Chapter Text
The Gardenview, a place of wonder or joy, or at least it used to be. Now it's only a fraction of its former glory. Of course, the star of the Gardenview was there. No one really liked his presence, but still, he was rooted in that place. Like a pesky weed you just can not get rid of.
The other toons looked down upon the “star” (if you could even call him that). They ignored him, told lies about him, and treated him like dirt. He didn't care about them. Hell! Why would he?
But there was always that one toon that would stick by his side, support him, love him.
Dandy thought of the toon, which made him genuinely smile; he missed them. He missed everything; he wants it to go back to the way it was. The past was so far away now. Oh, how he yearned just for one more day like that.
Dandy sat in the lobby under the tree, gazing at the leaves above his head. The sun was rising in the distance. He liked the peace of being alone. Dandy sat there, enjoying the texture of the grass. The peacefulness and serenity of the plants surrounding him calmed him before the day started. He took deep breaths and closed his eyes. He wanted peace. He needed it.
Dandy made his way down to the kitchen, filled with the scent of pancakes. He made his way over to the dining area. Toons eyed him and whispered as he walked by the tables.
The room had red walls with wooden floors. Booths are stacked beside each other. The kitchen was to the left of the entrance. (kinda just imagine the sprout map, okay?)
Cosmo plated up the pancakes and handed a portion to Dandy. Cosmo didn’t hate Dandy per se. They were complicated to say the least.
“Hey Cosmo,” Dandy said in an outgoing tone.
“Oh, hey Dandy…” His tone was stiff.
“Thank you for the pancakes!”
Dandy made sure to put on a grin for his fellow toons. He needed to show them happiness, whether it was real or not.
Dandy finished his plate and headed to his room. He walked down the hall leading to his bedroom door. He opened the door, and collapsed onto his bed, nestling his head in the soft pillow. He still craved for that feeling of peace. He would do anything to get it.
He sat up in his bed curling his knees to his chest.
‘Why can’t I be normal? I wish everything was how it used to be. I just want to be happy, not just a mask, something real. ’
He felt tired. He wanted this to go away. Please just go away. He could always–no–not that–not again. He would never resort to anything rash. Right?
Right.
‘I should go play with Pebble, maybe that will lighten me up’
Dandy went to the lobby under the big tree to play with Pebble. Dandy grabbed the stuffed toy and threw it across the grass, hinting at Pebble to play fetch. As the disk lifted into the air the rock shot after it. Even though the distance between him and the toy was not far he still ran as fast as he could to get it.
They continued to play fetch, it felt as if time had stopped. Dandy felt relieved of his worries and stress. LIke he was free, maybe this could be his peace.
The sun shone through the glass roof, the heat beaming on his skin. The grass surrounding his feet. Everything was just right.
Suddenly the elevator opened, a “ding” echoed through the room. A small toon appeared through the metal door.
A ammonite fossil, Shelly.
His eyes widened at the sight of her. No one came down here, not since it closed.
Their eyes met.
‘What is Dandy doing down here?’ she thought.
“Dandy?”
“Shelly?”
Dandy walked over picking up Pebble on his way. Shelly walked towards him as well.
Dandy greeted her with a smile.
“Shelly, what brings you down here? Not many people wander down here," Dandy said with a forced smile.
“Oh I just like to be alone sometimes. No one seems to remember I exist right now..”
Her tone shifted to one of sorrow. Dandy gave her a careful look.
He took a pause before saying something to comfort her.
“It’s quite a great place to calm down and relax.”
“I’m glad you’re here. I really like your company, and no one forgets you exist, they don’t realize how awesome you are, and they are missing out.” Dandy said in a cheerful tone.
“Thanks Dandy, I really appreciate that,” she said, smiling softly.
Shelly’s face suddenly lit up in realization.
“Oh shoot! I have to go hang out with Toodles. I promised I’d craft with her. Oh, I don’t even have any supplies. What am I going to do? What time is it? Oh shoot shoot shoot,” She said hurriedly.
Dandy looked at the clock on the wall.
7:57 am
“Okay, It’s going to be fine. Calm down, I can help. What do you need me to do?”
“Well, I don’t have time to get supplies and meet Toodles down at 8. Do you think you could get supplies to make paper dolls, just standard stuff? I can distract Toodles with a snack or something.”
“Okay, sounds good! I’ll head down right away! Bye Shelly!”
Shelly said bye back and took Pebble with her. Dandy made his way to the elevator, rushing down to the art floor. He pressed the button and waited for it to take him down. The number went down as the elevator descended.
He paced out of the elevator, and went directly. Huh that’s weird, Scraps isn’t down here? Whatever he needed to focus. He went over to the shelf with the supplies and also grabbed one of the tote bags available. He took out paper, glue, and crayons. Now where's the– ah! There they are!
In a box labeled “Big kid supplies” were a couple pairs of scissors and other stuff. He grabbed a pair of scissors. He was about to leave until a shiny piece of metal caught his eye. He stared at it. No, he shouldn’t–wouldn’t go down that path again. It was so tempting though, maybe….
He shook off the thought and continued his task.
He finished getting the supplies and left the room as quickly as he could. He just wanted to forget about this. He made his way back to the elevator and up the common room where Shelly and Toodles were.
He handed the tote bag over to Shelly. She mouthed a thank you at him and waved him goodbye.
Dandy looked up at the clock again.
8:30??!?
Already??
He had work to do. Especially since runs were starting in thirty minutes.
This was going to be a long day.