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Beetle
@usbkord.bsky.social
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Video killed the radio star. Ted Kord | Blue Beetle | #DCRP 29 | MDNI | A #Vague idea
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"I'm getting you a blanket, you need a blanket."

He brings him a blanket.
Big sip of tea. He pours more.

"...Look, about today.

I don't want to get between you and Lavender, attempted inflicted jealousy or not.

They tried to do the right thing."

He kisses his cheek.

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He waves his hand in the air dismissively.

"He liked /himself/ and he dated you because you liked him. I'm not strange, he was a loser."

He looks at him with a serious expression.

"I need you to know that he was a loser, Rose."

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He looks at him skeptically.

"Strange?

I like you. When I like a show, I watch it. When I like a plant, I water it. I like you, so I act like it."

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He thinks of an example.

❝ ... He would always get upset when I denied him. At least a little bit. Like I owed him. Like all I was there to do was worship him. That's the exact opposite of you. It's like all you want to do is worship ME. It's... strange. ❞
"It doesn't matter right now.

What can I do to help make this better?"
He smiles.

"It was kind of fun anyway. 'Why do you like Rose so much?' 'That's easy - C, all of the above!' I tried to give the best answer I could under pressure without being weird, but maybe I should've said..."

Don't start.

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Because he can't hug him comfortably where they are, he puts an arm around his shoulder.

"I should've hid my last name. This might've gone better if I was assumed to be some random guy for a couple minutes. I just wanted to be somebody for you."

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"Nobody is losing anybody."

He gets him some tissues.

"And you don't need to say sorry! It's my fault."

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As soon as they're gone, Rose allows a sob to escape.

❝ Damn it. I'm - I'm sorry, Ted. I'm a real mess... ❞

He slips off his glasses, wiping his eyes. He looks like he hasn't slept.
He carefully takes a sip of his tea, mindful that Rose has his arm now.

"I never complimented the tea. It's lovely."

He's stressed, but he's not upset.
"Oh, I included the first set of examples because implicitly that was a complex answer to that exact question..."

He stops talking as they continue.

"Should I go wait outside?

Because I can come back if you two need to talk through this properly."

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They narrow their eyes.

❛ Rose is the only family I have, you see. I need to make sure you're being truthful. ❜

❝ I'm 29 years old, Lavender, I don't need you babysitting me! ❞

Rose huffs, gripping Ted's arm.

❝ Am I not allowed to be happy? Am I not allowed to have ONE THING? ❞
"Sorry, you meant the first reason.

I realized pretty quickly that I wanted to make him happy."
Ted cuts himself short.

The goal wasn't to embarrass Rose in front of his sibling.

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"He's also cute (verbally and that thing he does where he turns red for a while). He's extremely passionate about his interests, and even if I don't get all of the details, it's okay because it feels fun to learn them when I do. We're having longer conversations lately, and those are nice."

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"Oh, everything."

He didn't say that like he needed to pause for a specific detail; he said it like it was an obvious answer.

"Rose is creative. He's knowledgeable. He's reliable. He's easy to talk to. He's handsome.

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❛ That's... fascinating, Theodore. ❜

They sip more of their tea with a hum.

❛ And what, if I may ask, drew you to Rose? ❜

Rose sighs, looking over at Lav.

❝ I don't see why that matters, Lavender. ❞
He takes a sip of his tea.

"Anyway, I end the story, and completing the project made me go back and read the same book a different way. I was so busy thinking about the candles that I never thought to pay attention to the water.

They connected a majority of the details with water."
Ted starts to focus on his intentions.

"...And I was telling Rose about that because he asked about my hobbies. He was really invested in what I had to say (and I really had to try to get him to focus on himself, he tried to keep me talking)..."
That's why it was important to share, he needed to know that Rose wasn't married to the idea of him being a static personality; Ted changed as much as his work did.

He was skilled, but he was also indecisive.

Restless.

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"As I was working on it, I thought that it might've been a better idea to stick with expectations of what a stoplight should be, so it became a lava lamp.

And then it was a timer...I changed it back to a heater..."

When he said all of this to Rose, he knew it sounded ridiculous.

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"Green...yellow...finally, red.

So, one idea mixed with another, and I got the idea to build a furnace that looked like a stoplight. I made it for myself, it was just a personal thing.

He yearns to be elsewhere.

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He starts talking like he's going to get in trouble if he doesn't.

"I was reading this novel, and there was a failing relationship in it. As the relationship worsened, the author decided to change the color of the candles in their house."

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One of his creative projects?!

This was the one time where he would've been perfectly happy if someone brought up his bland but impressive work.

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He puts on a strained smile.

❝ I'm sure Lav here would love to hear about it. ❞
He watches as Rose pours the tea.

"After that happening, I know there's no answer that I can give that would be enough.

But I'm definitely not like him. I'm trying my hardest to /improve/ the world every day."
"Fair! That is so fair... I uh..."

He can't explain the best reason why that wouldn't be him.

"I'm sorry to hear about that."

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Of course, Ted truly was the last witness for Dan's every death, and he knew every way that he had come back to life.

When Ted was frightened by the sound of thunder at the Fall Festival...it was because Dan controlled lightning.

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It was public knowledge that Detective Maxwell Fisher lurked around Kord Inc. in the weeks following Dan Garrett's disappearance under suspicion that Ted was involved.

The investigation didn't yield anything meaningful.

Dan reappeared in Chicago before he died.

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