( closed ) i think you ought to stay away from here

[wheezed]

Who: Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier
When: july 14
What: Eddie + Richie get caught in an event dome ( followed by long overdue communication )
Warnings: event-related trauma; probably references to IT-canon (child-murdering monsters! parental abuse!); probably canon-related homophobia references —— will update as needed

( Things are...better. Maybe. They're talking, and that's already a huge improvement on the weeks of silence that gnawed away at Eddie painfully. There's an elephant in every room they walk into, of course there is, but Eddie certainly won't be the one to bring things up. Frankly, he's just happy that Richie's willing to talk to him again, after what happened.

So it's not perfect, but it's good. Things only feel a little stilted as Eddie chats his way through the walk, and it's only slightly obvious that he's desperately filling any silence with noise of some kind. It's not perfect, but he'll take it. Honestly he doesn't entirely remember why they've gone out this time – looking for something for HTC, he thinks, but it's hardly important. Eddie didn't even argue about the safety of the domes before he agreed, and now that they're out he's only regretting that a little.

After all, they haven't run into problems yet right?


Something feels wrong right away. Eddie's brows burrow into a deep frown and there's this gut feeling that just punches through him. He takes a deep breath in and turns to tell Richie that they have to go–

Richie isn't there.

Panic claws at him instantly, and there's barely time to suck air into his lungs before he starts calling out about as loud as he can manage. )

Richie? Rich, where did you go? Richie?!

Comments

this is a place worse than hell i swear to god

[badimpression]

[Richie likes to pretend they've done a good job of going back to normal. He shoves jagged puzzle pieces together, smiling too big for his face and cracking jokes that are bad even by his standards. It hurts.

But he has Eddie back, so it doesn't hurt nearly as bad as it did before, when they weren't talking. And Eds is so good and kind and such a stuffy asshole that sometimes Richie manages to forget about that bastard elephant entirely, and his laughter is honest, and he remembers why he would do anything to keep this.

Today they're on a bullshit quest, searching for something to insulate Hopper's cage a little better, and although she deserves a warm and lovely home, she honestly already has one. It's just as good a reason as any other to wander around the domes with his best friend in tow.

Richie's halfway through an awful goof, the British accent (he's picked up some tips from a reluctant Llewellyn) blaring, when he turns to watch Eddie's reaction- but he's gone, dropped behind Richie or caught his eyes on something more interesting.

So Richie rolls his eyes and turns to grab his attention back, but Eddie isn't behind him either.

He's not anywhere.

A strange sort of cold panic sinks into Richie's gut, and he can't explain why he's suddenly so afraid. He opens his mouth to call out for Eddie, but his voice comes out quiet and stilted with fear instead.]

Eds?