Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Dandy and Astro were currently drawing. They were the only toons at gardenview beside Pebble, so it's not like they had a lot to do, well. Astro and Pebble didn’t. Dandy was usually busy doing dandy things, whatever that meant. Dandy looked up at Astro “So.. did you hear?” Astro put down the red pencil he was holding. “..uhh… what?” Dandy also disposed of his pencil, by putting it in Pebble’s mouth to hold. “Okayyy sooO! Don’t tell ANYBODY i told you butttt… my handler said we’d be getting new friends!” He smiled widely while kicking his legs. Astro looked unsure. Other toons? But he liked it just being him and Dandy. There was nobody there to judge them! Besides their handlers, but Devan wasn’t judgy at all and Austin was supportive of anything he did. “Uh… are you sure this is a good idea..”

“oh it wasn't my idea! I was just told yesterday! Apparently they’ll be finished in like a week! We get to help decorate their rooms!” Astro just picked back up his pencil and continued drawing. “Uh.. yeah. Yeah. sure.”

Astro was peacefully drawing for a few seconds before he heard yelling “PEBBLE! BAD DOG! BAD!!” Astro looked up and saw Dandy struggling to the the pencil back “didnt you… give the pencil to him..” dandy just looked at astro. “Uh-” “dandy you idiot..” he smiled. Dandy just turned back to pebble and stared at him. “..at least we know where he gets his staring problem..” dandy let out a mock gasp in offense. “GASP!! What does THAT mean novalite!!” “I've.. Never seen you blink dandy. Can you try blinking..” Dandy proceeded to squint his eyes around halfway. Then opened his eyes wide again. Then did it again. “..i cant.” Astro just blinked for a second “Astro stop flexing! That's so mean!” “I’m… not flexi-” “so mean.” Astro just went back to drawing. “HEY! Dont ignore me!” “heh..” “Did you just say heh.”

Austin walked in just to see Dandy and Astro staring at each other. “Am I interrupting something?” He leaned on the doorframe and raised an eyebrow. The three turned to him. Yes. even pebble. Astro blinked. “..can they just.. Not blink?” “no.. I believe not..” “..Why didn’t the company make them able to blink..?” “..i don’t know but it's freaking me out….” Austin grabbed Astros hand “Well. I came in here to grab you guys. Devan insisted we play monopoly together. Dandy gasped “I LOVE MONOPOLY!!” astro stared at him for a moment. Clearly judging him. “last time we played it you flipped the board and said ‘I hate this game and I hate all of you’ then stormed away..” Dandy huffed and looked away. Pebble started barking at him to pick him up. Dandy looked down and scooped up pebble in his arms. The four walked out of the room.

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“Dandy? Are you still mad?”
Astro looked at Dandy. Who was giving him the cold shoulder. “..maybe.” Astro sighed while smiling. “Dandy..its just a game dear…” “dont call me that. Im mad at you.” “Okay, dandicus-” “OKAY NOT MAD ANYMORE!” Astro giggled. Dandy crossed his arms before they both turned their head toward the door. They heard pebble scratching at it. Astro stood up and opened the door and pebble immediately ran in. “hey Pebs.” astro scooped pebble up before sitting back down on his and dandys bed. Placing pebble on his lap. Dandy started petting pebble while looking back at astro. “Anyways!!!” “...you suck at monopoly.” “HOW CAN YOU SUCK AT MONOPOLY, ASTRO!? THATS NOT POSSIBLE!!!!” “Stop yelling at me.” Astro stared at dandy. Dandy took his hand away from pebble and put both on his hips. “Yessiry!!” astro turned his head town to look at pebble. He started petting pebble again, dandy stood up. “Imma go grab some candy and sodas. Wanna come with?” Astro looked down at pebble who was just sitting on his lap. “Uh... sure.” Dandy grabbed pebble and held him in his arms as astro stood up. Astro grabbed onto dandys arm as they walked out since they couldn't hold hands.
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“Jeez. they really are inseparable, huh?” Devan spoke with a smile on his face as he added some cream and sugar to an Astro themed coffee cup before putting it to the side and adding the same to a dandy one. “Yeah. it's crazy. It's sad they can't be like this in public though. Some people are so judgy." Austin rolled his eyes as devan placed the cup in front of him. “Thanks.” “No problem, dude.” Devan sat across from him. He turned around and stared at the old tv broadcasting the hallway outside of pebble, dandy, and astros room before turning back to look at Austin. “So. how's finding recruits for the new toons?” Austin looked down at the clipboard. “Someone sent in a resume on saturday, she seemed friendly from the short interaction security and our secretary had with her. Heres her resume.” he slid it over.

Devan picked up the clipboard and started reading while sipping on his coffee. “Shannon, huh? She seems like a good fit. Good with kids. Likes trivia. We need to ponder a bit more, but I think she's good for an in-person interview!” Devan slid the clipboard back over. Austin took it back and put it to the side. He also started drinking his coffee. Austin put his cup down. “So, we haven't just... Talked in a while. Nor hung out as just friends.” devan hummed, bringing the mug away from his mouth. “Yeah. last time we hung out was what… college?” Austin chimed in. “last time we even just talked normally was before we started caring for our boys” devan started laughing. “Dude whats so funny.” “OUR BOYS?! Dude, you sound like a dad!” “I basically AM a dad, Dev!” the two laughed for a few minutes before calming down.

“Hah…okay… but yeah... We haven't just spoken in a while.” Austin wiped a tear from his eye. “So, uh. Whats been going on with you lately” Devan seemed to think for a moment “hmm… well, the caffeine addiction from college has gotten worse….” he paused. Thinking. “I guess we really are dads now, huh?” “yeah. We really are. Man. i remember when we used to talk about girls and what we were gonna do when we were out of college.” Devan drank some of his coffee. “Yeah. you wanted to be a nurse and i-" "uh dude... Turn around." Devan turned around and looked at the camera. They saw dandy and astro running to their room. Astros hat in dandys hat full of candy. "Those LITTLE-"
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Dandy and astros door slammed open "YOU ARENT SUPPOSED TO HAVE THAT!" Devan was there and he looked mad. Austin was behind him and just shrugged before walking away.

"it was dandys idea." Astro said calmly. Devan turned to dandy and raised an eyebrow. Dandy looked shocked, angry, and offended all at the same time. "ASTRO YOU SMURF LOOKING TATTLETAIL!! YOU HELPED!!!!"

Chapter Text

Dandy was struggling to hold a box. It was filled with dinosaur memorabilia, as well as some shelves and stuff of the sort. Meanwhile Astro was hanging a calendar up in the empty room. It had some yellow wallpaper and brown carpet as well as a bedframe and that was it. “ASTRO! A little help please??” Astro moved over to where Dandy is and used his magic sparkle thingys to hold the box “augh… thanks loVeee…” Dandy rubbed his arms. “No problem.” he put the box on the floor. Astro started taking stuff out. “Dandy. Can you put up the shelves?” Dandy walked over to the box and took out some wooden shelves and nails. “Uh. okay!” Dandy proceeded to immediately hit his finger with a hammer. “Uh- nevermind.. I’ll go get my handler, stay here.” Astro left the room.

Dandy sat on the floor and looked around. It was interesting how the room was themed. They also had another box for a strawberry themed toon, and a box they hadn’t opened! In short, they had a lot to do today.

Austin and Astro came back into the room. Austin had bandaids in his hand. He leaned down to Dandys eye level before unwrapping one of the bandaids and putting it on his thumb. “Here. let me put it up. You two can decorate.” he stood back up and grabbed the shelf. Some nails. And the hammer. And he actually successfully put it up!! Dandy and Astro went over to the box and started taking out the various fossils, dinosaur figures, dinosaur plushies, stuff of that sort. They put the items on the shelf. Sometimes stepping back to admire their work. After the box was emptied they went over to a different one which had more decorations! Astro took a rolled up rug out. He unrolled it and put it down on the floor. Dandy took a standing shelf out, which he immediately put back. “I am not trying THAT again!” he smiled. Astro rolled his eye with a smile on his face. “Finneee i’ll do ittt..” he took the shelf out and put it together easily. Dandy let out a mock gasp in offense. He stomped his foot on the ground with his hands on his hips, clearly trying not to laugh. “WOWWW!! HOW COME YOU CAN DO IT BUT I CAN'T!” Astro stared at him “..no arms.” “‘no arms’ YOU HAVE FOUR!!!” “Nuh uh. Shush.” he just moved back over to the box “i am NOT gonna shush! That's so mean!” he frowned. Astro ignored him. He continued placing stuff on the display shelf. Dandy gasped before just giving up being mad. He sighed and walked over.

“Dandy. Can you hang these?” Astro handed him some rolled up posters. Dandy scooped them up in his arms similar to how he holds Pebble, speaking of Pebble. Where was he? Whatever. Probably with their handlers.

“Okay. I'll go grab some thumbtacks! Be right back.” Dandy started walking out. But Astro interrupted. “Uh. aren't only handlers able to access anything dangerous?” “It’ll be fine!! I’ll be back in a flash!” Astro just sighed and nodded. Dandy left the room.
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Dandy skipped down the hallway. On his way to the elevator. He got in and took a key out of his pocket. He put it in the lock on the little glass door covering a bunch of buttons. He opened the small glass panel and clicked a button for one of the warehouses.

He listened to the elevator tune as he went down. Suddenly it ended. It was dead quiet in the elevator. “Uh.. hello?” why did he say that? There was nobody else in there but him. Probably just a glitch in the sound system. Nothing to worry about. He shifted the posters so they were under his arm instead of them being in both of his arms.

Around 2 minutes later the elevator stopped. He stepped out into the warehouse. It was pretty barren. Around nothing in there. He went to a crate that said “HANDLERS ONLY”. He opened it and took out a container of thumbtacks. He counted the posters under his arm and took out 6 since that was the amount of posters he had. He put them in his shirt pocket.

He got back in the elevator and clicked the button for the floor his and Astros room were on. The elevator music didn't start back up. He counted the tiles on the floor in the elevator while waiting to get back up.

“One… two..”

He counted around 100 tiles by the time the elevator ride ended. He stepped out, he started walking back to the mysterious dinosaur loving toons room. He saw Astro setting up some stools and a small tea table. “Hello, dear. Welcome back. Do you have the thumbtacks?”

He took them out of his shirt pocket with a smile.”got 'em right here!” Astro moved over to him. “Perfect. Let's hang these up. You hold the posters in place, I'll put the pins in to hold them up.”

Dandy placed down the posters and picks one back up. He goes over to a wall and opens the rolled up poster. “Discover fun; with Shelly!” Dandy stared at it, an eyebrow raised. “Shelly, huh?” Astro moved behind him and peaked over his shoulder. “..she looks nice.” “Yeah!..is she a uh… cinnamon roll?” They heard another voice from the door. “She's an ammonite shell.” They turned and saw Austin leaning on the door frame. He fully stepped into the room. “Some sort of fossil. I dunno. Are those..thumbtacks?-” “NO!” Dandy hid them behind his back. Some of them dropped on the floor however. Austin raised an eyebrow. “Dandy. You could’ve just asked to use them.” Austin crossed his arms. “Sigh… just let me help.” he grabbed the posters and the thumbtacks.

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Devan walked to his and Austin's room. A clipboard in hand. They got a new resume today. For someone named ‘Sam Mclaughlin.’ They were gonna interview Shannon in 2 days, so on sunday. He sat on his bed and reviewed the resume. They seemed like a good fit, but they DID seem to have an attitude. Almost a perfect fit for the third one. He’d have to wait until Austin got there though. Since the two were basically in charge of EVERYTHING. Apparently their bosses were too “busy”. Which is code for being lazy. However whenever someone complains about Dandy and Astro being a bit too close suddenly they’re involved in EVERYTHING. Whatever. He needed this job. He read it over a few more times before standing up. He left the room. He walked down the hallway, into the employee lounge. He went over to the coffee machine and picked up his usual mug. He grabbed his walkie talkie

“Hey. A new interview came in. Come to the lounge ASAP, over.”

He put down the walkie. He started brewing a cup of coffee. The walkie sparked to life.

“Helping the little guys with decorating. I don't trust them alone with thumb tacks. I’ll be there soon.”

Devan raised an eyebrow. If he didn't trust them with thumbtacks, why would he leave them alone with them in a room? Even if they were hung up? Whatever. Not his problem.

Wait, it was his problem. That involves Dandy. He picked up the walkie “WHY THE ,HELL ARE YOU LEAVING TACKS WITH THEM?!” “Don’t worry. I’ll safety proof them. I’m not an idiot, Devan.” Devan heard another voice over the radio “YOU’RE BABYPROOFING THUMB TACKS?!” well, he didn't know Dandy was in hearing range. “Gotta continue decorating, over.” “HEY WAIT!-” Devan turned the walkie off. He poured the coffee into the mug before going over to the mini fridge. He took out some cream. He poured it in and stirred it before adding two sugar packets. He stirred and thought for a moment before adding 3 more. He stirred it one more time before going over to the old tvs. He watched Austin step out of Shelly's soon to be room. A few minutes later the door opened. “Hey. you said we got a new resume?” Devan turned around. He grabbed the clipboard and sat back down at the circular table. “Yep. for a person named ‘sam mclaughlin.’ they seem like a good fit for 0-3.” He slid it over to Austin. He looked it over a few times. “A few tiny notes though.” he looked up at Devan. “Yeah?” Devan took a sip of his coffee before continuing. “They seem to have a bit of an attitude. And they aren’t that friendly.” “Well, I guess we’ll have to see if we do end up interviewing them. Did you also make me a cup?” Devan took another sip of his coffee. “Uh, no. But I can pour you a cup really quickly.” Austin stood up “I got it.”

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Pebble was currently wandering the halls when he heard murmuring from a room.

“Yeah..i wonder how long we have to stay here.”
“They say we’re supposedly adjusting well! I wonder which one of us will be able to leave first….”
“I think it's you, Shelly. I saw on the cameras them holding a box of fossil stuff.” huh. That's odd. Welp! Back to finding people to give him treats! He continued walking down the halls. WAIT! The people could give him treats! He moved back over and started barking and clawing at the door.
“Uh…”
“Vee, cameras.”
“Okay, Seedly.”
“I’m gonna dismantle you.”
“Ha. you won't. No balls.”

A few seconds later Pebble heard the voices again.

“It's the dog.”
“Okay. Shelly, you can open it.”
“But didn't Mr.Reed-”
“He said we could open it and walk around. We just couldn't be seen by Dandy or Astro. He didn't say ANYTHING about Pebble.”

A few seconds later the door opened. Pebble immediately barked at whoever opened the door.

He saw a shell, a strawberry and a tv behind her. The strawberry picked him up. They sat down at some beanbags. Pebble sat on his lap.

Sprout started petting Pebble. “So uh..” “I think he likes you!” “uh. Yeah I guess.” “Hm. Cute.”
Vee tapped her mic idly. Shelly just kicked her feet. Sprout looked at a little jar they were given of dog treats. He took one out and gave it to Pebble.

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At around 9:00 pm Astro took off his blanket and laid down next to Dandy in their bed.

“Love? Have you seen Pebble?” Dandy looked at him with concern in his eyes. “Uh.. no Dandy. I haven't.” Just then Pebble ran into the room. He barked at them. Dandy opened his arms and Pebble jumped into them. “Aw. Where have you been all day, buddy?” Pebble barked at him. Dandy put him down at the end of the bed.

Astro opened all his arms and Dandy hugged him. The two laid down and Pebble laid between them. “Goodnight Astro!” “Night. Dandy.”

Chapter Text

“ASTRO!” Astro turned around as Dandy yelled his name “AstroAstroAstroAstro-” “woah.. Hi Dandy…” “ASTRO!!! GUESS WHAT!” Astro smiled. He already knew but decided to humor his partner. “Hm. I don't know. What?” “ONE OF OUR NEW FRIENDS SHOW UP TOMORROW!!” Dandy was practically bouncing with excitement. “I wonder if my gardening gloves and my apron are clean!! GASP!! I SHOULD SHOW HER SOME PLANTS!! THANKS FOR THE IDEA ASTRO!” Before Astro could say anything Dandy kissed his cheek and ran out. “Uh.. you’re welcome..?”

Dandy ran down the hall to the elevator. He’d been avoiding it for a few days since the weird stuff with the music. But he had to be brave! A first impression was important, afterall! He went in and down to the greenhouse. He was PRETTTYYY sure he left them there. And the music didnt stop the whole time! But then again the greenhouse WAS a public floor, maybe maintenance just changed it so the music powers off when you go to a faculty floor? For maintenance reasons?? He didn't know. The door opened. “Aha!” he moved over to a bench and grabbed the apron and gloves. As well as his hat. He went back in the elevator and took out his key. He opened the familiar glass panel and selected the toon room floor.

He walked back into his and Astros room and found Astro holding Pebble, looking through a basket of dog toys. “Hey. We were about to go down to one of the main rooms to play. Wanna join?” Dandy put his stuff on their bed. “Of course I wanna play with my boyfriend and my favorite rock dog!” Pebble barked at him. Astro smiled. “Hes your only rock dog, Dandy.” “still my favorite! Yes you are!” He started petting Pebble before picking him up and giving him a little kiss on the head. He put Pebble down and they all started walking to the elevator. Before they got in Dandy picked up Pebble and held onto Astros blanket, which was their version of holding hands.

They got in. “So uh.. I didn't know maintenance had changed it so the music stopped when you went to a faculty floor!” Astro looked at him. He raised his eyebrow. “Uh. they didnt. I took the elevator yesterday and went to the storage room with my handler and the music played the whole time.” Dandys eyebrows furrowed. “Huh. must’ve been a glitch.” yeah. A glitch.

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The elevator opened to one of the gardenview floors. Astro got a frisbee from under his blanket. He used his magic to hold it behind him. “Watch.” Dandy put Pebble down and Astro threw the frisbee somewhere on the floor before running and hiding. Dandy ran with him. He whispered to Astro. “So..what's going on?” “We throw the frisbee to distract him. Then we hide and wait for him to find us. He likes his game and i get some rest while waiting.” with that he laid down. And somehow immediately went to sleep..? After Astro fell asleep and Pebble was god knows where- Dandy felt off. Something was wrong. Maybe he just didn't like being there alone. Odd. he usually didn't mind being alone. He heard barking in the distance. Maybe he could bring Astro up and he could play with Pebble? No. Astro was too heavy. And he learnt his lesson after the last time he tried to wake him up. He's grumpy when he gets woken up. But they were both deep sleepers so it's fine. He stood up. Maybe he should find out what feels so.. Wrong! He wanted to fix it in any way he could before he new toon arrived, but Pebble and Astro didn't seem uncomfortable, Astro literally fell asleep! But he can fall asleep anywhere…. Dandy stood up and started walking around. Maybe it was because of how quiet it was. They were currently closed due to maintenance. Maybe since he was so used to the loud cheers of children that when he was alone he didnt notice how quiet it was. Or maybe it was how stale the air felt. A place once so lively and full of the cheering and yelling of the public, now closed for repair. It’d creep anybody out! He hoped when they reopened it’d NEVER be like this again. Hopefully.

He dragged his finger across the table. Dust getting onto his finger. Making a streak of the gray and faded wood into a bright brown. They’d been closed for what? A month? They said it takes a week to make a toon. So why a month? Unless there were more than one. Maybe! They did have 2 other empty rooms. And how did THAT much dust appear that fast?

He heard Pebble barking in the distance and running around. He moved over to the sound. Pebble ran over and dropped the frisbee at his feet. Dandy leaned down and picked it up before throwing it somewhere on the floor. As Pebble started chasing it, Dandy ran after him. Laughing the whole time.

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“Shannon, right?” Devan sat across from her. “Yes sir! And you are?” “Devan Reed. but just call me Devan please.” “Okay Devan! This is my first interview in a while so I may be a bit rusty!” “That's fine.”

He grabbed a stack of papers with questions on them. He also grabbed a pen.

“So. just for the recording.” He pointed to a tape recorder that was recording everything.

“Name, age, and sex?” He looked up at her. “This will be written down too.”
“Uh. Shannon, Shannon mendez! I’m 22. And I’m a girl!”

He wrote that down. “Okayyy sooo why are you interested in the position of a toon caretaker and handler?” “uh! I heard about it in the newspaper and I wanted to help any way I can! And my friends said I seemed fitting.” He hums in acknowledgement before writing it down. “Okay. Can you share a little about yourself?” “uh… I graduated high school with almost perfect grades in everything except math! I have a 8 week streak at trivia at the local club! And I play tennis!”

He started writing. He looked back at her. Noting she kept a smile the entire interview. “Okay. What are your strengths?”
“Uhm! I'm pretty social and charismatic I'd say! I'm also preettttyyy fast! And i know alot of trivia!”
He continued writing. “Yes. You seem very friendly. What are your weaknesses?”
“I wouldnt say I'm very strong.”

He wrote that down. “So. you’d say you’re sociable and friendly and can remember stuff easily. But you struggle with physical strength.” “yep! That sounds right!” “okay. How good are you with kids?” “I love kids! I used to work as a babysitting y’know! I deal with them great! I actually wanna be a parent someday! Settle down with the love of my life!-” Devan looked down at his papers. “uh huh.”

He just wrote down the important part and tuned out the rest.

“Okayyy.. Do you have leadership experience?”

She paused her talking and seemed to think for a moment. “Yes I do! I was a camp counselor til I was 18!” “okay.”

He writes that down

“Can you move easily, for free I mean? This is an in-house job.” she nods. “Oh yes! I can! Of course! I live with my parents!” “mhm…now. I have a few more questions then we’ll be done here.”

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They had been done playing for a few hours but Dandy still felt off. He was wandering the halls alone. Waiting for ANYTHING. But it was just… abandoned. He knew Astro was napping(again.) and Pebble was with him. So he didn't have much to do. Man. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough. Maybe he could go steal some stuff from the gift shop! It's not like they’d notice!

He skipped over to the elevator. When it opened he saw an unfamiliar woman “Oh! So sorry! You must be Dandy!” she leans down to his level and reaches out a hand. “Hello! Yes I’m Dandy!” He shakes her hand “Who are you? I thought we were closed!” She smiles. I’m Shannon! I came here for an interview!” Dandy would be lying if he said he knew what that was. But he wasn’t gonna look dumb in front of a new person! “Ooh okay!! Wanna go rob the gift shop with me???” “Uhm…excuse me?-” “SHE DOES NOT, DANDY.” OH SHIT DEVAN WAS BEHIND HER!

Dandy ran. He ran back to his and Astro’s room and immediately tackle hugged Astro “ASTROSAVEMEEEEEEEEE” “Dandy what the heck…” He used his magic to put Dandy on the floor instead of on top of him. He then immediately went back to sleep. “Wow. Traitor.” Devan slammed open the door. He grabbed Dandy and dragged him out. “Timeout. Now. “ “NOO!!”

Devan dragged Dandy to a corner and just left him there. “Uh.. I’ll go. Be here tomorrow?”

“Yes. be here tomorrow Shannon.” Shannon waved goodbye while leaving. Austin, who was carrying some boxes, turned the corner. “Wow. What did he do?” Devan sighed. “He tried to rob the gift shop.” “I thought it was fine when the toons did that?” Austin raised an eyebrow “He invited our new recruit.” “Ah.” Austin continued walking. Before walking back. “Wait, you hired her??” “Management changed it so shelly comes out tomorrow instead of in 2 days like originally planned, so I was kinda on a time crunch. She's a good fit, don't worry.” Austin shrugged and continued walking to where he was going. “Where even is Astro? Doesn’t he usually help you with this stuff?” Dandy looked back. “He’s hibernating so he can conserve all his energy for tomorrow.” Devan hummed.

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Vee was checking the cameras before looking back at shelly. “You’re free tomorrow.”

“REALLY?!” She cheered. She hugged Vee then Sprout. “YAY! I’ll make sure everything is perfect when you guys arrive!” Sprout smiled. “Thanks, Shelly.” She hugged him again and he hugged her back. “One last game of tic-tac-toe before you leave?” “OF COURSE SPROUT!!!”

The three sat on the floor. Sprout grabbed a can of spray paint and sprayed a basic tic-tac-toe board on the floor.

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“Seriously, Shelly!? how do you always win against the two of us?!”

Chapter Text

Shelly held onto Devans hand as they walked. “Uh.. are you sure they'll like me?” Devan looked down. He smiled and nodded. “Of course they will. What a silly question. They’re right in here!” Devan opened the door to the lounge room. “Dandy! Astro! Pebble!” The three whipped their heads in the direction of the voice. Dandy gasped loudly and immediately stood up before running over and grabbing her hand. Shaking it rapidly. “HIHIHI OH MY STARS YOU MUST BE OUR NEW FRIEND!! I’M DANDY!!!! THAT’S ASTRO AND MY PET ROCK PEBBLE!!” Shelly giggled “Hi Dandy! I’m Shelly! It’s lovely to meet you!” Pebble, recognizing her, ran over and started barking at her.

Shelly picked him up and he barked at her. “Aw he likes you!” Astro put down his book and walked over “Hello, Shelly. I heard Dandy introduce me. It is lovely to meet you.” Shelly smiled at him. Dandys eyebrows furrowed, clearly jealous over practically nothing. Astro, realizing this, turned to Dandy. “..Dandy. How about we show her to her room. I’m sure your handler has already shown her around.” “Oh! Yes he has! He even gave me a cooooolll map!” She pulled a map out of her pocket. Devan cleared his throat. “Well, I’ll leave you to that.” He waved and walked out.

Dandy held Astros blanket around where his arm would be. And Shelly cradled Pebble. They walked down and went down a floor. They walked to the left room, the only one with a sign on it. “AND! You get a lock!” Dandy smiled and put a hand in his dirty apron pocket. He fished around before he took out a pretty (probably fake)gold key! He leaned forward again and unlocked the door. Shelly walked into the room before the boys could “..wooaaahhhh….” Her eyes locked onto a (fake)fossil, she ran up to it. She started oohing and ahhing as he inspected every single fossil in the room. Dandy smiled, he looked at Astro and Astro smiled back. Dandy turned back to Shelly. “We’ll be in the lounge! Let us know if you need anything!” Astro smiled and chimed in “anything at all..” Dandy gave her the key and left with Astro.

Astro curled up on the corner of the couch. Dandy laid on him. “Uh. Can you not?” Dandy gasped. “WOW!! Is there a problem with your BEAUTIFUL, DASHING, AND BRAVE BOYFRIEND LAYING WITH YOU!?” Astro snickered. “Normally not, but thats Pebble space.” Dandys mouth formed an O before he sat up. Almost immediately Pebble ran up and laid next to Astros stomach. Astro used his magic to pet him. Dandy turned to the tv in front of them. He messed with the antenna a bit and came across a coca cola commercial. It was one of the only tvs in the facility that showed outside stuff. They knew the handlers would soon find out and fix it. But it was nice for now. “..Astro?” Astro turned and looked at Dandy. He raised an eyebrow at his boyfriends focused expression. He turned to the tv where Dandy was focused. It was a stupid soda commercial.

“Yes, Dandy?” he stopped petting Pebble for a moment. “Uh.. do you ever wonder what’d be like to be a human?” Astro seemed to think for a moment. “Uh… not really? Do you?” Dandy finally tore his eyes away from the screen and looked at Astro. “I mean.. Sometimes? Sometimes i just wanna run away from here and see what its like outside, with you!” He looked up at the camera in the corner of the room then back at Astro. He cleared his throat. “I mean. I know I wouldn’t get far. But being able to touch real grass and see the sun outside of glass on the ceiling of the lobby would be enough! Just for a day..” He sighed and laid on Astros legs. Cracking his back in the process of it straightening out. “Wow. that isnt a good sound. Dandy rolled his eyes. Playfully of course. “Whatt?? No it obviously means theres a magical unicorn that will grant all our wishes nearby!”

Astro snickered and looked at the tv too. “Honestly? I don’t care what happens as long as i'm with you.” They both smiled. Dandy held Astros hand to his cheek. “Yeah. I’d like that too.”

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Devan looked at the resume for the ginger in front of him. He clicked on a cassette recorder “Okay….. State your name and age for the tape.” Sam looked around before answering. “Sam Mclaughlin. And I'm 27.” Devan hummed in acknowledgement and wrote that down. Also putting unknown for their sex. “Okayy Sam. Is it okay if I call you Sam?” Sam adjusted their hands so they were resting their arms on the table. “Yeah sure.” Devan flipped the page on his clipboard. “Oookkkayyy.. Why are you interested in the position of a toon caretaker and handler?” They seemed to think for a moment. Trying to come up with the best response. “Honestly, it pays well. And I’ve cared for my younger sister until she was 16 so I'd say I'm pretty good with taking care of things. And I need the money.” Devan nods and writes something down. “Okay. Tell me something about you. “Well… uh..”

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Sprout and Vee were playing cards. Carrdddsss.. Uno. Suddenly the door opened. Shelly peaked her head in before fully walking in. “uh hi guys!” She waved, her eyes darting around the room. “Hi, Shelly!” Sprout smiled. “Hello, Shelly.” Vee spoke before looking down at her cards. Sprout had a evil grin as he laid down his entire deck. A +4, multiple +2 cards. 2 block cards. And ONE normal card. “Uno.” He smiled widely. Vees face dropped. “Hey wait a minute!-” Shelly giggles. “Too late I win” Sprout leaned back in his seat and immediately fell onto the ground.

Vee smiled at this turn of events. Shelly giggled again before helping Sprout up. “So! I met the other toons! Sprout, your brother is really nice!” Sprout raises an eyebrow “Really? Thats nice!” Shelly smiles and sits down on her beanbag. “Yeah! They were super nice to me. Pebble even recognized me!” Sprout listened to her talk with nothing but a smile on his face. Sure he may be rude at times but he loved his friends a lot! “That’s really cool Shelly, I can’t wait to meet them myself! Wanna tell me about the tour?” Shelly smiled and kicked her legs “Of course I do!”
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It was 9pm. Dandy went into the elevator alone as Astro and Pebble were already upstairs. He unlocked the panel and clicked the button for the 5th floor. The music stopped. Dandy didn’t pay attention though since that had happened plenty of times over the past ew days. Something felt odd though, unsettling. The elevator felt like it wasn't moving. Or moving too fast? Dandy didn’t know. He slowly moved to the left wall of the elevator and held onto the railing. Around 25 seconds passed before the elevator opened. He saw Shelly. “Oh, hey Shelly! What are you uh.. Doing on the top floor?” Dandy stepped out and Shelly stepped out. “Astro was giving me some treats for Pebble to keep in my room! Goodnight Dandy!” Dandys expression tightened when he heard she was with Astro. Maybe he was a little too protective..

“Yeah. Goodnight, Shelly.” Shelly waved as the elevator closed. He walked over to the door with a bunch of colorful drawings on it. He looked back at the elevator doors before opening the door and walking in.

He saw Astro laying on the bed. Pebble asleep on his stomach. Dandy smiled and turned off the light before walking over and laying down next to him. He hugged Astro’s side and smiled. His leafy was tail wagging “Night Astro!” Astro smiled. “Goodnight, Dandy.”

Dandy closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Chapter Text

Shelly skipped around the facility, picking up random little things, dragging her fingers across random surfaces, and just looking around. She was still getting used to the layout of the facility as she spent the first 3 days here in her room or getting snacks(and grabbing random things to give to Vee and Sprout). But today she was exploring! She skipped to the elevator after exploring the entirety of floor 17. Time to go down a floor!

She walked around just looking on the empty floor, walking into the blank rooms with the plain wooden floors and white walls. It was kinda unsettling. But cool! She kneeled down on the floor and grabbed some broken drywall off the floor and crushed it with her fingers, watching it fall to the ground. She stood back up and wiped her hands on her dress before skipping back to the elevator.

She decided to stop when she got to the lobby. Below the lobby were the floors for people to explore. And above were the toons rooms. Some floors were only open for holidays though so she couldn’t go to THOSE ones, yet. She knew there was a new cafeteria floor, replacing the old one that was apparently gonna be a diner! Sounded nice.

She looked around the lobby before hearing a loud noise. She turned to the locked glass doors and saw a train quickly driving past before just as quickly leaving again. She turned around and saw a little shop in the lobby. It had plushies in the back and a little paper saying “on break!” a small radio next to it playing classical music. She stared for a few seconds before walking back to one of the elevators. She got in and pressed the top floor. She wanted to talk to Astro. She was closer to him than Dandy.

As the elevator moved the music randomly stopped. “Uh. thats weeiiiirrrddd…” she decided its probably just a weird glitch. She’d tell her handler about that later. She was still moving her stuff in so she’d be here later. She went over to the little trapdoor in the floor. She leaned down and inspected it.

It was a normal trap door, with black and yellow colors and a warning image. Yeeouch, that’d probably hurt. She turned around as the door opened. She skipped out and saw the door to Astro and Dandy's room, as well as the other doors for the handlers' rooms.

She walked over to the door with the drawings covering it, a paper with the words ‘Dandy and Astro's room!!’ being in the middle of it. She knocked and heard a bark and soft footsteps. Blue sparkles quietly opening the door and a familiar moon peeking out. “Oh… hello, Shelly.” He softly smiled at the ammonite shell. Shelly waved before peeking behind him. He saw Dandy asleep, wrapped up in the blanket like a cocoon.

“Hey Astro..!” Shelly whispered, trying not to wake Dandy up. Shelly backed up as Astro stepped out of the room “Hello, Shelly.” Shelly smiled. “Nothing much! Just boorrrrrreeeeeeeddddddddddd….” Astro hummed. “We could go get a snack from the kitchen and talk?” Shelly nodded. “That sounds perfect!” Astro turned and fully closed the door before starting to walk. Shelly followed behind him to the elevator. They both stepped in and Astro used his sparkles to press one of the lower floors, below the lobby. Shelly took notice of the keyring Astro had. One of the three keys looking exactly like the one to access the floor her room was on. One being the one to go onto Astro and Dandy's floor. And the other being unfamiliar. (probably to access staff floors.)

Shelly turned to Astro as the elevator went down. “So. what's up?” Astro turned to her, magic disappearing into nothing. He looked up. “Uh. the ceiling..?” Shelly giggled. “No silly! I meant what are you doing?” Astro stared at her. “..going to the kitchen with you.” Shelly smiled. “Yeah, I know that!” Astro's eyebrow furrowed. “Uh. then why did you ask-” just then the elevator opened. Shelly skipped out and Astro strolled out after her. They went into the kitchen and grabbed some chips before sitting down on the floor, Shelly opened the bag and set it down.

The two sat in silence for around 10 minutes eating off-brand potato chips before they heard the elevator open. Dandy quietly stepped into the kitchen, wearing his pajamas and the blanket around his shoulders. “Asssttttttrrrrroooo……” he waltzed over to the pair and immediately sat down and leaned on Astro. Astro smiled. “Hello, love. Is everything okay?” Dandy opened his eyes. “Come back to bedd…” Astro smiled and picked Dandy up, acting like he was as light as a feather with his magic. “Bye, Shelly. We’ll speak tomorrow. You can have the chips.” He walked back to the elevator and used one of his keys to open a glass panel. He smiled at Shelly as the doors closed.

Shelly stayed there finishing the chips before standing up and wiping her knees. She skipped over to the elevator and got in, taking out her gold key and twisting it, she went to the 17th floor.

She stepped out and went back to her room, she went over to the desk and opened a notebook full of notes about the toons here. She started writing. ‘Astro's really strong??’ ‘Dandy sleeps wrapped up in a blanket.’ ‘weird elevator music glitch?’ ‘chips are yummy.’ ‘Astro has multiple keys but Dandy only has one master key for every floor. Possible restrictions for Astro? Ask tomorrow.’

She closed her notebook and went to sleep.