Chained In Servility

20

TWs: Matt's father went to get milk, Matt exposed Edd('s feelings), referenced/implied loss of a parent, and Tord still can't hear.

Matt sighed as he retrieved his mail from the ground floor. He honestly didn't know how to feel recently. Every memory he gained upon the hour struck a chord in him he didn't know about.

He didn't tell Edd or Tom about his newfound recovered memories, mostly because he didn't know how to bring it up.

Once he returned to his flat, he sorted through his mail. Pulling from the top, trying to open it as neatly as he could, he noticed what it was just at a glance.

'Again?' Matt thought as he pulled out the check. Someone had been sending him these checks every couple of months, with no return address on the envelope, 'Who keeps sending these? I already have enough money.'

Once Matt had gained his memories, he spent most of the first night trying to remember as much as he could.

The ginger came from a wealthy family, so Matt had enough money to spare. His mother was a fashion mogul, doing everything with fabrics or jewelry and even some modeling. Matt never knew his father, and his mother stated that he left them for some 'childish' work. He didn't know what 'childish' meant in her dictionary.

Everyone in Matt's family was creative in some way. His aunt dealt with music, his uncle was a movie director, and he was pretty sure his grandparents were artists.

Matt frowned, opting to place the check on the table for later. He never knows what to do with the money. He feels bad for using it, but nobody has come around to claim it anyway. He didn't know any Wyatt A.A. Turrah either.

Then the ginger's phone sang out a notification ringtone from his pocket. He took it out, reading a message from Edd saying that breakfast was ready.

He remembered that he wanted Tord to join a game night. This could be his chance to convince them.

Matt smiled as he made his way over to Edd's place.

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"So for game night, we have Monopoly, Mario Kart, and I think we have Sorry," Edd spoke as he served the plates of eggs and bacon.

"Can I make a suggestion?" Matt asked as he poured himself a glass of milk.

"Go for it." Edd prompted as he silently warned Tom not to drink alcohol at the table by glaring at him.

"Can Tord join us?"

At that question, the two looked at the ginger incredulously.

"Are you joking?" Tom asked, silently hoping he was kidding.

"Nope," Matt said.

"Matt, these game nights are for friends only..." Edd spoke.

"And Tord is my friend." The ginger spoke, then glared at Edd, "Don't tell me you don't miss him at least a little bit."

"Wha-" Edd opened his mouth, but Matt cut him off.

"The first time Tord left, you didn't come out of your room for days. The second time, it was weeks until Tom had to drag you out to get some fresh air, so don't tell me you don't miss him." Matt finished.

Edd and Tom stared in shock at Matt's disposition of character. The taller softly approached Matt, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay, Matt?" Edd furrowed his eyebrows in concern.

The ginger took a deep breath, "I'm- fine. I've just been feeling a lot lately."

"Any reason why?" The cola lover was mothering him, not that Matt minded.

Matt decided to tell them of his memories, "Tord, he managed to recover my memories."

Edd backed off, seemingly in surprise, "Really?"

"How?" Tom asked, looking Matt over.

"He made a new memory gun." Matt shrugged, sitting down at the table. Tom was already sitting down, his left leg propped up in the chair with him.

Edd sat next to Matt, thinking over the suggestion. It wasn't a bad idea, per se. He was just worried about what Tom would do.

The brunette looked over at Tom, eyeing him down. The shorter caught his gaze, quirking his eyebrow.

He glanced at Matt, then back at Tom. Tom followed his glimpse back and forth, then sighed once he realized what it was about. The bassist peeked over at Matt, who was slowly eating away at his eggs. Tom nodded discreetly.

Edd was surprised at the answer but looked over at Matt to tell him the news.

Tom wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even himself, but he was only doing it for Matt.

'Curse my inability to say no when it comes to him...'

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Matt knocked on the door to Tord's flat.

"Matthew? What's with all the knocking?" Tord asked as soon as he opened the door.

"Sorry," Matt smiled awkwardly, "It's just that I have good news."

"What is it?"

"I convinced them to let you join a game night!" Matt waved his hands around.

Tord's eyes widened, "Wha- but- how-?"

The Norsk stuttered over his words, not sure where he was going with his sentence.

"Yeah, I was surprised too." Matt chuckled, "Anyway, our next game night is tonight if you want to join."

"Oh- sure." Tord nodded.

"Great, see you later then: I have to visit my mother," Matt spoke as he waved and walked across the hall.

'Wait, what?' Tord was knocked out of his shocked daze by that sentence, "Matt."

"Yes?" Matt reached his door as he turned towards Tord.

"Your mother is, uhm..." Tord railed off his sentence.

"I know." Matt nodded mournfully, "I just have to make up for so many birthdays missed. So many cookies I have to decorate pink with sprinkles..."

"Don't you like decorating?"

"I do; I'm just running low on supplies." Matt huffed.

The shorter shook his head at his friend's antics, "Alright, Matt. Guess I'll see you later then?"

"You bet!" Matt twirled around in and into his room.

Tord chuckled as he went to work on something to hopefully get his mind off the eventful evening he was sure to have.

He must've lost track of time working on a new tool because soon, there was a knock on his door.

The light brunette looked at the time, noticing it was 1800 hours. He hopped up, scrambling for the door.

Matt was standing there, his arms crossed, "Finally, I've been calling your name for a few minutes now."

Tord winced at that, feeling a bit bad since Matt had no idea about his hearing. Then Tord got an idea, "Can you wait here?"

"Sure." Matt quirked an eyebrow as Tord quickly went into his room to grab his hearing aids.

'Hopefully, they work...' Tord thought quietly as he placed them gently in his ears. He adjusted the volume of both of them before returning to Matt, "Can you speak?"

"Yes?" Matt looked confused, "Why are you asking?"

Tord made a final adjustment to the hearing aids as Matt spoke, "No reason, let's go."

"Okay then." Matt shrugged it off as they went over to Edd's flat.