St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) - John Parr

Beck was bored of everything and just wanted to do something – anything – different. It was finally feeling like spring outside and spring always made her stir-crazy. The weather was nice and she had a break from plays finally but all Eddie wanted to do today was practice the guitar while she stared at him.

"I'm just saying," Beck said, prodding him with her bare toes, "that those sound like the words of someone who knows he's going to get his ass kicked."

"It's the same premise as the mall," he said, trying to lean away from her. He was sitting on the floor of the bedroom trying to tune his guitar while she lay on the bed and needled him.

"Except the arcade is NOT full of normals so that's a bunch of bull."

Beck tugged at a lock of his hair and he jokingly swiped at her as she rolled away from him. He set down the guitar and rolled his eyes hard at her.

"You really aren't going to give me a break until we go are you?"

"Nope!"

"Alright," he said, leaping to his feet and tackling her on the bed. He lay completely on top of her, pinning down her arms and legs, and tickling her ribs while she squirmed. "If we go, no crying when you lose."

Twisting her leg free, Beck ran her knee up between his legs stopping just short of his groin and Eddie jumped back from her in surprise. This allowed Beck to leverage her other leg under him and push him over the edge of the bed and onto the floor.

"If this is any sign of things to come, I don't think I have anything to worry about," she teased as she darted past him and went for her shoes.

Eddie scanned the Palace Arcade as they arrived. There was a handful of middle schoolers crowded around a few of the arcade games with a bigger knot of high schoolers taking over the pinball and skeeball machines.

"Pick your poison," Beck said, handing him a fistful of quarters.

"This is your grand plan. You pick."

"Venture it is," she said, dragging him over to the white game cabinet with a snake on it.

About fifteen minutes later, Eddie was realizing he was going to eat his earlier words. He also realized that while she swore a lot normally, it was nothing compared to how much she swore while playing this game. Based on the way she was talking, every snake, skeleton, and hallmonster had inappropriate relations with their mothers.

She finished the game and slammed her fist into the machine as she saw her score barely put her in the top ten. BECKWOODELF went in on the leaderboard and she turned to Eddie.

"Alright big talker," she said, handing him a few quarters. "Time to show me how it's done."

And while he didn't fail completely, he didn't even make it through the entire second dungeon.

"Hit me again," Eddie said, not taking his eyes off the machine until she punched him in the arm and he yelled in pain. "The fuck! What was that?"

"You said hit you," she said, backing out of his arm's reach while he made crazy eyes at her.

"Quarters, Beck!"

"Well if you just said that," she teased, shrieking as he swiped at her.

The gaggle of middle schoolers scowled at them and Eddie whispered in her ear, "Shhhh! Don't want to upset the locals."

They played through a few more rounds of Venture before Eddie decided maybe he would do better at Q*bert and Beck was surprised that this seemed to be more his game.

"How does having more things to track make it easier for you?" she asked as he blew through three levels in his first go.

"Yeah I can't explain that," he said, shrugging. "Forced focus?"

His face lit up as he looked over her shoulder and he caught her hand to pull her along with him.

"Oh I see," Beck said as she figured out where they were going. "You think you're going to have a better chance if you face off with me?"

"Please," he said, overplaying his confidence for her benefit. "You'll be calling me master in more than just D&D soon enough."

Beck mimed throwing up and he tried to give himself the edge by pushing a quarter into Wizards of Wor at the same time. It took Eddie about five minutes to think to glimpse at her score and he couldn't help but let out a cry of disbelief. She was murdering him.

He worked his foot in front of hers and then started shoving her leg back, moving her further from the game cabinet. She started swearing at him instead of the aliens and stomped on his toe so that he pulled back with a wince. As the next level loaded, she swung her hips and sent him stumbling away. He rushed back in time to see he had lost a life and shoved his back in front of her, blocking Beck's view completely.

"You ass!" she yelled, letting the controls go and pinning his arms down by his sides with hers.

Eddie bent forward to lift her off her feet and grinned as she let out a shriek.

"HEY!"

"The hell?" Beck asked as they turned to face a kid with curly hair storming up to them.

"You made me lose my game!"

Beck was ready to shred this kid to his core for shouting at her like an animal when she stopped, confused.

"Why do I know you?" she asked, and the kid narrowed his eyes at her, looking as lost as Eddie felt.

"How would you even know a random middle schooler?" Eddie asked.

"I don't know that's the — oh shit!" Beck physically clapped a hand over her own mouth as two of the kid's friends joined him while the kid with the flat top and a red headed girl hung back to talk to each other. She had remembered where she knew this kid from and wished she had just stayed quiet.

"Oh!" the kid yelled (Dustin she thought) as he too connected the dots. "Shit yeah! I feel like I should have…" He trailed off looking embarrassed but Beck laughed it off.

"I know I'm recognizable. I'm not offended," she said.

"Will you explain?" Eddie snapped, not enjoying being bystander to an increasingly weird conversation.

"I know him from my doctor," she said after Dustin indicated he didn't care if she explained.

"Why do you know a middle schooler from your doctor?"

"Because it's not like there are a ton of us there, Eddie! He's a genetic specialist!"

"Ooooh," Eddie said, suddenly focusing on the kid. "But you're not–"

Dustin cut Eddie off from pointing out he wasn't albino by pulling his arms forward until his shoulders touched in front of him.

"Cleidocranial dysostosis. You were saying?"

"Okay that's sick," Eddie said with a grin. "Like in every sense."

Dustin turned to Beck, with the obvious curiosity of a middle school boy. "I have like ten teeth and no collar bones, but other than the look you seem fine."

"Blind as hell if it's bright out and I can't be in direct sunlight but yeah totally fine," she teased. "Here." She leaned forward, pointing at her eye.

"Oh shit!" Dustin exclaimed, examining the blue and red swirling in her irises. "That's way cooler."

"Than the shoulder trick? Not hardly," she laughed.

As the two of them fell into a conversation about the unusual stuff that came from your genes deciding they would do whatever they wished, Eddie noticed the other two boys staring at his shirt and elbowing each other.

"You two have a question?"

The taller of the two pointed at his shirt and said "Where did you get your Beholder shirt?"

Eddie started answering before their question sunk in. "Hold up. You know what this is?"

"Of course…" the taller kid eyed him suspiciously like maybe Eddie was the idiot who didn't know what a Beholder was because of course he did.

"Tell me about your characters," he said with a grin, pointing to each of them and getting their names (Mike and Will) in return.

"Ooooooo," Beck chimed, her and Dustin's conversation having stopped at the mention of Beholders and characters. "Are we talking D&D?"

When it was clear the arcade worker was going to start hassling them into leaving or resuming their games, Beck and Eddie decided to leave. Their mission for the day had been accomplished and Beck had been proven the Arcade Master as she had expected.

"Hey babe," she said facetiously as she pulled his van keys out of her purse. "I think we should adopt."

"Starting off with three kids? Ambitious," he teased. "Probably easier to just snatch them up next year for our campaign."

His enthusiastic tone made Beck's conscience prickle so before she shifted gears, she grabbed his arm.

"Eddie... I don't want kids. Like ever. And I know some guys are weird about that so-"

He laughed and cut her off with a kiss. "And you think I want kids? Come on. Let's get some ice cream."

She pulled him into a deeper kiss before breaking away grinning. "No kids and ice cream. You always know just what to say."

When Beck woke up, she first thought her shirt was sticking to her because the early May heat and poor air con was killer, but then she rolled over and saw Eddie. He had pulled away from her in the night which was already weird given his constant desire for snuggling and was soaked with sweat.

His usually hilarious bedhead was now just a bunch of limp wet curls clinging to his face and neck and she could see moisture beading on his shoulders, chest, and forehead. His skin was cold and clammy as she touched his arm and his already pale skin was starting to look way too much like her own.

He had complained before they went to bed about not feeling well and she had given him shit about eating only a bag of cheese puffs and calling it dinner but it now seemed like the cheese puffs may have been an attempt to ease his stomach rather than the cause of the problem.

"Eddie?" she asked, gently shaking his shoulder. It was also SUPER weird that he was still asleep since he was like a fucking rooster, up at the break of dawn every single day.

He stirred and his eyes took a minute to focus on her. "I don't feel great," he mumbled.

"You should stay home. You look rough."

"Thanks for that," he grumbled, shoving himself upright and fighting off dizziness.

"Don't be petty to distract me," she gently scolded. "You're clearly sick. Just go back to sleep."

"Can't do that. Last Hellfire today and they won't let me use the space if I'm not at school."

"Then we can reschedule until you feel better!"

He whipped around on her, leaning on the door frame for support, and stared hatefully in complete silence before stumbling the rest of the way into the bathroom.

"God save us all from stubborn dumbass boys," she huffed, knowing that there was no point in fighting him over this.

After listening to the shower run for twice as long as he usually took, Beck walked in tentatively to see him sitting in the bathtub with the water splashing down on his head.

"Jesus!" she yelled, turning off the shower and helping him back up to his feet. "Eddie, you're not going to school! This is insane."

He pushed away from her, wrapping his waist in a towel and glowering. "Try to stop me," he hissed.

Beck was so angry she chose to leave him where he was. She would get ready and if he wasn't ready when she was, she could just leave him behind. But to her chagrin he was standing by the door with his bag and fully clothed when she was ready to leave.

The day passed in a haze for Eddie. He was sweaty and cold and fell asleep in half his classes, waking up to his classmates jabbing him with pencils or trying to tie his shoes to his desk. Lunch consisted of him eating bites of his food and then dozing with his head down on the lunch table. Beck even left her usual place with Sarah and the drama club to join the Hellfire Club after she noticed them gesturing and looking helpless; she spent that lunch period stroking his hair and trying to get him to eat with no luck.

But as they had all expected, he seemed to have been storing up all his energy for the last session of the Ravenloft campaign.

It was time: time for the adventurers to face Strahd and either succeed or fail. Gareth had already been caught in the wight trap outside of Strahd's tomb and was now a wight, with Eddie controlling his character and trying to hunt the rest of them down. The party had been able to whittle Strahd's HP down over time and were ready to make a final stand and save Ireena.

After combing several rooms, they found themselves face to face with Count von Strahd, Ireena bound to a chair behind him. Jeff cast Tempest to bind Stradh from running and Todd leveled the Holy Symbol at him.

The battle was bloody and merciless, as Eddie's battles always were, and Beck was annoyed that his illness didn't seem to be slowing him down at all. After killing the wight that was now Gareth's human ranger, Todd's gnome rogue had his throat slashed and failed three death saving throws before Beck or Jeff could heal him.

"FUCK!" she and Jeff screamed.

The two of them were all that was left of the party and they were so close. They started a low conversation on the opposite end of the room, agreeing that Jeff would drop his concentration on Tempest and free Ireena while Beck kept Strahd busy. They hoped that having Ireena would be enough to keep the vampire from escaping the room as he had every other time they had fought him. And their plan worked until Jeff left the room with Ireena, which they had NOT discussed. The easiest way for the vampire lord to kill any of them was through isolation and Jeff would in no way survive a one on one encounter with him.

In real life, Beck slammed her hands on the table and yelled, "Wait!"

"Strahd turns to you, little elf, and does indeed wait. Your core mistake, splitting the party, has bought his patience for a moment before he destroys you."

"Gracious Lord," Beck said in character as her barbarian elf, "I realize now that there is but one way to survive. I willingly give myself to you."

"What the hell are you doing?!" yelled Gareth, furious after having his own character controlled by Strahd and knowing the same would come for her.

Beck ignored them and continued, "She kneels before him."

Eddie's eyes were glittering with interest and probably a fever as he focused in on her, becoming, as much as possible, the Count. "Your late realization will not save you," he said, voice low and rumbling from the center of his chest.

"I do not expect it, my lord. But I would hope that my sacrifice would turn your gaze away from that unworthy whore."

Todd, Gareth, and Jeff watched, baffled and silent.

"Whore?! How dare you speak of her that way?!"

Strahd hit her for ten points of damage, which she attempted to block, shattering her war hammer in her hands. She now had two remaining hit points.

"I apologize for nothing! She is not worthy of you! What has she done but flee from you and leave you at every turn!?"

Beck stood and faced Eddie, who also stood from his DM throne. Strahd allowed her character to approach him and Beck ran her fingertips up Eddie's arm, resting her hand on his shoulder as he watched her closely.

"You know nothing of her. How can you claim to be different?" Eddie asked as the vampire king.

"I know I am not only different but better," she said, feeling him shiver beneath her fingertips as she traced them up his neck and along his jaw. "I appreciate you: your intellect, your power, your unending life. And unlike her, I am here."

"Then lean forward and join me," he murmured, catching Beck's jaw and tilting her head to expose her neck.

And as Beck did so, she swung her hand – her character was after all still holding the shattered wooden handle of her war hammer – and she pretended to drive the stake into Strahd's heart.

The guys erupted as Eddie dramatically fell back into the throne; Strahd was at last defeated by his own lust and desire to possess. But even though he grinned at her so hard and looked prouder of her than ever, Beck could tell Eddie was suffering. His breath was labored and his face had been clammy again when she had touched him.

Beck and Jeff's characters left the castle with Ireena and outside they saw the ghost of Sergi, Tatyana's lover and Strahd's brother. This caused Ireena to remember that she was, in fact, the reincarnation of Tatyana who was now free from the cycle Strahd had forced her to repeat.

Rejoined with her lover, Tatyana turned to them, Eddie again standing up to whisper to them all, "Through these many centuries we have played out the tragedy of our lives. Now with our deepest gratitude to you that tragedy is over. It is time for joy to begin again."

Then he lurched, falling forward and slamming his palms down on the table in front of him. The guys started cheering but Beck was running the second she caught his expression. She ran back with a trash can and shoved his notes, the minis, and his DM screen out of the way, pushing the trash can under his face as Eddie threw up hard.

Beck was able to get him to sit back down, still heaving into the trash can, before she pulled a scrunchie out of her bag and pulled his hair back. The guys had recovered from their initial shock and had started packing up, helping to put Eddie's things while offering praise for how well he had done between wet lurching sounds.

"Apparently you kicked his ass a little too hard, Beck," Jeff joked. Gareth shot him a look but Eddie's laugh echoed around inside the trash can.

"You need help getting him home?" Todd asked, packing up the milk crate Eddie used to store his D&D things.

Beck knelt in front of him. "What do you think, love?" she asked softly, looking up into his streaming eyes.

Eddie shook his head hard and stood up, wavering until Jeff threw Eddie's arm over his shoulder and helped him walk to the van. They packed him up and Beck drove them back home, grateful he was dozing and not throwing up anymore.

Wayne was already at work when they got home so Beck had the fun task of waking Eddie up and helping him inside even though he had at least six inches on her. He kept whimpering about just wanting to go to bed so she also helped him out of his clothes, stole the bathroom trash can to set by the bed, and tried to tuck him in.

"Not alone," he said in a whine.

"Eddie, you just need to sleep."

"Not alone," he insisted.

"You're the little spoon then," Beck said, pulling off her shirt and jeans before climbing in behind him.

"I don't mind being —"

"I appreciate the thought," she said cutting him off, "but I really don't want your vomit breath in my face, love."

He laughed weakly. "Fair."

Beck snuggled in close to him, compressing him gently, the way she knew he liked. He sighed with contentment and mumbled something she couldn't hear.

"What?"

"I said I knew it would be you. When I saw you at Halloween and you looked like a banshee. I knew you would be the one to kill Strahd. I always knew it..."

He trailed off and his breathing deepened, finally asleep.