l"WATCH OUT!" Somebody called out. Too late. I collided with Glisten, knocking him over. I reached out, frantically trying to catch him. I managed to wrap my arm around him, latching my tail around a pipe.
"Sorry." I apologized. I realized I was holding him above ground and set him down gingerly. I was 8,2, towering above most toons. Things had been awkward between me and him, ever since I confessed that I had liked him. I cringed at the memory, shoving it in the back of my mind. I looked him over to make sure he was ok. It wasn't the first time somebody had nearly broken Glisten. Last month Finn had accidentally bowled him over. He was decommissioned for a week after that.
"No harm done." He dusted off his bow before heading back down the hallway. He cast one last sympathetic glance at me, before disappearing back into the darkness. I shook my head, remembering the task at hand. I hurried down the hallway, looking for the generator room. Rushing into the generator room, I hurried over to the heater. Seeing that it was on, I sighed in relief, taking a moment to breathe. I walked over to the power generator. It was one of the four machines scattered throughout Gardenview, needed to turn the power back on. I grimaced at the Ichor splattered on the handle. I hated the vile liquid. Delilah said it was completely normal, and what we were all made of. I wasn't so sure. The black liquid was unpleasant to touch and almost seemed to spread. Reluctantly I began to turn the ichor crusted handle. I watched as the lights on the machine went from red to green. The machine let out a small ding, a glowing green light signaling it was finished. I began to walk in the direction of the second machine, at a much more leisurely pace. Now that I knew the heat was going to stay on, I was confident that the kids would be okay with the other toons.
"Maybe I should check on the younger toons." I thought. I was fairly sure that Razzle and Dazzle were watching them today. They might need help. They could get pretty rambunctious. I swerved towards Razzle and Dazzle's room. I peered inside the room, seeing that Razzle and Dazzle were trying to calm the kids down. Toodles and Lemon were both talking loudly, and lime was running around in circles.
"Lime, please stop running! You are going to injure yourself!" Razzle said frantically. Lime stopped for a second before going back to running in circles. My soft glow announced my presence as I stepped into the room. Bending under the door frame to avoid bumping my head, every head swiveled to see who could be entering the room.
"STELLA!" All the younger toons yelled. They barreled into me, hugging my legs.
"Hey you guys!" I scooped them up in my arms, spinning them around. I looked down at Razzle and Dazzle as they heaved a sigh, dusting off their knees.
"They have been rather rambunctious today." They informed me, gesturing to the kids. "Ever since the power went out, we couldn't get them to calm down."
"There was a huge KA-BOOM! Then all the lights turned off." Lime said, spreading out his arms for emphasis. Just then a loud thunderclap sounded, making Lime jump. "I don't like thunderstorms." He said, more softly this time. I rubbed his head before setting them all down.
"I was going around to the generators, so the power should be back on soon- "I was cut off by shouts from the hallway. It sounded like Dr. Olwen and Shrimpo were fighting again. I rolled my eyes. The two were always fighting. "I should probably go and see what that is all about." I acknowledged, turning towards the door.
"NOOO! Don't leave!" Lime whined. "I don't wanna be left alone with these stinky girls!" He put on his best puppy dog face.
"We are not stinky!" Toodles and Lemon shouted in unison. I chuckled, giving Lime a pat on his head.
"Don't worry bud. I'll be back to play later!" I assured him, before ducking under the doorframe. I looked down the hallway, in the direction of the clamoring.
"I HATE YOU!" Shrimpo shouted, pointing a finger at Dr. Olwen.
"You hate everyone, Shrimpo. Besides, don't you have more important things to be doing?" Dr. Olwen rolled his eyes at Shrimpo. I considered just letting them fight but changed my mind. We could not afford another toon getting hurt. There were already threats to cancel the show, due to lack of interest. I stepped between the arguing toons, causing them to stop momentarily.
"Guys, stop arguing already. You fight all the time after the children leave." I interjected. "Do you really need to fight while they're here as well?" Both of them looked at the floor guiltily. "I thought so. Now, don't you both have jobs to do?" They both walked away, grumbling. I snorted, rolling my eyes. Walking towards the second generator room well, that is where it began to go downhill.
A/N I wrote Shrimpo as a totally different character in this fic. Guess sometimes we need to ignore headcanons.