Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Looey the balloon always wanted to put a smile on other peoples faces…

He walked side by side with his best friend Yatta, talking with her about the possibilities for their next performance. 

“LONG tightropes! I CAN DO FLIPS ON THE TIGHTROPES!” She restlessly performed a flip on the ground. “Just like THAT Looey!” 

“And… maybe I could juggle at the same time? We could have you intercept the pins…” Looey put himself into deep thought as Yatta kept shooting out ideas next to him. Unicycles! Party poppers! Diving!

Distant footsteps slowly made their way closer behind the two, until…

“Looey, Yatta! Would you two like to join a run I'm hosting?” A sweet voice sounded out from behind him. It was Tisha. “We’ve got almost a full eight toons, just two more needed!”

Looey looked at Yatta, as she looked at him. Before he could deliberate further… “YES!” Yatta exclaimed, “I’ve been ITCHING to DO SOMETHING!!!” 

“Sure, I’ll go too!” Looey answered in turn, feeling optimistic 

—--

Looey wasn't exactly the most confident when it came to runs. He especially found it hard when in runs together with his friends, Yatta and Blot. They were both great at what they did! Compared to them, Looey couldn’t help but feel like less of a leader.

But most of all, Looey wasn't great at solo distracting … It left him feeling solely responsible for the safety of his teammates. And to top it all off, he didn't have a great track record when it came to longevity. That's why, when he ended up in the descending elevator taking a headcount,he was a bit worried.

Shelly, Vee, Yatta, Rodger, Boxten… extractors. Sprout, Tisha… support. I’m the only distractor?!

Feeling a newfound sense of dread, Looey quickly rushed over to Tisha. She was immersed in conversation with Sprout and Shelly about a game-plan for the run. They each had trinkets in hand, gesturing to one another as they spoke.

“Hey, Tisha… What did’ya say the floor goal was again?” She stopped her conversations and glanced over

Tisha turned to him, hands at her hips, “We’re going for floor thirty! Hoping to get far as fast as possible with so many extractors.” Sprout locked eyes with Looey, his face changing to something akin to worry

“It’ll be alright. If you need any help we’ll be sure to give it to you, Looey” 

“OH! Hahaha, That's not what I meant. I can handle.. what, 30 floors! No biggie!” Looey waved his hand and quickly ducked out of the conversation. Sprout always seemed to make a big deal out of runs when he was the one distracting. He slipped back to Yatta’s side, who seemed as vibrant as always. She shook with excitement in anticipation for the first floor. 

Just then, the elevator door lifted and opened the view into the abandoned floors of gardenview. The toons all filed out, going their separate ways. Yatta ran out, turning to yell over at Looey.

“See you back at the ELEVATOR!” She hollered, scurrying away out of sight. Looey smiled nervously and quickly followed suit. Determined not to lose any hearts on the earlier floors.

—--

The first 10 floors were a breeze, going by in a flash. The twisteds he had encountered had all been easy enough to deal with. Not a main in sight. Back in the elevator the air had a buzz of excitement, conversation filling the elevator with laughs. The quiet track of Claire de Lune wasn’t as pleasant as it should be with how often the toons had to listen to it, but it was better than silence after all. The downtime in between floors was perfect for decompressing and preparing, not to mention stacking up supplies. Yatta was standing by his side as Looey eyed Dandy’s shop selection

“Anything catch your eye?” Dandy gestured at the 3 items he had laid out in front of him. Truthfully, nothing did. The table only had candies. Looey would never say that though, he feared angering Dandy and making things harder for his team. It seemed no one else had an eye for Dandy’s selection this time around either. Those who saw it quickly walked away grumbling something along the lines of waste of tapes…

But Yatta saw candy, that was all it took to convince her. She swiped up one at random and dropped a pile of tapes in turn, adding it to her endless candy storage.

“Much appreciated!” Dandy chimed as he pulled the lever, sinking back into the floor. It was almost criminal that he got tapes in exchange for that measly set of items.

“Haha… Yatta, you didn’t need to buy that candy, y’know?” 

“I know!” Yatta smiled “But I KNOW you’ll feel BETTER if someone buys stuff!” 

“Oh! heh, I guess I do feel better” Looey smiled back at her. He realy didn’t want to add dandy to the Twisteds he’d have to distract. A warm feeling spread in his chest as the doors opened to another floor. “Good luck, Yatta!”

“GOOD LUCK, LOOEY!” Yatta jumped into a run, assisted by the boost of speed given by Tisha. Using the advantage himself, Looey rushed into the floor to scan the area. He walked past the toons on machines, hoping that the twisteds were far enough away that they wouldn't be in danger while he didnt have an eye on them.

He found Twisted Cosmo right away, followed soon after by twisted Toodles. By now, there should be three twisteds… Just as he was thinking that, Loud heavy thuds came into earshot. On cue, Sprout ran out from behind a wall as he shouted

“PEBBLE!” 

“OH!” Looey yelled back “I GOT HIM!” 

He grabbed out A trusty airhorn as Pebble came into view, stomping down the narrow halls. The horn sounded throughout the floor and sent a reverberation through Looey’s body. Pebble immediately turned to face the balloon, and Looey wasted no time running

He dropped the useless airhorn and made his way over to some shelves, hoping there was no one around to get caught in his loop. The loud thump thump-ing of Pebbles footsteps got closer and closer. The first main encounter on a run usually wasn't Pebble! 

It was pretty difficult to keep all the twisteds on him with their differing speeds. Pebble being so fast made Cosmo and Toodles seem so slow! . Looey laughed at the thought of calling Toodles slow, but quickly focused back on his situation when he felt the ground shake beneath him from Pebble being so close.

Diving around a corner to gain distance was a good idea, giving Looey enough time to catch his breath for a moment before picking up pace again. He knew his limits, and knew if he kept running like this it wouldn’t be long before he would waste all his stamina so…

Its alright, Looey! You’re faster now at two hearts! He had to remind himself as he slowed and got hit by the gaping maw of Pebble. Several more machines started going off in the distance,and it filled Looey with some hope that he would have enough stamina to keep looping Pebble and get back to the elevator. 

That was until he got lost in his thoughts, and twisted Cosmo circled around the loop to get another hit on him. At least now at one heart, Looey didn't have to worry about Pebble out-speeding him…

The last machine went off accompanied with a roar behind him, alerting Looey that it was time to speed up. He watched as his fellow toons ran to the elevator feeling a surge of speed from what he presumed was Tisha’s ability. 

‘EAE!” She shouted from ahead of him. Looey let out a sigh of relief and booked it over to his friends.

As soon as he made it inside, the heavy elevator door slammed behind him, leaving Looey to catch his breath sitting down. He’d lost two hearts on one floor!

The chatter of the elevator stopped as attention turned onto him for a moment. Sprout walked over and leaned down to Looey’s level, cupcake in hand.

“Here, let's heal you up Looey” He offered out the pastry with a smile, brow arched in worry.

“Oh, Sprout…  I’m all good! Maybe a few more floors and-” 

“Nope, I’m not gonna let anyone sit on one heart if there's anything I can do about it!” Sprout grabbed one of Looey’s hands and placed the cupcake inside of it. “No need to feel bad” 

Looey’s ears dropped down and he ate the cupcake in embarrassment, feeling the air return to his deflated head. He watched Sprout walk away and did end up feeling bad. There wasn’t anything he could say to Sprout when it came to safety. He knew more than anyone that the toon had a final say about heals. Yatta plopped down next to him and giggled

“Got told off AGAIN?” She wrapped her arm around Looey’s shoulder and swayed back and forth playfully.

“Sure did” He took a finishing bite of the cupcake as he swayed along with her, sighing, “I wish I didn’t need heals so often”

___

After that moment with Sprout, Looey was determined to not get hit anymore for the rest of the run, which now only had seven floors left to go. He looked at the elevator door with a nervous gleam. The final stretch of floors hadn’t seemed to damper the mood of the rest of the toons. Yatta excitedly chatted with Shelly, who also seemed pretty excited herself. Boxton and Vee seemed to be getting along too, and Sprout… Sprout was just looking over everyone like usual. Looey looked back to the door to avoid accidentally making eye contact. The chatter died down once the elevator slowed, and the doors once again opened. Mere seconds later the lights flickered and cut.

“Oh, CMON!” Yatta’s voice next to him grumbled, followed by a cacophony of complaints

“Just great… “ Vee sauntered out into the dark, her screen giving a slight light for the rest of the toons to follow. Looey nervously took his first step before a hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks. He whipped around his head to get a look at who, or what had just grabbed him

“Looey, are you gonna be okay? Need me to stick around nearby?” It was Sprout, he looked worried.

Looey dipped his head and breathed in deep to wipe off his shocked expression, facing Sprout with a characteristic smile “I’ll be fine! You should make sure the rest are safe from whatever's in here, I’ve got it all down” Sprout frowned slightly, but eventually took back his hand with a sigh and walked into the dark “Stay safe, Looey” he waved and turned away.

After dumbly watching Sprout be consumed by the dark, Looey rushed into the room to try and get the twisteds onto himself. Darkness covered everything around him, and the walls began to feel like they were miles away from where Looey stood. It was always a disorienting feeling to lose yourself in the dark. One that Looey never seemed to get quite used to no matter how many times he experienced a blackout. Luckily his bright colors were easy for the twisteds to lock onto, and they quickly started to group behind him. Only, the twisteds on this floor proved to be deadlier than the average. Two mains quickly made themselves known with their powerful steps. The sluggish feeling that accompanied Astro took over Looey’s body while the rustling of ink-soaked leaves warned him of Sprout. 

Not a good combo! Looey thought to himself as he dodged an inky tendril growing from the floor he stood on. He managed them best he could, weaving and dodging a mix of the mains vicious attacks plus twisted tisha and boxton that trailed behind. A particularly well placed tendril blocked the loop that Looey had secured. He swerved around to gather his pursuers and made way to the next loop. Taking a headcount… made Looey realize that he had lost some twisteds in the conflict. He had lost … 

“Where did Astro go??” It was barely a relief to be rid of the tiredness that Astro inflicted when it was his job to be inflicted with it! Looey frantically searched for the missing main, almost losing sight of the other twisteds he was looping. Eventually, he was able to find Astro, but not before damage had been done.

The tell-tale sound of frantic electronic beeping followed by a furious “OW!” let him know that Vee had been hit.. And reduced to one heart.

“Why the heck isn't the distractor doing their job!?!” Vee shrieked as she ran to get away from Astro trailing her close behind.

“I’m SO SO sorry Vee!!” Looey rushed out, getting dangerously close in order to pull the four-armed twisted of its target.

 “I didn’t mean to!” He didn’t get a response, Vee was long gone.

The panic made Looey feel a lot less in control of his actions. He narrowly avoided the stretched arms of twisted boxton before stepping into the splotch of ichor that marked one of twisted Sprouts tendrils. Not being able to turn around, Looey had to run straight through it and lose a heart in the process. But what really surprised him was the feeling of helium returning to his head mere moments later accompanied by the sound of being healed. Looey soon located the source of it, Sprout had been watching over him after all. A new wave of embarrassment overcame him at the realization that Sprout had probably seen his monumental mistake.

After a little while more of perilous looping in the dark, the final gen was completed and a bright light appeared in Looey’s peripheral. He breathed a sigh of relief, and prepared for the final stretch of looping before he could get back to safety. 

Seeing the silhouettes of seven figures in the elevator light gave Looey the permission to make his way over, narrowly avoiding one last tendril as he slid inside. He slowly lifted his head from the floor and looked around nervously at the faces of his friends. Meeting the icy gaze of a peeved Vee encouraged Looey toQuickly scramble to the opposite side of the elevator to avoid any verbal beatings. After gaining back his nerves, Looey went back to people watching. Yatta was encouraging Boxten, Rodger was talking about the good research he had gathered on both mains, and Sprout…Sprout was walking towards him!!

Oh no.. he’s really gonna tell me off this time! This is what I get for messing up so badly huh.. I hope they put something funny on my grave..

“Haha, don't look so scared Looey..” Sprout gave the balloon a reassuring smile “Are you okay after all that? Took quite a beating out there”

“Not at all! Haha… well maybe a little bit but it would’ve been alrighty anyhow!” Looey was still nervous, still uncomfortable about relying to hard on Sprouts healing. “Not really sure why you chose to heal me instead of Vee, we both had one heart left after all!”

“Well,” Sprout started ”For one, Vee had her own band-aid” The two looked over at the agitated TV, who was swirling around her microphone while Shelly stood awkwardly next to her. “Though she wasn't too happy about having to use it”

Sprout turned to face Looey, looking him dead in the eyes “I was worried about your safety.”

Looey turned his eyes to the floor “Of course,” He muttered. “You always are”

“Of course I am, its only natural. You’re in a pretty vulnerable position, distracting. Especially alone” Sprout stressed, “I don’t want you to, well..”

“I get hurt a lot, and I always bounce back! Pun not intended.. But, I said I would be okay, so why did you follow me anyways?” Looey looked back at Sprout, who had an unreadable expression on his face.

“Well, It's important that I’m there for everyone that needs help.” He smiled again “We all work together to make these runs happen” Sprout stated firmly. Looey fidgeted, wondering if it was the best thing to say, but..

“Sprout, are you sure you have to take care of everyone's health?”

“Looey, if you need some extra care, that's my call, We’re a team!”

“... I know, but I’d hate to waste your-”

“Looey, you’re never a waste of anything” Sprout had a very serious look on his face when he said that. It made Looey feel.. Silly

“Sorry!! Never mind!! Pretend I didn't say anything!! HAHAHAha AHem-” he cut himself, pushing away from the wall to start a conversation with Yatta. Daring not to look back at Sprout's serious expression.

“Hey Yatta, how was the floor-”

She turned to Looey, giving him an aggressive side hug.

“Wow! Got told off by Sprout TWICE in ONE run!” She giggled “MAKING RECORDS!” 

“Haha.. I don't know if that's what happened this time..” He felt lighter than usual.

—-

The rest of the run didn’t have any more major conundrums, and Looey surprisingly didn't lose any more hearts. His nerves had calmed down by a margin, but a new feeling of.. Giddiness? Replaced what had once been. It was just as good at gnawing at his brain though. 

Once the elevator had made its full ascent up, relief washed over Looey and he felt suddenly very tired. Yatta seemed just as full of energy as usual, however, as she performed a cartwheel in a circle.

“WOO! Back HOME!” She jumped back into a standing position, shaking Looey by the shoulders. “I’M GONNA GO EAT SOME CANDY! IN MY ROOM! AND SLEEP!” She started to skip away “BYE LOOEY!”

“Haha… Bye Yatta!!” Looey waved with a warm smile as the other toons started going their separate ways. He wasn’t looking forward to remembering every mistake he made on the run before going to sleep tonight but-

“Hey Looey, wait up!” Sprout called out behind him. Looey turned, surprised.

Is he finally gonna give me a talking to now…?

“UH… YEah.. Sprout!?” Voice crack.. Looey kicked himself in his mind

“I wanted to talk to you really quickly” Sprout stopped in front of Looey, “Nothing bad! I promise” He added with a look

Oh, I must've looked kind of pathetic right there “What is it?”

“Well, I was thinking,” He started, scratching the side of his face. “I think that if we maybe… did a duo run sometime, it would be easier for you to accept heals? When there's no one else to heal, you know?”

Looey was stunned. Sprout wanted to go on a duo run… with Him? Of all toons? “Oh… well…” Looey stammered, eyes wide

“Sure! Sure I do!” Looey eventually pushed out “A chance to work on solo distracting, too!” Sprout seemed relieved

“That's good, well, I’m free tomorrow if..” The Strawberry trailed off.

“To-morrow! Okay well! I can do that aha ha ....” Looey cleared his throat into his hand awkwardly.

“Okay, Tomorrow it is then.” Sprout smiled and walked past the balloon. “See you.. Here? In the morning?”

“YEP! Tomorrow!” Looey watched as Sprout walked away as he stood in place. Only then did he notice his tail had been wagging.

For how long? Looey didn’t know.

Chapter Text

Sprout the strawberry always wanted to protect his friends…

Trinkets, check. Matching BFF charm, check. Cupcakes… Check!

Sprout sifted through all the things he usually prepared for a run one by one to pass the time. He always woke up early to help Cosmo with making and serving breakfast, but that had turned into a habit of being early to everything. Being early was better than being late, anyways!

It wasn’t super common for toons to go on runs without a full team. And for good reason, it was Risky . When Sprout had told Cosmo about his impromptu plan to invite Looey on one, it didn’t exactly blow over well.

Who's gonna be there to help you guys if something goes wrong? Is what Cosmo had said. But it wasn’t like Sprout would let anything bad happen to Looey.

To that, But what if something happens to YOU Sprout!

Sprout didn’t entertain that one too much. He didn’t think that he was someone that needed protecting, and that wasn’t about to start now. Besides, this run wasn’t about him. It was so that he could try and fix Looey’s problem with taking heals. It bothered Sprout a lot how… dismissive Looey was about his safety. That he’d so easily write off his own worth in the face of everyone else's. It was a bad mindset, and it was one that Sprout had become determined to help him work on. 

Just then, Looey cartoonishly turned a corner into view. He waved sheepishly after making eye contact.

“Hi, Sprout! I’m ready for our duo run!” He greeted. ”Sorry if I made you wait too long, haha..” 

Sprout shot a glance at the clock, before turning back to Looey and smiling warmly

“Nope, I just got here a bit too early” He motioned Looey over to the towering door of the elevator. “What do you say to a floor goal of twenty?”

“Sounds good to me!! Well, anything sounds good to me…” Looey trailed off nervously as Sprout pressed the call button and the elevator shaft started to grumble mechanically.

Well, that didn’t sound very confident . Sprout thought to himself. 

“Well, if anything goes south, we can come back up early.” He looked to Looey, who suddenly straightened up.

“No, no! That won't be necessary!” He gestured wildly with his hands, “It’ll be fine, I can handle myself!” 

Just then, the elevator door lurched open. Sprout walked in immediately while Looey lagged behind a bit, sending one last glance to the peaceful halls of upper Gardenview before stepping inside.

“I’ll be making that call, Looey. But we’ll try our best” Sprout firmly responded, not leaving any room for something tragic to take place on his watch.

“Right….” Looey conceded.

The door closed moments later, and silence followed the two down. It made the ride seem a lot longer, and the tune of Clair de Lune a lot louder when it kicked in with a skip. Eventually the elevator came to a halt, and the door opened to reveal the first floor.

“O-kay! Well… I’m gonna go… uh.. Distract!” Looey immediately darted off into the floor. Before Sprout could say anything, he was long gone. Oh well, hopefully nothing too bad would happen on these easier floors.

Sprout had a game plan when it came to extracting. He wasn’t very good at it, but he had come prepared for that this time. Making way to the furthest machine, he would use the trusty Vee-mote. Then make his way back to the elevator while grabbing any and all tapes found on the way back, of course.

Blocking Sprout’s path was one of the twisteds of the floor, Poppy. She wasn't anything hard to deal with, with no special abilities to speak of. He quickly ducked behind the cover of a box while waiting for her to pass from the machine. Her attention was instantly grabbed, however, by a blur of bright colors flying past the area. Looey.

Good timing! Sprout thought as he quickly finished the machine with his Veemote, turning on his heels to finish the ones that he saw on the way to the back wall. It was pretty monotonous, and Sprout didn’t see Looey or any twisteds while he mindlessly turned the valve of the machine.

It surprised Sprout to see that the third machine he encountered was glowing a bright green. Looey did a machine? Odd. He didn’t want to waste too much time thinking about it, and headed for the last one right at the elevator he’d left for last.

Once the last machine was completed, Sprout entered the boundary of the elevator and waited for Looey, who arrived not much later with two twisteds in tow. The second the balloon had his entire body inside, the door slammed shut with finality as their descent even further began. 

“Hey, Looey?” Sprout started conversation just as the sound of Dandy’s hatch opened behind him and instantly drowned out the dialogue

“Woah! It's not everyday you see this small of a group on floor one!” Dandy instantly began his incessant remarks. “Tell me, did something happen to the rest of you?”

Sprout turned to the flower with a cold expression “No”. Taking a glance at Dandy’s selection only to find trash, he turned back to Looey.

“Then, the two of you came down here for some alone time? That’s a new combo!” Dandy attempted to get back into conversation, only for Sprout to ignore him.

“Looey, how about you extract until we start getting more difficult twisteds? It’ll make things go by faster” He suggested. Looey took a small glance at Dandy behind him, who must've looked pretty peeved from being ignored like that.

“Right, sorry for running off like that, then! I’m just used to it haha..ha…” He cleared his throat. “I’ll help extract”

Sprout paid no mind to Dandy’s grumbling as he retreated back into his hatch in the floor, instead choosing to give Looey a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“Great, just make sure to save the one closest to the elevator for last, okay?” Looey nodded in response. Sprout took back his hand when the doors opened once more into uncertainty

“See you, Sprout” Looey waved before speeding off again towards the back wall. I guess we both have the same plan, then . Being left on his own again was very… lonely. Sprout couldn’t imagine going into a run by himself, when he felt this lonely just being left alone on one side of the floor.  He had a firm stance against solo runs, trying to make sure no toon felt the need to go down into the depths alone, without someone to help them. If he wasn’t there to make sure they were okay… 

Shaking the thought from his head, Sprout popped off a machine with his Veemote before steering off to go find another. Spotting one just inside a doorway, He sped up to get over to it and begin his work. Fading into his own mind from the monotony, Sprout was jolted awake when he heard a voice behind him.

“Oh! Whoops, thought this one was empty!” Looey sounded surprised to see him there.

“Yup, why don't you go finish the one by the elevator?” Sprout looked behind his shoulder, long enough to… mess up.

Oh no… right in front of someone else. How embarrassing.

“HAHaa..! Right, okay, see you at the elevator then” And off Looey went. Sprout mentally kicked himself for that, what a great example I am!

It wasn’t long before Sprout had to scurry off from his completed gen, with both of the twisteds on the floor crowding to the sound of a mistake on his machine. He easily lost them both behind a bookshelf before making way to the elevator. He found it was already open when he got there, with Looey waiting inside.

“Another floor done with” Sprout remarked once the door slammed behind him. 

“Yup.” 

…

Yeesh. Why was it so hard to.. Talk? 

They stood in silence until the elevator came to a stop, and the door opened on yet another floor of the facility. The two toons both walked out of the elevator with purpose as Sprout started scanning the area. The awkward silence followed them out of the elevator and into the empty surroundings. It didn’t take long before they were made aware of the first threat they had, when a tail came flying in their direction.

Looey dodged behind a box while Sprout ducked in place before hiding behind a wall, both yelping in surprise.

“Scraps! I got her!” Looey turned to Sprout with a nervous, but determined smile.

“You… sure?” He wasn’t so convinced by that look.

“Yup! Just you see, I’m crafty with my loops!” Looey easily joked as he rushed into action, pulling Scrap’s attention. She darted after him down into a hall and out of sight, leaving Sprout alone again to complete machines. He spotted one that was right next to the elevator. Save that for last…

“Haha… Alright! Make it back safe!” Sprout giggled at the pun, Walking the opposite way from where Looey disappeared to. Looking to the bright side, there were just two twisteds and no blackout. So, Looey would most likely be fine. He just had to complete these machines as fast as possible, strategy be damned. 

Sprout rushed to the next machine he saw through a window, and completed it in a split second before dashing off to the next. Only, the next one he found was already completed, just like the first floor. Sprout looked through the same window and spotted Looey, who had both Scraps and an additional Finn chasing after him now. When had he found the time?

—

Back at the elevator, Sprout had completed the final machine and was once again waiting for Looey. He heard the sounds of falling books and other items before he saw Looey emerge from behind a wall with twisteds in tow. Every time Scraps sent her tail flying, he would dodge and some poor inanimate object would take the brunt of the attack instead. Looey smiled when he saw Sprout and rushed to stand next to him in the elevator as the door slammed down to block any last attack from Scraps. 

“Woo! Haha.. that wasn’t so bad” Looey proudly pointed a thumb at himself “I didn’t lose any hearts after all!”

“Guess not. Huh?” Sprout replied slowly, then turned to face Looey head-on “How did you complete that machine anyways? While being chased?” 

“OH! Well, yeah.. I brought a Veemote, and it would be a waste not to use it. So… I did” Looey sounded caught off guard.

“While Scraps was chasing you??” Sprout raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms.

“ Yeahh… But I do it all the time! It’s not too hard once you get the hang of it, and-” Sprout stopped Looey by putting his hand up.

“It's too risky, especially with Scraps of all twisteds!” He frowned, “I don’t think you should be doing that”

Just then, Sprout became aware of Dandy to their sides. He watched silently with a smug expression from his spot behind his booth.

“Sorry, was I interrupting something?” Dandy suddenly perked up, sounding ingenuine. “My apologies, I have some great selection for your buying here, though!”

Looey and Sprout glanced over at the table that Dandy was advertising. Two gumballs and a pop.

“Right, anyways” Sprout turned back to Looey, “I just dont think its very safe to be that vulnerable during a chase.”

“But it has a use! It's so I can keep you away from any machines too close to where I’m distracting. I’m trying to protect you too!” Looey stressed.

“So, no ones gonna buy anything? Hellllooooo??” Dandy waved his arms around to try and gain back their attention.

“Alright but… just try to be more safe about it? Promise me?” Sprout ignored Dandy.

“I promise!” Looey smiled as he gave an amateur salute.

“So! Saving your tapes as always Sprout! I’ll be back for them” Dandy sounded annoyed as he flipped the switch to return back into the floor. Good riddance

Looey looked at the hatch on the floor where Dandy disappeared into, fiddling with his fingers.

___

The next few floors went by without any trouble. The two with their Veemotes went through them quickly as most of the twisted only ended up being more commons. It was only now on floor six, that Looey had lost his first heart. 

“I was just being careless, Tried to slip my way past Yatta. She’s always so erratic! It's hard to tell where she’ll swing at,” He’d explained as Sprout pulled out a cupcake

“Here, Looey. Let's get you back to full hearts” Sprout offered out the cupcake for Looey to take, but he didn't reach out for it.

“I’m alright Sprout, I don’t need it yet. Maybe when I’m at one heart?” Looey explained, taking a step back from him in the elevator.

“You always do that, won't you just take it? It stresses me out when you’re running around on two hearts” Sprout pleaded, reaching his arm further.

“Well, you’re at two hearts, too!” 

…

“I guess you’re right…” Sprout deliberated for a moment before he sighed and put away the cupcake.

“Besides, I’m faster at two hearts! It makes stuff easier” Looey ran around in a small circle to show off his new speed.

“Okay, we’ll need that when things get serious.” Sprout smiled, uncrossing his arms.

___

“Hey, I found a band aid!”

“Really? Where are you?”

Sprout turned around from the machine he was working at to try and locate where he’d heard Looey’s voice. He closed his eyes and sensed the vague presence of his heart.

“Right over here, behind these boxes.” Looey ran out into Sprout’s view and pointed excitedly at the spot. Sure enough, there was a band aid box lying on the ground. “Take it, Sprout!” 

“Hmm..” Sprout thought on it for a moment, then had an idea. 

“If I take this, will you take a heal from me? To make it even.” Sprout left the offer in the air, half expecting to be denied. Looey put his hand to his chin for a moment before sighing.

“I guess it's only fair” He conceded as Sprout bent down to swipe the box. “Heart for heart!” 

“Yup, heart for heart” Sprout pulled out a cupcake and passed it to Looey who ate it without complaints. How often does that happen?

“Alright, I’m gonna go finish this last machine. How about you go back to the elevator and wait?” Sprout suggested over his shoulder as he walked to the half completed machine. Looey threw a thumbs up before scurrying off out of sight. 

“... That's some progress, I guess” He mumbled to himself while turning the valve.

Back at the elevator, Looey was waiting patiently in place as Sprout rushed inside. Another easy floor, two stationary twisteds and one Boxten proved to be almost a freebie.

“Easy floor, huh?” Sprout commented as he brushed off himself

“Ahh! Don’t jinx it!” Looey waved his arms wildly “Now we’re gonna get something crazy, like three mains at once!” 

“Not possible this early, Looey” Sprout giggled

Just then, the sound of Dandy’s hatch opening interrupted them. Only this time, there was something worth buying.

“Holy medkit!” Sprout walked over to the three items laid out before them. 

“Heh, I knew you would want something eventually Sprout! So, one hundred tapes for that.” Dandy reached out his hand and waggled a finger.

“Hmmm… I think that's a bit much, I don’t have so many tapes on me…” Sprout trailed off.

“Well, no discounts! That's my policy!” Dandy rested his head on his hands with a gleam in his eye. “One hundred tapes”

Looey looked between the two of them wide-eyed, and Sprout smirked. 

“Oh, yeah? Not even when I have this?” Sprout pulled out a Dandy plush and dropped it onto the table with finality. After seeing that, Dandy straightened up.

“ I never should’ve even… ” Dandy muttered to himself, staring daggers at Sprout.

“What? You wouldn’t go back on your word about that fifty percent discount, would you, business man?” Sprout drew out that fifty to really dig it in. Looey laughed into his hand at the scene, but stopped when Dandy turned to him with a murderous glare.

Sprout dropped down 50 tapes and swiped up the medkit with a smile, leaving Dandy to smolder by himself as he dropped below the floor.

“And that's how you always have so many tapes in this economy, huh!” Looey got out between giggles “I guess that makes You the business man!”

“I guess it does! Haha.. ha….” That last laugh was drawn out after the two started to hear a faint music box through the thick elevator door. They both turned to face one another wide-eyed and open mouthed.

“I guess… he didn’t like that discount very much..?” Sprout voiced quietly as the door opened up and heavy footsteps rumbled the floor.

“Haha… ha.. Yeah..” Looey’s ears dropped down as he wandered out onto the floor carefully

“He’s nothing to be scared of Looey, besides!” Sprout smiled. “I’ve got some saved tapes if you need any heals.” 

Looey took a deep breath and then broke out into a run, turning to face Sprout as he did.

“I’ll do the ones in the back!” He shouted gregariously before disappearing once again out of sight.

“Alright…” Worry began to tug at the strings on Sprout's heart.

__

It took a bit before Looey made his way back into the front room again with one heart gone, and thankfully with no twisteds trailing behind. “Okay! Is that the last one?” He called before stopping a few feet away from the machine Sprout was currently working.

“Yup. If you did all the ones in the back, that is” 

“I sure did!” Looey announced proudly as he stood between the rest of the floor and the corner Sprout and the last machine occupied.

“Pfft… are you protecting me?” Sprout asked jokingly, noting the behavior.

“Yup!” He boasted in return. Putting his hands on his hips proudly “I’ll pull away the twisteds if you need it!”

“Hmm…” Sprout hummed before turning back to his machine. A strange wave of emotion was quickly blocked by the circumstances before them.

__

More floors went by, and the two of them started to really warm up to each other. Looey was a lot easier to talk to now that the ice had melted, and he was a good conversation partner. He fired off joke after joke, really bringing up the mood. 

What changed the most though, was that he didn’t seem as scared of Dandy anymore. He was actually making jokes at Dandy’s expense! They were funny, but he’d never quite seen Looey do that before. Must’ve been a lot of material he’s been building up.

Sprout had to use his band aid after a surprise attack from one of Blot's hands in a blackout, and Looey had lost another heart in the time between the Dandy encounter and their current floor.

Floor 15 had a bad start when the sound of annoying pop-ups flooded both of their visions.

“Vee floor, joy...” Sprout remarked as he scanned for other threats and machines. Looey nodded wordlessly before bending down to grab a capsule from off the floor. After picking it up, his eyes went wide and his grip tightened

“Sprout. It’s Pebble, too” 

“Oh…”

Should I take over? Is he even ready for that? Was instantly the thoughts that started to take over Sprout’s mind. Of course, it wasn’t Looey’s first time handling a double main. This was one of the worst twisted combos that they could be facing, but most of all … there was no back up.

“I got it. It’ll be alright, Sprout” This time, Looey did look like he meant it . The determined look that was directed at Sprout switched over to the sudden pounding footsteps that denote the presence of twisted Pebble.

Grabbing Looey’s shoulder to pull him behind the cover of a stack of crates, Sprout weighed his options. I can't risk something bad happening under my watch

“I’m sorry Looey, I can’t let you put yourself in danger this time,” Sprout said firmly, standing up to survey the surroundings.

“Oh… I understand” Looey deflated a bit. “Then…?”

“I’ll see you at the elevator” He replied before running off to grab Pebble’s attention. The colossal twisted turned its head and let out a deafening roar at Sprouts approach. Before he’d known it, Looey was gone in a flash.

Being chased by pebble was sure to make any toon feel like they're on the edge of meeting death, and this time was no different. After a bit of chasing around, conserving stamina, and trying to steer clear of machines…

Ding ! First machine.

The fuming electronic beeping of a twisted Vee joined in the choir of noises going off behind Sprout as he ran. Now, there should only be two left to grab…

Ding! Second machine.

The slowness of Vee hit at a particularly bad time, causing Sprout to take a nasty hit from Pebbles jaw. He quickly healed back up to full and used the brief time away from pebble to regain some stamina.

Ding! Third machine.

Four more to go… was the thought Sprout clung onto as he eventually found twisted Yatta wandering about. He was able to run his three followers at a good pace for a while longer.

Ding! Fourth machine.

With one slot emptied, Sprout dove to grab a pop off of the floor to top of his stamina. It was a welcome change, but one that let him right into the reaching hands of a twisted Looey. He decided he had to use his last heal, the medkit.

Ding! Fifth machine.

In order to save enough stamina to be able to make it to the elevator, he had to slow down. He had to get hit one more time…

Ding! Sixth machine.

One more… One more… One more…

The tell-tale sound of the seventh machine was exactly what Sprout wanted to hear. Taking one final lap around the loop, he used the last of his stamina to book it over to the now open elevator. Looey was waiting for him inside, worry painted on his face.

“Sprout! Are you alright?” The balloon rushed over, “Do you have any healing items left?”

“Nope, I had to use them all.” Sprout wasn’t too concerned, he’d be alright as long as the next floor wasn’t like that.

Just then, the musical tune of Claire de Lune accompanied the arrival of Dandy, brandishing three new items on his table.

“I hear you need some help, I’m willing to sell my wares!” He offered with pseudo-kindness.

Looey and Sprout both looked at the table. A pop, speed candy, and … an airhorn. Useless!

“Heh.. I wish I could heal you like you can heal me!” Looey joked to Sprout, who was glaring at the items on the table.

“I wish Dandy was selling some healing” Sprout gave a cold comment before turning away from the shop and facing the elevator door

“Yeesh! Y’know, he’s always like this about my wares” Dandy whisper-shouted at Looey, who backed up and shrugged without a word.

__

Floor twenty wasn’t too far away, that's what Sprout kept reminding himself. He hadn’t quite been setting the best example for the past couple of floors after that mishap with the double mains, but that was in the past now. The doors opened one final time for their run.

“Hey, Sprout?” Looey asked apprehensively, stealing a short glance at him before looking back to the floor in front of them.

“Yeah?” Sprout responded, stopping in place.

“Well, I… I guess I just wanted to thank you for taking me on this run in the first place” He smiled awkwardly.

“Oh” Sprout was relieved it wasn’t bad news. “You’re welcome, Looey”

Sprout didn’t really think the run had gone as planned. He hadn’t been able to make much meaningful progress on any of Looey’s doubts. It only felt like he had increased his own in the end.

“I’m glad I could help,” Sprout finally commented, turning to go find some machines.

“See you at the elevator!” Looey waved before running off. Sprout would’ve asked him to stay if it wasn’t objectively slower to walk around together.

The twisteds on the floor weren’t much of a threat, surprisingly, even though Astro was among their numbers. Looey took it upon himself to do the distracting after he’d run into a majority of them finding machines. Compared to the high that was floor fifteen, this was a very mellow low. Though a welcome one. 

Once the final machine was completed, Sprout waited at the elevator for the final time that day. He didn’t start decompressing until Looey made his way in, but once that happened a wave of relief crashed over the toon. Sprout sighed quietly and pressed the topmost button to send the elevator back up to safety. 

Looey seemed a lot more relaxed too, or, tired would be a better word. 

“First ever duo run turned out pretty good after all!” Looey exclaimed before turning to Sprout “Again, thanks a lot”

First ever? Oh. right. Sprout had never really let any understaffed runs happen without his permission, and Looey wasn’t really the type to sneak off and do one without it. Though, when he did find out about those un-approved runs, god forbid solo runs … he had a lot to say about them. Sprout was starting to really understand how Cosmo felt this morning.

“You’re welcome, it was…” He thought back to all the moments that his life was in peril. And the moments he had gotten to know Looey better, “Fun”

“You’re a funny guy, Looey.” Sprout smiled the most genuine one he could muster after the post-run fatigue started to set in.

“Oh! HahaHA thanks! I try my best! Being a clown and all, yeah” Looey shifted on his feet with a goofy smile on his face.

They talked more back and forth all the way up the elevator, about their friends, their favorite food ( Looey’s was coconut cream pie, and all Sprout could say was.. “Whatever I made that day!” ) and about what they’d do when they got back.

“I’ll probably go help out Cosmo with some meal prep for tomorrow” Sprout pondered about what kind of things they’d be making.

“I’ve got to go see my friends, make sure they know I’m alright,” Looey said in turn. “Then Yatta will probably want to show me tricks she came up with… then it’ll probably just turn into making up a new act with the three of us.”

“Sounds like you three have a lot of fun together” Sprout mused. When was the last time he’d seen one of their shows? It seems like he never had the time.

“We do! Lots of fun! We all keep each other on our toes…” Looey added, “They’re always there for me.”

Sprout thought about Cosmo, who was probably waiting for the two of them in the lobby right now. What would he do without him? Sprout was glad that Looey had people like that in his life too.

“That's good…”

___

The elevator came to a stop, and the door opened moments later to show the form of Cosmo sitting on a bench with a container in hand.

“Hey you two! Welcome back!” Cosmo jumped off of the bench he’d been sitting on as soon as he saw them both and rushed over “I brought you some snacks, you must be hungry by now.” Opening the container revealed 12 mouth-watering cookies lined up in rows.

Looey eagerly took three, presumably for his friends to enjoy with him.

“Thanks a bunch, Cosmo!” He carefully handled the cookies in a stack

“No problem, how was the run?” Cosmo inquired softly.

“It went great, I learned a lot thanks to Sprout…” When Looey looked at the clock, he suddenly perked up.

“I’ve got to get going. Bye Sprout! Bye Cosmo!” He shouted behind him as he sped away into the hall.

They both waved him off, then turned to one another. Cosmo’s expression changed slightly.

“So, how’d it go?” 

“Well… not exactly as planned,” Sprout admitted while adjusting his scarf. “We had some difficulties”

“Like?” Cosmo raised a brow in response

“We could’ve used… some more people there I suppose…” Sprout said sheepishly.

“Darn right you could’ve!” Cosmo sighed before returning to a smile. “I’m just glad you’re alright”

Sprout smiled back and took a cookie from the container, staring at it for a moment.

“Y’know, Looey’s a pretty funny guy. You should get to know him!” 

“Well, you know how he is” Cosmo closed the container as he started walking towards the kitchen.

“Healer-avoidant?” Sprout joked, following Cosmo a few paces behind.

“Yup!” Cosmo giggled in turn.

His mind went back to Looey, and a part of him hoped that eventually he’d be able to understand why that was in the first place. He really didn’t have so much to be insecure about, not in his eyes. He was fun to be around. Looey was… a nice toon to be with.

Chapter Text

Waking up early was not one of Looey’s skills, especially after hanging out with his circus friends.

Once he had gotten back from the run with Sprout they wanted to hear all about it. Then, they wanted to make up for the lost time. Then, they messed around for hours making up some new acts and perfecting old ones for their performance next week. 

So, Looey had ignored his alarm clock again, and finally got up long after breakfast had ended. 

The first step of his morning routine was making his bed nicely, fluffing up his pillows with care. The second step was applying on his clown makeup in front of the small vanity by his door. The simple dual-toned blush was his usual look, and the one he again chose today.

The last step was taking a deep breath, building the confidence to face the world, and opening his door into the halls of Gardenview.

Looey walked with the usual bounce in his step past the doors of his fellow toons. He’d walk past the occasional conversation, wave, and continue on walking. There were a good amount of toons in Gardenview that didn’t go by the normal schedule. Some every now and then, Like Looey, and some all the time. Glisten usually didn’t come out of his room until noon, glimmering in the light once he did. It seemed like Rodger never slept. It was a gamble whether he was out in the middle of the night, midday, or early in the morning. Astro didn’t really mingle with the rest of the toons as often anymore, but it was safe to bed that he was mostly sleeping in his free time.

Looey’s mind went to Sprout, who talked about his early morning routine of helping with breakfast. This image of a responsible overseer of the rest of the cast was what Looey had of the strawberry. In that way, the two were kind of opposites. Looey didn’t have much responsibility besides going on runs, or being a good friend and performer. 

Sprout seemed like he always had a part in the things that went on in Gardenview. He was always helping with the meals, making and overseeing run plans, mediating conflicts… He’s got a lot on his plate!

Turning into the kitchen, Looey wasn’t surprised to see Sprout and Cosmo together grabbing ingredients for whatever they planned to make that day. Planning to grab any leftovers from the fridge, he made his way over.

“Oh, hey Looey!” Sprout suddenly turned his head while measuring some milk into a bowl. “How are you?”

Cosmo suddenly grabbed the container from Sprout’s hand while he was distracted. “That's enough!”

“Oh, right, right…” Sprout laughed. “My bad”

“Hi Sprout, hi Cosmo. Good… afternoon!” Looey stopped and waved. “What are you guys up to?”

“Baking! As usual” Cosmo continued measuring out ingredients with ease “We’re making some cookies for everyone”

“Oh, cool cool. That's cool” Looey figured that that was the best time to exit the conversation. “Well-”

“You should join us!” Sprout suddenly spoke up, Cosmo turning to raise a brow at him.

“Oh, if you’re not busy that is” He suddenly back tracked, Cosmo nodded.

“Oh, not at all!” He was going to eat, but it could wait. “Except, I’ve never really… Baked before”

“No problem, this’ll be an easy recipe” Sprout walked over to the pantry again. “Let me get you an apron”

While Sprout was out of the room for a moment Cosmo started mumbling to himself. “It took you weeks to get cookies right, Sprout..”

“What??” Looey suddenly felt nervous about this.

“Oh, sorry. Haha!” Cosmo waved his hands. “It’ll be okay, we'll walk you through it!”

“Haha… Okay.” Looey calmed himself down, staring at the recipe book open on the counter. It looked complicated.

“Alright, here's your apron” Sprout suddenly appeared beside Looey, holding out a plain apron with one hand. Looey grabbed it quickly and slipped it on.

“So, we’re gonna make some stuffed cookies. Its this recipe that we haven’t made in a while” Sprout explained while Looey fumbled while tying the bow to his apron for a second.

“We’ve got all the ingredients out so far” Sprout pointed to things while Looey followed. “That's the dry ingredient bowl, that's the wet one.”

“We usually measure out all the ingredients beforehand, before we start combining them,” Cosmo added.

“Right, okay…” Looey mumbled.

“So…” Sprout grabbed the recipe book and brought it into Looey’s view. “How about you measure out the… brown sugar and cane sugar?” Sprout pointed to the two bags sitting side by side on the counter.

Looey memorized the amounts of each before walking over to the bags of sugar. Cosmo passed along a measuring cup and the dry ingredients bowl. He picked up the measuring cup and dug inside the bag of sugar, slowly pouring out small amounts to get the right measurement of sugar. By the time Looey had finished up both of the ingredients he was told to deal with, Cosmo and Sprout had finished measuring the rest.

“Wow! You guys are so efficient at this” Looey noted. “I guess that's expected, you do it every day!” 

“Well,” Cosmo smiled slyly and nudged Sprout. “Sprout hasn’t always been this good at baking!”

“Hey! Baking is so much more specific than normal cooking, that's not fair.” Sprout nudged Cosmo back.

“It's science” He replied curty, sorting the small bowls of ingredients by their contents.

Looey could only smile at their banter. “You guys are both so good at what you do…”

Cosmo was in the middle of pouring ingredients into the dry bowl when he suddenly stopped.

“Well, everyone has things that they’re good at” Was what Cosmo eventually said. Sprout stopped what he was doing as well to give Cosmo a look, before turning back.

“Right, well. What I mean is…” Looey watched them both combine ingredients, not sure what to do himself. “You guys do so much.”

Sprout frowned to himself for a moment before responding. 

“We both have spent a long time finding out what we can do for everyone. We’ve both also spent a long time, well, baking” Sprout grabbed the recipe book again before adding, “I’m sure you could say the same about the things that you spend time honing.” 

“Here, Looey. Can you mix these together for the filling?” Cosmo suddenly handed a bowl and whisk to him.

“Yeah sure!” He was snapped out of his haze for a moment, starting to whisk together the ingredients. The smell of cocoa powder overpowered the air as he did.

Looey didn’t really have that much experience talking to the two. It was partly because the group he ran around with didn't really mingle with the same crowd too often, but also because he’d felt this strange inferiority compared to them both. It was the same feeling he felt towards a lot of toons in Gardenview to be honest. They all had importance implicitly, Looey didn’t feel like they were quite there yet.

Cosmo must’ve noticed his quiet deliberation, because he suddenly grabbed the bowl and mixer from Looey’s grasp.

“Don’t want to overmix it now!” Cosmo laughed awkwardly. “Now you should put this on a baking sheet, hold on let me grab that” Looey just stood there awkwardly as Cosmo rummaged through a cabinet to grab one.

“Here, just lay it out in dollops, about an inch apart from one another” Cosmo instructed. Sprout watched the interaction with a twinge of worry etched onto his features.

“Is something bothering you, Looey?” He eventually asked, moving to stand next to the balloon.

“Well, I guess I was just wondering,” He flung a dollop of the cocoa mixture onto the tray. “Do you two ever feel like you aren’t doing enough?”

Sprout’s expression changed to something unreadable, and Cosmo sighed while mixing together the dry ingredients.

“Everyone’s doing their own part in some sort of way. I wouldn’t worry about it too much, Looey” Sprout eventually said. Then, he suddenly flipped a switch back into a cheerful expression. “So, next we’ve got to put those in the freezer when you’re done” He pointed to the dallops that Looey was making.

“Then we’ve got to combine the dry and wet bowls” Sprout grabbed the wet bowl himself and the eggs that were put off to the side. “Then we’ll form them around the frozen insides. We can all do that”

“Alright!” Looey responded excitedly, brushing off the response he had gotten from Sprout. Or rather, lack of one.

Once Looey had used up all of the mixture in the bowl he’d been given, he put the tray into the freezer.

“Okay, let me set a timer for that” Cosmo said passively after noticing where Looey was headed. He grabbed one of the many timers sitting next to the knobs of the oven and set it for 20 minutes. 

“Since you’re done with that…” Sprout started, “I’ll preheat the oven”

Cosmo nodded before turning to Looey, grabbing both of the bowls of ingredients. “Here, I'll Show you how to mix the dough”

Looey thought it was just as easy as mixing until everything was blended together, but it turned out that there's a method to it after all.

“So you should mix at an angle, so you don’t mix it unevenly,” Cosmo grabbed an empty bowl and held it between himself and the counter as an example. “Like this”

“O-kay,” Looey copied the position and started mixing.

“For this kind of dough, we want it to be a consistent color with no chunks” Sprout added onto Cosmo’s instructions while grabbing the carton of milk on the counter. “Use this if it looks too dry.”

“What does too dry look like?” Looey asked with confusion, Sprout pondering in response.

“Well… I guess… If it looks more like dirt instead of dough?” Is what he settled on saying.

“O-kaayy…” Looey returned to mixing.

“It’s alright, I don’t think the dough needs it. Because somebody used more milk than the recipe called for” Cosmo jabbed Sprout in the side playfully.

Looey was worried for a second that somehow it was him that had done that before Sprout spoke up.

“What?? I could’ve sworn… wait, if you knew why didn’t you tell me?” Sprout huffed and placed his hands on his hips.

“Too many cooks in the kitchen, I guess!” Looey smiled at the return to more lighthearted conversation.

“Well, I did trust that you’d remember the right measurement Sprout, but you got distracted when Looey walked in” Cosmo shrugged. “Not my fault on that one!” Sprout shook his head with a laugh in response.

“Well, can’t cry over spilt milk in this case” Looey joked while feeling the tiniest bit guilty about himself almost being the reason for a failed recipe. “If the recipe calls for it down the line”

“I guess not!” Sprout laughed as he started kneading together the dough for the cookies. Score!

Once the dough was complete, the tray of frozen cocoa made its way back onto the counter. The three of them together formed the dough around the dollops and onto the cookie sheet for baking. It was really relaxing, the repetitive movements getting easier with each one Looey formed. At first they turned out looking pretty wonky, but with tips from the two experts helping him out he eventually got to a point where they looked pretty good. It was a little embarrassing that you could tell which ones Looey made, though.

Once all of the dough was used up, the finished trays of cookies were popped into the oven for baking. Cosmo once again set a timer for ten minutes while Looey and Sprout sat down at the small table closest to the oven.

“So, how’s your first experience with baking, Looey?” Sprout asked after sitting down in the chair and stretching.

“It's fun! I don’t think I could’ve done it without you two here though” Looey thought about how he’s basically just been told exactly what to do.

“Well, we all start out learning,” Sprout said with a nostalgic tone in his voice. “Take me, for example”

“I wasn’t too great at baking before Cosmo started showing me the ropes. Now we’re a team!” Sprout smiled as Cosmo joined the two at the table.

“Yup, he was pretty awful at it before. Y’know, once when we were baking the oven actually-” Cosmo was quickly silenced by Sprout shoving his hand in Cosmo’s face frantically.

“C’mon, we don’t need to bring that up now!!” Sprout pleaded. Looey could only laugh to himself, a bit somberly. 

“It's great that you guys's baking skills are so useful” He commented, the twinge of sadness being a lot more audible than Looey wanted it to be. The two other toons at the table looked at each other with a knowing expression. 

“Well, like I said before. We all have valuable skills to be proud of here” Sprout had this almost pitying tone in his voice as he spoke. It made Looey suddenly feel as if he were under a spotlight.

“Yup! Hahaha, just thinking about, well,” He spoke frantically. “Of course! The shows me and my friends put on are our pride!” Looey thought about how not a whole lot of others showed up to them anymore.

“And well, of course I’ve got the whole runs thing down now, thanks to you!” He thought about his inability to protect Sprout from the hits he took in their duo run.

With every word he spoke, he felt that the two toons in front of him were getting further onto him. Thankfully, right then the oven alarm went off to cut the conversation short.

Saved by the bell!

“Let me go get that” Cosmo got up out of his chair and grabbed a pair of oven mitts from their spot on the counter. Looey turned to Sprout sitting across from him, and the look of knowing was still obvious on his face. He looked like he wanted to say something, but Looey really just wanted to see himself out and forget the whole conversation hadn’t happened in the first place. 

“Excuse me,” Looey got up out of his chair and walked over to the oven to join Cosmo without giving a sparing glance back to Sprout. “Can I help you with that..?”

“Oh” Cosmo said in surprise, before taking off the mits on his hands and shutting the oven door. “Sure, could you grab the sprinkles from that cabinet up there?” Cosmo pointed to a cabinet right next to Looey’s head. He opened up the door and found several small containers of countless different ingredients. Vanilla extract, baking soda, linseed oil… and rainbow sprinkles. Looey grabbed the shaker and handed it back to Cosmo wordlessly.

“Thank you, uh” Cosmo trailed off. “That’s it, though” 

Looey nodded and stood there awkwardly for a second. Usually in moments like this, when Sprout looked all serious like he was, Looey would get a talking to. He wasn’t looking forward to it much. 

Returning to the table, Looey sat down slowly. Sprout was still sitting in silence, this time watching Cosmo plate the now decorated cookies.

“Hey, Cosmo,” Sprout called out to his friend. “Mind if me and Looey pass those out to everyone?”

Cosmo turned, plate of cookies in hand. “Sure, make sure to save a few though!” He walked over and handed off the plate to Sprout. There were a lot of cookies.

“Alright, see you a bit later, then!” And with that, Sprout turned to Looey.

“Are you ready?”

“Oh, yeah! Lets go do that” Looey shot up out of his chair restlessly. “Bye Cosmo!”

“Bye you two!” Cosmo waved as Sprout walked out of the kitchen with Looey close behind.

They walked in silence for a bit, the air still a bit awkward. To Looey, at least. Eventually Sprout started up the conversation as they made their way to the lobby.

“So, I’ve been meaning to ask this,” He started. “Is there something on your mind?”

Looey froze at the question, he hadn’t been expecting that one. Was there ever not something on his mind?

“Well, it's nothing much,” Looey started walking again. “Snoozefest of a story, really”

“Well, I’d like to hear it anyhow” Sprout responded bluntly. Looey didn’t really like talking about himself too much, and definitely not about his innermost feelings and insecurities. Not so openly. Not to Sprout, who he looked up to so much.

“Well-” Was all Looey could get out before being interrupted by a small voice in front of them.

“Cookies!” It was Toodles, staring up at the heaping pile of cookies in Sprouts hands. “May I please have one?” Her eyes were beaming.

“Wow, so polite! Sure you can Toodles.” Sprout grabbed two cookies and handed them both to her. “Make sure one of them makes it to Rodger, okay?”

“Can I get three? Because Glisten and dad are hanging out today!” She rambled on excitedly. “They’re on a date !” 

“Wow! Then, make sure this one makes it to Glisten too,” Sprout handed her another cookie, and she turned on her heels.

“Thank you! Byebye, have fun on your date!” She ran off with energy after dropping that.

Looey shot a look at Sprout, mouth hanging open with surprise. Sprout chuckled lightly before continuing to walk.

“I don’t think she knows what date means” Sprout remarked softly, Looey nodded.

“Haha… Nope!” Was all he could say in response. 

After seeing Toodles, the serious conversation that they were having before thankfully didn’t turn up again while they walked the halls. In the meantime, they ran into other toons who slowly reduced the number of cookies on the platter to just a mere six. Sprout looked over the remaining cookies thoughtfully

“Well, I’d say this is a good place to stop. I’ve got to save some like Cosmo asked” Sprout turned to smile at Looey. “So, I guess this is goodbye for now”

“Hey, Sprout?” Looey had to say this eventually! A hopeful expression spread across the strawberries face.

“Yes?” He sounded eager.

“I wanted to… invite you to my show next week. Bring Cosmo, too if he’s not too busy.” Looey suddenly backtracked. “Well, assuming you’re not busy either, I get it if you are! No hard feelings-”

“I’d love to go,” Sprout’s expression softened. “And I’ll see about Cosmo, too”

“Oh! Great!” Looey beamed. “Well, it's on Wednesday, at 6 pm… and we’ve got something great planned!” 

“Alright, I’ll be there” Sprout smiled back, the kind look in his eyes struck Looey like lightning.

“O-kay! I will be too!” Looey stammered. “Because, I’m in the show! Hahahaa ha.. ha” Looey spun in his heels and started speed walking away “See you!”

“Wait, Looey” Sprout suddenly called out to him.

“Oh! Yes??” Looey whipped around immediately

“Could I get back that apron so I can give it to Tisha for washing with the others?” 

Looey realized he had indeed, still been wearing the apron he’d been given earlier. A twinge of embarrassment seeped into him as he quickly took it off. Sprout grabbed it and quickly folded it over his arm before giving a parting wave.

“Bye, Looey. I had a good time today” 

“I did too! Bye Sprout!”

And with that, Looey walked back to his room with more pep in his step than usual. He thought about the look that Sprout gave him, the care in his voice when he talked… Once Looey made it back to his room, his mind began to race even more. He hopped over to his bed before flopping onto it face-down. Turning to face the ceiling, Looey realized his heart was racing, too.

Chapter Text

Maybe I shouldn’t have let that run happen, after all…  

That was the thought that flashed in Sprout's mind before he had to remind himself that, well, he couldn’t. Cosmo was the one that organized it, and who was he to not allow a run that was perfectly fine on paper?

The only reason Sprout had wanted to was because Looey was on it. 

Not that Sprout wasn’t worried for every toon that went on a run, but he couldn’t quite place where the concern was coming from. Maybe it was because Looey still wasn’t very good at sitting down and taking a heal, or maybe it was because Sprout wasn’t there to make sure he’d be alright.

But Cosmo would be there in place of him, so it would be fine! That was the thought Sprout had to keep repeating to himself all the way to the kitchen after seeing his best friend off for his run. Once Sprout entered the kitchen, autopilot kicked in full throttle. He walked to the pantry to grab ingredients, barely giving it any thought. 

Cosmo knows what he’s doing, and he wouldn’t let anybody get hurt on his watch!

I mean, it's not like I’m the only toon that can heal hapless distractors.

Then… Why do I still feel like I need to be there?

Sprout made quick work of measuring out ingredients, absentmindedly working while his mind was somewhere else. He’d become so good at baking under the watch of Cosmo, that he didn’t even need the recipe book anymore for some of the more basic recipes.

While Sprout was working with fervor, he saw a flash of light blue from the corner of his eye. A glance over his shoulder revealed that it was Poppy. She suddenly turned, realizing she’d been noticed.

“Hi, Poppy,” Sprout put his hands on his hips and faced her fully. “Sneaking snacks again?”

“Nope! Just wanted to come say hi,” She skipped over to the counter. “What are you making?”

Sprout stopped to think… What am I making?

Looking at the ingredients in front of him, there was half-and-half cream, pie crust, and coconut…

“Coconut cream pie,” Sprout deduced out loud, his tone thankfully not revealing that he hadn’t known himself.

“Oooh! Sounds yummy!” She suddenly smiled. “Or are you preparing for the next troupes show orders?”

“Haha, no, I don’t think we have any orders for that” Sprout mused.

“Not yet! ” Poppy corrected. “You never know!”

“Guess not…” 

They sat in silence for a second, Sprout staring at the laid out ingredients on the table. The slight embarrassment of being too in his own thoughts to even know what he was making faded when Sprout suddenly remembered…

“You’re Looey’s cousin, right?” 

“Sure am!” Poppy raised a brow. “What makes you ask?”

“Well, I was just thinking,” Sprout started molding the pie crust to the dish he’d brought out earlier. “Me and him have been hanging out more lately”

“Can’t say the same for me,” Poppy leaned onto the counter and watched Sprout work. “He’s pretty darn busy!”

“That so?” Sprout grabbed the ingredients to start making the filling.

“Yeah, always running around with his troupe,” She smiled “While I’m…”

“Making challenge runs? ” Sprout teased.

“No! I told you I stopped doing that!” Poppy stood up straight and crossed her arms.

“So, you came into the kitchen not to grab the leftover cookies in the fridge for-” Sprout started before being cut off.

“Nope! I didn’t come in here for that! But now that I know there's cookies I will be taking some.” She had a rebellious look in her eyes.

“And I was gonna say that I’m usually hanging around a different crowd.” Poppy leaned back onto the counter.

“Ahh, you and Boxten,” Sprout smiled fondly. They complimented each other well.

“Not just him! Boxten’s great though” Poppy started to ramble. “I’m making waves in the friend department, yaknow!”

“I mean, every toon here’s got the fun factor !” She frowned a bit “Except for one… exception.”

Sprout nodded silently. There wasn’t much to be done about Shrimpo’s attitude.

“Anyways!” Poppy suddenly ran over to the fridge and started rummaging inside. She eventually pulled out a few cookies. “I’ve got to be going now, see you Sprout!”

“Good talk, bye Poppy!” Sprout was about to focus back onto baking before Poppy suddenly spoke up again.

“Oh, but first. If you wanna get to know someone better, you just gotta talk to them more!” She dropped that bit of wisdom before speeding off.

“Guess so!” Sprout chuckled. That’s something Sprout could do when he finished the pie. It only just clicked to Sprout during that whole conversation that coconut cream pie was his favorite after all!

___

Time passed, and Sprout was still falling deeper into his mind. Usually he wasn’t much of an overthinker, focused more on the needs of the other toons to focus too much on his own worries. But still, his mind wandered.

I hope that he’s not sticking out his neck too much

Sprout spread out the filling in the pie crust with deliberation. Now he just had to put the pie in the fridge for a few hours, then it’d be done and ready to be enjoyed when everyone came back. A few hours… There's a lot to be done in a few hours.

He needed to find Tisha, for one. They should definitely go over cleaning and run schedules together. After that was dealt with, there was always more to do. 

Sprout put the finished pie into the fridge so the filling could solidify, and turned to the mess on the counter. That would have to be cleaned first, since Tisha had already cleaned the kitchen twice in the past week

So he got to work, grabbing the left out ingredients and putting them back into their spots in the pantry. Then, Sprout put all the dishes in the sink and filled them with water. He grabbed a sponge, ran it under the sink and then wrung it out before quickly wiping off the counters. He took a step back and appraised his work before thinking Good!

Now it was time to find Tisha, who was pretty difficult to pin down. She was always running around busy as a bee. She could be anywhere… Maybe he should ask Shelly!

Shelly, comparatively, was very easy to find. She was always either in her room, in the museum, or hanging around the lobby with one of her many friends. He decided that her room was the best place to start.

All the main’s rooms were on a different floor from the other toons, so he made way to the elevators. It was a quiet ride up, the only sounds being the mechanical gurgle of the elevator shaft.The door opened to the wide hallway for the mains rooms. Each door was their signature color instead of the normal wooden doors of the other toons. Designs relating to their themes sprawled across the surrounding walls. Sprout immediately walked up to Shelly’s door and rapped on it soundly.

A rustle from behind the door let Sprout know someone was inside, followed by a loud crash . Moments later Shelly opened the door.

“Oh, hi Sprout!!” She greeted excitedly. “What brings you here!”

“Hi Shelly,” Sprout glanced past her at the model that presumably fell over before she came to the door. He turned back to face Shelly, who was smiling wide as ever.“Uh… I wanted to ask if you knew where Tisha was?”

She looked a little disappointed for a moment. Then she smiled again, this time with a sad gleam.

“Oh, yeah, Me and her were hanging out earlier today,” Shelly closed her eyes and pondered for a moment. “She should be cleaning up around the stage area about now, though”

“Alright, thank you Shelly” Sprout was about to leave, but decided he shouldn’t leave Shelly so… sad looking. “By the way,”

“Yes?” She seemed surprised.

“I made some coconut cream pie, it's in the fridge now. It should be ready in a few hours, if you want to come try some.”

“I’d love to! Sounds like it’ll be good!” She waved before shutting the door. “Bye Sprout!”

“Bye, Shelly.” Sprout watched her shut the door before turning back to the elevator. The stage area was next, it seemed…

—-

Once Sprout arrived on the showroom floor, one of the door’s to the backstage area was propped open and two voices could be heard from within. When he walked to the door, he could see those two voices belonged to Tisha and Blot

“Blot! I’m trying to clean here… could you please please PLEASE… stay away from here for a little bit?

”!ton ro won evael i fi ytrid teg annog s'ti ,syad wef a ni ecnamrofrep a tog ev’eW !od nac oN“ (No can do! We’ve got a performance in a few days, it's gonna get dirty if I leave now or not!) Blot protested in turn, looking kind of desperate as he spoke.

“What's going on?” Sprout inserted himself into the conversation, walking up to the two. Tisha sighed and pointed to the trail of ink where Blot stood.

“I can’t clean in here with Blot walking around. No offense, it's just impossible!” She gave Blot a slightly apologetic look while he just sighed.

”!!yadot egats eht esu ot deen I taht reh llet esaelp ,em dnatsrednu uoY !tuorpS ,hO“ (Oh, Sprout! You understand me, please tell her that I need to use the stage today!!)

“Blot’s trying to say that he needs to use the stage for the upcoming performance-” Sprout started.

”syad owt nI“ (In two days) Blot interjected.

“In two days” Sprout continued to translate for him. Tisha took in a deep breath before putting her hands on her hips.

“Alright, I’ll have to move the stage cleaning to a further date, then.” She said with finality, getting ready to leave the area. Blot sighed in relief.

“Wait up, Tisha!” Sprout called out and sped up to walk next to her.

“Yeah, Sprout?” Tisha turned to face him, the stress slowly leaving her features.

“Well, on the note of your cleaning schedule, how about we take some time to plan both that and the run schedule?” Sprout waited for Tisha to respond eagerly while she closed her eyes for a moment.

“Alright, I suppose I have some time before getting back on schedule,” She smiled as they walked to the elevator. “Should we go talk about this in the library?”

“Yup, sounds like a plan,” Sprout pressed the call button and talked idly with Tisha while waiting.

Sprout did his best to stay on top of all the operations throughout Gardenview, extending a helping hand in orchestrating runs, preparing meals, and helping to schedule the weekly cleaning schedule with Tisha. In the beginning, all of the mains worked together to plan these things as a team, but over time it all started falling to less and less people. It started when Astro started pulling away from all the other Toons, then Vee started flaking to do her own things. After that, Shelly started to show up less because she felt she wasn’t being very helpful. Or rather, that Sprout was taking all the responsibility to himself.

He and Tisha working together to plan was also one of the reasons Vee didn’t want to help out with planning runs anymore, and now she would just make runs without consulting anyone in the first place. It was… exhausting to try and keep up with her, but Shelly seemed to be able to wrangle her into cooperation through her words.

___

Once they made it to the library, both of them made quick work of planning out the cleaning schedule. They started doing this in the first place because, well, Tisha didn’t want to be cleaning the kitchen every day. It had become much more manageable to plan it all out in advance. Next was the run schedule, which was usually done by Sprout with the help of Cosmo.

“Well, the Cosmo run went out this morning, so we can cross that one out,” Sprout told Tisha, who was holding a list.

“Okay, how about this ‘extractors only’ run?” Tisha crossed out Cosmo’s name and moved onto the next.

“Uh, who's on that one?” Sprout raised an eyebrow.

“Vee, Glisten, Shelly, Rodger, Yatta, Boxten… that's it” 

“Well, they're gonna have to have a distractor at least… Cancel that one” Sprout said with finality as Tisha crossed that one out too.

“Just one more, then we’re done” Tisha moved onto the next name.

“Okay, shoot” 

“This one says ‘protect Shrimpo run’” Tisha made a face.

“Cross that one out,” Sprout sighed.

“Sure thing” She crossed it out and put down the notepad. “Okay, we’re done!” She shot a look at the clock on the wall.

“I’ve got to get going now, back to cleaning.” Tisha excused herself from the table they were both sitting at. 

“Alright, bye Tisha. Thank you for taking the time to plan that out, since Cosmo isn’t here”

“No problem, see you Sprout” She made her way to the door, and Sprout leaned back in his chair. A sense of anxiety filled his body again, knowing that it was about time to find out if something had happened on the run.

And it was time to go pick up the pie, time flies! 

__

Sprout stood restlessly in front of the elevator door, finished pie in hand. It had been a few hours, surely the run should be over soon, right? Their floor goal was only thirty, so… had something happened after all?

Just as Sprout started to fall into that line of thinking again, the door suddenly lurched open and showed the forms of one, two, three, four, five, six, seven…

All eight toons! A wave of much-needed relief washed over Sprout as Cosmo came up to greet him.

“Hi Sprout!” Cosmo waved before spotting the pie. “Oh! What’s that?”

“Coconut cream pie” Sprout lifted the lid of the pie tray to show off the garnished dessert.

“Ohh, I remember when we had to make TONS of those for one of the circus acts” Cosmo giggled. 

A few other toons from the elevator noticed the dessert too. Teagan walked up and exclaimed ”So that's the lovely aroma I smell!” followed by Goob exclaiming “Oooh! Pie!”

Sprout gave idle responses, looking around at the toons that remained from the eight.

“Where’s Looey?” He asked Cosmo.

“Oh, he left I think.” Cosmo thought for a moment. “Probably to go practice for the show”

“Yeah, probably…” The surrounding crowd slowly filed out of the lobby, leaving the pie with a few less slices and Sprout and Cosmo by themselves.

“Well, how did it go?” Sprout asked, putting the lid back on the pie.

“It went mostly normal. Looey seemed pretty quiet, if that's what you wanted to ask.” Cosmo added. It was what he wanted to ask.

“Oh…” Sprout looked sad. “Do you think he’s alright?” In response, Cosmo had a knowing look on his face. 

“Well, he seemed pretty distracted, and mistakes were made between us all,” Cosmo continued. “But I wouldn’t say he’s the only one I should be worried about.”

“Are you okay, Sprout?” Cosmo asked, taking on an expression usually reserved for toons on one heart.

The question wasn’t what he was expecting. Sure, he had spent most of the day worrying, but he didn’t think it made him look visibly disheveled. There was nothing that could elude his best friend when it came to Sprout's emotions, after all.

“I’m alright, really.” Sprout gave Cosmo a reassuring smile. “Just a busy day” Cosmo didn’t look very convinced, and decided to give Sprout a sudden hug. Sprout was taken aback for a moment, but quickly hugged him back.

“Well, if you need to talk, I'm here for you” Cosmo pulled away and grabbed the pie from his hands.

“I know” Sprout was lucky to have Cosmo. He wished that he even knew how to start that conversation. I’m so worried about Looey, I don’t know what to do! Wasn’t exactly the coolest thing to say.

___

Cosmo and Sprout eventually parted ways after sharing a slice of the pie together. Shelly showed up at some point and chatted for a bit before exiting with an extra slice, leaving the two alone again. They talked endlessly about prepping, about their days, about anything they could. It was the part of the day that Sprout looked forward to the most, being able to just talk to his best friend. In that way, it was just like life before Gardenview shut down. That was the one thing that he still had.

Cosmo had basically told Sprout to go to bed, not leaving any room for him to argue that they should be doing something! They hugged again before splitting up to go their own way. Sprout hated that the main’s rooms were so secluded.

The elevator ride back to his floor was silent. The mechanical gurgle seemed miles away while thoughts filled Sprout’s running mind. The door opened into an empty hallway, oddly feeling colder than the rest of upper Gardenview. Not a lot of toons lived here, after all.

He walked to his room’s door and walked inside, closing it behind him quietly. Sprout’s room didn’t see much use besides being a place where he slept. Most of his time was spent among the rest of the cast. He walked over to his bed and laid down on his back, staring up at the ceiling. The only sound was the air from the vents.

His mind went back to Looey, again! The show was in a few days. Sprout was excited about it. He should have a talk about the run today with him too, though. Poppy’s words echoed in his mind.

If you wanna get to know someone better, you just gotta talk to them more!

…

I wish I was baking right now

Sprout stared up at the ceiling for a bit longer. The kitchen is empty…

He slowly sat up on the edge of the bed. We could always use more food for breakfast

Sprout sent a look at the door. Maybe Teagan would want more cookies for a party?

…

Maybe I could make another pie for Looey?

Chapter Text

Looey was in his room, frantically going through his chest of show props. Strewn across the floor were countless artifacts of previous performances, all of which just weren't good enough! They hit the floor with crashes, honks, and noises that shouldn’t even be coming out of inanimate objects.

He pulled out a string of scarves tied together for what seemed like ten whole seconds before throwing it down in frustration. 

“When does it end??” Looey yelled out impatiently. He turned to look at the carnage that his bedroom floor now was, almost entirely covered. All that searching for a perfect prop left him with nothing but a mess to clean up later. 

There was only one day left until the performance, and they were trying to perfect the final act of the show. So far they had a full 20 minutes of high-stakes acrobatics, impressive bits of pantomiming, and side-splitting comedy… but it was lacking a final bit of pizazz. The grand finale … the conclusion of an amazing act!

Looey sighed before standing to take a final glance at all of the props around him. He needed this to be remembered as his best act yet! Because Sprout would be there!

He stopped to think for a moment, the sudden realization of Sprout being the reason he was so antsy about the whole debacle.

Sprout and Cosmo would be there!

Maybe his troupe members would have some ideas for the grand finale? Yatta always knew how to raise the stakes, and Blot knew just what was missing from their acts. Surely, the three of them could make something that was truly their peak performance.

So, with renewed confidence to paint over the nervousness he had been feeling all morning, Looey walked out of his room and into the halls of Gardenview. There wasn’t anyone around, surprisingly. 

Just as Looey started to walk down to the common area of the floor, he heard the rusting sound of paper from the vent opening right next to where he stood. Moments later, the grate covering the opening flew open and the brightly colored form of his best friend Yatta emerged.

“LOOEY!” She exclaimed before rushing to give him a hug.

“YATTA!” Looey yelled, but in a much more alarmed tone.

“Didn’t find anything in your CHEST OF WONDERS?” Yatta pulled away and talked to him face-to-face. The realization that Yatta had seen his freak-out was… embarrassing!

“Oh!! Haha… you saw that?? ” Looey squeaked.

“Yup! I was wondering what my buds were up to, SO!” Yatta seemed unbothered. “I went to CHECK!”

Looey knew that Yatta knew he wasn’t the most confident toon, and it definitely wasn’t the first time that Yatta had been hiding in his vents. 

“Well, since… uh, that didn’t work out,” Looey started walking again. “I was thinking we should probably come together and start working out something for a grand finale! ”

“SURE!” Yatta giggled and followed Looey along, almost jumping with excitement. “I CAN'T WAIT! For the PERFORMANCE!” 

Looey wished he was as excited about it as her, but the twinge of anxiety around the event was enough to make him wish that it wasn’t so soon. 

___

Together, Yatta and Looey made their way over to the stage area. Being with Yatta was always a good way to calm down for him. She was always like a rock when he needed something firm to hold onto mentally, even with how sporadic she could be.

Entering the backstage area, they found Blot. He must’ve just gotten there, because he was just staring at the floor.

”…ti denaelc llits ehS …ehS“ (She… She still cleaned it…) Blot said slowly as the two walked in.

Looey looked down at the floor in turn, and noticed that it was practically sparkling . It was so clean, he could see his warped reflection on the wooden planks!

“WOW!” Yatta leaned in and out, laughing at her moving reflection. “Think I could SLIDE on it?”

Slide… Slide…

”!yawyna ti denaelc llits ehs dna ,yadretsey ytrid ecalp siht teg annog erew ew ahsiT dlot I“ (I told Tisha we were gonna get this place dirty yesterday, and she still cleaned it anyway!) Blot sounded exasperated as he stood firmly in place, not wanting to get ink everywhere.

“Wow! CLEAN FREAK!” Yatta giggled even more.”Couldn’t wait til AFTER THE END OF THE PERFORMANCE?”

End of the performance …

”niaga ti od ot evah tsuj ll’ehS .melborp ruo ton s'ti sseug I ,lleW …dam os eb annog s’ehS“ (She’s gonna be so mad… Well, I guess it's not our problem. She’ll just have to do it again.)

“THAT'S IT!” Looey suddenly exclaimed, causing both of his friends to turn their attention to him.

“Uh… yeah?” Yatta looked confused. “She’s gonna have to do it AGAIN.”

“No no, I mean.” Looey shook his head, realizing he wasn’t making sense. “I just got an idea for our performance!”

“OOOOOH!” Yatta jumped up and rushed over to him. “WHAT IS IT???”

“Okay, so,” Looey gathered his thoughts. “Before we got here, I was thinking. ‘ Man, how am I gonna make this act special, I mean really really special ?”

Yatta and blot nodded along expectantly.

“So I thought, ‘ there's got to be a grand ending! ”

"!yllarutaN" (Naturally!) Blot agreed.

“And since the floor is, well, primed for it,” Looey gestured to the squeaky-clean floor. “We can do some slide-work. Which we haven’t done in a long time!”

“YES!” Yatta started jumping in place. “SLIDING!” Looey felt a lot more confident about his blossoming idea.

“And, I was thinking about how at the part we ended on before. Yatta’s up on the tightrope, and me and Blot are on either side of the stage.” Looey pointed to one end of the tightrope.

“We can have Blot do some pantomiming work, sawing down one end of the tightrope, Yatta can start to seem like she's gonna fall,” Looey suddenly ran over to one side of the stage.

“I can react, and slide over a mat to where she's stumbling, and when she drops down, I pretend I got dropped on!” Looey mimicked the action, falling comically on his back.

“Some slap stick!” Looey said with a smile as he sat up to face his friends. They both nodded.

 ".esruoc fo ,taht od ll'I !uoy gniviver yb pu ti hsinif nac ew ,nehT" (Then, we can finish it up by reviving you! I'll do that, of course.) Blot chimed in, rushing over to Looey and giving him fake chest compressions.

"!ecnamrofrep eht dne dna wob nac ew nehT" (Then we can bow and end the performance!) Blot pulled Looey up to his feet and gave a dramatic bow. Looey mirrored Blot with a giddy smile.

“AWESOME!” Yatta ran over to the two and practically barreled into them. “LET'S TRY IT!”

“O-kay!” Looey matched her energy. “Get into position!”

___

The final part of their act was near perfection. The clean floors allowed for Looey to get a really dramatic slide when pushing the mat, and Yatta knew just how to make a fall look believable. She always landed right on her feet! The timing for Looey’s portion of the act was a bit difficult to get, but using Blot in the audience to signal them made the whole process much easier.

The funniest part was easily the reviving. Looey was able to use his balloon material to his own advantage, lifting himself into the air with momentum and maintaining it for three whole seconds. Once his stage partners perfected their shocked reactions, the performance really did feel like it was finalized. 

Looey flopped back onto the safety mat, taking in a deep breath and relaxing. Not long after both of his friends joined his sides. Yatta rarely ever stopped moving, but she seemed pretty out of it too. 

"?tnedifnoc gnileeF" (Feeling confident?) Blot turned to face the other two, sitting up slightly.

“YES!” Yatta responded while throwing her fists in the air. “AND EXCITED!” Looey smiled after hearing that, but didn’t respond himself. He was excited, but most of all…

He was scared

"?yeooL" (Looey?) Blot asked, noticing the balloon’s expression.

“I feel more confident than I did this morning,” Looey sat up and pulled his knees to his chest. “But I still feel kind of… nervous.”

“More nervous than USUAL?” Yatta sat up too, the three of them sitting in a semi-circle.

“Haha, I guess so,” Looey responded.

"?ti tuoba klat ot tnaW" (Want to talk about it?) Blot asked, his tone soft.

Looey knew he could tell his friends anything. That they would always support him, and that they wouldn’t think he was silly for it. But, he still felt silly.

“Well, I… I invited Sprout” Looey felt like he was opening Pandora's box by finally talking about the root of his worries. “So, I feel a lot more anxious than usual.”

Yatta and Blot exchanged knowing glances, before turning back to Looey.

“So…” Yatta started. “You’re nervous BECAUSE of him??”

“I guess I am,” Looey said after thinking for a moment. “But, not because he’s mean or anything! It's because he’s so nice.” He sighed and let go of his knees.

“If I did badly, I don’t think he’d tell me,” Looey thought about how Sprout would probably say something like… You did your best!

"!taerg ytterp si tca ruo kniht I .taerg od annog er'uoy kniht I ,lleW" (Well, I think you're gonna do great. I think our act is pretty great!) Blot encouraged Looey, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“I hope so… I know that you guys are gonna be fantastic! I saw it all in our practices.” Looey smiled to himself, before returning to his former somber expression. “I just want to impress Sprout.”

"?mih ekil uoy ...oS" (So... you like him?) Blot asked firmly.

“What?!?” Looey asked, completely stunned.

“You LIKE-LIKE him!” Yatta added on, smiling wide.

“HAHAhAHAHhhahhaAA!” Looey straightened up like a ruler. “WHAT?”

"...yletal tol a tuo gnignah neeb evah owt uoy ,naem I" (I mean, you two have been hanging out a lot lately…) Blot recounted. ".nur oud ruoy ecniS" (Since your duo run.)

“And your TAIL WAGS when you talk about HIM!” Yatta teased.

“It does!? HAHA…” Looey felt absolutely floored. He probably looked like it, too.

“And when you talk TO him, and when you-” Yatta rambled on, her grin ever-present. Looey shook her shoulders wildly.

“STOP STOP STOP!!!” Looey pleaded frantically. Yatta just giggled in turn.

"?yeooL ,mih ekil uoy od ,oS" (So, do you like him, Looey?) Blot suddenly asked again, causing Looey to stop shaking Yatta. Did he? Well… Sprout was on his mind a lot lately, in his subconscious too. He’d appeared in Looey’s dreams more than a couple times. And… He was caring, attentive… cute…

“I think I do…” Looey stated with finality.

“AWWW! LOOEY’S FIRST CRUSH!” Yatta was thrilled, rolling around on the mat.

"!hsurc tsrif s'yeooL" (Looey's first crush!) Blot repeated, also sounding giddy. 

Looey didn’t have a name for the feeling before. He just assumed it was adoration, because Sprout was dependable and he wasn’t. Or maybe respect, for being so responsible. Crush was more accurate, looking back on it.

“I don’t know what to do!” Looey suddenly started rambling. The cat was already out of the bag anyways. “I mean, he’s just way out of my league!”

The first thing that made Sprout unattainable was his nature. He was nice to everybody, not just Looey! It was crazy to think that any feeling beyond friendship had a chance of being returned. The second thing was much harder to talk about. Sprout was a main character, and Looey wasn’t .

“We’ll make Sprout see how GREAT you are!!” Yatta gave Looey a hug from behind, almost knocking the wind out of him from the force.

".wonk mih tel ot erus eb ll'ew ,ydaerla t'nseod eh fI" (If he doesn't already, we'll be sure to let him know.) Blot also joined in on the hug.

Looey finally smiled, closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around his two best friends. He was lucky to have both of them…

“OKAY LET'S GO EAT!” Yatta suddenly exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

“Okay!” Looey shot up, ripped out of the relaxing hug by Yatta’s sudden yelling.

“TO THE KITCHEN!!!” Yatta ran out of the door, leaving Blot and Looey behind.

"!nehctik eht oT" (To the kitchen!) Blot repeated, laughing at the absurdity. Looey laughed along as he followed both of them to the elevator. He could only hope a certain Strawberry wasn’t already there.

___

The topic of Looey’s newfound crush was changed to one more typical for the three of them soon enough. Now they were talking about their performance, and of course, what they’d be eating.

"?rennid rof ydnac gnitae eb ll'uoy gnisseug m'I ,attaY oS" (So Yatta, I'm guessing you'll be eating candy for dinner?) Blot teased, nudging Yatta in the side.

“See, that’s what you’d THINK!” Yatta smiled mischievously. “AND YOU’D BE RIGHT!”

“Of course,” Looey giggled, finally feeling relaxed.

The elevator door eventually opened on their selected floor. When the three of them walked out of the elevator, Looey decided he had to say something to his friends. 

“Hold up guys!” Looey grabbed both Yatta and Blot’s shoulders, waiting for them to turn their attention.

"?yeooL ,haeY" (Yeah, Looey?) Blot asked, looking slightly concerned.

“Uh, just putting this out there,” Looey looked around the hallway before pulling them both closer, his voice lowering to a whisper.

“If Sprout is in there, do. Not. Day. A. Word. ” He looked them both in the eye individually before adding, “ Please. ”

“YES SIR!” Yatta saluted and motioned, zipping her mouth shut. Blot did the same with a smile in his eyes.

“Thank you…” Looey sighed. “Okay, let's go eat!”

So the three of them walked over to the kitchen together, continuing their talk about what to eat.

"?puos emos ebyaM .ytraeh gnihtemos rof og ylbaborp ll'I ,lleW" (Well, I'll probably go for something hearty. Maybe some soup?) Blot put a hand to his chin.

“I’ll just take whatever's already in the fridge!” Looey added as they turned into the kitchen.

Once they did, the three of them were met by Cosmo, who immediately perked up.

“Well! If it isn’t my favorite trio!” Cosmo waved. “How are you three doing?”

“Hi Cosmo,” Looey waved back. “I’m doing good, you-”

“HI COSMO!” Yatta interjected. “Whatcha MAKIN?”

“I’m making some bread, me and Sprout are-”

“Sprout?” Looey suddenly spoke, immediately regretting it.

“...Yeah, me and Sprout are trying out this old recipe that we haven’t tried in a while. It's banana bread.”

“OH! Haha! Banana bread. The funniest bread! HAHA!” Looey wanted to shove his head in the oven, right about now.

".omsoC iH" (Hi Cosmo.) Blot suddenly spoke up, saving Looey from the embarrassment that would come with letting him keep rambling.

“Hi Blot!” Cosmo replied, seemingly thankful for the turn in conversation. Looey took the opportunity to start on a better foot.

“Do you have any meals in the fridge?” Looey asked.

“Oh, yeah. We’ve got leftovers from lunch still in there. Just sandwiches” Cosmo gave a thumbs up.

“Cool, thanks!” Looey walked over to the fridge and pulled out three sandwiches. He wasn’t sure Yatta would eat hers, she already ran off to go look for something more appealing to her tastes.

Looey sat down at a table and Blot followed soon after, they both ate their food in relative silence, the tiredness of running their act for hours catching up to them both. Yatta eventually made her way to them, a pile of assorted candy in her arms. She wordlessly plopped down and started eating too.

They continued on eating for a moment, before suddenly…

“Oh, Sprout!” Cosmo piped up. “Did you find the-”

“Non-stick spray? Sure did! Turns out Gigi ‘borrowed’ it after all.” Sprout set down the spray can he was holding on the counter, when he spotted the three sitting down together.

“Oh! Hey guys!” Sprout suddenly rushed over to the fridge. “Hold on, I made something for you Looey. I mean, the three of you.” Sprout suddenly back tracked. He pulled out a dish from the fridge before waiting it over to the trio’s table. He pulled off the lid with grandeur revealing a perfectly garnished coconut pie.

“For your performance tomorrow! Eat up!” Sprout smiled. Looey felt his heart flutter.

“PIE!” Yatta pulled the dish over to herself, barely containing the urge to eat it with her hands. Looey grabbed the pie and started to cut it into slices before she could.

“Thank you, Sprout!” Looey smiled uncontrollably.

“You’re welcome!” Sprout smiled back.

“And where did you find the time to make that, huh?” Cosmo butted into the conversation, crossing his arms. 

“Oh, well, Y’know!” Sprout suddenly broke out into a sweat. “Uhhh… How about that banana bread? We should get done with that, yeah?” Sprout scooted Cosmo back to their spot at the counter. 

Sworn to silence, Yatta and Blot didn’t say a word about Sprout or his gesture until they had finished eating and were on their way out of the kitchen. But once they did…

“He knew your FAVORITE FOOD!” Yatta exclaimed while jumping excitedly. Tugging on Looey’s arm.

“Well, I did tell him!” Looey added, trying not to let the giddy feeling take him over too much.

"?eh t'ndid ,rebmemer did eh tuB" (But he did remember, didn't he?) Blot argued, nudging Looey on his other side.

“...Yeah!” Looey smiled warmly. “He did!”

Looey wasn’t expecting the gift, and he couldn’t help but notice that the gift was for him , despite the correction Sprout had made. Maybe there was a chance of Sprout feeling something more than friendship after all.

Chapter Text

Sprout was standing at the end of the kitchen counter, serving out plates with Cosmo like usual. He would greet every toon who stood in line for breakfast, wish them a good day, and then greet the next. Sometimes he’d have a conversation with the people who showed up particularly early, or late. Just like right now, with…

“Hi Sprout…” Astro clutched the blanket draped around him, holding eye contact for a few seconds before his eyes started drifting down to the plates in front of them.

“Oh, Hi Astro,” Sprout greeted in turn. “You’re up earlier. Then ever.” He spoke dryly.

“Ahh, yeah…” Astro answered slowly, the tension growing.

Usually Sprout didn’t mind Astro all that much. Sure, he was closer to Dandy now than any sane toon should be, but besides that he couldn’t say that he didn’t like him or anything. When it came to sleep, though, it was a different story. 

Sprout could hide his tiredness from most people, but the one person that would know for sure he wasn’t sleeping as he should would be Astro. He was able to tap into dreams after all, and Sprout hadn’t had any. They stood there quietly for several excruciatingly long seconds.

“Okay, here's your food,” Sprout started to absentmindedly serve Astro his food. Then, the ladle of oatmeal he was about to pour plopped onto the table instead of the plate he was aiming for.

“...Ah” Astro looked at the dropped food, frozen in place. Sprout was frozen too, completely puzzled on how he allowed that mistake to happen. 

Suddenly, Cosmo handed Sprout a wet rag with another plate of food in hand.

“Here Astro” Cosmo handed over the plate while Sprout stared down wordlessly at the mess on the counter.

“Oh, wait. I wanted to ask if I could get a second plate…?” Astro had an apologetic look on his face as he asked.

“For you?” Sprout entered back into conversation as he started wiping away the food.

“... No,” Astro looked down at the plate he was holding up with his magic. Sprout stopped cleaning and shot a look at Cosmo. He did the same. They talked with their facial expressions, and Cosmo went to go make another plate.

“Thank you…” Astro smiled slightly as he manifested more stars to hold the second plate that was passed his way.

“Tell Dandy to come by himself next time,” Sprout said, colder than he intended to. Astro looked guilty before turning to walk away.

“Okay… Bye you two,” Astro said quietly as he left.

“Bye Astro!” Cosmo waved as he disappeared into the hall. Then, Cosmo turned over to Sprout with a worried expression. Sprout's stomach churned.

“So, what was that all about?” He asked with a warm tone.

“I really don’t know…” Sprout finished cleaning up the spilled food and walked to the sink to wash out the food from the rag.

“Having more midnight baking sessions?” Cosmo followed him to the sink since there were no people in line for food.

“Oh! No, no. Haha..” Sprout wrung out the rag and laid it over the edge of the sink before turning to face his best friend.

“I just didn’t sleep very well last night,” Sprout admitted.

“You think Astro had something to do with it, then?” Cosmo looked confused.

“No! No, not at all. It was just…” Sprout trailed off slowly.

“Just what?” Cosmo pried, crossing his arms.

“I’ve been overthinking too much to really get any sleep, and then I pace around, and then I have to go do something to get my mind off of it,” Sprout explained as Cosmo’s expression changed to a knowing smile.

“Thinking about what?” He asked. “Or who?”

“Uhh…” Sprout wasn’t sure how to answer that. Should he say ‘I’m worried about my friends! ’ , like he usually is. Or ‘I can’t stop thinking about a clown!’ which was a very new factor in his life.

Cosmo waited for a moment before sighing and returning back where they were serving food. “Well, please try to get more sleep, Sprout. I don’t like seeing you all frazzled like this.”

“Haha, I’ll try” He smiled hearing that. Of course Cosmo would know he’s not doing the best. At least it was Cosmo and not…

“HI COSMO! HI SPROUT!” Yatta suddenly yelled out, throwing them both off guard. 

“Woah! Hey Yatta!” Sprout replied immediately. He turned to the source of the noise and saw Blot and Looey as well.

“How’s the trio doing today?” Cosmo walked over and stood next to Sprout.

“We’re good!” Looey spoke up, sounding jittery. 

“That’s good… All ready for your big performance?” Sprout delayed handing over the plates that Cosmo was passing to him.

“SO READY!” Yatta spun around in place before grabbing both her friends by the shoulders. 

“I sure hope so!” Sprout smiled and started passing the three of them their plates. “Best of luck!”

Blot simply waved, a smile in his eye. The three of them turned to go sit down and eat. It was pretty empty in the cafeteria, most toons having already eaten. Looey seemed to wake up pretty late…

“So,” Cosmo started, nudging him in the side. “Want to go talk?”

Was he staring too hard?! 

“OH! Yeah, a little!” Sprout laughed awkwardly. 

“Well, I’ll hold down the fort. Go say what you want to say,” Cosmo gave him a thumbs up. Sprout smiled in turn, walking over to the table the three of them were sitting at.

“So, how’s the food tasting?” Sprout asked as he walked up. Looey dropped his fork suddenly.

"taerg setsat tI" (It tastes great.) Blot answered, with Yatta nodding as she continued to stuff her mouth.

“Yup! Very good! Soo good!” Looey picked back up his fork. He hadn’t touched the food yet. Sprout frowned slightly. Is he oka-

“I mean, it LOOKS great!” Looey corrected while laughing awkwardly.

“It's alright, Looey” Sprout couldn’t help the worry taking over his thoughts. “Are you doing alright?”

Looey sat frozen in place for a moment, looking between his two friends who had paused their eating at the question. 

“Well, I…” Looey shook his head. “Just some pre-show anxiety. The usual!”

“Well, make sure you do eat eventually. It’s important that you’ve got your nutrients before a show after all.”

“Yup!” Looey started picking up food on his plate. “Thanks…”

“Mhm, well” Sprout took a step back on his heel. “I wish the three of you a good performance. I’ll be there, cheering you on!”

“YUP! Looey’ll be so HAPPY-” Blot suddenly covered Yatta’s mouth from across the table.

"!tuorpS eyB !neht ,ereht uoy ees ll'eW" (We'll see you there, then! Bye Sprout!) Blot said quickly. Sprout couldn’t help but smile.

“Bye Sprout,” Looey waved, his face looking slightly mortified.

“Bye, Looey. Break a leg!” He started to walk away. “Actually, don’t break a leg. Just… Good luck!” 

Looey laughed in response. “I can’t break anything, anyways!”

Sprout made his way back to the counter with a goofy smile on his face. Scanning the rest of the room for any other toons left him with nothing, so Sprout just leaned on the counter. 

“Guess it's time to clean up,” Cosmo noted as he joined Sprout.

“Who hasn’t eaten yet?” Sprout couldn’t remember. Which was strange, he usually did.

“Well, a few people…” Cosmo thought for a moment. “Glisten, Shrimpo, Gigi…”

“Ah, so the usuals…” Sprout sighed in relief. “Alright! Time to clean up!”

___

“Here you go,” Sprout handed Cosmo a washed plate.

“Thank you,” Cosmo grabbed it and began to dry it with a towel. Sprout grabbed another plate and started scrubbing it clean of food.

“Here you go,” Sprout handed over the next plate.

“...Thank you” Cosmo dried the plate after putting the first one in the open cabinet. Sprout scrubbed another plate, there wasn’t much left now…

“Here you go-”

“Sprout, you don't need to say that every time,” Cosmo grabbed the plate anyhow, drying it off and placing it with the rest.

“Whoops.” Sprout grabbed another plate to wash. “My bad!”

“Not a ‘my bad’ moment, Sprout,” Cosmo smiled. “It’s okay.”

“Haha, if you say so. Then I take it back.” Sprout handed Cosmo another plate to dry. “Here you go.”

“... Thank you…” Cosmo grabbed the plate with a peeved expression. 

“So, are you excited to see the show Cosmo?” Sprout could already imagine how great it’d be. The last time that he’d seen one… must’ve been before Gardenview shut down…

“Sure am, I haven’t seen one in a while!” Cosmo dried the plate slowly. “Probably since before the shut down.”

“Yeah…” Sprout stopped washing plates for a moment as he thought. To be fair, it's not like Sprout had blown off the bi-monthly shows the troupe had been putting on. After Gardenview shut down, it took a long while before they began to put them on again. A lot of toons felt as if they’d lost their purpose for a while after that had happened after all.

Once the shows started up again, Sprouts daily routine didn’t have a lot of space to take a break and watch shows, or participate in tea parties, or arts and craft sessions. He was too busy with trying to run things after Dandy ran away… So why am I doing this now? Seeing Looey’s, I mean, the trios?

“Since this is the first show we’ve seen in a while, maybe we should bring them a gift of support! Something like-” Cosmo started.

“Ooh, great idea! Let's get baking!” Sprout suddenly thought a little more. “Well, after we clean, we won't have enough time to make something from scratch… and leftovers won't do…”

“Or…” Cosmo gestured with his hands. “We could get them some flowers?”

“Ah, that's a better idea. Huh.” Sprout laughed. “Great idea, Cosmo!”

“When we’re done cleaning, of course.” Cosmo put another plate into the cabinet while Sprout continued to scrub the plate he’d been holding idly.

“Of course.” Sprout handed over the clean plate. “Here you go!”

Instead of responding, Cosmo splashed some water from the sink into Sprout's face. In response, Sprout splashed water back. 

“Okay, okay!” Cosmo giggled. “Thank you!” He grabbed the plate.

“You’re welcome!” Sprout smiled. 

___

The rest of the day until six went by excruciatingly slow. Cosmo and Sprout spent the time picking some flowers from the lobby and trying their best to make them into a bouquet, which worked rather nicely. Now, Sprout was carrying it in his arms as they walked down the hall of the showroom floor. 

“I bet Tisha’s happy she won’t have to clean up twenty pies from the stage, this time.” Cosmo joked as he opened the swinging doors into the audience.

“Oh, for sure. Back then she had janitorial staff to help her too… Do you think she forbade them from using food props this time around?” Sprout added while laughing.

“I can imagine it now! ‘Looey! Yatta! Especially Blot! No more throwing around pies!’ “ Cosmo was good at imitating her voice.

“Yup! Just like that!” Sprout scanned the chairs for a good place to sit. He wanted something close but not too close, and in the middle… Was that Vee?

“Hey, Vee!” Sprout called out as he walked over to where she was sitting. She seemed just as surprised to see him there as he was to see her.

“Woah, I thought you didn’t have time for these anymore BerryBoy?” Vee regained her stoic attitude. Sprout grimaced at the nickname, but pushed through it without any further comment.

“I could say the same to you! I seem to recall someone saying ‘I’m a bit too busy’ “ He crossed his arms.

“Well, Shelly wanted to come see the performance.” Shelly popped out her head and waved as Vee mentioned her. “And I felt it was about time I see what the rage is all about.”

“Hi Sprout, Hi Cosmo!” Shelly nearly shook with excitement. “I can't wait for the show to start!”

“Me too!” Cosmo smiled, then grabbed Sprout's arm. “So we’d better go find somewhere to sit.”

“Yup, bye you two!” Sprout waved as they started to walk away. Vee simply waved back with a slight smirk while Shelly turned around in her seat.

“Bye you two! Have so much fun! I know I will!”

Sprout and Cosmo eventually decided on isle H, just far back enough that they could see the whole stage without having to turn their heads, but close enough that they could see all the details. They chose the centermost seats and decided to people watch until the show started.

Poppy and Boxton were sitting directly in front row, even from here Sprout could hear her rambling about a ’splash zone’ . In contrast, Tisha was sitting at an end seat in the third row accompanied by Brighteny. Tisha was messing with her head trying to dim the lightbulb before the show started. Further back sat Shrimpo and Finn, with Finn babbling endlessly and Shrimpo sitting slump and cross-armed in his chair. Closer to them was Rodger, Glisten and Toodles. She was bouncing around in her seat in between the two while they talked to her. 

There were plenty of other toons waiting for the performance to start, but before Sprout could continue watching the lights started to dim. Sprout clutched the bouquet in his hands out of anticipation. What would the show be like? How had the performances improved since the last time he’d stopped by? How would Looey look on stage? Wait, what was that last thought-

“WELCOME!” A booming voice rang out in the theater as a spotlight illuminated an empty ringmasters platform. “TO THE 3 MEMBER CIRCUS!” 

The voice sounded like Yatta’s, only she had a strange accent on. Slowly, jaunty music started to play. A snare drum brought a building anticipation until suddenly all three of the performers jumped out from behind the platform at the same time. They struck silly poses as the music gave a celebratory high.

The music slowed down again and built slowly as they started to maneuver on stage. Yatta and Blot ran to the edges of the stage as Looey stepped up onto the ringmasters platform. He was wearing a much more traditional clown get-up than he usually did. Full face paint, giant clown shoes, and a cute red nose. Cute?

Blot emerged from the curtains, rolling out a giant ball to the platform Looey stood on. Blot was wearing an outfit not too different from his usual. He sported the same white facepaint as Looey, with a beret and necktie added to his look for extra flare. Along with a red flower as a brooch.

Looey suddenly jumped onto the ball, fighting for balance before triumphantly posing. He started to walk the ball around in a circle as the audience ooohed and ahhhed .

While Looey was doing that, Blot rushed behind the ringmasters platform and pulled out six bowling pins, holding three in each hand. He placed down four of the six on the ground and started to juggle with them, before adding a third to his juggle by launching it upwards with his foot.

Just as Blot was about to add another to his juggling, he tossed one over to Looey. Keeping up the juggle, eventually three pins were in both of their hands and they mirrored each other. 

The part that was really surprising, though, was when they started to toss pins to each other, back and forth! The audience roared in cheers, and Sprout had an uncontrollable smile on his face as he clapped.

Suddenly, the two stopped juggling and the spotlight on them reached up to the tightrope above them. There was Yatta, her outfit was a sparkly segmented leotard with leg warmers, complimenting the other two’s costumes. Suddenly, pins started to fly up to Yatta, who was balancing on one foot with a smile. She caught them deftly and started to juggle, too!

The audience cheered again, impressed with the skills on display. Sprout had forgotten just how fun watching performances was after all this time. Has he ever really let himself have fun like this since closing?

Yatta posed with the pins after juggling, throwing them down into a mat before cartwheeling across the tripwire. The audience cheered again as she cartwheeled off stage. The spotlights shone back down at Looey and Blot, who were standing next to each other. Looey had a prop hoop in one hand, while Blot had nothing. The music slowed, and Looey started to perform with the hoop. He spun it around, doing tricks and tossing it in the air. Next to him, Blot was copying his every action, all without the prop. 

The music crashed, and Looey spun to look at Blot with his arms crossed. Blot shrugged and the audience laughed. Sighing, Looey started to perform again, this time faster and with more movement around the stage. Just like before, Blot was copying Looey to a tee. The music crashed a second time, and Looey started to chase Blot around angrily. The audience roared with laughter once again. Next to him, Cosmo was laughing too, clapping happily. Sprout couldn’t keep himself from joining in.

The show continued on, changing from slapstick to impressive stunts with a fast pace. The crowd was entertained beyond belief, cheering the three performers with each new stunt they pulled off with expertise. Now, Yatta was on the tightropes end, balancing on her hands. A spotlight shone down on Blot, who was miming himself pulling out a saw as he started to pretend to cut one of the beams of the tightrope.

Yatta swayed crazily as another spotlight shone on Looey. He reacted to the scene on stage by pushing over a mat beneath Yatta’s place on the tightrope. She fell almost instantly once the mat was in place, and Looey crashed onto his back as she landed. Sprout felt his anxiety spike as he stood up from his chair.

Seconds passed as Yatta and Blot looked between each other wildly, the music suddenly turning frantic.

It must be part of the performance, right? Right? Sprout felt a hand grab his and he looked back at Cosmo, who was ushering him to sit back down. Sprout sighed and continued to watch nervously.

Yatta dragged Looey over to center stage, and Blot paced circles before rushing over and giving chest compressions to him. After a few dramatic pumps that were in cue with the music, Looey jumped back to life. Sprout melted in his chair from relief, feeling silly after overreacting so badly.

Looey floated mid-air for a few moments as Yatta and Blot pulled their best shocked expressions. Once Looey hit the ground, the three of them held hands as they bowed to the audience. The room erupted with applause as the lights lingered before cutting out. The show was over.

Eventually, the lights in the audience slowly brightened up again. Cosmo turned to Sprout as people started to get up from their chairs and the buzz of talk filled the air.

“That was so cool! Man, that last part!” Cosmo stopped for a moment, considering. “Did it scare you?”

“Oh.. yeah it sure did!” Sprout blushed as he held the bouquet. “I always get scared when someone gets hurt.”

“Hmm…” Cosmo smiled knowingly. “I guess we should go say hi to Looey and make sure he’s okay!”

“Alright!” Sprout lit up at the thought. They both stood up and made way for the steps to backstage, now that the theater was mostly emptied out. The lights backstage were pretty dim compared to the ones in the audience, glowing an aged yellow. 

A door near the back wall read ‘make-up room’ , and the distant chatter of three voices could be heard behind it. Sprout hesitated in front of it for a moment before giving a sound knock. The voices inside stopped, and a few moments later Looey opened the door.

“Oh! Hi you two!” He seemed surprised to see them both. Without thinking, Sprout held out the bouquet in his hands.

“For you!” He exclaimed. Looey stared at the flowers with wide-eyes for a moment before grabbing them.

“Thank yo-”

“I mean, for the three of you! Great job on stage! You were all amazing!” Sprout rambled as blush creeped onto both his and Looey’s faces. Cosmo simply watched, seeming amused. 

“Well, thank you!” Looey stammered before clearing his throat. The two stood there for a few more moments before Cosmo piped in.

“I agree, you three did a great job. Thanks for inviting us, Looey!” 

“No problem! I’m glad you two liked it. Really glad…” Looey smiled wide, but he still looked nervous. “Aaanyways, us three have got a lot of work to do, so! We’ve got to be, well, cleaning up now!” He waved to them both.

“Goodbye! See you tomorrow! Thank you!” He closed the door before either of them could get another word in. The muffled sound of Yatta going ’oooooooooooh ’ was suddenly cut off by a crash, and then laughter.

Sprout smiled warmly, still standing awkwardly in front of the door.

“Well, time to go!” Cosmo announced, grabbing Sprout's hand and leading him out. He shook off the trance. They walked in silence and Cosmo let go of Sprout as they entered into the hallway of the showroom floor. Everyone else had left already, it seemed.

“So, Sprout. I’ve been meaning to ask this, but…” Cosmo started as they continued to walk side-by-side. “Do you like Looey?”

“Well, of course I like him! He’s funny, charming, and-”

“No, I mean, do you love him?” Cosmo clarified. Sprout immediately stopped walking, and Cosmo looked at him for an answer.

Did Sprout love Looey? Sure, he cared about his safety, and was always thinking of him in the back of his mind since… Oh, man… Did he?

“I think… I do.”

“Well,” Cosmo smiled and kept walking. “That explains a lot.”

“It sure does…” Sprout followed after regaining his composure.

It sure does…

Chapter Text

Looey was sitting next to Sprout in the kitchen, they were eating together. No one else was around. No Cosmo, no friends… just Sprout.

“Thanks for hanging out with me,” Looey smiled, staring down at his plate.

“I love hanging out with you.” Sprout responded, his tone different from usual.

“Wow…” Looey blushed. “I can’t believe it.”

“I have something I’ve been wanting to tell you, Looey” Sprout turned and grabbed both of his shoulders. His expression was deadly serious, like when he had first talked to him in the elevator.

“Yes??!” Looey practically yelped.

“I…”

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Looey jolted up out of bed to the sound of his alarm going off incessantly next to him. He slapped the button to turn it off and stretched.

What a dream! Was all Looey could think as he got up and started to make his bed.. Once it was made, Looey stood back and looked at his nightstand. There stood the flowers that Sprout had given to the troupe yesterday. Looey had tried to split them all with his friends, but they insisted that he would take better care of them.

So there they sat in a narrow vase filled with water. It reminded him of Sprout.

  I wonder where he is right now!

Breakfast was already half way over, but Sprout should still be there. He was always diligently serving food until everyone who usually did showed. Deciding that breakfast was his next course of action, Looey started to get ready for the day. He applied his usual makeup, put on his usual shirt, and walked out the door. 

Arriving at the kitchen, he waited in line to get a plate of food. Today it was french toast. Looey usually wasn’t very hungry first thing in the morning, but he wanted to see Sprout anyhow. Though, he couldn’t help but notice that the strawberry was nowhere to be seen.

Eventually, Looey was at the front of the line. Cosmo smiled and waved.

“Good morning, Looey!” He started plating a serving of french toast.

“Hi Cosmo!” Looey looked around in the kitchen. “Uh, just wondering. Where’s Sprout today?” He couldn’t remember the last time Sprout wasn’t serving breakfast in the morning.

“Oh, I made him take a rest day. He’s been very tired lately.” Cosmo finished plating the food and held it out. “He’s in his room right now.”

“Oh…” Looey grabbed the plate, feeling a little sad. Before he could think the question through he asked,  “Would it be okay if I went to go say hi?”

Cosmo sighed, then smiled knowingly. “I don’t see why not!”

“Right, thank you!” Looey put down the plate on the counter and rushed out of the kitchen. “Bye Cosmo!”

Cosmo laughed to himself as Looey sped away, leaning down on the counter. 

Looey ran straight over to the elevator, punching in the number of the main’s floor excitedly. It only took a few moments for the door to lurch open. He stepped inside and waited for the ascent, restlessly rocking on his heels. Truthfully, Looey had never had a reason to go to the main’s floor before. He hadn’t been close with any of them personally, and when Gardenview was still open it wasn’t very encouraged by Delilah.

The unwritten rules that separated main toons from the rest were still hardwired in Looey’s brain, even after all the effort that the other toons had put into bringing them down. Up until the past couple weeks, Looey barely even spoke to any of the main’s besides when on runs. 

The elevator door opened and Looey was greeted by the sight of the main’s floor. Each wall was decorated with the theming of all five of the most beloved toons, apart from Dandy. It was much more colorful and much more personal than the rooms for the rest of the toons.

But somehow, it felt a lot colder. Not in temperature, but in atmosphere. There was no bustle of life or laughter, just the sound of the air conditioning and electric hum of the lights. Looey slowly walked over to Sprouts door, it had a picture of his face on it. Smiling.

He hesitated to knock. Did Sprout even want to see him? What if he was sleeping?  

But what if he did want to see him?

He knocked quietly, and waited.

Moments passed. The lights buzzed. 

I should just go -

The door opened. Sprout peaked his head out, he looked tired.

“Oh! Hi Looey!” His face lit up. “What brings you here?” Sprout's entire demeanor changed upon seeing him.

“Well, I heard you were having a rest day so… I wanted to see if everything was alright,” Looey frowned slightly, Sprout did look like he had seen better days.

Sprout's smile faltered for a moment. “Come on in.” He opened the door wide in invitation. The room was much darker than the hallway, with the only light in the room emitting from a plug-in nightlight by the bed. Looey stepped inside and he couldn’t help but notice how big the room was. The bed was huge, there was so much room to walk around, and there was even a couch and TV!

Sprout watched Looey look around in awe silently. He looked sad.

“Sprout, is everything… okay?” Looey asked slowly. That seemed to catch him off guard.

“Oh, yeah.. I’ve just been tired!” Sprout laughed shallowly. “Not a whole lot of sleep as of late.”

“That happens to me too, when I get stressed out.” Looey carefully tried to get Sprout to be more honest with him.

“I’m sorry Looey, is there anything I can do to-” Sprout started to change the subject away from himself.

“Nope! Because I’m here to help you!” Looey crossed his arms. “Do you want to talk about… stuff?” Looey didn’t really have a clue about what could be keeping Sprout so anxious. Sure, he was overprotective and busy most of the time. But he never saw Sprout do anything but take it all in stride. He felt like he was finally seeing a side of him most didn't.

Sprout took in a deep breath and sighed, hanging his head ever so slightly. “I s’pose it's not good to keep it all in, all the time.”

“But, if I get therapy hour, then you will too,” Sprout smiled and walked over to his bed. “Let's talk.”

“O-kay!” Looey smiled and followed Sprout, sitting down next to him as he did. They sat silently for a moment, just looking forward instead of at one another. 

“Well, I think that I agree with Cosmo when he says you need a break day,” Looey fiddled with his hands. “I think you should have them more often, too.”

Sprout cast his eyes down at his lap, the smile fading from his face. “If only it were that simple.” He spoke with a tone that Looey had never heard.

“Well, why can’t it be?” Looey pried again, hoping to understand.

“What if one day, I’m not doing everything I can. And while I’m not paying attention…” Sprout looked scared. “Something happened?”

Looey could relate to that, on some level. All the times that he’d been on a run, and was told to stop distracting. It would eventually lead to someone getting hurt, when he could’ve taken the heat instead. Looking at it from the lens of Sprout let him see, though.

He’s just like me, trying to take other people’s hurt as his own.

“I’m starting to understand why you looked so serious in our runs.” Looey put his hands in his lap and started to fiddle with them. “I didn’t know you were carrying all that responsibility, even then.”

“But, I think that you should put some trust in your friends.”

Sprout looked at Looey, his eyes wide. He started to think that maybe he had said something wrong. After all, he didn't really know what was going on in Sprout's head! How could be be so-

“You’re right…” Sprout smiled sadly. “I just…”

“It’s hard?” Looey offered, surprised. Sprout nodded.

“Yeah. I mean, I don’t think I could forgive myself if someone got hurt under my watch,” Sprout started to ramble. “Who else is there to make sure that everything’s alright?”

“Well,” Looey started. “Everyone else is looking out for one another.”

“I think that if you’d let them, everyone would gladly look out for you, too.”

“That's ironic,” Sprout laughed. “I seem to remember saying the same thing to you, a few weeks ago.” Looey blushed.

“Well, I took it to heart, I guess…” Looey scratched the back of his head. 

“And, have you been letting the people around you help out more?” Sprout pried in turn.

Looey thought about his friends. How he’d told them his feelings about Sprout. How… they were there to support him through it. How they’d assured him when he was down, and how he would always gladly do the same.

“I have.” Looey stated firmly. He felt a churn in his stomach. “And I’d say it's your turn to try it out.”

Sprout turned to face Looey, his expression was… soft.

“I guess that's true,” Sprout said softly. “... Thank you.”

Looey smiled widely, a feeling of unadulterated joy taking over his body. He sprung out to hug Sprout suddenly, not even thinking. “You’re welcome!”

Sprout was stunned for a moment, but he eventually returned the hug just as tightly. They sat in silence for a while, hugging. Looey felt perfectly content, caught up in the warmth of the moment. He really did love Sprout… A deep red blush took over his face. 

“Okay, well!” Looey suddenly backed out of the hug. “I think you should be getting some sleep, now!” 

“I guess so,” Sprout sighed. “I’ll try.” 

Looey suddenly had an idea, his face brightening up. “I’ll get some tea for you! I’m sure Teagan would be happy to make it!”

Sprout giggled. “Sure, I’d love that.”

“O-kay! I’ll be back!” Looey jumped up to his feet and ran over to the door.

“Bye, Looey.” Sprout waved slowly. 

“Bye Sprout!” Looey waved as he shut the door behind him. He rode the rush of energy all the way to the elevator.

___

Looey was walking down the hall slowly, only now just thinking about what he’d been doing just now. He actually talked to Sprout about feelings! . He never really knew that Sprout was so… normal?

Well, of course normal. But more like Looey didn’t know he was so troubled by things, like he was. Like everyone was. It was hard to remember that the mains were the same as the rest of them.

Looey looked at the plain doors with numbers denoting which Toon resided in them. It was a different environment from the Main’s floor, but it was so much livelier. Toons walked together, laughing, running, playing. 

The main’s floor was eerily quiet.

It must be lonely…

Looey stopped in front of the door reading ‘SC- 018’ , Tegan’s room. He gave a tentative knock and waited. After a few moments, the door creaked open and there stood Teagan.

“Good afternoon, Looey. What brings you?” She smiled as she opened the door further. 

“Hi Teagan, I was wondering if, uh. I could maybe get some tea from you?” Looey asked.

“Oh! Why, of course. I’ve got some brewing now if you’d like to try that.” She turned and looked over her shoulder, the stove burner in her room holding a silver teapot. “It’s a blend of a english breakfast and blueberry-”

“I was actually wondering if you had something that helps with, well…” Looey slowed as he scratched the back of his head. “Anxiety?” 

It was probably the best way to describe why Sprout wasn’t getting much sleep. Teagan looked surprised for a moment, then she  shifted to a more saddened expression. Looey recognized it and immediately felt uncomfortable.

“Oh! Uh, it's not for me! It's for-” I can’t tell her our, no, his secret! Looey stopped stammering words that made no sense before giving up. “It’s for a friend.”

“Well, of course I can make you some.” She stepped to the side and waved. “Come in, sit down while I make it.”

“Okay, thank you…” Looey walked in and basked in how beautiful the room was. The space was used very efficiently, and it was decorated to the brim with display dishes, wall tapestries, paintings and pictureframes. He sat down at the circular table situated in the corner closest to the door.

“So, I’ll brew up chamomile and lavender tea, would that be alright?” Teagan took the currently brewing tea and poured it into a ceramic pitcher. 

“Oh, uh, yeah!” Looey didn’t really know what would make a good sleepy tea. “Sure!”

The room was silent save for the sounds of Teagan making tea. She poured water in the kettle before taking out two bottles of tea leaves from a large cabinet. She mixed them in a small bag before plopping it into the kettle. Looey fiddled with the lace tablecloth edge.

“Do you mind if I ask who this is for?” Teagan spoke suddenly.

“I… I don’t think he would want me to say.” Looey answered after a moment of hesitation.

“Hmm…” Teagan hummed back. Pulling out a teacup and two napkins. “Alright, that's fine.”

Looey sighed in relief that Teagan didn’t push for an answer. He couldn’t help but feel like he was hiding something from her, a twinge of guild forming. But, Looey reminded himself. He couldn't just blab about what Sprout had told him. It probably took a lot of courage to say that.

He couldn’t help but think, why did he even tell me?

It’s not like Looey’s very good at reassuring people, and it's not like they’re super close like Cosmo and Sprout. So, why did he want Looey to know?

“Here you go dear, hold it between these two napkins so you don’t hurt yourself.” Teagan was suddenly next to him, cup and napkins in hand. Looey startled as he was pulled out of his thoughts. 

“Thank you so much, Teagan!” Looey smiled as he stood. She laid out a napkin on his outstretched hand and placed the cup. The faint warmth seeped through into his skin as the sweet and flowery aroma drifted. 

“Of course, give my regards to your friend for me.” She waved.

“I will! Goodbye!” Looey walked carefully so as to not spill any tea while Teagan opened the door for him. She closed it slowly after he’d crossed into the hallway.

Looey walked to the elevators and used his elbow to press the button for Sprout’s floor. He sunk back into his own thoughts, ruminating over what Sprout had said to him. The elevator dinged and he walked inside automatically.

What if one day, I’m not doing everything I can…

...And while I’m not paying attention…

...Something happened?

It mirrored Looey’s own thoughts. What if while he wasn’t trying his best, when he messed up, Something happened?

I’m in no place to be giving people advice . Looey frowned. 

The elevator door opened into the quiet and bright hallway of the main floor. Looey stepped out, walking slowly to Sprout’s door.

But… I want to help. So I’ll just have to try and be that person for him.

Looey knocked on the door quietly. “Sprout…? Are you awake?”

He waited for a few moments before trying the handle. It was unlocked.

“I’m coming in,” Looey said as he slowly opened the door. Inside, Sprout was sound asleep on the bed. As Looey walked closer, he could see a faint smile on his face. 

Looey couldn’t help but smile back. He eventually stopped staring and set down the teacup on the nightstand next to Sprout. The lovely aroma filled the air slowly, replacing the cold and dusty smell of the room before it.

“Sleep well…” Looey said before turning to leave, locking the door behind him. Looey sighed, a smile creeping its way onto his face as he closed his eyes. Once he opened them, he turned to leave. Only, standing across from him was… Astro.

Looey stared, his eyes wide. Astro looked just as shocked to see him as Looey was. They both stood frozen in place. 

Looey remembered his dream from last night, how he had been with Sprout. How Astro… had seen it, and how he had just left his room. The mortifying feeling of being known spread across Looey’s entire body as a blush creeped up to his cheeks.

“Uh…” Astro eventually started. “Good to see you, Looey.”

“Uhh!! Uh! Haha! Yeah! So good… to see you.” Looey swallowed the lump in his throat. “Astro.”

They stood silently again, and Astros expression changed from a mix of surprise and fear to one of mulled confidence. 

“I think you have a good chance.” Astro said quietly as he broke eye contact, nervously pulling his blanket tighter. “He’s… dreaming about you too.”

Looey felt shellshocked, standing completely dumbfounded as Astro quickly fled the hallway. He could only watch as the elevator whisked the moon away to somewhere else. 

He… what? Good chance for what?

Looey processed the words slowly.

Good chance that he… likes me too?

Chapter Text

The muted scent of lavender faintly filled Sprout's senses as he slowly drifted back into consciousness. Usually, Sprout would wake up to the alarm of his internal clock, his body somehow knowing the urgency that his daily routine required. 

Instead of looking at the clock above his door, Sprout's eyes drifted and focused on the cup of tea sitting on his nightstand. The lightbulb of a memory slowly came back to him.

“I’ll get some tea for you! I’m sure Teagan would be happy to make it!”

Sprout smiled as he moved to sit on the edge of the bed. As he went to pick up the cup, the chill from the who-knows-how-many hours old tea was all he felt. Even with that, Sprout’s heart felt warmed as if it was freshly brewed.

Taking a sip, the tea was fresh and flowery. He assumed it was one of Teagan's ‘ sleepytime ’ blends, but those never really seemed to work on him anyways. Not for lack of trying, that's for sure!

Sprout took a few more sips before putting down the cup with a sigh. He stole a look at the clock, avoiding it for long enough.

3 AM.

So, I’ve got a good two hours before Cosmo wakes up.

Sprout considered going over to the kitchen to start the breakfast prep, but decided against it after thinking about how mad Cosmo would be for doing that after telling him to get some rest.

Then, I’ve got a good 7 hours before Looey wakes up!

What could he do in that time? Sprout looked back at the tea cup, sitting alone on the nightstand. Memories of the previous morning came washing back over him like a wave of chilly air. He’s said a lot of things, things he’d only ever told Cosmo and… 

Sprout frowned, trying to clear his head. No reason to be thinking about the past like that. He was sure Sam wouldn’t be happy to see him wallowing.

So, he couldn’t go up and start doing something productive. Destructive , as Cosmo would say. And he couldn’t go hang out with anybody… except.

A lightbulb went off in his head. 

Astro

Did Sprout owe him an apology for being so cold the other day? He sure felt like it. Almost certainly Astro was asleep, but shouldn't he be too?

Sprout laid back down, throwing the covers over himself and getting comfortable. Maybe he was still a lot more tired than he thought, because sleep claimed Sprout after what couldn’t have been more than ten minutes.

__

Sprout’s dreams were never rooted in reality. He had an occasional nightmare, but the overarching sense of unreality never made them stick much more than any other dream would. Now, he just walked around in what looked to be a poor recreation of the parking lot levels of the elevator runs. 

“Astro?” Sprout called out after a while, the emptiness of the place starting to leave Sprout a bit weary. 

“Are you here?” Sprout wasn’t really sure how Astro’s dream powers worked. Astro wasn’t one to talk about himself much, and whenever dreams were brought up it was about someone else's. Years back, Sprout had been having a nightmare about the dark, all consuming and dangerous. The nightlight that illuminated the dark was Astro, who swiftly pulled him by the arm into a field of blossoming flowers. 

Sprout continued to walk around the empty lot. They’d never talked about the dream after that, but the kind action had always left Sprout puzzled. At the time, Sprout just assumed that Astro was doing his job of watching over everyone. Just like him. Protecting everyone…

“I wanted to say I’m sorry.” Sprout called out again. “About being so rude to you the other day.”

A light faintly came into Sprouts view, squashing the slowly encroaching fear of dark. Or was it fear of loneliness?

“ I’m here ” Astro’s voice had an echo that seemed to be resonating into every surface of the dream. Sprout stood stunned at the noise, had he ever heard Astro talk in a dream?

“I, uh…” Sprout walked a few steps closer. “I’m sorry for being so cold to you, I was-”

“ Tired? ” Astro spoke.

“...Yes.” Sprout felt embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to take it out on you, then”

Without speaking, Astro walked up to Sprout and grabbed his arm. Just like all those years back, the darkness vanished. The lovely smell of fresh grass and clean air replaced the stale parking lots. The rustling of the greenery in the slight breeze made Sprout feel alive.

“ It’s okay, Sprout ” Astro dropped his arm and looked down to the floor. “ I… can understand that. ”

The silence between the two was a shared moment of just that. Understanding. The dream filled in the gap of conversation with its mimicry of life.

“ Listen, there's something… ” Astro started to speak, before deliberating on his words. 

“ There's nothing that separates us mains from any other toon, and I know that both you and I know that. ”

“Yeah?” Sprout was confused. Was he talking about Cosmo? Why now?

“ So, ” Astro gestured awkwardly. “ Don’t let that stop you. ” Astro said cryptically before vanishing, just the same as he had arrived.

Sprout just stood there, the untamed grass of the dream meadow swaying against his legs. He couldn’t focus on the beautiful landscape, just on Astro’s words.

“Who could he be..” Sprout spoke to himself. “Is he- Oh. Wait.” The rush that went straight up to Sprout’s face was flooring. 

Astro knew ! How long did he? How many times did Astro see into my dreams in the past-

No. Not his dreams.

“Looey…” Sprout spoke, the name feeling like it belonged in this beautiful landscape.

Don’t let the fact that you’re a main and he’s not stop you. That's what Astro meant. It wasn’t really for Sprout, it was for Looey. The only toon who’d be so worried about that would be the balloon.

Sprout knew what he had to do. He had to make his move.

___

Knock knock!

Sprout turned over in his bed, Eyes snapping awake.

“Sprout?” A voice called out distantly from beyond his door. “Are you awake?”

“Yes, just a second!” He responded before jumping out of bed. A look at the clock revealed it to be 5 a.m.

Sprout threw on the scarf that laid on the foot of his bed frame, tossing it over his shoulder before sprinting to the door and opening it wide.

“Good morning Sprout, did’ya sleep in?: It was Cosmo, standing with his arms crossed. 

“Sure did!” Sprout laughed at the absurdity of it. When was the last time he’d done that? Usually it was Sprout who’d be the one walking Cosmo down to the kitchen.

“That's good…” Cosmo had a genuine smile on his face, muted and relieved. “So, ready to start the day?”

“You bet!” Sprout put the bombshell of his dream with Astro on the back-burner, if not just for a few hours. Together, they walked to the elevator and left the lifeless floor that Sprout called home. 

“So! You talked to Looey yesterday?” Cosmo asked. “How was that?”

“Oh! Yeah, it was fun.” Sprout responded, narrowing his eyes. “How did you find that out?”

“Me?” Cosmo smiled slyly. “I sent him your way.”

“Well! Thank you, I think I would’ve fallen asleep if you hadn’t done that.” Sprout joked back. Cosmo laughed in turn. 

“Well then, maybe I should’ve let you.” Cosmo shrugged. “Or I would’ve been baking with a zombie!”

The elevator dinged and the door lurched open, the early morning of Gardenview’s lobby greeting them. It was always so much different without all the toons running around. Not quite desolate like the lowest floors of the runs, or the main’s floor at night, but more peaceful. Relaxing.

“Whatever, what are we making today?” Sprout stepped onto the soft carpet and made way for the kitchen. 

“Probably some pancakes. Easy enough since you’re probably rusty now.” Cosmo said as he laughed, walking into the kitchen and bee-lining for the counter.

“Oh, please!” Sprout didn’t even know how to retort that one. He could only laugh. Cosmo disappeared into the pantry and emerged with two aprons, handing one off to Sprout.

“So, I’ll grab the dry stuff, and you’ll-” 

“Yup, I’ll grab the wet ingredients and the bowls.” Sprout tied his apron deftly and walked over to the fridge.

“Yup, cool.” Cosmo walked back into the pantry. 

Sprout was glad to be baking again, it was definitely one of the more relaxing things he could be up to. Even more so if he was with Cosmo. Sprout couldn’t help his mind wandering back to his dream with Astro, though. Pouring long memorized measurements of milk into a cup, the memory of the spring meadow filled his senses. 

The cryptic hint pieced together once again and Sprout came to the same conclusion as he had in his dream. He needed to ask out Looey.

“Cosmo?” Sprout asked, not turning from his work. 

“Yes?” Cosmo answered, apparently having been standing next to him. 

“I, uh..” Sprout stopped working, his hands resting on the counter. “I want to ask out Looey.”

Cosmo stopped working as well, his hands frozen in place. The silence of the building took over their conversation.

“Phew. About time” Cosmo eventually said, nodding.

“What??” Sprout questioned. “Wheres the ‘Thanks for sharing that vulnerable truth with me, best friend’ ?“

“Well, I’ve known for a whole lot longer than you have, you know!” Cosmo shot back, giggling all the while.

“Geez! Anyways!” Sprout’s face flushed.

“Yeah, yeah. I can help you.” Cosmo eventually stopped laughing, picking up the whisk and stirring together all the dry ingredients. “What do you need?”

“Well. A plan, first of all.” Sprout hadn’t ever really done something like this before. “I’m clueless.”

“Well, that's love I guess.” Cosmo snorted. “Why not ask someone with more experience in that field? What about Vee?”

“No. Way.” Sprout waved his hands wildly. “There is no WAY that what worked on Shelly will work on Looey.”

“Hmm…” Cosmo shrugged. “S’pose you’re right.” The memory of the strange methods that Vee cooked up resurfaced. 3D models of dinosaur species that when strung together by the first letter of their scientific names spelt ‘Will you be my girlfriend?’ It was as sweet as it was confusing.

“Well, that worked because Vee knew Shelly enough to know it would work. So if you just apply that to Looey, then…” Cosmo gestured with his hands.

“Of course!” Sprout exclaimed. “I just need to make something that I know he’ll like!”

“And that would be…?” Cosmo said eagerly, egging him on.

“Uh!” Sprout trailed off “... Baking?” 

“There you go!” Cosmo smiled. “But it's gotta be something special.”

“Aw, man. What's gonna be more special than his favorite food?” Sprout frowned as he started to whisk together the eggs, milk and butter into a creamy paste. “I’ve already made that for him twice!”

“Well, you could always ask his friends?” Cosmo suggested, pouring his bowl into Sprouts as he did.

“Alright then, that's the plan,” Sprout grabbed the whisk and mixed. “Thanks, Cosmo.”

“Of course,” The stove clicked to life and Cosmo sat a wide pan on the flame. “Anytime.”

___

Eventually, the first early birds of the day started to file in. Tisha and Rodger walked in side by side. While she looked perfectly put together, Rodger looked like he hadn’t slept a wink.

“Good morning you two, coffee?” Sprout gestured to the pot that was brewing on the counter.

“That would be swell, thank you Sprout.” Rodger responded as he sat at the counter, as the early risers usually did. Plenty of time for conversation. Sprout sighed in relief inwardly that Rodger hadn’t called him ‘Mister Seedly’.

“Well, I’ve got tons to do today, after that performance.” Tisha spoke as she settled into the chair next to Rodger. 

“Oh? Wasn’t that performance two days ago?” Rodger asked, his inquisitive nature waking him up more than a cup of coffee ever could.

“Right well,” Tisha fiddled with her neck ruffles. “I was inspired by Sprouts break day yesterday and decided to take one myself. She chuckled. “I figured, ‘If he needs one, then I sure do! ’ “

Sprout paused in the middle of pouring a cup of coffee. “O-Oh? Is that so?” Oh man, that's… Really something, to make Tisha push the breaks!

“Sprout, the coffee.” Cosmo called out from behind. Sprout cut off the flow before any spill could happen. Across the counter, Tisha was wide-eyed, looking like she was about to jump and grab the coffee pot herself.

“Haha, whoops.” Sprout rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess that just surprised me, is all.”

“I’ll take that cup, no need to waste.” Rodger pulled it over to himself. “Saves you the trouble of having to refill it, anyhow.”

“Alright, and you Tisha?” Sprout grabbed another cup.

“Milk and sugar please, no creamer.” She finally relaxed.

“Of course, coming right up.” Sprout made way for the fridge, grabbing the half-empty carton of milk.

He shut the door and walked back to the counter, seeing Cosmo was chattering idly with Rodger and Tisha, who now had plated pancakes in front of them both. Sprout poured in some milk and added a few pinches of sugar to the coffee before sliding the second cup over to Tisha. 

Rodger dragged the almost overflowing cup of coffee up to his face, the steam leaving a faint cloud on his glass. He let off a slow sigh after taking a sip. “It’s going to be a long day…”

“Sure is.” Sprout replied. Cosmo and Tisha nodded along.

___

Much, much later, when almost every other toon had claimed their breakfast and started the day, two familiar faces ran into the kitchen.

Cosmo perked up, walking over to the edge of the counter. “Well, what brings you two here?”

Blot and Yatta stopped for a moment, collectively catching their breaths. 

“COSMO.” Yatta panted. “WE NEED TO TALK.”

"uoy ot tsuJ" (Just to you) Blot added, shooting a look at Sprout. He started to feel slightly worried. 

“Alright, sure thing,” Cosmo waved to Sprout. “Just a moment, fold down the fort please.”

“Yeah! Okay!” Sprout tried to not let the nervousness show in his voice. He watched helplessly as the three of them disappeared into the hall. He stood there, one hand gripping the coffee pot for dear life while the other restlessly patted on the counter. Minutes passed, and eventually Cosmo made his way back. Alone.

“What happened?” The attempt to conceal any worry was abandoned, and Cosmo seemed alarmed in response.

“Relax! Nothing bad!” Cosmo reassured him. “I’ve got two bits of news for you, though.”

“...Okay,” Sprout took a deep breath to calm himself. “Shoot.”

“First thing, those two want to reserve the kitchen after we’re done, for…” Cosmo deliberated for a moment. “About four hours.” 

Just as Sprout tried to protest, “And no, I already agreed so we will be letting them have it.”

“And the next thing?” Sprout was exasperated. Cosmo smiled, putting his hands on his hips.

“His friends said that Looey would love it if you made him a cheesecake.”

“Oh! But that's-” My favorite!

“Yup, so it’ll be the best thing you can possibly make. A piece of you, you know?” Cosmo started to bring over dishes to the sink.

Sprout couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face like fire. “...Yeah!”

___

The rest of the day was a slog, trying to get back into the groove of his own busy life. After seeing off Cosmo onto another run, trying to keep himself out of the kitchen was hard.

Hours later, Sprout made his way back to the kitchen. Another midnight baking session was in order. He’d been thinking all day about how he could make the best possible gift for Looey. Pondering toppings, the presentation, what flavor…

The nerves of it all were getting to him, yes. But there was nothing like baking to calm him down. He was here to make his favorite dessert, for his favorite clown, who he hadn’t seen since he drifted off to sleep the day before.

Sprout walked into the pantry, flicking on the light and grabbing an apron. The dry ingredients he needed were all right there, seemingly placed just for him to grab. Like they’d already been used that day. 

“Hm…” Sprout didn’t give it much more thought as he grabbed them all into his arms and turned around. When he did, he saw the glowing face of Astro staring back at him

“AHH!” Sprout yelled, dropping everything in his arms onto the ground in shock.

“Oh! Sorry!” Astro ran over and started picking up the ingredients with his magic. “Didn’t mean to scare you!”

“Ahaha… it's alright, just didn’t expect you to be here.” Sprout cleared his throat. “Midnight snacking?”

“...Yeah. Something like that.” Astro smiled to himself. “What are you making?”

“A gift for Looey.” Sprout answered. Astro looked surprised. 

“Oh, that's nice.” Astro replied. “May I watch?”

“Sure, of course!” Sprout smiled and made way to the fridge. Opening the door, Sprout spotted something he hadn’t seen earlier that day. Something wrapped up in tinfoil with a note that read…

DO NOT TOUCH. PLEASE.

-LOOEY

“Haha, sure thing Looey,” Sprout muttered to himself, a smile across his face. He grabbed the milk, eggs and butter.

“What was that?” Astro asked from behind him.

“Oh, nothing.” He closed the fridge. “Let's start.”

Chapter Text

Ever since Looey had run into Astro, the moon’s words were seared into the front of his mind.

I think you have a good chance.

Did he? Pacing around in his room, as if each step would lead him closer to a definitive answer was all Looey could bring himself to do. 

Stopping suddenly, Looey turned to face his door. The stillness of his room illuminated only by the light seeping in from the gap beneath it. He needed to talk to his friends to get a second opinion. Or, more likely, to get the confidence he needed to ask out Sprout.

With a newfound sense of urgency, Looey opened his door and made way for Blot’s room. The chances that Yatta had even slept in her room last night and not some random place in Gardenview was low, so finding Blot was his best bet. 

It was later in the morning, so plenty of toons were walking about the lively halls. Some of them waved to him, greeting him good morning as he nervously paced by. 

“Good morning, Looey!” Poppy yelled out to him while waving her arm excitedly. Boxten stood next to her, stiff as usual. 

“Good morning Poppy,” Looey answered back, a smile creeping onto his face. “No time to talk, sorry!” He apologized before scurrying down the hall. They both shared a look of confusion as he turned the corner to the elevators.

Punching the button for Blot’s floor, Looey started to really wish they had stairs. What a safety hazard!

The doors eventually opened and Looey waited no time to step inside. The ‘close doors’ button called to him and he pressed it continuously like it owed him something. Eventually, the elevator made it to the floor and the doors opened with a dull chime. Looey ran out and beelined towards Blots door, stopping in front of it to take a few breaths. 

Looey knocked loudly, waiting agonizing moments until the door opened and revealed one of his best friends. 

“Blot! So glad you’re up, me and you and Yatta really need to talk about something important! Well, not super important but it's kind of really-” 

“.yeooL nwod wolS !haoW” (Woah! Slow down Looey.) Blot put up his arms and gestured for him to calm down.  "?taht taeper uoy dluoC" (Could you repeat that?)

“Right, right!” Looey scratched the back of his neck nervously. “Sorry, I meant to say that I need to talk to you and Yatta about… uh”

“Something secret” Looey said as he glanced at the hallway around them. Blot nodded in understanding.

"reh dnif og stel ,neht thgirlA" (Alright then, lets go find her)

_____

“moor reh ni ton s'ehs ,oS" (So, she’s not in her room) Blot started to count on his fingers. ”ybbol eht ni ton dnA“(And not in the lobby)

“Nope, I guess now we’ve gotta check-” Looey started before a voice yelled out to them from behind.

“GOOD MORNING!” Yatta called as she ran up to Blot and Looey. They both spun around.

”?NEEB uoy evah erehW“ (Where have you BEEN?) Blot sounded exasperated, but he still gave Yatta a hug as she sprung up to him. 

“I’ve been on an adventure, THE USUAL!” Yatta exclaimed as she jumped from Blot's arms and into Looey’s.

“Well, tell us about it later!” Looey giggled, just embracing her for a few seconds before the feeling of urgency creeped its way back into his mind. “But first, I’ve got to talk to you two about-”

“ABOUT SPR-” Yatta yelled before Looey shook his head wildly, and she snapped her mouth shut. “Right! Secrets!” She made the motion of zipping her mouth shut. Looey could only laugh before he sighed and gestured to the elevators nearby.

“Lets go to the stage, should be empty there” His friends nodded and off they went, all acting like they were on some secret mission. And in a way, they were.

Silence followed them down to the basement, where the stage floor resided. The atmosphere was quite different from the rest of gardenview, all the lights being yellow and warm instead of the fluorescent white. The walls absorbed sound, and the brick painted white had faded to a pleasing color. The three performers spent a lot of their time here, with it being largely abandoned without their presence. 

Tisha would routinely come down here and clean, much like with the rest of the facility, but most others didn’t. The emptiness was truly felt when the three went on hiatus following the shut-down of Gardenview. But since then, their bond had grown ever stronger and performing was a joy that they could share with every other toon. 

Looey peaked his head out of the elevator once the doors opened, checking if anybody was there. Once the coast was clear, he motioned for the three of them to exit. And the second the doors closed behind them, the floodgates opened.

“WHAT HAPPENED!” Yatta yelled, clearly being restless from her silence all the way down. Blot nodded his head, clearly wanting to know as well.

“Okay, so. Yesterday I was looking for Sprout.” Looey started to talk as he made way for the stage doors, his friends following. “But he wasn’t in the kitchen, as you know.”

Yatta rushed ahead and did a flying kick into the doors, causing both of them to swivel open swiftly. Blot and Looey walked in before they could swivel back shut and Blot flicked the lightswitch. The stage lights flickered to life in the cold air of the theater.

“And I talked to Cosmo, who told me Sprout was in his room. So I might have visited, and might have had a touching conversation with him, and might have brought him tea to help him sleep-” Looey trailed on.

“WHAT!” Yatta yelled in surprise, her eyes wide. Blot shouldered her as they walked. "!tpurretni tnoD" (Don’t interrupt!) She nodded and turned back to Looey, her expression still shocked.

“And then, when I left because Sprout had fallen asleep” Looey gestured with his hands in exasperation. “Astro was there! And he told me, kind of cryptically, that I ‘have a chance’ with Sprout!”

"!?tahW" (What?!) Blot exclaimed, ignoring the smug face that Yatta had in reaction to his surprise. "-annog er'uoY .tiaw ,oS" (So, you’re gonna-)

“I’m.. I’m gonna ask out Sprout!” Looey exclaimed, closing his eyes as he yelled. After a few seconds of silence, he reluctantly opened his eyes to meet the faces of his friends, frozen in shock. 

“So… I wanted you guys to help me.” Looey stammered. “With that.”

Suddenly, Blot and Yatta turned and grabbed each other's shoulders. They shrieked together in joy and jumped up and down. 

“FINALLY!” Yatta chirped as she laughed, and Blot laughed along with her in his warbled voice. A crashing sense of relief flooded over Looey’s entire body. Of course my friends would be rooting for me!

"?htiw uoy peh ew nac tahw ,oS" (So, what can we help you with?) Blot turned to Looey, a smile evident in his eye. Looey felt giddy.

“Well, I was thinking that it might be nice if I made Sprout his favorite food, since he’s made me mine…” Looey smiled at the memory. “And I can hang out with him, and at the perfect opportunity I can give him the food and ask him out!”

Blot and Yatta both saluted, reading each other's minds.

“LEAVE IT TO US!” Yatta spun on her heels, her energy through the roof.

".etirovaf s'tuorpS tuoba omsoC ksa ll'eW" (We’ll ask Cosmo about Sprout’s favorite.) 

“Thank you guys!” Looey rushed to give them both a hug. He really was so lucky to have such great friends. 

“Of COURSE! No problem, Looey BUDDY!” Yatta giggled.

"esruoc fO" (Of course) Blot repeated. ".su rof od uoy ekil ,uoy pleh ot gnihtyna od d'eW" (We’d do anything to help you, like you do for us.)

The memory of Looey trying his best to bring both his friends back to the stage, trying to bring back the infectious feeling of joy that made them who they were even after Gardenview shut down. The memory of them doing the same for him, and all the years that they’d spent at each other's sides came washing back. He couldn’t help the tears that started to fall. 

_____

Later that day. The three’s plan was in action. After Blot and Yatta informed Looey of their talk with Cosmo, the three of them snuck over to the kitchen at the time given.

“And you’re sure Sprout isn’t just going to…” Looey whisper-yelled. “Show up?”

“NO!” Yatta’s whisper voice was about the same volume as someone who was talking normally. “We made sure of it!” She giggled mischeviously.

Before Looey’s mind could wander to what she meant by that, Blot butted in as they entered the kitchen.

”.esimorp omsoC dah eW“ (We had Cosmo promise.) 

“Ah! I see,” Looey smiled. He could trust that Cosmo would keep it.

Blot gave the seating area a once-over before disappearing into the pantry. Yatta skipped around the kitchen, picking up random things on the counter, losing interest in one thing after another.

Blot emerged from the pantry with two aprons, handing one to Looey and throwing the other over his head. Yatta stared, her eyes flicking between the two of them for a moment. 

“What about me?” Her head lopped to one side. “Where's MY apron??”

Looey was confused too, shooting a questioning look to Blot who only shrugged.

".boj tnatropmi tsom eht tnaw d'uoy derugif I" (I figured you’d want the most important job.) He gestured to the hall. "tuorpS rof hctaw gnipeeK" (Keeping watch for Sprout.)

Her look of confusion and slight offense changed almost instantly to one of excitement, her posture changing as she grinned.

“Of COURSE! You’ll need someone as intimidating as ME to keep Looey’s plan safe!” She rushed over to her post, giggling in a worrying tone that the two of them have come to understand as her being merely excited.

“Good plan,” Looey smiled. “I’m not sure having Yatta try to help with this would’ve been…” Looey trailed off, aware that Yatta’s hearing was strong.

"?suoretsasiD" (Disasterous?) Blot suggested as he tied the back to his apron.

“Yeah, that,” Looey giggled. “And she would’ve eaten something she shouldn’t have.”

Blot warbled a laugh as he pulled out the ancient recipe book stored in the cabinets below. It had been a resident of the kitchen before the circus trio had even come into existence. Looey had always associated it with the ever-impressive Sprout, who has probably memorized its entire content three times over by now. Looey himself hadn’t handled it before or since he was invited to bake cookies with Sprout and Cosmo. 

Looey never really gave his hand at cooking or baking prior to that, seeing as he was a performer. Not made to create dishes, like the more baking inclined toons among their roster. And Deliliah didn’t encourage the toons to go out of character-

Looey stopped his hands, reaching out for the mixing bowls above him.

He was acting pretty out of character now, wasn’t he?

Ever since he’d met, no, fallen in love with Sprout he’d been breaking the mold that the show had been putting him into. Before, he was even too scared to talk to the toons that he hadn’t had canonical interactions with in the show. Worried that somehow he’d mess it all up by not following some elaborate script.

How would that Looey react now to his current situation?

“?yeooL ,yako uoy erA" (Are you okay, Looey?) Blot put his hand on Looey’s shoulder, pulling him out of the well of thoughts he was falling down.

“OH! Yeah! Yup!” Looey yelped, finally grabbing the bowls overhead. “Just, thinking about how I’ve never baked on my own before.”

Blot looked thoughtful for a moment. "?...yllaer ton os ,uoy htiw ereh m'I ,lleW" (Well, I'm here with you, so not really...?)

Looey frowned, flipping to the ‘cakes’ section of the recipe book. “I guess, I meant more in the sense that I hadn’t done it of my own will before.”

The familiar conversation of free will was a tired subject between Looey and Blot. Yatta couldn’t relate much, since she had always been her own spirit. But the two of them could relate in the sense that their lackluster presence in the show had left them feeling like less realized, less well rounded, and less important toons.

Blot clapped his land on Looey’s back, giving him sort of a side hug before returning to grabbing ingredients. That was all Looey needed to feel comforted.

____

By the time that Looey and Blot had finished stumbling their way through baking, and Yatta had grown tired of staring at nothing but the occasional passerby, the cheesecake was looking… alright.

“It looks VERY edible!” Yatta exclaimed while circling around it slowly, putting on her most serious face.

"ti evol annog s'tuorpS ,taerg sestat tI .ti detsat ew dnA" (And we tasted it. It tastes great, Sprout's gonna love it) Blot added on as he started to untie his apron.

“I guess it did, but I don’t know,” Looey frowned at his creation. “What if he thinks its stupid? Or ugly?”

",lla fo tsriF" (First of all,) Blot extended his hand to Looey’s shoulder. ".taht od annog ton s'eh wonk uoY" (You know he’s not gonna do that.)

“And if he did… WE’D TOTALLY knock some SENSE into him!” Yatta turned away from the dessert, her self restraint evident.

Looey could only smile, reassured by his friends once again. The confidence that he felt before returned with passion.

“Okay, well.” Looey whisked up the cheesecake in his hands and Blot followed with tin foil in hand. “I’m gonna put this away, and then I’m gonna need some help writing a letter!”