Again

Chapter 6

"So, do you live around here now?" Steve asks curiously, helping to pack away the paints now that most everything is dry again. Eddie is opposite him inspecting and nodding approvingly at the figures Steve has base coated before putting them in their little foam capsules. It was dumb sure, but he couldn't help feeling a little proud to have impressed Eddie with something. Maybe he wished it was something more profound than painting a little plastic figure, but this was Eddie's domain, and perhaps that held more weight for him.

"Ah..well...I live here now, but to avoid confusion, that is more of a technicality. I could live anywhere. I...well we...Morgan and I go wherever we want over the summer. I got an apartment between Hawkins and his old school that may as well be a storage unit, honestly, for the amount of time I spend there." Eddie shakes his head, making his curls bounce around his face, with a laugh, "You live around here then?" He asks side glancing at Steve.

"A little further out, but this is our nearest library" Steve quickly volleys back the spotlight. He wanted to know more about this older Eddie. What his life was like, had been like, or could be. "So you move around a lot?"

"I guess. More than most people, but I just go where the work is, and my company has bases all over, so I can see how they're all getting on.

"Wait, I thought you said you didn't want to work for anyone else, and this was your business?" Steve asks in confusion.

"Oh, it is. I'm sorry I'm not explaining myself too well here" Eddie pops the top down on a full container, turning to Steve. His hip is balanced carefully against the table ledge, one arm around himself, the other bent at the elbow, animating his words as he speaks. It's honestly a posture that Steve could only ever equate with Eddie. Something that, for the most part, looked relaxed, and the hand flailing around delicately. His eyes split their time either focusing so deeply on him that he felt his very secrets would spill out of his mouth or they were observing what Steve could only imagine were tiny obscure details of the room around them. But at the same time, that crossed arm was a line of defence, a weak one, but it was still there. The other arm not extending too far from his torso, so he could bring it back in if needed. "So Tremolo is my business, and we've got bases all over, and it kind of just runs itself, you know? I occasionally check in with the different areas when I can. The rest of the time, I would have nothing to do, so I took some session guitar jobs or small local tours in a backing band. Earning that extra money means I'm not using Tremolo profits to live. So lets us do more charity-based work, and helps us expand." Eddie laughs, "Sorry, I don't know why I'm explaining all that. You know how business works."

"Yeah, of course," Steve says with a smile before turning back to the tiny paint pots again. Truth be told, Eddie could be talking to him about the intricacies of paint drying, and Steve would still be hooked on his every word. However, Steve was definitely trying not to make it look that way and possibly failing miserably. Then Steve recalls something and turns to Eddie, "Hang on. Didn't Carl say you weren't supposed to be here?" Steve watches Eddie's body stiffen, and he knows he's rumbled him about something, but he's not sure what. Eddie quickly turns to him, and in an attempt to hide his alarm, he is overly relaxed.

"Yeah, we were gonna move to the next place like normal, but we kinda liked it here" He smirks at Steve and puts his hands on his lower back. "What can I say, Steve? Nice views, you know?" He says, a glint in his eye that Steve interprets as Eddie isn't talking about the nearest vista point, "But obviously, when term starts, Morgan will have to head home." He says quickly as he turns back to packing the bag.

"And you?" Steve asks a little too quickly, staring intensely at Eddie, who bites his bottom lip in thought for a moment.

"Well, that depends on a few things, I guess. Money, work," he says, reaching for the last box of figures and packing them before turning to Steve to collect the paints "Other projects that might be, er, worth working on around here?" Steve sees Eddie's Adam's apple bob, and it occurs to him that he's nervous. There is no way he couldn't know how Steve felt about him. Someone must have told him at some point, or it might have been something Steve had given away during their interactions then or now. Maybe he was nervous because he wasn't sure about his own feelings or not sure of Steve. That is a pretty logical view. A lot can change in fifteen years. There is a little silence between them, and Eddie gestures at the paints, "Pretty weird names, right?"