Steve nearly winces when he steps into the room, following behind Dustin and Mike. He's already wishing he'd tried to shut Lucas up as soon as he'd tried to say that "no, really, I don't mind!"
Because of course he's this unlucky. Of course his date would skip out almost last minute, of course he'd end up with no excuse to avoid helping Dustin with his stupid D&D game and of course the person who probably hates Steve most is crouched on the biggest chair like it's a throne.
Eddie Munson eyes lock on him immediately. He stares for a while, making Dustin and Mike shift awkwardly beside him.
"Absolutely not. No way." He's grinning though. His eyes narrow slightly at Steve, like he's daring him to do something.
"You asked for a sub, we delivered."
Steve simply raises an eyebrow, pointedly shifting the sheets Dustin had helped him make up. It draws Eddies attention off his face, finally. When he looks back up, he's smiling a little more genuinely.
The guys standing at his sides are still glaring, looking almost cruelly excited when Eddie stands up, meandering his way over to them.
He gently plucks the sheet out Steves hand, eyebrows slowly raising as he reads.
Everyone is waiting, eyeing Eddie impatiently. Dustin and Mike are tense, as though waiting for Eddie to blow up. The others seem to expect the same, though Steve imagines they're more excited for it.
"Why did you come?" Eddie eventually asks, still holding onto the character sheet. "What could possibly be so important about this that King Steve would miss the championship game?"
"Dustin said this one was important," Steve shrugs. Fights to keep his calm demeaner. "Something about it being the last one or something. He's been going on about this shit forever. Seemed cruel to leave him high and dry at the last leg."
"Well…" Eddie eyes the character sheet before handing it back. Looks Steve up and down, before finally grinning. His eyes crinkle at the edges. "Welcome to Hellfire, Lady Elora."
He sticks his hand out. Steve shakes it, trying not to grin back.
Even with how often Dustin has talked to him about the game, Steve is clueless. Dustin and Mike both save him from embarressment every time though, quick to argue different options in such a pointed way that he knows the others aren't fooled by.
But Steve doesn't mind, often finds himself rolling his eyes at their antics only to find Eddie eyeing him almost fondly.
He finds that he enjoys it though. He'd make the character Elora as a joke, mostly just throwing whatever seemed to fit at random. An Elf who's a ranger, chaotic neutral, swinging around a bat with nails.
He wonders if it sounds as stupid to everyone else as it does to him.
He's often lost on the story too. But Eddie is brilliant at telling it. Even when he doesn't understand what he means, he flinches when the others yell at a reveal. Anxiety bubbling up when things get tense, slowly getting more and more invested in the game. Even he can tell that they're nearing the end, the final fight.
"You're scared, you're tired, you are injured," Eddie says. "Do you flee Vecna and his cultists? Or do you stand your ground and fight?"
Steve already knows the answer before Dustin speaks up; "I say we fight. To the death!"
"To the death," Mike echoes, nodding.
"To the death." Steve sniffs, doesn't bother fighting the grin.
Eddie grins back at him, the others chanting the sentiment. Steve feels warm with his attention locked on him.
Steve has the first roll. He still doesn't understand the numbers, but the others cheer so he assumes it must be good. But then it goes downhill, so many bad rolls.
Everyone is too hyped up for Steve to keep up so he focuses on Eddie. He's jeering, jumping up out of his seat, encouraging the chaos and seeming to control the energy of the room. When he laughs, he sounds more like a movie villain.
And then, one of them calls time out.
They huddle into a circle, just like they did in basketball. Steve is surprised by how easily two of the older boys pull him in.
"Guys, I hate to say this but we have got to flee."
"I concur."
"Didn't we just agree 'to the death'?" Steve frowns. He's not ready to give up yet. He can feel how close they are.
"That wasn't literal!"
A hand tightens on his shoulder. "Vecna just decimated us. We can't kill him with two players."
"You too?" Dustin sounds just as annoyed as Steve feels. "Vecna only has 15 more hit points left, don't be pussies!"
"Pussies? Really? Cause we're not delusional?"
"No, no, Dustins right," Steve butts in. Barely holds back a warning to Dustin about his language; it's not the time for babysitting. "We're too close now, we can't give up!"
"HEY!" Eddie calls, easily drawing all their attention back to him. "If I may interject, gentleman… whilst I respect the passion, you'd be wise to take Garreth the Greats concern to heart. There is no shame in running. Don't try to be heroes. Not today."
Something about his smirk and stupid head tilt just makes Steve more determined. If he has to continue fighting this stupid game alone, god dammit, he will.
Steve only half pays attention to Mike talking strategy. He's already made up his mind.
"What do you say, Elora?" Dustin turns to him, looking uncertain.
"We can kill him." Steve sounds more sure than he probably has any right to be. But he is. He can feel it in his bones. They can win.
"Fuck yeah we can," he grins at Steve. The others look more uncertain. Dustin turns back to Eddie, shoulders back, chin up and looking almost proud. "Let's kill this son of a bitch!"
Dustin gets first roll and it's bad.
It's all down to Steve.
He can feel how tense everyone is. Dustin and Gareth start yelling when he takes to long. But he can't roll yet, follows his gut; he has to get this right, has to roll at the right time.
It's just like swinging a bat in baseball, he tells himself. Just gotta time it right…
He rolls.
The dice seems to move in slow motion. Steve can almost hear each time it bounces off the board. The tension is so thick that it almost chokes him, for a moment he's sure that he can't breath.
20.
There's a moment where no one reacts. Then Dustin yells, grabbing Steves arm and shaking him in his excitement. Mike, a more similar height, throws his arms around his shoulders. It's a little painful to have him shouting directly in his ear but, he too, is too excited to care.
The others have started yelling too, Eddie dramatically overacting his shock too. Steve can't help but laugh.
It takes a while for everyone to calm down. An even longer moment to stop talking enough so they can start packing their things up. Steve only brought his jacket and character sheet, so he stays stood at the end of the table to wait for the kids.
Eddie keeps glancing up at him as he packs most of the pieces away.
"Harrington," Grant grins at him. "Never thought I'd be saying this but... thanks for coming."
"Oh, uh, yeah, no problem," Steve tries to smile.
"Dude, you missed the championship game to save our asses in DnD," Gareth grins, throwing his arm over his shoulder. "Who woulda thought, though. Steve Harrington, huh?"
The other two laugh. Steve finally feels a little lighter, on safer ground.
"How the mighty have fallen, huh?" Steve tries. And they laugh, Jeff slapping him on the back.
At the doorway, he lingers for a moment, whilst everyone else starts heading down the hall.
"Thanks for letting me play," Steve says, turning to Eddie. "I know I'm not... uh..."
"Don't strain yourself," Eddie waves him off. "It's fine. The kids have raved about you enough for me to figure out that you're a good dude."
"Oh. Thanks."
"You should join their next campaign."
"I don't know. You're graduating, right?"
"Aww, you like me that much, big boy?" He puts a hand to his chest, batting his eyelashes.
But Steve remembers the rumors that went around, remembers exactly how true they were proven to be. And, well...
"What would you say if I am?" He fires back.
Eddie, true to his reputation, is never one to back down from a fight; "then I'd tell you to ask me out like you mean it."
"Alright. If you're free tomorrow, 8pm, would you wanna go on a date? With me?"
"You picking me up in your fancy car?"
"If you want."
"Yeah, I'm free."
"So... that's a yes?"
"Yes, that's a yes."
Steve can't help but fistpump, but it makes Eddie giggle, so he counts it as a win.
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