[Beantown Arsenal - Outside Boston]

[ednygma]

It's obscenely early when Eddie rolls into the office. It's not all that early for him - someone who's somewhat notorious for never going home or sleeping - but for everyone else, even on a military base, it's capital E early. His department's quiet and mostly empty when he arrives. Eddie gets coffee, boots up all his computers, and then wanders across the building to see if Jonathan's at work already. He's guessing yes, probably. Crane's as prone to prioritizing work over petty things like sleep as Eddie is.

He gives Crane's office door the most cursory of knocks before just letting himself in. Eddie has big news to share, and also be smug about. Crane's going to get to hear all about it, whether he likes it or not.

"Good morning," Is how he cheerfully announces himself. He plonks one of the mugs of coffee down on Crane's desk. Couple sugars, very very little cream. Not that Eddie himself would ever admit to knowing those specifications. "Guess who showed up at my door last night? And made me spend several hours filling out paperwork."

Comments

[atomosophobia]

Jonathan is the first one in his office, as is usual. He's still quietly surprised that that's the case-- that he's allowed so much freedom of movement. That he doesn't have an army of minders. There are certainly guards all over the place, but they have nothing to do with him. He's treated more or less like anyone else on base. Crane's never sure whether to be insulted by that or enjoy it. It's very odd.

In any event, he's at his desk dealing with paperwork when Nygma comes swanning in. Jonathan grunts noncommittally in response to Edward's greeting and reaches for the coffee. He takes a perfunctory taste-- as if he doesn't know-- before settling back to enjoy his coffee.

"Your secretary finally caught up to you, did she?" Crane asks dryly. She's certainly formidable enough.

[ednygma]

"Hardly," Eddie scoffs good-naturedly. He settles into one of Crane's office chairs with his own coffee. "A Vault Tech rep came calling. He had a ridiculous amount of things to go over with me." He pauses briefly to drink from his cup. "Procedures, escape routes, some very fishy looking releases, that sort of thing. I guess they're finally actually going through with that Vault selection nonsense."

He's a mix of smug and skeptical, leaning a bit more in the smug direction. Even if he's not entirely sure the Vault Tech stuff isn't some kind of profiteering, scaremongering scam, he did manage to get picked for it. So that's an accomplishment, of some kind.

[atomosophobia]

Crane raises an eyebrow. "Is that so." Even though the Vault hype is... ridiculous at best, given the way they advertise themselves he's not surprised Nygma's been selected. Even as a currently reformed career criminal he undoubtedly counts as 'best and brightest.' And most smug and insufferable, though they're hopefully not selecting for that.

Still. "I expect they had you signing all sorts of tinfoil hat and canned bean related waivers half the night." Jonathan lifts his coffee cup in a mocking half toast. "Is this the part where you recruit me into the pyramid scheme then?"

[ednygma]

"Oh, yes, at least one of the waivers was about that horrific dehydrated astronaut icecream." Eddie scrunches his nose up at the thought. "Clearly, I'll entice you with promises of nutraloaf and--" He cuts himself off suddenly as realization hits him. "They didn't send someone to come bother you yet?"

That Eddie qualifies as good enough for the Vault Tech shenanigans isn't terribly surprising - that he's acknowledged for his intellectual value should be a given, really. But that Crane would not also get selected for this seems ludicrous. It's some sort of oversight, clearly, or they just haven't gotten to him yet.

[atomosophobia]

"All the Tang I can drink?" Crane supplies helpfully. He sips at his coffee. "No, I spent my evening thoroughly undisturbed, unless of course you care to count the neighbors with loud marital problems."

He's never sure where they are in relation to his little off base but clearly intended for military personnel apartment. They're loud enough to seem to come from everywhere. Lately they've been working their way up to irreconcilable differences with a passion. Why they don't just divorce is beyond Crane.

"But clearly, this is the part where you lure me in with instant mashed potatoes and military rations." Jonathan leans back in his chair slightly and makes a small prompting gesture with his cup of coffee.

[ednygma]

"If you play your cards right maybe even an allotment of club soda," Eddie briefly, mockingly waves his hands about. Club soda, how scandalous. "They're still doing that? I would have thought they'd have murdered each other by now." And he thought Rogues were gluttons for punishment.

"Alas, no. I'm not going to sell you shares of the Ponzi scheme doomsday bunker." He's sure Crane's very disappointed. In fact, he was sent of with some amount of suggestion to keep the news of selection to himself, which he clearly elected to ignore. "If it wasn't for our contracts strongly implying we're obligated to say yes to this, I wouldn't have even bothered signing on to it myself."

[atomosophobia]

Crane shrugs. "I'm more surprised a closer neighbor hasn't done them in myself." He'd be tempted if he could ever find them. Alas.

"How disappointing," he says dryly. "I was so hoping to be scammed today. I suppose I'll just have to wait for Mitchell to come back from vacation like everyone else." Distantly Jonathan can hear some of his... staff? Colleagues? shuffling into their own workspaces. The habitually early ones.

[ten days later]

[atomosophobia]

Crane doesn't think anything of it at first. The Vaults really are most likely some sort of scam preying on people's fears. He can sort of appreciate that, he supposes. In any event, it doesn't much matter to him whether they select him or not. He has work to do.

It's not until nearly a week in-- and he knows it's nearly a week because Nygma is getting increasingly ridiculous-- that it really sinks in. He is... less okay than he thought. Jonathan tries to maintain a certain level of honesty with himself about his fears as a general rule. And yet. He blames his inattention on the already high levels of dread and quiet creeping terror that come with one's country being at war and under constant threat of nuclear bombing. His lack of Vault invite got a little lost in the shuffle, as it were. It's not until he starts getting short with people that he knows something's awry and is forced to do a little private analysis.

Well. This is certainly a thing. As there's not much he can do about it, Crane tries to put this new worry aside and continue on as usual. It's... surprisingly difficult. Edward is not making it any easier with his theatrics. He's coming to dread Nygma dropping by in the mornings with coffee.

The evening of the ninth day, there's a knock on his door. It's the fabled Vault-Tec Rep, and Crane almost sighs out loud in relief. The paperwork is just as tedious and unending as Edward made it out to be, and the rep is... very eager. It's irritating, but Crane finds it oddly soothing to be irritated by paperwork and overeager minion-types again. It's almost routine.

The next morning he settles into his office earlier than his usual early. Crane may still be sleeping less than his new usual, but he woke up much more rested. Now it's simply a matter of waiting until Nygma shows up to be indignant.

Re: [ten days later]

[ednygma]

Over the next few days, Edward tries not to worry. To fret. It's not as if he doesn't have other things to occupy himself besides Crane's lack of stupid Vault Tech invite - clear oversight or not. It's not a big deal. It's fine. He does have a job. Or jobs, plural. His splits his increasingly long hours between the R&D labs, code-breaking, and intelligence offices. It keeps him busy. It also keeps him awake.

He finds himself dropping by Crane's office with coffee even more regularly. It's a bit past a week before he even realizes he's doing it. Crane, too, seems different. More tired than usual. A little more prone to snapping at Eddie, not that it makes Eddie visit any more infrequently.

It's only when he realizes what kind of a topic Vault Tech has become around the office that he admits to himself he's worried. Someone brings up Vault selections by the water cooler and Roger from accounting has to excuse himself because he bursts into tears. Eddie's not sure how he's the one who gets to attempt to calm down poor Roger in a side-office, but he does. Roger's family got a rejection letter. He has kids. A lot of kids. Eddie's not great at being comforting - at least he doesn't think so - but he does sit Roger down and explain as best he can what can be done in the worst case scenarios. He thinks it helps, at least a little. Roger shakily goes back to work and Eddie resolves to do - do something, if Crane gets the rejection letter, too.

He has to have some kind of pull, doesn't he? He decides to sleep on it, as much as he sleeps at all lately.

He shows up to Crane's department early the next morning as usual, coffees in hand. He passes as many empty cubicles and offices as full ones - sick days are suddenly common for nonessential personnel. He can guess many reasons why, but the Vault Tech rejection letters sitting in people's mailboxes likely factor in.

He sets Crane's coffee down on his desk with his usual, cheerful, "Good morning." Crane looks less exhausted than he has in a while, somehow. Less stressed. Eddie settles down in his normal seat, puzzled. "Have a good night last night?" He asks, leaning forward conspiratorially. "Did you find your loud neighbors and kill them?"

Re: [ten days later]

[atomosophobia]

Crane settles back in his chair as Nygma comes swanning in with coffee. Now that he's paying better attention, Edward also looks... stressed. Visibly tired, slightly ruffled. Not quite as put together as he usually insists on looking. Crane is reminded of overlong stays in Arkham or bottom tier safehouses. Not something he's seen since their ah, career change.

Jonathan snorts. "Hardly. Though someone else may have, they've been quiet the last few days." He pauses to sip at his coffee. "How's that new prototype coming along?"

Normally that would be unnecessary small talk or a diversionary tactic. Edward is relentless and insufferable when it comes to his various projects, both in completing them and discussing them. At length. Crane isn't sure if he's retained especially little of that lately, or if Nygma is less forthcoming. No matter. He's probably about to hear all about it in great detail.

Re: [ten days later]

[ednygma]

"One can only hope, I suppose." As for the question of the protoype... Eddie flattens his lips into a thin line and waves his hands around in a vague, exasperated gesture. "Problematic," He says, finally. "I can deliver all kinds of fairly complex, working VI, but this is... The theories are all sound, our tech just isn't quite there yet."

He sighs. He's hit a few speedbumps - or maybe walls - with this particular project, as much as he hates to admit. "Between the shifting deadlines and the general who's more or less moved into the test lab, we're not really getting anywhere very quickly. I can't magic up something that's decades ahead of anything we have now on demand, unfortunately, no matter how much pressure they apply."

He knows he's not even the only division working on this. There's another working with brain scans, and while he's fairly free to look into their research, so much of that is so far out of his fields of expertise.

Eddie settles back into his seat, taking a few drinks of his coffee. "You know, that's the first time you've asked about my research in a while."

To be fair, it's not as if Eddie can really remember how much of that he's mentioned in the past week or so - he's sure he has, he just... didn't really keep track.

Re: [ten days later]

[atomosophobia]

Crane nods. "Ah yes, nothing like a little good old-fashioned bureaucracy." He's been having some similar problems. It helps that no one's currently expecting him to invent something from a science fiction show, however. "I've only just gotten Wincott to stop pestering me about test subjects myself." At least for the moment. Wincott is an imbecilic blowhard who never shuts up for long.

"Is it?" Crane knows it is. He shrugs. "I suppose I was due, then." He hopes Nygma doesn't push about this, but that's probably a futile hope. Prying is one of Edward's hobbies. Mostly Crane would like to escape this conversation without having to admit to having been paying so little attention lately. That would be... awkward.

Re: [ten days later]

[ednygma]

Eddie lets out a short, small laugh. "Do I even want to know how you managed that?" He's run into Wincott enough to be grateful that he wasn't stuck with the man - not that he doesn't have a few other people just as obnoxious to deal with, if not more so.

"Yes, it is," Eddie says thoughtfully. "You have seemed rather.... distracted lately." 'Distracted' is the mildest way he can think of phrasing that. It could simply be the ramping stress of their work during wartime - it's certainly hellishly stressful as is - but it's been especially noticeable lately. "You look much more rested today." He considers that, briefly. "Did something resolve itself?"

Re: [ten days later]

[atomosophobia]

Of course. "Ah. Yes." Crane clear his throat. "I... may have been, yes." He almost winces at how awkward he sounds, even for him. He blinks at Nygma's assessment. Jonathan supposes he shouldn't be that surprised that he's been looking more tired lately... or that he looks more rested today.

"Actually... yes. I suppose something did." He still feels foolish for having been so worried about it. And for being as relieved as he is. It doesn't change much, really, and that's assuming the Vaults even work as intended. And yet.

Crane huffs to himself. Fine. He might as well get this over with. He reaches into the top drawer of his desk and pulls out the stupid brochure he brought with him to work this morning. Crane tosses it onto the desk with what turns out to be too much force. It skitters across the desk to Edward and practically falls in his lap.

Re: [ten days later]

[ednygma]

Crane's surprisingly awkward about the whole thing. Better than him being snappish and short, but still. Eddie's immediately distracted by the glossy Vault Tech pamphlet thrown vaguely in his direction, though, before he can really ponder Crane's mood shift. He watches the brochure slide across the desk until it stops precariously close to the edge. He wordlessly grabs it and rifles through it, his brow furrowed intently. After several silent moments of brochure perusing, he says, finally, "This is nicer than the one I got."

It just falls right out of hims mouth before he can think further about it. It's absurd, just completely absurd, but he goes with it. Better than admitting to... anything about how much of a fuss he was going to kick up otherwise. (Not that he'd be able to, given that he wasn't sure exactly what he'd have done. Yell at Vault Tech people? Flail angrily? Blackmail or otherwise extort?) Regardless. "It's fancy and new."

His had looked slightly... photocopied.