Chapter Text
Normally, Goob was one of the first Toons to wake up in the morning.. after Dandy, obviously. Although, today, he hadn’t seemed to wake up at all.
Scraps woke up with her head completely buried beneath her blanket—which was odd. She never woke up like.. that, no matter how cold she was.
She eventually decided to brush it off and sat up straight, her eyes still slightly squinted and her vision blurry. For a moment, she stayed there leaning against the wall behind her bed, attempting to gather up the courage to actually leave her bed and NOT lay down to go back to sleep. After a resigned sigh, she slowly pulled herself out of bed, rubbing her eyes as she did so.
With hunched shoulders, she dragged her feet in a sluggish shuffle to leave her room—partially because she wanted to check on where Goob was and partially because she did not want to brush her hair—she had expected the hallways of the Toon rooms to be bustling, but there was barely anyone there. A confused look mixed with her tired expression, before she rushed over to the elevator and pressed the button that led to the lobby.
,,,,
When she arrived at the lobby, all she saw were the Mains—Dyle and Dandy included— standing in-front of the entrance of Gardenview, seemingly having a conversation. She couldn’t tell what it was about, nor could she hear what they were saying, but she knew it was probably a heated argument considering all the yelling. Normally, she wouldn’t really be so nosy so early in the morning—especially when she just woke up and felt like shit—but, well, curiosity kills the cat.
With a wary expression, she slowly approached the group as if she was gathering courage to enter a lion’s den—narrowing her eyes once she were to see that quite a few of the Mains were arguing—with Shelly and Sprout attempting to mediate, Bobette shielding a very terrified Gourdy, Bassie seemed to be trying her best calm Pebble down, whilst Astro was trying—and failing—to keep Vee and Dandy from getting into a fist-fight.. and, well, Vee, Dandy and Dyle were all hissing at each other like feral cats. Oddly enough, it seemed like Gardenview hadn’t opened yet, and there were no Toon Handlers in sight—which was weird, considering that the place should’ve opened by now, and should’ve been bustling with parents and their children darting all over the place like pesky rats.
SCRAPS: — “..Erm, hey.. What are you all doing?? Why are you yelling at 8 in the morning??—“
Her tone was flat, and her voice was slightly hoarse since she had just woken up—hell, she was still rubbing at her eyes. Her ears flicked as a portion of the group turned to stare at her like she just admitted to pushing a newborn child into oncoming traffic.
Within a brief moment of silence, Vee crossed her arms and turned her head away with a scoff, unwilling to explain. Dyle narrowed his eyes and let out a noise halfway between a sigh of annoyance and a hum of irritation. Bobette had decided to speak up first.
BOBETTE CAROLYNNE: — “Ahhh.. U-Uhm- Scraps! How are you?-“ She smiled awkwardly. It didn’t reach her eyes at all. “-It’s no big deal, we were just— having a little quarrel, you know? A small fight broke out between us.. it’s nothing too serious!” She dismissively waved a hand towards Scraps, but her tone was too forced to be cheerful, a little shaky, and even a little strained. Her smile faltered when Pebble let out a distressed growl.
SHELLY FOSSILIAN: — “..I don’t think lying is really necessary—“ Her voice was shrill, a hint of panic seeping through like water through thin paper.
VEE VERSION 1: — “..Well, look who blew our cover.” She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms tighter across her chest—but she refused to make eye contact with anyone.
PEBBLE: — “Grrrr…”
SPROUT SEEDLY: — “There was no cover in the first place. What are you talking about..???” He muttered, his voice tired and uncharacteristically quiet—as if they’d been going at this for a while—narrowing his eyes in a mix of confusion and irritation as he stared at Vee.
…
GOURDY HOLLOWAY: — “…they were fighting.” His voice was timid, low as he hid further behind Bobette.
His small frame was tense, his shoulders were hunched as if he was trying to disappear.
VEE VERSION 1: — “..That’s not..” She trailed off, her expression growing more blank when she noticed the sight of Gourdy seeming so scared.
Scraps hadn’t noticed Gourdy at first—since he was hiding behind Bobette—her eyes widened slightly and her ears perked up when she heard his shaky, small voice.
ASTRO NOVALITE: — “..Don’t you think we should just tell her? Tell everyone..” He murmured timidly, his gaze darting away and focusing on the ground as he pulled his blanket around him tighter.
BASSIE BLOOMINGTON: — “..Are you.. sure that’s a good idea?..” She abruptly inquired, dusting off her skirt anxiously, almost completely avoiding eye contact and only occasionally glancing at everyone for a fleeting moment.
SCRAPS: — “..Would you cut to the point and just tell me what’s happening?—“ Her eyes narrowed in impatience, scoffing as she crossed her arms. She wasn’t exactly known for her patience, and all this yelling and secretive talk was annoying her already. “Where is everyone? Where are the Toon handlers? The families? Shouldn’t they be.. I dunno, wandering everywhere and spending all their money on the toys for their kids?”
Dandy sighed, his smile faltering. His gaze wandered to the ground, before eventually landing back on Scraps. He willed himself to plaster that cheerful smile back on, but it shook—it didn’t match his eyes.
DANDY: — “..Weeeelll!” He started cheerfully, which caused Vee to roll her eyes and let out a small groan;She was never one who tolerated Dandy’s exaggerated optimism, especially in dire situations like this. “Uhh.. The Toon handlers.. kinda left us? Like, forever.”
Shelly and Bobette winced at his rather half-hearted explanation. Scraps, however, tilted her head slightly, her hands dropping to her sides like she couldn’t believe what he just said.
SCRAPS: — “..What?? What do you mean they left?” She paused. Sprout and Bassie completely turned their heads away when they saw her reaction. “..Is this a prank or something? How could they have left us?”
VEE VERSION 1: — “Ugh- That’s what I was wondering, Scraps. It’s like they just decided to shut Gardenview down and leave us to rot!” She exclaimed, her tone strained and tight as she pointed to the closed entrance of Gardenview. Gourdy flinched and hid further behind Bobette as her voice got louder.
BOBETTE CAROLYNNE: — “Come on, Vee.. let’s calm down! Maybe this is just a misunderstanding?-“
SPROUT SEEDLY: — “..Bobette, as much as I want to believe that this place isn’t shutting down, I’m really sure it is.” His gaze darted towards Bobette, whose awkward smile was slowly slipping away from her face as the conversation went on—his own expression fading into something.. emptier. He didn’t want to seem like a pessimist, but this was.. quite the situation they were in, and it really seemed like there was no room for optimism.
BASSIE BLOOMINGTON: — “..I just.. want to know why they left so suddenly..” She fidgeted with her flowercrown, her voice timid as her gaze shuffled between Scraps, Sprout and Bobette, before eventually landing on the ground again.
Dandy and Dyle remained silent, with the latter crossing his arms, and the former awkwardly pretending that the floor was suddenly the most interesting thing in the world—his smile was slowly wearing off as this whole thing went on.
Shelly sighed, before plastering on a cheerful expression—barely—placing her hands on her hips and trying to remain optimistic.
SHELLY FOSSILIAN: — “W-Well, we may not have our dear Toon handlers, but we do have ourselves! Isn’t that right?” She forced on a grin, although it wavered when Sprout turned to her with a deadpan look. “..Listen. We can keep arguing and fighting about this all day, but it won’t change anything..” Her grin eventually faltered, melting into something more akin to a resigned smile. “..No matter how many questions we ask, or how many times we ask them, we won’t get that answer.”
ASTRO NOVALITE: — “..She’s right.” He added, his gaze hesitantly flicking up to meet the group's own. “..For now, all we can do is be there for each other while we figure this out.” Pebble barked at Astro’s statement, his tail swishing back and forth, seemingly less tense.
BOBETTE CAROLYNNE: — “It’s not ideal, but we’ll make it work..! Right, Gourdy?” She turned to the young Halloween Main with a soft smile on her face, attempting to reassure him.
GOURDY HOLLOWAY: — “Yeah…” His voice seemed reluctant, however, it gradually faded into something more cheerful—like his usual enthusiastic self. “..Yeah! Yeah! We’ll be there for each other, and we’ll help each other!”
Shelly smiled, a fond expression replacing her resigned one as she heard Gourdy’s little exclamation. He was adorable when he wanted to be.
SCRAPS: — “…Right.” She paused, her eyes flickering away from the group for a moment before she turned away from them. “..I’ll go check on Goob. You just go tell the other Toons or something.”
SHELLY FOSSILIAN: — “Oh.. Uhm. Uh.. goodluck!” She exclaimed, waving at Scraps awkwardly, a nervous smile slowly fading onto her face.
DYLE TIMESLY: — “..Shouldn’t we tell her?”