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As Beach Ken approached the gate that led towards Weird Barbie’s house, he was already questioning his decision. Turning to glance back, he could just barely see the dazzling lights and bright colors of the Barbie Dance Party from this distance. Small but sparkling, their siren call almost lured him away from his purpose.
Sighing, his gaze returned to the dark staircase looming above him. It was intimidatingly long and would lead to a place he didn’t even like to visit. However, the absence of one particular individual, missing from amongst the party guests, spurred him forward. Without Allan, Ken had been too worried to enjoy the festivities. Now, he walked the long staircase in the hopes of reaching the one doll who made his heart flutter.
Dressed in his all-white bodysuit, accented with gold, Ken had slipped into his brightly colored “I am Kenough” sweater before making the trek to Weird Barbie’s home. He wasn’t sure whether it was the plush material or the inspiring message that made the sweater so comforting in this moment. Regardless, just one touch of its softness gave him the courage to continue up the stairs.
With slow steps, he finally reached the top. It hadn’t taken more than a singular knock for the entrance to open. Its doors seemed to beckon him forward. Pausing for an anxious but deep breath, he ventured inside.
“Hello?” Ken called into the emptiness.
A blur of motion tumbled towards him. Startled, Ken nearly fell as he staggered back in alarm. Just as he was about to give up and flee, he recognized the figure landing in a split as Weird Barbie.
“This is a surprise!” She laughed. “Hello, handsome. What brings you into my neck of the woods at this time of night?”
Ken shuffled his feet awkwardly. “Is Allan here? He didn’t show up to the Dance Party and I thought he might have come here, maybe?”
“Ah,” Weird Barbie gave him a look that Ken couldn’t comprehend. “Yes, actually, he is.”
He released a sigh of relief. “Oh, good. I was worried something was wrong.”
“Well,” she drew out the word in a way that worried him.
“Well?”
Weird Barbie spun out of the split and onto her feet to stand. “He’s not exactly doing great. You know how Barbieland recently received a connection to the Real World’s ‘Internet’?”
Ken scoffed. “Of course. I’ve been watching tons and tons of horse videos. Did you know that they have all kinds of horse competitions? Racing. Jumping. Showing. Even something called Polo, which—”
“Yes, yes, horses are great and Real World Internet has a lot of it,” Weird Barbie rolled her eyes and Ken did his best not to let himself feel hurt by her dismissive tone. “Unfortunately, that’s not what Allan has been looking at. He’s found something called ‘WebMD.’ Apparently, it helps sick humans find out what’s wrong with them.”
“So, Allan’s finding out what’s wrong with sick humans?” He furrowed his brows.
“Oh, honey, no. More like, he’s reading about human sickness and thinks the symptoms apply to him. And there lies the problem, sweet cheeks. Allan’s not a human. None of us are. So the symptoms and diseases he’s reading about don’t apply to us. Allan thinks he’s dying, when in reality—”
“Allan is dying?!” Ken interrupted in terror.
Having understood little of Weird Barbie’s explanation, the only thing he did piece together was ‘Allan’ and ‘dying.’ This news was like a shot of adrenaline through his veins, leaving him horrified and bouncing anxiously on his toes. His brain, which had little capacity under the best of circumstances, was running on overdrive.
“We need to do something! We need to save him! What if we—”
“Woah, woah, hold your horses, buddy,” Weird Barbie held up her hands in a calming gesture, doing her best to prevent him from running off to do who knows what. “I said that Allan thinks he is dying. He’s not actually dying. The website just confused him with the symptoms it described.”
“Phew,” Ken wiped imaginary sweat from his brow, replicating something he saw the polo players do. “Wait, why does he think he’s dying?”
“It’s the website,” she tried again. “WebMD describes human symptoms of disease, but Allan is trying to compare how he feels to those symptoms. It just doesn’t work. Dolls don’t have those kinds of human problems. We get horrific disease that are either miraculously cured in minutes or end in excruciating death until we’re revived to play the next day.”
Ken blinked, clearly not comprehending. Weird Barbie did her best to slow down her explanation into the simplest of terms.
“He’s a doll. We’re all dolls. We aren’t humans and cannot compare our problems to human problems.”
When the confusion failed to clear from his expression, Weird Barbie gave up with a shake of her head.
“Forget it. The point is, Allan is freaked out that he’s dying even though he’s perfectly fine and he won’t listen to me.” She paused to think as a smile spread across her face. “He could use a buddy to check on him.”
Ken noticeably perked up at that. “I’m his buddy! I’ll check on him!”
Weird Barbie pushed him towards one of the oddly shaped doors of her colorful house. “He’s right in there. Just holler if you need anything or if you decide to swing my way.”
She winked suggestively before disappearing in a flurry of flips. Desperate to see Allan, Ken swung the door open without a second thought.
At first, he didn’t see anything at all. Merely a lump of blankets on a couch. It wasn’t until he took a few steps inside that Ken realized the lump was Allan. Clearly distressed, he was curled up like a ball amongst the blankets. His eyes were fixed on a large tablet, the glow of its screen the only source of light. It illuminated his facial features, particularly his eyes, now wide with terror.
The door had creaked slightly as Ken pushed past it into the room. It was enough of a noise to alert Allan, whose head whipped around to locate the intruder. Shoulders tensed for a moment, but immediately relaxed once Allan caught sight that it was only him.
“Ken? What are you doing here?” He asked.
“We missed you at tonight’s Dance Party,” Ken shrugged sheepishly. “I just wanted to check to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m dying!” Allan wailed before burrowing deeper into the blankets.
Ken frowned. “Weird Barbie said it’s just Real World Internet being confusing. Which is totally fair, Real World Internet is super confusing. I find it helps if you just stay on YouTube. Lots of horse videos if you know what to search. I could help you, if you want.”
“No,” Allan cried out from below the coverings. “I’m beyond help. No one can help me. I found ‘WebMD,’ and it has all kinds of medical information. I looked up my symptoms. It told me that I’m sick and going to die.”
Ken sat on the arm of the couch to get a little closer. In an attempt to be more reassuring, he tried to look the despondent doll in the eyes, but both Allan and the tablet had disappeared beneath the blanket folds.
“You’re not going to die on my watch.”
“You can’t stop it. I can’t fight off the sickness any longer. It could kill me at any minute.”
“Don’t worry,” Ken placed a hand on what he hoped was Allan’s shoulder. “I’ll fight the sickness for you. I know lots of martial arts.”
This was enough to get Allan to pop his head out. “It’s not that type of fighting.”
“Oh,” Ken sounded disappointed for a moment. “That’s okay, I can learn the new type of fighting and then I’ll fight it off for you.”
“That’s…” Allan pursed his lips. “Never mind. You should go, before my illness kills you too.”
Ken crossed his arms stubbornly. “Nope. Not until you feel better.”
Allan shook his head. “You can’t stay here! I’m infectious and achy and sick and queasy and contagious and… and… I could kill you! It’s fatal, trust me, ‘WebMD’ thinks it could be cancer and maybe even—”
Ken didn’t wait to hear the rest. Before Allan could finish warning him away, he hurried to wrap his arms around his best friend.
“It’s okay, buddy. I got you.”
Allan froze. Ever so slowly, Ken felt his muscles relaxing into the tight hug. Allan seemed to fit perfectly within his arms, as though he had been created for the sole purpose of filling that space. In trying to provide warmth to Allan, Ken felt more warmth rising in his chest than he had in a long time. Their heads rested against each other and their chests began to rise and fall in time together.
“This is nice,” Allan said.
“This is nice,” Ken agreed.
After a moment, he released the hold. Removing some of the many blankets, Ken was able to get a better look at the worried doll in front of him.
“Here,” he pulled his ‘Kenough’ sweater off and handed it to Allan. “Try it. All of my clothes fit you, so I know it will fit perfectly. You need it more than I do.”
“But, this is your special sweater! I can’t take this. Especially, if I’m sick, what if I contaminate it?”
“I want you to have it,” Ken said. “At least for tonight. It will make you feel better. It made me feel better when I was having a hard time. Hopefully it will help you like it helped me.”
Reluctantly, Allan accepted the gift and put it on. He touched the fluffy edges of the borrowed hoodie with awe, appreciation, and even mild reverence. It fit perfectly, just as Ken had suspected.
He nodded his approval. “Now, we can do human sick things until you feel better. How about another hug? And cuddling? That’s what sick people do to feel better, right?”
A deep blush covered Allan’s face. “If…if you want?”
“Of course I do!” Ken exclaimed.
Before Allan could protest further, Ken slid onto the couch beside him. Two arms slipped across the soft sweater so Ken could pull him closer.
“You don’t have to do all this for me,” Allan said.
“I care about you. You treat me like I matter, and you care about my feelings. I want to do the same for you.”
Silence stretched as they both snuggled against each other, the tablet long forgotten.
“Maybe,” Allan hesitated, mulling over his next words. “Maybe I’m not dying. Maybe I’ll be okay.”
“I’ll take a maybe,” Ken beamed at his buddy.
They stayed like that until the sun rose in the morning, promising a new day and a new future together.