Work Text:
With the way things went for his family and his father being in jail for a while, somebody might think it's the fast track towards that for Eddie Munson as well. But he actually doesn't want to follow in his father's footsteps.
So in that case, why does he play Dungeons and Dragons?
That is an excellent question.
At least it seems like an excellent question to the cops who come banging on his uncle's door, standing there on the square foot of wood affixed to the trailer and saying "Are you Eddie Munson?" After he nods, they tell him "afternoon, Mister Munson."
"Afternoon," Eddie says, eyes going back and forth before the pair of cops before he asks "How can I help you?"
"Well, to get right to it," one says roughly after glancing at the other "there's been talk of a hell-inspired game played by yourself and some others. It's been a cause for concern, so we've come to ask if you want to come downtown or talk about it here?"
"Well since downtown is basically down the road, I don't know if it makes too much of a difference, Officer," Eddie's tone is a slow nasal drawl. "I'm just wondering, aren't there more dangerous things than games with books that teach you how to fight monsters by rolling dice? I mean, at its essence that's what this is, if we're talking the game that I've been playing." With emphasis he raises his eyebrows and adds "I mean I'm a high school student, playing games is kinda what we do."
"A level of concern has come up from the church committee," the cop not holding his little black notebook begins, the second, with pen in hand as if poised to write a note, gives a sideways look.
"Noted," Eddie gravely nods. "Well let me set the record straight for you then. We draw maps and have artistic representation of monsters, which I think also happens in church with stained-glass windows and illustrated Bibles..." Eddie smacks his lips. "And as for being inspired by hell, I'm gonna have to say, not this edition. The craziest things we get are probably goblins, orcs and a Demogorgon - and I guess if you really stretched your imagination you could think a goblin resembles a demon but these guys mostly try and stab people with knives in order to steal their gold."
"But if you're worried about what this does to the heads of us kids, we're mostly fighting them or using what they do or know to help us reach objectives. Like, my characters may not all be Lawful Good, but in reality as in-game they know what the right thing is. Sometimes we roll and end up doing a different thing." He shrugs in an easy manner. "- It's the luck of the dice, and the members of the party react accordingly. There's no chanting, no candles and blood oaths and sacrifices. Not in the real world, anyway." Sizing the officers up, "I can make you some characters quickly," he offers. "Draw you a likeness, roll for some stats. You can join a game, see if it's your thing. That is, if you honestly don't have anything better to do," lifting an eyebrow, the offer a gauntlet thrown, Eddie waits. He does his best not to let his lips twitch, though if his uncle Wayne was here he'd be hard-pressed to keep himself together.
As it is, he keeps watching the two. He's been polite and forthcoming, and he'd love to see the faces of his little lambs if these guys do end up joining a session. It'd likely have to be a one-off dungeon crawl, but the idea alone is worth it for him.
Seriously, the thought of Hawkins police officers being dispatched to solve the case of and as such join in a fantasy setting tabletop roleplaying game (that some excitable church ladies thought could be used to summon the devil) in order to prove or disprove the possibility in reality of said game being dangerous is in itself as ludicrous as it is hilarious.
Eddie can't wait to bring this up to Dustin and the other guys.
And his uncle, too, once he asks about Eddie's day after getting home. Honestly, uncle Wayne will probably just be relieved that Eddie wasn't forcibly taken down to the police station. One family member leaving in handcuffs is more than enough for anybody; and despite his lengthier stint in high school and the ... recreational activities in which he partakes, Eddie doesn't want to go down the same road as his father. It ends in a cell with a barbed-wire fence and no visitation. And hey, a cell may be a little like a dungeon, but that's the thing.
You can crawl back out of the dungeon, in the game. You can move on, start over - roll stats for another character if anything happens to the first one.
Real life isn't like that, Eddie knows that very well. Chances work differently, and sometimes, you only get one.