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For Pure Vanilla flowers had always been fascinating, from their colours to the forms they took when they bloomed in all their splendor and finally their fragrances which could bring back memories from the long forgotten past.
After living for so long it was quite difficult to remember events just because they happened, it was way easier to reminisce when you attributed smells and colours to them instead - or at least that’s what worked best for the hero of truth.
Most importantly flowers could hold meaning - a myriad of them actually, they could talk in your stead and they could show your emotions to others better than any words you could ever hope of coming up with.
Pure Vanilla was really fond of gifting flowers to his friends and comrades and with time he was even able to assign specific flowers to each one of them - after much needed research of course, his dear friends only deserved the best after all.
When the aforementioned friends came to visit the Vanilla Kingdom, he would always make sure to leave floral gifts in their rooms meant to be enjoyed by both their eyes and souls after their long and strenuous journeys.
Dark Cacao would often find a purple amaryllis or a gladiolus awaiting him in his chambers, Hollyberry was always happy to receive a beautiful bouquet of white camellias meanwhile Golden Cheese at some point even started demanding for more marigolds to adorn the chamber she was made to stay in.
White Lily, on the other hand, was someone that appreciated kind and gentle gestures, ones that didn't require too much work or attention to be cast on her so her old classmate would usually just leave a single purple hyacinth on her desk to admire while working on her personal research.
On this particular day Pure Vanilla was stuck in his gardens, his hat carelessly discarded on a nearby bench and his robes ungracefully tied on the front with many mud stains adorning both his hands and his clothes much to his dismay.
He had always been a quite messy gardner so getting dirty was just part of his usual ‘’garden routine’’ as he jokingly called it when he was questioned by the poor servants in his castle - he could never thank them enough for putting up with him.
He had been adjusting some plants and moving around pots but unfortunately all he could focus on was a pair of judging eyes hiding in the shadows of a tree not far away from him - that only made him feel even more embarrassed for the mess he had involuntarily caused.
"OOH Nilly Nilly, do I really have to teach you how to properly arrange your own flowers? that just looks sooo awful! what will your buddies think when they see this mess mh?" The mocking comment made its way out of the shadows and into the ears of the poor healer but he decided to pay the blob of eyes no mind and continued his work.
After all, his dear friends were coming to visit soon for their annual meeting so he had to make sure his garden was presentable and his flowers ready to impress them - even though he knew that they would be happy to see him even without the floral gifts.
Plus after many months of them living together, Pure Vanilla had found out that the best way to get under the skin of the blue jester was to simply ignore his constant taunting and just continue the conversation as if he had never said anything negative or aggravating to begin with.
‘’Good morning to you too, dear friend! Would you like to help me decide the composition of these flowers? It’s always nice to hear your honest opinion when you’re willing to share!’’ The king turned around and greeted the jester with the brightest smile he could muster even if he still felt a little silly given his current mud stained predicament.
Shadow Milk sighed at the foolish king, he then vanished from the darkness he was comfortably laying in just to appear right in front of Pure Vanilla - floating only a bit so he could tower over the guy who stole his souljam even if just by a little.
‘’As if I’d ever spend my time helping you impress your little friends! The audacity to even make such a request to the most brilliant cookie in ALL of Earthbread..’’ The jester said, bringing a hand to his chest with a rather displeased expression.
‘’I’m guessing you have more important matters to attend to then?’’ Pure Vanilla asked, directing his gaze upward to get a better look at the blue cookie in front of him.
Shadow Milk scoffed ‘’Well, anything would be a better use of my time when compared to whatever you’re trying to do.’’ He slowly lowered himself to the ground, staring hard at the healer.
The jester almost felt bad for the poor guy, he really had no class for someone who used to occupy the role of king not so long ago - covered in mud from top to bottom and with a silly expression adorning his face… He always managed to look like a complete dork!
‘’You know,’’ the jester floated closer ‘’you could always use your magic to deal with this stuff.’’ he said pointing at the flowers behind the tan cookie.
‘’I prefer doing things like these on my own, when I have the time that is - it helps with keeping me grounded plus having a hobby is always nice.’’ Pure Vanilla drew a content sigh - still with his head tilted upwards.
Shadow Milk kept gazing at the smiling idiot beneath him ‘’Well then, would my help still be appreciated even if I used my magic to get the work done?’’ the jester asked with an annoying grin on his face ‘’You know how frail I am.. Surely the ever so kind Pure Vanilla would never force me to put myself in harm's way?’’ The eyes in his hair blinking obnoxiously at the king.
‘’Of course! You’re free to help me as you wish Bluebird, I appreciate your initiative regardless.’’ The nickname made the jester wince in pain - yes pain, don’t get any weird ideas.
He sighed in defeat and rolled his eyes for good measure too ‘’Alright!’’ he suddenly exclaimed ‘’if you really want to be helped by me that bad, I guess I could appease you just this once.’’
Shadow Milk finally stopped floating and planted his feet on the ground, he frowned when he felt the soil touch his feet - or his shoes more like, the feeling wasn’t a pleasant one regardless.
He stepped closer to the blonde cookie and without warning reached out his hands to gently cradle his face, the action took the healer by surprise - a blush immediately creeping its way onto his face.
Sure with time Shadow Milk had become more comfortable with showing affection but it still came as a surprise to Pure Vanilla any time he would initiate something especially now since the action seemingly came out of nowhere - nevertheless the king still closed his eyes letting himself lean into the cold hands of his other half.
Shadow Milk managed to stutter out ‘’You better keep those eyes closed if you want my magic trick to work.’’ drowning in his self inflicted embarrassment - why was he even entertaining this old fool ?
Pure Vanilla acquiesced and kept his eyes shut, he could feel the other grow closer - he could feel his breath on his face and his hands still holding him still with the utmost care.
Suddenly cold lips met warm ones in a simple yet extremely tender kiss, the healer was quick to melt into it - he tried to reach out to embrace his other half, deepen the kiss, feel his heartbeat against his but all he managed to do was stumble forward into nothing.
Only black smoke was left behind, a sign that the jester had teleported away - probably escaped to his other realm just to make fun of the healer now standing in the middle of his garden like a bumbling idiot who tried to catch smoke… Quite literally.
Pure Vanilla kept blinking, frozen in place - if anyone had entered the gardens in that exact moment they could have very easily mistaken him for a statue.
Eventually the blonde cookie came back to his senses and shook his head, trying to wish away both his blush and his deep embarrassment - he should be used to the jester’s antics by now but Shadow Milk was anything but predictable.
Gently turning around towards the garden, he noticed that nothing had actually changed in the scenery - the pots, vases and flowers were still scattered everywhere as he had originally left them before giving his full attention to the beast of deceit.
The only thing that had seemingly changed was his own appearance, gone were the mud stains on his face and body - he was squeaky clean as if someone had thrown him in a cookie shaped washing machine.
After letting out a fond chuckle, Pure Vanilla looked up at the sky - it was beginning to get quite late so his impromptu garden restoration will have to wait another day.
Because of his poor vision, it was already quite hard for him to see during the day so at night time it was even less likely for him to finish any of his tasks.
He went over to the bench where he had previously discarded his hat, in order to collect it and head back inside the castle but something caught his eyes - with the help of his staff he was able to finally get a better look at what had caught his attention.
It was a little scrap of paper with a bunch of words hastily scribbled on it and lying next to it were a bunch of skeleton flowers, the healer brought his staff closer to the flowers and then to the words written on paper trying to make out what they meant.
‘’I’m sure my little trick has left you speechless! I never specified what I was going to help you with so I think you should at least be grateful that I didn’t leave you there looking like an unlucky herding dog.’’
Pure Vanilla let out a small giggle and kept reading, trying his best to not get distracted by all the silly doodles Shadow Milk had managed to fit on such a tiny piece of paper - a bunch of eyes, a wolf and a sheep strangely reminiscent of the healer himself.
‘’Your dear friends are always so quick to snatch up the flowers you leave them but no one ever gives you any in return, poor poor vanilla - I decided to take pity on you and gift you some but don’t get used to it or you’ll end up disappointed during my next vanishing act.’’
The healer kept reading the note over and over again, he glanced back at the flowers and the only thing on his mind was how he wanted to see Shadow Milk as soon as possible to thank him for the gift and also to get back at him for the whole disappearing act shenanigan.
The king had no idea recieving flowers could be so exhilarating! He was usually the one gifting them so this turn of event only made his heart beat even faster - he quickly made his way inside the Vanilla Kingdom's castle hoping to catch a glimpse of the blueberry scent that would indicate the presence of his beloved not too far away.
Pure Vanilla would have to think really hard about the flower that fit Shadow Milk the most and if it later it became a tradition for them to exchange them, that’s only for them to know.