#ft bubby

[the-sleepwalker-503]

gordon… you’re too tired for this you’re mixing up your friends!!!

- B]

"I'm whuh?"

"Gordon, I'm Coomer."

"Oh…oh, Coomer! Yeah, Coomer. Sorry, I'm, so tired."

"You're, you're lookin' in pretty rough shape there. How much sleep have you been gettin'?"

"I, uhhh…some? I guess? How much sleep have YOU been getting?"

"Gordon, I sleep everyday of my life."

"That's great, Coomer."

"I sleep like a baby!"

"That's, that's great, Barbie."

"…"

[the-sleepwalker-503]

dude how did you forget your whole son 🤨?

A look of shame passes over his face.

"I don't- is he at your place now? Who's watching over him?"

"Uhh, sorry guys. I gotta go. Thanks fer havin' me over."

"Bye."

"Goodbye, Darnold!"

"Tommy?"

"Sun-Sunkist is there!"

"Sunkist? Tommy, that's a dog."

"Hey now."

"Not just any dog, she's, Sunkist is great with, kids!"

"That's, that's not the same thing!"

"Don't worry Mr Freeman, she's very intelligent, she'll be very good at, at baby-sitting."

"dogs sit all the time. why're you worried man?"

"..."

Right, there's just never a moment of rest for Gordon. His pulse starts to quicken as the entity seemingly walks out from somewhere deeper within Bubby's house. He scoots back roughly in his seat as Benrey glides by. Benrey sets something down on the coffee table in front of him - a bowl? He lifts his gaze and turns it unwaveringly onto Gordon. It's like his stare reaches into his soul.

"soup."

[the-sleepwalker-503]

I know you dont like him (reasonably), but why not try just giving him a chance? The science team seems pretty convinced, and you know they’re trustworthy (or at least Tommy is, lmao)

"..."

"...I..."

"Uhh...is he, is he ok? He hasn't moved in precisely one minute-"

"-I'M GOOD, I'm good. S' nothing, nothing to see here. Sorry. We can go in, yeah sure."

Bubby begins turning to head back into the house.

"Well, hurry up then. Let's GO."

Gordon watches as the others begin filing in after the old man. He takes a deep breath.

"Hooookay, we're doing this..."

He walks in after them.

[the-sleepwalker-503]

Yeah man coomer’s right let jenny stay with tommy a bit longer. Sunkist is the perfect dog you should trust

"Sunkist, huh? Can't go wrong with the perfect dog for a parenting companion."

Gordon takes a deep breath.

"Okay...okay, I'm trusting you Tommy. You and Sunkist both. I mean out of everyone, you've been the only one who's actually had to take care of someone outside yourself, so you're our best bet."

"Just...call me if anything seems off, okay?"

"..."

"...yeah."

"Okay. Thanks a lot, man. I-"

His eyes glance over the soup bowl. It's empty.

"-hey where'd the soup go???"

"Gordon, I'm full now."

"...please don't tell me you ate it."

"What? You said you didn't want it."

"I know but- we don't know what was in it!"

"Gordon, I need the restroom."

"Yeah good, go, get it out of your system. Jesus."

Coomer scampers off into the bathroom, leaving the three of them sitting in silence around the coffee table.

It's not long before Tommy gets up too. He seems kind of...bothered?

Gordon watches him walk off into the kitchen.

[the-sleepwalker-503]

well he hasn't hurt you yet, and dr coomer doesn't seem to be having problems after drinking the soup he brought over. maybe he does wanna be nice now

"...Coomer, how's that soup treating you?"

"Like the fanciest lady in town!"

"Right...right, that made...no sense, are we sure he's not poisoned?"

"Benrey wouldn't do that."

"DO WE HAVE PROOF??? Do we have ANY proof that he wouldn't do that, that he wouldn't hesitate to just, MURDER us because he felt like it-"

"Gordon-"

"No, don't fu- THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE! There were SO many people back at Black Mesa who never stood a chance against him. He's taken lives for FUN. We're sitting here acting like he couldn't do it again- he could. He could-"

"...I don't think he's supposed to turn that colour..."

"-fuckin' scale up and crush this place like it's nothing!! I mean- fuck that HE COULD REACH THROUGH OUR SKULLS AND RIP OUR FUCKIN' BRAINS OUT-"

"Mr Freeman-"

"WHAT-"

[ ID: Everything goes black. end ID. ]

[the-sleepwalker-503]

WHAT THE FUCK DOES TOMMY MEAN BY THAT..

"...what does that mean, Tommy?"

"It's okay, my Dad's handling it!"

"GMan??? How big's this problem you're handling even, should I be worried-"

"Gordon, I'm alright now. That soup was delightful."

"Uhhh, good for you man. Tommy-"

"No."

He does not elaborate. Gordon laughs nervously.

"Ok????"

"Excuse me, can you quiet down over there? We're getting to the good bit!"

Bubby gestures to the darkened TV screen.

"Dude, that thing's not even on!"

"woah, talk about taste man. you never watched tv before?"

Gordon shuts up so fast. Benrey dips back into the ceiling. He leaves a red orb of sweet voice behind in his wake.

"Mr Freeman, that was a joke! He wasn't planning on, hurting you."

"..."

Gordon drops his voice into a whisper.

"You guys are SERIOUSLY telling me you aren't concerned about that? Like, not even a little bit? That guy is like a fuckin' LIGHTSWITCH. You remember what happened last time."

"Give me, like, a SINGLE good reason for why I should trust him."

[the-sleepwalker-503]

"Gordon."

Gordon looks up.

"Hmm?"

"What seems to be the matter?"

Gordon cocks his head.

"Matter? What d'you mean matter?"

Coomer wrings his gloved hands.

"Well, it seems like you've been...rather quiet during our discussions. Are you alright, Gordon?"

Gordon blinks away his confusion. Everyone's looking at him again. He shifts himself to sit up straighter.

"Yeah I'm fine, 'm just chillin'. What's-"

The plastic fork falls out of his grip. Leaning on his right arm had opened his hand.

"Oh whoops."

"Gordon, playing with your food is terrible table manners."

"Hhj- I wasn't playing with my food, I dropped my fork."

"Well, you'd better kick the habit before that son of yours latches on to it."

Gordon's hand stops before it reaches the fork.

"...my-"

"Which reminds me, did you leave that boy at home alone by himself?"

[the-sleepwalker-503]

“Throws a fish at Gordon’s face”

TRY BLOCKING THIS >:)

Gordon flinches.

"URGH-"

"...was that a backwards sneeze?"

"No that's. Tch. Y'know what? Yeah, that was a backwards sneeze."

"Gordon, I'm terrified."

Gordon nods idly, starting to pick up his fork to go dig into his pasta when he stops short. He wiggles the utensil. It's still a bit looser than he'd like. He tests out a few ways to grip the fork in his left hand before he decides to position the fork between his thumb and index, and index to middle knuckle of his right fist. Seems stable. He looks towards the sound of assorted snorting coming from Coomer. The old man is practically inhaling his food with no pause, his two arm prostheses proving to be incredibly dexterous.

"How are you so good at that, man? Like, your arms are like, "WHOOSH", they're so fast!"

"Gordon, for the price of having technology at its prime earlier than intended, this technology eats away at my brain every day."

"I, oh wow...I'm so sorry, that explains a lot. Is that why you talk like that?"

"Hello, Gordon- No."

"Ooof course not."