My Own Medicine ¦ TomTord

Chapter Twelve: Just Enough

Once they were all seated at the table and eating, Tord decided to bring up his newly learnt fact.

"Did you ever know that Thomas is left-handed?" Tord asked, glancing at Edd and Matt.

Edd laughed. "Everyone knows that!" He pointed out. "Even Matt does."

Matt turned his head at the mention of his name. "What does Matt know?"

Tord looked over at Matt while quietly laughing. "Nothing, Matt knows nothing." He added.

"Wait..." Matt paused. "I'm Matt!"

Edd laughed. "You don't say,"

Tord finished eating and put his plate into the sink, not bothering to wash it. "Compliments to the chef." He smiled before walking off outside to sit at the table and just overlook the neighbourhood. This place was somewhat special, he spent a few minutes remembering smoking countless cigars while sitting there and sometimes having a conversation with some of his roommates. So why not recreate that?

He opened the door and walked back indoors and up to his room. He searched his drawers and couldn't find his cigars anywhere! He felt annoyed as he walked back into the living room. "Has anyone seen my cigars?" He shouted out and got no answer-back... So he figured he'd just take a bus to the city centre and buy some. He couldn't smoke any other brand but this very specific one from this also very specific shop. He tried shouting again. "I'm gonna go to the city for a bit, I'll be back in a while!" still, no response.

He threw on his jacket and grabbed his wallet and phone, really, the only thing that he would need. He's lucky that he had deep pockets in his coat.

He walked out the door and to the nearest bus stop to wait for the right bus to come.

He took his phone out of his pocket and checked the time, then scrolled through it for a little while before checking the time again, pulling his gaze upwards again, his eyes meeting the arriving bus. He put his phone back into his pocket and pulled out a few cents for the bus.

Tord got onto it after paying and sat down more in the back of the bus for the whole ride. He liked visiting the centre of the city, the smoke shop clerk was also from Norway. He was the only person here in England that he knew could speak Norwegian fluently. Of course, there are probably many more out there but he just didn't bother looking for them. Tord liked when they would come to him.

He looked outside of the window and watched as the houses slowly became big apartments, as the corner shops become big shopping malls and as the food trucks became fancy restaurants the further he was in the city.

He got off when he was in the centre of the city, trying to recollect where the shop was. After a few seconds of contemplation, he turned right and began walking. The streets seemed familiar and welcoming. Even if the garbage cans were over flooding with fast food take-away bags and probably dirty needles, if you would dig deeper.

But finally, after about twenty minutes of what seemed to be aimless wandering, Tord found himself in front of the tobacco store doors. He pushed them open and walked straight to the register. He smiled at the cashier. "Hey Nick, haven't seen you in a while." He spoke in Norwegian

The cashier looked at Tord, paused for a few seconds then recognised the face and smiled back. "Tord! You look... different," He chuckled, looking over at Tord. The first thing coming to mind is his slightly deformed right side, the eye patch, of course. His arm was beneath the counter so Tords metallic fingers didn't catch anyone's attention. "What happened?" the cashier, Nick, asked.

"Nothing serious... So, when are you free? Also, can I just get my usual?" Tord brushed off the question, pointing to his usual brand of cigar.

"Nah, busy day today," Nick said, grabbing the pack of cigars off of the shelf.

Nick and Tord were best described as friends with benefits. They sometimes went out, though if anyone at home were to mention him, Tord would just say that he's friends with Nick because he can speak Norwegian so no one really thought anything else.

"Shit, well do you have 'it' here..?" Tord whispered, referring to the weed.

"Yeah... But I don't have much left. But I'll sell you what remains for twenty bucks." He said as he scanned the cigars and handed them to Tord after he paid.

"That's alright," Tord said, handing the guy the money and receiving the 'magic grass'. It was neatly stored in a tiny bag. "Thanks man, you're the best," Tord said, putting both hands on the counter and kind of leaning towards Nick as if he was going in for a quick kiss but was quickly stopped.

"Oh... I haven't told you... I have a girlfriend now."

"Since when?"

"Last month, it's going so well. She's fucking stunning man."

"Congrats, so you're done with me?" Tord laughed.

"If I'm being serious, then yeah. You were nice but I realised that I wanted something long-term and serious."

"Yeah, I understand." Tord put his arms into his coat pockets.

"No shade though."

"Yeah yeah," Tord took the cigars and weed, shoved them in his pockets and left. He only bought coats with deep pockets for a reason, he didn't really like carrying bags around. " 'til next time."

"Goodbye."

Tord was hoping to go back to Nick's place but when his plan failed, he didn't even know what to do except to back home.

Fuck it, he wouldn't go home, on purpose. Tord didn't want to be faced with his roomates just yet. He walked through the city, visiting shops he usually would never go to, like bakeries, art stores (which were very overpriced), cafes, and corner stores but his favourite was the military store. He bought like, two pocket knives and spent a good hour in there, his gaze aimlessly wandering at all of the countless guns and helmets. This was heaven...

Honestly, these kinds of walks really helped Tord clear his mind, or sometimes the opposite, occupy it with something nicer. This time, he really felt a need to get better and be more independant. He wanted to finaly escape the situation that he was in, that is, finally get back to the army. But for now, he was enjoying his time.

Before he even knew it, his money was gone, as if someone had just stolen it out of his wallet. Shit, how would he get home..? He had to call Edd.

He pulled out his phone and dialled Edd's number. He patiently waited while it rang out. "Hey..! Edd... Listen, I need a tiny favour."

"Hello, What do you want?" He responded. It sounded like he was busy with something.

"So I'm in the city right now and blew all my money. I could really use a ride." He confessed.

"You don't say," Edd laughed. "Yeah sure, where are you?"

"Umm... Somewhere near the old town, I think."

"So..?"

"I'm near some kind of fountain, I don't know! I haven't been here many times before."

Edd laughed. "There's a few dumbass, be specific."

"It's near the... The... Belgian waffle place." He said, squinting to make sure he saw it right.

"Fine, I'll be there in about half an hour, maybe sooner."

"Thanks again."

"Yup, just being a good roommate."