Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

It was a stormy winter's night

The snow lay on the ground

The sailor boy stood on the quay

His ship was outward bound

His sweetheart, standing by his side

Shed many a silent tear

And as he pressed her to his breast

He whispered in her ear

Farewell, farewell, my own true love

This parting brings me pain

I'll be your own true guiding star

When I return again

My thoughts shall be of you, of you

When the storms are raging high

So fare ye well

Remember me, your faithful sailor boy

Without a care, the ship set sail

He kissed his love goodbye

———

It was a popular shanty, but it was definitely most popular in Finn’s bubbly fishbowl head. He caught himself thinking about it more often than not, and he wouldn’t be able to give you a reason why. In fact, he had thought about it countless times himself. The idea of asking Astro popped into his head a few times, but he always dismissed it because what would Astro even say? The moon toon mainly usually specialized in dreams, not the behavior of the mind. However, that was probably in his practice somewhere. It didn’t reely bother Finn much, though. 

That one was one of his favorites, although he didn’t have much experience with it himself. The aquatic toon had never reely had a crush or been in love with anyone at the museum. He probably wouldn’t for a while, though. He hadn’t felt like Cosmo or Sprout before they got together with anyone, or he hadn’t felt like Dandy and Shelly, who he was shore, were going to get together soon. Finn didn’t even know how it worked, and neither did he reely want to. If he were in love with someone, shorely the number of people saying it all the time would get eely annoying. People had already started doing it with him and Shrimpo, which is what I never really understood.

Shrimpo and Finn had only become friends recently; however, Finn had always admired the shrimp from afar. He liked the way Shrimpo acted so… free. He acted as if the world revolved around him, or if he was just singled out in total. He never even cared what others thought about him.  Shrimpo also had two separate personalities sometimes. When Shrimpo was with other toons, all he would do was yell at them and just be a pain or nuisance. But not with Finn. Shore, Shrimpo still had his loud and obnoxious nature, but it was definitely a lot less harsh towards him. Maybe it was even because he had figured out Shrimpo’s speech pattern by now.

 If Shrimpo told you that he hated something, it was either because he actually liked it or it was just an exaggerated statement against a toon. Shrimpo didn’t actually hate Toodles; he had just said that because Toodles got him to admit to being friends with Finn. Those silly things had always been the stuff that made Finn laugh. Shrimpo was definitely quite the toon. Ever since he had met Shrimpo, he had wanted to be his friend. Even when everyone had told Finn it was a bad idea and that Shrimpo was not the cool toon the fish bowl had thought he was. But it hadn’t worked on Finn. Any sea life fascinated him, and Shrimpo happened to be sea life.

For some reason that couldn’t be explained by anyone but the aquatic toon, Finn could remember the exact moment he met Shrimpo. The Shrimp had been getting scolded by Sprout for something he had done right before Finn arrived. This was practically normal for the Shrimp toon, when had he not been involved with something troublemaking? He also didn’t really like Sprout, which the strawberry didn’t like him much either. This argument was just another day in Gardenview for everyone else, but for Finn this was a first time occurrence. Something about the whole thing really intrigued the fish bowl. Everytime Sprout had made an argument against Shrimpo, the toon would just throw a defense back using the word “Hate”. Sprout realized the whole argument was kind of pointless, so he just dropped it and turned over towards Finn, (who he had zero clue or awareness that he was there). 

Once he noticed however, he pulled Finn aside and apologized for what the fish bowl had seen. But Finn wasn’t concerned about what he saw. Sure the bickering was annoying, but the Shrimpo had done the funniest thing ever in his eyes. He made the argument reely fishteresting. It’s not everyday you see a raging shrimp win an argument using the word hate as his main course. Maybe it was Finn’s love for sea creatures, but Shrimpo had looked cool! Even though the ocean was salty, Shrimpo had been even saltier.

Finn looked at the clock on his nightstand and he realized it had already been 13:02 (1:02 PM). He had slept in for the second time this week, and what was worse is that he had plans with Gigi, Flutter, and Connie in a little bit. He had even missed the chance to get breakfast, and lunch would end in a little bit. This had been a common occurrence recently, and Finn had no clue on why. He had no problems going to sleep, and he hadn’t changed the time he usually went to sleep. If he kept this up, he would have to cross his daily fishing trip off his list of activities. Not to be confused with Brightney however, she had a to-do list which Finn only had a list of things he cod do on an empty boring day. 

Some of them were things like fishing (obviously), hanging out with friends (Shrimpo was his main choice), and reading some fish books that he would borrow from Brightney. Sometimes he would combine the first two activities depending on if Shrimpo wanted to go fishing with him. You didn’t hear this from Finn, but the fish bowl noticed that Shrimpo actually liked fishing and was curious about the oceanic world. But if Finn pointed it out, the shrimp would turn his head and deny it like he had with everything else.

After a couple minutes of thinking, Finn finally got out of bed with his aquatic fish pajamas. He also put down the Shrimp plushie he slept with (which was a mere coincidence according to Finn), and did a little stretch as his feet hit the floor. He was finally ready to start his day at 13:05. Way later than expected, but at least he started it. The first thing he needed to do was to get breakfast, it was important afterall. He also got to see some of his friends even though they were going to hang out soon. Finn then reached into his head and took the cork out, setting it beside him on his- to no one’s surprise- fish-themed bed. 

Before he left his room, however, he just had to greet all of his fish. Who cod pass by an aquarium without addressing all the cute finned individuals?

“Hello, my little fish sea-bilings! It’s going to be a fin-tastic day!” Finn exclaimed cheerfully. He looked at all the fish in the tank, which wasn’t all that many, but it was still around three or four.

Of course, to no one’s surprise, the fish stare back without saying a word. Then, they started swimming around as if nothing had happened. As if nothing eely changed, because nothing had changed. At least for them. 

While he was wrapped up in his one-sided conversation with the fish, a sudden knock came from the door. It was 20 minutes before the end of lunch, and 50 minutes before he had to hang out with Connie, Gigi, and Flutter. So who cod possibly be knocking at his door at the moment? Finn stood up and instantly got reminded that he hadn’t eaten today. He still headed to open the door and greet the toon that had currently been standing there. To his surprise, it was Shrimpo. Suddenly, his face felt a bit warmer. 

“Oh Shrimpo! What brings you here?” Finn asked the small shrimp who looked just as angry as ever.

“I SAW THAT YOU MISSED BREAKFAST SO I BROUGHT YOU SOME LUNCH!” Shrimpo yelled as he withdrew his hands from behind his back. He held a plate of spaghetti (without any meat) which he then placed on the floor. Since when did Shrimpo bring anyone food? When was he nice to anyone as a whole? He had never seen the shrimp ever perform an act of kindness. Not even that one time he would get rewarded with his own spot in the aquarium. Which he still got anyway, but the point still stood. Shrimpo had never been nice to anyone, and now he was being nice to Finn of all people. The thought made a slight blush appear on the bowl’s face.

“O-Oh! Thank you! I ree-ly appreciate it!” Finn smiled. He didn’t really understand the feeling that was going on, but it only happened when Shrimpo was around. Finn had just assumed since he had the biggest friend crush on Shrimpo for a while now and maybe the feeling didn’t go away. 

“WHATEVER. I HATE YOUR PUNS AND I HATE BEING HERE!” Shrimpo stormed, walking away which was just stomps due to his angry nature. So much for Shrimpo treating him with kindness. He did appreciate the previous gesture though. He had side tracked a lot today, so it was helpful that someone had brought him his lunch. Finn was also happy that Shrimpo had remembered his dislike of meat. He had made sure Sprout only made the pasta part, which had to have been hard considering his rivalry with Sprout. Shrimpo went out of his way for… him. The thought made him feel a little warmer than he originally had.

Finn had… lied before. When he said he had a friendship crush on Shrimpo, he actually had a major friendship crush on Shrimpo. He thought he had had one on Gigi, but this one felt different. He enjoyed being friends with Shrimpo and hanging out with him too. Shrimpo was a funny toon. Betta yet he actually listened and remembered Finn’s facts. Shrimpo even let himself be seen with Finn in the hallways of Gardenview while they were having a wholesome or sweet conversation. If you had been and Gardenview and had any sense of who Shrimpo was, you would know that he usually wouldn’t do that for anyone. Finn was different to him. Finn was special. Finn loved being special. Especially to, in his eyes, the coolest toon in all of Gardenview. Shrimpo was the only toon in Gardenview that could be so transparent yet so secretive at the same time. As well as bonus points for him being a crustacean. 

He brought the spaghetti up to his lap and grabbed his fork so he could properly eat his lunch just around thirty minutes late. By now lunch in the diner had definitely ended, so taking his plate to go wasn’t really much of an option. He didn’t need to worry about not seeing his friends that he sat with at lunch, for they had been currently knocking on his door before he could even bring his fork to his mouth. He laid the plate down and walked to the front of his room to open the door. Connie awaited him, along with the rest of his friends.

“I just saw the whole thing, man! I high-key think he likes you!” Connie smirked with an I-Know-What’s

-Going-On-Here kind of smile. Finn felt his face get a little hot as he prepared his defense.

“Not eel-y, he was just looking out for me, minnow?” Finn explained to the mob of toons. They weren’t really buying the cheap excuse. They kept giving each other knowing glances while laughing to themselves secretly. Finn, who obviously didn’t know, stood there confused in his fish pjs.

“Oh I see the blush on your face man you soooo like him back.” Gigi joined in with the teasing. Gigi’s comment only made Finn’s face flush a deeper red. Blush didn’t mean he liked his friend, right? It just meant he thought it was cool. Being in love was turtle-ly different. You’d think about them all the time, and you’d love to stare and look at them. You’d also have sweaty palms being around them. At least that’s what Finn had read in the romance novels Brightney lent him. Finn hadn’t even thought about him that much! (Shrimpo’s name is mentioned 39 times before this fun-fact) Not to mention his palms were only sweaty sometimes. Finn had never even had time to stare at Shrimpo as well. 

But instead of him using all of this evidence, his face just got redder. 

“…!!” Flutter chimed in, agreeing with Connie and Gigi. Finn was now a flustered mess, and he didn’t even know what it meant.

“Anyway man, we just gon hang out in your room today.” Connie said, already making her way into Finn’s room before he could give an approval or declination. Gigi and Flutter followed behind the ghost, to where Gigi sat on one of Finn’s beanbags to make herself comfortable.

“Yup, we can also talk about the Shrimpo thing a little more when we’re all seated.” Poppy, who came out of nowhere, chimed in as they all sat down. Poppy was a bit nosy, due to her being a more gossipy toon. So no one was really surprised when she made her way into Finn’s room with the rest of the other toons. In her defense, she had originally been invited to hang out, however, she had been drafted into a run which got canceled earlier today.  

“So, fill me in on what I missed! What happened with you and Shrimpo today?” Poppy asked eagerly and attentively. This might have been the most interested Poppy was in a discussion since 99’. 

“Whale, Shrimpo just came by and delivered me some food, and now I haven’t been herring the end of it!” Finn explained, fighting back the blush that threatened to make itself visible. He had expected Poppy to agree with him, and to nod in agreement that the interaction did not mean love. But again, Poppy was a gossip toon, so any trail of romance was interesting and something she agreed with.

“OH MY GOSH! THAT'S SO CUTE! HE'S SO INTO YOU!” Poppy squealed excitedly. She ran up and squeezed Finn in a tight hug, to which Finn sat confused trying to figure out what was happening.

“It’s just what friends do!” Finn reassured Poppy, although he sounded as if he was trying to reassure himself mainly. Shrimpo didn’t seem like the kind to have crushes and like other toons. Especially men. But it didn’t matter to Finn if he did like men. But 

thinking about Shrimpo liking him made that feeling come back. Gosh, feelings were way too confusing especially since Finn had no clue what they meant.

Poppy just chuckled in response, and gave Gigi and Connie a look like they had given each other earlier. They were most likely going to tell Glisten about all of this, which only made Finn blush a little bit more. Finn’s feelings weren’t intense, just small little outbursts here and there. But he surely wasn’t in love. He would show it. He would do everything for Shrimpo if he had liked him.  He wasn’t perking up his head in every conversation mentioning around the shrimp, so he was fine. It was all fine. Everything was Fish-tastic.

—-

Connie, Gigi, Flutter, and Poppy had all left a while ago now to probably gossip with Brightney.  Finn was sure that the whole romance thing cod be described with Connie and Brightney as they were always talking about each other. Connie was always obsessing over Brightney and acted shy around her. If you had asked Connie about this, she would practically melt with flusteredness and brush off the question. Brightney was also always trying to impress Connie in any way she could, to which if you asked her about it she would just say it was natural. So Finn relayed all this information to Gigi and now the gachapon was on her own mission to get them together. (This will probably be another fanfic… so stay tuned XD) 

Finn had enjoyed today as not only did he get a few extra hours of sleep, but he also was able to hang out with friends and then fish after at the same time. The toons of Gardenview obviously didn’t have access to the outside, so he used the fake dock that they had which was mainly surrounded by fake grass and forever stationary boats. It was always really calming to the aquatic toon for when he had a bad day, and even when he just felt bored and wanted to do something different then his regular routine. Although his fishing was so frequent it had technically become part of his regular routine. 

He liked the calmness, as it gave him room to think about all his marine biology books. They had been gifts from Brightney, and he had enjoyed reading them while learning some new fish facts. He had then told those facts to no other than Shrimpo and maybe Looey if he would listen.

Finn definitely would like to dwell more on Shrimpo listening to his facts, but perhaps that was a thought for another time. He could feel his eyelids getting a tad bit heavier as the seconds went on, and his vision threatened to go dark. He had a reely long day, mainly filled with confusion and laughter. But he had hopes that tomorrow, it would be even better with Shrimpo. He would get more answers, maybe. He would even figure out maybe about how Shrimpo felt about him!

Because of course, tomorrow is a new day.

Chapter Text

Finn didn’t have to worry about waking up late today, as his sleep was interrupted by a hard pounding at his door. Although his mind hadn’t just yet woken up so getting out of bed was a bit of a challenge. At first, he thought he was dreaming when he heard the knocks. But when they kept getting louder, Finn realized that this was in fact not a dream and there was actually someone waiting for Finn. The aquatic toon eventually arose from his bed, fearful to keep whoever was there waiting long. By the sound of the knocks, it sounded as if Shrimpo was the mystery toon standing at the door.

‘Geez, he’s up reel’y early today.’ Finn had originally thought, except he had remembered about his sleeping problem and him waking up later than usual. He looked at the clock, and as expected, the time was 10:34 in the morning. Luckily, Shrimpo- or whoever was outside- had woken him up in time for breakfast. ‘Thank cod,’ Finn prayed. He hated to admit it, but he was tired of missing breakfast and cramming in all his daily activities. He wanted time to hang out with his friends. He barely had time to hang out with Gigi and Connie now, and Shrimpo-

Shrimpo! ‘Oh cod, Shrimpo is still at the door!’ Finn rushed over to the door from his nightstand, still in his aquatic pjs. Before he opened the door to his room, he had remembered that his cork was still in his head. Quickly, he took it out of his head and placed it off to the side. Finn didn’t know why he cared about if Shrimpo saw him with his cork on, but it was a big deal inside of his head all of a sudden. Now looking Shrimpo-ready, Finn finally opened the door.

Shrimpo stood, rather impatiently, rolling his eyes when Finn finally came into view of the door frame.

“THERE YOU ARE!” The shrimp yelled in his usual loud tone.

“Whale, what brings you here my fish friend?” Finn asked in a slight tired voice, but again, he had just woken up not that long ago.

“YOU’RE GOING WITH ME TO BREAKFAST BECAUSE YOU KEEP MISSING IT!” Shrimpo declared, turning his head away from the fish bowl as fast as possible. He didn’t want to be seen committing a kind act like this, but he hadn’t realized it was far too late. The toons that would take this to the grave had already seen everything.

“Ah- reel’y!? You don’t have to! I can go by myself, minnow?” Finn asked with a small hue on his face. He felt a little warm on the inside, being one-or probably the only toon Shrimpo would do this for. However, Finn wasn’t able to think that far ahead. All he could think about was how nice and kind Shrimpo was, and how Shrimpo was the coolest toon ever.

“WHATEVER YOU’RE COMING WITH ME!” Shrimpo called out stubbornly, grabbing Finn’s arm before the bowl could even think about any other response. With his surprisingly strong grip, he pulled Finn all the way to the famous Gardenview Diner. The diner wasn’t necessarily small, but it definitely wasn’t the biggest room in the entirety of Gardenview. The red booths and seatings, the red and green walls, and the little counter where the toons were able to pick up their share of food.

Today, Sprout had made Blueberry Pancakes with cut fruit for a side. For a sweet treat, Cosmo had made cinnamon rolls and decorated them to look like Shelly. They had the same pale yellow color, except the cinnamon rolls had a glazed overhead topping on top of them. It may not seem like it, but this was one of the blander meals they had at the diner. Most days they had things like waffles and croissants. But of course, Finn comes back to one of the more blander days. He hadn’t really mind the pancakes though, any food was good when you were forced into one meal a day for an entire week.

Finn grabbed a plate of pancakes and decided that if he was still hungry he would come back for the cinnamon roll later. It wasn’t until Sprout had given him and Shrimpo a look when he realized him and Shrimpo were still holding hands with one another. Shrimpo hadn’t seemed to notice yet so Finn decided there was no harm in holding on to his hand for a little longer. It was kind of nice once he thought about it.

Shrimpo eventually finished grabbing his food, to which the aquatic pair had gone to find a place to sit. Finn would usually sit with Connie, Flutter, Gigi, and Poppy, but he didn’t know if they were free with the whole Brightney-Connie thing. He noticed the lamp sitting on the table and decided that now was not the best time to get involved. He led Shrimpo to an empty booth, to where they sat and continued their silly conversations. The conversations were mainly on things in the ocean, as it was Finn afterall. Shrimpo listened to some of the facts Finn listed, and thought they were kind of funny. Finn caught him trying not to laugh more often than not, and it made a smile appear on Finn’s face. He was happy to see Shrimpo active in his yapping.

The rest of breakfast was just like the two of them. Finn’s summary of his marine biology books mixed in with the occasional jokes had successfully made the shrimp laugh in the end, to where Finn laughed with him and cracked a smile. Shrimpo laughing made Finn really enjoy their hangouts. His laughter made him feel oddly warm, and he didn’t really want to leave. Shrimpo was more fun then most people realized. Infact, they had never even pushed themselves to hangout with “The Mighty Shrimpo”. Most just assumed he was a nightmare and moved on. Finn on the other hand found a way to force himself into multiple hangouts with Shrimpo. At first, Shrimpo had been mad. But after, Shrimpo became okay with it, and even listened to Finn’s facts. Which was the best part of it all to Finn.

Chapter Text

The previous night, Finn hadn’t said it out loud but he had the most interesting dream ever. It involved Shrimpo, to no one except for Finn’s surprise. He didn’t expect to have a dream with Shrimpo in it. Especially one that was- confusing. Astro had probably forgotten to give him a dream that night, the one he ended up having didn’t seem like one he would do. He didn’t know that much about Finn and Shrimpo. Finn did like the dream though, whether he realized it or not. He found himself thinking of it and replaying it in his head over and over again, savoring the short lasting good part. The poor little fishbowl was confused about his dream. He wished to forget it entirely.

How could he though? It was a night to remember.

—

Finn decided that now was a good time more than anything to go fishing, it being the middle of the night. He found something oddly comforting in the nighttime, and he had already known that he would wake up late like he had been doing recently. So on that note, Finn grabbed his fishing rod and decided to do something productive with it. A late-night fishing trip! He didn’t know if there would be many fish in the dark, maybe they had all been hiding away. But Finn caught the same couple of fish anyway, so maybe different fish being awake at night would grant a nice change in scenery.

Finn wished he could have a buddy to go fishing with him, but it was far too late for anyone to possibly be awake at the moment. Plus, even if there had been a single soul awake like maybe Brightney or Connie, they wouldn’t go fishing anyway. Brightney was far too busy with her book club and library managing, while Connie was- well, Connie. Connie would call something such as fishing boring, and she usually used the nighttime hours to plan or act out scares. So Finn was alone. But he had been fishing most of the time, so it didn’t bother him much.

Grabbing his fishing rod, he started to make the long journey down the hall. It was extremely dark, but it didn’t really scare Finn. He still went on his way to the gardenview lake, thinking about- anything. Finn’s mind wasn’t on the same topics very long. At first, he was thinking about all the amazing fish he might catch. He had read somewhere that there were tons of nocturnal species, one of them being soldier fish. Maybe he would be able to catch one of those. He would love to study it and add it to his fish document, where he included all the fish he had caught and a couple things about him. Having a journal like that made him feel like Rodger a bit, but maybe Rodger had the right idea from the start.

Next, we go into the reason for documentation. Why had Finn documented all these fish? Currently, he doesn't have anyone to document fish for. He had just done it for passion, but it would be boring if he already knew what the fish were. Would anyone listen to it or read it? Maybe Shrimpo. Shrimpo had been one to listen to Finn’s facts, and listened when Finn had read his other books out loud. Sure, Shrimpo didn’t seem all the way there or would shout through all of them, but he’d always be able to identify if Finn re-used a fact. It was weird to Finn how a shrimp had more of an attention span than Brightney. She was a lamp and a bookworm, how could she not pay attention to anything?  

The thought of Shrimpo reading Finn’s fish documenting made Finn get a fluttery feeling in his stomach. He couldn’t picture it much, as Shrimpo didn’t like reading much at all. Whenever he wanted to read, he had gotten Brightney or Finn to read the book out loud for him. It was hardly ever that he asked to be read to though, He would always complain that books were boring and that he hated them. Finn just believed he couldn’t read, and he noted that he would make the vocabulary in the book simple for Shrimpo. Shrimpo would never confirm his theory, Shrimpo was way too stubborn. It made Finn giggle a bit.

Finn continued his walk down the hall, lost in thoughts of emotion. He still wasn’t sure if Shrimpo would even like to read his fish facts, but the idea had given him motivation anyway. He thought about which fish Shrimpo would like learning about and which if he saw would crumble up the page or walk away angrily. All he would do is put the potential annoyance fish in the back, and the ones he thought Shrimpo would like in the front. Perfect! He couldn’t wait to get started, and he was finally at the fishing dock.

At his usual spot he sat, casting in the line and waiting patiently for the fish. His usual day ones wouldn’t come out of course, but he still waited for whatever was in store anyway. There were things Finn did when he was fishing, and if you were lucky or maybe even just ordinary you could see them. The lucky people were people like Shrimpo and Connie.  But as held his fishing line in the lake, he kicked his feet back and forth innocently. If you were close enough, you could even hear the fishbowl humming to a familiar tune. Maybe a sea shanty. Or perhaps another unknown melody. 

He sat absent mindedly, checking back in whenever he got another catch. This was definitely his favorite time to head out. Just Finn and calm in the middle of the night. He was a little lonely though, he had been so used to Shrimpo coming with him on his fishing trips, going alone now was kinda empty. Emptiness used to be liked for someone like Finn as it was something he was typically met with. But when Shrimpo decided to give Finn a chance he found his preferences altering from here and there. Being alone wasn’t nice anymore, it wasn't relaxing at all. Being with Shrimpo made everything worthwhile.

Then, as if Finn thinking his name let out a signal, Shrimpo emerged. Drowzily of course, he seemed to have just woken up. Finn didn’t notice however, he was too busy writing down the new fish he caught on his line. He had drawn a photo of the fish, inserted a photo from his camera, and was currently writing a description. Shrimpo stood still, watching Finn from a distance with his sleepy eyes. Finn is still innocently writing in his fish journal. Then, after he had documented the fish, he neatly set the journal beside him and released the fish back. He watched it swim a bit, before sinking down to the bottom of the sea. Shrimpo tried to come closer to see the fish more, but he ended up tripping on a rock and gaining Finn’s attention.

“UGH I HATE STUPID ROCKS!” Shrimpo yelled, stomping towards the bowl while kicking the rock he tripped on. His face was flushed red from embarrassment and he was practically scowling at the rock. This made Finn laugh out a small chuckle at the sight of the shrimp. This only made Shrimpo heat up even more. 

“WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING!?” Shrimpo yelled, although all he did was make Finn laugh harder as he tried to hold back a laugh himself.

Moments like this with Shrimpo is why fishing was even fun. Just the two aquatic toons against the world, which was really the pond in this case. Just them two. Alone. Which suddenly meant something to Finn. It felt… different thinking about being alone with him now. Almost a little exciting. Him and Shrimpo.

The shrimp now sat beside him, kicking his legs in the same rhythmic pattern Finn was, almost as if he was trying to sync with the fishbowl. The fish bowl paid close attention. However, Finn was now so distracted by Shrimpo, he barely noticed he had caught another fish on his rod. Finn reeled up the fish, ready to see the catch. Finn had hoped it was a new fish, and maybe even the soldier fish. It would be cool to have the model nocturnal fish inside his document book. Shrimpo also seemed eager to see the catch considering his head was leaned in and hovering above the pond.

Reeling up the final bits of the rod, the catch was revealed. Large eyes, scales, and a red-orange color. Finn squealed as he picked up the fish; a Soldier Fish! He had caught his goal fish, and could now write about it in his document book! He was practically jumping up and down while sitting, Finn was very ecstatic. But Shrimpo was a little out of the loop and was curious to why the fish had mattered. It was just another fish in the sea, why had Finn signed it as “The one for me”. Meanwhile Finn was still in his own little world, his legs falling out of sync with Shrimpo to kick even faster.

Finn took a quick photo of the fish and immediately grabbed out his document book. He waited a good few seconds for the photo he had to print, before peeling a sheet off the back of it to stick it on the paper. He grabbed his pencil to start writing, but he couldn’t think of much to write for a Soldier Fish. A very vague description is what he could come up with, but he wanted more for this legendary catch. He looked at the paper blankly before hearing a grunting noise from Shrimpo. Finn looked over, and noticed the shrimp angry with the fishing rod, presumably because he had failed to catch a fish. But if Shrimpo wasn’t doing anything, maybe he could help Finn with what he was missing on the page.

“Hey, Shrimpo!” Finn called, waving his arms in a motion towards him to signal to Shrimpo that he should join him. The shrimp didn’t decline the invitation as he laid down his fishing rod and joined Finn at the document book. 

“I reel’y can’t figure out what this is missing!” Finn explained to the shrimp, his eyes locked onto the paper. He gave Shrimpo a quick second to observe the paper too, for him to scan and find the missing part of the document page. Finn tried to come up with multiple ideas, like adding a fun facts section or variations. Neither though really fit Finn’s expected vision however. 

“I KNOW! ADD DRAWINGS, ILL HELP!” Shrimpo suggested, already taking Finn’s crayons and starting to color some doodles. He drew things like a small cute fish here and there, or a fishing rod in the corner. Finn was surprised at the effort Shrimpo had taken in this entire thing. Shrimpo never seemed like the kind of toon to be artistic, more like the kind to say how much he hated art. Finn had just assumed that art wasn’t something Shrimpo was good at or liked for that matter, but maybe he shouldn’t have. Shrimpo had always been surprising him more and more, all in good ways as well! Finn thought it was kind of cute he was into all these hidden things. 

Now that Finn thought about it, he kind of found Shrimpo cute. All the little things he did. He couldn’t help but stare at the shrimp most of the time. Despite most of Gardenview hating him, Shrimpo was not that bad when you scratched the surface. In certain moments, he could have soft eyes or an eager one like he did at the moment. Really excited to draw for Finn. How sweet of him to help Finn out. This was way out of character for the fish bowl, but now Shrimpo was the only thing he could focus on. His mind couldn’t focus on one topic once again except for Shrimpo. He had this feeling rise up inside of him, one he hadn’t felt before. Something only for Shrimpo. Something so hazy, that he didn’t even notice Shrimpo asking something, before looking back at Finn.

It was all a blur as he leaned in closer…

and closer…

and maybe even the closest their faces have ever been.

Neither of them said anything.

Then, Finn cupped his hand around the crustacean’s check as he took a good look at Shrimpo through a haze. Charming, Handsome, wow! 

Just as Shrimpo leaned in, eyes fixated on Finn’s lips, Finn had woken up from his sleepy dream.

—

Finn tried not to think about this dream as him and Shrimpo went on their way to the next location. They were gonna have a hangout with Gigi, Connie, and Flutter! Knowing the bubble, she would probably be there too. 

But Shrimpo being an artsy character wavered in Finn’s mind way longer than it should’ve after the dream. He just had to know if it was all accurate, he really didn’t see Shrimpo as someone to draw a lot.

“Shrimpo, do you like drawing or-“ Finn started, turning to the shrimp beside him. Shrimpo’s facial expression changed, and so did Finn’s as he was to hear an answer from Shrimpo today that was different from his usual hate spiel. Crazy how dreams work sometimes.

Chapter Text

During Breakfast, Finn had asked Shrimpo if he would want to hang out with Finn and the gossipers afterwards. After much begging, Shrimpo agreed. Finn had no clue why, but Shrimpo actually agreed to go with him eventually! Finn let out an excited squeal and started looking forward to their group hangout. It would be so awesome with Shrimpo there! So that’s where they were now, sitting together in a group of familiar toons. The hangout between them had just started, and they would probably hang out for a couple of hours. Hopefully Shrimpo can handle that.

What Finn hadn’t accounted for is Glisten trailing in right behind Poppy. They seemed to have already been in a conversation, considering their entrance was sponsored by laughter. Then, Poppy and Glisten took their usual seats with the rest of the group. Finn never had a problem with Glisten, he just liked ragebaiting him with fish puns. Glisten hated them and called Finn annoying while the fish bowl just laughed. This wasn’t the main problem with Glisten being here. Finn didn’t know what Glisten would say about Shrimpo being here, knowing Glisten he’d probably be highly annoyed by Shrimpo’s presence. But Glisten had a different approach.

“Oh, it really is like what you said,” Glisten whispered, staring at the two aquatic toons holding hands. He gave a look to Connie, which Connie returned with a nod. Finn wished he could read what they were saying, but it seemed to have been a continuation of a previous conversation.

“WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT US LIKE THAT!?” Shrimpo asked in a more demanding tone at the toons. However, they didn’t respond, and started to even chuckle a bit. It was like they didn’t hear Shrimpo at all, or they just didn’t really care for what he was saying. Shrimpo looked as if he was going to explode because of this. But he didn’t have enough time to do so before a knock came from the door.

Gigi and Flutter glanced at each other in a smirk, before having Poppy get up and grab the door. Connie shared the same confused glance as the rest of the toons as for once Connie wasn’t in on whatever was going on. She didn’t know that Gigi and Flutter had called down a plus one for this hangout, so this was news to every toon in the room. Besides Gigi and Flutter of course. Finn just turned at Shrimpo, mentally hoping that he was okay with another toon joining in as the crustacean had so many surprises so far. But luckily for Finn, Shrimpo didn’t seem to be bothered. In fact, he seemed somewhere else in his head entirely. The possibilities of Shrimpo’s thoughts crossed Finn’s mind for a quick second before returning his attention to the mystery at the door.

With a spin of the lock, Gigi clicked the door open and welcomed the guest with a smile. Looking over at Connie, she had turned as blue as Finn, they were practically similar colors now! When Flutter saw the ghost she chuckled and opened the door even more, letting Brightney inside the sleepover. The lamp toon seemed dressed and ready in pjs, since this had been a sleepover somehow. She brought a small bag with her which from the looks of it were filled to the brim with books. Brightney looked around the room, probably for a certain toon, before smiling a sweet smile right at the ghost. Connie practically shrunk in her bean bag. Brightney took off her book bag and placed it on a table somewhere, before joining the others in their messy and imperfect circle.

Gigi made sure that the seating was in a specific order, much to her enjoyment most likely. Obviously Glisten and Poppy had to sit with each other with a little gossip session. Connie and Brightney for the romantic tension, and Shrimpo and Finn… for the exact same reason. Gigi had everyone exactly where she wanted. But Finn obviously didn’t know that. The fish bowl was clueless when it came to romance. He could have a romantic dream with one of his friends and he wouldn’t even think deeply
about it (wink wink). So he stayed oblivious, holding hands with the aquatic toon rumored to be his next match.
—
Gigi proposed drawing to the rest of the toons, and to her surprise most of them agreed. Finn loved making art pieces, and to draw with his friends wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Sketching things had always been relaxing to him, a little less than photography though. Maybe during this time he could add doodles to one of his marine biology books. Most of them did have images included, but there were surprisingly some that didn’t. They were more so stories about the fish. So Finn was able to take the creative liberty and make the visuals to match.

Finn glanced over at Shrimpo, curious on what the crustacean would draw at this moment. Finn had learned that Shrimpo was an artist recently, but Shrimpo typically never showed his works. In fact, his hand was covering what he was working on now. Only from Finn’s side really. It’s like Shrimpo wanted to keep it a mystery, though he really had no reason to, from Finn’s knowledge anyway. Shrimpo’s face looked extremely concentrated, like the anger had subsided to focus on the drawing. It kind of looked… adorable? Finn tried to think of a fitting adjective for the shrimp. It fit for good drawing material, maybe Finn could wait on his books. Drawing Shrimpo stole his attention, how could he refuse the chance to draw such a model?

Picking up his pencil, he got straight to work. Drawing Shrimpo’s face shape was a little challenging, but he managed to pull it off to the best of his ability. When he thought it looked good enough, he moved on to the eyes. Finn wasn’t that good at drawing those kind of facial features, but he would still try his best. It was Shrimpo. It wasn’t like he would show anyone this. He didn’t even know where he got the motivation for this, but for some reason he really wanted to try his best at this drawing. Finn looked up at Shrimpo once again so he knew what shape to make the eyes.

Shrimpo had a concentrated face on, which was cuter than his normal face. But Finn didn’t think drawing that specific face would do. He needed a differing face from his usual triumphant face, one with a smile instead. Usually his fearless face came with a frown, but Finn would make him smile in any way he could. So Finn still drew the eyes the same as he usually would, a slight diagonal to make the shrimp look angry. But instead of the maximum-parabola frown he usually had, Finn gave him a cute dorky smile. For outfits, Finn thought of an outfit he’d seen Shrimpo in that he thought looked good, and all that came to mind was the shrimp’s pink princess dress.

Shrimpo never wore it often, only once or maybe twice during halloween. It looked good on him in Finn’s eyes, When Shrimpo had first worn the dress, Finn had called it cute. Shrimpo however disagreed and rolled his eyes on the fishbowl.

”WHY DO YOU WANT TO SEE ME IN A DRESS!?” Shrimpo yelled in annoyance, which only made Finn chuckle a little.

Even with his hatred for the dress, Shrimpo still kept it on for a good while. Finn never thought about that much, but now thinking about it, his cooperation was silly.

Finn finished sketching the dress to the best of his ability. He tried to include as many details as he could remember, while also picturing it on Shrimpo. It looked cute to Finn, hopefully he wouldn’t have to share it with anyone. It would be kind of embar’bass’ing for anyone, especially Shrimpo to figure out that he still thought about the toon in a dress. Shrimpo probably didn’t even remember the pink fabriced outfit. If he did, he definitely would have been shocked that Finn did. Or be upset considering the fact that Connie and Gigi would see it as well.

It was getting to the point now where everyone was either done or finishing up their art pieces. Finn took the moment of everyone putting away the materials to catch a glance of Shrimpo’s paper. The whole time he was curious about what Shrimpo had been drawing. Shrimpo typically didn’t keep things this secretive, he was always yelling out his emotions and feelings for the whole world to hear.

Shrimpo’s drawing wasn’t bad, it was actually good. It surprised Finn as it was something he didn’t expect. A drawing of him. A detailed one as well. Finn couldn’t believe how well drawn it was as well. It looked accurate and thought out. Seeing the drawing, Finn’s face couldn’t help but heat up. He didn’t expect anyone to draw him, especially Shrimpo. Getting even a little attention from Shrimpo was new, a whole drawing of yourself made by him was unheard of.

“WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT!?” Shrimpo questioned the fishbowl, face red as he realized exactly what Finn was staring at. Without hesitation, he grabbed the paper and ripped up before Finn could analyze any more than he had. Finn didn’t say any more on the outside, but on the inside he was practically jumping in happiness. If Shrimpo hadn’t ripped the paper, Finn would have definitely taken it for his own. He was so honored.

“Yo, you guys wanna watch a movie?” Gigi asked the fellow toons, all clearly split up in their individual pairs. They all obviously agreed because what else did you do at sleepovers? They wanted to save the gossip part for later in hopes of more secrets spilling out, and there was no way any board games were being brought out with Shrimpo being there. So a movie was their best and safest option at this point. Nothing could go wrong with just a simple moving playing, depending on the movie they picked. A vote for the movie was initiated.

Finn personally wanted to watch “Pirates of the Caribbean” but he expected most people would find such a movie boring. Most of the group seemed to be into horror movies, so Finn just waited to hear their movie suggestions and go along with what they said. He hoped that Shrimpo made a suggestion. He wanted to know what kind of movies Shrimpo watched. Maybe they would be interesting. He really couldn’t tell with Shrimpo, and he liked the surprise. Knowing movies Shrimpo liked could maybe help with a gift in the future!

“I mean, I don’t know if y'all will be up for it, but I could go for a horror movie right now,” Connie offered, looking at Brightney as she made her suggestion. Brightney smiled at her, and Connie visibly shrunk to everyone but Brightney.

“Honestly, I’ve found horror novels quite fascinating recently, watching one might be fun!” Brightney responded, mainly to Connie. It was obvious that Connie didn’t expect Brightney of all people to agree on the decision based on her noticeable blush and silent smile.

“I HATE PICKING MOVIES! I CHOOSE HORROR!” Shrimpo shouted, making sure everyone heard his hate spiel before he said his opinion. Most toons had picked horror. So of course, horror movies were the winner, to which Finn had expected and didn’t care much about. Horror movies weren’t so bad as long as he had a friend to watch them with, and in this case he had the infamous Shrimpo to sit down next to him. Finn was kind of excited for this, It was gonna be fun to group up with all the toons and watch a movie to who he considered his best friend. He would also most likely be sharing snacks with the toon as well. Shrimpo didn’t seem to have many snacks, so it was the least Finn could do.
—
All the toons gathered up in the projector room with their blankets, snacks, and pillows. The movie had been playing for a good minute or so, so all the toons had quieted down and focused on watching the movie at hand. So no one would fight, the movie was picked through an anonymous poll. The winner was none other than “The Toon in the Woods” which was a Gardenview favorite a couple years back. But Finn hadn’t seen it yet, no one had but Brightney. Well technically Brightney hadn’t seen it, she just read the book it was based on, “Little Red Riding Hood”. That story had just been a fairy tale, this one was a horror film.

Finn didn’t really mind the film much, he didn’t get scared much off of horror movies. He grabbed another one of his snacks that he was sharing with Shrimpo and popped it into his mouth. Turning to Shrimpo, Finn noticed he had been really focused on the movie. He obviously wasn’t scared yet though. Nothing major had happened so far except for the girl hiding from the wolf.

Just when the girl thought she was safe, she ran inside her grandmother’s house. She was still very frightened from the wolf before, so seeing her grandmother must have been a relief for her. Except her grandmother wasn’t there. All she was met with was darkness. The girl carefully walked down the shaded hallway, careful to not step on any of the objects nearby. The wood tiles on the floor creaked as she took each step, hoping to stay safe before she arrived at her destination. She kept looking around, scared to see the face that would haunt her nightmares for the next week. Finally, the girl arrived at her grandmother’s door. She twisted the knob to give it a good push open, excited to greet her grandmother for the first time in a while. But instead, the wolf appeared out of no where, jumpscaring the viewers along with the girl.

When the scare happened, Finn felt something cling on to his waist. The scene must have scared Shrimpo badly, as now his face was buried into Finn’s stomach. Finn’s response was his water starting to bubble, and his face warming up. Shrimpo was so warm, all Finn wanted to do was cuddle him back. He tried to get a glance of what was happening next, but his brain focused it’s energy into cuddling with Shrimpo.
This was nice, Finn couldn’t lie. He would spend all his time here if he could. Maybe Shrimpo was just tired, but hadn’t protested the intimacy at all. Finn wouldn’t dare to. He could have just been tired too. But he still stayed cuddling the shrimp as he dozed off, cork in head, water swimming as fast as his heart rate. Shrimpo was surprisingly soft for a shrimp.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a new day.

Chapter Text

You know how I said chapter today… well funny story… I got the ao3 curse in a way. I usually try to write my fics on friday+Saturday cause i’m usually busy on weekdays or have no motivation to work on the fic. (So yes, I procrastinate writing the chapters). Friday, may 8th was set to be my school dance date to which I would have a sleepover afterwards with a couple friends. So Thursday comes around and I start to feel a little sickish. Like stuffy nose, sneezing, and sore throat. So when I get home from my friends house that thursday, I start chugging medicine and blah blah blah. Then friday comes and i’m just so sick omg I couldn’t even be in the shower for too long before I started getting Dizzy. I STILL locked in and went to that dance btw. So what does the story have to do with you, the audience? There will be no chapter today as I am still sick and had no time to write. So I will tell you now that this whole experience has shown me that I’m gonna need more motivation to work on a scheduled fic or at least make the updates less frequent. Or an additional solution, is take a preparation hiatus- which is the option I will most likely choose. With finals coming up on topics I struggle with, art shows, final projects, choir field trips along with a school one, and the end of the year things, I am going to need to take a month long hiatus from this fic. Two weeks to wrap up the school year, adjust to summer, (where i’ll probably be traveling), and have a week including week days to write the next two chapters. But wait! Surely you didn’t think I’d dump this on you and leave you with nothing? here’s a sneak peek for one of the next two chapters :D

let me know if the image doesn’t appear 

Chapter Text

…
“Finn…”
…
“FINN WAKE UP!” A voice shouted, hitting him with a pillow once again. Finn then finally opened his eyes at the force of the pillow slapping him awake. The culprit was a drama-hungry Gigi, ready to play a more gossipy game for secrets. This was a normal thing for Gigi so of course, so no one was surprised. Instead, they sighed as they awoke from their naps, and started to form a circle on the carpet. More and more toons gathered, and then Gigi had finally joined them and completed the circle. As soon as Gigi cleared her throat every toon knew that no one would walk out the room without some new information.

“So, you guys wanna play truth or dare?” Gigi asked, a mischievous grin appearing on her face. Everytoon nodded in agreement, some eager to play and others just going along with the flow because they all knew this would happen. Additionally, Truth or Dare wasn’t even that bad, with normal toons. Gigi and Connie would make this interesting, but still, everytoon nodded and agreed. Fueling a smirk on Gigi’s face as she turned to Connie and Flutter.

This game was really not designed for a toon like Finn. It was honestly kind of against him. Finn wasn’t the kind of person to do dares due to his more honest and truthful nature. But he couldn’t be honest too much or else people would take advantage of his honesty to ask him questions he may not want to answer or know the answer to. Finn didn’t have much to hide though, which is why he still agreed to this sinister game anyway. Plus, he knew he would be outvoted by toons like Glisten and Poppy, so there was no point in fighting it. Truth or Dare it was.

“Since I asked, I’ll begin!” Gigi started, predator-like eyes scanning to find her first victim, and when they were found she asked, “Connie! Truth or Dare?”

“Dare duh!” Connie exclaimed, maybe a bit too fast. Judging by Gigi’s expression, she should’ve taken a moment to actually think about her decision.

“I dare you… to hold hands with Brightney for the rest of the night!” Gigi dared mischievously. When Connie’s face flushed blue, Gigi looked over to Brightney for approval, “You’re okay with this, right Brights?”

“It’s… only a dare!” Brightney shrugged as if she didn’t think about it too much, but her voice betrayed her coming out slower and an octave higher.

Gigi looked back at Connie with a smirk, carefully watching to make sure Connie grabbed Brightney’s hand. To which Connie did, but not before turning a whole different shade. Looking at Brightney, it was noticeable that a blush was threatening to give her the same treatment.

“Now Connie, you ask!” Gigi clapped a long as if nothing happened, an innocent smile appearing on her face.

“I-uh- Glisten! Truth or Dare!?” Connie asked, her confidence and voice slowly returning.

“Truth darling, I have nothing to hide!” Glisten responded with sass, fluffing his bow in the back on cue.

“Well I hope you don’t mind when I ask, why did you have that journal filled with drawings of Boxten- or no- ‘Boxy’?” Connie smirked, trying to maximize the chaos. Finn didn’t think that what she had done was really a smart move though, she still had to hold hands with Brightney and Glisten could and probably would use that against her. If he’s not too flustered from Connie’s question, that is.

“WHAT!? HOW DID YOU- ughhh Connie what did I say about SPYING ON ME!?” Glisten rolled his eyes in annoyance as Connie’s smirk just got bigger.

“You didn’t answer the question Glisten~” Connie teased, watching Glisten’s face heat up a little more. This game was fun for Finn, as long as he wasn’t the one answering all the questions.

“Fine! I drew him because I thought he would be the perfect model!” Glisten explained confidently, though if you looked a little closer you could see Glisten’s face blushing a bit.

“But how does that-“ Connie started, before Glisten cut her off with a loud “Shhhh” noise.

“I answered your question darling, I was only required to answer one.” Glisten added, earning an annoyed grumble from Connie. Finn held back a snicker hoping that he wouldn’t be caught and end up the next question victim.

“For my turn… Flutter! Truth or Dare?” Glisten asked the butterfly toon, fluffing his back ribbon once again as he awaited an answer.

Flutter seemed to put a bit of thought into the question before responding with, “!!…”

“Truth… Let’s see. Why did you go to Shrimpo’s room last week?” Glisten asked, probably as an on-the-spot question. Finn’s ears perked and his face lit up at the mention of Shrimpo, now he too was curious for an answer.

“!..! …! !? !! !… …. ! !..!! !…. !? !…..! ….. …!. ..!” Flutter responded with a smirk, and everyone’s eyes glanced over to the aquatic toons. Shrimpo turned his face away from the other toons, while Finn’s face started heating up tremendously. He had not expected that kind of answer from Flutter… or to find out that Shrimpo did that. Hearing about it made him feel so very warm inside.

“HOW DID YOU- UGH!!” Shrimpo yelled, still hiding his face from the rest of the toons. Finn didn’t think it could be that bad, especially if it was about him. Plus, he had done way worse… like dreaming about kissing him.

Glisten had giggled at the butterfly’s response signaling that he’d got his satisfaction and now it was time for Flutter to ask the question.

This then continued to go on for a little while, toons asking questions or giving a multitude of different dares. Finn’s favorite one (that he’d given) was to get Glisten to recite five fish puns in a row. Glisten would definitely get him back for that one, but whatever the punishment would be it would definitely be worth it. Finn enjoyed annoying Glisten, it was joy and comedy for him. He even purposely told as many fish puns as possible whenever he was around the mirror solely because of Glisten’s hatred towards them. Glisten had definitely had enough.

It was Glisten’s turn to ask the next question, and his eyes were locked dead and glaring at Finn.

“Finn! Truth or Dare?” Glisten asked, his expression nothing but sinister. Maybe it was the hanging out with Shrimpo a carp’ ton that prompted him to say,

“You reel’y make me wanna say dare!” Glisten rolled his eyes, trying to ignore the fish pun that Finn had made. Finn practically gulped awaiting his dare, his act of fake confidence evaporating.

“I dare you, to go without saying fish puns or… you and Shrimp-boy kiss.” Glisten declared, his attitude in a mix of annoyance and pure evil with malice.

Finn felt his face heat up at the thought of making out with Shrimpo, making him regret his sudden choice of bravery. Turning to the shrimp, he looked totally affected by this comment too. His usual angry expression was replaced with a sort of blush and a newfound expression that painted him as away from his body. Finn almost thought about taking Glisten’s offer on kissing Shrimpo, before realizing what it would actually mean. Finn… kissing another guy? He wasn’t gay… and Shrimpo most likely wouldn’t agree to that. Shrimpo didn’t seem like the kind of toon to ingage in a makeout session anyway. Finn couldn’t even be sure that Shrimpo was into guys, let alone into anyone at all. Finn had taken a gamble to assume that they were friends, and he could be wrong for all any toon knows. What would it even be like kissing Shrimpo?

See Finn was a very curious toon who held onto ideas once they entered his head. They were ideas that Finn always needed to explore. Of course, the idea of him kissing Shrimpo was no different. How could he stop himself from thinking about holding Shrimpo and leaning himself closer to him? Imagining the lights dimmed all around them, Shrimpo’s handsome face being the glowing centerpiece. Shrimpo showing anything other than confusion would make Finn want to lean in even more, and for once Shrimpo would have something he didn’t hate. Finn could feel the warmness on his face.

”Finn!” Glisten yelled, waving his arms to get Finn’s attention, “Can you STOP fantasizing about kissing the guy? He’s right next to you, you guys can make it happen.”

“Huh?” Finn looked around in confusion, tilting his head to ask what Glisten was talking about.

“Ugh- NEVERMIND. I was asking you while you were in your fantasy land which one you were picking!” Glisten informed him, fiddling with his nails and radiating annoyance.

”I’ll stop saying my fish puns,” Finn said, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice. He tried to remind himself that he was just tired, and that he didn’t want to kiss Shrimpo. But he still couldn’t help but think about it. He was also a little disappointed that he had to stop with the fish puns as they had been less of a purposeful joke to a more automated response. He couldn’t help but notice Shrimpo looking away too, before he realized that it was his turn to ask a question.
—
The toons survived the last few rounds of truth or dare, before checking the time and seeing that it was 3:47 am. So they called a vote and majority wanted to head of to bed, including Finn. He was more of an early-sleeper, and more of a morning person, so he didn’t want to- and probably couldn’t- stay up much longer. Cuddling into his blanket, he laid down next to Shrimpo. Finn wondered how long it would take Shrimpo to drift off to sleep.

”Finn..” Shrimpo whispered, probably in the most quietest voice Finn had heard from Shrimpo. “Would you really stop saying fish puns so you won’t have to kiss me?”

Shrimpo looked at Finn with half-lidded eyes as he failed to hide the sadness in his phrasing. Finn could tell the shrimp was tired, and this was probably one of those late night thoughts you get where you have to find the answer to it. Finn often had them a lot, yet he was usually too drowsy to ask the answer. He still wouldn’t have expected this to be something left on Shrimpo’s mind. These kinds of phrases or thoughts were what Finn thought would be out of character for him.

“I mean, I could retire my good ol’ jokes for the comfort of you!” Finn exclaimed with a little bit of a nervous laugh. He didn’t really know what else to answer with, yet Shrimpo still responded with a shocked expression.

“Wimp. You should’ve just done it.” Shrimpo murmured, before finally drifting of to sleep.

His words however stuck with Finn, even after Shrimpo had escaped into whatever dreams toons like him dream about. Shrimpo… encouraging Finn to kiss him? Finn wasn’t that much of a genius but that was definitely out of character for the shrimp. Finn didn’t even think Shrimpo had much of feelings. But him being okay with kissing him? Would Finn even know how? He hadn’t kissed anyone before… unless you count the fish he accidentally kissed after it fell on his face. But an actual toon? Especially a male one since Finn wasn’t gay. He had always supported it, but he didn’t even know if he actually liked any toon at all. All Finn could do to escape his rushing thoughts was to think of his favourite sea shanty.

It was a stormy winter's night
The snow lay on the ground
The sailor boy stood on the quay
His ship was outward bound
His sweetheart, standing by his side
Shed many a silent tear
And as he pressed her to his breast
He whispered in her ear
Farewell, farewell, my own true love
This parting brings me pain
I'll be your own true guiding star
When I return again
My thoughts shall be of you, of you
When the storms are raging high
So fare ye well
Remember me, your faithful sailor boy
Without a care, the ship set sail
He kissed his love goodbye

But it was different now, thinking about it.
Finn was now drifting off to sleep thinking about Shrimpo being the love he kissed goodbye, and the one he was cuddling closely.