Chapter Text
1.
Dark Enchantress had said that Red Velvet was coming to the main base, which meant that Licorice had a short window in which he could attempt to say what he wanted! He was going to confess to Red Velvet! He figured that they've known each other for long enough, and although the two saw each other infrequently, had bonded enough that Licorice could figure out his own feelings. Who knows when he'd get the next chance to do this?! He couldn't afford to pass this up!
Those who wished to see the commander had met up in the dining room. It wasn't a lot of people, really, just him, Dark Enchantress, and her lap dog, Pomegranate. He suspected that she was only there to stay by their leader and had no interest in seeing Red Velvet.
Speaking of the man in question, he pushed open the large doors, proud and smiling.
"Hello, son." Licorice forgot that she was his adopted mother. Jeez, even more pressure to impress her and show her that he was great! "You mentioned that you needed me to meet someone?"
"Yes, mother!" Red Velvet nodded, leaning down to grab something close to the floor. "I had gone to check on some of the other ovens, when I found a new cookie along with the hounds being baked." He set a weird cookie on the table.
They're texture didn't look quite right for any cookie that he'd ever seen, more soft and cake-like, with swirls of what looked like chocolate and yellow lazily mixed together. Their proportions were off too; two triangles stuck to the top of their head, long arms with claws that went beyond their own body length, and really short legs with claws at the ends of those. Not to mention all that hair, brown and yellow icing that seemed almost like a bird nest on them!
Big brown eyes glanced around at those gathered, while some of their hair moved- Wait, what?! Their lower hair moved from behind them and curled towards their hands, awkwardly long arms bending to hold that batch of hair.
"This is Marble Cake Cookie!" Red proudly announces.
"And you said that they came from one of the other ovens?" Dark Enchantress stood up from her seat and walked over to the cake cookies, leaning over to get a better look at the terrified child on the table.
Red Velvet rested a hand on their head and petted their hair a bit, immediately making the shaking stop. "Yes, ma'am. They came running out with the cake hounds, crying and all."
"I see." Dark Enchantress smiled, softer than Licorice had ever seen her smile, offering a hand to the kid. "I'm Dark Enchantress Cookie, but you can call me mother if you'd like."
The cookie thought for a bit, then placed a hand on top of hers. "Mama?"
"Yes, I'm mama. Which means that Red Velvet is your brother."
The cake looked up at Red Velvet, their hair moving slightly again. "You're my brother?"
Licorice wasn't sure how Red could have looked even prouder than before, but he did with those few words. "Yes, I'll be your older brother!"
The kid giggled, then turned and hugged him, completely ignoring everyone else. When Velvet hugged them back, their dual colored hair got moved, revealing to the necromancer that what he thought was just really long hair, was actually long hair and a tail. At least that made its movement less weird, but still odd to him.
"Would you like to remain here?" Pomegranate finally spoke up.
He swore he almost heard the kid's neck snap from how fast they turned to look at her. Even seated away from the trio, he could tell what kind of answer it was going to be. He couldn't blame them, he wouldn't want to stay near her either.
"I want to stay with Red!"
"Do you think you can handle raising them?" Pomegranate asked, cold eyes staring daggers into Red Velvet. "After all, raising a child is different from raising hounds."
Red Velvet bristled at that, holding the kid closer. "I'm more capable of raising them than you."
The two stared each other down, making Licorice worried that they might actually fight each other. His coins would have been on Red Velvet, hands down. At least, until Dark Enchantress stepped in. "I wish you well with raising them. Remember that there are others who are willing to help when you need it."
Red Velvet looked up to her and nodded. "Thanks, mom. I should probably head back now, but it was nice to see you again."
"Nice seeing you too." She said, before disappearing into a cloud of red smoke.
The two stare each other down again, a silent battle of will. Pomegranate was surprisingly the first to leave, turning on her heels and walking away, still acting like she was better than them! Red relaxed, then sighed, turning to look at Licorice with a smile.
"Sorry to have to leave so soon, but I think Marble's exhausted. It was nice seeing you though!" Red waved, turning to leave the room once again.
"Bye..." Licorice weakly waved, watching them go. It took him several seconds afterwards to realize something important. That brat's appearance made him miss the opportunity to confess! His diary was going to hear about this!