Just Know You're Not Alone

the other’s energy was very unlike most they had encountered and it was hard to tell if nara enjoyed it or not. they were quite used to relishing anger and sadness that joy was difficult to grasp – especially when it was so overwhelming. still, they continued to smile and enjoy the pleasant feeling. “thank you. that is a nice picture of us.but,” they said, pausing. “not many want to take my pictures. why?” if a lot of people took pictures, nara failed to understand why they often resisted her offered polaroids. perhaps they could detect deception.

At Nara’s question, Fend tilted his head in thought. He remembered when they had offered him the polaroid the first time, as well as when they offered one to him again just before. Why hadn’t he taken it? The first reason he could think of was that Brody had drilled ‘don’t take things from toys you don’t know’ into his head. But now they were friends. So what was stopping him from taking it if they offered a third time? “Well,” He started off, “I was always taught to not take things from toys I don’t know. And I feel like everyone else was taught that lesson too. But also, you didn’t tell me what the picture was of, so I felt a little funny taking it.”

jin was quite used to this much energy considering he’d dealt with yin all of his life. but, it didn’t make it that much easier to fully understand where it came from. some people were just born this way, gifted with endless energy and excitement. “green tea. it isn’t like most teas i’ve found here, but it is still good,” he said as he walked over to his kettle and poured some of the liquid for fend. “i’m not too sure what pizza tacos are nor would i wish for you to waste your food on me. but, if you’re hungry, i won’t stop you from eating.”

“I haven’t tried green tea yet, but it sounds good.” Fend said, going further into the house and away from the door. Although he didn’t want to overstep, he also didn’t want to stand around by the door for however long he was there. “Oh! Pizza tacos combine both pizza ingredients and ingredients for tacos. I like to have ground beef, tomato sauce, cheese, and pepperoni in a hard shell for mine. But I got a little bit of everything in case my roommates want something different. So I definitely wouldn’t be wasting anything on you.” He’d gotten enough stuff for himself as well as for Kennedy and Brody.

while jin was usually found outside and much preferred to be outside, something felt wrong in the air. he would investigate what, but he had a feeling that it was going to be something that would be beyond his understanding considering how strange the town already was. and, it appeared his intuition made the right call when the first few flakes started to fall. he chose to spend the time not questioning the weather and focus on his calligraphy instead. it was the only form of art that interested him in actually partaking in considerin you really couldn’t mess up writing. he was worried about the ominous knock at the door until he opened it, quickly nodding and ushering the other into the safety of his home. “of course. i wouldn’t want you to trek out in anything like this. my name is jin. would you like some tea? i have some prepared. i knew something was wrong the moment i got up this morning.”

Fend smiled happily when the older male allowed him to come in. He’d been scared that the other might say no, and then he’d have to try and find his house while it was snowing really bad. “Thank you so much, Jin!” He said, making sure to shake the snow off of his shoes before entering. Even if it was accidental, he didn’t want to trek snow into the other’s house. “I’d love some! What kind of tea is it?” He asked. He wanted to try every kind of food and beverage he could while he was a human. “If you want I can make you some pizza tacos to say thanks! I have all the ingredients with me.” He held up the grocery bags in his hands. “How did you know?” He asked, jaw dropping.

Fend had gone grocery shopping to make some more pizza tacos when he noticed it had started snowing. And although he was excited, since he’d never gotten to go out into the snow before, the bear-turned-human knew he had to get home. He could go out and have fun once his groceries were put away. However as the snow started to pick up to the point where it became hard to see, Fend went to the first house he could see. Ringing the door bell, he waited for someone to come and open the door. “Hi, I’m Fend. And I was wondering if I could stay here until the snow stops? Please?” He said, hoping that the answer would be yes.

A small frown formed on Brody’s lips as he looked his brother over, he knew that he couldn’t force the other to sleep but he knew his parents would have at least wanted him to encourage the other to do so. He wanted to make sure that Fend was taking care of himself as much as possible – even in a town without rules. He let out a soft sigh, “Sounds like we need to do something to get some of that energy burned then because it’s getting quite late.” It seemed like a happy middle-ground for them both. “What do you want to do instead of sleep?” 

Fend was bouncing on the bed as he listened to Brody speak. Considering he was often very full of energy, it was hard for him to calm down and go to bed. And although he didn’t like the idea of going to bed (since he was twenty-one, so why did he need a bedtime?), he liked the idea of doing something to get rid of his excess energy. “Uh...hmm...” He tilted his head in thought, trying to figure out something fun they could both do. “We could play tag?” He offered.

“oh, that makes sense! your mom sounds like a nice lady,” he said, brightening up now that things had been cleared up. “but, yes! i would love a hug, mate!” he said, eagerly stepping forward and wrapping his arms around the other tightly. he stayed this way for a good twenty seconds, feeling happy as a clam before he pulled away. “that was good, actually. felt a lot nicer the longer it went on. thank you so much, mate. you’re doing, like, a public service right now.”

“She is really nice! And she gives really good hugs!” His mom was one of the people he hugged the most back at Sunnyside. When the other said he would love a hug, Fend’s face lit up. And he was especially excited when the other hugged him, instead of him stepping forward to hug the other. “Yay! I’m glad!” He wrapped his arms around the other male, not pulling away until the other did. “It’s no problem! I’m happy that I could make you happy. My name’s Fend by the way.”

nara offered a smile to the camera when the other said to do so, the feeling of doing so pleasant. “hello, fend. my name is nara,” they said gently, eyes looking to the device in his hands. “where is the picture? can we see it?” they asked, expecting a polaroid to appear like the ones they typically pulled out. “do you usually take lots of picture? do people like them?” they wondered if people got as upset about his pictures as they did their’s.

Seeing their smile made Fend’s smile widen. Their smile was very pretty. “It’s nice to meet you Nara!” He said happily. He was excited to see the picture of him with his new friend. “It’s on my phone! And o course we can!” He pulled the picture up to show them. “Here it is! You have a really nice smile.” At her question, he shook his head. “I haven’t taken too many, but my parents talk about taking them a lot. I plan to take a lot here though! And yeah, people usually love to take pictures!”

finn scoffed slightly. “if it’s dress up as your best friend day and there’s only one of you here, then who are you dressed up as,” he playfully asked. “of course i know my name! i’m figment. but, i suppose right now i’m finn since i don’t really look like ‘figment’ right now,” he rambled with a sigh before gently rubbing at his sore head. “if you’re the only one, then what’s your name? or, do you not have one of those either? you could always make a cool, new name for yourself!”

“I’m dressed up as me, since no one told me it was dress up as your best friend day. But I would’ve dressed up as my big brother Brody if I’d known.” He said with a shrug. “Okay, that’s good that you know your name. You looked like you hit your head when you fell, and I wanted to make sure you were okay.” Fend said standing back up and offering out his hand to pull the other up. “Oh, my name’s Fend! It’s nice to meet you...do you want me to call you Finn or Figment?”

lee wasn’t sure what the other meant by greeting toys, but he wasn’t going to question it – someone who greets others to somewhere was usually important and well respected considering they were trusted to give a good first impression and needed to be very knowledgeable of the subject at hand. “well, she wouldn’t wear her jacket while doing her work. a regal coat is something you wear outside to keep a presence about you – it makes you easier to be seen,” he explained. “i’m not sure i would want to be seen considering i wouldn’t know what i would look like,” he joked, referring to the cloth over his eyes.

A regal coat? Although his parents were made by a pretty famous toy company, he didn’t really think of his mom as regal. She was just his mom. “Oh, it’s not a regal coat. It’s just fashionable and can keep her warm.” Although being seen sometimes was a good thing when it came to toys, since when you were seen, you weren’t left behind. “I could tell you what you look like if you wanna hear it! And I think you look very handsome.”

Reilly laughed, seeing the man with the sign. They opened up their arms and smiled brightly. “I’ll take the free hug if you’ll accept my free smolder afterward!” They loved showing off the smolder that their father had taught them as a small child. It was one of their “secret weapons” that they liked to use on new people. 

“Of course I’ll accept a free smolder!” Fend said excitedly as he wrapped his arms around them in a hug. Although he wasn’t too sure as to what a smolder was, he was curious to find out. And he didn’t think it could be anything bad; it didn’t sound bad. Parting from the hug, he said, “By the way, my name’s Fend. What’s yours?”

At his older brother’s words, a pout formed on Fend’s lips. Even though it was late, he wasn’t tired. He’d had an exciting and fun day hanging out with his friends, and he was far too energized to even attempt to go to sleep. “But Brody,” He said with a whine, “I’m not tired.” He didn’t think he could fall asleep if he tried.

“ right? it sounds delicious. ” and right on que, her stomach growled loudly. sh laughed and shook her head, her cheeks turning into a soft pink. i was just gonna have a classic pizza taco. beef, tomato sauce, cheese and pepperoni. “ oh my god, that sounds amazing. to be honest, i think i’d eat anything you’d put on a plate right now because i’m starving. ” she let a soft laugh escape her lips as she smiled brightly at fend. “ how about we make a little bit of both? that way, we can eat some of both of them. share, basically. ”

At her words, Fend let out a chuckle. “I think I would too...although we probably shouldn’t tell anyone else that. Because then they might hold us to it and try to make us eat socks or paper or something.” And even though he was definitely hungry, he did not want to eat paper. Or socks. “That sounds like a great idea!” He’d make a separate one for her, because there would be no way he’d share the one he’d made for himself. Ever since he’d started eating food, he’d become a bit possessive of it. Or at least whatever he was eating. “Do you wanna go drop them,” he motioned to the bears, “off first? Or should we take them with us?”

nara wondered what they would look like in the picture – would they look different than they did in the mirror? they were still getting used to their own image and they were quite used to others appearing differently in the pictures she handed out. they nodded. “i do not mind. we will be in the picture together,” she stated, stepping closer to the other. it was strange to be so close to someone, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.

Fend smiled when they nodded, glad that they weren’t uncomfortable with him getting closer so they could both be in the picture. “Yay!” He exclaimed, holding the phone out after they stepped next to him. One thing he likes about being a human was that his arms were much longer than they were as a bear. Which meant getting a good angle for the photo was much easier. “Smile!” He said, excited to take the picture. After he took it, he turned to them. “My name’s Fend, by the way. What’s yours?”

Turning to Fend, Beverly finally explained to him the reason why she had brought him along. “ I was hoping maybe you’d be able to help me? I don’t think there’s anyone else I’d trust here more aside from you and your brother to help me with this. “ she confessed. As a fellow toy, she knew that he understood the importance of finding other toys, proper homes. 

At the explanation, Fend nodded eagerly. Considering he was already thinking about adopting the possible teddy bears in the shop, he would gladly help out to the best of his ability. “Of course I’ll help you! And I bet Brody would love to help too! Have you asked him yet?”