Returns || Edie & Theo
"It was my grandmothers." Edie found herself admitting. "She taught me how to take care of it long before I ever imagined it would someday be mine." Her words held a touch of melancholy as she spoke of her grandmother, though her face remained impassive. If there was every anyone in her family who had understood Edie in the slightest, it was her grandmother. When sheâd died a few years back, Edie had not taken it well.
"Theodore." She repeated with a smile, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake. "Like the president. Itâs a good name." She mused. "Seems weâre in the same boat, there. I only just moved to town a few weeks back. Havenât even been here a month. Nor have I the foggiest what Southern Comforts is." She chuckled, beginning to replace the cover of the typewriter.Â
After a moment, when he began to insist on the facts, she heaved a resigned sigh, her demeanor changing from polite to no-nonsense in a swift shift of her shoulders.
"Only my mother calls me Edith, Teddy, and only when sheâs cross." Edie replied with a smile. Turning to face him, she put a hand on her hip, giving him a thinly veiled staredown topped off with a tight smile.
"Now, Iâm not sure what you think you saw," She began slowly, "But hypothetically, isnât it possible that someone could put their neck out on the line for another without any thought of compensation? NowâŚI donât know about this mystery person that you thought you saw," She said pointedly, "But if anyone came knockinâ on my door looking to cut off some fingers, wellâŚ" She hoisted the typewriter off of the counter and gave him a grin. "Theyâd better be ready."
There was no way that she could outright admit to what she had done, but she thought, unless he was dimmer than heâd thus far proven, that he would catch on to her double meaning, and hopefully, that would be enough.Â
She gave him another smile and turned away, before she paused and looked back at him.
"Out of curiosity, you didnât find any papers with this, did you?" The amusement had been replaced with an anxious and hopeful look. That manuscript was the fruits of two years of her hard labor, perhaps fortune would look down on her in the form of Theodore Morris.Â
Theodore smiled and nodded slowly, "Like the president, yes." He admitted, his parents - while they hadn't intentionally named him after the president, he had heard that conclusion drawn many times over his short lifespan. "Although he's much... Scarier than I am, if I'm being totally honest." He chuckled and shook his head.Â
When she began to speak in double meanings he simply raised an eyebrow at the young woman as if to challenge the difficulty of her words. Instead of continuing to insist on something that she clearly wasn't planning on giving in, he sighed in defeat and tucked his hands back into his pockets. "Well hypothetically - I'm sure that person is very grateful and wishes to convey their gratitude." He smirked before looking around nonchalantly, "Like if this hypothetical person happened to work at a desert cafe - where they get free sweets." he suggested casually before sighing. "Hypothetically - of course." He fought off a smirk until she mentioned the manuscript and his face fell slightly.
Theo was never really one to lie to people about things - except where it was required but this? He didn't want to give up the manuscript just yet, but what else was he supposed to do? He was a terrible liar.
"Well..." He began cautiously, "I didn't see them with the typewriter. if you'd like I can look around my apartment more, maybe it fell out somewhere?" He offered. That'd  have to do. Wasn't exactly the truth, but wasn't a lie at the same time. A half-truth, even. He looked at her with the best guise of sympathy he could muster.Â
"I'm real sorry if anything got left behind." He frowned,he supposed he could leave it at her welcome mat when he was done with it - no harm done, right?Â
After a moment his fact scrunched up, "Did you call me Teddy? No one calls me Teddy. Except for maybe school yard bullies. You're not going to beat me up are you?" he asked sarcastically. Â















