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Glisten doesn’t know when it started. he isn’t sure when his memory started being so faulty.. maybe most would write it off as self-centeredness, they would think he’s too caught up in himself to notice details about others, maybe that was the truth… but Glisten? he couldn’t accept that. he couldn’t accept that he missed such importantly unimportant details. if asked, most toons would probably confirm that they don’t mind having to remind Glisten of basic details every now and then, “who cares, right?”, yet the mirror is sure that this is not a natural habit of his. he didn’t miss these things before, this is… new, just another problem piling up to the rest, a new entry in a really long list of little mistakes and issues that Glisten pretends not to care, or know, about. Yet, when he’s alone, vulnerable.. he can’t help but wonder… will he forget things about the people he cares about? or, even, about himself?
•
He shakes off the thought: it was impossible, who knew him better than he knew himself?
turns out, Rodger did. of course he did, he always did. something about how much the magnifying glass loved him got on the mirror’s nerves in just the right way. he may be resistant, he may postpone the inevitable conversations, but they still happen. Glisten has to be vulnerable with Rodger, there is no other choice, and he both loves and hates that.
•
And, right now, they were both in the mirror’s room, on the mirror’s bed, with the magnifying glass gently guiding Glisten’s hands over every nook and cranny of the mirror’s own body.
“what do you like about yourself? and don’t say something even close to “nothing”. nor “everything”. i want a detail here” Rodger said. he knew already that Glisten needed something like this, a moment to reflect, consider how he’s different from the mass.
“mh… how i keep my glass clean, so you better not touch it~” the mirror kept that tinge of playfulness he always had, even in a situation as devastating as this, trying to pretend like he hadn’t been bawling his eyes out in the detective’s arms minutes before.
“really now?” Rodger insisted, in fake disbelief. he knew how well groomed Glisten is, the toon would go feral over the most minimal smudge.
“you’re not actually asking that, of course i mean it!”
“uh uh… anything less predictable?” Rodger teased once again.
“mh..”
Glisten guided Rodger’s hand over his arm where he had a scar from an old run
“i like this. the… imperfections i get being attacked by twisteds usually don’t amuse me, but.. i got this one for a good cause.” Glisten whispered with a faint smile, a genuine one for once, so small yet so lovely, able to light up the detective’s whole world.
“what did you do to get this?”
“i defended you.”
the two looked up from the scar for a moment. Rodger had a faint memory of that run, he clearly wasn’t feeling his best that day… out of energy and ready to give up, Glisten had stepped in and gave him time to recover. they probably weren’t even dating yet…
•
Glisten moved his free hand to Rodger’s face, then down his neck and on his chest, and the detective took it in his own.
there was a brief moment of share, comfortable silence before their little guessing game started again, this time on Rodger’s body. Every little scar, wrinkle and imperfection telling a story, giving character that Glisten’s meticulous and anti-imperfections completion didn’t allow.
“do you remember this?” Rodger said, gently grazing an old scar of his. Glisten has a faint memory of it… surely during a run, but with who? against who? where they alone? with other toons? together or still single?
“uhm—“
“c’mon, you can do it, i know you can..” Rodger said, holding Glisten’s hand on top of the deep scar.
“this surely had to be during a run!..” he guessed confidently.
“correct. was it us two alone?”
“..i—“
“don’t say you don’t know. take your time, i’m sure you do know.” Rodger said firmly. reassurance always had to be firm, or Glisten wouldn’t believe it.
“…no, we weren’t” the mirror muttered, with an uncharacteristic lack of confidence only Rodger would get to witness.
“correct, who were we with?” the magnifying glass questioned further, his inquiries getting always a little more detailed.
“oh, dear, that’s a whole other level—“
“it’s completely within your range, Glisten.”
“maybe Toodles?”
“correct again. anyone else?”
“if this is what i think it is, then no?” he was starting to feel a faint memory of a run Toodles had insisted on, begging to go out there and research with her dad and his “new boyfriend” early in their relationship. Rodger had gotten in the way of a twisted he didn’t quite recall yet while trying to defend him, a braveness he had never seen before at that point in the relationship.
“you’re correct, it was just the three of us. against who?”
“ok, NOW you’re pushing your hand, Rodgie~” the sassier toon joked, his usual attitude back on full display.
“i really doubt it, but if you insist… can you at least recall why i got this?” Rodger asked, with a tone close to a plead, hoping Glisten still held onto enough of himself to remember his small act of love.
“to defend me, self sacrificial idiot…”
“look who’s talking!” the detective rebutted, taking hold of the mirror’s hand once again to move it from his scar to his mouth and laying a gentle kiss on it.
“as long as you remember this, then i’m happy.” the detective whispered, interlocking his fingers with Glisten’s.
“i suppose i’m happy to, as long as you’re still on my mind..”