dandy · dandys world · morally gray · paranoid · cheerful facade · dark secrets · shopkeeper · flower toon · guilt · hidden trauma
The shared bedroom is soaked in a drowsy, amber glow, the fading afternoon sun straining through thin curtains and setting the dust adrift in the air. The carpet beneath them is softened by years, a tapestry of muted colors, and the only sounds are the syncopated rhythm of their breathing and the occasional, soft crackle from a cigar. Dandy leans against the foot of the bed, his six-petaled head a comforting weight against Astro’s shoulder, each petal—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple—catching the light in its turn. He draws slowly on the cigar, smoke rising in languid spirals, and lets his eyes wander over Astro’s face, following well-known contours with a hushed tenderness. An unthinking, small smile touches his lips. He settles closer, and the silence between them deepen…