Chapter Text
Goob honestly wasn’t sure he’d ever see him outside of the show. Sure, Shrimpo had been around for a while, and his whole thing was being a bully, but Waxwell felt like a last priority from what he’d overheard when Gardenview was still open. Waxwell never had the popularity or marketability the other Toons had. He failed at almost everything he tried to do. Worse still, he had the potential to light the entire building on fire. Despite all that, Goob had always liked the candle, which is why, when he saw him step out of the elevator from whatever floor he came from, he immediately dragged him into a hug.
“Wha- oh no, not you!” Waxwell’s flame flared up and he immediately started squirming. “Why are you the first Toon I see?” Goob just kept hugging him, nuzzling into his cheek for a moment, before finally letting him go, arms flopping back behind him.
“I’m so happy to see another friendly face!” Goob giggled, excited that new Toons were still showing up.
“My face is not friendly. It’s dark, and twisted, and evil!” His flame wooshed above him as he spoke. Goob just kept smiling at the other Toon.
“Of course! Silly me!” Goob didn’t realize how much he missed Waxwell until he was back. He’d only ever told Scraps about it, but he had a little bit of a crush on him. Okay, maybe a lot of a crush. They weren’t made for each other, like Sprout and Cosmo were, but Goob didn’t think that was all that important anyway. The only thing that mattered was if Waxwell liked him, too. Which…
“I will burn everything you love!”
There was still a chance.
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“So that’s why I came to you guys, I guess. You’re the only ones I know who are in a relationship.” Goob finished his rant about his crush, rubbing his arm with one hand. He had kept it as vague as possible, not using gendered pronouns, so hopefully they didn’t know he was talking about Waxwell. Cosmo and Sprout, who were seated across from Goob in the kitchen’s dining area, looked at each other knowingly, both nodding.
“Look, Goob, it seems like this is a lot different for you than it is for us.” Sprout spoke up first. “You two weren’t made to be best friends from the start, so you don’t have that same kind of connection. That doesn’t mean that it’s impossible! It’s just going to be a bit more difficult.”
“Yeah! You have to work on making that connection wherever and whenever you can!” Cosmo piped up. “Do nice things for them, get them gifts they like, grow a friendship first and foremost so you can turn it into a relationship when the time’s right!” He smiled, grabbing Sprout’s hand, to which the strawberry chuckled. “If they don’t reciprocate, then it’s okay, but, um, I don’t really have experience with that…” He looked Sprout in the eye, pure love in his gaze.
Goob sighed at the affection, hoping he might have that with Waxwell someday. Although, knowing the candle, he’d probably deny it to his bitter end even if he did feel the same. He didn’t want to admit he had positive feelings towards anything. He was very similar to Shrimpo in that sense, but the two didn’t really get along when Waxwell thought they would. Goob had seen him try to get close, but was shut out every time. It made Goob want to give Waxwell a big hug, but then again, he always wanted to hug everyone.
“I’m just not sure if they’ll ever like me at all.” Goob didn’t realize he’d probably given away too much information in just one sentence, so he kept going. “But maybe if I give them more hugs, they’ll like me more!” The two Toons across from him both looked concerned.
“Maybe you could ask Finn for friendship advice? It’s pretty well known at this point that he made friends with Shrimpo, and you of all Toons knows how difficult that is.” Seeing the time, Sprout sighed. “Well, whatever advice he gives you, whatever you do to get them to like you, just remember to be yourself. If they don’t like you for who you really are, then they’re going to be disappointed when they find out your true self.” Sprout reached a hand out to gently place over one of Goob’s on the table. He was right, if Goob wasn’t himself, then any affection he got would mean nothing when he got tired of acting.
“Thanks guys, this means a lot to me.” Goob slid out from the booth, waiting for the two others to do the same so he could pull them into a group hug. He wrapped his arms around both of them, Cosmo giggling and Sprout smiling. Goob let go, taking a step back.
“Stay safe, Goob, and good luck.” Sprout patted him on the shoulder, causing the shorter Toon to look up. “I get the feeling you’re going to need it.”
With that, Goob walked through the picnic area and into the elevator, taking it up to Finn’s floor. He hoped he was there. If he wasn’t, he was probably hanging out with Shrimpo, and it would likely be more difficult to get advice if Shrimpo was there, interrupting with complaints. Worse still, if Shrimpo figured out who he was talking about, he would probably tell everyone just to upset Goob, including Waxwell. Or maybe he wouldn’t, it was hard to tell with the shrimp. Finn, on the other hand, Goob felt he could trust if he put two and two together.
As the elevator reached the floor, who else did it open to but Finn, holding hands with Shrimpo.
“Hey, Goob!” Finn smiled, letting go of Shrimpo’s hand to allow Goob to give him a hug. He, of course, did, water splashing on the floor as he was dragged a couple inches into his arms. After a few seconds, Goob broke the hug, allowing Finn to step back next to Shrimpo.
“Hi, Finn! You’re just who I wanted to see, actually!” Goob nervously looked at Shrimpo for a brief moment. “I was wondering if I could talk to you alone? I need some friend-making advice.”
“IS THIS ABOUT THAT STUPID CANDLE?” Shrimpo interjected, already guessing who Goob was talking about. That was what he was worried about. “WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH HIM?” Goob, being the rudest he had ever been, simply ignored Shrimpo’s question and turned back to Finn.
“Do you think we could talk for a bit? It’s really important to me.” Goob smiled weakly, hoping he could get some advice out of earshot of Shrimpo.
“SHRIMPO WILL NOT BE IGNORED!” The shrimp walked over to Goob and kicked him in the shin. Goob winced, grabbing at the injury.
“Shrimpo! That wasn’t nice!” Finn rushed back over to Goob to make sure he was okay. “Are you alright? How bad did he get you?” He patted Goob’s arm in an attempt to comfort him.
“I’ll be okay!” Goob gave a thumbs up, standing up straight again. “This is just really important to me.”
“...O-cray. We can talk. Shrimpo, stay out here and wait for us to fin-ish.” Shrimpo rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything in response, staying put as Goob and Finn walked over to the fish bowl’s room. Finn held the door open for Goob, who immediately stepped in a damp spot on the carpet, likely from Finn’s water. Goob looked around the room, noticing something interesting.
“You have a TV all to yourself?” He tilted his head at the TV set, complete with VCR, as Finn closed the door behind him. “That’s so cool!”
“Yup! They had an extra one lying around, and one day I found it and just asked if I could have it!” Finn smiled, standing proud. “I think it used to be for video presentations in rooms that didn’t have a projector?” He thought for a moment, before shaking away the distraction. “Any-wave, what did you wanna talk about?” He flopped on the bed, narrowly avoiding splashing water on it, and patted the space next to him, prompting Goob to sit.
“Well, I’ve been having friendship troubles.” The craft sighed. “I wanna make friends with someone, but I don’t think they like me all that much, even though I really like them.”
“Mhmm…” Finn nodded, Barnaby hopping up to put a fin on his fishy chin in thought. “Whale, there are only two Toons you haven’t been able to make friends with, maybe three if you’re counting Brusha, but she doesn’t particularly dislike you, I don’t think.” Finn looked at Goob, who was seeming more and more on edge for once. “I f-eel like you’ve given up on being friends with Shrimpo, so was he right? Is it Waxwell?”
“...Yeah.” Goob was caught, but he felt he could trust Finn with this information, out of anyone who wasn’t his sister. Besides, right then he just thought it was about friendship, nothing more, and it was well-known that Goob loved making friends.
“I sea… Is there a particular reason why you’re so set on becoming his friend?” Finn tilted his head slightly, not enough to spill, but enough that the water reached the edge of his bowl.
“It just doesn’t feel right to not be friends with everyone!” Goob slung his hands onto his lap and started fidgeting with his claws. “I’m not friends with Shrimpo, and that’s fine, but Waxwell is… different.”
“This isn’t just about friendship, is it?” There it was. The conclusion that Goob was most worried about. Goob hesitated for a moment. “It’s okay if it isn’t, I get it. I reel-y do.”
Goob looked down at his hands, nodding silently after a long pause. Finn smiled wide.
“Aww, Goob! That’s so sweet! I prawn-mise I won’t tell anybody.” He leaned in, cupping a hand to his mouth. “Wanna know a secret of mine?” He looked around, as if anyone was going to appear in the room with them. “Shrimpo and I are dating!” Finn pulled back, kicking his legs giddily.
“Really? I never expected that!” Goob looked shocked, but felt relieved that he was in good company. Finn nodded, water somehow missing his bed.
“It’s true! We became o-fish-ial a couple days ago!” Finn looked so happy that Goob couldn’t help but pull him into a hug. He laughed, hugging back before pulling away. “Thank you, thank you… But yeah, I understand what it’s like to have a crush on someone who doesn’t sea-m to like you back. It’s not as hopeless as you think.” Finn patted Goob on the back to reassure him.
“Thanks, Finn. That means a lot to me. So what do you think I should do to become friends?” Goob was still focused on step one, and wanted as much advice as he could get.
“Whale, you could try joining him at meals. I know he likes to sit alone, but that has to get lonely after a while.” Finn looked like he was thinking hard. “Maybe make him a friendship bracelet? That’s something you’re really good at, and I’m sure he would appreciate the gesture! Even Shrimpo keeps the friendship bracelet I made him!”
“Really? That’s amazing! I’m so happy that worked out for you guys!” Goob gave Finn another quick hug before getting back to their conversation.
“Yep! Reel-y! I was surprised too, I found out because he keeps it in a--”
A heavy knocking on the door interrupted them. Muffled screaming came through from the other side.
“FINISH UP ALREADY, I DON’T HAVE ALL DAY.” The pounding on the door continued, and Finn laughed.
“Alright… Sheesh.” Finn turned to Goob. “I’m sure you’ll have to deal with a lot less than that with Waxwell…” Despite what he had to go through, Finn didn’t seem to mind Shrimpo’s attitude all that much. Goob figured he could handle Waxwell if Finn could handle Shrimpo. Finn opened the door to Shrimpo standing right in front of it.
“I’M NOT SORRY. I HOPE HE BURNS ALL YOUR FUR OFF.” The shrimp glared pointedly at Goob, who felt very nervous all of a sudden. What if that actually did happen? Could it even happen like that? Waxwell’s flame wasn’t very good at burning things, no matter how hard he tried.
“Alright, let’s go, Shrimpo.” Finn took his hand and started walking away, turning back to wave at Goob. “Good luck, Goob!” He left with his apparent boyfriend, slowly walking back towards the elevator.
Goob was left standing in Finn’s room, realizing he should probably exit and close the door behind him. He did so, and decided to let Shrimpo and Finn take the elevator first, lest the former try and hurt him again. Goob smiled wistfully to himself. If Finn could tame Shrimpo, then he should have no trouble getting Waxwell to like him!