Walkie Talks || Steddie

zccming·:

after starcourt–

after billy, it wasn’t uncommon to find max tucking herself away from the rest of the world. of course, she did that before too, but it came to a more extreme head in the following years. eventually, it developed into part of who she was. jaded, distant, sad. of course, she was a lot of other things, but tonight max was feeling like she was only those. she leaned back against a store front, staring at her half empty cup. it should’ve been you instead. vecna was only trying to get even with you. she didn’t remember a life before those thoughts decided to act up and rattle against her skull religiously every once in a while. max also found  that the memories of billy’s face, his lifeless body, and the chilled feeling in her feet liked to pair themselves with her guilty mantras. all these thoughts came with no solutions to permanently soothe them, and if there was an instruction manual, she was too stubborn to read it. her beer looked like blood in the dark. rather than moping, she should have anticipated that eddie at some point would come to check up on her, but she didn’t. 

jumping slightly at his approach, she sighed, “much fun as i can.” deflect, deflect, deflect. “you couldn’t have brought any crowd pleasers with you?” she teased in reference to his very obviously personal tunes blaring throughout the mall. “seriously, i can’t tell if it’s the beer, your music, or those upcoming hawkins high school seniors that are giving me this headache.” the words were harsh, but she managed to smile over at eddie when she asked in turn, “you having fun?”

+++

eddie rolled his eyes, lightly and playfully shoved her. “shut up.” he knew her well enough to know that max wasn’t a champion at talking openly about her feelings and what was bothering her - but then again, neither was he. and pressuring her into talking about something that triggered even more painful memories was the last thing he wanted. so he just shrugged, let her deflect all she wanted while he stood idly by. his presence and gaze screaming ‘ i am here, if you need me ‘. 

he dug in the inner pocket of his denim vest and pulled out a mixtape, shoved it at her. “here you go. nothing but crowdpleasers. top of the fucking pops.”, he grumbled, made a fake gagging noise and then threw a sly grin her way. “i came prepared, butthead. but so far no one’s complained about my tunes so...”, eddie trailed off, then narrowed his eyes and threw her a dirty look. “ - ‘cept for you! traitor.”

the mention of said hawkins high seniors made him involuntarily flinch, he clutched his beer tighter, eyes darting around the mall to spot the familiar green, white and yellow varsity jackets. they were kids, he tried to reassure himself, just kids, too young to have been part of the angry mob led by jason carver who had initiated the witch hunt. ‘ hunt the freak ‘. and to think that wasn’t the weirdest thing that had happened that year. eddie hurriedly shook his head, as if trying to shake the thought out of his mind.

he turned back to max. “i should have an ibuprofen somewhere in my van. d’you want me to go get it for you? or, alternatively, you could always stop drinking that god-awful beer. tastes like straight up piss.”

zccming·:

.

max squinted in eddie’s direction, communicating all she didn’t say. the main take away being, are you stupid? “i do do this for myself, like most nights out of the week.” her mom worked the night shift most days, it had been that way for years, max had learned how to fend for herself. sure, it wasn’t always a hot homecooked meal, but she did know how to feed herself, and she definitely knew how to use a knife without nearly losing a finger. “but you have a point.” max sighed, carefully avoiding the words you’re and right. “next time i’ll cook for us.”

at the end of the night, it didn’t matter whether or not eddie had made a five star meal or the inedible mush on their plates. the principal of sit down dinners was never about the food served, or each participants etiquette. they were about spending quality time with one another, and making an effort to connect. 

she hadn’t grown up with the most functional family and max never had a halting revelation that she wasn’t miss american pie and they weren’t the brady bunch. it was known in the same way she learned to walk or talk. she was born into chaos, from her parents divorce, to having billy hargrove and his insufferable dad as her new family members, then moving to hawkins. max seemed destined to walk a rocky path, but with eddie around, the idea of family stopped feeling so painful. it wasn’t how she always pictured it to be, but it felt nice when there were nights like these. 

unsolved mysteries prompted max to wonder if all of them were real, but that wasn’t of concern right now. she dismissed eddie’s thanks man with a, “shh! … you’re welcome.” as her eyes glued to the screen. it was going to be a long wait for their food if she couldn’t immerse herself into the show. at eddie’s assessment of incompetent law enforcement, max gave him a look, “if it seems that way then it definitely is that way.” she rolled her eyes, “we’d know living in hawkins… did you know they tried to give me a traffic violation for skateboarding on the side of the road?” groaning, max had to admit, “i’m so jealous that you don’t live here anymore. and you know, it’s only getting worse the older i get.”

+++

eddie rolled his eyes, over-dramatically but hummed in agreement, carerful not to let his pleased grin show because thats what he’d hoped max would suggest. not that he wouldn’t help her prepare the mayfield-munson-found-family-tv-dinners, he’d definitely help! just not...do them all by himself. because, as it turned out, he sucked at it. 

he settled further into the couch, idly sipping on his beer, dragging his upper lip mindlessly across the rim of the can as he let himself be engulfed by the storyline. eddie was a bit of a restless spirit, always fidgeting, never quite able to direct his attention on one sole thing for more than a few minutes. always looking for another distraction. it had been like that for as long as he could remember, though it had worsened significantly after their trip to the upside down.

as if on cue, he felt a phantom burn where his scars were located. a constant reminder that he’d been through hell and survived. “huh?”, he frowned, tore his eyes away from the screen to look at max. “for skateboarding? jeez, man. whats next, tickets for walking down the street? breathin?” eddie threw his hands up in theatrical mock outrage. “alas, we keep being oppressed by the man! sickening.”

he took a pointed gulp of his beer, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “you know, you can always get outta here, max.”, he said, mood a little sobered now. “offer still stands, kiddo. come back to chicago with me. i mean, yeah, my apartment’s like half the size of this trailer and a fucking shithole but we’ll make do. we can figure something out.”

thequeenofhawkins·:

𝐖𝐇𝐎: Chrissy Cunningham & @eddiemcnson··

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓: Chrissy and Eddie are just friends, oh no! sound off the homophobes :/

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: Junkyard bus

This was not normal. None of the last month was normal. It hadn’t been easy, accepting that she had died years ago. In fact, she hadn’t fully processed it. It defied everything that she had been taught. Science said it wasn’t possible, even religion said it wasn’t possible (except in very specific cases and Chrissy was sure that she, along with all the other commune people, were not messiah’s of any sort). Yet, she was somehow brought out of the soil and was now breathing heavily, her back pressed against the cold steel of the bus, legs outstretched on the seat after what could only be described as hellish. From rabid undead dogs to Max Mayfield backhanding her, she was, for once, ready to be back at home in her own bed.

She felt so useless the entire time. When people started asking her questions, she tensed up and barely said anything, choosing to lie to protect herself more than anything and when it came time to fight, Chrissy had to stay back with Jack so no one got hurt. Even if she had knocked over one of those dogs, she didn’t feel good about it. It just made her feel queasy, regardless of the circumstance. Once they had gotten out of the junkyard and Dustin’s driving steadied, Chrissy peeled herself from the seat and attempted to make herself useful by finding Lucas Sinclair’s backpack and grabbing his first aid kit. Growing up, Chrissy had always been taught practical skills that were deemed ladylike. First aid happened to just fall under that.

She walked back down the aisle, first aid kit in hand as she sat next to Eddie, making herself known. The last time she had seen him she had all but stomped into his trailer demanding to know what happened to her. Since then, she had gotten pieces, but never a concise story. She remembered being at his trailer last and even Chance said that he thought it had been Eddie who murdered her. It sat in the back of her head that maybe there was truth to that. “You probably want to get something on that soon,” she pointed out, looking down at his ankle where the rabid dog had attacked him. It didn’t look bad, per se, but it seemed like an injury that shouldn’t be left out to breathe either. She popped open the first aid kit and pulled out a tube of ointment, holding it out in his direction. “How’s it feel?” 

+++

his vision was a little blurry, thoughts hazy, but one thing was for certain - whomever had taught dustin henderson how to drive was a threat to society who thrived on chaos. eddie had gripped the backrest, holding on for dear life. eyes screwed shut, lips tighthly pressed together, making way for the occasional curse, as he tried to fight off the oncoming wave of nausea. breathing in through his nose, out through his mouth - or the other way around? 

whatever. at least he was breathing, he thought with a weak scoff, and the sickly, bittersweet sensation returned to the pit of his stomach. eddie placed a hand over his belly button, as if that would help anything. the spotty, dark visual of his eyes squeezed shut proved to be a perfect projection space as his mind forced him to replay the events past - the bickering about who to sacrifice to lure out the doppelganger, how max hadn’t hesitated to throw a punch chrissy’s way, earning the blow herself. how he’d approached the dog, how it had multiplied, how it had something to do with the fucking diner - and how they’d made it out miraculously, by the skin of their teeth. not completely unharmed, but out, at least.

in time, dustin’s driving had steadied and eddie had exhaled shakily, shifting to make himself more comfortable, only to be reminded of how he counted as part of the ‘not completely unharmed’. a sharp hiss, a curse, eddie didn’t managed to fight the urge to reach out, roll up his pant leg and inspect the injury, touch it, even. his face twisted into a grimace, he was almost annoyed at how fast the nausea managed to resurface. not that it looked that bad - just ... not good, either.

and another hit to his stomach as he looked up to find chrissy cunningham with a first-aid kit in hand. immediately, involuntarily, an aimge of her with her bones snapped and eyes rolled back floating on the ceiling of his trailer came into his mind and he had to look away, squeeze his eyes shut to force it to stop. chrissy was back now, she was alive. and eddie couldn’t go and panic at the sight of her face forever. so, reluctantly, he met her eyes, if only a for a few seconds, gave her a weak smile. “uh. well - not ideal but, uh, i’ll live.” he gave a nod. not too convinced with his own words. “uhm, how - how are you feeling?”

eddie looked between her and the ointment, then held up his hands. “i’ve got, like, demon-dog goo and grime on my hands, not really sure i should be rubbing anything into anything.” a little chuckle, he craned his neck to peek at the first aid kit. “you got any, like, bandages in there? gauge, maybe?”

stevehharringtcns·:

.

steve loved holding eddie like this. he loved it when the two of them were alone, enjoying every moment of it. they had been so busy fighting rabid dogs and having everyone around them that they barely could find the time to be alone together. and now that they were, steve was going to make sure to enjoy every minute of it. he closed his eyes as he let his head rest on the other’s shoulder for a couple of moments, pulling him closer to him. this felt nice, steve thought to himself. through all of the relationships he had been through, he had never had one like the one he had with eddie. and he was pretty sure that he wouldn’t find anyone like him. at least he hoped that eddie was the one for him, but maybe it was too early to talk about it. 

he let out a small chuckle as he heard eddie speak, being dramatic as he usually was. that had been a part of why steve had grown to like eddie so much. he opened his eyes and looked over at him with a smile on his face. he was glad that the other liked the haircut - it would have been bad if he had gotten one and suddenly he lost his boyfriend. it wouldn’t be very good to his self-esteem. “well, i’m glad you like it.” he said, before kissing his cheek.

once they were both settled on the couch, steve watched as the other draped his legs over his lap and smiled as he pulled him slightly closer to him. steve let out a sigh of relief once he felt his knee relax a bit, even if he had just been standing for a bit. it definitely wasn’t the worst injury he had ever had, but it definitely bothered him a bit. he was just hoping that it wouldn’t turn into anything serious. he let his hands rest on eddie’s legs as he slowly caressed them, looking over at his boyfriend. “we need to rest for a bit. i’m not opposed to that either, but… let’s just talk for a bit. you know, i think talking is… important, right? what did you do today?” he asked with a smile.

steve chuckled lightly as he watched his boyfriend shake his head at the thought of him having short hair. “i doubt that you wouldn’t be able to rock it. trust me, i think you would look hot.” he said, blushing lightly. “but you’re right, the long hair does suit you. and i do love it a lot.” he smiled.

+++

a content smile on his face, eddie hummed, tilted his head to press a quick kiss to steve's temple. they hadn't been able to get moments like these lately, just the two of them. the two of them, as happy as can be, considering everything that was going on around them - a little slice of happiness if you will. good for the soul, kept you from going completely mad. he nuzzled his fave into steve's freshly cut hair, greedily inhaled the scent of his shampoo and various other hair products, eyes nearly rolling back into his head.

it wasn't quite cuteness aggression that drove eddie to give into his impulses and tilt his head again to - gently - bite the tip of steve's nose, but it was something along those lines - happiness aggression, maybe? 'being content in your boyfriends arms as you share a small moment of peace and quiet in the midst of a whirlwind that could very well lead to the end of the world, once again' aggression. in any case, eddie munson had never been one to deny himself impulsive actions. with a wide toothy grin he fell back against the couch, giggling to himself. he smoothed steve's nose with his thumb, muttering a quiet 'sorry' into the couch cushions.

he blew a raspberry, taking a strand of steve's hair between his fingers, twirling it around. "fine", he groaned with a playful roll of his eyes. "you're no fun, harrington - but fine, ignore my shameless flirting, let's just talk. talking is good. I agree." and he over accentuated his nod to show just how much he agreed. "what did i do today, let's see... uh, i rubbed some suspicious smelling ointment on this fucker right here." he wiggled his injured foot to the best of his abilities, had to hold back a pained wince as he did so. "re-wrapped it and shit. watched tv. wayne made me some eggs and tea and stuff, all that yucky healthy shit. i get up every half hour or so to walk around, curse my dreadful existence and wait for my handsome soldier to return from the war and come back to me." eddie sighed dramatically, the back of his hand against his forehead before he leaned in to press a quick kiss to steve's lips." and here you are, returned to me at last! i rejoice!"

a suddenly bashful smile on his lips, eddie was sure there was a red tint to his cheeks now and he quickly pulled some of his own hair to cover his face. "oh, stop it - you have to say that, you're my boyfriend. what if i show up rocking a mohawk one of these days? what if I go insane and buzz my hair again huh? id look awful, im telling you." he cringed as he remembered his buzzcut era. no, yeah, he was definitely going to stick to long hair for the foreseeable future." however.... flattery does work with me, stevie, be careful. you call me hot one more time and im afraid im gonna have to jump your bones."

savethevirginia·:

—  ❤ —

Ginny hadn’t been back in town long. It had only been about a month since she walked that Penn State stage and she had spent a lot of time catching up with her selected family and Cal. After all, they were the ones at the top of her list. Everyone else just eventually fell below that until she either ran into them or bothered to pick up the phone and call anyone who’s number she could remember. 

It was hot out on this particular day in Hawkins. Probably something to do with all that talk her dad did about global warming. After getting done with her shift, she went out of her way to stop by Melvald’s to pick up a few things, still in her swimsuit (with a totally appropriate pair of short on over!). Turns out, her dad didn’t exactly stay stocked up on Ginny’s favorite snacks. She had a basket in her arms full of chips, sugary drinks, and ventured into the dairy aisle to hunt down enough yogurt to sustain her for the next week.

She almost didn’t notice him, masked by pulled up hair and an uncharacteristic shirt, but she’d recognize Eddie Munson anywhere. Even in a crowd of a thousand people. Ginny had lost contact with a lot of people after high school, including Eddie. At one point in time, they had been close. In some ways, she’d still consider him one of her closest friends. They were both outsiders, losers, and while high school was one of the most miserable times in Ginny’s life, Eddie had made it… slightly tolerable.

“Now, Edward, I don’t think we have to have a lesson in manners, do we?” She teased, her face not moving from its cool state as she walked towards him. "I heard you’re wanted again,” she pointed out, as if he didn’t know. She had read the paper and seeing his name in big black letters surprised her. He should be in Chicago, slumming it up with the other like minded freaks of the world. “Please tell me that’s the reason for this sad ensemble,” she pulled at the collar of his flannel. “You can’t go changing on me.”

+++

eddie frowned, his brows twitching as he looked at her. god, he hadn’t seen her since ... he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d seen her. must’ve been sometime around graduation, some two years ago. before eddie had booked it out of hawkins at the first opportunity, leaving his old life behind - that meant friends, too, of course. wasn’t a big deal, right? lots of people lost contact with their school friends over the years, time passed, life went on. for eddie it was all a bit different, seeing as he didn’t have many school friends to begin with. less people meant they were more important to him, less likely to be forgotten and left behind. ginny driscoll however was a face he truly thought he’d never see again, save for the odd high school reunion (that he probably wouldn’t attend, anyway). 

they’d been close in school, two outsiders who’d formed a caharacteristic acquaintance. then came spring break of ‘86, the witch hunt instigated by one jason carver, the upside down. weeks spent in the hospital, a silent walk across the stage at graduation. he’d flipped off principal higgins as promised, had agreed to a small graduation celebration at the new trailer and in the morning his van had left hawkins for the last time in months. he hadn’t told anyone, had barely talked to anyone except for the people who’d been through the whole vecna situation with him. that hadn’t included ginny.

he gave her a nod, fumbled awkwardly with a loose thread on his sleeve. “yup. heard that too.” it was ironic, how he’d just listened to ‘wanted man’ by ratt back in the van. everything about coming back to hawkins seemed ironic lately, and also fucking tragic. “that’s exactly why i’m dressed like my uncle right now. better to blend in when you’re wanted for arson, right?” and he gave her a weak chuckle, more of an amused scoff, pulling his sleeves further down. “you’re one to talk. seems like you’ve done an awful lot of changing. didn’t even recognise you at first. what’re you doing back in hawkins?”

zccming·:

.

it was weird enough that eddie had stopped by during her shift, but his entire demeanor was enough to send a jolt up her spine. shut up. max looked physically taken aback, “what gives?” she asked in return, but eddie would up answering her with a string of paranoid questions. wondering how he might know, max shifted in her seat behind the counter. his sense of urgency was suddenly adding up and it seemed worth her while to pay attention. 

to max, eddie was so blatantly wondering about here whereabouts because he went through something, at the same time. she scooted a little closer to the counter, “i was with the boys, well not lucas, but the rest of them. will’s mom…” max started, a distant look glossing over her eyes. apparently, it wasn’t going to get any easier each time she disclosed this information, “we went to the edge of town,” she mustered up the courage to glance back up at eddie, “something tried to get us, but we made it out.” the way she put it wasn’t exactly comforting, but she thought finishing it off with a little sarcasm might make it better. max tilted her chin up to reveal a bandaid, “so stoked to have another scar!” she flashed a sickeningly enthusiastic smile, then her expression dropped along with her chin.

maybe the fabrication of an unaffected demeanor would rub off on eddie. her hopes weren’t high, but she had to try something to chill him out before he lost all his marbles. “nothing weird since,” she hummed, “except you, right now.” figuring that this conversation might be best continued privately, max exited the booth the counter sat inside, grabbed eddie, pulled him back inside after her, then sat him down in her chair while she pulled the blinds down in the windows. this warranted an early lunch break. after a couple of quiet moments spent gnawing on her cheek and staring at eddie, max asked, “so? what happened to you two days ago? that’s why you’re so freaked, right?” max had been at the border, heard about the cemetery from lucas, and now this. truly, how much worse could it get?

+++

he listened intently, brows drawn together in concentration. and he felt his stomach drop as max affirmed his  suspicions - something had happened. something weird. to her, too. whatever the fuck had been going on in hawkins since, well, seemingly since the dawn of time, it was back. it was happening again and eddie was, quite frankly, absolutely terrified.

“something.”, he echoed, brows pulled into a nervous frown. “’something’ tried to get you. not someone. something.” and his voice pitched up slightly, the way it did right before it got all loud and panicky, so albeit unexpectedly, startling him, max pulling him back into the booth was a welcome gesture. giving him the opportunity to take a couple calming breaths in the process.

if he hadn’t been on the brink of the second or third nervous breakdown in two days, eddie would’ve snorted with laughter at the way max drew the blinds and sat him down - like a scene right out of a film noir, where the detectives finally sit their subject down and interrogate them. he cleared his throat. 

“i was....hanging with nancy.”, he said, and that statement alone was odd enough for his tastes. it was about to get even weirder. “we, uh, that’s hopper and his kid, nancy and i. well, we went..we were investigating and we sorta, uh.” he looked up at her, sheepish smile on his face. “long story short we burnt down benny’s.”

a moment of silence, eddie’s eyes darted around as he tried to gather his thoughts, remember what was important. “long story a little longer - there were eggs. in the diner. big, big, freaky alien eggs that have hatched, max.” and his voice went shaky and breathy and intense at the last two words. “there was this, this goo on the ground and we thought it was blood but! but it wasn’t. and then - the eggs and. yeah. burnt it down. went home. as if nothing happened.”

he cleared his throat, purses his lips as he exhaled, deeply. “it’s happening again, isn’t it.” it’s not really much of a question. “i can’t fucking believe this.”

mayorstjames·:

who: spencer st. james & @eddiemcnson·

where: near city hall

spencer was done with his day at work. it hadn’t been that stressful now that he thought about it, but it hadn’t been that interesting either. it had been dull, if anything. but now he could finally go home and so he made his way towards his car. it was almost getting dark outside, which didn’t surprise him. as he unlocked his car, he noticed a familiar face walking by. a face that he hadn’t seen in a while, but definitely a face he remembered. it was impossible to forget the face of eddie munson, the purp who had been the suspect of all of the mystery deaths in 1986. and the one who had caused so much trouble.

turning to stop the other on his tracks, standing in front of him, spencer looked at the other with a small smile on his lips. a fake one, obviously, but nevertheless a smile. “edward munson, right?” he asked. he knew exactly who he was. but he wanted to see how the other would react. “now, that’s a face i never thought i would see again. i didn’t know you were back in hawkins.” he said. not that he knew of his whereabouts in the past two years, but it seemed like he had disappeared after everything that happened, so he only assumed that he had left town.

+++

another day, another visit to family video. to catch up with robin, flirt with steve until he was all blushing and flustered, eddie counted today as a success as he walked back to where he’d parked his van near city hall, hand sin his pockets, an uncharacteristic smile on his face. whistling the melody of quiet riot’s ‘cum on feel the noize’ to himself. the sun was shining, the heat off the day slowly cooling down. no, yeah, today was a good day. and eddie was going to go home and smoke, maybe hit up max, too, and he was going to make it an even better day.

it was funny, in hindisght, how quickly a good day could turn into a great one, and how a great day could turn into a horrifically bad one. all thanks to the sight of one unfortunately familiar face. eddie stopped walking abruptly, nearly tripped over his own feet. brows furrowed, he nearly grimaced. he scoffed. “uh, yeah. eddie. but whatever.” pretending like he didn’t know exactly who he was. eddie fought off the urge to roll his eyes. 

“back for the summer, mayor spencer. assuming it still is ‘mayor’?” eddie mirrored his smile, it was equally fake and equally difficult, as he was going against his body’s natural instinct of looking at the other with an expression of pure disgust. but he was going to play it nice and safe. after all, his uncle still lived here - and presently, thanks to the border shenanigans, eddie was in no position to leave the town.

colemontgomeryx·:

xx. 

Cole didn’t waver under Eddie’s gaze. If he was correct, Eddie’s behavior made sense. Cole felt it too, the fear of being found out by someone who wasn’t safe. It was the reason Cole and Adam snuck around for the three years they were together– to avoid the football jocks and the band geeks and the teachers berating them and calling them names. Only it never stopped there; it often got physical, violent. Of course Eddie was afraid.

It was like they were playing chicken, like they were standing in front of a train for as long as possible and pulling back at the last second– exhilarating, maybe, but not satisfying. Something about being in the mall, all his thoughts about Adam… it was the perfect concoction for a confession. “I like guys,” he said, meeting Eddie’s eyes again. “Adam was my boyfriend.”

And then: relief. Cole felt like he’d recovered part of himself, like he’d regained a phantom limb. He hadn’t been able to talk about his feelings this openly since, well, Adam. It was refreshing, rejuvenating even. “If you want, I’ll prove it,” he teased, giving Eddie a once-over. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so open about it, but what’s the worst that could happen?

+++

see, cole could’ve hit eddie flat in the face with a giant metal sign that said ‘i’m into guys’ and he still wouldn’t have taken the hint. just...the thought of someone else in hawkins that was like him. surely not - or well, they just wouldn’t come right out the gate and say it. no, being...different, whatever kind of different, and living in that godforsaken town - for some people that was comparable to a death sentence.

still, his eyes widened, blinking at cole with that ‘deer caught in the headlights’ look as he hastily in- and exhaled the smoke. not that that did anything in terms of calming him down. on the contrary, eddie just started to fidget more. “as in....you like them or...like, like like them....” he felt like a fucking middle-schooler. but he just continued. “your boyfriend. you mean like when ... wheeler and buckley or like, i dunno, girls call each other ‘girl-friends’ or like....like if...like, when wheeler called harrington her ‘boyfriend’ when they were still a thing?”

as confused as eddie was about the whole situation he apparently still had it in him to blush and get insanely flustered at cole’s....suggestion? if that’s what it was? lips parted, mouth dropped open slightly, he took another drag. his eyes never left cole’s, only once to go look around them, see if anyone was in earshot. negative. “h-how....”, his lips formed around words he didn’t say, a thousand scenarios flashes in his head. eddie blinked.”...how would - you, uh, prove....it?”

# eddie is fed up with their lack of music culture

STRANGER THINGS | Papa (4.08)

colemontgomeryx·:

This was exactly what Cole had wanted to do all day: sit by the lake holding a book, giving him the perfect excuse to disassociate without being judged. But instead, he’s been all over town: helping Max break into a grocery store, getting roped into the Wheeler barbecue, and generally exhausting his already-low social battery. So he trudged through the vegetation to his favorite spot: an isolated bench just far enough away from the shoreline to be remote.

Or so he thought. A sudden burst of movement much too big to be a squirrel caused Cole to slow his steps, until he peered around the trees to see none other than Eddie Munson. Cole didn’t know Eddie very well, but everyone knew about Eddie. Personally, Cole didn’t believe the stories: Eddie was so not the kind of guy who could kill a cheerleader. Plus, Eddie was friendly with Max and Harrington, so he couldn’t be that weird. Geeky, maybe, but not creepy.

Setting his novel aside, Cole bent down to help Eddie pick up the figurines.Fuck, why were they so small? “Yeah, I’m good,” Cole said, handing over the three he’d collected. “Eddie, right? Were you leaving?” he asked, not wanting to kick Eddie out of his spot. “Hey… what are these, anyway?” Cole asked, standing up and brushing leaves off of his knees.

+++

He took them from Cole’s hand with an acknolwedging nod, slowly got up again once he had all figurines back safely in his lunch. Eddie dusted his palms off on his jeans, leaving stains but whatever, and finally looked up to meet the other person’s eyes. His own narrowed slightly, gears turning. “......Cole. You’re Cole, yeah?” And it sounded more like a statement than a question. But that’s Eddie for you, extremely awkward at times. He nodded - then...shook his head. “Yeah, I was headin’ out -”, he pointed behind himself with his thumb. “Like, soon as I heard some noise I was gonna get outta here. Not really looking for trouble, you know.”

He just...idly nodded to himself, clutched the handle of his metal box a little tighter. Until it dawned on him and his eyes narrowed again. “You’re not here to, like, beat me up, are you? Because I swear to God there are enough people in Hawkins looking to get a good punch in with Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson.”, he said, somewhat exasperatedly, and sigh deeply. He lifted his arms. “So if you are then, just, like, get it over with. I’m not looking for trouble.” And he closed his eyes, bared his cheek, brows drawn together, waiting for that painful hit to his jaw.

But it didn’t come. Tentatively, he opened one eye, the other still squeezed shut. But Cole wasn’t charging forward to pull him in by his collar and plant a punch, no, he was standing there rather....peacefully. Non-threatingly. Eddie lowered his arms. “Huh?” His eyes followed Cole’s gaze, dropped down to the lunch box. He blinked. “Oh, these? The little...”, he trailed off, gestured with his thumb in the directon of the metal box. “They’re...do you remember Hellfire Club? They’re for the next DnD campaign.”