Work Text:
Dandy was pacing around the rug, a small skip in his step as he hummed happily. Today was the day Sprout was coming to Gardenview. Dandy was ecstatic. More friends! More toons to play with.
Astro on the other hand was wary as he played with Pebble’s rocky paws. Learning that he had come to an entirely different reality was already scary enough. He couldn’t imagine Sprout’s reaction towards learning that he was a fictional character come to life. He didn’t want to know how he’d react to being stuck with the two toons he’s barely interacted with.
Dandy spinned, his hands clasped together. “This is gonna be great! He’s gonna love Gardenview. There’s so much we can do together! Arthur brought in some board games we could play with more toons now that they’re getting better at toon creation.”
“I’m glad you’re happy.” Astro said with a small smile.
“Of course I am! He’s gonna love it here, I’ll make sure of it!”
The door finally opened. There he was. Sprout Seedly. Looking at them with a big smile. He looked the same as they remembered. Just more 3D now.
“Sprout. Meet Astro, Dandy, and Pebble.“ Arthur said as he gestured towards the toons sitting on the rainbow-colored carpet. “Astro, Dandy, and Pebble. Meet Sprout. I hope you all get along.”
Delilah was right beside Arthur as she scribbled onto her clipboard. “Sprout. Let us know if you have any problems like breathing, walking, or anything else that is bothering you.”
Sprout shook his head. “Don’t worry Delilah! I’m alright the way I am.”
“And we know that. But we’re still perfecting the process of this whole toon making and we don’t want you to have anything that would make your life harder. Dandy over there had a breathing problem, but we fixed it asap!” Arthur said as he patted Sprout’s shoulder. “So don’t hesitant to come to us, okay?”
“Okay! Will do.” Sprout smiled widely.
“Alright now, you four have fun and behave. If you guys go out, please be back here by 7 pm so we can check your vitals. We’ll be going now. Business and all that junk.“ Delilah nudged him causing Arthur to chuckle. He then closed the door leaving the four mains to converse amongst themselves.
“Sprout!” Dandy ran up to hug him. “It’s so great to see you! Welcome to Gardenview.”
Sprout patted Dandy back, not really reciprocating the hug. “This place is way different than home.”
Dandy pulled away from him and wagged his finger. “Silly. This is your new home!”
“Oh. It’s…” Sprout trailed off, looking around the clustered room.
“…He didn’t mean this entire room is home.” Astro said as he got up from the carpet. “Everything is still being built. You’re gonna have your own room later on.”
“Oh! Oh Astro, I didn’t see you there. And…is that Pebble I see?” Sprout grinned as he knelt down. “Hey boy! Come here and give me a big ol’ welcome hug.”
Pebble simply stared at him from behind Astro, his dark eyes boring into his soul. Sprout’s lips thinned the longer he held out his hands. This was getting awkward. He then went to the corner of the room and started to nap.
“Okay. I expected that.” Sprout sighed as he got up. “I already got the rundown that it’s just us four for a while until the others get here. But I still want to ask. Is Cosmo gonna be here soon? I already miss my buddy.”
“He will! He will! Delilah and Arthur are working as fast as they can to get everyone here!” Dandy said as he rocked back and forth.
“How long did it take you guys to get here?” Sprout questioned.
“Oh well. I was the first one. Then Pebble came after four mont-“
“Four months!?” Sprout shrieked. He pointed at Astro. “How long did it take you to get here?”
“…A year.” Astro hid half his face with his blanket in shame.
“Astro is a little bit of a special case with all his magic stuff. It was hard to stablize him.” Dandy put his hands on his hips, smiling wide. “But here he is! All healthy and magical as ever.”
“A year…” Sprout took a step back as he looked at the floor. “A whole year…”
The three toons were silent. You could hear a pin drop from how quiet it was.
Dandy decided to break the silence. “Hey! How about we show you around Gardenview! Well, most of it. It’s, y’know…some parts are still being built. But there’s still some places we can show you than sticking around here!”
“…I can go by myself. I just need to go take a walk.” Sprout walked towards the other door that connected to a different part of Gardenview.
Astro took a step towards him worriedly. “You’re gonna get lost. Let us show you around firs-“
Sprout turned around as he placed his hand on the doorknob. His smile felt fake. “I’ll be okay! You’re really such a worrywart you know. I’ll see you two later.”
And then there was three. Astro looked at Dandy worriedly. Dandy only shrugged with a smile.
“Let’s give him some space. I’m sure he’ll be fine and ready to serve up a smile once he comes back. I can’t wait to have his cooking again.”
Astro shot him with a puzzled look.“You’ve complained about his food on multiple occasions…?”
“Yeah. A toon can change. Maybe I just missed his burnt food. There’s a charm to charcoal-like food, Astro.” Dandy said in a joking manner.
Astro snorted. “Okay sure, Dandy.”
“Anyways! Let’s play some more board games. I wanna beat Vee when she comes to Gardenview.” Dandy ran to rummage through the cabinet filled with cluttered games and papers.
“Alright then.” Astro didn’t really think he’d win. Especially since Vee is the equivalent to a super computer. But whatever makes him happy.
Hours passed by as they played together. Unfortunately that didn’t last long as Dandy fell asleep from being sleep deprived. He had stayed up all night rehearsing what he’d say to Sprout or how he’d act around him to make him comfortable. Astro still didn’t have a good grasp of his power compared to how he was in a 2D space, so he couldn’t knock Dandy out as quickly as he did before.
Astro looked at the clock. It was six pm. Sprout is still not in the room. Worry crept into his mind. Is he lost? Did he get hurt?
He glanced towards the sleeping toons. He didn’t want to bother them. Time for a solo mission. Astro quietly shuffled out of the room, locking the door behind him as quietly as he could.
If he was Sprout, where would he be? The kitchen. The kitchen!? What if he started a fire!?
He sprinted down the hall, skidding to a halt as he reached the kitchen. The lights were on. He dashed in. He then realized that was a bad idea because now…he was sliding. At a rapid speed. Curse his socks! He slammed into the marble counter, a loud bang reverberated against the empty kitchen, before falling onto the floor.
He groaned loudly as he curled into himself. Not his best moment. He weakly looked up. No signs of a fire, no smell of a fire, no damages from a fire. Everything was fine. Astro thudded his head back onto the polished floor. Did he get hurt for nothing…?
His chest throbbed from the pain, a bruise surely forming from the impact. He was just…gonna lie here…for a bit. Dandy was sure to fuss over him before laughing at him for how he got the bruise in the first place.
Sprout? He knows he’d probably scold him. Maybe he won’t do anything at all. Can’t do anything. After all, he doesn’t even know if he still retained his abilities from the show. Astro’s abilities were more…simplified. He had more. He knows he did. But if he did have the same range of abilities he had in the show, he would surely break.
It was a miracle he even stabilized within a year. He couldn’t even maintain his form for long when he was first created. His magic hurt to use too, always backfiring and caused him to become exhausted and pass out for an entire day after using it only once. He was lucky that Delilah and Arthur were so patient and kind to him during his stabilization process.
He exhaled heavily. The pain was going away steadily enough that he could get up now. He only has a limited amount of time to search for the strawberry toon before Arthur and Delilah come back. He didn’t want to explain that they had just lost the toon they had spent months creating. They would look. Astro grimaced. Disappointed.
He has to find him.
He slowly got up, clutching onto his bruised chest as he felt a pang of pain shoot through him. He groaned, but nonetheless continued to trudge on. There was only two floors to look through. He hopes he’s not hiding anywhere.
He walked down the hallway, the walls feeling suffocating as he panicked internally. He pressed the elevator buttons, watching the numbers as they went up. Sprout went down. He quickly adjusts his blankets as he walked into the elevator, the heavy door shutting behind him as he pressed the down button.
He walked out of the elevator and into the Lobby. There he was, standing in front of the newly planted tree. His expression unreadable.
Astro took a deep breath before groaning in pain from his injury. He really should’ve slowed down before. Sprout quickly turned around to the source of the sound and met eyes with Astro.
“Astro?” Sprout started to speed walk towards him. “Are you okay? You sound like you’re in pain.”
Astro shook his head. “I’m fine. I’m more worried about you. It’s almost 7 pm. We should start heading back now before Delilah and Arthur come back.
Sprout stayed silent. He looked back at the tree and the light above them. He couldn’t see his face from this angle, but his shoulders were tense.
“How long are we gonna be here?” Sprout’s voice was quiet.
“…A long time.” Astro replied softly, worried that if he raised his voice even a little he would scare Sprout.
“…This…this is the only tree I’ve seen in this whole place.” Sprout pointed at the small sapling. “We—there—there was more trees back home.”
“I know.”
“Why can’t we stay home? This place feels…cramped!” Sprout shouted.
“I know.”
Sprout turned to look at him. His expression made his heart ache. “…Is that all you can say…?”
Astro broke eye contact, opting to look at the floor. “…I’m sorry.”
“…Whatever. Let’s go.” Sprout said as he shoved past him.
Unfortunately that shove was right where the bruise was. Astro let out a sharp cry of pain, almost falling over if not for Sprout holding onto his shoulders. Sprout tried to ask him what was wrong but he could barely hear him over his swirling thoughts.
He should’ve just let Sprout do whatever he wants. He should’ve stayed in and took a nap. Delilah and Arthur should deal with him if he was gonna get hurt trying to find him.
Astro grumbled and smacked the hands that held his shoulders with his stars. Sprout didn’t dare say anything else after he saw his glare. Astro clicked the elevator buttons, walking in even slower than before. Sprout moved to the corner of the elevator, his scarf twitching anxiously.
The elevator ride up was eerily quiet. Astro didn’t spare a glance towards Sprout. Sprout couldn’t stop looking at Astro, his hand rubbing harshly on his arm.
Dandy was right at the elevator once the door opened, one his feet tapping onto the floor with his hands on his hips. “There you guys are. I was getting worried!”
Astro gave him a weak smile before walking past him to the room. Dandy had to stop once he saw his reaction. Usually he’d be saying something to him. He looked over to see Sprout rubbing his arm, his scarf twitching erratically as he followed the direction Astro was going.
Weird. Did something happen between them? He can’t have that! He just got here!
“Sprout! Buddy. Ol’ chum. Are you okay?” Dandy said as he wrapped his arm around his torso. He hated how short he was.
“What? I always am. Why are you asking? Do I look not okay?” Sprout stopped rubbing his arm, instead just crossing them in defense.
“Woah. Touched a nerve there. You just looked worried. I’m here for you if you wanna talk about it!” Dandy smiled.
Sprout’s lips turned downwards at that and looked away. “I’m okay. Stop worrying.”
Sprout walked past him and into the room. Dandy stood there for a few seconds. He thought he would’ve been a bit more optimistic. I mean. He’s alive now! Moving. Breathing! Outside of the 2D world! Isn’t that amazing in itself?
He doesn’t understand. Maybe he needs to be more friendly! He can be the bestest friend he could have until Cosmo rolls in.
Dandy closes the door behind him and is met with immediate tension. Astro was sitting on the rug, more huddled into his blanket with an irritated expression. Sprout was in the corner making himself small. He seemed very focused on looking at Astro.
Before Dandy could try to talk to him, the door suddenly clicked. Arthur and Delilah had come back.
“We’re back! Did you guys have fun together? Did you miss us?” Arthur said as he took off his coat and hung it on the wooden coat rack.
“We weren’t even gone that long, Arthur.” Delilah shook her head in fond exasperation. She grabbed the clipboard on the desk and clicked her pen. “Sprout. Did you have any trouble today?”
Sprout snapped out of staring and smiled. “No ma’am! No problems at all today. I told you I’m alright!”
“Good. That’s good. Did you four have fun today?” Delilah said as she looked at the four mains.
“Yep!” Sprout held his scarf tightly.
“Kind of? I fell asleep earlier and Sprout wandered off before that.” Dandy said as he rocked back and forth.
Delilah looked at Astro if he wanted to give some input, but he refused to say anything, his eyes cold as looked at the foor. Pebble nudged his leg and only then did his expression softened. He started to play with him with his stars, swirling them around as Pebble tried to catch them. Sprout frowned when he realized Astro wasn’t gonna talk, moving his hand up to fidget with his scarf.
After the check-up they were sent to an empty room with color-coded sleeping bags. Arthur apologized for their sleeping conditions. Delilah explained that it was temporary until they build the main rooms for them. Sprout gave a thumbs-up as the founders waved good-bye, the door closing behind them.
Astro was already asleep once Sprout got into his sleeping bag. Dandy sleeping besides Astro, while Pebble was sleeping next to hus owner, leaving him to be…alone. An outsider. He huffed annoyed at this predicament and flopped to his side, curling into the sleeping bag. He really missed home. He missed his best friend.
The days went on with Sprout isolating himself even more. Dandy had tried to be overly nice, dragging him to play board games, making him small little gifts. But Sprout only smiled and waved him off, rejecting any of the gifts given to him. Dandy gave up. He opted to stick with Astro until the other toons arrived. In contrast, Astro didn’t want to bother Sprout at all. He was still holding a grudge over the injury he required and how Sprout had made it worse by shoving him.
But he felt bad. Sprout seemed to be tossing and turning a lot im his sleep. He’s started to turn in for the night earlier than both of them. Probably to make the days go faster so he could see Cosmo. Did he feel like an outsider since Dandy and him are best friends? Pebble didn’t seem to want to interact with Sprout at all too.
This must be hard on him given their first actual conversation was about how different this place was compared to home. He understands the feeling too well. He missed sitting on the moon. He missed how big the world was. How he could just travel on the moon to look at sights that no one else could see. He missed roaming freely.
He missed home too.
But this was their new reality. In an enclosed space that will be filled with more of his friends and people who look like Delilah and Arthur. Even though Dandy is his best friend, he can’t help but miss Brightney and Dazzle. He missed reading and discussing books with them. Enjoying the silence as they drank their favorite drinks.
He gets it. He really does. That’s why he’s here. Watching Sprout look at the tree sapling again. It was dark and the stars were already out. Dandy and Pebble were asleep when Sprout decided to slip out of the room. Astro had to muster all the courage he could to be here. Sprout noticed him, his eye darting towards his figure, but didn’t say anything as he looked back at the tree. Astro decided to take the first step towards him.
“Hey.” Astro said as he stood beside him.
“…Hey.” Sprout mumbled.
“Missing home?”
“Kind of.” Sprout shrugged.
“…I miss it too.” Astro admitted.
“…This is the first you’ve talked to me in a while.”
“…Yeah.”
“Is your injury okay?”
“Yes. It is.”
“Good. That’s good.” Sprout exhaled. “I got worried I shoved you too hard that you got hurt.”
Astro’s eye lowered. “…No I…I got hurt before I met up with you.”
Sprout’s head snapped towards Astro. “What…?”
“But I’m fine now. I’m okay.” Astro said reassuringly. “Really I am. Don’t worry.”
“How did you get hurt?” Sprout said with a worried expression.
He hated those eyes. He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I’m j-“
“I can heal you.”
Astro whipped his head so quickly that the tail end of the night cap smacked Sprout’s face. “You can?”
Sprout had to grit his teeth from saying anything about the night cap. He didn’t want to make Astro leave when he’s clearly still hurt. “Yeah. Delilah said I can heal toons with my ability.”
Astro tilted his head. “…Do you know how to use it?”
Sprout rubbed his hands together. “We’re about to find out.”
Sprout concentrated hard as he visualized a cupcake to appear in his hands. Apparently that’s what he needed to do heal toons. After five minutes. Nothing happened.
“Ah…I—I guess I don’t—” Sprout’s voice cracked, his hands shaking in place. “I can’t heal you.”
Sprout started to tear up, his eyes becoming red, his lip wobbling and thinning as he tried hard not to cry. He couldn’t believe it. He was crying in front of a toon he was trying to reassure. Pathetic.
“Don’t look at me. Please don’t look at me.” Sprout said weakly.
Suddenly he felt arms curl around him. The cold sensation made him shiver. He felt Astro force him to lean on him. He couldn’t stop the sob that escaped him.
“You can cry. It’s okay.” Astro said softly. “I was like this too.”
“You were…?” Sprout hiccuped.
“Mhm. Dandy too. But he was always better at bouncing back from a situation than me.“ Astro sighed. “Do you miss Cosmo?”
Sprout’s shoulders jerked sharply at the mentioned name. “I do. I really do. If he were here,” Sprout laughed. “If he were here we would’ve already tried baking right now. Destroying the kitchen before any of the other toons arrived.”
“Mm.” Astro nodded.
“But…he’s not…and now I have to wait for months for him to be here. Maybe even years. I’ve never been separated from him before. Why did…why do we exist here? What’s the point?“
“…Apparently we’re here to teach people that look like Delilah and Arthur about subjects we’re good at. Gardenview is going to be museum.”
“…But I’m a chef. I had a job back home. I don’t know this place. I don’t know what’s even happening anymore…”
“I know. It’s a lot to take in.” Astro squeezed him. “I’m sorry you’ve been separated from Cosmo. But I don’t want you to feel alone. Neither does Dandy.”
Sprout finally lifted his head to look at Astro. His face streaked with tears. He laughed wetly. “I feel like I’m a third wheel if I’m being honest.”
Astro wiped away his tears with his fingers. “We’ll try not to be like that? We really wanna hang out with you. Maybe we can…renew our friendship? Treat this as a clean slate from the show.”
Sprout sniffled. “I’m sorry for being such a jerk.”
“I’m sorry that I was cold to you for the last few days.”
“Oh yeah. Again. How did you get hurt?”
Astro’s face grew hot from embarrassment. “I…accidentally slammed into the kitchen counter…trying to look…for you.”
“You what!?” Sprout grabbed his shoulders. “Did you tell Delilah and Arthur about this!? It’s been a few days now too! What if you broke something!?”
“I’m still breathing? I wouldn’t want to bother th-“ Astro was suddenly being pulled up by the scruff of his pajama collar.
“We’re going right now!” Sprout lets go of his collar and opted to grab his hand instead, dragging him to the elevator.
Astro whined about this but still went with him anyways. Delilah looked at his x-rays while Arthur scolded him. Luckily he hadn’t fractured anything. Unluckily he wasn’t able to leave for another hour since Arthur was very adamant about the importance of safety.
The four mains relationships seem to have improved after that day. Sprout started to join in on the activities, often complaining about losing to Dandy every time they played board games. Pebble started to play with him more than before, often giving him a stick for him to throw. He even started to talk to Astro more since compared to Dandy, he was a better listener. It was also nice to sometimes talk about Dandy’s antics getting to them. Common ground for the both of them.
One day, he had invited Astro and Dandy to try cooking with him. It was a disaster. Sprout wanted to try to make tomato sauce instead of using the jar version. Unfortunately he had not learned his lesson on his own strength since he was practically thrown off the stool from the sheer force of the blender spinning. Tomato sauce was everywhere. The walls were covered with it.
Dandy was surprisingly strong enough to hold stand mixer as it created the pizza dough needed for the recipe. Astro only helped with getting the ingredients with his multiple arms and was in charge of using the oven since he read up the manual on how to use it. Unfortunately he was in the splash zone of the tomato storm.
Dandy and Sprout laughed at his misfortune as he grumbled over his ruined blanket. He was taking it off when he felt a damp towel wipe his face. He tried move away before he felt a hand holding onto his shoulder firmly.
“Sorry!” Sprout laughed. “Almost done, c’mon.”
Astro huffed as he stayed still, closing his eye so the material wouldn’t get in. Once Sprout was finished, his patted his shoulder. He opened his eye to see him smiling widely, holding the tomato covered towel in hand.
“Good as new. Although I can’t say the same for you hat.”
“Thanks.” Astro said with a monotone.” I really hope your floor will have shorter counters. This is ridiculous…”
“I don’t want to hear you complaining! I had to climb on the counter! Climb!” Dandy shouted angrily.
“Sorry that you’re below average height, Dandy.” Sprout grinned cheekily.
“Ohhh. That’s how you wanna play, huh?” Dandy clicked the off button on the machine. He then grabbed a piece of dough and threw it full speed at Sprout.
The dough hit Astro’s head instead. “Ow! Dandy!”
“Sor-“ Before he could apologize, his face was smacked by tomato sludge. He quickly wiped it off his face and looked at the two toons. “Who did that!?”
Sprout whistled while Astro tried to stop himself from laughing, covering his mouth with his hand. Dandy dramatically put a hand on his chest as he pointed at the two. “Which on of you did it? Fess up! Or face the consequences.”
“It wasn’t me.” Sprout quickly pointed at Astro. “It was him!”
“No I didn’t!” Astro said inbetween laughing. “Sprout you did that, you liar.”
“I would never!” Sprout said dramatically, smiling even wider when Astro started to laugh even louder. He put his hands on his hips “Dandy, would I ever lie to you?”
“Yes!?” Dandy shouted.
“Oh. Yeah I would.” A piece of dough smacked onto his arm.
It was so on.
The kitchen was chaos as the two threw food at each other. Astro had to sneak away behind the entrance to the kitchen as the two squabbled. Apparently they were too loud since Delilah was right behind him watching the fight ensue. She was also holding a camcorder.
It was only when Arthur came around that they stopped. The kitchen was unrecognizable. Aside from the huge mess they were gonna have to clean up, he was baffled to see that Delilah had recorded the entire ruckus. She said that it’s for research. He shook his head in disappointment and complained that she should’ve stopped them earlier, but she only shrugged and grinned widely.
The toons were forced to clean up with the founders seeing that it was their fault the kitchen ended up that way. After that they were sent to bed, Dandy passed out first, exhausted from wiping the floor. Pebble curled around his side, snoring peacefully as his tail slowly stopped wagging.
Astro yawned as he shuffled into his own sleeping bag that was next to Dandy before hearing the sound of something moving beside him. Sprout had dragged his sleeping bag closer to him. He avoided Astro’s gaze bashfully as he slipped into his sleeping bag.
“Are you okay?” Astro whispered.
“Don’t make this weird. Just go back to sleep...” Sprout said as turned around, his back facing Astro.
Astro only smiled fondly and chuckled. He gently patted his back with his hand. “Okay. Sweet dreams, Sprout.
“…Good night.” Sprout mumbled as he hid further into the sleeping bag.
Sprout curled into himself, his face warm. He really doesn’t understand why that made his heart race.