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“Alright, Peanut, how about I sing you a lullaby? You love that.”
“No!”
“You don’t? Oh, T.K.O., I’m so sorry. I’m still getting used to this.”
“No, I mean. You can sing a lullaby if you want . I don’t care. It’s just. I’m not your Peanut . That’s what you call K.O. and I’m not that Scrub.” T.K.O wraps himself up a little more in his blanket, turning away from Carol with a huff. Carol smiles and puts a hand on his side, giving him gentle pets that he, for once, doesn’t rebuff. She resists the urge to tell him K.O. isn’t a ‘Scrub’ in order to keep the peace they have right now.
She’s not quite accustomed to all the differences between her usual son and his ‘turbo’ self, but she knows a few things at this point. ‘I don’t care’ means ‘I want that’ but it also means ‘I’m too tough to say I want that.’ K.O. has always been so open about almost everything that dealing with T.K.O. being closed off is a heavy burden. But even if it’s hard, it’s very rewarding.
“Alright, you don’t have to be a Peanut. What do you want to be?”
“A skull!”
“A skull? I don’t know about that.”
“A roach, a snake, Fang .”
“Oh a roach, a little Bug-a-boo.”
“Don’t call me that!”
“Alright, alright. I’ll think of something that suits you and that I’m comfortable calling you, okay? Let me mull on it overnight.”
“Mm… Fine.” He kicks the blanket around a little, then looks over at Carol out of the corners of his eyes rather than actually turning towards her. An attempt to get closer without opening himself up. “If you sing a lullaby it has to be a cool one though, alright? I’m tired of those dumb baby songs you sing K.O.”
“Sure thing. Let’s see… How about Five Angry Boxbots?”
T.K.O. turns his head for a moment, interested, then quickly goes back to the same position he was in. “Yeah, sure. If you have to sing something, I guess.” Carol smiles and hums for a moment to get in tune, then sings.
“Five Angry Boxbots running off to Gars,
Jethro ran into Flurry’s car
Boxman saw him frozen and so Boxman said,
Frozen robots go straight to bed!”
T.K.O. yawns, but keeps his eyes open. Despite his protests Carol can see that he enjoys his lullaby and appreciates the effort she is making to cater them to his tastes. Maybe he’ll even thank her in the morning when he sees the special black mug she bought him for his morning milk. Though she doesn’t need a thanks.
“Four Angry Boxbots coming to attack,
Darrel got distracted by a crayon pack
Boxman saw him drawing and so Boxman said
Childish robots go straight to bed!
Three Angry Boxbots running up to bat
Ernesto went and lost his hat
Boxman saw him hatless and so Boxman said,
Balding robots go straight to bed!”
T.K.O. can’t fully suppress a laugh at the thought of Ernesto’s strange comb-over. Carol gives a little giggle too. She would normally chide her son for making fun of someone’s appearance but… With Ernesto the funny part is that his comb-over must be a design feature. Which means Lord Boxman, when working on his blueprints, decided a comb-over was a necessary feature. That is pretty funny.
“Two Angry Boxbots coming back for more,
Shannon says this is such a snore,
Boxman heard her complain and so Boxman said,
Lazy robots go straight to bed!
One Angry Boxbot still plaza-bound,
Raymond got pounded into the ground
Boxman saw him losing and so Boxman said
Any more robots and I’ll lose my head!”
“What about the other ones?”
“The other what, sweetie?” He growls. “Sorry. The other what, skull-boy ?”
Satisfied with the pet-name, he continues his question. “The other boxbots. There’s more of them, aren’t there? Mikayla and Boxman Jr. and-” he has to stop his questioning to yawn. “How did they screw up?”
Carol tucks him in a little more and checks that he has closed his eyes for sleep. “I’ll figure that out by tomorrow, okay?” He nods in response and is soon snoring. When T.K.O. is asleep he looks just as sweet as K.O. and that makes Carol hopeful. Maybe the right parenting, even though it’s all unorthodox, will be enough to ensure he stays on the side of good despite his angst.