Chapter Text
"Ooooo, Cinnamon's got a cruuuuuush~" Glowstick smirked as my face only grew even redder.
"Yeah, I get it! You think it's funny I like him," I huffed and crossed my arms, looking away, "Whatever. He's popular and lots of Toons and Cogs like him, I'm not the only one."
"You are the only one named Cinnamon who's my best friend and is currently so red your name should be changed to Tomato," Glowstick giggled.
"Shut up! Don't think I forgot about your crush on Alton," I tried to change the subject.
"The difference between you and me is I'm not embarrassed about my crush and I actually confessed to him. You, on the other hand, have just been stalking Graham for the past six months," Glowstick gestured to his shredder on my back, silently reminding me of the time I managed to convince him to autograph it.
"I don't stalk him! I'm just a big fan and attend some of his concerts..." I grew quiet.
"Then what about the time you spent over ten thousand Cogbucks for that backstage pass?" Glowstick kept teasing me.
"You know I'm loaded with Cogbucks since I infiltrate mints all the time so I can buy Cog products!"
"Then what's your excuse for the time you visited him all by yourself and literally let yourself be greened by him?"
"I was depressed that day already..."
"The time you saw him in public and took a photo of him?"
"He had a whole crowd of paparazzi! I wasn't the only one. Besides, I only took ONE picture!"
"The time you posted that really weird rant on Discord about what you think his personality is like where you had a lot of weird details about his personal life?"
"It's all public information, it's not that weird to know it if you're a fan of someone!"
"The time you personally saw to it that-"
"Noooooo no no no no no no don't finish that!"
"Then admit you stalk Graham Payser," Glowstick raised a brow at me.
"...Ugh, fine, I'm a creepy stalker fan of Graham Payser," I said in a sarcastic tone. I knew I was definitely one of the more dedicated fans, but I also knew there were people genuinely obsessed with him. Sure, my activities weren't necessarily the healthiest all the time, but they weren't the worst out there. I could still have a life without Graham Payser and things might be kinda dull, but I'd cope. Some fans made him their entire life's purpose.
"She thinks she's bad? Ha. Not even close."
Several months had passed since then, and I managed to become friends with none other than the Graham Payser himself. It'd started because of a complete freak accident because I accidentally ran into him- literally- out in public one day. He actually recognized me, and we talked for a few minutes before he gave me his freaking phone number. His freaking phone number!!! I fangirled a lot that night and had a phone call with him on speaker while Glowstick stayed silent just to prove to them I wasn't lying. We talked occasionally until it became more and more frequent, and after a while the initial butterflies began to fade away. I still saw him on a pedestal since he really did have superhuman capabilities with his incredible speed, not to mention how amazing he was at writing and playing music.
As me and Graham became closer and closer friends, Glowstick suddenly started telling me that there was something wrong with him. I asked them what they meant, and they said he was hanging out with me for way too long and that he was starting to kind of control me. I tried to brush them off as just wanting to hang out with me more often again, but when I went on a walk with them I realized they were right. Graham had been subtly leading me into spending more and more time with him and convincing me to spend less and less with my friends, especially Glowstick. I suggested that maybe he wasn't doing it on purpose and Glowstick seemed hesitant, but they agreed that having a civil discussion about it was worth a shot.
I told Graham about my concerns and he seemed genuinely surprised, but he agreed that maybe we could spend a little less time together all the time. He seemed to be genuinely hurt underneath it all, which pained me to see, but at the same time he still held up a confident front and aura and smugly said he'd use the extra time to write a song so good it'd absolutely blow me away with his talents. Glowstick seemed happy with that answer, and the topic was dropped afterwards. Me and Graham hung out a little less frequently, but in quantity we made up for in quality. Or... uh... sometimes just going really fast if Graham wanted to do a lot of stuff that day.
And that brings us to today.
"Ugh... I'm exhausted. How are you still running in place, dude?" I asked.
"Having trouble keeping up? You know we just got past the warm-up, right?" Graham snickered at me. He showed no signs of being tired.
"It's sunset, there's no way you're actually 'just getting past the warm-up.' If you haven't noticed, Toons have a lot of endurance but even I can't keep up with literally sprinting around the city all day," I sighed, my rabbit ears drooping.
"Well, I don't want you to slow me down!" Graham huffed a bit and seemed to only think for a split second before grabbing my hand and sprinting off, "This will work!"
"Woah!! Oh my Cog!!!" I cried out in surprise as Graham almost literally dragged me, him running so fast my eyes physically could not keep up with the scenery around us. It was all a blur and it started to make me dizzy and completely disoriented, and I started to feel sick. Then, my toon panel updated to inform me I had hurry sickness as my laff meter took 35 points of damage.
"You gotta keep up!" Graham taunted me when my laff meter took the hit, slowing down only a little bit for my sake. It was still greatly appreciated as it was just enough for me to keep up enough with what was going on to not feel so sick anymore.
By the time we made it to our destination, my laff meter had regained a few laff points and the hurry sickness was gone. We were at a nice, somewhat fancy restaurant that I'd mentioned once in passing that I'd really like to try some day. Had Graham really remembered that?
Whatever the case was, Graham slowed down to a halt effortlessly while he had to catch me before I fell to the ground since I was not able to stop so easily. Once I was stabilized, we walked inside and got seated. The waiter took our orders, and I wondered how Graham would fare while waiting for the food to arrive. Usually, it was only fast or pre-made meals with him since he'd get so impatient waiting for actual food to cook. The answer? A lot of fidgeting, a lot of fidget toys, a lot of talking really fast to me and then having to repeat himself slower so I could understand him, and right when I thought he was about to break, our food finally arrived.
"Finally!" Graham failed to use proper manners as he immediately started eating.
I sighed and looked at the waiter, "Sorry about him, he's very impatient. Thanks for bringing out our food."
"It's okay! Enjoy your food!" the waiter smiled and then walked away, and I started eating my food... at a much slower rate.
"Woah, what the hell? The sky looks red?!" I rushed to the window to look at the sky, worried there was a huge forest fire or something. As I looked around in concern, I was quickly relieved to discover it’d only looked red from the window because the neighbors had set up a bonfire in their yard along with the fact it was sunset.
But then... I realized the tree next to my window looked... off from my peripheral vision.
I looked directly at the tree only to stare in bewilderment as I saw none other than Graham Payser. I could only stare in complete shock for a few seconds, but after some thinking, I slowly opened the window so I could talk to him.
"Graham? What the hell are you doing in my yard at this hour?" I asked.
"Well, I was gonna knock on the window to scare you, but you randomly went up to the window! So, yeah, plan ruined. Oh well, you still get to see my beautiful looks again~" Graham smirked as he played off the fact he was on my property completely unannounced.
"Uhhh... then why are you carrying binoculars?" I raised a brow.
Graham hid the binoculars behind his back in the blink of an eye and said, "What are you talking about? Did you lose braincells?"
"Were you like, watching me or something?" I ignored his attempts at deflection.
"HA! Do you really think you'd be that important? Don't flatter yourself, Cinnamon. You're lucky I even consider you my friend," Graham laughed at my 'stupidity.'
"Okay, you only get like that when you're really embarrassed or insecure about something. Spill the beans," I said.
Graham only continued to laugh, "Me? Embarrassed and insecure? Now you're getting delusional!"
Just then, a piece of paper fell out of Graham's pocket and landed perfectly on my windowsill. I immediately snatched it up, somehow managing to get there even before Graham despite him sprinting. He tried to reach through the window to get it back, but I shut and locked the window so I could read it in peace. He knocked on the window and tried to get my attention, but I ignored him.
Activity log for 1. October, 2023.
2:07 - Cinnamon went to sleep. I left.
11:01 - I arrived 14 minutes early.
11:15 - Cinnamon woke up to her alarm.
11:17 - Cinnamon started making bacon and eggs for breakfast.
11:46 - Cinnamon finished making breakfast and started eating.
12:03 - Cinnamon finished eating breakfast.
12:06 - Cinnamon finished rinsing off her dishes and got ready for the day.
I only had the heart to glance over the rest as it detailed every single thing I'd done today- even when I left my estate to do ToonTasks. Graham had been… watching me the entire time… and documenting it for some reason.
I looked at the window to see that Graham had taken off his glasses and was staring at me very intensely. After reading what I'd just read, it was incredibly scary... but still kind of hot.
...
...
...
Is that really how it happened?
I blinked in surprise, wondering where that thought had come from. That's literally my memory, though. What do I mean is that really how it happened?
The thought bothered me and I couldn't make it go away as it only got louder and louder. Is that really how it happened?
Is that really how it happened?
What… was happening? What’s wrong with me?!
Suddenly, memories started flooding back to me one after another. They were just like the memories I already had-
Well, not quite?
"Ooooo, Cinnamon's got a cruuuuuush~" Glowstick smirked as my face only grew even redder.
"Yeah, I get it! You think it's funny I like him," I huffed and crossed my arms, looking away, "Whatever. He's popular and lots of Toons and Cogs like him, I'm not the only one."
"You are the only one named Cinnamon who's my best friend and is currently so red your name should be changed to Tomato," Glowstick giggled.
"Shut up! Don't think I forgot about your crush on Alton," I tried to change the subject.
"The difference between you and me is I'm not embarrassed about my crush and I actually confessed to him. You, on the other hand, have just been stalking Dave for the past six months," Glowstick gestured to his saxophone on my back, silently reminding me of the time I managed to convince him to autograph it.
...
I somehow became friends with Graham Payser of all people. It'd started because of a complete freak accident because I accidentally ran into him- literally- out on the streets of Drowsy Dreamland one day. He recognized me from our battles, and we talked for a few minutes before he gave me his... phone number? I wasn't sure why he'd done it, but I decided to just kinda roll along with it anyways. I didn’t really care much for him, but he seemed like he was… maybe genuinely interested in me as a Toon? Whatever the case was, I decided to give him a phone call that night. We talked occasionally until it became more and more frequent, and after a while the initial confusion began to fade away.
As me and Graham became closer and closer friends, Glowstick suddenly started telling me that there was something wrong with him. At first I defended Graham, but the more I started to think about the past couple of months I realized they were right. Graham had been distancing me from all of my friends, especially Glowstick, more and more. I was worried he had much more sinister plans, but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and try to have an adult conversation with him about it. If he ended up just being weird about it or something, I could easily go no contact and not look back.
I told Graham about my concerns and he scoffed and told me that Glowstick was just making stuff up out of jealousy. He tried to twist their words and make me doubt Glowstick even cared about me at all, but I immediately called out his bullshit and didn’t bother to look back.
...
Just then, a piece of paper fell out of Graham's pocket and landed perfectly on my windowsill. I immediately snatched it up, somehow managing to get there even before Graham despite him sprinting. He tried to reach through the window to get it back, but I shut and locked the window so I could read it in peace.
Activity log for 1. October, 2023.
2:07 - Cinnamon went to sleep. I left.
11:01 - I arrived 14 minutes early.
11:15 - Cinnamon woke up to her alarm.
11:17 - Cinnamon started making bacon and eggs for breakfast.
11:46 - Cinnamon finished making breakfast and started eating.
12:03 - Cinnamon finished eating breakfast.
12:06 - Cinnamon finished rinsing off her dishes and got ready for the day.
I only had the heart to glance over the rest as it detailed every single thing I'd done today- even when I left my estate to do ToonTasks. Graham had been watching me this entire time… and documenting it for some reason.
I looked at the window to see that Graham had taken off his glasses and was staring at me very intensely. After reading what I'd just read, it was incredibly scary... and I wanted nothing more than to run away. Despite that, with my Toony gloves slightly trembling, I opened the window and asked, "Why... have you been stalking me?"
Graham froze for a moment before suddenly lunging towards me…
…
And my memory cuts out after that.
...
"You can't just leave me hostage in here forever! Do you really think the Resistance won't send Toons looking for me? What are you gonna do about them, huh?" I snarled at Graham, trying to bite his hand as he pet me but he easily moved away in time.
"Do you really think they'll be a match for ME? You know how strong I am, you couldn't even defeat me once," Graham chuckled.
I huffed and defiantly wiggled around in the rope, but I'd already long given up on actually escaping them. Even in the few times I had, Graham had always spotted me and I can't outrun him. It was starting to make me lose hope and also starting to make me wonder if he was letting me escape on purpose just to catch me and make me even more miserable as escape would seem less and less likely. If he was, it was working.
I genuinely wanted to die.
...
I staggered backwards, completely messing up the dance routine and making Graham have to catch me before I fell on my ass. He looked at me with a bit of a scoff and said, "You haven't messed that up, ever. What happened?"
How did I even begin to communicate my conflicting memories?
How did I tell him that some of my memories said he was the hottest boyfriend ever while some of them said he was a dangerous stalker who kidnapped me and forced me into this? What was I even supposed to believe anymore? Which of these… memories of mine are real? Which was fake? Why do I remember two completely different versions of my life? Why can’t I tell which one is real?!
"I... I don't know," I managed to stammer out, instinctively taking steps backwards and away from him. Something was now beginning to feel... eerie and fake.
"Are you okay?" Graham's voice changed into one of concern.
I opened my mouth to respond, but instead I let out a loud gasp as another memory overtook me.
"Hahahaha, you think you don't like me, huh? HA! That's a lie and I can make it one even if it's true right now!" Graham grinned widely, holding a device of some kind in his hand. He looked at it for a few seconds and started pushing buttons.
"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked in a flat tone of voice.
"Simple! I'm gonna change your memories so it's all about ME. All you should ever remember is me, anyways."
“You can’t change memories, that’s sci-fi,” I rolled my eyes. This was just another one of his stupid attempts to scare me into no longer trying to run away from him.
“Don’t believe me, huh? Whatever, you won’t even remember this conversation happened.”
"I... I... I need some fresh air," I meekly lied. Graham was holding me since I’d almost fallen over again, and he seemed to hesitantly let me to my feet.
“Okay, but don’t take long,” Graham seemed to kind of grumble. He quickly changed to a worried expression and added, “It’s cold outside tonight! I don’t want you catching a Toon cold or something… I don’t have any medicine for that.”
“It’s okay, I’ll only be outside for a couple minutes,” I forced myself to smile and kiss Graham on the cheek, and then I stepped outside. My mind was screaming for me to get away from Graham right now , and the thoughts were only getting stronger and stronger with each passing second.
Did Graham… change my memories? Is that why I have two completely different life stories?
I looked through the window to inside the All Star Suites, which had been my home for… I wasn’t really sure, actually. Graham seemed to be frantically searching for something, so I moved a little closer to the window and managed to hear him talking to himself.
“...wearing off! Where is it, where is it?! She’s gonna run away and I’m gonna have to kidnap her again!”
Well, I think he just unknowingly told on himself.
I need to run. Now.
I made sure Graham hadn’t seen me yet, but I still made sure to walk in case he peeked outside the window. But once it was completely out of my sight, I bolted away as fast as I could. I didn’t have a Shticker book or gags, but that was okay. I could start a new life for myself… start all over as a proper Toon.
As I ran, more memories started to come back to me.
Over the course of several weeks I'd managed to loosen the ropes up just enough so I could slip my gloved hands out of the knot, but I only did it when Graham wasn't looking. I was planning my escape.
I ran and ran and ran for what felt like hours. I didn't bother to try to remember where I was going, instead only focusing on putting as much distance between me and the All Star Suites as possible. The further away I was from Graham, the better. Maybe, just maybe... I'd even be able to speak to Glowstick again.
I smiled and looked away as Graham gently grabbed my hands. I could tell I was blushing and I was sure he was enjoying every second of this moment.
Maybe I'd be able to have a normal life and figure out just how many of my memories he’d changed. How much time had passed? Which memories of mine were fake and which were real?
Did I even have a friend named Glowstick?
I stopped in my tracks.
How much of my life's memories were real?
"Trying to escape, are we?" Graham frowned.
"You know I was gonna try to do it eventually," I scoffed, not bothering to wait for him to reply as I just made a run for it. Waiting for Graham to move first would be a guaranteed way to get caught by him again.
I started running again. I didn't have the time or mental energy to think about that right now. I just... needed to keep running. I just had to keep running. Keep going. Once I knew I was safe, I could think about all of that. I could sort out what was real and fake.
"Wow, that was... magical," I managed to say between breaths. I didn't realize Graham could kiss so... perfectly.
Suddenly, I collapsed to the ground. I let out a quiet yelp as I hit the ground, losing a single laff point. I tried to get up, but I was too exhausted from all the running to really even move. My legs felt like noodles, and my arms would only tremble under my weight before quickly giving out as well.
I was stuck... alone. In the middle of the Drowsy Dreamland outskirts. All that lay around me were a few scattered buildings, trees, and a dense fog from so many clouds. It was dead silent and it felt like the entire world around me was truly asleep.
I didn't mind being alone. I didn't mind the fact that I didn't know where I was. I was free and that was enough to make me grin. I could rest here and find my way back home when I had my strength back.
I rolled over so I was on my back and looked up at the beautiful night sky, admiring all of the stars. As I panted quietly and tried to regain my strength, I started thinking back to all of my memories of my life again.
Glowstick… Glowstick… Glowstick… are they even real?
It was all I could seem to think of.
They’re my childhood friend. They have to be real, right…?
Well… I don’t really have a way of knowing.
I lay there for many hours thinking about my life, enjoying the blissful silence. Well, at least I think it was hours. However long it really was, I drifted off to sleep during that time.
When I woke up, I could feel someone’s arms around me. Fearing the worst, I opened my eyes only to be face to face with Graham Payser.
"Cinnamon... were you trying to run away from me? Tsk, tsk, tsk... how pathetic."
I wasn't free.
"Cinnamon! Oh my Cog, Cinnamon!!! It's really you!!!" a bright pink dog ran up to me and hugged me tightly. I hesitated before hugging them back, not really understanding what was going on.
"Um... hi? Who... are you? Why do you know my name?" I asked.
"What?! It's me, Glowstick!" the bright pink dog gasped.
"I don't remember any Toons with that name. I haven't really met a whole lot of other Toons before, so... I really doubt we've ever met," I shrugged.
"What's going on, Cinnamon?" Graham walked downstairs, and at the sight of the pink dog he seemed to get upset. He sprinted so he was in front of me and said to the dog, "You stay away from her. You've done horrible, horrible things and the last thing I need you to do is start spreading lies to my girlfriend."
"Girlfriend...?" the dog, apparently Glowstick, seemed incredibly shocked and even horrified to hear that word. What the hell was their problem? Didn't they know how to mind their own business? Well, probably not considering the 'horrible, horrible' things Graham had alluded to them doing. Glowstick took a few steps back and said, "This... what have you done to her? What did you do to Cinnamon?"
"What are you talking about? Stop trying to make every Toon in existence think they know you and then start asking for all their money until it leaves them homeless and bankrupt. Everyone knows your scam at this point," Graham scoffed.
I couldn't stand to hear the two of them bickering, so I ran up to mine and Graham's bedroom and didn't come out until the dog was gone.
I hugged Graham and asked, "What the hell was that all about?"
"Just a nasty con artist. Don't pay that trashy dog any mind," Graham said as he started to pet my ears.
"Okay. ...Hey, do you wanna play on the Wii?"