Summer 2013: Eddie

[Chaos]

“It's probably nothing.â€

[Scumfish]

Adam had ventured out of his Fort. He still needed to eat, after all, and he hadn't really been to bed yet - not after doing an all-nighter DJ set anyway, still dressed in the neon green and black cybertrousers and covered in UV paint. He hummed to himself as he put together possibly the most random sandwich known to man, mostly containing cheese and cauliflower.

The kitchen was mostly empty as he buzzed around it, also making tea. "Duh-nuh, I am raver, I am god of bass incarnate..." He sang, tugging a pot of peanut butter out of the cupboard.

There was a 'pat' sound from one of the windows, as if something had hit the wall above it. A shadowy figure climbed through the open window in a fluid motion, slipping onto the floor of the kitchen and climbing to its feet. Eddie stretched and smirked mirthfuly at Adam, "Hey, you! Long time no see!"

Adam had already placed who it was from the first sound. "Heeeey, Eddie! Long time no stab." He grinned easily, rubbing his nose. "Want tea? I'll even leave out the arsenic if you ask real nice." He wiped a smear of UV paint off a cheek, leaving a bright pink smudge. "Bloody stuff."

"Rave paint: a sure fire sign the night before was both awesome fun and dangerous to your health plan...", Eddie grinned. "Tea would be great, arsenic I'll pass on, if it's all the same to you."

The brown haired male whipped out a thin, black web-tendril and pulled himself over a chair to sit down. "Been up to much recently? God, must've been weeks since I've seen you about, huh?"

"Yeah, did an all-nighter for the club. Massive rave night, had a three-hour live mix and a battle..." He grinned. "Which I won, naturally." The Irish guy put together another cup, before sitting down at the island with his sandwich and tea, sliding Eddie's to him. "Weeeell. I have been kinda holed up in my Fort. It's an epic Fort. And it's mine."

"Naturally.", Eddie remarked, stopping and lifting his cup of tea and taking a sip. "Mmn, cheers for that. What about this 'Fort,' then? Some kind of code word for your room or what? I call mine the 'hole' because two really, really scary things dwell in it."

"Nope, it's a Fort, and I'm not telling you where it is. It's secret." Adam grinned, biting into his peanut-butter-cauliflower-cheese-butter-ham-thing sandwich. "But it's not my room. If you can guess where it is, might let you kiss me. Maybe." He took another bite. "Haven't been to bed yet, but had sixteen cans of Red Bull. That a bad thing?"

Eddie laughed a little at Adam, "Really depends, you look like you're doing alright. Besides, wouldn't you prefer me to be 'Emily' before I kissed you? Apparently she kisses better...I still don't see how that works..."

"As for your Fort...", Eddie pondered, "I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume it's somewhere secret and safe within these walls?"

Adam smirked. "You, Emily, same person, and I would rather neither. Unless you need reminding how sharp these are." He flicked out a blade and poked Eddie's shoulder with it. "Aw man, not five minutes back in your company and you're doing the gay thing again. Quit it." He said cheerfully, taking a gulp of tea. "Also, yes."

Eddie nodded, "Yeah, I have a knack for that...", he seemed almost unaware of the blade poking him, merely just adjusting his arm at its feel. Whereas he wasn't scared of being stabbed again (and had faith that he and Adam were past that little spat), he was still internally concious of its possible threat.

"Ok then....is i-it...somewhere you go often? Wait...", Eddie paused. "You've made that clear....alright: is it somewhere you pratice your music?"

Adam retracted the blade, happily munching as he nodded, though his eyes narrowed slightly. Maybe Red Bulls were bad for him. He really shouldn't have made that bet. Mff. He blurred slightly before settling again.

Eddie looked over at Adam. "Right...but somehow I've never seen it, much less heard you in it...", he sighed. "Man, no wonder people think I'm a recluse: we could have a freakin' tornado in the basement and I wouldn't know about it..."

"There's an entire music suite, man - where've you been? Half the school uses it." Adam grinned. "And the only thing the basement has in it is the DR and the hospital." He finished his sandwich. "Enough about me. What about you? What're you doing?"

Eddie blinked. "Oh, goddamnit, I am so outta the loop...", taking a few sips of tea, Eddie answered while checking the time on his phone. "I'm applying for a job at the Daily Bugle, actually, as a photographer? And for the last few months I've been finalizing my comic for possible sale..."

"You, a job? Hah." Adam grinned. "Just remember to keep your mouth shut, Ed. You might keep it, then." He pushed his plate aside and wrapped his gloved hands around his tea. "Comic? I didn't know you have a comic. Might have to go steal a copy if you get it published."

"Yeah, I don't think it's looking at being too popular...", Eddie sighed. "It's basically a spin on real life, to be honest. Well...real life for us..."

"You'll find someone who likes it." Adam nodded confidently. "Try the same guys who did Hellboy...Dark Horse, right?" He dipped a gloved finger in his tea and started doodling on the surface with the wet finger. "Hey, does that mean I'm in there?"

"Uh...", Eddie paused. "Geez, I suppose you could be, I'm still having some issues with the story at the moment.", Eddie adjusted his sitting, "It's basically about life as a mutant and some of the things that happen to the main character, a mutant called 'Venom'."

"Don't!", Eddie announced suddenly. "I AM aware you probably think it's me being big-headed but I came up with the name for the character before I chose my alias!"

Adam closed his mouth from where he'd opened it to say so, grinning. "You suddenly pyschic as well, Ed?" He shook his head. "Doesn't matter, everyone's main character I guess has most of them in it." He frowned. "...Except maybe Lovecraft's stuff...C.S. Lewis definitely, and I hope to hell Lewis Carroll never saw himself as Alice..." He shuddered.

"The guy was in a constant blaze of Opium-fuelled genius: I really wouldn't be surprised...", Eddie winked. "Yeah, my comic's called 'Anti-Hero'; Venom's basically like the hero of it? But he's persecuted for his blatantly mutant being..."

"Yet he believes that 'With Great Power comes Great Responsibility'...", Eddie smirked. "We like?"

"Sounds pretty cool. I dunno, I'm not really a creative person like that - if I like it, I read it." Adam shrugged, rubbing his nose and going back to his tea-doodles again. "Heeey. Why haven't you been at the club for a while, by the way?"

'Because I'm going insane, Adam! Because every time I feel really angry I loose a little more control...', Eddie thought, wincing a little at it.

"Uh...just been really busy, really...", he replied, somewhat reluctant even to lie so blatantly.

"Mnn. No excuse. We're in the same building and I don't see you any more. If you're worried that I'm going to stab you again, don't be." He paused. "...Actually, do be, being outside my Fort is bad for the whole...episode...thing." He could tell Eddie was lying from the scent, but it wasn't any of his business. "But seriously, you need to unwind."

Eddie nodded. "Yeah, maybe...it's kinda complicated to explain..."

'Well, you ARE losing your mind...'

"C'moooon, what's the worst that could happen - me stabbing you again." Adam grinned, then yawned massively. "...Oh. I think I'm headed for a crash. Hmm...more caffiene and sugar? Or should I actually sleep...? Haven't slept in like...seventy-two hours..."

"You know what, Adam?", Eddie announced suddenly and rather harshly, standing up and knocking over his tea, "I j-...sorry, I just...really, really don't wanna...", he sighed, sitting back down with his head in his hands.

Adam actually jumped, staring at the tea, before he blurred and grabbed a towel, cleaning it up in silence. "...You know...if you don't wanna...you just have to say." He said quietly. "I-I mean...it's not like...I'm gonna make you...just figured, y' know..." He shook his head. "You know what? Forget it. I'm gonna go to sleep." He tossed the towel into the hamper.

"Hey, I'm sorry I j-...", Eddie stopped. Words just wouldn't come to him. Giving up, he made for the door to go upstairs, he'd only come back to get his camera anyway, no point in wasting more time making an ass of himself.

Adam sighed. "I said forget it. It's alright. I know I'm not the most stable of people to be around." He shrugged. "See you round...I guess..." Well...there went his good mood. "Um. By the way...it's in the sound studio. You know, the mixing rooms...?" He muttered, looking at his feet. "I'll tell Bit you said hi." With that, he'd blurred out of the room, leaving his tea behind.

Eddie paused at the door to hear Adams' last few words. He sighed again, frowning to himself and taking a deep breath. He really needed to get his act together.

[TechPrincess]

"Alright, there we go...", Eddie said, dropping his stack of black and white comics onto the counter. There were about 50 issues, all printed by his own printer, on his own paper, and he was only seeing thirty percent of the takings? He looked at the clerk with a small frown, seemed God had no sense of 'fairness' sometimes.

The clerk smiled and thanked him, unwrapping the issues and taking one from the top. "'Anti-Hero', huh? Looks like a bit of a gimp!", he looked at Eddie, who gave him the blankest expression he could manage, "Just joshin', man, I'll get these up.", Eddie nodded and leaned on the counter with a sigh as the clerk went about his stacking.

Illyana was out for a day of shopping for her new apartment with Pietro. While most of the shopping was done just through the window, she had still had a pretty great day. As she approached the comic book store, she saw a familiar face inside. "Eddie?" She went on inside the store to get a better look and determined it was indeed her friend from school. "Eddie! Hey!"

She closed the gap between them with a smile.

Eddie swore he almost had a heart attack, he jumped and almost slipped onto the floor from his perch on the counter. "Hey, hey...Illy...uhm...", he was totally taken aback by her presence in the store - he was the only one who went there, right? "How are you?"

Illyana laughed and gave him a happy hug. "I am great! What are you doing 'ere?"

"Just, ah...", Eddie's eyes stumbled onto the comic left on the side. "...that. That is why I'm here."

"You are 'ere to pick up the latest issue of your favorite comic? Is it any good?" Illyana picked it up to look at it.

"No, i-...", Eddie laughed. Illyana was cute, he liked that. "No, that's the comic I wrote...and drew...and printed. I'm trying to get it sold; the guy who works here's just bagging them and pricing them."

"Ohhhh you made it! I will 'ave to buy one then! 'ow much are they?" Illyana wasn't so sure about this 'Venom' character, but if Eddie made it, she wanted to help him out.

Eddie picked up the copy on the table. "You know what, d'you just wanna take this one?", he asked, offering it. "Probably only worth about like a dollar fifty anyway...and these guys are taking like seventy percent...", he sighed again.

Illyana frowned a bit. Poor Eddie. She fished her wallet out of her purse and handed him a $10 bill. "'ere. You deserve something for your 'ard work. And when you are famous, I can say I knew you!"

"Seriously?", Eddie asked, obviously dumbfounded. "Uh...gee, thanks so much! I, ah...should probably point out I use an alias to write this, my pen name.", he took the $10 and handed Illyana the comic book. "See? 'Chaos Black'."

"Ohhhh sounds... exotic! If you sign it, does that make the value drop?" Illyana admired the comic book. She knew an author!

Eddie grinned, "Probably would make it more valuable, you know, on the off chance I get a job from Dark Horse or something...", he smirked. "D'you seriously want me to sign it?", he asked, half excited to do so, truthfully.

"Of course I do! You will 'ave to bring me the later editions at school. Then you can keep all the money for yourself. 'ow does that sound?" She smiled happily at him. It was a shame Pietro didn't want to room with Eddie. She liked hanging out with him.

With a blush, Eddie nodded, trying not to seem too excited as he drew his Number Three-...he paused and drew his Number Five Graphic Pen from his jacket and signed the cover of the comic beside the drawing of 'himself/the main character'. "There you go, I hope you like it..."

Illyana smiled broadly at it and admired it. "I am sure I will! I 'ave never 'ad an autographed book before. This is so exciting! Thank you, Eddie!"

Eddie couldn't help but flush deeper. "I-its nothing, really. Thanks very much.", he scratched the back of his head, feeling really happy and kind of excited at the prospect of having a fan. Best of all, unlike his ex, she wasn't blatantly doing it just because she liked him. "Means a lot, you know.â€