Chained In Servility

18

TWs: Past lying/manipulation, past betrayal, mentions of death/killing/hurting someone, mentions of weapons, worried Pat

They decided to go to Matt's flat since Matt had to drop off his bags, and Tord guessed the others didn't trust him in their flats.

Now here he was, standing in front of the trio with two of them acting like overprotective parents.

Tord sighed. He didn't even know where to start. Does he give his tragic backstory like an anime protagonist, or does he begin with the giant robot explosion?

"Spit it out, commie." Tom seemed to roll his eyes.

"I would if I knew where to start." Tord spat back, "Give me a moment..."

"Why did you leave, Tord?" Edd spoke up.

Tord glanced at him, "Which time...?"

"Both." Edd crossed his arms.

"I lied the first time about leaving for the 'big city'... I left due to being called back to the army. At the time, I had just finished the giant robot. I didn't know I would be sent back, but I went through more training during those eight years." Tord explained, "Then the second time, I was sent here to get the robot and get out, even if I had to hurt innocent people."

"Hurt innocent people? You literally killed someone!" Edd yelled.

Tord winced, "I didn't mean-"

"I'm going to strangle you if you say you didn't mean to." Tom hissed, "You had missiles that you shot me with!"

"I'm-" Tord stopped, choosing what to say carefully, "I'm not going to apologize or ask for forgiveness. I understand what I did, and I know the path I chose is a blood-filled one. Even before high school, I've been this way. I've lied to and manipulated all of you for my selfish benefit. I never thought wanting to dominate the world would make me a power-hungry leader without consideration for how others felt."

The light brunette paused to take a breath, "This isn't the whole truth, since most things I've been holding are personal issues... but in case it wasn't clear, I'm not in the army anymore 'cause I sort of ran away."

Tord looked up at them. Tom had his eyes narrowed as if he was analyzing what Tord said carefully; other than that, he seemed calmer than earlier. Edd was harder to read, having a blank face as he stared not-quite at Tord. Matt looked as if he wanted to hug Tord.

"Wait," Tom spoke up, "If you're not in control of the army, then who is?"

"Ah, that would be my father..." Tord rolled his eye.

"You have a father?" Matt asked.

"Of course, Matt." Tord quirked an eyebrow.

"So he was leading the charge on Sweden?" Edd queried.

Tord sighed, "Most likely..."

Tom and Edd looked at each other again, talking with their eyes. Edd shrugged while Tom shook his head.

Tom scowled at Tord, "I still don't trust you."

"I'm with Tom on this one." Edd frowned, still not looking at Tord directly.

Tord smiled abit, even though it hurt, "That's reasonable..."

"Well, I trust him!" Matt added, making Tord's smile a bit genuine.

Then the ex-leader remembered something. He hurriedly got out his phone, going to the app he created because Pat wanted him to, just in case. It came in handy when sending emergency signals.

"What are you doing?" He heard Tom ask.

"Something." Tord dismissed, tapping a signal.

'Warning Code: Chameleon has been sent.' The voice said.

"What's code chameleon?" Matt tilted his head.

Tord honestly forgot the voice relays what he taps on back to him. He just placed his phone back in his hoodie, "I'm warning my roommates."

"I never met your roommates..." Matt pouted.

"Eh, they're busy with work." Tord shrugged, "Anyway, I should get going; I have to finish something."

Tord awkwardly went around them, making his way toward the door; and grabbing his bag of parts.

"Tord, wait!" Matt shouted suddenly, even though they were only a few feet away from each other.

The Norsk looked at him, "Yes, Matt?"

Matt grabbed a plastic bag with something in it. He handed it to Tord, saying with a wink, "Consider this a present."

Tord smirked, "Well played, Matthew."

The ginger grinned, "We should do another self-care day soon; the last one was fun!"

"Maybe for you, the make-up you put on me was shit." Tord huffed.

Matt gasped, "How dare you insult my guru skills! I thought you liked that eyeliner."

"That was the only thing I liked." Tord laughed a bit, "But yeah, sure."

After entering his own flat, Tord immediately got to work on finishing the memory gun. He was finalizing the muzzle when the door to his room opened.

"O dobrze, you're here," Pat spoke.

"Why wouldn't I be here?" Tord asked.

"When you sent out the warning, I got worried. You never send out signals unless it's an emergency." Pat walked over, ruffling his hair.

"Agh! Neeeiiii!" Tord swatted at his hands.

"Also," Pat stopped what he was doing, "have you seen Pau? He usually gets off work before I do."

"What? He's not here?" Tord's eyes widened, "I thought after I sent out Chameleon, he would be more cautious."

Then the door to the flat opened, prompting Pat to back out of Tord's room.

"Is it him?" Tord asked.

Pat took a moment to listen closely. After hearing a few muttered swears in Dutch coming from the living area, he spoke, "Yep... I'll handle him."

Tord grinned as he added, "Kick his ass, dad!"

As soon as he was out of the room, Tord continued his work, managing to finish the memory gun.

'Hopefully, when I switch it to reverse, it'll undo everything.' Tord thought, placing the gun down gently on his desk.

He's also been having trouble hearing lately. He hasn't used the hearing aids, afraid he'll be treated differently if everyone knew he was hard of hearing.

He looked down at the hearing aids sitting at the corner of his desk. It was a stupid and probably irrational fear to be afraid of being treated differently because of something he couldn't control.

His father would call it a weakness.

Tord sighed, opting to stretch his legs. He stood up from the desk and walked around his room. He then realized the bag Matt gave him was sitting on his bed. He gently picked it up. Taking a glance inside revealed some sort of fabric.

The Norsk hummed as he grabbed and unfolded it.

Oh. Oh no.

'Matt...' Tord flushed in embarrassment, 'Jeg skal drepe ham.'

That was a lie. Tord put the piece of clothing back in the bag and threw it in his closet.

He huffed as he decided to lie down until it was dinner time.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧Translations✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Polish =
O dobrze - Oh good

Norwegian =
Nei - No
Jeg skal drepe ham - I'm going to kill him

(Translations brought to you by Google Translate)