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"Are you sure about this? You've told me of your past with him, and with your injuries I don't want you two getting into a fight." Pat asks worriedly, helping Tord over to Tom's apartment door.
"Pat, mor [mother], don't worry about me. I’m not a child." Tord grins at Pat from under his mask, his robotic hand up and facing Pat. The blue circle in the middle of the palm was glowing, projecting the words he wanted to say. He pauses before adding, "Also, you didn't need to help me walk here. I only have a limp; It's not like I'm incapable of walking."
"I can't help but worry about your safety, Tord. You're my friend! It's what I do." Pat replies, removing one hand from Tord's shoulders to rub his neck sheepishly.
"Well, just this once, can you trust me? This is really important to me." Tord says, turning to look at Pat.
Pat pauses, sighing. He looks at the ground for a moment before replying, "Alright, I trust you. But!” He looks up from the ground when he says this, “If something happens, do you promise to text me?"
“Of course, Pat.” Tord gives a reassuring grin under his mask, looking away from Pat once they reach Tom’s door.
Pat removes his hands from Tord’s shoulders. “Good luck, Tord.” He says, giving a small smile before turning away and heading back down the hallway to their shared apartment. Pat stops halfway before turning back.
“Wait! I forgot something!” Pat says, pulling out a Mcdonald’s bag from his yellow hoodie and tossing it at Tord. Tord fumbled to catch it, but caught it nonetheless. He gave a thumbs up to Pat, putting the bag in his hoodie pocket. He watched Pat retreat back down the hallway.
Tord inaudibly sighed, turning back to Tom’s (and Edd and Matt’s, he supposed, since the three live together) apartment door. ’Alright, you can do this…’. He hesitantly raised his non-robotic hand to knock on the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
“It’s open.” An English accented voice lazily called out from within the apartment.
Tord opened the door and stepped in, shutting the door behind him. Tom was laying across the couch. The TV was on, though Tom seemed to not be paying attention to it.
“Back with Matt from getting groceries so soon, huh Edd?” Tom asks. He hadn’t noticed it was Tord yet.
“It’s uh… Not Edd.” Tord hesitantly says, the slight whir from his arm causing Tom to sit up and turn to look at him. He says nothing, prompting Tord to continue speaking.
“I’m not here to start a fight. Can we just… talk?” Tord asks, putting his hands up to show that he means no harm. Tom seemed to think it over for a moment before nodding slightly, motioning him to sit down on the couch with his hand. Tord obliged, opting to sit on the far end of the couch away from Tom. He didn’t know if Tom would want him to sit close to him or not, but he supposed it’d be better to be safe than sorry. Tom ended up scooting to the opposite side of the couch, so he supposed his guess was correct. For a while, no one said anything.
Deciding to break the silence (since he was the one who wanted to talk in the first place), Tord speaks. “Tom… why don’t we talk anymore? We used to talk a lot, be able to joke around with each other… And yet now we don’t speak at all. We don’t even argue. Why?”
Tom was silent for a moment before responding. “I just… Wanted to stop the arguing. I thought that if we didn’t speak, it’d all just… stop.” He paused, laughing a small, pitiful laugh. “I guess my plan worked a bit too well, huh?” Tord doesn’t respond, seeming to think over this.
“Do… do you even know why we started arguing in the first place?” Tom hesitantly asks. Tord shakes his head ‘no’.
“Remember how you were back in highschool?” Tord shrugs, so he continues. “Well, you were always lying to us n’ stuff… Edd n’ Matt didn’t notice, but I could just tell. You uh… kinda lost my trust by doing that. It uh… hurt that I couldn’t trust you anymore, so I kind of… lashed out at you a lot because of it. Even when Edd asked you to move in, that distrust for you stayed… so uh, yeah….” Tom explains, looking down at his shoes the whole time. Tord stayed silent, mulling over Tom’s words.
Tord decided to speak once he knew Tom was finished talking. “I apologize for my past actions. Trust me when I say I had a good reason for it. I know you’re probably looking for an explanation of some kind, but I can’t right now for your safety. But, in the future, I’ll tell you all eventually. I know it’s going to take a while for me to regain your trust, but I’m willing to try if you’re willing.” Tord finishes speaking. He had unknowingly closed his eyes, so he opens them, glancing at Tom.
Tom meets Tord’s gaze. “.....Alright. I’m willing to try.” He gives a half smile, with Tord returning it. Tord pauses, remembering something. “Oh! I have something for you.” He takes the McDonald’s bag out of his pocket, tossing it at Tom. Tom catches the bag and opens it, fishing out the box of nuggets. Tom raises a pierced eyebrow, looking at Tord. Tord shrugs, grinning. Tom jokingly rolls his black eyes.
“Wanna bond over nuggets, Commie?” Tom asks, grinning.
“Heh, I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else, Jehovah.”