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In the dim lightened room, thunder slapped the Center's grounds with a screeching sound. Dazzling the sensitive eyes of the monstrous toon on the comfortable bed, trinkets and cookbooks layed on the shelves and desk around the room.
Sprout sat silently inside Cosmo's bedroom, waiting for the pastry to come back. He held with his hand the side of his face that almost fell off for the third time this month. His tail swiped dust bunnies on the – mostly – abandoned bedroom floor, the scientist haven't been to his room for quite a while and dust clinged to every corner of the place. The toon spent days locked inside his makeshift lab, so much that even Tisha abandoned the idea of cleaning his room, claiming it was a waste of time to clean something that wasn't even used anymore.
The strawberry vividly remembers the argument both had before Cosmo decided it was enough and yoinked his collar in the opposite direction, both left in a hurry and Sprout had to spend hours consoling the frustrated pastry.
Not that he minded. He loved helping his favorite person, to hug him and let him pet his leaves-
He sighs.
No, he needs to focus on holding his skin the right way. Like Cosmo showed him. It was literally hanging by a thread right now and any daydream could make his clumsy paws even more clumsier. He absolutely didn't want to make Cosmo work more than he already does with Vee.
The reason he was holding his own flesh like the idiot that he is— is simply because Sprout played rough with Toodles and Gourdy AGAIN when he was explicitly told not to because of his fragile body, he became a dragon for the children to crawl on top of. Of course, all that needed was a few sticky hands and claws to grip his face and...
Whoops!
He felt the threads cut off inside his flesh and suddenly his skull could feel the light autumnal breeze of the afternoon! — Sprout had to facepalm himself on the floor and let his tall leaves cover him to avoid spooking the poor little toons. He stayed in this embarrassing state for how-long until a toon walked in and asked the kids what he was doing there.
Luckily, the toon ran off to Cosmo and got him out of the mess he digged himself in.
Although the way back in his room wasn't silent... "What were you thinking!? That I can just leave my work everytime you get hurt!!?? I am too busy for that, Sprout! Unbelievable!" — Cosmo scolded him the whole time — yet he still held his face in his warm hands and checked the damages created. He turned his head to the side and Cosmo's thumb trailed across his cheek, so patiently, he noted vocally that his stitches would be an easy thing to fix this time also.
Relief washed over him at this instant, he wasn't that mad, it was easy to fix...!!!
So now, like ordered, he sat on Cosmo's bed and waited for him to come back. He rubbed his knee with his free paw, focusing on the sounds of his brown boots tapping on the wooden floor. Silently approaching, Sprout could hear his beloved heartbeat from across the hall. His breathing hitched, impatient.
So close, just one singular door and-
"I'm back!" The scientist announces, eyes locked on the trusted notebook he always carried with him when he needed to work on Sprout. In his other hand, he held an old fashioned leather bag. It looked heavy. He wanted to help him carry it.
The beast's tail wagged happily, making his whole body wiggle from the sheer amount of happiness Cosmo alone brings him. He almost whined from being ignored.
Once the pastry set his bag on the dusty desk and opened it to lay the instruments and miscellaneous items in a certain order, Cosmo finally turned around and looked at him. His perpetual frown turned into something softer.
He sighs and finally approaches.
Standing between the strawberry's legs, he was barely taller than Sprout who's sitting right in front of him. The beast locked his feets together, not letting the pastry escape the fruity 'prison'.
He cooes, "Poor thing... Does your face hurts?" both hands on his shoulders, he stared at the wide eyed toon.
He slowly shakes his head, eyes still glued on Cosmo. He didn't dare look away from his best friend. It didn't hurt, both knew his nerves were almost all rotten and eaten by the time he came back. But Cosmo always asked, always checked, always reassured.
"Good. I'm glad you're not hurting at least... I wouldn't want to see that face get all soggy now, hm?"
No. Never, he doesn't want to worry Cosmo even more.
"You can let go, for now. I need to check something before sewing everything back together. Again." Cosmo's tone changed to annoyance for a second once more as his hands moved to his face, hovering over the injury.
Switching, Sprout finally had free hands and the first thing he does with this freedom is hold onto Cosmo's waist with his arms, tightening his hold, he even layed his chin on the pastry's torso. Mindful to not block the sight of said injury, he didn't want to mess with Cosmo's work!
Cosmo's only reaction was a small, almost unseen smile but it was enough to make the beast happier than ever. He wanted to annoy the pastry but his words always stayed stuck inside his throat. It didn't help that most of the words he managed to get out sounded like grumbles and monster-like groans. "...hug attrgh...-attack!"
But it was enough, always enough to make Cosmo smile warmly at his direction and let down his walls for half a second.
"Pfft, you got me. — now Hush- stop distracting me!" He lightly slaps his forehead. Giggling for a second before focusing back on the piece of flesh in his hands. It needed stronger stitching, hospital level ones instead of one's toons usually did for their t-shirts.
Luckily, he found a manual in the old nurse's office and learned quite a bit about them last night. He was already searching for something like this but Cosmo guessed it was an unlucky lucky timing to be able to test it out so soon...
"Alright..." He sighs and got out of his lab coat a pair of small scissors, cutting the damaged threads properly. Once he's done, he carefully takes the skin in his hands.
Gosh, he hated that part. It reminded him how dead he actually was...
"Done, don't move now- or you'll have a wonky eye and I won't waste my time fixing it until then." The scientist warns, a finger poking where a nose should be.
Sprout's muffled growl made the pastry roll his eyes. "Yeah yeah- Be sassy all you want, I'm not listening Sprout!"
Although the pastry's strict words echoed through the room, Cosmo didn't make any move to end the embrace he got himself stuck into. He got enough experience with the clingy berry to learn how to do the medical procedures in all sorts of positions and places, even though, some things were obligatory, like the position of his head.
With his fingertips, Cosmo lifted Sprout's head up and turned it to the side a little bit more, he needed full access to properly do his job and fortunately, the strawberry held no resistance. His pointy chin still rested comfortably on his soft chest.
Warm...
Sprout's tail wagged, feeling the movements against his leg, the pastry let it wag all it wants. it's cute.
From his lab coat, a small circular plastic box held multiple needles in even smaller compartiments, he took one with his free hand and hid back the box before taking out a different kind of thread. Sprout hasn't seen it before, it was different than the colorful ones he sees in the pastry's desk drawers.
Cosmo placed the skin back on Sprout's face before he paused, thinking.
The beast took the hint and held his skin in place, letting Cosmo have both of his hands for the needle and thread. The scientist thanked him quietly as he passes — Aka struggles for five whole damn minutes — the thread through the needle, checked for the amount of thread and finally, cut it with his small scissors.
And Cosmo stopped once more.
He stared at Sprout and the green half of his face, blankly.
And suddenly, somehow, his hands weren't that experimented and he wasn't that good at his job anymore.
Because it wasn't his job in the first place...
His work used to smell like vanilla and sweetness.
Not rot and oil.
His room used to be his favorite place.
Now, he hated the memories attached to it.
He's a-... was a baker, not a-
"Cos...mo?"
Sprout tilts his head, his gaze worried.
"Hm? Yeah? Yeah, sorry- I... I spaced out, don't worry... — Sorry." He tried to focus on something else, maybe the ashy red sprout plushie sitting near his cookbooks?... It looked as sad as the rest of the furnitures in his room.
Sprout doesn't buy it, 'fine' my ass. He frowns, visibly seeing through the other. He squeezed the pastry's waist once, earning a yelp at the beast's strength. "Don'rrr..t be scaRed.. 'm fine...! Okay...!"
He wants to remind Cosmo that he doesn't plan on leaving him again. That the pieces of him falling off only needed to be sewn back, he's getting better at talking and can actually bake pretty decently still!
He's still the same Sprout, the one Cosmo can lean on and go to when he's under the weather.
He is just... greener, in a way.
He slowly unwraps one of his arms while almost creasing his laboratory coat with the other. His paw ended up on the pastry's wrist, enveloping the thinner cuff with his fingers. The soft pressure washed away the fog that tried to take over Cosmo's mind almost instantly.
And breathed the breath he was holding.
Cosmo's eyes followed his gaze, his hands weren't shaking. Were they even trembling in the first place? His gloved fingers still held the needle as if impatient to start.
Quietly, he chuckles and Sprout saw how deep his eyebags were today. "Thanks, Sprout..."
Cosmo lightly shook his hands to ask Sprout to let go and once the strawberry wrapped him up in his arms for the second time that afternoon, he kissed his forehead.
Before the beastly toon could explode from joy... Cosmo immediately stopped him by moving his head to the side once more.
It's alright though, Sprout is patient.
He can wait a little bit longer.
He's absolutely not keeping himself from tackling the pastry into one of his sticky, gooey hugs.
He's sitting straight and not moving a muscle.
"Good boy." Cosmo held his cheek as he started sewing. His thumb touching the small seeds under his good eye. He bit back a purr, not wanting to distract or surprise the scientist once more. He held every sound, every shudder inside.
He's so motivated that he almost missed the way Cosmo's lips turned into a smirk.
A proud one at that.
This guy...
Sprout pouts as he absolutely wants to-
"Hey. Head still I said," Cosmo shut off the terrible plan of vengeance he was starting to create, the thread falling on top of his eyelid as the needle twinkled in the half-broken LED light. "Almost poked your eye there. pft-" He mocks, staring at the unamused look on the other's face.
How unfair!
Sprout will not accept to be disrespected like this and he will definitely find something to do to make the pastry regret playing with his emotions like that! He's not some kind of... of obsessed LOSER that fumbles at the first look!
He grumbles, glaring at Cosmo.
But...
Maybe...
Cosmo glares back, an eyebrow lifting.
Gulps.
...Not now. He whined quietly.
Maybe he is a loser... A loser who's being carefully sewn back together by lovely hands!!!
He doesn't want to be mean to his favorite person, Cosmo always takes time off when he can to spend time with him! He always let Sprout cling to his coat and wrap him in the warmest hug he can manage as a half-dead toon, he indulges the strawberry way too often and even gifts him the spoon he used to mix the batter with!
So, with newfound motivation, he held his head higher. Almost getting his eye poked once more... Argh. Sprout started to daydream again... — The proof was the fingers on his jaw locking him in place, against Cosmo's chest.
"Ssso..rry.." he apologies sheepishly, holding the position himself now. He didn't mean to make Cosmo's work harder. The pastry sighed in relief and let go of the beast's jaw to hold the piece of flesh that was half sewed.
It's always a challenge to keep Sprout from wandering... Cosmo sighs.
The needle moved slowly, mindful of the holes it opened in the skin on purpose. The thread followed neatly behind the silver needle and swam in and out of the greenish skin to connect the tissues with the warmer, red one. Small dots of ichor dripped from the strawberry skin, enveloping the stitches in drying grey puddle-like shapes.
He'll need to clean it up after.
The room became as quiet as the cemetery with only the presence of their breaths and the occasional swipe of Sprout's tail on the floor, both of the toons were focused on completing their tasks.
Almost done...! Cosmo cheered internally.
Just... a few more, just to be sure...
Cosmo double checks then triple checks until his brain quieted down the worries it played on loop. His fingers trailed near the stitches, poking and squishing the soft skin.
Then, he tapped Sprout's paws behind his back to let him go, reluctantly, the strawberry obeys and intensely watched him go from his bed to his desk and take the disinfectant and clean rag he boiled last night.
The disinfectant pours slowly through the rag and Cosmo let it soak for a few seconds until he was satisfied with the amount before closing the bottle.
Once he turned around, he saw a very far away strawberry sit in the far corner of his bed with his tail glued to his legs. Eyes snapping between his hand and his face.
Ah, yes-...
How can he almost forget?
Disinfectants were one of the only things Sprout could still feel during the 'surgeries'. He absolutely hated the product from the smell to the pain it still managed to bring him to this day.
He simply loathed the product.
Even as an completely healthy toon, when Gardenview was still opened, Sprout would get teary-eyed and hide under Sam's work shirt. — Or even kick the nurse's hand away and cry about it later.
Only him and Sam knew that, though.
"Sprout,"
Said berry shakes his head urgently, panic settling in his whole being, "Nnnnoooo...!!! I don'r..like thRris!"
"You know it's only a quick clean. — You still have healthy skin on yourself... You need to take care of it!" Cosmo takes one then two steps to the bed.
"Nno!"
Another pair of steps made the scientist approach the unkept bed a little bit more.
"Sprout... Oh dearest, my best friend! My greatest creation...! I will be gentle!"
One more step...
"I saiirr..Ssaid no! Hurts!" he growls and unashamedly steals one of Cosmo's pillows to hide behind it. or plan to throw at the pastry, he did not figured it out yet. "Y-yyou know I hAte thrr..that!"
Cosmo stops in front of the bed, he doesn't sit. Instead he sighs and thinks about what to do next. His lips turned into a pout. "Hmm..."
He could try to bribe him, he remembers Sam doing it when they had no other choices or simply didn't have the time to deal with Sprout's aversion to the liquid. The items in questions were mostly sweets and slices of chocolate birthday cakes they would sneak away for the strawberry if he was brave enough.
But Cosmo didn't have a birthday cake at hand nor sweets laying around at the moment... He hasn't entered the kitchen for a full week now, too busy — and frankly lacking the energy — to even bake a simple vanilla cake.
Something easy to give,
Something he liked,
Something that surpassed his fears,
...Something Sprout couldn't ignore even if he tried with all of his might to erase it from his memory,
Oh.
Of course,
Not something but someone.
Himself.
Red flushed the scientist's cheeks, this time he was the one to turn shy.
Giving himself to Sprout... What a silly idea.
Cosmo looked down on him, his lab coat turned gray over time. Splatters of ichor adorned the hem of the clothing while his boots looked more like zombie-boots instead of actual boots. He always ran through the entirety of Gardenview and its dangerous floors on runs, healing toons and creatures alike, he never had the time to stop and check if he wasn't literally crumbling down.
He looked like a doctor. Cold, strategic, addicted to caffeine and tired as hell.
He mustn't look friendly to Sprout right now and the goggles on top of his head aren't helping his case.
The pastry sighed, looking back at the rag in his hand. He frowns and quickly slaps the rag down his desk once he walked to it.
"Alright. Change of plan."
"...?" Sprout's head tilted to the side, confusion spread across his features.
SCRRRAATCH.
"C-Cos'...?"
Cosmo opens his huge collar with a singular hand, threw — gently because there were glass vials still attached to the strap — the leather bag on the desk before using both of his dry hands to start undoing every single buttons on his laboratory coat.
"Woah- wwaiitt--!!" Sprout yells, he doesn't know what to do. Should he stops Cosmo from actively stripping down right in front of him?? Like that???
when half of the buttons were undone, the pastry pauses to glance from the side the bamboozled berry. He simply rolls his eyes before resuming quickly.
Lab coat fully opened, Cosmo let it fall off his shoulders nonchalantly to reveal a simple white t-shirt. Its sleeves fitting the pastry's shoulders perfectly instead of his usual baggy clothes.
"Ccosmo..!!"
Under that lab coat also hid a bracelet attached higher to the forearm, he held onto it for longer than anything he ever had in his life besides Sprout. Funny how everything ends up related being to Sprout in a way or another...
"The ffrr..- Arrkkk...- Why???" he stumbles on his words, mouth wide.
Cosmo shrugs, barely abled to hide how embarrassed he's feeling right now. "You don't want me to properly clean your stitches..."
Continuing with his boots, he untied them easily. Shaking them off his suffocated feets.
"uhhmm.. How-"
He cut off, "...Although it is a mandatory step for them to heal without risks," taking off his goggles and gloves before placing them on his desk with everything else. "I guess... I will have to make a deal with you now. — Only natural with something you don't want to do but still need to."
Sprout's eyes couldn't decide where to look at, the pile of clothes on the desk or the toon in front of him.
"Whrr...What arr-"
Cosmo sat on the bed, his already sanitized hands were holding the same rag that smelled like hell on earth.
"Simple, you get your stitches cleaned by me and in exchange..." Cosmo had to pause for a second, his cheeks were burning. He's almost feeling naked without his lab coat, it's been too long since he stopped wearing his normal clothes. He scowls, "In- in exchange, I will stay with you for the entirety of the weekend... And do anything you want. With you. I will finally take the break you endlessly tried to force me into since you came back to life. Happy?"
Sprout stared.
He stared and searched for something contradicting, the evidence of a lie inside the informations he was given. but nothing ever came back.
Cosmo wasn't lying. He was sitting with open arms on his own bed.
He was finally accepting the break Sprout asked — begged — him to take when he first saw the amount of eyebags that decorated his chocolate-y features... but as tempting as it sounds, Cosmo only accepted his offer to bribe the strawberry to get his stitches cleaned initially.
Sam always did that.
Sprout glances at the wet rag before looking away, conflicted. ...It's the first time in months that I've seen Cosmo without his lab coat.
I want him to rest.
"Shhort."
"Hm? Two days is not enough to you?"
Sprout shakes his head. "Aargh.. A week."
"In your dreams. Three days." He scoffs with that air of superiority he gained while he was out.
How infuriating.
"Ssix." The Main frowns.
All he wants is his sacrifice to be worth it. Can't Cosmo see it? How he's willing to hurt himself for him to give him what he needs...?
Cosmo rolls his eyes and layed on the side, seemingly bored out of his mind or experiencing back pain.
"Three."
"F-five."
"Three."
"Four!"
"...Deal."
The pastry sighs, accepting the deal while Sprout makes a sound a celebration, paws in the sky before turning white when Cosmo quickly switched position to crawl near the strawberry with the smelly rag in hand.
Right-
...The sacrifice!
"Wwait-" He closes his eyes in fear, knees close to his chest and the back of his paws protecting his face. When he feels the mattress stop moving, he opened them back up to see Cosmo right on top of him with said rag way too close to his face. — Still, his cheeks turned a deeper red and he had to stop his tail from wagging. — Waiting as asked but still horribly close.
If only it was in other circumstances...
"What, again? We've made a deal if I remember correctly..." Cosmo groans, wanting to roll his eyes again. Can't Sprout see it? He's only trying to keep him healthy, he doesn't need another infection.
All of this was supposed to be a quick fix.
But it's actively dragging out and drinking his energy dry.
It's reminding him how tired he is and that maybe... He should rest a little bit.
"...Please Sprout, it only stings for a few seconds." Cosmo leans his upper body on the beast's knees, almost pleading. "After that, we'll bake cupcakes and even have a picnic... Doesn't that sound good?"
"No... Yy..You're o-overr..worked. Nap."
Cosmo blinks once then twice, "Fine...— I'll have to respect my part of the deal too, I guess — but I need to clean those stitches now."
Sprout grumbled quietly for a while before he finally lowers his paws, accepting the disinfectant to touch his skin. He was still frowning but his eyes softened as he glanced up at the scientist. Cosmo's shoulders relaxed.
"Thank you."
It only took a few minutes to clean the stitches of the dry drops of ichor stuck between the skins and thread but finally, the strawberry skin came back as clean as the kitchen after one of Tisha's cleaning spree.
Sprout strangled the poor pillow he stole during the entire process, whining about the smell of the rag and how it was hurting him more than when Twisted Toodles bit off his leg before being quickly silenced with a kiss on the cheek. The strawberry became almost too ripped for his own good and kept staring at Cosmo with his big ole eyes.
It made Cosmo's heart beat funny.
With the rag wiping the last crumbs of ichor under his jaw, Cosmo finally spoke. "Annnd... Done! You were so brave, see? It wasn't that bad!"
Sprout huffs. He decides to not comment on the last sentence — because it was THAT bad — and just wraps his arms around Cosmo's waist and hide his face in his shirt. It was still pretty scary, he needed a pretty cake to comfort him after this nightmare... like right now.
Said pretty cake threw away the hellish item on the desk, making a soft sound on the dusty wood. He giggled quietly, ruffling the green leaves gently.
So sweet... Cosmo almost wants to eat him.
Muffled in the soft torso of his best friend, Sprout slowly asks, "Wwill... we still make thrr- those cupc-cakes...? Afterr nap."
"Sure," Cosmo nods. That's all he needed... "We have four days ahead of- EEK!" Before he makes the both of them fall flat on the bed, the old mattress dipping under their combined weights.
It's way more comfortable to cuddle laying instead of upright and for some reason, Sprout managed to be the big spoon, not that Cosmo is complaining... That strawberry is too tall and his back too scrambled already to be the big spoon this time.
"You big goof..." He simply accepted his fate as a little spoon and contentedly wrapped his own arms around Sprout's waist while the Main struggled to find the lamp's on/off switch on the nightstand. Not that it would make a big difference with the big light still on...
Once he found it, Sprout muttered a mix of swears and relief, finally free to lay his own arms around Cosmo's shoulders and nuzzle the top of the pastry's head until he was perfectly comfortable between the pillow and the toon.
It didn't take long for Cosmo to feel the weight of his self-induced insomnia kick him in the face with the warm sensation of safety, his thoughts dissolving into soup. It was almost scary how fast his own body let go of its worries and listen to the other's heartbeat.
It was steady and enveloping the pastry like a warm meal on a stormy night, the same way as feeling like he was finally full. Completed.
...Maybe he should've listened to Sprout sooner.
But he'll never admit it.
"Lovv.. Love you."