Twisted Turns: A Dandy's World AU

Exhaustion

FLASHBACK TO THE BEGINNING OF THE EXPERIMENT......

I took another sip of my black coffee, struggling to stay awake. The measurements on the paper looked like little squiggles moving around. I squinted, trying to read what I had written but to no avail.

I yelled out in frustration, throwing my pencil against the wall, hearing a snap. Why was nothing working?!

I can't think like this, I feel so sleep deprived...so insecure...

I snapped. Aha! I could use a bit of ichor! Dandy told me that works to keep people awake!

I took a drinking bottle out of a well stocked cabinet, taking a long sip. Coughing and sputtering, I smiled. That'll keep me going for sure, no doubt.

I was finally able to get a bit of the new paperwork done. Stuff about working whenever he asks me to and I have no say in stuff, blah blah blah... I didn't read in between the lines, Dandy told me not to, said it wasn't important.

Geez, soon as I finished, my head started hurting. Like, a ton. What did I do...?

Dandy walked into the room, skipping and whistling a rag time version of Clair de Lune. I had my hand to my twinkle, wincing. He tilted his head at me.

"Are you okay, Astro? Still having doubts? Come on, buddy...-?" I coughed again. "God, Dandy, this little staying awake technique hurts....."

His head tilted the other way and he raised an eyebrow. "'Staying awake technique'?? Astro, I never said anything abo-OH MY GOD WHAT ARE YOU HOLDING" He grabbed the half empty bottle of ichor from my hand, freaking out.

"Astro what the hell were you thinking?! This is ichor! You don't drink ichor without turning Twisted!! You don't know how to turn back, I haven't given you the proper training! Oh my God, oh my God, Oh my God-" He paced back and forth in front of me, panicking.

My twinkle started stinging like hell. "A-are you saying I'm going to....." I started hyperventilating, my hands shaking under my blanket.

He immediately noticed this, grabbing my shoulders and gripping them tightly. "Calm down, Astro, don't freak out. That speeds up the process." I started freaking out even more. "D-DANDY, I DON'T WANT TO TWIST, WHAT DO I DO?!?!"

He stared at my face, hesitating to respond.

He doesn't know. He doesn't know.

Dandy doesn't know.

From my peripheral vision, I saw my twinkle shift from a pearly white to a blood red. Tears started streaming down my face.

Dandy doesn't know......

He didn't....he didn't expect this to happen......

My knees felt weak. I fell down onto them.

"Astro!!" His voice sounded muffled. "Think happy thoughts, Astro, think of strong positive emotions, think about the others, think about me! Your best friends, Astro...."

I tried wiping the tears from my eyes with the end of my cap. They kept coming.... I threw off my blanket, wiping my smeared black cheeks with my hands. That didn't work, either.......

Dandy doesn't know.......