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The Gardenview Education Center and Museum was bustling today, and for no small reason.
Families with their young children filed through the center. Laughter, sighs, cries, and every other noise rang throughout.
Today was an important day. Today was the day the Gardenview Aquarium opened. It had been advertised over the past 6 months, with whole episodes and snippets devoted to the renowned aquarium.
Along with the introduction of the Aquarium was the introduction of a new toon. He had been featured in the newest episodes, but he had never appeared in public until today.
Currently, this toon was staring at himself in the mirror, hyping himself up.
“Come on, Finn, you got this! It’s just… your first public appearance… in front of thousands of people… Oh cod I’m so screwed…”
Finn looked like he was on the brink of a panic attack. He continued manically rubbing a towel over his face, praying there were no smudges or specks of dirt. If anything, Glisten would point any spare smears so he could clean them up. Or, knowing the kids, he would get many little handprints on his face from kids wondering what he was.
Most Toons were assigned to certain areas. Certain Toons were in charge of leading families from the train station to the main area to buy their tickets, while others were stationed by the elevators to lead everyone to the aquarium. Only Finn and one other Toon were assigned as actual performers in the aquarium. Of course, these two would be the focus of the aquarium while other Toons wandered around.
One of these ‘spare’ toons, Looey, passed by the ‘TOONS & EMPLOYEES ONLY’ area, where Finn was currently stationed.
“Ah, just the Toon I was lookin’ for!” Looey smiled as he stepped in. “You ready for your big debut, buddy?”
Finn’s eyes shook as he nodded. “Haha, yup! W… without a trout!”
Looey stepped forward, giving a smile. “Doesn’t seem like it. Nervous?”
The fishbowl sighed. “Yeah… I’m not sure how to feel. Do.. you think they’ll reel-y like me?”
The balloon softened, putting one hand on Finn’s shoulder. “They’ll love you! Trust me. All these kids came out to see you! They’ll be so happy. Just be yourself!”
“Y’know what. You’re right! I’ll just be myself!” Finn smiled, nodding at himself in the mirror. “Thank you, Looey!”
“No prob! Now, it’s almost time, so let’s go!”
Finn was about to walk out of the Toon area until he heard a throat clear behind him.
“FINN.”
“Oh goodness..” Looey sighed, walking a bit faster.
“Ah, my buddy!” Finn smiled as he turned.
The iconic shrimp toon appeared behind him, with his iconic scowl. He crossed his arms in front of Finn, as if he was trying to assert dominance.
“DON’T MESS UP.” Shrimpo said in his rough voice.
Finn blinked. “I- I won’t! You can… cod on me! G- get it? Like ‘count’? ‘Cod’?”
Shrimpo sighed. “DON’T EXPLAIN YOUR JOKES. THAT’S STUPID. I HATE YOUR JOKES.”
“Geez, starting early, then…” Finn sighed. “So, we work together?”
“YES. I HATE WORKING TOGETHER!!”
“Awww, come on, you can’t hate everything!”
“I HATE THAT YOU THINK I CAN’T HATE EVERYTHING!!”
Finn just sighed before nodding. “Alrighty then, buddy. Let’s go out there and make some kids smile, huh?”
“...FINE.”
Shrimpo pushed past Finn to walk out.
It was going to be a difficult day.
The day had gone well thus far! Despite how many people were showing up, and how many new faces Finn was meeting, he didn’t falter. He talked about saving the planet, how cool fish are, and how important sealife was. It was his life’s work!
The kids especially liked a scene Finn and Shrimpo did together. While Finn talked about the importance of throwing trash away, Shrimpo would snack on a banana, or a lollipop, or a bag of chips, or really anything that he found in the Toon break room before each showing. And, right when Finn said, “Instead of throwing our trash on the ground, or outside…” Shrimpo would throw his trash behind him, aiming for the open fish tank above them. Then, Finn would jump up and catch the trash before it went into the tank. Everyone would cheer as Finn crumbled up the trash and put it into Shrimpo’s open hand. Then, he would say, “we cod throw it away properly! And save some fish while we’re at it!” As he would say this, he would walk with Shrimpo, holding his arm to the nearest trash can.
During this little skit, Shrimpo stayed weirdly on-track. During practices, starting just a week before, he would rebel against the script; he would usually just aim for Finn’s open bowl or throw the trash so high Finn was incapable of jumping high enough to catch it. However, Shrimpo seemed to behave as he scoffed and sighed, being ‘forced’ to do the right thing. It might’ve been because he could snack on something and deliberately misbehave on stage.
After every show, Finn would lead a scavenger hunt for the kids. He would give directions to find a certain fish in a certain tank. Kids would then come to him with a drawing of the fish (which was usually wrong or illegible), and he would give it his Finn-tastic stamp of approval. Then, they’d check their stamps out for a bracelet at the gift shop.
It was during one of these scavenger hunts that Shrimpo walked up to him.
“Oh! Hi, Shrimpo! Whatcha doin’?”
“WATCHING THE KIDS.”
“Me too! They’re pretty fast, and I love their drawings!”
“I HATE THEIR DRAWINGS-”
“Shwimpo!”
Just as Shrimpo began to complain, a small child ran up to him, calling his name. The human child couldn’t be more than 5 years old. It was a little girl with a missing tooth. She had a backpack on, one with her name and other information on it.
“...HELLO CHILD.” Shrimpo looked very confused. However, he knelt down to her level.
Immediately, the child jumped forward and hugged him. She giggled as she did so, repeating his name. Shrimpo seemed taken aback, but he held on to her. He didn’t dare move an inch, only loosening his grip as she giggled.
“Shwimpo! I love youw show!!”
“MY SHOW?” Shrimpo tilted his head as the child spoke.
“Yes, youw show! You’we mean, but I like you! You always leawn to do the wight thing!” She beamed as she pulled away, holding his face. “You’we squishy!”
Finn held back a laugh as he watched the girl push Shrimpo’s face around. He didn’t fight it, however. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying the attention.
The girl then turned her head towards Finn, beaming with a renewed love. “Finn! You!”
The fish tank also knelt down to her level. “Hiya, friend!”
She smiled at him, showing her missing tooth. “My tooth is gone! Like you!” She put a hand on his tank until he smiled, also displaying his missing tooth. She giggled more.
“WHERE ARE YOUR PARENTS.” Shrimpo held the little girl’s hand, standing and looking around.
“Oh… they’we with my bwother. He’s finding fish. I wanted to find you! Diffewent fish!” The girl turned around a few times before looking back up at the Toons.
“Actually,” Finn smiled. “Shrimpo isn’t a fish, he’s a crustacean! You’ve found yourself a whole different species, miss!”
Shrimpo frowned at that. He scooped the little girl up in his hands, carrying her to the aquarium’s front service desk as she cheered.
It didn’t take long until Shrimpo’s voice vibrated through the public announcement system.
“ATTENTION AQUARIUM PARENTS. CHECK YOUR KIDS. SHRIMPO HAS ONE AT FRONT DESK. TAKE HER!!!”
After 5 or so minutes, Shrimpo walked back to where Finn was, holding a different little boy in his arms. Finn snickered.
“THIS BOY WANTED TO BE CARRIED. I HATE CARRYING KIDS!!!”
“Oh, you just say that, Shrimpo!” The boy said. He seemed to be around 7. “Everyone knows you just say you hate stuff when you don’t! You’re a bully, but you can be nice!”
“SHRIMPO HATES BEING NICE!”
Finn snickered. “Well, bud, you seem to be pretty nice today!”
“SHUT UP.”
The child in his arms gasped before shaking his head. “Shrimpo, you need to be nicer! Especially to Finn!”
“WHY.”
“Because he’s nice! You can learn good things! And- and he wants to save your home! Water!”
Finn perked up at the comment, smiling and stepping closer. “That’s right friend! Thank you. Maybe Shrimpo should learn some things from you!”
The boy seemed to be content with this reaction as he grinned and jumped out of Shrimpo’s hands to find his parents, who were filming the interaction on a camcorder only a few feet away.
Finn peered over at Shrimpo after the interaction.
He was smiling. Softly. The type of smile that you have to squint to understand. The type of smile that only comes from someone that is always frowning.
After their sequences of scavenger hunts and shows, Finn was ushered to a different area of the aquarium by a handler. They went through one Toon-exclusive door and came out of the other side to a dark area, sectioned off by a curtain. Finn could hear the chatter of families from the other side of the curtain.
“Alright, Finn, now’s your time. Every family is gonna come through the line to take a photo with you. Just smile and do what you do best, okay?” The handler spoke to him.
“Reel-y? They all want photos with me?”
“Yes.” They smiled as they spoke. “Now, go out there! It might be a bit loud.”
And just like that, Finn was pushed out to see the long, curving line of families of all different kinds. All there for him. He couldn’t have been more ecstatic.
Every time he saw a new child, he would beam and smile at them, offering a hug. Sometimes, they would run at him with such a speed, he was sure his tank would break. Other times, they would get intimidated and cower behind their parents, but it was usually solved when Finn would sit criss-crossed on the floor to stay at their level.
It was until he saw a certain crusta-friend across the room that he stopped. He could see that little orange tail from a mile away.
He quickly peered over the never-ending line of families, then back at the orange tail that was slowly being lost in his vision. He sighed before talking to the next child in line.
After a few more children, an especially strange question was thrown at him. Usually he was asked where he came from, what the fish in his head was, if the water in him was real, etc. Except for this child, who couldn’t have been more than 6.
“Where’s your friends?” The child asked.
Finn tilted his head and smiled. “Which one, bud? I have lots of friends! You mean my fish friends, or the other Toons? Or you folks?”
“Your Toon friends! What about Shrimpo!”
The child’s mother behind her laughed and knelt down to her son. “C’mon, kiddo, we talked about this. Shrimpo can be… a little mean. Plus, Finn is your favorite, isn’t he?”
“Well, still! I want a photo with Finn and Shrimpo.”
Finn blinked. He turned his head to his handler, who was standing behind him. “Could you maybe fetch Shrimpo for me?”
After a sigh, the handler took out a walkie talkie, mumbling something into it.
“Finn?” The child held onto the Toon’s hand. “Do you think Shrimpo is always a bully?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Well… I think bullies can… stop being bullies. And that’s with Shrimpo! I think… he can learn to not be a bully. I hope he can. I want him to be nice to you, and Dandy, and Sprout, and all the Toons! Is he nice to you?”
Finn thought for a moment before smiling. “We’re workin’ on it. He’s getting nicer every day, and it’s kiddos like you that make him even nicer!”
The child seemed to gasp with glee, being told that he could make one of his favorite Toons a better person.
As if speaking of the devil, Shrimpo was ushered under the separation tape. “WHY AM I HERE.”
The child immediately beamed, calling out the shrimp’s name and running out to hug him. Despite his surprise, Shrimpo got down to one knee and hugged the kid back.
Finn smiled. “Our fishy friend here just asked if you’d ever stop being a bully. And he wanted a photo with you!”
Shrimpo seemed to immediately react in his mind, before making eye contact with the kid and sighing. “MAYBE ONE DAY. NOT TODAY THOUGH.” He stood and flicked Finn in the bowl before snickering.
It was finally the end of the day. Finn left the aquarium from a different exit, taking a short cut. That way, he could arrive at the train station before all of the families left, and he could say goodbye!
Surprisingly, Shrimpo also trailed along. He seemed to complain about how much he hated dark shortcuts and walking for too long (despite the walk being no more than 10 minutes, and no one forcing him to join). But, when they arrived to the train station, his spirits were lifted enough to also wave at the kids.
As families left, the two Toons held silence between each other.
Finn looked over at Shrimpo. He noticed the shrimp’s forlorn expression as the trains left the stations. “I commend you, Shrimpo.”
“HUH?” He turned his head, wiping the saddened expression and replacing it with his signature mad face. “WHY?”
“You did good today! You were really nice to the kids. I’ve never seen you be so nice.”
“I WAS NOT NICE!! I HATE BEING NICE!!”
“Well, I think you were pretty nice. And the kids seem to love you!”
Shrimpo scoffed, crossing his arms and looking away.
Then, another child and her family ran up to the two aquatics. She gasped as she saw them. She was likely 9.
“Hi! Finn, Shrimpo, oh my gosh!” She beamed as Finn opened his arms, ducking slightly to accommodate for the height.
“Heya, friend! How’s it hangin’?” Finn smiled as she stood in front of both of them.
Her father seemed to come up behind her, putting a hand on her head. She giggled as she looked up at her dad.
“Didn’t you have a question for these two, sweetie?” He smiled down at her. He seemed tired, but that was similar with every other parent and Toon in the center.
The child seemed to get nervous after that, looking down at her hands and frowning. Shrimpo didn’t seem to like this face on the girl as he stepped closer to her.
“Do… you guys think people can stop being bullies?”
Finn looked surprised, exchanging a glance with Shrimpo.
“I think-”
“YES.”
Everyone involved seemed to switch attention to the shrimp as he spoke.
“IT’S POSSIBLE. PEOPLE LEARN. AND THEY GET BETTER.”
The father seemed to exhale a sigh of relief as the girl grinned, hugging Shrimpo again. “Do you think you would stop being a bully?”
“NO.” Shrimpo exclaimed. However, he exchanged a glance with Finn and changed his answer. “I… COULD.”
“What Shrimpo is trying to say,” Finn interjected, smiling, “is that it may take some time. Shrimpo’s got a bit of a hard shell-”
“HEY.”
“- but he can be a good friend! I think any bully can be a friend. You just have to remember to be nice to them, right?”
“Of course! Thank you, Finn! I hope you can be a friend, Shrimpo!” She giggled as she waved and held her father’s hand, boarding the next train that had just arrived at the station.
The two Toons continued to wave at the passing families, but her words continued to stick. Even if she was just a little girl, she was pretty smart.
Finn looked over at Shrimpo again. His expression was still a bit disappointed, but a small glimmer in his eyes gave way to his true feeling.
“I hope you can be a friend, too, Shrimpo.”
“OH SHUSH.”