for homeruns

[thefreak]

[ After everything is said and done, Eddie can't exactly go back to a normal life. Besides the fact that Hawkins has forever branded him a murderer, he became the very monster they wanted him to be. There's no hope of him ever reintegrating into society now.

But he also can't exactly run off like he originally planned to. The city isn't safe for someone like him. Someone who requires...a certain kind of diet.

So, somehow that has led to crashing at Steve's. Because Steve's parents are never home, which that's a whole can of worms Eddie hasn't even tried to work through just yet. But it's a place to stay, and thankfully the whole sunlight being a problem thing isn't true so he can just sleep during the day and hunt for animals to feed off of at night.

Except he's run into a bit of a hitch, because this thing has been ongoing for a few weeks now, but Eddie's not getting any better. It almost feels like his body is rejecting the donated blood and the animal blood, and he knows deep down what it's really craving, but he can't do that. He's too afraid that once he has a taste, that it will be all over, that he won't be able to stop and he'll kill someone.

He hasn't told Steve as much yet, hoping that maybe he just won't notice how lethargic Eddie has started to become, how he's been sleeping later and later past sundown lately. Steve has his own problems, anyway, and there's no need for Eddie to add onto them.

The sun has set about an hour ago, but Eddie still can't bring himself to roll out of the guest room. Steve is...who the hell knows where, but he hasn't dragged Eddie out of bed, so that's something at least. Maybe he can sneak out and get a quick hunt in before Steve even knows he's gone. And maybe he'll be better off not coming back, if this is the path he's headed down. ]

Comments

[homeruns]

[ Sure, Steve is sometimes slow on the uptake, but that doesn't make him stupid. Maybe he doesn't know exactly what's going on with Eddie, but the symptoms are like a bright, flashing, billboard-- impossible to miss. He just doesn't know what to make of the signs, and Eddie is tight lipped every time he tries to ask. And Steve does try to ask, more than once, lobs questions both vague and direct, probing for any scrap of information he can collect. Something isn't right, and he hates being kept in the dark.

Whatever is going on, it's easy enough to see that Eddie is worse for wear, in a way that turns Steve's stomach. He can see Eddie getting worse by the day-- or perhaps by the night is the more accurate description. Steve's not home much, trying to fill his day with work or volunteering or errands, but he finds himself acutely aware of Eddie's defunct sleep schedule. He's still trying to figure out what to make of all it, tries connecting the dots in what feels like a hundred different way with no answers.

He's only just gotten home from his shift volunteering at the school, and finds his house empty and silent. Theoretically, he should be used to that, and he is, but not when Eddie's here. When Eddie had first taken up residence in the guest room, he had managed to fill the house with raucous laughter and silly jokes. He hadn't meant to let himself become accustom to it, but now that it's gone, he misses is terribly.

Steve finds himself creeping through his own house, cracks the door to the guest room enough to poke his head inside. ]

Munson? [ He asks after a moment, nervous and curious all in the same breath. ] You okay in there?

[thefreak]

[ So much for being able to sneak out. When he hears Steve's voice, Eddie knows that he's going to come in and check on him. He isn't sure he can hide the fact that the blood he's been feasting on hasn't been working. That his body is craving something fresh, and that Eddie isn't sure he would be able to keep himself under control if he were to, say, find a fresh human donor.

And he hates that he knows that Steve would volunteer himself if it came to that. Always the self sacrificing one, Steve was. But Eddie wouldn't be able to live with himself if he hurt Steve like that. He tries to hide under the covers as much as he can, poking out just enough so that he can respond to Steve. ]

Yeah, just peachy. [ Even his voice sounds tired. He curses himself for not being able to act as well as he usually would be able to, under normal circumstances. Now he has no doubts that Steve is going to weasel his way into the guest room and really check up on Eddie. ]

'msure it'll pass, probably just got a bad batch of blood.