home to the beloved blorbo

Fae!Steve who is changling. Who used to be a little more malicious with his tricks as a young teen, but now is just a bit mischievous as most. Harmless, really. But he has a questionable hobby…

Some people collect action figures, comic book, ties, but Steve? He collects names, okay! He doesn’t do anything with them, promise, but he likes to collect them. And his job as a barista ensures that he has an impressive roster of names.

“Hi, welcome to Upside Down Coffee. May I have your name?

“Estelle.”

Steve, eyes gleaming with excitement, “Ooh, that’s a beautiful name. I hadn’t had the pleasure to meet someone with that name until now.” And the lady blushes at his flirting, leaving a few bucks in his jar.

And then meets Eddie who refuses to give him his name. He doesn’t know if it’s deliberate or not. And he never misses the chance to flirt with him, mistaking his flushed cheeks from being flustered, but really it’s frustration.

“Hi, welcome! May I have your name?”

“You can put me down as Eddie, sweetheart.”

Steve: >:(

“Hi! May I have your name?”

“Just Eddie will do.” He winks.

Steve: >:(

“Hi, welcome back! May I have your name?”

“Come on, bright eyes, dont you remember me?” Eddie pouts.

“Well,” he bats his eyelashes, “I was hoping you’d give me your real first name.”

“God no, it’s atrocious. Trust me, Princess, I’ll spare you.”

Steve: >:(

@steviehchrist so my thought process is that any previous experience Eddie would have falls under the realm of “casual”. If he’s got experience at all it’s definitely one night stands/maybe a couple FWBs, it’s the dynamic he’s used to. Combine that with Steve thinking “I know exactly how to signal to someone that I want to date them” without knowing that Eddie. Has no way of knowing those signs actually. And you get Eddie really, genuinely thinking they were fucking platonically because Steve never said the actual words “we’re dating”.

i love an eddie who has little to no experience, whether dating or sex or both, and the miscommunications that causes. like steve giving him every possible sign that he's in love with him, but eddie has never had someone be like that with him so he's got, like, romance blindness. theoretically he knows, but it's also Steve Harrington and everyone knows how he is whenever he's with someone so it's totally possible there's no actual feelings beyond platonic on steve's side. cuddling after sex? just the endorphin rush.

He doesn't want to embarrass Eddie by calling attention to his situation in front of everyone but also like. Monsters with no faces exist in Hawkins and they can crawl through walls. He cannot handle another Barb situation so...

Steve tries to be subtle when he approaches Eddie at school.

He's being so subtle and so casual when he says without really saying that he saw Eddie in the woods and he understands Eddie's *gestures at him* whole thing and like.

If he wants to come over sometime, Steve wouldn't mind. He'd actually like it (because than he'd know Eddie wasn't demo-food) and also, ""Lots of, uh. Beds. In my house. That's more comfortable than your van, am I right?"

Steve leaves this conversation feeling pretty proud of himself for his good deed.

"Why not?" Lucas asks. "I did that with Max and we're going strong."

"First of all, you guys break up every other week," Steve says. "Second, she didn't believe you until the upside down tried to eat her, remember? I was there."

"That was pretty bad ass," Dustin comments.

"Also rude as hell," Lucas says. "We don't break up every other week anymore."

"It doesn’t matter," Steve laments. "It's about sharing your life. The most important time in my life is tied up in government red tape. I’m going to die. Alone."

"Just date Eddie," Robin finally cuts in. She cannot listen to this anymore. "You like him. He likes you. There you go. Not just shared experiences, shared bite marks."

All three boys are just, "..."

Funny in a way that their lives can be compared in almost an exact opposite.

Eddie, who never really knew the love of a parental figure until his uncle took him in. Steve, who was his parents pride and joy until he started to form his own opinions.

Eddie, who'd made himself the target for bullies because Wayne taught him to always stick up for the little guy. Steve, who turned into a bully because his parents taught him it was better to hurt someone else than be hurt.

Eddie, whose trailer is a home packed to brim with stuff and full of love. Steve, whose huge house is so empty and devoid of life it might as well be a mausoleum.

Eddie, who everyone in their group accepts, embraces, cares for, so easily, so quickly, so seamlessly, and Steve, who must earn their affection one task at a time and still isn't sure he belongs.

Eddie got a shit start at life, so karma's seen fit to make it up to him now. Steve was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, so naturally karma's come to make that right, too.

Steve finds it funny in that it isn't funny at all.