Plans in Motion [November Open]

[batteryacid]

Who: Eddie Kaspbrak ... & Angel (graveling) , Sam Porter Bridges (300kgbackpack) , First Aid (lovinglefthand) , Milo Fields (pinandcove) , and YOU
What: Upgrading Eddie's farm
When: November
Where: E. Kaspbrak Farm, possibly Sam's construction site
Warning(s): none as of posting, will add if needed

Note: The folks I listed up top are those who I figure would be most interested or involved in the farm upgrade. No pressure to actually tag in or thread, but know you can hop in if you like! And just because I didn't tag your character is not to exclude you, all are welcome :)

Feel free to hit up the open prompts here, on his previous log if you like. "Food Isn't Going to Grow Itself" and "Been Hanging Around This Town" are general enough to still apply.

OPEN to ALL - Expanding the Farm

Eddie's farm is being expanded. Supplies for building a new greenhouse are being carted out to Northwest Hollow (under the direction of experienced porter Sam, perhaps) and some of the neighbors are assisting in the construction of that.

There's also a pen being in the barn, for keeping the new nanny goat. And a larger coop for the chickens, now that a rooster is being added to the flock. Lot of building going on. Eddie is at least starting all of it, but he'll also be going to and from each work site as they ask his opinions on things.

Feel free to pitch in, or just say hello!

****

OPEN to ALL - Not a Day, but a Few Hours of Rest At Least

Or perhaps you have arrived afterward, when an exhausted Eddie has flopped onto the settee and made the executive decision of 'I'm going to sleep here and to hell with it if my back hates me in the morning'.

Feel free to cajole him into eating supper and doing other self care things.

****

CLOSED to ANGEL - Home

Angel is always welcome at the farm, of course. He's got new animals to meet, for one thing -- maybe these will like him?

He may have showed up during the day and assisted with the various construction projects, but it's not until evening that Eddie and Angel will have time alone together. Still... time alone with Angel is something that Eddie treasures.

****

Also always down for a Wildcard so consider this your permission to get creative.

Comments

[batteryacid]

Eddie smiles warmly to see Bobbin basking in the affection and petting from this new person. It's good to see her finally making a new friend -- as much as the chickens are being kept for their egg laying capabilities, Eddie also sees them as pets and wants them to be happy.

"There's probably a more Polish way to say it, but you've got it. At least for the way I've always pronounced it." Eddie nods, and offers a hand. "Eddie Kaspbrak. And you are?"

[theydrewfirstblood]

There’s a bare instant of hesitation before John accepts the handshake—not out of fear or discomfort, but just because he’s still getting used to being so…social. He could go days, sometimes weeks without talking to anyone, and it’s easy for the niceties to slip away from him.

“John Rambo—I hope you don’t mind the extra hand, I just heard some people talking in town that there was a sort of…open call for help.”

[batteryacid]

"Don't mind at all! I'm real glad folks have decided to pitch in to help." Eddie grins, and starts walking back to 'the scene of the attack', AKA where John was before Bobbin decided to get his attention. "Putting up the goat pen, expanding the chicken coop, and raising a greenhouse with just me and Angel would take forever."

It's why Eddie spent last night cooking for everybody as a thank you. Sandwiches for lunch, with some cold beer from one of the breweries, and a big pot of beef stew waiting to be reheated just in case the work goes on through dinner time.

Eddie rolls his sleeves up again in preparation to help John with the moving of two-by-fours. No comment, just does it so they can keep chatting.

[theydrewfirstblood]

“Angel…girlfriend? Or, uh, roommate?” John asks as he moves back to the boards he had stacked up to move. Reaching the spot, he rakes a hand back through his hair and crouches to grab his end, silently accepting the help.

Then he blinks and tilts his head with a small smile.

“Wait, goat? I didn’t see the goat…”

[batteryacid]

In deference to the fact that he doesn't want the stack of boards dropped, Eddie answers about the goat first. "She's a nanny goat. I put her in the pasture with my horse while we build the pen for her. It also keeps her away from Angel, who she keeps trying to headbutt."

Once they've finished transporting the building supplies, Eddie says, "Angel is my... 'boyfriend' is a word for it, though we both prefer the term 'partners'."

CW: outdated views on queerness, references to PTSD

[theydrewfirstblood]

John looks up abruptly after Eddie speaks, freezing in the middle of brushing some sawdust off his hands.

Boyfriend?…

John’s heart is racing. He’s not…he can’t…

John’s heart is racing. He feels his cheeks get warm, even though the blood drains from his face as his mouth works with no sound escaping it.

He can’t think. He can’t speak. He can only hear the pointed comments from his father about being a man and being social and how they stopped with John’s first girlfriend. It wasn’t hard, he liked girls…

He can only feel himself failing to curb his affection for Delmar, and the comfort that came from the friendship they formed instead. He can only hear Danforth…screaming…

And Eddie just said it out loud like it was normal.

Afraid Eddie might mistake his confusion, pain, and fear for rejection or worse, revulsion, John hastily ducks his head as his eyes begin to burn.

“I…oh. That’s…tha—that’s nice.”

CW: homophobia by way of referencing Eddie's mom

[batteryacid]

Eddie doesn't take the silence for rejection, because Eddie saw that fear -- recognizes that fear. It's the same kind of fear that his mother put in him with all her talk that queers (an insult in her mouth) were sick and disgusting. He's quiet until John speaks, and then he nods.

"It is nice. Not having to be afraid here." Eddie says quietly, "I was very afraid, back home. It's something I never could have talked about, and I sure wasn't going to be brave enough to actually... act on what I felt."

There's a long pause, before Eddie admits, "Had myself a panic attack the first time Angel and I talked about... if we were friends or more than that."

[theydrewfirstblood]

John doesn’t answer for a long moment, devoting all his attention to dusting off his hands, even when they’re clean again.

He can’t get over the way Eddie just says it. And has a partner he just talks about with people he doesn’t even know. John…he can’t even imagine what that would be like. He can barely let himself remember the half formed thoughts he had when he found Delmar’s big homestead and met his widow—having something like that himself, some good woman by his side or Delmar’s massive form a constant presence…Danforth’s lean shoulder there to hang on after a long day…

Letting those thoughts finally take a real, clear shape standing here—it’s almost too much. His heart is racing and his chest feels too tight, but he’s been trained to rein in fear.

He’s just not very good at it since coming home.

Still, he manages only to stay pale, breath shaky and rapid as he finally lets himself cautiously meet Eddie’s eyes again.

“And that—they just…nobody cares?” He whispers. “If you’re…different…here?”

[batteryacid]

"The thing is," Eddie says back softly, "They're happy for us. And... we're not so different... There's plenty of locals who are... who are queer and nobody minds it."

Eddie takes a deep breath of his own. "I spent my whole life afraid. Afraid of what people might do if they found out. Afraid of myself."

(Trying so hard to ignore the warm feeling he'd get when Richie called him "Eddie Spaghetti", an objectively stupid nickname. It had never seemed strange to anyone that Eddie would protest "I hate it when you call me that!" ...)

(But he didn't hate it, and that was the problem.)

Eddie's voice gets a little stronger, a little more sure, when he continues, "I already lived one life afraid. I died without ever being brave enough to be honest about myself, and my life was a fuckin' nightmare. I got a second chance here. We all do."