Chapter Text
After a very long day in Gardenview, Sprout and Cosmo lay down on a bench very tired and very sick.
"Hey Cosmo, should we tell Dandy we're calling in sick tomorrow..?" Sprout sat up straight, his voice barely audible.
"Sure! I'll leave a note by his shop." Cosmo grabbed a piece of paper nearby and grabbed a pen inside his hoodie before writing a letter informing Dandy that they are calling in sick tomorrow.
"Let's hope they survive?" Sprout jokingly asks yawning at the same time, Cosmo bumps his shoulder before they both stand up and bid farewell to each other, heading to their respective toon rooms.
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As Dandy prepares his shop in the morning, He sees a nearby note in the corner of his eyes, intrigued by it, he grabs the note and reads it. After reading the note he feels slight pity for the stress Sprout and Cosmo had to go through yesterday.
He quickly goes to the diner to inform the other toons.
"Good Morning fellow toons! I'm gonna have to inform you that Sprout and Cosmo called in sick today, So they won't be able to make food for us. Does anyone here know how to cook?"
Dandy asks hoping to see atleast a single toon to raise their hand, but to his dismay, no one raises their hand.
"Well, that's alright! We can always make sandwiches right?"
Dandy tries to lighten up the mood with his suggestion. Luckily some toons start to make sandwiches for everyone.
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As Shrimpo wakes up he groggily checks his clock reading the time. "11:36" He stands up and goes to his bathroom to fix himself. "I HATE WATER!" He yells, feeling his earlier sleepiness wear off.
He stomps out of his room, walks over to the elevator and clicks the button leading to the diner area.
He reaches the diner and somewhat expects some toons to still be there especially one specific fishbowl toon.
Luckily, he sees no one there but also sees a note left by Dandy himself. He reluctantly reads it (Sprout and Cosmo called in sick today so don't expect any food for today other than sandwiches and such!)
Shrimpo crumples and rips the note before walking over to the kitchen and closing the door.
What other toons don't know, is that Shrimpo secretly knows how to cook, he learned it whenever he secretly watched Boxten getting taught by Cosmo and Sprout on how to bake.
Of course, he tested it for himself at midnight and made alot of mess back then. He did feel amused by how Tisha looked like whenever she saw the mess in the morning.
Eventually, he grabs a pot and fills it with water, The recipe he decided to make was Baked Mac & Cheese.
He prepares the correct ingredients and after alot of cooking and mixing later, he sets the Ready-to-bake Mac & Cheese in the Oven. His antennae twitching abit from the heat from the oven before he stands up and sets a timer, sitting on a nearby chair.
What he doesn't know while he was busy preparing the needed ingredients, Finn, Brightney, Looey and Tisha came to the diner to make more sandwiches until they heard noise from the kitchen.
They silently walk there and witnesss Shrimpo preparing food. They stare at him through the window in awe and in surprise because they never expected out of anyone, Shrimpo would be the type to cook.
They then headed to a nearbly table and sat down at the available chairs, chatting to kill time.
"Since when did Shrimpo learn how to cook or bake!?" Looey whispers at the table "Beats me! I just hope he doesn't make a mess..." Tisha says looking back at the Kitchen every once in a while. "Guys it's okay! Let's just make shore we sea him alright." Finn smiles at the both of them.
Brightney just silently reads her book she brought enjoying the smell of Mac & Cheese.
(Back with Shrimpo)
He hears the timer ring stands up, grabbing a pair of Oven Mitts before carefully setting the tray down on a nearby counter.
As Shrimpo places the food on a container, he walks outside, nearly dropping it on the floor when he sees a few toons staring at him.
"Heya Shrimpy! What'ya got there?" Finn asks, slightly grinning.
"I UH, I BAKED BECAUSE I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE CANT DEAL WITH BEING SICK!!" Shrimpo places the container down at the counter.
"I MADE TOO MUCH! I HATE MAKING TOO MUCH!!" Finn walks over, "Then maybe we could try it!!"
Shrimpo is slightly nervous from the request but he did want someone to try it, in the end, he mutters a barely audible "Fine".
Finn perks up at the answer "Thank you so much Shrimpo!!" and grabs a couple of bowls and spoons, taking some of the Mac and Cheese before returning to the table with the others.
Shrimpo stares at them nervously watching as they all took a spoonful of the food he made. He patiently waited (somehow) for their responses feeling like it's taking forever, before getting startled by their reactions.
"Oh my gosh Shrimpo this is so good!! Maybe you should make food for us later!" Looey said, enjoying every single bite of the food. Shrimpo decides to grab his own food and sits beside Finn.
Eventually, they each finish their food feeling satisfied and full, they look back at Shrimpo who still hasn't touched his food yet. "Hey Shrimpy... You good..?" Finn asks albeit concerned for the crustacean toon.
"Y-Yeah... I'M FINE. " Shrimpo looks down at the floor in shame.
"Hey it's okay! We enjoyed your food right guys?" Finn stared back at the other who nodded approvingly. "I'd eat that again and again you know!" Looey added a smile shown on his face. Shrimpo slowly stood up the chair, His tone dropping drastically. "You can have my bowl I'm not hungry anymore"
He walked off with his antennae drooping, he kept on thinking about what happened today. What if they actually hated it? What if they just wanted Shrimpo to stop cooking anymore because of how bad it tastes?
Shrimpo's thoughts overwhelmed him that by the time he reached his floor and slowly walked to his room, he had tears dripping down his face, knowing someone might see him, he quickly ran to his room. He closed the door and started sobbing tears, curling up in a nearby corner.
Why would they like him anyways? He's a bully, No one likes a bully. No one likes a bully. No one likes a bully. No one likes a bully. No one likes a bully. No one likes a bully. No one likes... No one likes him or needs him. Shrimpo curled up even more, silently sobbing to himself feeling his antennae droop on his face.
(Back with the other toons)
"Hey, maybe we should check up on Shrimpo! He looked really down..." Finn had concern etched in his voice, unusual to his normally cheerful behavior. Every other toon agreed with him except for Looey.
"I have something to do so I won't be able to go with you guys, I'm really sorry... See you later though!"
Everyone bid farewell before seperating. As Finn and the others reached Shrimpo's room they heard faint crying inside. "Shrimpo? You there?" Finn proceeded to knock on his door expecting a response. Not hearing anything, he opens the door.
Shrimpo's thoughts hit him hard to the point he didn't even hear someone knocking on his door. He didn't even hear them open it, nor did he hear them run over to his side. He continued to cry only making it slightly louder this time.
"Hey Shrimpo! Buddy, it's okay, clam down okay?" Shrimpo recognized that familiar voice, he broke down even more thinking that Finn was only pitying him but never concerned.
"I-I'm fine..." Shrimpo sobbed out before realizing someone else was hugging him and comforting him, it took him awhile to realize it was Brightney and Tisha based off their comforting voices.
After a while, Shrimpo calmed down and wiped his tears before looking at them.
"Hey man it's okay, your okay! Can you please tell us why you were crying?" Finn rubbed Shrimpo's head with his thumb gently comforting the toon.
Shrimpo slightly leaned forward and nuzzled Finn, oh how he needed this comfort whenever he finished those episodes where everyone painted him as a bully.
"Do you really like the food I made...?" Shrimpo asked nervously, sniffling pathetically in between, gosh why was he so pathetic? He couldn't cook right and he can't even do anything good other than be a dumb bully!
Finn smiled at Shrimpo realizing it was all just a big misunderstanding "Of course we do Shrimpo! We wouldn't say we liked it if we didn't!"
Finn reassured Shrimpo rubbing his antennae slightly with his fingers, causing it to twitch slightly.
It must've been a sweet spot for Shrimpo because after a few seconds of Finn rubbing his antennae he fell asleep.
"Man, he looks adorable when he's asleep huh?" Brightney coos, staring down at adorable sleeping Shrimpo as he whines a bit from the sudden comment. They place him gently on his bed before leaving his room, silently closing the door.
"Hey, who made this Baked Mac & Cheese? It smells and tastes delicious!" Turns out, after Shrimpo ran to his room before being followed by Finn, Tisha and Brightney, Looey stayed back and had seconds.
Looey answered their question enthusiastically, "Shrimpo made it! I know, it's suprising to know about it, but I'm glad we get to have food!"
A few more toons go into the diner and started eating the Baked Mac & Cheese Shrimpo made, eventually, everyone had their fill and stared at the empty pot in satisfaction.
"We should ask Shrimpo to cook for us later I need energy to continue my research..." Rodger sighs hoping that maybe the shrimp had enough time to do that.
"Exactly! I need energy for my perfection." Glisten added.
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As Shrimpo stirs awake, he stares at himself in the mirror before punching it, causing to shatter across the desk.
He doesn't need to see his reflection anyways, it's not like he matters that much!
He was thinking whether he should leave before a sudden burst of his door startled him. "Shrimpo?! What was that? Are you okay? I heard something shattering so I ran here because it came out of your room!" Finn stood at his doorway slightly shaking but concern was shown on his face as he scanned Shrimpo looking for any injuries until his eyes landed on Shrimpo's fist.
Shrimpo quickly hid his fist behind his back, quickly retaliating "I'M FINE IDIOT! LEAVE MY ROOM NOW!!"