My World

He's been doing this a while, playing with Robin (gets them at indie book stores) and Erica (makes them herself). He loves them, especially the goofy ones like Erica's My Little Pony epic/horror campaign.

DnD is just too many rules, too many things to remember, too many limitations, and everyone he knows who plays it are sticklers for every little pedantic correction. That's not fun, so he won't play it.

He's really annoying about it, too. Any time someone asks him to play DnD (no one knows but the two he plays with), he always responds with something like "not my thing," or "DnD is lame," with no elaboration. He does not mention that he will play other similar games, because to him, it's not relevant.

Eddie is particularly persistent, always insisting that Steve will love it. He cajoles and makes promises and tells Steve he'll be great at it. Steve always responds with an "I know I would be" which just makes Eddie want him to play more.

When Eddie eventually walks in on the gang playing an epic, psychological horror GMed by a surprisingly in control Robin, he freaks the fuck out.

Eddie fully expecting the standard Normie reaction to his music the one time he's "permitted" to play his own cassettes in Steve's car, Steve looking puzzled as he listens before shrugging and carrying on driving.

It's not a negative reaction, +1 for Harrington apparently, but as they drive he keeps getting that little puzzled look on his face, and Eddie's starting to suspect Steve is fighting the urge to be a bitch about it, he's heard about his "trying" from the others.

He's not going to back down if Steve picks a fight over it, Eddie will defend his music to the death if he has to, so he's ready to bite back when Steve finally opens his mouth.

"Is this a new one?" not what he was expecting,

"huh?"

"The tape, is it a new one? I swear I know the voice but... I don't know the songs, is it new?"

"You've heard Black Sabbath before?"

"Is this that Ozzy guy then?" it's not, it's Ronnie James Dio, but that Steve remembered that is Interesting, that he recognises the music is more interesting.

"What songs do you know?" he asks, suspicious, Steve must be bullshitting him, there's no way.

"I dunno... that uh... one that—" he stops and starts 'da-na-na-na'ing Stargazer of all things,

Everyone is convinced they're having a secret relationship, but Eddie defends himself by saying he's just there to enjoy Steve's pool. As everyone knows, he can't stand the heat, and Steve is kind enough to let him use his pool. If there's any secret relationship going on, it's between Eddie and the pool, certainly not between Eddie and Steve.

Everyone seems more or less convinced by Eddie's arguments and moves on to something else. Everyone except Robin… 

And she's absolutely right not to be convinced, because Eddie and Steve have been having a secret relationship for several months already.

"Hey, idiot don't forget your dice." and he tosses the pouch at Dustin, who barely catches it because he's an unathletic loser. He scoffs and smiles anyway, "Thanks dad."

Before Eddie can process that, Dustin walks out, completely oblivious to the fact that he'd even said the D-word. Eddie stands there for way longer than he should, circling through pride, affection, and offense because he is NOT old enough to be a father!

A few weeks go by, Eddie pretty much forgets about it and chooses not to bring it up, because despite what everyone thinks, he isn't the biggest douchebag in the word. (He still is one of course but not the biggest!) Eddie forgets about it until another hellfire session is over, but Dustin took a little too long, and Steve Harrington comes marching into the school.

"Dude, I told you to be quick today! I promised Max and Lucas I'd take them to the movies!" The perfectly styled brunette started to scold, Eddie found himself a little hot under the collar as he glanced between Dustin and his much taller, much more attractive friend.

Dustin rolled his eyes, "Okay, okay, jesus, you're such a nag, mom." He added the "mom" mockingly, Harrington didn't even bristle. "I'm flattered to be compared to your mother, now move your ass." He demanded, dragging Dustin away by his bag.

Eddie was once again, stuck standing there for a little longer than he should've, before his feet were suddenly moving and he burst into the parking lot and luckily, somehow, Harrington and Dustin weren't in their cars yet.

"Henderson called me dad once!" He shouted over at them, a little out of breath. "If you're his mother I think I owe you a date! Or at least child support!" He called, giving Harrington a sharp grin even though a part of him was horrified at his own actions.

Dustin looked ten times more horrified than Eddie felt, but Steve just turned, glanced Eddie over, and paused. "That can be arranged." He smirked a little before getting in his car, Dustin followed, and even over the engine starting Eddie could hear the kid screeching about dignity or something.

They drove away but Eddie's heart was pounding louder than them turning out of the parking lot.

His voice was flat, unimpressed, the barest hitch to it that no one would ever catch.

Steve just grinned, kept tracing his thumb over the back of Eddie's hand, figure-8s around the knuckles, the barest trace of maddening pressure that made Eddie's throat click around a swallow.

"Eddie," Steve said, solemnly, a tiny quirk of a grin hidden at the edge of his mouth.

"Hospital hand-holding," Eddie said, going for his most maddeningly pedantic, "is for coma patients and grandparents. Siblings, possibly. Spouses, I'll allow."

The grin wasn't hidden any more, curling Steve's mouth up into something indescribably soft. Eddie'd look away, look at the damp-stained ceiling, if that didn't feel like admitting defeat.

"So more than friends, is what you're telling me," Steve said, squeezing Eddie's hand a little tighter. Eddie had to bite back a soft noise - almost managed it, too.

"Are we even- " Eddie started, then redirected, to avoid the line forming between Steve's eyebrows. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

"You got a problem with me holding your hand, Munson?" Steve asked, leaning in too close, his grin lost to the brightness of his hazel eyes, his weight leaning on the bed sheets and pulling them tight against -

Eddie failed at biting back a noise again. Closed his eyes as Steve looked down.

"Look," Eddie said, shake in his voice, hopelessness in his tone, "look this is progress, okay?"

"I guess boners require blood pressure," Steve said, his tone a little off.

"It's not my fault you're some kind of fairytale hero," Eddie said helplessly. "I can't help it if my dick's kind of in love with you now."

A pause, then another tightening of Steve's fingers.

Eddie comes home to his boyfriend on the couch just flicking through TV channels, all while looking like some kind of punk rock angel, and just stands there for a minute, his brain imploding.

End of the World AU - Masterlist

Here's my collection of all the Steddie fics I've written that are set in the same post-apocalypse universe. (Last updated: 6/10/26)

General Series Tags: Canon Divergence Post-S4, Hurt/Comfort, End of the World, Just the Two of Us, The World is Bleak, But We're Together

Miles to Go | Prompt: Rest | Word Count: 387 | Rating: T | CW: Post-Apocalyptic, Minor Injury | POV: Eddie | Tags: Eddie's Injured, But They Gotta Keep Walking

The Sound of Silence | Prompt: Needing To Be Quiet | Word Count: 952 | Rating: T | CW: Post-Apocalyptic | POV: Steve | Tags: Gotta Be Quiet, Walking, Still Walking, Hand Signals

So Here Is Us | Prompt: Edge | Word Count: 509 | Rating: T | CW: Post-Apocalyptic, Pre-Existing Injury | POV: Steve | Tags: Eddie Needs Medical Attention, Steve Does What He Can

Would've, Could've, Should've | Prompt: Time | Word Count: 485 | Rating: T | CW: Language, Temporary Canon Character Death | POV: Steve | Tags: Post S4, Time Travel Fix-It or This is How the World Ends, Steve Damn Sure Never Should Have Danced Made a Deal With the Devil At Nineteen, Open (But Hopeful) Ending

Click, Click, Click | Prompt: Fairytale | Word Count: 734 | Rating: T | CW: Post-Apocalyptic | POV: Eddie | Tags: Finding Somewhere to Hunker Down

Turning a Corner | Prompt: Million | Word Count: 888 | Rating: T | CW: Post-Apocalyptic | POV: Eddie | Tags: Steve's Sick, And Eddie Has To Take Point

The members have been giving their impressions about BAD and saying things that really intrigue me:

Hongjoong: "What vibe does the music give? What vibe does the stage give? In the comments, you wrote "sexy, refreshing, cute," and I agree with that. It's sexy, refreshing, cute. It's that kind of music that has it all, so anyway, I worked hard on it too, preparing together with the members, and cuteness is possible. Once this comes out, you'll be like, "Hongjoong-ah, I get it." Definitely. If we rank by order—sexy, refreshing—then it'd be sexy, cute, refreshing, right? By that ratio, yeah, that's how I see it. I prepared a ton for it."

"The fan chant’s gonna be tough? Let me give you a heads up about the cheer in advance. Actually, it’s not even a warning.. I shouldn’t warn you, this is more like I need to apologize. I’ll apologize beforehand. I’m sorry. The cheer is quite difficult. We’ve already made it, but it’s really not easy.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​"

Seongwha: "Some parts might be hard, some might be fun, overall you’ll see a lot of different things. So when we were preparing, I remember that recording really wasn’t easy, I prepared a lot."

Yeosang: "really new sound/concept" and "there's a lot more to see besides just the music/performance"

Mingi: "I think our song coming out this month, in my opinion, will become ATEEZ's representative song."

I'm hearing that they're trying something new, not just in terms of sound, but in concept. Ateez loves to throw curveballs at us, and the tagline of this cb is "question everything."

So, what if BAD is not just one song... what if it's a song that changes or transforms, based on who performs it and how it's performed? What if the shorter than usual runtime is intentional, to allow for expansion, addition, and customization? Could that be why we have so many remixes, including by VERY influential DJs? Is the difficultly with the fan chant because we're going to have to memorize different versions?

Is the color inversion a major hint? A light side and a dark side? World A and World Z? Dream and reality?

Anyway, let's stick a pin in this theory and see where it takes us...

Part of my upside-down AU

Vampire Eddie, or something like that

eddie munson commission for @isleofmae 💘

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