Chapter Text
One second, you see your best friend is walking with her love interest to the main room, the other? Your same best friend is flying to her room in tears, with her crush following behind, trying to catch up.
That's exactly what Gigi and Flutter were seeing, how Connie was happily going with Brightney toward the main hall, so that a few seconds later she flew to the other side, crying, with Brightney behind, trying to catch her. Just a blink after Goob and Scraps walked to their room. They knew what happened. And a pang of worry washed over them
Flutter looked at Gigi, who was as concerned as she, and noticed she didn't know what to do, uneasy. The butterfly knew her girlfriend didn't work well under pressure or any bad strong emotion, or when someone was crying, but this was Connie, their best friend, who scared them to laught with them after a bad run, who protected them every time they were in danger. She knew, deep down, Gigi was determinated to comfort Connie, she just didn't knew how to start
Gigi looked at Flutter, trying to figure out how to start when they get to Connie's room, she was getting overwhelmed too quick, and she hated it; they should've said something before Connie and Brightney walked up any further, they were wrong thinking no toon would call her "Boolinsky" now that they knew.
Flutter frowned, and tried to reassure her a bit by looking at her with calm eyes. —"...!!" (...Take it easy). She chripped as she tried to push her with her wings, trying to get Gigi to walk, and surprisingly, after a few attemps, it worked.
Gigi snapped out of her shocked state and looked at Flutter, nodding. —"... Let's go, we need to talk with Con and Brightney.." She mumbled, walking to their direction at a slightly quick pace.
Flutter followed behind, knowing there was no time to reassure Gigi, Connie needed to know the truth.
As soon as they got to Connie's room, they saw Brightney outside, knocking on it softly but desperate. She looked at the couple and frowned. —"You guys know her better... She doesn't want to open it, and she's crying..." She mumbled, her voice filled with stress, it was clear the lamp was worried for Connie, but they rarely interacted, thanks to Connie being too nervous to approach.
Gigi stepped in, uneasy but determinated. —"I know" She answered, walking up to the door.
—"Con... Come on, open up buddy, we need to tell you something... We won't laugh if you're crying, I promise" She said with a soft voice, worry all over her face. —"It's just Brightney, Flutter and me.." She tried turning the handle, but it wouldn't budge.
Flutter chripped by her side, worried but unabe to do anything. Brightney tried to find something that could help to unlock the door, maybe hair clip? a safety pin, anything. But the three of them stopped as they heard the familiar click of a door unlocking as Connie appeared, pale, looking away, not meeting anyone's eyes, her tear-streaked face giving away her attemps to lie and say everything was fine.
The three other toons frowned even more, looking at each other with concern, not knowing exactly how to start.
The second thing Gigi and Flutter noticed was the long-sleeved shirt, Connie never used those, she didn't like them, and even so, she was using them. It was strange for them. —"...?!?" (Why are you wearing a long-sleeve one..?) Flutter arched an eyebrow, still worried, but confused.
Connie got nervous, she didn't have an answer for that, she couldn't even say she was cold, she was a ghost, for god's sake. —"I-... Uh-" She stuttered. Gigi and Flutter were oblivious of that, they were focused on explaining everything. But Brightney noticed how tense Connie got after that question, and she knew the ghost didn't want to answer anything at that moment. So she did the only thing she could think of at the moment.
She hugged Connie, well, approached her, putting a hand on her shoulder, pulling out Connie from her nervous state, she seemed stressed, but not tense. —"You guys need to say something, don't you..?" She asked, looking at Gigi and Flutter, unconsciously holding Connie's hand with her other hand, making the ghost blush slightly despite the situation.
The other two tensed immediately, remembering what happened, looking at each other, helpless. —"... Let's go inside Connie's room, okay?" Gigi put a hand around Flutter, taking a few steps forward. Flutter nodded, a slight shade of pink on her cheeks due to Gigi's gesture.
Connie's room was kind of messy, but none of them cared, they were there for Connie, not to judge her. Brightney had Connie in her arms, passing her fingers through her hair every now and then, rubbing circles on her back. —"So... What do you guys need to say..?" Connie mumbled, her voice raspy and trembling.
Gigi swallowed, with Flutter by her side, a wing on her back, giving support. —"Well... First of all, what happened that you ran to your room crying not even 5 minutes after walking to the living room..?" She asked, confused.
Connie looked away, not wanting to remember that, it made her tear up once more. She met Brightney's eyes, asking for help. Brightney understood immediately.
—"We were walking, and, well uhm... Goob and Scraps passed by... And.." Brightney pulled Connie towards her. "Goob called her... Boolinsky" Brightney finished her sentence, feeling Connie tensing up, hiding her face onto her shoulder.
Gigi and Flutter froze, they didn't know Brightney knew of course, she just found out 1 hour ago, so they were shocked to hear Brightney's words "...?!!" (... You know?!) Flutter's eyes were wide open. Brightney nodded, a bit startled. —"I heard it from Dandy..." She mumbled, rubbing Connie's shoulder.
At the mention of the flower, Gigi and Flutter tensed, anger creeping slightly. And that didn't go unnoticed by the lamp. —"That damn flower..." Gigi mumbled, crossing her arms.
Brightney deduced something happened and she didn't want to wait any longer. And Connie didn't neither. —"What happened..?" She asked, looking at Gigi and Flutter, they seemed furious, and she knew they weren't like that.
The gachapon sighed, shaking her head. —"Well... While you and Brightney were here, I guess, Dandy called all toons..." She started, pressing herself into Flutter. —"He had a rare smile, like mischievous, and... Before we knew, he told everyone your identity, Con..." She refused to look her in the face now, like she was the one to blame.
—"He told your deadname, he said you weren't a real girl-..." She inhaled, her breath a bit shaky, Flutter pulled her with her wings towards her. —"Everyone started whispering, I don't know what they said, but... We should've said something- We were sure they were going to forget it, but..." Gigi swallowed, pulling her knees up to her chest.
—"...He was smiling when he said everything, as if he were mocking it..." The gachapon finished, not meeting neither Brightney or Connie's eyes.
Connie looked down at the floor, her eyes filled with tears, tensed up, not daring to say anything, eyes widened. She knew Dandy was fed up with her, but she didn't think he would go that far, she trusted him, even if it was a bit, even if he deadnamed her. But doing that..? She was angry at him, but she couldn't do anything, not that inestable.
Brightney, on the other side, was trembling slightly, not from sadness, or fear, from rage, she was already mad at him at first, but this was way too far for him, practically power abuse, and she wasn't going to stay quiet at that. —"What. The. Fuck?" She said with clenched teeth, dragging all the attention to her.
Connie put a hand on her shoulder —"Brightney-?" She'd never seen Brightney that mad, and it startled her.
—"He can't- What the actual fuck is wrong with him?! He doesn't have the right to do that! Not even think about doing it! He's crazy! Actually, fucking crazy!" She blurted out, making the other three jump at her screams. —"Brightney..-" Connie started, but Brightney cut her off without malice.
—"No! He can't go out there, revealing your identity and get away with it! He's hurting you, and I won't let it slide!" Brightney was breathing heavily, it was too much anger for her.
Even Gigi and Flutter were startled, the lamp was one of the calmest toons there, and watching her lose her temper like that wasn't usual. —"Wait-... How about we breathe for a moment..?" Just try to calm down..." Gigi mumbled, moving her sleeves up and down, slowly.
Brightney took some deep breaths, but it didn't really help that much, she was too mad at the flower.
—"I won't calm down until that stupid flower sees the harm he's doing to Connie, she doesn't deserve being misgendered, neither deadnamed, what if it happened to one of his friends? He wouldn't be too happy about that" She sighed heavily, stressed without knowing what to do.
That's when she felt a weight on her shoulder again, with two arms wrapped around her. It was Connie. The ghost was pressed against her, her face hidden on her shoulder. —"We don't need to... Do anything right now, just relax before doing anything, I don't want you to do something you'll regret..." Connie whispered, her voice muffled by Brightney's shoulder. —"And... I kind of- I don't want to be alone right now... If it doesn't sound needy..." She mumbled, lower everytime, an embarrassed blush creeping in for admitting it.
But Gigi, Flutter and Brightney understood, of course they did, their friend was in a horrible situation, and she needed support, even if it meant stay with her the whole time. —"... We'll stay, while thinking of something, but we'll stay.." Brightney finally said, giving in and sliding an arm over Connie's shoulders.
There were matters to resolve, questions that needed answers; but right now? Connie needed their comfort. And they were going to give it.
Dandy laughed every now and then in his office, still thinking of the things he said. He felt no remorse; in fact, he found it amusing. That ghost needed to see the damage he caused with his pranks, and Dandy really thought that was the way of doing it. It was too effective, too good, and he knew how much it hurt.
And for him? It was funny.
It was just starting.