Chapter Text
It was a quiet night. Eerily silent in fact– unnerving, because Shrimpo hadn't enacted his last hateful barrage of the day, and it was 00:05.
Always around 10-11 o'clock { never exactly on time with yesterdays to keep everyone on their toes }, when all the toons would begin readying themselves for slumber, Shrimpo would be no different. However, his ‘getting ready to sleep’ was much more… peculiar than many of the others that roamed Gardenviews halls. For one - after complaining about sleeping in the first place - Shrimpo would begin by NOT going into his room, but every other toons first. Screaming:
“ BADNIGHT!! “
To anyone that hadn't already prepared by locking their doors. … Locked doors never stopped him though, and if they were he'd simply bang on them until the toon behind groaned or gave some half-hearted, garbled response; or shouted obscenities from the other end. Every single toon got this treatment, with only 13 exceptions. These being: Toodles, Gourdy, rodger, Yatta, Connie, Soulvester, Eclipse, Bassie, Vee, Brusha, eggson, Bobette and Astro.
GODDAMN He HATED children, how could he not? However, shouting at them when they've most likely been put to bed early caused a lot of toons to beg him not to so, begrudgingly, he obliged. It took a while of convincing.
Yatta and Connie were on the no-no list because of how they’d retaliated. After the screech of a ‘NIGHT’ they would kindly pull some of the most HORRID pranks on him during the day, and that was enough to push Shrimpo away from the idea of trying that again. Never tell ANYONE I told you this, but the hard-headed shrimp did almost fear yatta, despite how brash and frankly cocky he was to her. Trying to act bigger in the eyes of a potential predator type of ‘fear’. Gigi did this also, but Shrimpo could handle a grouchy Gigi more than he could a grouchy, batshit insane yatta or an absolute maniacal Connie.
Vee, Brusha and Rodger all threw things at him, which caused a commotion 100% of the time- waking many up in the process. .. Thus Shrimpo was banned from going near all those rooms unless strictly allowed. Unacceptable, of course, so he protested by rearranging Vee's room completely, stealing some of Rodger's research and giving Brusha a piece of his mind.
Soulvester, well… soulvester had a sword collection and one hell of an uppercut. You can probably guess what happens when an angry shrimp spooks a knight.
He wouldn't dare wake Astro, not during the night unless it was important. Why? Because Eclipse often huddled in with Astro, and Shrimpo wouldn't want to be caught dead near that thing during the later hours. He was an idiot sometimes, but he wasn't THAT stupid to test the limits of a literal wolf and see what type of shit hits the fan. He KNOWS what shit it is.. Because he already tried once before.
Furthermore.. If Astro woke up grumpy; everytoons dreams would become reflectively worse, and toons notice. Dealing with the whole damn community bashing on him wasn't funny. ..A bit funny- but It gave him a headache simply reminiscing about it.
Bassie? Why would bassie be on there? Because Shrimpo didn't know where the hell she even slept. Same went for a few of the toons who never stayed in their assigned rooms; he was frankly not in the mood for a manhunt just to squabble about nightly rituals... Unless it was Dandy, who he personally went out of his way to try and wrangle out of the shadows, just to burn his lungs out at the fucker.
Last on the ever-lengthening, non-existent list was Eggson. It was an odd name to be on there, however Shrimpo had good reason to make sure he stayed far away from Eggsons abode.
… in the privacy of that room, a soft smell of vanilla and a lingering stuffiness that never felt truly uncomfortable; Shrimpo would always end up metaphorically cornered into it. The old man always beckoned him inside- never seemed even slightly miffed when woken up by the nuisance. He acted not so dissimilar to how Teagan did with her guests, Shrimpo often mused. When he { NOT PURPOSELY..!! } overheard Teagan's conversations from the other side of the doorway; They'd often speak of their day, ask of the guests’, ramble about mushy feelings and mushy events and generally have a.. Stupid, unnecessary babble. Boring. Psht. … However, the difference between Teagans little one-on-ones and Eggsons, is that the man never truly prodded. He didn't have that aristocratic snob-like aura to him, or pity in his eyes when he looked down at Shrimpo. Wondering 'what went wrong' or some bullshit. Sure, there was sometimes annoyance, exhaustion and the like; but Eggson never seemed to.. Dislike him. Never needed Shrimpo to talk back, and didn't mind when he did in scathing screeches. Content to tell stories and let Shrimpo listen about his day. Not intently, but enough to keep the old man jovial.
He didn't know why he ever stayed for them. STORIES WERE THE WORST!! HATED THAT.. NONSENSE. Despite this, Shrimpo couldn't ever seem to leave until the senior allowed him to. Or rebuttal much… Sat in Eggsons comfy, rickety old chair, tapping his foot restlessly alongside his fingers against the armrest, feigning impatience. A Grimace on his face, whether invested or otherwise.
Eggson would rise up with a grunt from the dulling bed, stretching when finished with his story. Or maybe he'd already be sitting, legs dangling from the edge of it when he'd lean in and Pat the smallers back a couple times, encouraging him to rest like the others.
“Save that fiery spirit for the next day, or you'll be all tuckered out in the morning, son..! “
Or something along those lines.
Those actions made Shrimpo feel things, and he hated it. So he'd rather stay away than acknowledge the fact at all. Hated that old timer. ‘Should go back to the prehistoric if he kept reminiscing about it so much.
Oh, back to the present. Why hadn't Shrimpo gone through his tirade of 'Badnights' tonight?
Shrimpos door.. I mean, Shrimpo didn't have a door at all. He had a somewhat torn up rag that was hung down for some semblance of privacy. He had broken the hinges off his old door and thrown the whole thing at Goob once. ..Funny story. Anyways…
Behind it was quite the commotion.
Ichor tinted knuckles were the culprits to three fresh, new holes in the wall. He'd have to at least try to cover them up later, but Shrimpo was more focussed on how pathetic he looked than anything set for the future. Curled up in a ball in the corner of his room, tears dragging down his face unwillingly; Which he desperately, fruitlessly tried to stop. They wouldn't stop. Why? Why wouldn't they? Shrimpo didn't know.
Didn't understand. What caused him to go into this.. This damn tantrum I mean. Legs kicking to push further into the wall- hiding from everything like a measly, kicked puppy. A loser.
When toons said they had ‘butterflies in their stomach’ he didn't think they meant THIS. It felt more like needles, twisting and churning painfully inside his belly, scratching and piercing beneath the skin. Any quick breath Shrimpo stole was shallow and wheezing, doing little to aid the constricting of his throat. He looked like an idiot. Looked like Boxten whenever he got teary-eyed by one of his scathing insults and harsh pranks. Except instead of teary-eyed, shrimpo was sobbing and no one was there for him to hug it out with, or some other bullshit method Poppy did to soothe Boxtens frazzled nerves.
Being hugged would've just made him worse.
Eyes blurred. Shrimpo hated when everything became hazy. He hated when this happened, he HATED when he couldn't just wrangle back control of his body. He hated not being in control.
So he'd force it.
Clawing and pawing against the corner walls, Shrimpo's hands grasped onto anything that could ground him. Though with this new spur of the moment desire, Shrimpo raised them. Raised them to his face, Clawing and pawing against himself instead. Sometimes he wished he had Dandy's hands: deadly dexterous claws, malformed as a result of his twisted transformations. Sort of similar to the craft siblings ugly grippers. The star of the show always covered them with gloves, but Shrimpo had seen them. He envied them. More so in this moment than any other. Because he needed something sharper to rake down his skin- and turn him into nothing but a pile of mush and guts on the floor. Blackened and bruised, crude marks formed from his forehead to his chin; Anywhere he could get to. Down the sides of his tail, yanking it every which way to stop the overwhelming feelings in his brain. To numb the periodic stinging of his oh so angry heart, or the ache of all the other parts of his body he'd already mindlessly grated up. Sure, he'd usually just bash his head against the wall until he knocked himself out.. during these.. ruts. However, that was a little too loud. Goob had heard him once. Went to check on him. Altercations happened, and Goob got a door to the face. … Soon enough he'll tire himself out. Cause a bit of ichor to spill, freak out. Whine and whimper and yelp and quiver all the despair out of himself, until he was back to being the harbourer of hate and nothing else. Until he was normal again.
Do you think when Delilah programmed his brain to feel nothing but loathing, she was high on ichor and botched the procedure? Or maybe this was always the way he was supposed to be. A mess. A bad egg. “ Nobody likes a bully! “ Fucking asshol–
“.. Shrimpo? “
He seized up. Still hyperventilating, obviously. Yet frozen nonetheless. Eyes that once glared at the floor like it did-done-fucking murdered his family, darted up to try and focus on the intruder to his meltdown. From what shrimpo could see, the toon peering from behind the curtain was.. Blue. He couldn't make out anything else. Didn't need to. He audibly growled.
“ g– GO AWAY. “
Ouch. Even his own voice sounded as disgusting as his body felt. Hoarse, grating and wavering weakly. Barely able to be as harsh as he usually was. Shit.
“ … You alright budd- ? “
“ NO. OF COURSE NOT JUST- GO AWAY FINN! “
Shrimpo spat the name out like a curse, covering his eyes up and jamming his legs further against himself, clinging onto them like a lifeline. Tight enough to scar.
The intruder, in fact, did not leave. Instead he walked straight inside, and straight into danger as if it wasn't going to slap him in the face. Slowly, carefully; as if examining a wounded predator.
Once close, ( but not too close ), the fishbowl toon leaned against the wall and slid down it. Sitting beside him.
“.. Is there anythin’ I could do to help..? “
Glaring up, he was surprised Finn didn't joke about it or something annoyingly poignant. Though he knew Finn would never. He wasn't like Shrimpo. He didn't.. Suck. He wished he did.
“.. NO. "
"I DON'T KNOW. “
Shrimpo babbled out. He wasn't lying, he forgot why he was panicking in the first place. Maybe there was never a real reason why. Maybe today was just sub-par and that alone triggered him. Maybe the texture of the carpet outside had caught his nerves, or someone touched him when he didn't want to be. Breathed too loud, ate too loud, made Shrimpo curse under his breath and beg to tear the next toon he saw to pieces. Whatever it was, it made him cry and harm himself, and that was no good in Finn's eyes.
“ ~Aye aye, Captain. “
…
“ Say, is it fine if I just sit here with you then? “
No.
. . .
“.. FINE. DO WHAT YOU WANT, I DON'T CAre. “
The silence had a chokehold on the two of them. Suffocating, the air around them, along with the way Shrimpo's voice cracked with his words. He seethed under his breath, holding back a choked sob to save himself from the utter embarrassment. This tense atmosphere permeated for a couple messy minutes. Finn didn't seem to mind. Periodically looking back and forth from Shrimpo, just to make sure he didn't hurt himself more than he already had. Maybe he should, to scare Finn. Give him a reason to stay away. Push him away so Shrimpo didn't have to. Fragile fuckin…
Why did he care?
Why did ANYONE WANT TO care?
He's nothing but the bully.
So how can a toon be so damn stupid- so DAMN masochistic- that they’d try to be kitschy with HIM? Want to get CLOSE to HIM? BE ALRIGHT WITH THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE???
. . .
It was barely a concept in Shrimpo's mind. Impossible. Infeasible. Shrimpo despised it.
However, he’d. Tolerate it, for now.
‘For now’– Pathetic.
Finn stayed the rest of the night. Shrimpo passed out on the floor, head lulling onto Finn's shoulder. He’d be mentally screeching at himself if he knew, but he never would.