Chapter Text
Team/Run: Looey, Cosmo, Sprout, Vee, Shelly, Eclipse, Astro, and Tisha.
Cosmo stood by a machine, hands on the valve, a skillcheck came. He hit it perfectly with a 'Great Job!' and smiled. Cosmo didn't always hit great jobs, especially since he had the worst skillcheck out of everytoon.
Ichor slowly filled the machine, well technically slow compared to 4-5+ extractors, but to a 3 star extractor it was average. The machine completed with a ding, a bar filled with the words "Machines Complete 3/8", Cosmo sighed.
They've been working for a while, well it's only floor 15 with a full team but it's still long to him. Cosmo heard someone knock the window next to him, well he thinks it was a window at least. His body tensed, he looked around the room cautiously, "H-Hello...!?" Cosmo winced in a scared tone.
Cosmo froze, he cautiously looked to his left and right, nothing. Another knock was heard, it sounded like it was from the left of him. Cosmo whipped his head around, he saw Looey smiling and waving at him, 4 twisteds following behind him.
Cosmo couldn't help but smile seeing Looey be so silly. Looey made funny faces each time he passed the window, each face made Cosmo giggle even more, although Looey seemed fine Cosmo couldn't help but worry about him getting hit.
There weren't any major threats on that floor, just twisted Finn, Boxten, Poppy, and Scraps. Looey did keep good track of Scraps, occasionally dodging her sharp tail so it wouldn't hit him.
After a while of this routine, Sprout poked his head into the room Cosmo was in, "Cos-?" the berry asked, Cosmo turned, "O-oh ! Hey Sprout, need something?" Cosmo asked with a fond smile.
Looey watched the 2 talk curiously, his tail flicking. "We finished most of the machines, might wanna head to the elevator now." Sprout replied, his gaze switched over to Looey, Cosmo checked his bag to make sure he had all his stuff, pop, speed candy, and an airhorn, he didn't get any heals but that's fine since Sprout has plenty of tapes.
A loud rubber-like sound can be heard, followed by a certain balloon yelping in pain.
"Yeowch-!" Looey seethed and held his arm, ichor slowly spilling from the wound, he was on one heart now.
Cosmo immediately whipped his head around, "Oh-! Hang on Looey-!" Cosmo called out as he grabbed a healing cookie and ran out the room to heal him.
Cosmo sighs in relief as Looey's hearts return back to 2, he checks to see how many machines are done. 6/8.. he should probably head to the elevator, "Bye Looey-!" Cosmo calls out and waves as he makes his way to the other side of the map.
"Hiya Cosmo-!" Shelly beamed as he approached the elevator, "You find any heals this floor-?" the fossil asked, the roulade shook his head 'no' in response.
"I might've gotten a bit distracted.. hehe.." he admitted while looking to the side and rubbing the back of his neck shyly, the shell rolled her eyes and smiled, "Oh Cosmo.. let's just hope Dandy sells us a medkit-! Maybe 2 if we're lucky-!" she clasped her hands together.
A faint ding could be heard from afar, the elevator opened up with a loud rumble, a 40 second timer started, everyone looked up before hurrying into the elevator.
Sprout looked around, then he called EAE to Looey through his communicator, "Hey Looey, we're all here-! Come on over-!" Sprout said into his communicator, "Rodger Dodger-!" Looey chirped through the communicator.
The timer counted down, still no Looey, suddenly a faint "Owch-!" and ANOTHER sound of Looey getting hit by Twisted Scraps' tail can be heard. Everyone perked up, Cosmo immediately sprung into action, he didn't have any heals but he did have an airhorn-!
Cosmo drank his pop, ate the speed candy, and ran out the elevator.
"COSMO-!!" Sprout yelled, the roulade ignored him. He saw Looey and blew the airhorn, grabbing the cluster of twisteds' attention, Looey gasped.
Looey ran straight ahead to the elevator, Cosmo followed behind and eventually made it inside on time. The elevator shut with a loud slam, Cosmo panted, hunched over with his hands on his knees and his back arched slightly.
"Oh stars... I'm never doing that again..." he sighed, he stood up straight, Sprout grabbed his shoulders and shook him, "Dude-! The point of 'everyone at elevator' is for everyone to STAY at the elevator-!" the strawberry scolded, the swiss roll shook his head from the dizziness.
"Sprout-! I'm fine, I promise." he assured. Looey looked over at him with a worried expression, "Cosmo-?" the balloon approached said toon and mumbled shyly, the swiss roll turned and faced him, "Hmm..?" Cosmo asked, "I- uhm... thank you.." Looey looked down at the floor.
Cosmo smiled, "Of course Looey, friends help friends..!" he placed a hand on Looey's shoulder, "Plus, It was sorta my fault you got hit earlier.. hehe..." Cosmo admitted.
Looey chuckled, his balloon ears raised, "Hehe... Hey, would you mind if i stick with you while Eclipse distracts this floor..?" he asked, averting his gaze from the floor and staring at Cosmo instead.
"Oh-! Well of course not..! I don't mind any company-!" Cosmo smiled and grabbed Looey's hands, holding them in his own. "Just, do try to be more careful next time, mkay-?" Cosmo gave Looey a look, not a bad look, a good look, but something from the roulade's smile, the way he looked at Looey, and the gentleness of him holding the balloons hands in his own seemed... intimate.
As Sprout gathered up a heal for Cosmo (not without scolding him in the process of course.) The elevator opened. Eclipse practically dashed out the elevator, her tail wagging a mile a minute. Someone must be excited to distract!
Looey followed Cosmo around the map, his tail swishing slightly as Cosmo stopped at machine after machine. Cosmo stood at a machine, his hands on the valve hitting skillchecks as he'd done the whole run.
"How do you hit those skillchecks so perfectly-!?" Looey gasped in awe, leaning in close as his tail wagged and his ears drooped forward.
"I mean- I don't hit them THAT perfectly-" Cosmo chuckled and blushed from nervousness as the balloon leaned closer, brushing Cosmo's shoulder.
"Come on Cosmo, you just hit like 4 great jobs in a row and that skillcheck looks like Scraps' pupils when she sees water-!" The balloon joked and smiled as the pastry let out a little giggle.
"Okay okay, maybe I am pretty good at hitting skillchecks, but you should see Bassie-! She's hitting great jobs left and right even with magnifying glass and participation award! Sometimes even with illness!" Cosmo smiled, the machine finally finishing with a ding, the bar leaving 2 machines left.
"We should probably head back now huh-?" Cosmo said as he checked his bag, he had a chocolate bar inside.
"Mhm-! Y'know Cosmo, your really fun to hang out with-!" Looey placed his hands behind his head as they walked, Cosmo held his hands clasped in front of him.
"You think-?" Cosmo asked, Looey nodded, "Yea-! You get my jokes, well most of the time-" Looey chuckled, Cosmo playfully hit his arm, Looey giggled, "You always worry about me even when i tell you I'm fine," the balloon continued, "Heh.. Ginger says i got my worrying from Sprout..!" the roll smiled softly as he thought about his cousin.
"And you're really sweet," Looey kept going, Cosmo blushed from the compliment. The balloon must've got lost in his thoughts because he kept going, "And you smell like chocolate, and not like a bitter chocolate, like a really sweet and creamy chocolate!" the clown smiled, his eyes closing in thought, the roll looked up at him in surprise.
"And your eyes are really pretty, I like how different they look-! And I'm talking about the color by the way- I like how the magenta clashes with the cyan and lime green..!" Looey rambled, still unaware of the flustered roulade next to him.
"And you're really pretty, so is your smile-! And your laugh sounds so cut-" the balloon paused, starting to realize what he's been saying, he stopped walking and froze, looking at the floor with a mortified expression.
"...." Looey whipped his head around to face Cosmo, "SORRY-! OH MY GOODNESS I'M SO SO SORRY-!" the balloon flailed his arms, the swiss roll staring at him with a surprised yet slightly blank expression, "Looey-" the roll said before being cut off.
"OH MY GOSH I MUST'VE MADE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE- DO YOU FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE-?! SHOULD I STOP TALKING-!?" Looey panicked, he grabbed his ears in panic and held them, "OH MY GOD I'M SO SORRY COSMO-!!" the balloon whined.
"Looey-!" Cosmo said loudly, Looey went quiet, they stared at each other for a moment. "I... didn't mind the compliments, I mean like I'm flattered- but you didn't make me uncomfortable..!" Cosmo assured, Looey tilted his head, "Are you sure-?" he asked, the roll nodded with a soft smile, "I'm sure." he reassured.
Looey stood up, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "Haha.. could we forget that happened..?" the balloon nervously chuckled, "But those compliments were so sweet-!" Cosmo cooed with a little giggle, "Never again." Looey giggled, "Hey..! I say that..!" Cosmo playfully nudged Looey, the 2 laughed as they approached the elevator.
"Well well well, get a load of these lovebirds hmm-?" Vee joked, looking the 2 up and down, Looey blushed a bit, his eyes widening in surprise, his tail and ears went stiff.
"We're not-" Cosmo said before Looey cut him off, "WHATT-!? LOVEBIRDS- PFFT- HAhaha... uhm.. we're not.." the balloon's voice awkwardly cut out, "Dating.. we aren't dating.." the roll added on.
"YUP-!" Looey nodded his head swiftly, Cosmo smiled softly and chuckled a bit, Vee gave them a skeptical look, "Right.. Anyway.. Looey, you don't mind Eclipse distracting a bit longer do you-?" the TV asked, the balloon was back to his normal self, he shook his head, "Nope-! I don't mind." he smiled.
"Great, now when is that stupid berry boy gonna finish with that machine-!?" Vee complained, just as she finished talking the elevator opened with a rumble. "I guess now-!" Shelly giggled as she walked into the elevator, "Try programming some patience into that big head of yours Vee." Sprout remarked.
Vee grumbled, "Right after you finally learn how to bake properly, Seedly." the TV snarked as she walked in behind the 2, "Oh zip it outdated tech." the strawberry hissed, "Guys... stop fighting.." the fossil groaned.
"HE/SHE STARTED IT-!" Sprout and Vee said in sync, pointing at the other, the elevator went silent except for the ticking timer.
Shelly burst into giggles along with Cosmo and Looey, "What's going on over here-?" Tisha asked as she stepped into the elevator with Astro behind her.
“Eae...!" Astro called through his walkie talkie, "Sprout and Vee we're arguing and said 'he/she started it-!' at the SAME time..!" Shelly explained through her giggles, Tisha started laughing as well, Astro let out a soft chuckle as Eclipse ran into the elevator. "NOT FUNNY-!" Vee and Sprout remarked at the same time AGAIN.
The 2 whipped their heads to the other, "STOP IT-!!" they both yelled, then they huffed and turned away from each other. This made the others laugh more, Looey leaned on Cosmo for support as he clutched his stomach, "It hurts..!" the balloon giggled.
"Oh my stars are you okay-!?" the roll asked trying to seem concerned but his giggles masked it. "Yea..!" Looey wiped a little tear from his eye, not from crying, just from laughter, "Hehe.. just making sure-!" Cosmo giggled.
(Time skip to the end of the run becuz I'm too lazy to write all that. I love yaoi, hbu? Do you like yuri, yaoi, or just hetero ships? Or all, that works too! :3)
The group emerged from the elevator, animatedly talking, Cosmo and Sprout stepped out together, Cosmo was immediately greeted by a tight hug from his cousin.
"Cosmo..! Are you okay-? No injuries-? Did you do anything risky-!?" Ginger fussed as she pulled away from the hug, frantically checking the roulade's face for scratches or wounds. "I'm fine Ginger..!" the roll assured, the strawberry stepped closer and whispered something the roll wouldn't hear into the cookie's ear. Ginger's face twisted into a glare, not at Sprout, at Cosmo.
"Cosmo." the cookie began, "How many times have I told you, when someone calls eae, you STAY in the elevator-!!" she scolded, the roll whipped his head to the berry.
"You said you wouldn't tell her-!" the roulade whined, "I've been betrayed...!" the swiss roll dramatically whined, the cookie rolled her eyes with a soft smile. "She's not wrong Cosmo..!" Looey added, Ginger and Sprout looked at him, Cosmo perked up, "Oh c-mon..! Not you too Looey-!" Cosmo groaned and straightened up, dusting himself off.
"I told you all I'm fine..!" Cosmo reassured, although nobody was buying it. Sprout gave Cosmo a skeptical look, Ginger gave him an 'You sure-?' look, and Looey just softly smiled.
Cosmo blinked looking at everyone's faces, "Okay... maybe my leg does hurt a little.." the roulade mumbled and rubbed his arm nervously, the cookie raised an eyebrow, the roll sighed, "And my head hurts from the airhorn.." he added, the strawberry leaned in closer with narrowed eyes, "And I'm really hungry..." the pastry groaned.
"So basically you're not fine, good to know." Sprout said with crossed arms, "We'll get you fixed up Cosmo, but you can't keep doing stuff like this..!" Ginger added, "Yea.. yea.. I know.." Cosmo said softly, looking down shamefully, he never took good care of himself unless someone MADE him.
Not to forget he is pretty stubborn as well when it comes to people helping him. "Mind if I come with...?" Looey asked shyly, Cosmo lit up, "Of course not-!" the roll smiled, the balloon smiled back as his tail wagged.