cairparavels on ao3

let’s burn the lab to the ground.

“Yeah, I know,” Steve mumbles. His neck feels hot. “But what if there’s something in the lake?”

“Like what?” Eddie has changed into denim shorts, cutoff at the thighs. Steve doesn’t want to admit it, but he’s staring. How could he not? Eddie has a thigh tattoo, some strange angel-looking lady on his skin. He’s wearing an old Krokus t-shirt, cut off at the sleeves, showing off his pale, muscled arms. Steve wonders if that’s the kind of music he listens to. Maybe he’ll ask, if they ever become friends.

Steve looks away, squints at the sun, and tries to remember the question. “Like- I don’t know! Like, a shark.”

“A shark?” Eddie laughs. It would be a nice laugh if he wasn’t such an asshole to Steve. “It’s a manmade lake, Steve.”

“So?” Steve kicks at a loose nail. That’s a hazard.

“So… It means that it’s impossible for there to be any sharks in there.”

“Okay.” Steve watches Will and Mike team up to dunk Dustin under the water. Dustin returns the favor by splashing them. “What about alligators?”

“What about them?”

Steve huffs. “Are they in there?” he asks, gesturing exasperatingly at the lake.

Eddie shakes his head. “There are no sharks, no gators, no flesh-eating monsters-”

“Flesh-eating monsters?” Steve interrupts. His skin crawls.

“There aren’t any,” Eddie reaffirms. He looks thoroughly amused, as if Steve taking his job seriously is something to laugh at. “Lighten up, okay?”

for anon ♥