Those who are at the forge, when the steam burns your skin-

[ecto_biologist]

Who: John Egbert and Eddie Riggs
When: Early Sunday Morning.
Where: Suite 30, Eddie's Forge.
Summary: From one derp to another, life in Facility is hard. John and Eddie share some moments of tenderness while bending steel to their will.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Two lovable, derpy, foul-mouthed blacksmiths.

Comments

[kingroadie]

If Eddie wasn't already something of an early bird, the sound of the hammering would've probably woken him up. He had to furrow his brows curiously at it before making his way to the work room. The roadie finding himself just watching John from the doorway for the moment. Taking in intensity the teenager was putting into hammering down on the forge. Eddie certainly wasn't at Sasha's level of understanding the inner workings of people, their minds and all that psychic mumbo jumbo- but he wasn't dense. He knew John. The boy usually wasn't this intense without reason. This matter required investigating, be it heavy metal style investigation.

"You're up early, kiddo," He walked into the work room after making his presence known. The black haired man plucking a unopened water bottle from the would be fridge they had tucked in the corner and placing it near John. A unspoken fatherly jab to get the buck toothed teenager to take a break.

"You just felt like workin' on the forge I take it?"

[ecto_biologist]

It doesn't take too long for John to notice the roadie having pulled into the forge. Eddie stand out, and he gives his heavy metal mentor a small smile. "Just a little." He commented, eyeing the bottle Eddie placed in front of him. John could take the hint, and Wrinklefucker went back to his Strife Specibus.

"We've got a lot of back orders. Figured I'd help you plow through them." It was a bad lie, even John knew it. He did want to help, but he had to at least make a show of trying to be tough. He wasn't a slouch around Eddie. He grabbed the cap of the water bottle and twisted the cap off, pouring cold water down his throat.

Truth of the matter really was that he was still trying to vent.

[kingroadie]

"Uh huh,"

Yeah, John was right on the money. Eddie was not 100% buying that nor going to let John get away with it. Call it foster father fussing. "I appreciate the help, but usually you're sleepin' still," Eddie made his way over to the forge itself to look over John's handy work. He giving a quick approving nod at the work so far.

"You know you can always come in, whenever." He added as he stood up at his full height again after peering down at the metal. "So, you might wanna tell me what's up."

[ecto_biologist]

Yeah, John expected Eddie to catch him in the act of lying through his overbite - and he sighed a little, shoulders slumping as Eddie tore through his meager facade.

"...It's just. The last few weeks and the recent string of terminations have been getting to me, really badly."

He moves over to a cloth to wipe the sweat from his brow,taking another drink of water, his eyes remain closed and his focus seems more towards the floor than up towards one of his foster parents.

"I mean... they got fuckin' Sora, of all people. He was here longer than most of us. And he wasn't even their definition of broken, he had friends, he had family, and they still threw his ass in the incinerator."

[kingroadie]

The roadie just listened, quiet as he regarded John for the moment. Brown eyes taking in the little details of John's mood as the teenager puttered around the forge. Knocking back a gulp of water, wiping his grow.

"I can understand that," The larger man was frowning, he to some extent knows how it feels to lose someone he cares about to the incinerator. Eddie is just gently trying to find a way to handle this. The roadie was never the suavest person, but he tried his best. "S'- never easy when people you know keep gettin' sent to burn up,"

He crossed his arms over his chest, expression tight and sad. "Sometimes they get you, sometimes they don't. It's hard to say what they'll do, son. Even harder to figure out how to feel about it." Eddie's own pet theory lay in, the more broken you were, the more likely they'd keep you. He wasn't going to bring that up to John unless he needed to.

[ecto_biologist]

John's mood was - for once - fairly transparent. He was obviously not trying to hide anything at the moment, with a frame that exuded weariness that he didn't try to show on an average day.

"...Yeah. It's hard to figure out what'll happen next, so - I just... argh." He rubbed at his forehead. Expressing feelings gave him a headache sometimes.

"I'm scared. I guess. Real scared. Next day you, or Sasha, or Alessa, or Sollux and Lili - or any of my friends, I just... I don't know. What can I do to stop it?"

[kingroadie]

Its okay, John. Eddie knows how you're feeling. He's been thinking about the same sort of thing for a very long time. Seeing it affect one of his 'brood' certainly makes it more obvious in Eddie's demanor as he coaxed a hand through his messy hair. His bed head still in full glorious affect.

"I wish I had a real concrete answer for you, kiddo. I really wish I did." He gave a small exhale. It edging closer to sigh than he'd have liked. "We're all scared, John. There's no real way to combat that."

"I could say, hold your head up high, blah blah- other inspirational shit. But, its not that easy. Nothin' is." He was frowning now. "There is no real solution, just keep tabs on everyone. Even if its weird to say. Expect the worse sometimes, but just keep goin'."

Eddie knew his advice was probably the worst thing ever, but it was how he coped. He learned to keep moving and just take everything you could in stride or you'd fall apart. He wasn't sure if John could do just that.