Work Text:
Outside of a certain toon’s room, the soft scribbling of wax on paper could be heard.
There was an eight ball toon laying on the floor, holding her crayon the length of a thumb, doodling on paper with uneven, unintentional folds at the corners. She was swinging her legs, her non-dominant hand supporting her head, with a childish smile that could melt any toon’s heart.
Toodles was drawing herself… with a few adjustments: her cheeks had a pinkish tint and white dots representing glitter sprinkled all over her face. Next to her was a taller, slender figure, a giant pink ribbon wrapped around his body and a mirror for a face: he had a cheeky smirk, smug eyes with pink lining on his lids, and baby pink cheeks. The word “BFF” was written along with an arrow pointed at the mirror.
The young toon was bored and wanted to change up her appearance a bit, so why not give her best friend, Glisten, a visit? If she remembers correctly, he didn’t have any plans today nor was he scheduled for any recording sessions, so she thought today was the perfect day to ask him for a makeover.
Glisten would give Toodles a makeover whenever she asked for it, even if he had other things to do. The toons he shared plans with weren’t mad whenever he wasn’t able to make it because of the fact he wanted to keep the kid happy. No one would refuse that sweet face.
Toodles finished up her drawing and stood up, holding the paper and admiring her work. It was a masterpiece! He’d definitely love this! She packed up her crayons back in the box and headed out of her room, keeping the paper close to her.
She pitter-pattered to the elevator, about to go down to the floor Glisten’s room was located in. She was greeted by a magnifying glass, to which she also had a close bond with. “Good morning, Toodles.” “Good morning Rodger!!!” she happily waved and entered the elevator with an even brighter smile.
“What are you planning on doing today?” he asked, staring at the paper the eight ball was holding. “Ooohhh, I’m gonna hang out with Glisten today!” she responded enthusiastically, her eyes literally glimmering from excitement.
The elevator dinged.
“Hmm, alright. Have fun,” he waved goodbye to Toodles and she hopped outside then waved back. “Bye Rodger!!!” She continued swinging her hand until the door was shut again. The joy of a child is infectious; the detective felt the bottom part of his eye raise.
— — —
Glisten was in the elevator, leaning on the railing. His makeup had already rubbed off; his eyeshadow had already melted into the creases of his eyes and his blush oxidized to a more orange hue. There was ichor smudged on his mirror, but he had no towel to wipe it off as he dropped it in an earlier floor while running from a twisted.
“Glisten, are you alright?”
His expression was unreadable, like he always looked whenever he was alone in his room. He looked like his soul was ripped out of him, similar to the feeling to whenever he had no makeup on. There was a void deep in his chest.
Many toons had mixed opinions about him, but it was always leaning towards the positive side. What could have caused that though? Self-esteem should not be seen as selfish! Sure, Glisten always tried to make sure everyone within proximity notices him, but was it really that bad?
He huffed at the thought, his heart getting heavy. He never really managed to have any meaningful relationships with anyone else.
She didn’t count – children were always so naive and would befriend most people they deem trustworthy despite their “deeming” senses not being reliable as well. But he was glad that she chose to trust him out of her own volition; she always managed to make him feel better, even on his worst days. Actually, his worst days were always the days she didn’t knock on his door.
…Rodger also didn’t count as he was always oh-so concerned about others. Glisten was not fit for that role, but ironically, he was the detective's main beneficiary. In some nights, when the mirror could no longer handle being lonely, he’d always sneak into the magnifying glass’ room and pour out his heart to him. The two never spoke about it outside of those sporadic moments of vulnerability, but Rodger never complained about it, so this has become a common activity for them.
“ –Glisten!”
The abrupt jolt of the elevator startled the mirror out of his trance, standing upright and looking at the toon he was with.
“...Rodger?”
Maybe recent events have made him irrational. Maybe he did have at least one of such relationship. At least one other toon besides himself who could still care.
“It’s only us left. We have to report this to the others once we’re back up. We need to focus for this, and I don’t want you getting hurt too.”
The mirror laughed at the thought, but instead it looked like he was mocking his friend as well. The detective only replied with a sigh.
The elevator dinged.
— — —
Toodles skipped to the door with a pink ribbon at the center, paired with a mirror at the top. She was too short to see her face on it without jumping, but this just made her determined to grow taller even sooner. She knocked on the wood and a faint “coming!” could be heard inside. The footsteps got louder and louder, until the door swung open to Glisten.
He had the exact same makeup on as Toodles’ drawing. The mirror never changed his makeup unless if it was for an important event, though, so it was to be expected. “Heyyy Toodles! What’s up?” he was leaning on the door frame, curious on what the younger toon has to say.
“Umm, I drew this for you!” she flipped the paper and raised it to face Glisten, anticipating for an answer from her friend. “Oh! This is a lovely piece of work. You and I look absolutely fabulous! Thank you, bud,” he gently took the doodle from her hands. “Is there anything else?”
“Actually, I wanted to get a makeover from you today! Like the one in my gift!” Toodles was fidgeting with the drawstrings of her dress, trying to undo the knots on the ends. “Oh of course! Come in, come in,” he waved his hand inward as he walked to the vanity mirror, welcoming his little guest inside. She soon followed and nudged the door to be slightly closed.
Glisten placed the drawing on top of the desk, planning to display it somewhere later. “Sit here,” he pulled out a pink stool from underneath and the eight ball complied, giggling from excitement. The mirror set his towel and bottles of makeup remover aside, then brought out blush containers, sticks, and eyeshadow palettes of various pink hues from the drawers.
“Woah, that’s a lot of makeup!”
“Of course, after all, I am the best makeup artist here. Now, which shade do you want for your cheeks?”
“Hmmm…”
– – –
Only the creaking sound of the elevator descending could be heard, and for the two toons inside, it was ambience. Glisten reminisced to whenever he took the elevator around Gardenview; its sound was the only thing that remained the same, which comforted him a bit. Everything else? In shambles.
As each floor gets lower and lower, it only got worse and worse: ichor slowly taking over every corner, every crevice, every toon – almost every toon he knew after starting this elevator ride had become completely different from who they used to be. Some of them have become monsters; mindless creatures overtaken by the sacred blood, attacking him and his teammates. He knew this was going to be his end, but he did not want to accept it.
His makeup no longer had any lasting power; his reflective surface had become smudged. Full of fingerprints created by himself, trying to keep his blush and eyeshadow intact, but only made worse with the ichor that stained on his hands from extracting – stupid, stupid mistake.
His appearance was one of the few things that kept him, him. What created his identity. The thought of himself dying and his lifeless body having imperfect makeup was terrifying to him. He could no longer do anything about it as the blush stick he hid in his ribbon had broken off into tiny pieces, rendering it useless.
He was running away from a twisted until he had tripped and fell on his back, his ribbon taking most of the impact. He would’ve accepted his fate then and there until Rodger grabbed the creature’s attention in an attempt to save him. The detective ended up getting hurt, but they had managed to find a first aid kit later on.
...
“Say… has she given you a drawing before?”
Glisten suddenly asked, his voice strained, snapping the detective from his daydream.
“Oh, yes. She drew for everyone.”
“Where did you place it? Her drawing for you, I mean.”
“Somewhere inside my nightstand. I get to see it every night before I rest.”
The mirror only looked at the fluorescent lights on the elevator, trying to hold back tears, but it was obvious due to its shine caused by his face's reflective surface.
“Why'd you ask–…Glisten? Are you alright?”
The two remained silent for a moment, sometimes interrupted by quiet, choked sobs.
“Sorry. I… I just–"
The elevator dinged.
– – –
Toodles was hovering her pointer finger over each container, trying to see which one has the cutest packaging – she was a child, so obviously she did not care about the quality of a product and would much rather prioritize the one that looked the most appealing to her.
Even then, her choice would not matter at all since most, if not all, of Glisten's makeup was just pink paint with some additives and chemicals to actually feel like items meant for the face. “Human makeup would never last the whole day, especially for toons as energetic as Glisten,” a toon handler would say when asked about it (making sure the mirror wasn’t around to hear it).
She decided on the one with tiny rhinestones outlining the lid, and Glisten picked it up to open it. “Good choice!”
He proceeded to grab a round, fluffy brush. Its bristles were a light beige and had a pink ombre at the ends; the handle was a hot pink and seemed to have a shimmer on it. He patted the brush on the baby pink blush and proceeded to swipe on Toodles’ cheeks. The kid was very ticklish, and it was obvious with how much she raised her shoulders every time the bristles touched her cheeks. Glisten could not help but smile as well.
After it was done, Toodles looked at the mirror to see her cheeks have a pink tint on them, which made her so happy! “Glisten, do you have any… glitter for the cheeks?” she politely asked, playing with the container of another blush by pushing its button to open and closing it over and over. “Why obviously! I have it rightttt…” he opened the bottom drawer and reached in to the farthest part of it, then pulled out holding a small, shiny container, “here!”
Despite the tiny size of it, it held a lot of glitter. Could most likely be used to cover more than a hundred faces. Glisten was thinking of a way to apply it without creating a mess and making it difficult for the child to wash it off at the end of the day, but he could not think of anything and just decided to put a diligent amount using an eyeshadow brush.
He grabbed the brush, with the same pink ombre, and only had the tip of its bristles touch the glitter. He then proceeded to dot Toodles’ cheek, mimicking freckles, and did the same for the other side. The eight ball looked at the vanity mirror again and was even happier! She was swaying on the stool, her legs kicking and her hands balled into fists, shaking in joy.
“Ohhh thank you, Glisten! You are my bestest friend ever!”
This sight made Glisten confirm that this was worth it.
“Obviously! I’m the best in everything I do... especially when it’s for my best buddy!”
- -
“Glisten, we really need to work together. Especially now.”
Rodger’s voice felt like a sting to the mirror’s hearing and utter disrespect to the other toon they used to be with in the earlier floors. His voice was drowning out the elevator’s noises.
“Mhm, I know.”
“Glisten. You have to take this seriously.”
“Yeah, yeah, I gotcha the first time. You don’t have to tell me this everytime we go down a floor.”
“I completely understand how you’re feeling, but don’t let it get to you.”
“Tsk… that’s easy for you to say.”
“I miss her too, Glisten. But you have to move on.”
“...”
“It wasn’t your fault. None of us were at fault. Nobody would have ever expected any of this to happen. I hope you know that.”
“Shut up, Rodger. I can manage.”
“You can be honest with me here too, you know. I’m familiar with how you act.”
“…You found a place for it while I didn’t.”
“I know and understand your guilt. But, when you’re ready, you can always talk to me. It’s unhealthy for you to stay like this.”
“...”
“We have to do this, Glisten. For her, and for everyone else.”
The elevator dinged.
- -
Toodles happily went out of the mirror’s room with a fresh, preppy look. Glisten followed behind, his arms crossed and smirking with pride: yeah, he was the one who gave her the glow up.
“Hey Toodles, I love your new look!” Poppy complimented as she passed by. “Thanks, Glisten did it for me!” she gleefully replied. Toodles has always been active, but her confidence seems to have quadrupled since the makeover. She has been hopping and skipping around the hallways, and Glisten was watching her, remembering his younger years.
He was a carefree toon – barely cared about what others thought of him. He has always been fond of makeup and the color pink in general, but maybe that was because he was created to be that way. Nonetheless, he was happy with who he was: his appearance, his talent... What happened to make him so insecure now? He doesn’t seem to recall, and he also doesn’t seem to want to remember.
He snapped back to reality when a magnifying glass was standing right next to his door. “Wh– Rodger!? I mean – ahem, when did you get here?” the mirror had to compose himself for a moment before standing up from the doorway.
“I just wanted to say, Toodles looks happy.”
“Why of course! That was because of–”
“Yes, you. I already know when you’re involved!”
“Oh you know that telling me that just feeds more to my ego. You know me so well!”
“Hah! I’d never say that to you if it weren’t about little miss detective over there.”
“Mhm, seeing her happy makes me happy.”
“Me as well. I’m glad she trusts you.”
“D’aww! You flatter me, Rodger.”
The two toons continued standing next to each other, unsure of what to say next.
The detective took a deep breath, “...Thank you for taking care of her.”
The mirror only responded with a sincere smile.
--
“Each floor seems to get infested with more ichor; I wouldn’t let myself get distracted if I were you.”
“Blah blah, whatever. I know what I’m doing.”
“You need to be more careful. The glare your face makes is dangerous.”
“Yes, I knew that already! You also need to be careful with what you do. The amount of times you’ve gotten hurt trying to save me when I could’ve saved myself is doing more harm than good.”
“You wouldn’t know that – we’re both still alive, are we not?”
“Psh, obviously! But please, you’ve got to remember that I can literally bring myself to you in a jiffy.”
“Still, what if there was a time you couldn’t?”
“Then it’s over! How many floors have we descended? How many machines done? And with how it’s only getting worse, it all seems pointless!”
“We wouldn’t know for sure if there really is an end lest we both die in arm’s reach of the solution.”
“Sighhh… you know, Rodger, you haven’t changed the slightest bit since… this.”
“I assure you that I have.”
“How so?”
“...”
The magnifying glass remained quiet and looked at the floor, thinking about something. Glisten realized he never asked how Rodger was doing during this entire trip.
“I… have had many regrets since then. I don’t want to make more.”
Rodger continued looking at nothing, as if solemnly remembering something. It felt like an intrusion of his privacy if Glisten continued staring at him, so he turned his head down.
The elevator was quiet for a few moments, only the sound of its slow descent could be heard.
…
…
…
“I never let her become the detective she wanted to be.”
The elevator dinged.
--
The night arrived and Toodles was about to go to bed. Before that, she needed to remove her makeup since it became a bit… cakey throughout the day. And the glitters were starting to make her uncomfortable.
Glisten brought her to the washroom and sat her on the counter beside the sink. He grabbed a cotton pad and poured the “makeup” remover he brought on it, dabbing the pad on the eight ball’s face. The blush came off, but the glitter was still sticking and little particles were spread throughout her face – damn this sparkly thing.
He opened the faucet, slightly tilting it to the left to warm it up. He placed his hand under the running water to check the temperature, and when it was lukewarm, he guided Toodles’ head to position above the sink, then grabbed the water and swiftly splashed it on her face.
She had her eyes closed, but he could tell she was getting a tickle out of this with how her undereyes were crinkling and her smile got wider. Almost all of the glitter washed off (thankfully), and he used a cotton towel fresh from the laundry to wipe her face.
“You alright, buddy?”
“Yeeeeuuuppppp! I love washing my face!”
“Heh… Of course, and I bet it’s even better when it’s me doing the washing, no?”
“Yeah! I didn’t know you were so talented at this!”
“...”
Glisten put down the towel after the unintentionally backhanded compliment and sighed. How does the kid always do that? He would never take it personally, though; rather, he just found it comedic. Especially when he sees her goofy face and giant black eyes staring right into his soul.
“Toodles, you really need to learn how to blink.”
Glisten carried the toon to her room and gently placed her on the bed. He put a chequered blanket over her and placed a kiss on her forehead.
“Good night, Glisten! See you tomorrow!!!”
Still so full of energy.
“Good night, Toodles. See you as well!”
Then the mirror stood up and closed the lights.
-
“I’m just… confused. Why her out of everyone else? Why’d she have to descend with us?”
Rodger was pacing around the elevator; he was full of bandages and the crack on his face became more prominent. The ribbon on his handle had some of its stitches ripped off, and the hems on his coat were no longer attached.
Glisten, on the other hand, had most of his makeup rub off that it could no longer be counted as makeup at this point. His hands were sore from extracting, his legs were sore from running, and his head was sore from thinking.
“Everyone else was going down… and with the situation right now, it would be near impossible to salvage it without everyone’s help.”
The detective stared at the mirror in horror.
“She was a child, Glisten! Couldn’t there have been at least one toon to watch over her above?”
“Wish that coulda been an option, but alas, here we are.”
…
“Glisten, did you want to see her grow up?”
The mirror glared at the detective.
“What kind of question is that?”
He struggled to not make his voice crack.
“Did you want to see Toodles grow up?”
“...Of course I do! I’m her best buddy, after all!”
“What would you have done?”
“Goodness, Rodger! Why do you have to be so nosy!?”
“I’m asking a hypothetical question, meaning, if you had a choice.”
“Don’t you dare phrase it that way.”
“Be honest with yourself: could you really, actually, have done anything up there?”
The mirror was looking at the ceiling in annoyance, but with a tinge of melancholy, praying the conversation ends itself.
“Glisten, you have to let out these thoughts and feelings of yours someday.”
“...As if there'll be another day.”
The elevator dinged.