Work Text:
Ok so boom tghey kiss
Jkjk
Zooble always liked it when everyone headed off to their rooms for the night. It was such a relief to just lay in bed and just stare at the finally dimly lit ceiling, processing the overwhelming adventures Caine had forced apon the gang. It was a part of Zoobles nightly routine to brood about Jax’s buffoonery. To stare at their mismatched hands wondering about themselves. To cry to themself until they slept. Bbut tonight was different. Tonight was nice for once. They thought about the adventure earlier, it was something about paintball but with nitric acid- They couldnt remember the specifics. All that would come to mind was Gangle and how badass she looked holding the paintball gun that wasnt even double the size of her own ribbons.
It was silent in the circus for once.
Too silent that it was loud. Zooble darted their droopy eyes wide open, not surprised to see the mocking mirror placed above their bed to taunt them. They snarled as they sludged out of bed. It was unclear to them as to why they even got up instead of sleeping the feeling off, but a voice told them to search for Gangle. To hold her tight even if it was the embrace of their own arms that they hated.
Then, there she was. As if summoned, Gangle stood right outside Zoobles door clutching onto a large sketchbook. Zooble blinked twice, the second time extra hard just to make sure they werent hallucinating. Then a small voice cleared any doubts:
“Zooble, did I wake you up? Im sorry- I couldn’t sleep so I came here.”
Zooble gestured Gangle to come in, and quickly shut the door to close off the blinding lights in the hallway that was on all the time. Gangle settled in at the foot of the bed, curled up into a tight ribbon; She looked so small it was like she wasnt there at all.
“That makes two of us,” they replied before copying Gangle, resting their head on the bedframe. They cocked their head towards the sketchbook Gangle cradled, seemingly never leaving her clutch. “You gonna draw anything?”
Gangle gave them a soft smile, a special smile reserved only for Zooble. Then she looked away, twirling her ribbons around in a fiddle. Through a squiggly, hesitant voice: “I was thinking- If you wouldnt mind of course - That if you want… I could maybe, erm… That you can help me with anatomy?”
Zoobles nonexistent heart dropped to their ass. “You- I, what?-”
“-You were an artist too, right? You must be great at anatomy! I keep practicing, but no matter how hard I try, I just cant get the hands right,” her voice faltered at the last sentence as she faced her sketchbook towards Zooble to present a poorly drawn hand. They couldnt help but chuckle a tiny bit.
“Looks pretty decent to me. Though I’m pretty sure humans have five fingers and not six.”
Despite having a mask for a face, it was pretty obvious Gangle was blushing out of embarrassment. “Oh yeah… Right,” she paused, “I guess I kinda forgot what I look like in real life, we’ve been here for so long.” Her smile dissolved into a quiver.
Zoobles eyebrows furrowed, and if they had a mouth, they definitely wouldn’t be smiling anymore. “Hey, you could draw me if you want. I feel i’d look pretty good in your style. Six fingers and all.”
Gangle sniffled. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
She repositioned herself to face Zooble and flipped to a brand new page, pencil ready. “Okay.”
A few moments passed in silence, except for the occasional, “could you turn your head?” from Gangle. The situation made Zooble realise It was daunting for them to be looked at for a long period of time- But there truly wasnt anything to be afraid of. It was Gangle after all. If they had to choose, Gangle would be the one they’d rather be exposed to the most out of anyone in the circus.
“Im finished… I hope you like it,” Gangle adjusted her voice to the familiar silence both of them had just gotten used to.
Zooble leaned in closely, inspecting the drawing. It looked just like what they would see in the mirror each day, just… different. More reassuring now that it came from Gangle. Their outlook of themselves just changed.
“Wow,” they held the sketch closer, “you made me look cool.”
Gangle laughed, holding a ribbon up to her face. “You are cool.”