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“Come on, loosen up a little!” Hollyberry Cookie raised her glass of juice, clinking it forcefully into Dark Cacao’s.
The inexpressive king obviously wasn’t used to enjoying himself, but Hollyberry was sure she could convince him to have a little fun. After all, this was really the first chance they got to spend more than a couple of minutes talking since the Dark Flour War. Without all that political mumbo jumbo at Pure Vanilla’s feast, anyway. How had it taken two old friends this long to catch up? It seemed completely unreasonable, although Hollyberry figured Dark Cacao really didn’t go out of his way to indulge in such pleasantries.
“Hollyberry, I have subjects to attend to. I cannot let my judgment be clouded beyond reason.” The king added on, in a mutter, “...some of us aren’t quite as skilled at operating while inebriated.”
Hollyberry scoffed, her eyes wandering to her friend, who was in the middle of cautiously surveying his surroundings. Getting Dark Cacao to have some real fun was going to be a real challenge, but if anybody could do it, it was Hollyberry. “Come on! Don’t you get tired of acting so formal all the time? It’s not a crime to have some fun, you know,” Hollyberry yelled, her voice playful.
“I do not know what you’re talking about. This is just the way I am.”
Scoffing, Hollyberry rolled her eyes and looked toward the uncomfortably stoic warrior. “Bullshit! Nobody can actually have such a giant stick up their ass all the time.”
Dark Cacao narrowed his eyes. “Relax, I’m just teasing. We’ll see if you’re really all that formal when you’re absolutely wasted later.” Hollyberry’s hearty chuckles cut through the clamor of surrounding voices, all just as drunk as she was about to be.
Sighing, Dark Cacao turned to look at his boisterous friend, feigning as much disappointment as his rigid face would allow. “I suppose I did agree to come here under the impression that you would behave so… recklessly,” Dark Cacao stated bluntly, taking a short swig from his glass. “And you are sure that nobody will remember anything that happens here tomorrow?”
“Not if I have to say anything about it, my friend!” Hollyberry patted Dark Cacao’s shoulder firmly before downing the remaining contents of her glass. She promptly stood up from the table and stretched, cracking her knuckles. Dark Cacao quickly moved to steady his shaking glass, but Hollyberry didn’t seem to notice.
Dark Cacao habitually moved his hand to his head to adjust a crown that wasn’t there. “I cannot remember the last time I was not in formal attire,” Dark Cacao said, pretending to fix his hair to cover for his mistake. “I do not know how I feel about this.”
Hollyberry stifled a chuckle, amused by her friend’s peculiarity. Even for a cookie of the Dark Cacao Kingdom, he was… strangely rigid. “I mean, seems like you’ve shed a lot of weight off your shoulders,” Hollyberry laughed, elbowing her friend in the ribs lightly. She was, of course, making a jab at his obscenely large pauldrons.
“We both know my pauldrons make me look remarkably imposing. Unlike you, always fighting in that absurdly large dress. How do you manage to avoid tripping over yourself?” A small smile formed on the warrior’s face, and he pushed Hollyberry to the side playfully.
Was he actually responding to Hollyberry’s teasing for once? Perhaps she was finally getting somewhere. “Hey, at least my grandiose fashion sense doesn’t give me crippling back pain. I can’t imagine yours is particularly pleasant on your spine.”
“I will have you know, my spine is perfectly functional. In fact, I would wager it is stronger from the constant pressure,” Dark Cacao retorted, resting his chin on his closed fist in a gesture of mock offense. “You would know this if you stopped to admire my exemplary posture, but I suppose you only have time to concern yourself with dragon brawls and drinking competitions.”
Hollyberry placed her hands on the table to support herself, chortling powerfully. “My friend, you know better than anybody the joy of fighting dragons. Although I do struggle to imagine you as enthusiastic about such battles as myself.”
The friends grew drunker and drunker with each passing line of banter. Dark Cacao was surprised to note that Hollyberry became more energetic with each cup of juice; she’d downed at least ten glasses since he’d arrived at her party. He, unfortunately, did not have the same… talent for drinking, and found himself too wobbly to properly stand after his eighth glass.
“Hah, my friend, you drink like a true Hollyberrian! You look like you’re having the time of your life over there.”
Dark Cacao shot Hollyberry an exasperated glare as he stood shakily, directing his attention toward… not collapsing. “You do look a little unsteady, though. Want to sit down?” Hollyberry was somehow even louder than before, her voice ringing in Dark Cacao’s ears like a comically resonant wargong.
“I do not know what you are talking about, Hollyberry. I am clearly…” Dark Cacao paused, suppressing the urge to dry heave, “...perfectly * hic * fine.”
Hollyberry playfully shoved Dark Cacao onto the grass, chuckling to herself as he flopped downward, limp as a ragdoll. He lay on the ground, hair splayed in all directions, as Hollyberry watched him briefly struggle to push himself back up. “Need some help?” she asked, her eyes twinkling with amusement.
“No, I am alright on the ground. I am capable of * hic * getting up myself, I simply… prefer it here.”
Hollyberry Cookie quickly surveyed her surroundings, noting that the party was mostly empty now except for a few stray cookies. She lay down beside Dark Cacao, confident she was far enough away from the center of festivities to rest for a while without risking getting trampled.
“I missed this,” she said, her eyes misty. Perhaps the juice was finally getting to her; she wasn’t normally so emotional. “This reminds me of my youth. It’s been a long time since I could just… let my worries fade into nothingness like this.” Hollyberry was quieter now, but her tone was genuine. “Even when I left my son to rule the Hollyberry kingdom, I still found myself constantly worrying about my family, you know. This is a nice change of pace.”
Dark Cacao nodded. “I- * hic * I agree. This is a nice break from my responsibilities back home.” A comfortable silence settled in as both cookies looked up at the stars, each contemplating drunken truths that would most certainly elude them the next morning. Neither one of them wanted to ruin the peaceful atmosphere by speaking, so the cookies remained silent, resting their aching heads on the plush grass.
Once the moment had passed and both cookies were feeling a bit more refreshed, Dark Cacao sloppily pushed himself upward. He cleared his throat a few times, struggling to make his raspy voice audible. Without warning, he spoke, cutting through the silence with a tone that practically demanded attention. “Do you ever think about dying, Hollyberry?” Dark Cacao asked blankly, stifling a hiccup. Surprised at the sudden change of topic, Hollyberry abruptly pushed herself up to face her extremely inebriated friend.
“Do I… what?” she replied, confused and a little concerned. This was a wildly uncharacteristic conversation for somebody as unemotional as Dark Cacao.
“Sometimes I just want to- * hic * … jump straight into * hic *,” Dark Cacao paused to catch his breath. “Into the Licorice Sea and float away, cr- * hic * crumbling as I drift along. It sounds so peaceful, to * hic * be free to finally rest.”
Hollyberry glanced over at a blank-faced Dark Cacao, wobbling uncontrollably as he tried to stand up. The scene would have been comical if the discussion at hand weren’t so serious. “You… want to die, Dark Cacao?” she asked, her voice suddenly saturated with worry. She hoped he would just tell her she was hearing things and go back to just staring up at the stars, the vast world beyond his deep purple eyes.
“I would *hic* never go through with it, b- *hic* but my loyal subjects, I- *hic* I work so hard to make them proud. Very * hic* draining.” Dark Cacao flopped back onto the floor, his best attempt to stand unsuccessful. If Hollyberry remembered this discussion tomorrow, she would ask about it. This wasn’t a topic she was capable of unpacking while inebriated, but her heart hurt hearing Dark Cacao ramble drunkenly all the same.
“Let’s get you to bed, Dark Cacao,” she said warmly, trying to push her friend upward from his sitting position. He was able to stand with her help, and Hollyberry helped him walk to his tent as he stumbled blindly in the darkness. She had to stop a couple of times to let him dry heave into some nearby foliage; perhaps she had pushed him a little too far. Hollyberry often forgot that Hollyberrians were built to drink copious amounts of juice, while Dark Cacao warriors… were most certainly not.
“You know, you probably should have eaten something before you went drinking, Dark Cacao. Even I wouldn’t have done such a thing on an empty stomach.” The passionate warrior chuckled, trying to forget Dark Cacao’s earlier words. “We’re much too old for that sort of thing.”
Dark Cacao rolled his eyes. “Everything here is * hic* too sweet. I prefer the food at home.”
Promptly upon making it to his tent, Dark Cacao collapsed in the middle of the floor weakly. Hollyberry tried to nudge him a little closer toward his sleeping bag, but was about as mobile as a giant boulder. “Goodnight, Dark Cacao. I’ll talk to ya’ tomorrow.”
Hollyberry heard a weak grunt in response. She zipped the tent back up and stepped out, feeling a tad bit guilty about the nasty hangover he was bound to have in the morning.
Luckily, Hollyberry was able to make it to her quarters without any extra help. She had to cover a lot more distance because Dark Cacao’s tend was so inconveniently far from the castle, but she didn’t mind the walk. She was far less drunk than her bitter friend, so her travels were much quicker, too. Sleep came pleasantly easy, and she awoke the next afternoon, surprised to only have a minor headache.
Hollyberry felt a wave of pride upon her recollection of last night’s events. She had finally gotten Dark Cacao to let loose… although he still did talk funny. Go figure, he wasn’t lying when he said that was how he naturally spoke. As the cloudy memories came back to her, Hollyberry recalled the one concerning thing Dark Cacao had said to her and immediately jumped out of bed. She got ready in a rush and began dashing toward her friend’s tent, equal parts curious and afraid about whether what he said was what he truly felt.
She made it to the tent, her heart pounding and her breaths quick. “Dark Cacao? You in there?” she bellowed, preparing to enter. She was met with a weak grunt, which she took as confirmation that he was, indeed, in there.
Seeing Hollyberry, Dark Cacao shrank into his sleeping bag. His hair was a disaster, and his eyebags were bigger than they normally were: an impressive feat. “Ah, Hollyberry. Just the cookie I wanted to see.”
She couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic. “While I was getting some fresh air earlier, a couple of cookies asked me: ‘Why the long face?’ and I do not know what that means. I was fairly certain my face was an… average length. What were they trying to say?” Dark Cacao asked, clearly hoping Hollyberry would explain such a strange occurrence.
Hollyberry snorted, amused. “It’s just an expression.”
“What kind of expression is a long face?” Dark Cacao asked, furrowing his brow in confusion.
‘No, no, not that kind of expression. It just means, ‘why do you look unhappy?’. You don’t say things like that in the Dark Cacao Kingdom?” Hollyberry failed to stifle the hysterical laugh that followed. She wiped a stray tear from her eye, smiling so wide it almost hurt. She had to admit, Dark Cacao was entertaining in his own…special way, drunk or not.
“Ah. How… peculiar. We do not say such things in my kingdom.” Dark Cacao shot Hollyberry the meanest glare he could muster, but the daylight seeping through the tent hurt his eyes, preventing him from seeming convincingly displeased.
Once Hollyberry had calmed herself down, she remembered why she had run all the way to Dark Cacao’s tent in the first place. “Oh, Dark Cacao, I’m not going to beat around the bush. I’m actually here because last night you said, uh…” Hollyberry paused to zip the door of the tent back up and lowered her voice. “You asked me if I ever thought about dying, and…” This conversation seemed a lot more difficult than she’d imagined it earlier. “You said it seemed peaceful, to just… crumble, and leave the expectations of your subjects behind.”
Dark Cacao tried to look oblivious, but he had about three expressions, and ‘oblivious’ wasn’t one of them. “Ah. I was drunk, Hollyberry.” Dark Cacao looked uncomfortable. Quickly, he added, “...pay it no mind.”
“So you didn’t mean it then?”
“No.” It came out unnaturally forced, which did not help to persuade Hollyberry that he was telling the truth. In fact, now she was almost certain that it was a blatant lie. She shot Dark Cacao a skeptical glare.
“You’re not convincing, Dark Cacao. Just tell me what’s wrong,” Hollyberry said, each word charged with a healthy dose of concern.
Dark Cacao sighed, slowly pressing his forehead into his open palm. “I am… incredibly hungover. Can we save this discussion for another time?”
Hollyberry shook her head vigorously. “No, because we both know full well you’re going to leave before we can finish talking. We need to do this right now. ” Her voice rose in pitch on the last couple of words as she crossed her arms sternly.
Hollyberry paced around the tent for nearly a minute, her arms still crossed. “Now isn’t the time to be emotionally constipated, idiot,” she wanted to say, but she was luckily able to hold her tongue.
Instead, what she actually said was, “I’m just worried about you, you know. Now, Pure Vanilla didn’t tell me the gritty details, but I did briefly hear from him that you were struggling. That’s why I invited you here, to hopefully give you a break from your responsibilities. You know I can’t just let you talk about dying like that, though.”
Dark Cacao looked equal parts angry and ashamed. Hollyberry couldn’t imagine why, but the situation was too emotionally charged in every other way for her to express her confusion. “How much… did he tell you?” Dark Cacao asked, his normally monotonous voice now evidently anxious. That was peculiar. Hollyberry would have to pry Pure Vanilla for the details later.
“Whatever you’re worrying about, there’s no need,” Hollyberry reassured Dark Cacao, even though she was deathly curious (and very concerned) as to what was making him behave this way. “He accidentally mentioned his journey to your kingdom once in passing. When I asked about it, he just said you needed somebody to talk to and moved on.”
Dark Cacao’s shoulders deflated, relief plastered across his face. Hollyberry’s mind screamed at her to ask why the subject was so touchy, but she brushed it off and continued speaking.
“We both know you’re just going to keep quiet about what’s got you down unless someone forces it out of you. And…” she paused, debating adding the next part. “I’ve been there. Trust me, I won’t judge.”
Dark Cacao wouldn’t look Hollyberry in the eyes. “I have already had a similar discussion with Pure Vanilla. This is quite unnecessary.” Hollyberry scoffed.
“Come on. I’m not going to stop nagging you until you say something, Dark Cacao.”
Dark Cacao inhaled sharply, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples. “And I thought I was supposed to be the… persistent one,” he spat, not hiding his annoyance.
“Fine. I suppose I will say what I must if it means you will leave me be.” Hollyberry pumped her fists in the air triumphantly and stifled a yell of victory as Dark Cacao scowled.
“Hollyberry, you say you’ve been there before. But I cannot fathom where there is, because there is all I have ever known. I cannot imagine being anywhere else. Nothing is any worse than it normally is. You merely caught me at a moment of… weakness. I implore you to leave me be.”
Hollyberry stopped pacing abruptly. “You’ve been depressed your whole life?” she asked. She sounded even more concerned than she had before, if that was even possible. Dark Cacao winced at the word ‘depressed.’
“That… is a strong word,” Dark Cacao quietly replied, his eyes darting around to make sure nobody else was secretly lurking inside the tent. “It is not that severe. I simply have… some days that are less pleasant than others.”
Hollyberry looked down at her friend with a hint of pity in her eyes. Dark Cacao stared back, but his eyes were angry. He detested pity more than anything. “I am managing just fine without your interference.” He unzipped his sleeping bag and stood up, scowling as the extent of his juice-induced headache hit him like a train.
Pushing past Hollyberry, Dark Cacao unzipped the tent opening and briskly began to walk away. “Wait, please!” Hollyberry yelled, dashing after him. “I’m just really worried about you.”
“This conversation is over, Hollyberry. I need some air. We can discuss this later.”
As Dark Cacao walked away, Hollyberry felt a sharp pang of guilt. Perhaps she had been too pushy. She was just afraid that if she didn’t get him to talk, Dark Cacao never would open up, and he’d have to live with his troubles alone forever. Sighing, she turned away from where Dark Cacao once stood and walked back to her chambers, defeated. She popped open a vintage bottle of juice in hopes of washing the day’s unpleasant events away.
A few hours later, Hollyberry was startled awake by a powerful knock on her door. When had she fallen asleep? An empty glass rested sideways in her hand as a warm puddle of juice bubbled at her feet. She wiped the edges of her face drowsily as she rose to answer the knocking.
Glancing through the door’s peephole, Hollyberry was surprised to see Dark Cacao standing motionlessly, looking a bit guilty. She hastily pushed the door open and greeted the other cookie with a welcoming nod. “Come in, sit down,“ she invited him, motioning to a small table in the center of the room. Hollyberry tried not to think too hard about the sorry state her chambers were in. “Don’t mind the mess, I didn’t expect anybody to visit,” she laughed nervously, sitting down across from him.
Before Hollyberry could ask what drove him to come here, Dark Cacao broke the silence. “I am sorry… I was too harsh earlier. I know you were just trying to help.” He sounded genuine, but Hollyberry knew she was the one who owed him an apology.
“No, no, Dark Cacao, I pushed you too far. I let my worry get the best of me and crossed a boundary I shouldn’t have. I just… I don't want to lose another friend.”
Dark Cacao nodded. “I am safe, Hollyberry. Do not worry about me, I refuse to act on my irrational whims. My kingdom needs me.”
“Your friends need you, too, Dark Cacao. Me, Pure Vanilla, Golden Cheese, and even White Lily… we would all be devastated if you left us.”
Dark Cacao nodded. “Duly noted. I would like to do this again sometime,” the warrior said, changing the subject. “I have had a… favorable time here in the Hollyberry Kingdom. I could stand to lose this sort of confrontation in the future, though.” Hollyberry patted her friend’s shoulder from across the table, nodding enthusiastically.
“We can certainly make that happen! Next time, I’d like to see if any of the others are able to make it.” Hollyberry chuckled at the thought of the five ancient heroes, all drunk out of their minds, wreaking havoc wherever they went. Perhaps that was not the best idea, but it would be fun nonetheless.
Dark Cacao stood up. “I shall be on my way now. I merely wanted to apologize before I left.” Hollyberry smiled and hugged her friend, and he reciprocated the gesture, albeit with less enthusiasm. That was just how he was; Hollyberry didn’t mind.
“I will keep in touch,” Dark Cacao said, before walking out of the room and closing the door softly. With that, Hollyberry was left alone in her room, smiling. All things considered, she’d had a remarkably pleasant day.