Night Vale ▷ Steve Harrington

iv. welcome to night vale

𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐀𝐖𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐒, 𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐖𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍. A sign that reassured them that what they they were going to do was the right thing, something that might tell them how to proceed or when to go, or even something that hinted that they should turn around and go back home-home, where the answers to their questions lay beneath long forgotten memories of ripped photographs and nostalgic clothing from the good old days. But there was nothing of the sort.

Scout found himself staring at the sign beside Letitia and Steve next to her. The walk here had been tinged with tension and uneasiness, Steve's presence causing him and Letitia to exchange glances more than once, but they neglected to say anything-although he could tell she wanted to-in favor of contemplating their thoughts in silence. And if Steve noticed the looks between them, he didn't mention it.

But now he felt as if he had to say something, clearing his throat and rocking on his heels as he raised his head to look at the Leaving Hawkins, Come Again Soon sign perched on the side of the road. It wasn't anything special, really, just a red sign with white lettering that just barely went past his head, forcing him to tilt his vision slightly upward in order to take it in completely. He could see Steve mimicking his actions out of the corner of his eye and awkwardly clearing his throat and Letitia craning her neck back even further, being a couple inches shorter than them, her red lips pursed in an expression he couldn't quite place.

"What're we waiting for?" Steve abruptly said, pressing his lips together and raising his eyebrows, motioning past the sign, "Or do you guys wanna keep standing here?"

Scout and Letitia shared yet another look, and it seemed the boy couldn't help but say something about it now, "Okay, what's-what's with the whole-" he motioned his hand towards their faces, "If you got something you wanna say, just say it, okay, we're, um, we're all friends here, right?"

He couldn't help but roll his eyes a little at that, and it wasn't hard to tell that the brown-skinned girl was doing the same thing, Steve clearing his throat and once again motioning for them to alk past the sign. He wasn't proud of it, but Scout dug his heels into the ground even more when he saw Letitia shake her head and follow Steve, beginning to walk toward Night Vale, the girl noticing that he wasn't beside her immediately.

"Well?"

"It's just-I don't know, I just feel like..." he did know, but he wasn't ready to say it quite yet, raising his head and realizing both of them were looking at him expectantly, "Oh. Okay."

Scout took one last look at the sign before steeling himself and jogging to catch up, kicking up little mounds of dirt from beneath his sneakers as he did so, placing himself beside his friend. If he'd been anxious before, it was nothing compared to how he felt now, his heart beating like thunder in his chest, almost as if it could burst any minute. He wondered how long it would take the paramedics to arrive if something happened; no one would know where to look for them, and there certainly wasn't a landline lying around for people's conscience.

"So," Steve began, clearing his throat awkwardly and looking at the blond, "What's your deal with the ring?"

At first, Scout didn't realize he was talking to him until he felt a sharp elbow in his side, jerking his head to find Steve peering at him with an expectant look, clearing his own throat and digging his hands deeper into his pocket. "Sorry, what?"

"I said, why do you care about the ring," he repeated, raising his hand and waving his ring finger to emphasize his point, "I mean, you're going to Night Vale of all places to find out about this shit, you gotta have a reason."