Just a Character
This had been a long time coming, at least as far as Richie was concerned. Before the return of Pennywise, before the reunion of the Losers; before him and Eddie became him and Eddie. This was something he'd been thinking about for a while. And now, with his memories returned, and Eddie by his side he was ready. He just had to talk to Eddie about it first.
Richie took a deep breath.
"I want to write my own jokes," he said, biting his lip as he stared at Eddie, waiting for a reaction.
Eddie stared back, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"Is that all?" he finally asked, confused.
"What d'you mean 'is that all'?" Richie asked.
"Well, I was expecting something a little more dramatic."
"Oh, I'm sorry this isn't dramatic enough for-"
"No, Rich, I'm just saying-"
"Never been allowed to write my own stuff, but it's 'no big deal'-"
"Richie, you sat us down and said-"
"Could potentially ruin my career, but it's no big-"
"Richie!" Eddie grabbed Richie's face and the other man finally stopped, "You sat me down and said me need to talk. I assumed you were either dumping me or dying."
"Oh…" Richie said, "Well… surprise, it's neither of those."
"Yeah, I know that now you big dork," Eddie chuckled, taking Richie's hands in his.
"If you want to write your own jokes I say go for it," Eddie said. "And if anyone tries to tell you that you aren't funny, they can deal with me."
"Eds, you tell me I'm not funny all the time," Richie pointed out.
"Yeah, well, I'm your boyfriend, it's my job to annoy you," Eddie shrugged.
Richie felt a swell of happiness at Eddie's casual use of the word 'boyfriend'. It still felt so surreal.
"It… It's not just writing my own stuff," Richie said after a minute, "That's part of it, but, uh, I don't know if I want to do standup anymore."
"Oh," Eddie was more surprised now. He knew Richie didn't like some of the jokes that were written for him and he'd always thought Richie's original stuff was funnier. But Eddie didn't realize he really wasn't happy with his job at all.
"Yeah… it's just a lot, ya know? Long hours, touring, hecklers in person…" Richie adjusted his glasses as he stammered out his words. "And, you know, the person I was up on that stage, it was a character, but I was fine with it- at least mostly – cause I didn't know what I was missing. Now I do and… I don't want to be that character anymore…"
Richie wasn't looking at him so Eddie lifted his chin and leaned in to press their lips together.
"I'm proud of you," he said softly, "And I'll support you no matter what you do. Do you have any ideas of what you might do instead?"
"Well, I've got this buddy who works at a comedy network and he's always said if I ever needed a job he could set up an interview…"
"Have you called him yet?" Eddie asked.
"No, I, uh, wanted to talk to you first," Richie said.
"Call him first thing tomorrow, get an interview set up," Eddie told him.
"Really? You're okay with this?"
"Rich, I told you, I'll support you no matter what you do," Eddie smiled, "And if you want to work for a comedy network and write your own jokes then do it. So long as it makes you happy then I'm behind you, 100%."
Richie smiled widely, laughing when Eddie reached under his glasses to wipe away tears he hadn't even noticed starting to fall.
"I love you," Richie said, "So much."
"I love you too, dork," Eddie replied, "Now come on, tell me some of these original jokes you're going to use on your new boss."
Thanks for reading!