Work Text:
Teddy Bear slammed the bathroom door shut.
“UUUUUGHHH!!” She screamed into her hoodie sleeve, a habit she had done a handful of times before. She found it muffled whatever she did more than anything else, at least in her perspective.
She honestly didn’t know why exactly she was so mad, or what set her off. She assumed it was multiple bad things that piled up, and something small made her just… blow up.
She grabbed the first item she saw, a compact mirror, and tore it off of its hinges in a fit of rage as she slid down the door.
She threw one of the sides of the mirror at a corner of the wall, then paused as it launched up into the air and hit a towel, stopping the momentum, but not stopping the fact the mirror was completely shattered and glass was everywhere in the corner where it hit.
Teddy Bear stared at the broken pieces.
Her breathing was still heavy, and for a moment, she felt the anger building up again. Her hands curled into fists.
She wanted to break something else.
No. She couldn't keep doing that.
“…I need to do something less destructive… like Paintbrush told me.”
She glanced down at the shards scattered across the floor.
Paintbrush had told her before. When she got angry, she needed to stop before she did something she'd regret. Think. Breathe. Do literally anything else.
That sounded easy enough when Paintbrush said it. It didn't feel easy now.
She rubbed her face with her sleeve, trying to force herself to calm down. It wasn't working.
Her eyes landed on one of the larger pieces of glass.
Teddy Bear stared at it for a few seconds.
“…Closest thing to hurting someone else.”
She hesitated. Her fingers tightened around the glass.
She knew it was a bad idea.
She did it anyway.
———
Blood stained both cuffs on her hoodie, and it dripped down her arm and onto her khakis before she realized what she had done.
Teddy Bear froze.
“…Oh.”
She stared at her arm. The anger that had been filling her head only moments ago seemed to vanish almost instantly, replaced by a horrible realization.
She had made things worse.
It was then she realized she knew absolutely nothing about bandaging cuts.
“Shitshitshit—” She grabbed a sheet of toilet paper and placed it on a small area of her forearm, which was like putting a bandage on a bullet wound.
“What do I do, what do I do-?!”
She panicked, throwing the shard of glass back into the corner, where it blended in with the other pieces.
“I need to get a hold of someone—”
She muttered as she pulled up the sleeve to the hand that was originally holding the glass, then scrolling through her contacts.
Tea Kettle.
The only reason why she had her number was because TK often sent reminders to her, usually for things like potential challenges.
Teddy Bear stared at the contact. She didn't want to bother her.
Maybe she could figure it out herself.
She looked down at the blood soaking through the toilet paper.
“…Yeah, no.”
Teddy Bear didn't know if she should ask for help or deal with it herself. But eventually, she decided she was too deep in trouble to handle it by herself.
She clicked Tea Kettle’s contact.
———
“Did you really do these to yourself?”
Tea Kettle had wrapped a pad of gauze around Teddy’s arm and had raised the latter’s arm above her heart. Teddy’s eyes darted around the room in embarrassment. “Yeah… I didn’t think they would be that bad.”
Tea Kettle pressed her lips together, glancing briefly at Teddy's arm before looking back at her. “Well, I'm glad you called me. Though I would've preferred a less exciting reason for that call.”
Teddy Bear gave an embarrassed little grimace “Yeah. Sorry.”
“You don't have to apologize for needing help.”
The former paused. “Why did you even do it?” she gently pressed, making Teddy Bear rub the back of her neck.
“I… don’t know. I got upset, accidentally broke a mirror, and then realized I broke something. I guess that kinda made me think ‘oh shit’, and that made me turn to a last resort.”
Tea Kettle frowned slightly. “You were angry, and then you saw the glass?”
“Pretty much.”
“And you thought that was somehow going to make things better?”
Teddy Bear looked away.
“…Not really.”
TK sighed softly, but her expression remained gentle.
“Alright. I'm not going to lecture you.”
“Really?”
“I said I'm not going to lecture you. Don't make me regret it.”
Teddy Bear gave a tiny, nervous laugh.
The bleeding on Teddy’s arm finally stopped, making both women look relieved.
“I know Lifer has a first aid kit down here…” TK whispered to herself, opening the cabinet below the sink and searching in the mass of Soap’s dusted cleaning products and random junk that piled up over time on the island.
“There we go.”
She opened the small, red and white container and took out a roll of bandages, lowering Teddy Bear’s arm so she could wrap it around the cuts.
“Uh… t-thank you, TK. You really didn’t have to do this.”
“Of course, hon.”
She gave Teddy a small smile.
“That's what people are for, you know.”
———
After the bandage was secured, Tea Kettle got help from Soap with cleaning up the glass, and she thankfully made up the excuse of the glue on the back weakening.
After Soap was done, and both TK and Teddy had washed their hands, the latter reached out for the door handle.
“Hey. If you need me again, don't hesitate to ask, okay?” Tea Kettle said with a soft smile.
Teddy Bear glanced back at her. “Yeah, yeah… I’ll try.”
She paused. “…Thanks, though.”
Tea Kettle smiled.
“Anytime.”
Teddy Bear gave her a sly little grin before leaving and going back outside, this time with a barely recognizable smile.