Nancy is a flurry of activity the next few days, organizing everything that she can: trips to the Creel House to check for Vecna (even though all of their previous trips have proven unsuccessful), a giant kiddie pool that they buy for El to use for sensory deprivation purposes, trips out to the woods to look for mutilated animals or more gates, samples of the weak ash flowing through the cracks to measure if it's increasing too slowly for them to notice.
She also starts Eddie on what she's calling a "reverse-scouting" project, which is, as he'd predicted, more vampire-rodent business.
"Seriously?" He asks. "You think that'll work? What if it shows him that we're onto him?"
"He wants us to be onto him." Steve says. "Otherwise you wouldn't be having the dreams."
Eddie eventually agrees. The only vampire-mouse he hasn't already set free is Gandalf, who he has a special bond with and who always seems to come back even if they don't see him for a few days, his white fur always stained suspiciously red. Eddie holds him in cupped hands, watching his little nose twitch, his itty bitty fangs gleam. "Gandalf," he whispers, stroking a finger down his head, "I need you to let me into your head, okay?"
Gandalf just blinks beady eyes at him, like he doesn't quite understand what Eddie means. "I don't think it's going to work." he says. "Any other ideas, Nancy?"
"It'll work." She says, looking absolutely certain of it. "You just need to let him in first, the way you did with the bats."
Eddie shuts his eyes, tries to reach out through his mind to feel Gandalf's. He can feel his little heart beating, his paws scrabbling, but he doesn't know if he can connect to his brain itself, not the way he can connect to the bats. He tries anyway, clearing his mind and leaving it open to lay out a little mouse-sized doormat at the back of his skull to welcome him in. It happens so subtly he almost thinks he's imagined it: the tiniest little incursion into his mind; a tentative, confused hello?
He tries to say hello back, though he's not sure that this little guy'll understand English, so he tries to communicate things like trust and duty and friendship and purpose through vibe alone. When he opens his eyes Gandalf is staring calmly at him, a newfound sense of understanding in his eyes, and when he shuts his again he can sense what Gandalf senses: the way the air smells, the way the tiny furs all over his body seem finely-tuned to picking up on the slightest disturbance in the air around him, the strange kind of sixth sense for danger that only animals seem to have.
"Holy shit." He breathes.
Steve sounds awed. "Is it working?"
"Oh, it's working." He says, eyes still shut. "Gandalf's a little sleepy, today, and he'd rather be napping under the radiator or finding other little mousies to eat, but he supposes that he can trust me since I'm like him."
"Oh my God." Steve says. "You're, like, a very strange version of Cinderella."
Eddie can't help his snicker. "You mean like a Cinderella who listens to Cinderella?" When Steve doesn't respond, he reaches out to lightly push him. "That's a band."
"I knew that!" Steve says, looking very much like he didn't know that.
Nancy looks proud. "I knew you could do it. I think we just need, like, maybe eight more to cover the most ground? And I think the rest should be rats, not mice, because they're smarter."
"Hey!" Eddie reaches down to cover Gandalf's ears. "He totally knows that you just insulted him, Nancy. He wants to bite your finger."
"Tell Gandalf I'm very sorry." She says, already shrugging on her jacket. "Anyway, we'll stop by the pet store and grab some for you, then we should be good to send them out in a few days if you turn them tonight."
Steve turns to follow her.
"Oh, you're going with?" Eddie asks.
"...Yeah. Is that okay?"
"Mhm!" Eddie says, trying very hard to keep his voice from sounding forced. He leans towards him on instinct, the way he usually kisses Steve goodbye a force of habit, before he remembers they have company and pulls himself back in an aborted motion. "Um. See you later."
"...Yeah," Steve says, faltering slightly. "See you...bro."
After the door closes behind them, Eddie turns furiously to Gandalf. "Did he just fucking call me bro?"
Gandalf squeaks indignantly, like he can't believe it either.
"Did you know he hasn't even listened to my mix, yet? I mean, I know he's busy, but I gave it to him almost a week ago!"
Gandalf shakes his little head.
"...I know." Eddie says, sinking onto the couch and setting Gandalf by the window. "I'm probably being, like, clingy, but still! Calling me Bro!"
Gandalf squeaks again and Eddie sighs. "Sorry, I'm complaining too much about my life when I barely know about yours. What've you been up to? Breaking all kinds of little mousey hearts, I'm sure."
