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It's a little pathetic.
13 Astros, and this is what he has.
His magic is too strong. He's too extroverted. He's stuck on picture books.
But he loves Dandy, and that will have to be enough.
Babe is not Francis, reserved but dedicated. Being a night nurse seems rather fitting for such an Astro. Francis is much too enamored with a Shrimpo.
Babe is not the baby, despite the similarities in title. Rockabye is new, a replacement, not even a few weeks old. A specific request from Babe himself. No noticeable defects. Too early to tell.
Babe is especially not poor little Lambchop, although Dandy is not quite sure where he even is. Hopefully a body washes up sooner than later. Too defected to be of any use.
Babe is laughter, teasing, grace and horribly beautiful. He is A grade. He is not Astro.
It reminds him of a long time ago.
Back when they were all children, back when they were alive.
Babe only huffs where his Astro would have weeped, he is far too outspoken for such things.
Babe doesn't know anything at all.
Astro stares at Dandy, soft blue eyes full of perhaps longing, knowledge of something bigger than him, something he couldn't possibly begin to truly understand, and Babe blinks.
Quiet, barely above a whisper-
"You are busy?"
Dandy startles, jerking up to see Astro, face a picture of perfect eternal sorrow, and Babe smiles.
It is Babe, who shuffles over to his desk, to lean over and look at the mess of papers, scattered, crumbled with discard. Dandy never seems any closer to an answer, no matter how long it's been.
Astro hums, and reaches out to wipe a smudge of ichor off his face. Dandy relents, to close his eyes and ease into the cold of his palm.
“Are you up to something?” Babe pulls away, cleaning his thumb on the inside velvet of a well worn blanket. It's really quite the thing to look at, the wool lining the border adds a remarkable amount of mass to such a skinny frame.
Dandy sighs, “Nothing you need to worry about, baby.”
Babe purses his lips, making a vaguely doubtful noise. “All I do is worry about you. It's very hard not to, this you know.”
He barely even sounds like Astro, with that strange, stilted way of talking, like he has to stop and think about every word. Dandy has grown to hate trying to figure out what he means.
Babe shuffles in place for a moment, letting his blanket droop enough to reveal one pair of arms, and using the other to keep it from completely dropping.
Dandy finds his eyes glued to one of Babe’s shoulders, perpetually bleeding, despite the many layers of gauze and bandages on it. It's a gnarly wound, clearly still affecting him by the way he favors his other arm.
Dandy did that to him, didn't he?
Babe forgives too easily. Astro still hates him.
He reaches out both of his upper arms to straighten Dandy's button-up, pressing down the collar and making a well-intentioned effort to try and fix the top buttons, of which Dandy has completely given up on ever getting fully up.
The move used to catch him a lot more off guard. Dandy lets Babe fuss to his heart's content.
It's quiet, for a nearly blissful moment.
Dandy wonders when he let Babe get so close.
Pulling away again, Babe nearly beams, happy with his work. “All neat. Very handsome.”
Absently, Dandy makes a note that Babe is far too talkative to be A grade.
A good Astro, his Astro, wouldn't do such a thing. Babe hardly cares about dignity, only wearing his blanket out of obligation. Astro wouldn't be so bold. Astro hated being so close to another. Astro hated being so close to him.
That's a personality defect. Why was he A grade, again?
Babe quickly presses a kiss to Dandy's cheek, a soft giggle escaping him. “If only... keep such a nice shirt clean.” His voice is deadpan, despite his strangely delighted nature.
Right. It's been a long time since Dandy's been shown such easy affection.
Babe frowns at him, and replaces his blanket, pulling it up over his shoulders, only slightly flinching as it drags up. “Take a break, yes? Guess which Cosmo is making lunch?”
Distantly, it feels like Dandy’s heard those words before. Not to him, of course. Never to him.
“Later. I'm still busy.”
Oh, how he knows this conversation…
Astro stares at him for a moment longer, soft and carefully blank. “Will I sit with you, then.” It's almost a question, but he plops himself down at the front of the desk before Dandy can even respond. He's tall enough he can still easily see over it, anyways.
The words leave Dandy before he can even think about it.
"I look just like Delilah, don't I?"
Astro tilts his head, looks at him with loving pity.
Babe murmurs,"Who?”