Strawberry Panic {TomTord}

Heating up

A/N: If you think I'm not gonna overuse this heckin' video you've got another thing coming.

Oh yeah, btw the last chapter I posted was the final chapter that I had planned explicitly in 2016. This chapter and the ones following are rough ideas that I didn't write in detail about but still knew that I wanted to include them. Some chapters are shit I made up as I wrote the second one because I thought they would be funny.

—

On the rare occasion that his schedule stated that he had a free day, Tom wasn't really sure what to do with himself. Since, in most cases, the only reason for him to get out of bed and actually shower for once was for the purpose of going to work- his personal life didn't exactly have the same drive. With deadlines and the threat of being fired being hung over his head, it was pretty easy to find the motivation to stop being the sad pathetic freeloader and go outside. But, without that motivational crutch being there, the restless anxiety kicked in.

The thought of staying in, not getting dressed and ready for the day unnerved him- it broke the natural sequence, the routine held no purpose. And for that reason, Tom feared even if he took a break for one day, his addictive personality would kick in. He'd spiral again, get lost in the monotony of helplessness and self-pity, knocking back enough shots of vodka to fill the aching emptiness inside.

To be the man his father always said he would be.

So, in order to counterbalance this, he did what any sane man would do; he asked his cross-dressing gal pals whether they wanted to do something.

They didn't.

Connie apologised profusely down the phone, saying that she would love to, but had already made plans with her family. Cherri, on the other hand, told him that whilst he did owe her a shopping trip, she had a doctors appointment and didn't know when it would end since waiting times were such a bitch.

That left a problem.

Since the weird half gay chicken, half Mexican standoff in the living room, things had been tense in the house (well, as tense as the four idiots would allow).

Tord had been extra keen to stick around and watch Tom closely throughout the days that he had off- following him around in a tense silence. His eyes were intense, looking for faults and flaws, constantly drilling into his skin. It lit up his nerves and warmed his skin, causing prickles of anticipation to roll off in waves. 

Half the time Tom didn't know whether to tell him to fuck off or beg him to fuck him. 

Matt being Matt, he either didn't notice or care about his new obnoxious Norwegian shadow. Edd, on the other hand, found it quite suspicious. 

Quite a few times, he had spotted his friend squinting sceptically at him from the corner of his eye- really, it was only a matter of time before he said something. 

Weighing up his increasing paranoia, versus his need to avoid any possible awkward conversations over his mildly kinky day job, Tom chose the former. He really wished he hadn't.

"Do any of you guys want to do anything today?" He asked the quietly munching trio- well, duo really, since Tord opted to steal glances at him between gulps of dark, bitter coffee. The thought of getting away from the house and Tord becoming much more favourable as the days stretched on.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Matt started making happy little noises in his throat, wiggling in his seat as he pulled out a small purple wallet from his pocket, "I've saved up enough for the mirror! Can we go, Edd?" 

Edd chewed thoughtfully, slowly, "Well... I don't have any commissions to turn in until tomorrow-"

"YES!" Matt squealed and wooped in excitement, full of energy as he jumped out of his chair, and ran towards his bedroom.

Edd smiled fondly behind his back, shaking his head before looking at Tom, "So, the mall then?"

Tom shrugged in acceptance, he didn't care where they went as long as they left the suffocating atmosphere of lies and unsaid confessions. 

"Tord?" 

The man in question grunted in reply, eyes flickering between the two of them and his mug. Vaguely, Tom caught him clenching his fists tightly under the table, stuffing them roughly into his pocket as he was caught.

Yup, he had definitely made the wrong decision.  

--

Two hours later, they were all grouped together within a thin crowd of fellow shoppers. Huddled next to the fountain near the front entrance, Matt bounced on the balls of his feet, his shoes making sharp scuffing noises on the linoleum floor. 

Tom winced at the continuous sounds, already irritated. The arcade would have been so much easier. 

"Okay, so-." Edd squinted at the map, fingers hovering over the protective plastic as his tongue hung out of his mouth in concentration, "Matt needs to go to the antique store, I'm picking up some new tablet pens nibs and you guys-"

He paused and faced them, "What do you guys want to do?"

Tom mentally flailed for a second, what did he want to do? He could check out the makeup on the third floor, maybe get some more tips from the staff- but he couldn't exactly drag (haha) the guys through there, right? 

"Uh-"

"He needs new strings for his guitar." Tord roughly interrupted, not looking at any of them as he glared out into the swarming mass of people around them, "And I'm checking out Forbidden Planet for new issues."

Edd nodded, "Those are on the same floor- we could split up and meet at the food court later if you want?"

Expressing their approval, the gang slowly started to shuffle in their respected directions. Tom watched as Matt pulled Edd along by the elbow, chatting together enthusiastically. Once he had seen them disappear out of sight, he rounded on Tord, arms crossed, suspicious. 

"I don't need new strings, Susan is fine." He huffed.

Tord rolled his eyes, "It's a piece of shit- the last time I saw it, it had three strings."

Gasping in offense, Tom pointed an accusing finger, "Susan isn't an 'IT', she's a lovely lady! Besides, they don't call me the Three String Wonder for no reason." 

Grumbling, Tord made his way to the escalators, leaving Tom to catch up on his own.

They each took their time to go in a few stores that they thought were interesting, not really talking to each other as they silently signalled where to go and when they wanted to lead.  The dramatic, sudden change in their dynamic was weird- they weren't arguing all the time, which is what they would be doing if it weren't for the unspoken events that had happened, but they weren't talking or joking around either. It was just, as he had stated before, weird. 

He had half a mind to question why Tord had wanted to shop with him in the first place.

Finally, at some point, they had reached Forbidden Planet. Tord roughly pulled him in through the heavy metal doors, weaving them both expertly through the unceremonious piles of FunkoPop boxes and Harry Potter merchandise. 

He was released near the back of the store, where the shelved manga and anime figurines stood behind their glass casing. Tom looked around absentmindedly as Tord scanned the bulging shelves, making a note to find where the Doctor Why merch was hiding so he could pick something up for Edd's birthday. 

Turning around to voice that thought, he stopped and blinked owlishly. 

Tord stared back at him with a deadpan expression, face blank, and totally ignoring the fact that he was wearing cat ears. He raised a fist.

"Nya."

Tom blinked again, dumbfounded.

"Wha-"

"You know. Nya." 

Tom choked back a laugh, wheezing. There were tears in his eyes, and he weakly clutched at his throat as his mad cackling turned into coughing.

"No, no, no, that's fucking awful, how could you??" Tom managed between gasps.

Tord threw him a fanged grin, "I'm a man of culture."