And yeeeaaah, as anyone has noticed I missed the update time last week. Hopefully a longer chapter 15 will make up for it. If I can, I'll post ch 16 up as well, but we'll see. I better not make any promises I can't keep!

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He woke first, giving a faint pained grunt as he sat up. Eddie scrubbing his face with his hand as he did his best to remember why he felt like shit at the moment. He didn't remember going to a party last night.

"Bluh," He groused softly into the quiet room as he glanced around. He openly blinking in surprise at his surroundings before information started to pour back over him, warranting a quiet, "Oh," from the larger man. He quietly moving to rise from where he lay on the floor, steadying himself as he walked over to Sasha's bed. Even as he slept, the German man looked pallid and tired. Eddie could only find himself feeling sorry for Sasha.

He lingered for a moment, quietly moving towards Sasha's kitchen area. He fiddling with the other man's coffee machine before he actually got any coffee going. By the time the coffee had finished percolating, Sasha was awake.

"How much did we drink last night…?"

"A lot, trust me, man." He laughed softly back as he placed a mug down on the counter in front of him. "Want your coffee the usual way?"

"Yes, please," Sasha dragged his hands across his face as he tried to remember what anything decent felt like. He just picking up a pillow to cover his face and groan into it. Eddie let Sasha have his moment as the roadie prepped the coffee. He approaching the bed after a moment, "Coffee's up,"

He dropped the pillow into his lap to accept the mug. "Thank you," Sasha taking a slow deliberate sip from it as he contemplated becoming one with the coffee.

The larger man simply chuckled back, "No biggie," He moving away to pick up his own mug, sipping from it as well. He hanging back again as Sasha more or less chugged his coffee. "How about we go to McBurgerQueen and get the hangover special?"

"Hangover special…?"

"Egg McQueenmuffin with some hashbrowns and bacon,"

Sasha wrinkled his nose in clear disgust, "That sounds terrible,"

"I think you mean, terribly delicious," He offered Sasha a playful wink back, "I'll get it, you stay put,"

"I can always lock you out, Mr. Riggs," Was Sasha's vague attempt at a threat as he flopped back onto his bed, the mattress creaking in protest at the sudden shift in weight. "Then I can nurse my hangover in peace,"

Eddie laughed a little at that as he moved towards the front door of Sasha's apartment. A grin playing on his features as he playfully called back to the smaller man. "And who would buy you breakfast, Sasha?"

"Point taken,"

When he got back with the food, he wasn't really surprised to see the German man still in his pajama's. The man curled up on his fold out couch in front of his television, mug still in hand as Eddie entered. His sudden entrance earned a surprised blink from the lanky man, "How did you-?"

"One of your neighbors let me into the buildin'," He offered back as he walked over to Sasha. He depositing one of the paper bags he had in hand on the couch next to the German man. "You're gonna need this,"

Sasha quietly just eyed the bag, sighing a little at the look Eddie gave him as he set his coffee aside. The bag crinkling as he opened it up, fishing out the McQueenmuffin along with everything else. "This is too much food…"

"Nope, it isn't. You gotta eat all of it."

"All of it?"

"Every fuckin' bite, Sasha."

"I should just kick you out,"

"So, we're gettin' a divorce? Shit, does that mean I get the kids on weekends?" He dryly questioned back as he sat on the floor in front of the futon, opening his own bag with less hesitation. He had this concoction before, it usually did the trick on easing terrible headaches that came with excessive drinking sprees. Eddie was quick to actually eat his food. He unwrapping his breakfast food and jamming the hash brown between the two buns. Eddie's focus on his food meant he missed a pause on Sasha's part. The German man quietly fiddling with his own food. "Should I put the hash browns into the Mcqueenmuffin?"

"Only if you wanna,"

"I'll pass today, since this is my first time having your… 'hangover cure'," The German man simply squinted down at the food. He clearly not sure what to make of the whole meal plan Eddie had shoved at him. Eddie just found easy amusement in the smaller man's wary reaction.

"Good choice, go simple," Eddie easily took his first bite, happily consuming the greasy junk food.

The two fell into a comfortable silence together whilst eating. The drone of the TV taking up what space the sound of eating didn't. Eddie finishing the combo burger first, he wiping his hands with the terrible napkins the take out place provided. "Feelin' any better?"

"Yes, actually," The German man seemed surprised. Eddie grinned a little at that, feeling a touch prideful. His cure always worked out without fail. "I told you, man."

"Looks like I owe you more, Mr. Riggs,"

"Psh," He waved his hand idly back in turn, he rising from where he's sitting on the floor. He crumpling up the paper bag and moving to chuck it. He glad Sasha's trash can was out instead of hidden away as he free tossed the ball into the can. "I'm just glad you're feelin' better,"

"I'll feel better when this is old news," He sighed as he slumped into his futon.

"It will be, just gonna take awhile," Eddie's words only made Sasha grunt in turn, the German man covering his face with his arm. Eddie just frowned a little at that, quietly rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke. "Ey, if you wanna, you can always come have lunch with me? Or like hang out more if you wanna, I know you and Milla had a real close knit group of friends, so shit is gonna be awkward for a while. So, come hang out with me,"

Sasha paused, Eddie trying to read his expression form what he could see from behind Sasha's arm strewn over his features. The German man eventually dropped his arm as he spoke, "Thank you, I'd enjoy that, actually."

"Excellent, you and me, man. We'll beat off those lonely blues," The roadie offered back with a pleased grin rising to his features. Tilting his head a little as Sasha fidgeted where he sat, quietly murmuring in response. "Yes, beat off the blues, certainly."

He wasn't really sure what to make of that reaction, letting it go as he flopped onto the futon with Sasha. "Now lets watch some terrible TV."

####

He smiled somewhat as he leaned a little back into his chair, going through his text messages while he worked on eating an apple. Slow days like these made Eddie miss actually being on the road. He wasn't sure why he hadn't just dropped everything here and ran off to some show just yet, but he didn't feel like going anywhere. Not when the only gig he would get was with Kabbageboy. He'd rather be stacking records and mopping up the bathroom over listening to Kabbageboy whine, complain and be little pissants for five months. The last tour he had to go on with them was a disaster.

When something good came up, he'd leap on it. Right now he had things relatively balanced, be it with times where his wallet was empty. Oz paid well, as did Kill Master when the man opted to give Eddie a bit of money for helping round the clinic but neither jobs were exactly going to keep him in the green for very long. Sometimes he had to skip on a meal or two in order to keep his apartment bills paid up. It wasn't too bad, much better than the old apartment he had. He usually had to pick which bill let double up for the month. He sure didn't miss living in Seattle when he thought about those days.

"Yo, Eddie- the hell did you start your break?" Mangus's voice broke the silence, Eddie glancing up from his fiddling to look at the other employee at the record store. Mangus was a twitchy kind of guy, he looked like roadie material if there ever was a type, but he was too nervous to actually do it.

"Like- just fuckin' now, dude, why?"

"I'm kind of swamped at the cash registers, could you help me out? I already tried to find Kage, but I have no idea where he went to,"

"Seriously? Fucks sake, Kage," He sighed, putting his phone into his pocket before taking a few more bites out of his half eaten apple. Eddie dropped it on the table as he chewed, his words muffled as he spoke, "Okay, sure, lets do this thing,"

"I'll take that as a yes since you're getting up,"

Eddie opted for an agreeable thumbs up over trying to talk while he was finishing up the few bits of apple he had left in his mouth.

###

"Dunno why you're hanging round with that green guy so often," Kill Master's words pulled Eddie from his thoughts as he looked up from the shuffle of incomprehensible paperwork to look at the bearded man. Eddie not really surprised to see the other man leaning back in his chair, a foot resting on his desk as Kill master toyed with an unlit cigarette. The older man rolling it across his battered knuckles as he looked over his sunglasses at the roadie.

"You think somethin' is off about him?"

"Naw, he seems, all right." Kill Master eventually rolled the cigarette back towards his index finger and thumb, raising it to his lips as he continued speaking. "Just, suddenly you two are all close," He lighting his cigarette as he finished speaking.

"It just sorta happened, man."

"I can guess," He took a slow drag of the cigarette. Moving to actually settle his chair in a normal stance as he gave a smokey exhale. Smoke rings slowly drifting upwards over head as he continued. "You tend to pull people in an odd way, Riggs. Though this feels a little different, not the usual shit of where you spoil people rotten,"

"Different?"

"I dunno what exactly, but the vibe is different,"

Eddie paused a little at that, he trusted Kill Master enough to mull over his words. He tipping his cowboy hat back with his index finger as he focused his gaze at the clinic's tiled ceiling in thought. Even if they had no real anchor at the moment, the doctor rarely was wrong about these things. "You got anythin' else to work off of, sides vibes I mean?"

"Not now, I haven't talked to him enough. Just feels different enough for me to give you a heads up," His serious tone was enough to make Eddie frown a little.

"Good different, I hope."

Kill Master closed his eyes behind his aviator sunglasses thoughtfully for a moment as he felt out his 'vibes', "Good so far," He was a bassist at heart, so vibes were his department by default.

"I'm glad to hear that much, even if shit is kinda vague now," He briefly let his gaze fall back down at the clinic paperwork, wishing he understood it a little more than he actually did.

Eddie's confusion at medical jargon on the papers eased away some seriousness from the bearded man's features. A smile rising to his lips as he took another drag from his cigarette, "It'll stay that way until I see you two interacting again, enjoy the mystery, Riggs. You don't get them often,"

He gave a snort at that, rolling his eyes somewhat fondly back. "Yeah, right. My life is a bunch of fuckin' weird ass mysteries."

"I have my doubts about that, asides from you not understanding what a fibula is," Was dead panned back as Kill Master took another slow drag from his cigarette.

Eddie puffed his cheeks before he replied. "Ey, ey- it is a weird word okay,"

"Mhmm, get back to work, Riggs,"

"You brought this up in the first place, man," Huffed the larger man grumped softly back as he went back to work as ordered. He quietly pondering Kill Master's words as he worked on filing the clinic's paperwork properly. Good vibes could mean nearly anything with Kill Master, it was hard to tell sometimes.

Eddie could figure it out when he had time, he had lunch with Sasha later and a shift with Oz at the store. His day wasn't going to get any easier than this.

###

He managed to stifle a tired groan as he made it through his doorway into his apartment. The roadie forcing himself to stay upright as he ambled over to his counter top, dropping the bag of food off in the kitchen area of his home before slinking back towards his bedroom. Losing his shoes on the short trek towards the next room. Fumbling out of his clothes as he moved to flop back onto the mattress on his floor. Eddie midway out of his jeans when his phone buzzed in his jacket pocket a foot away.

"Fuck, really?"

He managed to simply kick his pants off entirely, rolling off his bed to grab his jacket and drag it over. He digging through his pockets for a moment before finding his phone.

Eddie was equal parts relieved as he was elated when he saw it was a text from Sasha. He letting himself recline back into his mattress as he held the phone over his head.

'Are you up for lunch tomorrow?'

Eddie's simple answer was- 'Yes'.

###

"You sure you want me to drop you off here?" He uncertainly questioned back as he pulled up to the sidewalk, a frown creasing his features as Sasha pulled his jacket on. "Kinda far away from your job isn't it?"

"A little walking won't kill me, Eddie." Sasha brushed nonexistent creases from his jacket as he continued speaking, "Yes, it would be for the best I must say,"

"Afraid I'd be to metal for everyone there?" He lightly joked back as he watched Sasha start to open the door. He blinking a little as the German man glanced back at him, "No, I'd much rather avoid them confronting you and asking if you're the reason I broke up with Ms. Vodello,"

"…They wouldn't actually-"

"A few would, tact is a rare trait for certain people," Sasha's tone showed this was an old wound by this point, irritation clear enough in his expression as he clicked his tongue against his teeth. "I am not ashamed or afraid of them knowing you exist, I just worry they'd start accusing you of something you had no part in,"

"Right," Ashamed? Afraid? What the hell did people think Sasha did on his lunch break? Eddie felt a little lost at that but didn't question it at the moment, "I'll see you next time, yeah?"

"Of course," There was a pause before Sasha reached out to pat his arm. "Thank you for spending time with me,"

Now it was just getting kind of odd, Eddie wasn't really sure what to think. Did he miss something? "Yeah, sure, see you tomorrow?"

Sasha smiled somewhat back at him as he finally opened the car door, "Certainly, have a good afternoon, Eddie," With that he exited the car, making his way down the sidewalk with confident ease.

"Hell if I'll ever understand what goes through your head, Sasha," The roadie murmured somewhat under his breath as he pulled the car out of idling, heading back towards his corner of town.

The next couple days the two actually had lunch together consisted of this, Eddie would have to drop Sasha off block or two away and watch Sasha stalk off back towards his office building. It was still a little strange, but Sasha had all right reasoning far as Eddie could see. That reasoning certainly baffled Eddie, but the roadie couldn't begrudge Sasha too much on the issue.

###

"Christ, is it really March already?" Eddie just stared at his calendar for a moment, clearly baffled as he flipped between the months. It felt like he was missing time.

Kage rolled onto his side, high as a kite as he called up at Eddie. "Why, did you have some plans for Valentine's Day and forgot? Cause damn you missed that fucking train, bucko. Better luck next time with the girl of your dreams."

Eddie rolled his eyes slightly back as he glanced back over at the man laying on the floor near his mattress. "No- just, jesus, time goes by way too fast, I'm just kinda surprised is all." He rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully as he released the calendar pages in his grip.

"There you go, getting all deep again, Eddie." He drolly answered back as he moved to place his arms behind his head. Kage closing his eyes easily as he mocked Eddie in turn. "I can't handle my mind being blow today,"

The roadie just frowned back at Kage. Clearly not in the mood for Kage's poor attempts at humor. "You can't handle much being blow, man."

"Hey, hey- we do not mention that, like ever. Bro-code broken, with faggy shit even,"

Eddie just had to scowl at that, "Would you shut the hell up. I hate it when you say that shit. Especially since I was fuckin' blowin' you, an lemme tell you, it wasn't exactly a great experience,"

"That is just cold,"

"If you're gonna use the word fag round me, yeah, you're gonna get to hear some cold shit,"

"Whiny baby, wanna poopy your pants?" Kage feigned crying and wiping away tears with his hands. "Waaaah, poor poopy baby!"

"No, I want to kick your ass if you don't stop,"

That was enough to make Kage actually stop, the plump bald man blinking a little as he held a hand up in a gesture of peace. "C'mon, dude. Chill out,"

"No, Just- get outta my house, Kage. I am not in the fuckin' mood for you being a big fuckin' homophobic piece of shit," Eddie gestured at the door, "I am tired as fuck of hearin' you throw that word around as an insult. I ain't fuckin' takin' it anymore, not in my how fuckin' house,"

Kage didn't hesitate to actually get up, frowning back at Eddie unhappily as he stood up. "Okay- okay! Fuck, dude. Get a sense of humor!"

"Oh shut the hell up and go," Eddie growled back, crossing his arms over his chest. The roadie escorted Kage out of his bedroom back to the main hallway of the apartment building. "I'll see you later,"

The bald man wrinkled his nose back, openly rolling his eyes as he spoke. "Yeah, hopefully then you'll be chill,"

His words earned a glare, Eddie simply stating. "Oh fuck you, dude," as he slammed his front door in the other man's face.

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