Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Yatta woke up, sitting up in her bed, the same like every morning. What wasn’t the same, however, was how she felt. She felt odd, almost nauseated in a way. It also didn’t help that it seemed a lot earlier in the morning than usual. Her best friends, Looey and Blot, were still sound asleep, Looey making soft snores every now and again. She sat there for a few moments more before that feeling only seemed to spike. She pushed herself out of the bed and quickly left the room she slept in, heading to the bathroom. She never really felt this nauseated before! Then again, it was probably nothing, maybe food poisoning. At least that was what she told herself as she threw up into the toilet she managed to get to. Once she found a moment of relief, she gently backed against the wall and sat down.
“Geez, what did I eat yesterday to cause that? Never had that happen before. I USUALLY can stand eating Cosmo and Sprout’s food, even if it’s burnt! Heh, it’s always so crispy like that, but it wasn’t like that yesterday. What did we have again?”
She pondered this, tapping her hand to her chin. Yatta was still a bit frazzled, so her brain didn’t seem to be working at the moment. She let out a frustrated sigh as she stood up with shaky legs. She still felt so off, and honestly she hated it. She leaned on the sink counter, which was cool to the touch. The pinata put one hand on her head, which didn’t feel warm, and she was sweating, so it wasn’t a fever. Right? She always got it confused. She sighed as she looked to the mirror, seeing herself looking pale and a bit green. Yatta pushed herself off of the counter and took a deep breath and began to hold it, hoping it would do something. It didn’t, as she felt the nauseous feeling coming back. She quickly turned to the toilet and threw up once more. Gosh, this morning sucked.

Yatta finally felt better after an hour of this, leaving the bathroom. She looked at the clock on the wall. Five-thirty in the morning, which was thirty minutes before Looey and Blot woke up. At least they wouldn’t know of this, but she was going to be tired. Yatta slowly walked back to her room and fell onto her bed. Hopefully she could get a bit more sleep, even if it was just a little. She could easily fix being tired with some candy. Speed or Staminia candy always fixed that issue. She smiled at the thought of it as she fell back into slumber. It didn’t last long though, with Looey gently poking her head.
“Hey, Yatta. Wake up, it’s seven o’ clock. Sprout and Cosmo already served breakfast.”
Her head shot up the moment she heard those words.
“SEVEN?? Why didn’t you wake me up at six??” She asked as she quickly stood up, Looey backing away so he wouldn’t get bumped.
“.peels uoy tel d’ew tghouht eW .derit os dekool ouY” Blot piped up as he headed over.
“A-And I DID try to wake you at six but um, you were passed out. Bad,” Looey explained nervously, rubbing his left hand with the other, “so we figured you needed it.”
“I, um, well, thanks, I guess??” Yatta stuttered before shaking her head a moment. Did they figure out she woke up earlier that morning? Hopefully they didn’t. She didn’t want to worry them. It didn’t matter though. Breakfast called her name and boy was she hungry.

She arrived at the dining room, where other toons had just started eating or were close to finishing up. Cosmo was the first toon to approach her, looking a bit excited. In his hands was a plate with a pancake and a side of orange slices, eggs and bacon.
“Oh we have oranges?” Yatta asked as she picked up the plate from Cosmo before he could even say a word.
“Not even a good morning? Heh heh, yeah. Dyle got us some fresh fruits in his latest train run!” Cosmo responded as Yatta sat down to eat, “Me and Sprout already tried them! They’re really sweet and juicy!”
Yatta found herself looking at the oranges a lot more than she thought she would. They did look really good though, which wasn’t a surprise. She just began to eat the pancake, which was covered in syrup. It was fine at first but after a while, she felt a bit ill. Like it was too sweet, but that wasn’t possible right?? THERE WAS NO SUCH THING as too sweet!! There seemed to be now at least, and it was so weird. She just tried to ignore it as she began to eat the bacon and eggs instead. They didn't have the syrup on them and provided relief to the nausea, which was good. She let out a sigh internally before her focus turned to the slices of oranges on her plate. She slowly picked one up and went to eat just the fruit before curiosity struck her. Orange zest was edible right? And it was outside of the orange. She could eat that too right? It wouldn’t hurt to try, and oddly enough, she also wanted the zest. So she did. She ate the slice, peel and all. She didn’t care if anyone else saw her do it, and if they did, they would probably chalk it up to her just being her. At least she hoped so as she continued to eat the oranges with such vigor. They were so good. She wanted more of them! She couldn’t though, but she REALLY WANTED MORE.
“W-Whoa, I didn’t think the oranges were that good, to have you eating them the way you are…peel…and all..” Looey’s voice cut in, giving Yatta pause. She just looked over to her friend, who was giving her a nervous smile. The pinata held one last slice in her hand before she slowly took a bite of it, seeing the balloon flinch when she bit through the peel.
“Yeah? It’s good. Why are you flinching?” she asked, only to get a nervous whimper from him. She just tilted her head a shrug before stuffing the rest of the orange in her mouth and stood up, “ah well, I’m gonna finish getting ready!” she chirped, quickly leaving the table, and leaving the pancake behind.
“?ekacnap ruoy hsinif ot gniog ton er’uoY” Blot asked, Yatta halting for a second as she let out a nervous chuckle.
“Full from the eggs bacon and oranges. Nothing to worry about!” She shouted before running off, hoping they wouldn’t look too much into it.

Chapter Text

Looey POV

He watched Yatta quickly run off from the table, rubbing his right hand nervously. He looked to Blot, hoping he had the same nagging feeling. He couldn’t see Blot’s eye, but he could tell the ink blot was just as concerned by that.
“..ragus pu sessap reven ehS..” Blot spoke, looking to Looey, who nodded.
“No, she doesn’t. I hope she’s okay. That’s not like her at all. I swear I heard movement earlier this morning but it could have been Boxten or Poppy.”
“...hguoht ffo ti ssap yllaer t’nac uoY. ebyaM..” Blot turned to Looey fully, “...ecaps reh evig s’tel, won roF”
“You sure giving her space is a good idea..? What if it’s something serious? I don’t want to ignore my friend if she needs-”
“yeooL” Blot’s stern voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Right, sorry. Worrying again. You’re right, it’s probably nothing. Maybe she’ll be better in a few days..” Looey spoke to Blot, but it was more of trying to reassure himself. He looked at the plate on the table, pancake half eaten, but everything else having been consumed. He knew Yatta was strange, but this was new. Not eating sugar, and eating oranges with the peel? Wait, no, eating oranges with the peel was definitely a Yatta thing to do. Nothing weird about that at all. At least it wasn’t in the pinata's terms.

“Should we at least save the pancake for her in case she wants to eat it later?” Looey asked as he gently picked up the plate, hearing Blot making a small hum as he thought about it.
“dnim t’now attaY erus m’I” was the answer Looey was given. How to contain it was now the next question. As Looey thought about it, a set of hands from Cosmo gently grasped onto the plate.
“If you need it contained, me and Sprout can do that,” Cosmo piped up, only to then notice the contents.

“She didn’t eat the pancake, that’s odd.”
“That’s what we thought too!” Looey responded, feeling his ears raise a bit from his volume, “She said she was full but I’m not entirely convinced.”
“Neither am I really, but me and Sprout will get this boxed up so she can have it later. Leave no sugar untouched!” Cosmo turned and walked away, Looey watching after him. He felt a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle pat. The balloon looked over to Blot, who just gave him a small thumbs up.
“...gnihton ylbaborp s’tI. ti tuoba yrrow t’noD..” Blot ‘smiled’ at him, giving Looey a bit more reassurance.
“I’ll try not to. Let’s hope it passes soon.” Looey smiled back, though in the back of his mind, he knew he was going to keep worrying about it. This was his friend after all, or at least, that’s what he told himself. Was it like him to worry this much about Yatta? This was something small right? It wasn’t like she was injured or anything. Maybe she was just a little bit sick. She would get better. He hoped she would get better. For his sake at least. He took a deep breath and sighed, trying to release the feelings. He needed to stop worrying about it. She would be okay. It will pass. It always does.

Yatta POV

She washed the water from her face, letting out a small sigh. That was embarrassing. She hadn’t even noticed Looey or Blot had followed her. Hadn’t they already eaten? Then again they were a trio, so they were rarely ever seen apart. She leaned against the wall and stared at the mirror, remembering the reflection of herself from way earlier that morning. She looked better though, no longer pale or sweating. Maybe whatever it was had passed. She wasn’t one to get sick easily anyways. She got off of the wall and gave a small stretch as she turned to leave the bathroom. She grabbed the door handle and turned it, but not without looking back at the mirror one last time. Why did she feel like she would be looking into that mirror a lot? Oh well, it didn’t matter. It was time to get about her day. With that, she opened the door and briskly walked out, her ribbon tails trailing behind her. Whatever this was, it will pass. It always does.

Chapter Text

It didn’t pass. If anything, it had become nothing but persistent. It had been a full month of this. Feeling ill almost every early morning to the point of vomiting, not able to consume the sugar she once had been so immune to. That wasn’t even the worst part, because now, she felt tired. Whether it was from the constant early morning waking or something else, she wasn’t sure. All she knew is she was TIRED, and she HATED IT. Yatta just sat on her bed, hugging her legs to herself, one of her ribbon tails flicking in her agitation. She couldn’t stay in her room all day though. She had to leave at some point. Looey and Blot had definitely noticed something was wrong with her, and Looey was getting slightly frantic about it. She didn’t want to cause the poor balloon to worry any further. With a sigh, the pinata stood up and walked out of the room.

She rubbed her face, trying to hide the fact she was tired, putting on a smile. Yatta was greeted by different ‘good mornings’ from other toons as she walked down the halls of Gardenview, trying to find her two close friends. They had gone ahead of her, under the excuse to give her space. She wasn’t quite sure what the true reason was, but that didn’t stop her tired brain from giving her reasons. What if they were avoiding her? Were they angry at her? Did she do something wrong? She’s been different so maybe they were growing tired of her. Were they sick and tired of her?

“YATTA!!” 

A voice cut through her thoughts as Looey suddenly appeared, giving her a tight hug. His tail wagged furiously as he hugged his friend, Blot walking up behind him. 

“Good morning! Did you get some extra sleep? If you haven’t, do you need to? You okay? You still look tired.”
Yatta blinked at the many questions that flew from Looey, then glanced over to Blot, who ‘smiled’ with a shrug of his shoulders. She gave a stifled chuckle and hugged Looey back.
“I’m alright. Don’t worry about me. I tried to but I was already awake. Kinda hard to go back to sleep when wide awake. I’m ready to start the day!” It was easy to feign being more awake, as she had time to practice because of what had been happening. The other toons barely suspected a thing. Okay, truthfully they were suspicious but Yatta managed to talk them out of it. Looey and Yatta released their hug, but that didn’t stop the balloon from placing his hands on her shoulders.
“If anything is wrong with you let me know, okay? I may not know exactly what’s going on but it’s definitely bothering you and—”
“..niaga gniyrrow er’uoy, yeooL,” Blot piped up, placing a hand on Looey and gently pulling him back, “?rebmemer, ecaps reh eviG”

“But—” Looey started, only for Yatta to interject.
“Hey, I get it, you’re worried. But I’m FINE. I’ll be fine! We’ve dealt with SO much worse than this. I mean, the worst has been the runs we’ve been doing but that’s hard to compare to. But this is NOTHING. Alright?”
Looey just looked over to Yatta, rubbing his left hand nervously. Yatta could see him contemplating this as his ears folded as his eyes darted back and forth from his thoughts. Eventually he sighed and deflated a little, his ears and tail lowering.
“Alright. Alright. I understand, but that doesn’t change what I said. Please let me know.” 
His tone hid a plea to her. She could hear it. She didn’t know why it mattered so much to him. He was her friend, yes, but he seemed so much more frantic than his usual Looey frantic. Was he changing like she was? It was odd. She wanted to question it, but even the thought of it was interrupted by a smell. A very particular smell. She turned her attention to the direction of it.
“?attaY” she heard Blot ask as she stared where she came from.
“...do you not smell something burning?” she turned back to them, seeing the confusion on their faces before it suddenly became horror. Whether they smelled it or not, she didn’t know, but her asking was enough to know exactly what was going on. Looey suddenly ran by her to the kitchen, Blot wanting to follow, but deciding to stick behind.
“?taht llems uoy did woH” Yatta looked over to Blot, tilting her head.
“You didn’t? I can smell a hint of it at least,” she answered, “I can’t be the only one who can..”
Blot just shook his head slowly.
“tey em ot pu thguac t’nsah ylbaborp tI” Blot shrugged, as if suddenly dismissing it. Looey returned at that moment, letting out a sigh of relief.
“It was just Sprout and Cosmo again. Good nose, Yatta..” Looey sighed as he sat down on the floor, his purple ear flopping to the side, "I was able to get them a fire extinguisher in time. Small fire but geez was it blazing.”
Yatta nodded slowly, coming to the realization that she was the only one to smell it out of the group.

“Well, with that out of the way, how about we get to the lobby? Rodger’s going to be organizing the runs today..” Looey stood up with a large stretch, his ear setting back into its normal place.
“Yeah. Sure, let’s do that. Hopefully I’m on the same team as you guys. I’m sure you could use the candy,” Yatta smiled, but the mention of candy made her stomach churn. Blot and Looey nodded, and the three set off to the lobby. Despite being around them however, the thoughts Yatta had continued to linger. How long could she keep up this charade, and how long did she have before they left her?

Chapter Text

The circus trio arrived at the lobby, where other toons had gathered for the run organizations. Rodger had placed himself in front of the blue elevator, holding a clipboard and tapping a pencil to his lower rim. His eye caught the trio and he turned to them.
“Oh, Looey, Yatta, Blot, good morning. You’re just in time. I have assigned you three to your groups if you’re willing to hear them.”
“Sure thing! We’re willing and ready to go!” Looey spoke up, his tail starting to wagging quickly. Yatta watched it move back and forth in its rapid motion. It always shocked her how fast he could wag it. She was so intrigued, she almost missed hearing Rodger.
“Yatta.”
She looked over to the magnifying glass quickly.
“Huh? Yeah? What is it?” she straightened herself up a little, hoping it would help appear more alert.
“You’re in group one with Astro, Goob, and Scraps. I was going to assign a fifth person, but she was adamant to go with Boxten. I feel the four of you can handle things without a fifth person, however.”
“Yeah sure! We can handle it no biggie!” Yatta smiled, though she swore she heard a very faint sigh from Looey. He seemed disappointed. Why was that?

“Your group will be leaving in about five minutes. Be sure to give your ‘see you laters’ and go see your group,” Rodger nodded, turning to Looey and Blot to give them their assignments.
“Alright Alright…see you two later, okay? Be safe and don’t respawn back in the lobby!” Yatta chuckled as she gave her friends a tight and quick hug, which they returned.
“See you later Yatta..” Looey hugged a tad bit tighter as he said this.
“.attaY, efas eB” Blot let go of the hug and backed off, gently having Looey release, “uoy deen llits eW.”
Yatta felt her smile brighten at those words, but a small lingering feeling wondered how true it really was. She turned with a wave and headed to her group. Goob and Scraps were talking excitedly between themselves, Astro standing a bit further away. He wasn’t one for conversation, at least to Yatta. He was always so quiet and distant. He could use a laugh or two, and she had tried to offer having the circus cheer him up. He always declined though. She shook the thought away as the craft twins saw her, Goob wasting no time to pull her into a hug.
“YATTA! HI HI! Are you excited to come with us??” Goob asked, hugging tighter as Scraps joined in, wrapping her arms around the two.
“We’re excited to come with you!!” Scraps continued as Astro slowly coasted over, wrapping his blanket tighter to himself.
“Well no duh! Free hugs AND close friends?? Why would I not be EXCITED?” Yatta laughed as the twins let her go, setting her down onto her feet. As she stepped back, she almost bumped into Astro, who quickly moved away to avoid her, “Oh, sorry, Astro. Didn’t see you there.”
“It’s fine..” He spoke quietly as he began to walk to the elevator. “It may be a bit early, but let’s get going…”
“Oh yeah sure! The quicker the better!” Scraps agreed as she and Goob quickly followed after the moon. Yatta watched them before giving one last look to Looey and Blot. Looey was watching her, almost intently before he saw she had spotted him. He gave a small wave with his purple paw as he looked away. Blot was busy speaking with Rodger, not noticing she was looking at them. Yatta just smiled and waved back to Looey before stepping into the elevator, and down they went.

They arrived at the first floor, Goob being the first to leave, quickly volunteering to distract the twisteds for them. Scraps and Yatta were the next two to leave, Scraps splitting off one way and Yatta the other to find machines. She went from a walk to a full run. 

Five minutes of running was all it took before she felt exhausted. That wasn’t normal. Usually she could go a while without being worn out. She panted heavily as she began to walk to a machine she spotted, placing a hand onto the wheel and began to turn. Skill check after skill check completed, filling the machine quickly. The moment the light turned green, Yatta felt the candy explode from her body like it always did. She turned to pick it up, only to be met with a familiar tri-wrapped green candy. Stamina candy, which was exactly what she needed. She picked up quickly, trying to ignore her stomach starting to churn again, as if it anticipated what she was going to do. She unwrapped the candy and popped it into her mouth.

Maybe if she was fast with it, it would force her stomach to accept it. Yatta swallowed the candy and began to leave the machine, only to be struck with a bad wave of nausea. She almost fell over, catching herself on the wall, placing a hand to her mouth as she could feel the familiar sensation of bile coming up her throat. She began to cough and hack, eventually coughing up what she had just swallowed onto the floor. She panted heavily as she just stared at what she had just done.
Her vision was hazy for a moment before it snapped back to being clear when she heard the alarm blare for the elevator. She quickly turned and began to run, only to feel she was still worn. Still tired. Had her stamina not come back? It was supposed to come back! She rested! She tried to push herself to run further, but it was in vain. She stopped moving, placing her hands on her knees as she panted heavily. She then felt a harsh shiver up her body. A familiar one. A twisted had spotted her. Yatta quickly turned, only to be greeted by her own face. Her reflection burned into its glowing red eyes as it leaned forward towards her, its clawed hands and teeth coming for her to attack. She couldn’t move, body stiff from the fear. Just as she closed her eyes to not look at the attack, she felt familiar paws wrapping around her waist and pulling her back. The twisted narrowly avoided her tail as Yatta was pulled into the elevator, which door slammed shut the moment she was in.

“YATTA ARE YOU OKAY?? YOU WEREN’T HIT WERE YOU?? WAS I TOO LATE??” Goob asked as he placed his hands on her shoulders, starting to shake the pinata a bit as Scraps hovered nearby.
“I didn’t know you weren’t at the elevator! I’m so sorry I completed the last machine before you were ready!” Scraps piped in as Astro stood at the door, staring at them.
“I…I’m fine. Just..ran out of stamina…” Yatta panted, hearing Astro approach, him crouching down next to Goob.
“You didn’t run out,” he said slowly.”You barely had any to begin with. You..you were low on stamina that whole floor. Are you alright..?”
Yatta blinked before chuckling nervously.
“Yeah, I, I’mjust tired. Didn’t sleep well last night. That’s all,” Yatta tried to play it off, only for a voice to cut in behind them.
“Wow, you don’t look good at all.”
Yatta looked back to see Dandy leaning forward on the counter of his shop, three different candies lining it.
“You look like you haven’t slept well for a week or so,” the flower continued, resting his chin on one of his hands. “I wonder if your sugar consumption is catching up with you.”
He was cut off by the elevator suddenly lurching as its descent became an ascent. Astro came back over, a star from his magic floating back over to him, Astro having used it to press the button to get back to the lobby.
“H-Hey, wait a minute, you’re going back to the lobby?? Now? You just left!” Dandy pleaded as Astro sat down once more next to Goob.
“Clearly something is wrong with Yatta. We’re not continuing with her in this condition. This needs to be reported,” Astro responded curtly. Yatta felt her back bristle, realizing that her charade would be over the moment Rodger was told.
“H-Hold on I’m fine I can continue-!” she went to plead, only to stop when Goob hugged her tighter.
“NO! You’ll get hurt! You almost got hurt! We can’t let you get hurt this time! We gotta go back!” Goob whimpered as Scraps nodded in agreement.

Yatta sat still in Goob’s embrace, feeling dread starting to wash over her. It didn’t feel fair, yet it was. So they ascended up in the elevator, returning to the lobby where the other toons were waiting. 

Chapter Text

Looey POV

He only listened to half of what Rodger told him as he stared into the elevator after Yatta had left. He was already rubbing his hand nervously as the time seemed to tick by audibly in his ears. Each tick was getting louder by the second, lowering his ears a tad the longer it went on. Looey’s foot began to tap to each tick he experienced, which seemed to not go unnoticed by Blot. Looey suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, which caused him to jump. He whirled around to see Blot standing there, looking concerned.
“..desserts kool ouY ?thgirla uoy erA” Blot lowered his hand, questioning his friend on how he was acting, “..lausu naht erom yaw, ekiL”
“I’m fine, I'm fine!” Looey feigned, waving his hand a bit with a nervous grin, “Just don’t want Yatta hurt you know. I know she’s capable but that doesn’t stop me from worrying about her.”
“?ereht t’nsi, siht ot erom si erehT,” Blot interrogated, his worry becoming more stern. “?gnorw si tahW .deirrow erom dna erom gnimoceb neeb ev’uoy, ecaps reh gnivig detrats ew ecnis revE”

“I-I” Looey stammered, trying to find something to say to throw Blot off of his questioning, only for his ears to perk when they heard the sound of the elevator returning.
“They’re back already? Did something happen?” he heard Rodger ask as the door opened, Astro being the first to leave as Dandy followed after him, trying to change his mind still. Astro walked straight up to Rodger, Looey seeing Goob and Scraps leave next. Both of them looked so worried. Scraps was trying to calm her brother down, but they weren’t his focus. Where was Yatta? Where was she? Was she hurt? She didn’t show back up in the lobby, meaning she didn’t die, so did she get hurt? Just as the final thought popped into his head, he saw Yatta step out. Her expression was distant, something that was so unlike her. Looey just stared at her before he suddenly clued back into the conversation Astro was having with Rodger.
“She had no stamina at all. We didn’t see her for a lot of the run and when we saw her again, she was nearly attacked by a twisted. Goob grabbed her in time, but she still almost got hurt. We may need to remove her from research runs for the time being.”

Looey felt his feet moving before his mind even registered what was said.
“??yeooL” he heard Blot shout from far behind him as he found himself sprinting to Yatta. Her expression remained distant, not even registering him coming. Looey grabbed her hands into his, which seemed to snap her out of it. She looked to him quickly, her grip tensing a moment before she seemed to register who had her hands.
“Looey-”
He didn’t even let her finish.
“Are you okay?? I heard about what happened from Astro! You didn’t get hurt did you? Did Goob really grab you in time? What twisted was it? You had no stamina that whole run?? Where did you vanish too?? You look more tired than you were before you left!”
The more he fretted, the more he could see her expression change. From slight annoyance to having been interrupted, to scared she was being interrogated, then an expression he didn’t see much out of her. Anger. However, the questions still came, he couldn’t stop them.
“Do you still need rest?? I-I can make sure that you rest today! You clearly still need it! Maybe I can get you-”

“LOOEY CAN YOU STOP?!!” Yatta’s voice suddenly cut in, much louder than he had ever heard her. He felt his mouth slam shut as Yatta glared at him. Why was she mad? Did he do something wrong? He wanted to ask but felt himself unable to do so. It honestly hurt that she lashed out, especially since he was worrying. As he pondered it, he saw Yatta’s angry expression start to shift. The anger seemed to wash away entirely as it was replaced with sadness. She gently pulled her hands from him, rubbing her eyes a bit as tears began to form.
“S-Sorry. Sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped. I’m sorry,” she muttered before she quickly turned and walked away. He wanted to follow, only to feel his wrist being grabbed by Blot, who had caught up. The lobby was now completely silent, everyone clearly shocked by Yatta’s shout. The silence was broken however, by Poppy piping up.
“Well that was weird.” 

And weird it was.
Looey just watched his friend walk away, rubbing her face. There was definitely something wrong, and now everyone in the lobby knew it.

Chapter Text

Yatta slowly moved through the halls of gardenview. Another month had now passed since what happened on that run. Now the other toons were aware of her condition. Worried glances, soft mutters, and even some asking if she was okay. Yatta couldn’t hide this anymore, the weariness and fatigue she had. She now looked as tired as she felt, and she hated it. She hated the glances, the mutters, the asking. Things that didn’t bother her before seemed to bother her now.

She felt so sad and angry and frustrated the more and more it happened. She couldn’t drop it for some reason.. Thoughts of Looey and Blot getting fed up and leaving her only grew throughout the days. The weight of them only made her sadness grow, bringing her to tears sometimes. She hated crying, and not being able to stop herself in front of her friends. It was annoying and it always seemed to worry them. She hated worrying them, but she didn’t want to talk about it! She didn’t want to worry them MORE! So she would distract herself by taking walks through the halls, hoping that she could focus on anything else. Someone had to look past their worry and talk to her eventually right? At least she hoped so.

It was that one day where she suddenly heard a loud yelp come from Looey, the source being the troupe’s shared room. While she couldn’t run, she still could briskly walk there, and the scene she found when arriving was an ordinary one. However, this time, it only seemed to enrage her. Thumbtacks littered the floor, each of them having their sharp points turned upwards. Their intent was clear, and it was to pop the balloon that stayed in that room. Looey was sitting outside of the room, staring in, his tail curled close to his body. His eyes were filled with a mild fear, as this had happened so many times he wasn’t fully afraid of it anymore. Yet that fear, it seemed to be enough for Yatta.
“That DANG SHRIMP!!”
Her voice came out so much harsher than she expected, yet it felt oddly cathartic. It was almost as if she WANTED this. She briskly turned and stormed down the halls, ignoring the sound of Looey calling her name after her in desperation. 

It did not take her long to find Shrimpo, as he didn’t move very fast, nor very far.
“Shrimpo.” she growled, the shrimp looking over to her, with not a single bit of care in his expression.
“WHAT??” He asked, turning to her fully.
“Pick up the thumbtacks. Apologize to Looey,” Yatta continued, her anger only growing. How could he NOT care that he almost hurt someone?
“YOU CAN’T MAKE ME DO ANYTHING!! AND SHRIMPO NEVER APOLOGIZES!!” he shouted back at her, stancing up, almost as if he wanted to fight. That was all she needed though. She suddenly grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him against the wall, pinning him to it. Her body was on autopilot, clenching a fist and pulling back to punch. She WANTED to punch him so badly, and he seemingly could tell. His usual angry expression was filled with fear. He was scared. He was ACTUALLY SCARED.

With their time around kids, the toons were never meant to be violent with each other, which allowed Shrimpo to get away with a lot of the things he did. He wouldn’t now. He wasn’t going to get away with this. So why was her arm shaking? She could feel herself starting to tear up at seeing someone actually scared of her. She tried to bring the anger back but it wasn’t coming.
“Yatta what are you doing??”
She suddenly felt Looey’s hands grab onto the arm she was going to punch with. She just looked over to the balloon, who held her arm tightly.
“Put..put him down. Please. We-We don’t result to violence,” Looey spoke, trying to calm her. Yatta felt her eyes narrow before she finally dropped Shrimpo to the floor. She pulled her arm out of Looey’s grasp and began to walk away. She could hear Looey quickly moving to follow her, now walking at pace with her.
“What was that? Why did you do that? You’ve never done that before!”
She wanted him to leave her alone. She felt her teeth grit a bit, but the anger did not return.

“You’ve..never tried to hit someone before. Yatta, are you okay..?” His voice suddenly went calmer, almost as if he could tell she was upset, “T-talk to me…I want to help-”
“Please..just leave me alone..” she suddenly managed to choke out, “I want to be alone right now.”
Silence filled the air as his footsteps stopped while hers continued on. It lingered for a good while before she finally heard him speak again behind her.
“If….If that’s what you want. Okay. Talk to me when you feel like it, okay?”


Those words only made her feel worse.

Chapter Text

All she felt was pain. Everything hurt. Everywhere hurt. Each new moment sent a wave of pain through her. It was agonizing! She felt like she was going to scream. Then, all at once, the pain was gone, and a strange sound filled her ears. What was it? It was too distant. Too far away to hear clearly. Everything around her was a blur as the sound echoed in her head. Yet, all she felt was…relief. Even a tad bit of joy. The sound
came closer, and just as she tried to figure out exactly what it was, she was enveloped in light.

Yatta sat up in her bed quickly. The clock in the troupe’s room rhythmically. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. The pinata slowly looked at the clock to look at the time. Two in the morning was what she could make out in the dark. That was far earlier than she had ever woke up since this all started three months ago. That dream too. It was so strange. What was all that? What was that noise? The blurry sights? Even the pain. What was it all? Just as she started to rack her brain for answers, a familiar nauseous wave struck her. Dang it, not again. She got out of bed and hurried to the bathroom. At least what was going on had lessened a tad, at least from what she noticed. Then again it didn’t make this feel any better.

As Yatta threw up into the toilet, she swore she heard the door knob turn. She didn’t even get to turn her head when she felt a hand gently place upon her back.
“...Yatta? Is…it happening again?” Looey’s voice was gentle in her ears, which rang slightly as she was light headed. She didn’t really get to respond verbally, only giving a small nod.
“?retaw ekil uoy dluoW ?pleh taht dluoW”
She honestly didn’t like these questions. She couldn’t answer verbally, from the vomiting to the weariness. Looey kept his hand on her back, gently rubbing it.  She hated the fact she woke them up. Hated the fact they were worried about her. She hated it, but could say nothing about it yet.
“I..don’t think she can answer that right now, Blot….” Looey spoke up, much to Yatta’s relief. Blot seemed to accept this, staying at the bathroom door. It was almost as if he was guarding it. From who or from what she didn’t know, but it made her feel safe in the very least.

She finally got a moment of reprieve, Looey nor Blot having left their ‘assigned’ posts. She hadn’t meant to, but she found herself leaning onto Looey, who seemed to accept the action.
“You..you doing okay?” Looey asked her slowly. “Usually you wake up at five when that happens…” He was still keeping his voice quiet.
“I know… And I’m, I’m fine. Probably..something I ate,” Yatta answered quietly as Blot headed into the bathroom with a cup of water, handing it to her. “Just need to sleep this off I think...”
“.emityreve taht yas uoY …uoy eveileb ot drah gnitteg s’tI”

Yatta just sipped her water, trying to ignore that. She felt Looey shift his position to keep her more upright.
“He’s..kinda right about that, Yatta…We just want to help you, but we can’t do that if you don’t talk to us about it. You’ve been dealing with this for…how long now? Three months..? You’ve been lethargic, throwing up some mornings, ignoring your usual appetite of candy. It’s all getting worrisome. It doesn’t help you’ve been avoiding talking to us about it-”

“Because I’m fine….You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be fine. Whatever this is will pass and I’ll be okay. I know you’re worried but I’m tougher than this,” she tried to reassure them, but her usual fire had died out since that run.
“.repsihw a evoba teg ylerab nac ecoiv ruoY” Blot pointed out sharply.

“B-Blot, don’t be harsh with her, please. What she needs right now is support. I’m just as worried as you, i-if not moreso..”
Yatta could feel Looey shiver a tad bit as he spoke. Blot sighed and sat on the floor with them.
“...yrros, thgir, thgiR” he went quieter. The three sat in silence for a good while, it suddenly getting awkward among them. Looey broke that silence finally, as if he couldn’t handle it.
“Would..you like me to carry you back to bed..?” he suddenly offered. Yatta wanted to refuse, but her legs didn’t seem to want to move.

“If you can lift me up..Last I checked I was a bit heavy…” She responded, having given up on making her body cooperate. She heard a silent thump of Looey’s tail hitting the floor before he placed his arms under her legs and behind her back and stood up. He wavered a bit, but seemed to be able to hold her. Blot stood up and began to walk back to their room, Looey following after him. It felt…oddly comfortable to be carried like this. Yatta placed her head onto Looey’s shoulder, resting against the nape of his neck. She felt him tense, but he oddly carried on. As she began to drift off, she swore she heard a faint whooshing noise coming from behind them. She decided to pay it no mind, and promptly fell back asleep.

Chapter Text

It was a good morning this time. Yatta was sitting up in bed, looking to the clock, which showed the time of six. She actually felt rested, alert. She could already hear Looey shuffle in his bed as he was getting up himself. Blot was already awake, having already got himself ready to leave their room.
“Morning Yatta…” Looey yawned, his tail making a small wag as he spoke. He was happy to see her, but it was like that every morning before this. This time, though, it felt different, but Yatta couldn’t really place why. She decided not to question it, and gave a greeting back.
“Hey, good morning. Sleep well, you two?”
“ did I .llew sa did uoy smeeS” Blot responded, giving a ‘smile’ to Yatta, which she returned.
“Yeah, for once..” she chuckled as she got out of bed, making a small stretch.
“Think you can eat today? I-I mean more than you usually have been,” Looey piped up, rubbing his hands a bit, “Y-Y’know…with what’s been happening. I-I’m sorry I’ll shut up now.”

“Nah, you’re FINE. I think I can. Depends on what it is but I’m sure I can,” Yatta smiled at Looey as he glanced up at her and gaveher a small tail wag in response, “I wonder if they’ll have oranges again.”
The last words she spoke were thoughts that came out loud, one that caused head tilts from her companions.
“You..really seem to like oranges all of a sudden. Why is that?”
“I dunno. I just…do. I’ve been wanting them since I first ate them. They were so good.” She nearly salivated at the thought.
“...yako, tghiR .emos evah ll’yeht erus…..m’I” Blot said as he walked out of the room, though Yatta caught the weariness in his voice.
“Did I say something wrong?” Yatta asked, but her question went unanswered. She decided not to question it further and followed after her friends. Might as well get started with this rare good day.

It was a good breakfast, though there weren’t any oranges. It bummed her out some, but it wasn’t all that bad. She could live, even if she REALLY REALLY wanted oranges again. Dang, why did she want some so badly? It was almost like they had replaced candy. Not that anything could truly replace candy though! No, stop thinking about candy. She patted the sides of her face, trying to erase the thought from her mind. It was time to focus on something else. Maybe something she hasn’t done in a while. Like her acts! She should do that! She quickly headed to the troupe’s training grounds. Maybe do trapeze? Or tightrope walking? The aerial ribbon dancing? No, not that one. Her tails always got tangled up in that. One day she would perfect it though.

She walked into the room, starting to think deeply. Which one, which one? As she looked to the tightrope, her pick was solidified. Tightrope walking it was. She headed to the ladder and began to climb. As she reached the fourth rung, her mind was suddenly bombarded by anxious thoughts.
‘Don’t do it, you’ll fall’ ‘You’ll hurt yourself’ ‘You’ll hurt it’
‘It’? What was ‘it’? She clung to the ladder, trying to wrestle with her thoughts, but the instinct to get down was far stronger. She climbed down, and once her feet touched the ground, the thoughts slowly faded. She stood at the ladder, slowly taking her hand off of it. Yatta decided it was best to find something else to do. She turned and left the training arena, not noticing she had been watched.

Looey Pov

He watched Yatta leave the room, the worry in his heart growing more. She had been having a good day that day, or so he had thought. But he had never seen her look so afraid when being on the ladder. It was almost as if she was scared of heights all of a sudden. He abruptly patted the sides of his face with his hands, trying to find some resolve. No, no more would he just sit and watch. He had to do SOMETHING. He had to figure this out. This had been going on for far too long, and if Yatta wasn’t going to talk about it, he would have to investigate. With resolve replacing the worry, he turned and set off for the only other toon he knew who could crack this case. A certain magnifying glass.

Chapter Text

Rodger POV


Rodger looked at the papers scattered all over his desk. He had been at this since that run months ago. Connecting symptoms to what he read in the books available, but while one would connect, another wouldn’t. He sighed in annoyance as he leaned back in his chair, closing his eye. At hearing the click of his doorknob being turned, he opened it and looked to see a nervous Looey opening it.
“...Hi, um, you..said to come to you whenever I needed right? If it was serious?” Looey spoke, his voice nervous, yet spoken loudly.
“I did, though I can guess what it is you came here for. It’s about Yatta, isn’t it?” Rodger asked as he stood from his chair. Looey gave a small nod as he closed the door behind him.
“Y-yes, it is. She..She was climbing the ladder to tightrope walk and…she suddenly panicked and got down. I don’t know if it’s related at all but, I don’t..think fear of heights can come so suddenly like that..right?”
Rodger internally sighed as he knew he would have to write something new down.
“Depends to be honest. She hasn’t been up high for a while, so her brain could have rewired, but given how she has been for these two to three-”
“Three to four…” Looey suddenly corrected. “Me and Blot noticed this about four months ago.”
Rodger blinked at hearing this.

“And you two said nothing?” He asked, almost stunned. He watched Looey look away, the balloon growing more nervous than when he had entered.
“W-We figured it was nothing and that it would go away! So we just…kept quiet about it. Then the run happened and Yatta started to keep quiet and push us away whenever we asked-”
“She hasn’t talked to you about..anything going on?”
Looey shook his head quickly. He took a deep inhale before sitting down into a chair nearby. His nervousness slowly melted away as his ears lowered.
“We’ve been figuring it out ourselves…early morning wakings to throw up. Not eating sweets because they make her sick. Her emotions are heightened. Some smells set her off. All of that we’ve observed. She says nothing about it all. I-I’m worried, Rodger! I'm very worried about her! More so than I thought I would be! Just the thought of her going through this makes me panic more than anything else has! I don’t even know why! My heart is pounding at the thought of her and-”
Rodger placed his hand on Looey’s shoulder, making him go quiet.
“Have you told her?” Rodger asked, seeing Looey’s expression going to one of confusion.
“Told her…what?” Looey asked, staring into Rodger’s eye as the magnifying glass suddenly chuckled.
“That you like her, of course,” Rodger answered as he backed off, heading back to his desk, “That’s why you’re worrying so badly.”
“Of course I like her! We’re friends! If I didn’t like her, that would be weird!”

Rodger looked up to Looey, placing the papers he had picked up back down.
“I didn’t mean as friends, Looey,” Rodger continued. He watched Looey’s face go from confusion to shock, his cheeks going a bright red.
“I-I-I-I have no idea what you’re talking-!”
“I’ll look into Yatta for you. I’ve been doing that for a while, but if I find out anything, I’ll tell you and Blot first and foremost. I’ll keep an eye on her. Just promise me you’ll stop hiding and tell her.”
Looey just stared at Rodger, face still red before he looked to the floor.
“Y-yes sir…” Looey mumbled.
“Good. Now then, please leave me to my work.”
Looey stood up and left the room, leaving Rodger to his paper and his thoughts. The magnifying glass watched before letting out another chuckle.
“Oh, that balloon is so hopeless. No wonder he barely listened to me that day…”
Rodger turned his gaze back to his notes, writing down what he had just heard.

Chapter Text

It had been another bad morning for Yatta. Another morning of waking up early and feeling ill. Her tails dragged on the floor as she sleepily walked down the halls. She was just so exhausted. She wanted to sleep but that would be super unproductive. She didn’t even know what she could do. She wasn’t allowed on runs, and doing too much seemed to wear her out heavily. She felt so uncomfortable, and the smells around her seemed to bother her. Some were good, but others made her feel sick the same way candy did. Yatta stood in the hall, resting for a moment before she suddenly heard a gasp behind her. She jumped and turned, seeing Glisten standing behind her.

“Yatta! You’re absolutely radiant today! You look marvelous!”
Those words threw her for a loop. She knew what she looked like, and she could see it in the faint reflection of Glisten himself. She looked horrible. Tired. Ragged. She just stood there, trying to find words to say, which only seemed to have Glisten continue.
“I’ve never seen you glow so much! You must tell me how you’re doing it!”
If it was an attempt to help her feel better, it was a poor one. Just as Glisten placed his hand onto Yatta’s shoulder, she shrugged it off.
“Thanks, but to be honest with ya, Glisten, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t know if you’re trying to be nice but I can see myself in your mirror. I don’t look good, at all. I look, and feel, horrible. I look like I haven’t slept in a week. I appreciate you going out of your way to compliment me, if that is what you’re TRYING to do..but it’s..not helping. Thank you, but I’m sorry.”

Glisten went to say something, but Yatta didn’t quite catch it as she passed by him, leaving him alone in the hallway. She didn’t quite know where she was going, only walking forward as she didn’t focus on anything in front of her. That was until she bumped into someone.
“Goodness!” Teagan’s shout snapped Yatta out of her funk, causing the pinata to back up quickly.
“AH! T-Teagan, I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you there!” Yatta went to speak, before smelling a sweet scent coming from the kitchen. She quickly placed her hand to her nose and mouth as her stomach churned uncomfortably. She almost didn’t register Teagan placing her hands on Yatta’s shoulders, gently moving her away and into the teacup’s room. Teagan turned and gently closed the door, Yatta hearing the click as the door blocked most of the smell away. The pinata could feel Teagan guiding her to a chair and helping her sit down, Teagan moving to Yatta’s level.
“You’re fine, dear, I’m more worried about you. You look like you barely slept a wink, and the smell of cookies turned you green…” Teagan finally spoke, her voice quiet at first as the nausea slowly faded. Yatta leaned back in the chair.
“I..I know…” Yatta mumbled, Teagan standing up and heading to a small kitchenette she had in her room, “what..what are you doing..?”
“I’m making you some peppermint tea. That should help with your nausea at least…”

Yatta wanted to say something, but decided against it. She listened to the bubbling of the water boiling before Teagan took it off of the stove, pouring it into a teacup she had placed a teabag into. She headed to Yatta and placed it down in front of her, sitting down across from her.
“Talk to me…what’s been going on with you as of recently?” Her voice was filled with such care and concern, like a dagger to Yatta’s heart. Yatta glanced away before taking a deep breath.
“I..I don’t even know. I don’t know what’s going on with me. One day I was fine, and then I suddenly wasn’t. It’s flip-flopping between the days a-and it’s starting to worry Looey and Blot and I don’t want to worry them! I care about them a lot and having them worry about me makes me feel bad!” Yatta sat up, placing her arms onto the table, leaning on it, “Seeing them so worried about me, it hurts a lot, a-and then it brings me to tears sometimes. Then I cry and I don’t know why. I never cried about things like this before.”
Teagan said nothing, listening carefully. Yatta could see the thoughtful expression on the teacup’s face as she reached out the other one and gently placed it onto Yatta’s.
“It must be so stressful for you, not knowing what is going on with you. But I’m sure it will work out.” Her voice was like silk, soothing and soft. It was almost comforting. Yatta fumbled with the peppermint tea in front of her, wondering if she could drink it now.
“Y-Yeah, I HOPE SO. I just want this to be over with….Glisten complimented me earlier. That was nice…at least..”
“That was sweet of him. Despite looking so tired you do certainly seem to have a glow to you. It’s..odd.”
Yatta slowly sipped the tea, a bit wary at the thought of burning her tongue.
“Yeah. Oh, something I..I noticed is that sometimes..placing on my stomach seems to calm it somewhat. I-I don’t know why but it does. It’s weird..”
“Have you told any of this to Rodger?” Teagan asked, taking her hand off of Yatta, placing it politely into her lap.
“N-No. I don’t really like talking to Rodger. He HIMSELF is fine. It’s just…all the questioning and stuff, y’know?”
Yatta took another sip of the tea as Teagan hummed with a small nod. She seemed to understand. In fact, a lot of this was just that. Understanding. Speaking only if spoken too. No harsh words or judgement. No fretting. It was quiet in this room, away from the craziness of everything. She felt…safe. Yatta hadn’t noticed she had started crying until her own tears hit her hands.
“Are you okay, dear?” Teagan’s voice caused Yatta to look over at her.
“W-Would you..mind if I…did this..more?” Yatta managed to choke out, “Y-you’re being s-s-s-so nice to me an-and I don’t know why and-” Yatta hiccuped a bit as she tried to talk through tears. Teagan just smiled sweetly as she pulled her chair to sit closer to the pinata. She gently pulled Yatta so she was leaning on her, gently wrapping her arms around her.
“I do not mind at all. You can come here whenever you like to talk. I’m always available.”
The tears turned into waterfalls, Yatta now starting to sob on her companion. Teagan only sat there and let it happen.

Yatta now felt she had a place to go if she felt this way again, and it was..nice.

Chapter Text

Glisten POV

Glisten stood perplexed as he watched Yatta walk away. Had he said something wrong? No, of course not! Whatever he said was perfect! Surely she must just be in a bad mood! Well, then again that wasn’t too far off of the mark. She did seem to be. He probably came off too strong. He pondered a moment before turning and starting to walk down the hall. Yatta hadn’t been her usual self for a while. Some days she was fine, but others, she was like, well that. Downtrodden and tired. It wasn’t like her, not at all. He hated to even think about it, but it did worry him. As much as he was not that close to the troupe, he had to admit, they really livened up Gardenview. At least before all this happened. There was only one person he knew he could talk to about it, and he began to briskly make his way there.

He opened the door without knocking, finding Rodger standing over his desk, staring at papers with an expression he didn’t usually wear, frustration. Glisten didn’t need to ask what he was researching, but he did anyway.
“I..take it you are looking into Yatta?” Glisten’s voice caused the magnifying glass to flinch and look up. Rodger closed his eye and sighed, sitting down in his chair, leaning back into it.
“I am, yes, and every time I think I make headway, I end up two steps back.”
Glisten coasted over, peering at the papers lining the wooden surface. Each paper had a list of symptoms they had seen out of Yatta and others had sicknesses that matched one or two symptoms, but not all of them.
“Goodness..” Glisten muttered as he stared at the research before him, Rodger sitting up and picking up the papers and stacking them neatly, “If even you can’t seem to figure this out, then it must be bad right?”

“We cannot be completely certain on that. I’m not going to stop until I figure this out. What I lack is more research. I do not have the proper material on what the symptoms line up to. All we have are children’s books and basic aid. This requires more than what we have.”
Honestly it was a relief to hear Rodger mention that he wasn’t giving up, but it still was a concern that they didn’t have what they needed. Glisten thought a moment before looking at his companion.
“Do you think Dyle could assist with that? His train deliveries could be helpful with gathering more reading material.”
“Well, yes, however, I have noticed that Dyle tends to avoid me when I try to speak with him. I would like to ask, but if I cannot speak to him, then I can’t get what I need.”
“That does sound like an issue, and I doubt he will be willing to help if I ask, as I’m not known for reading. Hmm..there has to be someone here he would happily assist..”

As the two stood and pondered, they could hear the voice of another toon passing by. They turned to see Finn happily speaking to Shrimpo, telling fish facts or puns he could think of. While Glisten could feel himself cringe, he could see the look in Rodger’s eye that he already had an idea.
“Oh, do not tell me…” Glisten muttered.
“Indeed I am, Glisten. Pardon the pun, but I believe we just found our ticket to getting what we need from the train.”

Glisten groaned, knowing very well that it meant having to work with the fishbowl, and it would be absolutely DREADFUL.

Chapter Text

This was getting super annoying. Every little thing she did, she swore she could hear a pencil writing on paper. She felt eyes constantly watching her. At first she had been paranoid but now? Now it was just irritating. She twitched her ribbon tails as she sat under the tree in the lobby. Whoever was watching her didn’t seem to be doing anything yet, but she could bide her time. She wasn’t a patient toon normally, but dang would she not let whoever was doing this get away with it.

It was then she heard it again. The faint sound of graphite on paper. The slight movement of a box being leaned on. She glanced at where the sound originated, making sure to not to turn her head too much. She didn’t want to scare them away, then she would never figure it out. She could see a faint gleam of metal behind the wooden boxes that littered the lobby. Only a few toons had that, and she knew Vee nor Glisten were ones to write things down. She felt herself getting up slowly, eyes now locked onto that gleam. She lowered herself to the ground like a cat and began to slowly crawl, much like she used to do in the vents. Only, she did this more silently, carefully. They were still writing, unaware of her having caught onto them.

Once she felt she was close enough, she quickly climbed over the boxes, knocking down her ‘stalker’. He made a loud oof as Yatta pushed him down with her full weight.
“Rodger,” Yatta spoke through gritted teeth, “why have you been spying on me?”
He blinked in shock at seeing her on top of him.
“Y-Yatta! I wasn’t spying on you at all! I was just-!”
“Gathering info without my knowledge? That’s spying, you idiot. Why? Why were you following me and writing things down, huh??”
“You..you have us all worried, so I was just trying to figure things out in order to see how to help-”
“I don’t NEED help. I’m FINE. There’s nothing wrong with me! I’m perfectly fine! I’m not SICK or anything!”
Rodger stared at her before letting out a small sigh as he glanced at the wall.
“According to Looey, you’ve been like this for five months.”
“LOOEY?? WHEN DID LOOEY GO TO YOU?!!” Yatta felt her tone raise upon hearing this, gripping a bit tighter. Rodger flinched at the tone and slight pain from the tightened grip.
“..almost three weeks ago. He came in and asked me to keep an eye on you because he saw you freak out on the ladder to the tightrope.”
Yatta felt her body stiffen. Looey had seen that? She wasn’t aware he was even there, much less WATCHING. The pinata slowly backed off of Rodger, allowing him to stand up. She stood there, quietly as Rodger dusted himself off. It grew quiet between them before she felt the magnifying glass place his hand upon her shoulder.

“Your friends worry for you a lot, Yatta. You cannot just continue to hide your condition from them. They HAVE noticed and they are getting more concerned than you know. They will continue to get concerned if you don’t talk about this with them. Especially Looey. I’m not forcing you to do anything, but I’m highly encouraging that you do. I’ll leave you with that.”
She felt his hand move off of her as Rodger’s footsteps left her standing there. Looey had gone behind her back? Why? Why was he so dang worried about her?! What did he hope to gain from this?? Why was she getting so angry about it? Why was she tearing up? Why were her hands shaking? Would Blot do this too? Was this it? Were they going to finally ditch her now?

She felt her breathing quicken as the anger began to boil more. Her tails flared and began to flick wildly as she stared at the floor. They couldn’t ditch her now! She had been nothing but nice and kind and this is how Looey paid her back?? She didn’t want to worry them or anyone else and now Looey had to go and drag someone else into it. Yatta felt herself turn and storm into the elevator to head back to her room before she could really register it. She felt it descend as she continued to boil. All she felt was anger towards the balloon. He was supposed to be her best friend, and he had to go and do that! For a stupid reason. A stupid STUPID reason that was simply WORRYING ABOUT HER. She didn’t want to talk about it for THAT REASON.

She entered the troupe’s room. She wanted to hit something. Kick something maybe, but what would that solve?? Last time she tried to let her anger out like that, she ended up crying like a baby. No, she needed an entirely different approach, and she now had just the one. Yatta sat down in a chair that faced the door. She was going to confront him in a way that she knew he wouldn’t expect. Upfront without any violence.

She was going to give him the verbal lashing of his LIFE.

Chapter Text

She sat in the chair, foot tapping on the floor rapidly. Her arms were crossed and her fur bristling. Her tails whipped in agitation as she kept her eye on the door leading to the hallway. They would be back, and she knew it. Her patience was rewarded as she could hear the exhausted voices of her friends as they came back to their rooms to rest. They must’ve gone on a research run, but that didn’t matter much to her. All that mattered was the lashing Looey was in for.

“-and a Pebble on top of that? I’m just glad we made it back in one-” Looey and Blot turned the corner of the doorway, immediately spotting Yatta. She could see the shocked expressions on their faces, but ignored it. She kept her focus on the balloon that even agitated her in the first place.
“LOOEY,” she spoke harshly. Blot glanced at the balloon before throwing up his hands and backing away.
“.siht ot uoy gnivael m’I .kucl dooG”
“Wh-WHAT?! W-WAIT, BLOT-!” Looey turned to follow, only for Yatta to stand up and grab his arm. She yanked him into the room and slammed the door shut.

“AH!! Y-Yatta what is-?!”
“You were WATCHING ME? And worse yet, told RODGER about it??” Yatta harshly asked, turning to face Looey. The balloon’s face suddenly went a tad bit more pale.
“You saw him? Yatta, I-”
“DON’T BRUSH AROUND THE TOPIC. ANSWER ME.”
“Okay okay okay yes! I was! I did! I’m just worried about you okay?? This isn’t like you and-!”
“Did you EVEN THINK I PROBABLY DIDN’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT?!”
“I-I did but it’s starting to worry me at this point-!”
She let out a snarl as she harshly turned, looking to the wall.
“‘Worry’! That’s all you’ve been doing! Worrying! But I am FINE. I will BE FINE. There is NOTHING to worry about!”
Looey’s expression went a tad bit more determined as his ears flattened against his head.
“Throwing up at five in the morning at least twice a week isn’t ‘fine’! Experiencing back pain to not sleep as well isn’t ‘fine’! Exhausted to the point you barely even SMILE anymore isn’t ‘fine’! Yatta, you’ve been AVOIDING me and Blot this whole time too! You are anything but fine!”

Yatta finally grew tired of the back and forth, her tails flicking more as she turned to face Looey again.
“WHY DO YOU CARE SO MUCH?!!” Yatta finally asked the question that had been plaguing her brain. She watched Looey throw his arms up in frustration, but wasn’t ready for the words that left his mouth.
“BECAUSE I LIKE YOU, OKAY?!”
At those words, Yatta froze. She tried desperately to find a counter to that. Something, anything, but nothing came to mind. The anger in her had become smaller, almost to the point it was burnt out. She blinked as Looey panted, neither of them saying anything for a moment. She spoke again, only a lot calmer.
“I sure hope so. We’re friends, right? It would be weird if you didn’t-”
It was his turn to interrupt her.
“I didn’t mean as a friend.”

The pinata slowly stood taller as her tails went limp. Looey’s anger also melted away as he rubbed his left hand, looking to the floor. He inhaled like he was going to speak again, but seemed to hesitate. The balloon closed his mouth, letting what he said linger in the air.
“Since when?” Yatta asked, stepping a tad bit closer. Looey sighed through his nose as he looked back into her eyes.
“Since..a few weeks before this started..like..five months ago started. Maybe a bit longer than that, but the weeks before your issues started is when I-I knew I felt it.”
Yatta opened her mouth to speak, only for Looey to continue.
“I-I didn’t want to believe it at first, but then you started getting ill and not eating sugar! Then the run happened and that was when I felt it the most! Nothing in that moment scared me more than hearing what happened and seeing your face! You never zoned out like that before! I shouldn’t have started prodding you then but I just….I couldn’t help it. The words were out of my mouth before I could think about it and-!”

Yatta suddenly moved forward, wrapping her arms around Looey’s neck. She felt him hesitate before placing his hands on her back, gently hugging her in return. She didn’t know why, but she felt her throat starting to tighten before the tears began to flow. She let out a small hiccup as she hugged tighter.
“Yatta..?” she heard Looey whisper, but the concern in his voice was there.
“I’m….I’m scared…” the words of admission finally spilled out. Words she never wanted to say, but words that needed to be said. Even if they came out in a whisper, “I’ve…been scared. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m scared you and Blot will just leave me. That’s why I’ve been avoiding you. I didn’t want you to worry about me, or resent me. I-I thought I was doing good but I just worried you more and I’m sorry-!”
She felt the hug on Looey’s end tighten.
“No, no. No, don’t apologize. You said it yourself, you’re scared! A lot of people hide when they’re scared. I only scared you more, and I’m so sorry about that. I should have been a better friend and let you come to me, like Blot’s been telling me to do. I kept pushing it, and I’m sorry.”

She went quiet with words, still sniffling and hiccuping in his embrace.
“I..I forgive you. I shouldn’t have worried you. I thought I could handle it on my own,” Yatta muttered, resting her head onto his shoulder. She could see it now. Looey’s tail was making a tiny wag, but it was strained. It was almost like he was holding back, trying to keep the mood serious as she poured her heart and tears out. She went quiet again, thinking deeply.
“When you were carrying me back to bed about a month or two ago…that whooshing sound. Was..that your tail?”
His tail stopped wagging and went stiff. She felt Looey tense up, but he suddenly seemed warmer.
“Um! Uh! Wh-what would you do if I said yes??” He asked, almost desperately.
“I’d laugh, because it was silly. Now that I know your feelings, it suddenly makes sense.”
The tension in Looey went away, his tail starting to subtly wag again.
“Then, yes. That was my tail. I-I’m sorry. I know it was a bad time.”
Yatta felt a chuckle leave her throat with a hiccup from her crying, which made quite an odd sound. This resulted in a snort from Looey as he tried not to laugh, but failed. His laughter was contagious, so Yatta found herself laughing too. The two giggled and laughed for a few minutes, both having to take a step back. Yatta took the time to wipe the tears away as her giggles faded away, she turned to look at her friend. Or was he her friend at this point? She wasn’t quite sure what she felt now that he admitted his feelings. She wasn’t mad at him, nor uncomfortable. She felt happy to hear it but was it just her mood swinging? She wasn’t sure, and now wasn’t the time to figure it out.

Looey looked at her, a soft smile on his face.
“Are you feeling a bit better?” he asked, rubbing his face a bit to wipe his tears from laughing away.
“Yeah, I am. Your laughter is CONTAGEOUS” She tried to not laugh again. She felt the euphoric feeling leaving as she became serious once more. She took a deep breath before letting out a nervous sigh, “I need to talk to Rodger about all this.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” Looey asked, “or Blot if he’s still around.”
“I would like that..” Yatta responded, only to hear the door click as the latch seemed to fail. Blot fell into the room, hitting the floor. Both of them stared at the ink blot on the floor, who looked very embarrassed. It was clear what he had been doing. He had been listening in on them.
“...yyyyyrrooossss…” he muttered quietly. Looey and Yatta made a small collected sigh. Both of them were too burnt out to be angry at Blot. What mattered now was seeing Rodger, and hopefully figure all this out.

At least they all hoped he could figure it out.

Chapter Text

The trip down to Rodger’s room was silent and uneventful, though Yatta was nervous about it. She had been avoiding Rodger for this purpose. She hated the near endless questioning the magnifying glass brought on. She glanced at Looey, seeing he was looking ahead, but his eyes. They were just as nervous as hers. Blot, however, was a lot more steeled than the two of them. He didn’t look nervous at all, at least from the outside. For all she knew, he was fretting just as much. Then again he could also be worried that he was going to get a lashing from Yatta and Looey for listening through the door, but that would be later.

They arrived at Rodger's room, Looey knocking on the door before gently opening it. The first thing Yatta saw was a red string board on the wall, labeled ‘The Ichor Operation’. Next to the label was a tiny sticky note with the word ‘Hiatus’.
“Rodger, are you busy?” Looey’s nervous voice spoke up, forcing Yatta to look away from the board to Rodger’s desk. The detective was sitting there, looking at papers strewn about the wooden surface. Yatta had never seen him look so defeated, as he looked up to see the troupe in his room. That defeated look became one of brief shock before it settled to what seemed to be a tired smile.
“Ah, Looey, Yatta, Blot. I am not that busy. I see you spoke to Yatta. I take it you came to me to see if I figured anything out?”
“?uoy evah, lleW” Blot quizzed as Rodger stood up and patted a table, ushering Yatta to sit down.
“That remains to be seen, if new symptoms haven’t shown up. Have any, Miss Yatta?”
Yatta felt very put on the spot. She flicked her tails before taking a deep breath and sighing.
“Nothing seriously new that I know of. What I have noticed isn’t entirely a symptom though.”

This seemed to perk up Rodger as he picked up his note pad.
“What would that be?”
Gosh, she felt so stupid at even wanting to bring it up. She tried her best to ignore her nerves as she spoke again.
“I noticed that sometimes, if my stomach is feeling weird, putting my hand on it calms it down.”
The dumbfounded look Rodger suddenly had only solidified Yatta’s embarrassment. She felt her face get hot as he hesitantly wrote down this information.
“That’s a bit- OOF!” Looey wheezed as Blot suddenly elbowed the balloon in the side. The ink blot gave a soft glare to Looey as he rubbed where he had been struck.
“Blot, refrain from hitting people in my office,” Rodger warned as he walked to his desk and placed the note down, “especially given it was uncalled for.”

The three watched Rodger just stared at the litter of paper haphazardly covering the desk before he let out a frustrated sigh.
“If these symptoms appeared on their own individually and not as often as they have been, I would have said it was stress or the stomach flu. But all together? And nearly twice a week at most? With different unrelated symptoms on top of that? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“So you can’t figure it out?” Yatta felt herself asking without even thinking about it.
“Not YET. My research is limited, but once I get the proper materials to work with, I WILL figure it out,” Rodger answered, turning to face Yatta, “I do not wish for you to continue to suffer like this. I will not leave this ‘case’ to go cold.”
“?neht su deen llits uoy oD”
“If there is nothing more that Yatta has noticed.”
Yatta shook her head slightly, which seemed to answer that.
“Then please be on your way. I’ll continue to look into this. The only thing I can recommend is Yatta try to eat more than she has. She does seem a tad bit malnourished.” Rodger spoke as Yatta got down from the table.

The three walked out of the room, Blot letting out a frustrated sigh.
“..tsub a saw taht, lleW”
Yatta just hugged her arms. Back to square one, like always. Still questioning and nowhere near to solving this.
“At least we know that Rodger won’t quit until he figures it all out. That’s reassuring at least, right? It has to be,” Looey tried to reassure them before going silent. Yatta suddenly felt his hand rest onto her shoulder, “Hey, Yatta, I know it’s scary right now, but as I’ve said this whole time, you have me and Blot to help you out.”
His words and his actions were made the same way as they always had been, but to Yatta, they felt so different. She could suddenly hear the love in each word and feel it in each touch now that Looey had confessed his feelings.
What was even odder was that it didn’t even feel bad. Somewhere in her mind, she enjoyed it. Was so happy to hear it, but she didn’t know whether it was her condition or something else.

Has she always felt that way herself? She wasn’t quite sure. Yatta felt her hand slowly move up, placing it on Looey’s. His hand slightly tensed the moment hers touched him, but just as quickly relaxed.
“Yeah, yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry for not telling you guys anything.”
“As I said before, you don’t have to apologize for anything. You were scared. You have every right to be, especially now.”
“.syawlA .uoy rof ereh eb syawla ll’eW” Blot confirmed as Looey smiled at the ink blot. Yatta nodded in agreement before the memory of him having listened in hit her like a truck.
“Speaking of, YOU still need to explain why you were hiding at the door.”
Blot froze for a second before taking off running down the hall before either Looey and Yatta could react.
“So, knowing you can’t really seem to run right now, want me to get him?” Looey asked.
“Yeah. Get him. I’ll be in our room.”
“Right. Meet you there.”
Looey took off after the ink blot as Yatta chuckled to herself, knowing Blot would never outrun Looey.



Rodger POV

Just a few minutes after the troupe left, Rodger heard the door open again. Glisten was the first to enter, followed by a nervous looking Finn. Rodger felt himself perk up at first, only to see the fishbowl didn’t have anything.
“Finn, what happened?” Rodger asked, heading over to the pair.
“I talked to Dyle today about the research, but he told me his suppliers were suspicious about what he would need books like that for. He’s been trying to convince them that we will need them for more proper care for injuries and wounds, but it’s been an uphill battle.”
“Which is extremely frustrating,” Glisten interjected, “It’s as if they are treating us like children.”
Rodger sighed, feeling his shoulders droop.
“You look a bit more frazzled than last time. What happened?” Glisten asked as Rodger turned back to his desk and sat down.

“New ‘symptom’.”
“Is it a bad one? Is she okay?” Finn inquired quickly, Rodger looking over to him.
“Thankfully not bad. Just strange.” He answered and handed them the note he had written. Both of their faces going dumbfounded as he had been when Yatta told him gave him some relief that he wasn’t alone.
“Do stomachs work like that?” Glisten’s voice was full of confusion, “because I do not recall stomachs working like that.”
“I don’t think so. That is really weird.” Finn handed back the note, which Rodger placed back onto the desk.
“Yes, and that is why I need more research. More ‘grown up’ research, as kids books aren’t really proper research material. It’s imperative I get them.”
“I can try to talk to Dyle more, but I can only do so much.”
“You’re doing enough, Finn. Trust me. The fact you can even talk to Dyle is good enough,” Rodger reassured, “Let’s just hope they finally give us what we need soon.”

Chapter Text

Yatta found herself awake in her bed again. The room was dark and quiet as it always was at night. This awakening, however, was different than her usual one. It was so odd, that at two in the morning, she suddenly really wanted an orange. She felt this before but she always ignored it, but now, it was bad. Really bad. She sat up, flicking her tail a moment before getting out of bed. Yatta could no longer fight the urges. She NEEDED to get those oranges before she pulled her fur out.

She walked quietly to the kitchen, keeping a sharp eye out for any nocturnal toons. The last thing she wanted was to run into anyone else and be questioned why she was up so late. At some very close calls, her mission to the kitchen was a success. She felt elated as she approached the fridge and silently opened it. There, her precious food item was waiting. She reached in and grabbed her prize, the orange she so badly craved. 
“What are you doing?”
Yatta jumped as Cosmo appeared out of seemingly nowhere, dropping her snack. She looked to see him just as he silently closed the fridge door, then crossed his arms with a disappointed expression.

“Um, I was just, er-” Yatta tried to speak but words failed her. Cosmo sighed and picked up the orange from the floor and placed it back into her hand.
“Wash it before you eat it please. I don’t want you to get sick from eating something that fell on the floor. I don’t know why you’re up this early in the morning for an orange, but you never wake up this early.”
“I just wanted an orange that badly. I don’t know why,” Yatta responded as she began to wash the orange off, “In fact, it’s been near constant for..” she paused as she thought, “six months now.”
“It’s almost like you replaced candy,” Cosmo half-muttered to himself, causing Yatta to look back at him. Those words admittedly seemed to hurt, Yatta giving him a sad whimper at hearing it. Cosmo quickly seemed to regret what he said, raising his hands and quickly waving them.
“Sorry, sorry! I just woke up not that long ago! That was a bit mean, I'm sorry.”
“You’re fine,” Yatta whimpered as she turned off the sink and headed to a table and sat down. Cosmo lingered a moment before sitting next to her, resting his head onto his arms, “so do you have some sort of ‘someone is touching the fridge’ sense because you weren’t there like a second ago.”
“I dunno, I guess I do,” Cosmo shrugged his shoulders, “I’ve gotten it with Dandy a lot. You would not believe how many times that flower has been up at three in the morning!”
“I take it nearly every morning?” Yatta asked as she took a bite of her orange.

“Nearly every morning! It’s so annoying!” Cosmo sat up, throwing his arms into the air before sighing and leaning back, staring at the ceiling, “How have you been by the way? I know you've been having it rough these six months.”
“I’ve been doing alright I guess. It’s still bad at times but since month four it’s been a lot more manageable,” Yatta answered, only to notice Cosmo seemed lost in thought, “What? What’s up?” 
“You know, Sprout has mentioned at times, whenever you’re at the table eating, he’s spotted more than one heart.”
“Huh?” Yatta tilted her head.
“Ah! Right! Um, Sprout has the ability to see our health as hearts. That’s how he knows if we need healing or not. He can see quite the distance with it. Usually it’s just one heart but you have two. At least that’s what he says. He’s not sure if he’s seeing things or if you actually do. It’s gotten bigger throughout the months too.”
“That is SUPER weird,” Yatta shuddered, “I haven’t been on a run for MONTHS so I’m not sure if I have an extra heart or not.” 
“Yeah, better not go on a run just to see that,” Cosmo sighed as he leaned back forward.

The two sat in silence for a while as Yatta finished up the orange, then Yatta spoke up.
“It probably sucks to see that many hearts at one time though. Must be super disorienting.”
“Yeah, he’s said as much. I wish he could turn it off.”
Yatta nodded in agreement before looking at Cosmo.
“Wait, you said he saw it the whole six months I’ve been like this and it got bigger. How small was it at the start?”
“Oh geez, uh, he didn’t say. Sorry.”
“Maaan..” Yatta sighed.
“Why do you want to know? You seem really interested in knowing.”
“I-I don’t know. I just- ah, it’s been an hour. I need to get back to bed and hope I don’t throw up later. See you later in the morning Cosmo!”
Yatta turned and left before Cosmo could even speak. 

A second heart? That was so weird, and trippy. Poor Sprout too, now knowing his ability affected him outside of the runs they did. Yatta crawled back into her bed and laid down onto her back. She felt her hand move to her stomach, which seemed to be ingrained into her muscle memory now. She still didn’t know why, but for some reason, it was comforting. She just closed her eyes and relaxed, falling back into a peaceful slumber.

Chapter Text

Looey POV


The soft shuffling of fabric lulled him out of sleep. It was still dark, almost pitch black in the circus troupe’s room. He sat up in his bed, seeing something in his peripheral vision.
“Wha..?”
Looey turned his head to see what had awoken him. The sight at what he had been hearing bewildered him. Yatta was sitting in a mess of pillows, holding one in her hands, seeming to have been fluffing it up. Blot was standing on a step ladder, having been hanging up blankets on clotheslines that they seemed to have found. Both the ink blot and pinata stared at Looey like he had caught them stealing from a cookie jar.

“What-What are you doing?” Looey sleepily asked, rubbing the tiredness from his eyes and face.
“.pleh ot dediced I os, siht gniod attaY ot pu eokw I .aedi on evah I” Blot answered with a shrug as he finished his task, “.reddal eht no gnieb fo deracs eb ot demees tub steknalb eht pu gnah ot gniyrt saw ehS.”
“HEY! I don’t call out your business,” Yatta huffed as she gently placed the pillow down, patting it into place, “and I don’t know why I’m doing this. I just suddenly had the urge to do so.”
Looey hummed as he watched the two before getting up with a stretch.
“Alright then, need any help?”
“?rehgih steknalb eseht gnah nac uoy ebyam rellat er’uoy ecniS .eruS”

“I can do that, yeah,” Looey said as he stepped onto the step ladder, “You want these to be able to move, Yatta? Maybe we can get an unused shower curtain to act as a ‘door’ of sorts.”
He could hear movement from the pillows as Yatta peered out of the makeshift fort.
“YES! That would be great!”
They worked on the fort for a good while, even if none of them really understood why they were doing it. The other toons were up and moving by the time the three were done with their project.

Yatta was now happily curled up on a floor of pillows, looking very content. Blot just sat a distance from the fort, not wanting to get ink all over it. Looey sat down on the bed with a tired yawn.
“You look really comfy in there, Yatta. Is your bed not comfy enough?”
“It usually is. I dunno why I wanted to do this, but I’m glad you guys helped out.” was the answer he got.
“Want me to join you in there then?”

He heard a small growl in response to that, which startled him some. That was a clear ‘no’ if he had ever heard one. Then again, it was HER fort so it wasn’t much of a surprise he wasn’t invited. She didn’t need to be so harsh about it though.

“A-Alright then, I guess that was a bad idea. I do tend to hold static,” Looey tried to play off, rubbing the back of his head to compose himself. Yatta’s harsh glare calmed as she seemed to realize her error.
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have growled like that.”
“.yako s’tI” Blot spoke before Looey could, “.ecaps ruoy s’tI”
“I still shouldn’t have growled like that at Looey for a question!” Yatta huffed as Looey stood up again.
“Yatta, it’s okay. Don’t worry too much about it. I’m just going to grab some breakfast. Maybe there’s some oranges for you to have.”
He had her at the word oranges, as she was suddenly next to him, tails flicking like mad. He nearly jumped, as that had been the quickest she had ever moved for seven months. Well, other than when Shrimpo had put thumbtacks in their room. He felt a shiver go down his spine from that memory.

“.thgindim ecnis pu neeb ev’eW .nur hcraeser a evah t’nod ew epoh dna ,doof emos teg s’teL .neht gniog lla er’ew sseug I”
That gave Looey pause.
“M-Midnight? It was two when I woke up! You two have been up all night?”
“I started working on that at ten o’ clock last night.”
“YOU’VE BEEN UP SINCE TEN IN THE EVENING? Yatta, you NEED to go back to sleep! I can just bring you oranges!” Looey turned to his friend, who huffed like a child having been told they couldn’t have a toy.
“But it’s not as fulfilling to eat by myself, and I’m already awake!” Yatta complained, but Looey wasn’t going to stand for it. He found himself scooping up Yatta and placing her back into the fort.
“Don’t care, you’re going to sleep. You’ve been tired off and on for seven months. I will not have today be a day you are tired because you decided to stay awake on purpose.”
Yatta tried to flail out of his grasp, but once on the pillows, she seemed to give up entirely.
“Fiiiiiine. There had better be oranges or I’m getting you back for this. Treating me like a child,” she muttered the last statement to herself, but Looey heard her.

“Good night, Yatta, we’ll be back with food for you,” Looey turned to leave the room.
“Okay. Good night..” she grumbled. It was silent for a moment as he and Blot stepped out of the room. Looey swore he heard her mutter something else, but when he turned to ask what it was she had said, her eyes were already closed as sleep had quickly claimed her. He stood at the doorway before he felt a soft smile grow on his face, and he turned to head to the dining area for breakfast.

Chapter Text

Eight months. Eight months since this all started. Yatta laid there in the pillow fort she had made with her friends, gently fluffing a pillow in front of her. She suddenly felt so anxious. She had been for a few days now. It was almost as if she was anticipating something, and it was something big. Her stomach and back were aching uncomfortably, and that just made that anxiety worse. She hadn’t heard the door to their room open until the curtains of the fort were opened a bit by Looey, who held two oranges in his hands.

“Hey, I brought you a snack. I noticed you haven’t been leaving your fort much. You okay?”
Yatta looked over to him before using her tails to pick up the oranges from him, passing the fruit to her hands.
“I’m not sure. I feel anxious about something, and I don’t know what it is. My back and stomach hurt again. It feels like when I get leg cramps, but just in my stomach. I don’t like it.”
She heard Looey sit down outside of the fort.
“Want to talk about something else to get your mind off of it?” He asked, “Knowing you, uh, don’t like talking about your condition much.”

There was so much concern in his voice, even if he wanted to switch topics. So, Yatta obliged him.
“Do you remember what you told me three months ago?”
“Which one? I told you a lot of things.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but chickened out from the one she wanted to bring up the most.
“When you said that you and Blot would always be there to help. When all this started, I had recurring thoughts that you two would just up and leave me. Because I’m not the same. That I’m sick and emotional and stupid and-”
Yatta paused, feeling the forming lump in her throat fading as Looey moved to be in view of the door.
“Yatta, I meant everything I said. We’re not just going to ditch you because you’re not well. You’ve been there for us when we need it most, so it’s only right we do the same.”

Yatta just took a bite of the orange she had, thinking deeply about it.
“All I really do is hype you two up. I’m not all that smart like Blot is, nor am I funny like you.”
“You are plenty funny, trust me. You make me and Blot laugh without even meaning to. I’d say you’re funnier than me, and I’m the clown here.”
Yatta finished the oranges, her tails making small twitches, for she had to move even if lying down. Looey just watched her before speaking again.
“Is there anything else on your mind?”
“The other thing you said back then. During our fight about Rodger watching me. That you liked me more than friends. Is that still true?”
There was no answer at first as Yatta kept her gaze away from Looey. She didn’t want to see the look on his face. She heard him take a deep breath as he seemed to be thinking deeply on that question.

“Why would it not be true? I never stopped liking you. Even if I’m mad, or worried, or happy. I want to say it’s part of the reason that I’m wanting to help you, but the truth is, even if I didn’t like you like that, I still would be here to help you.”
“And if I didn’t like you back like that, what then? Would you still?”
She kept her gaze away from her friend, though she didn’t need to look to know he had reached to place his hand on her before stopping.
“I would. You’re still my friend, if not my best friend. You do a lot for me and Blot. I will never stop being your friend and stop helping you for a reason like that. We’ve been through a lot, the three of us. Why stop now?”
That did it. She slowly sat up and looked over to Looey, who still sat there with a soft smile on his face. The smile faded into confusion as Yatta grabbed onto his hands before she pulled him into the fort.

“Wha-? Yatta, I thought this was your-”
She interrupted him, wrapping her arms around him, burying her face into his shoulder as she pulled them both down to lay down in the sea of pillows.
“Yatta? Are you okay? Did I upset you-?”
“I-I’m sorry. For ever doubting our friendship, or even you. I don’t know why I just hid everything from you and Blot.”
“H-hey, Yatta, you already apologized for this. I already told you that you don’t need to.”
Yatta went silent again before she slowly pushed away from the hug, looking directly into Looey’s eyes.
“I-I know, but I’m..”
Why was she so nervous now? She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Looey just waited patiently, waiting for her to speak.
“You..weren’t the only one. To feel like that. I didn’t know if it was me or my condition but I think I’m CERTAIN now. I like you. I like you the same way you like me.”

Looey blinked, processing that information before his face suddenly went red. He suddenly began to chuckle, then laugh. Yatta tensed before going to speak, only for Looey to speak up.
“And we both agreed that day it was just friendship! H-Have you liked me as long as I’ve liked you and just didn’t know that until now?”
Yatta huffed and playfully hit his shoulder, causing him to laugh harder as her face grew hot.
“Shut up! It took you a while to tell me! Why are you laughing that it took me longer?!”
“Because we’re both dorks, that's why!”
“I’M NOT A DORK!”
“You are totally a dork!”
She gently pushed him, rolling him onto his back as he laughed, starting to playfully smack him with both hands.
“NOT A DORK NOT A DORK NOT A DORK!”

He didn’t respond that time with anything other than laughter. Yatta just gave up, letting herself just fall onto him. He just placed his hand onto her back as his laughter died down. They laid there quietly, Yatta just listening to Looey’s heartbeat as Looey gently rubbed her back.
“So, what changes?” Yatta asked.
“I don’t think anything does. We’re still Looey and Yatta. Just more than friends. And what is a couple other than just best friends for life?”
“I guess you’re right. I mean, ‘friend’ is in the terms boyfriend and girlfriend right?”
“Exactly! Nothing should be different then!”
“Other than Blot.”
Looey hummed for a moment.
“We could find him someone.”
“Oh that would be funny! I wonder who he fancies or who fancies him.”

The two giggled and chatted about it long throughout the day. It grew silent a long while later, before Blot opened the door to the troupe’s room. He walked in before spotting the opened curtain and peeked in. He spotted the two in that fort, Yatta using Looey as a pillow as the two slept. What was more though, was their hands were holding, fingers interlocked. Blot stared before he ‘smiled’, backing away from the curtains.
“...emit tuoba s’tI .yllaniF”

Chapter Text

Rodger POV

 Rodger’s pen tapped on the desk rhythmically as he once again tried to make sense of it all. Looey had already come in and mentioned Yatta mentioning the latest symptom about a month ago, so that was more on his plate. It was good that Yatta was talking about what was going on now, but it was starting to stress him out. Glisten was already in the room to accompany him, mostly to complain about certain events again. Rodger didn’t listen to him, however, as he remained focused on his task at hand. 

The two were suddenly startled by Finn burst in the door, carrying something in his arms.
“HE GOT THEM!!” Finn shouted, a bit too loudly, “DYLE FINALLY GOT THE BOOKS! Anatomy and medical! These are the ones you wanted right??”
Rodger felt himself perk up as he stood up from his desk, picking up the books from Finn.
“Yes! That’s exactly what I was looking for! I can finally get some more answers!”
“There was a bit more to the shipment though, I’ll have to check that out. Apparently Dyle had to explain a bit of the symptoms you were looking into. I’m sorry, I had to spill some of the information,” Finn continued as he began to walk out of the room.
“No no, it’s fine. As long as it got us what we needed, that is completely fine,” Rodger called to Finn, who gave him a happy thumbs up as he closed the door behind him.

Glisten picked up one of the medical books, giving it a once over.
“You're certain you’ll figure something out with just this? There could be a lot of things that match all of Yatta’s symptoms.”
“There could be, but I will still try,” Rodger answered as he picked up the book from Glisten and sat down to read it, “I have been looking into this for four to five months now. I cannot give up when I’m this close.”
Glisten nodded in a bit of understanding and sat on the couch to wait this out. He seemed to not want to be far away when Rodger figured it all out.

Rodger read for an hour or so, skimming through the book. There were a few close ones, but there was always one symptom that didn’t match, or the period of time was too short. Until one. One that matched everything perfectly. He began to read more intently, learning everything he could, even the information afterwards. This had to be it! Rodger suddenly slammed his hands onto the desk as he stood up, startling Glisten for the second time that day.
“RODGER! WHAT IN BLAZES-?”
“I FIGURED IT OUT!! I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT’S GOING ON! I-I didn’t think it was possible but now it all makes so much sense!! I need to tell the troupe!”
Rodger quickly headed to the door, Glisten standing up to follow him.
“W-Wait Rodger! What is it then??”
“I promised Looey I’d tell him first!” Rodger called back as he ran down the halls with a speed he didn’t even know he possessed. Glisten was right behind him, struggling to keep up, despite being a faster toon. There wasn’t much time for them now if he read it all right, but at least he could let them know!

It didn’t take long to spot Looey. The multicolored balloon was speaking with Sprout and Cosmo, seemingly worriedly. Rodger didn’t take too much notice of it however.
“LOOEY!!” he called, startling the clown, causing him to look over quickly.
“R-Rodger? What is it? Is there something wrong? Did you not find anything?” Looey immediately seemed to know something was up, already rubbing one of his hands. Rodger panted a moment before letting out a chuckle.
“On the contrary! I actually figured it out! Where’s Blot and Yatta? They need to know this too!”
“Um, Yatta’s in her pillow fort and I’m not sure where Blot is.”
“Pillow fort?” Glisten interjected.
“Oh, yeah, we made a pillow fort around two months ago. Yatta’s been using it a lot, especially today. That’s why I’m talking with Sprout and Cosmo. She mentioned she was in pain again today.” 
“Oh dear..” Glisten muttered as Rodger thought for a moment. It couldn’t be, right? Surely they still had some time.

Before he could speak however, Blot suddenly skidded around the corner, looking frantic.
“!!GNORW YREV !GNORW S’GNIHTEMOS !!ATTAY S’TI !OMSOC DNA, TUORPS ,UOY TEG OT EM TNES AHSIT !!ERA UOY EREHT, YEOOL”
“Wh-What?? WHERE IS SHE?! IS SHE STILL IN THE FORT?!” Looey worriedly asked as Rodger felt his whole body tense. Glisten seemed to take notice.
“R-Rodger, what’s going on?”
Rodger slowly turned to Glisten, his expression one of panic.
“We..may have just run out of time…We need to get to her. NOW.”

Chapter Text

Everything had been fine not even that long ago. Now she was in deeper pain than she had ever been in. Yatta had curled herself up tightly in her pillow fort, breathing heavily from it all. Tisha had come in, having heard Yatta and was now gently rubbing her head in an attempt to calm her.
“It’s okay, Yatta, you’ll be alright. I sent Blot to find Looey so they can get Sprout and Cosmo. Where does it hurt? Maybe I can try to clean the wound before they get here.”
“I-It’s my stomach, b-but there’s no wound,” Yatta managed to say as another wave of pain washed over her, “I-I don’t know why it hurts! It just hurts! IT HURTS A LOT AND I WANT IT TO STOP!”

Tisha placed both of her hands onto Yatta’s shoulder and torso, trying to calm her down.
“Hey hey hey, freaking out won’t make the pain go away any faster. Did you eat anything that would cause this? Like spoiled fruit or bad meat?”
“I HAVEN’T EATEN ANYTHING AT ALL!” Yatta snapped, “IT’S BEEN HURTING SINCE THIS MORNING AND GOTTEN WORSE OVERTIME!! AUGH!! WHERE IS LOOEY?! HE SAID HE WOULD GET SPROUT AND COSMO!!”
Just as Cosmo’s name left her mouth, Tisha and Yatta heard a loud yelp from the doorway as Looey crashed into a few boxes next to their room.
“Ow! Ow. I’m here! I’m right here! Sprout and Cosmo are just behind me!”

Looey entered the fort, placing his hand onto Yatta’s head. The pinata felt a small growl in her throat, but Looey didn’t move his hand.
“I’m right here..” he reassured as Sprout and Cosmo appeared at the doorway, Blot right behind them before he was stopped by Tisha.
“NO! You stay RIGHT there! I will NOT be cleaning up any messes you leave in this room when we have to care for Yatta!”
Blot went to argue, but realized it would be a losing battle as she couldn’t understand him. He just crossed his arms with a loud huff as Rodger came over.
“It is a good thing you are out here, you can keep anyone else from coming in.” Rodger hurriedly said as he passed by Tisha, who turned to face him.
“What? Why would you want to keep anyone out?” She asked as Rodger headed to Looey and Yatta.
“Because what’s going on with Yatta requires as few people in the room as possible”, Rodger answered as Glisten appeared next to Blot, “Glisten! You stay out there with Blot and help keep people out. Only let Tisha, Cosmo, or Sprout in or out of this room.”
“WHAT?! But- OH! Fine!” Glisten huffed as Blot blinked in confusion.

Rodger turned to face Looey and Yatta, his expression becoming calmer.
“Yatta, I know you are in pain and instinct wants you to curl up and cover your most vulnerable areas, but you need to be on your back for this. Looey, hold her hand. She’s going to need something to squeeze on.”
Yatta wanted to question this, but all she could do at this point was try to ignore the pain. Looey didn’t seem to argue with this, helping Yatta roll onto her back. He propped her up to lean on him, taking her hand in his. Rodger nodded at this, looking at Sprout, Cosmo and Tisha.
“Sprout. Cosmo. At the doorway of the fort. Sprout, I will need you to handle most of this. Cosmo, you will be back up if anything goes wrong. Tisha, I will need you to get clean towels and blankets. We will also need some water if possible.”
“R-Right, okay,” Tisha quickly left the room as Sprout slowly took his position.
“Rodger, please explain what is going on,” Sprout piped up, “You’re starting to worry me here. What’s going on with Yatta? Why do we need all of this?”
Rodger took a deep breath and sighed as he looked to the floor.
“Something I thought I would have had a lot more time to explain. I didn’t even think it was possible but-”
Yatta gripped Looey’s hand tightly as another wave of pain flashed through her.
“CAN YOU JUST STOP TALKING AND GET RID OF THIS PAIN PLEASE?!!” Yatta interrupted, startling Rodger and Sprout.
“Right, right. Yatta, I’m sure you already noticed the pain comes with an odd feeling. I need you to just go with it. And please breathe-”
“AS IF I HAVEN’T BEEN ALREADY!! WHAT DO YOU THINK I’VE BEEN DOING?! SUFFOCATING MYSELF AND JUST SITTING AROUND- AUUGH!!”
She squeezed Looey’s hand again, though he made no complaints about it. She heard Rodger sigh.
“Right. I’m sorry. Let’s just focus on this. I will explain when this is over.”

It was several long hours of pain. Several long hours of Glisten and Blot keeping other toons away from the room. The hardest person to keep away had been Goob, who desperately wanted to give his ‘injured’ friend a hug, but Scraps managed to talk him out of it.
It was several long hours of squeezing Looey’s hand at each wave of pain that passed through her body. It felt so familiar to her though. It almost felt like that weird dream she had several months ago. One final squeeze and pain before it all suddenly became relief. That relief came like a wave as Yatta released her tight grip, but kept holding onto Looey’s hand. She felt so exhausted, but her ears suddenly caught a faint  sound. The sound sounded like mewing, one of a kitten. That sound forced her to open her eyes and look over. She saw Sprout kneeling at the opening of the fort, staring in shock in his hands, where the source of the sound came.

In his hands, there was something small and yellow. Sprout just blinked in surprise before Tisha suddenly took over, scooping it up and wrapping it into a towel. She gently rubbed it in the towel a moment before slowly and carefully moving over to Yatta and Looey. Rodger sat back, looking almost relieved as he looked at the bundle in Tisha’s arms.
“There it is. The source of everything for these nine months,” he softly said as Tisha laid the mewing bundle into Yatta’s arms, “Congratulations. It’s a baby toon.”
And indeed it was. Yatta found herself staring at a tiny yellow balloon, yet it had ears like hers. Its eyes were shut tight, its ears seeming to be folded. All Yatta could see was its face because of the towel. Her patterns on its ears but with Looey’s mismatched colors. His cheek spots with her stripes. It looked so much like her.

“Yatta,” she heard Looey’s voice barely above a whisper, “it-it has my colors. And yours. Does that mean it’s ours?”
Yatta looked over to the balloon, only to see his eyes so full of wonder as he stared at the tiny thing in her arms. It was quickly changed to being one of brief shock as Glisten spoke up from the doorway.
“AAAWWW, Look at the tiny little thing! It’s adorable! Almost perfect!”
Blot gently moved Glisten away from the door, taking his job seriously. Sprout just stood up, Tisha helping clean off his hands as he headed to his friend, who was sitting in the corner, hugging his legs. He looked like had seen a twisted coming for him.

“I never want to do that again,” Cosmo muttered, but everyone heard him. Rodger chuckled nervously before looking to Looey and Yatta.
“So, what do you want to name her?”
“Her?” Yatta asked.
“Yes. Her,” Rodger nodded, “it’s a girl.”Yatta thought a moment before sighing.
“I can’t even think right now, I’m exhausted.” she mumbled as Looey slowly picked up the bundle.
“I..I have something in mind, Yatta, if you wanna hear it.”
“Hit me.”
“Parti. Like a surprise party. Because that’s what she is.” Yatta softly laughed as she buried her head further into Looey’s shoulder.
“You’re a genius. Parti it is then. Parti..I like it..” she managed to say as she closed her eyes.
"Have a good sleep, Yatta. See you when you wake up,” was the final thing she heard Looey say as sleep claimed her.

Chapter Text

It was all dark. All that could be gathered was scents and touch. She just let out a small mewl as she raised her head, sniffing the air. The scents were strong and it begged her to get near them. She, however, wanted more than that. It was silent at first, but soon it became muffled sounds, then voices. It was all jumbling at first, but then one became clear.

“I’m telling you! I swear I saw her eyes twitch!” A loud voice came into her ears.
“I-I know. I’m not saying I don’t believe you, I’m just worried I’ll miss it! Even if I’m right here! What if I look away and she-”
“Looey. Hey, don’t freak out, then you’ll actually miss it.”
She mewled again as she rubbed her hands on her face. Her eyelids twitched again, starting to let some light into her eyes. Then they opened. Everything was blurry. Just shapes and colors before it slowly began to clear up. She heard a silent gasp from one of the voices as it cleared up fully. The first things she saw were a pinata and a balloon, both staring at her with expressions of shocked wonder. Way behind them was a person made of ink, who looked almost as shocked as the other two, but the first two were her focus.

She blinked before reaching up to the pinata. She smelled so familiar. She smelled like Mama. That had to be her mama. The pinata slowly picked her up, the shocked expression becoming a teary smile.
“Hi..your eyes are open now. You can see me,” she whispered as she nuzzled into the small balloon, “you can see Looey.”
The balloon slowly approached, tapping the small balloon on her nose.
“Hello there, Parti..”
Parti smiled from the tap to her nose, letting out a small giggle, which caused her papa’s tail to wag.
“Blot..Blot come over here! She needs to see her Uncle!” her Mama called, the ink person slowly making his way over.

He was hesitant in his movements, almost if he was afraid. Parti wasn’t scared though. He smelled like Mama and Papa, so she reached for him. He glanced at Mama, who just nodded and gently passed her to him. Parti just placed her hands on his cheeks, giggling happily. The ink blot blinked before seeming to melt in her hold, looking quite happy.
“...itraP, drlow eht ot emocleW”