He must have drifted off, because the last thing he remembered he was watching Brax digging through a pile of broken crap seeking out salvageable bits and pieces, and the next thing he saw was the mans ugly mug up in his face and being poked in the chest.
"Ey boss, tha's the supper bell dingin' that is. Everyone's clearin outta here. Was gonna leave ya to yer nappin', but figured you'd sass me next time you came down here if you were to wake up an' miss out on yer new fancy eats. "
Nux blinked a few times, blearily, and licked his lips. They were parched. He hadnt had anything to drink in hours, and who knows how long he'd been sleeping for? for anyone who wasnt warboy born and bred, it would have been impossible to conk out in the warehouse. The noises were both loud and abundant. People shouting and throwing things, machinery blaring- primarily cutting through or shaping some sort of metal. Engines roared and sputtered and choked, and since the room was majorly enclosed everything bounced off the walls, lending a strange sort of echo effect to every noise made.
He'd been catching naps under scrap piles and on cars waiting to be worked on for years now. He nodded at Brax, who took that as his cue and shuffled off. The warehouse was never totally silent, there were always a few boys who couldn't sleep, or rarely slept, and spent most of the night tinkering on their own personal projects. Nux himself had a habit of making bobble heads out of scrap for himself and the other boys when the night fevers left him bleary and sleepless.
"Yeah, thanks Brax. See ya."
What was that he'd said? fancy eats? Nux was surprised. He usually still ate in the common hall with the boys, but it must have gotten out that he had a standing invitation to eat at mealtimes in the Upper Quarter with the women. It was hard to not refer to them as the wives anymore, but they were no longer wedded to any man, so the term was no longer appropriate.
His body ached as he stood and attempted to stretch, popping joints and flexing muscles. Judging by the fact that the room was lit almost solely by gas lanterns at this point, he must already be late for meal time. These days his body didnt really feel much hunger, it seemed to have gotten to the point where it preferred to feast on itself. But he had promised Capable that he'd try to live as long as possible, be useful for as much time as he could, so he began to shuffle his way out of the warehouse. As he wandered through the maze of cars and scrap, the few remaining boys that he passed lifted their heads. Some nodded, others gave halfhearted waves. It was still a new concept to him, being singled out, recognized, looked up to. It felt warm in his chest, in his heart. Compensation for the lack of glorious sacrifice.
It was unbelievably easy to get lost in the Citadel. A little under half of the tunnels were fully man made- the rest of them were partial natural formations and holes that had been warped and modified to suit the purposes of the builders. Some halls lead nowhere, likely due to the diggers finding some fort of mining resource while tunnelling and following it until it was fully excavated. Simply put: if you hadnt walked it before, you likely had no idea where you were going. It was likely why the pups tended to wander in herds- that and it was safer. There was little worse than bumping into the wrong Kami Crazy war boy when you were on your own and didnt know where you were. In groups the boys always worked together like one crazy, Guzzoline fueled leviathan, but you get the wrong one alone at the wrong time and they could be equally monsterous. They did, after all, make a living out of death and adrenaline fueled fury.
But Nux had had the place memorized many many years ago. He had always been inquisitive, light on his feet, and most importantly: fast as a V8 engine in top gear. Any time he took the wrong turn or bumped into the wrong person, you'd be sure that he was out of there faster than they could even tell what passed 'em. A little white clay coated bird flitting through the corridors. He smirked a little at the memory, but it hurt too. He was walking now, almost as fast as he used to, but not with as much of a spring in his step. His left leg throbbed every time it made contact with the ground, and he was just too damn tired to hide the limp.
By the time he reached the common hall, dinner was fully in session. Boys and Pups were laughing, chatting, challenging each other to various duels- it was the same old stuff that Nux had been used to his entire life, only now there was a bit of a hush to the crowd. People not sounding quite so sure of themselves. The tension bled through everyone, who tried to ignore it. Like a war hound on a leash, there was an air of pacing to the room- like even if you werent scratching a hole into the stone walking back and forth, you felt like you might start at any moment.
He'd have to talk to Furiosa when she finally returned for good from the War Caravan crash sites. They needed to organized something- a raid, a fight, a tournament of some kind- anything to get the boys adrenaline drained and work them down until they couldnt fight any more. Exhausted War Boys were much easier to handle than pent up ones.
He grabben a plate of grub and settled in at a random table, the nearest one with space for him. A few unknown hands slapped him on the back as he sat and a couple of "Ey, there Boss!"s were exclaimed. Yeah, still weird.
"So you piss off the red head, there, Nuts? eh? she kick you down to mingle with the lesser crowd here? failed to make her cum screamin'? must be losin' your touch, mate." A voice from behind him. Someone he didnt know. Rage boiled in his chest and Nux stood up, staring down at the bastard who dare insinuate he'd ever touched Capable in that way.
"Ooooh, that touch a nerve, eh, Nutsy? maybe she decided she preferred cunt over cock after all? or perhaps you just werent man enough for her?" the War Boy was older- surprisingly. They never tended to live very long anyways, but this guy had to be close to thirty. That meant that he likely worked in the Warehouse or Hanger, and wasnt a Driver, Pole cat or Lancer. He had extensive scarification over his entire body, face included. Looked like... some sort of blueprint painstakingly copied out onto his skin. It wasnt cuts either, he'd had them burned on, likely with a soldering iron. He stood about four inches shorter than Nux and had painted his body so that the scars stood out white, but his unscarred flesh was lightly charcoaled. Nux supposed the Boy intended for it to look intimidating. In reality, it seemed to come off a bit ridiculous.
"You dont know anything!" he growled using his height to his advantage and looming over the unnamed accuser. "And how dare you? Shes never done anything wrong, not once in her shiny chrome life. And I didnt do nothin' to get up there but what was right and expected of me. "
They'd gotten the attention of a fair number of Boys, who began to encircle the two. Scarification Boy glanced around and grinned, revealing more modifications- teeth with holes drilled through them, teeth sharpened to points. This Boy had way too much time on his hands, Nux thought. And what was he trying to prove?
"Whatcha gonna do about it Nux? you've gone all soft, drowning in breasts and cunt. Whats that they keep preaching? no unnecessary harm? I could pull out my cock and piss on you and I bet youd just go cryin; back to your womenfolk, you giant pussbucket." The crowd seemed mostly neutral, but a quick survey showed that a few of them were sympathetic to what was being accused. They looked to Nux expectantly, and he suddenly knew what this was about- where was his place within the War Boys now? was he one of them? above them? below them? was he someone to be looked up to or looked down at? the new government told them all that he was a hero and that his orders should be followed. But what had he done except wander the Citadel and talk with people. Nothing. He wasn't Shiny. He wasn't Chrome. Or he was, and they just hadn't seen it yet.
"Ill show you a pussbucket you shlanger guzzling V2 piece of shite. I walk, you follow. I stand, you stand! I will lead you all and YOU. WILL. OBEY!" Nux snarled and finished his cry with a solid head butt that left the other boy reeling. Surprisingly, his blood began to sing in his veins and excitement ran through him like a lightening bold. Scars stumbled back and then lunged for him, and Nux dodged carefully to the right to avoid his bad knee and slammed his fist forward with all his might into his opponents left ear.
Scars dropped to the ground, but threw out a leg and successfully knocked Nux down as well. The crowd gathered around them had begun to cheer, this being the first action theyd seen in weeks. Some called out his name, but some called out another- Rasikov? That must be Scar boys name. His tailbone throbbed and before he could rise Rasikov was on top of him, slamming a ham like fist into his face. He saw stars and tasted blood.
Nux thrusted his hips up as hard as he could, setting his opponent off balance and throwing him forward. Knowing that he could not get the man off of him- too heavy, and his left leg was shit for leverage, and knowing that he was at a strength disadvantage as well, Nux let himself be taken away by the waves of joyous, merderous adrenaline and clamped his teeth down hard on Rasikov's neck.
Blood flowed into his mouth as he clamped down as hard as he could and the other boy started screaming, punching at him and trying to back off. Nux wrapped his arms around the boys waist and took every punch like it was nothing, tearing and biting with his teeth. He could hardly breath, there was blood running into his nose. The boys were hollering and jumping all around them, screaming their approval. Rasikov was, well, just screaming.
Finally a fist to the head loosened his hold and Rasikov stumbled to his feet, gripping at his neck with both hands. Nux shook his head and rose to stand above the man, spitting his own blood back at him. It landed on his face, a grotesque splatter of life fluid.
Nux lunged forward as if to attack again and Rasikov scuttled away, eyes wide. He must have cut an impressive figure, he assumed, blood staining his mouth and neck.
"Anyone who stands against my glory and the glorious chrome of our new establishment will have worse to look forward to!" he yelled out. The crowd was impressed. A few of Rasikovs friends helped him to his feet and dragged him off in the direction of the flesh infirmary. War Boys swarmed forward to pat Nux on the shoulder and grin at him, swearing fealty and assuring him- and themselves, surely- that they would follow.
Nux had a sinking feeling, as his heart rate began to return to normal, that the Women were not going to be impressed with this new development.