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On a cold night like this, the clouds rarely parted to reveal the moon. With the window partly cracked open, Espresso toiled away on the experiment after experiment. The scent of coffee in the air, the wind flowing through the window, and the dimly lit lab, it was nothing new to him.
Diligently watching his experiment, he jotted down notes in chicken scratch writing with a quill. Within his lab, there were papers thrown about, a trash can overflowing ripped up notes. To put it simply, it was a complete mess.
Espresso glances up from his notes every few seconds or so, not daring to miss a second of his experiment. As soon as the mixture starts violently bubbling, it almost immediately dissipates. With a disappointed sigh, he tears the sheet of notes from his notepad and tosses it into the trash.
Returning to the chalkboard, he picks up the small stick of chalk, it dusts his fingers with white. As Espresso begins to write down formulas and numbers, he's interrupted by the ring of his doorbell. Who else could be up this late?
He sets down the chalk gently on his desk, exiting his lab and heading to his front door. Espresso gently turns the doorknob with a click and opens the door.
"Espresso!" The cookie standing in front of him is Madeleine, signature blue cape blowing behind him.
"Other people are asleep," Espresso says crossly, "be mindful of others for once, will you?"
Madeleine laughs a little, Espresso can see some of the humor behind it, considering the fact he hasn't slept in days.
"Of course, of course," Madeleine bows dramatically, in an attempt to get a laugh out of the mage. "My apologies."
The most Madeleine can ring out of him is a slight smile, his hair falls onto his face from the bow, but he doesn't bother to brush it away.
"What are you doing up so late anyway?" Espresso asks, "shouldn't you be getting your beauty sleep, Knight Commander?"
"Ah well, I simply couldn't sleep."
Espresso narrows his eyes, "And you came to pester me for?"
Madeleine clears his throat, "Oh, I just um," he fumbles through his sentence. "I was wondering if you'd like to go on a stroll with me? On the shore?" he smiles awkwardly. "Since your house is nearby, and I knew you'd be up, I thought it would be nice, wouldn't it?"
Espresso sighs, "Madeleine, you know I'm busy. I cant freely go on strolls like ahem, other people, I have work to do."
"You're always working, are you not? Must you always be working till dawn?"
Espresso stares at Madeleine, leaving his question hanging in the air. After a horribly long pause, he responds.
"Fine, since you insist, let me get my cape."
-
The two cookies stand outside Espresso's house. The wind seems to blow harder as the rustling leaves of the trees becomes louder.
"It's a bit chilly tonight, huh?"
Espresso looks around at the trees, "It seems so."
The moonlight isn't present as dark clouds cover the sky, nevertheless, the pair continue their walk to the shore.
Their stroll is filled with comfortable silence, aside from one of the two pointing out an interesting insect or wild animal that was roaming nearby.
Reaching the beginning of the shoreline, Espresso feels light drops of cold water fall onto him. He reaches out as the rain continues to pick up speed as Madeleine reaches the start of the shore as well.
"Oh," Madeleine frowns, "It's raining."
"Yes, but this was your idea, was it not?" Espresso smiles, walking onto the sand. He holds his arms out as an invitation to join him in the downpour. "Let us continue our walk, otherwise the journey here would be a waste of time."
"Of course," Madeleine hesitantly reaches out into the rain before stepping foot on the sand. "A little water could ruin no walk for the Knight Commander!" he huffs out a laugh, following Espresso into the rain.
The rain soaks both of them as it picks up speed, however, they pay it no mind.
The ocean stirs nearby, as Madeleine takes Espresso's hands into his, leading the both of them further along the shoreline. The warmth of each other's hands contrasts the harsh cold wind that blows against them, although Madeleine can feel his face warm up as well.
Espresso smiles despite feeling numb from the cold of the wind and rainfall, his glasses obstruct his vision more than help it at this point. The waves aggressively crash against the shore, but they hardly notice it.
"Espresso?"
Espresso meets Madeleine's eyes, although the waterdrops on his glasses make it hard to see. "Yes?"
"May we share a dance?" Madeleine asks, hair blowing wildly in the wind, strands of wet hair sticking to his face. He holds Espresso's hands closer to himself, as if pleading for him to say yes.
Espresso stares at him for a moment, as if processing his sentence. "Just this once."
It started with slow swaying, left and right. The rain soaks them, but it doesn't matter anymore. The only thing that matters is this moment. It's exhilarating.
The two continue to sway in the storm, the peaceful nature of it making time seem to pass slower.
Madeleine takes a step back, making Espresso stumble. "My apologies friend." He laughs, and unexpectedly, Espresso does too.
One step forward, one step back, side to side. Madeleine and Espresso follow this rhythm, dancing with the pounding rain and wind as their song and their witness.
Espresso stops abruptly. Madeleine pauses, taking his hand to brush damp strands out of Espresso's face. The other huffs out what is barely a laugh, using his free hand to shake the water off of his glasses, a temporary solution.
"Is something wrong?" Madeleine asks, letting go of Espresso's other hand. Both of their noses and cheeks are red from the cold, damp cold clothes cling to their dough, their hair dripping and soaked.
"No," Espresso says reassuringly, "Not at all."
A pause.
Espresso takes one of Madeleine's hands into both of his own, an unusual show of affection, even if small. "Would it be foolish of me to say that I love you?" He looks at Madeleine, who smiles at him stupidly. Looking at him like this, him look back the same way. Every show of affection, every flutter that he's given Espresso's heart. This is love.
Madeleine tenses, his breath pausing, taken aback by the words that left Espresso's mouth. Taking his other hand, he cups it around Espresso's cheek.
"No," Madeleine almost laughs, his heart races and his cheeks burn red as rain continues to pour onto them. “Because I’d be a fool.”