Richie sighed peacefully; he was totally relaxed.
He had the pleasantly warm sun hitting his face, the soft grass underneath him. The sound of the Losers casually chatting amongst themselves and Freddie rolling happily in the grass nearby was the only sound. Totally relaxing.
He sort of wished everyday could be like this, except he definitely didn't go outside enough to lay in the grass every day. If he went outside every day, he wouldn't be able to enjoy it as much as he was now--it was a special treat. That was the reasoning he choice as his excuse and he'd stick to it.
Munchkin came waddling over, peering at Richie before trying to swipe his glasses. Richie easily held them out of the little monster's reach. "Not today, my little thieving friend."
Bev came over with a huff, scooping up her child. She looked over him, a grin finding her face. "You know, if you actually got up off your lazy ass and helped do some yard work like the rest of us, Munchkin wouldn't have a chance to try and steal your glasses, right?"
"I do know that actually." Richie confirmed, earning himself a laugh before she walked away, shaking her head.
Freddie finally finished rolling in the grass like his life depended on it, and plopped down beside Richie. He stared at him, absolutely beaming. Richie couldn't help the warm laugh that bubbled up out of him--he grabbed Freddie's face and squished it. "You have such a stupid face!" he said enthusiastically.
Freddie clearly didn't understand what he was saying, but he understood the tone, making him wiggle with excitement.
As they were rolling around, Pest had apparently wandered over--because before Richie knew it, Pest was just sitting there and watching them with delight. The poor little thing; so desperate for attention and love, and it managed to attach itself to the one person stubborn enough to deny it of that.
"Go ahead, cuddle with your dog," Richie said, motioning to Freddie.
Pest gladly took the invitation, walking over and curling up on top of Freddie as it often did. Freddie was so used to it by now that he was even sure to lay still, so the little cat could fall asleep and stay asleep undisturbed.
"I can't believe you let it do that."
Richie smiled widely just from the sound of his cranky little voice. Eddie stood there, eagerly yanking off the dirty gloves he'd been doing yard work in. "Honestly, you're teaching it bad habits. We're trying to get it to go away, remember?"
"Eds, I'm pretty sure you're the only one trying to get it to go away," Richie said with a grin, patting the ground beside him.
Eddie rolled his eyes but he sure didn't waste any time in settling down beside him.
"Well you should all be trying to get it to go away, it's a--"
"Pest, we know." Richie interrupted, grinning. "I just think you shouldn't push this so hard, is all. That little pest is obsessed with you and hasn't done any wrong by you, has it?"
Eddie crossed his arms stubbornly. "It hangs out in the garden."
"Yes, but has it even harmed the garden?"
Eddie did not look pleased. "If you're going to defend the cat, I'm leaving--"
"No, no!" Richie laughed, securing his arms around Eddie's waist before he could push himself up. "You don't have to adopt a monster just because the rest of us did, I'm kidding." he softened a bit. "Though, I won't lie to you, the bond is really special." he looked over his shoulder at Freddie, sleeping softly. He kept opening one eye to make sure Pest was still sleeping comfortably, and to keep an eye on Richie.
"More special than a person and a regular pet?" Eddie asked, actually just genuinely asking.
"I think so." Richie nodded. He wished he could explain it. But like most things in their life, that wasn't so simple. He had grown accustomed to feelings too powerful for him to understand--his own abilities, his deep connection with the Losers, his feelings for Eddie, and his bond with Freddie. These were all things that he could never find the words to fit. "I can't really tell you, it's just a feeling. A really strong one, though."
Eddie looked over Richie for a moment, almost painfully softly. "I think I might have an idea what that's like."
Richie's heart stumbled a bit. He cleared his throat, not realizing it had gone dry, and laughed somewhat awkwardly--that had caught him off guard to say the least. "All I'm saying is that maybe one day, you should give Pest a chance."
Eddie groaned. "We'll see. Don't count on it."
"I will," Richie hummed, kissing him.
"No," Stan shouted at them from where he was picking weeds. "I don't want to see that."
Richie sighed dramatically. "I can't do anything around here."
"Yeah, clearly," Eddie laughed, lightly smacking his arm. "Get up already."
Richie grinned, watching Eddie get up and look back at him expectantly. Richie sat up--with that look Eddie was giving him, it's not like he could say no even if he wanted to. But he didn't want to.
Richie thought maybe they'd get a full lazy day.
Well, lazy day for Richie. Everyone else seemed determined to do chores. Richie helped out a little bit here and there, but ultimately, he just wanted to follow Eddie around and bother him. Eddie never seemed to stop him or genuinely tell him to go away though, so Richie couldn't imagine it bothered him that much.
Finally, Richie got Eddie to settle down with him at the kitchen table. He had poured Eddie and him a glass and slid it over.
Eddie glanced at it, a half smile finding his face. "Is this chocolate milk?"
"Maybe it is," Richie said smugly, taking a sip.
Eddie looked around as if he was doing something bad before sipping on it as well. "You think Bill's gonna freak out?"
"I don't know, probably," Richie said dismissively. "But more importantly, what are we going to do now that you're finally done cleaning every tiny inch of this godforsaken house?"
"I did not clean every inch," Eddie snapped, the defiance on his face almost laughable. "I should though..."
"No, no!" Richie laughed. "Stay with me, Spaghetti, I just got you back."
Eddie laughed, kicking him lightly under the table. Richie smirked. "So, back to my original question. I personally was thinking--" he stopped short when he saw Eddie's eyes widen a bit. He huffed; he knew that look. "Please don't tell me what I think you're going to tell me."
"One of Them is here," Eddie said sympathetically.
Bill came falling through the doorway of the kitchen as if the house was burning down or something. "G-G-Guys!" he shouted, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw them. He straightened out, a nasty look finding his face. "Is that my chocolate milk?"
Richie put his hand over the top of his glass to cover it--even though it was transparent. "No."
Mike came in behind Bill, grabbing his shoulders. "Relax, there's plenty. Plus, we don't have time for this." he glanced at Eddie. "Is it close?"
"Yep." Eddie sighed, getting to his feet. "In the woods, not very far. Scent's strong."
Richie groaned dramatically, leaning as far back as the chair would support him. "I am so sick of this job, how do I quit?"
Eddie slapped Richie on the shoulder as he went by, almost causing Richie to fall to his death. "You don't, let's go."
Richie grinned as he pushed himself out of the chair. He glanced at where Freddie was staring, eyes wide with anticipation. He laughed. "Well I'm glad someone likes this job. C'mon boy, it's time to do some monster hunting."
Richie smiled as he watched everyone walk ahead of him.
Especially with Eddie occasionally looking back over his shoulder with that cranky little look on his face every time he saw how slow Richie was going. And Freddie was stealing his entire heart--marching up there with the others, so focused and determined, just like he was one of them. Richie supposed he was.
It was crazy to Richie that sometimes Freddie could be like this when most of the time, he was Freddie. Letting Munchkin lay on him, draping himself across Richie and Eddie like he was a lap dog, fetching sticks that were much much too small for him, greeting Dandelion everyday he stepped out of the house, gently licking Pest--this dog was the most nonthreatening thing Richie had ever seen, but he knew Freddie was seriously strong. It was almost weird to Richie that Freddie was more than capable enough to come along on missions with them and fight just as much as the rest of them.
Perhaps he'd turned into a sappy dog parent, but he was so proud of him.
Eddie stopped suddenly, looking like he was going to say something--instead, something went leaping overhead in the trees. Fast, too. Barely even a blur of motion. Richie would've doubted it had happened at all if it weren't for the leaves fluttering down in its wake.
"Where did it go?" Ben whispered.
"I can't keep up with it," Eddie whispered back. "It's so fast."
There was cracking to their left, and then barely seconds later there was rustling from behind them. But wherever they looked, they couldn't find it.
"We're not going to get anywhere standing here and waiting for it to come to us, it's too smart for that." Stan said, Shiny looking particularly stressed out and puffed up on his shoulder. "Maybe we should split up, maybe we can intercept it."
"That's the worst idea I've ever heard, haven't you seen a horror movie?" Richie groaned.
"I have. Luckily for us, this isn't one," Stan hissed. "And I never suggested going alone. We should go in pairs."
"There's seven of us," Bev argued.
"No," Richie said, pointing at Freddie. "There's eight."
"Okay, okay," Bill said. "S-Stan and I; Mike and B-Beverly; Ben and Eddie; R-Richie and Freddie. Good?"
It was a good balance of power, no one would be stuck defenseless or unable to fight. He couldn't argue. Maybe sometimes Bill was good at his job. "Yeah," Richie nodded, the others doing the same. "Let's do it. Just yell if you manage to slow it down, yeah?"
Everyone nodded, broke off into their groups, and began searching.
Richie and Freddie wandered for a bit, but it was dead silent in every direction they went.
He was starting to feel hopelessly lost. Clearly, they hadn't gone the right way. And he was starting to worry about the others. Just as he was turning around, he heard something. Freddie's ears twitched as well, so he definitely didn't imagine it.
They both went completely still, listening closely.
"Psst, Richie!"
It was Bev.
"Bev?" he called, trying to be as quiet as possible as he followed where he thought her voice was coming from. "What's going on?"
"I found something cool, just follow my voice, okay?"
Richie laughed as he did as told. He still couldn't see her but he was pretty sure he could hear footsteps ahead of them too. The forest was getting denser, but Richie wasn't too concerned. They could handle themselves, especially Bev.
Her voice stopped after that though, and her footsteps seemed to slowly fade off too. "Bev?" he called, trying to stay quiet, but hoping to project his voice a bit.
He got no reply. So he kept going the way he'd been following. He figured if he didn't find anything--or anyone--soon, he'd turn back. Bev would know where to find him. Plus, she didn't sound panicked. Whatever it was, it clearly wasn't very important to the mission.
Eventually, he came out to a clearing with something like a large pond. It wasn't much of a "clearing", the trees still towered overhead and blocked out most of the sun--the woods were so dense here, it was almost suffocating. But the body of water was at least fifty feet across. Not quite a lake, but quite the impressive pond.
And the best part about a pond? No trees in it. It broke up a little off the crowding around here; it was a relief to see. He felt like he could breathe a little better.
Freddie walked to the water and peered down at his reflection curiously. Richie laughed and knelt at his side, looking with him. Freddie's tail wagged excitedly when Richie's reflection joined his.
Richie couldn't help the smile on his face and he couldn't remember if Freddie had ever seen himself before. Richie began making faces and Freddie watched with increasing interest. It made Richie bust up laughing, and he probably would've laughed until he cried if Freddie hadn't snapped his head up suddenly.
Richie followed his gaze to the other side of the water where what looked like a mountain lion was just standing there, staring at them.
But as it slowly began wading into the water toward them, Richie began to realize that wasn't the case. Its tail was too long--and now that it was leaving the heavy cover of the trees and into the water where a bit more sun could get through, he could see the tail wasn't a tail at all. Not a mountain lion's, anyway. It was a giant scorpion tail--that stinger pointed rather threateningly at them.
Almost even worse, there was another mouth on its neck. A distrusting, sharp-toothed mouth. And when it used that mouth to speak, Richie's blood went cold.
"Richie? Come here."
It was Bev's voice.
It hit him like a hammer all at once that he'd been lured here. He had no idea how far he had blindly gone into the woods following what he thought was Bev, but all he knew now was that he was in serious danger. This thing was smart. He just had to hope it hadn't gotten any of the others yet with that little trick.
Richie scrambled to his feet and the moment he did, the monster abandoned all previous intentions of going slow. It was fast before, but when it swam it was impossible to see. Out of pure frantic instinct, Richie slammed his hands into the water and released as much electricity into it as he could.
The monster was so fast it saw the currents coming--it outran the current traveling through the water in half a second by leaping out of the water before the current could reach it, crashing into Richie and sending them both rolling.
Freddie was on it in a second, biting the back of its neck and managing to twist it off Richie.
Dazed, the only thing Richie could think to do was start screaming. "Guys!" he shouted, as loud as he could--he had gone so far, and he had no idea how much of his voice would make it through the density of the forest. "We found it, we found it!"
It smacked Freddie of it. Its legs were strong, which wasn't surprising, considering the speed.
It was after Richie in a second--quite literally, it was too quick for Richie to run, much less move out of the way. It snapped its jaw just half an inch away from Richie's face and all Richie could do was push back on its neck as hard as he could, while also trying to avoid getting his hands too close to that extra mouth. He was sure the main purpose of it was mimicking, but it definitely had enough teeth to bite.
As they struggled, it began speaking again. Eddie this time: "Richie, calm down."
It gave Richie actual chills to hear the calmness in "Eddie's" voice during this absolutely frantic struggle. Finally, Richie managed to get a hand steady on its jaw, and he released as much volts as he could without having another explosion.
The monster roared, and the mimicked voices of both Bev and Eddie screeched with it.
"Freddie, let's go!" Richie shrieked as he saw Freddie finally getting his bearings again.
Richie scrambled to his feet and had only gotten maybe half a step when he felt a stinging pain shoot up his leg. He thought he'd been shot for a moment, but once he hit the ground and looked back, he'd realized he'd been stung. It hurt bad--not as bad as that horrible hornet thing, and the affects weren't as aggressive thankfully. But Richie's leg was going numb and it was spreading up to his hips at an alarming rate.
"Shit, shit," he cursed, trying to crawl away now. Still no sign of the others, they must've not been able to hear him. "Shit, shit, shit!"
He knew he wasn't a psychic like Bill or Stan or Mike, but he sure was trying as hard as he could to send some kind of distress signal. If Stan couldn't get into their heads, then surely they all had some kind of power. And Bill had found his way to Richie's mind when he was stuck in that dream--there must've been a reason for that; a reason that Richie was able to understand and help him.
That monster was beginning to shake off the effects of Richie's attack--yeah, Richie was hoping real hard he had some psychic ability.
The numbness had spread up to his chest now, and his arms were shaking--they'd probably be next. The only good thing was that Richie could feel the bottoms of his feet just a bit. It must not last long--which also made sense. This thing was so damn fast, it didn't need very long.
It was coming at him again and that was it, Richie was sure of it. His arms were giving out, he was pretty sure he didn't have it in him to muster up any more power while he was like this, the Losers weren't here and probably weren't coming. He was fucked.
The Them shrieked again--stolen voices shrieking with it. Richie could hear his own voice in the mix now. It was too smart; it was already planning ahead on how to lure the others. But it was shrieking for a reason; Freddie had it by the tail. And he was biting down hard--a disgusting snap accompanying.
It swatted back at him, cutting him deep in the face, but when he let go its tail already looked like a broken twig. Not bitten off, but just barely still attached. The power in Freddie's jaw was unbelievable.
Freddie went for its neck again, the front of it this time. He wasn't scared of the mouth on it, his was bigger. He took the entire thing's neck in his mouth and did his amazing jaw crushing thing again. Only this time, he was at a bit of a disadvantage. It was too easy for the Them to dig its claws into Freddie's neck and bite into his head.
It was Freddie who shrieked this time when he pulled away, and it sent pure panic through Richie. He tried moving again. He could plant his feet, but that wasn't much use if the rest of him was still numb. He couldn't get up, so he couldn't do anything.
Freddie hadn't shaken off the bite just yet, and thick black blood was running down his face. But that monster wouldn't be so kind to wait for him to be ready again, this time it went for Freddie's neck, copying his tactic of trapping it in its jaw.
"Stop!" Richie shouted; he could feel his power moving through him again. It was just like fighting Nessie all over again--it was just under his skin, he felt like he'd split. And this time, he willed it--he wanted to explode, if it meant killing this thing and saving Freddie.
But he couldn't.
It must've been the numbness, his body just couldn't. It was swarming right there under his skin but no matter how hard he pushed for it, nothing happened. He strained as hard as he could and still nothing.
He had no choice but to watch as that monster tore at Freddie's throat, nothing short of ripping it apart.
"Freddie!" he cried.
An enormous amount of fire went barreling into the monster and it let out the most hellish scream, releasing Freddie and trying to make a break for the water. It really didn't like fire.
The water--the entire body of it--turned to ice before the Them could get in. And judging by the frantic way it was clawing at the ice to try and break through with no success, Ben had frozen it solid.
Eddie fell to his knees beside Richie. "Oh my god, Richie!" he cried, placing his hands on him. It was slow, but he could feel the numbness in him leaving his body, like it was being slowly dragged out of him. "What the hell happened!?"
Richie didn't bother trying to answer, he just focused on getting to his hands and knees. The moment he could, he went sprinting over to Freddie. "Freddie!" he cried, ignoring the fire fight going on behind him.
Freddie laid there, trying to whimper, but could barely do so with his throat in the state it was in. "Oh god, you're fine, you're fine," he assured, petting him comfortingly. He was so bloody and beaten up--he had fought so hard. "Eddie!"
Eddie didn't need to be told what to do, putting his hand on Freddie's neck. He was trying, but he shook his head. "It's not reforming," he muttered. "I think there's too much of his throat missing," he said, and the grave look on his face was definitely not what Richie wanted to see.
"It doesn't matter! You fixed Mike when he was gaping open, didn't you!?"
"Yes, but I understand his anatomy!" Eddie said, panicked. He was still trying, but he wasn't getting anywhere. "I don't--I don't know what I'm--" he was at a loss.
Richie heard all their mimicked voices scream at once and when he looked over his shoulder, the Them had been burnt alive and was finally falling to dust. But he didn't care, not about that. He turned back and cupped Freddie's big, heavy head in his hands and smiled at him the best he could. "Hey buddy!"
Freddie opened his one uninjured eye. He could barely do that.
Richie could feel the tears stinging his eyes as his heart began cracking. "You did so good," he said, his voice trembling. But he kept that smile on his face. He didn't want Freddie to be scared. "You did so good. I'm so proud of you." he sniffled, having to let the smile fall for a moment while he bit back the emotion threatening to just take over and destroy him. "I love you."
Freddie's tail gave one, heavy wag in response, and Richie couldn't help the sob that fell out of him. He pet Freddie as comfortingly as he could. "I love you so much, buddy."
There was something almost like peace or happiness in Freddie's eye when he stared back at Richie. Richie smiled for him again, and Freddie let out one more strangled breath.
And then he fell to dust.
Richie knew that's what happened when they died, but all he could do was stare in shock at the dust slipping through his fingers where he had once been holding Freddie--his Freddie.
The sobs he'd been holding back absolutely raked through him, and he doubled over, clutching uselessly at the dust beneath him. He sobbed so hard he wasn't even really present--he had detached completely, because nothing else mattered. He couldn't feel anything else except this loss and pain. And it seemed endless as he sobbed.
He felt a familiar hand on his back that pulled him out of the depths just a bit. The pain was unbearable, but at least he felt something else. Just that one touch was enough to keep him grounded. For now, anyway.
When he looked back, they were all there, staring at him with wide, teary eyes.
Eddie rubbed his back lightly. "I'm so sorry, Rich. I'm so sorry." he said, his voice shaking.
Everyone looked absolutely exhausted and heartbroken. It was starting to get dark. And Freddie was gone.
"Let's go home," Richie said quietly to Eddie. He couldn't bring himself to speak louder.
Eddie just nodded in understanding, helping Richie stand even though he technically didn't need it. He was okay again physically, but he still felt weaker on his feet than he'd ever had. He was thankful to have Eddie there.
All the Losers hugged him. And it did help, for now. But he could already feel this stabbing pain beginning to settle deep in his bones. It was looking for permanent residence. He wasn't sure how well he would handle this.
But for right now, this would be enough. They would be enough.
Getting Richie home had taken a bit of doing.
He could barely move, it seemed. Eddie knew he had recovered physically, but each step he took was so slow and unsteady, like he was worried about falling apart. Eddie had never ever seen Richie move so cautiously. Richie never needed caution; he was always the surest of himself. And even when he wasn't, he could always project it. He had never had an issue standing on his own two feet. Until now.
The Losers didn't mind taking it slow with him. They couldn't understand his pain. Except Mike, who pulled away from the hug looking like his entire world had just fallen apart. Something told Eddie that Mike was avoiding Richie's mind as much as he could--and he clung to Bill's hand on the way home like a lifeline.
When they did finally get home, everyone seemed to just quietly slink off to bed.
The moment Eddie got Richie to their room; Richie seemed more than eager to get into bed. He was asleep within minutes. Eddie wasn't sure if he was just exhausted or avoiding the pain as much as possible. Probably both.
Eddie sat there with him, at his side. He just sat there for awhile and watched over him. His heart was broken for Richie—it was broken in general. This loss was devastating for all of them, but for Richie...
Eddie sighed softly and made his way downstairs to get some water.
He stared down into the drain of the sink as he drank. His eyes were transfixed and they felt too heavy and too tired to move, so that's where they stayed. Even as he poured the remainder of his water out, he still didn't look away. He just watched the water escape down the drain.
A soft mew sounded from the window.
Pest sat there; the concern evident on its face. Its usual, cheery expression nowhere to be found. It watched from a distance, looking like it wanted so badly to come closer, but not wanting to risk overstepping a boundary.
Staring at it, Eddie realized that he had just sort of thought that their Them were invincible. He had never even considered he could lose them—Not Shiny, not Dandelion, not Munchkin, not Freddie. Not Pest.
Eddie walked over and he didn't bother pulling any sort of stubborn or cranky face. He just stared at the little, concerned looking beast staring up at him. And Eddie mirrored the look on its face, he was sure.
He held out his arms, and Pest didn't hesitate as it crawled into them.
Eddie hugged Pest to his chest for a moment, and when Pest purred, some of the storm raging inside him calmed.
As he began carrying Pest upstairs, it calmed him more and more. Until he realized this was more than just welcome comfort. "Your purr?" he asked softly.
Pest just stared up at him, and Eddie just seemed to know that Pest's purr brought some peace. A handy power, especially for right now.
Eddie cradled his little monster close as he climbed the steps. When he made it back to their room, he placed it on Richie. Pest curled up and purred softly.
Richie seemed to relax. He had looked so tensed and troubled, even while sleeping—but now, he looked like he was getting some actual rest at least.
Eddie smiled warmly. Proudly, even.
"Thanks, buddy," he said softly, gently crawling into bed beside Richie. He pet the little cat softly, a relaxed sigh leaving him as increased that purr.
"Welcome home."