rel's Dandy's World Oneshots!!

midnight baking (platonic cosmo + shrimpo)

Cosmo hears something at night and decides to investigate.

(No request.)

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Cosmo liked not having to do supply runs.

Sure, he always felt bad when the others came back with loads of good stuff, and he would feel left out when he hears things like Goob and Poppy giggling about how Shrimpo screamed during one of their supply runs–

( "He screamed at a really high pitch!" Goob giggled, ignoring the fuming, red faced Shrimpo next to him.

"NO I DIDN'T! SHUT UP!!!"

"Not even Boxten nor I scream like that, Shrimpo! You must'a been really scared!" Poppy teased, making the shrimp even more furious. "I think it was even higher and louder than Toodle-"

Shrimpo let out a wordless yell. "SHUT UP! I HATE YOU BOTH!!!!" )

–or Toodles wondering why she gets good things like those special bandages or jumper cables from Dandy only when Rodger or Tisha are around.

Now. While he is prepared and all suited and booted for when he does go on a run, he isn't really... mentally prepared for the regeneration part of the runs. A lot of Toons end up 'dying' during runs, and Rodger (or, if Rodger is dead or still on a run, Teagan, Brightney, his fellow main characters, or even Dandy) usually brings them back using this ichor revival system the handlers set up years ago after one too many kids were being too rough with Goob and Vee.

The first few times any Toon was revived after the humans shut down and abandoned the place, there was something wrong with them. Some weren't as drastic, like Goob suddenly missing arms or Rodger having a mouth, but some Toon's revivals ended up changing even the way they think drastically . There was a time Shrimpo was brought back for the second time, and, well... he was just incredibly kind. Uncomfortably sweet. Goob levels of sweet. They almost considered keeping him until he started crying profusely when Scraps made a comment, so Rodger regenerated him until he was back to normal.

Hell, some ended up being regenerated as weaker Twisteds.

And Cosmo wasn't ready for if it were to happen to him. Thankfully, the others understood, and let him, Sprout, and Glisten (who just refused to let his beauty sleep and routine [how does a mirror have a routine?] be ruined but also doesn't want to be the only one not doing runs) join last and when he's ready.

Cosmo lets out another sigh, squeezing his eyes shut. He's got to stop thinking about doing runs in the middle of the night. It really keeps him awake. Astro's gotten worried, keeps mentioning that he can't see Cosmo's drea–

CLANK!

His eyes widen, and he sits up, recognising the source of the sound- it sounded like one of his baking pans (Sprout has questioned him before, how he would always know. Cosmo swears his baking pans and the frying pans sound incredibly different!) hitting the counter, maybe.

"...who the hell is in the kitchen at..." Cosmo grumbles and looks at his clock with squinted eyes, "...freaking 2 in the morning?"

He debates getting up, but curiosity beats his rationality by a long shot.

He pushes his blanket aside and gets out of bed, being careful not to make a sound as to not disrupt Glisten– last time he did, Glisten grumbled at him for a week and threw a hissy fit every time Cosmo was in the same room– as he left the room.

What he sees, walking into the kitchen at 2:30 am, is not what he ever expected.

He expected Poppy to be grabbing a snack and forgetting where everything is (again).

Or maybe Sprout felt like making something because of stress (again).

Maybe Toodles was hungry and forced Rodger to make her something (...can Rodger even cook?).

He did not expect to see Shrimpo– who is, by the way, banned from the kitchen– there, making cookies, putting them on the pan, a look on his face that just screams lovesick (not as lovesick as cartoons or shows since the only other expression Cosmo's seen on Shrimpo other than anger is fear, but it's what Cosmo thinks it is).

"...Shrimpo?" Cosmo manages to force out.

Shrimpo's head whips up to look at Cosmo, and his face flushes red. "What are you doing here?!" He whisper yells, visibly tense.

"I- I heard pans clanging about. I-" Cosmo's eyes trail down to the cookies. "...you bake? Are those even safe to eat?"

"Grah- I HATE being caught!" He growls, before scoffing, "Obviously." He shoves the tray into the preheated oven, setting a timer.

"...I'm surprised the kitchen isn't on fire. I- Let me back track, you bake ???"

" Yes , I bake, obviously !" Shrimpo snarls at him.

Cosmo winces, despite the large distance between them. "I... okay, why don't you tell anyone then?"

"Because I don't want them to know! I bake for myself and myself only!" He yells.

There it is.

"Huh."

Cosmo looks around. He glances at the ingredients used...

...eggs, flour, vanilla extract... yeah, all of those look like the right ingredients.

He glances at Shrimpo, who is avoiding eye contact with Cosmo, arms crossed, still frowning but still blushing too.

Hm. He supposes this is why all his baking ingredients kept suddenly depleting every now and then.

Glad it wasn't a rat or something.

Though he does remember a Toon anonymously receiving baked treats at his door the morning afte–

...no way.

Shrimpo grumbles to himself.

He just wanted to make some stupid cookies for... um. For no reason. Not for a specific toon or anything.

He didn't want to be caught.

He's gone so many nights without being caught!! WHY NOW!!

He sighs, wanting the cookies to be done faster so he can just wrap them up and go give them– store them for when Rodger forces him to give another apology.

He glares at Cosmo, who seems a bit spaced out. "Are you gonna keep staring at me?"

Cosmo blinks. "Oh- Ah, sorry Shrimpo, I was just–"

"Listen, Cosmo." He grabs Cosmo by the collar (and Cosmo, despite being taller, still found the shrimp intimidating), "You better not tell anyone about this, got it? YOU SAW NOTHING !"

"You- You got it..." Cosmo gives him a nervous grin. "I promise!"

Shrimpo huffs, pulling away. He looks at the cookies and groans. They still aren't done...

Cosmo fixes his shirt, looking at Shrimpo.

He still can't believe Shrimpo likes someone enough to... he shakes his head.

"I'm gonna... head back to bed. Uh, hope they don't burn." Cosmo waves. "Good night."

Shrimpo doesn't look at him, only letting out a small grunt.

"Okay- Uh, I won't tell anyone!" Cosmo rushes off, back to his room.

He can hear Shrimpo yelling back "YOU BETTER NOT!" as Cosmo shuts the door ( gently , he is not risking waking Glisten up) and sneaks back into bed.

...Cosmo is definitely telling Sprout.