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Lambsy’s hoof quivered.
They were leaning on their bathroom sink, knee kicked up and so close to the mirror they could see their own breath. In their shakey hand they held an eyeliner stick.
Lambsy had the courage for a lot of things - grinding their skateboard across the roof of town hall, or skating under Grape Ape’s beating foot (take that, Yakky Doodle!) - but things related to their eyes were not something they could do, it seemed. Lambsy took in a deep breath, grinding their teeth against eachother and going in for the kill again.
Then the floor creaked.
Lambsy bleated sharply, jumping about a foot into the air, twisting rapidly to press their back against the mirror - and, more importantly, the makeup. It seemed, however, in their haste, the brush had rolled down the sink and onto the floor.
The other person’s ears pricked as it clattered.
Lambsy huffed and looked up at him. “Wol-uff,” they muttered.
“Hoggerel,” Mildew replied with a twisted smile. He padded forward, face returning to his usual neutral frown as he picked up the brush. Lambsy was bleating and baaing angrily all the while. Mildew ignored them, looking over the brush. Eventually he chuckled. “I didn’t think you’d get into the makeup scene.”
Lambsy crossed their arms, glancing away. “Well,” they defended, “Shag said Floral’s started doing this really cool thing with her makeup, and I saw it, and he was RIGHT! And Shag said he’d totally do it too if Floral would let him use her stuff,” they smirked, “Which means I’ve gotta beat him.”
Mildew located the bottom half of the tube and slotted both pieces together. “I didn’t think Bristle owned stuff like this.”
Lambsy smiled up at him evilly. “He doesn’t.”
“Oh.”
The two sat in a silence for a moment. Soon, Lambsy crossed their arms again and furrowed their brows up at the adult. “So why don’t you leave me alone and let me put it on?!”
Mildew glanced briefly between the bottle and Lambsy. Then he smiled kindly, brows knitting. “Y’know, cade,” he said, “I’m not too bad of a makeup artist, myself.” That caught Lambsy’s attention. They didn’t answer, but pricked their ears up a bit. Mildew noticed and went on, picking up the bottle and giving it a few good twists within his grasp. “I did Snagglepuss’s eyes every morning we were together.”
Lambsy looked up at him, eyes wide. “You did Snagg’s eyes?” Mildew nodded. “Then how come you can’t even keep your fur from being so greasy?!” they bleated.
Mildew slumped his shoulders, blowing a raspberry.
Lambsy snorted out a hot breath, turning that over in their mind. After a disgruntled baa, they hopped off of the sink and onto the lid of the toilet. Lambsy sat on their knees and prodded a finger aggressively at their face. “Well? What’re you waiting for, make me look cool!”
“Uhh,” Mildew answered. “Well, you’ll have to tell me what cool means - you’ve called me lame one too many times, shearling.”
Lambsy stuck their tongue out at the name. Then they started to motion with their hands. “Really big. And really dark.”
“Yo, Lambsy!” called Shag from the swingset. He blew a whistle, “You’ve got some drip, dude!”
Lambsy posed, making a peace sign near their eye and sticking their tongue out. They trotted over to their friends without another glance back at Mildew.
Their eyes looked nice (at least by preteen standards), with a thick outline above and two wings out. Mildew had even taken Lambsy on a small trip to his own flat for some sparkly blue eyeshadow. Lambsy had loved it, and Mildew was glad he’d found something else to connect with the kid on.
Mildew sat on a park bench and started to text on his phone as Lambsy, Shag and Ding A. Ling chatted and pranced about.
He wasn’t sure how much time had passed before he heard an ecstatic baaing in his ear. Putting down his phone, Mildew found Lambsy leaning against his knee, positively beaming.
“They love it!” they bleated. “You GOTTA show me how to do all this myself, Mildew!”
Mildew’s heart swelled as he smiled gently. “Yeah, sure thing, shearling.”