Character Appreciation: Next Gen
Showtime, Valjean's Confession: bread
Buttons: melodic
Chocolate Frogs, Patrick Delaney-Podmore: reference the Headless Hunt in your story
Film Festival: park
For Abby
Word Count: 354
Roxanne isn't surprised to find him by the lake, a loaf of bread in hand. Whenever their families do their annual summer picnic in the park, Teddy always slips away from the group and ends up near the water.
She watches him quietly, admiring the way the sun radiates his turquoise hair and makes it look like jewels in the light. A grin tugs at her lips, and she steps forward. "You know, bread is actually really bad for ducks," she tells him.
Teddy turns. A faint, dusty pink stains his cheeks, and he looks almost guilty and apologetic as he holds up the bit of bread he'd torn from loaf. "What am I supposed to do with this then?" he asks with a melodic laugh that makes Roxanne's heart flutter.
With a grin, she moves closer, opening her mouth wide and gesturing toward it. Teddy picks up on it and tears off a tiny piece of bread before tossing it her way. Roxanne catches it easily, chewing it and swallowing.
"Gold star," he says, landing another piece of bread in her mouth.
Roxanne chuckles and closes the distance between them. Teddy sets the loaf of bread in his bag. "What are you doing out here?" he asks.
She shrugs and wraps an arm around him. "Contemplating joining the Headless Hunt," she jokes, butterflies erupting within her stomach when he leans in and rests his head against her shoulder. "I think it would be wicked to just throw my head at people I don't like."
Teddy snorts, pulling away and regarding her with clear amusement. "I think it would be traumatizing," he says with a roll of his eyes.
Roxanne smirks. "Not for me."
"You know you would have to be beheaded to join the Headless Hunt, right?"
"What?" She clutches at her chest in faux shock. "I have to be headless to join the Headless Hunt?"
"Smartass," he mutters.
With a chuckle, she stands on her tiptoes, lips slightly pursed. "You love me."
Teddy wraps his arms around her, pressing a quick, chaste kiss to her lips. "Merlin only knows why," he teases.
