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The cookie kingdom is calm at night, it's a peaceful kingdom already, but the nights there are even more quiet, the most you will hear is gentle music or the distant sounds coming from the woods.
Everyone is sleeping now, or at least most of them, the lights are off and only the soft glow of the night sky remains.
Somewhere in the castle, our heroes are resting on their rooms, they decided to stay at the castle ever since they arrived to the kingdom. They have their own separated rooms, Custard Cookie III and Chili Pepper Cookie are fine with it, but the other three found it difficult after sleeping together every other night.
Wizard Cookie opens his eyes in the middle of the night after he hears desperate knocks on his door, he sits on the bed and rubs his visible eye "Come in" he says adjusting his scarf, he's fine with sleeping without his hat, but insisted on at least keeping the scarf.
The door opens to show two fearful teenagers, Strawberry Cookie and Gingerbrave close to each other.
"Hey Wiz! uh... Sorry for waking ya" Gingerbrave says trying to force cheerfulness "You see... Strawb can't sleep, and-"
"You can't sleep either" Strawberry Cookie protests softly with a tired voice
"Well, yeah, but... I-i can take it!" Gingerbrave chuckles nervously, then glances back at Wizard, who raises an eyebrow "... I had a nightmare, and... Strawberry apparently had one too, so..."
Wizard Cookie sighs, then stands up from his bed "nightmare, huh?" He asks with unusual softness as he sees their fear, this is no time for complaining about lack of sleep "come, sit down"
Gingerbrave and Strawberry Cookie sit down on the bed, a cloud of magic tucks a blanket around their shoulders, Strawberry looks at the floor "we're sorry for bothering you, but..."
"Sh sh sh" Wizard cuts her off when he throws a pillow at her "hug that, and stop apologizing"
Gingerbrave catches another pillow Wizard throws, then hugs it tightly against his chest "Thank you" he says quietly, nothing like his usual loudness "... It's curious that we both had a nightmare at the same time, right?"
"Yeah... I-is there a reason for that? Wait... W-what if it wasn't a nightmare!? W-was it a vision!? An epiphany!? A-are we going to die!?"
Gingerbrave gasps "are we cursed!?"
"No one is cursed, and no one is going to die" Wizard Cookie exhales sharply, but forces himself to soften his tone "... I would know if it's a curse, I don't feel magic coming from you, so it's most likely a simple coincidence, nothing more" He thinks for a moment "although there may be a more specific reason for it... Are you two fine with sharing the nightmares? I could try to give you a concrete answer if it helps you calm down"
Gingerbrave and Strawberry Cookie look at each other, then Gingerbrave decides to tell his "it's the same one as always... I wake up in a hot place, like, VERY hot! And I'm melting, and and" he stops to take a deep breath, squeezing Strawberry Cookie's arm, as if reassuring himself that she's still there next to him "and... I also heard screaming..."
Wizard Cookie frowns slightly, then nods "that sounds terrifying" he admits, then looks at Strawberry "... I'm listening, if you feel comfortable sharing"
She takes a deep breath "well... I-it may sound dumb compared t-to Gingerbrave's..."
"Hey, s'not dumb if it scares ya" Gingerbrave tries to smile as reassuringly as he can, he doesn't like not being able to help much, he's as scared as her right now.
"It was... A-a room full of crumbs... T-then I also heard screaming, and... I-i stepped on a cookie! I-it was... L-laying on the ground, a-and when I stepped on it, it cracked... I-it looked at me horrified, b-betrayed..."
Wizard Cookie nods again "hm... Both of your nightmares seem to be... You know, because of the... Castle" he tries to keep it as vague as possible, not knowing how much he should talk about that "maybe your trauma got triggered by... Our current missions, and because we're on constant danger, your minds wait until we're safe to... Make it seem like we're st-" he stops himself, then sighs "it doesn't matter, both of you should rest"
"Are you sure? What if..." Gingerbrave's hand trembles "w-what if it comes back? I don't wanna dream that again... D-don't you have a spell or somethin' to stop nightmares?"
"That kind of spell messes up the mind, and it's too risky... You could lose more than the nightmares" Wizard explains "but... We can sleep together, if... You know... It helps?" He looks away trying to hide his blush as he says it, not used to being affectionate, not used to being the one who's comforting the others.
A few moments later, there's blankets and pillows on the floor, clearly meant to be a makeshift bed where the three will fit. They lay down on it, Wizard Cookie puts himself in the middle and tucks them all in with the help of his magic, then lets the other two hug him as they fall asleep "... I feel like a teddy bear" he chuckles at his own inner thought, a small smile escapes him as he closes his eyes "sleep tight" he murmurs, and the three can finally sleep peacefully.