Sweeney Todd was polishing one of his razors, staring out his enormous window onto the rooftops of London.
It had been a quiet day—only one customer had come in. Not that that bothered him very much. After all, if Sweeney Todd had thought that it was possible for him to enjoy something, he would have enjoyed…
"MR.TODD!"
…quiet.
He grimaced and continued to clean his razor. Toby was knocking at his door and calling for him very energetically.
"Mr. Todd!" He cried. "Mr. Todd!"
"Go away," he snarled loudly. "And be quieter. You'll wake everyone in the bloody neighborhood."
"Mr. Todd, let me in, please," Toby called, quieter. "I need to ask you something."
Todd walked over to the door, anger bubbling inside of him. He wrenched it open and saw Toby standing there, mousy and eager as always. A silly smile was plastered to his face.
Todd frowned. "What d'you want?" He asked gruffly.
Toby's smiled faltered a bit. "Well…I was talkin' to mum and I was wondering…Mr. Todd, what is love?"
Todd stared at him blankly for several moments. Toby looked concerned. "Mr. Todd? Are you okay?" He asked.
Todd opened his mouth but said nothing.
As they stood in silence, Mrs. Lovett appeared, panting heavily. "Toby…I…you…too fast…I…my heart…" She clutched at her chest.
Toby looked nervously from Todd to Mrs. Lovett. "Mum…are you alright?" He asked. She waved at him to continue with what he was saying.
"Mr. Todd…" Toby began. "I was wonderin' if you could tell me what love is, 'cause I was asked about it by a lady in the shop today and mum said she was probably askin' a rhetorical question and then she said she'd been in love with her husband but he didn't love her back and so she couldn't explain what love is to me and so I got to wonderin' if you knew."
He'd said it all very fast. Todd blinked as he tried to comprehend. "I can't help you," he said.
He tried to close the door on the both of them but Toby stopped him. "You've never been in love before, Mr. Todd?"
Toby was shocked when a pained expression drifted over Sweeney Todd's face. But it was gone as quickly as it had come. "No," he said shortly. He slammed the door in their faces.