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Buck’s head was spinning, his brains totally scrabbled as he retreated from some Toons (once again).
His head literally in the clouds as he stared upon the violet skies.
The propeller on his head goes at it as he hovers above Loopy Lane, a lot higher than he usually does, looking down at Toons and Suits alike… talking… fighting… standing around…
They all felt so small from up here, it felt as if Buck were on top of the world right now, looking down upon some feeble little Toons he could crush under his shoe… or a bar.
Even if he had lost, lost multiple times, from this height he felt like a winner.
He was used to flying, retreating like this, the feeling of nothing but air under his feet wasn’t unfamiliar to him.
This time though, it just felt a lot more… surreal. Like he was just completely weightless, lighter than a feather.
He had nothing up here but his thoughts, the crazed and incoherent screaming in his head. Ever since… ever since a certain maintenance he had, his head wouldn’t stop yapping at him, it drove him nuts, it drove him down right insane .
But for once, that screaming was muffled, not fully gone, but it was quieter, more manageable.
He’s felt this before, when Dave would play a tune for him, or when he and Dave were formed into High Roller… he always felt more sane during those times, more put together, more comfortable. Due to their shared minds, their shared hearts, he felt less mania tainting his head.
However, his mind wasn’t muffled by comfort this time, no… it was muddled by sadness.
Buck tilted his head up, seeing as the purple skies were starting to clear up, slowly but surely returning to their original blue hue.
April Toons was ending, and he couldn’t be more bummed out about it than ever.
No more High Roller, no more Low Ballers, nothing. Nada. The show’s over, it reached its end.
He knew about the deadline from the start, of course he did, but that didn’t stop him from feeling so disappointed.
Being High Roller was one of the most exhilarating experiences he has had, he felt so much bigger, so much better than he ever was. He felt like he had everything, everything he could’ve possibly wanted.
When fused with Dave, it felt like they were completely in sync, completely merged together literally and metaphorically.
Their thoughts and feelings were shared, it felt as if there was a constant warmth in their body, not just from the adrenaline of running the show, but a warmth that pulsed with each beat of their combined hearts.
Now without that warmth, he couldn’t help but feel so cold.
The Duck Shuffler sighed as a breeze of chill air hit his body, causing him to shiver out in the open.
His teeth cartoonishly chattered as he tried to clench his mouth shut, making his teeth ache, he held his sides in hopes that it warmed him up.
His mind started to drift to earlier that day as he looked down at the ground once again. He could hear an audience… slowly fading in.
…
…
“-And THAHAHAHAT’FF our FINAL FFHOW of the year folff!”
The game show host raised his arms up as he made his big announcement, snapping his fingers to send the Toons who had beat them away.
They wiped down their clothes a little, trying to get the remnants of their battle off of them before the curtains closed.
“Aff much aff I’d A-A-A-ABFFOLUTELY ADORE to fftay for longer, our time haff come.”
“We made ffure to end it with a BANG! Or more like a- [PIANO FALLING SFX] am I RIGHT? HAHAHAHAHA!”
She played a loud noise remniscent of the several pianos that had been dropped on her head prior through her teeth, to be honest he had no idea how he did that.
“But really, to quit fftalling…”
High Roller bowed to the audience, starting to feel his body tingle.
“UNTIL NEFFT TIME-”
A blinding flash of white and prismacolor smoke filled the stage, the audience looked on to see two dark silhouettes standing in front of them.
“THAT’S ALL FOLKS!”
“THAT’TH ALL FOLTH!”
Buck and Dave stood facing the audience, hand in hand as they gave their final bow. Slowly, the curtains closed as the audience erupted into applause.
As the curtains had fully obscured them, Buck could feel his mechanical heart pumping, thumping, basically bursting in his chest from everything he had felt until now.
Excitement…
Thrill…
Fear…
He had felt it all… and Dave had felt it all too.
“Hey, Bucky, baby, you’re squeezin’ real tight there.”
“Huh?”
The gambler didn’t notice how tightly he was squeezing his hand, it was practically shaking from his grip.
“Oopthie! Didn’t mean to, pal! HAHAHA.”
He promptly let go, quacking manically as he directed his gaze down at his hand as it continued to tremble, no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t keep his hand completely still.
Dave tilted his head as he noticed Buck was more shaken than usual. He reached out to hold the gambler’s hand again, feeling it shake in his grasp.
“Let’s skedaddle to somewhere a little more mellow, babe.”
Buck looked up to meet his gaze, feeling his thumb softly stroke the back of his hand. He breathed slowly, feeling every rise and fall of his chest as he put on the best smile he could.
“HA! You got it, Davey!”
The Major Player squeezed his hand as they started to head toward the dressing room and opened the door.
He led him to a large couch, seemingly built for bigger cogs like Dave. Sometimes Buck wondered what a little micromanager would look like if they were sitting on one of these bad boys.
The duck softly giggled at the mental image, making Dave smile a little at the sound of his voice.
“Sit with me, my Spinning Wheel.”
The Major Player sits down, patting the space next to him, inviting Buck to sit.
“Hehehe! Anything for my Record Player-!”
He gives his muse a toothy grin, sitting next to him as they face each other.
Dave takes Buck’s hand in his once again, as if they belonged together, and he proceeds to massage the inside of the gambler’s palm with his thumb. He let out a relieved sigh at the sensation, looking up at the other with lidded slots.
“Now, now, babe. The jig is up. I can tell the blues caught up to ya, tell me what’s dampening your sound, baby doll.”
Buck blinks at him, seeing now that the other has gotten a bit more serious. Geez… was it that obvious he was upset?
“Pft- HA! Nothin’s got ME down, pal! I dunno what you’re ON about, HAHAHA!”
The Duck Shuffler laughs manically, his mind starting to grow louder once again, his grin going from genuine to unhinged.
“I could feel your mind spinnin’, tossin’, and turnin’ the whole time we were performin’, babe, you can’t fool me.”
Dave slips a hand against Duck Shuffler’s cheek, feeling his bill quiver ever so slightly.
“Plus, your poker face is slipping, darling.”
The gambler clenched his teeth before forcing another smile, his mind dipped in mania as he tried to formulate a response.
“Ohhh- come ON, Davey! I thought I wath an athe player! My head’th jutht thpinnin’ from all the pianoth ith all, HAHA!”
“Oh, I know you’re an ace, babe. And I know for a fact you can handle more konks on the noggin than there are songs in the world.”
Geez, he was right. The duck gets a bar dropped on him at least once- twice- thrice- too much to count in a day! Of course he would see right through that, how could he be so dumb?
He wasn’t making the right plays at all, luck wasn’t smiling his way this time.
All his mind could do was laugh, laugh at him, laugh at him, KEEP LAUGHING! HAHA! Isn’t it funny!? LAUGH IT UP, PALS! HAHAHAHAHAHA!
LAUGH AT ME!
LAUGH AT ME!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-
Buck feels a grip on his shoulder, his head snapping back up to look at Dave.
His bill trembled as he started to feel an itch in his teeth. He bit his tongue as he tried to resist the urge to bite something, anything.
The air felt so heavy around them as the gambler bared his teeth, it felt as if something invisible was crushing him, a giant weight on his chest preventing him from breathing.
He let his mouth hang open, his teeth feeling so unbelievably itchy. He could feel his chest rising and falling again with every breath, every sensation around him was heightened.
He could feel his tongue stinging from being bitten
He could feel the air from the fans inside him trying to cool his body down.
He could feel everything. It was so overwhelming. It felt like at any moment he would just blow up into smithereens.
Despite feeling so much, there was one thing he didn’t feel or notice.
Dave’s hand wasn’t on his shoulder anymore, instead it had moved somewhere else.
Where had it…?
Buck flinched as he felt Dave’s hand suddenly hold his bill shut, much like one would do to a dog.
“...”
The two of them just blinked at each other as they accessed the situation. Buck’s gaze looked much like one of a confused puppy.
Blink.
Blink.
“...”
“Pft-”
“PFFT- HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
The gambler snickered as it quickly transitioned into crazed laughter, holding his stomach. He felt Dave let go of his beak as he broke into a giggle fit as well.
“W-Whahahat’s with the canned laughter, babe? Y-you cut through the tense air as if it were b-butter…!”
Buck tilted his head up as he accusingly poked the Major Player’s chest with his pointer finger.
“ I broke the tenthion?! Y-you’re the one who- who held my mouth thhut like a-a A DOG! HAHAHAHA!”
The Duck Shuffler felt Dave put a hand on each cheek, holding his head in his hands as the two couldn’t stop laughing, to the point where Buck’s chest was starting to hurt.
“W-would you like a rerun of that, babe?”
He felt the hand on his right cheek inch closer to his mouth, as Dave playfully ran a thumb over his sharp teeth.
“You’re driving me nutth, Davey… y’know what I do when I’m nutth?”
“Gimmie every detail, babe.”
“I do thomethin’ crathy. Like thith.”
Buck quickly grabs hold of Dave’s arm and playfully bites his hand, grinning wildly at him as he feels the other jump.
“Ah-ah-ha! Feelin’ bold, aren’t ya, babe?”
The Major Player smiles back at him as he lets his muse nibble his hand softly. Despite how sharp his teeth were, it didn’t hurt all that much, he… even liked the sensation a little in some weird way.
“You thaid it youthelf… my mind ith thpinnin’, tothhin’ and turnin’… It’th makin’ me act thilly… hehehe…”
Dave chuckles softly, bringing his free hand up to stroke Buck’s hair.
“You’re sayin’ that as if you’re not silly from the get-go.”
“Well, I’m feelin’ extra thilly tonight…”
The Duck Shuffler releases his hand, looking down to see visible scratches from his teeth. Oops, he knew how much Dave didn’t like scratches on his plating.
He leans into the bigger Suit, resting his head on chest. He can feel Dave’s arms embracing him as he shifts to get comfortable.
The musician’s hand firmly stokes Buck’s back, applying enough pressure to coax out a whine from the gambler.
After a while of laying tangled together, the Major Player opens his mouth to speak.
“Babe, I’m just gonna ask this to ya straight; what happened back there?”
Buck looks back up at the other with a subtle frown, before directing his gaze back down again.
“Fiiiine you win, thweetie.”
“That easy, huh? And here I thought our Casino Cardsharper was gonna play hard to get.”
The aforementioned Casino Cardsharper tilts his head.
“I really cooould play hard to get, but that wouldn’t be tho fun for you.”
“We had a grand ol’ time just a few rests ago, didn’t we?”
The Major Player traces little circles into the gambler’s back as he grins at him.
“Oh, you jutht want me to bite you again, don’t you?”
Buck gives him a little smirk as Dave chokes out a laugh.
“We can save that for when the song’s about me, but right now, this tune is dedicated to you. So sing me, babe, what’s wrong?”
Buck directed his gaze beside him, looking at the dressing room door, adorned with a big star and the words ‘High Roller’ etched onto it.
“Jutht bummed out thith ith our final thhow together, I’m not one to antithipate when a gameth ending, but thith time wath different.”
“Ah, you’re gonna miss High Roller and the Low Ballers aren’t ya?”
Buck looks down solemnly, placing his hand on Dave’s thigh and tracing circles with his thumb.
“Yeah, yeah. It feelth like I didn’t thpend enough time with em’ than I thhoud.”
Dave seemed slightly taken aback by that, his hands stopping in their tracks as Buck let out a little whine at the loss of touch.
“I don’t know what you’re diddly-do-dang talkin’ about, babe! We stole the show out there, we sang as many songs our voice box could handle! Ms. Roller brought Suits, Toons and even Goons together, baby! You don’t see that everyday, do you?”
Dave moves his arms to hold Buck’s face in his hands, making him look up at him.
“I thuppothe tho. Thtill… I can’t believe the thhow’th over.”
The Duck Shuffler places a hand on Daves chest, sighing.
“Bein’ High Roller… ith thomething I’m gonna mithh… a lot.”
He tilts his head, “It jutht made me feel complete, y’know? I feel whole with youse.”
The gambler gives his muse a small smile as he feels him caress his cheek.
“I feel the same way, baby blue, but a song doesn’t last forever y’know.”
“I know, bu-”
Dave places a finger over Buck’s bill.
“Ah, ah, ah! I wasn’t finished, babe.”
“Who says a song can’t be sung again, and again, and again, hm? There’s no rule against it, now is there?”
Buck blinks at him, realizing what he had meant. He smiles, comforted by his words, his chest starting to warm up with sweet, tooth rotting feelings.
“Cog, I love you.”
He snuggles up to him once more, feeling Dave hug him back.
“I love you too, my sweet Song Bird.”
Those words hung in the air for a while, completely taking over Buck’s head and silencing whatever anxious ramblings were in there before. He felt good, so good.
Click
The two jumped slightly at the sound of a door opening, looking over to see a Low Baller with a little construction outfit on.
The little duck looked over at the two and jumped, stumbling backward a little.
“Oh, thorry- I thould’ve knocked-”
Dave sits up as Buck slowly pulls away from him.
“It’s all gravy, babe. Whatcha need?”
“O-oh! Uh…”
The Low Baller pulls out a clipboard, flipping through the pages.
“We finithhed packing everything up, thir!”
Dave clasps his hands together, smiling at the little fella.
“That’s wonderful, Little Wheel!”
He twirls his finger around, “Round up your posse and head backstage, babe! Go get ready for your snoozefest.”
“I gotta rendezvous with Mx. Monsoon tonight so tell the other little fellas I said cya.”
The Low Baller does a little salute and puts away their clipboard.
“You got it bothh! I’ll thleep real good jutht for you guyth!”
The two wave goodbye to the Low Baller and the little duck runs off, closing the door behind them.
Buck’s smile fell a little as he scratched the back of his head.
“Geeth, no one’th around for my nightly patrol, thith thuckth.”
“I’m sorry, Bucky-baby. I can’t leave Monsoon on a rest, she’s been needing more shine in her sky lately.”
“I know, I know, thweetth. It’th not your fault. I know you got meetingth every Thunday.”
He waves him off, standing up from the couch.
“Anywayth, you gotta thtorm thong to write, I’ll meetcha back at your building after my thhift, alright, pal?”
“I got you, babe. Put on a show for me, will ya?”
“I promithe, I promithe! HAHAHAHA!”
…
…
Buck blinked, feeling as though he was… falling?
He tilted his head up, noticing that the propeller on his head had stopped spinning.
“Aw fooeyAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-”
The Duck Shuffler proceeded to fall around 50 feet before hitting the ground and leaving a comically ‘Duck Shuffler’ shaped hole in the ground.
“Hhgh…”
Buck shakily reached out and pulled himself up from the ‘him shaped’ hole, eventually finding his footing.
He dusted himself off and did a little stretch. As good as new.
The gambler looked side to side, everything’s… pink…? Oh-! Oh. He was in Mezzo Melodyland, right. That’s where he wanted to go! …He thinks… He wanted to go there at some point- maybe not now but that didn’t matter because he was here now- so…
He shaked his head his slots spinning and landing on a bust. D’aww…
Buck tilted his head up and noticed the Musical Master of Melody was actually up ahead, lucky fall…
It was always his ideology that when something unlucky happened, something just as lucky was bound to happen after. For every bust he got a jackpot came closer. That’s just how Lady Luck plays, you could ask her yourself! If she’s not busy, of course… which she always is… Bummer.
Oh well! That wasn’t important, what was important was that the Triple M (Musical Master of Melody) was nearby, he could go pay a visit to the Low Ballers! That’s where Dave wanted to keep em’ this year.
The Duck Shuffler made his way to the building, opening the door and shutting it behind him. He noticed that the lobby was empty, most likely because the Major Player wasn’t present.
He sighed, making his way to the auditorium. As he looked around, he noticed the place didn’t seem quite right without Dave’s presence, in fact, Buck doesn’t remember a single time he’s been in this place without Dave or at least someone else. Not even a stray cog in sight…
Buck climbed on stage, looking back at the where the audience would be, just to be met with tables and chairs completely void of people.
Buck remembered, in times like this, where he and Dave were in complete privacy in his stage, he would put on their favourite song and dance along to the tune. Their feet moving and tapping to the rhythm, their bodies swinging and swerving around as the melodies leave them in a trance.
Buck was never the best dancer, never the best singer either. His moves were erratic and uncoordinated, his voice was shrill and crunchy as if it came out of a speaker with a chewed up cable, a consequence of a certain incident.
And yet, with Dave it felt like there was someone who matched his rhythm, someone who understood the insane lisping lyrics that spilt out of his bill. He could feel that phantom touch of Dave’s hands on his as he imagined them twisting and twirling together on stage.
He felt his body move on it’s own, his foot tapping to a silent beat and the lever on his head bopped up and down. He must’ve looked like a fool, dancing to a silent song to a non existent audience, but at this point, who cares? Dave told him to put on a show didn’t he?
“HAHA!”
“HAHAHAHA!”
He laughs manically as he spun and twirled around, imagining then and there, a song, their favourite song, playing as he fumbled about, almost tripping over and falling at one point.
The Duck Shuffler stamped his foot on the ground, holding his arms out as he finished off his dance. He could feel his chest once again, every breath, every beat, every rise and fall.
He felt everything, including the tiredness catching up to him, it was late wasn’t it?
He let out one final huff as he takes one last glance at the absent audience, smiling to himself. He made his way backstage, opening and closing the door with a click.
Upon walking in he saw them, the Low Ballers, all snuggled up against each other as they snoozed away. It seemed either Dave or the Low Ballers themselves had set up their own space here as the room had pillows and beanbags scattered around.
There were… 1… 2… 3… 16 Low Ballers around, all catching Z’s together. After April Toons ends all these little guys go into hibernation until next year rolls around, in which they got back to work.
Buck missed having the guys around, they were real cute and silly, and… possibly his kids? He wasn’t sure how they came to be, they seemed to have been conjured as soon as High Roller was first formed. Would that make High Roller their mom? …does that make Buck their… half-mom? Who knows, maybe there are questions better left unanswered.
He looked down at all of them, they all seemed so tranquil, not a single care in the world.
He stared at them longingly, knowing that they wouldn’t be awake till next April Toons… but… y’know what? That didn’t matter. They were here now, even if they weren’t awake, their presence helps the gambler feel less alone.
He sat down, settling next to two Low Ballers, one of which he could tell was that construction worker Low Baller from before. The gambler smiled softly as he leaned against that one, feeling their nice smooth feathers along his face.
The off the wall feelings he had felt before along with the prolonged time in the air had wore him thin, he felt as if he were going to power down at any moment.
He snuggled a tad bit closer as he felt his slots spin and land on Z’s, feeling the energy slowly but surely leave his body.
“Nighty… Night…”
