Disclaimer: I do not own The Brave Little Toaster or any of the characters. All I own are the names given, with the exception of Mr. Tandy and Plugsy, who were already named.
The cover art is human Didi. She is not in this story; I just wanted to have an example of what she looked like before her story took place. This one is not in that AU at all.
Mr. Tandy could not believe their kid had grown up. He hated to sound like a tired old cliche, but it seemed like only yesterday he met the young boy no older than 5th grade, being a gift for his good behavior during the move to the city. And now? He was top of his class in High School, had a lovely little lady around his arm who saw the world in his eyes, and was going to college!
He hoped the kid - no - young man would still remember him. He had been Rob's companion and aid for several years, having long since pushed his old appliances to the back of his mind.
Several years? He's going to leave me here on my own, isn't he? Mr. Tandy grimaced at the thought. He worked so hard for this kid, even accepting the stupid name he came up for him a while back, just to be left out in some yawn sale or thrift shop because he was a few years old…
Other than Cordaline, the orange bakelite phone who plagued the house with shrill rings and stories she heard from Gram McGroady, he was the oldest of the appliances.
You have the nerve to call yourself 'cutting edge?' And I'm last season… TV's comments still rung in his ears, no matter how much he struggled to turn the volume down.
Mr. Tandy could not help the fact that he was nervous the Master would no longer need him. For being cutting edge, he could use a few upgrades. Still, he could never show this to the others, he'd be thrown out of the Cutting Edge Club and forced to hang out with TV of all people!
His keys began to type on their own, tipping and tapping like a dancer as a nervous tick he prayed the humans would never learn about. He was starting to regret convincing the others their new makes and models made them special as they came to the apartment one by one. If the Master came and did not want his cheap old things, the newest ones would go first. He'd be left alone with no one but Mom McGroady and her long hours of typing up the family recipes.
No! I am still modern. Even if I am not a new brand, computers are still quite rare… that has to count for something. Rob can use my remarkable graphing features in college or play some Minesweeper and Solitaire in his free time… he will certainly still have a use for my abilities.
He sighed, his keys beginning to slow. He had duties to uphold, and until he got a definite answer to his fate, it was best to go about business as usual and assume it would all turn out fine.
Mr. Tandy set his mind to keep the others in check. See to Monsieur Mixeur's blades dulling and recommending a new set on the shopping list, assuring Cordaline her cord was not frayed!, and ensuring everyone made it to choir practice on time and in tune as soon as Ms. McGroady took Pierce and Lacey and left for their sewing club. (Something he was thankful for. If they were not merciful and stopped lip syncing, their voices could shatter the glass that formed his head.)
All appliances loved to sing, but as most appliances were not radios, phonographs, or cassette players, the practice was necessary. Mr. Tandy took pride in his bass voice, a base for their signature song, and was not afraid to admit he was glad he needed to practice. He would rather miss a note every now and then or skip a couple beats than being a radio with his head stuck in pathetic fantasies of past human wars and living out his days in a dusty old closet with on use, complaining about kids and their newfangled TVs and Walkmans taking his job.
At least we computers still have a purpose, he smiled, hopping from the kid's desk and onto the floor to make his rounds. The 1950's milkshake shop-style floor was shimmering and spotless, so Mr. Tandy made a note not to bother the little green suckers who never talked to him anyway about it.
"Hey, Tandy! How's you doing?" Plugsy entered the room, careful to close the door without the McGroady's noticing. "I thought I heard ya mumbling to someone in 'ere."
"Nobody, Plugsy," he groaned, turning away from his friend. Despite his energy-efficient bulbs and model designed for long life, he was the dimmest lamp a computer could dread to meet. Plugsy really was a nice guy, at least to him, but he was not the best for conversation.
"Feel free to tell me, if ya want," he began to whistle, turning to look around the bedroom. "I'm sure gonna miss that kid."
"He is not… taking you?" Mr. Tandy hopped over to him. "Is everything alright?"
"Well, he neva' said he wasn't, but what would that kid want with a dusty lamp anyway?"
Mr. Tandy sighed. "Plugsy, you are far from 'dusty.' If it were not for my bright screen always illuminating my path, I would rely on your help before anyone else."
He grinned. "I'm glad ya think so, bud. Just make sure to write back every now and then, eh?"
"Write back? Where… you think Rob will take me?"
"Well, yeah! Of course he's gonna take ya. He loves ya! I doubt he could pass his classes without ya help. With all your fancy bleeps and bloops, ya must have all sorts of functions!"
"I do," he nodded, grinning for a moment, but realizing Plugsy's point and what he was thinking, he stopped. "Plugsy, you are just as important as I am. Without you, we'd all be in the dark."
"Haha, tell that to Light Tree!... I never did get his name. Either way, I be thinking, who of us do you think he'll take?"
"I hope… all of us."
"Even TV?" They both laughed at the statement.
"Nah, TV would be happier here anyway but ya know, the Cutting Edge Club? Cordaline, Pierce, Lacey, all of us!" Plugsy scratched at his shade, adjusting it like a fine gentleman he certainly wasn't adjusting his hat. "In all honesty, I'd rather stay here than have some of us split apart."
Mr. Tandy could not share that sentiment. One thing Plugsy did have over him, even if he lacked fancy buttons and keys and all the things that made him special, was compassion. Plugsy would sacrifice his perfect plastic finish with a couple scratches to ensure their group stayed together.
Plugsy was the only one of them Mr. Tandy cared about, beyond his general acquaintance and similar bond of making sure Rob had the best childhood a gaggle of fine-looking appliances could create. He did not even understand why they were friends, with how stupid he was…
Sometimes, although he would never admit it, he was not sure who the stupid one even was.
"But like I said, no madda what happens, no madda who he takes, you'll write, right?"
Mr. Tandy nodded. "Of course I will, friend. And you'll make sure the choir sticks together?"
"You betcha!" Once again, he was grinning ear to ear. "I might need to pick up your bass notes, but eh, I always did love singin'." He showed off his talents with a quick scale.
"There's no need to show off, Plugsy," he snickered. "I've heard your solo a thousand times."
"I guess that's what we need to do," he shrugged.
"Listen to your solo? I know you sing well, but not even I am that prideful."
He shook his head. "Pull ourselves together…"
Mr. Tandy grinned, through his large mouth full of keys and devices "...on the edge."
The two parted ways after that, both attending to their own duties before what might be their last choir practice together. The kid would come home soon, and a few of them would be left behind, while others would be taken in the car to a new room, a new life, and maybe, sometimes years in the future when they were no longer so cutting edge, a new family with another young kid.
Or they would all spend the rest of their days in apartment A113, watching over an old lady her life became occupied with sewing clubs and cat magazines.
Mr. Tandy surely hoped it was the former. He prayed that his hard work would not go to waste, and the kid would take him to college with Plugsy in tow, away from all the weirdos and to a new tribe of life's finest and most cutting edge appliances…
… But if they were so modern, the two of them… they'd be obsolete in comparison…
Mr. Tandy was no longer sure what he wanted at all.