(art not mine)

"Sev, look what I found!" Called a voice. Seven looked up, his dark blue eyes being seen under his rough, course dark brown bangs.

Slightly frizzy black hair poking out from underneath a yellow raincoat hood, barely visible twinkling brown eyes with a thin yet oddly smooth round face.

Six gave a large grin, jumping off the ledge she was standing on and slid down a pipe. She landed, momentarily taking a moment to fix her coat sleeves.

Seven blinked softly, closing the small sketchbook in his lap and set it down on the crate next to him. He looked up, seeing the two's small hideout in the lower parts of the Maw.

It was Six's old room, her suitcase still laying in the back of the vacant and slightly spacious room. Today the two had decided to take a break from helping Miss Veronica, head of Maw and Six's mother, to just hang out and spent time together.

"What you got?" Seven asked, voice somewhat cracking as he spoke. Six smiled, before reaching into her coat. Carefully, she pulled the object out. It was a small fuzzy creature with gray, black, white, and light brown splotches, a single brown and blue eye.

"Where did you find a puppy?" Seven asked, coming over to the other. Six blinked at him in confusion. "It's a puppy? I thought it was some weird looking rat."

The puppy blinked her eyes, shuffling and trying to get out of her captor's hands, whining as she struggled. "Six, you're hurting her!"

Six, shocked, dropped the puppy, who landed with a small thud. The puppy looked up at them, whining before scurrying off somewhere.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to hurt them," Six said quickly, alarm written all over her face. Seven watched the puppy run down the dark entrance of the room, the sound of something being knocked over and fast footsteps being heard.

A small Nome ran, gray cone like head bobbing as he ran with his short legs. "Six, Seven, monster!" he shouted, hiding behind Six's leg.

Seven gave a sigh. 'No one misses a beat around here...' he thought, reaching and taking his flashlight from his belt. A faint memory made him softly smile as he went to go fetch the fuzzy dog.

~

"Hey, Sevvy, look what I's found!" A barely five years old Six shouted, running to the small boy.

Seven looked up from his scribbled mess of a drawing, curious at what the other small child had found. Six, adawned in her very, very oversized raincoat, a small gray creature in her hands.

It squirmed wildly, kicking its feet as the small child held it tightly.

"Six, stah it you're huwting it!" Seven said, taking the small Nome from her. "Hey, I wasn't huwting it!"

"Uh huh!"

"Nah uh!"

"Uh huh!"

"Nah uh!"

"Hey, how about you both let me down!"

Six let out a small gasp, both of them letting go of the small Nome. "It talkeded!"

The Nome let out a growl, stomping its small foot at her. "What did you think I was? Some kinda rat?" He growled. "Shouldn't you kids be with an adult?"

Six blinked, shaking her head. "No, I's not. Sevvy is though!"

"Hey, am not!"

"Will you two quit your yelling? Do you want a rat to come bite your tiny heads off?" The Nome asked, though he wasn't expecting an answer. Six covered her mouth, shaking her head, Seven doing the same.

"Good, now shut up and leave me alone," the Nome huffed, before walking off down the dark entrance.

~

"Puppy, come here, girl," Seven said, before giving a small whistle. The entrance tunnel was vacant of any creature, nothing poking their head out to see what the boy wanted.

Seven walked all the way to the back, finding the knocked over lantern at the end of it. There was no sign of any dog there, no tufts of fur, no pawprints, nothing.

"Where did she go?" he asked himself quietly, looking around with his flashlight.

Suddenly he saw it. The hatch at the back of the tunnel was slightly open, a small paw poking out. Seven sighed, placing the flashlight down as he carefully opened the metal hatch.

The puppy turned her head, drawing her foot in after it was off. Her small nub of a tail was flat again her rear, eyes watching him as he carefully put a hand out.

The small dog sniffed his hand, before scooting closer away.

"Sev, any luck!"

The puppy immediately jumped back, before limping quickly down the narrow vent that let visitors in. Seven sigh, getting up and looking over his shoulder.

Six stood there, holding the Nome in her arms as she gave it a comforting hug. Her face showed worry, a small part of him telling him to not be mad at her.

"She ran down the vent, I'm sure she'll be fine though. Maybe Negative can find her later, she's good at finding stuff."

Six gave a small nod, putting the Nome down. "Maybe. We should head back to Mom and see if we can help her with anything," she suggested, joining the other's side.

"You sure? She may make us handle the kids again, and we both know how you tend to be around little kids,"

"Oh, excuse me, Mr. Perfectly Behaved, at least I'm going to be the fun babysitter,"

"Six, you threw a jar at a spider,"

"You say it as though you haven't screamed at one before. What about that time you found a bunch of eggs?"

"I'm going to stop you right there, and go on about my day without the mention of those circles of doom," Seven stated, already making his way into the narrow vent.

***

The air was filled with laughter and soft music, the smell of freshly cooked food wavering in the air as the pair made their way across their special overhead path way.

Guest were setter below them, dining and cheering as musicians played their instruments, momentarily stopping as a few Nomes jumped and bounced on drums and slid down basses and violins.

The life on the Maw was grand. Look at it! Yes, before it was a literal hell hole, but Veronica has really made things much better after coming to her senses.

Speaking of the lady.

Six smiled when her and Seven finally came to the end, standing on a platform that overlooked the guests and more.

There stood Veronica, tall, elegant, reserved. Seven didn't see how she was even Six's mother. Seven watched as the small teen girl ran to her mother, hugging her leg.

"Hey, Mom!" she cheered. Veronica looked down, but she didn't give the two her normal welcoming chuckle. "Six, Seven, there you are. I just sent the Janitor and Tex to find you. Come, my quarters, now."

Something was wrong, Seven could feel it. What happened? Six gave him a small confused look, before the two shared a nod, following after the lady.

The walk there was quick and silent, until the three came to Veronica's quarters, no one said a word. When the door opened, she quickly ushered them inside.

"Mom, something wrong?" Six asked, lowering her hood.

"I couldn't tell you in front of all of them. I just got word from a boy outside the Maw. He was calling out for help,"

"Wait, what? Why does he need help?" Seven asked, his brows knitting in a confused manner. Veronica sighed, shaking her head.

"His signal was weak, I could only make out so much. I know he's right outside our next stop. I would like for you two to go find him and try to help him. You two were able to help free us, you should be able to help him too."

"You can't be serious, Ms. Veronica,"

"You mean I can leave the Maw!"

The two looked to each other, surprised by the other's answer. "Six, the world out there is dangerous."

"Sev, so was the Maw, but we handled it easy peasy."

"Six, I nearly lost you two or three times. You were sick, you got hit with a bottle and cut your stomach, what about the time I seriously thought you did die?"

Before anymore could be said, Veronica lifted the up, a black aura surrounding them.

"That's enough you two. I swear, one moment you two are all cuddly with one another and the next your at each other's throat. Now listen. When we land, you two will leave and find that boy, and help him as much as you can," the lady stated, making the two face her.

Seven looked to Six, a small unsettling feeling suddenly in his stomach. What were they even going to do? What was the problem? Veronica set them down, turned and making her way to the stairs along the wall, gently grabbing the wooden railing.

"We will land in a few hours. Be ready by then."

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Part 2 of ???

Finished - Aug. 27th

Little Daydreams AU Info Extension

Veronica (The Lady/Five) - a pristine woman who will not take any tomfoolery in her underwater vessel/restaurant: The Maw. Was formerly under a spell cast by a witch after growing angry at her mother for not giving it to her when she was of age. Six and Negative's mother. Possess magic she tries to only use for good.

Negative (Clover) - Six's shadowy sister. She is made out of left over dark magic what still dwells in the Maw. Though harmless looking and small, she isn't afraid to fight a creature several times her size. Imagine a shadowy magical chihuahua.

Janitor (Roger) - Worker of the Maw. He is blind and has very long arms and short legs. He is in charge of the lower Maw, and taking care of kids.

More info later on...