41 with normal and someone else? I hope you have a good day!!
41: “I… I think I’m happy.” “You think? So you’re not one hundred percent certain?” - Normal and Lark, S2 no D.A.D.D.I.E.S. AU but still with the dance
For this writing prompt requests. I hope you have a good day as well!!
The car ride home was icy cold. Dad hadn't come to pick him up from the game, but after the dance that was hardly surprising. Even if Normal hadn't been in the mascot outfit. Instead, Uncle Lark had come and got him, refusing to accept the idea of Normal walking home or getting a bus by himself.
(Normal was sort of relieved. Getting the bus meant rehearsing the stop for his house and how to ask the bus driver for a ticket, and normal people didn't need to make sure they remembered where they lived. Be normal, be normal, be normal, be normal)
"How was the game?" Uncle Lark had been white-knuckled the entire drive, and Normal hadn't been particularly inclined to break the silence himself. It was suprisingly that Uncle Lark, even spoke. He was steeler these days.
"Yeah! Yeah, it was good." Normal didn't take his eyes off the road, not wanting to have to make eye contact. The window was a good cover. "The Teens won, even without Teeny. It must have been because of Scary and Link's super awesome skills." (He tried to shake off the thought that it was because Teeny the Teen wasn't there, that his abnormalities had dragged the team down even through the foam shield.)
Uncle Lark gripped the steering wheel tighter.
"Was it fun? Watching?" Normal hesitated.
"Yeah! You know, Taylor and I got to sit together," (even though he kept leaving to talk to the team about their strategy) "and it was lots of fun cheering on the team, but not, y'know, cheering cheering." (He wished it was)
Uncle Lark's frown was visible even through the reflection on the. window."Normal, are-" He sighed. "Are you happy? With all this?" Normal froze. (Be normal be normal be normal be-)
"I… I think I’m happy."
"You think?" Uncle Lark pounced. "So you’re not one hundred percent certain?”
"I mean, I'm supposed to be happy aren't I?"
Lark slammed the horn in frustration.
Normal winced at the sudden harsh sound, curling up on himself. As he tried to refocus, he heard Uncle Lark cursing under his breath: "Fucking Sparrow."
"Look, Normal," he turned to face him.
"You're not supposed to take your eyes of the road," Normal interrupted. Uncle Lark sighed a little and turned back, forcibly relaxing his grip on the wheel.
"Sorry. I know, it's the rules and it's dangerous to break them. Sorry about the car horn too. Just, listen to me for a second. I'm still focused on the road, don't worry."
He nodded, even though Uncle Lark shouldn't be able to see him. "I'm listening."
"There's no meant to be anything, okay? You don't have to be happy, you can just be, I don't know, angry or sad or numb or whatever the fuck. Emotions aren't logical. And just because your dad thinks something should make you to happy, doesn't mean it does. Got it?"
Normal stayed silent. In the window he could see Uncle Lark briefly glance over at him, before turning back to the road. After a minute, Normal spoke up.
"...but this makes Dad happy, right? Being more normal. That's what makes him proud of me, he said so. And I want him to be proud of me. So if he's proud of me, why aren't I happy?" An absent tear ran down his neck, startling him.
"Normal..." Out of the blurry corner of his eye, he saw Uncle Lark shake his head slightly, looking at him with... Pity? Sympathy?
"You know, your mom was a cheerleader." He said after a second. "Really?" Normal sat up, turning to look at Uncle Lark's hair as he spoke."Yeah. She went to our middle school, and high school. So, at each of our football games, she'd cheer for us. Sparrow drew the mascot for our school," Uncle Lark seemed to wince slightly as he said that, "and she was one of the only people who complimented him on The Doodler. She also liked his wolf ears he wore to school every day." He took another deep breath. "My point is, your dad and mom both would have been devastated to give those up when they were your age. It's not fair for Sparrow to ask you to give up both."
They pulled up by the house, and, in an uncharacteristical display of affection, he leaned over and ruffled Normal's hair.
"Uncle Lark!" He mock protested.
"Don't worry about being normal, kid. Just focus on being Normal. I'll talk your dad around, okay?"
"Okay." Normal whispered. And for once, he believed it.
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