[ the feeling is the same - the sudden drop of a roller coaster, the missed step on the curb. steve's stomach flips, gravity goes the wrong way, and then something about the momentum propels him through and he's scrambling on his hands and knees to keep himself up on the other side. the upside down. again. he hates that he's getting used to this - to that chill in the air, to the fact it never feels like he really gets his footing. everything down here is wrong, off, and with all that dust in the air and the threat of bats in the distance.
thunder rumbles in the distant echo of a strike of lightning and steve looks up, the sharp yell turning all his nerves on end, just in time to see eddie fall ass backwards back to the ground. for a brief moment, steve just sort of stares - eddie, eddie freaking munson - who looks like absolute shit, who looks like he's been crawling through the upside down for days, who looks alive, breathing, moving.
they move in some kind of weird synchrony, back up to their feet about at the same time. up on their feet, and towards each other. except that where there is a kind of slight hesitancy where eddie is concerned, steve can't help but close the distance as the words tumble out of eddie. sight for sore eyes he says, like he's not the one steve left dead, bleeding out, still on the ground of the shadow of the trailer park. ]
How the hell... [ steve starts, voice low. how the hell is this possible.
this is the part where things kind of stop mattering, because eddie could have said literally anything, and steve still would have been there. still would have immediately had his arms around him, immediately pulling him in for a tight hug. and yeah, sure, it might be the first time the two of them have hugged. it might even be their last. but it doesn't matter, because steve doesn't know how else to translate the immense amount of shock, relief, and whatever else that threatens to drown him. eddie might have bubbled into manic laughter, but steve is apparently a hugger, as he tightens his hold on him for just a brief moment. ]
Of course I freaking came. Did you really think I wouldn't? [ steve says, trying to go for indignant but unable to really get there, as he pulls away from the hug - his hands going to eddie's shoulders, like he has to hold them up.
and for a second, and then probably another, steve just sort of looks out him. lets out a breath. ]
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thunder rumbles in the distant echo of a strike of lightning and steve looks up, the sharp yell turning all his nerves on end, just in time to see eddie fall ass backwards back to the ground. for a brief moment, steve just sort of stares - eddie, eddie freaking munson - who looks like absolute shit, who looks like he's been crawling through the upside down for days, who looks alive, breathing, moving.
they move in some kind of weird synchrony, back up to their feet about at the same time. up on their feet, and towards each other. except that where there is a kind of slight hesitancy where eddie is concerned, steve can't help but close the distance as the words tumble out of eddie. sight for sore eyes he says, like he's not the one steve left dead, bleeding out, still on the ground of the shadow of the trailer park. ]
How the hell... [ steve starts, voice low. how the hell is this possible.
this is the part where things kind of stop mattering, because eddie could have said literally anything, and steve still would have been there. still would have immediately had his arms around him, immediately pulling him in for a tight hug. and yeah, sure, it might be the first time the two of them have hugged. it might even be their last. but it doesn't matter, because steve doesn't know how else to translate the immense amount of shock, relief, and whatever else that threatens to drown him. eddie might have bubbled into manic laughter, but steve is apparently a hugger, as he tightens his hold on him for just a brief moment. ]
Of course I freaking came. Did you really think I wouldn't? [ steve says, trying to go for indignant but unable to really get there, as he pulls away from the hug - his hands going to eddie's shoulders, like he has to hold them up.
and for a second, and then probably another, steve just sort of looks out him. lets out a breath. ]
This is real, right?