Nyctophilia 🌪 Reddie

xix

Eddie hadn't been swimming since the quarry months ago. That was when the world was okay, when there weren't people turning on each other. There was peace.

He missed the quarry, but the pool at the French base was okay, too. It had a lap pool and another pool supposedly for stretching and workouts, but Georgie converted it and called it 'the fun pool' since he hated that everything seemed so uptight. The losers took time after their workouts to calm their minds with swimming and relaxation. That was, when Lina wasn't guiding their workouts.

She was strict, on task, and according to Georgie 'in desperate need of someone to pull the stick out of her ass.'

"She wasn't as tense before you guys showed up," Georgie said as he lifted up his throwing knife and hit the center of the target effortlessly. "I think she's just stressed, though. She's usually a lot nicer. We go to the market together sometimes and she taught me how to throw knives."

"She's really well trained," Eddie stated, watching as Lina, who couldn't be older than twenty, had held a conversation with Georgie and hit the target at the same time.

"Yeah, and we're really out of practice," Stan said irritably, missing the center of the target.

"No, Staniel, you're out of practice," Richie said with a wink.

"Shut up, R-Richie. You c-can't fucking h-hit it," Bill said with a glare. It was his first day back in training and he was still recovering so it was easier to irritate him.

Richie snorted, ignoring how annoyed Bill was. "Come on, Big Bill! Of course I can!"

"Having Eddie do it for you doesn't count," Mike called, hitting the center of his target with a laugh.

Eddie smirked at Mike's statement and threw his knife right after, hitting the target.

Richie rolled his eyes at all of them, pulling his hand back to throw his knife. He realized everyone had stopped to watch him and smirked. "Prepare to be amazed, losers," he said, focusing on the target and throwing the knife.

Everyone stood still for a second before Stan and Eddie collapsed into laughter, followed by the rest of the losers. The knife hadn't even hit the target; it hit the wall above and fell to the ground with a loud clatter.

"Hey, Rich?" Stan asked through a fit of laughter. "Remember what a target is?"

"I'll show you a target," Richie grumbled, grabbing his water bottle from the ground and squirting the water at Stan.

Stan stood in shock, and everyone else backed up, knowing Stan wasn't the kind of person to put up with Richie being an idiot.

Richie looked around, seeing everyone back up from Stan, who was reaching toward his own water bottle.

"Well, this has been fun, but I suddenly have the overwhelming urge to go... sleep," Richie said, turning away from Stan. "See you guys when Stan is less pissed off!"

Stan ran after Richie, who was surprisingly a lot faster. Everyone knew Stan had good stamina, though, so he'd be able to catch up eventually.

"Shouldn't you help him?" Mike asked Eddie, who had picked up his knife to continue training.

"Stan won't kill him," Eddie said with a shrug.

"He's your boyfriend!"

"He's also an idiot. Just because I'm dating him doesn't mean I support him being a dumbass."

A loud, snarky sigh could be heard across the room. Everyone turned their attention toward the sound and saw Lina rolling her eyes and leaning against the wall.