Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Crushes? Shrimpo never had a crush on anyone before. Okay, maybe once.. Or twice.. BUTS THAT'S IRRELEVANT. SHRIMPO IS BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE AND THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS HERE. Point is Shrimpo never had a crush on anyone before but when the other toons at Teagan's tea party start talking about past and current crushes.. Shrimpo got a little annoyed at them.

"SHRIMPO HAS NEVER HAD A CRUSH BEFORE! I HATE EVERYONE!"

"Teagan why did you invite him? He's going to cause another mess that I'm going to have to clean up." 

Tisha mumbled, clearly slightly annoyed by Shrimpo's outburst while still sipping on her tea. 

"Hush Tisha dear, Shrimpo are you certain? I'm sure you've had a crush on someone before dear, and if you have it's nothing to be embarrassed about."

Teagan spoke gently, trying her best to appease both parties without causing a fight between them. 

"OF COURSE NOT, I HATE EVERYONE!" 

"Alright dear, I know you do, just before you leave make sure you throw your cup out okay?"

"I HATE FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS!" 

Shrimpo yelled as he tossed his plastic cup into the trash can, almost knocking it over from the force of his throw. Teagan let out a small sigh as he walked out of the tea room and down the hallway. He saw through the kitchen island Sprout scrambling around the kitchen searching through the fridge while Cosmo was looking in the cabinets, both of them seem to be looking for something.

"Stupid Idiots.." 

He mumbled as he continued down the hall back to his room. 

When he finally reached his room he looked around making sure everything was still there before he grabbed his boxing gloves. Before the was even able to get one of them on he heard a knock on the door along with a cheery voice that made him groan in annoyance. 

"Heya Shrimpo, you in there? I swear on cod I saw you go into your room!" 

"NO I'M NOT, LEAVE" 

"Whoa there bud! There's no need to get all crabby now, I just wanted to show you something reel-ly interesting! Can I come in?" 

"FINE JUST DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING."

"No promises!" 

Finn cheerfully chirped as he walked into the room shutting the door behind him and plopping himself down onto Shrimpo's bed without a care in the world. 

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

Shrimpo asked intrigued annoyed at the interruption now putting on one of the boxing gloves.

"This morning when I was feeding my fishes I noticed one of my clams looked a bit strange when it opened! So I coax it open more and saw it had a weird bump in it. At first I thought it might have somehow gotten an infection but when I took a closer look I realized it was a pearl! So I ran to the library to quickly check a book about clams and I found out that there's a way to safely remove the pearl without killing my clam so I did that and now I have a pearl!" 

Finn said enthusiastically, basically bouncing on Shrimpo's bed, tail also wagging excitedly. Shrimpo by now had gotten both his gloves on and has started punching and jabbing at his punching bag, landing each hit with a rough thud. Mostly focused on the task at hand.

"That's intre- BORING! THAT WAS BORING!"

Shrimpo sputtered the calmness in his voice quickly changing. Finn giggled before continuing. 

"Anyways friend I got the pearl right here." 

Finn said as he fished around in his head with his webbed hand for a quick minute before pulling a small white pearl.

"Here, this pearl is for you! For being a Fin-tasistic friend!" 

Finn said ecstatically holding out his webbed hand presenting the pearl to Shrimpo with a wide grin on his face. Shrimpo paused his punches, he looked at Finn's cupped hand and looked at him. He hesitantly reached out and grabbed the pearl and then uncharacteristically proceeded to dig around his room for a container to put the pearl in. His eyes then landed on a small wooden box with metal clasp and grabbed it with his free hand dusting off the box, he watched Finn's expression as he placed the pearl into the box. Something inside him twisted as he watched Finn who was now looking at him with a beaming grin. Embarrassment Annoyance seeped into his voice as he spoke, looking away from Finn.

"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?" 

"You of course! I half expected you to just chuck it onto the floor and call it a night.." 

Finn responded a bit nervously, his webbed hands fidgeting around his fins. Shrimpo let out an offended huff.

"AS IF! YOU GAVE ME SOMETHING THAT CLEARLY SEEmed to mean a lot..."

There was a small pause as Shrimpo's trailed off and his face started to heat up, he glanced over to Finn who was now lightly chuckling, looking at Shrimpo with an earnest expression.

"NEVER MIND GET OUT MY ROOM!" 

Shrimpo yelled as he lightly threw the nearest pillow at Finn who was now quickly retreating out his room, now trying his best not to laugh too loud to not bother the other toons. He quickly shut the door before the pillow could hit him hearing the soft thud of the pillow hitting the door and began run back to his own room. Glancing at a nearby clock as he ran down the hall, 10:15. 

"FINN! I THOUGH I TOLD YOU NO RUNNING IN THE HALLWAY! YOUR GETTING WATER EVERYWHERE AGAIN!" 

Finn slowed his pace to see who was yelling at him at this hour. He looked around until his eyes landed on Tisha, his glaze apologetic has he mumbled meekly. 

"Sorry Tisha.. I'll try not to again." 

"It's fine, just please try not to do it so much? This is the fourth time this week and it's only Tuesday. Cleaning water can be a real hassle you know?"

"Yes Tisha, I'm sorry"

"Where were you coming from anyways that you needed to run and spill water everywhere?"

"Oh I came from Shrimpo's room!"

"Oh. He lets you into his room? I've never been allowed in there before no matter how much I insisted that I was just gonna clean it and leave everything as is."

"Hah yeah, he doesn't like his stuff being moved."

"What were you doing in there anyways?"

Tisha asked, her eyes raised with suspicion as she eyed Finn's expression 

"Ah you see, in short I had a gift I wanted to give him."

"And he didn't throw it away or try to break it? Nothing?" 

"No actually, he seemed to like it! He had a random box and put in there."

"What was the gift?"

"It was a pearl from my fish tank!" 

"Oh, he's always so unusually nice to you and almost no one else. How strange.. "

"Heh, yea.."

Finn mumbled out, his webbed hand scratching at a fin around his head, his tail lightly tapping the floor. Finn felt the water in his head begin to bubble slightly, his expression changed to light panic. 

"HA YEA, ANYWAYS GOTTA GO BYE TISHA!"

He yelled over his shoulder and he started to speed walk away from Tisha.

"Wha- Finn are you ok?!"

Tisha called out not noticing the bubbling but noticing abrupt change in his mood and body language.

"NEVER BETTER!"

Finn yelled back as he quickly scurried back to his room not wanting Tisha to see his head bubbling and even remotely connecting the dots. His face was slightly pink and he opened the door to his room, slipped inside, and quickly shut it. As the door closed he leaned against it and slid down and sat on the floor. He brought his webbed face to his blushing face and sighed as his thoughts swirled.

"He didn't say he hated it, at least! But nor did he say he liked it."

He sighed as he looked around his room. He stood up feeling tired after running around all day and sat down on his bed.

"Maybe I should talk to Cosmo, he and Sprout already seem to be pretty close and they just met like what.. 2 weeks ago? Might give me an idea on how to get closer with him.."

Finn laid down on his bed as he covered his face with his hands groaning.

"Why does he have to be so difficulttttt, ughhh."

Finn then turned over to his side, closing his eyes he willed himself to sleep.

Chapter Text

Another day preparing to bake in the kitchen, Cosmo was talking with Sprout about what ingredients and supplies they would need.

"Hey Sprout where is the cake tin? I remember you putting it away last time."

"Umm.., I don't remember? I think it was in one of the cabinets."

"Oh alright then, I'll look for it. You go get the other stuff from the fridge, ok?"

"Alright!"

As Cosmo began to look through the cabinets he heard light stomping from outside the kitchen. He turned around and stood up, his eyes landing on Shrimpo who was angrily stomping down the hallway his face looking more pink than usual.

"Is Shrimpo sick? Maybe I should ask Sprout to make him some soup, that would make him feel better."

Cosmo mumbled as he watched Shrimpo pass by the kitchen only barely glancing over. He didn't even think Shrimpo noticed but their eyes met for the briefest second before he continued to stomp away from the kitchen. Cosmos's heart skipped a beat before he felt a light hand on his shoulder. 

"Hey, you ok?"

"Oh yes, I'm fine"

Cosmo replied quickly, his tail wagging, he bent down and continued to look for the cake tin while Sprout shrugged and placed the ingredients on the counter preparing to bake another wonderful cake. After a quick search he finally found the can tin and set it on the counter. Sprout had already begun to crack one of the eggs into a bowl

"Hm... you ever notice the sign that says 'Delictable'?" 

"The one in the dining section? Isn't it meant to be 'Delectable'?"

"...Yeah, yeah it is."

"..."

"We're not fixing it are we?"

"Hehehe- Nope!" 

Sprout looked at Cosmos with softness in his eyes as Cosmo proceeded to turn the ingredients on the counter into cake batter. While Cosmo did that Sprout pre-heated the oven so it wouldn't take so long. (Can y'all tell I have never baked a cake before//) They both worked in comfortable silence, Sprout putting the cake into the oven and grabbing the sprinkles and Cosmo grabbing the icing. Their hands touching for a brief moment. Sprout's face color darken before being quickly brushed away. 

*Don't be ridiculous, he's too good for you, you could never be more than just his best friend. You're just a main and he's.. perfect..*

"Hello? Sprout? Earth to Sprout!!"

Cosmo spoke, voice slightly raised to get Sprout's head out of the clouds. Sprout's head suddenly snapped up. 

"Sprout you ok? You zoned the hell out there for a moment. You thinking about anything in particular?"

"No no, I'm fine, really, I just uh... nothing, its just main stuff! Yep!"

"Oh, ok if you say so.."

Cosmo replied a bit skeptical but didn't think much of it. They then sat down in the kitchen and waited for the cake to finish baking, Sprout was reading a book he found and Cosmo was writing down a recipes he thought they could try later.

*We could decorate the cinnamon bun to have Shelly's face on it! Yes, she would love that! Ooo we could also make sugar cookies with Astro's face on them! Or-*

`Ding!`

The oven signaled that their cake was finished baking. Cosmo quickly grabbed a glove and Sprout came over and pulled the oven door down. Cosmos's gloved hand tenderly reached into the oven and grabbed the cake tin, pulling it out of the oven. He could feel the heat of the metal through the gloves be didn't get burned. As Cosmo set the cake tin down on the counter Sprout spoke.

"It looks great! its not even burnt this time!"

"Yea, It looks nice and fluffy unlike last time. Could you grab the icing Sprout?"

"Of course Cosmo."

Sprout grabbed some smooth white icing while Cosmo grabbed some stair shaped sprinkles generously sprinkling it while Sprout laid down the icing.

"What's your favorite flavor of cake Cos?"

"What's yours?" 

"Ohh... Sprout, cmon I asked first."

"Well I asked louder! Cmon! You say first!"

"Well, I like chocolate. It's sweet, like you!"

"I-.. I like chocolate too."

Sprout muttered bashful about Cosmo's statement. 

*Thank the stars I'm already red. If I was any other color Cosmo surly would have noticed my face by now."

"Sprout? Your staring off again."

"Oh, yes, sorry."

"You sure your ok?" 

"Are you ok?"

"Oh Cmon Sprout, not this again!"

"heheh, sorry, yea I'm fine."

"Good, then I'm fine too."

They both stood there enjoying each other's company, icing and decorating the cake before they heard a light knock on the door.

"Come in!"

In walked Teagan as she closed the door behind her. 

"Hey you two, how has baking been this evening?"

"Hey Miss Teagan, baking has been fine, we made a perfect vanilla cake this time! What do you think?"

Cosmo then steps back a bit letting Teagan see the cake for herself. As he's talking a step back, he was unaware that Sprout was right behind him. So Cosmo comically falls over knocking Sprout down with him. 

"Oof, sorry Sprout."

"No, i'm sorry I shouldn't have-"

"Hey my dears, lets not play the blame game right now, are you both okay? Not seriously injured I hope? 

"No Miss Teagan we're fine thank you."

Cosmo replied standing up and then helping Sprout up, brushing himself off. Cosmo turned back to Teagan and Sprout left, grabbing the dirty plates and kitchenware going into the back room where the fridge and sink were. 

"Did you need something again Miss Teagan? Sandwiches for tea time tomorrow? Scones? Biscuits?"

"No dear, croissants if you can but please don't go overworking yourself alright hon?"

"Of course Miss Teagan, croissants will be easy enough, anything else?"

"I was also wondering if you and Sprout would like to attend tea time tomorrow. I know you guys are always busy doing your own thing but I think it would be a good idea for you hard working toons to get some rest. You two hardly look like you get any sleep at all! You think I can't see those bags under your eyes? You and Sprout must think I'm stupid..."

Teagan then proceeded to tell Cosmo, and Sprout who was in earshot, off for not resting for sleeping enough. Forcing them out of the kitchen and off to their rooms. 

"Don't you two DARE do anything besides eat, drink water, and sleep for the rest of the night you understand?"

"Yes Miss Teagan.."

Sprout and Cosmo both muttered halfheartedly, biding Teagan a good night as they both walk to their rooms

Sprout sighed, laying on his large ass bed, exhaustion gripping him but sleep just would just not come. 

*Maybe I should ask Astro for help, he knows how to help with sleep.. Maybe I could steal one of his blankets, they're so soft.*

A soft knock was then heard interrupting Sprouts thoughts. Sprout glanced around the room before getting and opening the door. 

"Cosmo? What are you doing here?"

"Hey Sprout, uhh, I couldn't sleep."

"Nor can I right now, come on in Cos."

Cosmo stepped inside Sprouts room and sat on one of the beanbags. 

"Come sit on the bed! I won't bite! Besides it's wayyy more comfortable than that beanbag. 

"O-oh alright"

Cosmo whispered slightly nervous being so close next to Sprout. 

"Wanna sleep together?"

"EH?!"

"What? Me and the other mains do it all the time! We would set up our blankets so we'd all be close to each other and we'd all fall asleep together."

"Oooh, y-yea, that would nice."

Cosmo said looking slightly relieved and Sprout slightly confused. However he brushed it off as Sprout got under his big af blanket raising it allowing Cosmo to come in. 

"Come on, don't go all shy on me now! We're just sleeping next to each other?"

Cosmos bit the inside of his cheek as laid down next to Sprout, his body pressing somewhat close to him. Cosmo face flushing slightly at being so close to him.

"Did Teagan ask for anything before she started to scold us?"

"Oh yes, she asked for croissants."

"That's it? Basically done."

"Oh and can you make some soup tomorrow too?" 

"Sure but why?"

"Shrimpo was looking a little pink so I wanted to get him some soup in case he was sick or something like that."

"Ah, alright then."

Sprout relied confidently. As they both lay there Cosmo turned his back to Sprout as he yawned. 

"Good night Cos.."

"Good night Seedly." 

Cosmo said with a soft chuckle.

"Ughhh, curse Shelly for.. telling you that.."

Sprout murmurer already drifting off to sleep. Cosmo smiled before closing his eyes and drifting off as well.

Chapter Text

Shrimpo was stirring in his sleep, his face contorting to anger before falling in a seamless rhythm. His face would scrunch up, all angry like and then it would fall back to normal. This continued until there was a soft knock at the door.

"Hey, Shrimpo? You awake?"  

Cosmo asked lightly not wanting to enrage the usually angry shrimp. But he knocked so lightly that Shrimpo didn't even hear him in his sleep. Cosmo waited for a few moment before knocking again this time more persistently balancing the soup tray carefully with one hand. 

"Shrimpo? You ok in there?"

"Hey whatcha at Shrimpo's door for?" 

Connie said appearing seemingly out of no where. Cosmo turned around slightly startled. 

"Oh, hi Connie what are you doing here?"

"I was on my way to Gigi's room, Her and Flutter wanted to talk about somethin."

"Oh I see."

"Need me to go through this door to wake him?"

"What?"

"Need me, to go through this door, to wake, the sleeping prince?"

"Uh- Um, O-okay?"

Cosmo replied confused at Connie's statement. At Cosmo's words Connie then proceeded to disappear, Cosmo felt something besides them then the sound of Shrimpo abruptly waking up.

"Huh..? Wha-? CONNIE!? GET OUT OF MY ROOM!"

"Knight in shining armour at your door sleeping beauty, be careful when ya open that door!"

Connie said loudly alerting Cosmo that, he should probably take 2 steps back in case Shrimpo decided to push through his door. Shrimpo then proceeded to push open his door. 

"WHAT DO YOU WANT."

"Hey Shrimpo, I'm gonna get to the point cause I don't want you breaking all the plates in the kitchen again. I saw that you looked a little pink yesterday and so I brought you some soup in case you were sick."

"I'M A SHRIMP. I'M SUPPOSED TO BE PINK."

"Well-, yes-, I-."

Cosmo stopped for a moment to take a deep breath in case things went south.

"You looked pinker than normal yesterday and I thought I would bring over some soup." 

 "FINE. COME IN. DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING. I HATE WHEN PEOPLE TOUCH MY STUFF."

"Oh. Ok."

Cosmo was surprised that Shrimpo didn't anything besides yell at him. As Cosmo walked in he looked around, It's not often anyone gets to see Shrimpo's room. At least not without getting yelled at or punched. 

"So uhh, You feeling ok?"

"WHAT?"

"Well I came here cause you looked a bit sick yesterday. Are you feeling better?" 

"HUH? I UH.."

Shrimpo contemplated what Cosmo said. If he pretended that he was sick he would seem really weak, but on the other hand he would get out of having to go outside and doing one of Dandy's stupid runs. 

"YEA I'M SIck"

He said allowing his voice to crack off a bit. 

"Alright Shrimpo, Sprout's gonna come in later and I'll tell him to excuse you from runs. I'll even take care of you if you'll have me."

Cosmo mumbled feeling a bit shy. 

"O-okay."

Shrimpo replied getting back into bed, watching Cosmo set down the soup tray on his beaten nightstand.

"Uhh, what are you gonna do?"

Shrimpo asked curious on how Cosmo planed on 'taking care of him'.

"Oh, I asked Sprout to make you some soup and I was gonna feed it to you!"

"Oh, okay, so you want me to just like, open my mouth or.?"

"Oh! Right, here."

Cosmo said apologetically getting a spoonful of some of Sprout's soup. 

"Say ahhh."

"AHHHHH."

"Okay, Shrimps no need to shout."

"Shrimps?"

"Oh sorry, little nickname."

"..., no it's fine."

"Oh. Alright then, ahhh."

"Ahh."

Shrimpo mumbled the best he could with his mouth open for soup as Cosmo spoon fed him some soup. 

"See? That wasn't so bad was it? Sprout's cooking is quite good!"

"Uh huh." 

Shrimpo said with his mouth open again looking away from Cosmo with embarrassment.

"Oh sorry here."

Cosmo replied haphazardly, feeding Shrimpo spoon after spoon until the bowl of soup was gone. Cosmo smiled as he placed the spoon into the now empty bowl.

"Now what."

"Well are you cold?"

"I mean, I guess. Kind of?"

Shrimpo gestured to their blanket which was admittedly thin. 

"Would you like uhh, body heat?"

"WHA-? I'M NOT LETTING YOU SLEEP WITH ME!"

"No! It's not like that! I mean like I could sit on the bed with you and you would lay down and I could hold you or something.."

Cosmo's voice trailed off. Shrimpo turned his face away not wanting Cosmo to see the blush on his face.

"FINE, JUST, DON'T Do anything weird."

Shrimpo said remembering halfway that he was supposed to be sick and not screaming. Cosmo then waited till Shrimpo got into a comfortable position before he sat down on his bed and let Shrimpo cuddle up next to him. 

"Aww Shrimpo, your so cute when your all cuddled up like that!"

"SHUT UP, I'm just cold."

Shrimpo who was not cold muttered not wanting to seem weak.

"It's okay Shrimpo, you can rest and if you don't mind.. I'll rest my eyes too.."

Cosmo murmured before drifting off.

*Seriously? This cake roll can't even take care of themselves much less me. I guess I'll help them, BUT JUST THIS ONCE AND ONLY THIS ONCE, I HATE TAKING CARE OF OTHER PEOPLE. its gonna happen again.*

Shrimpo then took his blanket and tried his best to cover it over Cosmo and himself before falling asleep aswell.

Chapter Text

"Mr Sprout? Why haven't we started the run yet today?"

"We're waiting for Cosmo to get back."

"Where is he?"

"I wish I knew Toodles. I gave him some soup to take to Shrimpo but I didn't think it would take this long."

"Sprout you should clam down, I'm sure Cosmo is perfectly fin!" 

Finn chimed in with a small giggle.

"Sprout. We should get going, Dandy is getting impatient. Your just gonna have to be more careful during today's run."

Rodger muttered to Sprout looking over at Dandy's impatient face from inside the elevator. 

"Alright Rodger, will do."

Sprout said before readying himself.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE! WHO'S READY FOR TODAY'S RUN! YEA? LET'S GO!"

Sprout yelled into the small group hyping them up for the run. He then ran towards the nearest unoccupied elevator his group for this run following behind him. His small group consisted of himself, Rodger, Toodles, Finn, Tisha, and Astro. As they entered the elevator Sprout checked that all of them had on half decent trinkets before checking himself. 

"Yep Vee's remote and one of Toodle's plushies. that should be all that I need for this run."

-Welcome to... Floor 1, the rainbow room-

Sprout gave an involuntary shiver as the eerie voice announced their arrival on the first floor. 

"Alright guys remember to alert me if you find any tapes or items that we wouldn't need! I would like to be able to heal you guys!"

Everyone nodded and began to head out as the elevator door opened, Tisha immediately used her ability giving everyone a quick boost before getting to distracting the twisteds on this floor which were twisted Flutter and twisted Teagan. Everyone moved away from her as she lead the twisted to the false elevator making sure there were no machines around before she started looping around the tables. 

"Alright, tapes.. gumballs.. candy.."

Sprout muttered to himself as he ran around looking in every nook and crevice picking up any tapes he found and quickly shoving candy and gumballs into his mouth. 

"You alright Sprout?"

"Huh?! Oh its just you Astro. What's up?"

"It's just that you're out of stamina already and there's only 2 machines done. Are you alright?"

"Ah Astro, you worry too much! I'm fine."

"Alright, if you say so.."

Astro replied as he walked off again quickly disappearing from view. Sprout sighed as he walked around, his eyes landing on Finn who was doing a machine.

"Hey Finn You alright on that machine?"

"Yep! Doing reel-y whale! You doing okay Sprout?"

"Yea just waiting for the elevator to open so we can go to the next floor."

 "Alrighty then, I'll try my best to hurry up on this machine."

"Thank you Finn." Sprout said smiling Finn who was now away from him. 

"Y-yea, of course." Finn said a small smile creeping across his face as Sprout smiled at him. 

-Welcome to... Floor 2, the rainbow room-

"Hey Sprout! I found a hull lot of tapes over here!"

"Alright, I'm coming over!"

Sprout ran over to where Finn was to collect the tapes on the floor.

"Thanks Finn."

*Insert hit sound here*

"OUCH! MR.SPROUT!!!" 

"Ah-, Toodles! I'm coming!"

Sprout yelled before heading in Toodles's direction throwing a cupcake in her direction.

"Oof, back down to 7 tapes. It's okay as long as Toodles is safe. Oh wow the elevator is open."

-Welcome to... Floor 15, the greenhouse room-

"Oh no.. I'm not gonna be fast enough, Sprout you might have to distract.."

"Tisha what do you mean it's just— oh. Is that... Twisted pebble.."

"Yea.."

"Oh wow, this is reel-y bad.."

"Alright everyone do the machines closer to the elevator, me and Astro will do the ones by the false elevator, stay safe, I'll heal you if needed. Remember to hide if twisted pebble come your way. Now go!"

As everyone scattered to do the machines and collect items Sprout and Astro walked out watching twisted pebble carefully. 

"Are you sure this is a good idea? We could just end the run here and ask Dandy to take us back up.."

"Are you kidding? We're only on floor 15, plus we'll be fine, there only a few machines out here and It seems to just be twisted pebble, I don't see any others roaming. Now come on, we got machines to do."

"Alright.."

They almost finished the floor until-

*ARF ARF*

*"AH SHIT WHO DID PEBBLE SEE, PLEASE LET THEM BE OK"*

*CRUNCH*

"OW, THAT REEL-Y HURTS PEBBLE, CLAM DOWN YEa..?" Finn said as he ran to hide behind a shelf trying to calm himself. Thankfully he hid far enough away and twisted pebble lost interest. 

"Astro, finish those last 2, I need to make sure Finn is ok." Sprout said running towards Finn leaving now room for argument. Astro glanced at the last 2 machines and sighed, as he started on the first one he took out a valve, spinning it on the first machine, finishing it, doing the last one normally. 

Sprout quickly reached Finn kneeling by him, quickly handing him a cupcake. 

"You alright, twisted pebble didn't bite you too hard, did he?"

"Y-yea, i'm just, reel-y exhausted right now.." 

"Here let me carry you to the elevator, I'll get Astro to help with your exhaustion."

"Alright, tha- wait what." Finn sputtered out as Sprout lifted him up, carrying him bridal style. 

"Sorry, this is the quickest way to get you to the elevator while your still so tired. Don't worry! I'll protect you!" Sprout said with a smile. Finn blushed slightly, quickly covering his face. 

As they approached the elevator the last machine was finished, Astro's form quickly running back towards the elevator. Tisha quickly swept the floor around the elevator getting everyone in quickly the elevator door shutting.

As they sat there on the elevator floor Dandy came out of the floor with his items.

"Hey! I hope last floor wasn't too rough! I've got some new items right here for ya!" 

Toodles and Rodger walked over to check out Dandy's shop as Astro walked over to Sprout who was setting Finn down.

"Is he ok?" 

"Yea, could you do your magic thingy on him? To make him less tired?"

"After we all get out of the elevator for the next floor, it's better to boost everyone at once."

"Yea your right, here Finn, O'll take you over to Dandy's shop, you can pick out what you need, okay?"

"Y-yea, ok." Finn mumbled this face still red from how close Sprout was to him." 

"Heya Finn and Sprout! Ya want some candy? Maybe a Smoke bomb? Or perhaps a protein bar?"

"A Smoke bomb and protein bar please." Finn replied handing over his tapes.

"Here ya go! You doing alright?"

"Yea, Yea fine, thank you Dandy." 

"My pleasure, bye!" Dandy said as he pulled his level taking him under the elevator. 

-Welcome to... Floor 16, the warehouse room-

Tisha check around the corner making sure it wasn't twisted pebble again.

"All clear! Just commons!"

"Alright, come here real quick." Astro said, using his about when Tisha approached restoring everyone's energy.

"There, you ok now Finn?"

"Yea, thanks a bunch Sprout." Finn said quickly running off, not wanting Sprout to see his blush. Sprout also ran off to the nearest machine, the remote he borrowed from Vee connecting with the machine and finishing it instantly. 

 -Welcome to... Floor 20, Astro's room-

"Hey Astro look, it's your room."

"Yes, I can tell." 

"Woah. Mr Astro, your room is so pretty!"

"Thank you Toodles, your room is very nice as well." Astro replied as they all exited the elevator."

"Yea but your room is huge! With beanbags everywhere!" Toodles replied following Astro as he found a machine, letting Toodles take it. 

"Mhm, The toon handlers, give the mains larger room for some reason."

"I hope I can get a big room like your someday!"

"Someday." Astro agreed. 

-Welcome to... Floor 25, Shelly's room-

"I don't know Sprout, Dandy was really mad on the last floor— is that music playing? ... Dandy?" Rodger asked squinting his one eye as he stepped out of the elevator. 

"Oh dear.." Astro murmured as Rodger ran closer to Twisted Dandy trying to get a better look at him.  

"Rodger, hold on! Don't go running at him like that! You'll get hurt!" Sprout called after him pulling back closer to the elevator."

"But- We've never seen twisted Dandy before! This could be amazing research! We coul-" Rodger started as he was cut off by Sprout.

"Rodger, no, we don't even know how fast Dandy is, hell we don't know anything about his twisted form."

"Exactly! THis is that perfect time to get more informat-"

"No, Rodger, we are all staying out of Dandy's way, don't get caught or seen by him, he could be really dangerous. What if he's as fast as pebble? Tisha, don't distract just focused out of his way and doing the machine ok?" 

"Alright Sprout. Stay near the elevator like the twisted pebble floor?"

"Yea, me and Astro's got this. Stay out of Dandy's way and be careful,all of you, alright?"

"Alright Sprout" Almost everyone replied, Rodger a bit begrudgingly. 

"Alright come on Astro we got a run to finish."

"Right behind you." Astro said as he quietly trailed behind Sprout. 

Chapter Text

-Welcome to... Floor 0, Gardenview's main floor-

"That was a rough run wasn't it?"

"It was, I'm just glad it's over."

"You guys are free to go now! I'll give the extra tapes to Dandy and be on my way."

"Alright Sprout." Mostly everyone said as they exited the elevator with Astro.

"Here, what's left of the tapes."

"Thank you Sprout. Have a, dandy, day!"

"Yea Yea you too, go do what ever you do with those, I'm going."

"Bye bye Sprout!"

Sprout didn't bother replying, He was focused on finding out why Cosmo didn't show up to the run. He sprinted out of the elevator, Dandy watching him go before he climbed out of the elevator himself. 

*Soon..*

"COSMO! COSMO? WHERE ARE YOU? Hey! Gigi!"

"Eh? Oh, hey Sprout whaddaya need."

 "Have you seen Cosmo? He didn't show up to the run today and i'm really wor-"

"Calm down strawberry boy, he's with Shrimpo." 

"WHAT. THAT does not CALM ME in the SLIGHTEST."

"I just figured so.. Erm. Have fun!" Gigi giggled before scrambling off to who knows where. 

Sprout silently groaned. He really really did not want to deal with Sprimpo's temper after such a stressful run.. Well, it had to be done. He walked to Shrimpos room, pressed his ear against the wall. (He learned doing this with the door did not have good results) Huh. No screaming or yelling, that's weird. He slowly opened the door and peaked inside. 

...

...

...

...

...

"Cosmo..?"

*They're... Sleeping?*

The two were lightly snoring in front of Sprout, a slightly worn blanket wrapped around Cosmo with Shrimpo resting just behind him. Shrimpo's face twitched ever so slightly as Sprout stepped inside. Sprout was trying their best to not make too much sound as he stepped closer to the two. He glanced around them. A tray with a soup bowl on the table next to the bed, the bowl empty. 

Sprout sighed, grabbing the soup bowl and brought it out of the room, back to the kitchen, setting it in the sink before returning to Shrimpo's room. He then gently nudged Cosmo awake. 

"gjuh- Huh? Sprout-? Why are you? Aren't you supposed to be at the run?" Cosmo said groggily.

"The run's over. How come you fell asleep?"

"Oh umm-? I fell asleep, sorry." 

"Yes, I know you did, I'm asking how come?"

"Uhuh, was tired.." Cosmo mumbled still not fully awake. 

"Was tired? Next to Shrimpo???" Sprout said, worry lacing his tone, glancing at Shimpo who as still sound asleep, curling slightly closer to Cosmo. 

"sssSorry won't happen again..." Cosmo murmured, wanting to fall back asleep next to Shrimpo. 

Sprout watched as Cosmo fell back onto the back, moving closer to Shrimpo as his tail slightly wagged. A twinge jealousy shot through him before it quickly faded, replaced by indifference, letting him just rest.

"Fine, just.. Be back when you're less tired." Sprout said as he walked out of Shrimpo's room.

Later when Shrimpo wakes up, he notices Cosmo still on his bed but leaves him be.

"OI YOU!"

*sigh* "Shrimpo, it's not nice to shout." Sprout said rubbing his temples. 

"I DON'T CARE."

"Fine.. What do you want this time Shrimpo? No, you can't have plates to break aga-"

"NO, NOT THAT." 

"-in, Oh. Then what?" Sprout asked, not curious about what he was up to. 

"HELP ME COOK."

"what-'

"HELP ME COOK, ARE YOU DEAF?"

"No, no not that, why? You don't really, uh, radiate the patience for cooking..?"

"CAUSE I WANT TO, DUH." Shrimpo said annoyed as if this wasn't the most obvious thing in the world. 

"Well what did you even want to cook?"

"WELL Uhh.."

Sprout physically grimaced. 

"Shrimpo, tell me you at least know who you want to cook for?"

"I JUST WANTED TO DO SOME COOKING, IS THAT SO UNUSUAL?"

"Yes?"

"UGH FINE, I WILL JUST GET COSMO TO HELP ME WHEN HE WAKES UP THEN." Shrimpo said annoyed as he turns to go leave.

"Wait, wait fine, I'll help you cook, just don't disturb Cosmo."

"FINALLY."

"I DON'T THINK THE OVEN IS SUPPOSED TO DO THAT." Shrimpo said gesturing towards the aggressive looking stove. 

"Nah, the oven is fine!" Sprout said as the oven proceeded to spit out a few small sparks. Seeing this Sprout let out a nervous laugh.

"Surely the oven is fine..?"

"DUDE, I DON'T THINK IT'S FINE."

"WHAT DO WE DO!" Sprout yelled now panicked.

"I DON'T KNOW? YOUR THE MAIN TOON HERE." Shrimpo said, grabbing Sprout and hiding behind him, nothing how protective Sprout was even while actively yelling at him.

"WOW REAL HELPFUL."

"THANKS I TEND TO BE."

"Phew, I really thought the oven was gonna explode again." Sprout said with relief, finally prying Shrimpo off of them. Shrimpo was infact hiding behind Sprout as they ddin't wanna deal with whatever kitchen disaster that had the potential for happening. 

"WHATEVER, IT WASN"T THAT BIG OF A DEAL ANYWAYS. 

*sigh* "Sorry about your cooking."

"UGH, I TOLD YOU, IT'S NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL!" Shrimpo yelled. Noticing Sprout still looked guilty they looked annoyed as they moved closer to him, giving his a hug. After the brief hug he quickly ran off, not wanting the small blush to be seen.

"Oh, um, thank you! bye?" Sprout called after him as Shrimpo rushed off. 

"Weird, wonder what the rush is." Sprout murmur to himself before glancing at the dishes in the sink. 

*"Ehh, Tisha has got that."*

Tisha does not got that and not does she ever want to again.