greetings from stardust / reddie

chapter 5

The next morning, Eddie wakes up feeling more rested than he has since before they left Derry.

Richie is on his back, arms above his head and eyes closed, and Eddie is curled up into his side with his hands still on his chest. They stay like that for awhile. The only sound is from the air conditioning clicking on and occasional muffled car engines starting outside. Eddie feels the rise and fall of each sleeping breath and stays completely still, careful to not shift in any way that could wake him up. Laying with Richie has always been his favourite thing to do. Whether he's dragged down onto the couch with him before a movie, or wrestling him for a spot in the hammock that they both know he'll always win. He's always looking for Richie's touch, and the second it moves away he's starving for it again. It's something he came to terms with a long time ago, and so he savours every moment of it he gets.

After fifteen or so minutes, Richie stirs. He stretches his arms up, Eddie can feel it above him, and then his legs, letting out a long moan with it.

"Morning," Eddie says, trying to ignore the sound and what it does to him.

Instead of answering, Richie rolls over on top of him. He slides his arms under Eddie and buries his face in his chest, and god, Eddie never wants him to move but he also needs him to move right now or things are gonna get awkward. "Mm," Richie says.

"We should get up," Eddie says, keeping his hips absolutely still.

"Or we could stay here and sleep for a few more days," Richie says, and the words vibrate against Eddie's chest, and he has to get up right now.

Eddie brushes the other's boy's hair out of his own face, pushing against him a little and - nope, nope, bad idea - pushes his hips as far back into the mattress as they'll go. "Rich, I gotta get up."

"Mmf, five more minutes,"

"If you don't get up I'm actually gonna piss on you,"

Richie lifts himself up to look at Eddie with bleary eyes and a lopsided grin. "Kinky," he says. Then he rolls off, and for a second Eddie is disappointed, until he remembers that's what he wanted.

Eddie sits up before he does something stupid.

It takes a little longer to pack this time, both of them feeling lazy still. Twice Richie tries to pull Eddie back down onto the bed, claiming they need more beauty sleep, and both times Eddie laughed and told him to stop being stupid, using all of his willpower to wriggle out of Richie's embrace. This boy will be the death of him, he swears.

Once they're fully packed up and ready to go, they head downstairs for the included breakfast buffet.

"Miniature cereal boxes?" Eddie remarks as they enter the dining area. "Fancy."

"We shall feast like kings," Richie says with a deep voice, making him giggle.

They fill their plates with fruit and toast and scrambled eggs that had been a powder an hour ago, and eat together by a little TV playing news that they're not watching. It's nice; the dull hum of weather reports and people chatting over their morning coffee, that hotel smell of syrup and chlorine and air conditioner, and Richie's foot up against his under the table. He could get used to eating breakfast like this. Nothing to worry about, nowhere to go but west. Travelling used to be so stressful with his mother. Her, fussing over him and worrying at every turn, him, doing the same to mask how much he'd rather be home, in his own bed or climbing through the window into Richie's.

When they finish, Richie begins to unabashedly shove tiny boxes of Fruit Loops and Frosted Flakes into his backpack for later consumption.

"You know, for if we get stranded and we need food,"