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Truthless Recluse plopped down on the edge of his bed, the frame releasing a soft thunk sound. He was tired from everything: the constant stress going through him, the nagging thoughts in his head. Not to mention his partner constantly teasing him at every given opportunity. The cookie had ways, even before moving into the Spire, of revealing stress. However, most of those options were taken away, as Shadow Milk immediately caught on through spying on him and shut it down far before he got the chance to. The beast was hyper-aware of any sharp objects within Recluse’s reach, and always made sure he ate, watching him as he did so.
Just as he was about to just give up, lie back, and curl up into himself, Truthless noticed a small metallic box on the desk in the nook of his room. He hopped up and slowly made his way over to it, picking it up and observing it. He lifted the lid, and discovered it was a lighter. All it took was a few cranks on the small gear on the side of the box, and a small flame bloomed.
That gave the cookie another idea to take the edge off.
Truthless Recluse barely smoked. He had done it perhaps once or twice, but those times were in situations where the stress of his mind and thoughts were severely overtaking him. It wasn’t as bad this time around, but still weighing on his mind.
He took the lighter in his hand, going over to his nightstand and opening the drawer. He looked around for a bit, then finally spotted a pack of cigarettes cleverly disguised as a deck of cards. He quickly tucked both objects in his robe, and made his way out of his room. He was heading for a balcony located just outside the dining room, trying not to seem suspicious.
Recluse passed by multiple rooms on his way:
One was guarded by two rabbits wielding large flags, both of them checkered with white and blue gradients.
One room contained the two minions of Shadow Milk Cookie, Candy Apple and Black Sapphire. They were both arguing. About what, exactly? Recluse couldn’t tell at the moment.
One was a sort of guest room, not currently holding any cookies as residence, however.
He also made note of all the eyes following him as he walked, pretending not to be aware that Shadow Milk was clearly watching him.
Finally, Truthless made his way through the dining room, and through the doors to the balcony. He settled himself against the railing, observing the mess of spiral stairs and soulless cookies dancing below. Looking up, the atmosphere was full of small stars, which, Truthless thought, acted as sort of a safe haven from the chaos ensuing just right under it.
The cookie reached into his robe, grabbing the lighter and a cigarette, holding the tip to his mouth as he lit the other side. Small orange flares sparked off of it as Truthless inhaled deeply. He soon after exhaled through his mouth, a long puff cloud of smoke forming from his mouth.
Leaning more against the railing, Recluse put his head down, his hand dropping as well, but still keeping a good grip on the blunt as he pocketed the lighter.
Before Pure even got the chance to close his eyes, he heard a pop right next to him, most likely indicating Shadow Milk had appeared next to him.
Before he could even process it, the Beast cookie had grabbed his wrist, snatching the cigarette out of his hand and throwing it far over and below the railing.
“Hey-! What the hell!?” Truthless Recluse whines out as he watches the stock pop and fade into silver and royal blue confetti.
“You know I can see you whenever I please, Nilly.” Shadow Milk leaned back against the railing, setting his elbows on the marble bar as his gaze drifted off to the entrance of the balcony.
“My only source of stress relief at the moment, and you haven’t even let me get a hit of that-“
“I can’t have my most prized puppet ruining himself before I even get a chance to play with him anymore.” Shadow Milk shifted slightly closer to Recluse, turning around and setting his arms on the railing as he overlooked his wacky dimension down below.
“Of course, because all I am is just a puppet to you.”
“…”
Truthless Recluse let out a sigh, contemplating taking out another cigarette and testing the Beast’s patience. He decided against it, eventually, due to the fact he had little energy to handle jack shit at the moment.
“I’ve seen you smoke before. When you thought no one was looking.”
“I was stressed-“
“So am I.”
He could hear the cookie let out a defeated grunt.
“Know what? Just, give me the cigarettes. I can’t have you actively harming yourself while I just stand by.”
Truthless continued to stand there and stare, only moving to look over at Shadow Milk Cookie.
“Why does it even matter, anyway? Not like you ever cared for me.”
“I do care about you, Vanilla-!”
“All you cared about was that witch-forbidden soul jam!” The healer tensed up slightly as he realized he snapped. He looked towards the Beast, shaking ever so slightly, to see a stone cold expression of shock and distaste combined.
“The only reason I’m even here is because you want the other half of your soul jam back! And you know what? I gave it to you! What more could you possibly want from me?!”
Truthless Recluse took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down before he started something he would regret in the near future.
“It’s, whatever, at this point, you got what you wanted, you can leave me alone now.”
But, internally, Pure knew Shadow Milk wasn’t going to let him just walk away like that. So, when his robe was tugged on and dragged back to the railing, not a hint of surprise appeared on his face.
“I’m not letting you walk away like that. We’re not finished with this discussion, Nilly~”
Truthless ripped Shadow’s hand off of his clothing, fixing his posture and standing up straight once more before leaning against the railing again.
Shadow Milk soon extended his hand towards the Recluse, clearly hinting at wanting the pack of blunts once more.
“No, Shadow-“
“Give it, Pure Vanilla.”
Shit. The full name.
The healer knew he wasn’t going to win this battle, regardless of how many times he spoke back. So, against his better judgement, he reached into his robe and pulled out the box of cigarettes, putting it into Shadow Milk’s hand.
The Beast cookie observed the box, looking to Truthless with major confusion.
“I told you to hand me the cigarettes, not a box of cards. I’m being serious here, Pure.”
“Open it.”
Hesitantly, Shadow Milk Cookie opened the box and found nine rolled up cigarettes, the one empty space being the blunt Truthless Recluse had taken out.
“Hm.” He grunted before pocketing the box.
Both cookies stood there in silence. There wasn’t much to converse about, especially at a particular time like this.
“Am I free to go, now?”
“…”
“…Well?”
“Give me the lighter, too. I don’t trust you with that.”
The cookie walked back over to the Beast of Deceit, putting the lighter in his hand and pointing towards the door back inside with high hopes of Shadow finally letting him go.
“Now?”
Shadow Milk didn’t make any noise, just simply nodded and zoned in on Pure Vanilla’s footsteps against the tile flooring as he walked back into the Spire building to his room.
After a bit of just standing there, his hand gripped the box, and, without even thinking, threw it over the edge of the balcony, and watched as it pooled into confetti like earlier.
“Stupid, flipping…ugh! Whatever!”
He stared at the lighter as well, deciding to pocket it in contrast to throwing it off the balcony as well.
Truthless Recluse set down his hat as he laid his body down completely on the bed. He set his staff next to his nightstand, not deeming his sight necessary at the moment.
He closed his eyes and leaned on his side, the position he always slept in to go to sleep.
Though, before he drifted off into a state of unconsciousness, he heard a pop, and knew one of Shadow Milk’s eyes had made itself present in his room.
He didn’t find it weird or anything, at least not anymore after how long he had been here.
And, despite what he had said to the cookie earlier…
It was nice to have someone to look after him.