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Sprout always considered his vision weird. He struggled reading baking instructions without squinting, could never focus on words unless he sat perfectly still, hell it was even his fault that the sign to his and Cosmo’s diner got messed up!
But he never let that get to him. It never actually prevented him from doing any part of his job or activity he enjoyed, so he just lived with it. Honestly, he had assumed everyone’s vision was like this. It seemed so natural that he only ever thought to bring it up as an off handed remark or joke. A couple of the other toons wore glasses like Brightney and Boxten, but the idea that he might need them never even crossed his mind.
Well, that was until a routine health exam for the mains said otherwise. He had failed to properly read over half of the letters on the doctor’s weird chart, and that led to him getting lights shined in his eyes and a bunch of other tests. Frankly it was more annoying than actually helpful, they even put some weird drops in his eyes that made his vision even worse for hours.
He had to get Cosmo to help him walk around after that one, but his boyfriend always knew how to cheer him up. Even just thinking of Cosmo as his boyfriend made him happy though, so that task was easy. No, the harder task was actually getting Sprout to wear the glasses he’d been given.
They were square like Boxten’s, but with thinner frames and differently shaped lenses so they only covered about half of his eyes. When he looked into the mirror while wearing them he couldn’t help but feel off. He didn’t exactly hate them, but they were something new and Sprout’s stubborn nature always fought against such ideas. He really only wore them when Cosmo begged him to, telling him he had to take better care of his eyes if he didn’t want thicker glasses.
Seeing his partner pleading with him and using those big, innocent eyes always broke Sprout no matter what. Whether it was staying up late to watch another movie, or attending a tea party, or even just basic things like cuddling. He always folded under the slightest pressure when Cosmo looked at him like a kicked puppy. So, he started wearing his glasses more often. Just to make his boyfriend happy.
Even just thinking the word gave him shudders. Thinking about how sad and pathetic his sweet roll’s face got when he really wanted something he was being denied made it worse.
God Sprout was a pervert. Well, he always had been really, even if he struggled admitting it to himself for the longest of times. Even then only a handful of toons really knew about it, the most important of which was his boyfriend.
Cosmo knew all about just how much he could influence his partner with the pout of his lip or a show off of a particularly good outfit. It was rare he was actually denied something when Sprout really loved spoiling him. He loved the treatment just as much, teasing the main and making him flustered beyond belief. He could make the strawberry do practically anything he asked.
So when Sprout started actually refusing to put on his glasses for various reasons Cosmo was, needless to say, less than happy. First it was because he kept leaving them in his bathroom. Then it was because they kept getting dirty with flour and baking ingredients. Most recently it was because he claimed he liked the challenge of reading without them.
Cosmo wouldn’t stand for it, especially considering how he really loved the look they gave Sprout. The glasses made him look much more serious whenever he wore them, and having Sprout’s eyes focus on him so intensely was incredibly attractive. Even admitting that to the strawberry toon didn’t work, though he did start keeping them within his pocket at least.
That wasn’t near good enough though, and the baked toon had come up with a plan to make that crystal clear. One he knew would absolutely get on his partner’s nerves enough to actually listen to him. Sprout was an easy toon to annoy when you knew him as well as Cosmo did, and he intended to push every button he could.
He started toning down his reactions to Sprout’s affections every time he “forgot” to wear his glasses. Instead of giggling and blushing at every kiss and sweet word, he only gave soft hums or short glances. He focused more on his work whenever Sprout hugged him from behind, answering his questions or prods with quick responses. The main hated feeling brushed off or ignored. It really got under his skin when he wasn’t listened to, even despite the irony of him rarely taking others advice.
To make it even worse, Cosmo started correcting little things that Sprout would do. From measuring ingredients to writing stuff down for him, feigning ignorance of “I wouldn’t want you to spell something wrong.” It felt incredibly mean to do in the beginning, watching Sprout’s frowns or confused looks. He made sure to give him extra praise and attention when he actually did wear his lenses to make up for it.
Still the main seemed to not take the hint, and was using the glasses more like he would a pencil or oven mitt. So, Cosmo turned up the heat. He started wearing outfits he knew his boyfriend loved to really get his attention. Oversized pieces of the other’s clothes that sometimes showed off a bit of his chubbiness, skirts in varying length and colors, cologne or perfume that gave him a lovely rich scent, socks that made his thighs spill over just the tiniest bit, all things he knew the main would drool over.
Even while baking he’d bend over more often or sit on the counters next to Sprout while dressed up to slyly taunt him while keeping up the innocent act. He never actually gave into the other’s clearly desperate or hungry looks, only continuing to sit pretty and annoy him. That he felt much less guilty over doing, unashamedly into seeing his partner so worked up.
Sprout really looked like he was losing his mind over it sometimes, constantly teetering on the edge of locking himself in a nearby bathroom to settle down. The busy schedule that Cosmo had intentionally packed gave them almost no down time together as well, only furthering the tension between the two. The roll knew he had truly gotten his partner’s attention when he had caught the other clearly about to touch himself late one night in his room.
The sly wink and comment of “I’ll let you handle that yourself,” is what finally got Sprout to break. He could hear the thick groan of pure neediness in his partner’s voice from behind the door after he shut it. For as stubborn and hard headed as the tall toon was, god was he just as pathetic when Cosmo tried hard enough. Just because he wasn’t always into controlling the situation he made didn’t mean he couldn’t.
Their first free day in a while was finally coming up after spending a full week crammed into the kitchen for parties and food preparation, and getting to watch Sprout’s descent into madness made the work up all the better. Now anytime he spoke his partner looked up from what he was doing like a dog to its owner. Every comment or tease had the strawberry looking at him with desperate hunger in his eyes. Each second of downtime was spent hovering over Cosmo like a jaguar waiting to pounce the moment the other said he could.
Honestly it was really cute to see, considering it wasn’t often Cosmo was this mean to Sprout, which his boyfriend immediately recognized. Cosmo only did this when he really wanted something. He played with Sprout’s heart and got him to focus on every little thing he did before making him rapid fire answers like a dog doing every possible trick to get a single treat. Sprout would hate it if he didn’t absolutely love it at the same time.
Like a pet on a leash he followed every request and answered every question in hopes that the other would finally break and give him what he wanted, his body lighting up with every short kiss or toss of praise guiding him towards the right thing to do. Yet still nothing he did seemed to win Cosmo’s full favor, and he knew if he didn’t figure it out soon something would happen.
It made him increasingly more frantic as their day off approached, it was just going to be them on a full Sunday and Sprout absolutely hated the idea of putting it to waste. So when the day finally came and he still hadn’t gotten it right, the sexual tension between the two had grown so thick he was sure he’d choke on it the moment Cosmo put whatever he had planned into play.