"Burt, I... I love you..."
Sven squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for a reaction.
"Kiss!"
"You're supposed to say you love me back!" Sven whined, picking up Melody.
"I don't know, that was pretty realistic," Carol mused. "You just pour your heart out to Burt and he replies with, 'Kiss!'"
"Don't give me another thing to worry about," Sven growled, putting Melody down again.
"Burt can't speak properly," Carol laughed.
"Don't make fun of him!" Sven exclaimed.
"Or else I'll have a prinsesstårta to deal with," the Right Hand Person teased.
"I'M NOT A PRINCESS CAKE!"
"Me and Melody disagree."
"You and Melody are only 75% of my conscious, so that doesn't matter." Sven blew a raspberry at Carol.
"Sure... Anyway, try again."
"I don't wanna practice on a bird," Sven whimpered.
"Then practice on me."
"Absolutely not."
"Then practice on the shark plush."
"Again, no."
"Then practice on Burt."
"N-Nej! I-I mean, no! I can't! I-I'm not redo- READY!" Sven cried.
Carol chuckled.
"Just be yourself, Sven," they cooed.
"Being myself brought me into this mess in the first place," Sven pointed out numbly. "And besides, would you be attracted to somebody like me? Obviously not, you're not attracted to me."
"Romantically, at least. But Sven, there's a reason I stuck with you and not everyone else."
"Because I was quiet?"
"You're not quiet anymore, so it wasn't that."
"Then what was it?"
"It was that you had the most potential to me."
"To you and your tiny kid brain."
"Listen, Sven, I'm not dumb. And I wasn't back then either. I chose you because you had, and still do have, the most potential."
"How?"
"You were quiet. Everyone else was screaming and crying, and you just sat in the corner silently."
"So it was because I was quiet?"
"More reasons than that."
"Explain."
"You were smart. You learned fluent English very quickly and you read. You read and read and read until there were no new books for you. So you read reports and worksheets from Reginald and RHM. And you acted like they were interesting."
Sven felt a stab of pain right in his heart, hearing them mention Reginald and RHM.
Nobody knew where they went.
They couldn't find them.
They presumed them dead.
And were my fathers too.
Adoptive fathers.
But better than his biological father.
"Sir... I'm sorry..." Carol murmured, realizing what they said.
"N-No, no, it's okay..." Sven sighed.
That was the only reason he was chief.
Because his father was the former one.
Not because anyone wanted him as leader.
But because he was an adopted heir.
We don't even go by heirs for choosing leaders! Sven thought furiously.
So...
Of all people to choose...
Of all Toppats who'd make good leaders...
Why...
Me..?
YOU ARE READING
The New Toppat (Curtisson)
FanfictionThe government is on their tail. Sven's so overworked and stressed, and nothing can help him. Everybody's assuring him but none are getting to him. He believes that it's all his fault because he failed to be the leader they thought he would be. He i...
