In the tense silence that permeated the living room sounds from outside started becoming apparent. Specifically from their front door. Sounds of... an argument? As the conflict outside seemed to escalate and it became obvious that neither Matt nor Edd were planning to get up from their positions sitting at either side of Matthew, Tom grumbled and made to get up. However Thomas sighed quite suddenly and beat him to it, walking briskly towards the door.
He almost wrenched it off its hinges as he opened it, the tension in his body quite apparent. The scene on the other side of the doorway froze in its tracks, making for a rather comical sight. Eduardo's body was facing away from the door, apparently having been reaching for a cowering Mark over Jon's stiff body, stuck between the two caught in a game of cat and mouse.
Currently however, they were all staring at Thomas in something akin to guilty shock, momentarily stuck in their positions. The first to unfreeze was Eduardo who quick as a snake grabbed Mark's arm over Jon's shoulder, eliciting a yelp, and unceremoniously shoved him into the doorway until the blond was mere inches away from Thomas, who stared up at him raising an unimpressed eyebrow.
"Did you want something?" he drawled.
Mark cringed and turned slightly to slap Eduardo's hands away from his back with a mumbled insult. He then turned back to Thomas and his shoulders hunched, making him appear slightly smaller. His hands fiddled together as he seemed to gather himself.
"Uh, is fut-" he had to swallow another yelp as Jon dug his elbow into Mark's flank, "Uh, Matthew, is he... around?"
Thomas' eyebrows shot up to his hairline before settling back down into a doubtful frown. Still, he half turned and called into the house, "It's Mark."
There was a moment of since and then a familiar yet slightly deeper tenor called out, "Let him in?" as if seeking for approval, which it seemed to have gotten as Thomas nodded a moment later. He stood aside, opening the door fully so they could step in. Mark entered the house in the most hesitant manner any of the timeline natives had ever seen from him, throwing them a bit for a loop. After him followed a smiling Jon and a rather reluctant Eduardo, who was looking everywhere in the room but at Edward.
Mark stopped dead in his tracks once he caught sight of Matthew and coughed awkwardly into his fist, looking nervously to the side.
"I'm sorry." Matthew was the first to break the silence, looking straight into Mark's surprised eyes. "For scaring you. I'm not going to hurt you."
Mark sputtered,"Y-you didn't sc-" he cut himself off as he noticed the very unimpressed stares he was getting from virtually everyone but the elder redhead and sighed, "Yeah, okay. I'm... sorry too. I must've touched a sensitive topic so...yeah, sorry." he managed to get out, looking off to the side so he wouldn't have to look at the other man's face.
"Well, you apologized to the freak like you wanted to. Time to go." Eduardo declared, turning around and eliciting a mildly disappointed "Aww." from Jon.
"You sure you're not staying?" asked Edward in a slow drawl, lids lowered in apparent disinterested boredom but mouth set in a shit-eating grin. His only response was a middle finger as Eduardo walked just a bit faster back to the door. Edward snickered at the barely noticeable embarrassed redness dusting his cheeks.
Mark hesitated for a moment before he followed after his housemates, calling over his shoulder just before the door closed, "That eyeliner is still shitty, though!"
Matt blinked in the wake of the shut door, then scowled. "That prat! He has no taste!"
Matthew chuckled into his mug, taking a sip that sent soothing warmth sliding down his throat and into his belly. Ahh, he was so warm and so tired, honestly after all that excitement and the blessed break from the tension that Mark's short visitation had provided he could barely keep himself awake.
As muttered smatterings of conversation flowed in the air around him, he let himself sink into blissful unconsciousness. Interrogation successfully delayed, hopefully forever. The silly thought brought a small smile to his face as darkness overtook him.
Beside him, Matt finally noticed the older man wasn't quite with them anymore and clicked his tongue, taking the half empty mug from loose fingers and setting it back on the coffee table before it spilled its scalding contents over sensitive skin. His gaze met Edd's on the other side of the sofa, who offered him a conflicted smile and a nod. In unison they lifted Matthew, trying not to jostle him too much.
"He's fallen asleep on us, the sneaky bastard, so we'll take him to bed." Edd announced into the room at large as they shuffled out into the hallway, leaving behind a contemplative trio. Wordlessly, they brought him into Matt's room and after somehow navigating the messy mountains of paraphernalia laid him on the bed, closer to the wall.
Matt sat on the edge with a huff and Edd followed his example, if a bit slower, still looking at Matthew's sleeping form.
"Isn't it weird?" he asked quietly, not raising his gaze, "To sleep in the same bed every night?"
Matt hummed in thought. "Not... really? I'm not sure how to explain it, but he makes me feel..."
"...safe?" Edd murmured and Matt shot him a searching look before looking up at the ceiling.
"Kinda, yeah. I mean, he's literally me so I guess that'd be why. Though... he has this look on his face sometimes, when he thinks I'm not looking, like... like I'm the brightest thing he's ever seen. Like he's in pain but doesn't want to look away. It's a bit..." he gestured vaguely with his hand, searching for the right word. "...overwhelming? Staggering? I'm not sure..."
Edd raised an eyebrow, "You scared of self-admiration? What is the world coming to?"
Matt tittered, "Hmm, well I say he's literally me, but he's also... not really. He's more, different. And that kind of look from another person..." he smiled a bit sheepishly, scratching his cheek, "...I'm not used to that."
Edd seemed stunned at his sudden moment of sincerity, swallowing around the sudden lump in his throat.
"But then again," Matt continued, smile turning cat-like as his gaze slid over to Edd, "I'm not the only one, am I?"
Edd froze and almost managed to choke on air, cheeks stained pink, "I have no idea what you're talking about." he gritted out a levelly as he could.
It was Matt's turn to raise an eyebrow, grin widening, "Uh huh. Come on, Edd, you're not that oblivious."
"You're confusing me with someone. I'm so oblivious." Edd still refused to meet his gaze and Matt rolled his eyes.
"You're gonna have to acknowledge it at some point."
Edd slumped and buried his face in his hands, groaning out something intelligible. "Can't you just leave me in blissful self-imposed ignorance?" came the muffled demand, tone accusatory.
Matt looked down at the sleeping figure beside them, expression softening without him realizing, "...I don't want to see him hurt. I think I've gotten a bit protective."
Edd looked up from his hands then followed his gaze, mind falling back to faded green, battered leather and tired eyes. He found he could completely understand the sentiment. And, well... he didn't really want to see Matthew hurt either.
He moved to shift a strand of loose hair out of Matthew's eyes without really meaning to, but didn't stop the motion, fingers lingering on his temple for a moment as he took in the pale freckled face, prosthetics and all, with a hum of contemplation. Another hand joined his, threading through the man's soft hair. He peeked at Matt's thoughtful expression from the corner of his eye and removed his hand, leaning back to look, really look at the both of them.
They made for quite the peaceful image, Edd could almost picture it in his mind. Watercolours and pastel chalks, soft warm colours and the shine of a dying sun bathing the room in a reddish golden haze. He'd pay special attention to the freckles scattered on their faces and their light eyelashes, much too long and curled to be entirely natural, to Matt's hand tangled in Matthew's hair and his soft lips as they painted a slow, gentle smile-
Oh.
Oh boy.
Let's not.
Edd shrunk a bit into himself, ears burning as he dismissed Matt's questioning look. Still, he stayed where he was, basking in the peaceful warmth of the moment.
AN:
matthew, dear, you really gotta stop apologizing before the people who want to apologize to you get the chance to. also i was going to have them explain in this chapter, really! it turned shippy all on its own! (edd the artist is easier for me to write and relate to than edd the chaotic neutral catface boi, who woulda thought)
sooooooooo those who follow me on tumblr (holy hell guys!) might already know this? if you scroll up through the story on ao3 you might notice chapters 4, 10 and 13 contain three shiny new illustrations by yours truly, which is one of the reasons it took a few days to update.
i'd really appreciate it if you could leave a comment! either to the chapter or the pics, they keep me motivated! ^^ and come talk to me tumblr! same name as here.