daydream-disposal

[daydream-disposal]

Game night!

Drew this as a gift for a special someone who enjoys these two 🤲👬🏈🍕🍕

[daydream-disposal]

*After battling goblins*

Steve: Damn, those creepers must really hate us.

Eli: Yeah, they're probably homophobic.

Steve: Eli, we're not gay.

Eli: We're not?

[daydream-disposal]

Headcanon: Everybody noticed something was going on between Eli and Steve when they started doing cheesy things on public without realizing.

Eli would play with Steve's hair when they were just chilling at someone's house.

Steve would lend Eli his jacket when it got cold or hug him by the shoulders to get him warm.

Whenever they went out to eat, Eli would feed fries to Steve and they would share their milkshakes.

Eli would walk around with papers and screens, studying or thinking about a theory and only sit down if he saw a spot next to Steve, never taking his eyes of his initial task.

Toby swears he saw them holding hands under the table multiple times!

But they don't acknowledge it as something out of the ordinary, not even once, and nobody knows how to point it out.

[daydream-disposal]

there are these two guys at my school and it’s fucking hilarious because nobody can tell if they’re dating or not

evidence:

they’re going to homecoming together

always holding hands but in the most bro way possible, idk how to describe it

someone asked one of them if they were dating and he said they had a “bromance like no other”

directly after that the other one goes “hell yeah bro” and kisses him on the lips

it is important to note that they are both avid supporters of kissing the homies

they also say “there’s my boyfriend” when the other walks by, whether they are joking is yet to be determined

constantly commenting on the other’s ass

tl;dr none of us can tell if they’re dating, but either way i’m convinced they are doing everything in their power to keep everyone confused

[daydream-disposal]

Wormhole

Steve is laying on his bed wearing his pyjamas, his eyes droopy and his mind hazy with tiredness but still, he insists on texting his friends. A normal tuesday, it appears.

Until suddenly, a big blue ring light starts to shine out of nowhere in the middle of his room. Steve sits on the bed, eyes wide. Suddenly a person gets out from inside the light. A boy about his height, his big honey eyes hiding behind his dark hair that was covering almost all of his freckled face. He was wearing black pants, a white button up and a coat. He looked drenched but still, he looked very handsome.

Is Steve too sleep deprived? Is he dreaming? Is he imagining this? He doesn't know.

"Oh thank god, it's you" the boy holds Steve's shoulders and kisses his cheek quickly, dropping a little device on the bed beside him.

"Um. Hello? W-who are you?" Steve freezes, trying to understand what just happened. He's not imagining it then, since the kiss felt very real. He would've blushed if the situation wasn't really scary.

"What? It's me. I guess I might look a little different, I've been traveling around for a while. Ugh my clothes are gross. I'm just gonna change real quick, okay?" the guy rambles walking to Steve's closet and opening the door. He searches for something, getting all his clothes out of the way. Steve frowns. What the fuck is this dude doing?

"Did you move my stuff again?"

"I literally don't know what you're talking about." Steve slowly gets up and walks towards the door.

"C'mon Steve, stop messing around, they were right here" he half laughs and keeps searching. A shiver goes down Steve's spine. He knows his name. Is he a spy? An alien? Is he here to harm him? Steve grabs his bat carefully and places it on his neck.

"I'd appreciate if you stopped messing with my stuff and left. I don't know who you are and why you're here! Just leave me alone!" he says with a rough voice.

Eli turns to face Steve, ready to laugh and ask 'what is this, a prank?' but his smile drops as soon as he sees Steve with the bat and a serious expression.

"Steve, calm down! It's me, your best friend, Eli Pepperjack. Do you seriously not recognize me?"

"Wrong! My best friend is Jim Lake and everybody knows that. I've never seen you before in my life!"

Steve and Jim being best friends??? Something is definitely Not Right. Eli looks around in disbelief. Now that he notices, Steve looks... younger. The room looks different too. It's the same style, but the colors are all wrong. He peeks outside the window and the street is slightly different too. Oh my god.

Did he just travelled to a parallel universe? One that Steve doesn't know him? He knew the wormhole could do that, but only on command! How did it malfunctioned so badly??

Steve adjusts his hands on the bat, getting Eli out of his thoughts.

"Wait! Wait! I can explain! I can prove that I know you!"

Steve considers, still not moving from the position he's in. The boy seems scared but somehow his eyes are shining, inviting. Steve sighs.

"Ok. Go on." he raises an eyebrow, curiously.

"Your favorite color is blue. You favorite food is pancakes. You can't have spicy food. You had a crush on Claire Nunes"

"Those are really basic and you could easily be lying. Or spying on me! And everybody had a crush on Claire!" Steve shouts, losing his patience.

"Okay, look." Eli reaches for his back pocket, taking out his wallet and handing Steve a picture of them hugging and smiling, doing the Creepslayerz hand gesture to the camera.

"You like nerdy movies like Gun Robot and Earth Invaders in secret because you don't want people to know. You don't know basic math but that's alright because you're a really great actor and you're very good at sports. Sometimes you let your insecurities get to you and that's why you act like you're superior to everyone else. But you're actually a really nice person. You care a lot about people, so much that you saved my life a thousand times before. You're funny and brave and I love you for that" Eli blurted out without even thinking.

"Wow, okay, that's scary. How is all of this possible?" He puts the bat down and stares at the picture, not believing what he's seeing.

"It's possible because I was traveling through that thing" Eli points to the wormhole device on the bed. Steve reaches it and throws it his way.

"Thanks. It's a wormhole, it's extraterrestrial technology. I've been living in another planet but I try to visit as much as I can. It malfunctioned this time. I'm guessing I ended up in a parallel universe" Eli says matter of factly, clicking the device on his hand. A blue hologram appears in front of them. Steve doesn't recognize the language on it.

"Hold up, are you telling me I'm dating an alien?"

"I literally just told you I'm from another universe and you decided to focus on that?"

"Well yeah" he shrugged.

Eli sighed, smiling.

"No, I'm human. I'm Earth's ambassador on the planet Arkiridion-5."

"Ok but are we dating...?" Steve blushes at him.

"Yes. We are."

"Oh sweet! Point for the Palchuk!" He punched the air. Eli laughs through his nose, shaking his head but still focused on the device.

"Can I ask you some questions?"

"Yeah, go on"

"How did it happen... How did we even... do it?" Steven didn't know how to ask this, but as if he was reading his mind, the brown haired boy answered quickly.

"Well, when we started getting close people just assumed. But our families are okay with it, if that's what you're asking"

"Cool. Alright." Steve knew he was bi for a long time now. He was just afraid of telling his family and friends. What if they got disappointed? What if they couldn't love him? What if he was left behind?

"How will I know if they're like this here too?" Steve asked in a quiet voice after a few seconds of silence and just the bleeping of the device.

"I'm pretty sure they love you in every universe. I know I do." Eli sinceraly stated, not even looking up. Steve had a hard time believing someone cared about him and loved him enough to say something so soft like that. He looked at the picture on his hands again. They were sharing a smile so genuine, their eyes meeting in such a sweet way, like they meant the whole world to each other.

"And how did we meet?" he leaned on the closet, crossing his arms. Eli just kept clicking away.

"At school. We didn't like each other at first, but we figured it out" he exhaled. "Took a while, but we did."

"Why? What happened?"

Eli thought about the years his Steve used to be mean at him and shove him into lockers. It was sad, but he knew there was good in him. Maybe this Steve could do it differently.

"Just... be nice."

"I am nice!" Eli stopped what he was doing, raising an eyebrow on Steve's direction. "Alright, I'll be nicer."

"Good. What year is it?"

"2018"

"Woah, okay, I'm so far off." he clicked a few more times, the big blue ring light popping up in the middle of the room again.

"Wait, you're leaving already?"

"Yeah. My Steve is waiting for me at home."

"But I still have so many questions!"

"Don't worry, it's gonna be alright. Nice to meet you. I hope I see you soon." And with that, he disappeared with the light, leaving Steve alone in his room. He looks down to his hands, still holding the picture strongly. He smiles.

"I hope so too."

Steve didn't remember his name. He tried to think back but at the time he was panicking at the thought of "CUTE BOY IN MY ROOM!" and focusing too hard on the fact that said boy was from another universe. So of course his ADHD brain would forget his name.

But this didn't keep Steve from looking. He was never this excited to go to school before. He started paying more attention to his surroundings, hoping he would spot the mysterious boy somewhere.

Instead, he spotted a fight. "Just be nice" he thought. The older boys being mean to the smaller ones does seem like a good moment to be nice. Also, it was just not fair.

"Hey, why don't you pick someone your size?" Steve approached the bully, tapping him on the shoulder with his eyebrows pinched.

"Ugh. Why do you always have to ruin the party, Palchuk? You had potential but you insist on being on the wrong side" he tries to push Steve, asking for a fight. Steve scoffs and holds the boy's wrist.

"Just let them go. You know you can't win against me." The bully grunts and shakes his wrist from Steve's hold. He nods to his friends and they leave, muttering amongst themselves.

Steve turns to help the other boys out of the ground, offering a hand. The first boy refuses, getting up fast and running away. And that's when finally, Steve sees him. He looks smaller than the boy in his room, his hair is shorter and he was wearing nerdy glasses. But it was definitely him. He would recognize that smile and those eyes anywhere.

"Thanks. Steve, right?" the boy said, holding his hand and getting up. Steve was at a loss of words. He nodded, smiling.

"That was very nice of you. I'm Eli, by the way." he shook his hand. He was real and he was right here, holding hands with him. Ok, this is happening!

"Nice to meet you. That was no problem really, if you ever have any trouble with them again just tell me" Steve blunted out nervously, scratching his neck. Eli smiled, picking up his books and leaving.

"Again, Steve?" the teacher asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm starting to think you're not even trying. Go to detention!"

Steve sighs, walking with his head down in shame. But this time, when he enters the classroom he sees someone that make his eyes light up.

"Eli! Hi!" Steve sits on the table behind him, excited.

"Oh, hey Steve"

"What are you in here for?" he asks confused.

"I was breaking in. And you?" Eli says as if it's a normal occurrence.

"Woah what???"

"I was trying to study at the lab during recess."

"I didn't know that wasn't allowed"

"Well... I kinda was using their equipment to try and communicate with aliens... Which isn't allowed..." Eli says a little embarrassed.

"Oh" Steve laughs, finding the story very endearing. "So you like space, huh?"

"I do. Imagine if I got to do it. It would've been so cool!" he exclaims, and Steve has to hold back the urge to tell him about the parallel universe.

"It really would. Don't lose hope though" he winks at his direction.

Eli smiles and keeps working on his assignment.

"Y'know, I didn't expect you to be here. You're very... um... nerdy?" Steve admits after some minutes of silence.

"Oh so we're doing stereotypes? Alright, jock. Why are you here? Got into a fight?"

"What? No. I'm a nice person! I just didn't do my homework. Again."

"Because you didn't want to or...?" Eli asked confused, tilting his head. Steve had a genius idea. He felt like those cartoons when a little lamp lights up.

"I'm having a lot of trouble, actually. Are you any good with math?"

"Of course. Why?"

"What do you say you help me with homework and I help you by staying on look out when you're in the lab?"

Eli considered, as he heard the bell ring. He gathers his books and hands Steve a piece of paper before leaving.

"Sure. Text me later so we can talk about it"

"Sounds good" Steve smiled. If this went anything like he wanted to, he better start cleaning some space in his closet.

[daydream-disposal]

Wormhole

Steve is laying on his bed wearing his pyjamas, his eyes droopy and his mind hazy with tiredness but still, he insists on texting his friends. A normal tuesday, it appears.

Until suddenly, a big blue ring light starts to shine out of nowhere in the middle of his room. Steve sits on the bed, eyes wide. Suddenly a person gets out from inside the light. A boy about his height, his big honey eyes hiding behind his dark hair that was covering almost all of his freckled face. He was wearing black pants, a white button up and a coat. He looked drenched but still, he looked very handsome.

Is Steve too sleep deprived? Is he dreaming? Is he imagining this? He doesn't know.

"Oh thank god, it's you" the boy holds Steve's shoulders and kisses his cheek quickly, dropping a little device on the bed beside him.

"Um. Hello? W-who are you?" Steve freezes, trying to understand what just happened. He's not imagining it then, since the kiss felt very real. He would've blushed if the situation wasn't really scary.

"What? It's me. I guess I might look a little different, I've been traveling around for a while. Ugh my clothes are gross. I'm just gonna change real quick, okay?" the guy rambles walking to Steve's closet and opening the door. He searches for something, getting all his clothes out of the way. Steve frowns. What the fuck is this dude doing?

"Did you move my stuff again?"

"I literally don't know what you're talking about." Steve slowly gets up and walks towards the door.

"C'mon Steve, stop messing around, they were right here" he half laughs and keeps searching. A shiver goes down Steve's spine. He knows his name. Is he a spy? An alien? Is he here to harm him? Steve grabs his bat carefully and places it on his neck.

"I'd appreciate if you stopped messing with my stuff and left. I don't know who you are and why you're here! Just leave me alone!" he says with a rough voice.

Eli turns to face Steve, ready to laugh and ask 'what is this, a prank?' but his smile drops as soon as he sees Steve with the bat and a serious expression.

"Steve, calm down! It's me, your best friend, Eli Pepperjack. Do you seriously not recognize me?"

"Wrong! My best friend is Jim Lake and everybody knows that. I've never seen you before in my life!"

Steve and Jim being best friends??? Something is definitely Not Right. Eli looks around in disbelief. Now that he notices, Steve looks... younger. The room looks different too. It's the same style, but the colors are all wrong. He peeks outside the window and the street is slightly different too. Oh my god.

Did he just travelled to a parallel universe? One that Steve doesn't know him? He knew the wormhole could do that, but only on command! How did it malfunctioned so badly??

Steve adjusts his hands on the bat, getting Eli out of his thoughts.

"Wait! Wait! I can explain! I can prove that I know you!"

Steve considers, still not moving from the position he's in. The boy seems scared but somehow his eyes are shining, inviting. Steve sighs.

"Ok. Go on." he raises an eyebrow, curiously.

"Your favorite color is blue. You favorite food is pancakes. You can't have spicy food. You had a crush on Claire Nunes"

"Those are really basic and you could easily be lying. Or spying on me! And everybody had a crush on Claire!" Steve shouts, losing his patience.

"Okay, look." Eli reaches for his back pocket, taking out his wallet and handing Steve a picture of them hugging and smiling, doing the Creepslayerz hand gesture to the camera.

"You like nerdy movies like Gun Robot and Earth Invaders in secret because you don't want people to know. You don't know basic math but that's alright because you're a really great actor and you're very good at sports. Sometimes you let your insecurities get to you and that's why you act like you're superior to everyone else. But you're actually a really nice person. You care a lot about people, so much that you saved my life a thousand times before. You're funny and brave and I love you for that" Eli blurted out without even thinking.

"Wow, okay, that's scary. How is all of this possible?" He puts the bat down and stares at the picture, not believing what he's seeing.

"It's possible because I was traveling through that thing" Eli points to the wormhole device on the bed. Steve reaches it and throws it his way.

"Thanks. It's a wormhole, it's extraterrestrial technology. I've been living in another planet but I try to visit as much as I can. It malfunctioned this time. I'm guessing I ended up in a parallel universe" Eli says matter of factly, clicking the device on his hand. A blue hologram appears in front of them. Steve doesn't recognize the language on it.

"Hold up, are you telling me I'm dating an alien?"

"I literally just told you I'm from another universe and you decided to focus on that?"

"Well yeah" he shrugged.

Eli sighed, smiling.

"No, I'm human. I'm Earth's ambassador on the planet Arkiridion-5."

"Ok but are we dating...?" Steve blushes at him.

"Yes. We are."

"Oh sweet! Point for the Palchuk!" He punched the air. Eli laughs through his nose, shaking his head but still focused on the device.

"Can I ask you some questions?"

"Yeah, go on"

"How did it happen... How did we even... do it?" Steven didn't know how to ask this, but as if he was reading his mind, the brown haired boy answered quickly.

"Well, when we started getting close people just assumed. But our families are okay with it, if that's what you're asking"

"Cool. Alright." Steve knew he was bi for a long time now. He was just afraid of telling his family and friends. What if they got disappointed? What if they couldn't love him? What if he was left behind?

"How will I know if they're like this here too?" Steve asked in a quiet voice after a few seconds of silence and just the bleeping of the device.

"I'm pretty sure they love you in every universe. I know I do." Eli sinceraly stated, not even looking up. Steve had a hard time believing someone cared about him and loved him enough to say something so soft like that. He looked at the picture on his hands again. They were sharing a smile so genuine, their eyes meeting in such a sweet way, like they meant the whole world to each other.

"And how did we meet?" he leaned on the closet, crossing his arms. Eli just kept clicking away.

"At school. We didn't like each other at first, but we figured it out" he exhaled. "Took a while, but we did."

"Why? What happened?"

Eli thought about the years his Steve used to be mean at him and shove him into lockers. It was sad, but he knew there was good in him. Maybe this Steve could do it differently.

"Just... be nice."

"I am nice!" Eli stopped what he was doing, raising an eyebrow on Steve's direction. "Alright, I'll be nicer."

"Good. What year is it?"

"2018"

"Woah, okay, I'm so far off." he clicked a few more times, the big blue ring light popping up in the middle of the room again.

"Wait, you're leaving already?"

"Yeah. My Steve is waiting for me at home."

"But I still have so many questions!"

"Don't worry, it's gonna be alright. Nice to meet you. I hope I see you soon." And with that, he disappeared with the light, leaving Steve alone in his room. He looks down to his hands, still holding the picture strongly. He smiles.

"I hope so too."

Steve didn't remember his name. He tried to think back but at the time he was panicking at the thought of "CUTE BOY IN MY ROOM!" and focusing too hard on the fact that said boy was from another universe. So of course his ADHD brain would forget his name.

But this didn't keep Steve from looking. He was never this excited to go to school before. He started paying more attention to his surroundings, hoping he would spot the mysterious boy somewhere.

Instead, he spotted a fight. "Just be nice" he thought. The older boys being mean to the smaller ones does seem like a good moment to be nice. Also, it was just not fair.

"Hey, why don't you pick someone your size?" Steve approached the bully, tapping him on the shoulder with his eyebrows pinched.

"Ugh. Why do you always have to ruin the party, Palchuk? You had potential but you insist on being on the wrong side" he tries to push Steve, asking for a fight. Steve scoffs and holds the boy's wrist.

"Just let them go. You know you can't win against me." The bully grunts and shakes his wrist from Steve's hold. He nods to his friends and they leave, muttering amongst themselves.

Steve turns to help the other boys out of the ground, offering a hand. The first boy refuses, getting up fast and running away. And that's when finally, Steve sees him. He looks smaller than the boy in his room, his hair is shorter and he was wearing nerdy glasses. But it was definitely him. He would recognize that smile and those eyes anywhere.

"Thanks. Steve, right?" the boy said, holding his hand and getting up. Steve was at a loss of words. He nodded, smiling.

"That was very nice of you. I'm Eli, by the way." he shook his hand. He was real and he was right here, holding hands with him. Ok, this is happening!

"Nice to meet you. That was no problem really, if you ever have any trouble with them again just tell me" Steve blunted out nervously, scratching his neck. Eli smiled, picking up his books and leaving.

"Again, Steve?" the teacher asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm starting to think you're not even trying. Go to detention!"

Steve sighs, walking with his head down in shame. But this time, when he enters the classroom he sees someone that make his eyes light up.

"Eli! Hi!" Steve sits on the table behind him, excited.

"Oh, hey Steve"

"What are you in here for?" he asks confused.

"I was breaking in. And you?" Eli says as if it's a normal occurrence.

"Woah what???"

"I was trying to study at the lab during recess."

"I didn't know that wasn't allowed"

"Well... I kinda was using their equipment to try and communicate with aliens... Which isn't allowed..." Eli says a little embarrassed.

"Oh" Steve laughs, finding the story very endearing. "So you like space, huh?"

"I do. Imagine if I got to do it. It would've been so cool!" he exclaims, and Steve has to hold back the urge to tell him about the parallel universe.

"It really would. Don't lose hope though" he winks at his direction.

Eli smiles and keeps working on his assignment.

"Y'know, I didn't expect you to be here. You're very... um... nerdy?" Steve admits after some minutes of silence.

"Oh so we're doing stereotypes? Alright, jock. Why are you here? Got into a fight?"

"What? No. I'm a nice person! I just didn't do my homework. Again."

"Because you didn't want to or...?" Eli asked confused, tilting his head. Steve had a genius idea. He felt like those cartoons when a little lamp lights up.

"I'm having a lot of trouble, actually. Are you any good with math?"

"Of course. Why?"

"What do you say you help me with homework and I help you by staying on look out when you're in the lab?"

Eli considered, as he heard the bell ring. He gathers his books and hands Steve a piece of paper before leaving.

"Sure. Text me later so we can talk about it"

"Sounds good" Steve smiled. If this went anything like he wanted to, he better start cleaning some space in his closet.

[daydream-disposal]

THINGS WHICH MAKE WRITERS ANXIOUS:

not writing

writing

people reading their stories

people not reading their stories

[daydream-disposal]

Headcanon: Eli is not a jealous person. This is great pairing up with the fact that he's dating Steve. Steve Palchuk, popular kid, quarterback, gets attention from everyone wherever he goes. That Steve. Who is, on the other hand, very jealous. Or as he would say "not jealous, just afraid of losing you" which to Eli made no sense. He was just... him. The nerd nobody even notices.

Except they did notice but when someone flirted with him he didn't realize and just thought they were being nice. But Steve knew, he could see right through those winks and compliments. So everytime he saw a boy getting too close to Eli, he's there in a split second, putting his arms around his shoulders, calling him cute pet names, just to make sure the random boys know that they are together.

[daydream-disposal]

Headcanon: when Eli is drunk he spits out random equations and somehow all of them are right. All of them. People at parties started asking him the most random numbers and he just never failed. It's very mind blowing.

Steve on the other hand gets....... philosophical. He'll say the most darn things out of nowhere without any context whatsoever, like "How did we evolve from monkeys and monkeys still exist? Wouldn't they just evolve?" "How does bluetooth work?" "What animal could you take in a fight? I could probably take a raccoon. Maybe not though, some raccoons are scary"

And from an outside perspective you wouldn't believe those two are actually the best friends ever (who are also in love)

[daydream-disposal]

Remember to support the artists you love, likes don’t spread their work….

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[daydream-disposal]

Headcanon: One day Eli gets to school and sees Steve reading something leaning against his locker.

"What are you doing?"

"Shh, I'm reading a really good book. It's enemies to lovers" Steve smiles, flicking the page.

Eli looks at the page, recognizing the handwriting. No. It can't be. He checks the cover only to find out that it IS his diary.

"I-It's not what you think" he stuttered, his cheeks blushy, snatching the diary from Steve's hands.

"Oh, so you’re in love with another Steve? Too bad. I was hoping we could go on a date"

[daydream-disposal]

eli really decorated his and steve’s flour baby combining traits from both himself and steve. he literally did not have to do that, but he did. fellas…….

[daydream-disposal]

SOULMATES

Read chapters 1 2 3 4 5

Chapter 1. Not yet

Arcadia was weird. Everybody knew that. Alongside with trolls, aliens and wizards, they also had the red threads of fate. It connects two people who are entwined in, well, fate. They will have a special connection, almost like soulmates. It could be platonic or romantic, it really depends.

But you'll know when it happens, they say.

It's an amazing feeling, they say.

Eli never saw his red thread of fate. It was fine really. He would just wait... It would happen eventually, right?

It is said that you will see it when the bond between you and your soulmate gets strong. Or when you need each other the most. Or when you finish your chores. Or when you get all your homework done. Or when you eat your vegetables. Ok, that's getting ridiculous.

"Stop, I know you're lying mom. I'm not 5 anymore" Eli said laughing.

"Ok but seriously, vegetables are good for you! Eat up kiddo!" She messes with his hair and goes to the kitchen.

Eli scrunched his nose in disgust at his plate but ate it anyway. If he didn't his mom wouldn't let him hang out with Steve tonight and that just COULDN'T happen okay they were soooo close to getting somewhere on the ghost thing.

Except they weren't. They've been on night patrol for a while and nothing happened. Eli was pretty sure there wasn't any ghosts. But he didn't say anything because... because... look, he just wanted to go creepslaying with Steve okay? He likes spending time with him. It's not enough to see him on weekdays. Steve was kinda dumb to believe in EVERYTHING Eli says, but he's also very funny and spontaneous and cute and h– Eli was pulled out of his daydreams by the sound of the doorbell.

"I'LL GET IT!" Eli shouted to his mom, abandoning half of his dinner and running to open the door.

"Sup Pepperbuddy! Where you going like this?" Steve asked jokingly, looking at Eli up and down.

He was wearing his pijamas aka an oversized tshirt and boxers. His cheeks started burning, he couldn't even think about how red his face probably was.

"N-nowhere! You weren't supposed to be here for another hour!"

"Is that so?" Steve checked his phone. "Huh. Weird. Oh well, now I'm here. We can start early today" he suggested.

Eli rolled his eyes and grabbed him by the arm to guide him upstairs. Not that he needed any guidance, he was there almost everyday anyway.

"WHO WAS AT THE DOOR ELIJAH?" his mom shouted from the kitchen.

"IT'S JUST STEVE. WE'RE GOING TO MY ROOM. PLEASE KNOCK BEFORE ENTERING" He didn't want his mom entering when they had his conspiracy board out, that's all. She would freak out. No reason at all besides this one.

He heard his mom muttering something along the lines of "again" and "alone" before replying.

"OKAY. YOU BOYS BEHAVE!"

"Moooom!!!!" Eli complained in a tone that could only translate to oh my god mom stop you're embarrassing me in front of my crush but Steve didn't seem to care.

As soon as they entered his room Eli couldn't even look at him when he started to apologize because what was that about really lol mom's these days am i right haha crazy

"It's alright." Steve interrupted him. "But like, have you been misbehaving with boys in here for her to think that?"

Eli choked on his own spit, shocked at the question. It almost sounded like Steve was jealous. But why would he be? Steve is straight. That much he knows for sure. Eli dared to look at his friend only to notice a mischievous grin. Oh okay. He's joking.

"What? no. Well it's not like there's boys lining up to hang out with me" – They laughed – "Besides, you know I'm looking for them..." Eli showed Steve his hand and wiggled his pinky. Steve got serious all of sudden.

"Any signs?"

"No. Nothing." Eli opened his wardrobe and picked his usual Creepslaying outfit, black tshirt and black pants.

"Maybe you just didn't look in the right places..." Steve said quietly sitting down on Eli's bed.

"Yeah, or maybe I just didn't meet them yet." Eli sighed, voice getting lower. Steve was talking again but he couldn't listen.

All he could think of was the fact that if Steve wasn't his soulmate then maybe he didn't want one. They've come so far, from enemies to creepslayerz to friends and they were so close now.

They've come up with excuses to see each other everyday by now. They have a few classes together of course but aside from that, every tuesday Eli has chess tournaments and Steve goes with him. Just like Eli goes to Steve's football training on wednesdays. "For support" they say. On thursdays they help each other with homework. Movie night is on fridays. They eat popcorn and laugh at weird CGI movies. Sometimes Steve falls asleep on Eli's couch, head on his shoulder and Eli just enjoys it while it lasts. And there's all the Creepslayerz adventures on the weekends.

Point is, they're too deep in this friendship now.

He isn't ready to let him go. Not yet.

"You okay Peppers?" Steve touched his shoulder sounding worried.

"Yeah. Sorry, zooned out a bit. I'm gonna go change" Eli says as he heads to the bathroom and locks the door behind him.

Steve lays down and closes his eyes.

[daydream-disposal]

hello stelicringers

[daydream-disposal]

fellas is it gay to give your best bro ur letterman jacket when he gets cold on ur evening drive in the woods or???

[daydream-disposal]

So about Eli’s new look… I think Steve digs it 😌👌💘💫✨for the amazing and kind @nadbov 🥺💫✨💕

[daydream-disposal]

Yeah, that would make sense if it was part of Eli's arc. Thinking about it right now, what bothers me is the poor writing for his finale. The writers could've done it in a better way (and I know they're capable because they wrote the rest of the show and it's amazing).

Eli spent literally the whole show trying to befriend others, specially Steve, and when he finally has it he just... goes away. Sure, he likes space and all, but him and Aja didn't interact a lot. We don't see them bonding, figuring out the things they have in common, being there for each other, which are all things we would normally see if the friendship between two characters was part of their arc. Your theory is great and I love it because you're right, Aja would be alone and Eli is a really kind and comforting character but the writers didn't built their friendship enough in a way that him leaving FOR her made sense, you know what I mean?

And I'm not even being shippy here, but Steve was also left alone. We barely see him with anyone, even with Toby there's just a few scenes. He was alone too. The writers spent time building his friendship with Eli and for what? To make him leave in the end?

So it felt to me like the writers didn't know what to do with Eli so they just thought "Eject him to space. The boy loves space, it's fine" and it's not fine, it wasn't organic, it didn't flow with the story. It would make a lot more sense if they stayed together as their friendship mattered and it was big part of their arcs.

I'm hoping on your theory though, it's a lot better than whatever that was, so thank you ❤️

Also, about his mom: that's just my personal headcanon sjskdjsjk I just think she wouldn't believe this "studying abroad" thing without inspecting it herself. But after they explain everything to her of course she would support him!

I love everything about Tales of Arcadia, but you know what's the 1 thing I think they did wrong? Eli leaving at the end of 3below.

He spent all his time wanting to have friends but not only ONCE, he considered this when he left. He didn't care that he was leaving all his new friends behind, he didn't care he was leaving Steve behind. That's just wrong and he wouldn't do it!

Also isn't his mom like, super protective? She didn't want him to ride on Steve's vespa! You think that's the kind of parent who would just BELIEVE their kid is studying abroad without seeing any papers? Without going there herself and checking if the place is alright for her child? No. Wrong. She would make a big deal out of it. Thank you for coming to my tedtalk.