Chapter Text
Astro was at the shop with Dandy, helping him restock the shelves. Outside, there was a lot of movement, with many toons walking back and forth, even going on small expeditions and meeting in groups.
Dandy hummed a little melody as he slowly twirled his own petals. He enjoyed spending time with Astro, even if it meant just moving items around.
A voice among the passing toons caught Astro's attention, sparking his curiosity as he looked toward the conversation that was getting closer.
It was Sprout, of course.
He was talking to Vee, and it seemed like a group had been formed for a run, probably to gather resources across the floors.
Shelly was just on the other side of Vee, with Tisha, Goob, and Teagan right behind them. They kept their conversation mostly among themselves, particularly Tisha and Teagan.
Astro watched a little longer, and it didn’t take long before Dandy looked over at him, curious.
Dandy looked from Astro to the group again, raising an eyebrow.
"Helloo, friends!" Dandy suddenly said.
Astro flinched a little and looked at Dandy in confusion. Of course, Dandy’s sudden voice caught the group’s attention.
"Good morning, Dandy!" Tisha was the first to speak.
"Haiii, don’t you need something to help with your little run?" Dandy leaned his arm on the shop counter.
"Oh— Do you have anything new in the store?" Shelly approached. Vee and Sprout exchanged glances but merely moved closer, whispering something.
"Sure! Feel free to take a look, we have...[...]"
Dandy's voice faded into a blur, as did the others. Astro had tuned out, simply standing there, staring at a fixed point.
The moon blinked, its gaze drifting toward Sprout this time.
The cook seemed uninterested, his neutral expression giving little away, or maybe it was just because of the situation where Dandy was trying to haggle with the other toons— who could say for sure? Astro wasn’t listening.
It didn’t take long before Sprout looked back at him, staring for a moment before giving a small smile. Of course, Astro quickly looked away, as usual.
"Hey... What a surprise to see you out of your hole, buddy." Sprout crossed his arms, stepping slightly away from the group. There was a brief distance between the situation happening there and Astro, and Sprout would take advantage of it.
"Mhm... I... was supposed... to help Dandy today..."
"With the shop?" He raised an eyebrow.
"...You could say that."
Sprout watched Astro for a moment, thinking. Wasn't Astro avoiding talking to Dandy? It was strange, but somehow, the moon always came back— there was no way to make him stop talking to that flower, unfortunately.
"Ah... Right." Sprout looked away.
A brief silence passed between them, the conversation from the other toons continuing in the background. But soon enough, Sprout spoke again.
"So... Would you recommend something from the shop? Let’s say if you were going to buy something."
"Oh— Uh..." Astro looked around, thinking for a bit, observing some items on the shelves. "I think—"
"Sprout, darling, let’s go." Teagan's sudden voice cut through, and the group was already moving away.
Sprout glanced quickly at the group.
"Coming." He turned his attention back to Astro. "See you later, moonie?" He gave a small wave and started walking away.
"See you... later..." Astro just watched him leave, muttering something under his breath. Maybe he just wanted to talk to Sprout a little more, just a bit more.
Dandy was putting some tapes away but quickly glanced over at Astro, giving him a look from head to toe.
"Heh." The flower glanced back at the tapes.
"Huh...?" Astro looked at him, confused.
"Nothing... Nothing."
"....Are you sure?" Astro looked at him suspiciously, sure Dandy had something in mind.
"It's just that you're so obvious, you know?"
"Obvious...?" Astro asked, still confused.
"Yeah, like... Sprout, right?" Dandy teased.
Astro stared at Dandy, processing the information. Of course, Dandy rarely made eye contact with Astro on purpose, probably just so the moon could get a chance to look at him without any trouble.
"What do you mean by that?"
"You know exactly what I mean."
"...No?—"
"Astro and Sprout, sitting under a tr—"
"No— No." Astro gave Dandy a small push, showing brief frustration.
This only caused Dandy to chuckle.
"Come on! You think I haven’t noticed that you spend less time with me just to hang out with that ugly cook?"
"...That’s not the reason."
"Sure? Because it really looks like it. It's hard to keep you close."
"...Sorry."
"It’s okay, as long as you don’t forget who’s important here between me and him." Dandy gave Astro a small elbow. "But so? Am I right?"
Astro didn’t respond, just fiddling with some items on the counter.
"...Do you think... someone will buy something else today?"
"Astro!" Dandy groaned.
The moon sighed deeply.
"I... I’d rather not... comment."
"So, you’re not going to do anything about it?"
"We're in the middle of an infection crisis... surviving... lots of toons dying... Wow... How romantic, suddenly wanting to get... with another toon... Huh?" Astro was sarcastic.
"Well... We are, but that doesn’t stop you from trying something, really. We still need our— uh... leisure, right?"
"Leisure..." The moon raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, toon’s need, Astro. You know it’s no big deal." Dandy shrugged.
"I just... I don’t know, Dandy..." Astro sighed.
"Come on... You know standing still won’t get you anywhere."
"And what if... I say something and he hates me? What if he laughs at me?— What if he tells Cosmo and they both laugh at me??... I just don’t know if—" Astro sank into his blanket.
Dandy placed a hand on Astro’s shoulder.
"You’re starting to overthink." The flower rolled his eyes. "The way Cosmo is... I don’t know if he’d laugh at you for that reason."
"But... what about Sprout?—"
"Moonshine, Sprout is as obvious as you are, but still, if there’s this plot twist and you do get rejected, I’m going to laugh."
"...You really are... a great best friend." Astro was sarcastic again, grumbling.
"And I’m not??" Dandy smiled.
"I just don’t know..."
"Don’t know what? Look, you could at least check if he likes you back... You know?" Dandy gestured with a hand.
"And how... am I going to do that?" Astro looked at him.
"Uhhh... Try flirt with him or something."
"No." Astro immediately responded.
"Then figure it out." Dandy rolled his eyes.
"Dandy- I just... I don’t know if– ...It’d be humiliating..." Astro mumbled.
"It’s literally just giving him a compliment, Astro." The flower shrugged. "Use your 'homeless appearance' charm." Dandy adjusted Astro’s sleep cap.
Astro stared at Dandy, judging him intensely. What was wrong with Dandy?
"...I’m going to give you.. nightmares." He mumbled.
"You’d do that to your best friend?" Dandy blinked a few times.
"...With much... pleasure." Astro huffed.
Dandy laughed.
"Go ahead... Anyway, you still have some items to organize there!" He gestured.
Astro rolled his eyes, but just went ahead and did what Dandy asked.
In a way, Dandy was right, at least about trying to figure out if Sprout liked him back... Or something like that. Other than that, Dandy was just talking nonsense. It was obvious that Astro wasn’t great at expressing his feelings or talking, it was hard for him to figure out how to go about it.
What if he tried something and ended up ruining his friendship with Sprout?
Astro didn’t want that to happen.
But in some way, it was tempting to know if the strawberry felt the same for him, that would be nice.
...Maybe he’d try something, at least later.
Dandy and Astro talked a little more that afternoon, until Astro finally grew tired and decided to back to his room.
The moon had gone to his room a while ago, his mind filled with thoughts about what he could do or say to Sprout. He at least wanted to try his best for him, or maybe a simple gift? There could be several signs about it. I mean, trying to set something up with Sprout would also be a great idea—Wait, set something up with Sprout?
Weren’t they supposed to meet up this afternoon? Did he come back from the run already?
Astro turned around, planning to leave his room again. He had completely forgotten about that, wondering if they had come back or stayed on the floors, it had been a while.
Astro left his room, heading to the Toon rooms corridor, where there were some familiar toons, but not the ones he had seen earlier.
He got in the elevator, heading straight to the main floor, reaching the center, where there was less movement than last time.
Exiting the elevator, he adjusted his blanket and looked around, heading more toward the middle... Of course, there were some toons there, mainly Sprout’s group, gathered, but...
Astro approached, and Vee was the first to notice him.
"Astro?" She raised an eyebrow.
"...Hey, Vee."
"Greetings, by now, you should’ve disappeared."
"I just... came to check on you guys..."
"Hey Astro!" Tisha waved. "Need help with something?"
"No— No..Thanks, um- are you all alright?" Astro gestured with his hand beneath the blanket.
"Alright? Well, yeah... Why?" Tisha looked confused.
"Ah... Right." Astro stayed silent for a few seconds. "....And where is Sprout?" He finally decided to speak, though he had been holding back his true intention initially.
Tisha and Vee fell quiet.
"...Sprout, huh..." Vee looked at Astro again.