AU: Guys and Dolls (Sean)

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“I don’t know,” Sean admitted quietly. He knew nothing about stories, although he knew about reading. There had been so many books at the store where he had resided, on the shelf in his box. People bought books all of the time, but he knew nothing about them. He didn’t know what type of stories humans read to each other; he didn’t know the type of stories that people wrote or shared.

Just like with playing yesterday, or with being on this new shelf where he could spend time near Josh, he had no particular preferences. He was grateful for anything that he might experience, because it was better than being trapped in his box for all of those years.

“What’s your favorite?”

He thought it would be nice to share that with the other doll, for Josh to have the opportunity to share his favorite story with someone else. For Josh to show off a skill that, up until this point, probably nobody and nothing had even realized he had.

Already, Sean felt so special that he could talk to Josh, or that he could spend time with a doll that was so obviously loved, and one as smart and capable as he was.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"You want to read my favorite?" Josh asked, pleased by this request. Nobody had ever asked him what his favorite anything was. Or, rather, the child did, sometimes, but as Josh couldn't answer it didn't matter. The child pretended to know the answer rather than receiving the real one.

Josh didn't mind, because he knew this was a sign of love.

But still, it was nice to be able to share.

"Here! Let me read to you about Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins!"

He struggled to pull out the appropriate book, falling over with the book in his lap.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean hesitated at the other doll’s question, not because Josh had misunderstood, but because Josh’s reaction led Sean to worry that, perhaps, his request had been improper somehow. He had never interacted with another doll before last night, when their child had placed him on the same shelf with Josh after a long afternoon and evening of play. Perhaps it was rude to put another doll on the spot by asking for a quick decision that way.

Was there even etiquette regarding dolls who could read, given that this was such an atypical ability? For a doll to be capable of a human skill?

However, before he could apologize, Josh volunteered a book with a title that, unsurprisingly, Sean had never heard before. He let out a sigh of relief, because he hadn’t offended his new friend. Josh seemed excited about it, in fact, and so Sean, too, looked forward to this. It would be special, having his new friend read to him from what was his favorite book. The first book anyone would read to Sean would be Josh’s favorite book.

That was special.

Yet those thoughts evaporated when Josh fell over onto his back. Sean quickly went to his side, stretching out one tiny hand. “Are you all right?” He hoped that the other doll wasn’t hurt.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"I'm okay!" Josh assured the newer doll, struggling to sit up. He pulled the book onto his lap and opened it up, not at all put out by the fact that he had just fallen over. "Sit next to me and listen to this!"

He hoped Sean would enjoy the story as much as he did.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean remained by the other doll’s side, poised to help him if Josh required assistance sitting up. Yet, he managed to regain his balance with no assistance, and Sean thought the other doll managed with more durability and stamina than he himself could have. Then again, he had never fallen before,

He had seen other dolls and toys tumble from the shelves at the toy shop where he had resided prior to being purchased for their child. The softer toys typically only required dusting off before returning to their place on the shelf. However, occasionally one of the more delicate dolls would hit the floor and shatter some part of themselves, and, depending on how rare and expensive they were, they either went into the back for repairs, or, worse, they were disposed of.

Seeing that from his box filled Sean with a visceral fear of falling.

However, his new friend seemed fine, and he accepted that.

With the invitation, he scrambled up beside the other doll, so close that they were nearly touching. He turned his head to look at the book in Josh’s lap, and he had an expression of anticipation on his doll features.

He couldn’t wait to hear a story for the first time.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh read book after book to Sean, eager to share his ability with his new friend. After he finished each book he was careful to put them away again, and then, when it was time for the child to come home he helped the other doll scramble back onto the shelf.

"Quick. We have to get back up."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean sat beside Josh, utterly enchanted by each and every story that the other doll chose to read to him. He remained awed by the fact that Josh could read at all, and he felt a special connection with him, because the other doll chose to share this rarest of skills with him and that he was willing to share his favorite stories with him as well.

He hadn’t known what to expect when being read to for the first time. Yes, he’d had occasional moments of idle fantasy in his box; being alone leant itself to imagination, even if he had no real-world experience to which to compare it, and even if he didn’t have hope of being given to a child.

This surpassed his wildest dreams.

Josh had a nice voice, and he read so competently, as though he was a human being rather than a doll. He shared all of his favorites, and it was so easy to fall into the stories that the other doll brought to life, sharing the stories and the pictures.

Time got away from them, and, soon, Josh had grabbed him and was shoving him back towards the shelf they had climbed down from that morning. Once up, Sean reached over to pulled the other doll back with him, and they each arranged themselves in the same position where they had been left that morning.

[Joshua Bernstein]

The child burst into the room just as the dolls arranged themselves on the shelf.

"I'm home!" They shouted, grabbing both the dolls off the shelf and hugging them. "Let's have ice cream!"

Having ice cream, it turned out, meant having playdoh scooped into plastic ice cream cones and served to the dolls.

"Sean, do you like cherries?" The child asked, and then, in a falsetto, they answered their own question. "Why yes, I do! I just love cherries! I want five cherries, please!"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean had only experience play twice in his life, yesterday after being given to the child and just now, playing with the child and with Josh. Despite that, he took to it like a fish to water, and he enjoyed every moment of it. Even with that, he found that he liked the hugs the most, and he felt immense gratitude not only that he had been given to a child at all, so that he could be played with and loved, not only that there was another doll in the house, so he had a friend when the child was asleep or at school, but that his child was so affectionate.

It meant the world to him.

Of course, the same isolation that led to this being his second ever play session also meant that he had no idea what ice cream was supposed to look like. He knew of it but had never seen it before. So the child’s play-doh ice cream was the best ice cream he could conceive of, and he enjoyed being served five cherries, and then more than that, while their child fed them.

Then, afterward, the child arranged him and Josh around the table and brought down the tea set for a tea party. They were halfway finished when the child’s mother called them for supper.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Once the child had left Josh scooted around the table so that he could sit beside Sean.

"Tea parties are more fun with more people," He decided with a smile. He may have been nervous about Sean's presence at first, but he had quickly warmed up to him; he was glad to have someone to share all of this with.

"What did you think of your ice cream?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean had resolved to take his cues from Josh, since the other doll had been with the child longer than him, was the child’s favorite toy, and also happened to be the only other doll that belonged to the child. More than that, he could read, which, to Sean, meant that he was the smartest, most capable toy that he could imagine. Thus, when Josh shifted positions, the other doll knew that it was safe for them to move around.

He nodded eagerly in agreement. “It was a lot of fun.” Granted, he had never had a tea party before, but this had been wonderful. The child had been attentive to both of them, making sure that their bowls, cups, and plates were never empty, and, while Sean wasn’t the type of doll that could speak for or to its child, their child had had no problems with dialog. Even if the child’s falsetto voice sounded nothing like either doll’s voice; the child had no way of knowing that.

“The ice cream was great,” he added to answer the other doll’s question. Then, with a somewhat more rueful smile, he added, “I don’t know what ice cream looks like. Does it look like that?” He didn’t know if the clay had been the right color, texture, or even the right shape.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Not...exactly," Josh replied, drawing his knees up to his chest. "But you'll see real ice cream soon enough."

And he wasn't lying; soon enough summer came, and with it chasing down the ice cream truck at the park. Sean and Josh helped guard sandcastles, and went down slides of all varieties (sometimes with the child, and sometimes without. Sometimes the child even sent them down together), and they swung from the swings and rode on a bouncy turtle. Sometimes the child took their clothes off and brought them into the kiddie pool.

And once the child took them on a trip to the store that ended up detouring through the toy section.

"Daddy! Daddy, daddy!" The child tugged on their parent's sleeves urgently. "There's a doll bed! Can we get it? Can we please?"

Daddy glanced between the cart and his child and huffed out a laugh. "But you have two dolls! One of them will have to stay on the shelf."

"Pleaaaaaaaaaaase?"

Daddy relented and the bed came home with them. But rather than put one of them on the shelf the child put them to bed together.

"I don't want you to get lonely," They told the dolls, patting their heads gently. "Goodnight."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

The summer had been better than Sean’s wildest hopes; even with the experience of playing with the child at their birthday party and then after school and on weekends failed to prepare him for the excitement. They went to the park, they went to restaurants – there was a hotdog stand somewhere outside of town with the best hotdogs in town and the line was a half-hour long – the child, their parents, and both Sean and Josh ate at a picnic table. They had been taken to other birthday parties, where they saw the toys the child’s friends had.

And there were more tea parties, but without school interrupting the complicated games.

Sean didn’t know what he had done to deserve all of this, but he cherished each moment.

The night after going to the toy store, he found himself lying in bed beside Josh. Once the child had fallen asleep, he rolled onto his side to face the other doll. “This is nice,” he said. He meant all of it: the life they had with the child, the friendship they had forged together, and having a bed now.

The child didn’t take them into bed with them, and so this was Sean’s first time.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"It is," Josh agreed in a whisper. They were poorly covered with a green washcloth the child had re-purposed; it was worn in places, and not as soft as it had been when it was brand new, but it worked well enough for Josh.

After all, he usually sat on a shelf at night.

He wrapped one arm around his friend, smiling into the newer doll's face.

"I'm glad you came. It's nice not to be alone."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean couldn’t complain about the state of their “blanket” either; he had spent nights on the same shelf as the other doll, and, for most of his life, he had lived in his box. A repurposed washcloth and a brand-new doll bed designed for one doll was more than he ever could have hoped for.

“I’m glad I came too. I’m happier than I ever thought I could be.” He had been resigned to spending his whole life alone in his box. Instead, he had their child and Josh, and every day was special.

He returned the smile, and, when Josh wrapped an arm around him, he shifted to cuddle up against the other doll. The summer and trips had allowed Sean the ability to watch their child’s parents together, so that he could study their behavior and learn for himself. He had watched the child’s mother and father hold hands in the park, or sit with their arms around one another when on a picnic in the backyard.

He had also seen kissing.

The newer doll had been hesitant to take initiative in anything, because he remained on the learning curve. Yet, from watching the child’s parents, he thought this was the right time, and so, leaning in closer, he pressed his lips against the other doll’s.