⏳CLOCKWORK⌛️ - timekeeper/croissant x reader

[⌛️]

       You spun around in a panic to face the Cookie behind you, surprised to see the Cookie floating above the ground on a giant pair of what seemed to be scissors. She wore a deep brown top hat with a gold-tipped brim and gear-shaped goggles wrapped around it. Her rather curly and thick hair was a light yellow with orange stripes that swirled inward like a peppermint, and highlighted her dark brown suit—which matched her hat. Her outfit was quite eye-catching, but what stuck out most of all were her eyes—or, more accurately, her eye. The right eye was bright yellow with a hypnotic white swirl that seemed to go infinitely into the center, and the other was covered by a goggle strapped around her head, which was the same shade of yellow with white "eyelashes" on the side. The swirl in her eye almost appeared to be moving, but... it couldn't be, right..?

       "Something caught your eye, [Y/N]?" Hearing the Cookie's voice snapped you out of the trance-like state and you flushed red realizing you'd been staring. She had a rather hard to decipher smirk on her face now, making you more flustered as you looked away. You didn't even realize she said your name until a few seconds later, looking up at her again as your eyes widened.

"How— how did you know my name?" you stuttered, hardly even thinking about Croissant's perspective of the whole situation.

"I've been watching you closely... Both of you. Quite interesting, those creations of yours, Croissant Cookie. You were the first Cookie to create a timecraft on their own, no?"

Croissant seemed taken aback just as much as you were, struggling to even find an answer for a few seconds. "...Yeah, I.. I did," she finally managed to reply, pausing for a second before continuing. "Why...? Why are you here now? Who are you?"

"Who am I?" she repeated, raising an eyebrow. "I believe you two have more pressing matters on your hands, no? Stuck in a time rift with nothing but a broken timecraft... They say if you spend too much time in between timelines, it warps your perception of reality itself..."

"We know that, but we... aren't exactly sure how to fix this..." you responded anxiously, looking back down at the broken machine and feeling your heart drop just thinking about how little you actually understood. "Can't you help us? How did you get here, anyways?"

"That is a question for another occasion, I'm afraid... You do wish to exit this time rift with your timecraft, no? You must pick your battles... You leave with your timecraft and hopefully return in one piece, or... return with me, and leave the machine behind. The clock is ticking, I'll be watching for your decision..." The Cookie smiled and didn't even give enough time to answer before she lifted her scissors in the air, cutting what seemed to be a hole in the fabric of reality itself and jumping through.

"Wait, can't you at least—" Croissant blurted out, before going silent, looking utterly defeated. "I can't just leave my timecraft here, it'd take so long to rebuild... But I don't have the equipment I need to fix it. I'm not sure how much longer we'll last in here..."

You were in thought for several seconds, trying to think of any way the two of you could possibly get out, when suddenly, you realized something. "...Wait, Croissant Cookie! I have a component in my pocket, this might be what we're missing... But how did it get here... I guess I just brought it with me by accident. Does this look like what we need?" You dug around in your pocket and held the small component out in front of Croissant, whose eyes quickly lit up, a smile spreading across her face.

"That's... exactly what I need! Hell of a coincidence, huh? I think we'll be able to get out of this after all!" She grabbed the piece out of your hand and didn't hesitate to start working on the dysfunctional timecraft, getting it up and running again in just shy of 10 minutes. "Thankfully, we haven't been in here long enough to have any permanent effects... But you may feel a bit woozy when we get back. Just don't worry about it, okay?"

"Okay, yeah. I can't believe you managed to do this..." you responded, your voice drifting off and going quiet near the last few words. You climbed into the timecraft, then ended up rethinking your statement. "...Actually, I can totally believe it."

"Pffehehe..." she giggled, flattered by what you added at the end. "Whatever, let's just go!" She climbed in after you, sitting in front of the controls as usual and not hesitating to dial in the exact coordinates you came from. She pumped her fist up in the air and yelled out one more thing before hitting her foot onto the pedal to start and pulling a lever, her voice echoing throughout the seemingly endless haze of the time rift. "Time travel! WOOT!"

It didn't take long at all to get back to your timeline, and you were indeed a little woozy and disoriented climbing out of the machine. Though, despite everything, you couldn't take your mind off of the Cookie you saw in that time rift... Who was she? Why did she choose to introduce herself there of all places?

None of these questions could be answered quite yet, but it kept you wondering for the rest of the day, even after arriving at home.