video 01 | Aortic Aneurysm

[clussy]

(You know who is not going to react to this situation decently no matter how many times it's explained to him? Eddie. You know who doesn't have a good game face against fear? Also Eddie. He's alone, he needs an adult, and he's pretty sure they don't restock on inhalers here. He knew he didn't need it, not technically, but he also knew that his lungs were contracting at a rate that lead to hyperventilating and as far as he was concerned, that was exactly what an asthma attack was all about. He was having an asthma attack. Maybe. His body was thinking about it.

By the way, he's definitely just been staring at the video for a couple of silent seconds, his jaw working back and forth as he just tried to remind himself that he was actually capable of breathing. This kid......)

My mom's going to fucking kill me.

(The words are whispered under his breath and he would think twice about swearing if he realized how many adults might be watching this video. He was enough of a loser that he could get the whole communication device thing, really, that was fine. But he wasn't quite able to wrap his mind around the full extent of it all.

After a second, he decides fuck it. He needs his inhaler. It goes up, he gives it a few shakes, and takes a deep, deep breath in with it. Holds. Holds.

Then his whole body deflates, his eyes rolling up. He closes his eyes and thinks about how he would talk to the police in Derry. Ha. If that wasn't the biggest fucking joke ever. When he speaks next, his voice is pitched higher than before, that typical 'I'm trying super hard to be polite and endearing' voice that he uses to call his mom 'mommy' when he's real apologetic. He's not even trying to be a suck up. The kid's just scared.)

Um. My name's Eddie Kaspbrak. I'm Sonia Kaspbrak's son and I definitely need to be home for dinner which is like, in an hour. So if anyone can help...I would really appreciate it.

.....God, I really hope this isn't that creep who was taking all those kids.

Comments

audio - video

[shashka]

[ and this is when he switches over to a video feed and can't help but shrug. ]

Maybe, but a really good liar will be able to tell you a whole story right on the spot.

[ look, he can't help but want to help the kid. blame it from spending too much time around two men who were pretty good with kids. ]

And that also depends. If someone trains you, even someone as small as you could at least stand a chance against a guy who's bigger. [ a pause. ] When you hit him with the rocks, did you manage to take him down?

[ again, he doubts it but... ]

video

[clussy]

(The transition between audio and video is a bit startling to deal with and Eddie visibly jumps at the transition. He quickly recovers though and actually looks at this man. He's older looking than he thought. But kids always thought adults looked way older than they were.)

Well I don't want to be that good of a liar. I just want to be able to lie enough to sometimes get away with some stuff.

(Lying was technically wrong, after all.

Eddie needs the help, to be completely frank. Anyone with senses could figure that one out. This isn't one of those extremely self-reliant, grew-up-too fast kids. He had bad experiences, real bad, but that didn't mean much of anything.)

Train me? What, in fighting? (Eddie laughs a bit breathlessly at the idea.) I can barely run.

(No, that wasn't true at all. He could run just fine. Actually, he was apparently really good at running. But it's just instinctive sometimes to say stuff that his mom's been saying to him for years. Even if he instantly regrets it.)

Um. Kind of, yeah, but...I wasn't the only one throwing them. Me and my friends were.

[shashka]

[ he's used to it. blame it on his premature gray hair. ]

Then you'll want to be good. It's always worse if someone catches you.

[ he can recognize it, a little. the types of kids he's used to were the sort that never really had a childhood, that had been trained as soldiers practically since birth.

still, he can't exactly help but feel for him. ]

You'd be surprised. Once I knew a kid who was able to take down a fully-grown man. Of course, when he came up against someone with real skill, he went down pretty quickly, but a kid like you would never have to put up with that. All it takes is building up a little endurance.

[ he makes it sound simple, but when he was this kid's age, he'd had to go through worse. ]

[clussy]

(Eddie didn't want to become that good of a liar because he was in part scared of being like his mom. He never wanted to manipulate someone with so many lies that they no longer understood themselves.

He doesn't explain this though. He just nods, considering the few benefits that did come with lying. The guy has a point. Being caught out in a lie was about the worst thing. He'd know from experience- and not from being the liar.

Eddie's eyes magnify in wonder simply because he couldn't wrap his mind around him ever being that useful in a fight. He couldn't lie and say it didn't appeal to him hugely though.)

Are you serious? That must be some kid. (Even if he was taken out- who cared? The fact that he could take down anyone at all...)

Never put up with what? (A real threat?

That would be the dream.)

But I'm- I'm sick.

(No, he was not, and he knows that by now, but he's so thoroughly conditioned that the idea of doing some things made his anxiety spike and this felt like a real possibility. It was as exciting as it was nerve wrecking.)

My lungs aren't good. They-. And I have allergies. That and I'm pretty sure that if I tried to build up anything, I'd just pull something, and my mom says sometimes when you pull something, it can get so bad you have to have surgery on it.

[shashka]

He thought he was pretty tough. But, I made sure that he knew he still had a lot to learn.

[ too bad he hadn't changed that much when he'd run into him as an adult, here. as for his question... ]

Someone who wants to kill you.

[ but he listens to the kid's protestations, looking slightly amused. ]

It's just like any muscle. You have to learn to work with it slowly. You're what, twelve, thirteen? I pulled more than a few muscles back when I was your age, and I'm still fine. The man who raised me wasn't exactly the gentle type, either. Trust me, sometimes, mothers don't always give the best advice.

[ like the time his mom said the greatest sin was having personal feelings for your comrades. he just... ignored that. ]

[clussy]

Was he your son or something?

(Maybe it was a little blunt to ask, but this guy seemed old enough that he could of had some kids of his own. Most people this guy's age did seem to have children, or at least that's as far as Eddie knew.

It would be nice, wouldn't it, if Eddie never had to deal with anything wanting to kill him. But that just wasn't the case and his expression says as much, with his mouth drawn tight and his eyes downcast.)

Henry Bowers would kill me. (He doesn't say this like a child being afraid of a simple bully. He says it like it's an honest-to-god fact...And it is. Henry Bowers was one crazy son of a bitch and that kid would have probably gotten off on strangling Eddie to death.

And beyond that....Eddie's memories are murky at best...but...)

Other things want to kill children like me all the time. Adults just never notice because they don't want to.

(He's not looking at the camera anymore, instead staring somewhere off screen, his eyes stricken.

But Eddie comes back to himself, tipping his head around to look straight on once more.)

Uh- oh! I'll be twelve in November. (His mouth opens up into a nearly perfect 'o' and then he shuts it. Some other people had gently told Eddie that maybe his mom wasn't always right, and he had been thinking it himself lately, but twelve years of some serious manipulation made that a hard thought to ingrain. All the same, hearing an adult validate it made him feel like it was more real.)

Did your mom give you bad advice too? (He had said 'trust me', after all.)

[shashka]

[ he laughs at that. him. have kids. years ago, someone had asked him to carry on his family line. that had been his response then, and it was how it was always going to remain.

unless you counted dogs as kids. in which case he was a proud father of two. ]

A friend's son, actually. Never plan on having any kids of my own.

[ and given where his interests lay, he was pretty sure he'd be safe, for the time being. ]

Not if you got him first. But like I said, that would take a lot of training.

[ although at what he says next, he can't help but nod. he'd been safe enough as a kid. ]

She didn't give me all that much advice. I think I wasn't exactly what she wanted in a son. Thankfully, she had someone else for that.

[ he surprisingly doesn't sound bitter. it might also help when you have some very... complicated feelings for the man in question. ]

[clussy]

(Only heartless people would say dogs don't count as children. They certainly were easier and cuter than children.

Now that was interesting. In the 1950s, people were all about having children. Eddie knew, in theory, there were people who never had kids. But he's never heard of someone explicitly saying they didn't plan on it.)

Why not?

(Not that he seemed particularly bothered by the fact.)

I don't want to kill anyone though...

(Ironic considering in Eddie's future, he did wind up killing one Henry Bowers, but that was hardly relevant. The kid just had more to him than he knew how to give himself credit for- but what twelve year old wasn't like that? No training involved. Just a lot of anger and fear.)

If I were to start training, where should I start? (He bites the corner of his mouth before finally admitting:) I'm...I'm actually pretty good at running.

(This next part though? That captivates Eddie's attention almost wholly, his eyes going dark and large.)

...You weren't? Why not? (He has a million questions at the tip of his tongue but that's the only one that comes out and it felt so small compared to everything else.)