Ted's Narration, 2030
"And there are days when it seems like you never wear pants."
In the living room, we see Marshall sitting on the sofa without pants, wearing an old shirt. Behind him, the door to Ted's room opens, and Robin emerges wearing a long shirt that barely covers her bottom as she pulls the hem down and softly jogs to the bathroom. Shortly after, Ted comes out of his room, pantless, in boxers and a short-sleeved shirt.
"Hey, Marshall," Ted greets him, heading to the kitchen with a satisfied expression.
"Hey, Ted," Marshall mutters in a voice full of weariness.
"You hungry?" Ted asks before entering the kitchen.
"What's the point?" Marshall expresses resignedly.
"You could eat something," Ted tries to convince him.
"It's going to leave me," Marshall states as if it were the most obvious and common thing, though he's more wrapped up in the failure of his relationship with Lily and his current 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, having run out from all the disinfecting and polishing she'd been doing on the apartment surfaces.
She enters and softly greets the room, "Hey, guys."
"Hey, Alyx," Ted responds, and Marshall follows, avoiding her gaze with a low "Hey."
Alyx nods and takes her bag to the kitchen to put away the products and start cleaning the counter again.
"Well, at least in that case, *you* can leave *it*," Ted states resolutely. "Come on, it's Sunday," Ted says, trying to give meaning to Marshall eating that day, recalling an old tradition.
"It's Pancake Day," he finishes, completely forgetting that it was Lily and Marshall's thing. He's not the only one who hears and remembers; Alyx, who could clearly hear their conversation, is also immersed in old memories with that reminder.
"Lily always made the pancakes," Marshall expresses sadly, and Ted can't help but make a slight grimace at the memory, while Alyx unconsciously tenses up in the kitchen at his words.
"God, I loved her pancakes. So fluffy. So hot. With such a perfect shape," Marshall recounts, reminiscing and leading Alyx to think the same without realizing it.
And Ted asks sarcastically, "Are we still talking about her pancakes?" snapping both Marshall and Alyx out of their reveries.
"You have to eat something, Marshall. What do you want?" Ted continues, urging him to eat.
"Beer," Marshall says expectantly.
"No, that was last night's dinner," Ted says with a slight sigh.
"Fine, then I'll eat last night's leftovers," Marshall declares, pulling a beer bottle from behind the sofa cushion.
Alyx, who, although still in the kitchen putting away her groceries, hears the conversation, feels sadness thinking about how badly Marshall is doing and unconsciously turns on the coffee maker to make another pot, having finished the earlier one.
Day 31
That afternoon at the bar, Ted, Robin, and Barney are gathered at their usual table. Ted is telling them about Marshall's current situation.
"So he stays home all the time without having sex?" Barney asks, surprised, and declares, "That's what you do when you have a fiancée. He should be celebrating here with us now that he's rid of the red-headed tumor."
"Barney, it wasn't just his relationship with Lily; it was between them *and* Alyx. I don't know where that stands," Ted interrupts the speech Barney was sure to give and inquires about something he'd been thinking about for days.
"So they broke up too?" Robin asks, surprised.
"I'm not sure. It's weird, you know? They're in the same apartment. Alyx seriously takes care of him—tries to get him to eat, to shower, keeps the place clean, prepares his clothes and food. It's like she facilitates everything for Marshall, but they don't talk, they don't sleep together, and it's just so strange," Ted recounts what he's seen when he's focused on being in the apartment without Robin.
"Wow, it's like a really strange mother taking care of a giant Erickson baby," Barney inquires, too surprised and curious about his friends' dynamic.
"Is it okay for her to do all that? After all, they were a couple besides just being with Lily. That wasn't the kind of relationship, was it? 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 an experiment to see what would happen because they felt that attraction to Alyx. Then things just happened, but we never talked about whether it was Lily who suggested it or who fell in love first. I'm not really sure," 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, only to be interrupted by Barney.
"What Marshall needs is to stop being sad, and Alyx needs to stop treating 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 to proceed," Ted says resolutely. "After all, Lily was the one who caused all this," he finishes, annoyed.
"Hey, cut her some slack. She's our friend, and she wants to figure out who she is," Robin tries to defend her.
"Figure out who she is?" Ted asks, annoyed.
"Yeah," Robin affirms.
Ted starts, "Then she should call me so I can tell her she's selfish, immature, sss..." he interrupts himself.
"What?" Robin asks for him to continue his thought.
"God, your eyes are so blue," Ted comments with a goofy face and a baby voice.
"Aww, Teddy Bear," Robin comments affectionately.
And Barney, witnessing this entire exchange, is simply left with a look of disgust and annoyance at all the sweetness the couple is oozing.