tootles

~

Tina kept her attention on her sandwich after she spoke, stuffing a piece in her mouth, pulling out a loose leaf of lettuce, dusting away crumbs; anything to avoid looking at Tootles. If anyone was going to clock her, it was Tootles, and she surmised that he had already figured something was going on before he even knew it himself.

“Too quiet?” she repeated. “Maybe I’m just behaving myself. Did you ever think of that?” Okay, that totally didn’t sound like her. “Nothing’s bothering me. Why would something be bothering me?”

-

no, he didn’t like quiet tina at all. this tina was upset about something and that didn’t sit well with him, it never did when she was upset. she was like another sister to him. all he knew was that it would likely have something to do with peter. 

“no tina, i’ll never think of that because you don’t behave” he answered quickly “because i know you better than that and something is clearly bothering you, so what is it? is it peter? wendy? smee?”

Starter for @tate-polecat​

Tina was being uncharacteristically quiet. She was perched atop Tootle’s counter, deliberately taking her time and making sure she ate every last crumb of her sandwich. It was rude to talk with your mouthful, don’t you know? Tina, being Tina, thought she was being sly not saying anything. Tootles wouldn’t notice anything was off if she didn’t act like something was off, right?

Her legs swung, her eyes averted, the sandwich barely shrinking, Tina nodded along to whatever it was that Tootles had been telling her. Okay, so she wasn’t listening… which posed a problem when Tootles turned a ‘look’ in her direction. “Why’re you looking at me like that?” Tina asked, now stuffing as much sandwich in her mouth as possible.

-

he didn’t like when tina was quiet. a quiet tina meant that something was either bothering her or she was about to cause a one woman riot - both of which were a coin flip in the dark. however, her eating her sandwich quietly meant he could finish up the job he was working on and that freed up his afternoon.

tootles tried ignoring her uncharacteristic behaviour but in all honesty, it was creeping him the fuck out. he kept looking over and checking on her until she finally spoke up “you’re too quiet, what’s bothering you?”

~

“Okay, if you want to die on the ‘dumb one’ hill, I won’t argue,” Tina shrugged. Already a plan was forming in her mind, despite Tate’s protests. She would find this person. Maybe not by the means Tootle’s had set her against, but Tina had her ways. All she needed was the right information. Facebook stalking might have been a no-go now, but who was to say TikTok and Instagram were off limits, huh? “I pinky swear it, Tootles, I won’t. Cross my heart, etcetera etcetera.” For good measure, Tina presented her pinky. She declawed Tate’s scalp, but before he could enjoy the sweet relief, she buzzed his sides. “Toughen up, Chihuahua Boy.”

-

tate’s mouth dropped open, shocked that for once tina was seeming to be reasonable and agreeing to leave the girl in peace. tootles should’ve known better. “if you pink swear it you need to mean it! no stalking or terrorising allowed” he warned “no, i’m a precious boy with a precious scalp.”

~

“You were the brave one. They were a coward, and we don’t do cowards.” Tina stuck her nose in the air, fully of the belief that her friend had done no wrong. Other people were the problem. That was pretty much always the case, so she thought. “Please late me Facebook stalk them. I promise I won’t say anything! I’ll just look!” Her other hand was totally not crossed behind her back. With the other, she continued to dig her nails in, though less vigorously. “Free head massage.”

-

“that still doesn’t mean that i wasn’t the dumb one” he mumbled, his shoe scuffing the floor. they didn’t do cowards, that was what peter said through and through. “no, because you have no restraint and you’ll absolutely say something and then i look like a psycho” he knew tina too well and he knew her digging skills were amazing when she was on a roll and that she wouldn’t be able to help herself. “this what i imagine it would feel like when hawks pick up chihuahuas.” he winced when she dug her nails in again “ow, my soft boy skull!”

~

Rachel glanced back at the world of colourful paints behind them. In an ideal world, all three would have been perfect, but there were a few problems with that. One being that Rachel was awful at decision-making, so she would take them home and run into the exact same problem of choosing which paint to use. Two: “They’re really expensive,” she admitted, a grimace shadowing her smile for a brief moment. “They’re oils. I think I only have enough for maybe two of them, but then I can’t get new brushes if I get both. Plus, my dad would definitely look down his moustache if I came home with three of basically the exact same colour…”

-

all of the problems she was listing were more than valid reasons to be struggling with the decision making process. “why don’t you go for the middle tone colour? that way you can lighten it with white and make it darker if you need to, a win win” he said as he put on his metaphorical crown for being a problem solving king. “and then you can still get the brushes. also it’s very important to me to know what type of moustache your dad is sporting, is it hulk hogan, handlebar, a ron swanson, a hercule poirot?” 

- 

“good for you” she grinned at both his rhyming style and his drink of choice. “we’re here for a good time, not a long time, tate. enjoy that long lie and huge breakfast. hey, how’s pepé doing? i love that little guy.”

-

he felt oddly proud at the praise he got for his rhyming skills along with the approval of him to enjoy a long lie and a huge breakfast. he was going to do just that. was merida a self-care guru? she should be. “he’s good. chilling and looking cute all the time. he’s got his own work bench at the garage, though he uses his for naps”

“Peter is off again huh?” He hadn’t seen Peter since he kidnapped him and brought him to a adventure park. “Why would Tina get mad?” He asked Tate curiously. He wasn’t aware his wife was putting people on duty to keep an eye on Peter. And he wondered why Tina didn’t share that information with him. “Well, if I see him I’ll let Tina know.”

-

“yes, why does he always have to do that? it stresses me out” he groaned, clearly upset. “because she asked me to look out for him and i said i would but like the first time i was looking out for him he disappears and i don’t know where he’s gone and i think he’s doing it out of spite and because he thinks its funny but i swear i’m getting stress lines!” he babbled on without taking a single breath through his ranting. “he’s like a ghost!”

~

“No, no, no! Stupid person who stood up Tootles.” Tina corrected. Obviously whoever it was was a total loser, and if they had shown up, they would have known exactly what they were missing out on. (Tootles was her favourite Lost Boy, she might have been slightly biased here.) She was ready to boost his ego when he admitted that he hadn’t even met them in the first place. Her hand stopped right there on his head. “You at least got a name and picture, right?” she asked. “I can work with that. I can Facebook stalk them and then when they’re least expecting it, show up at their door or place of work and–” here, Tina shook Tootles head, digging her nails into his scalp gently.

-

“but they stood me up tina, clearly i’m the dumb one. why else would they stand me up?” peter was going to laugh at him real bad when he finds out. dear god, please don’t let him find out. “yeah, of course. i’m not out here looking to get catfished. jeeeeez” tootles shook his head at her master plan “you’re not facebook stalking them, tina. that makes me look like even more of a loser” he winced at the nails digging into his scalp “oww, please detach your claws from my skull. i forget how sharp your nails can be” 

-

“tootly-doo, how the hell are you?” she smiled, taking a sip from the orange straw in her drink. merida nodded away at him informing her that her truck was ready for pick up “perfect. i’ll bring by the cash and pick it up from you tomorrow after i have a long lie and a breakfast that will render me sleepy afterwards. does that sound good to you?”

-

“eh...i’m fine...drinking wine?” he responded trying to rhyme along with her. “yeah that’s works for me. the garage will be open from ten onwards and we’re open until six tomorrow. but also the mention of a long lie and a breakfast has made me hungry and long for my bed now, so thanks for that.”