The glow of New Vegas was nothing like Teddy has ever seen before. It was beautiful and if he could have it his way he would stare at it forever. But his job came first and he was sure that Mr. House waited long enough for his delivery. Teddy started to run as fast as his short legs allowed him to. While it exhausted him it did pay off as he soon reached the gate. The gate was tall and a little intimidating to the little teddy bear, but he didn't let that stop him. What did stop him was the fact that the handle was too far up. There was no way that he could open this door himself, not even with help. So after a minute of shaking the gate without it budging, he finally decided to ask for help.
''Good evening!'' Teddy said as he walked over to a group of leather jacket wearing men. For a second they looked confused. They were sure they were the only ones there, and they would've noticed it if someone would've walked over, wouldn't they?
Teddy was about to say something else to grab their attention before he suddenly locked eyes with one of them. The man's eyes widened before he mouthed a couple words that Teddy didn't hear. It didn't take long before the others noticed what their friend was staring at. Once they did they couldn't help but stare too. And while Teddy was glad that they finally noticed him, he wasn't happy that they were staring at him. Seconds passed and Teddy realized that none of them were going to say something if he didn't start talking. Nervously he cleared his throat, which produced a soft squick like noise.
''My name is Teddy Roosebelt, and I was wondering if one of you could open the gate for me.'' He pointed one of his short arms towards the gate while still looking at the people in front of him. Again he was met by silence but this time one of them walked over to him. Once he was close he knelt in front of Teddy to try to get to eye level with him. Slowly and carefully as if he thought Teddy was going to bite him he raised his hand to Teddy's face.
However, before he could touch Teddy, Teddy gently pushed his arm away. ''You know it's not very polite to just randomly touch strangers,'' Teddy said annoyed but his voice still sounded as cute as he looked. The four men in front of him shared a look before they laughed. Soon all four of them were surrounding him.
''Sorry about that, my name's Jake.'' The man directly in front of him started talking and introduced the other three to him, Aaron, Mike, and Brady. All of them apologized to the teddy bear and before they knew it they started talking. It turns out the four of them were part of a gang called The Kings, which explained the leather jackets. In return, Teddy told him about his job as a courier and how he was about to deliver something to Mr. House.
''So could you help me open the gate?'' Teddy asked for the second time this night. Jake nodded with a smile before opening the gate. ''Thank you!'' Said Teddy enthusiastically as he made his way towards the gate. The four Kings couldn't help but smile when they say Teddy run. Especially when they arrived at the gate sooner than him by just walking.
Once inside Freeside Teddy couldn't help but yawn. His journey was a long one for someone with such short legs. He wanted to take a nap but he was so close. Suddenly he could feel himself get lifted from the ground.
''I know it's impolite to just randomly touch strangers, but I like to think that we're not strangers anymore.'' Jake smiled at him. ''So let's get your delivery to Mr. House so you can go to bed.''
''That would be nice.''
The five of them started walking towards The Strip. And if the other four were having a conversation, Teddy was too tired to notice. Before he knew it they arrived at the gate for the inner city. Which would've taken a while for Teddy on his own, but since he was carried it only took a couple minutes.
''Ah shit.'' Cursed Jake as he suddenly stopped walking. The sudden stop jolted Teddy awake from his half sleep.
''What's wrong?'' Asked Teddy concerned. They were almost there, why was he stopping?
''Sorry, buddy but unless you have a 2000 caps hidden away you won't get past that gate.'' Because of the weirdness of meeting a talking teddy bear the four of them forgot that you got to have at least 2000 caps on your person to enter The Strip. And by the looks of it, their tiny new friend didn't have that many caps with him, if any at all.
''Aw, fiddlesticks.'' Teddy folded his short arms as best as he could. ''Do you know anyone who I could borrow money from?'' While he would've preferred to make the money himself he wasn't delusional to think that he could make 2000 caps in a reasonable time span. He was sure that the chip could've been delivered already if it wasn't for his short legs.
''I think the King wouldn't mind lending you some money.'' They would've given him the money themselves but the four of them were running short.
''You think so?'' Teddy looked up at Jake with hopeful eyes.
''I know so.'' Jake lifted the teddy up to place him on his shoulder before they made their way home.
For a second Teddy wondered where they would be going until he remembered the building with the giant sign reading ''The Kings''. When they approached the building he felt silly for even thinking that there could be another building for them.
It wasn't particularly late, at least not for a city that never slept, but the only person in the lobby was Pacer. The four Kings greeted their friend with a smile, and in return, he greeted them back.
''Is the King still up?'' Aaron asked as he walked over to Pacer.
Pacer ignored the question when he noticed Jake and Teddy. ''Aren't you a little bit too old for teddy bears?'' He teased with a smirk. His accent sounded weird to Teddy, not unpleasant just different.
''My name is Teddy Roosebelt, not Teddy Bears,'' Teddy said not understanding that Pacer was teasing his friend.
As the other four expected Pacer's eyes widened. ''What the fuck.'' The jail suit-wearing man quickly looked at his friends. ''Are you hearing what I'm hearing or are the chems getting to me?'' The panic was obvious in Pacer's voice and the others couldn't help but worry.
''Calm down, Pace. There's nothing wrong with you. We can all see him.'' Brady patted Pacer on the back to let him know that everything was alright. With a confused and almost scared look, Pacer glared at Teddy before slowly walking towards him. Just like Jake Pacer tried to touch him but before he could Teddy gently swiped his hand away.
''What's it with you people and trying to touch strangers?'' Teddy asked to which Jake shrugged in response. That almost made Teddy fall if it wasn't for Pacer steadying him before picking him up.
''Hey! Put me down!'' Teddy shook his tiny fist as he tried to wiggle out of Pacer's grip.
''Where did you guys find this thing?'' Pacer asked as he looked at Teddy.
''I'm not a thing!'' The response was angry but it still sounded sweet. ''We didn't find him, he kind of showed up,'' Jake answered before he gently pried Teddy away from Pacer who surprisingly didn't bother to stop him.
Pacer wanted to ask so many questions but a look from Mike told him that he would get his answers later.
''You wanted to speak to the King?'' Said Pacer to himself more than to the others. Before anyone could answer Pacer walked towards the exit. ''He's still up, you know where to find him.''
''Where are you going?'' Asked Mike as Pacer was about to make his way outside.
''I'm gonna go for a walk now, need to clear my head.'' Pacer didn't bother to turn around but by the tone of his voice, he was certainly bothered by something. They wanted to follow him but Teddy still needed to talk to the King.
''Don't worry guys, I'll go talk to him.'' And with that Brady went outside too to calm down their hotheaded friend and to assure him that he hasn't gone insane.
Jake, with Teddy in his hands, and the other three walked into the room. It would be empty if it wasn't for the King sitting on his throne nursing a sarsaparilla. Without saying a word Jake walked over to the King before he placed Teddy on the table in front of him.
''Good evening, what can I do for you?''
''I need help entering the Strip and they said you could help me.'' The King's eyes widened when he realized that it wasn't Jake who answered. When he looked at the source of the sound he looked around for a couple of seconds. As there was no way that that teddy bear just talked. But the voice was foreign and high, not like any voice he could remember. It wasn't when the teddy bear started to wave that he started to believe it.
''Well I'll be damned.'' The King said amused as he looked at the talking teddy bear. With a smile on his face he stretched out his hand for a handshake. Surprised Teddy stretched out his arm too and the King gently shook it. ''As you might've heard I'm the King, it's a pleasure to meet you.'' He stretched out the word you as if it was a question.
''Teddy Roosebelt!'' Answered Teddy enthusiastically.
''Pleasure to meet you, Teddy. You said you needed help entering the Strip?'' Now what kind of business could a teddy bear have on the Strip?
''Yes, I do. You see I'm a courier and I was hired to deliver something to Mr. House.'' Well apparently that kind of business. The King couldn't help but be even more intrigued. Not only did he meet a talking teddy bear but that same teddy bear apparently had business with Mr. House. The evening started to get stranger and stranger by the minute.
''I see, well that's quite a problem you got there.'' You either had to have a passport or enough caps. But something in him told him that neither would work for the cuddly courier. He doubted that the securitrons would see him as a human so caps wouldn't work, even with a million. A fake passport would be out the question too as he doubted a picture of a teddy bear would pass.
The King was afraid that he had to disappoint the little teddy until an idea popped up. ''But I think I can help you.''
That's how Teddy found himself sitting on the King's shoulder as they made their way back to the gate. The King explained his doubts about the other two options which in hindsight made a lot of sense to Teddy. Add to that the fact that there was no way that he would be able to carry 2000 caps on his own.
As expected a securitron approached them and after the King politely showed it his passport they let them through. Teddy couldn't help but worry though, the robots didn't look friendly. Luckily that worry faded away once he passed the gate. With a sigh of relief, Teddy entered the Strip.
His eyes filled with amazement as he looked at the shine of it all. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. ''Thank you, for a second I thought that that wouldn't work.'' A small part of Teddy was insulted that the securitron didn't recognize him as a sentient being but he was too happy to care. The Strip was beautiful and he couldn't wait to finish his delivery.
Before the King could answer him another securitron made it's way over to them. This one was a lot friendlier looking than the others on the account of having the face of a cowboy.
''Well howdy, pardners!'' It greeted them enthusiastically. ''The Boss is waiting for you, asked me to pick you up! I didn't think that he meant that literally but it looks like he does.'' The robot extended an arm and the King and Teddy shared a look. Teddy looked at the robot who was clearly waiting for him so he nodded to show that it was alright.
Gently the King placed Teddy in Victor's hand. ''Thank you, pardner! I'll return him soon, don't you worry!'' The King couldn't help but look a bit disappointed he hoped that he could meet the famous Mr. House face to face now, but it looks like it wasn't meant to be.
''Thank you for everything! Don't worry about me you don't have to wait.'' Teddy smiled as he waved at the King.
''Alright, but if you need a place to stay don't be afraid to swing by. You know where you can find me.'' With that, the King left the Strip. Not only was it quite late already, he wanted to make sure that his potential guest would have a nice place to sleep.
Teddy waved after the King who waved back as he made his way back to Freeside.
Without a word, Victor rolled over to the Lucky 38. Teddy's nerves dropped to his tiny feet as he realized which building they were about to enter. It was the building you could see from almost everywhere in the Mojave. It was big and intimidating and he couldn't help but think that Mr. House would be the same. As the doors of the casino opened Teddy couldn't shake the feeling that this delivery was just the beginning. The beginning of something bigger than himself, or any average sized human being.
He couldn't wait to begin.