InsaneJournal

WHO: Eddie Brock & MJ Watson
WHERE: The Diner MJ works at
WHEN: morning time
WHAT: Eddie and MJ broach MJ's ways and make steps to better life in Orange County.
WARNINGS: PGish
STATUS: Complete

Another weekend, another Sunday hungover. MJ was getting better and better at these, she thought to herself as she stirred Alka-Seltzer into her water.

Or maybe it was that she was caring less and less.

One half of one, one half of another.

It wasn’t that life wasn’t picking up -- it was. She had the audition for Marguerite’s show (and MJ was sure she’d get a call back), and she’d even started speaking to Peter tentatively. So how come she couldn’t get through a night without a drink? Or two? Or a bottle?

Rubbing a hand on her forehead, she smiled wearily at her companion. “Okay, Eddie. You’ve been holding something back all freaking morning and most of last night too, although to be fair, if you lectured me, I don’t remember it.” She cleared her throat. “So say it. I mean, you’ve said it every weekend, and I don’t know why you keep rescuing me, but I really appreciate it. You’re like the little angel on my shoulder these days -- ooh! Can I start calling you Jiminy?” Yes, she was trying to make light of the situation. She hoped it was working.

***

“Jiminy was a cricket, not an angel,” there was a light smirk on his face, but he was clearly tense about something. And it was mostly about MJ, sure. He was losing count of how often he’d get a slurry phone call or texts from her when she was clearly inebriated, asking him to please pick her up because she wasn’t sure where she was this time.

Eddie didn’t grudge her cutting loose if that was what she was doing, but inevitably, the conversation would turn to Peter and how sad MJ was and how much she missed him and how terrible things felt. Eddie tried to empathise, he did, he felt shit that Peter and MJ didn’t work out, they were great together. It almost felt like his parents had split up, that was how shit it was.

“Don’t you think, maybe, you’re going at it a little hard?” He put a coffee in front of MJ, there for when her stomach stopped rolling, some toast to the side. “I mean, this is getting to be a bit of a habit, yeah?”

***

“A habit is putting it lightly,” she mumbled, frowning at the coffee. She really did hate things that would stain her teeth..but fuck, her stomach hurt. Downing the alka-seltzer, she sighed and reached for the hot drink. It would help the hangover.

And maybe the greasy breakfast would too.

God this was stupid.

“I have to stop. I can stop. I need to stop.” The words were said forcefully, as if she was convincing herself of the same. Which she was. “I just … it’s so hard to be alone at night. It’s so hard to be in that stupid house, with that happy family, expecting their first child...I only have another few months before I have to move out too, and how the heck am I going to do that? Late 30s, no savings, nothing but debt.” She gave a half choke laugh. “I am one hell of a catch.”

***

She did say that each time, but Eddie didn’t bother pointing that out right then. He was trying to take a more tactful approach before he needed to deal with intervention type stuff to explain to MJ she was developing a problem that would likely derail any attempt to get her career back on track.

“Hey, it happens, it does.” It wasn’t like he’d been a success story after all, “I know all about starting over with nothing and how stressful it is, just trying to make it to the next paycheck when you’re so used to just having what you need all the time. It doesn’t mean you’re not fucking awesome.”

MJ Watson, doubting herself, this divorce had done a number on her.

“I can help you hunt for somewhere else, at this rate, we’re both gonna need to do that anyway.” Something in her price range was probably similar to something in his anyway.

***

MJ gave him a look . “What do you mean by that? You have a way steadier job than I do. I work in a fucking diner, Eddie. I’m barely paid a living wage. If it wasn’t for the fact that most of my meals are free, hence why we’re eating at my work,” she added, motioning around the diner, “I’d be hooped.”

She sighed heavily and speared a hashbrown with her fork, moving it around her plate. “I thought things were better for you here than in San Fran. Don’t tell me you’re struggling too.” That would be the worst. Eddie had always seemed so solid. True, they were closer now than they were before, but she’d never heard anything to suggest that he wasn’t on top of things.

***

It wasn’t like Eddie usually let on when things were going a little slow, or downhill, or disastrous. No, he just got on with things and pretended it was fine. He was usually the cause of whatever it was that wasn’t working out anyway (see Anne and Dora, stellar choices Eddie) so it felt like complaining about it was a shit move.

“It’s not going bad, as such, it’s just,” freelance was a dangerous game, because one week could be excellent while the next sucked, and sometimes there were a few too many sucky weeks. “Freelance journalism isn’t exactly stable, no.” It’d be better if he could get a steady gig with a steady editor and reliable content. Rather than filling space with two hundred words for a couple of bucks.

“I had a relatively steady steam in Frisco, building back up to that, it takes some time, and I’m okay with that.” Eddie kept burning bridges though, and making new ones wasn’t the fastest. “Rent is just a little bit more than I’m making right now.”

***

“Ain’t that the truth.” MJ blew a breath out, ending with a raspberry. “Being an adult is not what it’s cracked up to be or what was advertised.” She picked up a strip of bacon and took a bite. “For one thing, are we eating ice cream for breakfast?” She waved at the dish in front of her. “No. I don’t know when’s the last time I did that, actually.”

She gave a tired smile and took a sip of her coffee before widening her eyes and setting her mug down.

“We should just move in together,” she said. “It would save some money, I already know I can tolerate you, and we both have weird hours so it’s not like we’d be in each other’s space much anyways . Plus, I’m hoping to get a call back soon for Bonnie & Clyde so I’ll be busy with that. What do you think?”

***

Being an adult sucked sometimes; there were so many responsibilities and so little pay off. “We’re not eating ice cream for breakfast because we don’t want diabetes.” Honestly, MJ was just full of intensely unhealthy ideas right then. And sure, Eddie probably lived on a diet that was not good for him in any way, shape or form, but ice cream? Breakfast? No thank you.

“Ice cream is for binge eating after a shitty day, not at the start of it.” What was the point in comfort food before the need for comfort? Then again, MJ’s head probably needed a heavy dose of comfort.

But her idea didn’t sound too outlandish, the living together thing, not the ice cream for breakfast thing. “I feel lucky to be tolerated,” Eddie just gave her a look that indicated he was teasing, biting at his own bacon while he mulled it over. “It’s not a bad plan,” it might be awkward at the beginning but when was any living situation easy? “Splitting bills is definitely better than struggling,” and company, god, that would be nice sometimes. “I think it might work, actually, yeah.”

***

“Well,” MJ said, lowering her sunglasses finally and giving Eddie a smirk. “I don’t want to live with a man who doesn’t believe in ice cream.” She gave a wink and pushed them up firmly on her head, moving the hair away from her face.

Still, the idea of actually not struggling for once? That was an amazing plan, and she fully endorsed it. “Now I need to know your policy on Thai food, and streaming plans. If you’re not a Netflix kind of guy ...it might be a game changer. There’s a lot of good documentaries on Netflix.”

Again with the stupid documentaries. Peter was in her head good.

“Kidding though. I think this is actually a really good idea. Are we going to do this the old school way and find a newspaper, or do we have to go on the internet and use up our precious data plans?” Her eyes widened. “Oh wait! I have the wifi for this place. Look at me, saving us money already.”

***

Eddie just shook his head, because he was sure that regardless, she’d spotted the ice cream in his freezer that started showing up after the first time she texted him drunk and crashed with him after talking at length about everything and anything that popped into her head.

“I see your Netflix, and while I do indeed have Netflix,” was there a person alive who didn’t? He needed to know that, “I raise you that ID channel.” Because as an investigative journalist, who would he be without the Investigation Discovery channel?

“So wait, this place has coffee, bacon and wifi? Why aren’t we moving in here?” He was on board though, because if they could help each other out while getting on their feet in a new city, well why not? They got along well enough to not want to murder each other and maybe this way Eddie could make sure MJ wasn’t about to tank her career before it restarted by drinking her sorrows. It was basically a two for one. “You save us on this and I’ll cut out all the coupons.”

***

MJ scoffed at Eddie’s comments while she scrolled her phone. “ID channel is fine. It teaches me how not to get away with murder." There were lots of listings, and she felt actually positive.

Lifting up her coffee mug she grinned.

"Here's to things looking up for us, buddy. We got this."

She had this. No more drinking. Maybe. After today.