Three days had passed since they had left Dark Enchantress Cookie's palace. And it was safe to say that they were lost.
Espresso's steps were faltering. He felt dizzy and unstable on his own feet. Fatigue relentlessly clutched his body, his vision fogged as he stumbled to the side and leaned against a tree for support. The lack of caffeine must be starting to get to him. No matter. He would simply push through it.
When he took another step, his legs buckled beneath him and he fell to the ground, his glasses cracking when they impacted a stone.
Not even a moment later and Madeleine was by his side, a look of worry glazed onto his pale features as he aided the mage back onto his feet, a single arm wrapped around the smaller cookie's form.
"Ess, are you alright?" he asked softly, helping Espresso to hobble forwards, but it was clear the cookie could hardly tell down from up, his eyes sagging and body trembling lightly. Madeleine frowned. Carefully, he took Espresso into his arms bridal style, waiting for some kind of snarky comment from the mage. But when he was only answered with silence, he knew something was terribly wrong.
Espresso's chest could just barely be seen rising and falling with his weak breaths, one of his hands gripping onto Madeleine's chest. His eyes had now fallen closed. The knight's jaw clenched with worry. "Espresso, come on, you must wake up," he urged, giving the coffee cookie a small shake. Madeleine's concern only raised when Espresso's hold on him went limp, his chest tightening. "Espresso! Wake up!" Espresso was silent. His chest had stopped rising and falling.
"Insult me! Call me an idiot! A fucking animal! Just say something!" Madeleine cried out, tears beginning to sting his sapphire eyes. "Please say something, Espresso..."
"That cookie's heart is still beating," a somewhat familiar voice called from within the woods, Madeleine's head shooting up. A young female cookie stood not far from him, her hand around the hilt of her sword as she stared condescendingly at the knight. Madeleine inhaled sharply at the sight of her.
"Financier!" he yelled, keeping Espresso held close to his chest. He hadn't seen this cookie since he had left the republic. When did she arrive here? "You never were good with medicinal affairs. Put him down flat, then pump his chest with your hands three times." Madeleine didn't waste a moment to do as told, but was disappointed when there was no change in Espresso's condition. "Good. Now put your lips against his and give him a breath of air, just like you're giving him a kiss." He nodded violently, not even registering her remark, and gripped the back of Espresso's head, forcing his lips against the mage's before exhaling.
Financier took a step forwards. "Pinch his nose and tilt his head back, it'll help with air flow. Do that three times." Once more, the knight obeyed, his lungs filling with air before he gave it all to Espresso in hopes to bring his consciousness back. He pumped Espresso's chest another three times, then gave mouth-to-mouth again. It was only after five repetitions did Espresso cough and begin to take in raspy breaths of air, a look of indescribable happiness swallowing Madeleine's features as he brought Espresso to his chest in a hug.
"Oh, the Divine be praised! He's okay!"
"Not quite," Financier interrupted. "He needs caffeine. Let's get him back to the kingdom before his heart stops. It's beating far too slow for a coffee cookie."
-
Espresso was still unconscious in Madeleine's hold when they finally made it back to the kingdom, but at least now he was breathing. Financier led them towards a large tent in the kingdom's corner, pushing the cloth aside so they could enter. Pure Vanilla was hovered over Capsaicin cookie, busy mumbling about how he should have been less reckless with his fighting and if he had, he wouldn't be leaking jamblood everywhere.
"Pure Vanilla," Financier called, the ancient cookie turning to face the newcomers. A look of surprise crossed his face when he saw a disheveled Madeleine carrying Espresso into the tent, his heterochromatic eyes widening. "Goodness! What happened to you two? Where have you been!? The whole kingdom has been worried sick!" he cried, shooing Capsaicin from the med bay and ushering Madeleine over to the table the warrior had been sat on. "Praise the ones above," Pure Vanilla mumbled, putting his hand in front of Espresso's mouth to check his breathing. He frowned upon noticing it was rugged and uneven.
"When was his last caffeine intake?" the medic asked lowly, already hurrying in search of a needle and a blood tube. He took some coffee beans from his shelf and threw them into the coffee maker, listening as Madeleine responded, "Perhaps four days ago? I'm unsure of what he had to eat when we were in the palace. We were separated. I know what he hasn't had any since we were in the woods." Financier was the next to speak, seeing as Pure Vanilla was busy pouring the fresh coffee into a drain bag, "What palace?"
"Dark Enchantress Cookie's. She had one of her cookies drug Espresso and I went after him. We both got caught I'm afraid..."
Financier's brows furrowed. "Were you followed?"
"No. Espresso knocked them out," Madeleine said solemnly, watching as Pure Vanilla stuck the needle connected to a tube into Espresso's arm. The coffee flowed from the drain bag, sending caffeine straight into Espresso's jamblood stream. Madeleine sighed softly. "Thank you for retrieving us, Financier. We probably would've been stuck in there for another week if it wasn't for you." The female shrugged. "As soon as I arrived, Gingerbrave asked me if I could search for you. In all honesty, I wasn't shocked that it was you who had gotten lost. You never did amount to my capabilities."
Madeleine chuckled a little nervously. "I suppose you're right..." A deep inhale sounded from the table and both Financier and Madeleine turned their attention to it, Espresso's eyes blinking open. He coughed violently. Joy took hold of Madeleine's body and he hurried to the table, taking one of Espresso's hands into his. "Espresso! You're okay!" Financier stood back, one of her brows raising curiously. From what she's heard, him and Espresso had never really seen eye to eye. But here, Madeleine seemed as if he might actually care about Espresso.
Perhaps it's just Espresso that doesn't enjoy Madeleine's company, she hummed to herself. "I'm going to inform Gingerbrave of your whereabouts," she announced and bowed lowly before turning to leave. Madeleine didn't respond, too busy marveling over Espresso's recovery to pay any mind to her.
Espresso groaned softly, his hand giving Madeleine's a light squeeze before he pulled it away. "Where...?"
"We made it back to the kingdom, Espresso! It was all thanks to Financier! You remember her, don't you? You met her once or twice when her and I were on training break!" Espresso rubbed his forehead. It didn't take him long to notice his cracked glasses. "Ugh... These things were so damn expensive. I'll have to order new ones from the Republic."
Without warning, Madeleine threw his arms around Espresso's body, pulling him into a tight hug as he buried his face into the coffee cookie's chest. "I was so worried," he admitted quietly.
Espresso tensed, lips drawn back in a grimace as he tried to wriggle out of Madeleine's hold. "Get away from me!"
