Zccming·:

What personal space?

thequeenofhawkins·:

𝐖𝐇𝐎: Chrissy Cunningham & @eddiemcnson····

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓: Eddie said “Chrissy, wake up” and she did just that!

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: Forest Hills Trailer Park. The Munson Trailer if u will

Chrissy had been home for a week. One whole miserable week. She felt like she was losing her mind. Hazy memories mixed with confused glances. She had missed out on two years of her life, two years of college, she missed out on senior graduation. Did she even have a diploma? She would have to figure that out later. Right now, her education didn’t matter to her. All she could focus on was the how’s and why’s and where’s that led her to the forest commune that night. Chrissy didn’t think it was uncharacteristic of her and she believed that she went of her own volition, despite what Melissa had theorized.

But that didn’t change that Chrissy couldn’t remember much. She remembered standing in Eddie Munson’s trailer, watching him run off to get Special K, having the worst nightmare ever, and then waking up in the forest two years later. Before that day, she had never had an ounce of anything illegal in her body. She had never even drank more than a sip of beer. That kind of stuff would just ruin your body, Chrissy, her mother would say to her, and Christians are supposed to protect their bodies. 

That’s why she couldn’t tell her parents the events of what happened that night, other than she had merely gone to Eddie’s to study and then left to the commune. Unfortunately, that did nothing but convince them to believe that Eddie Munson had been a part of a cult and dragged their innocent daughter into it. So, Chrissy went to the source. Eddie knew what happened, or at least, whatever he gave her. 

The first time she knocked, no one answered, so Chrissy waited around the trailer park (like an idiot). The second time, Eddie finally opened the door. Then Chrissy mustered up the most accusatory voice she could,

“What the hell did you give me that night?”

+++

jesus h christ, it had been an eventful couple of weeks in hawkins, eddie mused to himself as he lazily strummed a few chords on his guitar, cigarette dangling loosely between his lips. between freak outs about the paranormal making a reappearance in town and making out with steve fucking harrington, eddie had barely had any time to himself, to just... wrap his head around what was happening.

though he'd been back in town since the beginning of summer, eddie still woke up startled every day, and it took him a few deep breaths until he made note of his surroundings. the trailer. hawkins. his room.

yeah, eddie stayed mostly in his room when inside the trailer - he'd made the mistake of accidentally passing out on the couch around the second night he'd been back, woke up in a cold sweat, eyes widened and glued to that spot on the ceiling where some two years ago, chrissy cunningham had floated to her death. god, how he resented vecna for the fact that even the trailer, the only home he'd ever known, gave him the creeps.

ever since that night, nightmares of chrissy cunningham coming back from the dead, blaming him for what happened to her, haunted him. same as the guilt haunted him, about the fact that he hadn't been able to save her. that he'd chosen the cowards way out - running away, leaving her there.

however, it seemed as if his nightmares slowly seeped into reality. plucking aimlessly at the chords, eyes closed, eddie had overheard the first knock. the second one however was louder, more aggressive, and with a roll of his eyes and a huff he laid the guitar aside, climbed off his bed and made his way to the door.

a loud, annoyed "what?" followed by stunned silence as he opened the door. he was dreaming. hallucinating. maybe he hadn't lit a cigarette, maybe it had been a joint. either this was a dream or he was tripping because there, right in front of him, stood chrissy cunningham - and she looked okay. alive. no broken bones, no garish look in her face.

a shaky inhale, eddie could feel his heart beating in his throat, whole body shaking as he stumbled backwards, away from the door. he quickly grabbed whatever was nearest - the tv remote, as it happened - and pointed it at her. for self defense, of course.

"no, no, no, no, no. go away. you're not real, you hear me? you're not real! leave me alone, go away, please.", eddie yelled between nervous breaths, cautiously stepping backwards. heart beating faster, breath coming out shallow and hitched, eddie felt a few wayward tears run down his cheeks before his back hit the wall.

and with a last slurred "please", dark spots started to appear in his vision and the world faded to black. fuck this.

stevehharringtcns·:

.

at that very moment, steve wanted to get up from the bed and wrap his arms around eddie, tell him that everything would be okay. he just wanted to do that, but he couldn’t. his cuts and bruises were still pretty recent that every movement that he made, made his body ache. he hated seeing eddie like this. steve looked at him as he opened his hand slowly for the other to take. if he couldn’t hug him, he could at least hold his hand. it was the least he could do, he thought to himself. “eddie…” he said, pursing his lips as he tried to hold back his own tears as he saw eddie like this. he didn’t like it, he didn’t like it for a second, but he thought it would be better if the other just shared how he was feeling rather than repressing it.

when he felt eddie’s hand on his cheek, steve closed his eyes for a few moments and let out a sigh of relief. eddie was okay. when he had heard that the other had been arrested for no apparent reason, steve almost thought about getting up from the hospital bed and marching on to the police station, but just the thought of it made his body ache. he was still weak from everything, but he wanted to act tough for eddie. “no… i’m glad… you weren’t there.” he said weakly, giving the other a nod of his head. he would have hated if anything had happened to eddie like it had happened to him, he hated just thinking about it. “when i woke up… and you weren’t here… i thought…” he said, choking up on his own words. he couldn’t finish the sentence, he just couldn’t think about something like that. he didn’t want to. “i’m just glad you’re okay.” he said with a small nod, his hand reaching out to eddie’s.

“this? they’re just some cuts… and bruises. i’ll be fine.” he said weakly, letting out another small chuckle as he started coughing, his body flinching with the pain he felt in his ribs. that was going to be hard to get used to, but he closed his eyes for a couple of moments, gathering his strength as he looked back at eddie. “i need… to ask you something, okay?” he asked, looking over at eddie.

+++

“shh, shh, don’t speak. don’t.”, eddie gulped and quickly shuffled closer, elbows resting on the edge of the bed. cupping steve’s face with one hand he slid the other into his palm, gave it a gentle squeeze, thumb softly tracing along his knuckles. careful not to move any of the iv’s attached to the back of his hand, he gently lifted it to press his lips to his hand, trembling lips lingering there for a moment or two. it’s real, it’s real, it’s real. this is real. eddie squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, brows knitted together. this is real, steve is fine, he’s fine, it’s real. fate had played one trick too many on them these past few years, eddie wouldn’t let himself have that breath of relief until he was absolutely certain that this wasn’t all just taking place in his head. being back in hawkins he was never sure of that.

eddie sniffled,blinked a few tears away. “you’re cold.”, he simply stated as he lowered steve’s hand again, smoothing over where his lips had met his skin with his thumb. “your hand, you feel - it feels cold. do you need a blanket or something? want me to call the nurses? or i can  - i can look for one myself, if you want. i’ll do it. just say the word.” he was full aware that he was rambling. but when steve eyes had fluttered shut at his touch, eddie’s blood had run cold, his stomach had tightened at the sight and if it took him rambling or, hell, even singing for steve to open his eyes again then eddie would gladly oblige. the feeling passed somewhat, not entirely, when he  met steve’s gaze again. no more closed eyes, no more cold hands. from now on only warmth and aliveness. eddie hadn’t even realized that his fingers had positioned themselves around steve’s wrist so that eddie’s pointer rested over his pulse point. 

the sound of steve’s voice had eddie biting down on his bottom lip to stifle a choked off sob. he’d never seen him this weak, this frail. close to crying, too, eddie gulped in an attempt to swallow the enormous lump in his throat. he shook his head, shushed him again. “it’s - i’m fine. nothing happeend, i’m fne. i’m fine, yeah? we’re - “ the small smile eddie had mustered up and given steve now suddenly fell as he broke, erupting into loud, soul shattering sobs. the kind of crying that left one breathless, gasping for air. that had people tell you to ‘calm down’, asking what’s wrong but that left you unable to respond, for every sound was replaced by a wail. the kind of crying usually reserved for a child seeking its mother’s attention. eddie lowered his head so that his hair would hide his face, watched through his clouded gaze as tears fell onto the material of steve’s bedsheets, leaving marks there. “i thought you’d - i - that you weren’t - you - “ he struggled through the words, they made no sense in his head, either. nothing made sense, except for the way the soft skin of steve’s palm felt underneath his calloused fingertips. “i thought you were dead. when max said -” eddie shook his head, didn’t want to continue the sentence. he sniffled again, struggled through shaky breaths until his voice was a little calmer than before. lower, too. weaker, mirroring the sound of steve’s. “i can’t do this without you, man. i can’t - here - i can’t be here when you’re not here. this, the - the whole upside down vecna shit, i can’t - “, he looked back up at steve, through tear stained lashed. “i don’t want to be here - i can’t. i can’t be here without you. heree, everywhere, not - not without you.”

if he’d expected anything from his summer back in hawkins, well, crying at steve harrington’s bedside and telling him how he couldn’t live without him, that certainly hadn’t been on eddie’s bingo. and his sudden confession certainly took a weight off his chest, yet it invoked a sense of horror and anxiety in him previously unknown. he’d let his guard down. he was vulnerable in a way he’d never been before. a way he’d promised himself to never be, not in hawkins. not anywhere, really. weakly and cautiously, he gave steve a nod. “sure. anything, man.”

rcbinbvckleys·:

⚢

“i should be the one checking on my eyes! wait, you’re definitely actually you, right?” logistically speaking, this could be an elaborate trick from the upside down to lure robin to her doom. okay no, this was real and she really had to stop thinking like that. physical contact was usually something she avoided, but eddie was someone she was comfortable with — although she barely had any time to react, so just had time to put one arm around him to pat his back. “it’s gotta be one hell of a campaign to stick around all summer.” if robin were given the opportunity for a responsibility free summer, she would most likely want to travel, not return to her hometown.

“i’m just, toeing the line. college. and i’m still working at family video! i’m saving up.” it was true, the glass jar shoved in the top of her closet was filled with bills. but what exactly was she saving for? the multitude of escape plans she had come up with in the past had never worked out. something was keeping robin in hawkins. maybe it was the fear of being out there in the world, alone, with no one to turn to or rely on if it all went to shreds. or maybe a minuscule doubtful piece of her mind had convinced her that one of the creatures they’d encountered in the past would follow her wherever she went. “and you, you haven’t made it big yet? i was hoping i’d already have a tape with your face on it!”

+++

he nodded, grinned, did a little spin for her. “as he lives and breathes. eddie munson, in the flesh.” some days he couldn’t believe his own eyes, when he caught his reflection in the mirror, blinking at him, staring with that confused and surprised look on his face. couldn’t believe that he was still here, among the land of the living. because that day in the upside down, he’d said his finaly goodbyes to the world, thinking that that was it. here he was, back in hawkins after all those years, 

he was alive, and so was his unlikely little group of friends that still hung about in that godforsaken town. “oh, trust me, it is a sadistic campaign, the likes of which hellfire club has never seen before.”, eddie explained, a glint in his eyes but he stopped himself from rambling - they’d be here all day once he got into the logistics of his campaigns. “chicago gets crazy and busy during summer. thought i’d escape to...a different kind of crazy.” he threw her a knowing glance. “besides, had to check up on all of you guys, see how you’re doing now the talk of the town’s moved away. tragic, i know. spare me your tears.”

eddie nodded and listened, recognized himself in her. he, too, had saved every penny, having scratched together just enough to fuck off immediately after graduation. “still working with harrington? how’s he doing? oh and keith, right? is he still, like, you know....as weird?” seriously, eddie had often wondered why the town had branded him a ‘freak’ just because he listened to metal and played a fantasy game, and not keith with...well, with his whole thing. it made eddie grimace.

so did robin’s comment, he waved it off. “don’t ya worry your pretty little head about that, i’m still a rockstar in the making. i’ll make it, i’m sure.” and he wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince here. eddie looked around, as easy as talking to robin felt, he still didn’t feel exctly safe with so many people around.

“hey, do you wanna maybe get outta here? i got some, uh, pretty good shit from chicago that’s calling our names.”

colemontgomeryx·:

xx.

As redness overtook Eddie’s cheeks, Cole took another drag of his cigarette. “Yes, I’m gay. You can say it,” he confirmed, his voice remaining low. Cole was sure Eddie would never out him, partially because that wasn’t Eddie’s character, and partially because of mutually assured destruction.

It was exhausting to have to keep such a large part of him a secret, and Cole was frustrated by it. Maybe that’s why he told Eddie (other than, obviously, trying to hook up with him). When Cole went to college, he was able to be himself more freely; he wasn’t out, per se, but he was much more comfortable discussing his sexuality. He wondered if Eddie had a similar experience in Chicago, and was now, like Cole, struggling to reconcile all the different parts of himself.

Cole grinned, noting the change in Eddie’s demeanor. Cole finished his cigarette and reached behind Eddie to throw it away. He brushed his arm against Eddie’s and took advantage of proximity this move afforded him. Glancing up into Eddie’s eyes, Cole’s own twinkled mischievously. “Well, that’s too easy. What about foreplay?” his voice was barely above a whisper. 

+++

final confirmation, eddie swallowed, blinked nervously as the words fell from cole’s lips. he nodded, a nod that said ‘me too’. as if eithr of them needed to state the face that they were both interested in men again. getting old at this point, eddie finsighed his own cigarette, felt his lips twitch, hands shaking a little.

you got this, munson, you got this. he wasn’t like this, usually, when flirting with guys. antsy and nervous and downright freaking out. he just needed to pull himself together, pretend like this was just any old other encounter in a bar or somewhere back in chicago. 

his lips twisted into a smile as he thought about the fact that the last time he’d been this nervous about flirting with someone, he’d gone and called steve harrington ‘big boy’ as they’d hijacked a goddamn rv. 

suddenly cole was much, much closer than before and eddie gulped, his eyes flicked down to meet cole’s, momentarily lingering on his lips. for maybe just a tad too long. he swiped his tongue across hi bottom lip, feeling it had suddenly gone extremely dry. eddie discarded his own cigarette, burshing up against cole, bringing them even closer. 

“well...”, he breathed, raised a brow. “we’re in the middle of a mall, in the middle of, like, vandalising said mall...what do you have in mind that won’t get our asses kicked?”

loverboymontgomery·:

xx.

As he walked closer to Eddie, he tried flexing his ankle. It was sore, but the soreness was dull enough that it left Cole wondering if it was all in his head. The last few weeks had Cole questioning his sanity more times than he was comfortable with. Pulling Adam’s flannel around his torso, Cole nodded in agreement with Eddie’s statement. “Yeah… it’s a lot. Kind of too much to try and figure out right now, after that keg stand,” Cole admitted with a grimace. Not his brightest idea.

“Can I bum a smoke?” Cole asked when Eddie brought the cigarette to his lips.  Cole glanced down to his ankle and laughed humorlessly. “I don’t know. I can’t tell if it’s all in my head or if that really happened. You’d tell me if you thought I was going crazy, right?” he asked, half-joking. Cole straightened his back and met Eddie’s eyes. 

“So, not to be awkward, but… we’re cool, right?” Cole asked, sincerity written on his face. “I just mean… like, to me, we’re good.” They never had a chance to talk about what had happened, and since then, there was Thad and then Adam coming back. He didn’t think it was that deep, really, but wanted to make sure.

With Steve, it had been an unspoken agreement: Steve will bring it up if he wants to. But with Eddie, he wasn’t sure. With the frantic way things ended at the mall, it was impossible to know what Eddie had been thinking, what he could be thinking now. Cole felt drawn to him as a friend, and he hoped what had happened hadn’t ruined that from the start.  

Besides, Cole was very curious about what he’d seen between Eddie and Steve. It was glaringly obvious to him at the shore that something had happened, and when it clicked in Cole’s mind, he’d wanted nothing more than to congratulate them. Obviously, that was out of the question, but now that he’d found Eddie alone, he hoped it would come up. 

+++

"sure, here ya go.", eddie nodded, fumbled to pull a cigarette from his pack and handed it to cole, along with the lighter. his eyes followed cole's, dropping down to his ankle, brows drawn together in worried concern.

he shook his head. "no, you're not going insane, man. i saw it, too. i mean, like, not what... what exactly dragged you down or anything but, uh, i was there." eddie shrugged, pulled his lips into a polite smile - certainly not his best bid at reassuring someone that they weren't losing their mind but hey, he'd tried.

the question, albeit expected, caught eddie somewhat off-guard. fingers flexing, he nearly dropped the cigarette, straightened his back, searched cole's eyes. "uh, yeah. totally, totally, man. we're, uh, we're cool. yeah." accompanied by eager nods,brows still drawn together.

they hadn't had a chance to talk since the mall disaster, really, eddie had been preoccupied with committing arson, coming to terms with the fact that the supernatural was making a reappearance in town and kissing steve harrington, his schedule was quite busy these days. eddie had stopped by the music centre a couple of times, though he'd either been too nervous to talk to cole or had been roped into long, winding conversations about jazz and being a metalhead. so, yeah, they hadn't talked. and now, apparently, it was time to do just that.

not that eddie hadn't picked up on the fact that cole and adam were seemingly going strong again - the looks the two of them exchanged reminded him of one's that he shared with steve, too, and the thought of it made a faint blush rise to his cheek.

he nodded again. "yeah, we're cool. no worries. i.... saw that adam's back in town. im happy for you, man. really." said with a genuine smile, he patted cole's shoulder. "and also he's like smoking hot, so go you."

stevehharringtcns·:

even if steve’s parents had just recently gotten home, it wasn’t long until they were out again. his dad seemed to have another business trip, and his mom would always go along with him. he wasn’t sure why, but by now he had been used to being alone. in years before, he would have thrown a party, but as years went by, steve just realized that would imply having to throw a party every other week. and sometimes it was for the best if he was by himself. even if he was alone, steve still liked to confine himself in his room. it was just his safe place.

he had just gotten out of the shower, his hair still wet as he put on some shorts and he was ready to get in bed. there was nothing better to do and he was tired after spending the day standing on his feet at the video store. he was about to sit on his bed when he thought he heard a car on the driveway, but that couldn’t be possible. and that’s when he heard the knocks on the door.

raising an eyebrow as he got out of the room, not even bothering to put a shirt on, steve made his way downstairs as he heard the banging on the door. he was about to make a detour to grab one of his baseball bats, he didn’t want to try his luck with whatever was out there, and that’s when he heard eddie’s voice coming from the outside.

he frowned, rushing towards the door to open it, only to realize that he was standing shirtless in front of eddie. whatever, it didn’t matter. “eddie, what the hell are you doing? it’s late!” he said, but he couldn’t lie and say that he wasn’t a tiny bit relieved that it was eddie and not someone else. he wanted to see him, but he hadn’t gotten the time after he came back and now there he was, standing at his door. “what are you doing here? what’s wrong?” he asked, slightly concerned about the other as he remembered that he was practically begging him to open the door.

+++

there were many strings of thoughts rushing through his head at lightning speed once he opened the door. eddie felt relieved, fucking hell, at least steve was alright, or seemed to be, at first glance. he was safe, from what eddie could tell, and he released a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. 

relief however mingled with shock, surprise, and a sharp pang of... something very warm in his stomach. slowly, torturously slow, his eyes travelled down from steve’s face to his bare torso. the sight knocked the wind right out of his sails, eddie’s mouth fell open as if he wanted to say something but no sound escaped his lips. he blinked in disbelief, had to force himself to tears his eyes away fro steve chest. gaze quickly dropping to the floor, he suddenly felt extremely hot, wondered if the temperature had somehow risen in the last two minutes. his cheeks were burning, he was certain that he was sporting a nice, brigt blush.

“uh....”, it took him a moment to assemble the scrambled words in his head into a coherent sentence. he thought back to their first trip to the upside down for a moment, back to how he had nearly forgotten to fucking breathe when steve had taken off his sweater to jump into lover’s lake. how he’d tossed him his denim vest some half hour later, simply because he couldn’t stand the sight of shirtless steve anymore, it was making him all dizzy and disoriented. 

and it seemed that it still had the same effect now. eddie swallowed, frowned. think, munson, think, for god’s sake. “ i, uh. eggs. “, he suddenly blurted out, looked back up to meet steve’s eyes. “in benny’s diner. eggs, they , uh, they, like, hatched and...then there was this fucking fire, and it, it burned down and -”

zccming·:

as eddie yelped in pain, max cut in, “geez! watch it! i can’t afford to pay for your burn treatments right now.” the state of the kitchen stirred enough concern in max that she crawled off the couch and stood guard at the threshold, watching eddie. “don’t blow my house up.” her words of encouragement, obviously, weren’t helping, but she couldn’t seem to bite her tongue. the effort from eddie was sincere, and max did appreciate it, but at the end of the day she was a little shit who couldn’t keep her mouth shut and the idea of her mom coming home from a long shift to this mess was enough to get her antsy. 

eddie miraculously finished the meal and max stared at the aftermath skeptically, “i don’t complain.” she whined in refute. “now you go sit down, find us something to watch.” max prompted, mostly urging him out of the kitchen. while she had been very vocal about not helping him clean up, once she got him sitting, that’s exactly what max did. she swept the vegetables off the floor and did some of the dishes she could before making a plate for eddie and herself, then pouring then drinks to match. maybe this would work out to be a nice gesture after all. 

“here.” she handed him his food first, then sat with her own. eddie signaling max to try first didn’t bode well for the final product of this dish. willing to be somewhat optimistic, she took a bite, then immediately frowned. she managed to choke it down, then looked at eddie, “eddie,” max levelled with him, “this is burnt.” before he could ask what part, max clarified, “like, all of it.” she tapped her fork onto his plate, “you eat it and try to tell me this is edible.” she set her plate down, shaking her head. “idiot. i told you.” 

eddie had made enough choices about dinner that max was finally taking matters into her own hand. she marched into the kitchen and pulled out various take out menus from a drawer. calling to eddie, she asked, “do you want enzo’s, takeout from the bar menu at the hideaway, or something else?” and while she was at it, might as well add, “i hope you found something worth watching in the meantime.” 

+++

eddie scoffed, “this is hardly a house”, and turned on the tap, holding his hands under the cold water. he doubted this would actually help the blisters that would most definitely form on his palms in the near future but, oh well, better than nothing. 

next thing he knew he was being ushered out of the kitchen and eddie knew better than to protest. not that he was particularly keen on having to clean up, either. so he just rolled his eyes and plopped down on the couch, straining his arm to reach for the remote because once eddie sat down he was sat. he’d rather perform an acrobatic stunt that get up again, not after what felt like hours he’d spent slaving away in the kitchen. he chuckled. sounded like he was a housewife or something.

he aimlessly zapped through the channels, hooked on a dallas plotline for a moment before changing the channel yet again. dynasty? definitely not. zap. oh - he sat up straighter. now, this would do. eddie grinned, looked over his shoulder at max. “found our evening entertainment. unsolved mysteries.” eddie wiggled his eyebrows. “sorta ironic if you ask me. but it’s so good, max.”

what was, apparently, not as good was the food he’d cooked, as even eddie himself stared down skeptically at the plate she’d handed him. “what? come on, don’t bullshit me, you can’t burn pasta.” and to reiterate his point he did take a massive bite and soon found out that it was, in fact, very possible to burn pasta. he nearly choked, grimacing as he chewed and then swallowed. frowning, he set the plate aside on the side table. “god damn it. son of a bitch must’ve given me the wrong recipe.”

blame someone else, always a good tactic. sheepishly, eddie looked at max, gaze following her as she went to get the take out menus. “’m sorry. i fucked up.” and really, eddie was quite mad at himself. good for nothing. couldn’t even cook them a nice meal. shit. “um, enzo’s sounds good?”

willthewize·:

    Seeing Eddie jump up like he’s on fire, startled by the simple sound of a footstep, is almost saddening enough to overtake the joy Will feels upon seeing one of his heroes back in town. The reminder that even though they were hopefully done with all the shit that gave them nightmares, life didn’t just automatically go back to normal, no matter how much they wanted it to…It was the kind of thing Will tended to push down, save for later (and later was more of a fluid, conceptual thing, than a real time-frame.) So he focuses on the miniatures that had spilled from Eddie’s lunchbox.

     “Hey, it’s fine. It’s just me,” he answers the other guy’s muttered apologies as he gets down, not only to be on eye-level and show that he’s no threat, but to help pick up the tiny figures—hand-made and painted with evident care. Will pauses to admire them, turning an inch-tall monster over between his fingers. “These are amazing. Did you make these for the next campaign? Shit, should I not be looking at them?” In the interest of not spoiling the fun of the upcoming Hellfire game for himself, he carefully places the miniatures back in the box and stands, dusting his hands off before holding one out to Eddie to help him up, if desired.

     “So, you’re in town! You have a bunch of D&D figures. When’s the meeting?”  Will wastes no time beating around the bush. There are few things more exciting to him than the prospect of a Hellfire Club reunion hosted by the one and only, the original, Eddie Munson himself.

+++

“Ah - hey! Byers junior! What’s up, man?” And Eddie instantly, involunatrily relaxes once he realizes that it’s not just anyone it’s Will and hell, he’s glad to see him. A sight for sore eyes, he is - and how could he not be, when Eddie himself had appointed him Dungeon Master upon his exit from Hawkins. He grins, the sight of Will did remind him why he popped back into his hometown every now and again, but his grin quickly fades into a paniced expression, a tring of  “Oh, shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!” falling from his lips as he quickly - but carefully - gathers all miniatures from the ground and pops them back into his lunch box.

He accepts Will’s offer to help him up, dusts his palms off on his knees, thus leaving dirt on his ripped jeans but hey, whatever. “Well, duh. I’ve not, like, gone into the figurine trading business so yeah, they’re for the next campaign.” And with a grimace, he adds: “And you were definitely not supposed to see them. Well, fuck it.”

Will immediately resumes talking and the grin returns to Eddie’s lips because this? The anticipation and excitement in Will’s eyes? That’s a feeling unparalleled and Eddie lives for it. If making the freaks and outcasts and nerds of the world feel happy was this easy then, hell, why shouldn’t he go and do it? Why would he stop, just because he’s not in school anymore, just because he’s not living in Hawkins?

He nods. “Yup, I’m in town, I got the goods.”, he nods towards the box. “I was thinking maybe, like, next week-ish? Or the week after?”, Eddie shrugs, absent-mindedly pulls the bandana from his back pocket to wipe his hands off the remaining dirt. “I don’t know, I’m here all summer. Any word from Henderson or Mike?”

Season 4: Chapter Six — The Dive