Falling (repeatedly)

4- Watched

"ESPRESSO!"

He jerks his head up from the cup, then turns to see Madeleine running down the road. He only has his cape, boots, and the wings of his headpiece on.

Espresso tightens his grip on the doorknob.

Madeleine stops on Espresso's walkway, catching his breath. Espresso slowly turns the knob and pushes open the door.

Madeleine holds out his hand. "You forgot your tie."

Espresso looks down and realizes that his tie is indeed gone. He grumbles a thanks while taking his tie back. He hands the cup to Madeleine.

Madeleine looks in the cup, then smiles when he realizes it's empty. "He drank it! He enjoyed my coffee!"

Espresso turns around and goes inside, kicking the door shut.

He quickly moves to his window and peeks out through the curtains. He notices two cookies looking at his door and whispering.

"Something must've happened while I was asleep."

He shrugs. "I can ask about it later."

He takes off his cape and hangs it up, when something yellow catches his eye.

He looks at the cape. There are some areas stitched together with golden-colored thread.

"Did Madeleine.." He shakes his head.

He takes it off the hook. "I need to get a new cape."

He goes into his room, which has a comfortable couch that he usually crashes on. No bed. That would waste space.

He walks over to his closet and picks out a new cape. It looks identical to his old one, minus the new gold stitching.

He goes to throw the old one away, but doesn't let go of it.

"Why can't I bring myself to drop it.."

He puts the cape in the closet. He goes back to his main room and starts preparing for a new experiment.

Outside, Madeleine is walking home with the cup in his hands. "If I practice my coffee making skills, he will enjoy it even more!"

Wizard and Strawberry watch as he walks away from Espresso's door.

Strawberry whispers "How are we going to help him if he keeps going to Espresso?"

Wizard responds, also whispering "I'm not sure yet. I'll see if there are any spells, but that's the last resort. We may be misjudging the situation a little."

Strawberry nods, then asks "Why was he wearing less armor?"

Wizard shrugs.

*+*Two days later*+*

Espresso looks at the list, then at all the ingredients he has. "Of course, I appear to be missing several key ingredients."