Virgil Hawkins (shock2ursystem) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-09-09 18:59:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, richie foley (gear), virgil hawkins (static) |
Who: Virgil and Richie
When: August
Where: Outside of Stark Industries
What: Lunch!
Ratings/Warnings: Low/none
Status: Complete
As if working at Stark Industries wasn’t dope enough before, now Virgil got to work with his best friend in the whole wide world. Maybe they weren’t on the same project right now, but that didn’t mean that they couldn’t be later. Especially if Virgil put in a word with the boss man. Virgil and Tony weren’t tight, but he was pretty sure he’d made a good impression on the man and maybe in a little while he’d be able to make the request.
But at least Virgil and Richie could come and go from work together at the beginning and end of their shift. And there was lunch. There was always a food truck parked in front of Stark Industries, which was really a godsend. He knew that Richie was stressing out about stuff right now, and if he’d had the extra moolah he would have paid for Richie’s food truck lunch as well, but he didn’t so he didn’t offer.
“I still can’t believe you’re here, man,” Virgil said, grinning at his friend. “Like, actually here.”
Richie didn’t expect Virgil to pay, he never did. Once in awhile they could, but both of them had always somehow ended up strapped for cash, be it draining by comics or adulting. One way or the other extra was almost a foreign word to them. Richie wasn’t entirely sure what he was doing. On one hand there was Neal’s Ranch, on the other there was Stark, and on the horizon who the hell knew. There was a new city with strange dreamers filling it whose lives seemed to take random turns from what they’d previously been in seconds. What did one make of that?
The blonde produced a credit card to pay for lunch, he hadn’t even been paid a first paycheck yet since being out in O.C so things were extra tight. Credit wasn’t a good way to live, but it was a way. He sank down next to his friend and gave him a nudge. “Makes two of us, I mean come on. Stark Industries?” Even when things were bad rarely did Richie just break, especially around Virgil. Virgil made him want to smile and be cheerful. No matter what happened in their lives it seemed all it took to get them back on the right track was being near the other.
While Virgil was generally a cheerful guy who looked on the bright side of things, living in the OC hadn’t felt right,/i> without Rich there with him. There’d been something that was missing without him there. But he knew his friend well, and even though Richie usually seemed cheerful in his presence, he could tell that something was wrong. “So, what’s been eating you?” Virgil said, gathering his food from the food truck guy as he handed it out the window.
Richie settled on a shady wall as they waited for their food. He really wasn’t interested in heading back inside just yet. “Eh, everything. Nothing. I duno.” He gave a slightly annoyed shrug as he folded his arms uncomfortably. “I have no idea what I’m doing V.” He had no clear objective as to why he was there except that Detroit was basically broke, but as for what he wanted he had no clue. “Your dad’s place is struggling, he probably told you though? I duno. I should be doing something more-but he just said what he always does that they’ll make it through somehow.” Richie wanted to believe it, but he felt helpless. “He told me I should be figuring out what I want to do, but I have no idea what that is.”
Virgil expression clouded. Things at the Centre were always tight, but his father had mentioned that the place had been struggling more than usual lately. Virgil didn’t really know what to do. He’d once suggested that he didn’t need to go to school, that he’d much rather work and help them make ends meet, but his folks had nearly had a conniption over the very thought about it. They’d been putting away for his and Sharon’s college funds before the two of them had even been bored, and they’d be damned if they saw their children squander the opportunity when both he and Sharon had actually wanted to go to college. But it was still rough to hear. He’d practically been raised at the Community Centre. He and Richie both had. The idea of it closing was almost like losing a family member.
“He’ll figure it out, Rich. He always does,” Virgil said, moving to slight a comforting arm around his friend’s shoulders. “I don’t think Pops meant you need to figure it out right now though. We both young. We got our whole lives to figure out what we want to do.”
Richie almost couldn’t remember a day without going to the Center. He wasn’t ready for another thing in his life to disappear. They’d made a lot of friends there, good memories were attached to that place. “I hope you’re right. I’d give money but I don’t have any.” There was a reason he’d accepted two jobs, one to pay his own bills and two maybe to give something back if he as able, but so far it was only stressing him out.
He leaned on Virgil and it was pretty damn comforting to know he always could. He already was starting to feel better in that short time just waiting for lunch than he had all week. “I guess you got a point. Just been livin in my head too much.” He gave Virgil an exasperated smile, Richie got that way sometimes. The cure usually involved video games and junk food though, he was easy enough to pull out of it on the average day though.
He leaned on Virgil and it was pretty damn comforting to know he always could. He already was starting to feel better in that short time just waiting for lunch than he had all week. “I guess you got a point. Just been livin in my head too much.” He gave Virgil an exasperated smile, Richie got that way sometimes. The cure usually involved video games and junk food though, he was easy enough to pull out of it on the average day though.
“I don’t think Pops would take it anyway,” Virgil said. “He just want us to take care of ourselves. Once we’re making that big Stark money, then we can send stuff back.” As it was, interns didn’t make a lot of cash. But if he could impress Mr. Stark enough, then maybe he’d be able to get a permanent position. A well-paid permanent position. That’d be nice.
Richie smiled at that comment. “I guess I got wrapped up in things…” Logically that made more sense than Mr. Hawkins wanting him to figure out everything in one quick shot, but illogically he worried. “No kidding. Not only paid, but imagine all the toys we’d have access to.” Once they got promoted, if they got promoted of course Richie would join him in sending back a portion of their paycheck to the Center, he didn’t want to see it shut down, there were still a lot of kids that could benefit from it the way they had. “I haven’t even had time to take the grand tour Stark mentioned, I gotta admit this place is more than anything I’ve ever even dreamt about. It’s like I’m living in a giant sci-fi movie fest” It seemed like a ton of bricks had been lifted off him in just that short lunch break and Richie could breathe again.
“You think too much,” Virgil said, smiling. “Too much goin’ on up here,” he said, tapping Richie teasingly on the forehead. “Just think ‘bout all the cool stuff we’re gonna build once we have an in! It’s gonna be phat.” It made Virgil’s fingers twitch just thinking about it. He polished off the rest of his lunch, licking his fingers afterward. “You feelin’ better?”
Richie swatted at that hand with a sound of protest. “Oi. I know I know, bad habits die hard I guess.” He gave him a nudge and a shy smile as he stuck a fork in a bit of meat left over on the small cardboard tray. “Yeah. Think I might actually sleep tonight.” Richie tended to get insomnia when too much worrying happened. “...Think of the office we can build.” Richie practically drooled over the idea of all the tech at their fingertips, it really was like unleashing him in a candy store or something.
“Forget the office. Think off all the awesome tech we could build.” He grinned, thinking of it. Especially if the whole superhero thing ended up carrying over. He wondered exactly how many toys they’d be able to build at Stark Industries. “C’mon, Braniac. Let’s get back to work.”