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The group retreat inside, waiting the metaphorical storm out for the night. Will rests on the couch, slumbering tight, with Ethan beside him, well, sitting on the floor under him. Mike and Lucas step in occasionally, checking on the pair. Joyce tries to distract herself, cooking up some breakfast with Robin as they wait for the others to (hopefully soon) return to the cabin. Jaeden and Hallow rest up on Hop's chair and another loveseat across the coffee table. They're tired after the entire barn incident and staying up until the franken-gorgon experiment. They hadn't slept in a solid two days. They needed it.
Ethan wants to try entering the void to see if he can find Will. He really does. But he won't be able to focus. Even if he could, his battery is practically drained. He hasn't slept a wink in two days. He finds himself moving in and out of sleep, eyes pulling themselves shut every few minutes. He knows he should and wants to sleep, but he can't bring himself to. He needs to be here for Will.
Will's doing the eye thing again. Like before. Like with the tunnels. It's... sort of horrifying.
Hopefully El will show up. Hopefully, she returns with Hop, Enzo, and Nicole. That'd be a dream. He'd be able to know everyone was safe. Holy shit, what about Dustin? Where was he? And where were Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan?
Ethan still manages to find himself asleep, head laid back on the couch cushion just barely grazing Will's arm. He's dead asleep, light snoring escaping from the forest of vocal chords in his throat. Will rests silently above him, fingers twitching every so often.
Trust, Ethan had to make sure he wasn't trying to communicate with morse code again. It didn't mean anything. It's just the same small pattern alternating between every two to ten minutes.
"I worry for those boys..." Joyce mutters to Robin, scrambling two eggs in a pan on the stove.
"They'll be okay, I think. They're tough."
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Ethan wakes up not long after the conversation between Lucas, Mike, and Robin as they try to reason out Max's existence and what happened with the franken-gorgon experiment. He spent the remainder of his quiet morning sitting beside Will and holding his hand in secret when no one else was watching. Gay things.
"Hey, Joyce?" Mike calls from the window beside the front door, "Did someone call the funeral home?"
Ethan raises an eyebrow in confusion as he watches Mike and Joyce move to the door. In a defensive state, he readies himself for battle. He's ready to fight if he must. He has to protect his friends.
He creeps behind the blinds, the soft glow of morning light pouring in. Lucas and Robin approach from around the corner, silently wondering themselves about what's going on. Ethan presses a finger over his lips to signal to be quiet before pointing to Jaeden and Hallow, trying to ask the pair to wake his siblings. They follow his orders, watching as small particles form around his right hand.
