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“Aaannnddd…. Done!” Cosmo huffed, stepping back from the countertop he had been leaning uncomfortably against for what felt like an hour. (though realistically, it had been five minutes of undivided concentration.) He had just finished his fifth and final batch of Astro cookies. After hours of hard work, all that was left to do was pop them into the oven.
“Lookin’ good Cos!” Sprout chirped at the sight of Cosmo’s hard work whilst taking the second last batch out of the oven. “Astro’s never looked better.”
Cosmo gave his best friend a bashful smile in response to his compliment as he handed the strawberry the last tray of cookies. He couldn’t help but take note of how messy both of their oven mittens were.
Sprout, much like Cosmo, wasn’t the cleanest baker. Both of their aprons and mittens were testaments of their hard work in the kitchen. Every seam was stained with food dye of some kind. Though he never really thought to wash them. Tisha had probably told Sprout to do it a couple of times over the years, too… the garments looked like they had been through baking hell. What if they smelt bad?
“Do you think we should give our gloves a wash?” Cosmo proposed, looking down at his own gloves.
Sprout shot up in surprise at Cosmo’s idea. Eyes wide, seemingly offended at the very idea.
“What?! Never! They’d look too new if we did now!” He retaliated, slamming the oven door before extending his soiled mitts to the brownie.
“Fair enough!” Cosmo chuckled.
As absurd as it sounded to him, the stains did hold many dear memories for Cosmo. Each splotch held a special little spot in Cosmo's collection of memories. From when he and Sprout first began to cook together, to when he tried to teach Astro to make muffins.
Astro.
Astro…
Astro!
Crap! That's right! He told Astro he would bring him some cookies when they were fresh!
Cosmo was quick to rip his mitts off and toss them beside the tray of warm cookies. Scrambling to find a small plate in the cupboards for the batch he wanted to bring Astro. All with Sprout watching.
“What’s the hubbub for?”
“I promised Astro I’d bring him some cookies fresh from the oven! He loves them when they’re warm. I gotta go.” Cosmo explained. Scanning through the dozens of pastries with his hand inches over the batches to find the warmest ones. “Can you make sure that tray comes out in twenty?”
“‘Course!” Sprout gave Cosmo a thumbs up with a reassuring grin. “You can count on me!”
Cosmo plucked off the last two cookies out of the five he was bringing to Astro from the tray. Turning to Sprout with his brows furrowed in worry.
“Are you sure?” Cosmo’s words stretched as he took a few steps to the elevator. “I can set you a timer if you need me to.”
Cosmo trusted Sprout. Of course he did! But when it came to anything in the oven, the strawberry always needed a reminder or two…
“I got it, Cos. Seriously! They’ll be out and cooling by the time you're back.” Sprout assured. He rested a hand on Cosmo’s shoulder as he clicked the descent button on the elevator’s menus. “Have some faith in me!”
“I do, I do! Just-”
“Cosmo, I got it. Seriously!”
A familiar ding echoed through the lofty kitchen. The industrial door on the elevator whirring open to allow entry.
Sprout spun Cosmo towards the mechanism. Guiding him in with the hand on his shoulder. “Tell Astro I say hi. I’ll see you in a bit, ‘kay?”
Cosmo nodded as he pressed the on floor 18 and the enter button. “Alright, alright! See you soon!” he waved.
The door lowered, locking Cosmo into the elevator. The mechanical apparatus began to drone as it began its descent; the persistent buzzing deafened by the stereotypical elevator music starting to play through crackling speakers.
Staring down at the plate of cookies. Cosmo wondered if Astro would like the cookies he picked. What if they were too cold when he brought them to him? He never had given any complaints before, though. It was just a preference for warmer cookies. But what if something had gone wrong with this batch specifically? And he somehow got food poisoning?! And if-
Ding!
Oh. He made it.
The doors opened once more to reveal Astro’s grand hallway. Filled to the brim with astronomy facts and activities. A large array of lounging areas and Astro merchandise filled the floor.
Shuffling through the curtains that covered the private elevator, Cosmo navigated the attractions until he found one specific door tucked into the corner behind a bookshelf. An Astro themed staff only sign hung against the knob. Although the weak attempt at a barrier didn’t really stop anybody, seeing as the door was unlocked.
Behind the door was a smaller hallway, far less appealing than the floor open to the public. There was a small custodial closet along the left wall. Along the right; a dark blue door. Polaroids of all the other toons were taped to the front. Small star stickers thrown about to add some more character to the makeshift collage. It was a mosaic Cosmo had stared at a million times before.
“Astro?” Cosmo called out, wobbling the knob to make his presence known. “I got some cookies for you! They’re fresh out the oven, too!” Cosmo twisted the handle, granting himself entry to the main toon’s room.
“I didn’t know if you maybe wanted to let them cool, or-” Cosmo began to ramble, though he was quick to bite his tongue at the sound of sniffling coming from Astro’s bed.
“ Hgk - …Cosmo…?”
Astro craned his head toward the door, his face stained with streaks from tears seconds prior. His grip on his own torso loosening seeing the brownie.
Cosmo was quick to b-line it for Astro’s bed. Setting the plate of pastries on the bedside table as he assessed Astro’s current position. “Are you okay??”
The moon had been curled up in his blankets. His arms cocooning his torso and gripping onto his pyjama shirt for dear life. The poor garment was wrinkling from Astro’s grasping onto himself for so long.
“Everything hurts.”
“Pardon?”
“Everything.” Astro whimpered. His primary arms shifted to rub his own shoulders.
Cosmo couldn’t help but find himself confused at Astro’s distress. No wounds were visible… well, not to Cosmo.
“Do you need me to get a med kit? I can go get Austin-!”
“No. no. I don’t know-” Astro shook his head. “It’s inside. It just- hurts . Everything hurts.”
Astro began to well up once again. His grip on his waist with his other arms tightening in an attempt to manage the feeling of aching in his sides.
To Astro, his pain felt indescribable. The throbbing throughout his body felt like someone had stabbed him and was twisting the knife. It hurts to move, it hurts to breathe. He wanted to throw up, but there was no substance to it. The only thing that brought some semblance of comfort to Astro was the persistent pressure he could apply to some areas. But it wasn’t enough. Nothing could fully alleviate the pulsing that violated Astro’s very being.
And here was Cosmo. All he could do was watch Astro sob. Unsure of what was wrong or how to help. He couldn’t help if he didn’t know what was wrong.
“Do you… want a hug…?”
Shooting his attention to Cosmo at the bedside, Astro paused for a few moments at Cosmo’s proposal. But accepted nonetheless. Shifting to sit at the bedside and leaning into Cosmo’s arms; the baker enveloped him in an embrace. Listening to Astro sniffle and choke out a few hiccups. It’s all he could think to do, really.
Moments of silence passed. Cosmo went to let Astro go, hoping he might be ready to talk. But Astro was quick to lock his secondary arms around Cosmo’s waist. Holding him there.
“Please.” Astro blurted. “Just… more.”
“Yeah. Ok. That’s ok.” Cosmo assured. His arms returned to Astro’s shoulders. Giving him a reassuring squeeze.
As gentle as it was. Cosmo’s hug did help. The physical contact brought some relief to the recurring shooting pains amongst Astro’s body. The more pressure, the better.
“Can you come closer?” Astro murmured out.
Cosmo was beyond surprised by the request, but he wasn’t arguing. He and Astro had always had some quiet peace between the two. Parallel play was never uncommon amongst them. Hell, it wouldn’t have been the first time the two were in Astro’s bed together. With the way Cosmo depended on Astro for some relief when he was overworked, it was nice to be able to curl up and relax in a darker, comfier environment.
Shifting into Astro’s bed, Astro clung to Cosmo like he was a cloth mother. Pressing himself into him like he was hoping they’d melt together in some strange defiance of physics itself.
Cosmo kept his arms around Astro. His eyes falling onto the ceiling of Astro’s room. The familiar dim glowing stars in the shape of constellations were always a nice touch to Astro’s room. He could still recall which one was which. The big dipper, the andromeda, and the pisces… He couldn’t even imagine how long it must’ve taken for Astro to make sure Austin had put each star on correctly.
“I’m sorry, Cosmo…” Astro mumbled. Although not meticulously healed. The hugging did help to some extent. With his tears finally leaving him alone, Astro found himself tuckered out from his crying. And a small headache coming on….
“Don’t be.” Cosmo assured. “I don’t mind. Does… this happen a lot?”
Astro sighed and pressed his head against Cosmo’s shoulder. “More than I’d like to admit.”
Cosmo’s brows furrowed into a look of concern. His gaze fell back onto the ceiling. “That sounds… hard.”
“I manage.” The moon shrugged a little. His attention falling onto the bedside and the scent of the pastries. “Are those cookies…?”
“Yeah! I um. I brought them for you. They’re fresh.”
“Really?”
“Mhm.” Cosmo hummed, retrieving the plate from an arms length away to bring it closer to Astro. “Still warm, too.”
Plucking a cookie from the plate. Astro took a bite out of it. Huffing and flopping his head back onto his friend. “These are so good… thank you, Cosmo.”
“Thank you ! I’m glad you like them.” Cosmo gave Astro a small grin. Breathing a mental sigh of relief at the knowledge the cookies were in fact, not totally inedible. He had gotten himself all worked up over nothing. As per usual.
“Do you want to stay a while…? A nap would be nice right now, I think. I’d like it if you stayed.”
“Oh! O-of course.” Cosmo nodded. Feeling his cheeks heat up a little at the thought of Astro sleeping so close to him. The two had shared a bed before. It wasn’t the first time whatsoever. But to be Astro’s pillow this time around… It wasn't an unwelcome change. Just a bit different.
Sure, he would be a little late to getting that last batch. But Sprout could handle it! What’s one hour?