Re: eddie/steph log: waffles
"Oh, good. I was worried you were getting rusty as you got older," Stephanie teased, warm and glad that they could be here in the same room with more than just resentment seep from both of them. She smirked and winked up at him from the floor while her arms surrounded the dog's neck. For how run-down she looked and felt, for the frustration of not knowing what happened to her, for the fear of losing control again, there was still that twinkle of Stephanie underneath it all. Still those jokes, still that flicker of Pollyanna shining through the grit and grime. That was more than could be said for when the Skull had tortured her to an inch of her life. Maybe ignorance was bliss, after all.
Matilda got some more love and a whispered assurance that things would be okay and not to worry before the blonde stood up a little shaky on her weak limbs. Before she could worry about toppling over, however, Eddie's arms wrapped around her gently. She sighed, and she smiled slightly, and Eddie could feel some tension leave her shoulders. She knew that she felt slight, and she wondered if he worried about it. But, he pulled back Stephanie returned his smile with a mirrored one. Sad, worried, and with just a touch of We'll figure this all out because honestly? They usually did. Usually. Sometimes there were failures, sometimes they just couldn't do it anymore, but most of the time they figured it out. There was nothing to do now but find answers to what happened to her. To everyone else that this had happened to, too.
She squeezed his arms slightly, tiny fingers wrapping around biceps, before he moved away. "Cris's girlfriend? What the hell happened?" Last thing she knew? They had just had a baby. What kind of fucking legal trouble could she be in? And, she knew if anyone would have a semblance of answers, it was Eddie. He had a way of knowing all the things in a big city like the one they grew up in. She had faith in his skills in a small town like this. She laughed, shaking her head as she moved to lean against the counter. Matilda laid at Steph's feet. "Can't find any good, proper law enforcement these days, can you?" She kicked the counter lightly, and he could sense there were a bunch of different questions. "That's not a proper vacation, Eddie." A lingering question hung in her blue eyes.
Stephanie saw the waffle iron, and she smiled at him when he looked at her again. There were no words, just that small smile that held hundreds upon hundreds of memories with it. She had possessions from their time together, too. Little and big things. Most of them were kept in storage back home, but there were trinkets here and there that she kept wherever she lived. Things she couldn't get rid of even if she tried.
Her elbows propped on the counter, she cradled her chin in the palm of her hand. "How are you?" And before he could chastise her, she followed up with: "Indulge me, please. Okay? What happened with the house?"