Stuffed Animals (Karen/Frank)
Stuffed Animals + Kastle
(I cheated, it’s six lines oops)
Frank’s gaze gets stuck on the teddy bear, it’s head cocked to the side like a drunk struggling to sit up straight, limbs loose with years of lost stuffing, a well loved thing.
“That yours?” he asks, a surprising hitch catching in his chest as he waits for her reply.
Karen blushes, looking up from the files in front of her and quickly explains, “I need more than a .308 to snuggle up with sometimes.”
He looks up, his verbal filter disappearing the way it always does around the tall blonde. “Lisa used to fall asleep with hers tucked up under her nose. Wouldn’t go to bed without it, no other toy would do.”
“It smells like home.” Karen says, watching Frank pick up the bear, her own heart pattering strangely as his nose brushes the top of the thing’s head.
He only nods, carefully placing the toy back against the pillow, his filter firmly back in place, one word slips out. “Yeah.”