[ Eddie intends to button his lip and say nothing more about his death or the bats. People can know—people are going to know, but it’s still not something he likes discussing. He’s tried to joke about it, but it never feels right when it only serves to upset the other person, and it feels odd to talk about with such nonchalance. But he catches the brief look of alarm that crosses Teddy’s face, and he feels like he should tack on a little information to soothe things over: ]

You still see them sometimes, but...they’re mostly just kind of chill here? Like they can’t swarm and attack if they’re not connected to the hive mind or something. Nothing to worry about.

[ And sure, maybe the source of that hive mind is here, but Henry is either incapable of connecting to the bats or just doesn’t feel like doing it. Again, something Eddie would really prefer not to dwell on.

He places the basket on the ground of the clearing and stares up at the tree, which seems to be lacking in any particularly low branches. ]

Lure it in? Alright, well…

[ He glances between the tree and Teddy, like he’s mentally taking measurement of their short stature. ]

I guess that’s my job, then.

[ He grins unapologetically and takes it upon himself to reach right up and loop the wind chime from a branch, continuing to speak as he does. ]

Yeah. The name was all Dustin and his friends, I didn’t know shit about it at the time, but, uh…yeah. Just like in D&D. Looks nothing like an actual demogorgon, but—it already stuck enough to get Steve Harrington talking like a nerd on the regular, so I’ll forgive it.

[ He snorts, carefully untangling the strings of Teddy’s wind chime so that the breeze can cause the intended effect. He tilts his head thoughtfully as he does. He’d been too busy dealing with bats and dragons to really think about that, and he’s still of the mindset that there is no going back for him. ]

Maybe? If they did, I never heard about it. I don’t even know if it was possible, but I’m sure someone gave it a shot.