Co-Workers || SparklingHerb || Cookie Run Kingdom

Chapter 7

TW for depictions of rape

|~~ Fingers lassoed around clumps of hair as Herb's head was pulled up. He cried and squirmed, but the more he fought, the more it pained him. Tears streamed down his face as he begged for the torture to stop.

"FRUITCAKE PLEASE!! LET ME GO!! I WONT LEAVE AGAIN, I PROMISE!!!" Tears fell onto the bed beneath him.

"You should have thought about that before hooking up with your boss. Fucking slut. I'll put you in your goddamn place. Learn to behave, you whore."

Herb's clothes were already strewn across the room. He cried out for help, but none came. Fruitcake undid his pants just so his member could slip through. "I outta pound the sense into you!"

Fruitcake pushed Herb's head down into the bed, causing his hips to stick up into the air—the perfect entrance for Fruitcake. He cackled to himself.

Herb cried and screamed, but he was sturdily held in place with his head down and weight holding down his hips. He tried to sway, but he felt too weak to move. He was being treated like a fucking dog. On his hands and knees. He yelled as loud as he could for one last desperate attempt... and he was freed. ~~|

•••

Herb awoke in a frenzy. He gasped and let out a loud yelp. His breathing was uneasy and he felt he was about to pass out. He hated the nightmares. HE HATED THEM. He hated everything, he hated this cruel world he hated the way he acted. He hated everyone's pity. He hated he couldn't do anything. He hated life. But most of all. He hated Fruitcake.

HE HATED FRUITCAKE AND EVERY FUCKED UP THING HE EVER DID TO HIM. HE HATED IT!!!

He started weeping. He just wanted a normal life. He just wanted someone to love—someone that wouldn't hurt him. He wanted so badly just to be cared about. He hated not being loved. He hated being treated like material. He hated everything.

A knocking sound signaled on the door. Herb shot his head up. He made eye contact with Sparkling... Oh, god, sparkling. He seemed to forget he even existed. He rubbed his eyes to look "presentable".

Sparkling had a face full of concern. He walked over and sat on the bed. He wanted to help Herb so bad. He already had seen a terrible wave of emotions with him. He really wanted to know what was wrong.

Herb hugged his knees, starting to cry a bit more, but mostly out of frustration. "Herb. I think you need to talk with somebody about this."

Herb rubbed his eyes, but to no avail. "I KNOW!! I do- I DO. I want to. But I'm so fucking scared. I don't know why, or what. But I'm so nervous. I'm so worried if I would be bothering or shit. GOD. I think I'm gonna die. This feeling hurts to bad."

"Herb. Slow down. Take a breath for me okay?" Sparkling advised Herb the best he could. So he listened. Herb took a deep breath and let it out. The only way he could calm down the smallest bit was to simply talk. He wondered if Sparkling had been watching for very long..., "How long have you been here?" He asked, with a hint of hesitance.

Sparkling was surprised that Herb seemed to change the subject so easily. But nonetheless, he responded, "I woke up and happened to hear you as I came back from the bathroom. You were grunting and moving a lot." He shyly looked away. Herb looked down a bit.

"Sorry if I woke you." He apologized to Sparkling, still wiping some of his tears. Sparkling placed a hand on Herb's shoulder, trying to relieve him of worry, "It's no problem... I'm glad I woke up to check on you anyway." He smiled. "Are you doing okay though? I won't sleep until I know you are."

Herb adverted his gaze, as always, "I'm... okay,, I guess... Just a terrible nightmare." He sniffled and rubbed his nose. Sparkling nodded, "look. I can tell it really messes with you. And—I'm not making you but..." Sparkling paused before continuing, "Just— I think it would benefit you to at least talk about it with somebody... I know you keep everything in so,,"

Herb was then again struck with the dilemma. Should he tell Sparkling, or not? He groaned to himself, "I feel the same... I just—I'm not quite sure who to talk to at this point. My friends all live too close and Fruitcake probably is doing searches on all of them right now."

Sparkling moved a bit closer to Herb, "Does he know about me?" Herb seemed reluctant to accept the approach, "..well. He knows you: just that I work with you, and you're my boss." Herb thought for a moment, "But, he doesn't know we're uh..."

Fuck, what were they? Friends? Acquaintances?? Work buddies??? Who knew, really? He picked back up his broken sentence. "That we're friends..."

They seemed to go quiet. An awkward pause that allowed them each to grab onto empty thoughts. Herb nervously fidgeted his hands around. He grabbed onto his sleeves and tugged at them.

"How long am I able to stay here?"

Sparkling looked a bit stunned to hear the question, but answered anyway: "Oh uh,,, nobody else really comes here... so you'd be the only occupant.. Unless I get a boyfriend sometime, but that likely won't happen" Sparkling chuckled a bit.

Herb smiled and let out a soft giggle, "I didn't know you lived such a lonely life." He was only joking, but it was hard to tell through his hurt voice. Though, Sparkling understood just fine.

Sparkling could feel his cheeks getting warmer. God, the way Herb sounded when he giggled or chuckled, or generally just talked. But no. Now was not the time to be mesmerized by a single characteristic of some friend who was dealing with emotional pain. That was just weird. He needed to be helping.

Sparkling scoffed," I'm not lonely. I just have specific taste." Herb smiled. He brushed some hair out of his face. He meekly looked to Sparkling, "So uhm... maybe could you sleep here? Or I sleep in your room? I'm just a bit scared."

Sparkling could feel his heart explode. Something about them in the same room made him freak out. But, was he really going to turn Herb away? Absolutely not. He nervously bushed through some of his hair with his fingers while replying, "I don't see why not. My room is completely open to you if you want to sleep there."

Herb smiled. He moved himself towards the edge of the bed, then pushed out. He must have been lacking energy, because he struggled to stand up. Sparkling definitely chuckled, if not, fully laughed at Herb.

Then they both walked to Sparkling's bedroom. It was much more flamboyantly decorated than the guest room. There were bright pieces of furniture across the room and colorful art pieces hung up on every wall. It was a lot for Herb to even process.

Sparkling immediately went to his side and got on the bed before pulling the blanket over his waist. Herb got in as well, starting to instinctively move away from the person he was sharing the bed with.

He spoke to Sparkling while facing away from him, "Thank you so much, Sparkling." He couldn't bare to face him, it was hard. It was hard to do very normal things that most others could. But, what did it matter? For now, he would just sleep, and let cares fade into the next day. He closed his eyes while cozying himself into the blankets and soft bedding.

'Goodnight, Sparkling.
Thank you for helping me.
Even if I'm scared,
I'm grateful for your assistance.
So, thank you.'

DATE PUBLISHED: 3|26|22 (US FORM)