And here is the first chapter of Eddie's story! Here we go. Let us begin the journey of heavy metal!
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Eddie could only grump, tiredly curling up in bed as he listened to the sound of car horns going off in the distance. Already able to guess he would be freezing the moment he got up from bed. It was why he wasn't looking forward to the morning. Asides from the fact he more than likely only had oatmeal left in the apartment.
The roadie genuinely just wanted to sleep in, though he knew that wasn't about to happen. He had a shift at the record store down the block from here. Oz had promised a solid pay check for working for him, Eddie wasn't about to turn down good money. He knew he couldn't always find solid work in tours, so something he could have on a more regular basis was certainly appreciated.
He mentally prepared himself for the worst as he rolled out of bed, grimacing openly as he met the cold air of his room. "Shit, shit-" He grabbed his slippers dropping them onto the floor. The roadie quickly sliding his feet into the slippers for some relief against the chill of the tiled floor. It was too early and too cold to deal with being awake, but he didn't really have much of a choice in the matter. He would have wondered why it was so cold, if not for the fact February didn't guarantee instant heat.
He glad for some kind of cloth barrier as he made his way from his bedroom to the main area of his home. He walking over to turn on his coffee pot. Listening to it percolating as he shuffled around his kitchen to try and root around his cupboard for the last packet of oatmeal. Eddie only able to find a few empty cartons as he picked through it, cursing softly as he realized he might have eaten it yesterday.
"Looks like its coffee for breakfast," He sighed grumpily to himself as he grabbed his chipped coffee cup from the wooden peg it hung on as he placed it on his countertop. He moving to grab some milk from his fridge, plucking the sugar packets he had left out on the counter. The roadie setting up his usual coffee plan around his coffee maker. It was a ritual in itself to make coffee like this, sugar, milk, set out just waiting for the machine to percolate.
All he could do now was wait. He busied himself by lurching over towards his phone, staring at the answering machine as if willing it to have a message when that clearly wasn't about to happen.
'Man, I wonder what happened to Sasha…' He sighed a little, wearily rubbing the back of his neck as he turned his back on the phone for now. He had a busy day ahead of him, he was helping Kill Master and Oz out. He couldn't linger on the german man too much, not when Sasha already mentioned he was busy to begin with. 'He has work, all that paperwork for, whatever the hell he does. Knowin' him he might cancel what we had planned this week.'
He would catch up with Sasha later, for now he had shit to get done today.
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"Are you cool with me takin' a bit longer for lunch, Oz?"
Oz barely paused as he stacked records in the back, aged hands delicately handling each record like it was one of his own children. "What for?"
"Well, for stuffin' my face for one- and buyin' a few groceries," Eddie wasn't sure why he was so hesitant to mention that in the first place. Oz wasn't a bad guy, a bit incomprehensible at times with his slurred words and drunken behavior, but he knew how tough things could get. He wouldn't start mocking Eddie anytime soon for not having food.
"Aaah, I see," The 50 year old cast his gaze back at the 35 year old seated behind him, "I'll give you, an hour instead of 30 minutes, should be enough, yeah?"
Eddie smiled back at that, relief clear enough in his voice. "More than enough, thanks, Oz,"
"Don't thank me, lad. I'm just going to ensure you work harder to make up for that lost hour," He waved a ringed finger back at Eddie teasingly back. The shine of the rings catching the light, glittering brightly under the multiple lights in the back room of the record store. All Eddie could do was laugh a little, squinting at the flash of gold hitting his eyes as Oz kept his easy pace of stacking records. The older man certainly enjoyed jewelry, if anything he indulged in wearing as much as possible. Eddie was incredibly used to it by this point, he had known Oz for far too long. "Still, thanks,"
Oz wasn't about to let Eddie lavish praise on him, "Pish posh, now back to work!"
"Can do, boss man!" He offered a mock salute back with an easy grin. He easily falling back into the rhythm of sorting through records himself, quietly alphabetizing them as he went. He already knew Oz would come back over and reorganize them as he saw fit, the man was a force of nature that liked wearing a lot of jewelry.
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He easily unlocked the door, using his shoulder to push it open as he walked further in. He still had enough time to get back down the block after he put everything away. Eddie managed to close his front door with the heel of his foot. The click of the door was enough to reassure Eddie it was closed as he moved towards the kitchen area across from the door. Eddie dropped the plastic bags on his countertop without much fuss. Easily unloading the various odds and ends he had bought onto the counter itself, stashing the plastic bag in his cabinet. A habit he had yet to really break, nor did he really think about breaking, not when a plastic bag could be used for a lot of things.
He was midway through stacking a few cans when his phone started ringing. Eddie grunted as he placed the cans he had in his arms down, grumbling slightly under his breath as he walked over to his phone. Picking it up easily and tucking it under his ear as he moved back towards the counter to keep working. "Eddie speakin', how can I help you?"
"You could help me by answering your texts Mr. Riggs,"
"Sasha! Hey, what's up?"
"Work, work and more work," Eddie could faintly hear the shuffling of papers on the other side of the phone. "The paperwork has doubled up since we last spoke,"
"You live an excitin' life, Sasha," He dryly intoned back, placing a can into the cabinet, another soon following it. "I take it you won't be able to make it to our hang out next week?"
"I'm afraid not,"
"S'cool, man. Call me when you're free or just text me. You know I'll be buggin' you anyway,"
"If you didn't, I'd be concerned,"
"No need for concern here, brother. I'm gonna drive you up every wall,"
Sasha's laughter startled the roadie as he glanced up from his stacking as the other man spoke. "Never call me brother again- you sounded like Hulk Jogan."
"Well, BROTHER," He grinned as Sasha openly booed at him now. "Don't you dare!"
"Don't tempt me,"
"I'll never speak to you again,"
"You'd miss me, I'm just so fuckin' irresistible,"
"Oh shut up,"
"Nope, that plan has been vetoed, try again." He grinned somewhat as he picked up the bag of potato chips, chucking them in the usual section of the cupboard he stored them as he spoke again, "Well, you can try, but my voting process takes a long ass time. It's pretty much congress condensed into one heavy metal guy,"
"That made no sense at all,"
"When has anythin' I said made sense?"
The German man's laughter rung through the phone. "True, very true,"
"You'll get to enjoy my weird as shit attempts at logic when we hang out again," He surmised easily back as he picked up a banana, gently setting it against the back of the counter, the banana soon joined by oranges. The roadie mindlessly arranging them as he spoke, "Just call me when you're free, alright? I hate to cut you off like this, but I'm on like an extended break here, I gotta get going,"
"Ah, I see," Eddie could somewhat feel the disappointment in the German man's tone, "Don't go over any longer, Mr. Riggs,"
"I won't, see you later, Sasha,"
"Goodbye,"
Eddie quietly turned the phone off as he focused on just finishing unloading. Trying to quell the slight disappointment he was feeling as well.
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He had to glance upwards as the blast of canned TV sound effect explosions erupted from the window above. Hooting and hollering following after it, Eddie able to guess from the terrible austrian accents who ever lived in the apartment above was watching a Schwartsjogger movie.
"We should rent that movie next time we go to block buster," Kage murmured easily back as he leaned against the stoop of their building. "I don't think I've seen it in like, years,"
"Ey, might as well, gotta keep ourselves amused somehow," He answered back with a low laugh as he took a slow drag from his cigarette. "Don't you got a shift at the Forge in an hour?"
Kage simply grunted in turn, he taking a long drag of his own cigarette in turn before he spoke. "Yeah, yeah- old Ozzy won't fucking notice how I smell. The guy is like always drunk or high anyway,"
"Oz hasn't hit the drugs in years, you dipshit," Eddie rolled his eyes, "He will and can notice, go put that out and stash it for later,"
"But I need a hit now-"
"No whinin', go do it," He gestured back at the doorway behind them. "I'd rather you keep this job, dude."
The fat balding man openly pouted for a moment before rising from his seat. His tiny band tee showing off a portion of his hairy belly as he stood up to his full height. "Okay, okay," He vaguely adjusted it but ambled inside and up the stairs. "Don't gotta be rude, Eddie,"
Eddie would have enjoyed the brief blessed silence if not for the movie above resounding loudly through an open window. Screamed quotes soon following and as well as drunken laughter. He sighed as he shook ash from his cigarette. "Everybody's a god damn comedian,"
By the time he saw Kage off for work, the neighbors had gone somewhat quiet. Eddie appreciative of that much as he headed up the stairwell to his apartment. He unlocking the door and stepping in, sighing a little at the lingering smell.
Some days he wondered if Kage would ever not reek of pot and B.O.
He let the thought slide away as quickly as it came, focusing on kicking his shoes off as he walked calmly towards his bedroom. He pulling off his clothing, dropping them to the side as he flopped onto the mattress that was his bed. The ratty purple sheet that covered it was already half off by the time Eddie got comfortable. He didn't really care much as he gave a slow sleepy exhale.
He was on the very edge of a comfortable doze when the neighbors started watching another movie.
"God damn it," He sighed unhappily back, burying his face under a pillow. So much for sleeping.
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He had to give an irritated noise as the sound of his cell phone woke him up from a comfortable sleep, the roadie pawing at it for a moment before growling a greeting.
"Still sunny as ever, huh, Eddie?"
"Ophs?"
"Speaking,"
"Wha- where the hell are you?"
"Toronto, currently. We're about to get back on the plane soon though. I wanted to call and check on you," It was hard to miss the sound of hustle and bustle that came with airports, Ophelia was apparently in a quieter section.
"Do you know what time it is?"
"Too early or too late," She answered easily back, amusement clear in her voice as Eddie grunted unhappily back. "Mother fuckin' correct,"
"Would you rather I hang up?"
"No, no-" He waved a hand forcing himself to sit up, "Talk at me, what has been goin' on with you guys?"
"Basic tour stuff, we finished with our big show here and are moving on to the next city. I'm still- really star struck to tell you the truth," She laughed self consciously at her own words as she continued, "I never thought we'd play with big bands like Helltalica, it's kind of scary. I grew up listening to them and they're co-touring with us,"
"Yeah, cause Ironheade is fuckin' fierce as shit,"
Her laughter was warm and easy. "Say's our number one fan and roadie,"
"Only a roadie, maybe a fan on the sly,"
"God, it's good to hear your voice again," She murmured, her voice soft and and comfortable. It warranted a smile from the roadie as he leaned back into the pillows, wrapping himself up in his blanket. It felt less like she was off in Toronto and there with him, he could almost picture her lips against his ear and her arm curled around his shoulders. He shivered, tugging the blanket closer to him as he let his eyes close.
"The feelin' is mutual," He rolled his shoulders slightly, opening his eyes to gaze out of his window simply watching his curtains swish with a slight gust of wind. The loose papers of his calendar fluttering alongside the curtain. "Been long enough that you and Lars missed god damn valentines day here,"
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Eddie wasn't really sure what caused Sasha to call him at 2am out of the blue. Usually the green skinned German man went to bed by 10 and didn't linger in staying awake very long. If that wasn't already a big enough red flag, Sasha's tone of voice had been enough to make Eddie agree readily to- nearly anything. Eddie had never heard Sasha sound so torn up before. Their friendship certainly wasn't that long by this point, but it was just too surreal for Eddie to even think about turning the smaller man's request for some company. The roadie hadn't even been planning on sleeping anytime soon, so this wasn't really a damper for him.
He managed to contain his concern on the drive over, focusing on the directions Sasha gave him as he drove. Eddie not sure if he should be surprised or not at how nice of a neighborhood Sasha lived in. The houses and apartment buildings all settled nicely into well to do middle class realm. Nicely kept plants, fresh coats of paints, cheesy lawn decorations-all things Eddie wasn't really used to seeing.
He'd have to ask Sasha how it felt to be upper crust later, when things were less complicated. For now he just looked over the addresses, brows going up when he spotted the simplest looking building on the block. He pulled up, glad there was a parking spot near the building as he unbuckled and leapt over the side of his car. Eddie easily landing on his feet as he looked up at white building for a moment, approaching it. He coming to a stop at the stoop, thankful as the porch light clicked on. It giving Eddie ample enough light to peer at the list of names.
He pressed a button, waiting as the buzzer went off, "Yes?"
"It's Eddie. Can you let me in, Sasha?"
"Of course," Which was shortly followed by the buzzer going off, Eddie readily opening the door. He walking down the hallway to the end of the hall. Very quietly knocking on Sasha's door, "Hey, Sasha?"
"The door is open, just come in," His words came out muffled and tired through the wood of the door.
"Uh, right," He turned the knob, ducking his head a little as he walked into the apartment. His gaze drifting across the studio apartment. He not surprised when he picked out a Mondrian print on the wall above the German man's bed, his gaze dropping from the print towards the lump on the bed. A very familiar lump that Eddie easily guessed was Sasha. He closing the door behind him as he calmly walked towards the bed. He moving to sit down at the edge of the bed.
"So, you wanna tell me what caused this sudden 2am hang out to happen?"
"I broke up with Milla,"
"…Seriously?"
The lump moved around, the blankets further being rumpled as a green hand reached out to grab a pillow. He dragging it over to drop it on his head. "Yes,"
Eddie just gave a sympathetic sound, he reaching out to pat the lump comfortingly. The roadie wasn't sure why Sasha went so stiff, but kept talking. "I'm sorry, man. Fuck. Do-you want me to get you some beer or somethin'?"
"A beer would be fine," Was the eventual response, the squirming picking back up as Eddie rose up from the edge. He moving towards the lean refrigerator on the other side of the room, opening it and rooting through it for a beer. He heading towards the bed with two beers in hand, gently nudging Sasha with the end of one bottle. "C'mon on, you gotta sit up if you wanna drink,"
The German man begrudgingly sat up, looking like hell warmed over. Eddie winced a little at the dark circles under Sasha's eyes and pallid appearance as he handed the lanky man a beer bottle. "Take it, you need it, holy shit,"
"I don't look that terrible,"
Eddie popped the top off his drink as he took a swing, taking another slow glance at the German man. "You do, man. You do, understandably so," He leaning a little back in where he sat as he regarded Sasha. "You wanna tell me what happened or just get trashed?"
The green skinned man paused, simply opening his beer as well and taking a long drink from it. "Is both an option by this point?"
Eddie tilted the neck of his beer bottle in Sasha's direction as he spoke. "Uh, no shit,"
"Good," Sasha answered back as he took another drink. "I might need both by this point, I'm not sure what to really feel,"
"Just say what you can, I'm all ears," Eddie reached out to press a hand against Sasha's shoulder, comfortingly offering him a warm smile. He hoped he was actually doing something to make the smaller man feel better. It seemed to be working if the softening of Sasha's expression was anything to go by.
"I realized, I didn't love her. Not in the way she loved me," He surmised weakly back, as he leaned his face against the cold surface of the beer bottle. "I just, couldn't stay with her."
"Whoa,"
"Whoa indeed," Sasha agreed softly back as he let his eyes close for a moment. "I feel terrible,"
"Well, yeah. You needed to break up with her,"
Sasha started rambling, feeling regretful. "She's perfect in every way, brilliant, full of energy, friendly-"
Eddie couldn't stop himself from cutting in, "But, you don't love her?" He watching as Sasha took a long pause, not expecting to be cut off the way he was. The German man needing to formulate some kind of response that wasn't pure praise for the woman he had just broken up with. "Not, romantically, no."
The larger man just patted Sasha's back, already able to tell the other man wasn't sure how he felt about the whole thing. To Eddie that was understandable, relationships weren't meant to be cut and dry. No one could completely seal their emotions off during a break up. "If you don't love her romantically, then you don't. It's seriously that simple, Sasha."
"It doesn't feel simple,"
"It won't for a long ass time, man. It'll get better eventually though. Trust me on that."
Sasha just sighed, covering his face with his free hand, as he spoke. His words were somewhat muffled, but understandable at least. "It always felt like-we belonged together. We work so well together and everyone assumed we were dating…" All Eddie could do was squint a little, not sure what to make of that sentence initially. "I just thought that was how it was meant to be,"
"Did you two seriously start datin' cause of that?"
"No-I, yes, maybe. I don't even know anymore." He had to take a steadying breath before he continued, "I just thought if anyone could love me it would be her."
Eddie could only manage a baffled blink at the green skinned man's words. He giving up merely patting Sasha to just hug the lanky man. "Damn, Sasha-you're, kinda beaten' the fuck out of yourself here,"
Sasha was stiff in his arms, not really moving as he rested his head against Eddie's chest. Sasha just clutching the beer against his chest weakly in turn. "We're going to need more beer,"
"Yu-uh, we're gonna," Eddie agreed with a weak laugh in turn. "Do you want me to buy some more now-?"
"No, just, stay with me. Please,"
"Sure," Eddie gently patted Sasha's back, not really bothered by the close contact. He knew what this felt like, he knew he hadn't exactly been comforted himself when he ended things with Ophelia. "If it makes you feel any better, I can sorta understand what you mean by, people expectin' you to be with her,"
He could feel Sasha looking up at him, it egging the roadie on, "I used to date this one girl, she and I just seemed to be made for each other you know? She got all my jokes, she could handle all my bullshit and had no doubts bout who she was. I was crazy for her. My friends all told me we were like- meant to be you know?"
Sasha gave a slow nod back, clearly listening as he stayed where he was. "And…?"
"Well, you can guess shit went ugly." He sighed a little at the memory as he rubbed Sasha's back again. The roadie really wishing he had something else he could do to help the german man out in some way. "She wasn't the girl I thought she was, kept secrets from me. She refused to actually be honest with me. So I ended it. My friends gave me a ton of shit because of that."
Sasha shifted out of Eddie's grip to put the opened beer down on the floor, moving back to offer the roadie a hug of his own. "You need one of these too,"
His expression softened at that, Eddie gently returning the hug. The fact Sasha wasn't pressing for more information was nice, a comfort within this odd blip for the two of them. "Thanks,"
"You're the one helping me in the first place, Mr. Riggs. I think you deserve a hug as well,"
"I appreciate it, man. Though we should be focusin' on you right now," The larger man offered softly back. "You and me, drinkin' like nobodies business,"
"Of course," Sasha answered quietly back as he pulled away to recline further into his bed. Eventually losing his balance and flopping into the mattress entirely.
"You aren't even drunk yet, dude, shit,"
"Just drunk on my never ending loathing,"
"Let me get the comb so I can give you a emo fringe,"
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