can I request 31 and/or 70 on the prompts list you just posted for platonic!steveandrobin? I've been on a major stranger things kick recently and I love your writing :)
ok first of all i wanna thank you for this prompt bc this is the first time i’ve ever cried while *planning* a fic like i hadn’t even started writing it but i was in my kitchen making myself buttered noodles with tears streaming down my face just thinking about what i wanted to write
that being said i used both prompts bc i couldn’t not
31. “If we’re going to keep ending up in life-or-death situations, trust that I will save you every single time.”
70. “It’s three a.m. Why are you making soup?”
dialogue prompts!!
Steve is a light sleeper.
He’s always been a light sleeper, waking up to loud wind or thunder, to sunlight pressing to his eyelids early in the morning if he forgot to pull his curtains shut the night before, but it’s gotten worse since the Upside Down. Any quiet noise of the house settling, of a branch tapping a window, has him blinking his eyes open and sitting up.
There’s a quiet clatter in the kitchen downstairs, and he sits up, his heart pounding. The room is mostly dark except for the nightlight by the bathroom door. Eddie is still asleep, laying on his belly with his face on Steve’s pillow, his cheek squished. Steve exhales, looking at him, touching his hair for a moment, but he freezes when there’s another noise.
Slowly, he gets out of bed, careful not to wake Eddie up, and he steps across the room as quietly as he can, holding the nail bat as he creeps out of the room and down the hall. He lowers the bat when he sees that the kitchen light is on, and he glances down the hall, his heart still pounding to see that Robin’s bedroom door is open.
He lowers the bat as he descends the stairs, carrying it by his side as he enters the kitchen, squinting in the light to find Robin at the stove, wearing one of Eddie’s t-shirts, a 1979 AC/DC shirt that goes down to her knees, and a pair of mismatched fuzzy socks that Will gifted her a while ago.
“Rob?”
She glances over her shoulder at him.
“Hi.”
He sets the bat by the entryway, glancing at the time on the clock above the window as he steps up behind her and looks at what she’s doing.
“Rob, it’s three am,” he says quietly. “Why are you making soup?”
She shrugs without looking at him, stirring the pot slowly. He watches the vegetables shift in the soup. It smells good.
“Just wanted some soup,” she says softly. Her voice is thick.
“What’s going on?” he asks gently, touching her back.
“Couldn’t sleep.” Her voice cracks. Steve blinks at her, quiet for a moment he reaches slowly for the spoon in her hand. She lets him take it, sniffling, and he sets it over the pot, turning down the burner, and he pulls at her hand.
“What’s going on?” he asks again, quieter. She glances up into his eyes but looks at the floor, and he pulls her to the dining table, nudging her into a chair and sitting across from her. “Talk to me.”
She takes a shaky breath, her fingers knotting in her lap.
“You know that… bad feeling I had?” she says quietly. “Before we fought Vecna?”
“Yeah,” Steve says, leaning closer.
“…It’s back.”
Steve’s chest tightens, but she speaks before he can say anything.
“I know it’s— I know everything is fine,” she says. “And Vecna’s dead, and all the gates are closed, and everyone is— everyone is fine, but I… It’s like there’s just this… perpetual pit in my stomach.” Her voice is shaking. “And I don’t…”
“Hey,” Steve says gently, reaching out and taking her hand. He moves his chair closer noisily, and she laughs wetly, squeezing his hand. “You listening?”
“Mhmm.”
“You know everything is okay,” he says slowly. “And you know it’s normal to have anxiety after all that,” he adds gently. “Right?”
“I know,” she says weakly. “It’s just…” Her lip wobbles and her eyes glisten. A tear slips down her cheek, and he reaches out to wipe it away.
“Deep breath,” he says softly. She inhales shakily, closing her eyes, and he leans forward to kiss her forehead. “It’s okay, Rob.”
She sighs, squeezing his hand tightly.
“What else?” he says quietly. She smiles at the floor, squeezing his hand again.
“I think we might actually telepathic,” she mutters. “‘S ridiculous.”
“We definitely are,” he says, smiling. “But you still gotta say what’s wrong out loud for me.”
She lets out a soft laugh again before she looks at the ground.
Her smile falters and falls, and her eyes glaze over, and she hesitates, holding Steve’s hand tightly.
“I have this… this thing in my head. That’s just kind of… I don’t know. Stuck.”
“Tell me,” Steve prompts quietly.
Her lip wobbles again. She bites it, blinking hard and taking a breath.
“I know it’s shitty,” she says weakly. “And if— if you, or Eddie or Nance, or any of kids said this about themselves, I would be so pissed, and I—”
“Robin. What is it?” Steve whispers. She takes a deep breath.
“I feel…” She swallows, breathing heavily, biting her lip. He wipes another tear from her cheek tenderly, his chest aching. “…Disposable.”
His stomach falls, and he squeezes her hand.
“What do you mean?”
She shakes her head, squeezing her eyes shut.
“Just… I don’t know, just, like, I can… I can be left behind.”
“Why would you think that?” Steve asks brokenly, his hand shaking as he holds hers tightly. “Robbie…”
“I think—” She pauses, taking a deep breath, wiping her nose on her wrist. “When I was a kid, I… I didn’t have many friends? And the friends I did have were… I don’t know. I was always the one that didn’t go if there were limited invitations. I always walked behind everyone on narrow sidewalks.” Steve wants to cry. “I… I never really talked much because I never knew what to say, and I never had… anything to add. And when I tried, I… They would just…” She sniffs, squeezing his hand tightly, taking a hiccuping breath. “They would just stare at me, like— like I was speaking gibberish. And then they’d just… move on.”
“Robin,” Steve tries to say, but she just takes a gasping breath and squeezes his hand again.
“And then I didn’t go with them one day,” she says, staring at the floor. “And nobody… called. Or came by to check on me, or anything, so I just… gave up. And then on the first day of seventh grade, I sat all alone at lunch, and I—” She cuts off with a gasp, closing her eyes as tears fall, and Steve releases her hand to wipe them away gently, his own eyes burning. “They were all sitting together, laughing, and smiling, and— and it was like they didn’t even notice I wasn’t there, because they didn’t need me.”
Steve’s whole body hurts. He wants to run her brain under water, wash away all the self-deprecating thoughts she’s ever had. He wants to tell her that he needs her. He needs her more than air.
“And I think— I think also my parents?” she says, her hand finding his wrist and holding it tightly. Her voice is weak and squeaking and almost broken, and Steve can feel his heart breaking with it. “They always— They always went to dinner and— and on day trips, and I thought all parents did that until my friends said their parents didn’t do that, so I just… thought they loved each other and went on— on, like, dates, but then they— they went out on my thirteenth birthday—”
She sobs, squeezing his wrist, and he leans in to kiss her forehead again, trying to take a steady breath as a tear falls from his eye.
“And I realised they just don’t like me.”
“I like you,” Steve says firmly. She laughs wetly, wiping her face, but he holds her face and moves to kneel on the floor in front of her, looking up at her. “Robbie.”
“I just…” She takes a stuttering breath, closing her eyes. “Feel like I’m the… left behind one.”
He takes her hands.
“What does that mean?”
“Like I’m… If something happens,” she says, avoiding his eyes. There’s a pit in his stomach. “I’ll be… I’ll be the one that’s left behind so everyone can get away.”
“Robin,” he says breathlessly, his eyes burning, because she's wrong. He can’t even put into words how fucking wrong she is.
“I know,” she says, crying. “I just… That’s me.”
“No,” he says firmly, desperately. “It’s not. You’re not fucking disposable, Robin.”
She finally looks into his eyes, and they’re swimming with tears.
“I love you,” he says firmly. “I love you so much.”
She sniffs, staring back at him.
“I know,” she says weakly.
“No,” he says, his voice too loud. “You don’t know, Robin, you’re— you’re the best fucking friend I’ve ever had, and I love you.”
She sobs, squeezing her eyes shut, and he reaches up, wrapping his arms around her neck, pulling her down into a hug. Her hands grip his shirt tightly. She’s trembling.
“I love you so much,” he says softly, running a hand over the back of her head gently. His knees ache on the tile floor, but he doesn’t care. “You are not disposable, Robin Buckley. I don’t know where the fuck I’d be without you.”
When her crying quiets, he pulls away enough to touch her face, wiping her tears and under her nose before he wipes his hand on her leg, on the t-shirt. She scoffs, still crying, and he smiles up at her, his chest still aching.
“Look at me,” he says softly, wiping away a tear that falls down his cheek. She does, holding the fabric of his shirt at his shoulders tightly, like she’s scared to let go. “If we’re going to keep ending up in life-or-death situations,” he says slowly, watching her smile weakly, “trust that I will save you every single time.
She closes her eyes, letting her head fall to his, pressing their foreheads together.
“…Okay.”
“I love you, Robbie.”
“I love you too, Stevie.”
She wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug, and he closes his eyes, his arms sliding around her waist. He buries his face in her shoulder. Her shirt smells like some odd combination of her and Eddie. It smells like home.
“Okay?” he asks when they pull away slowly. She nods, her eyes still closed. He kisses her forehead. “Your brain is lying to you,” he says softly.
“She’s really mean,” Robin murmurs.
“Yeah, fuck her.”
Robin laughs softly, wiping her nose one last time.
“Thanks, Steve.”
He lowers back to sit on his calves, looking up at her, almost in physical pain from how much he loves her. Like every cell in his body is bursting with it.
It looks like she’s wearing heavy mascara, her eyelashes clumped with tears, her cheeks and nose rosy red, her eyes still shining as she looks down at him, holding his hands. His lip quivers and his eyes burn.
“Let’s have some soup,” he says.
A giggle escapes her.
“It’s three am.”
He shrugs.
“Let’s not waste anything,” he says. “Let’s have soup.”
“Okay.”
“What do you need help with?” he asks, using her knees to stand up, and she snorts.
“Like I’m letting you near the stove.”
“Wow.”
“Go get Eddie.”
“Yes ma’am.”
He takes the bat back upstairs as Robin takes a deep breath, turning the burner back up at the stove.
“Eddie,” Steve says softly, sitting in the bed next to him. “Baby.” He touches his hair, gently nudging him awake.
“Hm?”
“Robin’s making soup.”
Eddie blinks blankly at him in the dimness of the room, squinting, his face still squished on the pillow.
“Am I awake right now?” he asks, his voice rough. Steve laughs softly, leaning in to kiss him.
“Yes,” he says. “C’mon.”
Eddie sits up slowly, stretching.
“What time is it?” he mumbles.
“Like three.”
“Why’s Robin making soup at three in the morning?”
“Uh…” Steve hesitates, looking at him. “She’s having a rough night.”
“Nightmares?” Eddie asks, looking at him. “Or something different?”
“Something different.”
Eddie nods.
“Will she want a hug?”
“Probably,” Steve says softly, smiling. “Maybe ask her.”
“I will.”
He kisses Steve chastely before he follows him down to the kitchen. He’s wearing one of Steve’s sweatshirts from high school, with a tiger on the front. Steve realises he’s wearing one of Robin’s old sweaters, a size too big for any of them. And he almost laughs. They might as well just move all their clothes into one wardrobe.
“What’s cookin’, good lookin’?” Eddie asks, stepping up next to Robin to see into the pot. She laughs softly.
“Veggie soup.”
“Veggie?” Eddie says dramatically, making her laugh again. Steve sits on the table, watching them. (He never got to sit on the table as a kid. Now it’s his favourite place.)
“Keep an open mind, Munson,” Robin says, stirring the soup.
“Only for you, pretty lady.”
Eddie can tell she’s been crying. Steve watches as he goes to the sink and pours a glass of water, bringing it to her and murmuring something quietly to her. She nods, taking the glass, and he hugs her, kissing her temple as she sips the water. Steve wants to cry again.
They join him on the table to eat the soup, all three of them with their legs crossed, holding the bowls carefully. Robin beams when Eddie says firmly that it’s good shit.
And when the sun finally rises, they’re all tangled together on the sofa, snoring quietly.
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