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Beep. It's 5:30am. Finn and Looey are peacefully snuggling in Looey's bed. Yatta schedules all of her troupe's routine practice remarkably early in the morning. She doesn't know Looey hates it 'cause he doesn't have the guts to tell her and Blot doesn't care since his diet consists of energy drinks and quad espresso.
"Looey, love, which button turns the clock off?" Finn asks, unaware that Looey's still fast asleep. "Looey?" Finn looks down and sees him drooling all over his face. I bet he doesn't know how cute he looks when he's sleeping like this. As he wipes it off with his thumb, Looey wakes up to what he assumes is Finn caressing him.
"Babe, why is the alarm going off?"
"I dunno, it's 5:30 if that helps," Finn responds, lifting himself off of Looey's chest. "Can you tell me which button gets it to stop? My ears are practically being stabbed!"
"It's the big, red one that says stop," Looey retorts. "Maybe you should use your eyes."
"God, what's got you so miserable already? You can't even take a bass-ic question!" I hope that'll get a quick laugh out of him...
"It's 5:30, I'm tired, I'm parched, and my face is sweaty. Somehow."
Finn doesn't know if Looey would be embarrassed knowing he drools in his sleep, but all he can imagine is how adorable Looey would be blushing and denying it.
"That's not sweat, that's just your spit," Finn says, correcting him. "And here, if you're thirsty, take a sip out of me." He removes the cork from his head and leans down.
"What?" Looey asks, drinking out of Finn's head.
"You were drooling when I woke up."
"Oh. My bad."
Finn's confused. Usually Looey isn't so dry. Usually he'd start denying it profusely or kiss Finn to shut him up. Usually Looey isn't so empty. I mean, just yesterday, they'd been all over each other! Now Looey doesn't seem to care.
Concerned, Finn asks, "Is something wrong?"
"Babe, I'm just tired. I'm literally just tired. How could anything be wrong if I had just woken up?"
Looey makes a good point.
"I'm sorry, Looey."
"No, it's okay. Really, it's okay! Just give me a few minutes, I'm assuming the clock's so early because Yatta set it?"
Finn takes a second to think about it. "Probably, her and Blot are constantly awake. Sometimes it feels like you're the only normal one. I just wish it was a little later so I could, you know, spend more time with you.
"I know, right? And look, if I could cuddle you for longer, I would. I promise you can be little spoon tonight if it makes you feel any better."
"Fine," Finn responds, wishing he could be little spoon every night.
Looey gets up and proceeds to take his pyjama pants off, not really caring that Finn's there. I mean, he's his boyfriend after all. Finn's seen him in less anyways, so what's the problem with it?
Finn's eyes immediately lock onto Looey's boxers. Check out that ass... Do not slap it. Don't touch it. How did I get so lucky that I get this view right when I wake up? God, I sea-riously love him. That's such a good choice, too. White was definitely the best for outlining both the front and the back. Wait, why am I thinking about him like this? He's my boyfriend, but is this not weird? I'm thinking about his choice of underwear? I'm so gay...
Finn's train of thought is cut when Looey turns around and starts talking.
"I've got to meet up with Blot and Yatta, you know how that'll be," he says while finishing his outfit for the day. It's not too fancy like usual, just a different pair of plaid purple pyjama pants than the ones he woke up in and a gray tank top.
"Yeah. Those two."
"They're a little...eccentric, but I still love them. Love you, bye!"
Looey leans down to kiss Finn, exiting his room and leaving Finn in there on his own.
I guess he really was just tired. I wouldn't want someone all up in my face at 5:30 in the morning either, even if it was my tall, kind, extremely attractive boyfriend. It's kind of sweet, really. The way he immediately tried to make me feel better after I apologized. I really am loved. Well, now I'm on my own for a little. What should I do? There's Sprout preparing breakfast...or is it Cosmo's day? If it's not Sprout's food I might not go. No offense to Cosmo, but he's always been better at baking. I could go talk to Glisten. Is he awake yet? He takes an hour to get ready everyday so he's probably awake. Maybe he'd like coffee. Black, of course, anything else is "too unhealthy" and "dairy makes him break out."
Finn stands up and puts on yesterday's orange basketball shorts and white Gardenview hoodie. Walking down the hall to the kitchen, Finn notices the poster of him on the wall. His glass appears mildly dirtier in the poster than his glass today. The glass made his water look darker, almost like ocean water. Now, his water is almost a true blue and the glass reflects like Glisten's face.
He pulls out a chair in the kitchen and Sprout walks out with an abundance of dirty dishes.
"What's happened there?" Finn asks.
"The dishes? Yatta and her troupe were here a few minutes ago. That girl can eat a lot, let me tell you, and she is messy. With the amount of energy she has, though, you can tell she needs the fuel. It's crazy." Sprout, being the main chef of Gardenview, knows a lot about people's eating habits. He's never mean to their faces, of course, but he's happy to share with the other toons.
"Hey, if you're overworked, I could help wash a few dishes."
"Sure, That'll be fine. Take these plates and bowls and set them on that drying rack when you're done." Sprout splits the pile of dishes into two and hands Finn a sponge.
Finn, wanting to strike up a conversation with Sprout, asks, "Who's come through today?"
Sprout responds with "Not many. I already told you about the circus troupe. So far, there's also been Rodger, Brightney, and Dazzle. Brightney and Dazzle came together.
"Don't they have their book club at 2? I see them being early risers, but still..."
Sprout nods his head. "They do, but since starting that club, they've gotten way closer. Like, way closer. It's nice to see close friends conversing at a normal volume, you know? I bet you don't hear a lot of silence when you're with your boyfriend's friends."
"I guess so. I'm glad he has them, honestly. He's seemed happier since he's spent more time with them." Finn likes seeing Looey happy, so hearing Sprout talk bad about his friends is a little disheartening.
"It's not a bad thing," Sprout adds. "If he's happy, I'm happy. I just wish they were quieter around me specifically."
Finn agrees with Sprout. "Yeah...they're a lot." It's quiet for a minute as Finn continues to wash dishes while Sprout's already done his half. Finn turns on the espresso machine and the loud whirr of the bean grinder fills the kitchen, almost drowning out what Sprout says.
"Finn, Looey loves you."
"Whaddya mean?" Finn asks, clearly confused.
"I mean, Looey's been better since you guys got together. It's not just his friends, even though they're a big help," Sprout clarifies.
"Good, then. I want it like that."
Silence fills the kitchen once again as Finn finishes making his (5% actually espresso) latte and Glisten's pure double shot. As he leaves the kitchen to go to Glisten's room, Sprout stops him right at the exit.
"Hey. I just thought I should tell you about Looey when he was here a while ago."
Finn asks, "What's up?"
"He could not shut up about you! All he said was 'I love Finn sooooo much!' and other things along the lines of that. He really, really likes you. You're helping him a lot." Sprout holds the door open for Finn.
"Thanks for telling me, man! Again, I love him, so yeah."
On the way to Glisten's room, Finn passes by the poster of himself, reminded of how he used to be.
I've grown a lot since then. I mean, physically, I'm cleaner, my water is more vibrant, and I'm even starting to grow actual fins! I've also got my Looey, I love my Looey. He's really all I was asking for back then. Not Looey specifically, but...I don't know. I should be grateful.
Finn knocks on Glisten's door.
"It's unlocked!" Glisten yells from inside. As Finn enters, the scent of vanilla and cherry blossom bless him while he sits down on Glisten's bed.
Putting Glisten's espresso down, Finn greets him. "Hi!"
"What's got you here so early, hm?" Glisten asks, walking from his vanity to the bedside table to take a sip of his coffee.
"Just wanted to talk to someone. Looey's gone and you're the only person who I like talking to that's up this early."
"Well, that's because no one else cares enough to look presentable? I mean, how long do you think it takes for Brusha to get ready? Girl comes out everyday looking like Cosmo's failed pastries! Somehow her art is 10x more presentable than her and that says a lot when it looks like slop."
Finn laughs a little at that remark. "It's only funny because it's Brusha."
"She's not been the same since Tisha. I'd spill the tea if Tisha didn't let us borrow her glass cleaner."
"About that glass cleaner," Finn replies, "It works well for me! I really appreciate it."
"Of course, Finn. You look great," adds Glisten.
"Can I ask you something? It's kind of personal, but I think you're the right person to ask."
Surprised by the tone shift, Glisten says, "Random, but go ahead."
"It's actually about the glass cleaner. A few months ago, I didn't like myself. In my head, I saw this version of myself that is perfect. In this ideal self, I had clear glass, someone to pine for me, and I was just generally put together. I've got this now, don't I?"
"You're with Looey, aren't you?" Glisten asks.
"Yeah, I'm with him. I love him so much, but he doesn't...make me feel loved like how I thought he would. Neither does my glass. Looey's obsessed with me and I know he loves me yet I just don't feel happy with him."
"This ideal version, Finn, you don't seem to be truly happy."
"I should be happy like this though, and I'm not."
"I think you're just distracting yourself from your feelings with external things like Looey and being pretty and telling yourself this is what it should be like. Before you can feel loved from any other source, you need to love yourself first, Finn."
"In everything I read, everything I watch, and anything I consume in general, the main character is miserable and the love interest just swoops down and they feel happy. Why isn't that happening for me?"
Glisten, unsure of how to approach this, says, "I wish it were that easy. Nothing like that can really happen, though. I want you to imagine that you have a disk that's full of you being pretty and Looey. If you try to insert this disk into a big cut in your head, it'll just eject it because deep in the center of your brain, you don't love yourself."
"So how can I? How do you? I think it's bullshit that you can feel at peace and not me!"
Glisten's kind of irritated at Finn's sudden aggressiveness. "Look, Finn. You keep telling yourself that your life is perfect when it's not. You haven't tried facing your emotional problems and instead just tried to avoid them. To get as close to actually having a perfect life, you need to reflect on your flaws and embrace them. Everyone thinks I'm perfect, but I do have problems myself. The reason I can love myself is that I know what my problems are and I try to fix them instead of avoiding them, even if I take them on in silence."
"Harsh, man. But you're saying that I'll actually feel loved by Looey if I love myself too?" Finn asks, chugging down the rest of his latte. "You think I can be happy?"
Glistens affirms Finn, saying, "Loving yourself and embracing your flaws is messy, but you need to do it if you want to feel any sort of love at all."
"Do I tell Looey about this?"
"Why would Looey need to know about this? He's got his own set of problems right now. Plus, it's more of a 'love yourself, self-acceptance' kind of thing you need to be doing."
"I see," replies Finn. "I'll take some time to think, okay?"
"Sounds good."
Finn exits the room after throwing away his latte's cup and starts walking back towards Looey's.
It's the poster for the third time today. Imagine that. Glisten says I need to embrace my flaws. Well, my jokes are only a little stupid and get people to laugh sometimes. I'm not fat, I'm just built like a thanksgiving turkey. Maybe being built like a thanksgiving turkey is a good thing, you know? It gives more for Looey to cuddle, you know? I love Looey so much oh my god I'm gonna get to his room and start kicking my feet up and down like I'm seven.
Finn slowly opens the door...
"Hey Babe!" Looey shouts out.
"Hi! What time is it?" Finn asks.
"It's about 8am, why?"
"Not everything needs a reason, Looey. But seriously, I'm wondering because we have an hour before we have to do anything. Wanna make up this morning's lost time?"
Looey's tail starts wagging excitedly. "Yes please! I'm exhausted after spending all that time with Blot and Yatta! Come here!"
Both of them flop down onto the bed and Looey pulls Finn in closer to him.
"So, whaddya do while I was gone, babe?"
"I just got some coffee, talked to Sprout, spent time with Glisten, and then I came back here."
Looey's face reddens slightly. "Sprout didn't say anything about me, right?"
"I mean...only a little bit."
"Oh god." Looey buries his face into the back of Finn's neck. "That's so bad."
Finn reassures Looey that it's okay. "You don't need to be ashamed, Looey, I love you and I'm happy to hear you're so open about how you feel!"
"Really?"
"Really."
omg i dont know how to end this fanfic and idrc this was so buns anyways i was gonna like do some really good ending but i couldnt think of it and like i fully understand the message of imaginal disk and i just like cant write it into anything and its kind of pmo ok im done byebye its 1am and i genuinely have gorilla glue on my eyelids