(spent around a month or so not writing funny objects so im still recovering a bit, pardon me)
Babysitting's a particularly tough job; doubly when you don't have the skillset for it, *triply* when you're already doing something else.
To be perfectly honest with himself, Stapy didn't quite know just how exactly he ended up getting the unenviable task of keeping an eye on Marker and whatever he's up to; he didn't really know much about anything, but that's besides the point. All he could recall was that one day he was perfectly fine with minding his own business, perfectly content with whatever he was doing so long as he had Foldy by his side. Then some random inclination of the universe caused them to bump into that purple writing utensil, with his strange fixations and inclinations, and then... Then all of a sudden the two of them are out there, playing Toss the Dirt on the regular, keenly listening to all of Marker's half-sane, half-rambling conversations about whatever caught his fancy on that particular day. Sometimes they'd play some other games, sometimes they'd just goof off in some other way, and sometimes they'd just rest and recuperate after an episode well fought. He didn't hate it, or anything; he just didn't really *get* it, either. There eventually came a point where he considered Marker his next-closest friend after Foldy, but deep down he couldn't answer the question of *how* that happened. A lot of things in Goiky were just like that: how did Stapy pop into existence? How and where was he made? How did he get here? Those were all questions that he *also* couldn't answer, despite it probably being common sense. So why should this one be any different?
It's not like Stapy's friendship with Marker did him any harm, really. Well, not *too* much. His arms would be well and truly exhausted by the time they were done tossing large quantities of dirt, but it wasn't really any different from the exertion during the challenges; if anything, it was a neat little bonus workout. Marker also wasn't too much of a bother, always being reasonable to talk to when it mattered, despite his... eccentricities. Everything was perfectly fine, so why complain? Stapy wasn't in any mood to do any of that, and so long as there weren't any problems that came by surprise, he was more than happy to let things stay the way they are, perhaps forever.
But the universe has a funny way of responding to that.
-
The stapler lifted himself out of the hole he'd dug.
"Alright!" He'd exclaim. "Good game." "That was so much *fun*!" Marker shouted with glee. "Yeah, yeah." Stapy let out a deep sigh, finally getting a moment to recover. "Was that a new record?" "Hmm..." Marker paused to think. "Don't think so. But still, good try!" "Mhm." Stapy nodded. "Maybe tomorrow we can continue digging this one, instead of just starting all over. What do you think?" "Eh..." Marker scratched his head. "That's not really in the spirit of things..." "I know, I know." Stapy interjected. "But the others are starting to complain about just how many holes we've been digging; apparently at least one of them has fallen in at some point." Marker nodded, seemingly understanding. "They should've looked where they were going." "Besides, now that you mention it, I wanna take a stab at beating that record." Stapy continued. "How about that?" "Hm." Marker smiled. "Alright! Sounds good!" Stapy smiled back, nodding again. "You go ahead, now." He'd reply. "Gotta take a minute to get back up to 100%. I'll get back to you when I'm done." "Got it!" Marker exclaimed and ran off to do... whatever it was that Marker did. Like a lot of things that went on in Goiky, just like how algebralians suddenly descended upon the world and made them participate in their silly competitions, it was best not to delve any further.
The stapler just barely had enough time to get himself back to normal when someone stepped in; Foldy naturally came around after seeing them emerge, but unlike all the usual times, she didn't seem to be all too happy to see him. "Hey, uh..." She'd glance around. "Can we talk?" "Uh... Yeah." Stapy nodded. "What's up?" "It's about what you've been doing." Foldy replied. "It's starting to become... a bother." Stapy frowned. "A bother?" He'd hastily scramble over to her. "What're you..." He'd take a moment to breathe. "What're you talking about?" "Uh..." Foldy shook her head. "I'm not saying it's a bother to *me*, obviously; I completely understand. Just..." She'd sigh. "I've heard some of our other teammates talking, and I'm starting to understand where they're coming from." "Well, like, what *is* it?" Stapy asked. Foldy sighed. "It's about you and Marker; how you've always been... focusing on him."
The stapler raised an eyebrow, confused. "Huh?" He'd frown. "We've been doing just fine; we've been doing our part, we've been helping out in any way we can... What's the deal?" "Well, first off, there was the previous contest." Foldy began. "You *clearly* weren't doing your part then; all you were doing is just staring at Marker." "Didn't you see what he was getting up to?" Stapy asked. "He wasn't focused on the challenge, still wanting to play Toss the Dirt; I was trying to stop him from distracting himself and the rest of us!" "Really?" Foldy remarked. "I didn't hear you telling him to stop." "Well, uh..." Stapy was about to try and explain himself, but Foldy continued on. "Then there was the challenge after that; apparently you guys got Lollipop out of a jawbreaker, then proceeded to *kill* her?" She'd frown. "Like, I get it, but there's no point in making her into a bigger enemy than she already is." "But we wanted to get *you* out!" Stapy complained. "She's not even on our team, what's the point if-"
Foldy sighed. "Look, point is that they're starting to think you two are more of a liability; if what you're saying *is* true, you gotta control him better." Stapy frowned again. "It's harder than it looks, alright?" He'd defend himself. "He's a good friend and all, but he *can* be a pain sometimes." Foldy frowned in kind. "How could you say *that* about him? He's your friend! *Our* friend!" "Well, look at what we're doing now." Stapy replied. "Does any of this *seem* ideal to you?" "Maybe it's just that you aren't as cut out for looking after him as you think." Foldy remarked. "I understand it can be hard, given the circumstances, but-" "Why don't *you* try it, then?" Stapy asked. "See how hard it is for yourself, you know?" Foldy thought about it for a moment. "Well, maybe I could." She'd nod. "I can already start to see how I could do it better; no offense, but Marker has legs, and you..." She'd glance down for a moment, which was more than enough to make the stapler understand. "I could catch up to him quicker if he ever starts to-" "Well, that just stings." Stapy interjected. "It's not like you're any better off; Marker has arms, and-" Foldy gave him an angry glare. "S-Sorry." Stapy quickly realized his mistake and would shut up; Foldy sighed. "Whatever. I'll try it myself. Can't be that hard, can it?"
-
"Foldy! Will you play Toss the Dirt with me?"
Catching up to Marker was easy enough for the piece of paper; he was sitting, making little castles out of all the dirt they've tossed up to the surface. "Uh... You sure about that?" Foldy asked. "You and Stapy *did* play it already, maybe that's enough for the day?" "Nonsense!" Marker smiled. "Any time's a good time to play!" Without a moment to spare, he'd quickly get to it, obviously excited to start. "Hang on!" Foldy was quick to shout to get his attention, before he could dig far enough down that he'd become fully committed to it. "I..." She'd frown. "I don't know how to play." Marker looked up at her and gasped. "You don't?" "I just tend to watch you two play, really." Foldy replied. "I didn't think there was room for one more, so..." Marker started making his way back up, taking a minute to return to the surface; after taking a moment to catch his breath, he'd pick up the conversation. "Well, it's easy!" He'd continue. "You just, pick up dirt..." He'd grab two good handfuls of the stuff. "And, well, toss it!" He'd then throw it up and over him, managing to fly over the previous hole he'd just dug and land on the other side.
"Well, yeah. I know *that* much." Foldy remarked. "One small issue, though." "Which is?" Marker asked. "Uh..." This was around the point where Foldy would point to her legs, but the problem *was* that she didn't have any arms to do that with. "Hm?" Marker looked at her, tilting his head and raising an eyebrow. "I don't see an issue." He'd remark. "You could easily do what I did with these!" He'd point to her feet. "Well, that's the thing." Foldy replied. "I... can't." "Sure you can!" Marker replied. "I saw that GB could do plenty." "Well, I'm not her, am I?" Foldy asked. "Just try it!" The writing utensil exclaimed. "Alright, alright." The paper sighed and went to take a stab at it; she'd stomp on the ground as hard as she could, but couldn't really figure out what the next step was. "That's the spirit!" Marker tried to cheer her on, but motivation could only get you so far when you've got such a glaring issue at hand.
Despite how blatantly impossible this was, nothing quite fuels someone like wanting to prove to someone that you can *totally* do something; Foldy would use a little bit of ingenuity, curling up her toes to scoop up the tiniest bit of dirt, and lifting it up and sending them away with a good kick to 'toss' it, whatever that meant at this point. "See?" Marker smiled. "You're already getting it!" Foldy simply stared at the few crumbs of dirt that were now a few feet away, feeling a mix of emotions that could be described in summation as 'not good'. "Yeah, no." Foldy frowned. "I don't think so." "It's fine for your first shot." Marker assured her. "It's your first try at it, after all! Try again!" Foldy felt rather uneasy by that proposition, but who could say no to Marker? She'd go through the same charade in the same manner as before, with much the same results. "Again!" Marker cheered, and Foldy would do just that. Again. And again.
"Look at that!" Marker pointed at the small hole that was dug out by Foldy's pitiful efforts. "Looking good!" The paper sighed. "That's *completely* exhausted me, though." She'd sit down. "Is that good enough? Can we move on to something else?" "You haven't tried it with the other one, though." Marker remarked; FOldy sighed. "Alright. Alright." She'd get up once again, and would do the exact same thing, but now with her other foot. She'd manage to go through two and a half tosses before her exhausted leg finally gave out and sent her straight to the floor. "What was that?" Marker asked. "That was me giving up." Foldy replied. "Aw, come on!" Marker cheered "You can do it!"
She could not, it turns out.
-
"You know, I thought a lot about what I said; the whole arm thing was uncalled for."
Foldy sighed and shook her head. "No need to apologize. It's fine." She replied to the stapler. "It was somewhat called for, given I commented about legs before that." "That doesn't give me an excuse to stoop down to that level, though." Stapy frowned. "So... sorry." Foldy sighed again. "Really, it's fine." Stapy remained silent for a moment before continuing. "Right. I thought about what I said; I had no legs, you had no arms, so..." Foldy raised an eyebrow. "Hm?" "Why don't we just *both* take care of Marker? Together?" Foldy frowned. "Pretty sure having *two* people taking care of him instead of one would make the situation worse." "But, like, think about it." Stapy replied. "Marker's got the full set of limbs, and we've each got half. Together, we could *totally* make up for our shortcomings. The whole thing would be way easier for the both of us!"
Foldy thought about it, and it started to make sense. "That could work."
