Chapter Text
The stream turns on around lunchtime, and Mushy P taps the camera a few times to make sure it’s working. Satisfied, they set it on a table and scurry over to sit in ZZ Skull’s lap. The group is sitting at a small table near the sea, and the chatter of other Cookies walking past can be heard. ZZ Skull is wearing a black sailor’s uniform, though the ship’s emblem is actually the band’s logo. TNT is sitting next to him in a black sundress with a red stripe across the bottom of his skirt, a parasol folded by his side. Hellhound is wearing a red polo shirt tucked into a pair of black pants, and he absentmindedly swirls a glass of lemonade in his hand. DKEC looks like she’s dressed for a funeral, wearing a large hat with a black veil and a simple black dress. The only article of clothing that counters this aesthetic is a red leather jacket she wears loosely around her shoulders. Ms. Scarlet wears a black short-sleeved button up shirt undone at the collar with a frilly red skirt, and a red bag is sitting in her lap. Mushy P is matching with ZZ Skull, but they also have a grey hoodie on overtop of the uniform. They all have heavy-duty boots on, undoubtedly to combat the sogginess of the Lower City streets.
“Hiii Baddies!!” Mushy P waves both arms violently, and ZZ Skull quickly wraps an arm around their waist to prevent them from falling. “We just finished reading our magazine… now we’re waiting for ZZ Skull’s cousin. ZZ’s cousin is gonna show us around the Lower City…!” TNT breaks off her conversation with Hellhound to look at the camera.
“Yeah, My Cogue asked for an interview a few days ago, and they’re releasing the issue now since we’re in the Cremè Republic. Aren’t they a fashion magazine or something?” ZZ Skull waves a hand.
“Who cares? This is a real ‘look ma, I made it!’ moment! Can you believe it!?” He giggles excitedly. “We’re famous! Like, really famous! That was crazier than being invited here by Sablé Cookie! Oh my god did you see those gossip columns though!?” Ms. Scarlet pulls a red fan out of her bag and hides her face with it as ZZ Skull laughs. “Rich stuff! Helly, what’d you think?” Hellhound stops swirling his lemonade and snaps to attention.
“About what?”
“The magazine!”
“Oh… that was ages ago. I don’t really feel any particular way about it anymore.” He smirks faintly. “Ms. Scarlet should show us what’s in her bag, though.”
“What?” She grabs her bag protectively with her free hand. “Why? The focus is on you four.”
“Awe c’moooon!” ZZ Skull leans forward slightly, but not enough to force Mushy P to move. “The audience loves you too! They’re dying to know!”
“I bet half of them haven’t even read the article yet.”
“I bet you all of them have! Show us! Show us your bag!” ZZ Skull and Mushy P start chanting ‘show us, show us!’ to Ms. Scarlet’s chagrin. DKEC nudges her gently in encouragement, and she relents.
“Fine.” She unceremoniously dumps the contents of her bag onto the table.
“Woah!!” There’s way more stuff on the table than should ever fit into a bag of that size. Aside from her fan it seems Ms. Scarlet carries the essentials: snacks, a plastic water bottle half full of iced tea, her glasses case, the van keys, her wallet, a small tablet, extra pens, a makeup compact that looks like it belongs to DKEC rather than her, a few shiny rocks that were undoubtedly handed to her by Mushy P, and two different memo pads. She also has an oddly sewn doll, which ZZ Skull picks up with a solemn look.
“You carry this around?”
“It was a gift. Of course I do.”
“It’s cursed!”
“Yeah?” She takes it from his hands and puts it back in the bag, along with everything else. “There you are, Hellhound, are you happy?” Hellhound’s smirk is replaced with a self-satisfied grin.
“Yes.”
“Does your wallet have pictures of the Producer in it?” Ms. Scarlet reaches across the table and smacks ZZ Skull with her fan, causing him to wince and laugh. Mushy P is slowly learning that violence is always the answer as spore takes out spores tablet to read comments. TNT giggles behind a paw.
“Mine has pictures of everyone in the band.”
“Mine just has Batcat.” ZZ Skull smirks faintly, and TNT droops.
“What!! None of me?”
“Nope. Sorry TNT, Batcat’s more important.” Hellhound chuckles at ZZ Skull’s comment.
“You can have multiple photos in your wallet.”
“Yeah, but I can only see one at once, so what’s the point?” ZZ Skull flicks his locs out of his face, only for them to fall back into place. “The other window’s for my medical card.”
“Make a wallet with more windows?”
“No!” Mushy P holds up the tablet in front of ZZ Skull’s face, and he takes it. “Lots of questions today. Hellyyyyy…” Hellhound takes a long sip of his lemonade.
“What?”
“DessertOasis has a lot of questions for you.”
“Really?”
“A grand total of two.”
“That’s a new record.” Hellhound scratches his chin thoughtfully. “Well, shoot.”
“Are you gonna let the Cakeberus unit run around the Republic?”
“Of course. It goes without saying.” He smiles faintly. “The Republic is relatively temperate compared to everywhere else we’ve visited. I think they’ll have quite a bit of fun here. I didn’t want them getting trampled, so they’re at the hotel for today, but tomorrow they will be running around while we explore the Upper City.” He takes another sip of lemonade. “And, of course, they’re doing quite well with their training. Chiffon is just hard on himself.” Hellhound offers the glass to Mushy P, who takes it and downs the rest of the liquid eagerly. “I’m giving them a break for today.”
“Aaand secondly, do you have any hobbies? Other than dog training, obviously.” Hellhound thought carefully.
“I mean, I’m a pretty sporty guy I guess. I play a little bit of everything, but I’m particularly fond of disc golf.” ZZ Skull rolls his eyes.
“That’s because of the hounds too! What else?”
“Um…” Hellhound scratches the side of his face with a befuddled look. “I… um… read?” ZZ Skull grins.
“That’s more like it! What do you read?” Hellhound’s face flushes slightly.
“Oh, nothing really…”
“Helly!!!”
“It’s not dog related I swear!”
“Then what is it?” Hellhound remains silent for a few moments. As he opens his mouth to respond, a voice is heard off-camera.
“Well lookie, lookie! Little Licorice, all grown up!” ZZ Skull looks startled, and Mushy P slides off his lap to grab the camera and point it at a new Cookie. The stranger is wearing a sailor uniform similar to ZZ Skull’s with the hat pulled low over blue, coiled hair. The Cookie’s eyes are covered by the hair, and a bit of blue stubble can be seen. The Cookie’s dough is gray and chewy, just like ZZ Skull’s. The stranger crouches slightly with outstretched arms, and ZZ Skull runs over eagerly. The sailor grabs him in a hug and spins him around, laughing excitedly. “Look at you! Big-name star now, huh?” The Cookie sets ZZ Skull down, but not without taking off his hat and ruffling his hair aggressively.
“Ack!! Stop!!” ZZ Skull is grinning despite his protests, and he shoves the other Cookie away.
“Now why didn’t you tell me you moved to BeastYeast, huh?”
“I couldn’t have anyone look for me! Especially not you.” He crosses his arms. “You’d be so upset at me if you knew what I was up to.”
“I doubt that, little cuz.” The sailor frowns and returns ZZ Skull’s hat. “I couldn’t send you souvenirs or anything. I was so sad. I thought you died.” ZZ Skull laughs.
“Not a bad guess. Whatever!” He circles around and pushes the sailor closer to the camera. “Introduce yourself, hehe!”
“Hah! Blue Tube Coral Cookie, member of the Salty Shark Crew under Captain Caviar Cookie!” Blue Tube Coral Cookie gives the camera a pair of finger guns and a smirk. “And acting tourguide of the Lower City for Little Licorice! No pronouns.” ZZ Skull punches Blue Tube Coral Cookie’s arm, and the sailor lets out an overdramatic cry before slumping to the ground.
“Stop calling me that!” ZZ Skull crosses his arms again as Blue Tube Coral Cookie dramatically struggles to stand.
“Beaten up by my own cousin! How could you!”
“I’ll do it again.” The two laugh again, and Blue Tube Coral Cookie picks up ZZ Skull once more. ZZ Skull is dropped on the sailor’s shoulders, and Blue Tube Coral Cookie squeezes his shin playfully before finally addressing the rest of the group.
“Ready to see the sights?” The group stands up with various affirmative statements, and Blue Tube Coral points down a random street. “Let’s rock!!” The two cousins continue bantering as the band tours the crowded slums of the Lower City.
“When did you get strong enough to pick me up, Blue?”
“Lemme tell you, the training to be a sailor is rigorous! Still leagues better than whatever wizardry you were up to, though.” Blue Tube Coral Cookie snickers. “It’s funny. I ran away from the sea, and then I just went back to it. But… I like working on a ship. Even if the water does reclaim me someday, I won’t be going down without a fight y’know?” ZZ Skull nods, furrowing his eyebrows.
“I hate being this close to the sea again… but you’re right. This one feels different from the Licorice Sea, somehow… just a little.” He sighs. “I certainly have less control over it!”
“Hah!” Blue Tube Coral Cookie’s head tilts slightly as the sailor’s attention turns to Mushy P. “And what’s all this about a younger sibling, huh?”
“I adopted spore. Spore’s mine.” ZZ Skull leans against Blue Tube Coral Cookie’s head. “Cute, right?”
“Ehhh… sure.”
“What!? What’s that supposed to mean!? I’ll kick your ass you—” Blue Tube Coral Cookie cackled.
“Relax! I’m pushing your buttons. They’re cute.”
“Good.”
“I heard you do livestreams, little minnow. Streaming right now?” Mushy P nods, moving the camera with spores head. “Can I see?” Mushy P hands Blue Tube Coral Cookie the tablet. “Alright, chat, ask ZZ Skull the most embarrassing questions you can think of, go!”
“What!?”
“Got one already!”
“No!!”
“Naomi wants to know who in the band you’d spend the night with!” ZZ Skull relaxes.
“Oh, that’s not that bad. I’ve shared a room with everyone but Hellhound, so him, obviously.” Hellhound chuckles softly.
“You’re used to getting crowded out of bed by Batcat, so sleeping with the Cakeberus Unit around would be no problem for you, I bet.”
“Piece of cake!! I’ll sleep on the floor, I don’t even care!” Blue Tube Coral Cookie frowns.
“That’s bad for your back.”
“You have no right to lecture me on what’s bad for my back, Mx. Sailor!”
“Please, Mx. Sailor was my father. Call me Sails.” Blue Tube Coral Cookie laughs as ZZ Skull shakes his head.
“No it wasn’t!! Don’t lie to the chat!” Blue Tube Coral Cookie nods.
“Sorry, chat, my father was not a sailor! Whatever, though. So TNT! Is that what I call you?” Mushy P turns the camera to the werehound. TNT has her parasol open to reveal a red floral pattern. She seems to be struggling to walk through the narrow streets, and other Cookies have to squeeze past her. She doesn’t seem to mind, though, and no one bats an eyelid at her being a werehound.
“Yes, that’s me.” She speaks in a falsetto, then drops her voice to its normal pitch. “Whatcha want?”
“You’re treating my cousin well, right?”
“Of course! At least, I’d like to think I am.” ZZ Skull pushes Blue Tube Coral Cookie’s hat lower over the sailor’s face with a flushed expression.
“Stop that!!” Blue Tube Coral Cookie stops walking to fix the hat with a small giggle.
“I’ve gotta make sure!! I was worried about you, you know.”
“What, because I bonded with a Cake?”
“No!! Because you disappeared off the face of Earthbread and popped back up as a K-Pop star out of nowhere and just happened to be bonded!” Blue Tube Coral Cookie’s face becomes serious suddenly. “You were always a delicate Cookie… I wasn’t sure how you were handling the rigorous training exercises.” Ms. Scarlet interjects.
“Rest assured, he gets all the care necessary for him to proceed with his training unharmed.” Blue Tube Coral Cookie mutters something skeptically, but nods anyway.
“Anyways, the Night Market usually runs here. It’s a bit dormant at the moment, but it opens as soon as the sun sets.” ZZ Skull leans back slightly to look at the rest of the group.
“Helly, you have to take me shopping later!” Hellhound raises both eyebrows.
“Me?”
“Yeah! You’re the best at haggling!”
“Well… thank you. I think? I’m just assertive, that’s all.” Mushy P turns the camera again to focus on DKEC and Ms. Scarlet, who are murmuring to each other behind Ms. Scarlet’s fan. They stop murmuring when they realize they’re being recorded, both looking off in opposite directions. Mushy P goes back to focusing on Blue Tube Coral Cookie and the band members.
“Helly, you never told us what books you read!”
“Well… it’s embarrassing.” Hellhound scratches the side of his neck, and Blue Tube Coral Cookie grins at him.
“What, comics or something?”
“No…”
“Romance?”
“No.”
“…” Blue Tube Coral Cookie is struggling to hazard another guess. “…Fantasy novels?” Hellhound doesn’t respond, and Blue Tube Coral Cookie elbows him lightly. “Nothing wrong with that. I think those are normal, actually. We live in a pretty fantastic world.” Hellhound shrugs.
“I like ones with a happy ending… something… escapist. It feels silly sometimes.”
“Nahh.” Blue Tube Coral Cookie grins. “We all need a little dose of escapism. A place to recover from reality, if only for a moment. If cheesy fantasy novels are your coping mechanism, who cares?” Hellhound nods slightly. ZZ Skull wraps his arms around Blue Tube Coral’s head, causing the sailor to stop again.
“I love my cousin. Blue Tube Coral Cookie gives the best advice.” Blue Tube Coral Cookie sighs.
“Nah, I stole that from Captain Caviar Cookie when he caught me reading a silly romance novel.”
“Oh.” ZZ Skull releases Blue Tube Coral Cookie. The sailor points down a street.
“I’m not taking you today because it’s a bit macabre for the camera, but the Choco Mud Flats are that direction. Might be worth your time in particular, ZZ.” ZZ Skull doesn’t respond to that, gazing absentmindedly in the direction Blue Tube Coral Cookie pointed instead. TNT spun his parasol.
“Why?”
“Well, it’s the Lower City graveyard. I remember ZZ has a particular fondness for those types of places.” ZZ Skull nods distractedly. “Moving on… hey TNT, tell me about yourself.”
“About me?” He looks away bashfully. “Well, um… I lead the band, and I’m the lead vocalist… I like baking and gardening… and I’m super strong!! That’s about all I can say on camera.” Blue Tube Coral Cookie’s head cocks to the side curiously.
“Yeah? How’d you meet my cousin?”
“We were assigned to work together, really. Before the whole band thing. We’ve been one unit ever since.” TNT laughs. “I remember when he proposed! He was trying to act nonchalant about it, but he was sweating bullets the whole time… it was adorable. Poor thing was probably worried about ruining our friendship forever.” ZZ Skull snaps to attention.
“Hey!! What’s today, National Embarrass ZZ Skull day!?” Blue Tube Coral Cookie smirks.
“It is now. Man, if only I had baby pictures.”
“I would kill you soooo fast.”
“Your fans would love me forever.”
“Would not!!”
“Would too! They love seeing that kind of stuff.” Blue Tube Coral Cookie laughs. “I saw the livestream where you read your journal aloud!”
“WHAT!?”
“I’d never even heard of Shining Glitter Cookie before.”
“WHAT!?!?” ZZ Skull leans over to make ‘eye contact’ with Blue Tube Coral Cookie. “How!? She’s like, huge! Bigger than we are, even!” The sailor shrugs with another smirk.
“I don’t really keep up with music. I know a couple of shanties and your songs and that’s it.”
“So you’re telling me you didn’t check her out immediately?”
“…” ZZ Skull squeezes the sides of Blue Tube Coral Cookie’s head with his hands.
“You are coming back with us to the hotel so I can show you her albums.”
“Owch! No way! It was hard enough getting time off to walk around with you!” Mushy P tugs on Blue Tube Coral Cookie’s sleeve. “Eh? What is it, kid?” They reach for the tablet, and Blue Tube Coral Cookie hands it back. “What is it you call your fans again? ‘Baddies’?” Mushy P nods eagerly.
“Yeah!”
“Why?”
“Um… they picked it.” Blue Tube Coral Cookie considered that statement carefully.
“Am I a ‘Baddie’ too, then?” ZZ Skull swats the sailor’s hat playfully.
“Duh!! You’re my cousin, you would be regardless of whether you actually listen to our music!”
“That’s so funny.” Blue Tube Coral Cookie giggles. “I feel like liking the music is bare minimum.” ZZ Skull hums thoughtfully.
“Did you show the rest of the crew our discography?”
“Yeah. They said it was lame.”
“What!!”
“They don’t like K-Pop!” Blue Tube Coral Cookie sighs. “They called me biased.”
“Boo!”
“Well, they weren’t lying.” Blue Tube Coral Cookie shrugs slightly, though whether that is emoting or merely adjusting ZZ Skull was debatable. “It wouldn’t be my style normally. But Little Licorice has the sweetest voice.”
“Oh my god shut up.” ‘Little Licorice’ grabs Blue Tube Coral Cookie’s hat and holds it just out of reach. In retaliation, the sailor sets ZZ Skull down and takes the hat back using superior height. Blue Tube Coral pulls the hat low before starting off again, making sure to grab ZZ Skull’s hand. Clearly the sailor doesn’t want him getting lost.
“I’m not surprised you ended up being a star, honestly.” Blue Tube Coral Cookie’s voice is low, but still barely audible over the rest of the Lower City due to how close Mushy P is. “You always had that glamorous vibe. Always so dissatisfied with the ritual garb and the place we grew up. Heh… you look stunning, little cuz.”
“You think so…? Hey, you don’t think it’s like… weird, do you?”
“What’s weird? Nothing’s weird. You’re where you belong with desserts that love you.” ZZ Skull squeezes his cousin’s hand quietly, taking a few moments to think before responding.
“You found out I was trans through a livestream, didn’t you?”
“…Yeah. Not a bad way to find out. It prevented me from messing up today, at least. I wasn’t too surprised, all things considered. Well, maybe a little, but when I thought about it, it made sense. You changed your name as soon as you could, after all.” Blue Tube Coral Cookie elbows ZZ Skull gently. “Not that it matters. I’m proud of you, kiddo.”
“Really…?”
“Really. I’m always on your side. Even if you are, y’know, practicing dark magic and trying to destroy the world.” Blue Tube Coral Cookie snickered, and ZZ Skull joined after a moment of stunned silence.
“You know about all that?”
“I watch all your livestreams, not just the one. It’s… how I feel closer to you, I guess.”
“What! What’s your username?”
“I don’t comment.”
“You should! …I miss you too.” ZZ Skull hugs Blue Tube Coral’s side, and the sailor drapes an arm over his shoulders.
“You’ll give me your address later, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.” Blue Tube Coral Cookie rubs ZZ Skull’s shoulder, then pulls away and stops walking. The group is on the docks now, and while there are still Cookies everywhere there are far fewer than on the streets. “Here we are, you guys! The Salty Shark herself! Captain’s eager to meet all of you!” Blue Tube Coral’s attention turns to Mushy P. “Do me a solid and lose the camera though, yeah? This ship’s the equivalent of a military secret.”
“Oh! Okay! Bye, Baddies!!” Everyone waves, including Blue Tube Coral Cookie. The camera shuts off just as a handful of other sailors look over the edge of the boat at the group. The chat remains for a few minutes.
MushyPReal
hold on, i’m trying to turn it off but it’s being weird 3:DessertOasis
Take your time!!!Naomi!!
Has ZZSk really shared a room with everyone but Helly? Even DKEC?MushyPReal
yea! they had to camp out together on a mission oncegelatin76
zzsk is so cute with his cousin <3BrokenMemories
hey Mushy we just watched like 30 minutes of cousin things, do you and ZZSk do sibling things?MushyPReal
like whatBrokenMemories
y’know, sneaking out together to grab candy or speaking through facial expressions… stuff like thatMushyPReal
not really… well, zz can understand my expressions but i cant understand his 3: he makes a lot. a lot of them are scaryBrokenMemories
Aw man… that sucksdollhound
I think that’s the kind of stuff u only see in movies, anyways… my siblings and I fistfightMushyPReal
we don’t do that either!!
The comments close shortly afterwards.