Tales Of A Lonely Moment [ Cookie Run: Kingdom ]

Recital XV: Ringbound

"...and, that's that." Gingerbrave sighed. Pure Vanilla stayed silent for a moment, whispering;
"Oh, witches..." He frowned. Custard nodded in response.
"And here I thought our lives would be calm until we died." Custard laughed. A giggle echoed around the area, from the voice of a young girl, though the noise was only heard by the current King.
"Ah, well, sometimes we don't always get what we'd like.." Pure Vanilla sighed. His smile was sad, reminiscent. White Lily looked over at the two nervously.
"Well...how are Queen and the others?"
"They've been alright this past couple months." Wizard responded, before the other two could get a word out. The older cookies simply nodded.
"Hey, Custard!!" He turned his attention to the voice across the fields, noticing the boy in the brown jacket waving his arm excitedly.
"Are you coming?!" Pancake shouted. "We're going with Mango, and- and Sorbet and the others!"
Custard snickered, pushing himself up from the chair.
"Yeah, I'm coming!!" He yelled back. He lowered his voice as he added; "see you all later!"
"You mean sea us later?" Gingerbrave grinned. Custard scowled, striding over to his other friend. Gingerbrave laughed as Wizard looked at him in disgust, rolling their eyes when he smirked.
"Do not ever do that again." Wizard buried his head in his hands, her elbows on the table.
"Aw, c'mon, it's funny." His eyes lit up, a glittering sort of view, and Wizard looked away. His face burned as he tilted his hat forwards;
"No it's not." He hissed. White Lily whispered into her husbands ear, and the former King chuckled softly. The two stood up, noted that they were headed to see their old friends, and left.
"Well. That was odd." Gingerbrave watched the older couple disappear into the crowd. Wizard tapped the table in boredom, staring at the sky. He slipped his other hand in his pocket, and wrapped his fingers around the object in his robes. He let out a quiet sigh of relief; it would not be great if he lost this.
"What do you think Custard and Pancake are doing?" Gingerbrave leaned back in his chair, his head tipped upside down, which helped him face the direction the younger cookies had headed.
"Going to Peppermints ship, obviously." Wizard stated dryly. "That's what Pancake said."
"No, he said Mango and Sorbet and the others." Gingerbrave frowned, forcing himself up. He grew dizzy at the movement, the blood having rushed to his head.
"..ow." He swallowed a groan. "..but anyways, that's what he said."
Wizard snorted. It took only a moment, before the implication dawned on the hero. He threw his head back in a fit of laughter, and Wizard took in every second of it, however unfunny the joke had truly been.
He knew that he wanted to spend every second of his day with him; he'd known for years. The moment they'd shared in the woods only strengthened this- even if it had been interrupted by their former guardian.
"Well, obviously, but it's almost the same thing." Wizard rolled her eyes, speaking of Pancake and Custard. "Sorbet and Mango and the others means there going to Pepps ship."
"Aha...yeah, fair.." The Brave cookie admitted.

"Hey you guys!!" Pancake waved at the ship's crew. "I brought Custard!!"
"Oh, hello, Custard!" Peppermint smiled. "How have you been?"
"..good. We've had, uh...events." Custard didn't mean to talk so quietly; he just didn't like to talk about it. Thankfully, Peppermint heard him.
"What kinda events?" Peppermint tilted their head. Custard shook his head, already uncomfortable with the topic.
"Well, that's alright! You don't have to tell me..." Their voice was soft and gentle, a caring tone always there even in the worst situations.
Speaking of which..
"How's your dad?" Custard tried. Peppermint clearly hadn't expected the question; they stiffened for a moment.
"He's doing good..." They grinned. The King could've sworn he'd seen a trace of sadness in the others eyes, but it faded as quickly as it had appeared. "He..he misses her, of course, but we all do..."
'Her' was Peppermint and Squid Inks mother; the former lead of the ship, Captain Ice Cookie, and Almonds wife. Almond was Peppermints step-father, but the closest they had to one. So he was 'Dad.'

Custard couldn't help but feel a hint of jealousy at this fact, but he brushed it off almost immediately.
"Where are Cotton and Snow Sugar?" Pancake looked around, trying to spot the magic-born siblings. Peppermint huffed;
"Home. In the mountains, near the village, not sure. Up in the snow, though..."
"Oh." Pancake pouted. Custard glanced around for the other three; who, unfortunately, were also not here.
"It's just me today..." Peppermint must have noticed his confusion, Custard concluded.
"Mango is with Herb, and Sorbet Shark and Squid Ink are on like, a date of sorts..." They continued.
"Well, we're here! We can hang out!!" Pancake grinned. His face lit up as if he was a young child again, sitting in the kingdom fields, talking with Strawberry and Custard. The momental thought made Custard feel nostalgic- so many years- too many -had passed since then.
"Oh, alright..!" Peppermint followed Pancake, who'd ran onto the ship. They stopped for a moment, turning to wait for Custard, who trailed after them a second later.
"What's the most boring event you can go to?" Pancake asked. Custard laughed, shaking his head at the absurdity of the question. Why did he need to know that?
He repeated the last line to the boy.
"Uh, cause I'm bored and it's a conversation starter." Pancake huffed.
"Weddings." Custard made a face. "They're horribly boring. Or meetings."
"Eh, Strawberry and Crepe and Pumpkin Pie's wedding was fun!" Pancake was walking up and down the ship, arms outstretched as he placed one foot right in front of the other.
"It lasted three days." Custard said dryly.
"It did?" Peppermint look up. The other two nodded. "Wow. Ma and Dads wedding wasn't very interesting.."
"Duh, you parents are old." Pancake frowned. Peppermint went quiet, gripping the shell they held in their hands a little tighter. The silence hung heavy as Custard looked away, second hand embarrassment making his body burn, the prickly feeling lasting for a moment longer than usual.
"Pancake..." Custard cringed. Pancake looked over, oblivious to the effect his statement had had on Peppermint. "You really gotta start thinking before you talk, dude."
"..why?" His tone was nervous. Custard only grinned sheepishly at Peppermint, who gave him a small, awkward smile.
"Wait, no, what did I do wrong?!" Pancake cried. Peppermint waved their hand at him, dismissing anything that had happened. Pancake huffed whole Custard glanced around the ship itself. It was in good shape; it hadn't been the one used when Captain Ice..
Custard shook his head slightly, ignoring the thought. Today was going to be a good day, and nobody could stop it. Besides, today is going to be a day of happiness anyways; for two people he knew, anyways. He'd been, ah, informed of something.
'Something.'

The only sound was the birds in the trees, the crunch of the dirt and plants with each step they took, the occasional breeze. Neither spoke. There was a heavy feeling a calm in the almost-silence.
They were here with each other, as they'd always desired.
"Do you dance, Brave?"
"What?"
"Do you dance, Gingerbrave?" Wizard smiled. Brave blinked, attempting to process the question.
"Are you...asking me to dance with you?" He laughed. Wizard grinned, grabbing his hands and spinning him in front of him. The other stumbled, steadying his feet while Wizard held on.
"Jeez, you could just ask." Gingerbrave laughed. Wizard placed a hand on his hip, raising the others arm and dipping him.
"Woah there dude, that's my-"
He was pulled up again, spun around by a single hand.
"Aha- dude. You gonna say anything?" Gingerbrave let go and shook his head, trying to clear the dizziness that had settled as he'd spun.
Wizard stepped forwards, smiling. Putting his hand on a hip again, he grabbed one hand.
"Dance with me, won't you?" Wizard sighed. And so he did.
Step after step, the two spun around the field. The quiet resumed, the calm resettling.
The mage twirled the hero around a second time. He let ago the last second, and the Brave Cookie stumbled, laughing, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small object.
He held out his hand, and it made a click when he opened it. Gingerbrave looked up at the noise, staring for a moment.
Wizard smiled, holding out the box. Brave gasped quietly, his eyes shining.

The ring glittered in the sun while Wizard tilted his head behind it in order to face his partner. Gingerbrave sucked in a breath quietly, frozen.
"..well?" Wizard laughed.
"...well?" Gingerbraves voice grew high. "Wizard, what..."
Silence hung over the two. Neither moved in the moment, their eye contact never breaking.

"Gingerbrave, will you marry me?"