Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

"Ow, ow, ow― Bluebird―"

Pure Vanilla whined as the cheeky beast―more like an unfairly alluring rascal―on top of him barely feigned any remorse, displaying his teeth in a gallant manner, grinning with sharpness that enticed Pure Vanilla more than it frightened him.

"Whaaat is it, Nillyyyy?" Shadow Milk drawled out, dragging it out with a gleeful tone tacked especially at the end for his favorite nickname. A snicker following closer and tumbling out with not much grace as he was still splayed over the other and very much breathing against Pure Vanilla's face with both hands pinching the ex-monarch's cheeks.

Shadow Milk bit the other's nose playfully again, pulling out the same noises of protest again. 

Pure Vanilla tried to pout more so with his lips, jutting them out. His hands wandered the span of Shadow Milk's back and traced the arch of his spine in a way to get Shadow Milk to stop biting him, coaxing out a shiver down his lover. "We have things to do tomorrow."

His eyes glanced at the clock hanging on the wall just to prove his point even if he couldn't quite see what time it was. If he were to guess, it should be almost midnight. 

Shadow Milk scoffed, nuzzling their noses together, brushing them side to side and kissing the tip of it right after. An apology, if Pure Vanilla were to decipher. "Ah yes, you will be so awfully busy tomorrow, won't you? The star of the day, leaving me in the dust of his performance."

"My dear, you will still be with me all day tomorrow," Pure Vanilla said with an exasperated fond look, raising his brow.

"But there are... ugh, other casts who are oh so excited to celebrate your silly bakeday. I can't have you all to myself until tomorrow night." Shadow Milk waved a finger in the air, making a circle as if casting a spell before putting it on the ancient hero with a boop to his nose. "I'm getting my quota of fuel right now to survive that disaster."

"Oh you..." Pure Vanilla almost wanted to just give it all. Everything that his bluebird wanted. But he wasn't very excited to see his friends' multiple teasing looks tomorrow if he happened to look like he got run over from the lack of sleep.

'Maybe he shouldn't have stayed up late the previous nights too,' he lamented but couldn't change anything now.

Pure Vanilla brought one of his hands up to the other's shoulder, kneading little patterns into the dough below the simple robe that Shadow Milk claimed out of Pure Vanilla's wardrobe to be his pyjama. He pecked the other's nose too and then raised his head to kiss his lips. 

"Ngh―" Shadow Milk let out a cut-off noise, still sensitive to affections that were not initiated by his own self. 

Pure Vanilla laughed into their kiss, ending the chaste kiss with a pleading look. "Please let me sleep?"

Shadow Milk stared at him for a few moments, the council inside his head working to decide Pure Vanilla's fate. In the end, the verdict seemed to be a 'No' because he moved closer in what Pure Vanilla could predict as trying to bite his cheek. 

Pure Vanilla quickly grabbed Shadow Milk's shoulders and flipped their position on the bed, pinning his other half down as the other looked up at him unimpressively with hair spreading out like ink. Sentient ink that might be out for his peace sometimes but still. 

"We're going to sleep now―Uff―"

The world flipped upside down again, Shadow Milk doing the same thing to him. 

Shadow Milk huffed, shaking his head. "If you think you can just―Hah?!"

Pure Vanilla grinned, not wasting any time to flip their position again as if they were in a spin of a dance. 

Like a tumbling weed, Shadow Milk didn't bother to let Pure Vanilla get a word in before doing the same thing again on repeat with a scowl that really just preferred to be biting at the other's face right now.

By the next time Pure Vanilla rolled them over again, they had unknowingly reached the very edge of the bed and with a split second of realization only, Pure Vanilla cradled the back of Shadow Milk's head as they fell off the bed in a mess of tangled blankets following them down.

"Oof―"

Thud.

"Ow."

"Hah!"

Only a second of hushed silence fell over them before Shadow Milk snorted at Pure Vanilla's surprised expression. 

Pure Vanilla's hand stung a little but he was dragged in by Shadow Milk's apparent amusement at the situation. He burst into laughter that he muffled on Shadow Milk's shoulder, bowing in an awkward angle. 

Shadow Milk wrapped his arms around Pure Vanilla's back, squeezing him tight as cackles made its way out of him. His hair made a point to also shake with his laughter. 

The blanket laid haphazardly on top of them, half on Pure Vanilla's back and just to the side.

"Witches, what are we doing?" Pure Vanilla breathlessly whispered to the beast's neck.

Shadow Milk shivered again, a tremor running through him and pulling a giggle out of him. One that almost sounded drunk. "It's all you, silly Vanilly," he said in near wonder and mirth. "Really had to give it to you for always making things go the way I don't expect, hm?"

That had Pure Vanilla's attention, making him pull back in question. "What do you―"

Pure Vanilla was taken aback when he was immediately interrupted―yanked into a deep kiss that had the other shoving his tongue inside in Pure Vanilla's confusion. As if to swallow the question. As if to delay. 

Such a sweet thing that he couldn't refuse though. He found himself pushing back and using the hand at the back of Shadow Milk's head to guide a new depth to the sensation. 

Shadow Milk moaned, tugging at Pure Vanilla's scalp―weaving his hand through the pool of gold that cascaded down on them―in response when Pure Vanilla sucked his tongue and lapped at the ceiling of his mouth. His other hand dug into Pure Vanilla's back, reminding him of the remaining scratches and raking lines that he hadn't healed on purpose from the other night.

Oh. This might be bad.

Thankfully Shadow Milk halted his thoughts, pulling their locked lips apart―letting the string of saliva break apart―with a hazy gaze but also a proud smile somehow. Reason? He didn't really know.

But Pure Vanilla understood after hearing his next words:

"Happy Bakeday, you old fool."

Oh.

Oh.

"Don't tell me you kept me awake for this?" Pure Vanilla almost wanted to giggle like a schoolgirl. This couldn't be real, right?

Shadow Milk pecked him lazily multiple times as he answered with a satisfied hum, "Mmh. I wanted to try congratulating you at the first second of your birthday." He chuckled, nodding his head to the clock's direction. "And if your old and almost crumbly clock is not broken, then I managed to do just that."

The smile that Shadow Milk flashed at him was really messing with the cogs in Pure Vanilla's brain.

Pure Vanilla slightly trembled from the urge to do something to his lover. 

"That's a rather... cute sentiment." Adorable. I want to eat you up.

"You could just say romantic, you know?" Shadow Milk brushed the corner of Pure Vanilla's lips with his thumb, tilting his head to the side and conveniently exposing his neck to the already on-the-verge-of-breaking Pure Vanilla Cookie. 

"You're blushing red, Nilly. You're so cute."

Yep. That's it.

Shadow Milk yelped when Pure Vanilla pulled away to swiftly scoop him up in his arms. The former wrapped his arm around the latter's shoulders. "Nills?"

Pure Vanilla wouldn't really want to guess what kind of expression he had right now. 

"Bed."

"To sleep, right?" There was a hesitant note in Shadow Milk's voice, a wary question as he kicked his feet in a nervous response.

Pure Vanilla only smiled at him, gently placing him down on their bed.

Still, his smile did say a lot.

"You have a party to attend―Ah!"

Shadow Milk's hurried words were abruptly cut off by a harsh suck on that one spot he loved, Pure Vanilla already working to make his lovebites bloom into colors on the beast's neck.

Tiny gasps and whines crowded the silence into succumbing.

A final verdict by Pure Vanilla this time. 

A whisper against heated dough.

"We can sleep in a little, my love. Just let me take care of you, okay?"

The answer Shadow Milk gave came in a shrill cry.

Pure Vanilla left another mark onto his beloved.

Chapter Text

The Fount of Knowledge wasn't quite accustomed with the notion of rejoicing one's bakeday.

Blessings, maybe. A hand to his chest and a polite nod, always enough to bring forth beaming smiles on their faces. Acknowledging one's revel to it whenever one of its subjects took the effort to ask for its blessing.

It had been sufficient. None indicated that he had to change his methods.

But as with all things eventually made to shape differently with time, he found himself in a dilemma. A new variable into a problem that had never been considered as one before.

He had found another in his eternal existence. One that was unlike anything else that had ever appeared in his path.

A Cookie who sought nothing from it. Or at least anything that it could offer as the Fount of Knowledge, an Emissary of the Witches.

The questions that were asked of it by this cookie were never self-serving. A gentle voice that only asked about himself, barely caring for the barrier of his duty. Worried tone weaving a soft blanket around him. As if... he was just another cookie like him.

Healer Cookie who smiled tenderly at meaningless answers―tentative words that the Fount of Knowledge uttered not as a Truth but a thing scraped from the intangible thing that was his heart.

And for him who wished neither for a blessing nor knowledge. Even if their connection might only be a blip in the universe, The Fount felt his hands wishing to carve and dedicate.

To celebrate, how should one do it?

Healer Cookie ventured the silent corridors with his lone staff inside the Spire of All Knowledge, having been given permission by the Virtue to explore and visit as he liked. His goal always remaining the same.

His fingers brushed feather-light touches on the walls, greeting the ever-changing space, almost impossible to grasp or memorize. He would have fallen victim too to its incorporeal shape if not for one trick. 

"Please," he whispered with a gentle melody to his voice, like coaxing a child to sleep.

It obeyed, changing its structure to lead the blind cookie to where he wished to go: To His Fount.

He had figured this one trick after a few times of getting lost in the near haunting and inescapable halls. The Spire just like its owner seemed to strive to please. To be useful. The cool surface under his feet and the walls that quietly purred always mended to help him, even as far as enthusiastically―he would assume―guiding him if his objective were to meet Fount.

He chuckled softly as it did the same right now.

Was the Fount aware of how they acted? Certainly one interesting question to delve in.

He just needed to meet the Fount first. He hadn't seen him for a while. Usually, they would regularly visit each other. It was like a routine for them, making it almost impossible to not expect the other's visit. Even if their positions were greatly different.

Which was why he had been worrying when the other had not visited him for quite a bit, as if avoiding him.

His steps halted in front of a door, faintly hearing mutters coming from the other side. He traced the pattern engraved on it, noting that it was the door to the Fount's room before knocking.

Fount paused in his writing, almost drowning in the stack of books placed on top of the desk in front of him. The towering pile tilted precariously to the edge, unnoticed by the Virtue still in surprise, before it tumbled over the side of the desk, raining down onto the floor.

"Oh dear―" Fount managed to catch some in midair with his magic, levitating them back onto the desk.

Healer Cookie was startled by the loud noise, hastily opening the door. "Fount? What happened?"

"Healer Cookie! Ah, the thing is..."

"You were figuring out what to give me?" 

They found themselves sitting beside each other on a lounge piece. Healer petting one of the bunny creatures that ended up in his lap after hopping around the place, shifting through walls and wandering aimlessly. Fount smiling at the sight, fond of Healer's acceptance even if he himself was a bit perturbed with the bunnies. The only thing in his Spire that he didn't have an absolute control of but still endearing with its strange whimsical nature.

Fount exhaled a breath, nodding a bit shamefully, stars flickering weakly. "That had been my intention, yes. But it seemed that between carrying my obligations and using the few breaks I could get to research what might be appropriate, I had truly lost track of time." A hesitant hush of breath. "...I haven't quite figured it out yet."

"I see..."  Healer trailed off, pondering.

'You didn't have to' was at the tip of his tongue. It would be easy to just assure and turn the page of this story.

But if there was anything that Healer had learned about the Fount so far, it was the fact that he retreated into himself more often than not when he was told what he should or shouldn't do. Even if it was mere politeness. His voice would be more reserved once again, words that were more practiced rather than articulated freely, putting together a default act stitched into his being.

Healer wondered how the Fount looked at those times. How he would smile.

Healer perked up, latching onto the idea. He tilted his head at the emissary, framing his face gently with blond locks that faded into the color of ashes at the tips. "My Fount?"

Fount let his eyes follow the other's movement, drawn in by the adoring tone and the title that was tacked as a possession. It always feeling right with Healer. His. "Yes?"

"Would it be alright if I request something of you instead for my gift?" Healer asked carefully, letting the bunny in his lap to escape once again, its unpredictability almost something to expect.

A fleeting, slight widening of the Fount's eyes passed across his expression before his gaze mellowed considerably, tiny specks of the galaxy being made to gleam just that much brighter. "Certainly! That would be most appreciated, dear."

"Then... I'd like to map out the features of your face," Healer spoke bluntly, unaware of the small blush that rose up in his companion's cheeks. "If you'd allow me to, of course."

Fount's brows creased in thought, considering if it was within adherence to the Witches. To be touched by another. To be altered. He wished for the same, didn't he? If they simply chose to be different no longer...

"I think... I'd like that, my healer."

An answer that was as hesitant as it could be. Unable to be proven with anything besides his own strung-out heart and the want that spoke first before it could be extinguished.

Healer smiled at him in that genuine happiness yet again and Fount couldn't possibly argue that this was the wrong decision. 

Fount's hands slowly found Healer's own, gently guiding them just like the Spire would to find him. To cup his face and go from there. "You may proceed."

Healer nodded numbly. Now that he had reached this point, he just realized how nerve-wrecking this was going to be. His thumbs rubbed carefully at the swell of the other's cheekbones, feeling how it pushed against his digit with a small laugh that escaped the Fount. How lovely.

"It tickles?"

"Slightly. I don't mind." 

A soft relieved sigh. And then he let his finger feel the hollow and the plump of his cheeks before tracing the bridge of the other's nose, feeling the shape of it as he reached the tip. He followed the anchor point, a vertical line, down to the chin while stopping to map the width of the lips first, feeling how it curved into a smile.

Fount whispered against the touch. "For your information, you're smiling a lot wider than me as of right now.

Healer chuckled, seeing the rare competitive side. "Of course."

Moving his fingers from the chin to the ears, Healer tracked the Fount's jawline, defining the shape of his face. Curiously, he rubbed at the pointed ears―a loud squeak coming front the Fount―

"Ah, sorry!"

"It's fine!" Fount insisted with a violet hue to his ears. "Just... be careful."

Healer paused for several moments before moving again, finding out just how long and sharp the other's ears were, caressing the appendage that was much different than his own. 

"Woah..." 

(Fount almost wanted to keel over and crumble from the awe in Healer's voice.)

Thankfully, Healer soon continued on his exploration, traveling where his forehead ended and his strands began. Brushing a few of Fount's locks back, he combed the other's hair slightly while the Fount had a hold on his crown, making sure it didn't come in Healer's way.

Healer pulled back slightly to map the texture and arch of the other's eyebrow, lightly brushing the eyelids in his path while Fount closed his eyes from the lull of it.

Healer made a split second decision that he might or might not regret later. He felt a magnetic pulling, a flame that was stoked too high now that he had his Fount showing a trust so intimate. He neared the Virtue's face, feeling no resistance as he cupped the other's soft cheeks again.

Fount kept his eyes closed as the both of them grew closer. Not a moment later, he felt gentle lips coming in contact with his temple, kissing the three-pointed mark. Something that was like a secret to Healer Cookie even though it was the thing that most cookies would recognize him with. 

It was like Healer could see all of him right now.

Eyes shot open and widening as Healer pulled away with a sheepish smile.

"Was that... okay?"

Fount released a breath that was sharp at first like glass before its fragility broke into a giggle.

"...Hehe."

"My Fount?"

Fount cupped Healer's face this time, placing a kiss on top of his eyelid through the bandages, relishing in the surprised noise Healer sputtered out. He sighed softly, keeping his hold, "Thank you."

Healer looked up in confusion but didn't ask why. Never asking for a reason to simply be. He cradled the hands that cupped his face, smiling tenderly like he always does. A constant presence that yielded not. 

"Thank you, too, my Fount."

The both of them laughed, something that was too quiet to replace the silence but stronger just as they are.

One who didn't understand how to belong and one who was a piece that shouldn't be there.