Happage

Happage is the slash ship between Happy and Garbage from the Dogs in Space fandom.

Fetch
Garbage groans when he sees the Venus' ship approaching, which opens to a triumphant Happy. He tries to defend himself when Happy asks if his mission was an embarrassing failure, saying he wasn't embarrassed. As Loaf warns Garbage that the council wants to meet him, Happy taunts him that the meeting will be good for himself and jokes about Garbage getting demoted. Garbage calms Chonies down when Happy's remarks anger him. During the meeting, Happy smirks when the rest of the council is disappointed that Garbage does not have gift bags to bring them. He coughs as Garbage tries to sugarcoat him ruining the opportunity to inhabit another planet.

Not knowing that Garbage and his crew snuck out for another mission, Happy approaches Loaf and Ed, the latter who is disguised as Garbage. He notes the different smell and voice but is unsurprised when Ed makes a comment about his ears. Happy warns that Garbage's instinct to disobey orders will get the best of him. He vows to catch him the moment he falls into the habit.

Here, Girl!
At the diner, Happy notices Loaf trying to reach out to Garbage and gets the feeling that he has snuck off ship. He points out to Loaf that he sees him at the table behind him to which Loaf quickly thanks Happy for finding Garbage. To lower suspicions as Happy overhears them, Loaf pretends that Ed, still disguised as Garbage, is allergic to seafood to reason why he slapped it out of his hand. As Loaf chases after Ed running out of the diner, he glances at them and garners further suspicion.

When Ed's hologram disguise wears off, Happy quickly realizes that Garbage has snuck off the M-Bark despite the council's orders. He calls for an emergency meeting to ensure him and his crew's permanent suspension. The real Garbage returns walking back from the M-Bark and is startled to see Duchess and Happy waiting for them. During the meeting, Happy calls Garbage a liability to their mission. Happy is caught off guard by Kira's existence and after hearing her backstory, suggests that she is another hologram disguise. He pleads the other council members not to consider Garbage saving Kira's life, to no avail.

Speak
While walking in the M-Bark, Happy's attention is caught by Kira yelling at Garbage. He overhears Kira's demands of Garbage to prioritize dogs over humans and when Garbage accepts, Happy is convinced that he is betraying the overall mission.

Stay
Happy immediately runs to the council to announce what he heard about Garbage. While the other members believe that he is freaking out once more about him, Duchess reminds him that he has always been loyal to their mission despite his recklessness. Happy realizes that he does not have evidence to show them and is advised to focus more on their mission rather than trying to denounce Garbage. Wanting to get evidence, Happy repeatedly tries to trick Loaf into leaving his station so he can monitor Garbage's current exploration. From displacing Loaf's cheeseballs, to flying a robotic ladybug, to adding spice to Loaf's salad, to trying to tranquilize him, his attempts are unsuccessful until Garbage relieves Loaf from duty after the mission is over. Happy runs over to Loaf's station but is stabbed by the tranqulizer dart he launched earlier, knocking him out.

Watch Me
While at the mech wars, Happy notices that Garbage is not a part of his crew watching the round. He grows suspicion and on the day of the finals, Atlas notices that neither Happy nor Garbage are part of the audience. Happy sneaks past the ship's hallways and catches Garbage and Kira devising a plan to control everyone's loyalties. He grabs a now non-anthropomorphic Jerry and calls to take action against them. Briefly distracted by Jerry, Kira pushes him down and points a blaster at him, instructing Garbage to use their machine on him. Kira urges Garbage not to let his loyalty get in the way of their plan, but he ultimately chooses otherwise and shoots the machine with his blaster. Kira is appalled and, pointing a blaster at them, sends him, Happy, and Jerry away on an escape pod.

Leave It
Inside the escape pod, Happy and Garbage fight over who gets steers the pod. They constantly tug at each other and push one another side and amidst the fighting, realize they are about to crash land onto a planet. Garbage tries to reach for the controller but is dragged away by Happy as he tries reaching over for it. Dodging the surface of the planet, the two sigh but further scream as the magnetic surface drags them back to it. They forcibly land on the planet and as they try to push each other aside, they both fall flat exiting the pod. Happy complains about being backstabbed by Garbage and having to be on a stranded planet with him. While Happy learns that the atmosphere interferes with communication towards the M-Bark, Garbage boasts that he understands science just as well as he does. Garbage is caught in awe by the planet's fireflies while Happy tries to shoo them away. Rummaging through the remains of their pod, Happy tries to fend off Garbage from assisting him, calling him a traitor. Garbage feels as if he hasn't done enough to help him and is offended when Happy pulls up the custom flag that Garbage had made for Kira. The two brawl in a circle as Happy constantly reiterates his view of Garbage being a traitor.

After spinning around, Happy pins Garbage down using a piece from the pod. Happy is frustrated that Garbage won't admit that he's the reason the two are stuck on the magnetic planet. He further emphasizes his belief that Garbage has the need to defend himself around the council and would secretly betray them, using his plan with Kira as an example. Upset that Kira had sent them away, Garbage defends himself being unaware of her intentions and thought she understood his struggles as a friend. He sees Happy gathering materials and is surprised by the usefulness of him building a distress beacon. Wanting to help him, Happy tries to be nice but ends up yelling at Garbage to leave him alone. Garbage is frustrated but gives in to his wishes and turns to Jerry.

Noticing from a distance that Happy's beacon is able to transmit messages, Garbage runs back to him to bring this to his awareness. He initially does not notice and believes the machine was disrupted by the fireflies annoying him. Garbage mentions the fireflies' transmissions again but Happy does not want to listen to him. Garbage gets closer to the machine and is curious about its dial. Excited that the dial can be used to signal through frequencies, Garbage compares the beacon to being an antenna that the fireflies can project messages on. Happy thinks he's crazy and pushes him aside. While struggling, Garbage manages to shift the dial and causes a projection to appear. The two are confused on if it means the M-Bark is trying to reach them. As Happy further tries to stop him, Garbage orders Jerry to hug Happy down so he can use the beacon himself to find transmissions. The two are astonished when they see messages from humans on Earth and begin to cheer. Garbage begins to develop questions about the messages but gets pushed aside by Happy wanting to change the frequency. Listening in, Garbage realizes that the messages are rather dated and tells Happy this. They are shocked when a transmission from P.R.A.T.S.'s Olga appears, meaning that she had sent up a dog herself. After hearing the message, the two are taken aback when Olga reveals that she is the owner of Kira.

Garbage tells Happy about Kira's misperceptions of humans and wants to show her the fireflies' message. Happy reminds him that they can't do it without getting back on the M-Bark and must rebuild the beacon into something that will reach the ship. Garbage is hesitant because he will lose the message but Happy stresses that he must relay a transmitter so they don't end up dying on the planet. As the beacon is unplugged, Garbage becomes frustrated and tackles Happy, starting another fight between the two. The Pluto's ship, consisting of Nomi, Chonies, and Atlas, tracks the planet down and lands to rescue the two. Atlas compliments Happy for putting up with Garbage's presence, to which Happy nods in agreement with. On the ship, Happy tries to sit down on the Captain's chair but is stopped by Garbage placing a jar of fireflies on the seat. The ship attempts to leave the planet but the magnetic surface drags them back down, causing the two to shout their chagrin towards it.

Drop It
After Garbage takes off his shirt to cool down from the turbo's heat, Happy is disgusted and tells him to put it back on. Seeing Chonies and Atlas conversing, the two order them to cooperate and then yell at each other for commanding their respective med tech officers. Getting into a fight afterwards, Nomi sarcastically compares them to opposites attracting. The two seeing Chonies and Atlas work together, Happy comments that he is impressed that they are able to work together to which Garbage agrees with.

Garbage backs up and reaches for the Captain's seat only to find Happy already there. He commands Happy to get off, pointing out how he isn't the captain of his ship. Happy blames him for trusting Kira, making Garbage defend her and wanting to utilize the fireflies to change her mind. After explaining his plan, Happy would rather just have her arrested after transforming everyone back into normal. When the crew gets into disagreement over who's plan to use, Garbage shocks everyone when he is willing to use Happy's plan as a back up should his plan fail. The two get into a fight over who's plan should be the back up, broken up by Nomi before they can continue hitting one another. The two later struggle to make room as they enter an elevator.

After Kira has a change of heart, Happy begins to tamper with the machine and intends to turn Garbage into a regular dog with it. Before he can do so, however, Stella and Ed pin him down.

Who's a Tea Boy?
Stella holds a meeting with the council to get Garbage back on her crew. During the meeting, Happy insults Garbage's drawing skills when Stella hands her a paper he made and points out how he's the reason they were turned into puppies previously. Happy is unconvinced and is disappointed that the rest of the council members seem to be on board. He is the only one not to vote in favor of Garbage returning to the Pluto.

Paws & Rewind
The council calls the Pluto over to inform them that all five council members agreed to let them explore a potentially high-risk planet. Garbage calls out the fact that Happy must have had to agree with them, to which he explains that he thinks the Pluto has been more proficient recently. Garbage asks for clarification but laughs when he ends up making Happy say that he "has no but". After the crew is given an explanation of their task, Happy teases the crew of being experts in disturbing behavior. Garbage reaches to his desk to hit his nose and gets pulled back by Stella before the two can brawl any further.

Freeze Out
Happy sends a transmission to the Pluto requesting for backup after his crew had been taken. Noticing that he is freezing, Garbage rather jokes about the mishap and tries to lighten the others' moods. Happy is angered but unsurprised that Garbage does not want to assist him while he is freezing and indirectly references an earlier conflict the two had. Garbage tries to defend himself but ends up bringing attention to the story towards the other crew members. After Happy ends the transmission, the crew is surprised to see that Garbage has gathered jackets and other supplies for the cold. He gets the idea to prepare soup for Happy and runs to make some, telling the crew not to ask questions.

When Chonies picks up Happy's location upon arriving on the planet, Garbage leads the way to find him. Garbage offers him soup as soon as he finds him, making Happy suspect that Garbage is trying to prank him with it. Garbage takes offense to this but still offers him the soup which ends up mushing due to the temperature. While the Pluto walks to where Happy directs them to, Happy cuts off Garbage as he makes a sarcastic comment about his situation. He tells Happy that he doesn't need him but still set off to help him anyway in his need. Happy is unappreciative of his help and believes Garbage would have left him to die if he was still captain, making him point out that Happy is the reason he was stripped of his rank. This causes Happy to retaliate, revealing Garbage nearly cost him his rank as well. Stella stops the fight and expresses her annoyance on the two's constant bickering. Wishing them to figure it out, Pepper carries Garbage and Happy behind her as she walks across the snow.

Nomi asks Happy why he has a grudge on Garbage, where he suggests to the crew that Garbage had mistreated him during training. Finding his remark absurd, Garbage calls him out and causes him and Happy to start slapping each other. Flashing back to their time in training, Happy and Garbage fight one another in a rocky scenery. After time is up, Happy and Garbage are impressed with one anothers' skills and encourage each other. Happy compliments Garbage's uppercut and Garbage is enthusiastic about Happy's sparring skills. After Happy says that they're best friends who won't betray each other, Garbage interrupts the flashback to put his perspective on their time during training. Keeping them complimenting each other, Garbage in the flashback tells Happy that they're going to become captains one day together. Happy promises to not let anything get in the way of their friendship as they do a specialized handshake. With their reviewer being portrayed as a ghost, present Happy questions this as Garbage explains he's trying to spice the story up.

Happy and Garbage hear their individual assessments in training and while Happy learns he is on the right track for captaincy, Garbage is told he is rather unfit for the rank. As Garbage plays pinball to get through the news, Happy tries to boost his morals. Garbage explains how he thinks he'll be letting his owner Chelsea down because of his low assessment. Happy ensures that they can be promoted together even if it takes longer, telling him that he can be anything he wants to. Seeing Garbage unconvinced by this, Happy says he is doubtful that he will overcome his fear of heights for the final obstacle course and suggests they can be balloon dogs together. Shortly afterward, Garbage's pinball game sets off a series of bells which cause Happy to prance around uncontrollably. He spins and jumps around and faints when he composes himself. Stella is doubtful that this actually happened in the past but Happy confirms this. He explains that his owner back on Earth had put him through Pavlovian training using a set of hand bells that got him to immediately do what his owner wanted. Flashback Garbage is sympathetic towards Happy and expresses how was unaware of his situation. Happy is glad that Garbage is appreciative of his owner Chelsea but expresses how he has more freedom being away from his own. After seeing the pinball game set him off again, Garbage helps him up and is curious about Happy being taught to tango. Happy expresses his hope to Garbage that captaincy won't get in the way of their friendship. Back in the present, Garbage is unamused that it ended up becoming a lie both then and the way Happy describes it now.

In the present, Garbage accidentally lands on Happy while trying to reach the snow shooters with his grappling hook. Garbage is angered when Happy suspects that he intentionally landed on him. Continuing the story, Garbage walks up to Happy who is sitting with other dogs going through training. One of them denies Garbage a seat and when Garbage sticks up for himself, Happy gets nervous by a comment left by the dog. Happy apologizes to Garbage while sticking with the others, disheartening Garbage. He wishes to talk to Happy after training and although willing to, he informs Garbage that he had already planned on going to mini golf with the other future captains. Garbage tries to brush it off by pretending he is busy as well and walks over to a dog on the side. After meeting who turns out to be Chonies, Garbage looks back to Happy who feels guilty for leaving Garbage behind. Later on, Happy sees Garbage sitting by himself and tries approaching him. Garbage is upset by the fact that Happy had told the others about his poor assessment and compares it to them finding out about how bells set Happy off. Happy feels regretful for this as Garbage informs him that his future captaincy is already affecting their friendship. However, Garbage gets the idea of Happy helping him train up to be one. Happy is unsettled by the idea, elaborating how he still has to train for his test in a week and thinking that it's too much of a risk to help Garbage now. Seeing Garbage take back his idea and still feeling down about it, Happy decides to follow along and help raise his scores up so they can be co-captains together. Garbage is excited for the assistance and the two run to training together. Throughout a montage, Happy is able to fluently get through each component while Garbage is oblivious to it in some way. Happy kicks a punching bag while Garbage misses it and instead lands on him. Happy is able to shoot a cardboard alien while Garbage constantly shoots around the perimeter outside of it. Happy helps Garbage with presenting his arm for a punch, only for Garbage to accidentally move it back and knock him down. Growing tired of training Garbage, he tells him he has spirit but he is constantly ignoring protocol. Garbage defends his style, saying he puts his own spin on things with flair. Happy stresses that P.R.A.T.S. is more interested in performance than flair to which Garbage brushes it aside. After being told that he can just train Garbage better tomorrow, Happy is fed up with being made the problem and criticizes Garbage's lack of awareness for common sense. He drops the idea of helping Garbage reach captaincy and walks away, saddening Garbage further.

Back in the present, Garbage remarks that despite Happy telling him to, he never forgot about becoming a captain. Chonies continues the story from there: he tells Garbage that a real friend would not leave him like Happy did. Garbage shares to Chonies that his jealousy got in the way of the two being captains together. Intending for Garbage to instead befriend him, Chonies suggests that he can't "un-ring that bell" after hurting Happy. However, Garbage interprets his idea as helping Happy overcome the obstacle course using bells. Garbage sneaks into the course right as Happy is about to start being evaluated. Garbage pulls out a kit of bells and tells himself that he's going to make up for the time he cost Happy. When Happy approaches the part of the course requiring him to climb a pole, Garbage tries to figure out which bell will help him do so. He tries multiple bells that cause him to do differing commands: backflipping, prancing around, sniffing the floor, and spinning around. Happy catches Garbage in the distance ringing the bells and is angered by it, covering his ears. After the test is a success and he earns his captaincy, Garbage congratulates him but is pushed aside by Happy. He condemns what he believes was Garbage trying to sabotage him and is not convinced when Garbage explains he wanted to help him overcome his fear of climbing. Happy gets him to admit that he was jealous but Garbage stresses that it was for their friendship, stating that Happy forgot about their plan to get in together. Having enough of Garbage almost costing him captaincy, Happy bring awareness that he is his superior and orders him to stay out of his way. Captain Stardust overhears the conversation and uses it as basis for Garbage to instead join his crew, citing how Garbage was willing to help Happy during his performance.

While escaping the monsters of the snow in the present, Garbage oversees the monsters' jingling setting off Happy's commands. Garbage hops on Happy and covers his ears, now able to focus on blasting the creatures. Both Happy and Garbage experience thrill as they help each other take down the monsters and after having done so, the two smile at each other. As the two walk back to their respective ships, Garbage tells him he never wanted to stop him from being captain. Wishing that Happy didn't stop being his friend, Happy apologizes for not trusting him and the two handshake. Garbage and Happy tease each other on who is the sorry one until Stella yells at them to get in their ships. The two look up at one another as they walk up, making Garbage smile as he finally goes inside.

No Good Seed Goes Unpunished
During the Shrubdub fiasco, Happy sees Garbage and orders him to help carry an injured Atlas. The two carry Atlas into refuge at Barclay's tea shop. Happy oversees the brawl through the shop's windows and wants back out. Garbage is doubtful that he will make the situation any better and Happy tries motivating him when he realizes this. The pep talk Happy gives him feels like pointing out Garbage's negative qualities but Happy stresses how he's never seen Garbage give up.

Garbage runs over to Happy with the second of the three Shrubdub seeds, ordering for him to hand it to Atlas.

As Loaf is being praised for helping save the M-Bark, Happy walks up to Garbage and says he helped save the ship as well. Garbage is feeling down because he was the reason it needed to be saved in the first place. Telling Happy this, he thinks Stella was right on how he only screws things up further. Before Garbage can explain himself further, the two are caught in shock when the Shrubdubs open up a portal to the Earth, intending to destroy the planet. While Happy runs over to his ship, he sees Garbage pressed against a wall feeling bad for himself. Happy orders Garbage to come with him and before he can refute, he accepts the offer and runs to the Venus with him. Garbage serves as the pilot for Happy's temporary crew while his actual crew is away at medical bay.

Barking Up the Wrong Tree
As Garbage ponders how they can truly beat the Shrubdubs, Happy tells him to carry on with a reckless plan he usually has in mind. He is surprised when Garbage says he doesn't have one, telling him that they need one of his irresponsible plans in a time like this. Garbage instead calls his current idea an "un-irresponsible" plan, wanting to negotiate with the Shrubdubs. When he pulls out his blaster, Happy thinks he wants to give it to them until Garbage hands it over to him. Listening to Garbage's will to give himself up to the Shrubdubs in hopes of leaving the Earth alone, Happy looks at him sadly as Garbage walks away.

Happy claps for Garbage when he earns his captaincy back and hands him his new captain's shirt.

Fanon
Happage is one of the most popular pairings in the Dogs in Space fandom. The two is the show's example of an Enemies to Lovers type of ship within fans. Fanfiction about their rivalry in a ship-sense commonly teases how they are both in denial about their feelings towards each other and project it towards being enemies. The second season dove into much more depth behind their history: showing their past friendship, how they split apart, and their reconciliation. Observant viewers used various details throughout to note how the two have had deep caring for each other, such as Garbage constantly reaching out to Happy during training or when the bells set him back as well as Happy giving him the nickname of "Garb". Fans also used their facial expressions and cues within various scenes to further show how they've been hurt or them realizing missed opportunity within their friendship.

The ship is often rivaled with the other contender for the show's most popular ship, Garbonies (Garbage x Chonies). A poll on Reddit between the two ships revealed that although many voters preferred Garbage being paired with Chonies, those in favor of Garbage with Happy defended the enemies to lovers trope and cited how it is a particular appeal to some over others. Fans who see Garbage's relationships with his crewmates as more of a family-like bond find Happage to be a more feasible option. Other ships rivaled by the pairing include Kirbage (Kira x Garbage), Stellage (Stella x Garbage), and Happlas (Happy x Atlas).

On AO3, there are 7 works in the romantic tag and 5 under the platonic tag. It is the most written ship for the series both overall and platonically, and the second most romantically behind Garbonies.

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