Chapter Text
“Lilac Cookie, which of these do you think looks okay for tonight?”
As he lies on his stomach on his bed, Yogurt Cream Cookie rests his face in his hands to prop himself up while he observes the multitude of outfits lying sprawled on the floor in front of him. Decisions, decisions. It’s not like he doesn’t attend parties (and dress himself) on the regular, but... tonight is special. The return of Plain Yogurt Cookie warrants a celebration for all of Yogurca; it’s been ages since he’s been in town, and the family wants to celebrate. They planned the festival months in advanced, and tonight is the long-anticipated night. For Yogurt Cream, the most pressing issue that comes with this is picking out the right outfit… but every time he’s sure he’s decided, he can’t help but backtrack. He tilts his head to give a pleading look to Lilac Cookie, who leans against the gilded doors to the room, sighing deep as he tries to come up with an answer. To Yogurt Cream, Lilac’s silence always seems to last ages.
“You shouldn’t put everything out on the floor like this…” comes his reply. Yogurt Cream groans as he flips over onto his back, letting his head hang upside-down off the wide bed.
“Lilac, you’re missing the point. Should I go with the royal purple, or something more… dusty rose? Or… what color is this, cranberry?” he says, and points to each item as he mentions them. “Plain Yogurt is always so fashionable. I have to, at the very least, live up to that… especially since it’s been, like, two years since I’ve seen him…”
As much as Yogurt Cream hates to admit it, his brother is hard to measure up to. Though he knows that Plain Yogurt has never been their father’s favorite, that doesn’t negate the fact that he does so much… and remembering his wide array of achievements makes Yogurt Cream a little queasy. In between treasure-hunting, traveling, and meeting with important cookies, he isn’t sure how his brother gets it all done, and still makes time for leisure and hobbies. He sets the bar high, and while most of the time he doesn’t worry much about it—out of sight, out of mind, —Plain Yogurt’s arrival allows familiar concerns over his own accomplishment to creep back into his thoughts. For now, they manifest as the need to pick the perfect outfit.
“You’re worrying too much about frivolous things,” Lilac says with another sigh, sitting down on the bed next to him. “No matter what you choose, it won’t matter too much.”
“Easy for you to say,” Yogurt Cream mutters, giving Lilac a small pout. He kicks his feet in frustration, staring upwards at the glimmering candy chandelier that hangs in the room.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You always look so stylish no matter what you wear...”
Lilac seems to pay no mind to the compliment. “Well… overthinking this kind of thing isn’t like you,” he says, shifting in his spot. Yogurt Cream stares up at him. “Were you replaced overnight, or something?”
Yogurt Cream snorts in reply, folding his arms upside-down. This is no time for jokes. “Don’t be ridiculous. It’s just an important night. There’s a lot of pressure...”
“When have you ever let pressure get to you?” he tilts his head. “I have a feeling you’re not stressed about just your outfit.”
With an annoyed sigh, Yogurt Cream lets his head bonk on the carpeted floor of his room as he slumps down. As per usual, Lilac always seems to read him like a book. He figures it would be obnoxious if he didn’t enjoy his attention so much.
“I mean, you’re right. Which is the annoying part.”
It’s true that these sorts of worries are infrequent for him, although in a way that almost makes his concern more pressing. Most of the year, he focuses all his energy into relaxing, enjoying everything that comes to him without a care in the world, and reveling in the occasional nighttime adventure with Lilac. Typically, he’s fine with spending his time like this… but when the pressure is on, he can’t help but feel a little guilty that most days he does nothing but enjoy luxury.
But… his reply gets a little chuckle out of Lilac. At the very least, he can appreciate the fact that Lilac seems to find humor in his situation. Yogurt Cream continues to let himself slide off the bed.
“I guess I just get weird when Plain Yogurt comes back. I mean, I haven’t even seen him since my last birthday,” he explains. “I just… like… I feel like I’m supposed to brag about my accomplishments to him, but I haven’t… accomplished much?”
“That’s not true—” Lilac starts, but Yogurt Cream cuts him off by thwump-ing to the floor with a groan.
“So I want to look impressive. To compensate, at least...”
Lilac furrows his brow in contemplation as he peers down at where Yogurt Cream now lies on the floor. “If you want my opinion, you should go with the royal purple and black. It compliments your complexion.”
“You could’ve just said that to begin with, you know,” Yogurt Cream says, a dull headache hitting him once he sits up. “Ugh...”
“That’s what you get for lying around and moping,” Lilac shakes his head and extends a hand to him, which Yogurt Cream accepts. Once Lilac pulls him to his feet, he makes his way back over to his ornate dresser and picks up one of his outfits—decorated with elaborate purple patterns and gold and black trim—to study. Lilac Cookie is right. What good will worrying do? Everything has always lined up for him… this won’t become untrue just because he isn’t going on grand adventures like his brother. With his gaze fixed on one gold button on his outfit, he turns his thoughts over in his mind. He can’t shake the stress, though, which is almost more aggravating than his worries themselves.
The familiar voice of Lilac Cookie pulls him out of his thoughts. “You’re still thinking about it, aren’t you?”
“No,” he says, draping his outfit over a chair by his dresser. Lilac raises an eyebrow, unconvinced. “Okay, well, yes. But not really.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“To me it does.”
“Okay. If you don’t want to talk about it anymore, that’s fine,” Lilac says, picking another outfit off the ground and making his way to set it back in the dresser.
“I just don’t know how to… articulate my thoughts on this to you, I guess,” Yogurt Cream says. “Besides. We picked an outfit, and that’s what I was stressing about, so there’s nothing to worry about anymore.”
Lilac Cookie raises an eyebrow. “… Would talking to anyone else be easier?”
Yogurt Cream bites his lip when it hits him that Lilac caught that detail. Of course he did. What doesn’t he notice?
“No… that’s not what I mean…”
It’s not that he doesn’t trust Lilac, because he most definitely does. Yogurt Cream claimed him as his best—and… only…—friend a few days before his birthday two years ago. Because of his importance to the family, and status as the heir to the Yogurt family fortune, his father had hired him as a bodyguard for the young cookie. It wasn’t long before Yogurt Cream decided that a bodyguard was essentially a built-in best friend, and Lilac has been faithfully by his side ever since. And even though talking to Lilac comes naturally, explaining personal thoughts about family matters is a little more difficult. He supposes it’s because even admitting these things to himself isn’t easy.
“I mean… you only met Plain Yogurt once. And you didn’t talk to him much…” Yogurt Cream explains, shrugging off his robe and resting it on the chair. He figures he should get changed while they’re here. “And you’re an only child. So... I guess I just don’t think you’d get it?”
He tilts his head to watch as Lilac holds his garment in his hand for a moment, folding the sleeves up and remaining quiet as he thinks. He observes his slight shift in expression, monitoring for any kind of hint that he could’ve angered him. Instead, all Lilac gives him is a little sigh.
“… You’re right. Maybe I don’t get it,” he says, his voice remaining quiet and with no discernible emotion. He likes to believe that he can (sort of) tell what Lilac is thinking. But sometimes… it gets difficult. “But I do know that you shouldn’t worry too much about your… achievements? What does that even mean?”
“Well, Plain Yogurt is always traveling, and going treasure-hunting… and meeting with important cookies…”
“…Oh. I see,” Lilac says. “In that case, again, you have no reason to stress about it.”
Yogurt Cream watches him fold the clothes to put back to their original spots as he slides his arms through the sleeves of his royal purple robe. When it’s clear that Lilac has nothing else to say, he opens his mouth again. “… Ah… why not?”
“You wouldn’t be able to do much even if you wanted to,” Lilac says with a nonchalant shrug. “The family’s primary concern is keeping you safe. So, you are, by rule, not allowed to run off and get yourself killed.”
Lilac makes a point. Sort of. Yogurt Cream’s strict curfew has never stopped him from waking him in the dead of night to sneak out in search of excitement. Though, he doesn’t think Lilac is supposed to go along with this… and their nightly travels around Yogurca aren’t comparable to the grand explorations that Plain Yogurt goes on.
“Oh, please,” Yogurt Cream scoffs. “We go out all the ti—“
“Your family doesn’t know that. Bragging to Plain Yogurt about our… escapades, would get us both in trouble.”
He pauses to think about that; he, of course, wouldn’t want to do anything to endanger Lilac’s job or anything like that—him getting fired would mean losing him, and he can’t have that, so it probably would be best to keep his mouth shut. But… his curfew is a valid excuse, in case his brother starts to question why Yogurt Cream hasn’t ventured out of the city. Plain Yogurt has never been judgmental to his face, but he’s not stupid. He can tell whenever his older brother has a slight, condescending glint in his eye; an expression that denotes an awareness of superiority. Though, maybe he’s just overthinking it. After all, it has been a while since he’s seen him… it’s possible, he thinks, that all the concern over his appearance has been making him misremember things.
“Yeah, I guess that’s true,” he sighs, a little frustrated at the uncharacteristic circles he’s been running himself in.
“… And, while I don’t have any siblings, I understand the desire to seem impressive,” Lilac says after a momentary lapse in conversation. Yogurt Cream perks up at that comment. It piques his curiosity… though, to his annoyance, it doesn’t seem like he’ll be able to press the subject right this second. “But I assure you. Everything will be fine. Once Plain Yogurt leaves, you can go back to not worrying about it.”
He finishes up getting dressed and turns to give Lilac a small smile. Despite Lilac’s reserved nature, he always has a cool head and rational thoughts whenever Yogurt Cream has a momentary panic. He appreciates everything he does for him… even if, sometimes, it involves solving small emotional crises. He considers himself pretty lucky to have someone like him around… even if he appears cold, Yogurt Cream knows that Lilac cares a lot underneath the standoffish exterior.
“… No, you’re right, Lilac,” he says, tacking on a slight chuckle to the end of his sentence. “I shouldn’t stress over this... I mean, he’s only going to be in town for a few nights. What’s the worst that could happen?”
Lilac’s neutral expression shifts into a slight smile, which makes Yogurt Cream light up. “There we go. That’s my Yogurt Cream Cookie.”
A slight heat rises to his cheeks when he says that. Lilac’s words of affection are rare but embarrassing, although he can’t deny that he does like the attention. Something about the fact that the aloof Lilac Cookie himself will smile for him, and say things like ‘my Yogurt Cream Cookie’… well, it all makes him a little flushed. He reaches for a strand of hair to play with in his embarrassment.
“… Ahah… right… so, um…” he begins, trying to collect himself. And change the subject; he picked his outfit, he got everything off his chest, so the next step is to stop ruminating. “So… does this look good for tonight? I still need to fix my hair, and… freshen up some, but—“
He’s cut off by Lilac putting a finger up to shush him.
“It looks good. You have nothing to worry about…” he says, looking Yogurt Cream up and down. Another thing about Lilac Cookie that Yogurt Cream appreciates is that all his compliments are genuine. He knows all too well that if Lilac thinks something looks bad, he won’t hesitate to make his disapproval known. Flattery, though, isn’t something he’s used to, and it isn’t helping his embarrassed state.
“Right… thanks for helping me pick it out,” he tilts his head, combing a hand through his long hair. “And… hey, I was wondering, if you wanted to… we could sneak out after the party…?”
“Isn’t there an after party?” Lilac raises an eyebrow.
“Well, yes, but…”
Lilac stares at him, and his heart is doing flips in his chest. Something about extended eye contact with him has this effect. After a pause, Lilac laughs—just a little, but it’s a laugh, regardless.
“I’m teasing you. I guess I can think about it.”
Whenever Lilac says something like that, it usually means yes. Yogurt Cream Yogurt Cream breathes out a soft, relieved sigh. “Oh, good. You had me worried there for a second…”
The anticipation makes him a bit giddy , and he’s not sure why. He spends most of this time with Lilac, whether it’s talking late before Lilac retreats to his room or sneaking out and exploring the city. Either way, it’s not like this diverges from the norm… he even feels silly about having to ask.
“Sorry for worrying you. I don’t want to go to this after party thing, either…” Lilac says. His smile doesn’t last long, and soon he’s left with that blank expression again. “Anyway, if you plan on doing anything, you better hurry and get ready. Sundown is in a few hours.”
Yogurt Cream almost got too absorbed in his own thoughts to realize the time. If he wants to do his hair, his makeup, and clean himself up a bit, and also grab a snack before the big kick-off to this party… well, in that case, he’s running way behind schedule.
“Oh! Of course. Right. I’ll… yeah, I’ll be doing that,” he says, and gives Lilac a sheepish smile before scurrying around the room to find a hairbrush.
“Right,” Lilac says, making his way to the door. “I have to get ready, too, but… I’ll see you soon, okay?”
Something about that makes him all excited. He gives him a grin. “Okay! Just… meet me back in here when you’re ready…”
A nod from Lilac, and he disappears behind the door, shutting it silently as he leaves. Yogurt Cream breathes out a deep sigh, placing a hand on his cheek to feel his warm face.
Something tells him it’s going to be a long night.