rocky and his water motif
ive seen a few people analyze rocky and his symbolism with water, and i thought id jump on the train and contribute what ive found. i looked through every piece of art in the gallery and messed around with the dead drop to find everything here! with that being said…
obvious spoiler warnings! and warning for a lot of speculation and over analyzing! a lot of things i mention are really big stretches but i added them anyways incase anyone else wants to look into it more
starting where the pilot starts and near the start of the comic (the page “lackadaisy dithyramb”), right off the bat we have an entire poem from rocky dedicated to the mississippi river. this iconic poem is literally just about the river, and he recites it in both scenes from on the bridge over the river.
note that in both cases there is also a crescent moon featuring in the background
more poetry! this one is from the comic on the page “lackadaisy doggerel”. this is actually one of my favourite pages in the comic, its very cool! we have this poem that, again, is entirely about water. it talks about water in a metaphorical way, comparing it to memory and the passage of time. maybe ill try to analyze this poem sometime but idk im not very good at that stuff. seems to talk about rockys past but im not sure
i didnt want to just put this entire page here but i will note that the page has a raging storm, an ocean, a water mill, another storm cloud and a waterfall all picured above rocky, who, in this case is ahem under water, in a way.
last bit of poetry im talking about is probably the most relevant. rockys feauture in the “lacrimosa” poem/halloween artwork shows him seemingly drowning outside a window.
the significance of it being outside a window is somewhat unclear to me, as every other character appears in something reminiscent of a picture frame. my only idea is that its meant to show him outside of what could be a home, in reference to him getting the “unceremonious boot”. the text emphasizes this idea, saying hes away from home
this next one is more obscure and much more of a stretch! after digging around in sketchbook pages, i found this tiny little sketch on a page simply labeled “lackadaisy preview 0018”. the sketch page features sketches that were used for the page “lackadaisy palaver” in the comic, and a few bonus doodles. this was one of the bonus doodles, and i cant seem to find a comic pannel that matches it anywhere.
this sketch could be a lot of things, its a bit hard to tell. most likely, its an unsused pannel of rocky that was going to be used on the comic page. maybe him on whe windshield, or something like that. that being said, the first thing i thought of was the lacrimosa art. its a stretch but i thought id add it, just in case! who knows really
next up is rockys character artwork, which features him standing on a barrel floating in a river.
be careful rocky, you might fall! one little detail about this art that i like is that hes quite literally hiding his sadness behind his back. and again, the crescent moon motif features in the background. the cattails in this image also remind me of this scene in the pilot
…but i mean cattails do grow near water so i dont think that means anything
speaking of the pilot, this scene has rocky accidentally blowing up a water tower and flooding the area, and getting a whole bunch of water dumped on him
be careful rocky, you might get hurt! ...i dont think he cares
one last note from the pilot (for now) is a line from mitzi after rocky comes back with alcohol for them. it could mean nothing, could be foreshadowing, who knows
note in the second image: “rest” as in the rest of the alcohol they were meant to bring back
the music video for liquid gold ends with rocky dropping a bottle and the golden liquid flooding the room
i wasnt even looking for water symbolism when i found this, i was just rewatching the music video for fun! i just about had a heart attack when it ended like that D: rocky please dont drown
back to the comics! sorry this is a bit all over the place. forgive me for just uploading an entire comic page, but the page “lackadaisy thunderhead” features rocky standing over a river. at the bottom of the pannel on the right there are daisys, a symbol that features in a lot of rockys artwork and is generally associated with the lackadaisy speakeasy. the daisys could just be for aesthetics or to frame the pannel better, but its also notable that they appear where the water is.
the name “thunderhead” is interesting given some other pannels
not sure what it means though
the very first scene in the comic aside from the introduction shows rocky at the river.
in the page “lackadaisy trouble boys” from the early concept art mitzi makes a comment about rockys aim, and makes an… interesting metaphor
side note: im gonna cry is that actually how rocky gets the little hole in his ear lmao
the mini comic “wilderness” has rocky climbing out of a small muddy pool of water claiming “the waters great”, despite looking absolutely horrible. isnt shown here, but he says he cant feel his legs and calls for freckle to come back.
knock knock! its time for the playing cards! rockys card depicts him as the 8 of spades, although hes also been shown as the ace of clubs multiple times.
first up, 8 of spades! i really like this art but i have a lot of questions. for one, why is rocky holding a shovel and whats with the lantern? theres nothing wrong with it, just caught my attention since i think freckle is drawn with shovels a lot more than rocky (might be wrong on that though) second, this is the only picture i can find where you can CLEARLY see rockys head injury healed. cool! third, the outfit hes wearing is… atypical for rocky, you could say. for obvious reasons. he always wears blue, why suddenly the change to black? and obviously, the choice of making him the 8 of spades. some quick google searches and this is what i found: from various websites (the first things that popped on on google), apparently spades symbolizes the winter season and the water element. it seems to represent old age, change, wisdom and acceptance. the number 8 supposedly represents victory, prosperity and overcoming. i was going to put images, but i could only have 30 and i ran out of space lmao im so sorry this is SO LONG djfjsjnrfj
make of it what you will. as for the ace of clubs:
my google searches were much less interesting so ill just put my own thoughts. the clubs is likely just for the association with the lackadaisy speakeasy, as in both of these cases he is shown alongside other characters from the lackadaisy and everyone has clubs. as for him being the ace, the main notable thing about the ace is that its generally the highest card.
the main idea i personally took from these cards is the idea rocky will possibly not be a part of the lackadaisy in the furure. we see him in his classic outfit, no head injury as the ace of clubs, with clubs being associated with the lackadaisy. but we also see him with a healed head injury (so clearly in the future) with a new outfit and no more clubs suit.
not sure if this is even notable but this entire (very iconic) scene in the comic takes place in the rain
be careful rocky, you might get shot!
and now, even more crescent moon motifs
so why have i been pointing this out? well its undeniable that rocky also has motif with this crescent moon. i have no idea what it means but heres my very quick five minute thoughts on it: one: the moon controls the tide. obviously a river doesnt really have a tide, but still! theres some association with water there, so its notablea. two: this might be a stretch but in the pilot theres this very memorable frame where it shows the reflection of the moon (which initially looks like a cat) ahem in the water. obviously water reflects stuff so its not abnormal for the moon to reflect in the water but i just thought it was cool!
aaaand last but not least
this analysis was brought to you while listening to hatsune miku, i probably made a lot of typos so yell at me and ill fix them but not my grammar its terrible and im not fixing that, lmk your thought and if i missed anything, thank you for reading have a nice day sorry it was so long <3
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Not All That Bad | Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader
Summary: It’s date night and Eddie insists on watching a scary movie, much to your chagrin.
Pairing: Eddie Munson (Stranger Things, 2022) x Reader
Word Count: 5.3k
Tags: swearing, violence (not really, the reader punches Eddie in the arm and thinks about wanting to bite him), reader hates scary movies, smoking (of the weed and tobacco variety), spoilers for the movie Poltergeist (1982), heavy make-out sessions, mentions of anxiety, fluff with a dash of angst if you really squint
Author’s Note: I recently watched the movie Poltergeist and, after reading some fun headcannons from @creme-bruhlee, was inspired to write this. It’s kinda just snippets of what their usual date night would look like; bantering, laughing, being all gross and cute. I haven’t written fan fiction in like two years so, please, if it’s bad or you guys have feedback, please, please, please tell me! Also, if I missed any tags/warnings please let me know and, without further ado... enjoy!
As you browse the aisles of Family Video, gliding your fingers over the plastic cases of action adventures and raunchy teen comedies, you hum along to Huey Lewis and the News as you pick up each tape off the rack and examine it as if it isn't one of your many go-to Movie Night flicks. You bob your head along to the synth while you bite your lip and flip the two VHS tapes in your hands over a few times, comparing and contrasting the pros and cons of each film and gauging, based on your knowledge, Eddie’s response to both.
You’re aware that it’s Eddie’s night to choose which film would play during your movie date but you couldn’t help but wander and peruse the shelves yourself just as Eddie is doing across the store, biting his thumb as he flips through the horror section. But you know that with a potent pair of puppy-dog eyes and a well-aimed pout, he’d concede just as easily, bowing like cattail plants to a strong gust of wind.
Just as you turn on your heel to search for Eddie with your two film recommendations in hand, he turns the corner, nearly colliding with you.
“Oh!” You squeak, jumping at his sudden appearance but sobering upon realizing that it’s only Eddie, a smile stretching your lips due to his presence alone. “Hey! I was just gonna come looking for you.”
His glistening eyes train down on you as he watches you fiddle with the tapes in your hands, his own clasped behind his back and a concerningly giddy expression draped over his features as he moves with untethered energy, essentially bouncing in his Reeboks. You dismiss the strange behavior or miss the signs of it entirely as you continue.
“So,” looking down, you turn over the tape cases once more with your eyes trained on them before lifting them so that Eddie could see the covers of both. “I was thinking we could either go with Clue or Monty Python. What do you think?”
As you focus your gaze on his face it becomes apparent that he has something he desperately wants to show you.
“I think…” He says, his voice taking on that theatrical lilt as he pauses for added effect before snatching both hands from behind his back and displaying his tape in front of his chest. “We should watch Poltergeist.”
Your once amused eyes and smile fall from your face immediately, replaced by a concerned weariness in your eyes.
“Eddie,” you moan, exasperated, “You know that I hate horror movies! They scare the shit out of me! Don’t you remember what happened after we watched Texas Chain Saw Massacre? I cowered so hard during the night that you thought that I was shivering!”
“Ah, c’mon, baby, please?” His eyes become pleading as he takes the tapes that you hold in your hands and sets them aside to leave your palms vacant for his own. “It’s one of my favorite movies and you've never even seen it.”
“And for good reason!” You whisper-shout, your eyebrows furrowing as your face grows stern. “I’m not trying to shit my pants during date night!”
“You’re not gonna shit your pants, babe.” He laughs at the absurdity of the phrase leaving his lips, feeling half-sorry for any passersby with children hearing their noncommittal quarrel out of context. “It's not even all that scary! I promise! And,” he drawls, inching his way closer with muted steps and wrapping his arms around the diameter of your waist as your unconvinced eyes focus on him, your hands, rid of your movie suggestions, falling upon his chest as he continues. “If you do get scared, you’ll have me there to protect you.”
You wanted to argue that you didn't need protecting from anyone but you’d be lying if you said you could make it on your own, without Eddie, in this circumstance, and in most others.
You mull it over in your head before fisting your hands and gripping tight onto the lapels of his denim vest, knocking your head gently against his sturdy chest. You peek your eyes up at him, meeting his pleading brown gaze as he watches and waits on you, expectantly. That was the look you were supposed to employ, but it seems you’ve forgotten just how whipped you are for Eddie Munson.
You sigh as your forehead falls back against his chest, grumbling something under your breath before huffing and releasing a hesitant, “Fine.”
You lift your head to catch Eddie as he pumps his fist in triumph and hisses, “Yes!”
“But!” You interject, interrupting his celebration with your warning, “When it’s night and I won't let you leave the bed to piss because I’m scared out of my mind, I don't want to hear it, alright?”
Eddie’s face steels in mock-earnest as he holds one hand up, touching his thumb to his pinky, while the other lands over his heart, tape still in hand, “Scout’s honor, m’lady.”
You roll your eyes with a smile before snatching the tape from him and giving him a playful push in the arm as you walk past towards the checkout counter.
“You were never in Boy Scouts.”
He chuckles as he tails a few steps behind you.
You let your purse fall to the floor as you walk through the threshold of Eddie’s trailer, the bag dropping by your feet as a few of the items stored inside spill out. You begin tugging at the sleeves of your coat as you shrug it over your shoulders, Eddie following, slipping his arms out of both his vest and leather jacket. With the lack of layers, the faded graphic of Eddie’s t-shirt is much clearer: a Dark Crystal tee, bought from the local theater in town a week after opening night.
“Okay, you get started on the popcorn and the snacks and I start up the VCR?” Eddie questions with a quirk of his brow and a point of his finger.
You nod your head as you approach him, taking his jacket and vest from his hands and, along with your coat, draping them over the back of the lone armchair in the far corner of the room.
“Sounds good to me, Munson,” you agree before crouching down to your purse and extracting the VHS tape. “Here.” You toss the tape to him and he catches it with deft hands, sucking his lips in towards his teeth as he delivers a cheeky salute your way, yourself mimicking the gesture with a smile as you stalk off towards the kitchen. Eddie folds over with his back hunched and his hands propped over his knees as he starts clicking buttons and the like.
Occupied with your own chore, you begin pulling cupboard doors open overhead, shuffling through the contents of expired spices, three bottles of Tabasco, each with differing content amounts, and miscellaneous snacks and canned foods. Your fingers brush over the foil top of what you’re searching for and you remove it from the dusty dark, placing the Jiffy Pop container over one of the electric stove’s burners and flicking the knob towards a medium heat. You step away from the stove, wrapping your arms around yourself as you wait for the pan to grow warm.
Eddie’s gentle touch around your waist startles you, causing your shoulders to jump and a sharp gasp to pass your nostrils but you settle, recognizing his warmth and relaxing into his touch. He winds his arms around your middle and presses his chin over your shoulder as he watches you work.
A silence passes over the both of you for a moment before Eddie turns his head to plant a slobbery kiss to your cheek that borders on him straight tonguing the side of your face.
“Ed!” You squeal as he separates, your laugh permeating any sternness that may have existed in your scold.
You turn in his arms and rub your cheek against his shirt to wipe away the wet residue he left there with his sloppy affection.
“That’s so gross!” You chide.
“You love it,” he says with a sure smile dimpling his cheeks.
“Don’t be so sure of that, Munson,” you huff, moving your head to look up at him with your chin propped against his chest.
“Oh, but I know you like this,” he says with a playful cadence, his voice deepening towards the end as he leans down, his hand rising from its place wrapped around your waist to cup your cheek. He guides your face towards his own before planting a sweet kiss along your lips, your breath catching as if it was the first time, it always felt like the first time.
Your body becomes sluggish with the molding of your lips, like chocolate over an open flame, like your brain can only manage so much at once and Eddie’s touch short circuits all other needed functions as your brain requests a system reboot. You part your lips so that he can slither his tongue past, a moan muffled by his mouth as your two muscles slip along each other.
You pull away from him as the system starts up again, all necessary functions and requests flooding back to you, though you still remain only a breath away from him.
“Eddie,” you chastise against his lips, “I’m gonna burn the popcorn if you don’t quit distracting me.”
He walks you back towards the minimal space of the kitchen counter where the edge of it presses into your lower back. His lips maintain their closeness as he mutters against your own, “You love when I distract you.”
His lips attach to yours once more and though you find yourself slipping back into that cozy vacant-minded abyss, you fortify yourself as you push at his chest. You giggle as you watch his desperate lips chase yours as you lean back over the counter.
“That’s beside the point,” you say with a smirk.
Your attention flicks to the stove as the sound of butter sizzling, muffled by the foil, pricks at your ears, a sign that the popcorn needs stirring before the kernels become scorched.
“Alright, Mister, that’s enough of your diversions, go sit down and wait for my work to be finished.”
With a gentle hand, you shove his chest away to free your hips from their sandwiched place and turn your focus onto the neglected snack.
But he’s persistent as he snakes behind you, his arms coming to trap you against the stove as they place themselves on either side of you, his hands gripping onto the oven handle. His hips lean forward and press against the swell of your ass.
“May I have one more kiss before I go?” He pouts at you.
Your hand stops its swirling of the pan as you angle your head back to peck him on the lips, your hand coming up to stroke his cheek. As you part, you pat his cheek twice and send him on his way.
“Now get out of here.”
You step into the living room with one arm occupied with the large bowl of popcorn you’ve managed, your other hand sneaking picks here and there as you snack a bit. You notice Eddie, lounged out against the couch, his long frame taking up two cushions as he spreads his knees and stretches his arms across the length of the backrest, leaving room for yourself beside him. His shoes have been kicked off and tossed beneath the coffee table and you figure you should do the same, toeing off your sneakers and hooking your fingers in them to carry them to the door, setting them neatly along the wall.
As you step back towards the couch and kneel over the cushions so your legs are sat beneath you, Eddie is reaching his hands into the bowl before you’ve even fully settled, collecting a large handful of popcorn and trying (but ultimately failing) to capture every bit with his mouth. You simper as you watch his boyish antics from beside him, your body snuggling beneath the comforting weight of his arm and your head resting over the space of his heart, the gentle heat of his chest seeping from beneath his shirt and mingling with your own and you suppress the sudden violent urge to bite him. From this place against him, you can hear and feel his heartbeat, a steady ba-thump, ba-thump, and you wonder how he can manage to be so calm in this moment, envying his aloofness.
“You ready?” He asks with a mouthful of popcorn and the T.V. remote raised.
“No,” you reply, stubbornly, shifting in your discomfort to emphasize it.
He chuckles before saying, “You’ll be alright, you big baby.” His head lowers as he says it so that he can prod at your cheek with his nose to comfort you before swooping to place a brief kiss there. A reluctant smile crawls across your features at his reassurance.
He presses ‘play’ on the remote before tossing it across the coffee table, the plastic clattering before skidding to a stop.
The familiar melody of “The Star-Spangled Banner” resonates across the walls of the living room and you can already sense the dread and regret that begins to pool within your stomach, bubbling at the prospect that’s laid out before you. So you scoot a little closer to Eddie and your hand involuntarily tightens around the fabric of his t-shirt. You inhale a shaky breath, It’s only a movie, how bad can it really be?
Though the first five minutes set you off a bit, with Carol Anne’s strange conversation and the eerie white noise of the T.V.’s static ruffling your feathers, you find yourself enjoying Diane and Steve messily roll joints and laugh at each other’s nonsense, the effect of the pot distorting their humor like a fun house mirror.
“This remind you of anyone?” You tease.
“Hmm,” he faux-contemplates, “Looks like me and you in a decade or so.”
You snort at him before saying, “Looks like you and me yesterday.”
You barely hide the laugh in your voice as you recall the events of how the two of you were cackling and tee-heeing just last night:
Your bare legs kicked in the air as you could barely hold back your amusement, rolling over the disheveled sheets of Eddie’s bed while dressed in only his t-shirt, clutching your aching belly as you choked on your own laughter. It was Eddie’s brilliant idea to convert his mattress into a trampoline, your combined judgments clouded and bleary. You agreed wholeheartedly in the moment, urging him to give it a try.
He had jumped once and the height had been minimal so he bent his knees and sprang with an added force; a mistake that was. He ended up cracking his head against the low ceiling of his trailer and tumbling, with his cabeza all jumbled, to the harsh floor of his bedroom, rupturing his tailbone in the process. As he groaned in pain, writhing along the floor, you fell back against his pillows and laughed until your sides started to cramp.
The night ended with you cradling a package of frozen peas against the crown of his head, rubbing his back and bare shoulders while you kissed any skin you could find in apology, though struggling to remain composed as you giggled out ‘sorry’ after ‘sorry.’
Your eyes are trained on the screen as you watch Carol Anne climb over her brother and parents, your breath bated as she crawls towards the crackling T.V. set, like a moth drawn to a flickering porch light in the dead of night. The music is eerily calm with bouts of shrill creaking as the muddled sound of voices whispering incoherence lies beneath it all.
As the whispers grow louder, overlapping and fighting for dominance, and the piercing sound of what seems to be a knife cutting across a strip of steel climbs in pitch, your heart rate quickens, and your face curls with anxiety. Eye’s transfixed and unable to look away, your mouth slightly agape as your fingers begin to curl tighter around the popcorn bowl, clutching at it like a tether to the real world.
Eddie’s eyes flick from the T.V. to your stiff form, noticing your uneasy state beneath him. His mouth twists into a sick grin as a perturbed idea slinks its way into his mind, his movements becoming slow and calculated, like a rattlesnake worming its way towards a pocket mouse before it surges forward and gobbles it up.
He charges forward and sinks his fingers into the flesh of your waist, howling out an “Ah!” from right beside you.
You squeal out a piercing sound and every nerve beneath your skin seems to jolt alive like a shock of electricity as you nearly topple off of the couch. With your excitement, the popcorn bowl that you had been clutching at for dear life flies up a few inches into the air, the pillowy kernels having been cast in every which direction.
Eddie barks a guffawing laugh from beside you, slapping his knee and throwing his head back against the backrest. Your face ruches at his cruelty and a deep frown sets in.
“Eddie!” You cry in reprimand, “You bastard!”
As he goes on laughing at your suffering, you wind your arm back and land one right on the center of his bicep. His chortling stifles with your punch and he squawks in surprise.
“Hey! That hurt!” He complains though there's still a suppressed chuckle behind his words and a devilish smile displaying his canines.
“That’s what you get, you shithead!”
You slump back into the couch with a harumph, crossing your arms across your chest and sporting a serious pout over your lips. Recognizing your soured mood, Eddie schools his laughter somewhat and leans forward to wrap his arms around you, placing his head against your chest before swiveling his head to place a kiss along your clavicle.
“M’sorry, baby, it was mean.” He was still smiling, you could hear it in his voice. At this point, you were fighting off a smile as well, recognizing the mild hilarity of his prank and soaking in the attention that comes with his doting apology.
“You’re damn right it was mean!” Your voice holds only meager scorn as your hands unwind from around you and, almost instinctively, begin to thread through the clumped strands of his slightly greasy hair, scratching behind his ear and at the nape of his neck where you know he likes the sensation best.
Your fist tightens in Eddie’s shirt, crumpling the fabric there and likely leaving a damp spot with the sweat from your clammy palms. Your eyebrows knit together as you watch a slab of steak meat wriggle across the tiled countertop like an inchworm inching its way across a beech leaf before halting and spilling what looks like offal meats from itself.
You have to force yourself to look away when you catch sight of a hoard of maggots chowing down on the dropped chicken wing, stuffing your face in his underarm and gathering the cotton of his t-shirt to hide any light that threatens to seep in. You catch a whiff from where you're hiding and wrinkle your nose, you usually loved the tangy musk that rolled off of Eddie but this was too saturated. Jeez, if he needed deodorant he could have just asked me to pick some up from the corner store.
Unfazed, Eddie reaches for the popcorn bowl that lay nestled between your thighs, rummaging in the sea of buttery yellow before crunching on a handful. Hearing the grinding of his teeth, you snap your head away from under his arm and watch him with an incredulous look.
“How the fuck are you eating right now?” You say in astonishment.
“What? I’m hungry!” He says around a mouthful, spitting a few specks of popcorn out as he speaks, watching you with wide, oblivious eyes. “I missed lunch.”
You shake your head at him with a disbelieving smile before you lay your head back against his chest. You regret retreating from your hiding place, however, as you watch with twisted lips and cringing eyes as Marty tears and pulls at the layers of his own flesh. Not bearing to watch it any longer, you turn and press your forehead against his collarbone, blinking a few times before sealing your eyes shut and attempting to sync your racing heartbeat with Eddie’s freakishly calm one.
He catches you obscuring your vision and brings his resting arms to wind around your shoulders, attempting (and failing) to console you.
“Babe, it’s not real!” He laughs and you want to argue with him for acting so nonchalant about the horror taking place on screen. “Look, see, he’s fine!” He points to the T.V. as Marty returns from his delusions and stumbles off into the living room.
“I know that!” You defend. “Doesn’t mean it doesn’t look real!”
He chuckles before pulling you closer and placing a kiss on your forehead, keeping his arms locked around you with his fingers chained together, a subtle reassurance that he was near and he wouldn’t let anything, ghost or otherwise, hurt you.
As misty figures descend the stairs of the Freeling home, you mutter under your breath, “God, I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”
Your eyes are blown wide and you gnaw at your bottom lip as you watch the four adults struggle against the forces of what lies past the doorsill of the children’s closet. As you abuse your lip and pick at the flimsy chipping nail polish on your fingernails, Eddie detects your stressed, discomforted form and moves to lighten your spirits. He cranes his neck down and presses a long, soothing kiss to your temple. Your eyes grow wide once more at the unexpected show of affection and your picking and chewing cease.
When he pulls away, you turn to look at him, your eyes flicking over the details of his face as a smile blooms over yours.
“What was that for?” You question, though you didn’t care much for an answer, appreciating the display with or without reason.
“Just want to kiss you a little,” he says with a devious grin pulling at his cheeks and wrinkling his under eyes in just the way you find so endearing. He plants a fleeting peck against your lips before he continues with his theatrics, “Is that such a crime, sweetheart?”
He leans closer, nudging his nose along the length of your own before swooping to capture your smiling lips with his. After a passing giggle on your end, you sigh into his kiss, your chest heaving before releasing all of the tension that your body harbors through your nose. You sink into him, pressing against him and pulling him closer like some desperate thing. Your hands climb the plane of his chest, dancing over his shoulders and tickling that space between the sharp blades of his upper back, drawing a line with your middle finger; up and down, up and down.
He licks across the seam of your lips with a confident tongue and you grant him easy access, your tongues sliding against each other in a sultry tango, a practiced routine that makes you each so good with the other. You can taste the flavors of him, the palates that have lingered over his taste buds: the salt and butter from the popcorn, the sweet aftertaste of the Dr. Pepper he’d been sipping at for the past hour, even the bitter piquancy of burnt tobacco from the cigarette he’d smoked outside the video store. But you loved it, you savored it, reveled in the fact that no other person could make this combination of differing spices taste as delicious as when it was on him.
Eddie’s hands, pressed against the crest of your spine, support you as he leans forward, laying you over the seat cushions with gentle consideration. With you laid out under him, his hand slinks its way down the foothills and ridges of your spine, settling within the valley of the small of your back. There, he presses his fingers and encourages you to arch your back, pressing the expanse of your front against his own while he slides the solid mass of his thigh between your legs and lets its weight settle over your pelvis. You ride your thighs up along the sides of him, drawing your sock-clad foot over the slopes of his calf and thigh before twining your limbs together and hooking your leg over the back of his.
With a particular swipe of his tongue and the jolting coolness of his metal rings against your skin, having found their place past the hem of your shirt, you moan into his mouth with a keen whine.
He disconnects your mouths and travels across the apple of your cheeks and down along your jaw, biting and nipping at your sensitive flesh with a skilled precision.
“Mmm,” you hum, as he pinches that tender place below your jaw between his teeth.
Your fingers ascend from the nape of his neck to slip between the threads of his hair and run your nails over his scalp while knotting the strands around your fingers and tugging gently. His groan rumbles against your skin and tickles you as he laves his tongue over the indents left from his sharp bites. The vibrations urge you to open up for him, your head lulling towards the T.V. to offer him the untapped expanse of your throat.
You lazily blink at the T.V., eyelids fluttering open and closed erratically while glimpses of the movie register slackly within your brain.
Diane and Steve shout over the yowling suctioning winds of the closet, the panic within the scene growing and the tensions of the plot stirring. The sight insights a bothered feeling in the pit of your stomach and you whimper at the combined sensations of rising stakes and the feel of Eddie as he finds that particular space beneath your earlobe and nibbles on it.
You clamp your eyes shut and attempt to lose yourself in the feeling of Eddie, in the sure therapeutic comfort he radiates; the earthy, herbal scent of weed that clings to his hair, the woody undertones of Irish Spring peeking with every sniff you draw from his neck, the perfect weight of him that envelops you and compliments the curves of your body, and his hands. His hands, rough and calloused, the left one ornate with his set of rings, the coolness intruding yet pleasant. The way they kneed your skin, beckon you closer, hold you tight and protect you.
But the T.V. just seems so loud, swirling winds and cries of desperation and loss. You can’t help but to crack your eyes open and watch, regretfully, as a demon that looks like it crawled the volcanic terrain that lines Hell springs from the closet like a cruel Jack-in-the-Box. It calls a shivering roar as a ghostly blue light consumes the screen and paints the room the same ghastly color.
“Eddie!” You squeal at the sight and grip onto his shirt tighter, interrupting his ministrations on your throat as you turn your head to hide away from the screen, burrowing your face into the crook of his neck and closing your eyes with a determined force.
Eddie lifts his head at the sound and, in a panic, questions come flowing out of his mouth.
“What?! What happened?” His eyes are glassy and wide as he scans your face, or what he can see of it with you purposefully staring at the wall opposite the television. “Did I hurt you?” His voice shifts from alarmed to concerned, worry littering his face as he guides yours forwards to look at your eyes.
You shake your head ‘no’ with weepy eyes and usher his shoulders with an assertive hand to lower back over you, protecting and concealing you. His eyes shift with confusion until he catches sight of the screen, the scene having passed but aware nonetheless. He chuckles and smiles to himself before sighing and muttering.
“Well, I did ask for this, didn’t I?”
The dulled sound of screaming and crying emits from the T.V.'s standard speakers as coffins erupt from the ground and the closet in the nursery attempts to suck Diane and her children into a purgatory between worlds. While chaos ensues on screen, Eddie finds you to be uncharacteristically silent; no whimpers or screams, no clutching at his arm with the deadly grip of a female silverback. You’re quiet. And your breathing is even.
“I’m surprised you’re not squeezing me to death,” he thinks out loud with a well-intentioned snicker. “This is the scariest part and you’ve barely made a—”
He angles his head down to try and catch your eye but only finds your restful face. Your eyes are closed and relaxed and your fisted hand is sliding down along his chest as you puff out near-silent snores. His teasing catches in his throat and he just smiles down at you, admiring the planes of your face and the way they're distorted with your awkward slumped position against him. He lifts his hand to cup your cheek and brush his thumb along its fullest part, smoothing against your under eyes and against the spot where your crow’s feet bloom.
With the Freelings, exhausted and spent, checking into the dingy Holiday Inn as the credits begin to roll, Eddie reaches forward to swipe the remote from the coffee table and click the T.V. off.
His body twists as he tries to orient his arm under your bent knees while moving, with caution, his other under your shoulders as your head rolls against his chest. With your body secured in his grasp, he lifts you from the couch with a subdued grunt and carries you off towards his bedroom.
You stir in his hold and nuzzle your cheek into his space heater of a chest.
“Eddie,” you call with a slowed, groggy voice.
“Yes, baby?” He whispers, leaning down to hear you better.
“I get to pick the movie next time,” you mumble.
He hums a laugh and smiles at your sleepy state.
“Whatever you say, Princess.”
He kicks the door to his room gently open with the toe of his socked-foot, wary of the creak the hinges emit towards the end. He does the best he can at pushing the comforter and sheets away with you in his arms before laying you over the mattress and pillows. He whispers with a gentle voice if he can remove your clothes for your comfort. You nod your head and lift your hips away from the bed so he can shimmy your legs out of your pants and toss them over his dresser.
He works on his own clothes now, pulling his shirt over his head and crumpling the fabric as he hurls it to an unknown corner, doing the same to his jeans after unhinging the buckle of his belt and hopping out of his pants with some difficulty towards the end. With his clothes done away with, he crawls into bed next to you, reaching for the comforter and sheets to pull them over the both of you. You snuggle into the added warmth before he winds his arms around your body and pulls you closer to him, your hands naturally coming to lay over the heated skin of his neck.
He hears you mutter something with hardly any force:
“But it wasn't all that bad.”
He smiles into your hair before kissing the crown of your head. He closes his eyes and reaches blindly for the lamp at his bedside table, clinking the bobbled chain as it switches off and the room lays still, engulfed in darkness.
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