Work Text:
Indiana, summer 1986
Robin walked around Eddie in a tight circle, inspecting, poking not quite gently at the backs of his shoulders and the small of his back, checking for lingering signs of monster. "So why are the teeth still there?" she asked when she got back to his front, peering into his mouth while Eddie fidgeted and tried to keep still.
"No idea," Steve said. "But at least that's the only symptom left."
Eddie snorted a little. "Symptom, like it's a clinical case of vampirism."
"If you have a better word, I'm all ears."
"How much rare steak have you been eating out here? Or are you just going right for hunting deer?" Robin gestured around at the woods surrounding Hopper's cabin. Steve and Eddie had commandeered it for Eddie to live in until Hopper and Steve could somehow get Eddie's name cleared.
"It's summer, deer season's not for a few months."
"Somehow I think you'll have bigger problems than out of season hunting if a ranger finds you sucking Bambi's blood."
"They don't puncture skin that easily," Steve said absently, rubbing the side of his neck.
The gesture caught Robin's attention immediately. "Oh my god, that's what this is. You did this somehow." She laughed. "Stevie, did you read Interview With the Vampire and have all kinds of new feelings? Should we start calling you Lestat?"
"Okay, first of all, we all know I don't read. Second, if I did, I wouldn't be reading a book for girls. And third, obviously I'd be Daniel."
That got her cackling, just as he knew it would. "Admit it, Harrington, you just wanted to be Eddie's chew toy. Hope you like the taste of hairspray," she added to Eddie, elbowing him in the side.
"Obviously I do," Eddie said, actively chewing a strand of hair from nerves.
"I'm not anyone's chew toy!" Steve protested at the same time.
"Yeah? Take the scarf off, then."
Steve clutched a little at the scratchy wool scarf he'd wrapped around his neck, the first thing he'd found in an abandoned box in the front closet when he'd gotten back to the house last night. "...No, I'm cold."
"That's what I thought. I'm so glad you two freaks found each other, no one else could put up with any of this." She pulled both of them in for a tight hug, soothing any sting that might have been in her words.
***
Robin came back alone later that night, after Steve had gone home to at least make an appearance for the rare Harrington family supper. She didn't cross the threshold when Eddie opened the door for her, facing him down from the porch, flashlight in hand.
"Just one last thing. I'm telling you now— I saw what you were doing before Steve brought you back. And I saw you ripping Stevie's heart out through his chest. And I know that one wasn't real, I know it was just Vecna fucking with me, but— if you even look like you're thinking of going monster, I'll put a stake through your heart myself. I won't even have to think about it."
Eddie, leaning against the door frame and looking worn, gave her a searching look for a long moment. She had a flash of wondering if Steve had been wrong about how sharp Eddie's teeth were, then he held his hand out, pinkie finger extended and crooked. "Bury my head at a crossroad too, Birdie." Something in his eyes told her that he'd seen the same thing, that he'd seen his own hands covered in Steve's blood and heard the snapping of ribs.
She linked pinkies with him, shaking on it.