chitona | for charmingdingus

for charmingdingus

( Eddie should be dead. He remembers feeling life leave him and remembers saying goodbye to Dustin. So why is he still drawing in breath? It hurts like hell, and he's almost certain if he doesn't get help soon, he will die, for real this time.

Maybe that's why Eddie doesn't immediately make a beeline for Dustin's house. He tells himself it's because he isn't one hundred percent sure which one is Dustin's, but that would be a lie. He's dropped the kid off after Hellfire before, after all.

He could try the Sinclairs, but Eddie still feels guilty for how he maybe sort of manipulated his friends into choosing Hellfire over watching Lucas in the Championship game. Besides, he has no idea what happened with Max, and Eddie only has so much time.

It makes perfect sense to go to Harrington's house. Besides, it's nice and big, and it has plenty of beds for him to crash on and hide from whatever creatures were still lurking around the Upside Down while Vecna was weakened. At first, it didn't seem like Steve was home much, not that Eddie could blame him. Still, he was running out of time, and he needed to get Steve's attention somehow.

And so, he waited until Steve turned on one of the light sources in his bedroom. Steve might not know Morse code like Henderson, but as long as he notices it and comes to Eddie's rescue, that is all he needs. The rest would work itself out. It had to, otherwise what the hell is the point of still being alive down here? )

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[Steve was exhausted. Which meant a lot coming from him. He was no stranger to long days, days that felt all at once like a month and also no more than an hour. The Russian base under Starcourt was a day like that. Days like that, he isn’t even sure how long he was trapped under there.

After he got dragged under lovers lake was similarly long. His time in the upside down blending together until he couldn’t tell how much time had passed since he found his way out of the other dimension and they fought Vecna.

Today was exhausting for all those reasons and for others entirely. Dustin wasn’t coping well. Steve can still hear his screams as he dragged Dustin away from Eddie’s corpse. Apologizing over and over that they had to leave him. He practically had to carry Dustin out, his leg injured as it was and Steve was hardly running on all cylinders after his own run in with the bats. It took forever to calm Dustin down when they got back. Steve had spent most of the day at his house, convincing him again and again that they couldn’t go back for Eddie’s body. That it wasn’t safe. That he was gone.

Steve sighs again at the thought as he trudges up the stairs to his room. He was only able to leave because Claudia finally slipped a sleeping pill into Dustin’s dinner. He doesn’t blame her. Nobody had really slept since they got back and it wasn’t doing anyone any good to be that physically exhausted, not when they were already emotionally spent.

He turned on the lamp by his bed as he went to sit down. The mattress squeaking slightly under his weight as he sits, his hand immediately going to rub his eyes. He knows he should sleep too. But every time he closes his eyes, he sees Eddie. The last look the other man gave him before they parted ways melding into his lifeless stare up at the sky as Dustin screamed and cried beside him.]

Shit.

[Steve murmurs into the empty room as he drops his hand. He’s so lost in his thoughts he almost doesn’t see it. Almost doesn’t acknowledge the way his light is flickering just so.

When he does notice, he jumps, falling sideways off the bed. He stares as he slowly pulls himself back up.

Its too controlled to just be regular flickering. And it’s not as fast as when the electricity signifies the presence of a monster. It’s just a careful blink. Again and again and again.

Steve spins around, as if expecting someone to be in the room with him, but of course it is empty. At least in this dimension.]

Hello?

( For a fleeting moment, Eddie's worry intensifies, fearing he might not be able to capture Steve's attention. Steve appears preoccupied, and Eddie understands, considering the harrowing experiences they've all endured. Despite the apparent absence of the monsters that once threatened their lives in the Upside Down, Eddie's intuition tells him that the danger is far from over.

It's a flicker of hope that the nightmare isn't over, that there might still be a chance for Eddie to escape. Despite his weakened state, he clings to the possibility of finding a portal. Even if he were to stumble upon one, he's not sure if he has the strength to push through the membrane, to emerge on the safe side of Hawkins.

But Steve's voice is unmistakable. Eddie jumps onto his feet and starts flicking his hand through the light even faster to indicate he is there and that Steve isn't just seeing things. )

Yes! ( Eddie whispers to himself, his voice brimming with a mixture of relief and encouragement. He knows Steve is unable to hear him, their only means of communication last time being the Lite Brite. ) C'mon, big boy, I believe in you. You can figure this out. Who else would be trapped here?

[When Steve speaks into what he assumed was the emptiness of his room, the light starts blinking even faster. He can feel his heart start to race, his mind already trying to work out if this is a trap or Vecna or something else entirely.

The thing is, it's almost like when Steve spoke, the light got excited. Like it's flickering dramatically, going a mile a minute. Eerily similar to the mannerisms of someone he knows. Someone he really doesn't want to get his hopes up that it might be.

On the one hand, if it is that person, then it means he's alive, that he can be saved. But on the other hand, it means that they left him. And Steve isn't sure how to handle that.]

Okay, okay. Calm down. How do I know this isn't a trap? ...Blink twice if you're not Vecna.

[It's not his best plan, honestly it's not even a plan, how could that even work? But if it does blink twice, then at least he knows that whatever(whoever) is trying to communicate with him can understand him.

( Steve would probably describe his response as exasperated if Eddie were there in person. If he remembers this attempt at communing later once he escapes the Upside Down, he is having words with Steve even though he has to admit that he is grateful that Steve is both cautious and simultaneously trusting. He would have been devastated if Steve had ignored him, leaving him to waste away in this otherworldly dimension. )

Blink...twice dude? You've seen too many movies, ( Eddie mutters, shaking his head. However, he still does what Steve says, flicking his hand into the glowing light to cause the light on Steve's end to blink twice. At least they have some way of communicating, even if it won't allow Eddie to do more than respond to Steve's questions. )

Next thing he'll be telling me once for yes, twice for no, ( Eddie adds despite knowing that no one can hear him. )

[It’s obvious Steve didn’t think much further ahead in his plan when the blinking causes him to scream out.]

Ahh! Shit!

[Okay, okay. This is fine. Steve just has some sort of inter-dimensional being trying to communicate to him through the lights. Totally normal.

Steve backs up a few steps and then turns his back to the light, needing a minute to clear his head without whoever it is watching him. As if the person is the light, instead of just using the light.

This is stupid and crazy, even for him. It could still be a trap and he’s over here asking it questions. He should tell someone. Robin, or maybe Nancy…or..well…

He’s already embarrassed himself thoroughly in front of Nancy and for all he knows this could be nothing. A coincidence. The whole town just got ripped open, there’s bound to be issues to the power grid.]

Get a grip, Steve.

[He runs a hand through his hair, psyching himself up before turning around, narrowing his eyes as if daring the light to go off again.]

Just give me a second. I’m not usually the one with the plan. I’m the one that kind of just goes along with the plan and makes sure no one gets hurt. [Except he supposes this time. Goddamnit. Why couldn’t the light person go to someone else’s house? Someone who knew more about this stuff?]

( Eddie knows he should be patient, but this shit is starting to look a little dire. Although he, by some miracle, hasn't bled out yet, that doesn't necessarily mean it won't happen eventually. Maybe time moves slower here, somehow. After all, this place is stuck in 1983, apparently. So perhaps it's literally frozen in time. )

C'mon, Harrington, I believe in you, think. ( Eddie mutters, pacing Steve's room to find something else he could use to communicate. Maybe a radio or something? Without knowing how the Upside Down works, he is at somewhat of a loss, but he does try to fiddle with a tape deck, hoping that it's something Steve still happens to have several years later. Maybe if he can get it to hone in on a radio station that's heavy metal, Steve will get the picture...

It's better than waiting for Steve to have his own eureka moment, anyway. )

[Even though he asked for a minute, having the peace and quiet does nothing to help Steve come to a conclusion any faster than when the lights were flickering. The truth is that whether this thing, this entity that is communicating with him is good or bad, it doesn't really seem to matter. It chose him. In order to keep everyone else safe, he's going to have to see what it wants.

He's preparing himself to turn around again when he hears the crackling of his stereo turning on. He jumps as he turns to it, eyes widening as it settles on a station Steve has never listened to before. He doesn't know the song but he can recognize the screaming for what it is; metal.]

Munson?!

[Steve rushes to the tape deck, falling to his knees in front of it as he puts his hands on either side. He remembers the stories that Jonathan told about Will's time in the Upside Down, how he was able to use music sometimes. There isn't a single other person Steve knows that would be playing this. It has to be Eddie.

The only problem is that Steve saw Eddie. Touched him, held him, felt his body go cold. Eddie is supposed to be dead.]

Shit, shit, shit. Eddie? What the hell? How are you doing this?

( Eddie could cry right now when he hears Steve say his name. He just wishes he could see the guy. Soon, he tells himself. Steve just has to help him get out of the Upside Down first.

Now that Steve knows who he's communicating with, though, Eddie isn't sure how to talk to Steve. It's one thing to get his attention and another thing entirely to carry on a goddamn conversation. He doesn't know how this works, but he gathers that simply talking into the empty air doesn't work both ways. It hadn't when they tried to communicate with Henderson, after all.

Eddie chews on his lip as he tries to think of a way to work with Steve. They used the LiteBrite, but he has a feeling Steve doesn't have one lying around. The only Morse code Eddie knows is SOS. He fiddles with the radio since, aside from messing with the lamp, he doesn't know what else to do. )

Please, Harrington, ( Eddie pleads, closing his eyes and trying to picture where Steve would be if their worlds were merged into one. ) If there's anyone who can get me out of here, it's you.

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for charmingdingus

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Arrives literally 6 weeks late, with a starbucks

i'm so glad you're okay! i was just thinking about you <3

Aw, thank you! I’m def doing better. Happy to jump back into it. <33

<3 <3 <3

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