just a drawing for my ‘new elmore’ au (which is basically just an au where rob’s plan succeeded & now everyone in elmore is a real human). in this au, gumball kinda has a difficult time adjusting to this new world & gets genuinely depressed over it from time to time. while he has a really good support system with his family plus penny, sometimes he goes to rob to complain - to which rob listens semi-patiently
SO I,,, did a thing. semi-experimental but a Thing nonetheless
uHHH here’s a speedpaint & also a minific under the cut!!
"Rob," the cat breathed after the other boy had fully climbed out of the static space in front of him, the ground cracked as if though Rob had forced his way out. The cyclops looked at him, but said nothing - though, he had noticed the nervous glance towards the Elmore residents that stood behind Gumball, still seeming baffled by the cyclops' appearance, and guessed that was why he wasn't saying anything. He couldn't blame him - the last time the poor guy tried to tell anyone something, he had been smashed into the school floor.
"Rob," Gumball repeated, a little more loudly and with a small smile appearing on his features. "You - you're okay-!" Rob only gave a small nod and a 'mhm', and the boy's smile fell. The cyclops looked exhausted, but Gumball wasn't taking it that way. He swallowed, and said, "Rob, I - I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The cat took a cautious step forward, as if the other boy would make the ground crumble from underneath him with just a glare if he was anything but careful. Rob's expression, however, didn't seem to budge, so he proceeded. "I'm sorry. This- you- you were trying to tell me about this." He didn't bother stating it like a question, because he knew it was a fact. He knew for sure it was. "You were trying to tell me about this, and I - I didn't even try to hear you out. I'm sorry." The cyclops still didn't say anything. The residents behind him weren't saying anything - just watching. His heart quickening with every moment spent in deafening silence, he finally spoke again, agitation in his tone; "Could you say something? Or - or do something?"
"Like what?" Rob finally replied, his voice quiet and sounding hoarse - though if it was from overuse or lack of, Gumball couldn't pinpoint. Frankly, he didn't exactly care, either.
"Anything! Something!" he snapped. "Yell at me! Hit me! Grab me by the shirt and call me a selfish jerk! Call me a moron for not listening!" His eyes were growing wet, and his voice was starting to break, but he wasn't caring. His slow advance towards Rob stopped, and he grabbed ahold of the cyclops' sides as far as he could reach, ignoring the way he glitched. "Get angry at me! Please, please, get angry at me!" Sobs began to shake him as his paws still gripped the other tightly, as if he were his one lifeline, and he screwed his eyes up tight, lowering his head. "Please, be mad. Please, say you hate me..."
It went far too quiet, then, and he could only hear his own sobs and his own heart pounding. He hiccuped, though, as he felt a hand slowly place itself on the top of his head. Surprised, he looked up and saw Rob's blank expression now showed sadness. "I'm not angry," the cyclops murmured. "Not anymore." Gumball could only blink up at him, before hugging his midsection tightly, a new wave of sobs leaving him.
