( eddie is SO IMPRESSED by the most basic of knowledge, but positive reinforcement does work on Steve, so, maybe it's not the worst thing. and it's not like he's got a hell of a lot else going on, between work, and........ hoping that the world won't spontaneously end. )
It's not... whatever. I don't know. Okay, fine. Three days, why not. I trust you. Guitar is cool, worth a shot, even if it's a shot in the dark at best.
( maybe it'd even help with his lacking dating life, huh? chicks dig guitar. that said: )
But for real, who is this Ozzy guy? ( should he understand that reference??? not the "Ozzy who" Eddie was looking for. )
psh, shot in the dark let good ol' eddie light the way for you
[ god, it's like fucking whiplash with this guy!!! one second eddie is impressed by him and pumped for three days of teaching harrington how to play guitar, and then next minute he just wants to grab him by the shoulders and shake him. ]
oh, stevie you were doing so well we talked about this!! black sabbath, dude who bit off a bat's head
[ ... ]
he's more of a vocals/songwriting kinda guy and less of a guitar guy though or... any instrument, really so at least you'll have that on him
i mean sort of but really you should play guitar because it’s badass for one two i think you could pick it up easy with the right teacher me, i’m the right teacher three, everybody loves a guitarist guitarists are hot, dude
[ do not ask him why he’s single then if that’s so true, it is not anyone’s business!! ]
( METAL IS OVERSTIMULATING EDDIE he's a soft dad rock kinda guy )
All right, all right! I said I'd try it, didn't I? Just don't expect it to be easy.
Besides, I could use more hot points, since I lost the bod to bat bites. And don't be all, oh, thanks Harrington, asshole, as someone with WORSE bat bite scars, by the way. It works better on you, with the... hair, and the tattoos, and the rings, all that.
( rocker metalhead can make scars hot. okay? this is just logical. )
"lost the bod" please, harrington if you're looking compliments you don't have to fish for them
[ being called out before he can even argue is... actually kind of funny. funnier than it is annoying, at least. it's nice to be known, even if it's for his likelihood to argue. you know what's also funny?
steve harrington implying that his gnarly bat bite scars are... hot. that's insanely funny. ]
uh, i don't know if you know this but most people cite the hair and the tattoos and the rings as a turn off i promise you a bunch of battle scars are not doing me any favors
[ eddie pauses for a moment, stares at his thumbs as he really contemplates whether or not he wants to send this next bit, and then just - goes for it anyway. it's fine, no big deal. ]
you, however i think it works for you more than you think
I'm not fishing. ( though, if Eddie WANTED to compliment him, anyway, you know... no harm no foul, really!!! but obviously he's not fishing! don't be ridiculous. ) It looks like I fell in a wood chipper, got out, and went back in for seconds. Just had to even things out, like a bad haircut.
Really kills the hot summer swim body, that's all I'm saying.
( to Steve it makes perfect sense, that scars ruin his physique and just make a grungy alternative rocker boy hotter. you don't take off a jock's polo and expect purple stripes up his sides. good thing he's been so aggressively single lately, probably that would get a lot of questions.
and, uh... really? people are against the hair and the rings? Steve cannot believe that chicks don't dig the tattoos. the peek-a-boo under Eddie's collar, or the one above his hipbone. that's hot, objectively. makes you wonder what they look like, if you could see them. clothes off, nothing in the way. which is... well, the point is it all just kinda works. together. is the point. )
Well, whatever. Their loss. It works for you. ( which is a fine thing to say. to another guy. bros can support bros! which is probably also why Eddie assures him that he can pull off his scars. )
I appreciate the vote of confidence, but having seen me shirtless lately, not sure you've got an informed opinion there.
[ the amount of effort it takes to convince himself not to look too deeply into - well, any of this, really, is almost exhausting. "their loss"? what does that mean? like, maybe it's just steve trying to be a good friend, supportive and encouraging, etc., but - no, it's probably just that. god.
it's probably just that. so it's totally not weird if eddie just casually - ]
oh, have things changed? i'm pretty sure i'm well-informed, actually but feel free to enlighten me and prove me wrong
[ - indirectly asks for a picture. sure, steve's right - eddie hasn't seen him shirtless since his wounds were fresh, so he has no idea what those injuries look like healed over, but he could probably guess considering he's got a slightly more severe set of his own bat bites to match. still, though. ]
if you look like you fell into a wood chipper twice then i've gotta look like someone ran me through a wood chipper and then scooped me up and sent me through a meat grinder just for some extra fun
[ and before he can stop to really think about it, eddie yanks the hem of his shirt up a couple inches and snaps a picture of the stretch of heavily marred flesh stretching from the bottom of his ribcage on one side down to his hip, and hits send. it's just one of many, but it's probably one of the worse ones. ]
all i'm saying is it could be worse you look fine, harrington even without the pending guitar lessons
( well, now he feels a bit like an asshole. the Eddie in his head was right to call him out. though, the two of them are really the only ones that have any perspective on this particular scar, aren't they? Steve looks at his and sees ugly. sees that he's only gonna get eyes and questions when he's out for a swim. it's entirely contradictory, but he sees Eddie's scars and the fact his body is knitting itself together is proof the guy is still alive.
how could he ever call that ugly? )
It's getting better, man. It is. It looks like you survived something that sure as shit didn't want to let you, that's badass. And bonus, you don't have to bite off bat heads to convince people.
( ooh, risky to diss Ozzy to talk up Eddie's battle scars. maybe they're not sexy, but they're not a turn off, either. or maybe it's more than just the scars, seeing the hints of skin that didn't become bat food. things that are familiar and not — a dent of Eddie's hipbone, that dark run of hair disappearing under his jeans. it's only after that Steve realizes how exposing it is, to have sent him that picture. just to show him the damage, he doesn't have to make it a big deal. only it feels a little more than that, doesn't it.
Steve isn't quite as bold as Eddie, he can't just bang out a selfie and go on with his day. it takes him a couple tries to take one that doesn't feel overbearingly weird. but he feels compelled to send one, anyway, for... camaraderie? not being alone in this bullshit means something. right? he's wearing swim shorts, which might be a hint why his grumbles came up in the first place. he had a polo on over it but has hiked it over one shoulder to show the purple reminder of where the bats tried to eat him alive. lower, concentrated patches above his hipbone. healing, but obvious. distracting from the muscles he's come into lately, though it feels a little douchey to complain any more when Eddie really does have it worse. )
This is probably the worst I've had. But it'll heal. The rest did. Yours will too. I was a total dick for bitching, though. I'm sorry. Just because it'll get better doesn't mean it doesn't suck.
[ it's a risk to diss ozzy but it's a risk that pays off, because instead of getting all defensive and gatekeep-y, eddie just laughs a little under his breath, just a quick exhale through his nose and a brief twist of his mouth near the corner as he tries to suppress a smile. it's just... nice. to be thought of as a badass instead of a freak, to be acknowledged for surviving something he absolutely should not have made it through - and he wouldn't have, truthfully, if it weren't for dustin and steve and robin and nancy dragging his ass out of the upside down and doing everything in their power to make sure he didn't bleed out. sure, he might be covered in gruesome scars that he'll never be able to properly hide, but maybe they aren't so gruesome. maybe they're just a reminder that he can be brave when it matters most.
eddie's thumbs start to tap out a quick reply when steve's photo comes through, bumping his text up, and for a moment eddie just... stops. he stares down at his phone, the pad of his thumb hovering over the picture. even in the thumbnail, as small as it is, eddie can tell what it's a photo of, but he still waits a second or two anyway before tapping it and opening it up so it fills the whole screen.
for a few beats, eddie just stares. he takes it all in - steve's hair, the exposed span of his torso, the fresh purple skin, still not fully healed or properly scarred, but getting there. they match, kind of. eddie's not nearly as toned as steve is, he's paler, but they've got scars in a lot of the same places, that hold the same trauma, and it feels... significant. important, binding in a way. he double taps the photo near harrington's hip, zooms in a little more, touches the edge of his thumb to the new skin, careful like he's touching the real thing, like he knows how uncomfortable it is, because he does.
eddie doesn't think they're ugly. he doesn't think they take away from anything, at least not on harrington, but he's already said enough, he thinks. anything more, and steve might think he's - weird, and while eddie doesn't really care what people think of him, it's a... different kind of fear. steve's a good friend. one eddie wouldn't want to lose over something - stupid, and he already kind of toes the line enough sometimes.
he backs out of the picture. ]
hey, no, man you're not a dick i wasn't like. it's not a competition, i wasn't trying to make it seem like it was or like you can't i don't know, feel the way you do just because i got chewed on for a little longer
[ eh, fuck it. a tiny bit. ]
for the record, i really don't think yours take anything away from the "hot summer swim body"
[ ... ]
besides, if anyone asks we could always tell them we fought off a bear more specifically, that i got attacked by a bear and you fought the beastly thing off and saved my ass not too far from the truth if you squint really hard
you going for a swim? or did you get a new summer job
No, I do think you get to overrule me on bat bite scarring, actually. If yours is badass mine can't be that bad, right? Right.
( it's easier to get in his head about it, if he focuses on just himself. Steve isn't quite the douchebag everyone remembers him being, though what other people think of him probably still matters more than it should. he needs to stop worrying about what strangers will think and be a bit more grateful that he has three people in his life willing to dive into certain danger to save him. that's what matters. really, it is — the scars aren't pretty, but they're a lot better than being dead.
if he thinks Eddie's healing scars are something important, then his are too. they're a part of them, now. proof they managed to survive. pretty ungrateful to complain about some scar tissue when they both managed to make it out of the nigh impossible. )
Good one. I appreciate you implying anyone would believe I managed to fight a bear. ( is it weird that an actual bear is probably scarier to him now than upside down shit? yes. probably. definitely! it's just he's never had to tangle with a bear before. a faceless monster from the murder dimension is practically a yearly thing at this point. )
Not yet, but maybe. There's an opening for a swim instructor. I just figure I should reteach my brain what it was like to swim without threat of being attacked by sentient tentacles before I am expected to keep small children afloat on my own. I've been doing laps in my parents pool off and on all day.
( and he is getting better at not feeling a mild sense of panic the entire time! improvement. )
I still think the scars look better with the hair and the tattoos and the rings and everything. But I'll take the vote of confidence, anyway. Thanks.
i mean, everyone believes an earthquake rocked hawkins' shit which is wild to me, by the way you guys have been handling this fucking alternate dimension bullshit for like years now, and no one knows anything about it?? i feel like you could tell someone you fought three bears and they wouldn't bat an eye
[ then again, eddie didn't know anything about it either until a girl levitated and then folded into a pretzel on his living room ceiling, so. ]
knock on wood no bears get any crazy ideas now that i've said it we're probably doomed so you better watch your back
[ eddie's a magnet for trouble and bad luck, it seems. a fucking bear would come and try to fuck his shit up if it knew he was making jokes.
anyway. eddie can't really relate to the fear of swimming, but he does get it. sometimes you get dragged to the bottom of a lake by the ankle, and big bodies of water feel ominous and threatening. sometimes you get swarmed and eaten half to death by demon bats, and suddenly it feels like someone's punched a panic button every time a bird or a fucking butterfly swoops too close without warning. trauma is - fucking weird. he can't judge steve in the slightest. good for him for trying to handle his own shit. ]
say the word and i'll come sit and watch you know, just in case you need someone to dive in after you again
I think they just... don't wanna know about it. You know? The reality is there, and they'd rather blame something else. Something that makes more sense. I get it, honestly. I used to be like that too.
( he was worried about stupid shit like his girlfriend sleeping with someone else and his stupid pissbaby pride and Nancy was out trying to slay a demogorgon because he wasn't willing to buy that there was a faceless monster roaming in the woods outside his house. it frustrates him now,, when the entire town is like yeah, the nerd that takes in lonely freshman, that's our satanic murderer. that makes TOTAL sense!
but seeing the Upside Down splitting the town in half is a lot, for a town that's happy to keep their eyes closed. even as kids disappear and people die. )
Last word around town was Jonathan beat my face in, and I'm sure Billy bragged about doing the same. I think you're the only person in town that thinks that I could take a bear. Not even I think I could take a bear. I wouldn't have made it against those demobats if you everyone didn't show up.
( Eddie just fixates on the part where he bit the head off of one, Steve was super losing that fight up until Nancy showed up with her oar. )
Oh yeah? You're gonna fish me out if I freeze up? ( STEVE DON'T MAKE JOKES ABOUT DROWNING BUDDY JESUS ) Tattoos? Uh... no. No, not really. Not that I'm against them! Or anything. They're fucking cool, actually. I just... wouldn't know what to get. Plus you gotta know you're gonna like it forever, right?
yeah guess it just kinda sucks when you're the thing that "makes more sense"
[ he means being the leader of a satantic cult, who also summoned the devil to middle of nowhere indiana and killed three kids. which obviously is not true, but. you know. it's somehow, somehow more palatable than an inter-dimensional dark wizard beefing with a 14 year old. whatever, it's fine. he's as over it as he can be. ]
give me some time to workshop a play by play about this bear attack/rescue mission and i promise all of hawkins will be calling you steve "the bear" harrington
[ ha ha. stupid joke. at least it wasn't steve bearington.
anyway. once upon a time eddie said he wouldn't have dived into a lake after steve if it weren't for the way nancy and robin immediately jumped in after him after he'd been dragged down to the bottom, if he hadn't been convinced by their courage and their bravery and their loyalty. now, though, it seems like an easy choice. sure, they're talking about an unlikely scenario in an 8ft deep swimming pool, but eddie wouldn't hesitate now. ]
yeah i'll use that little net thing pool skimmer, whatever it's called scoop you right out
[ gotta make sure he's not too serious about it!! ]
the thing about tattoos, harrington is that they can be covered up if you grow out of them or if they turn out bad got a d20 on my chest once, only the guy fucked up the number placements bothered me enough that i covered it up with something else "forever" only really matters if you decide you actually don't want any tattoos after you've already gotten them
Yeah. It sucks. ( Steve hasn't even technically been the thing that makes more sense. he's more experienced with being the thing that doesn't make sense, so, you don't see it at all. the first time he got obliterated by Billy and Demodogs, he really thought there'd be uncomfortable questions.
apparently a swollen face is a reasonable facet of boys being boys. even this time around, a bruise straight across his neck merited looks, and no questions. he used to think that it was a good thing, that Midwesterners were too socially repressed to ask! it just... doesn't feel that great, though. actually.
it's fine. Eddie joking about skimming him out of his own pool does feel pretty good, so he'll focus on that instead. ) You'd need a pretty big skimmer for that. I think we've got one of those ... you know, the floaty doughnuts? Just toss me one of those.
Yeah? And that works? ( it is slightly reassuring, though probably not enough to get inked any time soon. Steve doesn't even know what he'd get. what does he like enough to have permanently scrawled on him? his friends? he is not getting Dustin's face etched on his body, as much as he adores the kid. maybe something for Robin? but what if she moves off for school and he never sees her again? then a sailor hat or some saying in pig latin living on his arm forever is gonna really bum him out.
he needs to stop thinking about what he would get, because he's not getting anything! damn you, Eddie, you better not have awakened anything in this soft midwestern boy.
perhaps he should have focused more on a tattoo he's not gonna get. it would have saved him from thinking about Eddie's. because now he's curious. what does a tattoo that's covered up look like, anyway? ) Can I see it? The tat you got changed, I mean.
[ eddie actually laughs to himself for a minute over this. don't ask him why. maybe it's because he can picture steve's face while he's reading it, can picture the sincerity with which he says it. ]
you mean a lifesaver? nah, actually, nevermind floaty doughnut is so much better, thank you
[ god. floaty doughnut. it's a good thirty seconds worth of a distraction, until steve asks to see his tattoo, the cover-up. eddie 'sobers' up a little, so to speak, looks down at himself, at the shirt he's wearing. he pulls down the collar of his shirt, and though it's an old shirt, it still only stretches far enough to expose the black widow on his chest, and not the ghoulish demon head he actually got to cover up the botched d20 that came before it. hmm. ]
uhh yeah yeah, one sec
[ and then eddie sets his phone down for a second so he can hike his shirt up on one side, slide one arm out so his shirt sits kind of diagonally across his torso with half of his chest and one shoulder exposed. when he takes a picture, he purposely leaves most of his face out of it, cropped from the mouth down. among the many healing scars are his two tattoos, one of which - the demon - is a little fucked up because the demobats weren't kind enough to avoid his ink when they were trying to eat him alive. eddie sends the picture before he can second guess himself. ]
bottom one's a little fucked but it used to be where the demon's mouth is can't really even tell it was there at all if you don't know what you're looking for i guess it also helps that the d20 was a shitty stick and poke so the ink faded pretty quick
[ most if not all of his tattoos are stick and pokes, actually, but apparently this one was just. the worst of them. ]
You knew what I meant, asshole. ( Steve is slightly embarrassed, since he knows it has a proper name, and it floated on by like a... well, like a life preserver on a lazy river. perhaps all these blows to the head have not been the greatest for his memory. still, whatever, Eddie did get what he meant.
and okay, floaty doughnut is a little funny, if INCREDIBLY ACCURATE for the thing he was forgetting the name of.
and!! speaking!!!! of second guessing things. Steve supposes, after he's already asked, that asking a guy for a picture of a tat on his chest is. perhaps strange. look, they're talking about tattoos, right? maybe it's not. Eddie doesn't seem the sort to not say hey, fuck face, you don't really need a picture of my tits, actually if he had something against it. right? this is just a pursuit of knowledge! a distraction to dogpaddling past the panic in his parent's pool. nothing to get caught up on.
eventually the picture filters in. to his credit, Steve does try and focus on tattoo. it's a gnarly little face, kinda cute (probably not the take he's supposed to have). if it is hiding a dice, it's not noticeably, as promised.
at some point, inevitably, he realizes he's looking at. more. than the tattoo. this is more of Eddie he's ever seen, and it's. not the first time, not really, that he's found himself staring too long at another guy. and fuck, at least! at least this time, the guy isn't an asshole. so, that's an upgrade, from being annoyed with himself for finding Billy Hargrove attractive, just. objectively. but that's not why Eddie sent the damn picture. so Steve needs to stop thinking about how the tattoos and lanky lines of his body pair nicely together. yup, stopping, right now. thought process abandoned! )
Stick and poke, huh? Thats, uh. An interesting way to phrase it. ( thank god there's always being a dumb boy to distract from untoward thoughts! )
He's cool. I like the hair. How much ink have you even got, Munson? My old man would have murdered me if I got a tattoo when I was still in school.
that's what they're called!!! you dirty little pervert
[ eddie's laughing though, because he's not immune to dumb, childish jokes, apparently. stick and poke really does sound kind of suspicious if you know nothing about tattoos, now that he thinks about it. that steve immediately jumped to making a joke about it only speaks to him not having any ink, but also, now eddie's thinking about, uh - other shit. you know, the context that makes the joke funny in the first place, which is a weird thing to be thinking about while texting a dude with his shirt half off.
eddie drags one hand over the bottomn half of his face, takes a second to try and worm his way back into his shirt without putting his phone down, which proves harder than expected, but he manages anyway. ]
my old man probably would have given me one himself if i'd asked
[ which is... not a brag. eddie's dad isn't really in his life anymore for a reason - namely because he's in prison, and has been for years and years, but he also wasn't the... greatest parent, even before he was locked up. despite his outward appearance and his general attitude, eddie's made a pretty big effort to not turn out like him (and then he got accused of summoning the devil, slaughtering his classmates, and then hot wired a goddamn winnebego but we don't talk about that). ]
i've got quite a few? the two on my chest a wyvern on the back of my right arm (picture a dragon but with like 2 legs instead of 4) couple bats on the outside right forearm, right hip a demon being puppeteered by a floating hand, same arm small coffin on the back of my neck some shit in elvish, left bicep had a couple others, but those shithead demobats took them with them
Really, that's what they're called. ( why is the name for cheap tattoos you don't think about much before you get them so horny?? as someone uninitiated, maybe Steve just doesn't get it. that must be it. )That's... uh... that's cool. ( cooler than getting murdered for disappointing the family name, for sure. parenting isn't really about being cool, though, now is it. it's the second time Eddie has ever made mention of his dad, and the first time was about how he taught him to hotwire. it... paints a picture, for sure.
a picture that feels bad, if you look at it too long. )
Holy shit. That many? ( the problem about Eddie being so damn specific about where his tattoos are is it is really quite difficult not to envision them, actually. it's a better mental picture than father/son bonding moments that involve illegal activity and underage ink, at least it has that going for it, but that was definitely not Eddie's intention so he should. stop. thinking about it. )
Bats? No fucking way, are you serious? ( what are the chances that the guy would get half eaten by faceless bats when he has a bunch of bat tattoos? at least that thought is distracting! ) Damn. How do you decide what you want to get? I can't even think of one thing I'd want, and you had a baker's dozen going before the bats slowed you down.
yeah, that's what they're called. you get a needle of some kind sewing, safety pin, whatever, though a tattoo-grade needle works best. as long as it can be sterilized, it doesn't really matter. you get some ink, and you stick and poke over and over with the needle takes a lot longer, costs a lot less
[ especially when you do 'em yourself. ]
yeah. bats. and a black widow what are the fucking odds, right?
[ gets chomped on by bats, vecna is super into spiders, apparently. it all kind of feels like a weird omen, if he thinks about it too hard, so he tends to. not do that, if he can help it. his bat tattoos were some of his favorites before The Incident in The Upside Down, and he still likes them a lot, but it's... kind of weird sometimes now, in the aftermath, to look down and see them just chilling on his arm, on his hip, like the plethora of scarring spread all across his body isn't reminder enough. ]
floaty doughnut baker's dozen you know, if that swimming instructor gig doesn't work out i've got some other ideas i could float your way
[ like a bakery. with a cute little hat. he never got to see the scoops uniform, but he'll be damned if he misses whatever little get-up they'd put steve in at a bakery. those are thoughts for... later. though. tattoos. they're talking about his tattoos. ]
i just kind of... get whatever i feel like in the moment if i don't already have something in mind i got the bats because... well, ozzy. and also because i thought bats were cool (jury's out on how i feel about them now) got the d20 because duh, d&d covered that with the demon because i needed something big enough to work as a coverup, and my buddy drew it up and i thought it looked badass the coffin is for my band the elvish is i don't know, just something that stuck with me there's not too much rhyme or reason to it honestly at least not for me i just get what i want and don't sweat too much about how i might feel about it later like i said, something can always be covered up if i change my mind
( this is truly the most horrific thing Steve has ever heard, Edward. and literally you two have talked about being eaten alive by bats before. ) Jesus, Munson, are you being serious right now? ( Steve wriggles uncomfortably, and he's just thinking about being poked by an inky needle "over and over". nope. NOPE! that's a hard nope. )
You've got balls of steel, dude. Fucking hate needles. And that's before a Russian interrogator stuck a two inch needle in my neck. No way, man. No way.
( well, so much for Steve ever getting himself a tattoo. even if one in a parlor wouldn't be quite as macabre as a stick and poke (which suddenly sounds way less horny, by the way), the mental image is definitely working against him now. )
I'll try the guitar but you're gonna have to take point on ink, Eddie. I'll just look at yours instead of ... sticking and poking, thanks.
as a heart attack, harrington relax, it's not that bad you barely feel it after the first couple minutes
[ at least he doesn't, but he also tends to get kinda high whenever he's getting inked, so maybe that's not so true. maybe he does feel it the entire time, and the weed just helps to make it more tolerable. who knows. ]
anyway, don't get all worked up about it i'm not gonna force you to get any tattoos you don't want, big buy the guitar'll do enough as it is
[ for steve's... image. not that steve needs anything to help improve it, because he's hot as shit as is, but. whatever. whatever, it's fine. eddie's got enough tattoos for the both of them. unless... ]
could always get a sheet of temporaries slap 'em on, see how you feel
[ wait. wait wait. ]
hold on hold on hold on russian interrogator? you got like, what kgb'd and i somehow don't know about this? like, you guys mentioned the russians at the mall but i didn't know they got your ass
So, that doesn't make me feel even remotely better.
( it hurts so bad you stop feeling it?? that's so fucked, oh man. this is activating his fight or flight response. Steve isn't scared of pain, not really, he'll handle it when he has to.
but continuous poking with a needle until he goes numb? yea, that's not a has to. )
I know, I know. I'm cool. ( totally chill. he's fine! thanks for asking. ) Right, I'll get one of those winky faces and big butterflies, see if I can rock it.
( SARCASM. BTW. how rude to suggest he try baby tattoos just cuz he doesn't want to be impaled by a needle over and over!! 😤 )
Oh yeah. We ended up in their... secret headquarters, or whatever. Managed to knock out one guard but then we were pinned down, and Robin and I couldn't get to the conveniently tiny people sized escape hatch, so, we got tied to chairs and interrogated. Who do you work for, and shit, like a spy movie. Only I didn't have a cool James Bond answer, because I worked at Scoops Ahoy. Yup. And then the big pointy truth serum needle, yeah. That's how that went down.
( it doesn't seem like a real thing that could happen, sounds like total bullshit! it did, though!!! there is a lie of exclusion here, leaving out the part where he spitballed giving Russians free ice cream in hopes they'd stop hitting him. what good would it do Eddie to know he got his shit kicked in by a KGB agent? it wouldn't. so, he'll just. not. mention. )
you gotta let me put it on you though get as close to the real experience as possible
[ just. not gonna mention that it's totally possible for someone to tattoo themselves. not gonna mention that he did half of his on his own. no hidden agenda here. ]
none of that shit sounds real, steve you know that right? like, i believe you 100% absolutely would not though if i hadn't seen all the shit that i've seen but jesus christ man
this is what i mean though, like everyone knows about the mall fire sorry, "mall fire" but nobody knows about the secret evil russian lair just hanging out, what below the food court?
[ whatever. of course no one would notice!! he's like - this close to giving up on the entire population of hawkins. blind, all of them. ... granted, he didn't know about it either, but he also was never a mall rat. shame, really, since he missed out on steve in a dumb little sailor outfit. all that blackmail potential, gone. ]
whatever. but hey, at least there weren't any big secrets for them to needle out of you, right? god forbid the russians got their hands on scoops's rocky road secret recipe
( ugh. Eddie is. just the worst!! Steve was literally mad at him, two seconds ago. something something baby tattoo! 😤 remember? only apparently no, no he does not, because now the guy is bullshitting about smacking wet paper on Steve's skin, as if he could not possibly do it himself. all about the authenticity of the experience, obviously! )
You better be good, then. I'm not blowing ten cents on a shitty application. You think they've got temporary bats? Because I want a bat. Yeah.
( bat wounds and bat tattoos, they'll just be twins in every way, apparently. only Steve's will wash off eventually. )
I know. It doesn't sound real to me, either, and I was the guy tied to a chair. Sometimes I think it didn't all happen, it was just... you know, a bad trip. From the Russian truth drugs. If Robin didn't remember it too, I think I'd go nuts. Which... I don't know. Is that fucked up? Maybe I should wish she didn't remember, that it was just me, or something. But I don't. It'd be so much worse if it was just me.
( did that make sense? did... did he just make that too heavy? shit. luckily Eddie is already being stupid. does the work for him. )
Whoa, respect the secret formula, man. It was our best seller. You ever go to Scoops? Obviously the Russians wanted in on that Rocky Road.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2022-07-24 04:31 am (UTC)It's not... whatever. I don't know.
Okay, fine. Three days, why not.
I trust you. Guitar is cool, worth a shot, even if it's a shot in the dark at best.
( maybe it'd even help with his lacking dating life, huh? chicks dig guitar. that said: )
But for real, who is this Ozzy guy? ( should he understand that reference??? not the "Ozzy who" Eddie was looking for. )
no subject
Date: 2022-07-24 04:50 am (UTC)let good ol' eddie light the way for you
[ god, it's like fucking whiplash with this guy!!! one second eddie is impressed by him and pumped for three days of teaching harrington how to play guitar, and then next minute he just wants to grab him by the shoulders and shake him. ]
oh, stevie
you were doing so well
we talked about this!!
black sabbath, dude who bit off a bat's head
[ ... ]
he's more of a vocals/songwriting kinda guy and less of a guitar guy though
or... any instrument, really
so at least you'll have that on him
no subject
Date: 2022-07-24 05:37 am (UTC)but the dots, he's connected them. he's on to you, Eddie!!! )
Wait, is that what this is about? I bit off a bat head so I should play guitar?
( like Arthur, and the sword in the stone, only metal and decapitated bats. )
no subject
Date: 2022-07-24 05:59 am (UTC)no
[ yes. partially. ]
i mean sort of
but really you should play guitar because it’s badass for one
two i think you could pick it up easy with the right teacher
me, i’m the right teacher
three, everybody loves a guitarist
guitarists are hot, dude
[ do not ask him why he’s single then if that’s so true, it is not anyone’s business!! ]
no subject
Date: 2022-07-24 11:58 pm (UTC)All right, all right! I said I'd try it, didn't I?
Just don't expect it to be easy.
Besides, I could use more hot points, since I lost the bod to bat bites.
And don't be all, oh, thanks Harrington, asshole, as someone with WORSE bat bite scars, by the way.
It works better on you, with the... hair, and the tattoos, and the rings, all that.
( rocker metalhead can make scars hot. okay? this is just logical. )
no subject
Date: 2022-07-25 12:26 am (UTC)please, harrington
if you're looking compliments you don't have to fish for them
[ being called out before he can even argue is... actually kind of funny. funnier than it is annoying, at least. it's nice to be known, even if it's for his likelihood to argue. you know what's also funny?
steve harrington implying that his gnarly bat bite scars are... hot. that's insanely funny. ]
uh, i don't know if you know this
but most people cite the hair and the tattoos and the rings as a turn off
i promise you a bunch of battle scars are not doing me any favors
[ eddie pauses for a moment, stares at his thumbs as he really contemplates whether or not he wants to send this next bit, and then just - goes for it anyway. it's fine, no big deal. ]
you, however
i think it works for you more than you think
no subject
Date: 2022-07-25 12:56 am (UTC)Really kills the hot summer swim body, that's all I'm saying.
( to Steve it makes perfect sense, that scars ruin his physique and just make a grungy alternative rocker boy hotter. you don't take off a jock's polo and expect purple stripes up his sides. good thing he's been so aggressively single lately, probably that would get a lot of questions.
and, uh... really? people are against the hair and the rings? Steve cannot believe that chicks don't dig the tattoos. the peek-a-boo under Eddie's collar, or the one above his hipbone. that's hot, objectively. makes you wonder what they look like, if you could see them. clothes off, nothing in the way. which is... well, the point is it all just kinda works. together. is the point. )
Well, whatever. Their loss. It works for you. ( which is a fine thing to say. to another guy. bros can support bros! which is probably also why Eddie assures him that he can pull off his scars. )
I appreciate the vote of confidence, but having seen me shirtless lately, not sure you've got an informed opinion there.
no subject
Date: 2022-07-25 01:52 am (UTC)it's probably just that. so it's totally not weird if eddie just casually - ]
oh, have things changed?
i'm pretty sure i'm well-informed, actually
but feel free to enlighten me and prove me wrong
[ - indirectly asks for a picture. sure, steve's right - eddie hasn't seen him shirtless since his wounds were fresh, so he has no idea what those injuries look like healed over, but he could probably guess considering he's got a slightly more severe set of his own bat bites to match. still, though. ]
if you look like you fell into a wood chipper twice
then i've gotta look like someone ran me through a wood chipper and then scooped me up and sent me through a meat grinder just for some extra fun
[ and before he can stop to really think about it, eddie yanks the hem of his shirt up a couple inches and snaps a picture of the stretch of heavily marred flesh stretching from the bottom of his ribcage on one side down to his hip, and hits send. it's just one of many, but it's probably one of the worse ones. ]
all i'm saying is it could be worse
you look fine, harrington
even without the pending guitar lessons
no subject
Date: 2022-07-27 10:33 pm (UTC)how could he ever call that ugly? )
It's getting better, man. It is. It looks like you survived something that sure as shit didn't want to let you, that's badass. And bonus, you don't have to bite off bat heads to convince people.
( ooh, risky to diss Ozzy to talk up Eddie's battle scars. maybe they're not sexy, but they're not a turn off, either. or maybe it's more than just the scars, seeing the hints of skin that didn't become bat food. things that are familiar and not — a dent of Eddie's hipbone, that dark run of hair disappearing under his jeans. it's only after that Steve realizes how exposing it is, to have sent him that picture. just to show him the damage, he doesn't have to make it a big deal. only it feels a little more than that, doesn't it.
Steve isn't quite as bold as Eddie, he can't just bang out a selfie and go on with his day. it takes him a couple tries to take one that doesn't feel overbearingly weird. but he feels compelled to send one, anyway, for... camaraderie? not being alone in this bullshit means something. right? he's wearing swim shorts, which might be a hint why his grumbles came up in the first place. he had a polo on over it but has hiked it over one shoulder to show the purple reminder of where the bats tried to eat him alive. lower, concentrated patches above his hipbone. healing, but obvious. distracting from the muscles he's come into lately, though it feels a little douchey to complain any more when Eddie really does have it worse. )
This is probably the worst I've had. But it'll heal. The rest did.
Yours will too.
I was a total dick for bitching, though. I'm sorry. Just because it'll get better doesn't mean it doesn't suck.
no subject
Date: 2022-07-28 04:02 am (UTC)eddie's thumbs start to tap out a quick reply when steve's photo comes through, bumping his text up, and for a moment eddie just... stops. he stares down at his phone, the pad of his thumb hovering over the picture. even in the thumbnail, as small as it is, eddie can tell what it's a photo of, but he still waits a second or two anyway before tapping it and opening it up so it fills the whole screen.
for a few beats, eddie just stares. he takes it all in - steve's hair, the exposed span of his torso, the fresh purple skin, still not fully healed or properly scarred, but getting there. they match, kind of. eddie's not nearly as toned as steve is, he's paler, but they've got scars in a lot of the same places, that hold the same trauma, and it feels... significant. important, binding in a way. he double taps the photo near harrington's hip, zooms in a little more, touches the edge of his thumb to the new skin, careful like he's touching the real thing, like he knows how uncomfortable it is, because he does.
eddie doesn't think they're ugly. he doesn't think they take away from anything, at least not on harrington, but he's already said enough, he thinks. anything more, and steve might think he's - weird, and while eddie doesn't really care what people think of him, it's a... different kind of fear. steve's a good friend. one eddie wouldn't want to lose over something - stupid, and he already kind of toes the line enough sometimes.
he backs out of the picture. ]
hey, no, man
you're not a dick
i wasn't like. it's not a competition, i wasn't trying to make it seem like it was or like you can't
i don't know, feel the way you do just because i got chewed on for a little longer
[ eh, fuck it. a tiny bit. ]
for the record, i really don't think yours take anything away
from the "hot summer swim body"
[ ... ]
besides, if anyone asks
we could always tell them we fought off a bear
more specifically, that i got attacked by a bear and you fought the beastly thing off and saved my ass
not too far from the truth if you squint
really hard
you going for a swim?
or did you get a new summer job
no subject
Date: 2022-07-31 04:10 am (UTC)If yours is badass mine can't be that bad, right? Right.
( it's easier to get in his head about it, if he focuses on just himself. Steve isn't quite the douchebag everyone remembers him being, though what other people think of him probably still matters more than it should. he needs to stop worrying about what strangers will think and be a bit more grateful that he has three people in his life willing to dive into certain danger to save him. that's what matters. really, it is — the scars aren't pretty, but they're a lot better than being dead.
if he thinks Eddie's healing scars are something important, then his are too. they're a part of them, now. proof they managed to survive. pretty ungrateful to complain about some scar tissue when they both managed to make it out of the nigh impossible. )
Good one. I appreciate you implying anyone would believe I managed to fight a bear. ( is it weird that an actual bear is probably scarier to him now than upside down shit? yes. probably. definitely! it's just he's never had to tangle with a bear before. a faceless monster from the murder dimension is practically a yearly thing at this point. )
Not yet, but maybe. There's an opening for a swim instructor. I just figure I should reteach my brain what it was like to swim without threat of being attacked by sentient tentacles before I am expected to keep small children afloat on my own.
I've been doing laps in my parents pool off and on all day.
( and he is getting better at not feeling a mild sense of panic the entire time! improvement. )
I still think the scars look better with the hair and the tattoos and the rings and everything.
But I'll take the vote of confidence, anyway. Thanks.
no subject
Date: 2022-07-31 06:49 am (UTC)which is wild to me, by the way
you guys have been handling this fucking
alternate dimension bullshit for like years now, and no one knows anything about it??
i feel like you could tell someone you fought three bears and they wouldn't bat an eye
[ then again, eddie didn't know anything about it either until a girl levitated and then folded into a pretzel on his living room ceiling, so. ]
knock on wood no bears get any crazy ideas
now that i've said it we're probably doomed so you better watch your back
[ eddie's a magnet for trouble and bad luck, it seems. a fucking bear would come and try to fuck his shit up if it knew he was making jokes.
anyway. eddie can't really relate to the fear of swimming, but he does get it. sometimes you get dragged to the bottom of a lake by the ankle, and big bodies of water feel ominous and threatening. sometimes you get swarmed and eaten half to death by demon bats, and suddenly it feels like someone's punched a panic button every time a bird or a fucking butterfly swoops too close without warning. trauma is - fucking weird. he can't judge steve in the slightest. good for him for trying to handle his own shit. ]
say the word and i'll come sit and watch
you know, just in case you need someone to dive in after you again
[ and not for any other reason. ]
you ever thought about getting any tattoos?
no subject
Date: 2022-08-01 12:56 am (UTC)( he was worried about stupid shit like his girlfriend sleeping with someone else and his stupid pissbaby pride and Nancy was out trying to slay a demogorgon because he wasn't willing to buy that there was a faceless monster roaming in the woods outside his house. it frustrates him now,, when the entire town is like yeah, the nerd that takes in lonely freshman, that's our satanic murderer. that makes TOTAL sense!
but seeing the Upside Down splitting the town in half is a lot, for a town that's happy to keep their eyes closed. even as kids disappear and people die. )
Last word around town was Jonathan beat my face in, and I'm sure Billy bragged about doing the same. I think you're the only person in town that thinks that I could take a bear. Not even I think I could take a bear. I wouldn't have made it against those demobats if you everyone didn't show up.
( Eddie just fixates on the part where he bit the head off of one, Steve was super losing that fight up until Nancy showed up with her oar. )
Oh yeah? You're gonna fish me out if I freeze up? ( STEVE DON'T MAKE JOKES ABOUT DROWNING BUDDY JESUS ) Tattoos? Uh... no. No, not really. Not that I'm against them! Or anything. They're fucking cool, actually. I just... wouldn't know what to get. Plus you gotta know you're gonna like it forever, right?
no subject
Date: 2022-08-01 04:21 pm (UTC)guess it just kinda sucks when you're the thing that "makes more sense"
[ he means being the leader of a satantic cult, who also summoned the devil to middle of nowhere indiana and killed three kids. which obviously is not true, but. you know. it's somehow, somehow more palatable than an inter-dimensional dark wizard beefing with a 14 year old. whatever, it's fine. he's as over it as he can be. ]
give me some time to workshop a play by play about this bear attack/rescue mission and i promise all of hawkins will be calling you steve "the bear" harrington
[ ha ha. stupid joke. at least it wasn't steve bearington.
anyway. once upon a time eddie said he wouldn't have dived into a lake after steve if it weren't for the way nancy and robin immediately jumped in after him after he'd been dragged down to the bottom, if he hadn't been convinced by their courage and their bravery and their loyalty. now, though, it seems like an easy choice. sure, they're talking about an unlikely scenario in an 8ft deep swimming pool, but eddie wouldn't hesitate now. ]
yeah
i'll use that little net thing
pool skimmer, whatever it's called
scoop you right out
[ gotta make sure he's not too serious about it!! ]
the thing about tattoos, harrington
is that they can be covered up if you grow out of them
or if they turn out bad
got a d20 on my chest once, only the guy fucked up the number placements
bothered me enough that i covered it up with something else
"forever" only really matters if you decide you actually don't want any tattoos after you've already gotten them
no subject
Date: 2022-08-02 02:12 am (UTC)apparently a swollen face is a reasonable facet of boys being boys. even this time around, a bruise straight across his neck merited looks, and no questions. he used to think that it was a good thing, that Midwesterners were too socially repressed to ask! it just... doesn't feel that great, though. actually.
it's fine. Eddie joking about skimming him out of his own pool does feel pretty good, so he'll focus on that instead. ) You'd need a pretty big skimmer for that. I think we've got one of those ... you know, the floaty doughnuts? Just toss me one of those.
Yeah? And that works? ( it is slightly reassuring, though probably not enough to get inked any time soon. Steve doesn't even know what he'd get. what does he like enough to have permanently scrawled on him? his friends? he is not getting Dustin's face etched on his body, as much as he adores the kid. maybe something for Robin? but what if she moves off for school and he never sees her again? then a sailor hat or some saying in pig latin living on his arm forever is gonna really bum him out.
he needs to stop thinking about what he would get, because he's not getting anything! damn you, Eddie, you better not have awakened anything in this soft midwestern boy.
perhaps he should have focused more on a tattoo he's not gonna get. it would have saved him from thinking about Eddie's. because now he's curious. what does a tattoo that's covered up look like, anyway? ) Can I see it? The tat you got changed, I mean.
it's not the same icon if it's farther away right. right.
Date: 2022-08-02 02:54 am (UTC)[ eddie actually laughs to himself for a minute over this. don't ask him why. maybe it's because he can picture steve's face while he's reading it, can picture the sincerity with which he says it. ]
you mean a lifesaver?
nah, actually, nevermind
floaty doughnut is so much better, thank you
[ god. floaty doughnut. it's a good thirty seconds worth of a distraction, until steve asks to see his tattoo, the cover-up. eddie 'sobers' up a little, so to speak, looks down at himself, at the shirt he's wearing. he pulls down the collar of his shirt, and though it's an old shirt, it still only stretches far enough to expose the black widow on his chest, and not the ghoulish demon head he actually got to cover up the botched d20 that came before it. hmm. ]
uhh yeah
yeah, one sec
[ and then eddie sets his phone down for a second so he can hike his shirt up on one side, slide one arm out so his shirt sits kind of diagonally across his torso with half of his chest and one shoulder exposed. when he takes a picture, he purposely leaves most of his face out of it, cropped from the mouth down. among the many healing scars are his two tattoos, one of which - the demon - is a little fucked up because the demobats weren't kind enough to avoid his ink when they were trying to eat him alive. eddie sends the picture before he can second guess himself. ]
bottom one's a little fucked but
it used to be where the demon's mouth is
can't really even tell it was there at all if you don't know what you're looking for
i guess it also helps that the d20 was a shitty stick and poke so the ink faded pretty quick
[ most if not all of his tattoos are stick and pokes, actually, but apparently this one was just. the worst of them. ]
i consulted with top experts and they said it is different in fact ur good
Date: 2022-08-02 06:00 am (UTC)and okay, floaty doughnut is a little funny, if INCREDIBLY ACCURATE for the thing he was forgetting the name of.
and!! speaking!!!! of second guessing things. Steve supposes, after he's already asked, that asking a guy for a picture of a tat on his chest is. perhaps strange. look, they're talking about tattoos, right? maybe it's not. Eddie doesn't seem the sort to not say hey, fuck face, you don't really need a picture of my tits, actually if he had something against it. right? this is just a pursuit of knowledge! a distraction to dogpaddling past the panic in his parent's pool. nothing to get caught up on.
eventually the picture filters in. to his credit, Steve does try and focus on tattoo. it's a gnarly little face, kinda cute (probably not the take he's supposed to have). if it is hiding a dice, it's not noticeably, as promised.
at some point, inevitably, he realizes he's looking at. more. than the tattoo. this is more of Eddie he's ever seen, and it's. not the first time, not really, that he's found himself staring too long at another guy. and fuck, at least! at least this time, the guy isn't an asshole. so, that's an upgrade, from being annoyed with himself for finding Billy Hargrove attractive, just. objectively. but that's not why Eddie sent the damn picture. so Steve needs to stop thinking about how the tattoos and lanky lines of his body pair nicely together. yup, stopping, right now. thought process abandoned! )
Stick and poke, huh? Thats, uh. An interesting way to phrase it. ( thank god there's always being a dumb boy to distract from untoward thoughts! )
He's cool. I like the hair.
How much ink have you even got, Munson? My old man would have murdered me if I got a tattoo when I was still in school.
makes some extra shit up don't @ me
Date: 2022-08-02 10:04 pm (UTC)you dirty little pervert
[ eddie's laughing though, because he's not immune to dumb, childish jokes, apparently. stick and poke really does sound kind of suspicious if you know nothing about tattoos, now that he thinks about it. that steve immediately jumped to making a joke about it only speaks to him not having any ink, but also, now eddie's thinking about, uh - other shit. you know, the context that makes the joke funny in the first place, which is a weird thing to be thinking about while texting a dude with his shirt half off.
eddie drags one hand over the bottomn half of his face, takes a second to try and worm his way back into his shirt without putting his phone down, which proves harder than expected, but he manages anyway. ]
my old man probably would have given me one himself if i'd asked
[ which is... not a brag. eddie's dad isn't really in his life anymore for a reason - namely because he's in prison, and has been for years and years, but he also wasn't the... greatest parent, even before he was locked up. despite his outward appearance and his general attitude, eddie's made a pretty big effort to not turn out like him (and then he got accused of summoning the devil, slaughtering his classmates, and then hot wired a goddamn winnebego but we don't talk about that). ]
i've got
quite a few? the two on my chest
a wyvern on the back of my right arm (picture a dragon but with like 2 legs instead of 4)
couple bats on the outside right forearm, right hip
a demon being puppeteered by a floating hand, same arm
small coffin on the back of my neck
some shit in elvish, left bicep
had a couple others, but those shithead demobats took them with them
no subject
Date: 2022-08-02 11:23 pm (UTC)a picture that feels bad, if you look at it too long. )
Holy shit. That many? ( the problem about Eddie being so damn specific about where his tattoos are is it is really quite difficult not to envision them, actually. it's a better mental picture than father/son bonding moments that involve illegal activity and underage ink, at least it has that going for it, but that was definitely not Eddie's intention so he should. stop. thinking about it. )
Bats? No fucking way, are you serious? ( what are the chances that the guy would get half eaten by faceless bats when he has a bunch of bat tattoos? at least that thought is distracting! ) Damn. How do you decide what you want to get? I can't even think of one thing I'd want, and you had a baker's dozen going before the bats slowed you down.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-02 11:52 pm (UTC)you get a needle of some kind
sewing, safety pin, whatever, though a tattoo-grade needle works best. as long as it can be sterilized, it doesn't really matter.
you get some ink, and you stick and poke over and over with the needle
takes a lot longer, costs a lot less
[ especially when you do 'em yourself. ]
yeah. bats.
and a black widow
what are the fucking odds, right?
[ gets chomped on by bats, vecna is super into spiders, apparently. it all kind of feels like a weird omen, if he thinks about it too hard, so he tends to. not do that, if he can help it. his bat tattoos were some of his favorites before The Incident in The Upside Down, and he still likes them a lot, but it's... kind of weird sometimes now, in the aftermath, to look down and see them just chilling on his arm, on his hip, like the plethora of scarring spread all across his body isn't reminder enough. ]
floaty doughnut
baker's dozen
you know, if that swimming instructor gig doesn't work out
i've got some other ideas i could float your way
[ like a bakery. with a cute little hat. he never got to see the scoops uniform, but he'll be damned if he misses whatever little get-up they'd put steve in at a bakery. those are thoughts for... later. though. tattoos. they're talking about his tattoos. ]
i just kind of... get whatever i feel like in the moment if i don't already have something in mind
i got the bats because... well, ozzy. and also because i thought bats were cool
(jury's out on how i feel about them now)
got the d20 because duh, d&d
covered that with the demon because i needed something big enough to work as a coverup, and my buddy drew it up and i thought it looked badass
the coffin is for my band
the elvish is
i don't know, just something that stuck with me
there's not too much rhyme or reason to it honestly
at least not for me
i just get what i want and don't sweat too much about how i might feel about it later
like i said, something can always be covered up if i change my mind
no subject
Date: 2022-08-03 12:13 am (UTC)You've got balls of steel, dude. Fucking hate needles. And that's before a Russian interrogator stuck a two inch needle in my neck. No way, man. No way.
( well, so much for Steve ever getting himself a tattoo. even if one in a parlor wouldn't be quite as macabre as a stick and poke (which suddenly sounds way less horny, by the way), the mental image is definitely working against him now. )
I'll try the guitar but you're gonna have to take point on ink, Eddie.
I'll just look at yours instead of ... sticking and poking, thanks.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-03 12:25 am (UTC)relax, it's not that bad
you barely feel it after the first couple minutes
[ at least he doesn't, but he also tends to get kinda high whenever he's getting inked, so maybe that's not so true. maybe he does feel it the entire time, and the weed just helps to make it more tolerable. who knows. ]
anyway, don't get all worked up about it
i'm not gonna force you to get any tattoos you don't want, big buy
the guitar'll do enough as it is
[ for steve's... image. not that steve needs anything to help improve it, because he's hot as shit as is, but. whatever. whatever, it's fine. eddie's got enough tattoos for the both of them. unless... ]
could always get a sheet of temporaries
slap 'em on, see how you feel
[ wait. wait wait. ]
hold on
hold on hold on
russian interrogator?
you got like, what
kgb'd and i somehow don't know about this?
like, you guys mentioned the russians at the mall
but i didn't know they got your ass
no subject
Date: 2022-08-03 12:56 am (UTC)( it hurts so bad you stop feeling it?? that's so fucked, oh man. this is activating his fight or flight response. Steve isn't scared of pain, not really, he'll handle it when he has to.
but continuous poking with a needle until he goes numb? yea, that's not a has to. )
I know, I know. I'm cool. ( totally chill. he's fine! thanks for asking. ) Right, I'll get one of those winky faces and big butterflies, see if I can rock it.
( SARCASM. BTW. how rude to suggest he try baby tattoos just cuz he doesn't want to be impaled by a needle over and over!! 😤 )
Oh yeah. We ended up in their... secret headquarters, or whatever.
Managed to knock out one guard but then we were pinned down, and Robin and I couldn't get to the conveniently tiny people sized escape hatch, so, we got tied to chairs and interrogated.
Who do you work for, and shit, like a spy movie.
Only I didn't have a cool James Bond answer, because I worked at Scoops Ahoy.
Yup.
And then the big pointy truth serum needle, yeah.
That's how that went down.
( it doesn't seem like a real thing that could happen, sounds like total bullshit! it did, though!!! there is a lie of exclusion here, leaving out the part where he spitballed giving Russians free ice cream in hopes they'd stop hitting him. what good would it do Eddie to know he got his shit kicked in by a KGB agent? it wouldn't. so, he'll just. not. mention. )
i just noticed my typo, how dumb i hate everything asdaslk
Date: 2022-08-03 01:18 am (UTC)get as close to the real experience as possible
[ just. not gonna mention that it's totally possible for someone to tattoo themselves. not gonna mention that he did half of his on his own. no hidden agenda here. ]
none of that shit sounds real, steve
you know that right?
like, i believe you 100%
absolutely would not though if i hadn't seen all the shit that i've seen
but jesus christ man
this is what i mean though, like
everyone knows about the mall fire
sorry, "mall fire"
but nobody knows about the secret evil russian lair just hanging out, what
below the food court?
[ whatever. of course no one would notice!! he's like - this close to giving up on the entire population of hawkins. blind, all of them. ... granted, he didn't know about it either, but he also was never a mall rat. shame, really, since he missed out on steve in a dumb little sailor outfit. all that blackmail potential, gone. ]
whatever.
but hey, at least there weren't any big secrets for them to needle out of you, right?
god forbid the russians got their hands on scoops's rocky road secret recipe
it is ok i could feel the big boy i just knew
Date: 2022-08-03 01:47 am (UTC)You better be good, then. I'm not blowing ten cents on a shitty application.
You think they've got temporary bats? Because I want a bat. Yeah.
( bat wounds and bat tattoos, they'll just be twins in every way, apparently. only Steve's will wash off eventually. )
I know. It doesn't sound real to me, either, and I was the guy tied to a chair.
Sometimes I think it didn't all happen, it was just... you know, a bad trip. From the Russian truth drugs.
If Robin didn't remember it too, I think I'd go nuts.
Which... I don't know. Is that fucked up? Maybe I should wish she didn't remember, that it was just me, or something.
But I don't. It'd be so much worse if it was just me.
( did that make sense? did... did he just make that too heavy? shit. luckily Eddie is already being stupid. does the work for him. )
Whoa, respect the secret formula, man. It was our best seller.
You ever go to Scoops? Obviously the Russians wanted in on that Rocky Road.
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From:wrap here or on yours, maybe?? 🎀
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