Chapter Text
Pure Vanilla had been pacing back and forth in front of his desk for who knows how long. Honestly, he was surprised the witches hadn’t gotten tired of him and taken away the Light of Truth yet. Seriously, he was the wielder of the Light of Truth, for witches sake! Truth was supposed to come easy to him. So why was his truth so hard to utter? With a sigh, he paused pacing in front of his desk, his eyes dragging back to the ring box.
It was a simple black box with intricate designs painted on it in gold. He picked it up and examined it, as if the box held the answers he was looking for. Maybe the actual ring has the answers? With that, he picked up the box and opened the lid. Inside was a delicate golden ring with a sugar crystal diamond propped up in a tiny, satin pillow. It was beautiful in all its simplicity, so why didn’t it feel like enough?
Pure Vanilla sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was overthinking this. Him and Shadow Milk had been dating for three years at this point. Plus, they had been hanging out before they started dating not long after Dark Enchantress’ defeat and the Beasts decided to go good (though that path was a long and tedious one that most of the Beasts were still on). For the other four Beasts, they refused to forgive their correlating Ancient. Shadow Milk, however, took it as a chance for a do-over with Pure Vanilla.
Shadow Milk had been there for Pure Vanilla whenever he refused to take care of himself and/or take a break. In turn, Pure Vanilla had been there whenever Shadow Milk felt ‘the beast’ returning and for all the breakdowns that had inevitably followed. With time, light conversations turned into long moonlit walks through the gardens, and the occasional hug turned into accidentally falling asleep together on the couch. Then one night, Shadow Milk came up to Pure Vanilla holding a bouquet of flowers, and asked Pure Vanilla out on a proper date, uncharacteristically shy.
And, well, how could Pure Vanilla in his right mind ever reject someone like him?
The Ancients were happy as long Pure Vanilla was happy (though some apologies were in order), and the Beasts were mostly happy as long as Shadow Milk was happy (though Pure Vanilla swore he heard Burning Spice mutter something about Shadow Milk’s questionable taste in men). Point is, they had been through so much together. Shadow Milk practically lived in Pure Vanilla’s castle now, along with his ‘totally-not-children’ Black Sapphire and Candy Apple (Candy Apple got over the jealousy. Eventually.). Yet despite all of this, Pure Vanilla couldn’t sike himself up to pop the question. And unfortunately, the ring did not hold the answers.
Without warning, his bedroom door opened. “Pure Vanilla, Master is wondering if you’ve eaten alrea-” Black Sapphire stated, the words dying on his lips as his eyes fell on the ring box in Pure Vanilla’s hands. They stayed like that for a minute. Black Sapphire’s eyes fixed on the ring and Pure Vanilla’s panicky wide eyes trained nervously on Black Sapphire. After a few more seconds of prolonged silence, Black Sapphire sighed in what could only be disappointment. “Oh, honey, please tell me you’re proposing to him with that. ”
Pure Vanilla’s eyebrows furrowed in both surprise and confusion. He turned his head back to examine the ring. “I don’t understand. What’s wrong with it? I thought it looked pretty…”
Black Sapphire snorted, “It’s very pretty. A pretty ring for a basic vanilla bitch.” Pure Vanilla barely had time to register the insult before Black Sapphire half flew and half skipped over to him and scooped the ring box with the ring out of his hands and examined it judgingly.
“I don’t understand. It’s simple but beautiful-” Pure Vanilla started, just to be silenced by Black Sapphire using his free hand to bring a finger up to Pure Vanilla’s lips.
“See? There’s your problem.” Black Sapphire stated, picking the ring up with two fingers using the hand that had once quieted the ex-king. He tossed the box back, examining the ring more closely, “Master isn’t simple . He doesn’t do things the simple way. He does things the ‘traumatized-theater-kid-with-a-criminal-record’ way.”
Pure Vanilla couldn’t help but laugh. That was very true. He had sat through countless of Shadow Milk’s dramatic retellings of dark romance books (Shadow Milk ranted about ‘Haunting Lemonadeline Cookie’ more times than the witches could count). “Okay, fair enough.” Pure Vanilla admitted. But if not that ring, which ring would Shadow Milk like?
As if reading his mind, Black Sapphire said, “Get him a silver ring. Maybe an onyx or sapphire sugar crystal? Bonus points if you can get both on one ring.” Then, Black Sapphire pocketed the ring as if he was the one who had bought it.
“Um, could I please-”
“Good luck, Pure Vanilla!” Black Sapphire exclaimed, waving over his shoulder as he exited the room like he hadn’t just stolen the ring right in front of him.
Pure Vanilla blinked in bewilderment before chuckling and shaking his head. He could see why Shadow Milk was so fond of the young radio host. He sure had a… unique personality. Then again, so did everyone Shadow Milk knew, he supposed. With a sigh, Pure Vanilla shrugged and examined the ring box Black Sapphire had left behind. Looks like it’s time to ask for a favor , Pure Vanilla sighed, and sat down at his desk, pulling out a sheet of paper and a spun sugar quill, inking the tip. Pressing the inky tip of the quill to the page, he began to write:
Dear Golden Cheese,
I apologize for the inconvenience, but I have a favor to ask of you…