no stranger could it be (eddie munson x oc)

the upside down

If someone had asked Maria how she was planning to spend her spring break of senior year, her answer was likely not going to include swimming through a portal into an alternate dimension that lay underneath the town.

And yet.

She held a flashlight in one hand, the other curled into an anxious fist, as she took up the rear of the party currently trekking through the woods to the Wheeler's house. Or rather, a copy of the Wheeler's house. Nothing here was the same as it was up above.

Robin and Nancy took the front, Steve and Eddie just behind, while Maria followed and jumped at every sound. She knew it was needless to say this place was unlike anything she'd seen, for how could it be? The trees were gnarled, so dark they appeared almost blue. The sky flashed on occasion with red-hot lightning, illuminating distant bodies of flying, mutated creatures in front of unmoving clouds. The air hurt to breathe.

She was studying with large eyes the ground off to the group's left, perpetually scanning for low threats, but there was only the sound of muttered conversation around her, and the blood gently thudding against her eardrums.

Her tired ears must not have picked up on the sound of footsteps as they approached her.

"Hey."

She jumped again, shoulders tense, but forced her nails to stop digging into the handle of her flashlight as the voice recognition finally kicked in. Maria glanced over to see Eddie, who'd fallen back to keep pace with her. She gave a small nod to acknowledge his presence.

He gave her a once-over, brow knit. "I was going to ask if you were okay," he said, and then looked around at the dark forest, "but that kinda seems like a stupid question."

That did, admittedly, crack her lips into a smile. She shook her head, and swung her flashlight a little less rigidly. "I'm about as okay as anyone can be in this... situation," she answered honestly, uncertain what to call what they were even doing.

Eddie gave a hum.

"And... you?" She offered, tilting her head and watching his expression. His eyes were always a little buggy, so his fear was hard to gauge. "You seem to be holding up alright."

"Oh, please," he snorted theatrically. "A scary upside-down dimension full of monsters that wanna kill us? Just another Tuesday."

She laughed in earnest, feeling some of her tension unravel. Harrington glanced over his shoulder at the two, before shaking his head and looking forward.

Still walking beside her, Eddie leaned down to better mutter, "Y'know, I bet these idiots are wishing they played D&D right about now. We deal with shit like this on a weekly basis."

Maria's turn to snort, though she immediately chasitized herself for its ugliness. "Oh, definitely. You've really got a leg up here."

"Easily."

They shared a series of secretly stressed laughs, before an exasperated Nancy called back from the front. "Can we pick up the pace?"

Eddie cleared his throat and looked forward again. His long legs could easily stride ahead, but instead they choose to keep in time with hers. She heard him sigh.

"Nah, Silva, if I'm being honest, I'm about two minutes from crapping my pants at any given time," he spoke softly, still humorous but less so.

She gave a sad laugh through her nose. "I know."

They walked in quiet for a few steps. "I was telling Harrington up there," Eddie said, jerking his chin forward in a motion toward the guy in question. He scoffed, weakly. "I never would've jumped through that portal if you guys hadn't. It's... uh, it's nuts, really, that your first thought was to dive right in after those three."