Monsters start at coffee

Problems can be monsters, but monster are always problems

    No one got to sleep that night. Except for Tom. Tord went to bed, only for 15 minutes later to be on his desk, writing a bunch of nonsense that may or may not work in his notebook. Although he knew nothing would be usable later due to his terrible handwriting, it at least made him feel better about it. He was who caused the situation. He was responsible for this. The night was consumed by walking around his room, eventually laying on bed and thinking about worst-case scenarios. Until he heard a noise that didn't come from the living room, but from the wall behind him: Tom's.

    Was the man waking up? Was he in pain? Any of these options would be terrible. He had to check. Tord sighed and moved to the door, opening it slowly. Edd seemed to be distracted by something in the window, probably a bird or something. Matt was fully spacing out, so the chances of someone noticing him were low. Swiftly, the man exited his room and entered Tom's. His figure - now small compared to the enormous beast presented last time - still had small horns and a purple tail, which wrapped around him as if it could protect him. Dark purple scales covered his cheeks and extremities. He looked peaceful. How could this be happening? It isn't logical. This didn't show up in the rat. Anyways. Tord examined the... hybrid? seems like a good name to it. His soft body laid inconscious on the bed, completely still, the only movement being the occasional twitch of his elongated ears and tail. Maybe Tom was dreaming. Maybe not.

    Getting closer to him, Tord grabbed a blanket and placed it over Tom's chest. Most of his hoody was destroyed by the transformation, and it was kind of cold. He didn't want to make the experience worse to the man, so warming him up seemed reasonable. After a few seconds of silence, Tom's tail swayed, projecting the blanket out of the bed. A thump echoed when he hit the wall. Ah. That was it. The tail bumping into the wall. He got all worried for this! Well, it's not like he was annoyed because everything was fine but... Forget that. Tord heard some movimentation on the living room. With luck, no one is opening that door. Picking the blanket from the floor, he put it in a way he claims it shouldn't be dragged by Tom's new back extension. It doesn't cover all of his body but at least it's something.

    He's finished in the room, but he can't help but to continue looking. Examining every part of him. Stare at his horns, glance at his scales, observe his whole body. He stood there, immobile, for a long time. Toed didn't bother to count the minutes, mesmerized by the vision. Maybe the accident wasn't that bad. Maybe he could use this for something in the future. Maybe he should study more about it. Approaching Tom again, he picked a bunch of scales that were loose, laying on the bed. Then, he finally stepped out of the room, back to his. Matt didn't seem to notice it. Edd wasn't in there. The rest of the night was consumed by analysing the newly gotten "artifacts" and pondering his decisions.

    Edd and Matt stayed in the living room for a while after the discussion. The brunette had a glass of cola in his hands, drinking it throughout the night.

    - Do you think everything is gonna get better soon, Edd?

    - I hope so. I really do. - confidence was lacking in his voice - Tord knows what he's doing, doesn't he?

    The ginger didn't answer. Silence embraced the room, the only sound being of their breathing and the occasional huff coming from the norwegian's room. There was shuffling by Tord's room, but Edd was so tired he didn't even bother looking: The Norwegian could take care of himself. He probably only went to the bathroom. After a long time - maybe half an hour - Edd got up from his place on the sofa and whispered a low "good night". His steps sounded awfully loud. 

    Getting into his room, Edd felt so bad. And it wasn't even him that screwed up! He hadn't gotten the response he wanted. The only thing he achieved this night was stressing everyone, including himself. Normally, Edd was able to at least keep the conversation light. Today he pushed the boundaries and the conversation evolved into an argument. He hated arguments. He should have known he couldn't just ask Tord for the answers and get them that easily. That was all he could think about instead of sleeping and relaxing. At some point, the brunette got up and doodled for the rest of the night. That always worked to relax him, and it did work a bit.

   He drew a picture of what he'd seen earlier - A big, horrific monster. Maybe he exaggerated in the size and how scary it actually was, but hey, it's a drawing. He can do whatever he wants. That's one of the reasons he likes painting. Edd can make anything possible. He even had a comic, although nobody has ever seen it, which was about a hero who would save everyone from their problems. Sadly, it isn't like this in real life. At least he can imagine.

    He took more paper and started a new chapter on his little book. He wrote "Problems can be monsters, but monster are always problems." as a title. It wasn't a good title, but he couldn't think about anything else, so he stick to it. Someday maybe he'll come back and change it's name. Edd doodled the whole section that night. No lineart or color, as he's not a machine. But he hadn't been so productive since a while.

    Tom was... a strange man. He would always be so sarcastic and quick to anger. But they're friends. And when Edd has any issue with anything, he's always there to help. He would know everyone's favorite show and how to calm down the others. Even with all of that, he didn't really open up to others. The only times he was seen crying was when he'd be too drunk to even think. Maybe drinking was his way of coping, similar with Edd's drawing. Luckily, that bad habit was, majorly, gone. Comparing nowadays to before at least. Nobody knew why he'd stopped though.

    Edd really wanted to be like him. Be able to console the guys. Maybe one day.

    Matt was, to say the least, scared. Tom was dying, Tord was stressed (he was never stressed) and Edd was nervous. Not to mention he had no faith in what Edd had said about it all being okay in the end. It won't! Everyone just pretends everything's great when it's not. The worst part is the guys treating him like a child that doesn't know how to cope or live. Maybe he acts like one sometimes but it irritates the living hell out of Matt. Although it's annoying, he has kind of grown to accept that behavior (it can work in his favour sometimes).

     The ginger stayed in the sofa, for at least an hour, hearing the thuds and sighs from either Edd's or Tord's. Reflecting and trying to come up with scenarious that could happen the next day. How to react if X thing happens, how to solve problems. He was anxious, and pondering would cause more harm than good. So going to bed before crying would be a great idea.

    Getting up from the sofa, Matt moved lazily to the end of the hall, where his and Tom's door were. The latter looked tempting. Opening it up and seeing if he's okay wouldn't do anything, right? With a trembling hand, he carefully allowed himself a shy look through the small gap achieved. There he was.

    Matt had never realized how defenseless Tom could look, since he was always angry and sarcastic. His chest went up and down slowly, emitting a low sound (almost like a purr). A blanket was effortlessly draped over him, but most of his body was still visible, the clothes damaged by the transformation. The ginger wondered if anyone had checked on him already, or if it was put when they left the room the first time. He would've seen if someone passed through the hall, so it wouldn't be really possible, would it?

    Closing the door with a low click, he then walked to his room. The man didn't sleep, but at least he could relax a bit in his bed.