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The ichor operation had been..going. It wasn’t great, Dandy made sure to scold them enough about it so they wouldn’t forget, but it was working, if just a little. It’d started months ago, if not years. Astro didn’t know anymore. The sunlight didn’t exactly reach them well enough, maybe a little every couple days when the sun got on the right place, but other than that, it was…not so good. Not that it mattered much to him, he had more excuses to sleep everywhere he could, a constant exhaustion being his go to mood when he woke up.
Lucky for him, he had an amazing boyfriend who had a habit of stressing himself out for the sake of keeping others safe. It was cute, albeit a bit concerning. He liked those quiet moments between them where Sprout would just hold him as if he was the most important thing in the world to him, he liked it when he could just rest without worrying someone would come in and bother him because he knew Sprout would shoo them away before they got a chance at speaking. And he liked it when he could just be with him. When they both didn’t have to speak or anything, just be in each other’s presence while doing their own things. It was nice, really nice.
But there was just a single problem. Astro felt like it wouldn’t last. That something would inevitably go wrong and there wouldn’t be a way to fix it. And his worries became true the day of a mission. They, as always, had to go on a run with some other toons, which wasn’t exactly the problem. The problem started in the later floors. Sprout had already gotten enough tapes to heal someone, but he was still going around the map just in case he could find more. As well as doing machines.
Well, in one of the floors, Sprout began doing a machine right next to a capsule. He hadn’t grabbed it because it didn’t have tapes on it, meaning it was one of Twisted Rodger’s fake capsules. Thing was, it didn’t seem everyone knew about this problem. Toodles made her way over to the capsule, Sprout didn’t notice until it was too late and he heard the shattering of the glass. His eyes widened as he felt tendrils pulling him down to the ground and some even forcing their way into his mouth and down his throat and airway. He couldn’t breathe. He felt like he was going to die right then and there.
But then he heard an air horn going off, the tendrils leaving him alone long enough so he could run away. He saw Astro had taken a hit for him, running off as well when he noticed he had gone to safety. But Sprout was now pretty worried. Astro looked beat, even if he’d only gotten hit once. That was the thing about mains, they were all quite fragile. Despite the ache in his chest as he tried breathing, Sprout ran over to his boyfriend and took out one of the cupcakes he always kept with him. This should be enough to heal him, he could find a bandage for himself later.
Once Rodger returned to his capsule, Toodles apologised over and over again to Sprout and Astro. Both told her it was okay, but to watch out for the capsules better next time. Someone took over the machine Sprout was doing since the strawberry toon was more focused on making sure his boyfriend was okay.
“Come on, let’s get you to the elevator, this is the last one anyway…” Sprout whispered, helping Astro up despite the pain in his ankle and leg that got pulled. He kept one arm wrapped securely around the moon’s waist, his free hand resting on his chest as he watched him eating the cupcake with a bit of a struggle. He seemed to be getting better, but he looked even more tired than usual.
“..How much longer did Dandy say we have to go..? This is exhausting…” His boyfriend replied, leaning closer but making sure not to put too much weight on him as he knew he was also pretty hurt. Not only that, but he could hear him panting, struggling to take a nice breath as he walked them both to the elevator.
“Just..a little more, baby… Just a c-couple more floors and we can go back up…” He murmured, helping Astro sit down as soon as the elevator doors opened and they could get in. He started coughing after a couple moments, looking away and covering his mouth as he sat next to Astro.
The moon looked at Sprout with concern, one of his stars resting on his knee as he asked softly, “Hey, are you okay..? I can ask Dandy to let us go up a little earlier this time if you really feel bad…” His tone was barely above a whisper, not wanting the other toons to worry much about them at the moment. But he saw Sprout’s head shaking in a “no” gesture, clearly holding back another cough as he smiled slightly.
“I-.. I-I’m gonna be fine, I promise… My throat is just a bit sore, that’s all…” Sure that explained the coughing, but it didn’t explain why he had an arm crossed over his chest in pain. Or why he was gasping for air every now and then, wheezing with every breath he took. Or why his heart felt like it would burst at any moment from how fast it was beating. “..J-just a little sore.. I-I’ll make it out of this one, I always do, don’t I..?”
Astro frowned, extending an arm out of his blanket to cup Sprout’s face. He wiped away the sweat starting to build up on his forehead as he panted, his brows furrowed in concern as he leant closer. “I already told you, you don’t have to pretend to be strong with me around… I’ll tell Dandy to get us back up next time we see him, okay? I won’t take a no for an answer..” He could see the slight hint of annoyance in Sprout’s expression, but he didn’t argue any further. He knew it wouldn’t take him anywhere, not with Astro being as set in this idea as he looked.
Unfortunately for the moon toon, this floor was one with voting, so he wouldn’t be able to talk to Dandy yet. Thankfully, they just had to get through the next machines and then he’d get to tell him to get them back up to the lobby. So he told Sprout to stay by the elevator, and despite the initial reluctance, he agreed and sat down near one of the boxes to hide. He still looked like he couldn’t breathe properly, which was pretty concerning to Astro, but he had to focus on the machines. He wasn’t the fastest, but it was something. At least he had that.
And as soon as they finished the machines, Astro helped Sprout into the elevator, his heart breaking with every cough he heard. He could see Sprout was limping, bruises forming around his left ankle and right leg. It made him feel even worse as he hadn’t been able to find a single bandage or medkit. He kind of doubted Toodles hadn’t grabbed one she found, but she didn’t really have anything with her so that theory was out of the door.
The moment Dandy’s shop came out, Astro rushed over and kindly (though clearly frantically) told Dandy to take them back to the lobby, if not the toon rooms. Dandy seemed a little confused, and even a bit annoyed, but that stopped the moment he saw the rapidly worsening state Sprout was in. He quickly handed Astro a bandage, telling him it was “on the house” just for that day. Surprising that Dandy just gave stuff out for no reason, but then again, there was a dying toon with them. And Dandy, as much as he disliked Sprout, didn’t want him dead. It would bum out many people, especially Astro and Cosmo. He didn’t need that right now.
As soon as they got to the toon rooms, Astro rushed to get Sprout into his own room. He laid him down, but that didn’t really seem to help as he looked like he struggled even more to breathe when lying down. So he helped him sit up, watching as he kept coughing as if he was choking on something. He quickly wrapped the bandages around his ankle and leg, lightly kissing him on the forehead and telling him he’d be right back before running out of the room to get Cosmo.
He found the swiss roll in the kitchen as expected, talking happily to Looey about something that had happened to him in the morning. He felt bad ruining their moment together, knowing they lately didn’t get those as much, but he needed his help. And he needed it now. So he walked over to him, clearly distressed as he explained the situation as fast as he could. He felt like he couldn’t leave Sprout alone for too long, lest he choke to death or something and he wasn’t there with him to help. Or to at least hold his hand…
He shook his head, not wanting to dwell on it much as he and Cosmo ran all the way back to Sprout’s room. Sprout wasn’t going to die, not if he had something to say about it. Cosmo had taken many of his cookies, some in his pockets and some in a bag he took. The moment they both reached the room, Cosmo gasped at the state his best friend was in. He quickly ran up to him, handing him some cookies for him to eat as he asked, “What happened?! H-how did he even-?!”
“Twisted Rodger attacked him, his tendrils got into his mouth and I-I’m guessing some ichor got stuck in his airway… But if it’d been that, wouldn’t it have come out already?” Astro replied, tilting his head to the side as he took his blanket off and walked over to drape it around Sprout’s shoulders. Cosmo looked over at Astro for a second before returning to look at his best friend.
“W-well, yeah, but… Ichor spreads, and fast. Especially once it’s inside a toon’s system.. Maybe it got into his lungs, which would make all of this even harder to deal with.. A-and I don’t think there’s a way to get it out anymore without medication we don’t have, just to stop it from getting worse..” Cosmo murmured, his heart aching at the pained expression in the strawberry’s face. “..And by the looks of it, it’s already taken over a big part of his lungs… By now it’s just hope he manages to push through it enough to live..”
Astro felt tears forming in his eyes at Cosmo’s words, unable to choke back a sob as he turned to pull Sprout into a tight embrace. He wanted to help more, but it seemed this was going to be their life now. Just hope Sprout would wake up the next day. He didn’t want it to be this way, but what other choice did he have? This was all they had left.
So it went like that for days, months even. Cosmo’s cookies seemed to help with the pain, but they didn’t do much for the spreading of the ichor. Sprout had begun to cough that same ichor, sometimes even crying it from the amount that was building up inside of him. He was also growing, a lot. He had outgrown his bed after the third week, his leaves growing uncontrollably and his scarf getting stained with the ichor that now seemed to seep out of him like sweat. It hurt. Everything hurt. He just wanted it to stop. But doing so meant he wouldn’t ever see Astro again, and he didn’t want that.
But one day, he just couldn’t take it. He was whimpering, sobbing in silence as he struggled to take another breath. And the moment Astro asked how he was doing, he was barely able to mutter out an, “..I’m tired..”
Dandy had come with them that day, looking at Sprout with pity. His whole bed was stained already, his left hand having grown out of hand and some claws forming slowly from the ichor. He was becoming dangerous. He knew he’d never willingly hurt someone, but.. He couldn’t risk it. Plus, he felt bad for him. It was clear he was suffering. He didn’t want him to suffer.
So he placed his hand on Astro’s shoulder, looking up at his friend as he cried. “..Moonie, I… I think it’s time for him to go.. We can’t keep him in pain for the rest of his life, it’s only a matter of time until something happens…” He didn’t think he’d ever say those words, but there wasn’t anything left to do. Keeping Sprout like this was just straight up cruel.
Astro looked down at Dandy, his eye wide as he processed the idea. But he had a point. Sprout was in constant pain now, not just his chest, but his whole body. It all hurt more than anything he’d ever gone through, that much was clear. He didn’t want him to live like that. But he also didn’t want to be without him. So he nodded, sniffling as he looked over at his boyfriend and made his way to him.
He leaned down to look at him as he laid on the bed, having grown used to the struggle that came with laying down. He brushed away the leaves on Sprout’s face, cupping his face with one of his hands as he smiled with tears running down his face. “..I know you are, cupcake… But today that ends, okay..? We’re going to make you feel better soon, I just need you to come with me…”
It was hard to get Sprout to stand up, the strawberry having to crouch slightly from how tall he was already getting. And it was even harder to get him to get out of his room. Even worse as there were many toons hanging out around them that immediately turned their heads around to look at Sprout. Some ran away in fear, others, like Cosmo, simply looked up in pity. It was a sad view, watching their beloved chef slowly but surely succumb to the ichor he had been forced to ingest. And Cosmo broke down crying right then and there, because he knew what this meant. He wouldn’t ever see his best friend again after this. He’d never be able to bake with him again or scold him whenever he forgot to turn off the oven. This was the end for their friendship for good this time, not like those times where they argued but made up almost immediately after.
Astro and Dandy led Sprout into the elevator, Dandy pressing one of the buttons to the lower floors of Gardenview. They went straight down, floor 50 or something Dandy said, just to be sure. Then, when they got out, Astro sat Sprout down against a wall and sat down on his lap. He looked up at him, tears running down his face as he watched his boyfriend cough up more and more ichor. He could hear Dandy going around the floor finishing the machines, giving him the time to say his final goodbyes to his boyfriend.
Astro never thought it’d come to this, he didn’t have anything prepared. But looking at Sprout’s expression, he knew he couldn’t just leave like that. So he thought of something, and he smiled slightly as he reached out to cup Sprout’s face. He gently pressed his lips against his ichor stained ones, not seeming to care about the fact that some of it got into his mouth. If anything, that helped his plan. He needed an excuse, this helped a whole lot.
Astro could hear machine after machine being finished, Dandy seeming to have a knack for those things. He wasn’t surprised, really. He was the head of the ichor operation after all. And once he was finished with all of the machines, he could hear his footsteps as he ran all the way back to the elevator.
He could bet he was confused when he didn’t make his way into the elevator as well, and then heard him ask, “Astro, what are you doing?” But Astro didn’t answer, he simply stayed looking up at Sprout as if he was the most beautiful being in the entire world. Then he heard Dandy ask again, “Astro, what the fuck are you doing?”
It was then Astro finally turned to look at Dandy, his star already starting to get a reddish hue to it as he felt ichor beginning to build up in his eye. The same ichor that got into his mouth from Sprout was doing this to him, and that was okay. He wouldn’t ever leave him, no matter what. And if he had to get infected himself for it, then so be it.
“...I’m sorry, I’m afraid I can’t go back up with you… Please, make sure everyone’s okay for us.. Thank you for being my friend, Dandy…” He whispered, his voice already a bit distorted. The elevator door closed soon after, the last thing he saw from his best friend being the sad, shocked look in his face.
He had Sprout, that was what mattered most…