Imperfectpictures

5/25/2019

Episode Twenty: Supplies

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Episode Twenty: Supplies

Edward had to work on editing that night once Tyler and Seth were gone. We worked separately and silently in his office until early in the morning. Once we got to bed, he seemed restless, unable to relax or get comfortable. I stroked his scalp to try to soothe him, running my fingers through his thick hair.

“It makes me very upset that so much has happened to you,” he suddenly blurted out into the darkness of his bedroom.

“So much happens to everyone,” I told him to calm his worry. Not that it would really help. “I'm fine. I'm worried I have too much baggage for you, to be honest though. I didn’t mean to throw that out there tonight. I didn’t mean to overshare.”

He was so quick to reply, “it's not your fault. None of that is your fault.”

“I didn't say it was,” I pointed out. “Doesn’t mean I want to throw it out there.”

“Is it normal to be this angry at someone you don't even know?” Edward asked into my hair, his warm breath heating my skin. “Someone I didn't even know existed until hours before?”

I brought my hand down from his scalp, tracing my fingers along his jaw until I lightly touched his neck.

"Hm, it's not that unusual. You don't need to be angry for my sake, though. I can do that very well all on my own."

"I want to protect you," he said fiercely.

"That's sweet. And I'm sure you are very capable of protecting me from certain things. But you can't protect anyone constantly against everything, though."

Edward sighed, "I know." Gingerly his fingers ran along my arm. "You seem delicate, but you're not at all, Bella. I was mugged once, and I just cried instantly and handed over my wallet. To be fair, I was sloshed and like nineteen."

“Oh no,” I laughed despite myself.

“He didn't even threaten me. 'Oi, mate, I'll be needing your wallet.' Said 'cheers' and ran off. He gave my phone back because it was shit, too. It was downright depressing.”

I laughed again, my hand on my chest as I did. “No way.”

“I had a hand me down cell from my sister at the time. It was one of those flippy types. Real thin and fucking hot pink. I was terrible with phones, so I got what I got. The screen was cracked. This is when I was still living off my parents pretty much. I called my mum sobbing and still drunk. Mum, he didn’t want my phone!”

“I bet that was a fun night,” I mused softly.

“Talk about a hangover. Damn,” he chuckled.

I laid my head on his bare chest, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "I don't know how much protection I can be, but I would shank someone for you. If I had to."

“Aw, how romantic,” Edward said with a sleepy chuckle.

We woke up around eleven. It wasn't enough sleep.

The video he was filming that day had to do with handmade watches. I declined to be in it. Instead, I settled myself in one of the chairs they had scattered around the watchmaker's and started writing a list of things Edward would need for an ideal kitchen. I wasn't interested in twenty thousand dollar watches, but it was certainly possible for me to spend that much on a kitchen.

One of the sales girls brought me coffee when she saw me struggling to stay awake. It was a vanilla cappuccino, which was good. Very sweet with lots of foam. It came with a small rock candy sugar stick to stir it with to make it sweeter if I so wished. I ended up just eating it.

I found a restaurant supply store that was close to a Target and a Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I figured we could get everything we needed from those three stores the easiest. I didn't feel like going all over creation for the video. It would probably also be the cheapest at those places anyway.

We had to be sneaky to film this time. All three guys were using their phones in the shops. They didn't have permission to be shooting in the big corporate stores. They were going to get themselves in trouble. They were having too much fun.

“How decked out do you want this kitchen?” I asked the phone camera in Edward's hand before going into the store.

“I want it fully loaded, baby,” Eddie replied in his acting voice.

“It could be in the thousands,” I warned him.

“That's fine. I need it. It's an investment in future videos. Get it all and get the best,” he insisted. “I trust you.”

“Alright,” I drew out, still unsure. “Keep the receipts.”

I needed two carts to get all the things I picked up from the restaurant supply store. I bought every sort of pot, pan, cookware he could possibly need. Cast iron, enamel coated, baking dishes, cake pans, and baking sheets as well as a pizza stone to put in his oven. I got measuring cups and spoons, mixing bowls, and the most expensive set of knives I had ever personally seen. Edward picked those out himself when he saw me mooning over them. Finally, we got the dishes, cups, and silverware he really needed.

Seth filmed really close to my face with his phone as I squirmed when they rung us up. The high numbers made me seriously uncomfortable, even if I wasn’t buying it. They all enjoyed my obvious pain. By the end, I had my face shoved into Edward's side, who was clearly trying to not act amused as well by my growing discomfort. His arms wrapped around me comfortingly, patting me reassuringly.

“Oh, sweet baby Jesus,” I murmured when they announced the outrageous sum. It made my stomach twist. “That is so much. Are you sure?”

“Yup,” he grinned as he paid.

It took thirty minutes for the boys to arrange everything in the car, and since we had only gotten part of what he needed, we went back to his house to drop it all off. We ate leftover chicken and pitas from the night before for lunch before heading back out to Target and Bed, Bath, and Beyond to pick up all the appliances he was going to need. This time we went in two cars, just in case.

I had gone to the Target so much at that point I recognized one of the cashiers as we came in. She smiled at me as we walked past.

Once again, I filled up two carts. I also got myself a nice blue sequin dress and a simple devil's horn set for Halloween while there as well. Edward apparently already had costume choices at home. He had cosplayed before many times. I wasn't surprised. He had done all those stupid costume videos before that I had really enjoyed.

We filled both cars’ trunks and put the big bulky boxes in the backseat of one of them. It took forever to bring everything in. It covered the table, the counters, and most of the floor in the kitchen.

Of course, we took hours and hours to fill the kitchen, so we ordered a pizza that night for dinner. We were all exhausted by the end.

The following day was a Monday and Edward had to record at home. Mostly what he was doing was capturing video game play and a couple of unboxing videos. Nothing I could really help him with. So, I decided to remove all the new kitchen toys from their wrappings and wash them. I put them all away neatly. He had a cleaning lady that came twice a week, but I still cleaned the kitchen thoroughly. I put all the boxes inside of each other, compacting them for later use.

I hauled all the other stuffing and bubble wrap into its proper bins, trash or otherwise, and when I came back, Edward was standing in the kitchen. He was surprised at the transformation it had made. The countertops were lined perfectly with a new toaster, a big stand mixer, a blender, a food processor and a whole host of other gadgets. The pots and pans were nicely arranged on the exposed shelves above his stove. He even had a nice new shiny bread box. The kitchen looked like something out of a magazine.

“Wow. Would you look at that? You did that in what... Three hours?” He looked at his watch. “I don't even know what most of it does!” He said with too much enthusiasm.

“I can show you,” I promised him with an amused smile.

“I'm looking forward to it.” He kissed me deeply, suddenly, holding my face in his hands. Gingerly, he rubbed his nose against mine when he pulled away. “Thank you.”

“You're welcome. I enjoyed doing it for you.”

“Surely not the cleaning part. Or, the part where I paid,” he teased.

“I meant the shopping, but the cleaning wasn't bad. I listened to a podcast,” I assured him with a big smile.

“Oh, what about?”

“True crime comedy,” I was sure he didn't really want to know all the details.

Edward made a confused face. “How is that possible?”

“It's a thing. It's weird. It's hard to explain,” I told him, grasping on the best way to explain my weirdness. “I listen to a few of them. It's basically comedians talking about true crime. It's so niche it hurts.”

“Maybe I'll have a listen someday.” He brushed my hair over my ear.

“It's good for things like road trips when you don't want to fall asleep,” I teased. “I'm listening to a five-part series on Jack the Ripper right now.”

“Oh well, lots of people like Jack the Ripper stories,” he replied. “Wasn't he the Queen's doctor or something?” He asked as he went to the fridge to get himself a drink.

“No,” I laughed. “That's a dumb rumor. One of many. It probably wasn't a single person but a couple of people, most likely local because people kill where they live for some stupid reason. Or the neighborhood over. The area was filled with butchers with the ability to do what he did. A Queen's doctor wouldn't go to the worst neighborhood to kill. He could kill the finest quality sex workers if he so pleased. He was rich as fuck after all.”

Edward snorted, "I guess you're right. I don't know a lot about crime. My mum is a retired criminal judge, so I think she tried to keep that away from us kids growing up."

I nodded. It was probably for the best. My grandmother stuffed me with shows about murder. “Also Australia has less of it. Only a few big things, really. I remember seeing all of this terrible stuff all the time on the World News because my grandma watched it every single day.”

"No, wonder you like true crime."

“No,” I laughed again, “I like true crime because she recorded every single Forty-Eight Hours, Law and Order, 20/20, and Unsolved Mysteries and watched them over and over again on VHS. I remember laying on the floor watching the big wooden television set behind my grandma's recliner, in a corner. My little fort. Watch for hours on rainy Saturday afternoons. Or, after mass on Sunday. Then we'd play dominoes and make dinner together.”

"That sounds nice, actually. The dinner and dominoes part. But a wooden television?" Edward questioned me.

I felt ancient. “You've never seen a TV from the eighties in the big wooden box with the black chunky knobs that clunked every time you tried to turn to one of maybe ten channels?”

“Oh, I guess. I just didn't think about it like that. I was thinking-” he shook his head. “Nevermind, I'm an idiot. Anyway, I came in here to see if you want to come to play with me.”

“I'm not that easy. I do need a little more foreplay than that,” I said very dryly. Edward smirked at me and without missing a beat slapped my ass. I nodded my head, hiding my own amusement. “That seems fair.”

He laughed, “do you want to come to play video games with me for a capture?”

"What are you doing, exactly?"

“I'm going into the playground mode of the game I'm trying to make a sponsored video for and doing dumb shit for said video. It's for the battleground mode release for Mega-Annum. I’m making a few videos for it.”

I understood the words, but they didn't mean that much to me.

“I've never played before,” I told him honestly. I had only heard about the game in passing. I knew it was one of the games that helped him get his start on YouTube. He was really good at it. Really good.

“That's okay. We're going to be in playground mode like I said and you can learn to do the controls while I piss about,” he promised me.

“I don't think my laptop could handle the game,” I informed him. “It's a few years old.”

“I set my other computer up for you already,” Edward answered quickly, having already thought of that.

I shrugged at him. "Sure, I guess. I'm not very good at video games, even if I like them. Especially shooters. And I don't know if I've ever played one like this on a computer. Just consoles."

"Don't worry about it." He smiled brightly as he took my hand and walked me towards his office. There was a nice black computer on his large desk where there hadn't been before. "I upgraded right after I moved here, but I still have my other as a backup," he explained happily.

I sat down in the chair that he pulled out for me and put on a set of big headphones to wear he gave me to wear.

“So, what is the goal of this game exactly?”

"The main part of the game is a battle royale, ninety-nine against one. Last man standing wins. You gather clothes, materials, medicines, weapons, or whatever to help you survive as long as possible. There is a barrier that pushes in to bring the players closer together until it closes completely. People behind the barrier die. You don't need to worry about that, though because it's just going to be you and me, and you can't permanently kill me because there are respawns in this mode."

“How do I move?” I felt stupid for asking. And once again, old. So old.

He showed me the buttons to use on the keyboard and then showed me on the gaming mouse how to hit things and how to build things, his hand over mine as he leaned over me. “But they have the key above each item if you forget and if you want to change anything, I can in the menu.”

“I'll try it like this first,” I said as Edward started up the game. I bit my thumb as I tried to memorize everything he had said.

You could farm materials for building from anything, and everything was completely destroy-able. First, I figured out how to jump around and run before learning to take things down with my ax. While I looked around and hit everything like a maniac to get used to the control, Edward was building a big game board like Monopoly with the tiles but with different traps or prizes on each one. The game had just recently put in a “roll the dice” emote that actually rolled a pair of six-sided dice.

“Okay, so, the game I want to do is the first to get three matching guns in the same color wins. Everyone starts with full health. Some tiles have meds while others offer death,” he explained dramatically. I rolled my eyes. Eddie was stupidly cute.

Somehow I won the first round. He was far too amused when he realized that I was going to win despite being killed several times already by my own stupidity. I had shot him several times for sass-talking me during the game. We played another two times, me winning the third as well. It was a silly game, and it made me laugh. There was no reason for me to be winning other than dumb, blind luck. Though I was improving with my aim by the end. I had shot him in the head with a sniper rifle several times from across the board. It wasn't part of the game he was trying to play, I just found it funny to see his face when I did it, a mix of half amused and half annoyed.

When he was done getting the video capture Edward needed I came to sit on his lap. His character had every possible unlockable outfit, emote, toy, pet, or whatever dumb thing they had for it. I played with the character, looking at all the goofy choices.

He kissed along my neck. “Do you want to play a game together? A real one? You weren't a terrible shot.”

I glanced back at him. “When you were standing still. You let me kill you.”

He shrugged, a little smirk on his handsome face. "We could play in pairs, and I could carry you to a victory."

“You're rather confident,” I mused.

“Well, I'm not terrible at the game. I bet I could get you an easy win, at least."

“Think you could do it on the first try?” I looked up at him daringly, grinning at him wickedly.

Edward smiled in return, taking the bait. “Are you challenging me, Isabella?”

I reached up and brought his mouth to mine, pulling his head down to me so I could kiss him deeply. It surprised him, the intensity of it. I pulled back, tugging on his bottom lip as I did. I could feel his erection against my thighs.

"If you win the game for us, I will do whatever you want, and if I win, or rather lose, you have to do a video of my own design.”

“Okay,” he said, a little dopey. It was almost mean how much I swayed things in my favor with that. I kissed him again. “Wait.” He pulled away. “What if it's dirty? The things I want to do?”

"I was kind of counting on it to be? I'm only doing this because I think it's going to be easy for me." I rolled my eyes and shook my head at him dramatically. "But, both of us have to be alive at the very end. I mean, obviously you. But it won't count if I die in the middle like that guy at the charity show and you win. Full escort mission style, baby."

"Sure, sure. But, what if I want to do something really kinky?" Edward was genuinely giddy and wide-eyed. He was stuck on that part.

“Do you want to spank me again?” I purred in his ear, kissing along his jaw. He was so easy to mess with. I batted my eyelashes, fucking with him further. “I hope so.”

“Shall I take you over my knee?” He said warmly with his fingers in my hair suddenly. My spine tingled a little with his sudden intensity, twisting his hand into my locks.

“Yes, sir,” I breathed against his cheek before kissing it. His erection twitched against my thigh.

I am going to have to think of a good video idea.

I got up, bending over him so he could get a good view of my breasts before I kissed him again on the mouth.

“I hope you win,” I told him before going to my computer.

“I... I-” he began but stopped, pouting out his bottom lip. Edward adjusted his hard-on with a serious little face, wiggling in his seat.

He almost died at the very beginning, and he cursed loudly, shouting at his screen wildly. I killed the guy just as they knocked out Eddie, but I was able to bring him back to life. I was only able to do it because he lowered the other guy's health so much before. After that, it was an easier match. He mowed through around ten players while I took out a couple more myself because they were distracted by him. I used a trap for one and a bunch of sticky bombs on the other. I ended up being a mule for most of Edward's supplies pretty much though.

The final pair we were playing against was a very good set of players though, and Edward had me hide for most of the last of the battle in a big box filled with traps. To say he was determined would be an understatement. He knocked out one of them but did not kill them, and the other player was relentlessly shooting him. He screamed at the monitor as Edward was knocked out as well. Luckily I was able to shotgun the final player in the head from above just as he dropped him, peeking out of my trap box from above before blindly shooting a half dozen times. It killed both players instantly, winning us the game.

“We won!” He said happily, hopping up from his desk and jumping up and down once.

“Yes, but you were knocked out, my dear,” I said calmly. I pointed to the screen that said my player name had won the game. My avatar was dancing while he was still crawling at my feet around the pile of loot that popped up because of the other player's death.

Edward stopped, “oh,” he drew out slowly. “Well...Damn.”

“Don't worry, I'll still let you spank me tonight,” I assured with him with a wicked little smile.

Back: Episode 19

Next: Episode 21