SMK May Event Interlude - Eddie Only

[trashylittlesecret]

As they left the infirmary,, Richie glanced around, seeing a few of the other Apprentices doing their part to shore things up. Someone had started to clean up some of the graffiti he'd been seeing more and more in recent weeks, but for the most part people were focusing on the train station. He steered them toward the Emporium, hoping there were futon mattresses he could put on his tab or something else equally workable, but his mind was decidedly elsewhere: standing outside a rotting, abandoned house in knee-high grass, hot humid August wind in his hair, his throat dry. He had been able to feel it, both times: the weight of the summer air pressing down on im, but something else, too: the weight of the unsaid. The weight of suspense and danger. Neither times, they had been a good mix, and if he failed a third time, he wasn't sure if he could look at himself in the mirror.

"Hey, um. Can I - can I talk to you 'bout something, real quick? I mean - just - before any shit starts getting even remotely close to a fan?"

He swiped his palms down the sides of his jeans as they walked, wishing it wasn't too warm for his leather jacket. He ached to be able to stuff his hands into the pockets.

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[trashylittlesecret]

His eyes lit at that squeeze as though Eddie had just booked him a gig at Second City or Caroline's. Between the relief, the anxiety that had come before, and the anxiety that still remained about what lay ahead, he could feel the tears threatening behind his eyes, and squinted behind his glasses to keep them at bay.

He could have been a smart-ass about it. He could have just rambled and covered up his nerves. Part of him really wanted to, to give some of the nervous energy in him an outlet. But maybe he could use it on the Corrosion, turn it into magic somehow. So he held on to it and gave Eddie a careful smile that was genuine, and warm, expressing just enough but holding him together at the same time.

"Yeah," he said simply, then leaned into him, bumping shoulders. "C'mon. Let's do a bunch of prepping that will hopefully be for nothing."

[beepbeepmotherfucker]

Eddie could see the emotion hiding in Richie's eyes. It was clear as fucking day. But he was right. This wasn't the time to talk about it. There'd be plenty of time once this shit was over and done with.

He nodded, bumping him back. "Yeah. Yeah, let's go."