Chapter Text
The king danced along his stage. Lights all beaming at him and him only. He followed the scripts and played along— finally acting out the final scenes and bowing before vanishing behind the play curtains.
Once he was away from the public, a tired and exasperated sigh emerged.
He entered his dressing room, spotting the new script he has been delivered for next play. Shadow Milk picked it up and groaned, not even daring to read it, crumbling the paper up and haphazardly throwing it on the floor.
"I'm getting so sick of her."
He mumbled to himself, looking in the mirror, examining his attractive but fatigued looking face. More specifically, his eyebags that were forming. No matter how much makeup he put on for the stage, they still showed. And they were getting worse, too.
"Ugh, these again, really? I get enough sleep... WHY are these STILL here!?" Shadow Milk cried out, obviously irritated.
He rubbed his temples as yet another headache panged. Annoying.
He glanced at himself once more in the mirror, picking out all of his unkept features and imperfections. Albeit it did nothing to help him, and it only made the king even more insecure, he's his worst critic. A critic that ceases to rest and judges more than any other.
Still, staring at himself in the mirror for hours and hours on end solely to shatter his self-esteem even more... It only wastes his time. Shadow Milk has more important things to tend to.
Like laying in bed awake at night letting his deepest fears and anxiety consume him, or— on second thought, perhaps he doesn't have much to do in his free time.
But... There's one thing he can do.
Every now and then when the king needs to escape his daily troubles or responsibilities, or simply needs a place to get away from Eternal Sugar, he walks to a certain field.
So with that, he walked out of his dressing room and out of the facility, heading towards the forest next to it, cape billowing after him.
Through the forest he went, but stopped for a few moments to look at the riverside which was flowing and decorated with all sorts of rocks and flowers. It felt calming.
But Shadow Milk is a sophisticated cookie. He picked up his cape— so it doesn't get dirty or wet, and walked around it the stream while humming. A few birds could be heard chirping in the distance, and the buzzing of a few bees. Wait. Bees?
He made his way out of that spot as soon as he could. It's embarrassing to admit, but the king was scared of bugs. For no reason, either. He's never been stung, that he knows of, and isn't too scared of their looks either. He just finds them unsettling.
Except butterflies and moths. Those are the ones he doesn't mind, but— oh, a butterfly? It's all shades of silvers and viridescent greens. It even looks like it's glowing.
Shadow Milk chuckled to himself and started making his way towards that clearing he visits. He got a little sidetracked. As he walked, the little butterfly seemed to be heading the same way he was.
Finally, he made it to the field. The butterfly flew towards him, settled on his hand for a few moments, and fluttered away. Neat. Shadow Milk looked around, predicting it to be the same, relaxing little clearing he— wait... Was that-
A cookie!?
He looked at them. They were just sitting down in the field with a few more butterflies (like the one Shadow Milk saw earlier) surrounding them. It was a little bit hard to see, since it was the dark, but they seemed to have blonde hair, tan dough, and quite a lot of silver and green to them. Oh! And wings as well. They were resting at the cookie's sides.
Shadow Milk scoffed. It's like they were glowing in the moonlight, like some majestical being. He was almost jealous.
But they were still at his spot. The king hasn't seen anyone else sit there before besides himself. It was practically his field. So to fix it, he slipped his mask back on and walked up to them, hands behind his back.
The cookie turned over, revealing a pair of soft heterochromic eyes, much like his own, staring back at him. Pastel blue and yellow. If Shadow Milk thought that cookie looked pretty graceful then, he was in for a treat.
Although, they looked ignorant with that happy expression, like Shadow Milk and them were old friends.
"Oh, hello! I didn't think I'd find any cookies this late at night—"
"This is my area."
They looked confused. "Your area? Well, you're free to sit with me if you'd like."
The king stared at them with offense. How disrespectful of them! Suggesting he'd sit with them, like he hasn't been the one going to this place for months. A single cookie wasn't going to ruin his outlet.
"No, I'm not going to sit with you! No one else sits here, ever. This field is where I sit, espèce de bouffon !" (You buffoon!)
Shadow Milk didn't even notice the French slipping out. He usually speaks it when he's annoyed or mad.
The cookie looked apologetic now. Pitiful.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to make you angry or anything. But I usually sit here too. Though, it's normally later at night. I like the view of the moon from here, and my butterflies usually group here at night."
"How come I haven't seen you before?"
"I see you sitting here sometimes, and I just... Run away. I really don't want to bother you."
"Then leave."
It looked like they considered Shadow Milk's offer. He was really getting annoyed now. Fatigued, headache pounding, and too drained from having to keep up his mask all day. Which he was forced to stay on right now. The faster this damn cookie leaves, the faster he'll be fine.
Finally, they got up and waved bye, wings twitching as they left.
The king never deflated faster.
He fell onto the cool grass, groaning in exhasperation. Finally, for like the first time today, he could let his mask fall off and be himself for a little while.
"Oh mon Dieu ! Enfin, c'est fini !" (Oh my God! Finally, it's over.)
Shadow Milk sighed. He hoped that new cookie wouldn't be a problem. But so far, they're annoying, idiotic, and— ethereal to the point he's envious. It wasn't fair. Why give such a stupid cookie such a godly appearance?
He stared up at the large moon, running his hands over his face from such an eventful day. He really did not want to go back to his bed tonight. The king was content enough where he was, and had no intention to leave. If he hadn't made that point earlier.