ᴍᴜᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ- sᴛᴇᴅᴅɪᴇ

8- ᴡᴇʟᴄᴏᴍᴇ, ʜ, ᴛᴏ ᴍʏ ʜᴜᴍʙʟᴇ ᴀʙᴏᴅᴇ

The air seemed to automatically become colder under Eddie's watch. He was still in the doorway, contently greeting the visitor. Steve hadn't said anything as of yet, seen as the interaction had only just started. He kept the streak though, and stayed quiet.
After less than a few seconds, Munson turned and headed back into his trailer. Without words, he assumed that this was his invite inside, so slowly followed.

It wasn't the biggest interior, quite cramped actually, which was a vast difference over Harrington's spaced out no-man's-land of a home- and it quite very simply was filled with the pungent smell of weed. It was sweet in the back of Steve's throat as he tried to compress a cough of lost breath.

Just ahead of him, Eddie stretched out his arms in show. "Welcome, H, to my humble abode. It's not much, I must admit, but it's better than the streets- wouldn't 'ya say?"

As he spoke, he gestured to the scratched leather couch, cluttered with blankets and odd items of clothing, the kitchen, which was joined onto the living room... and that was pretty much it. Apart from a battered television in the corner and a table with a lamp, the rest seemed to consist only of pure chaos. The room was quite dimly lit- the mentioned lamp being the only source of light at that given moment- and it seemed like the perfect crack den, which is what it was used as, by the looks of it.

Steve raised his eyebrows, disregarding the nickname, and nodded. "Well, yeah- better than the streets."

"Woah," Munson grinned, sinking down onto the double seat. "no need to sound so thrilled with my wonderful trailer... it's all I've got, and I make do."

The man, still standing fairly close to the now closed door, blinked. "No, no," he started, shuffling uncomfortably. "I wasn't saying that...it's nice, really."
It wasn't nice- it smelt. Seemingly, Steve didn't enjoy the smell of the stash as much as some people did, wherever it was.

"Seems that my sarcasm detectors are a lot sharper than yours... or lie detectors- you choose."

He didn't move. "What?"

"I, my friend, was being sarcastic- and you, well, you were lying."

Steve didn't say anything.

"What is it- the smell? Well, it's only pot. Must have a weak stomach... bad experience?"

He did have a bad experience, actually- although it wasn't exactly bought on by a substance, more like a shot. Last summer, the biggest trip of his life, ending in him covered in puke and blood, sitting across from his best friend, admitting his feelings only to find out that she's a lesbian. Quite an experience. An unforgettable one, if that.

By the apparent look on Steve's face, Eddie could tell that he had.

"Let me guess; bad reaction, couldn't take it, ended up throwing up all over yourself... correct?"

Funnily, he wasn't exactly wrong.
"Well- there was this one time when-"
He cut himself off, silencing the track of words to keep his experiences to himself. That whole thing somehow didn't seem as strange as the man in front of him, but since the group had unofficially signed an in-mind NDA, he kept himself from saying any more. "... erh, yeah- pretty much that."

From across the room, Eddie Munson let out a laugh. "Quite typical, that... anyway, why are you still standing? Sit, I won't bite."
He made a simple pat on the sofa next to him.

Harrington breathed out slightly, sharply, and decided to take the offer- but not as close as to where Eddie was gesturing. Instead, he took a few steps inwards, and perched himself on the side of the seat, not facing him, but not facing the other way either.

Conversation was scarce.
Eddie laid back, relaxed as anyone could be, (Steve assumed that he was most likely high) and didn't say a word. He couldn't quite decide whether the silence was awkward or not, but when he peered over at his friend- no, acquaintance- on the surface, he realised that it wasn't. He looked chill, and it was kind of influential.
The trend slowly got through.

After another moment, though, things started to grow tense. In attempt at saviour, Steve leaned back, and started talking.
"So then," he spoke. "How'd you meet Robin?"

A slurred reply. "School."

Silence.

"Well, yeah, but how?"

"Well," Eddie sat up slightly, making a rummage with a loose thread in his shirt. "I'm not expecting you to remember, Steve 'the hair' Harrington, but the freaks tend to seek shelter with the other freaks. The way of law in that school."

"Yeah, I remember."

"But you don't have first hand experience with it though, do you, Steve?"

Harrington cleared his throat.
"I don't seem to think it actually matters, Munson." He narrowed his eyes slyly, looking over to the man. "Genuinely, I am really enjoying the fact that you still think I'm a douchebag."

"Ohhh," Eddie sat up, holding his hand out in gesture. "So you do get sarcasm! Brilliant."

Yes, he did understand sarcasm, and even though he may of been a tad slow at some points, Steve was sick of Eddie's constant emotion of it.
"Yes, yes I do."

"So, yeah, Robin." Eddie continued almost suddenly, airing the conversation as if nothing had happened. "Nice girl... cocky... but nice. Good to have someone with a bit of sass in your life."

Steve smiled at the statement. "Yeah... she really is nice..."

The room grew silent, and the last speaking guy could feel a pair of eyes on him. They were burning- playfully this time. Harrington looked over to where Eddie was sat, in a normal position now, grinning. Not his normal grin though, this time, it was an all-knowing one.

"Why're you looking at me like that?"

"You have a thing for her."

"I most certainly do not."

"You do, Harrington, it's deathly obvious. Or did... I can't quite tell."

Steve could've choked on his own breathing. Yes, it was true, he used to have feelings for Buckley- whether it was romantically or platonically, he was yet to figure out- but if it was romantic, it had definitely formed into platonic by that point in time.

"Well, even if I did- which I didn't- she wouldn't date someone like me anyway."

The grin was dropped, turning into something more soft this time. Munson leaned back once again.
"Oh, I know. I also know that she wouldn't date anyone even remotely like you at all."

Now, whether that was shot as an insult or not, Steve didn't know, but the look on his face turned Eddie's into one which would only be described as him seeing whether the path was safe or not.
Apparently, he had deemed it safe to tread.

"Come on, man, she's like the most homosexual person I've ever seen. And I've seen some people in my time."

Weirdly, without even thinking about it, a weight had lifted off of Steve's shoulders. He maybe didn't realise that if Robin could feel safe with someone, and wouldn't be judged for who she was, then Steve could feel safe with them too.
He didn't need to unconsciously worry about Robin being practically hunted by Munson any time soon.

"Well, yeah. Seems you locked onto it more than I did."
Harrington knew for a fact that Robin had only said she was openly gay twice in her life; once to her old English teacher, Mr Hauser, and once to his very own self. Quite a privilege, to be trusted with such earth-shattering information.

"So you did like her."

He sighed, unwilling to fight back. He wasn't exactly wrong either, annoyingly.

The two sunk back into silence once again.