Chapter Text
5:30 P.M.
Sprout was all alone in his room, having spent nearly a full day with Looey. He hadn’t even thought of Cosmo, not until now. And right now, he could only feel pure lividness. Pure, unfiltered rage. He couldn’t lay a finger on why he was so angry, on why Cosmo was the receiving end of it. It contrasted how he usually felt about him.
Sprout’s breath rasped, his eyes slowly trailing towards his door as the sounds of Toons chattering blended with the silence in the air. He wanted to come out and socialize, but he just couldn’t. Not now. He needed to wait.
Even still, a knock came from his door. Sprout clenched his teeth, forcing himself up off his bed and making way towards his door. He slowly creaked it, hoping to see anyone but Cosmo. To his delight, it was just Vee. At this rate, Vee was visiting him much more often than the other mains. He was grateful for that.
Vee looked relatively relaxed and was happy to see him. “Hey Sprout. Just wanted to see what you were up to.”
“Not much, honestly. I was just taking time to relax alone.”
Vee nodded and hummed intently. “I see, I see. I noticed you started hanging around with Looey again. Not sure what was up between you two before, but I’m glad to see you guys talking again.”
Sprout smiled, trying to keep himself composed as the memories of what happened earlier flooded back into his mind. Any anger he was holding onto dulled drastically. Hah, yeah. Just a bit of a misunderstanding, but we’re cool now!”
“That’s good..” Vee paused, computing what else to ask. “How’ve you been with Cosmo? Haven’t been seeing you two together for a while. Did you talk to him yet?”
Sprout’s smile faltered a bit. His anger had returned just as quickly as it had left. “Well.. I hang with him all the time. It’s fine to take a break from him, is it not?” He chose to ignore the last question.
“Well, that sounds a bit like you don’t want to be around him as much as you used to. Whatever happened to that? Aren’t you even labeled his ‘best friend’ or ‘sidekick’ or something like that?”
Sprout clenched his fist tightly. He didn't want to talk about Cosmo anymore, but he continued to reply.
“Why should I be enforcing that title when it doesn’t benefit me? It just makes me seem so..dependent.. Or, like I need to have him by my side to function.”
“…I didn’t say anything like that.”
Sprout and Vee stared at each other, the silence between them tensing. Vee’s eyes narrowed just a twinge. “Is this how you feel about being his friend?”
“No.” Sprout replied bluntly. He hid back behind his door, beginning to creak it shut. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Leave.”
“..Fine. You don’t have to tell me about it.”
As Vee began to walk away from his room, Sprout groaned and gripped his leaves tightly. He hadn’t felt such a level of anger before. Not even when people called him Seedly. He couldn’t think about Cosmo without feeling a kind of rage that he’d never thought was possible. But he knew what he’d have to do at some point. He did still need to talk to him. Though if he did, he knew it wouldn’t go well.
Sprout waited until Vee was far enough from his door to open it again, peering out from inside. He made himself walk out fully, taking small, almost timid steps down the hall. As he went, he stared down at the floor, trying to seem uninterested in interacting with anyone. Still, as he went, he could hear the sound of footsteps racing from behind him. He did the turn to see who it was.
“Sprout! Hey Sprout!..” A happy, high pitch voice sounded about. Shelly..
“Not now, Shelly.”
Shelly’s smile grew, a daring and persistent look on her face. “Oh come on, you’re gonna wanna hear what I have to say! Or..what Looey has to say!”
Sprout paused, causing Shelly to accidentally bump into him. She rubbed her head, recollecting herself as Sprout slowly turned his head a tad. “.. Looey wants to tell me something?”
Shelly nodded. “Yes! It’s something important, come on!..”
Sprout’s gaze softened. What could Looey want to tell him?.. He wanted to know. By the looks of it, it seemed to be good news. He turned around fully, a soft smile on his face.
“Alright, alright.. Where is he?”
“I’ll show ya!”
Shelly skips off down the opposite end of the hall. Sprout jogged after her.
As they went, Sprout could see the silhouettes of the circus trio, plus some other Toons he couldn’t name yet. He could see Looey, who seemed to be facing away from them. Shelly grabbed Sprout by the shoulder, stopping him in his place.
“Okay, don’t move..” Shelly stepped over to the well dressed Looey, whispering incoherently to him. He nodded a couple of times, before finally speaking. The Toons behind him stopped talking, focusing solely on the three of them.
“So..Uhm.. Sprout..” Looey’s voice trembled nervously, his hands clutching something just out of view.
“Yes Loo?..”
“You know I’ve spent a lot of time with you recently… and I’ve been uhm.. really thinking..”
Looey spun around quickly, a bit too fast for himself. He clutched a bouquet of roses in his trembling hands, his eyes squeezed shut.
“Would you care to.. go on a date?!.. With me?! Us?!..”
Sprout stared at the sideways facing Looey, before bursting into a fit of laughter. Looey whined in distraught, thinking Sprout was beginning to make fun of him. Suddenly, he felt warm hands clutch his shoulders, turning him towards the side.
He forced himself to open his eyes and saw Sprout, who was smiling without a care in the world. Looey felt himself blush as his ichor-pumping heart stammered in his chest.
“You were facing the wall there, Loo! So much for you being aerodynamic..hah!” Sprout chuckled as Looey’s face reddened even more, both from embarrassment and how close the both of them were. He laughed nervously.
“Haha..yeah.. yeah.. So, it’s a..?”
“Yes, Loo, I’d love to go on a date with you.”
Looey’s face shined with pure glee and excitement, his tail wagging furiously behind him. He jumped around and cheered. “Woohoo! I’m going on a date with the strawberry!”
The Toons behind them clapped and cheered as well, earning a shy wave from Sprout. As Looey calmed down, Sprout got his attention again.
“So, what time?..”
“7:30? Well, no, that’s way too soon.. I need to prep.. 8?..8:30?.. Well now I seem needy.. H-How’s 9 sound? 9:30?..” Looey stammered, holding up numbers with his fingers as his messy, thought filled mind tried to come up with a time that Sprout would be okay with.
Sprout grabbed his hands gently and held them up to his mouth, kissing both softly.
“Calm down, Loo. 8:30 sounds swell.”
“Okay!.. Okay! I can do that! Uhh.. I should probably go prep now so bye!! I..I’ll see ya!!..”
Looey quickly darted off, dropping his bouquet without even noticing. Sprout didn’t say anything, kneeling down to pick up the messy flowers. He brought them to his face, nuzzling his head into them. Shelly walked over to him, the shine in her eyes glistening like never before.
“I’m so happy for you and Looey!.. You should probably get ready though.”
“Don’t worry..” Sprout ran a hand through his leaves, completely awestruck by the fact that Looey had the gall to plan a whole proposal-styled ask-out just for him.
“I think I know someone that can get me real nice..”
8:20 P.M
“Stay still, would you?!”
“Ah- I’m sorry!.. it just pinches..”
Sprout was sat in Glisten’s dressing chair, getting his hair put up in a neat ponytail.
“I cannot believe you needed me to do a simple ponytail for you. What are you, five?”
Sprout scoffed. “I just want to make sure I look real nice for this date, okay?”
Glisten smacked his lips. “Right.. whatever.. You haven’t even told me who the lucky gal is.”
“..Guy.”
“Whatever. Guy, gal, gender neutral thing, I don’t know. Wait- I do know.. what I am talking about..” Glisten chuckled poshly, grabbing a fistful of Sprout’s leaves. He tucked them back, earning a wince from Sprout.
“Agh…Gentle with the leaves..”
Glisten scoffed and rolled his eyes sassily. “Tch, I know what I’m doing. Since when were you so tenderheaded.. No wonder you suck at styling your leaves.”
Sprout stammered, his words falling out like a jumbled mess. He sighed loudly, leaning back in his chair as Glisten finished up his leaves.
“Alright.. alright… just need some setting spray..”
Glisten turned around to grab some fertilizer, which he figured would work well. As he did so, Sprout tilted his head to the side to look himself in the mirror. His eyes glistened as his hand slightly rose up to touch a leaf. As Glisten turned back around, he slapped Sprout on the hand, causing him to yelp and shrink back.
“Hey! Don’t you dare mess with your leaves! I refuse to fix anything you mess up.”
“Okay!.. okay..” Sprout shook his stinging hand. Glisten sprayed some fertilizer over Sprout, causing his eyes to twitch a bit as some of it landed in his eyes. Glisten sat the bottle down, smiling to himself.
“Okay! You’re all set, Sprouty. Go ahead and look at yourself in the mirror there.”
Sprout slowly stood up, stepping to the side to look at himself. Before he could assess his reflection though, Glisten grabbed his shoulder roughly, spinning him around.
“Actually, I changed my mind. I could be a better mirror than that pesky thing. Go ahead and take a gander, hun.” Glisten tilted his head towards Sprout, closing his eyes so Sprout could see better. He leaned close, his eyes darting around all his features.
His leaves were tucked back in a tight, low ponytail, glistening in the white light of Glisten’s room. His face was smooth, apart from the few seeds on the side of his face. His thick, bushy eyebrows tied his look together. He smiled to himself, speaking lowly.
“Hm.. I look real nice..”
“Hah, I did that.”
Sprout flinched, forgetting he had been staring into Glisten’s reflective face. He opened his eyes and stood back.
“You haven’t told me who you’re gonna be meeting tonight, Seedly.”
“First of all, don’t call me that- and.. I don’t know Glisten.. You’re probably gonna be all judgemental.”
Glisten cooed. “Oh.. pfft- me? Of all people?.. Hah..”
He wrapped an arm around Sprout’s shoulder, crossing his legs. “Well, yeah, I’m totally gonna judge, but I’m not as harsh as ya think! Come one.. tell me!”
Sprout sighed, scratching the back of his head. “..It’s Looey..”
Glisten hummed. “Well, I don’t have much to ridicule him for. Just surprised he caught your interest and all. You seem out of his league.”
“Well, I think he’s nice.” Sprout smiled to himself. “Real nice.. He’s a bit of an overthinker, and he does struggle with anxiety.. But I can help him with that. He didn’t really seem like he had people to lean on, even with his circus buddies.”
“Is that so?”
“Mhm. I want to get to know him more tonight. Maybe we’ll click better than we thought.”
Glisten shifted his weight, pulling his hand back and instead placing it on his hip. “Well, I hope you both kick it off. I think Looey’s a sweetheart. And with that charm of yours, you’ll surely catch him head over heels.”
“Hah, like I haven’t done that already..” Sprout sighed, subtly fanning his reddening face. He looked towards the door, beginning to head for it.
“Good luck Sprout! You better seal the deal!”
“Uhuh! For sure!”
Sprout left out the door, beginning to close it. Before he did, Glisten tossed the rose bouquet Sprout received earlier from Looey towards him. He caught it without fail, watching Glisten wink at him before he shut the door fully. Sprout took a second to breathe.
“Man, you got this Sprout. You’ll totally kick it. Yeah..Yeah!”
Sprout smiled, beginning to dart down to the diner. As he went, his heart pounded as thoughts of what might happen during and after the date swam in his head. Turning corners and passing Toons, he finally made it to the entrance. Glancing at the tables, he tried to scan for that familiar balloon dog.
And, to his delight, he found him quietly waiting. He ran over, faster than his brain could compute his steps. He nearly tripped over his own foot, right in front of Looey. Looey looked over, seeming caught off guard. Sprout saved himself from falling, standing upright and adjusting his tie.
“Hey there Loo!..” Sprout chuckled nervously. Looey smiled and waved at him as he sat down in front of him. “Hey Sprout! You’re early.”
“Am I? What’s the time?”
“8:27.”
Sprout shrugged. “Well, I’m not that early.”
“Still!”
The two of them stared at each other lovingly, right as Cosmo turned towards their table and began making way.
“Hellooo lovebirds! What’ll it be for the both of you?”
Sprout’s smile slightly faded. Cosmo.
“Uh, hm.. not sure what I want. Sprout, what’re you thinking?”
Sprout didn’t respond, simply staring out into oblivion
“Uh.. Sprout?.. You there?”
Sprout snapped out of it, his eyes meeting Looey’s. “Oh, yeah. I’m..uhh.. Was just thinking about something.”
“It’s alright.. What did you want to eat?”
Sprout thought to himself. “..Alfredo. We have alfredo, right?”
Cosmo chuckled. “Of course we do, Sprout. You memorized the menus here, remember?”
“..I forgot.” Sprout said bluntly. Cosmo didn’t quite catch on, happily walking off to prepare their meals. “Alrighty, two plates of alfredo.. Not a problem!”
Looey looked slightly concerned. “Sprout, is everything okay? You seem off.”
“I’m okay, seriously.. Don’t worry about me. As far as I’m concerned, I should be worrying about you.”
“Me?” Looey tilted his head. “You don’t have to worry about me!”
“Well, with how much you hurt yourself performing circus tricks, I beg to differ. It’s more concerning when you don’t let me or any other healer heal you.”
“Well.. I uh..” Looey paused, chucking nervously as his tail thumped against the side of his chair. “..Don’t wanna be a waste of resources.. you know?”
Sprout leaned over the table, reaching for Looey’s hand and holding it gently in his. “Looey, you are never, ever a waste of anything.”
Looey’s eyes widened at the gesture, his tail wagging much faster. His face flushed a soft red. “Aahah- Right! Forget I ever said anything!..”
Despite freaking out, he didn’t pull his hand away, instead gripping Sprout’s hand softly. Sprout’s gentle smile grew after noticing that.
The both of them continued to talk, laugh, and bicker about random things. About what they like to do, what they like to watch. To play. To make. Anything they could think of. As Cosmo came to place their plates, they still continued, despite Sprout’s demeanor faltering.
By the time 9 o’ clock came around, they had finished eating and talking. Looey stared Sprout deeply in the eyes.
“Sprout.. I.. I just want to thank you for.. being so kind to me. For being so.. charming, to me. All of that junk.”
Sprout nodded slightly. “Of course, of course. I love spending time with you, Loo. So..”
Sprout went to rest a hand on Looey’s face.
“Let me know if you ever want to do this again. Seriously.” Sprout brought his mouth to Looey’s for a quick peck, listening to the sound of Looey’s tail wagging just slightly faster, just like how his heartbeat would go just slightly harder whenever they kissed.
“Yeah.. of course, Sprout.” Looey stood up from his seat.
“Did you.. want to come back to my room for the night?..”
Sprout’s heart slightly dropped. Having remembered the chat he had to have with Cosmo, he tried to seem unbothered.
“Ehh, I want to help Cosmo clean up the place. The next time we have this though, you bet ya.”
Looey nodded, waving goodbye to Sprout as he made his way back towards his room, starting down the halls. As Looey went, Sprout’s smile and demeanor completely flipped, fading into a dull, livid husk. He slowly stood up from his seat, walking towards the kitchen area of the diner.
He saw Cosmo, who was cleaning out a pot. As he walked closer to him, Cosmo looked up and waved happily. “Hey there, Sprout? Did you need anything?”
“No. Can we talk?”
Cosmo could hear the seriousness in his voice and stopped what he was doing. He walked closer to Sprout, his arms crossed.
“What’s up, man? Anything wrong?”
“Yes, it’s about us.” Sprout sighed, clenching his fists.”
“I’m not happy with what our friendship is. I feel like I depend on you too much. I feel like I can’t do anything, not even talk to other Toons, without having to run back to you. I’m tired of playing the role of ‘sidekick’ in this.”
Cosmo tilted his head slightly. “I..don’t understand?..”
Sprout ignored his confusion, continuing on. “You don’t discourage it. You let me rely on you as if I’m nothing without you. You know about this, don’t you?” Sprout took a step towards him.
Cosmo’s hands went up, staying calm.
“Hey, I had no idea about this. I thought you were just being clingy or something! There’s nothing wrong with being dependent.”
“Not when it makes me seem like a lonely, friendless and plain Toon. This isn’t funny.”
“I’m not trying to make light of this, Sprout. You need to calm down-“
Sprout couldn’t take it anymore, having shoved Cosmo to the ground. He fell with a hard thud, rubbing his head and groaning. He looked up at Sprout helplessly.
“Sprout!.. You.. need to stop!”
“Shut up, Cos. I don’t want to hear anything! You..you knew about this, didn’t you?!”
Sprout’s anger was bleeding through his teeth as he approached the slightly injured, cowering Cosmo.
“You knew. You knew that I couldn’t do anything without you! You knew that this was what I was made to do, and you didn’t even try to combat it! You didn’t allow me to be my own person!”
“Sprout, please stop yelling! You need to-“
Sprout kicked Cosmo straight in the stomach, causing him to yelp and groan, clutching his stomach. Sprout wasn’t satisfied, kicking again.
“Why are you always in my head?! Why can’t you leave me be?! You..knew!” Sprout kicked again. And again. And again. Each brutal kick earned a pained groan from Cosmo, who was trembling and shaking beneath Sprout. He could barely form a word due to being completely winded by the kicks.
“Why would you let me be this way?!” Another kick. Followed by a few more, brutal, harsh kicks. He kicked Cosmo one final time, watching ichor fly from his mouth. At that point, he was still. Conscious, but barely.
Tears were streaming down his eyes, as he clutched his stomach in agony. He made small, pained whimpers as he laid there. Sprout hadn’t felt a bit of regret for what he had done. He stared down at Cosmo in what could only be described as pure disgust. His breath was heavy, having exhausted all of his energy on causing as much damage to Cosmo as he could.
“…You knew.”
Sprout turned, beginning to walk off. He ignored the wheezes Cosmo made, adjusting his tie and continuing off without ever sparing Cosmo another glance.
The same thought reverbed in his heated head.
He knew.
He knew.
He knew.