Tom & Brenda

Dinglehopper

Not again! Come on, this is the third time this weekend! Here I am, just sitting on the floor in my room among a pile of study notes, continuously getting distracted by the adorableness of Loki, and up goes the volume on Tom's speaker, again!

"Oy! Dinglehopper! Shut off that racket!" I call out at the top of my lungs, and in bursts Tom looking all innocent.

"But B! It's still rock and roll to me!" He pleads, failing to hold back his big ol' cheesy grin.

"And it will still be rock and roll when I'm finished studying, but right now, it's just a nuisance!" I snap back, ok, maybe I'm being a bit irritable, but don't judge me, I think I'm coming down with a cold or something.

"But Brendyyy! Hang on, did you call me dinglehopper?" that just sets him off again, why is everything so funny to him today?

"What of it?"

"Isn't that what the Little Mermaid calls like spoons or something?" and up goes that infernal eyebrow. He always does this, he knows that when he pulls his eyebrows into his expression it always amuses me more than logic says it should.

"It's a fork you dinglehopper!" I laugh as he clutches his chest in feigned hurt.

"Hey! You're laughing! That's more like it!" He cheers, by this point, Billy Joel's 'It's Still Rock and Roll to Me' had started playing again. Yeah Tom had been listening to it on loop for far too long now and I can't help but wonder why he started listening to it in the first place. Granted, I like the song as much as the next person, but come on! Get a little variety in to ya ear holes!

"I'm never going to get back to studying am I?" I ask, my head lolling back against my bed.

"Not today! Come on, I wan't to go rollerskating!" He is practically jumping up and down by this point and he bends down to grab my hands, drawing me up to my feet as I give in, too tired to resist.

"I'm not rollerskating, I think I'm getting sick, falling on my butt is the last thing I wan't to do right now," I complain, flopping back on my bed as soon as he had me on my feet.

"Sick? Why didn't you tell me?" and with that he dashes back out of my door. I gave up questioning his actions long ago so instead I just grab my coziest pillow and curl into a ball, mind set upon having a nap. Eyes shut tight I hear Tom switch off his music and what sounds like him rummaging through the kitchen cabinet. Before I know it, in comes Mr Forky with a bowl of chicken noodle soup and a small stack of Disney movies. Once I'm sitting up he hands me the soup and I thank him quietly, just now realizing how hungry I actually am, and he moves across to the small TV and VCR sat atop the corner of my desk. "What do you want to watch first? The Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid or The Fox and the Hound?" he asks, holding up each movie in it's box and he names them.

"Well, I know you want me to say 'The Jungle Book', and I know you think I'm going to say 'The Little Mermaid'," I begin, pausing to have some more soup.

"Yes, but what are you going to say?" he asks with a smirk.

I take a moment to glance over at Loki, he had curled up and fallen asleep on a jumper I had left on the floor. Looking back up at Tom I laugh, "can you go grab 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'?" His head drops down so far that his chin must be touching his chest before lolling over to the side.

"You're kidding right? We've watched that like a million times this month!" well, I guess he's not entirely wrong, and we are basically able to quote the full movie word for word at this point.

I hesitate for a moment, staring him down. If I blink first, we watch 'The Jungle Book' I tell myself, if he blinks, 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' it is. I don't tell him this but I'm pretty sure he has figured out that something along those lines is going on as he is downright refusing to blink. Seriously, does this man just not blink anymore? After god knows how long I finally give in, closing my eyes with a groan, "Fine, 'The Jungle Book' it is!"

Doing a mini victory dance, he puts in the tape and presses play before coming over to sit on the bed by my side, leaning against the wall in the corner and opening his arms for me to lean against his shoulder. As I get comfortable I finish my soup and focus in on the screen before me. It may not be my favorite movie, but I've got to hand it to Tom, it is a very good one. By the time Tom has started humming along to the bare necessities I am essentially just sat between his legs, leaning back against his chest with his chin resting atop my left shoulder. Then there's a knock at my door and in comes Nicki, "I thought I heard that bear," she chuckles before dropping to the ground in front of us, leaning back against the bed at our feet and watching the movie.

Some time later I hear Nicki whisper, "have you told her yet?"

Through my sleep addled brain I barely register Tom shushing her and murmuring back a quiet 'no' before easing himself out from under me and pulling my blanket up over me. Evidently I fell asleep at some point, and too drained to wake up enough to ask what they were talking about I just snuggle up in a ball and go back to sleep, missing the warmth of Tom's arms wrapped around me more than I think I should.