TWs: Awkward, then tense at the end :)
"Edd, can you pass the salt?" Matt asked as he was trying to break the long silence.
"Sure." Edd passed it over, and the group fell into an uncomfortable stillness once more.
Matt was trying his best to get everyone to talk more, but it was clear to him no one was willing to do it.
Tord just wanted to leave. He was grateful that Edd was even serving him dinner in the first place, but he was getting tired of the daggering stares from Tom.
Edd felt the unease from everyone at the table but chose to ignore it. He was more intrigued by how Tord used his robot arm, although he would never say it aloud.
Tom was keeping his eyes on Tord, making sure he wasn't up to something.
Matt gave up on trying to get the others to talk, so he instead focused his attention on Tord, "When will I get to meet your roommates, Tord?"
Tord perked up, then shrugged, "They work every day, Matt."
"Can't you show up at their work?" The ginger quirked an eyebrow.
The Norsk opened, then closed, his mouth, thinking about it for a moment, "I hadn't thought of that."
"I forgot you mentioned having roommates," Edd asked, deciding to try and join the conversation.
"Ah- uh, yes. Two of them." Tord stuttered over his words, surprised that Edd joined the exchange, "I wouldn't call them the best pilots in the world, but they work good together than without."
"Where do they work?" Edd seemed genuinely interested, which made Tord relax a bit.
"Pau works at the arcade, and Pat works at the diner." Tord spoke, "I think they're both nearby."
"Ah, we go to those places all the time! Right, guys?" Matt forced a smile as he glanced more at Tom.
Edd let out a small agreement while Tom seemed uninterested in everything that was going on, opting to ignore everything around him instead.
Matt let out a huff, feeling a bit annoyed at Tom's effortless attempts at conversing.
After the awkward dinner sequence, Edd got out a few board and card games.
Matt nearly groaned when he saw Monopoly: but forced a smile anyway.
Edd hummed, "Uh, Tord, since you're, well, I wouldn't say new here, but how about you choose a game to play first?"
Tord's eyes widened, not expecting to decide first. He glanced around at the games, then at Matt, who gave him a side-eye.
He knew Monopoly wasn't Matt's strong suit, but it would be funny.
The Norsk gave a tiny smirk to Matt, who shook his head in dismay.
"Choisis Monopoly et je t'écorcherai vif." Matt muttered under his breath as he glared at him.
Tord only got a few words out of that, given Pat could also speak French. He also felt slightly nervous at Matt's threat as his eyes seemed to flash a red color.
Edd and Tom noticed the exchange as they glanced at each other. Edd only shrugged while Tom frowned. They had no idea what Matt said but knew it must've been a threat of some sort, given the way Matt's eyes flashed red, only doing so when he was annoyed or angry.
Tord chuckled lightly before looking at Edd, "How about Uno?"
"Sure, we haven't played that in a while." The brunette cleared the table as he grabbed the box of Uno cards.
Matt held back a grimace as he knew he would also be bad at this game, 'At least it's not Monopoly...'
The game night was going smoothly so far, Tom and Tord not arguing back and forth, instead choosing to silently glare daggers when they crossed each other's paths on the gaming field. Matt complained 'a few' times since he hadn't won a game yet.
After a match of Edd winning Mario Kart; and Matt complaining once again, Tord decided to help the ginger.
"Hey Matt," Tord piped up from where he sat on the floor.
"Hm?" The ginger hummed, not feeling like talking since his ego was six feet underneath.
"VSIV?"
Matt perked up at the name, then turned his head towards the light brunette, "Really?"
"If you still have the game." The Norsk smirked.
"You know I do." Matt grinned as he quickly got up and left the flat in a flash.
"Uh... VSIV?" Edd quirked an eyebrow, "Isn't that the vampire franchise you two raved about in high school?"
"Yep, it's a classic next to The Insane Zombie Pirates From Hell series." Then Tord's eyes widened, "Ooh, I haven't watched those movies in a long time..."
"Found it!" Matt exclaimed as he entered the flat again.
"That was fast," Tord noted. The ginger ignored his comment, putting the disk in the player instead.
Matt sat back on the couch, taking the controller in his animated hands.
After a few moments of starting the intro game sequence, they began to play.
Two minutes left of the round, and Matt was, unsurprisingly, in the lead. That was until he realized Tom was behind him by a couple of hundred points. For the first time playing this game, he was surprisingly good.
When Tom was ten points behind Matt, the ginger began panicking. He bit his lip in thought as he flicked the thumbstick repeatedly. That's when he remembered an old trick that someone taught him. It was mainly used to kill multiple vampires at once and gain double points. He wondered if it still worked.
He gave it a test, 'X, X, A, B, Left, Right, Left, Up.'
The surrounding vampires on his corner of the screen seemed to suddenly explode as the ginger gained all the XP from it.
'Stage Clear,' the TV said as the counter struck zero.
Everyone looked at Matt in shock, especially Tom.
"What was that?" The bassist questioned.
"What was what?" The ginger decided to play dumb.
Tom huffed, leaning back into the couch.
Tord chuckled as he looked at Matt's score. The Norsk had taught him that trick in case of emergencies. It was also the last time they played the game. The next day, Tord packed his bags to go 'home.'
He didn't give much of a warning of his departure, but he had to leave immediately.
A ringing sound came out of Tord's pocket, startling everybody at how loud it was.
"Holy kittens in a kiddy pool, why is your ringer that loud!?" Tom complained as he covered his ears.
Tord rolled his eyes, pulling it out to see Pat was calling him. Without thinking, he answered it with the others present, "What is it, Pat?"
"Where are you?" Pat sounded concerned.
The Norsk squinted his eyes, thinking for a second if he told Pat or Pau he was going to be at Edd's flat, then realized that he hadn't told them anything about his whereabouts.
"Tord?" Pat stressed.
"I forgot to tell you I would be at Edd's flat," Tord said.
"Edd?" He heard another voice in the background, then some movement as Pau's voice came through, "The same Edd we heard so much about?"
"Am I on speaker? What'd I say about being on speaker?"
"Sorry, Red..." They apologized.
Then Pau piped up, "So are you two alone, or...?"
Pat must've hit him cause he yelped in pain as soon as he spoke.
Tord straightened up, flushing, "Of course not!"
The other three in the room glanced at each other, wondering what the other person said to Tord to make him blush.
He heard Pat sigh, probably annoyed at Pau, "Okay, just be safe, and don't stay up too late tonight. You're practically turning into a zombie."
"Been there, done that." Tord smiled a bit.
"I'm serious, Tord."
"Jeg vet, jeg vet..." The Norsk rolled his eyes, "I'll leave in a bit."
"Okay," Pat muttered, "Bye, Tord."
"Bye, Dad." Tord smiled a bit as he quickly hung up.
"Dad?" Edd questioned, "I thought your dad was the general of the Red Army."
"Oh, that was my roommate, not my actual father. I don't think I've called my father 'dad,' anyway."
"You call your roommate 'dad'? Aren't you guys the same age?" Tom asked.
"Hah, no. Pat is five years older than me, and Pau is nine years older. I call them my dads' because they're the only thing I have to a family at this point."
There was a small 'oh' from Edd, making Tord turn towards him. The taller's face was concealed with a frown as he stared at the floor in front of him. His body language, however, contained all the anger he was suppressing; clenching and unclenching his fists, his chest was heaving, and he was becoming antsy.
'Faen.' Tord thought, "Uh, you guys were also my family at one point."
Edd only hummed, seemingly not calming down. Tom and Matt looked at each other, then slowly left the room, leaving the two alone.
The Norsk looked at the taller, "I- I didn't mean to say it like that."
"Then what did you mean?" Edd uttered quietly that Tord almost couldn't hear him.
Tord thought about it, hesitating.
"What did you mean to say, Tord?" Edd spoke clearly.
The light brunette stared at the other, opening his mouth to say something, only for nothing to come out.
Edd huffed, "Leave, Tord."
"Ah, but-!"
"Leave."
Tord frowned, turning to leave. He forced himself to not glance back as he left the flat with tears welling in his eyes.
✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧Translations✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
French =
Choisis Monopoly et je t'écorcherai vif - Choose Monopoly and I'll skin you alive
Norwegian =
Jeg vet - I know
Faen - Fuck/Damn
(Translations brought to you by Google Translate)