(Originally made 3rd July 2023)
Latte wasn't dumb. In fact, she would argue she was the exact opposite. But apparently in the eyes of her best friend, Espresso Cookie, she must be the dumbest person alive as he continued to refuse that he is pining for the one and only lavish and rich man; Madeleine Cookie.
He must've thought that she's dumb enough to not notice the longing looks from across the room, the yearning sighs Espresso let's out, the loving paragraphs he tells her. To be honest, she's been very good at tuning them all out until now.
But today, today is her last straw. As she watched Espresso reluctantly talk to Madeleine, an obviously fake sneer planted on his face as Madeleine was all over him like some sort of puppy. Their two auras were complete opposites yet they fit together like destined puzzle pieces. But too bad they're too blind to see their feelings that they enjoy hiding so much.
That's why Latte has to be their glasses. The glasses of truth.
♡
Espresso knew when something was wrong, and from the second he saw that vanilla-haired, blue eyed, sword wielding, cape-swinging man from across the room of his office, he knew he would be the worst mistake Espresso will ever make.
Did he care? Yes.
...No.
Look, if it's just one time that your eyes float to him like metals to magnets, that's a coincidence. If it's a second time that you're lying in bed (fully dressed and sleep deprived) and imagine those stupid muscles snuggling you into a deep slumber, it's an accident. If it's three times you're imagining the feel of his lips on yours... maybe you are torturing yourself with this guy on purpose.
But no matter, Espresso thought as he walked through the halls of his office building, as long as he doesn't see him or make any eye contact with him, there will be a 99.9% he will not think of Madeleine Cookie.
As he opened the hard wooden door of his office, his mind immediately disregarded the previous comment.
There, in his office, a curious Madeleine Cookie carefully poked at some beakers full of scorching hot coffee. He inspected them heavily as he brought the beaker up to his nose and took an experimental sniff of the thick liquid. Espresso snapped out of his gaze as he angrily pulled the other away from his desk full of coffee.
"What in the name of Earthbread are you doing?!" Espresso asked, anger filling his voice. He snatched away the beaker from the other's hand who greeted him with an apologetic but joyful smile.
"Espresso Cookie!" He barked gleefully like a foolish puppy. Espresso couldn't help but roll his eyes at Madeleine's adorable personality.
Espresso pulled his body away from the other, trying his best to seem cold even though the other felt so warm. Like a comforting fireplace on a frosty winter's night. Espresso inspected the beaker, trying to preserve the contents inside. He sighed as he realised everything was the same.
"Coffee..." Madeleine stated as he looked over Espresso's shoulder. He jumped in surprise, "Interesting."
Espresso rolled his eyes at Madeleine's lack of words. He carefully placed the beaker at its rightful place as he tried to ignore Madeleine's hypnotising aura of sugar.
"Never knew." Espresso responded sarcastically, "That's why I've dedicated my whole life studying it." He flung open his drawer as he navigated his overflowing notebook.
"Wow, that's so smart of you!" Madeleine gushed lovingly. Espresso flushed maroon at the sudden praise from his hated crush, "And look at your notebook! It's practically overflowing, rich with knowledge and-"
"What do you want, Madeleine?" Espresso interrupted. He was trying to sound annoyed by Madeleine's love for him, but in reality, he never wanted him to stop. He was hungry for his love. He craved it so bad.
"Well..." Madeleine suddenly grew silent as he looked around the room, his face a bright shade of red. Espresso looked at the boiling coffee, supposing it is quite hot in the room. He blew out the flame. They stood there in silence for a few minutes.
"Well?" Espresso said through gritted teeth. Espresso didn't mind the silence, it was just that he was losing confidence by the second and was beginning to feel lightheaded for multiple reasons.
Madeleine reached into his back pocket and pulled out a deep brown pencil with a carved coffee bean by the rubber side. The rubber itself was covered and held by a golden metal and looked rather new. In fact, the whole pencil looked unused.
"Latte came to my house yesterday." Madeleine explained as he carefully held the pencil. Espresso carefully nodded as if to say to continue, "she said you left this at a table you two were reading at."
Espresso checked the pencil again. He was rather suspicious of that alibi. First off, if that was his pencil, he would think it would be more used. Rather beaten up. But this one was pristine. Absolutely clean. And if Latte gave this to Madeleine, why didn't she give it herself?
Then again, Espresso was extremely sleep deprived the past few days and everything around him is usually scattered and scrambled once he actually gets some form of rest. So it could be possible that this was his pencil or Madeleine was lying and was giving him someone else's pencil.
Either way, he's not passing down a free pencil.
"Right." He said hesitantly, holding the pencil as if it were to explode. The pencil was smooth to the touch but Madeleine's hands (or fingertips) were rough and calloused with such a gentle touch.
Espresso imagined what it would be like to have those hands on the cave of his neck, on his rose tinted cheeks. Maybe they would smell of cinnamon and powdered sugar when Espresso dug his nose into those careful hands. Maybe they would stroke his hair so delicately or travel down his body, silk meeting stone, as they wrap around his waist and-
"Espresso?" Madeleine carefully shook the other cookie out of his daydream. Espresso quickly swallowed his spit down his throat as he looked at the other. Madeleine had a confused look on his face as those blue eyes taunted Espresso. He growled silently, "Are you okay?"
"I would be if you weren't here!" Espresso responded rather angrily as he looked away, he leaned on the table looking away from the blinding Cookie in front of him. Madeleine Cookie looked at him strangely and Espresso's heart almost stopped as he saw him walk closer.
But not before tripping onto Espresso.
The weak wooden table shook as the cookie fell onto the other, two pairs of hands meeting on the wooden surface. Espresso could feel Madeleine's breath on his face as their noses were so close to touching.
And, oh god, Madeleine was better than Espresso ever imagined.
Madeleine's hands felt so much thicker than Espresso's as he pinned them down the roughness of the wood. They were a fine contrast to Espresso's smooth, slim hands. Espresso wanted to memorise every single bump and wrinkle in those hands. Each journey and story. Espresso didn't know how those hands could tell such a mesmerising tale.
And Madeleine's scent. Espresso could write so many descriptive paragraphs and novels about that addictive scent. It was like a fine wine, it became better the more you left it out. And Espresso had left it out for long enough as he lavished in the clean smell of shampoo that lingered in Madeleine's hair. Or that sweet, sugary scent that was sure to give Espresso a cavity as he continued to breathe in the delicious aura of the man in front of him.
Espresso inspected every single detail of Madeleine's face. How his pale blonde hair hangs down from his head like a silky veil and how his skin was flawless with so many scars. He wanted to touch them. He wanted to study them like coffee magic.
But this study would only be for him.
They stayed untouched silence for a while, simply just trying to solve the puzzle of what just happened. Madeleine's whole face morphed into something more disturbed as the final piece found its place.
"AGH!" Madeleine quickly reacted as he took a large step back away from the scene. His face was a bright red. At the same time, Espresso finally realised the issue and squirmed onto the table with a disgusted look on his face, horrified at his previous thoughts. A red flush flooded his face too.
"Oh-" Madeleine stuttered, embarrassed, "Sorry about that Espresso."
Why are you sorry, a small part of Espresso's mind taunted, You put me in a daze better than any coffee.
He shunned the feelings down deeper into his head.
Espresso suddenly remembered that he should be disturbed and not disappointed by the rush of the fall. He quickly changed his distracted face to one of a grimace, trying to show clear anger in his face. However, he still couldn't contain his blush.
Espresso tried to grab words from his head that were logical enough to be a reaction.
"Just..." Espresso growled with an uncomfortable blush on his face, "Get out!" He screamed as he shoved the large man out of the comically small doorway to his office. At least, he made it look small.
Finally pushing him out, Espresso quickly slammed the hard spruce door, the sound echoing the room. Espresso didn't know he couldn't get any hotter, but it felt like he was being boiled alive by his own feelings. He buried his face in his hands as he leaned against the door. He could still feel Madeleine's hands ghosting his palms. A single question played on loop in his brain.
What the hell was that?!
♡
Madeleine stood stunned outside of Espresso's door. He seemed to freeze as he recalled every touch and breath in that moment.
He recalled what his hands felt like on Espresso's hands. They felt fragile, like glass. As if Espresso would break from one little touch. As if he was tense and ready to attack. But all Madeleine wanted to do was comfort him, hug him, be with him.
But that was wrong. Espresso hated him. So no matter how rich and silky his scent was, or how his hair was like a swirl of beautiful cotton and how Madeleine wanted to spend the rest of his days pampering him and relishing in his design, he knew that it wouldn't be right.
However, this didn't stop him from overheating at the sheer thought of the experience. The drug of unrequited love was painful, but absolutely addictive.
He roughly ran his hands through his blonde hair before reluctantly walking away from the door, rushing down the hall in a quick speed walk.
His brain shouted at him like endless self deprecating reporters, pushing him down. His thoughts had never been so loud before as if they were screaming in his face.
While his brain threw insult after insult at him, he didn't realise the person in front of him until after he bumped into them.
Crashing out of his spiral of worry, he looked up at the person in front of him, an apology ready on his lips, but then disappearing as he looked at a rather frazzled Latte as she straightened her hat and ran her hands through her hair.
His eyes widened, "Latte! My apologies, dear!" Madeleine said in a happily apologetic voice. Latte looked up at him and seemed to pause, her face stuck on the same expression. After a few seconds pass, she smiles a smile of bottled sunshine.
"Madeleine!" Latte reciprocated, "No, don't worry! It's fine!" She beamed harder as she looked at Madeleine, it almost looked forced.
"Oh, alright." Madeleine responded awkwardly. He rubbed the back of his neck. They stood there is a sugary silence before Latte spoke up.
"Well, um," she laughed, the tension around her thick, "I should probably get going."
Madeleine hummed as she waved a goodbye at him as she walked past him. His eyes flicked over at her.
"Are you free tonight?" Madeleine said suddenly, the tension breaking like glass. He turned to Latte who was completely still before slowly turning to him with a glare of confusion and concern.
They stand silently in a whole new tension, one of sweaty palms and tense muscles. Madeleine felt his heart doing a whole marathon around his lungs as they felt like shrivelled paper bags.
Madeleine had little to no idea where or why that came out of his mouth. He had just suddenly come up with the idea that maybe Latte would be a good enough distraction from Espresso. She was close enough to the man he was oh so infatuated with. And Madeleine would take what he could get.
Though he knew it wasn't right.
Latte's face shifted through all the 5 stages of grief. She stayed on a furrowed brow for a while before suddenly becoming warm, a stark constrast to her mood only a few minutes ago. She beamed and turned her whole body towards him. From this angle, Madeleine could see how she stood so proudly.
"Yes!" She shouted cheerfully. Oh god, she's excited for their date. Madeleine is a terrible person. He asked out such a lovely girl just to get over some guy. He's the worst person ever.
Madeleine looked at her dumbly for a few seconds before the power turned back on in his mind, he tried his best to muster up a confident smile though his feelings being practically the opposite.
"Cool! I know a restaurant a few minutes away." Madeleine explained, smiling way too hard, he tilted his head, "How about 6:30?"
Latte opened her eyes as they stared right into his. He reminded himself this was the closest thing to Espresso he could get, trying to cheer himself up but instead bringing himself down farther into the deep end.
She took feverish steps closer to him, shy and timid. Carefully, she placed her whole hand high up on his arm, almost touching his shoulder. She smiled harder at him, but her smile was smooth.
"I'll be there." She replied as she kept her hand there. The touch felt strange to Madeleine like it didn't belong there, but he wouldn't tell her that. He just smiled, pulling himself farther into the quicksand. He let out a quick nod. She giggled, as she traced her hand down his muscles all the way to his hands. The touch almost made him squirm. She gave it a firm squeeze.
"Can't wait." She smirked as she turned, her milky hair following her like strands of silk in the non existent wind in the hallway.
When she left, Madeleine didn't flush. In fact, he felt like what he did was taboo, as if he was cheating. This didn't feel anything like Espresso, he thought guiltily. He was just playing with the feelings of some girl he didn't like like he did Espresso. And not only a girl, a really sweet, sympathetic, and kind girl.
God, he's the worst. Just the worst person ever.
♡
Latte had no interest in Madeleine, she just knew he was watching.
She smirked.
♡
That. Bitch.
Espresso was standing in the midst of two broken test tubs on the stone floor with his shoes covered in thick unmixed coffee, his hands still positioned where the tubes once were. He didn't care for the glass on the floor or the whiplash of the sound, he did not hear what he just heard.
Look, putting a hearing charm on your crush isn't that bad, Espresso reasoned. In fact, that's how Espresso got most of his domestic daydreams. The hearing charm would reveal how Madeleine's laugh was deep and hearty. How the way he comforts people is soft and gentle, like they'd almost break under pressure and he's handling them like an ancient antique. How when he has regular conversations with regular cookies, he speaks in a heroic way but when he's alone with someone he cares about he turns down. Like a volume dial.
And god, how Espresso wished he was one of those people. How he wished Madeleine loved him enough to treat him like that instead of some random girl or in this case;
Latte Cookie.
Anger sped through Espresso's veins as his grip tightened on the broom in his hands that rather aggressively swept up the broken glass and coffee.
It was just so unexpected, is what Espresso would say. It was nowhere near unusual, Espresso would regularly hear Madeleine's cheesy comments to random girls and he would get a thrill of envy in his veins. But what he did to Latte, it was unexpected. Madeleine and Latte never seemed close and the fact Latte accepted it so desperately is what made Espresso's body boil with jealousy.
He wanted to kill her. Espresso knew that it was Madeleine's life but god, how he felt so disgusted by how Madeleine wouldn't even think of his feelings. Does he not feel gross?
Does he not think of Espresso?
The thought made Espresso scratch the table so hard that the nail print was clean on the wooden table. Espresso felt rage pulse through his head.
And the worse part about it was that he couldn't do a single thing about it. That would make him a terrible friend. But god, how he wished he could just place his hands on Madeleine's chest plate and feel the cold metal against his face, or place Madeleine's arm around his waist, or rather flash his gold and silver ring on his finger given to him by the man himself.
...You can tell he's been thinking about this a lot.
His point is, if Madeleine dated him, he would keep him safe. And hey, at least he wouldn't have to flirt with girl after girl.
Because he's sure he'll be enough. Maybe even more.
♡
"Espresso!" Madeleine cheered running to the man who sat silently under a blossoming tree.
"Madeleine Cookie."
Madeleine felt as if a spear pierced through his heart. He was taken aback all the way back to the Republic. He got an insane amount of whiplash from Espresso, who he considered his hypothetical lover, calling him by his full cookie name.
His smile immediately faltered as he stopped in his tracks as he dug through the deepest depths of his brain to try and make a conclusion of what he did wrong.
"Espresso?" Madeleine said more worriedly, a weak smile still plastered on his face trying to redeem himself for something he doesn't even know, "A-are you alright?" He gave out an awkward laugh.
Espresso stayed silent with the same irritation spread out on his face. His brows were furrowed as he looked at the book intensely. His eyes weren't even moving. He was just staring at the page with an unnamed anger.
Oh crap.
This was about him holding his hand, wasn't it? Oh god, he knew Espresso would hate him. In fact, he wouldn't even be shocked if he despised him! He deserves to be treated so terribly. He felt his heart strain as he grew stiff and tense as he waited with sweaty palms for a flicker of a reaction from Espresso.
Espresso shut his heavy book with a loud thud, making Madeleine flinch slightly. He finally looked up at Madeleine, and his eyes felt like they were powered with the fire from hell. Madeleine felt hotter than he was in the oven. Sweat practically shone off his face.
"I am." He said, his voice prickly like needles. Madeleine felt his chest tighten so hard that all of the air in his lungs got pushed out in one go, making him hack and cough violently. But still, Espresso looked at him with an irritated grimace.
Madeleine shivered as he felt Espresso's stare cut through his chest, he tried to smile, "A-are you sure?" He tried to laugh but instead let out a terrified whimper.
Espresso only hummed in response as he pushed past Madeleine's shoulder, making him stumble harder than he should. As Madeleine stabilised himself, he looked behind him just to see Espresso practically gliding away in a fast speed walk.
How does he still look so flawless when he's seething, Madeleine thought helplessly. He leaned against the tree, stressed and worried. He fiddled with a strand of his hair.
He tried to remind
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