To All Who See

by werewolfABber

Summary:

Connie hasn't been seen for 8 months.

she's hiding things
WHY IS SHE HIDING FORM US

Or: found family trauma fic.
Connie centric but a lot of other characters make their appearance.

Chapter 1: Customise your nightmare

Notes:

I FRICKED UP, THIS ISNT THE FULL CHAPTER- AND TURNS OUT MY BETA READER DIDNT FINISH, SO THIS IS NOT THE ACTUAL THING SORRY

edit: TA DAAA MOTHERFRICKERS I HAVE THE CHAPTER

Nobody has seen Connie in about… 8 months, which would be concerning in any other situation except it was Connie, the ghost.

 

Ghosts can go invisible.

 

Connie was still there with them, just not visibly, when asked, her excuses would range from “I don’t feel like being seen” to “fuck social norms I want to be an abstract concept.” 

 

Which frankly, Gigi found absolutely hilarious at the first few weeks, then that amusement turned to anxiousness then worry, and now paranoia.

 

Around the 2 month mark of Connie's disappearing act, Connie was still a quite popular gossip topic, Sprout would get really uncomfortable at any mention of her, he would attempt to change the topic or go silent.

 

Around the 3 month mark, everytime someone asked she would just leave, it wasn't like anyone could see her, thus if they wanted Connie around they had to suck it up and worry in silence and gossip about it.

 

Connie was the main topic of many of Teagan's tea parties, eventually it started to fade, many toons decided to tuck it in the back of their mind and continue on with their lives. 

 

Brightney hard-scheduled a spot for checking on Connie in her daily schedule, the bookclub not being the closest to Connie but knowing her enough to worry more than others. 

 

The more Gigi thought about it, most of the mains acted quite awkward around Connie, Vee, Astro and Sprout all had different levels of discomfort around her. 

 

When asked about their opinions Vee would just ignore the question, Sprout would stammer and stutter or until he gave up and skipped the question, and Astro would just smile like he knew shit and move on with his day.

 

But when it came to interacting with her they all tried to avoid her like the plague, Sprout would make excuses that could make anyone laugh with how obvious they were. When they couldn't avoid her their behaviors ranged from Vee just staring at Connie and muttering things to Astro smiling and offering her his extra blanket. 

 

Honestly it was weird and awkward, but towards the 7 month mark Sprout stopped avoiding her, instead becoming what everyone would describe as a ‘mother hen’. The moment he knew where she was he wouldn't leave, always in the same room with her.

 

So when breakfast came around and Connie sluggishly floated in and everybody paused their breakfast to get a good look at her, everybody assessed her appearance quietly.

 

Sprout choked on his breakfast and started coughing loudly, distantly everyone could hear Vee's fans working double speed, trying to avoid her from overheating, Gigi swore she could smell smoke.

 

Connie shifted uncomfortably at the doorway at their shocked and confused stares. "Can you stop that? It's creepy.” She growled quietly while crossing her arms across her chest. Slowly she floated to her usual seat next to Gigi, slumping at the table.

 

Her once tidy, long, lively, brilliant bright teal hair now lay limply around her shoulders, she must've cut it sometime during her disappearance, it was messy and stuck out in every direction, some sections seemed to be curly.

 

Her face used to be pale but now Gigi's pretty sure that pale isn't strong enough to describe what Connie's face looked like, her eyes had deep black circles around them, and Gigi made the mental connection to a panda.

 

The rest of her face was as white as the walls with barely any color on them. Her outfit was wrinkled and had many stains on it, the light blue scarf she usually wore around her neck was warped around her left arm like a makeshift armwarmer.

 

The teal belt was also gone, leaving her oversized shirt to drown her. The shoulderless sleeves were nowhere to be seen, leaving her arms exposed to the cold of gardenview, Gigi could see the way she shivered with each breath she took, it was too cold for the poor disheveled woman.

 

Wordlessly Gigi removed her blue sweater and passed it to Connie, she nodded gratefully and slid it on, the sleeves to no one’s surprise drowned out her hands, Connie looked so small with Gigi's hoodie.

 

Gigi sat there awkwardly with only her undershirt and short shorts. “Thanks girl.” She rasped out and leaned to steal Gigi's precious body heat. “No problem.” Gigi quietly nudged a food tray towards her before going back to her food.

 

Throughout breakfast Gigi kept glancing at Connie, everybody did actually, everybody was curious what changed, what brought the sudden shift to invisibility and what brought her back to them.

 

Eventually, to nobody's surprise, it was Glisten to voice everyone's curiosity. Sadly he lacked the art of tact in his words lately, not to say that he usually had tact but that day it was very noticeable.

 

“So what changed, why are you back to being visible?” He leaned… gayish-ly? on the table, his elbow right in front of Connie's face, on top of her untouched food tray.

 

She stared forward numbly, then sluggishly blinked up at him, her hands sat in her lap while her posture straightened. She tensed up when the question finally registered in her brain. Gigi couldn't decipher the expression on her face but she wasn't feeling anything positive for sure.

 

Her eyes fixed themselves to a crumb on the table, her expression filled with many intangible emotions. “Hello? Are you okay in there?" He leaned even closer to her and snapped his fingers, not too close to her face but not too far. 

 

With one sharp movement she pulled her food tray from under his elbow, Gigi swore that for a second she saw Connie grimace, fear, panic and slight regret shimmering in her eyes. His elbow lost its place and he fell and bumped his head against the table, when he looked back at her she was gone, most likely back in her room.

 

 

 

Over the course of the week Connie's eyebags grew, and her patience continued to shorten, the moment she would wander into a room everybody was walking on eggshells. She barely came out of her room to eat, only making an appearance for breakfast and dinner.

 

Tensions were high around her, many were a bit snappish towards her behavior, believing she was acting out for attention now that her disappearance period wasn't as attention consuming. At the end of the week someone was going to have to break and talk it out, they couldn't go on like this. 

 

Nobody expected Astro to be the one to break. At dinner he walked up to their table and slammed down a bundle of …something. “For your sleep.” He said plainly, his eyebags almost matching hers.

 

She slowly lifted her head to make eye contact. “...What?” She said, as if she couldn't believe his act of kindness. He leaned down to whisper into her sharp pierced ears. 

 

Gigi could see the exact second Connie realised something, something that triggered her fear, the exact second where Astro hit a nerve, a dangerous one at that. Moon boy was as good as dead.

 

Connie slowly, creeplily, turned to stare at him. If looks could kill Astro would be dead a thousand times. She pulled him closer to her face with his blanket and started to growl out something before closing her mouth and re-thinking it.

 

Gigi could see the fear she was trying to smother out, bubbling under the surface, it sparked in her eyes. Eventually Connie settled on a simple “...Why?” 

 

She looked so terrified at that moment, as if Astro would stab her if she wasn't careful enough, Gigi could barely hold herself back from pushing Astro away, but only because it seemed like he was attempting to help.

 

Quietly he answered her, his voice barely above silence, Gigi strained her ears to hear, only managing to catch the words ‘dream’ and ‘yours’, not enough information to kick him away from their table and ruin his reputation.

 

Just as fast as she grabbed him she released the poor moon, he patted his blanket, attempting to smooth out the wrinkles she caused before simply going back to his table, a small but proud smile on his blue face. 

 

Slowly, comically, Connie turned to Gigi. “I am seriously thinking of disappearing again.” She said menacingly, Gigi hoped with all her heart that she was joking.

 

“Girl, if you disappear again you'll have to take me with you!” Gigi elbowed Connie jokingly and giggled, attempting to lighten the mood. The moment felt too heavy, too serious, she couldn't have her friend disappearing again, she needed her.

 

And Connie smiled shallowly, actually, the more Gigi stared, the more it looked like a grimace. She matched her best friend's expression when she realised she only made Connie's concerns worse.

 

 

 

 

“What happened.” Bassie grabbed Connie's wrist, her eyes filled with concern. “What do you mean?” Connie attempted to shrug her off but Bassie just tightened her grip and gave her a glare.

 

“What. Happened." She narrowed her eyes and Connie matched her glare. “Nothing!” She attempted to remove Bassie's hand again but she just grabbed her other hand, forcing Connie to face her.

 

“What. Happened." Bassie growled. “Nothing!!” Connie struggled against Bassie's strong grip. “From one liar to another-” Bassie pinned Connie to the wall. “-What. happened.” the distance between them was nonexistent, Connie's chances of escaping were near to nothing.

 

“NOTHING!!” she screamed and struggled.”NOTHING IS WRONG-” She screeched louder, her voice choked. “So what's right?” Bassie asked calmly, glad to finally get somewhere.

 

That shut Connie up.

 

“...” Bassie smiled at Connie encouragingly and slowly backed away from the wall. “...I don't want to talk about it.” Bassie realised her grip on Connie's wrists, then she clapped twice. Connie flinched and stared. 

 

“No…” she stared at Bassie with shock and slight bewilderment. “You didn't just-” “-I did.” Bassie smirked and grabbed Connie's hand, gently. “I just used the secret trade.” Connie bit her lip. “...Fine.” she sighed.

 

“But you go first.” she pointed at Bassie and jabbed her finger into her chest. “Deal.” Gently, apologetically, Bassie led Connie to a more secluded eara of Gardenview. 

 

They plopped down on the nearest bench. Bassie took a deep breath before encouraging herself. “I… Delilah was planning to replace me.” she admitted quietly. Connie mauled over the new information in her brain.

 

“Huh.” The disheveled ghost said numbly before pulling a smile on. “Well- from one replaced toon to another was-about-to-be, I assure you, getting replaced feels just as bad as it seems.” Connie put her arm around Bassie in-half-a-hug.

 

“But it's not the worst that can happen!” Connie grinned, her twisted attempt at comforting the basket just going more askew. “...” Bassie shrunk in on herself. “That's not comforting… ” Bassie said quietly.

 

Connie's grin fell off her face. “Sorry.” Bassie nudged Connie gently. “It's your turn.” Connie tensed, her already dissolving facade breaking completely. “...I can't.” Bassie narrowed her eyes. “I used the secret trade, you invented it, you have to tell me what's wrong.”

 

Connie tried to think of a way to work around the rules and secret signs she made while in the event room with the other event toons. “Mmmm..” she slowly attempted to float away from Bassie.

 

Bassie noticed and grabbed her hands gently, stopping her from leaving. The air was so tense around them that Connie felt like she was submerged in water. “...I can't…” Connie tried to pull her hand out of Bassie's grip.

 

Bassie tightened her grip before searching in Connie's body language.. She eventually found what she was searching for and softened her grip on Connie's hand. Connie pulled her hand away and stared at Bassie with a baffled expression.

 

“Well, if you can't tell me, then can you tell me why?” Bassie said carefully, not wanting to scare the ghost away. Connie hesitantly floated just slightly closer. She looked away and crossed her arms. “...I'm scared.” she admitted quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.  

 

“...Of?” Connie hugged herself and started to float away. “...” Bassie took the hint, this was all she was getting. “There has to be someone that can help you feel safe?” Bassie suggested, averting her eyes from Connie, who seemed like she was about to cry.

 

When Bassie looked back the ghost was gone.

 

 

 

Gigi was awoken by a knock at her door, she groggily sat up and answered the door to find Connie, with a grave expression on her face (haha). “I want to talk for a bit.” Gigi immediately sobered up.

 

“What's up girl?” she moved to the side to let Connie in. Connie sat on Gigi's bed and sighed, Gigi could stop herself from internally panicking, Connie was never serious, always joking and making jabs, whatever it was she wanted to talk about was heavy. 

 

She took a few moments to find her words while Gigi panicked internally and sat down next to her. “...I need you to not ask questions.” The ghost eventually settled on.

 

They fidgeted nervously as Gigi mauled over her answer in her head. What could possibly be so important? Something that made her best friend act so differently, she wouldn't tell anyone, wouldn't even dream about it, but the implications still scared her.  “Sure, what's up?” She replied tightly.

 

Connie opened her mouth, then closed it again. A bunch of random noises came out, as if she couldn't formulate a sentence to express what she was feeling. Gigi was about to try and guess before Connie gave up and started sobbing.

 

 A stream of incoherent words finally broke out of Connie's mouth, from what Gigi understood, Connie needed support, the Founders of Gardenview, the god-like figures that created them, had hurt Connie in the past, and she was scared they'd return to hurt her.

 

Gigi knew they wouldn't come back, from the way they left, and if they had the audacity to show their faces back at Gardenview she would make sure they wouldn't make it out alive.

 

She would make sure Connie didn't need to be afraid, no human or toon would hurt her again, not if Gigi was around, because something brought Connie to tears, something had pushed her to finally tell Gigi about what she suffered through. 

 

She was going to make sure no toon would make her feel that terrible and hurt again, no toon would be able to hurt her and get away without major blows to their reputation and physical abilities.

A guard dog doesn't ask why its services are needed, it just protects, guards and warns, it doesn't let anyone hurt its owner.

 

 

Connie’s sleep schedule was more fucked up than the shape Gardenview was in, she woke up when the crys stared and feel asleep when they stopped, she only left her room twice a day for food, even then, she tried to be back in her room as soon as possible.

 

She dreaded having to leave, what if she came back and they were gone? What if someone found them while she was out? 

 

But she had to keep up appearances, socializing with her fellow toons. So what if she was running on 3 hours of sleep and stolen caffeine? So what if most of her conversations were one sided and she never had the energy to even answer?

 

At least she was visible, her deterioration on show for everyone to see, like a car crash slowed down and stretched out for months on end. Connie felt like her entire world revolved around the two little bundles in her room.

 

Staying away for too long caused her so much anxiety, there were moments where her hands would shake and her breath would tremble, and she would immediately leave, bolting back to the safety of her room.

 

But like many toons, they couldn't keep up their facade for long, every car had to crash and break eventually, every star had faded out or will, a misplaced sentence destroying their career.

 

“Connie?” Ginger reached out to the pale ghost, she turned around, eyes unfocused and red, her face blotchy and slightly purple. “What's wrong?” she held her hands tightly to her chest, her body language fairly closed off.

 

She and Connie weren't the closest toons out there, but they weren't on bad terms, quite the opposite, they understood each other in many ways. Both being holiday toons, at least connie used to be.

 

Ginger was quite observant, she knew every tick, every facial expression, every secret codeword Connie would use, but after her transition to a normal toon, her mannerisms changed, her body language more closed off. 

 

She distanced herself from the holiday toons, becoming more closed off and harder to reach, but Ginger knew her way around the ghost, she knew when she was hiding something, and ever since she became a full-year-toon she was hiding something.

 

Ginger knew that when Connie felt any kind of negative emotion, she would feel better after being squished and smushed like mashed potatoes. Hesitantly she pried her own fists open and opened her arms as an invitation.

 

The ghost immediately collapsed into her embrace, Ginger squished her tightly, distantly she could hear one of their ribcages groan. “...Ginger?” Connie rubbed at her own face, attempting to conceal the tear marks. Ginger hummed in response, showing that she was in fact very much there.

 

“God, I'm so so so-” Connie squirmed slightly, attempting to get her hands into a more comfortable position. “-Tired!” Connie weakly slammed her fists against Ginger’s chest. 

 

Ginger held her as the ghost finally released all the pent up tears and frustration she couldn't fully let out. Gently Ginger lowered them both to the floor, letting her cry and scream as much as she needed to.

 

Eventually she calmed down, Ginger took a few moments to realize she fell asleep in her arms, the poor ghost was exhausted. 

 

Ginger took a few seconds to observe the ghost, scanning her ragged appearance, from her messy mane to what looked like faded stains on her white shoulderless gloves. 

 

Ginger lowered her face towards Connie's face, from afar it might've looked like she was leaning down to kiss Connie, but in reality she was checking Connie's breathing, letting her cold breath brush over her cheeks. 

 

Once she was satisfied with the results she effortlessly picked her up and carried her bridal style to her room, she was spared more than a few questioning glances but didn't care, she had a ghost to take care of.

 

She attempted to open the door with her shoulder before realising that the door handle needed to be turned, she glared at it for a solid second before attempting to use her knee to open the door, after that failure she decided to give up and kick the door open while attempting to not wake the sleeping ghost in her arms.

 

She put Connie down in her bed and tucked her in before heading towards the door. Right before she could exit the dark room someone started crying, like a sleeper agent Connie sat up and floated to the other side of the room.

 

Ginger stood paralyzed as Connie's glow illuminated two sleeping newborns, Connie checked the crying one before cradling it and shushing it quietly, it calmed down and she put it back into its makeshift cradle before floating back into her bed.

 

Ginger stayed frozen for a few moments before bolting out of the room, closing the door behind her carefully. 

 

Outside stood Shrimpo, “I HATE ROMANCE-” her eye twitched, Ginger wasn't a naturally shy toon, she just didn't want to come off as rude and mean. But no one other than the nuisance was round.

 

She slapped her hand onto his mouth, shushing him. “Connie is sleeping, and if you scream next to her door I will make sure your next run is the last.” Now, she wasn't a violent toon, but she had her limits when it came to her friends.

 

Before Ginger could find the right opportunity to talk about the newborns with Connie, Christmas ended and she was dragged back to slumber.

 

 

Connie napped, a lot. She fell asleep on top of any toon that was around and willing to lend their body heat, Astro knew she commonly had nightmares, but it just seemed to get worse. He had helped her last time, why couldn't he do it again?

 

He stared off into the distance as he thought of ways he could influence her dreams, falling asleep didn't seem to be the problem, but it happened when.

 

“Moon man!” Speak of the devil and she will appear, or in this case think of the devil. “Could you…” From her voice he already knew she was about to ask for a dream, he needed the focus part of his brain to work.

 

“You want a dream don't you?” He asked expertly. She nodded nervously. “I want…” The words seemed to get stuck in her mouth, stuck between her teeth, needing a toothpick to get even a part of them out.

 

She took a deep breath, which puffed up her cheeks. She looked quite adorable and young like that. From Astros viewpoint she acted like a young child asking for seconds. She released the air in her lungs before attempting to get the words out again.

 

“I want a dream where I kill the founders.” He tried to conceal his flinch, but from the look in her eyes she caught it. “You don't have to give it to me-” he put the edge of his star-hand on her lips. He needed to think.

 

He knew most of her nightmares had the founders in them, but he mostly tried to avoid them, he didn't want to see what her twisted mind came up with. Delilah and Arthur weren't bad people, but they weren't the best of the best either.

 

Giving her a safe place to let out all her fear and frustration at them could do wonders, maybe even stop the nightmares. “i'll do it.” He nodded firmly, determination washing over him.

 

Right before the moon made its appearance in the sky, he headed towards her room, unsurprisingly, she was already halfway to dreamland, he activated his powers and entered the dream.

 

Despite what many toons believed, he didn't control everything in dreams, just the main premise, the toon themselves were the one controlling the colors, the place, and some of their actions, whether it was subconsciously or not.

 

The room was dark, a single white light lighting up a medical operations table. On top was Connie, she was strapped to the table, her wrists stiff at her sides. 

 

Her breathing was heavy, but he could see that the panic was slowly being taken over by the knowledge of a fault in the rope tying her to the table.

 

Out of the darkness walked out what looked like Delilah, but she was completely different from what he remembered her like, her hair was messy and damp at some parts. Her clothes ragged and almost black with how stained they were, their original colors barely visible.

 

Connie and Astro’s eyes locked onto what she was holding. A syringe, filled with dark black liquid. She stabbed it into Connie's arm, the ghost struggled, panic spilling out of her, her mouth open in a silent scream. 

 

Her back arched and her wrists popped, most likely dislocated, the ghost kept on screaming silently, her voice unheard by Astro and Delilah.

 

While Connie struggled Delilah was leaning over her, shaking, and repeating the same pitiful sentence. “I’m sorry, i’m sorry, i’m sorr-” Astro couldn't breath, he ran up to the medical bed and hid behind it, the hands under his blanket moving up to untie Connie.

 

He fumbled with the rope, his fingers shaking and refusing to listen to his commands, the moment she registered her rope falling away from her left wrist she swung, hitting Delilah square in the face.

 

She fell backward on her ass, and suddenly Connie was on top of her, punching her again and again and again, until she lost consciousness.

 

And Connie bolted down the nearest door, he followed her in the unfamiliar hallway, they had to be in some sort of twisted version of Gardenview pre-shutdown. He followed wordlessly as they made their way down the hallway.

 

But as they were about to cross the threshold into a new room the dream dissolved, leaving Astro in the ‘void’ for a solid few moments before they were back, back in the starting room.

 

This time he untied Connie faster. 

 

This time Connie had bolted away, not even attempting to kill Delilah, just flying out as fast as she could into the hallway. Connie may have not noticed it, or just preferred to ignore it, but the walls seemed to be bleeding, deep, red human blood.

 

He gasped and walked faster. 

 

The room that dissolved last time now stayed steady, it was dimly lit by a computer, couching over the computer was Arthur, a hand holding his head up and another typing on the keyboard. Connie attempted to sneak past but got seen.

 

The moment Arthur locked eyes with her the dream dissolved, his eyes shining with something Astro couldn't describe with words. Seeing the way Connie saw the founders scared him, they were never that bad.

 

He ran towards her the moment he could, and untied the rope immediately. But Connie didn't move, didn't even attempt to run as the rope fell off her wrist. Delilah noticed, and bent over Connie to re-tie the rope.

 

Connie made no attempts to escape.

 

Astro felt like he was going to cry, this wasn't what Delilah or Arthur were like, they weren't abusive- never! they never laid a hand on him unless they needed to pick him up! 

 

He grabbed at the sharp metal legs of the medical table, it dug into the palms of his hands, and he shook like a leaf while rocking back and forth on the floor next to Connie and Delilah. He sobbed as Connie started to struggle, her muscles tensing and relaxing too quick for it to be healthy.

 

She was having a seizure and he was doing nothing, he was supposed to bring the toons good dreams, not get stuck reliving a nightmare next to them. He sobbed and rocked back and forth faster.

 

The dream faded again, but this time Connie was in the void with him. “Give me a weapon." she requested as the dream faded back into existence, he didn't even have the time to ask her about what was going on.

 

Quickly he summoned the only weapon he knew, a kitchen knife. He cut the rope off with one shaky movement before shoving it into Connie’s hand.

 

And Connie swung, she stabbed Delilah right through the heart, before pulling it back out and freeing herself. The hallway wasn't only bleeding this time around, but the walls were lined with eyes, eyes that followed her every movement.

 

And then they reached Arthur, when he spotted her he shoved himself out of his desk chair, letting it roll away. “Where did you get that knife?” He didn't sound as scared as one should be in a situation like this.

 

He sounded more disappointed and angry than fearful, Astro really didn't like Connie’s version of Delilah and Arthur, they were unstable on Delilah's side and abusive on Arthur’s.

 

He quickly grabbed her wrists, making her drop the knife. He pinned her to the wall with a loud ‘thunk’. “Go back to the table.” Connie’s eyes glossed over, and she seemed to actually consider it.

 

She shakily nodded, and that seemed to be enough for Arthur, as he released her and sat back down in his desk chair, both Connie and Astro could see the way he was watching her from the reflection on the screen.

 

Connie rubbed her raw and bloody wrists, slight disdain written on her face, she turned away, back towards the hallway. Before she could even reach the hallway he shoved a new knife into her hand.

 

Her nightmare Delilah and Arthur had to die, they were monsters, the absolute worst of the worst. “Why are you still here?” Arthur growled out, his posture straightening. Connie froze, clearly familiar with what that body language meant.

 

Arthur’s patience ran out, he took a pen out of his pocket, with the way Connie's eyes fixated on it it might as well have been a gun. The moment he was close enough Connie cut his throat open.

 

Astro closed his eyes.

 

He couldn't help but agree with Connie about killing her nightmares.

 

 

When breakfast finally arrived Astro came in early, the first one to sit down for breakfast, he made it even before Dyle and Dandy. He wanted to make sure he was there when Connie arrived, even if she was usually one of the last toons to arrive. 

 

They had to talk about the murderous tendencies she put on display last night, even if she tried to avoid him he needed to get her story before deciding if she was dangerous. Almost every single one of them thought about hurting their creators at one point or another.

 

But asking to kill them, to see them again, was not something any of them wanted truly.

 

“Youre up early.” Vee noted as she sat down across from him, in Sprout’s usual spot. He hummed and rocked slightly. “...Did you give someone a good dream?” She asked, a small grin on her screen. 

 

He gave her a non-conferming shrug, he wanted to wait for the others to arrive before venting, Connie's mind was so much darker than anyone would expect, he could admit that he was a bit more than just shaken.

 

Sprout and Shelly came in together, chatting about a thing or another, but the moment they sat down the conversation shifted and Astro could see the moment Shelly realised Sprout was no longer listening.

 

She seemed to wilt at the loss of attention, as if she was a flower deprived of sustenance.

 

Their appearance caused him to miss Connie's arrival. “I'll be right back.” He said and pushed himself away from Sprout and Vee's fighting-over-the-lemon thing they were doing, their friendship consisting of constant banter and sparring. Vee's antenna ended up in Sprout's hand while the lemon was in her ‘mouth’.

 

He walked over to Connie's table, ready to give her a speech about letting out emotions but how blaming everything on one (Or two) people isn't going to solve all her problems but before he could even start she let her own rant spill.

 

“I’m sorry Astro I shouldn't have asked you fo-” she grabbed his blanket and sank to her ‘knees’ tone pleading and desperate. A wave of overprotectiveness washed over him as it struck him how young Delilah made her. She was at most 19, and mentally must've been shifting all the time between teenager and young adult.

 

“If you ever need help killing someone again, you know where to find me.” He said simply. It was not what he meant, not what he wanted to discuss, but he could give her the entire spiel later, right now she just needed comfort.

 

It sounded like he was offering his servuses as a hitman, which was not what he meant at all, but he would take it rather than kicking when she was down like some unnamed shrimp.

 

She stared at him with shock and awe. From behind her Gigi sent him a bewildered expression, the hint of anger that she had in her eyes dissipated, as if asking ‘What the freak???’ Later he would chuckle when he realised that she was offended that Connie didn't ask for her help to kill someone.

 

“Next time you better have an actual weapon, a measly kitchen knife isn't a weapon, Moon man!” She shot back the moment she gathered her bearings and dusted herself off, he nodded and left back towards his table, realising his tablemates had already left to do their daily chores.

 

He sighed, he was used to the packed schedules, but it still hurt a bit to eat alone. 

“Did I do something wrong?” Looey managed to catch Connie before she returned to her room, itching to talk to her. “What?” She said, she had no clue what he meant. “You’ve been ignoring me- But it's ok- I'm sorry for whatever I did- And if I can't fix it- Or make it up to you- I will find a way!” 

 

Connie turned to fully face them. “Looey what- no! You did nothing wrong-” she reached and grabbed their shoulders. “Are you sure?” He embraced her. They both shook as they hugged each other tightly.

 

“Yes- im just having a bit of a rough patch- like Poppy had, remember?” Looey nodded slightly. “But poppy-” “Ignore that part.” She said quickly. “Ok.” He nuzzled into her shoulder.

 

“...I hope your rough patch ends soon.” They whispered.

 

Connie stared forward, not knowing how to respond to Looey's wish, she knew it wouldn't end soon, but the sentiment was nice. 

Chapter 2: Laughter in the halls

Notes:

early chpater for yall :D

Connie was already having a terrible day, the shadows at the edges of her vision staying even after she left the darkness of her room, sleep deprivation has been kicking her ass to Jupiter and back lately.

 

she just needed her coffee and then she could function like she wasn't dead inside and suffering from hallucinations for almost a week straight. She wanted to take the wall into the kitchen but in her sleep-deprived state she came in through the main entrance.

 

the lights were off, she didn't have any time to prepare herself before loud noises burst from everywhere, her sensitive hearing stuffing greatly, she felt like her eardrums just burst.

 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONNIE!” any other day she would've just laughed it off, but Connie hadn't slept in a week, was running on pure caffeine and paranoia, and was seeing shit.

 

so no one should've blamed her when she punched the closest person to her and popped her invisibility. She would be sorry about it later when she wasn't panicking and seeing Delilah chasing after her with a clipboard out of the corner of her eye.

 

Connie found a corner, Arthur couldn't hurt her or use her pressure point if she was pressed into the wall. So now it just left the blurry shape which Connie was almost sure was Delilah, she could usually guilt her into giving her just a few more minutes off the operation table.

 

if that didn't work then she could use her eyes, scare Delilah enough to bring out sedation and then she won't be awake of any of it, a win-win either way but sedation always made her feel heavy and itchy, like her insides were covered with mosquito bites.

 

She started begging just for another five minutes, just for five, it wasn't a lot but she was sure that in that time she could disable one of the suppression cuffs, make her invisibility more available for later, for another escape attempt.

 

“How many fingers am I holding?” Connie instinctively slapped away the hand, before realising it was soft and fuzzy, not some plastic glove, quickly she grabbed onto it and started rubbing her thumb against it, feeling the soft texture.

 

“Connie, do you know where you are?” she honestly had no clue anymore, she thought she was at the operation room, but there was nothing soft or fuzzy in there. Slowly she shook her head.

 

the blurry figure leaned just a bit closer. “Do you know who I am?” it couldn't be delilah, she was never this nice, it couldn't be Arthur, he never came into the operation room, Pebble couldn't talk, so that only left Dandy.

 

What was Dandy doing there?? Was it another attempt to make her fight less against the transition into a full-tear toon? Why was he pretending to care again? He knew she knew he was just there because Delilah asked him to.

 

“Dandy?” she muttered in utter bafflement. The figure laughed hollowly. “I never thought someone would call me Dandy, I need to write this down.” 

 

the knot in Connie's chest tightened, she said something wrong and was going to get screamed at by Arthur for not recognising someone probably more important than her.

 

“Hey- whoa, calm down it fine, it's me!” great thing for them to say when Connie had no clue who they were. “uh shit- um- how many fingers am i holding?” 

 

The figure bright up a sweater covered hand to her face, Connie stared. Was that a trick fucking question?? she glared at it for a few seconds before realising that it meant a new person was around.

 

when she looked up she finally realised where she was, not the operation room but just soem corner in the large hallways of garden view with her best friend sitting on her knees in front of her.

 

“you AssEater.” She said hoarsely, staring at Gigi's covered hand with dull frustration. Gigi pulled that trick every other week, no one could actually know how many fingers she was holding up. It was the second oldest trick in her book, right after ‘it says gullible on the ceiling’. 

 

Connie huffed and realised Gigi's left hand (Connie's right). “Are you back?” Gigi asked, her voice filled with worry. “I'm good. ” she grumbled against her burning face. 

 

She ran from a surprise birthday party, which was so stupid, she didn't even remember that her birthday was today. They just wanted to do something nice and she ran away like an idiot. 

 

Gigi, who could see her friend was spiraling again, and was having none of it, gently put her sleeves on Connie's shoulders. “... I tried to stop them from getting the party poppers, but they insisted." Connie slowly lifted her head.

 

“And by ‘they’ you mean?” She asked, wanting to know who thought loud noise was a great idea, she would glare at them later. “oh you know… ” Gigi waved her sleeve in the air, “...the Unpoppables.” 

 

The Unpoppables was the trio name for Poppy, Looey and Sprout. Connie grumbled, she couldn't really glare at any of them, looey was her friend and she cared about them, Poppy was in a bit of a rough patch and hiding it terribly, and Sprout…

 

Well he was the one who took care of everyone, she couldn't be mad at him, it would be weird, and she'd have to cook for herself, which was another thing she just couldn't add to her already full plate.

 

“So…?” Gigi asked awkwardly. “...You owe me coffee?” Gigi nodded. “I now owe you coffee.” then shook her head like a confused puppy. “Wait- since when did we have coffee?” Connie got up and fixed the folds on her clothes. 

 

“Dont worry about it.” She said as calmly as she could. To Gigi it sounded so fuckin’ ominous but she was used to the way connie face and voice never really managed to stay comforting for long and every few seconds the light would hit her just the right way to make her look absolutely terrifying.

 

She knew Delilah tried to remove all the scary light tricks and voice… distortions that connie had as a creepy halloween toon but they just so distinctly connie that imagining her without them was just wrong.

 

“...Hi” “...” Eclipse wagged her tail nervously as she watched her predecessor fail to pick up the milk carton, she was attempting to make herself a serving of cereal but just kept on dropping the items, spilling them and her hand just not grabbing them and passing through.

 

Eclipse wondered why she was making cereal at 10pm but that was 3rd on her priorities list, the first being to check up on the ghost. She watched awkwardly as Connie failed to pick the milk up for the seventh time.

 

“Do you need help?” Eclipse could tell Connie didn't want help, but she did seem to need it. Connie just stopped her attempts and stepped aside. Now Eclipse got to see her face, it was covered with a shadow, leaving only her red eyes visible.

 

Kinda like the other halloween toons. Eclipse always felt excluded when the halween toons all had their creepyness on and she didn't, she just couldn't do it, she was only scary when it was dark.

 

Nervously she poured milk into the cereal filled bowl. She could feel Connie's eyes tracking her every movement. Which was honestly creepy as heck. She attempted to hand Connie the bowl before realising that Connie was in no state to carry it.

 

“When was the last time you slept?” The ghost gave a non-committal shrug, telling Eclipse that she wasn't really sure when she last slept. Then the ghost shoved her hand into the cutlery drawer.

 

Eclipse flinched as the scraping and clattering of cutlery rang in her ears. Connie noticed and stopped immediately. ‘Sorry’ she mouthed and pulled out a big silver spoon, its handle engraved with spirales. 

 

she held the spoon with her middle and ring fingers, with the rest she made grabby hands at the bowl in Eclipse paws. Eclipse awkwardly passed the bowl into her hands, careful to not spill any of the food inside.

 

Eclipse just stood there, next to the counter, the cutlery drawer open, the lights turned on, and utterly confused as Connie floated away, she didn't even get to make sure Connie was ok.

 

She was going to end it. Tonight she was going to take her first and last train ride ever, the small knife felt heavy in her pocket. Shelly took a deep breath before leaving her room.

 

She waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive, her pain has followed her for her entire life, she couldn't bear the thought of suffering even longer.

 

The long elevator ride was agonising, she just wanted to end it, to end her breathing and free herself from the gilded cage that was her life.

 

“And that's the north star, yes, that one, right there!” Someone was sitting at the base of the tree. “Mommy! Mommy! what is that one called?” She heard a faint laugh and a sigh. “That's Orion, the hunter, he’s named after a greek thing.”

 

A short pause. “I think.” A few giggles reached Shelly's ear-holes. “He's also visible everywhere on the planet.” Shelly smiled faintly before sneaking out of the elevator. “Mama, I'm tired…” 

 

“It looks like it's naptime, my Ghostlings.” Connie grinned. “oooOOOOoo!!!! Here comes the sleepmonser!” And that's when Connie spotted her. 

 

Shelly has never seen anyone cycle through emotions as fast as Connie did in those few milliseconds. She attempted to hide the two small figures with her body, pushing the two confused kids behind her. “Mama?”

 

“What are you doing here?” She said, fear dripping with every word, the words bubbling out her throat towards the last person who needed such words directed at. 

 

Fear. Connie was afraid. She could see it in the tenseness of her body and her eyes. “... Last train ride.” she said carefully, deciding to be honest with the one person who's been the least honest lately. 

 

Connie lurched forward and grabbed her arm in a tight grip. “Don't, you have Bassie waiting for you, there's more dinosaur books to read!” Connie knew that Shelly wasn't convinced so she pulled out the big guns, the best cards in her possession.

 

A few badly placed words wouldn't convince Shelly so quickly. Slowly, hesitantly, she pushed one of the kids forward, she had a stitch going from the bottom left (Shelly's left) to the top right of her face, disappearing underneath her hairline. 

 

Her hair an off white color, it swayed as if there was wind. Her clothing consisted of a yellow T-shirt and short knee-length jeans embroidered with butterflies and rainbows… so that's where Shelly's old clothes went.

 

The kid looked up at her mom, asking for confirmation that she was safe. When Connie nodded the kid threw herself at Shelly, wrapping her small child arms around her midsection and nuzzling her side.

 

“...I heard you say something about the train?” They asked hesitantly. “I was going to, um-” Shelly could see Connie's plan in action, she was biding her time, sending the children to try and convince her that life is worth living.

 

…Where did these children even come from? 

 

The kid started telling Shelly everything they knew about trains and the history of them, Shelly blinked and suddenly Connie and her kids are tagteaming her about topics they know quite a lot about.

 

The first kid, the one with off white hair, tells her their names, Clara and Miro. Miro is shorter than Clara, he's covered in a white cloth like those shitty halloween ghost costumes, his eye sclera is pure black while the pupil is white.

 

When Clara finishes her speech about different types of butterflies, bugs and birds Miro tags in and tells her about stars, astrology and navigation. When his throat runs sore and deserted by words. Connie takes over and tells her about biology and plants, how to find the difference between one-sex and two-sex plants, how some plants do react to noise and touch and how the food they all eat is genetically engineered to have smaller seeds.

 

In exchange she tells them about dinosaurs, about early humans and about ancient tools, and the kids love it, they hungryly collect every word she tells them and cuddle her closer as if she's about to leave any second.

 

And then dawn arrives, and Connie has to go. But not before all her words spill out of her mouth as one short pleading sentence. “You can't tell anyone.” She begs quietly as her kids tiredly lean against each other, Shelly could tell they were suffering the consequences of not participating in naptime. “Please.” 

 

“Ok, but you can tell anybody about… My train plans.” Connie grins slightly. “Only if you promise to not execute them.” And then they went their separate ways, back to their rooms.

 

The next day at breakfast, Shelly brings Connie an astrology book from the library. “... I appreciate the thought, but I can't read.” She smiles sadly at Shelly. 

 

Two nights later, when Shelly's sleep schedule is partially repaired, she brings the astrology book to the tree, where Connie is telling Clara and Miro about a big bad dagon before flying after them in circles and tickling them when she catches them.

 

They squeal and squeak as they run, screaming with joy. Shelly has never seen Connie go that fast. ”I brought a book.” She says, just to announce her presence. “Sely!” Clara and Miro yell happily in unison before running to her.

 

She sits down and starts to read it to them, every few pages she looks up to see them all giving her their full attention, even Connie, it fills her with happiness, she feels seen. The train station seems less and less appealing with every page she turns.

 

And so, every two nights, Shelly picks a book and reads it to the small undead family, having their attention all for herself.

Dang it, he was so engrossed in his training that he missed dinner, oh well, there must be some leftovers. As he approached the kitchen a strong feeling of unease settled in his gut, call it instinct, call it sixth sense, Shrimpo started running.

 

Not from the kitchen but towards it.

 

Inside was Connie, and two other toons he didn't recognize. The two strangers sat close to the sink, each with a hose in hand, Connie had a fire extinguisher in one hand and a burnt spatula in the other.

 

The countertops on the far side of the room roared to life with fire, Shrimpo was a bit worried, this was one of the bigger fires he’d seen ever since Cosmo started baking.  

 

“WATER NOW!” Connie roared as they all started trying to extinguish the fire. The fire quickly approached the two smaller toons, they didn't notice. Before anyone could do anything the sheet on the smaller one caught fire.

 

All hell broke loose, the other one started soaking him, leaving Connie to fend against the fire for herself while the two small toons panicked and still didn't manage to extinguish the burning sheet.

 

Shrimpo ran in, and yanked the hose out of the toon’s hands before stomping on the sheet, extinguishing it and the fire behind both of them. Connie finished extinguishing her side of the fire before turning around to find Shrimpo with her kids.

 

“What are you doing here?” she asked, not bothering to keep any hostility out of her voice. and Shrimpo will admit, he isn't the nicest out there, and he did target her while she was already not feeling her best, but he kind of felt like that much hostility was a bit much.

 

“Snack.” he said shortly. The frankenstein-looking toon swung her legs from her seat on top the counter and leaned a bit forward then backwards in a steady pace. “Breakfast” she said absentmindedly.

 

Connie sighed and pinched the space between her eyes. “Kids wait at the entrance, I need to talk with Shrimpo.” She used what could only be described as ‘Mom voice’ and Shrimpo was compelled to do the same as them and listen to her every request.

 

The moment they left she sighed and set down a clean pan before breaking 3 eggs into them and letting them cook. “You can't tell anyone about them.” she said sternly and she moved around the kitchen, seemingly making fries to go with the dippable eggs.

 

He hummed and leaned against the fridge. “Where did you find them?” he asked and opened the fridge to get what he actually was there for. “... Remember those 8 months where I was invisible at all times?” 

 

Connie could hear the cogs turning in Shrimpo's mind, she could even see them tuning on his face. Suddenly it occurred to her that not all toons knew where babies came from, because Arthur was worried what they'd do with that knowledge.

 

So now she has to explain things to Shrimpo. “Ok, so you know the story with storks and babies?” He hummed and nodded. “Well it's a lie.” she could faintly hear him mumble “knew it!”. “Most kids don't get created like that, they, um…” She really didn't want to explain that part of the reproduction system. “Huh?”

 

“Theres a species of lizard that can reproduce only using herself, making tiny copies of her genetics incase she doesn't live long enough to continue the circle of life and evolution.” She takes out three plates and organizes the fries and egg into a surprised face. 

 

After a long moment of silence where all that could be heard was Shrimpo munching on his granola bar, Shrimpo said, "You're a lizard?” Which frankly was the least expected response. She expected him to scream at her, to demand a better answer, to call her a whore and accuse her of lying to cover up something.

 

She laughs and hits her hand against the counter top. “THAT'S your takeaway from that???” She bends over wheezing at his response. “SHUT UP I HATE LIZARDS!!” He screamed and turned to leave.

 

“WAIT!” suddenly she's not laughing or making fun of him or even grinning. No, she's scared, she's terrified that after he will leave the kitchen he will tell everyone, doom her to be an outcast. 

 

She grabs his wrist. “You can't tell anyone about them.” She pleads. And he pulls his hand out of her grip roughly. “shu-shut up i would never.” He would never admit that seeing her this scared made him feel bad.

 

Now that Shelly paid more attention to Connie, she noticed that the black circles never left her eyes, and how slowly but surely they were getting worse again. So when Connie pulled her aside at breakfast Shelly took a few seconds to look her up and down, making sure the ghost was ok.

 

Now that Connie had her usual outfit again she could see how much… Smaller Connie has become, her belt warped around her waist more than once. “I need to make changes to our… Arrangement.” She said quietly.

 

“What do you mean?” Shelly said nervously, Connie's kids saved her life, they gave her attention and love, even when bad days came and she didn't have the energy to play.  

 

“They've been skipping naptime to stay awake while you're with them, it makes them cranky and I just can't anymore.” The last part came out with a choked sob of someone who hasn't had a good night’s sleep in over a week. 

 

“So I'm going to build a schedule for you, that way we can both sleep.” She said breathlessly. “...Can you write it down?” She hummed nervously. “S-sure.” The disheveled woman stuttered out.

 

And so for the next visits Shelly abided by naptime, her sleep schedule fixing itself to fit around the family's needs.

 

The schedule had Connie eating 4 meals in 24 hours but she still lost weight from what Shelly could see. Which frankly, she was concerned about but at this point they've built a ‘help and don't ask’ relationship. 

 

So when dawn arrived and Connie knocked on Shelly's door, she let her in wordlessly and brought her a spare blanket. “Clara has started rejecting naptime.” She said simply. “She’s shifting her sleep schedule.” 

 

Connie buried her head in her hands. “I know this is a lot but can you be with them tonight on your own?” She lifted her head to use her big yellow eyes as a weapon. Shelly hoped that Clara wouldn't pick up that same habit because Shelly could barely say no to her mom. 

 

So Shelly had to cook. The moment she brought the kids to the kitchen they sat next to the sink and pulled out the hoses expertly. “Mama al-was has a fire ex-tink-wish-er with her.” Clara said helpfully. as Shelly started searching for it. 

 

“It's under the big mix-ie thing” Clara hopped down and wandered over to open the cabinet under the mixer. “Thank you.”  Shelly smiled and took the fire extinguisher out. “What do you want for breakfast?” She had no clue what to make.

 

“Egg nest!” They both shouted, excited. Pulling out the list of ‘children language’ Connie gave her she searched for ‘Egg nest’. She found it close to the bottom next to ‘Super sandwich’. They wanted french toast.

 

She started humming Toxic by Britney Spears as she took out eggs and toast and put them in a pan. “What the fuck are you doing here.” 

 

Shrimpo stood in the doorway, a towel over his shoulders and his hand swapped in boxing tape. Shelly immediately moved to make sure the kids were out of sight but before she could do anything Miro jumped off the counter and ran to him. “Sipo!” 

 

Shrimpo let out a soft ‘Oof’ as he was tackled to the ground by two 5-year-olds. Shelly couldn't help but giggle at the sight. “WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT” He screeched. 

 

With breakfast served she and Shrimpo took a second to talk as the kids ran around underneath the tree. “You know.” He said planely, which was kind of a conversation stopper, no ping-pong of words could start like that.

 

“How did you find out?” She asked. “Fire.” He just really wasn't biting the bait for a conversation, for the rest of the night Shrimpo watched from his spot by the wall, silently offering assistance once in a while. 

 

 

Miro glared at Clara as she glared back. “Bugs are MY thing! you can't have them!” She growled at him, holding her moth drawing close to her chest. “And you can't have stars! It's MY thing!” He held the Astrology book Shelly got him for his 6th birthday close to his chest, matching Clara's body language.

 

They stayed in a stalemate, each of them not willing to give up what made them unique, what separated them from the other. But they were both just 6-year-olds, they couldn't stay mad at the other forever.

 

Together they sat down on the grass under the tree, brainstorming a solution. “We could make a deal!” Clara offered. “What kind of deal?” Miro relaxed the tight hold on his book. “We share one thing each!” she threw her hands up, and smiled as if she just found the solution to world hunger.

 

He stared at her suspiciously, it's not that he didn't trust her to not take too much, it was just that… it seemed like their interests were colliding and he wasn't sure he liked it.

 

“I'll give you my bugs.” The world is good, life is heaven and Mommy is going to give him all the candy in the building tomorrow. 

 

He nodded his head eagerly. “You can have my stars!” He offered happily. Clara grinned as they solved their problem. “So this is a Rosy Maple Moth, I drew it because mama only brought yellow and red today.” She pointed at the drawing.

 

“Its scientific name is-”  She paused, gathering all her bain power to say it correctly. “Dry-cam-pa Ra-bic-can-da, also known as the great silk moths.” she said proudly. “One day, when I'm all big and strong, I'm going to go moth hunting. We already have a few in the tree.” She pointed out.

 

He opened his book and flipped to his favorite page. “This is Pluto, it's a dwarf.” he tapped the picture on the page. “It's in the ku-per belt.” Clara hummed and scootched closer to see the book better.

 

After a few rounds of them sharing interests they started to get restless, neither of them able to sit for more than ten minutes. Clara knew he didn't want to break the moment but he itched to move as much as she was.

 

“ARGGGG!!” She yelled and tackled him to the ground. “Tag you're it!” She pushed off of him and started running to hide behind the base of the tree. “No fare!” He yelled and stumbled after her.

 

They didn't care how much noise they were making, like many other times, they didn't care if Connie was going to lecture them about it later, they were enjoying what little life had to offer them.

 

 

Connie gently put down what looked like a radio before heading to her bed to wake up the two sleeping children. “Good night sleepyheads! it's time to wake up!” she waited for them to wake up, silently hoping they wouldn't.

 

As if they could hear her thoughts the two 7 year-olds stayed asleep. Connie smirked and started to fiddle with the radio antenna, when she was satisfied she haunted the small box. 

 

Bad romance by Lady Gaga started playing on the lowest volume. Connie raised the volume slightly. “BA RA A-A-A-A ROMA ROMA-MA GA GA OO LA LA WATUE BE ROMANCE” Suddenly played on full volume. Clara jolted awake, accidentally jumping off the bed, she attempted to hold on to anything to stop her from falling off but instead only succeeded in bringing her brother down with her. 

 

Connie exited the Radio and started to sing with the song. “I WANTCU UGLY-” Miro screeched, baffled beyond words. “I WANT YOUR DEASE-” Clara grabbed two pillows off the bed, throwing them both at Connie. 

 

“ACK-” She barely missed her, she ducked just in time for the second one to pass right above her head. She paused the music. “I thought I'd bring you a little surprise.” she grinned. “It's only 8 in the evening.” Clara grumbled.

 

“Yes and?” Connie put her hand back on the button. “Tonight we dance.” she grinned proudly and turned the music back on. “Dont worry breakfast will be at the regular time, I just thought you'd appreciate the sound.”

 

Clara and Miro knew she was right, they both liked to make sounds and both liked when sound was tingly in their brain. Connie started dancing, it didn't have the right impact since she didn't have legs but her dance moves encouraged Clara and Miro to join.

 

She spun them around and rolled around mid air all around the room, most of her dance moves consisted of some sort of spin or rotation. Clara just moved her legs quickly, clapping her hands and drumming on her body as she danced.

 

Miro kept on trying to do waves, he didn't succeed but he was having fun. and from Connie's expression he could tell that was all she cared about.

It was Shelly's birthday, not that toons aged past the age they were born to, but Delilah still liked to celebrate the day where she completed their creation, every time she said that Shelly would feel like god was celebrating the date they created poison ivy.

 

Why would God celebrate such a meaningless day? there were many other brilliant things that could be celebrated, and yet it chose poison ivy.

 

But now it felt like Delilah just wanted to celebrate a finished project, something she and Arthur worked on for a while finally coming alive. 

 

It still didn't feel like a meaningful date, after all, none of the toons remembered except her. So she didn't have high expectations this year. 

 

So when Connie approached her table she expected Connie to pull her aside and ask for help or a specific book subject for their next reading.

 

What she would've never expected was Connie to put three envelopes on the table, lean forward and whisper in her hole. “We made you gifts, come visit after dinner.” Before smirking and pulling away.

 

Shelly felt her face heat up, yes Connie and her would snuggle close sometimes to stay warm, but this felt different. Slowly she brought a hand up to where she could still feel Connie's cold breath tingle.

 

She quickly hid the three seemingly innocent envelopes in her overall pockets. If anyone snooped and found them then Shelly would be in soooo much trouble.

 

The whole day Shelly was impatient, she just couldn't wait for that evening, she was going to get birthday gifts, and not just because Delilah forced them to! 

 

Shelly couldn't help but wonder what changed, why was Connie celebrating this one and not the others? She's been in on Connie's secret for around 3 years, and celebrated the kids' 6th to 8th birthdays with them, so why only now were they celebrating hers?

 

Shelly did her best to pass the time, but it felt like the clocks couldn't go slower, they must've broken at some point because there's no way only 3 hours have passed.

 

Looking back at it, going on a run isn't a fun birthday activity. Shelly groaned and left the elevator to go to her room, too exhausted to eat dinner. Then she remembered that Connie and her kids were waiting for her.

 

She sharply turned left towards Connie's room. She hesitated at the handle, some dark thoughts nipping at the edges of her happiness, what if it was just a prank? What if Connie forgot she talked to Shelly? 

 

Shelly swallowed the thoughts down and pushed the door open.

 

“SURPRISE!!!!” Three pale faces screamed and jumped out of their hiding places behind a table, a couch and a wardrobe. The room was decorated head-to-toe with confetti, shiny candy wrappers, balloons and party streamers. 

 

The couch looked like someone took a bucket of sparkles and spilled it on the cushions, honestly Shelly wouldn't know who did it between the three, Connie was quite the prankster and acted like a teenager most of the time if not a young adult.

 

She hoped Connie had a plan for removing all the sparkles from everything, because she knew they were going to end up sitting on it.

 

On the table was a bunch of candies, two chocolate boxes, a few cupcakes, and a big brown cake. Shelly guessed it was a slightly burnt vanilla cake. “Whooaaa, you really decorated the place!”

 

She smiled back as Clara and Miro gave her matching big toothy smiles, Clara and Miro seemed to be wearing some of their ‘fancy’ clothes, Clara had an elegant yellow sundress embroidered with butterflies and flowers with Shelly's own two hands.

 

Miro wore a white T-shirt with a pink heart embroidered in the middle and light blue shorts paired with white socks with pink stripes. (A few years later Shelly would internally snicker when she realized he was unintentionally wearing the trans flag.)

 

Connie was wearing a dark blue jacket above her normal shirt and a fancy white bow around her neck. Shelly blushed when she realised that Connie decorated her face with sparkles, a few golden ones under her eyes and a few random ones around her cheekbones and cheeks like a sparkly blush.

 

Dear Delilah, Shelly wanted to stare at Connie's face forever. “Shells! we made you this!” Clara shoved a medium wrapped box into Shelly's hands, “and here is my contribution.” Connie said proudly and put a small wrapped box on top of the first one.

 

Shelly sat down on the couch, not caring if her overalls got sparkles all over them, she had spares in her own wardrobe. Slowly, carefully, she pried the pink-dinosaur pattern warping paper off the box, revealing the item inside.

 

It looked like anti dust goggles, but it had a bunch of rainbow fake diamonds all over it and the glass seemed to be plastic. She carefully put them on, turns out the glass had sort of a stratoscope effect, her vision changed colors depending on where she shifted her head.

 

She let out a small gasp when she realised that she could still see the outside world. “Pretty cool right? I helped with the glass.” So it was real glass! What an amazingly talented family. 

 

“Do the trick! Do the trick!” Miro and Clara yelled in unison. Connie sighed fondly and Shelly heard a small ‘poof’ signalling that she went invisible. but shelly could still see her, just a lot more see through, the sparkles on her face and her fancy outfit all for her to see.

 

“TA DA!!!” Miro screamed and waved his arms around. Shelly could see the way Connie grinned fondly at him, before she dove and tickled him. “NEVER LET YOUR GUARD DOWN WHEN THE TICKLE MONSTER IS NEAR!!!” She roared dramatically.

 

Shelly took this as her signal to do the same, she chased Clara around until she ran out of stamina and had to pull out the dirty tricks, jumping over and sliding under the furniture.

 

“CHEATER” Clara screamed when she got caught, Shelly didn't even get to tickle her before she started giggling and squealing. It took Shelly a second to realise Connie had freed Miro and was tickling Clara instead. 

 

Eventually naptime came, and because it was Shelly's special day, (Or night.) She stayed over, it was the best sleep of her life, her head on Connie's shoulder, and Connie's head on hers, Miro snuggled into Connie's lap and Clara star-fishing on top of all of them.

 

It was the best birthday she’s ever had, her last thought before drifting off was how she hoped next year would be the same.

Notes:

next chapter might be a bit late, chapter 4 only an outline rn...

also school.

Chapter 3: The closet heist

Notes:

HAPPY CRISMEN HAVE AN EARLY CHAPTER

Clara matched her brother’s ecstatic grin, the excited energy they both had felt contagious, even the adults around them could feel it. 

 

Tonight they were going to do their first ‘prank’, the first prank that they could pull on anyone that wasn't the other or Connie. 

 

“Before we start, one more repeat of the guidelines!" Connie requested and clapped her hands together. “if we’re seen, act like a hallucination, no stealing anything big from Tisha, no loud noises.” They said in unison. Connie smiled proudly. 

 

“And the backup plan?” She asked curiously, testing them mercilessly. “Run to the closest trusted adult room. " She grinned. "And those arrreee?”

 

They both felt like this much questioning was a bit excessive but Connie was worried enough about them leaving the room without an adult to chaperone them around so they would continue to answer her questions just to calm her nerves. 

 

“You, Shrimpo, Shelly, Gigi and Astro.” They sing-songed in unison, each matching the other's voice perfectly. “Ok, let's go!” She opened the door and almost hit Shrimpo in the face. 

 

“CAREF-” Connie slammed her hands on his mouth to stop him from continuing such loud noises. “Care-fuck my ass, we are being quiet tonight” she growled into his ear. If Clara didn't know better she’d say they hated each other, but she’d seen them say much worse and still hang out together.

 

Connie released him and wiped her hand on her sleeve, which meant he probably licked her hand out of spite. “Let's get going, does everybody know which rooms they're raiding?” Everybody nodded.

 

“Well then- “ Clara got ready to bolt. “Scatter!” Connie whisper-yelled and they all ran in different directions, Connie towards the main’s rooms, Shrimpo towards Teagan's room which was right across the hall, Clara already knew that Miro was planning to go to the commons, but she still laughed when she saw him skid at the sharp turn.

 

And that left her with the rare toons, she slowed her running to normal walking speed and was struck with the realization that for once in her life, she was alone, in a long dark hallway.

 

Not a sound, no breathing beside her, no one to talk to, no one to joke with. Clara felt like she was being drowned in silence, buried under layers of quiet, the ceiling felt too tall, the walls too far away from each other.

 

Clara took a deep breath to calm her nerves and stumbled to a start.

 

Each door had a number, but she couldn't really tell whose room any of them were. So she chose the one she was closest to, the inside was covered with butterfly posters and types, Clara gasped softly when she spotted a book about bug types and differences between them on one of the shelves. 

 

Connie said the main target of this ‘prank’ was to steal clothes they liked or thought the others would like, but she also said that as long as it wasn't too big they could take whatever they wanted.

 

And Clara needed that book right now. Carefully, she climbed onto the desk, making sure to not disturb any of the journals and diaries on top of it. The desk groaned quietly at the added weight, already having too much to carry.

 

Gently she pulled the book out of its spot on the shelf, the hard-cover felt nice in her hands, she hugged it to her chest before quietly slipping it into the bag she was given, the bag had a few embroidered butterflies on it, all thanks to Shelly.

 

Once the book was secured in her bag she took one glance at the toon’s wardrobe before deciding that it was very bland and leaving the room.

 

The next room was definitely Gigi's. Clara heard all about the infamous hoarder from her mom, so she knew it would be hard to find anything in such clutter. She gave the room a short lookover before deciding that it was very much not worth the effort.

 

The room one door over was very pink, and with the amount of posters about Mirror man plastered all over the walls she could deduce this room was Mirror man’s. Miro really wanted to see his room but ultimately decided that the commons had more variation and more toons he wanted to see.

 

‘What's better, seeing one you really want to see, or six that you're interested a normal amount in?‘  Was what he told her when they chose which corridor each got to raid. She carefully opened the wardrobe, and for a few blissful moments she understood why her sibling thought mirror man was so cool. 

 

And then she saw the boring gray sweater on display and the mirage broke. She noticed several clothing items that her family would want so she got to work putting them all into the bag.

 

A pair of white tights (Or leggings she really couldn't tell.), a long-sleeve black shirt with a high neck, a pair of shoulder-length gloves for her mom, and a few other clothing items she was sure he wouldn't miss.

 

On her way out her eyes caught on some pink and black nail polish, mindlessly she pocketed them and snuck out.

 

The next room was just pitch black, unluckily she did not inherit her mom’s night vision, so she went in blind. She stepped in, her eyes adjusting to the darkness slowly, the moment she heard (And felt) a soft ‘squelch’ underneath her bare feet she bolted, slamming the door behind her, not caring if she made noise.

 

She dragged her foot against the carpet until her foot felt dry again, she didn't care if she was making a mess, the sensation was disgusting and she needed it gone.

 

She had only one room left, if she was the first to finish she would have more time to spend choosing new outfits to show off, they were planning a fashion show afterwards to show off what each of them got.

 

Inside the next room was messy but not as much as Gigi's was, crayons and drawing supplies littered the floor, and child-like drawings seemed to be hung up on every inch of wall. She stole a few pencils and arts and crafts supplies before heading towards the first wardrobe.

 

…Which only had three measly orange T-shirts, yup she was leaving that one alone. On the contrary, the wardrobe on the opposite side of the room had so much variety in color and size, Clara was amazed.

 

Quietly she filled the rest of her bag with anything that looked good and like it wouldn't be missed. One of the room's occupants groaned and rolled around, Clara slammed the wardrobe shut and ran, she did NOT want to get caught, especially if her mom found out.

 

She ran until she recognised where she was, right outside of Teagan's room. She took a few seconds to calm herself down. “Hey-” Clara took after her mom in many ways, one of them included not screaming when surprised, but jumping.

 

Clara would never admit she almost hit her head on the ceiling with how high she jumped. She floated down slowly when she realised it was Shrimpo. He stared at her with an almost impressed expression. “You good?” 

 

“Yeah, just caught me off guard.” she huffed, he gave her a strong pat on the back before heading towards Connie's room. “Comon, lets sort through our hoards.” She grumbled something about how most of the clothes she chose weren't for her and trailed after him.

 

When Miro and Connie finally came back, Shrimpo and Clara already finished sorting all the clothes based on what kind (t-shirt, sweater, coat), brightness and fancyness. There were also a few piles to the side for clothes that were for specific toons. 

 

And then the chaos began, everyone stealing, picking and borrowing clothes from each other's piles for specific outfits. She and Miro had an agreement that every outfit they disagree on they'd have to construct an actual reason for disliking. 

 

They were both very fashionable and had critical eyes, good for color schemes and shapes. (They would both be great artists if they had enough paper to practice.) 

 

Connie went first, because she was the one who had all her outfits figured out the fastest. Her first outfit was a casual one, a loose at the neck white turtleneck that reached to the middle of her forearms layered with a mint tank top that cut at the midriff. 

 

She smirked as she spun around to show off the hair accessories, a leopard pattern scrunchy and a small black bow right above it, where her hair was gathered to a tight ponytail. 

 

Her second outfit was much more scandalous, much more outside of her comfort zone, black skull print sleeveless T-shirt that was most likely stolen from Shrimpo, elbow length fingerless fishnet gloves, and to finish it all off a shiny black belt. (she also wore some black eyeshadow but Clara didn't notice at the time.)

 

And as a blast finish she brought out one of Teagan's sparkling white dresses paired with long white gloves and white lipstick. Honestly she was stunning, but Clara knew her mom could do better, she could see the subtle ways she was holding back. (or going easy on shrimpo’s poor heart.)

 

Next up is Miro, he starts off small, a white poncho that anyone could clearly see came from looey, pink leggings, and light blue shorts. She knows he's lowering Shrimpo’s guard to make sure his last outfit blows him away.

 

The next one is very much mirror man inspired, the main color for this outfit being yellow. a yellow long sleeve shirt, light pink shorts, and knee length white locks. It looks like pyjamas.

 

She grins when he finally brings out his real outfit. a long sleeved black turtleneck that has holes for thumbs, on top of that is a seemingly ripped poncho, the headhole is sort of a v neck that shows off the tight black shirt underneath, she could see his collarbone peeking out from the sides.

 

It's fluffy around the edges of the headhole, kind of like Moon man’s blanket. long white tights are layered with black short shorts that don't even make it halfway to his knee, and sparkling black boots with heels. 

 

He spins around to reveal that the inside of the poncho is pink. Then he lifts a bit of his hair to show how he dyed the underneath blue, “I hoped it would be more visible.” He admitted sheepishly.

 

And then it's Shrimpo’s turn, and his first outfit is gorgeous. a light gray sleeveless turtleneck that cut off at the midriff, a spiked choker around his neck and two matching ones on his wrists. A long black torn sleeveless coat with split ends and fluff at the top.

 

For the lower part he wore black ripped shorts that seemed even shorter than Miro’s, combined with a lopsided black leather belt and black and white boots that ended at his calf. He gave Connie a big smile, and winked, showing off the eye shadow he put on.

 

His next outfit consisted of a long shiny elegant black dress, black lipstick, one of the weird fluffy scarfs around his elbows and elegant black heels. He spun around to show off the openback.

 

His last outfit consisted of an outfit built off of Connie's color scheme. a white sleeveless sweater paired with mint cargo pants and light teal fingerless gloves. He didn't look the best but it was the effort that counted.

Scraps groaned and rolled over, she had the weirdest dream, what was Astro trying to do? sluggishly she rolled the blanket into a cocoon and rolled off the bed, careful to avoid hitting her head on the box she used as a bedside table.

 

Slowly she rolled her way to the middle part of her room, there her little brother was similarly cocooned on the floor. “Hi.” she whispered and watched as he opened his eyes. They giggled before calming down to a big dopey smile on Goob's face and a light grin on hers. 

 

“Good morning sis.” he whispered back. Then they both rolled away in sync to release themselves from the blanket cocoon. 

 

Scraps’ morning went as normal as any, subconsciously she noticed a few things off, a few arts and crafts supplies missing, her wardrobe just a little more empty than normal, the door still open. 

 

Goob, the observant genius he was, picked up on the pattern before she could even tell him about the missing things. “...they left my wardrobe alone.” From his tone she could tell he wasn't sure if he should be offended or relieved.

 

She threw on something just to look presentable and swung their door open, outside Flutter and Blot stared at what seemed like drag marks. With closer inspection she could see it started as a bunch of left foot footprints far apart, like someone running.

 

When the footprint got in touch with the rainbow carpet it devolved into drag marks until all the ink was in the carpet. “Sooo… what's this?” 

 

“!!” Flutter exclaimed, somewhat relieved nothing else was taken. “...Does anyone in garden view even like actual bugs?” Flutter shakes her head. “...” Blot, remembering he was more than just a spectator, decided to add to the conversation. 

 

“.tooferab eb ot sekil taht noot a eb tsum yehT” [They must be a toon that likes to be barefoot.] “uhm… ” the words took a second to unjumble in her brain. “oh! right! elimination processes!” and who was best at crime solving? 

 

Brightney of course! She had connections and was well liked by many toons! so if she started an investigation she would be less likely to be lied to! “Flutter! it's time to assemble the squad!” she pointed at the next hall over with determination before starting to jog towards Brightney's room.

 

Luckily they caught her just as she left her room. “Bright-bitch! we got a case!” she yelled and sent her tail to latch onto Brightney, she propelled herself forward, now face-to-face with one of her best friends. 

 

“Scraps!? Flutter!? what happened?” Just as they were about to answer, Poppy came barreling down the hallway, almost crashing into Brightney as she failed to slow down. “Brightney- we got a problem!”

 

“There's a thief among us!” Poppy and Scraps yelled in unison. “Whoa whoa whoa, wait a second, calm down.” She waited for a second as they shuffled into more relaxed positions. “Flutter, what's going on?” 

 

Poppy and Scraps knew that at this point Flutter was the most credible source out of the three of them, so they didn't feel as offended as they would have before they assembled the squad. “...! ..?! .!!!”.

 

“Ok, everyone, let's start the elimination process at breakfast. ” She said then led them all to the dining area. 

“What about Tisha?” Scraps tapped her crayon against her own sheet of doodle paper, drawing helped her focus, putting all her messy thoughts that weren't really related onto paper. 

 

Flutter gave her a look. “???” Poppy reached over the salt in the middle of the table, attempting to steal Brightney's fries. “Youre right, but we should make sure just in case.” Brightney said, while ignoring Poppy's obvious failures at stealing her lunch. 

 

Flutter and Scraps made eye contact, and Flutter discreetly pointed towards Poppy's plate with one of her many bug-like arms. Scraps hid her concern when she noticed that Poppy didn't touch any of her food.

 

“What about… Gigi?” Poppy gasped and laughed. “If it is her then it was so obvious!” she grinned, Brightney hummed and shook her head. “The obvious answer isn't always the right one, I have a feeling it wasn't her this time.” 

 

Poppy was still yet to stop her advances to gain Brightney's fries, so Flutter pushes her own fries to her right towards Poppy. “!”  Poppy smiled and immediately started to pour ketchup onto them. “tanks fu’err!” she said with her mouth full.

 

They all giggled with relief, Flutter and Scraps because of worry for Poppy, and Brightney for the safety of her fries.

 

Brightney closed her book with a dramatic flourish, “After lunch we're going to visit Tisha, Gigi and maybe one of your rooms for evidence.” They all nodded in unison, like the close-knit group they were.

Poppy was the one to knock on Tisha's door, a fellow ‘common’ toon. They waited for a few seconds for a response. “Maybe she's out cleaning?” Scraps shrugged, Flutter gave a noncommittal ‘meh’ with her head. 

 

Brightney shook her head. “I know Tisha's schedule, she should be on break right now.” Poppy hesitated a bit before doing what they were all thinking and opening the door. 

 

The lights were off and the room had a slight stench. “Dandy, can't you let me be-” Tisha coughed weakly. “-sick in peace and quiet?” she groaned. Poppy turned on the light, making Tisha hiss and cover her head with a blanket.

 

With the lights on the group could see the entirety of Tisha's mess. Next to the bed were at least four full food trays, some of them spilling onto the carpet, the entire right side of Tisha's room was filled with papers, the left side was occupied by Tisha's bed, on top of it was a mass of blankets, which harbored tisha.

 

“Heyy Tishaaaa… it's me Poppy.. and the girls… um..” Poppy looked back towards them, a silent plea for help. Scraps walked up to Tisha's bed, careful to avoid the food. “From 1 to 10, how dead are you feeling?”

 

The entire girl gang gave her an unimpressed look, she took that ‘how dead are you?’ from Gigi's book. “...8? maybe 9?” Tisha groaned. “I don't know, leave me alone.” Scraps mirrored Poppy's lost expression.

 

Flutter just gestured towards the door “..?” Brightney smiled tightenly, as if trying to not think too hard. “yeah, go ahead, we'll meet you at the kitchen”. 

 

Before Scraps could add anything, Flutter was gone, Flutter liked using her ability and used it more often when not on a run. “Tisha, don't worry, we'll be right back!” Poppy said while carefully tip-toeing her way out of the room.

 

Scraps waited for Poppy to reach the door before sending her tail forward and wrapping it around Poppy's waist, Poppy stumbled a bit at the sudden pull. 

 

Once they were out of the room Poppy started running towards the kitchen, Brightney sighed and followed her, they were a bit thrown off by the fact that instead of the normal order Poppy was in front and Flutter was missing.

 

Usually they ran with Brightney in the front, leading them and lighting up the way if there was  blackout, Flutter right behind her with an airhorn incase of twisteds, Scraps just a bit farther behind, every few seconds throwing herself forward to get a bit of a boost, and Poppy as last, able to take any twisteds from behind.

 

But now it was Poppy in front, leading the way carelessly, Brightney in the middle, doing her best to get used to this new order, and Scraps in the back, barely keeping up, the change throwing her off.

 

All three of them burst into the kitchen, falling on top of each other like dominoes. “Sprout-Tisha is-” Poppy yelled from underneath Brightney. Brightney attempted to get herself out but accidentally elbowed Poppy in the ribs. 

 

“Sick!” Scraps yelled when she realised that Poppy was struggling with Brightney. Poppy finally freed herself from the pile, Brightney and Scraps not long after. Flutter gave them an unimpressed look. 

 

Poppy dusted herself off. “I was going to say dying but close enough.” She mumbled. Sprout squinted in Tisha's general direction. “...She looks fine to me…” he said, doubt creeping into his voice.

 

“Can you check on her?” Brightney suggested. “I can in a bit yes.” he nodded and went back to dinner preparations. “?” Brightney showed Flutter her suspect page. “No he's not a suspect… should he be?” Flutter shook her head.

 

“??”  Brightney gave Flutter a bamboozled expression. “uh well-” she glanced at Scraps awkwardly. “The only other toons that don't wear shoes or have footprints are Astro and Gigi…” “and Tisha!” Poppy added helpfully. “Tisha is sick though, I don't think she could've done it.” Scraps countered.

 

Brightney closed her book with determination “We will interrogate Astro or Gigi- whoever we find first!” they quickly fell into the familiar line of leading. Brightney in front and Poppy in the back.

 

Unsurprisingly they found Gigi first, the capsule hanging out with Connie at the lounge. Connie was holding a big brown cup of… something, sipping it idly. “We could put a moth in his room.” Connie suggested, her eyes half closed.

 

“Gigi!” Scraps and Poppy yelled in unison. Scraps grabbed Gigi with her tail, sending her past her friends towards her. “Where were you last night?” she pointed an accusatory finger at Gigi. 

 

Brightney caught up and gently moved Scraps to the side. “What we meant to say is, a bunch of clothes were stolen last night, do you know anything about it?”

 

Connie and Gigi shared a look, they seemed to be communicating telepathically. “Nooo?” Connie said eventually, looking very suspicious and unconvincing. 

 

They stood there in awkward silence for a second, nobody was convinced that they knew nothing, even Connie herself knew she sounded absolutely suspicious. “we found footprints coming out of Blot’s room, it looks like the thief didn't like Blot's ‘ink’.” Poppy said while sitting down.

 

Scraps didn't understand what she was doing until she looked back at the duo and noticed Connie's expression, she looked like she swallowed a lemon. So she definitely knew something.

 

When Connie realised she'd been caught doing a face, she gave Gigi a panicked expression. “Fineee you caught us... well give them back.” Gigi sighed. Out the corner of her eye Scraps could see Flutter narrow her eyes.

 

The next day only half of the clothes were back, but none of them really cared about it, their favorite clothes were back and they found the thief , so what if some of the less good looking ones went missing, so did socks.

Tisha sighed, she knew they wouldn't be coming back, it took them four days to notice, the only one visiting her until that point was Dandy, and she didn't really feel like talking to him.

 

Sometimes she regretted breaking up with Brusha, she wanted her warm body to be pressed against hers, a gentle hand to play with her tissues, but that was the past, Brusha now was mean.

 

Everybody handled Gardenview’s shutdown differently, she just wished that the Brusha Tisha knew and loved would come back. but that Brusha was gone.

 

Tisha warped the blankets around her just a bit more tightly, if she tried hard enough she could feel someone hugging her.

 

She closed her eyes as tightly as she could, until she could see Brusha's ever-present paint spiral eyes in her eyelids. Faintly she could hear the door open, but she didn't have the energy to turn around.

 

Faintly she hoped Brusha came to visit her.

 

The bed shifted, the toon sitting on the bed next to her. She was about to peel the blanket off her head to see who was there but then their words reached her ears. “God- I'm gonna kill Dandy the next time I see him.” 

 

Tisha recognised the voice even through four blankets. “I know he knows that I know what ichor poisoning looks like- and yet he still does it!” she didn't know what it meant but she could only assume it was bad, she knew that talking to Dandy or even agreeing to try to help him clean the staff only rooms was a bad idea.

 

“And here I am talking to the wall, because Tisha is asleep and I have no idea what to do.” She could hear his voice getting further away. “Ive never taken care of someone with ichor poisoning! and I doubt that Dandy even knows how to treat it properly!” 

 

She could faintly hear him cleaning her room, usually it was her job but she was sick, and Sprout was there.

 

She let herself drift off to sleep, numbness overtaking her body. She felt safe with Sprout around.

 

She woke up with a gasp when a sharp pain traveled from the top of her spine to the tips of her toes, she felt like she was just drenched in icewater.

 

She bit down on her tongue when she felt her legs sap and break with a sickening wet snap. She could feel the shards shift under her skin and muscles, working together to rebuild, her skin stretched, her legs limp, squelching every few seconds.

 

Slowly numbness took over, her entire lower half felt disconnected from the rest of her, she sighed as the squelching sounds stopped, she felt morbid curiosity about what happened to her legs.

 

But then the numbness faded away, leaving only burning pain. She could taste ichor in her mouth, a result of biting her tongue too hard. Blindly she attempted to soothe herself by making chirping sounds, a trait she always had, she never really knew why but Delilah didn't bother to remove it.

 

A weird sensation took over, not one of pain but rather discomfort, she chirped louder, ignoring all that was happening. She couldn't deal with it at the moment.

 

She ignored the pops and groans of her bones, she ignored the wet squelching sounds, she ignored everything she could.

 

Her life shrunk down to nothing, no light, no body, no sound but her chirps, it felt as if the world was consumed and she was drowning in a void.

 

Dizzily she rolled off the bed, her blankets cushioning the fall. She crawled over to the mirror next to the wardrobe.

 

A twisted stared back, its eyes red and terrified, as if Tisha was going to hurt it. The tips of its hands were just a few shades darker than the rest of it, the twisted was more vibrant than any twisted shed ever seen, but it was a twisted, she was sure of it.

 

She attempted to move away from it, and it copied her, she stared, when dark, ichor-like tears ran down its face her vision blurred. When she tried to cover her eyes it did the same.

 

Tisha leaned against the mirror and cried, cried for her lost appearance, she wished it was just some kind of vivid dream caused by her sickness, but she knew that Astro wouldn't let her suffer in a nightmare for so long.

 

Tisha moved her dress out of the way to look at her legs, like a curtain the dress moved out the way and like a star of the show two teal digitigrade legs and a gray wolf-like tail revealed themselves.

 

Tisha let her skirt fall back down, shock overtaking her senses, she leaned against the mirror, and whined quietly, her vocal cords no longer chirping a loss of something she couldn't imagine herself without.

 

 

Miro didn't really understand what was so funny about Shrimpo bringing an entire closet for that month’s family meeting (Meaning everyone involved in his and his sister’s upbringing.) Connie started to snicker when he opened the doors to reveal it was empty.  

 

“I have something to tell you.” He got into the closet and closed the doors. “im in the closet” Connie started laughing but did her best to cover it up. “Ive known who I really am for a while now and I wanted to come out of the closet.” 

 

He opened the doors again and stepped out. “I'm a woman.” Connie wheezed out something about the closet being glass, which didn't make sense at all, the closet was obviously wood. He stared up at his mom and tapped her. “I don't get the joke.”

 

Connie smiled fondly and ruffled his hair. “You don't have to.” Then she floated away and slapped Shrimpo on the back. He (She?) started coughing, or was it laughing? Miro really couldn't tell. His sister leaned against the wall to his right. 

 

“If it makes you feel better I don't get it either.” She let out a frustrated grumble, she really didn't like being left out of things. Shelly also leaned on the wall this time to his left. “I don't understand.” Shelly said numbly, a faraway look in her eyes.

 

Connie, who could hear them all and knew how to explain stuff, dragged Shrimpo towards them to explain. “Shrimpo is a woman.” They all nodded. “And I noticed before she told us.” They all nodded, slower this time. 

 

“Shrimpo ‘came out of the closet’ to us, she told us who she really was.” Miro was pretty sure he could see where it was going now. “I had my suspicions before she came out, so I called the closet glass, because I could see who she was even if she was still hiding.” They all let out a soft ‘ohhh’.

 

He got it now. “Shrimpo was a man and now she's a woman.” Nevermind he knew nothing, the universe is a lie and the stars don't exist. “How?” was the best way to get his questions answered.

 

Connie took a few moments to think of a way to explain it. “Imagen you were born a girl, but you still felt like a boy, you’d want to become a boy, to feel like who you really are.” 

 

Miro took a few seconds to mull over the words in his brain, if he was born a girl then he’d still feel the same, actually that sounded pretty fun. “...Being a girl sounds pretty fun actually.” Connie and Shrimpo exchanged surprised glances.

 

“Do you want to try being a girl this week?” She offered. “yeah!” Miro smiled. Connie decided to shift her attention to Clara. “Do you want to be a boy this week?” Clara seemed to cycle through several emotions before settling on disgust.

 

“No.” 

 

Connie moved to Shelly. “Do you want to be a boy this week?” Shelly seemed to be going through so many thoughts. “...S- sure I'll give it a try.”

Miro was having a great week, it seemed like everybody was, Shrimpo seemed less irritated, Shelly seemed more confident, and she felt absolutely amazing, some days she switched back to boy though, girl felt nice boy boy also did. If only she could change from boy to girl all the time.

 

She swung her legs and jumped off the counter, today was the last day of the boy-girl switch, and honestly she wanted it to stay. She tapped her mom to get her attention. “I want to keep being girlboy, I want to keep switching.” 

 

Connie smiled and ruffled her hair before giving her a forehead kiss. “Ok sweetie, we’ll tell the others.” Connie continued to cook whatever she was making. 

Clara stared at Shrimpo and Shelly, now gender had always been a bit weird in the family, but now instead of reading her prized possession bug book she had to listen to a conversation about pronouns.

 

She was a fast learner, she understood it already in the first 15 minutes, and now she was getting antsy. “If you're done yet- I use she/they pronouns.” She groaned.  Clara stood up abruptly. “Now that that's done.” She pointed a finger at her family. 

 

“Everyone, tell me your new pronouns, I want to go look at butterfly pictures.” They decided to go by the order of who sat where, Connie going first. “she/her not really sure but im fine with it right now.” 

 

Miro was second, she took a few seconds to think before deciding. “he/she I might add more pronouns, I think they're cool.” Next up came Shelly. “they/him/her, ummm im still ok with gendered words but will use both.” 

 

And lastly came Shrimpo, she sighed and rolled her eyes fondly. “she/her trans, not really sure what you expected.” Now that that was done Clara could go back to reading about the monarch butterflies. 

 

“Now that that's done, I have some reading to do.” she picked up her abandoned book and plopped back down on the still sparkly sofa to read.

Notes:

currently writing chap 4 and 5, you gonna get more ginger and bobette content.

Notes:

hee hee hee hoo hoo haa *evil laugh*

thank you for reading, i promis to continue, i have most of chapter 2 ready and chapter 3 is halfway there.

;] cya in a few months (or maybe a year who knows.)