"'Ey you lil shits! get outta here!" a wrench clanged loudly off of a steel ventilation pipe, narrowly missing the head of a pup as he fled out of the room as fast as his clay covered legs could take him. Three or four other war pups, not much older than five or six, giggled as they fled at top speed to avoid getting whacked.
Nux stepped out of the way to let them fly by, bending over to pick up the wrench as he continued in. The pups were in great spirits nowadays, and Nux had a feeling the women had been spoiling them somehow. War Boys filled the room in front of him, repairing cars and working on projects to improve the irrigation system of the Citadel, as per Furiosa's orders. The goal was some sort of water distribution system, to manage the underground reservoir without draining it while still supplying a small, yet steady water supply to as many people as possible on a more regular basis. It was supposed to replace Joes' system of dumping water from the heavens. Something about efficiency. He wasnt sure he understood it, but that hardly seemed to matter.
As he entered the room. several War Boys threw up a shout and a hollar to announce him. He raised his arms above him in the V8 salute and grinned. The women didnt like the salute much, said it encouraged the wrong kind of thinking. But he knew himself and he knew the Boys. They were a stubborn lot set in their ways and the slower the transition the better.
The Boy who had thrown the wrench reached up a hand and snagged it away from Nux, going back to whanging it roughly against a stuck hinge from a battered up rig piece. He was a heavily muscled man with a neck that was more tumor than anything else. The growths eclipsed his shoulder entirely, making it almost look like he had a shrunken, wonky extra head. The left arm hadnt had the right amount of blood supply in years, the tumor sucking it all up like a greedy hound, and was left smaller and slightly shriveled looking.
"Whats the feelin' down here, Brax?" Nux asked, heaving himself ontop of a pile of unsorted junked out materials. Brax ran the 'recovery' center of the repair room, and always had his ear tight to the ground. He grunted and grumbled, ignoring Nux for a few moments as he smashed away at the hinge. When it finally snapped and the two pieces fell to the ground, he flopped down on the ground and looked up.
"S'as good as you'd expec, Boss. Shit's fuckin' messed these days, but wit everyone keepin everyone else busy, its functionin. Like swappin' the engine outta your favourite car, y'know? looks like its always looked, but how does it drive? how does it feel? shits different."
Nux nodded and looked out over the large warehouse, idly rubbing his bad leg.
"Could be worse right?" he said.
"Oh yeah. Everything could be on fire. That would fuckin suck. Can you picture it? whoosh. Burnin bodies freakin out all over the place, fallin out the gates, tumblin and screamin an..."
Nux tuned him out and nestled into the junked heap of machinery, settling in to watch the Boys work for a few hours. He knew they liked seeing him, having his presence nearby. No one ever gathered up to really confront him on anything, but he knew if he sat there long enough a few Boys would find reasons to pass him by, maybe ask him questions like it was casual conversation, maybe tussle with him a bit.
It was nice. It was like their way of healing. And he liked being there to help.