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The day was young. The streets were filled with lovers looking to get the best deal at a restaurant. There were groups of friends hanging out before heading to the club. Families looking for reasons to bond, and a holiday being the perfect excuse. Then there was Ted. Ted was not having such luck. He was currently heading to his job, defeated. He had his priorities set, not wanting to spend another Valentine's Day by himself. It made him realise just how much his charisma had faded. If horny men and women at the club on Valentine's Day of all things didn't want to hook up, then Ted had truly lost his way. Hopefully he'd have better luck at his job. After all, what is work good for if not for easier access to flirting?
The workplace was dreary, the very air depressing his mood. Everyone was just waiting to leave, hurrying to get home to their families and partners. Hopefully by the end of the night he'd have someone to rush home to as well. He'd need to be careful about it, since Mr Davidson was on edge because of his previous manoeuvres. Apparently 'fraternising on company time' puts you on the bosses number one radar. Ted made his way over to Charlotte once he was sure Melissa was nowhere nearby. She was on the phone to her scummy husband it seemed.
"No Sam, the counsellor said this would be a great opportunity for us to bond! ... well yes, I know we haven't booked anything but we can still do something."
Ted just waited for her to hang up. Making his move with her husband on the phone would definitely get him killed.
"Fine! We'll sort it out later. I lov--"
She got cut off by the sound of the line ringing out. Ted did feel bad for her. Maybe a pity bang is what they both needed. Charlotte was who Ted considered to be the definition of friends with benefits. He did care about her, kind of, but not in the way that they both needed it seemed.
"Seems like you aren't busy tonight. Me either!"
He led with that. Ted wasn't sure why. It was the first thing he thought of. Charlotte did not look in a good state at that moment. Her eyes were glossy, and she looked absolutely miserable. Ted pulled out his pocket flask filled with vodka and offered it to her.
"Oh, I better not. I don't want to get in trouble again today. Mr Davidson is extra tense."
Her voice shook as she said it. Ted noted she didn't say no because she didn't want some.
"I'll take the blame, you seem like you need it right now."
He didn't know why he was offering that in the first place. If he got fired, he would very much be in debt he couldn't get out of. He decided he was feeling in a much more tender mood though. Charlotte snatched the flask out of his hand and sneakily took a drink out of it. He nearly forgot because of that encounter what he was going to ask.
"So, are you and Sam going out tonight? If he's out of the house for a while--"
Ted cut himself off for Charlotte's sake. He would get slapped hard across the face if the whole workplace knew it that Charlotte was unfaithful to her husband.
"I can't tonight, sorry Ted. My family insists I spend holidays with Sam. They always come 'round and cause a fuss if even just a friend is over."
Ted sighed. He knew it wasn't Charlotte's fault. Usually he wouldn't give two shits if it was or not, and would make out it was anyway, but his bleak mood took the fun out of that.
"That's fine. Take care Charlotte."
He walked off. Maybe if he said he was sick, Mr Davidson would let him off early. Worth a shot.
"...and you can't balance? Really?"
"Saw it yourself sir."
Ted tried to sound like he had a dry throat. It was probably convincing enough. Mr Davidson took a moment to think, then murmured.
"Fine. You're dismissed. Next time you do this without at least a week's notice, there will be consequences. Do you need help out?"
To sell the lie, Ted said yes.
Mr Davidson had put an arm around his shoulder to 'support' him until they reached his car. Ted felt extremely pathetic to acknowledge that this was the closest he'd been to anyone in quite some time. It felt nice. Maybe that's why being alone hit him like a stack of bricks this year. They reached Ted's car, and Mr Davidson finally let go of Ted.
"Get better soon Ted. Preferably tomorrow."
Ted just nodded and took off. He didn't know where he was heading, he just knew he needed to go somewhere.
It was like muscle memory to head to the local bar. The drinks were decent, but more importantly, cheap. It was fun to watch people fight over who got to pick the song on the jukebox. When he entered, there was a total of four customers, including himself. Seems the rat violations threw couple's off coming here for Valentine's Day. That means whoever Ted managed to talk to would be just as run down and desperate as he was! Score! There were two friends (or maybe they were a couple, he couldn't tell) talking loudly, filling the silence. If Ted fucked up around them, he would be outnumbered, but they were both hot. There was no clear exit other than the door he entered through, so it was better not to risk it. There was a woman by her lonesome. Bingo. He made sure his hair was properly slicked back, and made his move.
"What's a woman like you doing here by herself?"
The woman gave him a look. Not a good one. He went for it anyway. A little look never discouraged him. It's not like it was an outright no anyway, so until that happened, he still had a shot.
"I have a perfectly good car outside, waiting to be put to good use, if you know what I'm saying."
He winked at the woman. Her face was unreadable. She lightly chuckled, mockingly.
"How charming. What kind of car is it?"
"Why don't you find out?"
This seemed like enough of a motivator for the woman to get up and make a hand motion that most definitely meant 'lead the way'.
It began to rain lightly. It was a nice atmosphere for romance. Too bad Ted was motivated by either lust or loneliness. He'll find out eventually. The woman was admiring his car, looking at the wheels, then inside the hood.
"Impressive car you have!"
Ted was getting annoyed about the constant admiration of his car instead of him. He decided to change the topic back to them.
"Why don't we go to your place?"
"Yes, yes I was getting to that."
She then told him her address. It was quite a far distance from where they were. Ted wasn't complaining, as long as he was with someone, he would be fine. Looks like Ted still had the ol' Spankoffski charm. He really doubted himself for a minute.
The satnav was beeping directions at him, whilst the woman gazed out the window. Ted wasn't sure how long it had been, but the awkward silence made it feel like at least an hour. The saw a hitchhiker on the road. Ted scrutinised the burly and tall man with the fluffiest coat he's ever seen in his fucking life, before a recognition hit him.
"Wait, there's a man on the road. Shouldn't you help him?"
Ted felt her eyes burning holes into him. If he didn't, he might just lose his pity bang. He could pretend he didn't slow down in time. Alas, he reluctantly he got out the car to talk to him. He didn't know why he needed a ride anyway, it's not like he couldn't just teleport or whatever the fuck.
"Ah Teddy Bear! Just the man I was hoping to see!"
Ted assumed the silence afterward was his turn to talk. He didn't. Tinky noticed.
"I'll get to the point if you're going to be like that then,"
Ted somehow managed to piss him off already. He didn't know how that happened every time he wasn't talking. Usually it was the other way around.
"That woman you're with? You should leave her here.
What was he-? No. He wasn't seriously saying he should leave her to hitchhike.
"What!? Are you insane! Why would I possibly want to do that!?"
"Because you don't need some random bitch to help yourself! I thought that I made that clear after the fifth time!"
This was exhausting! Every time Ted tried to get a pity bang, Tinky fucked it up in some way! Ted ignored him? Whoever he was with go mad at him for being an asshole. Ted talked to him? The situation escalated in some obscure way. Either Tinky makes Ted do something, or he does it himself. Some poor guy got severe injuries because of him. Ted thought of a response that would get on his nerves.
"What, are you jealous?"
"Of course I am Teddy Bear! These pathetic people don't even know what they're signing up for."
He ignored the way his face burned, and tried to bargain not to leave this poor woman on the road.
"...fine, but either way I'm not leaving this woman on the road, she hasn't done anything wrong!"
"Then why is she driving your car right now? You didn't seriously let her?"
"What are you talking about?"
Ted quickly turned around, to see the woman in the driver seat. The engine purred as she went off with Ted's car. He tried to sprint after it, but a strong arm pulled him back suddenly.
"Teddy Bear, you're not going to catch up. Let it go."
Ted realized he had no idea where he was. He used the satnav to get to where he was right now. His throat felt it was closing up, this can't be happening. How would he possibly get back? He didn't notice when, but Tinky spun Ted around to face him. At least now he can tell Mr Davidson that he wasn't lying about the lack of balance. The rain was pricking his skin. Every drop felt like a personal attack.
Tinky didn't know how to deal with this! He had never had to talk to a human that was scared for a reason other than his own presence. Is he scared? Tinky realised he didn't know much about how human emotions worked. He decided it would be a good idea to see all of his Teddy Bear's face, to see what he actually was feeling, so he spun him around. Ted was crying. That wasn't good.
"Are you okay..?"
Either his Teddy Bear was ignoring him, or he was panicking so much he couldn't hear him. Tinky knew a hug always helped him, so he assumed the same logic applied here. He apprehensively wrapped his arms around Ted. He, in response, crashed into his arms. Whether it was desperation or no balance, Tinky couldn't tell. It was probably both. He heard somewhere that reassurance also helped. He began rambling.
"It's only been 20 minutes since you left! It won't take long to get home. 40 minutes max! I'll even lead the way for you."
Tinky thought carefully about his next words, then deemed his sentence choice fit.
"I'll stay with you if you want, that's why you came here in the first place, isn't it? To be less lonely?"
Tinky slowly came out of the embrace, and started walking, dragging Ted along with him.
Ted felt himself being pulled by the hand. He just allowed it to happen. He didn't feel like fighting. He probably couldn't anyway, even if he tried. He used his free hand to wipe away the remaining tears. He hadn't even initially realised he was crying. If Tinky didn't think he was pathetic before, he definitely thought it now. After a couple minutes, Ted asked a question of his own.
"...could you stay with me? Just for a while."
"Of course! That means I can finally get rid of this gross human disguise. How do you live like this? You have so little organs! How do you even function, actually?"
Ted laughed at that. Soft, but genuine.
"I don't know really. They get diseases really easily as well."
As objectively gory the topic was, it was the one they talked about the rest of the way.
The familiar city came into view. Ted finally let himself relax. He was more surprised Tinky didn't intentionally lead them off a wrong path. He'd done that a couple of times actually. Even now, when his surroundings were so familiar, he allowed himself to just be led back. As much as he hated to acknowledge the fact all day, he almost forgot what another person felt like. He only had remembered how good it felt. His apartment block came into view. Finally home.
The elevator to the 7th floor was chaotic. Tinky would say he would jump on the elevator. Ted hadn't realised he was scared to be stuck on an elevator until he met Tinky.
They reached his door. He fumbled to get the keys out of his pocket. Tinky just swung open the door.
"Oh god, did I forget to lock my door!?"
Tinky just turned, and smiled.
"Nope!"
"Huh? Then how did you--?"
He was cut off by a finger on his lips, effectively shutting him up.
"Shhh. It's okay. Don't ask. I don't think you'd want to know."
Ted was sure to lock the door behind him, still slightly on edge. Tinky seemed to have made himself comfortable. Comfortable in the sense that he was as close to his true form as he could get on Earth. That Bastard also took up the entire couch. As infuriating as it was, Ted was just glad he had company at his house for the first time in... two years. Ted settled for sitting on the floor in front of the couch. He wasn't too picky about where he sat, he just wanted to be nearby. He put on a random channel, and just relaxed. He didn't think an eldritch god would be his first choice of company, but here he was.
Suddenly, he was hoisted up to the couch easily. Seems Tinky was finally willing to share the couch. Kind of. There was barely enough room for Ted. Likely because Tinky planted himself straight into the middle of the couch. Ted tried to lean into the touch as discreetly as he could. He was never that good at stealth though.
"Thanks, by the way."
Ted decided to break the relaxing atmosphere. Partially because he nearly fell asleep. Tinky just responded by putting an arm around Ted. He hated the way he needed that touch. He was extremely fluffy. Usually, his fur was matted, but today it seemed a little softer. Ted just allowed himself to fully rest his head on Tinky's torso. Tinky simply put his hoove through Ted's hair. After a while, Ted determined it would be fine to finally let his heavy eyes rest.
Tinky was surprised he'd even managed to get his Teddy Bear's this close to him. All he'd wanted to do was make sure he didn't go after a pathetic person. Sure his Teddy was as well, but he was special. In fact, he kind of acted as a teddy bear at the moment with the position they were in. Tinky never understood the holiday of Valentine's Day. It seemed kind of pointless. It made his Teddy Bear feel useless, and it made Tinky feel straight up uncomfortable. Just to see Ted flirting with all those people. It made something in his semblance of a stomach twist. Teddy shouldn't need those people. Tinky and Ted have had an on and off relationship for a while now. Tinky would visit Ted as soon as he felt he was being replaced, then they would have a good night. Tinky wasn't sure if he was supposed to visit more frequently. Maybe that's why Ted kept talking to other people. Tinky decided he'd prove to his Teddy Bear that he was the only one he needed.