Chapter Text
“...And then I told him ‘if you want a damn fish, the river’s right there, buddy’!”
Chum Chompkins laughed quietly in response and Giblet animatedly finished up his current story.
It was a lovely day outside, all things considered, given how bizarre weather could be near toon districts. Technically, the two were still in human territory, but in urban areas like this it was practically a checkerboard of human and toon districts all around, one kind was never too far from the other. The two walked down the sidewalk side by side, like they always did, currently on the way to one of Chum’s regular grocery shops, one he insisted had the fairest prices around.
Admittedly, Giblet didn’t know a lot about grocery prices to prove him wrong or not. So he just trusted his friend knew enough.
“Mum mmummum mum!”
“...Oh, already? Thought it’d take longer to get there…Unless you’re really that fast, eh?”
Giblet paused to look ahead of them, towards the rather quaint looking neighborhood before them. Yep, this was a toon distinct alright, if the bright colors and sharp outlines were any indicators.
It was a typical inner-city area, just…toony. Nothing either of the two toons weren’t already used to. Shops, apartments, and larger townhouses dotted the place. The air smelled like groceries and diesel fuel. A very cartoonish bark sounded off in the distance amongst the typical city noises.
It was so typical that Giblet initially ignored the big sign residing on the border to the place.
Except Chum had paused to give it a nervous, deep look. Which Giblet only noticed when he was suddenly pulled back by the larger toon.
“Eh?-”
He looked back up at Chum, confused, before following his flickering gaze towards the sign.
“What is it buddy-”
He paused slightly when he read the thing.
It was pastel blue with light purple borders and text in a slightly darker pink, accompanied by a silhouette of a hand reaching towards a generic toon figure.
‘WARNING ♡: TOONS UNDER 3 FT WITHOUT A GUARDIAN WILL BE CLAIMED!~’
Giblet stood there, looking at the words he was seeing, silently…
…Before letting out a hearty chuckle, brushing Chum’s hands off his shoulder.
“Awwww, nice of you to be concerned, buddy, but,” He waltzed right up to the sign and leaned against it, gesturing, “I can guarantee ya it’s one big joke. You know us shorties, right? Always the butt of the gag.”
Chum hummed nervously while tugging on his neck fur.
He had never actually SEEN anything happen, but then again, he never watched any particularly short toons here either…
Giblet gave the sign a small playful nudge before trotting back over to Chum.
“If I get picked up by a comically sinister vulture or somethin, I owe ya twenty bucks. But I’m sure it’ll be fineeeeee.”
He walked forward once again, gesturing Chum with him.
“Besides, I’ll be right by your side the entire time, I promise.”
Chum didn’t look convinced.
“It’s just a grocery run, what could go wrong?”
—
Giblet was so, SO bored.
It had gone well at first when they arrived at the grocery store, and Giblet had thought this would take twenty minutes tops. But guess who ran into an old coworker in the aisles?
“Mmmh muh muhh muhmuh mmm muh!”
The cat-bee hybrid laughed before responding with something Giblet was NOT paying attention to at the moment. Oh my god he didn’t CARE if a massive buffet spill was the producer’s fault or not on set, he wanted to grab some fish and sweets and get out of here. And now he was stuck standing there like an impatient child while tapping his paw against the tile floor (ignoring the faint stickiness of the ground).
He just…couldn’t bring himself to interject. He had tried twice and both times had gotten daggers glared at him by the coworker, and he wasn’t in the mood to figure out if those claws were for show. He had tried to tug Chum away multiple times, but considering their size difference that was like a tugboat pulling a superyacht forward. God, why was Chum so DENSE, what were they feeding him???
“Chum I-”
An obnoxious buzzing laugh cut him off again. He felt his temple pulse a little.
“Guys…..”
His tail tensed slightly as he sighed and shook his head. Screw this, he’d just wait outside until Chum got the hint.
“You know what, uhm, I’ll be….outside. I’ll leave you to your….talking.”
He threw a dismissive wave that neither saw as he turned,
“Have fun.”
And with that, he made his way back out of the aisles, past the checkout counters, and through the sliding doors out into the crisp, toonish air outside.
Goddammit.
He let out a bigger sigh and slumped against the brick exterior, ears drooping and lids half closing. He didn’t blame Chum for wanting to catch up; he was a sentimental guy himself, after all. Maybe he would’ve done the same. Didn’t make it any less annoying though…
…So now what?
He had some peace and quiet, sure…but he was still bored.
And he knew that boredom made him do stupid shit.
Kicking his feet a little, Giblet decided to busy himself near the storefront, taking a gaze at the racks of magazines by the door.
‘LOVEBRAIDS LEAVES ROOMMATES HORRIFIED WITH BATHROOM INCIDENT’-
Oh god, these were some of those tabloids.
He quickly looked away, not interested in hearing about how the latest toon star was doing in the bathroom.
Well, that was a bust. What now?
He idly fidgeted with his paws, ears twitching while he debated if he just wanted to go back inside and see if he could actually drag Chum outta here-
He almost didn’t notice multiple shadows loom over him until one of them shifted.
Blinking and heart picking up a little, he turned around, hoping to see just a disappointed Chum-
And almost shit himself in fear for a second.
Two women were standing before him….and over him for that matter. One wore a polka dotted red skirt that went all the way down to her ankles, contrasting with her blue apron, yellow blouse, and golden curled hair. She smiled down on him in a way that felt almost artificial, and he was pretty sure he had seen her face on at least some school supply posters-
But the other woman made him want to bolt for a moment.
He didn’t of course. He wasn’t a coward.
She was pink all over with two body segments connected by a flexible tube of a middle torso, but it was literally the rest of her that stood out; because she was using her very much flexible toon limbs to tower over both him and the other woman, leaning down in a predatory manner as her wiggly little ponytail strands waved in the wind. She had all the poise of a spider ready to strike, not helped by her even creepier wide grin and wider green eyes.
His ears drooped as he coughed and waved sheepishly, backing up a step for distance.
“A-ah! Sorry, am I in the way, m’ams?” He put on his most damndest polite voice he could muster.
Both women suddenly giggled after a pause to look between themselves.
“Awwwwwww!~”
“He really does sound cute too~.”
A hot blush suddenly creeped up his face as it went reddish in the cheeks.
“U-uhm…..thanks?.....”
He was used to being called cute or small or whatever. But it was not helping to calm him as he looked at their expressions.
The woman on the right, the (mostly) normalish one, bent down on her knees and reached to pat his head. He almost yanked her hand away, indignant….but for some reason, an odd instinct pulled at him to not do so. So he felt like an idiot having his head pat like a dog.
“My, you’re awfully little to be out on your own. What are you doing here?”
“Hey!-” He cringed as the two women paused, their eyes gaining a slight fire behind them, “Uh, I mean….” he backed away nervously, “I, uh…..am just hanging out, you know?”.
He couldn’t look like a pathetic idiot right now, he just couldn’t. Just play it cool.
“Oh, is that so?” The pink lady chortled in amusement. Huh, now that he thought about it, she did look kind of familiar…Maybe she was famous in a niche toon circle?
“Are you lost, then?” The blonde cooed, “Don’t you have someone chaperoning?”
He wanted to grit his teeth. He was NOT a damn child.
“A-ah, I’m full grown, m’am.” He tried his damndest to stay polite and cool, “I, you know, don’t need one.”
Chum didn’t need to be dragged into this, after all. He could handle this.
The pink woman giggled.
“It’s so cute you think so, sweetheart~.”
“Every boy wants to be big at some point, don’t they?”
He…really wishes he wasn’t being talked to like he was three or something.
“Are you sure you don’t have someone, sweetheart?~”
His chest puffed out a little in indignance. Again, he was NOT a kid. And he wasn’t about to back down about that.
“M’am, I promise you, I am an ADULT. Some of us toons are just born small.”
The blonde missus gave him a slight smirk as she looked at the other woman.
“Well, I’m sure you like to call yourself a big boy all you want…”
He didn’t notice a stretchy arm creeping up behind him.
Until it grabbed his waist with a grip he could only describe as rock-solid.
He yelped and thrashed in place, squirming wildly as the pink spider woman lifted him right off the ground with her fingers stretched like noodles to keep him in place.
“H-hey! What are you- Back off!!!”
He kicked wildly, even trying to bite down as best he could. But his teeth barely had a chance to pierce the pink, rubbery finger flesh before-
Something was shoved right into his muzzle, a soft rubber texture pressing itself against his tongue with force.
“Mmm-mph?!-”
The leather straps attached to this….thing…were wrapped around his head before he could react further, and a sharp click of a key being turned sounded off behind him.
Furiously, he spat it out.
Well, he tried to.
The bulb in his mouth was solidly in place, the lock on the back of his head keeping it firmly in his mouth.
“What the hell is this?!”
Is what he TRIED to say.
It came out more like “Whmhnph thh hmmm nph phhis?!”
Both women giggled wickedly as something was pulled out of hammerspace; a carrier car seat.
As in, meant for babies. Except maybe slightly bigger.
And covered in obnoxiously bright primary color patchwork that made him sick to look at, alphabet patterns and all.
His ears folded down as his tail drooped in horror.
“Wwwwgh! Nhhuh nhuuuh nhhuh!” He shook his head violently, but he could only flail helplessly as he was lowered, back-first, towards the seat, paws barely bothering the women as the blonde began to strap him in.
The chunky Y-shaped straps were tugged over him tight, bunching up against his belly as it was clicked into place cheerfully. His tail was stock still from mortification, pressed against the back of the carrier seat, while he tried desperately to somehow spit this stupid thing out. Hands mostly free, he reached up to try and yank it out of his muzzle…
And froze when he felt a plastic handle and guard.
…Was this a fucking pacifier?!
The bulb against his tongue suddenly felt like lead as his blood turned to ice.
No, no fucking way, this wasn’t happening.
“Ngggggh, Nhuh, dhopph dhs!” He thrashed wildly in his seat, ignoring how he really did look like a fussy toddler trying to fight like this. Both women were humming, content, as his carrier was lifted up into the air. His feet subconsciously splayed outwards to balance himself as his hands tried to work the straps…
He jumped a little when he was suddenly met with the unnatural, pink-lipped smile from miss spider woman here.
“Look at him already!~”
“He was born for this~.” Cooed the blonde, stroking the side of his face, barely giggling when he batted her hand away stubbornly.
“Ffhhhhhk yh!”
“Manners.” A little fingertip was pressed against his pacifier.
His face burned as brightly as the midday sun by now, his face indignantly furious at this humiliation.
“Ehhhhll shhu! Ehllll sheu hr fhhing iss!” He shouted, his rage obvious even though the pacifier.
“Legally? You have no case~.” The blonde cooed.
“It’s town ordinance after all,” the pink lady’s tongue clicked with satisfaction, “Didn’t you read the sign?~”
He paused for a second. The obvious joke sign? What do you mean it wasn’t a joke? How was that even legal? Toon laws could sometimes feel weird, sure, but surely-
A bright red mist was sprayed right in his face before he could think further, making him scrunch up his face and gag behind the pacifier as he coughed. God, this stunk of poppies…
And now his head was feeling a little funny.
His muscles involuntarily relaxed slightly, limbs drooping as he blinked. His thoughts felt like they were blurring into mush in his head. His brain….sleepy…..
He made a final effort to thrash forward in his seat. But it looked like barely a slight jolt.
Tired…..so tired……
The last thing he heard before finally losing consciousness was simple.
“Sleep tight, sweetpea~.”