Yes, talking hurt but it was a pain he'd forced himself to get used to pretty damn quickly. There was no way in hell he was just going to follow the other Losers around and not say anything. It was the same here and now. "I don't need a straw." Could he even use a fucking straw? Could he create the suction needed to drink out of a straw? Should he just not question it and be glad the liquid wasn't leaking out of the fucking hole he had in his face?
Maybe he should've gone to see that nurse.
The whiskey was preferable to anything else he could be drinking, anyway. After everything that'd happened he sort of needed the alcohol. It'd help him forget or, at the very least, settle his nerves a little about what had just happened. He'd already forgiven the other man. Given the fact that they were dealing with a shapeshifting clown who enjoyed tormenting them with their worst fears back home it made sense that Richie might be a little unhinged. Eddie didn't know the specifics and, so far, the other hadn't offered anything up but blaming it on that made a lot more sense. One day he'd stop making excuses for other people. Richie, however, deserved the excuse. He really wouldn't have reacted like that if he didn't believe something was wrong.
"I don't feel like I am." He sighed. It had been easier in a group. Easier with the rush of memories and Richie's teasing. Easier when the two of them were standing on equal ground. "Just... you remember how my mother was? I never really got the chance to make other friends." That was why he sucked at small talk. He shouldn't have. Not with Richie, anyway, but everything felt off-kilter now and he was worried they'd never get back to the level of comfort they'd had only a few hours ago.
The small talk was worth something though. It was teaching Eddie a little bit about the town at any rate. He now knew that he didn't need money. He didn't have to worry about how much Richie paid for the bottle of whiskey that had been brought over. He didn't have to worry about finding and paying for a hotel room or whatever for as long as he was going to be here. He didn't even have to worry about paying for food. He wasn't sure if he had to worry about finding it but one thing at a time. If they had a coffee shop though, he doubted they were doing too poorly on the food thing. "Have you picked out a house?" Should they be neighbors? Could they live together? Would Richie even want that now? Was Eddie trying too hard to force his way back into Richie's life? At one point he assumed that Richie would want that but now... now...
Shaking the thought away he tried to focus on what he was being told. Something about time? "What do you mean?" So far nothing seemed out of the ordinary too him.