Touch

[enya]

TOUCH MEME

From birth, human beings are wired to touch and to be touched. Whether it's a warm embrace or a reassuring hand on the shoulder, touch is an integral part of human interaction and creating bonds. Not all forms of touch are created equal however. Some are gentle and uplifting while others can be discouraging or even harmful, so one should always be mindful of the unspoken messages they intend to convey to those around them.

how to play

• Comment with your character and preferences.
• Others reply with one or multiple prompts.
• Profit!

prompts

01. With love.
02. With hatred.
03. With relief.
04. With uncertainty.
05. With happiness.
06. With a promise.
07. With an apology.
08. For comfort.
09. For good luck.
10. For encouragement.
11. On a scar.
12. On a falling tear.
13. On a bruise or injury.
14. After a tough day.
15. After a nightmare.
16. After an argument.
17. Because they are dying.
18. In a moment of worry.
19. In a moment of anger.
20. In a moment of sadness.
21. Out of annoyance.
22. Out of possessiveness.
23. To say good morning or good night.
24. To protect.
25. To keep warm.
26. To say hello or goodbye.
27. Wildcard option.

source

Comments

[the_hair]

What had started as: "Yeah." Just trailed off into a string of disjointed syllables that coalesced into a rough, wheezing, "Fuck". Gripping at the edge of the sink with both hands, firmly enough that his knuckles went white, almost hard enough that he was shaking, but only almost.

As expected, he did lash out with a kick, but there was nothing to actually connect with, so he mostly ended up just stomping fruitlessly for a moment, "always forget how much that stings, Christ."

[ididntrun]

As much as he might have entertained the thought of responding to violence with violence when it came to the jocks who had tried to make his life hell for his first few years of school, he took no pleasure in the sound that Harrington let out. He cringed in sympathy, one hand reaching up to grip Steve's shoulder to hold him steady while the other tried to make quick work of disinfecting the wound and cleaning it up. "Breathe, Harrington." The gauze came away pinkish red, but other than the blood, there didn't seem to be any signs of infection. Eddie couldn't help but think that had to be a good sign. He moved to get another clean piece of gauze and hoped Steve would take the opportunity to do as he was told. "You're not going to pass out on me, are you?" Eddie asked, trying to lighten the mood. "'Cause I can lift a guitar, but a jock is above my weight class. I'd have to get Wheeler in here to help me carry you out and I know you don't want that."

[the_hair]

He mostly managed to level out his breathing again, though it trailed off into a snort of what was supposed to be laughter at the follow-up to the order, "Watching her kick your ass for getting out of the Winne might be worth it." He replied, still sounding a little shaky, but not like he might be about to keel over, "Except that then she'd turn around and kick my ass for letting you, and that's definitely not worth it."

He shook his head, "She's great, don't get me wrong, but she hasn't just got anger issues, she's got a whole damn subscription." And while he could agree that some of it was deserved, and even reasonable, not all of it was.

[ididntrun]

Eddie let out a small laugh at the thought of Nancy kicking both their asses in her sensible flats. She probably would and could. "You're right," he said, getting ready to attack the second bite. "Let's not risk it." "I've noticed." Eddie took a breath squeezing Steve's shoulder in warning before he applied the second gauze. "And a fondness for guns. That's a dangerous combination." He cleaned the other wound as quickly but thoroughly as he could, steadily applying pressure to Steve's shoulder in support.

[the_hair]

"I don't even know when she learned to use them, either." He shook his head, "I think we should just all be thankful that none of us have actually wronged her." He didn't actually think she'd go for the most lethal option if that were the case, with Nancy it really was about safety and not revenge.

Maybe a little revenge. But if it was all revenge the Hawkins Post offices wouldn't still be standing.

He tensed at the cleaning of the second bite, but not as badly as he had with the first one, and didn't kick the second time, though there was another rough-edged curse, shaking his head, "Some advice? Don't get bit by one of these things, built like a fucking bayonet, on a triangle so it doesn't close right after." Which shouldn't have been a surprise, given the shape of the demo-dog mouths, it was just that the bats were only small enough to take chunks out, not appendages off.

[ididntrun]

“Yeah, I wasn’t planning on it,” Eddie said, looking at him as he straightened up. He’d been sure when they’d arrived in the hellscape that was the Upside Down that Steve was a goner. He had begun to understand just how much he’d underestimated him. “They look pretty gnarly, man. We can keep them clean, but who the hell knows what was in that bite? Sooner or later, we’re going to have to get you to a doctor.” He turned to throw the used pieces of gauze into the wastebasket in the corner before picking up a bandage. Thin fingers unrolled it quickly. He gave Steve a grim smile. “Ready for the finale?”

[the_hair]

"Yeah? And how am I going to explain those to a doctor without getting follow-up questions I can't answer?" Not for the first time in recent years he silently lamented the fact that none of them had -or knew anyone with- any kind of medical expertise.

He nodded at the actual question, though, "Sooner we get this wrapped up, sooner we can get out of here, less chance someone's going to notice you." Because that was maybe not the last thing they needed, but it was definitely on the list of things they absolutely didn't need.

[ididntrun]

"Raccoons?" Eddie supplied, giving Steve a small smile. "I don't know, what happened, doc. One minute I was going for a jog, minding my own business, the next I was being attacked by rabid raccoons..." "I'm the last thing you should be worried about right now." Eddie nodded towards Steve's middle pointedly before he stepped into Steve's space to better be able to wrap it around his middle. "But I appreciate the concern." He leans in to wrap the bandage around Steve's middle, fingers tracing the roll gently, but tightly enough to apply a steady pressure. He pulls it taut, looking at Steve's face for a reaction. "Too tight?"

[the_hair]

He'd managed to uncurl one hand from the edge of the sink to help hold the end of the bandage in place and smooth while Eddie unrolled the rest of it around him, "And here I thought ER nurses were trained to recognize animal bites."

Which the demo-bat bites were, but they were clearly not from a normal animal. Or maybe he was just overthinking what they looked like because he already knew they hadn't come from a normal animal, and someone who didn't know would just think they were from... well, a rabid raccoon.

While he had tensed again at the pressure, it was only briefly and he shook his head at the question, "No, it's fine."

[ididntrun]

"Well, they're definitely not human." He took it as a good sign that Steve was able to let go of his white knuckled grip of the sink to help. He nodded at Steve's answer and continued wrapping the bandage until there was no more left to use. It didn't go a long way, but at least it covered the newly cleaned wounds from any further infection. Eddie turned back to the kit, grabbing a small bottle of aspirin and shaking it at Steve. "This probably won't go far, but it might help a little." He popped off the lid and shook three into his hand, holding them out to Steve. His eyes traced the bruising on Steve's neck. "How's the neck?"

[the_hair]

He took two out of those three tablets, washing them down with a handful of tap water and a grimace, finally actually tilting his chin up a little to check the bruising in the flyspecked mirror, "Not great, but it's still keeping my head attached to my shoulders, so can't really complain."

It still hurt, but it had settled to a dull background ache instead of the raw, rope-burned feeling of the first few hours.

He poked at the edge of one of the marks, "Feels a little like poison oak, which is weird." And probably pointed to the bats being some kind of toxic, though maybe not, since his mouth still felt fine, and had only tasted like glue for maybe an hour.

[ididntrun]

Eddie tossed the bottle of aspirin back in the first aid kit and grabbed some paper towels from the bottom of the dispenser. He leaned past Steve, their shoulders brushing as he wet them and wrung them out. He folded them, making a soft pad and paused for a moment, meeting Steve’s eyes in the mirror before leaning in to dab gently at the angry marks to wipe away the sweat and grime. There were a fair share of guys in Hawkins who would probably not appreciate him being this close to them. Then again, Steve had proven himself to be a bit of an anomaly for the standard jock type. “So have you thought about my advice? About you and Ms. Wheeler?”

[the_hair]

With the friends he had, Steve had just gotten used to having someone in his personal space basically at all times, and somehow even after so short a time, Eddie wasn't the exception to that.

Though, at the question, what had been some kind of confused acceptance of the situation at hand turned instead into some kind of vague annoyance and he took over the makeshift sponge-bath himself with one hand, batting lightly at Eddie's fingers and pointing at the remains of the first aid kit with the other, "Pack that up, we've seriously got to get out of here."

[ididntrun]

The sudden shift made Eddie question if he was giving Stee too much credit after all. He took a step back and held his hands up as if to say he’d meant no harm. He grabbed the first aid kit and shut it with a sharp click. “Touchy subject, I take it.” He had almost looked hopeful when he’d told him about Wheeler jumping into the lake after him before, but that had also been right after a bat had almost choked him out. Maybe he’d been a little dazed. “Afraid she’s going to pull a gun on you again?”

[the_hair]

"Something like that." Sure, it was probably at least partly his fault for not being clear enough with his summer-family-road-trip dream story, but that wasn't the only reason, and he hadn't actually been planning on saying anything, but it came simmering out of him all the same as he scrubbed more intently at a stubborn smear of what was either grease or demo-bat blood.

"It's just... She's got a chance to get out of here, you know? Go to college, actually make something of herself, I don't want to be the guy who fucks that up for her because I can't let go of something I don't even have anymore."

For something that could easily have been bitter, and probably would have been from someone else, it was plainly and painfully earnest.

[ididntrun]

Eddie's expression softens a little in the mirror. He reaches out and takes the paper towels back from Steve's fingers, stopping the attack on his neck. "Easy, big boy. You're hurt yourself." He takes over, gently dabbing at the spot to get it off. "You could go with her. Make something of yourself also." Eddie finishes working the spot and looks at Steve. "You're not cursed to spend the rest of your life in Hawkins." "In fact," Eddie says, putting his hands on Steve's shoulders. "You should run Harrington. Take Wheeler and get as far as you fucking can from this hell hole."

[the_hair]

"Not going to just leave man, especially not right now." Hawkins was still home, and there was no chance in hell he was going to just abandon the place in a time of crisis, that he wasn't going to fight back.

"And I hate to be the one to break it to you, but higher education is not in the cards for me. Trade school maybe but I'd have to figure out how to pay for it, that's not going to lead to a 'real job' so no chance I'd get any help from my folks."

There was a quiet, almost dejected little laugh then, shaking his head and dragging a hand up over his face, "And I should shut up, you're the one of us with actual problems right now."

[ididntrun]

And there was the big difference between the two of them. Eddie wanted to run as far from Hawkins, Indiana as he could get. The only thing holding him back was that thin piece of paper. He would've been all too happy to leave it behind, crisis or not. Maybe, especially, if he had known the shit going on underneath it. But Steve... well, Steve wasn't going to leave while it was in trouble. He'd insisted on being the one to go in the lake. He'd waited to be the last up the rope and back into the normal world. Instead of calling it a day at getting bit by demobats he was still fully in, fighting for Hawkins and by extension Eddie. Eddie felt something in his chest tighten as he pulled back and really looked at Steve. "Hey," he said, reaching out and squeezing Steve's shoulder gently. "You're the reason my problems aren't a whole lot worse. I'd be locked up or worse if you hadn't stepped in." "But if you bothered to ask my opinion, hero trumps college prep, any day. You'll figure it out, man."

[the_hair]

"Can't exactly put any of this on a job application, though, can I?" It was amused more than self-pitying, and he couldn't deny the pleasant little curl in the pit of his stomach at the way Eddie said 'hero', like it was fact and not just an opinion, and he wasn't really sure what to think about that.

Which was why he added, "Not that any of that's going to mater if we don't make it back to the Winne without somebody spotting you." A little shake of his head, "Did you have any kind of exit plan?" The question wasn't a dig, he genuinely wanted to know so that he could try to come up with something if he hadn't.

[ididntrun]

"Would you want a job fighting monsters anyway?" Eddie asked giving Steve a little grin. "If it's anything like any other job here in Hawkins, the pay's probably shit." Eddie's grin widens into a crooked smile as he shakes his head. "Not really," he admitted. "Run in and run the hell out." He reaches out and gives his jacket a little tug on Steve's shoulders, finally satisfied. He still looks like shit, but at least not warmed over shit. "You clean up pretty good, Harrington." He tucked the kit under his jacket and zipped it up, pulling the hat down low over his eyes and the collar up over his hair. "Should we split up or stick together?"

[the_hair]

"No, I'm just saying it's..." He shook his head, "Nevermind." He flicked one hand in Eddie's direction, as if indicating the clearly flawless disguise, "This is... not going to work." Another head shake, stepping closer and tugging the hat up and off, thumping it against Eddie's chest, "Hold that. Somebody seriously needs to tame this mane of yours, Munson."

Not that Steve was trying to do so, just wrangle it a little, gathering his hair together and giving it a loose twist, snagging the hat again and pulling it back on to cover the not-quite-knot of hair, and sure, it put the hat at a slightly higher perch, but that made it easier to pull down at a steep enough angle that it covered more of Eddie's face, especially with the collar of the jacket flipped up, "Better. It'll have to be."

Another nod, "Let me have a count of ten, then make a break for it, stick to the nearest aisle, almost a straight shot to the door from here. Don't run unless you hear me say otherwise. Just hustle. Got it?"

[ididntrun]

"I know what you were saying," Eddie said gently. He wonders what it's like to fight monsters and save this god forsaken town and then have to pretend like everything was normal while checking out videos. It wasn't as if Steve didn't have any prospects. He was still a legend and Eddie's sure that would open some doors that it wouldn't for someone like him. But by the world's standards, without the grades or the money of his parents, he was a has been.

Eddie blinks in surprise as Steve gathers up his hair, fingers twisting it. He's glad he's holding his breath, because he's pretty sure if he had any to spare he'd say something really stupid. He doesn't spare a glance at the mirror to see the improvement, just stares at Steve for a moment longer before exhaling and issuing a hoarse, "Thanks."

"Got it," Eddie says, feeling something ache behind his rib cage. He tries to tell himself it's fear, but he knows better. He's so fucked.

"The girls should already be at the winne." He nods at Steve. "Lead the way, Harrington."