- - Dark Cacao narrowed his eyes into a glare as he stared at the buzzing of a flickering overhead light. This place seemed formal and could be considered pleasant for waiting room standards, but reeked of strange smells and a bizarre sort of compounding dread.
"...Interesting place."
He offered flatly to Hollyberry and Pure Vanilla, his gaze flickering between the two of them suspiciously.
Particularly Hollyberry.
Especially Hollyberry.
"Are we picking someone up from here?"
☆☆ Hollyberry and Pure Vanilla nervously glanced at each other; Dark Cacao was going to have to find out soon enough, but they were desperate to delay that as much as possible. However, they could feel that he was very, very slowly catching on. His gaze was practically piercing through them, and it was definitely nerve-racking.
When Pure Vanilla pulled a blank for words, particularly ones that could form a composed half-truth, Hollyberry had to pipe up to avoid an awkward silence.
"Not quite, old friend! We're simply meeting up with someone here! It'll be short, so no need to fret one bit!"
Pure Vanilla walked up closer to Dark Cacao and took his arm in his hands, clinging to his side.
"Why don't you follow me?" He offered with a smile, before seeing if Dark Cacao would actually budge.
- - Dark Cacao's gaze remained stagnant on the floor, expressionless.
"..I'm sorry."
He raised his gaze to meet Pure Vanilla's, eyes wide as if he was searching for some kind of confirmation or signal he wasn't picking up on.
"I don't really want to."
There was a certain quality to his voice as he spoke, as if it was more sheer and raw. Prying into a definite rising desperation.
☆☆ Pure Vanilla's heart had sunk into the endless abyss in a near instant. He hadn't felt such damning panic in years.
"..Dark Cacao, please-"
Hollyberry oddly positioned herself between them and the door; to her dismayed realization, it wasn't even a little subtle.
The resigned king clung to Dark Cacao, mustering just enough strength to not cry.
"This will be good for you, I promise. Just- please, follow me..."
- - Immediately, he turned his gaze to his surroundings, as if desperate to either distract himself from the panic and desperation in Pure Vanilla's voice or to find an escape.
He took a few steps back. His gaze halted, remaining fixed on where Hollyberry stood, before flitting at the door itself.His expression passed through fleeting moments of growing confusion and horror as he tried grabbing the hilt of his sword and braced, as if he was about to run.
He stopped as Pure Vanilla clung to him though.
His expression slacked, indiscernible of any emotions.
"...Pure Vanilla."
He took another step back, placing his hands lightly on the king's shoulders as if to steady him or pull him off. It seemed mixed. As if he was faltering in indecision for a few brief moments at a time.
"...I'm fine. I don't-"
He stopped, reexamining his surroundings with a building certainty to the terror in his voice.
"...I don't-.. It's fine. I'm fine, and we're okay. Please. Pure Vanilla."
☆☆ Those words weren't reassuring to Pure Vanilla, not at all. A tearful whimper escaped his throat.
"We're not okay. We're not!"
He put his arms around the king, squeezing him tight. He didn't want to let him go.
Hollyberry stared at the two with a solemn look on her face, crossing her arms.
"Dark Cacao, we've been through a lot, haven't we? A lot that has changed us... scarred us... We're trying to take a step forward, and we want you to take it with us!"
- - "...."
Dark Cacao was uncomfortably silent for a few moments, as if he was about to speak but couldn't find the words.
"....Pure Vanilla- I-..."
He glanced up and stared at Hollyberry, as if tangled in a bundle of thoughts.
"...Is that all you guys came here for?"
He wrapped his arms around Pure Vanilla, softly stroking the back of his head in an attempt to calm the poor king down.
"We're fine now. Why bother bringing such things up, when it'd be all the same to forget them?"
He leaned in and embraced Pure Vanilla tightly, almost picking him up off the ground.
"We have new problems. Why worry over.. this."
He held the king like this for a few moments, glancing up at Hollyberry in confusion as if begrudgingly prodding at the notion of these two putting so much effort into nothing. It was nothing, and yet it mattered to them.
He didn't understand.
"...If it matters so much, fine."
His words were harsh, but his tone softened by a weary, fumbling confusion and concern for his friends.
☆☆ The shield-wielding woman flashed a sad yet grateful grin to Dark Cacao.
A rushing whirlwind of thoughts was swirling around Pure Vanilla's head; if Dark Cacao was so reluctant, would this even be effective?
He pulled very slightly out of the embrace, just enough to look the king in the eyes.
Then, weakly, he smiled.
He'd make sure that Dark Cacao got better with them in time. He had to, for their sakes.
"Thank you, Dark Cacao."
Pure Vanilla uttered with a wavery, sincere gratitude. Then, he gently held onto Dark Cacao's arm yet again, ready to guide him through anything and everything.
- - Dark Cacao felt something deep within him ache with a certain kind of distress and fear.
It was like the sight of seeing his friends smile at him with such a bitter sadness or worry beyond their expressions made him skiddish, as if caught in a sharp snare.
He gently stroked the back of Pure Vanilla's head a little more, closing his eyes and attempting to return some sort of smile.
A doubtful fear was eating away at him, though.
He hated this. He hated this feeling of risk over what felt like a gaping amount of nothing but shame. This was how people with issues were treated, right? With such unending concern and fear from themselves and other people.
That meant he was a disappointment, did it not?
That meant he was a horrible person for being here, did it not?
That meant he failed.
Did it not?
He sighed softly, gaze flickering over Pure Vanilla in a steady wave of acceptance for this.. horrid place and the exceedingly worse implications of it all.
"Yeah, well.. I can't make everything you do a total pain."
He rasped a laugh, a grimaced smile flashed on his face alongside it.
He shuffled his legs, slouching a bit forward as if he was ready to follow Pure Vanilla. Just then, though, a door adjacent to the waiting room opened, and Dark Cacao's eyes flashed up to meet a dusty trenchcoat and an even more battered-looking detective.
"Ah, just in time, Dark Cacao."
Dark Cacao's gaze did not faulter.
Did not stray.
Did not move.
He said nothing, staring with a cold, bitter loathing rising in his expression.
-Okay, now wait another few months and maybe you'll get to see the office/hj-
-It's really cool, I swear- Trust me-
YOU ARE READING
-Dark Cacao Goes to Therapy With His Concerned Husband and Bestie Bro-
FanfictionWhen Almond Cookie brushed off the dust on his psychology degrees and decided to make a sharp change in career as a means of settling down, he didn't quite expect one of his first (and most difficult) clients to be a chronically depressed king with...
