Hello again everyone! Here we are with the next chapter of A Virtual Switch. This is the longest chapter yet, and I hope it was worth the wait it took for me to write the whole thing. I had a bit of writer's block for a few days and ended up just staring at the previously written sentences just praying for some inspiration. Lucky it hit last night and I was able to crank this out.
Here we go!
Edd managed to keep his cool all the way up the stairs, but once he reached the safety of his bedroom he slumped against the closed door and hid his face in his hands. He just flirted with Kevin. Openly flirted with Kevin! What was wrong with him?! What made matters so much worse was Kevin seemed to be openly flirting with him right back! Sure, they were both bisexuals, so there was that small layer of awkwardness that was avoided since there was no guessing on who was straight and who wasn't, but still. They weren't in any position to be flirting with each other. It was too weird. Edd wasn't even Edd right now. Neither was Kevin. Edd couldn't think of a worse time to be shamelessly flirting.
It had just felt so good to tease his neighbor. Usually Kevin did the teasing and Edd just let it all roll off him. There was something about being in Kevin's body that was making him feel so confident that he could open up and say and do things he normally wouldn't dare do. What was it about muscles that made him feel so confident? He didn't have to fear getting punched in the face maybe? Well, Kevin could still punch him in the face. He would just also be punching himself in the face, and would have to deal with the consequences of that when they switched back.
Edd quickly put those thoughts from his mind. No one would be punching anyone. No one would be flirting with anyone.
At least, starting now.
He pushed off from the door and glanced around for Kevin's clothes. There was no way to get extras from Kevin's parents' house the night before so he was going to have to wear the outfit again. He wasn't a huge fan of the idea, but he also didn't have a choice. He'd borrowed a pair of his father's pajamas, but they didn't fit right. The legs were too long and the waistband was too tight. The shirt pinched a bit in the arms. Edd was disappointed that the clothes didn't fit better. He had been hoping to use his father's clothes for work today.
He tugged off the shirt and once again had to marvel at the outline of the muscles on Kevin's torso. Should he go to the gym with Kevin in the morning? The redhead would probably be really upset if he messed up his workout schedule. What if they were stuck like this for a long time? If Kevin's muscles started to get deteriorate from lack of use Edd was sure that Kevin would be really upset. If he had to pretend to be Kevin at work and at home, might as well pretend to be Kevin in all aspects.
Edd put the red T-shirt from the other day on. He wrinkled his nose at the less than laundry fresh smell coming from the fabric. It was a good thing he would be going to the redhead's house later get a change of clothes. This was awful. He pulled off the pajama pants and stared fixedly ahead of himself as he grabbed the boxer briefs and Kevin's jeans. Finally dressed, but flushing completely red he went to finish the rest of his morning before heading to work.
Kevin stood stock-still in the same spot that Edd had left him in a few minutes prior. What had all that been about? Had Edd been flirting with him? Did he flirt back?! Edd was always so reserved about anything even mildly suggestive. When did he get the balls to flirt with him like that? Why did I like it so much?!
He groaned into his hands and turned to clean up the kitchen. He was just going to have to ignore everything that had happened with Edd just then. There were far too many other things that were going on in his life right now to concern himself with Edd's sudden flirting. For starters, in just about an hour, Edd was going to go play "Kevin" at work for him and as far as he could tell, the dork was not going to pull it off. Edd was nothing like him. The second he opened his mouth they were going to be doomed. People would think he had some sort of weird stroke that gave him an encyclopedia brain.
Then after work Edd was going be going to his house and trying to fool his parents. If he was lucky, his dad would still be at work when Edd arrived, but sometimes the man was home early because of a meeting getting cut short or something like that. His mom would be home. She was always home in the evenings to get dinner ready and greet his dad when he got home. On weekends she had a book club that she went to with some of her friends, but she still tried to make it home in time for dinner. Even if they just ordered pizza.
He'd have to coach Edd through how to talk to him mom. She was not a woman to be messed with. She was half Scottish and half Irish. Any day that she got angry was the worst day of your life. Sometimes even the worst week if she was angry enough. Kevin was pretty sure that if she found out about what had happened to the two of them she would be on a warpath. How dare some self proclaimed genius college student put her baby in danger?
Kevin sighed again as he finished putting the dishes in the dishwasher. If this switch wasn't the death of him, his mother would be. He left the kitchen to go upstairs. He needed a shower and he had to figure out how Edd was going to get to work. As far as he knew, the dork didn't have a car. He always got rides from his friends or would take the bus. It was too late in the morning for Edd to catch a bus downtown and get to work on time. He'd need a ride.
With that in mind, Kevin jogged up the stairs to take a shower. Edd was standing in the doorway of the bathroom, doing one last check in the mirror. He was currently twisting Kevin's baseball cap back and forth watching as the long bangs that hung through the front moved around. He'd turned it to face forwards like it was "supposed" to be worn, only for the bangs to be forced straight into his eyes. He frowned, then turned it back around.
"What are you doing?" Kevin chuckled.
"Why do you have such long bangs when they fall in your face if you don't wear your hat like this?"
Kevin shrugged, "I dunno. Looks cool?" Edd gave him a skeptical look. Kevin just shrugged again, "How are you planning on getting to work by the way?"
"I was going to take your motorcycle."
Kevin quirked an eyebrow at him, "You ride?" No way was he going to trust his baby with the dork. The guy may have his body, but that doesn't mean he knows anything about motorcycles.
Edd smirked. Kevin recognized that smirk. It was the same "bad boy" look he'd give to the girls and guys he flirted with whenever he was about to impress them with some talent of his. His heart skipped a beat. Not good.
"Yes Kevin, I ride. A friend of mine in college is an avid motorcyclist, he taught me since it was the only vehicle that we had access to." He explained, smirk ever present on his face, "We needed to be able to switch who was DD when we went out."
Kevin was shocked and impressed to say the very least. What else was there that he didn't know about his dorky neighbor? "Huh. Never would've guessed." He tried to sound casual as he squeezed past Edd into the bathroom. "I'm going to shower."
Edd blushed as he nodded, guess it was time for Kevin to see him completely exposed. Though, he couldn't say for sure that he hadn't already done that. He had changed clothes twice and gone to the gym. He closed the door as he awkwardly went back to his room to wait for Kevin to finish. To his relief, sort of, it seemed that Kevin was an exceptionally fast bather and he wandered into Edd's room for clothes not ten minutes later. Soaked, black hair was dripping slowly down his shoulders and back. The usual pale skin was tinted pink, for the short duration of the shower the water must have been scalding.
The two regarded each other silently for a while. Simply taking in the strange new norm that they had to adapt to and what it meant for them both. Things could only get easier from here, right? Now all the awkward was out in the open and there was nothing to hide. They just had to be themselves.
And pretend to be the other…
"I didn't look." Kevin finally broke the silence. He wasn't meeting Edd's eyes as he spoke. They both flushed red in the quiet that followed.
"...T-thank you." Edd's voice was small and unsure. It seemed weird to thank someone for that, but it really did mean a lot to him. He didn't think Kevin could be so caring and considerate of someone else's feelings. Especially his. It was a pleasant surprise. Edd blushed again at the thought.
"Let's just get you to work. Then I can concentrate on my day of doing absolutely fucking nothing."
"Language!"
Moment ruined.
Kevin and Edd hurried across the street to the garage that held the redhead's motorcycle. Kevin needed to see that Edd could actually handle his baby before he let either of them take off out of sight. They entered the garage and Kevin pulled out his bike. The red paint glinted in the morning sun. Kevin smiled as he always did when he saw the way she glowed. His bike would always be his first real love. Nazz was his first girlfriend, but the love he felt for the motorcycle topped that of all his ex's. Maybe with one or two exceptions…
"Alright dork, hop on and let's see if you can get her started."
Edd rolled his eyes and he expertly swung a leg over the bike and turned the key in the ignition. It rumbled to life beneath him. A small smile skipped across his lips as he remembered all the days he had spent riding with his friend. He truly believed he would not be the person he was today if it wasn't for the man he had met early in his Sophomore year of college. The guy wouldn't let him stay cooped up in his dorm all day studying and researching heaven knows what. He made him explore, participate, react to life. Before him Eddward Vincent just existed, now he lived.
He gripped both handles and carefully revved the throttle as he released the clutch. As the gear caught, he added more speed and before Kevin could even be slightly impressed Edd took off down the street and out of the cul-de-sac. Kevin could hear the quiet roar of the engine in the distance. Slowly it faded to nothing, before it returned with full power and he saw Edd zoom past the entrance to the neighborhood. Edd turned around again and returned to the driveway of Kevin's house. He balanced the bike against his leg and cut the engine.
"Satisfied?" The bad boy smirk was back.
Kevin's heart leapt against his chest. Stop that! "Y-yeah, looks like you've got it, Dork. Now get going, it's a 15 minute drive and you need to be there in 20."
"Oh dear! You're correct! Quick, I need your helmet."
Kevin tossed it at him and was almost surprised when Edd caught it, but not really. The dork had surprised him too much recently.
Edd shoved the helmet on his head, before lifting the visor, "I'll see you this evening, Kevin. Please remember to try to stay out of sight."
"Yeah, yeah. Remember to not be so uptight all the time, Double Dweeb."
Edd huffed, pushed the visor down, and was gone.
When he arrived at the garage he wasn't sure where he was supposed to park. He slowed to a steady roll as he examine the parking lot in hopes of seeing something to guide him to employee parking. He was just starting to panic when a man in an oil stained jumpsuit ran out to greet him.
"Hey Kev! We have a lot of call aheads today, so you gotta park in the back. There should be a spot next to Adrian's bike."
Edd was halfway through raising his hand to move the visor to thank him, when he stopped. Kevin was a man of action, not words. He wouldn't say 'thank you' he'd do something else. So Edd flashed a grin he hoped the guy could see through the thick plastic protecting his face and gave a thumbs up before driving off.
So far so good. Now only 7 hours and 59 minutes to go.
Edd locked the bike up and turned to head inside. He paused before he rounded the corner to check his posture. Kevin slouched, just a little, and would usually walk with his hands in his pockets. Donning the appropriate pose, he continued into the shop.
He didn't run into anyone else as he went into the backroom to change into his own jumpsuit. Kevin's wasn't as dirty as the other man's, probably because it was newer, but there were grease marks near the cuffs and on the knees. Taking one more breath to center all of his courage, he left the room and went to join the group of men all gathered around to plan for the day.
"Sup Kev. How was your night?"
Edd thought quickly about how to describe his evening as Kevin would. "S'alright. You?"
Perfect.
"Boring as hell. The missus went out with that book club of hers and left me with nothing to do. There wasn't even a decent game on!" Edd glanced at the name stitched onto the right breast pocket. This was Adrian, the owner of the other motorcycle in the parking lot.
Edd gave what he hoped was a sympathetic looking 'bro nod', "Sucks man."
Dear lord this was difficult.
Adrian opened his mouth to reply when another man walked up to the group. His jumpsuit was pristine and stitched under his name, Cory, was the word 'Owner' in a loopy cursive. "Alright gents, we've got a full day today. So, listen up cause I don't have time for you bullshit." Edd tried not to flinch at the word, not sure it worked. Cory went into detail about what everyone would be doing today. Between balancing the appointments and dealing with the walk-ins they were looking at staying busy the whole day.
Edd understood most of what Cory was saying. They would be split into teams of two or three depending on the service needing to be done. Edd was relieved to be paired with Adrian. He'd already talked to the guy, and that was better in his mind than starting fresh with someone else. The two of them would be on call for walk-ins unless called to help one of the other teams.
Duties assigned, Edd sighed and followed Adrian to the first car that was being backed into the shop. He grabbed the packet with the maintenance details and looked it over quickly. Just an oil change, shouldn't be too bad.
"Grab the stuff, will ya?"
"Sure," Edd wandered off in search of the supplies they would need. The back wall of the garage had several shelves of oil pans, bottles of various car fluids, tires, and everything one would need to run an auto shop. Remembering what he had researched last night, he grabbed the appropriate items and returned to Adrian.
"So, what all did you do last night?" Adrian started the lift and glanced at Edd.
"Not much. Just chilled," Edd was trying to think of how verbose Kevin was with other people. He could be quite talkative if the subject was right, but he doubted the events of yesterday would be something Kevin would share, at least not all of the events of yesterday. "Hung out with my neighbor a bit." He hoped that was an adequate answer.
"The smart one?"
Edd paused for a second. Kevin talked about him at work? He didn't mention this when they went over everything last night. How much did they know about him?
"Yeah." Seemed a safe enough reply.
"He's working on that whatsit computer thing, right?"
"Uh...yeah." Kevin talked about his project! "Yeah, we tested out multiplayer mode last night. It was pretty cool."
"Cool, huh?" Adrian paused what he was doing, he gave Edd a strange side eye. The genius flinched slightly at the look. It was hinting at something. Why would this guy be giving him this look? Edd decided on something that he actually knew how to talk about.
"Yeah, it was cool. We did a maze, solved a riddle, then fought the boss." Edd hoped that would be enough for the look to go away.
Nope. Drat.
"And nothing else happened?" There was a teasing edge to Adrian's voice and he arched a brow.
Suddenly it all clicked. Kevin had said that the guys liked to make fun of his love life. They must think Kevin has a crush on him! Edd waved his arms back and forth in front of him, "No way man! There's nothing going on between me and Ke- umm… Edd."
"And why not?" Adrian seemed genuinely confused, "You haven't been seeing anyone since that one guy came in. You know, the one with the Camry, what was his name?"
Edd started to sweat a little. He didn't know the guys name. He didn't even know anything about a guy with a Camry. How would Kevin play off not remembering someone…
Edd shrugged and looked away.
"That's fucking harsh dude. You don't remember the guy's name?" Adrian was laughing now. Edd felt bad, he really did. He wanted to know this person's name so he didn't make Kevin seem like such a jerk, but he didn't get that information beforehand. Kevin was going to have to live with the consequences unfortunately.
"I...uhhh…" Edd honestly couldn't think of how to respond to that. Kevin wouldn't be that cruel. Right?
"Whatever, man. I ain't your keeper."
Edd remained silent. He wanted this conversation to change to anything else.
"Well," Adrian started to lower the car they had just finished with. "Why aren't you getting it on with this neighbor guy? Edd, or whatever?"
Not that.
Edd contemplated an answer as they pulled the next car into the space. Why hadn't he and Kevin done anything? Edd couldn't deny the physical attraction he had to his childhood tormentor. Personally, he didn't ever consider the possibility because he did not believe Kevin to be attracted to men. That could work.
"I don't think he'd like me, if you catch my drift." Edd's heart jumped a bit when Adrian looked his way. He seemed to be analyzing Edd, taking in every feature.
"You feeling alright?"
Edd froze. He was apparently doing a poor job of impersonating Kevin. He wasn't sure where he went wrong. Adrian seemed to have been buying the whole act, what gave him away? He had to do something that Kevin would do. He groaned internally at the thought.
"Yeah...I'm fan-fucking-tastic, I love getting the third degree from my coworkers." Edd cringed slightly as the words left his lips. "Makes my day."
Why did the redhead have to be so vulgar?
Adrian laughed long and loud at his response. The tension left Edd's shoulders. He pulled it off. For now.
"You're just too easy to rile up, man!"
Edd shook his head and went back to work. The rest of the day passed normally. Adrian either didn't notice anything else strange about Edd's actions as he pretended to be Kevin or didn't comment on them. The rest of the team was similar. Edd really couldn't believe just how much time the group of men spent telling Kevin how to handle aspects of his love life. They all wanted to know why he wasn't dating Edd or asking if he found various customers attractive as they came and went through the lobby. It was exhausting.
Edd was so relieved when the clock showed it was finally time for him to go home. He quickly changed out of his jumpsuit and jogged out to the parking lot where he'd left the bike. He revved the engine and took off for the cul-de-sac.
He'd never had a job before, at least outside of a small tutoring position that he had at the college library. That job was nothing like this one though. He set his own hours as a tutor and worked alone or one-on-one with whomever wandered into the study room. This job was highly social and busy. He wasn't sure how Kevin did it every day. He continued to contemplate the work day as he pulled into the driveway of Kevin's house.
Playing Kevin at work was just a warm-up. Now for the main event.
And there we have it! How do you think Kevin's parents will be with Edd? How will Edd be with them? Thoughts, feelings, concerns, cares, and questions are welcome!
Also, I have some exciting news for you guys. Well, I think it's exciting. I am currently writing another story during the time I have writer's block on this one. It's a Rev!Kevedd story, my first attempt at that universe. My plan with that one is to write the whole thing and then upload it in patches. Which is way different than how I do this one. I just upload as I finish the chapter for AVS.
I wanted to see if it changes the motivation I have for writing the story and if I get work done faster because I'm not thinking chapter to chapter, I am thinking beginning to end. We'll have to see how that turns out. Worse comes to worse, I'll upload what I've got and do the chapter system I already have in place. We'll see!
Ramblings over now. Leave a review if you would like to and I'll see you guys next time.
Thanks for reading!
Cthepolkadots
