#Robin goes off on a tangent | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

brbsoulnomming · 1 year ago

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Tell Me Sweet Little Lies Part 18

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Fortunately, Eddie doesn't actually have to participate much once he and Robin make it back to the living room. The best seating seems to be reserved for the injured and injured adjacent, since Max is already sitting between Lucas and El on one of the couches, with Dustin and Steve on the other. Steve scoots over, leaving the middle cushion open for Eddie to claim, and Robin comes to sit on the armrest of the couch by Steve. He drapes his arm over her thigh, and she checks his shoulder with her hip, shooting him a little smile.

He watches them for a moment, attempting to be an adult and sort out what he's feeling about it now that he knows Steve and Robin are soulmates, but after a few moments he concedes that's going to take longer to process than he's got right now.

Everyone else is scattered around the room in various seating - Will and Mike squished together in the armchair right by Max, Lucas, and El's couch, Erica curled up in the second armchair, Nancy, Jonathan, and Argyle occupying what looks like chairs dragged in from the dining room.

Conversation goes around in circles. There isn't an active threat forcing them into a quick decision, which apparently means they interrupt each other and veer off on tangents and attempt to solve at least four problems at once.

Eddie's a little too floaty from the pain meds - and a little too occupied with Steve's thigh pressed up right against his own - to join, but it's nice, listening to them. It reminds him he's not alone.

They talk about what to do with Vecna - nothing, for the moment, just continue to let El rest and rebuild her powers, with El and Will keeping an eye on Upside Down things; what to do about the gates still open in Hawkins - regular patrols, no one goes out alone and everyone brings a weapon and their walkie with them at all times; what to do with Hopper, who has apparently been alive this whole time and was being held in a Russian prison after being captured at Starcourt - which, sure, of course, it's not like that's the craziest thing that's happened this week. Some guy named Murray is working with his contacts and they're going to spin a story to present to the Hawkins PD.

Eddie watches Steve out of the corner of his eye when he feels him go tense at that one, sees him shift his hand on Robin's leg so it's palm up. She immediately takes it, lacing their fingers together and giving his hand a squeeze. He debates with himself for only a moment before he lets his own hand rest on Steve's knee, squeezing it lightly as well.

Both Robin and Steve turn to him, smiling at him in a way that makes warmth bloom beneath his ribs - Steve with surprised affection, and Robin with a pleased little knowing. He ducks his head and pretends to be really focused on what the group is arguing about.

At some point, the conversation shifts to what they're going to do about Eddie's situation, and, unfortunately, then he really does have to focus.

He doesn't really want to. They don't really seem to have a lot of ideas other than to get Hopper reinstated at Hawkins PD, to work with Murray to come up with a story to pin everything on Henry Creel, carrying on in his father's footsteps.

It just makes him tired.

"This is a lot of talking for what's essentially wait until everyone's back up to full strength and then we can figure out the details," he says after a while.

Steve snorts next to him. "It's not like Eddie's going anywhere," he tells the others. "He's safe here until we figure it out."

Some part of Eddie - the Eddie he was before all this, who didn't need anyone and was convinced Steve Harrington was a jackass - kind of wants to bitch about being under house arrest at the Harrington palace.

But, well. That part is a fading ember compared to the rest of him that wants to grab onto that and take it as an excuse to make himself at home in Steve's life and never leave. The rest of him wants everyone to just get the hell out already, so he can stop trying to pretend he isn't pants shittingly nervous about finally telling Steve he thinks they're soulmates.

Platonic soulmates, he reminds himself.

It takes forever.

Everyone stays for dinner, and Eddie really wants to be pleased about that, to bask in the sounds of so much life, of bickering and teasing and shouting and a fierce, aching love that's woven into every word spoken and every one left unspoken, into every gesture and laugh and shout. To bask in the way that it includes him, how easily he's been folded into it all, how it makes him itchy and content all at once. To bask in the way it makes Steve come alive, golden and vibrant and looking like he's never been happier.

It's just that it also makes him even more antsy about confirming once and for all if Steve is his soulmate, and every time he sees him light up or look so goddamn fond beneath a bitchy expression, he kind of wants to bite him. Or, barring that, get his hands on him, run his fingers over the words etched on Steve's skin to see if it's really true, what he's heard about. If it really does feel like nothing else when your soulmate finally touches the words they've marked you with forever.

Robin keeps shooting these little looks at him, which doesn't help at all, especially because he catches Steve looking back and forth between them with a little scrunch to his forehead - that only gets deeper every time Steve meets Robin's eyes and she just looks back at him, wide eyed and innocent.

She does loudly mention her curfew multiple times, though, and that she's sure Eddie is exhausted after being subjected to them all day, which is worth the protesting shouts she gets from his Hellfire trio.

When they finally all leave, well. Eddie is kind of exhausted, and he tips his head back to rest on the back of the couch for a moment.

"You want me to carry you upstairs?" Steve asks.

His voice is teasing, but when Eddie cracks open one eye to look at him, he looks sincere.

"Thanks," Eddie grumbles. "But I think I'll try to keep what's left of my dignity."

He does kind of want Steve to carry him up, is the thing, but he definitely doesn't want to admit it. Or to deal with it while he's still trying to figure out how the hell he wants to do this.

Steve looks like he wants to say something scathing about Eddie's dignity, but he holds himself back, and offers out a hand to help him up instead.

"Yeah, yeah," Eddie grumbles, deciding to respond to whatever Steve thought of anyway, just to show him that nope, he can't get away with that.

He does take his hand, though, and leans on him as they walk up the stairs. He counts each step as they go, telling himself over and over that okay, he needs to get this sorted out before they reach the halfway point - before they reach the top - before they make it halfway down the hall - at least before they get to Steve's room, come on -

Eddie plops down onto Steve's bed, silently cursing himself as he accepts the bottle of meds Steve offers him, downs two and hands it back.

"So," Eddie says, because he's an idiot. "You and Robin, huh?"

Steve's brow furrows in confusion, which - yeah, fuck, of course it does, because Eddie literally announced that out of no where, and he focuses on that and not on how cute Steve looks.

"She told me this morning," he clarifies. "About the whole two soulmate thing."

His expression clears up, goes all warm and fond even as he rolls his eyes. "That's what all those looks were about, I knew it was something."

When he looks back at Eddie, his expression is a little more closed, eyes a little wary. "Yeah. She and I are soulmates, and we've both got another one we haven't found yet."

Eddie nods, hoping he's accurately conveying just how cool he is with this. In the grand scheme of things, his maybe soulmate having another soulmate is a whole hell of a lot more normal than everything else that's happened in his life recently. "The same one, you think?"

That gets a small smile. "Nah, we've compared." Steve picks at the label on the bottle of pills, not looking at him. "You don't think it's weird? Or I'm - just greedy, or something?"

He flinches, just a little, because if he's being honest - yeah, if he'd found out a year ago, hell even a few months ago, that Steve Harrington had two soulmates, he probably would have rolled his eyes and called him greedy. Little rich boy taking more than his share, Mr. Popular Jackass who of course has two people destined to fall over him. He thinks back to what his uncle had said to him, before high school, and feels shame curl at the bottom of his gut.

"I think," Eddie says after a long moment, because he's still an idiot, but he doesn't want to run anymore, he doesn't. "That I'm your other one. Your - uh, platonic. You and me, platonic soulmates."

Steve looks - all right, Eddie can't actually figure out how he looks.

"I think I like weird," he continues, because he doesn't know how to shut up. "I think you're so, so different from everything I thought you were, and I'm still a little pissed off about that, man, the Munson Doctrine was sacred and here you are blowing it all up. I think if I had to have a jock for a platonic soulmate, I don't want it to be anyone but you."

Steve's looking up at him with these huge, liquid eyes, now, and Eddie's tongue feels like it's glued to his mouth, and then -

"I didn't miss you before I even met you," Steve says, and Eddie feels the quick prickle of heat around his ankle, and -

"Holy shit," he says, laughing because he doesn't know what else to do with all the feeling bubbling up inside of him, because -

Because Steve'd told him that Nancy was the only person that he'd ever wanted to be his soulmate so bad that he wanted to test it, and it - it's not the same, it's not, and when he comes down from the high of having found his soulmate he's going to realize how fucked he is if he doesn't get over this crush on him, but -

"I didn't think about my soulmate all that often," he says, just so Steve can have the same feeling he does, and then he ducks his head a little, hand tugging his hair in front of his mouth. "Yeah? You wanted it to be me, too?"

Steve quirks a little smile. "Yeah. I really did."

Eddie groans. "Jesus, Steve, you can't just say stuff like that to me."

Steve's smile grows. "Too bad. I'm going to say stuff like that all the time, you're going to have to learn to take it."

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck don't think about that, nope, don't think about Steve - his soulmate Steve - telling him how much he wants him and showing Eddie how to take it and - Eddie laughs, feeling it bubble up through his chest, a little bit giddy and a little bit hysterical.

Before he knows it, Steve's huffing out a little laugh, too. "I knew you lied in there with Mike, man, I could feel it. I just couldn't drop my pants in the middle of the living room to check what it was, but when I did, you were going to be so busted."

"I mean, you could have. There were a few people in there who probably would've appreciated the view," Eddie teases. "You might've scarred Mike for life, though."

Steve's lip curls into a grimace, and then they're both giggling again.

"Thanks for being brave," Steve tells him quietly when they've managed to put a lid on their laughing.

Eddie twitches, barely resisting the urge to twist to check to see if he's got a new lie on him. It's just - Eddie hasn't been brave. The one time he did decide to be brave, he nearly died, and people keep yelling or almost crying at him about it, so he's pretty sure they think that was more stupid than brave. "For being what now?"

"For being brave about this," Steve says. "I've kind of wondered if it might be you for a while, just kept telling myself it wasn't the right time to ask."

Oh. All right, yeah, he did beat Steve to it, didn't he? He grins at him. "So when did you first start wanting it to be me, huh?"

Steve rolls his eyes, and for a few moments Eddie thinks he's not going to answer, but then he says, "In the woods, when we were trying to find the gate. After you tried to make Lucas feel better, got him and Dustin distracted."

That - Eddie wasn't expecting that, even though part of him thinks yeah, it would be about the kids. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, I suspected earlier. There wasn't a lot that could give you away, but what you said about jocks being violent monarchs - some of your table speeches had similar phrasing."

Fuck.

It's - he'd known, that he and his soulmate would have to talk about why they stopped talking. Known that he and Steve would have to talk about it. He'd just kind of hoped it was another one of those things he could add to his pile of later.

"Steve," he says softly, but he can't think of what to say to continue, and it just hangs heavily between them.

"I know," Steve says after a moment. "I figured that was why you stopped talking to me. That you realized I was one of the kind of people you hated."

He wants to tell Steve that he wasn't, but he's too worried it'll be a lie. Steve was the kind of person that Eddie used to hate - not really because of anything Steve had done, but because of what Eddie assumed about him, because it was easier to believe all the popular kids were the same than maybe some of them were different.

"You aren't," he says instead. "The guy I was talking about - he graduated the year before you - you're nothing like him. You weren't even back when we were in high school. You weren't a bully, man, just kind of a bitch. I was the one who didn't care about the difference."

Steve considers that for a moment. Then, "I'm still kind of a bitch."

Eddie lets out a bark of startled laughter, hand coming up to press against his abdomen. "Fuck, dude, don't be funny, it pulls at my stitches."

Steve grins at him, entirely unapologetic.

Eddie almost hates to ruin it, but - shit, he has to know, and he lets out a slow exhale. "That why you stopped talking to me, because you knew I didn't want you to?"

Steve's grin fades, but he looks like he'd kind of been expecting that question. "That was part of it. But also, I was mad at you," he admits. "Everyone always had these expectations of who I was and who they wanted me to be, and when I saw you talking about jocks and popular kids like they were the enemy, I realized you had them, too. I knew I wasn't going to live up to yours."

"Fuck my expectations, you're better than anything I could have dreamed of." Eddie - hadn't meant to say that, and he spends a quick moment freaking out a little in the back of his mind, because that didn't sound platonic at all.

Steve doesn't seem to think anything of it, though, just gives him a pleased little smile, ducking his head like he thinks it's going to hide how his ears have gone pink.

"It's not like your expectations were that unreasonable, lumping everyone together aside," Steve says. "I could have taken a step back and wondered why it pissed me off that you expected me not to be a violent jackass, but I was too busy getting wrapped up in all that popularity shit. I'm sorry for that."

There's a pause, then, "I'm not sorry for being a jock, though. I like sports, that's not going to change."

"I don't want it to change," Eddie says, but it comes out more like a promise. "You already did a hell of a lot of changing, man."

Steve gives him a little crooked smile. "I guess a good thump on the head will do that to you."

Eddie grimaces. "Upside Down shit?"

"Nah, just Nancy and Jonathan, actually. When Jonathan and I had that fight in the alley, I - I was angry, and hurt, and I wanted to make him hurt. It comes easy, you know, knowing what to say to hurt someone the most. How to be cruel."

The other side of being good with people, yeah, Eddie knows that. He'd never been on the receiving end of it, but he'd heard the gossip about what happened when Steve Harrington got pissed. It's what he meant when he said Steve was a bitch.

"Later, I was sitting with Tommy and Carol, listening to them talk about jumping him as soon as he was released from the station and I just kept thinking - I sounded exactly like my dad in that alley. That's the kind of people that Tommy and Carol were, and that's who I was going to be if I stuck with them."

"But you didn't," Eddie says.

"But I didn't," Steve agrees, giving a little shrug.

Eddie's quiet, in case Steve wants to say more, but it seems like he's done talking about that, because after a few moments he gives Eddie a little smile.

"So I, uh. I told you mine, you gotta tell me yours now. When did you change your mind and decide you wanted it to be me?"

"Oh, uh. Same as you, actually. I didn't admit it until after the first time in the Upside Down, but when we were in the woods, and you looked at me like I was doing something good, and I - yeah." Eddie's pretty sure he's a little flushed, now, and he looks away.

Steve just gives a little hum, and Eddie looks back at him, eyes narrowed, but he can't quite make out his expression. Eddie barrels on past all that, then, not giving him time to do - whatever that face he's making is a sign of.

"I wondered way earlier, though," he adds. "I kept getting stuff about not being all that hurt and not wanting to go to the hospital, and then you'd show up all beat up. Which, by the way, I was really mad at you for, you kept scaring the shit out of me."

"Sorry," Steve says, and he does look reasonably apologetic. "At least I went to the hospital this time?"

Eddie raises one eyebrow, assuming the withering look he gives him is enough to tell him exactly what he thinks about that. "How about you stop needing to go to the hospital, huh?"

Steve looks at him, quiet for a long moment. Then, "You're the one who said I'm a paladin."

"And I already regret it." Eddie nudges him with one knee. "Mike's convinced you're a barbarian, anyway."

Steve makes a face, like he's immediately having some regrets of his own. "Mike's in on this now? I'm still not playing with you guys any time soon."

Eddie grins at him. "Any time soon isn't never, man, I-"

He cuts off as he realizes that this is the second time that Steve has said he wasn't playing any time soon, and it prompts him to remember -

"You lied!" he shouts gleefully.

"What?" Steve asks, caught off guard.

"Hang on, gimme - just let me-" Eddie grunts as he tries to pull off his sweatshirt too quickly, ends up twinging his shoulder, and has to do it more slowly.

"There," he says triumphantly. "Left shoulder blade, it says I'm never going to play this thing with you, man, you might as well stop asking."

Steve wrinkles his nose. "How do you know that was about this?"

"Because you're good at adjusting your words to make sure what you're saying isn't technically a lie, and this fits. I'm right, aren't I?"

Steve is looking at him like - well, like Eddie probably looked at Steve when Steve told him that he knew what it meant when Eddie's face shut down. Like he didn't realize Eddie noticed that about him, and Eddie almost lets himself get tripped up on it, but - no, he doesn't want to go there, doesn't want to let them get off track.

Instead, he just waggles his eyebrows at Steve, who groans.

"Okay, okay. I knew after I said it that those kids were going to wear me down sooner or later, I just didn't want them to know that."

Eddie scoots a little closer, until their knees are brushing together. "Have you played yet?"

Steve tips his head back, like he's looking to the heavens for support. "I played. Erica wanted to practice as a DM, so Robin, Dustin, and I played for her first game. And before you ask - yes, I did have a good time, but I don't really think it's something I'd want to do all the time."

Yeah, all right, that's fair enough, and it doesn't really put a damper on Eddie's glee. It means it's pretty likely that he could get Steve to play for a one-shot sometime, maybe even a short campaign.

If he's honest, part of him was a little worried that he might not look at D&D the same way after all of the comparisons to a campaign he was doing, but no, he feels the same excited energy that he has before. It's a relief to know that this wasn't taken from him.

Steve's tipped his head back down and is looking at him, now - or, more accurately, looking at his bare torso, eyes scanning a clear line from his neck and shoulders down to his waist, and back up again. Eddie's mouth goes dry, and abruptly he feels - self conscious? Hesitant? Some kind of nervous energy, which is stupid, because it's not like Steve Harrington would - but shit, Eddie knows the way Steve looked at him after washing his hair, he doesn't think he was so out of it that he could conjure that out of nowhere -

"Let me get the first aid kit," Steve says, pushing himself up.

And right, yeah, the first aid kit. For the bandages that Eddie almost forgot he was wearing, which is a far more likely reason that Steve was staring at his bare chest, except - well. Except there'd been a hunger in Steve's eyes, and Eddie doesn't think it's just because the guy was so damn eager to change out his bandages.

He drops it, though, reminds himself platonic over and over again until Steve comes back with his massive first aid kit.

Steve strips off his own sweater before he sits back down on the bed, and Eddie doesn't bother to try not to look. Now he doesn't have to feel bad about letting his gaze sweep over every bit of that perfect, hairy chest, eagerly reading any bit of writing he can see, and - wait.

"Can I?" Eddie asks, making grabby hands at him.

Steve looks down at himself, sees where Eddie had been staring - at I love it when coffee is so weak you can barely taste it just below his collarbone - and huffs out a little laugh. "Yeah, sure."

Eddie reaches out, just barely brushing over the words with his fingertips, and Steve sucks in a harsh breath.

"Bad?" Eddie asks, going still.

"No," Steve says. "Just different."

He's going to take that as permission to continue, so he keeps going, rubbing his thumb over If I could have a whole swarm of silverfish in my room, I'd be so happy on Steve's side. Steve shivers, and Eddie reminds himself - platonic.

"Here, let me-" Steve reaches down, carefully peeling off the bandages from around his stomach.

His demobat bites look a lot better than the last time Eddie saw them - less open and weeping, more stitched and healing, which makes Eddie give a soft sigh of relief.

There's ink leading up to one of the bites, looking like it got cut off, and Eddie leans in a little to see it better.

For your mo, it says, and Eddie barks out a laugh.

"For your modesty, dude," he says, lightly touching it with one fingertip. "It caught me. It was for my own sanity, I knew I was going to keep trying to see your writing."

Steve huffs out a little laugh. "I didn't even feel it."

"The gaping stomach wound probably edged it out a little," Eddie teases. "You feel it now?"

Steve's gaze catches and locks on his. "Yeah."

Eddie swallows. "You said it was different?"

Steve hums an affirmative. "From Robin's. It feels different when she touches her words."

Right.

Of course it does.

"How does hers feel?" he asks. He half fears it'll come out jealous, but - no, it just sounds curious, and he realizes that's mostly what he feels.

Curiosity, not jealousy.

"It's changed, but at first it was… fizzy," Steve says. "Like butterflies in your stomach, or drinking a beer too fast. Now it's like - holding hands in the rain, or the first drink of hot apple cider when it's cold. Like coming home."

Huh.

"Poetic," he says, half teasing and half sincere. "What does mine feel like?"

Steve considers that for a moment. "Electric," he decides. "Like static shock, or the moment before a first kiss. Or a metal guitar solo in the Upside Down," he adds slyly, then reaches out for him. "Can I…?"

"Yeah, uh, go ahead."

Steve's eyes scan over him again, like he's looking for something, and Eddie's gaze drops down automatically to his own torso. Which - is covered in gauze and medical tape, and at this point he's pretty sure there's more bandage showing than skin.

"Not a lot of real estate left, though," he says.

It comes out shakier than he'd meant it to, and he sucks in a ragged breath. If at least one of his lies on Steve had gotten cut off, he knows that means a decent number of the words on his own skin are gone.

Fuck.

He hasn't really looked at himself, but now he wonders which ones it is, what words he'll never see again. If it's the ones that he read over and over again, that made him smile so wide when he was fourteen, the ones that made him so fucking angry, the ones that scared the shit out of him. It shouldn't matter, he tells himself, because they aren't meant to have this many words between them anyway. It's supposed to mean there's something wrong with them, that there's too many lies to make things work, but - it's different, it means something else.

It's always meant something else, to Eddie.

"Hey," Steve's saying softly. "Eddie, hey, look at me."

Eddie nods, already preparing to hear Steve tell him that it's okay, that it's better this way, that less words are a good thing, and then looks up.

"I'm not taking my rain check now."

There's a sting somewhere on his lower back, and Eddie blinks at him.

"What?" he asks.

"My rain check," Steve repeats, like it's supposed to make more sense a second time. "To tell you the things I like about you. I'm not taking it right now."

Eddie's mouth goes dry, and he feels like he can't do anything but stare at him.

"I don't think you have a good heart," Steve says.

Lie, blooming over his spine.

"I don't think you're clever. I don't find you funny. I don't think you're really good with the kids. I don't think you're brave."

Each one of them a lie, writing themselves on Eddie's skin forever, and every one of them steals more and more of Eddie's breath. Fuck, if he keeps going, Eddie's going to kiss him, going to ruin this right after he found it.

"Steve," Eddie says, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I'm not proud of you."

"Touch me," Eddie blurts out, sounding a little strangled.

Steve's brows furrow, pupils blown wide as he looks at him.

Eddie forcibly wrangles his thoughts back into some semblance of order. "Didn't you want to…?" he trails off, gesturing at his own torso, jerking a thumb at his shoulder where he knows at least some writing is visible.

"Oh!" Steve swallows, looking like now he's the one who has to get his thoughts back in order. "Yeah, yeah I did."

He reaches out determinedly before Eddie can try to think too much into that, resting his palm flat on Eddie's chest for a moment - right over his heart, and Eddie wonders if he can feel how quickly it's beating, if he - then it slides up, smoothing over where some of his words peek out from under the bandages.

Fuck.

Despite Steve's halting poetry about how his soulmate touches felt, Eddie wasn't prepared for this. It feels like -

It feels like Steve's fingers running through his hair, blunt nails scratching over his scalp, little goosebumps shuddering over his skin. Like hot water washing everything away, strong hands cradling his head in their grip.

"Oh," he breathes out, not really meaning to, but his entire brain has just shut off.

"Yeah?" Steve asks, sounding pleased, and his hand sweeps up, stroking over any bit of soulmate ink he can find. "What's it feel like?"

"Like a hot shower after a week in the Upside Down," Eddie tells him, because that's true, and easier than admitting it feels like when Steve washed his hair for him.

Steve huffs out a little laugh. "Pretty damn good, then," he teases, then pulls his hand away. "Speaking of showers - we should both probably take one before we change these bandages. You want help with yours?"

Yes, fuck yes, he really does.

And yet -

"Nah," he says, and it's not a lie. He knows there's no way he can handle being in the shower with Steve after all this. "I can stand long enough now, I should be good."

If Eddie didn't know any better, he'd think there was a brief flash of disappointment in Steve's eyes. But he doesn't say anything, just helps him remove his bandages, gets out a clean set of clothes for him and gets the shower going.

"I'll be right outside, just yell if you need anything," Steve says before he steps out of the bathroom and leaves the door open a crack.

Eddie takes a few deep breaths before he looks at himself in the mirror. It's… not as bad as he was expecting, really. He'll have scars over his stomach, scattered across his chest, curving up to his neck, but it's no where near as bad as it could have been if the bats had been able to go at him even just a little longer.

He's lucky, in more ways than one.

The shower goes - fine. He manages. He can't really wash his hair, but he gets the rest of him okay, gets to look at Steve's shower products and grin a little at his shampoo and conditioner - Faberge Organics, with honey and wheat germ oil. When he's finished, he even manages to mostly towel off and get dressed, forgoing the shirt for the moment.

He pokes through the first aid kit while he waits for Steve to take his turn in the bathroom, not entirely surprised at how well stocked it is, considering everything.

When Steve's finished, Eddie insists on bandaging him up first, carefully wrapping them around his stomach and trying not to think about Nancy doing this for him in the Upside Down, or what he'd thought it might mean then, or what it means that Eddie's doing it for him now.

It means they're soulmates, and Steve trusts him. When it comes down to it, that's all that really matters.

When he's finished, Steve twists a little so Eddie can spread some ointment over his shoulders and back, hissing in sympathy at the healing skin there.

Steve slips on a short sleeved t-shirt, then returns the favor.

His hands brush over the words on Eddie's skin often enough that he's reasonably sure it's purposeful, especially because they linger on the ones that Steve'd just put on him.

Eddie huffs out a little laugh, more to diffuse the way the feeling keeps bubbling up inside him than anything else. "This a thing for you?" he teases.

To his surprise, Steve's ears go a little pink. "I mean, kind of? It's - nice. I know everyone says that having so many lies is bad, and it's supposed to mean more when you only have a few to touch like this, but…"

He trails off, but he looks like he wants to say more, so Eddie stays quiet as Steve finishes bandaging him up.

"Did you know you can get them removed?" Steve asks after he's done.

There's a surge of panic, and Steve must see it in his eyes, because Steve's own eyes widen.

"Shit, I'm sorry, that - wow, that was really bad timing, I can't believe I just said that when you-" he cuts off, gesturing at Eddie's torso. "I don't want to remove ours, I'd never remove them."

The panic fades, a little, though he still has to resist the urge to cup his hand over his own side, where some of his words are missing.

"I'm okay," he says after a moment. "You can keep going."

Steve frowns, looking uncertain.

"Please," Eddie adds. "I like it when you talk to me like this."

And that's the right thing to say, because it makes Steve light up a little.

"Okay," he says. "Just - let me know if it's too much, okay?"

Eddie nods.

"My parents never had any visible words, no matter what they wore," Steve continues after a moment. "It was a point of pride."

Of course it was. It usually is - that's not something exclusive to the rich. The fewer lies you have, the better your match is, everyone is supposed to want that.

"They always told me to be careful what I said, that my match was going to be someone like them, someone who didn't have lies between them. Said I would be messing up her life if I told too many lies and she had to have a visible mark. I believed them."

"What changed?" Eddie asks, before he can help himself.

Steve gives him a crooked little smile. "When I was like eleven or twelve, my mom got a few on her arm, where she'd have to wear long sleeves to hide them. Never knew what they said, but I saw them. I was… I don't know, shocked, I guess. I couldn't believe what happened. She wore long sleeves for a couple of days, and the next time I saw her arm, they were gone. I asked her what happened, and she just - looked at me, and told me it was nothing to worry about. 'The Harringtons aren't liars, sweetheart, those were a mistake.'"

Jesus Christ.

"I didn't really know what to think at first. But then I heard her and my dad fighting. She was yelling at him about the money she just wasted getting his little mistakes corrected." Steve's face mimics a cold expression, then, a haughty sneer at his lips as he says, "'What good is all that Harrington charm if you can't even get your little bimbos into bed with you without lying? The next time I see any words, that's the end of your trips alone.'"

He deflates, rubbing absently at the back of his neck. "It was like - the cheating wasn't even worth fighting about anymore, but the lying? That's when I started realizing that it was all about appearances with them."

Eddie's quiet for a long moment, fitting all of that into what he knows about Steve - and what he tried to figure out about his soulmate, all those years ago. "She was the one you lied to about being able to handle it by yourself."

That little crooked smile is back. "Yeah, after she started going with my dad on his business trips. I figured out how to handle it eventually. You, uh. You really helped a lot, you know, when you started talking to me. Made me feel like I wasn't alone."

Fuck if that doesnt make him feel all warm and pleased, knowing that Steve had gotten something out of it like Eddie did, even if it had gone sour for a while.

"My uncle helped me talk to you most of the time," Eddie admits. "I think he knew that it was probably going to go south at some point, but he wanted me to figure that out on my own, you know?"

Steve smiles. "Your uncle sounds like a good guy."

"He is," Eddie replies, trying to push past the twisting in his gut at the reminder that Uncle Wayne is out there with no idea what's happened to him right now. "Course, he also called us little jackasses with no impulse control."

That makes Steve laugh. "He was probably right," he says, eyes gleaming with mirth. "Anyway, I, yeah. It's how I figured out I had two soulmates, because Rob got freaked out at all the words appearing on her skin at first. It wasn't until we actually met that we figured out how we both really feel about them."

Eddie's breath catches, mouth going dry. He licks his lips, trying to work up enough saliva to speak. "How's that?"

Steve's quiet for a bit, brows scrunched just a little like he's trying to figure out how to put it into words. "They're a lifeline," he decides finally.

And what the fuck is Eddie supposed to do with that?

"So I just, yeah, it's kind of a thing for me." Steve runs his thumb over a scattering of ink on Eddie's sternum. "I get it."

Nope, no, Eddie is not equipped to handle this right now, not prepared to deal with the shuddering feeling that rocks into him with Steve's touch to some of his words at the same time that Steve just validated every feeling he's ever had about having so many lies splattered across his skin.

He sucks in a ragged breath, and just barely manages to get out, "Thanks. For, uh." Eddie clumsily jerks a hand at himself, vaguely in the direction of one of the lies that Steve had just said tonight.

"Yeah," Steve says, and fortunately for Eddie's everything, that's it.

Admittedly, Steve looks pretty drained, too, and Eddie gets the feeling that he's not the only one feeling wiped from this much emotional honesty.

With his soulmate.

He kind of thinks that exhaustion or not, there might be too much on his brain to sleep quickly tonight, but his brain has also apparently decided it would really rather just not.

It shuts off pretty much the second he's under the covers and flat on his back.

This ended up being the longest part so far, but I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it! We're definitely winding down now - I anticipate probably six or so more parts to this and then it'll be wrapped up.

-----

Part 19

Tag list (always happy to add more!): @vampireinthesun @koibug @estrellami-1 @mentalcyborg @allbimyself26 @questionablequeeries @the-s-is-silent @whimsicalwitchm @a-gae-af-racoon @tinyplanet95 @n0-1-important @velocitytimes2 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @newtstabber @jcmadgirl @roblingoblin285 @lexyvey @paperbackribs @goodolefashionedloverboi @evix-syne666 @raisedbylibrarians @stxrcrossed186 @nightmareglitter @greekgeek24 @starman-jpg @crazyhatlady86 @imfinereallyy @manda-panda-monium @deleataecount @prideandsensibility @chaoticvictorianspirit @maydillydally @disrespectedgoatman @scarlet-malfoy @i-less-than-three-you @hbyrde36 @hallucinatedjosten @dragonsandgayships @arepaconchocolate @g4ys0n @novelnovella @bisexualdisastersworld @ghostofyourvampiregf @scarletyeager @pettrichore @nerd-and-nervous @hiimlevi @queenie-ofthe-void @cinnamon-mushroomabomination

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #steddie fic #steddie soulmate au #platonic soulmates stobin #soulmate confession #they talked about so many things and yet #mention of steve's less than stellar parents

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eddywoww · 2 years ago

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Eddie Munson is the defacto leader of a coed theater fraternity at his Uni. They’re a close knit bunch who have each others back at all times, even if the rest of their school might see them as a joke.

The only problem is that their meetings are historically usurped by the Alpha Phi frat house who happen to be placed right next to the classroom that they are forced to squeeze their meetings into. Do they get a frat house? No, of course not. It doesn’t help that Eddie has actual beef with the frats vice president, some floppy haired idiot he refuses to learn the name of (Steve Harrington) because he’s stolen Eddie’s parking space like five times since the semester began and he keeps stopping by their class, seemingly looking for Eddie (who definitely doesn’t dip out to hide every time, he’s not about to fight some sports scholarship kid)

It doesn’t help that the animosity between the two groups isn’t new. It doesn’t help that they’ve been fucking with each other years before Eddie even arrived at the Uni. It’s kind of a time honored tradition to try and get under each others skin.

So when Benny the Octopus goes missing one day, naturally, Eddie freaks the fuck out. That’s their octopus made of welded together scrap metal, thank you very much and he’s been in the theater for over a decade. They protect Benny, they love Benny. How did the frat even get their hands on him? And if you, like Robin, are bothering to ask “Why would you assume it was them, Eddie?” Then you can actually just shut the fuck up because it was definitely 100% them.

This entire ordeal leads to Eddie taking one for the team, obviously. Which further leads to Eddie sacrificing himself in the name of Benny to climb the short distance up the back of Alpha Sigmas stupid little frat house and into their second floor bathroom because it’s the only point of entry that Eddie can truly find that won’t get him automatically tackled to the ground. Could he go to a higher up and solve this problem without breaking and entering? Maybe. But that’s boring.

So he goes on his espionage recovery mission, realizing too late that maybe he isn’t the sneakiest person imaginable as he grapples with vines and barely manages to get solid footing on the ledged roof below him. And then he’s in the bathroom, pulling himself through the window and- right. It doesn’t matter that it’s 2 am. This is a frat house, Eddie. These are frat guys, why would they be asleep?

It’s with a big whopping holy fuck oh no what have I done, that Eddie falls through the window and onto the floor of a steamy, recently used bathroom. Because someone had been showering. Because said someone is standing there with a towel held firmly over his crotch, a deer in headlights expression marking his face as brunette hair drips onto his chest.

And Eddie has no clue what to do because being faced with a naked, let alone wet Steve Harrington is doing things to his brain (and his dick) that he can’t really handle.

And then Steve opens his mouth to blurt out “Whyareyouinmybathroom pleasedonthurtme!” And okay, that’s maybe a little dramatic. Which Eddie tells him, before realizing that he is in fact wearing a ski mask. So like, fair. But then it clicks on Steve’s face and he relaxes fast into a bitchy frown. “You’re that fucking theater kid, aren’t you?”

Which, okay. Eddie wasn’t aware Steve even knew him.

He makes his way off the floor and “I’d offer to shake your hand but uh-“ Steve turns bright red and winds the towel around his waist as quickly as possible. Right. Down to business. “I want Benny back.” Which, as it turns out, Steve feigns like he has no clue who Benny even is. Rude. “Big, metal, kind of looks like shit.”

Steve could not get any redder as Eddie tries to explain himself in a roundabout way, not at all going into a tangent about his distaste for the frat while Steve drips onto the floor. And then-

“I have no clue what you’re talking about and it sounds like you have weird one sided beef because I have never intentionally done anything to upset you.”

And that’s just- that is not true. That’s not true. At all.

“You steal my parking space!”

“They’re not assigned!”

“It’s a respect thing and you keep coming to my meetings, looking for me by name! Which is weird by the way!”

“I wanted your number!”

As soon as Steve blurts it out, he clams right up and Eddie just- he just- “You wanted my number?” Because that’s inconceivable. That doesn’t make sense. “Why didn’t you just ask for it?”

“Because you hide every time I try to find you!” Steve blurted out again, eyes squeezed shut like he was genuinely embarrassed and right. He was naked and maybe had a crush on Eddie? Which was- yeah, Eddie wanted to touch him now. But he wanted to be cautious too. So he made his way closer slowly, trying to give Steve an out. He really was so pretty close up, a fact that Eddie had been trying desperately to deny for so long now.

Eddie reached up and pulled his stupid mask off, staring at Steve as his eyes opened back up, tentative and stressed.

“You could ask me for it now,” Eddie said with a small grin, lips upturned as Steve chewed on his bottom lip. “I might say yes.”

Steve rolled his eyes, reaching up to smack Eddie across the back of his head. Eddie caught his hand and pulled him into an unmasked kiss.

#my fic #blurbs

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freddie-77-ao3 · 5 months ago

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sup yall we're vibing here

anyway. hey, my name's freddie, and i'm finally trying to write an actual intro/master post which... we'll see how this goes.

important stuff is highlighted in orange.

so, basic stuff:

as I said, my name's freddie. he/him pronouns. i'm a college student (majoring in accounting, might add a psych minor). not gonna say which college but i'm currently in california.

i've been on tumblr since 2019 i think? not under this account, this started as a fandom account and then spiralled out of control... really fast. um, my regular tumblr which i've not actually opened in ages is @chronicchthonic14 so. yeah.

not particularly relevant to this blog, but i might mention it at some point so, i have autism and adhd. and some other things but. like. that list is very long and those are the two most relevant because i promise if i come off wrong/mean, i didn't mean to, i just forget to make my words normal. but. those are the two most referenced. if for whatever reason someone wants to know more or has questions you can send an ask ig?

i'm scottish, born there. moved to US when I was four. finishing uni and moving back.

some quick warnings

this blog definitely contains cursing/vulgar language, whatever you want to call it, so if you're not comfortable with that, probably not the blog for you, as i don't tag cursing or anything for you to filter out.

if, for whatever reason, if i ever reblog something that contains a slur (against racial minorities, queer people, anything) i will ABSOLUTELY tag that though.

also if anyone has any trigger warnings they think any content needs, please let me know-- asks, dms, comments, reblogs

the cursing thing also applies for sort of dirty jokes? think that only applies to like. two posts and very not explicit. those aren't currently tagged but if they get any more explicit they certainly will be.

queer identity because the explicit reminded me, i'm asexual, and probably straight. maybe bi? dunno, don't particularly care. and i'm trans. ftm. this isn't the blog i talk about that on usually though, unless it relates to a specific ask or a fandom thing.

which, getting into what this blog is for because i can't think of anything else i need to add here (guys let me know if i forgot important stuff, please, i'm an idiot!!! i will forget the important stuff and write random shit instead!! i've already deleted three tangents from this!!)

sooooo

fandoms!! ones i write and/or post about or will potentially post about

percy jackson extending to hoo, toa, tkc (definitely post way less about this), mcga (again, way less). haven't read TSATS or COTG yet, but spoilers are fine. i post way more about minor characters. write fanfiction for and have some posted (both on here and ao3) and a bunch of snippets.

dcu-- films, comics, animated shows, all of it. personally, my favorites are young justice (the comics, not show version), new teen titans, and batman inc (batgirls, nightwing, and red robin esp). late 90s yj run is my favorite, and i loved the DCeased event. favorite batman comic is definitely court of owls run. no fanfics posted, but some on docs.

mcu-- way less so, but have a stucky oneshot. slowly making my way through in timeline order.

throne of glass. i'm an aedion and chaol apologizer because they do a bunch of dumb shit but then WHO DOESN'T in this series. fanfics in doc, not posted.

this would go on for ages if i listed everything so instead, here's an ask i answered on my fandoms/genres and everything. feel free to send me asks about anyone. if you send me something about radium girls i may cry though (tears of joy) so there's your advanced warning.

main things you'll see on my blog are incorrect quotes, snippets, and the occasional fic

this^^

my... idk, contact policy? seriously what do i word this

asks are always open, anon is on.

if you send hate... whatever. i'll probably delete it.

unless i find it funny. then I'll post it. there's really little you could say to me that would hurt.

when i say asks are always open, you can drop anything you want.

literally anything

you need to vent? want advice? want to request headcanons? request a fic? give me a prompt? ask random things about me? something else I've forgotten? go right ahead

if you want to ask me to update my fics? go right ahead. sometimes i forget i didn't post something.

send as many asks as you want, i don't care if it might be spam

i can't promise i'll respond to asks in a timely manner, sometimes i open my inbox and forget they exist for months, i'm sorry. if it's something you really want answered you can send another one

dm's are alright? if you want to be friends or something, go right ahead.

anyone can reblog any of my posts/comment/heart, i don't care. you want to heart 50 things in a row? i adore you. if i had kids, you would get my firstborn

if we're mutuals you can ask for my insta/give me yours.

now, other accounts:

anyway, i think that's it?

#intro post #introductory post #pinned intro #pinned post #blog intro

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midsummer-semantics · 2 months ago

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Private Lessons

Written for Steddie Kinktober Bingo and cross-posted on ao3!

Rating: Explicit

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - College/University, Professor Steve Harrington, Grad Student Eddie Munson, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, Teacher-Student Relationship, Pre-Relationship, Sort Of, way too much information about Renaissance literature tbh, Flirting, flirting via Google Docs, Age Difference, Dirty Talk, Praise Kink, Eddie Munson Has a Praise Kink, Steve is kind of a perv, but Eddie is DEFINITELY into it, Masturbation, Kinktober

Summary:

Grad school wasn’t exactly in Eddie’s grand life design, but he’s not really complaining. Especially not when his Renaissance literature professor is the hottest person he’s ever seen.

Or: English Grad student Eddie has an insane crush on his professor, and when Professor Harrington offers his star pupil private lessons in order to give him more than the usual lecture accounts for, Eddie jumps at the chance.

[Divider by @steddiecameraroll-graphics]

Keep Reading for the fic! ⤵️

Grad school wasn’t exactly in Eddie’s grand life design, but he’s not really complaining. Especially not when his Renaissance literature professor is the hottest person he’s ever seen.

Professor Harrington was the talk of the school from the moment Eddie set foot on campus. The youngest grad professor in the department — though that’s not saying much when most of them look like they’re five minutes from incurring rigor mortis — Dr. Steven Harrington is a world-renowned scholar in Renaissance and Early Modern texts, has publications ranging from “How Shakespeare could be gayer: An analysis of Antonio characters” to “When life gives you Lemons: Early Modern plot themes in Slash Fiction.” And Eddie’s read them all.

If he applied to this grad program in the hopes that he’d get to take one of Harrington’s classes, that’s nobody’s business but his own.

And now he is, sitting front row every Monday evening for three and a half hours, studiously writing notes and asking questions on any and everything Professor Harrington lectures on.

Harrington is even more gorgeous in person. Faint salt and pepper mixed in with soft chestnut hair that practically defies gravity, wire-rimmed glasses that frame his expressive caramel eyes, a body to die for under sharp trousers and button-up shirts that he often rolls the sleeves on. There’s a tiny tattoo of a robin on his left forearm just below his elbow that Eddie wants to see up close, wondering if that’s his only tattoo or if he’s hiding more delicious ink beneath the professional layers he wears to his lectures.

Yeah, sometimes it’s hard to pay attention to what Harrington is saying when he’s looking like a walking wet dream every time Eddie sees him.

It doesn’t help at all that he’s also incredibly charismatic and a huge dork. Harrington is a font of knowledge, and sometimes he goes off on tangents about early modern printing processes or how much he hates one particular academic for stealing his research years ago. Eddie genuinely thinks he’d be fine listening to his professor wax poetic about just about anything and he’d be hanging off of every word the entire time.

Other students in his class are less subtle about the fuck-me eyes they give their professor, but Harrington, ever the consummate professional, ignores it all. Which is fine, really, because Eddie knows it’s kind of a moral gray area to be lusting after a professor, even if they’re both well past the age where they could be considered “young adults.” Hell, Eddie’s pretty sure he’s the oldest person in his lectures at 29, but Dr. Harrington is easily in his 40s so the age gap is as unceremonious as it is taboo. And even if his crush wasn’t entirely in his own head, he’s prepared to beat up every one of his classmates for half a chance that Harrington would turn his regular “Good job, Eddie,” into a “Good boy, Eddie.”

Eddie knows he’s probably doing too much to get Harrington’s attention, always raising his hand more than any other student and doing every bit of extra credit he can like it’s going to win him some kind of Nobel Prize, but he genuinely likes the material so it’s easy to get involved in the discussions.

His overenthusiastic involvement does earn him an exciting benefit two months into the semester, though. Harrington asks Eddie to hang back after class to discuss one of the latest reading responses, and Eddie’s mind immediately goes to all of the ways he fucked up by saying that Robert Greene may not have been entirely wrong for the way he dragged Shakespeare considering the way the bard had similarly dragged him by writing a fool character based on Greene. He’s got a million apologies already waiting on his tongue while the rest of the class files out, leaving them alone in the classroom.

“Listen, professor, I’m so sorry—” Eddie starts, but Harrington holds up a hand, silencing him all at once.

“It’s a bold claim you made in there, Eddie,” the professor says, leaning back against the whiteboard and crossing his arms.

Eddie’s face flushes, whether from mortification or the way Harrington’s muscles shift under his shirt is unclear. He tries to think of an excuse as to why he’d make a dig at one of his professor’s favorite authors before settling on, “Would you believe I had an aneurysm before writing that?”

Harrington’s eyes narrow, assessing Eddie as he tries not to squirm, before shrugging, his face breaking into a grin. “I might, except all I said was it was bold, not that you were wrong.”

Eddie’s brain stops short for a moment. “W-what?”

Harrington snickers and reaches over to a stack of papers to pull Eddie’s, right from the top. “I have a proposition for you, which you’re welcome to turn down without explanation.”

Eddie’s heart beats double-time in his chest. He knows it’s delusional, but he’s had many fantasies of Harrington saying words just like those ones and then bending him over the nearest desk.

“A proposition?” he tries not to choke out.

Harrington hums as he scans over the paper again before handing it back to Eddie. A red A+ is circled at the top, which is a common sight, but still makes Eddie swell with a little bit of pride.

“I get the feeling sometimes that I’m not doing my part in giving you enough material during lectures. So I wanted to offer a compromise. Once a week we can meet in my office, and I’ll give you a private lecture on any topic of your choice as long as you write a 1000-word research project on it before the next meeting. In exchange, I’ll wave your final project.”

Eddie blinks at his professor owlishly for a moment. The math doesn’t make sense considering the final project is 20-pages minimum and what Harrington is suggesting would mean writing almost double that over the course of the next 8 weeks, but like hell is Eddie going to turn down the opportunity to spend one-on-one time with his gorgeous professor discussing their mutual love of Renaissance literature.

“Deal,” he agrees easily.

Harrington smiles, a big one that lights up his face for a moment before schooling it into kind neutrality once more. “Wonderful. Email me your availability and we’ll go from there.”

That’s how Eddie finds himself once a week doing the absolute most work he’s ever done in his life, and Harrington’s class isn’t even his only one.

It’s worth it, though, for the two uninterrupted hours of Steve’s attention every Thursday evening. They cover a wide range of topics, and Steve never gives him shit for interrupting to ask more questions because that just means Steve gets to talk more about his passion. It’s one thing, Eddie thinks, to watch the man lecture to a class of semi-enthused grad students once a week, and something else entirely to watch him go on about something Eddie asks him to talk about. If brain boners are a thing, Eddie’s had a continuous one for this man for weeks.

He’s also had an innumerable amount of real boners, but he gave up caring about cranking one out to mental images of his hot professor two weeks into the semester. What Harrington doesn’t know won’t hurt Eddie, and it helps his brain not turn to actual mush every time he has to be in the same room as him again.

Eddie quickly gets into the habit of sharing his working docs with Harrington — Steve, his professor insists after their sessions go on for a few weeks — so he doesn’t have to worry about it slipping his mind later. Sometimes Steve will open the doc while Eddie’s still working on it, a tiny random animal popping up in the corner signaling Steve’s presence. It happens at odd hours, which Eddie supposes is fair since he knows now that the professor has a weird sleep schedule thanks to his own academic work. In the moments where Eddie finds himself and an Anonymous Axolotl both up at 2am, he likes to pretend like Steve’s watching him do something other than writing about the latest discussion topic. Like Steve’s actually in his own bed, his laptop resting on his lap, wearing nothing but a pair of tight briefs (or maybe nothing at all) and touching himself while he watches Eddie do the same.

Eddie didn’t know academics could make him so goddamn horny, but by the time the end of the semester approaches, he’s basically Pavloved himself to pop a boner every time the tiny Anonymous Giraffe or whatever appears.

The last two weeks of the semester, Eddie’s mostly in attendance out of obligation (and to ogle Steve more) since he doesn’t actually have to do the final project. His last meeting with Steve is the week before finals, the professor telling him he should take the week off to relax and get some actual sleep because he’s more than earned it.

As such, Eddie’s determined to make the final research project for their private lessons the best one yet.

It’s almost 3am when the tiny Anonymous Moose in the corner disappears for the night, and Eddie blinks blearily at the words on his screen that are starting to blend into a big blob. He’s well past the 1000-word mark at this point — 2041 the last time he checked — and he knows he should end it here and go to bed, especially since he hasn’t actually put more words on the page in over an hour.

He checks his word count again just to remind himself that he did more than enough and —

Wait a minute.

That can’t be right, he thinks. Eddie highlights paper from bottom to top, hitting the keys to display the word count again.

“What the hell?” he mutters to himself, undoing the highlight and trying again. The same number pops up: 2069. There’s 28 words unaccounted for that he’s pretty sure even in his sleep-addled state he didn’t write.

He tries highlighting it all again and that’s when he sees it: down at the bottom of the doc under all of his writing are several words he, in fact, didn’t write, but he didn’t see them before because the font was the same color as the page itself.

He doesn’t have time to squeal over there being a secret message because the message itself nearly gives him a heart attack.

It’s too bad the semester is over. I was hoping to see you bent over my desk with those tight black jeans around your ankles at least once.

Eddie’s pretty sure his heart stops and starts several times as he reads the words over and over again.

He double-checks the doc access, and sure enough it’s only Steve that has it, which means…

“Oh, fuck,” Eddie groans, his erection from before coming back with a vengeance when he realizes his insanely sexy, insanely intelligent professor whom he’s been pining after for four months is flirting with him in secret in his Google docs.

He palms himself over his boxers, trying to manifest the stupid Anonymous Whatever to pop back up so he can keep up the illusion that Steve really has been spying on him, and then a thought occurs to him.

What if this isn’t the first time Steve’s done this?

With one hand still grasping his cock, squeezing rhythmically to relieve some of the pressure, Eddie swipes over to his Private Lessons folder and starts opening all of his past papers. He scrolls to the bottom, highlighting page after page, uncovering message after message that Steve’s left for weeks with Eddie being none the wiser.

It’s hard not to watch your lips as you talk. I bet they’d feel amazing wrapped around my dick.

Eddie moans outright at that and slips his hand under the waistband of his boxers to tug at his cock while he reads the rest. Some are complimentary, but most are downright filthy and Eddie feels like he’s going to pass out from all the blood rushing from his brain to his groin.

You’re so expressive when you get going on a topic you love. I wonder how expressive you are when you cum.

Those fucking pants are going to be the death of me.

God you’re pretty when you smile. Those fucking dimples. I want to lick them every time.

Do you have any idea how hard you make me? How difficult it is to get through a lecture or a private session without pinning you to the desk and eating your ass right there?

Eddie comes with Steve’s name on his lips, shaking and shivering through an orgasm so intense just from words on a page.

When his brain reboots and his soul returns to his body, Eddie is left staring at the screen of his computer, the cursor blinking in time with his heartbeat and his hand tacky with cooling come.

“Holy fuck,” he breathes, using his clean hand to close the laptop and shove it away.

The semester is over. He doesn’t have any reason to see Steve again before winter break commences, and he doesn’t have him on his class roster for Spring.

But like hell is he going to leave this alone now that he knows his professor wants him back.

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #ao3 link #steve harrington x eddie munson #steddie kinktober

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foreverrandomwritings · 1 year ago

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Being in a relationship with Robin and being best friends with Eddie-Headcanon

Summary:This is just a quick little thing about being in a relationship with Robin Buckley and also being best friends with Eddie Munson and how that kinda goes. I don’t really know where this started or how it ended. I started typing and just kept typing.

Pairing: Romantic! Robin Buckley x afab!Reader Platonic!Eddie Munson x afab!Reader

Warnings:Angst, upside down, uhm fluff, homophobes, underage drinking, neglect and probably more but I’m terrible at these.

Word count:854

Masterlist M’s PMC Masterlist

~You had grown up being best friends with Eddie. You lived in Wayne’s trailer park and every time Eddie was over you were combined at the hip.

~Even though he was older he never fussed about you wanting to tag along with him.

~Wayne had practically raised you as well since your parents were always on benders and didn’t take care of you much, leaving you to fend for yourself more often than not.

~You dealt alongside Eddie and would split the profits so Eddie would have some extra cash and you could feed yourself.

~You tagged along to all the Corroded Coffin music sessions.

~Also played dnd with Eddie, the guys and the kids.

~Eddie had opened up to you many years ago that he was gay and you were unwaveringly supportive of him.

~You were even supportive of him telling you about his crush on Steve Harrington. Even if the guys had been a complete douchebag most of his life.

~You had opened up to him about your attraction to both guys and girls.

~He was supportive as always. Especially when you told him you had a crush on Robin Buckley.

~The boy was doing everything in his power to set you guys up.

~When all the stuff happened with the upside down you were along for the ride.

~You had been in the trailer with Eddie and Chrissy that night and a neighbor had seen that and told the police so you were also on the run.

~As soon as the gang had found you Eddie and you were both hellbent on setting each other up.

~You were dropping hints to Steve and Eddie was not so subtly dropping hints to Robin.

~You had dragged Eddie away from the demobats right before they could kill him.

~The months following the earth shattering experience had consisted of the whole gang spending tons of time together.

~Eventually Eddie and Steve got together after they both got drunk and confessed their feelings for one another.

~You and Robin had gotten together after Nancy made it blatantly obvious that you both had feelings for each other.

~The days that you would all hang out were absolutely hilarious.

~You and Steve would be on the side in casual conversation while Eddie and Robin were going on a tangent about something random. They would occasionally ask you both questions and you would mumble a response or just nod in understanding.

~But time spent with just Robin was amazing.

~She was very space minded and constantly forgot dates so you would write notes and stick them on everything. Steve does the same for Eddie so you have to color code them.

~She would talk your ear off about work or about something Steve said and you would listen to her intently.

~You would have to remind her to eat and drink water, so you always carried snacks around which wasn’t out of the norm because you did the same with Eddie.

~Being with Robin was a lot like being friends with Eddie. The both of them were so similar sometimes it was eerie. But they said the same about you and Steve.

~That's why you think you all got on so well. You were basically dating the opposite sex of your best friend.

~You all spend a lot of time at Steve’s house until you find one to rent together.

~Wayne becomes a parent to Steve and Robin, Steves being absent and Robins not paying attention to her.

~You all have family dinners together and Wayne is so happy that both of his kids have people to make him happy.

~But you guys aren’t very public with your relationship. Coming from a conservative town it made it hard to be open about your sexuality.

~But the few people that you did tell were very supportive. Mostly meaning the kids that you were raising as a group.

~Robin was the most attentive girlfriend when you needed someone to be there for you.

~She likes to bring you little trinkets, like rocks or leaves or something random she finds that reminds her of you. You have a drawer dedicated to stuff she has gotten you and one dedicated to stuff Eddie has brought you.

~She loves to hold your hand and cuddle with you. Plays with your hair while you lay on her chest.

~Gives you little kisses all over your face, like literally always peppering your face with kisses.

~Likes to go to the movies with you because it’s dark and she can hold your hand without anyone noticing.

~The girl loves to feed you, whether it's skittles or a whole slice of pizza, it's her favorite thing to do.

~She likes when you wear her shirts or just any of her clothes in general, she thinks it’s the cutest thing ever.

~Makes you bracelets, which is something Eddie also does so your wrists are literally full of them.

~Will absolutely adore everything you do, the way you smile, laugh, brush your hair, sneeze, literally everything.

~Overall I 10/10 want to be in this relationship and this friendship.

A/N:I love this thought and I would be willing to write maybe a couple blurbs about this group.

Tags(open): @wkndwlff @sylviebell @theeleggymeggy

#m's pride month celebration #eddie munson x reader #robin buckley headcanon #robin buckley x reader #eddie munson headcanon #stranger things x reader #stranger things headcanon #eddie munson #robin buckley #steve #headcanon #angst #fluff #stranger things

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buds-and-baubles · 2 months ago

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i've been meaning to talk about some of my apollo headcanons that have been floating in my head. some of them building upon canon ideas, others inspired by others, and some entirely built up by me. so without further ado, here are my apollo headcanons. i'll definitely make more as i keep reading for him.

apollo headcanons:

- being around speedsters, amazons, blue lanterns, and martian manhunter is hard for him sometimes. he sees his teammates he failed to save. he hears the name impulse and sometimes his brain changes it to 'impetus'. the first time that he met cassandra sandsmark, he became shaky and had to excuse himself.

- he goes out on missions/patrols by himself whenever he's buzzing with energy and or wanting to help people be safer and happier. he will still go out on missions/patrols with midnighter (aka one form of date night), the authority (for only big world ending emergencies since they're semi-retired), swift/engineer or some of his new friends/allies. even though he's semi-retired, this doesn't mean that the midnighter gets all the fun.

- while on the run with midnighter, he researched his namesake in the library. he was horrified for a good period time at his resemblance to the statues and various art pieces of the greek god apollo, but wanted to know who he is named after. he after learning about him wanted to embody virtues of apollo on his own terms. music and the arts, truth and prophecy, medicine and healing, the sun and light, herds and flocks, archery, knowledge, averter of evil, eternally youthful, oracular god, pastoral deity, one of the twelve olympian deities, the most hellenic (greek) of the olympian gods, the favorite son of zeus. to his opponents and enemies alike, he is ill health and deadly plague, of diseases in general, beneficial but wrathful, the deadly fire of the sun.

- the carrier when discovering of his continued research about the sun god apollo made him a lyre, a laurel wreath, a bow and a quiver full of arrows, and a hairbrush with engravings like greek pottery on the brush at jenny sparks request. he still hasn't brought himself to practicing with the lyre or bow, half from not having the time and half from not wanting to break something that means a lot to him.

- midnighter for halloween the first year of being married bought the three of them chitons and sandals to wear as a family and was somehow further utterly smitten by seeing his husband dressed up like his namesake, baby jenny cradled in his arms. they still have the outfits even though jenny's doesn't fit anymore so it's in one of her baby things boxes (because they're both sentimental parents to have such things).

- for their first halloween on their new earth, they dress as batman and superman, with jenny q's costume a mix of steph's robin and kara's supergirl.

- jenny sparks also gifted him and midnighter one of the frog and toad books, which is the first thing they read to baby jenny quantum.

- apollo and midnighter have cute lovey yet cheesy nicknames for eachother and also jenny. jenny's nicknames for her dads' are much the same but take on a sillier baseline.

- apollo's music is primarily in record album format, followed by cd and cassette tapes. the brief time he and midnighter had off before the authority was formed was when he bought a record player and a three in one radio, cd, and cassette player. all his doris day music is in record album form.

- his movie binging and critiquing is comprised of watching dvds and vhs tapes. as shown above, he is rather happy sticking to the older formats of entertainment rather than streaming online, mp3s, etc. he has gone off on a long tangent during a rainy day to midnighter about the differences between regular dvds and blu-ray.

- apollo doesn't wear a wedding ring while in costume, as he considers his and midnighter's symbols on their chests to be their wedding rings. however, they do wear wedding rings outside of costume, which were a wedding gift made by angie. apollo's wedding ring is a gold band with midnigher's chest symbol engraved on it, and midnighter's wedding ring is a silver band with apollo's chest symbol engraved on it.

- apollo began to pursue cooking and baking not only as a hobby and a way to destress but also as a way to build himself further outside of henry bendix's vision. he convinced midnighter to learn as well and they'll do it together or seperately. when both in the kitchen, they'll bicker over apollo following his heart on numerous parts of the recipe while midnighter sticks purely to the recipe out of the feeling that he needs to and just so he can have playful banter with apollo.

- apollo will use various things to focus his superhuman senses on to call him down when overwhelmed. his various hobbies that act as meditation, listening to music, putting up wind chimes, watching movies, lighting candles, you name it. it brings him back to himself.

- apollo encouraged midnighter to find hobbies just for himself outside of fighting, which apollo made sure to help him find ones that would work well with his computer brain.

- every arts and crafts piece and report card of jenny's is hung up on the fridge or framed on the wall. midnighter really loves framing their photographs and art pieces on the walls in specific ways that makes his brain happy. he once put a frame like an exhibit in an art gallery around a dent in the wall made by apollo's ass when he was low on solar charge and tripped on one of jenny's toys titled; "ass of the sun god by: apollo circa xxxx".

- apollo and midnighter split evenly or work together on taking jenny places fun/doing fun things with jenny or otherwise. arts and crafts, singing and dancing, watching movies, helping with homework, taking her to and from school, etc.

- he prefers reading books in the physical format. he owns some but also has a library card so he can take out books (and always return the books on time).

- domestic activities, the arts, gardening, and zen and yoga techniques are his forms of meditation. most of these are canon but i am so on board with apollo doing yoga after other people have said so.

- apollo sees a lot of himself in kon-el/conner kent aka superboy and takes it upon himself to be there if he wants or needs him to be there.

- as a continuation of the above, apollo and midnighter (as well as the rest of the authority) look after the younger generations of heroes to make sure they're safe, happy, and healthy.

- though they lost their old world, angie worked with the carrier (who is hiding from the watchtower) to bring back all their important documents and belongings like birth, marriage and or medical records, photographs, etc.

- to match jenny quantum while turning over a new leaf in this new world, apollo and midnighter made their legal last name quantum. it helps them out in legal matters and is corny cute. andrew pulaski and lucas trent are their undercover names they used for one mission together and jenny q won't let them forget about it.

- the authority sponsors all the causes they support, pride being just one of them. in addition to this, he and midnighter also created a support group/union for escaped experiments like themselves.

- apollo does sometimes still wish he could remember his life from before but at the same time knows it doesn't change who he is now. that perhaps it's better off him not knowing.

- he has nightmares of being experimented on but can't really say if those are memories, representations for his inner turmoil while he sleeps, or his brain building up what he thinks happened to make him who he is now.

- date nights with midnighter when they get the chance to (aka someone trusted watches jenny) are to restaurants, bars/gay bars, or a duo mission/patrol where they're in love and freaky. the public has to simply bare witness.

- he also goes out to spend time with angie and or shen because fuck yeah team air support/cav!

- he also wouldn't turn down the offer to spend time with the other sun-powered supers (including krypto aka superdog). if mister majestic happens to be invited, he'll be unhappy about it but will be cordial when there. once he gets home however, midnighter will be getting an earful of him shittalking mister majestic.

- apollo breaks sexuality meters and wows people on the regular with how gorgeous he is wherever he goes. when people see him as just a dumb pretty face or brute, he'll either use it to his advantage or outright immediately want to prove them wrong.

- his kirlian aura halo changes in appearance depending on his mood, solar charge status, light or lack therof, and visual perspective. it will become brighter, dimmer, change color shades in the warm tone variety, and the amount of solar/lens flares accompanying the primary halo.

- apollo's eyes flicker or fully light up gold when he uses his powers and or when he's upset. in addition to this, he has tapetum lucidum as a result from how henry bendix built his oculars. this correlates with his various abilities regarding his superhuman vision, enabling his eyes to light up gold in little to no lighting and or when light like a flashlight or a camera's flash is focused on his face.

- he has been mistaken countless times for the actual apollo by people he's rescued. there's also been at least two times where an injured kryptonian (you can decide who) he's helped has mistaken him for rao.

- building upon the above, i believe that in addition to being (confirmed) inspired by kal-el/clark kent aka superman, that he's also inspired by these characters; doris aka lightray (superman: the dark side), rao (justice league of america 2015 vol 4), raymond terrill aka the ray (time and tempest), lucien gates aka the ray (the ray 2012 vol 3), and the greek god apollo in every format. though apparently wildstorm apollo is earth-50's variant of the ray according to the wiki interestingly enough. below is images of him and all his listed inspirations (i know this depiction of rao and lucien gates as the ray came after wildstorm's apollo but they still reminded me of him).

image sources:

the authority: revolution 2004-2005 issue #1

the adventures of superman 1987-2006 issue #505

superman: the dark side 1998 issue #3

justice league of america 2015-2016 issue #7

the ray 1994-1996 issue #25

the ray 2011-2012 issue #1

statue of apollo on top of the main facade of the burgtheater in vienna, austria

#dc #dc comics #wildstorm #the authority #apollo #midnighter #jenny sparks #jenny quantum #shen li min #swift #angela spica #engineer #apollo and midnighter #midpollo #buds.txt #*scribbling this down in notes*#this was supposed to be short but alas. i failed #i fuck with mullet superman so much i don't care what people say #please let apollo meet krypto it would be so cute

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strykingback · 3 months ago

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Okay so now p/apitimefire177 has responded... well unsurprisingly on a vague post (Well I wouldnt say vague) about Doom and I. So I have to pull up again since they have made the choice to mention me. So, let's go band for band and see what you had to say.

First things first, you stated how Jaune is not Aryan, including providing the definition of it and how "those guys" bastardized it. Good, you know what it is. But nowadays the meaning of Aryan has sadly since been affiliated with White Supremacy and "Those Guys" Fair enough. Let's also not forget this isnt the ONLY thing they bastardized as well.

Once again, Doom was using this as either a joke to piss you off, since you know White Supremacists like to describe the perfect race as Blonde hair, Blue Eyes, white skin....?

Which once again they could have done a Joan of Arc allusion with Jaune, but decided to go with the Paladin/Knight allusion. Showing that they only used her as the inspiration for Jaune, in no means did they explore anything with the allusion at all.

Nothing from Joan of Arc's life being used to develop Jaune even further. Just making him into a DND Paladin, with his semblance being literally. "Lay On Hands" from surprise-surprise. Dungeons and Dragons. Nothing exciting about that...

No Semblance that could make Jaune see into the future and see Cinder amongst the flames alluding to Joan of Arc's death....

Or anything about him making an effort to learn how important a sacrifice is to bring about the swan song of victory. Y'know.... just like Joan of Arc?!

Or maybe making Jaune be a good strategist despite protests from his teammates... LIKE JOAN OF ARC!

Then papi goes off again on a ad hominem tangent, calling Doom illiterate and stating that they needed to do research and state how they throw tantrums.

No Papi, you are the one throwing tantrums. You are proving me and Doom right because what did you do right after Doom and I called you out. You went back to your regularly scheduled Jaune Simping and Cardin-Hate Posting. Plus as I said before, Doom may have used this as a means of making it an INSULT to the character as a whole.

You are being a belligerent fool, and you are proving Doom right. I'm even still surprised that you havent been banned off tumblr yet for harassment, using ableist slurs (despite your half-hearted apology), and so on forth.

Now you are indeed correct.. kind of about one thing. R/RWBYCritics isnt a valuable source. But I digress because I used it for ONE thing and that was to see how much screen time did Jaune get in RWBY as part of my research cause good lord I am not going to sit around and watch Volumes 1-9 having to time how much screentime he had. . Which from Volumes 1-6 He got and I repeat from that one post.

5,489 Hours of Screentime

Which when converted into an actual time it comes up to.

One hour thirty-one minutes and twenty-nine seconds

This is NOT counting Volumes 7-9 and I did NOT say that R/RWBYCritics was a Valuable source. If you actually paid attention to my other posts of me being critical about Jaune especially in the Twin-Revisions of why I think Jaune is a horrible Knight

One of the sources came from the Infographics Show. Where they gave a summarized talk about how Real Life Knights were not like the actual knights you would see in the Romanticized stories.

Even providing sources when one such historian talked with Spiegel Online about Sir John Arundel and his band of knights taking refuge in a convent violating the Nuns and stealing from them and throwing them overboard once they were all but used up.

Or how in that same video, quoted by Nigel Saul in his book Chivalry in Medieval England: "Knights only fought for three things. Land, Gold, and War Booty."

Since RWBY is a show that takes the romanticized takes of knights or stories from those romanticized stories. Such as Robin Hood, the Grimm Tales, etc. And apply them to RWBY.

Which once again, I only used R/RWBYCritics once for a source on Jaune's screentime and you falsely proclaim that I use it for all of my RWDE posts. Which I dont...

Now, let's also talk about this little thing I found where you made the statement about someone calling Jaune Fans Jaune-Turds. Which I do not know what the context was about, maybe an episode back then... but I am more surprised that you tunnel visioned to the insult instead of CHECKING THE FUCKING TAGS AND DATE.

Right off the bat. I see no mention of the RWDE tag there... and no mention of "Does this count as RWDE?" on there. This was a personal rant... and the date?

Here lemme put it in caps for you Papi.

"NOVEMBER 17th, 2018"

You are using a post from SIX YEARS ago as a means to "prove" that "Oh RWDE are all just meanies and what not." Gee its also not like you have been doing more wrong than us. Once again in my reply to your Stop The Hate 2.0 I simply put down at the START to not witchhunt you but to Block and Move On. Guess that didnt click in your head didnt it?! That was the only form of respect I was going to give you. Because I atleast have some form of morality to give you!

Lets not forget you got pissy from a post after this which was A JOKE. a fucking JOKE. Dude are you the DJ Akademiks of Jaune stans like getting all pissy over a JOKE?

I think we're done here. Pack it up. Cause listen Papi you called me out for not having valuable sources, well I provided while also once again cooking your ass in the Malevolent Kitchen. I dunno maybe at this point you are just way too easy to beat... plus the fact that it took you two months to say something about the call out, but either way. Have a good one, drink water, do some self-reflection and yeah Jaune still sucks.

Good Day.

#RWDE #[To Be RWDE Or Not To Be RWDE- RWDE Posting]

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reginalusus · 6 months ago

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I’m really intrigued by your two face, I am curious if you have something regarding when two face almost killed dick when he was Robin, or does that not happen in your version of two face?

I also adore your art and want to eat it. It’s just so yummy

Uh oh. We're getting into dangerous territory here. /j

Placing a cut because rambles.

So, I actually like Robin: Year One. Some people don't and that's fine, but I'm just a sucker for Harvey being allowed to go crazy and to display how sinisterly clever he is. Also he's quite funny in that comic. I constantly think about that line where he says:

"Do I look like a monster?" - then he immediately cuts it off and just goes, "don't answer that." Made me fucking giggle. And the interrogation scene too. It's a little fucked up but also funny.

Also the suspenders and the baseball bat, humina.

ANYWAY tangent over.

Yes, I think I would have my Two-Face still have an event where he tries to kill a young Dick, but it wouldn't be so simple. Because I feel like it's silly to have a character like Harvey want to kill a child out of sheer simplicity.

Two-Face, not Harvey, would want to kill Dick (Robin) as a jab at Batman. They're still bitter about feeling 'betrayed' by Batman, and now that he has a kid sidekick, a baby boy, that's a delicious opportunity to weaken Batman. Even Batman has to have feelings too, right? And Robin is almost like an extension of Batman, at least as far as Two-Face knows, so this is perfect. This would weaken Batman emotionally.

The problem is Harvey Dent.

This is a child who hasn't been tainted by Gotham's corruption and is carrying out what Harvey wanted to do, what he SHOULD have done before everything went to Hell. Batman is training a legacy. Killing Robin isn't just exceptionally fucked, it also goes against everything he stood for.

So I'd imagine after 2F carries out the beating, when it comes to the moment when the gun is at Dick's head, even with the coin, he's forced into a lock. This poor kid is just glaring up at him, his innocent face all bloody and beaten because of him, and Harvey kind of has a 'I became what I sought to destroy' moment, where he realizes that he's about to shoot the hope out of Gotham further. He is now in the role of Maroni, the man who tried to do the same to him. And it disgusts him.

BUT the coin has to be flipped. Unfortunately there's two (three) men in that head and this is the system they've created, so...

Anyway that is a long ass answer to your question I think, lmao.

And thank youuuuu, I'm very glad you like it. <3 <3

#asks #answered #rambles

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sarcasticassian · 2 years ago

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it’s not that Steve isn’t friends with Nancy and Jonathan, he is, it’s just turning up stag to their wedding after he was brutally dumped by Nancy for Jon and then pined for her from afar for a year would be embarrassing and Steve had had enough embarrassment to last him a lifetime because he still cringes when he sees people from high school and he’s forced to remember how much of a dick he was

so going to the Wheeler-Byers wedding alone? it’s out of the question. he needs a date. asap.

he’s moaning and groaning to Robin one day, his platonic life partner and soulmate, and she’s sympathetic because Vickie invited her to her and Dan’s wedding and much like Steve, going to the wedding of someone who you got dumped for is a grim, grim idea so she suggests they go with each other

“look everybody thinks we’re dating and we haven’t been back to Hawkins in forever so we just have to keep up the rouse for two days in May and a week in June, we can do that”

“I can do that, can you? You’re a terrible liar Rob”

but they eventually decide to do it, it saves them looking pathetic, it’s not outright lying most of the time it’s just stretching the truth because they do live together, they do intend on spending the rest of their lives with each, they do love the other person with their whole heart, easy peasy!

and Vickie’s wedding goes off without a hitch, other than Robin hissing in Steve’s ear that he’s been staring at the guitarist from the band for too long and Steve whispers back that he can’t help it, he’s never seen a prettier man and Robin gags but the band finishes up and seems to disappear so their night carries on perfectly fine

it’s Nancy and Jonathan’s wedding that starts creating cracks because the lead guitarist from that band? that’s Nancy’s half brother Eddie, Steve vaguely recalls it all coming to light a few years ago but it was right as he was hightailing it out of Hawkins with Robin because the kids were 16 and would be fine without him so close by so he didn’t know the details but yep, there he is, and Steve knows they’re in trouble when Eddie turns to introduce his band and his best friend Chrissy and Robin starts to stutter beside him, they excuse themselves to go panic in the bathroom and figure out what they’re going to do because they’re stuck here for a WEEK

not to mention the other people here, the kids are well aware that Robin is a lesbian and Dustin nearly ruins it for them immediately by opening his big mouth and laughing when Robin calls Steve her boyfriend, Max drives her elbow into his ribs though and he stops pretty quickly and the others are too afraid of Max to say anything else in public

they would’ve been fine, they would’ve, but Eddie is a huge flirt and Steve can never resist a flirt, he loves it and he’s enjoying the weird chase he and Eddie are caught in, Steve will allow Eddie to almost hook him in then he’ll remember he’s supposed to be a taken man and run away, Robin isn’t fairing much better because Chrissy is so, so pretty and funny and loveable and she seems like she wants to talk to Robin and keeps up with her rambling, encouraging her to take tangents by asking relevant questions and Robin feels comfortable with her, which is rare and she doesn’t want to ruin that by having a crush or making a wrong move but Chrissy seems interested and now Robin doesn’t know what to do

Nancy watches on from the head table for the wedding party and sips her champagne, it’s her wedding and this is free entertainment, she’ll straighten (ha) it all out for them in a week but for now? she lets Jonathan refill her glass and they settle in to watch

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findafight · 1 year ago

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tell us the ship, explain your thoughts 👀

Me trying to be vague and everyone immediately perking up like prairie dogs ready for tea alskfnkdkd. Idk I don't think it'll surprise anyone on my blog I've spoken about it in the past. Just got annoyed at it always being there for no reason and not making sense to me one too many times, I guess.

It's r0nance. I simply do not vibe with it at all. I think, if given a sterile au where there's nothing and no one connecting them and no homophobia to worry about, it might be interesting to possibly explore them being attracted to each other but realizing their personalities and goals and priorities clash too much to work out. A bright first fling into maybe-love that fizzled quickly. I've sort of done this in my post o66 sto bin au for them, but I'm probably not going to actually explore it there. (As it's already in the past even during the war for that au)

But in fics that try to be more or less canon/fix it type deal, it really doesn't make sense to me without even mentioning the hairsprayed elephant in the room. Robin and Nancy's personalities don't seem to mesh well, what with Robin's rambling tangents and Nancy's need to focus.

Robin would probably want to do something specific with her life, but she also wants to wander! Her parents are hippies and she wants to visit Paris. She wants to travel in Europe, and probably stay at sketchy hostels and backpack in the mountains, talking to locals that she doesn't have to worry about ever seeing again. Nancy is planning on immediately going to her dream school after highschool and likely pursuing a career right out the gate. She's very driven and focused, wants to go out and seize opportunities that can assist in reaching her goals, and I don't see Robin's dreamier personality traits fitting with that.

I think @thestobingirlie mentioned that while Robin and Nancy both experience the sexism and misogyny of the 80's, Nancy doesn't experience ableism as Robin does. And she doesn't try to understand where Robin is coming from, only openly appreciating her efforts after she ranted at the hospital director.

Robin rambles! We see her either ramble or give clipped answers ("I'm Robin I work with Steve!") When she's nervous or under stress or excited! We see both Nancy and Steve react to these rambles in different ways. When Robin goes off topic in the library with the conspiracy paper, or talks a bit too much about how much she talks a bit too much, Nancy's annoyed. She's initially dismissive of the national Enquirer esq newspaper Robin brings up that helps solve the case (go Robin!). Robin babbles at Steve a lot, and he never makes her feel bad about it. She rambles about rambling to Vickie and the Muppet joke and he adds little commentary as needed, letting her go, or he cuts her off with a little joke during her rabies freak out. He lets her ramble or lets her know she should stop without being actually annoyed and letting her know that by not telling her outright to stop. (She knows immediately that it's a joke, and she jokes back, although understandably nervously. I love them.)

Them being a background pairing so often is annoying, though to varying degrees. If it's just as Robin's gf mentioned I, like others, just kinda...change it to Vickie's name in my brain lol. But other times it's not and it just. Doesn't make sense why Nancy would be such close friends with Steve (her messy breakup ex!) and Robin and Eddie. That girl has big city dreams, she's getting the hell out of her tiny hometown and not looking back. Let her be free!!

I mean obviously the bit I hate about it is that Robin holds a grudge and Nancy broke Steve's heart, which I don't see as compatible, even if we take into account that it's likely Steve and Robin have no idea Nancy cheated on him, and that Steve is an unreliable narrator and blames himself for the breakup. Steve and his relationships with both Nancy and Robin are so pivotal to all three of their characters that ignoring the history there seems a disservice to the complexities of their relationships with each other.

#also really icks me when nancy clocks steve in fics like nooooo no.#thats scary for steve! and nancy gives me the vibes of someone that hears her ex is bi and be super weird about it #let us not mention robins character falling apart as soon as rnce is introduced as well. or the erasure and hate of our queen Vickie #anti ronance #findaanswers #anonasaurus #finda's rambles #tbh i hope nancy ends the series single she needs and deserves to focus on her relationship with herself and kr her family withiut romo #stranger things #stranger things meta #sorta i guess #robin buckley #nancy wheeler

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dexterthewolf · 2 years ago

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I want an AU where S4 didn't happen but Hopper is back and the Byers live in Hawkins and Max is good and El has her powers, so all the kids are enjoying life in peace whilst Eddie is trying to graduate.

The OG party (Dustin, Lucas, Mike, and Will) join the DND club and are like "Eddie <3". Max and El have met him before a few times but they usually stick together when at school and ignore everyone else, including Eddie Munson trying to befriend two of his newbie freshmen's girlfriends (depending on your ships, I don't really mind).

Steve drives Robin to and from school every day, so people find out they are friends and rumours start in Hawkins High that a weird band girl is dating Ex-King, mature, and still hot Steve Harrington.

Eddie is weirdly invested in this "new Steve". As someone who claims to not give a shit about Highschool bullshit, Eddie does enjoy listening to drama. Once, in front of his newbie freshmen, Eddie talks about his old (and regretful) crush on King Steve.

Dustin's mouth falls open, Will rolls his eyes ready for what's coming, and Lucas winces. Mike Wheeler goes on a tangent about how disgusted and grossed out he is and how he expected better from Eddie. Eddie is shocked, he didn't expect his freshmen to be homophobic, especially with the vibes he got from Will, and he tells Mike he can leave if he's so disgusted about Eddie's sexuality.

Mike rolls his eyes. He says "I don't care if you wanna suck a dick, Eddie. Just don't suck his dick."

Then the kid just. Leaves. To go to class.

The rest of the kids follow him, Dustin is angry and yelling after Mike, Lucas is tired and going to meet Max, and Will is at least apologetic. He tells Eddie "Mike pretends he doesn't like Steve, but he doesn't mind. I swear."

Eddie is left there, in shock at the kid's audacity. Okay, Eddie thinks. The kid just doesn't like Steve Harrington. Maybe he was bullied by him. Or maybe the guy did something to Nancy Wheeler when they dated. Whatever. Eddie wasn't that curious. He wasn't, Gareth!

After school, the same day, Jason Carver corners Dustin by the back of the school. The Party is being held back. Eddie is about to try to diffuse the situation or do something, anything, to help one of his stupid freshmen.

When a voice calls "Hey!"

And here comes Steve fucking Harrington strolling up like he still owned the high school. Robin Buckley, the kooky band girl, is behind him next to Jonathan Byers, the loner weirdo, and Nancy Wheeler, the teacher's pet.

Jason Carver turns around, to address Steve Harrington when King Steve lands a punch across his mouth. Steve Harrington kicked him to the floor, letting him roll into the dirt, his basketball uniform staining.

Steve Harrington helps Dustin Henderson up, dusting him off. He only has to raise an eyebrow at the rest of Jason Carver's team before they're scrambling away from the freshmen.

Without looking back, Steve Harrington leads Dustin, Mike, Lucas, Will, El, Max, Robin, Nancy, and Jonathan in the direction of the car park.

Eddie Munson watches, utterly confused, and so horny.

This would be like 5 chapters and by the end, we would make it to Steddie.

#stranger things #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #outside pov

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ghosttotheparty · 2 years ago

Text

stars and sand and leaves, pt II

also on ao3 // part I // part III

Mike bullies Nancy into doing something about Robin after she tells him she doubts anything will change if he tells Will.

"He's your best friend, Mike, you've been through shit. You having a crush isn't going to make him hate you."

"You don't know that. Also you can't say that and then refuse to tell Robin, you know she won't hate you."

She sighs heavily.

"But she..."

"Don't argue with me."

"God, you're annoying. You know, sometimes I wish Mom and Dad never found you in that dumpster."

He sticks his tongue out at her.

She doesn't know what to do about it. She could tell her. But she doesn't know how. Or what Robin would say. She'd probably go off on a tangent about what a good friend Nancy is.

So the next week Nancy goes to Steve's. Because he knows Robin better than Nancy does, and because Nancy finally believes the whole Platonic with a capital P spiel. (It took a while for her to believe it., especially how oddly intimate Robin and Steve's relationship seems to be, but after seeing Robin bite Steve's finger while he was making fun of her for something and hearing him yell that she's a whore, she believes it. They bicker like Nancy bickers with Mike, like Erica bickers with Lucas.)

It's evening time, but Steve's car is in his driveway, and Nancy is close to tears as she approaches the front door and knocks. She's wiping her face when it opens, and Steve appears, his hair rumpled, shirt wrinkled, and before Nancy can apologize for waking him up, he's pulling her inside and touching her cheek and asking what's wrong.

"I just-- I have to..."

"Deep breath, Nance, it's okay." He pulls her into the kitchen, and she hugs him tightly, a low sob wracking her shoulders. He sets a hand on her head, whispering that she's okay, and as soon as she's breathing properly, he's pulling back to look at her. "Did something happen? Is everything okay?"

"No," she says, her breath catching in her throat. "I mean-- Yes, it's-- Everything's fine, I'm just..."

He nods and gently lifts her onto the counter. She'd forgotten he can do that. They're at eye level now, and it somehow makes everything worse and better at the same time. He's looking at her so gently, so tenderly, and he waits for her to speak, carefully wiping her cheeks.

"What's going on?" a voice says from the doorway, and she startles, but Steve just turns to look over his shoulder. Her vision is still blurred, but she recognizes Eddie as he comes inside, his hair tied up, wearing a dark blue hoodie that Nancy knows is Steve's.

Oh.

Eddie comes up close, reaching to tuck Nancy's hair back carefully, his eyes shining with concern, and Steve steps aside easily, glancing at him. And Nancy remembers how quickly Eddie noticed that Mike likes Will, and how he seemed to know exactly what he was feeling, and she realises that Steve's hair isn't messed up because he was napping.

Her face crumbles as a fresh wave of tears floods her eyes, and Eddie shushes her softly, holding her cheek and leaning up so she can lay her head on his shoulder as she cries.

"Hey, we got you," he says gently, and his voice is so soft that she feels like she can breathe. "What happened, Nance?"

"I..."

She sits up straight, looks down at her lap, takes a slow, deep breath, and she closes her eyes. Steve is holding one of her hands, and Eddie's hand is on her leg, gently squeezing.

"I have a crush on Robin and I don't know what to do with myself."

She looks up at them. They're both staring at her, wide-eyed, and she squeezes her eyes shut, swaying when Steve tugs her into a hug.

"That's okay," he says lightly. Eddie is running his hand up and down her back, and Steve's arms are strong around her, and Nancy lets herself melt, crying and crying and crying even though she thought she ran out of tears that night Mike came to her room. She wonders if she'll ever run out of tears.

When she finally stops crying, there's a wet patch on Steve's shirt, and she apologizes weakly. He tells her to shut up. She laughs wetly, trying to wipe her face, but Eddie takes her hand and does it himself, now holding some tissues he must have gotten while she cried.

“You should tell her,” Steve says while Eddie wipes her face. She cuts a glare at him.

“No.”

He takes a deep breath, looking at her, and she shakes her head.

“I can’t do that, I can’t… I can’t ruin, like, what I have with her, she’s— she’s my friend.”

Eddie sighs, touching her cheek, and she takes the tissue, wiping her nose. Eddie and Steve look at each other and Nancy can’t read what they’re saying to each other.

“Mike wants me to tell her, too,” she says quietly, sniffling.

“You told Mike?” Eddie asks, and Nancy nods, looking at him. He’s looking in her eyes, searching.

“He told me,” she tells him. “Like… right after I told him. I know.”

He nods, smiling softly while Steve looks back and forth between them, confused.

“What is it?” he asks.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it, sweetheart,” Eddie says lightly, and Steve’s cheeks flush pink as Nancy smiles. She squeezes Steve's hand and falls against Eddie again, sighing and closing her eyes.

"I, uhm. I have ice cream in the freezer," Steve says, his voice tilting up like he's asking a question. "Strawberry. If you want some."

She smiles, her eyes burning again.

"Yeah. That sounds nice."

Steve sits between them on the sofa, their legs all tangled, and she falls asleep on his shoulder as they watch a movie.

Nancy's birthday is the day before graduation. Everyone, especially Robin and Eddie, pesters her about what she's doing to celebrate in the days beforehand, but she insists she doesn't need to celebrate. (She has dinner with her family. Her mom (and dad, though he seems just as surprised by the gifts as Nancy) gives her some new eyeshadows and a pink desk lamp to take to college. Holly gives her a drawing of some flowers. Mike surprises her with a small bouquet of wildflowers.

Steve plans the graduation party for Nancy, Eddie, Robin, Jonathan, and Argyle. Nancy tells him to let her know if he needs her to bring anything, and he says he will, but the day after graduation, he still hasn't called except to make sure she's coming.

She shows up at his house a few minutes before the time he gave her, but he doesn't seem surprised. Eddie's van is in the driveway, along with Argyle's pizza van and the kids' bikes.

"Is everyone already here?" she asks when she comes in, kicking off her shoes by the door. Steve shuts the door behind her. He's grinning.

"Yeah, they're all out back by the pool."

She pauses, looking up at him. He's avoided the pool since everything at Lovers' Lake. And he's avoided the quarry. And bathtubs.

"You okay with it?"

"Uh, yeah," he says, leading her down the hall to the kitchen. She can hear music playing from outside, something by the Clash, she thinks. "Eddie's been helping me desensitize."

She hums.

"I bet he has."

"Shut up."

She grins. She's still teasing him when they get to the sliding glass doors, and she's startled, bombarded by voices shouting at her.

Steve grins and turns to look at her as her eyes find a banner that's strung up on part of the house, hand-painted and colourful and glittering in the sun.

Happy birthday, Nancy!

The words are surrounded by painted flowers and hearts, and her chest feels tight as she looks at them. Her eyes scan the pool, looking at all the kids' bright smiles, listening to their laughter as she stammers out a, "Wha--"

"Are you serious?" she says to Steve, raising her eyebrows as he grins at her, shrugging.

"It was Robin's idea."

Nancy blinks at him, and he smiles knowingly, tilting his head as he heads back toward where Eddie is lounging on a lawn chair, walking backwards. Nancy scans the pool again, and this time her eyes find Robin, sitting on the edge of the pool and beaming at her.

Her hair is wet, and she's wearing a purple bikini top with some orange swim trunks that Nancy suspects she stole from Steve. Her shoulders and back and glistening with water, sparkling in the sunlight, and Nancy's skin feels like it's too tight as she gazes at her. Robin gets up after a moment, giggling as she comes closer to Nancy, and she's wiggling her arms and dancing in a silly way that makes Nancy scoff.

"Happy birthday," Robin sings.

Nancy hugs her.

She doesn't care that her clothes are getting wet (she's wearing a swimsuit underneath anyway), and she doesn't care that Robin's wet hair is cold on Nancy's neck, and she doesn't care that Steve and Eddie and Mike are all probably watching, knowing exactly what's happening in her head right now. She doesn't care. Because Robin is laughing and hugging her back, swaying with her.

And then after a moment Robin says she wants to throw Nancy into the pool, and Nancy jumps back, pushing her away as Robin cackles.

"Don't you dare," Nancy says, trying not to laugh. "I'll get in myself, thank you."

Robin goes back to the pool, laughing, and Nancy watches her go, her eyes skimming over the freckles on her back, the way a drop of water slides down the divot of her spine, the way her hips move as she walks.

Mike calls her name, and she startles, finding him in the pool, arms up on the ground, watching her with raised eyebrows. His hair is soaked, plastered across his forehead. She flips him off.

The sun is hot. The pool water is cold. Steve sits on the edge of the pool, his feet in the water, and Eddie stays with him for a few minutes, helping him get used to it and breathe. Then Nancy sits next to him while they watch Eddie play chicken with the others, Mike up on his shoulders, Will up on Argyle's. Eleven has a new swimsuit. It's pink. Erica's is pink too, ruffly and sparkly. Max is wearing one of Lucas's t-shirts and a pair of shorts, and she can't stop smiling as Lucas leads her around the water, careful not to take her too deep.

Nancy sits on a lawn chair after a while, as Steve is standing in the shallow end of the water, leaning against the wall with Eddie. She's pretty sure they're holding hands. The boys are all splashing around, laughing and giggling and bickering and being children. Finally. Eleven and Erica and Max are doing Argyle's hair, braiding it while Jonathan laughs, feeding Argyle pieces of watermelon that Steve prepared earlier.

Robin sits next to Nancy. Their legs almost touch. She doesn't say anything for a while, just sitting with her and watching the others. Nancy looks at her. Her shoulders are probably going to be sunburned. They're pink. Her freckles are bold on her skin, and the purple of her top and the sunlight makes her skin look even more golden than it usually looks.

She looks away before Robin can notice her staring.

"You having fun?" Robin asks after a while.

"I am."

Robin looks at her, smiling. She leans closer, knocking their shoulders together. Her skin is hot.

"Happy birthday, Nance," she says softly.

Nancy's cheeks are warm. She blames summertime.

"Thanks, Robbie."

Robin blinks at her, caught off guard by the nickname, but she just smiles more, looking away again before she yells Steve's name. Steve turns to look at her, his eyes meeting Nancy's for a second. Eddie follows his gaze, and he grins.

"What?"

"Can we do gifts?"

They do cake first. Robin sits next to Nancy, and Jonathan goes inside to get his camera to take photos. He takes too many. While Eddie is lighting the candles of the cake (which reads congrats, you're old now; Nancy suspects Mike had something to do with it), while everyone is singing, their voices off-key and discordant and beautiful, while Nancy is blowing the candles out, while everyone is clapping for her.

She doesn't remember the last time she blew birthday candles out. She might have been twelve or thirteen.

Everyone eats the cake while she opens the gifts.

Dustin and Max got her a nice perfume with help from Dustin's mom, and Lucas and Erica teamed up to get her a blouse. It's white and collared with pearly blue buttons. Nancy loves it.

Eleven has a necklace from her, silver with a little N charm, which Nancy puts on right away. Eddie got her some cat-eye sunglasses, and she bursts into laughter when she opens the case. They're black and sleek, and he insists she's fucking cool and needs to complete the vibe. Jonathan has a framed photo of her and Holly that he took before leaving for California. They're looking at each other, and Nancy's nose is scrunched, and Holly is giggling with her tongue sticking out. The frame is wood, painted with small daises.

Argyle gives Nancy a small gift bag with tissue paper, and it feels oddly light as she looks into it, pushing aside the tissue paper.

"Oh my god."

Jonathan starts cackling as Argyle grins, and the others all ask what it is as Nancy suppresses a smile, staring at Argyle.

"Nance," Robin calls. "Show us."

She reaches into the bag and pulls out one of the carefully, impeccably rolled joints. Robin bursts into laughter and Steve covers Erica's eyes to be annoying, and Lucas whispers to Max what is it, grinning.

"Nancy doesn't smoke," Mike says, and Nancy just looks at him blankly before looking away, wide-eyed as she puts the joint back. "What?"

"Thanks, Argyle," she says, ignoring him.

"You're welcome, my friend."

Steve gives her a stuffed rabbit. It's soft and has floppy ears, and Nancy beams at it.

Robin gives a copy of Anna Karenina. The spine is worn and the edges of the pages are a little frayed, and it looks loved. There's an inscription in Robin's handwriting (pretty) that reads this is one of my favorite books and i thought you might like it and then happy birthday with a small smiley face and a heart that makes Nancy want to squeal. She leans over and knocks their shoulders together again to thank her.

"Uhm, this is from Mike and me," Will says nervously, handing Nancy and rectangular gift. It's carefully wrapped with a bow on it. Nancy takes it, smiling, looking at Mike with a raised eyebrow, because he's already giving couples' gifts and he's not even with Will. (As far as Nancy knows. But she knows Mike would tell her.) "It was a commission," Will explains, misunderstanding Nancy's look at Mike as Mike makes a face at her. "Kind of?"

"It's cool, Will," she says lightly. She opens it carefully, almost nervously, and Robin takes the wrapping paper from her as she turns it over in her hands.

It's a framed painting, the frame simple dark wood.

The painting is of a beach, the water dark blue and reflecting the moon that hangs above it. Nancy stares at it, her eyes tracing the waves of the water, the specks in the sand, and then she notices the sky. Dark and full of stars, constellations connected with thin, barely noticeable lines. And then she sees the leaves. Small, blowing in invisible wind across the scene.

She looks up at Mike, her throat tightening.

Everyone is quiet, waiting for a reaction.

"You're always saying it," Mike says quietly. "To Holly and me. I just... You too."

Her lip quivers, and her eyes sting, so she squeezes them shut, looking away. Robin says her name softly next to her, but Nancy can't speak as a tear falls down her cheek, and then someone is taking the painting from her hands, and Mike is hugging her tightly, kneeling on the ground in front of her. He's wearing a t-shirt, and it's damp from pool water, but warm, and she hugs him back, laughing softly even as she cries.

"You have no right to make me cry on my birthday," she says tearfully into his shoulder, and he scoffs.

"It's not even your birthday anymore, asshole." He squeezes her, and she sniffles, wiping her cheek on his shoulder before he pulls away with an annoyed ugh. "Also you're sharing that weed."

"You're hilarious, Mike." She looks up at Will when Mike steps back. "It's beautiful, Will, thank you."

"Do I get a hug too?"

"C'mere."

They all stay outside until the sun goes down, and then they go inside, where the kids fall asleep on the floor of Steve's living room in a pile of wet hair and sunburns and chlorine. Will's head is on Mike's shoulder.

Nancy and the others go to Steve's room while Steve calls the kids' parents to let them know they're spending the night. She and Robin borrow sweaters from Steve's closet and they change in the bathroom, and Steve brings the towels to dry their hair while Eddie follows him downstairs. Argyle and Jonathan lay on the floor, stretching their backs and giggling.

Nancy watches Robin scrub her hair dry with the towel. She's humming to herself, one of the songs that was playing earlier that must be stuck in her head, and she's swaying. She's wearing a pair of Steve's boxers as shorts now, and Nancy's eyes linger on her long legs. Robin finally stops scrubbing her hair, turning to hang it up on the door of Steve's wardrobe, and her eyes meet Nancy's. Nancy's cheeks flush with heat, and Robin grins. Her hair is frizzy and in her face, and Nancy reaches out and carefully moves it out of the way.

Robin exhales, her eyes flicking back and forth between Nancy's before they skim across her face. Nancy might be dying.

She should say something, probably. But when she opens her mouth to speak, her mind goes blank and nothing comes out but a quiet, "Uhm."

Robin stares back at her, and Nancy stops breathing. She forgets Jonathan and Argyle are there on the floor, staring up at the ceiling and smiling.

"You okay?" Robin asks softly.

"Yeah," Nancy breathes.

Robin smiles.

“You have a good birthday?”

Nancy nods.

“…Thank you,” she says after a moment. “Steve… said it was your idea.”

Robin’s cheeks turn pink, and she shrugs almost bashfully.

“…You deserved something special.”

Nancy looks away, suppressing a smile as her stomach flutters. Eddie and Steve come back a minute later, carrying an air mattress together, and Eddie looks at the girls when they come in, raising a subtle eyebrow at Nancy when he sees her blushing cheeks. Argyle and Jonathan move out of the way for the mattress but promptly fall asleep on the floor as Eddie is blowing it up. Steve picks up Jonathan's camera from where it's set on top of his dresser and snaps a photo of them, their legs tangled, Jonathan's arm across Argyle's waist, Argyle's hair tangled in their faces. Steve is smiling.

Eddie and Steve sleep on Steve's bed. Nancy catches Eddie slipping his hand up under Steve's shirt as Steve is shifting in bed, and she suppresses a grin as Steve inhales sharply and hits his arm. Eddie snickers. His hands must be cold.

"Hey," Robin whispers when they're in bed, covered in fluffy blankets Robin snatched from Steve's bed. It's dark except for the bathroom light, sneaking through the door that's hanging ajar. Eddie is snoring. Argyle and Jonathan haven't moved, even when Nancy carefully covered them with a blanket.

"Hey."

"You okay?"

Nancy smiles at the ceiling.

"I'm okay. You?"

"Mhmm."

Robin is quiet for a moment.

"That painting that Will and Mike gave you... Is it, like, some special beach or something?"

"No, it's... I say this thing to Mike and Holly that I... I love them more than all the stars and sand and leaves. It's just..." She pauses, then rolls a little bit to look at Robin, who's already looking at her, her hands tucked under her chin, eyes shining as she listens. "My parents weren't super affectionate when I was a kid," Nancy says. "They're more affectionate now-- or at least my mom is. My dad... Anyway."

Robin is frowning.

"I always heard kids' parents telling them they loved them and I kind of just... missed it. And then they told me they were having Mike and I decided I was gonna make sure he always knew he was loved, and I just ranted to him one day that I loved him more than all the stars in the universe," she says, and she knows she rambling now, keeping her voice to a soft whisper so she doesn't bother the boys, but Robin is listening to her. "And he was all that's so much! so I added all the grains of sand and all the leaves in the world too."

She takes a breath, lifting an arm to bend it under her head.

"And so I kept telling Holly the same thing," she says. "And I tell her every day. Especially when everything was going on with the Upside Down, just... just in case. I wanted her to know how much I loved her in case anything went wrong."

She falls quiet, and Robin stares at her, smiling softly.

"You're a good sister," she says finally, her voice quiet. Nancy smiles.

"I try to be," she says. "Mike and I haven't always been close. We're working on it."

"Sometimes I wish I had siblings," Robin says. "But my parents... kinda make me feel like shit. I don't really want them to do that to anyone else, you know?" Nancy nods, frowning, listening. "But sometimes I wonder if, like... If they had another kid, maybe they would be better than me? Like... maybe they'd be normal. And then my parents would be happier."

"Robbie," Nancy says softly. Robin's eyes cut up at her. "Your parents are assholes. No amount of kids would change that."

Robin smiles, shrugging a little bit. Nancy hesitates, trying to find her words.

"...No one's better than you," she whispers. "You're really great, Robin, Even if you can't see it."

Robin's eyes blink at her, and she smiles.

"Thanks, Nance."

The air mattress deflates a little bit through the night. Nancy doesn't notice until she wakes up pressed against Robin, the air mattress dipping under their bodies in a way that makes the rest of it balloon around them like a nest. Robin is still asleep, and her head is on Nancy's shoulder, her hair tickling her neck, and their legs are tangled, and Nancy thinks she might be dying. Robin smells like chlorine from the pool.

She manages to detach them after relearning how to breathe, and when she finally gets out of the bed, somehow without waking Robin, she stands and takes a deep breath, looking at Robin, whose hair is in her face, looking so fucking soft and pretty in the morning light that Nancy aches. She hears a quiet ahem and turns to find Steve and Eddie sitting on Steve's bed, both holding steaming mugs. Steve is grinning, and Eddie has his eyebrows raised.

"Not a word," Nancy says, her cheeks flushing. Eddie mimes a zipper across his lips.

Mike keeps teasing her. That morning, when Robin sleepily leans against Nancy's side as she sips the coffee she took from Steve, Mike catches Nancy's eye and stares intently, wide-eyed and eerie. She flips him off again. When they're alone, he refers to Robin as her girlfriend, but when she calls Will his boyfriend he tries to hit her.

---

It's summertime.

Nancy is going to Emerson in less than two months. She's already packed a bit, and has boxes stacked in her room full of books and clothes and things she wants to take with her. (The pink desk lamp from her mom, Anna Karenina. (Which she's already read. But she keeps opening it up just to look at the little heart Robin doodled on the inside cover.))

Eddie and Steve want her to tell Robin how she feels. The thought of it makes her feel sick.

She's leaving soon. Leaving Hawkins. Leaving her family and the Party and Robin. She's coming back for the holidays, will probably be back in her room by late November, but she knows it won't be the same. Her room will feel oddly empty.

She rolls over in bed, looking across at her phone that's on her bedside table. The light in her room is dim. Steady. Unflickering.

She feels jittery. Like Eddie gets when he hasn't smoked in a while. She taps her fingers, slides her feet across her mattress, tries taking deep breaths, but it doesn't help. She can't stop remembering that she's... leaving.

She's not the only one. Jonathan and Argyle are going to that college in California. No one's mad at them for leaving, obviously, but she can't shake the feeling that she's abandoning the Party. And Holly.

Nancy squeezes her eyes shut, taking a shaky breath.

Robin's face flashes in her mind.

She opens her eyes.

She should know, right? Before Nancy leaves? Probably. But there's also the chance of Nancy just ruining everything before she goes. But if that happens...

Well, she's leaving anyway.

Nancy is sitting up and reaching for the phone before she can talk herself out of it, dialling Robin's number and twisting the chord of the phone around her finger.

The dial rings, and Nancy realises it's almost fucking midnight, and what the fuck is she doing–

"Buckleys."

"Hi," Nancy says, her voice shaking. Robin sounds awake, despite the time.

"...Nance?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Hi," Robin says softly. "What's up?"

"I'm just, uhm..." She pauses, gripping the chord. "Thinking, I guess."

"What about?"

God, Robin is so...

She's acting like this is all normal, like Nancy calls her up every night just to say meaningless things like hi.

"Just..." Nancy trails off, staring at the floor. The chord is so tight around her finger it's cutting off her circulation. Her finger is going numb. She barely notices. "Are you busy?" she asks abruptly, without answering Robin's question.

"Not really," Robin says. "Are you?"

"No," Nancy says softly. "Wanna go for a drive?"

"Yeah," Robin says, and Nancy can hear the smile in her voice. "Pick me up?"

"Yeah, I'll... I'll be there in a few."

"Okay."

Her hands are shaking when they hang up, and she gets up, taking a deep breath before getting up to change. She just puts on some sweatpants and sweater, hesitating to look into the mirror for a second, debating her hair. It's not styled right now, a little frizzy from drying after her shower, fluffy and thick, but she sighs and looks away.

"Where are you going?" her mom asks as she's headed downstairs, grabbing a zip-up hoodie from where it's hanging on he bannister at the bottom of the stairs. Nancy startles, pulling it on, turning to find her in the living room, a book in her lap. One of those cheesy romance novels with a shirtless man on the cover.

"Just... to meet a friend."

"A friend," Karen repeats, raising her eyebrows knowingly.

"Robin," Nancy says. "We're just going to hang out."

"It's almost midnight," Karens says, glancing at her watch, and Nancy sighs, shifting on her feet.

"I know, just... I'm leaving soon. I don't know when I'm gonna see her again."

Karen stares at her, her gaze softening, and she smiles in that way that she always does. Sweet.

"Alright," she cedes. "Be safe."

"Always," Nancy says, as though she doesn't have a sawed-off shotgun on the top shelf of her closet. (She's still debating taking it with her when she leaves.) She steps close, pecking Karen's forehead lightly. "Love you, Mommy."

"Love you, too, sweetie."

Robin is outside her house when Nancy arrives, leaning against the wooden beam on her front porch. She beams when Nancy pulls into the empty driveway and hops down the stairs. She's wearing a pair of shorts and a loose button-down that looks silky smooth. Nancy wants to touch it.

"Where are your parents?" she asks as Robin is sliding into the passenger seat. Robin shrugs, pulling a leg up onto her seat. She's wearing fluffy socks.

"Don't know," she says lightly. "Steve and I joke that our parents hang out together."

Nancy laughs lightly.

"Where are we going?"

"I don't know," Nancy confesses. "I didn't really think this far ahead."

Robin looks at her. The streetlights outside light her up in silver. She looks bare without her jewellery.

"Are you okay?" Robin asks gently. Nancy hesitates.

"Yeah, I just..."

Robin looks at her like she knows. But she doesn't know.

"Let's drive," she says lightly.

They drive.

Robin plays with the radio as Nancy drives, but after a while the static gets annoying, and she opens Nancy's glove compartment, looking for tapes. Nancy lets her.

The volume is low, the music a little too cheerful for the way Nancy's stomach is twisting, but Robin is humming with it, looking out the window as the world goes by, and Nancy doesn't mind.

Nancy doesn't know where she's going, exactly, just following the road, going where it takes her.

After a while they end up at the quarry, parked up high where they can see the water, glistening and reflecting the moon and stars. It reminds Nancy of Will's painting for a moment.

They're both quiet for a few moments, just watching the water and listening to the music, and then Robin says in a quiet voice, "Do you wanna talk?"

Nancy hesitates, shrugging.

"I just... I don't know." She sighs, letting her head fall back against the headrest of her seat, and Robin unbuckles her seatbelt, shifting in her seat to face her. "I'm leaving soon and I... I don't know. I kind of feel like I'm abandoning you guys. Hawkins."

"Yeah," Robin says lightly, leaning closer. "Don't know what we'll do without Nancy Wheeler."

Nancy suppresses a smile, glancing at her. Her stomach is fluttering. She might be sick.

"It's gonna be fine, Nance," Robin says. "We're gonna miss you, obviously, but... we can't all stick around here forever."

Nancy nods at her lap, her fingers twisting.

"What are you doing?" she asks.

"Hm?"

"I just... I haven't heard you say anything about, uhm. College."

"I'm taking a gap year," she says. "Sticking around with Stevie for a while and then I'm thinking about going to a college in Indy."

Indianapolis. It's close.

Nancy nods.

"...I think I'm nervous," she says finally, after a moment of silence. "It's just that Hawkins is... all I've ever known, you know? And now I'm... going to Boston, and it feels like it's just supposed to be this-- this thing, but I don't..." She sighs heavily, closing her eyes, and Robin's hand takes hers, holding it and rubbing her knuckles gently, comfortingly. "You're like... my only friend. Except the guys, but they... I just-- I just don't know how to make friends? But I also don't know how to be by myself. And it feels so insane that I've been fighting for so long, I've been-- I've been fighting monsters and going into an alternate dimension, and now I'm just supposed to... move on."

Robin squeezes her hand.

She's quiet for a moment, and then she squeezes again, tugging lightly to make Nancy look up at her. She does. Robin is looking at her intently, her eyes shining.

"You're way too hard on yourself," Robin says softly. Nancy looks away, exhaling, but Robin squeezes again. "I'm serious," she says adamantly. "You're Nancy fucking Wheeler, you-- you saved the fucking world with a sawed-off shotgun, and you still managed to pass all your classes with straight As. Come on, Nance."

Nancy suppresses a smile, looking down at their hands. Robin's fingers are twisted around hers, and her thumb is brushing over her knuckles.

"It's not an easy thing to just move on from," Robin adds. "Saving the world and stuff. But you... You can do anything." She's talking so softly, and her hand is so gentle in Nancy's, and Nancy is fucking in love. She pulls her hand away from Robin's, overwhelmed, and her voice shakes as she says, "Robbie?"

"Yeah?" Robin draws her hand back to her lap.

"Uhm. I have to tell you something."

"Okay," Robin says. "What is it?"

"I..." Nancy exhales shakily. She looks out at the water, taking a deep, careful breath. She can feel Robin's eyes on her. It feels like the world is ending again. "I-- I really like you."

"...What?"

"I--" Nancy looks up at her, panicking. Robin's eyes are wide, her lips parted. "I have-- I have a crush on you. And I-- I know it's weird, and I shouldn't and you don't... feel the same, but I'm leaving really soon and I wanted you to know, and I've spent months ranting to Mike about how beautiful and funny and smart and cool you are, and he thinks I should tell you, and Eddie and Steve said I should tell you, and I just can't keep inside anymore, Robin, I like you so much."

There are tears on her cheeks when she finally shuts up, and Robin's eyes are glistening in the moonlight.

"You told Steve?" she asks in a small voice. Nancy nods, sending more tears out of her eyes. Her hands are shaking. "God, he..." Robin lowers her head for a moment before she looks out over the water, blinking, talking so softly it's like she's talking to herself. "Of course he wouldn't out me, Jesus, but he..."

Nancy blinks, her breath catching in her throat.

"Why didn't he just tell you I'm queer," Robin says, hiding her face in her hands and groaning a quiet, "Oh my god."

"What?" Nancy finally manages to say, her voice thin. Robin lowers her hands, her cheeks flushing darker.

"I'm a lesbian," she says, smiling awkwardly. "Like a big... raging lesbian. I love women. And I love you specif--"

She cuts short, her eyes widening, and the ground falls out beneath Nancy like she's just taken a flying leap over the cliff in front of them, but she can't react before Robin is hiding her face again and turning away and mumbling, "Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god--"

"What?" Nancy says again, a tear falling as she smiles, reaching to pull at Robin's hands. "What did you say?"

Robin drops her hands, and her face is red, even in the grey light of the moon, and she's crying, and Nancy can't stop herself from reaching out to wipe her tears.

"I really like you too," Robin says weakly, her eyes fluttering.

"You're not fucking with me, right?" Nancy says, still touching her face. "Because if you are, this really isn't funny."

"I'm not, I promise," Robin says. "I've been driving Steve and Eddie insane talking about you, they kept telling me to make a move and I thought they were just being good friends, but if they knew about you too, it..."

Nancy laughs wetly, and Robin reaches up to wipe fresh tears off her cheeks carefully.

"Holy shit," Nancy breathes.

"Yeah," Robin says. "Holy shit."

Nancy laughs again, closing her eyes, reaching down to unbuckle her seatbelt, and she reaches up to pull Robin close, so they're leaning over the center console. Their foreheads press, and Robin exhales shakily.

"This is the craziest thing that's ever happened to me," she says quietly.

Nancy giggles.

"Crazier than Vecna?"

"Jesus. Yeah."

Nancy is smiling.

They breathe together. Nancy can almost hear Robin's heartbeat, harmonizing with the water lapping at the cliff like a song.

"Robbie," she breathes.

"Yeah," Robin whispers, smiling. She's still holding Nancy's face, her thumbs brushing over her cheeks.

"Can I kiss you?"

Robin exhales sharply, her hands tightening on Nancy's cheeks, and she's nodding, her forehead bumping against Nancy's.

"Yes," she says. "If you-- If you want to, yes, I'd like that."

Nancy smiles.

"Okay."

She sighs, brushing their noses together, and Robin's hands are trembling against her.

"Holy shit," Robin breathes. Nancy isn't sure she even notices herself saying it, but Nancy is smiling when their lips press, and Robin leans even closer, her arms wrapping around her neck.

Nancy squeezes her eyes shut, sliding a hand to hold the back of Robin's head, her fingers threading into her hair, and Robin lets out a soft noise, a quiet whimper from the back of her throat, that lights Nancy on fire. Every nerve in her body is singing at her, and she suddenly understands the whole fireworks thing. That's exactly it.

She pulls away to tilt her head, and Robin hums softly, shifting to hold Nancy's face again, clutching at her as they kiss again, as Nancy tugs at her lower lip gently. Robin moves so she's almost kneeling in her seat, and Nancy's head tilts up.

"Fuck," Robin gasps when they part, and Nancy grins, sliding a hand to hold her wrist. It's warm, and her fingertips slip beneath her sleeve. Robin kisses her again, suddenly desperate, sliding her tongue against the seam of Nancy's lips, and Nancy fucking whines, opening her mouth for her. "I've never done this before," Robin says breathlessly between kisses, and Nancy giggles, reaching up to hold her face and pulling her into another kiss.

"You're doing really well," she murmurs against her lips.

Robin whimpers.

"Okay," she says weakly.

Nancy grins at her, gazing for a moment. Robin's eyes are shining, her cheeks flushed, her hair tousled from Nancy's hands, and something settles in Nancy's chest. Falling into place.

She kisses her again, desperately, messily, and Robin groans softly. Her hands are soft as they run through Nancy's hair, as they run down her neck and hold onto her shoulders, and Nancy is shivering and trembling, and Robin's mouth is warm and wet and her hair is soft, and oh.

This is so different from anything she's ever had before. It's nothing like Steve or Jonathan, and they were good to her, kind and gentle, but Robin is...

Everything Nancy didn't know she wanted.

Robin pulls away and starts kissing down Nancy's neck, and Nancy keens, squeezing her eyes shut and pushing a hand into Robin's hair, breathing hard as Robin's teeth graze her skin.

"Robbie," Nancy gasps, her fingers tightening in her hair, and Robin hums without pulling away from her neck. She's lingering on a spot just under her earlobe, and Nancy is shivering, listening to Robin's tongue on her skin. "Do you-- Do you wanna get in the backseat?"

Robin's lips curve into a smile against Nancy's neck.

"Yeah."

Robin clambers into the backseat clumsily, and Nancy watches, gazing, staring at her legs, before she follows. She takes a breath when she's sitting in the backseat, adjusting her shirt so it isn't too tight around her neck. Robin watches her. They're quiet for a moment, just breathing heavily, until Nancy holds her hand out.

Robin slides her hand into Nancy's smoothly and leans forward, smiling, until their mouths suddenly crash together, and Nancy gasps as Robin's tongue slides slickly into her mouth. Nancy tugs at her hand again, pulling her closer until she can slide her hands over her waist.

She's so soft. Nancy's fingers tighten, squeezing, and Robin huffs, moving closer in the dark and feeling Nancy to find her so she can swing a leg over her lap. She's heavy and firm on top of Nancy's legs and her breath is on Nancy's face, her fingers in her hair, and Nancy is surrounded by her. She lets out a groan, reaching a hand up to hold the back of her head.

"Shit, Nancy," Robin breathes. Nancy hums softly, nibbling on her lip.

Robin's arms wrap around Nancy's neck, pulling her so close that their chests press together, and Nancy exhales, gripping her waist tightly. The fabric of her shirt is thin, and she can feel the heat of her skin under it, and she suddenly, desperately needs it gone.

"Can I--" Nancy pulls back with a gasp, looking at her. Her eyes are almost shut, and her lips are slick, shining like she's wearing lipstick. "Can I take your shirt off?"

Robin beams and her shoulders hunch, and she nods.

"God, you're gorgeous," Nancy breathes. Robin looks down at her, tilting her head.

"You really think so?"

"Fuck, yeah. You're stunning, Robbie."

Robin's gaze softens even more.

"I like it when you can me that," she says softly, almost whispering. Nancy smiles, leaning up to kiss her.

Her hands slide over the smooth fabric of the shirt, over her waist and belly and chest, carefully squeezing, and she listens to Robin's soft breaths as she reaches for the top button, pulling her lips away to kiss her chin.

She unbuttons the shirt slowly, carefully, pressing equally slow kisses over Robin's neck. Robin's hands find Nancy's hair, running through it gently, untangling snags. Nancy listens to her breathing.

The top of the shirt falls open, and Nancy ducks her head down, kissing across Robin's collarbones, pressing a kiss to the hollow of her throat. Robin hums quietly, her fingertips scratching Nancy's scalp lightly as Nancy undoes the next buttons.

When the buttons are all undone, Nancy pushes the shirt open and sighs, leaning in and kissing over where Robin's heart is beating beneath her freckled skin. Robin lets go of Nancy's hair and leans back a little bit, pulling the shirt off her arms and setting it aside as Nancy gazes at her.

"Can I..."

"Anything," Robin says, almost interrupting, nodding. "You can do anything. Please."

Nancy smiles, sliding a hand over her waist, and she tilts her head up, silently asking for a kiss that Robin delivers with a grin as Nancy reaches to her chest. Robin hums softly as Nancy's fingers tighten.

Robin's hums get more breathy as Nancy presses kisses across her collarbones again, over her heart and to each of the freckles that are scattered across her breasts.

"Nancy," Robin gasps as Nancy is sliding her thumbs over her nipples carefully. "I need..."

"Anything," Nancy breathes. Her heart is pounding in her chest, adrenaline coursing through her veins even as they whisper and slide their hands over each other slowly, even in the silence of the night. "What do you need, baby?"

Robin whines, squeezing her eyes shut and furrowing her brows, and Nancy kisses her neck again, whispering a quiet, "What do you need?"

Her hips jerk against Nancy's, and she lets out a broken whimper as Nancy swears under her breath.

"I need-- I need more," she says brokenly. "I'm so..."

"Fuck. Fuck, shit, use my leg," Nancy says. Her hands are shaking. Robin is grinding on her lap, and her skin is soft and smooth and spotted with the fucking stars, and Nancy needs it all.

Robin makes a soft, confused noise, and Nancy lifts her hips to grind against her.

"My-- My thigh," she says, choking on her own voice as desperation builds in her chest. "Ride my thigh."

"Fuck, Nancy." Robin looks down, shifting in Nancy's lap, and Nancy releases her to pull her hoodie off, tossing it aside so hard the zipper hits the window on the other side of the car, but neither of them cares. Robin tugs at Nancy's shirt as she's settling again, sitting atop Nancy's thigh with her own leg between Nancy's. Nancy leans forward, pressing a messy kiss to Robin's chest as she pulls the hem of her shirt up over her head, mussing her hair.

They're both panting, desperate, and Robin kisses Nancy so hard their teeth clash painfully, but Nancy just lets out a soft moan, shivering as Robin's hands slide over her arms and her chest, catching on the fabric of her bra and tugging at it.

"Jesus," Robin says, sounding exasperated, and Nancy looks up at her, blinking blearily. She's looking at Nancy's chest, at the bra, and Nancy's face flushes with heat as she remembers that it's The Bra. "Are you trying to kill me?"

Nancy giggles, squeezing her eyes shut, and Robin lets out a strained breath, grinding down on Nancy's thigh.

"Take it off," she says. "Please, Nance, please, I'm..."

Nancy huffs out a breath, leaning forward and reaching behind herself to undo the clasp, but the space is too small, and she can't reach it, and she lets out a frustrated groan. Robin laughs, snorting, and Nancy huffs again, falling forward so her forehead rests on Robin's shoulder.

"Can I help?" Robin asks quietly, amusement audible in her voice, and Nancy nods against her, wrapping her arms around her waist. She lets out a strained exhale as Robin pulls her closer, her breasts pressing to Nancy's, as her fingers slip over her spine and undo the clasp of the bra. She rubs the spot on her back where the clasp was.

They part to get the bra out of the way, and then Robin is groaning, and she's riding Nancy's thigh in earnest, her shorts ridden up her legs, and if Nancy were just a little less desperate than she is right now she would stop her to make her take them off. But she can't, listening to Robin's panting breaths, to her whimpers that seem to be coming straight from her chest.

"Fuck, I'm-- I'm sorry," Nancy says weakly, grabbing at Robin's hip and pulling. "I didn't tell you sooner." Her eyes are stinging, her vision blurring as she watches Robin move.

"Don't be," Robin says breathlessly. She's holding Nancy's shoulders, and the air between them is hot now. "I-- I should have told you too, or-- or Steve should have just told us, fuck--"

"Don't talk about Steve while we're having sex," Nancy says, laughing as Robin snorts and buries her face in Nancy's neck. "Fuck, you're so-- you're so perfect, Robin, oh my god."

She slides her hands to Robin's legs, sliding over her thighs and slipping under the hem of her shorts before she reaches around to her ass and squeezes. Robin whimpers.

"You're..." Nancy closes her eyes, focusing on the feeling of Robin'ss chest on hers, of their skin pressing, becoming tacky with each other's sweat. "You're doing so good, baby."

"Nancy," Robin chokes, her hips stuttering. Nancy can feel her heat through her sweatpants. She kind of wants to feel it on her face. (Maybe later, if Robin wants.) "Fuck, please, I'm--"

Nancy desperately reaches a hand between them, sliding it under Robin's hips, and Robin helps, sitting up for a second before sitting back down on her hand, and Nancy groans, biting her lip. Even through Robin's shorts, she can feel how wet she is, and she's so hot, and Robin reaches to hold her wrist in place as she grinds against her fingers. Robin is whining, whimpering and panting and moaning, and her knee is pressing against Nancy, who breathes Robin's name weakly.

She can feel Robin's whole body trembling when she comes, and she reaches her peak not long after, her face buried in Robin's shoulder, throat dry and voice hoarse from panting and moaning. They wrap their arms around each other as they come down, still breathing hard. It feels like the heat in the car is on, but Nancy doesn't want to let go.

"Come home with me tonight?" she asks after a minute as Robin is playing with her hair. Robin kisses the side of her neck.

"Okay."

They take their time getting dressed, remaining in each other's arms for a while until the sweat drying on their skin becomes cold. Nancy doesn't bother putting the bra back on, and she gives Robin the hoodie to wear. Nancy glances at Robin as she's driving back to her house. She's smiling.

The house is silent and dark when they get there. Nancy leads her upstairs, and they shower together, staying quiet in the hall and under the spray of hot water. They wash each other's hair. Robin makes Nancy's into a mohawk with the foamy shampoo, her eyes gleaming with amusement. Nancy lets her.

Nancy steps up behind her as she's rinsing herself, wrapping her arms around her waist and pressing her cheek to her shoulder. Robin hums quietly, sighing and letting her head fall back to Nancy's shoulder, sliding her hands over Nancy's forearms and twisting their fingers together.

Nancy's soft love you is barely audible over the spray of the water, but Robin hears it. She turns her head and kisses Nancy.

Robin lays her head on Nancy's chest when they climb into bed together, smiling happily as she presses her face against Nancy's breast, and Nancy snorts, resting her hand on Robin's head.

She looks up at the ceiling in the dim light of her nightlight. She used to want to paint the sky on it when she was little. Maybe someday she can commission Will to do it in her own home.

"We have less than two months," she says softly after a moment. "I'm..." Her eyes sting again. She can't seem to stop crying now that she has time to.

Robin sits up, hovering over Nancy and carefully touching her face.

"We have all the time in the world," she says quietly. Nancy squeezes her eyes shut, and a tear slips down her temple. Robin wipes it away tenderly. "I'm serious," she says gently, almost murmuring. "You're going to Boston, Nance, 's not the end of the world. We have Christmas. And telephones."

Nancy smiles weakly, sniffling, letting her hands fall to Robin's neck.

"We have time," Robin whispers, gazing down at her. Her hair is damp and falling in her face, curtaining like they're hiding behind it. "And we still have to tell Eddie and Steve about our new... development."

Nancy grins, sniffling again and lifting her chin to ask for a kiss. Robin obliges.

The kids, excluding Max and El (who are likely at some extended sleepover of their own), come around to the Wheelers the next morning. They get dropped off by Eddie, who doesn't come inside, instead saying goodbye to the kids before speeding off to band practice. Nancy and Robin are in the kitchen making coffee when the kids come inside, their presence announced by the noisy bickering of Erica and Dustin, and Nancy greets them, tossing blueberries for Lucas to catch in his mouth as they head to the basement.

Mike runs upstairs without seeing them, carrying a bag, and a minute later he comes back down. The kitchen is quiet except for the clinking of Robin's spoon in her mug as she stirs sugar into her coffee, and Mike freezes as he heads toward the basement door.

He and Robin look at each other for a second.

"Morning," she says lightly. Mike looks her up and down, noticing Nancy's clothes, and then his eyes cut to Nancy, questioning.

Nancy suppresses a smile, taking a sip from her coffee, and Mike's eyes widen, his face lighting up, mouth spreading into a wide grin as he looks back at Robin for confirmation. Robin just nods.

"Shut up," Nancy says, and Mike lets out a loud, "Hah!" before he's grabbing her in a tight hug and wiggling as she laughs, trying to push him away. "It's your turn now," she says when he finally releases her.

"Absolutely not." He snatches her cup of coffee before she can stop him, and beelines toward the basement door and she yells his name loudly.

Robin laughs, letting her head fall against Nancy's shoulder as Nancy huffs in defeat, hearing Mike laugh evilly as the door shut behind him.

"That's what it's like to have siblings if you're curious," Nancy says, letting her head rest against Robin's. "Little shit."

"You love him."

"Yeah," Nancy sighs. "I do."

Robin shares her coffee with her.

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