Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The static sound hollered throughout the halls, echoing and bouncing violently. Vee swished her tail, sweeping across the floor, kicking the toons nearby off their balance. She wanted to run, but the urge to attack was far too strong. She wanted to cry, but how? She was a machine.

They threw nets, lassos, anything in hopes to bring down the twisted. It did nothing besides trigger her systems even more. Everything was happening so fast at once. She couldn't process it in time. Usually the distractor would run in a fixed circle, but now? Everyone's moving side to side, constantly using airhorns, anything that messed with her perception of stealth and sight.

Tired, and malfunctioning, she dropped to her knees in defeat, her tail twitched aimlessly behind her, whacking a toon which she believes is Goob in the face before powering off due to overusing her already low battery, leaving her at around 10%.

"Oh. Did… did s-she just give up?" Boxten's key stopped spinning. Being one of the ex-gameshow host's biggest fans, he never took her as one who'd give up, even as twisteds. Thought she'd keep going until her battery ran out. However, he wasn't complaining. Made their jobs much easier.

Poppy, after finishing and wiping off the traces of a pop she just finished in one gulp, poked the TV with a stick. No movement. She looked back at Boxten, "yep!"

"Amazing work, guys!!" Dandy butted in cheerfully, "Bring her into the elevator, got Brightney there to fix some damaged circuitry."

Upon the presence of Dandy, the toons' faces drooped slightly, but did as they were told. Don't blame them though, Dandy was the reason why they're in this mess to begin with! Albeit, he's trying to reverse his sins, but still!

Vee woke up in a place that felt familiar. She couldn't find it in her memory files, however. First thing she noticed? Her height shrinked. And also that gashing wound in her torso, wrapped up with a bandage-wrap. It was odd, but she didn't have the overwhelming urge to chase anymore.

For a moment, she took in the sight of the room. She sat on top of a sleeping bag, leaning against the wall with a charger connected to her back and a battery. The room seemed a bit dull with ichor stains and scratch marks acting as decor.

The door creaked.

On instinct, Vee's tail launched out from it's compartment, bolting up like a cat.

"Hey..?" A voice entered, one that registered as strangely familiar. Once she was out of the shadows, first thing Vee noticed… she felt 'taller' if that made sense. As if the toon in front of her was meant to be shorter. . . And also the strange ichor-covered digitigrade legs. Was that how the toon was meant to be??

She almost thought the head was a cinnamon bun instead of a poorly remade of a fossil. What fossil it was? She can't seem to remember.

"…greetings." Usually, Vee would've already striked, but something seemed to have messed with her code, turning off her trigger to twist. (Cough, cough… Brightney.) She hugged her legs, trying to make herself as small as possible. Her microphone topper tapped the ground in a strange rhythm.

It went like this: ".-.. . .- ...- ." Over and over again.

"How are you feeling?" The strange toon said softly, taking a seat across from Vee. "Repairing you up took so long..!" She laughed, trying to brighten the mood.

Vee ignored that, "Well, I'm in control of my body again. Strange, to say the least," her voice glitched into static mid-sentence, but it was still comprehensible. The toon smiled.

"Yea. Most of us felt that way," she recalled, "may I ask … what do you remember? Before twisting?"

Vee's tail stopped tapping, as if in thought. "I only remember a few key words I can somewhat make out in my data. Outdated. Replacement. 86. Broken. Ichor. Things blanked out after, and then I saw myself attacking my own… colleagues."

The memory of her tearing apart the toons that admired her made her gears turn wrong.

"I don't remember much besides from that."

"I see…" the fossil hums. Vee could've sworn she saw a hint of disappointment, as if she was hoping Vee would bring back a certain topic. "Well. I'm Shelly."

Shelly. The name echoed, a sense of familiarity. Perhaps a "main", but she couldn't recall her in the cartoon.

"We'll be quick to introduce you to the others again, don't worry."

Vee responded with a short 'mhm.'

"Listen, this might be a strange request, but could I tie this thing to your leg?" Shelly pulled out some sort of device that flickered green, "Just in case you go feral, since you're still quite new to being rehabilitated."

The TV didn't object, giving a silent agreement. Once the device was tied on tightly, she was brought outside. Ichor and claw marks still served as decor, but it was basically everywhere, so not much of a surprise.

Shelly gave Vee a quick tour.

Brightney's room: the place where Vee should go for any upgrades, fixes, mechanic thingy idfk

Vee's room: Since Vee was a MC in the show, she was given a special room all to herself! Wowee!

Kitchen/Diner: food or in her case… just chat.

Shelly's Room: Oh. So she was a main. Thought her design was far too boring.

Sprout's Room: Strawberry guy's room. Also the cook. Vee's memory is horrible, but he feels a lot more… 'protective' than normal. Obsessive even.

Astro's Room: Vacant for now, yet to capture Astro.

Dandy's Room: Well, Dandy's here, but his room is still a mess. Do not go in without his permission, he promises to be changing for the better, but still needs his privacy.

Common's hall: The hall with the commons' rooms.

Rare's halls: Same as common but rare version

Uncommon room:

YAYDAYD GSHAGHA

Research room: Ran by Rodger, Brightney, and Dandy. Used to be a place for animators back when DW was still on air.

Containment: Currently holding twisted Pebble, Toodles, and Scraps. These twisteds have yet to be calmed down, Vee was a special case since she was a robot. It's been hard for Gourdy, Rodger, Goob, and Dandy.

Elevators: Runs are organized by Shelly, Sprout, and Dandy. Going down without their explicit permission almost always goes bad.

Might be a few more.

over the tour, it unlocked some parts of Vee’s glitched memory.

"Wait." Vee almost stopped walking. Shelly let out a 'huh?' Awaiting her question, "the research rooms… they had a twisted version of Goob in there, but we just passed by him. And he was normal?"

"Oh!" Shelly tapped her chin, "Dandy made some clones of us after we got twisted."

"What." Vee's bented antennae twitched, she let out a scoff of disbelief, of course. She doesn't remember much, but her hatred for Dandy still grows. "And how do we know which one's real and which one's a 'clone?'"

"Oh! Easy," Shelly put up a finger (like the nerd emoji) "Clones tend to have a flaw in their design! For example, a clone of Finn may have more cracks than normal. Or, Glisten's swirl is pointed to the opposite way!"

"For mains, it's even easier. We're usually much more of a threat compared to the mains that were cloned. Cloned Astros simply puts tiredness onto us, while the real Astro (the one we're still tracking…) applies tiredness, slowness, hallucination, and despair, as well as looking much more 'monstrous,'"

"Monstrous… how?"

haven't"Well. He stinks!" Shelly laughed, it died quickly though, "Well… mainly because he haven't cleaned that blanket for… a year. Growing mushrooms and sheltering bugs such as maggots. He refuses to reveal much of himself, but leaves trails of ichor tears. He's huge and limbs are unusually stretched because of the ichor."

"Oh." Vee didn't want to visualize that image.

They circled back to Vee's room that seemed to have been cleaned yesterday. "Rest and make yourself at home Be-… Vee. Vee I meant Vee."

"Wha"

"Okay bye."

She slammed the door.

Vee didn't bother pressing on about the weird typo in speech, turning back to look at her room. She walked towards the bed, oddly soft for a machine. She didn't even need sleep, just needed to charge. Well, MC privileges she supposes.

Her desk had books stacked neatly on top of another. All of them were trivia questions, some seemed to be gifts from Shelly back in the day (assuming that because of the notes written inside the prehistoric books.) It felt nostalgic.

Something fell. A pen.

As Vee reached down to get it, she noticed a small box hidden beneath her bed. Wanting to satisfy her curiosity, she pulled it out.

She touched it once with one of her digits and it was immediately colored with dust.

What was inside? Just books, letters, fanmail, some photos, and . . . An ichor capsule? She gave a look to the dates on the capsule. The year 1990. Dandy wasn't able to even get his hands on ichor until the cartoon ended in 2002? Why is the capsule in her room?

Whatever, she didn't know what to do with this information, casting it aside.

Photo 1. First group photo with the mains. Huh. Guess that's what they looked originally. Noticing Shelly's height, Vee snorted. Knew she was a head smaller! Astro didn't look as tired, Sprout more cheery, and Dandy was far more relaxed.

Vee's face in the picture stayed deadpanned. Back then she didn't know how to express herself.

Photo 2. Vee and Astro.

Seems like they were close before. Astro shyed away from the camera but you could still see his sleeping cap. They were looking up towards Astro's space room. Back thrn, it was truly a sight to behold.

Photo 3. Vee & Shelly in past and future.

The back of the photo read: "Recorded our first episode together."

They were at Sprout's artificial grass picnic area. Shelly was laughing in the photo, trying to hide her face while Vee tried shoving it agressively, judging by the blurred lines. Pretty sure she saw a poster of the episode when they passed by the lobby on the tour.

Photo 4. Seedly.

The kitchen was seen caught on fire with Cosmo and Sprout being at the scene of the crime.

Photo 5. Shelly.

It was a photo of them both on Vee's bed, with Shelly nuzzling up against her. Vee was the one who took the picture.

Vee raised a brow at the weird position. She doesn't recall being this close to the ammonite before.

Photo 6. Delilah and Arthur's disagreement.

They seemed to be screaming at each other, observed through a creak of a door.

Photo 7… nothing, just static.

There's a few more stacks but I'd rather not bore you guys with them.

Vee's attention shifted to the book. First page was a bunch of random facts. Some words were highlighted.

"Meet," "up," "dinosaur fossil"

Why would Vee highlight those words in yellow? They weren't even in the same lines! Those lines were so poorly highlighted too, she doubts that was even her work.

Oh. Wait, maybe she was told to go to a dinosaur fossil. But where in a education museum would have that? Ugh, it's irrelevant anyways, probably old as hell.

Cautiously, she got on top of her bed that seemed to sink almost immediately once touched, like damn she's metal, but is she really that heavy? Nonetheless, she drifted off to sle—… charge.

Floor 99.

His soft sobs and breaths echoes along the the abandoned walls, a shadow of the grief-stucken wails he had roared months, perhaps a year ago. His sense of time was unsure, having not seen a clock nor the sky in a long time. The blanket dragged, held together by poor-stitches hanging on for dear life. He was oh so tired, and oh so hungry.

How could the one he trusted most be the one to have caused his doom? Especially when he defended him with his heart and soul, sacrifacing his reputation for such a fragile friendship.

He can't remember why he did that, nor why he still longs for his presence, even after wronging him more times than he can count.

Really, he doesn't understand why he continues to be foolish. But why not indulge? His fate was already sealed the moment his last remaining companion succumbed to the ichor and that… wretched flower.

In all honestly, despite being surrounded by clones, he felt more alone than he ever was. More isolated compared to when he defended his closest friend, when he was alienated for doing so.

It's okay.

They can't hurt you down here.

Chapter Text

When Shelly heard Vee was finally captured and recoded, obviously, she was ecstatic. Not many knew this, but she and the TV host had one of the closest bonds behind the screen. Tisha, the only person Shelly trusted to know, was against it, voiced her dislike for the host very loudly, but didn't dare interfering, and that was enough. Occasionally, kids came to ask the two about Past n Future, loving the dynamic, but never suspected anything nefarious.

Let's be blunt here, they were dating behind the producers' backs. This may be surprising, since the only interactions they've had with each other revovled around Shelly helping Vee with boxes and gameshow, boring stuff.

Yea. Uh they weren't just moving boxes. It was more of a code word, since homophobia was quite rampant in the 1980s. Everything in Vee's data screamed that their relationship was monstrous, but she ignored it. The two's logic was that it only applied to humans, and that they were toons!! (Stupid, right. It was more of a joke than a serious mindset.)

She had hoped Vee remembered everything.

She really did.

During her questioning with Vee, she was hoping she'd recognize her, even in that state. Her heart cracked slowly each time she took note of the signs Vee's memory was broken. How tense the TV was instead of relaxed and confident. Watching her look so vulnerable and stiff around her hurt.

It's better this way. Start off on a whole new foot! Their relationship was risky anyways, besides, Vee shouldn't have to stress out about that!

But the thought of what if lingered. Because Shelly still loved her dearly.

Oh well, guess she'll just miss her.

Over the night, Shelly couldn't seem to find a comfortable position. So, she woke up utterly tired.

Now, pre-ichor research rehabilitation thingy, no one would notice. It became the norm for her, but now?

Everyone cared.

It was an amazing feeling, hearing the voice filled with concerns bombard her. Made her feel wanted. This was their thanks to her helping them recover in their darkest moments. Her efforts were finally acknowledged. She came into the rehabilitation room, exhausted, but lively.

She helped Finn with physical therapy for a bit with his prosthetic (made by Brightney). His improvements have been amazing! And Shelly made sure he knew she was amazed and proud. Maybe going a bit overboard (and aggressive, a trait gained from her twisted form), but Finn appreciated it nonetheless.

Her pocket radio rang.

"Hey, Fossillian? We need help in the uhh… commons' halls, Tisha's room. She's stressing out about dirt but there's.,, nothing."

"On my way!"

"I CAN STILL SEE IT ON MY SKIN!" Tisha kept scrubbing her entire arm, which was now turning slightly gray due to the excessive amount of skin being rubbed off.

"Tisha…" looking at her friend, now in disarray, was uncanny. Tisha used to be the type of toon that was realistic, organized, and aloof at rare times. Seeing her so distressed, creeped Shelly out. "You're gonna make yourself bleed!"

Tisha snapped her head to look at Shelly, catching her off guard. Her eyes were blood-shot red, as if she was crying. She was. Snot dripped down from her face. "I can still feel the texture. Oily. Sticky…"

She continued scrubbing, her head face down onto the sink in defeat.

Shelly turned to look at Rodger, as if telepathically asking him how long this was going on for. "A few minutes," he replied promptly. She sighed. It was never easy, reverting from twisted to normal. Everyone kept some traits from their twisted counterpart.

"Cover your ears," She motioned to Rodger, who just stepped outside of the room. "Tisha, please. Hand me the scrub."

Tisha seemed to have ignored her completely. This, triggered something inside the ammonite, but she kept her composure, knowing what her friend was going through wasn't something easy to overcome. But at the same time, she didn't want to brute-force things, since her strength enhanced after being rehabiliated, and she was already strong before being twisted.

They were gonna go nowhere with this.

"I still… still…" Tisha's stance began to get wobbly, her head spun as a wave of confusion hit her. As her balance wavered, Shelly jumped in to support, snatching the scrub out of Tisha's weakened state.

Yes. Shelly applied confusion on Tisha, but instead of a loud, irritating roar, it was a small sound-wave targetted to the ears (IDK HOW THIS WORKS LET ME BE)

She brought Tisha back to her bed to rest, they talked about methods she could use and maybe schedule a session with Sprout or Brightney.

"Hey!! Uhm… Ms. Shelly? Can you come help restrain Shrimpo..? He's being really mean right now!"

"Of course, Gourdy!"

Shrimpo was then held in a headlock. An hour later, he still has a headache from the amount of confusion.

"Shelly. Mind helping out in the kitchen?"

"Oh! Sure, I'm pretty close to there anyways. Cya Sprout!"

Kitchen caught on fire. Sprout had to be restrained with confusion.

yea the entire day was busy asf.

The amount of times she had to use her ability was sickening, she wanted to barf, vomit everything out of her system, but forced herself to choke it all back down. Currently, she's sitting on the couch in front of the TV (that one section in RP mode).

It was obvious she looked unwell.

"…What happened?"

Shelly perked up, but still held her mouth, in fear of throwing up today's dinner, she just gave a wave of her… uh, ichor-bone tail. The voice took a seat beside her.

Oh. Vee.

Her heart skipped a beat, but she remained composed. "Work was hectic today," Shelly mumbled, letting out a sigh. Her head ached like hell.

"Huh." Vee looked at Shelly, scanning the body language. She stifled a laugh, "Yea, you look like hell."

"Yeaa…" Shelly laughed nervously. Why did she feel so much pressure right now. KEEP IT TOGETHER DOOFUS. "Ugh, my head hurttsss," she blurted out a whine. Then froze, realizing how corny it was.

"Oh? What happened?" Vee leaned on her hand, head pointed towards Shelly.

"Used my ability, a lot today," she explained, then proceeded to ramble on. Vee listened, at least, Shelly hoped she was. This was the norm now for the shell, everyone would listen to her intently, like… c'mon would you really treat your old-caregiver like crap. Thing is, it's been so long since she had a conversation with the gameshow host, this was something she yearned for since Dandy revived her (or something).

(Between you and me. Vee didn't give a shit about whatever Shelly was rambling on about, but rather searching for "something." I'll add on next chapter when it's Vee's POV)

"Andd yea!!"

"Wow."

…

"Okay I need to help Brightney with something. Cya."

And Vee just left right then and there.

How uneventful. Left Shelly feeling like an idiot, but she couldn't really blame the robot since she's… a robot.

(she silently cried herself to sleep that night. I'm too tired to continue this chapter)

Chapter Text

Vee couldn't shake off the photo of her and Shelly. From the uncorrupted files, it just seemed like they were acquaintances, never anything more than friends. That photo was so out of the ordinary, it bugged her to no end. So, she did the rational thing to do; ask Shelly.

Problem was: she was… busy. Like, stupidly busy. Every time Vee caught her alone, before she could utter a word, her radio blared and then off she went. Just as her curiosity grew, so did her irritation.

She hated being ignored so..so blatantly! Yes, yes Shelly didn't know yet she had questions, but did she not notice her presence at all? This never happened when Gardenview was still up and running.

For a moment, she realized how idiotic her thoughts had drived to. "It's fine, Vee. Toons are busy now-a-days," she scoffed unconsciously, surprising herself. "She'll be alone soon enough—"

Shelly wasn't free until hours later. It left Vee in shock, but fortunately came in time before her patience snapped. She tried to make her footsteps sound less aggressive… (she physically can't though. How can a robot be quiet.)

"Hey." Vee hummed, sitting down besides the ammonite.

No answer.

Vee lifted a brow, observing Shelly's body-language, it was clear she was lost in thought. [But even if she was lost in thought, I don't get how it's possible to just ignore a greeting. Hello? I'm right in front of you?] She imitated a toon sucking in a deep breath to prep themselves.

"…what happened?" She spoke louder this time, muttering after; "…you look like hell,"

Shelly flinched, snapping her head toward's Vee in a way that didn't seem possible. "Work was hectic," she replied with a sharp edge to her tone that made Vee question if she should even go through with this.

"Huh…" Vee nods slowly, using that moment to try and translate more of Shelly's movements, then used the audio of someone stifling their laugh to try and lighten the mood. It was how people did, right?

"You look like hell… haha," she repeated her earlier statement, perhaps Shelly just didn't hear.

"Yea." She gave a brief answer to Vee's dismay. Shit is time moving slower than normal? This is awkward…..

"My head hurts." Vee perked up. Oh, so she is putting effort in the conversation. She leaned in, then realized the slight tense in Shelly's posture… ah, perhaps she didn't mean to.

"…oh? What happened?" Well, she still needs her answer, perhaps they'll get somewhere with this. (She didn't know what it was but she just refused to say the question she wanted an answer to bluntly.)

Spoilers: they didn't. Shelly sounded so tired and disinterested in all of the topics. Well, she's tired. Vee came at a bad time. So, she ended the conversation for her. Sure, she left disappointed, but at least Shelly won't resent her. In defeat, she went to visit the old dinosaur exhibit.

"Huh," Vee hummed, looking at the plastic replicas of real dinosaur fossils, "surprisingly well-kept."

Something on the ground caught her eye. Curious, she stepped closer.

It looked like… an opening. However, she couldn't pull it up, the black part that held the dinosaur replica up was placed on the half of it. She couldn't push it back. She'd need a group of muscular toons but where would she even find 3 if most of them were rehabilitating? A small cloud of steam puffed out of her ventilation in frustation (i'm tryinggydajvbmn)

Deciding she'd figure out way later, Vee made her way back to the warehouse. It used to be swarmed with twisteds, but according to Shelly; Dandy took care of it. And now it's… oddly quiet. When Gardenview was still running, it felt like the storages never slept. There were always two or more employees down there.

What the…

[The following is just… crack. I was trying to do something that gave me motivation for this.]

There were a group of toons consisting of Gigi, Flutter, and Shelly playing around with… ichor?

"What the— ARE YOU GUYS OKAY IN THE HEAD?" Vee barged in, taking away the capsules.

"MMMMNHHHHJHHH"

"Wooahhhhh … Veeee??"

"PARTY SHITTER!"

"The entire reason as to why we twisted…" Vee had a hand on the top of her screen, rubbing her nonexistent temples. "WAS BECAUSE OF ICHOR."

She took a moment to analyze the toons… their eyes were red, red like the twisteds but instead of a malicious expression, they seemed relaxed and totally out of it like wth bro… they seemed to be drinking the substance.

"C'mon it's like… such a stress reliver y'know??" Gigi's words were slurred and the hand coming out from her head drooped across her face. Flutter let a hum of agreement, letting her wings buzz. Because she had no mouth, she was using the ichor through… her eyes…

"I-… how long have you been doing this?" Vee was baffled. Seriously, did these toons want the hardwork of their healers reversed entirely? "A day… a month, week—"

"Oh I discovered it like almost immediately after getting treated." Gigi frog-blinked. "Me and Flutter have been doing it occasionally. This is thr first time Shelby joined."

"Shelly."

"Oh—yea, the ammonite girl. Wait… is she here?"

Vee squinted her eyes, "No, Shelby is Shelly."

"Oh."

Gigi slowly turned towards the shell who was looking up at the ceiling, completely out of it. "Why didn't you tell me, girll??"

"Whuh..?" Shelly couldn't make out the gachapon's words but damn ichor felt great. (Imagine it's like Jax in the episode 7 when he's close to abstracting)

Gigi turned back to Vee, "She just said uhhhhh… wait, I kind of didn't listen… Flutters??"

Flutter took her feet and began writing on a piece of paper.

'Sheee ssaid she knew we had something to relieve stress and that she needed to get something off her mind.'

"Yeeeaaaa. That." Gigi pointed.

"Are the healers aware of this?"

"Nah."

"…okaay." Vee stored the capsules inside the compartment in her chest.

"Hey wait we need thooseee!" Gigi tried reaching out to grab them but simply fell to the ground instead.

"I'll be taking Shelly and you guys should really check with Sprout or something." Vee threw Shelly onto her shoulders. There wasn't much resistence since she was… basically high as hell.

"THEY'RE WHAT." Sprout slammed his fist on the desk after hearing the news. "Who was it? Flutter and Gigi?" Vee nodded. Sprout gave a laughish-giggle, taking cupcakes from the counter aggressively.

"Ohoho… when I see them… I've got a lot of my hands already I do NOT NEED THEM TO GIVE ME MORE TROUBLES." He shoved the sweets into his pocket.

"So… yea, that's cool and all, Berry-boy, but what about her condition?"

"Oh. Shelly's… uh, she's fine just needs a lot of rest. I gave her a mixture that made her throw up most of the ichor but she's still having some… effects."

"Alright."

Vee glanced over to Shelly who was laying on a DIY bed by Ginger. Ginger… she wonders how it must feel like to have someone you hold dear to just suddenly go numb when it's not their season. Fortunately she'll never have to worry about that :)

"Mind taking her to her room?" Sprout asked right before he closed the door.

"Sure—… okay, rude." Vee grumbled before shifting her attention back to the toon lying on the ground. She poked at her body with her microphone topper.

"Wherestheichor….I'm… I'm fine nghghh…." Shelly's speech was slurred, barely comprehensible but fortunately Vee was good at decoding, even if it's just murmurs. "Ichor…." She reached her hands out, trying to grab a capsule from thin air: she just touched the edge of Vee's head.

"Perhaps we should do more research on this substance." Vee noted to herself, carefully picking Shelly up. Different from the first time where she just threw her on the shoulder without a care for her ribs. If toons had ribs…

As she walked out the door, Shelly began to ramble. "Vee..?? Is that youuuu…"

"Yes." Vee made sure to keep her answers brief.

"I missedds yoouu Beevee…" Shelly giggled affectionately, totally out of it as she twirled Vee's antennae around her finger. Vee didn't mind it the odd comment and behavior much, it was obvious Shelly was just under the ichor's influence. Besides, it's common for colleagues to miss other colleagues, she was twisted for months, wasn't she?. "I… missed you.."

Vee looked down at Shelly (who she was still holding), questioning the sudden solemn change in her tone. . . It was clear tears were forming in the corners of her eyes. Strange. "Something wrong?"

"Yes! Yes everything. Everything is wrong." She choked, flat-out sobbing.

"…uh, sorry what's wrong exactly?" Vee's steps slowly wavered.

Shelly didn't answer, she was just violently sobbing.

Oh.

Oh no.

VEE'S GONNA MALFUNCTION IF A DROP GETS ON HER!

Then, she began to run as if her life depended on it BECAUSE IT DID. She kept running and running until she found the entrance to Shelly's bedroom and practically kicked the door open and threw Shelly onto her bed.

That was when she finally calmed down.

Shelly hasn't.

"God why was I so stupid?!" Shelly whispered angrily to herself, trying to wipe her eyes clean of her tears that seemed endless. Vee just stood there like that one emoji 🧍‍♀️, unsure how to act. Then, her eyes spotted one of Shelly's coats hung up on the wall.

"Isetmyselfupforthisshittyheartbreak…damntheichoroperation… wait… where's… where's my capsules?" Shelly finally lifted her head out of her hands.

"When you were getting treated I was instructed to take the capsules out of your room snd to Rodger's." Vee answered… wait where'd she get that coooaaaaatttttt…… oh yea.

"WHAT?! BUT…I want.. no I need them, Vee, can you go back to Rodger and—" she was cut off by a sudden embrace.

(Vee has no idea what's she's doing but she saw some toons doing it to someone who was crying and it helped.)

Shelly tensed at the unexpected physical touch. (Having Vee initiate it was like once in a century, unless it came to Astro.)

Then she began to tremble, returning the hug and pressed her face against Vee's shoulder. Vee was proud of herself for this quick thinking. Surely the water can't get to her if she's wearing a coat?

"I hate you." Shelly choked, her throat closing up on her. Vee tilted her head. What did she do wrong? Wasn't this what she's meant to do or something? Maybe she got some info switched around when she twisted. She patted the back of Shelly's with her tail.

Before she could ask why, Shelly had went limp, sleeping. Yea ichor does that in this au.

Carefully, Vee placed her down on the bed, tucking her in. "Goodnight." ..And just as she turned around, she felt a tug on her microphone.

Shelly was holding her microphone close to her chest.

Vee couldn't recall much of her memories. The remnants in her files only said that they had a co-worker like relationship, (though the photos said otherwise,) so she should pull her tail away, it wasn't like they were that close to the point she'd allow touch that isn't initiated by her, but something told her to let it be.

"Do you not have a plushie here.." She murmured, scanning the room. Even though Shelly was apparently a main, she had no plushies of herself. Sure it's been a long time since Gardenview closed, but usually there's at least one ragged and "loved" plushie hanging on for dear life. Eventually, she gave up on searching and sat on the edge of the bed.

[POWERING OFF…]

Extra.

"GIGI!" Sprout busted her door open, steam practically blowing out of his head. Gigi felt a shiver run up her spine, but she didn't care to show expression on her face.

"Yeeaaaa..— MMMMHHH MMMH SHSHH MMMMHHHH"

She was shortly smothered by cupcakes after. (And forced into a health check , along with Flutters.