Chapter Text
The cookies surrounded him, tugging at his sleeves, pushing themselves closer and closer to him. It felt suffocating. He tried to put some distance between himself and them, but they just crowded closer. Questions overlapped, words growing jumbled. He couldn't answer them like this. It was too much.
He clamped his hands over his ears, trying to drown out the voices. It didn't do anything. The voices only grew louder. More insistent.
“I can't answer everyone at once!” He cried, hands still firmly against his ears. “Please! Slow down!”
Again, they grew louder. Hands reached out, grabbing his robes, his arms, any part of him they could. They screamed for his attention. They screamed for his answers. Answers he couldn't give.
“Please—!” He choked out, squeezing his eyes shut so he wouldn't see their crumbling doughs. “Please, just give me a moment! I can help you, just… please.”
Silence.
Complete silence.
What?
He opened his eyes again, stumbling back when he saw who was standing over him.
The Witches didn't speak. They just pointed their fingers at him, one by one. He could tell they were displeased.
“Wait! Please! I was trying! I didn't mean for them to get hurt! I couldn't hear them!” He curled in on himself, tears pooling in his eyes, threatening to spill. “I tried to help. I promise. I'm sorry.”
The final Witch pointed their finger at him.
He fell.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
He sat up with a choked gasp, fingers digging into the sheets. Tears were streaming down his face. Freeing his hands from their grip on the fabric, he clamped them firmly over his mouth, stifling any sobs. He drew his knees up to his chest.
“They're gone,” he whispered to himself, through muffled sobs. “They're gone. They're gone. They're gone.”
They can't get to me anymore.
But that was a lie. It was all he was good at. Lying. Even to himself.
They could get to him. They had. If the nightmare he had just woken up from was anything to go off of.
He hid his face against his knees. Something shifted next to him, causing him to jump. He let out another strangled sob.
“Mmm… Blue?”
Pure Vanilla. He sobbed again. He couldn't even bother to put on an act.
“Bluebird?” Pure Vanilla sounded more alert now, his voice losing some of its original sleepiness. “Shadow Milk? Are you alright?”
He didn't say anything, just reached out a hand, which was immediately clasped by Pure Vanilla's.
“Another nightmare?” His voice was soft. No hint of judgment. Just complete concern.
Shadow Milk took a shaky breath. “Yeah.”
A hum. “Do you need a hug?”
As soon as the words left his boyfriend's mouth, Shadow Milk flung himself into the waiting arms of the other cookie, hiding his face against Pure Vanilla's shoulder. He began to cry again, curling up in the other's embrace.
Hands rubbed against his back. Soft, sweet words were murmured in his ears. The phrases, “you're alright” and “you're safe” were repeated over and over.
For one of the first times in his long life, he was starting to believe it.