Chapter Text
Sprinkles… frosting… baking soda…
“Ah, flour! There it is!” Sprout celebrated aloud. With his and Cosmo's baking activities becoming commonplace, it began to be a little bit of a nuisance for their toon handlers for them to sheepishly approach and ask them to restock their ingredients so frequently. So, eventually, it became routine for Sprout to stock back up on lacking ingredients at the end of the day.
And this was one of those times. Thankfully for him, they weren't running low on much. Just the flour, and he'd remember to grab some butter on the way out. He didn't even have a mess in the kitchen for Tisha to scold him about either! Last time he and Cosmo had left the place in an absolute state after blowing up the oven… let's just say he did NOT want to think about that again-
CRAAASH!!
… what the hell was that?! Interrupting his train of thought was a loud dissonant clang ringing out, like the industrial sound of metal smashing into metal. And what he could make out following…
“... she still just doesn't get- …damnit!”
Vee? There was no mistaking that robotic delivery, though uncharacteristically, it carried a lot more weight and… seemingly anger than he was used to hearing. The only time Sprout ever saw her visibly furious was when Scraps would guess all the answers to the questions in her gameshow. This didn't just sound like her usual comical rage that he could snicker at from the corner of the elevator while she cut toons down with her sharp tongue, however. This sounded a little more… disgruntled and upset.
Hearing that unusual expression of emotion caused the strawberry's protective nature to show itself, as he began to head over to the source of the ruckus.
“Vee? Is that you? You alright over there…?” He swiftly made his way, weaving his way through the stockades of metal shelves, maneuvering himself through until the television toon entered his line of sight.
“Seedly.” Vee responded, already turned to face him, hand on her hip, as though she was waiting for him. She had that same stupid smirk on her green and black display. He could tell that was a front, though. Obviously. Just a second ago he heard her yelling over something!
He'd ignore the use of his last name for now… as much as it ticked him off.
“What was that shouting about? And what was that crashing sound…?” Slowly, his gaze drifted to behind Vee. She was standing in front of one of the metal shelves, but it was completely off center, and one of the brackets was bent in place as if something had struck it with a strong force. He definitely didn't remember it being like that before…
His eyes latched onto the hand she was conspicuously trying to hide behind her back. It was a little marked up and bruised. He swore he could even spot a trickle of ichor dripping down her knuckles. Did she…?
“I tripped,” Vee replied simply. Cool and calculated, like everything else she said. As though she'd rehearsed the excuse before Sprout had even reached her.
“You? Trip? That doesn't sound like the Vee I know and tolerate.” He crossed his arms doubtfully. Vee simply shrugged in response, keeping that smug look on her face.
“I can admit that I make mistakes every once in a while, unlike a certain mirror,” she flicked her wrist as her microphone tail coiled around her, “besides, I don’t want to hear about clumsiness from youof all people. Need I remind you of a certain… incident involving an oven-”
“Okay, okay! Jeez! You’re really not letting that go, are you?” Sprout let out a sigh of frustration, raking a hand through the leaves atop his head. This is what always caused friction between them. Vee just knew exactly how to push his buttons and piss him off! And meanwhile, she’d act as though she’d done absolutely nothing wrong! God, you blow up an oven one time and suddenly you can't be trusted in a kitchen-
“Nope. Definitely not. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” Vee attempted to slink past him, but he wasn’t having that. She wasn’t escaping this one so easily!
“Hey! “No- you’re not going anywhere yet.” Sprout reached for her arm, grabbing her wrist and halting her in place. She appeared to freeze for a moment before she turned around to face him, a green question mark on her screen. “Hm?”
“You! You- I heard you yelling earlier, a-and your hand’s bleeding!” He held up Vee’s own limp wrist to her face, as if to show her, like she wasn’t already aware. She didn’t react in the slightest. “What’s going on?” He demanded, looking up at her pixelated screen with a mix of anger and desperation in his eyes. She had to look up to meet his gaze, him being the taller of the two. That was a hidden perk of being the tallest toon that he appreciated. He felt as though it gave him a little more authority to be pushy and assertive when he felt like he needed to help a fellow toon. Call him overbearing, overprotective, but he just wanted to look out for his friends! And this was no different!
She held eye contact for a second (though it felt a lot longer) before breaking it in an awkward glance away. Suddenly, the bare walls of the warehouse room became very interesting to the robotic toon.
“I’m fine, Sprout. Really.” She responded curtly. “I just… went to pick up something from here, and I accidentally cut my hand on some of the jagged metal of the shelf when I tripped.” Her voice stuttered and glitched on a few of her words, as though she was making it up as she went along. Sprout wasn’t convinced.
“Yeah? What did you come to get then, huh? I don’t see you carrying anything.” He retorted with a raised brow.
“Nothing to concern yourself with, Berry-boy.” Vee quickly shot back, sneering as she continued to walk by him towards the elevator.
“Oh my god- for the last time, would you stop calling me that?!” Sprout snapped, his tone clipped. He hated when she’d use that stupid nickname for him, almost as much as when she used his last name. Almost.
“Hmm, let me think… no.” Vee replied. He couldn’t see her face now, but Sprout could be damn sure that shit-eating grin was plastered on it as she stepped into the elevator. “There’s no need to worry so much about me, Seedly. Besides, don’t you have a Swiss-roll friend to be pestering right about now?” The doors to the elevator closed, and up she went.
“Wait, seriously!” Too late. She was already out of sight. So he wouldn’t find out what she was so upset and yelling about after all… unless…
A Swiss-roll friend to pester, she said? Maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“And then she just up and leaves! Isn’t that crazy?!” Sprout finished his long exposition of the events.
“That… definitely sounds like her alright…” Cosmo chuckled nervously as he whisked the thick, buttery mixture together. It wasn’t too uncommon for Sprout to start their baking session with him explaining something that had happened recently, and he always enjoyed their small talk, though he was almost never this aggravated by it…
“But you agree that it’s weird, right? Like, there’s no way she was telling the truth about tripping; she totally punched that shelf because she was mad about something!” Sprout exclaimed in exasperation as he flipped the solidifying pancake in the pan.
Despite what his exaggerated dramatic flailing from the other side of the kitchen counter would have you believe, the dining area was actually quite busy, with most of the toons being there to eat breakfast with each other. All of the mains were there, in fact, including Pebble! …and also including Vee. Even with her inability to eat (Sprout always wondered how that worked… does she have batteries? Does she charge?) Vee often did come to breakfast with the other toons. Usually it was just to chat with Glisten or Brightney or to sit alone and plan segments for her gameshow (he’d noticed her coming in with a pen and paper on more than one occasion,) and though she was engaging in the latter currently, it didn’t look as though she was thinking about much.
While one might think that Vee’s digital screen of a face might not be as expressive as other toons, Sprout likes to think that his ability to read others’ emotions still applies to her. Sure, she might be giving that same arrogant smirk, but Sprout could tell that was just a front. It looked, to him at least, like a cheap mask or a bad cut-and-paste job. She was staring at the blank wall – not even at the charmingly amateur drawings from the visiting kids taped to the wall – the wall. And she had been for the past ten minutes!
…not that he was watching her that whole time or anything… that’d be weird… not to mention creepy! He wouldn’t do that, no… he was just occasionally checking to make sure she was okay, that’s all!
“Well… yeah, from what you’ve told me, that does sound odd,” the pastry toon agreed, “but I’m surprised you’re so concerned over her. I mean, you two aren’t exactly close… and besides that, what makes you so sure she’ll actually tell you if something’s wrong and let you help her out? It’s not exactly in her character, is it…?”
He’s not wrong, but…
He glanced back over to Vee’s vacant stare.
This isn’t like her. She needs help.
“Watch this for me for a second, will ‘ya Cos?” Sprout quickly handed the frying pan to the Swiss roll, who promptly fumbled with the handle, nearly dropping the whole thing onto the ground.
“Wha-? What are you…?” Cosmo watched as Sprout promptly sauntered off, out of the kitchen and into the dining area. The toon simply rolled his eyes as he managed the kitchen on his own.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Vee!” The strawberry ran over to her, catching her attention.
“Berry-boy.” She replied candidly, turning to face her. “Did you need something?”
“Yes! I…I…” Shoot, he didn’t really think this far ahead, did he? Oh, to hell with it. Fake it 'til you make it, right?
“I really need your help!” Sprout pleaded, closing his eyes and clasping his hands together. She really hoped she wouldn’t see through his bullshit… “I need you to help with baking tomorrow evening! Cosmo has something planned with Shelly, and you know how busy it is on weekends…”
A bitcrushed buzzer sound emanated from Vee’s speakers as a large X flashed on her screen. “Nope, absolutely not.” She answered, unconvinced. “Why would I help you? And anyway, wouldn’t you rather have someone help who can… actually taste what they’re making?”
Sprout was undeterred, remaining stubborn. “Oh, please, Vee! Your eye for detail would be perfect for decorating, and plus, you learn super quick, so I’m sure you’d catch on in no time!” He was sure that wouldn’t be enough convincing for her, so he had to use his secret weapon… he blinked, then gaped his eyes wide in the cutest puppy-dog look he could manage. He’d have to thank Cosmo for teaching him this later, though he felt a little embarrassed using it to convince Vee of all people.
“Pleeease, Vee? You’re the only one who can help me out here…” He pouted coyly.
The robotic toon stared at him for a good few seconds, and he was damn sure she was (rightfully) judging him. It seemed, though, that it had worked. She sighed, caving just a little.
“...what’s in it for me?”
He… hadn’t thought about that either…
“I’ll… uh- I’ll appear on your gameshow! I’m sure you’re looking for new contestants…”
Vee’s eyes widened before her face fell back into that usual smug expression.
“Fine, but you owe me, Seedly.” She concluded, before walking away, microphone whipping into her hand from her tail. Again, the use of his last name annoyed him to no end, but he’d swallow his pride for once.
“Thanks, Vee! I-I’ll, uh… see you tomorrow, then!” He called out as she exited the dining area. To be honest, he was pretty surprised that he had convinced her so handily. Sure, he was sure that the television would be keen to have practically anyone other than the incredibly lucky Scraps on her show again, but it seemed even just the mention of her gameshow caused her to perk up slightly. Whatever, he didn’t care as long as it worked! Though… he did need to inform Cosmo about his position suddenly being replaced… hahah… he’s going to have some questions… ah, he just hoped he wouldn’t be upset about it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“What do you mean, 'Don’t come in tomorrow’? That’s our busiest day!”
“I-I know! Just go with it, okay?!” Sprout tried to quell the worries of the shorter toon. “I… I wanna figure out what’s up with Vee, so I got her to help out tomorrow with the main toon cookies. Hopefully I can get her to spill about what’s bothering her.”
Cosmo sighed a breath before looking up at his best friend with an unsure smile. “I’ll trust you with that, just… don’t do anything stupid, okay? I know you care about everyone a lot, but… don’t do anything you’ll end up regretting.”
“Obviously.” The strawberry disregarded. He knew how to help people just fine! Did he not trust him with this? “I won’t press the issue much with her; I know what she’s like. And, hey, you can just go and eat your own breakfast now if you want. You’ve already finished with the batter, and I’ve only got like four more of these to flip.” He added as he plated the pancakes, topping them with a healthy lathering of maple syrup.
“Yeah, I’ll leave you to it. Thanks, man.” Cosmo nodded, washing his hands in the sink, before chuckling at his next thought. “And make sure she frosts the cookies properly! I don’t want a repeat of what happened with the Astro cookies…”
Sprout laughed heartily. “Yeah! I’ll make sure to show her how to do it properly!” He assured him with a wide grin.
Well… tomorrow ought to be interesting.