Edd lay in bed, contemplating the past week or so.

This had all been Edd's idea to begin with, and he stood by it.

That didn't mean he'd thought any further than 'let's not leave our future selves alone on the streets if they're going to be stuck in this time'. In truth, he had no idea what to do about those three. Their original intention had obviously been returning to their own time as soon as possible, but once that had proven less than possible it seemed Matthew and Edward had simply settled in.

This whole thing was supposed to be short-term, but Edd wondered if they shouldn't be making plans for long-term accommodations instead. The more days passed the less likely it seemed that Thomas would be able to reconstruct a time machine or find his army and by extension whoever invented the first one, and the more comfortable Matthew and Edward seemed to be with their situation.

He... wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that.

Thomas obviously wanted to go back, and was dealing with his failure to do so rather terribly. The man was aggressive and hostile, aloof at best, and aside from the few outbursts he'd had he didn't seem willing to really open up and become a part of the household. He seemed entirely devoted to getting back to Red Leader (a title that made Edd feel all sorts of complicated things he didn't care to examine right now) with Edward in tow as a prisoner.

And then of course there was the fact that Tom seemed to absolutely resent him. And that initially both he and Matt had seen their counterparts as a threat to Edd. There was something about Thomas that Tom disliked to an oddly fervent extreme, and that made Edd somewhat wary (he was very carefully not thinking about the easy show of violence upon Edward, he didn't want to consider the implications).

Thomas' state was... concerning. While Edd felt distantly proud of him for apparently staying sober for four whole years, he seemed to have replaced that particular addiction with a worryingly blind devotion to his leader and a drive to work himself as far into the ground as humanly possible. But ever since his collapse and following awakening he'd been... distant, detached, not entirely there. He'd kept on working and looking out for any signs of the possible existence of the Red Army, and he now took the occasional break and slept. But he hadn't spoken a word to anyone since shortly after having woken up and had locked himself in the room thereafter.

Edd hadn't seen him since.

Of course, him locking himself in meant that Edward got to sleep on the sofa and Matthew...

Well, Matthew was a whole other can of worms.

The divide between his friends' future selves and his own had been rather clear from the beginning, even before they found out the reason. However, after Edward and Matthew's little shouting match regarding culpability and both of their respective breakdowns, the ginger's stance had seemed to shift ever so slowly. The hostility and coldness had starting ebbing out, giving way for a more vain, upbeat personality that Edd was much more familiar with. He wasn't anywhere near Matt's level of energy, of course (and seemed to have a thousand and one insecurities piled up on what remained of his vanity), he was calmer, more focused and much more reserved. There were layers to him that Matt lacked and old parts of him that had faded to mere shades.

He also seemed to really like Matt.

A lot.

Edd... wasn't entirely sure what to think of that, same as he wasn't sure what to think of the fact that apparently he and Edward had been... well.

(He wasn't even going to get into that whole Eduardo issue. Nope nope nopitty nope.)

So he had listened in a bit through the door, sue him. He'd been worried.

Lately, though, Matthew seemed to be brightening and opening up, mostly thanks to Matt. His expressions were softer now, and warmer. He seemed to care a bit more for his appearance too. And having the two of them next to each other like that, the way it contrasted Matthew's new calm contentment and Matt's loving enthusiasm... Edd could maybe, possibly see what Edward had apparently seen in the man, men, that. Maybe. Possibly.

(He wasn't entirely oblivious to the glances he'd been getting from the older ginger, of course. He just wasn't quite ready to address them yet. Or acknowledge them. At all. Ever.)

And then of course there was Edward.

Edd didn't know if there was some sort of official intergalactic rule out there on how to act and feel about your own future self, but he sure as hell hadn't seen one yet. This made everything simultaneously easier and harder.

Edward was tired of life, of people, of everything. He wore bitterness and apathy like a second skin and seemed to take great pleasure in their inability to turn him in to the dictatorial regime he'd apparently been opposing for a decade or so.

And he was suicidal.

Too much of a coward to make himself eat lead, but too sick of everything to continue existing. So instead, sleep deprived and half mad, he'd stolen a time machine from a highly fortified Red Army base and tried to commit suicide by paradox. And failed.

And then, suddenly, he'd been offered an escape from the madness. A more permanent stay in a time that hadn't been fucked up beyond repair yet.

As much as he'd tried to be closed up, the house and its inhabitants seemed to bring out long buried things from within him, feelings and memories and thoughts. He'd become warmer, more content, more approachable. The past that haunted him so and weighed down on his shoulders seemed to lighten just the slightest bit with every interaction he'd had with the man.

And Edd... Edd was glad for him. He'd been apprehensive at the thought of his future self being abused and imprisoned by his own friends, it had felt so wrong as a mere concept. And while Edward wasn't the man he wanted to become in fifteen years, he was undeniably still a part of Edd in a way, and that made Edd feel... slightly protective. Being close to Edward gave him a strange sense of security, and he hoped that maybe offering up his home had at least given him a sense of safety and freedom to rest.

(And yet again he'd ignore the whole Eduardo affair because soooooo much nope.)

In the mere days they'd spent here they'd all changed, both their demeanor and their physical appearance (looking like a tough, rugged time traveler was all well and good but T-shirts and sweaters made everyone feel more comfortable with the arrangement). Edd thought to himself, if this situation was to become a permanent, that he wouldn't mind too much with the way things were progressing – or not progressing as it were, in the case of Thomas' work.

There was an uncertainty to all six of them right now, an ambiguity none of them knew how to clear up. There was baggage and talks and some things raised more questions than gave answers and it was all around a pretty unknown territory for all of them. But maybe it'd work out in the end.

Of course, ultimately, there was one person he'd been avoiding thinking about lately.

Red Leader.

Tord.

Tord who had left three years ago with no warning and they hadn't heard from him since.

Tord who would eventually raise an army to take over the world.

Tord who was somewhere out there, hidden away from Thomas' best attempts at finding him.

Tord who was currently the Schrödinger's Cat of morality and sanity to them.

Tord, whom Edd really, desperately needed to talk to.

After the many revelations of the past week or so, the name carried with it a new messy bundle of tangled emotions that Edd couldn't even begin to unravel. There was a sense of betrayal, a hint of anger and a taint of sorrow. But there was also fondness and affection and confusion and so, so much hope.

It all hinged on hope in the end.

He wasn't sure where he stood on their going back to their time, but he did wish that Thomas would eventually find Tord, sooner rather than later. Because then he was going to hunt his idiot communist friend down, he was going to find him, bring him back.

And then they were going to have a nice, long talk.

Edd refused to give up on this, no matter how accepting Matthew and Thomas were or how defeated Edward seemed.

He had a friend to bring back to his senses.

On that solemn note, Edd's mind went silent, drifting off to the land of dreams.

AN:

a little glimpse into edd's head. it was hard to pepper his thoughts throughout the story when most of the time i narrated him from an outside persepctive, so instead i just clutteredhis inner perspective into one chapter. a lil bit of introspection and inner development before more drama and revelations come crashing down upon us all.

my motivation feeds off comments and boy is it hungry! help the starving childre- er, muses!