Work Text:
With the pink "doctor"s" note in Dogday"s paw, he clung onto it as if it were going to escape with a mind of its own.
Realistically, no, that can"t happen. But, hypothetically it feels like it could, the way it"s so oddly windy in this lift–
Knowing full well he could just put the note with the carrier bag, a brown leather bag that he usually takes around up and down the playcare through the playhouse.
But... he felt... he feels lonely every time he has to go up that dusty, sad pathetic elevator.
Normally there"s no weather down in the playcare, so they make fake clouds and fake stars for the children. You could say it"s also for the critters, since they don"t get the chance to get outside often.
The scientists say it"s for the critters own good they stay in the playcare strictly.
But... why? Why does it have to be this way? Dogday always stuck himself on this subject, for the past ten years let alone, despite being the oldest of the critters.
In the earlier days he was promised to see the outside. Smelling the grass, squinting his eyes at the bright blue sky with various amounts of clouds in it, being able to relinquish in the sun that he was told that"s who he resembled.
How could they betray Dogday like that? He"s the sun among the critters, yet still can"t feel the actual sunlight he was told he was.
Whatever... was there ever really a point in having an internal debate with yourself at 7 AM?
That"s where he was the first sunny substitute of the day in Hoppy"s gym class, since she was told that in the outside world it"s currently spring; so they told the same all to the children that the groundhog made it spring time.
That was the few joys of the playcare, being able to tell the children the weather. There are morning announcements since it is a school day after all, and there"s afternoon ones, and evening ones... it serves as a camp as well, in a sense– as far as Dogday understood it.
Bubba usually announced them to make sure the announcements were taken seriously, but the surprise guests (which were the critters themselves) would make an appearance and it made the announcements more fun.
Whenever Dogday felt overwhelmed for the biweekly check in by the scientists, he started to gather thoughts & moments like these together...
...to help soothe him, knowing he"s the sunny caretaker of these children; he has a family of 8, and everything seems to be getting better.
The elevator ride usually doesn"t take too long, it"s used on a daily basis of course for scientists to make their own reports from afar.
That, or it"s also an accesible elevator for children who need disability aids. The doctors provide them with canes and wheelchairs, the non medical wheelchairs for better access since it isn"t always the best to use the medical ones. Too big to use for the tiny children, not much of a greater use unless if needed.
Crutches, bandages, wheelchairs, canes, there were plenty of things both doctors & scientists needed to take into consideration for helping these kids.
The smiling critters were created to make sure these kids would never feel alone.
No matter how lonely it got, there was one of eight critters built just for the children to make them feel safe.
To make them feel like they have a home. Playcare is their home. The playhouse, the theatre, everywhere throughout the playcare was nothing more for the children.
Dogday decided it was probably about time to quiet down his thoughts, as he was reminiscing on everything as he walked through the labs.
The dark and scary labs, he considered them.
It might be a slight overreaction to people, to everyone else; but to Dogday he couldn"t fully recover from what he had went through while walking through these halls.
Unlike the others, he knew what every room lead to, as he used to be the only critter for ten years. He faced isolation and dehumanizing, even if it wasn"t on purpose by the scientists... how could he forgive them completely for treating him like that? Like this?
Some monster, some toy that they just– threw around and about. The amount of limb removals without anesthesia as the doctors assured that he couldn"t feel pain, the agonizing nights of pain where he was left to sit in his locked room for months.
Dogday truly didn"t understand what held him back. Hoppy said he should be angry at them, yet... it felt wrong to be angry at them?
They, the scientists and doctors, were still technically his family after all.
All he had growing up were them. He feels like it"d be a betrayal to get angry at them.
For at least seventeen years, Dogday never had a break. Not until he was nineteen, the scientists decided the sunny dog was good enough to no longer be a test subject to them.
The sunny substitute was now in his twenty"s. Mid, to be exact.
All those years weren"t dedicated to even bother give him a human childhood. A half human dog, they didn"t bother to humanize him despite his half counterpart.
He had some of the internal human organs, and unlike the other eight he had a bloodstream and a heart. The heart within his chest would beat, and beat.
That"s probably what made his generalized anxiety disorder worse, the fact that he knew himself that there is a beating heart inside of him–
Knowing it... could be... removed at, any given time. Any given moment.
Or, maybe that was just his paranoia telling him the scientists are out to get him no matter what he does. Constantly overlooking everyone"s actions.
Even the children"s actions, most of them are really young to accidentally rip the critters apart– luckily they"re strong enough to prevent that, but there"s... always a what if, isn"t there?
No, no, no–
This is stupid.
All of this.
All just a sick twisted joke for the doctors to come and use him again. And again. And. Again.
That"s all this is.
Dogday can"t trust anyone yet alone them and his supposed other founded family.
Beginning to become aware of his surroundings once again, he shook his head. He stopped in his tracks. Why did he need to keep going? Keep walking? There was no use, no point, no. It"s all gonna happen again and again. An endless cycle of torture, that"s what it is and will never end.
The sunny dog spiraled, backing into the rubber wall, hitting his head along it. Sliding his back to the wall, legs down to the ground, staring at the floor; in between the cracks of what bacterias and other things could possibly be left in there for so many years.
While yes they do clean the upstairs it still feels like his blood is on the rubber ground. Not able to be wiped off. Worse than a memory and worse than a flashback.
What if Dogday is dead right now, and everything else currently happening is entirely useless? What if he died from the experiments from years back? What if he"s not here anymore and he was in the coma the doctor threatened him with when misbehaving?
These check-in"s were to fucking mess with him.
Dogday sat there until he heard footsteps. He knew those footsteps.
Breathing roughly, harshly, in and out the nose in the most painful way– it didn"t really help that he got hit in the bridge of his nose just about earlier. It still hurts. He just didn"t want to embarrass himself infront of Hoppy like usual. Doesn"t he embarrass every one of the critters enough as is? Pathetic, little dumb dog he still is no matter how long it could possibly be.
The once normally smiling dog turned into a crying, pathetic mess. He couldn"t control it. Why can"t he. This shouldn"t be so difficult, just a simple check in and he can go.
It was so easy, a human toddler can check in with a doctor better than him.
Shameful, shame, that"s all he could feel. Stuck in his head, those thoughts crawling back to him again. Why can"t he forget and be like the others, why is he so sensitive all the damn time, why is he so useless and worthless no matter how much reassurance he could possibly get from everyone, why—
The footsteps came to a stop, closer to him. Dogday was curled up in a ball, knees to his face, crying away.
Shouldn"t he just have the option to get up and leave, create an excuse for not showing up to today"s check in, and that"ll be it? He could, but no: here he is doing the exact opposite of what he"s originally thought of.
The doctor who had walked up to the dog in the crying corner sighed. Crouching down to Dogday, speaking softly to not overwhelm nor scare him as she was sure he heard her footsteps.
"Dogday..." His ear perked up, slowly lifting his head to his now dull black eyes filled with tears. He was embarrassing himself more than originally thought out. Why couldn"t he walk away? Sitting here on the ground and crying instead isn"t gonna do anything.
Adjusting her name tag, sitting down on the ground, the doctor sat next to Dogday; not too close to him to give him space.
"Buddy..." the doctor put a hand on Dogday"s shoulder, "I know you aren"t okay right now, so I"m gonna do some speaking for you, okay?"
Dogday turned his head to her, nodding slowly, as the doctor weakly smiled in return. The color in his eyes remain black, no white iris nor a glow, fully shut out eyes. He could still see, yes, but his eyes are like this from being overwhelmed with emotions... or at night time, usually.
"You aren"t the best at describing what"s wrong, as far as I"m aware," sliding her hand off his shoulder, "let"s get you cleaned up, you shouldn"t be here. No cameras are here either, I"m surprised I even found you, sunshine."
Dogday looked to his right, noticing the lights were flickering on and off. To the left, more shut off computers with the seats rearranged to each computer according. The floor was always dirty as covered from earlier, the ceiling was the same so he never particularly enjoyed these halls.
It seemed as if he walked himself right into a room the scientists only use during different weekdays. Today was Monday, now 8:30 AM, and a fresh start to a better week.
...At least that"s what he reassures to the children during morning meetings and homeroom.
Dogday looked up at the clock that"s usually in each room, no matter what if it were abandoned, he saw the time and his curiosity glanced back at the doctor.
Clearing his throat to speak, despite not needing to neccesarily, "thank... thank you, uh, Miss Delight." Catching that from the nametag; he has a bad memory, so he didn"t recognize her at the time. He managed to choke that out. It"s difficult for him to speak after panic attacks, his voice all raspy and the inability to breathe through his upper chest.
The doctor, Miss Delight, nodded at Dogday. Another warm smile to be given to him, making the sunny dog feel a little welcomed. She put her hand on her knee, getting up and standing tall. Of course much shorter than Dogday who is one of the bigger bodies, but she offered her hand to help the anxiety ridden dog up.
He looked down for a moment... pursing his lips, and wiping his tears with his wrist.
With a breath in, and a breath out, he reassured himself that this doctor was safe. All of this place was safe. The unethical doctors that dehumanized and mistreated him had been fired, and let off the hook. Minus one scientist, but it"s better than nothing. At least they recognized Dogday.
Putting his paw right onto the doctor"s hand, getting up and also standing tall, having a bad posture due to constantly having to lean down to the humans shorter than him.
Miss Delight put her hand on top of his paw, and without instinct, Dogday puts his paw right ontop of her hand; the sunny substitute apologized while the doctor laughed at his instincts coming in the funniest moments.
It wasn"t such a bad instinct, no, the children helped him become more playful and it was something he usually didn"t notice til others pointed it out for him.
"Did you have an appointment today?" She asked and Dogday shook his head, "it was a check in, I have these bi-weekly. So, uh, I-I guess that counts as an appointment? You"d be the judge of that."
She hummed in response, "are these required for you to go to?"
Dogday blanked out for a second, unsure of how to answer.
"Well, I never really– I never really missed one, so, I think... I don"t know if Doctor White would be too happy with me missing a check in. It would mess with his schedule and, um, mine. My schedule." Fidgeting with his paws, still keeping the thought in mind how big they are compared to humans, drifting away slowly but at least trying to self soothe.
Another hum in response, "that"s no good, is it? Tell you what, how about for today you go rest in your den and we go take a break. Huh, how does that sound for you?" Miss Delight asked, noticing Dogday space out a bit– she placed her porcelain hand under his jaw, and scratched it.
Dogday flinched, but then leaned into the touch. Shyly accepting the pet from Miss Delight, tail thumping on the ground; another thing he would never be able to tell about his body, when his tail wags.
Miss Delight didn"t mind, she found it adorable whenever Dogday found out and overexplained himself on how it"s uncontrollable for him. Right now he didn"t seem to take much care to that, and she didn"t wanna make him stressed out as he already is.
The cold, porcelain doll hand... it felt nice to the touch, since Dogday has a warmer body temperature. It helped him soothe down slightly. His posture was slumped, with his eyes now closed, Miss Delight smiling from her affections causing him to be like this.
"I know Doctor White very well, he isn"t the same as he used to be." She said reassuringly, as the implications were that he changed for the better, thankfully.
"Do you want me to go up to him and talk about it?"
"N-No, no, I can do it on my own, Miss–" The sunny substitute waved his arms around frantically, shaking his head, with the default smile returning back on his face. Was he embarrassed to accept help, a small offer that wouldn"t hurt her nor his doctor?
"Oh, hush, you were panicking over the trip! That was from the elevator to the computer lab we only use for classes typically, you shouldn"t go by yourself. Who knows what you"re gonna freak out about next, huh?" Dropping her hand from his chin, Dogday let out both a small, surprised whimper at the loss of the touch.
Miss Delight stood up tall with her hands on her hips, "I"m gonna make your decision, and we"re going back together. You come with me to Doctor White, and then I personally escort you back to your den," raising an eyebrow at the poor lost dog, "can I make that any clearer?" Which came off as more of a demand by Miss Delight,
Dogday looked down at her and nodded, scratching his arm, waiting for the next step by her.
Miss Delight took Dogday by the arm, which had took him by surprise– both walking out of the computer lab, into the halls of the factory.
There were many, many rooms in the factory. The elevator serves a few purposes; those being the scientist labs, doctor rooms, the playcare, playhouse/movie theater, and of course for the newcomers who browse the toy factory to adopt or to simply come by the greatest minds that made other creations.
Outside of the toy factory were malls near by, Poppy"s amusement park, and other fancy attractions to provide entertainment to Playtime Co.
Currently, Dogday and Miss Delight were making their way through the doctor hallway, where Dogday gets his check ups. It used to be the scientist"s labs, but he expressed his discomfort with it due to trauma, thus changing areas.
Though... secretly, the sunny dog wished he could not get check in"s to begin with. Alas, it was a bi-weekly thing; he needs them because he is still prone to getting sick and even disease, his nervous system was different than human but he still was considered half human.
...So, yes, in retrospect it was inhumane to not continue doing physicals with Dogday. That, and it"s legally required by the company after all– they got those human organs from somewhere after all, didn"t they?
He wishes one day it could stop, and he"d be a fine half human and half dog, without all these extra measurements and check-in"s.
Miss Delight cleared her throat, "sweetie, you don"t seem all too well."
"Yeah, you think so?" Dogday joked, the sarcasm in his tone made Miss Delight feel silly for stating the obvious.
"Mmh, but I figured I"d point that out," she said, shrugging the embarrassment off.
Holding onto Dogday"s paw intertwined with her small porcelain hand, waving at the other doctors in each of their own assigned rooms. Most doors were open today, it was still the morning hours, so there"s doctors that usually check in much later.
Their shifts depend on how they want it to be. Most work in the mornings, afternoons, evenings, and even night time. Night time and afternoons had more doctors, it was usually the better option to make appointments by then.
Dogday had morning check up"s and night time check in"s bi-weekly, it wasn"t all that bad. This morning however is supposed to be his check up, but... he"s running pretty late.
In the older days, Dr. White would get angry at everyone who was late– he eventually realized these behaviors scared his beloved patients and co-workers throughout the playcare, so he insisted on changing for the better.
Though, Dogday wants to be respectful and bring a "doctor"s note" if he"s late to such appointments. Doctor White reassures him it"s not needed, but the sunny substitute insists nonetheless.
Dogday seemed calmer now that he had company. Hoppy insisted going with him but he reassured it"s fine to be by himself, when it can be the total opposite sometimes.
The twists and turns felt so unnecessary throughout the hallways, it made him feel dizzy, as if it were some maze.
After what felt like ages due to awkwardly bending his posture walking through the halls with the smaller doctor, Miss Delight, next to him, they arrived at the white door in front of them.
Funny, the white door with his name Doctor. White on it.
There were cute little stickers most likely from the kids who placed it on there, and an image of a white furred dog. And also Snoopy related things, rainbows, and on the bottom of the door was painted on green grass. It was cute, probably for the sake to ease the anxiety of a little kid getting a physical.
"Did you forget your manners? A lady shouldn"t have to do your bidding, Mr. Day." Miss Delight giggled, as Dogday took the joke serious and stammering, trying to find words to say.
"I"m joking! You would"ve been hall passed already by me if I weren"t." That made Dogday worse. How could he genuinely forget about having a hall pass with him–
Miss Delight turned back around to knock on Doctor White"s door, with such a quiet knock...
"Ah, be careful, Miss Delight! Your hands–" the worried dog interrupted, but the door swung open to the man himself; Doctor White.
"What"s this about hands now?" He looked at Dogday, snickering and did a "come in" motion right into his office.
"Nothing, nothing. Well, no, something actually– she has such small porcelain hands, and what if they crack or something?"
Miss delight gasped dramatically, "I won"t break apart so easily! Our doctor here made sure of that."
"Y"know... anything could, um, happen." Dogday sighed, sitting down on the medical bench located in the corner of the office. "Oh, right, I"m sorry about my late presence. Uh, I have this note from Hoppy! Since she"s the coach– gym coach– ahaha, right, uh, right!"
Dogday handed him the pink doctor"s note, "I know you say I don"t need to, per usual, but, uh– safety measures, safety measures! I didn"t want you to think I was irresponsible."
Doctor White looked at the stuttering anxious dog condescendingly. Sighing, he pat his shoulder before he could continue his ranting, "doooon"t you worry about being late, my boy. You"re here now, at least you didn"t skip for the first time."
Dogday looked back at him, a little "oh!" played in his mind, nervously laughing as he realized his anxiety was speaking for him.
Doctor White sat down on his chair to his desk, pulling up a screen on his computer to begin looking at the difference from two weeks ago to now on Dogday"s vitals.
"Miss Delight, do you wish to stay here? It"ll only be a bit." His eyes moved to his co-worker, who then looked back at Dogday.
Dogday shaked his head to her despite knowing it wasn"t something he was asked, "I"m not asking you, Dogday, I"m asking Misses Delight here. Now, do you want to stay here?" With Doctor White interrupting his subtle shake of his head.
Miss Delight was aware of the separation anxiety Dogday had; that and being alone, the awkward tension that dog can accidentally build up, no matter who it was. Another one of his traits, the awkward charm.
"I"m comfortable staying, actually." She swooped further into the room and left the door open half way, leaning on Doctor White"s desk that he was sitting at.
"It"ll be a bit like he said! I"ve been getting better, I think..." Dogday exclaimed, sitting up, looking at the now projecting screen of his skeleton and internals.
Doctor White squinted his eyes at the screen. His eyebrows knitting together, placing his hands below his chin. "It shows here your heart rate has been increased over the past two hours." Tapping at the computer screen with a marker, glancing up at Dogday who had been looking down.
"Doctor..." Miss Delight wanting to keep her promise from earlier, speaking for Dogday, "he didn"t exactly have the best morning."
The doctor had turned his head curiously at the porcelain doll, "and why hasn"t he had the best morning, Misses Delight?"
She sighed, "he panicked on his way here, up the elevator through one of our computer labs, stumbling into it." Choosing to lean on the wall next to the desk now, eyeing Dogday who still had been looking down.
The room went quiet for a moment.
Doctor White hummed, knowing the sunny substitute himself wasn"t exactly the best talker when his anxiety got to him.
"Alright, your vitals seem to be fine over all despite the sudden heart rate change from this morning. I don"t need to examine you for anything else, unless you posess any questions about yourself." Doctor White pulled the drawer on the right of his desk to some papers, which Dogday couldn"t tell what they said. (His handwriting confused Dogday too much, "very intense cursive" he aforementions in his head everytime.)
The doctor took out the mechanical pencil from his front shirt pocket, and began writing. That was not for Dogday to get all anxious over what the doctor chose to write, but assumingly, it should be a good thing.
Dogday"s tail wagged slowly, a little too worried about the ongoing silence in the room. The pencil going back up and down on the paper, the clicking, the air conditioner in the room; he could hear every little noise.
"And, I"m done," handing the paper over to Miss Delight who stood next to his desk. She grabbed it, hiding the details away from Dogday. He was sure it"s just another lab report, and usually Playtime Co. can be strict with certain things...
"Is that it, doc?"
"Yes, didn"t I just say I"m done? If there"s any questions, you can ask them now."
Dogday shook his head, "not at the moment..."
"Well... if not at the moment, then, in the next two weeks ya gotta remember to ask me." Doctor White teased, putting his pencil back in his front pocket and clasping his hands together.
"Sure, sure, I"ll write it down and manage to forget it after the two weeks and keep forgetting til it"s irrelevant." Dogday laughed, stepping down from the medical bench and standing up.
Doctor White looked up at the bright dog, "you"ve grown up so much already, look at how big you got. At this rate you could begin working at the toy factory one day."
"I know my priorities, I"m not gonna be a toy worker– I wanted to be an astronaut!"
"There"s young astronauts like you who love playing with toys, no shame in that, kiddo."
Dogday smiled, "I"ve no shameee, I"m just not really a toys guy anymore. Don"t you know how old I am already?"
"Precisely 23~ in human years, but there"s people my age who still enjoy playing with toys."
"Beat it, grandpa!" Dogday chuckled, "though, thank you for making this shorter than I pictured it would be–"
Doctor White nodded, "mmhm, you just continue eating healthy and staying active, alright? Go to Picky for advice if you need it."
"I gotcha, I gotcha! No need for that! I got, well... a memory, that"s for sure, but– I keep that in my memory as long as I"m alive so no worries there."
"–so, you"re sure you don"t have any questions?" The doctor asked Dogday, still trying to be a little on topic.
The sunny dog shrugged again, "nothing in mind, don"t think it will."
"Then if there"s nothing else, you"re free to go, little buddy."
"Pff, little? I"m taller than all of you combined."
Doctor White looked up from his desk, "we can change that if you continue talking like that."
Rolling his eyes, "you wouldn"t dare."
"I"m the doctor here, I could change your life. Give you more taller bones, too."
Dogday awkwardly laughed, "n-no, no, I already have to hunch my back when talking to everyone– I guess other than Bubba which is a relief but I still gotta crank my head up to speak to him..."
They shared a few more laughs, then Dogday and Miss Delight said their goodbyes to Doctor White.
— ☾ —
The two walked back to the elevator. Dogday asked Miss Delight on how she had been recently, and her new work life as one of the doctor"s. Originally, she was a teacher, but it didn"t exactly work out for her. Miss Delight and her other sisters began working as different places in the Playcare now that they had more freedom to be doing so, and she"s never been more happier. It was a back and forth conversation between them, with Dogday asking more questions about Miss Delight instead of himself.
"Which leads me to my last question before we depart ways," Miss Delight stood in front of Dogday"s den, as he was pulling out the key the staff gave him.
"What"s up? Did I forget something earlier? Ohh, God, if I accidentally left my bag tell me–" he said as if he weren"t holding his own little bag already, it was just under his armpit with the strap on his shoulder, completely forgetting about it.
"Your bag is on your shoulder, Mr. Day–" the porcelain doll giggled at the sunny dog"s reaction upon realizing, his ears going back down as a sigh of relief.
"Great, great! I must"ve forgotten about it, sorry." Holding onto the little strap, moving it back down to his elbow.
"–Why don"t you ever focus on yourself?" Miss Delight continued her question, Dogday"s face left with a confusing smile and a raise of an eyebrow.
"What? What kind of question is that? Of course I do–"
"But you asked me questions only about myself, never bringing anything about you. No memories, nothing; just all you asked and acknowledged was my stuff." Crossing her arms, "you dejected a lot of my questions about you."
"Ohh, so sorry, I kinda am more intrigued about others than myself. After all, I"m just a sunny dog." Shrugging, "it"s nothing too personal, I promise! I can catch up with you another day if you like."
Miss Delight knit her eyebrows together. She hummed, pursed her lips, and simply acknowledged it without further questioning. "I suppose you"re right, hm, a catch up day would be nice. Which can lead me to quiz you on math, haha!"
"Make sure you have a hall pass next time, though." Miss Delight said, giving the sunny dog a pat on his head. "We wanna make sure we know who"s going through these halls, even if we have cameras."
Dogday nodded in response, "no worries, I"ll try to- uh- prevent said panic attack next time. If there... is a next time," putting his hand over his shoulder, "which I genuinely hope not, pff,," nervous laughter emitted from him, and Miss Delight caught on.
One last boop to the sunny dog"s snout, "you can call me anytime on the phone, ask for my name and the doctor"s will bring you right to me, okay?"
Miss Delight said her goodbye"s, turning around to the elevator, going back upstairs to her room to continue her mandates for the other children.
Dogday decided to head back in his own personal room, despite the den being that, technically. It was a big house like the other critter"s dens, except shaped more like a dog house with a bone on top of it. Inside, there were different rooms each for children to go to sleep in and have their resting times there. He had his own personal room, he allowed visitors because he had nothing to hide genuinely.
Unlocking the den"s door with the key provided, he twisted the lock open, taking in his favorite smell; vanilla. His room was up the den stairs, a single big room in the middle of the place. Walking upstairs, with a click of the door, and immediately plopping down onto his bed.
He should probably close the door to prevent kids getting in his room and hiding there, or to prevent the kids pranking him mainly from Kickin or Hoppy"s unit, but he didn"t really care; he was in his bed, he"s gonna rest, and he"s gonna take the day off. Hoppy said it was fine, he wasn"t too sure about Bubba"s opinion but he know"s there"s some soft spot left for Bubba to allow it personally.
Right now, he"s just... gonna go to sleep... it"s too early for all of this...
Taking the few blankets on his bed to cover him up, laying his head right onto the stack of pillows, and with one of the smiling critters plushies he held... goodnight, but not exactly night time– a good morning, but it"s his time to rest, so... whatever works, works!