Chapter Text
At least once a month, Edge made a point to have lunch together with Antwan. They were both busy with a variety of projects, some of which they’d worked on together, and through that they’d learned they got on well. It was good to maintain a relationship with someone that had the skills that Antwan displayed and with the Human community in general, so Edge made a point of scheduling and attending each one.
On this particular lunch, they were in a meeting room discussing an upcoming court case. A business lunch counted if one discussed minor personal details, Edge decided. Which was why he mentioned the outing he and Stretch were going to take on Friday.
Amidst the folders and papers spread across the table in front of them were napkins and coffee cups, strategically placed to avoid leaving rings on the paperwork. Antwan set his sandwich down on the waxed paper wrapper, chewing the bite in his mouth and wiping his mouth with his napkin before he said, slowly, “So, you have a date with Stretch?”
“It’s not a date,” Edge stabbed a cherry tomato in his salad fiercely enough that the innards squirted out over the lettuce. “We’re spending a couple of hours in each other’s company, that’s all. You and I do the same and it isn’t considered a date.”
“Uh huh,” Antwan said skeptically. “Except we’re working together and we’re friends. Far as I know, you two can’t stand each other and yet you’re willingly spending time with him.”
“It...” Edge hesitated. While it was satisfying to hear Antwan refer to them as friends, he found himself oddly reluctant to explain the entire situation; that Stretch had attempted to invite him and his group at the Y to the planetarium and how Edge rejected him. If he hadn’t already come to the realization, that alone was a fairly good indication that he had been crueler than he’d intended about it. Worse, he didn’t want to admit that the last time he’d talked to Stretch, he’d shown depths that Edge hadn’t expected, piquing his interest.
Instead, he said, grudgingly, “He’s not so terrible.”
From the way Antwan’s eyebrows were climbing, he was reading entirely too much into that.
“It’s not a date,” Edge snapped, and Antwan raised his hands in surrender.
“Okay, man, it’s all good. I’ve only met Stretch a couple of times and I’ve never had a problem with him. Never been to the planetarium, either,” he said speculatively. “Might be a good time.”
“You’re welcome to join us.”
“Ah, no,” Antwan shook his head, chuckling, “No, don’t think so, I’ll wait and hear about it later. I’m betting it’ll be an interesting story.”
Edge gave him a suspicious look for that, but Antwan had started in on his sandwich again.
An interesting story? Not likely. There was nothing particularly special about it. Only a couple of hours watching a program that was probably intended for children. He doubted that interesting was going to be the word for it; it was far more likely that a profane one would be more appropriate and after it was said and done, he’d be sure to let Antwan know which vulgarity suited it best.
Friday evening found him pulling his car into the Swap brother’s driveway. His interest in finding out more about Stretch was wavering, particularly after an exhausting day at work. In the end, he’d reluctantly changed into a more suitably casual outfit before driving over.
His promises might not hold the weight of the elder brothers in his circle, but that didn’t mean he was one to carelessly break his word.
He’d almost given in to the temptation to ask Stretch to meet him at the planetarium, the better to minimize the time they’d have to spend together. It was with reluctance that he decided it would be entirely too petty as it would leave Stretch riding the bus for close to an hour. He was the one who’d invited Stretch this time, he could tolerate his company in the car.
The front door flew open before he could even touch the handle of his own, Stretch running out, and he hopped into the passenger seat without bothering to open the door. It made Edge’s socket twitch; an open top was not an invitation to behave like a crass fool, but he bit back his irritation. If it was possible, he wanted to at least start the evening without an argument.
“well, hey, jeeves, you’re right on time,” Stretch said cheerfully. “i should have you chauffeur more often!”
Or not.
No, that was nothing more than a little teasing and far less than even Sans would offer. It definitely wasn’t fair to Stretch that his simple good mood was grating on Edge’s nerves.
He swallowed back the sour words that hovered at being spoken. This was his own idea and it was only a few hours. If nothing else came of this, Blue would appreciate the attempt.
“Seatbelt,” Edge told him shortly.
“yeah, yeah, i don’t want a ticket.” Edge waited until he heard the click before backing out. “not gonna lie, i was kinda expecting you to cancel.”
“I told you we were going,” Edge said stiffly. There was no point in telling him how close to the truth that was. “I’m not one to break my word.”
“easy, champ, i wasn’t trying to accuse you of anything.” Stretch fell silent, closing his sockets and lifting his face into the growing breeze as they sped up.
It gave Edge a chance to get an actual look at him. Instead of his normal sweatshirt, he was wearing a plaid button-up with a pair of jeans, a hint of a T-shirt showing through the open collar. A bit disconcerting; Edge didn’t think he’d ever seen Stretch in anything but a hoodie, the same as Red or Sans. Those two would reluctantly dress for Embassy events, otherwise they would be content to molder in the same clothes day in and out.
Stretch was much the same, so to see him in a nicer shirt was unusual and Edge wasn’t sure what to make of Stretch dressing up for their outing. He was freshly showered, too; his bones were always unscarred and pristine, but today they held the gloss of a good scrubbing. At his feet, he’d dropped a strange shoulder bag with picture of a chemical formula on the side.
“You needed a purse for the evening?” More of a jibe than he’d intended but it was too late to call it back.
Stretch only grinned, for once unoffended. “hey, when i run out of pockets, sometimes i need a side bag. can’t keep my smokes in this shirt. plus, i can carry all kinds of useful stuff. my phone, my lighter, my dog biscuits…”
“Dog biscuits?” Edge asked, reluctantly curious.
“yeah, dogs like me,” Stretch said wryly. “kinda have a bone they want to pick with me. literally. a biscuit or two and they're eating out of my hand instead of gnawing at my ankle.”
“I don’t have an issue with them.”
“can’t imagine why, edgelord.”
That sounded suspiciously close to an insult, but an irritated glance only revealed Stretch smiling innocently. “when you take the bus as much as i do, you meet all kinds.”
“If you got your license you could drive yourself,” Edge pointed out.
To his surprise, Stretch shifted uncomfortably. “nah. i tried when we first got up here, but my depth perception is kinda wonky,” he shrugged. “probably could’ve faked my way through the test, but i doubt driving through a bus of nuns or an elementary school or something would help the cause. i don’t want anyone to get hurt.” He grinned then, gesturing grandly to the car. “s’why i’m glad you’re playing chauffeur. you have to change buses three times to get to the other side of town.”
He…hadn’t known any of that. Edge always assumed that it was laziness that kept Stretch riding the bus. Thinking on it, riding the bus was certainly more time-consuming and inconvenient in the long run. Even Red had a license if not a car of his own.
Stretch didn’t seem to notice his introspection, droning on. “bus is usually fun, anyway. it’s a great way to meet people.”
“Humans.”
“well, yeah, human people. most humans are pretty okay.”
“Except how they treat their children and us,” Edge said sourly, thinking on a few of the children he’d met at the Y, their hollow expressions, their hastily hidden bruises.
“some of them, yeah,” Stretch said, exasperated, “not all. and humans don’t exactly have a monopoly on mistreating kids.”
Edge waited, but Stretch didn’t expand on that. There, right there, was a hint of that hidden nature that Edge had glimpsed last week. What he didn't say often told more than what he did.
He was toying with his lighter, weaving it through his fingers and making no attempt to light a cigarette. Edge made a note of that; it was some sort of tell, that fidgeting.
A point that Stretch proved by saying, a little hesitantly, “not to make this all weird or anything, but. thanks. for inviting me out? you didn’t have to and i appreciate the chance to start over, yeah?”
That brought up an immediate question. “Why would you want to start over with me?”
“that’s kind of a convoluted story.” Stretch slouched back in his seat, drawing up one leg and resting his sneakered foot on the fine leather. He winced and dropped it back to the floor before Edge could even glare at him. “not sure if all the twisty turns my head took it on would make sense to anyone else.”
“Indulge me.”
He wavered, visibly undecided. Edge could understand that. It was possibly a story that would reveal a vulnerability, and being unwilling to provide ammunition to antagonism was reasonable.
But again, Stretch surprised him.
“well. tori came to see me a few weeks back,” he started. He kept his gaze through the windshield, his eye lights averted, and didn’t see Edge’s twitch at his casual use of a nickname for the Queen. “she, uh, i wasn’t real keen on her in my world, but she reminds me a lot of someone else. anyway, she’d heard i did some sciencing, back in the day. it’s a lot for alphys to handle everything downtown, so i agreed to do a little on the side, as long as they got me a setup in new new home.”
He shrugged, a little awkwardly. “at first it was a way to get out of the house. i love my bro but he can drive me crazy. crazier. anyway, i forgot how much i liked it. it was nice to do something different, to make a difference.”
He gave Edge a glance and while Edge was certain his own expression was nothing but encouraging, Stretch swallowed hard and hurried on. “anyway, it’s like i told you. i wasn’t at my best when we first got here, but it wasn’t until our last movie night that i thought maybe you weren’t, either.”
That took him aback. Edge racked his memory of that evening, but nothing stood out. “Why last movie night?”
The lighter clicking through his finger bones was less annoying when it became obvious it was a nervous tic of some sort. “you were talking about your volunteer work. you sounded so proud of those kids and…well. i guess i never thought of you all working at the embassy as more than a way to get in tight with the people in charge. working with those kids though…that’s making a difference, yeah? you were so proud and it’s nothing that you have to do, at all, you want to do it. to help. like i was trying to do with the lab work. so how fair was it for me to give myself another chance and not you, right?”
Yes, his children at the Y. Stretch’s first assumption wasn’t far from the mark, in truth. He and Red hadn't chosen to work for the Embassy out of altruism, but practicality. Make yourself indispensable and you won’t be dispensed, as Red phrased it.
His work at the Y began the same. Asgore wanted the Monster community to volunteer within the Human one, and Edge had simply chosen the one that seemed easiest. After dealing with his own brother and the guards of Snowdin, how difficult could wrangling a few Human children be?
As it turned out, the answer was ‘very’ and ‘shockingly so’. But Edge was not one to walk away from a challenge and his brother’s unintentional lesson in dealing with those who often said one thing and meant another served him well. His group of once sullen, distant children recently chose to assist in a project to remove degrading graffiti from local businesses and replace it with murals of their own creation. The pride from their hard work, their smiling faces, was incredibly warming to his hardened soul.
Those Human children, the ones that Blue thought were so similar in some ways to Stretch.
“But I didn’t ask you for another chance,” Edge pointed out.
Stretch shrugged. “you didn’t ask me to judge you the first time we met either. figured i was safe not asking for permission.” He flapped a hand dismissively over all of it, as if he hadn’t just given Edge an entirely different perspective of him. “okay, now that that’s out there, i propose we swear an oath.”
“What?” Edge slowed to a stop at a red light. It allowed him to look sideways at Stretch, taking in his solemnness and also the amused sparkle in his eye lights. Edge had seen that expression before, but it was the first time it seemed to invite him in on the joke.
“i swear not to be an asshole tonight if you swear not to be a dick.” Gravely, Stretch held out a pinkie.
Edge stared at it in disbelief. “You can’t be serious.”
“you don’t want to promise?” Archly but also maybe a little wounded, uncertain hurt layered beneath humor.
Oh for…Edge hooked his pinkie with Stretch's and shook grumpily. “I swear.”
“awesome! this’ll be fun!”
Edge had his doubts, but Stretch hadn’t been completely unbearable yet. It was possible the night wouldn’t be a complete loss.
tbc