A/N: Man, I suck at crossposting... Anyway! I wrote this last year for Eddy Appreciation Week on Tumblr. At the time I wrote this, it was my favorite of the fics I did that week. EddyMarie is a rare ship I dig and I'd like to take another stab at it some day- or at least do something with the two of them interacting. Their dynamic is pretty fun, if something of a train wreck. Enjoy!
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"Does she have to hover over here?" Eddy asked for about the tenth time.
"I'm making sure my designs get the respect they deserve– or as much as they can, on you," Marie snotted back. "You're the one who doesn't need to be over here yet."
"Both of you, please," said Double Dee without looking up from his work, "I'll be finished in just a moment if you'd only let me concentrate."
The two of them sneered at each other but didn't say anything else. Double Dee heaved a melodramatic sigh– but, then, maybe a drama production meeting was the place for it.
Beyond the three of them crowded into the corner Double Dee had chosen for his work, other members of the cast and crew bustled about with tasks of their own– rehearsing lines, carting props, painting backdrops. Onstage and backstage, the atmosphere buzzed with a busy sort of pleasantry.
Within the corner, things were rather more tense. Double Dee bent over his sewing machine, set up on a card table relinquished from the drama department's storage. Eddy and Marie leaned against either end of the table and glared at each other over his head. Based on their current pattern, it wouldn't be long before they started snarking at each other again.
In addition to their parts in the production itself, Marie had been set the task of costume design, Double Dee the task of bringing her designs to life. Following their appointments, Marie had made no secret of her glee at all the private time she anticipated them spending together. Eddy had been less vocal but no less demonstrative in his intent to see to it that didn't happen. The state of affairs in every meeting between them so far had been about the same– each of them all but attached to either of his hips.
Marie insisted that she should be part of every step in the creation of her costume designs. Eddy insisted that, as the lead, he needed to keep his finger on the pulse of his wardrobe. They both complained to the drama teacher if they felt they were being excluded, not that it was possible to exclude either of them; they both managed to turn up to meetings they should have had no knowledge of.
Double Dee sighed as he tried to complete his work on the last of the garments for the costume he was working on before the two of them could start up again. He appreciated Eddy's intervention, really– the prospect of working alone with Marie for extended periods had been a daunting one. The Kanker sisters had all dialed back their advances considerably through the years, and could even sometimes he found hanging around with any or all of the Eds in a downright friendly capacity, but Marie had always been the most intent and intense in her… affections. On the other hand, Eddy's diva tendencies and insistence on deliberately provoking Marie's temper hardly made the venture any more peaceful.
"Okay," Double Dee said a little more loudly than necessary when he saw Eddy open his mouth to start up on yet another round of the aforementioned provocation. He winced a little as he sat up, as much from the way the two of them continued to glower at each other as from the crick in his neck, and gathered all of the items together. "I've completed the initial work– we're ready for the first fitting."
"I'm sure it's perfect since it's your work," Marie cooed, leaning in a little too close for comfort and fluttering her eyelashes. When Eddy made an exaggerated gagging noise, she shot a glare at him and ground out, "Even though it'll be hard to tell on him."
"Pah, get ready to see how this little outfit of yours is supposed to look, Kanker," Eddy snipped back. He fairly yanked the offered pile of garments from Double Dee's hands, earning an outraged gasp from Marie. "This better be worth having to deal with her hands grubbing at my inseam, Double Dee."
Double Dee's patient reminder of, "I took your measurements, Eddy," was all but lost under Marie's indignant, "As if!" Eddy squared his shoulders and put his nose in the air, and it looked like another fight was about to break out before a shout from Rolf caught all their attention.
Across the stage, Rolf was gesturing wildly at one of the newly painted backdrops, babbling in a mixture of indignance and fear. Looking at where he pointed, it was soon apparent what the problem was– Ed and Jimmy had been working on a hilly landscape dotted with sheep. Most of it looked fine, but somewhere along the way, several of the sheep had come out rather distinctly mutated. Rolf was objecting, loudly, and Ed was quick to match Rolf's vehemence and volume in defense of his creations, arms spread at his sides like he was shielding them from the torrent of complaint.
The scene quickly drew a crowd, an interactive one at that– Kevin jumping in on Rolf's side, Nazz trying to get them both to calm down, May and Lee chanting, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" Jonny, at least, was only laughing at the spectacle and Jimmy was standing back looking between the mutant sheep and the argument with embarrassment; he'd been meant to keep Ed's imagination from running away with him. Sarah could be seen rushing over from the props she'd been working on.
"Oh, dear," Double Dee said. "Eddy, please try on that costume– Marie, stand by in case your assistance is needed. I better go over there and try to–"
Sarah already had Rolf in a headlock, shouting, "Leave my stupid brother alone, cow pie!"
Lee and May threw themselves into their chanting with renewed earnest, now joined by Jonny and, due to Sarah's involvement, Jimmy. Kevin was yelling, Ed was near tears and Nazz was still trying to calm everyone down. With a distressed whine, Double Dee hurried over to try to assist her. Sarah was still holding Rolf but yelling at Ed by the time he reached them, throwing more confusion on the matter.
Eddy and Marie exchanged glances, then sneers. They'd both prefer to go and get themselves involved in the drama and both of them knew it.
"Go on over, since we both know you want to," Eddy mocked as he sauntered behind a nearby screen to change. "I've actually got something to do– and I don't need any of your help, thanks."
Marie scoffed and said, "Like any of you ever looked better than when we dressed you." Still, she couldn't help looking with longing over at her sisters hollering amidst the commotion and at Double Dee trying in vain to stop it. She wanted to go over there all right, especially since there was no real reason for her to stay; if any of the costume pieces didn't fit or had some flaw, it would be Double Dee who fixed it, not her. On the other hand, she wasn't about to ignore her instruction to stand by while Eddy was following through on the instruction to go ahead with the fitting.
"Well, okay!" Eddy said suddenly from behind the screen, his tone one of reluctant admiration. "I'll give ya this one, Kanker, this ain't a bad getup."
"You never even looked at the design?" she asked, peeved.
"What for? I'm not the one who's making the thing," he said, stepping with much aplomb from behind the screen in full costume, "I'm just the one who's making it look good."
Marie opened her mouth with the intention to retort, but ended up with her jaw hanging. She had been proud of the design on paper, but to see it like this– she had no words. None she was about to say out loud, anyway. True to her praise of Double Dee's skill, every piece fit Eddy perfectly– close-cut dress slacks and shirt (the latter of which Eddy had taken the liberty of leaving open to the third button, sleeves rolled to his elbows) vest hanging open and tie loose around his neck. The costume looked good– and it was ridiculous how good Eddy looked in it.
"What, nothing to say?" Eddy asked, preening. "This is the design you were so in our ears about seeing." He left no question in his tone or his expression of whether he'd seen her gap-jawed reaction for exactly what it was. She was still trying to splutter out a response when he turned his back and draped himself against the screen, feet shoulder-width and hips pushed back in an exaggerated pose. He gave his butt a wiggle and suggested, voice husky, "Or maybe you just needed a better look?"
This time, it's was Marie's screech that brought a fight to a grinding halt from across the stage. Double Dee started running the second he heard it, but he was too late to save his sewing machine or the back of Eddy's head.