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“So, Charlie” Pim chimed “this is the circus!! Yayyy!! I love circuses!!”
“Dude remember, we’re here on a job, don’t get too excited” Charlie peeked past the entrance of the circus, looking inside. “Uh kinda empty… and big.” He was not looking forward to searching the place for whoever needed help.
Pim chimed in, noticing Charlie's annoyance. “Don’t worry Charlie, I’m sure we’ll find them eventually!”
The two walked into the tent for a bit, directionless, searching for any sign of life until a man appeared in front of Charlie. “Oh my god man you-“ he exhaled, catching his breath “you f[BLOINK]ing scared the sh[DOINK] out of me, oh man… f[SPLAT]… man… why’d you do that… ugh, seriously … sh[SQUISH]…”
“OKAY, ANYWAY, YOU MUST BE THE SMILING FRIENDS I BOUGHT!! MY NAME IS CAINE AND WELCOME!!” Caine announced, borderline yelling.
“Yes sir! Thank you sir! I’m Pim and this is Charlie, nice to meet you!” Pim cheered.
Charlie muttered to no one in particular “Bought?”
“FAAAAAAANTASTIC!!! I SURE HOPE YOU CAN PUT A SMILE ON MY LITTLE ZOOBLES FACE, THEY’VE BEEN QUITE THE GRUMP AS OF LATE!!!” Caine boomed.
Pim beamed. “Of course we can, sir! Just tell us where they are and we’ll do our thing!” Pim was in his element in this massive colourful world, as opposed to Charlie who was more cautious about the situation.
“OF COURSE, ALLOW ME!”
Suddenly, the three were teleported into a hall filled with doors that had large pictures of various wacky cartoon characters, some of which being X’d out. Probably nothing. The door in front of them showed a person with a pink triangle for a head and many unusual features.
“THEY ARE RIGHT IN THERE!” Caine informed the two “GOOD LUCK!” and with that he disappeared.
The two men just stood there for a few seconds, trying to shake off the remaining feeling of just being teleported. “Well…” Pim broke the silence much faster than Charlie wanted him to. “There’s no use in waiting around!” Pim exclaimed with likely false confidence as he rang the bell at the door, waiting for a response.
A faint voice was heard from inside, groggy as if whoever was in there had just woken up. “Ugh… Caine… go away…”
“We’re not Caine, we are the smiling friends! And we are here to make you smile!!!” Pim cheered, waving his arms in the air.
Charlie took a closer look at the picture on the door. “Dude, if this is them I don’t uh… I don’t think they have a mouth…”
“That’s nonsense, Charlie. Everyone has a mouth, if people didn’t have a mouth how would they smile?”
“… What-“ Charlie was cut off by the opening of the door, the person inside looked like absolute nonsense to say the least, like a kid’s toy box that threw up all over.
“Who…?” They grumbled.
Pim smiled. “Hello!! My name is Pim and this is Charlie and we are the smiling friends!”
“Yeah man, your uh… dad… boss… ringleader… teeth guy hired us to make you smile.”
The character stared at the two before stating “…I don’t have a mouth?”
Charlie gave Pim an ‘I told you so’ look that went unnoticed. “That doesn’t mean we can’t cheer you up still!” Pim objected, “May we come in?”
“Oh uh… sure… I guess.” The character walked in their room and out of the doorway allowing the two to enter before closing the door.
Pim seemed entranced by the many colourful things in the room, forcing Charlie to take the lead. “So uh, what’s your name, man?”
“Zooble,” they answered as they yanked a Zooble Arm™ out of Pim’s hands as he backed away muttering an apology.
“Cool… cool…” Charlie hissed through his teeth “and… um… what’s your deal, why are you- why are you uh… not smiling?”
Zooble groaned “Ugh… why are we doing this? Why make NPCs give me therapy? I thought we already did this.”
Charlie and Pim stared at them in confusion. “Dude, what are you talking about?” Charlie asked.
“Yeah, we’re not NPCs, we’re people.” Pim chimed in, a bit worried.
Zooble scoffed. “Yeah, and I bet your office building is a massive smiley face just down the road.”
“I don’t really see how that’s relevant.”
Charlie huffed, “Dude, I dunno how to prove to you that we’re people.”
“Maybe try not looking like that for a start.” Zooble gestured to the two of them. “And I’ve already heard the yellow one’s voice before, you got anything else to say or can you leave now?”
“I’m not quite sure why you think we aren’t real, I promise we’re just here to help.” Pim worried.
Zooble sighed. “I was kinda hoping Caine would actually try to help instead of sending NPCs to do the work he’s already done…”
“Huh… sh[BLOINK] okay.” Charlie grumbled. “Uh…- why are you looking at me like that.”
“Did… did you just swear?” Zooble said, taken aback.
Charlie replied, noticing engagement. “Uh… yeah, our boss told me about the censors, it sucks.”
“Does Caine… can they…” a strike of realization went across Zooble’s face. “You… how long have you guys been here?”
“About 10 minutes.” Pim looked at his watch.
“What…” Zooble thought for a moment. “Ok… fine, I’ll hear you guys out.”
“Yay!” Pim cheered as he pulled out a document. “Okay, apparently you’ve been very grumpy these past few years. Could you tell us why?”
“I dunno, probably cause I’m trapped in this circus in a body that I hate.”
Pim saddened at their words. “Aw, why don’t you like your body? I think it looks cool!”
“It’s just-… these removable parts. I can’t find any that I like.” They gestured to the box of Zooble Limbs™ before looking at themselves in one of the many mirrors that cover the walls of their room. “I’ve been picking between them ever since I got here and nothing feels right. And the way Caine talks about me? He acts like I’m some kind of f[BLOINK]ing marketable kids toy.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” Pim sympathized as he tried to think of a solution.
Charlie chimed in “We had a similar client once, and uh what helped him was witnessing mass accidental murder before becoming a prophet.”
“…what…?” Zooble mumbled.
“Oh!” Pim exclaimed. “You said you can’t find any pieces that you like, so how about you design your own?”
“That…” Zooble murmured, “…might actually work.”
After talking to the two men about it some more, Zooble went to Gangle to borrow some paper, after obtaining some they went back to their room. “Okay, I’ve got some paper.”
“Wonderful!” Pim cheered. “Would you like some help with designing them?”
Zooble grabbed a nearby pen. “I think I’d rather do this on my own.”
“Alright man, we’ll be uh… near the stage, so come see us when you’re done.” Charlie said as he and Pim left the room.
Pim and Charlie were sitting on a couch in the center of the main floor, talking about nothing in particular.
“And then Allan just started- just sucked on my nose and it was really weird, man.”
“What?”
Zooble then walked into their line of sight. “Hey, you weren’t near the stage.”
“Oh yeah, I’m sorry, we just thought sitting here would be more comfortable,” Pim explained.
“No worries,” Zooble assured, “I’m done designing the limbs and now I just have to have Caine make them.”
Charlie responded “Oh sweet, where is he?”
“ARE YOU GUYS TALKING ABOUT ME???” Caine popped in, excited.
“Oh my god- dude… you need to stop doing that” Charlie said, startled.
Zooble huffed. “Hey Caine, uh I designed some limbs and I was wondering if you could make them.” They handed him the papers.
Caine looked at them thoughtfully “WHY DO YOU WANT NEW ONES YOU ALREADY HAVE SO MANY!”
Pim explained “Because, sir, it’s not about the quantity, it’s about the quality. And if Zooble here wants to have one pair that matches how they feel then I think it’s important to make sure they feel comfortable with their body.”
“HM..” Caine hummed “ALRIGHT ALRIGHT, BUT DON’T SAY I NEVER DO ANYTHING FOR YOU.” He snapped his fingers and in a pile were a set of black limbs.
Zooble reached down and switched one of their arms for one. “Wow,” they mumbled, looking down at their new hand. “This feels… nice.” They smiled with their eyes.
Charlie whispered to Pim “Dude… does that count?”