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Sometimes, when training was over and they had no orders for the day, they’d lie down together on the cold grass and stare at the night sky and everything it shared.
These moments were rare and far in between, as they’d usually have to go back to the Laboratorium to rest and be looked over by these weird cookies. But sometimes, they’d be allowed outside, and…
“Can we play the cloud game?” Pom-Pom Dough Cookie asked, shifting slightly in her spot under Mold Dough Cookie’s arm.
The cloud game was one she invented after noticing the clouds had strange shapes when they were present, and that some of them kind of looked like things she’s seen before. Like one that looked like a heart, or a spore.
Her siblings had reluctantly joined in then, but she knows they really like the game now! They always agree to play it!
“Sure,” Venom Dough Cookie responded, switching their position around so they were lying on their back rather than on their side. “I already see a few.”
Mold Dough Cookie remained silent. Pom-Pom Dough Cookie furrowed her eyebrows, glanced over at him, and saw he was already asleep.
Oh. Well, it’s not as fun without him, but if he’s too tired to play, then──
“──Ok! Whoever spots more wins!” Pom-Pom Dough Cookie announced, and immediately started looking for any shapes, and…
“That one is a cakehound,” she said, pointing to the very fluffy cakehound-shaped cloud. Well, maybe it was a little too fluffy to be a cakehound… Pom-Pom Dough Cookie squinted for a moment, but eh, what else could it be other than a cakehound?
“That’s not a cakehound,” Venom Dough Cookie said flatly. “That’s too… fluffy to be one. It’s a cream sheep.”
Pom-Pom Dough Cookie blinked and thought about it. Then, “I don’t know how cream sheep look. That doesn’t count.”
“...Fine,” Venom Dough Cookie sounded awfully tired. Pointing to the cloud next to the cakehound, “The one next to it is a petunia.”
“When did you learn flower names?” Pom-Pom Dough Cookie asked, more joking than serious. She tried very hard to look for more, and… “That one is a vase!”
Pom-Pom Dough Cookie pointed to it with her sleeve. Venom Dough Cookie took a beat to answer, but when they did, they said: “That’s really not a vase.”
“It is!” Pom-Pom Dough Cookie yelled, a bit louder than she probably should have, considering Mold Dough Cookie was asleep. Lowering her voice slightly, she explained: “It’s those, um… long ones.”
Unfortunately, she could faintly feel Mold Dough Cookie stir next to her──the three of them were all light sleepers, so maybe Pom-Pom Dough Cookie should have been more careful from the start──so lowering her voice did not seem to help.
Mold Dough Cookie cracked an eye open and stared down at Pom-Pom Dough Cookie.
“I’m sorry for waking you up,” she said, sheepishly. “Um. You can go back to sleep. Or play the cloud game too? Venom Dough Cookie keeps saying I’m getting clouds wrong.”
“You kind of are,” Venom Dough Cookie said, and Pom-Pom Dough Cookie held back the urge to stick her tongue out at them. Not that they would see it from their position, anyway.
Mold Dough Cookie looked up at the sky. “Which ones did you get wrong?”
“Um, I didn’t,” Pom-Pom Dough Cookie pouted, yet pointed towards the first one she selected. “That one, for example. Venom Dough Cookie said it’s a cream sheep, but it’s clearly a cakehound! Right?”
A beat of silence. “I don’t know how cream sheep look,” Mold Dough Cookie said eventually. “It looks like a cakehound to me.”
Hah! Pom-Pom Dough Cookie laughed triumphantly. “See! Mold Dough Cookie agrees with me!”
“It’s only because neither of you has seen cream sheep,” Venom Dough Cookie retorted. “If you had, you’d agree with me.”
“Whatever! Even then, I’m still winning,” Pom-Pom Dough Cookie declared. “Mold Dough Cookie, your turn!”
“Ok,” Mold Dough Cookie said. After a moment, he said: “That one looks like… a hand.”
Huh. Pom-Pom Dough Cookie searched the sky until she found the one Mold Dough Cookie was talking about. “It does kinda look like a hand,” she said. “Um, I already said two clouds, so it has to be one of you again.”
“I’ll go,” Venom Dough Cookie said. They sounded a bit more sleepy than they usually did. “That one looks like… kind of looks like you, Pom-Pom Dough Cookie.”
“Me?”
“Yeah,” Venom Dough Cookie pointed to one of the clouds. Pom-Pom Dough Cookie squinted at it. It was definitely more cookie-shaped, with it being kind of like a circle, but…
“That one doesn’t have my hair properly at all,” Pom-Pom Dough Cookie said. The cloud was too messy-looking. “Try again!”
“Venom Dough Cookie is right. It looks like you.” Mold Dough Cookie said quietly.
It really didn’t! But if both of them are saying it… “Fine. Mold Dough Cookie, you go again now!”
“And that one is Venom Dough Cookie,” he said, pointing to the one next to it.
“Hm?” Venom Dough Cookie let out a small sound. “Oh. It does sort of look like me.”
“Are you about to fall asleep, Venom Dough Cookie?” Pom-Pom Dough Cookie said, sitting up just to look at them.
Their eyes looked about two seconds away from closing. Despite this, Venom Dough Cookie said, “No.”
“You do look like you need rest,” Mold Dough Cookie commented. “You should.”
“There’s no need,” Venom Dough Cookie shook their head. “In fact──it’s about Pom-Pom Dough Cookie’s naptime instead.”
“You guys promised to sleep at the same time as me today!”
Venom Dough Cookie yawned. “We will,” they said. “Let’s just sleep now. Mold Dough Cookie was already sleeping before, he needs it──and I’m sure you’re tired as well.”
She wasn’t even tired yet. Pom-Pom Dough Cookie huffed, about to protest──
Something pulled her back down, and she fell into something that wasn’t the grass. More like an… arm. Mold Dough Cookie?
Pom-Pom Dough Cookie gasped, realizing what was about to happen. “Don’t listen to Venom Dough Cookie’s order! I don’t wanna sleep yet! They’re just making us sleep because they’re tired!”
“We do need to sleep,” Mold Dough Cookie answered, and then finally put her into what was basically a headlock──wrapping one arm around her head and keeping her in place.
It was actually pretty comfortable. But she didn’t want to sleep!
Pom-Pom Dough Cookie tried very, very hard to escape.
Mold Dough Cookie did not budge.
Why would her brother betray her like this?
“Pom-Pom Dough Cookie, just sleep,” Venom Dough Cookie said, exasperated. “No one’s betraying you.”
They’re terrible. Her siblings are terrible.
Pom-Pom Dough Cookie dreams of cloudy skies and two warm presences near her.