The Earth Boy [Ned Leeds x Male!Reader]

EIGHT

My eyes and body both jolted awake. Looking around, I saw that the TV was off and it was morning. I turned to my left and saw Ned. He leaned his head against my side while snoring softly. Erin or Lucille must've put a blanket on both of us while we slept. Admittedly, he looked kind of peaceful, but I couldn't stay like this forever.

Today was a new day, and if I remembered correctly, Ned said that Erin would start fixing my ship. I grabbed a pillow and slowly moved away from Ned. I put the pillow under his head before it touched the cushion. As I walked away, a nice aroma filled up the kitchen. I peeked in to see Erin cooking breakfast. 

"Morning." He said, not even turning away. "Want some breakfast?" 

"Sure." I nodded, sitting down on the chair. My fingers tapped nervously as he continued cooking. The smell was enticing but I couldn't stop thinking about my broken ship. Had Erin already fixed it? Did he do that before he was making breakfast? Was I finally going home? Should I even ask? A part of me was tempted but maybe asking was rude. 

"I've looked at your ship." Erin started, "And, certain parts of it are broken." 

"Yeah?" I said, shaking my leg nervously. 

"Which is why we need to head to the convenient store." He continued. Turning around, he set a plate of flatbread. He drizzled a sweet and sticky sauce while handing me utensils. "That way I can get your ship working again." 

"Grandpa, I think you mean the convenience store," Ned corrected behind me. I turned around and saw him rubbing his eyes while yawning. Once he blinked them open, he smiled at the food on the table. "Oh sweet, can I have some pancakes too?" 

"Nope, I think I mean what I said," Erin stated. Grabbing another plate, he put some pancakes on it and dribbled the sweet sauce on top. Ned went to grab some utensils before sitting down. "The stuff they have there is very convenient." 

"And, it has stuff that would fix my ship?" I inquired. Mom always told me that Dad's creations were better. However, maybe the humans stepped up their game. 

"Yes." He nodded, sitting down on a seat. As he was eating breakfast, Lucille walked in. 

"While we're on the topic of shopping, I think this is the perfect time to do so." She said, clasping her hands together. She poured a hot drink, got some pancakes and sat down. "We need to get some new clothes for you to wear." 

"We also need to cover your ears," Ned noted. I grabbed my utensils and cut a quarter-sized pancake. After putting it in my mouth, my tastebuds were awakened by the different tastes. The sweet sauce worked well with the fluffy pancakes as I kept on chewing. Damn, this shit is delicious! And, Ned gets to eat this every day? Wow, that's just so fucking cool. "Just so that people don't get suspicious." 

"Do you have anything to cover them?" I asked, finishing up my breakfast. 

"I think I have something that might help." He replied with a smile.

***

"You sure it looks good on me?" I questioned. 

"Of course it does." Ned nodded, "It's one of mine of course." 

"I swear if it makes me look like a fucking--" 

"It won't." He interrupted me while touching my shoulder. Our eyes then locked on each other. Sighing, I eventually agreed with him. I still had to wear Ned's clothes, but this time I had to wear one of his hats. Originally, it was supposed to be his confidence hat, but it didn't cover my ears. He had to search around before he could find a hat with flaps.

Despite my recent protests, he kept reassuring me that it looked good. Checking the mirror, I saw that it did the job. But, it still looked so fucking stupid. However, I don't have the energy to say otherwise. 

We walked downstairs and saw that both Erin and Lucille were ready. Going into Erin's vehicle, we all drove to the mall. On the road, Ned explained to me what a mall was. His explanation reminded me of the Collector's place.

Sure, it wasn't a mall but it did have stuff. Lots of stuff that would be appropriate for a mall. If Collector came to Earth he'd probably just take the whole damn store. After Erin stopped his vehicle, we all got out and headed inside. 

"Wow, this place is so fucking huge!" I said to Ned. 

"I mean, it has a lot of stuff inside." He nodded, "What do ya expect?" 

"I was expecting something smaller," I explained, remembering Collector's place. 

"Does space have malls too?" Ned asked curiously. 

"None that I've heard of." I responded, "Though, sometimes I go to this person called Coll--aah!"

"Who's Collaah?" He repeated, furrowing his eyebrow.  

"I...um." I paused. I can't believe I blurted that out. Sure, Ned's not gonna understand, but I shouldn't have done that. "Um, it's n-nobody. Don't worry about it, Ned." 

He seemed to understand the message and moved on. Finally arriving inside, I saw humans in different directions bustling into each store. They had bags in their hands while chatting aimlessly. Some gave me confused glances but overall they hadn't suspected a thing. 

"The convenient store is this way," Erin stated, showing us the store. "Come on, let's go."