Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Toodles, Brightney, Tisha, Glisten, Astro, and Teagan all found themselves sitting and huddling together in a little booth at Gardenview’s diner. While the food there was indeed good, today, they were all gathered around to discuss a more pressing issue. 

“Let’s skip the formalities, we all know why we’re here.” Teagan said as she put down her tea. She was the first to break the silence out of all of them. The other toons all looked at her.

“Do we?” Tisha raised an eyebrow.

“Oh please, Tisha. Acting all oblivious won’t do us any good. It certainly hasn’t done Rodger any favors either.” Glisten smirked, amused at the absurdity of this whole situation. He ‘whispered’ that last part a little too loudly (probably on purpose, knowing him).

“Speaking of which,” Teagan cut the other toon off before he could say anything else. “—Rodger. As much as we all love him, I’m sure, when it comes to these sorts of things he can be quite…” Teagan waved their hand around vaguely in the air.

“Oblivious? Unaware? A little ignorant?” Brightney said plainly.

“Well… Yes. I didn’t want to come off as rude, but there really is no delicate way of putting it.”

Everybody at the booth nodded in agreement.

“Though, with all that being said, I want to know one thing from all of you… How did you all start to notice this little pattern?” The tea cup asked her friends.

Before all the other toons could start rattling off stories and explaining their sides, the littlest of them all raised her hand.

The first toon to notice something was up was, surprisingly (at least to some people), Toodles.

“Well…” 

. . .

A few weeks earlier, Toodles and Rodger were in the middle of Gardenview’s waiting area, and Toodles couldn’t be any happier. She was so glad that Rodger was finally convinced to let her tag along in his investigations! Granted, these ‘investigations’ were much smaller in scale and not exactly the high stakes adventures she had in mind but, it was still cool to be able to actually help! As Rodger would tell her, ‘helping others uncover truths was the goal of the job, even if it isn’t always exciting or fun’.

Currently they were trying to help look for a script Razzle & Dazzle had lost while trying to usher out the children that had visited the other day. 

“Nope! I don’t see anything here, Rodger.” Toodles said, crawling out from underneath a bench. 

Rodger muttered under his breath as he was searching some boxes that were tucked away in a corner. He brought out a little notepad and crossed something off in it.

“I suppose this will take us longer than I initially thought then…” He mumbled out loud.

This wasn’t exactly a negative for Toodles. In fact, the more time spent with Rodger the better, at least in her eyes. It’s been a long while since she was able to just spend some uninterrupted quality time with him. What’s a few more minutes Razzle & Dazzle have to spend waiting if it means she gets to spend more time with her favorite toon in all of Gardenview?

Toodles stood up and dusted off her little detective’s coat. 

“Well it’s nothing we can’t handle!” She grinned at him.

“Indeed.”

The smaller toon walked up next to Rodger and tried to take a glance at the notepad he had with him. He wordlessly moved it out of her reach before she could see the contents, probably noticing that she was going to sneak a peek.

“We started off in the main room near the tree, and as far as I’m concerned, we have checked every nook and cranny in this room…” Rodger muttered again, his eye squinted at his writing on the page as he read over the notes.

“Ooh, ooh! Maybe we could check by the elevators!” Toodles suggested with an eager grin.

“Clever thinking, Toodles.” He praised her. An affectionate hand went on to pat Toodles on the head. She giggled. “Hopefully we’ll be able to find it there.”

“Uhuh!” She agreed, her eyes sparkled in admiration. He thought she was clever! “Let’s head on over, Rodger! C’mon!”

Toodles grabbed onto Rodger’s arm and began to take him there. This investigation couldn’t wait! Her grip on him was surprisingly strong as she was able to practically drag him away.

“Alright, alright.” Rodger nodded along, following Toodles. “Lead the way.”

. . .

Toodles ran along quickly to the next room while Rodger lagged behind her.

“Don’t run off too quickly, Toodles. You need to be more careful.” He said, trying to hide the fact that he was still trying to catch his breath.

“Maybe I’m not quick, maybe you’re just slow.” She teased.

Rodger rolled his eye, more in an endearing way than in annoyance.

“Believe what you want to, Toodles.” 

Before any of them could step foot in the elevator, a familiar, flower-faced toon had shown up. 

“Oh, hey guys!” Dandy greeted. “What are you all up to?”

Rodger turned around, looking a little surprised at the sight of Dandy but he quickly composed himself.

“Ah– Hello there, Dandy. Just conducting an investigation.” 

“Ever the hard-worker, I see. You’ve even dragged Toodles along this time.” He smiled.

Toodles stood there between the other two toons. This is gonna be quick. Hopefully. They had an investigation to conduct together, after all.

“Ah, well, I suppose I just needed a second opinion.” Rodger said with an awkward chuckle.

“Yep yep! That’s me! Second opinion to the case we’re currently working on!” She chimed in quickly, trying to take Rodger’s hand again. 

Dandy chuckled as well.

“Well you know where to find me if you ever need a third opinion.” 

“Well, we could actually use one right now.”

“Oh now that’s just wonderful, friend. What do you need?”

Rodger took out his notepad and as he was beginning his explanation and usual string of questions, Dandy leaned in to try and take a peek of his notes. However, Rodger didn’t shut it quickly like Toodles expected him to, no— instead, he let him look. 

“Well, you see…”

As the magnifying glass went on to explain their current investigation, Toodles could only look at him with a baffled expression (that he didn’t seem to notice). Nobody was ever allowed to touch his personal notepad, let alone read it! What was that about?! 

Jeez. This was probably gonna take longer than expected. Too long, even for her liking.

Rodger didn’t seem to notice though, he was too engrossed in his conversation with Dandy to even notice her at that moment. They seemed to be getting along well. Dandy smiled at him, and Rodger smiled back, his expression oddly saccharine. 

Huh. 

Wait, what? Pause.

Rodger’s whole demeanor- while it may seem normal to some outsiders, is wildly out of character from his usual behavior, especially with the way he was acting right now. 

The over-enthusiasm in explaining this (admittedly smaller) case, the way he immediately fixed himself up when Dandy had walked into their conversation, and even down to the way he was practically making goo-goo eye(s?) at the other right now!

(Which Toodles says, in her professional opinion, is just a little bit gross. She really didn’t need to see her role model getting all love-struck over some other toon.)

“Ohmygosh.” Toodles said out loud as the pieces clicked in her head, though she was much louder than she intended.

Upon hearing her, Rodger suddenly turned around and raised his eyebrow. Toodles could’ve sworn she just saw his cheeks redden. 

“Toodles. No need to be impatient.” Rodger reprimanded quietly, his tone was gentle yet firm. “The case can wait, at least for a brief moment. There is no rush.”

Toodles made another face at that statement alone. Rodger telling her that a case could wait? Who was talking to her and what did they do to the real Rodger?

“I’m sorry, Rodger…” Toodles apologized sheepishly, embarrassed that she let her little reaction slip out.

“It’s quite alright, Toodles. I suppose you’re right anyway.” Rodger replied with a little sigh. He turned back to Dandy.

“I hope you don’t mind but we must get going. I really do appreciate the insight you’ve given me to help.” 

“No problem.” Dandy replied, “I should be heading out as well. I’ll see you later!”

“Yeah. See you later.” Rodger nodded as Dandy walked away, still watching as he proceeded to disappear into the distance. In return, Toodles watched him watch Dandy (still not used to seeing and noticing the ways he’d soften up).

Silence filled the air between them.

“Ahem, Anyway!” Toodles interrupted. Things were getting a little too awkward for her liking. “The elevator?” 

Rodger turned to her and nodded.

“Let’s continue…”

. . .

“Yeahhh…” Toodles said, finishing off her story. “So that’s kinda what happened a while ago. He’s just been like that ever since. It’s really dorky. Brightney can back me up on this one!”

“Can confirm.” Brightney nodded. “When I first came to this realization, Toodles and I were actually right here in the diner…”

Chapter Text

Not to brag, but- Brightney was feeling pretty accomplished with herself, especially now. 

For the past few hours, she’s been nothing but productive during her time at the library. She’s cleaned up the kids’ reading corner, put away all of the returned books that week to their rightful place, and now she’s just got done with organizing the new boxes of donated books! And on top of all of that, Toodles (who she was essentially babysitting) was safe and sound just as she promised Rodger.

Speaking of which…

“Good afternoon, Brightney.” Rodger greeted with a polite smile. “I’m here to pick up—”

“Rodger!” 

Toodles embraced Rodger with all of her might. Safe to say, she was pretty happy about seeing him.

“Hello, Toodles. How did you find your reading today?” He asked.

“Wonderful, thank you very much! Look at all the books I’m gonna borrow!” Toodles held up a few children’s novels with a proud smile.

“She had a great time, Rodger. She was very well behaved too.” Brightney said.

“I don’t doubt it, you seem to have gotten quite a lot done.” Rodger replied with an appreciative nod. 

“—Speaking of which, do you think you’re done here for the day? Toodles and I were thinking of visiting Gardenview’s diner for an afternoon snack. Would you care to join us?”

“Oh, psh- mean, I suppose I could…” Brightney thought out loud, “Yeah. Why not? I deserve it. I think.”

Rodger and Toodles both smiled at her acceptance.

“Yes! Yes! Let’s go!” The 8-ball exclaimed. She was practically jumping up and down with excitement, immediately dashing out the door.

“..She tends to do that…” Rodger mumbled, watching as Toodles ran off.

“I noticed.” She nodded.

He chuckled awkwardly.

“Let’s not keep her waiting any more then.”

…

Almost all the tables and booths had been filled by the time they arrived. The place looked less like a diner and more like a bustling metropolis of people and toons with places to be and things to do.

“It’s rather… lively here, isn’t it?” Rodger commented. 

“Yeah, it really is.” Brightney replied, “Is there some sort of sale or new menu item that I’m not aware of?”

“Dunno… I think we just came here during some sorta rush…” Toodles added on.

Rodger’s eye scanned around the room. 

“How about you two find a table for us to sit over there? I can order for us all at the counter.” Rodger offered. 

“Oh, thank you.” Brightney said, “For sure. Me and Toodles will go ahead. I’ll just get a latte and a bagel, if you don’t mind.”

“Ooh, ooh, I want a burger, please!” Toodles chimed in politely.

“Alright, then. You go on ahead, I shall see you soon.”

…

Luckily enough, Brightney and Toodles had found themselves a table to get comfortable at. 

Not so luckily— it seemed like their order was taking quite a while.

“I’m sure it’ll only be a few more minutes, Toodles.” Brightney reassured, “After all, as you said, they are going through a bit of a rush. It’s best if we wait.” 

“Yeah, I guess so.” Toodles replied, her eyes still glued to her book. As patient as she seemed, it was clear to Brightney that she was starting to get a bit annoyed and was only trying to distract herself. She honestly felt a little bad.

“Tell you what, I’ll go ahead and check on Rodger for a bit. Would that make you feel better?”

“Yes please.” She nodded “Just be quick though, I don’t wanna be here by myself.”

Brightney smiled.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be quick.” She said, patting Toodles on the head as she walked away.

. . .

“-xcuse me, pardon me ma’am!” Brightney muttered awkward apologies as she walked as quickly as she could to the front. Once she saw Rodger’s figure near the counter, she sighed in relief.

“Goodness you’re here, Rodger! Glad to see you here. Toodles is getting a bit antsy and I just wanted to ask if you’ve at least ordered for us yet.”

“Oh-! Apologies, Brightney. I didn’t quite notice you there.” Rodger apologized, “Well yes, I just placed our order for the three of us. I’m just waiting.”

“Waiting?” She questioned, “Wouldn’t it be smarter to just wait back at the table until our order is called? I mean, it is pretty crowded here and it’s only going to get-”

As Brightney faced him, he noticed his eye wasn’t quite focused on her. As a matter of fact, he didn’t seem all too focused on this conversation in general. He seemed to be staring at something- no, someone behind the counter.

She turned around, looking behind the counter. The kitchen at the back was in clear view and she spotted just the toon he was looking at.

“...Is everything alright, Rodger? You seem to be spacing out- either that or you’re staring at Dandy. Did he say something?” Brightney asked, concerned.

“What? Oh. Uh, it’s nothing.” Rodger replied quickly, his gaze was brought back to fully face Brightney. “I just didn’t quite expect to see him helping Sprout and the others here of all places- We just had a particularly good chat, that’s it. I was just wondering if I could catch his attention again, for my investigations and all that.” 

“...But I suppose you do make a solid point. It would be unwise to keep waiting on-”

“Order for Rodger?”

Speak of the toon, and he shall appear. Dandy held a tray of goods and passed them to Rodger, a wide smile on his face.

“Sorry to keep you two waiting, business has just been picking up here I suppose!”

Rodger chuckled.

“Well I can see that. It’s no trouble at all.”

Brightney nodded in agreement.

“Well I hate to cut our earlier conversation short, Rodger, but I do have to continue helping out. Like I said, it’s getting pretty busy in here!”

“Oh, it really is no issue.” The other replied, returning Dandy’s smile. “We do need to be heading back. I suppose we’ll chat some other time then?”

“For sure,” Brightney added, “Toodles is probably getting worried. I did promise her I’d be quick.”

Rodger’s eye widened.

“Well we must get going then.” He said, “I’d hate to leave her alone for any longer.”

…

As Toodles saw Brightney and Rodger walking towards their shared table, a huge smile replaced her previous bored expression.

“Here, here! Finally you guys are back! I thought I was gonna die of boredom..” Toodles exclaimed, quickly putting her book down and taking the burger from the tray Rodger was holding.

“My apologies, I was held up quite a bit back there.” Rodger replied, sitting down at the table along with Brightney.

While Rodger and Toodles were setting up the items they had ordered on the table, Brightney looked through the receipt, confused. 

“Wait just a moment, Toodles.” Brightney introjected. “I’m reading through our receipt and… I don’t think this is our order. We only ordered the burger, bagels, latte, and black coffee. This is- well…”

Brightney pointed to their food. While their order did have all those things, their order seemed to include an additional treat.

“I don’t think we ordered the cupcake. Unless Dandy made some sort of mistake or, did you order this for yourself, Rodger?”

“Oh, uh.” He muttered, looking down at the cupcake. “That’s for me, yes.”

“That’s surprising,” The lamp toon said, “You know, I didn’t peg you as someone who particularly enjoys sweets.”

“It was free of charge. Dandy gave it to me, he said he ‘owed me’.” Rodger replied.

Just before Brightney was about to ask any further, in the corner of her eyes she spotted Toodles rolling her eyes. That was odd. Usually, she was a sweet, polite young toon. Now she seemed a bit more… annoyed.

“Between the two of us, he’s kinda been acting like this recently. Like, all the time.” Toodles whispered to Brightney, taking a bite out of her burger. “Rodger is really cool but…you know..”

“I know wha—?”

Oh.

“Oh. Is this a-?”

“Yeah, it’s kinda weird seeing him like this but… I guess I’m kind of happy for him.” Toodles said, still in a hushed tone. 

Brightney looked up at Rodger whose eye was still staring at the front desk- at Dandy.

Brightney went quiet and started to think. As good of a friend Rodger was, he had a tendency to be wrapped up in either his work or taking care of Toodles. Now he seemed more… relaxed.

Huh. 

It was kind of weird seeing him this… sweet, but as Toodles said…

“..You know, I’m kinda happy for him too.”

…

“Oh, well that’s not too bad, I suppose.” Teagan said.

“It was oddly wholesome, seeing him soften up at the gift cupcake.” Brightney replied, putting down the glass of water she was drinking.

“Well on the topic of gifts,” Tisha started, “I guess that’s kind of similar to something I saw. So, here’s what happened…”