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backtowheeler·:
— ✎ —
“Thad,” Nancy confirmed, glancing over at Eddie. “Laugh all you want, but he’s a good guy,” meaning he’s really not, but it’s not like they had to get into that tonight, and for the most part? Nancy did like her boyfriend, he could just be a bit… much at times. “He’s into cars, so he doesn’t understand what it means to drive something just because it gets you from one place to another.”
Matching scars are metal as hell, though. “Are you saying I’m metal?” She asked, her face turning up into a grin. Nancy Wheeler was not metal, she wouldn’t even consider herself a badass, but hey maybe scars were metal. “No, no, this is my first rodeo with committing arson against the best diner in town,” she glanced down at her hands. “Jonathan. First time we ever dealt with… anything like this and Demogorgons? They like blood,” then she looked back at Eddie, and said, “remember that,” just in case this was what they were dealing with. “So we had the bright idea to cut our hands to lure it to his house. God, that feels like forever ago.” Probably because it was five years ago.
It wasn’t often that she was able to tell people about her memories of dealing with the Upside Down. Either they were there or she just couldn’t say anything. “And Steve. Oh my god, he was such an asshole back then,” then a laugh. “Get this, I held a gun at him. Like, ready to shoot him and all. I would have never shot him but…” realizing she was rambling, she settled back in the seat. “Anyways, that’s how I got the scar.”
+++
eddie nodded to himself, steered the car onto through hawkins residential area onto the main roads leading up to the trailer park. "think i mightve run into him a couple days ago.",he mused with a shrug. deciding it was better not to go into much detail about that particular encounter. "he seemed alright." meaning he really did not but who was eddie to judge, at the end of the day.
he broke into a grin at her question, nodded eagerly. "yeah, man. wheeler, you're like, one of the most metal people alive. ozzy's gnawing at another bat as we speak, just so he can keep up with you.", eddie laughed, fingers drumming against the steering wheel to the melody of black sabbath's 'paranoid'.
remember that. he shifted uncomfortably in his shit, oh, yeah, he definitely would. there was that queasy feeling spreading in the pit of his stomach again as the night's events started replaying in his head. "noted.", he muttered, more to himself.
the mention of steve, however, had a grin tugging at eddie's his lips, he glanced at her from the corner of his eye, a low chuckle bubbling up in his chest. "king steve? an asshole? why, that is shocking news to me!"
backtowheeler·:
— ✎ —
“I thought you would enjoy it, okay?” Nancy defended herself, even though she knew Eddie wasn’t being serious with any of his theatrics. A laugh emitted from her lips, somehow being able to find the humor in what they had just discovered and ultimately, destroyed. That was a crap shoot though, wasn’t it? The evil in Hawkins would never be defeated, no matter how many monsters or people they got rid of. It would come back like a plague until Hawkins burned to the ground, taking its hell with it.
Nancy chortled. “That’s not saying much,” she teased, opening the passenger door. “Mike wouldn’t know good driving if it hit him in the face and…” she clicked her tongue. “It’s probably best if Max never gets behind a wheel. I’ve been trying to teach her how to drive and, Jesus Christ, I don’t think she knows where the brakes are,” it was unfortunate, considering Nancy was attempting to teach her so she’d be able to leave Hawkins one day, but that didn’t seem to be anytime soon.
She buckled herself in and turned to Eddie. “Yeah? She gets me around and that’s good enough to me. Thad always tells me that I need to get something better than the station wagon,” she explained. It was a car, a vehicle to drive, and that’s all she cared about. “He calls it an abomination to vehicles everywhere,” she held her fingers up in quotation marks and lowered her voice.
“Oh, this?” She glanced down at her hand, inspecting the damage somewhat. It was nasty. “I’ll be fine. Nothing some Neosporin and a bandage won’t fix. I’ll even have a cool matching scar,” she pointed out, holding up her left hand, a faded mark still etched in her skin from when her and Jonathan had lured the Demogorgon to his house years ago.
+++
"fucking hell, you've got some balls, wheeler, taking it upon yourself to teach that heathen how to drive. I'd fear for my fucking life.", he muttered with a frown, one that turned into a bit of a grimace as he remembered the time he'd allowed max to drive the van. out of the driveway, that was, eddie had very nearly seen his life flash in front of his eyes.
he started the car, carefully and skillfully maneuvering them out from her parking spot onto the road. eddie frowned again. "well it's sure as hell not a limousine but i wouldn't go as far as calling it an abomination.", he said, then, with a quirked brow, added: "thad?"
chewing on his bottom lip, eddie glanced down at nancy's hands before focusing his attention back on the road. "well, if you say so. matching scars are metal as hell, though.", he says with a little grin, an attempt to lighten the mood. "where'd you get the other one? this ain't your first time burning down a beloved family owned diner?"
backtowheeler·:
— ✎ —
Whatever the hell this….shit is, was gonna catch up to me eventually. Nothing truer could be said for anyone who had ever experienced what went down below Hawkins. It felt too good to be true. It felt too easy to just say yep, that’s a wrap on all the weird shit. It would never be over. No matter how many times they’d defeat it, something would come crawling back whether it be as massive as someone like Vecna or as small as… hatched eggs? Nancy had already started mentally working on her hypothesis. Baby Demogorgons was her top thought, although thinking about Dart and how tiny he had allegedly been, she was starting to think otherwise. They were human sized, carrying something big enough that could possibly only continue growing.
“Still, I was hoping you would get to see an actual crime scene. Not so much… whatever was in there,” she told him, truth in her voice. Nancy didn’t really have a partner to lean on anymore whenever she got some sort of lead. It was part of the reason why she asked Eddie to come. She didn’t want to ask any of their younger friends and considering the two of them never got much one on one time together? She thought it could be a bonding experience. Plus, there was nothing more metal than some blood, gore, and crime, right? It’s what they were always singing about.
When the keys were unwillingly snatched from her hand, Nancy let out a sigh. “Fine,” she conceded, mostly because of the throbbing pain in her hand. She walked in the direction of where she had parked, blowing on her hand as if that would stop the pain. “Just promise me you won’t crash my mom’s station wagon?” She asked. Nancy had never ridden with Eddie while he had been behind the wheel so she had no indication of his driving, but if she could guess? She figured it was much worse than her own.
+++
eddie clasped a hand over his heart, brows drawn up, lips twisted into a pout. “oh, geez, wheeler - you wanted to take me out to see a crime scene? little old me? oh, i’m touched.” and he wiped an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye, then let his hands fall back to his side, grinning. not willing to abandon his theatrics even in the face of impendind doom and evil. ‘cause that’s what this was, eddie thought, a queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. this was only the beginning and eddie wasn’t sure if he wanted to stick around to see the end of it.
not running away had nearly gotten him killed the last time around. he nodded, hummed, a pleased little sound when nancy didn’t put up a fight and followed her to the car. “i’ll have you know i’m an excellent driver, wheeler, thank you very much.”, he retorted, swinging the keys around his fingers. though he promptly stopped as they hit his knuckles with full force, cursed under his breath. “pinkie promise. you know, i used to give max a ride to school everyday. gave dustin rides home after hellfire - actually, your brother, too. you can ask him, i’m sure he’ll vouch for my driving skills.”
though he skillfully glossed over the fact that one of the reasons he’d given max a ride to school almost everyday was that max was an absolute menace to society everytime she drove a car, and eddie very much wanted to see her live to graduation. he unlocked the car, quickly hopped in, an appreciative glance around before he looked back at nancy.
“not bad.”, he said, nodding to himself. “i mean, i’d take the van, any day. but not bad.” eddie shrugged, turned the keys in the ignition before his attention was drawn back to her hand. “you should get that checked out, wheeler. looks pretty nasty to me.”
backtowheeler·:
𝐖𝐇𝐎: Nancy Wheeler & @eddiemcnson······
𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓: Post-Benny’s shenanigans
𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: Outside of Benny’s while it burns <333
So, that happened. Nancy Wheeler started a literal fire and now she was watching as Benny’s bursted into flames. She told herself it would be fine, the damage wouldn’t be that bad, and it’d give the owner a reason to update the place but fact of the matter was it still happened. And they still agreed to let it burn down instead of calling for help. She backed away from the building, splitting off from the group as they decided it was time to clear out before anyone showed up. Nancy walked down the paved road, quick on her feet. “Hey, hey,” she jogged over to Eddie, who was only a few paces ahead of her.
“I’m really sorry for dragging you into this,” I didn’t think it was anything serious. Instead, there was goo and eggs and arson. Not the Nancy Drew mystery she had expected to solve. She had seen how spooked Eddie was and rightfully so. He had been to the Upside Down, even experienced the horrors of Hawkins once before, but this was entirely different. They were supposed to be safe. “Let me drive you home?” She asked, reaching into her pocket and grabbing the car keys to her mom’s station wagon, wincing at the pain she felt in her right hand from the burn she had gotten which was surely starting to blister. “As long as you don’t mind a one handed driver.”
+++
eddie was still in the process of catching his breath, hands braced on his thighs, leaning a little forward as he stood there and watched. watched benny’s burn down to the ground. the events of the night re-playing in his head like an episode of ‘unsolves mysteries’. he took another moment, then turned to head out, too.
seriously questioning and doubting his sanity. because what. the . fuck. had just happened. and how had he managed to get himself into another heap of hawkins shenanigans again. as if nearly dying in an alternate dimension while half the town thought you were a cold-blooded murderer wasn’t enough. no, apparently, the upside down had decided to introduce overly large ... eggs into the mix, too. typical. he should’ve figured. figured that this wouldn’t be a normal, happy, carefree summer.
he jumped slightly, startled, still spooked, as nancy called out and caught up with him. eddie shrugged. “not really your fault, wheeler, is it? i mean, whatever the hell this....shit is, was gonna catch up to me eventually.”, he said and managed a weak smile. “though, gotta say, not what i imagined when you asked if i wanted to hang.”
though what had he expected, exactly, from nancy ‘i have guns, plural, in my bedroom’ wheeler ? eyes glanced down to her hand, concerned frown appearing on his face. eddie quickly snatched the keys from her hand, careful not to brush her injured hand. “uh, no, no way, wheeler.” he was about to suggest that he drove her home instead and then walked back, but remembered how long it had taken to bike back to his trailer in the upside down - and he really wasn’t keen on walking through hawkins alone, at night.
“how about i drive myself home and then let you take over? so you only have to be a one-handed driver for the last leg of the journey. and when you’re not responsible for two lives.”