Too many open ends
Glisten had stopped shaking by the time he got back to the base floor. He had stored away Cosmo and Sprout’s bracelets, on the off chance that nothing happened while they were there and they just came off somehow.
But for now, he wasn’t going to think about that.
He just wanted something for the headache.
Stepping out of the elevator, he starts heading towards Dandy’s Shop. That’s when he noticed something that causes him to freeze where he stands.
Cosmo and Sprout were right there, perfectly ok, talking to Dandy about some things they were apparently short of in the kitchen, failing to bring up the destroyed state of the place. And the strangest part of it all? They had their friendship bracelets on, as they should. They never take them off….
Had he just…. Imagined it all…? No, he had the bracelets…. What had just happened…?
….On second thought, he could handle a headache.
Hoping that no other thing had noticed him at that point, he stepped back into the elevator and headed to the floor with his room on it. There was a time when he hated the fact that he was on the same floor as Shrimpo. After all, it was Shrimpo. Who wanted to be on a floor with him? But over time he had come to ignore him. Giving him thought just brought up headaches or made pre-existing ones worse.
Well, it made the not-developed-from-hitting-his-head headaches worse, anyway. He was starting to think that this headache couldn't get worse. Of course, then he heard Shrimpo yelling something about hate, and lo and behold what do you know, the headache could get worse. He was starting to wish he lived on a different floor again…
Glisten walks into his room and locks his door, luckily not noticed by any of the other toons. He wasn’t up for casual conversation right now….
It wasn’t exactly a secret that something strange had been happening recently. It started with Dandy going missing for a few days about a month ago now. He just… Left with no explanation. He came back sure, but still, to this day we don’t know what happened. He’s just been… Different since then. Glisten never really talked to the flower too much, but he’s heard a few things from Vee about Dandy apparently not taking part in their bickering sessions anymore. …Why the two did it in the first place was weird, but he couldn’t judge. Maybe it gave Vee a confidence boost…. Maybe Glisten should try it sometime with Shrimpo or something, actually make use of the shitty floor layout. The only good thing was Razzle and Dazzle….
…Actually, really the only bad toon on the floor was Shrimpo.
But it was still a floor with Shrimpo nonetheless. At least it wasn’t Shrimpo AND Finn…. Sometimes he felt bad for those other toons.
Sometimes.
He walks over to his bed andsits on it, not really sure how to feel about all of this. He holds Cosmo and Sprout’s friendship bracelets in his hand, staring at them silently. What could possibly be a reasonable explanation for what he’d seen so far? For some reason, his mind immediately went to cloning, but that’d be stupid. Why would anyone need more than one toon?
Ok, so, probably not cloning (the idea was still on the table though). The next idea - and a far more reasonable one at that - was that there was just a really messy accident that could possibly include a new toon not yet introduced to most of the others (him included) that could grow plants…! …And maybe Cosmo and Sprout just happened to be there and managed to drop spare versions of their friendship bracelets? ..If they even had spares. It was still quite a stretch… After all, a new unintroduced toon that no one has brought up once? Seems unlikely, considering everyone’s incessant need to gossip and tell about everything they see and hear. After all, boredom was something that constantly plagued them all. They needed something to do all day.
Sighing, he sets the bracelets down on one of the desks next to his bed and lays down, unwrapping a chocolate bar and starting to eat it. He had always had a bit of a sweet tooth. He hated it, but he hated the thought of not being able to eat a sugary snack even more.
Eating something often let his thoughts clear, oddly enough. It allowed him to focus on the mundane task that demanded all of his attention. Why eating stole his thoughts, he never knew, but it was usually rather nice. But not right now.
Right now it just reminded him that his head was still pounding.
Quite a bit, actually. He never thought that a headache could get so bad that he could almost physically hear it…
Oh.
Oh, wait-.
“Uh- Gimme a sec-!”
He was practically stumbling over his words as he quickly got up, grabbing the bracelets and all his sweets and quickly stuffing them into the vanity drawer. The sweets showed an imperfect side ofhim. He was supposed to be a role model for the young kids and eat healthily for them to keep up appearances, not gorge away on candy. He didn’t even want to think about what the other toons might think.
And the bracelets?
He just didn’t want to be seen as some freak who had a perfect replication of Cosmo and Sprout's friendship bracelets.
He rushes over to the door after closing the drawer, opening up the doorway only to see… Rodger? He didn’t live on this floor…..
There are a few moments of awkward silence before either of them say anything..
“...Detective.”
“Good, I wanted to talk to you. For a moment I thought you weren’t here…”
What else would Glisten be doing? Chores that he didn’t have that day? Well, he supposed he did want to hang out with Vee or R&D, before the headache had ruined the idea….
“I was hoping to understand your mirror ability more. I’ve been looking into the different abilities the toons have and-”
“Rodger-”
“-I’ve come to discover that, interestingly enough, the Handlers did not initially intend for us to have these abilities-”
“Rodger please-”
“And yet these abilities seem to be directly tied to who we are! Something strange that I’ve noticed recently is that-”
“Rodger.”
The two of them are silent for a moment, staring at each other. It was strange how similar they were. Sure, they still were incredibly different from each other, but there was certainly an uncanny resemblance if you squint hard enough (to the point where you basically can’t see) and if you were basically colorblind.
“Can… You interview me another time…? I’m just not up to it today..”
Rodger was going to say something in response, but he was soon met face-to-face with the door once again. …Guess he would just have to look into Glisten's ability at a different time…. Though that statement he made made him a bit concerned, he would check up on the other toon later.
Glisten lays on his bed again, his lights now off since those brought lights were certainly not helping how he felt. But with the darkness came tiredness, and he soon found himself closing his eyes unwillingly. …Just a few minutes, it would only be a few minutes…..….