˚⊹ No me mires con esos ojos. ☆˚- _ MoonBerry _ -
════ ⋆★⋆ ═══ PART TWO OF TWO! ════ ⋆★⋆ ═══
FIRST CHAPTER! -> HERE!
°•. ★ .•°
“Astro, M’fine.. I just need to get a bit of sleep and I'll be okay for the next run tomorrow. “
⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺
Based on the Artwork of the lovely @Strolling.Star on Tiktok and @Strexxed.Vylxd on Instagram!
════ ⋆★⋆ ════
Sprout is trapped in his Dream, and who else would come to his rescue other than Astro?
WordCount: 1,516 / 3,161
.˚｡⋆ ༊ .˚｡⋆
Astro leaned against his bedroom door and waited for the soft click of Sprout's door before he even thought of resting. He needed to be sure he went to sleep. It wasn't that he didn't trust his partner; no, that wasn’t it.
He knew the signs of someone not resting. He recognized them well because he saw them every night on his own face in the mirror. Reflecting the exhaustion, he pushed so hard to drive away from others.
…He tried to keep mirrors out of his room for no particular reason.
It was a special and unique ache that blossomed in his chest as he thought about what was on his lover's mind. He wanted to help. He was there for support; if he couldn’t even accomplish that, what was he good for?
Slowly, he slipped off his blanket and hung it beside his door, feeling his body physically relax now that he didn't have to worry about others seeing his extra set of arms. He still remembered the day Sprout saw them. They had been baking, and Sprout eagerly turned and bumped into Astro, knocking his balance off kilter.
When his blanket fell, he didn't say anything; he just handed it back to Astro and kept on as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
Astro brought it up later, and Sprouts' response was what made him fall deeper in love with him.
“It’s a part of you, I love you all the same.”
He sat on his floor atop his blue shag carpet and shut his eyes. Focusing on the feeling of weightlessness that spread throughout his body as he tried to navigate the realm of rest.
Astro felt more at home like this. With his arms resting on his legs, he felt his consciousness separating from his physical body. Here, he could float freely and move as he pleased.
He opened his eyes slowly as he took in the darkness around him. With practiced gentleness, he reached his arms out, grasping for the first dream of the night. Shellys.
Shelly always had the same dreams. They were predictable and easy to manage. He liked to take care of her before the others; she deserved someone who would think of her first.
Softly, his hands grasped the orb that contained her dream. Peering in, he saw the familiar sight of her standing alone in her study.
With a simple wave of his hand, he soothed her mind and formed the familiar figures of her friends. Plopping a dream Vee for her to latch onto, once he figured all was well, he let go and let the orb peter off into the distance.
He swore not to be nosy into his lover's dreams; he never liked crossing boundaries.
Even if Sprout said it was all right, he didn’t want to overstep.
Though he couldn’t help sparing a glance at the familiar red orb, he kept off to the side. He always kept it away from the others; having the dreams cling together was always an issue.
A feeling of dread took hold in his stomach as he gave a passing glance and saw Sprout reeling in his dream. The small orb quivered as the contents threatened to pop and wake Sprout from the sleep he oh so desperately needed.
Astro didn’t think twice about it; he floated closer to the small orb and cradled it in his palms. Tenderly holding it in his palms as he tried to gauge what could have his beloved in such a state of distress.
Ichor. Of course it was.
“...Oh my dear..”
He murmured to himself. There wasn’t much he could do other than gently hold the orb and pray the nightmare soothed itself. By the looks of it, Sprout would wake up in a fit before that could happen.
He had two options: let Sprout ride out the dream. Which he didn't want to do.
Or he could wake him up himself, but he didn’t want to do that either. Nightmares like this always stuck around much longer, even in the waking world.
…There was always the third option; he tried not to drag any of his friends into his dream realm. They often forgot, but it always left them disoriented afterward. They never remembered Astro after he got them out.
He heard Sprout struggling more distantly in his dream, still fighting against the ichor with sickening gurgles.
It was worth it to try, even if he didn't remember, he resolved.
Ever so softly, he reached into the orb. Tenative and careful to wrap his finger around Sprout and hoist him out. He was much larger in this form, so he had to be all the more careful maneuvering him.
Finally, he held Sprout in his palm. He floated and thrashed wildly. Still struggling with a nonexistent force that never existed to begin with. Ever so softly, he spoke, trying to calm him anyway possible before he freaked him out more. He was still covered in that awful Ichor.
“My dear… Be still..”
It was as if a switch was flipped in Sprout's mind; he quit kicking his legs and struggling against Astros touch. His chest still rose and fell at an alarming rate, but it was a small victory.
“There you are… I’m going to remove this Ichor.”
He murmured and told Sprout what he was doing before he did it; he didn’t want to alarm him any more than he definitely was.
Oh so tenderly, he used his scarf to wipe away the Ichor. Even though it was conjured up by Sprout's dream, and he could very realistically just will it away. He wanted to hopefully ground Sprout through physical means.
His hand cradled Sprouts back, feeling the rapid beatings of his heart and the shivers of his body as he used his other hand to softly rub away the stubborn Ichor.
His thumb softly rested atop Sprout's chest once he cleaned off all he could. Making sure he didn't fall off. He felt Sprout's shaky hands softly rest atop his finger after a few moments. Almost unsure.
Once Astro wiped away the Ichor from his face, he tried with all his might to shrink himself down more. Curling up almost around Sprout in his hand as they floated in his dream realm.
“There you are, my dear… Better?”
Sprout sputtered and struggled to gather up his words. Astro looked… Stunning.
…And much bigger than before, which scared him, but stunning all the same.
“Where…What?...”
He tried to sit up more and peek over his hand, but all he got in return was Astro softly touching his face with his other hand.
“It was all a dream, soon you’ll forget this as well… Do not ponder it long, you’ll upset yourself…”
It was usually best for other toons not to look too far off into the space that surrounded them in the dream realm. Oftentimes, they would get lost in their own heads trying to conceptualize it.
He watched Sprout's eyes flicker around his face, as if he was trying to memorize every crater and crevice on his moon side before moving to his star eye. It ached his chest to know it would all be forgotten soon.
“A… A dream? No, no, it was too… Real. I felt it-..”
Sprout worked himself back up again, his hands moving to his neck as he felt where he was momentarily strangled. A dream. It couldn’t have been, but then again… If it wasn’t, how would Astro be here?
Astros expression softened as he curled more around Sprout. Now nuzzling into him to try and calm him down. He brought his palm up and rested his ‘nose’ to Sprouts entire body. Applying slight pressure to calm him.
“I swear on it. No harm will come here… Breathe and be at peace…”
It took a few good minutes for Sprout to calm down again. Astro stayed in his position even after he deemed it not necessary.
He stayed until he felt Sprout leaning forward and softly press a kiss to his forehead.
He stayed until he felt Sprouts breaths even out again.
He stayed until he finally felt Sprout let out that final sigh of relief and fall back into unconsciousness.
.˚｡⋆ ༊ .˚｡⋆
The next morning Astro woke as normal, having slept well with Sprouts small form pressed tightly against his neck.
He didn’t return Sprout to his dream orb until absolutely necessary, which was until he woke of course.
…He didnt have to, but it felt nice to have a companion while traversing the dream realm again.
Such a shame it had to end.
He knocked on Sprouts door the next morning softly with his foot.
He smiled as the door opened and he took in Sprouts expression. Seeing him well rested made his heart swell.
“Did you rest well my dear?...”
“Yeah… Can we do that again sometime?”
Astro stood and it slowly dawned on him, he remembered. He truly, remembered the dream. As well as the dream realm.
“Of course… I would love that…”
