@softpreludeโโ liked for a lyric line ย // accepting !!
โ ห โโโโโ โโย Live fast, die young, pay the price. โโ
โ ...What an awful motto. โ Daniel looks back at Munson with moderate concern, halfway through unpacking the food run he's been tasked to deliver. There's a jar of peanut butter paused in the air as he mulls over the phrase. They haven't bought any bread. Self-conscious, he wonders if he's overanalyzing again, taking things a tad too seriously. Then takes one look at Eddie's pale, lined face. He knows doom when he sees it.
โ Come now, no one said anything about dying. โ To be fair, no one tends to want to say these things. It's often implied rather than voiced. Sidestepped, in that awful, overcautious manner he's grown tired of over the years. They have a plan, they have it all under control, they won't let Hawkins drown. But the place is sinking, has been for a while, Fred's fallen overboard only yesterday, with Max near following behind. Yet they haven't given up that fire. Or at least the ash. And while Dan fondly admires their determination, he finds he can only do so from afar. Eddie's sentiment rings truer. Daniel's always been able to understand resignation better than hope.
But he tries anyway. By the time he's finished composing some encouraging, half-true thing to say in his head, the table in front of them both has filled up with an assortment of cereals, sweets and snacks. There isn't a single vegetable in sight. Teenagers... He surveys Henderson's awful bounty, counting nary a handful that contain protein, then hesitates. Stuck again, uncertain of a next move. He can't ask to help put things away. This isn't his house. He finds he can't give any advice either since this isn't his exile.
His chest folds with a sigh, he chucks a bag of sour worms in with the rest and busies his hands with folding the plastic bag neatly into halves. It feels like overkill. Most things do lately. A little girl's nearly lost her life and a man is in hiding from a village with pitchforks drawn, every deviation from their main course is a dangerous amount of time wasted. He places the plastic square under a mug so it doesn't unfold and looks around absent-mindedly.
โ I know this is... very, very far from ideal. โ The context is lost even to him. There's so many things he could be referring to that he hasn't yet picked himself. The only silver lining here is that Munson's still alive and free. Between cops, jocks and monsters, it's a little bit of a miracle. Hope enough. โ But they do know what they're talking about... They do have a plan. โ Half of one, but sufficient, for now. Just like they're all safe, for now. It could always be worse. A sentiment he has subsisted on for years. He hopes Eddie won't be stuck doing the same for long... โ And for what it's worth.. help is a call away. That, I can guarantee. โ It's neither fire, nor ash, rather scorched, dead earth, but he says it in the tone of a man determined to see to it himself. Hawkins may have a habit of swallowing people whole, but paying the price for simply being born here doesn't sit well with him. This is not his town, but it's half his fight. There are good people fighting it.
โ And... โ he gestures broadly to the table, feeling the responsibility of a messenger. โ maybe I could bring up having an adult in charge of supplies next time. โ Who'd decided to give two fifteen years olds responsibility over the sustenance of a grown man, he doesn't know. The idea's clearly proven abysmal. Daniel's smile smooths a little. โ Bring you a change of clothes, perhaps. And some bread for that peanut butter. โ
