Chapter Text
Miserable. That's the last thing you'd expect him to be. But, how could he help it?
Boombox never found it easy to call himself "good looking". No matter what, there'd always be some part of him that would feel wrong and ruin his whole look, and it'd stick in his head all day. Knowing that whatever it was, it could never be changed that easily, he has to simply live with it. Of course, Skate and Coil have always been there to lift him up and give him his confidence boost, that's what best friends are for, but this pain felt different. This time, maybe it wasn't temporary.
It wasn't particularly that he felt ugly or weird, but just… not himself. There wasn't any way to explain it.
Boombox glowered into the mirror trying to put his finger on what it was that felt wrong, but it was hard to decide now. The more he stared at his face, the less it looked like his own, and the more distorted it would get, like jigsaw pieces in the wrong place of the puzzle. He tried glancing away, but his body was starting to distort too. Even trying to speak felt wrong, his voice wasn't his either.
The only solution?
Don't stare at the mirror for that long. Forget it ever happened. Life is great, you look fine, end of story. After all, he had places to be and bigger things to think about than himself. His mind should be on his friends, they've been waiting for him outside that bathroom door for a long while now.
"I'm fine! I'm getting out now, 'kay?" he exclaims, swallowing the lump in his throat and putting the visor back on. He's fine, it's fine.
Craterdust was known to be a rambunctious place, but with his friends, everything felt perfectly ordinary. Skateboard and Coil were strolling around the streets to find a special spot for them to hang out, eyeing every building they passed by during their conversation.
"You really don't like any of these places? C'mon, there's gotta be something. We're not heading to the outskirts." Coil huffed to Skateboard. They stopped and stood to look back as they reached near the end of the road. By this point, they'd ambled straight past every building around.
Boombox seemed to have his sights set on a small, compact tavern they went past without notice, still hearing the muffled music bleeding out into the entrance.
Hesitantly, he asked "Are you sure you don't want to head to that tavern? I thought it looked pretty nice…"
The two of them turned to look at him, ambling back slightly to take a closer look at the entrance, deciding if it was a good idea. They all had their IDs, they'd certainly be good to go.
"Sure! Why not?" Skateboard answered, looking down at Boombox again with a smile.
As the trio were let in one by one by the doorman, each of them thought of finding a place to sit, and luckily for Boombox, their seats weren't extremely far away from the stage in the front. So, he excitedly waited for the next act to come on. For a while, it remained empty, but he simply waited, and waited, and waited, and wait-
Skateboard taps on his shoulder to get his attention on the waiter right in front of them asking what they'd like to eat. He jumps and skims the menu before nervously blurting out the first thing he reads that comes to mind. After all, there's nothing wrong with trying new things, right? Maybe he'll like it.
Now, all there's left to do is wait, and wait, and wait, and the lights go dark. They light up a vibrant magenta to introduce the next act to put on a show for the tavern-goers.
A tanned gray inphernal with neon pink horns that burst with saturation, an extravagant, over-the-top, stripy pink and white tank top, a ruffly dark blue skirt decorated with a pink petticoat, her towering blue platform pumps, a lengthy pink and white candy cane resembling a wand or staff in her hand, and to top it all off, a smile bursting with the radiance of a thousand suns, captivates Boombox with her entrance.
"Welcome, welcome! With all the sweetness in your heart, say…"
A quiet couple of inphernals chant out "Kyandi, Kyandi, Kyandi Cane!"
An idol? Performing at a tavern?
Boombox simply thought to himself that he did have time to spare before the food arrived, and it's always nice to support local acts. In the meantime, he could get some new music for his playlist! Observing her flashy aesthetic and high energy, he seemed entranced, bewitched even. She went on to introduce herself to the audience.
"Kyandi is super excited to show you all around the Sparkleful Pick-N-Mix Sugar Boutique! A special double candy store and fashion boutique, where I'm taking you on a journey to find your inner style! Are you all excited?" Kyandi bubbled. Boombox cheered her on in his seat, audible enough for Skateboard and Coil to see what he was watching. The two of them assumed her to be performing to the kids around the place, but of course they weren't going to judge Boombox for having an inner child. They cheered along with him, giggling afterwards.
Coil and Skate were more occupied by their food by the time it arrived, occasionally trying to get Boombox's attention so he could eat his, but his eyes stayed glued to Kyandi and her passionate, bubbly voice. Her lively bubblegum bass music she sang along to would convince him to bop his head along while eating. By this point, he was stuck between watching Kyandi and talking to his friends.
"Looks like you're having the time of your life." Coil grinned to Boombox.
"What?" Boombox snickered back. "It's catchy!"
But ultimately he decided he would focus on Kyandi when he got home. His food was already starting to get cold and he'd missed about half the conversation those two had. Besides, it's not like Kyandi was going to just disappear once she left this stage.
Having her performance as background noise while they talked helped him to get his mood back up. Being with his friends always made him happy but he was certainly right about the music being catchy. So much so that he almost dreaded having to go back home.
"I'm full already." sighed Skateboard, stretching his arms behind his back and letting out a groan.
"Really? That fast?" Coil questioned turning to look up and down between Skateboard and his plate. His vision turned back to Boombox. "Boomie, you should probably finish that last bit before it gets cold."
"Nah, there's not much of it left and it's probably already cold. Just let him enjoy the show!" Skate interrupts.
Boombox makes a little confused "Hmm?" noise looking back at him. "No, it's okay! If you wanna keep talking-"
"Eh, I ran out of things to talk about. I'll let you have it!" Skate grins.
And in a flash, Boom was back home again, as if he had never left the house in the first place. Somehow, that strange feeling from before lingered over him, bringing him back to square one from this morning in the bathroom now that he was alone. Perhaps, that was his problem? Being alone? Would changing that fix anything?
Boombox groggily stumbles back into his bedroom, and as he opens the door, the moonlight from his window shines a message to go to sleep onto his sore eyes, no longer having protection from the visor, but taking the stress off his mind first sounded like a better idea. And how does he usually distract himself? Music!
All day he thought about that showstopping performance from Kyandi, her little fantasy world where she runs a candy store-boutique and uses magical powers to transform you into your 'inner style', and her unique look standing out from the other hundreds of inphernals in the tavern. All of it sounded like so much fun.
Upon searching up her name online, one of the first results is her only music video. Her debut song. The introduction to her own new world. He clicks on it, craving for a glimpse of what it could look like to be there.
"♪ However you're feeling, I can make you feel better! ♪"
In her white void, she stands out. The bouncy movements in her dancing are enough to bring anybody even a small bit of joy.
"♪ Whatever you're thinking, I can make it all clearer! ♪"
Boombox views in awe, again entranced by her energy as she skips across the screen, taking the visible tangled, scribbly thoughts of the other actors and tying them into ribbons.
"♪ Don't pretend, you know that you feel it, try so hard, but you can't conceal it! ♪"
She sings into the compact mirror in her hand. He's starting to get the message behind it. Or is he simply overthinking his feelings? Whatever, it's just a music video. Kyandi points the mirror at the camera as she continues to sing, inviting the viewers to envision whatever true self lies beyond that reflection. The only divide between Boombox and finding out what could reflect in the mirror is his screen, yet he tried to imagine what could be there. What his 'inner style' may be. Was it a matter of clothes? Or his face? Or chest? Or voice? Still confused, he was determined to pinpoint it, but it seemed like it was every part of him all at once. Turns out he had stressed himself out so hard he'd missed too much of the video.
"♪ You've gotta be crazy, thinking you could resist this / You know, yeah, you know you can't help yourself! ♪"
Her candy wand makes another appearance in her hand, shooting glittering beams at an inphernal, and all of a sudden, in a pink cloud of smoke, altering their whole entire outfit down to the colour of their horns. It just looked like too much fun.
"♪ I bet you can't take it, yeah, I'd like to just see you try! ♪"
She was right. It's hard to look at a utopia like that and not wish for it to be a real place. It's hard to see such a style on an inphernal like Kyandi that you never thought anyone would be bold enough to try and not see the appeal. Maybe he's wishing for too much. Maybe he shouldn't waste his wishes on something that probably can't happen. Maybe tonight, he'll have a nice dream about that boutique instead. He can think about the meaning of it some other day. He closes his eyes with the laptop still shining in his face.
"♪ You should try, if you don't you might never know! ♪"
She sings along to the camera, holding two sequin decorated dresses up with hangers. Boombox falls asleep.