dogfight : reddie

pick from the pound

picked from the pound, i finally found my girl!

eddie, previously bounding down the stairs, calmed himself and walked at a normal pace. brushing his hair out of his face, he came face to face with richie, who was still waiting by the counter, unenthused. the moment he saw eddie he shot up.

"wow." richie said, eddie blushing slightly.

"yeah?" eddie asked, still self-conscious. 

"yeah, eds." richie confirmed.

"thanks. i wasn't sure about the shirt. i don't normally wear white. makes me scared of dirtying it, y'know--" eddie rambled on, richie putting his hand on eddie's back.

"we better head over." richie rushed him out of the door, eddie barely getting to say goodbye to his mother. 

the plan for richie, now, was no longer wooing eddie, but getting him to the party as possible. they walked, mostly in silence uncomfortably. richie was walking quite fast, and eddie found it hard to keep up. still, eddie tried to make conversation.

"it's so good to get away from the restaurant. you're the first person all day i didn't have to read the specials to." eddie went on, panting a little bit from walking so fast, he thought for a moment. "wanna hear 'em?" no response. "nah, never mind" eddie was basically talking to himself.

"c'mon eddie, keep up." the nickname was gone, and eddie missed it a little bit. richie sounded a bit annoyed, but eddie's joy of a first date kept him going.

"so... how long've you been with the marines?" eddie asked, playing with his fingers. 

"almost five months. but i'm just getting started," richie said, uninterested. he shoved his hands in his pockets. 

"huh. five months. must be a long time away from home." eddie tried, wiggling his thumb with his other fingers.

"gonna be a lot farther before they're done with me." richie replied casually, looking over at eddie. eddie went to open his mouth, to ask where, but richie kept talking, "first, i'm off to okinawa. but i'm aiming for vietnam." 

"vietnam? but they're fighting there, aren't they?" eddie sounded concerned, but richie scoffed. rolling his eyes, he replied.

"kick a little ass, take a few names, be back in a few months." richie talked about it like it was so easy. like life was just a rollercoaster and he would have the seatbelt on the entire time.

"the way you say that makes it sound like you're a bunch of rowdy drunk men getting ready to fight. you don't seem worried." eddie cautioned, annoyed at how he sounded like his mother.

"nothing to worry about. you got a thing against marines, eddie?  we're going over there as advisors, really." richie shrugged it off again.

"sounds dangerous to me." eddie muttered, still fumbling with his fingers.

"i got thirteen weeks of training under my belt." richie sounded offended, like eddie had questioned his strength. 

"richie, aren't you scared at all?" eddie's tone was less concerned, and more compassionate and caring. it didn't change richie's response.