Work Text:
Edward didn’t like most holidays. Christmas always sucks, Easter is a drag, so was Good Friday, Ash Wednesday, and all the other boring holidays he was raised with.
Jesus Christ died and made it everyone’s problem.
The orphanage never celebrated the commercial Valentine’s Day. There was one foster family who did, the older sister in the family had a boyfriend and went out with him on Valentine’s Day, Edward remembers that much.
His first Valentine’s at KTMJ he was shocked by the decorations that went up. He never would’ve guessed fussy accountants would take the holiday so seriously. He certainly didn’t. He gets used to it, gets used to the married women getting flowers and gifts delivered to their desks.
He’s never had anyone, so he’s never cared. No one’s ever given half a fuck about Edward Nashton, why in the world would he care about Valentine’s Day.
This year changes that though. This year, he wants to be better. This year he spends a week on eBay looking up old vintage Valentine’s cards. There’s something about them, something you can’t get with new cards. He snipes a couple of probable collectors out of an auction, and spends a couple of days crafting a riddle for the card.
“ I can yearn, I can break
I flutter despite the ache
I skip a beat, and race and race
You have stolen me, assuredly
To find the answer, look inside or around
Many wear me on their sleeve ”
He hates it. It’s subpar at best, at worst it’s downright stupid. It’s not his best work, but he doesn’t think he could come up with anything better. Not in this timeframe at least..
She gets to work before he does, of course, but he finds a moment when she’s away from her desk to leave it there. He tucks it in between a couple of legal pads, the corner of it poking out. And he tries not to think about it, tries not to dwell on something that might not go his way.
He hopes it will, he hopes as much as he can without getting his hopes up entirely. He shared a kiss with the woman on New Years, she likes him, she called him cute. She wasn’t lying either, she’s not like that.
He had requested that she meet him in the break room at lunch regardless of if she solved the riddle or not. He focuses on the numbers and does not think about her, or the valentine or how stupid it seems now.
He counts the minutes, hours until lunch, like always, it’s always something he looks forward to. He’s been eating the same lunch for six months now, today is not the day he is tired of it. He has one half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and one half of a ham and cheese sandwich, both with the crusts removed, two cheese sticks, a baggie of pretzels, and a bottle of lemon tea.
He’s in the middle of unwrapping one of his cheese sticks when she sits across from him. He startles at first, but it’s only her. She looks quite excited. His eyes quickly go to her hands though, her nails are painted various shades of pink presumably for Valentine’s Day.
“It’s heart, isn’t it?”
“Yes. I made it too easy, didn’t I?”
“Maybe a little.”
“Well, I didn’t just want to take one from the internet, or whatever.”
“Of course not,” She giggles, hiding her smile behind her hand. “I got you something too.”
“You did?” He tries not to sound too excited. He’s never gotten anything for Valentine’s Day before.
“Yes. It’s not as nice as yours maybe, but it’s still something I worked on.” She passes a folded up piece of paper across the table to him.
He’s careful to unfold it and take in what she made for him. It’s a doodle of a bear cub on its back with a heart shaped box of chocolates on its belly. Her pretty handwriting brackets the drawing above and below, he’s almost ashamed of his own chicken scratch writing, but can’t quite focus on the self-deprecating thought. Her message simply reads ‘Be my Valentine, Eddie Bear?’.
She interrupts his thoughts, ‘Eddie Bear, she called me Eddie Bear’ on repeat, sliding a small box of conversation hearts to him. “Happy Valentine's Day, Edward.”
“This is- You’re too kind.. I don’t-...” He stumbles over his words, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment.
“So, I take it you like it?” She giggles, unpacking her lunch.
“Yes, of course. Thank you. Happy Valentine’s Day, I’ve never celebrated before.” He admits, carefully opening the box of candies. He’d never had conversation hearts before, he’d seen them at the grocery store, gas station convenience stores, never had a reason to buy them.
“You haven’t? Where’d you grow up? Some sort of prudish convent?” She asks jokingly, Edward can’t help but think about how right she is.
“Kind of, yeah. I grew up Catholic.” He shrugs, fishing one of the small hearts out of the box. The candy is chalky, and he doesn’t like it very much. But it’s the thought that counts, he knows that.
“Oh. I’m sorry. Can I have one?” She asks, nodding to his candy, easily directing the conversation elsewhere.
“Yeah, if I can have a piece of your clementine.” She just started peeling the little orange fruit.
“Of course.” She trades a wedge of the fruit for a candy.
“..Eddie Bear? Where’d you get that?” He asks quietly, peeling apart his cheese.
“I dunno. It’s like- teddy bear right? And you’re kind of like a big sweet teddy bear.” She shrugs, popping a piece of clementine in her mouth.
“You think I’m like a teddy bear?” He’s never been compared so favorably. She’s too kind.
“Yeah. Everyone else thinks you’re this mean, standoffish guy, but I know you’re sweet. Plus you’re soft and cuddly like a teddy too!” She pokes his forearm and passes him another piece of clementine.
“Oh.” He says dumbly.
She had hugged him before. Just last week, he helped her with something on her work desktop, she was so happy she jumped up and hugged him right there. He was beyond grateful no one else was around.
“Can I call you Eddie Bear, is that okay or too weird?” She’s getting self-conscious. He’s unintentionally making her feel bad.
“No, it's okay. It’s not weird at all.” He assures her, wondering what he ever did to make her like him so much. He’s happy for it, of course, but never thought of himself as a likeable guy.
It’s relatively quiet for a few minutes, the other table in the break room has a couple of other employees at it, they argue about a recent hockey game.
She hums around a plastic spoon, she always brings a honey yogurt to lunch. “So, Eddie, since we’re Valentines, did you want to do something after work?”
“Yeah, sure.” He agrees, maybe too quickly, stops himself just before he can admit to not really ever going on a real date before.
“That’s great, because uh- I kinda already had plans in my head. There’s an ice skating rink downtown that’s still open until March, I was thinking it’d be cute if we went there?” Her thumbs twiddle anxiously as she waits for Edward’s answer.
“Okay. I’ve never gone skating before.” He admits, because of course he hasn’t.
“That’s okay, I haven’t either. Well, not ice skating, I used to go roller skating, but one time the Skate City I went to was really busy and loud, and it kinda freaked me out,” She rambles, pausing with a nervous giggle. “And I’ve never gone again since, and that was..God, over twenty years ago. I think this place will be different though.”
“Hopefully.” Edward says simply, picking through the box of candies for a pink one. She passes the last piece of orange and holds her palm out for a candy.
“Anyway, I was thinking we could get dinner after. Or I could make us dinner at my place.” She offers lightly, twisting a strand of hair around her finger.
“Oh, well, I wouldn’t want to put you out.” He says quickly.
“You wouldn’t do that. Please, I want you to come over to my apartment and have dinner with me.” She makes eye contact, Edward combs his fingers through his hair and ducks his head. He finds himself missing his unkempt hair as a child, when he could hide behind his bangs.
“Okay,” Edward concedes eventually. “Should- Do you want me to bring something? Like uh- Dessert or wine?”
“Ah, no that’s okay. I was thinking we could go straight to the ice skating place right after work, and then to my place after.” He nods at the plan, getting it set in his head.
“Alright. Do you want me to walk you out?” He had been since the first week of January after some creep tried hitting on her in the parking lot and he had been there just in time to sock the guy in the nose.
“If you could,” She bats her lashes at him, he notices fleetingly. “I like having you by my side.”
He’s not very tough or strong but by some miracle she feels safe with him. “Thanks.” He says lamely, feeling his face heat up.
“Then it’s set! I’ll see you after work Valentine!” She touches his arm as she leaves.
He doesn’t stop thinking about her for the rest of the day. She called him Eddie Bear. He’s going to go on a date with her. He folds the paper she gave him and slips it in his work bag, between ledgers and pads of paper as he packs up for the day. He’ll keep it as long as he lives.
She’s in the middle of a call when he gets to her desk, she smiles and holds up a finger at Edward when she sees him.
“Hi, Edward! Are you ready for our date?” She giggles, stuffing her belongings into a purse when she finishes. He watches how she treats the card he gave her with such care, carefully slipping it into a pocket by itself.
“As ready as I can be.” He shrugs, nodding for her to go ahead of him out the door.
“Which means you’re excited right?” She links their arms together and Edward has to force himself to speak.
“I’m sorry I don’t seem excited,” He says genuinely, hating how insincere he sounds. “I’m very excited, really. I’m also really, really nervous though.”
“Don’t be nervous, Eddie Bear. We’ll have a lovely time I promise.” He wishes he had even an ounce of her confidence.
But he has to believe this will go well. He has to believe he won’t make a fool of himself, or if he does she won’t care. She’s not like that.
He’s excited to try something new and to go on a date with the woman he likes. Nerves be damned he’s going to have a good time.