Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Espresso never liked Madeleine. Everything about him was just annoying from the way he showed off to the way he always got crowded around to the fact that the guy was always bothering him.

Their first meeting was literally after Espresso was leaving his own office. The armored cookie was just standing there making a mess of the pictures and other such decorations in the hallway. Spoke too loud as he introduced himself and explained why he was there. Shocking he didn’t disrupt anyone else there. There were other cookies working there right? Couldn’t remember and it didn’t even matter.

The dark-doughed cookie thought that was bad but when they had to prepare and discuss travels the guy was always swarmed by others and asked for some kind of autograph. The caffeine based cookie typically just left to prep on his own until the guy found him again.

Why was that guy even liked that much?

The moment they actually headed out after all the planning was also met with frustration. A farewell party where Madeleine just had to say farewell to everyone there. Espresso almost left him straight up.

Today was the same and this mage was having none of it.

"Don't waste your breath. I'm glad to be rid of you by now." Espresso didn't even cast him a glance as he packed up his own sugar horse for a solo adventure. " I've put up with you for a few days more than I had wanted."

It had only been about a week or two since their initial departure on their quest. They had stopped in a town to rest but it seemed like the cookie was wasting no time to be rid of him.

"I would say it's been a pleasure but it truly hasn't been." He closed a satchel that held the rations and other items he was going to need over the next few days and turned to look at the knight.

There stood Madeleine with his light cream hair and white armor adorned with gold accents. Blowing in the slight breeze like it always did was his azure cloak.

The cookie just stared at Espresso with a look that could only be described as shocked. "I see, although the divine might have other plans. One cannot escape fate that easily!" Tried to chuckle at that but yea, he was failing at it.

The darkly baked cookie scoffed at him and hopped onto his horse. "I hope we never meet again." Not even going to entertain the thought of saying goodbye as he quickly took off into the distance where he left a stunned Madeleine cookie behind.

What Espresso couldn't tell as he left was the fact that Madeleine wasn't shocked but extremely happy, pleased even and it might be more than that. He's never had someone talk to him like that. It's always been 'oh Madeleine you're so cool!' and 'oh Madeleine you're so kind!' and never anything other than things along those lines.

He was sick of that... He wanted more of this, he wanted more of Espresso. It was intoxicating how much this guy could put him down yet make him feel so damn good. It definitely stung but it stung in a good way and he wanted to chase that high he never experienced before.

Sadly for now the cookie could get away but he knew that they would meet again. Madeleine would ensure that they would see each other. Alas he returned to the town and set up his own horse. The goodbyes he left everyone with were stale as usual but they didn't know that.

He had a mission now, another one besides the original one. He needed to make Espresso his own.

–

Madeleine arrived in the new kingdom not too long ago. It was a new place but the people seemed about the same as usual. Happy to see a new face and shower him in gifts.

No Espresso here apparently. Damn…

That was fine. Just meant he needed to look another day. For now he spent time walking along the new street and stewing on some thoughts.

Well, that was until a timid voice came from his side.

"What's with the long face?" The knight blinked at the voice and glanced over to where he saw a small girl wearing a pink hood over her head. Vaguely remembered her from when he first appeared in the gates.

The moment they met eyes she pulled on her drawstrings more and bit her lip. Ah, it seems the little one was nervous. Needed to fix that quickly.

"Ah, my apologies. I had expected to see someone here but I do not believe he is even here at all."

Frustrating but he could show up one day.

The pink cookie nodded and shifted a bit before letting go of her strings. "I see… Madeleine was it? It's nice to meet you."

This was such an awkward encounter but Madeleine was smiling through it. People needed to like him here and he had a reputation to uphold as well as a goal.

"It's nice to meet you too…what was it again?" Don’t think he actually got a name but still he better ask as he had no idea who they were.

"Strawberry cookie." She shifted and shoved her hands into her pockets as she rocked back and forth on her heels. Lots of little fidgets she did.

"Fantastic! Nice to meet you, Strawberry cookie! I'm still rather new around here. Do you mind giving me a tour?"

She nodded along at that and they first started down the street they were on. She pointed out shops along the street and explained them a bit such as what they contained. There was a jam store and some other shops that held food. The further in they went they found more than that. A smithy as well as some giant pieces of sugar that could be mined for materials.

It wasn’t only stores and places to gather materials as once they walked out of the main square they had some nice side streets that had benches and plenty of trees to block out the shade. There were also some giant monuments as well such as a water feature with a lion on it and a clocktower in the distance.

It would be hard not to lie that he liked this place just from the tour. Some places were calm when there were hardly cookies around and then some places were filled with the odd few groups of cookies. Waved at a few and nodded at others.

Espresso might like these places, he thought. Plenty of shade and plenty of quiet places where he could read or work on something alone.

The day was mostly spent doing that but in the end it was getting late and they both were getting tired.

"You can take over this house for now, it's small for now since we weren't expecting someone so soon."

Strawberry had walked them into the housing district and right in front of a smaller house that likely only fit the needs of one person.

Looked to be made out of some kind of gingerbread and painted in a red dye. Not his type but it was okay as it seemed to be the norm here.

"I do believe you can expand these down the line, correct?"

Madeleine was glancing down the street where he saw other houses that had already been expanded. Same base but slightly different upper floors.

"Yes, when you want to expand just ask the sugar gnomes. They might need you to grab the required items though." No biggie it appeared.

"I see! Thank you for the lovely tour today. I feel right at home!" He let out a roar of laughter but did yawn shortly after.

Definitely time to hit the hay. The two exchanged their own farewells before the young cookie left and Madeleine made his way into the house.

That was exhausting. He did feel at home like he said but he also didn't. He kept thinking about Espresso the entire time.

The cookie shook his head and decided to take a gander around the house. One floor but a few rooms. Kitchen and living room were connected but the bedroom was separated by walls.

Everything was warmly colored in shades of oranges and browns, occasionally there was a mix of other colors but it was mainly that. Madeleine skipped right over those details though as he began unclipping his armor as he wandered over to his bedroom.

Didn't even bother glancing around here as he took off his armor carefully and then placed it down onto a side table. After ensuring it wouldn’t fall over he climbed into bed and got comfortable. Smelled like sweet honey and a hint of… herbal tea. The warm bed and the scent was definitely enough to let the cookie slip off into a restful sleep.

Tomorrow would be another day of meeting more people and actually doing things.

–

The day started off okay. Madeleine had gotten up and did his normal routine of brushing his long mane of hair and cleaning up his armor before making himself some breakfast. There were some things in the house he used but it was rather bland. Jam on bread. Soft bread. Yea no thanks.

He glanced out the window that the kitchen table was by and watched people walk down the street with no care in the world. Blinked a few times when he saw some guy with long red hair walking a… Cake dog? This wasn’t the weirdest thing he saw before but it was something for sure. Didn’t take this place to allow for such creatures here.

Madeleine shoved the rest of the bread into his gob as he got up and adjusted his cape. Mhm, yes this was perfect. He struck a pose to himself and was pleased as he used a small amount of his magic to cause his cape to flow in the nonexistent wind. Pulled on his gloves after that and left right out the door.

It was a lot brighter outside compared to the inside of the home so he squinted his eyes and waved to some people who greeted him. Appreciated the fact he wasn’t swarmed at the moment.

The knight continued on his walk around the place but found that while told where everything was the day before he still got lost. Easily fixed by just asking a nearby cookie some directions. They were thanked for their troubles in the end and earned a hearty laugh and a pat on the back before carrying on.

Wanted to go check out some shops today and also check out the gate. Had a bit of foolish hope to see the dark mage there.

A shame that he didn’t see him there on the way in but that was what he was expecting. Madeleine moved on swiftly as he began visiting shops and using his money to buy some things for his place. Also needed to visit the sugar gnomes today.

Lots to do apparently!

The cookie took home his goodies first which were different kinds of foods and a toaster. After that the cookie decided that yea, he was going to need more room than this. An upper floor for sure but maybe a bit more. Needed an armor rack for when he took his armor off at night.

He shrugged mentally as he could ask for that as well. Madeleine deposited what was needed for his home before having to go find those gnomes.

Easier to find considering their three brightly colored but very small homes. One of them seemed to be gone but two were just sitting around eating lunch by the looks of it.

"Hello friends! I'm here to make a request to expand my house?"

Their little beady eyes watched him before they looked at each other. Guess they could help him out. Lunch first though.

The cookie was made to stand there for only ten minutes before one hopped down from their stump of a chair. A tiny finger was held up to silence him as he was about to ask something. Soon enough a piece of parchment was pulled out and handed to him.

Hm? Oh, it appears it was the materials needed. That was easy enough. Thanked them for their time before making his way to the smithy.

One would think they had items on hand considering this place was bustling constantly.

Upon reaching the smithy a rather large and very green woman walked out and shook her head at him. "Sorry, we're closed! Got lots of requests backed up for the day!" The woman looked apologetic as she adjusted her apron which appeared to be full of tools needed to craft any weapons or tools. "I can take the request and prepare it for you tomorrow!"

Avocado looked very dirty at the moment, lots of soot covering her as well as wood chips clinging to her clothing.

"Do you happen to know what time tomorrow?" Eh, he likely had time.

"Try to come by in the afternoon, might have something by then!" A toothy grin was given to him and Madeleine took it for now.

That seemed to be most of what he wanted to do today so he might as well go check out a bakery. Saw one down the street and he had yet to really visit that one.

—

It had been a rather eventful day but the knight was getting tired enough to want to go home. Besides the bakery he grabbed some paint as he definitely wanted to redo the colors.

On his way back though he paused as he noticed a group gathering up at the gates that he had come in through about a day ago. Huh. Was there someone new? He didn’t get too close as he was heading out but he did try to look through. Hard to see…

The lightly baked cookie stood there looking like an idiot for maybe a minute before he saw the crowd opening up a bit to let the new person in. He almost dropped his stuff from what he saw but he didn’t. Instead, the bags were grasped harder and he grinned widely.

Madeleine knew that color and that cloak. He was here. It was Espresso.

Chapter Text

It was a nice day in this newer land but Espresso wasn't having a nice time. Didn't like how he was being swarmed.

Was this how it always was? Madeleine wasn't here but it still felt like he was with this crowd. The irony of that was the fact the mage was being creepily stared down by said person behind some buildings. Slipped off before he was noticed though.

The dark cookie winced as he wandered past some of the other cookies. "Thank you all for the warm welcome but it has been a tiring journey. I must retire for the night." More like he was being suffocated and wanted to get away.

Espresso was finally allowed to exit when the crowd opened up but he didn't get too far down the road before he realized he didn't know anything about this place. That was fine! He brushed off his cloak and made his way around the square.

While getting lost he was finding it easy to find all the shops around here. A coffee shop huh? Will head there later. The cookie wandered a bit further out from there and eventually found a secluded area that was almost like a park. Very forested though. It was here that he caught the sound of quiet yet peaceful music.

Did he really want to take a gander? Maybe for a second but he did want to find a place to settle for the night. Figure out his next plan of action. Espresso adjusted his glasses and huffed before continuing on towards the sound.

The trees blocked most vision of what was going on here but eventually they all gave way to a beautiful clearing filled with lush bushes and a vast array of colorful flowers. Some logs sat on the ground covered in moss and mushrooms, same as a few other stumps. In the middle there was a larger tree that twisted and curled into a hook. It was there that it held more flowers but also clovers and lots of animals.

The cookie blinked at that as it was rather beautiful. Did have to take a double take as he took note of movement sitting at the base of the tree. Oh, that was another cookie. They were strumming their instrument to a nice gentle tune while all the animals around listened.

Espresso approached just as the other ended his performance and he watched as all the creatures ran off. That earned them a tsk but the cookie moved on and looked the other up and down.

White hair. Lots of green clothing with plenty of clover designs through it all. Even the instrument he was holding was green and very clover based. Ah, was that a lute? It appeared to be one even if it was oddly shaped.

"And here I was wondering where everyone was today." He looked espresso up and down a few times and could think of a few songs now. "Clover cookie." He bowed as he introduced himself and smiled gently at him.

It was a little odd to the mage but he nodded with a rather tired sigh. "Espresso. I'm not looking to chat much right now. Do you happen to know where I can acquire a place of living for the time being?" Trying to be nice to this new person even though he was still frazzled and unhappy from his entrance.

Clover looked at him for a moment before nodding."I suppose so." He strung his lute upon his back and closed his eyes for a second to take in nature again before wandering off in the direction he came from.

Small talk was about all he was getting. Every time Clover even tried to talk to him the other either didn't respond or gave very short and curt answers. Ah well not everyone here was going to be willing to listen and talk.

"You arrived today I presume? Had another one show up the other day. Didn't get to meet them much."

No response. Okay Clover got the hint and wandered around the busy streets with his temporary companion. Did stop to bow and greet other cookies. Definitely pleased to see herb tending some raspberries that day. Shall pay him a visit after this.

They arrived in the housing district for the cookies eventually and Clover had to take a gander before wandering over to a gnome just finishing up a new house.

"Good afternoon. Is this housing available for this new cookie here?" They both glanced over to Espresso but said cookie looked deep in thought as he stared at this rather drab looking building. So much work… no room for any of his equipment

"I shall require a laboratory for my coffee. There isn't enough room here for my needs though." He could make it smaller to make it fit. Espresso looked at the others and saw one confused look and one blank look. "Alright, fine. I'll settle for something smaller…"

That seemed to work as the gnome simply nodded and clover seemed a little relieved. "That settles it then." He smiled at the two and glanced off towards the clock tower in the distance. "Oh! I must be off then, adventure calls." He did that signature bow and walked off from there.

Espresso took note of the gnome walking off too so he rolled his eyes. Key was left in the door so guess it was fine to enter. About the same as he was expecting inside. Bland. Will settle on reworking everything inside tomorrow. Needed to see what this town held.

The cookie wandered about the house which was about the same as any other here before leaving out the door again. Did make sure to lock up as he made his way out. Something was telling him to for some reason. A glance around showed no one was being weird as they either left or went to their own houses. Will just brush that off as new town jitters. Definitely felt like he was being watched though.

Espresso pocketed his own key and walked out of the housing area with haste. Was rather nice here honestly. The entrance had an arch with flowers blooming through it as well as a variety of bushes and flowers clinging to the sides of the road. Definitely needed some trimming as it was beginning to encroach onto the stone pathway.

The beauty was rather distracting but he snapped out of it and continued wandering back into the bustling shopping district. Not as busy as before but he still had to avoid the smaller runts running around chasing each other. Annoying but they didn't crash into anyone yet. Wonder where their parents could possibly be? Very reckless of them.

Espresso adjusted his glasses with a quiet hmph and continued towards where he could see a cafe. Shockingly not too busy when he got closer but still some people. The most he gave them was a glance but besides that he settled down into a nice table and ordered himself some coffee.

"Espresso?" A voice came out from the street about a minute after he settled. A glance up and over at them showed themselves to be a pleasant woman with a rather large hat on with a larger spoon being held in her hands. If the markings on the hat didn't give it away then the spoon definitely did.

"Oh bother… and here I was thinking I could afford some time to myself." He crossed his arms and watched her take a seat across from him. Had been hoping he wouldn't see anyone he knew here just yet. "Why must you bother me, Latte?" Espresso wasn’t in the mood to deal with her right now even though they could have a nice conversation.

She simply gave him a lazy smile as she ordered her own drink. "I hadn't expected to see you so soon. Am I not allowed to say hello to a fellow professor and friend?"

His eyes narrowed to slits at her but he looked away to take his cup from the cookie who was delivering his drink. Before taking any sips from it he ducked down and smelled it. Could be of better quality and a darker roast but it would do.

"I'm not looking to sully a perfectly good cup of coffee thank you very much." While he could indulge in more conversation he was having a very stressful day so far.

Latte rolled her eyes at him and leaned back in her chair. Had thought he had been on a quest for the republic on finding the soul jam. Oh right, he also had a companion too. Who was it again? It was that knight that came here just the other day.

"oh! I saw your companion here the other day. Madeleine was it? He arrived just yesterday." She chuckled to herself when she saw the other glaring at her from where he was mid sip. Went from being extremely happy with his drink to annoyed.

Just as he had thought he ditched that knight for good! Espresso put down his cup and glanced around for a second before huffing. "Just as I had thought I was rid of him completely. I can continue the quest by myself, working with others is not only inefficient but they cannot work at the standards I am expecting." Always a hard ass and always avoiding working with others. He really hadn't changed much since they last saw each other.

"You always were like that."

"And you were always late." Sounded annoyed but it was also a bit of a playful jab. At least he was glaring down into his cup and not at her anymore.

He needed to do something, anything to keep his mind off the fact that he might see that knight here now. The crowds and the loud talking. The clumsiness of that oaf. How did he even get to knight commander? To be fair Espresso had yet to see him in an actual battle. Madeleine was built from what he could remember. Taller than him but also constantly wielding absurdly large shields and that sword that was basically the size of the mage! What purpose does that even serve??

Espresso was stewing rather intensely that he missed out on latte getting her own drink. Really getting deep into thought there, if that kind of staring could bore holes into anything there would definitely be a hole through his cup. Just as she began taking a dainty sip of her own drink she watched the male abruptly stand up and take a big swig from the rest of his coffee

"I must be off." Just paid for his stuff and then left almost instantly. Definitely left her confused. Ah well she continued to drink before getting up and going as well. Knowing espresso he was likely starting something by himself.

-

The moment they both left a bright blob approached from the shadows of a building a few stalls down and sat down right where Espresso had just been. Smelled just like him and his small cup was still here. Madeleine was pleased. He picked up the cup and sniffed it himself before he gently began running his own lips over where the other had placed his own. Could just taste him there. Definitely the drink though. Didn't care for coffee too much but for espresso he would grow to love it.

"Oh Espresso… I can't wait to talk with you again. I miss the sound of your voice…" the words were whispered under his breath but they were still joyous sounding. He shut his eyes and held onto the cup as he leaned back in the chair. Didn't care that he was holding up a table. He just wanted to feel the warmth of the other on the chair before it was filled up with his own heat.

The other had stated that he never wanted to see him again but that was such a foolish thought. The divine light was bringing them together and blessing him like they always did. Madeleine would make sure they were inseparable in all aspects.

Once the seat was but his own heat Madeleine stood and began wandering off with that coffee cup in his hand still. Will just collect little items from espresso before he could have him. Wanted to get to know him more. Know his habits, sleep and everything. So much he could do now! But alas this all took time but he had time to spare.