INTRO LOG #2

[bequiet]

INTRO LOG #2
Put a Sock in It
Content Warnings: Disorientation, memory loss, confusion
Themes: Arrival, survival, exploration, horror

You wake, standing. A thick, muddy red dust coats your skin and clothes - it sticks to your tongue and blocks your vision. Inhale and it chokes you, exhale and your breath puffs out in front of your face in a transparent maroon cloud. It tastes of copper, tangy and harsh. Movement is difficult, every limb tingles and aches. Look to your left, your right. Evenly spaced in each direction stands another person indistinguishable in every way from the next. You're disoriented and lethargic, unable to grasp onto a single thought. A pinprick of light blooms ahead and grows steadily larger; a door has opened.

Hands grip your wrists, push at the small of your back and guide you out of the darkness into a room with four walls and a thin, sagging ceiling. The plaster is peeling, the air is musty, and the floor is slick. White plastic piping juts up from the center and curves into multiple spouts, clean water flowing in uneven streams. Those hands pull your clothes off and clear the dust from your body, redress you in handsewn jumpsuits. By the time they’re through, you will have begun to come back to yourself.

A finger is pressed to your lips. Kind eyes meet your own and a single word is whispered - hush.

Led out of the room in a line, you’re taken down a short hallway and into another, much larger room. There’s a woman waiting for you there, a child hugging her leg, and a cloth bag in her hands. She reaches in and pulls out a device, passes one to each of you. Once finished, she begins to move both hands in graceful gestures, a language. One of the people who helped you lifts their device and the screen lights up, tracks the woman’s hands. Letters appear on the screen and you understand the device’s purpose. She tells you what she knows and it’s not much.

This world is haunted. Noise attracts them, so it is not allowed. Communication is through body language, soundless writing, and the device. She tells you that your feet must be light and your mouth never used. There is a community outside these doors, where you can survive together, but only if you agree to one thing: complete and total silence. You'll have time to talk it over. You may ask one question and receive one answer.

Acceptance allows you to journey outside. The ground is marked in pathways of sand, lining the paths to each building and everywhere in-between. You notice that the locals hold their devices always, aloft and glance to it often. It will not vibrate or make a sound to signal a message. Notices appear. Rules. Guidelines. Feet on the sand and never anywhere else. To open a door you brush your fingers along the hinges - oiled and you may enter. If not, take the brush from the can sitting nearby and coat the metal with the dark liquid.

Now, you're to settle into your new home – with or without the help of those who have come before you.

The Place Inside
Content Warnings: Disorientation, hallucinations, body horror
Themes: Plot, exploration

Have you been to hell. And more importantly, have you been back. We all know this pain but are too scared to recall. This horror controls us, pulls at our strings to ensure how our life plays out. So, let me rephrase my question: have you been to Ile Lacrox. And more importantly, can you come back.

In the community, if you hear something you're not supposed to hear, you learn to look the other way. If you see something you're not supposed to see, you pretend it never happened. If you feel disappointed, you learn to never ask for more. So, through good times and bad, famine and feast, the natives held fast to their rules until one common day a sly wind blew in from the south...

That same red dust twists through the streets, curling up in faint, little plumes of familiarity. The farther south you go, the thicker it becomes. Those willing to explore far enough will find it coming from an island in the middle of the river. Once there, doting every available surface is the evidence of Sound Eater births, and the closer you are to the island, the harder it is to avoid being coated in red. Even if it's not rubbed into the skin, it doesn't take long for the effects to take over. Every sound is amplified. Your breaths are deafening, the slightest step echoes. But no Sound Eater attacks. Your vision blurs, and it's as if your mouth is sealing itself shut. Those you traveled with seem to be similarly affected, and you know you have to be quiet. Anyone who brought supplies with them might discover that a drink of water subdues the symptoms.

OOC: Only characters who entirely submerge themselves in water will be free of the dust effects. Just remember that noise will attract Sound Eaters.


Liplocked
Content Warnings: Violent tendencies, mind alteration
Themes: Love, romance, obsession, sex

The natives are of French origin, and with that comes a love of romance. Residents will find treats and valentines at their doors. That same night, there will be a small, red-glowing fire built near the fountain. There will be jars pressed into the dirt and filled with a sweet, red liquid. Some natives can be seen drinking it and being very affectionate with one another. Anyone who drinks this is inspired to show endearment or lust to others, and it will wear off after sleeping.

There's also the noticeable addition of a new arrival. They came through the Reset Room just like everybody else. They understand the rules and follow them to a tee. They are the perfect example of what the natives want in their residents. They are charming and captivating. They say nothing, and they don't have to. When your eyes meet, you feel seduced. There's a nervous flutter in your stomach. You can feel your heartbeat in your throat. Pounding, constricting. They smile and then turn away.

As they're walking, you notice you're not the only one looking at them, and in their expression, you see your own mirrored. What started as sweet infatuation and longing dissolves into a jealousy unlike any you've ever known. All you understand now is that to win their affections you have to come out on top—so you're the only one they see. Your actions are not your own, but they're still yours.

OOC: There are two ways to break the "spell". Your character fights it out with someone else who is feeling the same way OR they're approached and physically touched by someone who isn't affected by the newcomer. A third of the community will be completely unaffected (everyone else is affected unless the player is uncomfortable with playing out the scenarios). The newcomer can be of any gender the player wishes. For those partaking in drinking, the players can choose what effects it has; it can inspire feelings of lust or boost paternal/maternal instincts or devotion towards friends.

OOC
From your mods:

Please be mindful of content - if something triggery comes up or if it goes up a rating to say, something sexy, mark your threads in the subject line. We're very flexible and allow any material; we just want our players to be respectful of each other. If you have questions, pp the mod account, use the faq or comment to the appropriate post below. Have fun!

NAVIGATION

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Comments

House 11

[clussy]

(Eddie Kaspbrak did not know how to be silent. Even though the strangers of this town insinuated that his life depended on it, it was awfully hard to remember that without the brush of fear standing at his back, threatening him. That didn't mean he was reckless, of course. He wasn't so naive as to think that the town people weren't reasonably afraid of something. He did his best. But it was still a challenge.

Namely because life didn't exactly exist to be quiet.

When he had been assigned to the house, he just found the master bedroom and instantly claimed it as his own. It wasn't a selfish act exactly. He saw the master bathroom and automatically began to contemplate how many medical supplies he could get into the linen closet. Presently, he was trying to stock up on medical supplies, trying to stock supplies in general. He had been on his way out the door, a roughly made bag in his hands. But then when he opened that door and came nearly face to face with another boy, Eddie gave a sharp gasp of surprise.

The bag fell from his hand and landed with a dull thump on the ground. Eddie's hands had slapped up over his mouth as if to swallow down the sound he had already made. His heart was pumping at the back of his throat, and Lord.

It was so much easier to want to scream in a quiet world where surprises felt so much bigger. Even if they were only children.

Eddie slowly lowers his hands from his mouth, his breathing coming out in rushed wheezes. He doesn't look away at all, not sure who this was, what he wanted. Poor kid forgot that he wasn't going to be the only one showing up at this house.)

[waystation]

<sub>[The oppressive fear hanging over this place is infectious; it gets on the skin and finds a way inside like the red dust, motes of which still fleck his hair. One only needs to look into the eyes of the people here to know they're scared, even if he doesn't know what that they have to be scared of yet.

His breath stops to hear even so slight a sound against the wooden boards (without having given the oil can a single thought, it might not have mattered anyway had he been allowed to push the door open with a squeaky hinge) and he freezes, eyes wide, as if expecting any second one of the nightmare creatures he'd been warned about is going to swoop down and make confetti out of their innards. Is that how it works? Do you get any kind of warning?

A second passes, then another. He looks from the bag to the boy who'd dropped it, seeing a similar fear reflected in his face. They're still here, so... good? He relaxes his tense shoulders in increments as Eddie does the same uncovering his mouth, and then they're left staring at each other.

It's hard to gauge if anyone else comes from Earth specifically with all the jumpsuits looking nearly identical, and he can't remember if he'd seen the other boy in that strange set of rooms. He'd been a little distracted. But he looks around the same age, and the jumpsuit hints at getting the same wardrobe change.

Out comes the device.]</sub>

It's okay.

_{[Probably. But he feels as though he should reassure the other kid.]}

I'm Jake. The people at the building with the showers said I should come here.

[clussy]

(Similar thoughts were racing through Eddie's own mind. It's hardly the first time he's made sound since arriving, but he's made it sparingly and always when he felt a little less surprised. A little more in charge. And usually he's stuck to talking in low murmurs and whispers inside places.

But nothing does happen, yet Eddie remains tense all the same. Maybe there was no monster to come out of thin air to cut them both up, but there was still this boy. Eddie lowers down slowly and picks his bag back up, holding it tightly against his side as if it would offer any sort of protection at all.

Truthfully, Eddie had been having a flow blown panic attack in those strange rooms. It had taken some wrangling from the people there to calm him down. It was a small blessing Bill had been around- both for Eddie's sake and those adults'. He has no idea of anyone else who might've been around, so he doesn't recognize this boy either.

His eyes flicker instantly to the device, and he relaxes a fraction more.

Right. Housing. Dimly, Eddie thinks it's at least a little better than having random adults being put into their house. He gets his own device out.)

I'm Eddie. (He hesitates a second, still feeling a bit locked up, but eventually he steps backwards into the house and out of the way, gesturing for Jake to come inside.)

I just picked out a room. There's still a lot left. There's no beds though.

[waystation]

Hey.

_{[That seems like a dumb and inadequate greeting given, well, everything, but he can't take it back now.]}

Sorry if I freaked you out, I wasn't sure how to ring the doorbell. _{[Y'KNOW, THE ONE THAT DOESN'T EXIST....]} They sent you here, too?

<sub>[By that answer (picking, not owning), it seemed safe to assume Eddie was like him, another part of the confused crowd of arrivals from earlier. Another lost kid. Another psychic kid? He has so many questions, he hardly knows where to begin.

Entering the house at Eddie's non-verbal invitation is a good place to start. All Jake has to carry in with him is his own weary self and the device they'd given him--and the device is one thing more than he'd had on his person when arriving. He'd left New York with the clothes on his back and that'd been about it.]</sub>

Thanks.

_{[After a cursory look around the front entry, he turns back to Eddie. The other boy didn't have to let him in or anything.]}

[clussy]

(Truthfully, other boys outside of his own group of friends unnerved him about as badly as...well. Everyone else. His eyes skim the boy's words- Jake's words- and he gives a tiny nod.)

It would make more sense if instead of a sound, it just flashed lights in the house.

(Didn't it? Eddie doesn't know. He looks embarrassed for even sharing the idea, already hugging the phone against his chest. Eddie had lost many more things than just the clothes on his back, but he is decidedly trying not to think about that. Once Jake is inside, he silently shuts the door behind him.

Once it's closed, Eddie seems to relax a good deal, and with a vocal sigh.)

I'll show you the house. (Eddie's voice is extremely soft, somewhere between a whisper and a murmur. He walks silently though, heading away from Jake. It makes sense for him to go to his room first. He walks through the drafty, large room. He's set up what looks to be a small sort of nest of blankets and pillows he had managed to find. He turns to Jake.)

This is my room. But...I'll be getting stuff. If you're ever hurt, I can probably help you. (He hesitates, considering Jake and then looking down at his feet.) Unless it's real bad, I guess.

[waystation]

_{[Like a strobe light for the hearing impaired. That's... actually a really great idea. Jake flashes a smile, genuinely impressed by the other's quick thinking. Meanwhile, he's still so turned around he's tripping over his own feet.]}

If these things are so dangerous, is it really safe to talk?

<sub>[Just as Eddie does, he lowers his voice. He can't imagine not talking longer than the couple of days he'd done it once as a prank... but he also wouldn't have said it was possible for a community to live in these kinds of conditions a day ago. And yet.

Eddie leads and he follows, Jake's head swivelling here and there to take in the modifications made to the house to soundproof it. If anyone had thought the natives were overreacting when they'd explained the situation, this would probably change their minds. He doesn't question it when Eddie ends up leading him to the master bedroom and calls it his own--calling dibs on the largest space available is couched in a reassuring kid logic.

... Less so having to promise to help him should disaster strike, or someone or something attack. But this is their reality. Ready or not, here it comes.]</sub>

Thanks. Let's hope it doesn't get real bad before we get out of here. But--me, too. If you need help. I don't want anyone hurt because of these things, whatever they are.

_{[The room gets the same scrutinizing sweep (he's only ever lived in a cramped New York apartment so this falls under the definition of huge by his standards) before he's turning back on Eddie, Jake being more interested in the "who" of who he's staying with rather than the "where."]}

Where did you come from? Did you end up here by yourself?

[clussy]

I haven't been killed yet from it.

(Eddie quirks a small smile in Jake's direction, though it isn't particularly reassuring, he knows. He was hoping to make the house more and more soundproof as he scoured the city for supplies. He wanted to learn how some of the other people were going about such procedures.

Truthfully, Eddie had claimed the biggest room for a lot of reasons. One being that he usually wound up sandwiched between Bill and Richie most nights anyway, and the space would be nice. He doesn't explain this to a complete stranger though.

Eddie's quiet on Jake's offer to help him in return, instead looking a little put out.)

I wouldn't promise that if I were you. I have a bad habit of getting sick and hurt.

(Well. Sick not so much, but that was still warring around in his head currently. As for getting hurt...His arm now ached sometimes after having broken it twice in the same spot. Once before he showed up at the station, and once at the station. He touches that arm now, a bit self-consciously. It was also the arm that....

But he shuts that thought down quickly, refocusing on the subject at hand.)

Originally, I come from a town in Maine called Derry. Um. I'm from 1958. (Which apparently is important to clarify.) No. I actually wound up at some weird station in space for a little while and then some of my best friends showed up there.

(It doesn't make too much sense, he knows, but his memories are still a little sluggish, and he supposes it doesn't matter anyway.)

Only two of them wound up with me here. Bill and Richie. You'll probably meet them soon. Bill's basically my brother. He's like- the coolest kid ever. He's got this stutter? But he's not an idiot- you know. His words just get lost between here and here- (He points to his head and then to his mouth.) Then Richie- he's got glasses and looks like a jackass. Because he is. A jackass, I mean. He's probably suffering big time since he's normally a big talker but here we are.

(Eddie gestures around them. In a place where they couldn't talk.)

Which is probably my fault, but...(Eddie trails off, and stops talking altogether.) Uh, what about you?

[waystation]

<sub>[The effort is appreciated, but Eddie will have to forgive him if he doesn't bust a gut laughing at the joke. The natives had done a good job pressing the fact that yet is a very real possibility--and that these creatures don't even seem to kill in the conventional sense. They make people disappear and reappear in the room with the red dust, which is scary in its illogic.

How do you cheer up a strange boy when you're just as confused? Jake thinks a minute, then reaches for his device to type a short message before putting it away, a small smile ghosting at the corners of his mouth.]</sub>

I can pinch your nose if you sneeze. 👍

<sub>[Is a penchant for getting sick or hurt any worse than having night terrors that might cause him to make a sound in his sleep? Eddie shouldn't have offered to watch his back if he didn't want Jake offering to do the same. No takebacks now.

All of that promptly flies out of his head in the next second as the other goes on to explain. Jake's lips purse around the beginnings of a word, but nothing comes out. Time travel? A space station? He's not trying to be silent--he just can't think of how to respond to that for a moment.]</sub>

You came from space? Why... would it be your fault?

[clussy]

(Eddie has never been particularly good at following strict guidelines on How to Avoid Being Killed. He honestly supposed it was pretty shocking that it took so long for him to die in the end.

Then Jake sends a message. One that makes Eddie's mouth flicker up, and a soft giggle is shaking out of him, one that Eddie clamps down with his hand over his mouth. But his eyes are glittering, and lord.

He's gaping at Jake's device with absolute marvel, but then Jake's putting it away.)

There was- a little hand on your phone! (He exclaims this in a whisper-shout. Clearly he was enthralled.) That was so-. How did you do that?

(Listen, he was still learning his way around these things. Although it was pretty amazing he hadn't figured emojis out yet.

On top of that, it was a kind offer. Eddie feels himself finally relaxing in full around Jake. Not a threat then. Eddie understands the delay, honestly. He had been culture-shocked almost aggressively showing up on a futuristic space station.)

Kind of? It was a lot like this place with people from all different places coming to the same spot. Except that place was in space, and this place isn't. I don't really get it either.

(So please don't expect him to explain it much better than that. He just knew it wasn't where he was meant to be. Just like this place. Although he still would rather be here than anywhere else.

The question though makes him flush hotly, and he looks away from Jake completely. He doesn't respond right away, his hands fidgeting, curling tightly before opening back up.)

I'm really-. I'm sick in the head. There's something wrong with me, and it's-. I'm gonna burn in hell for it, but this is probably a pit stop along the way. I think I made Bill and Richie wind up here with me 'cause I told them something I shouldn't of.

(He is not looking at Jake at all when he explains this, and yes, he's completely serious if there's anything to go by his grave expression.)

[waystation]

They're on yours, too. Emojis. You can get all kinds on mot phones--I guess that's the same even in this world.

<sub>[Aaaand suddenly it makes 1000% more sense why he's whispering about what emojis are. 1958, wow. Jake doesn't look as surprised as he could've before seeing technology way more advanced than Earth's already thousands of years old in Mid-World, but it's still a surprise. It sounds as though Eddie has crossed his fair share of worlds, too.

The one part Jake doesn't follow is the source of the guilty reaction. Less than twenty four hours out from nearly being the reason reality unravelled, this eleven-year-old's first impulse is to call it bullshit, plain and simple.]</sub>

I bet it's not as bad as you think. You didn't cause this. Whatever's going on here probably has to do with what's wrong with this world, not you. Sounds like something's just drawing people between worlds.

_{[Like a... portal that sucks people in? No stranger than monsters that eat sound.]}

[clussy]

Ooooh.

(It's been a while since technology has enthralled him. Though it isn't too hard to do. Showing him new-age music and movies wound up with very similar reactions. He gingerly pokes around on his phone, smiling wider as he is suddenly equipped with an entirely new arsenal of self-expression. Texting just became a teensy more enjoyable for this old geezer.

His eyes snap back to Jake instantly because excuse you. For a moment, his jaw hangs open, because he was definitely trying to self-punish here, Jake. Don't cramp his guilt complex.)

Maybe I didn't cause it but...

(He trails off uselessly because how is he supposed to argue with that? After all, that's what he had just gone through back on the station.

Eddie couldn't really argue it was the problem. Not with the things he's seen. He wasn't going to sit there and strip himself bare though to prove he was right. He might have a complex, but he wasn't obsessed with breaking himself down either. He gives a small sniff.)

Were you given a job? I'm working over at the green house. (Topic switches were always good ideas, right?)

[waystation]

_{[It's almost a shame to bring Eddie down from his digital tech high (1958, holy shit). He has so many more questions now, and it's a struggle to keep them from bubbling up one after another. Like, had Eddie found a portal? What's space like? What's space like to someone from the 1950s? Hell, what are the 1950s like? He refrains, if with effort.]}

But you still feel like you could do something to change it? Doesn't seem sick to me. That's normal.

_{[Misplaced guilt is, as it turns out, readily available in any decade.]}

They're putting you to work already? That was fast. _{[Blatant segue or not, it piques Jake's attention.]} I don't know yet. I was... kind of hoping to find my own friend and leave soon.

_{[As he says it, his eyes wander to their shoeless feet on the carpet. Roland didn't make it through with him; that's where he and Eddie differ.]}

But tour first, right?

[clussy]

(There would be more than enough time for Jake to grill Eddie later over his existence as a 50s kid. Eddie liked talking well enough, and after all this, he decided he liked Jake well enough too.)

Maybe. I'm not so sure it's something that can be changed.

(He had never actually really thought so. It's why it had been so scary. Though maybe Eddie was just missing the point. He gives Jake a bit of a shrug. He didn't get it either. Eddie was useless at mostly everything, but he did sort of like the idea of working with plants. His mom would have a hernia if she knew.

For some reason, it had not occurred to Eddie that Jake would be looking for his own friends. Of course he would.)

What's your friend look like? Maybe I've seen him. (Or her, but mostly everyone he knows has guys for friends- even the girls.

Eddie's not at all dumb. He bites his lip, knowing first hand how shitty it felt to not have your friends with you. The idea of Jake leaving so soon made him a little sad too, though he scarcely knew why. They were barely past being strangers, and yet he didn't like the idea of Jake going just quite yet. Which he knew was selfish and childish of him.)

You seem nice. It'd be neato if you stuck around for at least a little.

(Listen. Eddie's fiercely lonely. He might have great friends, but this kid felt way, way too much. He walks past Jake, nodding.) We should get you a room picked out. The one right here- (Heading to the one right beside the master room.)

Isn't taken. I know Richie's got the garage and Bill's got another room over there- (Pointing to the other side of the house.) But there's still some other rooms around if you don't want this one.

[waystation]

<sub>[Jake hardly knows this boy well enough to say if he has a good reason to get so down on himself, but with time Eddie would probably work out an answer one way or another. If he can't change the thing about himself, or what's happened, or what his friends are here, he'll wear himself out beating himself up about it. Playing the 'what if' game just makes losers of everyone.

What if he'd stayed on Earth. What if he'd gotten back sooner? Could he have saved his mom and Lon? Playing that game too long is precisely how he suspects Roland got the way he is--worn out, alone, tired but tirelessly driven. And speaking of the gunslinger--]</sub>

His name's Roland. He's tall. He has dark skin... and guns. He'd probably seem a little weird--he's not from our world.

<sub>[If he'd still had his sketches, he could simply show Eddie, but they'd been left behind in New York like most of his belongings.

The offer brings him out of the reverie. Stick around? He's positive Eddie isn't saying stick around in a monster-infested danger zone, but his real meaning is touching. Eddie wants to hang out with him? It's been a while since anyone said that to him without glancing at him out of the corner their eyes like he's a delicate chemical that might explode if shaken, or start frothing at the mouth. He has to put in real effort not to smile too widely--he doesn't want Eddie to think he's laughing at the thought he'd stay.]</sub>

You, too. Maybe on your next trip to a new world, you can come visit me.

_{[The next bedroom is just an average, bare room that looks like it would make a good office in another life with the natural sunlight coming through the window. Not too big, not too small. Jake nods. Considering the danger, Jake doesn't presume to think he has room to be picky.]}

Cool. This is fine. Anywhere's good with me.

[clussy]

(Jake's not wrong there. The what-if game was a game begging for disaster and upset. It wasn't a game that Eddie liked to play, but it was a game that Eddie was exceptionally good at. His hypochondria was a little better lately, but it certainly wasn't completely gone either.

The description of Jake's friend gets a bit of a brow raise from Eddie.)

Is he our age?

(It's an automatic assumption purely on the fact that no kids he knew actively hung out with adults. But the idea of a kid their age having guns was something else entirely. Not completely unbelievable, but enough to give Eddie some pause.

Eddie smiles simply because Jake smiles. Though he gives a bit of a quiet groan at the idea of traveling to another world.)

I kind of just want to settle in one.

(More than that, he's deathly afraid that he'll eventually wind up in one world without his friends. He had been on the one without them for a month and it had been hard. It was made easier since the people were good, but none of them were the Losers. It was different.)

But I'd visit you if I could.

(Eddie peers into the empty room as well, before smiling a tiny bit. It was a little nice knowing Jake would be in the room right next door. Better than an adult stranger, after all.)

Coolio. (He echoes faintly.)

If you ever need whatever, you can always come into my room. I don't care if I'm there or not.

(Eddie's mom never let him lock the door back home anyway. That and with his friends around, he wouldn't want to in case there was ever an emergency.)

[waystation]

_{[--Oh. Jake almost laughs. It's surprising. Today his mom is still dead and he's just found he's surrounded by killer monsters that hunt by sound--and Eddie makes him want to laugh.]}

He's older. Way older.

<sub>[Way older than the difference in years between he and Eddie, even, thanks to the way time has gone wonky in Mid-World. Jake flashes a smile at the thought of Roland as a kid. He was probably a serious guy back then, too.

Maybe Eddie wouldn't like it there--in Mid-World, that is, with all its danger and brokenness. Jake has to think anyone with a life worth living and better prospects on the table wouldn't like it there. It's a dying world, more affected by the Dark Tower's weakening than Earth (and maybe this version of Earth they're in now is affected, too; it's a possibility he's kept alight in the back of his mind), but Jake can't imagine settling anywhere else.

It's fine, when his old life's already dead. Still, he gets the sentiment.]</sub>

Okay. You can do the same--just walk in if you have to. We'll have to get used to not knocking. And whispering. _{[And suppressing the urge to laugh, he guesses.]} What's in the rest of the house?

[clussy]

Really?

(Eddie looks as if Jake may as well have sprouted a second head. The idea of a child willingly being friends with an adult was astonishing to him. And yet, the shock fades quickly enough. After all, he'd had a few friends back on the station that were adults, hadn't he? Maybe Roland was one of those kinds of adults.

He had to be if Jake wanted to find him.

Truthfully, Eddie could adapt. If they stumbled into Mid-World, he'd lament the loss of certain luxuries, but he's been through worse. With how frightened he was of his old world and its own monsters, and the fact that he has been without his mother for a couple months, it would take a lot to force him back to his own world. A part of him felt like he was doing a lot better without his mother's influence- even if some nights he did still ache for her (always shamefully- always).

Eddie was never going to do great at suppressing the urge to laugh. It wasn't quite in his nature, and for being such a coward, he was stupidly brave about some things.)

I'll try not to walk in when you're busy. (.........Yes, that was a masturbation joke, if anything is to go by Eddie's smile turning into a smirk, and his eyes brightening a little with mischief.

God, if anyone ever wondered why Richie Tozier was his best friend- this was exactly the reason right here. It didn't even matter that they were just kids. They've made way worse jokes than that before. Young boys were gross by nature, and Eddie was absolutely no different, and anyone shocked by that had a world of waking up in store for them.

But anyway. As for the rest of the house, he nods for Jake to follow him. It's actually a really nice house, all things considered. He shows him the back porch.)

I'm gonna plant some stuff from the greenhouse, I think. So we can have easy-access stuff. (And then the kitchen right after.) Do you know how to cook? Bill can cook pretty all right.

[waystation]

He saved my life--and a lot of other people's.

<sub>[Jake can hear the initial ringing note of skepticism in Eddie's tone and feels obliged to offer that much in Roland's defense (because Eddie's right, Jake is with him willingly and for a few complicated reasons, not the least of which is because Roland might just save them all), but he doesn't really want to get into all that right now. Being a young boy, he's quite familiar with boys' humor and Eddie's insinuation is met with a standard retort, despite embarrassment at the thought of the other boy walking in on muffled efforts. Or him walking in on people doing what comes naturally.

If there's enough soundproofing for that then there's enough for knocking, he'd hope.]</sub>

I'm used to thin walls. I'll keep it down in there.

_{[In eerie silence, they troop toward the back of the house where Jake is surprised to learn Eddie's already laying down long-term plans.]}

You think you'll be here that long? _{[Already it feels nerve-wracking to be holding a conversation with monsters lurking just on the other side of the glass windows, and a part of him is relieved to enter the slightly more sheltered kitchen. If only it were a matter of staying out of sight and not out of sound.]} I can make a mean grilled cheese, but I don't know if that'll help us here...

_{[No sound means no oven timers, no automatic can openers, no cows lazily mooing in the fields for milk and cheese. Figuring out how to get by is going to be a learning curve, that much is clear to Jake. But he doesn't want him or his new housemates to starve, so learning it is. And quickly.]}

[clussy]

If you say so, then all right.

(That was a genuine sentiment. It wasn't Eddie breezing over it for the sake of it. Children were bad liars when it came to how awful adults were. Even Henry Bowers couldn't lie about his shitty pops. Jake wasn't going to lie to him about Roland. This was the Law of Children, maybe, or so it would seem to Eddie.

Eddie doesn't know when he'd ever learn to realize that many boys threw back. Often he got caught up in being an idiot with Richie that he just forgot. And so when Jake replies with that, Eddie makes a graceless choking noise and goes bright red.

He decides rather wisely to not comment.

Instead, there's other things to focus on.)

I hope I'm here that long. I don't really want to go back home. I guess moving to another world would be okay, but I've done that twice before and it sucks. (He...just wanted a home. It would be the best if Clara was here too. That way he'd...sort of have a mom. He doesn't voice that out loud though.

Eddie cracks a tiny smile at Jake.) Grilled cheese sandwiches are pretty awesome.

(It was a bit of a challenge. But they would figure it out. They always figured it out.)

[waystation]

<sub>[Well, aren't they two sad peas in an even sadder pod? Both of them feeling like they don't fit on Earth. Both of them wanting to escape somewhere better. He can relate to the sentiment only too well; it rather takes the innocent fun of seeing Eddie go red in the face.

Earth is stagnation: more pitying looks, more therapists, bouncing around from distant relative to distant relative (assuming they'd even want to take in Laurie an Elmer's wacko only child to begin with). Mid-World--and the Dark Tower--at least offers the chance of transmuting these awful, broken feelings into some kind of purpose.

He looks at the other boy in silence, ultimately deciding not to ask for the story he senses would be as painful as his own. It would have to be, wouldn't it? Why else would a kid prefer to be here?]</sub>

Me neither... But there are better worlds than these. Roland's from a place called Mid-World. There's no homework there.

_{[He matches Eddie's slight smile.]}

Space sounds pretty cool, too. Do they have grilled cheeses there? You'll have to fill me in.

_{[One thing he's getting from having met Eddie--it seems as though they could both use something to take their minds off of things.]}

[clussy]

(A tragedy. Though one that Jake would soon enough be able to enjoy as Eddie was horribly easy to get flustered. Earth meant horrible people who killed your dog and cut your belly up and broke your arm. It meant people who would send you to the loony bin if they knew even half of what was in your head.

And then, of course, there was IT.

Eddie chews at the corner of his lip, focusing on Jake.)

...I don't think I care about the world anymore. I just..I want to keep people I love close to me. I don't need anything else. I just want to be somewhere I know I'm wanted. (It might be a little heavy for strangers, but well. Eddie was bullied at school for a lot of reasons and his sensitivity was one of them.) I don't want to be abandoned.

(There's a faint ringing in his voice as if he means to say 'again' or 'anymore' after, but he doesn't.


Jake isn't wrong, and the idea of space food has Eddie laughing softly.)

Oh, jeez. Space food sucks. It's all like. Pouch shit and protein stuff. It's gross. We only ever got kinda normal food when we checked out other places.

[waystation]

<sub>[It's relatable, is what it is. Heavy for anyone other than Jake, maybe, but life had gone and done that thing or him where it sticks a pin in your naive sense of the world and let it dribble out all over the floor. Jake had thought he'd known what need was once upon a time--better toys, newer clothes, fewer responsibilities. Then his dad had failed to come home, and he'd understood what it is to turn your whole self toward wanting someone so badly you can hardly breath.

He doesn't scoff. He might feel the same, were he in Eddie's shoes.]</sub>

Yeah... _{[He considers a counter top before looking up again.]} I know how that feels. It's why I'm looking for Roland. But you said you had friends with you, right? Sounds like you're not alone?

_{[Well, so much for wondering what the food astronauts eat tastes like.]}

For real? _{[You have lived, Eddie Kaspbrak.]} ... Wait, you were on a spaceship?

[clussy]

(Most of Eddie's life had been too extreme. Not even in a climatic way. Just because of who his mother was and the way she acted about everything. Maybe Eddie would have turned out completely differently had he been raised by someone like Clara, but who knows? Eddie knew what that feeling was like. It's the feeling he had for his friends: the only people alive who seemed to understand and accept Eddie for everything he was.

Eddie winds up smiling. Something warm and earnest, because well. He could respect that plenty.)

I have two of my best friends here, yeah. You're not alone either though. Maybe Roland's not here yet, but I am, and until he comes around, I'll keep you company.

(There's pretty much never any time in Eddie's life where he impresses a boy. This is an enlightening experience that makes him feel warm in the face the same way Ben had made him feel when he told Eddie that he was 'cool'.)

Um. Yes. It was a lot like this place in the sense that people from all different worlds just randomly wound up there. It was kind of overwhelming- especially coming from the 50s. But the people were nice. I really miss them.

[waystation]

<sub>[Eddie's innocuous remark hits a vein and draws blood. What he wouldn't give to turn back time and trade this sucking feeling of loneliness in for his loved ones back... Eddie can't know how much he could use just that--someone. Someone to anchor him back to earth and stop him feeling like he's floating away from his own life.

He finds it difficult to keep eye contact with Eddie just then, and his lips twitch in shy, subdued gratitude. If he'd tried to say anything, he has a feeling he wouldn't have been able to stop himself from pouring out the whole awful, heart-wrenching affair like broken faucet on full blast.]</sub>

And it travelled to places? You remember anything about how you got there, or from there to here?

[clussy]

(In a way, Eddie understood it without understanding it at all. He would be nothing at all without his friends. They were all he cared about. And after recent events, he was more devoted than ever. Maybe he couldn't anchor himself to earth, but Eddie's come to the realization that that old saying 'home is where the heart is' is very literally true.

Even if a fixed home would be really nice.

It's curious. Eddie isn't so used to others being shy around him, so Jake's expression is interesting. Eddie angles his head to the side, like a dog hearing a high pitched whistle, but he doesn't press. Maybe it would be wrong to. But he does casually rotate his body forward, and nudges his shoulder up against Jake's arm. It's boyish and simple, but it's a point of contact that says a simple: I really am here.)

Hm. It's kind of...fuzzy. I think there was a kind of portal that opened up, and then we'd be able to step through it into a new world. But getting from there to here was different. Normally we'd realize when the portal thing was happening. But with coming here....It's like...The last thing I remember was....

(He trails off, and stops talking altogether. Crying on Clara because Richie had vanished. He bites his lip carefully. What happened after that?)

It's like I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I was here. In that weird room, having an asthma attack, and then...I haven't been able to get back.