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"And the winner of the game is...!" After a brief moment of suspense, every toon was paying attention to the stage. Not because they were excited to see who the winner would be, but because they wanted to see Vee's reaction since she always got mad when a certain competitor won all of her games. Obviously, Scraps will win again. Her luck was extraordinary so the toons weren't surprised anymore when she appeared as a winner (well, except Goob, he would be happy nonetheless and celebrate his sister's victory as if it was her first. Oh, and Boxten too since he liked to see every round with excitement and to see the revelation since he was a big fan of the program.
However, this game was different: Sprout was participating in it. He is a toon like any other, but it's not very common to see him participating in events like this one. He is not the kind of boy to expose himself in vain, and much less to find any "fun" in this sort of thing, he even teases Vee sometimes with the famous:
"This show was made for those obnoxious grannies..." - in which the television makes a video-game-like sound to express her anger and counters with "At least my show doesn't teach kids on how to blow up an entire room."
Obviously, both don't tolerate each other at all. For anything and everything they make fun and laugh at each other, but maybe those little taunts and smiles aren't just for teasing. Smiling at someone is already a charming action by itself, you can't say that those sarcastic chuckles don't have any sort of affection attached to them. At least that's what Sprout thought, and probably what Vee understood as well.
Back to the present, the drums reverberated through the stage, the participants Scraps, Sprout, Finn and Cosmo looked at the big screen where one of them would be announced winner of the night. Honestly, none of them was expecting to win since the most obvious choice would be Scraps. Don't get me wrong though, none of the toons would be annoyed or irritated with that (except Vee herself).
The best part of the show was to participate in the challenges proposed by the host, with luck and a bit of strategy. After all, the fun of the games was what made Sprout participate tonight... Well actually, it was Cosmo who invited him to go there, with both of them being friends, Sprout wouldn't refuse a moment of pure joy with him. Besides, seeing Vee was already a good motive for him to secretly smile to himself (not that he would ever in his life admit it though).
Suddenly, when the boy was lost in thought, looking at his friend with serenity, the lights went out followed by various mumbles of surprise that echoed through the room in response to the sudden confusion.
-What happened? - Whispered Cosmo to the Berry.
Before he could answer, a flash illuminated the studio that had been wrapped in darkness and now everything was back to normal, just with one slight difference: now the monitor displayed Sprout's face and his name, giving the indication that he had officially won.
-Congratulations Be- *cough*, Sprout! I hope you enjoyed the show as much as I did! - Vee's voice exclaimed with enthusiasm, as if she was proud of someone. Or something she did.
Everyone in the crowd was shocked at first, but quickly smiled and a round of applause was heard to celebrate.
-See? I told you that it was worth it! - Grinned Cosmo, showing his happiness with the decision of bringing his friend
-I... uh... - Sprout was at a loss for words, as if the probability of winning never existed to him.
-You're right, Cosmo. Thank you for bringing me here. - That was what he chose to say to have time to process what was going on.
Finally, the participants left the stage to celebrate the moment with the other toons. On the other hand, Sprout was focused on anything but the moment. His attention was instead on the grey and green figure that was just finishing to present the show
-That's all folks! Thank you for always sticking there and seeing the most unexpected twists. I hope to see you again tomorrow at "Vee's GameShow"! - Said the television with a vow.
The transmission is then cut, and the lights turn off again, this time only leaving the side lights on so that the place is minimally illuminated. The toons chat with each other, especially about the winner, Sprout, and about the supposed tea party Dandy is hosting right now.
-Sprout? - Cosmo's voice makes the boy shift his attention to Cosmo again.
-Oh! Sorry there.. -The tallest murmurs, certifying that his posture doesn't tell the fact that he didn't pay attention to the ceremony at all.
-It's alright, don't worry - Answers the boy - Shall we go? Dandy told us to be together to drink some tea with him. I liked the idea, do you want to go?
Usually, he would accept. Not because it's a tea party, and much less to be with Dandy. It was mostly to be Cosmo's companion. But with a calm sigh, Sprout smiles faintly and says:
-I need to solve some problems here in the studio... If you want to, you can go. I won't stop you.
Cosmo was a little confused, but decided to move on and smile back.
-If you say so! Will you appear at the tea party?
-Yeah, I'll be there.
-Alright! I'm going to catch up with the others then. See ya there! - And the cake waved goodbye to his friend.
Sprout waves back, and when he notices that finally everyone is going to see Dandy, he decides to have a word with Vee that was preparing to leave too.
-Old-tech - Says Sprout with the same indifference as ever, getting close to the girl.
-Oh. Mr. Seedly. -Teases Vee with a provocative smirk - Any complaints about the show? I worked hard.
Which wasn't a lie, Vee always gave her best to make the show as good as possible. Besides, it wouldn't be wrong to say that she innovated with this one.
Sprout shows his annoyance to Vee, trying his best to ignore the fact that he enjoyed seeing that grin she wore when they met up.
-Yeah, yeah, very funny. And you’re absolutely correct. I came here to complain. About lots of things. - He admits, his bored tone matched with Vee’s usual impatience, which made them a duo attracted to the fact of seeing which one takes the other to the limit. At least that’s how they were seen by other toons.
-Well, you can start speaking, I am completely open to suggestions. The customer's always right. - The usual chit chat the girl would say to anyone who nagged her.
-Are you seriously putting me in the same place as any other toon, Vee? - Sprout mutters under his breath.
-Are you really going to make me lose my time? Dandy wants us to go to his stupid tea party and act all friendly. We should probably go.
-Oh don’t tell me you’re excited to go there. Besides, the tea party is indeed stupid, I mean, you can’t even drink the tea. - The berry smiles nonchalantly, taking all the chances he could so that Vee talked to him more. Usually, she would simply say some hollow words and quick speeches, wanting to be as fast as possible. However, Sprout’s hobby was to make her say something more than the simple “Hello and Goodbye”.
-Ugh, spill it out already, Berryboy. - She demands, with a nickname worse than “Seedly”: berryboy.
-...*Sigh*, did you rig the game so I could win? - The tallest finally asks, crossing his arms as a way to defend himself from the atrocious name she gave him.
-Huh? - Vee questioned, pretending to be confused about the question and making an innocent smile that clearly translated to “I didn’t do anything, don’t look at me”.
That alone was enough for Sprout to confirm his theory, and knowing that made him blush. Not because he wanted to win the game but because that only proved that her actions towards him weren’t just superficial jabs and jokes without any purpose like most of the people thought. All of that, the moments where she asked if the cakes he baked weren’t burned, or even the times where she tried to convince him to participate in the game show, it was all to get his attention, to talk to him, to make her lose her precious time hearing his complains or listen with attention the way he talked happily about how he baked his heart-warming sweets (which she wouldn’t even attempt to do but she liked to see him all joyful while ranting with her).
It was the same for Sprout; the “leftovers” he prepared that obviously weren’t leftovers but treats he cooked to please her, the nicknames he gave her to make her even more annoyed at him, all of that just to exchange a few words with her.
And while Sprout admired her fondly, the side lights turned off, signaling that nobody else could go to the studio at that point. Now, it was only Sprout and Vee, with the only source of light being her monitor that only revealed even more his embarrassment.
-Earth to Sprout? - Vee snapped her fingers with a playful smile, reading the poor boy’s feelings. She isn’t very good at knowing what others are feeling like Cosmo and Dandy do, it was always a flaw she had to not know how to interpret gestures and words. That said, it only made things more curious since she was able to see with clarity Sprout’s thoughts as if he was an open book. It’s something unique that she can’t even explain, but for some reason, it only makes her a little bit more happy.
-Vee… - He stuttered - Why did you want me to win? Just because I gather more audience? - his voice was more serene and much less cold, and even if that was obviously the motive she chose him, he didn’t want to just be it. He wanted an elaborated reason, something more and almost impossible.
-Exactly. - She answered nonchalantly, her normal posture that showed superiority coming back again.
He stares at her with disapproval, as if she just called him “Seedly”, “Berryboy” and insulted his cooking abilities; all in the same sentence. Her eyes met with his again and she eventually blushed, losing her train of thought and feeling bad for saying such a thing.
-....maybe I did it to make you happy… - The girl whispers, feeling her cheeks getting hotter while she glances back to look at her friends’ expression, that was now with a comforting beam in his face while searching for the correct words to say to her.
And now they were looking at each other, a mix of feelings such as embarrassment, the usual hate, and an attention that made their hearts beat faster invaded the stage’s atmosphere. Sprout even opened his lips, wanting to say something along the lines of “You didn’t have to”, but decided to move on. What made him truly happy wasn’t the show, but the fact that he was now close to her, just both of them enjoying their presence.
Finally, the boy wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her into a gentle hug.
-?! - Her monitor displayed quickly before reverting back to normal and showing her flustered expression.
-Thank you, Old-tech. - Whispered Sprout, waiting for Vee to hug him back. After a brief moment (with a bit of hesitation), she ended up doing it, looking to the side to hide the feeling of pure love she was tasting.
-I… truly like you, Vee. - Sprout bit his tongue. He wished to say “I love you”, like he always planned in his head but he wasn’t ready. Or perhaps he was scared of being rejected.
The television took a while to process everything, but in the end she accepted the love that Sprout didn’t have the courage to say.
-I love you too, Berryboy. - Vee giggles, taking the first step.