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Morning arrived at the spire. Shadow Milk Cookie hopped out of bed to go about his usual routine. It had been a couple days since he found out about Pure Vanilla Cookies weird hug abilities with the Shadow Milk Cookie plushie. He was annoyed when he thought Pure Vanilla Cookie was playing a trick on him, but he’s okay with it now. The hugs were comforting, though he would never admit it.
Shadow Milk Cookie noticed that Pure Vanilla Cookie set a schedule for these “plushie hugs”. There were hugs in the morning, evening, and night. It wasn’t exact on the hours, but the times of days were consistent. Another thing Shadow Milk Cookie noticed was Pure Vanilla Cookie started to give the plushie forehead kisses. It left him confused and flustered the first time it happened, but he decided it wasn’t a big deal. They were just there to supplement the hugs.
His minions, Candy Apple Cookie and Black Sapphire Cookie, saw that Shadow Milk Cookie was pretty chipper for the past days. They were glad their master was able to bounce back from his defeat so quickly, but he seemed a little different than usual. Regardless, he was in a good mood which was all that mattered in the end. He soon met up with his minions so he could discuss their next course of action, shown through theatrical pizzazz.
“There’s still two more Beasts who haven’t met their counterparts.” Shadow Milk Cookie said.
“Oh! Are we gonna visit them?” Candy Apple Cookie asked.
“Are we going to assist the other Beasts?" Black Sapphire Cookie asked.
“Nothing right now. We’re going to wait and see how their encounters turn out,” Shadow Milk Cookie said. “That way—”
He abruptly went silent and his eyes widened in shock. His hands shot up, pressed tightly against his lips. A deep blue blush spread rapidly across his face. His minions glanced at one another in confusion wondering what the cause was of his sudden and dramatic reaction.
“Um…Master? Is this part of the show?” Candy Apple Cookie asked.
That was enough to snap Shadow Milk Cookie out of his stunned state. He couldn’t let his minions know what happened. “Why yes it is! Just having a bit of fun with spontaneous face expressions. I fooled you both, didn’t I?”
“An amazing feat of acting and deceit as always, Master. I thought something was wrong,” Black Sapphire Cookie said.
“That’s all for now! Hope you enjoyed the show! Dismissed!” Shadow Milk Cookie took a bow and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Back in his bedroom, Shadow Milk Cookie paced around frantic and confused. One hand was held against his mouth while many thoughts raced through his mind. This couldn’t have been an accident, right? Did Pure Vanilla Cookie really do that? Did Pure Vanilla…feel that way about him? ...No, of course not. It was to toy with him. Yes, that had to be it. To ruffle him up for his own amusement.
Well he wasn’t going to let him get away with that. Time to retaliate!
Earlier that morning in the Vanilla Kingdom, Pure Vanilla Cookie woke up and lazily dragged himself from his bed. He was up all night working on some important tasks and didn’t get much sleep afterwards. The clock showed he overslept as well. With a yawn, he shuffled over towards an armchair next to a bookcase. On the chair was the Shadow Milk Cookie plushie, leaning casually against some decorative pillows.
Pure Vanilla Cookie picked up the plushie and gave it a hug. “G’ morning…” he said, slurring his words. Then he held up the plushie to give it a kiss on its forehead. But due how groggy he was, he didn’t realize he missed the mark.
He kissed the plushie on its thread smile instead. It was set back down and he moved on to continue his morning routine, completely unaware of his blunder.
A couple minutes later just after Pure Vanilla Cookie finished brushing his teeth, a portal appeared in his bedroom and Shadow Milk Cookie stepped out from it.
“You wanted my attention that badly, eh? Well here I am!” Shadow Milk Cookie said, spreading his arms out in a dramatic fashion.
Pure Vanilla Cookie yawned and walked up to him. “Hello, Shadow Milk Cookie.”
This was interesting. Looked like Pure Vanilla Cookie had only just woken up, and so late in the morning too. “Sounds like someone didn’t catch enough Z’s.” Shadow Milk Cookie said.
Pure Vanilla Cookie rubbed the remaining crumbs from his eyes. “Ah…yes…I was up all night doing some work. I didn’t get much sleep. I’ll shake off the drowsiness in a bit, though. How are you?”
“’How am I?’ Pfft, look at this comedian.” Shadow Milk Cookie said to no one in particular while looking from side to side. Then he faced Pure Vanilla Cookie again. “You know why I’m here.”
Pure Vanilla Cookie frowned. “Oh... It’s about the plushie right? Sorry. I thought you we’re okay with the hugs now, but I’ll stop if—”
“This isn’t about the hugs.” Shadow Milk Cookie said.
“Oh.” He paused for a moment, then his eyes suddenly glimmered with joy. “So…that means you like the hugs?” he asked with a cheery smile, beaming like sunshine.
“Hey! We’re getting off track!” Shadow Milk Cookie snapped. He scrunched up his mouth but he couldn’t hide the blush creeping across his face, which got a quick chuckle out of Pure Vanilla Cookie.
“Okay. So what is it about?” Pure Vanilla Cookie asked.
Shadow Milk Cookie tossed his hands in the air. “It’s about the kiss!”
“Oh…that…” Pure Vanilla Cookie scratched his cheek and looked away awkwardly. “Sorry, I guess I starting doing that without thinking. Your plushie is just so soft and cute, haha. But I should have just stuck to hugs. I won’t kiss the plushie on the forehead anymore.”
Shadow Milk Cookie shook his head in disbelief. “That’s not what I’m talking about, either. Are you doing this on purpose? I’d be impressed with your deceit if I wasn’t so annoyed right now.”
Pure Vanilla Cookie stared at him in confusion then sighed. “You should just tell me what the issue is because I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Fine. If you won’t say it, I will. You kissed the plushie on the lips! You kissed me on the lips!” Shadow Milk Cookie shouted.
Pure Vanilla Cookie stared at him with a blank expression at first, but soon a hearty laugh escaped him. “Hahaha! Well, it’s refreshing to hear a funny fib from you, for once. It’s a strange one to tell though,” he said, shaking his head with amusement. “I’ve done no such thing.”
Shadow Milk Cookie tilted his head with an inquiring look on his face. Ah…so it probably was an accident after all. That doesn’t change the reason he came here though. “Perhaps, as far as you know, you’re telling the truth…but what if you did it unintentionally? You said earlier you didn’t get much sleep.”
“No, no. That’s…that’s…“
Pure Vanilla Cookie trailed off as he thought back to how groggy he was when he got out of bed earlier. He wasn’t really focusing much when he went to pick up the plushie. Oh no…he realized he probably did mess up!
He gasped in horror at what he had done. “Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry! I was so tired I wasn’t paying attention!” he hid his face with his hand. “This is so embarrassing…”
Shadow Milk Cookie crossed his arms and shook his head. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a clumsy mistake. You should make it up to me.”
“Okay. Just…nothing that involves tormenting Cookies, causing destruction, or anything along those lines,” Pure Vanilla Cookie said. “So what do you want?”
This was a perfect opportunity for Shadow Milk Cookie. “Hmm. What do I want…” With his hands behind his back, he approached Pure Vanilla Cookie with an air of confidence. “What do I want…” He placed a hand on Pure Vanilla’s shoulder and leaned in close, staring at him intently.
Pure Vanilla Cookie met his gaze and stood in place, but the smirk on Shadow Milk Cookie’s face was making him a little nervous. He had no idea what he was planning.
The next time Shadow Milk Cookie spoke, his voice was quiet and low. “I want…”
He closed his eyes and moved in to plant a soft kiss on Pure Vanilla Cookie’s lips. They had a delightfully sweet, rich, vanilla flavor to them. His hand reached out to brush through his hair. It was so soft and velvety like ice cream. He lightly traced down Pure Vanilla Cookie’s cheek with his finger before slowly pulling away from him.
Shadow Milk Cookie had to keep himself from laughing at Pure Vanilla Cookie’s reaction. He was blushing intensely and frozen in place, with those pretty eyes of his wide open. Every time the Cookie tried to speak, he couldn’t get any words out. He was so flabbergasted. It was priceless!
“Now we’re even,” Shadow Milk Cookie said with a smug smile.
Pure Vanilla Cookie managed to snap himself out of his stupor. “Um…yes. Uh…I suppose so...”
And with that, Shadow Milk Cookie opened a portal and backed away into it. “Until we meet again, Silly Vanilly!” Then he disappeared.
Once Shadow Milk Cookie left, Pure Vanilla Cookie walked over to sit on his bed, lost in thought. It was a nice kiss, very gentle and sweet. He lightly touched his lips. A delicate, tangy flavor of blueberries still lingered on them. This was an odd stunt for Shadow Milk Cookie to pull. The kiss was just to get back at him for his mistake…right? Unless that was being used as an excuse. He knew Shadow Milk Cookie was rarely honest with his feelings by now.
Well, no point in dwelling on it. It was best to not put too much meaning in the kiss for now.
He looked over at the plushie sitting in the chair, then made a small, quiet chuckle while shaking his head. “I really need to pay more attention next time.”