Reap What You Sow

The Bravest One You've Ever Known

"Hey," Eddie said with a cautious smile as he walked into their room, relieved to see Richie hadn't drifted back to sleep. That was mostly what he did these days. "I brought you some water."

"Thanks," Richie said, accepting his cup. Eddie wasn't sure if he was actually thirsty, but Richie had finally mostly stopped fighting Eddie on these little things--it took him awhile, but he came to terms with the fact that Eddie wasn't leaving room for negotiation.

Eddie sat beside him, and for a little while they just sat together, sipping from their water. Pest curled up on Richie's lap and purred steadily as Richie absently pet him. It would've been nice if not for the distance in Richie's eyes. He was almost never there with them; always somewhere else. And Eddie had a hunch that he probably knew where.

Eddie opened his mouth to suggest any conversation to bring Richie back, but that familiar feeling hit him. Richie glanced at him and grimaced. "Nooo, stop making that face," he whined--even that was halfhearted.

"Sorry, one's here," Eddie sighed, patting Richie's leg. "Let's go."

"Why can't you just go without me?" Richie complained. "I haven't been doing anything lately anyway."

Eddie supposed that was true. Anytime they had a Them to take care of, Richie came along but he didn't really help. Lately they hadn't needed him; they'd been fortunate that their only opponents had been much weaker and easier to deal with. None of them had really been in the head space to fight huge battles. But at least now they were starting to feel more like themselves. Except Richie, of course.

"No, we need you," Eddie said sternly. And who knows, maybe they could've handled this without him. But ultimately, this was an excuse to get Richie out of bed and out of the house. Plus, one of the first things they learned was to never leave anyone completely alone if they could help it. And in this case, they could help it, so he was going.

Richie groaned, but he didn't argue. He just rolled out of bed and pulled on his shoes. "I'm getting real sick of these bastards..." Richie grumbled.

Everyone was already gathered up downstairs, waiting. Beverly smiled when she saw them coming down. "Nice of you to join us, sleepy head," she said, but even her teasing had a much softer edge these days.

"It's pretty close, huh?" Eddie observed as he met up with them.

"Seems that way," Bill agreed. "M-Maybe a little bigger than what we've dealt with lately, too?"

"See?" Eddie asked, nudging Richie slightly. "We need you."

Richie just rolled his eyes, but there was a small grin on his face. Not as playful as they usually were, but definitely something. "Whatever, let's just deal with this so we can get home and I can get back to bed."

Eddie noticed Pest sitting beside him--the little beast never seemed to make any noise, Eddie was always surprised to see it there. He crouched down. "Listen, stay here and guard the house." he instructed, pointing to where Munchkin was asleep on the couch. "Don't let it steal everyone's stuff, got it?"

Pest stared back at him blankly--its head absolutely empty, it seemed.

"Great," Eddie said with a nod, straightening out with a huff. "Alright, let's go."

As they made their way through the forest, Eddie felt something on his arm.

It startled him at first until he felt it again and again, slowly and lightly falling all over him. It was rain. He looked up at the gray clouds overhead. "Well I guess we get to search in the rain now." he sighed.