Idk how I got into this type of naming theme for the chapter titles, but it is what it what it is.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Great Pretender. It belongs to Hiro Kaburagi, Netflix, and any other of their partnered companies.
It was really rare for Abigail to have a good night's sleep. There were only a handful of places when she can, with Cynthia's Villa being one of them. With her having various arrangements & measures of keeping the island self-sustainable it was a haven for their crew when they were between jobs, so Abigail had no need to worry.
So, when she woke up with Edamura in his arms the other day, she had to stop from snapping his neck out of reflex. As she sat up, the details of the night before came to her a little blurry, but the memories clear enough for her to not immediately kick him out of her room. They talked about literally nothing, the vibe was actually pleasant when he stopped whining about Laurant and talked about stuff that was like his past schemes and nostalgic childhood. It almost made her wonder what it would be like if she met him before the attack.
Looking back on how they met she vaguely remember either Laurent or Cynthia giving her a rundown at the beginning of the job. She assumed Edamura wouldn't last so she didn't bother listening when he blundered through things half of the time. As she looked down at him now to see the way he curled up as she shifted away and it kind of reminded her of a cat. In such a vulnerable state, he seemed as soft as she thought at first, but not as pathetic though. The only thing that left her confused was the mark she saw on his neck, or at least until she noted how her own lips felt swollen.
'Damn thumb sucking!' Abigail thought to herself as she slipped out the room (*1).
Since their encounter that morning, it seemed like Edamura did everything he could to avoid her. And honestly, she wasn't that opposed about it. Half the time she's seen him, she found him annoying like Laurent, but unlike him Edamura was too hesitant. That kind of thing would get him killed one day and the last thing she wanted was to be dragged down with him when it happened. But times like the night before or the look on his face when they landed in Marina Bay. Those times weren't so bad.
As peaceful as it was having Edamura avoid her, there was one downside… she's missing out on the damn food. With Cynthia's Island being self-sustainable, most of the food was frozen or canned since no one cared about cooking anything. Or until Edamura decided to try cooking instead of conning and asked for Cynthia to let him use her kitchen and grocer in exchange for making her meals. Every time Abigail found them in the kitchen, Edamura would scurry off with his food while Cynthia would continue eating like it was nothing. At first, she didn't believe anything the wimp made would be edible, but after trying some of Cynthia's meals she wished she had some too.
But it seemed like such a simple thing would be impossible. Whenever she tried to ask Cynthia to ask for an extra serving, she would conveniently forget to ask. And when she tried to catch Edamura to ask for herself, he would make a bullshit excuse and make a break for it… even if it meant the food not being finished on time. After of couple of times, Abigail would have thought 'Screw it. It's not worth it.'. But Cynthia pointed out something, "You know you can't keep avoiding him, right?", she said as she was eating Crab Bisque. (*2)
"I'm not avoiding him. He's the one being the coward and running off if we so much as a few yards from each other" I said while taking some of the bread he baked and eating it with the bisque's pot liquor (*3)
"Either way. Whatever is going on between you wo needs to be settled before both of you have another job."
"You really think he'll take another job?"
"Of course not, but as you know if Laurent wants him…"
"… He'll find a way to get him. Yeah whatever. I can't keep him from running away unless I knock him out and tie him up."
"Why don't you?"
"Huh?"
"I mean you tried the easy way. And so long as you clear the air, the hard way is not a bad idea."
Abigail sat there for a minute as she leaned back in her seat before shrugging. "Why the hell not."
(a few hours later)
As Edamura came to, his first thought is that the feeling of being knocked out was starting to become nostalgic… and that's messed up.
His second thought was to take in his surroundings. He was laying on something soft, like a bed or cot. And to his relieved, he was able to recognize the interior design of Cynthia's Villa as he looked up through his blurry vision. As he looked around, he actually found the room familiar and even more so when he saw a familiar tanned skin woman sitting across from him… Wait… Tanned woman?
He almost twisted his ankle as Edamura jolted up right to see Abigail sitting between him and the door. Not only that but one of his feet was tied to the leg of her bed. When he reached out to untie himself, he could it was in a strange knot. She had him stuck in her room… And he was screwed.
With all the commotion he made, Abigail looked up from her phone and put it away before scooting her chair up.
"Usually, I wouldn't care about any piss-ants trying to avoid me." Abigail started, "But you are starting to get on my damn nerves."
"But how could I when-"
"Shut it!" Abigail glared at before heaving a sigh. "About the thing with the hickey..." She started while a blush started to form. "I guess it's easier to show you than tell you."
She reach around the back of her chair and for a brief moment Edamura was scared that it was she was getting some like a paddle or belt. From behind her back, Abigail placed the mysterious object on her lap. It was the bunny plush from before. But now seeing it in proper lighting, he could see that the bunny had oddly shaped ears. I appeared to be made out of some kind of rubber.
"That isn't what I think it is, right?" Edamura said while blushing and looking away. "Cuz, I don't think you should have that kind of thing just lying around. I mean how put this in-"
"It's not that kind of toy, dumbass! It's a teething toy."
"How is this related to the hickey? Do you like bite on it like you did to me?"
"Sort of. Sometimes when I'm having a dream about my past, I wake up to sucking my thumb. It's a stupid habit but there's not much I can do about it. But if the dream is really back, I sometimes bite my thumb so hard that I bleed. After a couple times where Cynthia saw my bandaged thumb, I fessed up and she gave me this."
Abigail push turned one of the ears and it popped off.
"These can be replaced in case I actually bit through one of them."
She attach the ear back on and tossed it to him. Edamura looking at it again closer and despite being too big for a baby, the plush bunny did look like a teething toy. The plush part was firm but soft to the touch and when he spotted a zipper in the back and unzipped it there was a pocket for a hot compress. Too afraid to touch the ears, he shook the plush to see the ears were wobblier than when he thought it was a different kind of toy.
"So, I was basically this bunny? Does that make you the playboy?"
"Go to hell." She said as she snatched her plush back but without the usual edge. "Just thought you deserved an explanation for the whole hickey thing."
"No, it's my bad too. You tried to play it off and I acted weird about it."
Despite everything being said and done, they stood an awkward silence for a minute.
"Your food was alright."
"I tried it?"
"Just some it. There were a few that tasted bland."
"What?! Which ones?"
"For starters, your Saleeg (*4) was dry as sandpaper and your Daheen (*5) tasted more like shitty bread than anything."
"Hey! That was from my early stuff!" Edamura signed as he crossed his arms. "Well, I guess I have to get you to try some of my other stuff before I go. I'm sure there's other hard-asses that would complain about my food if I don't improve."
"Whatever you spineless virgin."
"Stop calling me a virgin!"
[BLOOPER]
"Stop calling me a virgin!"
"Why don't you prove that you're not one then?" She said after untying him from the bed.
"Wait! What?"
"What?" She somewhat tickled his ankle before standing up and walking out the room.
She rounded the corner with a glance Edamame never seen before, or at least from her. Thinking about the leap of faith that earned him a smile, he dashed out the room after her to see what would happen with another leap of faith.
(*1) Usually babies suck their thumbs as a reflex of helping them feel secure. Older kids & adults may continue do this if they have stress/anxiety/trauma. Since Abby had panic attacks in Case 2, I have a theory that she would this copping mechanism the night after an attack otherwise she can't sleep. Even after the Case, I would imagine there would still be some lingering trauma. But since we don't get to see that, I wanted to try my hand at it.
(*2) Types of French Soups = most-popular-soups-in-france
(*3) With "Pot Liquor", I mean the built up and cooked over liquid left behind in a pot. My grandma used to scrap off the pot liquor from inside of her soup pots & used it as a bouillon or broth starter.
Types of Foods in
• (*4) = saudi-arabia/map
• (*5) = iraq/map
And there's a more of a conclusion from the last chapter. That's it for now! I still have a couple of ideas, but they're still in the development stage. So, I may come back with another bit, but again no promises.
Let me know what you guys think with a comment. Constructive criticism is accepted, but no flames please. And don't be too shy to check out some of my other stories.
