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the kids had been keeping themselves entertained with the new badminton birdies that stingy received for his birthday, though they seem to have invented an entirely new game with vague and contradictory rules. ziggy quickly tired out from all the chaotic zipping around the sports field, so he decided to meander over to sportacus’ perch on the park bench.
“what’s that?” the blond kid asked, fascinated with the strange, shapeless twig in sportacus’ hands.
“this,” sportacus explained with a smile, “is going to be a baking spoon.” he skillfully shaved bits of wood onto the ground with his carving knife, gradually excavating the kitchen utensil.
“woooah,” ziggy marveled, his eyes following each wood chip that sprung from sportacus’ hands. “do you use your super big muscles for that?” the kid asked, eyes sparkling. sportacus laughed fondly. “oh, no. this kind of carving is very relaxing, actually.”
“i thought you hated relaxing…?” ziggy pointed out innocently, much to sportacus’ amusement. “well… sometimes it is good to take a break from all the activity and do something for the brain instead.” sportacus knocked on his cap at that. to his surprise, though, the sudden motion of lifting his arm above his head made him feel ever so slightly dizzy, and he quickly realized that the reason he had been able to sit still and carve for so long must have been due to his blood sugar plummeting while he was distracted. he hadn’t anticipated a low blood sugar being an issue since he had eaten a sturdy smoothie for breakfast just that morning, but then again, his highs and lows could be sporadic and unpredictable.
“ziggy, do you have a piece of candy in your pocket?” sportacus asked, discreetly attempting to recenter while casually setting his carving project to the side.
ziggy nodded enthusiastically. “uh-huh! and some in my backpack, and one in my shoe, and in my-“
“would you be willing to share a piece with me?” sportacus strategically interrupted, preferring not to know all of the places ziggy stashed his candy.
ziggy’s mouth hung open. “but you said sugar- you have a sugar meltdown if you eat candy though!” he reminded dutifully, already fishing a piece out of his pocket anyway. sportacus smiled. “that’s usually true. but sometimes, i can eat a little bit. and right now, i could really use it.” he gently extended his hand and ziggy filled it with candy without any further questioning.
if he had had more energy, he would have laughed at the overflowing handful of sweets offered to him, but with so little to work with, he settled for simply unwrapping a single starburst and popping it into his mouth. the intense sweetness was always a shock, but at least sportacus would know it was working. “thank you, ziggy.” he said, politely returning the rest of the stash to his little friend.
“wow, i’ve never seen you eat candy on purpose before. what’s you’re favorite kind of candy?” ziggy rambled excitedly.
“i like fruit flavors,” sportacus answered honestly, swiftly producing his insulin pump from his belt and recording the carbs from the candy on it. “but mostly, i like fruit itself.”
“woah! what’s that?” ziggy scooted closer to get a good look at what sportacus was doing on the strange device.
“this is my insulin pump. it helps me keep my sugar levels in check since i am diabetic.” he tried to think of how best to elaborate on his condition so that ziggy would easily understand.
“oh, i’ve heard of that! doesn’t diabetes happen to people who eat too much sugar, though?” the blonde kid prodded. “my granny says if i eat too much candy i’ll get diabetes.” ziggy suddenly seemed to be feeling the weight of that possibly, looking anxious. sportacus chuckled. “ah, ziggy, it’s not always a problem of too much sugar. i’ve always eaten healthy foods, but i still was diagnosed with diabetes at a young age because my pancreas stopped processing sugar properly.”
“huh?” ziggy seemed thrown for a loop. sportacus, still waiting for that starburst to kick in, was also struggling to formulate his words at this point. “er, your pancreas is the organ that takes care of all the sugar you eat.”
ziggy nodded, absentmindedly peeling a smarties out of its wrapper for himself.
“and mine stopped working when i was a kid, so that’s why too much sugar is bad for me.”
“alright, that makes sense.” ziggy nodded again, quickly losing interest.
a particularly loud shout from the sports field caught the attention of both of them, and ziggy perked up at the sight of stephanie scrambling to keep her birdie bouncing in the air with a skillfully aimed racket. the other kids were cheering her on, whooping and shouting whenever she would nearly miss and break her airborne streak or hit the birdie especially high up.
“oh, man, i’ve gotta get over there!” ziggy said, his energy clearly returned to normal after the brief break.
sportacus encouraged him, smiling at the sight of all the kids grouping together again. a nagging annoyance sat with him, however, for he didn’t typically bottom out so suddenly or severely. his whole body felt heavy and his head light, and he found himself fighting the pull to slumber. it simply wouldn’t be ideal to fall asleep before getting his blood sugar back on track.
then again, it was an awful nice day, and this bench was awful comfy…
“you never told me you were a cyborg too.” came a deep and unmistakable voice from behind sportacus.
a little startled, sportacus craned his neck to see robbie standing over his shoulder with his hands on his hips. “though i suppose that would explain some things… like how sometimes you’ll beep when your crystal isn’t even glowing.” the tall man mockingly raised his ever-expressive eyebrows, frowning thoughtfully.
sportacus smiled a little impatiently, though any annoyance he may have felt towards robbie dwarfed in the wake of his fondness. “robbie, i’m not a cyborg. just diabetic.” he chuckled. “anyway, what made you stop by?” he then added with a playfully suspicious glance. “you’re not wanting to play a game of badminton, are you?”
robbie strolled theatrically around to the front of the bench, making himself at home with a deep sigh where ziggy had sat just a moment ago. “god, no- you couldn’t pay me to participate in that.” robbie sneered in the general direction of the kids all clamoring for a singular birdie in an intense game of hot potato.
sportacus watched robbie stretch out and get relatively comfortable on the bench, still maintaining a facade of utter disdain. he truly expected that robbie would explain himself or at least change the topic, but all that came from him henceforth was a surprisingly palatable silence.
so, sportacus opted not to question him and instead enjoy the comfortable quiet. he looked out at the kids playing, shifting himself to relax fully against the bench with every intention of dozing off in the warm sun.
just as his eyelids were beginning to droop, though, robbie pointed flippantly at the blob-like piece of wood sitting on the bench. “what’s this all about?” he questioned, glancing between a sleepy sportacus and his half-finished project.
“spoon. i… i’m making a spoon.” sportacus’ brain hurried to catch up with his mouth. the lethargic feeling disorienting him was really irritating.
robbie seemed to consider this for a second, his mouth twitching with an expression that sportacus could not easily decipher. “hmm.” he hummed distantly.
“did you really come all this way just to see me?” sportacus joked, although if he was being honest, he was growing increasingly curious to know why robbie stopped by with no scheme or plot anywhere in sight.
robbie straightened up in his seat, tensing awkwardly. “well, sportathon, you never, ever sit still for this long. what was i supposed to do, not come and investigate?” his greater-than-thee tone of voice did not match his somewhat nervous body language. sportacus squinted at him.
then a moment passed, and sportacus raised his eyebrows as if to ask, well?
robbie clammed up even further, though he tried and failed to hide it, and let out a gruff sigh. “i just don’t think those little brats are equipped to handle a medical emergency, should the occasion, er, arise.” he mumbled. sportacus couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“it’s hardly a medical emergency, robbie…” he laughed softly, searching for the intent behind robbie’s feigned expression of annoyance. “i know that.” robbie said quickly, and to sportacus’ mild puzzlement, he actually believed the man.
“then why…?” sportacus found himself asking, though he had no idea what he was looking for. by the looks of it, maybe robbie didn’t either.
a beat of silence passed as robbie visibly went through the five stages of grief in his regret for ever showing up. he simply wasn’t ready to admit, even to himself, that he had merely appeared in order to look out for sportacus until the jumping jack junkie was feeling himself again.
then, to robbie’s own inexplicable relief, he looked down to catch sight of sportacus’ newly bouncing knee. “well, it’s been fun, but i really must be walking away quickly now.” he blurted haughtily, rising from the bench and turning swiftly to flee the scene.
sportacus jumped up to follow after him (he internally noted that he no longer felt dizzy), but robbie was already speed-storming away without so much as a glance behind him.
sportacus did not have to work hard to identify the warm fuzzy feeling in his gut after that. he recognized that robbie had stopped by simply because he was worried, and he reveled in the comforting thought.
even after joining the kids once more and ultimately herding them towards the local deli for a treat outing complete with real food, the short interaction played over and over in his mind like a catchy tune. he really is just a big softie…