The Winds Have Changed

Part 1

Part 1.

Note: Noodlemoon (i.e. Buster Moon/Eddie Noodleman) fanfic. Hope you like it!

It's been a year since the theater has been rebuilt. The theater was intact, business was better than ever, and Buster had made some friends along the way of all backgrounds and ages. Pretty much life was finally going in the right direction for him. Indeed, it was certainly a fantastic time. It was great. Amazing. Astounding. Ab-so-lute-ly fine. Buster sat at his desk and was logging the amount the theater had made the past weekend from his most recent showing of "Learning to Fly Away"; a short musical Ash and Meena had written. Although unknown, it had many folks come in and watch the short run (only an hour) but it really characterized the girls themselves in the theatrical setting. And despite the success of it and the fact Buster had a large sum to himself even after the girls were given the largest percentage and after paying the stage crew, Buster had his mind wandering to other things besides theater these days. It was silent in his office; only the breeze of Ms. Crawly's fan and the running of the pipes for the squids filled the atmosphere. It was different than the old theater's creaks and whispers she told him, telling him to fix that draft or replace the drywall.

It was empty here. There was no one else filling his space and sharing his time with him. Since he needn't stress about bankruptcy his mind decided to fill with other thoughts away from what was his full time priority which was to just keep the place afloat. He looked outside his office window and watched as two young gazelles headed down the street hand in hand. Oh, how I miss those days. After all this time, it just hit him how he had missed being younger and spending time outside with friends or love interests. He was lonely and had terrible anxiety when meeting people for recreational reasons not involved with his theater. He didn't know what to do to help the feeling. The feeling of rejection once people discovered who he actually was. He was someone different than the facade he implemented with the stage and theater. He was afraid of many things and had various forms of anxiety and chronic stress alongside boats of depression that hit him at sensitive points in his life or when he thought of certain things. Like how he was 36 and single having only experienced 3 partners in his life and having ruined all relationships with his mixed emotions. He signed. Why do I have such highs and lows? No one would really understand that, would they? He pondered the thought and caught himself slipping into a state of self pity. He quickly snapped back to reality and folded the bills away. He decided to distract himself with a call to his friend, Eddie Noodleman.

Eddie had been swimming when he heard his phone go off. He groaned and hoisted himself out of the pool. Again, he had another colored speedo. His life coach had been helping him with his diet and exercise and Eddie had been feeling confident to purchase some newer clothes to help signify his change in maturity. He picked up a job in video game design and would intern at the G&E company when he wasn't helping Buster at the theater with the sound board and audio. Finally his film degree was coming in handy for he was placed on the atmospheric and scenery field of the games he helped to design. He spent less of his free time on games and more on focusing in on his career. Though, he still loved his games but found testing games all day made the idea of playing at home til 3am less appealing.

He was visiting his parents and finishing moving the rest of his stuff out of the pool house into his new apartment when he decided to take a swim as a break. His mother was especially proud of him. Finally her 25 year old son was moving out. It was a day to behold. He would still come for meals every now and again and some life tips but other than that, Eddie had become totally independent. He shook the looser beads of water from his wool and picked up a robe and his phone.

"Hey! How are things going?" He heard the familiar koala say.

"Pretty good, Buster. Moving the rest of my stuff out of my parents pool house. Been a day, I'm surprised G&E let me take the day off considering I haven't been there long."

"Eddie, you have an eye for bringing those games to life! You really know where to place a story and that's no lie."

Eddie couldn't help but smile.

"Aw, c'mon, you know just how to tickle my ego bud."

Buster leaned back in his chair. Yup, definitely a good call talking to Eddie, he thought.

"I am happy to hear you're moving out, must be exciting."

"Yeah, exciting and stressful. I've never really been that great with these whole 'life steps', ya know?"

Buster snickered.

"Oh, I know Eddie haha. I remember the first time you walked into my theatre with your film class and how you kinda lagged behind, afraid of what the scary koala had in store to teach you guys."

Eddie blushed from the embarrassment.

"Oh, stop it will you? I was just nervous because the professor didn't explain exactly what we would be doing. I thought we were putting on a play, not designing the set. There was no way I was going to let you cast me for some stupid role."

"You still managed to do a shoddy job with building that wooden tree though. Never met a lazier guy in my life."

Buster let out another laugh and so did Eddie.

Eddie retorted with, "Hey, I was in an elective class I didn't want to take and was 19, alright?"

Buster thought then said, "Well, I guess offering my theatre as a teaching environment did get me a free set built."

"Always know the cheapest ways, don't you?"

"You bet!"

Eddie thought about how that theater would be almost a sanctuary to him as well as Buster. Buster was always willing to let Eddie stay and help when he didn't feel like going back to the dorms or home when his parents were being difficult. Eddie was a dork in college and didn't have much friends that appreciated him for him but rather for his parents money. Despite the people asking to hang out with him, Eddie was alone in those days because he knew why they wanted to hang out with him. There was no one genuine. That's why he turned to Buster and wanted to help at the theater. In that time, he was able to appreciate the drive Buster had for the theater and came to admire it for he had still been struggling to find a passion. It was also time he spent getting to know Buster, 'Mr. Moon' as he had called him back then. There was a lot to the little guy and Eddie, despite the age gap, would always come back to learn a little more each day from Buster. And Buster would always be glad to have an extra stage hand and fellow friend who also enjoyed rising the props up the rope and singing karaoke on the empty stage. Buster had never asked for his money, never asked for help financially. The only reason Buster used any of his family's money was because Eddie would offer because he wanted to see the theater do as well as Buster did. It wasn't until later Eddie had learned of Buster's financial issues. It actually was an accident when he overheard a conversation of Buster on the phone pleading with the bank. Since then, Eddie promised to help in any way he could to the koala. It's been quite a journey since then.

Eddie, reminded of those times, said caringly, "At the time I thought you were pretty lame with how caught up you were in all of it but then I got to know you. And you know what? You're a pretty cool dude Buster."

Buster became red at the unexpected compliment.

"Thanks Eddie, you too pal."

Eddie formed an idea and said to Buster, "Hey, way don't you come over tonight and we can celebrate my new apartment? We can play some games or cheesy movies if you want! Maybe have some drinks and just chill, how about it?"

Buster tapped a pen to his lips and his feet kicked up onto his desk thinking about it. "Sounds like fun, I haven't got much going on tonight and could probably use the air. I would need a ride though; your place is a but far for a bike."

"No problemo Buster. How does 6 sound?"

"Sounds good to me, I'll see you then!"

"See ya!"

They both clicked their phone to end the call and continued on with their tasks; Eddie clearing his pool house and Buster logging his theater. But both were eager for what the night would hold.