Title: Teddy’s Mum
Summary: Teddy sees a picture of his mother, and he doesn’t react well
Author’s Note: I honestly am not sure about this one. Ta-da anyway, I guess. @lawful-evil-novelist
“I swear it was right here!”
“Well it’s obviously not.”
Teddy poked his head out from behind the TV, and he tilted his head to the side.
“No, you don’t say.” He said slowly. Todd frowned and once again shuffled through the stacks of different coloured disk cases in front of him.
Teddy had wanted to show off a new game that he had gotten that was apparently fantastic, but when Todd had arrived they couldn’t find it no matter where they looked.
“Did you look in your room?” Cosmo asked, using his phone as a flashlight to look under the couch.
“Because naturally I need something to snuggle with at night.” Teddy’s voice was muffled, but Todd knew he had that usual grin on his face that Max had threatened to slap off once or twice.
“It’s a brand new game!” Teddy continued, “I can’t believe you lost it!”
“Me?” Cosmo questioned, sitting up, and Teddy climbed back out.
“Yes, you.” Teddy teased as he brushed the dust out of his hair, “You think I would be so irresponsible?”
“Sport, you crashed one of my flyers into a building. Repeatedly.”
“The last one was a dumpster.” Teddy countered. Todd shook his head as the Kranks half-argued-half-teased each other, and he decided to give up on the mountain in front of him and rose to his feet. He looked around as Teddy and Cosmo seemed to reach an impasse and the former took over looking under the couch.
“Have you looked in the closet?” Todd questioned. He walked over, and as he opened the door Cosmo’s head suddenly shot up.
“Wait no no no don’t!” He jumped over the back of the couch in his sprint across the living room, then stopped with a grimace when he realised he didn’t make it in time.
“What’s this?” Todd pulled a small cardboard box from the bottom of the closet, open with a framed picture lying on the top. Todd pulled it out, looking over it. There was Cosmo, in the picture as best he could but apparently impaired by his short height. He was smiling widely, and the last hints of blue dye were fading from the tips of his hair. Beside him was a woman, taller, with curly brown hair framing her soft and princess-like features. Todd recognised those bright blue eyes, they were the same that Teddy had. Squished between the two adults was a much younger Teddy, hair short but still the same light purple nightmare it was today.
Todd turned around and realised that Teddy was now standing behind him, staring at the picture. His smile was completely gone.
Todd’s confusion ended instantly.
Teddy turned, and Cosmo’s expression softened as his son moved past him.
“Teddy, don’t-“ His voice was soft, but Teddy completely ignored him as he ran down the hallway and into his bedroom, locking the door behind him.
Todd’s eyes widened and he quickly stood and turned to Cosmo, who was looking down at the floor quietly.
“I didn’t know what was in the box.” He said quickly.
“I know.” Cosmo was still quiet. Todd looked at him warily, but Cosmo didn’t seem angry or even annoyed. He just…didn’t move.
“Will he come out? How long will he-“
“I don’t know.”
Todd glanced quickly between the hallway and Cosmo, frame still clutched tightly in his hands. Todd quickly put it back in the box, every movement panicked.
He knew very well that Teddy’s mom was always a touchy subject, but he honestly hadn’t known that Teddy would ever react like this.
Cosmo walked towards and through the hallway, and Todd quickly followed.
“Is there anything I can do to help?’ He asked, and Cosmo glanced back at him. The look on his face was a mix of sad, concerned, and a hint of the glare Todd had been expecting in the first place. Todd slowed his pace and frowned apologetically as Cosmo knocked softly on the door.
“Teddy?”
No answer.
Cosmo knocked again.
“Teddy, please,” He pleaded, “I love you, just come out.”
Still no answer. At least Todd could correct anyone who said Teddy Krank didn’t know how to be quiet.
Cosmo was looking worse by the minute; he held a hand to his face for a few moments before leaning closer towards the door.
“It wasn’t your fault.” He muttered, then returned his voice to its earlier volume, “Teddy please come out of there.” Cosmo and Todd both listened carefully, but Teddy didn’t answer. Cosmo sighed and stepped back, looking at Todd and shaking his head.
“It won’t work. He’ll come out eventually.” Cosmo tried a smile, but it looked forced, “Sorry Todd.”
“I don’t know why you’re apologising I’m the one that showed him the picture.” Todd remarked, then added, “Was everything in the box…?”
“Justine’s?” Cosmo questioned, and nodded, “Yep. She left it behind and I didn’t want Teddy to see them. You can probably see why.” Todd nodded, and Cosmo stepped past him to walk back to the kitchen. This time, Todd didn’t join him. He glanced nervously between the hallway and Teddy’s bedroom door, debating whether or not he should leave him. After a moment’s hesitation, he knocked on the door.
“Teddy? It’s Todd. Can I come in?”
No answer. Not that he was surprised. Todd looked over his shoulder to make sure Cosmo was out of earshot before continuing.
“Look whatever happened, it wasn’t your fault. You know that, right? And I get that you miss her. But you know, you don’t have to be alone like this. You’ve got your dad, and he’s cool,” Not to mention that he fully embraced the role of ‘corny dad’, “And you got me and the other rogue kids.” Todd waited, but nothing happened, and he frowned slightly. A thought occurred to him, and he smiled slightly.
“Oh come on Teddy, what will I do if you never come out? And honestly who’s going to tolerate your constant joking if I’m not here?” Todd teased, and knocked on the door as he exclaimed, “You said you had a slide in there! Don’t hold out on me!” Todd waited with a smile, and it widened as the lock slid away and the door opened just a fraction. Teddy peered out, and Todd leant in closer.
“Come on, you can do it. Jesus, this must have been what getting Glimmer out of her shell must have been like.”
Teddy snorted and disappeared from the gap, and Todd could hear him laughing loudly.
“Okay, okay…” Teddy opened the door all the way. He was grinning again, just like he usually was. You would never have guessed that he’d locked himself in his room just a few minutes earlier.
“Come on in.” Teddy nodded inside, and Todd smiled before walking in.
Finally, a sequel to Glitter and Displeased Scowls by @the-mighty-sorceress because I’m late to everything.and also Julian and Will are cute.
Will looked up as footsteps tracked into the room. He checked his watch, a second before noon. Fugate’s watch was running fast, again. Will would have to text him about it because there was no way those footsteps were him. A girl swung into the room and stopped, staring at Will with a stern glare.
“Guten Tag!” Will shouted over the music, then paused, “Oh, Verzeihung! Is my music too loud? I’ll turn it down.”
Will turned to turn down the music before he heard a very loud shout from the girl.
“ALEX GET YOUR ASS IN HERE I FOUND A VERSION OF DAD THAT DOESN’T SUCK!”
Will stopped and turned back to the girl, “Wie bitte?”
The girl was grinning, very wide, and then a boy joined her, very confused.
They were multiplying.
“Sorry about her,” the boy said, “We’re—”
“Melissa and Alexander,” Will turned off the radio and pulled off his goggles, “I know. Guten Tag.”
“What is this place?” Melissa asked.
“My workshop,” Will replied, “I make clocks. Well, make, repair, restore, the works. Alexander, do you have a watch?”
“Alex,” Alexander corrected but handed over a small watch. Will took the watch and inspected it for a moment.
“Three seconds fast,” Will reported, “three exactly. I keep telling your father these mass-produced watches get out of time too fast but no, he won’t listen. Give me a moment.”
Will popped off the back of the watch and used a small pin to fidget with the gears. When that was done, he put the cover back on and reset the watch time before handing it back, “Should be on time now.”
“Thank you,” Alexander took the watch back, a little stunned.
“Have you eaten?” Will asked.
“Not yet,” Alexander replied, “We eat at 12:30 exactly.”
“Ah,” Will nodded, “right, very on time. Here, I’ll throw something together,” Will swung into the shop, knocking on the counter, “close for lunch Todd.”
“Yep,” Todd hopped over the counter and turned to close the shop. Will skipped up the steps into the kitchen and threw open the door to look at what was in there.
“I’ve got roulade?” Will offered, looking over the fridge at the two, “It’s Sinti though, not traditional German.”
“I don’t know what a Sinti is,” Melissa admitted, then looked over on the couch, “what’s he doing here?”
Will looked over to the couch and noticed Zeke was still sitting on it, reading, “Oh, I forgot he was here. Zeke’s staying while his dad’s in jail.”
“How do you forget about an entire person?” Alexander asked. Will shrugged.
“He once lost his glasses on his face,” Zeke noted.
“That’s a bad example,” Todd pointed out, “I’ve done that.”
“Because you’re a paragon of memory,” Zeke nodded.
“I’m just gonna spend the whole week expecting to be stabbed,” Melissa muttered, sitting on one of the stools against the island.
“Why are you expecting that?” Will asked, “Todd and Zeke don’t stab people.”
“Their dads do,” Melissa pointed out, “and my dad—”
“Moment mal, your dad thinks I enable my boyfriend’s obsessions,” Will put a plate in the microwave and turned it on, “forgive me for saying it, but I couldn’t care less about what your Erbsenzähler of a father thinks.”
Melissa stared blankly at Will and Will smiled back at her.
“You have a boyfriend?” Alexander broke the silence.
“Ja,” Will nodded, “Jules, ich liebe ihn.”
“Great!” a voice joined the cacophony that hadn’t been there before, “Will, dolcezza, can we go to the aquarium?”
Will looked at the steps and sighed at the sight of his boyfriend, Julian Day, in all his glory.
And by glory, this, of course, meant Julian was standing at the door in pink shorts printed with sharks, a gray tank top that read “Hello Sharkness My Old Friend” on the front, framing a shark, and blue socks covered in very spherical sharks.
“What is he wearing?” Melissa asked.
“Sharks,” Julian replied, beaming proudly, then turned back to Will, “Will we need to go to the aquarium.”
“I’m babysitting Jules,” Will pointed out.
“You can bring the kids,” Julian added, “I need to go to the aquarium.”
“Jules, I can’t afford to take four kids—” Will began.
“I’ll pay,” Julian offered, “prego?”
Will sighed loudly, “Fine, we will go to the aquarium.”
“Yes!” Julian jumped in the air in delight.
“After lunch,” Will opened the freezer and threw a box of fish sticks at Julian, “they’re shark-shaped.”
“YES!” Julian held up the box like a child.
Will took the roulade out of the microwave and split it onto five plates, putting two in front of Melissa and Alexander, and two in front of the other two empty chairs.
“You don’t enable his obsessions?” Melissa raised an eyebrow.
“Nope,” Will cut into his own meal, “keep an eye on him when we get to the aquarium, make sure he doesn’t try to steal a shark.”
Melissa and Alexander looked between Will and Julian before Melissa piped up.
“Will he actually do that?”
“Yes,” Todd answered, sitting beside Alexander, “he can, and he will, quite happily, in fact.”
“See the calendar thing is just a hyper fixation,” Will noted as Julian happily set to putting the fish sticks in the microwave, “it’s the crime impulses you need to worry about.”
Will looked back at Julian, happily humming to himself.
“Schnecke,” he said softly.
“Yes,” Julian asked. Will leaned on Julian.
“You’re cute.”
Julian smiled and looked at Will from the corner of his eye, “I know.”
Todd: Configuring the gun dad labeled "bullet gun" so it fires the flag instead.
Harley: Why?
Todd: Because he needs to go to his therapy appointments and take his meds.
Harley:
Todd:
Harley: So you're sabotaging your father's only working gun so he'll get arrested, sent to Arkham, and have no choice but to go to therapy and take his medication?
