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Chapter Text

Shadow Milk Cookie's heart pounded, panic surging through him like lightning as the chains tightened around his dough. Every inch of him was bound, held in the icy grip of cold metal while they laughed.

Their laughs were dreadful, earth-shattering, piercing through him along with shards of panic and helpless abandon.

He struggled and writhed against the bonds, trying with every last bit of strength to break free, but he knew it was useless. Knew there was no hope. Knew he'd be there for as long as the witches wished him to be there and he'd once again be completely alone, completely unheard by everyone around him. 

Perhaps... it was for the best. The darkness closed in, and he slid his eyes shut in acceptance, in defeat as the last shred of light and hope disappeared.

Pure Vanilla Cookie woke with a start.

His heart thumped loudly, his breaths coming in and out shakily.

Putting a hand over his chest, he closed his eyes and took a long deep breath, attempting to calm himself.

It was only a dream—a dream of a memory he'd seen when Shadow Milk Cookie and him had merged. It'd leaked out likely without the blue cookie's knowledge, but he'd only seen glimpses back then. This dream however, it felt like Pure Vanilla had been there, experiencing it himself in real time. It felt so real.

Taking another breath, he sighed, staring up at the ceiling.

It was his ceiling, the pale yellow and blue colors of the stained-glass dome looming above him like the night sky.

It'd been three months since the incident, since Pure Vanilla had awakened, and yet, his time there was all he could seem to think about now, all he could dream about. Literally. Every night he had a dream, always from Shadow Milk Cookie's perspective. It was so consistent, but after all, it had been a very traumatizing time. It made sense why he hadn't moved on from it yet. Perhaps he never would, but at least he was safe now with his friends, in his own house, alone in his own head again.

Turning on his side, he went back to sleep.

☼ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ☽

A young Pure Vanilla Cookie sat with a book in his lap under a big shady tree. 

His eyes weren't on the book however, but a young boy his age who was sitting at a table with friends. The young boy had long, waist-length black hair with a white streak in it—hair Pure Vanilla had always stared at for far longer than a friend should stare at another friend's hair.

Gazing a moment longer, that's when he began to realize something—or rather—Shadow Milk Cookie began to realize something.

"Ugh!" Shadow Milk Cookie thought, unable to move or control the young Pure Vanilla's dough who he appeared to be inhabiting. "Can't go one night without experiencing his memories."

As he thought it, all of the young Pure Vanilla Cookie's feelings flooded his system, crowding with his own. The longing, the shame and guilt at the longing, and the eventual denial at the longing.

"Oh my god, just admit you like boys, Vanilly. This is painful to watch."

The blond cookie's thoughts entered his own. 

Perhaps I haven't been diligent enough in my studies, Pure Vanilla thought, his chest heaving, and Shadow Milk's chest heaved along with it against his will. I have not cultivated enough light magic. I have become distracted. I must study harder and these ugly thoughts will go away. I'm just jealous of Dark Cacao Cookie. That's all.

"Sweet Mercyyyyy!" Shadow Milk thought miserably. "Just wake up already you handsome blue idiot."

As if on command, the memory melted, and Shadow Milk Cookie jolted awake.

Glancing around his newly built tower quickly for a second, he groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. Brushing hair out of his eyes, the eyes in his hair blinked tiredly in response.

"Thank God," he murmured, sighing dramatically.

Something about the way he and Pure Vanilla Cookie had merged briefly back at the now crumbled Spire of Shadows, seemed to have caused lingering effects. Pure Vanilla Cookie's memories now played out every time Shadow Milk Cookie was unconscious. Every goddamn time.

He only hoped and prayed Pure Vanilla Cookie wasn't getting his memories, but he just knew that must be the case. If it was happening to him, then it was happening to Pure Vanilla. Hopefully the golden goodie two shoes didn't realize they were actual memories and wrote them off as just strange dreams...

Oh, the pure agony it would be for that Nilla to know and see everything about him. The blond was pretty good at picking up on things too...

He got up, hands shaking, (was it in fear or anger?) wondering if perhaps never sleeping again was possible. The audacity of losing his Soul Jam again only to be stuck with the uptight pure boy's memories was more than he could take. There was also the matter of all that'd gone down in the Spire of Shadows between the two of them...

"With time this should all faaaade," he spoke aloud to himself reassuringly, shoving down all the feelings that came with that dreaded time when he thought Pure Vanilla was his. "That or ten thousand years from now Vanilly will finally run out of memories..."

Throwing his head back, he groaned again loudly, wishing to burn in the oven rather than let that blond traitor roam free with what was rightfully his.

"I need my Soul Jam back..." 

Chapter Text

"Pure Vanilla Cookie! Pure Vanilla Cookie!"

The blond cookie in question blinked up at Ginger Brave Cookie in surprise. "Uh, hmm?"

Sitting at a table under a large tent with several other cookies, Pure Vanilla looked around in a slight daze, forgetting for a second why he was there. 

"You've been distracted lately, Pure Vanilla Cookie," Wizard Cookie remarked, looking him over suspiciously.

"Oh, uh," he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I suppose I've had some trouble sleeping recently, but not to worry. There are more pressing matters at hand. You summoned me here for an emergency situation?" 

"That's right!" Ginger Brave Cookie exclaimed, taking over again. "Villages all over Dragon Hill have been attacked and infected with some kind of curse!"

"A curse?"

"It seems," Wizard Cookie added, pointing to the map on the table that listed several villages with red exes over them, "that these towns have been afflicted with eternal night, and the cookies have been experiencing nightmares of a blue clown visiting them. I'm sure you can piece together the rest..."

"A blue clown, huh," Ginger Brave said, putting a hand under his chin thoughtfully. "If only we knew one..."

Everyone looked over at him flatly.

"These are all the towns that have been affected so far?" Pure Vanilla Cookie asked, looking the map over.

"That we know of," Strawberry Cookie answered, adding nervously, "To experience e-eternal night sounds so terrifying! Is Shadow Milk Cookie more powerful at night?"

"Wait, Shadow Milk Cookie?" Ginger Brave exclaimed in surprise. "Is that who's doing this?"

"We've defeated him before," Pure Vanilla reassured Strawberry Cookie. "We'll do it again, and this time I'm of sound mind. We cannot fail. We'll meet him head on, and I have an idea where he might be headed next."

"You do?" Wizard Cookie asked.

"Looks like he intends to hit every town in Dragon Hill. There's only one left. Here." He pointed to the town not yet marked with an ex.

"Very clever!" Wizard Cookie cried. "We'll be stealthy about it too, so he'll have no idea we're coming!"

☼ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ☽

"Do you think he'll come this time, Master Shadow Milk Cookie?" Black Sapphire Cookie asked, standing at Shadow Milk's side on a hill overlooking the town where their next unsuspecting victims awaited. 

"Oh, you worry too much, my purple friend!" the blue cookie exclaimed, floating an inch higher to get a good look at who he'd be tormenting next. "If it's not this one, it's the next one. Or the next one; who can say! Regardless, he won't keep his precious citizens waiting. I spent enough time in that light-filled head of his to know he won't stand by while these gnats suffer." An excited little giggle bubbled up into this throat. "Oh, I just love a good stakeout and of course, a carefully crafted kidnapping mission! Oh! Such fun!" 

He had to admit, he felt better than he had in months. Tormenting these citizens was such a relaxing way to blow off steam and a major ego boost. Not to mention, he'd be seeing the pure boy himself brought low and subdued once and for all, and the terrible memories by night would be over at last. 

"Indeed!" Black Sapphire Cookie agreed cheerily. "You'll be supreme ruler in no time, Sire!" 

"We set the bait," Candy Apple Cookie added excitedly behind them, rubbing her hands together deviously, "and he comes running!"

"Oh, good times you two!" Shadow Milk exclaimed, slinging an arm around each cookie. "It's been so long since we've had a good game to play! I'll strike the town at nightfall and you two begin the arson while I wait for him to appear!"

"Oh ho ho ho hee hee heee!" Candy Apple Cookie squealed. "Yes, YES! I would burn a thousand villages for you, Master Shadow Milk Cookie! ♡♡"

"It will be a grand and theatrical fire, I'm sure!" Black Sapphire chimed in. "You can count on us, Sire!"

A small warmth filled Shadow Milk's chest as he looked at each of them, and as soon as he recognized the affection he was currently feeling towards his goons, his smile sank, and he crushed the feeling instantly. 

That was happening more... Him feeling things. Ever since him. Ever since what happened...

☽ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ☼

Unable to sleep, Pure Vanilla Cookie paced around his tent, camping with the other cookies to be ready to enact the next day's plan. His thoughts were on the past, however—of Shadow Milk Cookie—of the time they spent together.

It was a confusing mess of emotions, mostly of fear and hopelessness, but amongst it was something else. Something new and raw that scared him more than anything else he'd faced there. 

When they merged... Oh, it was like coming back to himself. He'd felt whole. So complete, at home almost... and in that particular moment, he'd felt everything Shadow Milk had, and knew the excitement and repressed euphoria that Shadow Milk had felt at the prospect of them spending eternity together.

Suggesting they be together had been a trick, yes, but feeling all that pent-up joy... it left Pure Vanilla feeling guilty, or was it sad, for how lonely the blue cookie had been his entire life, how lonely he'd been his entire life. 

Despite everything Shadow Milk Cookie had done to him, Pure Vanilla wanted to dive deeper into that strange, complex mind. He wanted to fill it with all his light magic. He wanted to make Shadow Milk Cookie feel that much joy again and to feel it in return. He wanted to—

"Now you are mine!" Shadow Milk's words sounded in his head, and something in Pure Vanilla panicked at this specific memory's presence. He attempted to shove it away. 

No. No, no. Not now, he thought, shaking his head slightly. It was all so I could escape. It didn't... it didn't mean anything.

They were in the spire. Shadow Milk Cookie was looming over him, holding him by the waist with one hand, flashing a confident, borderline manic smile, pulling him in closer...

Clutching his chest, Pure Vanilla sighed shakily, knowing this was going to be another long, sleepless night.

Chapter Text

Shadow Milk Cookie beamed a bright smile into the mirror, adjusting the little crown on his head before striding confidently out of his cheerily decorated, light-filled bedroom.

"Today's the day, Milky!" he said aloud, grabbing his glittering staff with the Soul Jam embedded in it. "They can't turn me away this time, not with this new project!" Grabbing a thick manuscript off his desk, he promptly left the room.

As he walked down the long, ornate hallways of the castle where framed predecessors lined the walls, he passed a few posh looking figures wearing long fancy robes.

"Good morning! Good morning!" he greeted each of them, and each cookie ignored him without so much as a blink as they passed. "Such bright faces!"

When he finally reached a fancy golden door, he swallowed. Taking a deep breath, his nerves got the better of him for a moment before the big smile returned. He pushed inside.

"Oh! Fount of Knowledge," a nasally voice boomed. "You're here. Good. We needed a break from important matters."

The backhanded comment made his eye twitch, but he kept his smile intact. He came and stood before the three witches who looked down on him from their thrones with unimpressed looks. "I'm here to present my newest creation!" he exclaimed, flinging one hand out theatrically, holding his beast of a manuscript with the other.

One of them snorted. "Another one? Knowledge, what have we told you about your presentations?"

He blinked, then glanced away. "To leave the creating to the more capable cookies."

"Precisely. We did not create you to fill your head with useless ideas. All this innovation and creativity... it's not you. You are Knowledge and Knowledge reads and learns then spreads Truth to others. How else will Cookiekind know truth from error?"

"I know, but I—"

"We've inquired about your studies," the third witch yet to have spoken interrupted, "and your marks aren't as high as they could be. You were caught drawing in class again instead of reciting the cookie laws."

"They were blueprints for the presentation!" he exclaimed, feeling a frantic flame light up in his gut as he flipped through his manuscript. "I needed to be ready for this meeting! Please, just give me a minute of your time and I will show you my thesis: Life Amongst the Stars!"

Impatient expressions painted the three witches' faces.

The eldest spoke next. "Knowledge, these dreams are not for you to have. What would Knowledge need to know about the stars when your domain is here, child?" 

He flinched. "I'm not a child. I'm two thousand years old."

"Ha!" the second witch laughed. "Precisely... I was five thousand when my first project went through, and I am a literal creator of the cookies you know today."

"You still have so much to learn," the eldest added, "and let's face it, what you have learned is abysmal. Life amongst the stars? This is what you have to show for yourself?"

"I... haven't even presented it yet."

"And you never will." With a snap of her fingers, the stack of papers in Shadow Milk's hand burst into flames in an instant.

He blinked at his now empty hand. "H-huh?"

"There, now there's nothing distracting you from your studies."

"My—" the remaining ash of what was once his manuscript slipped through his fingers. "M-my work! M-my...I... That was over two centuries worth of findings! I—"

"This is a lesson Fount of Knowledge," the witches chanted in unison. "Return to your true ways and learn your studies as you were intended to or face our wrath. Now go."

Blinking in frozen disbelief, he watched as magic swirled around him which teleported him. He reappeared outside the room again. The golden door was shut.

He stared. He stared and stared and stared at that door. It was probably half an hour that passed in silence as he continued to stare before he looked down at his ash-covered hands.

This was supposed to be the moment they listened, his moment to finally put his ideas and creations out into the world, and now... it was nothing. 

He put his face in filthy hands. 

A hideous laugh bubbled up inside him. The unnerving shrieks left his mouth, making many people walking by stop and stare for a moment before continuing on their way anxiously.

The loud, unhinged laughter died down as he sunk to his knees.

"They want me to be Truth?" His hands shook with anger, the splitting smile nearly cutting his face in half. "By the time I'm done, no one will know 'truth from error,' not even the witches themselves. They. Will. Pay."

Pure Vanilla Cookie jerked awake. 

The rage from dream Shadow Milk boiled within his own chest, and it was difficult to tame as he looked around his tent in confusion. 

Remembering where he was, he released a big sigh and sat up.

So, he had finally gone to sleep. 

Unsurprisingly, another Shadow Milk Cookie dream had awaited him, which meant he was riled up again. The dreams were getting so oddly specific, almost like he was watching a play unfold. His dreams had never been this cohesive before. Trauma did that to a person, he supposed.

That's when he heard a commotion coming from outside. Shouting and sounds of distant panic.

"Pure Vanilla Cookie!" Ginger Brave cried, and a few seconds later, the simple cookie burst inside the tent. "The town is being attacked, just as you said it would!"

He stood at once. "Let's make haste. We don't want anyone else to get hurt. We need to find Shadow Milk Cookie as soon as possible."

"Yes, Pure Vanilla Cookie! Right away!" He saluted before turning to leave, then halted when Pure Vanilla gasped in pain.

Something shifted in his chest, like a surge of energy, forcing him to clutch his Soul Jam. 

"Pure Vanilla Cookie!" Ginger Brave cried. "What's happening? Are you okay?" 

The intense feeling tugged and pulled and pulled and pulled on him, leading him, begging him to go. To go... somewhere. The Soul Jam was latching onto something, beckoning Pure Vanilla to it, pleading him to find it. Something, or someone.

"Pure Vanilla Cookie?" Ginger Brave asked again, and the blond took a deep breath, his hands trembling.

"He's... he's here all right." 

Chapter Text

Shadow Milk Cookie and his crew lounged behind a half-burned building while chaos reigned throughout the town. The blue cookie's strange clown creations stalked the streets—living playing cards, animals dressed as jesters, and other oddities of his own making—threatening cookies while wrecking everything in sight.

"All's going well, I presume, Sire," Black Sapphire Cookie prodded casually, leaning one hip against a wall made of cake while examining his microphone.

"When do we get to join in?" Candy Apple Cookie chimed in, standing a little too close for comfort to Shadow Milk Cookie. "When do I get to be the distraction!?"

Shadow Milk whisked out of her presence, hovering over a downed, charred bread cart with a grin. "Soon enough!" he sang. "As soon as those fools show up to save the day, which," he made a watch with six hands appear on his wrist and grinned down at it, "should be any moment now! Oh, I can't wai— huh?" He blinked, something like a whisper grazing over a spot on his chest.

Putting a hand over his Soul Jam, his smile fell.

It was a strange, familiar echo. With another jolt, it turned into a crying, yearning resonance, wanting desperately for him to come hither, to the point he nearly listened to it, that is, until he sensed a presence, and it clicked.

"What's wrong, Master Shadow Milk Cookie?" Black Sapphire asked.

"The Soul Jam..." he grumbled. "It wants us to merge again." 

"Us?" 

"Me and... Pure Vanilla Cookie." He said the name like it was poison on his tongue. "The Soul Jam got one taste of being whole and complete again, and now it's unstable, desperate." A mad laugh ripped from his mouth. "It wants to merge so badly... Fine! I'll let it merge, once I've taken it from his lifeless dough!"

"This... merging thing," Black Sapphire said, watching him warily. "Is that what happened at the Spire of Shado—"

"Uh, uh, uh!" Shadow Milk scolded, turning on his subordinate with a crazed look in his eye, getting into Black Sapphire Cookie's face. "What have I said about bringing that place up? Hm?"

"O-of course, Sire—"

"We live in New New Spire now!"

"Yes, Master Shadow Milk Cookie, and it is far lovelier than any spire we've ever inhabited before! So then..." he cleared his throat, "what will you do, about the unstable Soul Jam?" 

"You mean my unstable Soul Jam."

"Y-yes. Your Soul Jam, Master Shadow Milk Cookie. Do we continue with the plan or...?"

Something like a silent gasp ghosted over his Soul Jam like a shiver. Hearing an unmistakable, all too familiar ringing, Shadow Milk spun in a half circle, eyes wide.

There in the distance, he spotted Pure Vanilla Cookie at once on the top of the moonlit hill. The wind blew through his waist length blond waves, his calm pretty face searching for something, though he hadn't spotted Shadow Milk yet. 

The Light of Truth's Soul Jam was so loud, ringing in the same way it had when Pure Vanilla Cookie was the Truthless Recluse, and his friends had been in danger. It seemed to be calling out and reverberating with something inside Shadow Milk himself. 

They'd been one at the Spire of Shadows, and now they were fragments; fragments that wanted to be together again at all costs.

The flood of emotions he'd felt when he thought Pure Vanilla Cookie was his—another Soul Jam of Deceit by his side forever—rushed over him once again. These feelings flared in the sight of his other half. Gripping his chest, he gritted his teeth and fell to his knees at the increased intensity of it.

"Master Shadow Milk Cookie!" his two followers exclaimed in unison. 

Blinking through the flurry of painful emotions, he tried pushing them down, getting rid of them, denying them, but they were so overwhelming, a small whimper left his mouth.

"Master Shadow Milk Cookie!" Black Sapphire's voice cut through some of the agonizing haze. "What's happening? Is it your Soul Jam? Is Pure Vanilla Cookie getting into your head again?"

Something snapped, and he looked up at him quickly. "What?"

Black Sapphire blinked back at him, seeming to realize what he'd said.

"You think he's in my head?" Standing, a blinding, red hot rage filled his lungs. "There is only one cookie of deceit," his voice was low and dark, "and that is me, and that's all there will ever be!"

"Of course, Sire. I didn't mean to—"

"Forget the plan. I'm ending this."

☽ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ☼

Pure Vanilla Cookie followed the pull of his Soul Jam, narrowing in on a spot in the middle of the half-ruined town, not sure what else to do considering how intensely the Soul Jam was ripping at his chest. The closer he got to his target, the more emotions—tangled and messy—began washing over him in nauseating waves.  

As he tried making sense of it all, attempting to sort through the increasingly intense emotional mess, he became acutely aware of what he clearly identified as Shadow Milk Cookie himself approaching very quickly. He sensed it before he saw it. 

Shadow Milk hurtled toward him. Pure Vanilla barely had time to lift a hand before blocking the attack. 

Blue shadows and light magic collided in an explosion of color and sound, swallowing half the town in chaos. As soon as the powerful magic began to clear, Pure Vanilla Cookie was waiting, and so was Shadow Milk. 

There was silence between them as they launched their next attacks, magic erupting between them, threatening to end anyone close enough to get caught in the explosive battle. There were no words exchanged, Shadow Milk barely visible between strikes as they went back and forth in such rapid succession, Pure Vanilla forgot to breathe. 

This close, he could practically feel how upset the blue cookie was. There was so much anger behind his blows, and Pure Vanilla had to admit he too was overwhelmed by the sudden reunion after how things had ended between them. 

Everything was happening too fast, the emotions too tangled to unravel, so instead, Pure Vanilla channeled his feelings into this next attack, more than he'd intended to. 

Sending out a blinding blast, he heard Shadow Milk Cookie gasp, then watched as the blue cookie was thrown off his feet, going flying. He went careening across the town, crashing into a candy cane wall with a sickening crack before crumpling to the ground.

Pure Vanilla closed his eyes for a moment, exhaling an exasperated breath before quickly making his way over. 

Since acquiring his awakened form, Pure Vanilla's senses were heightened, as was his power. Adding whatever was happening with his Soul Jam, he hadn't meant to expend so much magic at once. Sensing his depleted reserves, he could tell another blast like that wouldn't be possible for a long while.

He couldn't let Shadow Milk Cookie know that though...

Approaching the stilled but still breathing form, he realized Shadow Milk had been knocked unconscious.

Chapter Text

Pure Vanilla Cookie, now a young adult dressed in school robes, stood over a silver bridge, his thoughts far away.

As soon as Shadow Milk Cookie heard such thoughts, he screamed internally.

"A memory, now of all times?" Shadow Milk thought miserably, helplessly looking at the ground through the moping golden cookie's eyes. "Wake up, Milky, you idiot! You were just about to win the battle against this imbecile!"

Pure Vanilla (and therefore Shadow Milk too) sighed defeatedly. The blond was currently in the throes of an intricate fantasy.

In this fantasy—which Shadow Milk was regrettably forced to view as well—Pure Vanilla was standing in a bed of clouds with Dark Cacao Cookie. 

The two of them floated in the air together, wearing beautiful, flowing silver robes. Holding hands, streams of flowers twirled and swirled all around them. Pure Vanilla's heart beat faster as soon as Dark Cacao brought himself closer.

Closing his eyes, he waited until their lips met, his chest lifting with prickles of excitement, forcing Shadow Milk to feel the same. He kissed Dark Cacao Cookie back fiercely, gripping the front of his cloak while sighing. As soon as a cedar brown hand slid off one side of his robe to reveal a bare shoulder, Pure Vanilla shivered, gasping when lips found the exposed skin.

"Hooooboi!" Shadow Milk thought, never having seen this memory before despite all the time he'd spent in Pure Vanilla's head at the Spire of Shadows. That probably meant this moment was especially repressed. "Wowie! Is it hot in here?" Experiencing the imagined escalating kiss and resulting heated arousal, Shadow Milk couldn't help but feel disappointment at who he was forced to experience this all with. "Terrible taste if you ask me, Vanilly."

"Pure Vanilla Cookie?"

The fantasy melted at once and they were back on the silver bridge where Pure Vanilla started in surprise at the cookie who'd addressed him.

"White Lily Cookie!" he shouted, anxiety replacing every other emotion as he looked her over nervously, frantically shaking the steamy daydream from his head. "You came!"

"Of course. We are dear friends after all."

"Yes, well, thank you... for coming..."

"Hm hm," she answered awkwardly, and there was silence. "You wanted to ask me something?"

"Y-yes. Yes, I did." Clearing his throat, he stood a little straighter, and Shadow Milk wondered what all the nerves were about. He didn't like being left in the dark, especially since he thought he knew everything about Pure Vanilla. 

"White Lily Cookie," Pure Vanilla went on. "We have... well, we have been friends for a while, like you said. It has come to my attention, my... um, my feelings for you."

"What?" Shadow Milk thought at the exact same time White Lily exclaimed the same thing out loud.

Pure Vanilla took her hands in both of his. "Will you marry me?"

Pure shock flashed over her face as well as flooded through Shadow Milk. "What? Marry?"

"Yes. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I feel I cannot with anyone else."

"That's not what your wet dream with Dark Cacao showed just now..." Shadow Milk Cookie thought dubiously.

"Pure Vanilla Cookie..." she said carefully. "Where is this coming from? You've never showed any interest in women before—"

"I have!" he cut her off, panic shooting through his system like lightning. "I've liked lots of women. Lots. You... just happen to be the one I want most."

"So he has lied before he met me..." Shadow Milk thought amusedly.

"I don't know about that," White Lily stated, and Pure Vanilla's face fell into an anxious look of what Shadow Milk felt as fear. 

"No, really, I—"

"Pure Vanilla Cookie." She searched his face. "I'm sorry, but I just know that isn't true. And anyway, I don't feel the same."

"Y-you... You don't?"

She slipped her hands out of his. "I'm sorry. Your friendship means the world to me, and I hope this hasn't changed that."

"I... No." His insides collapsed in on themselves, not in heartbreak, but dread. "Of course not. I... I will gladly remain your friend. Always."

She nodded. "I... I'm going back now. Thank you for confiding this in me."

Before he could reply she was off.

Self-loathing flooded his entire system at once. 

What is wrong with you? Pure Vanilla thought. And thinking about Dark Cacao again right before... You can't... This confession was supposed to be the solution. 

His stomach tied itself up, a knot forming in his throat. 

It was the right thing to do. The correct thing. We're the same age! Same smarts. We work well together and most importantly, she's a girl, and I'm a boy. That's how it should be. What they all expect.

As soon as White Lily Cookie was out of sight, he put his face in his hands. What other choice do I have? Tears formed in his eyes, and Shadow Milk hated that he couldn't shake off the hopeless, desolated feelings they were both sharing. 

I don't want to be alone. 

Shadow Milk Cookie's eyes slid open and as soon as they did, pain rushed in from a sore spot on his head. 

Groaning first in pain, then anger, he pulled himself up from the rubble that'd been created from his impact against the wall.

Ginger brat, wizard fool, and strawberry nervous wreck slowly approached him, fierce looks on their faces, readied to fight. Behind them, other cookies joined in, also ready to take him on.

Shadow Milk scoffed, never seeing such a pathetic sight in all his life when Pure Vanilla approached, holding out a hand.

"Don't attack," he commanded, ushering for them to get behind him. "I'll handle this."

"But, Pure Vanilla Cookie!" ginger brat exclaimed. "You shouldn't take him on alone again! Remember what happened last time when he took you!"

"I must agree, Pure Vanilla Cookie," wizard fool chimed in. "Besides, you haven't been sleeping well! You're not at full strength."

"I'm sound enough of mind and body for this," he replied. Walking forward, the other cookies stepped back, making space for him. "A few bad dreams can't hurt me nor shake my resolve."

Shadow Milk Cookie squinted at that. So, he thinks they're just dreams. That was at least a relief. Brushing his blue, messed-up hair out of his face, he tried standing, but stumbled, forced to take a knee.

How had Pure Vanilla knocked him down so hard again? Perhaps this new awakened form was making him extra powerful, or perhaps, he'd just used up everything on that blow and had nothing left.

This seemed the most likely option. 

"Well, Vanilly?" Shadow Milk egged on, taking a moment to sneer with laughter. "Shall we continue?"

Holding his blue staff out to the side to prepare for his next move, Shadow Milk froze when Pure Vanilla came up and crouched right in front of him, their faces now inches apart. 

The Soul Jam rang so loudly now. If the pull from before was strong, it now took everything to not jump into this light god's arms then and there and become one again.

The temptation was all but unendurable.

"I was serious about my offer for friendship," Pure Vanilla said gently, and Shadow Milk couldn't look away from the kind, piercing mismatched eyes. 

Pure Vanilla lifted a hand, creating a small flash of light. In his fingers he now held a golden sunflower. Softly, he slid it into Shadow Milk's hair.

 "Think about it," he added gently, his hand lingering there for a second.

Shadow Milk Cookie stared. He had no words. The gentle tone and touch would be his undoing. It didn't help the damn ringing was practically bursting his eardrums, nearly splitting his chest open with want. 

Before he could respond, Black Sapphire Cookie was by his side in an instant, grabbing him by the arm as a portal opened beside them.

"Time to go, Master Shadow Milk Cookie!"

In a flash, they were gone, but not before Shadow Milk shared one last bewildered glance with this cookie who haunted his every waking and non-waking moments. 

The absence of the Soul Jam was felt the moment the portal closed behind them, and in the ringing's place was left nothing but empty, bottomless longing.

Chapter Text

"What now?" Wizard Cookie asked, sitting at the round table with the others where another meeting was being held. "What're our next steps?"

Pure Vanilla Cookie stared down at his hands in silence, lost in thought. The Soul Jam had finally calmed down, though he couldn't say the same for himself. Seeing Shadow Milk Cookie collapsed and hurt like that, it'd made him want to heal him, and hold him, and— 

 His heart stuttered, and he startled when his name was called.

"What do you think Pure Vanilla Cookie?"

"Huh? Oh." He cleared his throat, looking around at them all for the first time. "Well... Shadow Milk Cookie is not so easily taken down. We stay on our guard and figure out where he's going next. Now," he stood quickly, "I need to rest."

"Wha— Already?" Wizard Cookie complained. "We let them get away again! Shouldn't we devise a new plan and—" 

He turned from them, already walking away. "Nothing we can do now. He's long gone, and we have no idea what he's planning next. Best to wait and listen." 

"Well, okay, then. Have a good n— aaaand he's gone."

Pure Vanilla Cookie was freaking out.

A tight, twisting mass swirled in his stomach, spreading up through his whole dough, making his head swim. 

Who knew where the blue cookie had gone off to, where that portal had taken him. Shadow Milk Cookie could be anywhere by now, and by his latest reaction to seeing Pure Vanilla... it was safe to say he was not feeling the same way about having a friendly reunion.

Pure Vanilla on the other hand: he wanted to see him again. It was crazy but he wanted to see Shadow Milk Cookie so badly. He wanted to see him if it killed him.

His chest ached, and he gripped his Soul Jam desperately.

Shadow Milk Cookie's Soul Jam had called out to him, leading Pure Vanilla right to him. It'd been so loud, so strong, he could still remember the intense feeling. What did it mean? Was his Soul Jam affecting his emotions, blinding him to reason? It'd been so intense earlier, more than anything he'd experienced before. Had Shadow Milk done something to it to make it react that way; to make him feel this delusional? A spell perhaps, or a curse?

Flashes of memories invaded his head. 

The Spire of Shadows. All the hours he'd spent with Shadow Milk Cookie. 

He'd experienced the other cookie's feelings when Shadow Milk didn't know it, having felt Shadow Milk's longing and obsession. It'd been more than want for his Soul Jam, but want for him, Pure Vanilla Cookie. 

His thoughts inevitably turned to the moment they'd shared right before merging, when Shadow Milk held him in his arms and time slowed and his heart had been beating so quickly he thought he'd pass out... 

He sank onto his little makeshift bed in his tent, running hands through his long hair. A sigh left his mouth.

This needed to stop. He needed to get a grip. 

Shadow Milk didn't feel that way about him anymore, and anyway, it didn't matter because it hadn't meant anything anyway. He'd done what he had to in order to keep Shadow Milk from taking his Soul Jam. Whatever happened in that spire was just his survival instincts kicking in. It didn't mean anything.

Besides... 

Shadow Milk had tormented him, stripped him of his identity, made him Truthless Recluse. It was madness seeking out someone like that... wanting to be with him at all hours... dreaming of him every night... 

He froze.

Would he see Shadow Milk the moment he fell asleep? There hadn't been a single night since the Spire of Shadows that he hadn't. It seemed inevitable at this point. He couldn't escape him, couldn't stop thinking about him whether he was awake or asleep...

He swallowed.

He'd barely slept the night before. There was no way he could go another without sleeping. Not to mention, even if he did, the next night would be waiting for him and so would Shadow Milk Cookie. 

He laid down, staring helplessly up at the tent, heart thumping loudly in his chest.

Perhaps this was his fate. Perhaps there was nothing to do but wait for the dreams to come and accept them for what they were, embrace them as he had embraced deceit. Was this another test?

What if fighting it made it worse? Perhaps if he let go, the dreams would stop and so would the obsession... Yes. That must've been it.

Making his decision, he tentatively let his body sink into the soft blankets, breathing out slowly. Hesitating for a moment, he allowed his mind to go blank, resigning himself to his fate. Immediately feeling the exhaustion take over, he could tell it wouldn't be long now.

Pangs of terror. Flashes of chains and the tree. 

As soon as Pure Vanilla Cookie felt Shadow Milk's desperation, he became aware at once that he was dreaming.

No, I can't be trapped again! Shadow Milk's desperate thoughts filled his own. I barely endured the witches' capture. I won't be isolated again. Not again. Not again. 

As the last sliver of light between a gap in the tree's bark disappeared, Shadow Milk vowed he'd kill the moment he was released. He would take back his power, and no one was going to stand in his way. That much was certain. 

Pure Vanilla watched as time passed, feeling everything Shadow Milk did. The rage, hurt, pure boredom, and most of all, the constant reminder that he was utterly alone. Sure, the other beasts were in there with him, but he could neither talk to them nor reach out to them in anyway. He was entirely on his own.

It went on like that endlessly with no hope of change in sight.

He didn't know what day it was, how long it'd been, or where one thought started and another ended. It all blended together into madness, and a soft breeze from outside the tree was the most entertainment he'd have in a week—or was it a month?

There wasn't much else to think about then his revenge, of how he was going to disembowel every cookie who'd hurt him. These admissions went on to stew and fester for centuries while he waited. Waited. Waited. 

When the tree opened, he was more than ready. Ready to strike.

Right before bursting out, however, he saw something that gave him pause.

Pure Vanilla blinked when he realized it was himself he was staring at.

Pre-awakened Pure Vanilla Cookie stood there with his friends, staring up at the tree with wide eyes, and Shadow Milk realized who this was at once. He'd recognize his Soul Jam anywhere, and it was stuck on this... this blond.

The Jam was his, not this random cookie's. It was all he had left to claim. Everything else had been taken from him. 

Oh, he was going to destroy this pathetic gnat and reclaim what was rightfully his if it was the last thing he ever did.

The dream shifted again. It moved forward to the moment Shadow Milk entered Pure Vanilla's headspace where the Light of Truth was supposed to speak with him. Once inside, Shadow Milk looked around curiously. 

Huh. It was different than he expected. 

Shadow Milk felt a part of himself in this mind. It was so strange... 

Even odder still, he did not feel an overwhelming sense of self-righteous conviction from the blond, not any judgmental outlook on others and their decisions. From what he saw, there was hardly any conviction at all. This Pure Vanilla's values were so changeable, so flimsy. It was almost too easy.

I'd be no fun, after all, just taking the Soul Jam outright with such a malleable subject. Perhaps, there was need to rush. What harm was there in playing with his food a little? 

Besides, he couldn't resist watching such a pretty face break.

Chapter Text

Shadow Milk Cookie had been stewing over it for weeks. The damn golden sunflower, that is. Oh. And the fact he didn't get his Soul Jam back. That too.

He sat at an elaborately decorated, ostentatious desk where he'd been pouring over dozens of different books and scrolls in his own private library. His eyes flicked up for a second, narrowing in on the pristine, glowing flower laying there on his desk. He glared at it hatefully before snatching it up in two fingers.

It didn't make any damn sense.

Why had Pure Vanilla let him go? Why was he still being kind to him? After everything, he still wanted them to be friends? It was ridiculous. Shadow Milk had destroyed villages. He'd tormented Pure Vanilla for so long in that tower and threatened his friends. There was no logical reason for him to ask for friendship other than it being some kind of setup.

He twirled the sunflower by the stem thoughtfully. 

Not to mention... Pure Vanilla still didn't know they were sharing memories. Hopefully, he hadn't seen anything too revealing yet...

"La la la la!" he projected loudly. "You're losing focus, Milky! Less thinking, more reading!"

He continued to fiddle with the flower in one hand as he poured over the different texts. He muttered nonsense aloud to himself until his finger froze over golden words on an ancient scroll.

"The Sun and Moon Chamber," he muttered. "Blah, blah, blah... 'Fractured Soul Jams may be sealed into the original holder by completing the ritual...' Yes, YES! This is exactly it!"

Standing, he did a little spin in the air. Holding the sunflower in both hands, he grinned down at it evilly. "To be parted from your Soul Jam, Nilly... You'll be nothing without it!" A giggle escaped his lips. "You'll pay once and for all and I will never have to think about you and your dumb blond head ever again!"

Lifting the flower above his head with a wicked grin, he went to toss it into the nearby fireplace filled with blue flames, but hesitated.

"Ever... again." He stayed there, frozen in place then flinched back into motion. His arm tensed up, ready to throw it, but he didn't. He couldn't. He... 

Sinking back into his chair, he stared at the flower, clutching it to his chest. So much twisted emotion rose up inside him and he just let it wash over him.

"Oh Vanilly..." He stroked a finger over one of the petals. "...Why did it have to be you?"

"Er, Master Shadow Milk Cookie?"

Shadow Milk whipped his head to side. Black Sapphire Cookie had his head poked into the doorway, a perplexed expression on his purple face.

The flower was hastily dropped on the desk. "Black Sapphire Cookie! What a pleasant surprise!" His voice darkened. "What have I said about disturbing me while I study?"

"Ah, of course, Sire, only..."

"What, what is it?" Shadow Milk stood from the chair, hovering in the air impatiently.

"Candy Apple Cookie and I are wondering what our next step is. It's been two weeks since the Dragon Hill debacle and we're wanting to know—"

"Wanting to know what?" he snapped. "Sapphire, darling, let me do all the thinking and planning and deciding and all that. You two have it good here. Are you dissatisfied with your treatment?"

"Not at all, Master Shadow Milk Cookie! It's just—"

"Just what?"

He hesitated. "Well, it's just not like you. We normally have a day packed full of tortures and games and sieges. We've been stalling for such a long time..."

"Oh boo hoo! You're complaining I'm not giving you an entertaining enough itinerary? Not everything is a game, Sapphire."

His jaw dropped. "S-sire... N...not a game...? Are you feeling okay?"

Irritancy flashed through his insides. "What do you mean am I— Of course I'm feeling okay! I'm feeling fantastic, actually!"

Black Sapphire looked to the side avoidantly. "O-of course, Master Shadow Milk Cookie. Clearly, I misunderstood and— Wait... you kept this thing?"

"Huh?" Shadow Milk looked back at his desk where Black Sapphire was reaching a hand towards the golden flower, fingers closing around the stem.

"Don't touch that!" he screeched, violently snatching it from his grasp. 

Black Sapphire gave him a look.

Seeing the expression, Shadow Milk cleared his throat, adding sheepishly, "Ahem, it's nothing. Don't snoop, Sapphire! It's ruuuude."

The purple cookie folded his arms, and a serious look crossed his face. "Master Shadow Milk Cookie. I may be out of term, but I believe Pure Vanilla Cookie has gotten under your skin."

"WHAT?" With a flick of his wrist, Shadow Milk smashed the nearest pillar in the fancy library, and Black Sapphire flinched. "Explain yourself at once!"

"W-well, you fly into a rage whenever he's mentioned. The mere sight of him made you abandon your plan at Dragon Hill and rush in without a second thought." 

Shadow Milk got into his face, pushing the head of the flower into his chest accusingly, making Black Sapphire's shoulders shoot up. "I pay you to be a snarky goon, not a goodie two shoes meddler! In fact, I don't even pay you! Now I never will!"

"F-forgive me, Master Shadow Milk Cookie! I only worry, is all. Candy Apple and I will follow you to the ends of Earthbread; you know that. But we can't follow you if you aren't leading us anywhere."

Not particularly liking this brazen behavior, nor the admission of loyalty—for it strayed too far into friendship and feelings territory—Shadow Milk used his free hand to grab Black Sapphire fiercely by the front of his shirt, pulling him forward. 

Black Sapphire made a sound of surprise, seizing up in his grip as Shadow Milk scoured the face of his subordinate for any deceit.

Then he laughed. 

Black Sapphire stared at the shrieking cookie worriedly. "M-master Shadow Milk Cookie?"

When the laughter died down, his voice was low and calm, casual even. "No patience this one! My amethyst friend..." He let go, dusting off one of Black Sapphire's shoulders. "Don't worry so much! I do have a direction for you to follow. As a matter of fact, something just came up! So coincidental of you to inquire... I'll bore you with the details on the way!" Grabbing the scroll, he shoved it into Black Sapphire's hands. "Come along then! We've wasted enough time in New New Spire. We're going Soul Jam hunting!"

Black Sapphire's face lit up. "Oh, excellent, Sire! Shall I round up the goons?"

"Not this time." He held up the sunflower, examining the way the petals reflected the moonlight from outside. "This will require stealth and persuasion."

Chapter Text

Pure Vanilla Cookie paced around his bedroom, the moonlight shining through the stained glass of his domed ceiling and reflecting off his trailing blond hair. 

It'd been weeks since there'd been any news of Shadow Milk Cookie. He was no longer attacking towns, which should have been a relief, but it left Pure Vanilla feeling uneasy.

"Maybe he's finally done with his evil ways!" Ginger Brave had said at one of their meetings. 

"I doubt it's that," Wizard Cookie countered. "He's brewing up something new, I'm sure."

Pure Vanilla couldn't help but agree. A sunflower and a few kind words weren't enough to affect anything. 

His Soul Jam jittered, making him grasp it with a soft gasp. 

It happened sometimes, usually when he was fretting too much about Shadow Milk Cookie. The longing hadn't lessened since their last meeting, and the dreams hadn't stopped either. As vivid as they were, it wasn't the real Shadow Milk he'd been seeing at night, which meant he was dipping further into madness.

There was another jolt from his chest, stronger this time, and he exhaled quickly in surprise.

"Ah! Why won't it stop?"

Feeling overwhelmed and overheated, he took off his cloak, throwing it aside as he paced around the room anxiously. Underneath said cloak, he wore a sleeveless, skin-tight high-necked top, and small, short shorts. His arms were covered with elbow-length fingerless gloves, and every part of his outfit was pure white. 

His tawny-brown shoulders and legs shivered in the cold air, but he barely noticed, feeling close to feverish. Taking off his hat, he fanned himself with it before sitting on the edge of his bed. He leaned back, taking slow, deep breaths while the fanning continued.

"Quaint little place," a voice spoke, and Pure Vanilla cried out, head snapping over to his window. 

Sitting on the sill with one leg bent was a cookie that sent Pure Vanilla's Soul Jam fluttering out of control. 

"It's as tacky as you are," Shadow Milk continued coolly, a smug, controlled grin on his face. 

Pure Vanilla stood at once, casting the hat aside. "W-what are you doing here?"

Shadow Milk checked his fingernails nonchalantly. "Ohhhh, you know. Checking in on you, of course. Hate for some low-ranking cookie to finish you off before I have the chance."

Throwing his arm out, Pure Vanilla's staff flew into his hand at once. 

"Now, now!" Shadow Milk said calmly, putting his hands up. "No need for that. I'm actually here on good will!" 

"Good will?" he repeated dubiously. 

"Yes! Oh, don't make that face." He slipped off the windowsill and floated slowly towards him. 

"Not any closer!" Pure Vanilla shouted, pointing the staff at him while the Soul Jam rose in ringing intensity. 

"Relax, Vanilly! I think you'll actually be quite pleased with what I have to say." 

He frowned. "What could you possibly have to say that— "

"I'm accepting your offer of friendship." 

He froze. "W-what?" 

"I want to be your... friend, silly. Isn't that what you wanted?" 

The Soul Jam made a note of surprise in response to this, and Pure Vanilla opened then closed his mouth, too shocked to think. 

Shadow Milk looked away sassily, adding, "Unless, of course, you'd rather I leave to a remote edge of the world where you'll never see or hear from me again—" 

"No!" Pure Vanilla interrupted too loudly, and Shadow Milk blinked at him in surprise. "Er." He cleared his throat, lowering his staff. "There's no need. I accept your friendship." 

"Hmmm." A wide grin spread over his face. "Oh, wonderful!" Flying over, Shadow Milk slung an arm aggressively around Pure Vanilla's exposed shoulders, and oddly enough, the Soul Jam's erratic behavior calmed significantly. It was nothing more than a low, humming in his chest now. 

"Now we can be BFFFF's!" Shadow Milk sang. "Best Fucking Friends For Forever!" 

Pure Vanilla lightly pushed the cookie off him. "M-may I ask what the sudden change of heart was?" 

"Ah. Well..." He put a hand to his heart innocently. "I just realized I was being silly with all this revenge nonsense and after all, you've been such a good sport. How could I continue to be so unreasonable, especially to such an endearing face?" He grabbed Pure Vanilla's chin and lifted it, and Pure Vanilla once again pulled away, the touch too much for him. 

"But... you were furious last we saw each other. I... took everything from you. I carry half of you with me; half that belongs to you." He touched his own Soul Jam, and Shadow Milk's eyes flashed at that. "I deceived you in your own spire. I-I... lied to you. You have no reason to feel anything but hate towards me." 

Shadow Milk considered him for a moment, his face unreadable, then it broke into another grin. "Well, if I, the cookie of Deceit, can't handle a few lies, then who even am I? Am I right? Deceive Shmeive. That's all in the past now! Besides..." his voice got softer, "I... did plenty worse to you. How about we call it even, hm?" There was a hint of what looked like genuineness in his face and tone that didn't go unnoticed by Pure Vanilla. Was he... apologizing? 

"We have so many new memories to make together," Shadow Milk went on, shrugging with a carefree air, "just you and me." 

"Just... me and you?" 

Dangerous eyes shone at him. "The two of us." A soft giggle caught in his throat. "Now then! It's awfully late, you know. Perhaps one of your hundreds of spare rooms is available?" 

"Wha—" He shook his head slightly, brain stalling at what'd just been asked. "You... want to stay here?" 

"Of course! As your new friend, don't I deserve such a right?" 

He blinked. "Er. I-I... suppose..." 

"You suppose...?" He flashed an innocent face at him, and Pure Vanilla glanced away from it hot-faced.

"Yes, of course. I'll... show you to one of my best rooms. It won't be like what you're used to, but I think you'll still find it comfortable." 

An excited grin flashed over his face, and he flew to Pure Vanilla's side in an instant, linking their arms together. "Well then, friend, lead the way!"

Chapter Text

Shadow Milk Cookie followed Pure Vanilla down a long winding hallway, floating by his side, hands resting smarmily behind his back as they moved in silence.

His plan was going much better than expected, and he was making good time too! 

Not much longer and he'd be reunited with his Soul Jam, which, speaking of, the damn thing was actually behaving for the first time in months. It seemed content for now with its proximity to the Light of Truth—exactly as Shadow Milk thought it would. It was humming peacefully instead of ringing out in a panic, likely because his declaration of friendship had sated it for the time being. 

The burglar alarm had been successfully disarmed...so to speak, of course...  

Pure Vanilla Cookie—who sadly, had his robe and hat back on—had not said a word since they'd left his bedroom. Shadow Milk glanced to the side at him curiously, considering the blank expression. 

He knew Pure Vanilla wouldn't be able to refuse his offer of friendship, but even the goodie blond couldn't be that naive to believe Shadow Milk was being genuine. He'd accepted so quickly, so... eagerly. Not that Shadow Milk cared, of course. It was all going exactly the way he wanted to.

And yet... he couldn't shake the feeling...

He glanced away irritably. 

It wasn't like Shadow Milk to get sentimental, and it especially wasn't like him to admit fault for something he did. Empathizing, worrying about how his actions had affected the blond cookie back in the Spire of Shadows... Perhaps the self-righteous do-gooder had rubbed off on him after all.

Rolling his eyes, he quickly pushed away the bothersome thoughts, vowing to do twice the amount of evil later to make up for such soft-hearted sentiments.

"Do you live here all alone?" Shadow Milk asked loudly, breaking the silence as he gazed around the brightly lit hall. His eyes lingered on the occasional painting of Pure Vanilla. Of course, he looks good in every single one... he thought irritably. "I haven't seen or heard a single servant in this place."

"Well," Pure Vanilla answered calmy, eyes remaining ahead, "that would be because after I gave up the throne, I sent my staff to the new ruler, but this place was my family's so, I kept it. It does get a bit lonely, I will admit, and maintaining it is quite the ordeal, but it reminds me of all the good memories I had here."

"Yeesh. You gave them all your staff? What, they didn't have enough bootlickers for this new ruler?"

"They did not have a fully functioning royal staff, no. I did not need an entire mansion of servants when I renounced my royalty, especially since I live alone, so I was happy to help." 

"Pfft. That's where you and I differ... Never in a million years would I give away Candy Apple Cookie and Black Sapphire Cookie. If someone tried to take them from me, I'd wreak havoc on their miserable little lives."

A soft smile spread over Pure Vanilla's face that made Shadow Milk want to smack it off. "You care about your friends dearly, huh," he said gently. "You three do seem close, at least, by your standards."

He scoffed. "Uh, let's not go off making assumptions, pal. We are not close. I don't have friends, er, I mean," he looked at him quickly, "except you, of course, dear Nilly."

A strange look crossed Pure Vanilla's face. "I see."

They stopped in front of an ornate blue and gold door, and Pure Vanilla's golden staff hovered in the air beside him as he turned to Shadow Milk. "Here we are." 

There was a flash of light, and a fluffy blue towel appeared in his hands. He offered it to Shadow Milk who took it with a blank face. 

"There's soap and everything you'll need for a bath inside, and oh, why don't you take another blanket in case you get cold. Hm, perhaps another pillow couldn't hurt..." More items appeared and were shoved into Shadow Milk's arms. "There's a set of pajamas in the dresser if you need them. I'll have tea and cakes brought at once and anything else you may want. I have quite an extensive kitchen and all. Mm, is there anything else?"

Shadow Milk Cookie considered him for a moment, not used to being the one on the receiving end of a gracious host. He'd treated Pure Vanilla to quite the hospitality in the Spire of Shadows, thank you very much. Well... amenities wise. He couldn't speak for the mental and emotional atmosphere he'd created... 

Shadow Milk snapped the items out of existence and stretched his arms over his head, grinning. "Well, at least you know my worth. I'll take all the mini cakes you have in this sad empty house of yours." It wasn't actually that much smaller than New New Spire, but he wasn't about to admit that out loud. 

"Of course!" Pure Vanilla exclaimed. "And should you need anything—"

"Oh, don't you worry," he interrupted, getting into his face with a grin. "I will be sure to ask!" He paused to chuckle a little. "Now, I'm off to bed. Don't want any dark bags ruining this pretty face! Nighty, night, Vanilly." 

With that, he teleported into the room where the items he'd disappeared were now piled on a pretty table that overlooked a stained-glass window. It was a really nice room, with the four-poster bed and elegant tub in a side room where tons of lotions and potions waited for him. Trays of little desserts were already set on a side table by his bed.

Looking around at it all, he grinned. 

This was too easy.

☽ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ☼

Pure Vanilla laid in bed, staring at the ceiling while his heart pounded.

The Soul Jam jittered in faint restlessness, but nothing like what it'd been doing when Shadow Milk first arrived at his house. Despite that, he was having a category ten event.

Shadow Milk Cookie was in his house, only a few hallways down and he was calling himself Pure Vanilla's friend of all things. It was absurd and they both knew it. Regardless, the blue cookie was a mere walk away. If he was staying the night, then perhaps... perhaps he was planning on staying longer than that—

The pragmatist in him cut in angrily, It's a ploy. Clearly, he's not staying here long term. He's here for the Jam and you know it.

Sighing, he rolled onto his side.

Shadow Milk had once truly desired his companionship. He'd seen it, felt it when they'd merged. Was that truly dead and buried now? Past all the walls the blue cookie put up, there had to be some part of him that still wanted Pure Vanilla Cookie's friendship. 

If there was... he would do everything in his power to make sure they didn't part again. 

Chapter Text

Whisking noiselessly into Pure Vanilla Cookie's bedroom, Shadow Milk checked to see if the cookie's breathing was steady before floating over to the fourposter bed.  

Now able to approach Pure Vanilla without the damn Soul Jam screaming at him, he inched ever closer. Hovering directly over the clueless, sleeping blond now, he cocked his head to the side curiously.

He had to admit, the pure boy always looked flawlessly beautiful, even in his sleep. Long blond waves decorated his pillow, and pretty, long white lashes stood out against his tawny brown dough. Laying on his back, Pure Vanilla's hands were crossed over his chest, his eyebrows slightly furrowed as soft exhales slowly sounded from parted lips.

You sleep like a body dressed for burial, Vanilly, Shadow Milk thought amusedly, resisting the urge to brush stray hair out of the sleeping face.

Feeling the steady pulse of the other half of his Soul Jam, Shadow Milk lifted a hand over it. This is it!

Grinning, he let his fingers come into contact and immediately regretted it.

As soon as dough met Soul Jam, Shadow Milk felt his stomach lurch painfully, and his mind felt like it was dissipating, melting.

He was launched into what he realized at once was the dream Pure Vanilla was currently having. He knew this because he was staring at himself in his own memory in the Spire of Shadows.

Shit... 

He needed to escape and soon, considering in the real world he was still hovering inches over Pure Vanilla's passed out body in his bedroom in the middle of the night. There wasn't much in the way of excuses to explain such behavior.

Okay, lesson learned: don't touch the Soul Jam. 

Why couldn't he get out of this? Would he have to wait until Pure Vanilla woke up? That could be hours.

He watched helplessly as his past self stood outside Pure Vanilla's room in the Spire of Shadows, knocking lightly with a small grin on his face. "Oh, Nillllyyyy!"

"The door is unlocked," Pure Vanilla's voice responded, and the blue cookie entered. 

He looked around for a moment, then turned into a shadow, slinking across the entire room over to the balcony doors and slipping outside. Non-memory Shadow Milk grumpily followed after him.

Out here, it was Truthless Recluse who leaned over the ornate railing of said balcony, looking out at the landscape, his eyes glazed over and aimless.

"Gloomy as ever, I see," past Shadow Milk commented with a smile, joining his side, leaning one arm on the railing.

"I've been thinking," Truthless Recluse said, voice monotone, "what if our roles were flipped?"

"Hm? How so?" 

"If I was the original holder of this Soul Jam. Would it have turned out the same? Stripped of my powers, trapped in that tree for millennia... How did you stand it?"

There was silence. Clearing his throat, Shadow Milk responded smugly, "My... someone has been thinking very hard lately." 

Recluse finally tore his eyes away from the view to look at him. "I believe I understand you better now."

"Oh?" 

"Anyone would have given up after all that time locked away. I don't... blame you for how you act. I... understand why you've made the choices you have. I also don't blame you for what you've done to me." 

Shadow Milk's chest rose and fell at that: the past one and the non-memory one's. He had the strongest urge to apologize, to confide everything to this despicable blond mess right there and then, but he held himself back. 

I don't need a confidante, his memory self thought, certainly not from my enemy and the one who stole the other half of myself.

He thought this and yet... This pathetic cookie had already been corrupted, by Shadow Milk himself. Perhaps he could keep this new Pure Vanilla around a while longer.

He leaned even closer, grinning. "How nice of you to say, my dark, tortured friend. You are such a good pupil, you know that? Now you know that Truth is pointless and so is caring."

Truthless Recluse considered him, then without warning, reached out and touched Shadow Milk's hair. Shadow Milk flinched, then blinked at the Star Jelly bit likely left over from his lunch, pulled from his hair and now held out between Recluse's fingers. 

"Perhaps you're right," Recluse answered, flicking the crumb away before turning back to the view, face completely unchanged as he added quietly, "There's no point in anything anymore."

Shadow Milk stared at him, searching the unfazed features. "Y-yes. Now you're getting it..."

Continuing to gaze at this enigma of a cookie, he could feel the obsession creep in. 

He was already testing out every game and scheme possible on the depressed cookie, all to see if he would break, yes, but there was more to it than that. He loved Pure Vanilla's reactions. They were so delightful. So unexpected. He couldn't get enough of them. 

A sliver of panic shot through him. 

What if Pure Vanilla ran off? What if the blond's so-called-friends took him back? He needed to mark him. Yes. He needed to make sure no one else took him. It was his Soul Jam after all. He should keep tabs on him... er, it. 

A leash couldn't hurt... or perhaps... a bite.

This final thought made something in non-memory Pure Vanilla stir, and the dream faded.

Pure Vanilla woke up, eyes sliding open sleepily.

As soon as the heterochromatic orbs locked onto Shadow Milk—who was as previously mentioned, still hovering above him, their faces inches apart—a strange look crossed Pure Vanilla's face.

A soft blush spread over tawny brown cheeks. "A-am I... still dreaming?" 

Chapter Text

"Am I still dreaming?" Pure Vanilla Cookie asked breathily, searching Shadow Milk's face in a daze.

Shadow Milk's eyes widened as he floated there helplessly in place directly above him. "Oh, ummmm.... yes?"

Pure Vanilla glanced down at the blue hand still clasped around his Soul Jam, and his face fell. "No, I'm not." Throwing the covers aside, he sat up and Shadow Milk flew off him. "I-I... I knew you'd try and take it..."

"Heh heh heh!" Shadow Milk shrugged, grinning sheepishly, ignoring the pangs of panicky jitters emanating from Pure Vanilla's Soul Jam. "Oh Vanilly. Is it really my fault you're so trusting? Really."

Standing in just his sleeveless, high-necked top and little white shorts, Pure Vanilla summoned his staff, light flooding the room.

Shadow Milk lifted a hand over his face. "Ack! Too bright! Do you mind?"

"I let you into my home, gave you a place to stay—"

"Actually, I let myself in," he cut off smugly, arms going over his head as he hovered casually in the air.

"I can't believe for even a second I thought—"

"What? That I was a good woodie now? Wake up, Nilla. Unless..." He was there in an instant, getting into Pure Vanilla's face, grinning meanly. "Do I need to tell you whether this is a dream or not?"

"That's just it," Pure Vanilla said, unflinching. "You are good, Shadow Milk Cookie. I've seen glimpses of it, when we merged."

Pain and offense pierced his gut. "Excuse me? Please. You're not talking about those portraits you saw in my spire again, are you? Ha! That was me from hundreds of years ago, before I was silenced and abandoned. Sorry to disappoint, but that's not who I am anymore."

"I'm not talking about your past. I'm talking about you, as you are now."

Shadow Milk blinked.

There was a pause, then Pure Vanilla lowered his staff, the bright light fading. 

"Before you do anything else, just... let's talk about this. Let me... help you." Hesitating, he reached out to the jester's face. 

As soon as his thumb came into contact with blue dough, Shadow Milk panicked, his arm moving of its own accord, reflexively smacking the hand away. In doing so, he accidentally grazed part of Pure Vanilla's Soul Jam.

He gasped as their psyches connected again. Another one of their memories was shared between them. This time, it was one of Pure Vanilla's.

Pure Vanilla Cookie sat in the back row of what looked like a wedding. Tears were streaming down his face, though they were not ones of joy or bitter sweetness. He looked tragically at the couple on the stage—Dark Cacao Cookie and his new wife holding hands as they kissed.

A rush of self-loathing flooded over Pure Vanilla along with more tears. 

After all this time, and he was still pining after Dark Cacao? There was nothing here for him. There never was. He was so pathetic and maybe that's why he was still alone, why he'd never found his own soul mate. Why he didn't deserve this kind of life, and why he was plagued with such wicked fantasies.

How pitiful was he?

Shadow Milk tore away from the memory, as apparently breaking away from the mental connection while they were both awake was much easier than when one was asleep.

Shaking his head, attempting to shake the feeling of being in Pure Vanilla's head, he groaned, unable to think over the shrieking the Soul Jam was now making. "Stupid memory flashes!" he growled. "Stupid Soul Jam! I'm so sick of this!" 

"Memory flashes?" Pure Vanilla repeated, clutching his chest in dismay, breathing heavily. 

Shadow Milk looked up at him quickly, realizing what he'd said. "Huh? I— No, that's not—" 

"You... Just now—" 

"J-just now what?" He chuckled uneasily, backing up, the ringing getting louder the more distance he put between them. "Looks like someone fell off the coo-coo truck!" 

"All these dreams I've been having..." Pure Vanilla continued calmly. "You're saying they're—" 

"Uh, hahaha ahaha ha! Listen to yourself! Obsessed with me much? I can't believe you've been dreaming about me every night!" 

"I... never said I dreamed of you every night." 

"H-huh?" 

Thoughts passed over Pure Vanilla's eyes. "These dreams... they were all your memories, weren't they? And you've been seeing mine as well? But... why?" 

Shadow Milk was now trapped against a corner of the room, hovering high up near the ceiling as far from Pure Vanilla as possible. 

The blond cookie stepped closer. "You knew all this time...then you must know why it's happening. Don't you, Shadow Milk Cookie?" 

Folding his arms, Shadow Milk turned from him, trying to regain his composure. Trying to think. "Of course, I know," he said casually. "Nothing escapes my knowledge. Seems the Soul Jam wants to be fused again. It doesn't like being apart, thus why the damn thing won't shut the fuck up." He turned back to him angrily. "Can't you get it to calm down? Why is it so riled up?"

Pure Vanilla blinked. "It wants to merge again?"

His face felt hot. "Yes, now tell it that's never going to happen and to stop screaming at me."

"I'm... not sure there's anything I can do about it. I'm as powerless to its whims as you are."

Feeling ready to pop, he teleported to Pure Vanilla's side, snatching up a pillow and stuffing it over the blond cookie's chest. This seemed to help slightly, though he had a terrible feeling it wasn't the pillow's doing, but in fact, their increased proximity to each other. "So loud... I ought to silence it forever!"

Pure Vanilla just watched him blankly, not reacting to the pillow being pressed against him. "So then... everything I saw..." he said calmly. "Everything that happened to you—" 

"Yes, yes," Shadow Milk replied impatiently, moving the pillow to cover Pure Vanilla's face so the nosy blond couldn't look at him anymore. "It was all real. Congratulations. All these pesky snoopers! You and Black Sapphire Cookie! So, what now?" He took a moment to laugh meanly. "Think my suffering is hilarious? Well deserved? A fitting end for a villain?" 

"No. I'm..." He pulled the pillow away, so they were looking at each other again. "I'm so sorry that all happened to you."

Shadow Milk froze.

"The witches," Pure Vanilla continued. "You didn't deserve any of that." 

"Of course, I didn't!" he snapped, the mere mention of the witches sending him. "They used me. Discarded me!" 

"I can't imagine how you must feel," he said barely above a whisper. Letting the pillow fall to the ground, he gently took Shadow Milk's hand, forcing him to look up at Pure Vanilla in surprise. The Soul Jam jittered in excitement. "You've been through so much. I felt and saw so many of your pains and afflictions..." 

"You—" 

Shadow Milk considered him for a long moment, his heart stuttering. As soon as a soft smile spread over Pure Vanilla's face, something like fear shot through him. Intimacy turned to rage in an instant and he ripped his hand away. 

"How dare you!" Shadow Milk said darkly. "I'm... I-I'm severing our bond!" 

"What?"

Shadow Milk got into his face, fury ripping through him. "I may have failed to subdue you tonight, but it doesn't matter. You will meet me at the sun and moon chamber by where the Spire of Shadows once stood. Tomorrow, at sunset, unless you want all of Cookiekind laid to waste. I will do it too. There's nothing holding me back anymore, not even you." His hand hovered obsessively over Pure Vanilla's Soul Jam. "I'm taking back what's mine, no matter the cost." 

Glaring at him furiously, he melted into the shadows, disappearing. 

"Don't be late."

Chapter Text

The Sun and Moon Chamber.

Pure Vanilla Cookie was familiar with it: a place where magic wasn't allowed, and ancient rituals and rites were once performed.

He didn't know for sure why Shadow Milk Cookie had chosen this exact location, but he did know what was at stake.  

Laying on his side, he sighed anxiously, still remembering the way Shadow Milk's hand had felt in his.

It'd all gone so wrong so fast. He'd felt it for a moment, the Soul Jam confirming it: Shadow Milk Cookie had opened up, let himself be vulnerable for a small moment, just like he had when Pure Vanilla had first offered him friendship in the Spire of Shadows. But just like that time, Shadow Milk had freaked out and closed himself off. It was almost like Shadow Milk both craved and feared the closeness between them. In less reactive terms, Pure Vanilla understood completely.

He still couldn't quite explain what'd happened in the Spire of the Shadows, couldn't fully accept what he'd felt and what he was still feeling. The way Shadow Milk had reacted to his proposal to be together forever... 

Rolling over, he pushed the problematic memory away.

He would leave the next day. Whatever happened would happen. There was no other choice. He couldn't let Shadow Milk destroy Cookiekind. He would have to face him no matter what he felt inside, no matter what they'd both shared together.

His Soul Jam cried out in pain, and he cradled it with one hand, attempting to soothe it. 

Breathing into his pillow, he realized that if he fell asleep now, Shadow Milk's memories would be waiting for him. They wouldn't be products of his imagination, but real and personal snippets of Shadow Milk's life. 

All this time he thought they were a byproduct of what happened at the Spire of Shadows, a result of trauma, or perhaps, obsession. As it turned out, it was none of those things. It was something shared, something intimate.

When the sun rose and exhaustion finally did take over, Pure Vanilla accepted the dream world that was waiting for him.

"Oh, Vanilly, you came!" 

Dream Shadow Milk approached Truthless Recluse, stepping across the echoing tiles of a vast and empty ballroom. 

"What do you want from me now?" Recluse replied in a monotone voice, glancing down at the hand offered to him.

"Oh, isn't it obvious? To dance, of course! You wouldn't say no to such a gentlemanly offer, would you?"

Truthless Recluse blinked at him, then at the hand again, then took it.

"Good boy!"

Grinning wildly, Shadow Milk pulled him across the floor, waving his other hand as a band of sheep appeared to the side with instruments. Somehow, these sheep with blue and yellow eyes began playing a Waltz. They were some of Shadow Milk's favorite creations...

Now in the center of the room, he pulled Recluse in, his hand about to take his waist when the dead-eyed blond beat him to it. They both stared at the hand now on Shadow Milk's hip.

"Uh, ha, I lead, Nilly," he said, offended at even the prospect of being tugged around by the one he owned.

"I'm afraid I only know how to lead."

He tutted. "Well, that won't do at all. There's no way you're—"

Recluse pulled him in by the waist, his other hand lacing with Shadow Milk's blue one. "I have centuries of experience, if that's what worries you..."

"Uh, pfft!" Feeling his cheeks heat up, his heart fluttered in his chest at the sudden role reversal, the sudden proximity. "Nothing worries me ever—"

"Then we continue."

As soon as Truthless Recluse stepped forward with his right foot, the waltz swelled with the main theme, and Shadow Milk Cookie looked over at his musical sheep in betrayal as he was pulled into motion. The dismay was replaced by blank surprise as Recluse turned them both easily around the room, like it was second nature. 

The blond's gaze was elsewhere; distant, his body seeming to move on its own as they danced, and Shadow Milk couldn't help but stare at him, allowing it all to happen.

Every time he thought he'd finally pinned him down, Pure Vanilla yet again did something completely unexpected. It was so confounding, so intriguing... he could only find himself more and more fascinated.

He wanted to play with his new toy all day every day and make Truthless Recluse as undone as he was.    

As the song came to a halt, Shadow Milk was lowered into a dip. Their faces were inches apart, and their eyes met.

Something dropped in his stomach as he blinked back into the heterochromatic eyes, feeling frozen on the spot. It wasn't until Truthless Recluse lifted him out of it that he finally came back to himself. 

"Tsk! Whatever," Shadow Milk grumbled. "I've had better dance partners. Your technique is sloppy."

Recluse didn't say anything, simply blinking back at him, expressionless. 

"W-well..." He cleared his throat. "Off you go while I plan our next little game! Hee hee! I let your bluster slide this time, but next time you'll do everything I say or there will be consequences, got it?" Watching the silent cookie go, a sinister giggle left his mouth.

He was perfect.

Shadow Milk needed to mark him as soon as possible so no one else could have him. He was going to administer the bite. 

Tonight.

Chapter Text

Truthless Recluse sat on his bed, staring aimlessly off into the void.

Seeing the world through the blond's eyes, Shadow Milk Cookie groaned internally. One more night and these damn memories will finally stop.

Shadow Milk had been hesitant to sleep, but he needed his rest for what was to come at the Sun and Moon chamber the next day. These memories were simply a roadblock in the way of his full ascension to power. He'd already suffered through nearly four months of this. What was one more memory, anyway?

After a soft knock, the door to Truthless Recluse's bedroom opened, and as soon as Shadow Milk saw himself step inside, he knew exactly what memory this was.

Oh, this is a good one! Remembering the blond cookie's pain and discomfort, he was looking forward to experiencing it from the blond's point of view. Oh, what a delight! This should be good!

"Another game?" Truthless Recluse asked, the depressed cookie recalling their dance in the ballroom from only a couple hours ago. "You do not usually summon me again so soon."

"Oh, I just couldn't resist!" Dream Shadow Milk sang, floating forward with a grin. "You're too much fun!"

Recluse looked away, back at the wall. "What is it that you want?"

A giggle rang out. "So snappy! So to the point! Now Nilly," he moved so he was right in front of him, Truthless Recluse still seated on the bed, "you know I would never force you to do anything without your consent. I'm a generous master like that."

He found his face, saying nothing.

"Mm? No praise? Well, isn't that just how it is... I'll get right to it then. I need to mark you."

"Mark me?"

"Mmhm, so I can always find you even if you're far away. Can't have my favorite toy running off on me, now can I?"

He frowned. "You wish to put a tracker on me?"

Shadow Milk hummed in amusement. "Precisely."

"And where is this tracker?"

"Well, that's the part you aren't going to like, unfortunately. You see, I need to bite you." As he said it, his razor-sharp teeth flashed into a splitting, demonic smile.

Truthless Recluse's heart startled. "Wh-what?"

"I'll let you choose where, of course, but I do need to bite you for the tracking magic to work. You understand."

Truthless Recluse's chest filled with alert anticipation, not in fear, but... something else.

"What, are you going to refuse?" Shadow Milk asked, folding his arms and cocking his head to the side.

Looking him over, the adrenaline in Recluse's gut flitted with what non-memory Shadow Milk finally realized was excitement. "No," Recluse answered, standing. "No one's forcing me."

The blue cookie grinned widely as Recluse slid his robe off, revealing tawny brown shoulders. Pulling his turtleneck to the side, he turned his head, exposing his neck.

 What are you doing? Recluse's thoughts screamed. He could bite you anywhere and you choose here?? You shouldn't. It's not appropriate. You're not supposed to—

So, what if I'm not supposed to? a more firm version of his voice cut in, and non-memory Shadow Milk was confused by the exchange. I am Truthless Recluse now. Nothing matters anymore. I've been fighting this for so long... Why stop myself now? What else do I have to lose?

The dueling thoughts ended the moment a hand softly rested on his shoulder and wet lips were brought to his bare dough. 

Shadow Milk was surprisingly gentle, every touch making Recluse's hair stand on end. As soon as teeth sunk into dough, he gasped, a bolt of lightning flashing through him as he grabbed the front of Shadow Milk's shirt in surprise.

It was such a sharp, concentrated pain that contrasted with the soft closeness of every other part of where their bodies touched. Closing his eyes, he gave in, chest seized up in the pure overwhelming nature of the sensation, and non-memory Shadow Milk felt every bit of it in horrified shock. 

Truthless Recluse barely resisted making a second involuntary sound when a tongue lapped over the fresh wound, making him shiver. 

The mouth was already withdrawing, and it took everything not to pull it back towards him.

Their eyes met, and Shadow Milk considered him with a satisfied grin, wiping the red jam that dripped from his stained lips. Truthless Recluse could only stare at the sight wordlessly, helplessly, his heart pounding in his chest.

"Good boy," Shadow Milk said, tongue coming out to get the remainder of the jam in the corner of his mouth. "Now you can't go anywhere without my knowledge. Never forget, Vanilly: you belong to me."

Unable to form words, Recluse simply watched him in disheveled silence and the smug blue cookie added cheerily, "Welp! Time for me to prepare our next game! Ta-ta!"

Disappearing into a puff of smoke, Shadow Milk was gone, and Truthless Recluse sank back onto his bed. 

For a long moment he just stared, unmoving. 

Finally, a shaky exhale left his lips.

Putting both hands to his face, he felt how hot his cheeks were. Getting up, he checked the mirror on the wall and sure enough, the evidence was damning. His entire face was cherry red.

What do I do now? he thought, and feeling a trickle down his shoulder, he pulled the turtleneck to the side again.

Staring at the fresh wound, he put fingers to it, then inhaled quickly at the still sensitive dough. Despite this, he couldn't stop staring at it and lightly prodding it, and... thinking about how he'd just gotten it. How those lips had felt on his dough. How intimate it'd been to have Shadow Milk so close to him. How... wrong it was.

Searching the blushing face in the mirror, he swallowed. What do I do?

Shadow Milk woke up with a start.

Sitting up quickly—breathing heavily, heart pounding—he stared at his blankets in disbelief.

One of his hands went to the spot on his neck on the exact spot where he'd bitten Truthless Recluse, unable to shake the blond cookie's arousing thoughts from his head.

He... he liked it?

Chapter Text

Pure Vanilla stood outside the large glass chapel, staring up for a moment at the carved marble depictions of moons, suns, and stars. 

Taking a deep breath, he waved his staff, and the heavy front doors slowly pushed inward with a loud creak. 

"I'm here, Shadow Milk Cookie," he declared, his voice echoing into the dark hall. 

Receiving no response, he exhaled before taking a step inside. 

As soon as one foot was in, the doors slammed shut behind him, forcing him forward before he was crushed. Soon after, a wall of stone erupted from the tiled floor, effectively sealing off the doors and his only exit out of the place.

"I'm so glad you came," a sultry voice rang out, and the hall lit up suddenly with blazing torches.

At the end of the hall, Shadow Milk Cookie stood behind some kind of altar with a marble bowl set on it.

"Now I don't have to kill everyone," he pressed on smugly, holding a knife to his hand above the bowl. "Well, let's not waste all day, Nilly. Come."

Pure Vanilla hesitated before stepping forward.

"Oh, and don't even think about using that silly staff of yours," he added, slicing downward, letting blue jam drip into the bowl. As soon as he did, one half of the entire room lit up with blue light. "Don't you feel it? The drain on your reserves? You won't be using your powers here!"

Stepping to the side into the blue half of the room, he gestured with the knife to the opposite side where Pure Vanilla took his place.

"I'm aware of the Sun and Moon Chamber's anti-magic field," Pure Vanilla replied calmly. "I was prepared for it." 

"Mmhm, is that so?" Reaching across, Shadow Milk snatched up Pure Vanilla's wrist and yanked him forward, making the blond grunt in protest. "Now then." Holding the tawny brown hand over the bowl, Shadow Milk lifted the knife. Hovering it just above Pure Vanilla's dough, a crooked smile over his face. "I suppose before I take everything from you and destroy you where you stand, you should be given some kind of explanation for how this all works.  

"It's quite simple really. The chamber has already sensed our Soul Jam and sealed us in until the two halves are one again. We both draw jam and an extraction process begins. If it succeeds within a minute, the Soul Jam returns whole to its original owner. That's me, by the way..."

Pure Vanilla frowned. "And what makes you think that I'll—Ah!" 

Shadow Milk cut a small bead into Pure Vanilla's hand, cupping his own hand underneath Vanilla's to keep the red jam from dripping into the bowl. "Oh, you will. You'll be nothing but a bad dream. No, not even that, anymore. Tee hee hee!"

"Shadow Milk Cookie, please, let's just—"

"Sorry. No time for chit-chat! We're kind of on a schedule here! We only have a minute to get this right once the jam mixes, so let's begin, shall we?"

Before Pure Vanilla could protest, Shadow Milk turned the red jam-filled hand, dumping the contents into the bowl. A red light filled the other half of the room at once, then the two colors meshed together to make purple. A transparent crystal barrier formed between them, forcing Shadow Milk to let go of Pure Vanilla's hand.

It was like a pane of glass between them, and as soon as it was finished forming, the Soul Jam began screeching horribly. It was worse than it'd ever been and both cookies collapsed to their knees.

Pure Vanilla could hardly breathe, much less think while his chest felt like it was going to burst open. As it spiraled, Pure Vanilla sensed for a split second, some of Shadow Milk's thoughts glide past his own.

"What's happening?" Shadow Milk thought. "This isn't how it's supposed to go!"

It isn't?

The blue jester looked up at him in surprise through the glass, clearly hearing the question. Then, as swiftly as the link came, Pure Vanilla felt the connection sever, Shadow Milk's thoughts gone from his reach.

"What's going on?" Pure Vanilla asked aloud, gritting his teeth through the painful intensity, inching closer to the barrier to where Shadow Milk was crumpled on the ground. "What's normally supposed to happen?"

Shadow Milk ran a hand through his messied hair, staring at the ancient tiles with a look of disbelief. "It— it doesn't want to return to me?" He spoke more to the ground than to Pure Vanilla. "But... why? I OWN YOU! Ack!" He gripped his chest, eyes pinched shut in agony.

"It... doesn't want to return to you?" Pure Vanilla asked calmly. "Why?" 

"Don't ask me! It belongs to me! It was taken from me! You don't deserve it! Ugh!" He held his head in his hands, the usual volume and bounce of his hair now deflated like it was soaking wet. 

"But it... it must merge, or we can't leave this place! It—" Pure Vanilla realized something with a start. "Shadow Milk Cookie. It wants us to merge again."

"What?" The blue cookie looked up through his mess of hair, staring at Pure Vanilla Cookie through the barrier.

"It's the only way!" This declaration made another wave of connecting thoughts flurry over him, and Pure Vanilla caught a glimpse of Shadow Milk's shock then dread as well as something else. He was afraid. "We've bonded too much for either Soul Jams to want to be with just one cookie." Getting closer, he put his hand on the glass. "We're two halves of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other. We must merge again!"

"Silence!" The eyes in his hair rippled with anger. "You think I'd fall for this twice? You're giving me what's mine no matter what happens here!" 

"We belong together—" 

"No! You're tricking me again, like you tricked me into thinking you wanted to be with me, how only you understand me—" 

"That wasn't a trick!" Pure Vanilla cried out desperately. " I do think we're meant to be together! I belong to you, and you belong to me. I... I meant what I did right before we merged in the spire. I wanted to do it." 

Shadow Milk blinked at that. The admission then seemed to rile him up further. "Oh yeah, sure, very funny. Trying to get the other half of the jam huh? Well, it won't work this time. You used me." 

"You used me too, but why do we both have to be alone when we have one another?" 

Their faces were inches apart through the glass now, eyes locked onto each other's. Shadow Milk Cookie searched his face, then gritted his teeth. "There's no time for this! Our minute is almost up. Surrender yourself to me and give in already!" 

Pure Vanilla felt Shadow Milk's longing glide past his thoughts again, and with the time almost up, he could feel how close their psyches were becoming.

"Let me show you what I feel," he said softly. 

Sensing Shadow Milk's presence in his head, he clung onto it, grabbing it with a claiming fist. Forcing it to stay, he wasn't quite sure how he did it exactly, but he launched the two of them into his memories; to the moment in the Spire of Shadows right before they'd merged.

To the moment he'd been unable to purge from his mind; the one he'd thought of incessantly for four months despite all his efforts to extinguish it.

Chapter Text

Shadow Milk Cookie was violently ripped from the present, plunged against his will into Pure Vanilla Cookie's memory. 

Discombobulated, he looked around the dreamscape in a fury. The moment he saw Truthless Recluse and himself standing inside the Spire of Shadows, his stomach dropped.

He hated this memory.

He knew every moment of it. He'd played it in his head for months after the incident, the thing tormenting him relentlessly. He also knew this was a ruse to waste all their time, a pathetic attempt to delay and prevent his hostile takeover of Pure Vanilla's Soul Jam.

His own piercing laugh brought him back to the scene.

"Yes, YES! Now, you are mine!"

Memory Shadow Milk Cookie took Truthless Recluse roughly by the waist, pulling him in, a crazed glint in his eye. 

Recluse blinked up at the beaming smile and slightly flushed blue cheeks, heart stopping. Was he about to...? Recluse thought in surprise. He glanced down at the blue mouth, thinking this was Shadow Milk's intentions, barely believing what was happening.

As soon as he did, surprise filled Shadow Milk's entire face, the jester muttering bewilderedly, "Are you—"

Realizing his miscalculation, Recluse's own face flooded with heat. "N-no! I thought y-you..." 

Shadow Milk Cookie searched his eyes in disbelief, then suspicion. "What is this? Are you truly giving yourself to me?" 

"Y-yes," he assured. "All of me." 

"All of you?" he repeated. 

Catching the hidden question, Truthless Recluse's chest fluttered in a mix of panic and adrenaline. 

Seeing that expression on Shadow Milk's face... being in his arms... Just like with the bite, he didn't see any reason to hold back, all the shame of his entire life melting in the sight of this cookie. 

"A-all of me," he managed, searching his face, unblinking.

Shadow Milk blinked again at that, then grinned, then laughed. "Oh, my my my! This is interesting! You are a never-ending, unpredictable well of entertainment! You are—"

Something snapped. Something ancient, buried and impatient. Truthless Recluse grabbed a fistful of Shadow Milk's shirt, and pulling himself closer, he kissed him.

A sound of utter surprise escaped Shadow Milk's mouth, muffled against their lips. 

The blue cookie stood frozen for five whole seconds before aggressively kissing him back, humming softly into his mouth.

Non-memory Shadow Milk watched them helplessly, unable—literally—to look away. He could feel Recluse's excitement, his passion, his lust. Each of Recluse's thoughts that Shadow Milk also had to hear, pierced his mind like thousands of little knives.

He feels so good... Recluse thought desperately, pulling himself closer, every touch feeling like fire and silk all at once. Oh, he couldn't stand it. He couldn't believe that he was a boy kissing another boy and that this boy was Shadow Milk Cookie. He felt like he was drowning in euphoria, in frenzied want that was being fulfilled ten times over.

His head swam as he was shoved against a wall, his hat flying off as Shadow Milk kissed him roughly, blue hands possessively running over his torso. Sliding up the dark robe so he could get a hand under, Shadow Milk lifted Recluse's bare leg up over his own, stroking it as he pushed his tongue down the other's throat. 

Shocks of excitement like electricity coursed through Truthless Recluse, making him feel like he was going to pass out any second from the sheer overwhelming nature of it all.

Pulling away, Shadow Milk exhaled heavy breaths that ghosted over Recluse's mouth. Truthless Recluse was breathing just as hard, mouth hanging open, face flushed, hair disheveled. 

"Let's show them our power then," Shadow Milk Cookie said seductively, grinning. "Open my other realm and we shall be one."

The suggestion filled Recluse's stomach with pinpricks of exhilaration. Shadow Milk Cookie truly wants this, more than simply taking the Soul Jam for himself? He really wants to be with me, forever?

Having had enough, Shadow Milk successfully ripped from the memory.

Plunging back into the present, he glared up at the cookie who stared back at him from behind the quickly melting glass barrier. 

Time was up.

The purple light was gone, the bowl clean as though jam had never touched it. The doors to the Sun and Moon chamber remained sealed shut: the attempted extraction a failure.

Despite this, Shadow Milk's attention remained entirely on Pure Vanilla. Never breaking eye contact, he mustered as much fury and hate that existed in his dough. As soon as the barrier was completely gone, he sprang into action.

Flying at him, Shadow Milk Cookie tackled Pure Vanilla to the ground before the blond could even react. Pinning him down, Shadow Milk grabbed him by the collar, lifting him up a few inches. To his utter rage and frustration, Pure Vanilla Cookie did not fight back, hanging limply in his grip.

"How dare you show me that!" Shadow Milk bellowed. "That kiss meant nothing! Just like your promise to be mine forever. It was all a trick! You're returning what's mine!" 

"You mean what's ours." 

He flinched at that, his grip tightening. "You think you're real clever with your words and your lips." 

One of Pure Vanilla's hands slid gently over the blue one holding his collar. "You can't deny that memory, and... you know how I feel now. Don't you want what we shared again?" 

Shadow Milk Cookie stilled. 

"Don't you also yearn to be one again?" he went on. "I've never felt that close... to anyone. Let me have your sorrows and I'll give you mine. Give me your joys and I'll share mine." 

"You—" Something in his gut fluttered, and the presence of it scared him death. Growling, he slammed Pure Vanilla hard down into the tile, not breaking eye contact. "I'm not falling for this again! I'm taking my Soul Jam, ritual or not." 

Without thinking—desperation flooding his insides—he grabbed Pure Vanilla's Soul Jam. 

The second his fingers touched it, his emotional state unlocked one of his own memories against his will, dragging Pure Vanilla into it with him.

Chapter Text

Pure Vanilla blinked around at the memory he'd been violently thrust into, unprepared for the sudden change of scenery. He was outside. Below him were ruins he recognized at once.

Looking around, he zeroed in on the small, collapsed blue figure in the middle of a crumbled castle.

It was the Spire of Shadows, or what was left of it.

Shadow Milk was hunched over on his hands and knees, and Pure Vanilla was shocked to hear him whimper pathetically. The blue cookie was gritting his teeth, tears pouring down his face as his entire dough trembled.

That's when Shadow Milk's thoughts came into his own.

It's... gone. It's all gone... He's gone... 

Shadow Milk couldn't accept it. They were supposed to be together, forever. Truthless Recluse was supposed to rule by his side, always at arm's length, a whisper away. They were supposed to share in each other, never to part, spreading deceit to the ends of Earthbread, hand-in-hand.

He was never supposed to be alone again... 

How foolish. Pure Vanilla Cookie never felt the same about him. He'd used his own tricks against him, deceived the Cookie of Deceit. It was deplorable, pathetic, positively humiliating, and yet all he could think about was the soul-crushing, mind-rending heartbreak.

I will never forgive you for this, Pure Vanilla Cookie, he thought, eyes turning angrily upward, out at something in the distance. You mark my words, you will pay for what you've done!

Gut wrenching, Pure Vanilla was ripped from the memory. 

His head spun as he blinked up in disarray at the cookie still pinning him to the floor. 

The Soul Jam was buzzing with anxiety, making his head ache. He considered the murderous expression above him, catching a hint of vulnerability there.

"I never wanted to be apart," Pure Vanilla said softly. "I wanted you to accept my invitation of friendship and we'd spend every waking moment together." Reaching up, his hand caressed through the blue hair and Shadow Milk's eyes widened. The eyes on his hair widened as well. "You know how I feel," he continued, "and I know what you feel too now." 

Hesitating, Pure Vanilla glanced down at his mouth and Shadow Milk froze, his hand releasing on the gold and white collar. As soon as it did, Pure Vanilla took him by his collar and pulled Shadow Milk Cookie closer, their faces inches apart.

The blue cookie made a small sound in protest but didn't fight against the motion, just kind of sitting on him, frozen, hand still resting over Vanilla's Soul Jam. 

Speaking of, the Soul Jam hummed now in only anxious discomfort, seeming to quiet down with every passing second.

Pure Vanilla once again considered the trembling blue lips above him, and Shadow Milk's eyebrows arched up in a betrayal of his emotions. 

"This... isn't real..." he whispered, his dough relaxing in Pure Vanilla's grasp. 

"Isn't it?"

Searching his face, Shadow Milk exhaled a shaky breath. There was a long moment where a million thoughts passed over his eyes, until finally, they half-lidded, then closed in what looked like acceptance.

A soft inhale escaped Pure Vanilla's mouth as soon as he felt their Soul Jams merge. 

The frantic jitters were eradicated, replaced by a silent calm filled with warmth, comfort, and serene intimacy. Shadow Milk's thoughts and feelings soon became his own, nothing but pure, intimate want radiating from his end. 

A large rumbling rang out, signaling that the doors were unsealing themselves, and Pure Vanilla gently stroked Shadow Milk's face, his hand resting on the blue jawline as he brought their faces closer, lips parting, ready to receive him and—

There was a loud crash followed by a frenzied, "MASTER SHADOW MILK COOKIE!" then a much more restrained but still frantic, "Master Shadow Milk Cookie!" 

The shouting came from the now open doors, the sound shocking Shadow Milk and Pure Vanilla back to reality. Their faces flinched away from each other in surprise as they both looked over at the entrance.

"Sire! We're here!" Black Sapphire Cookie cried, and Shadow Milk quickly flew off Pure Vanilla, his powers newly returned.

"I was sooooo worried!" Candy Apple Cookie cried, actual tears running down her face.

"We saw the light die out," Black Sapphire continued, "but the doors hadn't unsealed yet... I was worried— Master?"

Shadow Milk Cookie floated in the air, speechless, motionless, eyes silently searching Pure Vanilla's. 

Then he turned from him. 

"K-keep your Soul Jam," he said quietly. 

"Wh-what?" Pure Vanilla managed, pulling himself up from the floor. 

Snapping his fingers, Shadow Milk opened a portal. "Let's go."

Without hesitating, he left through it, and Black Sapphire Cookie and Candy Apple Cookie rushed after him. 

"Wait for me, Master Shadow Milk Cookie!" Candy Apple cried as she jumped in quickly after Black Sapphire.

The once again separated Soul Jam was earsplitting, and Pure Vanilla went ballistic at the sight of the portal closing. "WAIT!" he shouted. 

The portal disappeared. Despite this, he could somehow still sense a part of Shadow Milk's psyche. He reached out to it. Grabbing his staff, he latched onto the presence and commanded the portal to reappear for him. 

His Soul Jam flared with glowing magic, forcing the air in front of him to spark and sputter. Grunting, he willed his own portal into existence, the thing tearing open in front of him. He blinked at it in shock, then stared for only a second longer before flying through it. 

The portal led outside, somewhere with rolling hills in the middle of nowhere. 

He looked around frantically, eyes locking onto the blue cookie who now stood with his minions in front of what looked like a new blue and gold spire. 

Pure Vanilla dove straight for him. 

"You're not leaving again!" 

Shadow Milk Cookie glanced back in surprise just in time for it to be his turn to be tackled to the ground.

It was a rough landing, Pure Vanilla using the jester as a landing pad as they tumbled violently together over the green lawn. Ending up on top, he slammed Shadow Milk into the ground, tufts of grass raining all around them.

A winded groan ripped from Shadow Milk's mouth, and he blinked up at the blond in discombobulated shock. "What the hell?" he exclaimed. "How did you—"

"We're not splitting!" Pure Vanilla shouted, pinning him by the shoulders. "Never again! You're not leaving me!" Tears began streaming down his face. "We belong to each other! I can't have anyone else! We don't need to be alone ever again, don't you see? Take me, Shadow Milk Cookie! I won't have anyone but you!"

Dead silence rang out, and in the background, Black Sapphire Cookie and Candy Apple Cookie just stared at them with their mouths open.

The silence stretched on, then Shadow Milk's face twisted, his own tears appearing, which then seemed to make him furious. "Damnit! You don't want me!" 

"I do—"

"You don't know what I've done!" 

"I do!" Pure Vanilla insisted. "I've seen it. I've seen your memories. I've seen everything, and I know who you are, and I don't care!" 

Shadow Milk's chest heaved at that. 

"I know... you want me too," Pure Vanilla added quietly. "I've felt it. You want me. So.... so just take me already." 

He pressed their foreheads together, wet eyes closing. 

He stayed like that, whimpering quietly above him. Tears fell onto Shadow Milk's face, though the blue cookie didn't move a muscle. 

Pure Vanilla didn't know what he'd do if they were to part like this forever; how he'd manage to carry on without him. Having borne his entire soul to this cookie whom he'd just been merged with for a second time, he felt utterly exposed—helpless—at the mercy of his unpredictable other half. 

Was he destined to be forever rejected, plunged further into the lonely darkness forever? Was he to feel his other half's sensual touch but once, only to wistfully recall it for the rest of his days in hollow silence?

A hand gripped him firmly behind the head, breaking him from his thoughts.

Blue lips pressed firmly, desperately to his own. 

A startled, then relieved, wet sound left Pure Vanilla's mouth. He cried harder, wrapping his arms around Shadow Milk's neck, kissing him back harshly.

Candy Apple Cookie gasped horrifically, and for all Pure Vanilla knew, Black Sapphire Cookie had died for how silent his shocked reaction was. 

The Soul Jam merged again, and as soon as it did, an uncontrollable little laugh left Pure Vanilla's mouth at the feeling of it. 

Their kiss was as passionate and heated as the one in the Spire of Shadows, but there was an added layer of obsessive desperation along with euphoric streams of emotions that flooded between them. 

He could once again feel Shadow Milk's thoughts as well as his desire and pure adoration for Pure Vanilla Cookie, an emotional ocean of relief and pure affection reserved for him alone.

Shadow Milk shoved him over into the grass, claiming his place on top. Pinning Pure Vanilla's wrists to the ground, he continued to kiss him, muttering deliriously, "Mine, mine, mine," and Pure Vanilla grinned into his mouth, responding breathily, "Yes, yours, yours."

The blue lips broke away only to find a place under Pure Vanilla's jaw, then traveled to below his ear, all while hands fiddled with the front of his white robe. Successfully undoing it, Shadow Milk hurriedly slipped the shoulders off, allowing Pure Vanilla a moment to sit up so he could remove the rest of it completely.

Casting the garment aside, he shoved Pure Vanilla back down with a firm hand to his chest, literally taking his breath away. 

Urgency exuded off the blue cookie's entire being and especially in his alight eyes that sent electricity through Pure Vanilla's dough. His lips were once again seized in a kiss. Hands explored and caressed his body over the white formfitting outfit. Shadow Milk gripped bare thighs, then pulled their lips apart.

Pure Vanilla shivered at the sloppy licks that were now being lathered over his exposed shoulder. There was a tearing sound, and his now ruined white high neck was pulled away to reveal more tawny brown dough. Kisses were quickly laid to his throat then down to the meeting place of his shoulder and neck. 

Pure Vanilla inhaled quickly at the sensation, then gasped—the sound truly involuntary and obscene—as soon as teeth sunk into dough. 

"I know you like this," Shadow Milk's voice came into his head. "I've seen it in your memories." 

He could only whimper in response, clutching uselessly at the fabric of Shadow Milk's clothes.

"Give in to me, sweet Nilly."

The heat collected in his face, Pure Vanilla panting desperately, befuddledly overwhelmed. The teeth retracted, a long tongue lapping up the aftermath, only for another bite to be placed further up his neck.

After several seized up, utterly flustered seconds, he breathed a small sigh into Shadow Milk's ear. Eyes rolling into the back of his head, his dough went limp in euphoric resignation; in sensual surrender. 

"Oookay goodbye," Black Sapphire Cookie said irritably as soon as the first bite happened. He turned instead to his imaginary audience. "Well folks, that would be the conclusion, I guess, to the great war of love between Pure Vanilla Cookie and Shadow Milk Cookie. Until next time—"

 Another of Pure Vanilla's pathetic whines rang out 

"...Jesus Christ, I'm out of here. Come on, Candy." Grabbing her weeping despondent self, he dragged the distraught cookie away from the scene. 

"It should have been meeeee!" Candy Apple Cookie cried hysterically, going limp in Black Sapphire's grasps as she was lugged like a sack of potatoes across the grass.

Sighing, Black Sapphire realized it could be worse. At least his master was finally happy, which was all he could've ever hoped for really.

Glancing back, the last he saw was Pure Vanilla with his entire top torn to shreds, his legs wrapped around Shadow Milk as the blue cookie continued his licks and bites over the top part of the tawny brown chest. Red jam oozed down the bare dough... 

Pure Vanilla Cookie's face was completely red with blush, and Shadow Milk Cookie's cheeks were a deep blue color to match. 

Opposites alike, never to part again.

THE END