So Long & Goodnight...

Part 7: Good Morning and Good Night

8 am in the morning. Colette was completely tired but still made it on time for her beloved job. Yesterday was a complete trainwreck, and had to come in in bandages as she apologized repetitively to her boss. Nonetheless, she was relieved to still keep her job in her favorite place on earth. She had missed a whole day of brawling (kind of) yesterday, and was fired up to start one today. However, despite her excitement for her daily dose of brawler exposure, there was something she had to do first. After all, today was definitely different now.

"Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap!" Edgar screamed as he ran as fast as he could.

The boy was incredibly late for work. He had fallen asleep and had to take a heavy shower after staying up all night. Nearing the Starr Park entrance, he hid amongst the bushes as he tightly concealed the bright green plush within his scarf. He didn't want anyone seeing him with something like this, even though his annoying undead neighbor had already spread the news. His mission was particularly difficult now that he had a bandage around his arm. Despite his attempts to stealth into the park, he couldn't help but frequently rub his bite mark.

10:30 am. "Ugh, finally made it in..." Edgar exclaimed as he entered the air conditioned brick walls of the gift shop.

He walked down the aisle of new shelves that were brought in to replace the ones he and his co-worker had destroyed yesterday. Second hand embarrassment crawled on his back looking at the merchandise.

"Hey! You're late!" yelled a loud impish voice. "What took you so long?"

Colette was really worried, but Edgar was quick to reassure her. "Calm down! I was just up all night fixing this damn thing..." he said sarcastically, tossing the repaired Spike plush into Colette's arms.

"OMG WOW!! THIS IS SO COOL!!" she yelped excitedly, holding it up high as she pirouetted. "Ow!"

She fell onto the floor as she flinched in pain from her leg injury. Edgar quickly leaped above the counter to help her up. He still hasn't apologized for their brawl yesterday.

"Oh crap, I'm so sorry. I still haven't apologized for yesterday..."

Colette smiled reassuringly. "Hah! It's fine, we deal with this sort of stuff everyday!" she joked. "Buuuut... what you should apologise for is staying up so late! Self-care, Edgar?"

"Sorry! Sorry! I just, really wanted to get that thing ready for you..." he explained, turning away with blushes.

"Thanks, Edgar. It's really awesome and pretty!" she thanked him. "Like you~?"

Edgar turned fully red. "Pssh, I know that! And I know I am great at making things look perfect!"

She smirked. "Like your letter?"

"Sh-shut up!"

Colette burst into laughter as Edgar cringed. "Hey! I'm serious! You have pretty writing..."

Edgar turned around and saw her look away shyly, her face pressed on the plushie's forehead. In his head, he swore he could hear sniffing. He quickly looked away. "...I'm glad you still liked it..."

"Oh! That's right!"

Suddenly, Colette reached under the counter and revealed her scrapbook. She called her partner over as she opened it to a brand new page. In it was a two-page entree in her scrapbook specially made for Edgar. A few items were taped on, including Edgar's black lipstick, a thread from his scarf, a bit of his hair, and his love poem on full display. Accompanying them were scribbled hearts around a pin designed after him, as well as written down lyrics.

"So long and goodnight. Clever eh?" Colette said proudly.

"Umm, how did you get my makeup?" Edgar asked with a crack in his voice.

"Do you really wanna know?" she asked back threateningly.

He gulped before pointing at two glued photos on the pages. "HANG ON! W-where'd you get those pictures!?"

The photos were of him in the elevator with the plush, and a stolen shot of him repairing it.

"Oh, Emz posted them! She's so cool~ She called me lame!" Colette explained, ignoring Emz's insults.

Edgar grumbled as he internally plotted moving rooms when he was interrupted mid thought.

"Hey, Edgar? I wanted you to sign it, hehe..."

"But didn't I already sign your scrapbook?"

"Yeah, but this is a special page! A special page for my special boy that needs his special autograph!" she yelled. She looked excited but was also blushing.

Edgar however was bright red, too flustered to notice Colette handing him his own black nail polish to sign it. Despite his emotional state, he tried to write his name neatly, accompanied by an emo black heart. He tried covering his mouth to regain his cool, but nearly fainted.

"Hey! Edgar! Are you okay!?" Colette asked, concerned.

"Ugh, yeah. Maybe I'm just tired. Or flustered. Or both..." he said reassuringly.

"Guh, you promised you'd love and care for yourself!"

"I-I will! It's just this on- *yawn*"

Edgar was losing consciousness. Colette then suggested an idea.

"Hey, the park won't open until 12, and the renovations mean the gift shop's already stocked. Do you need a nap?" she offered, pulling a chair next to her and patting her lap. "We can listen to music if you'd like?"

Edgar was too tired to rebut or get flustered and immediately laid down on the chair with his head on Colette's lap. She blushed as she stroked his hair.

"A-anyways. W-what song do you want?" Colette asked as she plugged one earphone in both of their ears.

"Uggghh, rock..." Edgar yawned as he drifted asleep.

Colette chuckled. "Rock? As a lullaby? You're such a weirdo!"

"Weirdos, you and me..." she whispered. "Goodnight..."