So Long & Goodnight...

Part 6: Post Private Patchwork

2:30 am, Edgar was walking towards his apartment alone. He listened to the echoes of his footsteps in the night as he felt the rapid beating of his heart. He was in a sweat, looking exhausted and squeezing his chest as if he was on the verge of collapsing. In his scarf he carried something. It was green and soft, covered in holes and tears. Reaching his building, he tried breathing deeply as he slowly shuffled towards the elevator. He stood in silence, glancing to his left, expecting someone to stand there. He then picked up the Spike plushie from his scarf and stared at its damaged face. Nervously, he looked around in the 4x4 foot chamber and sniffed it.

"Huh..." he whispered awkwardly to himself. He hugged the plush tightly.

The elevator doors opened to an unexpected sight. He was taken aback when he came face to face with his neighbor, the bratty undead Emz. She stood there, staring in bewilderment at the unusual sight of the local edgelord clutching something cute. Edgar stared back with dilated pupils like a deer in headlights. It wasn't too long before Emz had shifted from confusion to hysteria.

"HAHAHAHA! OH MY GOSH, THIS IS HILARIOUS!!" she burst out laughing.

Edgar wanted to play it off with anger like he usually did, but something in him choked him from bursting out.

Suddenly, she pulled out her phone. "This is too good NOT to post!"

"W-wait hold on!" Edgar reached out in a panic.

However, it was too late, as Emz showed him the photo posted on her social media. Edgar stared back at himself clutching a stuffed Spike while reaching forward in terror. All life drained from his face as he buried himself in the plushie and groaned.

"Wait a minute..." Emz pondered, staring intently at the doll. "That plush is veeerrryyy familiar..."

Edgar then became red and tried to escape the situation. Emz grabbed him by the scarf and looked down at him smugly.

"Noooo, don't tell me... Is that Colette's?" she asked, menacingly.

"W-whaaaat? Noooo..." Edgar said, clearly lying in the roll of his eyes.

This proved ineffective. "Oh Ed, don't lie to me. I've seen it in her many lame posts."

He was almost offended at the use of the word "lame," but was cut off.

"Wait! Does that mean you finally told her?" she asked in curiosity.

"I-it was an accident! I didn't re- WAIT!" he interrupted himself. "How do you know that!?"

Emz placed her arm around him. "Oh Eddie, we're practically roommates, I know everything about you!" she said while making a hole shape with her other hand.

Edgar looked in petrified anger, but quickly rebutted. "Tch, like your little crush on Poco is any less obvious."

The dramatic zombie struck a pose in shock with an open gasp. "OH! How dare you use that against me!? Don't tell anyone!"

"Too late, hag, you've done me dirty." he chuckled. "Buuuut... I couldn't care less anyways."

"Touche..." Emz said in a drastically different position, slapping Edgar in his behind towards his room.

Edgar walked backwards while yelling. "Hey! Maybe I can wingman you with Poco now?"

"Sh-shut your mouth!!" she said, turning red as Edgar ran off laughing.

Quickly, he locked himself in his apartment. His room wasn't any bigger than Colette's, but it was definitely different. The room was lit by a single ceiling lamp, revealing the pitch black painting on his walls. His floor was made of hardwood, littered with many crumpled balls of graphing paper. His walls did have posters, only they were in fewer numbers and of his favorite rock bands. As he entered, he made sure to move his King poster to cover the hole in the wall. He had a simple wooden closet, holding various gloomy attire, his uniform vests, and a makeup set in the bottom drawer. His desk wasn't as decorated as his partner's but it too was covered in crumpled pieces of failed love notes and songs. His bed was dark and empty, but he crouched down to reach underneath it. Edgar pulled out a large set of boxes, which housed an intricate sewing and knitting set. His scarf helped him lift up the heavy equipment as he violently swept his desk clean. Edgar was quite talented in sewing, he had to be if his main weapon was a scarf.

An unfinished poncho sat in his sewing machine.

"Sorry, but I've got something important to do?" he said sarcastically to the inanimate cloth.

He removed the cloth and placed Colette's Spike plush on the table. His scarf foraged his sewing set for spare black buttons and green thread as Edgar analyzed the doll. He pulled out measuring tools and graphing paper as he measured what he would need to repair it. Edgar proceeded to spend the entirety of his morning fixing Colette's beloved plushie. He started patching any tears on the main body, starting with the arms and working his way up its body. The flower atop its head was on the verge of breaking, so he made a quick effort to prevent it. He left a hole in its back for him to replace with fresh and softer stuffing. After patching up the body, he went on to repair any cuts or holes in the clothing. With yellow string he gave its purple vest a new butterfly stitch. The pants were intact, but he chose to sew it into the doll to prevent it from falling off. Lastly he searched hard for the perfect button to match the other in size and type for its eye. Edgar worked hard until dawn to fix it.

6:30 am. "Finally, it's done..." he exclaimed to himself in exhaustion. "Hmm..."

He looked around once more before giving the plush a kiss on the forehead. "Ugh, I can't believe I just did that..."

He banged his head on the desk, only to be awakened by his alarm. "Oh crap! Work!"

He stood up and looked at himself in the mirror. He was still a mess.