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For @steddie-spooktober, Week 1 | Prompt: "Is that your blood?", cosy, macabre Rating: T
"Is that your blood?"
It's a stupid question. One that doesn't deserve an answer. Steve isn't given one.
For a moment, it's Spring. For a moment, it's 1986. In some ways, it's always 1986.
He'd fallen asleep on the couch again, and Robin's jacket covered his bare legs, keeping the frost of fall in Illinois at bay. Standing in the haloed fuzz of the TV static was Eddie Munson. That meant it was past midnight. The boy had been dead for three years, and he was still showing up every other night to bleed on Steve's rented carpet.
Steve wouldn't let his eyes linger on the deep gashes littering Eddie's side. He keeps his eyes up. Eddie's face is the same. His eyes are wide, brown and full of potential.
"I didn't think you were going to show tonight." Steve comments.
It takes a moment for Eddie's eyes to meet his. Sometimes it takes a while to acclimatise to the land of the living.
"I can't leave a guy hanging, now can I?" Eddie asks at last. Tonight, he's lucid. He offers Steve a shy grin and sits beside his feet.
He always expects Eddie to feel cold, like death, but he's warm. He takes spring with him wherever he goes. He smells like blood and ash, but Steve has learned to ignore it. Steve has learned to ignore a lot of things.
"What's new with you?" Eddie asks, taking Steve's feet into his lap. Some nights, he can't feel Eddie at all. Tonight, he feels real as flesh and bone.
"Rob and I are working at a diner now. She's going to college and she's got a new girlfriend. The kids are good. I spoke to your uncle on the phone last month. He's working the day shift now."
"Fascinating, but none of those things involve you, Stevie," Eddie supplied. There's dirt under his fingernails.
'I'm still seeing the ghost of a boy I never got to know,' Steve thinks, but doesn't say.
'I'm going crazy," Steve thinks but doesn't say.
'I think that time is a river that you and I are standing in while everyone else is drifting by,' Steve almost says.
"I'm thinking of throwing a party for Halloween," Steve admits.
There are very few things Steve is genuinely good at. Throwing parties is one of them. Another is being haunted, but that's neither here nor there.
"Halloween already?" Time for Eddie passes oddly, Steve knew.
The man's ringed fingers slide beneath Robin's jacket and settle on his shins. The hairs on his legs stand to attention.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you," Steve whispers, because he needs to. He tells Eddie every chance he can. On some nights, when he's feeling brave, he'll add, 'because I think I could have loved you,' if they'd had time.
Eddie looks perplexed, his brows drawing together, his jaw working away at nothing. There is blood on his lips and in his teeth. He doesn't seem to notice. Steve still wants to kiss him. Blood pounds in his ears, reminding Steve that he's alive, despite everything.
"I'm sorry I can't leave you alone. I would if I could. I try, but I keep coming back to you."
Steve didn't want Eddie to stop. He had the boy sometimes, and it would have to be enough. Maybe one of these days, he could work out how to save him. Bringing someone back from the dead sounded impossible but, in Steve's life, stranger things had happened.
Until that day, Steve was okay with being an anchor tying Eddie down in time.
"I don't want you to go. It's nice when you're here. It's cosy." Steve was cuddled up with the ghost of a rotting corpse and calling it cosy. He was officially all the way crazy.
"You want to know a nerdy fact?" Eddie questions, twisting his hair between his thumb and forefinger.
"Careful, I've been told I have a thing for nerds," Steve warns as he sits up, shifting closer to the boy. He worries he'll hurt Eddie by getting too close, but he remains still and steadfast as a stone.
"Haunt and home come from the same word. Maybe that's why I keep following you," Eddie offers.
"You're... my place, you know?"
Steve did. He just wished they'd worked it out sooner.
"Or maybe, something happened when you tried to drag my body out of the Upside Down," Eddie continues.
"I took tenth-grade science twice, so I remember them talking about how everything is just... like made of waves. Maybe when you tried to pull me out, your waves and my waves crashed together, and now we're just like... surfing," Eddie proposes as Steve presses himself firmly into Eddie's bleeding side. Soon, Eddie will disappear. He never stays long.
"Maybe," Steve agrees, unsure what either theory really means for them, other than the fact that they are stuck with each other.
Steve rests his head on Eddie's shoulder and closes his eyes, sleep threatening to pull the two apart sooner than Steve intended.
"Stay 'till morning," Steve proposes.
"I'll try," Eddie assures.
Steve feels the rise and fall of Eddie's chest, a shallow and rattling facsimile of a breath. In that moment, Eddie feels both so alive and so close to death.
Steve feels time slip away as sleep takes him over, crashing like a dark wave overhead.
When he wakes up, it's morning. When he wakes up, he's alone and, to his surprise, caked in Eddie's blood. That's new.
Robin enters their living room, wiping the sleep from her eyes and turning a deathly shade of pale as she sees Steve.
Steve moves to Chicago with Robin—because of fate, obviously.
(And also because of their lifelong friendship pact, signed in blood and one weed trip.)
Robin starts college. Steve? Steve is on a quest to “find himself.”
In the time-honored tradition of their codependency, Robin gets them both jobs. Because together, they are unstoppable. Steve nods solemnly. He doesn’t even ask where the job is. If it’s with Robin, it’s fine.
Turns out, it’s a bar.
Steve is hired as a bartender. Steve is not entirely sure why.
But, as it turns out, there was no need to worry: A million high school parties, a questionable but expansive knowledge of top-shelf liquor courtesy of the Harrington family stash—Steve’s basically overqualified.
By week one, he’s slinging drinks like a pro and casually suggesting additions to the cocktail menu.
And Steve likes the bar. It’s cozy. Kinda cute. The music’s good, the vibe is chill, the crowd is stylish and laid-back.
He stays in his lane—mixes drinks, flirts politely, keeps it smooth.
It’s… maybe a calling? Steve is not ruling it out.
And then he sees him.
The guy with long hair. Leather jacket. Eyes like melted motor oil and a stare that fries Steve’s last two working brain cells.
Steve sees him more than once. Every time ends in mild chaos: mixed-up orders, forgotten drink umbrella, Steve knocking over a shaker.
He’s acting like a complete idiot. Which is new for Steve, who was the king of flirting in his hometown. Then again, he'd never flirted with someone like this.
The guy smiles.
Steve dies.
One night, near closing, Steve’s wiping down the bar and glances at Robin.
Steve (quietly, nervously): “That guy… y’know. The one with the hair. And the face. I mean, I told you. What does your gaydar say? Do I… have a shot?”
Robin (blinks at him): “Steve. He’s come to the gay bar several times. I really don’t think he just accidentally wandered in every time.”
Steve: “Wait, gay bar? What gay bar? When were you at a gay bar? Why didn’t you tell me you were going to gay bars??”
Robin (just stares at him like he’s grown a second head): “Steve… the gay bar we work at.”
Steve freezes.
He slowly looks around.
“…We work in a gay bar?”
Robin (pats his shoulder): “Hi, welcome. It’s been two months.”
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Steve and Eddie have been best friends for almost their whole lives. And somehow no one knows.
When Eddie was a wee boy and got dropped off at Uncle Wayne's, he immediately started exploring the woods behind the trailer park, and somehow he found a pathway that let out just behind Steve's house.
And Steve, being a year or so younger than Eddie, was out looking for worms under all the dead leaves, completely unsupervised as his mother was busy inside gossiping on the phone.
Eddie emerges from the woods looking like a wild gremlin child covered in dirt wearing an oversized black T-shirt and shorts held up by a belt made of shoelaces. Steve looks up from his crouched position, stick paused mid-dig, his eyes go wide and he says, "Wow! are you the boy that was raised by wolves?"
Because he'd overheard his mom on the phone talking about how on the other side of the woods the children were being raised by wolves. (Talking shit about the parents at the trailer park who let their kids run wild because it's the '80s, meanwhile also ignoring her child running around outside in the woods.)
Eddie laughs and says, "Yep that's me!" Because his dad is in a biker gang and they have wolves on their vests. "I'm Eddie, want to help me catch some tadpoles?"
"I'm Steve, I'm five, so I can play outside by myself now. I know the best places to catch tadpoles. Here let me show you!"
Steve took Eddie's hand and dragged him away and they never looked back.
Steve's mom almost put Steve in therapy because he never grew out of his "imaginary friend" phase. He talked about Eddie all the time, but his mom thought there was no way that this child living in the woods and made out of dirt could possibly be real.
Stevie eventually stopped talking to his parents about Eddie because he is afraid they would make him stop hanging out with him. The way they made him stop hanging out with the boy that lived across the street because his parents got a divorce.
Eventually Steve made the trek across the woods with Eddie one day and saw where he lived in the trailer park, and met Uncle Wayne who almost took Steve in thinking he was one of the trailer park kids whose parents neglected, because he was way too skinny and he had too many weird stories about his Mom and Dad leaving him alone.
Turns out he was living in the wealthy side of town, and he was a Harrington, but that barely stops Wayne. He complained about the shitty parenting of the Harrington's to Hopper, and Hopper convinced him that they couldn't really take Steve out of the home because there's no proof of abuse or harmful neglect. No more than any of the other parents of the '80s at least.
But that didn't stop Wayne from telling Steve that if he ever needed somewhere to go he'd come straight to Wayne.
Years go by and these two go through school together but separate because they're not in the same year, so Steve has his friends and Eddie has his.
And Steve becomes King Steve and Eddie becomes The Freak, but to each other they're just Stevie and Eds. They think it's funny (but totally predictable) that they ended up on opposite ends of the social spectrum, but were such great friends and nobody seemed to believe them when they spoke about each other.
When they saw them together in the halls people just assumed Steve was scoring something for his weekend parties. Parties that Eddie never missed. But again they assumed that he was working them, which is different than being invited.
Little did they know that every week that the Harrington's were off gallivanting around the world on business trips, Eddie was basically living at their house, eating their food, and watching TV and smoking weed in their living room with Steve. Eddie was always the first one at the party, he was already there.
One time Steve's parents came home early and they caught Steve in the living room with trash all around from the party, luckily Eddie had just left, and there was weed on the table. His mom shrieked at him that she was okay with him having his friends over on the weekends but she drew the line if he was doing drugs in their house, Steve said that they weren't his they were Eddie's, and his mom went ballistic and told him that he was too old for this imaginary friend business and if he didn't get his act straight that she would be sending him to Doctor Schultz first thing Monday morning for an evaluation. No son of her's was going to be a psycho drug addict (unless he made six figures a year like his father).
When Steve started his job at the Scoops Ahoy Eddie was in there getting free samples all the time and Robin thought he was making fun of Steve and his outfit because he was being the typical rival gloating over the Fall of The King, kind of like she was enjoying watching Steve struggle to get dates wearing that silly sailor get up after being Mr. Popularity.
Little did she know that all of that banter was making Steve blush and go tongue tied because he was starting to recognize that maybe him and Eddie were more than just friends, and Eddie was flirting hard after seeing Steve in those short shorts and tube socks and that pretty pink blush and those dark pink lips and that glazed-over look he got when Eddie was a little mean to him.
Cut to them making out in Eddie's van in the mall parking lot all Summer before and after his shifts at Scoops Ahoy.
When Robin and Steve had their moment in the bathroom, Steve was talking about his crush on Eddie, but Robin thought it was about her and so she came out to Steve, and Steve got confused and was like, "okay that's great, same, but what do you think about Eddie do you think he really likes me?" Robin was like— Eddie who?
And then Steve and Robin show up on Eddie's doorstep high as shit after the mall burning down, and Eddie opens the door like "Stevie? Robin? Oh my God what happened are you okay?!" He pulls Steve in and hugs him, looks him over, and starts fawning over him like a mother hen.
Robin can't help but cackle and Steve and Eddie look at her like she's lost her mind.
"Oh yeah-" Robin scoffs, "Steve there's no doubt, you don't have any worries here. This man is completely in love with you! I call Maid of Honor, I think I earned that after we survived all that Russian torture. Eddie can have the little know-it-all for Best Man, but I get Steve."
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Steve (Former High School Jock) getting dragged to the local Renaissance Faire by Dustin (Active Geek) and being forced to dress the part. Dustin and Steve spend a full two weeks preparing outfits, with most of that time consisting of Steve groaning and complaining and lamenting over Dustin's dorky ideas for matching costumes.
"No Dustin, I'm not dressing up as a clown so you can be a king. You're insane."
"Not what I said good Sir Steven, I said you'd be the jester. My royal jester. Royal. Jester."
Steve shoots down idea after idea after idea until finally Dustin suggests Steve just be a knight then, and Dustin can be his squire. This is a decent enough compromise, they match, Steve gets to look cool, it all works out. Cue Steve and Dustin having to cobble together costumes in a rush, barely able to track down the stuff they need, but day of the Ren Faire comes and they look surprisingly wonderful.
They arrive, enter the Faire, and to Steve's surprise- it's REALLY fun. They get ale together (well Steve does, Dustin gets non-alcoholic cider), they watch some dancers, they buy trinkets they don't really need, and at last it's time to watch the joust.
Dustin shoves his way to the front of the stands, and begins cheering super loud. He's telling Steve all about jousting, it's history, how it works here, and how he's heard that today's joust in particular is going to be legendary because this joust is going to involve Sir Edward Munson aka The Fighting Bard. Steve finds this moniker stupid as fuck, and tells Dustin so, is actually in the MIDDLE of telling Dustin how stupid 'The Fighting Bard' is as a title when the man in question comes out into the makeshift arena- helmet tucked under his armpit as he waves and smiles at the crowd.
Steve instantly loses track of his own rant, too focused on how attractive this Sir Edward is, and he feels Dustin's eyes staring a hole straight through his head. He's lucky Dustin doesn't directly (and loudly) call him out for immediately falling for said badly named knight with the untamed hair and intensely theatrical demeanor.
Sir Edward lives up to his title of 'The Fighting Bard' by spending a reasonable amount of time hamming it up for the audience, and even as he mounts his horse he won't shut up. He talks in a stupid (read: kinda hot) accent and blows kisses at maidens in the audience and he even asks for a token from a crowd member (receiving a handkerchief from a nearby girl). But at last the battle begins in earnest and Steve finds himself more and more enamored. Especially as Sir Edward claims multiple victories in a row. Once the battles are over the man even does a few victor laps on his horse, looking somehow both cocky and boyishly excited as he takes off his helmet and waves at the crowd.
Dustin has gone back to shouting and cheering, and he must be especially loud or enthusiastic because Sir Edward actually stops in front of them- climbing off his horse- choosing to chat with Dustin as the crowd slowly begins to disperse now that the jousting is over for the day.
Steve is less focused on what Sir Edward is saying, and is instead focused on how he says it. Maybe he's staring. Okay well... he's definitely staring. But Sir Edward is focused on Dustin so let Steve have this brief moment to ogle- okay?
But then Sir Edward is looking at him, pointing directly at him as he asks Dustin something. Steve hones back in on their conversation just in time to hear Dustin groan, "Really? Him?"
Sir Edward doesn't seem put off by Dustin's annoyance however, and looking far too proud of himself he leans over the small fence separating them to wink at Steve and croon, "Don't believe the rumors you've heard about me handsome, the bubonic plague has left all my most important parts intact."
What?
The look Steve gives in response must say it all because Dustin starts laughing his ass off and Sir Edward has the decency to look a bit sheepish now, face flushed red as he stammers out, "Okay that- that wasn't my best one I'll admit- lemme try again-"
Then he takes a deep breath, puffs out his chest and goes, "You wouldn't happen to have a good sheath for mine sword, would you?"
Steve must continue to be giving 'a look' because Dustin's now gasping for air in between laughs and Sir Edward's face is now completely pink, even up to his ears.
"Can I-" Sir Edward now tries, looking increasingly bashful, one of his hands moving to play with his hair, "Can I uh... hose down your doublet?"
Steve just blinks. Dustin literally starts walking away, folding in half as he laughs.
"Uh..." Sir Edward now looks like he wants to run, eyes darting around as if looking for an excuse to get out of this conversation that Steve is not understanding in the slightest, "I joust think you're pretty cute but uh- fuck-" He grimaces, and all the pomp and circumstance of his knight persona seems to fall away, "I'm making an ass of myself right now, right?"
Steve just shrugs, "I mean- maybe?" He gestures vaguely to Dustin, "He liked whatever you said though. I'm not really sure what any of that meant. I don't know what a doublet is. Or the Bubonic Plague. Or like..." Steve makes a vague gesture, "The sheath is the stuff the knights wear right? On their hips? Like a holster for their sword?"
Now it's Sir Edward's turn to get a look on his face, and Steve now finds his own face heating up. Then Sir Edward starts laughing, and Steve finds the sound to be captivating. He kind of wants to hear it more.
"So your squire was right, you really are a fish out of water here."
"Oh yeah," Steve says, "My first time. Not much for the geek stuff myself. Though your jousting was cool. I uh," He gestures to the jousting stick (rod? sword?) leaned against the fence, "I thought you were pretty impressive with your jousting stick."
Sir Edward laughs again, this time softer, a bit more relaxed, "Thanks. I'm glad this humble knight could entertain you so, I saw your outfit and figured I'd have to put on a good show for a fellow knight."
Oh yeah. Steve's in this stupid outfit. No wonder this guy thought he'd get his weird medieval jokes.
They stand there for a few seconds, just processing each other when Sir Edward blurts, "Are you into dudes?"
"What?"
"Dudes. Do you like 'em?"
Steve just nods, not sure where this question came from when Sir Edward keeps talking, "Could I like- take you out then? Get mead with you? Or whatever works for you? I was trying some of my better pick-up lines on you and they weren't working." He scratches the back of his neck and gestures up and down at Steve, "Realizing now you just, didn't get the joke."
"I didn't." Steve says, too stunned to think of a better response, "But uh- yeah- you can take me out. Maybe you can explain what the fuck you were saying to me. I'd love to actually be able to understand your pick-up lines. Dustin seemed to love 'em."
They both glance over to Dustin who's only a few yards away, trying to look casual as he stands there obviously eavesdropping on them.
"Your squire knows what's up." Sir Edward says with a laugh, then he picks up his jousting stick, hauling it onto his shoulder, "Wanna wait here and I'll put all this stuff down and we could wander around for a bit? I'll buy you and your squire some food or something."
Dustin is already agreeing to this deal before Steve can get a word out, though it's not like Steve was going to turn down such a generous offer anyway.
So he and Dustin sit and wait, and eventually Sir Edward comes back out without all the armor on. And wow. If Steve wasn't already about to go out with the damn guy, he'd be on his knees begging him for a chance. He's covered in tattoos, in a cut-off shirt, with jeans that look so good on him and it makes Steve feel a little bit like a fainting princess trapped in a tower.
The three of them wander about, and conversation flows well between Dustin and Sir Edward (or Eddie, as he said they could call him) over nerd things, and Steve and Eddie as they get to know each other. By the time the Ren Faire is ending Steve's on cloud nine, with a cute knight's number in his pocket and a Dustin who's halfway asleep by the time they get in the car (Dustin claims he's not but the boy can barely keep his eyes open).
By the time the Ren Faire rolls around the next year Dustin and Steve are ready, dressed in upgraded versions of their squire and knight outfits, with homemade banners so when they watch Sir Edward in his jousting they can cheer him on. It's hilarious when Sir Edward spots them in the crowd, acting all shocked and amazed as if he hadn't sat on the couch beside Steve while Steve had made the damn things. When Sir Edward showboats around he acts like he doesn't even recognize Steve, dramatically asking his name when he requests a 'token of the fair sir's favor' for the tournament.
Steve resists the urge to roll his eyes, now used to his boyfriend's antics, and pulls out the handkerchief (that Eddie gave him JUST for this moment) to hand to the overly flirtatious knight. Sir Edward continues to play up his knight hitting on some rando schtick even after he wins every battle, as expected, and when he hops off his horse he beelines straight for Steve- eyes glimmering as he immediately hits Steve with a slew of medieval themed pick-up lines.
Steve now (against his will, mind you) understands every single one. And when he agrees to a date with 'The Fighting Bard' in front of several cheering onlookers he tries not to smile too wide, though he knows he has a look on his face. One (Dustin is all too eager to tell him while pretending to gag) that is the picture perfect image of a man in love.
And really, Steve has a good reason. Or, well, he has a reason. Which is figuring out what the hell Dustin finds so cool about the long-haired freak recovering in the Harrington home.
Sure, he saved Dustin's life and nearly got himself killed doing it, but it's not like Steve hasn't risked his life plenty for the kid. Yet, Dustin only visits his house if he wants to see Eddie.
Eddie, who makes Dustin cackle like Steve never has. Eddie, who inspired Dustin to grow out his hair. Eddie, who is Dustin's new and improved best friend.
And it's cool and whatever. It's not like Steve feels like a third wheel everywhere he turns with Robin's budding relationship and Dustin and Eddie's bromance that they flaunt in his own home.
Really, he should've never agreed to house him. But with Steve's parents refusing to come back to Hawkins until the quarantine is lifted, and Steve's inconspicuous reputation, it really made the most sense at the time.
The worst part is that Steve, very deep down, likes hanging out with Eddie Munson. He somewhat gets why Dustin is so enamored by the guy, which is another reason why he can't stop staring as Eddie continues on with his dramatics, waving his arms around until he's hiding a wince. Steve will have to change his bandages and give him yet another lecture about exerting himself, to which Eddie will smile and joke about how Steve wishes he could see him exert himself.
He's annoying in that way.
Dustin curses and rattles on about building some frequency antenna something or other, then tells Eddie, "I'll see you later, man," with a big grin. With that, he runs out the door, and Steve gets in a, "I'm here too!" before the door closes.
Steve sighs and goes right back to staring at Eddie, who stares back this time. He grins at Steve. "Alone at last."
Steve scoffs, breaking eye contact so he can grab supplies from his hall closet. When he returns, Eddie looks at the items in his hand and drops his head back against the couch. "My hero," he says, stretching out the word for far longer than it needs to be stretched.
It's all an act to prepare for the pain of the disinfectant - vodka from Murray, their personal Santa. As Steve takes off the bandages, he tries to distract Eddie from the inevitable, going through their well-practiced routine. "Do I need to remind you about-"
"Not being my usual whimsical self because it aggravates my injuries? I'm pretty sure I've got the speech memorized, Harrington," he hisses the word out as Steve applies the disinfectant.
"Sorry," Steve says, although he really isn't, since he asked Eddie to not be a damn hero, but here they are. Post heroics.
He finishes up quickly, wrapping Eddie up and handing him a bottle of pain meds courtesy of Robin's hospital trips. He cracks it open, throwing back two pills and dry swallowing them.
"You couldn't have waited until I got you water?"
Eddie smiles. "Nope."
Steve puts his hands on his hips and stares down at him. There's only so much he can deal with.
Eddie cocks his head to the side. "You keep doing that."
"Doing what?"
"Staring."
Steve swallows as he looks away, cleaning up the area around them. "I'm not staring," he lies.
He can see Eddie give him an incredulous look out of the corner of his eye.
Steve sighs, still not looking at him when he says, "I'm just... trying to see what Dustin sees in you."
Eddie's hands dramatically clasp over his heart. "Ouch, man."
"Not what I mean."
"Then, what do you mean?" Eddie presses on.
Steve ignores him.
"Steeeeve," Eddie groans. "You're my only entertainment around here. Give me something, man."
"Your only entertainment besides Dustin, who visits you once a day, and the other kids who stop by at least three times a week without so much acknowledging the actual person who lives here. You're so bored without them, I get it."
He puts the supplies away, ignoring the unfamiliar silence from Eddie that really doesn't sit well with him. Steve risks a glance back at the couch, finding Eddie to be the one staring, his eyebrows pinched together. Steve doesn't want to touch this conversation with a ten-foot pole, so he tries to escape to his room.
"If you leave, I'll try to climb up those stairs alone," Eddie warns him.
Steve stops on the first step, rolling his eyes and very reluctantly making it back to his living room. "Happy?"
"Very," Eddie says with a small grin. He cocks his head to the side, eyes flickering to the seat beside him. Steve joins him on the couch, crossing his arms to indicate his discomfort. "Do you need me to remind you how much Dustin worships you?"
Steve can't help but laugh humorlessly. "Yeah, you see how much he does. Can't even get a hello or goodbye in my own home."
"Maybe you should try nearly dying for him sometime," Eddie jokes, but it's still a little too soon for Steve to truly laugh about it. "Seriously, man, the kid adores you. If I weren't as injured as I am, he would have us in a full-blown custody battle. Just wait until I can conquer those stairs on my own, he'll be right back at your side, singing your praises." He bats his eyelashes at Steve, only dropping the act when he sees the flat look on his face. "Steve Harrington, do I need to sing your praises in the meantime?"
Steve rolls his eyes. "I'm thinking instead we should see how we do on the stairs today."
Eddie frowns but sticks his hands out, letting Steve help him up, holding his hands lightly as he takes a few steps forward. "You're really great with the kids, and they'd be lost without you - especially Dustin."
Steve's eyebrow quirks up. "I thought I said stairs instead of praise."
"I think I'm capable of doing both. Just like you're capable of getting through this time where the kids aren't appreciating you as much as they should."
"Is that right?" Steve asks, tightening his grip on Eddie's hands as he takes a wobbly step forward.
"It is. And I seem to remember you saying something about me being bored without the kids here."
Steve doesn't say anything in response as they reach the steps. He lets Eddie grab onto the railing while he wraps an arm around his torso, trying to avoid his injuries as much as he can. "Ready?" he asks.
Eddie nods, determination washing over his features on his first step up. He gets a few steps in before he pauses, taking deep breaths. "I think... I haven't told you how much I appreciate you."
"Alright, break is over," Steve says, trying to urge Eddie along.
Eddie takes a step. "You've been..." he takes another step. "A great host." Another. "You're surprisingly funny." He takes a few more steps and pauses again.
"You okay?" Steve checks in.
Eddie nods. "I can make it." He takes a few more seconds before continuing on. "I see why Dustin loves you. I didn't want to." He takes another pause, this time to look at Steve. "But... I do."
Steve looks back, staring again, getting the fluttery feeling he usually does when Eddie's overwhelmingly in his space.
Eddie sways a bit, and Steve tightens his grip around him. "You sure you can make it?"
"I can do anything with you, Harrington," Eddie flirts, getting a small smile out of Steve. He makes it up the next few steps, pausing a bit before the final landing. "So, this crawl thing... do you think it'll be dangerous?"
Steve shrugs. "Probably not for the people staying up here, which will include me."
"That's a shame. No way to impress Dustin that way," Eddie jokes before taking a few very slow steps up the stairs, and finally making it to the top. He laughs in relief and leans into Steve, squeezing the arm braced around him a little tighter. "To your bedroom now?" he asks hopefully.
"You're relentless, man," Steve says, but he plays his part and bends down, sweeping Eddie up in his arms in a bridal hold as he carries him to his room. It's become Eddie's ridiculous reward, but he loves making fun of the plaid room while lying in his bed.
Steve lightly kicks his door open and gently deposits Eddie on his sheets. He pulls away, but Eddie grabs his wrist, looking uncharacteristically nervous. "Will you lie with me?"
Steve doesn't think twice before nodding and joining the man, staring up at his ceiling as Eddie fidgets with his rings.
The silence between them grows on until Eddie suddenly asks, "Will you promise me something?"
Steve turns his head, watching Eddie, whose eyes remain fixated on the ceiling. "If the crawl becomes dangerous, can you promise not to be a hero? I know it's rich coming from me, but... I know Dustin wouldn't survive losing you." He spins the ring on his pointer finger and turns to look at Steve. "And I don't think I could survive it either."
Without overthinking it, Steve puts his hand over Eddie's, squeezing it. "I won't be a hero," he promises, hoping that he can keep it unlike Eddie.
"Good," Eddie says, intertwining their fingers. "I want Dustin to myself for a little longer."
Steve laughs loudly, and Eddie joins him, wincing a bit and asking Steve to not give him his usual lecture, which only makes Steve laugh harder.
And yeah, he can see what Dustin sees in him, maybe even a little more than ever.
Nancy and Eddie stand shoulder to shoulder watching as their respective partners hold each other so close that God himself would never be able to extricate one from the other. Robin and Steve whispering a million and a half platonically sweet nothings to each other as they sway in place, the motion clearly soothing to both of them. Reuniting after so long, their indefinite separation finally coming to a close.
Nancy turns her head just slightly and addresses Eddie in an oh so soft voice.
"Does it ever bother you?"
Eddie glances out of the side of his eye towards her.
"Does what bother me?"
"That neither of us will ever be able to hold a candle to that?"
Eddie watches the two as they slowly, slowly spin in a circle; pressed so close, they may as well be trying to become one person.
"No, not really."
Nancy hums in response, like maybe she's not so sure where she stands on the matter yet.
"It's nice to know that if something happens to me, he'll still have her."
"I guess that makes sense."
"Plus, I'm pretty sure it's impossible to be everything for someone, and trying is a good way to burn yourself out. He already barely has parents -"
"I think Hopper might take offense to that statement ."
"Point being," Eddie cuts back in, "he deserves more love than I can give him alone, and I'm okay with that. I think there are things we will never understand about their friendship, and we just have to accept that."
Nancy sighs but turns her attention back to Steve and Robin. They've sunk to the ground at this point, foreheads touching eyes closed breathing deeply together like they are sharing only the air between them.
Another few breaths pass between them before Nancy's posture relaxes and she turns back to Eddie.
"I think you might be right this time Munson."
Eddie steps forward, intent on joining the two on the ground.
"Oh, I'm right a lot of the time, you guys just never listen to me."
I just imagined Will and Mike moving in together for college, and Mike arriving late from one of his classes and just, laying on top of Will. He's so tired and it's cold out, and Will's chest is so comfortable and his skin is warm, so he just snuggles up to him on the sofa. And Will can just say 'Hey, what-?', seeing as what the fuck is his best-friend-slash-roommate doing omg he's insane. But Mike just mumbles 'So tired, nap please?', and Will puts a blanket over Mike's shoulders and nervously runs his hands, through his best friend's dark curls, because Mike 'sleeping during the day is for babies' Wheeler just said 'Nap please?', and he might have survived the Upside Down but he's not that strong when it comes to Mike Wheeler, so he just responds 'Yeah... Yes, okay'. Also, he's pretty sure Mike just grabbed his hip and he can't really think right now, so might as well let it happen and get some rest as well.
This is a fact made evident by the hands on his watch cautiously creeping towards 7:52, the static penning out from his headphones, an indication that his mix of eighties synthpop perfectly curated to last him the walk from commons to campus with ten minutes to spare has tailed out, and the motormouth in front of him, dragging through a rather colourless narration of each and every tape she’s picked out to an even less spirited cashier.
Kiss On My List slips out softly from under Mike’s breath, the last song playing before his Walkman had given out. He’s got his own pyramid of empty tape boxes stuffed awkwardly underneath his armpit, all to varying degrees of importance, and he tries to make some sense as to how to scarf down the rest of his coffee without sending them plummeting to the floor. His backpack is half-open and his shoelace is untied but at least his clothes aren’t streaked in frothy espresso black — at least, not yet.
Listen — Mike has never claimed to be the most polished, but he’s usually more coordinated than this. Especially because, well, he’s supposed to be making a good impression on his professor after he totally botched his short film pitch last week and accidentally handed in a paper with I Hate Godard as the placeholder title. Showing up late to class will only cement his status as Professor Montinoff’s least favourite pupil. Which is exactly why stopping by the tiny, overpopulated Blockbuster off campus to retrieve some last-minute watches before class seems like a terrible idea in retrospect.
“My son just loves these movies,” the woman in front of him drawls, akin to reciting ingredients for a stew. She watches intently as Jerry The Cashier swipes a due date sticker onto Return of the Jedi. “Oh — here, I have a photo of him right —”
“That’s — that’s alright,” the cashier cuts in, tight-lipped, ushering the tapes into her handbag. “You’ve got — um. A pretty hefty line behind you.”
He gestures weakly to the crowd accumulated by the register. Mike offers an impatient, two-fingered wave.
The woman falters. “Oh. Sorry.”
Jerry shoots her an apologetic smile. His gaze tracks up, briefly, extending his sympathies to the ever tolerant Mike. It’s at this that Mike’s stomach does something weird — this nerve-wracking, backbend loop — so he quickly breaks the stare right as the woman begins dawdling away.
The empty VHS boxes give way under his arm and land onto the counter in a graceless thwump. “Please tell me you still have A Christmas Story,” Mike huffs.
Jerry’s plastic smile softens at Mike’s presence. “Odd request.”
“Do you?”
“Let’s see,” Jerry drones, turning around to the wall of VHS tapes in chunky plastic cases. “We do, actually.” He pulls a white-rimmed case out from the wall and places it onto the counter before inspecting the rest of Mike’s selection. “Christmas movie in October,” he says dryly. “Right on schedule.”
A red flush creeps up Mike’s collarbone. “Shut up.”
“Never.”
The red-haired cashier beside Jerry snorts. Mike takes one look at her, mentally shoots an ominous glare in her direction, and immediately clears his throat, straightening out.
Okay. Maybe he’s getting a little carried away here. Especially considering the fact that the time is broaching 7:55 — 7:55!? — and if he doesn’t haul his ass to campus right after he’s paid, he can kiss his film degree goodbye.
But Mike is not privy to the fact that a cute boy is flirting with him and has since last month, very obviously so. There is a reason why Mike maps out his walk to Tisch around the Blockbuster across the street, there is a reason why Mike chooses to wait in Jerry’s endless line instead of his female companion’s much less lengthy one, and there is a reason why Mike is gawking at him, right now — because Mike wants to flirt with him, too.
His eyes slip to the watch on his wrist. 7:56.
Well — okay. He supposes Professor Montinoff won’t mind if he’s gone a few, measly minutes.
So, correction: Mike is going to be late to his eight AM class, for no other reason than Mike himself, and his completely instinctive, homosexual nature.
The sound of packaged tapes landing against the counter brusquely jerks Mike back to reality. “A Christmas Story, Breathless, and Aliens,” Jerry pipes as he scans the VHS. “No offence, but uh — what the hell is this movie lineup?”
“That’s for my little sister,” Mike hastily explains, pointing to Ralph’s impish face swathed in rabbit attire. “She’s coming to visit this weekend and we have this weird tradition of watching Christmas movies when it’s not actually Christmas. And that’s for my film studies class.” Mike glares coldly at Breathless. Contrary to his latest essay title, he doesn’t actually hate Godard, just hates that all they ever learn is Godard, hates that his whole class practically kisses the ground Godard walks on, hates the fact that Montinoff acts like Godard is the pinnacle of French new wave cinema, instead of, like, Truffaut, or something. “And Aliens,” — Mike considers embarking on another spiel, but Jerry is peering up at him through his lashes, and Mike has promptly forgotten every facet to the English language — “that one’s just — for, uh — me.”
Jerry squints, scrutinizing. “Huh.”
The strap of Mike’s backpack digs into his sleeve. “What?”
“Nothing.” Jerry cards Mike’s membership identification into the register, and Mike tries not to get embarrassingly red at the fact that he’s been here so often that Jerry knows it by heart. “It’s just — I think you have to be egregiously uncultured to prefer it to the first.”
And — Mike would seriously consider asking Jerry out to a movie sometime, because he’s never once heard anyone else use the word egregiously in a conversation before — if it weren’t for the fact that his name is Jerry, and that he’s officially lost all his charm in just one sentence.
“Excuse me,” Mike scoffs, “everyone knows Aliens is light years better than Alien.”
“Well, clearly you haven’t —”
“Jesus,” the redhead beside Jerry sneers, with a nametag that Mike has begrudgingly observed to read Max, “are you guys going to do this all day?”
A knot burrows elusively in Mike’s stomach. He flushes, very visibly.
It’s a tortuous affair, this thing between him and Jerry. This blatant tension, under the guise of film-buff banter. It’s almost as addictive as the concept of Blockbuster itself: a plethora of shiny, freshly manufactured tapes that feel as though they should be admired from a distance rather than handled and used. Mike feels himself entranced by the heady wood-dust atmosphere, and, likewise, the offbeat charm of Jerry’s lopsided fringe. Moments like these bring Mike back to the crushing certainty of reality. That, unlike in the fantasy Mike has painted himself in, there are other people in the world who are not oblivious to their flirting, and that he is hopelessly, ridiculously, far gone.
“Ignore her,” Jerry sneers, smoothing a hand over his uniformed polo with his name embroidered on the front. “That’s nine dollars.”
“Perfect,” Mike exclaims, except it isn’t, because he’s pretty sure he’s only got, like, eight dollars and fifty five cents, and sweat is beginning to trickle down his forehead at the prospect of embarrassing himself in front of the very handsome Blockbuster clerk and the very impatient queue strewn out behind him.
In an alleviating turn of events, Mike fishes out a lone dollar wedged deep inside his pocket, balancing his half empty cup of coffee in the same hand. “Ah,” Mike says awkwardly, sliding it across the counter. “It was, uh. Hiding.”
“Cool,” Jerry says.
Mike cringes.
Blessedly, Jerry doesn’t seem to notice Mike’s incompetence, and only presses a yellow sticker onto each tape with October 23 printed in bold, black letters. He stows them into a sleek brown paper-wrapped parcel and slides it into Mike’s eager hands. “Be kind and rewind,” he says flatly.
“Thanks,” Mike murmurs back, willing himself not to rip the parcel open, “uh — Jerry.”
The sharp wit that Jerry usually carries is drowned out by the static of confusion. His gaze stretches to his nametag sewn neatly in white.
“Oh, that’s — my name is Will,” Jerry — Will — says, offering Mike a closemouthed smile. “This is just an old uniform.”
“Oh.”
And — this is totally, one hundred percent fine, and Mike is relieved to learn that his name is actually Will and not Jerry — except he’s a little embarrassed to know that he’s spent the past month ranting to Lucas about their shoulder brushes and too-long glances and he’s had his name wrong this whole time.
“Mike,” Mike says blankly, because, well, he is Mike.
“See you later, Mike,” Will smiles.
Even if Will has committed the biggest crime in cinema history that is preferring Alien to Aliens, he is still cute, bafflingly so.
The bright red numbers on Mike’s Casio watch blink up at him. 8:02.
“Shit,” Mike is saying, hightailing out of the video store before Will’s brown-green eyes keep him rooted in place and on the way to college dropout status.
idk if im gonna finish this but here is the prologue to my cinephile au ....kind of.... yay. i am so cool and funny everybody Agrees
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Imagine Mike not processing Eddie's death for a while. Ever since he and the rest got back from Lenora it's all been constant movement and getting the logistics down of what will happen next.
The Byers are staying at the Wheelers, of course. The town was suddenly put under quarantine. The military is flooding the streets. Vecna is gone, but Hawkins has been divided in four with open gates to the Upside Down. Everyone thinks it was all because of an earthquake. He and El aren't really talking, though El isn't talking to most, really. She's just focusing on spending time with Hopper, both hidden in the cabin by the woods, building her strength for what will come next which... Well, no one knows what will come next.
So, it's been chaotic as Mike is pulled in multiple directions at once. Until one day, he is not. Until one day things are quiet for once. The military finished patching the gates. School announces the return to classes. People go back outside little by little, returning to their normal lives.
That's when it catches up to Mike. When his thoughts become quiet enough for his grief to surface and pull him under.
Eddie is... dead.
His friend is just... gone. And unlike other times, this time there's not a way to get him back. There's no place to search. No thread to follow. He's simply... gone. Forever.
It hits him Mike at once one morning, as he is brushing his teeth. His eyes find his reflection on the mirror, he sees his hair, long and unkept, so reminiscent of...
The blood goes cold inside Mike's veins.
Eddie is dead. He is dead. His friend is-
Nausea rolls inside Mike's stomach. He suddenly can't breathe. Can't think. Around him, the walls cave in and close on him, looming and tumbling and Mike is a second away from being crushed under their weight.
He takes hold of the edge of the sink with a tight grip, enough to turn his fingers white under the pressure.
Breathe. Just breathe.
But Mike can't.
And when he looks up and sees his hair again, he finally loses it. Tears well inside his eyes as he stumbles in a hurry to Nancy's room. He doesn't even have the mind to be glad to find it empty. All he is thinking about is the pair of scissors he knows Nancy keeps in one of her drawers. With those in hand, he rushes back to the bathroom.
His hands are trembling as he pulls on his back locks and cuts. The itch burning underneath his skin grows to a flame that Mike knows can't be put out. The stitches that hold him together begin to tear.
Snip.
Snip. Snip.
Hair falls to the sink, piling up. But Mike can't see through his tears. He just keeps cutting and cutting and-
The scissors catch his hand, butting on his fingers. The sudden pain makes Mike pull back with a hiss. "Shit!"
"Mike?"
That's when Will finds him, shaking in the bathroom with a bloody hand and his hair made a mess.
Will takes the scene in for a moment, then he spots Mike's tears and he is moving. He walks up to Mike, eyes wide and filled with concern. "Mike, what's wrong? What are you doing?"
But Mike just shakes his head.
"Hey, hey. You know you can talk to me." Will places his hands on Mike's shoulders and searches for his eyes. "Mike," Will calls again.
"He- He's dead," Mike sobs, feeling like an idiot for crying in front of someone like this. "Eddie is dead. He's just- gone."
Mike doesn't register being pulled into a hug. Not until Will's arms are around him for a while, grounding him and sheltering him. Will doesn't seem to mind the way Mike shakes with his sobs, or that his shirt is being wet with tears. He just holds Mike and Mike lets go of the last thread holding him together.
And Mike cries. He cries and clings to Will's shirt, desperate to feel how solid Will is beneath his hands, how present he is.
Will doesn't push him to talk nor does he pull away. Even when Mike runs out of breath and his sobs become quieter, he remains there, holding Mike.
Mike's cheeks burn with the path of tears marked on them by the time he calms down enough to pull back. Will holds him for one more second before relaxing and letting him go.
"Mike," he says softly. But Mike shakes his head. He doesn't want to talk. He barely has any energy left to be standing. Will seems to accept this, though the worry is still burning in his hazel eyes.
Mike breathes in and looks at Will. "Uhm... Do you know anything about cutting hair?" He asks.
Will smiles softly and offers a hand, asking for the scissors. "I've been cutting El's hair lately, though I'm not sure that counts," he says and Mike smiles.
He nods, holding back the sobs that are still lodged in his throat. "I think that will do."
my sorta kinda contribution to bravebyers and wisewheeler that i may end up writing eventually is that when paladin mike shows up in the aftermath of “sorcerer” and starts interacting with will, it’s never quite made explicit to everyone that he and cleric will are in a relationship. but like… everyone with eyes can tell that paladin mike is infatuated with will, because he’s much more touchy feely and open about his affection and is glued to will’s side.
this, of course, makes mike wheeler all kinds of mad, and paladin mike, seeing this younger and alternate version of himself, decides he needs to try and talk to mike. he attempts to talk with mike some time before the failed shock jock plan, but obviously, it doesn’t go well. will gets taken by vecna, and mike is clearly freaking out about it. paladin mike is also very worried for will, because he knows about his own universe’s version of henry and the suffering he put cleric will through.
both mikes end up staying by will’s side with joyce when will is unconscious; though, at some point, joyce gets pulled away by hopper. while this happens, paladin mike takes the opportunity to talk to mike, attempting to console him that jane will find and rescue will and also that whatever relationship woes he and will are suffering will inevitably be solved. and mike just gets angry and snaps at paladin mike and tells him he doesn’t know will. that will’s not like him. will is better than paladin mike, and he’s not like that, he’s not, he’s not… like mike.
and paladin mike goes quiet, not understanding because the issue of homophobia doesn’t exist in his own universe, and mike just shakes his head, suddenly quieter and more subdued. he’s not looking at paladin mike but starts talking about how paladin mike looks at will like he’s the most incredible person in the world and how he probably wants to just spend every moment with will, because there’s just something drawing him to will constantly, and it’s very clear mike is talking about himself, not the paladin anymore. and he finished his whole speech about will by reiterating that will isn’t like him, and they can’t have this, so paladin mike just needs to back off and leave will alone.
and when he finishes, paladin mike is quiet. and he still doesn’t fully understand it—because he’s never lived this experience—but he’s mike, too. he has compassion on mike and asks mike if he wants to know where paladin mike was, before he got accidentally teleported here to them. mike’s like, whatever, just tell me. and paladin mike begins to tell him about how he and cleric will were out on their own in the woods, and the story seems pretty normal at first, until paladin mike explains that his will had asked for his hand in marriage.
mike just sort of goes still and is like what.
and paladin mike is recalling the story and smiling fondly, pointing out that he is a little upset (not really) that cleric will asked first, when he had been planning to do it for so long. mike is still in shock from this, and he doesn’t understand. and paladin mike goes into the explanation that sure, they might be different people, but if there’s one thing he’s sure of and that he knows will would agree with, it’s that they’re destined to find each other and be together in every life.
the scene fades out and moves over into will’s perspective, where he is suffering in one of vecna’s visions. in the vision, will and mike are no longer on speaking terms for the same beliefs that will also holds: that mike isn’t like him. (they’re both silly and don’t realize that they’re in love with each other, okay?) will is unhappy in the vision obviously since he’s being tortured, but then he begins to his distant voices. it’s mike and paladin mike talking to each other in the room, and will hears the tail end of their conversation, with mike ultimately confessing he has feelings for will and paladin mike encouraging him to be brave and to pursue will.
this is enough to begin to shake will out of vecna’s trance. he knows he has to get back to mike now and that what vecna has been torturing with has been a lie. will begins to see a shimmering portal. he’s relieved, remembering what the others had said max described back from spring 1986. he assumes this is his way out, and he runs to the portal—
only to end up right in front of cleric will, in that universe.
naturally, both wills are shocked to see each other, but cleric will helps will to his feet and points out that he’s not mike. will deduces that this version of himself must be the counterpart to the paladin mike that landed in their universe, and he tells cleric will that he knows where paladin mike is and that they might be able to help each other get back to their own mikes.
not to pull a d*ffer brother, but what happens with the two versions of will bonding will be offscreen or i will figure it out later.
eventually, back in mike’s pov, his will wakes up right at the moment when cleric will shows up in hopper’s cabin and scares all of them. mike is hugging his will close and then sees paladin mike and cleric will reunite. when this happens, mike hugs will a bit closer and will nestles into the embrace, as both of them are seeing what they could have as well. and it’s at that moment where they both make the decision that they’ll tell each other how they feel.
anyways, paladin mike and cleric will go home (though not before making both will and mike flustered first), the coming out scene now gets replaced with a byler getting together before the battle scene, and they kiss and live happily ever after. mwah okay bye
romaincrisis
snowghoul
origamiaround
baratheonpilled
