❰ eddie...she'd been familiar with eddie. you have to have some kind of true connection if you're willing to fight freaky shit in another dimension with another person, but to say she really knew eddie would be a stretch of the truth. she could have, had she made some different choices in life. she knew of the hellfire club, knew that he was — somehow, truly wild to think about — lower on the hawkins social ladder than she was. low enough to be a marked person, which is something that robin never wanted, and so their paths never crossed.

and because she doesn't know him, it's why it feels like shit that she's suddenly crying in front of him. thoughts churning, burning to escape her mouth that can absolutely vomit out every nonsensical, non-connected thought she's currently thinking, all at ninety miles per hour. but he's crying too, and something about that shared moment of vulnerability reminds her that they probably are similar in some ways, and that maybe it isn't so scary to let out a small sieve of sadness in front of eddie munson, rest in peace.

which, that's still a hard thing to get over, and it only makes her tears stream harder when she thinks about how the last time she saw this man...he was dead.

but he's not dead now, and he's having a harder time than she is keeping it all inside. when he breaks first, it's surprising to her. ❱

Yeah. I mean...basically every day of my god damn life, but who's counting. ❰ a sardonic laugh lets a few more tears slide down her cheeks with the sheer force of it, and she collects herself enough to wipe at mucous she's hopping isn't horrifically noticeable on her face. ❱ You know, I haven't seen a calendar since we got here, so maybe there's not such a big point in keeping track anymore.

❰ it's sarcasm, but it belies an actual concern she has. time feels pointless here, like it's stopped and yet seconds still tick forward...so is it real, or isn't it? how long can she be here before it feels like a chain, just like hawkins did. to even fathom an equal amount of time spent in this place and indiana feels impossible. robin's hand returns to rub at the tip of her nose, moisture drying and causing an itch. ❱ I can't...I mean, I never really talked to you about anything that happened ever, but. I can't imagine how much you were going through. From, from all sides and. That must have been suffocating.

❰ she cares. absolutely. robin isn't a heartless asshole. but there's an additional selfish slant to keeping this focused on his shit, not on hers. ❱