#Dustin cares so much

[loveinhawkins]

“What happened to Steve?” Dustin asks.

He’s already shut the door so no-one can overhear, has left everyone else—almost everyone—in the living room. He can make out some sounds in the background: Robin, who’s still talking overly loud, valiantly trying to drown out the noise coming from the bathroom; from Nancy who’s locked herself in there, and the sound of running water only half covers up stifled, sobbing gasps—each one makes Dustin’s stomach drop.

And if he really concentrates, he can hear the quiet creak of Steve pacing in concern, and there, every other step or so, the movement stops abruptly. It’s barely a second before it starts up again, but Dustin knows when Steve’s bracing himself, knows when he’s in pain.

And there are way too many things he can’t solve—Nancy’s hidden, gut-wrenching cries are another unwelcome reminder of that fact.

So he asks again, “What happened to Steve?” because he knows, if nothing else, he can solve this.

Eddie jumps, confirming Dustin’s suspicions that he didn’t hear the question the first time. He’s sat hunched over on his bed, surrounded by scattered piles of tapes from their panicked search earlier. He looks up, blinks a couple times like his mind’s been somewhere else for a long while.

“What happened to—? Uh, why don’t you just ask Steve?”

Because, Dustin thinks, you can’t lie for shit.

He doesn’t say it, but maybe Eddie suspects something, because he mutters, “Sure, sure, okay,” under his breath and clears a spot for Dustin on the bed. He keeps dropping tapes, like his hands are too unsteady to keep a hold of them; there’s a crack in one of the plastic cases already.

Dustin sits, and then Eddie tells him. It’s not like he hadn’t guessed something kinda close to it, but the confirmation is good to have.

“So. Demobats,” Dustin says in summary, because Eddie had trailed off near the end, as if he was reliving the dive into The Upside Down all over again. He cracks a smile at the name, though.

“Cute.”

“And Steve… like, he a rode a bike and everything so he’s…?”

Dustin tries to make his thumbs up look as confident as possible. Eddie nods a little too slowly for his liking, but he’ll take it.

“Yeah, um. Hey, Dustin, does, uh, all of that…” Eddie waves a hand vaguely. “Does that, like, happen a lot? Historically?”

Dustin doesn’t need to ask what he means.

Several memories battle to reach the forefront, but what wins is Steve in the junkyard before anything had even happened, how he whistled, bat in his hands. And Dustin had firmly filed the whole thing under awesome which yeah, it was, and maybe if he keeps thinking about how awesome it was, he won’t have to think about—

“He just—he just needs someone to watch his back.”

It’s almost a non-answer because it’s true of everyone, a Party rule so obvious it goes without saying. Still, Eddie nods again, and when he rearranges the last of the tapes his hands don’t shake.

“That I can do,” Eddie says.

There’s a edge of self-deprecation to the words, like he’s saying it’s one of the few things he’s capable of, and Dustin wants to push back against it because it’s not fair. Eddie’s only at a disadvantage in that it’s like he’s joined a long-running D&D campaign mid-way through, missing pages and pages of notes, and all he’s got time to get is hastily thrown together bullet points.

The creak of Steve’s footsteps suddenly gets louder before there’s a soft knock on the door.

“Everything okay in there?”

“Come on in, Harrington,” Eddie says.

Steve opens the door. “What’re you doing?” he says casually, but Dustin can tell he’d been worried; his eyes flicker around the room as if he’s checking it’s still safe.

“Oh, just getting Henderson to work on his tone.”

A millisecond ago, Dustin had been all for whatever excuse Eddie could come up with. But now…

“My what?”

Steve laughs like this is all very funny. Dustin keeps his eyes sharp even in his indignation, takes note of how Steve holds himself as he leans against the doorway: not relaxed by any stretch, but there’s no longer the awful sense that he’s holding his breath in pain. And the bandages wrapped around him are dry, Dustin double-checks to be sure. It’s not ideal—none of this is—but he can work with it.

Meanwhile, one thing he can’t work with is baseless slander.

“I don’t have a tone, what the hell.”

Eddie heaves a sigh. “That’s exactly what someone with a tone would say.”

Dustin kicks him.

And in the middle of Eddie pretending to be mortally wounded, he sobers abruptly—must notice the same thing just ahead of Dustin, that the water in the bathroom’s stopped running.

Eddie catches Steve’s eye. “Wheeler?” he mouths.

Steve pauses. “She’s okay,” he mouths back, and then mimes with his hand, five minutes, which is absolutely not the whole story, but it’s the one they’re getting for now.

And if she needs some more time, Dustin can find plenty more sources of distraction. What he settles on is a double take that would put Drama Club to shame.

“Wow, Steve, that’s a cool vest, where’d you get it?”

He dodges Eddie’s kick.

“Tone, dickhead,” Steve returns easily, and he grins, glances over to Eddie with a wry shake of the head.

The bathroom door clicks open, and Dustin hears Robin warmly greet Nancy in the living room. Steve looks relieved, pats the doorframe a couple times before he beckons for him to be followed out.

Dustin hesitates the tiniest bit so he can keep an eye on how Steve walks. He turns back to Eddie with one last questioning thumbs up; Eddie, still a little pink in the face, smiles back and gives a reassuring wink.

[gay-mike-wheeler]

what if i said dustin’s response to the trauma he went through in seasons 1-3 was to emulate steve (him copying steve’s hair, going to him for advice) because he sees him as a protector. and he’ll start emulating eddie more in s5 because he sees him the same way. and he thinks that maybe if he can be more like these guys then he can protect his friends too. then what.

[rotteneldritchhorror]

Steve and Jonathan's relationship is so complicated to me <3 and I mean that as the biggest compliment

[lunabug2004]

I want to preface this post with the fact that I find Mileven completely adorable in seasons 1 & 2. They were truly at their peak and I adore them. I also absolutely love Dustin and Lucas. Now onto the post:

Dustin and Lucas make me so mad in s1 on behalf of Mike. Them telling Mike that he's practically obsessed and in love with El just because he missed one (1) day of school to help a kid who is their age and obv scared/in need of help, then kept her around because he thought she could help them find their missing friend... is insane to me.

I understand that they are kids, and that's why I don't really hold this against them... but it's so frustrating to watch from both a Mileven perspective and a Byler perspective. Mileven because they (or Mike at least) didn't get the chance to come to this conclusion on their own, he was basically forced to confront his newlyfound feelings in the middle of one of the worst times in his life. Byler because if Mike really does suffer from internalized homophobia omg did this mess him up even more. Like "oh, they think I like her so it must be true, right? Maybe I'm not so weird after all." type thinking was probably occurring.

Plus just the forced-ness of it all in general makes me uncomfy.

Watching Dustin say "all you ever wanna do is pay attention to her" as if it's a completely bad thing is so saddening to me, because yes, Mike really does care for El, but he's also so deadset on keeping her around and believing in her at that point because he knows she has a direct connection with Will.

Also Lucas's "El, will you marry me?" and Mike being so genuinely confused and annoyed by it is so telling to me. He was definitely not focused on his feelings for El, romantic or not, at that time! I don't see how he could be! His best friend is missing, he's known El for a couple days at least, and we know the Duffers don't believe in love at first sight (which doesn't mean they can't write it but still).

Idk, I know I'm not alone on this, but the whole situation just feels weird and slightly forced w/ romantic Mileven in s1.

[catharusustulatus]

The kids poke fun at Steve for not “getting” D&D, think he’s just not built for the math and memory aspects of the game. Turns out he and Robin are playing bridge with her parents every Friday night after dinner and he’s a total card shark, taking tricks left and right. The Buckleys love him - he’s competitive but sweet, considerate and sharp. Sometimes Steve and Robin’s mom Patty team up and win, and she sneaks him an extra piece of cake after the dishes are washed. After Steve leaves, promising to pick Robin up the next morning for work, her parents wax poetic about how much they love Robin’s “boyfriend.”

[gloomysoup]

it's 1am, i'm bored, so here's a second snippet from the first draft of my one-shot in progress: the things that haunt me (in the middle of the night) aka steve under vecna's curse. warning: this HURTS. good luck :)

Steve had a feeling Eddie wasn’t just going to let it go. If it were anyone else, Steve would be the same way. However, he still wasn’t going to say anything. It had been a few days without anything happening, so for all he knew, it had just been his mind playing tricks on him. It wasn’t actually happening. He was just being stupid. He wanted to hold onto that. He wanted that to be the case. He didn't want to have to think about being around the kids and something happening to him. He didn't want to leave them with more trauma than they already had.

He started to pull away. Even if the clock and the chimes were gone, he couldn't guarantee they wouldn't return. He had to protect the others. He had to make sure they got used to him not being around. He had to know they were going to be okay without him. The hardest part was Robin. He could hardly bear to be without her. They had been attached at the hip since everything at Starcourt. She was his platonic soulmate, with a capital 'P'. He couldn’t imagine life without her anymore, even though he knew deep down she would have to live hers without him.

It was so hard to ignore their calls. It was hard to make half-assed excuses that he hoped they believed. He had to turn off his walkie. He couldn't stand not answering when they tried to contact him. He hated listening to their voices and knowing what he knew. He parked his car in the garage so they couldn't see it. He locked all the doors. He closed all the curtains and blinds. He kept the lights off. He tried to make it look like he wasn't home. Maybe they would leave him alone if they thought he was out of town or something. It didn't stop them from trying. The phone rang a lot. They came by the house often, knocking and calling for him. He never answered. He couldn't.

Steve tried to convince himself that he was protecting them. This was the best thing for everyone. They needed to learn how to get on without him. He needed to know they would be okay. It hurt so much, but it's what he had to do. It was a lose-lose situation for Steve. No matter what he did, people would get hurt. People he cared about. This was just the best he could come up with. The easiest way for him to protect them.

He wasn’t sure how long it had been. It was all back though. He wrapped a blanket around himself and laid in bed, staring at the wall. The clock ticked ominously. The chimes rang out, four on the hour, every hour. They echoed through his mind. The voices were louder. Some moments, he couldn't breathe. Some moments, he thought, this is it. This is the end. And each time, nothing happened.

[i-miss-lotor]

My third eye suddenly opened and now I'm stuck thinking about a crossover between Stranger Things and Voltron, specifically the parallels between Billy, Max and Lotor

I mean. Just think about it. They had Neil and Zarkon as abusive fathers. Lotor had to kill his own dad, since Zarkon did try to enslave or kill everyone who didn't agree with his species, and all he got that it was for the greater good. No one said anything, not a 'sorry you had to go through that', not a question about his feelings on the matter. Just a 'good job, moving on'.

And Lotor spent so much time trying to be good. Trying to connect with others, trying to be better than his dad. He thought he finally had a place in the world, had people who understood and loved him. Only to get betrayed again and again and no one was even willing to hear him out. Between the pressure and the quintessence, of course he snapped. And they didn't try to save him.

Billy, on the other hand, didn’t try to be good, because he knew there was no point. He knew he was never going to be good enough even though part of him wanted to. He couldn’t keep inside all that hurt and he tried to be more like his dad, he wanted to feel like he has power and not just some weakling, so he took his anger out on others all the time. Of course people didn't like him. Of course they hated him. He was a mean asshole.

So when he died, I wonder what the others told Max. I wonder if Max got the same treatment Lotor did about Zarkon's death, because Billy was mean and killed people (possessed or not) even if he did die a heroic death, I wonder if she had to hear things like 'it's for the better', 'he deserved it'.

And it hurts to think about that Max saw Billy as he was, late or not, that Max was willing to be there for him, while Lotor didn't have a Max. He should have had people to care for him and hear him out, he thought he did, but well. There are no happy endings for them.

[brionysea]

writes a gen outsider pov fic about mike wheeler and only refers to el and will as his friends to remind people to behave

[morganbritton132]

@salamandergoo wait. Hold on. It is so painfully accurate that Steve would assume that everybody already knew and decided it wasn’t a big deal.

No one tells him anything and he’s always had to figure things out on his own using context clues. They know about the Russians. He just assumes they know about the torture too.

Steve and Robin: *talking about when they were tortured but specifically in a way that makes them sound like they’re complaining about working customer service*

Dustin: Can you please take being tortured by Russians seriously?

Everybody else at this party:

Everybody else: I’m sorry, what?

[sp0o0kylights]

Steve Harrington, who has a very “in name only” relationship with his parents, the people who claim they love him lots but have simply given him cash for his last six birthdays without bothering to send a card. 

Steven Harrington, who lost his connection to the only adults in his life who actually parented him when he had his final fight with Tommy and Carol-- not that they ever really did that much. Having an adult put a bandaid on his knee and complimenting him for being tough was plenty enough. 

Steve Harrington, who drove Dustin and co. to the Byers house that one Christmas and was told by Hopper not to come in; that Joyce was still mad at him about the ‘demodog in the fridge’ and figured his exclusion was fair--it wasn’t like Hopper actually liked him. Joyce certainly had no reason to. It wasn’t like he was doing anything for Christmas anyways. 

Steve Harrington, who is fairly certain Robin’s parents have clocked her as queer but who still treats him in that careful way many parents do when he’s hanging around their daughter. There’s a barrier there, in the way of firm handshakes and “get her back safe”’s that keep things formal. (It’s never bothered him before, and he swears it doesn’t bother him now.) 

Steve Harrington, whose relationships with adults are defined by words like “networking”, “proper connections”, “favors”, and “finances”, who has at best been treated like a miniature version of his father and at worst as a spoilt moron, who encounters Wayne Munson and has no idea what to do with the man. 

Wayne Munson, who asks him actual questions about his life. Who asks him to watch the game with him. Who calls him “boy” and “son” in ways that sound affectionate and not frustrated. Wayne, who shoos him away from the dishes and compliments his cooking, who has invited Steve over when Eddie isn’t even home.

Steve Harrington, who keeps apologizing to Eddie because “I’m not trying to steal your Uncle man, I promise.” and doesn’t believe Eddie when the latter just laughs at him.

(“You can’t steal Wayne, Steve.” Eddie says with a snicker, when he finally figures out what Steve is apologizing for.  The guy apologizes a lot for things that make no sense, it’s a bad habit Eddie’s working on him with. “Though I do believe he has been trying to steal you.” 

“Oh.” This does not relieve Steve. In fact, this seems to make him more nervous looking, which Eddie does not want. 

“I uh. I don’t want to come between you guys so I guess we can just hang at my house…?” The voice he trails off with is downright painful for Eddie to hear, and he’s already slashing his hand in the air in a wild ‘No’ before Steve can even finish speaking.

“Dude you’re fine. I’m glad you guys are getting along! Wayne needs someone to talk sportsball with and clearly so do you because you keep trying to talk about it to anyone who will listen.”

“I guess if you’re alright with it…”) 

Steve Harrington, who allows himself to be adopted by the Munsons much in the way a feral cat lets itself become domesticated, and who starts looking at Wayne like the man hung the moon. 

Wayne Munson, who is referred to by Steve as “Dad” exactly once, and feels so fucking happy about it he misses the panic attack Eddie has to talk Steve through. 

He also misses that that is the moment when Steve accidentally confesses his feelings to Eddie in the Munson’s (new) cramped bathroom, on grounds that “I can’t date you and also call Wayne dad like that, that’s weird! Isn’t that weird!? It feels weird!” 

(“Sweetheart,” Eddie says, trying not to smile and failing entirely. “I get what you’re saying, but I think in your panic you missed something kinda key, there.”) 

Steve Harrington, who gets himself an entire family in the end (and gets to both call Wayne “dad” and Eddie as his boyfriend, without issue, because “we’re not related babe, you can call your inlaw whatever you want.” 

“Now who's skipping steps? When did we get married?”

“The very second it’s legal, that’s when.”) 

--and has never been happier in his life.

[starlight299]

Steve meets Wayne for the first time and starts off calling him sir and being a polite and then almost has a heart attack when Eddie starts swearing right in front of him. Wayne doesn’t even react he just keeps taking like everything is normal. Steve swears his heart stopped beating when Eddie gave his uncle the middle finger for teasing him about something.

And Steve knows his parents are a terrible example for how families interact with each other but he’s never once heard Will or Jonathan swear in front of Joyce and he was pretty convinced she was the best mom ever. And while Mike and Dustin have swords in front of their parents Dustin got scolded and Mike got grounded. Jane/El only got away with swearing in front of Hopper because she was raised in a lab and didn’t even know what swears were when she first said one. So something was off, right?

Steve quickly learned that not only did Wayne simply not care about swearing but he actually spent time with Eddie, and Steve while he was there. They played Janga together on the floor. And Wayne asked him to call him Wayne and not ‘sir’ or ‘Mr. Munson’ and Steve was going to die. Wayne even started talking to him about baseball (much to Eddie’s dismay) and Steve was just stunned.

The first day of meeting Wayne Munson and Steve already wanted to steal him. As time went on that never wavered he just wanted it more. He told Eddie a month later and Eddie just laughed at him. Steve was entirely serious though. If he could live in their trailer with the two of them for the rest of his life he would and he’d be the happiest person alive.

Little did Steve know Wayne had already decided Steve was his son in a law. He was going to plan them a surprise wedding in the woods and while it might not be legally recognized they would remember it for the rest of their lives and it would be cute. Steve and Eddie were not dating yet. Wayne just thought they were too scared to say something. Eddie never even officially came out to him Wayne just told him to be safe every time he went to Indy and thought the kid knew what he was talking about. Eddie thought he meant driving.

[dreamsteddie]

Steve and Eddie who kind of flop in life and end up poor, living in a trailer in a different small town living quiet lives of no import.

The kids, Robin, Nancy, and Johnathan all seem to take the small handful of opportunities offered to them by the government in the aftermath of the Upsidedown to take off and make something of their lives. They're off writing headlines, making news, and living their lives to the best of their abilities, but Steve and Eddie find themselves stuck.

Steve stayed in Hawkins until the kids graduated and left for college. By then Nancy, Johnathan, and Robin are all in their second or third years of college. John and Nancy have their own apartment in New York together and don't reach out all that often, only seeing the rest of the Hawkins crew on Holidays and some vacations. Robin is flourishing at an all-women's college in Maine and has a partner and a cat and plans for graduate school brewing. She's always saying Steve can come out and join her whenever he's ready, but when the time comes it feels like he would just be trying to insert himself in the middle of a life he doesn't know how to fit into, so he turns to Eddie instead.

Eddie is permanently disabled in a number of ways following the events of season four. He struggles with chronic pain, has breathing issues due to the loss of part of his right lung, and lost enough muscle mass in his left leg that walking will never be easy or done without the use of a walker or arm bar crutches. The doctors said he recovered as well as he could have. The kids said he would get better with time. Wayne said it didn't matter if he never got better, he could do anything he set his mind to.

Steve is the only person who tells him the truth.

Steve tells him that it sucks. Tells him that it will probably always hurt. Doesn't give him false hope when he's trying to grieve the loss of the life he wanted to live. The goals he wanted to reach. When he falls deeper and deeper into himself, stuck in the muck of depression, Steve is the only person he lets in. The kids try their best but their lives are moving fast, and taking care of someone like Eddie is exhausting, no matter what they try to say. Eventually, everyone but Dustin gives up on reaching out, the younger boy showing up every Sunday to try and get Eddie out of the house. He always leaves disappointed.

When Steve asks him if he wants to use what's left of their partly government payouts and Steve's equally meager Family Video savings to buy a truly shitty trailer in a town an hour and a half south of Hawkins in the fall of 1990, it feels like the first boon he's been given in almost five years. He'll never be who he could have been if he had ignored Chrissy that day in 86', but he's always thought maybe he could be more than a ghost between Wayne's walls if he could just get out of this god-forsaken town full of people who know too much and too little of what's happened to him.

They get the trailer, pack what little they have, let Wayne hug them close, and leave.

Steve has already transferred to their new town's Family Video, moving up to claim the dubious honor of being the opening manager. Mostly he just unlocks the door, signs into the computer, and makes sure nothing catches fire. Eddie hoped that moving would miraculously make him fit to enter back into the world, but he spends most of his days with a blanket on the front porch, watching people pass by. He does, though, finally accept that he needs to apply for disability to help Steve keep the lights on and the water hot. That last little bit of hope that he could be what he used to be dies, but he's learning to be content with what he does have. He starts taking a walk, just ten minutes around the loop of the trailer park saying hi and trading polite nods with his fellow residents. He's not ok, but he's starting to build a new community of people not too different from himself.

The new trailer only has one bedroom. Eddie sleeps on a fold-out mattress in the living room. It had been a major argument when they first moved in with Steve insisting that Eddie needed the bed. Eddie argued that it wasn't fair for him to take the room when Steve was the one working 40 hours a week to keep them afloat. In the end, Eddie was the more stubborn of the two. It helps that Eddie has absolutely no qualms about crawling into bed with Steve on the nights when the couch bed really won't cut it for his aching body. Steve never questions it, just shuffles over a little and lets the other man in.

Steve doesn't question a lot of stuff.

He doesn't question when all their effects are shared between them with no effort to distinguish between yours and mine, Eddie's and Steve's. He doesn't question it four months in when Eddie starts to get his feet under him and decides to take up cooking, always trying his best to have everything done just as Steve walks through the door. He doesn't question when a good chunk of Eddie's first disability check goes to buying Steve a sturdy, if not very fashionable, new watch for his birthday since his old one went bust almost a year ago.

He doesn't question it when Eddie holds his hand for the first time under the stars hanging above their front porch.

He doesn't question it when Eddie introduces him to one of his new neighbor friends with a hand resting comfortably on his lower back

He doesn't question it when Eddie starts sleeping in the bedroom every night.

Or makes him box mix cupcakes for Valentine's Day.

Or kisses him for the first time on the couch that's never a bed unless they want to spend the day binge-watching bargain bin films.

Because really, isn't this how it was always going to go? Wasn't this exactly what Steve was asking for when he asked Eddie to skip town with him?

Isn't this what Eddie was hoping for when he said yes?

[allyricas]

imagine if eddie never got caught up in the upside down stuff in season 4. all the same people are still vecna'd, but chrissy never sought out eddie for drugs at school that day so he is oblivious to everything going on.

maybe he spends spring break playing music with the guys and getting drunk in the back of his van.

or, better yet, he's not even in town at all. he and the other members of corroded coffin are in indy for battle of the bands.

in fact, he literally has no clue what happened until he sees the news about the earthquake and he rushes back to make sure uncle wayne is alright. he's freaking out because when he calls his trailer numerous times, no one answers. he tries calling the plant to look for his uncle and they say he didn't show up to work.

chrissy was too intimidated to seek him out at school even in the privacy of the woods, so instead later that evening she goes to the trailer to look for him. she still gets vecna'd and the trailer becomes a gate.

eddie is never a suspect since he has a verifiable alibi. wayne still finds chrissy's body the next morning and still helps by telling nancy about henry creel. he can tell the teens are about to do something reckless and dangerous so he gets involved and ends up in the upside down instead of eddie.

he turns out to be very handy with various weapons and has a mind for battle strategy thus the party having a much better plan.

they win this time. steve gets really hurt, like nearly dies. wayne is the one who carries him out of the upside down and helps make sure he doesn't bleed out. they form a bond and wayne refuses to leave his side at the lab.

which is why eddie can't get ahold of him.

imagine eddie rushing back into hawkins only to eventually find out chrissy cunningham died on the porch of his trailer and that no one's heard from his uncle in days. he finds out from dustin that his uncle is at the hospital standing vigil over steve harrington's bedside, of all freaking people.

wayne looks pretty roughed up, but he's safe and he's okay. eddie is so relieved to see him with his own eyes that the reality of everything doesn't really sink in.

after everything is settled, the government compensates wayne with a new home. everything could have been a lot worse were he not involved and the earthquake split the trailer in two.

it's nothing fancy, just a three bedroom home on a nice plot of land. it's cosy and there's room for a fire pit in the backyard, maybe even a garden and a chicken coop. wayne manages to make anywhere feel like home, but this place has a certain charm.

once steve is well enough to go home, wayne all but insists that steve comes home with him and eddie. wayne tells steve he has a permanent home with him, that they're family. for once in his life, steve let's himself be loved and taken care of by an adult. wayne is everything his parents could never be.

wayne's heard all about steve's parents, noted that they never showed up to see their son and wayne doesn't want steve rotting alone in his big house. wayne always had a habit of picking up strays after all.

the problem with the situation is, of course, that eddie doesn't like steve. in fact, he absolutely cannot stand him and does not understand why his uncle is suddenly so close with him.

he steadfastly believes in his munson doctrine and has no plans to reevaluate. steve is a douchebag jock. in his mind, there's no way he has actually changed into this funny, dorky man who hangs out with his uncle for fun and drives around the younger teens just because he likes them.

he can't actually be best friends with band nerd robin buckley or close to his ex and her boyfriend. he can't be the man who put his body in front of someone else's. he can't be the man who smiles softly at eddie while he makes his snarky comments and refuses to budge and inch on his dislike.

steve harrington who helps his uncle plant a garden and build his chicken coop. who cooks and bakes far better than some rich kid should be able to. who asks about his band and hellfire and his books. who is far funnier than he has any right to be.

so, eddie is all snarky comments and rolled eyes every time he comes home to wayne and steve watching a game together. he is so jealous and can't say anything since wayne adores the guy...and since steve almost died.

he pretends that all the things he's learning about him must be a trick or a lie. steve can't be this person who fits so seamlessly into his life. even the other members of his band warm up to him

eddie will not budge. nope. never.

wayne knows his nephew. knows that eddie would like steve if he just gave him a chance. watches the way his nephew watches steve and waits for the day the eddie realizes what he thinks is loathing is a lot closer to something else. he loves the boy, but knows what a stubborn ass he can be.

steve likes eddie immediately and thinks he's adorable. he thinks eddie is cute when he's annoyed, enjoys the way he huffs and rolls his eyes. he is content to wait for eddie to catch up. he and wayne gossip over coffee and the subject has come up a time or two (or many) and wayne insists that eddie will figure it out eventually.

imagine a world where eddie never gets involved with the upside down but wayne does. even in this world he and steve are inevitable. wayne sees it the minute he watches them interact the first time in the hospital. he has a feeling they'd have found their way to each other somehow. he knows steve was meant to be apart of their family.

[lizard-ratt]

There's a very specific corner of the Kas! Eddie AU that I love so much (as a Steddie shipper) and that's Kas! Eddie just grabbing Steve and flying off with him.

Like the group show up in the Upside Down for one reason or another, or maybe Kas! Eddie shows up in the Rightside Up through one of the giant cracks in the Crust of the Earth, and everyone is shocked frozen, because it's Eddie, he's there, but he's wrong. He has wings and claws and fangs and he's on the offensive against them.

Dustin tries to get to him, to talk to Eddie, but it appears to do nothing. It's almost like he doesn't speak English anymore. He's feral, almost. He scans the group and his gaze lands on Steve, and something flashes in his eyes. A sort of recognition, maybe. He dives in, faster than anyone can really process, grabs Steve, and flies off.

Everyone panics, of course, they panic. Now the Upside Down, Vecna, has Steve and they don't know why. Eddie- Kas- has air superiority and speed on his side, and they have a job to do. Dustin and Robin and freaking out the most, because that's their guy! Like, everyone cares about Steve to some degree, but that's Robin and Dustin's Guy!

The killer is their imagination. The possibilities of what could be happening to Steve, that they couldn't see. Was he dead? Was he being tortured? Being turned into something like Kas? As time goes on, their imagination spirals further and further, and they're pretty powerless to do much about it right at that moment.

Bonus points if it switches back and forth between Steve's perspective and everyone else's perspective. Where Steve registers as an ally to Kas, because he has a smaller dose of the venom that turned Eddie, through the bat bites. So Eddie, a pack creature at heart, takes Steve into his nest and he just lays on top of the guy like an oversized cat and starts a category five purring event.

Through the power of love, friendship, and this bat that Steve found, Steve is able to wake up the Eddie part of Kas and get him to work on the side of Humanity against Vecna.

And they kiss about it.

[lihhelsing]

Eddie and Steve who dated for a while but broke up over the most dumb shit. Neither of them wants to admit they were wrong so they just go on like that.

After 6 months, Dustin starts texting Eddie at least once a week asking if he and Steve are back together already.

At first, Eddie laughs it off. The kid went through an adaptation process when he first learned the two of them were together so it's expected that he needs a minute to wrap his head around their break up.

In the first month, everyone thought they would get back together.

And then it just didn't happen.

Dustin would text the most random things.

"Steve's getting us tacos. Does that mean you're back together?"

"Steve's watching Star Wars. I'm sure you're back together."

"Steve bought a new vinyl player. Did you two made up?"

At first, Eddie would just laugh and say no. But the texts went from once a week to every other day. Sometimes it was just like "when are you two getting back together?" and it broke Eddie's heart a little.

Things changed when Dustin sent a photo of Steve sleeping in one of Eddie's shirt.

He texted Steve the next day, asking if they could talk.

Eddie apologized. Said he couldn't live without him. He missed him too much. And Steve apologized too.

They kissed, fell into bed together and never looked back.

A few weeks in, they were all at Steve's place. Eddie was doing a DnD one shot for the kids and Steve was there just because he couldn't stand being apart from Eddie for too long.

Sometimes Eddie would even let him sit on his lap during the session, which always earned a few eye rolls from the kids.

But he didn't care. What mattered is that he had his baby with him again.

Everyone was getting ready to play, Steve was setting up the snacks table when Eddie spoke.

"Kinda miss when you texted me every day, Henderson."

Dustin looked up at him with a confused expression.

"What?"

Eddie smiled. "I know you got what you wanted. I just think we could text more often still."

Dustin shook his head, laughing. "Sure man, whatever. I don't think I texted you outside of our gc in over a year but I can do that if you want."

Now it was Eddie's turn to be confused.

"What?"

But Dustin was already engaged in another conversation and it was only when he looked at Steve that he understood.

Steve was looking at him wide eyed, hands froze mid-air. Eddie frowned at him, a silent conversation and Steve just shrugged, laughing it off.

Damn. Had he been tricked by Steve Harrington into getting back together with Steve Harrington?

[hello-sweetheart]

Neat Freak

Steve’s parents don’t make him keep the house spotless. He really is just that clean and when Nancy tries to tell people there like “lol, sure” but she knows.

He’s a neat freak.

When she would stay over she would change into her pjs and make a small bundle of her day clothes on his desk chair, and steve would just. Fold them. Before getting in bed with her.

Doesn’t take long after for the others to realize it.

Robin thought it was just a guy thing, caring that much about their car. Scolding her for kicking her socked feet up on the dash, and leaving crumbs of toast when she had breakfast to go.

But then she visits his house the first time and Robin has never been good at using a coaster, too scatter brained to pay attention where she sets her drink down each time.

Steve, though? Without missing a beat he will move her glass to the coaster. Every time. Doesn’t even break his strike or pauses his conversation it’s just muscle memory by now.

The kids have had their will broken and no longer put up a fight.

Without being told to anymore, they toe off their shoes and hang their coat by the doorway. They don’t even do that in their own home. How Steve was able to get those wild animals house broken? No body knows.

His mom didn’t actually choose his room decor. It looks a bit barren but Steve likes it that way. It looks clean, easier to do so, too. Everything has its place tucked away from sight so it’s not an eye sore.

Even his plaid wallpaper and curtains he chose for himself. He spent all day finding the curtains that matched the closest and he was really proud of himself when found some.

“Steve, buddy, this looks mental.”

“But look,” (closest the curtains to show that even the pattern lines up seemlessly) “you almost can’t even see the difference between the wall and fabric. It’s like magic! It’s cool!” >:(

He’s very meticulous about his appearance. Dustin is absolutely flabbergasted when he sees his full hair routine for himself. Everything must be done a certain way in a certain order every time. It’s routine.

“Three puffs of the Farah Fawcett! THREE!”

“I DID THREE.”

“YEAH, BUT YOU DID THEM WRONG.”

When they discontinue it, Steve has a mini breakdown. He doesn’t like that his very specific and set routine has been broken. He’s convinced he’ll never find a hair spray to replace it. Everybody stocks up on cans of it to try and lower his anxiety.

He just loves cleaning, okay?

Ironing his kakis and polos until there are no wrinkles is so satisfying. Glass without finger smudges is so nice. His closet being organized by color is so efficient. When he’s worried, anxious, or angry he likes to keep his hands busy and it just calms him down going ham on a water stain in the bathroom.

When he hangs out at Eddie’s, he mindlessly starts picking things up here and there. It’s like heaven for him. He sees a mess and just wants to go to town. Eddie doesn’t mind as long as he knows where everything is in the end. He’ll admit that having his music organized alphabetically is pretty convenient.

It’s also a little funny to watch Steve iron his ripped jeans and battle jacket with an iron he brought from home.

“You’re a freak, Harrington.” Eddie has a shit eating grin. Steve flips him off.

“Fuck off.”