Work Text:
Tisha, despite being known to everyone as the cleanest toon in Gardenview, had really let herself become a mess.
She prided herself on said cleanliness, sure, but what no one knew except for some of her closest friends was that all her work meant nothing if she couldn’t complete the routine along with it. Picking up a bottle a specific amount of times. Pacing around the room in an even amount of steps. Wiping everything down until it dried correctly. For no other reason than I just kept her sane. Many thought of her as a perfectionist, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
As she stood walking around the 3rd dorm floor’s kitchen she could feel herself wearing holes into the tiles. She’d been put on a rush schedule, and that wouldn’t be as big of a deal if it weren’t for toons constantly getting in her way and especially taking items from where she had placed them. She kept pacing back and forth to try and soothe herself, knowing just how illogical she was acting even if she couldn’t control it. She recalled Shelly pointing out that what she did fit the general description of OCD or potentially Autism, but really she never put much focus on what it was that got her like this.
Two steps.
Breathe.
Three steps.
Pause.
Repeat.
She looked stupid pacing in such a methodical way, not even cleaning at this point as she tried to figure out what was nagging at her subconscious so badly. She had to get back on schedule before Sprout or Cosmo asked her to clean up the kitchen. Again. Vee’s room was last on her list.
She never really got along with the android since the start of their interactions, though they had admittedly become more pleasant since finding a common interest in Shelly. Even if they still butted heads often it was usually much less bitter. Not like it would help to settle her mood though. Rarely anything could get her focus back when she was in what Shelly called a spiral.
She knew she should go lay down. Drink a glass of water. Maybe do a puzzle that Brightney had gifted her to help with her stress. But she wouldn’t let herself stay still for even a moment. She picked up the caddy that contained her remaining supplies for the day before making her way to the elevator. Counting each of her steps as she did.
Two steps.
Breathe.
Three steps.
Pause.
Repeat.
Her practicing gave her just enough space to end evenly on 32 steps. It made her feel just a bit more comfortable as she put in her access card before selecting Vee’s floor. Previously she wasn’t even allowed to select the robot’s floor when her keycard was the one in use, something that occurred over a petty fight. Why Vee suddenly let her access it now was something she didn’t bring up though. Part of her wondered if Shelly had asked them to, or if it was Vee’s way of quietly accepting her.
Either way, she didn’t bother verbally acknowledging it. She’d strolled down a couple of times while Vee and in and out of the room to plan her cleaning cycle within the layout. Tisha had to admit that Vee’s room was rather stunning, though it wasn’t surprising since really all of the mains had flashy rooms except for Sprout’s cozy little diner.
A stage was at the back center, with prizes on shelves just above where contestants would stand at the podiums. Computers lined different walls and corners of the room, each having different activity center labels with Vee’s face plastered on them. Organizing the cables to those computers had been a mess, and was something Tisha was very thankful about not having to do again. Vee actually kept their room rather clean, since no food or drinks were allowed more than 5ft into the room for their own safety and for the health of the technology littered about.
It had grown to be almost comforting to Tisha, knowing she had an easy time with just wiping up the dust and any spare plushies or prizes that had been tossed around. She set about the room in her planned out path, looking for anything to clean or pick up like a hawk looking for prey to dive on.
Once she finally found something, a surprisingly messy wall that had been vandalized with marker within a back corner away from the stage, she set down her caddy to get to work.
Only… it didn’t feel right. She huffed, picking it back up again and setting it down in the same spot. Still it was just wrong. Again it looked just right, but the sound it made gave her a gut sinking feeling. Again. And again. And again she kept placing down the supply bin in slightly different ways only to end up in the exact same spot and still be wrong.
She growled in frustration, feeling stupid for being unable to let this simple thing go. But she had to get it right. She wouldn’t be able to focus if she didn’t. At least, that was until she was completely startled out of her displaced focus all together. Vee’s voice called out from a speaker on the camera just above her, evidently watching the tissue box work.
“What are you trying to do?” The android’s robotic voice was teasing in a way that just frustrated Tisha more, now just standing in place while grabbing at her dress.
“I’ve been watching you do the same thing for like… 6 minutes now.” Vee sounded unimpressed, even judgmental with how snarky she could be. It only twisted the knife in her chest, making her scream out in frustration.
“That doesn’t matter! Shut up! For once, stop commenting on what I’m doing! Stop- getting in my way like everyone else and just let me do my job in a way that makes me feel good!” Tisha knew she was misplacing her anger but it just felt so- raw. She could feel how her skin started buzzing in that uncomfortable way she had grown to hate. It was like the sense of wrong was in her skin. Under it. It made her want to tear her gloves off and take the hottest shower she could to scrub all feeling off of herself. She couldn’t even hear what Vee had begun to say over the camera speaker again as she curled up on the floor.
The inconceivably misplaced caddy taunted her from her spot, causing tears to well up in her eyes as she stood back up to shove it off the table she’d failed to place it correctly on. The clattered to the ground in a way that brought her only slight satisfaction as she seethed.
“Jeeze, what’s your problem with that thing?” Vee’s voice came from behind her now. Much, much realer than how she sounded over the camera. Maybe that was because Tisha was clearly overwhelmed though. Either way she didn’t have words to speak, just standing with her back turned as she pulled her arms close to hug herself.
Gently Vee’s tail nudged her shoulder, a cold water bottle in its grasp. That startled the maid, knowing the android’s hatred of it. Vee seemed to immediately guess what was on her mind as she turned around with a confused look on her face. “I keep them in a fridge in my bedroom for you guys during the game shows.”
Tisha shakily took the bottle from the taller toon, taking a sip of the water while trying to steady her suddenly uneven breathing. “Shelly told me I might witness you, um, get like this. She said I was supposed to keep an eye on you until you calmed down.” Vee explained rather bluntly, her lack of enthusiasm making it clear she had no idea of how to actually handle this.
“It’s. Just stupid. I’ll be fine. I just. Need a moment for everything to stop existing wrong.” She started fidgeting with the collar of her dress as she spoke, trying to get it to sit just right again. She didn’t even know what right was at this point. She just wanted everything to feel like it was going to swallow her whole from failing one little thing.
But it wasn’t little. At least not to Tisha. And Vee could see that in the normally uptight toon’s posture alone. The TV head stood for a moment, recalling what Shelly and Brightney had told her about Tisha’s.. fuck what was the term?
OCD. That’s what it was she quickly remembered after going through her own search history. Pulling up a medical paper about it jogged her memory on why exactly this meant so much to the girl. “Do you.. wanna talk about it?”
That got Tisha to stop dead in her tracks after completing the step she was on. Vee could see how the tension rose inside the other before she got a firm nod in response.
“You.. I don’t know if you can experience this. I don’t know what you can experience to begin with. But it’s like. Everything is wrong. My breathing. My clothes. And hair. My planning. Everything is off. And I have to make it right. I have to do these stupid little things to keep myself sane. I need to or else it’s like- like the world is ending. Like it’s going to be my fault. Like not getting something to be placed just right will cause this unimaginable thing to just-“ Tisha’s breathing got tight as she spoke, tears that once welled now pouring down hard on her freckled cheeks.
The android quickly thought ahead, guiding the other to sit down on the floor with them while carefully pulling her hands away from herself as a precaution. “Hey, you can stop talking now. Just- well I don’t breathe actually so- just focus on me, okay?” The robot was clearly out of her depth here. She had to be the worst toon to be put in this situation, other than Shrimpo of course. She recognized Tisha’s need for help outweighed her own struggles though, continuing to talk in a steady voice.
While her words were harsh, they quickly got the maid’s attention, panicking eyes locked onto the screen in front of her as she took as deep and as slow of breaths as she could. Vee’s body was almost freezing compared to her own considering how calm the game show host was, giving her something to better place her focus on.
Two seconds in.
Out.
Three seconds in.
And out again.
The grip on her wrists wasn’t harsh or even uncomfortable, she realized, actually surprisingly gentle considering how they had gotten into the situation at hand. She gently leaned into it, trusting Vee with supporting her as she went through her process of calming down. Everything still felt wrong.. but it was manageable again at least. She tried to get up, only for Vee to get up with her while still holding onto her wrists.
“You’re not gonna go back to cleaning.”
“What? Why-“
“Because I can feel how high your blood pressure is. You are going to come with me to my room to get away from all of this until you stop freaking out.”
The words stung, even if she knew the overall message was for the better. Still, she couldn’t help the frown on her face from the shame of being caught up in this to begin with. If Vee noticed, well she didn’t say anything, only tugging at Tisha gently to guide her as she walked to her personal room within the floor.
Vee’s bedroom was… nice. The bright green patterned walls contrasted nicely with the dark carpet that thankfully lost the arcade patterns. Different prizes and medals littered the walls, along with photos of everyone who had won a game show. They had an actual bed too, for some reason. One which Tisha immediately sat on after finally being let go while pointedly ignoring the android’s giggle.
“Never thought I’d see you be so easily bossed around.” Vee hummed while watching the maid settle herself almost begrudgingly on the bed. She kept it as just another seat or place to store things rather than having it taken out, and now it actually saw use as a bed with her partners.
“I don’t want you snitching to Shelly about this. That’s why I’m letting you ‘boss’ me.” Tisha huffed while taking off her shoes, refusing to get the bed dirty.
“She uh.. actually still doesn’t know.” Vee admitted quietly. Shelly was still yet to know that they had grown closer, and only thought it wise to advise Vee seeing as the two would be around each other much more often.
“Ah.. is that something you wanted me to handle?” Tisha actually looked at Vee now, curiously apprehensive. She had assumed that Vee would want to handle that on her own, considering Tisha only understood so much of the sensitive topic the robot possessed.
The question put a thick silence between them as Vee didn’t respond, only moving to start walking around their room picking up different papers scattered about. Tisha watched quietly while letting the other think, worried she might’ve overstepped.
“I want to. I’m just… not sure how to tell her. Not for your sake, but for mine.” Vee clarified after a moment, now leaning over a messy work desk.
“Have you ever talked about ‘it’ with her?”
“…No. I haven’t. I know she’s aware of it. But she’s never brought it up to me. And that made me feel like I couldn’t bring it up to her.”
Tisha could practically feel the shame radiating off of Vee, the main unable to face her. It gave her this.. sympathetic feeling. She really had no idea what it had to be like for the android, someone who had only recently discovered that they even could have a sexuality.
“I know it probably feels horrible but if it’s any sort of consolation.. she helped me feel better about what I had wrong.” The maid spoke quietly while reflecting on how Shelly had helped her with her own problems.
The ammonite was always incredibly loving and accepting of her, even when she spent hours crying over the dumbest of things. It was something she absolutely adored when it came to her now shared partner. Shelly never made her feel like a burden or unwanted. Every conversation or minute spent together was meaningful. Vee deserved to feel like that too.
Her words seemed to spark something in the main, green face display finally looking into her hazel eyes. Her arms were crossed over her chest while leaning against the desk, really it was the most uncertain Tisha had ever seen Vee be.
“What was it like? When you talked to her about your OCD?”
That question was unexpected to Tisha. She never considered Vee might actually want to know something about her. Growing closer to the android really had changed how they looked at each other. For the better.
“It was… weird, she talked to me about it first actually. I think that was because she knew I didn’t care as much as I should’ve. Well I cared, but it made me kinda hate myself. And she saw that. A lot.”
Tisha admitted what she had done a couple times now. For some reason, this felt like the most important time though, so she kept going.
“Shelly didn’t force me to do anything about it, though I know she could’ve. She would’ve if I was really upset about it. But she gave me the time to think about it for myself. Made me feel proud for acknowledging it.”
She couldn’t help the small smile on her face thinking back on how it happened. She had gone a whole two days without sleep, and was barely functioning when Shelly got her to sit down and admit that she wasn’t okay.
“After that it was like.. some kind of weight had been lifted off my chest. It felt easier asking her or my friends for help. I felt less- evil, for struggling. I know that part probably won’t be the same for you, but it’d mean a lot to her to know you care so much about it. I can’t imagine her being unsupportive for even a second.”
“Okay, but then.. why wouldn’t she bring it up with me like she did with you?” Vee started her counter questioning, eyes now burning holes into the floor.
“Well, this is a much more sensitive topic I imagine. She’s probably waiting for you to come to her when you’re ready. If you’re ever going to be ready.”
“…What if I’m never ready?”
That sentence put an ache into Tisha’s chest. As much as Vee was trying to avoid her, she was doing her best to be vulnerable at the same time. She could see the tears on Vee’s screen, like little bits of static stuck to her face. Slowly, she got up from where she was sat on the bed. It got Vee to look at her before turning away again after noticing she was coming closer.
“Then you don’t ever have to with her, not that you ever had to of course. But it would be wrong to intentionally hide it, Y’Know? You can admit what happened without having to do it again.”
“Wouldn’t she like- be upset over knowing?”
God Tisha was going to hell for how she giggled at that. She couldn’t help it though! The idea was so out of character for Shelly. It highlighted just how afraid Vee really was. How vulnerable they had let themself become. Tisha moved to gently grab Vee’s guarded hands, holding them in her own.
“If we’re being honest, Shelly has been dying for us to get along. She loves the both of us to death, I hear about it every time you do something so much as laugh at one of her jokes.”
“…She talks about me with you?” Vee’s voice was soft, face clearly in awe. It was like the android never even considered just how much Shelly loved her until now. Tisha thought it was a nice look on her.
“Yeah, she does. So I don’t believe for a second that she’d be the slightest bit upset.”
The two sat in a comfortable silence after that, just staring at each other with a suddenly much deeper understanding.
“I think… that I’m ready then. To tell her at least. Some lesser part of me is still scared that she’ll be upset, but the greater part is comforted knowing just how much she loves me. Thank you for that.”
Hearing such a genuine sentence from Vee made Tisha’s heart swell for the other in a way she never considered. The main was no different than her in that she loved Shelly. When Shelly had first admitted to liking Vee and her at the same time to her, Tisha thought it was something outside of her business to comment on with how much she despised the android.
But now, that idea was furthest from her mind. It was impossible not to see what Shelly loved about Vee from where she stood now.
“Y’Know, I think this is a good time to say it. I’m sorry that I misjudged you.”
“What?” The genuine confusion in Vee’s robotic voice got Tisha to snicker.
“I misjudged you in the beginning of us getting to know each other. I know you know that. And I’m apologizing for it. You definitely make Shelly better.”
Now it was Vee’s turn to giggle, mostly at how Tisha said her apology. But the noise was so real to the maid that she didn’t care.
“Glad I have your blessing to date my girlfriend.”
“Hey! She’s my girlfriend too, and you know she deserves the best.”
That put the two into a shared laugh, though it was one shortcut by Vee’s sudden confusion.
“…Does that make us partners too? I mean I know we’ve already had sex so we skipped a formality but-”
“Would you like me to be your girlfriend?”
“Yes.” The main responded almost immediately, surprising the both of them.
“Then yes, of course. I’d love that.”