revivalproject | Worlds apart, hearts broken in two, two, two

Arrival (slightly changed from TDM, Season 4 spoiler warning. CW: blood)

Eddie blinked and the world seemed to turn upside down (ha!). He was flat on his back, Dustin was no where to be seen, and the spores of the Upside Down had been replaced with a light flurry of snow. For half a second Eddie didn't feel that choking pain, and he wondered if he was dead.

For a moment he starred up at the sky, strained breathes crystalizing in the air. It was so much brighter here... So peaceful. He turned his head and caught sight of some shining thing. Transfixed by the datapoint, the pain shot back in sharp focus as he strained to sit up. Everything in him screamed to stop, but he needed to touch that thing. He fell more than once before managing to right himself and took unsteady steps towards it, fingers smeared with blood as he finally made contact, and a flood of information assaulted his all ready shot nerves.

"...What the...shit?" he rasped once it released him, stumbling over as his legs refused to support him any longer. He looked down in confusion at his blood staining the snow. Fucking aliens. Sure. Why not at this point???

Audio- A Few Days Post Arrival

Heeeey, um...I don't really get how this thing is supposed to reach anyone without an antenna or anything but uh...can anyone hear me?

How do I even find a frequency?

This is fucking bullshit man.

[There's a clattering as the device is tossed away in frustration, Eddie sure it's not working.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The taste is, thankfully, the only part of the experience that's truly objectionable. Eorzean health potions work quickly; aside from halting the bleeding on his larger wounds and completely closing up the bigger ones, Eddie should notice a pleasant, cooling numbness follow along with it - the feel of a topical anesthetic, to match how it probably tastes like he just swished some on his tongue. Dustin studies him patiently to see how he reacts.

"Working?" he follows up after a few moments.

Oh wow.

Eddie blinks slowly and looks down at himself, patting over bloodstained clothing to lift his shirt and peer at his sides in marveled confusion, the easiest of his wounds for him to see.

"...is this real, dude?"

Dustin instinctively also tilts his head to get a peek at what Eddie is looking at, though it only takes a moment to determine that the potion has done its job. Good. He nods and straightens, satisfied.

"Assuming you, me, and everyone else here aren't collectively hallucinating, then, yes." He holds out his hand, expression deadpan. "Need that bottle back. Hard as fuck to get good glass around here."

"Take a picture, dude," Eddie mutters reflexively, tugging the bloody shirt back down and frowning at the state of it. It's an easier thing to let his focus fall on than everything else just yet, and he nods, numbly handing back the bottle. "...Thanks," he mutters finally.

He can't delay the inevitable long though, looking back to the data point. "...it said they wanted heroes?"

Dustin both doesn't notice and doesn't care that he's just done something awkward; he's too wrapped up in carefully putting the empty flask away in his satchel and being glad that it worked to pay attention to much else. Even Eddie's gratitude earns just a gruff grunt of acknowledgement. He doesn't need the thanks. What else would he have done? Let him bleed out?

Eddie's question, at least, gets a more impassioned response. "According to them," Dustin mutters, hefting himself upright. He offers a hand for Eddie as an afterthought. "They want people that can fix their shit. 'Hero' seems like a borrowed term that they apply to anyone they bring in to help. I wouldn't read too much into it."

"Gimme a minute," Eddie says, waving off the hand. He might not be bleeding out anymore, but he's not sure he's ready to stand yet. His brain is still playing a fuck ton of catch up.

"Oh don't worry. I'm not going to get a full head, I'm no hero. I'm well aware."

Dustin shrugs and retracts his hand, stuffing it into his coat pocket to warm it up until Eddie decides if he needs it later.

"I'm not the one you need to convince," he says, arcing an eyebrow. That felt...weirdly directed. Huh. Dustin drives the odd thought away with a quick shake of his head, switching tracks. "What else do you remember, from the data point? Did you get the whole vision before you collapsed?"

"Uh...aliens. Heroes...something about storms and...I think so??" Eddie starts to recap, gesturing vaguely. It's...a lot. And he's still processing the last a lot that happened to him. And the one before that.

"Is that how it works? I just...tell them they made a mistake and...back to Hopkins I go?" Well...the Upside Down, but even in an alien abduction he's not going to spill that casually without looking crazy.

That sounds like all of it. Dustin is about to give him the affirmative, except then Eddie follows up, and--

He barks a laugh. "--Fuck no," Dustin giggles, looking entirely too amused. "I wish it was that easy. Make me fuckin' laugh..."

There's a pause as he works to regain his composure with a few, deep breaths, making a show of wiping the undersides of his eyes from imaginary tears.

"...No, no--we're not going home until we fix this storm shit, apparently." His expression hardens again. "And that's if they decide they want to let us when we're done."

Worlds apart, hearts broken in two, two, two

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