the table is full of food. The family starts talking, asking Madeleine how the quest is going and if he’s found any partner yet.

Madeleine glances at Espresso, who quietly says “They would kick me out, plus, we aren’t-“

Madeleine gets asked again. He responds with “Well, yes, but they could not come with me.”

Espresso hides his face with his hand. “Madeleine, you are an idiot.”

They start asking lots of questions. “How nice are they?”

“Very nice.”

“How short are they compared to you?”

“Uh.. I’m shorter than them.”

The room is quiet after that. The only people here taller than Madeleine are his parents and Espresso.

But Espresso is the tallest, and the only one who isn’t a family member, so everyone glances at him.

He looks at them. “Do you really think it would be me? That is simply preposterous.”

They go back to asking questions “Do they take care of themself?”

“They are not the best at that.”

Espresso starts eating some of the food.

A cousin asks “How attractive are they?”

“He is very attractive.”

Espresso chokes on his food.

He quickly recovers, but a few people noticed.

Espresso hides his face with one of his hands again.

Canelé asks “He? You’ve been saying they until now.”

“I do not remember saying he.”

“Well, you did. Does your partner use multiple pronouns?”

“No.”

“So what does your partner use?”

Madeleine glances at Espresso, who subtly nods.

“He/him. Why?”

Canelé narrows her eyes at Espresso. “What kind of magic does he do?”

“Oh, he doesn’t use magic often.”

“Are you sure?”

“Fairly sure.”

She taps her fingers on the table. “Are you dating that disgusting coffee mage?”

“No? Who are you talking about?”

She points to Espresso. “That one.”

“No, I am not dating him. He is not disgusting either. Why are you being so rude?”

She crosses her arms “If you are dating someone who uses impure magics, you will be grounded and locked in your room until we find someone better for you.”

“But what about my quest? I have a duty to the Republic!”

“The coffee mage can continue alone. He is quite fond of loneliness, from what I’ve heard.”

Espresso looks up from his plate, moving his hand. “Two cookies are better than one. It is logical for both of us to continue the search together.”

“I do not want my son traveling with an impure nonbeliever!”

“Impure?? No magic in this world is pure!”

“Light magic is!”

“No. It is not. It can be used for sinister things.”

Madeleine’s father slams his fist down on the table. “ENOUGH! Guards! Take the coffee mage away!”

Espresso quickly gets up as the guards get closer. Before they can grab him, he flies up. He hovers just out of reach.

One of them jumps up and manages to grab his ankle.

Espresso gets yanked down, hitting the floor hard. His glasses are knocked off his face.

Madeleine gets up. “Espresso!”

The guards grab Espresso, hauling him up so he’s standing. He tries getting away, until one holds a sword up, the tip close to his neck.

He stops resisting, so they hold both his hands behind his back.

He looks at Madeleine’s dad. “Doesn’t the Divine condemn harming a guest? I am a guest, who was specifically invited.”

The room is silent, until Madeleine says “He is correct. Even if you revoke your invitation, I want him to stay here.”

His father asks “Why are you so fond of this one?”

“He is my work partner for the quest. It is better for us to stay together.”

Canelé sighs. “Release him..”

The guards let go, and the one lowers the sword.

Espresso relaxes slightly, then picks up his glasses, which are only a little chipped. Madeleine looks at his parents. “Why did you try to hurt him?”

His head starts to hurt. He quickly does the spell without anyone noticing. It won’t stop the pain, but it makes sure the memories stay.

He holds his hand over the part of his head that hurts.

When the pain goes away, he fakes confusion. “What happened?”

Canelé smiles “Oh, nothing important. Please sit down again.”

“Why am I standing??”

“I am not entirely sure. We should continue to eat.”

Both Madeleine and Espresso sit down. The servants refill people’s drinks.

Espresso, now with his glasses back on, notices a faint glow in his cup, then the drink is normal looking.

He whispers a spell under his breath, then looks at the cup again.

“Someone poisoned it with a spell.”

He looks at the food.

“The food is safe to eat.”

He starts eating, but doesn’t touch the drink.

Madeleine notices. “Espresso, are you thirsty?”

He whispers “Poisoned.” Then he raises his voice to a normal speaking level. “No.”

“Oh, alright.”

The family goes back to talking, leaving Espresso out of the conversation.

He doesn’t mind, though. He doesn’t have to talk to them if they don’t talk to him.

Espresso picks up the poisoned drink, looking at it. Canelé sees this.

“Oh, you really should try that! It’s one of the best drinks we have to offer.”

Espresso swirls the cup a little, watching it. “I am not in the mood to try new drinks, but thank you for offering it.”

He sets the cup down again. “I would rather drink coffee.”

“Well, we can make the finest coffee for you.”

Espresso shakes his head. “I do not mean to be rude, but the only people I trust with making my coffee are myself and Madeleine.”

“Why Madeleine?”

Madeleine smiles “Espresso taught me how to make the coffee he likes.”

Before his parents get mad, he adds “It was without Coffee magic too, since I can’t do Coffee magic. But Espresso can, and it lets him make coffee anywhere, as long as he has a cup!”

Canelé scoffs “Such a waste of magical talent. You would be better off as a Light mage.”

Espresso really wants to rant about why he would not be better off, but he takes a deep breath.

He sighs. “You have the right to think what you want.”

Chapter Text

Now that everyone is done with their food, they move to the luxurious lounge area.

Espresso notes that most of them are taking up as much space as they can. He isn’t sure if it’s what they usually do, or if it’s to force him to stand or sit on the floor.

Madeleine is sitting on a couch. He looks up at Espresso. “Would you like to sit down?”

“There is no space for me to sit, other than the floor.”

“Nonsense. Come here.”

Espresso stands next to him. “What do you want.”

Madeleine gets up, then pushes Espresso onto the couch where he was sitting a few seconds before.

Espresso looks up at him. “Wha- Where are you going to sit?”

“I did not think that far ahead.”

The other person on the couch is looking at Espresso, just as confused.

Madeleine looks around. Several cookies move to let Madeleine sit with them.

Madeleine proceeds to sit on Espresso’s lap.

One of his aunts asks “Why are you sitting on that coffee mage?”

“He couldn’t sit anywhere, so if he sits in my spot, that means I have no place to sit, correct?”

“We can make room for you.”

“Why didn’t you do that for Espresso?”

The room is quiet.

Then Madeleine yawns. He leans on Espresso. “Warm..”

Espresso heats up a bit. “Madeleine, what are you doing??”

“You are warm.”

“That answers nothing.”

Madeleine is starting to fall asleep.

Espresso shakes him a little. “Do not fall asleep on me.”

“But I’m tired…”

“Then go to bed.”

“No.”

Someone says “Madeleine, you shouldn’t fall asleep yet.”

Madeleine looks at them, then changes how he’s sitting. He leans on Espresso again.

He mumbles “Warm.. comfy.”

Espresso gently grabs Madeleine’s shoulders and moves him away. Madeleine makes a small sound of protest.

Espresso looks at him. “You need to go to bed.”

“But you don’t do that..”

“I drink coffee.”

“I don’t want to sleep.”

Espresso sighs, then asks “Where is his room?”

Canelé says “We will have a maid take him to his room.”

Madeleine mumbles “Nooo…”

Espresso picks up Madeleine, then stands. Madeleine looks down at the floor. “Woah.”

Canelé cookie glares at Espresso. “Put him down.”

Espresso gently sets Madeleine down, but the second he lets go, Madeleine starts to fall over.

Espresso catches him.

Madeleine leans on Espresso. “Up again.”

Espresso picks him up again. “Why?”

“Tall.”

Madeleine leans on Espresso, then reaches up to grab Espresso’s glasses.

“Madeleine, if you touch my glasses, I will drop you.”

Madeleine crosses his arms.

Espresso sighs, then looks at Madeleine’s parents. “Where is his room?”

Madeleine’s father calls over a maid, then tells them to take Espresso to Madeleine’s room.

They nod, then lead Espresso to Madeleine’s room.

Madeleine giggles.

The maid, Iced Tea, looks up at Espresso, then asks “You are Espresso cookie, correct?”

“Yes, why?”

“My niece talks about you a lot, since she wants to be a powerful Coffee mage as well. She’s been practicing.”

“Oh, it’s nice to hear that there are still cookies interested in learning Coffee magic. Usually they look up to Latte, since she is considered more approachable.”

Madeleine mumbles “Ess.. warm..”

Espresso looks down. “Oh, he’s asleep.”

Madeleine mumbles more “Espresso.. want kiss…”

Iced Tea looks at Madeleine, then Espresso. “Did he ask for a kiss? In his sleep??”

Madeleine smiles “Yes kisses?”

They quietly ask “Are you two a couple?”

Espresso heats up. “N- No! He just- He- We are not a couple!”

They raise an eyebrow. “Why are you so defensive about it?”

“You assumed I was interested in him. Do you have any idea how much his parents hate me? If they even thought I could be dating him, whether true or not..”

He looks at Madeleine again. “They would hurt both of us. I do not want that to happen.”

They reach Madeleine’s room. Iced Tea holds the door open for Espresso. “The room has been cleaned regularly, so do not worry about dust.”

Espresso nods. “Thank you for helping me.”

He walks inside, and they close the door.

Espresso gently lays Madeleine down on his bed, which looks even more luxurious and obnoxious than the one he has in the cookie kingdom.

He pulls the blanket up to Madeleine’s shoulders.

Espresso looks at the glass doors leading to the balcony. He walks over, then opens the door. He slips outside through the small gap before pulling the door gently closed.

He makes sure it doesn’t lock.

He walks over to the railing, resting his elbows on it.

The lights of the city spark to life as the sun sets.

Espresso looks at the abandoned clock tower. It’s close to the edge of the city. They built a new one in the center, which is bigger and easier to see. Plus, the new one lights up at night.

The old one broke down, and no one bothered to fix it.

Espresso pulls on part of his sleeves. “Maybe tomorrow… After Madeleine wakes up.”

The wind picks up, making the leaves of the nearby trees shake. There’s one close to the balcony, but the treetop barely reaches the floor of the balcony.

He hears a click as the door is opened. Espresso looks over his shoulder.

Canelé cookie steps onto the balcony, closing the door behind herself.

Espresso’s guard is up.

She crosses her arms. “Why are you on his balcony?”

“I did not want to be rude by walking around without purpose.”

She takes a step closer. “What have you done to my son? He is behaving strangely, which never happened before you two left.”

Espresso turns around. The wind now blows his hair out of his face.

Canelé looks at the eye that is normally covered.

“That scar..”

She starts laughing.

“You were that pathetic child!”

He leans away, pressed against the railing. “You.. I was practicing my magic in a secluded area. Why did you tamper with it?”

“Well, I had to stop the use of impure magic. It was hilarious as well. I wish Madeleine had been there, but he was with his father.”

The wind dies down.

Espresso is shaking. “You are a horrible person. I may not believe in the Divine, but they would be disappointed in you.”

She stops laughing. "What did you say?"

“Now that I think about it, the Divine would be absolutely disgusted at your behavior.”

She grabs Espresso, digging her sharp nails into his arms. “The only one who is disgusting is you. Your whole reputation is built on the practice of that foul, impure coffee magic.”

He stays quiet, just wanting her to let go.