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He’d made sure to arrive early. The show didn’t start until 7 and Eddie’s car pulled up outside the theater just a few minutes shy of noon. He knew his friend well enough to know that Buster was likely scrambling to get the showpieces in order already. He was also sure that it would be harder to get a minute alone with him after the show. Media had been swarming at his opening at the Majestic Theater just a few days prior and would likely be joining again.
Eddie wasn’t sure what to think about the whole thing. One minute Buster was texting him about working for a big shot in Redshore City, the next his face was all over the news as a lunatic. He’d tried to follow the events, but no one had the full story. Buster had put on a show, one way or another that was for certain. But Jimmy Crystal getting arrested? The articles seemed to only know bits and pieces of the incident. He’d tried to ask Buster, but the topic had been changed almost immediately. Eddie noticed. Even if Buster thought he was such a great actor, Eddie still knew him better.
The Majestic Theater wasn’t anything like New Moon Theater, it was massive, clearly meant for crowds that would make Eddie’s head spin. It took him ages to find an entrance to backstage and when he did he was stopped by a large hand sitting firmly on his shoulder.
“Where’re you going?” A gorilla, large in stature, eyed him suspiciously, “Don’t believe I know you.”
“I’m Eddie,” He answered taking a step back and stuffing his hands in his pockets, “I’m looking for Buster Moon, the director,” He’d thought that would be enough, who else would be looking for Buster? But the gorilla’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“And why is that?” Eddie knew a threat when he heard one and his eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“I’m his… friend, Eddie,” He gestured to himself as if that was explanation enough, “Eddie Noodleman.”
The suspicion did not disappear, but it did lessen at the drop of his last name. He could have hit himself for not thinking of that initially. This guy, clearly security of some sort, may not have heard of him, but surely they’d heard of Moon’s sponsor, his nana.
Without another word to him the gorilla pulled out a walkie talkie and spoke into it, quietly, “I’ve got an Eddie Noodleman here, says he’s looking for Mr. Moon,” There was a long and quite awkward pause where Eddie tried to look anywhere, but the intimidating figure in front of him, before finally the radio hissed to life.
“Let ‘im in.”
Eddie tried hard not to sigh with relief, but moved quickly through the door without another glance at the other man.
Backstage was chaotic, as it tended to be the day of a show. He’d certainly found himself in plenty of similar moments in time. His college years, while mostly uninteresting, had been filled with Buster’s energetic rambling and love for everything theater. Even then he’d found himself backstage or in a green room, preshow just hanging out. Buster may be immune now, but he’d been nervous before plenty of shows and Eddie knew sometimes it was just enough to have someone there to distract you.
“Eddie!” Lost in just enough nostalgia that he’d missed Buster's approach, he turned and grinned, “So great to see you!”
“Buster!” Eddie greeted back, he bent down and opened his arms for a hug. There was a moment of hesitation, a slight twitch of an ear and a quick guarded look in usually clear blue eyes that was not lost on Eddie, before Buster moved to embrace him. It certainly didn’t take long for Buster to spring out of the hug and start talking about his show.
“You won’t believe the show you’re about to see Eddie!” He started, waving the other forward, “It’s one of a kind really out of this world! Ha! Get it? Because that’s the name-” Eddie listened, because that’s what he was good at. Listening while Buster enthused about his show, his hopes, his dreams that were now becoming his reality. It was wonderful really to see Buster so happy, he’d been off at grad school, chasing another degree he wasn’t sure would be useful. He’d been a bit distant and he was hoping that this trip would fix that.
That was if Buster would let him get closer than a couple feet away.
It took him a while to notice, but when he would step “too close” Buster would move back automatically. He noticed him flinch when a tall wolf stepped around the corner and brushed by Buster’s ear.
“Sorry Mr. Moon,” She apologized quietly before brightening when sure turned towards Eddie, “Oh! Hi! I’m Porsha! Who are you? More media? You should get my good side!” She turned and posed and Eddie wouldn’t have thought anything of it, if he hadn’t watched her purposely step between Buster and himself.
“Porsha!” Buster stepped forward. Very lightly placing a hand on her leg, guiding her to step back, “This is Eddie, my best friend,” Eddie felt himself smile, glad he was still more than Eddie Noodleman to someone around here.
“Oh!” Porsha grinned widely. Her teeth were sharp and Eddie felt the urge to take a step back, but shook it off, “Nice to meet you! Any pal of Mr. Moon’s is a pal of mine! I’ll let you get back to it,” She turned and waved back at them, “I’ve got to go rehearse!”
“She seems… Nice,” Eddie chuckled, turning to Buster who was running a hand through his fur, as if to smooth it down.
“She is,” He agreed watching as she disappeared around a corner. He took a quiet, but calculative breath before turning back to Eddie, “She’s not the best at acting yet, but she can really sing. She’s practically fearless too.”
It was enough for him to start talking again, showing Eddie to the other practice rooms. Introducing him to several of the other cast and crew along the way. He steered Eddie away from the stage itself, “I don’t want to ruin the magic!” He emphasized. Eddie tried to sneak around him and Buster just laughed and blocked him, for a minute it was like a wall fell away from between them.
He was shown into the costuming room. There were a few animals working on altering a couple costumes and Buster showed him a few of the different fabrics.
“So I was thinking,” Buster looked up at him eagerly as if Eddie’s opinion mattered at all, “Adding lights to some of the costumes, might make them stand out a bit more. I’m not used to working on such a big stage,” The admission was followed by careful flick of the eye, like someone was going to overhear, “It’s nothing I can’t handle,” He seemed to add out of some sort of necessity, “Anyways lights-”
Eddie listened as he described several types of fabric, none of which meant anything at all to Eddie. His attention was drifting as he instead found himself watching Buster’s hands. He ran his hands over a bit of velvet the same why it ran over spandex, and mesh, and pleather. A quick slide of his hand and then letting it drop. It was unusual, Eddie had watched Buster pick out fabrics a few times. He was always a bit touchy with it. Usually two hands, careful consideration. Here he wasn’t looking with his hands the same way he was looking with his eyes, with scrutiny.
“Anyways so I asked them to make a mock up,” Buster ran his hand along the piece the same way. A slide of the hand. It seemed to stick though and he paused pulling his hand back. A bit of blood, a sewing pin must have stuck him, but he seemed just as surprised as Eddie before trying to shrug it off, “Ah I should have expected that.”
“Uh, shouldn’t you have noticed that?” Eddie couldn’t hold himself back any longer.
“Hmm?” Buster hummed distractedly as he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at the prick, “Oh well it’s only pinned on the other side-”
“Not what I meant,” Eddie shook his head, “Did you not feel it at all?”
Buster seemed to stand straighter, an ear twitched, a stance that always meant to Eddie that he was going to hear something he wasn’t going to like, “I- No,” He was purposely not looking at Eddie now, “It’s nothing to worry about,” Buster tried to brush it off, but Eddie stepped forward.
Wrong move clearly because Buster immediately took two steps back.
“Buster…” Eddie was sure now, something was going on with Buster and no amount of good acting was going to make it go away.
“Please Eddie you worry too much!” Buster tried one more time, but Eddie could practically see through him now. His hands were clasped together, shaking just a little and he certainly didn’t miss the way his eyes kept track of where people moved around the room.
“You got an office or something around here?” Eddie crossed his arms. Buster eyed him for a moment as if gaging his severity before he deflated just enough for Eddie to see exhaustion creeping out from behind his “Totally fine! Thank you very much!” mask.
“Yeah I do,” He waved a hand, “This way.”
Eddie followed him and had to try hard not to fill the silence by habit. It was rare he’d need to anyway, what with Buster always having something to say. But it was clear that this wasn’t the kind of moment that needed idle chatter, and Eddie was more interested in watching than chatting anyways.
They had to cross behind the main stage, it was a bit cramped and there were several props and collapsed set pieces littered around. One caught his own foot, but he caught himself easily, the lucky thing about having long legs. His friend however was never as lucky, because when Buster’s foot caught a bit of wood, and it was really inevitable back here, he would have fallen flat on his face. So Eddie did what he’d always do and scoop up Buster right before he could fall.
Only this time it wasn’t a simple, “Ah? Thank you Eddie,” It was a choked gasp, and shaking, and a quiet, strangled plead of, “No! Please no!”
Eddie had him back on the ground in a matter of seconds. Buster took several hurried steps away and refused to look back at him, simply tried to breathe less quickly and stop from shaking so bad.
“Buster?” He tried, tried very hard, to say in a quiet tone as to not startle his friend further, but Buster still jumped and wide, hurt eyes flickered to him, before looking away again.
“Ed- Eddie,” He managed around calculated breaths, “I’m sorry.”
“Huh? No. There’s nothing to be sorry about,” Eddie tried to move just a hair closer, but Buster just leaned further back, “I just- What happened?”
“You surprised me, that’s all,” Buster deflected, it was so obviously a lie that Eddie huffed a laugh.
“Come on Buster, you’re a better actor than that,” But Buster didn’t return the amusement.
“How much did you hear about Redshore?” Buster stood again and continued their original path of walking. Eddie had no choice, but to follow.
“They were calling you a lunatic in the news again,” Eddie started with the lighter rumors, “You put on another illegal show, which you should really stop doing,” Even that didn’t get so much as a chuckle out of the koala, “I know that Jimmy Crystal was arrested,” Buster’s ear twitched and Eddie’s mouth fell into a hard line, “This,” He gestured to Buster even though he wasn’t looking at him, “has something to do with him?”
“You could say,” Buster answered cryptically as he poked his head out from behind the curtain, as if verifying that the path was clear before he and Eddie crossed the short distance to a small room that made up Buster’s temporary office.
Eddie didn’t take long to survey the room, it was bare in comparison to Buster’s real office back at New Moon Theater, “Could you say?” Eddie prompted, “Because honestly you’re kind of scaring me Buster.”
Buster looked over at him with a wince. He had guilt written across his face, “I don’t mean to,” He said quietly. Eddie didn’t bother to respond he simply waited, letting the silence stretch on.
“Did they say why Jimmy Crystal was arrested?” Buster asked, he wasn’t looking at Eddie, but he had an ear pricked, clearly interested.
“They said something about him putting the cast and crews of his shows in danger,” Eddie recalled, although truthfully, he’d only been skimming the article for Buster’s name.
“He did,” Buster confirmed, idly combing through the cup of pens sitting on his desk, “He was mean and he was cruel…” He pulled out a pen, inspected it, then put it back, “Porsha’s his daughter,” Eddie truthfully didn’t know how that had to do with anything, but he didn’t say so, “He was very loud and uhm-” Buster was pointedly not looking at him, his ears were pulled back. Buster pulled his hands together, but Eddie could tell they were shaking, “He uh, he was used to getting what he wanted. I should have just given him what he wanted, but you know me!” Buster shot Eddie a big humorless smile, “I got in a little over my head so he-” Buster swallowed, his eyes had a bit of a far away look to them, “So he was going to throw me out of the building,” Buster looked up at him again and tried to smile, to plaster on a fake smile to make it seem much less horrifying than it was, “And by that I mean, he was going to-” Words seemed to fail so Buster took that same pen back out and held it out with a shaking hand before letting it go. Eddie watched it fall to the floor and clatter against the cold tile.
“So, um,” Buster shook his head, looking away from the pen, “Anyways I had hung on, and was saved by the bell, so to speak,” He loosened his bowtie, “He still wanted me, you know, dead. But he- We had him stopped. He got out somehow though,” Buster shuddered, “He got me again and I thought… But it was okay because Rosita-” He made a swooping motion with his hand, “She got over her fear and saved me!”
Buster was looking at him now, waiting for a reaction, a response, anything really, but Eddie found himself sitting there, still staring. Both things Eddie wanted to do in the moment, he found he couldn’t. Murdering Jimmy Crystal… well the man was in jail and Eddie wasn’t sure he could get past the guards. Hugging Moon… Well he feared it wouldn’t be met with a good response which really lead him right back to murdering Crystal.
At the lack of response, Buster looked down at his hands, “Ah right,” He turned a picture frame around on his desk, “You’ve heard of Clay Calloway, I’m sure. He’s fantastic, truly ties this show together, Crystal might have been right about that,” Neither of them it seemed liked that particular thought. Buster moved on swiftly, “Have you ever touched an electric fence before?” Buster turned the palms of his hands towards Eddie where there was a long wound just begging to scar across each one, “Well, I wouldn’t recommend it. Ash seems to have recovered fine, but I haven’t exactly moved past the numbness stage,” He looked at his hands with a bit of concern, “It’s really inconvenient.”
Eddie took a deep breath, really feeling like he hadn’t had one for awhile, before he spoke with excruciating slowness, “Let me get this straight…” He hated clarifying, he hated the look in Buster’s eyes that almost begged him to drop the issue, “You were almost dropped off a building-”
“W-was dropped, technically,” Buster corrected nervously, “I was lucky enough to have hung on.”
“S-so you were dropped off a building,” He corrected himself, trying not to seethe in anger as he did, “Dropped off a stage too?”
“That’s-” Buster seemed to choke on his words, “Yes, I fell.”
“And somewhere along the way you got electrocuted by a fence? Assumably owned by Clay Calloway.”
“Yes, that’s correct.” Eddie put his head in his hands, covering his eyes. Buster’s voice was painted with concern and they really should be doing this the other way around, “Eddie? Are you okay?”
Eddie found himself unable to respond, instead he felt moisture on his hands and he tried desperately to scrub it away. There was the sound of small shoes clicking against the old tiles before a cautious hand fell onto his leg.
“Eddie? Hey? It’s okay.”
“It’s not!” Eddie pulled his hands away to look down incredulously towards his friend. Buster removed his hand and seemed to restrain himself from stepping away. None of this was okay and he made sure to tell him so, “Buster, you almost died.”
“Believe me I know,” The koala gave him a careful look.
“I wasn’t even there,” Eddie emphasized, “I wasn’t there, what if-”
“Come now, Eddie,” Buster frowned replacing his hand on Eddie’s leg, “There’s no sense dwelling on the what ifs,” He said it like someone who had to remind himself of such things far too often.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Eddie slid out of the chair and onto the floor so he could be at eye level with Buster, “I could have- I dunno. I’d have been there!”
“Truthfully Eddie, there wasn’t time,” Buster grimaced, “One moment I was escaping for my life,” Eddie winced, “The next I was trying to put on a show behind that bastard’s back,” He finished darkly.
“Are you okay?” Eddie made sure to move slowly but he placed his hands lightly on Buster’s shoulders, “I mean of course you’re not okay, that’s a stupid question. Are you going to be okay though? Do you- Can I do anything, I mean-?”
“Eddie!” Buster took a step forward his hands falling onto Eddie’s wrists, “I’m okay, he didn’t get me, he’s in jail where all he can do is send empty threats.”
“He’s sending threats?!” Eddie leaned back to get a good look at Buster who was trying and failing to look nonchalant.
“Johnny’s dad intercepted my mail so they don’t know that I heard about it,” Buster shrugged, “But he’s sent at least one letter. But hey, threats I can take-”
Eddie pulled him into a hug, he expected Buster would wriggle out of it, but instead he felt hands fist into his shirt, holding them there at that moment. Buster took a deep shuttering breath and Eddie held on tightly, worried if he let go he might lose his best friend, the person who mattered to him most in the world.
“I missed you Eddie,” Buster said eventually, “It’s not the same without you around.”
“I missed you too,” Eddie echoed, “I shouldn’t have gone back to school, I’m not getting anything out of it anyways.”
“Oh come on,” Buster pulled back then, looking stern, “You’re gaining experiences!”
“I only gained experiences the first time around because you dragged me to every show and pep rally they had,” Eddie gave a small smile.
“But you put up with me!” Buster pointed an accusatory finger at him, “If you didn’t like it you didn’t have to be there.”
“I liked seeing you happy,” Eddie put his head in his hand, “I still like seeing you happy, even if you’re occasionally just as delusional as the news makes you out.”
“Thanks Eddie,” Buster rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.
“So,” Eddie raised an eyebrow, “Did you want some help picking out fabrics? You can borrow my, non-barbequed hands,” Buster lit up.
“Well there is still time until the show…”
As boring as Eddie found fabric selection to be, he was probably the best possible sport at it. Feeling for various things like, “The fabric should feel like it’s singing Eddie!” or “Eddie does it feel like something that would be hot and lava-y?” Neither of which he had a clue what Buster was on about, but he did try.
As he was heading around to take his seat for the show he ran into Rosita, she was swiping away some smudged mascara at the mirror by the stage entrance. She noticed him watching and turned, smiling sweetly.
“Oh, Eddie hello! Long time no see-” She didn’t get to finish because he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly.
“Thank you,” He muttered before he let go and moved away, embarrassed. He didn’t see her frown or her eyes trail to Buster who was following Eddie without a glance back towards his lead star.
“Eddie?” Buster prompted, “You good?”
“Yeah,” He coughed, “Yep, all good. Just wishing her luc- I mean to break a leg, before the show.”
“Good catch,” Buster rolled his eyes, he’d tried to drill in all the theater superstitions, but sometimes Eddie still slipped.
“And to you too,” Eddie held open the door as they both entered into the main hall already slowly filling with theater goers.
“Me?” Buster raised an eyebrow.
“It’s your show,” Eddie shrugged, “I don’t know how you did it. An entire future award winning production in three weeks. Even under the thumb of some unsavory bastard.”
“It was a team effort!” Buster replied easily, just as he always would. But Eddie knew that while everyone here likely put in the work, Buster would always double it. He was the heart of his theater troop more than he would ever know.
But Eddie would know, because Buster was his heart too.