Work Text:
🌹~~🌻~~🌹
Shadow Milk rarely traveled from his Spire of Deceit, finding no need to go anywhere else. The Spire had everything he needed- from theaters to libraries; the possibilities were endless.
He only- if ever- rarely left his Spire to meet with his other half. He didn’t- No, he didn’t like the Ancient of Truth, but he was... Fine to be around. Kinda. Not after the whole Truthless Recluse debacle though! He wouldn’t forgive the other for that!
But today... He supposed today was special, in a way. Several months ago, the other had admitted his birthday was the 8th of April. Did Shadow Milk say he’d forget it? Yes, yes, very much so! But did he? No, unfortunately not.
This has led to today, the promised day, and Shadow Milk Cookie leaving his Spire for once. Leaving! Wooooowwww! Great!
He had a present, yes, but he wasn’t planning on giving it to the other until muuuuuuuuuch later! He didn’t want anyone to see the illustrious Master of Deceit give his other half a gift! Ugh!
He opened a portal to the Vanilla Kingdom and floated through, humming a lilting tune to himself. The sunlight that encased this Kingdom was abundant- That, and this place was the opposite of his Spire of Deceit. Bright, flashy colors that made a statement, chattering voices on the cobbled roads... Eugh! Once he saw the Ancient of Truth, he was going to throw his present at him, then get the heck out of here!
Floating through the halls of the castle, he glanced down corridors and drifted back and forth. Usually by now, ‘Nilly knows he’s here and finds him... So why hasn’t he?!
Groaning, he floats into the gardens. The gardens had fields that left an area for sheep, because Pure Vanilla Cookie used to be a shepherd, and he could see them all out grazing.
He makes his way to the herd that all munched on the grass before touching his feet to the ground and standing there now. He pats one of the smaller sheep’s tufts of fluff on their head, grumbling about his other half.
“Baaaa!” The little sheep bleats before looking up at Shadow Milk with pure innocence.
“Ughh, do you know where Pure Vanilla is, little sheep? If not, I’ll feed you to my cream wolves~!”
“Baaaaaaa.” The sheep bleats again before trotting off to where most of the sheep are cloistered. They seemed not to be eating, but maybe there was someone there?
“Hellloooooo~? Is there someone there???” Shadow Milk calls before floating over. He shoos away the gathered sheep in a huff and crosses his arms. “Hey, do you know where I can find Pure Vanilla Cookie?”
“...Sir... Uhm...” The small figure chuckles with a childlike wonder. “You’re speaking with him right now!”
Shadow Milk’s eyes snap open, laying his gaze on the child.
He was small, almost half of the Beast’s height, with messy blonde hair and a small brown hoodie that was baggy was what the little Ancient wore. He had the customary Pure Vanilla Cookie eye color- yellow and blue.
The Beast gaped before darting down and grasping the little dough’s cheeks and pulling. “My, oh my! What did you get yourself into, ‘Nilly~! You’re so, so small... And I don’t detect any illusion or deceit magic... Oh, isn’t this funny!”
“Ahhah, sir, that hurts-”
“Hmm? Oh, you don’t know me!” Shadow Milk releases Pure Vanilla, then takes a theatrical bow. “Shadow Milk Cookie, at your service! Beast of Deceit, actor, screenwriter, all is moi!”
“Hmmm, nice to meet you! Were you looking for me?” The little Pure Vanilla smiles.
“Oh, yes, indeed! First things first, what do you remember?”
“Huh? Whatcha talking about? I woke up and started my day like normal- tending to my herd, of course!”
“Hmmmmmmm,” Shadow Milk sighs before picking up the small Ancient and tucking him beneath one arm, making the other squeak in surprise.
“S-Shadow Milk- Ahhh-! Don’t do that, please- And let me go-!”
“Nope! I’m not letting you out of my sight till I know exactly what happened to you!”
🌹~~🌻~~🌹
Floating back to the castle, Shadow Milk huffs. “You really couldn’t have picked a better day to get miniaturized, ‘Nilly?”
“Uhm.”
“Nope, don’t answer! That was a rhetorical question!”
“...Oki...”
Landing back at the entrance to the castle grounds, the Beast sets the young dough down before brushing himself off. “Now! Let’s head to your room and see if there’s any clues there!”
The young Pure Vanilla just blinks at him and smiles before setting off into the hallways. He follows Shadow Milk, humming softly to himself before looking up at the Beast. “Can we hold hands?”
“Um, no.” Shadow Milk quirks an eyebrow, keeping his pace beside the kid. “Why would you ask that?”
“Because I want to hold your hand!” The child holds up a hand, looking at the Beast pointedly.
“Absolutely not-” Shadow Milk waves a hand but Pure Vanilla snatches it before tugging the Beast behind him.
“Okay! I’m all good now.” He smiles at Shadow Milk.
Shadow Milk just gasps and gapes. “Oh, you’re sneaky...!”
“Hee, hee...” The young dough giggles.
“Hmm, I think I like you like this! Kinda cute and mischievous!”
“...Okayyyy...?”
“Ah, here we are~!”
They stop and Shadow Milk knocks on the door, when no response comes, he opens the door. Pure Vanilla walks in before jumping on the bed and bouncing before laying down.
“Okay, so you woke up here, right?” Shadow Milk asks.
“Yep!”
“Did anything seem weird to you...?” Questions the Beast.
“Nope! Not that I know of... Wait, I think I had seen a bit of black-”
“What are you doing here.”
Shadow Milk whips around upon hearing this new voice. The young Pure Vanilla squeaks before pointing at this new figure- “Him! I remember him when I woke up!”
Truthless Recluse, in the flesh, stands in the doorway.
Shadow Milk gasps and puts a hand to his chest before falling backward dramatically on the bed.
🌹~~🌻~~🌹
“What. Are. You. Doing. Here.” Truthless repeats, scowling as he slinks inside, closing the door behind him. “I thought you stayed in your Spire of Deceit, Shadow Milk Cookie.”
“Ohhh, the Witches have blessed me!” Shadow Milk coos and laughs before sitting up on the bed. “Ohhhh, my daaaaaarling Recluse~ How I’ve missed youuuuuu~!”
“I didn’t. What are you doing here, Shadow Milk Cookie?”
“I feel like I should be asking you that question! What are you doing here?! I swear, I thought you’d Awakened~.”
“I... did. I think. I believe I did. Didn’t I...? I’m trying not to focus too hard on that.” The recluse grunts before going to the other side of the bed. He softens slightly upon seeing the small Pure Vanilla. “Hello, little one. I take it this Beast hasn’t harmed you?”
“N-Nope!” The young dough blinks rapidly before a faint flush covers his cheeks. “W-Who are you?”
“I am Truthless Recluse. What are you doing here with this Beast?”
“-You could use my name!” Shadow Milk grumbles.
“Mm-hmm...” The corrupted Ancient rolls his eyes.
“Aaaaaaanyways, what’s happening?! I swear, it’s like you’re multiplying!” Shadow Milk claps his hands.
“I do not know. I woke up, same as this younger version of myself.”
“Uh-huh,” Shadow Milk nods faux-thoughtfully. “Well, are there any more of you?”
“Yes-” Truthless is cut off by what he was going to say as the door is shoved open, and three new cookies fall to the floor.
“Oh, goodie!” Shadow Milk giggles.
“Ughh...” One of them groans.
“Owwwwww...” Another moans, clutching their head.
“Ooooof...” Yet another one says with a hint of pain.
“Oh, there are more-” The little Pure Vanilla says.
The three new cookies stand out, each quite different.
One had hints of pale blue streaked in his hair, and a cleverly created mechanical staff. Another wore forest green colors, with translucent gossamer blue wings and a light diadem. The last one wore brown robes with bandages covering his eyes.
“Look at all of you~! Oh, wow~” Shadow Milk giggles.
“As I was going to say before my companions rudely barged in,” Truthless hisses, pinching his brow. “Was that there are more of us, yes.”
“I haven’t seen you two~” Shadow Milk coos, floating around the pastel and green colored ones. “What are your names~?”
“W-Well, we’re all named Pure Vanilla, except for Truthless, of course,” The pastel one says. “So, I... Uhm, just call me Pastel Vanilla.”
“I’m Viridescent Pure Vanilla Cookie!” Chirps the one with wings. He hums happily and his wings twitch lightly at his sides.
“I’m... Healer Cookie,” says the one with brown robes and bandages,
“Hmmm... Oh, just call me ‘Little Vanilla’!” The youngest Vanilla says.
“Oh, wow~ I love this!” Shadow Milk’s grin widens.
Truthless sighs before taking a spot at the foot of the bed. “I do not know where Awakened Pure Vanilla Cookie went, we saw him when we awoke, but he disappeared...”
“Mm-hmm...” Shadow Milk taps his chin before kicking back and floating. “Well, I don’t feel like I should do anything-”
“No!” Truthless hisses and groans. “We need to fix this. I know this isn’t normal, and we all need to fix this. We obviously can’t by ourselves,” He grunts out. Then almost painfully says: “And it’d help if we had the Once Fount of Knowledge on our side.”
Shadow gapes, his eyes comically large before he screeches and propels himself forward, wrapping his arms around the recluse and nuzzling his neck. “Oh, I just KNEW you loved me!!!” He gushes.
Little Pure Vanilla giggles, along with Viridescent. Pastel Vanilla chuckles, Truthless groans in annoyance, and Healer Cookie just snorts before covering his mouth.
“Now then! Off we go, let’s find Awakened Pure Vanilla Cookie!” Shadow Milk announces.
🌹~~🌻~~🌹
Each of the Vanilla’s went off in a direction in the castle, but Little Pure Vanilla stayed with Shadow Milk. The Beast begrudgingly held hands with the young dough as he skipped along.
“Do you know what today is?” Shadow Milk asked after a minute.
“Hmm... Wednesday?” The shepherd chirped.
“No, silly~!” Shadow Milk smirks. “It’s your birthday~”
“It IS!?!??!” Little Pure Vanilla gasps.
“Yup~ That’s why I came today! I had a gift for Awakened Pure Vanilla!”
“Do you have one for me?” The young one asks.
“Uhhh... Nooooo?”
“Awh... But why not?”
“...I didn’t know you existed until pretty much an hour ago?”
“Boooooo.”
“Will you stop your whining if I do something for you?”
“Oh! Yes, please!” The small Ancient’s eyes glimmered with excitement.
“Alright...~” Shadow Milk snapped his fingers with a poof, a blue smoke and confetti appearing and hiding his form before clearing. Instead of the Beast of Deceit, there seemed to stand... A young shepherd. Just like Little Pure Vanilla. With a bob of messy, milky white hair, and a shawl around his shoulders and black and blue hood pulled up, framing his blue dough. His eyes were the only thing that remained constant though- the cyan and royal blue.
The Ancient gasps, “W-What happened?!”
“Hee, hee~” Shadow Milk claps his hands and instead of classic Master of Deceit staff, he has a long, swirled wooden staff. “You like my disguise?” His voice changes to match his new form, younger and more boyish.
“O-Oh-” Little Pure Vanilla flushes scarlet before nodding shakily. “Y-Yes, a lot.”
Shadow Milk grins before setting down on the ground and brushing himself off. “Will this suffice as a good present?”
“M-Mm-hmm...” Little Vanilla stutters. He holds out a hand a moment later, ducking his head.
Shadow Milk’s grin widens, and he grasps the other’s hand, swinging it lightly. “C’mon! Let’s go find Awakened!”
🌹~~🌻~~🌹
Hours of searching, and still, nothing.
Shadow Milk groaned and rubbed his face with his unused hand. The other was currently holding the small Ancient’s hand, rubbing thoughtless circles on his dough. He turns over, facing the blonde cookie.
“’Nilly, if I told you I...” Was in love with you, is the part he dares not utter, but instead grumbles before shifting closer to the other.
They both lay in a field of Milkcrowns and Vanilla Orchids, under a weeping willow tree. Both faced each other, with Vanilla blinking sleepily at the Beast.
“Hmm? What’d you say, Milky?”
Shadow Milk shivers from that nickname. It wasn’t one he’d ever heard- Usually Awakened Pure Vanilla called him ‘Bluebird’. Not... Milky. Oooo, he shivered again. This is his fault though- Why must he fall for every version of Pure Vanilla Cookie?
From the way Truthless Recluse would glower at him- he hadn’t paid attention to that animosity the fallen Ancient had directed at him. Then there was Awakened Pure Vanilla who was just... Ugh, he seemed so understanding...
And even in the seal, he had watched this young, Little Pure Vanilla Cookie grow up, watching him interact, making friends... He shook his head, cutting off that train of thought. It was nearing noon, and they were no closer to finding Awakened Pure Vanilla-who probably knew about everything that happened.
“Hey. Don’t fall asleep on me,” Shadow Milk grumbles, hand coming to tilt the blonde’s chin up. He sighed after a moment, when the other blinked those mismatched eyes. “You’re done for today, Little Vanilla.”
“Wait... Nooooo...” the shepherd mumbles. The Beast stood up and shapeshifted back to his normal form. He scoops up the younger dough and uses his magic to float before making his way back to the castle.
“I cannot believe I fell for such a softie...” Shadow Milk muttered, rolling his eyes. All of them.
🌹~~🌻~~🌹
Placing Little Pure Vanilla on the bed in actual Pure Vanilla Cookie’s room, Shadow Milk sighs. “Woe is me, this is my own fault for getting mixed up in this, just to bring my stupid...” Boyfriend, goes unsaid. “A present.”
“Oh, you didn’t find anything?” Pastel Vanilla’s voice drifts in behind the Beast, causing Shadow Milk to whip around.
“Oh- You, nope! Nothing at all with Little Vanilla!” He grins.
“Ah... Things didn’t go well for me and Viridescent. Hopefully Truthless Recluse and Healer Cookie found something...” Viridescent Pure Vanilla comes after a second, flopping down on the bed beside Little Vanilla and already snoring, asleep.
“Mm-hmm-”
“Ack-! Hey, hey, hey! No need to be so rough-” A voice sounds down the hall.
“Of course I do.” Comes the recluse’s emotionless voice.
Truthless Recluse appears a moment later with Awakened Pure Vanilla Cookie in a headlock, Healer Cookie trailing after them. “We found him,” Truthless grunted after a moment.
“Oh! Goodie!” Shadow Milk claps his hands. “Noooooooow~ Awakened ‘Nilly~” He tilts his head. “What did you even do to cause this?”
“Ah-” Awakened Vanilla is let go abruptly, with the recluse letting the other stand and brush himself off. He chuckles nervously, scratching the back of his head. “Would you believe me if I said I cast a spell that you made? A-At least, in your Fount of Knowledge days?”
Shadow Milk Cookie gives a deadpan stare. There’s silence all around, no one speaking.
“What.” The Beast says after a moment.
“A... Spell... You made...?” Awakened tried again.
“What sort of silly spell did I ever make, that caused this-”
“Ahem,” Truthless cuts in roughly. “I believe we need a solution to this situation, not more arguments.”
“Ah, yes, that was the problem... After using the spell, it... Disappeared?” Awakened Vanilla says.
“What.” Shadow Milk deadpans again.
“What- What do you mean it disappeared?” Healer stutters.
“I used it and... Poof, it was gone.” Awakened sighs. “I’m so sorry, I just wanted to do something special today, and it all went wrong...”
“No, no, no- It was fine, Awakened Pure Vanilla!” Pastel comforts, a small smile gracing his lips. “We all had a field day, today. And we all got to see Shadow Milk, which wasn’t so-”
“SHUSH,” Truthless hisses, covering the other’s mouth harshly. “Do not listen to the nonsense he speaks-”
“But... Shadow Milk seems kinda nice-” Healer Cookie starts, but Truthless sends him a glare so harsh that the blind cookie can feel it through his bandages.
“Mmm... My King...” Viridescent Vanilla murmurs into the blankets sleepily.
Shadow Milk gapes at the six different cookies who are all his boyfriend. He didn’t like calling the Ancient that, but based on earlier opinions and observations, there was no doubt. All these versions of Pure Vanilla Cookie were all in love with the Beast.
Shadow Milk was too; he’d just never admit it.
“Ummm,” The Beast pauses after a moment, then plasters on a grin, “Aaaaaaanyways, do you remember the spell?” He asks Awakened.
“N-No...?”
“Do you remember anything? Back then, I used to make copies of my work whenever I created a new spell,”
“...I believe there were runes on it? And something mentioning extract...”
“Ah! Perfect!” Shadow Milk snaps his fingers and a moment later, a thick scroll appears at the foot of the bed. “This holds pretty much everything with my rune notes, plus extract notes! Not much since I was researching this during my fall,” He chuckles before floating over and unraveling parts of the scroll.
“Now~! I’m gonna need some help.”
🌹~~🌻~~🌹
Healer Cookie sits on the bed beside Viridescent Vanilla and Little Vanilla, brushing through the young dough’s hair. He can’t see at all, so he was excluded from the spell finding situation, instead watching over the two others who were so sleepy.
From here, Healer could practically smell the love potion on Viridescent Vanilla’s breath. He pats the green-clad cookie gently.
Meanwhile, the others have the scroll completely unraveled, laying it across the floor where they each take a section. Unfortunately, every single Pure Vanilla has horrible eyesight- but they each have a staff to help them. Soon, they find out that the handwriting is so ridiculously small that Shadow Milk must explain.
“So! As my days as the Fount of Knowledge, I used to write aloooooot. So, I’d need a bunch of paper and scrolls and whatever, y’know? So, to make the most of the space, I made my handwriting smaller!”
“That has yet to work in favor of us,” Truthless Recluse grumbles.
“Onwards! We must find the spell!”
🌹~~🌻~~🌹
About two hours later, Pastel Vanilla sits up, pointing to an area. “I... I think this is it?”
“Lemme see-” Shadow Milk floats over, and Awakened Vanilla follows.
“Yes, yes! That was the spell I used!” Awakened nods.
“Hmm, easy enough... Oh, but if I do it, there’s a chance I’ll whip out the Fount of Knowledge and Sage of Truth... Hmm... You do it!” He shoves the spell at Awakened Puree Vanilla who fumbles before catching it.
“-Ack! Okay, okay.” Awakened nods awkwardly. “But if I use the spell, won’t it disappear-? Plus, won’t it just summon more of me?” He questions.
The Beast snorts before snatching the spell back. He erases something, then scribbles something else down. “There. I changed the runes from ‘bring’ to ‘take’. Now it’ll take those five back!” He grins.
“So, this is goodbye?” Pastel says.
“I suppose so~! It was fun to see you all-” Shadow Milk cackles. “Little Vanilla was adorable, you two were so, so, SO fashionable-” He nodded to Viridescent and Pastel, “-Healer was funny, seeing him bumble around. Aaaaand of course, we have my Truthless Recluse, who is perfect in every single way!”
“...” Pastel and Healer Cookie flush, Viridescent snores next to a drooling Little Vanilla, both asleep, and Truthless scowls. Awakened snorts before looking at the spell.
“I suppose this was a pretty good birthday.” He smiles. Tapping his staff on the floor, he whispers the runes and intricacies of the spell, and a yellow portal appears.
Truthless is the first to stand, possibly running to leave. He glares at the Beast as a goodbye and nods to Awakened before stepping through.
One by one, they each leave. Viridescent and Little Vanilla wake up groggily and trudge through the portal. Before Little Vanilla steps through, he looks back at Shadow Milk. “Thanks for the gift. I hope to see you again soon.” He waves a little hand and steps through.
Once they’re all gone, the portal closes, and Pure Vanilla- The true one, in his Awakened Form, chuckles softly before looking at Shadow Milk. “So. You came for my birthday, Shadow Milk Cookie?”
“I- No I didn’t!!!” Shadow Milk grumbles, crossing his arms. He stands near the foot of the Ancient’s bed, scowling. “I came because I heard that the Truthless Recluse was here-”
“You, my Bluebird, are such a liar.” Pure Vanilla Cookie smiles and strides closer, standing across from the Beast. “Are you even trying, my love?”
Heat flashes across Shadow’s face, flushed and flustered. “Yes! Of course I am, I am the Master of Deceit, I can do whatever I-”
He’s cut off swiftly with a kiss on his lips, soft and sweet and warm. “I love you too, Shadow Milk.”
“I-I-”
“I think today was the best birthday I’ve had in a while.”
“I HAVEN’T EVEN GIVEN YOU YOUR GIFT YET!” Shadow Milk yelps as hands encircle his waist and pull him to lay on the bed.
“You just being here is a gift, Bluebird.” Pure Vanilla smiles.
“You-You’re such a softie!” Shadow Milk grumbles, but shifts a bit closer, burying his face in the other’s neck. “I cannot believe I like you, you idiot.”
The healer chuckles and cards his fingers through the inky abyss that is the Beast’s hair. “I love you, Bluebird, and I don’t need anything from you-”
“Of course you do!” Shadow Milk huffs and snaps his fingers. On the Ancient’s chest appears a brightly blue and yellow wrapped present, with an exaggerated bow that was much too long. “Here, now take it before midnight!”
“Huh-? Oh, love...” Pure Vanilla smiles before pecking a kiss on the Beast’s cheek. “Thank you.”
Shadow Milk grumbles and crosses his arms. He turns so he’s facing the ceiling, trying not to stare at Pure Vanilla as he opens his present.
Once the present is opened, Vanilla can see what it is. It’s a plush... Of Shadow Milk Cookie. Mismatched blue and black button eyes, mini replica of the Soul Jam of Deceit... It’s adorable. It’s perfect.
Seeing the Ancient’s reaction, Shadow snorts and says, “I know how lonely you get whenever I go back to my Spire, so I made ME! Because who doesn’t want me in their life!?” He giggles. “Aaaaaand, I can see through the doll! Yes, yes, it’s voodoo magic, blah, blah, blah, but I think it’ll be helpful! Based on today’s events, it definitely could’ve helped if I could see you-” He chokes at the end as Pure Vanila presses a kiss to the doll’s forehead.
“I guess it works.” Pure Vanilla says, smiling before looking at Shadow Milk.
“O-Of course it works, you fool!” Shadow Milk flushes almost purple.
“Thank you, Shadow Milk Cookie.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“This was the best birthday yet.”
🌹~~🌻~~🌹