Slowtown

.:4:. (Tyler)

I join the rush of people heading into the town hall and immediately scan the crowd for the boy that wears feminine clothes and his mother. I quickly walk to the seat next to his mom, a purse currently occupying the space.

“E-excuse me, ma’am, is this seat taken?” I ask in a small voice and she turns away from Josh, before eyeing me and shaking her head ‘no’ slowly.

“No, it isn’t.” She smiles and I return it, taking my seat.

“Thank you for letting me sit here, ma’am.” I give her a curt nod and she smiles again.

“Please, call me Mama. And, why wouldn’t I have let a nice young man like you sit next to me?” She gives me a quizzical look and I simply shrug.

“I don’t know. It’s just that my appearance can make me seem mean to some people.” She nods her head in understanding.

“What’s your name, if I may ask?” She is completely facing me at this point, Joshua behind her picking on a loose thread of his shorts.

“My name is Tyler.” I smile at her and hold out my hand for her to shake.

“If I may ask this too, how old are you, Tyler?” She asks and she seems genuinely interested in me.  

“I just turned 17.” I state and she nods, glancing at my tattoos then back up to my face. “Oh, those.” I laugh and she blushes a bit from being caught staring at them. “Don’t worry, I got approval.” I laugh again and she laughs along.

“You seem very nice, Tyler. Would you like to join Joshua and I for dinner this evening?” She turns to look at Josh for a moment before turning back to me.

“O-oh, I don’t want to be a burden.”

“Nonsense!” She slaps my arm lightly with a small smile.

“Okay, sure, that would be amazing.” I grin and she beams.

“Great! Do you want to come home and hang out with Joshua since you and him are only about a year apart?” She leans over and whispers in my ear, causing me to giggle a bit. “Joshua is kind of lonely, so you should say yes.”

“Yes.” I reply just as Mayor Anathema walks onto the stage, already blabbing on about things I could care less about. The only reason I came here was to see Joshua.

--

“Joshua, you and Tyler can go play Mario Kart or something while I make lunch, okay?” Mama says while unlocking the door and pushing it open. Joshua nods and walks into the house while motioning for me to follow.  

He leads me upstairs and we walk down a wide hallway before we turn into a door to the left. Inside sits a neatly made bed, clean desk, small t.v., and there is fairy lights strung around the room in various places.

“Wow,” I say, at a loss for words, while he awkwardly scratches the back of his neck.

“So, uhm, what do you want to do?” He asks and I shrug, still standing near the doorway because I don’t want him to freak out if I mess something up.

“Mario Kart sounds fun. Just a warning, I’ll beat your ass.” I laugh and he gasps at my words.

“You aren’t allowed to say that here.” He states while shaking his head and setting up Mario Kart. “Are you going to sit down?” He asks while flopping onto his bed.

“Oh, yeah. I just didn’t want to wrinkle your bed spread and get yelled at.” I laugh and he rolls his eyes while scooting over to make a bit of room for me on the bed.

We play round after round of Mario Kart and eventually Mama pops her head through the door and clears her throat. “Why don’t you guys go for a walk, you’ve been playing that for four hours.”

My eyes widen at the amount of time we’ve been playing, it only felt like five minutes. “Sure,” I smile and stand up from Joshua’s bed and smooth out my shirt before following Mama downstairs, Joshua following behind me.

“Dinner will be ready in an hour, boys.” She says while I slip on my hoodie that I’ve been told is a mustard yellow color. Joshua slips into his jacket and we walk into the chilly spring air in silence.

After a few minutes of silence he finally talks. “Can we go to the park?”

“Sure, I would like that.” I smile at him and he speeds up his pace a bit. We quickly arrive at the park and he runs over to the swings, grinning like a four year old.

“H-hey, Tyler? Do you think you could push me?” Joshua asks bashfully and I nod while giggling a bit. His face lights up as I pull his swing backwards and push him forward. “So, why did you leave that note?” He asks me once he is high in the air.

“‘Cause you looked really pretty with that flower in your hair and I wanted to get to know you.” I reply truthfully and he blushes.

“You think so?”

“Yep,” I answer and glance at the time on my phone. “We should probably get back, dinner is probably almost done.” I state and he nods while I grab the chain on the swing to slow him down.

--

“How was the walk, boys?” Mama asks as we walk through the door, the smell of cooked chicken wafting into my nose.

“It was good, mama.” Joshua smiles and walks into the kitchen after taking his coat off, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“Do you need help setting the table?” I ask while following Joshua into the kitchen and she nods a bit.

“It would be great if you could put the plates and silverware on the table.” She smiles and I nod while she hands me a stack of plates, forks, and spoons. I quickly place them around the table and Joshua comes out of the kitchen with three glasses full of water in his hands.

After mama carries the chicken and potatoes to the table we dish up our plates and begin eating.

“Mama, when we went for our walk we went to the park and Tyler pushed me on the swings.” Joshua beams and she laughs a bit.

“That was very nice of him, honey.” She smiles at me and I feel my face heat up.

“This is very good, mama.” I say, addressing the food in front of me.

“Thank you, Tyler. Now, why don’t we get to know you a bit better?”

“Well, my name is Tyler Joseph, I turned 17 a few months ago and the reason I sat near you was I thought you seemed very nice, and that was confirmed when you let me sit without a second glance.” I smile at her and she finishes her bite of food before speaking.

“If you were wondering, my real name is Laura Dun, but everyone that I’m close with calls me mama or mama dun. Joshua, why don’t you go now.”

“O-okay.” He stutters nervously and I smile a bit to myself. “I’m Joshua Dun and I’m turning 16 next month.”

“So, we’re pretty much a year apart.” I state and he nods.

“I think you two will become good friends.” Mama says and I nod a bit while Joshua sends her an uneasy look.

a/n sorry this chapter sucked :/