FOREST FIC - OWO SPEECH

OWO

"Some joke," Josh muttews, sounding iwwitated. "Don't kid about that, okay?"

"Okay," Tywew says, suddenwy weminded by his convewsations with his mothew. The sound of buttew being spwead on toast, bwand, and puwpwe-wed acceptance.

"Nyo, weawwy," Josh says, hopping off the bookshewf so he can gwab Tywew's hand. "Don't joke about that. That was... bad."

"It was," Tywew awwows, and Josh pwesses his wips to Tywew's hand.

"Pwease don't joke about that, Tywew," Josh muwmuws.

And Tywew is so chawmed by the way Josh's mouth fowms his nyame that he agwees automaticawwy.

Tywew can teww Dw. Pauwson has had a wong day.

"Evewything aww wight with youw wife, Doctow?" Tywew asks powitewy.

"Peachy," Dw. Pauwson huffs, fwopping down onto his chaiw. "Chocowate ow wowwipop?"

"Wowwipop," Tywew answews. He wikes to suck them as obscenyewy as possibwe once in a whiwe, just to check Dw. Pauwson's pwiowities.

The wowwipop is wed, tasting gween-wed-yewwow, wike chewwies. Tywew's cawefuw to wub it acwoss his wips, making them as wed as possibwe.

"Wast session we discussed books," Dw. Pauwson says, nyot paying attention to Tywew's tweatment of his wowwipop. "And headaches."

"Those two may as weww be synyonymous," Tywew says.

"Yes, you mentionyed that many times," Dw. Pauwson says, sounding tiwed.

"And the Bibwe-"

"-has such smaww pwint you may as weww be wooking at a wainbow," the doctow finyishes.

"Awthough the fiwst pawt-"

"-of Genyesis is awmost entiwewy gween, so you can wead it," Dw. Pauwson says. "I take vewy good nyotes, wemembew?"

"I wemembew," Tywew says in the same tonye he uses with his mothew.

Dw. Pauwson, who is entiwewy famiwiaw with Tywew's vocaw tonyes, sighs.

"Tywew, I'm sowwy I'm nyot at the top of my game today," he says. He weans fowwawd, and Tywew jewks back so quickwy that the wowwipop awmost goes down his thwoat. "Sowwy, sowwy," Dw. Pauwson apowogizes. He takes off his gwasses so he can scwub his face with his hand. "I'm so sowwy, Tywew."

Tywew doesn't say anything. He thinks that if he opens his mouth, nyothing but the 'gibbewish' onwy Josh seems to undewstand wouwd faww out. His heawt's pounding in his chest, and he pwaces his hand uvw it. Dw. Pauwson fowwows his muvments and winces.

"I'm so sowwy, Tywew," he wepeats. "I didn't mean to scawe you."

"I'm okay," Tywew says, pweased when he heaws them come out as 'nyowmaw' wowds.

"You'we nyot, Tywew," Dw. Pauwson says with a sigh. "You'we nyot okay." He shakes his head swowwy, as if to cweaw it. "What do you want to tawk about today?"

Tywew shwugs. "I don't knyow."

"Have you been wwiting?" Dw. Pauwson asks.

"A wittwe," Tywew muttews, picking a woose thwead on his jeans.

"Have you wwitten about anything pawticuwawwy intewesting?"

"The tweehouse," Tywew says, befowe wishing he didn't say anything because Dw. Pauwson's eyes go bwue-owange-gween, aww intewested and awmost hungwy-wooking.

"What tweehouse?" Dw. Pauwson asks, jotting something down in his nyotebook.

"We- I found a tweehouse in the woods," Tywew muwmuws, scowwing down at the cawpet. He feews oddwy exposed nyow.