Edd blinked and made a tiny noise of surprise as Tord's eyes slipped shut and he face-planted into his delicious bowl of Eddsworld cereal. When he didn't raise his head, Ylva grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled back, revealing a sleepy, milk-faced Tord.

"Are you two okay? You look shattered." Edd inquired between mouthfuls of bacon, his elbows on the table and his expression concerned. "Is Matt's room still filled with radioactive socks or haunted again?"

"Hey! I'll have you know the ghost cleared out all of my living underwear as well as throwing out my precious milk." Matt exclaimed with an indignant wave of the spoon, flinging specks of porridge everywhere.

Tom rolled his eye-holes, waiting by the toaster for it to pop up. "Your expired milk."

"You're expired milk!" The ginger retorted hotly, shoving a spoonful of porridge into his mouth with an offended expression.

"Ah, no it's none of... Of..." Tord trailed off with a massive yawn, slumping sideways into Ylva who just barely caught him.

"We're fine, is what he means to say." She flashed a short, tired smile. "We just had a little too much fun last night, didn't we Tordie?"

There was a snore in response. His head was resting on Ylva's boobs; a mild look of irritation flashed across her features.

"Tordie," Tom snorted, "I've got to remember that."

"We're you playing Man-opoly? That's my favourite game!" Matt beamed at Ylva, "it can last for hours!"

Tord awoke with a sudden yelp, shooting upright in his chair and his hand flying to the scarred half of his face. He seemed to take a moment to realise where he was, noticing all eyes on him, and forced a meek chuckle.

"Oops, did I fall asleep again?" His smile faltered, "ah, my mistake. Well, I think I'll just finish my cereal then be off to be-" he glanced down and saw his cereal all over the blue tablecloth. "...I'll just go to bed..."

"Wait a second," Tom walked towards the Norwegian male, causing him to pause nervously as he stood up. "Have you... Painted your nails?"

Tord choked on his words, frantically glancing to Ylva for help, but she just shrugged and returned to stirring her cereal, still irked about him falling asleep. He tugged the sleeve of his red hoodie over his hand, but Tom grabbed his wrist and exposed his painted nails.

"Hah, you have!" An unsettling grin slapped onto Tom's face. "Something to tell us, Tordie?"

"Can you paint my nails, too, Tord?" Matt bounced to his feet, looking hopeful; Ylva almost inhaled an Eddi-O and coughed to cover her laughter.

"Um, can I jus-" Tord raised his hands and backed away.

"Oh no, you're not getting away without explaining yourself." Tom took his hand and pulled him back into the kitchen with a squeal. "Are you gay?" There was no malicious intent behind his words, which was unusual: he seemed genuinely curious.

"No, I- uh-"

"Tom, lay off him. Maybe he just likes the look of painted nails?" Edd stood up and put his plate in the sink, glancing over his shoulder at his friend with a welcoming smile. "It does suit you, Tord."

"Alright then, Tordie. You're off the hook for now." Tom patted a surprised Tord's shoulder roughly. "Get some sleep. You look like death."

"U-uh, thanks, Tom..." Tord drifted from the room with an incredibly bewildered look, heading back upstairs to grab a few winks of sleep.

"Seriously though, what kept you two up all night?" Edd turned to Ylva for answers as she brought the rest of the dirty dishes to the sink.

"Ah, you know... Just chatting about things and losing track of time." She answered vaguely, "want some help with washing up?"

"Yeah, thanks. Uh... Want me to put your gloves somewhe-" Edd reached over with the intention of helping her take off her gloves, only for her hand to clamp around his fingers and crush them in an iron grip. "Ow! Ylva- you're hurting me!"

She hastily let go and put on a surprised face, but not before Edd caught the look of sheer evil playing in her eyes. He took back his hand and held it to his chest, acting a lot more wary of this supposedly innocent girl before him.

"Sorry, sorry. I have lighting reactions and a crazy ninja death grip." She laughed; he couldn't help but pick up on the poisonous undertone, but then wondered whether he had imagined it. "Don't worry about my gloves, I keep them on all the time because my... The skin on my hands is sensitive to sunlight."

"Okay..." Edd mumbled doubtfully, both of them standing close together in front of the sink and scrubbing at dishes. "So... How did you and Tord meet?"

"Me and-? Oh, we were, um..." Ylva clears her throat and pretended to be occupied with relentlessly rubbing a bit of food that wouldn't come off. "We met on the beach when I was walking my dog in the evening. It was a rather romantic first meeting, I have to admit. All my girlfriends were jealous when I told them about this dreamy guy."

Tom sidled up and started drying the plates with a tea towel. "When was the wedding?"

"It was a, uh, recent affair, actually. Our financial situation wasn't looking good so we... So Tord asked me to live with him, and we figured we'd get engaged at the same time." She paused, glancing back at where Matt was still quietly munching away at the table. "It was a small event, and Tord wanted me to meet all of you after our honeymoon."

"I see..." Tom was elbowed by Edd and given a meaningful look. "I mean... It sounds lovely! How thoughtful of him."

"Edd," Matt whined, tilting his head back to save him turning around. "When am I going to get married?"

Edd dried one hand using Tom's tea towel, extending his arm and ruffling Matt's spiked hair. "All in due time, Matt. You'll find a girl who tolerates you soon, I'm sure."

"Yay!" Matt threw his arms up excitedly, sprinting from the room.

"Well, this was a wonderful little chat, but..." Her soapy hand raised to her lips to stifle a yawn. "Yeah, I need to get some sleep, too." She dried her hands on a towel.

"Sleep well, Ylva. And don't pull another all-nighter next time!" Edd scolded lightly, waving to her as she swept from the room in silence.

The moment she was out of earshot, Tom turned to Edd. "That was incredibly suspicious."

"Yeah, their stories didn't match up at all." The green-clad boy agreed with a nod of his head.

"They're definitely up to something. And that something isn't playing Man-opoly all night..." Tom stated darkly, throwing the tea towel back onto the counter.

"Maybe they just didn't want to tell us about their personal lives?" Edd suggested with a hopeful expression, still not quite wanting to believe something more sinister may be occuring under their noses.

"You and I both know that isn't true. Her reflexes are insane and she doesn't seem completely happy with Tord. Plus, they're not wearing any rings- and what's with Tord suddenly painting his nails?" He groaned and pressed the heels of his hands into his eye-holes. "Ugh, this is all so confusing. Why did Tord have to come back?!"

"Perhaps we should stay out of it for a while. They might need a bit of time to open up fully." Edd crossed his arms and sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. "Let's just not intervene and hope that this doesn't backfire horribly."

~

Hope you enjoyed (: