Some may say that it was illogical, but for Ed, making a macaroni dragon with various arts-n-crafts supplies with the local grocery shopkeeper made complete sense.
"So, for the eyes then, I have some rainbow macaroni that we can use. It's the wheel kind," the shopkeeper said as he glued the final portion to dragon's wings.
"Uh huh, but then we're going to need some of that aluminum foil to make sure that he looks all scaly and stuff. The macaroni isn't really cutting it for me," Ed commented as he made quick work with this masterpiece.
"Right-o, kiddo," and the shopkeeper agreed and walked off stage left.
He liked this guy. That being said, there aren't a lot of people that Ed doesn't like, but the same can be said of the opposite. He really doesn't like dealing with the specifics, so all he cared about was that at this moment he liked this guy.
When Ed came into the store, all he really wanted to do was to bug Max to doing the morning patrol tomorrow because there was no way that he was going to do it for the third day in a row even if that made tic-tac-toe. He had a new high score to beat, and there was no way he was going to let Isabel take it from him.
But then he came in, and this guy came up saying he sensed great artistic powers flowing through him, which he did, and now they were here making some kind of dragon out of various shaped pasta.
All in all, it was a pretty good trade off.
"So here's the goods. Though don't tell Max about this. He'll probably get jealous that we're doing this without him," the guy said handing him the rainbow wheel macaroni with the aluminum foil.
"Great. Just a few more touches, and we're done. Where's Max anyways?" Ed asked as he began wrapping the dragon in the silver material. He was right, this would be perfect for forming the dragon.
"Eh, I think he's out with a girl named Suzy or someone by that name or something. Seemed pretty forced get-together, but as a father, I respect my son into making good choices in his relationships and know that if he ever needs me, I am the father figure I was born to be," the father answered. Ed nodded, not really caring about what was being said. Somewhere in the middle, the shopkeeper had went into a long winded story about how much he was glad that Max could act as a responsible child in his absence, but Ed just continued thinking on his mission. If that was the case and Max was going to be away for a while, then it looks like he was going to be here for a little longer. He paused in his wrapping and brought out his phone. Better to call Isabel now before things got hairy back at home.
"Hey Isabel, it's me, Ed."
"Yes. Yes. No. Max's place. Uh, I don't know. Like 7? Okay. Okay." Ed said in response to all of Isabel's questions. It was something he had gotten used to. Ed had no doubt that Isabel would be coming any moment now, ready to take on anything, because that's what a main character is supposed to do.
"I hope you don't mind more company Mr. Max's dad," Ed warned as he resumed his wrapping. Max's dad, who was at the time just pasting on the red macaroni for the eyes, paused.
"Is it that Isabel girl that Max hangs around with?" he asked.
"Yup. The plot needs someone to move things around," Ed concluded.
The two of them worked in silence for a bit more, but then Max's dad paused in his work.
"Why don't you be the main character for once?" he asked.
Ed paused in his masterpiece and thought about what was just said to him. He had always thought about that and he would be lying if he didn't think about it a couple of times. However, the though passed by and he just smiled.
"Yeah right. Don't you know? Authors have to put strong characters like me to the side or else there will be no story," Ed answered. He didn't mention that those characters often end up dead or worse, but he decided he didn't need to worry about that. He had people like Isabel to back him up if needed.
Max's dad laughed. "I like your moxy kid."
"Dad! Do I hear you using lingo no one from this century even knows about?" Max said from the store's front entrance. Ed frowned. For the entire time, Max hadn't notice that they were making a giant sculpture out of macaroni? The kid needed either a few pairs of glasses, or he was far too used to his dad's madness than even Ed was.
He heard the door closing, and Ed grinned. Despite Max's horrible hearing, he was just in time for the grand unveiling of his masterpiece.
"Is that going to be dinner?" Max asked and then noticing Ed was beside the dragon.
Ed didn't even see the kid rush up towards him when he finally realized that they were in the corner of the store. The shopkeeper was somewhere behind the counter counting up the total amount of money Ed owed for the three candy bars he bought during his works.
"Are you here about… ghost things?" Max inquired.
Ed smiled a toothy grin and was about to psych the kid up when he heard someone else coming through the door.
"Ed! Are you here?" A pause before he heard Isabel sigh, "Of course you are. Who else would build something like that here before dinner?" Turning around forty-five degrees, she saw the two boys huddled in the corner looking very conspicuous about something.
With a smile, Isabel came over and crouched with them. "So, what's the plan?" she asked, itching for a fight after losing in front of her grandfather moments before.
As Max tried to persuade Isabel that there really was no fight to be held (until a spirit actually did possess the macaroni masterpiece), Ed sat back and listened. While the main characters struggled, he was happy to know that when the plot got to thick, he'll be there to come from the sidelines and fix everything else that was happening in the backgrounds.
It was a tough life being overpowered like this, but it was a life he would not regret.
"What's this about postage things? Are you getting into stamps my son?"
A/N: Ed is a great kid. I always love when he comes in, and I hope to see him in a really great art. That boy is stinking of importance.