GL HF! [Good Luck, Have Fun!]
When Teddy wasn't throwing down to defend his little brother, he was grinding.
Grinding ranks in games, grinding out stream views, grinding fitness, grinding out grades, grinding out magic... you name it, Teddy would find a way to turn it into a competition that he was going to win.
Streaming became one of his favorite pastimes, and his dads got him his own computer so he could stream without keeping everyone else from using one of the family computers. He started streaming and gaming under the name teddybearRAWR.
It wasn't long before he started recognizing a consistent name in his matches: JaxAx69. JaxAx69 seemed to be as competitive as he was and had a foul mouth to boot. He was constantly talking trash, and Teddy found himself both irritated by him and enjoying having someone on his level. After several sessions of them trading barbs back and forth, the two agreed to meet up at what would become the last after prom party for a while.
Despite a few insults, the two ended up becoming friends... or possibly closer to frenemies. They started hanging out, and the more Teddy learned about the boy, the more he understood why Jax was the way he was.
Jax lived alone. Every adult in his household had died except for Ervin who was like a big brother to him. Ervin had moved out to live with his fiance and didn't visit often. His parent, Ash Harjo, apparently wasn't his parent*... researching his own genealogy revealed nothing, and there were no adoption records either. As far as he knew, he had no family.
And though he'd never admit it to anyone, he was incredibly lonely.
Teddy noticed that Jax's insults were becoming less of a thing or at least they were shifting to be more teasing than cutting. He had his suspicions on why, but didn't want to push things until the boy was comfortable.
When he wasn't hanging out with Jax, Teddy was working on his magical ability. He really looked up to his big brother Callen, so whenever the young man challenged him to a duel, he was excited to give it a shot.
Callen was a significantly stronger spell caster, and Teddy found himself straining against the very first clash.
All Teddy could think as he felt himself being lifted into the air and flung onto the ground was that he was glad Jax wasn't there to laugh at his loss.
A surprise waited for him at home though!
Jax was there, and he was in a flirty mood. As Teddy suspected, the boy had a crush on him and was finally feeling comfortable enough to express it.
The two traded flirts back and forth until Jax, feeling a little overwhelmed around so many people, headed outside. Teddy went with him to show off some new games.
The chill in the air couldn't put a damper on the warm feelings between the two, and Teddy leaned in for their first kiss. Jax was a little surprised at first, but quickly recovered with a chuckle insisting that he won.
Later after Jax left, Teddy found Finn and his da working on a puzzle. Johnny was struggling a bit (a lot), and gave up to make himself a drink.
Finn: Teddy, can you help me with this? Da wasn't having much luck.
Teddy: I will crush this puzzle. I'm going to beat this puzzle so fast your head will spin!
Phoenix: Oh, this is going to be rich.
Finn: I don't think that's how puzzles work, but okay.
Phoenix eventually stepped away, and Johnny came back to check on the boys.
Teddy was unleashing a concerning amount of sweat for a puzzle game, and Johnny knew it wouldn't be long before it would become a problem.
Sure enough...
Finn: TEDDY!!! You're sweating all over the puzzle! You're going to ruin it!!!
Everyone (else) chuckled. Finn was having fun despite the sweat, and Teddy was simply happy that he "won" at puzzles. Even if his family didn't quite understand his competitive nature, he knew that Jax would appreciate the victory.