#gh brusha

Dandy played with the sweater for a while, humming Christmas tunes. He always had to bundle up during winter, for even with the heaters on, he was still at risk of wilting! But oh, how he loved Christmas! The snow, the songs, the treats! And there was one thing he'd purposely hung above his bedroom doorframe; some mistletoe.

The plan was simple enough. Wait for Astro to come visit, point out the mistletoe, kiss him. It was genius, they'd thought! He was even going to ask who was at his door to ensure it WAS Astro.

Then he hears knocking. "Dandy? You in there?" He'd recognize that voice anywhere!

"That you, Astro?" He asked anyway, putting his overalls on despite how difficult it was, since his sweater was so puffy.

"Yeah. Can I come in?"

Dandy giggled. "Nah, I'm coming out in a sec! Just wait there!"

He hopped over to his door as quickly as he could, excited beyond belief. After taking a moment to compose themself, Dandy opened the door.

"Hello, my favorite moon boy! Hope you're doing well!" Dandy purred, tail flicking.

The taller toon in front of him smiled, and they noticed that Astro had his blanket wrapped around himself. "Hey Dandy. I'm good. You all bundled up, right?"

Dandy put his hands behind his back, grinning. "Ohhh, yeah!" He hummed as he "innocently" looked up. "Well would ya look at that!"

Astro glanced upward when Dandy spoke, and his face immediately reddened. They giggled at the sight, petals vibrating faintly at how shy Astro had suddenly become.

"Do ya know what that is, Astro~?"

"That— that's mistletoe...!"

He gave a cheeky nod and bounced up to gently tug Astro down, forcing the moon to lean in order to kiss him. Astro let out a surprised squeak, eyes wide. When they finally pulled away, Dandy couldn't stop giggling.

"You're so cute when you're blushing like that!" Dandy teased playfully.

Astro seemed to catch on. "You... you put that there on purpose, didn't you!"

They shrugged, still amused over Astro's reaction. However, it felt the air around his chest go cold as Astro used his magic to lift them up to his level. Without warning, Astro pulled them into another kiss.

"You can always ask me for a kiss," Astro murmured once he pulled away.

Dandy was left speechless, utterly confused. Astro simply chuckled and set him down.

"Let's go to the kitchen. Sprout and Ginger are baking Christmas cookies!" The moon offered.

"Wha— oh, sure! Let's go!"

Dyle had been on high alert all this past week. He usually liked winter, but there was something about Christmas he detested.

Those damn mistletoe. Those little evergreens that would innocently hang around Garden House, catching unsuspecting toons under them. And Bobette always seemed to know if the "mistletoe rule" wasn't followed. So Dyle avoided them like the plague. But unfortunately, he wouldn't escape them this year.

"Dyle, you should go work in the lab today, y'know? Then you can finish early," Dandy suggested merrily.

He gave them a tiny, annoyed huff, not stopping. "I suppose..."

Dandy followed him up to the door, after which they left, claiming they had to help Bobette with a few extra decorations. He didn't think much of it. When he opened the lab door, however, he saw Rodger standing there as if he'd been just about to leave.

"Ah, Rodger. I assume you were working, aye?" Dyle hummed.

Rodger nodded. His lab coat was already on the hook, next to Dyle's. "I just finished up. Everything should be done for the next few days, really."

Eyes widening, Dyle tilted his head. "I had assumed there was still work to be done."

The magnifying glass simply shook his head. If he didn't have to do anything, then why... wait a second. Dyle slowly looked up, heart speeding up. Mistletoe. That damn flower had set him up!

Rodger raised his brow, glancing up where Dyle was looking. "What are... oh. Oh."

The pocket watch simply stared at the evergreen hanging in the doorway. He had fallen right into Dandy's trap. He really didn't want to look at Rodger, fearing how red his face must've been right now.

"Dyle. Look at me," Rodger ordered quietly. When Dyle didn't comply, Rodger stepped forward until he was directly in front of Dyle. "I said to look at me."

He immediately glanced back at Rodger, a bit annoyed. "You're my assistant, you won't be telling me what to—"

Quickly, Rodger leaned forward, pressing his entire face to Dyle's. The pocket watch initially let out a hiss, but was soon silenced as he closed his eyes. This was so wrong... but he'd be a fool to deny how good it felt, too. He was a little disoriented when Rodger finally pulled away after what seemed like hours.

"There. Now Bobette won't come after us," Rodger joked with a deep chuckle.

Dyle stared blankly at Rodger. He was tempted to ask him to do that again, but he couldn't help but feel as though it was wrong, horribly wrong. So he simply nodded and turned to leave. He'd end up staying locked in his own bedroom for a majority of the evening.

Shelly had been caught in a long conversation with Cosmo and Ginger. She wanted to check in on them and give them some encouragement. After all, it must've been tiring to work on so many Christmas treats!

Of course, she wanted to go cozy up in her room and read, maybe even watch a cartoon or two. So, after making herself some hot chocolate — despite Cosmo trying to convince her he'd make it for her — she walked down the hall to the main communal room. Who she hadn't expected to see was Vee.

"Oh, Shelly. Where are you going?" The television asked, antennae twitching.

Shelly smiled. "I'm just going to my room to watch some cartoons. Do you wanna join?"

Vee shrugged, tapping her foot against the ground. "Eh, I dunno... seems a bit boring."

She did her best to hide a slight frown at Vee's response. Shelly knew how the TV was, so she shouldn't be surprised. Still, she'd been hoping they could hang out and have a friendly chat.

"Oh! Okay... let me know if you change your mind!"

Vee simply nodded, so she left to go to her room. She spent a long while there, watching anything that was available and getting comfortable in the large nest of pillows and blankets she'd made. After a while though, she got a little peckish, so she decided to check the kitchen.

There was a bit of pudding Cosmo had made a few days ago. She decided to take that and started heading to her room.

"Shelly!" She heard a familiar voice call out.

Turning around, she saw Vee, stepping over to her "Oh, Vee! How's your day been?"

The TV tensed when she got closer, pointing up desperately. Shelly didn't get the hint, though, and she gave Vee a hug.

"I hope you've been having a great day so far!" Shelly trilled.

She heard a bit of static. "Shelly— Shelly, look up..."

Curious, she turned her head to look at the ceiling. "What is— oh!" She hummed as her gaze fell upon the mistletoe.

Beside her, she could feel Vee begin to heat up. Strange. Usually she only did that when she was overheating. It wasn't until she looked back at Vee that she noticed; the TV's digital face had lines of blush, and her pupils were shrunk.

"Aw, it's alright! We don't have to kiss, we're only friends! I'm sure Bobette would—"

"No. I want to," Vee interrupted, voice glitchy as she spoke, before she attempted to take back her words. "I mean, I just don't want Bobette bothering us."

Shelly tilted her head. She got up on her tippy toes and pressed her lips to Vee's screen. The TV tensed further, but Shelly quickly let go and stepped back.

"There! Now we'll be left alone!" Shelly chuckled, turning to return to her room.

Vee simply stood there, putting a hand on her screen in shock.

Brusha chugged the coffee in her hand as she strode to her room. Even though she cared little for the season itself, she did get many art ideas during Christmas. So she HAD to get them on a canvas.

"Watch out!" Someone yelped.

Before she could even register the warning in her sleep-deprived mind, Brusha had crashed into someone. She opened her mouth to utter an annoyed apology, but as she laid eyes on who she'd collided with, the words died in her throat.

"Brusha, you have to watch where you're going! I don't need any extra messes to clean up!" Tisha scolded her, getting up and dusting herself off.

She cleared her throat. "Oh. Tisha. I was just in a hurry."

Having not gotten up yet, she was forced to look up at Tisha. Which also meant her eyes caught a glimpse of another thing. A bit of mistletoe dangling from the ceiling.

"Uh.. Tish? Look up." Brusha managed to utter, pointing at the evergreen.

Tisha glanced up at it, her face paled as her eyes met the mistletoe. Honestly, this only fueled Brusha's creativity— no, stop, she can't think about this now!

"No no no.... I can't! I'd rather have Bobette pester me!" Tisha wailed, moving as if to leave.

Her hand instinctively moved to grip Tisha's wrist. As she stood, she towered over the other, if only by a little.

"I—"

"You're no different than you were all that time ago!" Tisha cut her off furiously.

Brusha's hand tightened around her wrist subconsciously. "I've changed! I'm different now, why won't you let me prove it!? It's like you don't miss me, and don't pretend that like you don't, because I know it's not the truth!"

Before Tisha could object, Brusha forced the tissue box into a kiss, one hand locked around her wrist and the other hand rested firmly on her shoulder. Tisha tried to push her away, but she wasn't going to let her get away that easily.

As she pulled away briefly, she hesitated to speak. "I'm sorry! I'll say it a million times over because it's true!"

Without waiting for a reply, she forced Tisha into another kiss. After a while, she realized what she was doing to the other toon, and quickly let go and pulled away once more.

"You... you... leave me alone! You're still the same selfish, horrid toon who treated me like your toy!" Tisha cried before storming off.