CalmBubbly

"This is the place, right?" Rosalina consulted the two lumas at her side, Stella and Zenith.

They both twinkled in confirmation, swinging side to side.

"I suppose that's that, then."

As she spoke, Rosalina began heading into the cafè, followed closely by her starry companions. Giving the place a glance-over, she soon found the person she was there to meet.

Shadow Milk Cookie. Or, as he liked to mention quite often, the Master of Deceit.

Gingerly, she hovered over to him, the lumas eagerly following behind. Everyone was surprised to see her. With her height, stars at her side, and regal aura, she wasn’t unnoticed.

"What’s the important matter?" She asked, hovering beside his table.

Shadow Milk Cookie sat at a table for two, sporting a smug grin.

"Oh, right! 'Important' miiight've been a teeny, tiny, bit of stretch!"

Narrowing her eyes in unamusement, she replied.

"So you lied." She said flatly.

"I am the Master of Deceit! It's in my nature!"

Even her lumas seemed unamused, putting their stubby little arms in a position that resembled hands on hips.

"If you don't have anything important..." she turned around, about to hover towards the door.

"Hold on!" He called out.

For a moment, she stopped in place. Maybe he'd have something noteworthy to say, for once.

"You can spare time for a little chat, can't you?" He asked.

"Why would that matter to you?"

"Because I've got a fun story! I promise, it'll be worth your time!"

"Your word is unreliable."

"I'm capable of telling the truth! I just prefer deceit. It's much more fun."

"You're not helping your case."

"I may be the Master of Deceit, but I'm also a showman! And a good showman delights in entertaining!"

"Why here, though?"

"Why here? Why here?" He floated out of his seat, going in front of her and outstretching his arms. "This is the perfect setting for a good show!"

A beat passed.

Nothing.

Another.

Still nothing.

Just when he thought he'd lost...

"I suppose I have time for a story." She sat down at the seat opposite where he had been.

Although he was surprised, he hid it excellently. Immediately, he sat back down, acting as if he already knew he would win.

Her lumas, however, were not so good at putting up a poker face. They blinked multiple times, twinkling in shock.

"Not a long one, though." Rosalina added.

"Don't worry, it won’t be too long." He gave a Cheshire grin. "I promise!"

"That makes me less confident."

Stella and Zenith twinkled in agreement.

"Ugh, I won't take long, alright?"

Outstretching his arms, he began. "This one's about a very special cookie..."

He made a dramatic pause, then boldly placed a hand on his chest. "Me!"

Rosalina and her lumas were not so amused. Still, they didn't object.

At least, Rosalina didn't. Stella and Zenith, on the other hand, twinkled in a sound very reminiscent of a sigh.

Seeing as their mother-figure didn't just up and walk away, though, they merely expressed their mild annoyance at the jester.

Shadow Milk Cookie went on about his endeavors against Gingerbrave and his “loser” friends, putting heavy emphasis on how much he hated Pure Vanilla, as usual. As he spoke, he made many gestures with his hands.

Although the lumas found Shadow Milk quite annoying, even they couldn’t hide how entertaining it was to watch him tell a story. He was quite animated.

The cookie was midway between describing a heavily embellished version of his fight against Pure Vanilla, Gingerbrave, and their team–In his version, he undoubtedly won, leaving the heroes weak and nearly finished, but chose to spare the heroes ‘because it would be interesting’–when Zenith twinkled and lightly nudged Rosalina. Stella twinkled in agreement.

Shadow Milk was too absorbed in telling his story to care. Even if he did pay attention, he wouldn’t be able to understand them.

Many times, he tried to understand what they said, in hopes of amassing an army. However, all his efforts had been in vain. He’d even tried using deceit to get them on his side, but all those efforts were in vain as well, met with crossed arms, being ignored, or even sent catapulting into space through their transformations.

Rosalina glanced at her lumas and gave a small nod, to which they twinkled in delight and went off to the front counter. They returned soon after, having struggled a bit with a worker who didn’t understand their language. Still, by pointing at the menu, they were able to score a trio of hot chocolates, one of which went to their mother-figure.

“Now, I was faced with a choice.” Shadow Milk Cookie related. “Before me were multiple, weak, almost half-burnt looking cookies. I mean, they looked awful, so much that I almost felt bad for them! Even Black Sapphire and Candy Apple felt bad. They cried out, ‘Look at them! It would be horrible to just finish them off now!’ So I thought for a moment, and I went, ‘You’re right, that would be horrible,’ especially since that Loser, Pure Vanilla thought he’d pulled a fast one on me. "So I mercifully chose to spare them, because it was considerate, but also because it would be more interesting. They wouldn’t take a loss; they’d just come back for a redo, and I might’ve gotten bored if I hadn’t let them. Besides, why not let them train and see their full capabilities?”

Rosalina doubted the accuracy of this, especially with his reputation and seeing some of his attempts to gain the lumas’ favor. She didn’t contest it, though. Not this time.

Letting him finish his story, she thought it might be a good idea not to contest his embellishments in the future. He was far more annoying when piling on lie after lie in hopes of being convincing.

Stella and Zenith seemed appreciative when his story came to an end, rather than him going on and on about why what he said was true.

Once he finished, he gave a dramatic bow, something he tended to do from time to time.

No applause was given, but he didn’t mind. It was better than grumpy lumas transforming into Launch Stars and catapulting him, or somehow worse, transforming into Pull Stars and yanking him around.

“This was…pleasant.” Rosalina stated.

“Of course it was! Who doesn’t love a good show?”

Rosalina let out a small chuckle. It was somewhat amusing how hard he tried in praising himself.

Getting up from her seat, she turned towards the door. “Perhaps we could convene for another story sometime. Without lying or making up a poor excuse, that is.”

“Maybe if you told a lie once in a while, you’d see how fun it is.”

“Shadow Milk.”

“Fine! But don’t expect me to not ever lie…”

“I haven’t.”

“Good!”

She made her way to the doors, her lumas still trailing behind.

“Bye now!” He called out obnoxiously.

“Goodbye.” She called back.

Stella and Zenith twinkled in a farewell, sounding both annoyed with his obnoxiousness, but also glad to be bidding him goodbye, if only for a little while.

Shadow Milk Cookie stayed in the coffee shop a little longer, reveling in his subtle success. Not only did he manage to get her to leave her observatory, she seemed to enjoy his story!

“Soon…” he whispered to himself.

Whether he was speaking about meeting again, gaining her favor, or being able to get her on his side, even the Master of Deceit was unsure.

He knew one thing though…