Here’s now the fourth batch of chapters for my DisplacEdd AU fic! If you missed out on the previous batches, here they are: 1 2 3
It seems like Edd wants to help acclimate his future self to his new timeline, starting off by doing a ‘simple’ errand.
That coat……..
Edd struggles to crack open his eyes, as he is gently stirred awake by the constant chirping of a robin that’s conveniently perched outside his window.
He slightly groans out, as his body is still quite tired, even though he managed to go to sleep early last night. He passed on going out to get some dinner with his housemates, as he had already seemingly lost his appetite midway through the day, and just wanted to rest.
His clothes are still in the dryer, but what am I going to do about that coat?…..
Washing his future self’s ragged t-shirt and well worn out khakis were easy, as Edd just threw them into his own pile of laundry that he was floundering around to do, but that black trench coat was a whole other matter.
There were cuts and gashes all over the exterior of the coat,and it was absolutely littered with various stains, all from unknown substances that Edd didn’t want to touch with his bare hands. The ends of the coat were partially frayed and pilling, so in all honesty, it would be better off being thrown into the trash, than to be painstakingly washed and repaired.
Then again, simply throwing it away does seem like a horrible idea.
He left it overnight to dry after he soaked it in a basin for a few hours, so he hoped that it would at least stink a bit less than it was initially. Seeing the water in the basin immediately turn into a sickening shade of reddish-brown upon contact of the coat, definitely must’ve contributed to his loss of appetite.
For how long he wore that filthy thing, and how many injuries he got while wearing it?
Edd glares his eyes at his bedside nightstand to check out his alarm clock, to only see that it was just a few minutes past ten in the morning. He lets out another strained groan of frustration, before finally managing to get the energy to haul himself out of bed. As he begins to yawn and stretch his joints, he couldn’t stop thinking about emotional his future self is like.
For someone who was initially so callous and spiteful towards him in their initial meeting, seeing such an absurdly violent man basically break down twice in a mere span of 24 hours does feel so surreal to see. Even more so since it’s technically himself, and Edd isn’t that much of an overly emotional individual.
As he makes his way to the shared bathroom, he passes by what was once Tord’s bedroom. The door to it was left slightly ajar, signifying that his future self also seems to have awoken early today as well.
Before Edd could splash some water into his face, he notices that there was already a fine mist left hanging in the bathroom, meaning that his future self had already bathed.
Looks like he’s already to take on the day I guess? Either that, or he still feels SO dirty, even after being in the shower for actual hours yesterday. Wait….. whose’s soap is he using anyways?
Edd begins to reach out for his green colored tooth brush, he almost ends up grabbing the new dark green toothbrush that was left lying flat on the edge of the sink. He picks it up, before gently placing it into the toothbrush cup where all of their toothbrushes belong. If he’s going to be constantly cleaning up after his future self life this, it can definitely grow to become an issue.
After brushing and taking a quick piss, Edd finally makes his way into the kitchen, as the smell of freshly made toast once again lingers in the air.
“G-good morning, Edd.”
“Thanks, good morning, um, Edward. Wait did you?….” Edd begins to trail off, after noticing that his future self looks a bit different this morning.
How is that damn coat dry already?! It should still be sopping wet at this point!
Future Edd was seemingly back wearing all of his initial garb, including that beaten up black trench coat. He was currently positioned by the stove top, as something sizzled on the pan he was handling.
“Hey uh, are you sure that your coat still isn’t wet? I left it to dry not even twelve hours ago, so it still should be pretty damp.”
“Oh it’s still damp. But that’s okay, I’m already used to it being wet.”
“Ooooookay?…. Still, I don’t want you to be tracking dripping water from your coat all over the floors alright? Plus you might get a cold from wearing that thing if it’s still too wet.”
“I don’t care. I want to have my coat.”
Edd stiffens up a little after being slightly caught off guard by his future self’s response. He then takes a mental note that Future Edd seems to be a bit too attached to wearing that deeply deteriorated coat.
Then again, Edd can’t really judge, as he too has been wearing the same exact green hoodie from his teenage years that he’s also grown incredibly partial to. If it were to be somehow damaged or lost, he’d probably become distraught about it.
As his future self returns his attention to the stove top, Edd leisurely walks over to his side, gently craning his neck over to see what he’s making.
“Oh, it’s a grilled cheese? So that’s why I smelled toasted bread.”
“Yeah, I wanted one today. There’s two slices of bread left in the bread box, so uh, would you like one as well?” Future Edd says, as his tone returns to a more placid yet gentler one.
“Sure, if it’s not a bother to you.”
“It’s not. Just do me a favor and get a mug.”
“A mug? Sure, but for what for?”
“What do you think?” Future Edd says in a slightly mocking tone, as he points towards a moka pot that’s been simmering alongside the pan on the stove top.
Edd nearly recoils in disgust, at the mere idea of his future self being a coffee drinker.
“BLEGH. Since when do ‘we’ drink coffee? Cola has all of the caffeine we need!”
“Exactly. So when it was outlawed in the future, I had to resort to drinking this. It’s….. I mean like, it’s not that bad. You should organize your cabinets better though, as finding this pot buried amongst the mess was challenge.”
“HEY! I don’t even know we even had that pot, plus I bet it’s Matt’s, as he’s the one that cooks for us usually!”
“……. You know what, that does make sense since he’s always been bit of a cluttered hoarder.”
As Edd huffs and turns away to go grab a spare mug from an overhead cabinet, he also goes to open up the fridge to see if there’s any sort of juice for him to have.
To his surprise, they must’ve cleaned out most of their fridge’s inventory this past week without fully realizing it.
“Shit. We need to go get groceries.”
The sudden clatter of a plate hitting the kitchen table soon caught his attention, as his future self places it where Edd sat yesterday, during their disastrous lunch.
“Breakfast’s ready.”
“O-oh. I thought that was yours?”
“It was, but I don’t mind giving it to you. Now, hand me that mug you got.”
As Edd wordlessly hands over the mug to Future Edd, he soon sits down to take a bite out of the grilled cheese. It was slightly burned, but the char on the bread did give it a bit of an interesting flavor.
As he continues on taking bites out of the grilled cheese, Edd patiently watches his future self continue to work at the stovetop. Some of his physical mannerisms seem to mirror his, in regard to how they both like to pour drinks, as Future Edd cleanly pours the coffee out of the moka pot, without spilling a single drop.
As he proceeds to assemble the next grilled cheese while drinking his black coffee, Future Edd quickly turns his head around to briefly make eye contact with his past self.
Hopefully today will be a better day. I’m not sure what I can do to help get rid of the tension between us though, and also….. why is he staring at me like THAT. Stop that, I hate it. I hate it so much. I hate this. I hate being here. Why can’t I spontaneously die already. WHY.
It seems like Edd could feel Future Edd’s sudden discomfort, as he quickly looks downwards towards his plate, forcing himself to finish eating the grilled cheese as fast as he could.
“After this I’m going back to bed. I didn’t sleep well at all last night, again.”
“I mean like I’m not gonna stop you, but I think you’ve been ‘sleeping’ a bit too much? I get that you might be struggling to fall asleep, given the circumstances….. but still, come on. Help me do the groceries today before the guys wake up. Please, just to get out of the house for just a hour or so?”
“……………ugh. Fine. It’s the least I could do…..”
Future Edd grumbles to himself as he finally finishes grilling his own breakfast, before placing it onto his own plate. He then turns around from the stove top, nearly guzzling down the coffee cup in his hands, as he plops himself onto the chair he sat in the previous day.
He can feel Edd’s gaze slowly cutting through him, as he too begins to look downwards to his grilled cheese.
He suddenly wolfs the entire thing down in nearly one bite, almost as if he was timed.
Christ, nobody’s gonna take it from you.
He promptly chases the barely chewed up sandwich by finishing off the coffee as well, before slamming the mug onto the table.
“So. Are we going now or what?”
“Just let me get changed. I’ll write up a quick list, so just wait in the living room.”
Edd excuses himself from the table as he makes his way to his bedroom, while his future self stays behind, cleaning up the table.
Can he stop being so ‘intense’ for once. We’re not gonna die if we just go out to buy some fresh fruits and crisps! Oh wait, yeah people probably did die doing that in the future, if it’s anything like he claims. Still, he needs to take it easy.
As his future self throws the used dishes and mug into the sink, he leaves them there to be either Tom or Matt’s problem. At least he was a bit courteous enough to leave the used pan to soak in some soapy water.
Future Edd then shuffles his way to the living room, gently calling out for the one being that doesn’t seem to get on his nerves yet, Ringo.
As if on cue, Ringo mewls as she rapidly runs over to her ‘owner’, as she was lying on her side, beside the recliner.
“Who’s been a good girl? You are!~” Future Edd says, as he scoops her up off of the floor, as a genuine smile begins to grow across his face. He holds her up close to his chest, as she purrs and rubs against him.
It really does seem that Ringo is the one thing that’s really helping him keep it together, for now at least.
It isn’t long until Edd finally comes out of his bedroom and meets up again with his future self, as he begins to smile as well, at seeing the sight of Future Edd cuddling with his beloved cat.
However when Future Edd notices he is being watched, his smile dissipates immediately, before he promptly places Ringo back down on the floor.
They swiftly exchange glances, before they walk towards the entrance door.
On the sidewalk, Future Edd seemingly winces at seeing the rising sun, using his coat’s sleeve to partially obscure his face. It seems like the shades he once had were accidentally left at the diner, after he was blasted by that entire keg of cola that Edd used as a distraction.
“You alright?”
“Yeah, yeah. Like I’ve said, the city isn’t like this anymore, it’s always so dingy and gloomy.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it sometime soon, it’s only natural after all. Now, let’s make our way to the corner shop!”
————————————————
The walk itself to their local corner shop is usually quite simple and uneventful.
This was not one of those times.
It isn’t long until Edd notices that there is really was something so ‘off’ about his future self, as he wasn’t quite able to pin it down ever since he began to stay over.
He’s paranoid. Deathly paranoid.
His large shadow looms over his younger self, as they trod down the sidewalk. He trails right behind Edd, seemingly unwilling to walk beside him, even though the sidewalk has enough space for the two of them to be beside each other.
His loud, audible breathing seems to waiver and flux every time some random person would pass them on the sidewalk, or if a car on the street drove by a bit too quickly. It got to a point where Edd sincerely believed that his future self might flop over from being out of breath.
Most of the usual passersby seemed to nod towards or give Edd a faint smile while passing through, before their expressions quickly change when inadvertently exchanging looks with Future Edd. Eventually, most of them just looked towards their feet as they walked, seemingly trying to avoid even recognizing Future Edd’s presence.
Thankfully a crosswalk was coming up, as they made it out of their residential area, and were transitioning into where all of the local businesses were. Edd used this opportunity at the stop to shuffle to the side of his future self, as he was getting a bit perturbed of how he loomed over him.
He notices that his future self’s eyes were constantly darting around, seemingly looking for something that will never come. His hands were placed by his sides, slightly twitching as well. His jaw slightly flexes, as if he’s grinding it yet again.
As the stoplight at the crosswalk finally allowed them to pass the street, Future Edd promptly got right back behind Edd, as they proceeded on. Edd scoffs gently to himself, as he’s already getting a bit annoyed by his future self’s looming presence.
“Y’know, you never really said how it felt to travel in time? I’m legitimately curious about it.” Edd says, as he attempts to make small talk.
“Imagine being set on fire, but it’s every atom of your being. That’s it.”
“Jeez, everything you say is so blunt or grim. Have you considered not talking like that?”
“Just keep walking.”
Edd shakes his head in frustration, as he attempts to continue the already stale conversation. However, before he could do so, someone familiar seemingly pops out of an alleyway they were passing, clearly at the wrong time.
“Hey Edd!”
Edd didn’t even have the time to respond, before he’s immediately pushed aside by his future self, as Future Edd lunges towards the mysterious person.
It’s Hellucard.
Edd stumbles to the side as he was pushed, as he could only watch as his future self immediately begins to lay into his supposed ‘fan’. The sound of each blow towards the Canadian’s head was sickening with how clear each one was.
Edd makes a new mental note yet again, to not purposely agitate his future self TOO much.
It was over in just a few seconds, as Future Edd effortlessly picks up the slumped over Hellucard by the collar of his shirt, as he is fully unconscious. He limply flops around in his grasp, his mouth bleeding profusely as a loose tooth falls out of it, before Future Edd effortlessly flings him away back into the alley he jumped out of, almost as if he weighed like a feather.
“Good fucking riddance.”
“…….. I mean. I also hate his guts too, but you didn’t have to y’know. Brutalize him like that.” Was all Edd could say, as they both immediately ran away from that alley to avoid suspicion from any other passerby.
“It’s fine, he’ll be fine. We both hate him and literally everyone else does. Even by my time. If he’s not already dead from when I launched him through that door at the diner, he can bounce back from a simple beating.”
“S-Simple?! I saw the back of his head SPLATTER multiple times across the ground as you pounded him into it!?”, Edd sputters out.
“He’ll be back to bother us again some other time. Are we ANYWHERE close to that corner store already?” Future Edd says, as he balls his bloodied hands into fists, seemingly still ready to pummel anyone else who gets in his way.
“YES IT’S RIGHT THERE. Now put your hands into your pockets so nobody can guess what you just did. Fucking maniac.”, as Edd mutters that last part to himself.
I just washed that coat as well too, how annoying…..
The two of them begin to scowl at each other, as they slam open the corner store’s glass door, barely shattering it in the process.
As Edd reaches into his front pocket to pull out his grocery list, his future self seemingly storms off to the store’s cigarette display.
“Hey, HEY, do you really think I’m going to let you keep smoking? It took me MONTHS to get rid of that tobacco smell out of the sofa and carpet once Tord left, and I’m not letting you bring that disgusting smell back.” Edd says, while trailing behind him.
“Come on, just a pack or two, after that I’ll quit, I promise!”
“Yeah, like your promise totally won’t go up in smoke.” Edd says, before cracking a small sly smile.
It seems like his efforts in deescalating the mood with such an awful pun clearly didn’t work, as his future self seems to become more agitated.
“FINE. I’ll quit cold turkey, fucking prick.”
It was safe to say that their loud and dour moods have quickly caused fellow shoppers in the store to immediately move away from them, lest they get caught up in their gradually simmering wrath.
As Edd grabs his future self by his coat’s sleeve, they make their way to the produce department. Edd makes use of Future Edd, as he forces him to carry all of the items he grabbed. Some bananas for Matt, some green apples for himself, so on and so forth.
Future Edd can only mutter nonsense to himself, as his younger self keeps on piling more and more items into his hands. Eventually he did cave in and got a cart, without of course barking at Edd for not grabbing one in the first place.
Going through the meat and dairy aisles was thankfully uneventful, as the mundane nature of grocery shopping seemed to finally sink in for the two of them. Still, Edd notices that Future Edd seems to be slightly enthused by being surrounded by a plethora of fresh foods, as his eyes seemingly widen and contract at everything.
I can only assume getting fresh meat is pretty hard in the future, if he was always on the run. I hope I just didn’t eat any human flesh as a last resort, as that would be disgusting…… Matt would probably do it in a heart beat though.
Occasionally when standing near a ceiling security camera, his future self will seemingly instinctively pull up the collar of his coat, to obscure his face. He seems slightly miffed as he does this every time.
It isn’t until they finally made it to the soda aisle is when Future Edd’s overall tense demeanor seems to slowly fade away. The shelf is lined up with varieties like lemon, lime, cherry, vanilla, bacon, and good ol’ classic. Future Edd is seemingly salivating at it all, as Edd stands beside him, slightly amused at seeing his future self now suddenly beaming at seeing a wall of cola cans.
“Um, h-how much can we get?”
“Well if I budgeted the expenses correctly, we should have uhhhhh yeah. A LOT to work with. Just take as much as you want, as you basically drank all of the reserves I had, so I do I need to replenish them all.
It doesn’t take long for Future Edd to flood the entire cart with nearly an entire display of cans, six packs, and bottles, seemingly giddy as he does.
“I totally forgot bacon cola was still in production during this time!”
“I know it’s limited, so I’ve definitely been drinking it a lot more often than classic, so go double up on the cans of those please!”
“Let’s see, I’ve got all of these so far….. hmm not that much lemon left but that’ll do…… I don’t even like cherry, but I still miss the taste of it regardless!”
“I don’t like it either, but I’m willing to help you finish drinking those bottles if you do tap out.”
“Sure, like you’d be able to drink as much as I can. I’ve had to deal with not drinking cola for separate spans of months, so I’ve been craving all of it, way more than you’ll ever will.”
“Okay show off….. but do slow down there, as the last time I cleared out the shelf here, they nearly banned me.”
“Bah, you’re a paying customer, who cares if they loose all of their inventory in one fell swoop.”
Edd shrugs at this comment, as a part of him hopes that the staff won’t have an issue this time. The thought of his future self raging at the poor staff and promptly shoving them all into a meat grinder does unfortunately pass his mind, as he quickly shakes his head to get rid of it.
As this point, the cart is nearly bursting at the seams with just cola, but Edd is totally okay with this, as he’s basically the breadwinner of the house anyways.
It’s his career as a independent cartoonist and animator that helps bring in the funds for the groceries and utilities, so if his housemates want to complain about how most of their groceries this week is mostly cola, well they need to stop leeching off of him.
As the duo makes their way to the checkout, Edd double checks the list as Future Edd begins to methodically place each item on the conveyor belt. It isn’t long until the cashier begins to complain about how much cans of cola they need to scan, before being promptly shut up by being glared at by both Edd and Future Edd.
There was no way that ALL of the cola they bought could be carried in their grasps, so Edd bemoaningly had to cough up some extra pounds to have it shipped to their house for later.
Well, at least we didn’t make THAT much of a scene here. We just need to make it back home before Hellucard wakes up….. if he does.
It isn’t long until they both leave the corner shop, as Future Edd giddily shoves his hand into one of the paper bags he was carrying, to crack open a can of bacon cola that he was nearly frothing at the mouth to drink.
As they march on back home, Edd takes yet another mental note.
So far he’s pretty much paranoid about everything outside, and will immediately resort to violence if caught off guard or agitated? I guess? I can see we still both love cola, but other than that, what else do we still have in common?…..
It seems that drinking some cola definitely did at least loosen up Future Edd’s constant anxiety, as he finally began to take a better appreciation of his surroundings. The old record shop, bowling alley, movie theater, and photography store were still intact and not a smoldering pile of ash, or replaced by a Red Army branded skyscraper. The streets were still busy with people, most of them with smiles on their faces, obvious to what’s to come on the horizon.
At least the sun’s rays doesn’t seem to hurt his eyes that much for now.
——————————————-
As they make their way nearly out of the shopping district, their mutual silence is ended when Future Edd now tries his hand at some small talk.
“Y’know, before everything went to hell, they did come out with some new cola flavors that didn’t exist before.”
“Really? Like what?”
“Mango, raspberry, cookies and cream, y’know, the usual stuff that hasn’t been adapted into the drink yet.”
“Wow. Well, hopefully we’re both still here then to see those flavors?”
Nearly simultaneously, Edd and Future Edd shared a shaky laugh, seemingly knowing that the chances of the either of them making it to that point in the future, may have become slightly more slim.
If I’m not dead from yet another zombie attack, I might die from his hands instead if he rages out at me one day….. or from whatever upcoming supernatural bullshit that will occur to me and the guys.
I’ll be dead for sure by then. What’s the point of living if the Red Army is already building up their forces at this time. They probably already know of my existence. It’s not like I can just barge in and kill their leade-
Future Edd suddenly stops in place, nearly letting the bags and can he was holding to hit the sidewalk. His already incredibly pale face seems to become nearly solid white, as what little color is left is drained out of it.
Edd stiffens, fearful that his future self might be gearing up to spontaneously attack some other ‘enemy’ of his that may be in the vicinity.
Just as quick as it happened, Future Edd’s sudden full-body paralysis goes away immediately, as he begins to almost maniacally laugh to himself, as he takes a hearty sip of the nearly emptied can of bacon cola. As he continues on walking, Edd now trails behind him, seemingly confused but still partially perturbed in his future self’s shift in demeanor.
As the two of them quickly pick up the pace against the alley in which Hellucard’s limp body is still lying deep within it, they finally manage to make it back home, just past noon.
Future Edd hasn’t stopped laughing to himself this entire time, so when Tom and Matt spot him from the living room sofa, they’re also immediately caught off guard.
Tom leans into Matt who was sitting beside him, as they just finished having a late breakfast.
“Is it me, or is he becoming more and more insane as the hours pass?”
“You tell me, I’m afraid that whatever Edd is doing is just making him worse.”
“You guys do know I’m right here, right? Also Matt we need to teach you how to whisper better.”, Edd says, as he stand right in front of the two of them, still with groceries in-hand.
“Hey! Also, um, did you get some milk? We ran out for the cereal.”
“Yes Matt, I did get some milk and even some BBQ sauce for your disgusting breakfast ribs, and yes you’re welcome.”
“Yay!”, Matt says, until he is swiftly swatted on the back of the head by Tom, who grows more and more annoyed by his friend’s constant daftness.
“Look Edd, if you’re gonna let your future self stay here, at least make sure he isn’t attacking or killing anyone, as I don’t think I want to deal with living with someone who is more insane than Tord, okay?”
“Hahhh hah funny that you say that……”
“…… he killed someone already on the way to the corner shop, didn’t he?”
“It was that wannabe stalker of mine, honestly I’m glad he did the dirty work for me. Plus I doubt there were any witnesses.”
“Damn Edd, are you just going to sic him on people who you hate?…… you know what, can I use him too?”
“Oh come on I didn’t even ASK him to do that, he just did it before I could even tell who it was. Honestly I’m pretty sure he was just looking for an excuse to maim someone, as I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s still so tense from being a former bounty. Hopefully he’ll work this out soon….. I really don’t want him to beat someone else to a bloody pulp just because he feels ‘scared’.”
“Yeah until he beats Eduardo up, I bet you would be soooo happy if he did that!”
“……… oh, fuck you Tom.” Edd replies, as a sneaky smile grows across his face.
He finally walks away from the duo to place the new groceries into their respective storages, as Future Edd is already leaning back in a kitchen chair, now gulping down an entire litre of lemon cola. Ringo is one again beside him, now napping underneath the table itself.
He tentatively watches Edd place all of the meat, bread, and other miscellaneous foodstuffs away, while seemingly still being so giddy with himself for no discernible reason.
As he begins to rub his belly, seemingly full for once, he starts to speak to his younger self.
“So uh, anymore plans for today? It’s not even one yet.”
“Well I’m actually kinda booked for today, as I have some commissions I need to finish up on. I should’ve finished them sooner, but I didn’t have the chance since, y’know……”
“I get it, I get it. Don’t use me as an excuse for your procrastination, okay? I’ll just stay in the living room and watch I dunno, Professor Why?”
“Don’t we hate that show?”
“Yeah but, now’s the time when it’s actually good, by my time the writing is absolutely atrocious.”
“Whatever, just don’t let Tom get into your head, and don’t try to strangle the life out of Matt again, will ya?”
Future Edd seemingly looks down on his hands, as he’s twiddling his thumbs.
“Sure. If they start to get under my skin, which they probably will, I’ll just go to my room and sleep for the rest of the day. I still feel so exhausted……”, he says while beginning to rub his deep-set eyes.
“Good. And uh, thanks for helping me with the groceries.”
As he says this, Edd goes behind his future self, and gives him a gentle pat on his left shoulder, as he takes a can of classic cola for himself, before retreating to his quarters.
For a moment, Future Edd can feel the blood rushing to his cheeks, as he buries his head into the collar of his worn-out coat.
Looks like he’s not THAT mad at me, for the meantime at least. Still, I keep having missteps….. I need to take it easy, but acclimating to this time is so hard already. I still feel like there’s eyes everywhere. Even though I now know the solution, I never saw Tord again until THAT day. Hopefully I’m still amongst the living by then.
As Future Edd finally makes his way into the living room, Tom and Matt are seemingly immediately repelled by him, gladly forking over the sofa and tv remote to him.
“We’re uh, we’re gonna go to uh see a movie since it’s still matinee prices!” Matt bluntly says, in a totally organic and not stilted manner.
“Okay? Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
Tom rolls his nonexistent eyes at the final remark from Future Edd, as they slam the entrance door on the way out.
It’s clear that they’re still afraid of him.
Once again, Future Edd is left somewhat alone. At least it isn’t as soul crushing as before, as he takes some solace in the fact that his past self is sketching and drawing away in his bedroom.
Still, there is now something new that’s nagging the back of his mind.
On the way over here, there were some signs for a weekend neighbor yard sale….. surely, this is not when Matt comes home with that so-called ‘antique’, right?
———————————————
As the night arrives, Tom and Matt finally arrive back from watching a double-movie matinee showing together, and they even brought some Chinese takeaway as well, much to the surprise of Edd and his future self.
However, it seemed like Future Edd is still somewhat weary of actual dining with all three of them together, no doubt thanks to the awkward tension due to that lunch from the previous day.
He takes the Chinese takeaway to his room, gladly shoveling down the egg roll and noodles that were put aside for him while sitting at the once used drafting table
Due to the location of Tord’s room, and also just the poorer quality of their home’s building materials, he can still fairly hear the conversations happening in the kitchen.
He manages to hear bits and pieces of their varied conversations, mostly about him of course, but their various upcoming plans. Tom wants to go check out a local dive bar that’s going to have some live ska concert. Matt’s going to be visiting his gram soon, alongside a ‘special friend’ as well, that none of them seem to be sure of who he’s talking about. Edd meanwhile is just busy at work on his newest animation, and is really jazzed about how it’s progressing.
Hearing them laugh beside him through the wall does fill Future Edd up with his own memories of hanging out with his timeline’s versions of Tom, Matt, and Tord. He really does long for those days again, dearly even.
He doesn’t finish his meal, and he retires to ‘his’ bed. The bed that still smells like that man he loathes the most. His former best friend.
The pain never really does subside.
