The Rescue Of Eddie Munson

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

I was utterly relieved to be done with my speech, hunger was catching up with me and my adrenaline was wavering. I was so happy I nearly cried when I heard the sound of the griddles being placed on the burners as I tilted my head back resting it against Eddie's shoulder with a tired sigh.

Eddie captured my lips with his own pulling me in for a soft kiss as he hugged me tightly, cupping my cheek "You did a wonderful job, you'll be a great DM or party leader with how well you handled the group."

Smiling gratefully I nuzzled into his neck "thank you, my poor social battery is fried..and blood sugar is not much better.. not used to this many people..but with the Vecna attack last night we can't exactly wait..and these kids..they need help.."

Eddie raised his brow about the mention of a battery and blood sugar, confusion clear on his face.

Sighing I realized just how much confusion I'd put into one sentence, I decided to elaborate not realizing the others were paying attention as well. "Oh yea.. so social battery is a part of the autism bit.. best explanation I've got is I can handle big social things for a certain amount of time before needing time to recharge either doing things I love or just resting away from the situation.."

Eddie made a note to ask what types of things Red would like in particular to help recharge other than the interests he already knew about. At least he had a few things that he knew that relaxed her that may help. Waiting for her to continue he stroked her hand tracing idle patterns across her skin studying the scars there.

"And as far as the blood sugar..yea I have hypoglycemia, basically means I'm more prone to low blood sugar..if it gets low I get dizzy and could pass out.. but as long as I eat regularly I'm usually ok..I've had plenty of close calls with how I've had to live not always having the energy or time to get food on the regular but it can be a pain occasionally."

Looking down at my hand I noticed Eddie circling the scars on my knuckles with his fingertips, glancing up at his questioning brown eyes I explained "those circles came from the first big car accident where I flew without a plane...I call 'em my Wolverine scars cause they remind me of where his blades come out.." I made a fist showing how they stood out.

"The one on my other hand that one was interesting..I was getting dressed and stretched out to put my arm through a sleeve and hit a ceiling light cover and it shattered, I was cleaning up the glass so my cat at the time didn't get hurt and one of the pieces found me instead and it cut a huge gash that bled a fuck ton."

Robin walked over to me, sitting on the end table by the both of us, she looked nervous and my brows rose as I sat up.

"Hey, what's up Robin? You alright?"

Nodding quickly in that nervous energy that she has she stammered "yea umm could we talk really quick? Just us?" She glanced hesitantly at Eddie as she asked this worried he'd be upset.

Patting Eddie's knee I turned and kissed him smiling as he pulled me closer and depended the kiss before letting me go "I'll be back in a few, how about you get the kitten some water while we talk, ok love?"

Eddie nodded with a smile grabbing my ass as I left his side earning him a squeak before he went to check on the kitten who had gotten someone's shoelaces and wasn't giving them back.

I took Robins hand in mine and guided her out to the porch, shutting the door behind the two of us. Moving to sit on the far side of the porch, I patted the seat beside me and waited for her to join me.

Robin heart racing sat down and stammered for a moment gathering her thoughts. "Ok..umm you seem to know about pretty much everyone in the group.. and I wanted to know.. what you know about me..cause not everyone here knows things about me..." bouncing her leg nervously she looked back at me worrying her lip between her teeth.

It wasn't hard to figure out what I believed she was talking about. "Are you asking if I know that you like girls?"

Robin looked terrified as she nodded..

Placing my ringed hand on her shoulder I shook my head as I continued softly and calmly.

"Ok easy now Robin I am -not- going to out you, that isn't my place. I may like to stir the pot and tease others but I'm not about to out anyone, especially when homophobia is so rampant.. and if you didn't catch on I'm bisexual myself, I love men and women, though not all men and not all women."

You could've knocked Robin over with a feather, this was not the conversation she anticipated.

As I continued her eyes widened even further "also I've noticed how much you struggle with social situations, eye contact..conversations..you mentioned coordination issues to one of the others at one point and your ear for language and music...I doubt you've heard the term and it wont be easy to get anyone to confirm it but I think you're autistic... like I am"

Robin blinked.."there's a name for it? It sounds familiar..but I'm not sure..wait you're autistic?"

Nodding I sighed..wishing someone had been there to have this conversation with me when I was her age.."yea..sadly I only found out about a year ago..because they only studied how it affected women about 7 years ago in my time" I sighed heavily remembering.

"..not knowing my diagnosis made my life so much more difficult.. and I couldn't even get a doctor to confirm my diagnosis because it costs several thousand dollars to try and it can take multiple attempts to get it right."

Meeting her eyes with mine I continued "But don't worry I've taken the tests the ones they charge you to take when you get your diagnosis confirmed..so I know I have it and what it looks like..now as to what it means to you is to be patient with yourself."

"Based off of what I've seen you are on the spectrum somewhere, it's not the same for everyone it's like a rainbow."

"You have to understand that you are the way that you are and your brain works differently than everyone else that isn't neurodivergent, that's the term for it and for people with other disorders like autism."

My gaze was firm as I continued wanting to be sure that she paid attention "It doesn't make you broken or wrong it just means that you work harder to function and fit in, and that while the world isn't caught up to that yet it wont be like that forever..it can't be .." I added hopefully.

Sighing heavily I watched and waited as she processed the boatload of information I'd given her while I relived finding out my own diagnosis and learning about it.

Robin blinked at this woman in front of her. Older and clearly more experienced in a lot of ways who just explained a huge chunk of her struggles and her life in general with a few sentences. Finally finding her words "thank you.. for telling me about this..it's a lot to process..would you be willing to answer questions about it later for me please?"

Grinning at the fact that she wasn't upset and was interested to learn more I launched forward with a laugh and hugged her tight before pulling away laughing at her flabbergasted expression. "Of course I will, if you've got questions about either thing we talked about I'm happy to explain and help as much as I can...I'll tell you a secret, when I saw you...in the show in my reality I related to you quite a bit, it's wonderful to be able to help you."

Robin blushed not used to such support and kindness especially from someone she'd barely met let alone an adult. She sputtered out a 'thank you' and started to walk away but I stopped her briefly.

"I do have one question then I'll let you go so we can both get some waffles, is it ok if I tell Eddie what we spoke about, he wont tell a soul..I promise."

She studied me for a moment before responding surprised even at herself in the trust it took "yea..you can tell him, I trust you" and with a mumbled 'thank you' she was gone, headed back inside.

Standing up I looked over the yard with a smile feeling relieved that I'd done some good for that girl, bringing some peace to her mind, that was until I looked up and saw what looked like a bat flying in the distance..in the daytime. It was far, barely a speck miles out above the clouds of smoke and ash circling the cracks in the earth but still there.