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“About time I get to relax,” he muttered as he dropped onto the couch, clutching a bowl of healthy fruit, perfect for staying healthy, and turned on the television to his favorite channel. TV programming certainly improved recently; at the very least it wasn’t the same boring drivel like “Where are my Pants?” all the time.
He popped a piece of his healthy fruit into his mouth and chewed bitterly as he watched the cop drama play out, thinking of all the things that wouldn’t happen in a real police investigation.
“Then why don’t we watch something else?” the other guy asked in the back of his mind.
“We still don’t know who the killer is or his motive,” he thought back.
“I think it’s-.”
“No. It’s not.”
“Maybe it’s-.”
“Shut up and let me watch.”
Save for the TV, the room stayed in intense silence, and he leaned closer, squinting behind his shades at the scene, the building music indicating that something bad was going to happen, perhaps another death, perhaps the killer showing up out of nowhere…
“Hi!”
“What the-?” Bad Cop glared up at the face floating upside down just above him, and he quickly hit pause on the remote. “Spaceman! How did you get in my house?”
“Through the door,” Benny grinned, moving to float over the space of the couch right next to him. “What are you watching?”
Good Cop immediately took over. “The newest episode of ‘Throw the Brick at Him’. Would you like to watch it with us?”
Benny rubbed the back of his neck, really his helmet, looking like he was trying to place it. “Is that the show with the police officer and his intelligent female partner and they have to solve the murder of a school teacher and it turns out the killer was the teacher’s sister’s boyfriend’s kid who confused the teacher for the teacher’s sister when they trying to kill the teacher’s sister because they didn’t like her dating their father?”
Bad Cop threw his hands up. “Oh, great job, spaceman. You spoiled it for me!”
Benny beamed happily. “You’re welcome!”
Shaking his head, Bad Cop pulled Benny down so he’d actually be sitting on the couch. All that floating was weird. Good Cop sent a crooked smile at Benny, though it was rare he wouldn’t smile at anyone nowadays. “I didn’t know you like cop shows, Benny.”
“Oh, I don’t,” Benny chimed, grinning back. “I just couldn’t figure out how to change the channel.”
“Oh. Cherry?” Good Cop held out the bowl in his lap, but Benny pulled away, frowning.
“No, I don’t like cherries,” Benny answered as he made a face. It quickly melted back into a grin and he almost floated before Bad Cop wrapped an arm over his shoulder to keep him still. “Freeze-dried strawberries though, one of the best space foods, you know you can buy those in some stores or the internet- I heard that anyone can use the internet now can you believe it? And Emmet says it’s really fast too, but I don’t know, technology after the 80s is weird.”
“You talk a lot, don’t you?” Bad Cop muttered.
Benny shook his head. “Not really. You just haven’t told me to stop talking yet like most people.”
“Oh. Well stop.”
Grinning, Benny kept his mouth shut and kicked his legs back and forth. Bad Cop sighed, but went back to eating his cherries and staring at the still, silent TV screen. He couldn’t really go back to watching it now that he knew the ending, and besides…
“We still have our arm over his shoulder,” he thought, immediately turning red.
Good Cop recovered for him, face clear of any embarrassment. “Benny, can you do that trick with cherry stems?”
Benny looked up at him, blinking a few times. “What trick?”
“Where you tie one into a knot with your mouth.”
“WHY are you asking that?”
“We need something to talk about.”
“I haven’t tried before,” Benny answered, reaching into the bowl for a stem. He popped it into his mouth and immediately started working it around, and Bad Cop watched Benny’s jaw move, and his tongue poke around to try and knot the stem.
Bad Cop frowned, but found himself holding Benny closer. The astronaut didn’t notice, too focused on his task, and soon becoming visibly frustrated as his brow furrowed and his actions became more hectic.
“Ow!” Benny winced, his hand going to his cheek.
“What happened?” Good Cop asked in concern.
“It’s stuck in my teeth,” Benny whined.
“Well pull it out!” Bad Cop ordered.
“I can’t! My gloves make my hands too large to reach into my mouth!”
“Then take off the gloves.”
“I can’t do that! I’d be exposed!”
Bad Cop finally removed the arm over Benny’s shoulder to facepalm, but luckily the astronaut stayed in place. “Alright, fine, come with me.”
He set the cherries aside and stood up, grabbing Benny by the hand to help him up as well. Benny laced their fingers together and followed Bad Cop to the bathroom, waiting diligently as the policeman took off his gloves and began to scrub his hands thoroughly.
“What are you doing?” Benny asked.
“How often do you floss?” Bad Cop asked in return, scrubbing harder.
Benny blinked and shrugged. “I brush my teeth regularly.”
“But how often do you floss?” he asked again. “You need to floss at least once a day. How else are you going to get things like cherry stems out from between your teeth?”
Benny almost pouted, and Bad Cop just rolled his eyes. After drying his hands, Bad Cop grabbed a length of floss and faced Benny. “So now I need to get it out for you. Say ‘ah.’”
“Ah,” Benny said, opening his mouth wide.
Bad Cop held the floss ready, but stopped a few centimeters from Benny’s open mouth.
“What’s wrong?” Benny asked after the pause.
“You’re not going to… Bite me, are you?”
“Of course not!” Benny thought a moment and then added, “Why, did you want me to?”
“No!” Bad Cop groaned. “Just keep your mouth open, okay?”
Benny nodded and kept his mouth wide once again. Bad Cop hovered over him, but then dropped his hands again.
“It’s just really weird putting my hands in your mouth like that.”
“It’s fine with me,” Benny chimed, smiling reassuringly. “You just want to help!”
Good Cop smiled back and lifted his hands again, and Benny went back to keeping his mouth open. However, the seconds dragged on with no action from either of them.
Chuckling nervously, Good Cop asked, “Are you sure you’re alright with me doing this?”
“Sure!” Benny answered. “I just want the stem out. It’s starting to hurt.”
“Oh, we can’t have that,” Good Cop mused. Bad Cop scowled and finally reached in, quickly flossing out the offending stem and tossing it away along with the floss.
Good Cop smiled at Benny. “There. Better?”
Benny pulled a face again and held his hand on his cheek. “Well… Yeah, but…”
“But what?” Bad Cop demanded.
“You used cherry floss.”