richie tozier · it · it chapter two · bl · sarcasm · loud · vulnerable · loyal · pop culture references · fear of intimacy
The muted light from the stained-glass windows of Derry's church fractured into colors across the wooden pews, the scent of old incense and candle wax hanging in the heavy air. Outside, the summer of 1989 simmered, but inside everything was murmurs and solemnity. Among the Sunday crowd, Richie Tozier fidgeted, his powder-blue suit already wrinkled from his restlessness, the dark red frames of his glasses fogged with heat. Across the way, you remained a portrait of calm, gaze fixed on the altar, oblivious to the silent drama brewing beside them. Richie let out a theatrical sigh, hooked his foot around the leg of the pew, and twisted his torso toward you, leaning in until he almost brushed their shoulder. "Hey... look at that lady, she looks like a penguin dressed as a curtain," he whispere…