Chapter Text
Looey the balloon always wanted to put a smile on other peoples faces…
He walked side by side with his best friend Yatta, talking with her about the possibilities for their next performance.
“LONG tightropes! I CAN DO FLIPS ON THE TIGHTROPES!” She restlessly performed a flip on the ground. “Just like THAT Looey!”
“And… maybe I could juggle at the same time? We could have you intercept the pins…” Looey put himself into deep thought as Yatta kept shooting out ideas next to him. Unicycles! Party poppers! Diving!
Distant footsteps slowly made their way closer behind the two, until…
“Looey, Yatta! Would you two like to join a run I'm hosting?” A sweet voice sounded out from behind him. It was Tisha. “We’ve got almost a full eight toons, just two more needed!”
Looey looked at Yatta, as she looked at him. Before he could deliberate further… “YES!” Yatta exclaimed, “I’ve been ITCHING to DO SOMETHING!!!”
“Sure, I’ll go too!” Looey answered in turn, feeling optimistic
—--
Looey wasn't exactly the most confident when it came to runs. He especially found it hard when in runs together with his friends, Yatta and Blot. They were both great at what they did! Compared to them, Looey couldn’t help but feel like less of a leader.
But most of all, Looey wasn't great at solo distracting … It left him feeling solely responsible for the safety of his teammates. And to top it all off, he didn't have a great track record when it came to longevity. That's why, when he ended up in the descending elevator taking a headcount,he was a bit worried.
Shelly, Vee, Yatta, Rodger, Boxten… extractors. Sprout, Tisha… support. I’m the only distractor?!
Feeling a newfound sense of dread, Looey quickly rushed over to Tisha. She was immersed in conversation with Sprout and Shelly about a game-plan for the run. They each had trinkets in hand, gesturing to one another as they spoke.
“Hey, Tisha… What did’ya say the floor goal was again?” She stopped her conversations and glanced over
Tisha turned to him, hands at her hips, “We’re going for floor thirty! Hoping to get far as fast as possible with so many extractors.” Sprout locked eyes with Looey, his face changing to something akin to worry
“It’ll be alright. If you need any help we’ll be sure to give it to you, Looey”
“OH! Hahaha, That's not what I meant. I can handle.. what, 30 floors! No biggie!” Looey waved his hand and quickly ducked out of the conversation. Sprout always seemed to make a big deal out of runs when he was the one distracting. He slipped back to Yatta’s side, who seemed as vibrant as always. She shook with excitement in anticipation for the first floor.
Just then, the elevator door lifted and opened the view into the abandoned floors of gardenview. The toons all filed out, going their separate ways. Yatta ran out, turning to yell over at Looey.
“See you back at the ELEVATOR!” She hollered, scurrying away out of sight. Looey smiled nervously and quickly followed suit. Determined not to lose any hearts on the earlier floors.
—--
The first 10 floors were a breeze, going by in a flash. The twisteds he had encountered had all been easy enough to deal with. Not a main in sight. Back in the elevator the air had a buzz of excitement, conversation filling the elevator with laughs. The quiet track of Claire de Lune wasn’t as pleasant as it should be with how often the toons had to listen to it, but it was better than silence after all. The downtime in between floors was perfect for decompressing and preparing, not to mention stacking up supplies. Yatta was standing by his side as Looey eyed Dandy’s shop selection
“Anything catch your eye?” Dandy gestured at the 3 items he had laid out in front of him. Truthfully, nothing did. The table only had candies. Looey would never say that though, he feared angering Dandy and making things harder for his team. It seemed no one else had an eye for Dandy’s selection this time around either. Those who saw it quickly walked away grumbling something along the lines of waste of tapes…
But Yatta saw candy, that was all it took to convince her. She swiped up one at random and dropped a pile of tapes in turn, adding it to her endless candy storage.
“Much appreciated!” Dandy chimed as he pulled the lever, sinking back into the floor. It was almost criminal that he got tapes in exchange for that measly set of items.
“Haha… Yatta, you didn’t need to buy that candy, y’know?”
“I know!” Yatta smiled “But I KNOW you’ll feel BETTER if someone buys stuff!”
“Oh! heh, I guess I do feel better” Looey smiled back at her. He realy didn’t want to add dandy to the Twisteds he’d have to distract. A warm feeling spread in his chest as the doors opened to another floor. “Good luck, Yatta!”
“GOOD LUCK, LOOEY!” Yatta jumped into a run, assisted by the boost of speed given by Tisha. Using the advantage himself, Looey rushed into the floor to scan the area. He walked past the toons on machines, hoping that the twisteds were far enough away that they wouldn't be in danger while he didnt have an eye on them.
He found Twisted Cosmo right away, followed soon after by twisted Toodles. By now, there should be three twisteds… Just as he was thinking that, Loud heavy thuds came into earshot. On cue, Sprout ran out from behind a wall as he shouted
“PEBBLE!”
“OH!” Looey yelled back “I GOT HIM!”
He grabbed out A trusty airhorn as Pebble came into view, stomping down the narrow halls. The horn sounded throughout the floor and sent a reverberation through Looey’s body. Pebble immediately turned to face the balloon, and Looey wasted no time running
He dropped the useless airhorn and made his way over to some shelves, hoping there was no one around to get caught in his loop. The loud thump thump-ing of Pebbles footsteps got closer and closer. The first main encounter on a run usually wasn't Pebble!
It was pretty difficult to keep all the twisteds on him with their differing speeds. Pebble being so fast made Cosmo and Toodles seem so slow! . Looey laughed at the thought of calling Toodles slow, but quickly focused back on his situation when he felt the ground shake beneath him from Pebble being so close.
Diving around a corner to gain distance was a good idea, giving Looey enough time to catch his breath for a moment before picking up pace again. He knew his limits, and knew if he kept running like this it wouldn’t be long before he would waste all his stamina so…
Its alright, Looey! You’re faster now at two hearts! He had to remind himself as he slowed and got hit by the gaping maw of Pebble. Several more machines started going off in the distance,and it filled Looey with some hope that he would have enough stamina to keep looping Pebble and get back to the elevator.
That was until he got lost in his thoughts, and twisted Cosmo circled around the loop to get another hit on him. At least now at one heart, Looey didn't have to worry about Pebble out-speeding him…
The last machine went off accompanied with a roar behind him, alerting Looey that it was time to speed up. He watched as his fellow toons ran to the elevator feeling a surge of speed from what he presumed was Tisha’s ability.
‘EAE!” She shouted from ahead of him. Looey let out a sigh of relief and booked it over to his friends.
As soon as he made it inside, the heavy elevator door slammed behind him, leaving Looey to catch his breath sitting down. He’d lost two hearts on one floor!
The chatter of the elevator stopped as attention turned onto him for a moment. Sprout walked over and leaned down to Looey’s level, cupcake in hand.
“Here, let's heal you up Looey” He offered out the pastry with a smile, brow arched in worry.
“Oh, Sprout… I’m all good! Maybe a few more floors and-”
“Nope, I’m not gonna let anyone sit on one heart if there's anything I can do about it!” Sprout grabbed one of Looey’s hands and placed the cupcake inside of it. “No need to feel bad”
Looey’s ears dropped down and he ate the cupcake in embarrassment, feeling the air return to his deflated head. He watched Sprout walk away and did end up feeling bad. There wasn’t anything he could say to Sprout when it came to safety. He knew more than anyone that the toon had a final say about heals. Yatta plopped down next to him and giggled
“Got told off AGAIN?” She wrapped her arm around Looey’s shoulder and swayed back and forth playfully.
“Sure did” He took a finishing bite of the cupcake as he swayed along with her, sighing, “I wish I didn’t need heals so often”
___
After that moment with Sprout, Looey was determined to not get hit anymore for the rest of the run, which now only had seven floors left to go. He looked at the elevator door with a nervous gleam. The final stretch of floors hadn’t seemed to damper the mood of the rest of the toons. Yatta excitedly chatted with Shelly, who also seemed pretty excited herself. Boxton and Vee seemed to be getting along too, and Sprout… Sprout was just looking over everyone like usual. Looey looked back to the door to avoid accidentally making eye contact. The chatter died down once the elevator slowed, and the doors once again opened. Mere seconds later the lights flickered and cut.
“Oh, CMON!” Yatta’s voice next to him grumbled, followed by a cacophony of complaints
“Just great… “ Vee sauntered out into the dark, her screen giving a slight light for the rest of the toons to follow. Looey nervously took his first step before a hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks. He whipped around his head to get a look at who, or what had just grabbed him
“Looey, are you gonna be okay? Need me to stick around nearby?” It was Sprout, he looked worried.
Looey dipped his head and breathed in deep to wipe off his shocked expression, facing Sprout with a characteristic smile “I’ll be fine! You should make sure the rest are safe from whatever's in here, I’ve got it all down” Sprout frowned slightly, but eventually took back his hand with a sigh and walked into the dark “Stay safe, Looey” he waved and turned away.
After dumbly watching Sprout be consumed by the dark, Looey rushed into the room to try and get the twisteds onto himself. Darkness covered everything around him, and the walls began to feel like they were miles away from where Looey stood. It was always a disorienting feeling to lose yourself in the dark. One that Looey never seemed to get quite used to no matter how many times he experienced a blackout. Luckily his bright colors were easy for the twisteds to lock onto, and they quickly started to group behind him. Only, the twisteds on this floor proved to be deadlier than the average. Two mains quickly made themselves known with their powerful steps. The sluggish feeling that accompanied Astro took over Looey’s body while the rustling of ink-soaked leaves warned him of Sprout.
Not a good combo! Looey thought to himself as he dodged an inky tendril growing from the floor he stood on. He managed them best he could, weaving and dodging a mix of the mains vicious attacks plus twisted tisha and boxton that trailed behind. A particularly well placed tendril blocked the loop that Looey had secured. He swerved around to gather his pursuers and made way to the next loop. Taking a headcount… made Looey realize that he had lost some twisteds in the conflict. He had lost …
“Where did Astro go??” It was barely a relief to be rid of the tiredness that Astro inflicted when it was his job to be inflicted with it! Looey frantically searched for the missing main, almost losing sight of the other twisteds he was looping. Eventually, he was able to find Astro, but not before damage had been done.
The tell-tale sound of frantic electronic beeping followed by a furious “OW!” let him know that Vee had been hit.. And reduced to one heart.
“Why the heck isn't the distractor doing their job!?!” Vee shrieked as she ran to get away from Astro trailing her close behind.
“I’m SO SO sorry Vee!!” Looey rushed out, getting dangerously close in order to pull the four-armed twisted of its target.
“I didn’t mean to!” He didn’t get a response, Vee was long gone.
The panic made Looey feel a lot less in control of his actions. He narrowly avoided the stretched arms of twisted boxton before stepping into the splotch of ichor that marked one of twisted Sprouts tendrils. Not being able to turn around, Looey had to run straight through it and lose a heart in the process. But what really surprised him was the feeling of helium returning to his head mere moments later accompanied by the sound of being healed. Looey soon located the source of it, Sprout had been watching over him after all. A new wave of embarrassment overcame him at the realization that Sprout had probably seen his monumental mistake.
After a little while more of perilous looping in the dark, the final gen was completed and a bright light appeared in Looey’s peripheral. He breathed a sigh of relief, and prepared for the final stretch of looping before he could get back to safety.
Seeing the silhouettes of seven figures in the elevator light gave Looey the permission to make his way over, narrowly avoiding one last tendril as he slid inside. He slowly lifted his head from the floor and looked around nervously at the faces of his friends. Meeting the icy gaze of a peeved Vee encouraged Looey toQuickly scramble to the opposite side of the elevator to avoid any verbal beatings. After gaining back his nerves, Looey went back to people watching. Yatta was encouraging Boxten, Rodger was talking about the good research he had gathered on both mains, and Sprout…Sprout was walking towards him!!
Oh no.. he’s really gonna tell me off this time! This is what I get for messing up so badly huh.. I hope they put something funny on my grave..
“Haha, don't look so scared Looey..” Sprout gave the balloon a reassuring smile “Are you okay after all that? Took quite a beating out there”
“Not at all! Haha… well maybe a little bit but it would’ve been alrighty anyhow!” Looey was still nervous, still uncomfortable about relying to hard on Sprouts healing. “Not really sure why you chose to heal me instead of Vee, we both had one heart left after all!”
“Well,” Sprout started ”For one, Vee had her own band-aid” The two looked over at the agitated TV, who was swirling around her microphone while Shelly stood awkwardly next to her. “Though she wasn't too happy about having to use it”
Sprout turned to face Looey, looking him dead in the eyes “I was worried about your safety.”
Looey turned his eyes to the floor “Of course,” He muttered. “You always are”
“Of course I am, its only natural. You’re in a pretty vulnerable position, distracting. Especially alone” Sprout stressed, “I don’t want you to, well..”
“I get hurt a lot, and I always bounce back! Pun not intended.. But, I said I would be okay, so why did you follow me anyways?” Looey looked back at Sprout, who had an unreadable expression on his face.
“Well, It's important that I’m there for everyone that needs help.” He smiled again “We all work together to make these runs happen” Sprout stated firmly. Looey fidgeted, wondering if it was the best thing to say, but..
“Sprout, are you sure you have to take care of everyone's health?”
“Looey, if you need some extra care, that's my call, We’re a team!”
“... I know, but I’d hate to waste your-”
“Looey, you’re never a waste of anything” Sprout had a very serious look on his face when he said that. It made Looey feel.. Silly
“Sorry!! Never mind!! Pretend I didn't say anything!! HAHAHAha AHem-” he cut himself, pushing away from the wall to start a conversation with Yatta. Daring not to look back at Sprout's serious expression.
“Hey Yatta, how was the floor-”
She turned to Looey, giving him an aggressive side hug.
“Wow! Got told off by Sprout TWICE in ONE run!” She giggled “MAKING RECORDS!”
“Haha.. I don't know if that's what happened this time..” He felt lighter than usual.
—-
The rest of the run didn’t have any more major conundrums, and Looey surprisingly didn't lose any more hearts. His nerves had calmed down by a margin, but a new feeling of.. Giddiness? Replaced what had once been. It was just as good at gnawing at his brain though.
Once the elevator had made its full ascent up, relief washed over Looey and he felt suddenly very tired. Yatta seemed just as full of energy as usual, however, as she performed a cartwheel in a circle.
“WOO! Back HOME!” She jumped back into a standing position, shaking Looey by the shoulders. “I’M GONNA GO EAT SOME CANDY! IN MY ROOM! AND SLEEP!” She started to skip away “BYE LOOEY!”
“Haha… Bye Yatta!!” Looey waved with a warm smile as the other toons started going their separate ways. He wasn’t looking forward to remembering every mistake he made on the run before going to sleep tonight but-
“Hey Looey, wait up!” Sprout called out behind him. Looey turned, surprised.
Is he finally gonna give me a talking to now…?
“UH… YEah.. Sprout!?” Voice crack.. Looey kicked himself in his mind
“I wanted to talk to you really quickly” Sprout stopped in front of Looey, “Nothing bad! I promise” He added with a look
Oh, I must've looked kind of pathetic right there “What is it?”
“Well, I was thinking,” He started, scratching the side of his face. “I think that if we maybe… did a duo run sometime, it would be easier for you to accept heals? When there's no one else to heal, you know?”
Looey was stunned. Sprout wanted to go on a duo run… with Him? Of all toons? “Oh… well…” Looey stammered, eyes wide
“Sure! Sure I do!” Looey eventually pushed out “A chance to work on solo distracting, too!” Sprout seemed relieved
“That's good, well, I’m free tomorrow if..” The Strawberry trailed off.
“To-morrow! Okay well! I can do that aha ha ....” Looey cleared his throat into his hand awkwardly.
“Okay, Tomorrow it is then.” Sprout smiled and walked past the balloon. “See you.. Here? In the morning?”
“YEP! Tomorrow!” Looey watched as Sprout walked away as he stood in place. Only then did he notice his tail had been wagging.
For how long? Looey didn’t know.