Chapter Text
PREFACE
Dandy. The star of the show. He’s always been kind, considerate, a ray of sunshine in Gardenview, and far too curious for his own good. All the toons liked Dandy to an extent, how could they not? When your entire world orbits around one person, what choice do you have? But many of them grew wary, grew cautious, even... Afraid when Dandy managed to break the one rule ingrained in all of the toon’s heads from the moment of their creation:
Don’t fuck with ichor.
Of course, it seemed harmless. He expressed interest in it, nothing more. The smartest of the toons distanced themselves right away. The less-so ones helped a bit, before sense knocked into them. Only one stayed, the closest toon to him. pushing away all the helpful hands held out. He trusted Dandy, loved him. He’d ignore any ichor-stained flags he needed to if it meant keeping up the fantasy.
Astro is alone. He watches as the valve turns round and round, as the ichor slowly fills the tank. This is easy. He is willing. It's a quick thing, truly no reason for Astro to be afraid. Get in and get out, bring back a bit of ichor for Dandy. Be careful.
Astro didn't used to do this all alone, there was a while when Astro wasn't the only one helping Dandy. When Astro wasn't the only one who spoke to him. When Dandy wasn't the only one Astro spoke to. They had convinced a few of the others to help at first, Poppy, Goob, Scraps, Boxten… Hell, Dandy had even managed to convince Shrimpo to join (although, Astro was pretty sure that the angry toon just liked to be included, despite however much he yelled about hating things… or maybe he just wanted to tag along with Goob.) that might've been the issue.
Plenty of the toons were… unhappy with Dandy’s interest in ichor, choosing to separate themselves from him, but Astro trusted Dandy. The flower would never purposefully put anyone else in danger, he had told Astro as much. He wouldn't lie to Astro. Sure, ichor was… unpredictable, scary, most certainly a hazard to the toons- but most of them were careful! Except one.
Dandy had never asked that they bring back a lot for him, in all honesty he just wanted small capsules, enough to research without potentially causing problems… But to get such a small amount required hoops to jump through. To get in and get out, keep the elevators working… it took a bit more work. Filling up the machines was easy enough. Shrimpo… had a strange way of going about it, that's what got him in the end. The glass shattered; the ichor oozed out… By the time the others had gotten to him, he was covered in it. It worked fast, his frantic yelling being choked as the ichor coated his throat, his hands… it was horrifying. Shrimpo had never been the friendliest of people, but it had become clear he was no longer himself. That was when the others bowed out. The moment they made it into the elevator, trembling and in tears- Scraps was the first to declare it, what they were all thinking. It wasn't… a pretty conversation. Astro doesn't like to remember it. But it doesn't matter, because they stopped, they separated. And now Astro is alone under gardenview.
Sometimes he still sees Shrimpo, wandering about. He never causes any issues- Astro’s always had a knack for staying unseen. But it's sad. Dandy felt horrible about it, he understood why the others had to stop. But Astro stayed with him. Astro would always stay. Astro trusts Dandy more than anyone else.
The machine reaches full, small light flashing green as the mechanical whirring of the elevator opening echoes throughout the dark rooms. Astro nods to himself, quickly making his way in. The elevator is comforting as he slips into it, with the knowledge that he's done here for now. It could be anywhere from a week, to even a month or two before he'd have to come back. From underneath his blanket, he produces a capsule field with the liquid, holding it firmly in two of his hands and staring. He never trusted himself enough to carry it with his magic.
The elevator lurches up, rumbling quietly. The space feels far too large for just one toon, Astro almost misses being with the group. Almost.
As the door opens, he pulls the ichor capsule back into the shelter of his blanket. Astro walks. Of course, his destination is Dandy’s room. It seems like Astro is always there nowadays, not that he has a problem with it. Not at all.
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When Astro enters, his gentle call out of ‘I'm back’ goes unanswered. It's fair enough, Astro’s never been one to raise his voice to anything hearable more than a few feet away, but a strange sense of worry seeps in. Maybe Dandy just didn’t hear the door- or is napping? A nap sounds nice right about now. Astro steps further into the first room, glancing around.
The sound of little rocky paws on floor is heard, and Astro glances down to see Pebble at his feet, pawing at his legs with a faint whine. Astro bends down to say hello. Pebble looks… anxious? Something is wrong. When given the choice between Astro and Dandy, Pebble has never picked Astro (which isn't the end of the world, given that he's always considered himself more of a cat person…) a sense of unease settles over Astro. What's wrong? Where's Dandy??
He makes his way over to a far doorway, peering in… there! Sat at his desk, back to the doorway, is Dandy. Astro clears his throat, trying not to startle the other, since he's clearly focused on something.
“Hello??”
With no further response, Astro starts to approach. Pebble stays behind in the doorway, watching. As he gets closer, hearing brisk scribbling of pen on paper, Dandy almost looks like he's… shaking? Astro is swamped with worry. He's standing behind Dandy now, he can't help but glance over the other toon’s shoulder, seeing the cramps writing fill the pages of a notebook in front of him. He can only make out some of it:
‘##### is getting worse ####### #### ##### # ## ###### Astro########### ## #### ### how can i be sure ##### ##### leave? ###### Astro—”
The writing stretches on, more and more. Astro looks away, it's not his business to snoop. He reaches out a free hand, gently placing it on Dandy’s trembling shoulder.
“Hello? Dandy? Are you al-”
The flower toon startles, notebook slamming shut as he jumps, pulling away and frantically whipping his head around. There’s a strange look in his eyes, unfocused and delirious. It almost looks like fear. His wide-eyed gaze softens as he registers Astro standing there, the tension in his shoulders leaving as he stares up at the other toon. It's a night and day difference from how he had appeared only moments before.
“Oh! You’re uh- you're back! I must... Not have heard. Sorry!”
His voice starts out quiet, betraying his previous panic. By the end of the phrase, he's gained his composure back. Astro raises a worried eyebrow.
“Is everything ok?”
Dandy takes Astro’s hand off his shoulder, holding it in his own.
“Yep! A-ok. Just… doing some writing! Must have gotten a bit too into it ehehe.”
He shuts his eyes and puts his other hand on the back of his neck with a grin and a small chuckle. He opens his eyes again, looking at Astro with an expectant look.
“Did you...?”
Oh! Right, the ichor. Astro nods, producing the capsule and holding it out. Dandy stares at it, his expression flashing to almost… hesitant, resentful for a brief moment, before his grin returns and he takes the capsule.
“Thanks a lot, Astro! I really mean it-” he places the capsule down on the desk, before returning to Astro, grabbing two of his hands. “I truly don't know what I’d do without you.” his voice softens. Sure, he's said it before as an expression of gratitude, but this feels different. Astro smiles softly. Despite everything as of late: the mood swings, the panic, the deep gut punch of loneliness, Astro feels appreciated. That's all that's ever mattered to him. It doesn't matter what he had to lose; Astro doesn't regret his decision to follow Dandy to the ends of the earth if need be. He stifles a yawn, using a free hand to cover his mouth.
“You tired?”
Astro nods his head, shrugging slightly. He’s always at least a little bit tired… but he definitely could go for a nap. Dandy smiles, leading Astro over to a small couch and getting him to sit down. Once settled, Astro takes his blanket off one shoulder, holding it out as an offering to the other with a soft smile. Dandy accepts it, sitting down close, arm pressed against Astro's as he cozies up beside him.
Astro leans into the warmth of his lover so close, resting his head on the flower’s shoulder as he shuts his eyes. After a moment, a faint scrabbling is heard, and Pebble hops up onto the couch, seemingly over whatever had him all riled up… Astro tries to push everything to the back of his mind, clearly both Dandy and Pebble are ok. Dandy wouldn't lie to him, everything is fine.
As Astro quickly drifts off into sleep, Dandy rests his head gently on the other’s, his smile dropping. He should sleep too.