[ it's been a few days since steve all but dragged eddie the freak munson back from the upside down. a few days since eddie the freak munson was not dead, and had apparently been told no, and brought back to life by the sound of some girls voice. it has been a few days, which is the only reason they kind of sort of know that girl turned out to be el, and that any of this is even beginning to make sense.
eddie is still staying at steve's place - they haven't figured out yet if it makes sense to tell eddie's uncle, because they don't really want the town catching on to the fact he's back until they can - as nancy puts it - control the narrative. what that has meant has basically been house arrest, with eddie living out of steve's guest room, and steve in his own. steve still goes out for food and updates, helps out at the high school when he can, checks in on the rest of the kids when he can't. everyone in their circle knows about eddie, which is for the better, considering how bad steve is at keeping that sort of secret, and now it's just waiting to figure out when - if - hopper's government contacts will show back up (because he's also apparently not dead???).
steve's actually not all that mad about the situation, either. his parents had finally checked in, asked about the house, and in hearing that their stuff was pretty unharmed and steve was doing okay, said they would try to get home but it's going to be a few more weeks. steve, as always, told them it was fine, hoped they were having a good time, and hung up without much else to say. eddie staying with him at the very least meant that steve wasn't coming back to an empty house, that he had a reason to come back to the place at all, and that when it came to sleeping, well. again- having another body around was a kind of night and day difference, even if he was down the hall.
except that it didn't fix everything, did it? the nightmare still came like they always did, this time with bats and vecna's face and the upside down, creeping up into his room, until he forces himself awake - gasping for air, damp with sweat. part of him is glad that at least it's shifted away from the russians, away from fists and bodies and blood, though he supposes seeing eddie's body, lifted up into the air, bones breaking in each different direction, is hardly better.
it's a few days later, though, one night when steve is awoken up out of his own nightmare, that he hears it. a sound, a kind of whimpering cry, coming all the way from down the hall. and yes, okay, at the first moment of it, steve had frozen to the spot - terrified there was something in the house - until he remembered.
eddie.
he all but completely jumps out of bed, his heartbeat pounding until he gets to the other's door, pushes it open, prays to whatever god is supposed to be listening that he won't find him floating. please, please, just not-
when the door opens, and with the dim light coming in from the window, steve takes his first breath since waking up. eddie is still in the bed, sheets and blankets tangled around him. the whimpering is him, a kind of broken, terrified noise as he moves in the bed, and steve gets it. a nightmare. it's not all that surprising, hell, steve had just woken up from his own, and he supposes he should just let eddie be. but just as steve's about to turn back to his room, eddie says something. it's in his sleep, sure, mumbled somewhere in the broken, terrified noises he's making, but it stops steve where he stands. not only that, but it draws him into the room, his bare feet padding softly on the thick carpet, all the way over to the side of the bed. worry (and yes, it's always worry - eddie will probably make fun of him for it, too, but steve just can't leave him like this-) has his hand reaching out, settling on eddie's shoulder amid his tossing and turning. ]
Hey- [ he tries to say softly, prepared if eddie strikes out. ] Hey, Munson, it's a nightmare.
mordors.
eddie is still staying at steve's place - they haven't figured out yet if it makes sense to tell eddie's uncle, because they don't really want the town catching on to the fact he's back until they can - as nancy puts it - control the narrative. what that has meant has basically been house arrest, with eddie living out of steve's guest room, and steve in his own. steve still goes out for food and updates, helps out at the high school when he can, checks in on the rest of the kids when he can't. everyone in their circle knows about eddie, which is for the better, considering how bad steve is at keeping that sort of secret, and now it's just waiting to figure out when - if - hopper's government contacts will show back up (because he's also apparently not dead???).
steve's actually not all that mad about the situation, either. his parents had finally checked in, asked about the house, and in hearing that their stuff was pretty unharmed and steve was doing okay, said they would try to get home but it's going to be a few more weeks. steve, as always, told them it was fine, hoped they were having a good time, and hung up without much else to say. eddie staying with him at the very least meant that steve wasn't coming back to an empty house, that he had a reason to come back to the place at all, and that when it came to sleeping, well. again- having another body around was a kind of night and day difference, even if he was down the hall.
except that it didn't fix everything, did it? the nightmare still came like they always did, this time with bats and vecna's face and the upside down, creeping up into his room, until he forces himself awake - gasping for air, damp with sweat. part of him is glad that at least it's shifted away from the russians, away from fists and bodies and blood, though he supposes seeing eddie's body, lifted up into the air, bones breaking in each different direction, is hardly better.
it's a few days later, though, one night when steve is awoken up out of his own nightmare, that he hears it. a sound, a kind of whimpering cry, coming all the way from down the hall. and yes, okay, at the first moment of it, steve had frozen to the spot - terrified there was something in the house - until he remembered.
eddie.
he all but completely jumps out of bed, his heartbeat pounding until he gets to the other's door, pushes it open, prays to whatever god is supposed to be listening that he won't find him floating. please, please, just not-
when the door opens, and with the dim light coming in from the window, steve takes his first breath since waking up. eddie is still in the bed, sheets and blankets tangled around him. the whimpering is him, a kind of broken, terrified noise as he moves in the bed, and steve gets it. a nightmare. it's not all that surprising, hell, steve had just woken up from his own, and he supposes he should just let eddie be. but just as steve's about to turn back to his room, eddie says something. it's in his sleep, sure, mumbled somewhere in the broken, terrified noises he's making, but it stops steve where he stands. not only that, but it draws him into the room, his bare feet padding softly on the thick carpet, all the way over to the side of the bed. worry (and yes, it's always worry - eddie will probably make fun of him for it, too, but steve just can't leave him like this-) has his hand reaching out, settling on eddie's shoulder amid his tossing and turning. ]
Hey- [ he tries to say softly, prepared if eddie strikes out. ] Hey, Munson, it's a nightmare.