Erich smiles as dustyn verbalizes his love of CDs. In many ways,the two are very different people. Erichs taken this joke far enough that on the rare chance atomic war Bride material is released on CD,the special editions are sold sans case. "Good catholic boys?" Erich asks with an eyebrow raise that would make the Rock proud. " There must have been some great advances since I last paid attention to the faith. which was honestly around the time Madonna pissed them off with the like a prayer video." He tells dustyn with a shrug. "How is the old boy been doing? " It had felt like,and probably been,a long time since they had all gotten together. shortly after the Conners had purchased the new house,if Erich remembered correctly. Erich assumed that dustyn wasn't that religious but may hold some sort of grasp on it still. Probably out of identity more than faith. When asked about Mercedes' location,Erich suddenly looks very exhausted."whew,I hope she's not. I can't do enough blow to keep up with her. She told .e about seeing you in Japan. She mentioned just going to Japan instead of waiting for a restaurant to deliver her shrimp toast." Erich tells dustyn with a smirk. His smirk grows wider before he looks off into the distance and says in the tone of a cheap YouTube guru, "is Mercedes ever truly in just one location?" He remained coy,while dustyn wasn't near as fun to play around with as Erica, remaining vague was still pretty fun.

"A splendid idea." Erich spouts before heading over to the bar area. Erich takes his place behind the bar and places a napkin out for dustyns drink. Within a few moments,erich has mixed up two very large drinks. No little glasses here. he and dustyn were real drinkers and needed small buckets instead of paltry single serve glasses. He tosses little umbrellas into the drinks and pushes the drink toward dust. " Just like mamma used to like " he says with a smile . He takes a long sip before answering about Micah. He thinks better of speaking and takes a drink from the bottle of rum. " It goes. Haven't gotten him out here tripping balls and shooting guns yet,if that lets you know how it goes." Erich tells dustyn rather seriously. There were certain hurdles he couldn't clear with Micah around. Sure,in some ways it felt like just some person aboard,but in others Erich wanted that part of his life separate from Micah. Much like he did with Marlena now that she wasn't a baby anymore and could form memories. "He's a good guy. Reminds me too much of myself before I realized I could make a living by not being a responsible adult." Erich answers with a laugh. Having an adult offspring was very different than having a young child . Erich knew Micah knew what Erich hess was about. but Erich wasn't exactly ready to be doing blow off CD cases around Micah. The only use Erich had for CD cases. "Probably for the best. I bet those little fuckers are very tasty to kitties. Heck,they're kinda looking tasty to me." Erich laughs loudly.

Erich drinks his drink as dustyn speaks and slowly places the drink down on the bar. "Wait...I spend a lot of time with you..." He says before cackling. Erich long assumed the apostles all got it on. Cold desert nights... loneliness...it all made sense to him. Heck, loneliness is what lead to more flings on the road than sheer lust in erichs experience. Erich looks like he's going to do the mother all spit takes when he hears dustyn speak of the incident with Riley. There were things Erich expected to hear from Dusty,but that wasn't one of them! First,he assumed (wrongly it seems) that Riley was straight. He also kind of assumed Dallas was rather vanilla. "Well,the gaming industry almost inspires such things. I mean look at controllers now? There's two joysticks to handle at all times. It's really not that big of a jump.." Erich grins widely. He loves debauchery even if he isn't involved. " How'd you manage that? What game got everyone in the mood? I mean,I need to know so I can avoid that sort of game,of course. Yes...avoid." Erich poorly lies. He takes another drink and picks up the tiny umbrella from the glass. He then uses his hand as Gene Kelly and performs a little rendition of the singing in the rain dance with his hand. He considers changing the subject,but then thinks it's possible dustyn already knows. He swears he remembers reading that Mercedes and Billy were friends,so it wasn't impossible that that had already gotten to dustyn. "There...may be some truth to what I was saying earlier. Dont tell Erica though, we're all seeing if she'll explode from suspicion. It's no real secret, everyone is just pretending to not know just to fuck with her." He tells dustyn quietly in case Erica appeared. It started as a joke between himself and Nina. Soon, everyone but Erica knew. "Not very salacious,I know. " Erich chuckles. Erich wasn't sure how this would end up,but he was going to see where it went. Ideally,he wanted what dustyn had but was pretty certain he would never experience that sort of life. "I guess the dirty nugget here would be I gave her the best minute of her life that first time...ok,maybe it was the best minute of MY life." He laughs very hard here. Erich was never one to brag about his conquests. But he did enjoy the idea that he was a rockstar and not always a sex god.

"Someone had to be her bartender. I was cheap labor." Erich laughs. Dustyn probably would love erichs mom. She's basically Joan Crawford from mommy dearest,but not a total monster. "Not to be an asshole,but.. I mean.i kinda assumed with the Irish thing. " Erich laughs. He himself was a bit of a stereotype. Dusty could open any number of cabinets around them and find at least one gun. "I guess one would have to be drunk to want to do the ... sacrament? Why would one want to eat the flesh and drink thr blood of their god? " Tea,huh? You want some tea with your drink? I could microwave us up some." Erich offers playfully. he knows this drives dustyn up the wall and is safer at times than insulting Madonna. Erich looks out at the city as if he could spot Micah walking around out there. "I don't think it's a you thing. I think it's an everyone here thing." He finally says after looking back to dusty. "Other than myself and Chloe,Jayne is basically the only other one he really speaks to." Erich takes a long drink and laughs warmly. " Give Micah a drinking problem and he's pretty much me before the career took off. Well, minus being in great shape. That's never happened. Probably due the drinking. Guess it could be worse,he could be an asshole and just assume everyone is going to like or respect him." It was rare that Erich acknowledged his own position in the industry. He was fairly uncomfortable with the fact he WAS some body. Atomic war Bride was niche,but the hess name carried weight and did open a lot of doors.

"I wasn't like this all my life. I blame the gay agenda." Erich wails before letting his head fall dramatically into his hands. Erich listens intently as dustyn spills the details of how what will now be known as the Riley incident went down. He had long known how dustyn felt about the mentioned game. Both Arthur and John were characters dustyn liked. " Understandable. It IS a horny game. That Sadie...you just known Sadie is a total dom. You don't fuck her,she's fucking you and you better be ok with it." Erich trails off in blissful thought before snapping back to the given conversation with a sudden start. " What were we talking about again? Oh yeah. You with the two best beardie boys in the business. Oscar and Scott better watch out,they could fall to the charms of the Connors house!" Erich laughs. He enjoyed hearing how it went. It was a cute story. Riley probably was the eye candy that wasn't dustyn in weekend. Erich hated Billy enough to where he was at least in the top twenty people Erich would duel with. But,he could agree that Billy was good looking. "You wild libertine,you. I haven't done such things since that short window where Erica and I were newly single. I'm falling behind!" Erich tells dustyn with deep bow to acknowledge dustyns rank as filthiest person currently on the ship. "Is it different having a threesome with a spouse?" Erich asks after a moment of thought. When Erich was married,there was no way in HELL his ex-wife would have been up for that. While he was vaguely aware of... Whatever occasionally went on with Karoliena,Cassie,Erica,and Gretchen,he wasn't about to ask anything. If he was meant to know details, Karoliena would tell him. And she hadn't.

Erich cracks up at dustyns exclamation. It was so loud that it echoed a few times before fading away." Hey,I only told you because I assumed you already knew! " Erich grins and also lowers his voice in case Erica was around. There was no way he was losing the bet on how long it could be kept from her. Karoliena said at most 3 months, but erich had bet an entire year. He gives his friend's hand a  pat in response. "Thanks, we'll see how it goes. So keep planning to give us separate Christmas cards." Erich says while trying to sound slightly optimistic. If this was like any other relationship in his life,it'll burn bright before crashing and then burning up. "Her schedule actually kinda works for me. You know. I'm constantly on the road. Someone with no attachments to any single place is perfect." Erich explains with a growing smile. In certain aspects,Erich is seen as incredibly lazy. But he's constantly on the move, Much like Mercedes. "I am pretty excited to see how we end up." Erich nods to give some actual optimism to the situation."also she does this thing with her...."Erich starts with a dirty smirk but doesn't continue.  He takes a drink and flicks a bit of the mint from the glass into the breeze.
"Umm. Nevermind. Is it hot out here? It feels hot."

"If a leprechaun isn't drunk,is it even a real leprechaun?" Erich asks philosophically while drinking his drink. Given that Ireland was probably only slightly less religious than the Bible belt where Erich grew up,he did imagine there were far worse things than drunken leprechauns bandied about in dustyns direction.. Erichs giggles are nearly as loud as dustyns previous exclamation. For some reason dustyn is very anti microwave.to Erich, hot water is hot water. But Erich thinks he'd get less of a reaction if he had just called dustyns mom a whore. "Careful taking that flip flop off,you know how people can be with feet. Especially the Italians. " He warns, assuming they were all foot fetishists here. Why else would Italy be so famous for shoes? "I'd honestly feel more comfortable if Micah was a little hell raiser. Least then I wouldn't feel like I'm bringing someone down. Erich explains to dusty. Though,this was mostly untrue. Erich would not want Micah to be a carbon copy of him. This weighs on him,so he adds "Sure, Micah freely tossed his old life away,but the guy just lost his mother and I'm the only relation he has left. There's also ample chance for overindulgence here on the ship." He grimaces before also finishing his drink. In spite of erichs eagerness to live as a cautionary tale,he doesn't want Micah following his path ."hey! You be respectful of his fitness! You and Dallas has seduced Riley,You aren't doing it with Micah too." Erich jokes to dustyn. He's seen the comments. It seemed like most that weren't Micah's must get his physique from his mother were all about how hot he was. "Don't worry,dust" Erich reassures dustyn before going back behind the bar to get refills. "You'll always be the cute son...well,adult son. Dean is pretty damned cute.... we're outta limes. Whiskey ok with you? It's cheap shit. Four roses." Erich offers,holding up the bottle. Erich wasn't a whiskey snob. It was usually wild turkey,but the store only had four roses.

"thank God Erica will have a career for decades to come." Erich tells dustyn wryly. Erica probably was closer to fifty than people thought. It also didn't hurt that she would violently repress any public discussion of her actual age of 39. If there was a woman who's star had faded,dustyn would be there for them. Most entertainers dustyn mentioned,Erich assumed were long dead. Sadly,the unnamed woman was not dead but still hoarsely singing to this day. "I'm not pure like you, dust. I can't help but be aroused by miss Sadie. Makes it a little strange that I used to know someone with a beagle named Sadie. But I could still see it through to the end." Erich tells dustyn with a nod of confidence. animals shouldnt have people names for this very reason. erich tries to put together the image that dustyn has painted for him, the logistics are a bit confusing "
two at once..like together? like pretty much merged into one supercock? you may not be swingers but..god damn." erich says with wide eyed surprise. he still wasnt sure how that all worked.his mental image involved the use of zip ties to keep everything together.

"a closet freak. who'd a thunk it? you think you know someone.i guess never trust a man with a beard." erich says in mock amazement at the involvement of dallas. "or a non bearded person who invites you over for video games." erich adds with a laugh and gives dustyn a wag of his finger. though dustyn and dallas as well as karoliena and cassie seemed to live lives of excitement after marriage,erich wasnt so sure if it was for him. "of course,you've now set the bar very high for his next birthday. i hear yoga can really help limber you up. sounds like you might need it." erich jokes to dustyn.

"how can i forget someone who was unfortunate enough to be born on christmas? poor little you was cheated out of an entire set of presents during their life. though it may have been a sign those shepherds were at the wrong house.i'll get you some myrrh anyway. i hear it was all the rage at that little bastards birth. "oh that is a myth,dust. if i didnt join the 27 club,neither will you. especially seeing as you are sensible person at this advanced age. heck,when i was your age i was...i was.." erich trails off and looks far away in hopes of remembering. after a few moments its realized the memory isnt coming back ,so he continues. "see? i cant even remember what i was doing then. you'll be fine." erich reassures dustyn. there was no way he was going to let some urban legend get dustyn. erich would simply challenge the grim reaper to a game if need be. hes seen enough movies to know how to bargain with death. on the mercedes topic,erich grins and shrugs. " i am no closer in figuring her out either. i dont even know how we became an item. i just woke up and it was happening. i think this is proof she is a time traveler." erich gives the best assessment of the situation that he could. it was to be in that part of his life that held the mysteries. mysteries such as : why was erica not always japanese. why mariko has looked like 3 different people. things that everyone recognizes,but no one seems to mention.

"not that you check that site..." erich says in a slightly accusing tone. the site in question has been the subject of many battles between erica and nina. erich had witnessed more than a few that looked like they could come to blows at any second. "last time i checked myself on there,i think i was doing pretty well." erich tells dustyn in his best trying not to boast voice. it was weird,but erich would take it. being highly thought of in a community so hyper fixated on one feature couldnt be too bad. right? erich thinks for a long time about what dustyn says about micah.he really isnt sure which way to lean. erich opts for the safest course of action. "i think maybe wait for him to come to you? maybe living on the road with us will get him used to it all. i dont think we have to worry about him following our path in life. he seems pretty grounded so far. if he starts getting out of hand? im sending him to his little brother." erich motions to dustyn with his eyes. "short ones indeed. it looks like i am running an orphanage with all these people of child like height around me. it's rare i see anyone over five foot tall!" erich exclaims at the amount of short people in his life."irish hammered is pretty well past shitfaced in the rest of the world. i dont own any,or carry any wine aboard the ship. so we're safe from that awful stuff." erich is near certain that vara will bring wine back from their day. she was pretty much the only wine drinker aboard. she seemed to have a glass with every meal. even breakfast. that was dedication to the craft that erich could appreciate. erich pours two glasses and hands one to dustyn.

erich throws his hands up and replies "i'm not saying they have a point,but i am saying that nobody does it cat style." he then pauses and winks at dustyn. that joke fucking landed and erich knew it. some where there was a cheesy sitcom uncle missing his joke. erich puts his hand to his chin and nods intently as dustyn gives a master class in how two trains could use the same tunnel. "yes,yes. i see how you're saying its done. seems like the amount of lube needed would be hellacious." he pauses and looks amazed when dustyn talks about farting afterwards. "i would think sitting would be the biggest of your worries." he tells his friend solemnly. erich had learned very much about the,no pun intended, ins and outs of dustyn's love life. the entire business seemed like a lot of work. prep and otherwise. erich hoped that dustyn's lovers appreciated the effort involved.

"hey,southern is more about relatives than animals!" erich tells dustyn defensively. erich's honor as a southern gentleman was at stake here. "we only go for the animals if we cant catch our cousins or sexy aunts." erich corrects dustyn. erich blinks in reaction to the phone coming for him. knowing dustyn,the picture was either of the cutest kittens ever or naked men. when his eyes focused he was met with what was very clearly not the result of a gym outing. "ok. but i'm not piercing my nipple. when did THAT happen,mr?" erich asked dustyn in his best concerned father voice. " do i need to grab my acoustic guitar and use my youth pastor voice? your mother and i are concerned." erich says before cracking up. he always loved the overly dramatic after school specials. "i will still come over for the absinthe though. cant pass up a free drink."


"well,i think you'll be fine in retirement.you got your children and cats to take care of you. i'd say dallas could be the breadwinner,but pop punk hits that same age wall. me? i was in the punk rock retirement plan. do punk for a few years,coast off into the sunset with rockabilly." erich jokes to dustyn. though dustyn was right. boy bands did have a shelf life and weekend were all men now. that was something erich never had to deal with. "a line here and there is like a cup of coffee in this business. and who is good without their coffee,right?" erich says,again to some sitcom audience in his head. erich laughs at dustyn's assessment of the number of kids erich has. "you should feel right at home. i'm just a good catholic,i am." erich says in a very bad cockney impression. if nina was in earshot,she'd through a shoe at him. erich shakes his head and waves his arms dramatically at what dustyn's implying. " dust! dont even joke about that. they might hear you." erich whispers and points towards his lap. it wasnt erich's fault that somehow the radiation from the duke of winchester had made him more fertile instead of less. "though could you imagine? her abilities plus mine? whew...i think i may need to get another snip just to make sure." erich laughs nervously. his child spawning combined with his being too shy to buy condoms might overpower one vasectomy.

"well...i dont keep up with these things,but...do i outrank you?" erich asks with an intense curiosity. erich wouldnt rub it in dustyn's face,but if he did outrank dustyn.... anything worth doing was worth doing right. he had suspected dustyn's like of legs and feet. he had heard a lot about what made dallas' legs desirable. erich listens and looks more aghast as dustyn speaks. he starts to speak and then holds up a finger before taking a long drink from the bottle. he lowers the finger before speaking. "um,excuse me but what the fuck? im assuming that is something you have to search out. i am not stranger to those sites of ill repute and i've yet to see that. even in my personal life and i've seen...you know,never mind." erich says with a dirty giggle. he always loved dustyn's utter disgust with the whole womens undercarriage. erich would listen with bemused wonder about exactly what went on with dustyn and dallas. dustyn,however reacted to vaginas like some weird reverse right wing uncle . "i dont think billy is micah's cup of tea. i think even erica's energy sometimes gets to him." erich says with a smile. it wasnt worth getting into it with dustyn about billy. his words were sorta true. erica and billy were both unpredictable people. though one was in a much more pleasurable way. erica would throw a muffin at you while billy would just molest you. "giving ME the image wont help!" erich yells while swatting at the air madly. he had no idea what stuff dustyn was talking about. at this point,it could be anything. "if you show me that on your phone,i am throwing it overboard!"

"definitely not now!" erich excalims shaking his head in an attempt to shake all the terms dustyn just used. "im not woody allen or some shit here. even HE had the decency to not have a threesome with his adopted daughter and her..." erich realizes as he speaks the fault in his logic. erich waves his hands hoping that dustyn knows where erich was going with that. erich listens as dustyn speaks,his eyes looking from dustyn's nipple to eyes and back again. that was one sensitive nip. erich wasnt so sure about his own nipples. he did know he never had that reaction to it before. he chalked it up to dustyn being short. naturally the nerves flowed different in a short person. "damn good thing i didnt poke it just now. cant have you messing your trousers right here on the deck. i dont have any spare wet floor signs." erich explains. if someone slipped and fell in THAT,well that sort of thing makes the papers. "i now know two people with pierced nipples. two people braver than i. i caught it on a doorframe the other day,that shit hurted. i cant imagine the clamp for the piercing." erich says with a firm shake of his head. he was not about his precious nipples being manhandled like that.

"oh you could do all of that." erich says explains,"or you could make up a pseudonym and write a super dishy tell all book of the music industry. i know which i'd do if i were you." erich says wisely. he liked to think since becoming a father the 3rd time,he finally was bestowed with fatherly wisdom. dustyn hadnt needed to do anything in a long time. he'd more than earned his place a country lord in ireland now. along with death and taxes,it was safe to assume there were drugs on the duke of winchester. though what dustyn was after wasnt something that erich considered recreational. that stuff was work related. like bad coffee or stale donuts. "but of course,it'd be bad hosting on my part. in the studio." erich says while looking around to see if anyone is in earshot. erich wished he could've sent kids dustyn's way. there was a time when it seemed a new one was popping up every week. "if any more come out of the wood work,i will mail them to you. " he smirks to dustyn. it really wasnt fair that someone like dustyn who really wanted to be a father couldnt without a lot of work. unless living it day in and day out,erich could take or leave the father thing. he saw himself more as the kids' greasy uncle who would score them mushrooms. "who knows,maybe micah isnt the only one from back then. then you could have a threesome with your adopted half brother." erich laughs. he looks down after dustyn asks about the snip. "meh,i;ve had worse. why after my circumcision,i couldnt walk for a year!" erich roars with laughter. he would take any chance he could to dust off that old chest nut.

"we gotta go down a few decks to the studio. it's below the water line to cut down on echoes from the hull." erich explains,getting up to lead the way. this is actually not true scientifically or in regards to location. the studio was deep in the ship but above the water line. "its rare anyone gets to see the studio where the sausage is made. there is upwards of 4 people who would love to see what you're about to see." erich laughs. there were a few guys in germany who just really loved atomic war bride to the point of obsession. other than them,nobody cares about erichs studio.



erich looks very satisfied with the ranking. "we had better protect our rankings. its not enough that we are winning. others must lose. we need to photoshop corns onto the feet of our enemies. erich assumed dustyn knew what a good foot looked like. so erich would trust the voters. erich jumps back when dustyn threatens to show the video to him. the idea of the mentioned stuff concerned erich and he wanted no part of it. erich rarely divulged just what he actually got up to and with who. he'd insinuate all sorts of things but never elaborate. erich widens his eyes and clasps his hands like a cheap production of oliver twist. " go on then, go on." he says in a high pitched british child's voice. he does this while whistling and pouring out drinks for them. "right. so this is more...disturbing than ever meant to be sexual. i think. you know,i am a man of the road. i was known to get around after a show. so anyway,after a show in new orleans 2011 this woman and i get to canoodling in the back of the old hearse. things are getting heavy and she wants to go to her house. i guess the car was too cramped or something. so we get to her place and its going great...i cant tell you this story! shes a respected neurosurgeon now." erich says laughing at his story that ultimately goes nowhere.

"dustyn blue conners mbe" erich says,affecting a posh accent. " when said out entirely like that,it sounds like you're a lawyer whos letters i just forward to cassie." erich says with a grin. dustyn's legal name was very impressive sounding. the mbe really sounded like a british version of esq. "though a saga sounds pretty interesting. i trust i will be written of favorably. though not too favorably. we know the readers want the dirt and i think you should give it to them. " erich tells dustyn. he would love such a book. if there is one thing erich loves,its old hollywood stories. obviously,the ones he tells did not happen. it would be a great honor to have actual showbiz stories written about him and dribbled into the culture at large. erich shrugs at the quality of the coke that he has. it probably is good. being from maimi,erich assumes his genes would let him know immediately if the substance was sub par. much like dustyn with beer. there would be no getting budweiser into dustyn's glass without him noticing." this bag has gotten us through the last tour,so i think its good." he offers. its safe to say there must be a lot if a single bag has gotten the harlots and atomic war bride through a leg of a tour. erich's a man who believes in buying in bulk,so it might be a five gallon bucket full. at the shirt unbuttoning,erich looks rather concerned. is dustyn going to take him up on the offer to flick the nip and see what happens? or,like any sensible person,does he also do his coke shirtless? erich near falls down at the sight of dustyn's chest. he was not expecting a bruise to greet his eyes. "maybe get him some god damned slippers or something. or beat him with an extension cord. i mean,that has to be a classic child abuse thing for a reason. it gets results." erich laughs a little while shaking his head. he didnt question dustyn's story. the stuff just happens with kids. they get bruises,you get bruises. clumsy little people can really do a number on a body. "cant say any of my brood have ever done that. but marlena used to run up randomly and bite me in the stomach. if i ever get old and in a wheelchair,i'm returning that favor." erich laughs warmly at the memory. being the only one of his children he ever really shared a life with,marlena is subconsciously erich's favorite.

the pair make their way down the stairs of the ship. the first few decks they pass are the cabins that are lived in by the hesses and the casinos and bars. the sleazy neon lights soon give way to dark and dank hallways. erich eventually slowly leads the way to the h deck. here the florescent lights that do work, flicker. erich leaves them as is. he thinks it makes the atmosphere better for recording. "stay close. i have exterminators come in occasionally,but somethings might get passed them down here. i dont want creepy crawlies getting to you." erich warns before they come to a door. when he feels dustyn shake him,he yelps and jumps. he isnt joking about there possibly being stuff down here that is creepy. the door looks like what you imagine an old ship door to look like. its oval and has a ring in the center that you unscrew in order to open the door. "photos are encouraged,dust. you know i am a firm believer in taking only pictures and leaving only footprints." inside,the studio looks very...analog. there are now protools or a daw in this studio. theres a comically large mixing board along with many reel to reel machines. the entire places looks frozen in time from about 1961. there are many pictures on the wall from the hess' career. so many of the people in the pictures no longer make music., if there is ever a documentary on the hess clan, the photo wall will be the opening montage. erich offers dustyn a seat on the blue crushed velvet couch in the mixing room. unlike his words,the coke is not in a bag. its contained in a altoids tin on the boomerang shaped glass table in front of the couch. " age before beauty." erich grins and motions to the table. the table is glass for this very reason.

erich looks appalled at dustyn's suggestion."i would sooner go barefoot! i dont like any flavor of sandals. what if a bee stings me in the toe? no sir. i'll join you in your task,but i am not wearing sandals. this,i am afraid i have to take a strong stance on. jimmy buffet wore sandals. i cannot be like jimmy buffet." jimmy was erich's mortal foe. the man's appeal may not be strong in the uk,but in florida,it can be oppressive. jimmy buffet was basically florida's version of the royal family..in erich's mind. when clipped,erich is surprised and lets out a short but very loud fart. it doesnt echo in the soundproof room but the dense walls really give the flatulence some great acoustics. there actually might be a method to the hess' madness. the room does give a great sound. erich turns beet red and looks around frantically. "dust..i think musselini may be on to us and is sending submarines after us. did you hear that?!" he says,poorly covering what just happened. "that may not be all i share with deneil." erich laughs at the well known feature of deneil. erich liked deneil's apparent view on small willy possession. indeed,what you have is what you have. erich notices dustyn's reaction to making out in a hearse. the band had used a few hearses as tour vans in the early days and erich generally liked them. people were less likely to park next to a hearse. also, if you never had sex in a hearse,are you really a psychobilly? "not that i know of. that would at least make sense. she wanted us to wear mickey mouse ears and do the voices. do i seem like a mickey mouse guy to you? fuck no. i like donald duck but she wasnt having that one bit. it had to be mickey." erich says in a way that possibly might be serious. he does eventually smack his lips before speaking about what dustyn says. " dust... that might have been one of those red flags. im no stranger to firearms and the irresponsible handling of them. hell,there is loaded 45 in these couch cushions. but...that..." erich trails off and really wishes he had brought the bottle to give him something to do other than have the awkward silence after speaking.

erich gives dustyn a confident wave of his hand. " we have nothing to worry about. hair pomade gives me plus 10 for sneak." he says to calm dustyn's nerves. he was well aware of dustyns dislike of things that skitter about it. erich was fairly certain there were no mirelurks on the ship. probably too cold for them since erich keeps the air conditioning very cold. actually,he had no idea where the controls for it were,so the ship stayed at a very constant 68 degrees. erich had a good laugh at dustyn taking pictures of everything. erich even posed like woman from the price is right next to well worn office chair. erich was sure there was quite a difference between this and the pesky studio. the pesky one probably cost as much as the duke did. even buying a ship right before its ran aground in an shipbreaking yard,the duke was not a cheap purchase. erich puts on his best audio snob voice and clears his throat. " oh sweetwater wouldnt carry something this vintage. you have to know someone who knows someone who was a pen pal of someone in the business to even be offered the chance to buy this. its delicate and unique east german reels can never be replaced. why,we've reused this tape for all the hess recordings." he delicately caresses the gauges whos needles bounce around in spite of the device being turned off. only the last part of his schtick is true. with the unification of east germany came the demise of the scheiß elektronik factory. to answer dustyns question about recording something together,erich looks down at what dustyn is preparing and then to where a watch would be on his wrist. " oh,id say in about ten minutes. "

erich watches dustyn's foot try to casually lift up and rest on the table. erich smirks and nods towards the feet taking their place on the floor. "you got that,player?" a less civilized man would go right for the leprechaun joke. but erich was better than that. "oh come on!" erich exclaims when dustyn takes the shirt off. "you are being dramatic. it was a tiny toot and it didnt heat up the room all that much. i have never been so...i am speechless." erich says,clutching his chest like a southern church lady who just saw the word fuck written in ketchup on her eggs. this display is interrupted by laughter when erich hears dustyn pretend to be offended about a fart. he legitimately thought dustyn shit himself the first time. nothing should've sounded that wet without reason.

"i may not anymore!" erich yells to dustyn in a very worried tone. " it might just be a little nub now. you know how mercedes is always moving so fast it looks like she's always doing nothing? that goes for every part of her life." erich says looking very exhausted before piping back up and saying, "i kid. i kid. the woman is a saint." erich did not want to be the one to besmirch the good name of an innocent woman,but the joke was there for the making. hearing the mickey voice,erich instantly looks up and into the far distance. Vietnam war footage flashes before his eyes "dont do that to me,man. not when we're like this." he says in a panicked tone. erich's face looks more and more mortified as dustyn speaks. he'd done a lot of unsafe things with firearms in his life. some,minutes before dustyn arrived. erich never put anyone else in danger. purposely." yeah..thank goodness you're away from that. dallas wouldnt even team kill you." erich says,trying to make things a little brighter. being that jayne did some sort of admin duties on dallas' streams,erich knew the kind of video game player he was.

for someone who regularly makes up so there i was doing blow with... stories for twitter,erich wouldnt tell about who he actually did blow with. being taller,he didnt have dustyn's problem of reaching the table. the floor was black and white checkerboard tile and surprisingly clean. erich,ever the 50's juvenile delinquent stereotype,politely declines dustyn's bill. he snaps open a switchblade and does a bump off of it. "one lump or two? " he asks in response to dustyn's teatime comment. erich shrugs and takes another. "always make it two. just to be safe." he says,holding up a finger for emphasis.

erich was no stranger to the ways of the video game controller. it only made sense,right? he rarely recorded and something had to fill the time between shows. erich would never dream of streaming his plays. he was the sort that looked in every nook and cranny. nobody would want to watch that. "ghosts? completely possible. have you any idea how probable it is that passengers died on this ship back when it was for squares? just heart attacks alone probably happened at least once a year." erich mentions while doing the math in the air with his finger. he never actually told dustyn how likely it was,but certainly the number of deaths on this ship wasnt zero. erich pauses completely when dustyn isnt hip to the east and west germany thing. erich just assumed it was because dustyn was still bitter about the blitz and refused to learn anything further about germany. erich could see and appreciate the rationale. erich puts a hand on his hip and wags the other at dustyn. "how dare you not know about things that happened before you existed. but no. the reels i have here are the last ones in existence." erich wasnt exactly sure how old dustyn was or the year he was born. he knew dustyn was 18,but he also knew that dustyn had been 18 for a few birthdays. erich gave a quick nod at the suggestion of a cover. he flipped some switches and turned some knobs. eventually he pulled a very steampunk looking lever attached to an exposed gear. the machine clatters to life. emitting a very unique smell a lot of old electronics have. sort of like band aids. erich and dustyn may be friends,but their taste in music was quite a bit different with only a few overlaps. "im open to suggestions,but i am driving a stake through your heart right from the start. no madonna after like a prayer. i probably dont know it." erich says in negotiation.

"remember?" erich scoffs to dustyn before smirking. " why do you think i have a drug problem? i am trying everything to forget that incident. you know,a mini doesnt have that much padding inside. you cracked one off and it sounded like someone kicked a steel drum. i thought gunfire had hit the car!" erich exclaims. while this statement is a bit dramatic,erich suffers hearing loss to this day because of it. sure, some of that hearing loss can be chalked up to decades of concerts without earplugs. but a LIL bit can be dustyns fault. erich notices dustyn rubbing the couch. he narrows his eyes and points at dustyn.
" are you building up static electricity to shock me?! i never!" he says in surprise. if this is the drugs or not is anyones guess. erich has a paranoid streak.

"itd be fucking entertaining alright." erich laughs at the idea of him whipping it out for dustyn. one day erich will plan ahead and have a rubber penis ready to whip out. this might be considered murder as he was pretty sure dustyn would die of laughter. today wasnt that day. so only the laugh was whipped out. dustyn manages to do what few people have ever done: make erich blush. he gives a little cough and takes another bump off the blade of his knife in hopes the subject changes. "i cant tell you that! what if you see her tomorrow? you'll think about her in her birthday suit." erich says doing another bump to get him through this. then he thinks what if dustyn sees her and thinks she is like an albatross in the bedroom,all because erich didnt answer. what if someone asked mercedes about him? he'd hope she'd defend his honor. "dust...i may have had a spiritual experience the first time. " he says very seriously,placing his hand over his heart. which wasnt far from the truth. it was nice that dustyn was interested in something he probably found more than a little strange. erich cracks up when dustyn offers to do another voice for the imaginary tryst. " yeah, do the voice of frankie foster and dont ask any follow up questions." erich finds this very witty and shakes with laughter. erich nods in agreement that koa would tk dustyn. those cassie genes didnt settle down until about age 25. so dustyn was probably in for a hell of a time. erich smiles warmly when dusty gets all excited about his kids. its adorable. "jesus,look at him. he looks like your little brother more than your son. pretty soon,he'll put stuff on top the fridge just so you cant reach it." erich chuckles. takara does this very thing to erica all the time. takara is slightly younger than shay but is very tall for her age. "wait until you have an adult son...that is dating one of your co-workers." erich laughs at the weird world he lives in. the situation with micah and him could be on the ricki lake show way back when. "i have this one of marlena. and it IS marlena. she gets fucking pissed if you say marley." erich tells dustyn while shaking his head in amusement. he brings up his phone and shows dustyn a picture of marlena standing where the engine would be in a very rough porsche 356.takara is inside the car,making a face behind marlena while eris looks very off put by everything she is witnessing.

"all i know is my mom used to watch the young and the restless. there was an old bitty named miss chancellor and a slightly less old guy with a thicker john waters mustache named victor. i think victor is still on there." erich rattles off the only soap opera knowledge he knows. sure,he knew of a trifle fling from knowing dustyn. if you knew dustyn,chances are you've been sent the gif of diedre flinging a trifle. erich scrunches up his face trying to place if he knew anything about his children's brain power. "i assume mine will be more intelligent than me. marlena seems to do well in school. dean is a baby,so he seems to excel in that. micah..well,his teachers never called me so i guess he did pretty good." erich laughs picturing having to lecture a child about grades while knee deep in the life the road offers. "i kind of hope at least one of mine end up being a total train wreck and then turns it all around. the world loves a redemption story. me? i have no intention of the latter part of the arc." erich chuckles and now forms a line on the table with the knife before snorting it loudly. if this was filmed,this would definitely be clip played before the tragic overdose. at the mention of father ted,erich looks up from his task and to dustyn. " you would get to see a spider baby though." erich doesnt mention what he would be doing if not for fame. erich had his heart set on being a three card monty guy if music didnt work. he's arguably better at the music,so he lucked out there.

there were a couple of things that came erichs mind when it came to things that dustyn would swing about. liking cher was one thing,and the other was madonna slander. it had to be done though. erich really didnt like madonna at all around the time dustyn loves her. he recognized her importance,but overstayed her welcome. like paul mcartney. for a moment,erich thought he may have to swing on dustyn. if dragonball taught him anything,it was to always be ready to fight. erich sees the stance and readies himself. he would do the super smooth move of just slightly dodging the attack. with all the coke running through him,he knew he could do this. instead a pointed finger whizzes close to him. when asked to pull,erich squints his eyes and whispers," no." he then leans back and looks very satisfied with himself. " according to the bylaws of the finger pulling implied contract,you have to hold it in until you dont have to fart anymore or you explode. whichever comes first." erich nods and reaches for a drink that isnt nearby.

"no!" erich screeches at the idea of getting it out around dustyn. " if one of is naked,people may start to talk. if both of us are naked,people WILL talk." erich didnt mind if it hit the papers,but he did mind about the only thing people would be concerned about..and he didnt compare. erich thinks on dustyn's question and the factors all involved. " "i think we all reach the same summit,we just take different paths there." erich says finally. erich starts to speak and then stops. he couldnt tell dustyn who frankie foster was. it was a secret erich would take to the grave. "Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" is all erich responds with in a very german accent.

erich is beams with pride at hearing marlena is adorable. " isnt she? you know,people say she looks like me." he says with a very wide grin. this was completely untrue. marlena looked like ada. " chloe is one of your contemporaries too,mister. weekend isnt much younger than the harlots." this was technically true since the groups did seem to pop up around each other. it was super weird for erich that micah was dating someone that erich had known for so long. the harlots and atomic war bride were always joined at the hip. there had to have been a time where erich checked out chloe. that possibility is weird and kind of scary. it would only have been weirder if micah dated erica for entirely different reasons. " i am sure randy has one somewhere of me and his bright pink cadillac." erich says with a sigh. it'd been ages since he had seen his own adoptive father. "shay must be a little zen master if he has the demeanor of dallas." erich say with a little laugh. dallas is a better man than erich. erich would've already decked blake if he was in dallas' place. "jeez,look at that little guy he is the utter picture of steely nerves. nothing is going to stop him from getting that beer....aside from having short arms." erich laughs and notices his head keeps bobbing after the laughing had stopped. "i have one of those but i'm reaching for my mom's mojito." erich thought it would be kind of funny to have a picture of micah and him now posing like that. that would be the christmas card photo for sure.