Aftermath (𝚎𝚍𝚍𝚜𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝙴𝚍𝚍 𝚡 𝚃𝚘𝚛𝚍)

Humans are meant to cry.

Note: This chapter is SO angsty, it took so long to be able to focus and write it xd

Tord types away on his keyboard furiously, clearly not in a good mood. His search for Tom had been unsuccessful and he was not happy about it. It had only been 24 hours since Tom had run off, and Tord was sure he could find him if he looked hard enough. After all, Tom wasn't exactly the best at 'laying low'. But Paul and Patryck both insisted he take a break from searching for Tom for now. Tord hadn't gotten much sleep since his disappearance, and neither of them appreciated that. So here Tord was; alone in his office as he tried to keep himself distracted.

In Tord's unpleasant state of mind, he did manage to be quite productive. If Tord wasn't going to have a huge monster bioweapon by his side, he would have to come up with another way to get the Prime Minister to hand over the country. He had come up with an okay plan by his standards. He just needed to run it by a few of his generals, first. Edd was healing up nicely, so he was hoping he would be available for the invasion in a few weeks. The date had been set, all Tord needed to do was finish a few things for preparations.

Tord works in semi-frustrated silence for the next few minutes before he hears the buzzer on his door go off. Checking his camera, Tord sees it was just Paul, Patryck and Edd. Most likely there to pester him again, he could only imagine. With a sigh, Tord presses a button on his mic stand to speak into. "What is it," He asks bluntly.

All three of them hesitate, which amuses Tord slightly. Edd steps up and presses the button on the receiver outside the door and speaks into it. "Er- we wanted to come check on you! You know, since its been a few hours since you've left your room..?" Edd lets out a nervous chuckle, taking his finger off the button. Paul glances at him from the corner of his eye in worry. Tord hesitates silently, contemplating whether or not he should let the three of them in. With a loud, clearly exaggerated sigh, Tord unlocks his door and allows them inside. In order to get himself through whatever conversation they had planned, Tord opens a desk drawer and pulls out a cigar, lighting it.

Edd walks in with Paul and Patryck trailing behind him, muttering under their breath about their concerns for Tord. He just rolls his eyes dismissively, swiveling his chair around to face them as they walk in. "You don't have to check on me like this you know. I'm your leader, not your child."

"That's-" Patryck starts before shutting himself down as he gets a not-so-gentle nudge from Paul. "Whatever.. We still have a right to worry about you. As your top soldiers and right hand men, of course."

"And your best friend-!" Edd adds in from the sidelines, already seeming to get distracted by all the little trinkets and prototypes lining Tord's walls. Tord watches him for a moment, slightly amused. Edd always found himself getting distracted by the little things. It was something Tord enjoyed about Edd. He appreciated the little things in life. That was a nice contrast to Tord's large and ambitious aspirations. Tord's train of thought is derailed once Paul snaps Tord back into reality. Quite literally, too, as he was now snapping his fingers in front of Tord's glazed expression.

Tord's eyes widen as he snaps his head back towards his two soldiers. "Alright, alright! I'm back! Geez-" Tord rolls his eyes in annoyance at the action.

"You've been getting distracted lately. All of us are noticing it. Are you okay, Sir?" Paul tilts his head down, eyeing Tord with a genuine expression of concern. Tord hates when Paul looks at him like that. It meant he wasn't being his usual sarcastic, cold or distant self. It meant he cared and he was paying attention this time. Well, he was always paying attention, he just had the tendency to not show it until times like this. With a grumble, Tord shifts in his chair as he takes a puff from his cicar. "I'm fine. Don't worry about it." Paul raises an eyebrow of skepticism.