the rational side of his brain knew that, yes, richie was right. he'd feel a lot better once he ate because he'd been drifting between consciousness and sleep for the last few hours and he definitely cannot remember the last time that he ate even before that. on the other hand, it's richie. and eddie always wants to tell him to fuck off. it's second nature now, isn't it? their way of communicating. and eddie doesn’t know what to do when they aren’t snarking at each other, aren’t in a constant back and forth. it’s their way. he frowns despite himself, looks at the food that’s been handed to him. it looks like shit. he feels like shit. “’m not fuckin’ hungry,” he mumbles, childish. feels like he’s earnt the right to be childish, too. he’s been stabbed. more than once, for fuck sake! “stop acting like a mother duck, rich,” he mumbles again, because he can. because he’s angry and he’s sad and he’s tired and... and... and he’s fucking hungry, after all. the thought is ignored as he takes a bite, and. yeah, it doesn’t taste as bad as he thought it would, but he’s not admitting that.