[open] i'm so tired of being tired

[satanicpanics]

Who: Eddie Munson & YOU, perhaps?
When: September
Where: Solvunn, Horizon
What: Catchall
Warnings: I'll get back to you

𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵
𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺

{Starters to follow! If you want something specific, find me at muttonchops or poultrylegs @ discord}

Comments

[satanicpanics]

Yeah, well, not to go soft on Indiana but, uh…I’m pretty sure it’s just our freaky little town and the rest of the state has no clue. Though, I think the government is aware? But don’t quote me on that one.

[ He still feels like he knows so little about the whole situation. Sure, he’s been told things and he’s worked things out on his own, but it still feels like a movie he’s walked into halfway through. He can grasp the main idea and ask friends to fill him in, but he still constantly feels left in the dark compared to people who were actually there. ]

Doesn’t make it any less boring, believe me. I challenge you to tell me one fact about Indiana that didn’t come from me.

[ He’s pretty sure not even he can do that without a whole lot of thinking. ]

Oh, he still has no idea. I’ll fill him in one of these days.

[ Which is absolutely not giving Steve enough credit. He surely knows by now where all these names came from. He’d been well acquainted with that gaggle of nerdy children long before Eddie came along, and now he’s actually played the game himself now. It’s just a little bit of fond teasing for a man who isn’t even in the vicinity to defend himself.

All the same, it clearly gives Eddie a great deal of joy to talk about the people who made up his family in that timeline, and Teddy is right—it’s not just about those eight centuries at all. If he had survived long enough to see it through, he can only hope he would have had the good sense to continue to associate with Steve back home, and Dustin is a no-brainer. He’s so proud of that little brainiac; he was probably one minor accomplishment away from keeping a photo of him in his wallet like a proud father.

When Teddy starts talking about home and about what might be happening there without them, he frowns. It’s a topic he tends to avoid and often removes himself from conversations about it. He doesn’t often let himself think about the finer details, like if time is passing at all, or if his uncle knows he’s dead, or if his father saw his face in the papers as a wanted man and cared at all. Because, sure, he’s resigned himself to staying here, but thoughts of home often lead to thoughts about being left alone here, which leads to him spiraling, which leads to a very unhappy Eddie. ]

Alright, listen. That’s easy enough to handle. We just don’t go through any strange portals, alright?

[ He doesn’t mean to brush Teddy off. He can tell his friend is anxious with the mere thought of the portals, but for the sake of both of their nerves, this conversation feels better left for another time, when goat men aren’t in the vicinity. ]

Yeah, that’s…good idea.

[ He doesn’t drop Teddy’s hand, but he pulls them out of the way of the basket, behind a nearby shrub. Just as soon as they’re out of sight, however, the sound of cloven hooves begins to approach through the clearing. Eddie’s heart leaps into his throat. ]

Shit.

[ He closes his eyes, squeezes Teddy’s hand, and tries very hard not to freak out to the point of turning into a bat again. In a low voice, he hisses: ]

Is it here?

[tedandroses]

So...there's a government-cover-up of hive-minded cryptids in just your town. Well. That's not concerning!

[They punctuate the end of the sentence with a faux-cheery grin. It would also have sounded completely nuts, if Teddy hadn't had to face a lot of things that have -- well, pretty much obliterated their sense of rationality, or at least reconfigured the settings completely. Eddie's someone they trust to be honest with them, and to be honest, government cover ups of freaky bats and whatever a demogorgon does look like is remarkably plausible sounding compared with all of...even what they're doing, right now.]

Teddy laughs and grimaces, thinking.]
You all really like tricked out cars that go in circles for hours?

[She smirks as he teases Steve. Eddie's fondness for his People is pretty blatantly obvious, and Teddy likes to hear him talk about them if he's inclined to. Steve is sort of a whole thing on top of that, she's pretty sure, but not -- always, or not necessarily, if that makes sense. And the same way that she tends not to get jealous in relationships, she just enjoys listening to friends talk about their people, or tease in that affectionate, intimate way that both she and Eddie have in common. It's warm and nice.

Eddie frowns at Teddy when they look back up from that unsettled, backwards-looping little monologue, and yeah, okay, maybe his answer is a little blase. But just thinking about some kind of route that might but might not lead home, and how one would even study it, and the risks on any side of it, makes the blood rush in Teddy's ears. Eddie's firm answer, as though that's all there is to it, is oddly grounding even as it shoves the conversation into a box marked Later. Their lips lift into a crooked smirk.]

No strange portals. I can do that.

[Teddy raises their pinky in a sort of gestural cross between a pinky swear and the Scouting oath.

If a pinky swear was going to happen, though, it's aborted by Teddy grabbing for Eddie's hand. He's thankful for Eddie being bigger and taller, honestly, because Eddie just yanks him with, without thinking, both of them crouched behind some big leafy shrubbery. Teddy curls closer in, trying to make sure he's hidden.

The icy feeling of something terrible about to happen in Teddy's gut gets worse as the sound of hooves on earth clarify. (Is she gripping Eddie's sleeve? Shit. Shit, she told him he could take off on her if he wanted. Get your shit together, Roberts.) She squeezes his hand back, steady in time with a long breath in, and leans just a little to try and see, eyes wide as, in the dark, a figure -- sort of -- resolves.]

Yeah. It's.
...looking?

[She got tidbits from anyone she could about this thing -- Aine was helpful; maybe there's something about making tapestries that makes you into a storyteller too, or having a kid, or maybe Aine's just good at stories -- so she knows the fear is partly from the goatman -- the Lyhos Kesc -- itself. She knows it's better if they're together. What else. What else.

Spells of warmth and comfort. She doesn't know any of --wait. The one that makes people feel like they're a team, want to commit to a purpose. That could be...comforting. It might even make the Lyhos want to work with them, she doesn't know, but...

Teddy turns their head, stacking their other hand on top of Eddie's where it's holding theirs. They can feel themself trembling just a little.]

I have a really, really crazy idea.
[His voice is soft, carefully all but unvoiced; less hissed than a real whisper.]

I can do a thing, but I have to...sing, I think.
[They grimace.]
It's...a little like Suggestion? It might work on all of us.
[They nod toward the clearing, where all they can see are that long creepy fingers have just reached over the height of the bush to touch the strings of the wind chime.]
Only if you say yes.

[satanicpanics]

I mean, not in the town, really? More like…under the town? It’s some kind of alternate dimension.

[ Said casually, as if it’s the most normal thing ever, because by this point it kind of is, but he still wishes Dustin was here to lend a bit of levity to his attempt at an explanation.

Teddy’s Indiana Fact get an unimpressed look out of him. He knows what’s being referenced, but he can’t imagine anything more boring than watching tricked out cars go in circles for hours. It does sound like something that some bored Hawkins High students would try to pull off, though. ]

Okay, so maybe they do that shit out in Indy, but some of us? Have good taste.

[ He tell himself that they will return to the topic of the portals later, because it really is something that Teddy deserve to be filled in on. When the goat man situation is over and done, when Eddie’s anxiety level is back to its baseline levels, he’ll be sure to circle back around to it.

But now isn’t the time, because the very thing they didn’t want to run into is here. Teddy confirms that the creature is looking and Eddie groans, eyes still shut tight. He knows he’ll lose it completely if he catches sight of those long, creepy fingers, and he really doesn’t want to leave Teddy to their own devices out here. They’d told him he could take off if he needs to, but he’ll never forgive himself if he does that shit again. He accepted this quest with Teddy, and he’ll see it through to the end alongside them.

Then they ask him something—and he’s not sure he even fully comprehends what it is, but all he can do is nod his shaggy head and grips their hand a little more tightly. ]

Whatever. Sure. Yes. Fine. Just get rid of it. Please.

[tedandroses]

[Teddy tilts their head at alternate dimension, because at this point they aren’t sure if that makes it make more or less sense than just…creatures that the government knows but is actively either not doing anything about or encouraging. Sure. Why not inter-dimensional hive minds the government knows about.

She can’t help a grin, despite their collective on-edge…ness. She deadpans:]

You think I’d be out here helping you placate a giant goat man if I thought you were super into NASCAR? Come on, man.

[They can’t banter about Indiana or move on to the so much more fascinating attractions of rural West Virginia, though, because shortly they’re hiding from said kinda-cryptid.

Eddie has a death grip on Teddy’s hand, but it’s …nice? Eddie could turn into a bat and fuck off, but he hasn’t, he’s just holding onto her. Maybe she’s even helping? And Teddy hates admitting that she’s scared, but right now she’s fucking terrified, so the bruise-worthy clench they have on each other is just fine.

They’re not even sure what they’re scared of: this thing doesn’t have a lot of lore of attacking people, but it feels horrifying. Like late night panic attacks, like losing everybody.

Teddy takes a long breath in and a long breath out, steadying herself and hoping maybe her own counted breaths will feel a little contagious to Eddie’s body on some evolutionary level. Okay. She can do this. She’s figured out — from the few times it’s worked here, and the powers it was most like in that other universe — that if she doesn’t have a specific intent, there will still be a sort of underlying push to work together, to help each other. But she thinks hard about the intent, fastening the ideas to the song: of not wanting any harm to the Lyhos, of a trade for the mask, of giving it a present; and of calm and peacefulness spreading over all three of them.

They wrap their other arm around the one Eddie's holding their hand with: half comforting hug, half ...security, like the way you might clutch a teddy bear to you: when they release his jacket to move their hand, their knuckles ache from how hard they were holding on.

And then they sing, soft and still watching; unsteady at first but easing into it:]

"When you’re weary, feeling small,
when tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all.
I’m on your side, oh, when times get rough,
and friends just can’t be found.
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down...”

[satanicpanics]

[ Eddie is sure he has a few more quips in him about how little he cares about NASCAR, and he’s sure he could ask about what better things one could possibly do out in rural West Virginia, but he doesn’t get the opportunity.

There are much more terrifying things lurking in Abraxas, sure. A goat that walks on two legs shouldn’t be getting this reaction out of either of them, but Eddie is a self-admitted coward. While his situation has improved significantly, a recent run-in with a goat that left his arm looking like ground beef certainly hasn’t helped matters. Claire healed him up nicely, and he’s felt no lingering effects, but the memory is still there.

It’s not even the strangest thing he’s been so frightened of. He has a thing about ducks, after all. ]

Oh, Jesus Christ, not Simon and Garfunkel, we are not—

[ He begins to protest as Teddy begins to sing, terrified by the Lyhos’s presence and the fact that its attention has been called to them, but as Teddy hits the chorus, something clicks. Enough calm comes over him that he manages to let a little of his tension go. His grip on Teddy’s hand loosens just a little (although he doesn’t fully let go), his breathing evens out, and to his complete credit, he does not turn into a bat.

The Lyhos peers at them through the bushes, curious and drawn in by Teddy’s voice, but it doesn’t move any further. It watches, as if waiting for the song to continue. ]

Shit, it’s staring. Maybe—maybe if we ask it for the…

[ He gestures to the mask, obviously calmer, but still wound up. ]

[tedandroses]

[Teddy shoots him a very slightly exasperated look -- look, Simon and Garfunkel are one of her mom's favorites, and you try thinking of something off-hand that can be sung without accompaniment while trying to placate a giant goat -- but it doesn't have any real oomph to it.]

[Especially not as they feel Eddie start to relax next to them. And -- maybe it's the song, maybe it's the way Eddie's breathing slows a little, or the fact that he hasn't turned into a bat, maybe it's just feeling like they've done something to help -- the dread starts to drain from Teddy, too, replaced by a frightened but we'll-get-through-this sort of determination; a gratitude that they teamed up to do this.]

I'll take your part...

[As the Lyhos pokes its (head? it's kind of a lot of moss) into the shrubs, Teddy nods hastily at Eddie. In case it's just the singing and nothing magic at all, he hisses:]

Back me up? Hum, even.

[Teddy squeezes Eddie's hand - as much for her own benefit as his, to be completely honest - and gets to her feet, taking a deep breath. Focusing on them all as more alike than unlike, three separate creatures that have been brought here unwitting and against odds. Reminding herself of her own ability to persuade, to stand on a stage -- god it's been a long time -- or in front of people and hold their attention. She can feel her hands trembling, but there's something oddly familiar about that reaction, and Teddy starts.]

I don't know if you can understand me. We were looking for you. We don't want to bother you.

[They think through the concepts as they talk, trying to project the feelings and images. Teddy raises their hands to their face to illustrate:]

There's a mask. Our people need it back. It helps us to keep everyone safe.

...But you can have anything we've brought if you can give us the mask. Or work out something. I could come back and sing again.

[Okay, that's a big promise, but Teddy feels at the moment like it's a fair deal, if it wants something he can give so easily. If it even understands.

Divested of quite so much of that gut-deep fear, Teddy thinks distantly that the giant goat-creature's height and mop of vegetation make it seem a little like a big puppet: maybe a little Pan's Labyrinth -- or at least Dark Crystal -- along with The Muppets, but still kind of Henson-y.

Teddy doesn't dare look at Eddie: she doesn't want to draw more attention to him when he has more than enough reason to be terrified of a giant goat and is braving it already. She can feel his presence next to her: winds it in like a countermelody in the concepts she's projecting, something that makes them both into something more solid.]

[satanicpanics]

[ Look, Eddie could come up with a million things on the fly…but yeah, they I>do all require the use of a guitar, so maybe he’d be struggling as well. ]

Jesus Christ—just…don’t tell anyone.

[ He lets out a little yelp as the Lyhos pokes its head into the bushes and shuffles as far backward from it as he can without dropping Teddy’s hand. Okay, okay, he mumbles under his breath, trying to calm himself once more. Eventually, however, he takes a deep breath, opens his mouth, and takes over for Teddy. ]

When darkness comes, and pain is all around—

[ He’s no Paul Simon, and he’s definitely no Art Garfunkel. His voice has a little too much metal and rasp to make the song sound as soaring and transcendent as it really is, but when this is over, no one will be able to say he didn’t try his best. He’s in tune, he’s singing the right notes, and there’s nothing about his performance that might make the goat creature react poorly.

There’s also something to be said about the fact that despite his criticism, he still knows all the words…judge him on that later. ]

Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down—

[ He makes panicked noise as Teddy pulls heir hand from his, clearly alarmed, but he struggles to continue to play his part in all of this, helping as best he can. ]

Wait—wait—like a—shit—bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down—

[ The Lyhos seems pacified enough, whether by Teddy’s magic or the lovely background music it’s been provided with. It ignores Eddie entirely and instead stares quietly and intently at Teddy. Its eyes narrow and it inclines it head, as though it understands every word they’re saying and is considering their words carefully.

The creature stays this way for a long stretch of time, but just before Eddie is forced to make his best attempt at Garfunkel’s upper octave, the Lyhos reaches up. It removes the mask and places it carefully onto the branches of the shrubbery. It steps backward and watches quietly, as if waiting for Teddy to collect its offering. ]

[tedandroses]

[ooc: you deserve literally all the apologies. i tried to reply to this like three times and something happened EVERY SINGLE TIME and i got frustrated with it, but i love them and i can't leave it here.]

[Teddy scrunches their eyebrows at him in what they hope communicates who the fuck would I tell? in the very brief moment they have to look away. (There are, actually, a few mutual friends who would probably know the song, and the really obvious answer is Steve, but Teddy don't do their friends like that, okay.)

She's going to force him to listen to the Disturbed cover of Sound of Silence when all this is over. You know, presuming the Lyhos doesn't go super feral.

[Eddie's voice is good, actually, and to be fair to him, he goes for it: rougher than Simon and Garfunkle but come the fuck on; besides, Teddy has always favored musicians without perfect vocals. And, more to the point, it's Eddie's, and that's more comforting than something professional, between Teddy's slow statements. When he pulls his hand away to gesture, and Eddie squeaks and protests a little, it's even harder not to glance his way, not to turn or assure him in kind.

You can do this, Teddy thinks, and isn't sure if it's more to themself or Eddie.

[The Lyhos inclines its head. There's what feels like an interminable quiet, though it really only stretches out a line or so. Teddy can feel her own heart pounding in her ears, afraid to look away and afraid to look too aggressive: she settles on lowering her eyes a little while it thinks. Then looks up, almost startled, as the goat creature removes the mask: she blinks at it on the branches for a dumb second.]

...Thank you.

[Teddy inclines his own head, almost a bow, a hand to his chest in thanks. He reaches carefully, both hands palm up, to carefully lift the mask from the bushes and, likewise, steps backward from the edge, away from the basket and gifts.

This time, Eddie does get a look, a mixture of holy shit dude it worked and deep gratitude. And a little, tentative smile, one that's turned back toward the goat as well.

Because they can, they softly pick up where Eddie's gotten to, this time taking the harmony after the first couple notes.]

...sail on by. Your time has come to shine. All your dreams are on their way...

[satanicpanics]

{ooc| no worries! id say we're near to wrapping this up anyway}

[ Eddies shrugs as Teddy’s eyebrows scrunch together, unable to answer the unspoken question of who would I tell? He doesn’t know, he just doesn’t want anyone to know he’s out here singing Simon and Garfunkel (though he definitely doesn’t want Steve to know, as if Steve would even care).

He actually would probably really enjoy the Disturbed cover of Sound of Silence, though.

But for now, he continues to sing, watches Teddy with wide, anxious eyes. He wants to back away when the creature approaches, but instead, he takes a firm hold of Teddy’s sleeve, ready to pull them back if the creature attacks. But it doesn’t. It places the mask into he branches and backs away to watch them finish their tune. ]

If you need a friend, I'm sailing right behind—

[ He takes a deep, shuddering breath, his voice joins Teddy’s once more, and it’s…not unpleasant. Eddie has taught himself everything he knows about music, and while he may not have the words or technical understanding, he seems to understand how to form a harmony. It’s just like on the guitar—each of them is a string, it’s jut a matter of singing the notes that create a chord. ]

Like a bridge over troubled water, I will ease your mind—

[ It sounds nice, and the Lyhos seems to think so as well. It listens quietly, blinking slowly at the two of them as they reach the final, soaring lines of the song: ]

Like a bridge over troubled water, I will ease your mind.

[ And then, with an almost satisfied look—it could even be a smile, if goats could do such things—the creature turns. It pauses to scoop up the basket of offerings (who wouldn’t take free shit?) and takes off slowly into the woods once more, leaving the two Summoned and the mask behind.

Eddie sinks into himself, slumping like all his fear leaves him in one bark of anxious laughter. ]

Uh—holy shit.

tf was i even doing! but yes, this is pretty much a wrap :)

[tedandroses]

[Eddie's hand on their sleeve is something Teddy only notices in the moments after, too half frozen, slightly out-of-body as they hold their breath to watch the Lyhos and what it does. When they feel it, though, it's warming. A reminder that not only is Eddie here, vocally, to back them up if it's not, actually, at all Teddy's magic, and magical goat-men just really like singing -- but also, he's willing to bodily stop them from being an idiot, no matter how scared he is. That means something.

The Lyhos Kesc removes the mask, and Teddy takes it, and for a moment as they pick up the song, it just blinks long-lashed eyes from where the moss and fur have created dreadlocks around its face, regarding them peacefully, almost contentedly before scooping up the offerings and retreating.

Teddy sets the mask very carefully down as Eddie slumps over with a laugh, staring. He echoes him, still blinking:]

Holy ...shit.

[Then the shock and remaining adrenaline just all sort of morphs into (very slightly hysterical) gleeful laughter. She takes a half step back and impulsively tackle-hugs Eddie, very nearly knocking him sideways.] Holy shit, we did it!

[He gets an absolutely unembarrassed kiss on the side of his head for staying with her.] You were perfect, thank you.

You know, the two of us don't sound half bad together.