Chapter Text
You feel strong, cable-like arms wrap around you, pulling you out of harm’s way right before you were about to get an inky black claw in your face. You thud softly into a fluffy surface, the owner of the arms currently embracing you. The elevator door slams shut as soon as you're through, thankfully not cutting you in half in the process. You wish they’d work on fixing the sensors on that next instead of focusing on extracting ichor all the time.
“You okay?” A gentle voice from behind you snaps you from your thoughts. “Not hurt at all?”
“I'm fine, Goob, you saved me from getting hurt.” You smile over your shoulder, barely seeing the corner of Goob’s head before you close your eyes. His fuzzy comfort makes you want to stay in his arms forever, but you can just feel that the others are starting to stare. Blushing, you extricate yourself and stand next to him.
Vee clears her throat. “We only have a couple more floors to go today, so try not to kill yourself.”
“I'll be fine, Vee. I have a bandage in case I get hurt, anyway.”
Everyone stands in silence until the door opens again, Goob scratching the side of his head absentmindedly a couple times. You can't help but stare at him out of the corner of your eye. His fur looks so warm and cozy, and he always hugs you with the perfect strength. You'd heard Looey complain about too-strong hugs in the past, but that had never been an issue for you. Maybe he had learned to be gentler by this point.
You have the sudden urge to be closer to him, so you scoot over a little. You don't think anyone notices, except for Goob. He turns his head, closing his eyes and sticking his tongue out, maintaining his near-constant smile, one sharp tooth sticking out. You're not sure how he can stay so happy all the time, even in the face of danger. Maybe you'll ask him about it later, after this.
The elevator door opens, and two seconds later the lights go out.
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After a brutal couple of floors, and a bandage stuck to your side, you finally step foot in the lobby of Gardenview again, the sound of a supply train approaching in the distance. You check back in with Dandy after your excursion, vaguely complain a little, to which Dandy seems slightly remorseful. Not enough, in your eyes. You don't like him and his whole operation very much.
You walk away to get something mild to eat, your stomach a little sick from eating candy to survive. You don't know how Yatta does it, and you're not sure you ever will.
You really don't want to be in another elevator right now, so you find the stairs to head down to the kitchen. The safe floors aren't too far down, thankfully. You make your way downstairs, grabbing a slice of bread from a kitchen cupboard. It's bland and squishy, perfect for your stomach right now. You hear a quiet dragging sound behind you, and turn around to see Goob walking up to you.
“Oh, hey.” You smile at him. “You doing alright? I know we saw—”
“Yup!” He cuts you off before you can finish your sentence, smile wavering a bit. “What about you? You got hurt…” He reaches out to point at the bandage on your side.
“I'll be fine, don't worry about me.” You feel an urge to grab his hand in yours to comfort him, face heating up at the thought. “It's already healing.”
“Good!” He smiles at you, eyes closed and teeth visible. You’d always thought his sharp teeth made him even more adorable than he already objectively was, and now was no exception. Still, though, you’re worried about him.
“But seriously, you know you can tell me if something’s bothering you, right? I’d be worried for you if you weren’t stressed out after, y’know…” His smile drops slightly at your concern, eyes opening.
“I know, I know.” He looks almost sad now. “Truth is, I could use a hug right about now.” You immediately set down your half-eaten bread slice on a counter and wrap your arms around him. He responds by surrounding you with his own. You breathe deeply into his shoulder, the scent of warm fur filling your nose. You stand in your silent embrace for a good few minutes.
“Better?”
“Yeah…” You reluctantly break apart, taking a step back to give Goob room to maneuver his arms in front of him. “I checked in with her, after we got back up. I knew it wasn’t really her down there but… I had to be sure. Gave her a big hug and made sure she knows I love her.”
“I get that.” You don’t have many connections, being new and all, so you can’t begin to imagine seeing someone that close to you in such a horrific state. Goob handled the whole situation incredibly well, all things considered. “Y’know, you’re a lot more mature than people give you credit for.” His head tilts slightly at that. “I feel like the others would’ve expected you to break down crying, or at least pretend like it didn’t even happen. It takes a lot of mental and emotional maturity to check in on her like that.”
“I do cry a lot, though.” Goob frowns, the first time you’ve actually seen him do that. He starts wringing his hands in front of him. “Usually over not getting enough hugs.”
“That’s not what I meant. You can be mature and cry; I cry all the time. That doesn’t make me any less of an adult. I see the others treat you like a kid all the time, but you’re not.” You feel yourself getting upset on his behalf. “I’m not sure if Connie believes you’re even sentient sometimes. It makes me feel like I’m the only Toon who treats you like an adult. It’s not fair to you.”
“Plenty of folks treat me my age! It’s just, there are some who don’t…” You get the sense he doesn’t want to name names, so you won’t push him on it. “But you always have.” He smiles at you again, and it makes your heart flutter.
“Well, I like and respect you. You deserve to be treated well.” Something in you wants to grab his hands, so you do. You pull them up to your chest, smiling weakly at him. His mouth wobbles a little, eyes wet. He breaks his hands out of your grip and pulls you into another warm hug. You immediately hug him back. His hugs are so comforting that you want to melt into it.
“I like you too,” he murmurs under his breath. You think it’s the first time you’ve heard him that quiet. Your heart thumps in your chest. A blush overtakes your face that you’re sure he would notice, could he see it. Maybe he can feel the heat radiating from your cheeks as your face is pressed up against him. You pull back to look at him, arms still draped over his shoulders. Your faces are so close. He stares into your eyes, mouth open slightly. His eyes flit to your mouth and his eyelids start to droop. You think you can see a faint pink dusting over his permanent blush. When he said ‘like,’ did he mean…? You feel an almost magnetic pull bringing your lips together, and…
…Wait. What?
Your actions are interrupted by the ding of an elevator opening. Really? Now? Blushing, you scramble back to your bread, still laying on the counter. As if it would’ve moved. Cosmo comes into view around the corner, greeting the both of you. Looking at the food in your hand, he silently nods, understanding. He strikes up a conversation with Goob about taste-testing cookies. You quickly scarf down the rest of your slice, wanting to head out while the elevator is still on this floor. Goob looks a little sad as he waves goodbye, although you know you’ll see him sooner rather than later.
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You lay on your bed, analyzing your thoughts. You’d never considered it before, but did you… like Goob? As more than a friend? That moment you had in the kitchen is really making you think about your feelings towards him. This entire time, you’ve had this comforting warmth in your chest whenever you were near him, but you figured that was just the natural effect he had on everyone. Your face would flush, but certainly that was from exhaustion or some similar cause. So what if, when he hugged you, you secretly wished that he’d never let go. It’s just because his hugs are so comfortable!
…Right?
You bury your face in your pillow, emitting a soft scream of confusion. You don’t know what to think. If you had kissed him, what would that have been like? You imagine it would mostly be a mouthful of fluff, and sharp teeth nibbling your lip. Neither of those things sound unpleasant enough to mentally deter you. In fact, the mere thought of kissing the other Toon sends warm shivers throughout your entire body, and leaves your face burning and heart thumping. Yeah. Okay. You want to kiss Goob. You can only hope that his expression when you were inches away was an indication that he wants to kiss you too.
This revelation is met with a knock on your door. Rolling out of bed, you make your way to the door. Standing on the other side is Goob, happily scratching his head. His smile widens as he sees you.
“Heya!” He yanks you out of the door frame and into his arms on instinct. You hope your face isn’t too red as you’re planted into his chest.
“Hi, Goob.” Your voice is muffled as you greet him back. You pry yourself away from direct contact, and look him in the eye. “Did you need something?”
“Oh! Um, well, I guess I just wanted to talk some more, about earlier.” Goob looks away, nervous. At least, you assume he’s nervous.
“Y-Yeah, sure! Come in!” You step back into your room, holding the door open for him. He walks in, and you shut it behind him. “It’s not much, but it’s home,” you chuckle. You sit down on your bed, patting the open spot next to you. He plops down, striped legs kicking against the side of the bed. “So, what did you want to talk about?”
“Well, I guess I wanted to say thanks, for the sorta pep talk.” He smiles again. “I didn’t really get to earlier.” You find yourself staring at his hand. He lifts it off of the floor and places it on the bed for you to hold. You don't know how he could tell you want to hold it, but you oblige. It makes your heart beat faster.
“Hey, it's no trouble. Everything I said is true.” Maybe to a different extent than you initially meant, given recent self-reflection, but it was all still true. “You deserve more respect than you get, but not while being treated like someone you're not.” You take a deep breath in and out, and look into his eyes. “You mean a lot to me, Goob.”
“You mean a lot to me, too!” Goob’s eyes light up. He starts to kick his legs harder, which causes you to giggle. He’s just too cute sometimes. His kicks start to die down a little, and his smile weakens. “But… I think it might be different for me…”
“What do you mean?” You don't want to let go of his hand, but he pulls it away to brush a loose strand of fluff from his eye.
“I mean, I think you might mean a lot more to me than I do to you.” He wrings his hands together again, something he seems to do when he's nervous. “But, when we were in the kitchen, it made me wonder…” Ah, so he could tell. Your mind flashes back to the way you almost kissed. The way it just felt right to be that close. Like there was a force pulling you together.
“I… think I know what you mean.” You scoot closer to him, shoulders touching. You just really want to be close to him right now. He leans into the contact. Your heart is racing a mile a minute. “I thought I was reading too much into it, y'know? Like if I hadn't stopped, it would've been awkward, because that wasn't what you were expecting, or wanting, or something.”
“It wouldn't have been awkward, it would've been… nice…” His voice trails off, face flushing. He looks at the ground in your general direction, tapping his feet together.
“...I think so too.” You turn your head to look at him, and he turns his to look at you. You smile, rubbing one of his arms comfortingly. It slides up and over his shoulder, and you slowly bring your other arm over the other. He places both hands on your waist. Your smile softens, eyes fluttering closed. You can only assume he does the same as your lips finally meet.
You were right, his lips are very fluffy, but nothing seems to get loose in your mouth, yet. They're also very soft and pillowy. You move your hands to grab his face as he wraps his arms around you. You part to breathe, but then dive right back in. You can feel Goob’s smile as he kisses you back. It's positively blissful. Sharp teeth run themselves over your bottom lip, gently, so as to not cut you, and it actually feels nice. You softly nibble at his upper lip in response.
You continue like this for some time. It feels heavenly, and you can't believe it took you so long to realize your feelings. You get a couple of hairs in your mouth, but that's fine. It's worth it for the sheer joy this has given you. You pull apart, and both start giggling. You can't stop smiling as you look at Goob’s adorable face, and he is adorable. You wait until you stop laughing enough to speak.
“So, um, what do you want to do now? Unless all you wanted was to kiss me…?” You grin at his blushing face.
“Um, well, I know it seems a bit silly now, but we could maybe make some friendship bracelets? We haven't had the chance to do that yet.” He takes your hand in his, and you nod.
“Yeah, that sounds like fun.”