Chapter Text
A long, exhausted groan escaped Shelly's throat as her eyelids slowly cracked open. A gentle cyan color flooded her blurry vision, and she felt someone's arms wrapped around her waist.
"Well, look who finally woke up!" said a voice right in front of her.
"Hnghh…whuh?"
The ammonite rubbed at her eyes until her vision cleared up, and she was greeted by the sight of her girlfriend, Tisha. They were holding on to each other, their legs interlocked. An exhausted smile tugged at the corners of her lips.
"…Morning, Tish," she croaked out.
"You're such a sleepyhead, it's like I'm dating an actual fossil," Tisha teased, giving Shelly a peck on the forehead.
"Yeah? Well you're…ngghhhh…" she trailed off as her body started to go limp.
"Nooo! Don't fall back asleep!" Tisha cried, feigning despair, while she shook Shelly back awake.
Shelly's eyes shot back open, startled. "Ack! I'm up, I'm up! Can't we just lay down like this for a few more minutes, though…?" she whined.
Tisha squinted. "Shelly, you know I have morning cleaning to do!" she complained, but she didn't completely turn down the idea.
Shelly pouted. "Come onnn! It's always 'cleaning this' and 'cleaning that,' do you ever take a break?"
Tisha exhaled dramatically. "Fineee. I guess I can stay with my lovely girlfriend for a little bit longer. But we have to get up eventually."
Shelly giggled. "Yes!"
Tisha rolled her eyes, pretending to be annoyed.
The two of them just stayed there like that, holding each other for a while; Shelly relished the moment. Lately, it wasn't often that she was able to have a stress-free moment like this. Everyone was always worrying about the Operation. Just her and Tisha in her nice, soft bed.
"Mmmm… I'm really glad that we aren't doing a run today. I hate dealing with ichor," Shelly said, nuzzling her head into her girlfriend's neck.
Tisha shivered. "Ugh, yeah. I'm glad Dandy isn't forcing us to deal those… things right now." She held an uncomfortable grimace on her face.
"Fuck Dandy," Shelly cursed.
"For real. It just makes me… eugh… I hate thinking about how so many of us have been twisted already," Tisha commented.
"It all feels so morbid, you know? Having to go down these dingy old elevators to extract this mysterious substance that he tells us nothing about so that we can keep the lights on every day. All while the reanimated corpses of our friends try to mutilate us."
Tisha nodded solemnly. "Mm. Rodger'll find a way to bring them back one day. I know he will."
Shelly tightened her grip on her girlfriend. "I hope so. Sheesh, this conversation really killed the mood," she remarked.
"Eeeuuuuahhh," Tisha yawned. She rose up and stretched her arms, creating a bunch of faint cracking noises in her joints. "I think it's time to start the day. I've got to get to cleaning as soon as I can. The center's a pretty big place."
Shelly reluctantly got out of bed, groaning. "Of course you do."
"Hey, who else is gonna manage all of the dust and debris?" the maid retorted.
"…Nobody."
"Exactly."
Shelly and Tisha changed out of their pajamas into their day clothes before finally exiting Shelly's room. Shelly donned a brown t-shirt and gray sweatpants, along with her favorite dusty brown cap atop her head. Tisha put on her signature blue dress because she didn't understand the meaning of the word "casual."
The two of them walked down the hall and towards the elevator. The ammonite reached her hand out to the blue patterns that littered the walls. She dragged her hand across the wall, feeling all of the little dips and bumps as they walked. The hallway was large and extensive, and it was littered with main character memorabilia like posters and cardboard cutouts.
When they had finally reached the end of the corridor, the two of them stepped into the elevator and the giant metal door slammed behind them. The elevator jolted, before it started to descend downwards to Sprout's Diner. Surprisingly, when the place had shut down and the ichor had started seeping into the center, the diner had been one of the few floors that remained untouched. The other main character themed floors were… not so lucky.
After a few moments, the elevator came to a halt and played its little jingle, signifying that Shelly and Tisha had reached their destination. The door slowly rose up, and the couple stepped out together.
Sprout's Diner was huge. It was a much fancier version of the ordinary diner floors, being a lot more spacious, and being coated with a bright red color. Shelly and Tisha walked over to the kitchen counter, and Shelly smiled and waved as Tisha greeted Sprout, who was the only one present at the moment.
"Morning, guys! What's cooking today?" Tisha asked, leaning onto the counter and tilting her head to the side to try and get a look.
Sprout, who was busy tending to the stove, turned around at the sound of her voice. The strawberry was wearing a dark red shirt with the sleeves rolled up just above his elbows, forming cuffs. He also had black, plastic gloves on his hands, with his leaves tied into a messy green bun on top of his head. His usual scarf was absent, probably to avoid getting it in the food, and he had bags under his eyes.
"Hm? Oh, hey, Tisha! Ah, and, uh… what was it again… Hey Shelly!" His big, round glasses were a bit lopsided, which he quickly adjusted.
Shelly's smile faltered just a little. Tisha nudged her shoulder and gave her a reassuring look, lifting her spirits.
Just then, Cosmo walked in from the back of the kitchen, lighting up when he saw everyone. The cake roll had a baggy white t-shirt on, along with black sweatpants. He had the same gloves on as Sprout. The t-shirt had a little rainbow flower icon in the corner, lacking most facial features except for a big, toothy grin. The side of his head was bandaged, likely a result of a recent ichor run.
"Hi, you guys! We're making some pancakes today, Dyle shipped us new ingredients. They're almost done, I think."
Sprout nodded. "Yup, they should be—"
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
"Shit—"
Sprout quickly grabbed a fire extinguisher to cool the flames of the now-burnt pancakes. The baker let out an irritated grumble, dumping the bad batch and wiping a drop of sweat that had been forming on his brow.
Cosmo sighed, looking at his partner. He pinched the middle of his face. "Sorry you two, breakfast might take a bit longer."
Shelly and Tisha exchanged amused glances. It had been a hot second since Sprout had burnt a meal; usually it was Cosmo starting fires. To Shelly, it was kid of reminiscient of Gardenview's early days, when the main characters had just been brought to life and Sprout was still learning how to cook. Not a single thing that he touched in the kitchen back then didn't end up charred.
"It's fine, we can wait," Tisha said, before she and Tisha walked away from the kitchen and searched for a booth. They passed by one that Astro and Vee were sitting on before they eventually settled on a nice, somewhat-isolated one. (Of course though, they were all kind of isolated due to the lack of toons.)
Shelly leaned back and relaxed. Tisha did the same thing, yawning and rubbing her eyes.
"Still tired?" Shelly asked.
"Eeeuuah, yeah," Tisha responded, yawning. She stretched her hands out onto the table and rested her head on them. "I'll be okay, though. Oh, and sorry about Sprout forgetting your name for a sec. I saw that look in your eye."
Shelly averted her eye contact, scratching at the side of her neck. "It's… fine. I'm used to it. You don't have to be sorry. You've never forgotten about me."
The tissue box squinted and furrowed her brow. "But it's not fine. You're the most interesting girl I know!"
A small grin grew on Shelly's face as her face darkened. "Pfft. You're biased, though," she said, looking back at her.
"Just take the compliment! You're really memorable, Shelly. I hope one day they'll all see that."
"Ha, thanks, Tish," she said, averting her eyes again.
Tisha adjusted her position to where she was now holding up her head with one of her arms on the table. "No problem," she replied, though her voice was slightly muffled because of her hand squishing into her cheek.
The couple just sat at the table for a few moments in silence. The only sounds occupying them were the sounds of their breathing and the background noise of Cosmo and Sprout in the kitchen. The two of them just observed each other, not saying anything, until Tisha broke the barrier.
"You know," she started, "it's been awfully quiet around here lately. It feels kind of dead. Nothing fun ever happens anymore."
Shelly exhaled. "Yeah, probably because everyone died."
Tisha shrugged. "Right. But still, I don't know, I feel like everyone could just try to be a bit more lively, you know?"
"Yeah, I get what you mean—"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU BURNT THE FIRST BATCH!?"
Shelly and Tisha sighed in unison.
"Here we go," Tisha grumbled.
Shelly leaned out of the side of the booth and turned her head to see Shrimpo pointing intimidatingly—or at least as intimidatingly as the small shrimp could—at Cosmo. He was wearing an edgy, oversized, black hoodie with a few tears and patches. The bottom of the hoodie extended a bit past his hips, completely covering his short, black shorts. His face, which had a small bandage on it, barely reached above the counter, and his head-tail was really pulling the weight when it came to his height. His hind-tail was stiff and bent against the floor. She wondered what the bandage was for.
Cosmo slowly exhaled. "Shrimpo, it's not that serious, okay? Sprout just got distracted and burnt the first few."
"OF COURSE HE DID!" Shrimpo snapped back. "YOU GUYS CAN'T DO ANYTHING RIGHT!"
Cosmo rolled his eyes. "The irony of hearing that from you..." he mumbled to himself.
Shrimpo's antennae twitched. "WHAT WAS THAT?"
"I said, if you could literally just wait for one more minute, the food will probably be ready. Please just go find a seat," Cosmo pleaded.
The crustacean grumbled a "FINE," and he made his way to one of the booths.
Tisha rolled her eyes. "I honestly don't know why we keep him around. Maybe we could give him over to the twisteds, but I doubt even they would want him."
Shelly chuckled. "He is a nuisance. I don't think we should do that, though. I think we need as many people alive right now as we can have."
The maid huffed. "Yeah, but what does he bring to the table? He just uses up our resources, brings everyone down, and doesn't even help us out with anything. He does an active disservice to us every time we force him to come on a run."
The fossil hung her head. "… I'm sure he's good for something."
Tisha folded her arms and slouched in her seat. "He better be. I genuinely have no idea how he hasn't gotten himself killed yet. It's like the opposite of a miracle or something."
Shelly sighed. "I don't know… I just feel like it's better to keep him around, no matter how awful he is. No matter what, he's still one of us."
Tisha smiled. "You've always been the most positive toon here, so I shouldn't be surprised that you think all of that."
The fossil's face warmed up as she pouted and averted her gaze. "Oh, stop that."
A few minutes later, Sprout came over and laid down 2 plates of pancakes, smothered in syrup and topped with squares of butter. The plates clacked as they touched the table.
"Here you guys go!" the baker said, grinning. "Sorry for the hold up. I guess I'm just not with it, lately. Probably because of the whole Operation. Anyway, I overheard y'all talking about Shrimpo. Maybe Tisha's right, maybe we should throw him out, haha," he jokingly commented.
Tisha stabbed into her food and took a bite of a pancake. "See Shelly? Even Sprout agrees, and he's always going on about 'protecting everyone.'"
"Am not!" Sprout exclaimed, feigning offense.
Shelly laughed. "Are too! Even before the whole Ichor Operation, back when Gardenview was still going on, you were always so defensive of all of us." She took a bite of her food.
The strawberry rolled his eyes. "Well yeah, those children were scary, dude. You could never predict what they were going to do. Especially in the little baking lessons Cosmo and I did back then. The stuff that they would make had to actually be toxic or something. I'm surprised that we never got a lawsuit from them giving themselves food poisoning."
Shelly frowned slightly. "At least you guys had some stuff going on, no one ever came to my exhibit. All of these dinosaur facts I learned were for nothing."
Tisha swallowed her food. "Hey! Don't say that, we all love your facts!"
"Yeah!" Sprout agreed.
"Yeah, right. Recall one fact right now," Shelly retorted, taking another bite of her pancakes. She stared down at her plate.
"Well… uh…" Sprout stumbled through his words. "When you put me on the spot like that, I—"
Tisha loudly cleared her throat. "The first oviraptor remains were discovered in 1923. The oviraptor got its name, meaning 'egg thief,' because the oviraptor was found near a nest of eggs that the oviraptor was believed to have tried to steal from. Of course, later, they found out that those were actually the oviraptor's own eggs that it was caring for."
Shelly looked up from her plate, starry eyed. "Aww, you do remember the facts I spew!"
Tisha bit into her pancakes. "What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't?" she responded, still chewing on her food.
Sprout's head was tilted towards the floor. "Wellll, I'm going to go back to the kitchen and help Cosmo clean up. I'll leave you two be. See y'all later!" And with that, he promptly walked away.
Tisha perked up. "Shit! That reminds me. I've got some cleaning to do." The maid swiftly shoveled the few bits of food left on her plate into her mouth. "Want to tag along?"
Shelly shrugged. "Sure, I've got nothing better to do." She, too, quickly finished her food, and the two of them got up from their booth and walked back to the elevator, making sure to drop their dishes off at the kitchen to save Cosmo and Sprout some work. Shelly saw Shrimpo angrily glancing at them through the corner of her eye as they stepped into the elevator.
"We're just going to go back to my room and fetch some supplies," Tisha explained as the elevator started ascending. "I think I want to get started on the lobby first."
Shelly gave her a thumbs-up. "Sounds good to me!"
They stood together in the sad, old elevator as it slowly reached its destination. It made a constant humming noise as it went upwards, and the fluorescent lights buzzed obnoxiously. It loudly jolted to a stop and dinged, before the door opened and revealed the floor that Tisha's room was on.
This corridor wasn't nearly as grand as the one for the main characters, but that was to be expected. The hallway was more akin to that of a hotel's. It was a bit cramped, but in a kind of comforting way. The main character's hallway felt a bit hollow. This one felt more… lived in.
Tisha took Shelly's hand and led her out of the elevator and towards her room. Shelly didn't really need her to, of course, as she had her room's location memorized, but it was the thought that counted. The maid reached into the top of her head and pulled out a key, before fumbling with the lock until she got the door open. There were a few scuff marks and a bit of denting near the handle.
"These damned locks—always so janky," Tisha complained. "I have to lock my door, though, because Shrimpo's on my floor, and… you know how he is. Speaking of that, I think he tried getting in earlier, if these marks mean anything."
The comment earned an amused exhale and an eye roll from Shelly, who patiently waited outside of Tisha's room as she was fetching her supplies.
After a minute or so of Shelly listening to the sounds of Tisha rummaging through her things, her girlfriend finally came back out with a set of cleaning supplies for each of them. Tisha took out her key again and made sure that her door was properly locked, before pocketing it in her head again.
Tisha cracked her knuckles and took a deep breath in and out. She slapped on a pair of nice, white gloves and tossed an identical brown pair to Shelly, who followed suit. "Alright! I think we should just get started on this hallway, since we're already here, and there's no point in backtracking."
Shelly raised an eyebrow. "What about the lobby? Weren't we gonna do that first?"
"Eh, changed my mind," the maid responded, shrugging.
Shelly nodded. "Hallway it is."
For approximately the next hour, the two of them spent their time sweeping the hallway and cleaning the doors of rooms that belonged to toons who had been long gone. Tisha insisted on this, partially because she wanted every bit of the hallway to be spotless and partially because she didn't want one of their first experiences coming back to be seeing the entrance to their rooms all dusty and left to decay—if they came back at all, that was. They never entered the rooms, though, out of respect for the dead.
Shelly let out a pleasant sigh. "Tish, I see why you love cleaning so much. It's really… grounding, you know? Of course you know."
Tisha smiled at her.
Shelly continued. "The busy work is really nice. Thanks for inviting me."
"Any time, Shells."
As Shelly was about to get back to sweeping, she heard the elevator door open, and small footsteps scurrying out. She and Tisha both turned their heads to see Shrimpo glaring at them. Shelly noticed the bandage on his face again.
"WHAT ARE YOU TWO STARING AT? LEAVE ME ALONE, FREAKS! I HATE BEING STARED AT!" he exclaimed.
"What's with the bandage?" Tisha asked. "Something happen to your face?"
Shrimpo growled. "NO! I JUST HAVE IT FOR FUN! GO AWAY!"
He quickly kicked open a nearby door that was littered with dents and cracks, before entering the room behind it and slamming it so hard that the pins in the door hinges could've bounced out. The sound of his rage was quickly replaced with awkward silence, before the awkward silence was replaced with rhythmic thuds and the sounds of a chain shaking.
Shelly and Tisha looked at each other for a brief moment before shrugging it off and going back to finishing up their work. For the rest of the day, the two of them cleaned all of the floors that the toons actively used, only stopping to take breaks for lunch and dinner. They did the other toons' hallways, sweeped up the lobby, and they even managed to tackle the diner and the library.
"Eeuuuahh," Shelly yawned. "I think I've done enough cleaning for one day. I've really gotta get some sleep so that I can handle that run that we've got tomorrow. Fuck, I'm not looking forward to that. Goodnight, Tisha."
Tisha looked up from the spot she was sweeping. "Hm? Oh! Night, Shells! Don't worry, I'll be able to take care of the rest just fine, I'm used to working alone."
Shelly smiled, her eyelids drooping. She took off the gloves that Tisha had administered to her and handed them back, before taking the elevator back to her hallway.