For two years now, I've been a hard shipper of Future Edd and Edd, enjoying it in all sorts of ways, especially with its depictions in DisplacEdd (written by RejectClone) or my own attempt at a silly fic, Stuck In The Past.
To be honest though, the way I actually got into this ship (and by extension the dynamic I enjoy for it the most) is tied to a passion project of mine that's been in the works for said two years.
I'm writing this post to explain a concept I came up with, the 'Future Edd Nexus' (or F.E.N. for short), and how it led to one of my favorite ever takes on Future Edd x Edd.
(THERE'S A LOT OF RAMBLING BEFORE IT GETS TO THE EDDCEST BUT IT'S IMPORTANT CONTEXT, I PROMISE--)
Back in 2024, I came up with the idea of a comic where the entire concept is that I rewrote Eddsworld, but I inserted my, to put it bluntly, Mary Sue OC into it. (I say that lovingly, of course!)
As I rewrote WTFuture, I had the idea that Future Edd's motivation to go back in the past isn't fuelled by a ban of cola, but rather, the disappearance of the OC.
Much more specifically, Future Edd believes that the OC is dead and it was all his fault.
At first, when he goes back in time, his attempts are NOT to kill himself-- but rather, to try and see if he could change the past so in the present, the OC would still be with him. Nothing he does works, though.
Frustrated with nothing bringing them back, is when he decides he's better off killing himself as he'd rather die than deal with the loss of this OC.
And unlike canon, he actually succeeds, blowing his past self's head off with one extremely sharp shot! To his horror, though, nothing happens.
So he does it again. And again. And again. And again, until he's lost count of how many times he's "gone back in time" to kill himself.
At some point, out of frustration, he kills the very OC he wanted to protect; the guilt eating him up immediately. He takes their signature hairpin, putting it onto himself as a grim reminder of what he's done.
Absentmindedly, Future Edd fiddles with his time device, noticing that the numbers on it changed to one he recognizes from before. Hesitantly, he smacks his machine and gets transported in time once more.
To his shock, he's back at one of his "attempts to fix things", the scene left as gruesome as he left it, which is when realization hits him.
He hasn't been traveling back in time, he's been traveling between timelines, and he wasn't killing his own past self over and over but randomly killing Edds from all sorts of universes.
As Future Edd basically suffocates with horror, he gets fed up and resets the time device, unsure what it would do. He smacks it, finding himself in a pure white void, breaking down as realization sets in.
He doesn't know where his original timeline is, if he'll ever make it back, and he can't even begin to comprehend how much damage he must have done in his attempts to fix things.
It's not until a noticeably older Future Edd appears in the same void that he snaps out of it a bit.
They talk for a bit before coming to the realization that this Older Future Edd (who we will now call 'OFE' for short) is someone who lost HIS version of the OC thanks to one of Future Edd's attempts to "fix" things, which ends up in near bloody murder at first.
It doesn't take too long for other Future Edds to start cropping up too-- all sorts of variants between "I'm here to fix things" and "I'm here because some OTHER Future Edd fucked things up and I want to fix that".
OFE persuades Future Edd to establish partnership and for them to start working together on a new goal: Round up any stray Future Edds so they don't cause any trouble, and to continue trying to prevent versions of the OC from dying or going missing-- be it because of the timeline's natural events or because of a Future Edd's meddling.
Future Edd's life then kind of turns into a cycle, his primary goals being what they agreed upon, keeping a journal of all the timelines they've already visited and done work at; as well as picking up supplies and things, seeing that a lot of them end up making themselves at home, as they call it, at the Future Edd Nexus.
// Pausing the story explanation for a second; the Nexus alone I feel has a lot of potential, with there literally being hundreds of Future Edds-- THE Future Edd and OFE themselves could be very interesting to explore, platonically or otherwise.
What really sucked me in and sold me on the ship, however, has to be a specific Edd from a specific timeline that Future Edd finds himself exploring... //
In one of the timelines, which I personally dubbed the 'Apocalypse Timeline', there is an eternal zombie outbreak with eternal consequences.
Most of London is dead-- including Edd's friends; Tom, Matt and even Ringo, all gone. The only survivors are Edd himself, and the OC. They spend their lives doing nothing but trying to survive.
Needless to say when this Edd sees Future Edd, he is NOT happy about it, nor does he trust him. At all.
The two bicker and argue for forever before Future Edd finally convinces Edd and the OC to come with him, and man does he regret it.
For the next few MONTHS, this Edd plays nice in front of OFE, but does his absolute best to spite and sabotage Future Edd, to the point he gets SICK of it.
Of course, it's not like he can do much about it. Not without getting in major trouble anyway, it's just not worth the headache. That, and despite making things worse MOST of the time, there's opportunities where Edd helps out a lot.
And it's during a mission, in the middle of a zombie infected crisis, that Edd learns to appreciate Future Edd a bit more.
He ends up being saved, several times, and it doesn't take long for Edd to develop the butterflies.
Of course he spends a while in denial, after all he insists that Future Edd is a prick and he doesn't NEED saving from him, but eventually he gives up as he realizes he can't stop thinking about him.
The confession doesn't go over well, though.
Future Edd is distressed - perhaps disgusted even - at the idea that a version of his past self would love him, especially that way.
He shoots down Edd immediately, telling him he's imagining things, to stop with this 'sick joke'. After every possible argument was made, he says the thing that finally shuts the conversation up.
For weeks, Future Edd is extremely distant and cold, and Edd doesn't really do much either. He considers leaving the F.E.N and perhaps returning to his original timeline-- that mess would be less painful to deal with than having to be ignored by the man he fell so hard for!
But after a while, things change. Partially out of a sense of guilt, and perhaps by a little push from the OC themselves.
Ignoring Edd turns into asking him to help again, and pushing him away turns into letting him get away with more and more, to the point being hugged is a daily occurrence!
Edd even gets his own nickname eventually-- 'kitten' or 'kitty cat', stemming from the fact he often acts like a clingy cat. That, and he tries so hard to mirror everything Future Edd does he ends up calling him a copy cat sometimes. (The reason Edd has a mullet is because he literally grew it out, just like Future Edd!)
// Meanwhile, Edd calls Future Edd 'old man' a lot; initially as an insult but it quickly turns into an endearing nickname to tease him with instead.
It's not long before, even though he'd often rather die than admit it at first, Future Edd ends up developing his own feelings back for Edd.
Although they don't make it official for a LONG time, given how even post-"we ARE officially together" Future Edd is a constant flustered mess, they start being impossible to separate.
They sleep together (with Edd helping soothe any and all nightmares Future Edd could have), they eat together, they're practically tied together.
They've gone through literally everything possible together, and they both know. When Future Edd finally pushes his embarrassment aside and admits his own feelings to Edd, it's unforgettable for the both of them.
Of course, not all of Future Edd's troubles are gone-- and despite it all, he does try and keep his sight set on finding his way back to his original timeline, to find out what really happened.
But he's not alone, and if those plans don't work out, he has a new life he can cling onto.
... If you read through all of this, THANK YOU.
I know it's silly-- probably very out of character, even! But I've spent such a long time entertaining and creating for this specific scenario between these two, I care way too much about it, and it's been driving me insane not to talk about it.
And I think that's the fun of such a 'what if', anyway. Shipping not only just Future Edd and Edd when they're literally one another from different points in time, but straight up different people from different timelines has so, SO much potential!
I do still like the original pairing and its dynamics too, of course! :D
But now that I've managed to write this up, I certainly look forward to indulging more of my own shenanigans, hehe!
It’s that time again this week! 😄 Here’s the newest chapter for the DisplacEdd AU fic, and you can read all of the previous parts here!
As Future Edd finally uncovers Tord’s hidden lab, he finally starts to achieve one of his ‘plans’ to save this timeline. Perhaps everything isn’t doomed, unlike his original timeline…..
*shump!*
Although it wasn’t that much of a large drop, the force in which Future Edd is deposited out of the glass chute into the cockpit’s seat was still quite forceful. He lets out a bit of a groan, as his body’s internals try to readjust itself after the impact. The addition of his steadily growing migraine and nosebleed combo isn’t helping him much either, as Future Edd struggles to refocus his vision.
While sitting in the chair of the mech’s opened cockpit, he still rubs the sides of his head and temples, moaning faintly in genuine pain.
It certainly won’t subside for some time, but at least his plan is going smoothly for now.
As Future Edd’s aching body and slightly blurred vision seem to finally settle, he looks around his new surroundings. It was a bit of a cramped cockpit, as Tord’s old mech wasn’t that large, well, at least in comparison to what he’ll end up making later on in his life.
Ugh, I’m STILL bleeding….. I don’t think my hoodie’s dark green color can help hide these stains, the more and more I bleed on myself….. well, I can begin to destroy the mech though so that’s a win at least……
As Future Edd begins to look around for the first time in the dimly lit and confined space, he first notices that suspended via mechanical arms in front of the exposed cockpit, was a large grey roll cage. It looked as if it was almost ready to be properly installed within the cockpit, but instead was just left waiting, probably waiting for a certain someone to come back and to finally install it.
Future Edd scoffs, realizing that even with that sense of foresight, Tord never could’ve imagined that the mech will be pierced by Tom’s beloved harpoon, with it instantly shredding everything apart by a subsequent explosion, thus making the safety provided by the roll cage worthless.
If only any of these metal beams and pipes actually went through and killed him upon impact, instead of just mutilating his already horrid face……
The cockpit’s windscreen was left open, due to the fact that Future Edd didn’t press the activation button, thus the mech itself is still left in a sleep mode-like state. He leans forward, peering over the control panel of the mech, to get a sense of how high up is he, in comparison to the floor.
It’s a sizable drop. One that would easily shatter the legs of anyone foolish enough to jump directly from the cockpit, straight down to the concrete floor.
I hope he installed a ladder in this thing.
As Future Edd leans back into the seat, he finally takes a proper gander at the mech’s control panel. It looked way too simple for such a weapon of mass destruction to be controlled with, as it barely consisted of some random buttons. To each of his sides were some simple looking levers as well, which felt somewhat rudimentary to control such a massive mech with.
Granted, at least the control panel in front of him was bolted to a singular metal plate, which meant that destroying the most critical internal wiring in this mech would be an easy job for Future Edd to do.
Without hesitation, Future Edd punches one upper corner of the control panel, immediately denting it so severely that the metal looks as crumpled as a crushed tin can.
At least my ‘normal’ strength isn’t tied to my powers. I should definitely find a random screwdriver to keep on myself through, as that could’ve been kinda helpful in this very moment. Whatever, it’s not like this mech is gonna stay in pristine condition for long.
As Future Edd begins to tug on the crumpled side of the control panel’s cover, some wires immediately began to spring out of it, as if they were all sloppily rushed to be placed inside of the console. Of course, they were all colored red, just in various shades to differentiate from each other.
After tugging on it for a tiny bit, still wincing in pain as his combined migraine and nosebleed lingers, Future Edd tears off the panel’s covering, throwing it forwards out of the cockpit, as it loudly clattered against the room’s floor. Now all that lay before him is a cluster of bundled up wires, with some loose ones in the mix as well.
It really doesn’t matter what wire does what. He just wants them ALL gone.
With his face in a stern yet dedicated look, he ravenously starts tearing the wires out with his bare hands, not even stopping to consider if this is a possible electrocution hazard. Even so, the hypothetical risk of being shocked to death still feels like it’s worth it in his eyes.
There’s the occasional stray spark as he continues to shred through the wires, but it doesn’t deter Future Edd at all. After just a few minutes, the control panel’s insides are completely hollow, with the little few remains that are still in there, being the now-ruptured ends of the longer lengths of wire that are threaded throughout the mech itself.
Future Edd shifts in the seat for a bit, trying to readjust his feet in place, as they’re now covered in a mass of torn wires and some random bolts and screws as well. He promptly closes his eyes and leans back, letting out an elongated exhale.
For once in a very incredibly long time for him, it was a genuine sigh of relief.
I did it. I ACTUALLY did it. The mech is now non-operational. Hopefully. All I need to do next is to start dismantling some of the external metal panels and internal weapon parts to be EXTRA sure, but even so…… without it’s control panel being operational, this mech is dead in the water.
As echoey silence bleeds into the vast underground room, a small tear begins to wells up in the corner of Future Edd’s left eye.
This is good. Tord can’t hurt Edd and his friends with this mech anymore. The house won’t be destroyed. Edd won’t be destroyed. I won’t…… well, too little too late. It doesn’t matter anymore. Nothing Tord does now will matter. If I can render his mech useless, I can render his entire existence to be useless next.
Future Edd’s mouth begins to curl into a smirk, seemingly proud at both his current achievement and what will be the next phase in his grand plan to stop his future from occurring within this timeline. He was utterly hopeless and out of luck in his original timeline, so to at least have some sort of ‘positive’ impact in the one he’s been displaced into….. Future Edd now doesn’t feel like he shouldn’t even exist as much as he used to, at least.
As he cracks his eyes open, he briefly swipes at the small singular tear in the corner of his eye, with the sleeve of his blood stained hoodie.
Yeesh, I really need to throw this thing into the laundry immediately before Edd notices. I don’t want him to be fretting over me so goddamn much, and I especially don’t want him to see my nasty tainted blood either.
While his nosebleed has slowly begun to subside, the annoying migraine still lingers. He rubs the sides of his head yet again, before beginning to look side-to-side for a possible exit. If there was one way that could’ve been activated from the control panel, it was now long gone.
In the midst of looking through, a small glint of something catches his weary eyes.
Sticking out from one of the unknown purpose panels on the sides of the cockpit, a small picture has been taped to it. Out of curiosity, Future Edd tears it off, as the poor lighting in the room had obscured what was printed on it.
His breath hitches, as it’s himself with Tord.
Well, back when they were both youthful.
Future Edd stares at it, looking at his past self standing alongside with Tord. He cannot remember the exact context of the two of them in this snapshot of the past, other than they’re both wearing some winter gear and were covered in snow, as if they were pelting each other with snowballs.
Tord’s face is beaming with a massive smile, with his diastema on full display, which was incredibly rare for him to do, as Edd always known that Tord was a bit shamed to have a noticeable tooth gap. Edd’s gleeful looking face on the other hand was slightly flushed pink, as if he was laughing his ass off at whatever the two of them did at that moment.
The two of them were waving at the camera, as the picture was probably taken by Tom, since he’s always been a a bit of a shutterbug, even as a preteen.
Future Edd just stares at the picture in his grasp, as the uneasy silence within the massive room grows.
Where did it all go wrong?
A part of him wanted to immediately shred the picture into a trillion pieces, or to set it ablaze with his laser vision. Another part of him wanted to leave it in the mech, acting as if it never existed.
He places it within the front pocket of his hoodie.
I need to leave. Now.
Future Edd swallows some spit in his mouth, before proceeding to leap out of the front of the exposed cockpit, as he pushed himself against the pilot’s chair for some extra momentum.
Normally a fall from this height would immediately injure or flat out kill any other individual, but considering what Future Edd has been through, this was nothing. He had actually aimed for a loading arm that was positioned directly against the torso of the mech, as it was possibly what was holding it up in the first place. He spotted this loading arm earlier, as the uninstalled cockpit’s roll cage has been rigged above it.
Future Edd’s body slams heavily against the loading arm, as his chest flares up in pain from the impact. Even so, this sense of relatively mild pain was better than immediately crashing down against the concrete floor itself.
He slowly shifts his weight around, using his abnormal strength to firmly brace himself the sides of the upper half of the loading arm, up until he finally hit some massive cables that threaded down the back side of the arm, all the way into the floor itself.
Honestly, a fall from this height wouldn’t be lethal at all to him, but the possibility of accidentally knocking himself out upon impact against the floor was a genuine concern. As Future Edd begins to descend against the incredibly wide metal cords of the loading arm, there is seemingly nothing going through his mind.
*thud*
As he finally sets his worn out shoes against the concrete floor, he looks upwards towards the cockpit of the surprisingly armless mech. He stares at it for a second or two, before carelessly stepping on some of the discarded wires he threw out from there.
He looks around the massive and bare room, trying to spot any sort of exit door or ladder to leave the nearly barren space. He finally spots two possible exits, with the first one being a massive ladder that’s been installed against one of the incredibly tall walls, which was also painted fully in red. A small sign that says ‘NØDINNGANG TIL LAB’ is posted next to it, as at this point in his life, Future Edd is very well aware of how to read Norwegian.
The second possible exit seems to be a mechanical loading platform, as implied by massive square shaped plate installed into the floor, alongside it being traced by yellow and black caution tape. ‘LASTINGSFASE I BAKGRUNNEN’ is spray painted onto the flooring surrounding it, and there’s yet another small podium with a large red button upon it.
There MUST be a way I can access this loading platform from outside. I can possibly use this as a ‘entrance’ instead, so I don’t need to always wait to sneak back into Tom’s room…..
He proceeds to make way to the ladder leading to the lab, as the room is soon filled with the audible thumps and clangs of his hands and shoes, being heavily placed against each rung of the ladder.
I’ll begin to dismantle it piece by piece another day, once I figure out that alternate way to get in….. It shouldn’t take long to do so. Totally.
As Future Edd makes his way up toward the ceiling of the hidden room, a closed emergency hatch is above his head. He places a hand against it, and it effortlessly swings open, revealing the stark white lights of the lab he was formerly in. He pulls himself upward, making sure not to accidentally fall off the ladder at the very last second.
He turns to close the hatch, before stretching his back as it felt a bit strained while he climbed, and it cracks quite loudly.
The emergency hatch had placed him in a far corner of the lab, as everything in it looks the exact same way as it should be, including the chute’s hatch he tore open, still being there.
Note to self, get a piece of spare plywood or something to cover that up, so I don’t accidentally fall into it the next time.
Future Edd clasps his hands together, promptly rubbing them before proceeding to step out of the formerly hidden lab. As his shoes cross over from the incredibly cold hard tile floor into the comforting embrace of his old house’s red carpet, he turns his attention to the niche that held the lever that once concealed Tord’s lab out of their sight.
He firmly places his hand against it and pulls it upwards, as the faux wall began to stir in motion, suddenly revealing itself again to hide the lab once more.
Future Edd then turns his attention to the picture frames that he left along the bedroom floor, as he proceeds in placing them back in their proper order, still making sure not to accidentally pull the nail that held both frames against the wall.
It’s like as if Tom’s room wasn’t disturbed in the first place.
As Future Edd steps towards the bedroom door to unlock it, he looks back at the entirety of the room, making sure that nothing looks as if it was moved into an incorrect spot or position.
Eh, Tom should be absolutely trashed tonight, I doubt he’ll be wary about ‘somebody’ rummaging through his things. If not, I can just say he’s not thinking clearly.
——————————————
The living room was still left in the dark, as the only current source of light within it was from the TV, with it playing their movie’s DVD menu on loop, as the film had finished playing quite some time ago.
Future Edd begins to faintly smile, once seeing that Edd is still soundly asleep on the sofa, even wrapping himself further in his ‘blanket’.
As Edd’s future self stands there, he begins to clean up the living room table, as their dinner’s scraps were left lying around. He dumps most of it into the takeaway bag they received it in, just keeping the cola cans out of it, as the two of them genuinely do recycle their cola cans, whenever possible.
Future Edd tosses their dinner’s trash into the kitchen’s large trash bin, before shuffling into the laundry room. He makes sure to wipe the last traces of blood that was still stuck to his face onto his hoodie, alongside removing the photo from the front pocket and moved it to his pant’s front pocket, before placing the bloodied hoodie into Edd’s laundry basket. He’s banking entirely on the fact that Edd usually just throws his clothes without usual care into the washing machine, as he does not want him to see how suddenly bloody his future self’s hoodie has become.
Wait, I should just do the laundry myself tomorrow so he doesn’t see all of this blood. Edd can perceive it as me being open to do shores in the house and that I’m not mooching off of him too much?….. yeah, yeah that could work.
Future Edd makes his way back into the living room, as he immediately grabs the TV’s remote and ejects the DVD, moving in a meticulously slow enough manner to not accidentally startle Edd awake with his noise.
As the player spits out the DVD, he gently clicks it back into it’s respective DVD case, before proceeding to place it and all of the other scattered DVD and VHS cases, back underneath the TV’s cabinet.
Maybe we can see The Thing next time? Or maybe Shawn of the Dead, that’s a really good one. Hm, I’d like to get a strawberry Cornetto to eat while watching it, that would be nice…..
As Future Edd squats by the TV’s cabinet to finish slowly placing all of Edd’s movie collection back into place, he turns his head to double-check the clock on the wall in the room. It’s only been about two hours or so, so Tom and Matt should be returning soon.
Future Edd knows he could’ve been in the lab for way longer, but he simply didn’t want to test his luck and mill around for way too long, as he knows things usually don’t go his way anymore.
That, and the picture definitely fazed him.
Upon the completion of cleaning up the small mess that the two of them made earlier, he plops his weary self onto the red recliner, as he begins to stare at his sleeping younger self.
He really does look quite cute when he’s sleeping, aww……. Wait, WHY am I thinking this? I think I need more painkillers.
Future Edd leans back in the recliner, feeling compelled to continue staring at his younger self, until his eyes start to become heavy.
———————————
As the night slowly marched on, Edd’s roommates had finally made their way back home, by making their presence known by slamming the indoor entryway door to the garage open.
“wwEEEE’REEEE!!! *hic* HOme!!!~”, a deeply drunken Tom blurts out, as he is gripping onto dear life against Matt.
“SHUSH. It’s already past midnight…. *hic* BLEGH, I can’t believe you convinced me to have some of that wretched slop you call a ‘pint’….. it was so foul!”
“HEH HEH YEAH!! G-goT anyyyyy lefffttt?…”
Matt looks down at Tom with a stern look, before his face begins to crack into a goofy looking smile.
Against all odds, looks like Matt got partially swept up in wonderful chaos of the ska concert as well.
As the two of them shuffle slowly out of the hallway that leads into the living room, they’re both giggling non-stop in the process.
Matt’s the first to notice the sleeping duo in the living room though, as his face begins to droop in mild confusion.
“T-tom, shut up!…. Don’t wake them up, especially since we almost got caught earlier, alright?…..”
“HUH?”
With his final tone deaf outburst, a lightly sleeping Future Edd violently jerks awake, nearly falling out of the recliner as he gasps in terror.
His eyes wildly dart all along the darkened room, before landing on two shadowy figures in front of him, across the living room table.
Without a word, he launches himself forward and tackles the two intruders, as the three of them all loudly squeal in equal parts of confusion and fear.
Edd, of course, is still sleeping soundly on the sofa.
“GET OFF EDWARD!!!! IT’S US, IT’S US!!!”, a petrified Matt shrills out, as Tom is just too drunk to process what’s going on, other than that he’s on the floor and is being pinned down.
“MATT?!!?! Oh, oh shit.”
Future Edd quickly removes himself from the past versions of former friends, as Tom and Matt are still splayed amongst the carpet.
“Is….. is this what Edd felt like when you tackled him before? Ooogghhhh my ribs…”, Matt says, as he wraps his arms around his chest.
Tom now looks like he’s on the verge of passing out there on the spot, as he begins to dig his face into the fabric of the carpet, as if it was a blanket.
“Get up, the BOTH of you.”, Future Edd spits out, but not loud enough to wake Edd up, even though he should’ve been startled already.
Future Edd picks the both of them by their scruffs of their necks, before dragging them to their respective rooms. He plants the slightly tipsy Matt at the bottom of the staircase leading to his attic bedroom, while he opened up and tossed an instantly sleeping Tom into his bedroom.
Can we not have a MOMENT of silence in this house?!? Well, at least I can see that they enjoyed themselves….. I’ll leave Edd alone as well, he really deserves the rest.
As Future Edd’s simmering internalized rage dies down as he walks into his bedroom, he falls face first into his bed.
Well at least the first phase of my ‘plan’ is over. Now, will I be fortunate enough to still be here to finish the rest? I guess it’s up to time and reality itself to decide……
He faintly shudders at the thought of fading out of existence for today’s actions before being lulled back into his burdened sleep, ignoring how the picture he placed into his pant’s front pocket is slowly digging into his sides.
I’m definitely getting back into the swing of things, as this week’s chapter is a little bit larger than usual! Thanks again to those who have been enjoying my DisplacEdd AU fic, and you can read all of it’s previous parts here!
It’s finally the weekend, and Future Edd’s plan to break into Tord’s hidden lab will finally come into fruition. Well, he hopes so, if everyone else plays their unknowing part……
“Say, have any of you guys seen Edward earlier today?”
“Nope.”, says Tom dismissively, as he chips away at a crossword puzzle book in his hands. His pencil loudly scrapes against the rows of checkered boxes, as he furrows his brow.
“Sorry Edd, I think he’s been in his room all day perhaps?”, replies Matt, who was quite preoccupied with fixing his hair, while holding up one of his beloved hand mirrors.
“Oh, okay. It’s just, I haven’t really seen him at all lately in a sense, y’know? It’s not like you two, in which you guys at least hang around for a while with me almost every single day.”
It was the middle of a Saturday afternoon with the trio situated in the living room, and to say that the previous few days bled on without any sort of incident feels like an understatement, but against all possible odds, it was.
As Tom chipped away at his crossword book, he bounced one of his legs, as it was clear that he couldn’t wait for nighttime to come, as he was incredibly excited for that local ska concert. He had asked Edd to borrow his car’s keys, since his own lovingly customized car was being repaired at a local mechanic, but of course Edd denied it. Tom’s driver’s license has been suspended dozens of times already, and he doesn’t need him to crash his car anyways into some bollards.
To combat the annoying scraping sound of Tom’s pencils, Edd picks up the tv remote and starts flipping through channels, before landing on an episode of Dr. Why.
I don’t even really like this show….. but Edward said he liked it apparently, so maybe that means I subconsciously do like it…… I really wonder how’s he’s doing right now.
For the past few days, it was the same daily routine for Future Edd, as in waking up, brushing his teeth and bathing, having breakfast, briefly milling around the house for a bit, secluding himself for the rest of the day, having some dinner, and going to sleep for the night. All without incident, shockingly.
It’s almost as if he wasn’t even there in the first place.
There was the occasional “Good morning.” and “What’s for dinner?”, but other than that, Future Edd might as well have been mute.
The fact that he also kept to himself either outside in the backyard, or just inside of his bedroom, pretty much meant that he was only spotted occasionally by any of the guys in either the living room or kitchen, but not for long.
Is he mad at me? It’s been past a week since he’s now been ‘displaced’ out of his timeline….. maybe I should’ve gotten him a small cake or something to celebrate him for not phasing out of existence. Shit, why didn’t I?
Granted, Tom was quite elated to see that Future Edd has kept to himself these last few days, as in he doesn’t have to deal with his still somewhat threatening presence.
Tom still feels like Future Edd is capable of something, and that this ongoing pitiful appearance he has is possibly some part of a greater plan. Who knows, as Tom was also getting fixated on getting his gaudy ska outfit ready for that upcoming concert, alongside pulling aside some stashed pounds for the plethora of records and t-shirts that he’d no doubt will be buying. That, and the shitty overpriced booze they’ll be selling at the venue, of course.
“Don’t stress it Edd, Edward’s probably fine or whatever. Maybe he needs some more alone time, away from all of us.”, Tom says, as he glances up quickly to spot Edd’s slightly worried face.
“Yeah, maybe you’re right Tom. Maybe I tried to ‘ease’ him into our lives a bit too fast? Still, I feel a bit uncomfortable, as I don’t like how he’s been so secluded.”
Tom lets out a scoff at Edd’s comment.
“Edd. You’ve been doing the same thing as well! You guys really are the same.”
It took Edd a moment or two to realize that Tom was entirely correct.
He managed to coop himself up in his bedroom nonstop these last few days, working away at his computer. In order to make some quick cash, he had desperately slashed his commission prices in order to attract both new and returning commissioners. It worked a bit too well, as Edd has become swamped with so many commissions to work on, as he absentmindedly said ‘yes’ to working on most of them.
The workload has been stressful enough that Edd has been skipping meals altogether, leaving his fellow housemates to eat amongst themselves. It’s quite rare for Edd to isolate himself like this, but considering how Tom and Matt has witnessed how easy it is to accidentally infuriate Edd while he’s working, they haven’t interacted with him much, out of a sense of respect.
Future Edd seemingly also got the memo, intentional or not.
“Oh yeah. I guess we really are the same. Still, I uh….. I’m almost done with the stuff I need to work on, and I already got paid for most of it in-full, so hopefully I can take it easy for the next week or so.”
“Mmmmm hm. That’s what you say now, and then there’s some other freak expenditure that pops up and you gott-“
“Well maybe if you didn’t do jack shit in this house, I wouldn’t have to stress about the bills and groceries, okay?”
Tom stops looking at his crossword book to look directly at Edd, seemingly caught off guard by his response.
“W-well….. y-you know how, uh, hard the job market is Edd. You’re literally a freelancer.”
“So? At least I’m getting paid for my services.”
“……. uh…. I-I’m working on it….”
Tom raises his crossword book to hide his face behind it, seemingly defeated.
Edd rolls his eyes, as he readjusts himself on the sofa, while Matt has been oblivious to the rest of their conversation.
Maybe I can finally force Edward to get a job, so he can at least carry his weight around here. Still, where can he get hired, with the complete total lack of legal documents that he has?! I can’t really provide him with mine, lest he ruins my reputation with it….. plus our faces are pretty different anyways, so my ID for him is worthless. Ugh. What CAN he do?…..
Edd lets out a soft exhale, before a new thought comes to his mind.
It’s a Saturday, so leaving him all cooped up alone feels like a bad idea. He deserves some sort of fun, at the very least. Maybe tonight we can finally watch some of our favorite movies together? Yeah, that sounds pretty good, and I’ll also order whatever takeaway he wants!~
Edd suddenly stands up off of the sofa, and makes a beeline towards the kitchen. He picks up a can of bacon flavored cola, before making his way over to what was formerly Tord’s bedroom.
He stands at the door, his hand gently hovering over the doorknob. He swallows some spit that was lodged in his throat, before proceeding to knock on the door instead.
“Hey Edward! Me and uh, me and the guys are just lazing in the living room right now, but Tom will be out later tonight, and I guess uh, I can tell Matt to leave us alone? Maybe? I can pop on whatever movie you’d like and I can also orde-“
The door opens abruptly, as his future self looks down upon him.
His eyes. How do they look WORSE?!
Future Edd’s dark circles underneath his perpetually tired looking eyes looked darker than ever, as if he hasn’t gotten a single wink of sleep at all. Not to mention that his eyes themselves also looked sorta bloodshot, either from a lack of said sleep or from possibly bawling them out.
Before Edd could open his mouth, Future Edd effortlessly takes the can of bacon cola out of his hands, and immediately cracks it open. As he chugs it, some of it drips to the sides of his mouth, but he doesn’t even bother to wipe it off this time.
“At what time does Tom leave.”
“Uh. In like a few hours?”
“Is Matt with him now.”
“Erm….. yeah? Is there something wron-“
“I need to speak to him.”
Future Edd begins to move out of his room’s doorway, squeaking his way against his younger self. Edd could only look on in confusion as his future self makes his way to the living room, as Edd stays behind, worriedly fumbling with the drawstrings of his hoodie.
As Tom is now back to whittling away at completing the crossword he was stuck on, it was Matt who was now messing with the TV remote, apparently getting tired of hearing all of the pseudo-scientific gobbledygook that was being spoken in Dr. Why.
Matt nearly jumps in his seat, as Future Edd opens his mouth right behind him.
“Matt, you WILL go with Tom to that concert tonight.”
“WHA!!??! Oh, it’s you! Please, don’t creep up on me like that! Also, what?”
“You heard me, go on. Get ready.”
“Whoa whoa whoa whoa, why are you dumping Matt on me?”, a deeply confused Tom replies, as he slams to close his crossword book, nearly sending his pencil flying across the living room floor.
“Oh, so you want to get ran over tonight then?”, Future Edd bluntly replies.
“Huh? Wait, are you having like, your super weird deja vu thing again?…..”
“Yeah, I’ve been having…… migraines. All day. I didn’t understand why, but after looking at a calendar left in the kitchen, I understood. You get ran over. Badly. Matt will help look after you after the venue, as you did get crushed by a cab, so hopefully he’ll keep you safely off the street…… is that right Matt?”
Matt could only let out a small faux laugh, which teetered on sounding like a scared whimper.
“S-sure Edward, I’ll uh, I’ll totally keep Tom safe! Um, does he really get ran ove-“
“YES.”
“Oh. Okay then. Well uh, Tom, looks like I’ll be your chauffeur for the night I guess? Since now I can probably ask Edd for the car keys since I won’t be drinking, unlike you!”
Tom could only reply with a steadily growing frown.
They’re actually believing it. YES!!!!!
“Matt is going to fucking ruin this night for me. I’d rather go alone and know I’ll get obliterated by a cab, and live, than have this dolt with me over there.”
FUCK.
Future Edd rubs his weary eyes, before facing directly towards Tom to speak.
“Tom, if I didn’t have at least a single microscopic modicum left of respect for you, I would’ve let you go alone, and then the three of us will have to see you being strung up by wires and cables at the local ER. Matt IS going with you, whether you like it or not.”
“Okay, okay, don’t start having a stroke or whatever over this shit. Fine, but Matt WILL be covering at least the drink tab.”
“Sounds like a deal.”
“Hey!”, a slightly distraught Matt cries out, as Future Edd softly smiles to himself.
Two down, one to go. Hopefully he doesn’t have anything planned for us tonight.
——————————————-
“I have some plans for us tonight!”, a chipper sounding Edd says towards his future self.
The two of them are sitting on the sofa, as Tom and Matt have since left for the ska concert about ten minutes or so ago. Tom of course was still a bit peeved about how Matt is now tagging along with him, but a least a small part of him feels thankful about Future Edd being concerned about his well being.
Too bad everything Future Edd said was a massive lie.
“So, since I know I’ve been kinda locked away in my room these last few days, and you’ve been kinda locked away as well, I think now’s the best time for us to finally have a movie marathon!”
Edd beams as he says this, as Future Edd’s eyes seemingly begin to sink further and further within his skull.
Are you fucking with me right now.
“Okay I’ve already pulled out some of my favorite horror and action flicks, and I’m hoping to see that they’re still your favorites as well?”, Edd says, as the living room table has been littered with piles of DVD and VHS boxes.
Future Edd plays along, as he passively brushes his hand against the piles, glossing over the names of each film.
Wow, I haven’t really seen any of these in quite some time. I think I’ve seen enough real life horror to the point where none of these are ‘thrilling’ to me anymore though.
As Future Edd begins to open his mouth, Edd cuts him off immediately.
“Oh! I also want to order some takeaway for us as well! I’m not sure what you’d like to eat tonight though, so please let me know what you’d want!”
“Edd. I don’t feel good.”
“Oh. Is…. Is it the migraine? Tom told me what you mentioned to them, how you’re getting that ‘time traveler’s deja vu’ again.”
Future Edd lowers his head slightly, clearly signing to Edd that it’s the ‘truth’.
“Uhh….. I can get you some painkillers at least. A-are you sure that uh….. erm…. n-never mind.”, Edd says, as his tone immediately dips into one of dejection.
Why is now out of all of the times in which he’s feeling sick again! WHY!!! I don’t want him to feel like I’m pushing him away, nor I don’t want him to feel like he doesn’t belong here with us…..
“Just stay put. I’ll get you the painkillers and some water.”
The sofa slightly jostles as Edd pushes himself off of it, as he makes his way to the bathroom, where their medicine cabinet is located.
Future Edd could faintly hear the clattering of pill bottles being shuffled around, as he places his hand within his trench coat. He pulls out that torn-out event schedule, rereading the concert’s length for what feels like the thousandth time.
It should be enough time. I will find that lab before Tom comes back. Edd will leave me alone. This will be done. I won’t fail.
“Hey old man, drink up your medicine.”
Future Edd’s train of thought is derailed, as Edd sets down a cup of water and two painkillers on the table, against the mess of those DVD and VHS boxes. Future Edd quickly scoops the pills up and downs them, as he unironically has been suffering from a mild headache, ever since he woke up.
Truth be told, after that night in which they slept together, Future Edd’s tumultuous nightmares have seemingly worsened, as his gasping cries and jagged yelps are still clearly heard through the house’s insulated walls.
Thankfully, Edd’s room is far way from where Future Edd’s room is, so he has been oblivious to hearing his future self’s pain. Tom however, whose room is closer in proximity, now has to deal with the brunt of heading Future Edd’s unrelenting agony.
“So uh, what are you going to do now?”
“Sleep.”
“….. is that all you do?”
“…..what?”
“I dunno. Anytime in which I do manage to get a glimpse of you, you’re either napping outside in the sun, or napping on the sofa! Yeah sure, I’ve seen you play with Ringo like once this week, but other than that…… I gotta get you a hobby or something already.”
“Like what?”
“Shit. I don’t know. I did previously mention that I can give you some of my art supplies, so you can draw again!”
“Sure. If that makes you happy.”
“NO! I don’t want myself to be happy, I want YOU to be happy Edward!”
The sudden silence is palpable between the two, as Future Edd’s jaw stiffens, while Edd’s face becomes slightly flushed pink.
Edd raises a hand to cover up his chin and mouth, before turning his head away.
“Just. Just ignore that.”
“…………….”
“…………….”
“Okay. I’ll watch whatever is the shortest movie here. Go order some uhhhh, Americana. I want a cheeseburger with extra bacon and some onion rings.”
“Ah? S-sure! Are you okay with it though? I don’t want you to be here if you really want to go res-“
“Pop in Re-Animator already, before I go change my mind.”
Edd smiles weakly back towards his future self, before standing up to insert the disc into their TV’s DVD player. He promptly dims the living room’s lights, before rushing over to the old phone handset that’s situated on a small table nearby. After a minute or two, he placed an order at his favorite local diner, before plopping himself back on the sofa.
“The food should be ready in like less than thirty minutes, so hopefully the delivery won’t take too long to get over here. I really hate microwaving my food, so let’s just hope it doesn’t arrive cold.”
“Same here. Go play the movie already, as my forehead still hurts. Don’t get mad at me if I begin to doze off or whatever.”
“It’s okay Edward, at least you’re here with me for now.”, Edd says, as his soft, gentle smile is reflected against the dim glow of the TV.
Stop being so happy around me like that. Please, Edd……
————————————-
Surprisingly, their takeaway order came in quite quick, and the rate in which Edd accidentally fell asleep after wolfing all of his meal down was entirely unexpected.
Future Edd had already planned on dipping halfway into the movie, mentally coming up with a fake excuse to say that his head began to hurt even more, but he clearly didn’t expect Edd to start snoozing right before the start of the third act.
Well that takes care of that, I guess.
He absentmindedly licks his fingers, trying to get off some barbecue sauce that were still stuck on them from gorging on the extra large cheeseburger that Edd got for him. Future Edd then carefully stands up, hoping that the sudden weight displacement won’t make the sofa’s fabric squelch too loudly, as his younger self lets out a small babble before beginning to snooze.
I guess staring at a computer screen non-stop for days on end will leave you pretty beat. I envy him….. life really was so simple.
Before making his way over to Tom’s room though, he stands over his sleeping younger self, staring at him.
Wow, I guess my parents were right, I really did have such a tubby looking baby face. At least he can sleep blissfully unaware tonight, not knowing the horrors of what possibly lurks underneath this house.
Future Edd seemingly hesitates to move for a second, as he still keeps his eyes latched onto Edd, before impulsively removing his trench coat. He makes sure to remove some of the items that he left in its interior pockets that he doesn’t want Edd to know that he has, before placing the coat on his younger self.
Even while asleep, Edd latches onto the makeshift ‘blanket’ and wraps himself up in it immediately, as Future Edd continues to observe him. He lifts his right hand over Edd’s face, feeling the odd need to help brush aside some of his slightly disheveled bangs, and to maybe stroke his cheek as well…..
He reflexively pulls his hand back however, and quietly shakes his head side to side.
Okay, looks like he’s really, REALLY tired. Excellent, this is the opening I finally needed….. the concert should be starting now anyways, and hopefully Tom is giving Matt a hard enough time to the point where they’re stuck a bit longer over there. Just please, I BEG that there’s no more interruptions…..
With his very last sense of resolve, Future Edd takes a quick gulp of a can of regular cola that he had leftover from his dinner, before facing down the hallway to Tom’s room.
—————————————-
Now. Where do I start?
Making sure that the door behind him is locked, Future Edd rubs his hands feverishly, as his eyes dart around the confines of his former friend’s room.
Various ska band album covers and ASDFmovie posters litter the walls, while the personal retina safe he has for Susan, sticks out like a sore thumb against the deep blue colored walls. A graveyard of empty vodka bottles has overtaken the top of one of his dressers, as his beloved Tomee Bear leans against it.
His bed was a compete mess, as Future Edd could see that Tom was tossing around and cycling through different t-shirts and pants, before settling on the ones he went out with.
Future Edd finally begins to gently open some drawers, feeling underneath them to see if there’s possibly any hidden switches. Unfortunately for him, there was nothing, but he did end up finding some spare quid that was wedged in-between there. Of course he pocketed it directly into his hoodie.
Where else could the possible trigger be for his lab to open?! Underneath the bed maybe?
Future Edd groans slightly as he sets himself face down on the floor, desperately looking for any sort of false panel that was set into the floor, or maybe even a comically labeled ‘do not touch’ switch installed into the bed frame.
Once again, absolutely nothing.
Still, a strange black case was underneath Tom’s bed, and he pulled it out of curiosity.
It was a small weapons case. The latch however wasn’t locked properly, probably due to Tom’s usual drunkenness, and it opened without any effort.
Nestled within it, was Future Edd’s laser gun and his TIMEWALKERthinglite.
Future Edd’s breathing falters, as his eyes nearly popped out of his head at the sight of it. He gently strokes his thumb over the large button on the time machine, but being too scared to actually press it. After staring at the two items for what felt like a solid minute or so, he lets out a heavy sigh, before returning them into the case and placing it back underneath the bed.
It’s way too soon for me to reclaim either of those. Tom will probably somehow notice that they’re gone, and he’ll begin to freak out about it, and the last thing I want to happen is to be thrown out of this house or get in yet another fight with Edd. Especially when I’m SO close…..
As Future Edd slides the case back to where he believes its former position was underneath the bed, he finally rises up from the slightly dirty carpeted floor.
Ugh. Where could his lab be?! Tom barely has any decor or furniture in here, and I’ve checked nearly all of it? What, let me guess, it’s conveniently hidden behind this hanging picture frame of Tor-waitsincewhenTomhadapictureofTordinhisroom. What. WHAT!?!
Future Edd scratches the back of his weary head, staring at the picture frame in front of him. It was a framed picture of Tord, alongside Tom next to him. They looked quite happy together, putting their arms around each other’s shoulders. This was quite shocking to see, as even back then as teens, Future Edd had always noticed that those two never really quite saw each other eye to eye.
Granted, none of them knew what Tord would be capable of, nor how easy it would be for Tom to end up underneath his robotic thumb.
As Future Edd timidly grabs the frame, he lifts it gently, making sure not to accidentally pull out the nail that’s holding it up against the wall.
Are you fucking kidding me.
A large red button with a skull on it laid upon Future Edd’s eyes, with a small plaque saying ‘DANGER’ right above it.
Future Edd stood there paralyzed, utterly afraid of what would happen if he touched it.
Will this activate the mech?! Or will it just blow up the house?!? Did he keep MISSILES here or something?!?!? FUCKING HELL!!!!! FUCK YOU TORD!!!!!!!!
Future Edd grits his teeth, right before plunging his index finger against the button.
Seeing his finger seemingly bounce against it, was a complete and total shock.
What?…..
He goes in again to touch it, before the realization finally dawns on him.
Ha ha, very funny Tord. A picture frame behind a picture frame. Go fuck yourself you goddamn wanker. I’m so fucking glad that I’ll be able to finally pick you off, if my plan works. Wait, no…… My plan WILL succeed. He WILL die.
As Future Edd removes the second picture frame, after realizing he totally blanked on initially seeing its brown wooden outline, a niche with a large lever was revealed.
Right above the lever was the Red Leader logo, sprayed in red paint.
This is it. This must be the mechanism to open up the lab.
Future Edd takes in a large inhale, before tentatively pulling the red knob of the lever down. The room rustles for a bit, before one of the larger walls in the room whirs, pulling itself upwards as if it was a garage door.
At last, his lab. I….. I can’t believe it, he really was hiding it all of this time, underneath our noses…..
Future Edd timidly steps forward, as his eyes struggle to fully take in what he’s seeing. The lab was hidden behind a false wall in Tom’s room, so he has no idea how it was installed in the first place.
The lab was fully stocked with weapons, across various kinds of handguns, rifles, and machine guns. Various tools were littered across the tabletops and floors, as loose wires jutted out from the walls. As Future Edd steps in further, he looks upon a wall of picture frames, all with portraits of Tord’s right-hands.
Of course Tord has to be right on top. Okay, so there’s Yuu, Paul, and Patryk. Huh, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Paul with BOTH of his eyes before. Yuu’s portrait is scratched out at this point already though….. I guess that’s why he was executed by my time.
Future Edd picks up his pace, strolling around the lab as he takes in more visual information. There was a cork board map plastered with Polaroids and red pins, no doubt singling out certain locations, in which Tord was probably planning to start his invasion from. It took a moment for Future Edd to notice the improperly marked barrels of radioactive material right next to it.
“AAAAHHHH!!??!!”, he belts out, stumbling backwards in horror.
SHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT
He worriedly stumbles around the lab, accidentally stepping on and crushing some test tubes that were haphazardly left on the floor.
He pins himself against the farthest wall in the lab, his eyes deadset against those radioactive barrels.
WHAT WAS TORD THINKING IN STORING THAT HERE?! WAS HE TRYING TO KILL US ALL VIA EXPOSURE!?!?!
Future Edd’s legs may have turned into jelly, as his breathing picks up more loudly, with him still fixated on those barrels.
I NEED to get rid of those once I’m able to, during a day in which they’re all far away and gone from this house. Still, I need to figure out where the mech is, so I can at least disable its controls and rip out some of its lesser parts. All before Edd wakes up, and before Tom and Matt arrive back home. I can toooootallyyyyyy do this.
As Future Edd shimmies against the wall he’s stuck against to, his eye finally shift to now fixate upon a suspicious red button close to the middle of the room.
That must be it. That’s the button Matt almost pressed, and Tord punched him for it….. well, the good thing at least is that I can’t really FEEL the radiation seeping from those barrels at least. Hopefully my skin isn’t glowing neon green like it usually does, whenever I’m exposed.
He looks down upon his right hand, seeing how it’s in its usual abnormally pale color, before clenching it into a fist.
As he steps closer to the stand with the red button, he looks towards the ground, spotting a floor panel that has a shoe print symbol on it. The ‘DANGER’ sign placed behind it, makes it all the more obvious that it’s an exit chute, probably leading to the mech directly.
Pressing the big red button would probably activate the launch for the mech, as Future Edd correctly assumes.
Looks like I need to use my powers already, how unfortunate.
He kneels towards the chute, squinting his eyes to focus them more intently on it. In a mere second, the world around him suddenly dims, as everything is now mainly obscured in a black haze, with certain formerly obscured items now standing out in a bold solid neon green.
Beneath him is the top of Tord’s mech, its cockpit’s windshield being wide open, ready for its destined pilot to operate it.
I can’t believe it….. it REALLY is underneath my feet.
Using his residual x-ray vision powers always comes at a physically taxing cost, but he’s willing to deal with it.
He forcefully blinks his eyes a few times, essentially trying to turn that situationally helpful power off.
Future Edd then promptly tenses his shoulders, as he effortlessly peels back the chute’s metal cover, wincing in response as the shrill contorting of the metal echos loudly within the lab and the bedroom.
Damn it, hopefully that noise didn’t wake Edd up? Oh, wow that’s literally the very top of the cockpit down ther-
Future Edd’s internal dialogue came to a screeching halt, as he now winces in genuine pain, nearly doubling over while clutching the sides of his head.
He might’ve lied about having a migraine earlier, but it’s a reality now.
“AGHH!!! HHGHHHKKK…. HAHH HAH!!….”, is all Future Edd is capable of saying, as he hunches over, gripping the sides of his pained head harder and harder.
There’s a clear reason why he refuses to use his residual powers under most circumstances, but he refuses to come to terms with it.
As Future Edd hobbles around the now opened-up chute, he barely can see straight, as blood now effortlessly runs out from his nose. It drips against the grey flooring, speckled with some unnaturally bright green flecks within it. He instinctively goes to rub his nose onto his hoodie’s sleeve, totally forgetting that he’s not wearing his dark black coat.
SHIT!!! Why did I use my x-ray vision?!? I could’ve just taken an educated guess aaGHHHHH?!!?!!!
Future Edd forces himself to stand upright, his nose still dripping with his sickly blood. He steps closer to the chute, noticing that it’s not that far of a drop from the lab’s floor to the seat of the mech’s cockpit.
He rolls his eyes, as his head still throbbing, right before he jumps down the chute.
Hopefully it’s been less than a hour that I’ve been in here. I really, REALLY regret not stealing one of Edd’s old watches to help keep time…..
Turns out their Ao3 got deleted as well. But not entirely, they're still mentioned as a co-writer of another fic(not eddcest one unfortunately). Still have no idea what happened. Maybe they don't want to be associated with FE×Edd anymore. But that's just a theory.
@rejectclone , now we know who's missing. MirroredCola. (I couldn't say that on X, so here I am)
(There was the fourth one, yeah. The one, where FE stays with Edd and gets a job as a pizza delivery driver or smth, i don't really remember, sorry)
Future Edd doesn’t want to admit it at all, but he actually LIKES being the little spoon whenever he’s cuddling/sleeping together with Edd! His strangely warped sense of ego won’t let him actually say it, but Edd can obviously see it lmao
FE clearly loves the sense of being loved and (both metaphorically and physically) protected by someone, hence his favoritism for being the little spoon, but alas, his overly muscular and huge ass physique has betrayed him 💔
For some strange reason I've decided to make a voiceover, so... prepare your ears, please.
(Why this one and now? Uhm... It was my b'day on 29th of April, and I didn't have anything else to post on that day)
ANYWAY! I'm so sorry that I missed all those chapters and left them without pictures 😣. I'll speedrun those as soon as I can, I swear. Here's the progress btw:
Did they really put Edd's actual signature in there? They did.
Don't get me wrong, he(real Edd) would've draw smth like that (but with an additional trombone in you-know-where). But now it means that the character has the same last name as a real person, since it's literally what the signature says.
A year ago today I was hungover. I’d spent the previous day meeting fans at an impromptu gathering and the evening drinking heavily with my YouTube chums. I woke up to a phone call…
Not many people can say they’ve had a “sobering experience” quite like me.
My close friend, business partner and - if I’m being honest - muse Edd Gould was dead. Cancer had made its final move on him the night before. While I partied, he fought for his life… and lost.
I didn’t get time to grieve. I didn’t give myself the time. After the phone slipped from my fingers and fell to the floor I let out a lone agonised scream and swallowed hard. I rose to my feet, dressed myself and got to work.
Two emails. One to our landlord and one to the company Edd had recklessly signed his YouTube channel away to. I wanted to leave that apartment and I wanted him to finally be free of that contract. With the business done I woke Paul and Sabrina, two of Edd’s friends who’d moved to England to be closer to him; filling his room until he was healthy enough to move in. I broke the news with a single stare.
Before long the apartment was brimming with life. Broken souls pressed together to keep each other from falling apart. Matt, Edd’s best friend, came seeking emotional refuge and found himself in ‘too-soon central’, a hub of comedians in a desperate rush to break the most inappropriate jokes we could muster. He fit right in.
When a celebrity dies, word travels fast. We needed time to give everyone Edd knew and cared about the right to hear the news first hand. Matt was tasked with contacting as many real-world friends as possible before we went public. I can only imagine how hard it must’ve been for him to check-off a list of people whose hearts needed breaking. I was responsible for the Internet. First, Edd’s online friends… Then his fans. All 400,000 of them. But for now they would have to wait.
As darkness came, the four of us boarded a train from Wimbledon to Warren Street. It was time to start saying goodbye. As the hospital drew closer, the jokes drew further apart. In near silence, we made our way to the morgue. Then Rory happened.
Rory was a nurse. He was a moron. The process of arranging the body viewing had not been easy to begin with. The phone call to the hospital earlier that day had taken its tole.
Me: Hello I’d like to arrange a body viewing.
Hospital: A what?
Me: A body viewing.. of one of your deceased patients.
Hospital: You want to visit a patient?
Me: Yes.. A deceased one.
Hospital: A what?
Me: … A dead one.
Hospital: Okay, what is the patients name?
Me: Edward Gould.
Hospital: What ward is he in?
Me: Um.. The morgue?
Hospital: What?
Me: My friend has died and I want to see his body. I want to visit my deceased friend.
Hospital: Hold please.
…
Hospital: Hello, how can I help you?
Me: … I’m trying to arrange a body viewing.
Hospital: A what?
When we finally arrived at the hospital we were met by Rory. He was tasked with taking us to the basement to view the body of our friend who had passed away just hours ago. He said all the wrong things.
“I saw Edd come in. He looked very ill and scared.”
“Do you remember the last thing you said to him?”
“I guess you didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.”
Outside the viewing room, where comedy was no more, we sat and waited for Edd. When the time came to go in, we froze. I took the flip of a £2 coin to stop us from just turning back and going home. Rory, tactful as ever, encouraged us with “What would Edd have wanted? I think we would want you to go in.”
We slowly and softly dragged ourselves into the cold, sterile viewing room. Rounding the doorframe I first laid eyes on my worst nightmare. I focussed my energy on keeping my composure. For some reason I felt it would help everyone else for me to remain calm; as if emotional strength was a coat and I was holding on to theirs so they could begin to process the grief. I felt like I’d failed my friend by letting him die but maybe if I did everything in my power to help them it’d be okay.
Rory broke the silence and barged passed us, saddling up to Edd and violating not only our grief but also our friend. He began to stroke what little hair Edd had then leant in and whispered into his ear “I’ve brought your friends to see you, Edd.”
I snapped. “Get out.”, I rasped. “Get out now.” Another nurse from outside the door dashed in and finally removed Rory from our lives. He was not missed.
Like a bodyguard, I stood pensively at the back of the room until the gang had all said their goodbyes. It was only then that I mustered up the courage to make my way forward. Knowing I might break down if I attempted to speak a full sentence I kept my words to a minimum. “I’ll take good care of her.”, I said, and made my way to the door. Our show was my responsibility now. I couldn’t save him, but maybe I could save her.
As I sit here in bed, hungover from a night of drinking with my YouTube friends following a day spent meeting fans, I can safely say that it wasn’t just my friend who died that day. This marks the one year anniversary of a crippling writers block I’m yet to defeat and a sense of failure from which I don’t believe I’ll ever recover. A partnership like mine and Edd’s was designed to last a lifetime, for ten years we grew side by side into the men we were; defined by each other and dependent on each other. He was my friend, my partner and my muse.
Well I’m back to writing for this AU again! 😆 Here’s the newest update to the DisplacEdd AU, and you can read all of the previous parts here!
After a bit of an ‘interesting’ night together in bed, Future Edd is left alone to his own devices for a moment. He takes this time to dwell on his thoughts outside…..
As sunlight filters through both the curtain and blinds in Edd’s room, their door cracks open gently, as two figures shuffle in quietly.
“Hey, why are we even doing this?”
“Because it’ll be funny Matt.”
“But are you even sure the flash is off?! Last thing I want is for him to wake up…”
“Shut up already.”
As the two eavesdroppers stand at the foot of Edd’s bed, Tom briefly messes with the knobs of his shitty discount camera, quickly double-checking to really see if he did turn off the flash.
It’s already well past noon, as Edd should’ve been wide awake at this point, either working on his commission backlog, or doing any of the shared chores in the house. Instead to Tom’s and Matt’s bemusement, they found him and his future self, still sleeping soundly in Edd’s bed.
Tom of course, wanted to take a picture to use later on to humiliate Edd if needed, because why not.
He finally makes sure to see that the flash was indeed off, before beginning to gently lean over the bed frame, squinting his hollow eye sockets as he lines up the perfect shot.
Future Edd had since loosened up his tight grip against Edd and is no longer holding him, but they’re still somewhat spooning, as his legs are still weaved in-between his younger self’s legs. His head is nestled right next to Edd’s, as his heavy exhales gently ruffles the top of Edd’s hair.
A small click sound emanates through the room, as Tom finally found the perfect shot. He turns to face Matt, gleefully smiling at the picture he just took, before he carefully leans straight back up.
“I still really can’t believe they slept all night together, like Edd’s gone insane.”
“Aw come on Tom, he really just wants Edward to feel safe around him. I can truly understand why he did this.”
“Bah, you’re just saying that since if you were in his shoes, you’d be delighted to sleep together with your future self.”
Matt’s face furls into a bit of a frown, before the two of them are caught off guard by a strange, guttural sound.
It doesn’t take long for Matt to notice that it’s coming straight from Future Edd. His sleeping face seemingly begins to wince, as unintelligible murmurs begin to escape from his mouth.
“Tttt….. t-TOmm?….. uhhhh.. uggh….”
“Tom, move back slowly.”, Matt whispers, as he begins to step back himself, carefully looking behind himself to make sure that they’re not going bump directly into the bedroom door, or any other piece of furniture in the room.
Tom soon follows suit, as he firmly clutches his camera closely to his chest, darting his non-existent eyes between the bed and the door as he does it.
“Slowly….. slowly…..”, Tom says to himself, as Matt has since successfully backed out of the bedroom before him.
Future Edd begins to stir more clearly in bed, which prompts Edd to finally stir as well, as they both squirm amongst their mess of clustered-up blankets and intertwined limbs.
By the time Tom finally made it to the door, camera still in hand, Future Edd finally slowly cracks one of his eyes open, with his vision being out of focus. Thankfully, he wasn’t fast enough to notice Tom closing the door on them, but the slight noise of the door hitting against the doorframe did mildly catch his attention.
Future Edd instinctively goes to rub his face, unsure if what he even heard was real or not, as his mind is in a daze from waking up. He soon catches up on the fact that he’s still in a bed with Edd though, as he accidentally presses his hand against Edd’s left arm, as Future Edd sits himself up.
Oh, I didn’t mean to do that….. wait. Did I really sleep through the entire night with Edd. No this still must be a dream, it has to be.
As Future Edd sits upright in bed, he looks down upon the still groggy and half-asleep younger version of himself, as a bead of drool drips out of Edd’s mouth. His hair is incredibly tousled, and even his nightgown looks unusually wrinkled.
Okay, I guess this isn’t a dream then. Hopefully I didn’t bother him too much in my sleep? I think….. I think I had THAT nightmare again….. I really, REALLY hope I didn’t wake him up. Last thing I want to explain to him is all of the times in which I got tortur-
“wwwhhaaat tiimmme isss it.”, Edd suddenly says, as his eyes are still closed.
“Edd? Oh uh…… hmm…. it’s…… past noon. Yeah.”, Future Edd says, as his squints his sunken-in eyes to focus on the alarm clock on Edd’s nightstand.
“……..noon?!”, Edd replies back, his slurred speech now becoming clearer as he snaps out of his drowsy stupor.
He finally opens his eyes and sits up, stretching his arms way above his head, up until he can hear some of his back cracking from it.
“Shit. I was supposed to send a email already to some local paper who’s interested in my comics. Goddamnit, hopefully they don’t mind the wait. Oh and uh…… good afternoon?”
“Y-yeah. Good afternoon to you too Edd.”
“Uugghhh….. alright, I’m off to use the computer. Feel free to do whatever you want today, as I’m gonna be on it for most of the day anyways. I hope you uh, rested well though. Just….. okay, please don’t take this personally, but I don’t think we should do this again. Ever.”
Future Edd cocks his head slightly to the side, and frowns slightly upon what he just heard.
“Aw come on, don’t look at me like that. I mean, I’m pretty sure you slept well last night ha hah….. plus, your room should be totally dry at this point, so you better not say that it still has fumes in it. Okay, come on, get outta here.”, Edd says, as he pushes himself off the bed, and walks towards his computer.
He lets out a large yawn upon sitting in his desk’s chair, clearly still groggy from oversleeping so much, as he too begins to rubs his face. Future Edd watches for a bit, before realizing that he should probably leave soon, mainly before Edd gets any possible ideas to ask about what he was dreaming about last night.
As Future Edd finally gets out of the bed and walks towards the bedroom door, Edd briefly glances at his future self, and his mouth waivers briefly, as if he wanted to say something. Future Edd notices, and hesitates to touch the doorknob.
“Edward. Umm….. hey, I really do hope you rested well last night. I just want you to know that you’re…. erm….. ugh, never mind. It’s nothing. There’s still some leftover bread in the pantry, so you can have some if you’d like.”
“…………..okay?”, Future Edd replies, as he can clearly tell that Edd is hesitating from saying what he originally intended. Still, he finally leaves the room and gently closes the door behind him, before letting out a heavy sigh.
He already knows that I’ve been through too much. Fuck. I just hope I didn’t say TOO much in my sleep. Goddamn it Edd, why did I agree to this stupid shit in the first place…..
————————————-
“He’s just lying out there.”
“Matt, we barely got caught by him like two-ish hours ago, so why are you peeping on him now?”
“Oh shut up Tom, you were the one with that dumb picture idea in the first place! Plus, I’m totally not peeping, as I’m uh, I’m people watching.”
“More like person watching.”
The two of them are situated like usual in the living room, with Tom messing around with his beloved bass on the sofa, as Matt stands by the door that leads to the backyard. It features a small window within it, allowing him to look outside towards Future Edd, who has once again managed to find one of their patio chairs.
“He’s just been laying out there, doing who knows what! If he’s not hanging out with Edd, then we have no idea on what he’s gonna do!”
“So? The more he isolates himself, the better. He’s out of sight, out of mind. Let him do whatever he wants, as I quite literally don’t care.”
“Yeah, you say that now until he manages to find a way to kill you over something stupid, who knows. I think we really should put in some effort to know him just a bit better? Like yeah sure Edd’s getting along well with him, but I can’t say the same for us.”
“I mean, if you think that’s a good idea. I doubt it though, he’ll probably hate us forever for no real reason.”, Tom says, as he finishes turning a tuning peg on Susan. As he turns his face to see a still preoccupied Matt, he contemplates on joining in.
He then shrugs his shoulders, before standing up and walking over to now also observe Future Edd, alongside his fellow housemate.
“Move aside, I wanna peep now too.”
“You could’ve just said ‘excuse me’ like you’re supposed to.”
“Whatever. Huh, he really is just lying there. Do you think he’s trying to tan himself?”
“Probably, as if I were as pale looking as him, I would do the same. I really gotta give him some of my skincare products already, just looking at his grey eye bags gives me chills!”, Matt says, as he dramatically shudders.
As the two of them stand side by side, peering through the small window, they can only continue to assume what’s rattling around in Future Edd’s mind.
—————————————
The afternoon sun beams across the backyard, as Future Edd lays there, soaking it all in. His beloved trench coat is hanging on the back of the patio chair, and his hoodie is folded up and placed behind his head, being used as a makeshift pillow.
Moments before, he managed to scrounge up a can of baked beans that were left aside in the pantry in order to make some beans-on-toast for his tardy breakfast, alongside guzzling down some cans of regular cola alongside it. Surprisingly, he did bathe as well after, as he noticed that he woke up way more sweatier than usual, as if he overheated in his sleep overnight.
He’s currently wearing the old Union Jack t-shirt that Edd gave him to wear, as it’s slowly starting to grow on him already, even though it’s still a bit of a tight fit. He also managed to find a small patio table, in which he dumped some of his newest findings onto it. His former friends did have a penchant for leaving random stuff strewn around the house, so their loss is his gain.
So far he’s managed to snag a copy of the house key, a fish shaped bookmark, a purple circular compact mirror, and a small note pad. He forgot to place into his coat one of the pencils he found while cleaning as well, as it’s still within the drafting table in his room, so the note pad is effectively useless for now. The neighbour’s newspaper is folded up on the small patio table as well, as he easily stole it from their front mailbox, just because he felt like it.
As Future Edd laid in the patio chair, he fiddles around with a old lighter that he found tucked away in Tord’s former bedroom, while he rearranged the furniture in it the other day. To be honest, his former best friend was just as equally slobbish as Matt, so no wonder his room was left littered with so many random items and even weapons in every nook and cranny, even after he packed up and left.
Its metal casing of course was a deep solid red, and glinting in the sun was that dreaded symbol, engraved into the sides of it. Future Edd sneers at the sight of it, as seeing that Red Leader logo still brings up so many horrible memories.
Just…. for HOW LONG did he plan all of it? If he already had this stupid symbol at this moment in time, when did he start to amass his soliders? The experimental weapons? The everything?! When he ‘joked’ about taking over the world since we were little, was he truly working on it the entire time, doing it methodically as I just mindlessly became oblivious to it all?
Future Edd lets out a strained exhale, as he mindlessly flicks open and closes the lid of the lighter, as he closes his eyes and dwells further on his thoughts.
Even if I do manage to get into his old lab, will that even make a difference? Sure, I’ve ‘changed’ the fate of not seeing my younger self get his ass kicked by that attic ghost, but that’s such a small minor change to our timeline. Finding Tord’s mech on the other hand and……. wait a second, I’m not even sure WHAT I’ll do with it. Destroy it?….. no, they’ll for sure hear the noise if I do. I don’t want them to even know what Tord becomes in my time. Or the fact that I literally have residual superpowers, while I’m blasting it apart. Fuck. Fucking hell.
Future Edd lets out another strained exhale, essentially moaning out loudly in utter frustration as he does it. He opens his eyes and immediately winces, as the sun’s bright rays inadvertently beamed directly into his always exhausted looking eyes.
I really need to get a pair of shades again, ever since I’ve lost them at the diner when I got sprayed by that cola keg….. fuck. WHY am I STILL not spontaneously dead already. It’s been like a week, so I should be loosing my mind already from at least some sort of weird time travel paradox insanity condition or whatever. That would be the bare minimum! I still clearly don’t belong here, no matter how hard Edd tries. He….. he really should stop….. I’m such a waste. I don’t deserve anything.
Future Edd keeps on flicking the lid of the lighter, as its metallic clicking is the only real source of noise outside. The birds are oddly quiet, there’s no planes flying overhead, the air is devoid of wind, and the street out front is absent of any passing cars.
It truly is just Future Edd alone with his thoughts.
Even if I manage to ‘hold on’ and stay here by the time Tom goes to that ska concert, Matt and Edd being in the house is still a liability. Edd would probably snoop around and try to find me, once he realizes I’m not lazing around in my room or in the kitchen, et cetera. Matt is just Matt, as he’ll find some asinine way to ruin my plan by just being around. I fucking hate this. I hate this SO much.
Future Edd stops flicking the lighter for once and drops it in his lap, as he goes to rub his face his with both of his hands, this time out of pure frustration instead of lethargy. As his hands are still firmly planted on his face, he slightly splays his fingers in order to see out of one of his eyes, as he dwells further.
Okay, even if I do find a way to sneakily get into his lab and not get caught, what do I do next? What even triggered the mechanism that launched his mech out of the house anyways?! Was it that big red button that Matt almost pressed?…… maybe. Shit, so that means I can’t press it without it immediately exposing everything to the guys. Okay, fine, if I can find a way to NOT accidentally launch it, what will I do then anyways? Dismantle it???…… oh wait. Huh. That….. could actually maybe work. I’ll take it apart little by little, effectively destroying it without blowing it up, with little to no noise…..
Future Edd drops his hands from his face, as a small smile begins to form.
Yeah. Yeah that could work…… where will I get rid of the parts though? Can I even scrap them? Wait. Yes, I can go scrap them for money and help Edd out with the rent and bills for this month, as he just needs to cover the expenses of the Insta-roof insurance. Wow. I’m so fucking smart.
Future Edd lets out a small confident chuckle, before turning his gaze towards the newspaper on the small patio table.
Shit, so for how long even is that ska concert then? Maybe it’s actually listed in here?
Future Edd takes the newspaper and begins to flip through it, his eyes skimming through the pages to see if it’s listed anywhere underneath ‘local events’. He finally spots a chart in which local bands have paid to market their event dates, as he leans in closer to read it.
“Hmmm….. looks like it’s actually multiple ska bands playing at one venue…… it’s at a record store. Oh, it’s the one Tom used to hang out at.”, Future Edd says aloud to himself.
Damn, it’s only like three hours. Maybe he’ll get shitfaced over there and slowly stumble his way back home. Maybe I can also trick Matt to go with him somehow. They do end up together anyways, so it’s just a bit of a small push to fast track that I bet…… I….. I wonder how my timeline’s Tom and Matt are doing….. I hope they’re not dead because of m-
“Hi Edward!”
“AAHHHH?!!!”, Future Edd shrieks out, as his whips his head around so fast that he nearly topples over the old flimsy patio chair he’s in.
It’s Matt. Holding a can of lime flavored cola. One of his hands is oddly held behind his back, as he outstretches the other one to gently waggles the can of cola in it.
“It’s uh, it’s pretty hot outside today isn’t it!”
“……………….”
“…. l-look, come on Edward. Just take the drink.”
Future Edd doesn’t reply, but he indeed does take the can from Matt’s right hand, quite gingerly however. He doesn’t remove his line-of-sight from Matt’s face, as his entire body tenses, as if he’s seemingly waiting for something bad to happen.
Matt picks up on this, and his obviously awkward fake smile falters, before turning into a flat thin line. He drops the hand that was held behind his back, and there was surprisingly nothing in its grasp.
Matt loosens up his shoulders and shrugs them, before saying one last thing.
“Y’know, I honestly don’t mind you saying with us. Just stop…. being like this, whatever you’re doing. It’s kinda freaking Tom out, even if he doesn’t want to admit it. Last thing I want is all of us to be stressed out for no reason, or to end up as paranoid as you, alright? Enjoy your cola.”
As Matt turns his heels and walks back to the house, Future Edd keeps on staring at him, still feeling like there’s some sort of abstract, underhanded strategy that he’s going for.
By the time the door closes, Future Edd still feels tense.
He looks down at the can of lime cola in his grasp, slowly dragging one of his index fingers along its rim.
What the hell was that about. Nothing, he’s probably trying to psyche me out. Maybe he wants to kill me in his own unique way, maybe he’ll chop me into cuts of raw meat to enjoy later whenever he’s having one of those ‘cravings’. Maybe….. this cola he gave me is poisoned?
Future Edd lets out a quick full-body shudder before impulsively tossing the can across the backyard, before realizing how stupid his idea was. Even if it was somehow tampered, it’s not like some random poison is anyways different from the radiation that has already saturated most of his insides.
Future Edd throws back his head against his makeshift ‘pillow’, as the newspaper now laid in his lap, alongside the lighter. He slightly brushes his finger against the page with the concert’s time and date on it, before ripping it out entirely. Promptly, he rolled the paper up, before effortlessly tossing it over their neighbour’s fence.
Just a few more days. I can do it. Just a few more days and I’ll finally get rid of that infernal machine. I can do it. I can last just a few more………… c..can I?……..
Future Edd now laid there in pure utter silence, as he doesn’t want to think further.
A few months ago i mentioned that i wanted to translate @futureedd 's 'DisplacEdd au' fanfic to Russian, and I finally got some spare time to actually do that... But first
I never really directly askedthem for a permission to do that, but can this comment count as one? 👉👈
Anyways, since the government decided that there won't be any titles(or brand names) in English in our country, I had to give the fic a slightly different name, without losing the meaning and a pun.. And I came up with this:
Basically it means "Out of his timeline". Oh, and yeah, I'll be using this pic as a "cover", because on a platform where I'll post the translation it feels kinda necessary to do.
One more thing: I didn't realize, that Ao3 version of the fic had it's first chapter divided into 2 separate ones... So i had to draw an additional picture so EVERY chapter has a small illustration of it's own.
And I won't post rus version of the fic until the permission is confirmed 😅.
(My reasoning to do the transition in the first place: I don't want AI to touch this amazing fanfic. I can do better than a robot, I've been translating EW stuff for years.)
We’ve finally made it to that part of my DisplacEdd AU fic that I’ve been teasing for a hot minute! 👀 (You can read all of the previous parts here!)
Edd attempts to help Future Edd with his nightmare issue, by using a certain method he read up on online. It goes more or less the way you expect.
“Come on, drink up.”
Edd sets down a hearty mug of chamomile tea onto the dining table, as his future self steps back into the kitchen, while fumbling with the buttons on the top of his new pajamas.
The pajamas were a stark contrast against what Edd usually wears, as they were a solid black two-piece set, with some dark green buttons. However, Edd can clearly notice that the set might’ve been a size too small, as his future self’s chest seems to press hard against the fabric, as Future Edd poorly attempted to tuck the shirt in.
Note to self, keep in mind that he lies to himself about his weight and to also not wash any of his new clothes immediately….. well at least it was on clearance.
As Future Edd walks over to pick up the mug from the countertop, he gives Edd a quick glance, before immediately downing the tea in nearly one chug. Some of it dribbles to the sides of his mouth, as he simply licks some of it, while using the back of his right hand to rub what remains out of his stubble.
Ugh, I really do grow up to be a slob.
Future Edd sets the empty mug into the sink and gets ready to wash it, while Edd turns away to walk out of the kitchen.
“It’s now my turn to take a shower, alright? You can either go straight to my bed now, or wait for me in the living room, your call.”
“Why would I even wait for you? It’s not like I need your permission to go use your bed, I’m quite literally you.”
“Yeah, you’re me, but even so, you haven’t even considered how we’re gonna split up the pillows and stuff! If go to my room and I see you hogging up all of my pillows and the blanket as well, I’m gonna kick you to the floor.”
“Whatever, go wash your ass already.”
The two of them simultaneously groan in frustration, while Edd rolls his eyes as he makes his way over.
Tom had already situated himself onto the living room’s sofa, with the lighting within it already dimmed for the night. He was lying on his side, with a tv remote in one hand, and a bottle of Smirnoff in another. As the glow of the tv basks against his lanky frame, he takes a swig out of the bottle as Edd passes him.
“Heh, I still can’t believe you’re going to share a bed with yourself!”
“Hah hah ha, laugh it up Tom. I’m only going to do this for ONE night, just to see if it works in helping him or not. Edward is more of a grown ass man than myself, and hopefully he’ll take this as a sincere sign of goodwill between us. I really don’t want him to still feel like I’m going to ‘get him’ or something inane like that.”
“Edd. I feel like you could literally give him everything that he wants in his life, and it’ll still never be enough. Just stop trying so hard, you’re just gonna hurt yourself in the long run.”, Tom says, before taking another swig.
“Oh come on Tom, so far he’s been a good sport all day today, and I think he’s finally getting around the corner of getting used to y’know, being stuck here with us. I doubt he’ll try to hurt me again too, as if he wanted to, he’s had so many opportunities to do so already.”
“Alright Edd, you win. Just don’t end up crying to me later if he does still hate your guts for some reason, and that you’re just saddled with taking care of him all of the time from now on. Oh, my show is finally back from commercial, now piss off!”
Edd rolls his eyes one last time for the night, before finally making it to the sole bathroom in the house. As Edd strips off his clothes and turns the shower on, he briefly thinks to himself.
No, there’s no way Edward would even dare to attack or even flat out kill me at this point, what would even be the benefit for him now? He’s finally got a roof over his head, he isn’t on the run anymore, and he’s got all the cola he needs. Even if our future still turns to shit, at least there’s a chance that our timeline is now slightly positively affected with him being here. Ugh, I just hope I don’t need to see my future self die of old age or something by that point…..
———————————————
As Edd finished bathing and brushed his teeth for the night, the hallways of his house were now all dimmed or darkened completely. He can barely make out the faint visual of Tom being fully passed out on the sofa, drooling all over himself as the sounds of cars rev softly on the tv.
His future self is notably absent, in which Edd already had a feeling he would be in his room, as his future self is still quite avoidant towards small talk. Especially with how Tom tends to be, he probably wanted to avoid some further ribbing.
Edd looks up towards the ceiling, hearing the very faint chatter of Matt with whoever is he speaking to on his phone, as he’s been at it for the last hour or so.
All is more or less calm in their house, which is a comforting thought.
As Edd walks to his bedroom door and opens it up, he is surprised to see that his future self isn’t in his bed already. In the corner of his eyes though, he spots his future self leaning over his drawing desk, his head tilted downwards towards it.
Edd swallows some spit, before inching closer towards his future self.
“Hey, you alright? I thought you would’ve already been sleeping at this point!”
As if on cue, Future Edd flinches midway through Edd’s sentence, as he nearly tosses what he was observing towards the carpeted floor.
It was Edd’s main sketchbook.
“UUUUUH UHHH HMM!!! I W-WAS, UH. S-shit. Sorry Edd, I was just….. going through some of your things.”, Future Edd sheepishly says, as he closes up the sketchbook and places it back where it once sat on the desk.
A slightly miffed Edd stands before him, before he reverts his expression to his more easy-going soft smile.
“Well at least you were truthful…..ish. Still, just because we are the same person, doesn’t mean you can snoop through my stuff like that. Next time give me a warning, and maybe I can even help you look for whatever you want from me.”
“No no Edd, it’s alright. It’s my fault for being nosy. Ever since earlier since you did that impromptu sketch at the park, I’ve been….. reminiscing on my past a bit more than usual.”
“Oh?”
“Well, I’m pretty sure it’s easy for you to guess that I don’t really have the ‘spare time’ anymore to draw in the future, let alone animate a video.”
“Yeah, I figured.”
“Hmph.”
“What? You barely even talk about the things you did in the future, so of course I need to take an educated guess! Still, if you want to go through my old art, I’d love to sit down and walk through all of it with you. Maybe I can get you some supplies of your own as well?”, Edd says, as he gets close enough towards his future self to place a hand on his shoulder.
Future Edd quickly bats it off, as a brief shudder goes through him.
Can my younger self PLEASE stop trying to be so fucking touchy-feely with me!
“Let’s just set up how we’re gonna split the bed for tonight already, we can talk about this some other time.”, Future Edd says, as his husky voice is now much more stern than usual.
“Okay, you don’t have to lower your voice like that to get your point across, damn.”
“I think you’re just hearing things.”
“Edward, it’s late into the evening and I just want to get this over with. I’m sleeping on the left side of the bed where my nightstand is, since this is MY bed.”
“Let me guess, the opposite side of the bed has like a lump or a broken spring in the mattress, so you’re shoving me to that side to avoid feeling it?”
“No, but if you choose to believe that then so be it I guess.”
Future Edd lets out a huff as he walks over to the bed and yanks the comforter off, showing that there’s no blankets underneath it.
“Oh great, you sleep with just this thin piece of shit on top?”
“No Edward, I just folded up my blanket earlier and placed it underneath my pillow. Now wait until I grab a spare from my closet then. Do you want it to be fuzzy or silky?”
“‘dO yOu WaNt It FuZzY oR sIlKy.’ Of course I want it fuzzy Edd, we still both share most of the same preferences.”
“Ugh, fine, take this one then.”, Edd says, as he suddenly throws towards his future self a blanket. He effortlessly catches it, and his face changes quickly to a slightly befuddled expression, as the soft gray colored blanket has a pattern of classic cola cans all over it.
“Huh. I don’t remember having this at all.”
“It was a promotional item I got from sending in a bunch of cola tabs. I just never got around to using it since it feels a bit too heavy to sleep with, so it’s been sitting in my closet for ages. Hopefully you’ll get some good use out of it.”
“Hmmmm….. well at least it doesn’t feel itchy.”
“Well I know for sure it’s probably more comfortable than that horrid looking coat you’re always wearing! It’s definitely a miracle you haven’t caught fleas or something else with that rancid thing on.”
Well, thankfully my putrid blood is just too toxic for them or any other pest to consume it.
“Oh, there we go, here’s a spare pillow for you as well!”, Edd says, right before tossing a large white pillow towards his future self.
As Edd dusts his hands, he looks towards the bed and begins to think.
Hmmm….. I don’t have an extra spare pillow to place between us as we sleep….. I’ll just sleep on my side facing away from him, and hopefully that’ll work. Last thing I want us to do is start cuddling or whatever.
“Okay!”, Edd says, as he clasps his hands together.
“Hop on in, it’s late and I want you to sleep now so you can get in some good rest. I’ll sleep on my side so you don’t need to worry about me staring at you, alright?”
“Where’s Ringo?”
“Huh?…”
“Ringo. I want her here with us.”
“In…… in the bed?”
“No not that, but like….. in the room? Doesn’t she have a cat bed we can drag in here?”
“Edward. You know she has a tendency to wake up at night and use the litter box. I’d be dammed if I had to bring that filthy thing in here as well. You already know we put it far and away from everyone in the house for a reason.”
“I know but-”
“But nothing. Get in before I turn the lamp off.”
Future Edd could only give a small grunt as his eyes speak for him, as he looks somewhat defeated and even hurt to not have Ringo with them.
It’s whatever. It’s not like she’s going to drop dead as we sleep. Hah…. I really hope not.
As the two of them get into the bed and get adjusted with their arrangements, Edd could feel the noticeable sag that’s occurring against the bed frame. A quick thought of the bed snapping underneath their combined weight flashes through his mind, but he disregards it.
Lying on his side, Edd stares at the lamp on his nightstand, while also looking at a can of flat lukewarm cola adjacent to it, as he left it there from a day or two ago. He licks his lips, thinking to drink it, but he changes his mind, as he fears that his future self will also demand him to get some cola for himself.
“Hey, you ready for me to turn the lamp off?”
“Mmhmm….. y-yeah. Just one thing. Just….. there’s no cameras in here, right?”
“I mean there’s my computer’s web camera, but it’s off and unplugged. I haven’t used it in a while. It’s in one of the desk’s drawers I think.”
“…..you’re not messing with me, right?”
“No? What, do you think I have one of those hidden cameras to record myself? I mean like, Matt probably has one in his old room, but that’s because he’s a bit strange with his preferences.”
“Ugh, forget it. Just promise to me that you’re not gonna record my sleep in any matter.”
“Why? You talk a lot in it? When I saw you this morning, all you did was make some really weird sounds and flail.”
“I don’t think I can do this.”, Future Edd says, as he begins to pull himself out of the just tucked-into bed.
“Huh? I mean, I can get that white noise CD from Matt if you want to fill the room with sounds that aren’t yours?”, Edd says, as he turns to lay fully on his back, keeping his eyes focused on his future self, who is now walking towards the window.
He peeks through the window’s blinds, seemingly trying to observe something. He mutters something unintelligible underneath his breath, before closing them fully.
Future Edd looks down at his feet, before turning to face his younger self.
“I need socks.”
“…… anything else you need to check up on.”
“….. n-no.”
“Grab any pair I have in the dresser over there. If they don’t fit, then just pull harder on them, it’ll work.”
Future Edd does what his younger self told him, as he meekly goes through the drawer. He eventually settles on a pair of dark green ankle socks, as he then sits down on his side of the bed.
Edd could swear that he heard some of the strands in that pair began in to snap and burst when his future self forcibly put it on, but thankfully Edd tended to buy multi-packs of socks, so he could just let his future self keep those.
The bed frame rattles a bit when Future Edd finally lays down on it one last time, as he fusses with pulling the comforter back up. As he turns his head to face his younger self, Edd looks back at him with a slightly blank face.
“So uh. You’re finally ready for me to turn off the light?”
“Yeah. I am.”
“Good. Well, good night Edward, I’ll see you in the morning.”
“….y-you too Edd.”
*click*
——————————————
*thump*
Ow.
*thump*
Ow?
*thump thump*
OW???
*SMACK*
WHAT IS HITTING ME?!?
Edd’s eyes bolt open, as the only source of faint light in his room, his bedside alarm clock, glares against his vision.
The room is nearly pitch black, and he briefly struggles to pull together his bearings. Before he could fully do it, he is hit once again, right against the side of his head.
He instinctively turns on the light, essentially forgetting that he technically has his so-called houseguest in his bed with him.
As Edd rubs his eyes and promptly gets another hit against the side of his head, he sits up, and realizes that he has totally blanked on the fact that his future self is in bed with him.
Future Edd is lying flat on his back, but he is clearing squirming in place, as his arms are outstretched above his head. His pillow has been tossed to the floor, and he has subconsciously taken and balled up most of his blanket, Edd’s, and even the comforter.
Edd can’t even see his legs underneath the massive pile of fabric that he’s under, and yet Edd could tell that Future Edd’s legs are flailing and kicking, as if he’s trying to run.
Oh fuck. How could I have forgotten? What time is it? Shit, only a little past 2 AM. We’ve been asleep for like less than three hours, and he’s already thrashing.
The longer Edd observes his future self ‘sleeping’, the more and more apparent it is that he’s trapped in a horrendous nightmare. Spittle cakes the sides of his lips, as he is visibly grinding his teeth. A few tear stains have already lined their path beneath his eyes, as his haggard breathing and odd chokes fill up the room with that unpleasant noise.
Well, let me at least push his arms down, so he doesn’t continue to wack me with them.
Edd rubs his eyes, as he leans over to gently grab his future self’s left arm, in order to push it back to its proper place against his side.
What Edd didn’t expect was for him to actually speak in response to this.
“N-NO!!!!! D-D-DON’T!!”
“……..?”
“AGGHHH…. AGGGHH…. AGHHH!…”
Oh, I guess this is why he asked if I wasn’t recoding him. He really does talk in his sleep.
Future Edd’s left arm flails for a split second after Edd lets go of it, before it instinctively returns to a normal resting position. His right arm however, is now repeatedly slamming against the headboard of the bed. It doesn’t really help either that it’s balled-up in a fist.
Maybe if I just try to move all of the blankets and cover his head with them, I’ll stop him from moving too much?
As Edd goes in to grab one of the blankets in the balled up pile, Future Edd’s left hand suddenly lunges and grabs Edd’s hand.
“ST-STOP!! P-PLEASE!!!”
SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT
Edd, using his other free hand, goes to pry his captured hand out of Future Edd’s grasp, and thankfully it is instantly loosened up. Regardless, Edd caresses his formerly trapped wrist, and looks down upon his future self in mild disgust.
Tears are now visibly leaking out of his face, and sweat has begun to build up on his forehead and pits. His face is probably in the most distressed state that Edd has seen so far.
He truly does feel so sorry for him, even though he’s pretty hostile.
Am I….. being tortured?! I need to wake him up, this clearly isn’t working at all. He’s going to die in his sleep from a heart attack at this point.
Edd leans in slightly to get closer to his distressed future self, before speaking bluntly.
“It’s me, Edd. I’m going to shake you now, okay? Wake up dickhead.”, Edd says, in a placid yet sarcastic tone.
On the dot, nearly all of Future Edd’s flailing stops.
Even with his eyes closed, his head ever so slowly tilts towards where Edd is, as if he’s fully paying attention.
Ugh, creepy. What’s next, he’s gonna start asking me for help in his dream?
“H-HELP…. m-me….. h-help….”
You have to be pulling my leg.
It seems that Edd didn’t have a choice in this matter, as in a split second, Future Edd somehow instinctively grabs Edd by his right arm again, and pulls him closer to his body.
Future Edd’s breathing is even more choppy than usual, as he gags repeatedly, and yet he is still somehow capable of speaking.
“s-sTAYYYyyyy wit-with meeeeee…..”
Well I guess I’m obligated to, since you’re PINNING ME DOWN AGAINST YOU.
Future Edd’s body shifts from lying down flat to now being onto his side, as he begins to pull Edd closer and closer to him.
It doesn’t take long for Edd to mentally process what he is doing.
One of the last things Edd does with his free hand is to reach out and yank the pull-cord of his table side lamp, as the room is encased in near total darkness again.
As Future Edd pulls Edd closer to him, his physically larger and longer legs begins to interweave with Edd’s legs. His wide, muscular arms follow suit, as they effortlessly weave underneath Edd’s tubby sides, finally pulling him into a bear hug.
Edd can feel some blood rushing to his cheeks, mainly out of embarrassment….. but a small part of it is something else that is unknown to even Edd himself.
As Future Edd’s full-body grip around his younger self gets slightly tighter and tighter, his breath brushes against the back of Edd’s neck. Conversely, his breathing now seems to have lighted up a bit, but he still proceeds to babble.
Edd stays in total silence, hoping to ignore what he just heard.
Future Edd begins to gently nuzzle his head into Edd’s shoulder, as he could feel the both the wet spittle from his mouth and the scratchiness of his stubble smearing against his skin.
Edd lets out a weary groan, as the grip around him tightens further once more.
I just need to power through this one night, as after this we’re never doing this shit again. Maybe I can convince him to go steal some sleeping pills or something with that trench coat of his. Totally not suspicious at all. If he gets caught, then he can just kill whoever caught him and everything will play out fine.
The combined body heat between the two of them, alongside the pile of blankets and the comforter, eventually gets to Edd, as he begins to sweat. The fact that his crotch is also pressing quite noticeably against Edd’s backside is also an unfortunate factor. Edd tries to softly wiggle out of Future Edd’s bear hug, in order to avoid him from waking up and panicking loudly, but to no avail.
He’s now just as ‘stuck’ as his future self.
——————————————-
Edd can’t remember the rest of the night. Somehow, his brain must’ve blocked it out or something, as he seems to have quickly faded back to sleep in the midst of being spooned to death.
As sunlight bleeds through the window blinds, Edd attempts to open up his bleary eyes. He glazes over the time on the nightstand’s clock, and can barely make out a ‘eight something’. His eyelids closes upon themselves, as the lull of a malaise-like drowsiness is still apparent in him.
Still, even so with his eyes closed, he can feel the grasp of his older self still being wrapped around him. Granted, it isn’t as tight as before, but it’s still very apparent.
Edd manages to crack one eye open in order to barely take a look back at his future self, and he can make out a faint smile on his face, as Future Edd breathes softly and slowly in his sleep. At least he isn’t babbling or crying out anymore.
Mmmhhnmmmmn……. he’s happyyyyy……. gooooooodddd……. I don’tttt wannnaaaa waaaaake uppppp……. just a biiiittt moooorrrree……..
Edd cracks a faint smile of his own, before nuzzling his head into Future Edd’s thick arm that’s around him, before returning back to sleep.
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