#so he decides while playing that day that its wayne
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When Mike Wheeler, red faced and still faintly tear stained, asks him how he knew he liked both Steve doesn’t know how to tell him it was his sister.
Before Nancy Wheeler it had only been boys. Before Nancy Wheeler Steve had been sure he was gay and knew well enough to keep it to himself; dating around enough to earn himself a protective reputation. Before Nancy Wheeler there’d been Marcus Summers, from the baseball team, during freshman year. Steve had gone to every game, and had been forced to make up excuses about schoolwork and his other commitments when asked why he hadn’t tried out for himself. Before Nancy Wheeler there’d been Tommy Hagan. The summer between seventh and eighth grade had been very kind to Tommy, he was sunkissed and boy next door sweet, Steve had wanted to hold his hand and count the freckles across the bridge of his nose.
Before Nancy Wheeler there’d been his first love, a boy who only visited one summer, the year Steve turned ten. His name had changed every time they hung out but he’d favored E’s. Eli, Emmett, Elliott, Eric, Excalibur, Excelsior, and once for about an hour Wayne. His hair brushed his chin in pretty brown curls and his big brown eyes were always bright with excitement. He always got storm off mad when any of the other boys they’d played with that summer said he was acting like a girl, E would run off to the woods and Steve would always follow. E always came up with the best games anyway, he didn’t like playing soccer or HORSE or anything else with rules that couldn’t be bent; he preferred imagination games where they were knights or wizards. He didn’t laugh when Steve said he always liked playing house, but never wanted to be the dad because why would he want to be someone who never wanted to spend any time with his kids. E who, while insisting on being called Samwise all day, was his first kiss.
Cause he knows what Mike wants to hear. He’s seen the way Mike and Will have danced around each other since the last portal closed. He’s heard the things Mike has said to and about Will. He’s heard all about the week that Will was in the Upside Down. He’s heard all about the summer of ‘85. He’s heard all about the final off again that seems to officially mark the end of Mike and El romantically. He knows that Mike wants him to say that he’d never even thought about boys before he met Eddie. That there’s just something special about Eddie that makes him want to give up his lady killing ways. That Eddie was different. That it was okay that he was having these scary new thoughts, maybe Will was just an exception.
And Steve doesn’t know how to have that conversation. When he realized he liked both it was a relief, that maybe he could have something normal and wouldn't have to spend his life lying or hiding.
But Eddie was different. Eddie was special. Eddie was probably it for Steve which is scary in a different way that he’s not ready to touch yet -- not when it’s only been three months.
There’s never been another girl since Nancy Wheeler, not really
There will never be another boy after Eddie Munson.
So he tries to help, as best he can. It’s easier with Eddie there, not quite dozing against his shoulder -- the kid’s emergencies always seem to come so late at night these days. “When I was ten, there was a boy whose name kept changing who decided prince charming should get to kiss his faithful knight. And when I was sixteen, your sister-”
Mike’s goodwill diminishes quickly as his sister gets introduced to the conversation.
“Stevie,” Eddie says. It’s not an admonishment for bringing up Nancy. It’s awestruck and watery. “You remember that?”
“Of course I remember the first boy I ever loved," that word catches up with him a second later. Remember.
Cause there's Eddie with his riot of brown curls and his Bambi eyes. Eddie, who has explained why soft feminine words chafe against his skin leaving him itchy and anxious. Eddie, who has an Uncle in Hawkins. Eddie who moved to town the summer before he entered high school with a buzzed head and his mother's last name. Eddie who finally settled into an E he liked best.
"Wheeler, here's a tip from me to you," Eddie says, his advice is always better received than Steve's anyway, "if you have to ask you probably already know."
"Straight people don't really spend much time wondering if they aren't really straight," Steve agrees.
They don't rush Mike out the door, a crisis is a crisis and even in the wake of new discoveries Mike deserves to be heard out. Deserves a chance to cry and rage and feel those emotions someplace safe from his Reaganite father -- just as much as Will deserves to have someone who knows what they want come to him, deserves better than experimentation.
They cross the bridge from late into early by the time Mike sets off. The sun is creeping up over the horizon and Mike looks solid, certain; the dawn hints at the man he is growing up to be. Though every instinct of Steve's begs him to drive the kid home, Eddie's soft hand lingering at his hip holds him fast. They wave instead, encouraging Mike to go home and to bed before he does anything; knowing his front bike tire is already pointed toward the Byers-Hopper place.
"The first boy you ever loved, huh, Stevie?" Eddie teases before the door has even managed to click shut.
"And the last, I'm hoping, if I play my cards right."
"You were always pretty good at that. You were the only person that summer who called me by my name, except Wayne."
"It was your name." He knows that's too simple. Knows how hard Eddie has had it, continues to have it. But that summer it had been that simple, Eddie trying on names like shirts each one fitting until they didn't. "For what it's worth, I like Eddie a lot more than Excalibur."
"Oh fuck off, I was going through a fantasy knight phase. Which I know you remember."
"Right a phase, and how much longer is this fantasy 'phase' going to last?"
They're the kind of tired that makes you feel drunk, when Eddie tackles Steve and sends them both to the floor and to giggles. Eddie might not have been his bi awakening, but Steve is pretty fine with him being his everything else.
#steddie#steve harrington#eddie munson#trans eddie munson#implied byler#steddie fic#my fic#i do worry that sometimes i come across as a nancy hater#which i cant emphasize enough is not the case#nancy is a complicated character and i love her and she and steve are not good for each other#also eddie trying on wayne because wayne was the first adult he told that he wasnt a girl and who handled it well#wayne at the breakfast table like okay then what is your name if its not [redacted] and eddie does not have an answer yet#so wayne says well just tell me when you get up what youre going by#so he decides while playing that day that its wayne#and that lasts exactly as long as it takes for steve to call him that before hes like nope thats weird#eddie is short for edmund but also short for eddie the head#eddie contains multitudes
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not to be a whore........... but imagine making out with Eddie's buldge through his underwear 😩
🥴🥴🥴 tbh I think there are two different scenarios and I wanted to choose only one to elaborate on but I couldn't so here I go: you're both either too lazy to care and this evolves from a sleepy cuddling session OR you're being needy and clingy, begging for his attention - just a whiny mess basically, and this is all that he's willing to give you. Both detailed under the cut 🥴🥴 (the 2nd one is pure filth, humiliation, degradation etc 18+!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
It's summer, Wayne's not in town and you have all the trailer to yourselves. But it's still early, no one's in the mood to party yet, it's hot and you're both too lazy to move.
Eddie's starfish on the bed, a comic book having him completely under its spell, while you lay lazily with your head on his tummy, hoping sleep would envelop you. But it doesn't; Eddie's too caught up with a plot twist he didn't see coming, and ideas start coming to you.
Your eyes fix the outline of his cock and without saying a word, you palm him in your hand, your fingers drawing random patterns on the material of his boxer briefs.
Eddie doesn't react, at least not to your knowledge, but one eyebrow does pop up. You don't see it however and decide to keep going, moving your hand a bit to the side so you can rub the length of his cock.
"Sweetheart?" Eddie lifts his comic book so he can look at you, "What are you doing?"
"Nothing"
You don't even look at him, just keep teasing him through his boxers, until he can't help but tense his thighs. "Love?"
"Yeah?" again, you answer without bothering to face him, but this time you do move. Just in the opposite direction, nonchalantly pressing your lips against his bulge.
The gesture was light, not too sudden or too strong, but the reason he froze for a second is the pure confusion that washed over him. But he doesn't get a chance to ask, because when he feels what you're doing - understands that you're right now literally kissing the length of his cock, he can't help but chuckle.
"Sweetheart, you know I can take those off for you, right?" Eddie teases, one hand on the top of your head as you keep going.
"Nah" you shrug and wrap your lips around his clothed tip. One of your hands slips lower, your fingers brushing against his balls as you start sucking.
"Ah fuck" he gasps. But you don't budge.
You keep at it - licking, sucking, grabbing, your teeth lightly grazing the tip of his cock.
"Baby, damn it" the comic book flies across the room, his attention now fully on you. "You wanna make me cum like that?"
But you don't answer. You just shove your hand up one of the legs of his boxer, cup his balls into your hand, and resume full on making out with his cock.
The sheer feeling of him getting hard under your lips, the way he can barely control his breathing, how his thighs tense and how his abdomen clenches every time you apply just a little bit more pressure, makes you want to see just how far you can go.
Brushing your thumb over the wet patches on his underwear, you look up at him, "Yeah, I wanna. Can I try?"
"Try?" he laughs and rubs your cheek with the back of his fingers, "Darling, you're halfway there"
You beam under his praise and resume your quest, eagerly sucking and tugging through the material as his cock visibly stiffens.
"But then you'll take yours off. You can play around all you want, but you know I can't stop until you've made a mess on my face, doll"
Fine by you.
OR
You being clingy isn't anything new. The planets sometimes settle so that some days the only thing you want is his attention and nothing else. And it's usually not a problem, Eddie being more than happy to oblige and give you what you so desperately crave, but there are also days when that is not possible.
Like this one.
Busy with tasks Wayne left for him, the campaign needing some last minute fixes, Dustin asking for a ride and a Corroded Coffin concert late in the evening - this day is bound to suck for the both of you.
You manage to compose yourself for as long as you can, but by the time you reach the venue for the show, you're almost out of your mind. Begging, teasing, whining, throwing yourself at other men to get his attention - you do everything in your power to get his attention. But you fail. Miserably. As once you finally get home, things don't play out the way you had hoped - at all.
"So fucking desperate, like a fucking whore" Eddie scoffs, plopping down on the couch. He spreads his legs and nods, "Do your thing"
Normally, you'd whine and complain, but your brain isn't cooperating so you listen to his command. You kneel in front of him, undo his jeans, and then helplessly look up at him, bottom lip popping out. "Eddie…"
"Do you need help, kitten?"
You nod.
"Do you deserve it? You acted like a dumb slut all night. Why would I help you? You can't even take my dick out, why would I let you suck it?"
"Please, Eddie…" you cry.
"Look into my eyes, doll" he commands, his hand on your chin forcing you to face him. "Apologize for the way you've been tonight"
"I'm- I'm sorry" you sniffle, "Please-"
"Sorry for being such a cock thirsty whore that you can't even function unless you get to have my dick down your throat?"
"...yes"
"Say it, baby. You need to hear yourself saying it. And look into my eyes while you do it, love. Show me how bad you want it"
"Please, Eddie-" you blink, "I'm sorry for being such a whore, but I need it, please. Can I please, please, suck your cock, please?"
And your pleading might have been enough but you'll never know. Eddie doesn't even get a chance to fully strip before he sees the hungry look in your eyes. "Come here" he motions as he stands up, his jeans now pooling around his ankles. "Show me you want it"
For a second, you look up at him in confusion, but the way his cock stretches the material of his underwear has you feral all over again.
So you don't question it, don't complain, you just get to work. He's hard - throbbing almost, the wet patch of precum making your tongue tingle as you make out with his cock as best you can.
"That's my girl" he grins, patting your head, "My good girl, keep going. Make me cum. If you can do it, you get to swallow it all, baby"
#eddie munson#eddie munson x reader#eddie munson smut#eddie munson imagine#eddie munson fanfiction#eddie x reader#eddie muson fanfic
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Omg literally it would be SO cool if you wrote the rest of the playboy bruce trying to kiss the justice league without them realizing it (I know you said figure it out but the way you wrote it was so good and funn I would love it if you gave maybe a couple of scenarios)
Lmao honestly executive dysfunction is kicking my ASS rn and it was intended as a prompt. I will try tho, definitely taking inspiration from the others who responded to the post because I love them.
If you haven’t, go check out the notes on the OG Post above! @britcision, @ivywing, and @help-i-need-a-cool-username all had amazing additions and @foursixtwonineoh-pieces-of-lego wrote a fic:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/48325771
As did @scrapcheck, still in progress
And Devilhorn!
Anyways LONG post under the cut
Hal Jordan
Hal is first to prove a POINT, as @britcision decided. Also because the bastard made it waaaay too easy. Remember- Hal was Joking. He genuinely thinks Batman isn’t going to try, because he’s way too straight-laced boring.
So when he’s at a bar in Coast City, and he sees this absolutely ravishing man lounging casually against the wall, bar lighting making him practically glow (he CALCULATED that) subtle makeup making his bright blue eyes pop as he looks Hal up and down… Well. Hal makes the first move.
Hal: “All on your own, handsome?”
Bruce, with “Mastermind” by Taylor Swift playing in his head, smiling sweetly at Hal: “Care to change that?”
They start talking. Hal doesn’t recognize Bruce Wayne at ALL (canonically he does not know who Bruce Wayne is, a point brought up by @help-i-need-a-cool-username) so all he knows is Bruce is a single father who works at a company he inherited from his parents, which is just (brucie voice) “so much less interesting than a test pilot!”
Bruce, grimacing internally but wrapped around Hal’s arm with the awed and interested eyes in full effect: “you have such a nice voice, tell me more about planes…”
He KNOWS what a fuselage is, thank you, Jordan. Whatever. He gets to gush about his kids, when its his turn to talk, good enough tradeoff. He can survive Hal Jordan’s bad pick up lines and pretend he’s into them. At a certain point Bruce breaks and kisses him just to shut him up. One down.
Diana Prince
I looked it up- kissing in Ancient Greece wasn’t always considered romantic, but also a greeting between two similarly-ranked people. Therefore, I think Diana would be pretty chill with kissing and honestly an easy target at a gala if Bruce plays respectful/clumsy/earnest himbo starstruck with the tall pretty woman, just a peck would make him the happiest man alive. But I wanna go a little more in depth.
Now, I’ve seen Flash and Martian Manhunter save Bruce and/or his kids and Bruce lays one on them, but honestly I think it would work well with Diana too, because she loves kids. Dick and/or Jason (whichever you want to imagine, I want them to team up screw canon) are WAY to excited for this, they’ve got a little script and everything.
WonderWoman, a kid in each arm, delivering them back to their tearful guardian: “Here we are, Mr. Wayne. Whole and healthy.”
Dick, playing into his role eagerly: “Oh my gosh, Bruce! Bruce we got saved by a princess! It’s like a fairytale! Except, you know, the princess is the hero this time, which is so freaking cool!”
Bruce, tears of gratitude rolling down his face (and he knows how to still look perfect while crying, its a skill): “I’m just glad the two of you are safe, Chum.”
Jason, big baby blues in full effect, absolutely asked Wonder Woman to be his mom earlier (to set groundwork, no other reason): “You know, usually the princess and the hero gets a kiss at the end of a fairytale, Bruce. But this princess is both. So how will she get a reward?”
Still choked up with relieved tears and now laughter, Bruce looks up at Diana and smiles: “Well, if the Princess wants a reward… then I would be a fool to refuse.”
Bruce kisses her on the lips, Dick and Jason both kiss her cheeks, Diana leaves charmed and amused by the sweet family. Such a good father, humoring his children and thier little fascination with her, so very respectful…
Two down.
J’ohn Jones
Okay, martians are telepathic. So this goes one of two ways, at some sort of charity or something-
Option 1, Batman is a realist: the charity event is a masquerade, and he wanders over to where MM is while thinking “it would be so funny, give me this.” As loudly as he can. And Martian Manhunter, who appreciates the audacity, gives him a kiss. (I don’t like this one because it technically breaks the rules of the bet, bc MM knows it’s Batman, but eh)
Option 2, Batman is a different breed: he manages to up the ante with his Himbo Persona. Creating a “slippery void” mental facade that blocks of his real thoughts and makes him read as really just that stupid. This would require functioning with two trains of thought at once, and making sure that the Martian can only read the surface level, “oh, this one is pretty” “I really wouldn’t mind kissing him” and other such decoy thoughts, instead of “target is approaching, signs of interest present despite this not being his natural form-“
Bruce also researches and copies Martian courting styles and copies them “by chance,” catching MM’s attention. (He offers him Oreos)
Martian Manhunter: “this man… he is so empty headed and yet clearly kind and willing. I would not take him for a life partner, but for some simple fun as he seems to desire…”
(Edit: Maybe, if B is confident enough, he lets through his loneliness. Missing his parents, wanting affection, an ache so strong it’s like a physical wound. J’onn feels the same ache for his lost family, and decides to try this human’s strategy to fill that void. Either way…)
Batman 3, League 0
Barry Allen
I’m strangely blank when it comes to the Flash let me just spitball and let it snowball
As I said above, people have had him save Bruce, had Bruce seduce him at his workplace while taking a tour, I even saw @help-i-need-a-cool-username have Dick set up a petition for Bruce to kiss the Flash. (An idea that I personally think would also go really well with Superman lmao.)
Anyways, I think it would be funny for Bruce to take it slow with Barry. For the irony of it all. Because Batman is doing this to prove a POINT. So he’s in central city, spots Barry coming his way, and “accidentally” slips right into his arms. Ooh, or covered in coffee, like a wealth disparity drama base script, and Barry’s like “omg i am so sorry let me pay you back.” And bruce is all “this shirt costs (stupid amount of money)”
Barry: (fear)
Bruce, rolling with it rn: “yes, it is horrendous, isn’t it? Hows this- I’m in central city for a day. You can pay me back by showing me around?”
He then proceeds to string barry along on an honest to god DATE for shits and giggles. They go clothes shopping, they go to restaurants, Bruce pays for a big meal bc this is after a fight or something and Barry got hurt, his speedster comrade needs to EAT, damnit.
After all this, he gives a cheeky smile and lightly smooches Barry. “Thanks for the fun day, Mr. Allen.”
Barry, bright red and goo brained: “hah- mmhmm. Yeah…”
Batman 4, League 0
Oliver Queen
This one… Oliver is on guard. He’s twitchy and suspicious, turning down men flirting with him, people are starting to notice. But Bruce? Bruce just walks up at a party while “tipsy” and lays one on him. Straight up. He wants to show just how EASY it is. Because Oliver doesn't even register it. He just laughs and goes: “Hey Brucie! Miss me?”
Batman 5, League 0
Dinah Lance
Of course, immediately after above, he turns and pouts at canary.
Bruce: “Dinah darling, you are a saint, I don’t know how you put up with the mess he’s got on his face. He was so much nicer to kiss when we were in (fancy private school name drop) together and didn’t have all this nonsense.”
Dinah, laughing at Ollie’s offended noises: “Oh, I don’t mind it. He’s a good kisser.”
Bruce: “Of course he is, I taught him. Care to compare?”
Dinah: “Don’t mind if I do.”
Batman 6, league 0
Clark Kent
For Clark, Bruce is originally talking to Lois before he turns his eyes on a quiet Clark and croons: “So, Miss Lane, does this lovely specimen have his own questions, or is he arm candy? And if he’s the latter, can I either tempt him off you, or secure an invitation?”
Lois, an excellent friend who will absolutely set Clark up with the hottest bachelor in Gotham: “Well, Mister Wayne, I’ve got all I need. Clark, take a page from my book and honeytrap a good quote out of him, hm?”
With an obnoxious wink, she pats a spluttering Clark on the shoulder, and leaves him with a very smug Batman.
(Bonus Superbat- Clark and Bruce’s conversation is going REALLY WELL and to the point where both of them seem on board with more than a heavy makeout when Bruce puts a hand on Clarks chest.
Bruce: “Stop.”
Clark, freezing immediately: “I’m sorry, did I go too far-?”
Bruce: “No, no. I think I might be though. See, I have all of you now, and I’ve won the bet.”
Clark: “What are you- oh. Oh- HUH?”
Cue sudden and shocked revelation, Clark’s mind going a hundred miles an hour, and then skidding to a stop on- he only did this for the bet. He’s not really interested. He stopped because I went too far-
Bruce: “You only consented to a kiss without knowing my identity. Right now, I’d like to do more, if you’d let me.”
Clark has the dial-up tone ringing in his ears, he has no idea whats going on anymore, the hot billionaire and his reclusive teammate aren’t quite slotting into place, because he wants both but rhey’re so different but they’re the same but-
“Yes.”
Lois doesn’t get Clark back that night and she is delighted.)
Anyways, final results:
Batman: 7
League: 0
Reveal:
Batman talking shit about their secret identities again, Green Lantern is scoffing about it again, says something along the lines of: “You still think you’re sooooo great, huh? Hows the bet going, spooky?” Fully expecting Batman to get huffy with him.
Instead, Batman smirks.
He leans in
And purrs: “So you didn’t notice?”
The League freezes. The implications are dangling over their head. Did he… did he really?
Green Lantern, absolutely terrified: “No. no, there’s no way…”
Batman: “Oh, there absolutely was a way. I’d say you were a good kisser, but honestly? I think it might have been the euphoria of getting you to shut up.”
He turns on the rest of the league, still smirking. “I have kissed every single person who consented at least once in the time since the bet was made. Two of you with tongue. And no one has called me out on it. Now that you know it’s happened, you should be able to figure me out, so whoever can tell me my real name first, wont get thier story used as an example in the brand new “how to avoid honeypots” seminar.”
(If bonus superbat, B shoots Superman a Look and goes “except for you, superman, because I told you my name.” Which just ends up distracting everyone else until they get THAT story)
Diana wins bc she matched up the boys to the robins. Everyone else gets their stories told in excruciating detail. Batman rates them by kissing ability and how obvious he was on his approach. Oliver gets docked points for “texture.” Dinah gets docked points because “i griped about the exact same thing in and out of costume, how did you not notice-“
(Different reveal below)
@chaos-n-kindness @she-went-that-way @geekonaleash @redh00dsbf @howabouticallyou
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𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐍𝐄'𝐒 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃
(dad!eddie x mom/pregnant!reader)
𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟏 ─ 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟐 ─ 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟑 • more of the pennyverse here.
Summary: . . . After your eventful labor and delivery, you and Eddie can only wait to see what fate holds for your newborn son as you two finally decide on a name.
warnings: angst, a whole lot of angst, near death experience, difficult pregnancy, early labor, preterm birth, talk of loss of infants, birth defects, happy ending.
a/n: we have finally reached the rainbow at the end of the storm, my friends. wrapping this up feels so bittersweet, i'm going to miss all the interactions! i don't think i've gotten to talk to this many people here before and i hope it doesn't stop after part three. from the bottom of my heart, thank you. and a HUGE thank you to my partner in crime, @kitmon, for beta-ing this (all three parts) bad boy for me. while Wayne's World is finally over, i'm excited to continue writing for this little family. on to the next thing! word count is 4kish. happy reading! and for the people mad about the long post, sorry, had the 'keep reading' tab on but it kept fucking with the format and eating chunks of it. you're gonna have to scroll. let me know what you think? ◡̈
While Eddie was out like a light, your doctor had also dropped in for a visit to inform you you’d be staying at the hospital for at least another day, which you weren’t too excited about. You were prescribed medication to take during your stay and so long as you felt good, you were allowed to roam about, meaning you could visit your son.
Wayne had also dropped by, with a bag he’d packed full of Eddie’s clothes and things he thought he would need. He hadn’t wanted to wake Eddie up, either. After making sure you were okay, he ended up taking Penny home with him. You’d debated on letting her stay, but you figured Eddie would be vehement on staying with you and she’d want to play with her toys soon. Wayne had promised to bring her back for visits.
Then it was just you and your sleeping husband. Eddie slept through the morning, past the afternoon, and into the evening. You were just about to run out of patience—eager to see your baby—when he finally woke up.
“Wha’ happen?” He rasped out, voice groggy and eyes squinted almost shut as he stretched, letting out an inhuman grunt.
“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty,” you glanced at the clock on the wall, “or goodnight, I guess.”
“Night?” He followed your gaze, eyes shooting wide open when he realized how late he’d slept. “Oh, shit. It’s seven.”
“I’m aware,” you were entirely amused, “Your breakfast, lunch, and dinner are on the counter.” You pointed over to the counter and cabinets lining the wall.
Eddie was starving, he tossed the blanket aside to get up and made quick work of all of his meals, to your surprise.
Watching Eddie eat was always so entertaining. He ate so chaotically, messy like a gremlin. And not just when he was starving.
“Where’s Pen?” He asked through a mouthful of food.
“With Wayne and Maude. He stopped by and dropped off some things for you.” You pointed this time to the duffel bag resting near his makeshift pullout bed.
The burger you’d got him for lunch was clenched in his teeth, the wrapper around it preventing its contents from falling out, as he rifled through it, pulling out a clean shirt, a pair of sweats and some boxers.
“Why didn’t you wake me?” He asked, again with a mouthful of food as he unbuckled his pants, pushing them down his legs.
You watched as he struggled to get his feet out of them without using his hands, aggressively shaking them off his right ankle. He cursed under his breath once they were off and you couldn’t help but elate in the fact your husband was still a dork.
“You were tired, snoring up a storm—’’
“—I don’t snore.”
“—And looking like you were in a coma.”
Eddie snorted as he devoured the rest of his burger before he was able to go put on the clean boxers (you’d made sure to lean forward so you could get your eyeful) and yank on the sweats. Then he pulled his shirt off and you responded by clapping your hands appreciatively.
“Now, give me a little twirl,” you swirled your finger downward, with a smirk and Eddie laughed as he threw the shirt at you.
“Knock it off, six week waiting period still applies to you so you’d better not tempt me.”
You whistled as you pulled his shirt off your head, holding it to your chest, “You might have had the dinner but I definitely got the show.”
“You’re incorrigible,” but he was still grinning as he yanked the clean shirt over his head.
You waited until he was comfortable, with his food, on the pull out before you informed him, “My doctor came by, too. Said I’m stuck here for another freaking day.”
Eddie pulled the fry he’d been about to eat away from his mouth so he could tease you with a pout. He was actually glad, you’d be surrounded by medical professionals so if for some reason something happened, they’d be able to take care of you. Plus, he’d be by your side every day until then. This was his last day off, but he’d call Norm in the morning and let him know he’d have to take the next couple of days off. He’d saved up more than enough paid time off at the shop, something he’d chosen this particular one to work at for offering.
Of course, when he’d gotten the gig as a teenager, he’d only been concerned about using that time to try out a new strain or micro dose.
You rolled your eyes and slumped back into your bed, “Jerk. She also said I could move around. After you finish eating, will you take me to go see him?”
Fuck, Eddie would take you right now. He was about to set his tray aside when you hissed.
“Eat.”
He held his hands up in defeat, but finished off his food a little faster.
While he finished eating, you’d gotten out of bed (yes, he almost had a heart attack and you had to threaten him to keep him from hovering) to freshen up. By the time you were done, so was Eddie.
You’d dug around his bag until you found one of your favorite shirts of his and put it on, under the stupid hospital gown, along with a pair of his sweats.
And you hadn’t wanted to, like really, really didn’t want to, but you allowed him to push you to the NICU in a wheelchair. It was the only way you were allowed to leave your room. Why didn’t you want to? Because Eddie insisted it was a game, full on running to propel the wheelchair, even spinning you around in it, when he wasn’t pretending to crash into things. It was fun, but you were sure the hospital staff didn’t appreciate it.
When you finally got to the NICU and the nurse placed your baby in your arms, you knew everything you’d been through was worth it. Every single second you got with him was precious and worth the possible sorrow that may follow.
“He does look like Penny,” you agreed, lifting him up to press a kiss to his forehead. He was in better looking condition than you recalled, not pasty or almost blue, and breathing. You remembered the shock of fear that had shot up your spine when he hadn’t been after you’d pushed him out.
He was small, smaller than Penny had been for obvious reasons, and while it made you sad that you hadn’t been able to keep him in you to develop more, you were still happy to have him.
“Although, I think their noses are different,” you mused and gently stroked your finger over the small tip of his nose, tubeless since he’d been removed from his incubator to be placed in your arms. He scrunched it up at the contact, and you were delighted with his response, “he’s got your’s, Eddie.”
“You think so?” Eddie was taken with that nose scrunch, absolutely entranced. He’d seen you do it in the wee hours of that very morning.
“Oh, yeah. He’s perfect. I wonder whose eyes he has.” Selfishly, you hoped a pair of big, brown baby cow eyes, like his father’s and sister’s, were under the eye cover.
“You can take it off,” The nurse hovering nearby informed you, he was handling another baby but he’d heard your comment, “he’s done with his phototherapy. The lighting in here isn’t harsh either, so he’ll be just fine.”
He stopped what he was doing to hand you a couple of wipes, “Just moisten the edges and it will come right off.”
You did as instructed, Eddie hovering over you in anticipation. Once the edges were saturated with the warm wipe, you carefully peeled the eye mask away, heart squeezing as your baby boy blinked them open. Well, that was a stretch, he blinked them into a squint.
He glared up at you like that for a few more moments, before his blinking became rapid and then they were finally open, forehead scrunched up in curiosity as he stared, little mouth just barely parted.
“Hi,” you giggled out, absolutely ecstatic to see a pair of familiar dark eyes peering up at you.
“Guess that answers that.” Eddie’s smile was soft as he watched you press another kiss to his head, your fingertips mingling with the fluff on his head. He couldn’t help but notice how enthralled his son looked with you, little fists curled near his face.
“You are so perfect,” you cooed down at him, finger stroking his cheek, he blinked at the contact, gave your hand some serious side eye for surprising him then returned his awed stare to your face. “I love you so much, my little grump. You’re gonna be okay, yeah? ‘Cause you’re just like your daddy, aren’t you? Gonna make it out even when you’re dealt the shorthand.”
Was Eddie Munson about to cry again? Yes.
“Perfect, perfect, perfect,” You enunciated each one word with a kiss to his head, “We still have to name him.”
The morbid image of a potential name for his son, etched into stone came to the forefront of his mind and Eddie felt a stabbing pang in his chest as he forced the image away.
“You know, I technically chose Penny’s,” you drawled, craning your head to look up at him, “I think it’s only fair you name him. Since you won’t let me name him Eddie Jr.”
Eddie stared back at you, gaze intense before it shifted down to the little bundle in your arms, at the face peeking out from the blankets.
He hadn’t wanted to name his baby after him, wanted him to be more than just a namesake. With Penny, well, her name meant something to him. Unconditional love.
It didn’t actually translate to that, but it had belonged to the one person in his life—other than you—who showed him affection, emotion.
The baby’s eyes moved away from your face, catching Eddie’s stare and something about it prompted a thought, a fact really.
Eddie was wrong. He was so, so wrong in his thought process. The weight of the realization almost had his knees buckling as he stared back at that little face.
For the first time, Eddie thought of his son’s name. Etched in stone or not, it was the only one worthy of him.
You’d let the nurse know and he retrieved your son's birth certificate for you. You loved the name so much and since Eddie had been the one to decide on it, you insisted he write it on his birth certificate as well. It had to be the neatest thing Eddie had ever written.
It hadn’t been easy to let the nurse take your baby back, away from you and you had teared up, afraid it would be the last time you’d see him.
Eddie had been upset too, in the last few moments you were allowed with him, he’d let his little guy hold onto his finger and reminded him of their earlier talk. He had to make it through tonight, so he could go home with them. After a few parting kisses, tears and reaffirming your love to him, he was whisked away to his incubator and you and Eddie made the sullen trip back to your room.
He held you in your bed while you both cried.
And cried.
And cried.
Eventually, the two of you fell asleep, the sheer emotional exhaustion too much for either of you.
When you woke up, it was to sunlight streaming through the cracks in the curtains and the nurse taking your vitals. Eddie was still lightly snoring into the side of your head and just as the nurse finished, both Dr. Eisenberg and Dr. Houseman entered your room.
“Good morning!” Dr. Eisenberg chirped. Dr. Houseman silently made herself comfortable leaning against the counter.
“Morning,” came your groggy reply as you shook Eddie awake. He peaked an eye open to glare at you but the moment he caught sight of both doctors, he snapped awake.
“Sorry to disturb you two, we just figured you’d want to hear the news. Mrs. Munson, although I know you must love your hospital bed, today’s looking like your last day here. Which means I want to hear about you doing lots of walking today. I’m gonna check on you again tomorrow, but if all is well, you’ll be discharged then.”
Halle-freaking-lujah.
Dr. Eisenberg stepped back, nudging Dr. Houseman’s shoulder enthusiastically to take her place.
“I believe this is the first time we’ve met, Mrs. Munson,” she regarded you with kind eyes before acknowledging Eddie, “Mr. Munson. Nice to see you’ve gotten some rest.”
Eddie tried not to feel personally attacked.
“I come bearing news of your son. He made it through the night, with no issues. He’s out of phototherapy, responding well to feedings—that’s very important—and while his breathing is fast, it’s also a good sign. It doesn’t leave him breathless, so it may just be his excitement at being in the outside world and getting to use his lungs. He doesn’t tire more than would be normal for a newborn, either. We’re gonna keep him a little longer, let him develop a little more and ensure the hole starts to heal up, but I give it no more than two weeks before he goes home.”
The amount of weight lifted off both your shoulders and Eddie’s was almost disorientating. Your baby made it. You’d get to take him home! You wanted to cry, jump around, do backflips, but you settled for leaning into Eddie, who was blinking an awful lot.
“Alright, I think we served our purpose. We’ll let the two of you have some peace.” They both gave you grins as they made their way out of the room, though Dr. Eisenberg stopped, effectively halting Dr. Houseman as well, “By the way, LOVE the name you gave him. Really fits the little guy.”
Dr. Houseman nodded in agreement before she was ushering Eisenberg out of the room.
You held each other again as you cried, this time tears of joy and relief.
Wayne stopped by again, this time with Penny and a bag of necessities meant for you (packed with care by Maude because Wayne was too embarrassed to go through your drawers). She’d begged Eddie, literally wrapped herself around one of his legs until he agreed to take her to see baby brother. He hadn’t wanted to, would much rather have them meet at the trailer when the two of you could finally bring him home and not when he was still in an incubator, patched up to machines, but he relented.
Wayne kept you company while he took her to see the baby. She hadn’t asked any questions about the babies, only stating the stork must be getting ready to take them to their mommies and daddies because they were in boxes.
When he’d pointed out her brother, she couldn’t look away, placing both hands on the glass as well as her forehead to stare at him.
“My little baby potatoes.”
“He’s not—alright, sweet pea.”
“I getta keep him, huh, daddy?”
“Yeah, you get to keep him.” Eddie found himself blinking away tears, comforted to know he wasn’t lying to her, didn’t have to be obtuse to avoid telling her the truth anymore.
“Okie dokie, les take ‘em home.”
Eddie chuckled and pulled her a little ways from the glass to press a kiss to her cheek, “He has to stay here for a few more days, but he’s gonna come home.”
“Pomise?”
“I promise.”
She eyed him suspiciously, “You won’t fuwwet ‘em?”
“Forget,” Eddie corrected but Penny didn’t amend the word like she would normally do when reminded of the proper pronunciation. She still had a little difficulty with her ‘r’s so if a word had the letter in it and she said it right the first time, great, if she didn’t, she wouldn’t be fixing it, “And that was one time, sweet pea, I came back for you like a minute later.”
Penny maintained an impressive, nonstop commentary about all the things she was going to teach her baby brother to do during the walk back to your hospital room. At some point, she’d asked Eddie to swing her the rest of the way, which he scoffed at because that would make him look ridiculous to the staff.
Needless to say, by the time they got back, Eddie was sure the staff would be making fun of him.
Wayne hadn’t asked to see the baby, he was content knowing the little fella would be coming home with you. He still had that image of him in the truck stuck in his head, and he’d rather replace it with a baby in a car seat instead of an incubator. He and Penny stayed a while. She took your doctor’s walking orders (that Eddie foolishly mentioned in front of her) seriously and demanded you walk back and forth around the room with her. It was no problem until it just got annoying but you entertained her anyways.
Then all your friends had shown up, waiting strategic intervals of time to slip into your room as small groups so the nurses wouldn’t notice. They’d brought tons of gifts and Eddie had to sneak them to the NICU entrance, a few at a time, so they could see your baby through the glass.
After what a c-section was had been explained to the boys, Dustin’s respect for you skyrocketed, which you hadn’t thought would be possible considering his high opinion of you in the first place, and Lucas thought you had to be some kind of superhuman to survive that, he was amazed. Poor Will and Robin looked like they wanted to throw up when Steve’s girlfriend explained how some of your insides had been briefly removed to get to the baby.
It had been Nancy and Jonathan who got the group out of the hospital, and just in time. Your main nurse had come to check on you with all the suspicious hallway activity. Wayne and Penny left when visiting hours were over and you convinced Eddie to sleep on the bed with you, you always fell asleep fast when you got to cuddle up to him and you needed the night to pass already so you could get discharged.
You were impatient the next morning, Eddie watched on in amusement as you got ready, fluttering about the room until you finally slipped into a shirt and some comfortable pants with a high waistline (nothing was pressing into your scar until that bad boy was healed), then put your hospital gown over them and climbed into bed to disguise your getaway outfit.
Your plan was of course foiled when Dr. Eisenberg arrived and had you walk across the room a couple of times. She’d been amused with your expectations, but stuck to her promise and a nurse was wheeling you out after you were discharged.
Wayne, Penny and Maude greeted you when you arrived home, and while you were pleased to be in your own clothes and trailer, you wanted your baby with you.
“What happened to the spot?” You’d asked Wayne, at some point while Maude and Penny were showing Eddie a new dress Maude had made for her.
You were referring to the stain you were sure your water breaking had left—unfortunately, rather bloody as well.
“Maude got rid of it. Took ‘er a couple ‘a days but she managed to scrub it out, ‘s why she couldn’t come see you, reckon she figured you wouldn’t wanna see it.”
The widow from a couple of trailers away—and Wayne’s lady love—was shy as hell, but you were positive you loved her.
You and Eddie made sure to visit your son as often as possible. While Eddie worked, you spent most of your mornings and afternoons at the hospital, learning from the nurses about his improving condition and how to care for him. You’d learned he was fed a couple of special formulas, though they still encouraged you to breastfeed. On day seven of his hospital stay, you got to nurse him for the first time.
It was difficult, he wouldn’t latch properly no matter how hard you or the lactation consultant tried at first. It took him a while to get the hang of it, and it had been mildly uncomfortable for you, but eventually he did start latching. Day eight was spent encouraging him to latch each time. You knew you’d have to feed him those special formulas, but that was the extent of sharing him with a bottle you were willing to go. It was 50/50, and they’d informed you as soon as he caught up in development, and started gaining weight, the need for the formulas would lessen and you wouldn’t have to share him.
GOOD.
On day nine, you and Eddie got to bring him home. It hadn’t been completely planned, Dr. Houseman had suggested it the day prior, hadn’t guaranteed it and hadn’t been expecting you to have a carseat and anything else you might need for the ride home, but when she mentioned that he was good to go—though he’d have to be seen regularly to ensure his heart was in healthy condition and healing—Eddie bolted to retrieve the car seat he’d had waiting for his little dude and came just about running back.
“Don’t look so sour, baby,” He cooed as he tucked his little baby in and secured the harness around him. His son’s face was scrunched up, glaring at Eddie while he buckled him in. Clearly, he wasn’t a fan of the car seat, but he changed his tune when Eddie gently squished his cheeks between his thumb and index finger, the baby immediately relaxed, eyes wide as he stared up at his daddy. Then Eddie was tucking a blanket around him, and lowering the visor to protect him from the cold air.
It was wonderfully symbolic how peaceful the drive home from the hospital with your son had been compared to how chaotic the drive to the hospital, with him, had been.
Wayne, Penny and Maude were waiting for you again. Penny practically attacked Eddie’s legs as soon as he made it through the door with the car seat.
“Whoa, sweet pea! Careful, daddy doesn’t want to step on you.”
“I wanna see ‘em!”
“You will,” You promised as you shut the door behind you. Wayne and Maude were perched on the couch as Eddie placed the car seat down and squatted so he could carefully take the baby out of it. Penny’s energy seemed to disappear, she was stock still, watching as Eddie lifted the visor, removed the blanket, unbuckled the baby and finally pulled him out.
Maude’s reaction was instant, sounds of adoration slipping past her lips as the baby scrunched his back while Eddie lifted him, tiny arms pulling up near his head.
Wayne laughed, relieved to see the baby looked nothing like he had when he’d first seen him. In fact, if he didn’t know better he’d think Eddie brought home the wrong one.
“You wanna hold him?”
“Bring ‘im ‘ere.” Wayne held his hands out and Eddie carefully placed his newborn son in them.
“Well, ‘yer in better shape, ain’t you?” He commented down at the little guy. As soon as those eyes were on him, he knew there had been no baby mix up. He was Eddie’s kid.
“‘Shoot, another one with ‘yer eyes?” Wayne chuckled and Eddie’s chest puffed with pride. His next joke was directed towards you, “He’s lookin’ like Penny did when she was a baby, you sure you ain’t a copy machine?”
“Not anymore,” You scoffed, smiling at the sight as you leaned into Eddie’s side. He slipped an arm around your shoulders, hand moving to the side of your head as he pulled you even closer to kiss.
“He’s a cute lil’ fella. What’s his name?”
Eddie smirked against the top of your head before he answered him, “Wayne.”
“Hmn?” Then, without looking up from that little face, Wayne figured Eddie hadn’t heard him and was asking him to repeat himself. “‘Said what’s his name?”
“I heard you, his name is Wayne.”
Wayne looked up at the two of you then, eyes wide and unbelieving.
“Wha—?”
“His full name is Wayne Edward Munson,” you had to make sure they knew Eddie compromised and was willing to allow you to use his name as his son’s middle name, the smile on your face was smug. “Wayne.”
Wayne cleared his throat, tongue darting out to wet his dry lips.
“‘S really…” He trailed off, throat thick as he swallowed, head nodding a couple of times.
“I didn’t always imagine myself as a family man growing up,” Eddie confessed, “but when I did, I imagined having these crazy, weirdo kids who I’d love and who would love me back. Teach them to play the guitar, how to appreciate good music, play Dungeons and Dragons with. Was already afraid I’d mess up, though. And they’d stop loving me.
“When we had Penny and she,” Eddie pressed another kiss to your head, “suggested we name her after my mom, I thought it was perfect. Naming the baby I was afraid would one day stop loving me after someone who never did was perfect to me. I was struggling real hard on names for him, didn’t think Edward was worthy of him. Then he looked at me. In that moment, all I could think about was how much I loved him. I couldn't help but wonder if that was how you felt when you saw me.”
Eddie wasn’t the insecure kid he used to be—well, not as insecure. He’d been unsure of it at the start of his stay with Wayne, the older Munson was never very vocal with his emotions, though he had on occasion told Eddie he loved him. It wasn’t a machismo thing, Eddie was sure Wayne just didn’t know how to express emotions. It was how he’d been raised. Regardless, Eddie knew Wayne loved him.
Loved him when he was a baby, born from the woman he loved and not even his own son. Loved him when he saw him sporadically throughout his early life. Loved him enough to try and fight to keep him when his mom died, though the law gave him back to his dad. Loved him when a social worker showed up on his doorstep with him in tow, a broken shell of a boy. Loved him in those few awkward first interactions as they learned how to be around each other again. Loved him when he started getting in trouble, when police officers started escorting him home, when he’d had to pick him up from the police station, when he knew he was selling things and partaking in a business Wayne didn’t particularly approve of, loved him through it all. By blood, he might have been an uncle. By all other means, that man was his father. And his name was the only name worthy of his son. No rock star could compete.
“So, we named him after the other person in my life who never stopped loving me.”
Eddie could see the shine on Wayne’s eyes as his mouth set in a firm line.
Finally, Wayne managed to rasp out, “‘Ye’ah, you’re right. Not for one secon’.”
Not for once second had he stopped loving his boy.
Wayne looked down at little Wayne, whose stare was no longer scrutinizing, “You got ‘yerself a good pair ‘a parents. ‘Couldn’ta asked to be born in a better family.”
“Uhm, ‘scuse me, I fuwwot his name. What’s he called?”
“Wayne, baby.” Eddie chuckled and Penny leaned against Maude’s legs, craning forward to get a good look at her brother.
“Waynie. I like it! Can I put ‘em in my stoller now?”
“No, Penny.”
After the flood of emotions that your living room became that morning, Wayne and Maude had stuck around for a couple of hours before they said goodbye to Penny and baby Wayne and made their way home. So, about a three minute walk, tops.
You settled onto the couch, next to Eddie who had Penny curled on his lap, with baby Wayne, ready to nurse him as Eddie searched for something to watch. You’d just gotten Wayne to latch when Eddie made a pleased sound and you glanced up to find out what had amused him.
On the tv was an episode of Saturday Night Live, specifically the beginnings of one of Mike Myers’ most popular sketches as Eddie’s favorite character from the show.
“Just in time,” At the mention of his son’s name on screen, Eddie glanced down at the baby attached to your boob, whose gaze flickered to the side to meet his as if he was aware of gaining his dad’s attention.
The corners of Eddie’s lips twitched as his big eyes stared at him, “Yeah, yeah. I know. Welcome to Wayne’s World.”
#pennyverse#dad!eddie munson#dad!eddie munson x reader#dad!eddie munson x mom!reader#eddie munson x pregnant!reader#eddie munson angst#eddie munson x reader angst#eddie munson x reader#eddie munson#dilf!eddie munson#stranger things#stranger things fanction#stranger things 4#stranger things volume 1#stranger things volume 2#stranger things vol 2#stranger things vol 1#eddie munson x fem!reader#eddie munson x black!reader#eddie munson x you#joe quinn x reader#joseph quinn x reader#eddie munson imagine#eddie munson fanfic#girl dad!eddie munson
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- ', kinktober 2023 masterlist ↷
• includes: anime & manga ― marvel & dc ― video games •
◜ my first kinktober, so, I hope I will do fine. also, praying that this time I will be able to publish them on time and in order. ^^ have fun while commiting pretty sins with me in this kinktober of 2023! *kisses* [links will be added the moment they are published.] • m. masterlist ◞
◇ day 1-7: anime
I. gojo satoru › filming ⭑ before going on a mission, gojo decides to record you while being fucked by him to watch it later.
II. ryomen sukuna › breeding kink ⭑ sukuna just wants a womb to put his babies in but it changes when he fucks you.
III. fushiguro toji › size difference ⭑ you bet you can have toji raw & dry with only one go.
IV. uchiha obito › mutual masturbation ⭑ you can’t deny the desire you have for obito and you want to show it.
V. hatake kakashi › semi public ⭑ he seems to enjoy how you clench around him with the fear of being caught in the act.
VI. roronoa zoro › cock warming ⭑ you ask to zoro whether he needs any help or not, and in return, he makes you sit on his cock so that it can get warm while he’s sleeping.
VII. monkey d. luffy › eating out ⭑ why not using his devil fruit ability while eating you out?
◆ day 10-17: marvel & dc
X. bruce wayne › car sex ⭑ bats fucks you in his batmobile to teach you a lesson after you disobey his order.
XI. jason todd › hate sex ⭑ being the arkham knight’s sworn enemy has its perks; being fucked by him every night.
XIII. clark kent › aftercare ⭑ after having a rough session with clark, you let him take care of your exhausted body.
XIV. bucky barnes › dilf ⭑ you’re his sugar baby, so, he want you to show your gratitude to him in the way he pleases the most.
XV. steve rogers › face sitting ⭑ after caps shaves his beard a question pops into your mind – how it would feel to sit on his now clean face?
XVI. bruce wayne › power play ⭑ the game you play takes a different route in which you try to dominate him, but, he doesn’t allow you.
XVII. jason todd › thigh riding ⭑ while begging jason to start fuck you, you discover how you can get the pleasure you seek from riding his thigh.
◇ day 20-29: games
XXI. leon s. kennedy › praising ⭑ leon likes to being praised by you so much that it’s overwhelming.
XXII. simon ghost riley › sex pollen ⭑ after the mission is done, waiting for trucks, you realize something is wrong with your body but ghost there to help.
XXIII. heimdall › dom/sub ⭑ heimdall likes to be on his knees for you.
XXIV. chris redfield › riding ⭑ you try to take him raw.
XXVII. sub zero › humiliation ⭑ your grandmaster gives you a lesson for the disrespect you have showed in front of others.
XXVIII. cal kestis › first time ⭑
XXIX. simon ghost riley › toy/vibrator ⭑
◆ 30: bonus [soon!]
XXX.
enjoy! ♡
#🍒 kinktober#kinktober 2023#kinktober 2023 masterlist#jujutsu kaisen#jjk x reader#naruto#naruto x reader#opla#opla x reader#dc#dc x reader#marvel#mcu#marvel x reader#resident evil#resident evil x reader#cod#cod x reader#mk1#star wars#sw x reader#gojo satoru x reader#simon ghost riley x reader#bruce wayne x reader#heimdall x reader#zoro x reader#written by me#vom#rose#HAVE FUN!
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Eddie's Memory Log: Day 30
part 1 here | part 2 here | part 4 here | part 5 here | part 6 here
(ao3 link here)
After one whole month of documenting Eddie Munson’s semi-fucked memory levels, Steve has come across a few crucial bullet points:
Eddie never forgets his own name.
If Eddie’s pain levels are bad, so are his memories.
Eddie likes the lime jello better than the chocolate pudding, except he always forgets.
Eddie’s memory is worse after the weekend, but it gets better throughout the week.
Eddie can hum the theme songs to all of the shitty soap operas (even on bad days).
Eddie’s memory is at its best if he’s had multiple visitors the day before.
And maybe the most important bullet of them all:
Eddie always remembers three people (Wayne, Dustin, and Steve).
Memory Log: Day 31
It’s Monday, which means Steve hasn’t seen Eddie all weekend. The knuckleheads and Hellfire lemmings take the weekend shift since they don’t have school. Steve should be grateful for the time off, but he can’t help but wonder how Eddie is feeling - if he’s throwing hissy fits or being confectionery sweet to all of his guests.
The curiosity and concern has settled its way into Steve’s routine during his days off. That’s just how it is.
And that’s exactly why Mondays are becoming Steve’s (secret) favorite day, despite Eddie’s brain managing the slightest soft-reset after the weekend.
“Is he a Hyde or a Kathy today?” Steve asks the nurse at the visitor check-in counter.
He knows the majority of the staff by now, and they’ve all adopted his Eddie Behavioral Lingo. Steve is getting far too cocky about being the hospital trendsetter.
“He’s um…” the nurse's gaze drifts up to Eddie’s door.
Shit. Steve bursts into the room because he already knows exactly what that translates to.
It’s a high-pain day. Eddie affectionately calls them Grendel Days - he finally decided to play along with their lackluster literary references.
Oh yeah… Eddie remembers Beowulf
“Hey, hero.” Steve speaks in a lower volume because loud noises are brutal on days like this. “I heard that Grendel crashed the party today, huh?”
Admittedly, Steve had Dustin retell the important chunks of Beowulf to him cause there’s no way in Nerd Hell that Steve was going to read that fantasy bible of theirs.
Eddie squints one eye open to look at Steve. “That son of a bitch is trying to slice open my goddamn kidneys, I swear.”
“Should I get my nail bat?”
“You’re what?”
Damnit.
Eddie remembers zero fucking percent about their monster battles (and it’s probably best to keep it that way while he’s still recovering).
“Not important.” It is but whatever. Best to just change topics. “Can I interest you in any pain distractions?”
“What are you gonna do exactly - open your letterman jacket and offer me a lollipop?” Eddie snorts at his own joke before slumping over, holding his sides.
Steve wags his finger at him. “See, that is karma for being so mean to me all the time.”
“That?”
“All this pain you’re having.”
“Actually, I think it’s because I’m some type of Demonic Tinker Bell.” Eddie offers, fake coughing into his hand. “If not enough people are calling me freak, I start to die.”
It’s just a joke, but Steve is not so keen on his friends joking about things like Mortality anymore.
Still, he laughs. Plays along easily. “All hail the freak.”
Eddie stops his fake coughing fit.
“And just like that, my wings of darkness have returned.” Eddie flicks his wrist theatrically, giving Steve the weakest smile. “See? Much better.”
But it’s not Much Better. Eddie spends the rest of the visit seething with internal pains. Switchboard style - one area inflicting jolts of throbbing agony, then another. Eddie grabs wherever it hurts the most. Sometimes he can’t touch every pain point, it’s just too widespread.
Maybe Steve should… No. He’s not sure his hands could stop the hurt any better. He’s not a doctor and he’s not fucking magic. Steve is just the guy that wears offensively bright sweaters and watches Eddie’s torture spectacle from a front row seat.
They don’t talk much after that.
Eddie can’t talk through the pain. And apparently… neither can Steve.
Memory Log: Day 35
The pain has been monstrous all week long. They’ve had to plug Eddie’s heart monitor back in because his heart rate tends to skyrocket when waves of pain hit. It used to be easy to forget that Eddie suffered anything other than head trauma.
Not anymore. Not with his room beeping like a terminal metronome at all hours.
Steve stops asking Eddie’s novel-based behavior levels because he already knows the answer. Wishes he didn’t.
“Munson?” The lights are off, which helps with Eddie’s headaches. That’s good. Less pain in his head, behind his eyes. Small victories.
“Go home.” Eddie’s breathing sounds labored.
Steve settles into his chair anyways. “Can’t.”
“I’m not in the mood.”
“Me neither.”
“Steve, I swear.”
“Like a sailor.”
Eddie chuckles. “Hurts to laugh.”
Seeing Eddie like this is god awful. He should be shredding on his guitar or mocking Dustin senseless for his clashing pattern combinations. He shouldn't be wrapping his arms around his torso, confining the pain that’s mangling him from the inside out.
“We’ve gotta find a way to get Grendel out of your system, man.” Steve bends down to Eddie’s eye level. “Cause this fucking blows.”
Eddie opens both eyes this time - they’re so sunken in. “… Grendel?”
Shit no.
If Eddie’s pain levels are bad, so are his memories.
Steve tries again anyway. “You know… from Beowulf?”
“Sounds cool.” Eddie eye’s close again. “Are they a band?”
Eddie doesn’t remember Beowulf.
“You think everything sounds like a band name…” Steve mumbles, ignoring the disappointment pinging in his mind.
Eddie reaches for the guitar pick on his neck - one of his bandmates brought it by a couple weeks ago. He rubs his thumb over it as if he can transfer memories through fingerprints.
“Hometown Slut.” Eddie sends a sideways smile over towards Steve. “Snatching virginities and record deals.”
Okay. Fuck. Eddie remembers inside jokes. That seems like a big fucking deal.
Steve attempts to not overreact with this revelation. Avoid another hair ruffling/thumbs-up situation. “Did you have to use the word ‘snatch’ in your weird little slogan?”
“Oh the word choice was very unavoidable, Stevie boy.”
Steve shuts the notebook, focuses on keeping Eddie distracted from his pain. “What about your band?”
“What about it?”
“Do you remem…” Steve searches for another phrase. “Do you think you can tell me the name?”
“Alright, please stop treating ‘remember’ like it’s a dirty word.” Eddie whines. “I’m not the fucking cable version of Breakfast Club. Stop censoring yourself around me.”
“Right.” Steve opens the binder back up.
Eddie doesn’t remember…
“Corroded Coffin.”
Phew. Eddie does remember his band.
“Do you remember what instrument you play?” Steve puts emphasis on the un-censored word.
“Accordion.”
“Be serious.”
“Polka is dripping in sincerity.”
Steve pinches the skin between his eyebrows. Truly, it’s impressive that Eddie can still manage to be a massive prick, even when he’s writhing in pain. It’s like he’s going for the goddamn gold medal of assholery.
“Guitar.” Eddie dangles the pick around, somewhat peeved. “Now can we chill with the third degree for today, officer?”
Steve notices Eddie’s monitor is beeping faster than it was when he first entered the room. That sobers him up from his irritation.
“Yeah, sure.” He sighs. “No more questions for today.”
Eddie cuts him a devious look. “Well I didn’t say that now, did I?”
“Huh?”
“Oh the vapid look is not nearly as cute as you think it is.” Eddie lifts himself up slightly from his stack of pillows. He flattens them out and into a pillow wall as he sits upright. “How about I ask the questions today?”
“Why? I’m not the one who’s struggling with brain stuff.” Steve walks over to give him a hand. Eddies seems to be struggling with his strength, which is to be expected after becoming a fucking bat buffet.
“That’s debatable.” Eddie mumbles.
Steve’s close enough to feel his breath as he pushes the pillows comfortably around Eddie’s new sitting position.
It’s not weird, the close contact or the breath. Steve has been helping Eddie with gross shit for a month - holding his hair when he starts puking or coughing up blood. Unraveling him from tubes and cords because Eddie is notorious for twisting himself into a medical straight jacket with this shit.
It’s not weird… it’s just weird how aware Steve is of Eddie’s breath. How warm and jagged it feels, even through his layered clothes.
Maybe Eddie is aware too, because he starts breathing through his nose the longer the silence is drawn out between them. Steve finally takes a step back, creates a non-breath-touching distance once again.
“Humor me then.” Eddie fills the tense pause.
Steve crosses his arms. “Don’t I always?”
“No. Usually, you aggravate me.” But see, why do Eddie’s eyes get all shimmery when he says snarky shit? And why does Steve suddenly use words like shimmery to describe Eddie Munson?
Why does it remind him of those sequined dresses that girls wear to homecoming dances when Eddie’s eyes do that shimmery thing? It’s like his mind is taking the insults and turning them into compliments, which is so bizarre.
“Steve?”
Shit, right. Say something instead of thinking about Eddie’s sequined eyes, goddamnit. “Yeah?”
Real original, asshole.
“Just… look.” Eddie taps his fingers against this side of his bed. “There’s sharp pains shooting through every fucking limb on my body right now. I just need a distraction today - not a pop quiz.”
Yeah, Steve offered the distraction idea at the beginning of the week. But really, that’s not what he’s here to do. He’s here for the kids. He’s here to fill his jobless life with a meaningful task. Help Eddie the way he couldn’t help him in the Upside Down.
But the kids have no idea what it’s like every day. How some days, they are friendly and comfortable with one another. How some days, there’s a verbal boxing match between them - and on those days, they’re both the losers.
How some days, Steve is the one getting flustered instead of Eddie (who’s usually being called out for staring at Steve’s hair or arms or whatever else his eyes decide to fixate on).
Nobody else knows how many climates this hospital room can hold. Nobody besides Steve and Eddie.
“Fine.” Steve decides after mulling it over for far too long. “I’ll be your distraction.”
“Careful, Steve.” Eddie breaks the non-breath-touching distance, poking Steve’s wrist. “You almost sound flattered.”
“Hardly.” Bad time to bring up the word hard - when they’re seesawing between taunts and flirtations. Thank god for the binder Steve’s holding, obscuring any part of his anatomy that could potentially betray his coolness at the moment.
“Go ahead, Munson.” Steve backs away from Eddie’s touch. “Ask your questions.”
Eddie runs the entire thing as if he were a late night talk show host. Uses his hospital side table as his interview desk. Pretends his empty jello container is his microphone. Calls Steve his ‘special guest’ the whole time. Steve scoots his chair right next to Eddie’s bed, just to keep up the talk show charade.
An hour into it, they’re both feeding off one another’s energy and attention. Steve can tell by the way Eddie’s fingers unclench from his sides and his teeth stop gritting together, that his pain is subsiding - or perhaps it’s no longer at the focal point of his mind. His heart monitor is at a tempo that seems ideal - less fast and less choppy. More like a ballad than a pop song.
Eddie’s questions range from common to outright strange. He asks Steve shit like, ‘what’s your favorite breakfast food?’ And then follows it up with, ‘okay - but if you could only eat scrambled eggs for dinner, would they still be your favorite breakfast? Or does time of day play a vital role in your food preferences?’
“Does it fucking matter?” Steve rolls his eyes. More than annoyed by Eddie’s constant need to play devil’s advocate.
“Nothing matters, Harrington.” Eddie replies. “And please stop answering my questions with more questions. This isn’t a goddamn improv game.”
Eddie remembers how to be a pain in the ass.
Steve doesn’t write it down, doesn’t really need to. “What the hell is an improv game?”
“I swear to Johnny Carson, I’ll kick you off my show.”
“Whatever.” Steve isn’t any less confused, but what’s new. “I guess time of day does matter a little bit.”
“Ha! Knew it. You’re so predictable.”
“And you’re a fucking handful.”
“That’s high praise coming from such an esteemed guest of the show.” Eddie’s hand is splayed over his chest, over his heart. The heart that’s beating like a ballad and not a pop song according to his monitor.
Okay stop.
Steve knows this is a game. A shtick. So why is his face heating up? Why are his palms sweatier than they were twenty minutes ago? Why does Steve keep wondering what Eddie’s eyelashes feel like against his cheek when he flutters them in that overly dramatic way?
The clock interrupts his questioning. Probably for the best.
They exchange goodbyes. Eddie always gets a little concerned that Steve might not show up again. Steve always tucks his bitchiness away to reassure Eddie that he’ll be back on Monday.
It’s their routine. Not just Steve’s routine. It’s theirs now.
Memory Log: Day 38
It’s Monday. Soft-reset day. Steve’s new favorite day.
“Hey, Steve.” One of the nurses stops him on his way to Eddie’s room.
Her name is Sam - Steve likes Sam the best because she lets him stay longer on days when Eddie feels his shittiest. She also gives him gum to help with his nerves.
Hospitals do that sometimes. They just activate his nerves like glow sticks. Snapping and crackling the radioactive colors that make his stomach churn.
Anyways, the gum helps.
“What’s up?” Steve asks.
“Just wondering,” Sam gives him a pleasant smile. “Do we have a code for Eddie’s good days?”
“Good days?” They don’t hear that phrase often around here. “I don’t think so.”
“Maybe you should think of one.” She starts flipping through some files. “He’s been in great spirits for three days now.”
Three days? Steve rarely gets three hours of Eddie being in great spirits. The guy is a perpetual ghoul, so this is definitely something to celebrate.
Steve makes a pit stop to the vending machine. Grabs them a couple of root beers and candy bars for the occasion. Look, it’s not champagne and hors d’oeuvres, but it’ll suffice. Besides, Eddie doesn’t strike him as a ritzy kind of dude anyways. He’d probably make some joke like, ‘you mean to tell me that a whore made these d’ouevres?’
Jesus christ, Steve’s been hanging out with Eddie for too long.
“There’s my favorite lady killer.” Eddie is already grinning as Steve walks in the door.
Still remembers Steve is a Hometown Slut (of all the things that would stick to his brain… why that?)
“Seriously, you look sharp today.”
Steve’s knees lock at the compliment. “Um. Thanks. So do you.”
And the crazy part is, he means that. There’s a peachy color returning back to Eddie’s skin. The bags under his eyes are a faded gray instead of an Almost Black.
And his hair. Eddie’s hair is actually untangled. His curls are fluffed out, sort of feathery at the ends. Maybe somebody trimmed all of the dead pieces off because it looks... Well, it looks nice.
Steve kind of hates to admit that.
“Guessing your pain levels are better?”
“You guess right.” Eddie nods. “Whatever meds they gave me Friday night finally kicked Grendel’s lousy ass.”
Eddie remembers Beowulf again.
“Glad to hear it.” Steve is trying to process how great things are going. Eddie’s complexion. Eddie’s memories. It’s never this clear on Mondays. Steve tries to just be grateful to have a day like this, but he can’t help but wonder why.
Why now?
“Eggs for breakfast?” Eddie is fiddling with his necklace again.
Steve jerks his head up. “You… didn’t forget?”
“Don’t get too excited.” Eddie gestures to Steve’s pants. “Because I wish I could forget those ridiculous khakis that you always wear on Mondays.”
“Shit, really?”
“What’s the deal with that anyways?” Eddie’s nose scrunches up at the question. “Laundry day or something?”
“I…” Yes.
“Or do you think your ass just looks better in lighter colors?”
“Well…” Also yes.
Eddie winks. “Looks like your ability to complete a sentence is just as fucked as my memory, huh Stevie?”
Steve nervously runs his hands through his hair. “This is just a lot to process, sorry.”
And it is. Steve starts jotting everything down before he starts to forget:
Eddie remembers Steve’s favorite breakfast food.
Eddie remembers Steve wearing khakis on previous Mondays.
Eddie remembers Steve’s Memory Fucked inside joke.
Eddie remembers a shit ton about Steve.
Eddie remembers.
Very lightly, Steve scribbles on the corner of the page:
Eddie notices Steve’s ass…
The rest of the visit is pretty awesome, one of the best ones they’ve ever had. Eddie recalls practically everything from Friday, which is blowing Steve’s mind. They talk about his visit with Dustin on Sunday, and how excited Eddie is to see Wayne on Thursday. Steve doesn’t even bother with taking more notes because Eddie remembers it all.
They talk like real friends today. Friends that occasionally notice other friend’s asses or get lost in their sequined eyes, but still. It’s somewhere in the ballpark of friends, right? Whatever it is, it’s better than ripping each other apart with insults. That’s gotta count for something.
Eddie falls asleep an hour before visiting hours are over. He falls asleep still smiling from the last joke he told before dozing off. Steve studies his facial features because he can finally see more of them (Eddie’s bangs were trimmed too, thank god).
He’s still pretty banged up. Cuts that overlap and bruises that change gradient the further up they spread. As if the softer parts of Eddie are still freshly wounded. That’s not how it works, Steve has been beaten up enough to know that people don’t bruise like fruit. Not really.
Steve can just see more of Eddie now, which is proving to be a dangerous road to travel down. Way too many detours to let his mind wander. Think. Overthink.
He thinks Eddie is attractive. That’s the detour he’s taking tonight. And if this person didn’t already occupy so much space in his mind, that detour might be more shocking to him. But it’s barely registering on the shock-meter.
Eddie’s unharmed features are highlighted in attractiveness against the purples and grays and reds. It’s almost impossible not to notice that he’s attractive when his face has this many colors. This much character.
Steve doesn’t know what’s going on. This could all be his exhaustion kicking in. Or maybe Eddie’s great spirits has twisted Steve’s outlook on things. Or maybe it’s an illusion from the Better Day they’ve shared together.
The only clear answer that Steve has right now is that Eddie remembers him. And that fucking means something.
Steve stops by to tell Sam the good news on his way out.
“I think he’s getting better.”
Sam nods once. “He definitely feels better, I’ll give you that.”
“Sure, but…” Steve begins. “I think his memory is getting better too. He remembers the littlest details about me.”
“Steve.”
“That’s huge, right?” Steve is so awestruck. “Like… I don’t know, Sam. Maybe he’ll get to go home soon.”
She doesn’t respond right away. Her eyes just keep shifting between Steve and Eddie’s door.
“I think I need to show you something.”
That can’t be good. Her tone is very, ‘speak with me after class, young man.’
They quietly walk back into Eddie’s room. Sam motions her head for Steve to approach Eddie’s bedside. Cautiously, Steve does.
She gently pulls back Eddie’s thin blanket, and Steve feels the air vacate his fucking lungs.
Eddie’s arms. There’s tape and IVs and tattoos and scars - all of the usual stuff.
But then there’s writing. Eddie is covered in black ink, scribbled notes filling in all the gaps of his pale skin. Steve can’t make out most of the words - it’s all messy.
But there’s one word he spots over and over again.
‘Steve.’
It’s all messy, sure. But it’s all about him.
“Holy shit.” Steve whispers, quickly looking towards Sam. “Sorry, didn’t mean to swear.”
“No, that’s an appropriate response.” Of course she’d be cool about him swearing.
Without waking up Eddie, he begins to decipher the notes as best as he can:
Scrambled eggs. Extra hold hairspray. Hyde or Kathy. Yellow sweater. Khakis on Mondays.
There are notes on things they haven’t talked about as well. Things that Eddie has just observed:
Steve visits Mon-Fri.
Steve laughs at all of your jokes, even the mean ones.
Steve applies chapstick when he’s nervous.
Steve will untangle your wires without making it weird.
The name Steve no longer sounds the same after reading it fifteen times over.
“I’m so sorry, sweetie.” Sam places a hand on Steve’s back. “It’s not that he’s remembering everything again.”
“Oh.”
“He just doesn’t want to forget you.”
No. That can’t be right. That can’t be possible. Of course Eddie knows who Steve is. Of course he does.
Steve finds a shitty excuse to get the hell out of this place. He’s polite about it because Sam is a kindhearted person, but this is so fucking unfair. Every last bit of it, down the last ink stain on Eddie’s nondominant arm.
Max isn’t awake. Eddie still has a skim-milk memory. Nothing has gotten better?
Well that shit ends today. Because whatever detour Steve’s mind discovered tonight, it’s leading him down a fucking freeway of tenacity. He’s fueled by whatever attraction or feelings he’s developing for Eddie. Whether it’s friendship or something more, it really doesn’t matter. Not after tonight.
Steve just cares about Eddie way too much to let his mind rot away like this. He’s too close, too connected to the problem to let it go unsolved forever.
As soon as Steve gets home, he calls Robin.
“Really, dingus?” Robin answers the phone like that. Annoyed and groaning already. “It’s late and I’m neck-deep in a John Hughes marathon.”
“It’s about Eddie.” Steve gets right to it.
“Is he okay?”
“I don’t know.”
“Oh fuck.” She exhales loudly. “How can I help?”
“You’re friends with his bandmates, right?”
“Yeah, kinda. Why?”
Steve flips through the memory log. Locates one of his crucial bullet points:
Eddie can hum the theme songs to all of the shitty soap operas (even on bad days).
“I need you to ask them to make a mixtape of Eddie’s favorite songs.” Steve requests. “And it should be in chronological order. From stuff he liked as a kid, to stuff he’s into now.”
“Okay…” Robin pauses. “And you think this will help?”
“I don’t know.” Which is true, it could be a big waste of time. “But I’ve gotta try something.”
This might be dumb. But music helped them defeat(ish) Vecna. So there’s a possibility it could massage the knots in Eddie’s mind. Relax him enough to remember his life. All of it.
“Oh, and one more thing.” Steve adds before hanging up.
“What?”
Steve hits the accelerator on his freeway of tenacity.
“I need my fucking car back.”
#steddie#steve harrington#eddie munson#steddie ficlet#these are getting longer than I ever thought they would be I'm sorry!#but things are gonna get way more flirty next time 😏#oh and I’ve read this too many times to know if it’s decent anymore#so if it’s mush… that is why 🙃#and please bonk me on the head if I forget to tag you please xx
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The top of your blog says you're still taking requests,no pressure though of course: Eddie lives through the events of s4 and heals in the hospital, his name is cleared, Eddie spends his time with his uncle and his friends, plays games. He notices that Steve sort of remains on the back burner, shows up to little gatherings but keeps himself at a distance, busies himself with small tasks. Keeps the focus on Eddie, and is content to sort of stare at everyone, and not join in. Eddie gets worried and asks Robin whats up with Steve, why does he keep just standing in the corner or the kitchen smiling instead of joining in, I think he's bumming the kids out, Robin. And she has to calmly, and frightfully, remind him that Steve died over spring break. What are you talking about he's right there! I'd love a Ghost Steve who doesn't want to move on, wants to stay with his family. Doesn't want to be alone. Eddie is the only one who can see him at first(?)
OKAY SO THIS WAS SAD AS SHIT AND I LOVE THIS PREMISE. I especially love it because I have read A LOT of ghost Eddie fics, some where he was actually dead and some where it was a weird Upside Down thing and he was alive. I'm a big believer in happy endings so I went full speed ahead with the latter option for Steve. But since you requested ghost Steve not wanting to move on, I had to switch it up a bit to where Eddie couldn't just let it go. Still plenty of sad, but I had to make it hopeful and happy at the end because I am me. - Mickala ❤️
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While Eddie was in the hospital, it felt like he was in a bubble. His uncle was the only one allowed to visit for the first week, and then the kids were able to come by when his name was cleared.
They weren’t themselves, a cloud of sadness around them, but that was to be expected with everything that had happened.
Dustin, especially, clung to him more than he expected.
He figured it would be rough, he did almost die, after all, but this was on another level.
Dustin was with him every day for hours, sometimes had to be dragged out by his mom who understood, but only in the way a person who doesn’t know about the Upside Down could.
Robin came by sometimes, a haunted look on her face, none of her usual energy anywhere to be seen.
He managed to get her to crack a small smile twice.
When he left the hospital, things somehow felt worse.
The government had provided him and Wayne a new trailer, nowhere near the trailer park, even managed to get Wayne a new truck since Eddie’s van had been destroyed and Wayne’s truck was on its last leg for the last year.
His name was cleared, but that didn’t mean people changed their mind about him.
He mostly stayed at home, didn’t even attempt to go to the store with Wayne or anywhere but Dustin’s house or the Byers’.
The kids started begging for normalcy in whatever ways they could: meeting up for movie night, bringing Hellfire back, dinner at the Byers’ house.
Eddie was on board with it, wanted to put everything in the past just as much as they did.
He went to movie night, at Robin’s house while her parents were out of town instead of at Steve’s.
Steve, who hadn’t visited him once while he was in the hospital, hadn’t made it to any hangouts with the kids, apparently was coping with everything by ignoring everyone.
Eddie would have to do something about it soon because the kids were clearly missing him.
Movie night was okay, but he decided to have the next one at his house.
He told Dustin to let everyone know, didn’t think he had to be specific about everyone.
Steve didn’t show up on time, which was unusual since he was usually Dustin and Lucas’ ride. They rode with Nancy and Mike.
Everyone settled in, Eddie started the movie and passed out popcorn, waved goodbye to Wayne on his way out the door to his night shift.
Everything felt okay, but without Steve, it didn’t feel right.
Eddie could admit to himself he had a crush on him. He had one on him in high school, but that was easy to ignore when he was an asshole.
Now, he knew Steve was a good guy, protected these kids and Robin and Nancy with his life and didn’t hesitate even when he should.
It wasn’t just a crush anymore, he realized that while he was in the hospital. It was full blown feelings. Love.
Eddie sat in Wayne’s recliner in the corner, keeping an eye on everyone through the movie. He glanced over to the kitchen and saw movement, but didn’t think anything of it.
They paused the movie halfway through for bathroom breaks and refills on snacks and drinks, and Eddie followed all the kids into the kitchen to get his own beer.
He was startled when he turned the corner and saw Steve smiling at him from the corner.
He didn’t want to say anything, figured the kids had already said hello and he was just letting them get their stuff first.
But it was kind of weird that he’d come in the backdoor of a trailer he’d never visited when he easily could have come in the front door. Eddie watched as Steve leaned against the wall of the kitchen, watching everyone move around without saying anything.
It was weird, especially because the smile seemed to transform from a genuine one to a sad one quickly.
He didn’t want to draw attention to it, didn’t know how much Steve let the kids see usually, so he turned to grab his own snack from the counter.
Robin was standing there, staring at him, eyebrows pinched together.
“What were you looking at?”
“Uh,” Eddie glanced back over and saw Steve frowning now. “Steve? Looking like a kicked puppy in the corner?”
Robin’s face went from confused to worried in a millisecond.
“What? What do you mean?”
“Steve.” Eddie gestured towards where Steve was still standing, but now he looked panicked, like he wanted to interrupt. “Please feel free to make me not look insane, Steve.”
Robin glanced over to the corner, then back at Eddie, tears in her eyes.
“Eddie,” she said, voice sad, like she was about to break the worst news in the world to him. Then, she did. “Steve died. Remember? We had to leave him.”
That can’t be right. He could’ve sworn Steve was there when he was being pushed through the gate, when he gained just enough consciousness to look around and take inventory of the people around him. Steve was there.
“When did he die? He was at the…with the bats…he was at the trailer…right?”
Eddie looked back in the corner and saw Steve looking down at the floor.
And then Robin was pulling him into a hug.
“Nobody told you. They were supposed to tell you. And we-” she let out a sob. “We just haven’t talked about it. It’s hard to. Last time we tried, Dustin had to be given anxiety meds. I’m sorry, Eddie. He’s gone.”
She was crying through the explanation, almost too much for him to understand what she was saying.
But he watched as Steve wiped at his eyes in the corner.
Like he was crying. Like he was there.
He knew Robin wasn’t lying, she would never lie about something like this, and it would explain a lot of the behavior of everyone and Steve’s absence up until this point.
“Robbie, I-” Eddie didn’t know if it would help or hurt her to know he could see Steve right now. He made a decision based on the way Steve was watching them now, his eyes wide and sad, like he would be crying if he could. “I can see him right now.”
Robin pulled away, looked at him, then over at the corner.
“Right now? He’s there right now?”
Eddie nodded.
“Can you hear him say anything?”
“No, he hasn’t said anything. I don’t think he can.”
Steve was still just staring at them, and Eddie knew he was stuck.
If he was truly dead, he wasn’t moving on the way people do. If he wasn’t dead, then something super weird was happening and he would have to get help from everyone.
But he didn’t want to involve the kids, not for this. Because if Steve was dead, like they thought, and they went through the trouble of trying to find him, they’d be hurting all over again.
But if he wasn’t.
“Robin, were you sure he was dead? No pulse or breathing, no movement?”
Robin’s eyes widened.
“I mean, I guess as sure as we could be with how rushed and emotional we were? Nancy couldn’t find a heartbeat and he wasn’t moving, and we waited as long as we could, but he didn’t wake up. Do you think he isn’t dead?”
Steve was watching them, his fingers tapping against his arms that were crossed over his chest.
“How long can someone survive down there?”
“Eddie, look. I already talked to Hopper about it. He said even if somehow Steve managed to survive his injuries, they were bad enough that he would have probably been found by something and attacked. And even if he survived that, he’s been down there without food and water and clean oxygen for a month. The fact that Will survived a week was a miracle.”
He didn’t push. He could hear it in Robin’s voice that she’d already thought of every possible outcome, probably even tried to plan a rescue mission at some point.
She couldn’t take the disappointment either.
Eddie dropped it for now, but he watched as Steve watched him.
He just had a feeling that this was more complicated than Steve being dead.
—-----------------------
He let himself mourn that night.
While he didn’t feel like Steve was dead, he knew that no matter what, Steve had been missing from all their lives for a month.
He cried for hours, he cried for Steve, for Dustin, for Robin, for Max, for everyone who Steve loved so much that he died for them.
Himself included.
Because that’s what it came down to: Steve died protecting them.
They all took a risk, but Steve paid the price.
It wasn’t fair. The guy who put everyone first was the first one gone.
Eddie finally fell asleep, but it was restless. He kept getting flashes of Steve in his dreams, his face bloody, his body bloody, his screams loud.
Which was weird for a lot of reasons, one of them being that he didn’t know what injuries Steve even had when he died. The ghost he saw in his kitchen earlier had just been Steve, not bloodied or broken or scared.
When he managed to get up, he went through the motions of his day: brush his teeth, shower, eat breakfast, do his stretches, play guitar, eat lunch, clean up, talk to Wayne.
But by dinner, he felt like he had to do something. He had to figure out why he felt this buzzing energy around him.
He waited until Wayne left to get their dinner at the diner and bring it home, then he called Robin.
“Robin, is there a gate open somewhere?”
“Seriously, Eddie.”
“I just need to know! Maybe you’re right, in fact, you probably are. But what if you aren’t? What if he’s stuck down there? What if he’s too hurt to find a way back here?”
Robin was silent, but Eddie didn’t let that deter him.
“I know you guys were pretty sure. And I know you wouldn’t have left if you didn’t believe he was dead. But you said yourself you were emotional and overwhelmed and feeling rushed because of everything happening. It’s not that far of a stretch to believe that he could be alive.”
“Eddie.”
Her voice was broken.
She didn’t want to believe him.
“Okay,” he sighed. “Okay.”
“I know it’s hard. It’ll get easier, I hope. His parents just sold the house, and his car, so. He’s gone. We have to accept that.”
“Okay.”
But it wasn’t okay.
He hung up with Robin, promised he would try to get some sleep, take care of himself. It was a lie.
He ate dinner with Wayne, pretended he was doing alright, pretended he didn’t still hear the echoes of Steve’s screams in his head.
Wayne left early for work, claimed he was picking up some overtime due to them being short staffed still after the quake. He said he wouldn’t be home until nine the next morning.
Eddie nodded and pretended to head to his room for the night.
He did a lot of pretending until he was alone.
Then, he got on the phone with El.
El had gotten attached to him while Max was in a coma, stopping by to talk to him after she’d spent an hour or so with Max. She saw him as a cool older brother, especially when she realized Hopper wasn’t his biggest fan.
“I need to know if there’s a gate open.”
“Eddie, I do not know if I can help with that,” El responded slowly, carefully.
“What if I say it’s for a really good reason?”
“I am sure it is, but I promised Dad I would not open one.”
“But what if there’s one already open?”
“There is not. I would feel it.”
Eddie sighed. He didn’t want to make El break a promise, but this was worth it.
He knew Hopper would forgive her and him if he was right.
“Has Will mentioned feeling anything weird?”
Sometimes Will felt things that even El couldn’t, usually things happening only in the Upside Down. Everyone’s running theory was that it was because of the time he spent down there.
“No, he just feels the usual.”
“What’s the usual?”
“It is just there. Sometimes it is more there than other times.”
“And right now? It isn’t more than other times?”
“I think it is just always more than other times since Vecna.”
Hm. That could be something.
“Why does it feel like more sometimes?”
“It is hard to say. Sometimes it is nothing, sometimes it is because something is moving and trying to get out.”
“Is it always a creature?”
“It always was before.”
“El, I think Steve’s alive.”
There, he said it. He said it to someone who could probably actually help him, who would would help him if she believed him.
“Why do you think that? They said he was not breathing.”
“I know, but, look. Robin even said that they were being rushed and were crying and could have missed something.”
“But it has been a month.”
“I saw him. In the kitchen.” He hated saying this to one of the kids. They all loved Steve so much and if he was wrong, he really didn’t want this to hurt her. “At movie night. He was there, but only I could see him. Robin said maybe it was a ghost, but it seemed too real.”
“It was Steve?”
“Even if he’s de-,” Eddie stopped. “Gone. If his body is where it was left, it should be put to rest here. And if it isn’t, and he’s alive, then we can save him.”
“But we will get caught.”
“Not if we do it tonight. Hopper works nights this week, right?”
“Yes.”
“So he won’t be home to know you’re gone. Will is over at Dustin’s. Jonathan is so high, he won’t notice you’re gone. Joyce will be asleep by ten. You can sneak out.”
“What if you get hurt? I cannot go down there.”
That was a valid concern.
They defeated Vecna, and the Mindflayer hadn’t been a problem since, but that didn’t mean the other creatures weren’t still prowling around down there.
Out of all of them, he had the least experience with them, and she had every right to be worried.
“I can handle it. I’ll bring Steve’s bat.”
—------------------------
He met El in the woods behind the cabin they were staying in. Hopper had redone it, adding two bedrooms and a bathroom so they could all fit more comfortably.
They silently hugged and kept walking further, away from any chance of being seen or heard.
El warned him that opening the gate was risky in other ways too. She had a lot of control over her powers, but sometimes using this much strength would leave her too tired to close it again, and they couldn’t leave a gate open for longer than it took for Eddie to get in, check for Steve, and get out.
They also ran the risk of her using a little too much power and making a gate that was too big for her to close at all.
But these were risks Eddie deemed worth it, and with some convincing, El did too.
They found a small clearing, big enough to make a gate that Eddie could fit through.
He didn’t let himself stop to think about the last time he was being pushed through a gate, how he was bleeding out and barely breathing. He only thought about how Steve was down there, dead or alive, and didn’t deserve to be.
“Are you ready?” El asked him, her hands digging into the earth below her.
“Ready.”
“Two hours. If you are not back in two hours, I call Hopper.”
That was the deal. That was the only way she agreed to do this.
He knew if it came down to him being gone for more than two hours, he’d probably be grateful to see Hopper.
“Got it.”
El nodded and closed her eyes.
The ground started shaking, Eddie held back the panic, and suddenly El was staring up at him, blood dripping from her nose, smiling.
The ground had opened between them, just big enough for Eddie to slip through, small enough for El to cover with sticks and leaves if someone came looking before their time was up.
“You will come back in two hours.”
“Sure thing, supergirl. With Steve, hopefully.”
“With Steve,” she added with a small smile.
Eddie didn’t think anymore.
He dropped himself down, ignoring the sinking feeling in his stomach when everything turned upside down on him.
He didn’t let himself hesitate, even though he wanted to.
He had a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time, and if Steve was alive, he could be anywhere.
But he walked towards where Robin and Nancy had left him. It would at least confirm if he was dead, his body hopefully would still be there if so.
It was only two miles, but Eddie was never a very fast runner. The first mile went surprisingly well, much faster than he expected to be able to do it. But during mile two, he felt his legs shaking.
He was still technically healing, the physical therapy stretches he did every morning further proof that he still had a long way to go before he was completely recovered.
But he pushed through it, knowing that the way back would be worse and he couldn’t waste time now.
But when he got to the area between the Creel house and the trailer park, he saw no sign of Steve, or anything for that matter.
There weren’t even vines or dead creatures around.
He tried to remain calm.
Steve had been alive when they left him here.
He may not be now, but he had been.
That felt worse.
He pushed that aside and decided to run to the trailer park.
Steve wouldn’t have gone in the direction of the Creel house, and he wouldn’t have wandered aimlessly no matter how much blood he’d lost.
He would have gone to the place he knew they would be in hopes the gate was still open.
The trailer park had always been kind of eerie, even in broad daylight, so the Upside Down version was downright horrific.
Eddie ran directly to his old trailer, hoped that somehow Steve found shelter here.
It looked worse than what he remembered, blood on the floor from when they were half dragging, half carrying him after being a meal for the bats.
The door had been kicked in at some point, and he wasn’t sure how or when that could have happened after they left.
He almost didn’t want to know unless-
He could hear movement in the back bedroom. His bedroom.
It could be anything. Wind blowing through a broken window, a creature he wasn’t entirely prepared to kill, Steve.
God, he hoped it was Steve.
He slowly walked towards the bedroom, his hands shaking where they were holding on tight to the bat.
The door was open a few inches, and he could hear the movement more clearly.
It sounded like someone was in bed, shifting in the sheets.
Holy shit.
He pushed the door open.
Holy shit.
“Steve!”
Eddie dropped the bat and ran to the bed, only stopping himself from jumping onto it when he saw the blood.
There was a lot, though most of it looked old, like maybe Steve had crawled here and then couldn’t quite find his way back out.
Steve was pale. It was dark, and hard to make out a lot of details, but he could see that he was deathly pale.
“Steve?”
“Eddie?”
“Holy shit, Jesus Christ, Steve. Where are you bleeding from?”
“Um, I think my leg? And my stomach.”
His voice was raspy, sort of nasally like he was coming down with a cold. Could you catch a cold from being down here? Probably.
Eddie’s hands hovered over the sheets, ready to move them so he could try to help, when Steve suddenly turned on his side and threw up.
“Shit. Hold on, let me help you sit up.”
“Sorry. Sorry.”
Steve was crying, and Eddie didn’t know what to do.
He took a deep breath.
“You don’t have to apologize, Stevie. I’m sorry you’ve been stuck here. Can I check your heartbeat?”
Eddie needed to see if it was ridiculously fast or slow, needed to determine how quickly he had to move them out of here, if he could take a few extra minutes to try to patch him up or if he just had to put him on his back and run.
Steve held his wrist towards him and Eddie quickly found his pulse.
He counted like a kind nurse showed him while he was in the hospital, filed away for future emergencies so he could be useful.
“It’s a little fast, but I think that’s normal for the situation. Let’s get you up and we can go.”
“Go how?”
“You can hop on my back.”
“I-”
“Steve, it’s not up for debate. You’re coming back with me and I don’t care if it means I break my back.”
Steve nodded once, his eyes closing as if he was just too exhausted to fight.
Eddie was sure he was.
Even if he managed to sleep here, it couldn’t have been well. It’s hard to rest when you know scary monsters are just outside the door.
“Tired,” Steve said, almost like he could read Eddie’s mind.
Hell, maybe he could after spending so much time down here.
Something to test later.
He checked his clock. Still had almost an hour and a half to get back to the gate.
“Have you had anything to eat or drink lately?”
“Found some water four days ago I think? Maybe five. Managed to stretch it until yesterday. Food’s been gone for days.”
How was he not passed out?
“How much of this blood is yours?”
“All of it.”
Awesome.
Eddie felt his forehead. He had a fever.
Even more awesome.
He probably had infections, which can be treated if you get them taken care of quickly, but he could have had them for weeks by now.
Cool.
“Alright, on three, wrap your arms around my neck and your legs around my waist. I’m gonna lift, and I just need you to try to keep leaning forward while I get you on my back.”
“Mkay.”
“And you cannot close your eyes. You hear me, Steve?”
Steve didn’t answer.
“Sweetheart, I need you to talk to me.”
“Mhm. Eyes stay open.”
“And mouth keeps moving. Alright,” Eddie helped him out a bit by placing his arms around his neck. “One…two…three.”
He lifted, and huffed out a sharp breath when his ribs started aching almost immediately.
“Okay?” Steve whispered against his neck.
“I’m okay. You?”
“Okay.”
“Okay.” Eddie let himself take one calming breath, just enough to get himself back on track. “Talk to me.”
“Hurts.”
“I know, love, but I need to know you haven’t passed out,” Eddie said sympathetically.
“Wanna hold your hand.”
God, okay. He could handle that.
He could.
“Okay, one hand for a minute. I need them both to hold you up though.”
He moved one hand up to his chest, where Steve’s hands were sort of dangling. He let his thumb run along the side of Steve’s hands, then Steve grabbed it and squeezed, surprising strength behind it.
“Is Dustin okay?”
Jesus Christ, this guy was half dead and still asking if others were okay.
“Yeah, he’s doing okay. Misses you, though.”
“Miss him.”
“Max is gonna be mad you came back from the dead in a more impressive way than her.”
“She can win.”
Eddie let out a laugh and tugged his hand back to adjust Steve on his back.
They had barely made it out of the trailer park and Eddie’s legs were shaking. He could do it though, he had no choice.
“How long?” Steve asked.
“A month.”
“Robin?”
“She’s hurting. She thought I was crazy. Didn’t wanna come because she didn’t wanna see you like she left you.”
“Not dead though.”
“Nope, not unless dead people can talk down here.”
Steve’s breath was hot against his neck, tickling him and sending chills down his back.
“You?”
“What about me?”
“Hurt?”
Steve’s voice was getting more strained, like he was doing his best to still talk but it was causing a lot of pain for him to do so.
“I was really hurt, yeah.”
“Still?”
“Not as much. Just a little.”
“Love me?”
Eddie knew he was losing it. The pain, the dehydration and hunger, the deliriousness. Steve didn’t have a clue what he was saying.
“What?”
“You love me?”
“Um.”
Steve squeezed his legs around Eddie’s hips.
“Came back. Love me.”
When it was put like that, yeah, Eddie guessed it seemed kind of obvious.
“Just a little.”
He could sense the eyeroll Steve wanted to give, but didn’t quite have the energy.
“I saw you. In my kitchen. Were you there?”
“Dunno.”
“Did you dream about it?”
“Just you. Kids. Robin. Missed you.”
“We all missed you.”
Eddie was making more progress, his determination to get Steve medical attention far outweighing any weakness or pain he was feeling.
“Ow.”
“What hurts, sweetheart?”
“Stomach.”
“Bites?”
“Mhm.”
Eddie could feel where the blood was soaking through his shirt, but he knew it wasn’t so much that he couldn’t at least make it through the gate before bandaging it up. He’d made it this long with them out, another 30 minutes wouldn’t kill him.
Hopefully.
Steve was quiet again, but he was breathing against Eddie’s neck steadily, so he didn’t push.
“Man, you won’t believe the place they gave me and Wayne. It’s got two bedrooms. And we have a whole kitchen instead of just a small counter area with a stove and fridge. Maybe you can cook us dinner when you’re better, you know, as a thanks for rescuing you.”
“Not a good cook.”
“I don’t believe that. Robin said you made her chicken parmesan from scratch for her birthday.”
“Yeah.”
“Alright, so chicken parmesan, my kitchen, soon.”
“Soon.”
They were close, creeping into the edge of the woods, and Eddie was trying not to panic at Steve’s silence.
“Stevie, just a few more minutes. Tell me about the first thing you wanna do when you’re back.”
“Mmm.” Steve’s head rolled back and forth like he was trying to focus. “Kiss you.”
“That can be arranged. What else?”
“Hug Dustin. Love him.”
“Yeah, he could use that.”
“Hug Robin. Love her.”
“She could use that, too.”
“Hug you, love you.”
He wouldn’t hold Steve to this, he wouldn’t. But it would hurt so much when Steve forgot about this whole conversation.
He bit his lip and nodded.
“Yeah, I could use that.”
Steve’s lips were pressed against his neck, most likely accidental, but Eddie let himself pretend for a moment it was a kiss.
When he reached the gate, he whistled to get El’s attention.
“Oh! Eddie, is that…”
“He’s alive. Really hurt and needs water and food. I need to get him through.”
El was prepared with everything and it only took a couple of minutes for them to get through the gate, Steve whimpering slightly as they moved him around.
“You were right.”
El seemed surprised, like she had only done this to give Eddie closure. She hadn’t expected Steve to be alive.
“He loves me,” Steve said.
El looked at Eddie, then at Steve, then back to Eddie.
“You love him?”
“I do. And I’ll love him a lot more if he stays alive. We have to get him to the hospital.”
“I can call Hopper?”
“Tell him to meet us at the cabin with an ambulance.”
“Jus’ need sleep.”
Eddie looked at Steve, mouth open in disbelief.
“You’re going to the hospital.”
“Sleep.”
“I’m not arguing with you. You can barely form a sentence. You’re going to the hospital.”
“You come?”
“I won’t leave your side.”
Eddie put him on his back again so he could walk towards the cabin, hopeful that Hopper wouldn’t ask a lot of questions until they got Steve taken care of.
“He is on his way!” El yelled from the porch, Joyce coming up behind her, hair a mess from being asleep.
When she saw Steve, her eyes widened and she nearly tripped running down the stairs.
“Oh God, Steve! Honey, are you okay? Of course not, you can’t even walk. You’re bleeding!”
“Mrs. Byers, can you get him some water maybe please?”
“Yes! Oh my God!”
She was running back up the stairs, mumbling to herself the whole way.
El giggled as she watched.
Eddie loved her.
He could hear sirens in the distance, and he hoped he would be able to ride with Steve.
He shouldn’t have to be alone anymore.
Steve’s eyes were closed, but Eddie kept his fingers on his pulse, making sure he didn’t have any changes while the sirens got closer.
Hopper’s patrol car arrived first, barely in park before Hopper was jumping out and running to where Eddie was cradling Steve.
Joyce came out with the water and handed it to Eddie.
“Dammit, why would you go down there alone? You know the rules.”
Eddie ignored him, just focused on getting some water past Steve’s lips.
“C’mon, sweetheart. Just a few sips.”
Steve’s lips moved, then he swallowed some of the water.
“There ya go. Good job.”
Hopper was watching in silence now, Joyce with her arm around him.
Eddie knew they were wondering how the hell they would ever get over leaving Steve behind.
The ambulance pulled up next, EMTs rushing out and asking Eddie question after question.
He had to keep it simple: found him in the woods, must’ve been out there since the quake with the injuries and level of dehydration. They took him at his word.
When they loaded Steve up, they let Eddie in only because Hopper insisted.
“I’ll be right behind you.”
And he was.
Eddie kept his eyes on Steve the whole time, but he could see the lights of Hopper’s police car in the window next to him.
Steve’s eyes fluttered open a few times as they hooked him up to oxygen and an IV, kept checking his vitals.
Eddie smiled at him each time, made sure he knew he was there and he loved him.
—---------------------------
It was two days before Steve woke up again.
The wounds weren’t bad, but they were infected, which was why they kept randomly bleeding despite not being very deep.
The infection was actually the worst of it, but it had potential to be life threatening if they couldn’t get it under control.
They pumped him full of pain relievers and antibiotics, fluids and nutrients.
Eddie sat by his bed the whole time.
None of the kids were allowed in yet, doctor’s and Hopper’s orders, but he heard Dustin in the hall multiple times a day giving it his best shot.
Robin hadn’t come by yet. Eddie knew she felt guilty, immensely so. She left her best friend down there, suffering, and didn’t even think to double check when it was safe to do so.
Eddie didn’t blame her, and he knew Steve wouldn’t either, but Robin would.
But when Steve’s eyes finally opened, bloodshot and glassy from his IV concoction, he smiled at Eddie.
“Love me?”
“Just a little.”
He fell back asleep a few minutes later, holding Eddie’s hand like a lifeline.
—------------------------
It took another four days before the doctors said he could be around others. His infection symptoms had gotten better and they believed the worst was over.
Eddie called Robin and told her to bring Dustin, no arguing. Steve was asking for them.
It wasn’t a lie, but he may have exaggerated it slightly just to get them here.
And when they did show up, everyone cried.
Robin collapsed next to the bed while Dustin folded himself against Steve the moment he was given permission to.
Eddie just watched from his chair, took in the way Steve comforted them despite the fact he was still in the hospital after spending a month alone in the Upside Down.
That was just who Steve was.
It probably wasn’t healthy, but it’s why Eddie loved him. Just a little.
#steddie#steve harrington#eddie munson#stranger things#robin buckley#the party#temporary character death#ficlet#request#angst#happy ending
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the simplicity and loveliness of laying with eddie <333
*could be read as an alternative ending to this blurb
***
the moon hangs full and bright in the sky, you have a perfect view of it’s sparkling face through the half open curtain in eddie’s room. it’s quiet except for the hum of crickets just outside—singing their nighttime song in the overgrown grass—and the gentle, wonderful thump of eddie’s heart beating in his chest. everything in his room glows a delightful, warm orange from the christmas lights you’d helped him—ogled at him while he hung them himself, really—string up in his room earlier in the day.
there’s also the slight flickering light of the scented candle he lit on his bedside table; the room smells of warm cookies. he’d insisted on lighting it to rid the room of the scent of cigarettes and weed and also because it’s kinda romantic, too, isn’t it? because despite appearances, eddie is a softie and the biggest romantic you’ve ever met.
you play with his hand that lays on his naked chest while your head rests right above his heart. the sound of his beating heart is still such a relief to you, such a comfort, even after so long. you don’t want to think about why that is though, so you focus on his hands. eddie has such nice hands and they look so pretty when he paints his nails. well, actually, you painted them today—a dark blue colour, and you’re rather proud of how clean they look; no smudging around his skin or cuticles.
it’s late november and wayne hasn’t gotten around to fixing the heater yet, but eddie acts as your own personal furnace as you curl closer to him, and he pulls you closer still by the arm he has around your shoulders.
this is the most perfect moment, you think. the second you do, you feel a little silly because there’s nothing inherently special about this specific moment. but for some reason it’s just special in its own right; maybe because you’re with your favourite person in the whole world, and you’re laying with him, and things feel so simple and so easy.
neither of you have spoken for several minutes, in a post-coital state of sleepiness; not so much that you’re exhausted enough to fall asleep, but enough that you feel relaxed and maybe a tad giddy. but suddenly, you feel the desire to express some sort of gratitude or love for him because being here with eddie right now feels ridiculously lovely.
“would it-would it be corny of me to say that i wish we could stay in this moment forever?” you say, tracing soft patterns over his stomach.
eddie huffs a quiet laugh through his nose and thumbs at your chin so you meet his eyes.
“it would be very corny,” eddie decides, smiling like you’ve said what he was thinking. “but you haven’t really said it yet, so it doesn’t count.”
“oh, those are the rules now?” you tease, probably with the most lovesick look on your face.
“those are the rules now,” eddie repeats definitively, a certain cadence to the sentence present that indicates that he’s saying silly things just to say silly things.
“okay.”
a beat of silence marked by a loud whoosh of wind outside that rustles the trees, and then:
“i wish we could stay in this moment forever,” he says, his tone genuine.
you nuzzle further into his chest, smiling to yourself. a joyful, completely happy feeling rises in your chest because it’s always such a wonderful thing to be reminded that your love for him is reciprocated in near exact amounts—though eddie claims he loves you more quite adamantly when you tell him you love him.
“you’re right,” you agree. “that was corny.”
eddie laughs shortly again, then gently pulls you into the sweetest kiss; not too chaste that you can’t enjoy it for a moment—in fact, you hear yourself involuntarily sigh into his mouth—and just enough passion that it makes you a little dizzy in the best way.
that kiss snuffed out any teasing left on your tongue, as you blink blearily up at him and confess, “i love you, eddie”
the smallest smile plays on his lips before he says, “i love you more.”
#apology for my last blurb lol#eddie munson x gn reader#eddie munson fluff#eddie munson x reader#eddie munson blurb
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The Way It Shouldn't Be - Final Part
They're playing a song Eddie would hate and everyone's paired up and pretending like they got ANY of Tommy's liquor, dancing wildly and laughing loud but not loud enough to drown out the song Eddie would hate.
Steve's on the fringes, watching.
Has his own alcohol, got a never ending supply from his Dad's office. He thinks of the massive blowout party he and Tommy and the boys always planned for. Post Prom Insanity: partying for two maybe three days and then taking a roadtrip together, see other places, go on adventures.
Tommy's engaged to Carol, who's pregnant and no one's meant to know but of course everyone does. He's gonna work for his Dad, the thing he always said he never wanted to do. Everyone else, Steve wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire so yeah, no party.
No road trip.
No Eddie.
But Steve's there; hired the tux and everything, so why fuckin' not?
He drinks and imagines fucking Eddie somewhere on campus, the music playing while they kiss. He imagines a lot of shit that's not ever gonna happen because good things don't last.
They're not made to last.
It's not the way things are.
Whatever.
Stupid Enola Gay comes on and Steve tries not get all caught up in the melody, the way the minor keys fuck him up.
Eddie's not coming.
He knows because he swung by Eddie's trailer earlier, met Wayne.
The older man was kind, but really clear when he said Eddie was staying with friends for a few days.
Steve is sulking.
Kind of spoiling for a fight.
First dick he sees harassing a girl is gonna eat it, simple as that.
God, he feels like a chaperone.
Like he's a thousand years old.
Cannot wait to get home, cry and jerk off before he falls asleep. Wonderful plans. Stellar.
'Fuck you,' he mutters, takes another slug. Enola Gay always moves him.
He gives up when the song ends, what's the literal point of staying when the best song is already gone.
He's sulky, moody and still heartbroken.
Still in love.
It's not how it should be.
He knows that.
But it's how it fucking is.
He's leaving, he decides.
He feels ruthlessly good about it when someone grabs his hand and yanks him with knowing roughness.
'Dumping out, Harrington?'
He whirls, blinks.
Is a little drunk but like... not enough for this.
'Eddie?'
He looks...
Oh my god he's kind of dressed up.
For Eddie, he's dressed up, meaning he looks way more Devil Worshipper than usual. Hair all roughed up and wavy, eyeliner, all black, laced untied and that godforsaken Dio cut off he adores.
He's got a silver earring in; a dangly rose. It's undoubtedly something a girl would wear, all sparkly.
'Oh my god,' Steve mutters, dazed.
Then he shakes himself and smacks Eddie around the face.
'OK, ow.'
'You fucker! You don't call me for weeks and now you just rock up here, looking stupidly hot--'
'Aww thanks, babe.'
'--like no time has passed and nothing happened!'
Eddie sighs, glances around.
'People are staring.'
'I don't care!'
'You're drunk!'
'Well, you're an idiot!'
'Well, I love you.'
'Well, I love YOU-wait, no. What?'
Eddie rolls his eyes, pulls Steve close.
'I want us too.' Then he lets out a shaky sigh, strokes Steve's face. 'Christ, everyone is literally staring but i--'
Steve kisses him.
The world jumps the tracks.
The song skips.
Nothing will ever be the same.
It's the best fucking kiss of his life.
'I wanna fuck you.'
'Right here?' Eddie's kissing him back, its delightful, fucking gorgeius. 'Man, you really are a kinky fucker, but I've actually for a surprise for you?'
'You're not gonna sing to me, right?'
'Have a little faith in me, Harrington.'
'Does it get us the fuck out of here?'
Eddie grins, grabs his hand again.
*
'So, what do you think?'
Steve can't think. His brain is all mushy.
'Um.'
'You don't like it.'
'Eddie,' he says with soft astonishment. 'You didn't have to do this.'
The van is big, spacious. Steve's been in it before when it was not spacious, at all. Eddie has cleared the back completely but more than that, he's got supplies inside. Bedrolls, pillows, knives (of course) as well as cases of bottled water, canned good, tools, a compass and a map.
'I heard good things about Chicago.'
'From who?'
'A lady trying to sell me tickets to Chicago, but look.' Eddie sighs, wraps his arms around Steve's middle from behind. 'I just wanna try. I wanna be with you and not be scared to lose out. I can't run, don't wanna do that.' He kisses his neck. 'I'm in if you are.'
'We could go anywhere?'
'Anywhere.'
'What if you hate me after a week?'
'That's why god invented hatefucking.'
'What if we get lost?'
Eddie's lips are warm against his skin. 'Sounds fun.'
'What if--?'
'Gonna save you some time, Harrington, there's a million reasons not to do something, OK? We don't have to, but I saw the maps on your wall. I know you want to blast outta this town and so do I. I love you, Steve. I'm being brave. You wanna be brave too?'
Steve leans his head back, looks up at the stars. He can hear the music from inside, muffled but still undeniable. Eddie's all around him, they're swaying a little.
He closes his eyes, smiles.
'Dance with me first?'
~ the end.
💕💕💕
#thewayitshouldn'tbe#the way it shouldn't be#oonionchiver#steddie#steddie fic#fanfiction#my writing#spilled thoughts#askaz#onionchiver
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Something something steddie role swap AU. Steve and Eddie swap places for the final fight against Vecna (because you don’t really need to be able to play the guitar to make a distraction with one, and Steve is already injured while Eddie is Not), things proceed as in canon - the bats get in, Steve is self-sacrificial because that’s the Steve Harrington Agenda™, Steve gets himself killed.
Dustin has to watch his older brother die in his arms. Robin has to come back from a fight that she’s pretty sure they lost to find the other half of her soul is gone. Lucas finds out that not only has he lost Max, but he’s also lost his role model, one of his biggest supporters. Eddie is stuck in a town that’s falling apart, filled with people that hate him, and the only people who will understand are mourning someone Eddie barely knew. Someone whose shoes Eddie is never going to be able to fill, even when he feels like he has to try because that’s what he does; protect his people. And no matter how fucked the circumstances that got them here are, he’s decided these are his people now.
(They have to be, now that not even Uncle Wayne can calm him down when he has the nightmares, seeing Chrissy’s lifeless eyes staring down at him as he hears her bones crunch and twist-)
Eddie can’t breathe with how the gaping absence of Steve Harrington is threatening to swallow him whole. It’s always there, in the way Robin is isolating herself, sleeping over in Steve’s empty house whenever she can, and no one can get her to talk about it. It’s in the way Dustin, overcome with grief, keeps oscillating between blaming Eddie for agreeing to switch places and blaming himself for suggesting it in the first place. It’s in the way Eddie wonders sometimes, as he turns the events of Spring Break over in his mind, if maybe there was something there, or could have been something - and then he’s immediately overcome with guilt, because he’s lusting after a ghost. A ghost of someone he didn’t even know, really, as he’s learning more and more every day about the ways Steve has changed since high school.
So after a few weeks of this, especially with the added stress of Hawkins falling apart at the seams and being constantly invaded by hellbeasts from the gaping portals all over town, Eddie does what he does best.
He runs away.
He doesn’t even think about where he’s going, just puts one foot in front of the other - even as he crosses over a portal into the Upside Down, one near the trailer park, he doesn’t let himself stop and think. If he does that, he’s going to have a panic attack, and having one of those here in Hell is absolutely going to get him killed, the otherworldly hisses and screams echoing around him amongst the trees are a pretty potent reminder-
There’s a snap behind him, sounding way too close for comfort. Eddie spins around, heart racing in his chest, tensed and ready to run if he has to.
There’s nothing there. Nothing living, at least, because Eddie can see a broken branch just dangling down from one of the trees he just walked past. From this far away, it looks like something has pulled down on it, snapping the top part of the branch and leaving it attached at the bottom by just a thin layer of wood. It’s such a tenuous connection that the branch is bobbing slightly under the weight of gravity, and it looks like at some point it might just break under its own weight.
The main problem with this is that it was definitely a whole, intact branch when he first walked past it.
Eddie finds himself taking a few steps forward without really thinking about it. As he gets closer, his heartbeat gets louder and louder until he can hear it pounding in his ears. He feels a deep sense of wrongness here, like something - someone, maybe - is watching him, waiting for some kind of trigger. It crawls up his spine like a spider, making his skin crawl, his shoulders twitching involuntarily.
The feeling only intensifies when he’s within arms reach of the broken branch. It’s like a block of ice gets dropped into his chest, the way he suddenly goes cold; from this distance, he can see the branch is thicker than his upper arm. Whatever it was that did this, it’s stronger than a human, that’s for sure. Eddie feels the sharp buzz of panic begin to settle over his body, is dimly aware of a hysterical noise starting to bubble up within him-
The breath is slammed out of his lungs, too quickly to even scream. At the same time, he feels pain bloom across his upper body from being grabbed by the shoulder and shoved up against the tree. Eddie feels pinpricks of pain all up his back, his thin Iron Maiden t-shirt doing little to protect his skin from the tree bark.
Eddie’s eyes are screwed tight as he waits for the inevitable; he’s seen enough of this place to know he doesn’t want to see whatever it is that’s about to kill him. He feels something sharp scrape against his neck, followed by a pressure along the underside of his jaw, and his last coherent thought is, Jesus Christ, can’t believe I’m leaving Henderson fatherless.
Except... he doesn’t die. Eddie Munson keeps breathing, quick and shallow gasps with his eyes still tightly shut. It doesn’t make any sense, his brain can’t even begin to process what’s happening to him, so after a few seconds - when he’s sure he’s actually still alive, and not just having a delayed reaction to being eaten - Eddie opens his eyes. Immediately he feels like throwing up.
Because there in front of him, mere inches away from his face, face twisted into an utterly chilling smile, is Steve Harrington.
Or at least - something that was Steve Harrington, once upon a time. The creature now in front of Eddie has- christ, where does Eddie even begin. He doesn’t know where to look first, his brain overloading trying to take it all in - Steve has fangs now, that Eddie’s certain of, sharpened canines that jut out under Steve’s top lip and glint whenever lightning crackles overhead. He can see streaks of what looks like dried blood trailing down Steve’s chin from the fangs, following his neck downwards until they’re lost in the ring of scar tissue and dried blood at the base of his neck where he got choked by the demobats.
Most captivating of all, though, are Steve’s eyes. Once he makes eye contact, Eddie can’t bring himself to tear his eyes away. Steve’s eyes have always looked pretty to Eddie, in that strange middle ground where they look brown in some lights and almost green in others, but now they shine with a soft golden glow in the darkness. He’s not quite sure, it’s hard to focus enough to be sure, but Eddie thinks his pupils are no longer human-like, instead vertical slits like a cat’s eye.
Now that Eddie’s made eye contact, out his peripheral vision he sees Steve’s grin grow impossibly wider. At the same time, that pressure around his neck gets worse momentarily as Steve squeezes, oh fuck, he has his hand around Eddie’s throat. That sharp prickling sensation is back again, too, and Christ Almighty he’s pretty sure Steve has fucking claws.
Steve leans in even closer, and Eddie feels his breath fan across his face as he drawls, “Did you miss me too, baby?”
#steddie#steve harrington#eddie munson#stranger things#steddie au#steddie fic#kas!steve#steve harrington as kas the bloody handed#this is an idea i've had kicking around my head for a WHILE and i have so many more thoughts#and scenes that play out in my head like actual scenes from the show#so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ASK ME ABOUT THIS AU OH MY GOD#and if you have any fic recs or anything of kas!steve PLEASE HAND THEM OVER#will probably write more of this at some point but god knows when because the demands of tertiary education#and also crippling neurodivergency#are cruel masters#steve also has the prehensile demobat tails btw#i feel like that's important to mention#he does not have wings but he does have the tails + claws + fangs + super strength + cool glowy eyes (i'm sure that's not important *wink*)#kas!steve harrington#kas steve harrington#kas!steve au#charlie writes things#gravity (kas!steve au)
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Academic Achievements (romantic)
Requested by - can i request an academic rivals to lovers w/ damian? :) maybe a dash of angst >:)
Angst heh? Ha ahhahahhahahahhahahhahahahhahahha yes~
Btw some topics of bullying, class division and Damien kinda being a little shit at the beginning (but we all expected that)
Damien Wayne was a stuck up snooty brat who didn’t work for anything that came his way
Controversial opinion but it was one held by you and the handful of other kids of Gotham academy that came from blue collar or lower class families
Everything came to him with a flick of a finger whether that be his lunch on a silver platter or the attention of others. It was effortless, truly and utterly effortless
He never truly had to work for what he’s gotten in your eyes
Just another rich kid at this academy that’s populated by them
What makes him different though is that he’s a Wayne, a breed of rich all on its own
Practically royalty to Gotham society
He and them get in on money and name alone while you and a handful of others have to work their asses off to get in
It isn’t fair but you’ve accepted that at this point
It’s why you dedicated yourself to studying, to be better than them, than him for once
All students at this school were given a somewhat level playing ground when it came to actual grades
Sure, some had tutors and private fancy teaches at home to help but unless they actually cared they could not buy their way to victory
This in itself gave you enough edge to be head of class academic wise
Well not before the Wayne whom was your age had to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong and had decided he’d try to outsmart you
It started off small at first, projects in which he’d try to constantly one up you
Sending you snide smirks from across the class
You never acknowledged them but perhaps that’s what made him more determined. More pissed off that it didn’t aggravate you like he had intended
So he moves into trying to answer questions faster than you
Raising his hand up high as to be picked first
And so on and so fourth with his attempts
It was getting annoying but you’d put up with worse, much worse at this school
But he just didn’t seem to get any hints
Especially not when he one day tracked you down at lunch while you were in the art room
It was one of your only sanctuaries here. You are in peace without the threat of getting food or a drink dumped on you by some prissy girl again for not agreeing to give her the answers she wanted for homework
You just want to be left in peace but he doesn’t get that
No, he had to stick his nose where he shouldn’t have
He tells you to give up, that he’ll win and it’ll just be easier for you accept that
You almost punch him but hold back knowing you’d be fucked if you did that
You tell him to fuck off
And that leads to the two of you arguing loudly though fortunately no one was around
Rose white statues are the only ones that see and hear the carnage
Words are thrown back and forth, like a rocking ship before it crashes bow first into the waves
Sinking deep into ice cold murky waters as neither of you back down
For him it was his pride that kept him going, for you it was your stubbornness and determination that pushed you
Two opposing forces, an unstoppable force meeting an unmovable object
A fiery red rage vs seething cold fury
“You just can’t let anyone be better at you than anything huh?. That’s the problem here, you just won’t let anyone else win. You already have everything, for once stop being selfish and just give others that chance at victory, you get it enough as it is for just waving a hand in a certain direction”
“Why do you even care so much!?, does your self esteem really hang so much on your position as the top of class?”
“Damien, I’ve had to work MY ass off to get into this school along with my friends. We fucking cried when the acceptance letters came in, and it’s a miracle that the school was merciful enough to pay for me!. You don’t have to worry about that!, you probably didn’t even bat an fucking eye when that letter came because it didn’t matter to you but it does for ME!. It matters to me cause it’s the only thing I can do that everyone else can’t just pay to win”
You leave after that, grabbing your book bag and slinging it over your shoulder as you storm past him to go to your next class. Tears lining your eyes that you hold back and push away
You wouldn’t cry, not in this jungle where the moment you show weakness they’ll descend upon you like vultures to pick away at your self esteem even more
He doesn’t move oddly enough but you don’t pay attention to it much
That night when you barely catch the bus home and then have to walk for at least another 15 minutes with your hands gripping a small pocket knife as you get home.
It’s late, dinner is cold but you don’t have the effort to place it in the microwave
You go to study for the missed time at lunch from your altercation
Your tired and cold from the walk, cheeks still red and nose stuffy but you don’t care
You pull out your notebook and begin to answer equations as best you can
The words from before playing in your mind before you drowned it out with the soundtrack of howls moving castle
As Damien returns home though he’s…shaken so to say
He kinda realizes he may have gone a step too far, a line crossed in the sand that he bounded over in pursuit of something
It also makes him realize how in some ways you were right, which he didn’t want to admit aloud
He didn’t think much about that initial letter, he tossed it away noting giving it the time of day
He knew he was smart and would’ve passed the test to get in but his fathers money had paid for him not to go through that effort
And you were right, he didn’t let others win
He always thought that was a good trait, but perhaps in cases like this it wasn’t as good as initially perceived to be
He would usually go to Dick or his father for advice but instead he goes to Todd for it
Knowing how he had a better grip on what it was like to not live rich in Gotham
And well…
“Wow ok…yeah kinda dick thing to do. You came at them unprovoked and then tried to take a crack at self esteem…good going”
And that’s when the guilt begins to set in the longer he talks to his older adoptive brother
And it hits bad especially when he knows a simple apology won’t likely cut it
It’s during the next couple of days that he watches you in a new light
Compared to him and everyone else who had large social groups your relatively alone
Only one or two friends who come to your side
It’s also here he now notices the divide that he for some reason never caught onto while at the school
Damien is a loner yes, but if he wanted friends he had people who would flock to him at a heartbeat. People who seemed to adore his every breath, a single wave getting a few cheering at getting his attention
But for you and your friends there is disdain and disgust. Like seeing a bug crawled it’s way on your table before swatting it away
But you can’t be swatted, no matter how many times someone pours water or attempts to trip you it ends up with you walking it off
Giving a glare that sends them running off with giggles as they hide a smirk behind a small “oh I’m sorry! I didn’t see you there”
You never say anything about it though, you never go to a teacher or report it at all
You just take it and it makes him confused as to why you stood up to him and not them
It’s why he returns to you after a week or so of observations
Once again interrupting your lunch as you worked on a new painting
“Oh…your back.”
“I’ve…” he pauses for a moment trying to find the right words, pride be damned “I’ve come to say I’m sorry”
You stop your painting at that, mid-stroke as you put down your brush and turn back to look at him. “I don’t believe that” it comes out your mouth and he’s left to stare
“And how would I make you do so?”
“If you really want that then show me change. Show me that you work for what you get just like I do, then I’ll respect you, then I’ll accept your apology”
That seems to hit something in him since he pauses whatever response he had
And surprisingly enough he nods
It’s from that point on you notice that there’s a shift in the young Wayne
One that others also begin to catch onto
It’s a slow process but you begin having lunch with him…well more like he joins you for lunch as you either study or continue your paintings
He shows his notebooks when your stuck and how a truck into solving a question
When others are jeering at you or your friends he steps in, glaring them down
At some point he even reported on a few students after one had poured a drink on your friend purposely
For once the report wasn’t brushed aside
There are definitely jealous glared from others about how he seemed keen on spending time with you but you don’t pay it any mind
Especially not when your working on a history project about the Ottoman Empire which he had extensive knowledge about
You…begin to enjoy his presence
At first you tolerated it but now you genuinely enjoy when he meets up at lunch and integrates himself into your small group of friends
He seems happier, more content and not scowling all the time
In class the two of you start a playful competition, not like before which was motivated by bitterness and pride
Now it’s just for the hell of it as mrs.smith can only watch as the two of you fling your hands up to answer
Afterwards depending who answered the most you’d both do a dare
He begins to actually seem like a kid and not a self-centered robot
You both begin to partner up for projects
He ends up at your small house since you don’t feel quite comfortable yet going to his place, partially in fear of being out of place
He doesn’t seem to mind but tells you that his family would love you
You wave the comment off but it does help ease your nerves slightly
In your home he finds a certain sense of normalcy he’d never really experienced
This feels like what a normal home should be like, small and cozy
Fruit left out by your mom with a note saying to have a snack
He enjoys it wholeheartedly and can’t help but smile when he keeps returning to work with you on the project
Perhaps with a bit more eagerness than he’d like to admit which makes Alfred smile knowingly
Eventually you end up at the manor with him
Your nervous and clutching your bag as your fingers fidgeted
He sees this and takes your hand
Squeezing it in a silent gesture of “it’s alright” and “your gonna be ok”
You swear your heart skips a beat yet you ignore the feeling as you step out a the car with him
The large building and its gates seeming to look over you before your attention is taken away at the sight of a dog
He smiles as the dog comes bounding forwards, stopping for a moment to sniff you before he seemingly gave you permission to pet him
“What’s his name?”
“This is Titus. He’s my dog, and resident best friend”
You giggle a bit at that as Titus pushed his snout into your hand
Tail wagging back and forth before he followed the two of you into the large home
It feels grandiose and elegant
You’d only ever see bits and pieces from magazines or on tv but seeing it in person felt like something else
Almost like walking into a book or painting
Damien guides you through the old halls and into their private library
There are a few stacked books left on a table, all of which are related to your shared project
Honestly this placed seemed like heaven
The two of you work on the project but it’s intercepted by moments of the two of you just passionately talking about the subject
Neither of you had seen it before but both of you are overwhelmingly passionate and headstrong
A reason why you’d both clashed heads before but now seemingly brung you both together
At some point he asks about your art and you somewhat shyly tell him of your hobby
How you sell your pieces on the side to make some extra money since your parents only make enough to get by
Surprisingly he compliments your skill, the techniques you’d learned over years of trial and error
And it’s…nice
You feel warm and fuzzy on the inside just as he does when you ask him to tell you more about his pets or about his roots
Eventually you have to leave but you come back soon after to confine the project
The two of you making a schedule where you sometimes go to your house or his
It’s through this you meet his kind butler who is nothing but kind and caring as he delivers cookies
Along with brief instances of Damien’s older brothers who are seemingly shocked
Especially the slightly (in your eyes) infamous Dick Grayson who peaks in as you both study
Well…before Damien hucks a book at his head yelling for him to leave
The king of Gotham himself, Bruce Wayne even stops by when your about to leave to talk to you
He thanks you for having such a positive change on Damien and your left a bit flustered by it
Especially since the man says your always welcome in their home and that your always welcome if you need help
Things seem better for both you and Damien
You’d been selling more paintings as he actually gained a group of tight knit friends who were just as nerdy as he was
Things are good
So good in-fact that Damien ends up inviting you to a gala him and his family were invited too as his plus one
Aomehow he ends up convincing you to join, even helping you find something appropriate for the occasion at a new exhibit at the Gotham art museum
A place you’d visited before for a couple feudal trips yet never saw in its actual capacity
As the celebrations start the tow of you quickly end up wandering the empty halls, admiring the art
You were both the only kids there so it was only natural to do so, besides, the adults were all mingling with one another
There are countless classics and styles of all kinds ranging from paintings to sculptures
All of which lead to the two of you talking of your interpretations of the meaning
Before you both end up at a painting with a black dot in the middle
Nothing else, just a blank white canvas with a dot
The sight of which makes you giggle
the sound makes his eyes widen and heart race, it sounds like the chimes that would happen from a light summer’s breeze or the fluttering of petals in the wind
And then he joins along in your giggles as the two of you stare at the hoity toity painting of a plane black dot on a white canvas
“I think I make better works than that” you joke
“Think?, no you definitely make better stuff than this. I don’t buy bad art”
Wait what?
You turn to him and he seems to catch what he had said
You notice that his avoids eye contact and how turns to face slightly away from you
“You…your the person who bought my art?. Why?”
“Like I said, I don’t buy bad art. Yours is much better than some of the stuff here, father even thought so”
Now it’s your turn to be flustered as you feel butterflies in your stomach
Off in the distance the two of you can hear the sound of classical music
It’s muffled and too slow for your taste so you pull out your phone and AirPods
“Wanna dance to some real tunes?”
He smiles and takes the AirPod as you press shuffle on your playlist
The sound of “lovesong” by the cure playing conveniently in both your ears
Damien takes your hand and you both take turns leading the dance
He can’t help but grin happily
Neither of you notice his family pealing into the room watching with happy smiles
Nor how Tim had kinds maybe hacked your phone to play that song
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Hello! I saw that you accepted applications and here I have one for you! Maybe a bat! Eddie x reader with some anguish, this would be where he gets trapped in his bat form for a long time while his cute girlfriend takes care of him like a baby but at the same time misses the human eddie..., I don't know if I can explain, and then bat! Eddie sees that other boys come to her to invite her out and he feels bad for being small and not being like before but well, reader continues to love him whether he is a bat or not.
OMG OMG ❤❤
(sorry for my bad english :( )
To say that Eddie looked irritated was an understatement, he was beyond that.
Ever since the Upside Down incident, where he nearly died, Eddie has experienced firsthand the consequences of his survival and it comes down to him turning into a literal bat. With wings, fur and a long snout.
The only thing that kept him from going into a deep spiral was you and your friends, but mostly you.
You've been taking care of him since you found out what happened.
At first you were skeptical that little animal in Dustin's hands was, in fact, your boyfriend and neither Eddie - or Dustin - could blame you.
Luckily you had an open mind and allowed Dustin to explain what really had happened that crazy week when you and Eddie couldn't see each other.
The truth behind the murders, the Upside Down, Vecna, the cracks in the city, Eleven and of course, the fact that Eddie turned into a bat after being bitten by something they called demobats.
It was a lot to take in and honestly to believe too, but Eddie looked at you with those big familiar brown eyes and it made you truly believe that that little bat was your Eddie.
He's been with you ever since. Everyone decided it would be best to find some way to get him back to normal before saying anything to his uncle, Wayne. The man certainly wasn't in a position to receive such news and honestly, Eddie preferred it that way - not knowing if he could handle his uncle's possible rejection.
You've all tried everything but, not being scientists or researchers, none of you knew what else to do but wait for it to get back to normal on its own.
Months went by and Eddie was always being treated very well by you. Fruits, cozy perches, cuddling, kisses on her little head and of course, the toothbrush that was now used to brush her fur.
It would be a paradise… If it didn't get to the point it has.
For the past few days Eddie has been thinking about his human form.
You were lying on the couch, with Eddie on your chest. Both of you watching a cheesy romance movie your mom had saved and seeing the happy, smiling couple on the other side of the screen made Eddie sigh.
As a bat, there were many things he could not or was limited to do.
He missed walking around on his own two feet, opening the fridge for a beer, smoking weed, talking to people, playing his guitar, planning a D&D campaign and of course hugging you, kissing your lips, feeling your touch on his hair and hands, dance with you... He missed all of that and more.
You tried so hard to take care of him and understand his squeaks that, apparently, it only made sense to him. Meanwhile, Eddie couldn't do much for you and that frustrated him a lot of the time.
He tries to make up for this by working hard to be a good boy and cheer you up like he used to. He pinches your fingers gently and when it makes you laugh, he licks them lovingly trying to show his love for you. He greets you when you come home from work and brings you little flowers when you two go for a walk.
But that wasn't the worst part, not really.
The worst part is having to watch other guys flirt with you and Eddie not being able to do anything about it.
The first time this happened, Eddie came out of your pocket and flew after the guy, squealing as loud as he could. You had to run with Eddie out of there before that guy called security, afraid he would be taken away for being an unconventional — and possibly dangerous — pet.
Since then he has watched at a disadvantage when someone approaches you and tries to get your attention. You being such a sweet person, just kindly refuse advances and usually get insulted after leaving for another location.
Eddie doesn't like it, but he can't do anything. He's not a human anymore and this makes him sad and angry.
Today was no different.
You were shopping together, it's one of the few times Eddie manages to keep quiet in your pocket and only sticks his furry little head out when you're away from the crowd and "talking" to each other.
You moved through the aisles, picking up everything you needed before heading to the fruit baskets.
You and Eddie were in the middle of a conversation about which apples and bananas to bring when a random guy approached you.
At first he was being friendly, giving you tips on which fruits are fresher than others and how to make a delicious fruit salad - Eddie felt his little tummy growl. The conversation flowed before the man started flirting with you and following you down other hallways.
This ended with you kindly dismissing him and him leaving hurling insults at you and saying "You bitchs are all the same".
You and Eddie got in the car and drove home. On the way he couldn't help but notice your eyes glazed over with unshed tears and the sight only made Eddie's little heart sink deeper.
That was a few hours ago.
Now you were in the kitchen. You looking at him with worried eyes as you observe that he doesn't even care about the piece of banana you are offering him.
"Eddie, honey. What happened? Aren't you hungry?" - you asked him trying, again, to offer the banana.
Eddie looked at the food in front of him and shifted his attention to the nothing again, he let out a light squeak that was more like a sigh.
"Love?…" - you tried to persuade, putting the banana aside and lightly caressing her little ears. "Are you going to tell me what made you like this?".
Eddie turned his eyes to you, he moved to sit on your palm and you brought him closer to your face, still stroking his little head.
He spread his little wings and grabbed your finger, pressing his little cheek against your skin and looking at you with those big worried, sad little eyes.
He squeaks.
"Are you worried about what that asshole say from earlier?" - he nodded. "Oh Eddie, you don't have to worry about that, it's ok" - you smiled at him gently.
Eddie squeaked again and looked away, looking more upset than before. You felt him squeeze your finger tighter.
"Eds…" - he looked at you again, glazed eyes. "I love you, only you. Even though you're a bat, you're still you and that's enough for me" - you caressed his cheek smiling.
Eddie seemed to smile back - his best attempt at a smile at least - and turned his muzzle to hide his tearful little face on your finger. He pinches you lightly and then licks your finger, before letting more licks up your nose.
"I really, really love you"
"I love you too, my love. So much" - you whispered just to him and kissed his little head gently.
You smile when he squeals happily.
#bat!eddie#eddie munson x reader#eddie munson imagine#let's talk about bat!eddie !!#eddie munson angst#eddie munson fluff#stranger things#stranger things x reader#bat eddie munson#bat!eddie x reader
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Ghosts of Our Pasts: 9
DP x DC Crossover
Danny Fenton and Damian Wayne Siblings AU
Ao3
Masterpost Previous Next
Dani: Yo, what's with the massive group chat I just got dropped into?
Dani: I'm assuming you guys have to do with this
Tucker: ....did... did we forget to send you Danny’s new number?
Dani: he has a NEW one? I just swapped his contact information like 2 weeks ago
Tucker: it's actually the same number just backwards... present from the Backwards Day Ghost
Dani: WOW
Tucker: it was miserable
Dani: I'm sure
Dani: so about the group chat?
Tucker: Danny met his bio-sibling and he had a fraid too, so idk its like fraid inlaws or something?
Dani: Bio-sibling? Danny's adopted?
Tucker:Shouldn't you know this?
Dani: Why would I?
Tucker: You're his cousin....
Dani: Oh... I forgot I told you guys that...
Tucker: ?
Dani: I'm his clone
Tucker: this is gonna be a wild story isn't it
* Dani started a call that lasted 31 minutes *
---
Jazz: Danny why did you just put me in a group chat with like 25 people in it?
Danny: Sibling groupchat
Jazz: What?
Jazz: Danny, I'm going to need a bit more explanation than that.
Jazz: you didn't get cloned again?
Jazz: Did you???
Jazz: Danny?
* 1 missed call from Jazz *
* 2 missed calls from Jazz *
* 3 missed calls from Jazz *
---
Jazz: please tell me Danny lost his phone again and isn't in some kind of trouble.
Tucker: Oh, it's in his bag... he's out rn...
Jazz: out where?
Jazz: I thought this was supposed to be a 'laying low' vacation?
Sam: that was before he met his brother
Jazz: his brother?
Tucker: yeah! Apparently he's related to the Batman!
Jazz: you left him alone with his brother
Sam: Yeah...?
Jazz: the brother that killed him?
* multiple people are typing *
---
So yeah, Danny was officially tasting emotions now. He realized as Damian looked him over. The flour-y taste of concern was replaced with a salty-savory pride as he confirmed that, no, Danny hadn't been shot. (Well, he would've been, if he hadn't decided to not be tangible.) Then Bio-dad dropped down, mugger dude gave off another milk-sour wave of fear. Then Bio-dad saw the gun and huh, he didn't think describe how disappointment tasted with human words. But maybe he should be focusing less on what flavors most accurately described his stupid new empath ability and focus more on the situation at hand.
Together Dami and Bio-dad explained the normal process of cuffing criminals in obvious places so the police can find them. It was simple, didn't really require Danny to do anything, so he disassembled the weapon while he listened. Which he probably shouldn't have done, because now he was being asked to hand it over as evidence...
"Uh..." Danny fished the larger pieces back out of his pocket, but their was a lot of little ones, because he might've phased the screws out to take apart the fun little inner bits and he ended up dropping tiny metal parts all over the sidewalk.
There was a beat of silence, then Damian clicked his tongue with a little "Tt," and Danny flushed.
"Sorry..." Danny started.
"It's fine," the Bat said. Amusement, it turned out, tasted like raspberries.
-
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Notes
Danny, holding a deadly weapon: "is this a fidget toy?"
Somebody told me once that they didn't see any Canon evidence that Sam and Tucker knew Dani was a clone. And like, their lives are so crazy that peice of information falling into a crack, sure. Where did Danny's concerned about vlad cloning people came from. Like they didn't question it, vlad is weird. They could see him doing it... oh... he did do it? That makes more sense than a sudden semi rational fear.
Also Batman has absolutely noticed some weird things about Danny. But he also knows that Danny has "a weird conglomeration" of Lazarus put side effects, and that Danny said "mood" about being in other dimensions. It might be ooc for him to be patient with answers, but he's in my story so he's gotta play by my rules.
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ive just seen a tweet that gave me major penny vibes 😭
‘aunty i need help’
‘what with?’
‘the swan’
there was a swan in their living area 🫣
this cracked me up because it’s something I’ve thought about writing before just not with a swan. we’ve got a goose problem in my area during this time of year and those bitches are annoying and mean, so I changed it a little to match up since this ask is too much of a sign for me to ignore, hope you like it!
Duck, Duck, Goose
(dad!eddie munson x mom!reader fluff)
part of the pennyverse
“Mom.”
“Mom.”
“Mama.”
“Mommy.”
“Mom.”
Finally, Penny got tired of simply calling for you, choosing to reach out and poke you repeatedly as well.
You stirred with a groan, shifting around in the bed to face where she stood at your side. It was difficult but you pried an eye open to peer at her and she looked innocent enough.
You’d been taking a nap (first sign that something was wrong, you weren’t ever woken up from your naps to something normal) after having unpacked the last box, making this little house officially the Munson home. Well, kind of. With Corroded Coffin finally catching some attention, you and Eddie hadn’t wanted to buy an actual house yet or set down permanent roots in case (and god, you hoped it would happen) something big happened to them. So, after about two years of renting an apartment, you simply switched to renting a house.
Of course that meant you had to go through the annoyance that was moving again, and with two kids. You loved them but they were essentially useless in the process.
Wayne, having learned how to walk and clumsily run about, in his excitement had even managed to knock over an entire box of fragile items the other day. Eddie was distracting him, playing a couple of songs outside on the porch swing with him in his lap while you got the last of your stuff settled.
You thought you could squeeze in a half hour of rest, but apparently not.
“What is it, Pen?”
“I need help.”
“With what?” You sighed, pushing yourself up out of bed. You’d switched into some sleep shorts earlier and figured she’d spilled some juice or something, so pajamas would suffice.
“The swan.”
You should have been paying attention to what she was saying but you were too distracted, having noticed Wayne was by her side. He was too small to appear unless you looked over the high bed or got up. Wasn’t he supposed to be with Eddie?
“Where’s your dad?” You asked, brows furrowing in concern.
Wayne just grinned, putting his fingers in his mouth (another habit he picked up from Eddie).
“Owsigh.”
“Let’s go find him then.” You ran a hand through his ‘curl hawk’, as Eddie had dubbed it, while you slipped past him. Penny found it oddly important to be ahead of you so she ran from the room before you could make it to the door.
Wayne trailed behind you, babbling nothing in particular. He and Penny were proving to be opposites. She’d taken to words faster than she’d taken to motor skills while Wayne had an easier time with his motor skills than he did with talking. He’d simply been watching Eddie pace around the living room one day when he’d decided to stand up and walk, toddling after him. There was no real error, either, just surprisingly calculated footsteps. He’d been a little clumsy—that was to be expected—but for the most part he didn’t really fall. He refused to say much, though, only voicing things when pointing failed him.
Penny stood at the end of the hallway which led into the living room, blinking lazily.
You were about to ask her what was wrong when you happened to glance into the living room, once, twice and then shrieked, backing up until your back hit the wall.
“PENNY!”
“What?”
“Why is there a wild animal in my living room!?”
“‘S a swan.”
“No, it is not!”
There was no graceful looking swan in your living room, just a big, ugly canadian goose slowly moseying its way around the coffee table like it owned the place.
It turned its head in your direction, its beady eyes looking at you, probably, and you shrieked again. You heard the sound of hurried footsteps outside before Eddie appeared from the very much so open front door, looking slightly disheveled.
“What’s wrong?” He demanded, eyes roaming over you, Penny and Wayne to make sure none of you were harmed.
You jabbed a finger in the direction of the bird, just standing and staring at you menacingly.
“Oh, what the fuck? Oh, shit. Daddy said bad words, don’t say those.” Eddie scratched the back of his head as he stared at the goose occupying his living room. “How the heck did that get in here?”
“I was about to ask you that.” You hissed, glaring at him.
“Don’t look at me, I fell asleep on the porch swing with Wayne.” You directed a pointed look at the two year old behind you. “Well, he was with me!”
“She came in.” Penny chirped, brushing a curl out of her face.
You both turned to her.
“What?” Eddie asked, crouching down so he was closer to eye level with her.
“The swan. She was waiting outside, so I let her in.” Penny was referring to your porch door. One of the reasons you liked the house so much was because of the porch, it was closed off and secured with screens and a door so you could let the kids out for some fresh air without them wandering off.
“Penny, what have we told you about opening the door?” Eddie chided with a frown, not at all entertained with the idea of his little girl letting people in after drilling her about stranger danger.
“Not to open it for strangers. But I didn’t, daddy. She’s a swan. Not a people.” Penny seemed almost smug about having outsmarted him.
Eddie was baffled, mouth opening and closing as he struggled for a response.
“Baby, that’s a goose, not a swan.” It was the only thing he could think of.
“Oh.” Immediately, Penny seemed less interested in it, rolling her eyes.
The goose squawked, flapping its wings as it hopped onto your coffee table.
“Eddie get that stupid duck out of here!” You yelled, fearing for the cleanliness of your furniture. You’d clean up after your kids’ accidents but not some bird’s.
“‘S a goose, mom.”
“Yes, I know that, Penny.”
“You called it a duck.”
“Baby, are you afraid of the duck?” Eddie turned his attention to you, brown eyes alight with mirth.
“‘S a goose.”
“No! I am not afraid of the duck! I just—it’s gonna poop on the table! Get it out!”
“Gus.” This time Wayne mumbled, squatting down to mimic his dad as he observed the bird.
“Oh, but I think you are. Tell you what, you just admit it, and I’ll get it out of the house.” Eddie stood back up and leaned against the wall with a smirk.
“I told you I’m not afraid.” You glowered, eyes darting from Eddie to the stupid goose.
“Then go pick it up and put it outside.” You were surprised Eddie’s face didn’t just split in half with how wide his smirk was, even Penny was giggling at your expense.
“Fine!”
“Fine.”
“I will.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll do it.”
“Then go do it.”
You huffed and slowly made your way to the goose, halting every time its attention was on you, the sound of your family snickering in the background. When it went back to looking around at its surroundings you leaned down and reached out only to jump back with a scream as it craned it’s neck around to hiss (how the fuck could a bird hiss???) and snap its beak at your hands.
You ran back to Eddie, cowering in his arms with your face hidden in his chest as it shook with laughter. Penny was laughing so hard she’d fallen over, feet kicking against the ground and Wayne had joined her, clutching his little tummy as he squirmed around with glee.
“My poor baby,” Eddie pressed his lips to your forehead, grinning against it as he tried to calm himself enough to speak. “Is the bird being mean to you?”
You didn’t respond, just burrowed your face further into the soft material of his hoodie as you nodded.
“It’s okay. I’ll protect you.” He gave you a squeeze, hand reaching down to pat your ass before he stepped around you to handle the bird. You watched, as he easily grabbed it, tucking its wings in and gripping its beaks so it couldn’t move its head around, then he disappeared outside and returned a few moments later, smug and without the goose.
Penny and Wayne’s roaring laughter had dulled down to giggling as they stared up at you, looking like they’d almost exhausted themselves with it.
“I don’t want to hear a single word.” You warned him as he neared you, sporting a devilish smirk.
It wasn’t Eddie you had to be worried about, Penny made a large squawking sound behind you, astoundingly similar to that stupid goose’s and you practically leaped into Eddie’s arms, setting them all off again.
This time you joined them, a hand over your eyes as Eddie held you.
“New rule, Penny. You are so not allowed to open doors that unlock anymore.”
#eddie munson#eddie munson x reader#dilf!eddie munson#dad!eddie munson#girl dad!eddie munson#dad!eddie munson x mom!reader#eddie munson fluff#eddie munson x reader fluff#eddie munson x fem!reader#eddie munson x black!reader#pennyverse#pennyverse asks#pennyverse headcanons#eddie munson blurb#eddie munson drabble#stranger things#stranger things 4#stranger things fic#stranger things fanfic
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Eddie Munson Saves Some Kittens
A/N: Just some thoughts I had while at the rescue. Reader in this is gender neutral. Nothing but fluff and kittens!
Okay. So imagine with me, if you will, that Eddie Munson finds a litter of teeny tiny kittens somewhere, possibly under the trailer porch and the mom is no where to be seen. He gives it awhile, waits anxiously by the window nearly all day and into the night to see if the mom comes back before he decides to bring them inside.
Now he has a box full of tiny, helpless, squirmy, and very hungry kittens and wow he did not think this through. Like. At all.
So he calls you, his lovely and very understanding s/o and rushes through the explanation so fast over the phone that you have to make him repeat it.
"Jesus, Eddie, do you ever think things through?" you laugh lightly on the other end of the line, already making a mental list of what you need.
But you don't sound annoyed and he breathes a sigh of relief at how not irritated you sound. You always have patience with him and he remembers how grossly in love with you he is and ugh.
The kittens are set up in an old pack n' play you found in the basement and lugged all the way over to Eddie's. You layer it with blankets and old newspapers and a hot water bottle that the kittens huddle on.
Eddie thrives on the chaos that is taking care of these delicate little beings. His sleep schedule is weird anyway so feeding them every few hours late in the night and into the early morning is no big issue.
(Wayne thanks God that it's Summer or Eddie would be going for another year as a senior with all the sleep that kid is missing.)
You keep him on track, sitting in the library and writing down all the information you need in one of Eddie's notebooks. You both spend many nights on the couch with kittens curled up all over you like tiny furnaces or in Eddie's room leaning over the side of the pack n' play, half asleep, worrying over the smallest kitten.
When Eddie compares it to practice for a human baby you wack him with a pillow until he cries uncle, laughing.
When the kittens are big enough to start walking on wobbly legs, they follow Eddie around like little ducklings, jumping at his legs and perching on his shoulders. They love to play with his hair.
Eddie nearly cries when a kitten gets underfoot and he accidentally steps on it's tail/paw. You reassure him that the kitten is okay and that it happens sometimes. He babies that kitten the rest of the day anyway.
They all love to cuddle with you when it's nap time and Eddie gets a bit sour about it but you pinch his cheeks and put his head in your lap and he has a kitten sleeping on his chest and neck while he snores in no time.
Uncle Wayne has many polaroids of moments like this. He secretly has a favorite kitten that is always awake to greet him when he gets home from a shift and sits on the counter while he heats up some food.
He knows he shouldn't give them table scraps (you scold Eddie and him whenever you catch them doing it) but he sneaks a few pieces of meat to the kitten. He takes to calling it Junior because its fuzzy black fur and big eyes remind him of a younger Eddie and damn it, he knows he'll have to keep it.
You and Eddie argue over what music to leave on when the cats are alone because:
"So they get used to human voices and stuff" he explains and you look him dead in the eye when you remind him of all the 'concerts' he's done for the kittens.
You agree to leave on a radio station that plays a good mix of everything, volume low.
Eddie wants to name them all after some Ozzy songs or come up with elaborate D&D themed names and give them just as elaborate backstories based on their personalities.
You and Eddie drive 3 hours to go to a free spay and neuter clinic. That is a road trip you will never forget. Mostly because there are little claw marks on the back of the vans seats now and everytime you see them you smile.
One kitten goes to Dustin's mom. Because yeah.
A couple of people that Wayne works with adopt a few.
El even convinces Hopper that it's necessary for her to have a cat and we all know he ends up loving that furry maniac no matter how much he grumbles about the fuckin' litter box.
He gives the cat treats behind El's back and let's it sit on his lap when she's at sleepovers.
Uncle Wayne does end up keeping the runt, which he does name Junior, but never really tells Eddie why until Eddie asks.
When the last kitten is given to it's forever family, both you and Eddie feel a little (okay a lot) emotional. Junior is never in want for snuggles and chin scratches.
When you and Eddie eventually get your own place together it definitely feels a bit empty without a pet. He wants to take all the cats home when you visit a shelter after settling into life living on your own together.
You take home an adult cat that gave Eddie the saddest eyes and nibbled on his finger. And your family feels a little more complete with a furry companion waiting for you at home.
#eddie munson#eddie munson imagine#eddie munson x reader#wayne munson#my magic man#stranger things#duck did it
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Rituals
(AO3 link)
The day after Thanksgiving, Eddie woke up at an unfairly early time because Steve was stirring next to him in bed.
'Whatayadoin?' he mumbled into his pillow. It sounded more like a groan than like an actual phrase, so he was kind of surprised when Steve actually replied to it.
'Can't sleep anymore, just gonna start my day early. You keep sleeping in, alright?' Steve moved to press a kiss onto his temple, and Eddie could smell his morning breath, which should probably be gross, but wasn't – not when it was Steve.
He drifted off almost immediately after Steve had quietly slipped out of the room, leaving him in the darkness. It wasn't anything odd; Steve was much more of a morning person than Eddie. Usually, on days they could both sleep in, he'd keep Eddie company while the sun crept its way upwards into the sky and Eddie kept dozing off and half waking up until around noon; he'd be reading a book – or attempting to do so – or listen to some music through his headphones. Sometimes, he'd just spend his morning watching Eddie sleep, listening to his deep and steady breathing or his soft snores, perfectly content doing nothing. But every now and then, there would be days when he'd get too restless; on those days, he'd get up to spend his morning hours working out and making sure there was an extra delicious breakfast ready for Eddie when he'd finally get out of bed.
This time it was a little bit different, though. It felt like only a few moments after Steve had left the room, when Eddie heard music coming from downstairs. That wasn't like Steve, ever mindful of Eddie needing his silence in the mornings. And it sure wasn't like Steve to listen to this kind of music. It didn't sound anything like the poppy top40 stuff he'd usually blast; it was too far away for Eddie to make it out properly, but he thought he heard violins, playing some chipper but clearly classical melody.
He rolled over to his left side and saw on the clock that it was only slightly past 7. With a groan, he turned around to his other side, trying to catch some more sleep and leave Steve doing whatever the fuck it was that he was doing downstairs. But he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off – that something might even be wrong – so after only a few minutes, he decided to let his restlessness get the best of him and got up. He put on Steve's letterman jacket over the washed-up tee he used as pajamas and descended the Harringtons' staircase while rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He still had to get used to this big, fancy house; they didn't spend enough time in the place to make it feel like a home to Eddie, both of them preferring Wayne's cramped old trailer over the creepy desolated rooms in the big house.
Eddie followed the sound of the music until he came into the living room, where he encountered a kind of chaos which he was used to from himself, but definitely not from Steve.
'What the fuck?' he mumbled under his breath.
Cardboard boxes were scattered all around the room as if Steve was planning on moving away, while Steve himself was nowhere to be found.
Just when Eddie was about to peek into the box closest to him, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around to see Steve emerge from the door that went down into the basement, with another two big boxes balancing in his arms.
'Shit, sorry, did I wake you?'
'I heard the music,' Eddie admitted.
'Fuck, I'm so sorry Eddie!' Steve seemed a little bit more distressed about it than necessary and placed the boxes on the floor to turn down the classical music, even though that obviously wouldn't make much of a difference now that Eddie was already out of bed anyway.
'No problem, don't worry 'bout it,' said Eddie. 'But what the hell is going on here?'
Steve walked towards the window and looked out over the garden with his hands on his hips. It was looking kind of gloomy outside: the sun hadn't fully risen yet, wrapping everything in dark shadows, and the gray fall weather gave the mostly dead flowers a ghostly appearance.
'You can go back to sleep Eddie, it's fine. I didn't wanna bother you.'
Eddie took a few steps towards Steve, the fluffy carpet tickling the soles of his bare feet. 'You're never bothering me,' he said, while resting his hands on Steve's shoulders. They felt tense under the fabric of his jumper. 'And I'm already wide awake anyway.'
Steve still didn't look quite into his eyes. 'It's just... It's stupid, really.' He combed a hand through his hair, the way he always did when he was nervous or something was off.
'We always used to start decorating first thing in the morning after Thanksgiving – my mom and me, I mean. She'd put on the music and we'd get all the boxes from the basement while dad was God knows where, and it was – we were happy, the two of us together. She'd make me hot chocolate and watch me to make sure I wouldn't fall off the chair I climbed to get the lights up high. It was always ours, that morning after Thanksgiving – until she started following my dad around on all his business trips and forgot that she had a son waiting for her at home.' He grimaced and shrugged, as if he felt guilty for being bitter about it.
Eddie could picture it clear as day: a much younger, smaller Steve, with a bright smile on his chubby face as he disentangled a string of lights while his mother hovered around him, for once in a year succeeding in making him feel like everything was okay, like it was normal that his dad wasn't there with them.
'I know you don't celebrate Christmas,' Steve continued, 'You don't even like that shit, so I didn't wanna – I don't want you to feel obliged to help me with this. But I just – I still need to do it, every year, like I did it with her. The Messiah on full volume, getting all the boxes from the basement, hanging the lights everywhere... I'm sorry. I know it's pathetic.'
'Stevie...' Eddie took another step closer, wrapping Steve's hands in his own, until Steve finally looked into his eyes properly.
It broke Eddie's heart, thinking about Steve all alone in that house year after year, hanging the lights by himself, listening to music that wasn't his, trying to cling to a time that had long passed.
'Is that why you insisted on sleeping here last night?'
Steve nodded, still looking like he was ashamed.
'I know it seems weird and sad, but I – I actually love it. It's kinda cathartic, you know? It's like, my own stupid ritual.'
Eddie wrapped his arms around Steve's waist to pull him closer.
'You wanna decorate together?' he asked.
Steve huffed. 'I know you don't care about that.'
'Don't say that, man,' Eddie protested. 'I care about it if you care about it. I like all your weird rituals, okay? I wanna share those things with you. And I don't want you to be decorating all by yourself. I wanna do that shit together – it'll be fun, just like when you helped me and Wayne prepare for Sukkot at the trailer and Wayne wouldn't shut up about history and symbolism and all that shit.' He smiled fondly at the memory.
'So why don't you blast that – what was it called?'
'The Messiah. It's Handel.' A hesitant smile was starting to soften Steve's features.
'Blast your Handel. Let me help you untangle those lights. Put that tacky reindeer together while I make us some hot chocolate. And tell me all about how you used to decorate with your mom. 'Kay?'
'Are you sure?'
Eddie placed a kiss onto Steve's soft lips. 'Sounds like a perfect morning to me.'
🎄
From that year on, they always decorated the house together, when the first sunlight crept over the horizon on the morning after Thanksgiving. After a few years, they stopped decorating the Harrington home, and instead filled their own place with lights and tacky reindeer decorations. Steve got Eddie a huge Menorah to make up for the abundance of Christmas crap, and Eddie bought something new to add to their collection every year – he made it a challenge to find something even uglier than the last time each year. One time, Steve got both of them matching Christmas hats, which became a recurring obligatory wardrobe item for their yearly decorating sessions. And every year, without fault, they blasted the King's College Choir's rendition of Handel's Messiah, until Eddie could hum along to the whole thing without even thinking about it. They managed to take the good memories of Steve's childhood and add something to it that was their own, making it even better. And Eddie loved it. He would never become a Christmas fan, but he loved this new ritual that was theirs. And maybe, one year in the future, he would dare to give Mrs. Harrington a call and invite her over for Christmas.
#strangerthingsfestivefun#steddie#eddie munson#steve harrington#christmas#don't mind me rambling about stranger things#fruity ficlet#edit: i have no idea wtf happened with the lay out but i think i managed to get most random extra spaces out#sorry if that was annoying to read idk why the hellsite does this
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