Chapter Text
10:26 am. He has about an hours to get ready for the run today. He tosses and turns in his bed, he had woken up almost two hour ago. He really regrets telling Sprout he'd actually do something today.
Looey groans as he finally forces himself to get out of bed. He was uncharacteristically tired. He's been awake for hours now, was that not enough time for his mind to wake up too?
He throws on some sweatpants and grabs a crop top, it's what he wears every day. The balloon enters his bathroom and just… stares at himself in the mirror for a moment.
He drags a hand across his side as he stares. If he'd had ribs under his latex skin, they'd definitely be visible. He smiles at the thought before quickly reminding himself that's not what he wants.
"No. No, that's bad. It's not… I need to remember to eat before the run… and after." He mutters to himself as he pulls his shirt over his head.
He smiles at his reflection, trying to hipe himself up. His smile falters, he leans closer to the mirror as he notices something. Deep eye bags. It's fine, he tells himself, he'll just wear his clown makeup!
He grabs his face paint, the clock says 10:51. He still has over a half hour. He grabs the brush and starts to cover the eye bags, but quickly stops himself. His eyes are red, and it's only more prominent next to the white face paint. Maybe he shouldn't have stayed up so late crying.
Looey sighs as he stares at his reflection. "Welp… I've already started." He mutters as he continues.
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The balloon finishes his clown makeup, he decides he'll clean up his mess later. He grabs the dog plush and slips his shoes on as he leaves his room.
He enters the kitchen to grab himself a snack before the run, the stove clock reads 11:35. He opens the refrigerator to- "11:35?!" Looey exclames as he slams the fridge shut.
Forget breakfast, he doesn't need it, he's gonna be late. He books it to the elevators, luckily the others haven't left yet.
"Looey! Where have you been? We almost…" Sprout seems to get distracted by something as they walk inside the elevator together.
"Sorry Sprout! I guess I spent a bit too long on my makeup…" Looey laughs it off, hoping Sprout didn't notice his red rimmed eyes.
The balloon told himself this would be a good run, they'll get so far. He just has to focus.
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He was focusing alright, but not on the twisted. Toons kept staring at him. He couldn't catch them staring, but he knew it. They were judging him, weren't they? That has to be it. He was doing shit at distracting and they were all judging him. Yeah, no one had died yet, but that didn't mean he was good. They probably… hate him.
They hate him.
They hate him.
They hate him.
They hate him.
They hate him.
He's pulled out of his thoughts, only by the blaring alarm of panic mode. And with a few seconds on the time left, he made it back to the elevator. Though maybe he should have stayed behind. No one here, or in GardenView, even like him.
"Looey! Are you okay? Do you need a heal?" Cosmo came up to the balloon with a fake worry in his voice. How did Looey know it was fake? Well, how could Cosmo actually- "Hey! Earth to Looey" Jeez, can't a guy hate himself in peace?
"Oh! Sorry… I'm fine Cosmo, don't worry about me." The clown gave his best smile, though it didn't convince either healer. Oh well, they didn't really care.
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Floor 27. It's the farthest he's gone in a while.
He overhears the rest of the team praising and complimenting each other. Looey sits in the corner of the elevator, waiting for the door to open again.
"You know…" He turns his attention towards Astro. "I uh, I get stage fright sometimes too…"
The two toons stare at each other for a moment, and he's sure everyone else had turn towards their conversation too. Was Astro trying to embarrass him? Obviously. There was no way he would actually want to comfort Looey.
"M-Me? What are you talking about? I don't have stage fright! HahAha… hah…" They were laughing too much, everyone knew he was lying.
Shut up. Holy shit, why are you so fucking annoying?The clown scolded himself in his head, a stark contrast to the smile on his face.
"Ah, right… I must be… misremembering your dream…"
Looey nods, pretending to understand the confusion that wasn't really there.
Distracting is fun.They have to remind themselves. It was a good thing he could walk faster than the twisted. If he had to run, he might've passed out. Why was he so tired… Oh right, he was up till 3 am crying… and he missed breakfast.
But his stamina was full. And no matter how many times he felt Astro use his ability, he was still exhausted.
Looey feels like he's about to crash out, he doesn't know how much longer he can… Footsteps. That's fine. Oh, and barking, it's Pebble. Great. "Great…"
They feels Goob's hand on their shoulder. "Oh, Looey, I can distract all the non mains for you! Can I?" Looey mutters a yeah and nods. The elevator opens and Goob runs out, eager to help his friend distract. It's one of the rainbow rooms, the smallest map their is. How many machines are there? 20?
The clown continues to smile despite everything happening. He finds Pebble immediately, hard not too in such a small map. He can't find a solid spot to distract, there's machines everywhere. He just keeps moving and hopes he doesn't run into Goob.
He starts to disassociates. His legs keep him moving but he's not thinking about where he's going. The loud barking behind him is the only thing he's focused on. He just has to keep going a little longer.
17/20 machines, almost done.
He makes a sharp turn around a bookshelf and collides with something soft. "Ack- Looey!" Oh fuck.
He panics, he needs to save Goob. He quickly pulls out an airborne, taking all of the twisteds' attention. Okay, okay, he's got this! He just has to avoid all the twisteds in front of him and not die from the giant rock behind him. All he has to do is- *Pop!*
. . . . .
Damnit… At least Goob was safe. Thank goodness the toons respawn when they die. He didn't have anything else planned for today, might as well go back to bed.
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He slowly enters his room and discards his trinkets. His bed looks so appealing right now, but first he needs to get this makeup off and shower… Oh. He forgot he left his bathroom like this…
Looey tells himself he'll put the makeup away after he showers… It's still out when he gets into bed. The balloon glances over to his clock, 5:49… It's not usually when he goes to bed, but he'll let himself sleep. It's been an exhausting day.
I'll do better tomorrow. He promises himself.
Just like he promised yesterday.