Work Text:
“Surprise!”
“Ah!” Morgan exclaimed, breathing heavily, “Don’t do that!”
“I just wanted to surprise you!” Alex said.
Morgan closed their eyes and took a deep breath, “I appreciate the sentiment, but I really hate surprises.”
“What? How can you hate surprises?” Alex asked, confused, and a little put out.
“Well, when you receive a really, really, really bad surprise as a kid, surprises aren’t very fun anymore.” Morgan explained.
“What kind of surprise was so bad that it put you off all surprises?” Alex asked.
“Well, when I was 6, I came home from school to my dad home early from work.” Morgan started.
“What’s so bad about that?” Alex asked, confused.
“Well, he then said, ‘Surprise! Your mom’s dead.’ ” Morgan said, “And it wasn’t a joke, she had actually died that morning. So now, the word ‘surprise’ is now forever connected to my mom dying.” Morgan grimaced with a shrug, essentially saying ‘Whatcha gonna do?’
Alex stood there with their mouth open, “I truly don’t know how to respond to that. I’m so sorry.” Alex said, “I didn’t even realize your mom was dead, I thought you have two parents?”
“My dad remarried, the one you know is my step-mom.” Morgan explained. “So…yeah.”
“Oh, okay, umm…" Alex thought for a moment, "do you want to watch Princess Bride?” Alex asked slowly, gauging if that a good choice.
“Sure, that sounds nice.” Morgan smiled.
“Oh good, I suggested the right thing." Alex laughed in relief, putting a hand on their chest, "I was on the fence between that or offering to kill your parents.” Alex said, laughing nervously.
“Ha! Nice one.” Morgan laughed.
“Yeah, I wasn’t joking.” Alex said, dropping their smile.