Ted's Narration, 2030
"And there are days when it seems you never wear pants."
In the living room, Marshall can be seen sitting on the sofa without pants, wearing an old shirt. Behind him, the door to Ted's room opens, and Robin comes out wearing a long shirt that barely covers her buttocks as she pulls the edges of the shirt down and trots softly to the bathroom. Shortly after, Ted emerges from his room without pants, in boxers and a short-sleeved shirt.
"Hi, Marshall," Ted greets him, heading toward the kitchen with a satisfied expression.
"Hi, Ted," Marshall mutters in a voice full of fatigue.
"Are you hungry?" asks Ted before entering the kitchen.
"What's the point?" Marshall expresses resignedly.
"You could eat something," Ted tries to convince him.
"It will leave me," Marshall indicates, as if it's the most obvious and common thing, though he is more engrossed in the failure of his relationship with Lily and his lack of normal contact with Alyx.
At that moment, Alyx enters through the apartment door with a bag full of cleaning supplies she needed to buy since she had run out from all the disinfecting and polishing of the apartment surfaces in general.
She enters and softly greets everyone, "Hi, guys."
"Hi, Alyx," responds Ted, and Marshall follows, avoiding her gaze with a low "hi."
Alyx nods and enters the kitchen with her bag to find a place to store the products and clean the counter again.
"Well, at least in that case, you can leave it," Ted says resolutely. "Come on, it's Sunday," Ted inquires, giving meaning to Marshall eating that day, remembering an old tradition.
"It's pancake day," he finishes, completely forgetting that it was Lily and Marshall's day, and not just Marshall hears and remembers it, but also Alyx, who could clearly hear what they were saying, found herself immersed in old memories with that reminder.
"Lily always made the pancakes," Marshall expresses sadly, and Ted couldn't help the slight grimace on his face at remembering that detail, while Alyx, unconsciously in the kitchen, felt the same at what was said.
"God, I loved her pancakes. So fluffy. So warm. With such a perfect shape," Marshall recounted while remembering, leading Alyx to think the same without him knowing.
And Ted asks sarcastically, "Are we still talking about her pancakes?" pulling Marshall and Alyx out of their reveries.
"You have to eat something, Marshall. What do you want?" Ted continues, urging him to eat something.
"Beer," Marshall says expectantly.
"No, that was yesterday's dinner," says Ted with a slight sigh.
"Fine, then I'll eat yesterday's leftovers," declares Marshall as he pulls a beer bottle from behind the sofa cushion.
Alyx, who, although still in the kitchen putting away her purchases, was listening to the conversation, felt sad thinking about how badly Marshall was doing and unconsciously turned on the coffee maker to make another pot of coffee since she had finished the earlier one.
Day 31
That afternoon at the bar, Ted, Robin, and Barney were gathered at their usual table. Ted was telling them about Marshall's current situation.
"So he stays at home all the time without having sex?" asks Barney, surprised, and declares, "That's what you do when you have a fiancée; he should be celebrating here with us that he's gotten rid of the redhead tumor."
"Barney, it wasn't just his relationship with Lily; between them and Alyx, I don't know where that ended up," Ted interrupts the speech Barney was sure to give and inquires about something he had been thinking about days before.
"So they broke up too?" asks Robin, surprised.
"I'm not sure, it's strange. They're in the same apartment. Alyx takes serious care of him—makes sure he eats, bathes, keeps the floor clean, prepares his clothes and food—it's as if she facilitates everything for Marshall, but they don't talk, they don't sleep together, and it's so strange." Ted recounts what he had seen when he concentrated on being in the apartment without Robin.
"Wow, it's like a very strange mother taking care of a giant Erikson baby," Barney inquires, too surprised and curious about the dynamics of his friends.
"Is it okay for her to do all that? After all, they were a couple besides just being with Lily. Wasn't it that kind of relationship? Because it seems more like everything was centered on Lily, you know?" Robin comments with doubts.
"Well..." Ted starts hesitantly.
"When they started their relationship, Marshall told me that at first it was like experimenting with what would happen because they felt that attraction for Alyx. Then things developed, but we never talked about whether it was Lily who suggested it or who fell in love first. I'm not sure, to be honest." Ted concludes his brief narration of the past.
"Wow, who would have thought a relationship with two women would be complicated," Barney starts seriously. "It should be sex and fun without feelings. That's what I would do," he concludes cheerfully.
"It's..." Ted starts, interrupted by Barney. "What Marshall needs is to stop being sad and for Alyx not to treat him like a baby, and then be awesome. That's what I always do when I'm sad," Barney says pompously.
"Come on, it's been a tough month for both of them. They need to go at their own pace and decide how," Ted says resolutely. "After all, Lily was the one who caused all this," he finishes angrily.
"Hey, give her a break. She's our friend and wants to figure out who she is," Robin tries to defend.
"Figure out who she is?" asks Ted, annoyed.
"Yes," affirms Robin.
Ted starts, "Then she should call me to tell her that she's selfish, immature, esss..." he interrupts.
"What?" asks Robin for him to continue with his idea.
"God, how blue your eyes are," Ted comments with a goofy face and baby voice.
"Awww, Teddy Bear," Robin comments affectionately.
And Barney, a witness to all this chatter, simply stays with a look of disgust and annoyance at all the honey the couple is spilling.