[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

[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.