[ steve doesn't focus too much on the chill of the air. doesn't focus too much on how there is always, always that unsteady feeling of what this place is. he doesn't trust it, doesn't trust the ground they're standing on or the air they're breathing and definitely not the dust that still flitters around the air around them. eddie steps away from him, pulls away, and it feels a bit like steve's whole chest tenses. like without the touch, without that grounding contact, eddie could just slip away again.
but he swallows back that fear - they are so close. steps away. and he knows that it's always this home stretch where everything goes wrong, where this could go bad, and maybe that's part of the reason steve is so quick to grab eddie's elbow. so quick to get a hand back on him, even if he could mask it by the steps. by handing him the rope, explaining the next steps. it's the only way that steve can keep himself moving, really - focusing on the next step, on the way out, on the plan.
eddie is still responding, still following, so steve thinks that maybe this could work. that maybe they could make it. that he's being ridiculous, being this nervous about everything when they're so freaking close. that is - until eddie's hand is there, around steve's wrist, catching him before he even tries to step away further. we're not taking any chances, right? steve looks down at where eddie's hand is around his wrist, if only because for some reason it seems easier to look at that first, as if he could see something else there, before his eyes go to his eyes. his brow furrows, as if confused, at the question. right? ] No, we're not. [ steve says simply, turning his hand in eddie's grip to grab eddie's own wrist in turn. to hold him, to squeeze it, as if eddie needs the reassurance. ] Don't be a hero. Not again. [ and maybe, maybe steve's a little more genuine and a little more intense than eddie's attempt at a dig would have suggested. steve sequeezes eddie's wrist, once, as if to reaffirm it. don't be cute. not again.
that's when eddie ties the rope around them both, around steve's arm and then his own. there is something off about the movement, about the somewhat desperate way that eddie barely even looks at him through the curtain of his bangs. we should go through together. steve watches eddie wince when he ties his own bit of the rope, watches the obvious pain. curiosity flickers across his face, because steve's not exactly sure why eddie would feel the need to go this far, to hurt himself just for the confirmation that he won't be left behind. steve could think of four or five other ways to reaffirm that, two or three that wouldn't have left behind such pain, but steve decides not to comment on it. instead, he hears the unspoken please and just. nods. ] Yeah- together.
[ eddie moves to crouch down by the gate, and steve gets pulled down along with him. he goes easily enough, moves to sit along the edge, to situate his pack and his materials and to make sure eddie isn't having second thoughts. thunder rolls off in the distant, just loud enough to catch steve's attention, to see the shadows and the lightning and what every the hell else is out there. it shoots a sort of tension through him, right at the same time eddie says yeah nope, let's go, right at the same time eddie's hand is on steve's back. without thinking, steve's arm shoots out and grabs at the front of eddie's shirt, to get a fistful of the fabric and to all but drag eddie munson along with him.
and then they're through, back into the other side, and steve - without really realizing it - uses the moment to pull eddie through and even after, it sends him a little further into the pavement, the rocks. steve, also gasping for a moment or so just to settle the curled feeling in his gut, looks up. around. to make sure nothing followed, to make sure nothing is there. eddie's voice rings out again, holy fucking shit, and something bubbles up from steve's stomach. bubbles up, and then escapes as a kind of laugh. not manic, nothing like eddie's, but a bark of relief. they're out. it worked. eddie - safe back in hawkins.
steve gets to his feet, pulls off the rope, the adrenaline still pumping through him. still pushing him forward. he gets up, wipes off his knees, and then manages the step or two over to stand in front of eddie and hold out a hand. an offer to help eddie to his feet, too. steve is smiling, when eddie looks up at him. he can't help it. ]
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but he swallows back that fear - they are so close. steps away. and he knows that it's always this home stretch where everything goes wrong, where this could go bad, and maybe that's part of the reason steve is so quick to grab eddie's elbow. so quick to get a hand back on him, even if he could mask it by the steps. by handing him the rope, explaining the next steps. it's the only way that steve can keep himself moving, really - focusing on the next step, on the way out, on the plan.
eddie is still responding, still following, so steve thinks that maybe this could work. that maybe they could make it. that he's being ridiculous, being this nervous about everything when they're so freaking close. that is - until eddie's hand is there, around steve's wrist, catching him before he even tries to step away further. we're not taking any chances, right? steve looks down at where eddie's hand is around his wrist, if only because for some reason it seems easier to look at that first, as if he could see something else there, before his eyes go to his eyes. his brow furrows, as if confused, at the question. right? ] No, we're not. [ steve says simply, turning his hand in eddie's grip to grab eddie's own wrist in turn. to hold him, to squeeze it, as if eddie needs the reassurance. ] Don't be a hero. Not again. [ and maybe, maybe steve's a little more genuine and a little more intense than eddie's attempt at a dig would have suggested. steve sequeezes eddie's wrist, once, as if to reaffirm it. don't be cute. not again.
that's when eddie ties the rope around them both, around steve's arm and then his own. there is something off about the movement, about the somewhat desperate way that eddie barely even looks at him through the curtain of his bangs. we should go through together. steve watches eddie wince when he ties his own bit of the rope, watches the obvious pain. curiosity flickers across his face, because steve's not exactly sure why eddie would feel the need to go this far, to hurt himself just for the confirmation that he won't be left behind. steve could think of four or five other ways to reaffirm that, two or three that wouldn't have left behind such pain, but steve decides not to comment on it. instead, he hears the unspoken please and just. nods. ] Yeah- together.
[ eddie moves to crouch down by the gate, and steve gets pulled down along with him. he goes easily enough, moves to sit along the edge, to situate his pack and his materials and to make sure eddie isn't having second thoughts. thunder rolls off in the distant, just loud enough to catch steve's attention, to see the shadows and the lightning and what every the hell else is out there. it shoots a sort of tension through him, right at the same time eddie says yeah nope, let's go, right at the same time eddie's hand is on steve's back. without thinking, steve's arm shoots out and grabs at the front of eddie's shirt, to get a fistful of the fabric and to all but drag eddie munson along with him.
and then they're through, back into the other side, and steve - without really realizing it - uses the moment to pull eddie through and even after, it sends him a little further into the pavement, the rocks. steve, also gasping for a moment or so just to settle the curled feeling in his gut, looks up. around. to make sure nothing followed, to make sure nothing is there. eddie's voice rings out again, holy fucking shit, and something bubbles up from steve's stomach. bubbles up, and then escapes as a kind of laugh. not manic, nothing like eddie's, but a bark of relief. they're out. it worked. eddie - safe back in hawkins.
steve gets to his feet, pulls off the rope, the adrenaline still pumping through him. still pushing him forward. he gets up, wipes off his knees, and then manages the step or two over to stand in front of eddie and hold out a hand. an offer to help eddie to his feet, too. steve is smiling, when eddie looks up at him. he can't help it. ]
Welcome back to Hawkins, Munson.