4. hounds of love [STEVE HARRINGTON]

three.

CHAPTER THREE:
EDDIE MUNSON

[ VECNA'S CURSE ]

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The sun was beginning to set and Thomas had spent the majority of his day at the video store, and he and Steve were trying to prop up a cardboard cut-out of Marty McFly when the door swung open to reveal Dustin, of all people, storming in. Max was fast behind him. They were in such a flurried rush that they didn't even blink at the sight of Thomas, not at first.

"Hey, Steve— Oh, Thomas?!"

"Er.. Hey!"

Dustin headed for the counter, where Robin was sat leaning against the till, but Max came and gave him a sideways hug. "You seen the news?" he asked her. It was the only thing on TV, and the subject of today's Customer Small Talk. Unsurprisingly, she nodded.

"How many phones do you have?" Dustin interrupted, even as Robin gestured to the screen and said, Someone was murdered. "How many phones do you have?l" he asked again, leaning keenly forwards so his blue and white cap poked over the counter.

Steve abandoned Thomas with his wonky Marty McFly cut out and headed over. "Two. Why? Technically, three, if you count Keith's in the back."

The two kids looked at each other. "Three works," said Max.

Without missing a beat, Dustin tossed his bag over the counter so that it slid across and hit the ground with a loud thump, knocking over a pile of tapes in its path. Steve and Robin protested as Dustin soon followed, kicking more tapes over with his feet, and promptly slammed himself down into the chair in front of the computer.

"What are you doing, man?" Steve whined, following him over and standing over him. He gestured at him with a look at Thomas, exasperated. "All year, dude. All year."

Thomas smiled slightly, but his interest had been piqued.

"Setting up base of operations here," Dustin explained shortly, if his six words of exposition actually sufficed as an explanation, and began to type erratically at the clackity keyboard.

"Base of operations?" Steve repeated. Thomas felt a small sense of dread lodge in his stomach; having a base of operations was always a bad sign, and when Dustin got as frantic as he was now — well, the red flags were practically purple at that point. He hoped beyond hope that this was just some silly teenage drama, fuelled by hormones and not panic.

Thomas found himself between Steve and Dustin as Max rounded the counter to stand on the other side of Dustin's chair. He lifted a few tapes with a flick of his wrist and they floated idly up, slotting themselves into a neat pile so Robin didn't have to pick all of them up.