Re: eddie/steph log: waffles
Stephanie knew Eddie liked to talk. Hell, he needed it. And, he needed it from the people that surrounded him too, or at least those closest to him. She was completely aware, years later, that that was really why their marriage crumbled. She stopped talking. Other things might have created fissures, but the collapse of communication was the straw that broke the camel's back. She regretted it still to this day, but the past was the past, and she couldn't change it now. There was nothing that could be changed. They could only both move forward and remember the hurt and learn from it. Was that something kids from their town were good at? Learning and growing and moving on? Not in the slightest. But, it was something they all had to try out eventually, even if they never really succeeded.
"And being Eddie is more than good enough," she assured him, small smile and not an ounce of irony or deceit in her voice. "I hope you're remembering that." She fought the urge to reach out and touch him again, finger twitching on her fork. Instead, she grabbed her coffee and took a long sip. A lot of times, she had to remind herself that she was enough, so she recognized how hard it was to do.
Steph laughed, something genuine and quiet, at the waggle of his eyebrows, and she rested her mug back on the table. "You'd think by now one of us would've earned enough brownie points or something so one of us would catch a break." He earned a Look at his joke, but her mouth couldn't help but twitching in the corner. The dark humor got to her more often than not, and she knew it was a good sign. "Listen, if you want me to tie you to a railroad track and test out this theory, I'm not doing it. Not without more of these first," she bargained with a wave of her fork towards the plate of breakfast foods.
Bacon between her fingers and pointed in the air, she snapped off the top of it as she hummed her approval. "I know, I know, but still." And this didn't have to do just with the fact that she'd hadn't had a home-cooked meal in months. The waffles? Were that good. She took a couple more forkfuls of waffle, chewing with puffed out cheeks, and then swallowed before she responded. "That's what your mind is most worried about," she responded softly, tilting her head with a sad dip of her mouth. "What about--." She cut herself off before saying her name, and she shoved more food in her mouth to cover it up, but not before a groan. "Sorry," she said after a moment. "That's super none of my fucking business. Ignore that. Pretend I said nothing. I said nothing, okay? Super duper not my goddamn business." But, she looked at him, and her blue eyes still wondered if he was okay. That he didn't deserve to die alone. His relationship? Wasn't her business.
Sasha however? She was. "He arranged it? What the fucking hell! Is she okay? What happened to her god hubby? Why the fuck would he find her here?" She blinked a few times. "Damn, Arthur really isn't the worst dad after all."