For Gumnut and for Sineater. For fluff and for Fred! Flufftober 15. Silly Traditions - Gordon and his plush collection. And for Fluffember day 8: Happy/Eyebrows
This title is a combination between a discussion with Nutty, when discussing a title for a fic the suggestion 'Fred' was given. I liked that very much and happened to mention the title to Sineater who then gave me the prompt to go with the title…Only a short one as I'm working.
Fred was special. More than special, really. Out of the swarm of stuffed animals that covered Gordon's bed – and there were enough for Scott to wonder sometimes whether there was a bed actually left there – Fred was the first.
Bright neon green with yellow spots, the 'plush' on Fred the Squid was virtually non-existent now after 19 years of hugs, but it always took pride of place on his bed. It had been a gift from his eldest brother, then almost six years old, who had insisted that his newest baby brother would love it. How right he had been.
No one could remember how Fred got his name. Sally was sure that there had been a family discussion on what to name the toy and Jeff had flippantly said Fred, but their dad had denied that, saying that was a name their uncle Lee was more likely to come up with…
Throughout the 19 years of his life Gordon's plushie collection grew and grew, but Fred stayed his favourite. In fact, wherever any of his brother's went anywhere, they always bought back a plushie to add to the collection. It became a silly tradition that they all contributed to.
Last count, his collection stood at 312.
The other plushie that took pride of place at the top of the pile was Mr Wiggles.
Mr Wiggles was twice the size of Fred. And he was very unique in the sea of Gordon's all aquatic-themed teds. Because Mr Wiggles was a bear.
He was a large brown bear and he had two defining features that made him so special. Mr Wiggles had a widget inside him that when his stomach was pressed in a certain way he shook as if he was laughing.
But the biggest reason that Mr Wiggles was so loved by Gordon was his eyebrows. Thick and bushy and black, when he shook his eyebrows wiggled. Up and down.
He reminded Gordon of Virgil. A gift from Scott once more, but this time because Gordon needed Virgil but his brother couldn't be there, stuck half way around the world in college while Gordon was stuck in a military hospital unable to move with only Scott for company – not that Scott wasn't enough, but there was something about bear hugs that Gordon craved some days.
And then Scott found the bear one afternoon and bought him home to Gordon's room. And he stayed on Gordon's bed. When Virgil was finally clear to come and visit he'd been delighted at a drugged-up Gordon's reasons why he loved Mr Wiggles.
When Gordon eventually came home Mr Wiggles came with him and took pride of place on the bed with Fred. And the plethora of plushies made room.
But Mr Wiggles and Fred were the only two who slept on Gordon's pillow.