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Shadow Milk latched onto Pure Vanilla from behind, startling him slightly as he wrapped his arms around him.
“Oh! Shadow Milk…”
Pure Vanilla sounded… worried. Shadow Milk had no clue about what.
Pure Vanilla scratched behind Shadow Milk’s ears, something he leaned into on instinct. He hated that he did it without thinking, but at least Pure Vanilla was gentle.
Why was Pure Vanilla looking at him like that?
“Were you crying earlier…?”
Shadow Milk instantly shoved Pure Vanilla away.
Sure maybe he had, but that didn’t mean he needed to know. It didn’t matter anyway. It was just— some stupid thing.
How did Pure Vanilla even know anyway?
Shadow Milk stuttered, “I— well— hmph!”
He bolted away, Pure Vanilla following after.
He was not talking about this. Anything but that. It was stupid.
He ducked under the dining table, Pure Vanilla stumbling behind him. It took less than ten seconds of him glancing around to spot Shadow Milk.
“Bluebird, get out from under the table, please—”
“NO!” Shadow Milk shouted, disappearing through his other realm before Pure Vanilla could stop him.
He tripped out the other side, ending up in the castle's library. It was quite extensive. Perfect. Maybe he’d get tired of searching before he’d find him. There were three floors in total. He’d probably search the other two first.
•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•
…Oh dear.
Pure Vanilla stared at the empty spot where Shadow Milk had been, his hand clutched around nothing.
Maybe he shouldn’t have brought it up but… Shadow Milk didn’t really… cry when he was upset. He’d do anything but that. Deflect things, jokes, yell, hide… he never cried.
Pure Vanilla closed his eyes again, setting himself down in one of the chairs, trying to reason where Shadow Milk had gone.
He tapped his soul jam. Shadow Milk was still somewhere in the castle, though he couldn’t pinpoint where. He usually could. Maybe Shadow Milk was stopping that on purpose…?
Where in the castle would Shadow Milk think is best to hide? Probably where he’d think Pure Vanilla would look last, right?
…
The library? It was large, repetitive, and he could entertain himself.
Pure Vanilla made his way over there, deciding to be quiet as he looked for him. If he yelled and Shadow Milk was in here, he’d run again.
He kept his eyes open, despite the light pouring in through the windows being… a nuisance. Shadow Milk would certainly stand out against the warm colors of the environment, but Pure Vanilla couldn’t exactly see…
He moved through the rows of shelves, trying to think of what section Shadow Milk may be in. He made it through the first floor, then spotted the stairs.
…he didn’t want to search this entire library.
He didn't exactly have a choice, did he?
He sighed, starting up the stairs.
Maybe it would be a better idea to simply leave Shadow Milk alone. He was upset. That much was evident. …He couldn’t. Sure, running away like this was typical, but crying wasn’t. He just… needed to be sure he was okay.
When did he end up at the top floor? It didn’t matter. He’d just search here first. He walked between the first rows of shelves, squinting as he tried to spot his other half.
He spotted a blue blur at the end of one of the shelves.
…What should he do? Maybe he could just… leave him be? It could be better to wait for him to calm down. He already seemed to be focused on a book, and—
One of Shadow Milk’s eyes was staring at him. Pure Vanilla paused, tilting his head as he sat down, Shadow Milk still turned away. He acted oblivious, despite his clear glare. Maybe Pure Vanilla could just sit here and wait for him.
Shadow Milk placed the book back on the shelf, then bolted again.
“Bluebird, WAIT—!”
Pure Vanilla attempted to follow after him, though Shadow Milk disappeared as soon as he rounded the corner.
“Blue…”
…He’ll leave him be. Not forever, just until Shadow Milk came to him himself. He had done that more lately. It would be alright eventually.
•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•
Pure Vanilla should not have found him that fast. Sure, it still took him over half an hour, but that was much quicker than Shadow Milk thought he’d be.
He opened a portal, ending up in a hallway across the castle. He opened one of the storage closets, slamming the door shut as he sat on the floor.
Pure Vanilla shouldn’t find him again. He— there were a ton of closets around here, and it’d be unlikely Pure Vanilla would be sure which one he was in.
It felt too dark and too bright at the same time with all his eyes open. He curled up on the cold tile, trying to force himself to go to sleep or— something.
He didn’t need Pure Vanilla. He didn’t need to talk about it. It was just some stupid toy he tore anyway. He’d already fixed it. It didn’t matter anymore. He didn’t care about it. It didn’t matter. He shouldn’t be thinking about it! That’s how little it meant. It was nothing! He only cared because Pure Vanilla was bothering him, anyway!
He sighed, pushing himself up off the floor. It was too cold anyway.
Maybe he could just look around at what was in here? He hadn’t really considered it.
He pulled himself up on one of the shelves, attempting to figure out what the sacks on the shelves could possibly have as he pushed his hand on one.
…
Was… were these all raisins?
Why would Pure Vanilla just have a closet of raisins?
Sure, the lasted a while but—
…well, probably his friends. Always his friends. Then again, he had mentioned liking them before…
Eh. Whatever. He just needed to hide in here until—
The door tipped open before he could finish that thought. Shadow Milk winced at the light, hardly paying attention to who just stepped in.
“Hey Bluebird,” Pure Vanilla hummed, grabbing one of the sacks off the shelf.
Shadow Milk blinked at him. Wasn’t he trying to… chase him down or whatever?
“Why are you in the closet?”
Shadow Milk huffed, moving as far away as he could in the small space, “I can be where I want.”
“That doesn’t answer my question, darling.”
“You already know why. Just… take your stupid raisins and leave me alone.”
“Is it about what I asked earlier?”
Shadow Milk didn’t reply.
“...I won’t bother you about it anymore. You don’t have to hide from me.”
Pure Vanilla left the room. Shadow Milk hesitated, almost pulling the door shut before he decided to follow behind him.
Pure Vanilla didn’t ask any more questions, true to his word. Shadow Milk followed him for the rest of the day until they ended up in Pure Vanilla’s room, Shadow Milk sitting on the bed while Pure Vanilla brushed his hair.
Pure Vanilla’s question still bothered him. It shouldn’t have mattered at all but it did.
Maybe he’d just answer it! Then his head would finally shut up.
“Hey Nilly?”
“Hm?”
“I— you know how I was crying earlier?”
Pure Vanilla paused, then gave him a small nod.
“I just— I tore up some stupid little doll I made, and you’re always telling me that I’m allowed to cry or— whatever, so I just— did. It doesn’t matter, I just freaked out over it and I was up to fix it anyway so… just— get over it.”
Pure Vanilla set down his hairbrush, then sat down beside Shadow Milk, placing his hand over his, kissing him on the cheek.
“Thank you for telling me…”
Shadow Milk scoffed, “I don’t— it doesn’t matter!”
Pure Vanilla placed his hand on his cheek, “It does to me. I was worried about you and… it’s good to know that it was because you were… I don’t know. Letting yourself be upset? Even if you think it was stupid it’s… a good thing, in a way. I thought something terrible happened that you weren’t talking about.”
Shadow Milk chuckled, “Well, don’t expect it to be a regular thing. I’m not gonna melt down every single time something that small happens.”
Pure Vanilla nodded, laying down and pulling Shadow Milk with him. Shadow Milk curled up around him. Pure Vanilla was warm. It felt nice to just… latch onto him. Like he didn’t have to let go.
Maybe he could get used to this.
Maybe.