Chapter Text
The day had been more than a little chaotic, but the promise of having a moment after visiting hours at least gave you something to look forward too… as well as catching whispers of the other toons hosting a little get together to do one last big celebration before the Christmas toons needed to be put back… wherever they went when it was time for them to part. You got confirmation when Dandy himself alerted you that everyone was meeting on the main floor after closing and when the staff had left for the afternoon. Of course, excluding the human security prowling around but even then they posed little threat to the privacy and personal activities of the toons.
A promise of fun and games made an evening filled with excited children and parents waiting impatiently to get a turn to take a picture a little more bearable.
Helping Sprout and Cosmo make treats- most for visitors… some for the night ahead. Cookies and other assorted baked goods to feast on.
“Yatta’s gonna bring candy, we know that much… I think Poppy mentioned bringing some soda,” Sprout mumbled softly to himself in thought as he looked through what the kitchen had to offer.
“Maybe we should make something to balance out the sugar?” You offered as you set out bowls and other cooking utensils on the counter. The strawberry paused for a moment… before smiling. His hand lightly pats against your upper back. “Something sour would do the trick!”
And so you added some acidity to treats that called for it. Of course, some were left unaltered. One could only hope that the sugar wasn’t too much for everyone else. You nod to Ginger as she enters the kitchen. Between the four of you the treats were all finished quickly… though…
You could only offer a sheepish smile and apologize quietly as Tisha stepped in and nearly passed out from the sight of the kitchen’s state.
“Sorry Tish-” You rub the back of your neck. Her eyes darted across the mess. Dirtied bowls, smears of batter, there was flour everywhere… the black mats on the floor were shifted to a dusty white. Streaks ran all over the surface only occasionally broken by footprints.
“It’s…” She started. You could see the gears working in her head as she tried to pick apart what to tackle first.
Ginger spoke up.
“I can help, and so can Cosmo,” The cookie glanced at her cousin. The roll cake nodded- he was already gathering the dishes he had ruined to rinse them off in the nearby sink. Tisha seemed to visibly untense just a tad. “Oh, thank you both,”
With now five toons in the kitchen it became cramped, so you bid yourself goodbye- each toon inside returning your announcement of departure with varying levels of awareness.
You hardly made it to the elevator before you bumped into Brightney as she checked through a long list in her hands.
“Scraps and Goob are handling decorations… Yatta is putting them up as well as providing candy… Teagan is responsible for drinks… and Sprout…” She tapped the tip of her pen to the paper as she continued to walk- totally engrossed into the paper. You clear your throat lightly and catch her attention before she could walk into a wall.
“Oh-! It's you!” The lamp gave you a smile. You return it as you steal a glance of her list.
“Sprout and Cosmo finished baking up some treats,”
Brightney gives another soft “oh!” before checking off the item. “You’re not pushing yourself too hard trying to make sure everyone’s on track?”
“I’m giving a hand where I can! It’s been so long since all us toons got to get together afterall!” Brightney’s eyes darted to the elevator. “Are you going down?”
Were you going down…?
You glance at her list once more. You could pay the craft siblings a visit to see if they needed any help with getting things together- or with visitors.
“Yeah, sure,” You smiled.
And the two of you step into the elevator. As you reach your hand to the buttons a loud shrieking voice makes you stop in your tracks.
From the end of the hallway Yatta is sprinting forward towards the elevator with her hands absolutely filled to the brim with all sorts of candies. Wrapped ones, boxed ones, you saw a few you didn’t even know were carried in Gardenview. You allow your hand to remain in the air to let the pinata close the distance… she slid into the elevator- some candies slipping from her arms with clacks of varying pitches and volumes. “AAAAAAAAH-” Yatta… the noise you could only describe as scrumpt… before trying to shuffle the candies back into her arms. It was… actually kind of pathetic seeing her awkwardly try to pick the wrapped candies with her teeth- leaned over close to the floor.
“Oh my…” Brightney whispered softly.
“Here-” You step forward- but not before pressing the button you had wanted- and scooped the scattered candies up in your hands. “Good thing only the wrapped ones fell huh?”
“I’D STILL eat them if they weren’t!” Yatta insisted as she tightened her grip on the collection. You force your face to remain straight.
“I assume that’s not all the candy you’re going to be bringing to the party?” Brightney asked. Yatta rapidly shook her head. It seemed she had just taken a hit from her sugar stash. “This is only the third batch!”
Third…
You glance at Brightney who… did her best to look supportive.
“The parties on the ground floor, right? Near the entrance? That’s what Dandy told me before he had to go do… whatever activities they have him doing today-”
Brightney snaps out of it and looks at you. “Oh! Yeah- yes you’re correct! The others agreed that it would be the most convenient… lot’s of free space to set everything up and to play games,” The lamp looked down at her list once more. “In fact… I don’t recall any talk of what games will be played tonight… all I recall is that Dandy had told us to bring out trinkets… “just in case” as he had put it,” Her mouth tightens slightly. “I’m sure he’s got a plan! If not there’s plenty of games we can play without props,”
The paper is rolled up and tucked away somewhere. The elevator door opens.
“I’ll go check on the crafts to see how they’re doing,” You muttered out loud. Brightney glanced at you as her hands patted the space where she put her list and pen.
“Are you sure? I was already planning on checking in on them myself,”
You gently wave her off. “Knowing you, you’ve been on your feet all day trying to keep things rolling smoothly- you deserve an extra set of eyes n hands- it's no sweat off my back!”
The elevator door opens.
“It’s only about an hour… maybe two… until everything closes down, it really isn’t that big of a deal,” You added.
Over Brightney’s shoulder Yatta was eyeing the candy in her arms… she seemed to be struggling to pay attention to the conversion between you and the lamp. Not that it was that big of a deal.
“Well… if you insist,” Brightney offered you a tired smile… and for a moment you caught the exhaustion in her eyes before she perked right back up. “I’ll go back up and see if Teagan needs any help,”
As eager to help as ever.
…and Teagan was probably on a higher floor judging by the fact that Brightney did not leave the elevator with you.
“SEE YA BUD!” Yatta called out- she crouched down to rapidly wave at you as the floor closed. Brightney began to say something to her but her voice was cut off by the door. You stand there quietly for a moment before simply choosing to go on to the tables the craft siblings usually situated themselves at…
This floor was one of the rainbow rooms- and the walls were covered in various crafts and drawings made by the children. There were even some scribbles of you… the sight warmed your heart as you drew closer to the sounds of overjoyed children.
Scraps sat in a short blue plastic chair carefully cutting out some streamers… at least as best as she could with her claws. It seemed that at the moment Goob had taken it upon himself to entertain the children while his sister worked on party preparations… a few of the calmer children had sat around her table and helped her out- whether they knew they were for a party or not they looked to be having fun.
“Hey,” You lazily- and somewhat awkwardly- raise your hand in a half wave. Scraps’ eyes dart up to you for a brief moment before snapping back to her paper. “Oh! Didn’t know you were gonna come down here-” Her hands tensed around the dull pair of scissors in her hands. Her claws gently scraped against the plastic handles.
You give a shrug that she didn’t see. “I don’t have many visitors today so I’m kind of going around seeing if anyone needs a hand in getting things ready for tonight- speaking of,” You glance to the small pile of paper decorations set to the side.
“Need a hand?”
“Please,”
And so you settled yourself in the last free chair at the table. One last glance is given to Goob as he plays some sort of tag game with the kids. He was… covered in glitter and paper scraps… pipe cleaners and stickers. A part of you was glad you weren’t often assigned to arts and crafts.
“And I can help bring them up to the main floor after closing- maybe help put them up,” You grab a spare pair of scissors and begin copying whatever designs Scraps was attempting to do. “I think Brightney mentioned Yatta’s going to be doing that?”
“Flutter offered to help- since she can reach the higher stuff,” Scraps tensed her eyebrows a bit before relaxing. “There!” She said to herself before setting the section of steamer away to the rest of the pile.
And the two of you finished making decorations. Children came and went… though as the time passed they progressively lessened in numbers until the intercom clicked to life above to alert the visitors that Gardenview was closing for the day. You… never much liked the voice of whoever did the announcements. They sounded fake. Too sweet, like how Dandy sometimes spoke in his episodes. Like he was talking to a bunch of idiots who couldn’t think for themselves.
…
You force the comparison to the back of your mind- feeling it was too mean of a thought.
Actually decorating and setting everything up was fairly uneventful. Some toons did butt heads about where everything should go…
Ultimately the snacks were set in the hall leading to the main lobby. Out of the way but close enough to not be an inconvenience to walk. It also seemed like it was going to be a slumber party judging by the bedding Astro had provided- you caught him and Shelly stacking them neatly to one of the walls. The latter had already changed into her comfortable onesie. A table was set nearby with various games… board games and card games. Vee had added some trivia games to the pile.
Brightney was skittering around the room making sure everything was all coming together… she only stopped when Dandy approached her and said something you couldn’t catch. He did give her a pat on the shoulder and thumbs up, though.
Razzle and Dazzle had moved the projector from their room down to the main floor and were setting it up to throw whatever picture they wanted to the middle elevator… it temporarily glitched for a few seconds- before Connie revealed herself. Razzle seemed to be far more scared than his brother at the prank.
“That’s everything I think!” You overheard Shelly as she glanced over the large space. It looked… nice. It was cozy inside- the Christmas lights strung up glowed against the paper decor you and Scraps had made with the children.
“It looks so nice! Like a big warm hug and a nice cozy sweater!” Bobette stepped to her side and marveled. The main lights had dimmed- further pushing the cascade of colors from the string lights.
“I’ll say,” Sprout muttered with a grin as he finally tugged his apron off and half haphazardly folded it and set it to the side… it wasn’t unlike him to forget to take it off.
One by one the last toons that hadn’t yet arrived made it to the gathering. Rudie dashed right in with Ginger… not quite right on his tail. “I wanted to add some last minute decorations to the cookies-” She said softly as she placed her cookies on the table with the rest of the treats.
Shrimpo stomped in… the fact he had even decided to show up was a shock actually especially as he complained loudly about how stupid he thought this was. Rodger took the role of reason in asking why he had decided to appear… which earned him a nasty string of insults.
You catch him telling Toodles not to repeat what the crustacean had said.
Finally you bring yourself to the main group of everyone congregated. You catch a glimpse of Toodles running off to go play with Pebble and Coal who were both a bit aways from the group doing… whatever it was rocks do.
By the looks of things Dandy was already starting a game- holding a large sack. A big red one, the kind you see Santa lugging around in movies.
“The first night of the game is a little different everyone!” The flower grinned as he took charge. He opened the bag and shifted towards Sprout.
“And the game is…?” The berry looked inside the bag skeptically. By the looks of it it seemed empty.
“We usually play tag or hide n seek- but this time around I figured… hey! Why don’t we play something a little more adventurous!” Dandy grinned. “Put your trinkets in the bag, we're playing seven minutes in heaven- of course, only if you wanna play!” His eye darted to look at you out of the corner. Several toons already muttered their passes and detached from the group to do their own thing until the current game was over with.
“Really? Seven minutes? Dandy we’re not-” Vee started before Rudie cut her off. Her antennae twitched irritably before going still once more.
“Where are the players gonna go?”
Dandy’s grin widened as Sprout slipped his trinket into the bag. “Why, we can use the gift shop! It’s far enough away to give the lovebirds some privacy- Vee you’ve got a built in clock riiiiiiiight?” He fluttered his eyes at her. Vee seemed to fight the urge to roll her eyes.
“Of course I do,” She crossed her arms… she hesitated before adding her trinket to the bag.
One by one the participating toons slipped their trinkets in- you included. Dandy was the last to add his… and once the bag was filled he shifted it around to move the trinkets around inside… the clicking and rustling inside muffled thanks to the thick and soft material of the sack.
“Now…” Dandy stuck a finger out… and then.
“Eeny meeny-”
“Are you being serious?” Connie scoffed as she stared at the toon. She looked both.. Amused and a little shocked that the person who suggested the game wasn’t going first.
Dandy ignored her.
“You!” His finger landed on you. “Unless you’re too chicken to go first,” He added with a light hearted tease. The sack is pushed close to you and he shimmies it around slightly.
“I ain’t chicken,” You huffed.
Everyone’s eyes glue themselves onto you as you reach your hand into the opening of the sack and pull out…