Chapter Text
Looey anxiously fidgeted with his ear. They were carried into Brightney’s room after an accident during his performance. And, boy, were they embarrassed about it.
The lamp toon at his side was skimming through a book. They both were seated upon her bed. Looey had a piece of flimsy bandaging atop their knee, to keep air from escaping.
“‘m sorry for bein’ such an inconvenience..” he murmured, just loud enough to be heard.
“Aw, inconvenience?” Brightney raised her head to look at them. “Loo, no! I’m always happy to help, it’s what I love!”
Looey gently nodded. His head felt fuzzy after. Probably wasn’t best to move it around at all.
They fought the urge to lie back and let fatigue consume him. They didn’t want to make things harder for Brightney. He was already holding up her list of tasks by being present. They stared down at where his leg had popped, frustrated over their failure. He ruined their troupe’s performance and now he was taking time out of Brightney’s day. Useless. Useless and pathetic was he. Useless, useless, useless!
”Your tail is twitching,” Brightney noted. It brought his focus back to her. “You only do that when you overthink, Looey.”
”Awh, I’m fine, Brightney..! Just a slip up. I’ll be back onstage better than ever after this!” Looey shrugged, trying to brush off his feelings like always.
”You don’t need to be perfect.”
Looey froze. Why was she saying this?
Truthfully, he knew why, but they didn’t want to admit he struggled with self-esteem. No good clown struggled with their emotions.
”Perfection isn’t what makes you belong in Gardenview,” she continued, “You do not need to be perfect for anyone nor for me.”
Her warm hands grazed over his own before grasping them firmly. Was it a kind of reassurance? Something to say ‘I am here’? Looey was not sure. As a result he didn’t know how exactly to respond.
They let her hold his hands for some time, before she returned to her book and eventually had fixed Looey right up as if nothing had ever gone wrong. They didn’t know exactly why he wanted to be in her room again, to relive the moment. They guessed he’d never know.