A Rash Decision
Hello all, Burtonized Lady HellRat at your service. It has been some time since I have updated any stories but I have become incredibly busy with school work since the semester started up, I know that a shitty excuse but it's the true one and I wouldn't want to be labeled as a liar now would I? So now that I have an idea, I am taking full advantage of it. Of course I don't own Sweeney Todd, if I did though I would be a very proud female.
Eleanor Lovett fell onto her recliner and let out a long sigh. It had been a long day, leading up to the busiest night that she could remember. She couldn't complain too much though, a lot of business obviously brought in a lot of money as well. Plus, she enjoyed walking around and talking to all of her customers. She had just started to relax when a booming voice rang from her pie shop. "Mrs. Lovett, where are you?!" Nellie rose quickly and cursed under her breath; with all of the customers that had come she had completely forgotten about the barber upstairs. She popped her head into the shop and saw Sweeney Todd glaring at her with his foot tapping. "Mrs. Lovett, what happened to my pie?"
She grit her teeth and brought her hands to the top of her head. "Gawd, I am so sorry Mr. T. With all of the business I 'ad tonight it completely escaped my mind. 'Sides dearie, do you really mind it that much? I mean, you never eat the pies that I give you anyway." This was not the thing to say to the demon barber, much less any typical impatient person.
His lips formed into a tight and straight line. "So now you're just going to let me starve? You are the landlady and a baker as well, is it not your job to bake pies and to serve people food?"
She let her jaw drop and she shook her head. "Yes, but do you not 'ave two feet? I saw that you noticed how busy I was tonight, did you never think to simply walk down 'ere and take one for yourself? I always keep one to the side just for you." She moved her arm in the direction of a tray that held a lone pie and a glass of gin that lay on the counter. Sweeney's expression did not change and he did not respond, so Mrs. Lovett continued. "You don't though do you Mr. Todd?! You never think because I do everything for you anyway. I cook for you, I clean for you, and I bake your blasted victims into meat pies for you! I'm surprised that you haven't asked me to bathe or feed you yet; I would be shocked if I saw you bring a fork to your mouth! His mouth began to twitch into a frown and a silent growl began to escape from his mouth. This should have been Mrs. Lovett's first warning, and had she heard it she probably would have stopped talking right then. "Do I even get a thank you or any other sign of appreciation though, never! You're just a child, and a selfish one at that! You don't give a shit about anyone but yourself, your bloody revenge, and that damn wife of yo-"
Her speech was cut off only when his palm collided with her right cheek. Her hand immediately rushed to her cheek and she let out a shrill shriek. She looked at him with tears beginning to form in her wide eyes, her jaw hanging low. She tried to yell, she wanted to yell, but all that came out was short breaths. Almost as if an alarm had been sounded, Toby came running into the shop from his bedroom. As soon as he saw the barber's glare and his mum in pain he ran to defend her. Sweeney clutched onto the boys wrist tightly just as Toby was about to attack him with his fists. He dug his nails into the boy's wrist until markings appeared; his eyes seemed to burst into flames of unmistakable malice. The boy gulped and looked down in defeat; the barber smirked and pushed him away. He walked over and grabbed the pie and gin. Right before he left to return to his shop he turned sharply and pointed his finger at the baker. "Don't you dare, ever, speak of my Lucy that way again! She was a much more refined woman than you will ever be!" His finger then moved down towards Toby. "You need to learn more proper respect. Though I cannot completely blame you, you can't learn properly unless you are taught well." Nellie swore that she could return his slap at that moment. How dare he disrespect not only her, but the boy that she considered a son as well?
It was too late for her to offer a retort though; he was already making his way up the staircase. She simply began to grind her teeth in frustration before turning to face the boy. She bent down and cradled his wrist in her palms. "Toby you're bleeding, did he really scratch into you that deeply?" Toby nodded and looked into her tear filled eyes. "You poor thing, let's clean you up." She grabbed a towel and dunked it into a bucket of water, giving the boy a smile as she cleaned off the bit of blood that was on his wrist.
She rose and pulled him close to her; he tightened his arms around her waist and felt himself calm down as she lightly stroked his hair. He looked up at her with furrowed eyebrows. "Why do you always let him do this to ya mum? 'E hit you and you're not gonna do anything? All 'e does is hurt you upset you more, you're stronger than that mum. I just don't like it is all."
Nellie let out a sigh and smiled at the young boy. "You know love; I don't think that Mr. Todd really understands what a smart boy you are. I'll talk to him tomorrow, I think that we've all 'ad enough commotion for one night. Now 'ow's we read a little before bed dear?" Toby wiped some stray tears away with his arm and grinned. He ran off in the direction of his bedroom while Nellie looked for a book for them to read together.
The next morning began the same as every morning, which meant that things were going peacefully so far. Nellie hoped that the barber upstairs had forgotten about the events the evening before. She walked into the pie shop and began to fix breakfast for the three of them. She had already started on the muffins when she started beating the eggs, as she whisked her motions intensified as she began to think about the night before. "Blasted man, I don't even know why I'm making a damn breakfast for him. I'm only wasting my time doing this, 'e won't even eat-"
"Mum, why are ya talking to yourself?" Toby had just come into the shop rubbing his eyes as she was speaking. "Are you still mad about what happened with Mr. Todd last night?"
Nellie watched him walk over to the counter and planted a soft kiss on his forehead. "A bit dearie, but it's nothing you need worry yourself about. Are you doin' alright Toby?" Toby nodded and looked at her with a half smile. "Now then, why don't you 'elp me with the breakfast. You can finish off the muffins and start getting 'em ready to bake if you want." Toby nodded and his smile grew when he heard her mention the muffins.
After the pair had finished off their breakfast Nellie began to get Sweeney's breakfast ready while Toby dressed out of his pajamas and into his clothing for the day. Mrs. Lovett made her way up the staircase and carefully balanced the tray. She was about to knock when she heard the sound of glass shattering come from inside the tonsorial parlor. She pushed open the door just as Sweeney let out a stream of curse words, 'and so the bad day begins' she could only think as she saw the glass all over the floor near the now broken mirror in the corner of the shop. She saw that Sweeney was already crouching down to pick up the shards so she threw the tray down on the chest and ran over to him. "Now Mr. T, don't go doing that now. I don't want you gettin' anything stuck in your 'ands, you just grab your breakfast from the chest and I'll be right back with a trash bin and broom."
When she returned she saw Sweeney sitting in his chair, staring down at the tray of untouched food in his lap. She ran over to the mess and began to clean when she saw that he still wouldn't eat. "What's wrong with it love, if you don't eat it now everything's gonna get cold. It's just eggs and a blueberry muffin, fresh and juicy ones to be exact. Eat it up dear you'll like it, mine and Toby's were delicious." She rolled her eyes at his wrinkled nose and got back to her cleaning, when she had finished cleaning she saw that the tray was on the floor and that he had taken his position at his window. He began to pace, taking slow steps, his glaring eyes never leaving the scene outside of his window. He reminded her of a scavenger searching with excitement for its next meal. She let out a long sigh and rose to her feet. "Are you gonna eat the food Mr. Todd, or is it going to end like it did last night?"
Sweeney lowered his head and slowly made his way over to his chair. He picked up the tray before seating himself and picked up the muffin. Mrs. Lovett grinned and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Now then Mr. T, it ain't so bad is it?"
Sweeney gave no response, he simply kept eating. His face lacked a sign of any emotion whatsoever; Mrs. Lovett simply decided to take this as a good sign; it wasn't as if he would ever compliment her anyway. All that she ever seemed to get from him were smirks and unpleasant noises. She was about to leave when Sweeney spoke, "Here you are Mrs. Lovett." She turned to face him and saw him holding out the tray. Three bites had been taken from the muffin and it looked like he had barely eaten any of the eggs.
She sighed and shook her head; well at least he had eaten something. As soon as he saw her face he scowled. "I ate some Mrs. Lovett, what the hell do you expect from me? Do you want me to eat it all and then shower you with fucking praise for your cooking skills?"
Nellie squinted and shook her head. "Gawd Mr. T, you act as if I expect some sorta parade or somethin'. I wouldn't say not to a thank you at least though, anything that shows that you're even the slightest bit grateful." He said nothing, the only part that seemed to move were his twitching lips. His eyes never left her as she continued on her, in his own opinion, unnecessary outburst. "I hate to say this Mr. Todd, I really do. Sometimes though, I just feel like I-"
Sweeney's hands balled into fists, his fingernails digging into his palms. "You feel like what, Mrs. Lovett?" Sweeney didn't know what he was going to do. He knew that Mrs. Lovett was a strong woman, but lately it seemed that she was growing even stronger than he and this was something that he did not want to admit.
"I feel like I've wasted fifteen years for nothing. I've always believed that all good things come to those who can wait, so I did, but for what? To end up cutting up corpses, getting yelled at when you're in one of your infamously constant bad moods, and getting nothing good in return. I could have sold those razors but I didn't, I could have left years ago but I didn't. I waited for fifteen years, while your beautiful and virtuous Lucy went and killed herself only two months after you were gone. She would have never wanted to see you as you are now anyway, maybe it's best that she died."
That was what it took to make Sweeney snap. His hand grasped onto the razor in his back pocket until his knuckle turned white. Before Nellie could blink he had it right up to her throat. He bit onto his lower lip until droplets of blood appeared; his breathing increased and his nostrils flared like a bull ready to charge. "How, dare you, say that, about my wife! You are not worth anything compared to her; you're barely anything at all in fact. You're a scarlet harlot who will do anything for praise; the only reason why you get any extra money is because your male customers like to see how tight your corset can get!" His razor dug into her skin so deeply that blood of her own began trickling down her throat. He wasn't going to kill her, what use would she be then? He just wanted to be dominant; he wanted her to cry for him to stop cutting her. The thing that he did not expect her to do was to spit on his face.
He stepped back and wiped his face with his sleeve, letting go of his razor in the process. When she saw her moment she sprang into action, grabbing the razor off of the ground. She held it close to her, the blade slightly turned away from her. "Toby and my friend Autumn were right, why the hell wouldn't I bloody listen?" Acting on impulse, she ran and grabbed the box that contained the rest of her razors. He ran to stop her but she moved out of the way and he missed. He spun around squinting eyes and raised eyebrow to see her run out the door, only to throw the box onto the cobblestone ground. "You want your fucking razors; you can get 'em! I'm sick of it, I've put up with this shit for almost a year and I never though that I could have a limit! Thank you for truly showing me that everyone, including myself, has a breaking point."
Sweeney didn't immediately run after his razors, in fact he didn't even move from his spot. He just kept looking at Nellie with the same expression, looking like he had been frozen stiff. He rose slowly into a full standing position and his jaw fell slowly. "What exactly do you mean Mrs. Lovett?"
Nellie didn't turn; she only stood gripping the banister of the staircase. "It means that I'm finished Mr. Todd, I just can't anymore." She let out a slight sniffle and took a shaky breath. "I waited fifteen years for nothing; you've made it perfectly clear that I am nothing. I can't spend the rest of my life cutting up your victims, having a delusional glimmer of hope that one day I may be worth something to you. Worth something more than just a baker, just a coconspirator." She spun on her heels and narrowed her eyebrows at him, her shoulders rising and falling with ever deep breath that she took. "I'll tell you one thing though Sweeney Todd, I ain't some type of whore like ya said I was! Nothing could make me act like that, especially not now. Now I'm going to take your razors back downstairs with me, you can take them with you once you've got everything together if you'd like."
Sweeney could only watch as she walked down the stairs and back into her pie shop. He shook his head slowly and ran his hand through his thick hair. What was Mrs. Lovett talking about? What did she mean when she said that he had to get everything together? He tried to convince his mind that it didn't mean what he thought that it did. Mrs. Lovett would never do that, at least he never believed that it would be possible. Had he actually gone too far this time?
Well there you have it; I do hope that you enjoyed the first chapter. Again, it has been quite a while since I've written anything. I was planning on having this up earlier but things became too hectic much too quickly for me. So what do you think Mrs. Lovett meant, what's going to happen to Sweeney? Will the Earl Grey that I am shoving down my throat fully restore my voice after losing it Friday night at a third concert of my favorite singer? Will I ever get over the utter joy and euphoria that I experienced Friday night? The answer to the last one is likely, hello no! She ate my homemade Earl Grey cupcake and now I'm using part of her in my fanfic. My sister: Helena, didn't she mention how appalled and disgusted she was by fanfic perversion at the concert? Me: Yes, but I am working on Swellie/Toddett fanfiction (it will come in time), not Emilonica/Autlow fanfiction (at least not right now). Alright, enough jabber from me. Farewell until next time dames and gents. =:3 )~
