Collecting Dust

CH1: Break Time

It was a lukewarm, Wednesday afternoon, and Powder Point had a long line of fans crowded at the doors of the Dunkeridoo Theater. They were all turning in their tickets to see the famous ventriloquist duo, Boopsy and Bill, perform, as they do every day.

Kingsley announced that the show would begin in 10 minutes, as the duo had to heavily prepare first.

But when Kingsley looked backstage for them, they weren't there.

Instead, the human-and-puppet duo were at their own house, simply eating a handmade dinner. Boopsy, the human, ordered takeout from the Cheeseria, as that was one of the favorite restaurants of Bill, the puppet, that Papa Louie opened up. His actual favorite was, of course, the Donuteria, but the Cheeseria was the best in savory, as the Donuteria was in sweet.

Boopsy suddenly stopped eating and, using sign language, told Bill that they were going to be late for their daily performance.

Bill adjusted himself in his seat.

"Well, to be fair," he said. "I personally think we should just go on a hiatus."

Boopsy looked at Bill confusedly.

"I mean, I'm not saying we should retire completely, but having to do these things on the daily is kind of exhausting, and bad for the wellbeing of us both."

Boopsy thought about it, then signed with his hands, "Maybe we can perform again tomorrow?"

"Hmmm... maybe just... maybe in 3 days," Bill yawned, as it was getting late. "You should text Kingsley and let him know."

Boopsy nodded, and after tucking the sleepy Bill in bed, he pulled out his phone and informed Kingsley of the hiatus.

Back at the theater, Kingsley got the message... and he wasn't happy.

When he told the audience about the whereabouts of the duo... they immediately chanted "BRING THEM HOME! BRING THEM HOME!"

Kingsley instead ended up dismissing the crowd from the theater out of frustration, giving free refunds for the tickets.

Boopsy was about to go to bed, when he suddenly saw the crowd outside his house, chanting the same message. He closed the window curtains, being immensely exhausted from earlier, which involved various different activities that could drain one's wellbeing instantaneously.

Bill used two pillows to block out the screaming of the angry mob outside, and Boopsy went into his bedroom to sleep as well.

The lack of responses eventually led the audience to their homes too, and soon, the Flipverse was asleep.

The next day, Bill woke up later than usual. He put on his normal clothes and signature cowboy hat, then happily trotted to Boopsy's room.

Boopsy was just crying while sitting at his desk, looking at his computer.

Bill ran up to his friend and tried to comfort him, but Boopsy signed, "Not now. I'm not feeling very well."

Bill wouldn't leave him alone though. He didn't like seeing Boopsy in a poor state, but when he saw what was on the screen, he started to cry as well.

The duo's popularity drastically declined overnight to the point where the Dunkeridoo Theater was shuttered for good thanks to a petition aiming to "teach them a lesson". All because the duo took a break. All because they wanted to better their health. All because they were simply overwhelmed with their performances being every day.

Bill clung to Boopsy's shirt to comfort him (clinging to the shirts of people is how he typically hugs them), but Boopsy had both arms wrapped securely around Bill, and was especially taking this hard.