[ There's a small noise -- something like a snort -- from Eddie as he laughs at Josh's idea to have Dustin document everything. Yeah, that was a surefire way to end up scarring the kid for life.
And then his smile fades as Josh asks about the hole in the ceiling. He has tried to ignore that it's there all this time, because the moment he hones in on it--
White tennis shoes lifting off the ground, Eddie frozen in place as he watches in horror as bone after bone goes CRACK, all culminating on some supernatural force crushing her --
His face pales as he averts his gaze, unable to look at Josh as he speaks. There's still shame there, even though he knows now that there is nothing he could have done.]
You remember how everyone always calls this town cursed? [ He pauses to push himself up onto his feet, pacing nervously just to give him something to do because he knows he's going to be a jittery mess if he stays seated. ]
Right before you got here, there was this...well he was a person at one point. He would get into your mind, use your fears against you, and then kill you to open a rift between this world and the place where he was trapped. The first one just so happened to be right here. [ With a chilling, sardonic grin, he opens his arms to gesture right at the spot where he's standing. ]
[ He tenses as Eddie explains. There's death in this room. It lingers, even if the plasm has drained away leaving a yawning silence. ]
Who was it?
[ That died here, he means. Because most people would have opted to move somewhere else. Some other place where the memories wouldn't be etched in the walls. ]
[ Eddie hasn't spoken about this since Vecna was defeated. It had been buried deep within, locked in a box where he swore he would leave it be, rather than process it and find the strength to move on from it. As if he's stuck in a cycle of running, ignoring, pretending. ]
Chrissy Cunningham.
[ His voice cracks as he clenches his eyes shut and draws in a deep breath, letting it out shakily. ]
She just wanted something strong, to help her sleep. She didn't deserve any of it.
I'm sorry, man. [ He reaches out, hand coming over the younger man's shoulder to offer an apologetic squeeze. ] We don't have to talk about it, if you'd rather not.
[ He'd like to know. He's glimpsed the scars left on everyone—the kids, Harrington, the girls. Nancy Wheeler has haunted eyes. He's seen that look and he only hopes that one day she'll get the chance to leave this town and come home to set her ghosts to rest. In all the years since he figured out the world was weirder than it should be, it's easier to move past shit if you're young. If the weirdness catches you when you're old enough, it has the bad tendency to leave scars. ]
[ There's something comforting about Josh in a way that nobody else has managed to help him. He isn't sure if it's because Josh wasn't involved in this business or if there's something else to it, but that squeeze to his shoulder does so much to ground him. ]
I appreciate it, man. Maybe one day it'll be easier to talk about. Just...it still feels like it just happened, you know?
[ He knows he should leave this place behind. He isn't sure what's keeping him here, specifically rooted to this trailer. He could stay in Hawkins, find an apartment, not feel like he's completely abanodoning everything.
Maybe a small part of him feels like he needs to stay, rooted in guilt. ]
When you feel like it. [ Sometimes, he finds that people need permission to go through their grief. People do it. Ghosts do it. Then again, ghosts are just facsimiles of people.
This place will always have that touch of death. If Eddie chooses to stay, he'll have to learn to make peace with it. ] There's no timeline on grief, you know.
[ Tugging a cigarette from his pack and offering it to Eddie. ]
So. Now that you have your action plan for Hawkins' wayward prince, what else is on the agenda?
[ Eddie gives a curt nod at that. He doesn't know if he'll ever feel like it, but maybe one day he'll open up that box and revisit it. For now, though, he'll let go of the grief, push it out of the way until he's more prepared to dealt with it. ]
Yeah, I know. Just feels like. I don't know, I barely knew the girl. Seems silly to be so messed up by it. [ Then again, it's a very special brand of trauma and grief, combining to make it impossible to move forward.
Hell, maybe that's what contributed to this whole thing with Steve no showing. He takes the offered cigarette and grabs a lighter off the coffee table to light it up. After the the first puff, he glances to Josh and gives a shrug. ]
I dunno, might see about actually getting a job in this hellhole. [ Because if it does work out for him and Steve, then he'll have a reason to stick around Hawkins a little while longer. But he can't just keep selling weed to high school students forever; the money just isn't enough these days. ]
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no subject
And then his smile fades as Josh asks about the hole in the ceiling. He has tried to ignore that it's there all this time, because the moment he hones in on it--
White tennis shoes lifting off the ground, Eddie frozen in place as he watches in horror as bone after bone goes CRACK, all culminating on some supernatural force crushing her --
His face pales as he averts his gaze, unable to look at Josh as he speaks. There's still shame there, even though he knows now that there is nothing he could have done.]
You remember how everyone always calls this town cursed? [ He pauses to push himself up onto his feet, pacing nervously just to give him something to do because he knows he's going to be a jittery mess if he stays seated. ]
Right before you got here, there was this...well he was a person at one point. He would get into your mind, use your fears against you, and then kill you to open a rift between this world and the place where he was trapped. The first one just so happened to be right here. [ With a chilling, sardonic grin, he opens his arms to gesture right at the spot where he's standing. ]
Lucky me, right?
no subject
Who was it?
[ That died here, he means. Because most people would have opted to move somewhere else. Some other place where the memories wouldn't be etched in the walls. ]
no subject
Chrissy Cunningham.
[ His voice cracks as he clenches his eyes shut and draws in a deep breath, letting it out shakily. ]
She just wanted something strong, to help her sleep. She didn't deserve any of it.
no subject
[ He'd like to know. He's glimpsed the scars left on everyone—the kids, Harrington, the girls. Nancy Wheeler has haunted eyes. He's seen that look and he only hopes that one day she'll get the chance to leave this town and come home to set her ghosts to rest. In all the years since he figured out the world was weirder than it should be, it's easier to move past shit if you're young. If the weirdness catches you when you're old enough, it has the bad tendency to leave scars. ]
I'm just here for you, okay?
no subject
I appreciate it, man. Maybe one day it'll be easier to talk about. Just...it still feels like it just happened, you know?
[ He knows he should leave this place behind. He isn't sure what's keeping him here, specifically rooted to this trailer. He could stay in Hawkins, find an apartment, not feel like he's completely abanodoning everything.
Maybe a small part of him feels like he needs to stay, rooted in guilt. ]
i hate life
This place will always have that touch of death. If Eddie chooses to stay, he'll have to learn to make peace with it. ] There's no timeline on grief, you know.
[ Tugging a cigarette from his pack and offering it to Eddie. ]
So. Now that you have your action plan for Hawkins' wayward prince, what else is on the agenda?
yeah about that i also hate life
Yeah, I know. Just feels like. I don't know, I barely knew the girl. Seems silly to be so messed up by it. [ Then again, it's a very special brand of trauma and grief, combining to make it impossible to move forward.
Hell, maybe that's what contributed to this whole thing with Steve no showing. He takes the offered cigarette and grabs a lighter off the coffee table to light it up. After the the first puff, he glances to Josh and gives a shrug. ]
I dunno, might see about actually getting a job in this hellhole. [ Because if it does work out for him and Steve, then he'll have a reason to stick around Hawkins a little while longer. But he can't just keep selling weed to high school students forever; the money just isn't enough these days. ]