Better (Pure Vanilla Cookie x Reader)

3

Oh boy... Why didn't they consider this possibility? They are literally right next to the palace, and they didn't even THINK to consider they could run into the literal king. Still, now it's only fair...

"...(C/F) Cookie." They give him their name, their eyes avoiding him as he sits down on the bench beside them.

"I don't believe I've ever seen you here before (C/F) Cookie." Pure Vanilla Cookie left a somewhat comfortable space between them. He probably knows his name is quite intimidating to those who don't know him.

"You wouldn't have." They nod.

"I hope your visit here is not the reason for your sour mood." He continues with a concerned tone, "The kingdom isn't what it once was, but everyone has worked very hard to repair the damage left over from..." He trails off. Obviously the Dark Flour War is a sore subject.

"That's not it. Mostly thinking about everything back home." They shift their posture to look up at the darkening sky. They can pick out the first few stars as they start to shine through the golden veil left by the sun. "Don't really want to go back, at the same time wondering if I ever should've left in the first place."

"Did a lot of Cookies depend on you there?" He asks. Obviously he'd know about that.

"Not enough to notice." They chuckle dryly. "Their loss honestly."

"Yet you wonder if you shouldn't have left?" He knows how to ask all the questions to keep someone talking, doesn't he...

"...Have you ever been good at something you hate doing?" They glance in his direction just enough to see his expression shift into shock. "But everyone else is too lazy to figure it out, so you're stuck doing it anyway, and it's the only thing that people seem to value you for?"

"Oh dear... I understand why you don't wish to return." He sighs.

"Yeah..." They grimace. Fixing design errors, helping build machinery, and supervising other Cookie's while they put no effort into a job that pays them too well for the deadlines they miss had never been a job (C/F) Cookie enjoyed. They never wanted to use the fact that all their coworkers were dropouts as a reason to be mad at them, but when school was all those idiots ever spoke about they snapped at all of them more than once and fired several for being too carefree with what they could easily do because they didn't know what hard work was. "It doesn't help when you live in a small community and the only thing everyone knows about you is the two things you hate about your life." They sigh, hunching back over to look at the ground.

"That sounds quite horrible." Pure Vanilla Cookie's feet are visible beside theirs.

"And that doesn't even include the stupid..." They trail off, resting their head on their fist. They're not going to cry here in front of a stranger who happens to be a royal celebrity.

"Hmm?" They can tell he's leaned forward to look at their face.

They reach into their pocket and retrieve one of the letters before handing it to him.

He goes quiet a moment before humming in understanding and chuckling. "I haven't heard anything about the Sugar Glass Academy since I studied at the Blueberry Yogurt Academy."

"Didn't that place like... get cursed and shut down?" They ask, looking over at him as he hands them back their rejection letter.

"Yes, the one who cursed it..." His smile drops from his face as he thinks over his phrasing, "...was a good friend of mine. She didn't know what she was doing."

"Man." (C/F) Cookie snickers, "A school where people actually learn magic. Sounds fake."

"Goodness! What happens over at Sugar Glass?" He chuckles at this remark.