Family of two

11 - Adjusting

Eric

The last weeks had been tough for Eric. Losing his friend, nearly having Teddy taken away from him, worrying about Teddy, how to help him get over his parent's death, while he himself was still hurting from losing his closest and eldest friend. All this had worn him down and in addition he hadn't got nearly enough sleep due to Teddy's nightmares, causing dark rings under his eyes and leaving him all the more drained. On the upside Teddy trusted him and had slowly started to get over his parents death.

Teddy was more cheerful during daytime and together they had explored the toys Dan had brought over. Much to his surprise he liked playing with Teddy, watching him testing his abilities. Alas he didn't stand a chance to finish his paperwork as long as Teddy was up and keeping him on his toes. So he had stayed up late working to catch up with his workload, a habit that added to his exhaustion. He had been grateful when Sean had told him to simply do some paperwork in the beginning and to do it at home. Mike and Dan had helped him, looking after Teddy as promised, babysitting him so he could run some errands. By now Eric had returned to most of his duties fearing he'd encroach on Sean's sympathy in asking for more time off. When he had been out on patrol Julie had looked after Teddy and when he had office duties to fulfill he would take Teddy with him. Therefore his office was as littered with toys and crayons as his apartment. Rearranging the furniture in his office Eric had created an area were Teddy could play without being be seen by any visitor stepping by. Not that he wanted to hide him away, but he thought it would be easier for Teddy if he wasn't stared at by every random member of Dauntless who dropped by.

Eric couldn't believe the amount of things he needed for Teddy. He had been back at Mia' shop several times. He had also discovered, that he liked talking to her. She was one of the few people who acted normal around him. He liked it. Thanks to his harsh ways and Four's habit of warning everyone off most Dauntless never bothered to actually talk to him. They only ever came because they wanted him to do something or because they were complaining about one thing or another. So he had simply stopped at making an effort and concentrated on work instead. Mia seemed to be different. She hadn't been overly intimidated when he had been rude at their first encounter and she really intrigued him when Sean had assigned her to accompany him while he was still under the truth serum. Despite his earlier behavior she had seemed almost caring when he was in pain due to his refusal to answer her question about Teddy's parents. Also he still had to snigger at the memory of Zeke expression when she told him he couldn't ask him anything. Whenever he came to her shop Mia tried to help him as much as she could. If she hadn't what he was looking for she knew were to get it. He was now a proud owner of a step stool Terry could use for brushing his teeth, a little bathing tube, a highchair so Teddy could eat at the kitchen counter and cutlery fitting for kids just to list some.

Eric stretched. Initiation was coming up and Teddy would have to spend some time at the dauntless daycare by then. Meanwhile he seemed to have settled and maybe it would even do him some good. Perhaps he would be able to make some friends. Eric sure hoped so. In the last weeks he had talked to Sean about some things he wanted to change in initiation. He wanted an emergency stop at the no-conceal-rule, which Sean liked very much. It didn't do them any good if the initiates would be beaten into a pulp. The non-conceal rule were established so the initiates were forced to go beyond their limits. While they were initiates themselves Amar had expected them to fight until they reached their limits and then concede. Points would have been taken if someone would have misjudged his limits. To Eric's observation Four had never understood the true meaning of either conception. Now the trainers would be allowed to call off a fight before it went too far. The more major change would be the initiates earning or losing points due to their behavior. Bullies would lose points and those who stood up for others and thus perform an ordinary act of bravery would gain points. In order to see who would act dauntless under the stress of initiation the initiates couldn't know about it and since they couldn't risk Four interfering he wouldn't know. Chances were too high he'd tell some he wanted to pass. They had debated whether to tell Lauren and then decided she was trustworthy enough. Eric had offered to be the one to apply the pressure needed to see the true character of the initiates, though it would most likely make look him like a bully, but he had been willing to take it. He was used to ill guided opinions of him anyway. Many of them were due to Four, who's dislike of Eric was very well known and who liked to back is rambles up by 'facts' or what he thought were facts but in reality hold no truth. All there were, were misguided interpretations of observations Four made. In order to cut Eric some slack Sean had come up with the idea to feign situations where the initiates would have to choose if they'd be willing to put others first without anyone noticing or despite the fact they had to fear to lose points, which in reality they wouldn't. These sims would be filmed unknown to the initiates by one of the many hidden cameras on the compound. Eric liked the idea very much, since he wouldn't need to truly bully the initiates and in addition he was sure it would give them an even better insight. Though he would be tough with the initiates. There were the future protectors of the city. They had no room for cowards or people who weren't dedicated. If they wanted to protect others they should be at least able to protect themselves and not duck down, because he was giving them a hard time.