Assorted Character Oneshots

Intensity - Steve Harrington

Summary: After his heroic sacrifice, the group can feel themselves falling apart. With the stakes impossibly high and a lot of in-fighting, things finally boil over. 

Might end up as two parts, IDK yet

Triggers: Violence, character death mentioned, suicidal thoughts, swearing,

Word Count: 2,195

It would be a lie to say that they were fine, the lot of them. ___ could still remember Dustin's face as he cut the rope, leaving Eddie and them stranded top side. Their screams were drowned out by the sound of the bats following the young hero. ___ had thought it odd that he insisted on the two adults getting through first, but the idea he had in mind never crossed their mind. The two followed after him, obviously, but it was too late. When they happened upon the scene, there was nothing they could do. Dustin was bleeding heavily and insisting that they ran before the creatures came back. He used his last words to tell them to get to safety. Eddie tried to pull them away, ___ clinging to his limp body. Screams of anguish rang throughout the desolate plane, ___ unaware they were sounding from their body until their throat had become raw. Eddie was crying as he watched them desperately try and carry the boy's dead weight alone, eventually convincing them to run as more creatures could be heard in the distance. 

___ never stopped seeing the image of Dustin laying bloody and cold in their arms, unable to find any signs of life. Guilt ate away at their brain, they could've carried him, maybe if Eddie would have just helped them Dustin would be alive. They could've gotten him to a hospital, to the lab, something. But no, he didn't help, and Dustin's body was still lost somewhere in the Upside Down, food for those disgusting creatures. 

Everyone could feel the effect, the cold rigidness that Eddie exerted. His usual goofy and confident self was long gone. ___ knew the statue like state well, it was his wall. Whenever he was hurting, he became a shell of himself. They had seen it many times over the many, many years they had been friends. He would grow distant and they would help coax him back, usually. But they couldn't, not now, not after all they had lost. Vecna was still alive where Dustin was lost to them, it wasn't fair. Resentment began to grow between the two old friends, blaming not only themselves but each other. ___ found themself being snappy and sharp with him, contrasting to the caring and gentle tone they took with the others, who had all noticed the rift steadily tearing more every day. 

Where they used to have playful debates about which horror villain was stronger and who would win against each other had now become fights about any little thing that set either off at any given moment. These usually resulted in one storming off and the two silently agreeing to drop the subject altogether, never resolving the issues at hand. It came to a head now, some weeks after the catalyst incident. The two were bickering about something or other as the party was gathered to try and decipher their next moves against Vecna. They stood off to the side, quietly picking each other apart when ___ had enough.

"You know, we used to be friends. I remember being so happy around you. I can't believe I used to stand being around you." They spat out, a venom evident on their lips as they rolled their eyes.

"Yea? Well, I can't seem to remember the last time you didn't annoy the shit out of me." He scowled back at them, crossing his arms across his chest as he stood taller. An intimidation tactic they both knew didn't work on either of them.

"Maybe that's because you're a piece of shit! You are nothing but a pain in my ass anymore."

"I know one way you could resolve that!"

The two had escalated to yelling now, a recent development in the downward spiral that was their friendship. "Yea? What would that be?" ___ moved to get in his space, knowing just how to push his buttons.