Chapter Text
It was a quiet first day of November.
Festive cheer already started to buzz once Halloween had come and gone, for some, too fast. The oranges and purples of that holiday were replaced by reds, greens, and whites. The spooky candy bowls were replaced by striped canes, and sparkling lights replaced by different, sparkling lights.
Garden View felt the same, just with a different coat of paint.
And with the redecoration came new friends, those being the Christmas Toons, active and ready to spread the festive cheer! Bobette had already gone out to chit-chat with her fellow mains, Rudie running around to tell everyone Christmas was coming, Coal was just going to stand there, and Ginger?
Well, Ginger was excited to see her cousin, Cosmo, once again. Out of the season, she had been trying to hone her skills in baking little treats. Cookies, cakes, whatever.
But they never really came out right. . . She’d either rush, dump everything into one bowl because she was out of others, or just forget an ingredient altogether. She knew baking wouldn't be easy, but she always managed to forget something important.
Ginger sighs as she rubs her hand, dusting her dress, snapping back into reality as she realizes the elevator is almost at the dining floor. Her anxiety buzzed within, but it muffled once the door opened, and Cosmo was standing there, expectantly.
“Ginger!”
Wel yells, happily, as he runs over to hug her tightly. She smiles, putting her hand on his back, and taking a second to enjoy the embrace to respond.
“. . . Cosmo, hey.”
“How are you? I have so much to catch you up on!”
“Oh. . . Hah, yeah-”
And then she notices him, again. Sprout. Every year, without fail, he was there. At first, it was fine; she knew Cosmo and him were the best of friends after Shelly introduced them to each other, so it’d make sense to see him there. It made sense why Cosmo would mention him sometimes. It made sense.
But every year, he was always with him.
Every day, if you saw Cosmo, Sprout was never far.
Every hour, it seemed, Sprout would be there with Cosmo.
Every moment of Cosmo's life seems to loop back to him.
And this year, she’d had enough. Ginger pulls herself off Cosmo with a smile, glancing over to see that Sprout is busy making gingerbread templates.
“Cosmo. . . Can we talk for a second. . . Privately?”
He blinked, confused, but shrugged. His smile wavering ever so slightly, given her tone of voice.
“Uh, yeah sure?”
Ginger takes his hand as leads him away, out of earshot of Sprout, having failed to remember Sprout’s keen listening and eye. They stopped, just in the other room, in fact. She took a moment to figure out her words before she spoke.
“I’m worried about you, Cosmo. . .”
Is how she starts this. Cosmo has a confused smile on his face.
“Um, yeah? About what-?”
“It’s about Sprout. . .”
A beat of silence follows, Cosmo’s smile wavering more before he frowns.
“Oh.”
Is all he says in response, waiting for her to explain herself as he crosses his arms. It's almost like. . . He's been through something like this before.
“I’m. . . Worried that he’s possessive? I-I’m not sure, I’m not around enough to know, but-”
Cosmo very quickly shushes her, a bit too quickly.
“He’s not possessive, he’s just protective, is all.”
The excuse sounds rehearsed, making the little spark of irritation towards Sprout and her worry for Cosmo to grow.
“That’s the problem, though. . . A-are you okay? He’s not doing-”
“I’m fine, Ginger. He isn’t doing anything wrong! He’s just clingy.”
“But he’s with you all the time!”
“And? So am I-”
Her voice rises a little as she interrupts him, worry and paranoia lacing every word. Her composure starts to falter.
“But you talk to other people, willingly! Y-you said you baked with Boxten, and- and um you took that cookbook from Brightney and- and-”
“We both read that book, Ginger!”
"Still!"
Cosmo rubs his face, almost annoyed that she was asking this.
"We're best friends! I want to be around him- God! Why does everyone think something's wrong!"
There it was. Ginger wasn't the only one; other toons thought- no, knew, something was odd about those two.
"If- if everyone thinks something is wrong, something is wrong!-"
"GINGER!"
Cosmo sharply raises his voice, suddenly, making her yelp and back off out of shock. It's not often Cosmo gets irritated, especially this quickly. He grits his teeth as he crosses his arms again, taking a few deep breaths.
"Nothing. Is. Wrong. No one is listening to me when I say this! Sprout isn't doing anything to me, he isn't forcing me to be around him, he- he isn't a bad person- why does it always feel like it's something he's doing!?"
The anger in his voice wasn't directed at Ginger, but rather at all the other toons. She starts to calm down, her worry being replaced by. . . Something else.
"He's not-"
Cosmo places a hand on Ginger's shoulder.
"Sprout is a good person, he cares about everyone! I'm not the exception; I just so happen to be on the priority list because I'm his best friend! We're around each other because we get each other. He's not that close to the mains, so I get it!"
He takes a second to take another deep breath. The more he vents about his frustrations, the better he's starting to feel about this entire situation.
"I understand you're worried, but I can take care of myself."
Ginger just nods along, her thoughts starting to drift away from Cosmo.
"It's okay, everything is great!"
". . . Okay."
Cosmo sighs, thinking that's over, not realizing he just gave Ginger a new idea. She'll still keep an eye on Cosmo, he's not off the hook yet, but maybe. . .
She's looking at the wrong person to help.
Cosmo suddenly snaps his fingers in front of her face.
"Hey, you zoned out for a second."
She blinks.
"A-ah, sorry. Was just lost in thought. . ."
"Alright. We should get back. I don't want to leave Sprout to do all the work. Come on!"
Cosmo seemed to have moved on from the whole ordeal, but it still lingered for Ginger. She won't say anything, though, not yet-
"Oh, where'd he go?"
Scanning the kitchen, Sprout was nowhere to be seen. He had finished the gingerbread templates, but he was just gone.
"Hm. . . Odd. Welp, he's probably grabbing something. Want to help make some cakes?"
Ginger's worry was brushed aside when he asked that, and she just smiled and nodded. She wonders where the strawberry went. It was probably nothing, but she hoped he didn't hear anything that transpired.
She watches as Cosmo takes out all the bowls and ingredients with ease, and her worry fades just a little more. As she thought before, she'll keep an eye on Cosmo. . .
But this time, on Sprout as well.