Eddieās out at a gay bar, sees the most gorgeous man heās ever clapped eyes on nursing a half finished beer at an otherwise unoccupied table, and canāt resist offering to buy him a drink. The man looks at him with droopy hazel eyes, and he seems⦠Well, he seems sad. But he smiles, and accepts, despite being so far out of Eddieās league itās ridiculous.
His name is Steve, newish in town and recently single. He catches Eddie noticing the tan line from a ring thatās no longer on his finger and adds, āI was married. Iām⦠not anymore.ā (Eddie guesses it must have been a rough divorce.)
Steve is bisexual, he also mentions hastily with a faint blush that tells Eddie the attraction might actually mutual.
They chat for a few hours, comparing their early lives growing up in small towns (Steve in Indiana, Eddie in Colorado) and their current jobs (Steve works in an office doing something the only explains as āreally, really dull,ā Eddie in a local community center organizing afterschool activities for local kids and DMing for a couple different youth DnD groups) and music tastes (neither of them are huge fans of whatās playing in the bar). After a while, Steve admits that heās in a rut.
āYou looking to change that, sweetheart?ā Eddie asks, and part of him wants to jump up and down and punch the air at how smooth that came out holy shit. Because Steve smiles shyly back (itās like the fucking sun coming out a from behind a cloud) and says that yeah, heād like that.
Fast forward to next morning. Eddie wakes up drooling on a perfectly hairy chest and a pounding in his head that doesnāt actually hurt, itās just loud. Knocking, he realizes eventually, and reluctantly hauls himself out of bed. Whoever it is at this unholy hour of⦠uh, 10am, can just deal with the fact that heās answering the door in his boxers, covered in hickies and scratch marks, and with bedhead so wild it makes him look several inches taller than he actually is.
Only to be informed by the woman at his door that she knows Steve is here because she tracked his phone to this location. āOh! Not like that,ā she adds hastily when Eddieās eyes go wide. āNo, Iām not, like, a jealous girlfriend or anything, thatād be weird, heās like my sister. I meanāwell, itās hard to explain. But, anyway, look, I know heās been having a rough time since his wife died, and Iām glad he found someone to, um, keep company with, heās way too fucking picky if you ask meāItās just, I really canāt afford the time off to keep babysitting right now, so if he could be, like, alive by the time school gets out, thatād be goodā¦?ā
And oh god, Eddie is trying to absorb all that. Steve is a widower? Jesus H. Christ, at some point last night Eddie had moaned that whoever his ex was obviously hadnāt known what a good, perfect, wonderous thing they were giving up. Steve is picky, but picked him? Oh, thatās giving him butterflies. Steve has a kid? Well, Eddie is good with kidsā¦
Suddenly thereās a groan behind him and Steve shuffles up to wrap an arm around Eddieās torso in a loose but affectionate hug. āThanks a lot, Robin,ā Steve complains, his voice still rough from sleep, āI hadnāt told him about the twins yet.ā
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