AN: So yeah, I got back into Eddsworld, shocker. This'll be a rewrite of my old story I deleted awhile ago, because it had a lot of plot holes but I love Tord's character.

A/N 2: Fanfiction is weird on mobile I swear- I'm literally being forced to write this chapter on docs because of a strange glitch with the keyboard and it only happens on FF. It's the weirdest and most annoying thing ever.

A/N 3: As briefly mentioned in the description, there are 2 ships in this story. Specifically (respectful) Paultryck and a poly, EddTomTord. You are free to see it as a redemption-friend story however, as I will do my best to put disclaimers when the ships are very present, so you are aware and able to decipher it differently as you please. I understand some will not like the ships I like hence I'm going to try really hard with the disclaimer, but please understand my memory is, well, shit. So is motivation. I may completely forget, so if it happens a friendly reminder is all that is needed, tysm!!!


Rain pelted the streets in long, thick sheets, washing away any and everything that dared to step foot in the wake of the storm. Any and everything, except one lone person, hands shoved into a near black hoodie, soaked to the core. Void-black eyes blending into the shadow of the hood pulled over a similarly damp bed of caramel hair, fast walking towards a row of apartments standing tall in the thick onslaught. What had once been an evening errand to the corner store had flipped itself over into an unwanted and onesided water fight with God himself, who was winning by a landslide. The sound drowned out anything the man could hear, and all he could think about was getting somewhere out of the rain for a while, since his house was still a good 20 minute walk away.

He ducked towards a narrow street, not quite an alley but small enough the roofing for the houses provided modest shelter on the sidewalks. He dropped his grocery bag next to him, taking a minute to breathe as he slid one of his arms into his hoodie so he could ring the water out of the sleeve, repeating this with his other while looking around, cursing. He didn't notice his company until he leaned against the side of the building he stood next to, properly eyeing the street. With how dull it looked, it was hard to gloss over the damp yellow of a figure doing the same thing he was doing, only they were looking further down the street. Both stood on opposite sides of the street, although they weren't aligned. The man narrowed his eyes in curiosity, trying to take in any details. He'd understand if they appeared to have been doing what he had been, but the person didn't seem to have a bag with them. He figured it was another guy by the sopping wet short hair they sported, but it wasn't until they turned their head he could confirm.

The person had a contrast in the rain, his hair indefinitely darker than it probably was normally, and with how soaked it was it sat near his shoulders. His yellow turtleneck was soaked from the shoulders halfway down his torso, and he was furiously typing on his cell phone while aggressively checking both ends of the street. It didn't seem the guy noticed him, judging by the fact he glossed over but didn't stick in his direction. The perks of a gloomy blue hoodie, huh? His curiosity got the better of him, grabbing his bag before calling out.

"Hey!!" The person on the other side didn't seem to hear him, so he tried again.

"HEY!" This time he heard, the man's head swiveling in shock and surprise, eyes darting frantically until they landed on him. Probably helped that he was violently waving his arm. He took a look to make sure no one came barreling through the street with a vehicle before booking it out into the rain, using his arm to shield his face from getting pelted more than it already had been that day. When he reached the other side he hastily shook his arm off as he jogged over to the other person, who seemed antsy but just as confused as him.

"What are you doing out in the rain?? I'd get it if you had, I dunno, a bag like me, but only crazy people go out in this if they have no goal," He shouted, trying to be heard over the onslaught. The man peered at him before shaking his head.

"A friend of mine ran out in this after an argument and I was trying to find him before he got sick," The man called back. He could hear the accent the other bore now, a smooth Polish accent laced with worry and exasperation.

"What's he look like? Besides sprinting to my own place I don't have anything I need to do, may as well get two people home sooner as well," He shrugged, noticing the person staring at him. He gave the other a tiny glare, but he probably didn't notice, instead he shook his head before offering a soaked hand.

"Er, name's Patryck, but Pat works," He stated, obviously curious about the others' eyes, but opting not to question.

"Tom, no need to be formal," He replied, taking Pat's hand and gingerly shaking it.

"Who's your friend and what do they look like?" He inquired.

"Tall, about 6'4, brown hair like mine only short and shaggy, has the beginnings of a beard, has bandages around his right eye. He was wearing a pink t-shirt over top of a black long sleeve, so just look for vibrant pink colors I'd guess. Gah, do cholery Paul, głupek," He muttered, getting a raised brow from Tom. He noticed before waving his hand sheepishly.

"S-sorry, it's a habit when I'm stressed, y'know, bilingualism.. and that.." Tom shrugged at this.

"I've met my fair share of bilingual people that revert to native languages when stressed, I guess it's just built in habit to what you knew first, it's nothing to apologize for," He grumbled, thinking back on… nevermind. Pat nodded meekly before fishing out his phone hastily, grumbling as he tried to wipe his hand off on his jeans as he fumbled.

"I'll give you my number so either of us can say if we found him. That way if I find him I can call it off for you, and if you find him we can set up a meeting point so we can all be on our way," Pat explained. Tom grumbled. He hated giving strangers his number, but… in a storm like this shouting out names all day wasn't going to cut it. He grabbed his own phone out of his pocket and swiftly exchanged numbers with Patryck before looking around.

"Got a clue where he'd have gone? How long has it been? I know the city so I could give you a general estimate of where we could look. In this he probably isn't getting far anyways," Tom inquired.

"Ah, well.. we only recently came here, we're living in the…" He squinted at his phone. "Maiden's Keep Motel. It's… a 20 minute walk from here… in that direction," He pointed behind himself, which was where Tom had originally come from.

"He's been out here for about 40 minutes, but I chased after him 5 minutes after he left since that's when I checked the weather forecast. Was hoping I could drag him back before it rained but.. yeah it didn't go well…" Tom knew the feeling, offering a reassuring smile before checking Pat's phone. He had google maps up which was perfect.

"Scroll out a bit," He directed, Pat doing so as Tom tried to map different pathings.

"Hrm.. if you got out this far before having to stop he shouldn't be too far away. I'll check the park and the neighborhood around it, you can check the commercial sector," He stated, pointing at the area he meant. Patryck took a long look at the section before nodding.

"Got it, I'll text you if I come up dry or not, thanks!" He waved hastily at Tom before taking off down the street, throwing his free arm over his head while he took off. Tom watched him leave before scowling.

When the fuck did I become the community helper? He thought as he turned around, bag secured in his grasp as he started towards the park. Hell, he was wet enough as is, what's standing in an open field gonna do?


By the time he finished looking through the park he felt almost numb. A few times he even forgot he was wet until he wiped his forehead with his sleeve, making him jump from the sopping waterfall that cascaded down his face in the brief moments it could escape from the woven fibers. When he got to the streets around the park they looked as deserted as the last few blocks he'd walked down, but he opted he'd rather get it over with so he could hear Edd's scolding sooner and thus get to bed faster. Walking along the sidewalks he peered around every corner, straining his eyes through the thick sheets of water for signs of the color pink. It took him a total of 15 minutes before he gave up on the street, grumbling to himself as he started pulling his phone out.

Just as he was about to open up the fresh texts with Pat, he heard muffled chatter from the alley next to him. He looked up, squinting into the darkness as he walked over, noticing how open to the rain it was. The only possibly sheltered part of the alley was the thin window ridge above a corner with a few soggy boxes.. and the source of the noise Tom was investigating. The boxes were knocked over haphazardly as a rather rough looking man was using a piece of a box to hold over his head as a makeshift umbrella. He looked worse for wear, somehow even more soaked than Tom was, to the point the color was drained from his face. soggy disintegrating bandages lay strewn on the concrete while the man was rubbing his right eye, which had a gash over it that made even Tom wince. The man was muttering, but he couldn't tell what was being said. If it weren't for the depressed pink t-shirt the man sported Tom would have probably left him there despite his condition.

Probably who I'm looking for, but God he looks like shit, Tom thought before walking over. The other didn't notice yet, but now that Tom was closer he could see 'I'm Dutch, but I'm the opposite of an oven,' in bold blue text on the front of the T-shirt, and he could get an idea of what the other was saying.

"Ik ben zo'n verdomde idioot, ik zweer dat Pat me gaat wurgen als ik hem weer zie... het was ook zo'n stom argument…" The man muttered, drumming the tips of his fingers on his knee as he glared at the ground. Tom had… utterly no clue what he said whatsoever, but decided to make himself known by standing in front of the man, leaning over a bit.

"Yo," He blinked at the other before mentally facepalming.

Of everything to say first, fucking dumb, He internally hissed. He wasn't expecting, however, the other man's head to snap upwards, pure black eyes meeting pale and cloudy purple eyes adorned with shock and surprise, before the man nearly threw the floppy cardboard he held at Tom with a yelp. The man scrambled up onto his feet, alarm and bewilderment present. Tom was about to say something before the man got up, pausing as he had to strain his neck to meet the others' eyes.

Jesus… definitely tall..

"I uh… I assume you know a guy named Patryck?" He started, giving the other a quizzical expression. The caution and confusion on the others' face melted to something a bit softer, although He was still rather uneasy and uncertain.

"Ja.. wie zijn-" The man paused, looking to the side before clearing his throat.

"Who are you..?" The rough texture of the Dutch accent caught Tom by surprise.

"Uh.. honestly? Some guy who crossed paths with him. He asked me to help find, I quote from the information he gave me; 'A 6'4 man with short brown hair and a pink t-shirt.' You're the only person… in general out here, no less sporting a very bright pink t-shirt, so unless you want to reveal you're a chick on stilts trying out some new waterproof graffiti out here I'm going to assume you are the guy I'm helping find." The man stared at him for a moment, before snorting at the comment.

"I uh, I don't think I'm… any of that… er, Paul. Name's Paul, and yeah, I'd be the idiot that ran off on Pat in a huff over something stupid.. sorry you had to get caught up in my stupidity…" He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Tom wanted to make a snarky remark but simply shrugged.

"Eh, my roommate would have lectured me anyways, so I don't give a shit," Paul tilted his head before shrugging himself.

"Well, uh… alright I guess.. I still feel stupid about this, dragging a stranger out into my dumb antics," He sighed, crossing his arms as he looked at the ground. Tom couldn't help but stare at Paul's eyes. He'd never seen someone with purple eyes before, it'd caught him off guard before. The scar across his right eye looked extremely painful though, considering it was deep enough that the eye itself had scarred as well, obstructing the pupil and making it basically a fogged pool of white and purple. It looked really strange, but intriguing. He wouldn't pry though, especially since he didn't know the guy, as well since he was giving Tom the same respect.

"I'll let your friend know I found you then, give me a minute.." He reopened his phone to punch out a text to Patryck, squinting as he tried to shield his phone with his body so the screen didn't get utterly soaked.

Tom: Hey, found your friend

He waited for a bit, turning to look back at Paul. He was currently scuffing the wet concrete with his shoe, glaring with his hands in his pockets as he continued muttering in what Tom could only guess was Dutch with the others' accent. He turned back to his phone to notice Pat had responded, a lot quicker than he'd thought.

Patryck: Oh thank god, he's ok right??

Tom: Yeah, just more soaked than either of us.

Patryck: As long as he isn't injured, where am I meeting you both?

Tom: I can bring him half of the way back to your motel, there's a gas station on the way so we can meet there.

Patryck: Perfect, I'll see the both of you soon then.

Tom put his phone back in his pocket before turning back to Paul.

"We're meeting your friend by the gas station near that motel you two are staying at," Paul snapped his head to look at Tom, before his shoulders relaxed.

"Alright, I'll let you lead the way then,"


"Och, dzięki bogom, Paul! Co ty, kurwa, myślałeś?!" Patryck rushed over to the two men, not caring about the rain on his way over as he grabbed the coarse hand of the taller. Paul gave him a blank stare before he seemed to register it, looking away from the hazel glare of his friend as he grumbled sheepishly.

"Uh… Ik was niet.. sorry Pat…" The harsh gaze from Pat melted with a sigh.

"For the- Paul, you know what I'm going to say," Paul winced at that, pulling his hand away before clasping his together, putting them against his forehead.

"I'm sorry, I know I was dumb and probably caused you both to worry, it was a stupid argument anyways.." He muttered. Pat looked conflicted, before he rolled his eyes.

"If either of us get sick I hope you know who's fault it is," He gently punched Pauls arm, getting the other to flinch as he took a step back.

"I- yeah, I take full responsibility for that," He chuckled. Both of them, however, were startled by the sudden clearing of a throat, before a British accent rang in.

"Sooo… I assume things are good now?" Tom had his arms crossed, thankful he wasn't being rained on due to the platform above them, but still desperate to get home and change out of his clothes. Both of them looked at him before nodding.

"Y-yeah, again thank you Tom, you didn't need to bother yourself with this at all," Pat thanked. He shook his head.

"Felt nice I guess.." He shrugged. That's when Paul grumbled.

"I guess with my idiocy it'll take us longer to find an actual place to stay, huh?" Pat turned to look at him.

"We can afford an apartment flat, it shouldn't be hard to find one. We'll just get him to look at it so he can stop moping on the couch all day," Tom gave Pat a quizzical look. Did they have another roommate? Eh, it wasn't his business, but…

"You guys need to rent out a place..? I guess that makes sense if you're stuck in a lousy motel." Both looked over at him at this.

"Uh, yeah.. do you know any places?" Paul inquired. Tom opened his mouth before pausing, contemplating before sighing.

"Yeah, some of the rooms in the apartment I live in are empty, it's probably one of the cheaper places with actually good structure and sanitation," The two looked at each other, sharing a small smile.

"That… would actually help us a lot, thank you!" Paul put his hand on Tom's shoulder, startling him. He fought the urge to reel back, nodding stiffly.

"I can just.. send you the apartment address I guess… I'll do that later.. I'm going to head out now.." He shuffled away from Paul's touch as he spoke. Both of them nodded before waving him off, allowing him to properly head back home. He checked the time with a grumble, flinching at the time.

It's almost fucking 10pm?? Edd is going to have my head on the wall, he thought, before making his way back to the apartments. God, what got into him today? Helping people? That one was new...


~Translations Brought With Google Translate~

Polish:

do cholery Paul, głupek - Damn Paul, you idiot

Och, dzięki bogom, Paul! Co ty, kurwa, myślałeś?! - Oh thank the gods, Paul! What the fuck were you thinking?!

Dutch:

Ik ben zo'n verdomde idioot, ik zweer dat Pat me gaat wurgen als ik hem weer zie... het was ook zo'n stom argument… - I'm such a fucking idiot, I swear Pat is going to strangle me the next time I see him... it was such a stupid argument too...

Ja.. wie zijn- - Yes.. who are-

Ik was niet.. - I wasn't..