Chapter Text
The drive to Dreamworld was only about an hour from Nicholson's place, but for Wiatt it felt like eternity.
Throughout the drive, Wiatt sat there looking through photos of him and Lewis as his father, Owen, drove him to the facility.
Owen was worried for his son. He tried to open his mouth to start a conversation, but quickly closed it, knowing Wiatt wouldn’t respond. He didn’t like the silence and wanted to speak to his son as a way to distract him, but what could he say?
“Dad.” Wiatt spoke up.
Owen felt relieved hearing his son speak first.
“Do you think I’m crazy going over there?” Wiatt asked.
Owen shook his head. “Not at all. You worry about Lewis, and that’s sweet of you, Wiatt.” He replied. Wiatt gave a small smile, knowing he didn’t feel crazy for making his dad drive out there. “I know you two aren’t dating anymore, but glad you guys kept up with each other after all those years.”
“It’s only been 3 years, Dad.” Wiatt pointed out. “But yeah, it does feel like forever.”
Then something came to Owen’s mind. “You know,” He spoke up, “it would be nice to see Delilah again.” Wiatt’s eyes widened as he looked disgusted.
“Dad, no.” Wiatt groaned.
Owen rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Come on, Wiatt. It’s just going to be us catching up.” He reassured his son.
“Yeah, and then you’ll be dating her again.” Wiatt replied.
Before Sara and Wiatt were born, Delilah and Owen met at the arcade the Nicholson family owned. They started as friends and dated before they broke it off.
Owen chuckled. “Son, I promise you. It’s just us catching up. No dating required.”
Wiatt crossed his arms as he groaned. “It better be.”
Owen ruffled his son’s hair, making him groan even more.
The rest of the ride was uneventful. Wiatt just listened to his music while he and his dad chatted from time to time. Soon enough, they finally arrived at the Dreamworld facility. Wiatt stepped out of the car, and his eyes widened in surprise at the outside of Dreamworld.
The outside of the building had a colorful sign that said DreamWorld. The building was also painted with every color in the rainbow.
“Wow, Lewis and the others really decorated the place.” Wiatt commented.
Owen got out of the car and looked at the building himself. “If it’s colorful out here, then imagine what it looks like inside?” He asked.
“A death trap maybe.” Wiatt answered.
Owen gave Wiatt a playful shove. “Don’t be mean, Wiatt. Lewis and his friends did an excellent job with the place.”
“Yeah, and Sara is one of his friends, and I don’t trust her.”
Owen chuckled. “Wiatt, I know you see Sara as a friend.”
Wiatt’s eyes widened. “She’s not my friend.”
“You spent time with her, though.” Owen pointed out.
“Yeah, because of Lewis.”
“But to me she’s still your friend, plus you have a lot in common.”
“How so?” Wiatt asked, raising an eyebrow.
Owen thought for a second. “Well, you both care for Lewis.”
Wiatt rolled his eyes and groaned. “That’s obvious, Dad.”
“Okay…” Owen paused, trying to think of what else Sara and his son had in common. “Well…both of you like the Dandy’s World cartoon.”
“Dad!” Wiatt groaned. “Many kids loved that show, and Sara’s mom was the founder of that place.”
Owen tried to think of something else, but nothing came to mind. Wiatt sighed, knowing his dad was wrong and he was right. He didn’t want to say it out loud.
Just then, the door opened, and the toons came out excitedly.
“So does anyone want to order something other than cheese and pepperoni?” Sprout asked, on his phone, writing down a list.
Bassie was about to speak up, but Finn shouted. “Anchovies, please and thank you!” He beamed.
Sprout wrote it down. “Bessie, I saw you open your mouth. What did you want?” He asked.
Bassie smiled and was about to speak, but froze seeing Wiatt. “Uh…Vegetarian, but you may wanna ask the person behind you.”
“What do you mean?” Sprout asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Turn around Sprout.” Cosmo said, sharing Bassie’s expression.
Sprout turned and stared in shock, almost dropping his phone. “Uhh…”
Wiatt gave a small smile and waved at the toons. They haven’t changed a bit since he last saw them.
“Darlings, what’s wrong?”
Wiatt looked up, and his eyes widened at Lewis. His boyfriend changed a little bit in his hairstyle and glasses. Fuck he missed him having big glasses. Lewis was unharmed, and that made Wiatt happy. “Lewis.” He said.
“Wiatt!” Lewis, Oliver, and Sara exclaimed in shock.
“WIATT!” The toons exclaimed, excited to see Wiatt. Some of them ran over and tackled the young man to the ground.
“We missed you so much, Wiatt!” Goob exclaimed, hugging Wiatt tight to where his face was turning purple.
Wiatt started to choke, “G-great! I missed you too!”
Scraps sighed and put a hand on her brother’s shoulder. “Goob. Let Wiatt go.” She said. Goob sighed and unraveled his arms, letting Wiatt go, giving the latter a chance to breathe. The second Wiatt’s face turned back to normal, Scraps quickly hugged him. “We missed you so much.”
Wiatt chuckled, rubbing Scraps between her ears. “I’m surprised you guys missed me.” He said. “I figured you guys were close to Sara; you wouldn’t miss me this much.”
“Hey, any friend of Sara is a friend of ours!” Dandy exclaimed.
Sara and Wiatt groaned and rolled their eyes at the same time. “He’s/She’s not my friend!” They yelled at the same time. Their eyes widened as they said the same thing. “Stop copying me!”
Dandy chuckled, seeing the two copy each other. They quickly turned and glared at the flower toon, causing Dandy to gulp and go quiet.
“Wiatt, what are you doing here?” Lewis asked.
“Well, during our call. I got worried when I heard Starlight on the other line, so I begged my dad to drive me here.” Wiatt explained.
Owen waved at Lewis and his friends with a smile. “Hey guys!” He exclaimed.
“Hey, Mr. Nicholson.” Lewis and his friends said at the same time, nervously.
“So, during our call,” Wiatt started, “There was something about Starlight being created.”
Lewis and Oliver started to get nervous, while Sara started to get angry, but tried to keep a smile. She gripped Lewis’ shoulder and hissed into his ear. “Lewis, you’d better tell me you didn’t tell him everything.”
“I-I didn’t darling.” Lewis whispered back.
“Then how-” Sara was cut off when Starlight and Ridley went over to Wiatt.
“So, your Wiatt?!” Ridley exclaimed.
Wiatt looked shocked at the two new toons in front of him. He looked up at Lewis and his friends, glaring at Sara. “What did you do?” He asked.
Sara rolled her eyes in disgust. “Why do you always blame me for everything?” She asked.
“I get bad vibes from you, so…you’re the easiest to blame.” Wiatt replied.
“Uh oh...” Boxten whispered.
“Mewheee. This is gonna be good.” Gigi laughed.
Sara felt her face turn red from anger, ready to punch Wiatt into next week. She laughed and slowly walked over to Wiatt, her hands turning into a fist. “Well, you’re the easiest to have your ass kicked by a girl!” She growled.
Wiatt chuckled. “Oh, I don’t mind kicking your ass bitch!” He yelled.
“Alright!” Owen shouted, pushing the two away from each other. “Knock it off, you two!” Wiatt and Sara growled at one another, knowing that if Owen wasn’t holding them, they would be fighting.
Gigi pouted, wanting to see a fight happen. “Darn, thanks for running it, Mr. Nicholson.”
Owen sighed. “Sorry, but I’m making sure these two won’t kill each other.” He replied.
“But he/she!” Sara and Wiatt yelled, pointing at one another, but were cut off by the glare Owen gave them. The two sighed. “Fine.” Owen smiled and ruffled both their heads, making them groan.
“Now, I’m sure it’s been a long day for all of us. Why don’t we head back home and get some rest?” Owen suggested.
Then Starlight had an idea, “Wait! Wiatt, why don’t you work with us?” Starlight asked.
“What?” Wiatt asked, confused.
“WHAT?!” The founders and the toons yelled, confused or excited as well. They all stared at the star toon, hoping he’d explain more of his idea.
“I mean, do we have any other workers for Dreamworld?” Starlight asked.
The toons realize they were so busy helping Sara and her friends with Dreamworld that they didn’t have any extra help. “Well, you guys, but I was wondering when we’ll have human workers.” Oliver explained.
Owen and Wiatt looked at one another. “Well, I know you helped me out with the arcade, but you said you wanted to take a gap year from college to earn some money.” Owen explained.
“And you can spend time with your boyfriend.” Ridley added, nudging Lewis, causing him to blush.
“Just a friend, darling.” Lewis corrected the lemur toon. “We’re just friends now.”
Wiatt felt hurt from that statement, but didn’t show it. “Y-Yeah.” He replied, looking down. “Look, it’s nice you want to give me a job, but I’m okay with working at the arcade.”
“Aww.” Some of the toons groaned.
“Oh, please, Wiatt!” Goob begged, putting his hands together and pleading with the boy by giving him another big hug.
Wiatt’s face turned blue as he started to choke again. “G-Goob. I can’t breathe.”
“Goob, is it?” Owen spoke up. Goob nodded quickly in reply. “Think you can let my son go, again?”
Goob loosened his grip, but still held onto Wiatt. “Sorry, but you should stay with us, Wiatt. Please.”
Wiatt wanted to deny working at Dreamworld, but he saw a few of the toons pouting. He looked at Lewis and his friends and sighed, “I guess I’ll accept the job.” He said.
The toon’s eyes widened and smiled, “YAY!” The toons cheered loudly.
“Well, looks like we got a new worker.” Oliver said.
“Y-Yeah.” Lewis replied, slightly blushing. Showing his emotions towards Wiatt hadn’t changed.
“Yeah…” Sara added, though she didn’t seem pleased having Wiatt as part of the team.
“This is gonna be great, Wiatt!” Goob cheered. “I need to show you the inside!” The fluffy toon was ready to show Wiatt around when suddenly…
Grumble.
The group’s eyes widened when they heard it and turned towards Wiatt. The latter chuckled, knowing that sound was coming from him. “Guess I was in a rush over here. I forgot to eat.” He said.
Lewis chuckled as well. “Good news, darling, we were just heading over to Eric’s house for some pizza.” He replied. “Want to join us?”
Wiatt smiled. “Sure, I’m down for some pizza!” He exclaimed. He then saw some of the toons giving a huge smile that Wiatt was joining them. “Uh…why are you guys smiling at me like that?”
“No reason.” The toons replied together.
“Okay…”
“If any of the toons want a ride. I can help with that.” Owen said, offering his car.
Hearing the offer, Goob quickly ran to the back seat of Owen’s car. “Come on, sis! Hop in!” Goob exclaimed.
Scraps chuckled. “Okay! I’m coming, Goob.” She then walked over to the car and climbed in.
“Anyone else?” Owen asked. “I got room for two more.”
The toons looked at one another, wondering who would like to go first. Vee sighed and spoke up. “Alright, I volunteer.”
“Doll,” Glisten spoke up. “Do you want me to join you?”
Vee looked over at the mirror and slightly blushed. “S-Sure, why not?” She replied nervously.
Glisten smiled, took Vee’s hand, and went to Owen’s car. As they were getting in, Dandy decided to tease his friend. “You lovebirds have fun now!”
Vee blushed so hard from embarrassment that her screen glitched into an exclamation point. Once her screen came back, she turned to Dandy in anger. The flower toon laughed hard until he felt Vee’s microphone tail smack him on the face. The TV toon smirked as she went inside the car.
Dandy, who now had a red microphone print on his face, glared at his friend. He then heard Sara snicker, and he turned to glare at her, his eyes having a red tint. “S-Sorry. You deserved it.” Sara chuckled.
Dandy groaned as Sara led him to her car, still chuckling.
The group made it to Eric’s house, and the former teacher miscalculated the size of his house and the amount of toons inside. He was already exhausted from handing out pizzas to the toons, and had to get help from his former classmates and his daughter.
“Dad.” Carly spoke up after handing pizza to Toodles and Gourdy. “Next time we invite the toons over, we do it at the facility or Lewis’ house.”
“Of course, my ladybug.” Eric replied.
The toons were enjoying their pizza and soda while they talked with each other.
As Sara got her second slice of pizza, she turned to see Dandy and Vee sitting together, watching the backyard. Earlier the two were bickering and now they're both sitting next to each other without violence. Curious, Sara walked over to the two, but as she got closer, she realized what the two were watching outside.
Outside, Lewis and Wiatt were catching up on things, laughing, drinking soda, and eating pizza as they went. Even though the two did call every month, it felt like forever since they last met face to face.
“Are you two spying on Lewis and Wiatt?” Sara asked.
“Yep!” Dandy and Vee replied at the same time.
“And this is the only time you two aren’t trying to kill one another?”
“Yep!” They replied again.
Sara rolled her eyes and decided to join the two toons and watch Lewis and Wiatt catch up on things. Due to the glass door, no one could hear what Lewis and Wiatt were talking about. “What do you two think they’re talking about?” Sara asked.
Vee shrugged. “Not a clue, but seeing Lewis and Wiatt’s expressions, they’re catching up on things.” She explained.
Sara thought for a second and remembered the phone calls Lewis and Wiatt had every week when he left to help with Dreamworld. They talked about everything that happened during the week, what was there to talk about now that the two were face-to-face again. “Probably so.” Sara replied. “Even though they had lengthy phone calls.”
“Are you guys watching Lewis and Wiatt?” Sprout asked as he and Cosmo brought over their plate of pizza.
“Yep. Nothing interesting like your dates with Cosmo.” Vee replied.
“Hey!” Sprout and Cosmo snapped back. Vee and Sara giggled as the fruit and cake rolled toon sat next to their friends. “So, what have we missed?”
“Not much.” Dandy replied.
“They’re just talking.” Vee added.
The group continued to watch as Wiatt explained something that happened, and Lewis started to laugh hard. Dandy leaned in, putting him close to the window in hopes he could hear the conversation.
“Hear anything?” Sara asked.
Dandy removed his face from the window. “Only muffles, but I can’t make out what they're saying.” He answered.
“Maybe I can help with that.” The ghost toon, Connie said, appeared behind the flower. Dandy jumped, falling off the couch as the ghost toon chuckled.
“Connie! Could you please not do that?” Dandy asked.
Connie crossed her arms and gave a smug smile. “Sorry, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.” She replied. Quickly, the ghost toon went back to the topic at hand, “but I can go and see what Lewis and Wiatt are talking about.” Connie turned invisible and flew right through the screen door to listen in on the conversation.
Everyone waited patiently for Connie to come back with the news. However, they saw Lewis shiver before Wiatt came by and put his arms around him to warm him up. Lewis blushed, “uh..thank you darling.” He said.
Wiatt smiled. “Anytime.”
The group inside continued to watch as Wiatt and Lewis talk. Connie then came back inside and turned visible again.
“Well, what are they talking about?” Dandy asked.
“Just Wiatt telling stories about what happened in college recently and Lewis sharing stories about Dreamworld.” Connie explained. “Nothing too important.”
“Oooh, are we spying on them?!” Ridley exclaimed. The group turned to the lemur toon, who seemed excited to join in on spying on Wiatt and Lewis. “Can I join?”
Dandy and the toons looked at one another before the flower toon smiled. “Of course, you're welcome to join in on our chaos!”
Ridley’s eyes widened in happiness. He got up on the chair, between Vee and Dandy, to watch Lewis and Wiatt talk. He listened in and smiled. “Looks like Lewis and Wiatt missed each other.” He mentioned before listening to some more of the conversation. The group’s eyes widened towards the lemur toon. “Wiatt is asking Lewis once more if they can date again.”
“Ooooh!” Scraps and Goob exclaimed, joining the group. “Let’s watch lil’ bro!” Scraps exclaimed.
Goob nodded and went up on the couch to watch Lewis and Wiatt.
“How do you know what they're saying?” Sara asked.
Ridley’s ears twitched. “I have great hearing. So, I can hear anything from miles away.” He explained.
Connie chuckled, hearing about the lemur’s ability. “Awesome! You can join Yatta and me when we sneak around the facility.” She explained, smirking.
Hearing her name, Yatta appeared behind Connie. “I heard my name and sneaking around.” She said, squeaking.
Oliver looked at the ghost toon with a deadpan expression. “Connie and Yatta, do you two know a thing about boundaries?” He asked.
“No, we don’t.” Yatta and Connie replied at the same time with a smile.
Oliver looked shocked and turned to Sara. “Sara, how have you not lost your sanity yet?” He asked.
“When you grow up with them. This stuff is normal.” Sara replied. Oliver sighed and rolled his eyes, as to him, this was eavesdropping.
Ridley listened more to the conversation and smiled. “Oooh, it’s gotten interesting.” He sang.
“Oooh spill.” Yatta said, getting excited.
Ridley continued to listen to the conversation, before he heard words he had never heard before. He slowly removed his ears from the glass door with a shocked expression. The ones who were watching looked at the lemur toon, confused. “Uh…Sara, Oliver, could you explain something to me?” He asked.
“Sure, what is it?” Sara asked.
Ridley wanted to open his mouth to say what he wanted to say, but some mysterious force was keeping him from saying it loud and proud. He then whispered to Sara and Oliver what he heard, and they looked horrified at what Ridley just told them. The toons looked confused and turned to the two.
“So, what did he say?” Dandy asked.
Ridley turned to the toons and was ready to open his mouth to say it, but quickly Sara slapped her hand over his mouth. “Dandicus, you do NOT need to know what he told us!” Sara yelled, warning the toons.
Eric, hearing the commotion, came over to the group along with his daughter Carly. “What’s going on?” He asked.
“Ridley told us something very disturbing.” Sara replied.
Carly and Eric looked at one another. “How disturbing is it?” Carly asked.
Oliver decided to whisper to his former teacher what Ridley just told him, and he looked just as shocked as his former students. Oliver nodded to let him know that Ridley did, in fact, say that.
“Okay! Now I’m curious what he said?!” Dandy yelled.
“Same here.” Carly added.
“NO ONE HERE NEEDS TO KNOW!” Eric, Oliver, and Sara yelled. This caused everyone to go to the three adults, asking them what Ridley asked, which made them stressed out.
Outside, Wiatt and Lewis heard the commotion and smirked. Turns out this was all just a prank to stop them from listening in on their conversation. “I think that’s the last time they’ll listen in on us darling.” Lewis said.
“You said it, darling.” Wiatt replied, smirking before kissing his boyfriend on the cheek. Lewis chuckled as the two continued to eat their pizza, while the chaos was going on inside Eric’s home.