Espresso groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. What the hell does he want? Espresso gingerly opened the door, staring at Madeleine.
"What is it?" He asked, not in the mood.
"Oh well I just dropped by because you uh," Madeleine rubbed in the back of his neck, "you forgot your pen."
Espresso looked down at the object
Madeleine had in his hand. It was the pen he was using at the café.
I must've dropped it when I left.
"So? It's a pen. I have plenty more." Espresso replied, uninterested.
"Oh well uh, I just thought you would want it back..."
"Well now I don't after your grubby hands have been all over it, now go away."
Espresso was about to slam the door shut but before he could he caught a glimpse of sadness in Madeleine's eyes.
"Jesus Christ." Espresso whispered under his breath.
"Hand it over," He held his hand out, waiting for Madeleine to give the pen back.
Madeleine's face turned into a smile as he handed Espresso the pen.
"It was a pleasure seeing you again, Esspresso!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He closed the door and walked back to the living room, still holding the pen.
Espresso sat down with a cup of coffee, ready to start the experiment.
***
Once his experiment was finally done, the sun had set and it was dark outside.
I wonder what time it is...
He got up and went to the kitchen, looking at the clock on wall.
"Jesus christ, it's 4am."
He yawned but he didn't feel mentally tired. Espresso decided that maybe a small early morning stroll wouldn't do any harm. He grabbed his cloak from the hanger and stepped out into the darkness.
Espresso stretched, taking a deep breath as he did so. He began to make his way over to the park.
As Espresso was he walking, he noticed a faint glowing figure moving through the dark.
He squinted to try and see it better but it had disappeared behind a building.
"Hm..." Espresso turned off the path to follow the figure. He found his way behind the Lumberjack's Lodge and watched as the glow faded into the woods.
"What the hell..." He followed faint light into the trees.
Barely managing to keep himself from tripping over fallen branches and stones, Espresso finally spotted the bob of a small lantern and the glowing thing. He began to sprint trying to catch up until the glowing cookie stopped and turned around. Espresso ran into them.
"Ow, fuck!" He said rubbing his head snd making sure his glasses weren't broken.
"Espresso?" Madeleine's voice sounded.
"You?" He looked up at the glowing knight. Madeleine was wearing a hooded cloak and was carrying a small lantern with him.
"What are you doing all the way out here?" He asked Espresso.
"I could ask you the same thing." Espresso got up from the ground, brushing himself off.
"Well I'm just doing uh...Knightly duties...Yes! Knightly duties!"
"Rrriiight..." Espresso straightened his cloak out a bit, "Why are you really here?"
Madeleine sighed. "I wanted to get away from the kingdom for a little while," he said, sitting down on a log, "It gets quite crowded, especially when you're the 'Knight of the Light' and everybody is counting on you to protect the kingdom. It's overwhelming." He looked over at Espresso who was now staring at Madeleine as if he had another set of eyes.
"I thought you liked the attention," Espresso mumbled.
"Yes, well, even I need a break sometimes," Madeleine let out a hearty laugh, "so why are you awake at this hour, Espresso?"
"I just finished with an experiment and I wasn't tired. I thought maybe a small stroll was a good idea and then I saw you wandering around."
Madeleine pulled his hood off, "Ha, I guess we both needed some air."
"Yeah, I guess so." Espresso frowned. Was he really having a conversation with the cookie he hated the most? He looked back over at Madeleine. "I should get going. It's getting close to sunrise."
"I can escort you if you wish?" Madeleine grinned.
"No." Espresso snapped, "No...thank you." He corrected himself.
"Alright. I'll see you whenever you leave your house again?"
"Jesus, I hope not," Espresso breathed. "Yeah, sure, whatever."
"Bye, bye Espresso!"
Espresso gave a weak wave to Madeleine as he was walking back through the forest, using his coffee magic as his light source.
Once Espresso finally made it back to his house, he turned around and saw Madeleine's faint glow moving across the kingdom back to his place. Espresso shook his head and smiled before entering his small house.
He grabbed a mug from a cabinet and filled it with coffee before sitting down and reading a book as the sun started to rise.
***
Espresso closed the book when it was 7am. He had things to do. He got up and went back into his living room, cleaning up whatever mess was left from his experiments the night before. He yawned, making his way towards the boxes in the corner of the room before pausing.
Maybe I could take a break today... He sighed and walked towards the door.
I think Sparkling's bar is open today. He thought as he stepped out the door.
