Fragments - A Cookie Run Fanfiction

Chapter Sixty-One: Nap

// "Do you see that vent over there on the floor Gregory? You- you need to vent. I know it will be hard, but- haha- you need to be SUS."//

//I love you all, so have a feel-good chapter.//

-

All of the Cookies that were sitting around the table fell into silence. Looking at each other, Dark Enchantress suddenly felt more angry than she was before. The woman dind't know how to put it. Maybe she was mad at herself for not noticing sooner.

Just as she was about to let out an angry command of some sort, there was movement heard from the nearby couch that Gingerbrave was sleeping on top of a short while ago.

Sitting up, the child rubbed at his eyes, before quickly seeming to fall into a negative emotional pit. After bringing his hands back down from his face, Gingerbrave brought his knees to his chest, and wrapped his arms around them. It was then that Dark Enchantress came to the conclusion that her verbal tyrade could wait for now.

Standing up, and pushing her chair back, the woman walks over to the couch, before sitting down next to the child. She said nothing but took notice when dark, foggy eyes looked up to her.

The child was lost. She remembered being lost once. When she was her former self. She tried to see the good in everyone and everything. Even so, she found herself in constant bouts of misery, doubt, and any other mental struggle she could consider.

She knew well what her former self was like, even if it did feel like a memory. Because she had used to to manipulate Gingerbrave and his friends into helping her before.

She could remember that clearly.

Gingerbrave didn't really say anything, he just stared at her before starting to tear up. Bringing his arm up to his fcae, he wiped his tears before turning his head to his knees, and just rested his chin over his scarred arms.

The rest of the darksides eventually made their way over to the couch as well. Licorice sat on his knees on the floor, near Dark Enchantress's side. Poison Mushroom sat right below Gingerbrave, seated right next to Chiffon, who had his chin on the couch near Gingerbrave's knees.

Red Velvet stood behind the couch for a while, before just walking around to the front in favor of being behind it. Dark Choco sat on the other end of the couch, finding himself sore in the back from all of the standing and stress- which was uncommon for him. Otherwise the man would have likely been standing behind it instead.

Pomegranate just setteld with sitting on her knees on the floor, in front of the couch. She sat herself next to Licorice, and in front of dark Enchantress.

All of them were silent for a while, nothing was being said between them. Just just sat there and took in the atmosphere. They enjoyed the silence and took in each others company.

It was only after 10 minutes of cooperative silence that Dark Enchantress finally began to speak.

"Gingerbrave, you need to talk..." she started off the conversation. "Keeping all of it bottled up inside of you is not going to help you. It's also going to be hard for me to say 'it's fine, I will leave you alone' now that we all know what happened to you in your past." The red eyed woman closed her eyes, trying to consider what she would say.

She wanted to get him to open up, but how easily could she do that when the child had kept this shut down for years, before this even happened?

"It's not fair for me to expect others to deal with my problems, or listen to my every issue. Nothing can be changed, if it happened in the past. Why should I be a blight and force my problems on others that have their own problems to deal with?" Gingerbrave spoke out, before shaking his head.

"Normally, I wouldn't care about anyone's problems." Pomegranate sighs, before leaning her head to the side.

Everyone sitting on the couch that wasn't Gingerbrave went to give her a firm glare, before she put up her hand, signalling for them to wait for her to finish what she had to say.

"However, you have been here a little while. You have grown on me, a little bit. From experience, people who offer their help are more upset when they can't do anything to help you, than when someone explains their problems." she closed her eyes a bit.

Gingerbrave thought about the information, recalling having that train of thought before, when he was in Licorice's room with him.

'If they offer you something, it's better to take it, than reject it. Imagine how they would feel if you didn't.'

The child's train of thought was a mess. However, there was a point. If he did not take the help while it was being offered, he was being just as much of burden if he started venting out of the blue. He was trapped between a rock, and a hard place.

"I see that look on your face. You're thinking that you're a problem either way, don't you..?" Licorice sighed, looking the child in his eyes. His own yellow eyes were dark, lost in thought as he recalled his own, older state of mind. A state of mind he still possessed, but kept surprised better. "I know how that feels... but you're wrong.. you know?"

Gingerbrave started to tear up a bit more, biting his lip as he started to sniffle a little. He tensed, and dug his fingernails into his knees as he tried to curl into himself. Wanting more than all else to disappear. To vanish and not be seen or heard. However, he couldn't help himself. He really couldn't everything was starting to overflow.

It was already breaking him from the inside out. It was wearing on him, and dragging down every piece of him, and crumbling it. It was a slow, painfful process and still he didn't want help.

Every part of him screamed and said that he wanted to be left alone. Forgotten. He wanted to experience some kind of extent of Dozer's pain.

Finally, the child had stated to speak, gasping through silent sobs.

"It's not fair... this world will always be a messed up place. I should have done more. I should have tried harder. Because of me, my brother never got anything. He never got the chance." The child tighened the grip on himself, digging his nails into his knees hard enough to make them bleed.

Dark Enchantress brought her hand up, and gently brought down one of the child's hands, Dark Choco bringing down the other.

"My brother had nothing. He can't even be forgotten, because there is no one else to remember him but me. He was so young. He deserved better. He SHOULD have had better. I'm the reason he ended up dead. I wasn't strong enough. I never did enough. I should have done more..."

Poison Mushroom imitated Chiffon, sticking their own chin on the supporting front end of the couch, before tilting their head as they looked up to Gingerbrave. He only whispered 'Survivors Guilt' before leaning their head back down. However, they gently pat the top of Brave's hand, as a gesture of comfort.

After what felt like hours of venting, and just trying to get the pain to ease, maybe even if it were the slightest bit- Gingerbrave finally calmed down. The trauma-ridden youth had passed out from emotional exhaustion, which was not too surprising.

Everyone was tired.

Leaning into Dark Enchantress Cookie, Gingerbrave closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

Not wanting to move, and disturb the child, Dark Enchantress just wrapped her gloved arm around the boy, and pat his back, before closing her own eyes and resigning herself to sleep.

All of the darksides did the same. Falling asleep where they had seated themselves on the couch or around it.

All had fallen silent in the room, giving room for moderate tranquility that was well deserved. No matter any of their sleeping patterns from the past, every one of them fell asleep feeling content and arguably... pleasant. At least at the moment.

They all napped together on that couch, letting all their cares and ailments subside. Taking comfort in each others company. That was all they needed right now.

((To Be Continued))