Burning Up | Cookie Run Kingdom (Espresso x Madeleine)

×^Then^×

ᴇꜱᴘʀᴇꜱꜱᴏ ᴄᴏᴏᴋɪᴇ'ꜱ ᴘᴏᴠ

He boarded the hot air balloon last. Looking around, he saw Pure Vanilla going over all the supplies to make sure they had everything required. Sea Fairy looked at the moon with longing, reaching out towards it slightly as if wishing to hold it.

Meanwhile, Raspberry was facepalming because Madeleine was holding the map upside down.

"The map looks strange..."

"Because it's upside down!"

"Oh. Sorry, I guess my mind just blanked..."

Espresso scoffed. The sun hadn't even risen yet, so at least it was excusable. Even so, Espresso had recently been feeling... Warmer than normal. His whole body seemed as if it was raising in temperature, slowly but surely.

He thought it must've been his mind playing tricks on him, likely for the better considering it was a rather chilly night.

Espresso turned his head to Pure Vanilla as he heard him begin to speak.

"Alright, we have everything we need. First-aid, stamina jellies, water, and tents. We'll be gone for hopefully as short as two days, one night. If anyone disappears, we'll have to stay a day or two longer." The healer said clearly.

Espresso held onto the side of the hot air balloon as they began to take off into the sky. He'd hold on as long as it took for the thing to stop swaying.

...

Did he smell smoke?

ᴍᴀᴅᴇʟᴇɪɴᴇ ᴄᴏᴏᴋɪᴇ'ꜱ ᴘᴏᴠ

Madeleine Cookie hummed, still tired from waking up so early. He opened his eyes as best as he could, but they still felt grainy, heavy.

He saw Espresso holding tightly onto the hot air balloon's basket. He couldn't ignore the fact that he did care for Espresso, so he carefully walked over.

"Are you alright? You look tense." Madeleine asked. Espresso sighed.

"I'm fine. I'm just trying to keep myself from being thrown around from the swaying." He responded clearly.

Madeleine rested a hand on Espresso's shoulder, "Alright, well, be sure to let someone know if something is wrong!"

Espresso turned his face away from Madeleine and muttered a small "I will"

Though Madeleine couldn't see his face, he smiled, knowing full well that meant Espresso wasn't upset.

Madeleine turned around, freezing as he caught the scent of something that wouldn't usually spark an alarm if the basket of the hot air balloon wasn't made of something flammable.

Smoke.

"Hey, does- Does anyone smell that? It's like... Smoke?" Raspberry asked.

She must've smelled it too. As she asked, everyone looked at her and nodded or said some form of yes.

The smell seemed to disappear almost immediately as Espresso joined in, "Maybe we just passed over some cookies who were camping and had a campfire. I'm pretty sure it's Custard the Third, Strawberry Crepe, Sorbet Shark, Pumpkin Pie, and Chili Pepper is watching them."

"Though I think she's only there because Custard begged her, otherwise they couldn't go camping..." He finished.

Madeleine spoke up, "It's gone now, so maybe you're right. But at five in the morning?"

Espresso shrugged, "They're camping, they don't have a bedtime if Chili Pepper's watching them."

Every one, though still a little cautious, went back to whatever they were doing. The sun was just beginning to rise, so they could at least see properly now.