[ eddie's mouth opens in semi-mock offense when julie steals the cigarette's from him, looking at her with mild disbelief. he's the one who came out here - by himself! - to snoop around for shit to bring back to camp (sure, mostly for himself, but if he'd found anything he thought could be useful for someone else, he wouldn't have hesitated to bring whatever back for them), and she's claiming a finder's fee? for what? finding him, when he specifically said she could and should wait by the gates if she was insisting on coming to get him?
eddie scoffs, reaching for the cigarettes. ]
Finder's fee my ass, Jules, you didn't—
[ but julie freezes instead of jerking her hand away the way eddie was expecting her too, and that's enough to make him pause too, eyebrows furrowing when julie practically ignores him and spins around. it has not slipped eddie's mind that they're not exactly safe from the nightmare monstrosity that apparently lives here, but it's been pretty quiet, and from the handful of times eddie's had to face that thing, he's learned that it doesn't really come quietly.
also in his few encounters, eddie has been fortunate in that he hasn't seen it in its... festive form, so when he catches a very very brief glimpse of white in the distance, shifting behind some trees and brush, he mistakes it for something far less harmful. ]
It's - that's a snowman. Someone's - probably just fucking around.
[ but julie's got her knife out, and if he knows anything about julie - which is admittedly, not very much and not as much as he would like to know - it's that she doesn't spook easily, and she's not stupid. the way she backs up toward him, broadening herself to act like a shield between eddie and whatever it is she thinks she saw, it's enough to convince eddie that maybe she knows better.
eddie shoves the disposable camera in his back pocket and curls his hand in the bend of julie's elbow, pulling her along with him as he starts to move, backing away from the scattering of cars toward some fences close by. ]
[ aside from the slight movements of her head as she tries to figure out where the dredge went, she stands rigid on the spot, like a cat that's spotted something it really doesn't like. she doesn't move initially when he pulls on her arm, only when she thinks she sees it moving in the house does she turn toward him and start to move in the direction of the gate. ]
If it comes for us you better run your ass out of here. [ julie is generally firm in the things she says, serious and unwavering when she needs to be, but stern isn't a tone she takes often. ] I'm faster than both of you, I'll be fine.
[ never mind they're talking about a malevolent manifestation of rage and fear that has a much tighter link with the entity than her and also can teleport, though without a ton of lockers littered around the place julie doubts it can do much in that regard. she just knows she's not leaving eddie to that thing if she can do something about it, even if 'something' happens to be occupying its attention by dying horribly. ]
[ she's just... not going to think about what it means that she finds herself so often worried about this guy. ]
[ eddie lets go of julie's arm only after she starts moving, but he doesn't drift very far from her nor does he let her linger too far behind. if he's learned about - splitting up, at least back home, it's that it doesn't typically end well. it's just something he knows from experience.
creeping into a jungle gym of fences, eddie casts julie a look like he think she's a little bit crazy - which, he does, that's not a new observation, he's just making it evident in this moment. ]
What are you gonna do, fight it? It'll eat you alive, dude. [ eddie says this casually, but there's nothing casual about it. the dredge creeps him the fuck out, and what does eddie do when he's scared? he either screeches like an idiot... or he copes with sarcasm and humor. he flings out a hand, peering around the edge of a fence and then glancing back at julie. ] And between the two of us, I'm more experienced.
[ at... being eaten alive. it's funny, if you know what happened to him. and by funny, it's really just fucked up and traumatic and not really that funny at all. regardless, eddie doesn't elaborate and he doesn't expect julie to understand, either. instead, he looks back around the edge of the fence again, and murmurs:]
I want those cigarettes back. We can split 'em. Finder's fee.
[ he makes a sound like he's sucking his teeth. like he's unimpressed. but! it looks like the coast is clear for now, so eddie keeps moving, waving julie along. ]
[ julie gives eddie a confused look, but she assumes he means because of trials and stuff. and that's fair enough, she supposes. she's never had to do what they do in trials — not that she's never had to run and hide from other killers, but it's different, she knows that. ]
[ but still-- ] You that eager for another death, Munson? [ she shoves his shoulder to punctuate. following through the fence maze. ] Based on how easy you are to catch, I'd say I've got a better chance keeping that thing occupied than you.
[ he's a support class and that's fine. let the rogue handle it. things she'd say if she cared enough to learn about d&d. ]
[ eddie whirls on his heel so fast that his dumb hair flairs out around him a little, and he fixes julie with a look. it's clear by the brief flash of mischief in his eyes that he's not being that serious, but he puts on a serious face anyway and scrunches his eyebrows up at her. ]
I'm easy to catch because I let you catch me like - seventy-five percent of the time.
[ they both know that's not true. eddie's not entirely useless when it comes to taking chase, but he's definitely not as good as, say, david or meg, and when julie catches him it's definitely because she's faster and outplayed him. he's really not that eager to die again, in a trial or here in this dumb garden with a meat monster creeping around somewhere.
eddie turns back around again, and just as he's about to step out of the rectangle of fences, he hears the not so distant sound of a dozen agonized voices. way too fucking close for comfort, but that thing could be a football field away and eddie would still hate it. he freezes, spins on his heel again and instinctively braces a hand against julie's ribs so she won't move, leaned in close. he says nothing, but the look he gives her, eyes serious and jaw tight, should say enough. ]
[ julie just about manages to stop herself walking straight into eddie when he stops and whirls around, closes her eyes and tilts her head with a reluctant smile to stop herself from laughing and gives him another light shove for his trouble. ]
Whatever you say, Munson. [ he's more like morel than thomas, which is fine. kind of a pain actually because it means things are more likely to get done when he's there, getting thrown in with a team of four runners is kind of the ideal, even if it makes the trial like ten times longer. ]
[ she's pulled out of thoughts on trials and how every survivor is a special kind of nuisance by the approaching chorus of wails, and it really doesn't take much to make her stay still in that moment. back pressed flat to the fence, julie's grip tightens on her knife and she turns her head to try and listen for when it hopefully passes them by. something catches her eye though and she looks back up at eddie to get his attention and gestures to a treehouse a little bit away with a jut of her chin, hoping he catches her thoughts here. they can hide out up there without too much worry until it's safe to beeline it out of this place. ]
[ honestly, it's not particularly hard to put eddie on edge, but there's something about the dredge that makes eddie want to crawl out of his own skin and slink off somewhere to die. it's just this - unshakeable sense of dread whenever that thing is nearby, and right now is now different. it starts to creep up on him like a suffocating blanket, and though outwardly eddie doesn't look any more unsettled than julie does, inwardly his heartbeat's starting to stutter a little, tripping over itself to speed up.
eddie clenches his teeth together and keeps completely still, his hand still spread across julie's ribs like he has any say in what she does or where she goes. he doesn't think she's stupid enough to sell herself out just to fight the damn thing, but she's already implied more than once that she'll put herself in the way so eddie can run.
which is... something to think about. when they're not trying to avoid a gruesome death. later, maybe.
eddie looks down at julie as she looks up at him, and it takes him a second to pick up what she's trying to communicate, following the tilt of her chin up toward a treehouse not that far from them. eddie's not really sure he's ever noticed it before now, but it's not like he spends a lot of time giving himself the grand tour of every realm when he's dumped into one, and this is the first time he's been out here outside of a trial.
it's not a bad idea. if anything, it'll get them out of an immediate line of sight. can the dredge even look up? eddie has no idea, but he does know it probably can't climb a fucking tree. (then again, maybe it's an olympic tree climber, with all those stolen hands). he looks back at julie again, gives a curt nod to indicate that he understands, he's on board.
it takes a minute or so of waiting before the dredge's miserable orchestra of devoured souls starts to fade away, getting quieter and quieter with distance. when it's just barely audible, eddie finally takes his hand off of julie's ribs and blindly grabs for her hand instead, already on the move. ]
[ there's a brief moment where julie's wondering if the treehouse is actually a good idea, they have to cross the street to get to it and there's no cover between where they are and it, nowhere to hide if it sees them except a scant couple of cars — she's definitely spotted survivors from across the map in similar situations during trials, thinking they can move unseen because they can't hear the music. but if, by some stroke of terrible luck, it does see them it'd have to move faster than she thinks it even can to catch them. and if they're really unlucky, well. julie's solid on her intent to distract it for eddie's safety. it can't chase them both. ]
[ she hadn't even realized she was holding her breath until the chorus fades to dull, distant whimpers, and she exhales. wishing she could see which way it went, but 'not here' is good enough for the moment. takes a deep breath and-- and eddie's already grabbing her hand and pulling her along. ]
[ well. fair enough. no time to overthink things right now. julie trusts him not to run them into a ditch, checking over her shoulder and to their sides to make sure it's not looking at them from a distance, out a window, from behind a car. around some bullshit corner that doesn't even make any fucking sense. god she hates when she has a trial here. ]
[ he might be stubborn about refusing to take off without her, but julie hopes eddie isn't too full of whatever it is to fight with her about it when she tightens her grip on his hand and pulls him toward the boards nailed to the tree in some facsimile of a ladder. ]
[ eddie might not like the idea of going up first, evident by the way his clenches his teeth a little to keep whatever remark is waiting on his tongue caged behind him, but contrary to popular belief, he's not an idiot. to argue about this would be a colossal waste of time, and they both know that the longer they stay out here in the open, the more at risk they are of being caught. and eddie does not want to get caught. he doesn't want julie to get caught either, but if it'll get the both of them up into the treehouse faster, then eddie's willing to concede.
he does shoot julie a look though, clearly mildly annoyed that he knows that she knows he'd be an idiot to argue. but then he lets go of julie's hand, finally, and starts to climb. fairly nimbly, too, but the last thing he had to climb like this was a rope made of his bed sheets, hung between dimensions. a ladder made of two by fours nailed into the side of a tree's a lot easier to master.
as he climbs, he keeps a look out too, mindful of where he puts his hands and his feet so he doesn't fall and shatter his tailbone or something, but also scanning for anything moving out in the gardens that should not be moving. anything slinking around like a demented, possessed snowman. when he gets to the top of the ladder, he hauls himself a little less than gracefully through the treehouse window, then turns around and hangs about halfway out, arms extended down toward julie.
he waves his hands, hissing down to her. ]
Your turn. Come on, I got you.
[ he... does not have her, because he's too far up for him to just reach down and haul her up, but once she climbs high enough, he's set to help her up and in. ]
[ it's just smarter if he goes first! even if there's no sign of the dredge coming back (which there isn't, thank god,) she's stronger than him. if those boards didn't hold and eddie fell, she would've done a better job catching him than the reverse, she's pretty sure. all of which is clearly communicated in the little smile, raised eyebrows, and slight nod to the planks as if to say hurry up julie gives him in response to that look. ]
[ she's pretty fucking glad eddie's good at getting up there quick though, tension clear in the way she holds herself rigid and keeps scanning what she can see of this little street between glances up at eddie to make sure he's doing okay. once he's in, she's moving before he even speaks — might be willing to take the heat on his behalf, but that doesn't mean julie is by any means eager to be face-to-faces with that thing — and she starts climbing up to meet those hands. ]
[ well, first she casts a cautious look up just to satisfy her own worries about somehow pulling him out of the treehouse and dropping him to his death, but there's no way eddie is enough of a fool to reach for her if that was a risk. she hopes. but then julie reaches out for him, clasping his forearm in a tight grip, and once she feels like he's got her she does what she can to help him pull her up and in to the stupid little treehouse where she can catch her breath. ]
[ julie may chase him around and stab a bunch of holes in him on occasion, but that doesn't mean he wants her to die. falling to their death is the last thing in his agenda, and he wouldn't be offering to help her if thought he couldn't do it. eddie might push himself a little hard sometimes in trials, but he knows his limits.
when julie clasps her hand around his arm, eddie does the same to her, curling his fingers around her forearm and bracing his other hand against the edge of the window. he's not surprisingly strong by any means, but for being a beanpole, he's decent at pulling his weight, both metaphorically and literally. eddie helps haul her up the rest of the way to the window, uses both hands to get her inside, and only lets go of her once he's sure they're both inside and safe.
well. relatively safe. eddie leans against the wall next to the window, taking a second to catch his own breath, idly watching julie. she's still got those dumb sunglasses on that he stole from one of the cars down at the end of the street. sunglasses, and no mask. he hasn't forgotten about how odd that is that she came all the way out here without it.
eventually, eddie sinks until he's sitting. the treehouse isn't very big, definitely not made for someone to stand up straight very comfortably - and he's slowly coming down from a small adrenaline high, so it just feels better to sit. he gestures up at julie after a beat with a lazy flail of one hand, pulling his knees up a bit so he can rest his other arm on one of them. ]
You could get away with those, you know. [ the sunglasses. he's commenting about her lack of a mask without commenting on it directly. ] They always put that black box over peoples' eyes when they're trying to hide their identity in like - TV shows and shit. No one would know.
[ that's bullshit, and eddie knows that. he also knows that's probably not really the entire purpose of the masks, either, but whatever. he waits for a beat, then smirks at her a little. ]
[ julie's still feeling pretty restless, even once her heartrate settles down. if there was room in here to pace, she probably would, but she settles for sitting next to eddie with a snort when he points out the sunglasses — just like a censor bar, sure — cross-legged with her knee bouncing like that's enough to work out the excess energy from that adrenaline high. ]
[ and then he makes his stupid little comment and julie bristles noticeably, her leg stops moving and she puffs up a little like an angry cat. julie was kind of hoping he hadn't noticed, or at least didn't think much of her turning up maskless, and now she's doubly annoyed because she can't even threaten him to shut up because eddie should be well aware he's safe from her outside trials by now. ]
Yeah, well I've never heard of Dredge bugging anyone since it turned up, but you'd go and find a way to be an exception.
[ yes, fine, she was worried. and who could blame her? nobody! ]
[ when eddie first arrived in the fog, a shift in julie's attitude like that would have set him on edge - but he's been here for a while now, and he's spent enough one on one time with julie that he's not so easily unsettled by her. definitely not affected by the threats she used to spit at him, which have become notably less frequent.
he does feel like maybe he's touched a nerve though, watching the way she goes kind of static for a moment when he subtly brings attention to the fact that she came out here without her mask. eddie's pretty sure he's never seen her anywhere without it on her in some capacity. even that one time, when he stumbled into the lodge looking for a quiet place to lose his shit for a minute, she came out with it on, like she was ready.
it's just - interesting, is all.
eddie turns his head to look at her, leans a little to bump his shoulder against hers. ]
What, you don't think I could convince it to like me? [ it worked for julie, who's to say he couldn't sway the dredge, too. not that he'd want to, because that sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen, but still. ] In a, uh... non-cannibalistic kind of way. Do you think it counts as cannibalism if it's made up of like - a bunch of human parts?
[ she doesn't like not having her mask, especially not away from the lodge like this. hates being seen without it and the security it provides, but eddie's seen her without it enough that not having it doesn't exactly leave her feeling vulnerable and exposed like it would with anyone else. that doesn't mean she's fine with not having it though. ]
[ the question (disregarding the horse, she can't get into that right now ) makes her roll her eyes, and julie shakes her head. ]
I'm not sure it counts as cannibalism anyway. Is it actually eating anyone?
[ a better question: does she want to know? probably not. ]
Anyway, I don't think you wanna find out. [ if he could make it like him, that is. who really wants a pile of limbs as a friend? ]
[ eddie sure as fuck doesn't want to find out, julie's right about that, but now he's stuck thinking about the technicalities of cannibalism and whether or not it applies to the dredge. is it actually eating people? eddie tilts his head, contemplates. ]
Definitely consumes people. [ he makes lazy air quotes around consumes. ] Puts bodies in its... body?
[ all right, that's enough of that. eddie makes a face like he's grossed out by the thought, physically shakes the whole thought away. whatever, it's not important and he doesn't care that much.
now that they don't have to worry so much about being maybe-cannibalized though, eddie starts to dig through his pockets for all the shit he stole. when he drags a hand out of his vest pocket, he's got those listerine strips in his palm. curious, he flicks the little case open with his thumb, and finds what looks like a bunch of neatly cut blue-green... strips. as advertised, apparently, though he still can't quite grasp what the hell they are.
he looks at julie for a second, then takes one of the strips out. gives it a little shake, like he expects it to make some kind of sound like when you shake a big sheet of metal. he says: ]
If it's not drugs, I hope it's fun at least.
[ and then with a shrug, he simultaneously offers julie the listerine strips and pops one on his tongue. ]
[ puts bodies in its body. she hates that! julie wrinkles her nose and frown at eddie, shakes her head in a way that suggests he better be done with this line of conversation because she refuses to think about it any more. ]
I think we've earned drugs, right?
[ she says, innocently taking a listerine strip and popping it right on her tongue, a move she comes to regret mere moments later when it starts to melt and it's like someone smeared a square of toothpaste on her tongue? it's not gummy, it just kind of turns to slime? julie smacks her tongue against the roof of her mouth a couple of times and and she makes a face of mild horror at eddie like he personally cursed her. ]
[ when eddie puts the strip in his mouth, he has no initial reaction, sitting there next to julie with a blank face. and then it starts to dissolve on his tongue, melting into some kind of fucked up goo, and eddie just - opens his mouth, like that'll make it stop. his brows furrow sharply, and he looks like he's just licked the bottom of a shoe or something.
this isn't drugs or fun. minty, but fucking awful as an overall experience. why do these exist? how cursed is the fucking future, and should he be glad he beefed it in the middle of the upside down back in hawkins? why the hell are people carrying these around with them? just buy some fucking altoids. brush your teeth. nobody should do themselves.
eddie clicks the little cartridge closed, rubbing his tongue against the roof of his mouth just to get the strip to dissolve faster. he looks at julie, then at the little case in his hand, and then twists... and drops it out the goddamn window. ]
What the fuck? [ she still looks deeply upset with this whole experience, halfway tempted to lick her sleeve or something just for a different flavour to suffer with. who came up with those things? is that what they're doing in the ✨new millenium✨? just fucking slurping down toothpaste goo? ]
[ julie's about to ask these questions as if eddie isn't here from ten years before her, but she remembers something and stops to reach in her pocket for the pack of cigarettes and taps two out, because she's keeping this box, and holds one out for eddie. ]
I'm definitely keeping the pack after that. [ she scrapes her tongue against the roof of her mouth and makes another of those displeased cat faces. ] Fuck.
nobody should do themselves??? removing my fingers
[ it would appear that, for the moment, he and julie are sharing the same brain cell, because for a second eddie seriously considers using the inside hem of his jacket to get the gross shit off his tongue, and only decides against it because he likes his vest too much to subject it to whatever the fuck these strips are made of.
eddie throws his hands up a little when julie swears at him like he's fucking mr. listerine himself. he didn't make the damn things, and he sure as fuck didn't know they were awful, so he can't really be held accountable here. he murmurs a disgusted jesus christ under his breath, trying to work the texture and the taste of his mouth when julie digs the cigarettes she stole from him out.
seems a little unfair that she should be allowed to keep him, considering he's the one who did all the work to find them in the first place, but you know what? he decides he's gonna let her have this one. because he's nice. he takes the offered cigarette, wrinkles his nose up as he brings it to his mouth. ] Whoever greenlit that shit's a psychopath, Christ.
[ as far as she's concerned, the toothpaste slime is entirely eddie's fault and he should be held accountable for making this happen to her. but she makes a quiet noise, agreeing with eddie as she stretches out a leg to fish her lighter out of her pocket. a silent prayer as she lights up that this erases the phantom sensation left in her mouth. ]
So. [ she takes that first inhale to make sure it's lit properly and offers the lighter over to eddie as she tilts her head back to exhale. ] Back to Harrington's legs.
[ eddie's half tempted to reach out and pinch the end of her cigarette out when julie brings harrington and his stupid legs up again, his fingertips be damned. he doesn't though, just fixes her with an unamused stare as he plucks the lighter out of her hand and flicks it to life with his thumb, lighting up his own. when he's done with the lighter, he returns it to julie by balancing it flat on her thigh.
eddie fills his lungs with smoke, blows it back out and shakes his head, finding it in himself to laugh a little. christ. ]
Something's wrong with you.
[ that's all he can come up with, half embarrassed but also half wary, because staring at a dude's legs for a little too long is the kind of thing that would land him with a split lip and a black eye or worse, laid out in the middle of the school parking lot or left to bruise in a bathroom stall. hawkins is a very small town, full of not-so-open-minded people, he's learned.
not that eddie expects julie to be prodding just to turn around and give him (serious) shit for it, but it's a habit to be cautious.
eddie gestures kind of vaguely with his hand, careful of getting too close to julie with his cigarette. ]
I just think it's - funny, is all. The dumb little outfit.
[ and weirdly attractive in a way that's kind of bizarre even to eddie, but that probably doesn't need to be said. ]
[ julie's been in the fog long enough, open long enough, that she's kind of forgotten the threat of being queer when you're from some shitty, small town. she hasn't even thought about rochelle who emphatically told julie she's not "that way" and abruptly broke up with her — is it really breaking up when all you do is meet up and make out in secret? — in years. so she assumes eddie's caution is entirely because it's a weird thing to be into, survival instinct doesn't even cross her mind. ]
Oh that's what that face you make means. It's funny. [ she's quiet for all of a moment that might seem like she's going to let it go to someone who doesn't know her, and she nudges him with her elbow just before she speaks again. ] Just admit you're into his stupid ice cream man look.
[ eddie tilts a little when julie nudges him, then straightens himself back up again. he scoffs a little under his breath, passes his tongue over his teeth to buy another second or two. ]
I don't make a face. [ he probably does, but he couldn't do it now if he wanted to because he has no idea what he looks like when he catches harrington sprinting by with his stupid fucking legs out. as far as he knew, he was being subtle, but apparently not. or maybe julie just watches him way too closely, which should creep him out more than it actually does if that's the case.
eddie reaches his hand up and back, ashes out the window before bringing his hand back in. he wets his lips, lifts his cigarette to his mouth, pauses with it hovering there for a moment. he glances at julie out of the corner of his eye. ] Why do you care so much?
[ julie shrugs a shoulder, just looks down at the cigarette between her fingers. she definitely wants to argue that he does make a face because sometimes he does and it's totally hilarious. like he's just seen something he wants in a store window mixed with something significantly less wholesome. and what it means that she's so keyed in to the faces eddie is making during trials that she can pick out his expressions so often isn't worth thinking about too much. she's just observant is all. it's a skill she's had to work on since toying with stealth perks kinda hamstrings frenzy's ability to find people. ]
I only care this much now because you keep denying it. [ a pointed raise of her eyebrows punctuated by a drag on the cigarette. ] I just thought it was funny because I would never in a million years have guessed Harrington did it for you, let alone in his little sailor boy shorts.
[ to be fair, eddie would never in a million years have guessed that harrington would ever do it for him, either. eddie used to hate the guy - distantly, never really to his face, but when they were in school together, their circles couldn't have been farther apart. and then harrington graduated and eddie stayed behind, and truthfully, eddie forgot about him for a while. only remembered the guy existed at all when he met dustin henderson, and the stupid little squirt wouldn't shut up about him.
and then, you know. hawkins went to hell in a hand basket, and through a series of very unfortunate and traumatizing events, eddie got to know steve, and he figured out pretty quickly that - yeah. people do change, and steve - steve's a pretty decent guy. and also attractive, but that's irrelevant. mostly. it should be, but julie won't fucking let it go.
eddie doesn't say anything for a minute. he smokes his cigarette and he pointedly ignores julie, like he's not even gonna bother anymore with arguing if she's just gonna keep insisting that he's lying (because he is). he looks around the small, cramped tree house just to kill some time, rubs his tongue against the roof of his mouth to chase the rest of the acrid listerine aftertaste away, and it's not until he's burned his cigarette nearly down to the filter that he says anything. ]
... He's not what he seems, you know. Or, no - I guess he's exactly what he seems. Now. I used to hate the guy, but I barely knew him. Turns out, sometimes when you get to know someone, they're not as bad as you thought they'd be.
[ eddie turns his head and looks at julie pointedly, because this is not a sentiment that applies exclusively to steve. he goes to stub his cigarette out on the floorboard by his knee but then thinks better of it - with his luck, he'd light the whole damn treehouse up with them inside it - and rubs it out on the leg of his jeans instead.
he looks at julie again, offers a half shrug. presses his lips together for a moment, like he's debating his next words, and then just decides - fuck it. ]
Never saw him in shorts until here. He's got nice legs. Are you happy? [ he laughs. ] Jesus.
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[ eddie's mouth opens in semi-mock offense when julie steals the cigarette's from him, looking at her with mild disbelief. he's the one who came out here - by himself! - to snoop around for shit to bring back to camp (sure, mostly for himself, but if he'd found anything he thought could be useful for someone else, he wouldn't have hesitated to bring whatever back for them), and she's claiming a finder's fee? for what? finding him, when he specifically said she could and should wait by the gates if she was insisting on coming to get him?
eddie scoffs, reaching for the cigarettes. ]
Finder's fee my ass, Jules, you didn't—
[ but julie freezes instead of jerking her hand away the way eddie was expecting her too, and that's enough to make him pause too, eyebrows furrowing when julie practically ignores him and spins around. it has not slipped eddie's mind that they're not exactly safe from the nightmare monstrosity that apparently lives here, but it's been pretty quiet, and from the handful of times eddie's had to face that thing, he's learned that it doesn't really come quietly.
also in his few encounters, eddie has been fortunate in that he hasn't seen it in its... festive form, so when he catches a very very brief glimpse of white in the distance, shifting behind some trees and brush, he mistakes it for something far less harmful. ]
It's - that's a snowman. Someone's - probably just fucking around.
[ but julie's got her knife out, and if he knows anything about julie - which is admittedly, not very much and not as much as he would like to know - it's that she doesn't spook easily, and she's not stupid. the way she backs up toward him, broadening herself to act like a shield between eddie and whatever it is she thinks she saw, it's enough to convince eddie that maybe she knows better.
eddie shoves the disposable camera in his back pocket and curls his hand in the bend of julie's elbow, pulling her along with him as he starts to move, backing away from the scattering of cars toward some fences close by. ]
C'mon. Not without you.
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If it comes for us you better run your ass out of here. [ julie is generally firm in the things she says, serious and unwavering when she needs to be, but stern isn't a tone she takes often. ] I'm faster than both of you, I'll be fine.
[ never mind they're talking about a malevolent manifestation of rage and fear that has a much tighter link with the entity than her and also can teleport, though without a ton of lockers littered around the place julie doubts it can do much in that regard. she just knows she's not leaving eddie to that thing if she can do something about it, even if 'something' happens to be occupying its attention by dying horribly. ]
[ she's just... not going to think about what it means that she finds herself so often worried about this guy. ]
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creeping into a jungle gym of fences, eddie casts julie a look like he think she's a little bit crazy - which, he does, that's not a new observation, he's just making it evident in this moment. ]
What are you gonna do, fight it? It'll eat you alive, dude. [ eddie says this casually, but there's nothing casual about it. the dredge creeps him the fuck out, and what does eddie do when he's scared? he either screeches like an idiot... or he copes with sarcasm and humor. he flings out a hand, peering around the edge of a fence and then glancing back at julie. ] And between the two of us, I'm more experienced.
[ at... being eaten alive. it's funny, if you know what happened to him. and by funny, it's really just fucked up and traumatic and not really that funny at all. regardless, eddie doesn't elaborate and he doesn't expect julie to understand, either. instead, he looks back around the edge of the fence again, and murmurs:]
I want those cigarettes back. We can split 'em. Finder's fee.
[ he makes a sound like he's sucking his teeth. like he's unimpressed. but! it looks like the coast is clear for now, so eddie keeps moving, waving julie along. ]
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[ but still-- ] You that eager for another death, Munson? [ she shoves his shoulder to punctuate. following through the fence maze. ] Based on how easy you are to catch, I'd say I've got a better chance keeping that thing occupied than you.
[ he's a support class and that's fine. let the rogue handle it. things she'd say if she cared enough to learn about d&d. ]
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I'm easy to catch because I let you catch me like - seventy-five percent of the time.
[ they both know that's not true. eddie's not entirely useless when it comes to taking chase, but he's definitely not as good as, say, david or meg, and when julie catches him it's definitely because she's faster and outplayed him. he's really not that eager to die again, in a trial or here in this dumb garden with a meat monster creeping around somewhere.
eddie turns back around again, and just as he's about to step out of the rectangle of fences, he hears the not so distant sound of a dozen agonized voices. way too fucking close for comfort, but that thing could be a football field away and eddie would still hate it. he freezes, spins on his heel again and instinctively braces a hand against julie's ribs so she won't move, leaned in close. he says nothing, but the look he gives her, eyes serious and jaw tight, should say enough. ]
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Whatever you say, Munson. [ he's more like morel than thomas, which is fine. kind of a pain actually because it means things are more likely to get done when he's there, getting thrown in with a team of four runners is kind of the ideal, even if it makes the trial like ten times longer. ]
[ she's pulled out of thoughts on trials and how every survivor is a special kind of nuisance by the approaching chorus of wails, and it really doesn't take much to make her stay still in that moment. back pressed flat to the fence, julie's grip tightens on her knife and she turns her head to try and listen for when it hopefully passes them by. something catches her eye though and she looks back up at eddie to get his attention and gestures to a treehouse a little bit away with a jut of her chin, hoping he catches her thoughts here. they can hide out up there without too much worry until it's safe to beeline it out of this place. ]
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eddie clenches his teeth together and keeps completely still, his hand still spread across julie's ribs like he has any say in what she does or where she goes. he doesn't think she's stupid enough to sell herself out just to fight the damn thing, but she's already implied more than once that she'll put herself in the way so eddie can run.
which is... something to think about. when they're not trying to avoid a gruesome death. later, maybe.
eddie looks down at julie as she looks up at him, and it takes him a second to pick up what she's trying to communicate, following the tilt of her chin up toward a treehouse not that far from them. eddie's not really sure he's ever noticed it before now, but it's not like he spends a lot of time giving himself the grand tour of every realm when he's dumped into one, and this is the first time he's been out here outside of a trial.
it's not a bad idea. if anything, it'll get them out of an immediate line of sight. can the dredge even look up? eddie has no idea, but he does know it probably can't climb a fucking tree. (then again, maybe it's an olympic tree climber, with all those stolen hands). he looks back at julie again, gives a curt nod to indicate that he understands, he's on board.
it takes a minute or so of waiting before the dredge's miserable orchestra of devoured souls starts to fade away, getting quieter and quieter with distance. when it's just barely audible, eddie finally takes his hand off of julie's ribs and blindly grabs for her hand instead, already on the move. ]
Now, come on.
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[ she hadn't even realized she was holding her breath until the chorus fades to dull, distant whimpers, and she exhales. wishing she could see which way it went, but 'not here' is good enough for the moment. takes a deep breath and-- and eddie's already grabbing her hand and pulling her along. ]
[ well. fair enough. no time to overthink things right now. julie trusts him not to run them into a ditch, checking over her shoulder and to their sides to make sure it's not looking at them from a distance, out a window, from behind a car. around some bullshit corner that doesn't even make any fucking sense. god she hates when she has a trial here. ]
[ he might be stubborn about refusing to take off without her, but julie hopes eddie isn't too full of whatever it is to fight with her about it when she tightens her grip on his hand and pulls him toward the boards nailed to the tree in some facsimile of a ladder. ]
You first.
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he does shoot julie a look though, clearly mildly annoyed that he knows that she knows he'd be an idiot to argue. but then he lets go of julie's hand, finally, and starts to climb. fairly nimbly, too, but the last thing he had to climb like this was a rope made of his bed sheets, hung between dimensions. a ladder made of two by fours nailed into the side of a tree's a lot easier to master.
as he climbs, he keeps a look out too, mindful of where he puts his hands and his feet so he doesn't fall and shatter his tailbone or something, but also scanning for anything moving out in the gardens that should not be moving. anything slinking around like a demented, possessed snowman. when he gets to the top of the ladder, he hauls himself a little less than gracefully through the treehouse window, then turns around and hangs about halfway out, arms extended down toward julie.
he waves his hands, hissing down to her. ]
Your turn. Come on, I got you.
[ he... does not have her, because he's too far up for him to just reach down and haul her up, but once she climbs high enough, he's set to help her up and in. ]
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[ she's pretty fucking glad eddie's good at getting up there quick though, tension clear in the way she holds herself rigid and keeps scanning what she can see of this little street between glances up at eddie to make sure he's doing okay. once he's in, she's moving before he even speaks — might be willing to take the heat on his behalf, but that doesn't mean julie is by any means eager to be face-to-faces with that thing — and she starts climbing up to meet those hands. ]
[ well, first she casts a cautious look up just to satisfy her own worries about somehow pulling him out of the treehouse and dropping him to his death, but there's no way eddie is enough of a fool to reach for her if that was a risk. she hopes. but then julie reaches out for him, clasping his forearm in a tight grip, and once she feels like he's got her she does what she can to help him pull her up and in to the stupid little treehouse where she can catch her breath. ]
[ jesus christ what a fucking day. ]
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when julie clasps her hand around his arm, eddie does the same to her, curling his fingers around her forearm and bracing his other hand against the edge of the window. he's not surprisingly strong by any means, but for being a beanpole, he's decent at pulling his weight, both metaphorically and literally. eddie helps haul her up the rest of the way to the window, uses both hands to get her inside, and only lets go of her once he's sure they're both inside and safe.
well. relatively safe. eddie leans against the wall next to the window, taking a second to catch his own breath, idly watching julie. she's still got those dumb sunglasses on that he stole from one of the cars down at the end of the street. sunglasses, and no mask. he hasn't forgotten about how odd that is that she came all the way out here without it.
eventually, eddie sinks until he's sitting. the treehouse isn't very big, definitely not made for someone to stand up straight very comfortably - and he's slowly coming down from a small adrenaline high, so it just feels better to sit. he gestures up at julie after a beat with a lazy flail of one hand, pulling his knees up a bit so he can rest his other arm on one of them. ]
You could get away with those, you know. [ the sunglasses. he's commenting about her lack of a mask without commenting on it directly. ] They always put that black box over peoples' eyes when they're trying to hide their identity in like - TV shows and shit. No one would know.
[ that's bullshit, and eddie knows that. he also knows that's probably not really the entire purpose of the masks, either, but whatever. he waits for a beat, then smirks at her a little. ]
That worried about me, huh?
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[ and then he makes his stupid little comment and julie bristles noticeably, her leg stops moving and she puffs up a little like an angry cat. julie was kind of hoping he hadn't noticed, or at least didn't think much of her turning up maskless, and now she's doubly annoyed because she can't even threaten him to shut up because eddie should be well aware he's safe from her outside trials by now. ]
Yeah, well I've never heard of Dredge bugging anyone since it turned up, but you'd go and find a way to be an exception.
[ yes, fine, she was worried. and who could blame her? nobody! ]
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he does feel like maybe he's touched a nerve though, watching the way she goes kind of static for a moment when he subtly brings attention to the fact that she came out here without her mask. eddie's pretty sure he's never seen her anywhere without it on her in some capacity. even that one time, when he stumbled into the lodge looking for a quiet place to lose his shit for a minute, she came out with it on, like she was ready.
it's just - interesting, is all.
eddie turns his head to look at her, leans a little to bump his shoulder against hers. ]
What, you don't think I could convince it to like me? [ it worked for julie, who's to say he couldn't sway the dredge, too. not that he'd want to, because that sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen, but still. ] In a, uh... non-cannibalistic kind of way. Do you think it counts as cannibalism if it's made up of like - a bunch of human parts?
[ a beat. ]
And a horse? [ he's unsure about the horse. ]
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[ the question (disregarding the horse, she can't get into that right now ) makes her roll her eyes, and julie shakes her head. ]
I'm not sure it counts as cannibalism anyway. Is it actually eating anyone?
[ a better question: does she want to know? probably not. ]
Anyway, I don't think you wanna find out. [ if he could make it like him, that is. who really wants a pile of limbs as a friend? ]
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Definitely consumes people. [ he makes lazy air quotes around consumes. ] Puts bodies in its... body?
[ all right, that's enough of that. eddie makes a face like he's grossed out by the thought, physically shakes the whole thought away. whatever, it's not important and he doesn't care that much.
now that they don't have to worry so much about being maybe-cannibalized though, eddie starts to dig through his pockets for all the shit he stole. when he drags a hand out of his vest pocket, he's got those listerine strips in his palm. curious, he flicks the little case open with his thumb, and finds what looks like a bunch of neatly cut blue-green... strips. as advertised, apparently, though he still can't quite grasp what the hell they are.
he looks at julie for a second, then takes one of the strips out. gives it a little shake, like he expects it to make some kind of sound like when you shake a big sheet of metal. he says: ]
If it's not drugs, I hope it's fun at least.
[ and then with a shrug, he simultaneously offers julie the listerine strips and pops one on his tongue. ]
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I think we've earned drugs, right?
[ she says, innocently taking a listerine strip and popping it right on her tongue, a move she comes to regret mere moments later when it starts to melt and it's like someone smeared a square of toothpaste on her tongue? it's not gummy, it just kind of turns to slime? julie smacks her tongue against the roof of her mouth a couple of times and and she makes a face of mild horror at eddie like he personally cursed her. ]
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this isn't drugs or fun. minty, but fucking awful as an overall experience. why do these exist? how cursed is the fucking future, and should he be glad he beefed it in the middle of the upside down back in hawkins? why the hell are people carrying these around with them? just buy some fucking altoids. brush your teeth. nobody should do themselves.
eddie clicks the little cartridge closed, rubbing his tongue against the roof of his mouth just to get the strip to dissolve faster. he looks at julie, then at the little case in his hand, and then twists... and drops it out the goddamn window. ]
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[ julie's about to ask these questions as if eddie isn't here from ten years before her, but she remembers something and stops to reach in her pocket for the pack of cigarettes and taps two out, because she's keeping this box, and holds one out for eddie. ]
I'm definitely keeping the pack after that. [ she scrapes her tongue against the roof of her mouth and makes another of those displeased cat faces. ] Fuck.
nobody should do themselves??? removing my fingers
eddie throws his hands up a little when julie swears at him like he's fucking mr. listerine himself. he didn't make the damn things, and he sure as fuck didn't know they were awful, so he can't really be held accountable here. he murmurs a disgusted jesus christ under his breath, trying to work the texture and the taste of his mouth when julie digs the cigarettes she stole from him out.
seems a little unfair that she should be allowed to keep him, considering he's the one who did all the work to find them in the first place, but you know what? he decides he's gonna let her have this one. because he's nice. he takes the offered cigarette, wrinkles his nose up as he brings it to his mouth. ] Whoever greenlit that shit's a psychopath, Christ.
eddie says no to masturbation
So. [ she takes that first inhale to make sure it's lit properly and offers the lighter over to eddie as she tilts her head back to exhale. ] Back to Harrington's legs.
rip
eddie fills his lungs with smoke, blows it back out and shakes his head, finding it in himself to laugh a little. christ. ]
Something's wrong with you.
[ that's all he can come up with, half embarrassed but also half wary, because staring at a dude's legs for a little too long is the kind of thing that would land him with a split lip and a black eye or worse, laid out in the middle of the school parking lot or left to bruise in a bathroom stall. hawkins is a very small town, full of not-so-open-minded people, he's learned.
not that eddie expects julie to be prodding just to turn around and give him (serious) shit for it, but it's a habit to be cautious.
eddie gestures kind of vaguely with his hand, careful of getting too close to julie with his cigarette. ]
I just think it's - funny, is all. The dumb little outfit.
[ and weirdly attractive in a way that's kind of bizarre even to eddie, but that probably doesn't need to be said. ]
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Oh that's what that face you make means. It's funny. [ she's quiet for all of a moment that might seem like she's going to let it go to someone who doesn't know her, and she nudges him with her elbow just before she speaks again. ] Just admit you're into his stupid ice cream man look.
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I don't make a face. [ he probably does, but he couldn't do it now if he wanted to because he has no idea what he looks like when he catches harrington sprinting by with his stupid fucking legs out. as far as he knew, he was being subtle, but apparently not. or maybe julie just watches him way too closely, which should creep him out more than it actually does if that's the case.
eddie reaches his hand up and back, ashes out the window before bringing his hand back in. he wets his lips, lifts his cigarette to his mouth, pauses with it hovering there for a moment. he glances at julie out of the corner of his eye. ] Why do you care so much?
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I only care this much now because you keep denying it. [ a pointed raise of her eyebrows punctuated by a drag on the cigarette. ] I just thought it was funny because I would never in a million years have guessed Harrington did it for you, let alone in his little sailor boy shorts.
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and then, you know. hawkins went to hell in a hand basket, and through a series of very unfortunate and traumatizing events, eddie got to know steve, and he figured out pretty quickly that - yeah. people do change, and steve - steve's a pretty decent guy. and also attractive, but that's irrelevant. mostly. it should be, but julie won't fucking let it go.
eddie doesn't say anything for a minute. he smokes his cigarette and he pointedly ignores julie, like he's not even gonna bother anymore with arguing if she's just gonna keep insisting that he's lying (because he is). he looks around the small, cramped tree house just to kill some time, rubs his tongue against the roof of his mouth to chase the rest of the acrid listerine aftertaste away, and it's not until he's burned his cigarette nearly down to the filter that he says anything. ]
... He's not what he seems, you know. Or, no - I guess he's exactly what he seems. Now. I used to hate the guy, but I barely knew him. Turns out, sometimes when you get to know someone, they're not as bad as you thought they'd be.
[ eddie turns his head and looks at julie pointedly, because this is not a sentiment that applies exclusively to steve. he goes to stub his cigarette out on the floorboard by his knee but then thinks better of it - with his luck, he'd light the whole damn treehouse up with them inside it - and rubs it out on the leg of his jeans instead.
he looks at julie again, offers a half shrug. presses his lips together for a moment, like he's debating his next words, and then just decides - fuck it. ]
Never saw him in shorts until here. He's got nice legs. Are you happy? [ he laughs. ] Jesus.
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