Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Eddie frowned at the cage the bartender had handed him, a quiet mew coming from inside, as if the cat was judging him for judging it.

Eddie had never been one for animals, preferring his own company, even when he was running jobs deep in space. Mike had been the one who loved animals, but it had been a long time since Eddie had seen his dance partner. The life they led didn't exactly lend itself to owning a pet, but occasionally strays would find their way onto their ship for a short stay. A few cats, a couple of dogs, and once there had even been a sheep. The cats would get underfoot when they were practicing their dancing, which was annoying. The dogs would try and join in which was only slightly less annoying. The sheep seemed to be completely unaffected, and for that, Eddie had found himself almost actually fond of it.

The universe, however, wasn't exactly in a state where people were holding dance contests much anymore.

He and Mike wouldn't have split over that alone, but Mike had decided that it was time for him to move on and, well, Eddie rightfully couldn't blame him. Running jobs was unpredictable, and even when there was work available, it was a rough living. Despite there being a high demand for workers, the office wasn't exactly paying them more than a living fee. Stay in the game long enough, and dancing wasn't enough to lift their spirits when things got bleak.

"There's a dance contest tonight, if you wanted to stick around and try your luck," the bartender, Bill, said.

Well, what were the odds?

Apparently, luck was already in Eddie's favor that night, because an all too familiar voice chimed in, "Of course he's going to try his luck. He's one of the best dancers I know."

Eddie turned around, smiling for the first time in what felt like light years.

Standing there was none other than his old dance partner, Mike.

"Well, I'll be damned," Eddie said, pulling him into a crushing hug. "How have you been, Mike?"

"I've been good. Yeah, I've been good. How about you?" Mike asked as he pulled back and Eddie held out his hand flat and rocked it back and forth. "Yeah, I was going to say, looks like you're on a job."

They shared a laugh.

"I'm taking a break at the moment, myself, but the fruit trading business has never been better. Just last week I picked up a hundred cases of raspberries at the South American port."

"Raspberries in South American," Eddie said, shaking his head. "Who would have ever thought we would be growing raspberries in South America?"

"You should come visit sometime. It's been awhile since you've been planet side, hasn't it?" Eddie answered in the affirmative, but didn't offer any reason for that. "Yeah, next time you don't have a job, stop by earth. I can play tour guide and show you all the things you've been missing out on. So now, what're you drinking?"

"I wasn't. I had been planning on getting this little guy to his destination," Eddie said, patting the cage. The cat hissed angrily inside, and Eddie realized he really should be getting back to business, but he decided that he just couldn't pass on catching up with his old dance partner. "But I'll take whatever looks least like it'll blow up in my face."

"That's the spirit!" Mike said, clapping him on the back. "One drink won't hurt after all."

He laughed as he waved down Bill the Bartender and ordered two drinks. He and Mike talked as he worked on their order, and it seemed to be more than the friendly banter bartenders were known for. It appeared that Mike knew Bill the bartender quite well, and Eddie wondered how often this work was bringing him out to Mars. Especially if he was doing as much as a hundred cases in one trip. That was at least three times the amount needed for the planet's current population, unless everyone was eating nothing but fruit. Sure, Mars had visitors all the time, from people working like him along with run of the mill tourists, but no. That still wouldn't have made up those kinds of numbers.

Which could only mean the population was beginning to increase. That meant there was a high chance that developers and constructions crews were planet side, and considering that Eddie didn't get along with animals, you could imagine how he got along with people. Eddie tried to imagine the dusty planet overrun with bustling cities in lieu of the small colonies and felt his stomach turn. Maybe it would be for the best if next time he went into the office, he told them to lay off the mars jobs for the time being.

Yes, he would very much like to avoid large crowds of people if that was feasible.

Although he could make an exception when there was a dance contest.

Speaking of which, he could see the band starting to set up as Mike handed him his drink. Eddie took a sip as he continued looking around the bar. One would definitely not describe the place as packed, with only a few other patrons scattered about. Most of them were sitting at the counter like he and Mike were, so they had easy access to get their drinks refilled, but a few of the tables right next to the stage were filled with couples.

Couples meant that they were most likely entering into the dance contest, and would be he and Mike's future competition.

"So, what else have you been up to?" Mike asked, and Eddie returned his attention to his old dance partner.

"Well, apparently I'm a cat sitter now," Eddie said, pointing to the cage that was still sitting on the bar, and taking a long drink from his glass. "Hey, how about you teach me how to take care of this thing, since you were the one who took care of the stowaways on our ship, before we cream the competition?"

Bill the Bartender laughed, which he tried to cover up as a cough, as he wiped down a glass.

"Sometimes I forgot how competitive you are," Mike said. He stuck a finger in through the cage door, cooing at the cat. "Which is probably bad for this little guy. I can try and give you a quick crash course, although he probably deserves more than that."

"You saying we should skip the contest, then?" Eddie asked with a smirk, knowing that would get a rise out of Mike.

He was surprisingly calm, however, as he replied, "Obviously I didn't come in here planning on winning anything, but now that it's a possibility, I won't be happy unless I'm leaving here with a trophy."

"And you say that I'm the competitive one," Eddie said, playfully punching Mike's shoulder.

"Hey, here's a thought," Mike almost shouted at him, pointing his finger directly in Eddie's face. "Maybe the fact that we're both so competitive is why we're such a good team. Anyway, you may be a fantastic dancer, but you're so hopeless when it comes to animals. Alright, come here."

Mike finished his drink, promptly ordered another one, and then started teaching Eddie all that he could about taking care of cats. It turned out that it was easy enough that Eddie was sure that even he couldn't screw it up. Mike was just finishing up describing where best to get some sand on Mars to use for litter when an emcee took the stage. He told a few jokes, that weren't exactly funny, but he had the whole audience roaring with laughter. Even Mike chuckled at a punchline or two, so maybe Eddie was really just too much of a stick in the mud sometimes.

Thankfully the emcee didn't take up too much of their time, introducing the band once he finished his last joke, and everyone in the bar started applauding. Then the emcee called the first couple to perform, and Eddie realized that he had never officially signed up for the contest. He tried to wave Bill the Bartender over, but once the music had started, he hadn't stopped moving. He was running up and down the bar, refilling drinks, starting new tabs for customers who had come in for the contest, closing tabs for customers who wanted to escape the contest, and placing bets.

Eddie was sure he wasn't going to get the chance to dance after all, when he and Mike's names were called.

"That's us, partner," Mike said, holding his hand out for Eddie to take.

Which, naturally, he grabbed happily as he replied, "Let's show them how it's done."

The lead singer asked them what kind of song they need as they approached. Mike looked over his shoulder to Eddie, and without even exchanging a word, they could tell they both knew exactly what kind of number they were going to do. Mike leaned in and whispered their choice into the lead singer's ear, making sure it would be a surprise for the audience, and then he and Eddie made their way to the dance floor.

The 'dance floor' was nothing more than a piece of cardboard that had been laid down on the floor off to the side of the stage. It was already beat up and dusty, but Eddie supposed it was better than stomping against the unfinished wood of the bar's floor. As it was, just walking over, his shoes sounded deafening in the suddenly quiet bar.

Seriously, why had it gone so quiet as he and Mike were getting into position? Or did it just seem that way to him?

He didn't have much time to contemplate it, though, because then the band started laying. They came in fast and hard, which is exactly what he and Mike needed. The way they danced was almost like a fight rather than something as delicate as, say, a waltz.

'Show them no mercy,' Eddie thought.

He and Mike's old motto.

God, had he missed it. How you and your partner could move together so effortlessly. The pleasurable way that it would tire you out. The sound of his feet hitting the dance floor... even if it was only a soft thunk against some cardboard.

Deep down he knew it was the endorphins, but he still would swear that dancing was addictive. How had he gone so long without it?

Perhaps he could sweat it out of his system.

See, it was obvious that he hadn't dressed for a dance competition, and Mars was pretty damn cold once you landed and took off your space suit. He had learned it was best to bundle up. However, back in the day, he hadn't cared about that and dressed in easy to remove layers in case they chanced across a dance competition. It happened more often than you would think.

Now here he was. Within seconds he had soaked through his long underwear and flannel shirt. All he could think was thank goodness he had at least taken off his coat and left it on his bar stool before they had been called up.

Mike looked to be in the same boat as him, but the lucky bastard had always looked good with that sheen of sweat across his brow. Eddie, on the other hand, probably had a face as red as a tomato.

Not that he had ever seen one in person. They had been one of the first crops to stop growing, and scientists were still working on acclimating the soil on mars so they could grow them once more. They had already made giant strides in growing foliage, but several fruits and vegetables proved to be slightly trickier.

Eddie had always thought he would like tomatoes. Hopefully he would get the opportunity to try one someday.

He was brought back to the present when Mike grabbed his back, lowering him into a dip, and that meant it was time for the grand finale.

Eddie took a deep breath, and then Mike was not only lifting him out of the dip, but up and up and up... Until Eddie's legs were wrapped around his chest. Distantly, Eddie could hear the bar roaring with applause, and he smiled. If they thought that was impressive, just they wait until he and Mike actually finished the move.

With a flourish of his arms, Eddie leaned back, trusting Mike to support him. Then, with a show of incredible strength, Mike spun them around as the music crescendoed into a quite chaotic outro.

Eddie's chest heaved as Mike set him back on the dance floor, which they had literally shredded. Eddie couldn't even hear himself gasping for air as they received a thunderous standing ovation.

"That trophy's as good as our's," Mike whispered into his ear before taking a bow.

Eddie laughed as he joined him, earning them some more whoops and hollers from throughout the bar. They had their hands shook, backs clapped, and even their cheeks kissed a few times as they made their way back to their seats. Which, the cheek kissing part, Eddie could have done without. He could tell he was blushing under all of the attention. It definitely didn't help when Bill the Bartender came over and handed them two refills before they could even ask.

It had been a long time since someone had bought him a drink.

"On the house," Bill the Bartender said with a wave of his hand when Mike tried to pay. Oh, well. That was almost as good as someone buying him a drink. "You guys deserve it. That was a hell of a show. I didn't know you could dance like that Mike."

"Oh. Only when I'm with Eddie."

Bill the Bartender's face fell when Mike said that, and Eddie had to hide his smile in his glass.

Well, either Mike did spend a lot of time on Mars, or his charm was still that effective for Bill the Bartender to be so smitten. Now Eddie hoped it was the first, because he wanted his old dance partner to be happy. Mike had never seemed to be the type for settling down. Sure, he may have switched out his job for something that was a little more stable, but it still called for him to travel all the time, which suited him fine. He had always talked about how he wanted to see as much of the universe as he could. That didn't mean that he couldn't have a lover to come home to on some planet.

Also, should he couple with the bartender, Eddie could continue receiving free drinks, which was a nice added little bonus.

Although, he should probably stop with the drinks at that moment. He had a job to do, after all, and now he was definitely going to have to delay his departure so he could sleep the booze off. He didn't want to have to deal with a hangover on top of being late.

He had to stay to see if they won, though, and there were still a few more competitors left. He finished his drink and found the next one had been paid for by an elderly gentleman at the end of the bar when Bill the Bartender dropped it off. Eddie craned his neck and was met with leathery skin and a toothless smile.

The elderly man had live a rough life of a frontier man, and there was no shame in that, but he was a tad too old for Eddie. He tipped his glass at the elderly man in thanks, but returned to his conversation with Mike.

Down to two couples left to dance, and Eddie finished his third drink, flipping his glass over in hopes that any other well wishers would get the hint.

They did not, Bill the Bartender informed him, setting another drink next to his empty glass. He kindly didn't tell Eddie off for the last remnants of his previous drink dripping onto the bar, but that may have been because the bar had seen better days. A few droplets wasn't going to make that much of a difference. Eddie didn't bother asking who had paid for this one as he picked it up and took a few sips to be nice. He definitely had no intention of finishing it, however.

But then they announced the winners, and he was gulping down the entire glass before heading up to the stage with Mike to accept their trophy. The emcee and the lead singer of the band shook their hands as the audience cheered so loudly, Eddie was concerned for the structure of the bar.

After that, there was no way he could turn down a drink.

Now they were celebrating their win.

The band launched into an up-tempo song, and everyone took to the floor. not the make shift dance floor, since the scraps that he and Mike had left behind were long gone after the rest of the competitors trampled over them. Besides, that space was nowhere near big enough for the celebration that was breaking out. No, tables and chairs were overturned to make room for all the couples, and soon enough people were swinging around the entire bar.

Eddie and Mike had several more drinks and even a couple of shots bought for them from people who were feeling very generous. They performed their dance a second time, when people began demanding an encore, albeit without the lift. They were too drunk to attempt that.

Too drunk. Far too drunk, Eddie thought as he stumbled to the bathroom.

Everything was swirling around him, faces blending together, and he decided it was best to not trust his eyes. Especially since, as he stumbled on back, he thought he saw The Professor.

It couldn't be him. It couldn't be, because everyone at the bar looked like someone he swore he knew. He was simply seeing things.

He couldn't take any chances, though, if he had thought he had seen The Professor.

He kept his head down as he walked as fast as he could, snatching his coat off of his bar stool and the cat's cage off the top of the bar, and bolted out the door.

(Not before he found some coins in his pocket and dropped them on the bar for Bill the Bartender. Even if his life was in danger, he couldn't leave without tripping the bartender.)

He had to take into account that the loud music was still audible outside, but if he hadn't been intoxicated, he should have been able to have heard Mike walk up behind him.

That wasn't a good sign.

He needed to be alert so The Professor couldn't get the jump on him.

Anyway, of course Mike had followed him out of the bar, asking if he was alright, because he was truly far too kind. Since it was pretty obvious that Eddie was not alright, considering he was breathing even faster then when they had been dancing.

A panic attack, his sluggish brain helpfully provided.

Because of this, it took him a moment to gasp out, "The Professor."

His eyes darting around, Mike pulled Eddie behind some trashcans that were in the alleyway.

"Hey, it's alright. I need you to breath with me. Can you do that?"

Eddie nodded shakily, and so Mike took Eddie's hand and pressed it to his chest. They stood there, breathing together, until Eddie was able to calm down.

"Alright, so The Professor. Say no more. You are staying in my ship tonight. Fuck protocol," Mike said as Eddie started to protest. "I may have gone straight, but I'm not letting my friend walk right into a potential trap."

"Thank you Mike," Eddie said with a rather sad hiccup.

"Of course Eddie. And in the morning, I'll walk you to your ship. I know I've never met this professor of yours, but I'm not taking any chances. Monsters can be just as dangerous in the daylight."

Mike led Eddie to his ship, holding onto his arm tightly, since he was still recovering from his panic attack. He had picked up the cat's cage and carried it for him as well, and Eddie wondered what he had ever done to deserve to have someone so kind in his life.

They walked through the lot, passing several ships, until they stopped in front of the largest one there. Eddie stared in amazement at the ship, trying to wrap his head around the fact that this was Mike's ship. The ship was easily twice the size of the rickety ship that he used to pilot with Mike. The one they had sold when they parted ways, and which had provided Eddie the money to buy the slightly less rickety ship that he had now.

Granted, Mike needed much more space for his cargo, so a bigger ship was definitely called for. It, however, didn't have to shine so damn brightly. It looked brand new. As if Mike had flown directly from purchasing it straight to the bar to have a drink. Eddie had a feeling that dirt couldn't stick to the ship if it tried to. The gangway was practically pristine and even had traction, to prevent crew from sliding while loading and unloading cargo. And then there was the interior. Eddie didn't think he'd ever had a permanent lodging that was as well furnished as the ship was.

A lesser man would have been jealous, but Eddie was nothing but incredibly proud and happy for his old dance partner.

And, being as intoxicated as he was, he immediately told him so.

"Thank you Eddie. That means a lot to me," Mike said, gently guiding Eddie until he found himself falling into a bed. "There you go. Comfortable?"

"Yeah, but I can't take your bed," Eddie argued, but he could feel his eyes already drooping closed as sleep began to take over.

Mike laughed.

"I love you, but not so much as to give up my bed after the night we just had. These are the guest quarters, so you don't have to feel any guilt, alright? Sleep tight, now, I'll see you in the morning. Eleven sound good?"

"Sounds great," Eddie said, but all he could think about was that the ship had guest quarters with a smile.

It was his last coherent thought before it all faded to black.

Eddie dreamed of The Professor.

His deranged eyes and wide, taunting grin. He would stand there, with a balloon in hand, demanding Eddie come to his birthday party. But Eddie's dad had just passed away, and he didn't want to go to a party.

"Well, what then did your father die for?" The Professor asked.

Eddie tried to explain that sometimes people get sick.

'Sometimes people get sick, Eddie-bear,' his mother's voice said, ringing in his mind.

Eddie wanted to tell The Professor this, because it wasn't like he wanted to upset him. He just could not stomach the thought of a party that night.

No words could come out of his mouth, though, no matter how hard he tried.

Only sunflowers.

Sunflowers sprouting out of his throat, and growing up into his mouth, where the roots took place in between his teeth. The petals stuck to his chapped lips, although a few managed to avoid that fate, falling off and into a pile that had started to form at his feet.

Mike woke him up right on time, despite it being obvious that he was as hungover as Eddie.

They ate a quick breakfast, along with the surly cat who had put up a fight once they had to put it back into the cage. Then they argued, in good nature, over who should take the trophy that they had won the night before. Eventually, Mike shoved it, along with some grapes nestled safely in the cup, into Eddie's arms before announcing that it was time to go.

Always a man of his word, he walked Eddie back to his ship to make sure he got there with no problems.

"I'm sorry it seems I ruined the end of our night for no reason," Eddie said as he hugged Mike close.

"Hey, I'd rather you be safe. We had already had more than enough fun anyway. Don't be a stranger, now. Hopefully we can have another night that's just as memorable soon."

Mike waved as Eddie walked up the gangway and disappeared into his ship. He gave his old dance partner time to move out of the way, and then he was taking off.

The cat yowled the whole time they were breaching the atmosphere, but Eddie didn't dare let it out of the cage. It was far too dangerous to have an animal running around before he was officially off the planet, which he tired to tell the cat, but to no avail.

So the cat yowled, and Eddie put up with it until they were off Mars and he could set the course to Mercury for the autopilot. By some sort of miracle, he had enough fuel that he could do a quick boost, and he was pretty sure that he was going to still make it in time.

As it was, it was thankfully a short trip to begin with, he thought as he unlatched the cage door and the cat bolted out. It ran a loop around the ship, paused at the pilot's chair to eye Eddie, and then started running once more. It knocked over papers, food pouches, and even his alarm clock, and Eddie couldn't wait to arrive on Mercury.

Something he never thought he would say.

Mercury was a factory planet. Nothing but plants and housing for workers as far as the eye could see.

They were hard workers, good men, but there was still something about the place that creeped Eddie out.

He just wanted to get the job over with and be on his way.

Which should have been easy enough. All he had to do was find one Richie Tozier, drop off his cat, and fly the hell out of there.

But nothing could ever be that easy for him, could it?

After one more wrangling the cat into its cage, Eddie made his way to the foreman's office, and asked him which development Richie Tozier lived in.

Without even looking up, the foreman grumbled, "He doesn't live in housing."

"But... but then where does he live?" Eddie asked.

"How the hell should I know that? He's not my problem. He's just entertainment for the men. Coming up on the end of his monthly stint," the foreman said, pen scratching away on his paperwork. Then, thinking Eddie probably wouldn't catch it, he muttered, "And thank God for that."

Eddie sighed.

"Alright. But he's currently on the planet, so could you tell me where I can find him so I can get rid of this stupid cat once and for all?"

As if it could tell Eddie was talking about it, the cat meowed and stuck a paw out through the door of the cage, and tried to swat at him.

"Well, where else would a comedian be?" the foreman asked, like Eddie was some kind of idiot. "The auditorium."

"And where's the auditorium?" Eddie asked through gritted teeth.

Enjoying his pain, the cat made a pleased sounding chirp.

It took far too long to extract the auditorium's whereabouts from the foreman, but he eventually had decent enough directions that he was sure that he wouldn't get lost. It was still quite the trek, though, and there wasn't any transit allowed on the planet except for the employee only shuttle. It took Eddie forever to walk the whole way there, and the cat wasn't very happy about being jostled so much. It tried to escape several times, which only served to make the trip take even longer.

Eddie attempted to explain this to the cat, but once again it didn't understand, and simply hissed at him.

Finally they made it to the auditorium, and the building was packed. Factory workers were crammed in on the floor, like sardines in a tin, although they seemed to pay this no mind. All of their attention was focused on the stage, where a man Eddie assumed was none other than Richie Tozier was standing and telling jokes.

At least, they were supposed to be jokes.

Eddie didn't find them to be very funny.

It felt as if the comedian, who clearly couldn't even see Eddie in the audience with his cat, was taunting him. Bad joke upon bad jokes as Eddie tried to force his way through the crowd while holding on tightly to the cat's cage.

"I actually saw a woman's boob once," the comedian said, causing the audience to titter. "I did. I walked in on her getting dressed. Totally by accident, I swear."

Sure. Like Eddie believed that.

"She was a good sport about it. She was like, 'I suppose you'll want to touch it,'" the comedian said, in the worst impression of a woman Eddie had ever heard. "And I felt so bad having to tell her that even if all the women didn't live on Venus, I'd still be as gay as a double rainbow."

That caused Eddie to freeze in his tracks.

The sleazy comedian, telling terrible jokes about women, was somehow gay like him.

He shook his head and continued pushing forward. There was no reason to dwell on it, when he was just going to hand over the annoying cat and get on with his life. He started moving once more, holding the cat above the heads of the audience.

"I still touched it, though," the comedian said, causing everyone to 'ooh' and 'ahh.' "Yeah, I got you guys. It was really soft."

Scoffing, Eddie realized he had made it close enough to the stage that he could heckle the comedian, but after the past 36 hours that he had, he simply wanted to get the job done and move on to the next one. It's all he'd wanted since Bill the Bartender had handed him the cat.

A bouncer stopped him when he tried to get backstage at first, but the cat was getting close to breaking free, and Eddie was motioned to head back as the bouncer's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

Good to know Eddie wasn't the only one who was not a cat person.

Thankfully, it appeared that had been the end of the comedian's set, and Eddie didn't have to wait long for him to depart the stage. As soon as he saw Eddie standing there with the cage, he was racing toward him, shouting, "Tuna!"

"Tuna?" Eddie asked, quirking a brow, just before he was knocked to the ground by the comedian.

"Oh baby. I've missed you."

"You are speaking to the cat, correct?" Eddie joked.

He gasped, surprised at himself for saying that. Richie Tozier didn't answer him, nor did he get off. He just grabbed the cage from Eddie and let the cat free. Eddie braced himself for impact, but it never came. He cracked open an eye and saw the cat curled up in Richie Tozier's arms, its tail curling around his wrist as it made a rumbling noise.

"That's called purring," Richie Tozier told him. He was petting the cat's head, and it and human alike looked so satisfied that Eddie almost felt bad about having to push them off.

Almost.

He pushed at Richie Tozier's shoulder (the one that wasn't petting the cat because he wasn't actively trying to hurt them) and got on his feet before the comedian realized what had happened.

Not that he seemed to mind. He was far too busy petting the cat and cooing nonsensical sweet nothings into its fur.

"I know what purring is," Eddie mumbled and then, "Please tell me you know that not all women live on Venus," he said, resting a hand on his hip. "That's a terrible cliche."

Richie Tozier finally looked up at him and snorted out a laugh.

"Yeah, as if comedy has never been built on well known cliches or anything. Anyway, thank you so much for bringing Tuna here. I was going crazy without him, but they don't allow pets to stay on Mercury, so he had to stay with my buddy, Bill. Isn't that right, Mr. Stinky Fish?"

Eddie's nose crinkled up at the gross name, but then it registered what the comedian had said before that.

"You know Bill the Bartender?" When Richie Tozier nodded, Eddie asked, "Is he a good guy?"

Richie Tozier frowned as he stood up, but he answered Eddie's question nicely enough, although he avoided looking at him by petting Tuna the cat.

"Well, that's a relief," Eddie said. "Good to know Mike, my old dance partner, is in good hands.

"Oh, you know Mike?" Richie Tozier asked, his entire demeanor changing. "Wait. Mike has a thing for Bill? Wait. We can gossip about this later. Since we're already like one big, happy family, that makes asking you for a ride easier."

Eddie stared at the comedian, his face blank, before tugging on the lobe of his ear in hopes it would dislodge any build up of wax that would have messed with his hearing.

"I'm sorry. What was that?"

"A ride. Come on, Delivery Boy. You know how long it takes for a shuttle ship to get over here." Eddie started to protest that he wasn't a delivery boy, but Richie Tozier continued over him. "I consider it a win/win situation. I can leave on time for once after a long stint on this awful planet, and you can get paid cold, hard cash for once. No credits. No office taking their cut. Whadya say?"

Well, Eddie had to admit it was tempting.

Actual money meant he could indulge a little. Buy some of the fruit Mike hauled around. Maybe even a steak. His mouth was watering already simply thinking about it. So what if it meant he had to put up with the cat, plus its annoying and stupid if yet handsome owner, a little while longer? It would be worth it as soon as he took his first bite.

"Alright. i'm in. Where are you headed?"

With a devilish grin, the comedian said, "Venus."

Venus was as near to a utopia as imperfect humans could get.

Around the time the crops had started to die out, some scientists started a colony on the planet and managed to terraform the entire surface. Now, Venus was covered in lush forests, and it was spring time year round. They controlled all ships that came in, keeping pollution as low as possible without entirely cutting themselves off from the rest of the universe. The people essentially governed themselves, but they had elected a spokesperson to take care of intergalactic delegation, and her name was Spokesperson Kay.

Eddie knew all of this because he had run quite a few official jobs to Venus and had gotten to know Spokesperson Kay very well. Which was why he was nervous about the possibility of landing unannounced and ruining their working relationship.

Richie ('Just Richie,' the comedian insisted, saying Eddie was far too formal) said it would be fine. That the friend he was meeting on Venus had gotten him the clearance.

"You didn't even know that I would say yes until thirty minutes ago," Eddie pointed out as he started charting their course. "And you were with me the whole time, and I didn't see you make a call."

"Eds," Richie said, (despite Eddie telling him 'Don't call me that' twice already, because he liked being formal.) "I had faith in you and called ahead. You should take that as the compliment it is."

"You couldn't know the name of the ship, so they would know who to expect when I radioed them. You couldn't know the make and model. The dimensions..."

"Jeez Eds. Take a chill pill."

Eddie could feel his eye twitch as he tried to slow down his breathing. He wasn't going to yell at the comedian, he wasn't going to yell at the comedian, he wasn't going to yell at the comedian. But then Tuna the cat hopped up into his lap and started licking his arm. Eddie screamed, and Richie laughed at him.

He laughed at him.

"This is too good," Richie said. "You know that means he likes you, right?"

"Well, the feeling is not mutual," Eddie mumbled, rubbing his arm. He cleared this throat before asking, "Is it supposed to feel so rough?"

Richie nodded.

"Oh yeah. It's so weird, right? But you get used to it."

"I don't plan to get used to it."

"Spoil sport," Richie said, crossing his arms.

Tuna seemed content to curl up at Eddie's feet since it was obvious he wouldn't be petting him any time soon. That meant Eddie only had to deal with one baby, for the time being.

Because that was hot Richie was behaving. He kept talking, talking, talking without taking a breath. He would get distracted every time Tuna the cat would move, but even then, Eddie couldn't get a word in edge wise. Not like he particularly wanted to, but then Richie would think of something else he absolutely had to tell Eddie, and the cycle would start all over again. Plus, it didn't help that he seemed to be pouting because Eddie was still sitting in the pilot's chair after charting their course to Venus.

But then...

"So, Eds, tell me about yourself," Richie said, leaning back against Eddie's bed as he crossed his arms behind his head. He looked far too at home, and Eddie wanted to get up and shove him off the furniture, but he couldn't. The comedian was only doing it to get a rise out of him. He must have realized it was the only way he would get Eddie to leave the pilot's chair. If Eddie got up, that would be letting him win. "Hey, Earth to Eds."

"Well, first off, as I have told you several times, my name is not Eds. It's Eddie. And you already know everything else."

"You cannot tell me that 'everything else' is you run jobs for the office and have a friend named Mike," Richie said, and it honestly almost sounded like a whine. "Like, what's your favorite movie?"

"I don't really watch movies."

Richie sighed.

"Okay, that was just a sample question. You can literally tell me your favorite anything. I just want to get to know you."

"I... I like swing music," Eddie admitted. "I guess I'd say that's my favorite musical genre. It's the best to dance to."

"Now we're talking," Richie said with a grin. "Alright Eds. Tell me about swing music."

So Eddie did. He talked about how he had gotten into music, and subsequently dancing, and his favorite swing artist Cab Calloway. Surprisingly, Richie as mostly quiet and let him gush about the topic, although he would answer any questions Eddie posed when he started to feel like he was talking too much. He learned that Richie preferred mainly modern music himself, and that he had 'two left feet unfortunately.' Which led to Richie in a heap on the floor after a disastrous showcasing of his lack of skills, and Eddie didn't think he had ever laughed that hard.

The conversation flowed naturally from there, without either of them dominating it for too long, and Eddie found himself abandoning the pilot's chair so he could sit closer to Richie. Tuna the cat eventually hopped up and settled down between the two of them, and Eddie watched as Richie pet his head.

Eddie felt relaxed, content, and like his heart was full.

He had only known Richie for a few hours, and Eddie hated himself for already thinking --

-- he could get used to this.

He was abruptly reminded, however, why he didn't allow himself to get used to being close to most others when the communicator rang.

He excused himself, despite it being a mere three feet walk to the communicator, but Richie didn't crack a joke about it. He motioned for Eddie go go ahead with a smile, and Eddie couldn't help but smile back, even as he answered.

"Eddie Kaspbrak speaking."

"Hello Eddie. Do you know what day it is?" asked a voice that Eddie had only recently heard in his dreams.

His blood ran cold, but he made himself respond, "I don't know, Professor."

"Oh, Eddie, please. Always so formal. I think you could drop the titles today. Considering it's my birthday."

Eddie drew in a sharp breath, it whistling slightly through his teeth.

His dream.

The Professor did love his parties, so to dream of a birthday party wasn't ominous on its own. But to do so the night before his birthday? After Eddie had been sure he had seen him at the bar?

No. He couldn't let himself be caught off guard. He had no reason to trust The Professor. He could be lying. In fact, it definitely reeked like one of his schemes to guilt Eddie into seeing him. He couldn't let the bastard know how affected he was.

"Of course," he said, steeling his voice into something he hoped resembled calm. "Happy birthday... Pennywise."

"Ah, well, it would be, but someone doesn't want to spend it with me. Ran away even after I bought him and his co-worker a drink."

A drink.

The drink.

The drink Bill the Bartender had said was on the house. Of course The Professor would have told him not to point out who it was from. It had worked out perfectly, since Bill the Bartender took it as an opportunity to put himself in Mike's good graces.

God, The Professor had been watching Eddie the whole night.

Probably even longer than that.

"I'm afraid I had a job to do," he said, unfortunately all pretense of calm out the window. "I haven't finished yet, either, so I can't meet with you. Maybe next year."

"Who knows if we'll have next year?" The Professor said, his voice raising. "I'm getting up there in years, Eddie. This isn't fair to me, Eddie."

"I can't quit in the middle of a job. This is my livelihood."

"But what's the point in living if you don't spend it with the ones you love? And I'm all you've got left, Eddie. Mike left you for a new life. One night catching up in a bar should have it all the most obvious that he's moved on. You know all of this, so why keep denying it? Come to my party, Eddie, before your ship collapses. After all, what else did your father die for?"

The Professor started cackling, and Eddie hung up the communicator.

He slammed it so hard into the receiver that the entire dashboard shook. Richie sprang up, much to Tuna the cat's dismay, and wrapped a comforting arm around Eddie's shoulder.

"Oh my God, are you okay? Who was that?"

Taking a deep breath, Eddie answered, "The man who killed my father."

Chapter Text

Eddie was six.

His father had passed away the year before, and he was already having difficulty remembering what life had been like when his father had been around. He knew there had been much more drastic changes than just less sweets, but on his birthday, all the little boy could think about was how his mother told him that he wouldn't behaving a birthday cake that year.

Maybe he wouldn't have cared about cake if he t least had a party to look forward to, but his mother insisted he was too fragile to be rough housing with other boys.

Too fragile from the shock, she would say, but Eddie didn't quite understand either of those words. All he knew was he was different, and he didn't like that feeling.

He managed to sneak out of the house when his mother wasn't looking, dragging his teddy bear into the front yard to play. At least he and Teddy could celebrate because...

"Because six years is something to celebrate," a voice said, as if it had read his mind.

The voice was definitely not inside his mind, though, because he knew what his voice sounded like. Obviously. He also knew what Teddy's voice sounded like. So where had the voice come from. Who was it?

"It's me. Professor Pennywise," The Professor said, emerging from behind one of the artificial bushes encompassing the front yard.

"I was a friend of your father's. Do you remember me from the funeral?"

Eddie shook his head.

Suddenly he felt like following his mother's orders. Don't talk to strangers, she always told him, and he could see why strangers were scary. The Professor may have been smiling, but he didn't seem happy to Eddie. How could someone smile and not be happy?

Why did adults always lie?

"There's no reason to be afraid, Eddie. If your dad liked me, I can't be all bad, can I? Don't you want to be my friend, too? I'll visit you on your birthdays if you'll visit me on mine. How does that sound? That sounds fair to me."

Eddie was saved from having to answer by his mother shouting down the house. She couldn't find her Eddie-bear and she was worried. Eddie picked up Teddy and ran into the house without sparing a look behind him to see how The Professor reacted. It was the first time he ever had come running as soon as he heard his mother calling for him, because once that happened, he knew that he was going to be in trouble. She took it as an admission of guilt. Normally he would think, why not put off facing her? Today, however, he ran right into her arms, not even caring about the punishment he would have to face.

Later, as he wiped the sticky tears on his cheeks, he caught sight of The Professor still standing outside in the yard. The man smiled at him once, and this time it was a full smile, and Eddie started screaming.

His teeth were as sharp as knives.

Richie was deadly silent the entire time Eddie was telling his story, but once he was finished, the comedian burst into tears. He jumped up and pulled Eddie into a hug so tight, he could barely breathe.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you. Or, should I say, is happening to you. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Eddie laughed, although there wasn't any true feeling behind it.

"Just don't get us caught, okay?"

"Aye, aye Captain," Richie said, giving Eddie a salute.

Tuna the cat meowed, looking up at Eddie as he curled around his legs. It was as if he was letting Eddie know that he also had his back. Well, Eddie was starting to think the cat wasn't all that bad. He reached down to give him a quick pat on the head, causing Richie to grin wildly.

"Oh, this is going to be so exciting! Our very own adventure!"

"Don't you get enough excitement in your line of work?"

Richie shrugged.

"Not really. I do a stint on Mercury. Swing by Venus for a break. Maybe do a show or two there, but mostly I just spend time with my friends. Then I head over to Earth for the most boring time of the year. I stay there for about four to five months, and barely anyone shows up to those performances. They've all got better things to do. And then winter on mars. Rinse and repeat. So, yeah. It's pretty dull."

"You're doing comedy shows on Mars?" Eddie asked, because of course that was the only thing he could focus on. It was the only thing that could make him forget about The Professor. "How have I not seen you around?"

"It is a pretty big planet, you know," Richie said. "And expanding every day."

Didn't Eddie know it.

God, he really did hate change.

"I remember when it was just one small colony there. What happened to those days?"

"You a country boy, Eds?" Richie asked. His tone was teasing, but his smile looked genuinely charmed. "That actually will probably help us, uh, because there's a barn coming right toward us."

"I'm sorry. There's a what?"

"I know jokes are my trade, but I'm not joking. It's right there," Richie said as he pointed to an asteroid that was floating directly toward them, and sure enough, there was a barn on its surface. "Who do you think put it there?"

Judging by the look on his face, Richie was thinking the same thing that Eddie was.

Could The Professor have tracked him down in time to have built a barn there?

Despite that fear, Eddie knew they couldn't fly by without inspecting the barn, in case there was someone there who needed help. Richie was apprehensive at first, when Eddie had suggested they check it out, but he seemed to be placated when Eddie made it clear they would be doing so together. So he turned off the auto pilot, steered them to the surface of the asteroid, and then locked the controls. He was thankful that he had a spare space suit that he could lend to Richie, because it wasn't until the moment he went to suit up that he realized that he normally didn't have accommodations on his ship in case the need should ever arise. He thought he probably should fix that, since he had a feeling that the need was going to arise more often, as he handed Richie the spare space suit.

Then he lost his train of thought because he was too busy being far too please to see that it fit.

He had ordered the space suit with Mike in mind, and he and Richie both had a good three or so inches on him, so it should not have come as a surprise. It definitely should not have made Eddie feel like it was a sign that Richie belonged there with him.

What a ridiculous thought. He had never given any weight to that kind of thing before.

He must have still been rattled from The Professor's phone call. Searching for solace wherever he could find it.

Once he and Richie were properly suited up, they exited the ship, and lazily floated their way to the barn. The asteroid was far too small for them to be able to walk properly, so they made sure neither of them drifted off by holding hands, and Eddie's traitorous heart was aflutter.

Or, perhaps he was having a completely normal reaction to The Professor threatening him, and if he didn't stop getting distracted by Richie, he would be leaving himself vulnerable enough for an attack.

It wasn't as if their hands were truly touching. There was the small matter of the thick material of the space suits in the way. The thick material that Eddie was almost thankful for because his hands were so clammy from a mixture of nervousness and excitement, he was sweating so profusely. He wouldn't have wanted to ruin the first time he held hands with Richie by sweating all over him.

As they got closer to the building, Eddie could make out more of the barn's details. It didn't seem rather well made. The wood was warping in certain sections and the roof was slightly crooked, but it had to be sturdy to some extent. It was standing on an asteroid, after all, as it aimlessly drifted through space. The hinges on the door looked slightly rusted, so Eddie wasn't surprised to find that it was unlocked. He and Richie easily flung it open and floated right on inside. Considering the overall state of the place, Eddie shouldn't have been expecting the barn to have gravity control, but he was still disappointed to find there was none. He was definitely disappointed and not excited since it meant he would have to continue holding Richie's hand.

Definitely not excited in the slightest.

No one could blame him, though, if he let himself enjoy the comedian dragging him further into the barn.

"I'm not seeing any equipment and, well, obviously no animals," Richie said, his voice sounding slightly robotic due to the cheap communication sets in their helmets. "That's not exactly a good sign. A barn is to house equipment needed for the farm and animals, and if there are neither of those, what is the barn's purpose?"

"You're an expert on barns now?" Eddie asked.

"Hey, there's a lot you don't know about me," Richie shot back, and if Eddie didn't know any better, he'd say that Richie had winked at him.

Thankfully, he was saved from saying something stupid like 'I want to get t know you' when something dashed through the shadows in front of them. He felt Richie freeze next to him, and he realized that even though he was also afraid, he should be the one to step up and do something. He must have more experience with things that were out of the ordinary than a stand up comedian.

Whatever it was that had dashed past them, however, had been extremely fast. Plus it was very dark inside of the barn, and the space suits only had the faintest of head lamps attached to the helmets, so Eddie hadn't been able to make out much. He had no idea what it was they were up against, but he knew it was going to take everything within him to stand up to it, because it had quite literally sprinted past them. That meant that whatever it was, it was not human. The good news, then, was that at least meant it was The Professor.

As much as The Professor didn't seem human to Eddie, he certainly was.

He just happened to be an evil one.

Eddie felt some relief knowing this, but then all the fear came rushing back. There was the small fact that they had crossed paths with what must be an alien.

"Holy shit, was that an alien?" Richie asked, loud enough that said alien heard him through the glass of his helmet.

It ran back toward them, and then stood up, because of course it had been crouching when Eddie had already thought it was freakishly tall. It towered over them now, although it made no move to do more than that. It simply stood there, and finally Eddie was able to make out its features. That is, if one could call them features. The Alien's whole body was such a dark back that it felt as if Eddie was looking directly into a black hole. What Eddie had initially thought was a skirt appeared to be just how The Alien's lower body was shaped. Which probably meant that it wasn't fabric that was billowing behind it. Its skin was wispy. Almost smoke like. It shouldn't have been able to behave the way it was on the asteroid's surface, but then again, it was an alien. Eddie didn't know anything about its anatomy. He didn't know anything about The Alien at all, including its motivations.

Because The Alien was simply standing there.

That was a good sign, right? If it was going to attack, it had ample opportunity to have already done so. Perhaps it was unwise to assume that, however, it still emboldened Eddie to step forward and introduce himself. Richie protested behind him, holding tightly onto Eddie's hand, preventing him from getting too close.

Not like Eddie was planning on it. He wasn't that stupid.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Edward Kaspbrak," The Alien said, giving a slight bow. The gust it caused almost knocked Eddie onto his ass. "I am simply known as King. I preside over this domain."

"Real impressive 'domain' you've got here," Richie muttered under his breath, and Eddie gave the back of his hand a warning tap with his thumb.

"What he means to say is, did you build it yourself, because that is impressive."

"No, I'm afraid that I had some help with building my home. I can admit, I'm quite good at coming up with ideas, but not so much at executing them," The Alien explained.

This was it. Eddie took a deep breath and waited for the other shoe to drop. Waited for The Alien to say that The Professor had helped to build the barn for it in exchange for luring Eddie into a false sense of calm. Any second now, he bet The Professor was going to jump out and it would all be over. Eddie would lose.

He should have known better. Of course The Alien hadn't attacked them right away. The Professor would have told it to prolong Eddie's suffering for as long as possible.

"Thankfully, I found a stray floating in space not so long ago, and I offered to let them stay here with me if they helped me build my home. While it turned out perfectly for me, it's not exactly a suitable place for a child to live. Although I suppose anything is better than to have doomed them to continue floating through space. Since you two are here now, though, would you mind taking them with you? They deserve to find a real home. I can't offer much, except for some of my crops."

The Alien gestured to a pile of dirt with one of its spindly arms.

"That's very generous of you. We are currently on our way to Venus and would be more than happy to find them a home there," Eddie said, surprising himself.

He never would have taken on a passenger so willingly before Richie. Richie, whom he realized he had been referring to him informally even to himself. The comedian had come into his life and shaken it up, and Eddie would have admitted it was for the better, but with The Professor on his trail, he probably shouldn't have been offering a ride to someone that he hadn't met.

"Wonderful! Stanley, come here my child!" The Alien called out as it clapped its hands twice. A new figure emerged from the shadows, and as they got closer, Eddie realized that they were not a child, although to an eternal alien, Eddie supposed they were. They also weren't an alien either. "Thank you, Stanley. Please, meet our guests. This is Edward Kaspbrak and Richard Tozier. Say hello."

The decidedly human adult smiled under their helmet as they offered them a shy wave.

"They don't talk much, so please don't judge them for that," The Alien said. "Their name is Stanley. Stanley, our guests are going to be taking you to Venus. How does that sound?"

Stanley shook their head.

"Please, my child. We had agreed that you couldn't live here your whole life. It is common for my kind to spend decades alone on asteroids, but it just simply would not do for your kind. I have treasured our time together, and I love you like my own, but we cannot know when the next ship shall pass us. We have to seize this opportunity."

Stanley was frowning, and had been the entire time The Alien had been speaking, but they eventually nodded in agreement.

"Fantastic! It's decided then. Oh, I will miss you, my child. You have been a wonderful companion, but as I said, it is time for you to move on."

Ah, well now that Eddie was thinking about it, that would explain the situation. The Alien had found Stanley when they had been a child, and after years for living on the asteroid, with only its company, they had grown accustomed to some level of silence. On one hand, Eddie felt terrible that Stanley had endured that, but then on the other hand, he also felt guilty. Like he was stealing them away from the only family that they had known. They had definitely looked distressed initially at the prospect, and they were now throwing themselves at The Alien and hugging it.

"I know, my child. I have done all that I can for you," The Alien said, comforting Stanley. It worked, although it had the opposite effect on Eddie. The Alien was clearly a kind being, but its appearance was slightly off putting. "As I said, we have no way of knowing the next time someone will stumble upon us. I do not want to part, but I cannot provide for you any longer. I'm afraid if you stay, it might do more harm than good."

"Very poetic for an alien," his communications device thankfully malfunctioning slightly, making it so he was only loud enough for Eddie to hear, standing right next to him.

Still, he elbowed Richie in the ribs.

Stanley jumped up so they could float toward The Alien's had and whispered something into what must have been its ear. Or what served as an ear. They didn't look happy as they floated over to join Eddie and Richie, but it seemed they had accepted The Alien's point of view.

Eddie directed Richie to pick up The Alien's crop and Richie muttered under his breath about disrespecting a paying customer the entire time he shoveled the dirt into a sack that The Alien had provided. Sure, Eddie might be enamored with him, but they were on an adventure, as Richie had so helpfully put it. Everyone was going to have to pull their weight.

Eddie was focusing on getting Stanley safely to the ship, once they were inside, settled comfortably in the control room. While he did that, Richie found space for the bag in storage, and once he rejoined them, they were on their way. Stanley planted themself firmly at the window off to the side of the pilot's chair, and laid their hand on the glass that separated them from the great vastness of space. Every once in awhile, Eddie could hear them mumble 'King' softly and his heart went out to them.

"Richie, is there anything you can do to cheer them up?" Eddie asked after about an hour.

Richie, as it was, had been pouting since they had left the asteroid. He had come up from the storage room and immediately face planted onto Eddie's bed. He had stayed like that for the first ten or so minutes, but eventually had turned around and was lounging against the headboard. Tuna had hopped up next to him, falling asleep and snoring softly, and Richie would reach down to scratch behind his ears now and again.

"What am I supposed to do?" the comedian asked, rolling his eyes.

"You're a comedian. Tell them a joke!"

"I don't think my jokes would be appropriate for a kid," Richie snapped and Eddie glared at him.

"Don't be a fool. You were fine, like, two hours ago. What happened?"

"Our adventure was boring. That's what happened, Eds. There's no need to look any deeper into it. Now leave me alone. I'm not your performing monkey."

"It's one joke. Wait, what?" Eddie couldn't help but grip the controls tightly once it registered what Richie had said. "Boring? What?You would have rathered the barn turned out to be a trap from The Professor after all?"

"Stan."

Both Eddie and Richie froze when Stanley spoke. Sure, they had been speaking to themself periodically, but it was the first time they had addressed either of them directly.

"Oh, hey. Looks like they're an informal heathen too," Richie said, and Eddie let it slide, since he seemed to be perking up. "Alright Stan. Do you want to hear a joke?"

Stan nodded, and so Richie launched into a joke about a time when Tuna managed to accidentally shut off the gravity controls in his apartment on Mars, and he woke up on the ceiling. Stan was laughing and, almost more importantly, was finally inching away from the window. All Eddie wanted was for them to feel safe with him and Richie, and it was a good sign that they felt at ease sitting closer to them.

That didn't stop Eddie from being overjoyed as well that Richie didn't seem as upset as he had been. He truly lit up when he was performing, even if it was just telling a silly story to a couple of people, and he looked so beautiful. Plus, now that he wasn't sulking, he was getting along perfectly with Stan, and that made Eddie's heart hurt even more than it already had been. In a good way, though.

Still, being around Richie was bad for his health. He was on his way to a heart attack at this rate.

Eddie eventually turned around and left Richie and Stan to their antics while he focused on getting them to Venus in one piece. After The Professors call, he didn't want to leave the ship on autopilot. He kept his eyes trained on the expanse of space in front of them and stayed alert. It was smooth sailing, with no more threatening phone calls or strange asteroids derailing them, for the rest of the journey and before they knew it, Eddie was begin to lower them into Venus's atmosphere. It was a little premature to celebrate making it to their destination safely, but Eddie let himself breath a sigh of relief.

And then he saw it.

The Professor's ship.

He would know it anywhere. Although hovering above the port, seemingly waiting to dock, it was as if it was there to be right in his face. Taunting him.

Without thinking, he jerked the ship's controls to the left and sent them careening out of the designated air space. Tuna started yowling and he must have sunk his claws into Richie, because then he started cursing the cat. Stan seemed alright, simply rolling with the ship, and laying where they landed once Eddie was able to straighten them. He was trying not to panic as he got them as far away as he could before cloaking the ship.

"The Professor is there, isn't he?" Richie asked.

Eddie found that he couldn't answer.

He couldn't hear.

It took Richie rushing over and kneeling in front of him to regain the smallest amount of focus.

"Eddie, hey. Look at me. I need you to breathe," Richie said, and Eddie realized that it was true. He had stopped breathing. Another panic attack. He took a big gulp, and Richie smiled. "Good. That's good. Now, I need you to think. How do we fight this guy? Because we can't run away. If we run away, we'll always be running away."

Eddie scoffed.

'This guy.'

Richie, the informal bastard, would never call The Professor that if he knew what he was capable of. There was a reason Eddie continued to run. There was no way to fight this monster. Even having Richie and Stan there. The three of them were no match. Eddie couldn't bring himself to chide Richie, however. He may have been breathing normally once again, but he was far from calm.

"Eddie, baby, please. Look at me."

Richie reached up and held Eddie's cheek in his hand. Stan started to rock back and forth, and since Eddie couldn't see their face, he was unsure if it was to comfort themself due to the stress of the situation or if they were celebrating the show of affection.

The completely inappropriate affection. Not only because Richie had only just met Eddie, which would normally be the reason it ignited a fiery rage in him, but mainly due to, once again --

-- the stressful situation they were in.

And yet, all Eddie wanted was to lean into that touch. To follow Richie's instructions and look into his eyes.

So he did.

"Eddie, listen, you have me. You have San. Hell, you even have Tuna. Okay? You have back up this time, and if we put our brains together, we can come up with something. I'm not going to let you spend the rest of your life running from this man. You deserve to be happy."

Eddie laughed wetly, and he wondered when he had started to cry.

"You think that I'm happy getting stuck chauffeuring around unfunny comedians?"

"Baby, I think this is the happiest you've ever been," Richie replied, and then stood back up to full height. "Alright. Now, I know this is a delivery ship, but it should still have at least basic defensive weapons, right?"

"There is one canon attached to the front of the ship, but I definitely don't keep it up to code," Eddie admitted. "I've never had much use for it, and I'll be honest, it makes me nervous knowing I'm technically in possession of a weapon. I don't like violence."

"Well, I would suggest trying it out first, since that would be the easiest way to check, but that would give away our position. Luckily, I know a little bit about how canons work, so I'll head on down there and get everything sorted out."

"Oh, you know a little about how canons worked?" Eddie asked, following Richie as he practically ran to the ladder that led to below decks. He leaned on the railing, watching, but not following Richie down. There wasn't exactly enough space for two full grown men. He called down, "Do you seriously think it's safe to be poking around in there?"

Richie stuck his head back up, a blinding smile on his face.

"Oh yeah. 100% safe, Eds. Nothing to worry about. How 'bout instead of worrying your pretty little head, you go and grab that bag of dirt out of storage for me? I think I actually know of a use for it after all."

"The... dirt?"

Richie simply nodded and then slid back down the ladder without offering an explanation. Eddie sighed, but he went into storage and grabbed the dirt. He brought it up into the control room. Stan pointed at the bag and said, "King."

"Yeah, we're going to use The Aliens's crop to save the day. Apparently."

That was apparently all Stan needed to hear to get on board with the plan. They came over and helped Eddie lug the bag the rest of the way toward the outer hatch. Once it was in position, they settled down on top of the bag and went back to staring out the window. Eddie still felt a small nagging feeling of guilt for having taken them away from what had been their home. From the only family they had known during that time. Perhaps the only home and the only family that they had ever known.

And dragged them right into the middle of this mess.

"What are we going to do with you?" Eddie whispered to himself. He screamed when he felt a hand on his shoulder and groaned in frustration when Richie spoke directly in his ear, "Let's focus on one thing at a time, huh?"

He sounded a little breathless. He must have ran right back up once he was finished inspecting the canon, and that was exactly what Eddie asked him.

"Yep! It's in perfect working order."

"Oh, well, that's... that's good," Eddie said, trying to not let it show that he had actually hoped that after years of neglect, the canon would be useless.

"Alright. So here's the plan. You're going to fly us in, unseen, and I'm going to blast that bastard's ship. And while he's reeling from that, and stumbling to try and fire back, Stan here..." Richie paused to rub Stan's hair. They glared at him over their shoulder, but then laughed softly when they saw Richie's mischievous grin. "This guy here is going to drop the dirt from King onto The Professor's windscreen while he's distracted. That way we'll be able to land on Venus. I can call up Bev. You know? My friend that I'm meeting up with? We'll get some back up to fight this guy and make sure that he goes away for good."

Eddie had to admit that wasn't the guns-a-blazin' plan he had thought Richie would come up with. It might actually...

"Work. That could work," Eddie said, and Richie smiled triumphantly.

"Alright! Then let's set things into motion."

He gave Stan's head another pat, leaned down so he could give Tuna a scratch behind his ears, and then...

Then he straightened up, pushed Eddie against the helm, and kissed the living daylights out of him.

Surprising to say the least, but what was even more surprising was that Eddie didn't hesitate to kiss him back. He was met with that megawatt smile when they parted, and he couldn't help it. It was contagious. He bet he looked rather silly, considering he wasn't in the habit of smiling often (outside of randomly meeting up with his old dance partner), but he found that he couldn't care less.

"I know I should scold you," he started to say, but Richie stopped him with a finger to his lips.

"It's for good luck. Our ancestors used to do it all the time. Completely formal. No need to fuss."

"What if I want to make a fuss? What if I want to do it again?"

"We can do it however many times you want, baby. As soon as we defeat your professor once and for all. Then we'll have all the time in the world to do whatever you want."

Stan pretended to gag behind them, and Richie's head fell forward onto Eddie's shoulder as his body shook with laughter.

"They have spoken," he said as he regained composure. "Let's get going."

That's what he said, but he still took a moment to lean back in and kiss Eddie's cheek.

Then he was finally sliding back down the ladder.

Well. It was now or never.

Chapter Text

Eddie flew the ship back the way he had fled, going fast enough so as to not appear suspicious but slow enough to not garner any more attention than was necessary. His hands kept slipping off the helm, they were sweating so much. He knew he should take a moment to at least wipe them on his pants, as disgusting as that was, but he couldn't bring himself to move them even for a second. It felt almost pathetic to say that this normally calm ride toward a planet's surface was the most terrifying moment in his life, but it was, and Eddie didn't want to risk making a wrong move because he was flying with one hand. He couldn't risk messing up Richie's plan when he and Stan were so focused on their roles. He knew this because he could just barely hear through the ventilation system Richie telling himself, 'You got this. We got this. We can do this.' Stan was standing at the ready, their hands clasped firmly on the bag of dirt.

Knowing he had these two amazing people whom he had only recently met willing to help him fight The Professor gave him the boost of confidence that he needed. He steered them around the other ships waiting to port above Venus and got them as close to The Professor's ship as he could. Close enough that they shouldn't be seen but giving Richie the perfect line of fire with no casualties in the way.

"Alright. Target is at your two o'clock," Eddie said into the ship's rarely used communications device.

It crackled to life as Richie cackled on the other end.

"Aye, aye Cap'n," he said, and in the second before he opened fire, Eddie thought that he wouldn't mind it so much if the last thing he ever heard was Richie light heartedly mocking him.

And then Richie fire the canon.

Eddie had almost expected the canon's intensity to have waned after years of disuse, but it fired perfectly. Brilliantly red, and Richie hit The Professor's engine dead on. Sparks shot out everywhere, and most of the other ships started to fly toward the planet's surface in a panic, without waiting to be properly docked, not like anyone could have blamed them. If Eddie didn't have to fight this fight, he would have turned tail and fled as well. There were a few who stayed, however, most likely due to shock. One of those ships even got in The Professor's way as he, exactly as Richie had said, turned his ship to face them and retaliate.

Stan quite literally sprang into action. As The Professor must have been aiming his own canon for the counter attack, Stan jumped up, trailing the bag of dirt behind them, and plunged it into the expulsion chute. Eddie quickly pulled the lever and watched in awe as it burst on The Professor's windshield, effectively blinding him. Once again exactly as Richie had predicted. Of course, in zero gravity, the dirt didn't exactly dissipate. It hung around The Professor's ship in a cloud, giving Richie the time to fire another shot at him, although not as perfectly calculated as the first, but he still hit some part of the ship. Then he was shouting at Eddie to fly.

Now, Eddie had been flying for years. He flew for his livelihood obviously, but he flew for fun. He flew to relax. When the credits allowed it, of course. Fuel could be expensive, after all. So, suffice to say, he was a good pilot. Great even. Still, he felt nervous as he started to weave between the ships that had decided that idling in place was the safer option than fleeing. Being stationary obstructions, it proved to be rather easy for Eddie to maneuver once he rebuilt his confidence back up. Richie helped. He stayed on the comms and cheered Eddie on with every successful dip and turn. Briefly Eddie wondered how he could be watching, and protecting, their rear when he was clearly distracted but... Well... He should know better by now. Richie operated at an accelerated rate compared to the average person.

Stan sat down on the floor and comforted Tuna as they experienced some turbulence as Eddie started to land. The cat yowled the entire time, but it was the most noise he had made since the beginning of their daring escape. For that Eddie was grateful.

(He still had a lot of warming up to do when it came to their feline friend, but he was glad he was acting more like his usual cat self.)

They landed safely. One of Eddie's best landings, actually, despite what the critics (critics being Tuna) would say.

Thankfully, he calmed down and even let Stan carry him as all four of Eddie's new rag-tag crew exited the ship.

And were immediately met by a slightly intimidating welcoming party.

'Slightly' because Eddie knew several of the people gathered around his ship. Spokesperson Kay, for instance, was at the front of the party, and she looked vaguely irritated. Eddie knew her well enough to interrupt that as, 'You're in deep shit, Eddie Kaspbrak.'

As it was, he wasn't surprised that one of the ship that had hastily landed had alerted the spokesperson to shots being fired in the atmosphere, but he was surprised to find her waiting for them. She must have been nearby.

Even running for his life would not allow him from forgoing formalities, and he turned to Richie so he could introduce him to Spokesperson Kay, but he paused when he noticed recognition spark in Richie's eyes. Did he know Spokesperson Kay? Sure, he had said that the friend he was meeting with was named Bev, but perhaps it had been Spokesperson Kay, and he hadn't wanted to name drop?

Richie stepped forward, but it wasn't Spokesperson Kay that he greeted. There was a woman with striking red hair next to her whom Richie pulled into a tight hug. Clearly this was the friend he had mentioned because she returned the hug just as enthusiastically. Eventually, Richie stepped back, still holding onto her shoulders in his big hands though, and said, "Bev, I know that I'm not usually a serious kind of guy, but I'm going to be serious right now."

"Canons were shot, so I believe you," Bev responded. "That's rather serious, Richie, and I have to admit I'm worried about whatever it is you've gotten yourself mixed up in this time. So, what's going on?"

"This is Eddie," Richie said, making introductions himself. "He's going to tell you about this man who has been harassing and stalking him, and it's all true. I have witnessed it first hand. We're here to ask for your help. For all of your help, because this asshole should be landing on Venus soon."

So Eddie quickly described The Professor and his ship as the welcoming party came to arms. Now that Eddie had a moment to study them all a little more closely, it was obvious that besides Richie's friend Bev and a heavy set man that was standing next to her, that they were Spokesperson Kay's personal guard.

Said man approached Stan as things started to get hectic and said, "Hi, I'm Architect Ben. Would you like to come with me?"

Stan stubbornly shook their head, and Eddie chuckled.

"They should be fine. They're tougher than they look."

"Oh, I definitely don't doubt that," Architect Ben said with a chuckle. "It's just that I'm not much of a fighter myself, so I will probably be..." He motioned over his shoulder with his thumb. "Not exactly hiding, but... I'm offering for anyone who wants to 'not hide' with me..."

"Hey, it's alright. I understand. If this wasn't my fight, I would take you up on that offer myself. I'm not much of a fighter either." Stan leaned in and gave Eddie's arm a reassuring pat, and Eddie smiled. "I've got this, though," he said, perhaps puffing his chest out a bit, so as to appear a little more intimidating.

"I believe in you," Architect Ben said, clapping him on the back. "I'll see you both on the other side."

Along with Spokesperson Kay and two of her guards, Architect Ben retreated to the closest registration station. Eddie and Stan joined the rest of the guard who looked a little shocked as Richie shouted orders at them. He continued to do so even as he watched Eddie and Stan approach. He directed Stan to put Tuna in his cage and directed Eddie to give him a kiss.

"In your dreams," Eddie snapped.

He noticed Richie's friend Bev watching them with a smile on her face. Eddie was about to apologize for the unprofessional behavior but it would have to wait.

The Professor's ship was hurdling toward the planet's surface. There was smoke billowing from the engine where Richie had shot it, but you could see where The Professor had tried to patch it up. Now, the second sot, he had been less lucky. Or maybe he would consider it good luck that one of his beanbag chairs had been sucked into the hole that the second shot had made in his windshield. With the possibility of being sucked out through the hole into the vastness of space, or the lesser evil of suffocating to death, Eddie was sure that The Professor was a little embarrassed by the situation.

It wasn't until The Professor was about a dozen or so feet above one of the nearby landing pads that gravity seemed to kick in. The beanbag chair fell to the ground and a light sprinkling of dirt rained down on all of those who were standing around and gawking. Waiting for the second round as if they were at a boxing match.

Well, Eddie was glad that his misfortune was entertaining for them.

The Professor managed to land his ship despite its condition, although it was with a lurch and a loud clunk. Several screws and bolts shook loose and joined the rest of the debris on the ground, and if The Professor walked away from this fight, Eddie doubted he would be able to use his ship to make an escape.

The landing door lowered slowly about halfway before it clattered to the ground in a heap, leaving The Professor to hop onto the ground in a rather undignified manner. It almost made him appear not as intimidating, but Eddie knew better.

"Well, I have to say, Eddie-bear, that was definitely different," he said with a sneer that sent a chill up Eddie's spine. "That's certainly one way to begin the festivities. It may be a belated birthday party, but I think I would still prefer to be old fashioned. Don't you?"

"Don't answer him," Richie whispered into his ear. "You'll only be giving him what he wants."

There were so many things Eddie wanted to say at that moment.

'Don't tell me what to do. I've been dealing with The Professor longer than you have,' was one, but there was also, 'Thank you for standing by my side despite hardly knowing each other. I think I love you.'

He also wanted to tell The Professor how everything he had ever done had ruined so much of his life and he also wanted to just tell the clown to... to... to fuck right off.

There wasn't time to say everything, unfortunately.

So, lifting his chin up high, he told The Professor, "It ends here."

The Professor started laughing maniacally, wrapping his arms around his middle as if it stopped himself from collapsing from the sheer physical reaction to Eddie's hilarity.

"'It ends here?' Ooh, how butch of you, Eddie-bear," he mocked, waving his hands by his face. "We both know you don't meant that. You wouldn't allow this mob to attack me without a fair trial. Besides, even if there were to be a trial, you'd realize that you need me in your life. Who's going to fill your father's shoes better than me."

Eddie fought back tears as he motioned to the guard. The guns were raised, and the ever present grin finally slid off The Professor's face. Honestly, it actually looked like it melted down his face, and Eddie blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things, but no. The Professor's mouth was at least a few centimeters further down his chin than it had been before.

"Oh, you're going to regret this," he said just as the guard captain called out, "Open fire!"

Eddie took Stan's hand in his and pulled them off to the side as The Professor rushed forward, almost creature like. Bent at the waist with his arms extended in front of im, and Eddie watched in horror as claws grew forth from his fingertips.

"What the fuck is that?" Richie yelled over the gunfire as he fell down next to Eddie's other side. "Has he done that before?"

"You think I would have mentioned that if he had?" Eddie snapped back, causing Richie to smile stupidly at him.

"Monster," Stan said, poking both of them in the side.

"Yeah, yeah. You're right. More important things to worry about," Richie agreed. He picked up a gun that Eddie hadn't even noticed, and the shock must have shown on his face because Richie pointed to the guard captain as she descended on The Professor. "Patty gave it to me."

Eddie rolled his eyes.

"Guard Captain Patty gave it to you," he mumbled and then grabbed the gun from Richie before ducking into the chaos.

He knew that he probably should let Richie handle the gun. He clearly knew how to handle weapons as he proved on the ship. Or the least he could have done was tell Richie that he was going to head into the fight because he had to. All he could think was, if he couldn't defend himself against The Professor, then he had no right being a pilot. So, he grabbed the gun and he ran up next to Guard Captain Patty, whom Richie had so helpfully pointed out to him, and pointed the gun in the same direction she was pointing hers.

Then he nearly dropped it when he saw what The Professor had become up close. The claws that had grown from his fingers had turned into legs that were nearly as tall as Eddie. His skin had gone deathly pale, except for his lips, which oddly looked like he had applied lipstick onto them. His hair, which had been a fairly normal ginger color before, was a bright red that rivaled the red of his lips, and was sticking up in all directions. Eddie almost started laughing because he looked like a spider creature yes, but also like...

"A big clown."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Guard Captain Patty said as she shot one of the legs clean off.

The Professor cried, no, more like shrieked out in pain, but the moment he laid eyes on Eddie, it seemed as if the pain was miraculously gone. He smiled, his practically patented evil smile. Something Eddie knew all too well, and yet he wasn't prepared for it.

The Professor's mouth had never been filled with hundreds of razor sharp teeth, first of all.

Except...

The dream Eddie had a few days previously that had brought back an old memory.

"Eddie-bear, I'm so glad you could join us," The Professor said, voice booming. "You know it hurts my feelings when you run away like that. I just want to love you."

The statement made Eddie sick to his stomach. He took a deep breath to steady himself and then took a shot at The Professor.

Sadly, his aim left something to be desired, and the shot grazed off of The Professor's right front leg and didn't do much damage.

"Hey, don't let it get to you," Guard Captain Patty said. "You get in your head, and that's how you miss your next shot."

With that, she fired again, nicking the same leg that Eddie had been aiming for, blasting a nice, clean hole straight through. The Professor bowed forward, but he was able to keep himself from completely falling on the ground by shooting his arms to catch himself. Well, what must have once been his arms.

He was now face level with Eddie and, even as the guard continued to attack him from all sides, he taunted Eddie with a sneer.

"Oh, Eddie-bear, you're going to listen to what this woman tells you? Just like you always listened to Mommy? Such a good boy. Always doing what you're told. Always staying safe. My good boy. But you aren't being very good right now, are you? You've been hiding away from me."

It was hard, but Eddie fought back the tears that threatened to fall. Guard Captain Patty shot The Professor in the neck, causing him to recoil. It gave Eddie the window he needed to level his gun at The Professor's head and shoot him right between the eyes. The wound started to ooze a black substance that bubbled up and floated away. Little cracks started to spiderweb from the hole and across his forehead, and The Professor finally slumped to the ground.

"Sometimes it's good to ask for help when you know you need it," Eddie said, watching as the life slowly drained from The Professor's eyes. He walked up to the man, the alien it turned out, that had tormented him for most of his life. He looked right into those dim eyes, told him, "You'll never be my father," and shot him a second time.

He could barely make out the sound of everyone cheering over the roaring in his own head. Guard Captain Patty jovially shook his hand just as Richie and Stan ran over to envelop him in a bone crushing hug. Stan eventually let go, and in the corner of his eye, Eddie noticed them blushing as Guard Captain Patty continued to make her way through everyone and shook their hand as well.

He couldn't judge them, however, because he was sure he blushed just as badly when Richie leaned down and kissed him in front of the entire crowd.

"Richie..." he protested, pushing him away gently. "You can't..."

"I'm just so proud of you," Richie said, ruffling Eddie's hair. "You stood up to him. And you beat him! You're the bravest man I know."

"How could I be?" Eddie asked, finally releasing his emotions. The tears flowed down his cheeks as he confided in Richie, "I was so terrified, Richie. I was so scared."

"And you did it anyway. That's what bravery is." Richie slung his arm around Eddie's shoulder and directed him back toward the crowd. "Come on, my brave man. Let's celebrate your victory."

Celebrating was the last thing Eddie wanted to do, but it looked as if he had no choice. The crowd swallowed him up -- people hugging him, shaking his hand, or simply giving him a pat on the back. People who hadn't known him not even an hour previously, but who had fought beside him. He had to admit that the uplifting mood on the landing deck was contagious, and he found himself starting to truly revel in the win.

Ben the Architect had reemerged and congratulated him along with Richie's friend Bev -- whom Richie finally formally introduced him to. Eddie knew he only did so because formalities mattered to him, and a burst of affection for the other man surged through him. He allowed himself to give Richie's hand a squeeze despite the two sets of eyes watching them.

It felt like forever before it was Spokesperson Kay's turn with them. She had that stern look that always seemed to grace her face, but Eddie knew she wasn't upset with him because her arms weren't crossed.

If her arms had been crossed, that would have been a bad sign.

"You always know how to make an entrance," she said, and Eddie laughed.

"I think after what just happened, you can finally let go of the time Mike and I danced off of our ship."

Richie turned to him with his mouth open.

"What? You were fun before me?" he asked. "Nuh-uh. No way. That's not allowed. I'm the one who made you fun."

"I can be fun," Eddie said as Spokesperson Kay also defended his honor, saying, "He can be fun when he wants to."

Eddie mouthed the words 'when he wants to' as Richie cackled.

"I've heard good things about you from Bev, and it looks like you're Eddie approved, so I hope we get to become buddies while I'm here on your lovely planet," Richie told her.

"Watch the sarcasm. You two are lucky that I'm not kicking you off of my planet. Actually, I might even hold a banquet in your honor instead," Spokesperson Kay replied with a wink. "Come on. Let's find your companion, and I can show you to your quarters for your stay here. We can worry about all the paperwork for docking, and well, everything else later. What everyone needs right now is some rest."

Eddie knew in literally any other situation he would have been panicking at straying from the well worn routine, but the moment Spokesperson Kay mentioned rest, he knew that what he needed more than anything was to get some sleep.

Especially if there was to be a banquet later.

His ship... The paperwork... It could all wait.

Richie did run up on the ship to grab any necessities they might need as well as a very pissed off looking Tuna.

"He's mad he didn't get to swat at that bastard," Richie explained as they passed The Professor's corpse.

It had started to crumble and float away, like the black blood that was flowing freely from the two wounds in his head. Eddie's stomach lurched at the sight, and he hoped by the time the banquet was held, he would have completely withered away.

All of Venus seemed extravagant every time Eddie stopped on the planet, when you compared it to the planets he mainly frequented, but the quarters that Spokesperson Kay showed them to were truly extravagant. Even if they were connected together by a door between their bathrooms. Spokesperson Kay probably assumed he and Richie would like to be able to easily check in on Stan -- which she would be right.

She had also assumed that he and Richie would be sharing a bed, which made Eddie nervous despite the literal life or death situation they had just endured. Which obviously should have been much more nerve wracking, but Eddie could feel his heartbeat pick up the moment he laid eyes on the bed. There were two reasons why the bed was harrowing. Was Eddie more frightened by the possibility of Richie making a move or him not doing anything at all?

Eddie was tired, and he should turn Richie down if he did end up suggesting that they be intimate.

Otherwise he would find himself falling asleep at the table later.

He let out a sigh of relief when Richie crawled into the bed without a word and pretty much started snoring the moment his head hit the pillow. With the last burst of energy he could muster, Eddie followed suit, curling up around Richie's side.

The room he was in was so dark he couldn't make out the door or any of the furniture. Just pitch black. Maybe there wasn't anything in the room, after all. Maybe it wasn't even a room. Eddie was starting to think he wasn't on Venus anymore. The question, then, was where was he?

Well, if this was supposed to be Hell, Eddie didn't think it was that bad. Sure, Richie wasn't there, but they had only met how many days ago. Eddie would be sad that they were never going to get the time to properly know each other, but it wasn't going to torment him for eternity. The more he thought about it all, this Hell seemed more like Heaven to him. He had gotten better at compartmentalizing everything his mother had instilled in him, but he had to admit it would be nice to not have to worry about germs for his entire after life.

"This isn't Heaven or Hell," a voice said, ringing out in the void.

A voice strangely familiar but that Eddie couldn't quite place. As if he hadn't heard it in a long time. It was a comforting voice. It was...

"Dad?" Eddie asked, his own voice cracking.

"Yes, it's me son."

"Why can't I see you?" Eddie asked. He started to stumble around, his hands out in front of him desperately trying to feel for his father, only to be met with nothing. "Where are you? Can you say something again so I can find you? I can't see anything in here."

"There is a reason for that, I'm afraid. It's been many years, and you don't remember my face."

"All the more reason that I have to see you," Eddie said before it dawned on him. "Oh. I'm dreaming again, aren't I?"

"A little hard to recognize a dream, isn't it, when they've been plagued by that man for so long?" Eddie's father asked. "I'm happy to report that you'll never have to worry about seeing him in your dreams ever again. You finally faced him, and faced your fears, and while I don't necessarily believe in revenge, I believe in justice. Justice for my death was served, and justice for the years that you suffered, and I'm proud of you son."

"But this is a dream. This is just my subconscious telling me what I want to hear," Eddie said, desperately trying to fight back tears. Crying wasn't going to make a difference, after all. "What I would want my father to say to me. How is that actually helpful?"

"I suppose that is true, but you do feel better, don't you?"

Eddie gave it a moment's thought and then nodded, although his father wouldn't be able to see him in the inky darkness.

Although his father wasn't real.

Although this was a dream.

And because it was a dream, of course his father knew that he had nodded in response, and he said, "Good. I hope it's a start for the rest of your life. Now... shouldn't you be getting back to Richie? I think the two of you have a lot to discuss."

Eddie woke up to find Richie propped up on his elbow and staring down at him.

"Of course you're the kind of person who will creepily watch someone sleep," Eddie grumbled before turning over so that he was facing away from Richie's prying eyes.

Richie simply chuckled as he positioned himself behind Eddie so he could spoon him.

"I'm amazed you didn't wake up when I did," he said, his breath tickling the hairs on the back of Eddie's neck. "Stan attempted to sneak out of their room, rather loudly. Probably to go canoodle with Patty."

"Are we supposed to be concerned about that? Because last time I checked, what we were supposed to be doing was finding them a home. Somewhere with other humans for them to, you know, socialize with? Socializing that includes sneaking out of their room to 'canoodle.'"

"Well, yeah. But I gotta bust their chops as their pseudo guardian."

Now, Eddie had been thinking of the three of them (plus Tuna) as a crew, but the moment Richie had said that, he had to admit, they were almost like a little family.

Eddie's little family.

"You can do that later at the banquet," he said, feeling bold. He was no longer scared, and was definitely now well rested, so he wanted to indulge. He deserved to indulge. He looked over his shoulder and told Richie, "You should be focused on canoodling me."

Richie laughed, much deeper this time and he tightened his arms around Eddie's middle.

"I have to admit, I was afraid you wouldn't want that. Want this," Richie said quietly. Eddie tried to tell him that was ridiculous, but Richie barreled on. "I mean, The Professor is dead now. You can do whatever you want. You can go live your life freely, and obviously I want that for you. You deserve to finally be able to do whatever you want without that dark cloud hanging over you."

"Exactly," Eddie said, once he could finally get a word in edge wise. He pulled Richie even closer so it felt like they were on person. "I'm going to live it freely. With you. If you'll have me."

"There's something I want more," Richie replied, and then kissed Eddie.

Eddie's neck started to cramp up due to the weird angle, so he wiggled around, laid down on his back, and then pulled Richie so that he was completely covering him.

"Oh. Hey there," Richie said, looking shy for the first time since Eddie had met him. "This, uh, seems a bit more than just canoodling, don't you think?"

All Eddie said was, "Maybe," and then he was kissing Richie again. He let his hands wander, starting at Richie's sides and then lightly brushing their way up his sides. Richie huffed into his mouth before pulling back to let him know it tickled. Eddie renewed is exploration with intent, fingers pressing up and under Richie's shirt and lips pressing against his neck and pelvis pressing up to meet his pelvis.

"God, you're so wonderful, Eddie. So beautiful," Richie started to ramble now that his mouth wasn't occupied. "Want to show you that every day. On Venus. On mars. On a random asteroid that's stuck floating through space."

"On my rickety ship?" Eddie asked, because that was the real test.

If Richie couldn't be happy living with Eddie on his little, rickety ship while he made his living running jobs, then no amount of... whatever it was they were feeling was going to make them work.

"Well, how else are you going to give me rides to my shows in between your jobs?" Richie asked.

Eddie dragged him into a bruising kiss, and he felt a little guilty for how rough he was being, but then Richie moaned loudly against his lips.

"Oh," Eddie said quietly, and Richie blushed for a second time.

Or perhaps he was simply flushed since they had been rolling around for awhile at that point.

No, it was definitely a blush because Richie told him, "You're good. I... I like it a little rough. You can, uh, tug my hair too... if you'd like. Because I like that. Especially when, uh..."

"'Especially when' what?" Eddie asked, running his fingers through Richie's hair. Not quite 'tugging' yet. Just a comforting gesture that would hopefully help Richie open up. It turned out he didn't need that encouragement, because what he was going to say was crass, and he had paused only because the mental image of what he was about to ask for turned him on so much that he stuttered out, "When you tug my hair for leverage as you fuck my face."

Eddie blinked rapidly.

"Oh," was all he could manage. It was quickly becoming the only word in his vocabulary. "Um, okay. Yeah. Let's do that."

"God," Richie groaned. "You are amazing. You're so perfect for me."

Richie inched down the bed so that he was basically staring down Eddie's erection. Starting to feel self conscious, Eddie had to fight the urge to cover himself. Especially once Richie carefully removed his pants and underwear and just... continued to stare at his cock. At least the fact that he was practically drooling helped Eddie convince his low self esteem issues that it was a good kind of staring.

Richie wanted to look at him. He wanted to taste him.

"Alright baby. Lemme get you ready," Richie said, leaning forward and running his tongue over the slit in Eddie's cock. "Then you can fuck my face."

Between Richie's words and that tantalizing preview of what was to come, Eddie moaned, his head falling back onto the pillow. Which sadly meant he didn't get to watch as Richie started using his lips as well as his tongue, getting the head nice and wet before he started to take more of Eddie into his mouth. He bobbed his head a few times and then let Eddie fall from his lips so he could say, "Okay. I'm ready when you are, partner."

He had put on some sort of an accent when he had said that, and Eddie huffed out a laugh as he thread his fingers through Richie's hair once more and brought him back down on his cock.

Richie must have moaned around him at the action. What else would have spent vibrations through Eddie's cock? It felt amazing. It felt like something that a person shouldn't be able to feel. He was almost too overwhelmed to do what Richie wanted at first, his hands holding Richie's head uselessly. He didn't have any qualms lifting his hips up off of the mattress to meet Richie as he slid down on his cock, but he wouldn't exactly call it 'fucking' of any kind. He supposed that even with Richie giving him the go ahead, he was worried about hurting him.

He had inflicted enough pain that day.

Richie didn't seem to mind. He was drooling, again, all over Eddie's cock, and he was still moaning loudly. Especially when he took Eddie in far enough that he hit the back of his throat. Eddie also moaned each time that happened, the head so sensitive after all of the foreplay he had endured. It was hard to believe, despite their similar reactions, that they were receiving the same amount of pleasure. After everything Richie had done for him, even if he was rather annoying whilst doing so, he deserved for Eddie to give back as good as he was getting. Yet he couldn't bring himself to do the one thing that Richie had explicitly asked for. He found himself muttering a litany of apologies before he could stop himself, and he whined when Richie sat up on his knees, looking down at him with as much worry written on his face as when The Professor had called.

"Baby, what is it?" he asked, his thumb rubbing a circle on Eddie's thigh. "What am I doing wrong? Do you just want to stop?"

"No!" Eddie said quickly, shaking his head against the pillow. "I want to make you feel good too, but I can't bring myself to... to do that."

Richie thankfully smiled and laid back down on top of Eddie. He hadn't realized how cold he was starting to feel without Richie's body heat seeping into him, even with the blanket still mostly draped across the both of them. Richie left a few kisses along Eddie's neck before pecking him on the lips once, twice, three times.

"Oh, honey, that's alright," he said. Quiet, but being so close to Eddie's ear, he heard the calming words loud and clear. "I guess it was a bit much to ask you to do that for our first time. And I want you to know that I am still absolutely having a fantastic time. I feel so good making you feel good, first of all. But if it helps you relax, know that I maybe... sort of... was getting some very delicious friction from the bed as I was sucking you off."

"Oh," Eddie said and then started to laugh a little hysterically.

At the whole situation. At his dumb response. Thinking back to the funny voice Richie had been doing a few minutes before. Actually...

"What was that accent you put on earlier?" he asked.

Richie, having taken no offense at Eddie laughing, had picked up his arm and was kissing his way from the wrist down. He paused to answer, "A cowboy. You know, like those old Western movies."

"Wh... What's a cowboy?" Eddie asked, giggling as Richie reached right below his armpit. He gently shoved him off, and Richie wrangled himself back between Eddie's legs without missing a beat.

The poor blanket, however, fell from the bed finally thanks to all of the moving around they were doing. The air in the room was slightly chilled, but Eddie could barely feel it once Richie wrapped his hand around his cock and started moving it slowly up and down.

"Actually, you're kind of a cowboy... partner," Richie said, flashing his teeth. "A lone traveler. Doing what it takes to make ends meet. Steely gaze. Takes no shit. Hates cats."

"They do not! You made that up!" Eddie said, kicking at Richie's shoulder with the toe of his foot. Richie simply caught his ankle in hand, raised it up a little farther, and kissed it. "Richie, don't. That's gross. We haven't showered in... God, how long has it been?"

"Too long," Richie answered, but it was clear that he wasn't talking about the showering when he leaned down and started to suck Eddie's cock again.

Deciding that it was perhaps for the best to let the whole cowboy discussion and reprehending for being disgusting wait for later, Eddie snuggled into the comfortable bed and let Richie take the lead. It was surprising that he felt as close as he had before they had started talking, but then again, it had been an incredibly long time since he had done this with someone. It had been an even longer time since he had felt this sort of connection to the person that he was doing it with. Yes, Eddie had loved before, but he had a feeling that if Richie did managed to stick around that it would grow into something even more.

Eddie had never believed in fate. It was hard to when so much bad had happened in his life. Why would any higher being destine him to such a burden, but maybe it had been so that he and Richie would cross paths?

It felt morbid to think of such things as Richie was swallowing around his cock. Eddie shook his head, as if it would physically dislodge those thoughts, and focused on the hot, wet feeling of Richie's mouth. He was taking as much of Eddie in as he could every time he slid down, and Eddie would have been impressed if he hadn't been a little too busy losing his mind over how incredible it felt. He could feel his orgasm approaching, and that was when he was able to let go of all inhibitions. He gripped Richie's hair tightly, holding him in place so he could fuck up into his mouth. Drool was getting everywhere. Eddie could feel it dripping down his thighs, but he found that he didn't care. In fact, it only spurred him on more. It was so sexy that Richie was letting him just use him like that, and he supposed that now he could see the appeal. Tears were starting to form in Richie's eyes, but considering that he had reached down and was tugging his cock in his pants, since he could no longer hump the mattress, let Eddie know that he was still very much enjoying himself.

And with that, Eddie came.

He knew he must have shouted out, and thank God Stan had snuck out of their room. As it was, Eddie couldn't hear it thanks to all the blood rushing through his head. Everything sounded muffled, as if his head was full of cotton, which was a shame. He wanted to hear Richie. He didn't have time to recover, however, if he wanted to help Richie get there as well. He managed to squeeze his arm in between their bodies and replaced Richie's hand with his own.

"Let me make you come, Richie," he said. "You made me feel so good. You were amazing. Let me repay the favor. You did so good."

Richie grunted against his neck, collapsing against him as Eddie belatedly felt Richie's cum spread across his fingers.

Well. There was two things that Richie liked in bed. That was good. They had a place to start next time they shared a bed together. Or, well, next time they shared a bed and had some privacy. Eddie had a feeling that they would be sharing a bed for the foreseeable future, so they could wait until Stan wasn't staying in the room right next to their's.

Eddie was looking forward to all of that. He was close to falling asleep curled around Richie once more, but it was Richie who practically dragged him out of the bed and pushed him toward the bathroom.

"As much as I would love to never let you A. leave bed and B. put clothes on again," he said, reaching around Eddie to turn the hot water on, "we have a banquet to attend. In case you had forgotten."

"I was kind of hoping to," Eddie muttered. He attempted to close the shower curtain behind him, but Richie forced himself in once he had taken off his clothes, and Eddie froze. He had been so caught up in everything that he hadn't thought about how he had yet to see Richie's body. If he had been any younger, he would have been ready for a second round just from seeing the hair trailing from between Richie's pecs, down his stomach, and to his beautiful cock. "Yeah, no. We can't go now."

"Easy there, partner," Richie said, doing the accent once more. Eddie was starting to find it insanely attractive. "You gotta give this partner a break before riding him again."

Now there was a thought.

"I don't know if you hadn't noticed, but being around so many people wouldn't be a break for me. I'm not exactly a people person."

"Well, good thing you have me now to be your middle man," Richie said, clumsily grabbing the shampoo bottle and squeezing far too much into Eddie's hair. "Plus, you know Kay. Don't act like she's a stranger. And now that you have time to actually get to know Bev, you're gonna love her. Trust me. And she'll love you. Obviously she has good taste. Being my best friend and all. That's two whole people you can talk to, easy peasy. After that, the conversation will flow, and you'll forget what you were worried about."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he conceded, although it was probably because of how relaxed he felt as Richie's fingers worked the shampoo in his hair to a lather. "We're going to be here on Venus for awhile, though, aren't we? You wanted to stay for a few months, right?"

Richie simply hummed in response and then maneuvered Eddie so he was standing under the spray. He let Eddie rinse his own hair as he got started on washing his arms. Eddie stayed under the water long enough so that he wouldn't burn his eyes before he crowded Richie up against the wall and glared at him.

"Richie. Can't you be straight forward?"

"Listen, you can run some jobs during that time, if you don't want to get restless," Richie said with a shrug. "Or we can figure something else out. I want to make this work, don't get me wrong. It's just not exactly a conversation to have in the shower. Especially since whatever we decide also hinges on other people. What about Stan?"

"I think Stan is going to want to stay here," Eddie replied. He didn't think that should come as a surprise to Richie.

"Yeah, there's Stan. There's your friend Mike, and our mutual buddy Bill, too," Richie pointed out. "There's Kay and Bev and that cute guy you were talking to earlier."

"Are you seriously admitting you were not only checking out other men, but doing so when our lives were in danger?" Eddie asked, raising an eyebrow.

Richie ignored him, mostly because he obviously could tell Eddie wasn't completely serious.

"And then there's Tuna, of course. We can't forget Tuna."

"You're going to ask the cat what he wants?"

"No," Richie said with a laugh. "But we are going to have to give you and him some bonding time. He's already warming up to you, but you were so mean before. Not giving him the scritches he deserved. So, we'll have to work on that."

"Okay. Point taken. This is a lot to cover in one shower, and we're already using up too much hot water." Eddie held out his hand, and Richie passed him the soap. They finished cleaning up and then returned to their room to get dressed for the banquet. It wasn't until Eddie was perched on the edge of the bed so he could pull on fresh socks that he finally spoke up again and said, "I knew it was going to be a lot of work. Even if I didn't realize there would be a lot of talking before even getting to that part, but I do want to make it work. I hope you know that, despite me being... grumpy. I guess."

"You're not grumpy. The post adrenaline crash nap just didn't rejuvenate you much. That's fine. We just need to get some food in you."

Eddie rolled his eyes at how glib Richie could be, but maybe that's what he needed in his life. Someone to balance out how serious he could be. Mike had been that person back when they had been partners. Eddie had almost forgotten that, forgotten how to let loose, and the dance competition had briefly reminded him of that. Only for The Professor to immediately take it away from him. True, he had as good of a reason as any to be such a serious person. He was going to have to learn how to not be constantly looking over his shoulder, and he knew that Richie was more than happy to teach him.

He pulled on his boots and then hopped up so he could give Richie, who had been buttoning his shirt, a kiss. It caught him off guard, and he smiled goofily at Eddie before leaning in and giving him a kiss in return. Eddie let him finish getting dressed and then they headed into Stan's room. They were sitting a little awkwardly on their bed, whether that was from not having a normal bed for quite some time or the fact that Guard Captain Patty was sitting at the foot of the bed talking to them, was the question.

Tuna must have slipped into Stan's room when Richie had poked his head in before they had settled down for their nap, and was now sitting next to Stan who was happily scratching under his chin. The sound of the door opening alerted the cat to the presence of new people, meaning new people who could lavish him with attention, so he jumped off the bed and stalked over toward them. Stalked over toward Eddie, actually, and meowed loudly up at him.

Eddie froze.

This, of course, caused everyone in the room to laugh at him. He refused to be everyone's punchline. He refused to let this stubborn furry animal win. He had already given him a pat once. How bad could it be to pet him? Sure, that would seem like he was giving into what Tuna wanted, and in fact losing, but Eddie started to see it as being the bigger man. So, he bent down so he could reach Tuna's head and pet him a couple of times in quick succession.

When he stood up straight, the first thing he saw was the pure love on Richie's face, and well. If getting some gray fur stuck on his clothes was the small price to pay to see that, then Eddie supposed he could deal with it. If petting Tuna was the price to pay to be in good company, then Eddie would happily go broke.