revivalproject | Two Words

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Two Words - Retrofile

WHO: Billy Hargrove & Eddie Munson
WHERE: Civic Center
WHAT: Eddie got a note
WHEN: Sometime after the volcano event
WARNINGS: N/A right now

[I'm picking up the pieces]

It had started with managing to write the note. Slipping a piece of paper from that dungeons and dragons party he had stumbled across when going to get lunch, he had managed to get paper and pencil before heading back to his lovely home to work out what it needed to say. Once that was done, it was folded up and delivered. Pushed under the hotel door of the room he knew that Eddie was staying in. He knew there was a chance Harrington was in there and would see it, but it was a risk he was just going to have to take.

So the letter got pushed under the door and Billy headed out of the hotel to go grab dinner and head back to the beach cabin. The door still didn't work, but he managed to find a decent rock to hold it shut during the night. His sleep was restless - it has been since he and Robin had the talk in the halls.

Despite that, he's still up with the sun and heads to the civic center to do his routine. There's no beer, no cigarettes, but it's still something to do and keeping his body in shape would help with the training Gladio had been giving him. There's humming from him as works at the weights, curling them in some sort of time with the song he's humming.

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Eddie probably should have told Steve after he found the letter, but something made him keep quiet about it. He wasn't even sure he was going to go, there was no reason to make Steve anxious.

But the following morning Eddie found himself wandering towards the civic center, half sure Billy wouldn't even be there. Of course, seeing him there, Eddie briefly debates leaving, but summons his courage and tries to look as though he belongs there. "You rang?" he says.

He doesn't notice Eddie come in at first. He's started a new count of reps so he's concentrating. It's when the guy calls out does he finally take in that Billy's not the only one present.

"Hang on——"

He counts out the last of the reps before re-racking the weights. There's no beating around the bush that he's glistening with sweat, having been working out for about an hour or so. A few laps around the gym, then working with weights and stuff. He towels his face and hair off, before throwing the towel onto the bench.

"I did. Robin told me about a lot of shit that happened in Hawkins. Both while I was possessed and what happened afterwards. Mostly about the shit you and Harrington had been through."

This sounds like a promising conversation.

Watching Hargrove finish his set, Eddie's not really sure where to let his gaze settle, glancing away and distracting himself by backing down his jeans to pull of a pack of cigarettes and light up.

He pauses at Billy's words, gaze flicking cautiously back up to meet his.
"...yeah?" he says, before offering the pack to Hargrove with an arched brow.

Oh. He brightens at the cigarettes and holds his hand out for one just Eddie offers the pack. One gets fished out and he gnaws his teeth into it before lighting it.

It helps. It settles his nerves. Because now he's pacing a little. How long had it been since he done something like this.

"She told me how you were villainized. That the town thought you were murdering people because of a cult," and the way his eyes sweep over Eddie has a very disbelieving look before he continues after a long pause. "I'm not good at this part."

The pacing spreads out a little more, like Billy's a caged animal and he's trying to figure out how to put it into words. "Robin told me what happened to you." That's a good start maybe. "About what you did for Dustin." Whoever that one was.

Pocketing the pack again once Hargrove's taken one, Eddie lets him talk through it, crossing his arms and looking almost amused. After all, one of the first things Hargrove had done on his arrival was accuse Eddie of being into cult shit, so it wasn't so hard to believe.

"What, that I died?" he asks, shrugging a shoulder because it's easier to act casual about it than admit how terrifying it all was. "Guess we're in the same boat, huh?" No going back for either of them.

Billy wasn't going to mention Eddie's fate in case the other didn't know somehow. But apparently he did, but it really doesn't make this easier. "Yeah. Yeah, we are. I had no idea. I didn't know about any of this shit that happened until Robin told me about everything that happened.

Or what Billy thinks is everything.

He blows out the smoke and paces through it, trying to work through it. This was stupid. He should've prepared himself for this, instead of trying to face this head on. He wasn't prepared!

No, he has to do it. Stop letting his habits and instincts dictate everything and holding him back and just do it.

"I shouldn't have beat the shit out of you when we first met here." Blunt, words spilling out before he chokes on them again. "You're just trying to live as much as you can here like I am."

"Everything?" Eddie asks carefully, as there's at least one bit of information he's learned since being here that he doubts Billy would be all right with. And so he'll keep his mouth firmly shut.

Nursing his own cigarette, Eddie nods faintly, though he looks surprised to hear Billy acknowledge it. Hell, he's surprised he even remembers.

"...I might've purposefully pushed a few buttons," he admitted. It's what he does. He can't help himself.

"As much as she could. The kids - mostly one named El - the monster dogs and all the portals. Russians, Harrington keeping the kids safe the night I went to the Byers house. The Byers kid," but no mention of Max. Billy has no idea what befalls her. It's in Eddie's better interest at the moment to not mention it.

"But I shouldn't have gone for the bait."

Finally he stops pacing by the weight rack, and picks up one of the smaller dumbbells to work with. Busy, he has to keep his hands busy. "And I shouldn't have used it to agitate Harrington either," but that was a whole other ordeal he was going to have to contend with at some point. Hell, that whole strained association was one of the reasons Billy didn't go back to the hotel. His former room there sits empty, the blankets and pillow gone from the bed.

Blue gaze looks down at the weights as he pumps them, ash falling from the cigarette. "I shouldn't have done any of it. Maybe yelling and shit is fine. But I beat the shit out of you that day in the hotel. I'm..."

Just say it.

"I'm——"

Say it!!

"I'msorry." Rushed, but the words are out with his hands white knuckling the dumbbells.

Nudging one of the weights on the rack with his foot, Eddie's not really sure what to say. No one's ever apologized for that shit before. Steve apologized for being an ass, but he never laid hands on him.

Eddie's immediate instinct to try and shrug it off, "It's fine, man," he insists, suddenly very interested in the floor.

"...I'm sorry about the walkman," he adds, still not apologizing for the punch itself. All the times Hargrove's kicked, punched or shoved him around he's only ever thrown the one.

Surprisingly, Billy only feels a little bit better. But it does feel nice that Eddie isn't staring at him in shock for the words or anything. Makes the sting of saying sorry, which is admitting he was wrong about something, hurt less.

"It shouldn't be fine!" he barks, not thinking about his near-yelling volume at Eddie. God he's a mess. "You didn't fucking deserve to have me beating you after the shit you went through back in Hawkins," just like Billy didn't deserve to be possessed and used to further an inter-dimensional being's agenda. Neither of them deserved what they ended up getting.

"So I'm apologizing," and that last word is grit out like his mind is trying to filter it but Billy pushes through it. He doesn't even know if he's doing it right at this point. "And I probably deserve more than the one punch you got in on me. I'd say you should do more, but I'd probably hit back, and I don't want to go to the hospital again any time soon."

Eddie flinches faintly at the volume, looking embarrassed with the reaction and again trying to adapt a more casual stance.

"Well do you want me to fucking say??" he asks with an exasperated look, "I went through plenty of shit before I died, never stopped anyone for beating on me."

But he bows his head as Billy continues, huffing and taking another drag. "And I'm accepting. That's part of the apology process, isn't it?"

When Eddie flinches, Billy recoils a little back like he had hit himself. The dumbbells get racked with a resounding clang and he paces around the rack again and works at the cigarette. "That doesn't make it right that I fucking added to it! I——"

But he stops short when Eddie says that he's accepting of it. Billy... Billy honestly didn't think that the guy would. That he'd have to do more to get on that track, too. Part of the redemption process or some shit.

The weight bench squeaks under him as he sits down hard, leaning forward and running a hand through his sweat-damp locks. "Yeah, but I didn't think it'd be so fucking easy. I beat the shit out of you and you're just accepting the apology about it. That doesn't seem too easy?" He looks to Eddie, and he looks both baffled and hurt because he doesn't know how to feel about any of this shit now.

"I didn't say it made it right, I said-" Fuck, he doesn't even know. stubbing out his cigarette on the bottom of his shoe and pocketing the butt.

"I dunno. After Steve you're the first one to apologize for any of that shit. Definitely the first person to beat me and be sorry for it." The fuck are you supposed to say to that?

That's true, Eddie didn't say it made anything right. Maybe it was the start of making things right. It takes some of the anger out of his tone. Billy takes one last drag of the cigarette, and just holds the still burning filter between his fingers.

"I'm not good at this. The only person that ever started teaching me about apologizing fucking left." He reflexively brings up the finished cigarette and grimaces when he tries to take another drag. "I don't know. I'm just— hearing about all the shit you went through from Robin, knowing how Hawkins treated you, and maybe I guess me after the mall, it fucking sucks. And... I felt bad. But I didn't want to just show up in the bunker. So I stole some paper and a pencil from your game and made the note."

"You're not great at it," Eddie agrees with a small teasing smirk, "But uh...neither am I," he adds, shrugging a shoulder. So there's that at least. Neither of them know what the hell they're doing.

"Eh...Hawkin's felt that way about me even before all this shit happened, they just needed an excuse. And hey- you get to be the mall fire hero forever, so there's that at least. Carver uses you in all his pep rally speeches."

Of course, Billy wants to bristle at the remark, but the little smirk eases the instinct. This was how Eddie toyed with people in a friendly way. That, and if he laid a hand on Eddie, the truce would be broken and he'd be put in the hospital.

Not Billy's idea of a good time at all.

"You don't have anything to apologize to me for. The tape player wasn't your doing anyways. You were protecting Harrington and if I hadn't hit him, you wouldn't have hit me and I wouldn't have fallen and broken it." Another brush of his hand through his hair before the other flicks the used cigarette aside.

"I didn't want to be the mall hero or whatever. Especially when all of that shit was caused by me anyways." And then there's a full on eye-roll at the mention of Carver. "So even after death I'm just some token people use. Great. Fantastic. Carver can choke on horse cock like the dumb hick he is."

"I mean, it's better than the cult leader who murdered a bunch of teenagers and probably got Hellfire Club banished from the school forever. Not a greaaaaat legacy. But probably about as good as I was gonna get."

He snorts in surprise at Billy's language, looking impressed, and then mock offended, "You know I'm a dumb hick too, right?"

"No, you're a cult hick. Two totally different things." And for that Eddie gets Billy's own teasing smirk. "And all I'm hearing is that Hawkins news lies about everything. Good to know. Everything I learn about this town makes it worse and I just want to raze it to the ground."

Let's see who Hawkins' hero would be after that.

"Banished from the school doesn't mean banished forever everywhere else. The rest of your little freaks are probably holed up in the basement playing still."

Billy sits up straighter, obviously more relaxed now than earlier. "Where'd you get all the smokes? I'm out and I get fucking antsy without them."

"Ahhh, of course," he laughs and rolls his eyes. "Cult hick. I'll take it."

And Eddie wants to be hopeful, wants the kids to return to a normal life where Hellfire is the most strenuous adventure they have to face. But he knows the fight's not over.

"Replicator. They won't give me drugs, but they'll gimme these. And I play at the Deep End to earn more goes per month from people who aren't gonna use theirs."

"Figured it was better than other shit I could call you." He glances away, like he’s ashamed, but he’s just thinking of the name 'freak' and how it feels sour to use it because of others in the town. "But my point still stands. I hate Carver, righteous prick."

The few interactions he had with the guy told Billy all he needed to know about Jason.

"Right. Replicator thing for smokes. Think it’ll make beer?"

Then he remembers and reaches behind him for his waist. His hand comes back with the Walkman, fixed. There’s obvious spots where the work was done, but it played and that’s what mattered. The blue gaze is fixed on it, knowing what the device meant for his stepsister. "Tommy fixed it for me. After we got back from underground."

And then he looks back up at Eddie. "And you talked about some new tapes. Metallica albums." A hint that he wants something new to listen to.

"Honestly, might prefer the Freak," Eddie says with a shrug. He's more or less numb to that one. Or has fully embraced it, depending on the day.

"Yeah, I don't see why not? You can get drinks at the Deep End though, they aren't bad. I'd save your replicator shit for better things." Like more tapes.

"Tommy?" Does Eddie know him? He can only picture Hagan. He looks relieved though to see the Walkman fixed. "Shoulda told me, man, I could've brought 'em. You can borrow them next time. Borrow. I want 'em back."

"Now the Freak of Hawkins High is getting picky," he retorts with a teasing laugh. Billy feels… better. The apology was rushed and felt weird and vulnerable, but now it was better. Paving a better road metaphorically for himself to be better. That’s why he was here, right? Be better.

Be the kind of person his mom would be proud of if she were here.

"I’ll use my replicator stuff for tapes then. Kate Bush is fine, but I need variety." Another run of his hand through his hair. "If I had thought about it, I would’ve mentioned Max‘s Walkman in the note."

A grin at Eddie. "Yeah, borrowing them permanently." The grin widens with a peek of his tongue before he straightens up and settles down. "We could always go to the hotel and you could get them real quick. You mentioned one of them is a Metallica album right? What else you got?"

"I'm dead, I'm allowed to be picky," Eddie says easily, guessing Billy might take the death jokes a little better than Steve.

Eager to share his music with someone who will truly appreciate it and not just put up with it for him, Eddie nods, and motions for them to start back now. "Yeah, Metallica, obviously, full discography- including their future shit. The obvious stuff, Judas Priest, Dio, Ozzy, Iron Maiden. Got some newer future bands too, like uh...Guns & Roses, they're all right."

"We're both dead," he points out. There's a little hint of a smile there, but it does still sting knowing what he's going to home to whenever the aliens send him back. At this point he hopes he's never sent back.

The Walkman gets slotted back onto his waistband and he gets up to follow Eddie. He grins at the fact that they get to listen to future albums that they otherwise never would be able to hear. "Let me borrow some of them, then. Or teach me how to get my own so I don't have to. Kate Bush is okay but I'm getting tired of this one damn tape, man. You got any favorites of the future shit yet?"

It felt easier to talk to Eddie (and Robin) like this, without Harrington watching them, or breathing down Billy's neck. Waiting for him to fuck up.

"Got that in common at least," Eddie says, and he smirks a little.

"I can teach you," he promises, "And you can borrow whatever, just get it back to me. We can figure out your Vecna song and fill a tape up with just that," he adds, moving on without thinking that he probably shouldn't have been mentioning that. "Metallica just released one like a few weeks before everything went to shit. So that'd be new to you. It's a must listen."

The little smirk he gets brightens up Billy's face and he nudges him with his elbow as they head out of the civic center to head towards the hotel. He hasn't been back here since they evacuated, since Harrington had convinced him to not leave the hotel for somewhere else to live. The whole thing underground let Billy know he was better off ignoring Harrington and doing it anyways. So he was now. Far away from everyone else so they didn't have to walk on God damn eggshells around him.

"What's a Vecna song - is that the reason you guys asked me what my favorite song was? It's 'Rock You Like A Hurricane' by Scorpions. Should be everyone's, really. I give Max a pass - she's my stepsister, so she automatically has shit taste."

And then he brightens more at a new Metallica album. "Yeah, I wanna hear that one. Did Scorpions release anything in '86?" The answer is no, but he's curious. He wants to hear the new stuff one of his favorite bands has.

"Yeah, it's uh- when Vecna- the big bad- is up in your head, we figured out your favourite song could break his hold. So when Max showed up I made her a new tape with her song so she'd feel safer." Eddie files that knowledge away, planning to make a tape for everyone...just in case.

"I don't think so. But we can check?"

Vecna. Right. Big bad that controlled the thing that possessed him. The explanation has the tape player making sense at least. No wonder Max had it all the time with her when she was still here. It made Billy never want to give it up now.

"And if you don't have something by them, you can show me how you make your tapes. Do you think the aliens can do mix-tapes? Metallica, Ratt, Scorpion, all sorts on one tape. Or maybe that's a Munson-only feature?"

"Munson-only," Eddie agrees with a smirk, "Or uh...you know...anyone with access to two tape players-only, really," he adds, "...and some time to kill."

"Two players? Wow, the aliens are spoiling you. That's not fair, I want some treatment like that. Think they'll get me my car if I tell them I need the tape player in it?"

He has no idea how this shit works.

"We've all got time to kill here. I'm glad for it." He gives Eddie a playful push. "How's the hotel? I see it wasn't burnt down in the volcano bullshit."

Eddie laughs, "I mean, you could probably replicate one, but I stole that shit from the guy who holes up in the library. He's got a shit ton of recorders and creepy tapes."

He pushes Billy back with an amused hum. "It's mostly fine. Some shit fell. Some more holes in the floor and ceiling. Probably wouldn't pass any kind of code, but it works. How's...the beach? That where you are now?"

"Shit, I haven't been in that place. Libraries aren't my gig though so," and he gives a shrug. "I'll let the nerds be nerds and only beat the shit out of them if they start it." He chuckles at the playful shove back and does everything he can to shove down the urge to shove Eddie.

"Maybe I'll give it a shot in stealing one for myself. Maybe a speaker so I don't have to sleep with the headphones on." As for the beach, the cabin needs some shaping up, but no one bothers me, and my presence doesn't bother others. It's the closest thing to a home I'll ever get. I tried leaving for it before the volcano thing happened, and I got talked into staying, but the whole event just showed me I don't belong there."

Billy, in his own opinion, didn't really belong anywhere in this city. But he wants to stay for as long as he can so he can keep living.

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Two Words - Retrofile

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