Work Text:
Pure Vanilla’s face was still beneath him. A trail of red leaking from his open mouth and a gash on his forehead pouring with jam. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. He floated down, landing beside his lover with a heavy thunk. His frail legs buckled, not used to the weight of his body.
“Nilly-” his voice cracked as he reached for Pure Vanilla. The other cookie’s eyes were glassy and distant. His body was cooling rapidly. There was a laugh behind him.
"Now look at what you’ve done. You killed the one cookie left who cared about you.” Dark Enchantress sneered at him, the faint tingling of her mind control still tugging on his dough. Tears streamed down his face.
“No. Not- not him. Please not him.” He hunched over the body, a scream of rage and grief tearing from his lips. Dark Enchantress cackling above him, magic tugging at his dough, readying his body to kill again
“How about your children next?” The words fell on cotton ears. Tears still falling, his form shot up, yanked at my magic. A whimper of pain at the sudden movement was torn from him.
“Not them too,” he whispered, fight draining as her magic overtook him. "Please..." His last conscious thought as he was forced to approach a trembling Candy Apple and Black Sapphire was that maybe death would be merciful and take him first.
—
Shadow Milk shot up out of bed, breath coming up short and fast. He clutched at his chest, nails scratching through his clothes until they hit soft dough. He’d killed him. Killed Pure Vanilla. And his kids were next. A gasp wrenched its way out of his mouth and his hands dug farther into his chest, drawing jam to the surface.
Get her out of me! She can’t make me do it!! He clawed and clawed at himself, leaving cuts everywhere in his panic. His breathing came even faster now, harsh cries he didn’t recognise filling the room. His dough stung with cuts but it wasn’t enough. Not for what he’d done to them. His hand flew to his souljam ready to break it. That will make up for it. My death. Before he could, however, a soft hand enclosed his wrist.
“Blue bird?” Panicked eyes darted towards the voice. “Blue bird, what are you doing?”
Pure Vanilla sat all the way up, taking in the damage with blurry, half-blind eyes. Before Shadow Milk could process what was happening, the hand on his wrist tightened. “Blue bird. Come here.” He said it softly, but it wasn’t a request. Shadow Milk went, trembling.
“Breathe, my love. Come feel my heart.” A pathetic whimper sounded as Shadow Milk fell into his lover’s arms. Sobs wracked his body and his sweet Nilly held him through it, whispering comfort until his cries slowed.
After a while, he could focus again. It had been a dream. Nilly was alive. So were his kids. Dark Enchantress had been defeated. He was in the Vanilla Castle, cuddled into Pure Vanilla’s bed, just like he had been every night for the past month. He let out a soft sigh.
“My sweet blue bird, are you feeling better?” Nilly asked, breath ghosting the tops of his hair. He hummed in response, letting the sound of Pure Vanilla’s heart slow his own.
“Want to talk about it?” His hand stroked through Shadow Milk’s hair slowly.
“Nightmare.” He buried his head further into Pure Vanilla’s chest.
“Hm, I figured.” The comforting motion of his hand never stopped.
“I- Dark Enchantress, she,” he huffed out in annoyance at the wobble in his voice. “She made me kill you. And- and my kid- minions. My minions.” The hand stopped for a second, clenching into his hair in anger, before quickly resuming.
“You know you can call them your kids right? I’m sure they’d be thrilled.” He giggled wetly in response.
“Probably, but I’ve got a reputation to uphold here.”
Pure Vanilla laughed, the sound filling Shadow Milk’s stomach with butterflies and warmth. They sat in companionable silence for a while longer.
“My darling. I hate to break up this tender moment, but I need to heal you.” Despite his calm words, Pure Vanilla’s tone was laced with worry. Shadow Milk was honestly surprised he’d held out this long before mentioning it. He sighed, loathe to get up. But now that his love mentioned it, the adrenaline was starting to settle and his dough was beginning to sting painfully.
“Ok.” He sat up, letting Pure Vanilla maneuver him until he was comfortable. His head ended up on the brighter cookie’s lap, feet tucked under the pillow where he was supposed to be asleep. A tinge of guilt picked at him for waking up his love. He was already overworked, surely he didn’t need Shadow Milk’s problems to deal with as well. His thoughts were silenced, however, by a soft kiss to his forehead.
“Hush, blue bird. Let me take care of you.” A goofy smile spread across his face at Pure Vanilla's words; he always knew exactly what Shadow Milk was thinking before Shadow even knew himself. It was scary at first, but now he's oh-so glad that his lover knows him as well as he does. He hummed, overcome with sudden fondness for the other cookie. His hand shot up quickly and pulled his love down for a kiss that set his body on fire. A nice fire, though: it felt like home.
"Love you, Nilly," he whispered against his lover's lips as they parted.
"I love you too, my darling." Another tender kiss was pressed to his lips, quicker this time. "Now, let me heal you?" Grinning, still flushing from the kiss, he nodded his assent and Pure Vanilla got to work. Healing magic flowed through his hands, light engulfing them as he lowered them to Shadow Milk’s chest. He could feel the familiar tingle of his lover’s magic flow through him, curling into each wound and leaving it better than it was before. He closed his eyes and let the warmth overtake him.
After what felt like hours, the warmth receded leaving his body comfortably buzzing in its wake. He was too tired to move, but luckily that was taken care of for him. Soft hands picked him up gently and shifted him so he laid on the pillow. Covers were draped over his body and the bed rustled as Pure Vanilla slipped under them as well. Shadow Milk reached out blindly, making grabby hands to the air until he was pulled up against a warm body. A quiet chuckle reverberated through him as Pure Vanilla pulled him into his chest.
“Feeling better blue bird?” A sleepy hum was his only response. Nilly’s hand restarted its petting of his hair, the soothing gesture making it hard for him to fight sleep no matter how much he wanted to.
“Thank you.” His voice was muffled, the words mostly absorbed by Pure Vanilla’s chest, but he knew they were heard.
“Always, my love. Always.” A soft kiss was placed on his forehead and Shadow Milk gave in to the temptation of sleep, letting his lover’s heartbeat lull him off into a dreamless state.