Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Glisten had been distracted recently. He still held his head up high, his smile never faltering but never quite reaching his eyes. His quips came after a beat of hesitation, his skill checks were failing more and more. Glisten was perfect, and the shame of the buzzer radiating throughout the dark room had placed a weight so great on the toon’s back that he simply couldn’t handle it. He pretended. A weight so heavy it made traversing the continuing floors harder and harder. He was tired. If it wasn’t for his friend distracting, risking his life while he stumbled and failed, they certainly would both be dead. One thing became very apparent during duo runs, more so than it was during group runs. They were codependent. One could not thrive without the other. The sunflower is always leaning towards the sun. Without Goob distracting, Glisten could not complete the machines and stay alive. Not in the state he was currently in. This was something he would never admit to himself. He acclaimed himself as a spectacular soloist, able to descend floors with ease and grace, speed and efficiency. He was getting sloppy though. Goob could not complete machines quickly. He knew his job, he enjoyed it, and he was good at it. He never felt lesser for his abilities and lack of others. He was satisfied with his job and fulfilled with the feeling he gained from helping others. His friends returning to the elevator without so much of a scratch, made up for all the scratches and cuts he’d return with. 

Not so long ago, Glisten had been going on more and more solo runs. They lasted less and less time and he would return more and more bruised and battered. Goob would offer to help, he was the only toon that would go out of his way to talk to Glisten about this. The others were worried about the biteback they would receive from the other toon. He had never wanted to seem anything less than perfect and could get quite defensive. Goob didn’t necessarily see through any of Glisten’s walls. He simply understood what being a good friend was. It was being there. No matter what. So Goob would follow Glisten to his room, asking to come in. Glisten wanted the alone time. He wanted to hide from the world, he was ashamed. Goob noticed that. Noticed the noises that would come from Glisten’s room after a ‘bad run’. So, Goob made an excuse. He didn’t think it would work, and it stumbled out rather foolishly, but… it worked.

“Ah, Goob… How long were you following me?” Glisten questioned, standing in the doorway to his room. He had a tiny crack in the corner of his mirror, ichor splotches on his ribbon and body. Glisten wanted to clean up. He wanted to hide. But Goob was here, so he smiled. He was perfect. “Not long.” The response was short and awkward. There was a silence that lasted a few beats. A few uncomfortable beats. “Well my fluffy friend, is there anything I can help you with?” Glisten finally spoke up, chuckling nervously. Goob’s eyes widened slightly, and he stumbled over his words, trying to think of an excuse. Then he got his idea. ‘Help him with’ and ‘fluffy friend’. He had an idea, and possibly an in. “Uhm- Yes! Actually! Uhm.. Scraps isn’t… here.. Right now. And!! And, I need help brushing out my fur… My claws make it really hard…” He would be surprised if Glisten had bought anything he was saying. While he wasn’t necessarily lying, he also wasn’t all that confident in what he was saying. He hesitated but let out a sigh and tilted his head to the side, smiling with closed eyes, his sharp canines on display. “Help?” He let out, followed by a sad and breathy chuckle. Glisten listened, eyes drifting down to the aforementioned large tuft of fur sat on the other toon's chest. He sighed, and his smile changed. It wasn’t bigger or smaller, but it reached his eyes. “Come on in,” Glisten said softly as he took a step back, opening the door for Goob.

Glisten had told Goob to wait at his vanity while he cleaned up in the other room. So Goob did just that. Though he couldn’t help himself from looking around the others room. Just lingering glances, taking in the excellence of the room. He stayed seated, he wouldn’t want to stress Glisten out. But his eyes wandered, each little detail, each perfectly cleaned and organized corner, filling him with just an ounce more of adoration. Finally, Glisten returned. His bow was still secured around his waist but it was clean and neat now. His crack had seemed to be fixed and there was no sign of ichor on him anywhere. A pink robe, the edges dawned with a lighter pink fluff, draped gracefully over his shoulders. Goob couldn’t help his tail from wagging. Glisten didn’t notice. 

“Much better. Perfect even!” Glisten smiled, almost triumphantly, hands placed on his hips. Goob nodded in agreement, watching every little move Glisten had made. It looked like he was feeling better. That put Goob at ease. “Alright, my very fluffy friend. Now, it is your turn.” Glisten smiled at Goob, moving to grab his brush. It was chrome with a G sculpted on the back. “Thank you!” Goob exclaimed, sitting back in his seat and willing his fervent tail to calm down. Glisten pulled up another stool he had hidden somewhere in his room. He sat in front of Goob, pulling his chair closer. Goob was surprised by the ease with which he had been dragged. Glisten was much stronger than he had imagined.

His arms hung down to the side, tail wagging steadily as his chin was tilted up. Glisten’s hand and brush alternatingly ran through his fur. Goob let out a content sigh and Glisten had busied and lost himself in the monotonous motions of brushing the other. Glisten was lulled into a strange relaxation by the softness of Goob’s fluff. Almost like petting a dog and the natural endorphins that it releases. Between his run from before and now the soothingness of this, Glisten had felt his eyes growing heavy. He had long since finished detangling the fluff, now simply brushing it because he enjoyed it. “You getting tired, Glis?” Goob asked softly, noticing the way his eyes fluttered, looking like they weighed a hundred pounds. Glisten chuckled softly, mostly air rather than sound coming out. “A little,” he admitted, looking up at Goob. “Do you wanna-” Goob began to offer for Glisten to stop but he was quickly interrupted. “No no! This is… nice.” Glisten admitted, looking back down to avoid the eye contact that was quickly causing his cheeks to burn. Goob just sighed and offered a small hum of acknowledgment, allowing Glisten to do as he pleased. It was relaxing for Goob as well so he certainly wouldn’t complain… He was slightly worried about the tired toon in front of him, however. 

About another five minutes passed, and slowly, the hands moving to brush had halted, stalling even. Goob looked down, Glisten’s head nodding as he tried and failed to stay awake. Goob stood, picking up Glisten. He had to wrap his arms around him a few times in order to properly support him. He walked over to the boy's bed, pushing the drapery to the side using his shoulder and he attempted to lay Glisten down. A Glisten who was fussing about still being awake although he very clearly wasn’t. Goob placed the boy down, his hands awkwardly slinking off of the other. Glisten had tried to fight off the sleep but as soon as Goob had - haphazardly - pulled the comforter over him, he accepted it, eyes staying shut and breathing mellowing to a fine pace. “Goodnight, Glisten!” Goob said softly, a big smile on his face. He did a good job. Scraps would be proud! Quietly, Goob had left the room, shutting the door behind him with as much care as he could with his large hands and awkward arms. 

Chapter Text

Goob all but skipped back to his room, arms dragging behind him as his tail wagged with a newfound fervor. He had helped his friends many times, but never had he felt so good afterward. His heart was a flutter and his head felt airy. There was a big smile plastered on his face, reaching so high his eyes began to squint. 

The toon rounded the corner into his room, almost immediately skidding to a stop as his older sister stood in the way of his path. Her hands were on her hips, her foot tapping on the floor. “Hey, sis!” Goob exclaimed, tail still wagging and smile still wide. He hadn’t completely recognized her disappointed expression. “Where were you? You were just missing for like half an hour!” Scraps exclaimed, her tone finally clicking for Goob. He paused before answering, his smile falling slightly and the wagging slowly faltering. “I was helping a friend! I did a good job, they feel better now!” Goob explained, his small smile never faltering further. Scraps sighed, relieved. “Alright, alright. You just had me worried…” She took a minute to breathe as the tension left her shoulders and her hands fell from her hips. She moved to pull Goob into a hug, the boy quickly returning it. “Who were you helping out anyways?” Scraps asked, pulling away from the hug. Goob slowly released his sister, his tail wagging again at just the mention of him. “Glisten! Well, technically, he helped me, too!”

Scraps’s face dropped pretty quickly. It was replaced with one of hesitant concern. Goob knew this face. “Awe, sis don’t give me that-” “But you know how I feel about him, how we all do!” Goob huffed, rolling his eyes. “You’re not nice to him. He tries for you guys.” Goob tried to defend Glisten but Scraps was having none of it. “No, he ‘tries’ because he thinks he’s better than everyone else,” she pivoted, walking back into their room. Goob huffed as she walked off to her bed before turning and shutting the door behind him. 

This had become a habit. A habit scraps hadn’t liked. Every time Glisten did a solo run, Goob would practically be waiting at the elevator for his return. Scraps was proud of her brother. She was proud that he was so caring and willing to help. She just wished it could have been anyone else. She found herself asking more and more often “Where were you?” She knew the answer… She just couldn’t get used to hearing it. She didn’t necessarily hate Glisten. She was just worried that he would hurt her brother. In her eyes, Glisten was egocentric. He only cared about himself, or more accurately, his appearance. Thus, he used people to build himself up; and even if he didn’t intend to, it broke others down. She wouldn’t say anything but God forbid that toon hurt her brother.

“Hey, Glisten,” Goob began, looking down at the toon who was once again focused on brushing out tangles. He gave a small ‘hm’ of acknowledgment, hand parting the fur in order to get to a knot without hurting him. He never looked up. “Maybe, just maybe... What if I went on one of your runs with you?” This caught Glisten’s attention. He paused, his hands falling to his sides, his gaze finally moving up. “One of my solo runs. A run that is for a solo .” Glisten questioned. He hadn’t meant to sound so rude about it, but he was worried he would make a fool of himself. He was still distracted. His solo average had been cut in half and his returns were due to his injuries rather than by choice now…

Goob saw the hesitation and jumped in. Maybe, Goob thought, if he made it seem like it was for his own benefit rather than Glisten’s, he’d be more open to it. “Well, I’ve always wanted to do a solo, but I’m not very good at it, sooooo… If we went together, I could distract but still move to the next floor! It’d be a duo run but… It’d be fun!” He watched Glisten’s expression, he seemed to be considering it. “Please,” he drawled, his smile tugging wider and wider. Glisten sighed. “Fine! You can come! I suppose the help of a distractor would be quite nice.” It was decided. The two spent the rest of their time together planning their next run, all while Glisten kept brushing out Goob’s tuft of chest fluff.

“What did you do today?” Glisten questioned, tugging the brush through yet another tangle. “You have never been this badly knotted before..” Glisten’s eyes were squinted, brows furrowed as he concentrated. Goob chuckled, making Glisten’s job notably harder… but Goob’s laughter was contagious and he couldn’t help himself from chuckling too. “What? S-Stop moving!” Glisten tried to calm him and figure out while he was laughing, all through a fit of his own giggles. After a few more healthy chuckles, Goob calmed down, giving Glisten the freedom to continue his work. “I played with Toodles today!” Goob explained happily. Glisten let out a long ‘hmmm.’ It made a lot more sense. “Did you have fun?” Glisten questioned. This then led to the rest of the time brushing out the knots, and the time in which he just brushed it for his own benefit, to be filled with giggly retellings of his day. Once Glisten sat back, brush in his lap and smiling up at Goob, Goob paused mid-sentence. “Done already?” He asked, almost sadly, his head cocking to the side. “All done, friend… I’d keep you all night but I think your sister would kill me!”
Ever since the two had begun hanging out more and more, Scraps had… gotten more standoffish towards Glsiten. She was constantly giving him dirty looks. That in itself wasn’t too unusual but it was more often now than it used to be. During one of the big group runs they did, Goob had lost a twisted. It was following close behind Scraps. Next thing Glisten knew, an elastic-like tail had wrapped around him and flung Scraps towards him. She had run off by the time the twisted caught up and it left Glisten scrambling to get away and find Goob. 

“So I have to go?” Goob asked, watching Glisten rise to his feet. Glisten smiled solemnly at the other. “Sadly.. I’ll walk you out,” Glisten offered. Goob huffed and stood up. Glisten had begun walking to the door, he had wanted to get out of Goob’s way if he was in it. That’s when he heard that distinctive stretching sound. A small sigh escaped his mouth and he couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corner of his lips as he was pulled into the tight embrace. “Thank you, Glisten!” Goob exclaimed, hugging the other toon tight. “Any time, Goob,” the other toon returned. After another beat of silence, Goob’s arms began to uncoil from around the boy and return to the floor. Glisten walked Goob the rest of the way to the door, opening it quietly as it was later than usual and other toons were probably sleeping. “Goodnight, friend.” “Goodnight friend.” And with that, Goob walked back to his room. He wasn’t skipping, he knew to be quiet when all the lights were out.

Chapter Text

Glisten was looking over his shelf of trinkets, one hand crossed in front of his chest. His other hand sat questioningly under his chin as the connected elbow sat on his other arm. His eyes narrowed as he considered which ones to use. He had a distractor now so the diary wasn’t necessary… His stamina isn’t an issue if he was careful so that cancels out all stamina trinkets… Glisten huffed. He rolled his eyes and turned before flopping onto his bed. He groaned, hands grabbing the edge of his mirror. He didn’t want to smudge his glass by running his hands over his face. He rolled over onto his stomach, fiddling with his comforter. He rubbed the fabric in between his fingers as he got lost in thought. 

A nervous pit bubbled in his stomach. He was worried about messing up. Because now, someone would be there to know, and it would be obvious that it was him. No way to hide from his mess-ups. He would know it was him. He would know he was a failure. Less than. Clumsy. A slob. Imperfect. He was having doubts about this whole thing… but he couldn’t bring himself to go back on his word. That too would be less than perfect. He hadn’t realized until now, but his breathing had shallowed, his eyes stung as tears threatened to pool in his eyes. He had to calm down. He had to just breathe. It took a moment. Thoughts raced around his head, too fast for him to understand a single one in its entirety. He rolled over onto his back, eyes squeezed shut as he clawed at his bed sheets for dear life. He couldn’t breathe.

Knock.

           Knock.

                       Knock.

Glisten shot up, breathing heavy and shallow, his chest heaving. His head whipped towards the door, body shaking. Every movement was dizzying. “O-” The beginning of his word came out shaky and quiet. He cleared his throat and spoke up. They wouldn’t be able to tell from the other side of a door, would they? “One moment!” Glisten shot up from his bed, smoothing out his bed set, ensuring its perfection. He took deep and shaky breaths, trying to calm himself. He closed his eyes, standing in the middle of his room. In… Hold… Out… In… Hold… Out… He checked himself in the mirror, brushing some powder under his eyes before running to the door. He took one more deep breath before opening it. 

“Goob! My ever-so-fluffy friend! What are you doing here?” Goob tilted his head, smiling confusedly. “It’s almost time for our run!” He responded, his head evening out. Glisten’s eyes widened. “Oh! Silly me, I must have lost track of time while trying to figure out the perfect trinkets to use!” Goob chuckled. “That’s ok, Glisten! Have you picked them out yet?” Glisten sighed, hand on his hip. “Not yet…” “Well, I can wait! I’d help but… I’m not good at that stuff. I just use what Scraps tells me is best,” Goob explained, chuckling sheepishly. A tiny smile teased at Glisten’s mouth, and he sighed. “Alright, come on in.” He opened the door for Goob, shutting it behind them, and then promptly returned to the trinket shelf. Once again, his hand found his hip. He was lost. “What about your mirror?” Goob asked, eyes gazing over the vast collection the other toon had accumulated. The shelf was the cleanest shelf Goob had ever seen. Everything had its own box, the boxes arranged into an artistic pattern on the wall. There wasn’t a spec of dust, a slight imperfection, a single thing off-center. It was meticulously planned and crafted. Goob wondered when Glisten had found the time to do all of this. 

Glisten tilted his head, his eyebrows raising slightly. He reached up and grabbed the small vanity mirror. “Not a bad idea,” he mentioned, looking the small item over. He pocketed it and went back to looking. He’d have to do the machines quickly in order to relieve Goob of his duties quickly. He grabbed the magnifying glass. It was risky, considering his poor performance recently… But he took it. He had something to prove to himself. Having now pocketed his two trinkets, he turned around and faced Goob, a falsely confident smile on his face. “Ready.” He confirmed. Goob smiled and stood up from his usual seat at the vanity. Quickly, the two had made their way to the elevator…

The first floor was easy. Four machines, all spread out, but toons that were easy for Goob to distract. There was no concern to be raised from either of them as Glisten quickly and efficiently completed machines. It was like he had a strange second wind in which he could finally focus. He wasn’t alone anymore, that silenced his mind. He never missed a skill check. Sure, they weren’t all perfect, but never once did he miss. Glistened shouted a warning to his teammate who began returning to the elevator shortly after the countdown began. Glisten had already made it back by the time Goob got there. Goob was good at his job. Glisten smiled at his teammate as he dragged his arms into the elevator, the heavy door shutting behind him. “Ah! Hello, you two! No more solo runs, Glisten?” A familiarly agitating voice rang from behind the two. Glisten turned around slowly to face the other toon. He smiled at Dandy but the other still noticed how his eye twitched. He chuckled. “That’s probably for the better, you weren’t rea-” Glisten nearly jumped forward, leaning on the edge of the counter and looking at Dandy in his eyes. “Wow, a stopwatch floor one? How lucky.” He said through gritted teeth, handing over the few tapes he had and pocketing the item. Dandy sighed. “Ah. What’s my line?” He ‘pondered’ briefly before ‘remembering’. “Ah, that’s right. Thanks for the tapes!” The flower pulled the lever and waved his way down, smiling at Glisten on his way. 

“What was that about?” Goob questioned, taking a few steps closer to Glisten. Goob was unable to hide the worry that covered his face. Glisten sighed before perking right back up, posture fixing itself and his face snapping back to the same confident smile he was known for. “Who knows?” he asked throwing his hands and chuckling. “It’s no matter! We have a run to finish.”

A short while later, the pair had reached the mid-twenties of floor levels. Goob had a twisted on his back, just barely had he made it to the elevator before being hit… However, Glisten had yet to make it back. Both of the ichor-ridden toons camped outside of the elevator. Glisten took a deep breath, readying himself before running towards Goob and using his special ability. The mirror spun, spitting him out right next to the taller toon. Glisten’s head was spinning and he stumbled a few steps forward, ensuring he was fully inside the elevator. Goob watched, concerned, nearly leaping to Glisten’s side. The elevator door had shut as soon as he had made it in, Glisten hadn’t heard it.

Glisten held his head. Every time he used his ability he would get dizzy. The farther he had to go, the dizzier he was. He stumbled forward again and Goob reached out, wrapping his arms around him to hold the other toon upright. He tugged the boy close to his chest, ensuring his safety. Glisten just huffed, trying to stop the world from spinning. “I think it’s time to go back,” Goob offered quietly, not letting Glisten go. He could feel the mirrors heart pounding against his chest. “Huh? No- No, Goob. I’m fine.” Goob just shook his head. “Really, that’s just the farthest I’ve had to go in a while. I’m fine.” Goob hesitated before unwrapping one of his arms from Glisten and smacking the button panel on the elevator, sending them back up. Glisten began to complain, however, Goob cut him off. “Do you always get dizzy?” Glisten hesitated before sighing and offering up a small ‘yep’. He accepted his fate, relaxing into the chest fluff he would soon be brushing out. By the time the elevator had finally reached the top, Goob had finally unwrapped his arms from the mirror… After much convincing from Glisten that he was finally feeling alright. Finally, they were back in the all too familiar Gardenview lobby and now homeward bound.