"Lili" chapter 1

wooo everyone i decided to publish here too! i figured itd be a lot more comfortable rather than.. making a blog post with a link. here's the fanfic i said i was working on.

summary (written on the fly, i forgot to write it yesterday..):

As Ginger takes to another year of waking for the holidays a certain someone has already decided the muse for her next painting. The true colors of the artist are unknowable to the cookie toon, however she will get to uncover them very quickly and marvel at their true pure light.

[chapter index] [ao3 upload]

notes:

welcome to rarepair yuri paradise. ive been on this train since brusha came out and im not getting off any time soon. however please do note im TERRIBLEE with keeping things up. finishing THIS CHAPTER on its own and cleaning it up to be posted took me months... im a terrible procrastinator and also have exams so please forgive long wait between updates. ill try my best to deliver ^_^^

some overall things: i hope the language is.. readable. i like metaphors and purple prose so to speak way too much.. i also hope that brusha isnt too creepy. i like to exaggerate characteristics and this was no exception. she gets better tho!

also the title and chapter names are "Lili" by Enej

proper work: 

"Kolory, barwy, i jej odcienie"

Dark.

Dark.

Cold isolation only being lulled by never-ending slumber.

Meals going down without thought.

Sluggish passage of days blurred into one long night.

Time turning into a smudge.

A sort of delirium.

Dark.

So very dark.

Until now.

The sleepy figures used the last of the little amounts of energy to pick themselves up. Darkness still clung onto their bodies, enveloping them like blankets. However they had to shake off the comforting warmth. Behind the blinding light trickling into the room something was awaiting.

After the shut down the toons took to taking care of the holiday inhabitants by themselves. They fed and tended them on their months off, and on their active months everyone grouped up to throw them a uproarious welcome. Small crowds would form before their so-called bedrooms, sometimes with meals, skits, or get-ups to make it all the while surprising. It was almost like a secondary celebration to the already cheerful Christmas time.

That day, like every year, is today.

Bobette was the first to come out. Her large figure sluggishly trudged forward, serving as a pillar leading everybody else. Rudie ran close behind, filled with such excitement his body was barely able to keep up.

The welcoming toons skipped in to help. Many jumped to drowning them in stories, dragging them off to immediately partake in some activities, or simply stood around and hugged it out. The holiday toons, too drowsy to make anything of it yet, leaned into their support, while frequently yawning. The place quickly filled with cheer and laughter. Smiles decorated everyone's faces.

The last few others lagged behind, most notably Ginger, who, through her drowsiness, was struggling to stand on her own.

She was no stranger to welcoming-haggling, so she immediately began scanning the crowd for her beloved cousin - Cosmo. The cookie toon's eyes remained cloudy, still foggy with the long slumber. She squinted, resigning to just look for a brown smudge, hoping to see a tall, pink one alongside it as well.

Usually most of Gardenview's toons would show up, but some were always missing. Ginger didn't mind it, she understood not many had the time in their schedule, seeing as many of the "working toons" were very busy especially around the holiday. Even if she didn't get to see them at all.

Finally among the crowd a white smudge had squeezed through, shielding its brown top with another white splotch. A tuft of green followed suite, the slender splotch of its own making it through with much greater ease.

Ginger felt her heart jump in happiness, however her body had trouble outputting the same amount of excitement. She ran up to the blurs with the remaining energy she had, and, when close enough, enveloped them in a tight hug.

"Oh Ginger, even tho I tended to you guys just yesterday, it feels like it's been forever!" The brown smudge exclaimed, the squeeze of his arms far more energetic than the way he spoke.

The cookie toon fought back a yawn "It's good to see you guys too…" She managed to get out despite her crushed bones.

The pink-ish red smudge above them didn't miss out on the embracing either, he wrapped his long arms around them both, sparing on the squeezing however.

"Awe man, I missed you too. It's nice to be back toge…" Sprout trailed off. His body froze, the two other wrapped up toons following suite. He slowly let go and hunched over to Ginger, studying her face closely.

Finally he scoffed "Your make-up, Ginger" The toon in question blinked quizzically. "You have a pretty severe case of bed-head."

She flushed.

"It's just.. It's been so long i haven't-" She tried to muster before a large hand patted her head. "Don't worry. After we're done you should take the time to correct it."

"You look a lot nicer after having fun." then Sprout tacked on "You know, I can tell you're in a good mood, because you had a lot of fun with your make-up that day." He then turned to Cosmo for approval, who nodded and smiled apologetically much to Ginger's dismay.

The corners of Sprout's mouth lifted into a smile. Cosmo patted Ginger's back. The cookie toon's cheeks flushed with warmth, and so did something fluttering in her chest. The holiday toons' room cold clung to her body like hoarfrost, but each time she got to leave and spend time with them, she felt it all melt away. Even though she hadn't had the time to properly wake up, she wouldn't change place with anyone in the world.

Cosmo still smiling apologetically started "I think that- WAIT! Sprout! Did we forget the oven?!" The boom of his voice made Ginger jump.

The two looked at the other for answers. Sprout opened his mouth and quickly shut it with a yelp.

Cosmo was already off. He unwrapped himself from Ginger and took off to the elevator, squeezing past the crowd with greater power than before.

Sprout huffed and took chase. Surprisingly he had trouble keeping up with the cake-roll. He rushed between the toons, bumping and apologizing to all. Then the pink figure fully disappeared around the corner.

Amidst all the panic was Ginger. It all happened so fast that she was left blinking still trying to understand what transpired before her.

Left alone so suddenly made her realize how lonely the crowd felt. Only sparse amount of toons lingered. Everyone had already carried off to the lives of their own.

The cookie toon looked around in confusion and then huffed. Suppose besides the very eventful waking moments she was left to recollect herself on her own for the evening. Besides, Ginger mused, said emergency wouldn't be the last of her staying, rather the first of many, and dealing with the dirty kitchen covered with smoke was something she was glad to miss.

Eyes a lot less cloudy and mind a lot less foggy, she took to smoothing out her dress and fondant hair fully after the assaults of the rushed bakers. She grimaced at the vibrant, red stripes flowing down the fabric. She didn't really like the dress she chose for today, but figuring the colorful activities she'd be wrapped up in the sacrifice was worthy.

Just as the final edges were smoothed a gust of air was knocked out of her lungs as she was slammed against the wall.

In the hallway right next to her room, just out of the other toons' sight, something grabbed Ginger's arm and dragged her into the shadows.

A distinct chemical smell made her breath hitch. Covered by the dark a pair of empty eyes glared at her. Pale, white strands hang from above and lazily drooped over, once vibrant paint now a dark color, threatened to flake off at the ends. The face that owned them remained emotionless, like carved that way in marble. The cookie toon remained at the edge of the shadow, as if whoever this was couldn't stand in light.

"Hello Ginger." The strange toon spoke. A feminine voice, must be one of the female toons of Gardenview.

The toon in question locked eyes with her abductor in confusion. She stared, unable to formulate an answer. Her mind scrambled in thought. No toon would behave this way. Nearly everyone is immediately out of the question. Teagan? She would invite her to a tea party first. Vee? She would've spoken outright. If Connie were to spook her it would've been a lot more innocent. Proper horror is not what she prides herself in. Who could this possibly be?

"It's nice to finally get to know you." Ginger's thoughts screeched to a half. Again, a feminine voice, yet so very hoarse, as it's been a long time since she's spoken.

"Um.. It's nice to meet you too..?" Ginger mumbled, eyes flicking back and forth between her arm and the lingering few.

Then the mystery toon waited. Not for a response, it seemed, or anything at all. Her expressionless mien didn't falter. As if she were studying her captive. The abductee tried to tug her arm out of the grasps to no avail. What did this toon want?

"I've been meaning to ask you," She finally started, recapturing Ginger's attention "I was far too preoccupied the year before, however observing you on your escapades with those.." She rolled her eyes in disdain "charming friends of yours, I've become quite intrigued with your person" And with that the corners of her mouth slowly curled, forming something that of a smile. Something sinister.

The grasp on Ginger's wrist softened.

"Your kindness, so soft, yet so sickly sweet.. The karma, it comes back to harm you for naught."

Ginger retracted into herself at those words, her captor towering over her, the difference forcing them close.

"It's not good to sugarcoat, as sweet as it tastes. Especially if what you're trying to hide is your very person. Be careful not to get burnt."

Her voice now was but a whisper. She wove her words around around Ginger's heart, squeezing it out of breath. Confusion that swirled in her mind screamed for answers.

"That quality of yours is what i want to finally capture in a portrait of your person."

The strange someone finished, tilting her head in some sort of pride, revealing her fully contorted smile out of the shadow.

The cookie toon's mouth hung agape. Is that all? To corner her like this just to ask to be painted?

"Wh- I.. Um… Sure." She recollected herself, finally able to draw a breath "Yes, that's ok." She nodded slowly "You can paint me."

The artist squinted her eyes, chuckling dryly "I'm glad to hear that."

She finally let Ginger out of her grasps. "Tomorrow evening, if you have time." then threw out nonchalantly, as if making an appearance were a challenge "Wait by my room. I'll direct you to my studio."

The captured instinctively hugged her arm close.

She was itching to fully step back into the light and get away, but something in her intently listened.

Painting. Sugarcoat. Kindness. For naught. Sickly. Burnt.

Those words repeated like a rhyme in her head, thoroughly burned in with the sight those eyes held. They danced like the museum visiting children, happily stomping away, singing it like a song.

Ginger rubbed her wrist where the toon's hand lied. No bruising, but a lingering ache.

With a careful look back, she saw the mysterious figure make her way further into the shadow, fully engulfed in the dark.

She made her way down the hallway to the elevator, where a kinder place waited. As the baking duo could melt her worries away before, the icy cold that the artist toon embedded in her could not be thawed with icing on a cake.

Her eyes mindlessly looked towards the walls, avoiding the shadows, as if on instinct. Between the outdated posters hung a familiar face contorted in the purples and pinks of the abstract.