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Shadow Milk ran his thumb over his ring—wait, no, his ring wasn't there. That was fine, it was probably just in his drawer.
Black Sapphire droned on about some recent rumors he’d spread at the nearby village.
“Mhm…” Shadow Milk nodded, hardly paying attention, “Say, I have… something more important I need to do. Could you… go check on Candy Apple?”
Black Sapphire raised an eyebrow, “I— yes, Master Shadow Milk.”
Shadow Milk glided toward his room, nudging the door open. His eyes landed on the top drawer of his nightstand, and he bent down to pull it open.
It wasn’t there.
That was…odd. Either easy, the ring was enchanted. Healer himself had come up with the idea for the spell.
Shadow Milk spun his wrist around. It was a fairly simple spell, so—
Why didn’t that work?
He waved his hand around again. Nothing happened.
He couldn’t have lost it. There was no way. It was somewhere around here. It had to be.
Shadow Milk grabbed his blanket, shaking it out, spotting nothing, and dropping it on the floor. He threw his pillows off his bed, still unable to spot the sparkle of his ring. It was fine. He could find it.
He hopped off the bed, shuffling through the mess underneath it, throwing it out in the open. Nothing.
Then he moved over to the nightstand again, flinging the drawers open. They were nearly empty, only one having a small old book. Shadow Milk stomped over to his closet, throwing shelves of clothes on the floor. Nearly the entire closet was on the floor, yet he still didn’t find it.
He moved back onto the bed, picking a pillow up off the floor, screaming into it. He felt his hands shaking without even looking. He’d be fine. This was fine. He may have misplaced it, but it wasn’t lost.
•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•
“Fount!” Healer shouted, just down the stairs.
Healer’s hands ran over the room, unfamiliar with it but gentle with his touch.
Fount whined, “...Orchid?
Healer perked up, running over to Fount’s bedside. He ran his hand over Fount’s cheek, “Hello, my Fount. I got your letter… have you been feeling better yet?”
Fount leaned into his cold touch, “...not really.”
“Here.” Healer grabbed a pack of jellies out of his basket, passing it to Fount.
Fount sat up, “Dear, you do know I don’t have to eat.”
Healer frowned, “It could help you feel better. Please, my Fount?”
“Alright,” Fount said, taking the pack, “just because you asked.”
Healer’s face lit up, moving into the bed beside Fount.
“I hope you’ll be okay, my Fount.”
Fount chuckled, “I’m sick, not dying.”
Healer snuggled closer, running his hands through Fount’s hair, “I know. I still want you to be okay.”
•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•
…There was no reason to be thinking about that. Shadow Milk pushed himself up off the bed, throwing his door open. He turned to the door to the library at the end of the hall, hovering toward it. He struggled to push it open, slamming behind him under its own weight.
The library was expansive, appearing nearly infinite. Luckily, he’d only been in the Magic section lately, so that was all he had to look in. Every book in this library was twisted, a shadow of the knowledge it once was. It was still neatly organized, exactly the way Fount thought was best.
Except—
Shadow Milk stopped at a shelf, noticing the differing organization. It was just alphabetical, rather than being grouped with their topic and by the amount of information they held, like he usually had done.
This was the shelf Healer helped with, right?
•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•
It'd been slow around the Spire, so Healer had proposed they'd organize a shelf in the library. Healer’s way of organizing was… oddly simple, by Fount's standards at least. Fount didn't mind. It was just a little bit different, and it didn’t hurt anything.
Healer started humming, and Fount perked up at the tune, his ears twitching. He’d sung it to Healer a while ago, not realizing Healer was awake in his lap.
“Aw, orchid… did you like that song that much?”
Healer paused, “Yeah. it’s…relaxing.” He stretched up, sliding a book into the shelf.
Fount levitated a few books, looking through them and sliding them into place, “You know, it was from the witch who baked me.”
“Really?”
“Mhm. Whenever I was just baked, she’d sing it to me sometimes when I was upset.”
Healer grabbed the last book, placing it on the end of the shelf, “That’s truly beautiful, Fount.”
Fount’s face flushed with a deeper blue, “Well, it’s just a lullaby…”
“Maybe so,” Healer replied, grabbing both Fount’s hands, “but it shows she cared about you, doesn’t it?”
•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•
Shadow Milk sighed, leaving that shelf alone while grabbing all the other books in the section off, levitating them towards the ceiling. The shelves were… dusty, but other than that there was nothing of note.
He dropped all the books, moving toward the shelf Healer helped organize. It was gonna take a while to go through all these without messing them up completely.
He went through each of them one at a time, taking them out, quickly flipping through the pages, and then sliding it back into place. None of the books had anything, and neither did the shelves.
“Master Shadow Miiiilk!” Candy Apple shouted, whipping around the corner, Black Sapphire following calmly behind.
She stopped just in front of Shadow Milk, staring at his eyes “You look tired.”
Shadow Milk stepped away from her, “Aw~ It’s cute you think I can get ‘tired.’ …what are you two up to?”
Black Sapphire sighed, “Nothing important.” He shot a glance at Candy Apple, who shouted, “Whaaat?!”
Shadow Milk began to walk away until Candy Apple shouted, “Where are you going?!”
He stopped in his tracks, smirking emptily, “Say… do you know what the ring I wear looks like?”
Black Sapphire tilted his head, “...Why aren't you wearing it?”
Shadow Milk chuckled, “Well I… hid it somewhere in the Spire! Since you have nothing better to do, I figured we'd play a game. Whichever of you finds it first wins! Go!” He shooed them away, floating over to the spare room.
The door shut behind him, and he let out a breath, frowning and closing his eyes. They didn’t need to know about Healer. Maybe they’d find it somewhere, under a bench, or maybe this was a prank and one of them already had it.
He looked back at the room. It was the same room Healer stayed in before they got engaged. Shadow Milk's eyes lurked in every corner of the room, more so than the rest of the Spire. He hadn’t been in here recently, but…maybe it was in here somehow. He already could tell there was nothing under anything, so he began to go through the drawers.
•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•
Fount pushed the door open carefully, gazing at Healer, who was writing in his diary. The sun hit his light blond hair, which seemed like it was glowing. He was curled up, nibbling on his quill as he paused his writing. His robes were patched up, some patches sewn with messy, confused stitches, others even and careful.
“Hey orchid,” Fount said, sitting on the bed beside Healer.
Healer looked up, his smile bright like the sun rising over the horizon. He closed his diary, turning toward Fount. “I missed you.”
Fount chuckled, “I was only gone for a few hours. However,” he pulled out a tiny plush, resembling himself, “I wanted to give you this.”
Healer took it, running his hand over it gently, as if it would tear if he pushed it too hard.
Fount continued, “You told me how you hated being apart, so—”
A kiss on his forehead stopped him, Healer’s hand remaining on his cheek after he’d pulled away.
“I love it, my Fount.”
•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•————•☆•
He found nothing in the drawers, despite everything ending up on the floor.
How did he lose it?
Shadow Milk went back into his own room, leaving the door wide open. He flipped his own bed on its side, making sure there was nothing under it. Then he threw the nightstand over, barely keeping tears down. He was barely even searching anymore, just angry.
He stomped toward the bathroom, slamming the door shut, the impact putting a crack in the wall.
HOW did he lose it?! He'd been as careful as possible, only took it off when he had to, always put it in his drawer, even enchanted it!
And he still lost it. He lost it. He lost it.
His husband, the only cookie he'd ever truly loved, was gone. And all he had left was his memories.
He slumped against the door, his vision blurring. He curled up on the floor, feeling the warm tears falling down without making a sound.
Healer would've told him it wasn't his fault, that he'd find it eventually, even if it was gone for now.
He wouldn't. It was gone, and so was his husband. He was never going to feel his hands running through his hair again, or smell his constant vanilla scent, or listen to his humming ever again.
Healer was gone, and he was never coming back.
Shadow Milk didn't know exactly how long he stayed on the floor, but it was long enough for the tile to grow warm.
He pulled himself up on the counter, staring at himself in the mirror. He looked so…
Pathetic.
His hair was an absolute mess. Some strands still writhed around, one of his eyes still dripping with tears he couldn't feel. The eyes on his face were puffy from all the crying. The Soul Jam on his collar was askew, his lighter sleeve torn and his darker one rolled up.
He turned the faucet on, splashing water on his face.
He was fine!
He still had his memories and no one could take them away.
He grabbed at the doorknob, a small dot of gold blurring in his vision as he turned around.
Wait— was that—
His breath hitched, spinning back around. He grabbed at the thing with greedy, desperate hands, pushing it into his palm.
The golden band gleaned in his hand, the tiny inscriptions of an orchid hiding in shadow.
Shadow Milk touched the ring to his Soul Jam, letting out a breath.
He still had it.
He opened up his other realm, casting a small spell over the ring.
He'd keep it there, safe.
He wouldn't lose it again.
It was the last thing he had of his husband, and he wasn't losing it ever again.
Even if he was just memories.