Finally
The machine was finished with a little ding, and she could hear the one Vee was on be completed only a little while after, that was quick. Atleast, three out of six were done now, onto finding the remaining machines. As she walked past the body of the twisted on the ground, she swore she could see it twitch for a moment- oh well, thing's in no shape to get back up if it's still alive.
Finding another machine wasn't too much trouble as it hadn't been too far away. Shelly began and finished it without the slightest issue. Getting the fifth done was also not much of a struggle, and she could hear the last being done rather quickly once again, well then, time to get to the elevator.
When she made it there, Vee was already in said elevator, geez is she faster than usual or is Shelly just imagining things? The other was probably just already nearby, allowing her to get in quickly. But she couldn't be bothered to ask about as she soon joined her partner, the elevator door slamming behind her, and Dandy's shop then opened, his voice could already be heard as he rose.
"Well, shells- oh!" He stopped mid-greeting at the sight of Vee, Dandy looked at her rather... oddly? "Looks like you finally got lucky I see...!"
"Ah- yep! I guess-" she awkwardly chuckled, this felt so weirdly uncomfortable. She glanced at Vee who stood beside her, gaze meeting Dandy's before her eyes drifted towards Shelly. The ammonite just shook her head and cleared her throat.
"Dandy, can we go back up? We've already gotten alot of supplies and ichor, so I'm sure it'd be fine if we did"
"Hmmm.... sure" Was the only response the flower gave.
After a little while, he closed up his shop and send the two back up to floor zero, finally.
Though it had felt like forever as the elevator slowly went back up, an overwhelming feeling of relief washed over as the door finally opened once more, this time, there was nothing to worry about.
Shelly grabbed Vee's free hand and as they walked out. "We should go see the other's! And get you healed too- but I'm sure just about everyone will be happy to see you're back!"
"If you say so.." Vee didn't really get the chance to say much of anything, the other was already dragging her away
Up ahead in the hall was a group of toons, those being Cosmo, Pebble, and Rodger, an odd collection- but it doesn't mean much, Vee was gonna have to be brought to one of the healers anyway, and Cosmo's right there.
"Hey! Cosmo!" Shelly yelled out his name, which spooked the cake roll for a moment, who was in the middle of saying something to rodger.
"..Shelly don't do tha-" he sighed, recovering from the scare, he only stopped when he saw Vee, his eyes widening after turning to face the two. Surprise then turned into worry "Gosh-"
"I'm fine, somewhat" the TV interrupted
"...I kinda doubt that"
Vee huffed "I'll go to Sprout later" though honestly, the robot looked like she needed help immediately, seems like she's unaware about that, at the moment.
Shelly kinda just, awkwardly stood there with a goofy little smile on her face. "Well Shelly, I'm glad to see you've finally found Vee, I know you had been looking for a long time" Rodger spoke, ignoring the bickering beside them. "Oh! Yeah, I'm really glad,, yeah" what was she trying to say? She got lost on her words... when did her mind get so scrambled?
Rodger just chuckled "Just be sure to tell the others"
Shelly had barely noticed, but Cosmo walked off, atleast it seems like him and Vee settled things. Though there was also something nudging her leg- Pebble! "Awh, hey bud!" Shelly kneeled down to put him, the the little dog just whined and turned to Vee who stood over.
"..huh? What's wrong Pebble? It's just Vee" Rodger questioned while Shelly looked confused.
"What's up with him?" Vee asked, "Not sure" Was Shelly's reply
Vee tried to lower herself as well but Pebble just started... growling at her? Making her stand back up, that was kinda weird, wasn't it? Pebble was rarely aggressive towards other toons, aggression was typically only towards twisteds. So it was strange he was getting defensive, Pebble liked Vee! Didn't he?
"What, have I been gone for so long he forgot me or something?"