Chapter Text
The three hugged and said their goodbyes, wishing Shelly good luck for the show tonight, where they would be in the audience cheering her on.
Scraps and Tisha headed down the hall towards their respective rooms, and Shelly went the opposite way towards the stage. The show was set to start in 45 or so minutes, so she figured she’d get there early. Vee was probably already there setting up for the show, so she could talk to her a bit before it started.
She brushed her jacket off and tucked her sketchbook into her bag before walking into the room, ready to face the music.
She glanced around the room, a large stage at the center with a few rows of seats facing it. The walls were green and black, no surprise there since vee designed it. On the stage were three podiums, each equipped with a screen and a red buzzer button. The walls were decorated with posters, tvs, and lights. Vee did a hell of a job designing this place for sure.
Speaking of, she was no where to be found. Just Astro was on the stage, plugging in some lights.
“Hey Astro.” She waved, making herself known as she walked up onto the stage. She had help Vee set up before, but had never really been on the stage for a show. The nerves were getting to her a bit as she recognized the butterflies in her stomach.
“Hey Shell.” He looked to her. “You look nice.
She smiled, thanking him. She glanced around the room, noticing how the majority of it was pretty much set up, minus a few lights and the microphones. “Is uh, Vee around?”
“I haven’t seen her, she must be in her room.” Astro hummed. “Mind helping me set up these lights?”
“Sure thing.” She said, kneeling down next to him and the light panel. “You think she’s alright? Normally she’s here setting up all day when there’s a show.”
“Yeah, it’s odd. Maybe some last minute work came up?” Astro questioned, handing Shelly a power cord connected to a stage light he was holding. “The second row, please.” He said before hopping off the stage.
“Maybe she’s taking a power nap.” Shelly joked, plugging a cord. The light flicked on and Astro positioned it on the ground to point at the stage.
“Hm. You might be right actually.” He stood up.
“Huh?”
“Yeah.” He closed his eyes for a moment, yellow and blue stars flickering around his head. Shelly hadn’t ever seen him use his magic before. She knew he could sense when people were sleeping, and could even see their dreams, but past that she had no clue how it worked. She watched him in admiration, entranced by the glowing stars dancing and flickering around him. Just as soon as they appeared, they faded, and Astro opened his eyes.
“Yeah. She’s sleeping.” He chuckled. “We should wake her. The show starts soon and we kinda need a host.” Astro hummed, concerned with what he was shown in Vee’s dream.
“I can go grab her, if you wanna finish up here!” Shelly chimed in, more eager than she intended.
Astro nodded. “I’m almost done, so don’t let her worry about setting up, I bet she’ll want to do the mics, however.”
“On it!” Shelly said, hopping off the stage. “Be right back!”
“Tell her good morning from me.” Astro smiled, adjusting the spotlight. He chose not to worry Shelly with the contents of Vee’s dream, instead letting the carefree girl wake Vee in her own time.
Shelly waved and exited the room, heading down the hallway towards Vee’s room. It was conveniently right across from Shelly’s.
Sleeping? Right before a show? Vee hardly took naps, Shelly had only ever see her really doze off once.
She loved the memory, even if Vee denied it ever happened out of embarrassment. Shelly thought it was sweet.
~~~
“Ugh. I’m gonna need a new motherboard after that.” Vee groaned, dragging her feet into the elevator. Shelly followed behind her, sighing in relief. “Thank god it’s over at least.” Shelly sighed, dumping the supplies she found into the community box.
“I hate supply runs. They take so longgg.” She groaned. “Feels like we’ve been here for years.” She dragged on, dumping all her stuff into the pile after Shelly.
“Thanks guys, don’t worry about organizing, you’ve helped plenty! Take a rest while the elevator goes up hm?” Brightney smiled at the two, sorting the pile of snacks, tapes and other supplies.
Shelly thanked her and headed to the other side of the elevator, sitting down against a wall.
“Mind if I take two of these?” Vee asked, pointing to the chocolate bar pile. Brightney winked. “I won’t tell!”
Vee smiled and thanked her, finding a spot next to Shelly.
“What’d you grab?” Shelly smiled at Vee.
“Some chocolate. For the ride up.” Vee said, handing Shelly a bar as she bit into her own.
“My hero, im starving.” Shelly sighed, unwrapping and taking a bite of the bar. She pulled out her pencil and sketchbook and flipped to a page a page with some dinosaurs drawn on it.
“What’re you drawing?” Vee asked, tilting her head to see.
“Hm? Oh. It’s a Microraptor. One of the many different raptors from the Cretaceous period.” She turned to look at Vee. “It’s my favorite.”
“Why this one? And not like, a T-Rex or something?” Vee yawned, letting her head rest on Shelly’s shoulder, she looked into Shelly’s eyes, not missing how they had widened.
“The Rex was much cooler in my opinion.” Vee winked, taking another bite.
Shelly blushed, flustered. “Don’t you know all the dinosaur facts already?”
“Maybe I do.” Vee teased, “But I like listening to you talk about them.”
Shelly scoffed and laughed, looking back at her sketchbook. The butterflies in her stomach swirling.
“The microraptor was the smallest of its kind, about the size of a crow. Also like a crow, fossils revealed that its feathers were an iridescent black. Pretty neat.” She spoke, hearing vee hum in amusement.
“Could it fly?” Vee yawned again, blinking slowly, letting her hands rest in her lap.
“Not fly, but it could glide. Making it super speedy and hard to catch.” She answered, feeling as Vee leaned against her further. Vee hummed quietly in response.
“The Latin name translates to ‘small thief’ funnily. Considering its size and speed, its hunting style most likely consisted of snatching food from others and running off. It was an omnivore, its diet consisting of whatever it could get its hands on. A funny little guy.” Shelly spoke, taking one last bite of her snack as she sketched in the feathers. “Anyways, despite its size it was a great hunter, thriving in its time. Which makes me like it even more. Despite the odds and probably being pushed around by the bigger raptors in its family, it stayed strong.” Shelly spoke.
“Sorry im probably rambling-“She realized, glancing to Vee.
It’s then when she noticed that she had dozed off with her head resting on Shelly’s shoulder, breathing quietly.
Shelly froze for a moment, unsure what to do. Her mind was racing, butterflies swarming in her stomach. Her heart pounded, taking in the fact that Vee had literally fallen asleep on her shoulder.
Oh my god. What do I do? Wake her? No. She’s exhausted. Just- just relax and let her rest. But she’s sleeping on my shoulder???! Holy shit-
She caught Astro’s eyes from the other side of the elevator, smiling lightly at her. He breathed deeply and exaggerated, prompting her to follow along and relax. He winked at her, then turned back to continue his conversation with Dandy.
Shelly sighed, calming down so she wouldn’t wake the girl. She continued drawing like normal, matching her breathing with Vee’s. It calmed her, and she felt herself relax.
This was nice, she thought, feeling a small smile creep across her face.
~~~
Her mind wandered from the memory as she approached Vee’s room. She paused in front of the door, wondering why she could be sleeping right now. Power nap? Maybe she was low on battery? Or maybe she wasn’t feeling well. She hoped it was just a power nap. Vee hardly ever took those, only rare occasions where she was overwhelmed or had been super busy, so it would make sense.
As she raised her hand to knock, she paused, listening close through the door. It’s then she when realized she could hear quiet snoring.
Shelly smiled, giggling quietly. On any other day she would have walked away and let Vee rest, but like astro said, they kinda needed a show host.
Reluctantly, she brought her hand up to the door and knocked.
“Vee? You in there?”