self - imposed hangover is an angry drumbeat against richie’s skull as he ascends , slow and sluggish and so obviously ill it’s almost 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒚 , up the stairs towards eddie’s apartment & ultimately , it’s the thought of the disapproving mien behind the door pushes him up those last few hurdles . ( imagine his surprise upon their first reunion , more tears and gasped greetings than actual vocables / stab of longing and yearning and love only just started undoing its tight knot in his ribs , but sight of wide brown eyes sent him toppling right over the precipice all over again . ) he knocks a rhythmic , lethargic beat into heavy wood ( shave and a haircut , two bits ) that precede a 𝘨𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘯 and a careless slump against the front door . ❝ eds , baby — — - ❞ he’s 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 about how fond that last word sounds as it pours from his mouth , ❝ tell me you have advil , or neurofen , or somethin’ . i’m dyin’ out here . remind me never to let people peer pressure me into drinkin’ again . ❞
he’s been up for a while now, body clock having him out of bed by 8 a.m. & coffee in his hand 30 minutes later. it’s a simple routine, a lot simpler that the one he still practiced when he first arrived in castle rock. the only medicine he’s taking now is some vitamins with a glass of low-sugar orange juice. it’s nice. he should be used to richie’s visits by now, but that knock seems to always catch him off guard. when it happens, he’s mid sip of coffee & is clumsily trying to avoid the spillover. “hoooo -- FUCK ! hot, hot, hot,” a string of curses rings out & he grabs a paper towel to wipe the dripping coffee off his fingers; then heads towards the door. “good morning to you too,” eddie drawls after opening it, eyes taking in a washed-up richie. “you’re a fuckin’ idiot, i hope you know that,” & he should just close the door in his face, maybe THAT will make him stop drinking, but he’s ushering him in as he speaks. “literally no one told you to drink that much. sit down. i’ll get it for you.”
𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐒 but bill might have loved eddie kaspbrak the most. they had always been friends since the beginning and in those endless days after georgie was gone , it was eddie who helped him refocus his grief into something tangible , in as simple as helping fix up a shoddy bike too big for a boy . bill saw all of the losers as family , but eddie sometimes filled that vast void that georgie left .
with stan , richie , eddie , and him all at castle rock — bill had began to wonder whether it was all coincidental , or if there were higher forces at work . and of course , bill had his theories but he couldn’t bring them up , not yet , as to avoid unearthing trauma and past hurt that they all wanted to leave behind until the time IT would return . “ my birthday isn’t until january , you know ? so if you , richie , and stan are trying to pull a surprise birthday party for me by being all here , consider yourselves busted , ” well, that was one way to make sense of things even if probably, superbly wrong . “ but seriously , how a-amazing is it that we’re all here ? it’s like — ” a venus flytrap attracting its preys with its sweet nectar before devouring them ? “ — a perfect example of fate. ”
“dude, i wish we were as creative as that.” truth be told, eddie doesn’t know how they’ve all ended up in the same place. they’re in the middle of fucking nowhere maine, so the chances shouldn’t be THIS high. but, this wasn’t derry. IT didn’t infest these sewers, which meant they were safe. so, this couldn’t be caused by anything bad. “my car broke down here, & i just decided to stick around.” that was the short version. the longer one involved eddie going through a three-day long panic attack of not knowing what to do. he probably would’ve turned tail & run home, but it wasn’t long before he’d stumbled upon richie. he was unavoidable, really. eddie’d heard him yelling down the street one day & the two had stuck back together like velcro ever since. “an oaths an oath,” eddie answered, holding up his scarred palm for bill to see. “maybe we’re all s’posed to stick together.”
* ╰ tyler young , it . ╱ welcome to castle rock , EDDIE KASPBRAK . you’ve just blown out TWENTY-ONE candles on your most recent birthday cake , and rumour has it that you had your last birthday in DERRY , MAINE . why did you leave there again ? was it something to do with WANTING TO FORGET WHAT HAPPENED THAT SUMMER ? regardless , we’re glad to have you . i’m sure you’re aware of the town curfew ? i hope that LOQUACIOUS , NEUROTIC , EXPRESSIVE & JUDGEMENTAL behaviour of yours doesn’t cause too much trouble here … it’s funny , you remind me of PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION , GOOD GRADES , TRACK SHORTS , MOMMY ISSUES , & ENDLESS WORRYING . perhaps i’m going mad .
- the first five years of eddie’s life were surprisingly normal. yes, in fact, his mother hadn’t always been a controlling, manipulative, dictator. if you were to look at eddie’s family, after his birth, his mother & father were your average american parents. but, it only took an unlucky series of events to make their happiness fall apart.
- on eddie’s fourth birthday, his father was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. by the time his fifth birthday rolled around, he was dead. it was only a month later when eddie got sick. bronchitis, the doctor said, likely caught from one of the kids in his class. eddie was a generous boy, didn’t have a problem with sharing his lunch with friends. & this was what it got him. a sickness made his lungs WEAKER with every cough & kept him bedridden. perhaps it was too similar to the way her husband sounded near the end of his life. whatever the reason, sonia kaspbrak was sent into hysterics & vowed to find ANY reason to keep her son from the dangers of catching so much as a cold.
- he recovered, of course, but it didn’t stop his mother’s worry. no, suddenly he was being taken to the hospital every week & seemed to always be sent home with a new affliction. asthma, nut allergies, croup, ear infections, skin rashes, bacterial sinusitis. his list of prescriptions became so long, that he was soon given his first fanny pack to carry them all.
- school was his only escape, but his mother’s strict guidelines managed to find him there as well. if his fanny pack, & the scheduled times he took his medicine, hadn’t given it away; a long list of his allergies & activities he couldn’t be included in made his reputation as a ‘fragile boy’ clear to many. it also made it harder to make friends, but his mother’s protectiveness hadn’t scared everyone away.
- his first friend had been bill, best friends long before the losers club had formed & from a good enough family for him to spend time with outside of school. though, even if sonia had said no, eddie would’ve gone out on his own. desperate to fit in & impress his new friend. after all, his mother’s short leash could only hold him for so long.
- through bill came the connections to the rest of his friends. stan uris, a jewish boy who, much like with bill, he watched with silent admiration. then, richie tozier; a trashmouth whose filthy jokes & strange voices always seemed to earn eddie’s attention. anyone who paid attention could say they were a strange duo, always bickering & yet so close. all of them were. but that summer was when things all changed. the four of them had celebrated the coming of summer with optimism, despite the disappearance of bill’s brother & a rising number of other children. honestly, eddie had been surprised his mother let him out -- but he wasn’t complaining.
- ben, beverly, & mike. when those three joined the rest of the group, they became a whole. it should’ve been the summer of their dreams, full of long-lasting childhood bliss. in the end, it was long lasting. one broken arm & showdown in the sewers later, the whole experience changed eddie in a way he can’t ever describe.
- when he decided to stand by his friends & help them, eddie felt liberated from his mother. but, old habits die hard & it wasn’t long after returning home that a slew of apologies were flying from the boy’s mouth.
- with the evil defeated, life returns to being somewhat normal. after all, they’re just kids. barely scratched the surface of life & there’s still the awkwardness of growing up. but, you’re not going through it alone; seven people bonded for life, come hell or high water. at least, until they all start making plans. plans to get far away from this little town. but they’ll keep in touch. right ?
- at 18, by some miracle, he’d gathered the courage to leave. despite his mother’s begging, telling him they could move somewhere else together, he’d had enough. perhaps, it was the years of being called a ‘bad son’ for simply wanting to go OUTSIDE, how easily she’d bring out those crocodile tears, being asked why HE was doing this to HER, or the medication & diagnoses that she constantly shoved down his throat. whatever the reason, bags are packed -- a string of apologies & then he’s gone. headed for anywhere in a beaten down tin-can that he barely knows how to drive. then his car breaks down, in a town called castle rock, & eddie knows his mother will never look for him here. he doesn’t get far, but it’s far enough. he uses saved up money to rent a shitty room & gets a job at the local grocer. his long-time goal is to pay his way through school, maybe start up some sort of business, but, he isn’t sure; not even three years later.
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒
- i prefer plotting & hatching an idea together, or just good ol’ chem, the most though ! so don’t be afraid to hit me up if you want to create an idea or two !
