Chapter Text
Bobette’s soft sobs were barely audible in the quiet space of her room. It was dark. The only light came from a digital clock on her bedside table. Her room was smaller, but it had all of the necessities. It had a sliding door closet lined up perfectly with the foot of her bed. There was a large, shaggy red-and-green rug covering almost the entirety of her hardwood floor. There were rectangular windows all along the top corners, but they never let sunlight in. Bobette sometimes wondered why they were even there. And then there was her bed. It wasn’t the comfiest, some nights it felt more like an operation table than a bed, but it did its job.
And there Bobette was, curled up in a ball, laying on it as if it were the most comfortable bed she’d ever laid on. She was crying into the soft fur of her sweater. Usually, Ginger would have been there to comfort her, but she wasn’t.
She started to cry harder, her tears beginning to run down her undershirt and forming a small pool at her feet. She wanted them back.
Why had she been so stupid?
She was the one who messed everything up.
It was her fault that they were gone.
She tried to push the negative thoughts away, but that only made them grow stronger.
Stop being such a whiny crybaby.
Stop crying over a mistake you made.
This is all your fault.
She squeezed her eyes shut. Maybe they would go away if she pretended that they weren’t there. She stayed curled up with her eyes shut, trying to block out the noise and the sadness and the guilt and… well, everything. She was so tired. Tired of everything.
After a few minutes, her sweater suddenly felt like the comfiest thing in Gardenview. She could feel herself drifting away. Slowly, the noise faded. So did she. She didn’t mean to fall asleep, but she hadn’t actually rested since coming back from the run. Curled up in a little ball, with tears still dripping off of her face, she fell into the warm embrace of sleep.
She woke up hours later. She slowly sat up and wiped the hardened tears off of her face. How long had it been? She looked to her digital clock on her nightstand. Almost a full day had passed. She reeled back in shock.
“I can’t have slept that long… right..?” She mumbled to herself.
“Nah, no way. I never sleep for that long! Even on my busiest days! This clock must be broken.” She laughed, but sounded unsure.
Had she actually slept a full day?
She looked at her calendar. It was November 24th.
Christmas was in a month.
It had been almost a full week since she’d lost Ginger and Coal.
Bobette took deep breaths to prevent herself from letting the negative thoughts come back.
“I’m Bobette! I’m jolly, happy, and merry! The Christmas main toon can’t be sad at such a joyous time of year!” She said aloud, putting on a smile even though it hurt since her face had been contorted the opposite way for almost a week.
Saying that made her feel worse and better at the same time. She was excited for Christmas, that fact remained, but she wasn’t excited to celebrate the season without two of her favorite toons.
She’d have to think about that later, though. There was work to be done!
She repositioned herself to sit on the edge of the bed. Her legs dangled over the side and she leaned back, supporting herself on both arms. She wasn’t quite ready to leave her bed yet because she was still slightly groggy from waking up.
Outside, she could hear muffled sounds of talking. She couldn't quite make out the voice, but whoever it was sounded worried. She heard a different voice respond to whatever the first one had said. They sounded worried, too. Shaking off the last bit of sleep, she got out of bed and started to the door. She cupped both of her hands and put them on the door, then put the side of her head to hear what they were saying.
The first voice she made out was Sprout.
“...I’m just saying, maybe we should check on her. It’s been almost a full day and she hasn’t left her room.” He stated, worriedly.
So her clock wasn’t broken.
Then she heard Cosmo’s quieter voice.
“I know, but I think she just needs some time-”
“IT’S BEEN A WEEK! We need to discuss what happened, and I think she’s had a hell of enough time to think about it.” Sprout remarked.
“But, Sprout, it’s Ginger we’re talking about. Ginger meant a lot to me, but she wasn’t my everything. Try to imagine how you would react if you lost me.” Cosmo sounded like he was holding back tears.
There was a moment of silence.
“...Fine. But if she still hasn’t come out by tomorrow, I’m breaking her door down.”
She heard footsteps fade into the distance.
“Damn, they must be worried sick about me if I was really in here for almost a day straight.” The ornament mumbled to herself. After much debate, she decided that she should leave her room. She was insanely hungry, anyways.
She opened her bedroom door. Her room was near the train station, but all of the holiday toons’s rooms were. The bright, harsh lights of the fake sun in Gardenview flooded her room in an instant. Bobette nearly got flashbanged due to how much she’d adjusted to the dim lights. She covered her eyes with her hands, shielding her from the brightness until her eyes adjusted.
Due to the lack of real sun in Gardenview, the only way anyone knew if it was day or night was by the lights. The lights in the lobby were set on an automatic cycle to stimulate being outside. It’d been like that even back when Gardenview was open. Personally, Bobette found it very useful, because it helped her keep track with her calendar. Even during the past week, she’d stepped outside just to make sure her clock wasn’t off and her calendar was still on track. She knew that one specific toon didn’t feel the same (Cough cough Shrimpo), but he hates everything, so she wouldn’t count him. Besides him, no one really minded. She did know that Rodger felt the same way as her, because it told him when it was time for Toodles to go to bed.
As soon as she could see somewhat normally again, she noticed that none of the toons were in the lobby. Usually, there would at least be someone out and about during the day, but today there were none.
Strange, Bobette thought as she slowly walked over to the staircase that connected the lobby to the toon rooms.
She hadn’t been to the toon rooms since that day when she’d broken the news to everyone. Afterwards, she’d immediately ran back to the elevator to try and go back to save them. Sprout and Rudie had to physically hold her back to prevent her from going back down. A part of her wanted to run for the elevators right then and there, but she wasn’t prepared. She’d initially tried to do it in a blind, lovesick panic, but thinking back on it, she probably would’ve joined Ginger in twisting before she even found them.
What would’ve been the point if I’d died before I even found them? She thought to herself.
Once she reached the bottom of the stairs she heard talking coming from the kitchen.
Ohh, Bobette realized.
It was lunchtime.
She began making her way to the kitchen when Toodles and Gourdy ran past her, laughing. Gourdy was chasing her, making a silly face.
They must be playing tag, or something, Bobette smiled to herself. They looked like they were having fun.
As they ran past, Toodles glanced over towards Bobette. As soon as she saw the red ornament, she stopped dead in her tracks. Gourdy tapped her shoulder and yelled “TAG!!” Toodles kept staring at her. Gourdy followed her gaze until he saw her. He froze, too. She walked up to them.
“Hey, kids, do you know where everyone is?” She said in her usual jolly tone.
Toodles turned and whispered something to Gourdy. He took of running towards the kitchen. Toodles stared up at her and said,
“Mister Sprout said to stop whatever we’re doing and come get him if we see you… I don’t know why though. Do you know why, Miss Bobette?”
Bobette laughed and patted her head. “Thank you for your concern, kiddo. I’ll make sure to have a talk with him.” She looked around. Everyone else must’ve been in the kitchen. “Say… Do you know where Sprout is?”
Toodles nodded. “I know where he is. I’ll take him to you!” She smiled and grabbed Bobette’s hand.
Toodles’s hand was so small in hers, and Bobette had to crouch so Toodles could walk comfortably without being lifted up. Bobette smiled. The whimsy of being a kid never does get old.
Toodles led Bobette to the entrance of the kitchen just as Gourdy practically dragged Sprout to meet with her.
The two kids stood next to each other, proud of themselves for finding Bobette first. They looked back and forth from the strawberry to the ornament, waiting for a reaction.
Bobette looked at Sprout awkwardly before finally saying something to break the growing stillness in the air.
“So, uh-” She didn’t get to finish, because just then, Sprout pulled Bobette into a big hug. She wasn’t used to receiving hugs, since she was usually the one who gave them. She accepted the embrace nevertheless.
While they were embracing, Sprout half-whispered two words that almost broke Bobette:
“I’m sorry.”
She was so close to bursting into tears again. The only thing that was keeping her from it was the fact that Gourdy and Toodles were watching, and she couldn’t let her jolly persona fall in front of the kids.
She squeezed him tight before letting go and responding with a somber tone.
“Thank you. I needed that.”
She gave him a small smile. He smiled back before looking at her with sadness in his eyes.
“Do you… want to talk about it?”
Bobette’s smile broke.
“I-I don’t know, maybe? I’m not sure if I’m ready-”
Sprout interrupted. “It’s okay, take your time. If you’re ready to discuss it any time soon, just let me know and I’ll gather all of the mains.” He threw her a sad smile.
She didn’t want to let her friends down. She wanted to be there. She hadn’t been there for the past week. The least she could do is tell them what happened. Neither she nor Rudie had gone into details about what happened. The rest of the toons had been left in the dark.
Bobette regained her composition and stared at Sprout resolutely. She quickly nodded.
“I’m fine. We should discuss it.”