#tiny!rudie

“Shhh!” “I’m made out of paper mache and you're telling me to shush!?” “Yes! Your excitement’s loud, silly.” “.xxxaler ,syuG” Rudie blinked as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. What was all that commotion? He wondered as he sat up. Suddenly, a quiet knock came from his door as he moved. It would only be a moment before Rudie was back into his normal attire from red and green pajamas that he’d open the door to reveal his boyfriend, Yatta, and Blot altogether on the Christmas Floor. “Oh! What are you three doing?” Rudie asked, nose glowing softly in the dark of the floor. Yatta giggled a bit in clear excitement of something as Looey gently tugged Rudie out of his room. “I know it’s not your season right now- but- since the place is closed I wanted to see if maybe you were able to come with us? Yatta did something cool and wanted to show us.” Looey asked with a wag in his tail, hope clear in his eyes. Rudie had a look of surprise on his face that quickly shifted to a bright expression of excitement. “Yeah! Of course, where to??” He asked, closing the door behind him as the squad moved together to the emergency stairs, presumably because the elevator would’ve been way too loud this late at night. Leaving his room felt so weird outside of his holiday. He never liked going out, all he could remember about anything in his life was Christmas related. For Looey though, he would go anywhere if permitted. 

“Wellll, to our floor of course! Having the floor to ourselves is SO nice, hehe!” Yatta exclaimed… she was always trying to make light of the closure of the center, to varying degrees of success as they all moved down the stairs one by one. “But anyhowwww, you know those shrinking candies that I made alllll that while ago? Well! I made something new with those.” She had been experimenting with candies recently, and had made some shrinking candies that had been purely a party trick. She began to explain, being very animated with her gestures as she seemingly resisted the urge to slide down the railing of the stairs with how her eyes shifted from the railing back to the group repeatedly. “Growth Candies! They do the opposite, and with how big the Carnival Floor is it should be perfect to test them!!” She finished, smiling widely despite Blot’s apprehension. “?tey meht detest neve t’nevah ouY” Blot seemingly questioned, Rudie was still trying to figure out what he was saying to no success. Who knows what that ink blot talked about. He seemed to be a chill guy, though, so Rudie liked hanging out with him and Blot Jr. “Welllllll- not exactlyyyy, BUT BUT!! That’s why I have you three!! Promiseee the worst case scenario is a stomach ache!! Heck I’ll go first if you need!” She spoke, forgoing the need to be quiet the deeper they went… and despite the slight worries, the squad would keep going all the way down… hoping the Carnival Floor would be free of Twisteds.

It was supposed to be a good night. A simple night. Looey and Yatta were supposed to be bigger than life… vibrant, and fiery souls.

Against their wishes, the Carnival Floor was not free of Twisteds, and with that, that night would haunt Rudie and Blot for the rest of their foreseeable lives.

—-------------------------------------

Three Weeks Later…

Rudie blinked, and blinked again as the elevator doors opened to reveal the Carnival Floor. He didn’t step out. A hand was felt on his shoulder. “?okay ouy …Rudie” Rudie sighed, and turned to look at Blot, a strained smile on his face. In these three weeks… Rudie had made a greater effort to understand Blot, and now he almost had it down pat. He could understand his own name at least, and the soft tone. “Of course… Christmas is soon, how could I not be?” It wasn’t for another month or so, but that didn’t matter. It had always been one of the few things that brought him joy. Rudie would turn back to face the awaiting floor, and sigh as he took a hoofstep out, and Blot followed. The ceiling stretched up high, nearly higher than could be seen if it weren’t for the lights. The floor was dim, with lots of colors that had faded from all the time that has passed since the center had closed. Rudie frowned as he moved down a path, seemingly made out of dirt but in actuality was paved brown with fake grass lining the sides of it. On either side of him and Blot were various carnival games, prizes adorning the shelves with water guns and towers of cups at the forefront. Far ahead, if Rudie looked past the many stalls in the distance was a massive tent where the performances had been held. It brought a faint tear to his eye, the memory of sitting alone in the stands while Looey, Yatta, and Blot had all practiced their acts with him as a stand-in for the audience. He turned back and watched as Blot fiddled with the water guns, eventually getting a weak stream to hit the clown targets. Rudie smiled weakly, and walked right over to him, keeping an eye out for any Twisteds that may be around. “Having a holly, jolly Christmas?” He asked, peering over his shoulder as one of the Clowns fell from the water. “.am I esoppus …Yeah” Blot answered, climbing over the counter and grabbing one of the juggling balls that stood as a prize. “nrael to detnaw syawlA ?...juggle to woh me hcaet gonna reve You” Rudie caught a bit more of that as he watched Blot toss the ball from one hand to the other. “You… want me to teach you how to juggle?” He asked, nodding when Blot nodded in response. “I mean, I suppose I could- I’m not the best teacher though.” They both know who would have been. “Come on though, I’ll teach ya after this! Could be fun… but we do need to extract first.” This wasn’t just a stroll down memory lane after all. 

The two of them had come onto this duo run to show that they could still contribute, as they’d been granted reprieve from Runs after what happened, happened. Rudie moved along the floor, Blot sticking close despite the vastness of this particular floor. He got to work extracting next to an abandoned hot dog cart, and Blot would scavenge not too far away, picking up tapes and items as needed while Rudie gazed into the viscous liquid that filled the machine. It was hard to think about… stuff. His mind used to be so quick, and full of just so many thoughts. Sure, it was usually about Christmas or Looey, but now things felt emptier, emptier than they were before. Rudie had always struggled to feel… like a Person, you know? Looey gave him a purpose outside of just Loving Christmas, but now… he had even less of an idea of who ‘Rudie’ was than he did before. He sighed heavily as the ichor reached the top, and a resounding Ding echoed from the machine as he waved Blot over for the two to keep going. So far no Twisteds. There should only be two at this point; Rudie wasn’t sure how the Twisteds got around or how they seemed to appear in strangely consistent quantities, but he couldn’t be bothered to give it much thought. The floor shook a bit under them slightly just as Rudie spotted the next machine by the Bathrooms, and a third one by a tree. Rudie and Blot both maintained their footing as they kept going. “Uh… probably just the building settling or something hehe- hhh. Reminds me of a herd stampeding.” Rudie said, to no one in particular, though Blot listened intently. Rudie would extract by the bathrooms, and Blot would work at the one by the tree… it was all routine. Although the last machine seemed to evade the two as Rudie looked around while he spun the wheel, and occasionally input the passcode needed to keep working at it. These machines… They were supposed to only need the passcode once in a short time frame, but because of a lack of maintenance they just Kept Asking. It reminded him of whenever Gourdy and Toodles tried to peek at their presents during the Christmas Season, always asking and having to be chased off. At least they could be reasoned with. The memory brought a faint chuckle to his face as he finished the machine, and made his way to the Circus Tent. 

The tent… it felt even bigger than before, draftier. The ground shook again, but he barely paid it any mind. Worst case scenario it could’ve been a minor earthquake, no Twisteds were big enough to cause such vibrations. He pulled the flap of the entrance away, and stepped inside. The tent stretched up to a peak, and it was just as they left it. A trapeze rope high up, abandoned juggling balls, trash in the stands, and a singular ichor machine faintly visible in the darkness of the backstage area; there was a little area past the main pit where the trio performed on the sand where they could duck back to prepare for the next acts, and that was where he needed to go. Rudie trotted down the stands, and reached the pit quickly. His hooves left a trail in the sand, and it would only take a moment before he’d be past the curtain that kept the backstage stuff hidden. It was a benefit of having a carnival/circus indoors, that they could actually build permanent stuff in conjunction with the tent. This area was quite jarring from the main area of the tent, with TVs, mirrors, and various supplies that towered up high. Rudie didn’t pay much attention to his environment, though. He’d get right to work at the last machine, and quickly pick up his radio that he had clipped to a satchel of his that he took for runs. He held it to his face, ready to tell Blot to get to the elevator once he heard the Ding in the distance… but it was with that ding that a burst of hot air rushed past Rudie. His tail went still, his ears flicking to listen. There was something in the room with him. He looked to his right, and to his left… but this area was too dark. 

His heart pounded. What was this…? His nose would begin to glow, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw nothing to his left, but it was when he looked to his right that he nearly screamed. A chest partially covered by a tattered white shirt with polka dots rose and fell from the sleeping form of a Massive Twisted. It wasn’t any Twisted. It was Looey; and judging by the ribbon-like tails that rested nearby, it would appear both he and Yatta were curled up in a sort of sleep pile. Looey rolled over onto his side slowly, now facing Rudie as the ground shook slightly from his movements. Well… that was where the shaking had come from. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, HOLY GARLAND. Rudie’s heart raced as he could feel his lungs threatening to unleash a scream louder than any Twisted’s, but he had to refrain. He kept a hoof over his mouth as the other idly turned the wheel, and he kept his eyes on Twisted Looey. The others had said that they hadn’t seen either Looey or Yatta on any of their runs… maybe this was why. Looey’s mouth was fixed in what seemed to be an eternal frown, filled with sharp teeth as Ichor leaked from his ear, neck, and even a bit from his mouth. Yatta was clearly just behind him, and the faint snoring from her that was so familiar felt soooo much louder now. ERRR! Oh no. He thought, dread quickly penetrating his mind. He hadn’t been paying enough attention. He failed the skill check, right next to TWO SLEEPING GIANTS. He’d never done it before, but Rudie was pretty sure he was praying internally for his safety. Of course, he could never be that lucky. Looey’s eyes groggily opened, and almost instantly locked onto him. They were a deeply scary shade of red, and Rudie felt a shiver go down his spine as the brows furrowed, and the frown did change… to a menacing smile. Rudie let go of the wheel, and raised both hooves up. “U-um… Looeyyyyy- hiiiii-? Remember me?” Maybe he’s passive like Glisten…? Rudie thought, before a swipe would tell him otherwise as he just barely avoided being absolutely Yoinked by his paw. Rudie paused for a moment, fully surprised that he’d been able to duck that before quickly dashing away as Looey shifted to a crouching position before moving to standing. Rudie didn’t even look back as he left the backroom and emerged back into the sand pit. “Blot! BLOT!” He called, hoping the ink blot would hear him. Realistically, what could Blot do to help him? Not much, and he didn’t want him to get hurt either, but the panic was strong. 

Looey would step out from behind the curtain, the frown quickly returning from his first failure to catch his prey, and Yatta would be right behind him. She was on all fours at the moment, but it was clear she was going into standing too. Rudie would rush up the stands, stumbling over each seat as if there weren’t Twisteds 10x larger than himself in pursuit. He would reach the entrance flap, and sigh in relief as he pushed the flap away, and saw Blot rounding the corner of some of the game booths. He waved both hooves rapidly. “Blot! We need to hi-” He’d call, quickly moving forward, but his pause had cost him everything. The air was knocked out of his lungs, and a tight pressure wrapped around his body as he saw Blot’s eyes widen immensely as they reached a hand out in panic. “Rudie!” They screamed, before Rudie would be pulled back into the tent via a large, purple hand.

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Blot froze, hand extended as he beheld the worst possible sight. A paw, almost larger than Rudie was had just grabbed him and stolen him away as fast as Rudie had dashed out of the tent. “Rudie…” He breathed out, trying to steady his inky lungs as he took a step backward, just as a familiar face emerged from the tent. Twisted Yatta pushed the flap of the tent, and emerged as an absolute behemoth. She was almost the full height of the tent; for a moment, Blot was worried she’d tear it down. This did not seem to be her end goal as he watched her eyes scan the floor, before eventually landing on his, quite tiny in comparison, form. He shuddered as she smiled; the teeth that were already sharp when she’d been… not Twisted had somehow become even sharper and far more menacing as she stood on her tails and quickly made her way to him, hardly caring for any booths that may be pushed over. Blot was scared, but he wasn’t stupid. He would, almost immediately after she spotted him, begin to run and also hide. He breathed sharply and heavily as he ran, ducking behind booths and stalls, just generally trying to stay out of her vision as he dropped a statue of Blot Jr. to keep her busy for a moment if she got too close. He ran, and ran, and ran, before finally leaping over a counter and ducking down amidst the cups that had previously been stacked before presumably being knocked over by her movements. He held an inky hand to his chest, and tried to keep his breathing quiet. He needed to be rational. He needed to stay calm. Rudie… I need to help him- but… no, I can’t. He’s… he has to be beyond help now. He tried to affirm, but it broke through the sense of calm he had as a sob racked his body. It had been a lot, these last few months. He had to be tougher than he had been before, or else he’d let them all down.

How could he let them down if they were already gone? Vee, Looey, Yatta… Rudie. He couldn’t let that last friend go. He just couldn’t. He got on his hands and knees, and tried to sneak out the back of the booth he was in. He’d just have to be faster, sneakier, inkier, he thought as he reached out to the ink that he had lost with that last statue he’d made. He would quickly get to his feet as the ink rushed back to him across the floor, and was reabsorbed. You got this… just- find him, extract that last machine, and get out. Easy. He thought, with a confidence he absolutely did not have. He moved toward the tent, sneaking between booths as Yatta searched around the bathrooms, peering over booths not too far away… but she seemed to be getting closer. With how animalistic these Twisteds were, it would not surprise Blot if she could smell him. He’d get really close to the towering tent, but just as he turned the corner he would yelp as he bumped right into something large and yellow with a few different colors dispersed. “Oh-” He said as he took a step backward. It was Yatta, specifically her face as she lay close to the ground with her chin on the ground, paws splayed in front of her with her back arched a bit and tails swaying idly in the wind. She was so big… how was that even possible?? The details of that night came back to him. Oh. He knew how it was possible. That night they had lost Looey and Yatta, they had been experimenting with a candy Yatta had created, a growth candy. Before they could test them, they had been ambushed on a lower floor. Both Looey and Yatta had tried to take the candies to try and actually fight back since that would’ve been a practical use to them… but seemingly they hadn’t worked; perhaps it was a delayed reaction. That didn’t explain how Yatta had found him though. “U-um… hiiii? How did you-” She would point behind him, not saying a word if she even could, all she did was smile and stare at him like Yatta used to stare at chocolate. He looked behind him against his better judgement, and saw a trail of inky footsteps leading back presumably to where he’d started. “Son of a gun.” He mumbled, before turning back around to see her slowly sliding closer to him with those bright, red eyes on him. “Haha… couldn’t- couldn’t let an Ink Blot go?” He asked, sheepishly as his heart began to race as reality slowly dawned on him. It had taken a bit, with the cartoon antics of getting caught like this distracting him, but now he remembered that he was in danger. Twisted Yatta wouldn’t say anything, and just smiled, eyes unblinking; it really felt like that’d be the last thing Blot would ever see. That was quickly disproven, unfortunately for Blot, as she’d suddenly open her maw cavernously wide, and lunge at him… At least Rudie and I weren’t separated for long… He thought, silently praying that his soul wouldn’t be bound to his Twisted Form, if he was even going to have one.

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Rudie grunted, and shivered fearfully as he tried to push Looey’s cheek away. The Twisted hadn’t done anything horrible to him yet… but that was kind of subjective. So far, Looey had just been holding Rudie close and squishing him to his cheek with deep purrs emanating from the large Twisted. If he didn’t have such sharp teeth and claws that poked Rudie here and there, he might’ve enjoyed all of this. “L-Looey… stop-” He protested, thankfully just as the Twisted pulled him away and looked over him gleefully. The expression made him shudder. He turned to look away, back toward the entrance of the tent when his eyes widened. Yatta had just come back in. Yatta wasn’t exactly what he was focusing on, unfortunately. Rudie’s mouth fell open a bit in disbelief as his eyes stayed locked on Yatta’s lips, where Blot’s still struggling arm was sticking out. The reindeer watched in sheer horror as Yatta casually slurped it in like a noodle, and noticeably pressed what she had in her mouth to the cheek internally. He closed his eyes, tightly in terror, and waited for the tell-tale crunch akin to Twisted Pebble; it never came. After a moment’s confusion, Rudie opened his eyes again… and if he were being perfectly honest, what actually happened was probably worse. He witnessed Yatta seemingly suck on the Ink Blot like she had done to candy in life, and after a little bit, she swallowed. The sound was guttural, and distantly squelching as she took a casual seat nearby to Looey on the sand. Rudie’s eyes followed the slight bulge that went down Yatta’s throat with a shaking in his body. He could feel tears pricking at his eyes as he looked back up at Yatta once the bulge had disappeared into her chest. She smiled at him, and licked her lips. “Ah-!” He hid his face in Looey’s hand that he was held in, thoroughly frightened. 

Looey held his small form close to his face, and tilted his head curiously. Rudie whined softly as he heard the guttural growl from the large Twisted, but was surprised as the reassuring rub he felt down his back. He couldn’t see it, but Looey’s thumb had begun gently stroking his back, and the Twisted watched him with a frown that was more sad than mad. Looey warbled at him, seemingly softly as he watched Rudie. Despite Rudie’s intense fear, he couldn’t help but make eye contact as Looey’s pupils expanded a bit. Does he… does he recognize me? Rudie thought, almost trying to reach out with his mind and will that to be reality. “Looey…? Oh-” Rudie gasped as he was pulled closer, and Looey kissed the side of his head. It was a casual motion, familiar, yet so so alien due to his larger size. It felt soft, and warm; it had especially made Rudie warmer on the inside. It was also minorly disgusting, thanks to the ichor on Looey’s lip, but Rudie would ignore that for love. He debated for a moment on kissing him back, though of course it’d either have to be his hand or those large lips… and considering what happened to Blot…

Screw it… merry Christmas, Looey. He thought, as cheerfully as he could before he’d lean in to just leave a little mwa on Looey’s top lip. For a moment, things felt normal. Unfortunately for our little reindeer, Looey had other plans; Protective Plans. Looey suddenly opened his maw widely after Rudie’s little kiss, and quickly wrapped it around his entire top half. Rudie’s face went from softly hopeful to blank terror faster than you could say Merry Christmas. “WAIT-” Rudie screamed, but it wouldn’t be enough as Looey shifted to holding Rudie with just two fingers, and shoving him inside. In the very same moment the maw opened, Rudie was met with a humid wave of air, and soon after the tongue would cover his entire top half as he landed there once Looey let go. The little reindeer quickly made it a point to scramble backwards, but stopped just before hitting the teeth. They were IMPOSSIBLY sharp, and the mere feeling of the slick and smooth sides of them made alarm bells ring in his head. They were like jingle bells but wayyyy more discordant. Bells were interesting, Rudie thought, desperately trying to escape the situation mentally as his body was flung to a cheek and squished gently by the tongue. There were so many types, Jingle Bells, Alarm Bells, those little bells on receptionist desks, clocktower bells. Wait… gentle? Rudie thought, immensely confused. Despite the struggle he was putting up, trying to push the tongue away and figure out anyway to get out without getting himself hurt by the teeth, somehow the tongue wasn’t putting all that much pressure on him… and the teeth didn’t do anything either except look intimidating. His mind couldn’t wonder about this for long as suddenly the half-green and half-purple tongue pulled him toward the back, and continued to slather him with saliva as it did so. The environment was so strange. It was mostly light yellow flesh, but with the occasional stain of ichor here and there, with a prominent amount near the lips. The saliva was mostly clear like expected, but mildly diluted with ichor that stuck to Rudie even more so than the saliva already did. It made his fur feel so weird. He grunted, and wheezed in distress as all of the intense movements made it hard to keep struggling. Nothing would keep him from trying to scrabble away however, once he heard the dark tunnel at the back of this chamber squelched ominously, and contracted. He could feel gravity shift as the tongue flicked upwards, and the saliva that coated the tongue and Rudie made everything feel slippery. 

“N-NO! LOO-” He called, before the muscles around him let out a twisted Glrkkkk that emanated throughout Rudie’s whole body as he felt the oppressive muscles suddenly ensnare his body as he left the tongue and entered the Twisted’s throat. Rudie shut his eyes as tightly as he could, not wanting to see this as he tried to push and struggle, but the force of each resounding swallow oppressively squeezed him tighter and tighter. He could hardly bear it as the humidity made him pant more than a little bit. He scrambled, and tried to prop his legs up to kick downwards in an attempt to push himself back up, but it was no use. Occasionally, his descent paused, and he was stuck being squeezed on all sides, but moments like that never allowed him the chance to go up, and once they were over it was followed by him being pulled further down, down, down. He groaned, and just tried to think of anything else as the walls shifted from yellow, to black, then back to yellow again. Then, as he got closer to another part of Looey’s body that sounded like many growls, and churning noises, the tunnel then began to have dots of purple and green, before switching to a spiral pattern. It was so wet. Rudie let out a last yelp as the tunnel suddenly ended, and he was pushed through into Looey’s stomach. The organ was tight, with spiral patterns that resembled a circus tent in Looey’s colors. The grooves pulsated, and the entrance he came from was shut tightly… far too tightly for him to try and climb back up. Believe him, he tried. He scrabbled at the entrance with both paws desperately, nuzzling his antlers up to no avail. He eventually moved onto his back and just sat in the cramped stomach and tried to take deep breaths. “I-it’s okay… it’s okay… This is just a nightmare- yeah- a nightmare that I’ll-” The growls increased in volume for a moment, interrupting Rudie as he winced. “Wake- wake up from…” He frowned as his denial quickly faded to acceptance. Blot… I’m… I’m so sorry. Yatta too- and… He decided to speak the last part aloud. “Looey… if- if you can hear me… I’m sorry too… I-I love you, Loo-Loo.” He said lastly, wincing as the organ shifted and he was jostled a bit. He laid back… and sighed heavily. It was clear there wasn’t much else to do, and he was so tired of the struggle. 

He closed his eyes, and hoped for sleep. It took a second, but once he was finally drifting off, he heard something finally… but he was already too deep into sleep to fully process it. 

“Mmmm… I- love you too… C-Candy… Cane…”

—---------------------

Looey felt his mind clear when the tiny reindeer finally landed in his gut. He could feel… his hands, he could feel his legs, he could feel his tail, and he could feel Rudie squirm around… but he could also feel that he was safe. Somehow, he was safe. The giant balloon dog would stand, and look around as he rested a paw over his stomach. Yatta was curled up nearby, twisted just like him. The memories came back slowly. He remembered going down to their floor, and trying out the candies. He remembered that he and Yatta had tried to protect Blot and Rudie… but the candies hadn’t worked. Blot! Looey’s eyes shot open as he moved to curl up with Yatta now, jostling his tiny passenger as he grabbed Yatta’s head with both hands and gently pulled her into looking at him. She wasn’t conscious, but she seemed calmer than before. She just stared at him with those red eyes. “B..bl- Blottt..?” His voice sounded so strange, vaguely garbled and scratchy, but understandable. Yatta blinked, her pupils dilating a bit as her expression shifted to one of satisfied comfort. She looked away, and gazed at her stomach, which she would then pat with one hand. She still seemed animalistic, but better than before. Looey, curious, would lean his head close. His hearing was enhanced, so he was able to hear Blot’s breathing, and his heartbeat distantly. He seemed okay; that revelation helped him relax into laying back down, a paw on his own gut with a worried frown, but ease in his mind. To say he felt weird was an understatement. He could feel his wounds, he could feel the ichor in his mouth and on his ear. It was all so strange.

Yet, despite the uneasiness of his new situation, he could at least rest easy knowing his love was safe. When he heard the last words from Rudie, a pang went through his heart. The poor thing… he must be so scared. Talking had hurt Looey’s throat slightly, but… maybe he could do something for the reindeer as he felt Rudie settle down in what seemed to be acceptance. He opened his mouth, and said those simple words. “Mmmm… I- love you too… C-Candy… Cane…” Everything was going to be okay, somehow, because they were together. He could rest easy with that. 

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And here we are! Hope you liked it <3 especially with That scene if you know you know- this poor reindeer could use hugs sob

Looey’s phone was crooked in between his shoulder and neck, with Blot’s voice coming through the end of it. “Come on, why does it have to be a surprise?” The mime asked. The two had been talking for a little bit, mostly about when Blot and Yatta would get here, and also about the mysterious pet that Looey refused to reveal. For most Toons, it was difficult for them to understand Looey’s friend, but after so long of hanging out with him, Looey was able to automatically translate his Ink-Blobspeak. “Becauseee, it’ll be better if it is! Promise I’ll tell you both when you get here; best way to tell is to show.” Looey responded as he pulled into a parking lot. He had initially been on his way to the apartment in his car around the outskirts of town, but a cozy looking library had caught his eye. What had happened yesterday, it plagued his mind; if anywhere had information about what on earth he had found and also about what he’d done, it just might be here.

“Alright, well, I’ll have to let you go now. Can’t wait to see ya! And Yatta too, miss you guys. Buh-bye.” Looey would say, pulling his phone out of the crook, and holding it up for a moment for clearer audio as his thumb hovered over the hang-up button. “Alrighttt, hehe, buh-bye, Looey.” Blot would say just before the balloon dog hung up the phone. Looey would take a short breath, put away his phone, and get out of the car, surveying the library.

The building was nicely built, with two decorative pillars on either side of the entrance. Flowers and foliage grew all around the foundation and under the windows. It seemed like a quaint place to do some reading. It’d for sure be a nice place to relax with Blot; with Yatta? Not so much. Looey chuckled slightly at the thought as he approached the entrance. Shelves and shelves of books lined the halls within the building, with a librarian’s desk smack-dab in the center of it all. To the right of the entrance were some tables for studying purposes; A Magnifying Glass toon sat at one of them, poring over one book with a stack of many just off to his side. To Looey’s left, there were a few computers for community usage. That was good, could be used if the books failed him. He’d thought of using his phone to try and do some research, but Blot was always telling him it was better to get an actual book when possible.

Looey reached the librarian’s desk, and rang a service bell that was shaped a bit like a lamp shade. “Just a moment! I’ll be right with you.” A voice came from behind the desk out of view; Looey peered over the desk a bit, and saw the owner of the voice on their knees organizing some stuff on a shelf under the desk. They would emerge only seconds after acknowledging Looey’s presence, and be back to standing with only the brushing of their hand against their dress indicating that they were on the ground just now. “Alright! How can I help you?” She had a pleasant energy about her, not crazy hyper like Yatta was, and her tone was quieter, softer. She was a Lamp-Themed Toon from the seems of it, light came through her vibrant shade to illuminate the nearby area; it wasn’t noticeable due to the light of day and the lights in the room, but if it were dark Looey imagined it’d be very visible. “Ah, well you see Miss…” Looey’s eyes briefly scanned the desk for a name… thing, he couldn’t remember what it was called, plate? A nameplate? That seemed right. The desk was sparsely decorated; other than the bell, there was a computer, a flower-themed mousepad, a small stack of books about dinosaurs, an old lightbulb, and a nameplate that read ‘Brightney Lightney’ which must be what Looey was looking for. “Miss Lightney, do you know where I could find any books on… pests?” He asked, both hands on the desk as he leaned in a bit, just a little bit tense. “Pests?” She asked, tilting her head a bit curiously. “Y’know- rats, mice, or… anything that’s small enough to get into your walls. Oh-! And also books on fantastical creatures of er- small stature?” He asked, not being the least bit subtle but there was no way Miss Lightney knew what kind of creature he was trying to find. He didn’t exactly want her to think he was crazy.

Unfortunately for Looey, it would appear his attempts were in vain as Brightney squinted at him a bit. “Well… more mythological books for that second thing you’re looking for would be near the back corner just aboutttt, that way- aisle 18,” She started, pointing to her left. “Andddd for rodents of that kind, you’re gonna wanna see aisle 7 to the right- your left.” She finished, pointing the other way. Before Looey could respond, she’d softly face palm. “Oh, silly me- before you go, would you like to open a library card? So you can check anything you want out!” She briefly explained with a polite smile. Looey had already been about to head toward the more mythological books, but stopped midstep. “Uhhh, no thanks, I’ll just stay in here- thank you though! Maybe if I come back, Miss Lightney-” He tried to end off, but she’d interject. “-You can just call me Brightney, most who come here do.” She assured him. “Oh, alright! Brightney then, thank you for the help.” He finally finished off, ushering himself out of her view, just missing her sighing and leaning against the desk before tossing the old lightbulb into a wastebin.

While Looey began to pick out a few books that caught his eye, the Magnifying Glass would sideeye him with a singular eye, looking away from his book. “Hmm…”

—---------------------------------------

It took a bit, but eventually Looey was able to take a seat with a small pile of books in his arms that he’d set down right in front of him. It was quite a big table, it might've been a bit too big for him but it wasn’t like there were any parties coming in here. Heh, that’d be silly. Wayyyy too quiet for one of Yatta’s parties. He was currently flipping through a book about halfway through his stack that he’d just been skimming… lots of cool creatures, but nothing that really screamed “Tiny Reindeer in your walls? Here’s what you need to know.” He sighed as he eventually closed the book on a page about Twisteds. Terrifying creatures if you thought about it, Thank goodness they’re not real… He thought to himself absentmindedly, mind trailing off thinking about that cheesy movie Yatta had dug out of her parents attic a few years back. He didn’t get very far with his thoughts before someone cleared their throat from behind him. That gave him a startle. “Oh, yes?” He asked as he turned to see the Detective-Looking Toon. “Excuse me, sir. You appear to be a bit… troubled about something.” They said, before taking a seat next to Looey. “You haven’t found anything about what you’re looking for?” He began, striking up conversation rather suddenly. Looey looked back and forth nervously. “Well… yes? I dunno, kind of feels like I’m going crazy.” At that comment, the other Toon’s eyes narrowed slightly in an attentive way. “Hmm… wanna tell me about it? My name is Glassly, Rodger Glassly. I’m a detective, private investigator, a regular Sherlock Magnifies if you will. If you need to learn about something, I can help.” Rodger introduced himself, a hand over his heart in a gesture to himself as he spoke. Looey tilted his head, but listened intently until he was done. “Oh… well, I’m sure I don’t need that hehe, Iiiiii think I’d rather do this on my own, Mr. uh… Glassly.” Looey affirmed as he closed the book and began to pore through another one while still listening. “Hmm… are you quite sure? Y’never know what you might find if I help.” Rodger tried to convince, sitting with his hands in his lap now. “I’m sure, but- thanks, my name’s Looey by the way.” The clown dog finished off, really hoping the magnifying glass didn’t pry any further.

“Alright, well, if you change your mind: Take this.” Rodger would say, getting up and dusting himself off before placing a business card in the book Looey was reading. “If you need to know something about your… diminutive ‘pest’, you know where to find me.” Rodger would walk away, exchange a brief chat with Brightney while returning the books he’d been poring over, and then headed out. Looey watched him go all the while, but by the time he got out of view the Balloon Dog went back to poring over the books.

Before he properly zoned back in though, he took his phone out and whispered something. “Hey Trophii, what does ‘dimunitive’ mean?”

—-----------------------------------

In another part of town, the Troupe’s apartment lay silent, save for the nearly quiet thud of antlers on cardboard. Rudie grunted as he shook his head, and charged the wall of his box again. The cardboard was surprisingly sturdy, and the poor borrower couldn’t hope to make little more than a dent! After his next dash, he would sit back and tenderly rub his antlers. “Urg… I’m going to hurt my head if I keep doing this!” He grumbled in slight frustration as he looked up to the dimly lit holes in the roof of his box. This was… not a good situation, to say the least. He had no idea when Looey would be back, or for how long he was going to be in this box. He did NOT want to be some Bean’s pet, he needed to get out! All he wanted was to see his friends again, and wait patiently for Christmas. He scooted over to a wall to lean against as he sat. Christmas… that last one was so good. He thought with a smile, desperate for positive thought as he closed his eyes and pictured the scene.

Last year was the third Christmas the lot of them had celebrated. It had been a beautiful day inside of a Farmhouse’s attic! Bobette had borrowed many chunks of fresh fruit, and even had a chunk of something called Fruitcake; Ginger hadn’t much liked it, but Rudie found enjoyment in it. They decorated a fern with ‘ornaments’ they’d made out of fabric and string, and the evening after they opened presents they’d given each other and received from the Borrower Santa (He gave presents to them now that they were celebrating), and Bobette even had Coal take the three of them out to a clearing where they enjoyed the sight of fireflies waking up and dancing across the sky. Gosh… he yearned for that home now. It was a shame the life of a borrower was so active, maybe one day they could go back! So long as another Bean moved in. He almost wished on it, but he had to use his wishes widely! So, he wished internally to just get to talk to Bobette.

Thankfully, his wish came true much sooner than anyone would have anticipated. “Pst… Rudie! Rudie!!” A quiet whisper shout came from somewhere outside of the box. Rudie would quickly get up and run to lean his head against the wall to listen. “Oh! Oh my garland!! Bobette, you found me!” He began with a smile, and tears pricking his eyes. “Of course I did, your nose’s light led me here through the airholes; are… oh gosh, are you okay?? Are you hurt?” She began, voice mildly frantic but trying to keep calm. “Um… yes- physically I’m fine! But- please please pleaseeee get me out of here!” Rudie would plead, trying to hold back the shake in his voice. Now that his lifeline was here it was a bit easier to let himself go. “Don’t worry, we will! Is the Bean closeby?” Bobette asked after a second where she took a breath, her voice steady now. “N-no, they left a while ago, but I don’t know when they’re coming back!” Rudie exclaimed at the end, hoof over his chest as he tried to calm himself with a few breaths. His normally scrambled mind was only focusing on two words: “Get Out.” repeated over and over again as he tried to clear his mind. “Hey, shhh… it’s okay, it’s okay; we’ll get out of this, we always do. Ginger!! Come help me!” Bobette called, waving Ginger over from a mousehole hidden underneath the bed that they’d just carved out.

Once Ginger came, the three would hatch a plan. “Okay, can’t we carve a hole into the box like we just did? This cardboard has to be weaker than the wall…” Ginger suggested softly, but Bobette was already shaking her head. “That would be easy, but it would also be far too revealing; they know what Rudie looks like, if he manages to carve a hole out with tools they’d know- we can’t risk that.” All Rudie could do was stare at the cardboard that separated them. This is so dumb… I can’t believe I let this happen!! Urggg… He thought internally, beating himself up a bit too much. “I… know there’s like, a book or something on top of the box, maybe you two can push it off?” Rudie suggested, more than a bit downtrodden in his tone. “I’m sorry for getting into this mess… promise though, I didn’t say a word!” He spoke, clutching his arm somewhat with his other one. “No, it’s okay, it happens sometimes! And…” Her voice faltered for a moment. “If you’re talking about the Code, it’s… already broken by having been seen, but it’s okay!! We understand, er- Here- Ginger get on my shoulders.” She assured Rudie rather nervously before asking Ginger, and the reindeer would hear some struggle outside of the box as presumably Ginger and Bobette clambered their way atop the box. Rudie just sunk to the floor, ears down as he smiled sadly. Bobette was sweet, but this was his fault; that’s what he thought anyway, especially when it came to the Code. Shortly after Bobette’s last response, an arm would poke through one of the airholes, and wave at Rudie all friendly-like. “Ah! You guys made it!” Rudie exclaimed, nose brightening up a bit more. “Yeah! Just hang in there!” The ornament called, retracting her arm and getting to pushing the book off of the box with considerable effort; the best comparison for weight would be if a Bean tried to push two fallen over fridges at the same time.

About five seconds after Bobette said that, however, a jingling could be heard, followed closely by a click that was all processed by Rudie’s ears flicking a bit. His eyes widened, his nose dimming considerably as he jumped up and stuck an arm through the airhole, getting a grip by bending it. He waved frantically at Bobette and Ginger, wherever they were up there. “Wait!! Hide!! NOW!” His hearing was much better than theirs, so for subtle noises like this it was up to him. All three of them however would be able to hear the front door opening, and the subtle, almost squeaky footsteps of the Bean who lived here. “Oh!” Bobette exclaimed and quickly pulled Ginger away from the book and pushed her off of the box. “Drop and roll!” She commanded hushedly, before pressing her face against one of the airholes… her face was a sight for sore eyes. “We’ll come back, just… stay safe, please?” She asked, but of course there was no way for Rudie to assure her of that truly. The reindeer would nod his head, smile weakly, and wave goodbye as the Ornament bit her lip and disappeared. Rudie’s smile would fade into a frown from here, but after a moment he shook his head, and furrowed his brows. “Come on Rudie… be, brave!!” He commanded himself, hunching his shoulders and trying to make himself look intimidating… it didn’t work but no one was there to tell him otherwise. Faintly in his mind however, an idea was forming. If he already broke the code… maybe he should try something different?

—---------------------------

Looey closed the door behind him and sighed. No new information; Not even the internet was able to tell him much about what his little thief might be. How was that possible?? He didn’t know, but he couldn’t care much right now. Soon, his troupe would be here and they could give their thoughts. That would be nice. He headed into the bedroom, and sat down next to the box where the tiny reindeer was kept. A dim light glowed from the airholes as he side-eyed the box. That detail was especially mysterious; he had noticed it last night before falling asleep, and when opening the box that night he could see it came from its nose. It was neat, quite cute, but made him so so confused. He only knew of things like fireflies or light-based toons like Brightney being able to do that, and this thing seemed like neither insect nor… He couldn’t finish the thought. He hadn’t really put much thought into it, but the little thief didn’t exactly look not like a Toon. If Looey didn’t know any better, then he’d almost say that they were a shrunken Toon or something; That couldn’t be, because… why hadn’t they spoken to him? Yes, that had to be wrong. Looey affirmed this thought in his mind with a slight nod. Unfortunately, with that conclusion came a different set of thoughts, one that had been nagging on him since last night.

He closed his eyes, visualizing it in his head. He had blacked out, just before swallowing Rudie whole; but now, he could recall more and more of what had transpired. Looey was different. He had been… animalistic, but in a controlled way guided only on instinct. He could remember the feeling of the little reindeer against his tongue, the precision of how he’d kept him away from the teeth, the tender care of the swallow and the feeling that he was keeping him safe, somehow. It was all on instinct, but even now he could feel the muscles in his stomach, easy to bend to his will. He remembered their smell; heck, he could smell the little thief from inside the box even now. Part of him almost wanted to… he shook his head. His breathing got a bit unsteady as he felt that familiar feeling again. He could tap into that side of him. He could smell, and hear so much. A dog down the street, the rustling of a bush just outside the stairwell, tiny footfalls, and the sound of his friends arriving in a car while someone typed away at a computer somewhere on the first floor, and so much more. He gasped, and clutched his head. As suddenly as it was all there, it disappeared in a snap. For all this time, he had been trying to research what his potential new pet was… but he hadn’t been looking at all into what He was. Maybe he should call that detective. His phone buzzed with a notification, breaking up his thoughts. A quick perusal over it told him that Yatta and Blot were finally here; seems his hearing was correct. He would stand up, and look at the box again. The book that he’d set atop it seemed to have been adjusted slightly; maybe it had tried to push against the roof? Ah well. Looey grabbed another book off of his personal stack that he had and set it on top of the first one after adjusting it back to normal. That should keep it from getting out… he didn’t know much, but he did know he probably didn’t want it running around free.

Looey would then head for the door, and offer a slight wave to the box even though it was pointless. “Be right back, little thief… we’ll come up with a name for you later, promise.” He assured, before heading on out the door and down the stairs. It would only be a moment after he reached the ground before he was tackled nearly to the ground by a vibrating, yellow, paper-mâché creature of excitement personified. “Looey, my best buddy ever, LOOEY!!” She’d shout right in front of him as she’d hug him close, arms entirely wrapped around him. “Yeah Yatta?” Looey responded, stifling a chuckle as he hugged her right back. She was shorter than him by a bit, but her personality made her seem larger than life; She was easily injured despite that, unfortunately. Blot would walk up from behind Yatta, hands full dragging two suitcases behind him. “Pfft- what about me then, huh?” He teased playfully, standing the suitcases up on either side of him. “You BOTH are!! Bestest friends, the circus troupe! This is going to be great!” She’d reach out and drag Blot over to sidehug him, and sidehug Looey at the same time while she spoke. Looey smiled, leaning into the hug with Blot doing the same. The three would stay like this for a second, before Looey would clear his throat. “Blot, hold yourself together.” He’d whisper discreetly in gentle reminder. “Oh- right!” Whenever Blot got unfocused, he tended to start leaving small puddles of ink which were a part of him. If he left too much behind he’d get a lot shorter, which he can’t exactly afford as the shortest in the group. Right now, there were a few small puddles behind him from when he’d been dragged; all it took was a slight suction before the ink would rejoin with him. “Alright we’re good to go!” He’d declare, pulling away from the hug. “Now how’s about you show us to our new home?” Blot would say with a smile in his eyes, and one hand already grabbing one of the suitcases behind him. “Of course, of course, here I’ll help you with that.” Looey would say, taking the other suit case and looking past him. “Anything else?”

“Not really, just trash.” The ink blob would assure, following Looey when he began to go up the stairs. When neither of them were looking, Yatta had rushed up the stairs and was already waiting for the two at the top. “Hurryyyy, I can’t wait to see it!” She exclaimed, swinging her arms a little while Looey and Blot made the trek up. “There isn’t that much up there, I’ve hardly decorated.” Looey pointed out with a nervous smile. It certainly was a nice place, but he was mostly worried about the reception of his little creature. Once all three of them reached the threshold, Looey would open the door and welcome them inside to the sparsely decorated apartment. Shelves to the left with balloon animal versions of the three of them on them, a tv at the back wall with a couch facing it pushed to the front wall, a small kitchen to the right with a dining table tucked into a crevice, and of course a door to the bed and bathrooms… and inside that bedroom was where Looey was keeping the tiny reindeer’s box. He bit his lip as Yatta dived onto the couch and stretched out a bit, while Blot rolled the suitcase to the bedroom. Part of him wanted to stop him, but instead Looey pushed past Blot, opened the door for him, and then quickly pushed Rudie’s box under the bed; one of the books on top fell from this, but it’d be fine. “You okay, Looey? You seem… off.” Blot commented, singular inky eyebrow furrowed. “Yeah, I’m fine! Just going to let you two settle in first.” He assured, patting Blot’s shoulder.

The ink blob would be somewhat satisfied by this, and the two friends would unpack their suitcases in the bedroom. Yatta had posters, candy, craft supplies, more candy, a stuffed animal, and a few different clothing options, alongside another few pieces of chocolate stuffed into a pocket. Blot’s suitcase had trace amounts of ink, paper, clothing, some paint, and what felt like an invisible piece of wood… wait, no that’s an invisible chess board. Looey thought with a roll of his eyes when he took it out. Chess was okay, but he always struggled with being unable to see the pieces. He’d gotten used to it at this point, but it always felt cheap. “We should play a game next chance we get, good way to settle in!” Looey side-eyed Blot when he suggested it, but chuckled softly. “Sure, but only if you mark where the pieces are with your ink! Too tired to memorize allat.” Looey teased with a gentle poke to Blot’s side.

After about thirty minutes of unpacking, with Yatta rambling about how she hoped that they could paint the walls and really make the place pop (and Blot reminding her that there was a limit to how much they could do.), Looey would sit with the three on the bed. “Okayyy, which of us should get the bed?” Yatta asked, sitting criss-crossed on the edge, with the other two sitting in a triangular formation in proportion to her. Looey and Blot looked at each other; that was certainly a loaded question, and they both knew that it would lead to a war of self-sacrifice. Looey could hear the conflict already, a thousand insistences, wrestling to give up the bed for the other, it would be a massacre. “Uhhh, hehe, okay, how about we talk about something else? There is something I’d like to talk to you two about…” Looey changed the subject, they’d deal with that ordeal later. He looked down and bit his lip a bit as attention turned to him. “Oh! Yes!! Ooo does this have to do with that mysterious pet you were telling us about??” Yatta questioned, both hands on her knees as she grinned excitedly. “Well- yeah, but heHA… it's a bit more mysterious than you’d think.” He explained, much to both of their confusion as he shifted around, and reached for the box from under the bed. He would pull it up, and set it on his lap as he took the book off and set it to the side. “It’s uh… quite unusual, actually.” Looey explained as he began to open the box. “Unusual how?”

—---------------------------------

Rudie yelped a bit as the box was pushed suddenly, and rubbed his head after having fallen over. This situation had turned from bad to worse. When Looey was breathing strangely earlier, Rudie had debated and nearly decided on trying to speak to him. He had already broken the borrower code after all, so what would the harm be really? Unfortunately, he didn’t build up the courage fast enough, but now he was really glad to have not done so. As he waited under the bed, he could hear two more Beans in the apartment! He wasn’t sure if he could handle revealing himself to three Beans at once. He listened intensely to the high energy voice and the strange noises that sounded almost like words but lower energy and just distorted. Everything felt like it happened so fast, because almost as suddenly as they arrived (though in reality it had been half an hour or so), he’d be pulled back out from under the bed, and brought up.

He could hear the higher energy one. “Oh! Yes!! Ooo does this have to do with that mysterious pet you were telling us about??” They questioned, which made Rudie’s face pale a bit, and his nose to grow dimmer. Oh no. He was about to be seen by two more Beans. His head was filled with a bit more panic, but he had to relax. He needed to relax. “Well- yeah, but heHA… it's a bit more mysterious than you’d think.” His ears flicked as he listened intently, and was then lifted up to the bed and set somewhere uneven. He looked up through the airholes, and could see a bit of Looey’s head, and a hand grabbing the flaps of the box. “?woh lausunU” The unusual sounding person asked, what was the deal with that? The curious nature of the voice was almost enough to distract Rudie from the panic. Please please pleaseeee just- set my box back down and just, I dunno- don’t open please don’t open please- He pleaded internally, but there was only so much he could do. The box would open, and he’d have three sets of Bean eyes on him for the first time. I hope you’re on the naughty list this year. He thought bitterly, and rather naughtily, he thought in the back of his mind.

Could you blame him though? It was a high stress situation. He sat, legs splayed out and front hooves on the ground holding himself up a bit so he wouldn’t lay down and curl up. One of the Beans with horns and a pointed smile would lean in and get a good look at him. “Ooo, it’s really cute!! But… what is it?” She asked, thankfully averting her gaze to look at Looey, wait no, she turned right back to looking at him. “Well… that’s the thing, Yatta, I have no idea! I found him stealing grapes from me a few days ago.” Looey explained, scratching the back of his head. It’s called Borrowing, stealing is naughty! Rudie thought incredulously before yelping a bit as suddenly the ground left him. The high energy Bean who was apparently named Yatta had scooped him up and was now holding him up with a cupped hand to her face. Rudie bit his lip nervously as the other hand gently poked at his peppermint colored antlers. “Hehe, sounds cute too!” She added on, voice a smidge too loud for his ears but that couldn’t be helped. “?rewsna na dah gnihtemos ro elgooG ylerus -tub …si ti tahw wonk t’nod ouy oS” The ink blob asked while Rudie tried to push Yatta away, but of course it just made her chuckle a bit… oblivious to his feelings.

“No, not even the library had any answers. There was just this strange private investigator type that- sort of implied he knew what I was looking for? It was weird.” Looey explained, seemingly unsettled as his eyes watched Rudie being held by Yatta. “But uh, it appears to be a little reindeerrrr, it has a glowing nose sometimes, and- I dunno. I’ve never seen anything like it so I thought we could keep it.” He finished, shrugging a bit. “.elbatrofmoc oot mees t’nseod …tI ?maor ot ti rof erehwemos pu tes dluohs ew ebyam ,hU .trats ot ecalp doog a eb d’eh ebyam ,lleW” The inky monster vocalized. Before Rudie knew it, he’d be set back down and carried, box and all, to the living room where the Beans would set up some kind of enclosure. They used empty suitcases to block the way to the kitchen, sat in front of the couch, and used spare clothing to stop him from hiding under the tv stand. The three Beans would sit in a triangular formation once again, Looey sat with one leg straight out, and one bent at the knee with his tail resting on the ground to his left, Blot would be criss cross, and Yatta would actually be laying on her side instead watching Rudie very closely. Unsettling.

Rudie himself would be set down in the middle of it all, free to roam as he pleased. As much as the ink monster terrified him, he was grateful for the minor autonomy that… might have come from him? Rudie wasn’t sure. The Beans would begin to discuss with each other about what plans they had for the coming days, but Rudie wasn’t tuned in to that. He would go and try to find any space between the suitcases to squeeze through. “Okay, now that that’s set up! Whereeee are we performing again?” Rudie grunted softly as he tried to push his head through a little crack between two of the suitcases, no success. The ink creature said something, and Looey responded while Rudie tried to clamber atop the suitcase. “Ooo, okay! An outdoor theatre sounds like a good place. You sure we’ll get enough concession sales though?” Discussion kept going on, Rudie only being able to half listen as he nearly reached the top of the suitcase. Yatta would reach over and nudge him back down to the floor, unfortunately enough. “Awww, nimble like me! Hmm… you’re a reindeerrr, maybe something Christmas themed! Dasher could be a cute name!” Yatta spoke ‘quietly’ to herself, Rudie whining softly out of frustration when she finally set him back down. She was watching him way too closely for him to do much of anything! He really wanted to give her a good headbutt, but… he couldn’t make them mad or anything! This is what they were doing because they liked him; he didn’t want to think about what they’d do if they were upset. He tried to keep the thoughts at bay of what he’d seen of how other Beans could treat bad pets by moving all around the space provided to him. He traced the wall opposite the suitcases, tried to sneak under the couch to no avail, and even tried to access an old mousehole under the tv stand! That time it was Looey that pulled him back with a demeaning chuckle and pat on the head. After that last time, Rudie would grumpily cross his arms, and sit criss cross next to Looey. He’d look to his left, and bite his tongue nervously as he saw Yatta on hands and knees creeping up next to him.

“Hmmm…” She hummed in thought, Rudie looking all around just to not look at her being in such close proximity to him. “You think those antlers of his actually taste like candy canes? Do they still sell candy canes outside of Christmas?? I really want some now!” She exclaimed, interrupting Looey going on about what they should try to include close to the end of their act tomorrow. Looey would turn to look at the two before responding. “Eh, not sure about the candy canes but he tastes like peppermint chocolate primarily, but that does remind me, who should take him to… Rodger?” Looey kind of trailed off there as both Blot and Yatta kind of just stared at him. “?ekil setsat eh tahw wonk …ouY” The ink monster asked as Rudie shifted back around to primarily watch Looey. This definitely caught his attention a bit more than the other topics. I have… a taste?? Oh gosh- He didn’t know what he would’ve expected himself to taste like, but that casual description made his skin crawl a little. His mind flashed back to when he’d been in that… place. The wetness of it all, and that muscle prodding at him and pushing at him. It made him shudder all over again to think about what it must have been like for Looey. Strangely enough… Looey seemed nervous. “Uhhh, well- you know! I meant that that’s probably what he would taste like- cuz- it’s what he smells like!” Looey spoke, pulling at the collar of his shirt slightly as he tried to recover from what must have been a blunder. Guess Beans aren’t normally carnivorous, or something? Rudie questioned with a tilt of his head. He hated this. He had nothing to distract himself with and he couldn’t stop paying attention to the giants around him; He was convinced the Pinata beside him was debating on licking him; he needed to use the bathroom; no fun thoughts. Rudie just really wanted to head back to the crook of a tree his friends and he had been staying in before Rudie decided to go out borrowing on his own. He just wanted to be home with his friends.

The Inky Toon would raise a singular eyebrow and Yatta would sniff Rudie after a brief nuzzle that nearly knocked Rudie over with how unexpected it was. “Uhhh, best buddy Looey? I don’t smelllll anything like that.” She said, in the most normal tone Rudie had heard from her so far. “O-oh… well, I don’t knowww, might have been a guess hehe. Um, okay so- Blot are you good to take it to Mr. Glassly?” Blot and Yatta would give each other a wordless look, but it wouldn’t lead to anything seemingly as Blot nodded and got up. So that was the monster’s name. Rudie would be cataloguing that in the back of his mind before he’d realize that he was coming Straight For Him. Rudie would yelp, and do a high leap over Looey’s tail and cower behind it just out of their view. Could you blame him, honestly? In Rudie’s mind, the dripping ink blot’s hand might just absolutely encase him! Spooky stuff. Blot would hesitate, and look at Looey with a shrug. “Uh… well, I suppose that I could take him then! Let you two settle in more hehe…” He seemed almost glad to get away.

It wouldn’t be long at all past this point that Rudie would be snatched back up, placed into his box, and taken somewhere out of the apartment. Okay… this was new territory for him, but he’d need to be brave. Surely it would all be fine, right? After all, tonight Bobette and Ginger would come back and try to rescue him! But… What if they got caught? What if that candy loving pinata ate Ginger?? Or… he tried to calm his mind with some breathing techniques. It’s just that there now being three Beans in the apartment made things so much more complicated. Rudie would grunt as the box was abruptly set down in the passenger’s seat of a car, and Looey would begin taking him to the address on the business card. Of course, Rudie was mostly unaware of what was going on, just that he was being taken somewhere. As Looey drove, Rudie would lean against the wall of the box closest to Looey, and listen to the words that he’d hear Looey mumble as they moved.

—-----------------------------------------

Looey would drive on with his hands clutching the wheel as he tapped his free foot against the ground. “Gosh… What is wrong with me?!” He questioned, switching to only using one hand on the wheel as he ran a hand between his ears. His mind rushed through that moment. As much as he hated blacking out and waking up to having a living thing in his gut, he now wished that that memory of what had happened had stayed gone. He hated the more he remembered it. The thing is though, he didn’t hate it because it disgusted him. He hated it because of how much he loved it. He didn’t know what it was as he took a right down a more residential street. It just felt so… right. He had the tiny reindeer so close, so… safe. But why was it safe? Why was it perfectly fine afterwards? It was so weird and… unnatural. Yet that didn’t change a thing. Looey side-eyed the box, and clutched the wheel a little tighter. “I have absolutely no idea what you are, little thief… or why what happened that night happened, but… I intend to find out. If you’re gonna be mine, I don’t want you harmed, okay?” He said, unknowingly staring directly at the spot where Rudie was leaning against the wall of the box listening intently. It was about here when he’d pull into an empty driveway of an ordinary house with a closed garage. Looey sighed, and stopped the car. “God, what am I doing? You can’t respond back,” He spoke with a weak smile as he opened the door, and stepped out, “suppose that makes you a good listener though, haha…”

After he picked the box up, and went to knock on the door of the home, he became a bit nervous about an entirely different thing. What if it was too late in the day to talk to Rodger? The sun was just going down, but… maybe he should have called? Looey wasn’t sure now. Thankfully before he could overthink himself to popping, the door would open with Rodger in much less formal attire being present. “Ah! Mr. Looey, what a pleasure!” The Magnifying Glass would say with a twinkle in his eye as he held the door open wider and gestured for him to come inside. “I presume you come here to talk about… what may be in that box.” Rodger inquired, pointing at the box slightly as Looey stepped over the threshold and followed the Toon as he began to walk toward the garage door. “Yes… I am.” Looey assured with a nervous nod as he followed Rodger. The door would open to present the two-car garage, a simple pickup truck on the end opposite the door, with the side closest to the door being occupied by a few curiosities. It appeared to be a Detective’s office, decorated with a desk, bulletin board, white board, and various tools and books. “Do try to be quiet, I just put the little one to sleep.” Rodger asked, pulling out a chair for Looey from in front of a more professional desk seemingly for meeting with clients. “Oh- okay.” Looey would sit and place the box on the desk. “Alright, well to begin, why don’t you tell me about your issue?” Rodger asked, opening a desk and pulling out a notepad and pencil.

Looey would tilt his head a bit. “Don’t I… need to pay you?” He asked, tail resting idly with the tip just barely grazing the floor. “Ah… not for your first time I’d say! Call it a favor.” Rodger explained briefly while Looey tilted his head upward and sniffed. Something about the room smelled strangely sweet, somewhat like vanilla and strawberries. “Uh huh… well, okay. First off I think that I should show you…” Looey trailed off as he set both hands on the box, and opened the flaps before Rodger could respond, and there he was. Rudie sat in the center of the box perfectly, and smiled nervously as he sat under observation. Rodger’s face did something strange. A face of concern shifting to curiosity. “Ahem… well, now that certainly is an interesting specimen! How did you come across such a curiosity?” He inquired, sketching something down onto the pad. “Well… I was in my apartment the other day, and I noticed my food was going missing!” Rudie bit his lip. “So I set up a simple glue trap, and shortly afterward I found it in the trap as strange as could be! I know I’m not exactly a… normal Toon,” Looey gestured toward his colorful body, “but I had never seen anything like him before and-” He cut himself off a bit and looked around. “Uh… we have client-patient-confidentiality, right?” The balloon dog asked, shifting in his seat a bit. “Oh- yes of course.” Rodger assured, listening intently to Looey’s story and occasionally shifting his gaze to Rudie. “By the way… you do know that glue traps aren’t safe right? Not even for regular… inconveniences.” Rudie nodded intently, before remembering that he wasn’t supposed to do that and went back to just milling about the box a little. “Oh… I did not know that- thanks hehe… um- anyway; something weird happened to me shortly after I picked it up.”

Rodger squinted a bit, and adjusted his grip on the notepad and pencil. “Go on…” Looey would hold one of his arms nervously before he’d sigh and proceed. “I felt strangely protective; I saw fear in its eyes and I sort of blacked out. I woke up a little while later, only to have the little reindeer in my… stomach.” He finally spoke it aloud, looking down at the ground a little as Rudie shuddered at the mention, though no one but Rodger noticed. “I-I don’t know what happened but, somehow he was perfectly fine! I was able to let him out with a weird ease, and since then I’ve been able to smell him, in a way that my friends haven’t been able to-” “Friends? Toons other than you have seen him?” Rodger asked for clarification, interrupting Looey. “Oh- yes, my friends- Yatta the Pinata and Blot the Mime, they live with me now, moved in yesterday. But… uhm, anyhow, since then I’ve been having these… flashes, back to that moment.” One came just as he was saying that. The feeling of the little thief squirming weakly, the way his stomach had moved around the small creature, and the feeling of disappointment when he let it out, all these thoughts plagued him and more. “Eventually, I woke back up and let him out… but it didn’t feel right to let him out; I just don’t understand these feelings-” “Hey, slow down,” Rodger comforted, reaching over the desk and holding Looey’s shoulder to ground him. Looey hadn’t even noticed his own hands running through his ears and squishing them down to a painful degree. “It’ll be alright, I’ll help you figure this out. I’m not exactly a therapist but I think I can help.” Rodger assured with a sympathetic look.

“I don’t exactly know what may be ailing you, but I think I may know what he is at least.” Rodger spoke, gesturing towards the reindeer in the box. “If it pleases you, while I research into your own predicament, I’ll keep him under observation for the night and look into him too.” Rodger asserted; he had a parental air about him for sure. “Um… yeah, I think that could be okay. Gosh- thank you so much, Mr. Glassly.” Looey thanked, grabbing Rodger’s hand with one and smiling softly yet nervously at the detective. Rodger simply blinked, but accepted Looey’s hand and shook it gently up and down. “Of course- Oh-” While neither of them had been paying attention, Rudie had leaped upwards, and climbed out of the box, now clinging to Looey’s elbow a little bit and trying to tug for him. “Oh! Huh… guess it doesn’t want me to leave him here hehe… sorry.” Looey apologized, scooping Rudie up with two hands after letting go of Rodger’s hand, and holding the reindeer up to gently press against his cheek. “Didn’t think it’d imprint- think that’s what happened?” Rodger wouldn’t answer immediately, and took a little note down as he watched Rudie intently. “Hm… well- instead of you leaving, maybe it would be better if you stayed in a different room for a little? Only a little bit of time to observe should suffice.” Rodger compromised, tilting his head as he put out the offer. “Sure, um- would you mind if I got something to eat though?” He asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with one hand as he set the reindeer back into the box. “Of course you can, Looey. I’ll call you back once I’m done; there should be some leftover pizza in the back of the fridge.” Rodger suggested as Looey turned to leave. “Um,” Looey waited at the threshold of the garage door, turning to look back over his shoulder, “thank you again Rodger, I hope your uh, observations go well!” He’d say, smiling at the detective as Rodger presumably smiled back with his eye, before closing the door and going to text his friends.

—------------------

The door clicked, and Rudie nervously turned to look at Rodger. He had no idea what was about to happen, but all he knew was he was not about to say anything to this Bean about himself- “Would you like help to get out of that box, sir?” Rodger asked, surprisingly respectfully as he brought his face closer to Rudie’s level. Rudie didn’t answer, and just stared back unblinking. Rodger sighed, and stroked his chin a bit. “Hmm… but of course, you won’t trust me. Suppose it’d be useless to ask for your name, then. Hold on, it’ll be okay, little Borrower. Just give me one moment.” Rudie would freeze up a bit at the name of his species. He… he did know. Oh gosh, this wasn’t good! How did he- Ooo was that a christmas decoration on a shelf? It resembled a candy cane but was wrapped up in festive lights. That was cool. Stay focused! What’s happening around you? Rudie scolded, in a voice much like Bobette’s as he shook his head and looked back up to Rodger who had disappeared. Huh? Rudie hopped back up, and clung to the top of the wall of the box to peek over the side and see Rodger opening a tiny hidden door, and ringing a little bell. “What…?” Rudie whispered under his breath, as shockingly another borrower came through the door quickly.

“Alllllright, Rodger, I heard everything. Where are they?” Asked the new Borrower, a golden looking mirror with a light pink bow tied around their body, rather fancy and well-groomed. Rudie’s eyes widened, and he ducked back into the box once the other Borrower’s gaze landed on him. “What in the Garland is going on?” Rudie asked himself, both hooves on either side of his head as he tried to relax himself. These last few days had been way too eventful for him. “Ah… goodness darling; please take me to him, Rodger.” It wouldn’t be long before the new Borrower would be set inside the box gently by Rodger. “Alright, you got this,” They’d say under their breath, clasping their hands together as they offered a bright smile to the reindeer who was now slumped against the opposite wall. “Helloooo! My name is Glisten, and, well, you can probably guess from my stature but- I’m a Borrower like you! Or, I used to be.” Glisten would walk right on over to Rudie, and sit next to him, patting down the particular spot he’d be sitting to make sure it wasn’t too dirty. “Hoo boy, where do I even begin.” Glisten said, providing a casual energy that did make Rudie feel weirdly normal for a moment. “Well, it wassss, I wanna say two years ago?” “One and a half years ago.” Rodger corrected from above. “Ah, yes one and a half! Do try to stay quiet, dear Rodger, we don’t want our fluffy guest scared!” The mirror teased, jokingly shooing away the larger Toon as they rolled their eyes in an exasperated yet affectionate way. “Now back to my story!”

“I was an ordinary Borrower, roughing my way through life and scavenging in the trash like any old pest. But I always knew I was meant for much more than that drab lifestyle, no offense of course. You must admit though, being in peril so often isn’t… pleasant. Anywho- after so long of roughing it, I found my way to this lovely home!” Glisten told, gesturing around to the general house around them. “And Rodger found me in a state of great disarray due to the immense difficulty of borrowing from him and his daughter. Oh she’s the sweetest little thing, you ought to meet her! In any case, he took care of me. He got me food, water, a place to use the bathroom eventually that wasn’t horrid, and… of course the two of them got me this lovely lovely bow!” He explained, smoothing out the creases in it that came with sitting on the ground. “I know, the ‘Code’ says we shouldn’t hang out with Beans but- they’re not all horrible! So far in my experience with these two, it’s all been amazing! So, I promise that you’re safe telling my good friend here-” Glisten winked up at Rodger who couldn’t help but gaze off thoughtfully about the time the two had had together. “-absolutely anything! Including your name and about what happened from your perspective! So um… if you’re okay with it, could you tell us your name?” He added to the end with a slight look of sympathy.

“Oh- well, golly- it’s been so long since I’ve introduced myself! My name is Rudie!! And wow… it does sound like you’ve had an eventful life here hehe… ooo ooo, did you get to celebrate Christmas with them??” Rudie asked excitedly. As much as he wasn’t the biggest fan of Glisten harping on the Borrower Lifestyle, Rudie had to admit he was infinitely curious about this… and it only encouraged him further into his previous thought: that maybe he could talk to Looey. “Oh- Christmas? Well, I suppose it makes sense you’d ask that with those adorable horns of yours!” Glisten would reason, chuckling a little. “They’re antlers, but thanks?” Rudie responded with a positive smile in kind. “Ah, but of course. Anyway, yeah! I’ve celebrated one Christmas with them so far! It was a magical time but hehe… I think there’s something more pressing we should discuss with the Detective himself. If you’re okay with it, I’ll be there with you.” Glisten assured, holding Rudie’s arm reassuringly. The reindeer tensed up a little, but after a breath was able to stand up and brush himself off. “Well… I suppose I could! Politeness is a Nice List thing after all!” Rudie would say, offering a hoof to Glisten and helping him up. “Excellent! Follow, follow!” Glisten asked, walking right up the wall closest to Rodger and waving up at the Magnifying Glass. A hand would be lowered down and held palm up on the floor of the box. Glisten would clamber atop it with ease, but Rudie would look at it nervously. The Mirror would reach out one hand, and offer the most assuring look he could. Luckily enough for all parties involved, the mere presence of a fellow Borrower put Rudie at enough ease to clamber onto the hand and hug Glisten for support as just one palm for two Borrowers was kind of cramped. Rodger would lift both up, and switch to holding with two palms as slowly as he could.

“Okay, Mister Rudie, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance!” Rodger spoke softly, every movement slow so as to not startle the tiny reindeer. “My name is Rodger Glassly, and… I think I may know what’s up with the Bean who caught you.” Rodger began to explain, slowly lowering his hand to the desk so Rudie and Glisten could have their own autonomy outside of the box. “But first… let me spruce this space up a bit!” The two Borrowers would step off, and watch as Rodger opened a side drawer, and pulled out all kinds of specially carved furniture just for Borrowers! He took out a small table, two chairs, and a teensy tea set. Rudie was delighted to see that the chairs even had small cushions, talk about comfort! “I do apologize, I cannot brew a new cup of tea for us as the supplies for that are in the kitchen; you don’t mind older tea?” Rodger asked, using a pipette to transfer a small amount into the mini-teapot. “Um…” Rudie looked side-to-side, unsure of how to answer. “Oh, Rodger, he’s never had tea before, I’m sure he won’t mind.” Glisten reminded; Rodger’s experience with Borrowers past him was limited, despite efforts to help out any others he may find. Before Rudie knew it he’d be seated at this Borrower Table on one side with Glisten on the other, taking an experimental sip of the tea. It tasted quite herbal, with a faint sweetness to it. Rodger and Glisten would both take a sip as well, which left Rudie staring up at the larger Toon. “Um… how exactly do you drink?” Rodger raised him a questioning look. “I mean- I’ve seen Toons like you before without a mouth but- well-” “Ah,” Rodger cut him off and nodded with a closed eye. “Yes, it is true I don’t have a traditional mouth but if you watch closely,” He took another sip of tea, the cup placed just below his eye, and the glass seemed to shift and move as the tea met it, like a ripple on a lake caused by pebbles as the liquid disappeared into the ether. “It’s instead like a portal, there. It’s really a fascinating phenomenon, and no one’s entirely sure how it works. I propose that it may be some kind of-” Rodger cleared his throat, receiving the look that Glisten gave him well. “But of course, I doubt you want to hear a whole monologue from me, Rudie.” Rudie chuckled softly, and just brushed back some of his fur with a soft smile. “It would be interesting, but… I’m more interested in learning more about what Looey’s deal is.”

“Of course, of course! Here,” Rodger pulled out a book from the short stack titled ‘Myths of the BD Era’ and would flip to a page as if out of habit, “this section of the book has all sorts of information regarding Borrowers… including legends about a time where Toons and Borrowers lived side-by-side! I do wish it was a bit less cryptic about what happened to separate the two species… as clearly Borrowers are real, so this legend isn’t entirely false.” Rodger began, tracing the wording of the page with one finger as Rudie watched. In the book, there were paragraphs of text describing Borrower behaviors, their agility, stature, and craftsmanship, alongside a few pictures that depicted them as similar to Toons. “But in any case!” Rodger flipped to the very next page simply headed as ‘Preds.’ “Now this is the page that I’m more interested in. I’ve done a lot of looking into this particular section, but I’ve yet to find any evidence of this part of the legend being true at all… until today.” He spoke, somewhat ominously as he gazed at Rudie for a moment, before looking to the door that Looey had left through. “Preds were a special type of Toon, unassuming on most occasions except for when Borrowers are threatened. These Toons were dedicated to the protection of the Borrowers, but have since become recessive in society due to the absence of their wards. When any Borrower companions were threatened or scared, they became quite feral beasts with sharper teeth, claws, and a most unique form of protection. And that’s it! There isn’t much here past this but speculation!” Rodger exclaimed, closing the book slowly. Rudie looked down at the ground as Rodger described some of the speculations that were mostly just pointless theorizing.

“A most unique form of protection.” Now that’s… interesting. Rudie mulled over the description in his head. He had been perfectly fine physically after being let out by Looey that night; maybe Rodger was thinking the same thing he was. The memories of that day came back again, but this time it was different. Rudie remembered being scared, and the care that Looey took to ensure he wasn’t injured throughout the ordeal. Had he truly just been trying to protect him? Because of the fear that Rudie displayed? Darn… if I’d just been jolly it probably wouldn’t have happened. Rudie thought, somewhat upset at himself. It was perfectly justified for him to be as scared as he was at that moment, but to Rudie, he wanted to believe in the best of people and he’d let himself be scared of someone who… now definitely seemed like they could be a friend. He felt a bit bad for it, to say the least. “Rodger?” Rudie asked, interrupting the Toon. “-really, it almost reads like the author’s projecting fantasies- oh- yes Rudie?” He finished politely, taking another drink from his teacup as Rudie went on. “So you think, Looey may be one of those, Preds?” He asked, wincing a bit. The name wasn’t the most nice thing to call someone, but it was written in the book. “Yes, I do believe it is likely that he was a dormant Pred. Judging by some of the Author’s theories, it would appear that the Balloon Animal underwent a sort of metamorphosis if that makes sense. His Pred genes awakened from witnessing your distress from that night… and I think they’re prone to re-emerge at any moment if he doesn’t know the truth about not just himself, but you as well…” He’d lean in closer, both hands on the desk before he’d practically rest his head on the desk. “You’re not obligated to do anything, of course. There is another option. If you wish, Glisten and I can help you escape. You can ‘accidentally’ get loose, hide in the walls, and once Looey’s gone either you can live here or I can relocate you to another home.” Rodger assured, straightening himself back up and fixing his collar. “I understand that this situation is probably a lot for you, but I'll help however I can.” He asserted, but Rudie just looked away. The little reindeer would stand up, and walk to the edge of the desk, gazing at the door that Looey may be waiting behind. Rudie sighed, “Heh, guess I’ll need to talk to him after all. It’s okay, Mr. Glassly; it’s… certainly a stressful thought but I think I can talk to Mr. Looey about this… all of this.” He assured, gesturing down at himself.

Rodger simply nodded, and the look in his eye seemed like he was smiling. “Very well.” He’d say, while Glisten just clapped softly yet quickly. “Eee!! Yes! That is ‘very well!’” Glisten would get up from his chair, and move forward to pull Rudie into a hug. “So excited for you my hooved friend, I think it’ll go just great!” He assured, pulling away for a moment to look at Rudie. “Hehe, well! I’ll need to help you to your exit, Glisten, and I’ll take care of Rudie.” Rodger explained, gently scooping up Glisten once the mirror let go of Rudie, and cupped him to his chest. Once Glisten was set back to the miniature doorway, and gave Rodger’s hand a little pat, Rudie would watch on and wave him goodbye. “Hope you have a Merry Christmas when it comes back around!!” He’d call, which was definitely an unusual feeling. In Borrower life you never spoke that loudly, it was cool. Glisten would wave back, and chuckle a bit. “You too, Rudolph.” It would be with that final goodbye that Glisten would disappear into the tunnels to who knows where. Not what I’m called, but okay! Glisten was an interesting character, but Rudie was glad to have met him. It wouldn’t be long at all before the Borrower furniture would be put away, and Rudie would make his way back into the box. “Alright, Mister Rudie,” Rodger began, repositioning the box just so, “here’s the plan! I’m going to welcome Looey back into the garage, explain to him a bit that Borrowers are mythical creatures, but not tell him they’re sentient, then I’ll tell him about the theoretical nature of Preds, and finally tell him that a special informant of mine, that’ll be you, will get back to him on ‘Borrower-Care,’ is all of that okay?”

Rudie would nod and smile gratefully up at Rodger despite the size difference. “Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be all okay!”

—-------------------

“Mr. Looey, you may come back in.” Rodger would call out into the house quietly, Looey sitting up with a start and quickly getting up from the dining table that he’d been sitting at. “Oh- great! You learn anything?” He’d ask, following Rodger into the unchanged garage-office hybrid. He’d had some rather good tasting pizza, and had mostly just been relaxing and trying to distract himself from the tiny reindeer. Now of course, he was back to his thoughts in relation to that reindeer as he sat in his chair and peered into the box to see the little reindeer looking right back up at him. Those eyes were such a pretty red and green color, despite what it had brought him, Looey felt glad to have it as a little companion. Rodger would sit on the other side of the desk, and interlace his hands with his elbows on the table. “Alright, when looking through some old books of mine I’ve discovered some things…”

Rodger would then go on to explain the mythical status of Borrowers and the nature of Preds in a much more abridged way then he did with Rudie; Looey listened intently with one raised eyebrow as Rodger told him about how Borrowers were smaller creatures that coexisted peacefully with Toons once upon a time, and that there was apparently a special type of Toon that allegedly fit Looey’s description perfectly. “Your traits that you’ve exhibited seem to match perfectly! The protectiveness, the animalistic nature; Mr. Looey, I do believe it to be true that you may be one of these dormant Preds. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, in fact for you it is completely normal really. The sooner you know of your nature, the sooner you will be able to control it for both you and… your pet.” Rodger hesitated at the end there, straightening out his suit idly. “In any case, all I require from you is for you to keep this Borrower a secret from as many people as you can. It shall remain a private matter between us, your friends, and an informant of mine for as long as necessary to learn everything there is to know about them! That informant will help teach you how to care for it, will that be okay?” Looey had a dazed look on his face as he took the box. It was a lot of information, and Looey wasn’t entirely sure if Rodger was in his right mind. Maybe he’d gotten too into a fantasy book?? It all sounded quite absurd, but Looey couldn’t help but think about how it really did seem like he matched a ‘Pred’ description. “Um… yeah, sure; could be useful heHA!” He spoke nervously, smiling softly at Rodger as he got up. “Well, Mr. Glassly, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your nightttt, I’ll get out of your work now.” Looey finished, already halfway out the garage door and to the front door. “Please, Looey, call me Rodger! Have a good night-” Rodger called out, before the front door would be shut, and the Clown would be gone.

He’d start his car, and the two would be off. Rudie in his box set back on the seat, and Looey gripped the wheel again as his mind lay blissfully blank momentarily, but only momentarily. What a joke… and they call me the clown. No, don’t think that- he’s a nice Toon. Fantastical creatures… I’m not some creature. I’m just an ordinary toon. That’s all. Borrowers… He side-eyed the box, thinking about the reindeer inside and how it felt to hold him. Maybe it is a ‘Borrower,’ but if that’s true then… He didn’t want to think about that other thing. What would his friends say, after all? If they were told that he was some kind of fantastical guardian of this mythical creature? It sounded absurd the more he thought about it. He couldn’t deny that something had happened that day, but he could try to deny the thought about what it meant. “Haha… happy, Looey, happy!” He whispered to himself, trying to cheer himself up a bit. His friends would probably be supportive in truth, but it didn’t change how ridiculous he thought it was.

Once he pulled into the parking area for his apartment, he would turn off the car, take the box upstairs, and walk in on Blot and Yatta playing Jenga on the coffee table. Blot sitting on his knees as he examined the haphazardly stacked tower carefully for the perfect piece to pull, and Yatta currently balancing one of the many scattered jenga blocks on the space between her mouth and her eyes. Looey chuckled a bit, “Are you two not ready for bed yet?? It’s like- 10 PM!” he exclaimed, shaking his head as the block fell from Yatta’s head as she turned to look at him with a big smile. “LOOEY!!” She’d exclaim, immediately popping back up, nearly knocking the tower over with her tails with Blot tensing up. She’d almost instantly be by his side as she’d hug him real tightly. “So good to see you again! We’reeee, almost ready, just winding down!” She assured, side-eying the tower. “How are you doing?” She asked, swaying from side-to-side a bit; she never could sit still; Looey didn’t think that in the years of their friendship that he had ever seen her genuinely not at least fidget in her seat. He smiled softly, and tried to put on a classic happy face. “Welllll, doing pretty good I’d say! I’ll explain what happened tomorrow though, so so tired.” He explained, feigning a yawn as he stretched out a little. The exaggerated movements did elicit a few noises from the reindeer in the box he was holding to which Looey whispered an apology.

The jenga game would end with Blot knocking over the tower on one of his turns. You’d think that Yatta would not be very good at that sort of precise game, but given her role in the troupe she knew a thing or two about balance! After a short debate over who would get the bed, Yatta would be the one to sleep in the bed while Looey and Blot would get the couch. This impossible task was done by telling Yatta that if she went first for tonight, then if they took turns, she would get to give them both the bed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in a couple months or so. She’d do just about anything for her best friends, so much so that they really had to figure out a way to make sure she wouldn’t self-sacrifice herself to the moon. Looey would be sitting on the floor, back against the couch and the box at his side. The balloon dog’s arm rested on the top of it while Blot already snored on his side of the couch. Yatta could be heard bouncing on the bed in the other room, seemingly trying to expend the rest of her energy so she could rest peacefully. Looey smiled as he thought about all of the sleepovers they’d had when they were younger; Yatta was usually out like a light very unexpectedly. Once she expended all of her energy, she’d be down and impossible to wake up until the morning. Blot was much calmer, usually the first one to bed if he wasn’t tidying up after Yatta. He was always either the first one out or the last one out. Looey liked reminiscing like this, his friends were so great; greater than him by a mile. Now, it felt like that was truer than ever. It was simply how he thought.

He opened the box suddenly, and scooped up the reindeer inside, smiling softly at his little friend. “Oh little reindeer… you know, despite the issues I’ve been having lately. I know it’s not your fault.” He mumbled softly, cradling the Borrower in his hands to his chest. “Whatever’s wrong with me… the only thing that feels right is being with my friends, and keeping you.” He just thought aloud, occasionally stroking the little thing’s head with a thumb.

—-------------------

Rudie stayed silent, and enjoyed the gentle affections. The smooth feeling of Looey’s thumb was calming, somehow. His small tail wagged a smidge; he felt a kind of stillness that was only ever found when every Bean in a home was asleep, and Bobette and Ginger were out cold with Coal curled around the three protectively. Looey’s words to him added an additional warmth to it all. Sure, the Balloon Dog purely thought of him as a pet right now but… the strange bond that Looey had formed with him did make him feel more confident in telling him about himself. Rudie opened his mouth hesitantly, the words hanging on the tip of his tongue. Gosh… this was hard! He didn’t wanna startle Looey, since that would wake up Blot and then Rudie would need to deal with double the nerves. What would he even say? “I appreciate that, Looey; you’re a great friend!” gosh now THAT would be startling. Rudie thought, holding back a giggle before looking back up at Looey. The hands would pull Rudie away, and hold him up to the Clown Dog’s face. “Maybe there is a chance that I’m… a ‘Pred’ like Rodger said.” Looey breathed a little bit heavier. “Suppose the best way would be to test again… it worked once, surely it’ll work again?” He speculated out loud, which caused Rudie to freeze up a bit as he held Rudie close to those lips. The sense of calm was gone faster than Coal was in the mornings. Rudie tensed, and began to get unsteady in his breaths. Shhh, it’s okay, it’s okay! You’re safe… Christmas, Christmas, Christmas… beautiful snow. He imagined the snowfall of Christmas time, the sweet treats that Bobette snuck him, and he also focused on how Rodger told him that what Looey was about to do seemed to be safe. Rudie unfortunately, did not have enough time to properly calm himself, so his mind kind of had to go blank as the next moments unfolded.

—------------------

Looey opened his mouth. His movements were a little awkward, less masterful than last time. I mean… if it’s just like eating, not even I can mess this up. He thought to himself as he tenderly slid the tiny reindeer inside onto his slightly extended tongue. The movement was so casual that it even startled him. Almost instantaneously, even before the lips sealed behind the Borrower’s head, a strong shudder went through him and his vision went dark. He could feel himself slipping into that protective drive that overcame him the first time. If he wasn’t careful he’d black out again! He tried to take a few breaths, and just stay still, letting himself get used to the feeling of his Borrower inside. “His,” the usage of that word felt so possessive in his mind. It felt strangely good. His tongue gently swished the little reindeer around his maw, the teeth within getting noticeably sharper, but once Looey got into the groove of it he was able to easily ensure that it didn't harm his ward. He purred softly, and the feeling surprised him. He hadn’t purred before, maybe it was a Pred thing? He recalled what Rodger had said, even though little was known about those mythical creatures, them being strong protectors of Borrowers was all that was clear. It certainly felt quite protective, and he couldn’t help but admit that it was good. Looey stretched out idly as he let his mouth handle the reindeer; this allowed him to examine his hands, which were even more pawlike than usual, and had claws extending from them. Looey didn’t even know he had those. The taste of the Borrower was powerful too; he tasted like chocolate mixed with festive peppermints, almost like peppermint hot cocoa, just as he described if not better. He felt them struggle, and push against the tongue seemingly on instinct, but it only made it all the better somehow. He went slow about it, ensuring that the journey would be smooth for his little reindeer.

Once he was generously slickened with saliva, Looey would tilt his head up a little bit, and swallow strongly. This feeling was especially exhilarating. The purrs that emanated from his throat intensified, and he could feel the muscles working gently yet powerfully to ensure that the Reindeer would be comfy. The wet fur felt strange, but smooth due to the slickness, and his antlers were surprisingly manageable. Looey gently pressed a finger to his neck, rarely seen by anyone. It was the only part of his body that wasn’t colorful, vaguely resembling a thick black string for a balloon. He was able to trace their descent through it, the little Borrower making the most subtle bulge before disappearing into his chest. Looey relaxed a bit more, letting his legs splay out as he sat comfortably as he focused on the feelings and trying not to lose consciousness. His Borrower would enter his stomach as a gentle weight, and a low groan would emanate from there as Looey tenderly rubbed where he could feel them shifting around. He let out a satisfied sigh, and purred loudly. He could feel the walls of his gut contract and shift, occasionally squeezing the small one; it felt absolutely amazing. It really felt like he was doing a good thing and keeping them safe… and judging by the lack of panic from them, it seemed like they really were safe. Kind of like a Kangaroo’s pouch, they were safe with Looey.

“Looey… pleaseee be quiet; I’m trying to sleep.” Blot mumbled unexpectedly, which caused Looey to blush intensely out of pure embarrassment and nervousness before he turned and realized with a great sigh of relief that Blot was just mumbling in his sleep, the back of his inky hand over his eyes. The purrs would die down from there, and Looey would just sit there in silence. He’d poke at his stomach, and feel the way the reindeer reacted, and how his stomach moved and almost seemed to growl affectionately instinctively. “Wow… hm… maybe Rodger was right, but- why me? This is all so strange.” Looey mumbled to himself, hand over his stomach protectively as he gazed down at where the Borrower was inside. “I should really come up with a name for you- Christmassy perhaps, but not too obvious.” He said, smiling softly in thought. “Maybe… Peppermint? No, Cocoa? Nah… how about: Cane? Like Candy Cane! Yeah, that’s a nice name.” Looey concluded, unsure if the little reindeer could hear him, not that it mattered. “Lil Cane… I think we’ll be great.”

—---------------

The rest of the night for Looey would involve him mostly just scrolling on his phone to pass the time as he held Rudie in place. The Borrower struggled here and there, but after a few minutes of there being no danger it was semi-easy to relax. It took a lot of breathing exercises and christmas fantasies before he’d be curled up in a cozy position. This coziness wouldn’t last long though, as eventually Looey would let him out with the same strange controlled muscle contractions from last time, and set him inside of the box again with the same books on top after drying him off of course. He mumbled something about not wanting to lose control of his stomach while he slept, shortly before passing out on the couch somewhere above Rudie’s position on the floor. The reindeer sat in the box, sorely missing the comfort of Rodger’s miniature furniture; it was almost as comfy as Coal’s fur was. He missed that dog. He looked up to the airholes of the box and tried to enjoy the stillness of the night while his thoughts drifted to that dog. When Looey had named him, it definitely felt weird. Did he really look like a Cane? He didn’t know, but the unsettling feeling it gave him made him shudder. Shuddering. He hated shuddering. He didn’t hate much, but that was definitely something!

Enough, enough… Positive! You can do that Rudie… can’t wait for Christmas. He thought idly, trying to keep his train of thought on that dog. Coal… Bobette had raised her back when she was just a puppy, longer than she’d known Rudie. He never liked to think about the life he had before meeting his friends, the only time he did was when he thought about the time they first met. Gosh, that had been an interesting day! Rudie had been struggling to borrow in one of his first homes that he’d borrowed inside on his own, after he… Rudie ended that train of thought. She’d just appeared that day, offered him food and even offered to show him some strategies for quiet stepping. She was always making a clinking noise when she walked if she wasn’t careful, but she’d managed to learn how to mask that, and tried to teach him too! He wasn’t the best student, but without her he didn’t know where he’d be; when they inevitably had to leave that house, Coal was introduced to him! She was an intimidating presence, and didn’t exactly warm up to him instantly, but they were connected by Bobette so eventually Rudie dashed his way into her heart. Then Ginger, oh Ginger. With how they all were, someone may think Ginger and Bobette knew each other before they knew Rudie, but that definitely wasn’t true. Rudie was investigating a bakery as a potential place to borrow from, as crumbs were everywhere! Then he happened across another borrower, a really angry one! Gosh he hopes he doesn’t meet that guy again… he remembered how they tried to pick a fight, but then like one of those superheroes that Bean’s watched movies about, Ginger came out of nowhere and fought off the foe! It was magical; ever since then, Ginger had been another sort of older sister figure almost, alongside Bobette of course. She had reasoned afterward that she didn’t see any reason to gatekeep Bean homes unless there were just genuinely too many borrowers, and she offered shelter to Bobette and Rudie! She seemed quite glad to be rid of that shrimp now that she could replace him with them. Rudie and Bobette both stuck around the bakery for a while, and nearly left without Ginger because she was so skeptical of leaving. Rudie was so so glad that she ended up going with them… she was the best.

Ah… that worked. Rudie smiled softly as his nose glowed equally soft. The thoughts cheered him up well, but… he didn’t know what would happen to the three of them after he revealed himself to Looey. Would they want to stay here with him? If he could convince Looey to provide them with this place to live, then maybe their lives would be better!! Like how Glisten’s was with Rodger. He didn’t know, but he’d need to figure something out for certain.

Unfortunately, it looked like he’d need to figure that out sooner. He heard a soft knock against the cardboard of his box, and he’d quickly scoot over to it, still sitting. “H-hello?” He asked softly. “Rudie…! Thank goodness, you’re still there. Okay, Ginger and I, we've come back to help, Coal’s waiting outside, we should be able to get you out of there!” Bobette assured through the wall, but she wouldn’t get to say much more before Rudie would stop her. “Wait- don’t get me out of here… there's… something I need to tell ya, friend!” Rudie spoke, trying to be cheerful despite how tense this was about to be. “What? Rudie-” “Y-you see… um, golly this is nerve wracking hehe…” Rudie trailed off, but Bobette remained silent, seemingly waiting for when he was ready. “The Bean, he took me somewhere out of the house… and we met someone. A Bean that knew about Borrowers and when he and I were alone, the new Bean named Rodger introduced me to another Borrower! But… they weren’t like a pet to Rodger. They were friends, equals! The two of them suggested to me to try and talk to Looey-""Talk to him??”“Let me finish; they explained why Looey had done what he did… and he doesn’t seem like a bad Bean. I think he’d understand… and would keep our secret! He and his friends…!” Rudie explained, talking really fast with his nose glowing both from excitement and worry from how things would go from here. “Rudie,” Bobette began, but she’d be cut off by Ginger’s voice, “Rudie are you out of your mind?? They’re Beans, and he literally ate you! I…” The balloon dog slumbering somewhere above them stirred slightly, and her voice broke; she couldn’t sound angry at him for more than one reason. “I know you want to trust them, and people in general, Rudie, but… it’s too dangerous.” She finished, and Rudie’s ears would be pressed against his head. “I-I know, but… look at me! Well, I mean you can’t right now but- I’m fine! It was a good thing that he did, there was a whole story and- ""You’re putting your faith in a story!?”“A logically sound story!” Rudie interjected before she could get started. “Look… guys… I just need you two to trust me. I know what I’m doing. Nothing bad is going to happen, please, just give me this chance.” He tried to plead, but no response came.

—--------------------------

Ginger took a step back from the box, and pressed a hand up to her head, tracing where her right eye had been as she looked to Bobette with the left eye. She couldn’t let him do this. She couldn’t let him get hurt. But… What could she do? She did want to trust him, but this was insane. She’d never told him what had happened to her, heck he probably thought she was born with this mark. Ginger leaned into the ornament, and sighed shakily. “I… I don’t know… you tell him whatever your verdict is; I… I need to go.” She looked away, and stepped back towards the hole in the wall over on the other end of the room. “And…” Her brow furrowed, as she tried to feel anything that wasn’t sad. “I swear if a single hair on his head is harmed I will pop that balloon myself.” She finished with a growl before rushing off before Bobette could respond.

—------------------------

“Guys…?” Rudie asked, not hearing any of this thankfully. “I-I’m here, Rudie.” Bobette responded, alone. “Okay, um…” She spoke unsteadily, and Rudie would lean his head against the box; it was as close as he could get to her. “I trust you, Rudie, but are you really sure you want to do this? We won’t be able to help you if ya do hehe...” She spoke sadly. In truth, there wasn’t anything they could do to change his mind. He was trusting, too trusting. “I’m sure. It’ll… It'll be an adventure!! I promise, Bobette, this’ll make all of our lives better. Our next Christmas will be perfect!” Looey stirred again, grumbling something about juggling. Rudie tensed up again, but pressed a hoof against the wall. “Go… you two will need some sleep, come see me in a little, I’ll wait for you, promise.” He’d say. No matter how confident he seemed, he would be lying if he said he wasn’t a bitttt terrified. It was a tall order, after all, trying to communicate with someone of the same species that he’d been avoiding all his life. Rudie had to try. Once Bobette finally left, wishing him luck with a wistful gaze that caught no eyes, Rudie would make his way over to the pile of fabric in the corner of the box, and would get comfy. Tomorrow was either going to be the best or worst day of his life, but for now all he could do was sleep.

--------------------------------------

And here we are! Almost ended this story on a cliffhanger but decided to end it in a way that's more peaceful x] From here, Part Three will be in the works which'll conclude this story arc.

Please send asks in relation to this au if you enjoyed this story, I'd love to answer any x]

October 16th

Looey applied a special lotion along his ears. It was designed to give his unique skin an extra shine to it that would only enhance his appearance. Today was a special day after all! The Circus Troupe would be performing at the theatre in the park, and Looey was more than a bit nervous about it. This would be what would make or break their careers as a Circus Troupe. They’d done performances like this before, yes, but this was like, a real one that they were getting paid to do. It was a big deal. Yatta and Blot had gone on ahead to the diner that they were going to eat at because Looey wanted to be alone for a moment. The second he was done in the washroom, he would retrieve Cane’s box and sit at the couch, admiring the little guy with his cheek held in his palm. “Heh… this’ll surprise you but- I’ve never had a pet before. Reallyyyy hope I can do a good job.” He’d say with a soft smile, reaching a hand in and gently caressing around their antlers as they watched him with those intelligent eyes. That nose of theirs glowed softly as they seemingly smiled up at him… they may be small, but Looey was glad to have them. “Hmmm, what do people do with their pets…? Can’t exactly play fetch with you, hehe.” The way Cane’s face seemingly scrunched up in reaction to that was silly. Looey would think for a minute, tongue hanging out a bit. “Maybe… you could try to balance? You do stand on two legs so… hm.” 

After a minute, Looey would be seated on his knees in front of the couch, Cane held on his hand which was open palm up. If the little reindeer fell, the couch would soften the fall easily! “Okay… lemme justtt…” Looey would adjust them a bit, until he’d have them balancing along one of his fingers, the balloon dog assisting his balance. It wasn’t meant to be anything crazy, just a small moment of bonding. The Borrower would hold their arms out, waving them out a bit as they tried to maintain balance… amazingly well, actually. Looey grinned widely, encouragingly. “Yeah! You’ve got it, heh… little trapeze artist.” He complimented with a slight wag on his tail. Cane smiled up at him, and would walk from the tip of his finger, to the palm again very carefully. “Man, I definitely need to show Yatta that-”

A knock came from the front door, which startled Looey into his hand becoming unsteady, and Cane stumbling, and eventually falling. “Oh!” Looey exclaimed, but caught him with the other hand easily. “Heh… I know you would’ve landed on a cushion but- sorry, lil Cane.” He spoke with a nervous smile, before setting him down on the coffee table, returning to standing, and going to answer the door. He’d open the door to reveal Poppy, standing with a bright smile and hands held behind her back. “Hey, Looey! Good morning,” She began, just standing in the doorway, “Oh, good morning to ya too! To what do I owe the pleasure?” The balloon dog asked, leaning against the door frame with one hand.

—--------------------------------------------------

Stop calling me that! Rudie thought with a grumpy face before he peered over the edge of the coffee table. Cane wasn’t that bad, but he’d only enjoy it as a nickname, not as his actual name, thank you very much! Bobette and Ginger tended to call him Pepper or Mint depending on the day, but usually it was just Rudie. It may have only been a couple days, but Rudie immensely missed their touch. Focus, Rudie… you got a job to do! He’d think, with an ominous look on his face. He would slowly begin to scale his way down the table leg, sliding his way down with arms wrapped around it. He needed to talk to Looey; it was simply unavoidable. Once he reached the floor, he looked up. Looey towered far above him by the doorway, talking to someone. He made his way over to stand directly behind him, and just… waited. He didn’t exactly want the other person to see him. 

“Oh you know, just thought I'd get to know you and the other two more! Are they here-?” The Bubble-Looking Toon asked as they leaned against the doorway and Rudie just idly hopped from one hoof to the other, waiting. “Yeah, unfortunately they’ve left already! I’m gonna be following in a jiffy though!” Looey assured, tail idly swaying and creating a gentle breeze for Rudie. It was crazy how much influence the Beans had over him. Hopefully that would ebb once Looey knew the truth. “Ahhh, well that’s alright; I was just going to invite you to breakfast tomorrow? If you’d like?” “Hmmm, only if ya come to our performance tonight!” Looey gestured, handing her a flyer for their event as he cheekily responded. “But hehe, yes I would love to. Gives me a good time to talk to you about some thingsss, likeee, what your pet policy is?” He asked, which caused Rudie to tense up and hold his arm with the other. No… he wouldn’t, he couldn’t! Rudie thought, worriedly. He didn’t want to think it’d be bad if Looey told, but he didn’t want to find out!! “Ah, well- suppose it depends on the pet, you could bring them to breakfast if you want! Sprout’s is pet friendly! We can review and see if they’d be a good fit.” “Wonderful!” Rudie exhaled heavily in relief, he didn’t even realize he’d been holding his breath. Looey wasn’t going to tell her today… but tomorrow was still a huge problem!! He’d take Rudie, and then he’d be exposed in broad daylight! Soooo, now there was a time limit on Rudie confessing. By all the sugarplums. Looey and Poppy would talk for a minute longer, before he’d close the door and turn around, eyes widening in surprise when he saw the Borrower. “Oh, hey- how’d you get down from there? Must have some hops hehe.” Looey would say with a smile, getting down on hands and knees to be closer to the ground. “You okay-?” Looey asked as he tilted his head. He probably wasn’t expecting a response. 

Rudie bit his lip, knees a bit shaky as he looked up at his face. Come on, you can do it, you can do it! Just- He opened his mouth and tried to say something, but before he could get out a single sound, Looey would just gently caress his head with one finger and a soft smile. “Heh, you are okay. Here-” Looey would scoop him up carefully, and Rudie wouldn’t even flinch. “Why don’t you come with me? Beats staying here in your box I’d imagine, hehe.” Rudie bit his lip, a slight wag in his small tail. Looey’s smile made him feel warmer. He needed this to go perfectly, it couldn’t be anything less! If he wanted Looey to know he had to do it right when there’d be time to explain. Rudie would sit, and hold his front hooves in his lap while Looey carefully took him, and his box unfortunately, all the way downstairs to his car. Rudie would look all around curiously as Looey positioned the box just so, and set Rudie inside, buckling the box into the passenger seat in the front. “Alrighttt, I’m sure you’ll be able to eat something there! Stay put now, Cane.” Looey said, just as he would begin the drive all the way to the diner. 

The drive was mostly uneventful. Rudie just waited patiently for when they arrived at their destination, and watched out the windows the best he could. The engine hurt his little ears a smidge, but it was alright. The clouds were a nice sight… but Rudie could find little enjoyment in it. How was he supposed to when he had to do something that he’d been taught was Wrong? Ginger certainly seemed upset with him about it, and Bobette… while she was supportive, Rudie could tell how she really felt. But… I mean… Come on! It’s Looey. He’s not menacing, at least not on purpose!! Rudie thought, trying to convince himself but it was hard. All the possibilities of what could go wrong bounced around his mind like a parasite of anxiety. But, what about all that could go right?? A giant friend would be insanely cool, after all. Rudie couldn’t really think about all the good possibilities though before the car would be stopped, and Rudie would be taken inside via box.

Instantly his bright, red nose would be assaulted by various scents. Fresh eggs, sizzling bacon, even a few pastries. Yep, this was definitely a diner; at such a small size all of the smells were nearly overwhelming… and the Noise. Rudie had no idea how Ginger dealt with it so often back before she met them. He held two hooves over his ears and winced a bit. Soooo many voices. The box he was inside would be set onto a surface, and he’d try to stay tuned in to Looey, Blot, and Yatta. “You hear about that new exhibit at the museum?” “We have a museum?” No, that wasn’t them, focus Rudie, he thought to himself. “Okay… just stay there, promise I’ll bring you bacon.” Nope, not them either. Why did places like this have to have soooo many Beans?? “Okay, how about we name him Cane? You knowww, cuz he’s got like, candy canes for antlers?” Looey suggested once Rudie got tuned into listening to the right people. “Ooo! That is such a CUTE name!!” Yatta. At least she was easy to hear in this place… she probably gave good presents, Rudie thought as he got himself comfy in the box. “.snoitcejbo on evah I !mih eman ot teg d’uoy thgir ylno s’ti mih dnuof ay ecnis ;esnes ekam seod tI” Blot ‘said’ from the otherside of the table. It would appear that Looey was on one side of the booth, and Yatta and Blot were on the other side, with Rudie’s box on the table next to Looey. “Yeah!! We should TOTALLY go out and try to find some cool stuff for him!! I thinkkkk I saw a pet place somewhere in town!” The Piñata would say while Rudie looked up to the box being opened. Looey’s hand would discreetly set a few scraps of bacon inside!! Rudie had heard of this, but he’d only had it once, in the days after he met Ginger. He licked his lips, and made quick work of the scraps. It felt a bit strange to be fed but… it was convenient. He didn’t even mind when the box was closed again. “Ooo, yes that could be a good idea. Thanks for ordering for me by the way Yatta-""OF COURSE! I’ve had your favorites memorized for years!!.” 

“Hey, you three need anything?” A new voice asked, one of the ones Rudie had heard earlier. It was a deeper voice, yet with a softness that felt protectively warm. Which was strange to say about a voice he’d just heard, but it was true. “NOPE! I-I mean nope-” Yatta clarified, seemingly very aware at that moment that she was probably too loud there. “Hehe, it’s okay to be enthusiastic-” The new voice began to say, before Yatta interrupted them. “Oh! Actuallyyyy, Looey!! You want anything else? This place, I've been told, has the BEST sweets!” She’d say, probably leaning on the table with two hands while bouncing her seat judging by how Rudie felt the box shift a bit repeatedly. “Yatta, you can just tell me what you want, hehe; what do y’all have here Mr… Sprout? Oh-” Looey asked, seemingly a bit surprised. Ohhhh this place is “Sprout’s”, that must be The Sprout! Rudie thought, understanding now. “Yes, I am that Sprout! we do a little bit of everything around here. In any caseee, I do have quite a few options for you.” Sprout would go off listing a few different items, brownies, swiss rolls, cinnamon buns, casual stuff. (Was this place a diner or a bakery?) Mmm, Rudie hadn’t tasted the majority of those things but it all sounded appetizing!! “Hmm, maybe a cinnamon roll that sounds soooo good right now. Whad’ya think Blot?” Looey asked, but Blot didn’t say a word in his strange language. Seconds after Looey’s question, he’d seemingly respond to something that wasn’t verbally said. “Oki oki, Yatta, how about you?” Looey asked exasperatedly; Rudie got the feeling it may be because the part of the table that Yatta’s voice came from was vibrating from her movements. “Well, OKAY if you insist!!” “Keep it to one thing, PLEASE.” “FINE!! Just, hmmm- ooo- I’ll need a minute!” “Just the two cinnamon rolls for now then.” Looey finished with a chuckle. Blot didn’t seem to be talking at all now. Perhaps it was because most people couldn’t understand the way he spoke… hm. Maybe after everything’s over, if things go well, I could learn it! Rudie thought optimistically, which only further motivated him. Motivation could only carry him so far unfortunately. 

Nothing would be said from there, except a thank you from Looey as Sprout presumably left and went to take care of the order. From there the conversation would turn back towards going to the store, and wandering the town. Rudie would try to keep it tuned out as it made him feel strange, but you know, there was only so much he could do with them being so close to him. Rudie would sit, and reminisce for a moment. This place did bring back a lot of memories, back when he and Bobette had been living in a place much like this. He’d been younger, and had gone out exploring the restaurant without permission from Bobette. He remembered tracing the swirls in the wood of the inner walls of the building as he wandered through the crevice. The smells even when the place was closed was such a beautiful amalgamation of so many foods that the reindeer couldn’t name. Sweet, savory, everything. He remembered emerging out into the dining room, wandering between the booths and occasionally earning a scrap of food here and there. It had been such a good haul!! Definitely enough to get him on the nice list, though by then he wasn’t a Christmas fanatic. A shiver went down his spine. He remembered more. He’d picked up a few chunks of a pizza crust that had been tucked under a table in a booth, clearly from today, and smiled as he pocketed it into his beloved satchel. He’d foolishly left it somewhere in Looey’s walls when he’d been borrowing the grapes that day when he’d been caught… he should try to find it again. In any case, it was after that when he had felt a cold point on his neck. 

“What. Are. You. DOING. Here.” 

An angry voice had growled at him. He remembered being told to turn around slowly, and then coming face to face with… well, a rather unintimidating sight save for the needle pressed against his neck. They were a shrimp Borrower, reds, whites, and oranges coloring their form as they wore a poorly sewn brown coat. A scowl seemed permanently affixed to their face as they glared him down, or up, while they berated him about not seeing his markings. Apparently, the skulls with the strange tail on the head were a marking of his that he’d left on various places in the walls to signify his territory; how edgy. He remembered his satchel being ripped off of his body, and being pushed to the floor when he tried to defend himself verbally. That had been a bad fall. It hadn’t seemed like the Shrimp would be willing to let him leave… at least not without getting more than a littleeee roughed up. 

But that was when she came. Ginger descended from above and absolutely kicked the O out of Shrimpo (Rudie had learned his name from Ginger afterward.) He swears up and down that Ginger was so so cool, with all kinds of moves and fighting off that shrimp while Rudie scrambled for his satchel when it was dropped, which made it so he didn’t see much of anything admittedly. Once Rudie got back up and was facing Ginger, Shrimpo was nowhere to be seen. He must have been sent away real quick! Rudie smiled as he thought about it. How caring Ginger had been, and how she’d been hospitable to Bobette and him, it just made him so glad to have her. He hoped that she’d forgive him once he spoke to Looey; she definitely did not seem happy about it. Rudie could understand why though… After all, it was like the one thing they weren’t supposed to do.

Thankfully, Rudie got interrupted before he could get far into those thoughts. “Here ya go! I’m… sure this is probably okay.” Looey spoke from above as he reached a hand into the box again, and this time set a bit of strange mush next to Rudie. It was tan in color, with a sort of thin white shell with deeper browns on the inside of it. Rudie sniffed as he picked it up with two hooves; It smelled insanely sweet. Rudie’s mouth was already watering as he brought it up and took a nibble out of a good part that had all of the components. His eyes almost instantaneously lit up as his little tail began to wag. Looey, and Beans in general, had been holding out on him. This was soooooo good!! Rudie could hardly believe such a deliciously sweet thing could exist. Needless to say, he devoured it in seconds which elicited a small laugh from Looey who watched above. “Well, at the very least he seemed to like it.” Rudie fought the urge to ask for more because he could Not do that in front of Yatta and Blot but… that would’ve really been a good time, he acknowledged as he sat back down and tried to savor the sweet flavor of what must’ve been a chunk of cinnamon roll. It felt weird to be fed of course, buttt, at least it tasted good.

Afterwards, the Beans would leave the diner and Rudie would be left just thinking about how he could get his hooves on that dessert as a normal Borrower. It would be hard to say the least… but he supposed it was a good thing that he wouldn’t exactly be a normal Borrower soon enough! He really hoped Looey would be going home soon, if he could just have another quiet moment with Looey he might actually be able to do it. You know… a moment where Looey wouldn’t be busy, maybe after the performance he’d been talking about all this time. Rudie bit his lip as he debated on this. He wassss more than a little frustrated with himself. He didn’t necessarily enjoy putting things off, and he knew that that was exactly what he was doing. He reached a hoof up to stabilize himself as the box was jostled with Looey’s movements. This is so dumb… I know why I’m scared to tell him- but I ALSO know that I need to for both of us!! So… why can’t I? He realized that it didn’t really matter if he knew what he needed to do, all that he knew was that he had to try, to force himself into that moment! He slid a few inches as the vehicle took a turn, apparently they were driving somewhere and they had set the box inside the car at some point. “We need to find somewhere good to park so we can walk… maybe the park?” “.mih htiw luferac eb ,attaY -ertaeht eht ot ybesolc eb ll’ew rac eht ot kcab klaw ew nehw neht ,haeY” “Of course!! I’m ALWAYS careful!” The box was opened again, and Rudie looked up to see Yatta’s head turned to look inside as she sat in the seat next to his box. It felt so weird to call this box his, but that’s simply what it was at this point. Yatta watched with a bitten lip whenever Rudie slid around, before eventually she’d scoop him up suddenly and hold him. “Heh… your fur is so so soft.” She spoke, quietly for once, while Rudie held his breath and just let it happen with little protest. I mean… What was he supposed to do? The warmth of the hands underneath him felt so strange… he could practically feel the life within her. Rudie stiffened up when he felt one of her fingers gently stroke between his antlers, before slowly relaxing; the sensation felt nice, but he did not want to get used to it. Eventually the car would stop, and he’d be put back in the box as the three got out and seemingly decided to take it with them. 

Rudie had no idea who was holding the box, but whoever it was, they were slow and careful… so definitely not the one they call Yatta. Rudie sat and listened and felt the vibrations as the trio walked together. The movement of his box was calm, collected, so it felt a bit more like Blot’s doing, though Looey could be that way with Rudie. It turned out Rudie was correct in his thoughts about Blot. “Ooo!! Looey can we please stop for a minute? I need to refill my stash!” Yatta exclaimed suddenly, about what, Rudie wasn’t sure; he was sure that her voice came from the box’s left which meant it cleared without a doubt that it wasn’t her holding the box. “Anddd where are you gonna put it?” Looey's voice responded from the right. “Uhhh- in the box of course!” Well, that told Rudie that Blot was the one holding him. “With Cane? He’d eat it!” Why was he so quiet all of a sudden? It didn’t seem like Blot was going to contribute to this conversation, which did contribute to Rudie’s earlier suspicion. “Come on, it's not like THAT much could fit in that tiny belly.” Yatta reasoned, before a bell would sound somewhere. Rudie was familiar with bells, both from the farm house and from where he met Ginger. He loved all of the different sounds they made… but Jingle Bells felt the best. “Well- fair enough. Here Blot, I don’t think they’d allow pets in, could you stay out here with Cane please?” Looey asked, a strange edge of anxiety in his voice. Blot didn’t respond, at least not with his voice, before Looey would head on inside after what Rudie could only presume was some kind of wordless exchange. Ginger and Bobette had them all the time whenever they were set to go somewhere new. Rudie never had any idea what they were thinking during moments like that, just that it wasn’t good usually. The box would shift around a bit, and eventually Blot would open the top of it and just gaze in. His expression was unreadable, though there was something soft about it. Noises would come from him, like usual, and for a moment Rudie thought he might understand a word or two, perhaps his given name, Cane? He tilted his head intently as he tried to decipher the strange language. The speaking was strange… but there was no way there weren’t words in that. All the more incentive to speak to Looey, because then he could ask him stuff! Wouldn’t that be something?

 Blot would close the box back up once Looey and Yatta had returned, only for multiple pieces of quite colorful candy to be shoved into the box all around him… the sweet smell was nearly overpowering. Rudie mentally prepared himself for a battle of wills to not eat all of Yatta’s candy, but thankfully it was for naught because she simply unwrapped one of the yellow candies and offered it to him… simple and round. He was not familiar with the taste, but it was of a sweet tang. He couldn’t really bite into it well but he was able to lick it a good bit until he was able to. That was a nice treat, at least made him a smidgeee more amicable toward Yatta despite what she said yesterday. He smiled up at her just before the box would be closed again, and for the moment all seemed well. Rudie didn’t pay much mind to their talk, and primarily just focused on enjoying that candy. After a bit of walking, something happened on the outside. “Hey, careful!” Rudie would hear Looey say suddenly, before the box would shake suddenly and hit the ground, hard. “AH-” Rudie yelped as his head hit the ceiling, and he landed on his front, entirely splayed out on the ground of the box as he clung to what remained of the soft yellow candy, and groaned quietly. “...wO” “Blot! Are you okay?!” Yatta asked, and Rudie would hear a brief scuffle outside. “Oh- fishsticks-! Sorry I’m running late- Sorry!” Someone called back to the trio presumably, their voice getting further little by little. “-hhh ,won tew lla m’I …grU” Blot mumbled, and soon the box would be picked up. “Don’t worry- I’m sure you’ll be- well- your version of dry soon-” Looey assured, just as the three started walking and he opened the box to look over Rudie with a bitten lip. “It’s okay, I’m so so sorry-” He apologized sincerely, before gently closing the box again.” “…kni ym -emit deen tsuj …enif eb ll’I” Rudie rubbed his head a bit, and would try to get comfy again. It was so lucky he hadn’t been hit by any of the candy that had gone flying. It would be soon after this that Rudie would hear another bell, this time followed by multiple voices. His ears flicked… there had to be about four other people in here that weren’t the troupe; wherever here was, at least. Beans moved on from thing to thing wayyyy to fast, he thought.

“G’morning! You three need something for your little friend in the box?” A cheerful voice asked, bright, energetic, but with something laced underneath… Was she tired? Rudie wasn't sure. “Yes, actually! But uh- I’m sure we can find it ourselves, ma’am!” Looey assured as Rudie felt Blot walk through this new location, stopping occasionally for no apparent reason. Was this that ‘pet store’ the three had talked about earlier? Rudie hated being in a box; he never had any clue what was going on. He’d tear a small chunk off of the candy he’d been offered with a hoof, and just lay on his back to enjoy it as he opted to eavesdrop on some of the conversations around. For a Borrower, entertainment was few and far between, so sometimes the best thing to do was to just listen to the Beans. 

“Oh- hey! You looking for something for the D-O-G?” The cheerful voice from earlier asked, and an equally energetic but deeper toned voice responded. “Oh- ha! I always am Shells, but uh, you know, I’m also looking for something for a smaller friend-” Rudie tilted his head to try and listen better. “Ooo! What are you thinking? A hamster, a guinea pig, a mouse?? Ooo birds are kind of small. You know, a lot of birds are distant descendants of dinosaurs! It’s something about their bone structures that stuck out to-” Shells rambled, before getting cut off. “Yes, Shells, I remember haha! I wish I could listen more but I should get going, friend- can you ring me up?” “Oh, yeah of course! Follow follow- oh, wait over there a second-” Rudie sat up a bit, idly chewing on the candy. He could only imagine the visuals. He imagined a sea shell Toon perhaps, excitedly rambling in one of the isles, clearly a lovely shop owner… but who was she talking to? They sounded pleasant, charismatic, but something seemed off about him. He sounded sturdily built, if that made sense… maybe he was a brick, or a tree? Rudie couldn’t be sure. He sounded firm, actually. “Miss, miss- please- I know they might look good but you can’t eat the ants-” Shells scolded elsewhere in the store now as Looey and Yatta discussed something Rudie wasn’t paying attention to over his head. All he heard from the mysterious ‘miss’ was a shuffling that sounded strangely like shifting paper. The bell rang as they left, from the seems of it. “Bye!! Hope to see you again soon, heh.” Shells added on as they left, rather weakly. “Everything alright, Shelly?” The mysterious tree or brick Toon asked. Seemingly softer so Rudie was leaning more towards a Tree being what he was, something plant-based. “Eh… been better. I’m just nervous y’know? After that freak ‘earthquake’ a couple weeks ago that Ruined the Museum’s wholeee event that I spent all that money on, I’ve been working so much just to make sure it stays open, but it’s like no one even knows it’s there. So many people were going to come but now it’s just… ruined. And I miss you, and them- we hardly hang out anymore, the lot of us!” Shells protested, quietly enough that the Circus Troupe and any other Beans couldn’t hear, but loud enough so Rudie could; perks of the Reindeer Ears. He imagined her seated at a chair behind a front desk of some kind, reclined and just ranting to this Tree Toon that had various supplies in tow just waiting to be out of there hehe… Eh, he sounds too caring for that. “Oh… Shells, you know how busy I am- why do you say ‘earthquake’ like that?” The other voice asked suddenly at the end, and Rudie wondered what he meant. “Well, come on- we don’t live on any fault lines, not even near any, it happened and was gone in a matter of seconds but not before causing some damage, and… I don’t know, it was just weird.” “Shells, it was just an accident- a freaky one- but y’know nature; it’s unpredictable. An earthquake was all it was.” He assured, almost forcefully, but with a comforting enough tone to supplement it. Shells would sigh, and say that he was right, before finally ringing him up. “Heh… well, see you later D- Watch out!” 

Rudie had hardly paid attention to his immediate surroundings, but now he became conscious of the Trio finally finding all the stuff they could use, and heard Looey yelp as he collided with something, and then fell onto Blot who was holding the box. Rudie yelped in a similar tone to Looey’s as he was suddenly and shockingly airborne for just a few moments before he felt stability. At the same time as him feeling stable, he heard a slight tear, and as he looked to his right he saw one of Looey’s familiar claws pierce the wall of the box, snagging and catching it just barely; on the other side of the box however, it felt as if it had landed on a surface to keep it stable, and judging by the voice that came from that side, it would appear the Tree Toon had caught the other side. “Whoa! Sorry about that, friends! Here, let me help you out with that-” The Tree Toon said, repositioning the box into Looey’s hands as the two then lingered for a moment. There was a strange tension in the air… but Rudie couldn’t see a thing.

—--------------------------------------------------

Away from Rudie’s vision, the mysterious other Toon had his eyes locked on Looey’s hand that grasped the box, and on the claw that had retreated as suddenly as it had appeared. Looey had an uncomfortable look about him, before finally tugging the box away from their grasp. “Oh, heh-! Sorry, folks, just zoned out for a second. I don’t believe I’ve seen you three around here before?” He asked, smiling up at the three. Looey, Yatta, and Blot all exchanged a look with each other, before Looey cleared his throat and answered. “Well, we’re the Circus Troupe! Name pending hehe… we’re putting on a show later tonight actually- Razzle and Dazzle were handling the advertising and stuff.” Looey explained, smiling as brightly as he could. “Wonderful, wonderful- I suppose that’s what the flyers are about, eh?” He asked Shelly, just as the Fossil took a glance at the door where a flyer had been taped on a few days ago. “Oh! Yes, I thought I recognized these three!” She said while the other Toon looked at the flyer and smiled. “Well, that’s a convenient time. I suppose I could take time out of my schedule to attend, if you want, Shells!” To say that Shelly beamed when he suggested the idea would be an understatement. “Ah!! You really mean that, sure yes of course!” “Well, it’s a date! Not, literally- I’ll see if the others can join us, bye now!” He’d finish, the bell ringing again as he left. “The others? Oh! Yeah, rightttt- see you then!!” She waved excitedly to him, just as the Trio reached the counter. “Alright!! Will that be all today?” She asked Looey with a wide grin. “Yeah, I reckon so! Hope you two will enjoy the show hehe…” He responded, as Shelly got the transaction ready. “I’m sure we will! You three seem like such fun!” She assured, and Looey and Blot perked up a smidge more… Yatta was already grinning and swinging her arms as she waited for the payment to be finished, before she remembered something. “Ooo! WAIT- do you have any reindeer food??”  

—--------------------------------------------------

Rudie listened, unaware of any of the visual aspects of the transaction, but, aside from Yatta’s last question, he was glad Looey’s show was known! That seemed pretty cool for the bean even if he seemed vaguely nervous about it. The trio would leave, and begin to discuss other places to go before they went to rehearse, and Rudie couldn’t help but get comfy in the fabric, yawn, and just sleep the day away… His sleep wouldn’t last long though, Eventually the box would be set down somewhere that wasn’t the car. He assumed it was the loud one named Yatta that had done it, as he felt the impact as if the box had been dropped a few inches away from the ground. “Yatta! Careful with him-” Looey scolded lightly, picking the box back up and setting it seemingly a smidge higher. Rudie rubbed his head again, and just sat and stared at the wall. He could not wait for Looey to be alone. At this point, it really seemed like Looey was just a Good Guy who cared for him, genuinely. Despite all he knew about how bad Beans could be, he knew telling would be for the best. Plus he did not want to be treated like a pet forever. The pets on his head were nice but that was it! He thought firmly with a nod. “I feel bad for the little deer… he doesn’t get to see a thing.” Looey spoke aloud to the other two Beans. Blot said something in response, but Rudie was too groggy to even remotely process the strange language. “Ooo!! Yeah, there’s a whole BUNCH of tools around here, just give me a minute, Looey!” Yatta exclaimed, her quick footsteps making Rudie’s ears flick as he heard the movement. 

Shortly after, amidst Looey and Blot talking about ‘rehearsals’ for their performance, Yatta would be at Rudie’s box. “Okay, just gotta be careful!” This would not assure Rudie in the slightest judging by how ‘careful’ she had presented herself being already. She would open the top of the box, Rudie seeing her constantly smiling face before suddenly she’d reach a hand in, and gently scoot him away from the wall closest to her. Rudie looked up at her with confusion, before the reasoning was revealed by a tearing sound. Yatta had stuck a knife into the cardboard. The blade, sharp and gleaming, was taller than Rudie overall. Rudie couldn’t help the shiver that went down his spine despite Yatta’s clear intent to not hurt him. After a little bit of sawing, eventually she had cut a lot of holes in the cardboard for Rudie’s viewing pleasure. “..why did you make them look like prison bars?” Looey asked, side-eying Yatta as he leaned down a little and inspected the box, occasionally looking at Rudie. The little reindeer didn’t know what thoughts were going through that balloon’s mind, but it didn’t make him as uneasy as it used to. “Oh! Haha, I did!! Had the robbery act on my brain, sorry!” Looey shook his head, but smiled at her before looking away to the floor. 

“Yatta… will our act be good-?“ “It’ll be GREAT.” Yatta interrupted him, hand on his shoulder as she spun him away from Rudie to look at her. “First time outside of a Talent Show, Looey!! This is way too exciting to be terrible!! Just do your best, and we’ll be with you!” She said with the widest grin possible, it was almost unsettling… but the encouragement diluted this thought in Rudie’s mind. It made him feel a little pumped up too, even though he hardly understood what was going on. “Now come onnn, Blot’s definitely gotta have the props ready by now! Bring Cane too!” Yatta shouted excitedly, before skipping away through a doorway that seemed to lead to a red curtain. Oh, right! Rudie should take note of the room. The little reindeer scrambled forward, hooves clinging to the bars as he tried to stick his head through them, but it wouldn’t quite work. Looey picked the box up, and began to head for the same door that Yatta had with the box tucked under his arm. For the short time Rudie could look around, it seemed like they had been in a backstage area with rows of mirrors, lots of boxes, and a strange ceiling that had a lot of bars and grates that looked like they’d be great to walk across or in when borrowing. This view would be subsumed by the next room, which appeared to be a lot smaller but Rudie could only imagine how it’d look with the curtain drawn. The floor was wooden, and rounded out in coordination with the curtain, and the stage was relatively empty overall. There was a weird breeze, and smell in the air however that made Rudie suspect that perhaps they were somehow outside. Looking up made this fact more apparent, as there was sky and clouds instead of a roof. This was interesting. Rudie had little idea of what their whole ‘circus’ act was about, but he was intrigued. He’d sit criss cross once Looey set his box on the ground, and the trio would congregate in the center of the room. 

“Okay, what do you two wanna practice first?” Looey asked the two as they huddled together. Blot warbled something, with Yatta nodding enthusiastically. “Yeah!! That’s definitely your best one!” Yatta exclaimed, the confetti on her horns standing on end. “Agreed, agreed; glad we got that pie for it!” The three would ramble on to each other, with Rudie’s mind drifting. It wasn’t that he wasn’t paying attention, he just had a lot on his mind right now. He really hoped that the others would be accepted too, once he told. Bobette, Coal… Ginger. Coal would probably be accepted pretty easily since she wasn’t a Borrower, but Rudie worried for Ginger most of all. He didn’t want to think about that right now, so instead he closed his eyes and thought of Christmas. This next one had to be a good one, he just knew it. He took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the outdoors. It reminded him of Coal quite a bit, as she usually smelled like the outside with how much she ventured away from them. Rudie looked up to the sky as laughter filled the stage, and warmth filled his mind. Bobette had lured Rudie out from a bush one day, a few years back, not long before they met Ginger, actually. The two of them had been in a park staying under a tree where they had found an abandoned den. That had been a wild time for the two of them. Rudie followed Bobette, cheerfully, and with a significantly less amount of thought in relation to the 25th of December. He was nervous however to be greeted by Coal shortly after this. The large dog was just laying there on the grass, not far from the bushes at all. She perked her head up only slightly, gave the air a sniff, and promptly laid her back down on the grass. She was utterly unbothered, to say the least. Bobette had given him a side-eye, and smiled. “Don’t worry, she’s a big ol’ softy!” She had reassured him. This wouldn’t have been the first time he had ridden her, before reaching the tree he was forced to ride her out of necessity, but he had been more focused on keeping his eyes closed and burying his face in the fur as he tried desperately to distract himself from the unnaturally, at least for him, high speeds. After a bit of coaxing, the bauble had managed to get him up on her back, and she would sit behind him. Well, ‘sit’ was being a little generous; it would be more accurate to say that they were laid on their fronts and clinging to the fur with their hands and or hooves to the best of their ability. 

Coal had risen to standing with only a moment’s stretch quite slowly. In time, Rudie would come to realize how extraordinarily gentle of a dog she was, but here he couldn’t appreciate it as much. He buried his face in the fur, and braced himself for high speeds that threatened to send his fragile body flying, but no such speed came. He looked up hesitantly, and flinched when he felt Bobette’s hand on his back. “It’s alright, she’ll go slow today- but if you hold your head up, you might just enjoy it anyhow!” She spoke softly, the smile clear in her tone. Rudie bit his lip, but he did have to admit that he hadn’t gone flying last time and if Coal was going to go slower then…? “Oh… well, alright!!” He exclaimed, as excitedly as he could for her sake as he raised his head to actually enjoy the view. “That’s the spirit! Alright, giddyup girl!” Bobette shouted, despite Coal’s quiet whine of protest. “What does ‘giddyup’ actually m-EaN-Uh!” Rudie tried to ask a question, but was interrupted by Bobette slapping Coal’s side, and suddenly they were off, decidedly not slower than they had been last time but there was no helping Rudie’s current position. The little reindeer’s screams were lost to the winds with the sounds of Bobette’s whoops of cheer. Coal remained silent, but the consistent pounding on the ground as she booked it across the grass, through bushes, and between trees felt stable somehow. Through gritted teeth, Rudie looked ahead as Coal sped past so that things rushed by. “You’re doing great! Isn’t this great?” Bobette had called that day to him, and Rudie couldn’t help but agree. Sparkles in his eyes, he looked right, and looked left, trees and benches almost becoming blurry with the speeds. He could feel his fur being pushed down by the wind, and he could feel Coal through all of her fur as she sprinted. “Y… YEAH!” Rudie shouted excitedly, head held high as he took in the ride. He remembered the shine of the sun, and the pure freedom he had felt. It was wonderful.

Rudie missed that time in the park; it had been dangerous, but it was soooo beautiful. They left that place because the original owner of the little burrow both Bobette and Rudie had been staying at had come back… there was no issue with him, but the bauble felt guilty after Coal literally scared the Ant Borrower away. He was a chill little ant, and maybe they could’ve stayed but he didn’t come back for multiple days so eventually Bobette had the three of them head out to find somewhere else so the Borrower could have their home back. Maybe with Looey’s help they could go and finally apologize-

Rudie yelped as his reminiscing was suddenly cut short, and he was pulled back to the present by the box being picked up and quickly taken to a table and set down with him and the bars facing a wall. Blot’s voice whispered something assuring to him, and at this point Rudie just appreciated the tone. He heard another voice suddenly, two of them. “Alright, alright, alright! You three are excellent!” “(It was exciting…)” “More than exciting! Thrilling!” One voice sounded rather joyous, and the other seemed eternally down in the dumps, but they seemed happy enough. “Hey, Mr. Raz and Mr. Daz!” Looey exclaimed, though it sounded like he sort of regretted it at the end. “Hehe, yeah! Love this guy. You must be Looey, and then this is Yatta, and then there is the Mime himself, Blot!” Razzle charismatically pointed out. “Real inky fellow, why’d ya head backstage just now?” Blot didn’t respond, and for a moment Rudie was confused, before remembering that most people obviously wouldn’t understand him, Rudie included. “(Razzle… he’s a mime… probably quiet.)” Daz said, with Razzle agreeing after. “Oh but of course. You three got this tonight! Dazzle and I have been going ALL over town to promote your show, and we’ve even got concessions ready outside. Are y’all almost ready?” Razzle certainly sounded like an exciting Toon. Rudie got up and took a seat at the wall closest to the sound of the voices, and he’d press his ear against the wall. It was opposite of the bars that Yatta had carved out of the box, probably by design. “YEAH!! I am so HYPERCITED.” Yatta exclaimed, though Rudie wasn’t sure what the word was… Oh, hyper, and excited, got it, Ha! He thought with a small smile. The beans would talk a bit more about getting ready for the performance, and real soon Rudie found the Circus Trio to be moving about the backstage area all getting fully ready as the sounds outside grew louder. The small reindeer was just glad that the growth in volume was gradual and not all at once! It felt like a disjointed Christmas carol like he’d hear in those movies back at the farm house. The sound was excited, but sort of subdued. Rudie made a curious noise as the box was lifted up, and Looey would sit with the box on his lap in a more secluded corner where the noise was lesser. 

“Oh… there’s so many people out there, Cane. I don’t know if I can do this…” Looey uncharacteristically mumbled with the box positioned in such a way that Rudie got a clear look at his torso, but would need to stick his head out to see their head. Rudie approached the bars despite the uneven ground, and stuck a hoof out. Looey’s arm was just close enough for him to gently rub the side of it in a reassuring way. “What if they laugh at me…? I-I know that’s kind of the goal but, with how I look it- Oh-” Looey tensed up at the touch, but then relaxed as he let the rubbing happen. “Aw… hehe, that’s a weird feeling.” Looey pulled away, and opened the box. Rudie still felt fear when he reached a hand in and the fingers wrapped around Rudie’s form, but he simply shut his eyes as tight as he could and breathed. Looey was a nice guy. Looey wouldn’t hurt him. He needed to affirm this a lot in his head. The paw lifted Rudie up to Looey’s face, and the balloon dog would gently nuzzle the Borrower. “Thank you… man, I really should have gotten a pet sooner. You’re great…” Rudie winced at the wording, but soon Looey wouldn’t be thinking things like that. He hoped. Rudie really wanted to say something now, it felt like a good time, but he knew that it would probably psych Looey out or something. Looey’s grip went slack, and Rudie found himself sitting on his open palm as Looey smiled, and seemingly just daydreamed for a second. Relatable, Rudie thought with a stifled giggle. He suddenly had an idea, for something that may actually help Looey throughout the wholeeee performance. 

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Looey smiled. He was so glad to have Cane. He had thought about having a pet before, but nothing ever really felt right. He supposed that it was just the kind of thing that life had to force onto him. Looey thought for a moment about getting all kinds of nice things for Cane once he and the Troupe made it big (no matter how anxious that thought made him) before suddenly the tiny reindeer leapt down. “Ah! Cane!” He exclaimed, scrambling to catch them, before realizing they had landed perfectly safe on his calf. “Oh- wh-what?” He questioned, breathlessly as Cane nuzzled into his gut a bit. The smooth nose felt cool, and the sensation overall felt like one of affectionate reassurance. Just how intelligent was his little Candy Cane? “You… you want me to eat you?” He questioned, feeling really silly saying that. I really need a different word for that… something cute, silly, but in a better way than ‘eat.’ He thought, unable to come up with anything right off the bat. Cane just stared at him, those red and green eyes not having a thought behind them, or so he thought. “Looey!! It’s almost time!! We got this!” Yatta exclaimed at him, beckoning the balloon dog over. She stood in the doorway, Blot behind her dusting himself off as they waited for the curtain to go up. Looey could distantly hear Razzle and Dazzle handing out concessions for cash, and even heard some familiar voices in the crowd. Looey looked back to Cane, the gaze of his little reindeer unwavering. “Be there in a minute!” He shouted back, but Yatta had already turned her attention toward climbing somewhere high up. Looey hoped the entrance went well. He would pick Cane up, and hold him right before his closed mouth. “Well… I hope it’s as good for you as it is for me.” Looey murmured embarrassedly. He hadn’t even set the Borrower inside yet, but he already felt his heart beating faster. He could feel claws extending subtly from his hand-paws and feet-paws. He felt his teeth elongate just as he opened his maw, the saliva strands breaking and reconnecting before Cane, though Looey didn’t see this.

He pushed the tiny Reindeer inside, and would quickly close his maw, only taking a moment to slurp their leg in as he quickly coated him in saliva. The chocolate and peppermint taste was delicious… Looey couldn’t stop his tail from wagging. He would push himself back to standing, only taking a moment or two to enjoy the sensation, and of course ensuring the Borrower was coated well enough. He hummed softly in a reassuring way, though he wasn’t sure how necessary it was since it had seemingly asked for it. He couldn’t help but purr a little due to the struggles; it was a strange new thing being a Pred gave him, but so long as no one heard it, he was cool with it. With a strong swallow, Looey panted a smidge as the Borrower descended down his throat, every contraction lulling more squirms from them. It was oddly satisfying, but there wasn’t time to think about it. It was showtime. Looey didn’t acknowledge the feeling of Cane landing in his stomach, and just charged on out after quickly snatching up three juggling balls, and made his entrance. 

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The audience buzzed with excitement. An act that wasn’t by the Mask Twins was rare, so people were interested. Brightney found a seat somewhere off to the side, awkwardly taking off her reading glasses and setting them off to the side. She had cancelled the book club meeting she’d normally have with Dazzle and others so they could attend this performance. Elsewhere in the audience, Shelly sat crisscrossed alone. She could really use a pick me up like a good show. When she spotted a friend in the crowd, she beckoned him over with an excited wave. Razzle and Dazzle handed out popcorn and drinks to all sorts of Toons that stopped by. Razzle was absolutely gleaming with excitement, and even Dazzle couldn’t help but have the faintest hint of a smile on his face. Couldn’t keep him at ease for long though, the frown returned soon enough, probably from general worry. “Hey!! Big Guy! Theo! Yo! We got you a special seat over there, greattt!” Razzle called out, pulling Dazzle out of his funk temporarily as they directed a much larger Toon watching off to the side to a bigger seat that would accommodate them. “(Nice to see Trev with you too…)” Poppy showed up a smidge late, but was more than happy to sit off to the side with a can of pop and some popcorn! Meanwhile, Finn sat at one of the seats highest up in the booths, eagerly kicking his feet a bit. He kept an eye out for Rodger, who had invited him, but the detective was nowhere to be found. “I’ll just… er- sit elsewhere…” A paper craft would say apologetically, having been sat just in front of him a smidge lower. “Oh- Cod- Seally sorry-” He apologized with a pun toward the Secretary-Bird looking toon. Before more could be contemplated, the stage was alight with, well, stagelights. All were focused on what appeared to be a mass of ink in the shape of a person! With extended arms, white gloves shining a bit in the light, they’d whirl around to reveal a singular eye, and a mime’s attire. The crowd watched as he surveyed them with one hand over his eyebrow, before giving a cartoonish wave. Then, one of the lights would go out, creating a bit of shadow on the stage. The mime looked visibly distraught by this, and extended his arm outwards repeatedly as if miming a long pole that he’d use to tap the light repeatedly (with an actual sound accompanying it, courtesy of Yatta from the roof, hidden from view) until it came back on. He looked triumphant for only a moment, before he’d gesture off to the side, where on top of a large ball, came a very funny looking clown juggling three smaller balls. 

The clown seemed to be a balloon dog, with multi-colored limbs and the widest grin possible. He dexterously juggled for a few moments as the mime looked on in awe, before with a mischievous look, he’d mime pulling out a little pin, and pretend to pop the balancing ball; the balancing ball proceeded to pop due to an unseen mechanism, and the balloon dog would stumble in the air slightly, before doing a single flip and landing on the ground on their rear. They made a goofy face of dizziness, and perhaps had a spike of anxiety on the inside, before the audience chuckled in amusement over the act. Everything was going according to plan. Then the carnival tunes finally began, and both the Mime and the Balloon Clown looked up to the sky in wonder as spotlights angled up to the roof, where Yatta was hooked on something real high. Then, with a daring backflip, she would leap off the roof, and swing on a cable of some kind as if she were flying around the stage, before she’d disconnect from it and safely land on top of both of her Troupe Mates. As it turned out, while the audience focused on her Dazzling flight, Looey and Blot had positioned themselves just right and held their arms up to support Yatta in a sort of balancing act. It went even better than it had in rehearsals!

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Rudie curled up into a ball, tenderly rubbing the walls of the gut here and there. He hoped his presence would bring the Balloon Dog some comfort, and from the sounds of the outside, and the way the stomach sloshed him around, it appeared all was going well for their performance. He sighed wistfully, wishing he could watch. He was going to tell Looey tonight. It was set in his mind that he would, even though it always felt like there was something keeping him from telling the larger-than-life potential friend, he knew he would. The second the two were alone he’d reveal it, with deep breaths and a cheerful demeanor!! No matter how it terrified the Borrower he wanted it more than anything. He yelped a bit as he felt the walls contract and the chamber jolt slightly, as if Looey had just fallen suddenly. Rudie adjusted himself to sitting almost on his knees, and pressed a hoof against one of the walls before leaning his head against it. “Mm… Looey… gah, I’m sorry it’s taking so long. I’m sorry I haven’t spoken to you yet. It’s just… so hard.” Rudie began to say to the wall, and to the Looey in his mind, trying to envision how the interaction would go. “It’s only been a couple days and- Beans have always been so scary for Borrowers like me… but- somehow you seem like such a great guy. I don’t know where I’d be if someone else had found me. It feels crazy to want to talk to you- which I will- but I think I have to, y’know? Almost feels crazier to not want to. I don’t wanna be distrusting. That’s not festive, or cheerful.” Rudie pressed his forehead against the wrinkled front of the stomach, his antlers slightly poking. “Tonight. I’ll do it tonight, and it’ll be great, for me and my friends.” He declared dramatically to himself as he slumped back over, and tried to rest until the performance was over… despite the numerous sloshes. 

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Looey felt as if every sense of his was heightened. He had gone out on stage atop the balancing ball, juggled, fallen, and then helped Yatta perform the balancing trick. He could see every face in the crowd, both familiar and unfamiliar. He smelled the popcorn, and the faint scent of chicken for some reason, and generally the smells of the outdoors. He felt every nerve vibrate in excitement as he felt more hyped than he ever had been as Yatta bounced off of his and Blot’s hands to land in the center of the two, right when it was time to properly start the show. He could hear the laughter, the breaths, the heart rates of his two friends… and he could hear a tiny voice coming from his stomach. Everything seemed to stop for a moment. “It’s only been a couple days and- Beans have always been so scary for Borrowers like me… but somehow-” Looey listened to the voice, and he knew exactly who it was. H-How could Cane…? Borrowers could talk. Looey felt his heart rate increase at the implications, and for a moment he thought he’d freeze up on stage; in the end, he shook it off, the adrenaline from his Pred instincts assisting in pushing the thought away, with the promise to deal with it after the show. Cane was secured, and all could be figured out later. Now is not the time to freakout. He was freaking out but he tried the best he could to shut off his mind. The show went on, the curtain falling briefly so they could do different acts here and there. One time, Blot was dressed up as a stereotypical criminal, Yatta as a bank worker, and Looey as an officer of the law; that was an act filled with slapstick. Blot found himself stuck in an invisible box once, and neither Looey or Yatta could get him out… until he found an invisible key behind Yatta’s ear; there was plenty of mimework. All three of them juggled, with his two friends eventually passing their balls off to him so he was juggling nine balls at once by the end of it much to the audience’s awe. Yatta did all sorts of acrobatics, even juggling both Looey and Blot somehow. She was the strongest in the group, that was certain. (Though it wasn’t like Looey was particularly heavy.) In the end, the three got into a line, Looey in the center for some reason, and they’d all bow to immense applause. 

Looey’s tail couldn’t help but wag as his smile widened a most genuine amount. Visions filled his head, roses being thrown at him, calls for more, someone asking him to juggle their baby, all of the things. Of course it wasn’t as crazy as those visions, it was just the applause, but it felt just as good. He felt a smidge egotistical for those thoughts, but he was just glad to make people laugh. The crowd was decently large, and not filled with entirely friends and family so this night was definitely a win! The curtains would fall, and the troupe would head backstage to change back into their civilian attire, and generally just put stuff away. “WOOOO!” Yatta whooped excitedly once Looey and Blot had finished getting back to normal, and pulled the two of them into a hug while bouncing slightly up and down fast repeatedly. “That. Was. AWESOME!! You two did AMAZING.” Yatta praised despite her controlling the stage with her acrobatics. “Nooo, you were the best Yatta, I just-” “SHUT.” Yatta literally grabbed Looey’s lips as Blot picked up Rudie’s box once the hug ended. “You were AWESOME. We ALL were!!” Yatta enthusiastically encouraged as Blot chuckled and walked back to the other two, thankfully not looking into the box to notice the lack of Cane. “Indeed y’all are!” Came Razzle’s voice as the Twins quickly closed the door behind them, clapping excitedly. “That was definitely the best show we’ve hosted!” (“Better than ours… y’all are cool…”) Dazzle complimented sullenly though it didn’t dull Razzle’s smile. “They were amazing, Dazzle! And so are we y’know!” (“Mmm… okay.”) Yatta walked right up to the two and gave them a hug as well while Looey just smiled. “I’ll go start the car, thank you two so much!! Mister Razzle & Dazzle.” He thanked gratefully, waving at them as he moved to leave the room. “Of course, Looey! You can just call us Raz & Daz, we should go to dinner sometime the five of us, to celebrate! I’ll keep in touch! This was great.” (“It’s good we can keep the theatre funded…”) Looey would chuckle and wave them off as he got outside and started the car. Once he was in the Driver’s Seat alone, he looked down at his gut with a frown and a thoughtful expression. 

Before he could think about Everything, Blot slid into the front passenger seat. “Better to let Yatta lay down in the back, can’t imagine how tired she must be, haha.” Blot explained with a smile as he hugged the box close to him. “Now uh… Looey? Just wanted to ask you something, if you don’t mind?” Blot asked suddenly, looking to Looey while they waited for Yatta. “Oh- well- of course Buddy Blot!” Looey assured, curious as he curled his tail around his waist a bit. “What is it?” He asked with a tilt of his head. “Well… you told Yatta and I that you’d tell us what the results of going to this “Mr. Roger's” place were, but you never told us anything. What happened there? Yatta probably forgot, but I’m sure she’ll remember too.” Looey visibly tensed up with a slight grimace, and held a hand over his gut. “W-well…” He hadn’t thought about Rodger much today. He’d been surprised to not see the Detective in the crowd but he must have been busy or not known about the show. Did he know Cane could talk??? Why didn’t he say anything? What the heck does any of this mean- there’s like a race of tiny Toons or something? That’s what it seems like!! And I ate him like four or five times. OH MY GOD. Looey thought to himself anxiously. “I think I just er, need more time to process it, y’know…?” He tried to say defensively, but thankfully it worked. Blot nodded simply, with a rather concerned look in his singular eye as Yatta strided out from the backdoor of the backstage, waving bye to Razzle & Dazzle inside. “I understand… I won’t push- but- we’re your friends, Loo. You can trust us with anything, okay?” Blot reassured, an inky hand on Looey’s shoulder with a gentle rub. Looey nodded with a soft smile. “Y-yeah… thank you.” This was when Yatta yanked the door open.

“WHAT IS UP!?” She exclaimed, before diving into the back seat, missing the vibe between Looey and Blot, and sprawling out like a cat. “I am actually SO excited guys!! But- the thing I’m excited for already happened, so like- AM I? Ooo maybe I’m just VERY happy, especially with the two of you!!” She said, stretching out a bit and generally getting comfy. “Man… that show REALLY tuckered me out haha! Can’t wait to get- home and-” Honkkkkk… Shoo. She was out like a light in under a minute; both Looey and Blot looked back at her, and smiled. “Well, that’s that then! Homeward bound.” Looey declared, pulling out of their little parking spot and leaving the park behind. On the way home, he’d pass by some people walking home, all of whom seemed satisfied, and that was enough to warm Looey’s heart. The two friends would talk for a bit here and there, mostly mentioning how well their acts had gone, and talking about people in the crowd. Looey would eventually pull into the parking lot for their apartment building, and with the combined effort of the two of them they’d easily get Yatta up the stairs and into their apartment before setting her on the couch. “Sure we shouldn’t put her on the bed?” “I wish; she'd be livid if we let her take two turns in a row in the bed, haha-” Blot reasoned, to which Looey nodded. “How about you take the bed? I don’t need it, I’ve got little Jr here to help me be comfy.” He reassured, holding up a hand where he had absentmindedly sculpted a little Blot Jr. just for fun. “Hehe, that’s a good Jr… well, if you’re sure.” 

The two would get ready for bed, and it would be all too soon before Looey found himself laying on the bed and staring up at the undecorated ceiling ‘alone.’ This has been… the weirdest and the best day possible. He thought to himself, the box that contained Cane resting on the floor at the foot of the bed. He had let Cane out and into the box (the little reindeer had been asleep) as he got changed into pajamas, and now he was left with just his thoughts. His pred instincts hadn’t fully tapered off yet, lingering due to his recent release of his Borrower; this was how he would hear the scuffling. He could hear Cane getting out of the box, which reminded him that he’d forgotten to put books on top of it. Darn it. He debated on getting up, but if the Borrower was like, actually a person, he couldn’t prevent him from leaving; that’d be wrong on SO many levels. Kind of like eating a person. He thought bitterly to himself. Then, he realized that Cane was trying to get atop the bed. Oh… he’s- coming to talk to me- like actually talk to me- just like he planned- oh gosh… what do I say what do I say what do I- “Rudie…!” A voice called out, tiny as could be, and he could hear Cane’s ascent up the side of the bed pause, before suddenly landing back on the ground with the quietest thud of his hooves. Rudie… He acknowledged, before his ears flicked slightly to listen. “Bobette? Hey…! Everything alright?? I was just about to-” “It’s Ginger- she’s missing!” Looey could practically taste the tension in the air after ‘Bobette’ said that. He bit his lip nervously, well aware he was not supposed to be listening to this. “What?” Cane- Rudie, Looey corrected himself, asked simply. “After our talk last night, I just couldn’t find her anywhere! All day since you’ve been out I’ve been looking for her with Coal but- I need your help Rudie.” She explained to Rudie, worry clear in her tone. “Oh… Garland… she- it- it must have been my fault! I scared her away with all my talk of talking to Looey-" "No, don’t blame yourself- she… she cares about us, she must have had a good reason to go. If we go right now with Coal, we can go farther than I did so we can-" "No.” Rudie cut her off, as sullenly yet as certainly as he could. “I…if- if Coal couldn’t find her, we’ll need more help than just the three of us can do. I need to talk to Looey. He- He’s a Bean, surely he can figure out a way to help us find her.” Looey’s eyes widened as he kept them firmly locked on the ceiling. Rudie’s voice sounded so soothing, and strong-willed. And he needed help. He needed Looey’s help. The two barely knew each other, and Looey just now figured out he was a person for Handler’s sake. Looey shifted on the bed a bit, debating on getting up. “Rudie… I-” Bobette had a moment’s hesitation, but from a wordless action Looey couldn’t see, she seemed to straighten up. “I trust you… Coal and I- we’ll wait, promise… just- please stay safe- okay…? And hurry! But- no rush-" "I swear on Clause himself, hehe… you know how serious I am about that.” Rudie responded, eliciting a chuckle from Bobette. “Of course… see you soon, Rudie.” Their conversation was over just like that, and Looey had formulated a plan. 

He shifted slowly, pretending to just be waking up, a yawn coming from him. He could practically sense the way Rudie tensed up, and heard him get back into the box. Looey ‘rubbed the sleep from his eyes’ and got out of bed. Mechanically, he picked up Rudie’s box, and headed out into the main living space, then out the front door, all while Rudie stayed still inside. Looey headed down the stairs, not dawdling at all save for to admire some sidewalk chalk before reaching a picnic table out the back that overlooked a river. Now that was a beautiful sight. Sure, Gardenview was a city of some variety, but it still had some beautiful Views that certainly earned it the name. He set the box down on the table, and sat with his back to the table and the box off to the side. He would sit like this for a moment, not saying a word before he’d open the box, and very carefully and slowly reached a hand inside. He was a lot gentler with Rudie this time. He made extra sure he didn’t squeeze, or startle, and was glad to find that Rudie hardly struggled as he lifted him out, and set him on top of the box after closing it again. “Heh…” He chuckled slightly as Rudie stumbled for just a moment, before righting himself and shortly afterward sitting at the edge of the box with his little legs dangling. The moonlight made the scene extra beautiful, the two Toons together, Rudie unknowing that Looey knew and Looey all too aware. Sure, Rudie wasn’t a Toon, but… what was a Borrower if not a tiny Toon? The balloon dog looked down, frowning softly to himself. 

—--------------------------------------------------

Rudie looked onward to the moon, near the horizon, just over the treeline of the woods nearby. It reminded him of those forests in the Christmas Movies where they got those beautiful trees, but with much rounder trees. He bit his lip, and worked up the courage. This was it, no better moment than Right Now. He opened his mouth, the words on the tip of his tongue, and then. “I can’t imagine how hard this must be for you…” Looey began, visibly startling the tiny reindeer. Who was he talking to? Then Looey looked at him, and those large eyes filled with a distant sparkle that felt warm in Rudie’s soul met his own, and he felt a shudder. He was talking to Him. “You… you don’t have to worry about it anymore. I know.” Know? What could he possibly possibly know? He can’t know! Right? Rudie thought, thoughts rushing through his head, before a relief poured through him that he might not have to worry about direct confrontation. “When… when I ate you earlier before the show, my senses were heightened, and I heard you talk. And… uhm… shoot… I heard you now too, with that… Bobette lady.” Looey informed as softly as he could, head lowered a bit to try and seem smaller. Rudie just listened, chills shooting down his spine despite the inevitability of all of this. It felt jarring to hear him say Bobette’s name. The little reindeer bit his lip, kicking one leg in anticipation of having to respond eventually. Looey looked away for a moment. “And… most importantly- Rudie…” A deep shiver went down Rudie’s spine at his name. “I know about Ginger, and- I want to help you; to make up for um… well- eating you all those times- I… I didn’t know you were a person- which- sounds so stupid I mean you’re basically just a smaller Toon but- I’m just so so-” Looey rambled, starting to spiral in his nerves due to the situation, but that wouldn’t happen for long. “It’s okay.” Rudie assured Looey, the Bean startling a bit now as he turned his head back so that he could actually see Rudie talk. “Mr. Rodger… he explained it to me- it’s something that you have to do- I understand that… I should be the one that’s sorry, for um… um… never speaking up- and- stuff… it wasn’t very Nice of me…” 

Now it was Looey’s turn to interrupt. “Hey-” He reached a paw out, and gently used one finger to rub between Rudie’s antlers. “You certainly seem pretty nice… I think- maybe we should start over. No more Cane, and no more Pet Stuff.” “I dunno, Cane kind of grew on me as a nickname hehe…” Rudie didn’t know when but he had gotten used to it. “Haha… maybe a nickname someday then. For now I think I’ll stick to your actual name.” The two chuckled a bit… and Rudie wasn’t sure how but something about this just felt… natural. Sure, he was still scared more than a little bit, but he found it easier to be brave with each exchange of words. Looey held out one finger, the smallest one to the reindeer… What was this? “Here… let’s start over. Hi, my name is Looey, what’s your name?” Rudie looked at the finger, unsure of what to do. “Oh… this is what we normally would call a ‘handshake’ but since you’re uh- a Borrower I just offered my finger. What you do is well- shake it, in greeting, hehe.” Looey explained briefly, and Rudie’s eyes shone in excited acknowledgement. It was one of those weird Bean things. Rudie smiled up at the Balloon Dog. Rudie was right. His smile grew to a gleeful grin, and his nose lit up brighter as he reached one hoof out and attached it telekinetically to the finger, and shook as energetically as he could. He really was right about this. Everything was about to become so much better for him and his friends. This is it… we’ll find you, Ginger.

“Hiya, Looey… My name is Rudie. Merry Christmas!!” 

—--------------------------------------------------

“And you’re sure there’s nothing??” Rodger exclaimed, rubbing his forehead with a thumb nervously. “We’ll do all we can, Mr. Glassly, but there’s nothing we can do until we get some of the items here looked at by the forensics team. They should be here shortly. There’s nothing more I can do for you right now, I’m sorry. If you want my advice, I’d say to stay out of your garage for a bit until they get here. I’ll stick around outside personally to make sure whoever trespassed doesn’t come back again.” The officer assured him in his living room, they were a Textbook toon, outfitted in a uniform. As they left (for now) Rodger slumped over onto the couch, and groaned. In the garage, past the open door, laid the source of his worries. Files, open and littered across the floor sloppily… books too. The most noticeable thing however, was a distinct lack of any documents mentioning ‘Preds’ like that balloon dog he’d spoken to the other day. Who would want something like that…? His mind couldn’t think of anything, not a reason, and not a Toon.

—--------------------------------------------------

Ginger heavily exhaled, hands on her knees as she took a moment's respite, before a hiss would alert her that she wasn’t in the clear. Being outside was never a good idea for a Borrower as literally sweet as her. She ran down the alleyway as fast as she could, looking all around for anything to hide under, but damn cats could always squeeze into just about anything. She was getting close to a dead end, and she had no idea where to go. The breath was then suddenly knocked out of her, as cable-like arms wrapped around her, and red and blue paws pulled her up and off the ground. She grunted, but tried to keep her noises to a minimum as she instinctually kicked in the air. “Hey there, buddy! Gee, I’m glad I found ya! Actual cats are way meaner than my sister hehe, what’s your name!?” A figure from the shadows that the cable arms were connected to said to her cheerfully once Ginger was back on solid ground much higher up in a hole in a wall, and minorly goofily. Ginger shrugged the cables off as they retreated back to the fellow Borrower. “Uh… Ginger- thank you for saving me- I’ll get out of your ha-” The Borrower, now revealed to be tan and fluffy for the most part stepped out from the shadows with a sharp toothed grin. “No no no, you gotta stay!! I’d love a new friend!” Strange… Ginger always expected other Borrowers to be territorial assholes, but this guy really radiated warmth almost like Bobette, but sillier. She needed to stop thinking about Bobette though, and Rudie too. She could just… feel that something bad would happen to them… and there was nothing she could do if things went awry with Looey. Maybe a new start was for the best… though whether she’d want to stick with new people to eventually lose was still in the air. “Well… are you sure?” The new Borrower’s grin somehow widened. “Absooooolutely!” 

—--------------------------------------------------

He blinked as he took his coat off, and withdrew the files from it. He had just gotten home from watching a most wonderful show that definitely helped him prove his earlier thoughts, and driving past Glassly’s residence to see police there. He moved through the large house, and looked into the mirror as he thought about everything. He couldn’t let his minute residents see these files. The mayor reached one hand up and straightened his petals one after the other in color order as he reflected through the day's actions. He woke up, and took care of his new friends. He straightened his red petal. He studied the files that morning and had some good breakfast; it was a good thing that Rodger was always so busy, it gave him plenty of time before the magnifying glass would notice anything was amiss when he was out of the house often. He straightened his orange and yellow petals. He’d gone around the town, and met with Shells again after all this time. He’d met an odd trio there at the pet store Shelly had begun working at to pay for the museum. He straightened out his green and blue petals next. The trio had consisted of an inky blot that seemed to be a mime in profession, an energetic Piñata, and a yellow Balloon Dog with green and purple limbs. He straightened out his last petal, the purple one, as he looked at the files with the heading of “Preds” while he thought of the last detail. He remembered the way they had reacted, Looey if he remembered right, when the box had nearly fallen. He recalled the claws that had come out of his paw, and how the energy he gave off matched what the files described. The performance today was further proof of that with all of the subtle details; the claws, the teeth, and the fervent energy. Maybe he was the key. Dandicus smiled at the mirror, and headed off to his personal office to hide the files. Before he could do anything about that though…

He needed to find the Clock, the cat, and the Silly Fluffy Craft. 

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Here we are at the end! Hope you enjoyed :D The adventure is Just beginning, and I cannot wait for all of y'all to see what I've got in store past this First Story Arc, Something New ^w^

Only got one more thing to add to the end of this; I have a Discord Server! For all your Dandy's World g/t and vore needs! You'll be able to talk to others about this interest, and be able to find works and inform others of your works easier ^w^ (Probably always gonna add this to the end of a fic knasdj I hope for it to grow <3)

If you'd like to join, just message me here on Tumblr!

If you just send me a DM asking to join, I will add you from there :3

Prologue:

Long ago, there were two species of people: Toons and Borrowers. Both peoples lived peacefully, despite an immense difference in size. They even formed close bonds with each other, coexisting within the same residence.

During this time, there was a special kind of a Toon, known as a Pred. These Toons specialized in protecting Borrowers from natural dangers through a specific form of affection evolved over a long time of coexistence.

One day due to circumstances long lost to history, Toons and Borrowers split apart… which led to Borrowers going into hiding and the very existence of them disappearing into legend.

As for the Preds… with no Borrowers to protect, they integrated with the rest of the Toons easily and their unique abilities were forgotten.

But what happens in the modern day, when a dormant Pred discovers a now mythical borrower?

—------------------------------------------------------------

Looey grunted slightly as he dragged the box up the stairs. It was a large one that contained all the parts required to construct a couch, and since he was just one guy, he was lucky to get it up one flight of stairs; he needed to get it up three. He sighed as he wiped his forehead with one hand, and grimaced. While he took a second to regain his strength, the balloon dog let his mind wander for a minute. This was a big change for him and the gang afterall! It was a much bigger city than where they had left, and hopefully if Blot pulled through they’d have a good venue. The Circus Troupe, as they were hoping to call themselves simply, were hoping to make it big and perform comedy and gymnastic acts in the city of Gardenview. The three of them had a crazy dream, he knew; but Yatta and Blot were certainly talented at what they did, so maybe Looey would do good if he stuck by them. 

He’d be thinking about when his two friends would finally arrive when his thoughts were interrupted by an imagined Pop! And a real voice breaking through. “You alright there?” Looey looked past the box he had and saw a light blue woman with a bow on her head. “Oh- well, sort of. Just got caught up in my thoughts, hehe.” He spoke apologetically, trying to reaffirm his grip on the box. “Heh, I get that! You must be Looey, right?” She asked, and helped to lift the box up from the opposite side of Looey. “I’m Poppy; we spoke on the phone before you got here?” She asked to jog his memory. “Oh- yeah! Okay I remember now. Miss Poppy… I appreciate the help but you really don’t have to-" Looey began, hoping to try and take the box with the help of his leg muscles before she cut into his denials of help. "Oh think nothing of it, wouldn’t be a very good Toon if I didn’t help out a tenant sometimes!” She encouraged while simply helping him get the box up the final two flights of stairs. Once they reached the door, it would be easy for them to deposit the box within the apartment. It wasn’t anything special, one bedroom, one bathroom, and a small kitchen with a living room attached. For the most part, it was an empty space save for a few necessities. “So, you’re coming here with two others, huh? Isn't this place a bit small for three people?” She inquired, straightening out her dress a bit while standing in the doorway. Looey would lean against the box for a moment, before immediately stopping that as the box began to tilt with his weight. “Uh- yeah, yeah no it wasn’t our first thought I’ll admit, but it was the best option. Spent most of our ‘moving fund’ on our ‘profession.’” 

Looey’s eyes drifted a bit as he spoke to Poppy; now that he was actually here in the apartment with the last major box moved, it was a lot easier to think about more specific things he wanted to do with the space! There might be just enough room in the corner for a table, and the built-in shelf next to the window would be nice for some of his balloon animals alongside books and stuff. He was just thinking about things to fill the fridge up the next day when he noticed something. There was a flash of movement in the grate on the ceiling, and it was enough to make his eyes squint, a flash of confusion on his face. “We’ve uh, got a cool gig ready in a little while from now-” He finished off with a slight mumble. “Oh? You’re like, performers?” The Bubble asked curiously, tilting her head a bit. “Yeah, but I shouldn’t be rambling so much. I imagine you’ve got stuff to do, Miss Poppy. I won’t take up more of your time.” He apologized, gesturing for her to get along as politely as he could. He didn’t want her to notice what he saw, as he couldn’t imagine she’d be happy if she found out there was a pest in her building. He’d take care of it, or at least tell her later. “Oh, yes, but of course you’re right! You can just call me Poppy, Mr. Looey. We can talk later if you’d like!” She spoke politely, offering a smile. “Yeah, maybe… Ah! I mean, of course! likewise, Poppy. One more thing though…” He put on a grin to try and make himself a bit less tense and a lot more amicable, considering that his job was to be upbeat he kind of had too, but it was always kind of hard no matter how much he wanted to do it. He reached a hand behind his back into a pocket, and quickly gathered some materials, and before Poppy could even ask what the One More Thing was, he would have a little blue balloon perfectly shaped to look like her! There was even a bow on the top made out of smaller pink ones. 

“Oh! Whoa! That is SO cool!! Thank you very very much!” The bubble girl exclaimed, just before she took the elastic creature from Looey’s hands. “Looks like I’ll have to do something for you later! See you, Looey!” She’d say with a wide grin, which warmed Looey’s heart a bit… mission accomplished. Once Poppy had closed the door, Looey would take care of the box and assemble the couch. It would take a bit longer than expected, and the balloon dog would end up ordering a pizza in. Later that night, he found himself sleeping on the provided bed; his troupe would need to figure out something to do sleep-wise for all three of them. As he lay there in the dark, he thought about what he had seen… It was kind of unavoidable. He thought it was brown in color, but he had no idea about specific types of rodents if that was what it was. He yawned a bit as he got comfy, and would go to sleep with the thought that he’d figure out if there even was anything in the coming days. 

—--------------------------------------------

In the course of two days, things had already been going strangely. He brought groceries home, and it felt like some of it was disappearing right out from under his nose; the most egregious example was when whole grapes went missing from a bag while he was having some. He was a pretty oblivious guy, he’d admit, but something… a scent in the air perhaps, was telling him that something was off. It was near-impossible to tell what it was, but he intended to find out, at least before Yatta got here; he did not need some rat gnawing at her when she slept trying to get to her candy. The image made a shudder go down Looey’s back. 

He set a trap down on the counter, perfectly set to catch whatever it was with a few grapes as bait. His tail wagged a bit with his satisfaction for the plan he had come up with. Since it was just a rodent, chances are it would fall easily for the glue trap he found at the store. It was basically fool-proof if he did say so himself. He would brush off his shoulders with a confident smirk as he left the building to get some breakfast out; by the time he’d get back, the trap should have worked its magic, theoretically.

The morning was seemingly uneventful past this point. Looey got some pancakes at a local place, got an ETA for when Blot and Yatta would be here (finally), and that was it. He’d walk up the stairs to his apartment, unlock the door, and stride inside with the utmost confidence that he would be able to release the pest somewhere. It was only when he finally lay his eyes upon the countertop that he realized that this would be a whole lot more complicated.

Years later, he’d still be able to recount that moment, when his eyes met with red and green heterochromia. Looey paused in the doorway, mouth agape in pure shock. Trapped in the gluetrap, they stood on four legs (Were… two of those arms?) a small creature, hardly a few inches tall. It had deep brown fur, four hooves firmly stuck in the glue with red and white antlers sticking out from its head. Its mouth was curved downward in the most sad expression Looey had ever seen, as their eyes widened in what seemed to be fear. The balloon dog could hardly process it, if he didn’t know any better he’d say it was basically a little person. He took a step forward, and another, then yet another, until he was right up in front of the counter and looming over the tiny… reindeer? He wasn’t quite sure. “Um… hey…? Now that was unexpected… What are you?” He asked as he rested his elbows on the counter and inspected them. 

They didn’t say a word, though Looey hadn’t really expected it too (Okay maybe he expected it a little, could you blame a walking and talking balloon dog for having a little whimsy?). “Hehe… kind of- cute?” He mumbled as he looked over their fluffy form. “So sorry about this- um- here let me get you free.” It would take a minute of effort, but he was able to safely get the reindeer out of the trap despite the struggles it put up. He was just glad it didn’t bite him. Once Looey had his hand wrapped around its body though, he began to feel a little weird. The world seemed to unfocus for a second, and the terrified face of the small creature he had rescued from a trap that Looey himself had set remained the only clear thing in his mind. He had felt weird from the moment he’d walked into the room in reality, no… the moment he registered the fear on its face. His body seemed to move on his own, as the grip relaxed, and he began to cup the little reindeer in two hands…

—----------------------------------------------

Rudie the Borrower-Reindeer had been on a mission this morning. He had gone out from his base within the walls of this really really big building to try and find some food for himself and his friends! This particular section of the building had a Bean move into it quite recently, and with how they left food out so SO often, Rudie couldn’t help but take a bitttt more than he probably should have. Really, it only made sense that he’d be found out because of his carelessness. Rudie had spent a good amount of his time in the glue trap belittling himself for not just getting one hoof stuck in the trap, but also getting all four trapped in his attempts to get out; he should’ve known those grapes were too good to be true! His friends definitely wouldn’t be happy with him… it wasn’t until the owner of this teensy section of the building walked in with an illustrious stride that he finally realized that this wasn’t any normal messup. He’d gotten himself into some pretty bad situations in the past, and it was only with his friends’ help that he’d been able to get out unscathed; this was different. The Bean’s eyes were on him. He was seen. He was found. And he was most definitely in big trouble. Now, Rudie had no idea what to do in a circumstance like this… all he could remember was that he couldn’t communicate with them, but how was he supposed to try and get away??

It was all too easy for them to remove Rudie from the trap, and to hold him in a gentle-ish grip. He struggled, punched, and even tried to buck his legs but it was darn near impossible in the grip, at least until the Bean relaxed his grip and held him in cupped hands. Rudie lay on his back, hand-hooves supporting him alongside his legs in a partially sat-up position as he looked up at the large balloon animal. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear… this- this can’t be it right? I still have so many Christmases to celebrate- He wasn’t quite sure when the next one was supposed to be, but surely it’d be soon, right? He was getting side-tracked. Maybe… This would be a nice Bean? He had listened to him on occasion, and he seemed nice enough? A bit funny at times? The hands felt strange under him… warm, and smooth. Normally he only ever felt smooth and cold things, but the warmth was nice. The shades of purple and green were lovely… and the green reminded him of the evergreen trees that Beans put out for that wonderful holiday. Gosh, he could only imagine a Bean home all decorated for that day… Bobette had taught him about it many years ago when Rudie had questioned why they decorated, and it had been an interest of Rudie’s ever since! (He’d even painted his antlers red and white like candy-canes using stolen dye.) Wait… what’s going on? Rudie zoned back in, and was faced with slit pupils. The look on Looey’s face was different from anything he had ever observed before. 

There was something distinctly Predatory about his eyes. Rudie opened his mouth, as if to say something, but the words didn’t come. They couldn’t come. Gosh, he’d be on the naughty list for sure if he broke the borrower code like that. Not talking to Beans was pretty high on that list. He had no idea what was going to happen… All he knew was that he had to be brave. Yes! Brave! Ha, that was easy! So he thought. What he did not expect was for the balloon dog to give him a few quick sniffs, hold him up high, and then immediately dangle Rudie over his maw. “W-wait!” All thought ceased in Rudie’s mind as pure instinct took over. He kicked, and clawed to the best of his ability to find any purchase; none was found. Rudie closed his eyes when he was lowered inside, and met with the  humid environment. For the moment that he had been presented with the maw, he had subconsciously taken careful note of the details: Saliva strands gleaming in the light, a tongue colored with green, purple, and yellow stripes laid out like a carpet, and sharply gleaming teeth; for the minute, it appeared that they grew sharper by the second. Soon enough, these details would become Rudie’s whole world as he was dropped inside onto the slick surface of the Bean’s tongue and the maw would shut behind him.

Rudie quickly scrabbled to try and get out, but he was unable to move much before being assailed by the tongue. Rudie grunted and struggled alongside the active muscle, and tried to push it away whenever it licked at him. He shivered slightly as he felt his body slowly become slick with saliva; it was unlike anything he’d ever felt before, faintly sticky, hot, and insanely slippery like he had been dipped in a puddle. Rudie kept his eyes shut throughout the whole process, his hooves scrabbling to gain purchase on anything but only succeeding on nearly cutting himself on the teeth. (It was really lucky that the tongue moved him away perchance every time he got close to that.) Rudie groaned softly as the tongue pushed him back, and hung limp for a second. All the struggling was insanely tiring in the face of the Bean’s absolute strength. Rudie’s whole body shook with the horror of it all; he was just glad that the wetness of his environment allowed any tears of his to be lost… there was no one to see it anyway. 

When he was swallowed, he probably should have expected it by the teeth not doing anything save for being frightening, but when it came he let out a startled scream and tried to prop his legs up to no avail. The assault of the muscles from there was once again so irregular. The throat took a firm hold of him, and the tongue helped nudge him down with a tilt of the Bean’s head. Looey appeared to mutter something, but it was so quiet that not even Rudie could make it out from his position. The little reindeer kicked, and struggled to the best of his ability but there was no halting his descent as the muscles contracted and sucked him further and further down. Each moment in the balloon dog’s throat felt like an eternity, anticipation creeping through Rudie’s mind as he was pulled further, past a dull drum full of life, natural ventilations, and so much more. It felt like waiting for Christmas, if Christmas was the day of your demise and not a day of joy. After forever, Rudie would yelp as he was deposited into a larger chamber that he could only assume was… well, Looey’s version of where Rudie had sent the grapes he’d stolen. The chamber growled ominously around him, and liquids bubbled while being sloshed. He had absolutely no idea of what to do in this situation. Rudie trembled a bit as he got himself accustomed to his surroundings. He examined the grooves of the walls, the dim light from the outside, and the strange circus tent nature of it all; the walls were decorated with mostly green and purple stripes that stretched up toward the entrance of the chamber vertically, with fewer but still prevalent soft yellow stripes. If he wasn’t about to perish, it would be kind of cozy. The warmth wasn’t crazy oppressive, and he didn’t even feel any stinging; that didn’t mean he shouldn’t try to escape though.

The next while would consist of Rudie trying to ram the walls, kick the walls, and even climb the walls back out… but nothing seemed to faze his captor. Rudie could feel every movement of the Bean, and even felt the major rocking of his chamber when Looey apparently flopped onto a bed. He heard growling from somewhere above him; by the time he had properly tired himself out, Rudie had resigned to curling up inside the tightly compacted space to hope for the best… he had no idea what would happen if he fell asleep. Well, he did have an idea but he hoped hopelessly against it.

Amidst all of these noises… stomach growls, heartbeats, lungs and so much more, Rudie couldn’t help but close his eyes and try to hide away from it all in Dream Land.

—------------------------------

Meanwhile, time would pass, and Looey would reawaken from a short slumber. He couldn’t easily remember what had just transpired. The last thing he remembered was the fearful look on the reindeer’s face as he got him out of the trap. Ah! The reindeer! He jolted up from where he laid. What happened to the reindeer? Looey groaned slightly as he shifted to a sitting position. His whole body felt rather strange, tense, and… full? His stomach most of all felt really weird; there was a slight tingling feeling, and it almost felt like something was moving in there. That couldn’t be, right? He definitely didn’t have a strong stomach, but this felt particularly sensitive. Looey would poke his stomach from the outside, and nearly jump multiple feet in the air when he felt something push back against his poke. It was weak, but so wholly present. Was that the reindeer? He’d eaten the reindeer when he blacked out?? Oh no… poor guy! Looey bit his lip in thought about what to do, having never eaten someone before. Why had he done that?? He couldn’t come up with any idea of why this had transpired, but… Focus, figure something out first. He scolded internally as he switched tracks to thinking of a solution. Looey racked his brain for any form of idea, until he felt his stomach contract. There was something really different about his stomach. He felt he could almost control it… but if he could do that, then- He decided to try something, cutting off his train of thought as he tested his muscle functions.

Inside his stomach, the walls contracted, and the half-awake form of the little reindeer would be pushed upward into the throat. Their body would go all the way up, straight to Looey’s mouth, and quickly into his hand once again. “Oh gosh… hey, it’s okay it’s okay.” Looey repeated as he got up, and walked to the bathroom to get a rag or something to dry off the little thing. He had no idea how it was perfectly intact, but he needed to apologize and try to… care for it?? He still wasn’t quite sure what to do with it because it was absolutely not an ordinary pest. Not a pest. Little… invader? No- thief? Yeah, he’d call it a little thief for now; it felt silly enough. Once Looey got him dry, he would set the tired reindeer on a countertop, find an emptied box, and cut some small holes in it. “Okay… I know you probably don’t understand me but I’m sorry for what happened- Just gonna keep you here, for now-” He assured, though he didn’t think it was sentient; he couldn’t dwell on that right now. He could hardly dwell over the strange control he had over his digestive organ, but it seemingly disappeared as quickly as it had come.

He would put it inside the box, put some books on top of the box, and set it in the corner of the room after putting a few grapes, cloth, and a small bowl of water inside. “What am I doing…?” He mumbled to himself; he knew he should probably set it free somewhere else, but he kind of wanted the others to see it, or at the very least to figure out what it was first. Looey sat on his bed, and texted Yatta with his phone that had been abandoned on his nightstand at some point. 

Piñattaniña03: Looey!! Blot says that we should be headed over there soon! beyond excited to see you!! Ballooey: Yeah! I’m excited to see you too… i’ve got kind of a surprise- thing- to show you

Looey sent that last message kind of hesitantly, he was not sure how the two would react to the little reindeer. Looey hadn’t really admitted it to himself,  but he was kind of ready to call the little thing his new pet. Maybe it’d be cool if the three of them cared for it together! He wasn’t sure if the apartment was cool with pets, but it wouldn’t cause any problems. It- They were too small to cause problems after all. He thought that last bit with a smile and a wag on his tail. Sure there was the issue of how he’d mysteriously blacked out and eaten the little thing, but there must be an explanation, right? This was definitely a strange turn of events, but he welcomed it. 

Tiny Christmas (Taglist)

Chapter One: The Shrinking Episode

Preds & Borrowers (Taglist)

Something New (ThreeShot)

Part One*

Part Two*

Part Three*

One Shots

Take a Break*

The Best of Her* (Fanchild + OC x Canon)

Voretober 2025*

Rudie wandered through the halls of the basement; the hoofsteps making a clip-clop sound that was echoing off of the walls. His mouth was turned in a frown that was becoming far too common for the normally cheerful Toon. He never quite knew why, but for some reason he was only his usual self for about a month before he just felt strange. It felt like he wanted to be alone, except he didn’t want to be alone? It was all very contradictory. Rudie would pause for a moment, and just lean against the wall with his back. “Merry Christmas, Rudie… Merry Christmas.” He muttered to himself. It never quite worked at these times specifically; but, every time he got like this he tried to cheer himself up by thinking about his all-time favorite holiday. He didn’t really think it was Christmas everyday; but if he made it feel like Christmas everyday, then everyday would be awesome! That’s what he hoped for anyway. He smiled sadly, and fidgeted with the bell on his neck.

Another day down here… wonder how much longer until Christmas again. He thought to himself, as he began to walk further down the halls than he normally would have. The basements of Gardenview always had interesting things in them, props, decorations, and everything that would be stored when not in use. It was so expansive, Rudie had never quite made it to the end. His hoofsteps echoed through the halls, especially loud when he hopped down the steps of some stairs. At the bottom, Rudie would trip slightly from his last hop, but was thankfully able to catch himself on a doorknob. “AH-! Oh- okay.” Rudie murmured to himself. At first surprised by the fall, but then relieved when he didn’t hit the ground. He’d turn the doorknob, enter the storage room, and scan around. The room had various boxes on shelves, no Christmas decorations, no halloween decorations, just supplies for the most part. Rudie would walk through the room, and peek into some boxes every once in a while. Plates, forks, felt, a glowing machine, and some other just regular things. “...wait, what?” Rudie spoke to himself with a blink as he reached down and grabbed the machine. It had an interesting shape to it, and it seemed to be a prop, in the wrong room? “I don’t… think this belongs in this room.” He would fidget with it a bit. Don’t ask how a hooved Toon was able to hold things; the machine just sort of magnetized to his hoof and he could manipulate bits of it surprisingly precisely.

Rudie would walk out of the room, and start to head back up the stairs to one of the prop rooms he’d passed. The machine was quite intriguing! It had a nozzle that could be adjusted to three different settings. The setting farthest left caused it to glow a red color, the middle setting made it glow a brilliant white, and the last setting to the farthest right made it glow a green color. He stuck to the red setting because it reminded him of his friend, Bobbette! He stuck his tongue out absentmindedly while he inspected. He had the narrowest point of it pressed against his chest as he tried to inspect the underside. There was a weird mechanism here, almost like a trigger. “What were you used for, Christmas machine?” He asked curiously as he pushed against the trigger with his hoof.

BZZZ!

Rudie yelped, just as a bright red light shone from the machine. Something from the tip hit him in the chest, and he dropped the machine with a clatter while he stumbled backwards. Maybe… I should’ve held it up to a light to read any labels. He thought to himself as he blinked drowsily, before he sunk to his knees and just laid down. The world seemed to darken around him, which seemed funny because the basement was already almost pitch black. His nose would brighten up instinctively as his eyes drifted to the machine before he’d drift off to sleep. “Shr…?” He couldn’t make out the rest of it before he fell asleep.

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Images went through the reindeer’s mind. He saw Gardenview, his Christmas friends, tall candy cane trees that towered over his head… He saw Delilah, the Toonhandlers, and his closest friend. Mmm, he missed him. The green and purple of his limbs went through his mind like stripes. The green reminded Rudie of his favorite holiday, but the purple and yellow were so distinctly his friend’s. A fog seemed to lift off of his mind, and he wanted nothing more than to see him. He had to see him.

Rudie opened his eyes.

He groaned, and slowly got up to his back hoofs with a shake of his head. His head felt worse than it did when January 10th came around. Rudie would look back towards where the prop had fallen… and nearly fainted on the spot. What had once been easily held in his hooves, was now approximately the length of a fallen tree, and the height of a human! He would blink, and then look further up. Oh my partridge in a pear tree! He would mouth to himself as he gazed up at the ceiling that now extended up unbelievably high. This was unusual to say the least. He would move around the machine, and hurriedly sprint through the hallway with a worried look on his face. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my- His heart raced quite fast as he sped through the halls. He needed help, he needed to find someone, he needed his friend. There was only one person on Rudie’s mind, and the fact that he wholeheartedly wanted his presence without a lick of wanting to be alone as well was surprising indeed. Eventually the little reindeer would skid to a stop at the bottom of some stairs, and take a moment to catch his breath through a few moderately-controlled gasps.

“Oh…” I really messed up; I shouldn’t have touched a mysterious glowing thing in a closet- I should have told Bobbette. “We wish you a merry Christmas… we wish you a merry Christmas…” He mumbled to himself while clutching the jingle bell on his neck. Deep breaths… deep breaths. He couldn’t stay here long. It would be a struggle, but Rudie would climb up each and every step all the way to the door. Occasionally, he would stop to try and use the jingle bell to fly; but, it never quite worked. It only worked on the 25th of December, but sometimes he could trick it.

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Back before Gardenview was abandoned, Rudie and Looey had been hanging out in an outdoor area with a beautiful garden. Looey had told Rudie some jokes he had learned from Finn earlier that day, and it was an enjoyable time. Those moments of peace when they didn’t have to entertain the humans were always nice. He could still remember when Rudie looked at his neck with curiosity. “Does it ever work?” The balloon animal asked, one knee bent and one knee extended while the two sat on a wall. “Oh- my bell? It does, but only on the 25th of December.” Rudie explained with a tilt of his head as he gestured at the bell with a hoof. “No no, sorry I should have phrased it better haha- I mean does it work on days other than that one?” Looey recontextualized with a smile. Rudie tilted his head in thought, as he gazed at the lights strung about the gazebo nearby. “No… I don’t think so- there was one time where I woke up on the 24th and thought it was the 25th on accident and it levitated me a bit, but that might have been a glitch.” Rudie explained, a cartoon bubble of thought appeared as he recalled the memory that he promptly ignored.

“Hmm… y’know what, Candy Cane? That gives me an idea.” Looey proclaimed with a wink and a wag in his balloon tail. “What’s that Christmas Song you like so much again?” Rudie would smile in a somewhat embarrassed way. “Well uh, it was that song about that other reindeer… Rudolph?” Looey smiled, and leaned in a bit to hum the beginning of the song. Rudie’s small tail wagged a bit as he heard it, and it wouldn’t be long before Looey started to sing a bit. “Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer-?” He said with a look to Rudie, who looked away before he’d respond: “..had a very shiny nose.”

L: “And if you ever saw it-” R: “You would even say it glows.” L: “All of the other reindeer-” R: “Used to laugh and call him names…” L: “They never let poor Rudolph-” L + R: “Join in any reindeer games!”

The two would sing together through the whole song cheerfully, with the reindeer leaned in close to his friend as they just enjoyed the moment together. Rudie didn’t quite understand why they were singing, but it made him feel happy inside. “...and you’ll go down in hisssss-torrrrr-yyyyyyy!” The two would finish off, with Rudie’s nose glowing exceptionally bright as he gave a joyful chuckle.

“Woah- look down Rudie!” Looey exclaimed suddenly, and it would be then that Rudie opened his eyes (He hadn’t even realized he’d closed them), looked down, and let out a little gasp. He was a solid handful of feet off the ground! He swayed his legs idly in the air as he grinned widely. It would only be a minute before he would be lowered back down to the ground slowly, and once his hooves were securely on the ground he would wobble for a moment before he regained his balance. “Suppose it’s a spirit thing, gosh there’s so many cool things that could be done with that-” Looey speculated with his own bright grin, as he affectionately patted Rudie’s head. “You’re so cool.” The balloon animal emphasized with a soft look in his eyes. Rudie smiled, and leaned into his hand. “You’re cool too, don’t forget that-” “Yeah, but I’m not the one who can fly!” Looey interrupted with a chuckle as he jumped up from their position on the wall.

The balloon animal brushed off his legs and smoothed out his ears a bit to ensure there was no dirt. “I’ve got to go for the nightly performance, so-” “Alright alright, knock ‘em dead, Looey! I’ll be watching-” “Actually, um- I wanted to ask if you’d like to join me?” Looey asked with a hesitant look about him, an adorable scrunch present in his cheeks from it. Rudie blanked, unsure of how to respond. He’d never participated in one of Looey’s circus performances… though he did know how to juggle, kind of. “Well- I mean, I’d love to, but what would I do?” He asked as he began to follow the balloon dog back inside. “I’ll walk you through it, this has given me a genius idea!” The Looey proclaimed excitedly with a pat to Rudie’s back as the two moved. “But, what if I can’t do it again?” Rudie questioned, leaning into his friend’s touch; the balloon’s skin felt almost soft, yet elastic as he answered that question. “I’m confident you can, Candy Cane.” He reassured the reindeer.

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That was a good memory; it was a jolly memory. Rudie smiled to himself with closed eyes. “Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer… had a very shiny nose, and if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows.” He sang to himself softly, while he thought about a few different festive memories he’d had over the years, some with Ginger’s cousin, some with Looey, and some with the little Eight-Ball Child. As he focused, the jingle bell around his neck jingled and glowed a smidge. It glowed just enough to lift Rudie off of the ground, and ended up being a major help to get him all the way to the top of the steps with a pant of exhaustion. It took a few minutes, but he felt relief when he landed and was able to walk to the exit door; unfortunately, he was a bit too small to reach the handle.

After a moment’s struggle, the reindeer managed to squeeze himself underneath the door with a pop! He would quickly jump right up, dust himself off, and begin to traverse the halls as carefully as an energetic reindeer could. He felt… amazing; better than he ever did outside of the Christmas season.

The halls were a curious place, and Rudie would hum a tune to himself to try and keep himself cheerful despite the scuttling he could hear in the walls. The facility was abandoned after all, but thankfully any pests should be relatively unseen thanks to their resident Cleaning Toon. The trip to his friend’s room was uneventful, save for ducking behind a potted plant to avoid the Hater. Rudie never understood what was up with him; how could such a little shrimp not be happy even on Christmas?? The thought process was lost on Rudie as he watched Shrimpo stomp away back to his room, and curiously enough look back the way he came. His expression was always hard to read, but at Rudie’s new size there was a hint of excitement, or mischief. The little reindeer could only imagine what that look entailed. He tried to ignore the way Shrimpo’s steps shook the ground (unsettling) and finally made it to the place he always knew he’d try to go when he needed something.

The door was colorful, and used the same color scheme as its owner! The base color was a soft yellow, but the knob was decidedly Clown-Nose Red alongside the emblazoned number on the door being surrounded by a purple and green swirl, while the numbers themselves (#13, for him being the thirteenth toon created!) were a brighter yellow than the door. Rudie stood, hooves on his hips and looking up, up, up at the door with a smile, all while his tail wagged. If there was anyone that he could trust, it was his favorite balloon animal! Rudie once again slipped his tiny body underneath the door- he got the feeling he would be doing this a lot more often -and he would emerge into the dark room. He squinted, concentrated, and his nose would light up with a soft red glow; it was just enough for him to make out the silhouettes of several pins littered across the floor that now were just a bit taller than him, and the general shape of the objects in the room. There was the dresser, the closet, the nightstand, balloon-pumps, balloons of varying shapes tied to anywhere they could be, a bed, and the frame of someone sleeping in the bed; it was that last one that Rudie was looking for.

The reindeer would grunt, a slight grumpy face on him as he moved through the forest of thumb tacks. That shrimp was always quite rude; it didn't matter the season or the occasion. Rudie would nudge and push the pins as he went, making a path for Looey whenever he got up. Once Rudie made it to the base of the bed, he’d look up at how far he’d have to go… and sigh. It would take a lot of trial and error, using his hooves to hoist himself up, making quite large jumps to reach, but eventually he would straddle himself up onto the mattress and the blanket respectively. “Phew, I haven't gotten that much of a workout since last Christmas.” He mumbled to himself, shaking his head to try and clear the strange feeling he had. Now was not the time to think about that though, because in front of him lay the form of one of his closest friends, Looey the Balloon. As his nose glowed, the reindeer could make out that the balloon was curled up slightly with the blanket pulled over him; only his head stuck out with his long ears. Rudie smiled, approached step by step, and eventually made it over to the taller than tall balloon. Here, he would nudge the elastic skin around his cheeks, and whisper a little “Pst… psstttttt-!” to try and alert Looey.

In his sleep, Looey would grunt and scratch his cheek a bit with one paw. He mumbled something about a piñata as Rudie ducked to avoid the motion. Yikes! He’d have to be more careful about this for sure. Rudie would make another grumpy face, bite the inside of his cheek, and hop up on top of Looey’s blanket-covered chest. “Looey! I could use some help-” Rudie tried to whisper-shout, because he didn’t want to be rude; alas, it fell on deaf ears. The tiny toon would then proceed up to Looey’s face from here, risking a hop in the process from chest to head (Looey had no neck, after all.). He would wobble slightly on the strange surface that felt almost like the floor of a bouncy castle, almost. This was definitely a strange experience, but it felt awfully familiar to Rudie somehow; maybe this was something he’d heard in passing? Or… Rudie shook his head, refocusing on the task at hand. Everything felt strange at this point, he amended. It felt like his vision had focused when it never had before. Rudie would be on all fours as he crawled his way to the center of Looey’s head, and tried to bap at his closed eyelids. “Looeyyyyyy…?” He called. He did not want to think about his current mental status at all.

Luckily for him, a distraction popped up for Rudie right soon, because that was when Looey’s eyes slowly opened. They opened groggily at first, and began to creep to where Rudie sat. Once they landed on the small Rudie that laid between the two of them, then they would shoot open, extremely alert.

“AH!” “AH!”

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