text — un: harrington ;

[fawcetted]

[ It's the kind of network message that pops up in the quietest, darkest part of the night — when it's just a guy and his thoughts and anxieties in an all-too-silent house. He's surrounded by dumpster-quality furniture and a cat-emblemed pillow that veers on possessing suspicious origins, not that anyone can see any of his living quarters through text. ]

i don't want to panic anyone but it's pretty late and it's been a few days and i don't know, maybe i just need to calm down but

does anyone have an explanation for what happens when your soulmate kinda ... goes missing?

[ Steve really wishes there was a proper instructions manual or something. Not that he'd read through it because who has the time for that, but. It'd be something.

The line goes quiet for a moment, or maybe Steve's said what he's needed to say, before another message pops up from the same username. ]

Honestly, shit's going exactly the way I thought it would. Thought maybe Munson would stick around, thought maybe we were, you know, starting to become friends, and you'd think the soulbond thing would count for something but noooo, he just split. Found a way to get out of here, left his phone, went back to Hawkins and didn't have the decency to leave a goddamned note.

Even he couldn't stand the pathetic loser that Steve Harrington's become.

[ And just like that, the message is sent for all to see before the line really does cut off. Embarrassing. ]




[ ooc: in case it isn't clear, the last bit of text is courtesy of steve's very unpleasant shadow who has adopted an edgelord personality circa livejournal 2001. ]

Comments

[fawcetted]

no nothing like that

came back from the marketplace to find the building we've been using empty except that he left his phone-thing on the couch so there was no way to reach him

and then a few days passed and here we are

[ Even repeating the words has him feeling the edges of panic again. Man, if (and when!) he finds Eddie, he is absolutely gonna punch him in the face. Seriously!!! ]

[coherer]

(KICK HIS ASS, STEVE!!!)

No fight, no fault. Kicking yourself when you're down is a coping mechanism we all seem to share rn, but take it easy, okay? You'll find him.

On that front, do you need any help? We could get a boombox and start playing really loud Stygian rock or smth. He'll sprint back like a runaway dog when you aggressively shake a treat bag.

(jonas' first line of attack: crack a joke. then he can proceed from there.)

[fawcetted]

[ WE THIRST FOR BLOOD!!!!!111

But, no. Jonas' words do give him pause, grateful for the sincerity. He even wonders whether his Shadow can somehow be reached, because so far it's just shown up to be a douchebag but hasn't been especially confrontational; maybe they need to have a chat about boundaries, or whatever.

But he'll figure that out later.

For now: ]

yeah that's not a bad idea

and worse comes to worst stygia could use a good outdoor concert right? it's probably been a while

but for real, i'm starting to wonder if maybe he didn't just get lost or whatever but he was taken to the gallows

[ A suggestion that a certain someone put into his head, and now he can't unthink it. ]

[coherer]

(reading that, jonas' cigarette almost falls out of his mouth.)

The GALLOWS? Jesus Christ

I've heard like really intense stories about that place, man. He definitely didn't do smth to wind up in there, right? ik I barely know you guys but he didn't give me serial killer vibes or anything??

[fawcetted]

no no no, no absolutely not

i may have had my totally ridiculous suspicions at the beginning about him but i quickly learned he's not like that at all

no i was told, and idk how true it is, but the reapers aren't exactly picky with who they bring to the gallows

so like what if eddie was just in the wrong place at the wrong time?

[ Honestly there are so many what-if situations running hamster wheels in his head, it's hard to keep track. Hard to keep calm, too. ]

what if he was just rounded up with a bunch of others?

[coherer]

You need to contact someone ASAP. Like the Hierarchy ppl or smth. Anyone.

idk much about Reapers, but when I first got here, I was almost taken to the Forges by one of the evil ones. They'll pick up just about anyone. There might be a holding period at the Gallows before he's transferred elsewhere, though, so there's still time, man.

[fawcetted]

jesus christ

okay thanks

that's really good to know

[ And no, he's not panicking. Nope. Not at all.

Time to seek out a Hierarchy lackey, it seems. ]

[coherer]

(god speed, steve. jonas does not envy you in the slightest. he is, however, a worrier.)

Yeah np, seriously.

Do you need anything? Like are you doing okay rn?

[fawcetted]

so i tried this focusing meditation thing earlier

and i think it just opened some kinda floodgate honestly, like the anxiety's a bit overwhelming

[ Possibly because it might not just be his own, but also Eddie's somewhere out there. (Maybe in the gallows. Shit.) A part of that bond they have now. ]

they don't have aspirin in the afterlife do they?

[coherer]

(damn, he's already resorting to trying meditation.

that's a level of anxiety jonas understands; he doesn't envy steve's state of mind.)

They totally have aspirin, I went to a convenience store to get smokes and they had a whole medication aisle lmao.

Keep talking to me.

What'd you get up to back home when you were freaked out or smth? tbh I used to go for jogs, runs, hikes, whatever. Anywhere that'd get me out and away from just everything. Did you have smth like that? smth familiar.

[fawcetted]

[ It was that shonen hero advice he's been getting more than once. Had to try it, you know? ]

whoa seriously? and here i thought it'd be all weird medieval shit

that's a relief

[ And what's also a relief is the way Jonas is, actually, helping to distract from that Steve-and-maybe-also-Eddie leveled anxiety still bubbling like a too-full cauldron. ]

guess i took drives a lot

you know, to clear my head or whatever

it's stupid but i miss my car

lately things had gotten so insane no one really had the time to unwind

everything was just go go go

[coherer]

(jonas is accustomed now to sharing his coping mechanisms with others, but man, maybe he ought to try yoga or something.

people say it helps. in a place like this, though, would it even scratch the surface? jonas doubts it.)

Man, I am missing the weirdest crap. I miss Waffle House ffs, so your car is totally understandable. And it's always safe just chilling in a car yk? You can jam out, sit in total silence and think, nap, drive around looking at xmas lights, idk. Normal stuff.

wdym insane? Do you want to talk about it?

[fawcetted]

yeah it's all that really boring normal stuff that i miss

even going out and running errands like groceries feels nostalgic

also sorry man i just gotta ask and i know this is gonna sound really dumb but

what do all those extra letters mean?

[ He's trying to fill in the vowels like some complicated game of Wheel of Fortune and it still isn't making sense.

ffs? yk? wdym? what now? ]