[ even as light and as cautious as it is, the touch to eddie's shoulder makes him tense up at first, instinct urging him to shy away. it pings at the feeling of being suffocated for a moment, but eddie stays right where he is and works through the brief spike of anxiety. it's insane to think of julie as someone that's safe, but once the urge to get up and get away passes, the gentle weight on his shoulder becomes kind of... grounding. certainly not enough to calm him down entirely, but he feels a little further away from a complete shutdown.

eddie's knee bounces anxiously, the chain clipped to his belt loop shifting quietly against his thigh. he brings his thumbnail to his teeth, chews for a second as he tries to put a sentence together that doesn't sound totally deranged. he remembers, briefly, trying to explain to dustin and steve what happened to chrissy, and how absolutely batshit insane it sounded even to himself at the time.

he looks up at julie. funny, how they were talking about him being taller not that long enough. ]

The - shit, the girl with the - the goddamn TVs everywhere. She just - [ he flings his hand out a little bit, gesturing at nothing. ] Kennedy just lifted, and then all his shit started to break and it was just like before. Just like before. [ he crosses his arms, but it seems more like he's just trying to comfort himself, slightly hunched in on himself. ] She's not - she's not Vecna, or Henry or whatever his name is, but it's the same.