[ he gestures to the otherwise empty store, other than the two of them.
neither Eddie nor Steve really spend much time in each other's horizons, partially for the exact reasons Eddie has - they live together, they see each other enough in the actual reality of this place. but also, Steve thinks, it's because they each - in their own weird ways - know the secrets of each others homes. Steve knows Eddie's trailer, knows the dark stain that isn't there, knows what happened and what it is that Eddie hides. and Eddie... well, the only secret he hadn't known would have been the basement, and he got a front row seat to what happened there.
Steve is behind the counter when Eddie walks in, leaning on his elbows and reading from some magazine. Steve doesn't even really feel the need to look up at the bells that ring above the door, letting himself fall into an old habit from work he hasn't really been keeping up with in years. things are... god. they're weird, yeah. but solvunn is always weird. that much hasn't changed. what has changed, though, is this heavy, dark feeling in Steve's chest. a feeling that has grown, considerably, in the last couple of days.
dustin is gone - he knows it, Eddie knows it, even if neither of them have admitted as much aloud. it's hard to deny when they were so used to seeing dustin every day, so used to the routine, the presence, so used to those 800 years when he and Eddie and Steve were a family. when-
Eddie jumps up on the counter, and Steve finally looks up at him - seeing the curve of his back, the dio t-shirt sewn into the back of his jacket. he can tell that Eddie's come here for some kind of distraction, or maybe comfort? Steve's not really sure, just as he's not really sure if he'll be good at either, the way he is not. it won't stop him from trying, but it does make him feel a bit like he's already failed this- already failed them both.
dustin is gone, and steve couldn't even fix that. maybe he's back in hawkins (if that's even considered a better option) or maybe he's somewhere else (where?). maybe none of this matters in the first place and they're back to square one in terms of what any of this means, but...
steve's eyes follow Eddie's hands, to the tape and then setting it back again, to the twisting and fiddling with his rings. when he finally asks the question, Steve is silent, at first, closing the magazine and letting out a slow, tired sigh. steve turns, his back to Eddie too now, as he pulls himself up on the counter next to the other boy and their shoulders bump casually in the movement. ]
Nah, man. His domain's gone too. [ Steve's eyes are on the floor, one of his hands going to the chain around his neck, Nero's rings still hanging there even in the horizon. his words are flat, defeated - no domain means he's gone. that's a fact that Steve can hang onto, if nothing else.
he doesn't know if Eddie catches it, but there's typing somewhere off in a back room. typing, and a sound that is just close enough to radio static. ]
no subject
[ he gestures to the otherwise empty store, other than the two of them.
neither Eddie nor Steve really spend much time in each other's horizons, partially for the exact reasons Eddie has - they live together, they see each other enough in the actual reality of this place. but also, Steve thinks, it's because they each - in their own weird ways - know the secrets of each others homes. Steve knows Eddie's trailer, knows the dark stain that isn't there, knows what happened and what it is that Eddie hides. and Eddie... well, the only secret he hadn't known would have been the basement, and he got a front row seat to what happened there.
Steve is behind the counter when Eddie walks in, leaning on his elbows and reading from some magazine. Steve doesn't even really feel the need to look up at the bells that ring above the door, letting himself fall into an old habit from work he hasn't really been keeping up with in years. things are... god. they're weird, yeah. but solvunn is always weird. that much hasn't changed. what has changed, though, is this heavy, dark feeling in Steve's chest. a feeling that has grown, considerably, in the last couple of days.
dustin is gone - he knows it, Eddie knows it, even if neither of them have admitted as much aloud. it's hard to deny when they were so used to seeing dustin every day, so used to the routine, the presence, so used to those 800 years when he and Eddie and Steve were a family. when-
Eddie jumps up on the counter, and Steve finally looks up at him - seeing the curve of his back, the dio t-shirt sewn into the back of his jacket. he can tell that Eddie's come here for some kind of distraction, or maybe comfort? Steve's not really sure, just as he's not really sure if he'll be good at either, the way he is not. it won't stop him from trying, but it does make him feel a bit like he's already failed this- already failed them both.
dustin is gone, and steve couldn't even fix that. maybe he's back in hawkins (if that's even considered a better option) or maybe he's somewhere else (where?). maybe none of this matters in the first place and they're back to square one in terms of what any of this means, but...
steve's eyes follow Eddie's hands, to the tape and then setting it back again, to the twisting and fiddling with his rings. when he finally asks the question, Steve is silent, at first, closing the magazine and letting out a slow, tired sigh. steve turns, his back to Eddie too now, as he pulls himself up on the counter next to the other boy and their shoulders bump casually in the movement. ]
Nah, man. His domain's gone too. [ Steve's eyes are on the floor, one of his hands going to the chain around his neck, Nero's rings still hanging there even in the horizon. his words are flat, defeated - no domain means he's gone. that's a fact that Steve can hang onto, if nothing else.
he doesn't know if Eddie catches it, but there's typing somewhere off in a back room. typing, and a sound that is just close enough to radio static. ]