Finding

(47) Talking with Matt

"Hmm..." Matt hummed in absent minded agreement.

"Matt, are you listening?" Tord asked as he could sense that the ginger was being preoccupied by something else on his mind.

"Uh...Yes?"

Sighing at the taller man's questioning tone, the silvernette looked at his companion and queried, "Come on, what's bothering your mind? Spill it already."

Matt sheepishly laughed at the Norwegian's question and sighed, "I...I just like how you smell without any hints of Tom's scent."

"Wait, what? Like, what do you mean by 'hints of Tom's scent'?"

"Well..." The ginger tried to start as he looked away from the piercing gaze of gem-like green eyes as he explained, "You may not think much about it; but me and Edd like how you smell like Blue-lotus, green tea and cucumbers when all of us were younger. Now that you've started smoking your cigars, the cigar smoke isn't that bad when mixed with your natural scent.

That said, the past few years, the both of us noticed how Tom's pineapple and vodka scent seem to cling on to you lately. I mean, it isn't that much of a surprise considering that he's the one he usually gets to hug you or hold you in his arms. But, we kind of like it when doesn't end up marking you up."

Gem green then blinked a couple of times as Tord tried processing Matt's words.

Edd and Matt didn't like him having hints of Tom's scent!? That's something he never discovered before in his original time....

"(1) Faen.

Now that I remember it, Matt did say that he wanted Tom's scent to be gone from me which was why he did try to scent mark me before. Heck, it's even the reason why I ended up ordering the execution of the two idiots during that previous timeline.

And now, in this current timeline, Matt is admitting this kind of thing!?

That's just...."

Tord then shook his head to get his thoughts straight and wondered by what they meant. It wasn't like Thomas purposely left his scent all over him during the previous timeline nor did Tom do the same things in the present timeline.

"Like, both of those two eyeless idiots aren't that barbaric enough to be all territorial or something. Heck, the two of them probably don't even know what scent marking is," the silvernette internally mused as he sighed.

"You know, I think we've veered too far from our main conversation," reminded Tord as he wanted to stop thinking about such menial things since he'd rather not deal with any of his friends' weird interests on how he smelled.

"Umm... Yeah," Matt throatily chuckled and had Tord sighing again.

Having enough of the ginger's actions, the gem green eyed male then removed himself from Matt's hold and deposited himself at a chair just across the other. "Matt..."

"Okay. Okay.

So, you'd want to suggest to Edd that we go have a house?"

"Yes, that's what I said."

"But you do know how expensive real estate is in London? I mean, we could choose a ready-made house since it'll be easier to handle. Nonetheless, the appeal of a house that we would have to make ourselves also has its merits," Matt tried to reason.

"Look, how about you and the guys let me search for the land we could build our house on. I could buy the said land and handle the other things like construction and etc., Then, the four of us could just chip in the daily living necessities, maintenance and the place's taxes.

I mean, for me it'll be a win-win situation since I'll have the three of you around and convince my dad and the rest of my servants that I'm not some anti-social creep that would rather spend his time in the labs all-year-round."

"You mean, you'll get us to look after you. That, and to make sure you have normal human interactions, so you wouldn't be an uptight and snobby individual?" Matt teased as he grinned widely.

"When did I ever become uptight and snobby!?" Tord bit back.

"I don't know, Tordy.

But sometimes, you do have that look like you feel you're above everybody else. I mean, you don't have that directed at us since you're radiant and more open when around us. Heck, you even smile and laugh a lot due to our group's shenanigans.

That said, when you turn your attention to anybody else, it's like you think of them as dirt beneath your shoe. It's like everything else is nothing more but a nuisance to you," Matt answered as he tapped his hand on his lap.

Biting the inside of his cheek, Tord was getting what the ginger was pointing out. Nonetheless, it wasn't like he would admit to the taller man how the only few things he really cared about are his family and friends. He couldn't admit to Matt how everything else could go to hell as long as the people he cared for are fine. Like, that would open a large can of worms that he'd rather not be brought to light.

"(2) Jeg kan ikke innrømme for dem at de var vennene mine i min originale tidslinje. (3) Jeg kunne heller ikke si at jeg er grunnen til at de tre av dem er døde der. "

Chuckling at Matt's words, Tord hid his unease at being read so well and reminded himself to be more careful. After all, as much as Matt in the near future would act as an egotistic narcissist, the ginger is quite rather smart and observant.

To be precise, it was because of this (coming second after Thomas) Matt was someone he somewhat considered as a competent adversary during the war. That, unlike Edd who allowed his emotions to take over him, Matt was more of a controlled person who did well with strategies. It was why Matt was known as the Purple Leader when he was by his side and even until the ginger betrayed him.

Mathew was brilliant and it looked like this younger version of the blue-eyed man was the same.

"What you're saying is nonsense, Matt. I just treat people according to how they treat me. I'm not uptight nor am I snobby. I'm just the way I am with them since they're the ones to first treat and label me as something," Tord declared as he leaned back on his chair and quirked his lips in amusement.

"Oh, okay," Matt conceded with a curious look and joked, "Well then, it means that to make sure you treat us well, we'd have to butter you up nicely then."

Snorting at the blue-eyed man's antics, Tord allowed other topics flow in their conversation and the two friends then spent their time talking about whatever it was that came into their minds.

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Language Translations:

(1) Faen [Norwegian] – Fuck

(2) Jeg kan ikke innrømme for dem at de var vennene mine i min originale tidslinje. [Norwegian] - I can't admit to them that they were my friends in my original timeline.

(3) Jeg kunne heller ikke si at jeg er grunnen til at de tre av dem er døde der. [Norwegian] - I also couldn't say that I was the reason why the three of them died there.