☪ Day 2, the end of the shoot out and beyond ⛿ Behind and beside the Mariposa
After hiding out during the shoot-out, Robin posits a question on Eddie's sexuality. It distracts them both enough from the MURDERING of people.
And then shit gets panicky.
⚠
Characters are Paused against their will, dead bodies are taken away (but not gorey details)
This was definitely not Robin's kind of place. She'd never been interested in the whole Wild West thing. The old west was one of the few places a woman could own a business of her own. Of course, it was as a brothel owner, but it was a measure of freedom in this particular era. Truth be told, the whole Wild West aesthetic seemed to really be inspired by a bunch of crusty old men who wanted to return to a by-gone era where men were seen as rugged and… well, manly.
It wasn't unlike all those people who had a fond nostalgia for the 1950s either.
When the shoot-out began, Robin grabbed Eddie and yanked him behind the saloon and out of harm's way. No one seemed to bother with the back of the saloon, so they were, mostly, safe. There were a few motor mouths back here who couldn't stop talking about how exciting it was while people were dying and Robin shhed them one too many times. She assumed they left for bloodier pastures.
When there were no more bullets, she let herself release a long-held breath and pushed herself to standing. She still leaned against the back of the building, unsure that her legs would be steady enough to keep her upright just yet. Baby steps.
"Hey, so…" she started, because Robin was exactly the kind of person to pull up this topic after a shoot-out. "...you didn't bat an eyelash during Fuck Marry Kill when someone gave you men." The unspoken question lingered as she raised her eyebrows.
Eddie felt his blood pressure rising when the gunfire went off. If they weren’t already out of the way of the action? He was sure he would have ran. It was easier to be brave with Robin next to him. The Watergate? Eddie hadn’t jumped off that small rowboat into the water until Robin did. He started to realize that it hadn’t been a one off sort of event. This was becoming a pattern with them. Robin made him a better person.
He knew it wasn’t the same the other way around and felt an alien, oppressive shame like heavy humidity, out of place for the dry desert heat they were in.
That didn’t stop his heart from racing or his eyes from bugging out of his head as they stood in their spot, partially hidden, waiting to make sure they’d missed the worst of it. Where were Dustin and the others? Were they okay?
Eddie looked to Robin for answers. If they needed to find the others, she would know where to go.
Absently, Eddie pressed his gambler style hat to his shorn head. It was easy enough to tell from the back of his neck that the hair was gone, but so far there seemed to be an unspoken agreement among those who knew Eddie not to mention it. He could pretend as long as no one said anything, no one saw anything. Without his hair, Eddie did not appreciate the associations with the reflection that he saw.
He was immediately taken out of his state of heightened anxiety, however, the moment Robin spoke.
“Huh?”
Of all the things Robin could have brought up, he had not been expecting the game of Fuck, Marry, Kill. The confusion dazed Eddie, but it also started to bring his blood pressure down without his ever realizing.
“...I mean. Yeah, I guess so.” Neither a denial or a confirmation. Eddie watched Robin to see where the conversation was headed.
Robin's hair was almost to her butt, and while it wasn't the same sort of embarrassment that Eddie was going through, it made Robin feel just different enough from her brand of normality that she was uneasy with it. She thought about cutting it, but considering her skills with her hands pretty much only included flailing, she thought better of it.
The gunfight should have sent Robin's alarm bells ringing. Even in Hawkins, she tried to stay away from guns. Even when they went back into the Upside Down, only Nancy was loaded; the rest of them had make-shift weapons they'd made.
Her babbling should have given Eddie the clue that she was nervous. She had randomly plucked something from her head at random to talk about. Something she hoped would distract herself from what was going on. And if it distracted Eddie in the process… all the better.
"Were you just playing along when they gave you men?" She didn't know how to say this without just saying it. "Or were you being honest with your answers? Cause most people seemed to be playing along, no matter the gender they were given."
Eddie was stumped. His mouth opened just slightly until he could no longer feel his heart beat in his ears. Perhaps if Robin hadn’t already come out, the answer would have been different. He would have put on the bravado, made grand gestures, gotten loud, played the part of the freak corrupting the children. (Or would have if they were not still hiding from a gunfight.)
“You and I got a very different impression of that game,” Eddie said. He frowned thoughtfully, scratching the side of his jaw that had nearly invisible pale stubble. Despite being twenty, he still couldn’t grow much of a beard that wasn’t just scruff. Maybe he never would.
“Cause I’m pretty sure most people were playing along and were honest with their answers,” Eddie said. His look to Robin was meaningful, even if he couldn’t quite bring himself to say the words. He wasn’t as brave as she was.
He was quiet for a bit. Waiting for gunfire or a response from Robin, he wasn’t quite sure. “Don’t mention anything to Steve, okay? It’s different with guys.”
Which seemed stupid, considering the very public nature of the Fuck, Marry, Kill post. But Steve had ignored it all together and Eddie couldn’t decide if he was relieved or disappointed. Eddie had watched Steve grapple with his confusion over some of the flashes of other realities they’d experienced together. Steve was his friend. The thought of being just Eddie the Freak to him again? The second guessing? The awkwardness?
Eddie swallowed nervously. Though the metalhead turned desperado did his best to look apathetic about the request, there was a distinct pleading in his eyes.
Her brain had latched onto the point that he thought most people played the game and were honest. There were a hundred questions to ask about how he knew that when he'd only just met most of those people. Had he met most of those people? Was Eddie out there meeting all of the people of Derleth without them? How scandalous did he get with the people of Derleth?
Robin didn't want to be scandalous; she just wanted someone to hold hands with and make promises to. So far, it seemed like everyone was menaging the hell out of that trois, and no one was making commitments. Was that what the future was like? She didn't have any real problems with it — her own parents had been pretty scandalous back in the day — but she thought that was too much to ask. She just wanted one person. That was all.
"I'm not going to out you. Not even to Steve," she answered, her expression clearly appalled that anyone would assume she would. This was one secret she could and would keep. It was too important not to, especially considering the mindset that most people had about gay men in the 1980s. Mr. Hauser was forced to leave Hawkins because of that mindset, all because someone saw him and his boyfriend. "It's no one else's business."
She pursed her lips together and scrunched up her nose. "I guess maybe I shouldn't have asked because it wasn't my business either, but — " she held up her arm, fist out in solidarity. "It's nice not to be the only one."
Eddie felt a knot of tension release in his throat. It was almost enough to forget why they were hiding in the first place. But when she raised her fist, Eddie’s expression changed.
“I’m not gay,” he said. Maybe that shouldn’t have mattered. Somehow, he was pretty sure, being a gay man would been harder. Eddie had choices, options. It seemed unfair to compare their experiences to him. While he didn’t feel shame over who he was, he wasn’t exactly eager to brag about it.
“I like girls,” he clarified. “I just also like guys.”
Since Chrissy’s death, however, Eddie still felt — Chrissy wasn’t even his girlfriend. She barely counted as a friend. He’d just wanted so badly to help her. Eddie failed her. It was hard for him to see past, that there may have been options for him here. He hadn’t taken any of the flirting in his direction during Fuck, Marry, Kill seriously. Serious with him? People didn’t tent to take Eddie too seriously.
“Have you ever…?”
Eddie looked at Robin, but didn’t finish the question. Maybe he shouldn’t have asked. It wasn’t his business.
But it was nice not to be the only one.
Robin just stared in return. It didn't matter if he also liked women. Liking men too meant that there was a banner, and they both under it. A small, hidden camaraderie in the 1980s that only the two of them shared. Derleth may have been more open when it came to sexuality and gender, but most of those people were born after Robin and Eddie were. Small towns were brutal for anyone different.
"I know you're not gay. You thought I had a crush on you, and asked Steve advice about it." She leaned her shoulder into his. "You wouldn't have done that if you didn't like girls."
She decided to chance looking around the corner. There hadn't been any gunshots during the entire conversation. "No, but I've had crushes on girls. There's a girl at school. In band. Her name's Vickie. I really like her a lot, but — it's complicated." Eddie had to know what she meant. He was not shy about his "freakishness." He often talked about how people were carbon copies of one another, trying not to rock the boat. Robin wasn't exactly hiding or sitting quietly in the boat, but she wasn't eager to get thrown out of it either.
"And by the way, if I was straight — or bisexual — I totally would have gone out with you."
“Robin. I would have totally still done that if I didn’t like girls.” Eddie didn’t elaborate. Was it behavior he’d witnessed during his six long years of high school? Or had Eddie once employed a similar level of subterfuge at one point in his life? He let out a shaky breath from the unused adrenaline of escaping the gunfight before his mouth finally was able to form a smile.
Eddie looked down when Robin brought up If. “Hey, I’m pretty sure if you were straight or bi, you and Steve would have been a thing. I mean, assuming you didn’t have to fight Nancy for him. No offense, but I’m pretty sure Nancy could take you. She’s surprisingly badass.”
That Nancy had jumped into the water so soon after Steve had left a lasting impression on him. He couldn’t imagine anyone doing that for him. Then again, he couldn’t imagine having the balls to do that for everyone else, Robin’s influence not withstanding.
After a moment, Eddie added, “I think Nancy could take me.” Eddie felt himself finally start to relax, face breaking into a goofy smile. The gunfight was probably over, right?
"Nancy could take all of us and Vecna on her own."
Two years ago, Robin wouldn't have anything really nice to say about Nancy Wheeler. It wasn't that she thought cruelly of her, but Barb had stopped hanging out with Robin for Nancy. Robin really hated Steve in tenth grade, and heard about them dating. It didn't make sense.
Now, though, she got it.
If her best friend hadn't still been harboring feelings for Nancy, Robin might have developed some for her. The time at the mental hospital, talking to Victor Creel, had sort of solidified for Robin that Nancy wasn't just badass, she was pretty awesome. Even if she couldn't understand Nancy's taste in elastic around her throat.
She glanced back at Eddie after looking around the corner. "All clear. Let's maybe head somewhere else?"
Robin slunk out from behind the building to ease in line in the street. Some people were heading over to the Coronado for free drinks. Some were heading elsewhere for whatever their little western hearts might want. Robin still couldn't shake the idea that all of this was a giant show.
She was just about to say something else when a door opened up from the rear side of the Mariposa. She was absolutely sure there hadn't been a door there before. Where did it come from? And why were there people in full hazard gear coming out of it?
Robin was just about to freak out when a voice from behind the mask said, "Freeze all motor functions."
And just like that, everything about Robin Buckley turned off. Her feet stopped moving, arms froze in place. Even her eyes didn't move. Nor did she blink or breathe.
But she saw everything.
Chrissy wake up.
Eddie hadn’t noticed that his own motor functions, as commanded, froze. Instead his attention focused on Robin, just slightly ahead of him who moments before had been talking, moving, walking.
Hey, hello?
He couldn’t say the words but he thought them. What was wrong with Robin? He couldn’t get a clear image of her face. Were her eyes rolled back into her head? There were no indications that she could hear or see anything.
Hey, Chrissy?
Perhaps that’s why Eddie didn’t get it at first. He could see and hear just fine. The people in the hazmat suits didn’t seem so out of place at first. They were here to help, weren’t they? He just needed them to focus on Robin. Please. Someone. See that Robin wasn’t moving?
Time to wake up. Can you hear me?
Then he noticed the bodies being moved. The dead that hadn’t been so lucky during the shootout. The ones that hadn’t made it. Eddie didn’t want to see the dead. They were worse than the zombies from previous weeks. Those bodies were old, ambulatory. Somehow seeing the dead fresh, and callously carried away… that was more real, more horrific.
Chrissy wake up. I don’t like this.
That was when Eddie finally noticed he wasn’t moving or speaking either. And he wondered if what he was seeing was real. Eddie half expected the chime of a grandfather clock to start any moment now. This wasn’t real, this couldn’t be real.
Chrissy! Chrissy! Chrissy! Chrissy wake up now.
Had he told anyone his favorite song? Metallica released a new album. Instead of doing homework, Eddie had listened obsessively to the title track every night for three weeks solid, to learn the chords, the fingering, the rifts until it had become a part of him.
Chrissy?
They were so fucked.
Robin had nightmares like this, where she watched in horror as unspeakable acts were being performed in front of her, and she couldn't do anything to stop them. She wanted to scream, to call attention to what was happening. This wasn't quite the same. In those nightmares, she was frozen with fear.
Here, she was frozen and there was nothing.
She watched as bodies were carried into the open doorway, but she couldn't turn her head or even her eyes to see what was in the room or if they were doing anything with them. The people were saying things about a rogue Host who shot all the Hosts who killed him before. That they were pulling some of the Hosts for diagnostics before putting them back out.
What was a Host?
Diagnostics? Like computer diagnostics?
What the hell was going on and why did it feel like she was a puppet sitting on a shelf, waiting for someone to pull her strings and make her dance and talk and play.
Why wasn't she breathing? How was she still alive?
Was Eddie okay? She couldn't see behind him because her attention had been caught by the person in the hazmat suit.
"Carry on."
Robin blinked and began moving again as if she'd never paused, she glanced over her shoulder at Eddie and motioned for him to catch up. "So now I have to know what kind of guys you're interested in. I could be your wingman. Ask Steve, I'm a great wingwoman!"
It was like the trauma of being controlled never happened. It wasn’t erased, but neatly packaged inside a little box somewhere deep inside his programming. If Eddie had a fully formed self consciousness, he wasn’t aware of it even on that level.
“What kind of guys I’m interested in?” Eddie repeated, as if Robin had proposed something patently ridiculous. “Who’s ever into freaks, I guess.”
It was a non-answer, because Eddie hadn’t given it much thought. Guys he was attracted to? Sure. There was a wide range of people Eddie could visually appreciate. Anything more than sneaking off to basically commit a crime? Eddie couldn’t picture it. That didn’t happen for guys like him.
“What about you? Should I be on the lookout for redheads?” Eddie shot back. Yes, he absolutely knew the Vickie she was talking about. Did she have braces? For some reason he pictured her with braces.
"I could be a wingwoman for girls too. Just gotta know what your type is. And don't say whoever likes freak, because you're a great guy and you deserve to not settle."
Two years ago, Robin would never have thought she'd have a new Odd Squad. One that she actually liked and hadn't been forced into a group with because they played a very specific group of wind instruments. Dash and Kate and Milton had all started dating, with Kate specifically trying to hook her up with someone so they could do double dates. In the end, Kate and Dash turned out to be terrible people, with Dash getting her favorite teacher booted from the school because he found out he had a boyfriend. (That didn't even begin to unpack him trying to hit on her, and Kate taking Dash's side.) What would he do if he found out there was a lesbian among them?
It was nice because they all had the shared trauma of that giant, wet, and squelching meat monster in the food court of the Starcourt Mall. After that, you could talk to them about almost anything. Sexuality aside.
"Nah, I just need someone a little dorky, a little out of the ordinary in some way. Vickie's in band, so that automatically makes her dorky. Tammy Thompson was way out of the ordinary, and now I cringe to think of how much I pined for her." It was a bit of a let-down that after her vision of the future, she and Vickie seemed to be getting along. It seemed a little like fate that both of their feet liked to live in their mouths.
Eddie shot Robin a look. She was starting to sound like Steve a little when Eddie described his future dating life as being mostly troubled women who wrote to prison inmates. It was hard to think of a future beyond that.
So he changed the subject.
“Tammy Thompson, huh? Anyone tell you you sound a little girl-crazy, Buckley?” He smirked, despite trying his best to keep a straight face. Eddie thought he was funny. But he was starting to visualize a type that he filed away for later.