Chapter Text
Darkness.
Lights were off, allowing the blackness to fall over Gardenview as each and every Toon fell into their slumber. All, except one. The sound of a pair of feet pitter pattering through the halls could be heard.
A soft blue glow emanates from this Toon, lighting their way as they went to visit every Toon. While wandering around his blanket dragged behind him, hanging off his top pair of arms loosely. The moon was unbothered by this, knowing he was the only one up at this time of the day cycle. With his nightcap just barely hanging on, he visited every bedroom.
Boxten was his next Toon to see. An anxious, but friendly Toon. The moon had been giving the music box dreams of Glisten as they both appeared to get along… Apparently he needed to tone it down a bit as Boxten thought of the dream’s as nightmares. And so this time, he'd change the dream, but only slightly. A dream with the vanity mirror being less- well, less of his very vibrant personality, just so the music box could have a more peaceful dream. Glisten on the other hand the moon simply gave him a dream of the mirror on a catwalk showing off various outfits.
Strolling down he neared Rodger’s and Toodle’s rooms’, both of them residing near each other due to their fatherly and daughterly bond. With these two, the moon combined their dream, this way they were able to go play detective together and solve the mystery of... Hmm... the person who stole the cheese! The glowing Toon could imagine how that dream might go down.
As the moon kept moving along—his hands brushing against the old wallpaper—he came up to the room that was occupied by the book club leader, and her girlfriend. Brightney, was a lovely gal to speak to about books. For Brightney the fellow glowing toon gave her a dream of finding an ancient library, full of all sorts of books. Scraps, who was sleeping in the same bed as Brightney, was given a dream of giant balls of yarn trying to squash her. He could hear the craft sibling growling and chuckling in her sleep as she fought against the giant balls of yarn while he walked away.
With Shrimpo the moon sighed, knowing that no matter the dream given the Shrimp would be up the next morning complaining. Before he could even pass a dream along he recoiled in an instant as Shrimpo’s door opened, not slammed open, just gently opened. “ Hey! Badstro! I need to ask you something… ” Shrimpo whispered loudly, but not loud enough to wake anyone up. “ Huh?! Wha-what do you want to uh.. Want to ask? ” Astro asked, not bothering to correct Shrimpo knowing that the Shrimp could care less.
For a moment they both stared at each other until Shrimpo opened his mouth. “ I want you to make me dream of making my favourite dish… Sushi.. O-OKAY?! Got that?! ” Astro nodded quickly, “Good.. I’m going to sleep now- and don’t ask- I won’t tell anyone about your damn four arms Badstro!” Shrimpo yelled/whispered one last time before, again, gently shutting his door. Astro looked down at himself. He forgot he wasn’t wearing his blanket properly since, well, since he didn’t expect to come across anyone awake. The only thing the moon could do was hope Shrimpo would keep that promise; Then he left, giving Shrimpo the dream he wanted while going back to his slow walk around Gardenview.
Running his hand over the texture of his blanket, the Toon of dreams continued to slowly make his rounds by each and every Toon, up until he only had the line up of Mains left. Making his way to the hallway of the Mains, the first room he stopped by was Vee’s room. But after arriving he remembered that Vee can’t dream, which is something he’s done so many times it’s shocking.
The second room he visited was Sprout’s room. As he got close to the door he sensed another presence. A lot of the time now Astro has gotten used to finding the presence of another Toon in Sprout’s room, none other than Cosmo, who’s apparently his best friend. Despite that, mostly everyone could tell they loved each other, platonic, romantic? No one knows. The moon was wary of Sprout because of his… slight obsession with Cosmo. How does Astro know about that? Well, sometimes he reads the minds of other Toons when he’s bored or curious. Because Astro somewhat understands what goes through Sprout’s mind, he does his best not to interact with Cosmo too much, out of the fear of what Sprout could possibly do to him.
Just like with Toodles and Rodger, Astro gave the two a dream of them baking together.
Now, this next Toon the moon was excited to see. Unlike with anyone else, when he reached this Toon's room he went in. Gently shutting the door behind himself, Astro carefully manoeuvred through the cluttered room, trying not to step on any dinosaur plushies. The moon then stood at the side of a cushion pile on the floor. The pillows were bunch together to form kind of like a nest with blankets strewn across and wrapped around the Toon curled inside it. Shelly was clutching a Velociraptor toy in arms as she snored softly. Astro smiled tenderly crouching down to gently stroke Shelly’s head which in return made Shelly chirp in her sleep.
The moon admitted to himself that he felt some affection for the ammonite. The feelings only grew after his last talk with Dandy. He’s planning on breaking up with the flower because he knows that the longer he spends time with Dandicus, the more messed up he realises Dandy is… Why was he thinking of Dandy? He should focus on something else…
Astro focused back on Shelly, smiling softly again. The moon had to admit that the ammonite was adorable in this state. Astro closed his eyes as he thought about his interactions with Shelly. He enjoyed listening to the fossil talk, her voice soothing to his soul. However, he heard her mention Vee often in their conversations. Oh, right, she liked Vee. But Vee didn’t like Shelly back, as far as he knew. In fact, Vee doesn’t seem to have those kinds of feelings for anyone really. He doubts Vee understands what love feels like, but at least she can feel admiration or affection for some… Shelly was not included it seemed.
Astro’s eyebrows furrowed. How could no one feel affection towards Shelly? She was beautiful, fun, intelligent—wait what was that first thing he said!? The moon felt his face heat up as he opened his eyes, looking back over at Shelly’s sleeping form. A sudden thought came to mind. Astro would like to kiss Shelly. But, he doubts Shelly feels the same way. Again, Shelly was chasing after Vee for her affection, not Astro’s. It was a sad reality that he had to face. Sighing, he casted a dream over to Shelly and stood, moving to the door to leave and go to sleep. Well, he actually needed to give Dandy a dream first before going to bed. But the moon really didn’t want to see Dandy at this very moment. He just wanted to sleep.
With his palm on the door knob, he twisted the knob before flinching at the sound of a voice. “Astro?” He paused, turning around to see Shelly sat up in her bed-nest, her eyes half-lidded and face flushed. Huh, was she feeling too warm? “ Sorry, Shelly, I was just leaving, ” Astro apologised softly, “ Do you need me to give you another dream now that you're awake? ” He asked thoughtfully. Shelly stared at him for a moment, before smiling. “ Well I wouldn’t mind if you gave me the dream of you kissing me again, it didn’t last long enough.. ” She whispered sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. Astro’s face went a dark blue out of embarrassment, and from being flustered too. The poor guy didn’t know how to respond without stumbling over his words.
Shelly giggled lightheartedly—a beautiful sound the moon thought—before asking him, “Astro, why don’t you stay the night?” “Ah! I’m not sure-” “What aren’t you sure about?” She asked innocently, standing up a bit sluggish from just waking up to move towards Astro, who was still standing by the door. “-Well, I glow naturally in the dark, it will keep you awake!” He exclaimed quietly, his face flushing even more with Shelly now standing before him with a soft expression. “I’m a heavy sleeper, it’ll be fine.” Even with Shelly’s reassurance he still felt unsure, and nervous… and too warm for his liking. Before Astro could come up with another excuse, Shelly took his hand from his top pair of arms and dragged him with her. The moon tried to protest to no avail as the ammonite pulled him into her nest of pillows. Astro yelped, closing his eyes as he fell over into the nest. Opening his eyes he could feel his face heat up exponentially, finding that he had fallen into Shelly and was face to face with her. Shelly giggled, watching the moon’s cheeks turn a dark blue.
Gently, Shelly pressed her lips against his, closing her eyes. Astro didn’t pull away. He too closed his eyes as their mouths fought for dominance, Shelly coming out victorious. After a good few seconds their kiss ended, the two of them opening their eyes again to stare at each other, both of their faces flushed heavily. “ You’re so cute~ ” She cooed, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. The compliment caught the moon off guard, making him stutter over his words before he tucked his face against her chest out of embarrassment, groaning. For a while, they stayed like this. Astro laid on top of Shelly with his face buried in her chest while Shelly stroked his head affectionately. Eventually, Shelly broke the silence. “ Y’know, you don’t have to lay with your arms out like that, you can wrap them around me? ” Astro peeked up at her, “ Are you sure? ” he asked carefully. “ Mhm, I don’t mind. ” Hesitantly, the moon shifted his weight off of her to wrap his arms around her torso. Laying back down in a heap on her, his face nuzzled back against her chest, almost cat-like in a funny way.
“ ...I’m sorry. ” Shelly looked down at Astro, frowning slightly, “ What are you sorry for? ” She asked softly, her fingers still running over his fuzzy scalp. There was a pause before he said anything. “ The dream I gave you…it can be considered as an invasion of personal privacy..I-I think? ” He said in a tiny voice, not lifting his head to look at Shelly, afraid to see an expression that would hurt him deeply. Instead, he heard a sigh as he felt himself hoisted up and pulled tighter into her arms, her legs over his hips. “ Astro, listen to me, ” She whispered, her hand taking his face and turning his head to look at her, “ Why would I be cuddling you if I found that dream invasive? ” He said nothing, “ Because you’ve opened my eyes, widened my view, and made me realise something… ”
She came to a stop, which in turn made Astro tilt his head curiously. He squeezed her gently, eyes locked with hers, encouraging her to continue. Shelly understood what he was silently asking. Somehow, she's always been able to understand the slightest gestures the moon would make. “ You’ve made me realise I’ve been stupid. That I’ve been chasing after someone I wanted when I could’ve looked back to see the person I truly needed. ” Astro’s eyes widened, “ You don’t mean me… do you? ” She cracked up, barely repressing her laughter, “ Yes silly, you! ” She told him, giving him a peck on the lips, “ You’re one of the only Toon’s who treat me like I want to be treated, you’re understanding, you’re perfect! ” She had a tear forming in her eyes which Astro wiped away with his thumb. “ So are you, Shelly, you’re the perfect one for me too.”
This hadn’t gone down as he expected. Here he was, cuddling Shelly in her nest of pillows, his own blanket discarded amongst the blankets strewn all over. His body’s soft glow filled the room along with the gentle snores of the ammonite fossil. There was nothing more he could ask for.
He’d deal with Dandy tomorrow. For now, he’d drift off in the arms of his lover.