( wanda wants to make a comment about liking robins, the birds, with their orange chests and the white feathers lining up towards their beaks. but this is their first 'call', and so she must appear #cool. )
Wanda. I live in the treehouse.
( that surely eddie and steve must have mentioned at this point. has robin snuck in with the boys to eat some of that sugary cereal wanda keeps in the pantry? not the bit of import, at the moment. )
( robin does have a similar energy to both eddie and steve, but it's definitely... different. maybe the jitters of being relatively new. )
Would you like to visit the treehouse? I can have Dot guide you. It takes about twenty minutes walking. Ten if you have the patience to wait for Lasse and his wagon.
[ her next messages are sent in a flurry, like maybe she felt like that was rude of her. ]
What I meant to say was, yes, totally. I would love to come over and have lunch! Let me just, um, change my clothes and I can meet Dot where the wagon usually shows up. I don't mind walking.
[ she is fully expecting to be meeting a human person named dot once she gets there. ]
Dot's a good guide. He's orange. You won't miss him.
( that's all the clues robin gets about who, or what, dot is. while her cat goes on a quest to get the new bird to the treehouse, wanda will put the finishing touches on both lunch (all plated nicely at the kitchen counter) and a care package for robin to take with her.
well, and cleaning up a bit. it wouldn't be shocking if robin wanted to have a look around the place. )
[ a little while later robin is turning to look over both her shoulders, making sure no one is nearby to see her crouch down to whisper to the orange cat that greets her at the edge of town. ]
Uh, are you... Dot?
[ the cat seems to meow in confirmation, and then turns and trots back the way he came. he meows again when she doesn't immediately follow. ]
C-Coming!
[ after a short trek utilizing easy roads that lead them through the canopy of the forest, robin steps out into the clearing next to the black eye lakes. the treehouse is impossible to miss. he mouth is parted in awe as she approaches it.
she quickly runs fingers through her hair, yanking free a few tangles before she gives the front door a knock to the tune of 'shave and a haircut.' ]
( robin knocks on the door, and dot instead jumps up the window and paws at it until it gives, opening up just enough for him to step inside into the warmth and dry—almost as if saying that the errand he was sent off on was cumbersome.
both those things alert wanda to it being robin at the door, so she steps down from a set of stairs and makes it quickly to the door, opening it up. )
You must be Robin.
( dot jumps down the counter he's on and goes further inside the treehouse. wanda steps aside and brings the door open fully. )
Come in.
sometime after she's caught up on ALL THE STUFF but before the event
[ Sure, Eddie has a domain of his own, but he finds himself opting for Steve’s more and more often these days. He’s still fond of his castle with its dice dungeon and dragon and he wouldn’t dream of holding a D&D session anywhere else, but Steve’s idealized version of Hawkins brings him an odd sense of comfort. It almost feels like betrayal to miss a place that so desperately wants you dead, but Eddie does, and this is how he soothes his homesickness.
By purposefully rearranging movies in the Family Video. Jaws 3-D is a documentary now, and Apocalypse Now is a comedy. It doesn’t mean anything with no customers to fool, but it’s one of those small things Eddie has always wanted to do regardless.
And Robin is here with him, which makes the whole thing feel just a little more real. Their energy matches exceptionally well and the two of them have slipped into an easy rapport over the last few weeks--exactly what Eddie expected from his brief time with her back home. ]
Alright, so be honest.
[ He steps back to admire his work as he slips Alien into family friendly releases, then uses the bottom shelf as a step stool to hoist himself up so he can grin at Robin over the top. ]
Scale from 1-10, how weirded out are you?
[ By what? Well, he technically means by him and Steve, but he’ll take any response. He imagines Robin can be weirded out by some pretty interesting things. ]
[ the shine of a shared lucid dreamscape has yet to lose its luster for robin. she doesn't remember the first time she'd meditated into the horizon of course, which eddie and steve had warned her about at least. except knowing that she wouldn't recall whatever goofball crap she got up to had made her balk at the idea.
but here, now, in the weird love child of a family video and a scoops ahoy off the side of a facsimile of a hawkin's road, she's glad she took the plunge. though it had really only been on the express condition that whatever the two of them witnessed, it would never be discussed. ever. or else.
she wanders the rows, a bit surprised that steve had been able to accurately remember so much of their stock, either on purpose or subconsciously. a few anomalies notwithstanding; one half of the display that she's looking at is entirely lined with copies of 'back to the future.' she snorts fondly, picking one of them up when eddie addresses her. ]
You're going to have to be a little more specific than that.
[ robin replaces the vhs back in its spot with all its many twins. ]
Considering our whole... situation, that's a pretty broad question.
[ she leaves the display floor to walk behind the counter, hopping up onto one of the stools behind it. she crosses her arms and leans her elbows on the counter top. she gives him one of her wry smiles. ]
So, tell me, what do you think I should be weirded out by?
[ because no one just asks that if they're expecting the recipient not to be. ]
[ Oh, they still talk and laugh about what went down in Robin’s first visit to the Horizon. But not in her presence—not ever in her presence. She can’t get upset if she doesn’t know it’s happening.
He hops down from his perch and disappears behind the shelves once more, only to reemerge moments later with a copy of Saturday Night Fever which he places smack dab in the middle of the Back to the Future display. For flavor
He could make a list of all the things she should be weirded out by: the fact that he’s alive and well here, the share lucid dreamscape, the existence of magic. She’s settled in quite well, all things considered. ]
In this very normal situation in which we find ourselves? Harrington’s Back to the Future collection, obviously
[ He tips his head toward the display with a grin before drifting closer to lean against the counter, his hard work rearranging the store completed for now. ]
Nah, I mean—
[ He taps his fingers against the counter, gazing somewhere just beyond Robin’s shoulder, like he's not sure if he really wants to hear what level of weirded out she is or not. ]
[ they better hope to whatever deity favors them here that she never finds out.
robin uncrosses her arms to thread her fingers together, resting the point of her chin on the cradle of her knuckles. in the horizon she wears rings; plain always, silver usually. her clothes are snatched right out of the memory of her closet, too. it's nice to get a break from their hand-spun wardrobes in the real world.
her mouth folds between her teeth and she sits up straight. oh. it's going to be that kind of conversation.
after a brief moment she lolls one hand at the wrist, pointing at the shelves filled with michael j. fox and the delorean. ]
That's the movie we saw after Dustin and Erica got us out of the Russian torture basement. We were blissed out of our minds on whatever they gave us to get us to talk. Like, higher than either of us had ever been in our lives. A real Lucy in the Sky experience.
[ she's smiling at the memory, smiling at eddie. ]
But when it started to wear off, it hit us like a freighter and we ran to the nearest bathroom and puked so hard I thought I was going to pull something.
[ she bites her lip, eyebrows high, and then laughs. ]
It was disgusting. I couldn't eat popcorn for weeks after. Just the smell of that liquid butter they use made me nauseous.
[ her blue eyes drop to her hands, her smile waning just a bit, and she starts to twist one of her rings around a finger. a nervous tick. ]
So, anyway. We played a- a stupid game of like. "Have You Ever" to see if the stuff was still in our system, and... and he told me he liked me. [ she sucks in a soft breath through her nose. ] Liked me, liked me.
Aaand then I had to tell him that I didn't like him. That I couldn't. Not like he wanted me to.
[ robin's heartbeat quickens; it hadn't been easy to admit to steve that night who she was, and even knowing that he and eddie are together isn't enough to shake that old fear. knowing about mr hauser hadn't, either.
but like steve before him, she thinks eddie deserve to know where she's coming from. to really understand. ]
Eddie, I'm...
[ finally she looks up at him again, making sure that he's looking at her and not past her before saying: ]
I had a crush on Tammy Thompson. I- I like a girl who plays clarinet in marching band. Vickie.
[ before she has time to think better of it, she reaches out to rest one of her hands on his. her fingers squeeze. ]
[ Eddie isn’t expecting what happens next. He expects her to get awkward and scoot around the topic, or acknowledge that, yeah, it is kind of weird, but maybe not as weird as the bipedal shark man wandering around Solvunn.
Instead, Robin totally spills. She tells a story that fills in some of the less horrific gaps in Steve’s own story about the Russian torture basement (the movie and the fact that they were high out of their minds is completely new information) and Eddie listens, half amused and half curious as to where this is going.
Then it’s out of her mouth and…he laughs. It’s not unkind or mocking, it’s just…laughter, filled with relief, joy, humor with the entire situation. He laughs because no matter what Dustin has said, he cannot picture Steve and Robin as anything but friends. He laughs because she chose to share this with him. He laughs because she had a crush on tuneless Tammy Thompson, and he laughs because he had truly absolutely nothing to worry about.
He’s smiling as he gently rests own ringed hand over hers and leans in to whisper loudly: ]
I fucking knew it.
[ He didn’t know anything, and Steve never once said or implied a thing. All Eddie ever had was an inkling without anything to back it up. Just a feeling, just vibes, and an unspoken assumption based on how Dustin once spent an entire Hellfire meeting refusing to shut up about the fact that Steve Harrington and his female friend wouldn’t just get together—as if anyone else in the room cared.
And confirmation doesn’t change a thing for Eddie. Truth be told, it kind of just makes him love her and respect her all the more, because she survived Hawkins, and she did it without pretending to be someone she wasn’t.
Eddie has never really felt the need to label himself—never once in his life. It never felt necessary and it still doesn’t feel necessary. The “freak” title has been firmly attached to him since middle school, and he’s never had any real desire to shake it. He’s always just been the way he is, and nothing about it has ever scared him or felt like he should hide it. But the part of him that drew him to Steve has admittedly never really been in play either. He’s always been more concerned with music and D&D. There wasn’t ever time for much else.
All the same…he would have kept it from Robin for longer if it had been his decision. Because maybe no one gives a shit here, but Hawkins is different, and knowing how close she and Steve are, he didn’t want to make things difficult.
The fact that Steve was fine with telling her at all should have said it all. ]
Okay, but you know, that still doesn’t get you out of answering my question.
[ He grins and props his chin up on his hand, eyes bright with a newfound fondness for Robin Buckley. Even if he does have a thing or two he could say about her taste in women, he decides to file it away for another time. She chose to be open and honest with him, and the least he can do is not mock her for it. ]
Sheerly because it’s me and him? 1 to 10, how weird is it?
[ robin scoffs, making a real show of rolling her eyes. ]
Yeah, well. Like recognizes like, I suppose.
[ because she knows that the only thing eddie had to work off of had been a hunch; steve would never have told him in her place. he's just dependable like that. trustworthy.
the hand that's still on top of one of his curls, casually holding his fingers in hers. ]
No, see, you're asking the wrong question. You should be asking how surprised I was, because it was a rug pull I never saw coming. An 11 out of 10. As far as it concerns you, I didn't know you well enough, and I don't like to speculate about total strangers like that... but Steve?
[ her brows climb high on her forehead. ]
Prom king, sports aficionado, flirting with every girl that came into Scoops and Family Video-- that Steve?
[ she juts out her bottom lip to blow a lock of hair out of her face. ]
Bonkers.
[ her face brightens with an affectionate smile. ]
I'm really happy for him. For both of you. I feel like I haven't seen him smile this much in forever, so you're probably good for him. Maybe.
[ Eddie throws back his head and laughs. That’s…that’s totally fair. Hell, he’d think it was quite the rug pull as well if he weren’t one of the two people involved. Not only did he get off on the wrong, pointy end of the bottle with Steve, but the two of them are so wildly different. Eddie hates sports, didn’t attend a single one of his three senior proms, and can count on one hand how much intentional flirting he’s done in his life—and most of that has been here. With Steve.
But he’s been here to watch the way things have changed, like layers being added to a painting. How they never split from their “temporary” roommate situation, how, with the exception of a fluke kidnapping month, they haven’t actually been apart for longer than a few hours in whole span of time they’ve been here. The way language shifted from “I wish I’d gotten to know you back home”, to undoubtedly best friends, to something more. In context, it all makes sense. But arriving in the middle of it must be a little bizarre. ]
Yeah, well, turns out you realize a whole lot of shit about yourself when you have eight centuries to work it out. Just color me surprised it’s only an 11 out of 10.
[ Being out of Hawkins probably helps as well, but the two of them would probably have danced in circles around one another for another two years if not for what happened in the crater and an enormous push from a Greek demigod named Clarisse La Rue. ]
Hey.
[ Beaming, he leans in and gently taps his forehead against hers, just for a moment. It’s a gesture that would normally be reserved for a closer, more established friendship, but overflowing with so much affection for Robin right now that he just can’t help himself. He’s far too stubborn to admit it, and he won’t let anything imply that he cares what anyone thinks about him, but he was absolutely desperate to be accepted by her. Steve doesn’t talk about his family much, but he talks about Robin in spades. She’s important—as important as Uncle Wayne is to Eddie and as important as Dustin is to the both of them. Eddie would feel pretty shitty if she didn’t approve, or if she felt like the two of them have made a very strange mistake. ]
Thanks. For trusting me.
[ With such important information, but also with Steve. ]
And, uh, if you haven’t figured it out yet? I’m pretty sure no one really gives a shit here. So if you ever want to be set up with someone far superior to Tammy Thompson…
[ He doesn’t have anyone in mind but he does think that Robin deserves to be happy as well. She deserves the world, really. He can see why Steve adores her so much. ]
[ the touch of his forehead against hers makes her nose scrunch as she smiles wider. this whole situation kind of... sucks. it's not ideal. getting snatched from their realities and being dropped somewhere else and being expected to just deal with it. she has a life back home, and a disaster to try and do something about. they had tried so hard to stop it, to stop vecna, and it hadn't been enough. she's been feeling more than a little guilty that she's basically on a fantasy vacation right now while hawkins struggles.
but if she can say anything about these whacky circumstances, it's that she's glad she's gotten to spend time with eddie in a place that isn't actively trying to kill him. sure, she'd seen parts of him shine through the thick layers of anxiety and fear he'd been blanketed with, like when he and dustin were goofing off in the field with their handmade weapons. but here? the anxiety is still there, though it's the slow simmer of someone who is just prone to it, but his theatrics, his humor, and his joy light him up from the inside out like the fourth of july.
he's himself.
they would've been friends back home, given the chance. at least they're afforded the opportunity here.
she groans when he mentions tammy thompson. ]
Ugh, don't worry about Tam. That ship left port a long time ago. It's not like it would have worked out anyway.
[ her shoulders bob with a shrug. ]
She's straight with a capital 'S.'
[ her expression dulls, thinking about seeing vickie in war zone. thinking about seeing her kiss her boyfriend. as if she could ever have that. ]
... But I guess that's kind of been my track record, chasing things I can't have.
[ her hand tightens around his, and she forces a smile on her face. ]
Which is why you have to make the most of it here, with Steve. Before you both have to go back to Hawkins and pretend like you don't wanna neck him from Lake Michigan to Kentucky.
[ He laughs and squeezes her hand in turn, but then she brings up the topic of home, and just like that, everything shifts. His expression falls, a deep frown etches into his features, and he carefully pulls his hands away from hers. Stepping away and pointedly avoiding eye contact, he to begin pacing a short path in front of the register, twisting the rings on his fingers in a clear display of anxiety. ]
Yeah, uh…
[ In his time here, his fears have simmered into a nervous buzz rather than the sparking blaze they’d been in 86, but this is the topic that always stokes the fire again. It absolutely terrifies him and twists his stomach into knots, and as much as he tries to avoid thinking about it, it gnaws at him constantly, and it has been for a long time. ]
I guess you can say I’m just chasing something I can’t have either. Because I don’t think that’s happening. For me, at least.
[ Hawkins never extended him a whole lot of grace—it wanted him dead and that’s what it got in the end, but absence apparently makes the heart grow fonder, and Eddie has grown to realize that he probably loves Hawkins about as much as he hates it.
There’s a lot back there that he’d rather not see or experience again, but he still just…wants so much. He wants to see his uncle again, wants to tell him he’s sorry for not calling and sorry for leaving him with a metric ton of bullshit to clean up. He wants to see Max get better, because she has a stubborn streak wider than anyone he’s ever met and he’s convinced that sheer spite alone is enough to get her through. He wants to graduate and see his bandmates graduate, wants to officially leave Hellfire in Dustin’s capable hands, attend one of Lucas’s stupid basketball games and maybe even apologize to Mike for not believing his girlfriend was real to begin with. And now on top of all that, he also wants to be there to viciously judge any girl who wouldn’t want Robin, and to see if this thing with Steve can survive outside of this fantasy world they’ve found themselves in. He thinks it could. But he also doesn’t think it’s in the cards for him, and it’s enough to make him want to die all over again.
And it’s true, he has no proof, just the knowledge that he died horribly and tragically and that even here, it feels like he’s death is nipping at his heels and he’s constantly teetering on the edge of his own grave. In a place where anything seems possible, his ability to go home shouldn’t be the one thing to be called into question, but he’s spent the last two years steeling himself against the pain that will inevitably come when everyone else slips back into their home worlds and leave him behind.
Alone.
Still pacing, he worries at a thumbnail, his eyebrows knitting together as he contemplates how much more he should say. But he gets chatty when he’s anxious, and Robin trusted him. He can trust her with this, even if he's never voiced it out loud before. ]
He, uh—he told me he wouldn’t go back without me. Like—forever ago. And that’s—that’s great, that’s perfect, right?
[ That conversation happened a year into their stay in Abraxas, and Eddie still wants so desperately to cling to it, but… ]
But that’s…that’s not fair, you know? I’m not gonna ask him to just never see home or his family or friends or a real goddamn can of Coke again just because I’m scared shitless of being left here alone. That's a level of selfish that even I just can't do.
[ robin's smile fades, too, when he pulls away from her, resorting to pacing. ]
... Eddie?
[ she prompts softly, hoping he'll explain what he means when the silence hangs for too long. and then it's out-- he thinks he doesn't get to go home. thinks he'll be left here, by himself, because he'd died. thinks there's no longer space for eddie munson in hawkins, indiana.
her eyebrows pull tight, and her lips wrinkle as she purses them. ]
No, that's--
[ she straightens and gets to her feet, pressing both hands to the countertop as she leans over it. ]
That's such bullshit, Eddie. You're coming with us.
[ it's with fierce certainty that she tells him this. the yellow overhead lights of family video reflect off her blue eyes like little matchstick flames.
she gets one knee up on the counter and then slides both legs over it to hop down on the other side. she starts to gesticulate, using her hands to help drive her points home. ]
If this place can- can just pull us out of our universe, then it should be able to do the reverse. Because I know neither of us believe in a higher power, and this place didn't just borrow you from the afterlife. That big magical... rock thing! It found you, and it fixed you.
[ she comes close enough to him to set her hands on top of eddie's shoulders, gripping him by them firmly. ]
It's going to send you back. Even if we have to make it.
Eddie huffs out a soft bark of laughter and scrubs a hand across his face. Is it, though?, he thinks. It can’t be that simple. But Robin slides over the counter to stop his pacing and he wants so desperately to believe her, but hope is such a dangerous, fragile thing for a person to have. He got his second chance and he knows better than to expect more…but she seems so certain.
And maybe it just took Robin’s frantic, offbeat explanation to drive it home, but…she’s not wrong. There was no afterlife. He wasn’t a spirit or a ghost or some unearthly embodiment of his own consciousness. He was nothing but dead. He’d physically felt the life drain out of his body, and then here was nothing. Nothing until he was fished out of that pool in Solvunn—whole and uninjured. However it happened, the Singularity snatched him from the jaws of death and fixed him in the process. ]
Yeah, well. Good luck making that thing do anything it doesn’t wanna do.
[ His gaze flicks up to her face, dark eyes wide and full of anxiety. But he doesn’t tell her that she’s wrong. He doesn’t try to argue with her, because she’s just given him a tiny, fragile shard of hope, and he’ll do anything to make sure it doesn’t shatter. He also refuses to build it up any further for fear of getting hurt. ]
Jesus Christ, I’m probably insane for even wanting to go back there.
[ she smiles wryly at him, the inner corners of her eyebrows curving up. ]
Maybe. But it's not what it used to be... things are kind of a disaster right now, literally. But we wouldn't let anything happen to you. Promise.
[ then she scoffs, anger setting her jaw. ]
You know Jason Carver almost killed Lucas? And then Jason just-- died. Like, really gruesomely. One of the gates just melted him right in half.
[ she won't say good riddance because that's just on the wrong side of terrible to admit... but she's not not saying it either. after all the hell he gave eddie? the kids? making up some sick story about how they were all in it together, every death wrought by vecna twisted into some stupid satanic ritualist crap. the hawkins populace had slurped it right up, too, adults arming themselves to hunt down teenagers.
so no, she hadn't shed a single tear for carver when sinclair had explained what had happened with max in the old creel house. ]
There has to be literature on magic right? Libraries? I spent a whole afternoon with Nance combing microfilms, I'm talking hours, before we found one measly article in The Weekly Watcher of all places that gave us a clue.
[ she gently presses a finger to his chest, over his heart. ]
And we did that for you, dingus. For Max and for you. And I'll do it again. So, shut up about how you're not coming with us, because I'm not leaving without you either.
[ Eddie has been so focused on the inability to go back that he’s barely thought about what might happen if he could go back. He’s still a wanted man, probably by all of Indiana by now, but that’s very much a bridge they’ll cross if they come to it.
He hasn’t heard the name Jason Carver in what feels like years, though, and it’s damn near a shock to hear it now. ]
Wh—wait, seriously? What the hell?
[ He did not know that. He grimaces at the mental image of someone being melted in half and vaguely wonders if the police think he did that as well. Probably. ]
Jesus Christ. What a dick.
[ Like Robin, he so desperately wants to say good riddance, because Jason took his anger and grief beyond whatever problems he had with Eddie. Lucas shouldn’t have ever been involved, and Eddie can’t help but feel guilty that he was. Now he really owes it to him to go to one of his basketball games and pretend he undestands that’s happening.
And yes, he is dimly aware that it kind of makes him a hypocrite for not being horrifically angry with Henry, but this isn’t about him right now— ]
Alright, alright, alright.
[ He sighs and throws up his hands, like having people who love and care about him enough to help with his problems makes him the most put-upon man in the world. It’s not that he's not grateful (he very much is, beyond words), it’s just that his problems tend to be large and cause problems for other people as well. ]
Thorne’s library is huge, apparently, but, uh…given…everything? We’re mostly limited to the one in the primary settlement. And…maybe Wanda’s help if she wants to give it.
[ He doesn’t even know where to begin with something like this. It’s all incredibly overwhelming and he doesn’t really want to give himself more hope when he could just be preparing himself for shattering disappointment instead…but hope is what he’s been given, and he’s not going to leave Robin to this on her own. ]
One condition.
[ Because yes, he’s still going to be stubborn. ]
If the opportunity presents itself? Both of you go back. With or without me.
[ Sure, Steve is the king when it comes to self sacrifice, but never let it be said that Eddie doesn’t have a bit of that in him as well. It’s exactly what led to his death in the first place.
He lowers his head slightly, eyes wide and serious. ]
[ her mouth twists off to the side, eyes narrowing. ]
... Ugh! Fine. Not like that's a choice we're going to have to make, but sure. If it makes you feel better. I'll-- I'll drag him if I have to.
[ she really doesn't want to think about having to do that, being forced to bodily tear them apart because it's what eddie wants. a conditional. she wonders if their friendship, even as solid as it is, could survive that. or if steve would just end up hating her for it. no matter the outcome-- she loses.
it's better for her morale not to consider it an option at all. ]
You know, it's really- it's so stupid we can't just get special summoned passports or something. If we're such a big deal, why do we have to basically swear allegiance to one of the major territories?
[ robin leans her head back to sigh through her nose. the mention of wanda is a good one; they don't know each other very well yet, but robin has enjoyed taking lunch with her several days a week. sometimes dinner and breakfast, too, if she spends the night in one of the spare rooms. she's taken a particular liking to one high up in the tree house, tower-like and brimming with books. though not the ones she wants to be on the lookout for right now.
still. the small library of solvunn will be a start. ]
Well. Unless cross-territory travel suddenly becomes a thing, we'll just have to put a pin in that. Maybe we can ask a summoned from there to help? But I'll comb through what we have at the primary settlement before we go chasing after other options.
[ she places fists on her hips, arms akimbo. they have the makings of a game plan; nancy's shot in the dark had been a bullseye, who's to say they can't pull off the same hat-trick twice? ]
We should brief Steve about it over dinner.
[ though she can already guess he's not going to take eddie's terms and conditions all that well. ]
Yeah, well if we’re ridiculously lucky, it won’t even come to that. But just in case? That's our backup plan.
[ It might destroy him if it comes down to Robin dragging Steve along with her, but he refuses to be the reason why anyone cuts off their entire lives back home. It will hurt either way, but they’re just going to have to hope that they get lucky and things go a different direction.
Not that him being left behind is being seriously considered as an option at all, but he doesn’t know that part. ]
You tell me. We didn’t even get to choose territories they want us to pledge loyalty to.
[ He snorts humorlessly. He doesn’t dislike Solvunn, not by a long shot. As of now, it’s his home, but it never sat well with him that not a single one of them chose to come here and not a single one of them was given the option to leave. Basically, there isn’t a whole lot of choice here. ]
I know some people in Thorne who might be able to look. Not sure about the Free Cities.
[ He may reach out to some people there too, but he’s heard more about their military than he has about any libraries.
But Robin brings up the idea of taking this to Steve, and he huffs out another anxious laugh an drags his hands down his face. ]
Uh, no, we shouldn’t.
[ He already knows that Steve is going to refuse his terms and conditions, and even if he somehow didn’t, he won’t hold to it. And Eddie can already picture the look on his face, because they’ve been through this and Steve isn’t likely to go back on his word, even if that works was spoken at least a year ago.
Ugh. ]
But…
[ He sighs and, throwing out his arms and dipping his head in a slight bow, he relents: ]
[ robin concedes in a deadpan tone. just because it's the smart thing to do doesn't mean she has to like it. or actually follow through.
her brows cinch together when eddie says they should keep all of this from steve. ]
Uh, yes we should. You just started dating and you already want to get into the habit of keeping secrets from your boyfriend?
[ she rolls her eyes so hard her head participates. ]
Maybe math isn't your strongest subject, doofus, but three pairs of eyes are objectively better than two.
[ she really knows how to sniff out and dig her fingers into all the soft, squishy parts of someone, doesn't she? her tongue is a weapon all on its own.
but even after neatly cutting him to the quick, her hands find his shoulders again to give them a conciliatory squeeze. her expression is gentle with sympathy. ]
Eddie... he'll be more than just mad if we don't let him help, he'll be hurt. I know you want to avoid having to talk to him about your silly-- [ read: pointless. ]-- fine print before he signs on, but that's kind of what being together is all about. Talking.
[ she tips her head back and groans theatrically. ]
I can't believe I'm giving you relationship advice when I haven't even been in one yet! This is cruel and unusual punishment!
[ It’s not like he’d have many secrets to keep. Eddie is an open book—it’s just hat a few o the pages are stuck together. What you see is typically what you get, but he rarely talks about himself in depth and often gets scared and thinks he can handle his problems on his own. He rarely can and he’s aware that he wouldn’t have survived as long as he did back home without help.
He sighs rolls his eyes upward, either suddenly finding the ceiling very interesting or pointedly avoiding her gaze. Because she just dug right into him, and he can normally let even the most finely crafted insult roll right off his shoulders, but he’d be lying if he said that didn’t sting a little bit. Math really isn’t his strongest subject unless it’s tied to D&D scoring, but she didn’t need to go there and critique his relationship at the same time. ]
This is my first one, so. Still plenty of time to fuck it all up.
[ He doesn’t mean that. Steve means a lot to him, and all of this is coming from a desire not to fuck things up. He’s scared—of what could happen and what might happen and what might not happen. It just seems like the only way any of them are going to get what they want out of this is if Eddie gets out of here too.
And that requires all three of them. ]
I’ll tell him. But if he never lets himself sleep again? I'm blaming you.
[ robin says with confident assurance... and then her mouth adopts a teasing smile, eyes all a-twinkle with amusement. ]
But Steve might.
[ she turns to lift herself back up onto the counter with her hands, sitting on the edge and swinging her legs. she pulls a lollipop out of the display cone by the register to pick open the wrapper. when she puts it in her mouth, she makes a surprised sound before leaning back to check if the trash bin is still next to the money safe like she remembers it.
she kinda expected food not to really have any kind of flavor here. it's not like it ever has in her dreams. but to her surprise it tastes exactly like whatever candy makers think passes for "watermelon."
when she straightens, she's already trying to chip away at the candy layer with her teeth to get to the underlying gum at the center. proper freak behavior. she pauses only to gesture at him with it. ]
He's not going to lose sleep over it, okay? He'll probably take it as well as I did. He'll-- he'll think it's stupid you're making him agree to something that will never come up anyway, because you not coming home with us isn't an option.
[ like it's that simple. vecna hadn't been. vecna had killed a frightened girl in his uncle's trailer, a girl that- maybe!- could've been his friend. and then he'd extracted his blood price from eddie, too, in the end.
but maybe that's why robin is so insistent. they've been given their second chance, and she'll be damned if it gets snatched from her, from them, like it had the first time. even considering it feels like bad luck. ]
[ Eddie doesn’t look particularly amused by that comment. He doesn’t respond, but he shoots Robin a withering glare as he pulls himself up onto the counter beside her and follows her lead almost exactly. He obnoxiously reaches over her to swipe a lollipop of his own from the display, rips the wrapper off with his teeth, turns to spit it ever so politely into the garbage behind him, and begins to partake in the exact same freak behavior of chipping away at the hard candy layer.
But his thoughts are the opposite of hers. As a connoisseur of only the finest junk food, can’t help but think that sour apple doesn’t taste nearly sour enough here in the Horizon, but it’s what he has available to him, and he chomps away at it with his brow furrowed in thought. ]
Guess I’ll, uh, just have to soften the blow somehow.
[ It’s his turn to shoot her a teasing grin, and he chuckles, leaning into her shoulder like they’ve been proper friends for years and not just for weeks. ]
You two ever going to sick of coming to my rescue?
[ Well, Eddie, you see, they didn’t come to your rescue that one time because you said you wouldn’t try to be a hero… ]
Edited (SORRY HAD TO FIX A WORD) 2024-12-26 00:23 (UTC)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sometime before event...waves hand...
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[ surely steve or eddie would have told her if there were. ]
May I ask who's... calling? That's not really the right word for whatever this magic stuff is.
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( that surely eddie and steve must have mentioned at this point. has robin snuck in with the boys to eat some of that sugary cereal wanda keeps in the pantry? not the bit of import, at the moment. )
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No, I haven't. I haven't been outside the primary settlement at all yet, actually. Just, y'know. Trying to get used to all of this.
[ it's A Lot. ]
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( robin does have a similar energy to both eddie and steve, but it's definitely... different. maybe the jitters of being relatively new. )
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[ her next messages are sent in a flurry, like maybe she felt like that was rude of her. ]
What I meant to say was, yes, totally. I would love to come over and have lunch! Let me just, um, change my clothes and I can meet Dot where the wagon usually shows up. I don't mind walking.
[ she is fully expecting to be meeting a human person named dot once she gets there. ]
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( that's all the clues robin gets about who, or what, dot is. while her cat goes on a quest to get the new bird to the treehouse, wanda will put the finishing touches on both lunch (all plated nicely at the kitchen counter) and a care package for robin to take with her.
well, and cleaning up a bit. it wouldn't be shocking if robin wanted to have a look around the place. )
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[ a little while later robin is turning to look over both her shoulders, making sure no one is nearby to see her crouch down to whisper to the orange cat that greets her at the edge of town. ]
Uh, are you... Dot?
[ the cat seems to meow in confirmation, and then turns and trots back the way he came. he meows again when she doesn't immediately follow. ]
C-Coming!
[ after a short trek utilizing easy roads that lead them through the canopy of the forest, robin steps out into the clearing next to the black eye lakes. the treehouse is impossible to miss. he mouth is parted in awe as she approaches it.
she quickly runs fingers through her hair, yanking free a few tangles before she gives the front door a knock to the tune of 'shave and a haircut.' ]
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both those things alert wanda to it being robin at the door, so she steps down from a set of stairs and makes it quickly to the door, opening it up. )
You must be Robin.
( dot jumps down the counter he's on and goes further inside the treehouse. wanda steps aside and brings the door open fully. )
Come in.
sometime after she's caught up on ALL THE STUFF but before the event
By purposefully rearranging movies in the Family Video. Jaws 3-D is a documentary now, and Apocalypse Now is a comedy. It doesn’t mean anything with no customers to fool, but it’s one of those small things Eddie has always wanted to do regardless.
And Robin is here with him, which makes the whole thing feel just a little more real. Their energy matches exceptionally well and the two of them have slipped into an easy rapport over the last few weeks--exactly what Eddie expected from his brief time with her back home. ]
Alright, so be honest.
[ He steps back to admire his work as he slips Alien into family friendly releases, then uses the bottom shelf as a step stool to hoist himself up so he can grin at Robin over the top. ]
Scale from 1-10, how weirded out are you?
[ By what? Well, he technically means by him and Steve, but he’ll take any response. He imagines Robin can be weirded out by some pretty interesting things. ]
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but here, now, in the weird love child of a family video and a scoops ahoy off the side of a facsimile of a hawkin's road, she's glad she took the plunge. though it had really only been on the express condition that whatever the two of them witnessed, it would never be discussed. ever. or else.
she wanders the rows, a bit surprised that steve had been able to accurately remember so much of their stock, either on purpose or subconsciously. a few anomalies notwithstanding; one half of the display that she's looking at is entirely lined with copies of 'back to the future.' she snorts fondly, picking one of them up when eddie addresses her. ]
You're going to have to be a little more specific than that.
[ robin replaces the vhs back in its spot with all its many twins. ]
Considering our whole... situation, that's a pretty broad question.
[ she leaves the display floor to walk behind the counter, hopping up onto one of the stools behind it. she crosses her arms and leans her elbows on the counter top. she gives him one of her wry smiles. ]
So, tell me, what do you think I should be weirded out by?
[ because no one just asks that if they're expecting the recipient not to be. ]
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He hops down from his perch and disappears behind the shelves once more, only to reemerge moments later with a copy of Saturday Night Fever which he places smack dab in the middle of the Back to the Future display. For flavor
He could make a list of all the things she should be weirded out by: the fact that he’s alive and well here, the share lucid dreamscape, the existence of magic. She’s settled in quite well, all things considered. ]
In this very normal situation in which we find ourselves? Harrington’s Back to the Future collection, obviously
[ He tips his head toward the display with a grin before drifting closer to lean against the counter, his hard work rearranging the store completed for now. ]
Nah, I mean—
[ He taps his fingers against the counter, gazing somewhere just beyond Robin’s shoulder, like he's not sure if he really wants to hear what level of weirded out she is or not. ]
Me. Him. The two of us.
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robin uncrosses her arms to thread her fingers together, resting the point of her chin on the cradle of her knuckles. in the horizon she wears rings; plain always, silver usually. her clothes are snatched right out of the memory of her closet, too. it's nice to get a break from their hand-spun wardrobes in the real world.
her mouth folds between her teeth and she sits up straight. oh. it's going to be that kind of conversation.
after a brief moment she lolls one hand at the wrist, pointing at the shelves filled with michael j. fox and the delorean. ]
That's the movie we saw after Dustin and Erica got us out of the Russian torture basement. We were blissed out of our minds on whatever they gave us to get us to talk. Like, higher than either of us had ever been in our lives. A real Lucy in the Sky experience.
[ she's smiling at the memory, smiling at eddie. ]
But when it started to wear off, it hit us like a freighter and we ran to the nearest bathroom and puked so hard I thought I was going to pull something.
[ she bites her lip, eyebrows high, and then laughs. ]
It was disgusting. I couldn't eat popcorn for weeks after. Just the smell of that liquid butter they use made me nauseous.
[ her blue eyes drop to her hands, her smile waning just a bit, and she starts to twist one of her rings around a finger. a nervous tick. ]
So, anyway. We played a- a stupid game of like. "Have You Ever" to see if the stuff was still in our system, and... and he told me he liked me. [ she sucks in a soft breath through her nose. ] Liked me, liked me.
Aaand then I had to tell him that I didn't like him. That I couldn't. Not like he wanted me to.
[ robin's heartbeat quickens; it hadn't been easy to admit to steve that night who she was, and even knowing that he and eddie are together isn't enough to shake that old fear. knowing about mr hauser hadn't, either.
but like steve before him, she thinks eddie deserve to know where she's coming from. to really understand. ]
Eddie, I'm...
[ finally she looks up at him again, making sure that he's looking at her and not past her before saying: ]
I had a crush on Tammy Thompson. I- I like a girl who plays clarinet in marching band. Vickie.
[ before she has time to think better of it, she reaches out to rest one of her hands on his. her fingers squeeze. ]
It's not weird. Not to me.
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Instead, Robin totally spills. She tells a story that fills in some of the less horrific gaps in Steve’s own story about the Russian torture basement (the movie and the fact that they were high out of their minds is completely new information) and Eddie listens, half amused and half curious as to where this is going.
Then it’s out of her mouth and…he laughs. It’s not unkind or mocking, it’s just…laughter, filled with relief, joy, humor with the entire situation. He laughs because no matter what Dustin has said, he cannot picture Steve and Robin as anything but friends. He laughs because she chose to share this with him. He laughs because she had a crush on tuneless Tammy Thompson, and he laughs because he had truly absolutely nothing to worry about.
He’s smiling as he gently rests own ringed hand over hers and leans in to whisper loudly: ]
I fucking knew it.
[ He didn’t know anything, and Steve never once said or implied a thing. All Eddie ever had was an inkling without anything to back it up. Just a feeling, just vibes, and an unspoken assumption based on how Dustin once spent an entire Hellfire meeting refusing to shut up about the fact that Steve Harrington and his female friend wouldn’t just get together—as if anyone else in the room cared.
And confirmation doesn’t change a thing for Eddie. Truth be told, it kind of just makes him love her and respect her all the more, because she survived Hawkins, and she did it without pretending to be someone she wasn’t.
Eddie has never really felt the need to label himself—never once in his life. It never felt necessary and it still doesn’t feel necessary. The “freak” title has been firmly attached to him since middle school, and he’s never had any real desire to shake it. He’s always just been the way he is, and nothing about it has ever scared him or felt like he should hide it. But the part of him that drew him to Steve has admittedly never really been in play either. He’s always been more concerned with music and D&D. There wasn’t ever time for much else.
All the same…he would have kept it from Robin for longer if it had been his decision. Because maybe no one gives a shit here, but Hawkins is different, and knowing how close she and Steve are, he didn’t want to make things difficult.
The fact that Steve was fine with telling her at all should have said it all. ]
Okay, but you know, that still doesn’t get you out of answering my question.
[ He grins and props his chin up on his hand, eyes bright with a newfound fondness for Robin Buckley. Even if he does have a thing or two he could say about her taste in women, he decides to file it away for another time. She chose to be open and honest with him, and the least he can do is not mock her for it. ]
Sheerly because it’s me and him? 1 to 10, how weird is it?
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Yeah, well. Like recognizes like, I suppose.
[ because she knows that the only thing eddie had to work off of had been a hunch; steve would never have told him in her place. he's just dependable like that. trustworthy.
the hand that's still on top of one of his curls, casually holding his fingers in hers. ]
No, see, you're asking the wrong question. You should be asking how surprised I was, because it was a rug pull I never saw coming. An 11 out of 10. As far as it concerns you, I didn't know you well enough, and I don't like to speculate about total strangers like that... but Steve?
[ her brows climb high on her forehead. ]
Prom king, sports aficionado, flirting with every girl that came into Scoops and Family Video-- that Steve?
[ she juts out her bottom lip to blow a lock of hair out of her face. ]
Bonkers.
[ her face brightens with an affectionate smile. ]
I'm really happy for him. For both of you. I feel like I haven't seen him smile this much in forever, so you're probably good for him. Maybe.
[ wink. ]
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But he’s been here to watch the way things have changed, like layers being added to a painting. How they never split from their “temporary” roommate situation, how, with the exception of a fluke kidnapping month, they haven’t actually been apart for longer than a few hours in whole span of time they’ve been here. The way language shifted from “I wish I’d gotten to know you back home”, to undoubtedly best friends, to something more. In context, it all makes sense. But arriving in the middle of it must be a little bizarre. ]
Yeah, well, turns out you realize a whole lot of shit about yourself when you have eight centuries to work it out. Just color me surprised it’s only an 11 out of 10.
[ Being out of Hawkins probably helps as well, but the two of them would probably have danced in circles around one another for another two years if not for what happened in the crater and an enormous push from a Greek demigod named Clarisse La Rue. ]
Hey.
[ Beaming, he leans in and gently taps his forehead against hers, just for a moment. It’s a gesture that would normally be reserved for a closer, more established friendship, but overflowing with so much affection for Robin right now that he just can’t help himself. He’s far too stubborn to admit it, and he won’t let anything imply that he cares what anyone thinks about him, but he was absolutely desperate to be accepted by her. Steve doesn’t talk about his family much, but he talks about Robin in spades. She’s important—as important as Uncle Wayne is to Eddie and as important as Dustin is to the both of them. Eddie would feel pretty shitty if she didn’t approve, or if she felt like the two of them have made a very strange mistake. ]
Thanks. For trusting me.
[ With such important information, but also with Steve. ]
And, uh, if you haven’t figured it out yet? I’m pretty sure no one really gives a shit here. So if you ever want to be set up with someone far superior to Tammy Thompson…
[ He doesn’t have anyone in mind but he does think that Robin deserves to be happy as well. She deserves the world, really. He can see why Steve adores her so much. ]
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but if she can say anything about these whacky circumstances, it's that she's glad she's gotten to spend time with eddie in a place that isn't actively trying to kill him. sure, she'd seen parts of him shine through the thick layers of anxiety and fear he'd been blanketed with, like when he and dustin were goofing off in the field with their handmade weapons. but here? the anxiety is still there, though it's the slow simmer of someone who is just prone to it, but his theatrics, his humor, and his joy light him up from the inside out like the fourth of july.
he's himself.
they would've been friends back home, given the chance. at least they're afforded the opportunity here.
she groans when he mentions tammy thompson. ]
Ugh, don't worry about Tam. That ship left port a long time ago. It's not like it would have worked out anyway.
[ her shoulders bob with a shrug. ]
She's straight with a capital 'S.'
[ her expression dulls, thinking about seeing vickie in war zone. thinking about seeing her kiss her boyfriend. as if she could ever have that. ]
... But I guess that's kind of been my track record, chasing things I can't have.
[ her hand tightens around his, and she forces a smile on her face. ]
Which is why you have to make the most of it here, with Steve. Before you both have to go back to Hawkins and pretend like you don't wanna neck him from Lake Michigan to Kentucky.
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[ He laughs and squeezes her hand in turn, but then she brings up the topic of home, and just like that, everything shifts. His expression falls, a deep frown etches into his features, and he carefully pulls his hands away from hers. Stepping away and pointedly avoiding eye contact, he to begin pacing a short path in front of the register, twisting the rings on his fingers in a clear display of anxiety. ]
Yeah, uh…
[ In his time here, his fears have simmered into a nervous buzz rather than the sparking blaze they’d been in 86, but this is the topic that always stokes the fire again. It absolutely terrifies him and twists his stomach into knots, and as much as he tries to avoid thinking about it, it gnaws at him constantly, and it has been for a long time. ]
I guess you can say I’m just chasing something I can’t have either. Because I don’t think that’s happening. For me, at least.
[ Hawkins never extended him a whole lot of grace—it wanted him dead and that’s what it got in the end, but absence apparently makes the heart grow fonder, and Eddie has grown to realize that he probably loves Hawkins about as much as he hates it.
There’s a lot back there that he’d rather not see or experience again, but he still just…wants so much. He wants to see his uncle again, wants to tell him he’s sorry for not calling and sorry for leaving him with a metric ton of bullshit to clean up. He wants to see Max get better, because she has a stubborn streak wider than anyone he’s ever met and he’s convinced that sheer spite alone is enough to get her through. He wants to graduate and see his bandmates graduate, wants to officially leave Hellfire in Dustin’s capable hands, attend one of Lucas’s stupid basketball games and maybe even apologize to Mike for not believing his girlfriend was real to begin with. And now on top of all that, he also wants to be there to viciously judge any girl who wouldn’t want Robin, and to see if this thing with Steve can survive outside of this fantasy world they’ve found themselves in. He thinks it could. But he also doesn’t think it’s in the cards for him, and it’s enough to make him want to die all over again.
And it’s true, he has no proof, just the knowledge that he died horribly and tragically and that even here, it feels like he’s death is nipping at his heels and he’s constantly teetering on the edge of his own grave. In a place where anything seems possible, his ability to go home shouldn’t be the one thing to be called into question, but he’s spent the last two years steeling himself against the pain that will inevitably come when everyone else slips back into their home worlds and leave him behind.
Alone.
Still pacing, he worries at a thumbnail, his eyebrows knitting together as he contemplates how much more he should say. But he gets chatty when he’s anxious, and Robin trusted him. He can trust her with this, even if he's never voiced it out loud before. ]
He, uh—he told me he wouldn’t go back without me. Like—forever ago. And that’s—that’s great, that’s perfect, right?
[ That conversation happened a year into their stay in Abraxas, and Eddie still wants so desperately to cling to it, but… ]
But that’s…that’s not fair, you know? I’m not gonna ask him to just never see home or his family or friends or a real goddamn can of Coke again just because I’m scared shitless of being left here alone. That's a level of selfish that even I just can't do.
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... Eddie?
[ she prompts softly, hoping he'll explain what he means when the silence hangs for too long. and then it's out-- he thinks he doesn't get to go home. thinks he'll be left here, by himself, because he'd died. thinks there's no longer space for eddie munson in hawkins, indiana.
her eyebrows pull tight, and her lips wrinkle as she purses them. ]
No, that's--
[ she straightens and gets to her feet, pressing both hands to the countertop as she leans over it. ]
That's such bullshit, Eddie. You're coming with us.
[ it's with fierce certainty that she tells him this. the yellow overhead lights of family video reflect off her blue eyes like little matchstick flames.
she gets one knee up on the counter and then slides both legs over it to hop down on the other side. she starts to gesticulate, using her hands to help drive her points home. ]
If this place can- can just pull us out of our universe, then it should be able to do the reverse. Because I know neither of us believe in a higher power, and this place didn't just borrow you from the afterlife. That big magical... rock thing! It found you, and it fixed you.
[ she comes close enough to him to set her hands on top of eddie's shoulders, gripping him by them firmly. ]
It's going to send you back. Even if we have to make it.
no subject
Eddie huffs out a soft bark of laughter and scrubs a hand across his face. Is it, though?, he thinks. It can’t be that simple. But Robin slides over the counter to stop his pacing and he wants so desperately to believe her, but hope is such a dangerous, fragile thing for a person to have. He got his second chance and he knows better than to expect more…but she seems so certain.
And maybe it just took Robin’s frantic, offbeat explanation to drive it home, but…she’s not wrong. There was no afterlife. He wasn’t a spirit or a ghost or some unearthly embodiment of his own consciousness. He was nothing but dead. He’d physically felt the life drain out of his body, and then here was nothing. Nothing until he was fished out of that pool in Solvunn—whole and uninjured. However it happened, the Singularity snatched him from the jaws of death and fixed him in the process. ]
Yeah, well. Good luck making that thing do anything it doesn’t wanna do.
[ His gaze flicks up to her face, dark eyes wide and full of anxiety. But he doesn’t tell her that she’s wrong. He doesn’t try to argue with her, because she’s just given him a tiny, fragile shard of hope, and he’ll do anything to make sure it doesn’t shatter. He also refuses to build it up any further for fear of getting hurt. ]
Jesus Christ, I’m probably insane for even wanting to go back there.
no subject
Maybe. But it's not what it used to be... things are kind of a disaster right now, literally. But we wouldn't let anything happen to you. Promise.
[ then she scoffs, anger setting her jaw. ]
You know Jason Carver almost killed Lucas? And then Jason just-- died. Like, really gruesomely. One of the gates just melted him right in half.
[ she won't say good riddance because that's just on the wrong side of terrible to admit... but she's not not saying it either. after all the hell he gave eddie? the kids? making up some sick story about how they were all in it together, every death wrought by vecna twisted into some stupid satanic ritualist crap. the hawkins populace had slurped it right up, too, adults arming themselves to hunt down teenagers.
so no, she hadn't shed a single tear for carver when sinclair had explained what had happened with max in the old creel house. ]
There has to be literature on magic right? Libraries? I spent a whole afternoon with Nance combing microfilms, I'm talking hours, before we found one measly article in The Weekly Watcher of all places that gave us a clue.
[ she gently presses a finger to his chest, over his heart. ]
And we did that for you, dingus. For Max and for you. And I'll do it again. So, shut up about how you're not coming with us, because I'm not leaving without you either.
no subject
He hasn’t heard the name Jason Carver in what feels like years, though, and it’s damn near a shock to hear it now. ]
Wh—wait, seriously? What the hell?
[ He did not know that. He grimaces at the mental image of someone being melted in half and vaguely wonders if the police think he did that as well. Probably. ]
Jesus Christ. What a dick.
[ Like Robin, he so desperately wants to say good riddance, because Jason took his anger and grief beyond whatever problems he had with Eddie. Lucas shouldn’t have ever been involved, and Eddie can’t help but feel guilty that he was. Now he really owes it to him to go to one of his basketball games and pretend he undestands that’s happening.
And yes, he is dimly aware that it kind of makes him a hypocrite for not being horrifically angry with Henry, but this isn’t about him right now— ]
Alright, alright, alright.
[ He sighs and throws up his hands, like having people who love and care about him enough to help with his problems makes him the most put-upon man in the world. It’s not that he's not grateful (he very much is, beyond words), it’s just that his problems tend to be large and cause problems for other people as well. ]
Thorne’s library is huge, apparently, but, uh…given…everything? We’re mostly limited to the one in the primary settlement. And…maybe Wanda’s help if she wants to give it.
[ He doesn’t even know where to begin with something like this. It’s all incredibly overwhelming and he doesn’t really want to give himself more hope when he could just be preparing himself for shattering disappointment instead…but hope is what he’s been given, and he’s not going to leave Robin to this on her own. ]
One condition.
[ Because yes, he’s still going to be stubborn. ]
If the opportunity presents itself? Both of you go back. With or without me.
[ Sure, Steve is the king when it comes to self sacrifice, but never let it be said that Eddie doesn’t have a bit of that in him as well. It’s exactly what led to his death in the first place.
He lowers his head slightly, eyes wide and serious. ]
Okay?
no subject
... Ugh! Fine. Not like that's a choice we're going to have to make, but sure. If it makes you feel better. I'll-- I'll drag him if I have to.
[ she really doesn't want to think about having to do that, being forced to bodily tear them apart because it's what eddie wants. a conditional. she wonders if their friendship, even as solid as it is, could survive that. or if steve would just end up hating her for it. no matter the outcome-- she loses.
it's better for her morale not to consider it an option at all. ]
You know, it's really- it's so stupid we can't just get special summoned passports or something. If we're such a big deal, why do we have to basically swear allegiance to one of the major territories?
[ robin leans her head back to sigh through her nose. the mention of wanda is a good one; they don't know each other very well yet, but robin has enjoyed taking lunch with her several days a week. sometimes dinner and breakfast, too, if she spends the night in one of the spare rooms. she's taken a particular liking to one high up in the tree house, tower-like and brimming with books. though not the ones she wants to be on the lookout for right now.
still. the small library of solvunn will be a start. ]
Well. Unless cross-territory travel suddenly becomes a thing, we'll just have to put a pin in that. Maybe we can ask a summoned from there to help? But I'll comb through what we have at the primary settlement before we go chasing after other options.
[ she places fists on her hips, arms akimbo. they have the makings of a game plan; nancy's shot in the dark had been a bullseye, who's to say they can't pull off the same hat-trick twice? ]
We should brief Steve about it over dinner.
[ though she can already guess he's not going to take eddie's terms and conditions all that well. ]
no subject
[ It might destroy him if it comes down to Robin dragging Steve along with her, but he refuses to be the reason why anyone cuts off their entire lives back home. It will hurt either way, but they’re just going to have to hope that they get lucky and things go a different direction.
Not that him being left behind is being seriously considered as an option at all, but he doesn’t know that part. ]
You tell me. We didn’t even get to choose territories they want us to pledge loyalty to.
[ He snorts humorlessly. He doesn’t dislike Solvunn, not by a long shot. As of now, it’s his home, but it never sat well with him that not a single one of them chose to come here and not a single one of them was given the option to leave. Basically, there isn’t a whole lot of choice here. ]
I know some people in Thorne who might be able to look. Not sure about the Free Cities.
[ He may reach out to some people there too, but he’s heard more about their military than he has about any libraries.
But Robin brings up the idea of taking this to Steve, and he huffs out another anxious laugh an drags his hands down his face. ]
Uh, no, we shouldn’t.
[ He already knows that Steve is going to refuse his terms and conditions, and even if he somehow didn’t, he won’t hold to it. And Eddie can already picture the look on his face, because they’ve been through this and Steve isn’t likely to go back on his word, even if that works was spoken at least a year ago.
Ugh. ]
But…
[ He sighs and, throwing out his arms and dipping his head in a slight bow, he relents: ]
You, Robin Buckley, are the boss.
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[ robin concedes in a deadpan tone. just because it's the smart thing to do doesn't mean she has to like it.
or actually follow through.her brows cinch together when eddie says they should keep all of this from steve. ]
Uh, yes we should. You just started dating and you already want to get into the habit of keeping secrets from your boyfriend?
[ she rolls her eyes so hard her head participates. ]
Maybe math isn't your strongest subject, doofus, but three pairs of eyes are objectively better than two.
[ she really knows how to sniff out and dig her fingers into all the soft, squishy parts of someone, doesn't she? her tongue is a weapon all on its own.
but even after neatly cutting him to the quick, her hands find his shoulders again to give them a conciliatory squeeze. her expression is gentle with sympathy. ]
Eddie... he'll be more than just mad if we don't let him help, he'll be hurt. I know you want to avoid having to talk to him about your silly-- [ read: pointless. ]-- fine print before he signs on, but that's kind of what being together is all about. Talking.
[ she tips her head back and groans theatrically. ]
I can't believe I'm giving you relationship advice when I haven't even been in one yet! This is cruel and unusual punishment!
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[ It’s not like he’d have many secrets to keep. Eddie is an open book—it’s just hat a few o the pages are stuck together. What you see is typically what you get, but he rarely talks about himself in depth and often gets scared and thinks he can handle his problems on his own. He rarely can and he’s aware that he wouldn’t have survived as long as he did back home without help.
He sighs rolls his eyes upward, either suddenly finding the ceiling very interesting or pointedly avoiding her gaze. Because she just dug right into him, and he can normally let even the most finely crafted insult roll right off his shoulders, but he’d be lying if he said that didn’t sting a little bit. Math really isn’t his strongest subject unless it’s tied to D&D scoring, but she didn’t need to go there and critique his relationship at the same time. ]
This is my first one, so. Still plenty of time to fuck it all up.
[ He doesn’t mean that. Steve means a lot to him, and all of this is coming from a desire not to fuck things up. He’s scared—of what could happen and what might happen and what might not happen. It just seems like the only way any of them are going to get what they want out of this is if Eddie gets out of here too.
And that requires all three of them. ]
I’ll tell him. But if he never lets himself sleep again? I'm blaming you.
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[ robin says with confident assurance... and then her mouth adopts a teasing smile, eyes all a-twinkle with amusement. ]
But Steve might.
[ she turns to lift herself back up onto the counter with her hands, sitting on the edge and swinging her legs. she pulls a lollipop out of the display cone by the register to pick open the wrapper. when she puts it in her mouth, she makes a surprised sound before leaning back to check if the trash bin is still next to the money safe like she remembers it.
she kinda expected food not to really have any kind of flavor here. it's not like it ever has in her dreams. but to her surprise it tastes exactly like whatever candy makers think passes for "watermelon."
when she straightens, she's already trying to chip away at the candy layer with her teeth to get to the underlying gum at the center. proper freak behavior. she pauses only to gesture at him with it. ]
He's not going to lose sleep over it, okay? He'll probably take it as well as I did. He'll-- he'll think it's stupid you're making him agree to something that will never come up anyway, because you not coming home with us isn't an option.
[ like it's that simple. vecna hadn't been. vecna had killed a frightened girl in his uncle's trailer, a girl that- maybe!- could've been his friend. and then he'd extracted his blood price from eddie, too, in the end.
but maybe that's why robin is so insistent. they've been given their second chance, and she'll be damned if it gets snatched from her, from them, like it had the first time. even considering it feels like bad luck. ]
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But his thoughts are the opposite of hers. As a connoisseur of only the finest junk food, can’t help but think that sour apple doesn’t taste nearly sour enough here in the Horizon, but it’s what he has available to him, and he chomps away at it with his brow furrowed in thought. ]
Guess I’ll, uh, just have to soften the blow somehow.
[ It’s his turn to shoot her a teasing grin, and he chuckles, leaning into her shoulder like they’ve been proper friends for years and not just for weeks. ]
You two ever going to sick of coming to my rescue?
[ Well, Eddie, you see, they didn’t come to your rescue that one time because you said you wouldn’t try to be a hero… ]