Chapter Text
Gangle sat on the curb just outside of the local McDonalds, questioning how her life took such a drastic turn in a minute amount of time. After several complaints from both customers and her own coworkers, upper management decided that Gangle wasn't the best fit for a shift manager. She didn't mean to scare anyone away, nor did she mean to boss anyone around. The stress of her job was just too much for her to handle, as deep down in her heart, she wanted to create her own manga-inspired web comic. Sadly, the ribbon-bodied 26 year old told herself that wasn't a realistic career, and so she wound up in fast food. Her unhappiness was placed onto everyone else around her, something she wished she could go back and fix. However, the young adult was far too late in doing so, as in that very moment, she was jobless, low on money, and on top of that, her car wouldn't start.
"Shit..." Gangle mumbled to herself, agitated that misfortune kept piling up on her all at once. She looked around, searching for anyone that could've possibly been of use to her situation. Nobody. She couldn't just go back into her old place of work either, imagine how embarrassing that would be. Ultimately, her body thought for her, beginning to roam the streets of Caine City.
Gangle walked and walked for what seemed like forever, until she suddenly came to a stop in front of a well-decorated bar. She fished her wallet out of her pocket, opening it up to find two crisp twenty dollar bills, along with a little bit of change. Her final paycheck wouldn't be payed out to her until the following week, and it was a Friday night, so what did she have to lose? She walked right on into the bar, still in her shift-manager uniform. Gangle made her way to the counter, sitting down on a barstool and looking up at the variety of drinks on the menu. After a few minutes, an individual with a pink triangle for a head approached her from the opposite side of the counter.
"Hey, aren't you the manager of that McDonald's down the street?" The person said, their name tag reading "Zooble". In addition to that, smaller text was under their name, reading "Any pronouns". Gangle turned her attention away from the menu, and to the bartender in front of her. They had such a smooth talking voice, like you could just listen to it for hours and never get bored. Not to mention, those half-lidded eyes were just so mysterious... and hot. Gangle didn't know what she was looking at when she first gazed at the person behind the counter, but whatever the toy box character was, it was working for them. As Gangle continued to get lost in some rather odd thoughts, the bartender spoke up again:
"Uhm, hello? Are you planning on ordering anything, or are you just gonna sit there and stare?" Zooble was the type of person to not take shit from anyone, and so they'd always speak up in weird situations. Another thing they hated was people staring at their wacky appearance for too long. Sure, everyone in the city looked strange, but... let's just say they had a very poor self image. They hated their body, along with all of the removable pieces that came with it. So, as Gangle got lost in her trance. Zooble grew more impatient.
"What the hell are you doing...?" Zooble asked, a hint of irritation evident in their voice. That was enough to snap Gangle out of her thoughts. A red blush appeared on her theater mask, and she shook her head violently.
"S-sorry about that! I've just been all out of sorts today, I didn't mean to offend you..." She shouted, heavily embarrassed. Zooble shook off that annoyance and let out a tired sigh.
"You're okay, I get it." Zooble says understandingly, looking around the building to observe how busy it was. Everyone looked occupied and happy for the most part, so they turned back to Gangle.
"How about I get you a drink and you can talk to me about it? I know it's unusual telling a stranger about your problems, but you'd be surprised how much it can help."
"W-would that... be okay...?" Gangle asked timidly.
"Of course. Now, do you have any idea of what you want, or should I recommend you something?" Zooble looked down at Gangle, waiting for an answer.
"If I'm being completely honest, I just walked in here on impulse, so..." She laughed awkwardly. Zooble laughed along with her before speaking:
"Okay then, does our winter margarita sound good? It has a kick of pomegranate and cranberry in it, and it's super popular around this time."
Gangle thought for a second before replying.
"That'll be perfect, thank you. Can you add that to my tab, I think I'll be here awhile."
"You got it... uhm... what's your name?" Zooble questioned, curiously.
"Oh, I completely forgot to introduce myself...! My name's Gangle. And yours must be... Zoo-ble? Did I say that right?" She looked up from Zooble's name-tag to confirm.
"That's right. I'll be back with your marge soon." They smiled down at Gangle before walking away. Once Zooble was out of sight, she let out a sigh and laid her head down on the counter.
"God, I'd like to take them home with me." Except Gangle quickly realized she didn't say that in her head when what appeared to be a rag-doll spoke up:
"Are you talking about Zooble?" She asked. Gangle immediately shot her head over to look at the woman sitting beside her.
"W-what?! I didn't say anything...! W-who are you...?!" Gangle blushed beet red once again, covering her face with her thin, ribbon arms. The woman laughed.
"I'm sorry if I startled you or anything, I was just interested is all! If I'm being completely honest, Zooble needs to put themself out there more. It's not healthy to just be on your own and bottle things up constantly." She said, her voice filled with a tinge of sadness and worry, contrasting her friendly, smiling face. Gangle tilted her theater mask head, looking puzzled (and slightly concerned).
"S-so... you're a friend of theirs?" She asked, her interest piqued. The rag-doll smiled before replying.
"Oops, I completely forgot to introduce myself! I'm Ragatha, it's really nice to meet you—!" She is quickly interrupted by a familiar voice:
"Ragatha, what're you doing talking to her...?" They asked skeptically. The doll always tried setting Zooble up with people, therefore, her intentions were crystal clear. Their eyes narrowed as they looked toward Gangle, setting the margarita down in front of her.
"Be honest, did she send you here?"
"I—what? Send me here...?" Gangle spoke, being in a state of genuine confusion before taking a couple sips of her drink. Zooble looked over at Ragatha.
"Just be honest with me, you know I don't like when you go and do things like this."
"Zooble, I promise!" Ragatha said with pure honesty.
"You said that the last time... and the time before that... and then the time before THAT." They recalled.
"Oh come on, you know it's only because I care about you! I want you to have a love life, to see how great you truly are!" Ragatha spoke kindly.
"I appreciate that a lot, I do, but I don't need your help. If someone comes along, I'll see how things go, but I'm doing well on my own for now." Zooble said, masking a tinge of sadness within their sentence. Ragatha sighed.
"You're telling me you offered to listen to this girls problems while shes practically drooling at the sight of you, and you aren't even SLIGHTLY interested?" She inquired. Gangle quickly chugged her drink after that, already feeling a bit woozy. They were talking like she wasn't sitting right there!
"Another drink please!" Gangle slammed the cup down on the counter, clearly flustered and somehow already tipsy. Zooble and Ragatha immediately snapped their heads in Gangle's direction, shocked.
"Already? Are you sure you can handle another?" Zooble looked slightly surprised at the early signs of drunkenness coming out of the twenty six year old.
"I'm not a lightweight, I c-can handle it!" Gangle shouted, extremely out of character. Zooble nodded hesitantly as they went to go make another margarita. Ragatha turned her body towards Gangle again.
"Sorry again, I didn't mean to put you in an awkward spot..."
"You're okay, no need t-to apologize...!" The ribbon-bodied woman said. Ragatha shook her head.
"No, no, I was in the wrong. Well, me and Zooble both..."
Zooble eventually came back with a second margarita, and they talked for quite some time. Gangle told the two everything about her day, and the alcohol in her system made her say it all in full detail ... Then a third margarita was delivered, which made the effects even stronger. After leaving Gangle unattended for some time, they came back a little later to find her completely wasted.
"I thought you said you weren't a lightweight..." Zooble spoke, as if disappointed. Gangle chuckled drunkenly in response.
"I'm not s-silly~!" The toybox character looked around, disregarding the tipsy woman in front of their eyes.
"Where did Ragatha go? I thought she was with you?" Gangle stood up, nearly falling but hanging onto the countertop for support.
"Who...? I only see you h-here, sexy..." She then proceeded to fall flat on her back, causing Zooble to look over the countertop and down at the mess of ribbons on the floor.
"Holy shit... you're gone. Wait, what did you just call me?" Their eyes widened with a wide range of emotions inside. They rushed around the counter top and over to the mess that was Gangle. Her eyes were half-lidded, and she had a goofy grin plastered onto her mask. Zooble shook their triangular head as they lifted the ribbons up into their wonky arms, looking down at her exasperatedly.
"You really know how to make a first impression on someone, don't you?" Gangle giggled.
"N-no, you!" She exclaimed drunkenly. The triangle sighed out of their non-existent mouth.
"Considering what you told me and Ragatha earlier, I assume you have nobody to come and get you..." Gangle nodded.
"Yeahhh... does that mean I get to sleep with you?!" Zooble blinked in confusion.
"Let's not go that far, but... I guess I have no choice. I'll take you to my place until you're sobered up again. You just lay here, I need to clean up the bar before my shifts over." Zooble said calmly, despite their internal panic. Having a cute, drunk girl over at THEIR apartment?! They wouldn't ever do that for the probably hundreds of drunks they've had to interact with at the bar, so what makes this girl any different?!