Chapter Text
“White Lily Cookie! Come out, you know that I’ll find you myself sooner or later, right? I can hear your breathing!” Pure Vanilla Cookie called out, wandering the halls of a certain wing in his castle, a small smile on his lips.
Pure Vanilla wasn’t the least bit worried about not finding her, he knew he would eventually, and then he could hold her again! Honestly, he wondered why she even bothered to hide from him, it was futile. Yet, he decided to play her little game, he had chased her for so many years, what was one more chase?
White Lily Cookie was his everything, his one and only, his only reprieve from the cruel, cold, truth of the world. And yet, she left him consistently, her visits nothing but a fleeting moment, before she sought off on her own adventures, seeking out the vile truth for herself. She never heeded his warnings, never once stayed with him for long! His lily was far too beautiful, far too pure for the harms of the world, it would only taint her, traumatize her! How could he let his beloved flower go through it? The thought made him frown. He himself had seen the wickedness of the truth, and look what it had done to him! Sure it had given him a revelation, cleared his eyes from the fog that clouded them, but it came with hardships.
The hardships that he had needed White Lily for.
The hardships that had him panicking, and yet his flower came to soothe him.
He wanted to keep her, finally keep her. For being a romantic couple, he never could seem to get her to stay for long. Not even when he needed her! But no, this time, this time he would finally have her all to himself. He would finally be able to protect her, like he always tried to do. He would finally fulfill his role, and take care of his lover while doing so. The simple thought of holding White Lily here in his castle made a slow smile creep onto his face. He would treat her just as she deserved.. As long as she didn’t try to keep running away. It simply meant he’d have to keep a more.. watchful, eye on her. She would come around eventually!
And so, Pure Vanilla Cookie continued his rounds around the area, occasionally moving his staff from side to side, using it if he felt his other senses weren’t catching up. Only once did he go further than the entrance, and kept his staff faced ahead, did White Lily Cookie peak out of where she was hiding. It wasn’t exactly the best, a gap between the walls of two corridors, but it was close to the entrance. Her exit. Her escape. If only she could just reach it, she could leave sprinting out of this kingdom, out and unable to be caught. At least then she would be able to think without the dread breathing down her neck..
What could have possibly happened? What could have possibly happened to Pure Vanilla? Why was he so.. eerie! She thought that if he had caught her, he would probably chain her up.. Not in a dungeon, but in his room, and yet she still couldn’t tell the difference between the two. Why did he want her so bad? He had never acted like this! Sure, he had asked her to stay before, and she apologetically kissed his cheek or him, assuring him that she would come back soon. And she did! Yet, lately, when she came back, he would be in a.. state, to say the least.
White Lily Cookie recalled the times she would see her lover in a panicked state, and it sent a chill down her spine, making her shudder. Something was off about him when he would spiral. It wasn’t just panic, it seemed as if he was losing parts of himself each time. Memories started to flood her mind, bothering her vision as she started to lose focus in the current moment. All of a sudden, the guardian could envision the most recent time she had helped Pure Vanilla through his panic attack. If it could even have been called that.. She shuddered once more as the scene replayed in her head over and over.
White Lily Cookie had been soothing her lover, sitting in his room with him as he hyperventilated. Her hands stroked his head softly, her voice gentle as she murmured reassuring phrases, things that would make him relax slowly but surely. And yet, she noticed that he hadn’t looked up at her, not once. Maybe this one was a particularly bad one?
She recalled slowly tilting his head up, wanting to kiss her beloved’s cheek, wanting him to see her, wondering if maybe he saw her he would calm down even slightly, at least stop hyperventilating.
Yet, the look in his eyes was one she would never forget.
Those wide, manic eyes, almost like he had finally accepted a revelation, were terrifying to her.
Her hand had frozen entirely as she stared at him, her breathing stopping momentarily, watching as he started to calculate something in his mind. The lily cookie tensed as she felt the vanilla cookie rest his head comfortably against her chest, his arms snaking around her waist and holding her tight, feeling a smile creep onto his cheeks. White Lily wasn’t not used to him clinging onto her like this, but in this situation, it felt odd. It almost felt like something finally clicked for him, that something had finally washed over him, that something had settled in his mind. Yet in that moment, she had simply relaxed, chalking it up to him realizing his ‘nightmares’ weren’t going to affect him. At least, that’s what she thought was the cause for all this..
However, in every single dream she had while close to the vanilla kingdom, whether it would be sleeping next to him or by a neighboring kingdom, she would wake up in the middle of the night with a startle, those manic eyes haunting her over and over again. She felt as if she could never catch a break. Which was why, once she entered the vanilla kingdom this time after long contemplation, she was shocked to see him acting so.. calmly. It was almost uncanny. He was far too calm, more calm than he was before his descent to whatever was happening now. And yet, White Lily Cookie pushed her guard down, deciding to trust her friend, maybe he had really changed?
How wrong she was.
So lost in thought, White Lily forgot to pay attention to her breathing and location.
She yelped, breathing hitched as she felt a very familiar pair of arms wrap around her waist, tugging her closer as she felt his head on her shoulder.
“Didn’t I say that I could hear your breathing, my love? You were quite loud! You make me think that you wanted me to find you!” Pure Vanilla Cookie giggled, cooing into her ear in a voice that was far more intense than his teasing.
The faerie queen stiffened, goosebumps crawling up her dough as she felt his whispers against her ear. It took her a moment to process that she had been caught before she started to struggle, tugging away from his arms as she eyed her exit desperately. If only she could just be let go, she could make a run for it!
“Oh lily, don’t struggle, you wound me. It’s no use anyway.” The vanilla king sighed, his voice turning rough towards his last sentence. He couldn’t understand why she was so insistent on trying to run away! She wouldn’t even get far before one of his guards caught her anyway.
Pure Vanilla Cookie spun her around, grasping onto her hands. Suddenly, she was face to face with him. He had disregarded his staff, is heterochromatic eyes locked onto hers, his hands grasping onto hers like it was his lifeline. He wasn’t about to let her escape so soon. A small smile came across his face as he tugged one of her hands closer, placed right onto his chest, where his heart was. He wanted her to feel its beats increasing unsteadily, his anticipation growing beyond limits, wondering if he could finally get her to stay. The simple thought of her leaving him once more, was enough to make him upset. Yet now with the realization dawned upon him that if he let his beloved lily go, she would leave him and not return, wilt on the outside once faced with the truth, the thought of her leaving him made him start to spiral again. His hand squeezed tighter, drawing her attention back to him as his eyes widened, the same maddened look that haunted her dream’s staring right back at her.
“Stay with me, my beautiful flower. Stay and be mine. There is nothing out in that world that deserves you. Stay, White Lily Cookie." Pure Vanilla asked, his voice laced with a rough edge as he waited for his lover’s answer.
White Lily Cookie’s eyes continued to dart around the castle walls were so familiar to her, she couldn’t bring herself to hold back his hands, couldn’t bring herself to even tug away from them, entirely frozen. Every time she locked eyes with her beloved that she wanted to loathe, it felt practically impossible to look away from the eyes that kept her up at night, requiring most of her mental will power to even glance away. Why did he have to know her so well? Why did he have to know her inside and out, better than herself? That was her greatest weakness, and her greatest disadvantage. Her breath hitched as she felt his heart beat erratically, did he know that her pulse was beating just as fast? Except it was from panic? What could she say, that wouldn't lead him to another spiral? Faced with his question, all she could do was swallow to try and soothe the dryness in her throat. Her voice couldn’t even squeak, and her jaw felt locked, unable to even open to attempt a response.
Faced with her silence, Pure Vanilla relaxed slowly, moving to loop an arm around hers, using his free hand to softly brush strands of hair behind her ear, fixing it and chuckling softly at the way she flinched against his touch. He leaned in forward to kiss her cheek softly, already guiding her out, arm linked with hers. White Lily Cookie felt confused, hadn’t he just tried to prevent her from escaping? Hadn’t he just been on the brink of mania? She glanced at him, tilting her head, trying to figure him out.
“I’ll give you a chance, my love. I’ll take your silence as contemplation! It’s getting quite late, so we’ll go to our room, and you can get some rest.” The king hummed, a cheerful smile on his face as he guided his lover through the castle, using his staff to make sure they didn’t bump into anything.
The lily cookie stumbled occasionally, still trying to wrap her mind around how he had so easily switched between a manic to cheerful smile, her mind racing through her thoughts. Did he seriously think she was going to stay? Well, she couldn’t blame him, with the way everything had been happening, it almost felt like she didn’t have a choice. Perhaps she could sleep this fog in her mind off, and receive some clarity..
He could feel how weak White Lily was against his arm, could feel her hesitancy and nervousness, could sense every emotion running through her mind. He had been able to do so since the academy days, taking care of her whenever she felt stressed. And now, once he kept her close to him, he would continue to take care of her.
He would take care of her forever, for as long as eternity allowed him to.