A new stupid Ted Lasso drabble? Oh worm? 👀
“Would you still love me if I was a worm?”
It was too early for this shit.
Roy turned to find Ted staring intently at his computer screen, with Twitter—no fucking wonder he was losing his mind at 7:00am— encroaching on the Richmond desktop. Across from him Beard licked his thumb and deftly flipped a page of The Secret Garden. Had they planned this?
“Yes,” Beard said, not bothering to look up. Ted let out an explosive breath and smiled, like Beard’s promise of worm devotion meant fuck all when they had actual shit to do. Keeley was still waiting on a statement. Rebecca had a small library for them to sign. Higgins— Roy shuddered—wanted to talk finances in half an hour.
Which meant that instead of prepping for any of that in any way, Ted’s gaze crept towards him.
“Fuck no,” Roy barked.
Ted pouted. No, no, if Phoebe couldn’t sway him with doe-eyes at the tender age of six then Ted Bloody Lasso wasn’t going to do it around a fucking mustache. Roy set his teeth against the sliver of an apology trying to force its way out. “You’re a worm,” he said, as if that explained it all. Because dammit, it did.
“What kind of worm?”
Head jerking, Roy schooled his look of betrayal at Trent taking this seriously. He had his glasses off and everything, tap-tap-taping against his mouth as he stared contemplatively up at the ceiling.
“Uhhh...” Ted consulted the digital hellfire, but apparently no answers were offered up. Figures. “I don’t know. Just a worm? Are there a lot of ‘em?”
“Oh yes. Well over twenty-thousand last I checked.”
Roy twitted involuntarily. Twenty-fucking-thousand? And how the hell did Trent know that? Was he the goddamn worm whisperer? Made sense, given what a spineless pest he was.
Not anymore a voice whispered, sounding suspiciously like Ted. Yeah. Fine. He’d changed or what-fucking-ever. Roy growled and resigned himself to a worm lecture as penance.
“Worms are as varied as any species,” Trent was saying, curdling Roy’s stomach with every word. He took his pen out, mindlessly twirling it as he gathered his thoughts. “Silkworms, tapeworms, the humble earthworm. They seem quite simple on the surface and yet they’re a vital part of our ecosystem. Forget the bees; remove the worm and you risk a near total collapse of our agriculture. Ah, and did you know that the leech is a worm? Certainly they’ve been invaluable to the medical community as a natural anticoagulant. Science will always advance, but sometimes all you need is a good old-fashioned blood sucker—”
“Stop,” Roy groaned, fingers digging into the fabric of his shirt. Trent glanced over, one eyebrow raised.
“The point—sorry, my editor is always on my case for ‘overly verbose prose.’ As if she’s one to talk with those emails—the point is that if you were a worm, Ted, you would remain just as valuable a member of society as you are now. Of course we'd still love you. And why shouldn't you remain a part of our lives? I would determine your species and then set about finding a suitable environment for you. One that, hopefully, we would all be able to visit with frequency. However, if you’re a tube-worm I’m afraid you’re, well, shit out of luck, if I’m allowed to be crass. None of us are going anywhere near a hydrothermal vent and that’s even if I knew how to swim. Most land-living species would be doable though.” Trent bit his lower lip, considering. “If you were a worm I’d research everything I could about your nutrition, enrichment, life cycle. Given the magical nature of these events—I assume in this hypothetical you weren’t always a worm, yes?—I would take steps to ensure you were well looked after, should your life extend past mine. Luckily, Amelia already had a fondness for all things creepy and crawly, so I’m sure she’d be thrilled to receive you in the will. In the same vein, I’d use whatever contacts I still possess to connect with the leading researchers in Nematology and Helminthology, see if we couldn't find some way to communicate with you. I have no qualms about you being a worm, Ted, but I would miss our chats.” Trent smiled, a little wistfully, and then shook himself like a man coming out of a dream. “Why do you ask?”
“Jesus Fucking Christ,” Roy said, thunking his head down on the keyboard. Whatever these two nerds had going on he needed to bottle it and sell the shit. He'd make a fortune.
Ted let out a strangled noise. “No reason,” he said, clearing his throat. “That’s a mighty kind offer of yours, Trent, and I do appreciate it. Yes, ma'am, I do. I suppose you could say I—”
“Don’t,” Roy growled.
“—wormed my way into your heart?”
And he was done. Nearly tripping himself in his haste to leave the office, Roy unfortunately still saw the high-five Beard gave Ted—complete with a “Booya!”—and the heart eyes Trent was sending his way, fierce as fucking laser beams. Honestly, they were disgusting, the lot of them.
Still, that question was going to haunt him now...
“Wonder if Keeley and Jamie would love me if I was a worm,” Roy muttered, ignoring the look Higgins cast him and the question of where he was off to with their meeting on the horizon. Fuck finances. Worms didn't care about finances.
Roy took a right towards the exit, towards KJPR, and hopefully an answer half as romantic as the dork's.
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okay, some random questions, just to try and offer some for your ocs
Logistically, who runs/joins the bug circus. (there was a trope of children running away to join a circus, so i'm wondering if that trope applies to some of your bug circus members. )
-how is food/resources sourced if its a traveling circus, or does the circus exist only in one place, and bugs have to travel to them?
-Does the circus preform unsafe or dangerous tasks, to try and convince people to join? (they might not actually be dangerous, but looking dangerous could be part of the charm. Jumping though a ring of fire, for example. )
-Are there bug stereotypes with the performers (Such as a flea circus, or having flea acrobats)
-Does the circus have a coherent color pattern/color theming, or does each performer wear their own favorite colors/outfits, as long as they're vivid and bright?
-How does the circus protect itself against dangerous insects. (Things like 'The beast' centipede might exist in other areas of the world if they're a traveling circus, os are some of the members fighters? do they employ guards?)
holy shit /pos
OKAY SO: putting this under a read more LMAO this is very in dep
There are two ringmasters! Ghost (ghost mantis) and Flower (Spiny Flower Mantis). Ghost was the original, and found the circus with Honey(bumblebee strongbug). Flower joined later, and eventually became a ringmaster with Ghost. As of right now, I've opened up the circus to some friends of mine, and theres a singular instance of kids joining the circus, but excluding other peoples ocs, the youngest members joined at 19 and 22, and they are now 21 and 24.
Food/Resources are pooled by money collected via performances/the carnival that takes place post performance! Normally two bugs (Honey and Diana, bumblebee stronbug and glasswing butterfly acrobat), take care of dinner, and they are normally also helped by misc circus members. If the circus is in a town/city/place, they will normally get food/resources there, and cook a dish depending on what area they are in.
Yes, the circus does do dangerous acts! Some examples are knife throwing, fire twirling, and just in general some of the acrobat routines. For some of the members, danger is their specialty! Diana, like I mentioned before, is an acrobat. She specializes in trapeze, and generally does a lot of the other types of acrobatic performances. She loves doing dangerous acts, and even does duo performances with Honey at times. Another example is Saran(milkweed assassin bug, fire twirler/wielder). The circus does dangerous acts, but only if the performers are confident in them. It's not really a recruitment tactic, it's more of a way to wow the audience!
I don't know if this really works for stereotypes, but all of the clowns are moths and or butterflies as of right now! There is an io moth, an atlas moth, and an owl butterfly.
honestly, rn, i'm unsure! It's sorta hard for everybody to have a coherent color scheme due to. bug colors. Every section might get their own color scheme, but that doesn't apply to the clowns obviously
Some of the members have fighting experience! Such as Vex(emerald jewel wasp, sword swallower), and Saran(mentioned in 3). There are two bugs who specialize in the carnival, as they helped make it an addition to the circus. Terra and Rudd, both leafcutter ants. As I make more, there will be some who do specialize in security. The other cool thing is since the circus doesn't originate in bugaria they might have different weapons! I'll elaborate more on this later lol
HOLY SHIT /pos thank you!!! This helped me flesh these guys out a lot. I'm working on a masterdoc abt the circus rn, and if I decide to. open it. ill put the doc on my tumblr. As of right now, its closed (except to friends).
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the men and boys are innocent too.
we cry "the innocent women and children" to appeal to the masses, to try and force their sympathy, but the men and boys are innocent too.
I have seen sons crying out for their mothers, their fathers, their siblings. I have seen them break down at the loss of their families. I have seen them cling to their dead and grieve.
I have seen fathers cradle their dead children, seen them kiss their faces and hold their little hands. I have seen them faint with grief when asked to identify the dead. I have seen them carry their sons and daughters. I have seen them fasting to provide what little they can for their families.
I have seen men and boys digging through the rubble with just their bare hands, I have seen them comforting strangers, playing with children, rocking them, hushing them, even if the face of such imminent danger. I have seen them cry, seen them grieve, seen them break down into each other's arms, seen them be selfless, beyond selfless, becoming something I don't have a word for.
I have seen the men who are doctors refuse to leave their patients, even when they have no medicine or supplies to give them, even when they're threatened with bombings. I have seen fathers who have lost all their children pick orphans up into their arms and proclaim them their child so they are not alone. I have seen men and boys digging pets out of the rubble.
the men are innocent too. the men and boys are being hurt and killed too. the men and boys are grieving too. the men and boys are scared too. the men and boys are fighting to save their people too. the men and boys deserve to be fought for too.
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