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Everything was going according to plan:
Releasing all the Beasts from their prison? Check!
Arranging fully functional bodies for the first two? DONE!
Next step would be getting one for himself and Witches know how long that could take!
For now Shadow Milk could do nothing but observe and cause a little chaos here and there. Everything was going just fine until one day… “A-ACHOO!” Shadow Milk sneezed. He- sneezed? Rows of uncontrollable sneezes and occasional coughing interrupted Shadow Milk throughout the day. “Ugh what is WRONG with me toda-aCHOO…”, Shadow Milk asked himself with a rather rough voice. “I feel so- tired and ugh… sick? Is that it? But HOW?? I can’t remember being sick at all in my entire life? Why now!?” Once again he was interrupted by his own coughing, which started to give him a massive headache. “It’s that stupid incomplete body-ACHOO- that did this to me! Pah! Nothing someone as grrrreat- uuugh- as great as me couldn’t handle!” ‘I am sure it’ll be over in a few days’
It didn’t. In fact it got worse, to the point it was quite visible to everyone around Shadow Milk. And there was one particular cookie who realized it first.
Shadow Milk did his usual visit to Burning Spice’s temple to annoy him and to ask him about his further plans of retrieving his Soul Jam. Usually he would throw some witty remarks, make a few jokes, annoy Burning Spice to his core until he’d chase after him.
Not this time. He was rather quiet, which was unusual on its own already. No teasing, no pranks, no jokes, NOTHING. Burning Spice tried to pay it no mind. After all, he’d finally get some peace and quiet during these meet-ups. But then something even stranger happened as Burning Spice was explaining his battle plans.
The two Beasts were walking around the temple, simply exchanging battle strategies and future plans. At some point they arrived in Burning Spice’s throne room and came to a halt. They were now standing face to face as the warrior kept talking.
“-and when I find out where she is hiding the rest of her precious belongings, I will crumble it ALL TO DUST!” Shadow Milk shifted in discomfort. Burning Spice’s voice thundered through the room and the jester felt a nauseating throbbing in his head. He could not keep up this act for long any more. He couldn’t even comprehend what the other cookie was saying anymore. Everything felt so heavy. His head, his eyes, his arms, his legs- “HA- now how does that sou-” Without a warning Shadow Milk fell forward, directly into Burning Spice, who caught him in his arms and tried to stabilize him. “Whoa- Ugh what is this? Another trick of yours? You know I don’t have time for your games!” After a minute of silence and not a single foolish remark from the jester slumped in his arms, Burning Spice grew more frustrated.
And not that he would admit it, but he worried. A lot. This was new, something that wasn’t supposed to happen. Burning Spice tried shaking Shadow Milk a bit. “Shadow Milk? Ugh, come on, stop this foolish act!”
But nothing worked. Shadow Milk’s eyes stayed shut and his body still limped against Burning Spice. A small wave of panic overcame Burning Spice.
With one swoop, he lifted Shadow Milk into his arms and cradled him so he could carry him to his room. Burning Spice left the throne room and carefully walked along the halls. With each step he started to hurry a bit more and pressed Shadow Milk’s weakened body closer to himself. He noticed the guarding soldiers gave him countless confused stares. However one fiercely glare from the warrior into their direction, made them look away in fear.
After what seems to be an eternity, he finally reached his room. Quickly, Burning Spice kicked the heavy doors open and hurried to his grand bed. Carefully, he laid down Shadow Milk, who kept his eyes shut and was breathing unsteadily. Burning Spice put a hand on the jester’s forehead. ‘He is practically burning up! ARGH- what is HAPPENING? What am I supposed to do?! Is he… sick? No… NO NO NO-’ “Great One? Are you alright?”, a familiar voice spoke up. Burning Spice whipped his head towards the still open door in surprise. Nutmeg Tiger, Burning Spice’s most loyal soldier stood at the door with a slightly worried expression on her face. He was so caught up with worrying about Shadow Milk he didn’t even notice her approach.
“UGH- EVER HEARD OF KNOCKING?! What do you want?! Go on, speak up!”, a clear tension in his voice, indicating that he was stressed. And without noticing, his face betrayed his worry and his helplessness in the situation he was in. Weakness was something he never showed in front of anyone. But he could barely focus on keeping up his own appearance, not when he had greater things to be concerned about. “I- I wanted to ask if there is anything I can assist you with.”, Nutmeg Tiger composed herself again after being taken aback a bit by Burning Spice’s unusual demeanor. “My lord, forgive my intrusion but… you seem… stressed.”
At that statement Burning Spices eyes widened with fury and confusion. Was it really that obvious? Had he let his guard down that much? In a fleeting moment his eyes drifted back to Shadow Milk’s limp body on his bed. He turned his attention back to Nutmeg Tiger: “YOU- find me some medicine! And bring a hot towel too! NOW! DON’T WASTE ANYTIME, UNDERSTOOD? And close the door on your way out!” Nutmeg Tiger quickly bowed down and answered: “Yes, Great One!” And with that, she left. The second Burning Spice heard the door shut, he turned his attention back to Shadow Milk, whose breathing has gotten more unsteady and he let an occasional cough slip out. Burning Spice laid down a few more pillows close to Shadow Milk and covered him with a blanket. The warrior kneeled down next to the bed and leaned his head next to the jester’s head on the mattress. He grabbed Shadow Milk’s hand, gave it a kiss and held it tightly. “Please be okay”, Burning Spice whispered to himself.
Memories from a time long long long ago flashed through his mind. A time full of sickness, where he lost many… too many of his loyal followers. He witnessed all of their lives crumble before his eyes, with symptoms similar to Shadow Milk’s. He was supposed to be an immortal being. Nothing was ever supposed to happen to any of the Beasts. No no no, he could not lose any more. Maybe he was just overthinking this… or maybe he was right. After all, he saw it happen just like this one too many times before. Why would it be any different now?
As Burning Spice was lost in thought he didn’t notice the knocking on his door, that is until Nutmeg Tiger eventually let herself in. He flinched as he was caught off guard and quickly stood up and put on a fierce expression to hide his moment of weakness. “My lord, I have retrieved the medicine and the hot towel as you commanded.” She kneeled and offered him the items. Not wasting any time he snatched the items from her hands. “Good, now leave.” Without further ado she quickly bowed, left and pulled the door shut. A loud sigh of relief escaped Burning Spice as he fell back into a worried demeanor. Carefully he placed the hot towel on the feverish cookie’s forehead. Then he looked at all the medicine in his hands. “Now… which one first? This?”, he looked at one of the bottles, “No- how about- ugh come on there has got to be ANYTHING USEFUL HERE!” A loud cough followed by heavy breathing interrupted him. Burning Spice hastily went to the bedside and kneeled down.
Shadow Milk opened his eyes and hissed at the brightness. After a while his eyes got more used to it and he tried to figure out where exactly he was. “Ugh- where… where am I?” Burning Spice relaxed a bit, trying hard to not show his concern too much. “You are in my temple. To be more exact, you are in my bedroom.” Shadow Milk blinked a few times as he took in his surroundings. “Oh- what…what happened? I barely remember anything…”, the jester fell back into a coughing fit trying to sit up a bit more. However he struggled greatly, as if all of his physical strength left his body. Then a warm hand on his back guided and helped him sit up. Burning Spice had put down the medicine onto the bed to aid Shadow Milk with his struggles. “Thank you…”, the jester’s voice came out rough and with a tired undertone. Burning Spice only nodded, a slight blush tinted his face. “Ugh… well you visited to ask about my battle plans and then just… fell into me. You were sleeping pretty heavily. I carried you here so you could rest…” A small blush appeared on Shadow Milk’s pale face. “Oh…thank you… for that” Both of them stared at each other for a while before Shadow Milk removed the towel on his forehead and held his head in pain. “Ugh- my head hurts…” With slow movements and great effort, the jester got out of the bed and now stood on wobbly legs.
He put on his best fake smile: “Well, anyhow thanks again for your… hospitality, Spicey but I have to-”, Shadow Milk could feel the nausea building up. He certainly did NOT want to humiliate himself before anyone… especially not in front of Burning Spice. Falling right into his arms and showing extreme signs of weakness was enough humiliation for one day. “...go now-” “No. You are not leaving in this condition.” Shadow Milk tried his best to give Burning Spice an annoyed look but he failed miserably. Even worse was that due to him using up all his strength to simply stand, he could no longer suppress his nausea that well. His breathing started to pick up and panic rose to the surface. “Come on, I thought you were such a smartass. Use your damn brain! Look at you! You can barely stand for Witches’ sake!”
He was right… and Shadow Milk knew that, of course. But his pride wouldn’t let him. And worse, his body was rebelling against him, making this whole situation harder than it should be. He needed to leave. Now and preferably quick! ‘No no no no- please no no no-’, was all that was racing through Shadow Milk's mind, as he slightly pushed the other Beast out of his way and tried to desperately scramble away from Burning Spice. Each step felt heavier than the last, his heart was racing before he collapsed on the floor on all fours. His stomach clenched violently. A gag escaped his lips, and before he could brace himself, the contents of his stomach spewed over the floor with a force that left him heaving. The acidic smell rose to his nose and left him gagging in pain again. Tears started rolling down his cheeks. His hair fell flat into his face almost touching the floor. Shadow Milk could only imagine the amount of disappointment and disgust Burning Spice must feel right now. "The great Beast of Deceit… reduced to nothing but a crying, weak vomiting MESS ON THE FLOOR! Oh how low he has fallen… surely that is what he is thinking, HA- what else if not that’, Shadow Milk thought in despair, which only enhanced his nausea. His vision was blurry from the tears, and he could feel another clench in his stomach. Yet another wave of nausea rolled through him as he hunched over once again. Shadow Milk was breathing heavily and the tears didn’t stop. In his delirium Shadow Milk could do nothing but cry and laugh in pain. "Go on, laugh...", he choked out with an exhausted tone. "LAUGH- DAMN IT! Ha... ha ha AH HA- PLEASE, SAY SOMETHING- ANYTHING!" Burning Spice took careful steps towards Shadow Milk. "BUT DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE LIKE THIS WITH MY THOUGHTS!" The tears kept flowing, his throat started to hurt and his head was exploding from pain. His body was aching... nothing felt right.
Suddenly Shadow Milk felt a hand carefully pulling his hair back and out of his face. Burning Spice knelt as close as possible next to Shadow Milk. One hand held the jester’s long hair in one place and the other rubbed his back with soothing motions. "I wouldn't leave you like this... not in my entire lifetime." A loud cry erupted from Shadow Milk's throat at that. Burning Spice kept up the circling motions on the other one's back and whispered reassuring words into Shadow Milk's ear to calm him. Between soothing words and circling motions, he planted a small kiss on the jester's head.
The two stayed like that for a while until Shadow Milks breathing regulated itself. Burning Spice’s deep rumbling voice broke the silence as he stood up: “Come on. I’ll help you clean up… and then you will rest, and that is an order, got it?” Shadow Milk blankly stared at Burning Spice with red-rimmed and puffy eyes and simply nodded. As he tried to make an effort to slowly stand up, he felt two hands gently grabbing him and lifting him up. With one big, and yet careful motion, Burning Spice cradled him in his arms and cautiously set him down on the bed again. Shadow Milk sat at the edge of the bed, he hung his head as he stared at the spot on the floor in disgust and shame. The warrior knelt down on one knee and tilted his head ever so slightly to be able to look Shadow Milk into his eyes. With a gentle smile, Burning Spice reached out to the jester and pushed a few hair strands out of his face. “Wait here, I’ll be right back.” The Beast of Destruction stood up and left the room. And now, Shadow Milk was left alone with the view of his shame. His pride was spewed out on the floor. He should have known better, rather than try to trick himself into thinking everything was fine.
Meanwhile Burning Spice fiercely commanded a few soldiers to fetch him warm water and cleaning supplies, as well as some light food and some water to drink. In a matter of minutes he had everything necessary in his hands. With quick steps, Burning Spice made his way back to his room.
He carefully opened the door, trying not to drop anything. Using one leg he kicked the door shut once again. He put the food and the glass of water on a nearby table and the bucket filled with water on the floor. Burning Spice dampened a piece of cloth and positioned himself in front of Shadow Milk. Carefully, he lifted the jester’s head and began cleaning up his face. “I am sure I still have a few silk robes laying around… I fear anything else wouldn’t fit you”, Burning Spice suggested as he finished cleaning up Shadow Milk’s face. He grabbed the glass of water and held it out to Shadow Milk. “But first you have to drink something” Shadow Milk reached for the glass with slightly shaking hands and emptied it bit by bit. After he finished, he set it to the nearby side table. The warrior reached for the jester’s bodysuit and halted, a deep blush crept up on his face. “Oh. Ugh- you can do it yourself too if you- I just thought… ” Shadow Milk gave Burning Spice a reassuring look and nodded tiredly to signal that Burning Spice could carry on. Shadow Milk was smarter than even so much as attempting to change his own clothing now. He was exhausted. Burning Spice handled him with much care and tried to move Shadow Milk as little as possible. While trying to figure out how to get the jester out of his attire, Burning Spice struggled a bit. He would’ve yelled out in rage if it weren’t for the small chuckles escaping Shadow Milk’s lips as he watched Burning Spice lose his mind. Hearing him laugh again after getting nothing but silence from him almost all day, calmed the warrior’s mind a bit.
After a quick change of clothing, which were still quite big on Shadow Milk, Burning Spice helped him get comfortable in bed. He was making sure that Shadow Milk was comfortable enough, before turning his attention to the floor. Taking the cleaning supplies into his hands, he began to scrub the floor.
A few minutes later, Burning Spice had cleaned up the mess. Using fresh water he proceeded to wash his hands before returning to the bedside.
Shadow Milk did nothing but stare at Burning Spice while he was cleaning the mess he made earlier. A wave of shame overcame him. The warrior sat down on the edge of the bed before spotting the medicine again. He desperately took some into his hands and tried to figure out which one would be the best. However, he had no idea about this stuff. Why would he? His subjects always handled sickness among other cookies. And as for himself, well he had never gotten sick before. What if he gives him the wrong medicine?! Will he get worse?!
Shadow Milk started coughing heavily again, before noticing the confused and stressed expression upon the warrior’s face. He glanced over to the bottles and vials on the bed. “Show me that green bottle” Burning Spice looked over to Shadow Milk again and picked up the bottle. The jester leaned a bit forward and after a quick glance over it he gave the other Beast a tired smile: "Give me a spoonful of that… I should be fine after taking that 3 times a day” Burning Spice blinked a few times in confusion, yet he hesitantly nodded. Grabbing a spoon that Nutmeg Tiger had put together with the medicine earlier, he let a few drops of the medicine fill up the spoon. He carefully put down the bottle and gently moved the spoon towards Shadow Milk’s mouth. A deep blush covered Burning Spice’s face at the realization of how intimate this truly is. Shadow Milk was not spared from the heat that was rushing to his face either, and yet he complied and took the medicine down in one gulp. It had a disgusting and bitter aftertaste. At that, Shadow Milk scrunched his face. A deep chuckle escaped Burning Spice’s lips as he watched the jester experience the taste of the medicine. He put all the medicine to the side and turned back to observe Shadow Milk with worried eyes. “Oh stop worrying so much, Spicey~ I will be fine, you ain’t getting rid of me that fast”, Shadow Milk laughed while looking at Burning Spice with tired eyes and a soft smile. A real smile, nothing forced or faked. The warrior shook his face and looked away in embarrassment. “Pah! I wasn’t worried…”, glancing back he could see Shadow Milk raising an eyebrow in doubt. He sighed and let out an exhausted laugh. “Whatever helps you sleep at night~ But please, leave the lying to me… you are horrible at it”
“Tsk- whatever. Well… I guess I’ll leave you alone for a bit so you can rest. Not like you need me here anymore”
Shadow Milk pulled up the blanket and patted next to him. “I don’t think so, big guy” A confused expression, accompanied with a blush painted Burning Spice’s face. “Come on~ just for a bit, what do ya say?”
With a defeated exhale, Burning Spice laid down next to Shadow Milk and the blanket was pulled over them once again. Hesitantly he put his hands around the jester’s waist to hold him close, and pressed his forehead against Shadow Milk’s chest. In return, Shadow Milk gently stroked Burning Spice’s hair. They stayed like that for a while. Burning Spice could hear Shadow Milk's heartbeat and listened carefully. The jester gently traced a finger on the warrior's face, which gained a small, soft smile from Burning Spice. It was as if time stood still and nothing else mattered anymore.
After a few minutes of hearing nothing but calm breathing, Shadow Milk broke the silence with a sorrowful tone: “I- I am sorry you had to see me like this…” At that, Burning Spice shifted a bit to see Shadow Milk’s distressed expression. “... so weak and- and disgusting. I should’ve known better. I knew I was sick and I knew I had to do something. And I didn't. I should've known and instead I made a fool of myself. Humiliated and simply became a burden for you... I am a mess-” “So what?”, Burning Spice interrupted him “I didn’t mind taking care of you? Was it disgusting?- yea okay it was pretty disgusting at some moments.”, Burning Spice deeply chuckled. “But, all I cared about was your health… I never saw you like this before. It was new and so different, not hearing you talk that much or laugh or-… UGH ANYWAYS- Point is you should stop your little pity party and focus on getting well again!” Shadow Milk smiled, because he knew that was Burning Spice’s weird way of saying he worried and cared a lot. Shadow Milk pressed himself closer to Burning Spice, who still had a tight grip around his waist. A few minutes of silence passed before the jester chimed in with a slight teasing tone; “So… you missed me talking and laughing, eh~?” Burning Spice buried his face deeper into Shadow Milk’s chest and his grip tightened “Oh, shut it!” A heartfelt laugh slipped through the jester’s lips as he held on to Burning Spice and continued to play with his dark, messy hair.
Eventually the two Beasts fell asleep to the calm rhythm of each other's breathing. Holding on to each other in comfort.