Cookies

All For A Friend

(Note: This is a Gijinka fic.)

Baking was not Magolor's forte.

Despite ending with horrid results on most occasions, the Halcandran refused to accept defeat. Time after time he'd pick up Popstarian cook books from the library in the village and search for an easy recipe to attempt, only to give up after finding very little of them within his "skill" level. Even though Magolor was able to fix and restore his ship easily and perform even high difficulty Halcandran spells, baking just seemed to frustrate him to no end.

However, it was only recently that he discovered that his closest friend, a particularly interesting jester named Marx, was a huge fan of sweets. Specifically baked goods and candy, as he found out.

Magolor couldn't believe it; he finally had a way to bribe Marx! At least, he would if he could manage to pull off a recipe. Everything he mixed together seemed to have all agreed that no combinations of his creation would ever produce something edible.
Nevertheless, he continued to battle the ingredients enthusiastically, trying to pull off at least one decent product.
It wasn't until Marx had announced that he'd be visiting the Halcandran soon when Magolor decided that he'd test his bribery plan out, choosing to create a plate of somewhat edible cookies. The motivation of a time limit forced him to use what he had, and luckily, what seemed to be on board the Lor Starcutter was all that he needed for chocolate chip cookies.

About 40 minutes or so was all it took for Magolor to make and complete the desserts, thinking that he had never before been more happier to do so. He set the treats aside and waited for the jester's arrival. Marx told him that he'd be over by about 4:30, maybe even earlier as he had cleared his schedule a bit.

Magolor was excited for Marx's visit. He could only watch the Lor's main viewing screen as he searched for the familiar sight of purple, light blue, and magenta as he waited.
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   4:30 came, and Marx wasn't there. Magolor assumed that he'd be a bit late, since the jester apparently had no concept of time in the first place.

Five minutes passed.

Ten minutes passed.

Twenty minutes passed.

Marx was still late. In fact, he was surprisingly later than usual. It never took more than ten minutes for Marx to appear when a set time was put into place. Even then, he'd be certain to come even if he looked absolutely terrible and unkempt.

Thirty minutes passed.

As his digital clock hit 5:00 PM, Magolor began to slightly panic. What had happened to Marx to make him so uncharacteristically late? Did he get lost? Did he forget where Magolor kept the Lor? Did he get mauled by a bear? All were viable options at this point. Magolor had finally managed to create decently baked cookies, and the only person that they were meant for was late to even taste one of them straight out of the oven.
The Halcandran paced back and forth in the main control room of the Lor, watching the large screen as he waited anxiously.
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The Lor once again failed to recognize the jester from afar, but when Magolor saw him, he felt his heart leap in joy, and he sighed in relief. Upon closer inspection, Marx seemed a bit more…sluggish, to say the least.

When Marx reached the Lor, he knocked the door weakly, the sound of which almost escaped Magolor's ears. He entered a command into the control panel, and unlocked the door, allowing the jester to limp in.

Magolor noticed this, and started to panic internally. What if Marx had broken a bone? What if someone else broke his bones? Would he be okay?

"Marx, what in the stars happened to you-"
Magolor was silenced by Marx holding his hand up, shaking his head with a wince.
"D-don't ask. Just…no." The jester's raspy voice held back a sob, and only now could Magolor notice the tears in his eyes.
"…Will you at least be alright?"
Marx weakly nodded.

Walking past the magician, Marx stumbled into the Lor, taking a moment to stare at the main screen of the control panel. Magolor could only stare back at him with deep worry and concern, wondering what had happened to his best friend.

"I…I can heal you, if you don't mind me using Halcandran magic on y-"
"I don't need your help, Mags!" The jester yelled at him, his voice cracking as the tears trailed down his face. "I don't need…I-I don't need anyone r-right now…"
The jester broke down in front of Magolor, shaking terribly.

Every sob that escaped Marx's lips broke Magolor's heart. There were times before when the jester had cried, but it was never this intense. It was never this soul-crushing and simply agonizing to his ears. It had always been...fake.

The Halcandran walked out of the room hesitantly, giving the distressed jester one last look of pity before heading over to what he considered a kitchen. He saw the plate of cookies he had prepared for the jester in order to bribe him, but the pain of watching his friend cry in so much agony overrode his desire to playfully tease him. He carefully picked up the plate and took it out of the room, making his way over to where Marx still was.

He approached the jester, who was hunched over on the ground, sobbing. Magolor stood awkwardly for a few moments, before kneeling down to Marx's position.
"Hey, Marx?" Magolor asked softly, using a hand to gently rub the jester's back.
Marx looked up at him, his face a light red from crying.
"W-what?"
Magolor showed him the plate.
"…It's for you. Want a couple?"
Marx stared at the cookies, briefly pointing at himself before Magolor nodded in response. He took a single cookie and bit into it, and immediately a weak smile grew on his face.

Magolor never felt more proud in his life.

"...Thanks, Maggie." Marx mumbled between bites, taking another cookie wholeheartedly.
"No problem. Anything for you, really." Magolor said with a grin, hiding the fact that he felt absolutely giddy inside.

After Marx was finished, he allowed the magician to heal him. However, he still refused to explain what had happened. Despite being curious, Magolor decided to drop the subject, fearing that he'd cause the jester to cry once again, which he had mentally promised never to do.

Although his plans didn't work out how he had originally planned for them to, Magolor was just simply happy to have put a smile on Marx's face. If anything, he would've tried to make something even better to impress the jester even more.

Placing a hand on Marx's back, Magolor gave him a supportive pat before letting out a small sigh.
"You don't know how many times I nearly set the Lor on fire while trying to make those cookies. I'm….uh, not very experienced with that side of cooking."

Marx stiffled a laugh, wearing a look of amusement upon his face.
"Really, now! And this was all for me?"
Magolor nodded.
"Yes. Even worse, that plate wasn't even the first attempt…"

At this point, Marx couldn't contain his laughter. Magolor sighed once again, and gave a light slap across the back of the jester's head. He didn't intend to hurt him, but Marx didn't seem to mind.
"Hey hey hey! I didn't do anything wrong!" Marx exclaimed, giving the magician a playful shove backwards.
"Yeah, but that's what you get for laughing at me because I attempted to make something for you!"
"If it makes you feel any better, the cookies were pretty awesome! For someone that sucks at baking, you at least got those babies right."

Magolor rolled his eyes.
"Thanks. I don't really know whether to take that as a compliment or not, but thanks."
Marx placed a hand onto Magolor's shoulder, giving him a light shake.
"Hey, take it easy! I meant it."

Magolor couldn't help but notice the sincere smile on Marx's face, which was already erasing the evidence of there being any sort of sadness within the jester at all.
...

Bribery could definitely wait for another day.