[ This is one blow after another, and Eddie just cannot roll with these punches. Mike joining him in death is hard enough to handle, but with an unconscious Max and a very much alive Vecna piled on top of that, he feels like heās about to be crushed under the weight of everything.
Even worse is that he doesnāt know what heās supposed to say to any of this. Is he just supposed to nod and act like itās all okay? He canāt even help. He has no positive outlook on his own situation so how can he assure Mike that itās going to be okay? Itās notānot in his opinion.
All he can do is twist anxiously at the rings on his fingers, searching of something to say that might make him sound sound vaguely like a responsible, comforting adult and not a young man about to be swallowed by his anxiety and grief. ]
Sounds like you were pretty badass. Last one standing.
[ It doesnāt sound like there was a lot of opportunity to fight back, but not running counts as badass in Eddieās book. He swallows hard, his frown only deepening. ]
I don't know why I even give half a shit about that stupid fucking town, but...I hope they have more than a chance.
[ He would have run, is the thing. He would have tried to, if he'd had five more seconds. Ducked out of the demo's reach, run to find Will and Mrs. Byers and tug them to safety. And if- if they weren't still okay... Getting back to the tunnels, at least. Back to the others, to make sure they were okoay. He's pictured it a million times since the memories snapped into him - pushing up off the ground faster, or not letting the explosion knock him out. ]
Vecna, he was- [ Mike tips his head back against the wall, pinching his eyes closed. ] He got a bunch of kids. Dragged them to the Upside Down. He wants to- to use them, for something. Like he used Will.
[ He can't even remember if Eddie knows about that, and he doesn't have the room to care right now. ]
He took my sister first. [ It almost feel empty, as though the only way he can push the words out is to detach from them. ] Sent a demogorgon to my house, when me and Nancy weren't there. And it- My parents- [ A deep breath, wet but level. ] My mom was still alive, when I saw her, but I don't- my dad hasn't...
[ It doesn't matter whether or not Mike gets along with him, or even likes him. He's Mike's dad, and losing him is still unimaginable. And if he doesn't wake up, and their mom doesn't make it out of the ICU, and they don't get Holly back... Nancy's going to be all alone. ]
[ Eddie thinks he almost might be so stressed by everything Mike is relaying to him that heās ascending beyond anxiety to something worse. Slowly, without a word, he lowers his face back into his hands, just to block out the world for a moment and allow himself to exist with his thoughts.
Part of him canāt help but think that he died at a fantastic time, actually; he got to avoid facing all of this himself, not to mention that the threat of prison looming over him head wasnāt going to go away. But another part of him is just painfully upset. No, he doesnāt know exactly what happened to Will Byers in 1983, but knowing what he knows now, he could only assume the kidās disappearance and reappearance was related somehow. Kids donāt deserve to go through that shit, an it seems as if a whole lot of kids are involved. ]
Piece of goddamn shitā
[ He mumbles into his palms, finally lifting his face to fix Mike with a lookāsympathy, maybe, though he tries not to make it too obvious. Thatās the whole goddamn Wheeler family (as far as he knows). Eddieās already lost a parent. Both, if you count the fact that he hasnāt actually seen his father in years, but he doesnāt think much of his father as it is. His mother, however, passed away when he was six. Maybe thatās a lifetime ago at this point, but he does remember how absolutely miserable he felt knowing that heād never see her again. Itās a wound that never truly healed, though he never expected it would. He knows what it's like, and he hopes Mike doesn't have to feel it.
But he does have a question. His eyebrows knit together and he tilts his head questioningly. ]
How did it take your sister if she wasnāt there?
[ What do you mean the six year old Nancy was referring to wasnāt Mikeā¦ ]
[ It's confusing enough to break Mike's spiraling thoughts, for just a moment, the question repeating and repeating in bits and pieces until it makes sense. He blinks at Eddie, giving a jittery shake of his head. ]
No, it's- Not Nancy. [ Nancy's fine, he almost says, but even that's a fact he can't lean on. He hadn't seen Nancy in hours before he woke up here, and that's plenty long enough for even more of his world to get torn to shreds. ] Holly. My little sister, Holly.
[ Mike wipes his hands across his face, under his nose, up into filthy hair. If it was unthinkable to talk about what happened to him, talking about Holly feels world-ending. It feels like failure, like sorrow, like he's going to puke right onto his shoes. ]
She's ten. Fifth grade. [ Please ignore the fact that she was recently six. ] Didn't- didn't even know about any of this shit before.
[ Eddieā eyebrows knit together, and he looks a if heās been smacked in the face by the knowledge that thereās another Wheeler, and literally the whole goddamn family without exception has been dragged into this entire thing. Shaking his head, he mumbles: ]
Jesus Christ, you being a middle child makes so much senseā
[ But this is not the time for that! He takes a deep breath to steady himself and begins again. ]
Alright. Alright. Weāllā
[ Weāll what? Fix it? How? His frown deepens. He canāt fix his own death, canāt fix Mikeās, canāt fix anything going on back home. Heās utterly helpless here. All he can do is try to offer something of use; something to smooth this over enough just a little bit. ]
Weāll figure it out, okay? What about your girlfriend? The one with the superpowers, right? You said there was no way we could handle Vecna without here, andāwell, you were right. Whereās she in all this?
Upside Down. [ He thinks. Everything is a horrible unknown right now; everyone he cares about out of his reach, dead or alive or anywhere in between. ] She went after Holly. So did some of the others.
[ There's a short, rasping breath where he considers list them, but his voice refuses. It stop on the first consonant, and dies still in his throat. Still, he ticks them off in his head: Dustin, Nancy, Steve, Jonathan. Hopper, too. More people he doesn't know if he should mourn. ]
And what is there to even figure out? [ He looks over at Eddie, eyes dark and wet and so, so young. ] This is- it's basically our afterlife. We can't do shit for any of them anymore.
[ Eddieās mouth tightens into a thin, straight line. Mike isnāt wrong. This is their afterlife, isnāt it? Itās not lost on him, not when heās spent night after sleepless night spinning the entire situation in the back of his mind, noting how badly he fucked up and how it could have affected the people and plans involved. The fact that he canāt go home to actually apologize is just one aspect that keeps him awake at night.
Thereās a vague sort of hope: their friends could show up here. Eddieās initial arrival was right from the Upside Down. The odds of someone else showing up arenāt awful, but he doesnāt put that hope out into the universe, just in case it never happens. Instead, he sighs and reaches over to ruffle Mikeās hair. He can't offer much more than his company and support. ]
Well, at least youāre in good company. We should make t-shirts.
[ Like...heās joking, but they could. ]
Not to take away from you and your angst, but likeā¦how pissed is everyone with me?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
satanicpanics) wrote2025-05-14 05:18 pm
no subject
Even worse is that he doesnāt know what heās supposed to say to any of this. Is he just supposed to nod and act like itās all okay? He canāt even help. He has no positive outlook on his own situation so how can he assure Mike that itās going to be okay? Itās notānot in his opinion.
All he can do is twist anxiously at the rings on his fingers, searching of something to say that might make him sound sound vaguely like a responsible, comforting adult and not a young man about to be swallowed by his anxiety and grief. ]
Sounds like you were pretty badass. Last one standing.
[ It doesnāt sound like there was a lot of opportunity to fight back, but not running counts as badass in Eddieās book. He swallows hard, his frown only deepening. ]
I don't know why I even give half a shit about that stupid fucking town, but...I hope they have more than a chance.
no subject
Vecna, he was- [ Mike tips his head back against the wall, pinching his eyes closed. ] He got a bunch of kids. Dragged them to the Upside Down. He wants to- to use them, for something. Like he used Will.
[ He can't even remember if Eddie knows about that, and he doesn't have the room to care right now. ]
He took my sister first. [ It almost feel empty, as though the only way he can push the words out is to detach from them. ] Sent a demogorgon to my house, when me and Nancy weren't there. And it- My parents- [ A deep breath, wet but level. ] My mom was still alive, when I saw her, but I don't- my dad hasn't...
[ It doesn't matter whether or not Mike gets along with him, or even likes him. He's Mike's dad, and losing him is still unimaginable. And if he doesn't wake up, and their mom doesn't make it out of the ICU, and they don't get Holly back... Nancy's going to be all alone. ]
no subject
[ Eddie thinks he almost might be so stressed by everything Mike is relaying to him that heās ascending beyond anxiety to something worse. Slowly, without a word, he lowers his face back into his hands, just to block out the world for a moment and allow himself to exist with his thoughts.
Part of him canāt help but think that he died at a fantastic time, actually; he got to avoid facing all of this himself, not to mention that the threat of prison looming over him head wasnāt going to go away. But another part of him is just painfully upset. No, he doesnāt know exactly what happened to Will Byers in 1983, but knowing what he knows now, he could only assume the kidās disappearance and reappearance was related somehow. Kids donāt deserve to go through that shit, an it seems as if a whole lot of kids are involved. ]
Piece of goddamn shitā
[ He mumbles into his palms, finally lifting his face to fix Mike with a lookāsympathy, maybe, though he tries not to make it too obvious. Thatās the whole goddamn Wheeler family (as far as he knows). Eddieās already lost a parent. Both, if you count the fact that he hasnāt actually seen his father in years, but he doesnāt think much of his father as it is. His mother, however, passed away when he was six. Maybe thatās a lifetime ago at this point, but he does remember how absolutely miserable he felt knowing that heād never see her again. Itās a wound that never truly healed, though he never expected it would. He knows what it's like, and he hopes Mike doesn't have to feel it.
But he does have a question. His eyebrows knit together and he tilts his head questioningly. ]
How did it take your sister if she wasnāt there?
[ What do you mean the six year old Nancy was referring to wasnāt Mikeā¦ ]
no subject
No, it's- Not Nancy. [ Nancy's fine, he almost says, but even that's a fact he can't lean on. He hadn't seen Nancy in hours before he woke up here, and that's plenty long enough for even more of his world to get torn to shreds. ] Holly. My little sister, Holly.
[ Mike wipes his hands across his face, under his nose, up into filthy hair. If it was unthinkable to talk about what happened to him, talking about Holly feels world-ending. It feels like failure, like sorrow, like he's going to puke right onto his shoes. ]
She's ten. Fifth grade. [ Please ignore the fact that she was recently six. ] Didn't- didn't even know about any of this shit before.
no subject
Jesus Christ, you being a middle child makes so much senseā
[ But this is not the time for that! He takes a deep breath to steady himself and begins again. ]
Alright. Alright. Weāllā
[ Weāll what? Fix it? How? His frown deepens. He canāt fix his own death, canāt fix Mikeās, canāt fix anything going on back home. Heās utterly helpless here. All he can do is try to offer something of use; something to smooth this over enough just a little bit. ]
Weāll figure it out, okay? What about your girlfriend? The one with the superpowers, right? You said there was no way we could handle Vecna without here, andāwell, you were right. Whereās she in all this?
no subject
[ There's a short, rasping breath where he considers list them, but his voice refuses. It stop on the first consonant, and dies still in his throat. Still, he ticks them off in his head: Dustin, Nancy, Steve, Jonathan. Hopper, too. More people he doesn't know if he should mourn. ]
And what is there to even figure out? [ He looks over at Eddie, eyes dark and wet and so, so young. ] This is- it's basically our afterlife. We can't do shit for any of them anymore.
no subject
Thereās a vague sort of hope: their friends could show up here. Eddieās initial arrival was right from the Upside Down. The odds of someone else showing up arenāt awful, but he doesnāt put that hope out into the universe, just in case it never happens. Instead, he sighs and reaches over to ruffle Mikeās hair. He can't offer much more than his company and support. ]
Well, at least youāre in good company. We should make t-shirts.
[ Like...heās joking, but they could. ]
Not to take away from you and your angst, but likeā¦how pissed is everyone with me?