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[polemical]

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[ccunningham]

[He's definitely not going to call it out, or the fact that she's a little disheveled, because that's to be expected, given the hour and what she's admitted to being up to.

He smiles all the same, can't help it.] Here, wasn't sure if you liked salty snacks or sweet snacks when you've been drinking so I brought both.

[It's a snack-size packet of cheetos and a two-cookie packet of double-stuff oreos, one in each hand] And if snacks is a bad idea right now, just save them for later.

[polemical]

[ Her eyes light up like he's handed her a gold doubloon. ] Chris, you angel, I love snacks.

[ Really, she's more snacky when she's been smoking versus when she's been drinking, but it's fine. She'll eat them anyway. No way is she going to turn down free snacks.

Remembering she's supposed to be a hostess or something, she steps back and waves him in. ] Come in, come in. You, uh, want anything to drink? I have, uh. Beer and water. There might be tea somewhere in the cupboards but no promises.

[ccunningham]

Oh hardly, and if I am it's only by comparison, and that's not fair to anybody.

[He's smiling as he says it, all the same, and shakes his head at the offer as he slips past her and into the increasingly-familiar trailer] No, I'm good. [He almost physically winces even as he says it] I mean no, thank you, I'm fine. Besides, I'm here for you.

[polemical]

Shut up, you are. I said so. [ As if that's all there is to it. She grabs the snacks as he enters, tucking them into the pockets of the sweatpants she's wearing — they're Wayne's, which is why they sit a little short at the ankle and ride low on her hips, but they're comfy and that's what's most important — and then wandering back into the trailer. It's not like it's a big space that they can get lost in, he doesn't need her to guide him anywhere, and besides. Chris has been here before.

She goes and gets him a glass of water anyway. ]

So apart from taking the world's longest shower, how was your evening? [ she asks, flopping back onto the couch where she'd been sitting, a full ashtray at her elbow and a half-finished beer sweating in front of her. ]

[ccunningham]

[He doesn't drop down to sit next to her, but it's definitely more comfortable than the initial perch he'd used, careful not to touch anything. No, now he just nudges her with a shoulder as he sits back comfortably] Fine? Mom's off at her... I don't know, church lady retreat weekend, which is the only reason my shower was that long, and like, 70% of the reason I'm here now.

[It's late, and he's learned to be quiet, but Laura somehow knows when he's been out anyway.]

How about you? Something I should know about bring on this evening's booze-fest?

[polemical]

[ If she were sitting side by side with Steve Harrington, she'd probably make fun of him by accusing him of jerking off for an hour while wasting water, but she holds her tongue with Chris. Not that she doesn't think he, as a red-blooded American teenager, doesn't jerk off ever, but because she doesn't want him to feel weird around her.

For some reason, he seems to like her. It's...nice. ]

You're not throwing a part or something now that you're left to your own devices? [ Isn't that what popular jocks do? Again, she's basing that assumption off of her association with Steve, but she's pretty sure she's right. ] I'm honored you'd waste your precious free time with me.

[ She shrugs, twisting her rings around her fingers to resist the urge to tap out a new cigarette. ] Bored, mostly. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

[ccunningham]

[If she ever wants to see him go roughly the same color as his hair teasing him about jerking off is the most surefire way to do it. So it's probably for the best that she doesn't at the moment.

He makes a strangled little noise at the question all the same.] Oh god no, that's the fastest way to get myself shipped off to, I don't know, seminary school or something. Even if I somehow managed to clean up she'd still know.

[He shakes his head] Even if by some miracle Jeremy didn't tell her, dad's still home anyway, he just... [His brow creases a little] He doesn't care much, wouldn't put a stop to a party, but wouldn't catch any of the fallout, either.

[polemical]

[ She laughs, maybe a little too loud, leaning in to jostle his shoulder a little. ] You don't want to be a priest or whatever? Why not?

[ Apart from all the usual reasons why not, but Eddie's trying to be conscious of the fact that their wants and needs in life are probably vastly different. Maybe Chris would like to go to seminary or something. If he wasn't forced.

She sighs. ] I forgot about your dad. [ Which she realizes sounds bad as soon as she said it, but it's too late to take back now, so she bumps his shoulder again. ] Bummer, dude.

[ccunningham]

[He can't help but smile a little at that follow-up] Yeah, it's alright, I forget about him sometimes, too.

[He shakes his head] But no, I definitely don't want to be a priest or whatever, everybody talks about it being a calling and I've never felt called. Also I just don't think I'm cut out to lead people like that, either, just thinking about it makes me kind of queasy, actually?

[There's that head shake again before he drags a hand through his hair] There's more to it than that, but I don't even think I can explain it to myself, forget trying to explain it to someone else.

[polemical]

I think I would be a great priest, [ she says, laughing lightly. She's great at talking in front of crowds, spinning tall tales to keep them interested, has definitely felt called to do the things she does. If being a priest involved less god stuff and more fun stuff, she'd be great at it. ]

What do you want to do? You know, after graduation?

[ Eddie's got no fucking idea what she wants to do. She's pretty sure she won't graduate, again, but that's way too depressing to talk about, so she's not going to even think about it. ]

[ccunningham]

For what it's worth, I think you would too. [He shrugs] I mean, if you were actually religious, obviously. And could find a congregation that was okay with a woman pastor.

[He doesn't think he needs to explain, but he's going to anyway if only to buy himself a little bit of time before he actually has to answer the question she asked] I've seen you spin up stories for that gang of misfits of yours, keeps them engaged, which is like, a really important part of doing an sermon? Can't tell you the number of visiting pastors we've had that were just boring, but have to be polite and tell them I enjoyed the sermon anyway, even if I would have rather had a root canal.

[A heavy sigh as he rolls his head to face her more fully] As far as what I want to do? No idea. I like track, but I don't think I can actually make a career out of that, you know?

[polemical]

I already got a congregation, [ she boasts, even though she really doubts that her collection of weirdo nerds can count as a congregation. But Chris is right, she's very good at keeping her friends engrossed. If that's all it took to lead a sermon, she'd make a killing as a traveling priest.

She tries to think about it, but Eddie hasn't gone to church since at some time in elementary school, way before she came to live with Wayne. She's certainly never been to the same church that Chris goes to, the one that Jason Carver and all of his buddies attend. It sounds like a real fucking drag, to be honest. All fire and brimstone and not in the fun way, either.

She hums a little, picking at the label of her beer. ] Running? Nah, I don't think so. I mean, you're fast, but are you like Olympic-level fast? [ She's genuinely asking. She has no idea how fast you have to be to be a professional runner. ]

[ccunningham]

Maybe college ride fast, but probably not Olympics-fast. But I don't even know, honestly. [He scratches his jaw, considering] Marathons are a possibility, you can get sponsorship money from those, but I think I'd need to do like, state qualifications first.

[He shakes his head] My best bet is to get a gimmick, like Plennie Wingo, he's the guy who walked backwards from California to, um, Turkey? I think? Istanbul, yeah, that's Turkey, back in the thirties.

[Sure, Eddie's some kind of nerd in general, but apparently Chris has some very specific facets to his nerdery.]

[polemical]

[ The thing is, she obviously has no idea what the fuck he's talking about, but there's nothing Eddie loves more than listening to someone ramble about something they love, so hearing Chris talk about whoever the fuck that runner is makes interest gleam in her eyes and she angles herself towards him so she can watch him as he speaks. ]

What the actual fuck, man. How did he walk across the ocean?

[ It seems to her like taking a plane would be cheating, right? ]

[ccunningham]

[He knuckles the corner of an eye] You know, I think I said that backwards? Doesn't matter, walked from Texas to Boston, then from there he got on a boat, I don't know if he walked backwards on the boat or what, but I think he was working, ended up in, um, Germany? I think. Walked backwards from there to Turkey, and that's when the local authorities were like 'you can't do that, someone's going to kill you'

[He's smiling now, hard to say if it's because of the story itself or because he barely even needed any prompting to launch into it, especially from her] I don't remember how he got out of Turkey, but I think a businessman he was acquainted with paid for his trip to California, that's where Santa Monica comes in, because he walked from there back to Texas. Pretty sure he's still alive, too, but he's got to be ninety-something.

[polemical]

[ Eddie boggles at him for a moment before grinning and shaking her head like she's impressed. ]

That's literally the most insane thing I've ever heard.

[ But it's getting her thinking; can she incorporate that into a campaign somehow? Maybe a cleric who's sworn an oath or someone caught in an enchantment... She wrenches her attention back to the matter at hand. ]

Can you do a hand stand?

[ccunningham]

Yeah? I mean I think so. [It's been ages since he's tried, but he remembers being pretty good at it, at least the balancing part] Can't do a hand-walk though, if that's going to be your next suggestion.

[polemical]

Ugh, Chris. How else will you be able to top walking backwards? Hand-walking is way cooler! If you walked across the country on your hands you'd absolutely be famous in no time.

[ She smacks him with the back of her hand, chuckling as she finishes her current beer, then visibly debates getting another. She probably shouldn't, though, not if Chris isn't drinking either. It would be weird, right, if she got herself back to puking-level of drunkenness with the school's golden boy sitting beside her, sober as a judge?

God, what if she says something really fucking embarrassing. She's almost guaranteed to, it's just in her nature. She needs to get it together. ]

[ccunningham]

[He snorts a laugh, shaking his head] Dee, we're not in the Great Depression anymore, we have other forms of entertainment, and don't get me wrong, some people would absolutely come check it out just to see what the fuck was going on, but like... He was selling signed postcards and stuff, I can't do that if I'm walking on my hands.

[He can't actually see that decision being made, partly because he's now trying to figure out how someone could hand-walk more than a few yards without all the blood going to their head and causing them to pass out.]

[polemical]

Learn to write with your feet. [ The duh is implied by her tone alone, but there's still a grin tugging at the edge of her mouth. ] People do it all the time.

[ Chris can take all the time he wants to figure out the mechanics of not getting a head-rush, Eddie's going to let herself wallow for a moment in how much she likes it when he calls her Dee. It's pathetic, probably, but he's the only person she knows who does it and it feels really nice. Special. Like she's not just some weird blip on his social radar, like they're friends. Friends have special names for each other, right? Nicknames nobody else can use?

Yeah, that's just a friend thing. Nothing to see here, folks! ]

[ccunningham]

I... don't think that's going to be a solution, actually. Also, like, I'd need some kind of walking gloves, like... hand-shoes and I don't think that's something that actually exists.

[She's probably going to be disappointed when she finds out that he calls her that because the first time he heard someone call her by name he thought they'd said 'Deedee' and hadn't questioned it until he actually knew her.]

Seriously though, I'm not built for that kind of marathon, I'm a sprinter, real fast in short bursts.

[polemical]

This kind of defeatist attitude isn't going to get you anywhere in life, [ she teases, jostling her elbow into his as Chris tries yet again to come up with a reason her excellent ideas won't work. ] If there aren't any hand-shoes out on the market, you should just invent some. There's going to be people out there who'll use them, I guarantee it. [ Maybe not that many of them, but they definitely exist. They have to. There's a market for everything.

And he's right, that would be disappointing. She's going to stick to her delusions that he decided to call her that because he thinks she's special or something. ]

Yeah, I bet you're real fast in shorts. [ Because he wears them to run in. Get it? ]

[ccunningham]

Hey now, that defeatist attitude got me second runner-up in the Hawkins Junior Sad-Sack competition back in fourth grade. [The fact that he's practically shaking with suppressed laughter gives that away as the horrible joke that it is.

That second statement, though, that has him pausing for a moment, considering] You know, you can come watch practice any time, there's no rules against that. And there's a meet coming up, home turf advantage. [He bites the inside of his cheek for a moment, not entirely sure why he's suddenly nervous, this isn't anything new, it's just inviting a friend to watch him compete.] I'm sure you've seen the posters, though, they've been up for weeks now.

[polemical]

[ Eddie's laughing too, crowing Sad Sack! with glee as she wiggles a little, slipping from her place on the couch to slide a little closer to him. It's not her fault the cushions are old and kind of shitty, okay, she doesn't notice what she's doing.

Or does she? ]

That's not really what it's called, is it? [ Eddie moved to Hawkins in junior-high, not-quite twelve years old and absolutely terrified of being dropped in a new city to live with a man she she didn't really know but who shared her father's face. It worked out in the end, obviously, but the first year or so was a difficult adjustment. She certainly hadn't paid attention to what any of the sports teams were doing.

She rolls her head a little on the back of the couch so she can look at Chris in profile, her eyebrows lifting. ] I wouldn't distract you? [ Not that she thinks he's so taken with her that just seeing her in the bleachers would be enough to get him off his game — a girl can hope but she's not delusional — but she knows her presence would probably cause a bit of a commotion with the others in attendance. She knows she's not usually a part of that scene. ]

[ccunningham]

[His laugh finally breaks through at that first question, shaking his head] Dee, I made that one up, defeatist attitude? Sad-sack competition? How else would you win one of those?"

[He shakes his head then, jostling her shoulder once more] Of course you wouldn't, I'm used to being watched. [He clearly has no idea how sinister that comes across as and his brow creases a moment later] Unless you're planning on starting a fistfight or something. [He doesn't actually think that's her style, but he also doesn't know just how deep some people's dislike of her went, if someone else might try to cause a scene just because of her being there.]