Don't Stand So Close To Me

Perfect Day

Eddie's alarm beeps, but he's already been lying awake for at least an hour thinking about this past week, but mostly last night. He still had so much he wanted to ask her, but he didn't want to come across as too much.

He'd been reading over the approximate outline for tonight's Hellfire session, which made him a little nervous. Yesterday at lunchtime, when he'd invited her to a game, she'd just been Lyra, someone who needed some help navigating the Hellmouth that is Hawkins High, but now? Now she was Lyra, someone he couldn't wait to be that close to again. The way she pulled him into her just so she could lay against him made him feel so wanted. Not just in the usual lustful way a taster of an intimacy he also craved. A gentle one. A protective one.

Eddie checks over his extra bag for Hellfire again, ensuring he's covered for as many different scenarios as possible. Whatever he had planned and expected to happen during the game rarely did. A table full of teenage variables would do that to a plan. He shakes his head and smiles, but he wouldn't have it any other way. He was listening to the story as it unfolded as much as anyone else at the table. The difference was he had to wrangle it to hit the main beats of the plot here and there and make sure the challenges weren't so imbalanced it would wipe out the party or give them a chance to run away.

Eddie zips up the huge second bag and heads out of his room to the bathroom.

"Hey, son", a tired voice rings out from the living room.

Eddie looks towards the voice of Uncle Wayne on his camp bed covered in blankets. He had probably only intended a greeting exchange, but Eddie decides to rip off the band-aid.

Eddie leans his batman pyjama-ed self against the wall outside the bathroom with his arms folded, "So...I'm...Me and Lyra, we're like a thing now" he points a finger at Wayne before he can open his mouth, "I will allow you to gloat, provided you help me because I'm pretty nervous about it all. It's gonna be different, I think" Eddie looks at Wayne while talking but finishes with a look to the floor and a little smile.

"Different as in. I might actually get to meet her on purpose?" Wayne says with surprise sitting up.

Eddie laughs, rubbing the back of his neck, "I mean, sure, if you want to, but there are some things you should probably know first."

Wayne's expression turns from surprise to concern as he moves from his bed to the comforts of his armchair, lighting a cigarette, "Go on then", he waves Eddie on to continue.

Eddie uses his shoulder to push himself up from the wall, his hands tucked under his arms on either side of his chest. His eyes wander around the kitchen and living room as he paces towards Wayne slowly, "So, she's very, very rich. I had a tour of her house, and it is out of this world, honestly," Eddie says, still somewhat in disbelief himself.

"Well, I kinda guessed that much", Wayne huffs a little, "Made you feel small, did it?"

"You know, at first, yeah, it did, but then I think she was kind of embarrassed about it almost?" He speaks slowly and deliberately, "Like she was trying to get it out of the way. When she showed me around, she was in a hurry, but if I asked anything, she'd stop and take time to tell me all about it. I saw the sewing room, and we played music together and ate dinner. It was...um...nice, you know? Which was good, considering how badly things had been going before we got there."

Wayne raises an eyebrow at Eddie, and in response, Eddie raises his hands, "For a change, not completely my fault. Her ex turned up, and when I tell you he's a piece of shit, I mean that objectively."

"Eddie, please don't tell me you're gonna get into trouble over some girl. You don't need that. We don't need that," Wayne says in an exasperated tone, slightly pleading.