shinkothetoongirl – Page 3 – Siblings-a-Fixin'

Shinko giggled, “Aww! Of course you can have my autograph!” Although
she couldn’t recall if she had ever written in cursive before, she still
managed to sign the notepad before giving the items back to Cat
Slime. “Here you go! And, actually… would it be okay if I took a picture
with you?”

Crystal shook her head, smiling at seeing how Shinko was enjoying
herself. “Mostly getting acclimated. Still need to show Shinko a few
places before I set her loose on exploring. I’ve been mostly keeping
busy working at the police station. But since we’re in a small town,
that means it mostly involves watching out for certain people if they
get into trouble…” she replied, glancing back at Belial, who narrowed
their eyes in return.

Cat Slime clutched the notepad tightly with his ear-like nubs, squeaking gleefully. He gasped as Shinko asked for a picture with him, and his green eyes took on a definite star shape as he nodded enthusiastically, squeaking for the Repairman to get a camera.

The Repairman, it turned out, was one step ahead of his pet, and was busy setting up an old-looking camera on a tripod.

“All right,” he said, twisting a dial, “you have ten seconds before it takes a picture. And…” (pushing a button after a moment’s thought) “you should get ten photos from this, so do a bunch of poses!“

He noticed the tension between Crystal and Belial, and hoped he could do something to at least distract one of them for a moment. Besides, he needed something.

“You wouldn’t happen to have any meringue, would you?” he quietly asked Belial. “I kinda promised Cat Slime over there some…”

Click. Photo #1 was taken, and was whirring out into a handy little tray. The timer began ticking for another ten seconds.

Shinko giggled as she knelt down to slowly pick up the pen and
notepad. “Are you asking me to sign my name? Or did you want me to draw
something? Cause I’m not a good artist…”

Crystal chuckled a bit. “He is pretty adorable. What exactly did you tell him, though?” she asked the Repairman.

Cat Slime could only keep squeaking enthusiastically, to the point that even someone who understood Slime would have issues keeping up. He bounced up and down happily as Shinko took his notepad.

“…I think he wants your autograph,” the Repairman finally said. “I… sorta mentioned how you were a star in several adventures and a co-host in a show. He really likes that kind of stuff.”

He chuckled.

“…So, uh…what have you guys been doing lately?”

Shinko gasped a bit when she saw the Cat Slime. “Oh my gosh, it’s adorable! I didn’t know you had a kitty, Mr. Repairman!”

Crystal placed a hand on her hip with a small smile. “A cat slime, huh…?”

Shinko slowly stepped over to grab the scraper before handing it to the Repairman.

“Yeah, got him a few months ago,” he said, happily. “Oh, thanks.”

He pried himself off the wall with a pop! and went over to his toolbox to check on his oddly-behaving pet.

“Don’t know why he’s acting like this. He’s usually more willing to meet new-”

He was cut off when Cat Slime burst out of the box, frantically squeaking and dashing towards Shinko.

He squeaked excitedly, and now that he stopped moving they could all see that he was carrying a pen and notepad on his head.

As Cat Slime continued “speaking” excitedly, the Repairman suddenly understood.

“Heh,” he said, sheepishly. “I…may have mentioned you once or twice.”

Shinko giggled a bit at the scenario as Crystal quirked an eyebrow.

“Umm… need any help there, Repairman?” Crystal asked, frowning a bit.

“No, no,” the Repairman waved her off. “I think I got something here!”

He took the glue-and-newspaper-covered mop and jammed it into the crack.The accidental papier-mache fit quite well, and after sawing off the handle, the inkblot looked at his handiwork, satisfied.

He turned to put the wooden pole and saw back into his toolbox, but found he couldn’t move very far without being yanked back by his arm.

“What…? Oh.”

He found that his arm was stuck to the Wall. Of course.

He sighed and gave a weak smile to Crystal and Shinko, before snapping his fingers in realization.

“Hey, Cat Slime!” he called out. “I’ll buy you some meringue if you get me that scraper!”

A few squeaks and a rustling sound later, and a small grey slime emerged from the blue toolbox, with a metal scraper in his mouth. He had green eyes, black stripes, and had two appendages shaped like cat ears.

He was halfway done bounding over to the Repairman when he saw Shinko and dropped the scraper. His eyes widened as he shook with excitement before hurriedly dashing back into the toolbox.

The inkblot could only blink in surprise.

“Heh. Blob of mystery, I guess,” Crystal noted, amused.

After
taking a few bites of food, Shinko glanced over to see the glue
puddle. “Um, Mr. Repairman…?” she called out, pointing at the glue
puddle.

“…I guess so,” the Repairman chuckled. “Can’t pull off dark or brooding, though. Sorry.”

He turned towards Shinko.

“Hmm…OH!”

He jumped back, tilting the glue bottle right-ways up. The puddle, luckily, was still on the newspaper, but just barely, and the inkblot wasn’t about to take chances. Pulling a mop and bucket from his toolbox (both of which were oddly low-poly), he began to pick up the lost glue.

That is, until the whole thing got stuck to the mop. He picked it up in annoyance, trying to shake it off to no avail. He stopped after a second, looking at the crack in the Wall thoughtfully.

“Hmm…”

“So uh… I have a lot of questions. Like, where you’re from. And also
about the Fourth Wall. Is it just…everywhere or what…?” Crystal asked,
folding her arms as she watched the Repairman go about his business.

Shinko smiled a bit as she decided to ask Belial for something to eat and drink.

“Where I’m from?”

The Repairman paused for thought.

“…Not sure…I mean, from a pen, yeah, but…huh…”

He shrugged.

“I couldn’t tell ya. As for the Wall…”

He took a moment to look around.

“…I mean…” he began, uncertainly. He didn’t ever really ask questions like that; he just did his job. “…More like it’s…wherever? I think? I dunno…”

As he mused about this, he failed to notice that he was holding the glue bottle upside-down. It soon spilled into a small puddle on the newspaper, and it was growing…

shinkothetoongirl:

askthefwrp:

“Huh…”

He hadn’t really thought of Shinko to be the type to need guardians. Well, she was a kid again, but still...

As he kept digging for some kind of glue (where was it?), he shook himself out of that thought and smiled.

“Aw, that sounds pretty nice!”

Finally, he pulled out a large bottle of mucilage and turned back to the group.

“Here it i…oh,” he said, before shifting gears. “Heh, sorry.”

The Repairman gestured vaguely around where Crystal had been.

“Yeah, they’re over around there,” he said. Realizing what he just heard, he looked at Crystal quizzically.

“…Wait, you don’t see it?” he asked. “…Maybe give it a second…?”

“They’re not Toons,” Shinko explained with a sheepish grin and a shrug. “But, uh, Mr. Repairman…. do you need us to get out of your way while you work? I’ve never actually watched you patch up the Fourth Wall before, I don’t think.”

Crystal looked slightly confused as she glanced back at Belial.

“Do you have any idea what he’s talking about, Belial?” Crystal asked the demon woman.

“I don’t really care. So long as he doesn’t make a mess of my cafe, he can do what he wants,” the masked demon replied irritably as she turned her backs to them, her wings more or less obscuring herself as she continued to work.

“Hmm?”

The Repairman pretty much thought of EVERYONE he met as a Toon of some kind, even if they weren’t very…well, traditionally TOONY at times. Maybe that’s all Shinko meant. It would make sense that some more down-to-earth Toons would have a harder time seeing the Wall.

“Ah, okay,” he said, nodding knowingly at Shinko. “Anyway, uh, I shouldn’t need THAT much space, thanks. I think I can just glue this one shut….I mean, if you want to see me work, sure…”

He shrugged and headed over to the spot next to where Crystal was. Realizing the glue could probably make a mess of the cafe, he pulled out a rolled-up newspaper and unfurled it under the crack.

“Bedlam and the rest of the shadow demon clan are still trying to get
acquainted with the new territory. They’re so used to hiding away from
everyone that they’re still getting used to the idea that they’re all
welcome as they are,” Crystal replied, curiously watching the Repairman.

“Falcon and Crystal are basically my guardians now. I live with them. They’ve both been really great,” Shinko giggled.

“Heh…I’m
glad to hear that. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if me and Falcon could
handle having a kid like you around…but you’ve been awesome too,”
Crystal noted with a smile.

Shinko smiled back as Crystal started to get closer to see what the Repairman is doing.

“So uh… where is it, anyways? I didn’t see or hear anything crack…” Crystal told the Repairman.

“Huh…”

He hadn’t really thought of Shinko to be the type to need guardians. Well, she was a kid again, but still...

As he kept digging for some kind of glue (where was it?), he shook himself out of that thought and smiled.

“Aw, that sounds pretty nice!”

Finally, he pulled out a large bottle of mucilage and turned back to the group.

“Here it i…oh,” he said, before shifting gears. “Heh, sorry.”

The Repairman gestured vaguely around where Crystal had been.

“Yeah, they’re over around there,” he said. Realizing what he just heard, he looked at Crystal quizzically.

“…Wait, you don’t see it?” he asked. “…Maybe give it a second…?”

“Oh, no, no,” Crystal interrupted before Belial could say anything. “Falcon
…” She glared at Belial for a moment before looking back towards the
Repairman. “…and his clan are not an issue. And now I think I remember
you. You came by when Falcon, Bedlam and I were having a Halloween
party, right?” she asked.

Belial rolled her eyes, placing a hand on her hip as she watched the conversation go on.

Shinko blinked as she looked towards the Repairman, curious as to what his response would be.

The Repairman tilted his head slightly, trying to place Crystal’s face. Slowly, everything clicked.

“…Wait…yeah, that’s right! Hey!” he waved. “Sorry, didn’t recognize you in that outfit!”

He turned to address both her and Shinko.

“I didn’t know you two had the same creator!” he remarked. “What a small multiverse it is!”

He laughed to himself, digging into his cart for some glue. As he did so, he asked, “So how you two been? How’re those shadow guys…?”

“Sorry about that,” Shinko giggled nervously. “I mean, I know things
can get meta sometimes there, but I didn’t think it would be happening
so quickly…”

As soon as they reached the entrance, she opened
the door for the Repairman to follow. Shinko glanced inside to see that
Crystal and Belial had been chatting before they turned their attention
to the Toons.

“Oh, hey Shinko. Who’s that blob behind you?” Crystal asked.

“He’s not another shadow demon, is he? We already have a lot of those hanging around,” Belial noted.

“No,
no, he’s my friend, the Fourth Wall Repairman. I call him Mr.
Repairman. He’s a Toon, like me!” Shinko replied with a smile.

“Fourth
Wall… oh geez, was it because we were talking about Belial’s old
boyfriends? They were all from different worlds and different
roleplays,” Crystal replied, looking down at the blob.

“Eh, it happens,” he shrugged. He just happy for an excuse to be here legitimately.

As he followed Shinko in, he could have sworn he’d seen that woman before…He chalked it up to déjà vu

and gave a small wave.

“Heh, that’ll do it,“ he winced as she mentioned roleplays.

As he pulled in his cart, he stopped to look at the apparent owner of this cafe.

“Wait, are shadow demons an issue around here?”