Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dipsy's feathers puffed up as he stared baffled at the rock. The opened rock. Po always called it fake so maybe she was right.

He steps closer, there was a ladder leading down. Maybe he should go get the others but a part of him was curious what was down there.

When Dipsy reached the bottom, he expected this weird looking door to be locked but it surprisingly wasn't. He swings the red door open and walks through the doorway. Before he noticed the railing, he saw the most dirty thing he's seen in his life. And he's seen a muddy Po.

The thing was one inch shorter than him and his eyes were wide in...surprise? Wonder? Shock?

Dipsy adjusts his hat as he stares back at the creature. He had no idea how long they stared at each other before a trio of strangers flooded the room. He panicked and rushed for the ladder but they somehow were faster and grabbed the back of his cow print shirt. The force also caused his hat to fly off, he tried reaching for it but they dragged him away.

"Let go of me! I dropped my hat!" He struggled in their iron hold but it did nothing. Dipsy's belly sunk as he watched his hat get further away.

The creature did nothing nor commented so it must be involved with these strangers. ...Maybe Tinky was right to be cautious of strangeness.

Chapter Text

"Can you check again?" Dipsy was lying on the slide, staring at the ceiling.

There's the noise of Tinky's bag opening. "It's still not here."

"Ugh."

"I'm really sorry Dipsy, I don't know where your hat could have disappeared to."

Dipsy sighs, kicking his feet. He trudges to his room to go lose himself in his hat magazine he found in Tinky's bag years ago. It didn't really lift his mood, but he didn't feel like doing anything else.

There were some girl hats and some men's ones, but his interest was in the page of cow-print accessories.

Okay, sure, he was probably torturing himself.

He got so lost in his magazine that he was startled when someone knocked on his door.

"Dipsy? Sorry to interrupt you, but it's time to eat dinner."

Dipsy huffs but drops it and trudges out of his room, eyeing his hat drawings on his way out.

"Were you drawing your hat again?" Po speaks through her mouthful of tubby toast.

"Mind your own business." Dipsy sits down and pokes around his toast.

She shrugs and dips her toast in her bowl of custard. Dipsy tried it once, and he didn't like it, but Po seemed to like it.

They already considered Po as a suspect, but she was genuinely confused about where Dipsy's hat could be.

"Dipsy, make sure you walk outside tomorrow." Tinky Winky gently spoke from next to him.

"Why? What's the point?" He grumbles.

"Dipsy, you cannot rot in your room all day just because your hat is missing." Announcer took on more of a serious tone.

He always supervised their eating times for some reason.

"Why not?"

"It's not healthy; you need fresh air daily."

"Ughhh…"

"Look, one day the hat will show up." Laa-Laa interrupted his groaning.

"Why do you think that?" Dipsy takes the tiniest sip from his custard.

"Optimism." She takes a bite of her toast. "What's the point of staying negative about it?"

Dipsy huffs.

Laa-Laa shuffles out of her seat to walk over to him and poke his nose. "Just stay positive Dipstick."

"No promises."

Dipsy couldn't say he felt better, but he at least felt lighter.