He had to save the guy’s life first, but once he did, Jonathan was a dead man.
Skidding around the corner, eyes wild, Steve only slowed down when he could visually confirm that he had in fact, made it in time.
“Whoa, hey.” Jonathan said. startled as Steve nearly crashed into him, dropping the paper plates he was carrying to his backyard. “What’s wrong?”
“You-” Steve huffed, breath coming out in sharp bursts and man, wasn’t that a sign that he’d been slacking lately on his workouts? “You need to--”
“What’s happening?” Will interrupted, sensing trouble-- and running immediately towards it as always, El trailing behind. “Are you okay?”
“No.” Steve growled, hands on his knees, glaring up through his hair. “No, I am not okay. Jonathan won’t be either if he doesn’t go inside and stay there for at least the next twenty minutes.”
He slowly stood, his general fitness allowing him to regain his stamina quickly even if he had been neglecting it.
‘I’m sorry I ever stopped going on bi weekly runs.’
“What?” Jonathan asked, at the same time Will and El said;
“Why?”
Steve turned his attention to Will, startled to find the kid was almost taller than he was. That was a train of thought for a different day, because right now he was still focused on keeping Jonathan living and breathing.
‘The shit I do for these people.’
“You guys remember Gareth?” He said, staring pointedly at Jonathan.
Ah yes, there was the little wince he was looking for.
“Gareth?” El asked, voice soft as Will stiffened visibly besides his brother.
Steve nodded, still glaring Jonathan down. “You know, Gareth. Skipped a grade, Brown hair, part of the Hellfire club, got his ass kicked by Carver’s asshole buddies because he’s super close to Eddie?”
“Steve--” Will started, staring at him and not at his brother's hunched shoulders, the very first sign of guilt in a Byers.
(Among many other things, but Steve knew Jonathan better than he knew Will, and those?
Those were guilty shoulders.)
“Your brother,” Steve interrupted, making sure the sheer annoyance in his tone came through, “--decided to have a talk with Gareth.”
He put his hands on his hips, doing his best to communicate ‘you done fucked up’ with his own face. “Eddie found out and is on a rampage.”
A fact he had been alerted to by Gareth himself, after the poor kid had called him from Eddie’s shiny new government supplied house, begging Steve to stop Eddie before he made the situation worse than it already was.
(Considering Eddie’s paranoia and general protectiveness was still ramped up to a hundred even now, six months after all the Vecna bullshit, Steve didn’t blame Gareth for calling it like it was.
Eddie absolutely would make things worse.)
There was a very long pause, in which Steve got a front row seat to several different Byers expressions.
First was confusion, followed quickly by realization, and then the slow dawning of horror as Will cued in to exactly what his brother had done.
Meanwhile; Jonathan’s hunched, guilty form took on the look of something a bit more pinched.
Like a soccer player who had clocked that the ball was in the air, hurtling dead towards his face, and all he could do was stand there and take the hit.
“Oh.” El said, her head tilted comically, correctly reading her brothers faces. “Gareth is the boy Will has a crush on.”
She turned to peer Jonathan, Will’s face managing to somehow go redder at his sister's words.
“The talk Jonathan gave him was like Jim’s talk to Mike.”
Implied: That talk broke the two of them up.
Implied: Said talk was now firmly rooted in El’s head as a bad thing.
Implied: Jonathan was screwed.
“That’s not good.” She finished calmly, as Will whipped around to confront his brother.
“What the hell!?” He shrieked, voice cracking right in the middle as Jonathan raised his hands defensively.
“Look, you’ve been through a lot, and-” He started, only to be immediately interrupted by a furious;
“That’s not an excuse!”
Will advanced on him, sticking a pointed finger in Jonathan’s face, a whole tirade of words pouring out of his mouth. “I can’t-I can’t believe you! I told you about Gareth in confidence! You told me I could tell you anything, Jonathan!”
Steve raised an eyebrow, impressed to find that baby-Byers could actually be intimidating when he wanted to be.
He was pretty sure it was the height.
“Scream about it later, get inside now please.” Steve said, trying to cut Will’s attempt on Jonathan’s life off.
Personally he didn’t care if the guy’s own brother murdered him, he just didn’t need Eddie to catch a charge.
Again.
The very thought coincided with their time ending, as a furious screech of wheel’s and muffled metal roared into the Byer’s driveway. The car wasn’t even off by the time Steve heard the door slam, Eddie’s stomping footsteps loud enough for Steve to track him as he came around to the backyard.
“Hey, El?” He said, as he turned to face down his furious boyfriend. “Tell Will I’m on his side for this one, would you?”
El nodded politely, a smile overtaking her face as she watched Steve match Eddie’s stride, aiming to head his boyfriend off.
Kid probably knew what he was going to do before he did it, the little shit.
“Get out of my way, Steve-!” Eddie bit out, stopping only so he could point to where he wanted Steve to move to.
Sadly for him, Steve had a different plan.
Instead of slowing down, he simply bent at the knees, wrapping his arms around the back of Eddie’s thighs and putting his shoulder firmly in Eddie’s torso. He had to withhold a grunt to do it, the step- to kneel-to carry was not as smooth as it used to be when Steve was in proper shape and throwing girls around like footballs, but he managed to get Eddie over his shoulder anyway.
“Hey!” His boyfriend squawked, as Steve smoothly continued walking, right back out of the Byer’s backyard, Eddie hanging over his shoulder.
“Steven Reginald Harrington, put me down right now!” Eddie shrieked, the words only slightly tangled with Will’s own;
Roguelite tactical rhythm game Wardrum announced for PC - Gematsu
Publisher Team17 and Fashion Police Squad developer Mopeful Games have announced roguelite tactical rhythm game Wardrum for PC (Steam). A release date was not announced.
Here is an overview of the game, via Team17:
About
Fire Emblem meets Parappa the Rapper, Wardrum sees you set in a harsh and unforgiving fantasy landscape you plan and execute your tactics in time with the primal pounding of a tribal wardrum for maximum impact.
Off-beat magic has infected the lands, neighboring settlements have fallen and it’s up to you and a band of five warriors to keep the beat. Venture out into a harsh fantasy world filled with rhythm magic and stop the source of this off-beat threat once and for all.
Key Features
Deep tactical turn-based combat where careful planning and flawless rhythmic execution can mean the difference between life and death.
Activate abilities in time to the beat to deal devastating attacks or powerful buffs.
Forge a path across a harsh fantasy world full of rhythm magic, face death and strengthen your warriors until you have the power to destroy the dark sorcery infecting the lands.
Make use of the battlefield by comboing attacks and hazards: push enemies off cliffs, activate deadly traps, and pull foes into kill zones set by your archer.
Every run brings different challenges. Trek across six distinctive biomes with randomizing map paths, navigating through battles, sanctuaries and other events to go toe to toe against dangerous bosses.
All biomes come with their own formidable enemies and environmental dangers
Encounter a range of over 35 menacing enemies that require careful tactical planning to overcome.
Roguelite replayability: Death is temporary! Face death, learn from your mistakes, upgrade your warband and venture forth again.
Watch the announcement trailer below. View the first screenshots at the gallery.
