Chapter Text
It was 9:24 AM on a Wednesday in Garden View. Rumors had already spread about Astro and Boxten sleeping in the same bed last night, yet no one knew about what happened on the rooftop.
Astro leaned over the bed where Boxten was sleeping. He began to rub his back, trying to wake him up; while whispering out the words "wake up" right next to his ear. He was gentle in every whisper and every touch; hoping that this way of waking him up wouldn't annoy him.
Boxten began to stir; his eyes beginning to open. He let out a small groan, and began moving around. Eventually, his eyes fully opened; and he raised his body off of the mattress.
"What time is it..?" His voice sounded sleepy, it was obvious that he was tired, hence he just woke up.
"It's 9:26. Sorry if you didn't want to wake up this early, it's just I usually see you awake around this time." Astro sounded a bit nervous, never waking Boxten up before, and he didn't know his sleeping habits.
"It's fine." Boxten sounded grumpy, but he wasn't angry at Astro in the slightest. It was just the type of grumpy you get when you wake up too early. He was only this way because he'd fallen asleep at around 1:30 AM.
"How were your dreams last night?" Astro's voice sounded a bit concerned, as he was worried about if he did a good job with picking out his dream.
Boxten blushed at the question, remembering last night and the dreams that Astro had given him.
"They were good.. can you give me more like that?"
Astro smiled gently, liking the fact that Boxten was okay with dreams about him. It made him feel as if he had a chance.
"Of course. I can give you some time to wake up if you'd like."
Boxten lifted himself up off of the bed, and stood up next to Astro.
"No.. I'll be fine. Can we go get breakfast?" Boxten still wasn't entirely awake, but he wanted to spend time with Astro. He didn't know how much time he'd be able to spend with him today, and he wanted to maximize the possibilities.
Astro looked at Boxten, a slight emotion of shock visible on his face, yet he wasn't complaining, because he wasn't busy that day and wanted to spend time with Boxten.
"Are you sure? You look like you're still waking up.." Astro's voice was quiet, not wanting to disturb Boxten, even while knowing at back of his mind that he would not be disturbed in the slightest, since it was with him, and Boxten always seemed happier around him.
"I'm sure.." Boxten's voice sounded sleepier than it should've at this time, since he was both standing up and speaking, which most people wouldn't be able to do only a few minutes after waking up.
Astro's face lit up with excitement. It wasn't completely visible, due the fact that he was trying to hide it, but it was clear that he was excited to spend time with Boxten.
"Okay.. let's go."
Astro opened his bedroom door for Boxten, as he grabbed his hand and lead the way to the Gardenview kitchen, where the other toons would be found chatting. Astro and Boxten were both blushing at the whole hand-holding thing, and Astro was a bit scared to initiate anything, but he did, because he wanted to make it visible that he wanted to do romantic things with Boxten. Boxten was thinking about all of the possible things that could occur with Astro, similar to the night before; wondering if it was platonic or not.
As they walked, Astro gently asked "Are you okay with this?" and Boxten of course, responded with a quick "Yes"
Once they reached the kitchen, they were greeted with a bunch of "ooooh"'s from the other toons after they saw their hand holding, and a loud "I HATE ROMANCE!" coming from the one and only Shrimpo, oddly drinking juice out of a mug. The toons that were in the kitchen were Scraps, Goob, Cosmo, Sprout, Shrimpo and Shelly. They were all peacefully eating their food, and some were drinking coffee, while their eyes darted towards Astro and Boxten.
Astro let go of Boxten's hand, and quietly asked him what he'd like.
"I can get it myself.. It's fine." was his quick and quiet response. Of course, Astro wanted Boxten to fall in love with him, as if he didn't already, and wanted to do stuff for him in hopes that it'd persuade his feelings.
"Just tell me what you'd like please." His voice was calm and soft. He was usually extremely gentle with Boxten, and wanted it to show.
The other toons looked at them curiously, wondering what they were talking about, and began talking about the already apparent dating rumors between them. Shrimpo stayed silent, for once.
"Coffee and waffles.." Boxten felt shy with everyone looking at him and Astro, and so his voice was quiet.
Astro quickly walked further into the kitchen, grabbing 2 waffles from the freezer and making some coffee for Boxten. He made him 2 chocolate chip waffles and some dark coffee, which he had previously analyzed to be his usual breakfast.
Boxten just stood next to the counters shyly looking at him making everything for him. He was shocked when he knew the exact amount and kind of waffles he wanted, and the exact coffee order he always had.
The other toons kept chatting about the possible dating rumors, with Cosmo and Sprout talking about their frequent behaviors of not hanging out with anyone else except each other, and the hand holding, while Scraps and Goob were talking about the fact that they had shared a bed last night and walked out of the same room.
After a few short minutes, Astro got a plate with the waffles and the coffee in the mug that Boxten always used, it was a white cup with a black cat on it. He sat on a seat that had an empty spot next to it, and patted the one next to it gently, directing Boxten to sit on it.
Boxten took a seat next to Astro on the dining stool next to the counter. He gently said the words "thank you" and grabbed the syrup that Astro had previously laid out for him, turning the bottle upside down and squeezing it onto his waffles. He was blushing slightly at the fact that Astro was willing to go through all of this effort just to give him what he wanted. It made him feel some type of way, as if he cared about his wants and needs, especially with the way he asked if he was tired the night before.
"Are you gonna get anything?" Boxten's voice was small, it was quiet. He felt nervous, especially after Astro just did him a favor like this one.
"No, not right now, sorry." Astro sounded crazy. There was no way that he wasn't hungry after not eating since 7 PM the day before.
Boxten swiftly got off of his seat, and grabbed a bowl and the milk from the fridge, grabbing the Cosmo Cookies cereal from the pantry.
"Boxten it's fine, really-"
Astro was cut off by a quick "You're eating." and didn't want to cause a fight, so he stayed silent. He really was hungry, he just didn't want to bother Boxten at all. He enjoyed watching him so content with the food that he'd made for him
Boxten put the cereal in the bowl, and poured some milk in after, giving him a separate cup of brown coffee, sliding it over to him, only to quickly go and sit next to him again to finish his breakfast that Astro had made for him.
Astro's face turned a light shade of pink, not expecting Boxten to do the same thing for him, and replying with a quiet "thank you.."
After that, they quietly ate their breakfast together for a few minutes, not speaking to each other, simply eavesdropping on the conversations the other toons were having. That was, until Sprout got curious.
He walked over to the side of the counter where Astro and Boxten were sitting together, peacefully eating their breakfast, and patted Astro on the shoulder, with a cheeky grin on his face and all of the other toons watching.
"Hey.. So I got a few questions.." His smirk was very much present, it was obvious he was about to cause something.
Astro flinched at the sudden touch, not expecting it after the moments of silence that hit him previously, as he was used to just sitting and eavesdropping, until he responded with a quick "Yeah?"
"So we heard, did you and Boxten sleep in the same bed last night?" His grin was still present, and he let out a small giggle, trying not to show it, but it was visible. Sprout knew he would deny any feelings for Boxten, despite the way that he acts around him, with his continuous blushing and them always being together, but he knew.
He knew the way they felt about eachother, the way that they were like two peas in a pod, always together, maybe not always speaking; but together.
Astro's face turned a light shade of pink, showing that what Sprout had said was true.
"No..-just don't worry about it Sprout." His eyes slightly drifted to look at Boxten, it wasn't very noticable, but there was something in his eyes that showed affection and care.
"But you came out of the same room together? I really don't see any other things not to think about this situation.." Sprout's voice was teasing, it was clear he was trying to get something out of the shy toons, hoping that they would say something about it and confirm his little "theory"
"I wouldn't worry about it too much. He was just having nightmares." His gaze shifted back to look at Sprout, still calm, yet something showed his annoyance.
Sprout decided that he'd done enough messing around with Astro. He wasn't permanently done, he'd be back soon to tease him some more about it until he admits it, but he figured he'd done enough for now.
"Alright then, whatever floats your boat." He walked back to sit next to Cosmo, who was chatting with the other toons
With the sound of the other toons talking in the air, Astro and Boxten finished their breakfast. Boxten grabbed both of their plates and glasses and placed them into the sink. Tisha usually enjoyed cleaning that up, so he left them there for her.
As he walked back, he couldn't help but notice Astro's constant gaze on his face. It was constant, not a single distraction in sight; as if he was the most precious jewel in the world.
He finally walked back over, and Astro lazily regained his composure.
They began walking over, and Astro gently grabbed Boxten's hand once more, looking away from him with a tint of red on his face. He didn't know what he was doing, but he assumed Boxten wouldn't mind.
Once they arrived, Astro took a seat on his bed, still gently holding his hand, not saying a word, while Boxten stood there, hoping to not be rude.
"You can sit here.. if you would like."
Astro was trying to seem as nonchalant and casual as possible; limiting his words and gestures, but the way he would beam at the sight of him compared to anyone else proved otherwise.
Boxten sat next to him, tightening his grip on his hand, yet still not saying anything. Their minds were both racing at the thought of holding eachother's hands.
After a few minutes of silence, Boxten finally spoke up.
"I heard Yatta's having a party tonight, are you going? Everyone's gonna be there." His tone was deliberate and calm, hoping that he would agree to the invite.
Astro flinched at his words, surprised that he had spoke up.
"I mean, I wasn't planning on going. But if you are- I wouldn't mind.." Astro's nervousness was clear, he kept stuttering mid sentence. It was obvious that he wouldn't have been going anyway, but he'd only go with Boxten, for Boxten.
"Yeah.. we could go together." Boxten had a sincere look in his eyes that no one could beat. It was so adorable to Astro, and he just couldn't deny him.
"Okay.. It's at nine. We should have loads of time."
Boxten stood up, getting off of the bed, and helped Astro up, letting go of his hand.
"Maybe we could do something while we wait, it's only 11:34."
"We should go to the park, I heard there's lots of ducks there today and we could feed them.. if you'd like." Astro was quiet, and really hoping that Boxten would take his suggestion.
"I'd love to, let's get ready..!"