Denial

The Father

It was only a couple hours of mindless dawdling, as Norman tried his best not to do anything extreme. He and Theodore spent the last hours having a pointless conversation, consisting of Theodore doing the questions and Norman just answering. The way the man looked and acted made Norman cringe a little; he somehow looked like he expected more from him. As each moment passed, he seemed to get nosier and much more disturbing.

The entire time, Norman was praying that Theodore would stop asking personal questions. And answering his meaningless prayers were a couple knocks on the door.

He could feel the worry and grateful feelings gurgle inside him. Yet, he knew that this was not a complete stranger at the door. Uh oh. 

Theodore looked up at Norman, and said in a quiet voice, "I think I know who is at the door."

Well, no shit. "Of course you know. And it's not like I don't know, either." Norman almost snapped, turning back to look at him. 

"Why don't you go open that door now? You shouldn't keep him waiting like that, Norman."

"Whatever. I'm going to open the door now."

Just as his hand reached for the doorknob, a deep and fiery voice sounded from outside. "Hey, Norman! I know you're in there! Boy, did you suddenly forget how to open the damn door?" there were a couple more heavy and loud knocks. 

Despite his face creasing in annoyance, Norman opened the door and tried to look as welcoming as he could. Opening up the door a little, he poked his head out. "I didn't forget how to open the door. I was just coming for it is all."

"Uh huh," responding was probably the world's most whack yet serious father there is. Standing right on front of him was a taller man, with Norman's similar hair and ponytail. And the man was also wearing a dark-hued uniform for his fishing job. The same golden eyes narrowed at Norman, and he asked, "So, what do you have in there?"

"What?" 

"I said it correctly. What do you have in the house right now?" 

Norman somehow didn't get what the what was. Was it a metaphorical saying? Did his father meant money, or what his college grades were? Or maybe he assumed Norman brought a surprise for them? Or maybe he assumed that he had brought something into the house.

Oh, well...

Does a charming, Beyblade-obsessed child-abusing man count?

His father must have noticed his silence, and cleared his throat. "Well, thank fucks these idiots let me go home early. Your damn sister called me and I assumed she was in trouble or something. She was rambling about a stranger in the house whom you let in." his father explained, opening the door a little further since Norman didn't do so beforehand. "So, who did you let in?"

This was both a surprising and not surprising. Norman just knew how unreliable his sister is, but there was no way to prevent his father from coming along. It wasn't like he could purchase an anti-dad scarecrow. On the bright side, he could take revenge on his sister by doing something funny.

But right now, he should probably worry about having Theodore and his father in the same room.

Norman looked back a little now, noticing how Theodore still looked calm despite Norman's anxiety. Turning back to his father, he said, "It's Mr. Glass. He came home with me since he wanted to see you guys again."

"And you let him in without calling one of us beforehand?"

"Hey, you guys know him. You guys had allowed him in before, without any planning beforehand."