Chapter Text
It had been 5 weeks of him living inside the pure vanilla cookie kingdom, and to be honest he started to grow tired of the suspicious and hostile glares.
He knew he deserved them, and they definitely didn't trust him yet.
But he couldn't help but feel annoyance whenever he was given one, especially the ones behind his back. The only good part of this was that he wasn’t under any strict supervision anymore.
As he made his way to his private room, he suddenly heard a voice call out to him.
“Hey! Silent salt cookie!”
He froze, knowing that voice belonged to the current owner of eternal sugar cookie's soul jam.
Slowly, he turned to face her and saw only a bright smile on her face.
“I'm sorry, did I do something to upset you all?” he carefully asked, trying to remember everything he'd done today. The ancient heroes never talked to him outside the meetings, meaning he did something wrong to have one of them come over and talk.
“You didn't do anything wrong, I was just wondering if you'd like to have a drink with me?”
Her invitation made his mind go blank. The soul jam of passion. One of the ancient heroes…was asking him if he wanted to grab a drink with her?!?
He didn't know what to say, not knowing if she'd be mad if he rejected the request. He was now eyeing her suspiciously, trying to see if she had other motives.
But he found nothing. Only seeing her bright smile and genuine request.
With hesitation, he nodded.
“I…I suppose one wouldn't hurt…”
Her smile seemed to have widened, as she gestured him to follow along.
“Great! c'mon then. I already hear a drink calling my name!”
He stood there for a while longer, before following. He hoped this wasn't a manipulation tactic, he actually did need a drink.
The two made it to crow's nest Inn, getting bewildered looks as they saw him and a ancient hero casually walking in together.
The two found a table away from everyone else, sitting down with a bit of hesitation on his part.
She noticed this, laughing a bit at how awkward he looked.
“You're okay, y’know. I don't bite, unless it's needed in a situation.”
She tried to ease him up with some teasing, but it didn’t do much to help him calm down.
While he sat there silently, she ordered the drinks. He still was unsure what to make with this situation.
“So,” she suddenly spoke, making him snap out of his thoughts. “How are you liking it here? I'd be pretty overwhelmed by the big change in scenery.”
He stayed silent for a bit before responding.
“It's…alright, for the most part. And yes, it is overwhelming being here.”
“i wouldn't blame you for that, my kingdom is a lot overwhelming then this. You'd probably pass out right before we even entered the gates!” She looked amused by the thought of it.
The drinks then came to their table, noting that she had ordered five for herself.
She grabbed hers and thanked the cookie who brought it over, placing her drinks in front of her and then extending her right hand with his drink so he could take it.
He cautiously took it from her, placing it down beside him and watched as she immediately drank up hers.
“Thank you…” he trailed off, hoping to get her name.
“Hollyberry cookie,”
“Thank you, hollyberry cookie.” He muttered, making sure he wouldn’t forget her name.
It was silent again, the only noise being the few cookies that were there.
“Why did you invite me here?” he asked, so his mind would stop panicking over it.
“I just thought you needed some berry juice, especially since you looked so tense during the meeting.” she casually answered, making him more confused.
“I won't deny that I needed a drink, but I thought you all didn’t trust me?”
She paused for a moment, before responding.
“I don't exactly trust you completely, but it's been five weeks. If you were truly planning to backstab us, you would've done it by now.”
She was right about that. If he was deceiving them, (which he wasn't.) He would’ve done it already or maybe even sooner.
“I see…Apologies for thinking you were the one deceiving me.” he said, taking a sip of his drink beneath his helmet. The drink was bitter to him, having not had alcohol in such a long time. It made him cringe, and cough a bit.
He remembered the first time he drank. It was with the other virtues during a supposed meeting, when it actually was just hanging out and relaxing together.
Bringer of Happiness brought the idea up, already having taken her fair share before them. It was definitely an enjoyable night, the most hammered being the herald of Change and surprising flour of Volition.
The drunken teasing and arguing, almost made him smile.
But then he remembered the present, causing the memory to become bittersweet.
“How was your encounter with eternal sugar cookie?”
Hollyberry cookie did not expect him to ask that so soon, looking down at her drink for a few moments.
“It was rather…strange and uncomfortable.” Hollyberry cookie took another sip, a bit more hesitant with it now. “She was really obsessed with making cookies stay in her garden, especially when she wanted me to stay. She thought cookies would live a happy life if they just stayed there forever, away from harm and the dangers of death.”
Silent salt cookie felt disappointed and annoyed upon hearing this, as hollyberry cookie continued.
“She manipulated me and made me an offer to stay with her, but even through my foggy and confused state I didn't fall for it. My passion came back and had awakened me, snapping me out of my hesitation to leave. She almost destroyed her own garden because I chose to leave.”
“Really?” he was genuinely confused and taken aback by the thought of eternal sugar cookie destroying her precious garden of sloth.
“Yep, she's got it bad for me.” Hollyberry cookie said, feeling disturbed at her own words. “But…I also felt bad for her.”
What…?
Hollyberry cookie felt bad for her?
“Why?” He once again asked. “Why do you feel bad for her? She manipulated you, and she tried to do something you didn't want to do.”
Hollyberry cookie sighed “I know, I'm not saying everything she did was okay. But she had this look in her eye when I decided to leave with my army. She looked almost…scared, and desperate for someone to love her. I think she was just lonely…or maybe it's all in my head. I believe there's good in everyone after all.” she chuckled, her berry juice now forgotten.
“A great strength and weakness.”
“Yeah, you're definitely right about that…”
A wave of silence washed over them, both not knowing what to say.
“What was eternal sugar cookie like, when she was a virtue?” Hollyberry cookie suddenly asked, now it being his turn to be surprised by her question.
He tilted his head away, clutching his drink tightly.
“She was happy, genuinely happy. She was the Bringer of Happiness, her task was rather simple. She had her garden, but she wouldn't force cookies to stay. They would seek her out, and of course she would give them the happiness they wanted. Her personality was just as sweet, as she always wanted to make others smile. Even outside her paradise, she made cookies happy.” His grip on his drink slowly loosed, remembering the times before her corruption.
“she was also mischievous, always teasing and joking. I remember she would always tease me about my love for…someone. She was actually the first one to notice, saying ‘Nobody can hide those Lovey-dovey feelings from me, even from beneath your helmet I can easily tell.’”
He couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped him, fondly looking back on that day. She really did tease him relentlessly, it made his blush increase with every word she spoke.
“Wow, she sounds so…different.”
Upon hearing hollyberry cookie's words, his mood grew cold again.
“Yeah, she does.”
Hollyberry cookie noticed this, offering him a warm smile.
“Hey, maybe we can redeem her too? You've come a long way yourself, it could be possible.”
It was a nice thought, but a farfetched and naive idea.
“I doubt it, she wouldn't give up anything for her garden of sloth.” he glared at the ground, also remembering the cries she would let out about her garden when they were inside the silver tree. “If she truly wanted you, she would've come to you instead of you coming to her.”
Hollyberry cookie knew he was right, but her determination didn't let the idea go.
“You never know what the future holds, sometimes it could disappoint or surprise you. I'm choosing the option to be surprised.”
He let out a huff, it sounding both tired and fond.
“You really are optimistic, huh?”
“Hah! Don't doubt it for a second.” Hollyberry cookie proudly stated, taking a more confident swing of her drink.
Silent salt cookie smiled underneath his helmet, taking a sip of his drink too.
____
The next day, he told white lily cookie about their interaction yesterday.
She was absolutely happy that one of her friends was finally warming up to him.
He was just as happy about it too.