Chapter Text
After Macaroni Cookie and Cheddar Cheese Cookie’s not-quite-a-vacation at the Town Square, they decided to take an actual vacation somewhere calmer and not so prone to crafty imposters, Macaroni Cookie’s nonna’s house. His nonna, Creste Di Galli Cookie, had graciously invited Macaroni Cookie and his partner to her quiet house in the suburbs of the Cookie Kingdom in order to relax after their last case, seeing as it had interrupted their last attempt at relaxation.
Macaroni Cookie was quite nervous though, he and Cheddar had only just started dating and here he was, already coming to meet his nonna and see where he had spent a good chunk of his childhood. Cheddar Cheese Cookie on the other hand, Macaroni Cookie thought, was far too calm about this. He was calmly leaning against the side of their taxi, thoroughly enjoying the passing scenery as they left the main urban area for the scenic countryside. Macaroni cookie sighed and turned back to his own window to try and distract himself from his anxiety.
Soon, their taxi pulled up before a small, single story biscuit house. They made their way up the steep driveway, Macaroni Cookie huffing with each step taken as he was made to carry both his and Cheddar’s bags. He silently cursed the fact his nonna’s house was built on top of the only hill in the entire suburb as he stepped onto the porch leading to the front door.
Cheddar Cheese Cookie smiled at his exhausted partner before ringing the doorbell. As they waited for Macaroni Cookie’s nonna to answer the door, he took in the house. It was nicely built, if a little old looking. The porch they were standing on seemed to be newly constructed out of sturdy cake roll wood, and the door in front of them had a lovely stained sugar glass window in the upper half.
Said door swung open to reveal a squat old cookie with noodle hair even curlier than macaroni Cookie’s gathered in a tight bun atop her head. She smiled warmly at the detective, “Oh, you must be Cheddar Cheese Cookie! Macky’s told me all about you!”
“Nonna!” Macaroni Cookie cried, his cheeks stained pink at his nonna’s childish nickname for him. The old lady just chuckled and waved the two cookies inside. “Macky, eh?” Cheddar Cheese said with a huff of amusement. Macaroni Cookie just grumbled and pushed him inside.
The interior was much warmer than outside, the scent of freshly baked Jampie’s filling the air. The whole house seemed to exude a feeling of warmth and comfort. The detectives took their shoes off while Creste Di Galli Cookie hung their coats in the small closet by the door. Cheddar Cheese Cookie moved to inspect the kitchen as Macaroni cookie continued to fight with his double knotted sneaker as his nonna tutted over him. A small table had two chairs around it and a television atop the nearby console table. Across from it, an island separated the kitchen, with a few stools lined up along it.
The most interesting thing though, were the two cute cakehounds trying to trip him. Both of them looked just as old as Macaroni’s nonna did, one of them a creamy white with a darker snout, and the other a crispy brown with darker stripes. He bent down to pet the both of them as Macaroni Cookie came and sat down at the counter.
“Ah, I see you've met Maple and Jelly! Don’t let them slobber all over you!” Cheddar Cheese Cookie just laughed and continued to let the two excited cakehounds slobber all over his trousers.
~--- (•ᴥ•˶ᐡ)ഒ⁾⁾ —~
The detective duo’s day had been full of relaxation, from watching baking shows, to walking Maple and Jelly, and even getting thrashed in poker by Creste Di Galli Cookie. Now, they were ready to get some sleep and Macaroni’s nonna kindly directed them to his childhood room to sleep in. Macaroni had an inkling his nonna was up to something mischievous but wasn’t able to puzzle out what she was up to until he opened the door to his room.
That was when he remembered there was only one bed in his room. He also remembered that he had never taken down the copious amounts of pictures of the famous fictional detective, Šakotis Holmes Cookie, that he had put up as a preteen with dreams of becoming a detective just like him (And not at all because he thought he was really handsome). Macaroni Cookie sank to his knees and threw his hands over his face as he groaned in embarrassment.
Cheddar Cheese Cookie tried his best to hold in his laughter out of consideration for his partner, but a few snickers still escaped. This just made Macaroni Cookie bury his head in his hands further. Cheddar tousled his hair as he stepped past him to inspect his boyfriend's childhood bedroom. The walls were plastered with photos and posters, the bookshelf full of detective novels, even a few of Linzer Cookie’s earlier ones. The single bed was clean and freshly made, and Cheddar Cheese Cookie only laughed a little bit at the tartan patterned sheets, obviously Macaroni Cookie’s attempt at a Šakotis Holmes Cookie themed bedspread.
However, Cheddar Cheese Cookie’s inspection and Macaroni Cookie’s embarrassment were cut short by a scream from down the street. The two looked at each other before nodding and racing out of the room towards the sound. They met Creste Di Galli Cookie at the front door and they all slipped on their shoes before rushing outside. On the cake roll porch, they saw all the other neighbors had emerged from their houses as well.
Across the street, a cookie pointed down the street and yelled, “I think it came from over by Genoise Cookie’s house!!” At that, Cheddar Cheese Cookie took off running in the direction the other cookie had pointed. Macaroni Cookie started at his partner's actions, but turned to reassure his nonna before taking off after him.
Genoise Cookie was an older cookie who lived down on the corner of this part of the neighborhood, Macaroni Cookie remembered he used to give him candy when he came over to his nonna's house. Now, they found the older cookie on the ground, trembling. A few other cookies had come to see what happened as well, but Cheddar Cheese and Macaroni pushed through the small crowd to get closer. When they finally got to the old cookie, Cheddar Cheese Cookie grabbed his shoulder to ask him what happened but the old man flinched and scrambled away. Macaroni approached him instead and managed to calm him down and he decided to take him back inside before they began questioning him.
Once inside and seated, Genoise cookie began to explain, “I was just out to get my mail, because I forgot to get it earlier. I had just retrieved it when I looked up and- and there was a-a, a…,” he choked on his words as another tremor ran through his dough. Macaroni Cookie handed him a cup of tea to help calm his nerves and when he gathered his strength, Cheddar Cheese spoke up to prompt him, “What did you see Genoise Cookie?” The old cookie sighed and responded, “I saw a CakeBeast.”
Macaroni gaped at the man, “What!? A- a CakeBeast!? I thought those things were a myth!” Genoise Cookie’s face darkened, “Me too, but I know what I saw. Clear as day, a hulking CakeBeast was there in front of me, so close I could’ve touched it if I weren’t so frightened.” Macaroni Cookie hummed in distress and Genoise Cookie shook his head and took another sip of his tea.
“Pardon me, but what on Earthbread is a CakeBeast?” Cheddar Cheese Cookie asked, to the disbelief of the other two cookies. “Y-you’ve never heard of a CakeBeast?” Macaroni Cookie cried. Genoise Cookie shook his head and muttered, “City-Slickers, don’ even tell their kids propah stories.” Cheddar Cheese Cookie humphed at that and turned to Macaroni Cookie to explain it.
“Okay, well, a CakeBeast is an ancient type of cakehound, or so the stories say, everyone knows they’re mythical of course. But anyway, they're like, four times the size of regular cakehounds with super thick fursting and huge dagger like teeth. It’s said they hunt Cream Lynxes as food and could even take down Dragons if they worked as a pack! Maybe Genoise Cookie’s beast will be the thing to prove that CakeBeasts are real!!” By the end of his explanation, Macaroni Cookie had stars in his eyes at the prospect of proving that these terrifying beasts were real.
Cheddar Cheese Cookie just hummed and closed his eyes to think deeper. Genoise Cookie yawned and swallowed the last of his tea. At that, Macaroni Cookie decided they should probably let the old cookie get some rest. He told him they’d be back in the morning to question him further on his sighting and to think over it to try and recall as many details as possible. With that, Genoise Cookie bid them goodnight and Macaroni Cookie realized Cheddar Cheese Cookie had fallen asleep and he would have to carry him back to his nonna’s house. With a sigh, he hefted him into a princess carry, stumbling a bit as Cheddar Cheese was taller than him and thus awkward to carry, but he got him settled and made his way home.
When he got back, his nonna opened the door for him and started to question him on what had happened down the street, but left him alone when she realized how tired he was. He entered his room, kicking the door closed behind him and settling his partner on the bed. He wasn’t gonna change Cheddar Cheese Cookie into his pajamas while he was sleeping, that felt a touch too personal, even though they were dating now, so he settled for removing his suspenders and belt, and untucking his shirt from his pants.
With that he turned away and dug out his pajamas from his suitcase and quickly got changed. He had thought they were going to get separate rooms, so he had only brought an old oversized t-shirt to sleep in. He didn't have anything else though so he sucked it up. Finally, he was ready for bed, he decided to forgo brushing his teeth tonight as it was already late and they surely had an early day tomorrow, what with having to question Genoise Cookie and start searching for the CakeBeast.
For now though, he was content to slip under the covers next to his boyfriend and let sleep claim him.
~--- (•ᴥ•˶ᐡ)ഒ⁾⁾ —~
The next morning, Macaroni Cookie woke up with his face pressed into a warm, firm, and slightly scratchy pillow. Which was strange, as he remembered all his pillows being soft, fluffy, and cool, like a pile of frosting. He started to suspect his pillow was not truly a pillow when he felt it rise and fall with the breath of his boyfriend, Cheddar Cheese Cookie, whose chest he was apparently burying his face in. He lifted his face, macaroni curls falling around his face, to meet the warm, mildly amused gaze of his boyfriend.
Cheddar Cheese Cookie softly brushed the curls out of Macaroni Cookie’s face before leaning down to place a chaste kiss upon his lips. Macaroni Cookie smiled into it and thought to himself, ‘What a wonderful way to start my morning!’ Cheddar Cheese Cookie chuckled, “Yes, I suppose it is. However, we should get up and actually start our mornings so we can get to solving our little CakeBeast puzzle.”
Macaroni cookie blushed at how he had apparently said that aloud, but pushed himself off up Cheddar Cheese Cookie. They both got changed, brushed their teeth, and sat down to breakfast with Creste Di Galli Cookie. After helping Macaroni's nonna clean up the table, the two detectives stepped out onto the porch to discuss their plan of action.
“First things first, we should question Genoise Cookie, get as accurate a picture as we can of what happened last night. Next, we should question everyone who showed up to check on Genoise Cookie to see if they saw anything.” Cheddar Cheese hummed, considering Macaroni’s plan before adding, “You’re right, we should start with Genoise Cookie, but I don’t think we’ll need to question everyone who was there last night. If someone else did see anything, they’ll tell us. For now, we should focus on investigating the place where it happened, and anyone Genoise Cookie mentions in his account.”
Macaroni Cookie nods, and they head off down the street to begin. At the corner, they split up. Macaroni Cookie went up to Genoise Cookie’s door to see if he was awake, and Cheddar Cheese Cookie made his way across the street to the mailboxes the beast was seen by.
Macaroni Cookie quickly joins him, saying that Genoise was probably still asleep as he hadn’t answered the door. Cheddar Cheese hummed, and circled around the mailboxes before asking Macaroni, “Tell me, what do you notice about the area behind these mailboxes?”
Macaroni takes a second to scan the area, “Well, it’s pretty muddy here by the road, but the yard seems pretty well kept, all the grass is neatly trimmed and those bushes near the house are pretty well groomed. Why?”
Cheddar Cheese Cookie smirks, like he knows something Macaroni doesn’t, “Well, if CakeBeasts are really four times as large as cakehounds, wouldn’t it have left some pawprints in this mud? Or at least mussed up the yard some? Even a cake Hound like Jelly or Maple would’ve left some traces if they’d walked through there.”
“Oh! You’re right! That is weird, maybe it was on the road though.” Macaroni Cookie replied. “Perhaps…” Cheddar Cheese Cookie purred as he brushed past him to make his way up to Genoise Cookie’s house. There, Genoise Cookie was waiting for them at the front door. He waved the duo in with a friendly smile and joined them in his living room. Macaroni and Cheddar were seated together on the couch, probably closer than they had to be, but Genoise Cookie didn't comment on it. Instead, he eased himself into a recliner across from them as macaroni Cookie pulled out a notebook.
“Well then, boys, shall we start?” The detectives nodded and Genoise cookie began his retelling of last night's events, “Well, it started when I went out to get the mail,”
Macaroni interrupted, “Do you remember what time that was?”
“Oh- oh yes, I believe it was a little before six o’clock because I wanted to get my mail before eating dinner. Now, I went outside and I remember wanting to be quick because it was cold and dark out. I walked down the driveway and waved hello to a young cookie passing by walking their dog. Then I-”
Macaroni interrupted Genoise again, “Do you-” but was cut off by Cheddar Cheese Cookie nudging him none too gently, “Sorry for my partner, he can get a little eager, please, do continue.”
Genoise Cookie cleared his throat and began again, “Okay, well, I crossed the street to the mailboxes. I had just retrieved my mail from inside when I looked up to see the CakeBeast right there in front of me! I screamed, and it disappeared, and then everyone else showed up. And, that’s everything I can recall, any questions?”
Both detectives thought over Genoise Cookie’s story before Cheddar Cheese began, “Well ,let's start with the CakeBeast. Can you describe it more for us?”
Genoise nodded, “Well, I didn’t get a terribly good look at it, its fur was pitch black, and I couldn’t see its eyes. I could tell it was a CakeBeast because of its outline though! Someone in the house across the street must’ve turned the lights on at that moment because there was a glow outlining its shape for me to see!”
Macaroni nodded along and wrote the description down in his notebook and asked another question, “About the young cookie you saw, could you describe them too? If we can find them, we might be able to get more information on the CakeBeast from them!”
Genoise smiled at macaroni Cookie’s enthusiasm and began to describe them, “Well, since it was dark, I couldn’t see them very well, but they were a young cookie, probably a teen. They were wearing a big orange coat and had light colored hair. That’s about all I could tell about them though,” Macaroni quickly wrote that down and Cheddar Cheese Cookie was about to ask another question when Genoise Cookie added on, “Oh, wait! Their hair was golden! Yes, I remember thinking how interesting it was that it was the same color as their cakehound!”
“Their… cakehound?” Cheddar Cheese Cookie questioned. “Yes, I was able to get a good look at their cake hound because it kept walking in the path of their flashlight! It was a cute fluffy thing, kind of big though.” Genoise Cookie said.
Cheddar Cheese Cookie hummed as Macaroni Cookie finished writing, “Well, Macaroni Cookie, do you have any more questions for Genoise Cookie?”
“Uhhh, nope! Do you Cheddar Cheese Cookie?” Cheddar Cheese Cookie stood up, “No, I don’t. Well, thank you for your time Genoise Cookie. We’ll be back with more info on your CakeBeast soon.” The old cookie smiled as he saw them out the door.
“Well, Cheddar, we should try and find that kid, they probably saw the CakeBeast as well!” Cheddar Cheese had a contemplative look on his face, “You can go look for them Macaroni Cookie, I need to go check on something.” Macaroni watched him walk off with a puzzled look before shrugging and beginning to think about how he would find the mystery Cookie.
~--- (•ᴥ•˶ᐡ)ഒ⁾⁾ —~
Six o’clock and macaroni had one lead. He had spent all day knocking on every single door he could get to in the neighborhood and he had only done about half of the houses. He had managed to find one cookie who possibly knew the mysterious young cookie. They claimed the description sounded similar to their niece, who lived up in the front half of the neighborhood. It wasn’t much to go off of, but it was better than nothing.
Still, it would have to wait til’ tomorrow. It was nearly dinner time and his nonna would be mad if he was late, and he did not want that. So, he hurried home, resolving to go searching for the young cookie tomorrow.
Back at his nonna’s house, Cheddar Cheese Cookie met him at the door. He took Macaroni’s coat and hung it up for him as he kicked his shoes off, which were thankfully not double-knotted this time. Over dinner, they discussed their findings, well, Macaroni discussed his findings, Cheddar Cheese Cookie was suspiciously tight-lipped about his findings, though he seemed quite amused when Macaroni began discussing what he thought the CakeBeast looked like when it wasn’t shrouded in shadows.
Soon, their dessert was finished and it was time for bed. Cheddar Cheese Cookie was thankfully awake enough to change into his pajamas himself this time, so Macaroni hung back to ask his nonna if she knew what he had been up to. He learned he had come back to her house and took Maple and Jelly, her cakehounds, down into the basement. He had putzed about for about half an hour before ascending once more and heading out to investigate. He had only come back a minute or two before Macaroni had.
Macaroni contemplated his partner's strange actions as he headed to his room. He assumed Cheddar Cheese Cookie would have finished changing but he had instead only just started. Macaroni found himself in a similar position as last night due to the embarrassment of seeing his boyfriend in just his boxers.
Cheddar Cheese Cookie just laughed at his boyfriend’s plight and finished changing, he had a dapper striped pajama set which made Macaroni feel slightly underdressed in his ratty old sleep shirt. Nonetheless, they found themselves snuggled together in bed, and just before the two of them dozed off, Cheddar whispered a promise that he’d crack the case wide open tomorrow. Macaroni just smiled and clung tighter to Cheddar.
~--- (•ᴥ•˶ᐡ)ഒ⁾⁾ —~
The next morning started similarly to their previous ones, wake up, get dressed, enjoy a nice breakfast courtesy of Macaroni Cookies nonna, and plan their day out on the front porch.
“First off, we gotta find that mysterious young cookie,” Macaroni said, “I’ve gotten a clue to their whereabouts so following that lead should be our priority.” Cheddar Cheese Cookie nodded, “Lead the way,” and Macaroni Cookie did.
Soon enough, they found themselves at the front door of a house in the front half of the neighborhood. It was a one story well built biscuit house, with tan siding and warm red accents. A few sugar geese statues decorated the lawn, and two bird feeders hung from a post beside the door. Cheddar Cheese Cookie politely knocked on the door, and when no one came, he rang the doorbell. A series of chimes rang out in a tune Macaroni vaguely recognized, but still, no one came.
However, the bark of a cakehound could be heard from somewhere behind the house, so the detectives decided to investigate. They made their way back past the garage door and around the side of the house where they were stopped by a wrought sugar iron fence. A large fluffy golden cakehound came running up to the fence and attempted to lick them through the black bars.
Cheddar Cheese Cookie bent down to rub the big dog’s nose as macaroni scanned the yard for the hound’s owner. He glimpsed a bit of bright orange peeking out from behind the shed near the back of the yard. He smiled and waved at the young cookie, who was seemingly hiding from them, attempting to make himself look friendly.
The cookie stared for a second before slowly making their way over to the duo. As they neared, Macaroni saw it was a teenage girl, dressed in a bright orange coat with short golden hair, just as Genoise Cookie had described.
“Hello there, I’m Macaroni Cookie and this is my partner Cheddar Cheese Cookie, we were wondering if we could ask you a few questions about something that happened last night?” The young cookie looked nervously at Macaroni Cookie, but began to talk anyway, brushing their hand through their cakehound’s golden fursting to calm themself, “O-okay, well, I’m Spun Sugar Cookie, nice to meet you,” ‘Ah, that explains their golden hair,’ Macaroni thought. The girl continued, “Sure, I guess I can answer some questions, are you two, like, detectives or something?”
Macaroni smiled brightly as Cheddar Cheese Cookie stood up, “Indeed we are, little lady, good guess. Now, for our first question, what were you doing from five PM to six PM last night?”
Spun Sugar Cookie hummed, “Well, around five, I was sitting in the living room with my mom and sister. My dad came home and was gonna start making dinner. He asked someone to walk our cakehound, Lychee. I volunteered, and took her out. I went around the neighborhood, down that way,” she pointed down the road, further into the neighborhood, where Macaroni and Cheddar Cheese had come from, “and I got home a little after six to eat dinner with my family. Anything else you want to know?”
Macaroni Cookie flipped his notebook around to show a sketch of the neighborhood, “Here, with my pencil, can you trace the path you took last night?” Spun Sugar Cookie took the pencil, “Sure, I guess,” and traced her path down the road, around the corner where Genoise Cookie’s house was, and halfway down that road before doubling back to her house again. “Usually I go all the way around the loop, but it was really dark and I was hungry, so I only went part of the way up that street so I could get back in time for dinner.”
Macaroni Cookie inspected the map quietly as Cheddar Cheese Cookie was lost in thought. Spun Sugar Cookie stuck her hands in her pocket and shifted on her feet. A car passed and Lychee barked at it, as dogs are wont to do, which startled macaroni Cookie but only seemed to move Cheddar Cheese Cookie into action.
“Miss Spun Sugar Cookie, would you mind accompanying us down the street, I fear we need you to help resolve this matter of the CakeBeast Genoise Cookie saw.” Spun Sugar Cookie startled, “A-a CakeBeast!? I thought those weren’t real! Did Genoise Cookie really see one?”
“Yeah, last night, he saw one outside his house when he went to get the mail. He said you were there too, did you not notice anything strange last night?” Macaroni Cookie questioned. “Uh, no, not really. The only thing weird was that right as I was at the corner, about to turn back onto my street, I heard a really scary screech! I ran down the street as quickly as I could, but when I turned around to see what had made the sound, there wasn’t anything there! I went home super quick after that, since I was already on my way back.”
Macaroni wrote that down before putting his hand to his chin, “Well, that sure is strange… Maybe it was the CakeBeast!” Cheddar Cheese Cookie smiled and shook his head, “Maybe, anyway, would you mind accompanying us?” Spun Sugar Cookie nodded and smiled, “Sure! Just let me put Lychee inside and leave a note for my parents, mkay?” The detectives agreed and waited for the girl to come back out before making their way down the street.
Macaroni looked over to his partner, who had a self-assured look about him, “Gee, Cheddar, you probably have the whole thing figured out already, and I can barely make heads or tails of this situation. I don’t know what I want more, for there to actually be a CakeBeast or for it to just be a trick.” Cheddar Cheese Cookie just patted his shoulder, “Don’ worry, if you give it some thought, I’m sure you’ll come to the same conclusion as me. Ya just gotta think a bit more on what Genoise Cookie saw.” Macaroni Cookie nodded and went back through his notebook to review the facts.
- A bit before six, Genoise Cookie went outside to get his mail.
- He saw Spun Sugar Cookie walking her cakehound, Lychee, go past him. She had a flashlight because it was dark.
- At the mailboxes, a CakeBeast appeared.
- The CakeBeast was described to be cloaked in shadows with a weird glow around it, like the windows behind it had light in them
- Then it suddenly disappeared and Genoise Cookie screamed
- Spun Sugar heard a scary screech a little bit after she rounded the corner but didn’t see anything when she turned to look
- The grass and mud behind the mailboxes wasn’t disturbed when they looked in the morning
- There wasn’t anyone else around until after Genoise Cookie screamed.
Macaroni Cookie ran his hand through his hair and thought, ‘man oh man, what could all this mean?’
~--- (•ᴥ•˶ᐡ)ഒ⁾⁾ —~
To Be Continued...