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“Black Sapphire Cookie,” his Master spoke, observing the cookie with his usual manic stare. “I’ve heard through the grapevine that you let a certain group of particularly brave cookies escape.”
From where he knelt on the floor, Black Sapphire didn’t look up to meet Shadow Milk Cookie’s gaze. “Apologies, Master,” he muttered. “They were too strong to handle for me alone. If I’d had Candy Apple—“
“Candy Apple is currently tucked away into a deck of tarot cards.” Shadow Milk said flippantly, cutting him off. “I expected you to handle this on your own.” His grin grew only more manic. “For that, don’t you agree that you need a little discipline?”
Master’s disciplines were always unusually cruel and somewhat mind breaking. Black Sapphire shuddered.
Shadow Milk Cookie raised his hand.
“Wait— Master,” Black Sapphire stammered, a pathetic, last ditch attempt. “I’m sorry.”
Shadow Milk Cookie seemed to muse over this for a moment. “You’re very good at apologizing,” he remarked. “And not very good at actually getting the job done.”
He snapped, and Black Sapphire Cookie was no longer himself.
Ball-jointed limbs fell slack and useless, his body pitching backward and landing with a soft thump. The room swelled to twice, thrice, quadruple its usual size as Black Sapphire shrunk to roughly an eighth of his usual height. His newly-hinged jaw creaked open on a vacant expression, a poor facsimile of his usual smirk.
Shadow Milk Cookie leaned down in front of him, staring at the stringless puppet with a hint of amusement on his face. “Much better, wouldn’t you say?”
Black Sapphire Cookie tried to communicate his discomfort and remorse, to twitch his face, anything. Nothing happened.
“Nothing to say?” Shadow Milk asked with mock concern. “Well, I suppose I’ll just leave you to stew a bit. How does a day sound?” And when Black Sapphire obviously didn’t respond, the Beast only laughed and floated away, leaving Black Sapphire on the floor.
He lay there, abandoned, for a minute or two before something happened.
The door creaked open, and in walked Pure Vanilla Cookie— or whatever was left of him, he supposed.
The healer leaned over Black Sapphire Cookie with his usual blank expression, but his hands were infinitely gentle as he scooped the puppet into his arms and held him against his chest, carrying him out of the room.
Why? Black Sapphire wanted to ask, even as his body stayed useless and limp. What are you doing?
A flight of stairs later, Black Sapphire found himself in Pure Vanilla Cookie’s room, being set down upon a plush armchair.
Pure Vanilla Cookie’s intense eyes scanned him over, and Black Sapphire Cookie wanted to squirm uncomfortably at having his sort of former enemy have him at his disposal at a moment when he was so vulnerable.
Two fingers softly clicked his jaw shut, then carded through his hair once. A blanket was thrown over Black Sapphire, tucked carefully around his ball-jointed and useless body.
What in the name of the Witches?
Why was Pure Vanilla being so… nice to him? He’d half-expected the healer to throw him around the room or something, or at least rip off an arm or two.
The times when Shadow Milk Cookie was particularly mad, he would go beyond leaving him abandoned on the ground for hours and instead make a show of puppeting him around, removing limbs whenever he felt like it.
So why?
Why was Pure Vanilla Cookie pulling a book from the shelf and reading out loud to him?
Admittedly, it was a nice distraction. Black Sapphire Cookie felt himself zoning out— he couldn’t exactly sleep in this form, but could at least more or less disassociate.
The older cookie had a soft voice, calming and kind even when partially corrupted like this. It made a sick guilt claw at Black Sapphire’s stomach for tormenting the healer as he had.
It might have been minutes or hours later when there was a knock on the door that Pure Vanilla didn’t answer. He waited a few moments before swinging it open and pulling a tray of food into his room.
And again— before even considering the food, Pure Vanilla gently pulled Black Sapphire’s jaw open again; perhaps checking if he could eat?
As far as he was aware, he couldn’t, and Pure Vanilla seemed to come to this same conclusion. The healer’s face twitched in minute dissatisfaction, before slowly closing Black Sapphire’s jaw again.
Pure Vanilla set to eating his food slowly, almost mournfully, in a corner of the room that was nearly hidden from Black Sapphire’s gaze.
Again — what?
The healer should be gloating, mocking Black Sapphire for his helplessness, making a show of eating the food in front of him.
Not getting upset that Black Sapphire couldn’t eat.
He might be going insane.
A short while later, Pure Vanilla dropped the tray outside of the door, and set his sights on Black Sapphire once more. At this point, the sun had sunk low below the horizon, bathing the Spire in night.
Gentle hands lifted the puppet-cookie, peeling away layers of shrunken clothing with respectfully averted eyes. Black Sapphire Cookie’s pulse quickened. What was…?
The blanket from before was wrapped around him, basically swaddling Black Sapphire in the soft fabric.
Pure Vanilla Cookie held him to his chest like a child. He stared down at Black Sapphire Cookie.
His expression didn’t change, but Pure Vanilla blinked slowly down at him. “I don’t think…” he started. “I don’t think you’re a bad person, Black Sapphire Cookie.”
Sorry— what?
Black Sapphire was indignant and angry and humiliated and kind of wanted to cry at the same time.
I don’t need your sympathy! He wanted to shout. I don’t care what you think of me!
Please say it again. A smaller part of him pleaded. Please tell me I’m not irredeemable for doing what I do.
His only answer was silence, and a spare pillow seized to become a makeshift bed.
Pure Vanilla set the pillow on the armchair, and laid Black Sapphire upon it, facing upward. He stared at the ceiling as the lights flicked off.
—
Black Sapphire was roused from his half-sleep half-daze as he felt hands redress him in his clothing from yesterday.
He didn’t bother to signify that he was awake, not that he could, and simply let the hands do as they wished.
Fingers detangled his hair, a gentle washcloth scrubbed at his face, his jaw was pulled open as though he might have miraculously regained his throat and tongue and digestive system overnight.
He hadn’t. There was a displeased noise from whoever held him, and then he was being carried down the stairs again.
A red blur and a blue blur entered his vision. “Master!” Candy Apple crowed, seemingly returned to her cookie form. She hung off of Shadow Milk like a leech.
“Awe, if it isn’t my undecided in rank little minion!” Shadow Milk crooned, then turned. “And Vanilly! I see you’ve taken a liking to the little doll. I could keep him that way, if that’s how you like him~!”
“No need,” Came a voice from above him, and only then did Black Sapphire realize he was held in Pure Vanilla’s arms again, like a baby.
“Ooh!” Candy Apple stood on her tippy-toes, then plucked Black Sapphire from Pure Vanilla’s hold. “Look at you, Black Sapphire! How badly did you screw up?” She shook him a bit.
“Candy Apple,” Came Pure Vanilla’s unusually stern voice. “Give him back.”
She huffed, but deposited him back in the healer’s arms. “Booo… I was gonna see if I could pull his wings off.”
“Not like he could fly anyways,” Shadow Milk clicked his tongue, then perked up. “Ooh, that gives me the most fabulous show idea! Give him here, give him here!”
Pure Vanilla hesitated, but he couldn’t exactly argue with the Beast himself, and so passed the puppet over.
He was immediately set upon the ground, and Candy Apple settled into a criss-cross sit to watch the show. Pure Vanilla was standing not far behind her.
From above him, Shadow Milk stretched out his fingers, and blue thread descended from each to bind to Black Sapphire’s limbs. He was pulled into a standing position.
“Once upon a time,” Shadow Milk started, making Black Sapphire walk across the stage. “There was a very silly Faerie Cookie.”
“This Faerie Cookie thought he could be just like all the other Faerie Cookies, even though he couldn’t—“ Black Sapphire was hoisted into the air for a few moments, before being dropped to the floor. “Fly.”
“And so he flapped and fluttered his useless wings and tried to ignore how everyone was laughing at him.” He was steered around the stage, fuming internally. “And then the silly Faerie Cookie started to grow angry.”
“Look at you! The other Faerie Cookies chanted at him. Little useless creature! And the worst part is that they were right! He was defective!”
Stop! Black Sapphire wanted to plead. Stop, you’ve made your point!
“And so the defective Faerie raged and raged! And his anger grew so great that it sparked—“
Black Sapphire was sure he was trembling so hard that the puppet body he was in was shaking too. Pure Vanilla Cookie took a step closer, raising a hand.
“And set everything ablaze! The Faerie Village, all of the Faeries! And they begged and pleaded for forgiveness, but nothing could stop the fire now that it had started.”
That was a long time ago! Black Sapphire shook even harder, trying to curl himself into a ball even as Shadow Milk made him take front and center stage, bowing like a showman.
“Give it up for the Silly Faerie Cookie, ladies and gentlemen!” Shadow Milk whooped. “The cruelest of them all!”
A tear, a real, actual tear slipped from his eye and ran down his face.
Candy Apple surely saw it, for she gasped, and Pure Vanilla finally bridged the gap and placed a hand on Shadow Milk Cookie’s shoulder.
“Shadow Milk Cookie,” he murmured. “I believe it has been twenty-four hours. It is time for Black Sapphire’s punishment to come to an end.”
Shadow Milk Cookie checked an imaginary watch, before laughing. “So diligent, Vanilly! However, I am a cookie of my word— when I feel like it.”
He snapped, and Black Sapphire’s body was returned to him. With a bizarre feeling of déjà vu, he pitched forward, about to collide hard with the floor.
A pair of hands caught him, bundling him to their chest as though he weighed nothing. He was aware of muffled speaking above him, but was too tired to discern any voices or words.
Black Sapphire was carried somewhere, a familiar bedroom. His own.
Hands pulled the covers aside and tucked him into them, briefly checking his temperature before drawing away. A bowl of jelly stew materialized moments later, a spoon pushing at his lips.
Black Sapphire accepted the food slowly, his dry throat making the task difficult. There was gentle humming, and Black Sapphire looked up into the eyes of Pure Vanilla Cookie.
“Why…?” He croaked. Why help me? Why bother?
And Pure Vanilla smiled— actually smiled. A gentle hand cradled his face. “I’ve already said it, Black Sapphire.” he murmured. “I don’t think you’re a bad person. I think you deserve just as much love as anybody else.”
Black Sappire Cookie, already tired and humiliated and beyond the point of caring, closed his eyes and wept.