Chapter Text
It was late.
Vee was sat on her bed, listening to the faint sound of the blizzard howling outside. It was quite relaxing. Unfamiliar but oddly comforting anyway.
She couldn't charge yet, or she would wind up throwing off her cycle all day tomorrow. At least she had Astro with her for now, to keep herself distracted until then. Not that she'd admit it aloud, but she did deeply appreciate Astro's company. He was one of the few Toons who actually understood her, and saw her as more than her mechanical parts. Astro was slumped in a chair, his blanket wrapped fully around him like a burrito. He blinked sleepily, his eye's gaze shifting up to meet Vee.
"Alright...?" He mumbled, seeing the concern written on her screen.
Vee frowned. "You're stressed." She announced bluntly.
A light, gentle laugh escaped him at that. "No more than normal."
That didn't ease her worries. "Then what is it?" She pried.
"What's what?"
Her eyes narrowed. No point beating around the bush. "Astro. I know you've been avoiding Dandy lately. Why?"
Astro shifted slightly at that, his easy, neutral smile turning into a frown, as he remained silent. Vee was about to speak again, before Astro sighed. "He's... been acting weird lately."
She tilted her head, sitting up a bit more. "How so?"
"He-" Astro cut himself off, turning away. "Promise to keep this between us?"
"Of course." Vee replied immediately, her voice softening.
Astro waited a few further moments before speaking. "He came to me backstage a few days ago. He was- insisting- that we'd... confessed our feelings to each other."
Silence.
Then...
"What."
"And supposedly..." He began again, "I'd kissed him."
For a second, Vee thought Astro was joking. She almost laughed. Then she saw Astro's face, and caught herself. He was dead serious.
"...Dandy said... that... to you... and he seemed serious?"
Astro sighed again. "Yes."
Vee sat back again. That didn't sound much like Dandy. Well- it did. The confession part. Vee could definitely imagine Dandy dragging his crush backstage for a stupid, heartfelt confession. The flower was certainly enough of an emotional and dramatic ham to try something that corny.
But insisting on a supposed confession when it didn't happen? That certainly felt off.
Sure, Dandy lied sometimes - mostly to make himself seem a bit more impressive than reality - but he wouldn't go running around spreading blatant lies, especially not if it got under Astro's skin as much as this was seeming to. Dandy would rather wilt than hurt Astro.
"So... what did you say?" Vee eventually asked.
Astro seemed genuinely bewildered at the question.
"That it didn't happen." He answered sharply, and something sharp and disgusted flickered into his expression, if only for a moment. "It's ridiculous." He added.
That felt... wrong. Not the words themselves, but what was behind them. The intensity. Astro wasn't angry often, and the emotion didn't suit him.
"And... he was also apologising." He added, his voice still slightly sharp. "For something else that didn't happen. He said he 'didn't mean it', that he 'shouldn't have reacted how he did', and that he wanted to 'fix things'. Fix what, Vee?? Nothing happened! We're fine!!" He snapped, as his eyes locked onto her.
The confusion in Astro's voice had sounded genuine. Which only made this all the more confusing.
Dandy wasn't subtle. If he did have feelings for Astro, it was incredibly unlikely he could hide them for long. Whenever he wasn't performing for an audience, Dandy wore his emotions like a giant flashing neon sign hanging around his neck.
And Astro- well, usually, he looked at Dandy the way Pebble did at treats.
So the thought of the two being more than just friends wouldn't have surprised her. If Astro had said he had gleefully accepted the confession and the two of them had danced off into the sunset together holding hands, Vee would've been less surprised.
What did unsettle her was this... odd disconnect, like Astro and Dandy were remembering two entirely different events.
"...You should still talk to him." She offered.
"No." He snapped, before realising how harsh he sounded, and backpedalling. "I mean... not right now. He seemed pretty upset. I'll let him have a few more days to cool down."
The room fell silent after that.
Even when Astro left to return to his own room a short while after, even when Vee plugged herself in to charge, even as her systems steadily slipped into nothingness, one thought looped itself around her mind.
Something was very wrong.