Work Text:
Dandy actually started to grow a bit hesitant to send Vee on runs after they began to date.
They were convinced otherwise after bringing up their worries with Astro and Dyle. After all, Astro and Pebble still went on runs, despite being just as close to Dandy as Vee was now. Vee has also already died on runs before, so she has experience. Yet, the worry still built in the back of Dandy’s head.
They popped up their shop in the elevator, expecting to see her walk over and lean on the counter. Yet, she wasn’t there. They looked around and noticed a lack of the TV toon. Goob walked up to the shop, and was deciding between a speed candy or a stamina candy. Dandy cleared their throat, “Hey there Goob! Good to see you! So… Where’s Vee? I don't- heh- I don’t see her in the elevator…” They asked warily, hoping that vee was just in their blindspot, and not where they assumed. They added, “Oh! Did she miss the elevator?” hoping that was what happened. Goob inhaled sharply. “Uhh… Dandy… I’m sorry to say this but uh…” He began, then Tisha responded instead, “She’s dead, Dandy. She died on the last floor.” Dandy went pale. Shelly poked her head out of the crowd. “Don’t worry! You can revive her! Don’t forget that!” she reassured them. Dandy composed themself. “You’re right! I uh… I don't know why I'm so worried…”
The floor was so cold, and their petals were standing on end. Why were they so nervous? Since the operation began they had been surrounded by death. This shouldn’t be much different. The bold amber walls of the art gallery brought a warmness into the room. Their heartbeat raced as they walked past pieces of art, and turned into the clearing with the statue. Looking at that statue made them feel sick. They hated that statue. Luckily, their eyes caught what, or rather who, most likely caused Vee’s demise.
Twisted Shelly.
The cracked fossil wandered the other side, and made a guttural hiss as she turned down the hall to Brusha’s Art Gallery. Dandy felt their breath quicken as they heard sickening crunches, and the faint sound of staticky humming. “Oh golly… Vee please… don’t be in the gallery..” They pleaded to themself as they turned down into the gallery. The stench of mold, rust, and gasoline attacked their nose. The stench of death was heavy in the air. Twisted Shelly was hunched over something. One foot was crushing it, and she seemed to be eating something out of it. It was sick, it was horrific. Dandy could definitely take any of the twisteds in a fight, due to their lethal transformation, and most twisteds didn’t test them anyway. They turned around and picked up an empty can. Then they threw it far from the gallery, and the clatter echoed in the empty facility. Twisted Shelly snapped her attention to it, and ran after the sound, leaving Dandy alone in the silence. They hurried over, hoping it wasn’t what they thought it was.
It was, and they wailed with horror when they saw it.
Vee was completely torn open. Her limbs were already melting into ichor puddles. Sparks flew from her frayed wires. Her metal chassis was broken open, revealing a layer of fleshy insulation underneath. That was what Twisted Shelly was eating. Her screen was dark, and when they rested their palm against the glass, it was still warm. It was sickening, and awful. They hated it, they hated having to look at her in a state like this.
This isn’t even the worst they’ve seen her in…
Yet this time. This day. This run specifically is breaking them.
The last time they felt this way was when they first revived Pebble and Astro.
But this is the first time they’ve actually thrown up.
Dandy had to collect themself after vomiting in the trashcan near the gallery, and walked back to her body. Vee lay there, motionless and cold. To think, they were just in her embrace a few hours ago… It was sickening. They gazed at her in horror, and knelt down beside her. They didn’t need to bear the weight of dragging her whole body back, just needed to grab one thing from her corpse. Reaching their hand into the shattered glass on her stomach felt so wrong. Their hand plunged into the spilling coolant and ichor, staining their hand a mix of green and black. Dandy felt their skin crawl as their hand brushed against something. Why was this so hard to do? It used to be so easy to revive her.
Through the wires and ichor they ripped a black and cracked heart-shaped object from her carcass.
Vee’s core.
It used to be easier holding it, but Dandy found themself trembling as they held it. Every toon had one of these, it's how they could revive them, and they’ve held toon cores countless times. So why was it so sickening to feel the heart in their hand? They felt bile rise to the back of their throat, and forced themself to swallow it back. They took off a Gardenview brand backpack they were using and slid out a capsule filled with ichor. Then, they took off the lid and placed her core into the ichor. Lastly, Dandy closed the capsule and carefully slid it into their bag. They hoisted the bag on their back and were about to leave, but found it tricky to move without looking back at her body. Vee was already dissolving into ichor at a much faster rate, and they sure didn’t want to watch her fully dissolve.
Their body didn't move though, and they just stood there, and watched as she dissolved into ichor.
Dandy felt sick.
They were heading back to the staff only stairwells when suddenly they flinched after feeling an aggressive gaze in the distance. They turned around quickly to Twisted Shelly running towards them. Dandy was shocked to see her so aggressive. They barely had time to react before they were slammed into the ground underneath her claws. Dandy was struggling as Twisted Shelly's claws dug into their side. They cried out in pain and tried to pry off her claws. “Shelly-!!! Get off!! SHELLY!!!” they cried out as they felt the sharp pain turn to a crushing pain as Twisted Shelly snarled with an emotion they couldn’t quite make out.
It was clear Twisted Shelly wasn’t intimidated by them, and wasn’t going to let them go. Dandy felt their back get pressed against the capsule in their bag, and fear was sent down their spine when they swore the capsule cracked. They had to twist at least partially to knock her off. Dandy forced their hands to shift into their twisted claws and grabbed Twisted Shelly’s leg. She roared as she was thrown off. Dandy quickly stood up and opened the door to the staff stairwell. They quickly slammed the door behind them as Twisted Shelly rammed into it. Soft snarling echoed from behind the door as she walked away.
Dandy was breathing heavily, and winced from their injury. The adrenaline wore off from all of the chaos. They looked down and lifted their sweater to see the damage. Thick claw marks were torn into their skin, and the bleeding was bad. How they didn’t die from that was beyond them. It didn’t matter, because they suddenly recalled vee’s capsule and hurriedly opened their backpack to check. The capsule was slightly cracked, but Vee’s core was unharmed. Dandy sighed in relief and rested their forehead against the capsule for a brief moment, before yelping in pain.
The bleeding was seeping through their sweater now, they had to get to their shop, and fast.
Dandy stood up shakily, and began to walk back quickly.
They set down their backpack, and stumbled to the crates in the back. Forcing the crate open with their claws. Dandy mumbled, “Come on, I know there's one in here somewhere…” as they dug through the merchandise. Under a handful of packing peanuts was a medkit. They pulled it out and took out a thick roll of gauze. Quickly taking off their sweater and wrapping up the injury. Their side ached as they tightened the gauze. The flower’s claws made the task tricky, but they sighed in relief once they wrapped enough gauze around their abdomen. They sighed and rested their head in their hands. Dandy was exhausted, they didn’t even have the energy to force their claws into hands again.
The flower didn’t have time to rest, they needed to revive Vee and head back on the run. Their claws reached into the backpack and pulled out the capsule. Dandy held it carefully and opened the door to the very back. They set the capsule on their desk, and turned on the lights. They were dim and yellowed, but illuminated their little office. They turned to a machine in the corner of their room, and walked over to it. They turned the valve shakily to fill the machine with ichor. Dandy then stepped away and opened a drawer in the desk, skimming through files and pulling out Vee’s file.
The file had bold red text stamped across it. Text that always gave them a bit of a scare when they pulled it out.
That didn’t matter right now, they needed to pull out her reference sheet. Flipping through the papers, they found it. Dandy set it on the table, and set the capsule holding her core beside it. All the materials needed for her revival were present. They sighed in relief, and cracked their knuckles to begin.
Vee woke up on the table a while later. The pain from death ceased. She sat up and looked around, expecting an empty shop with a note, but saw Dandy slumped over the desk. Her eyes widened a bit. Their petals were pointed and their hands were their twisted claws. She gently shook them, “Dandy, Dan! Hey! What happened???” she asked, worry was creasing her face. Dandy groaned and sat up. “Huh..? Did I fall asleep…?” they asked. Vee replied, "I don't know, I just woke up. Hey! What happened to you-!?” dandy didn’t answer and instead exclaimed, “The run!!! I need to get back to the run-!!” they attempted to stand but yelped in pain and grabbed their side. Vee sat up from the table and ran to their side. “DANDY!! WHAT THE [----]HAPPENED TO YOU?!” She demanded, and helped them sit up. Her hands traced the ichory bandages tightened against their skin. Since the shutdown, and even before the shutdown, nothing has ever made Vee attempt any form of swearing. Dandy almost didn’t think they heard right.
Dandy looked up at her fear-stricken expression. They sighed, and explained, “I… I went to go get you on the run…” They winced halfway through as Vee helped them. The flower continued, “I saw Twisted Shelly at your corpse, and got her away… it was really hard to see you like that by the way…” Vee gently held their face in her hand. “... I get that, but that's not the point. What happened to you?” She pushed for them to answer. Dandy said with a bit of fear in their voice, “Twisted Shelly actually attacked me as I was leaving… It was so weird! Heh! I mean, no twisted has ever directly attempted to attack me head on! It was… well golly it was terrifying! Usually they're too afraid to get too close…”
Vee sat with them in silence as Dandy attempted to laugh it off. Her eyes stiffened into a more stern expression. “... she attacked you!? Directly attacked you!? With the attempt to kill you!?” she asked. Dandy nodded. “I don't know how I didn't die from that…” He replied. Vee gently pulled them into a hug. “... Gee, don’t scare me like that…” her voice was much more gentle. She bumped her screen against their forehead. The flower learned this was her trying to kiss them. Dandy chuckled. “Sorry about that… ow-! Don’t hug so tight! The wound’s fresh…!” they remarked. Vee loosened her grip. “If it's that bad, we should go see Sprout and Cosmo. They might be able to help with the injury.” she said, and offered a hand. They took it, and suddenly gasped, “oh cathode! That reminds me! A while back I got Dyle to order something for you! It was to help you around Gardenview and on runs.” they cheerfully said, and gently pulled her into the back of the shop.
They looked for a moment and pulled out a box. They use their claws to open it. “Okay, close your eyes!” they said. Vee said, “My screen eyes are always closed, and I can't see out of them.” Dandy stared blankly for a moment then said, “Cover your antenna???” Vee grabbed the ends of her antenna and pulled them to her eyes. Basically covering her eyes. Dandy took out something and took one of her hands from her antenna. They placed it in her hand. “All right! You can look!”
When Vee let go of her antenna, she was a bit surprised by what she saw. In her hand was a cane. It was sized specifically for someone of her height, which due to being a toon meant quite a bit shorter than the average adult. “... Huh, this wasn’t what i expected.” She remarked, not quite having the words. Dandy explained, “Well, back when you started getting slower, and complaining about leg pain I thought you’d might appreciate a little help. So, I thought this would help you take some weight off your legs when you walk.” It was very caring of them to remember that. Vee smiled smugly, then asked teasingly, “Are you calling me old too?” Dandy chuckled, then responded, “HAH! Oh no Vee! Hah haaah! Just wanted to help.” Vee walked towards them, her cane made soft clacks against the hardwood, and gently bumped her screen against their forehead again. “Thanks for thinking of me Dan, I love you.” She said. Dandy felt their face grow red and kissed her back. “I love you too cathode!”
After a brief moment of silence Vee looked at them again.
“Can we go to Sprout and Cosmo for your injuries now? You’re really worrying me Dan. You look really stressed.”
Dandy chuckled nervously and nodded.
“Yeah, yeah we should.”