ordonpumpkin

And here they were. At last resort. And earlier than he'd expected.

He sighed and dialed, hoping that Steve wouldn't hear the phone from the other room where he was in the rocking chair beside the crib.

"Help," he said.

"I'll be there in six minutes."

When Joyce arrived, she shoved a glass casserole dish into his hands and immediately went to the kitchen to wash her hands. She looked at Eddie expectantly.

"He won't sleep," Eddie said simply.

She smiled. "Well, babies not sleeping is—"

"No. The baby sleeps fine. It's Steve. Steve won't sleep."

Confusingly, Joyce smiled wider and patted him on the shoulder. "Ah," she said. "The firstborn problem. Where is he?"

"Nursery," Eddie sighed.

"On it. Why don't you go grab a shower?"

The suggestion was gentle, but Eddie still chuckled. He definitely needed that, even he could admit it. When he reemerged from the bathroom in a waft of cinnamon-scented soap, he found Steve, sprawled fully clothed on top of the duvet.

"Joyce said she'll watch him," Steve murmured, exhausted.

Eddie frowned. He moved to Steve and started pulling layers of clothing off of him. He offered Steve the soft grey tee he preferred to sleep in, but let him keep his boxers. It felt like more work than it was worth to get him into different pants. He was disappointed; he'd been hoping that Joyce would offer a better solution than someone else pointlessly watching the baby, but. Still. Sleep was sleep.

They both fell asleep immediately; Eddie dreamed of a unicorn that fed off the native honeysuckle in their yard. Just as the Protect Unicorns Society was telling him the house was going to be taken over by the government, Eddie awoke to a sharp cry, followed by the sound of Steve bolting out of bed.

Eddie followed at a more sedate pace, curious and also alarmed by Steve's movement. In the nursery, Joyce stood in the middle of the room, holding the baby, a bottle of formula in one hand as she rocked.

"Oh, look at that. Less than two minutes and you're both here," she teased with a grin. "It's almost like you're going to hear your child no matter how tired you are. Eddie, I declare you on shift. Steve, go back to bed. He's safe. He's got two great dads. Shifts, boys. You'll survive this." Eddie took the baby and smiled at Steve. Joyce put both her hands on Steve's shoulders and squeezed.

"It's hard. It's scary. It never gets less hard or less scary," she said gently. "But you've got this. Don't make Eddie call me again. He hated it."

Steve looked at Eddie over Joyce's head and gave him a small smile at the sight of the baby, curled into his chest, quietly calming down. She patted him once more and left.

"We've got this?" Steve asked quietly.

Eddie grinned. "We've got this.”

He shifted the baby to a more comfortable position. The tiny weight in his arms felt both impossibly fragile and remarkably sturdy. He watched Steve's shoulders drop, the tension visibly draining away.

"Joyce is right about shifts, you know," Eddie continued, keeping his voice low and soothing as much for Steve as for the baby.

Steve ran a hand through his disheveled hair. "But you have that commission due next week. You need sleep, too."

"Hey, I've pulled all-nighters for way less important reasons." Eddie smiled, carefully settling into the rocking chair. "Remember when I stayed up three nights straight to finish that D&D campaign for the kids?"

"That was different. This is…" Steve gestured vaguely at the baby, who had started to drift off again, tiny fingers curling around Eddie's shirt.

So this is just my read on the relationship, but I think Peter does have his own down bad moments -- they just look a little different.

My personal read on Spideytorch in canon is that Johnny is aware of his feelings for Peter, and has been for years and years, whereas Peter like, knows he cares deeply for Johnny but has maybe never stopped to quantify what those feelings actually are, and wouldn't necessarily act on them even if he did. Part of the reason being that Peter has been in several successful committed relationships over the years, as opposed to Johnny's unfortunate relationship history. But I do think these moments exist, just that they show up differently.

Peter also tends to be a little pigtail pull-y in his affection for Johnny, and less heart on his sleeve.

(Spider-Man/Fantastic Four #1) "Pretty boy." Okay. Yeah, he's eighteen and aggressive and thinks Johnny's life is perfect, but he had to throw in that little comment.

There's Spectacular Spider-Man v2 #4, too, where he says Johnny looks "like a dream" right after he's electrocuted himself.

Or when Johnny (and the rest of the Fantastic Four) were returned from the supposed dead after Heroes Reborn, when Peter is so excited to see him again that he doesn't even care that there's a multimillion dollar bounty on Spider-Man's head.

(ASM #430) "Especially the Human Torch! It would be rude to show up empty-handed. My old buddy deserves a great welcome home gift, but I can't decide between a webbed wedgie or a face full of--" Peter, why was your question essentially "his face or his ass?"

The moments that stick out to me are the ones where Peter is feeling emotional, like when he's saying he should have told Johnny he thought he was bright more in Amazing Spider-Man #657 after Johnny sacrificed himself in the Negative Zone, or when he tells Gwen he's "her Peter" again when he's with Johnny in Spider-Man/Human Torch #3, but also when he's protective of Johnny, like in Marvel Team Up #121, when Speed Demon knocks Johnny to the ground.

"And while a worried Spider-Man turns his attention toward the injured Johnny Storm..."

The lift hug in Fantastic Four #601 is a big one, but I also like this little moment in FF #16 after Johnny gets back from the Negative Zone where Peter is just touching Johnny.

The little hand on the shoulder in the background is so sweet. I think in general Peter is really physically affectionate, and that's kind of his default way to show affection. So this touchiness with Johnny here I think is very telling of his affection.

Same thing in Fantastic Four v5 #12 and #14, when Wyatt and Peter have confronted Johnny, spiraling over the loss of his powers and his family's separation, and later when Peter's chauffeuring Johnny around.

Just the way he's kind of hovering protectively on the wall while Johnny's talking comes off as very affectionate to me. Like, he's not interrupting, he's not trying to take over the conversation, he's just there for Johnny.

Same thing with Empyre: Fallout Fantastic Four.

I'm drawing wolves for the first time

The blood relation between Twilight and Time has always been something special to me

Original photo:

Where Eddie's got to see that and he knows, just as that couple, that he's got a good entourage and it would be alright.

Where Steve believes in them enough to trust him, to go through the hardship of the first years, until people stop commenting on it.

Until they just get to be normal because everyone knows about it and either they don't care anymore or they learned to deal with it.

Until they become 'that couple of queers' that live in forest hill, that are 'sinners' yeah, but Eddie is the best mechanic in town if you want a recommendation, and Steve is a sweetheart, always ready to help anyone in a pinch as long as you ask kindly and with a smile.

Where they get to be proud.

and he did. in eddie’s honor.

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