#SILVER FOX STEVE HARRINGTON

[hawkinsbnbg]

Silver fox Steve meets fox hunter Eddie.

When Steve accepted the teaching position at IU, he didn't expect to stumble upon Eddie Munson–an enigma—who loved metal, who wore leathers with chains and rings, who always stood out with that wild mane, those attractive tattoos and devil-may-care attitude, and who had been trying to get into his pants for months now.

“Is this still a violation to the college’s policies, Professor?” Hot lips planted by his ears, strong hands held him down, stopped him from getting away.

“N– No,” Steve gasped and rolled his eyes back as Eddie hit that spot again. They had been at it for over an hour now, and Steve only had himself to blame for being weak-willed.

He had half a mind to worry about what his colleagues might say tomorrow about having seen him slink away with one of the graduates. But his head was rendered blank when those long calloused fingers wrapped around his neglected cock and started jerking it.

“Am I still too young for you, Professor?”

“Ye– Oh, god–” Steve writhed and slobbered as his sweet spots were battered again.

“Just Eddie is fine,” the younger man nipped the tip of his ear teasingly before setting up a brutal pace.

Steve couldn't even talk, he just fisted the sheet beneath him, overwhelmed and overstimulated. He was kind of appalled and thrilled by it all. Because sex had never felt so good to him before.

“Am I good enough for you, Professor?” Eddie asked, voice husky and gravelly with lust.

Steve dropped his mouth open to maybe form a proper word or breathe, he didn't know. His brain was too fucked out to remember why he had kept turning Eddie away in the first place.

The guy clearly knew how to plow. Fucking Christ.

He nodded blindly, moaning and losing his mind as Eddie hammered into his prostate as if wanting to knock his soul away.

He came with Eddie’s name on his tongue, twitching and clenching around the thick cock that pulsed inside him. He milked it for what it was worth, and lamented inwardly Eddie had filled the condom and not him.

Once the post-coital high finally passed, the clarity of the situation dawned on him. Steve didn't regret it, but he was mildly disappointed this was just a one-time thing.

Because of all people, he knew Eddie’s kind the best. Always curious, always eager to take on challenges. And who else was better to conquer than Professor Harrington who was known for being a rule stickler?

Except, tonight was the first time he let himself be swayed by those charming smiles and big impish eyes. Maybe it was old ages having mellowed him, or maybe it was loneliness wearing his guard down.

Either way, someone brilliant like Eddie would never stick around for a boring old man like Steve. Which was completely understandable. But it didn't hurt less to think he was just another pitstop in Eddie’s life. Easy to forget, easy to leave behind.

“Hope you haven’t gotten tired of me yet, Mr. Harrington,” Eddie returned from the bathroom with a washcloth in hands, looking far too chirpy in only a pair of black boxers and not at all as drained as Steve felt.

God, what a time to be reminded that he was too old for this.

Sitting against the headboard, Steve said nothing and just watched Eddie climb on the bed and kneel over to him. When he intended to take the washcloth, Eddie just grabbed his hand to kiss the back of it instead.

“Allow me to take care of my date,” the younger man said cheekily before proceeding to wipe him down with practiced ease.

“Your date, huh?” Steve snorted, laughing at himself for being so pathetic to perk up at that.

“Yeah, my date,” Eddie smiled softly, tone still light-hearted but eyes intense when they met his own. “We’re kinda doing it backward here but I can fix that.”

Jesus. Steve didn't think he knew what he was getting himself into. And still, he couldn't help but listen to his stupid heart, the one that was telling him to give Eddie a chance.

“How?”

“I know this place has really good tacos,” Eddie rested a hand on his bare thigh and stroked it slowly. “They also serve quite decent drinks and mean buffalo wings.”

“What if I say no?” Steve raised his eyebrow.

“Well, in that case,” Eddie deflated, looking like a kicked puppy as he braved on. “I’ll respect your decision and get out of your hair soon.”

Steve sighed, wishing pretty boys with big eyes weren't his weakness.

“Listen carefully,” he leveled Eddie with a serious look. “If you’re just looking for someone to fool around with, then I’m not the right person for you. But if you want to try for a real relationship, then we can do it together. And I’ll expect you to be fully committed. No polygamy or anything alike.”

Eddie grinned at him, dimpled and bright, before cupping his cheek and kissing the side of his mouth.

“Sweetheart, I’ve been committed to you since the first time we met. Been yours even before you noticed me.”

The fact that Steve could tell it was true made his heart flutter in his chest.

“Well then, Mr. Munson, I have no problem with you fixing our date tonight,” he turned his head slightly to press a chaste kiss on Eddie’s lips.

“So polite,” Eddie chuckled and kissed him again, but it was deeper and more tender this time.

Although Steve still couldn't quite believe Eddie would stick around, he decided to take the leap of faith anyway.

And many years later, when he glanced up from his newspaper to see Eddie showing him another new sweater for their dog, he knew he had made the right choice that night.

[steveshairychest]

Steve used to be afraid of growing old.

He used to fear the day his hair would start to grey and his skin would start to wrinkle. His father hadn't aged well and Steve feared that was also to be his fate. He used to care so much about how he looked because that's all he had going for him; it's all anyone noticed about him.

No one took the time to sit down and get to know the real Steve, not Steve 'the hair' Harrington.

But then Eddie came along. Eddie, with his big smile and loud laugh and endless questions. He asked Steve questions Steve had never even asked himself.

"What do you want to do with your life?"

"Who do you want to be?"

"Why are you using your mother's anti-wrinkle cream?"

Eddie came barrelling into Steve's life and made him realise that getting older isn't something to be afraid of. It's something he should welcome with open arms because there is still so much he hasn't done, still so many wonderful things he hasn't seen.

He's sat around worrying about silly things he can't avoid, like grey hair and bad knees, instead of going out and living his life.

He doesn't want to waste away in Hawkins worrying about what he'll look like and what people will think of him. He wants to travel the world and eat new foods and get his first grey hair with Eddie by his side.

Because he knows now that no matter how much he changes with age, no matter how wrinkly and frail he gets, Eddie will love him regardless. Eddie will still hold his hand and call Steve his 'beautiful boy'.

[piratefishmama]

Long time married Steve and Eddie do this thing where they meet in a bar once a month and pretend not to know each other to have the raunchiest hotel sex ever just cause playing pretend is fun and they can giggle over the bad dirty talk later.

[no-context-nonsense]

Pretend this was posted on Saturday.

[stervrucht]

“Just a second,” Eddie calls from halfway beneath his bed.

Steve taps his foot as he looks around Eddie’s room. It’s messy and there’s a lot of stuff. His eyes drift around, taking it in. There is a poster with ‘Corroded Coffin’ on it in scrawled graffiti and from what Steve can see, Eddie has at least two guitars. 

On Eddie’s desk, he spots a skull — some sort of animal, but Steve has no idea what.

Steve hears Eddie groan as he tries to move back from under the bed.   

“You need any help there, Munson?”

“Nah, I got it.” Eddie turns with some difficulty and then he’s out from under the bed, sprawled halfway across the floor. He sticks up his hand and holds out a book to Steve.

“There you go.”

“Eh, thanks.” Steve flips the book over in his hand and it’s just stupid D&D stuff. “Dustin better be grateful.”

“Is he ever?” Eddie responds while he works himself in a sitting position. There is dust in his hair and his shirt is risen to expose half his chest. 

“You got a point there.” Steve lets out an unamused laugh.

When Eddie finally stands, he readjusts his shirt and quickly combs his hair. Dust still clings to his dark curls.

Steve’s eyes fall on the skull again and from his periphery he sees Eddie follow his gaze.

“You looking at the skull?”

Steve hums in response.

“It’s a fox. Pretty sick, huh? I found it myself.” Eddie’s eyes find his and he looks oddly proud.

“Pretty cool,” Steve echoes. “How do you know it’s a fox anyway?”

“Oh, just you wait.” Eddie leans over, reaching for the skull and holding it up to Steve.

“Skull size, teeth, and see these babies—” Eddie points at the eyesockets. “They’re huge.”

“Aren’t fox heads larger?” 

“All muscle and fur.”

Muscles and fur. 

Suddenly Steve comes to the horrifying existential realization that humans are also just bone and muscle and skin. He looks over at Eddie, studies his face, and suddenly it’s like he has never seen him before.

The way skin pulls over muscle, the lines around his mouth as he smiles. And how smiling pulls Eddie’s jaw taut, appearing more angular than when it’s relaxed.

“You okay, Harrington? Guess skulls are a bit morbid, huh? I sometimes forget how normal people think.” Eddie laughs sheepishly and puts the skull away again. 

When Eddie looks back, Steve is still staring. 

The skin over collarbones is thin with little muscle. 

He looks down at Eddie’s hands which have grown nervous under Steve’s eyes. 

Silver rings, skin, muscle, bone. 

Without thinking, Steve reaches out. He holds Eddie’s hand, runs his fingers over Eddie’s. 

Soft warm skin. 

“Eh…Steve?”

Steve looks up and the urge to touch is overwhelming. He raises his hands and touches Eddie’s cheeks with curious fingers.

The skin is more coarse here — marked by a five-o-clock shadow — but it’s also warmer.

“What are you—”  

Eddie stops talking when Steve runs a finger over his lips, pulling them open, just a little. 

They’re different from regular skin; warmer and wetter. 

And then Steve has no idea what he’s doing, but he moves forward and brushes his own lips over Eddie’s. Under his fingers, Steve can feel the muscles in Eddie’s jaw grow taut. 

That piques his interest. 

He slides his hand from Eddie’s jaw to his nape. From there he can feel the muscles in the jaw, thin over bone; those in his neck, thick and strong. 

He runs his tongue across Eddie’s lower lip and he feels Eddie’s lips part, his body growing soft under his actions. Eddie’s lips are moving, tentative and testing against Steve’s. 

There is no bone there.

He licks into Eddie’s mouth, feels the smooth skin under his tongue; runs his tongue over Eddie’s teeth and takes in the contrast.

Steve pulls back, his hand growing slack against Eddie’s neck as he realises he just let himself go.

Eddie stares at him with dazed eyes.

“I didn’t know skulls did it for you, Harrington.”

[steviewashere]

In Sickness and Health

Rating: General CW: Discussions of Medical Issues, Referenced/Past Seizures Tags: Established Relationship, Married Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Future Fic, Older Steddie, Canon Divergent, Steve Harrington has Seizures, Eddie Munson is a Sweetheart, Steve Harrington is a Sweetheart, Breakdowns, Hurt/Comfort, Angst & Fluff, Eddie Munson Calls Steve Harrington Pet Names

For the @steddielovemonth prompt: "Love is giving them space when they need it."

💕—————💕

Eddie has learned to revel in quiet afternoons, even when he’s alone. The way the sunshine bathes the apartment’s living room carpet—his and Steve’s apartment. Their cat, Poncho, settled heavy and warm in his lap. A chilled glass of southern iced tea and a plate of crackers and sliced cheese. The television volume on low. Book open and set on the arm of the couch. It’s good, the quiet.

Yet, it breaks the moment the front door opens. He didn’t hear Steve stick his key in the lock. But he definitely hears his annoyed groans and huffs. The slam of the door, most likely shut with his hip. A muffled, “Damnit”, when he drops his keyring on the floor.

He peeks from the edge of the couch, eyes set and attentive at their front door. And Steve is there, wrestling with his puffer jacket, grumbling under his breath, kicking his legs and stepping on the backs of his sneakers��something he never does, he cares too much for those things. But here he is. One t-shirt stuck on a doorknob away from a breakdown.

Though, Eddie doesn’t chastise him for the way his emotions express. No matter how explosive they are. Steve just gets like this some days. Too angry to talk. Too begrudged to take care of his things.

What’s new, however, is Steve’s slightly splotchy, puffy face. Red and pink and white. The tears brimming in his eyes. Ever apparent even behind his glasses. A paper with professional scribbling on it—a doctor’s note. He had an appointment this morning. Made last night after an emergency room trip. A seizure is what put him there. Scared them both, Eddie too eager to make him take an appointment, to call in sick to work. He should’ve gone with, if this is how Steve’s coming home.

He plops Poncho on the couch, letting him stretch skywards and curl back into a little ball. Tea abandoned on the coffee table. And Eddie gently comes around the corner, hands hooked in front of himself, still dressed down in pajamas, eyes wide and expecting at Steve. 

“St—“

Steve shakes his head. A hand held out in front of him. Jacket and shoes abandoned by the front door. And he sidesteps Eddie completely, barreling down the hallway, slamming the bedroom door behind him, and locking it.

Eddie lumbers after him, slowly, cautiously. Face to the wood of the door. And through it, what breaks his heart, he can hear Steve’s soft cries. He resigns himself to some time on the couch. Steve always needs his space after breakdowns like these.

Needed it after Max woke up in the hospital, half-blind, limbs mostly healed. Needed it after Eddie came out of surgery, pock-marked and head shaved, half a grimace on his face. Needed it when Robin moved out of state for college. After Dustin and Lucas and Mike and Will and Eleven and Max all graduated high school, when they went their separate ways across the country, when they called once or twice a month. When his dad died, the grief a heavy blanket on his shoulders, his chest lighter, his brain angry at being relieved. 

Steve needed his space when Eddie brought home their cat (though he came out merely ten minutes later, an excited smile on his face, name on the tip of his tongue). Nightmares and dissociation episodes. At the grocery store, because he has to stick to a list, knowing that Eddie never does that. The first grey hair, which he then took in stride when Eddie called him a “Beautiful baby silver fox.”

Even after they moved to Massachusetts in 2008 and got married. His emotions were so strong, so palpable, so rapid—he just needed a moment to debrief, take a hot shower, and then cuddle into Eddie’s side on their honeymoon bed.

Point is, Eddie knows when Steve needs his space. Knows that he cherishes that time to himself, to break down in contemplative silence, to let himself digest new information or old information or just get himself restrung. 

He wishes that Steve had been taught that it’s okay to breakdown in front of his loved ones. That it’s okay to ask for help and for comfort. But it doesn’t come easy. It makes him guilty. It makes him scattered like a headless chicken.

For the mean time, Eddie sets himself down on the couch, iced tea in his grip, volume turned up slightly on the television. Steve doesn’t like it when people hear him cry. Eddie doesn’t acknowledge it either, for the sake of saving Steve from another impending breakdown. He loves Steve with all his might, he just wishes things were slightly different. He’ll do this, ever reluctant he may be.

——— Around thirty minutes later, an average amount of time for Steve, the bedroom door creaks open. Eddie quickly turns down the TV and gently places his now empty glass on the coffee table.

Small, floating from the hallway, Steve calls out, “Eddie? Can you—“ He sniffles, voice still choked up. “Can you come in here, please?”

The sight that Eddie wanders in on breaks his heart a little further. Steve’s face is still a splotchy mess, his eyes downcast and teary, waterlines pink. His hair, grayer now, is askew. There’s a definite slump to his body, where it rests on the edge of the mattress. Hands intertwined between his legs, fingers locking and pulling one another, socked feet shuffling on the rug. He got out of his day clothes, now back in his pajamas from the night before—sleep shorts, grey t-shirt.

Eddie closes the bedroom door behind him. He scoots over and kneels down on the floor. Hesitantly, he sets his palms on Steve’s knees. He rubs the inner skin, warm and soft, with his thumbs. “Whatcha need from me, baby? Ask me to do anything, I’ll do it.”

Steve sighs, breath shuddering as it leaves him. His exhale ends on a little whimpered hiccup. Instead of answering, he grabs the paper he was holding earlier and passes it over. It’s edges are wrinkled, probably from being handled roughly, maybe even scrunched. And Eddie was right, it’s something from a doctor’s tablet. Signed off with a messy scrawl:

— Instructions for handling seizures. — What to do if a seizure lasts longer than five minutes. — Steps on how to start the process of getting a service animal. — Firm directions telling the patient to not drive. — Prescription for Tegretol CR 200mg

And the diagnosis in thick, blocky, bold black text:

Epilepsy

Eddie sighs through his nose. He swallows thickly and looks back up to Steve’s defeated face. He murmurs, “I should’ve gone with you. I’m sorry, love bug.”

Shrugging, Steve mutters, “Thought I was done with the after effects of the shit back in Hawkins. I’m so—Angry? Disappointed? I don’t know how to feel.”

The paper is set back on the mattress and Eddie pulls Steve into his chest. He rubs a hand down the length of his spine, the other squeezing around his waist. “You’re allowed to feel however you want. And it’s okay to take the time to figure that out, too. This is hard stuff, baby.” He sways them from side to side. Closing his eyes in relief as Steve’s arms wrap around his back. Something that, unfortunately, doesn’t happen enough when he’s in need of comfort. His hands grip tightly to the back of Eddie’s t-shirt. Eddie gently turns his head and kisses Steve’s cooling, still ruddy cheek. “We’ll start figuring this out. Like we always do. I’ll be right here for you, alright?”

Steve nods against his shoulder. Muffled into Eddie’s neck, he asks quietly, “Can I have some more space and alone time?” He shifts to slowly release Eddie. “Just for a little while. I promise I’ll hang out. I just needed to tell you, so that it’s not harder later.”

He pries them apart gently. Arms still encasing Steve, he holds soft eye contact. “You take all the time in the world. I won’t be offended, sweetheart.” He kisses Steve’s forehead now. When he sits back on his heels, Eddie brings up a hand and runs it through Steve’s hair, fingernails dully scratching at his scalp. His smile is lopsided, the youngest it’s been since the first confession. It comes easier now, “I love you, you know that? I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” Steve murmurs, barely returning the smile, and yet it’s there. Eddie revels in that, too.

And when Eddie goes to exit the bedroom, door almost shut behind him, Steve calls out his name one more time. Looking back, Steve swamped in their comforter, glasses folded on the bedside table, wrapped up and warm, Eddie tilts his head in careful implore. He hums in question.

“Thank you for understanding,” Steve whispers.

“Thank you for telling me, I know it was hard. If you need anything, I’ll be in the living room, okay? I’ll keep the TV low, but tell me if it’s too loud.” Steve nods, shifting under the blanket further, fully supine on the mattress. He looks more relaxed. He looks a little easier. “Have a good nap, love bug. I’ll be here when you’re ready.”

[lexirosewrites]

Monday Wrap-Up!

Slick Sunday 09/22/24

(asks/posts hyperlinked below by category)

steddie:

librarian eddie/first grade teacher steve

sabrina carpenter pop princess omega steve

steve goes into heat and humps "best friend" eddie's pillow

construction worker eddie helps single mom steve

alpha eddie tends to lonely omega steve when tommy is away

steve presents as a dual dynamic alpha and omega, asks eddie to bitch him

silver fox omega steve and forever young vampire alpha eddie

nancy knocks steve up and inadvertently pushes him into eddie's arms

more WAP steve harrington but with rockstar eddie!

insecure alpha eddie courts omega steve

pussy obsessed alpha eddie: part one, part two

useless alpha eddie needs electric work done and finds a boyfriend to do it

FWB where eddie needs a wake up call via steve going to a speed mating event

stranger things:

step sibling stobin continuation

general omegaverse:

poll about male omegas

how omegaverse differs between fandoms

[hawkinsbnbg]

There was a line somewhere between wanting to court a handsome omega and keeping everything professional. Eddie wasn't always good at following the rules.

Eddie got a German Shepherd and brought it to Steve Harrington—an expert in teaching dogs manners—through Chrissy's recommendation.

After some talking, they agreed to meet up twice a week for the training.

And despite Eddie's hectic schedule, he always made time for Stev– his buddy—Benny (Benjamin).

If his gaze always lingered on Steve a little too long, then no one was the wiser.

No, Eddie didn't have a thing for Steve—a six-foot-tall and well-built omega.

Who smelled like dark chocolate.

Who wore striped polos, tight jeans, and military boots to work.

Who already had some white streaks in his hair.

Who would chuckle, eyes crinkling warmly, whenever Eddie cracked some silly jokes.

Eddie didn't enjoy how packed, or how older and taller Steve was than him.

Eddie didn't wish he would be in Benny's position sometimes.

Eddie didn't want to lick Steve like a lollipop to see if the omega would taste as mouthwatering as his scent.

Eddie didn't want to get on his knees for Steve so he could be called 'good boy'.

Eddie didn't ask for Steve's number and wasn't glued to his phone until the omega replied to his text that night.

Eddie didn't send Steve photos and videos of him at work to prove how capable he was.

Eddie didn't ask Steve out on a date after only two weeks, didn't agree to take things slow despite his desperation, and didn't melt into a puddle when Steve kissed him good night.

He didn't love making Steve smile, laugh, and giggle or miss Steve terribly whenever they couldn't meet.

Eddie didn't spend his rut with Steve for the first time and pop his knot in an instant the second Steve sat on his cock.

Eddie didn't get drunk on the dark chocolate scent and confess how much he yearned to build a family with the omega.

Eddie didn't cry in joy when Steve returned his feelings, looking so smoking hot and gorgeous while riding him into oblivion.

When it was Steve's heat, he didn't try to knock his sweetheart up, or fall in love all over again when they exchanged their mating bites.

Eddie didn't hold an extravagant ceremony to announce to the world that he finally found his mate.

Eddie didn't grin like an idiot every time he gazed at the gold bands on Steve's and his ring fingers.

Eddie didn't thank Benny at all for getting him and Steve together.

Except, Eddie had done all of that.

And now, he was holding his lovely daughter in his lap as they both watched Steve playing chase and catch with Benny.

"Dada, Dada," she giggled and wiggled eagerly as she tried to clap and cheer for Steve.

"Isn't Dada the best, hm?" Eddie chuckled at her high spirit. "Let's go tell him how awesome he is, alright, Lottie?"

"Dada," she nodded with a toothless smile and wrapped her arms around his neck as he stood up from the chair.

Then, he waved at Steve to let him know they were coming over.

Steve greeted him with a chaste kiss before turning his attention to their daughter. "Hey there, Little Princess."

"Dada," she turned and made grabby at him.

Once she was in Steve's arms, she smacked his cheek with a loud smooch. Steve returned the gesture with the same enthusiasm before smiling at Eddie.

"Wanna join us, handsome?"

"Your wish is my command, Highness," Eddie grinned and bowed slightly, earning himself an amused laugh from Steve.

As Eddie engulfed both his husband and his daughter in a bear hug, he glanced down at Benny who was resting by their feet and looking as pleased as punch.

"Thanks, buddy," Eddie mouthed at him.

"Woof!" Benny wagged his tail merrily.

You're welcome, bro.

[koithelittle]

moodboards

wilbur-verse

little!dark wolf moodboard || x

day 1 of f.a.c. (fictional agere challenge) // no warnings // wolf themed

cg!wilma soot moodboard + headcanons || x

gn!little!reader // day 2 of f.a.c. // no warnings // artist + bear themed

flip!argbur moodboard || x

day 5 of f.a.c. // no warnings // winter blue theme

regressor!ghostbur moodboard || x

day 8 of f.a.c. // no warnings // baby blue and white theme

cg!godbur moodboard || x

day 9 of f.a.c. // no warnings // blue stars and Christmas theme

cg!clinic wilbur moodboard || x

siren/wilbur from tcfsv // no warnings // dark teal and black/white theme

cg!wilma moodboard || x

requested by @wilmaslittleflower // no warnings // yellow, brown, bear and art theme

cg!vampire!wilbur moodboard || x

no warnings // black, red and white theme

cg!cc!wilbur moodboard + headcanons || x

no warnings // brown, bear, bunnies and dear theme

cg!revivebur moodboard || x

no warnings // brown, yellow and white theme

cg!goddess wilma moodboard + headcanons || x

no warnings // pink, white and brown theme

cg!wilbur + puppy obsessed little moodboard || x

requested by @ax-y10 // no warnings // pink soft puppy theme

cg!wilbur with space/poetry loving little moodboard || x

requested by @burgundy-baby // no warnings // blue, tan and spacey theme

burgundy wilbur moodboard || x

requested by @burgundy-baby // non agere, standard moodboard // reddish burgundy theme

cg!darkwolf moodboard + headcanons || x

requested by @corner-of-void // no warnings // blue, grey and wolf theme

christmas with cg!wilbur moodboard + headcanons || x

no warnings // red christmas theme

cg!wolfbur moodboard + headcanons || x

requested by anon // no warnings // black gold and wolf theme

cg!simpbur moodboard + headcanons || x

requested by anon // no warnings // white, silver webcore theme

purple cg!wilma moodboard || x

requested by @ax-y10 // no warnings // purple soft theme

cg!wilbur stimboard || x

no warnings // bear + yellow/brown theme

cg!purple fairy moodboard || x

requested by @burgundy-baby // no warnings // pink, purple + fairy theme

cg!wilbur purple witchy moodboard || x

requested by @burgundy-baby // no warnings // pink, purple, witchy theme (candles, crystals, etc)

cg!knightbur moodboard (sorry boys) || x

requested by simpbur anon // no warnings // red, grey, brown + knight theme

cg!wilbur purple space moodboard || x

requested by @burgundy-baby // no warnings // pink, purple + space theme

cg!zombur moodboard (sorry boys) || x

no warnings // yellow + brown theme

cg!wilbur cozy yellow moodboard || x

no warnings // yellow + cozy vibes theme

content creators

sitter!tommyinnit moodboard || x

no warnings // yellow and red theme

cg!ranboo moodboard || x

no warnings // pink, gray and bunny theme

cg!markiplier moodboard || x

requested by // no warnings // red and black theme

cg!charlie slimecicle moodboard || x

no warnings // light green theme

sitter!ranboo with dino obsessed little || x

requested by @dino-boyo-agere // no warnings // green dino theme

x-files

cg!fox mulder moodboard + headcanons || x

gn!little!reader // no warnings // space/blue themed

fnaf

cg!mike schmidt moodboard || x

requested by @jjtheresidentbaby // no warnings // soft, brown theme

cg!glamrock freddy moodboard || x

day 7 of f.a.c. // no warnings // orange blue theme

marionette moodboard || x

requested by anon // no warnings // purple, 80s arcade theme

other

cg!steve harrington x little!eddie munson || x

day 3 of f.a.c. // no warnings // there was no theme

regressor!loki moodboard || x

day 6 of f.a.c. // no warnings // green frog theme

havenplace dr moodboard || x

day 10 of f.a.c. // no warnings // green, winter and Christmas theme

twenty one pilots moodboard || x

requested by @justyouraveragealien // no warnings // white, grey, blue, black, red theme

cg!dean winchester moodboard || x

requested by anon // no warnings // brown grey theme

cg!steven grant moodboard || x

requested by 🎀 anon // no warnings // moon, yellow/grey/white theme w moons

curious george moodboard || x

no warnings // yellow and brown theme

winnie the pooh moodboard || x

requested by @aew-kun-age-regression // no warnings // yellow theme

cg!argyle + dino obsessed little moodboard || x

requested by @dino-boyo-agere // no warnings //dino, green theme

cg!connor rk800 moodboard || x

no warnings // blue, white + well.. Connor themed

[fictional-malewife-tournament]

Here’s our line up guys. 👍

Here is the list right now, there is a lot so they’ll be seperated into 8 groups and then we will go through all of those 8 groups to get to the end.

group 1:

Rom vs Puss in boots 

Alex (stardew) vs Jim Kirk

Roulx Kaard vs Jin Zixuan

Caleb wittebane vs 2bdamned

David Kostyk vs Mirabel’s dad

Kanji tatsumi vs Papyrus

Bob vs weyoun

Donkey vs Duster

Gren vs Janus the silverdeath

Lloyd vs Hannibal lector

Todoroki vs Gajeel redfox

David (lilo) vs link (botw)

Sugawara vs Pixel-Mess

M!Robin vs Stanley pines

Ben Chang vs Quirrel

Saul Goodman vs Will graham

Group 2: 

Kiryu vs Hero

The medic vs Ron

Percy Jackson vs professor Layton 

Neelix vs Iggy frome

King Harrow vs Lucas (Runs factory five)

Yu Narakami vs Elliot (stardew)

Jakob vs Aoi kurashiki 

Sokka vs Moxie

Nightwing vs tatsu

Archer (emiya) vs Master splinter (2018)

Barius vs Forrest

Ryuuji vs Jay walker 

Sanji vs Garmadon

Quark vs Kaito

Fox mulder vs tenma tsukasa

Leon (Pokémon) vs Delbert Doppler

group 3:

Berdly vs Marten Reed

Kai (ninjago) vs James 

Usui vs Gobber

Charlie vs Steve Harrington

Alec lightwood vs kronk

Paper vs Dr octopus

Discord vs Dedue

Arven vs Harvey Dent

Hunter vs Christopher Pike

Narciso vs Kermit

Cletus Jones vs Gomez Addams

Tom vs The king

Klavier Gavin vs Greg Universe

Kamado Tanjiro vs Brock (unikitty)

Ashe vs Louis Moriarty

Sisko vs dale lee

Group 4: 

Trip vs Brady

Franky (one piece) vs Tom Wambsgans

Shinra vs Jaskier

Your father vs Banquo

Silver the hedgehog vs Troy Barnes

Archer vs Space Boyfriend

Donald Duck vs Mr clean

Ren vs Nandor the relentless

Cove Holden vs Magnus Burnside

Bail organa vs Hiccup

Riker vs Corpus

yoo joonghyuck vs Kazuki

Fan vs kunikida doppo

Lazlo cravensworth vs loid forger

Peter b Parker vs Ken

Ryunosuke Naruhodo vs venti

group 5:

Prince Fluff vs Sarek

Nagito vs Zagreus

Macbeth vs Lucas (mother 3)

Stede vs Anakin skywalker

Tack vs Felix Madrigal

Jason mendoza vs N (murder drones)

Ren (oxenfree) vs Soren

Saru vs Kaveh

Castiel vs Yarne

Ivor vs King furgus

Kuboyasu Aren vs James Wilson

Yeza Brenatto vs Kristoff

Makoto Naegi vs Stoick

Tomohisa Kaname vs hunk

Peeta vs Jadzia

Kim Gonja vs Henry clerval

Group 6: 

Ron delite vs wang pangzi

Sam (Sam and max) vs Emmett

Kazuha vs serizawa katsuya

Jayce talis vs Asmodeus (iruma-kun)

Kai satou vs Professor Saguaro

Steve cob vs Minato Namikaze 

Dean Winchester vs Chakotay

Eugene Fitzherbert vs Chat noir

Spitelout vs Spock

Matt hooper vs Childe 

Siegblut vs Worf 

Edric Blight vs Yanki

Control (from southern reach) vs Tuco Salamanca

Seteth vs Louis de pointe du lac

Maes hughes vs Kazuma Asogi

Dr Watson vs Thoma

Group 7: 

Tennisball vs Barry bluejeans 

Luigi vs Hatsuharu

Snotlout vs howl

Jay (ghosts) vs dj Octavio

Gregory house vs Elliot Spencer

The mad hatter vs Joe tazuna

Basil hallward vs Harvey (Stardew)

Ethan winters vs olruggio

Albedo vs pleakly 

The heavy vs Jake English

Bruce Wayne vs Shen wei 

Naven NukNuk vs Dante (mystreet)

Phillip vs bow

Anji Mito vs Fishlegs

Stanford vs Speedwagon

Bariel vs Jesse Pinkman

Group 8: 

Ralsei vs Goofy

Sam (stardew) vs Seymour (little shop of horrors)

Ethari vs Cecil

Fix it Felix vs Kaoru hakaze

Ignus scientia vs Lukas

Majima vs Hercules

Magolor vs Calcelmo

Fred vs Randy Hapukurk

Kurogiri vs The riddler

Declan lynch vs Philza

Jaune vs Sergeant Schultz

Reiji Sakamaki vs Q

Luo Binghe vs King of hearts

Thatcher Davis vs Jonathan buyers

[girl-next-door-writes]

Let Your Heart Be Light

Characters: Steve Harrington x Reader

Summary: Steve is trying his best to impress his new friend, the trouble is that he has competition.

Word Count: 1515 words

Prompt: #20: Cookie decorating competition

A/N: The fantastic @chromium-siren slipped this prompt in for the delightful Mr Harrington and I am happy to write it.

This was not a big deal, not at all. It wasn’t like Steve had spent yesterday cleaning the house and making sure everywhere looked sufficiently festive or anything. And even if he had, it wasn’t like it was purely because you were coming over. Everyone was coming over for a day of cookie decorating and Christmas movies and general holiday season fun, so it wasn’t like this was a date or anything. Steve had been very clear about that, and then spent the next couple of days kicking himself for making such a big deal so now you probably thought he wasn’t interested in you like that.

The house smelled of freshly baked cookies, which were now cooling on various racks on the kitchen table. He was so glad Mrs Henderson had helped him out with that little task, all he had to do was pop them in the oven as instructed, then he had hovered there, staring through the tinted glass, not wanting to even blink for fear they would burn in an instant.

“Hey doofus, this place looks like Christmas threw up!” Robin called as she let herself in, smirking at the decorations.

“In a good way? Or in a ‘seriously I should rip them all down and start from scratch’ way?” he asked nervously, appearing in the kitchen doorway wearing a dark red apron with tiny white reindeer cross-stitched into it.

“Like it matters.” Robin retorted before bursting into laughter at the sight of him. “Wow, you’re in full on mom mode.”

“He’s always in mom mode.” Dustin wandered in with Lucas and Mike, holding up a bag filled with cookie decorating paraphernalia. “Mom says to just send back what we don’t use, but we have to wash stuff first.”

“No problem. I’ve already washed the trays from earlier. Your mom is pretty cool, Henderson.”

“She your role model? Will I come in here one day and find you dressed up like her? That would be quite Psycho of you.”

“Hey guys, look who I bumped into on the driveway.” Nancy beamed as she entered the house with Will and you following close behind.

“Oh, hey!” Steve said a little too loud to be natural, running his hand through his hair before he realised he still had some flour on it. “Shit.”

“Look at that, Steve’s a Christmas badger!” Mike smirked.

“Or maybe he’s going for silver fox.” Lucas added.

“You guys pick on him like it’s a sport.” Max huffed as she arrived with Elle, the last of the group to arrive, arms filled with interestingly wrapped gifts. “I’m gonna throw these under the tree for later.”

“Now everyone’s here, we can officially begin. I’ve got the kitchen set up.” Steve nodded to the kitchen and slowly people made their way past him.

You stopped for a moment to say hi. His heart practically stopped when you reached up and lightly dusted the flour out of his hair before following Nancy towards the table.

“She touched your hair! She touched your hair, and you didn’t explode! You must really like her.” Robin teased.

“Shut up.” He hissed, glancing over to make sure you hadn’t heard the interaction, his eyes widening as he heard Elle say,

“Oh, Nancy dated Steve.” He quickly moved over to stand beside you, eager to change the subject and get the competition rolling.

“Okay, listen up. We each get four cookies: a tree, a Santa, a star and whatever the hell that other one is.”

“I think it’s supposed to be an angel.”

“Okay, so an angel. Whoever decorates their cookies the best will get the prize.” Steve grinned as the promise of a prize caused the kids to go a little wild.

“Hey, hey. See you’ve started without me.” A familiar voice called out and Steve’s heart sank a little.

“Hi Eddie. Thought you couldn’t make it.” He gave his friend a tight smile. It wasn’t that he wanted to exclude Eddie, just that he didn’t want the tattooed metal legend to waltz in and steal your attention away.

“Well, someone’s got to make sure your cookie decorating thing isn’t entirely lame. Speaking of, what the fuck is this music?”

“It’s festive.” Steve rolled his eyes and folded his arms over his chest.

“It’s bullshit.” Eddie grinned, tilting his head with curiosity when he spotted you. “Hi, I’m Eddie. Looks like there’s not enough cookies to go round, mind if I share with you?”

“No, Ed, tha-“ Steve began to protest but his words were lost in the din.

“Sure. No problem. You can do the angel and Santa? Or are we making him Satan?” You had asked with that easy smile that usually made Steve’s heart skip, only now it was aimed at Eddie and Steve’s shoulders slumped. Right. If he was going to pull this back, then he was going to have to wow you with his cookie decorating skills. He wasn’t just gonna roll over and let Eddie steal you away. Rolling up his sleeves, Steve moved to stand beside Robin, ignoring her pitying looks and grabbing the green icing. These were going to be the best decorated cookies he had ever made.

An hour later, the kitchen looked as if a class of kindergarteners had been let loose with icing in there. Steve wasn’t sure how the hell there was a marshmallow stuck to the ceiling, but he had his suspicions it had something to do with Mike. His attention had flitted between his cookies and whatever you and Eddie were up to. Each time you had giggled had felt like someone turning a knife deep in Steve’s chest, and each time he had refocused on his icing skills.

The finished products were now lined up on the counter, ready and waiting for judgement. Not that it was going to be especially difficult given the car crash of entries.

“Okay, so first up we have Wills.” Steve’s brow furrowed as he tried to find a nice way to say that the star cookie looked like baby vomit, and the marshmallow eyes for the angel were truly terrifying. “Good job, buddy.”

“Mine next!” Dustin proudly pointed to his cookies, one of which already had a bite taken out of it.

“Yeah, dipshit, you’re disqualified for eating your cookies.” Steve looked at him pointedly as the curly-haired boy began to protest.

One by one the entries were whittled down until there were three left: Nancy’s perfectly piped cookies, Steve’s surprisingly delicately decorated offerings and yours and Eddie’s ‘alternative’ cookies. As much as Steve wanted to hate them, he had to admit the Angel of Death was pretty bitchin. Maybe Eddie was a better match for you, and he should just admit he had no chance with you.

“So that’s three for Nancy, three for Steve and three for team metal Christmas.” Robin chuckled, “only two of us left to vote, who do you think deserves the win?” She turned to you and Steve had already resigned himself to the loss.

“I like Steve’s.” His head shot up in surprise as he looked at you. That was definitely not what he had been expecting. “They’re traditional and delicate, decorated with a light touch. All of them are colourful and I really wanna steal that tree one.”

“I’d say that seals it then. Dingus, you win. So, what was the prize?” Robin looked at her friend expectantly, but he was still too busy staring at you. “Earth to Steve?”

“Huh? Oh, erm, selection box under the tree.” He murmured a little distractedly.

“We can eat these now, right?” Dustin asked, already picking up his cookies and drifting towards the lounge.

The group all wandered through to start the movie marathon, picking up their snacks as they went, but Steve was rooted to the spot.

“You want some help cleaning all this up? I’ve already seen The Santa Claus like a billion times.” You offered and he swallowed hard, trying to remember how to form words when you were looking directly at him.

“You don’t have to. I’m sure Eddie will have saved a spot for you.” As much as it pained him to say it, he wanted to let you know that it was okay if you were interested in his friend.

“You know, I think Eddie might have a bit of a thing for you. I’ve just spent the last hour hearing about how amazing you are, how brave and smart and how much you care about this random bunch of kids. If he’s saved anyone a spot then I’m fairly sure it’ll be for you.”

“What?” Steve huffed out a laugh before realising you were serious. “Oh, no! No, no, no. Eddie and me are just friends.”

“Platonic with a capital P?”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“Like Robin?”

“Like Robin.”

“And Nancy?”

“Definitely. Just friends.”

“Okay. Good to know.” You gave him an enigmatic smile and turned to begin clearing up. Steve had no clue what had just happened between the two of you, but he was fairly sure he was back in with a chance.

[complicatedchelsea]

Fallen Through Time For You

Chapter Six: Cafeteria Confessions and Palace Punches

Masterlist:

(gif not mine)

(Sydney's POV)

We didn’t spend too much time bickering in the van before the beemer pulled into the driveway. Steve looked a little frazzled as he met us at the van, apologies running before I even stepped out. 

“-stin is a little shit that likes to always get on my last nerves. Have you been waiting too long?”

“It’s okay Steve,” I said as I shut the door behind me. “I got nowhere to be.”

“Well I have a hot shower calling my name,” Robin smarted as she grabbed the keys from Steve and started towards the front door. “C’mon, Harrington! It’s going to take you ages to style that gray hair!”

“Gray hair?” Steve muttered as he turned back towards me. “Do I really have gray hair?”

I felt Eddie’s arm slide across my shoulder, him giving it a brief squeeze before pulling me against him. “Six children will do that to you.”

Steve just rolled his eyes before starting towards the house. Eddie pulled me along him, falling into step behind Steve. 

“Don’t worry about it Steve,” I spoke up as we entered the house. Eddie was right, the house did look bare. Like a realtor could come at any moment for a showing. Is this really what the older Harrington’s considered decor? A house that didn’t have any attachments?

 With their style of parenting, it made sense. 

I rounded back to face him as Steve pointed in the direction of the living room for me. “Some girls like a guy with gray hair. Like to call it a ‘silver fox’.”

Steve ran a hand through his hair. “Really?”

“Don’t give him an ego, sweetheart.” Eddie said with a groan. “I thought we were meant to bully him?”

I swatted at him. “I can do both.”

Steve just shook his head. “I’m going to head upstairs before Robin tears my room apart trying to find her clothes.” He points at Eddie. “Don’t make a mess.”

Eddie just grinned and steered me towards a big couch. “No promises.”

I heard Steve sigh before he started upstairs. Eddie plopped me on the sofa before standing back up and heading deeper into the house. After a minute of noise from the other room, he returned with another cup of water and pushed it into my hands. Last night must have changed something between us, because he plopped down right next to me, thigh touching mine and arm going against the back of the sofa. 

“Are you doing okay?” I asked as I took a sip of water and gestured the glass towards him. “You worried I’m going to break?”

Eddie shook his head and took the glass from me, rings clinking the glass as he fidgeted. “Just making sure you are okay.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not going to break if that’s what you are waiting on. This morning was just more than I thought I was going to have to handle this early.”

“The past day has been a lot for you,” Eddie shot back as he leaned to put the glass on the coffee table and then crowded back into my space. “I just don’t want you to bottle all this stuff up.”

I shook my head. “I won’t.”

“You’ve been doing it since you got here.” Eddie said as he picked up one of my hands and gave it a soft squeeze. “Can you let me worry about you?”

“No one wants to worry about me.” I said as I looked down at our hands. I didn’t want to look him in the eye. “Waste of time.”

“Hey,” Eddie chided as he tapped my chin with his knuckle. “Look at me, please?”

I let out a deep breath and met his gaze. Those brown eyes were as unwavering as when I first saw them yesterday. He took his hand away from my chin and gently tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear. Eddie let his hand trail down the back of my neck, down to my shoulder, and gently sweep down my arms that were still covered in his worn flannel. He let his hand wrap around my pulse point at my wrist, gently sweeping the soulmark. 

Butterflies erupted in my stomach as he moved his hand, my heart feeling like it was missing every other beat. He was being so gentle, like no one else had been before. I feel like I could almost choke on the intensity of the intimacy in his touches. 

“Promise me that you’ll always tell me how you are feeling.” Eddie echoed the promise he asked this morning as he kept rubbing gentle circles on my mark. “I don’t care if you are angry with me, I want to always know how you are feeling.”

I nodded, not trusting my voice in this moment. 

Eddie’s face flushed lightly. “What are you feeling now?”

I blinked up at him, taking a second to find the right word. It’s not like I could scare him away, could I? His declarations during my first breakdown still rung in my head, 

‘I’m laying claim here.’

‘You are my soulmate and I am yours.’

“Warm,” I blurted out and felt my face flush more. “I feel cared for.”

“Well, that’s what I hope to achieve.” The cheeky bastard smiled bashfully at me. “If you’ll let me.”

“What am I supposed to do for you?”

“Let’s worry about that later,” Eddie said as he squeezed my hands again. “Just focus on getting comfortable here. Then you can throw around all the words you want.”

“Eddie, I-” I stopped.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Can-” I let out a troubled sigh, trying to force the request out. “Can you hug me?”

“A hug? That’s all she asked for?” Eddie raised his voice and threw his head backwards. The force of his dramatics caused his whole body to fall back slightly, his arm sliding back off my shoulder. 

I let out a tiny laugh. Eddie leaned more towards the couch, peeking down at me with an amused grin. “Hugs are my specialty!”

“You’ve got to prove it now.” I said as I shifted more towards him on the couch. “I might just combust.”

Eddie didn’t waste a second in reaching forward and pulling me into his arms. 

He wasn’t wrong. I wrapped my arms around his neck, his sliding down to wrap around my waist. Eddie was so soft and that smell that I got off his flannel, I could smell tenfold. He held me so gently, tight enough to let me know that he was there but loose enough I could break it. I tucked my head into the crook of his neck, his curly hair brushing at my face but it didn’t bother me. 

I’m addicted to this now.

Maybe I’m biased, and maybe a little touch-starved. Jeez, was everything going to feel this great with him?

Being deprived of this for so long made me almost drunk on it from Eddie. I hope he was realizing what he was getting into with me.

The sound of someone coming down the stairs made me lean back, not wanting to make anyone else in the house uncomfortable. When I met Eddie’s eyes, he sent me another brilliant smile and traded the hug for one of my hands. I could see more clearly that it was Robin, dressed in baggy clothes that I had a feeling might not completely belong to her.

“I knew I’d finish before Steve,” Robin said as she plopped down on my other side and started to tuck her jeans into her boots. “I should have bet money.”

“Is that sass I’m hearing?” Steve’s voice came from upstairs. 

“Just deal with that gray hair, Harrington!” Robin yelled back. “Sucks for you!”

There was an exclamation from upstairs, but I didn’t bother to decipher it as Robin turned back to face Eddie and I. 

“How hard do you think it’s going to be to put hair dye in his conditioner?”

The ride to the arcade was an eventful one. I thought being in the van with Robin and Eddie was bad? Adding Steve to the mix was like putting alcohol on an open flame. I let Steve take the front seat, sitting in the back with Robin so they could all point out things around Hawkins as we drove. 

Steve was constantly bickering with Eddie about the music while Robin liked to learn forward to fuck with Steve by tugging at his hair or agreeing with Eddie to get a rise out of him. 

“You bored yet?” Steve asked me at one point when Eddie actually stopped at a STOP sign before turning. 

“I don’t think I’m ever going to get bored here,” I said with a grin as Steve turned to face me. 

“That’s the spirit, sweetheart!” Eddie said from the front. “Never a dull moment with these two.”

“Us?” Robin parroted back before learning forward to tug at Eddie’s hair. “Steve is so much worse.”

“What?!” Steve spluttered as he turned to face Robin. “Out of the two of us, you are the talker!”

“C’mon! Ste-”

And so it continued on until we pulled up to an orange looking building, “PALACE” in bold letters at the front. I could see the others waiting next to a station wagon, some of the kids bickering with Nancy looking bored out of her mind. I didn’t realize that Eddie had left the van until the side door slammed open; Eddie holding his hand out for me to get out of the van. 

When I stepped out of the van, he didn’t hesitate to intertwine our fingers and held me back as Robin and Steve made their way to the others. He squeezed my hand once, silently asking for my attention. “You’ll tell me if you need anything?”

I rolled my eyes with a smile and squeezed his hand back. “Always so demanding.”

“Oh sweetheart,” Eddie said as he took a longer step towards me, causing me to take a step back and I felt the cold press of the van on my back. “You haven’t seen demanding yet.”

I felt my face get red as Eddie pulled back to look down at me. He raised his eyebrows, a mischievous look on his face. “You okay?”

Oh, he thinks this is funny.

“Peachy,” I said as I reached to tug at one of his curls. Eddie leaned forward into my space, his hair almost creating a curtain around us. “Maybe you’ll just have to show me?”

The look on his face was priceless. I reached to tug on one more curl before stepping under his arms and towards the group. “Who am I playing against first?”

I followed the group into the arcade and when I turned back to find Eddie, I could see him leaning against the van with a hand to chest. His eyes met mine and I laughed before turning around to follow the kids to a machine. 

Max was a master at most of these games, easily beating some of the other boys. She spent a solid twenty seconds teaching me how to play before just annihilating me. It didn’t take too long for Eddie to find me, and it didn’t take much of an argument for him to drag towards an air hockey table. 

“Whaddya' say, sweetheart?” Eddie asked with a cocky grin. “You think you can beat me?”

I picked up the stricker and pushed the puck in his direction. “Ladies first.”

Eddie laughed and it wasn’t too long before we drew the attention of some of the older members of the group. After beating both Eddie and Nancy multiple times, I passed the stricker to Steve and let him go against Johnathan. 

“Having fun?” Robin asked. 

“Hell yeah,” I said with a grin as Johnathan managed to score against Steve. “I haven't had this much fun in ages.”

“Hey,” Eddie said as he slid next to me. “I’m going to get something to drink, you want something?”

“Whatever you are getting.” I said back as Eddie shrugged off his vest and offered it to me. 

“So pickle juice it is,” Eddie joked as he looped my arms in the holes and the weight settled against my shoulders. 

“What are you doing?” I asked as I tugged the vest to sit right against my chest. 

“Besides you looking great in my clothes,” Eddie said with a cheeky grin, “I’m getting a little warm and you look cold. Do you not want to wear it?”

“I didn’t say that,” Robin let out a laugh next to me. “Someone might get the wrong idea.”

Eddie stopped trying to dig his wallet out and looked over at me, a guarded look on his face. “What idea?”

“That I’m a coat rack and not your soulmate,” I said. 

Eddie stared at me for two seconds before grabbing at the vest to pull me closer to him. “I think I’m sending the right idea.”

Robin gagged. “Can you not flirt with her for like two seconds? I demand a drink in retribution.”

Eddie smiled at me once more before nodding towards Robin and started to walk away. He managed to walk backwards for a few steps before he tripped on a machine and was forced to turn around and actually look where he was going. 

“God,” Robin snorted and lightly pushed me. “Has he been doing that all day?”

“Oh Robin,” I said dramatically and reached to pat her shoulder. “One day you’ll have a soulmate and you’ll understand.”

“Oh fuck off,” Robin laughed loudly before high-fiving Steve’s reached out hand. “You just got one yesterday.”

Once Dustin wandered over and demanded to play a match with me, I realized how long Eddie had been gone. I turned from the table and ignored Dustin’s exclaim of happiness when he got one past me. It didn’t take me long to find him in the crowd, he was standing tall in front of El, a blonde boy gesturing to the both of them. 

“Oh god,” Nancy said as she stepped beside me. 

“Who’s that?” I asked her.

“That’s Jason.”

I did a double take. “The same Jason Carver that you guys said tried to hunt Eddie down over the events of spring break?”

“Yep,” Steve answered this time. “He hasn’t hassled Eddie in a while. Guess he decided to start up again in a public place.”

Anger stirred in my gut. The group didn’t leave out any details about Eddie in their stories yesterday. How he spent all of his time trying to track Eddie down, threatened Dustin and Lucas; and only got scared off from the Creel House when the walls started to shake a hole split across the floor. The boy who thought he was carrying out God’s righteous mission. Who had someone else threaten a younger member of the party. Maybe I wasn’t that great at asking for things, but I damn well could stand up for them.

“Nope” I said as I handed Nancy the stricker, not wanting to fight the urge to use it. “I’m not putting up with this.”

Before they could stop me, I started my way towards Jason. 

Was this stupid? Maybe. 

But I’m not to let him say shit to Eddie. Or El. 

I put on my best concerned face as I got closer to the group. When I got in earshot, I could hear the words “freak”, “murderer”, and “gathering a cult-”

“What’s going on here?” I asked with an exaggerated frown. “We can hear yelling over the machines.”

“Sweetheart-” Eddie started to say with his hand out towards me. Like that was going to stop me.

“Shut it, freak!” Jason snapped as he turned towards me. I felt him look me up and down, it sent a slimy feeling through me when his gaze met mine with a sick smile. “Don’t worry, honey. I was just getting ready to take the trash out.”

Jason took a step back from Eddie and I didn’t even notice that one of his hands had a hold of Eddie’s shirt until he let it go. 

Fuck that. 

“You mean you're going to leave?” I asked as I slid between Eddie and Jason. I felt Eddie place a hand on my shoulder and I just shrugged it off. “It seems like the trash in here is you and that awful letterman jacket. Not even out of highschool and it seems you’ve already peaked.”

Jason stuttered and took another step back, his face turning a dark shade of red. “Now listen here-”

“No, you listen.” I said as I took a step towards him. “You leave Eddie and this group of kids alone. It’s a public place, you have no business harassing anyone.”

“I haven’t seen you around, so I’m going to assume you don’t know who you are standing in front of.”

“I know perfectly well who I’m standing in front of.” I took another step towards Jason, not letting him tower over me. I guess I had the flannel wrapped around me and with that step, it fell open to expose the shirt I was wearing to Jason.

“Oh he’s already got to you!” Jason exclaimed as he grabbed a hold of my arm. Tightly. “You don’t understand! He’s a murder-”

SMACK. 

My hand collided with the side of Jason’s face with a loud crack!, echoing across the arcade. Besides the machines, I couldn’t hear any voices. Everyone was listening. 

“Listen here you narrow-minded asshole,” I said as Jason cradled his cheek. “You don’t know shit about me and you sure as hell don’t know shit about Eddie. So if you don’t leave now, I’m going to make you leave.”

During the slap, the arms of the flannel slipped down my wrists, exposing my soulmark to Jason. I could see his eyes widen as he looked from me to the presence I felt behind me. 

“It’s too late. He’s already got his claws in you.”

“One more chance, Carver.” I said. “Don’t think I won’t hesitate to throw you out on your ass and make a fool out of you, again.”

“You think so?” Jason shot back as he straightened back up. “Whose side do you think the police are going to take? A murderer’s soulmate or a grieving boyfriend?”

I sent him a dark smile. “I’m sure my Uncle Hopper would love to come down here and see how his niece is being treated.”

“Uncle Hopper?” Jason questioned me. “You’re lying.”

I shook my head. “You want to chance it? Fine, call him then. I’d love to tell him how you were threatening his daughter and his niece. Grieving boyfriend be damned.”

Jason snarled at me and that’s when Eddie decided he had enough. He tried to step between us this time, the hand on my shoulder pushing me behind him. “Leave, Carver. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

“You’re just a bunch of freaks!” Jason shot back as some other letterman wearing boy appeared beside him. “The whole town thinks so!”

“Save that energy for the court!” Eddie shot back as Jason was herded towards the door. “You let a freshman score the winning point, you might be losing it.”

Jason banged on the door as he left, glaring at us for a whole five seconds before shrugging off the other kid and walking away. 

Once he was out of sight Eddie whirled around to face me. He picked up the hand I slapped Jason with, gently running his fingers across the tingling skin. “What were you thinking?”

I sent him a confused look. “What was I thinking? I could hear him from across the arcade! Eddie, he had his hands on you!”

“I had it covered!” Eddie shot back. “He was harassing El and I stepped in. I had it covered.”

I snorted. “Sure looks like it.”

I turned to El. She didn’t seem shaken up, but her hands gripping the edge of her jacket said otherwise. “You okay?” 

She nodded before taking another glance around and then meeting my eyes. “Thank you.”

Will appeared behind her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and leading her towards the exit. “We are going to get some fresh air.”

“Good idea,” Eddie said as he grabbed my hand and tugged me after them.

“Hey!” I said as I tried to keep up with Eddie as he slammed the door open and led me towards the van. Not only when he opened the passenger door and sat me in the seat did he let go of me and start pacing. 

“I had it handled, Sydney.” Eddie said as he tugged on his hair. 

“I wasn’t going to let him say those things about you!” I said as I threw my hands up. “I don’t care if it doesn’t piss you off. It pisses me off!”

“So you’re angry now?” Eddie said as he spun back to me. 

“Of course I’m angry!” I said as I let out a breath and slouched forward, the anger evaporating out of me. “Eddie, the stuff he said was cruel and not true. No one needs to hear that.”

“I know that!” Eddie exclaimed as he took a step towards me. He started to reach out before he let his hands fall. Like he didn’t think he could touch me. I took a breath and reached forward to grab his hands and I could practically see him melt as the anger left his body. His thumb rubbed my knuckles as he took another deep breath. “But now you are involved. I didn’t want Jason to know about you.”

“What?” I asked and tried to take my hands back but he just tightened his grip. 

“Not like that,” Eddie said as he looked down, his hair creating a curtain between us. “He already harasses me and the others enough. Now you’ve been added to that list.”

“I think I can handle myself,” I said as I squeezed at his hands. “Look at me?”

It took Eddie a second before he lifted his head. “Are you mad that I stepped in?”

Eddie shook his head. “No, I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

With that he flipped our hands open to trace the palm of the hand that slapped Jason. “Does it hurt?”

I tried to bite back a smile. “No.”

“No?” Eddie echoed as he brought my hand up to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss to my palm. I felt my heart skip a beat and my face redden as he placed it against his cheek. “That was a hell of a slap.”

“I’ve been waiting for one,” I said with a shrug. “He deserved it.”

“Yes he did, sweetheart,” Eddie said with a smile. “But we are supposed to be keeping you out of trouble.”

“He started it,” I shot back with another grin. 

“And you ended it,” Eddie said with a bewildered laugh as he leaned his forehead down to press against mine. “I shouldn’t encourage this behavior, but that was hot as hell.”

“Yeah?” 

“Sweetheart,” Eddie said as he leaned back and I dropped my hand from his face. He chose to instead press his stomach against my legs hanging out of the van. “You really are my soulmate, aren’t you?”

My smile widened and I reached up to play with his hair. “That’s what you’ve been telling me.”

Eddie opened his mouth but was interrupted at the voices getting louder behind us. He groaned before taking a step back from in front of me and choosing to grab my hand to stay connected to me. 

“That was so cool!” Dustin exclaimed as he was the first to reach the van. “You slapped the shit out of him!”

“Language!” Steve shouted from the rear of the group. 

“So badass,” Max said as he appeared beside Dustin. “He’s going to have a handprint on his face for days!”

“Hopper’s not going to like this,” Jonathan said with a smile. “He’s going to be pissed you caused a scene.”

“He was harassing El too!”

“Sure,” Robin said with an eye roll and a smile. “That’s why you went over there.”

“Are we not playing anymore?” El asked as her and Will approached the van. 

“The worker didn’t like that display of violence” Nancy answered with air quotes. “Said that we could come back when we didn’t have an attitude.”

Steve looked down at his watch. “We did spend a good chunk of time there. Anyone hungry?”

Dustin groaned. “Do you even have to ask?”

I heard my stomach growl at the mention of lunch and Eddie chuckled beside me. “I totally forgot that I went to get you and a drink and got harassed. How about I buy the hero lunch?”

I let out a laugh and just pushed him with my other hand. “You just want to mess with me.”

“Oh sweetheart,” Eddie said as he leaned back into my space to whisper in my ear. “I want to do way more than that.”

My face burned as he leaned back, a smile etched across his face. “I’m expecting at least a milkshake for that.”

Eddie shook his head amused. “Whatever you want.”

“Why not show her the diner on 5th?” Steve asked. “That’s where we always go.”

“We could walk?” Will offered. “It’s a nice day out?”

“Sure,” Eddie said as he tugged me out of the seat and shut the door behind me. “I can leave the van in a public place.”

“Why do you need to leave it in a public place?” I questioned as we fell into a step behind the group. 

Eddie scratched the back of his neck. “Let’s just say that they know they can’t touch me. But if I’m not around they can touch the van.”

I stopped in my tracks and with the hold he had on my hand, it forced him to stop too. “Eddie, that’s not okay.”

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart.” Eddie said as he gently pulled me forward. “I’ve got you protecting my honor now, don’t I?”

I snorted and let him pull me into his side, exchanging his hand for him to wrap an arm around my shoulder. Hawkins really was a small town, we passed by a few tiny stores that in my time would not be open. I could easily get used to living in a town like this Eddie and if he wanted to leave, well I would let him take me anywhere. 

The diner was cute, just like I imagined it would be. I let Eddie push me into a booth towards the back, him taking the seat next to me while Robin and Dustin fought to sit next to Steve on the other side. 

“C’mon! Robin you’ve had him all this morning!” Dustin whined. 

“Dustin, you can sit with me next time.” Steve tried to compromise with a laugh. “You just want to bother Sydney about the future.”

Dustin stopped arguing and let Robin slide into the seat. “Is it so wrong I have questions?”

“I’ll answer them later,” I offered as Eddie shoved a menu at me. “Nothing too revealing or gross.”

“Deal,” Dustin said with a nod as he squeezed in next to Lucas. 

“Does that mean I get to ask questions?” Robin asked.

I set the menu down and shrugged my shoulders. “What do you want to know?”

Robin played with the edge of the fraying menu. “Too much.”

“You didn’t leave anybody behind? Did you?” Steve asked me. “I know you said you had a shitty family, but…?”

I felt Eddie tense beside me. I glanced over at him, seeing him grip the menu tight and not wanting to look at me. 

“God no,” I shook my head. “I’m a bit of an introvert, which most people didn’t like. I could always feel like there was something out there, but I knew I wouldn’t find it in North Carolina.”

Eddie met my eyes then. “Yeah?”

I smiled. “Yeah. I really wasn’t worth anyone’s time, and there were a few people that I didn’t deem worth mine. My best friend and I used to joke that if we didn’t find anyone by forty we would just marry each other anyway.”

A lump formed a bit in my throat. “If I’m going to miss anyone, it’s going to be her.”

“You can do that?” Robin asked me in a small voice. “You could have married her, legally?”

“Yeah, it hasn’t been legal for too long in the US. Sure you still might get harassed about it by some religious groups, but it’s perfectly legal.”

Robin made a small noise before ducking out of her seat and rushing towards the back of the diner. I could hear a door swing shut and I turned my gaze back to Steve. 

“Did I say something?” Last thing I’d want to do is upset someone. 

“No, sweetheart.” Eddie said as patted my arm. 

“Robin’s just sensitive about certain topics,” Steve added. “I can go check on her.”

“No,” I said as I shoved Eddie a bit. “Let me. Don’t need you getting in trouble for going into the girls bathroom.”

Eddie let me out of the booth without an argument. I could see the waitress was finishing up with the other table and about to make her way towards ours. I went to open my mouth but Eddie beat me to it. 

“I’ll order for you.” He said with a smile. “Trust me?”

I nodded and started in the direction that Robin went. I found the bathrooms easily, gently knocking on the door before entering the room. “Robin? Are you okay?”

I heard some sniffling and could see someone sitting on the floor of the farthest stall. “Just give a minute and I’ll be out.”

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” I said as I made my way towards her stall. “I’ll leave if you want me to, but I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

I heard the lock handle before Robin pushed the door open from her position on the floor. I took that as an invitation and went into the tiny stall, locking the door behind me before sitting on the floor next to her. 

Robin was wringing her hands together, looking at her feet on the floor. “If I tell you something, will you promise to not tell anyone?”

“Of course,” I said as I scooted closer to her and nudged one of her boots with my foot. 

“I... uh, shit. I- I like girls.” Robin said in a rush. She didn’t stop moving her hands and kept looking at the floor. 

I nodded even though she couldn’t see it and reached for hand. “Robin?”

She let me take her hand and I sent her a gentle squeeze before sliding all the way up to her, my side pressed against hers. “Can you look at me?”

She took a deep breath before she lifted her head. Her blue eyes were red, tears creating a path down her face. 

“Thank you for telling me,” I started with a smile. “It doesn’t change anything.”

“Really?” She asked me. 

“Really,” I nodded back. “So when you got upset it was because..?”

“I’m going to have to wait at least twenty years to get legally married!” Robin exclaimed. She shook her hands, mine included because she hadn’t let go. “That is such bullshit!”

“I agree! It took them way too long to legalize it and even then it’s not that easy. Some places still discriminate and won’t let you get married at that destination. Or you could get hate-crimed in the street for holding hands with the same-sex.”

“God,” Robin groaned and dropped her hands and let her head rest against my shoulder. “Does it get better?”

“It does.” I started. “But it’s not easy for people like us out there. We tend to stick together.”

“People like us?” Robin questioned. 

“Shit.” This was supposed to be about making Robin feel better. “I didn’t mean to let it slip out. I’m trying to make sure you are okay.”

Robin lifted her head off my shoulder and shifted her body to face me and asked again. “People like us?”

“Yeah,” I scratched the back of my neck. “I’m not exactly straight? I like both?”

“Bisexual,” Robin muttered the word. A word that use to send me into a total panic attack at the thought. “What about Eddie?”

“It didn’t matter to me if Eddie was a boy, girl, or anything in between. I wasn’t lying when I said I knew he was out there. It was like a feeling I’ve always had? I just knew one day I would find him.”

“Are you out to anyone?” Robin asked as she rubbed her hands against her face to get rid of the tears. 

“Just a few friends.” I said as I reached to grab her something to wipe her face. “My parents made it very well known they didn’t agree with that life-style, so I knew that I had to keep it pretty quiet or risk getting kicked out or worse.”

“Huh,” Robin said and then she let out a laugh. “The first person I met that’s kind of like me had to come from the future. Crazy.”

I laughed. “Very crazy.”

I let the silence sit between us for a moment. It didn’t feel like a bad choice to tell Robin. I was eventually going to have to tell Eddie, and the thought scared me. It doesn’t make me any less for being paired with him, but he didn’t seem like the type to insinuate that. Here was Robin, knowing me for less than twenty-four hours and being more accepting than most of the people back home. 

“Are you feeling better?”

Robin nodded and I stood up and offered my hand. I waited for her for a second to fix her makeup before making my way towards the door. 

“Steve and Eddie know, by the way.” Robin said from behind me. “So don’t worry about slipping up around them.”

When I turned around to face her, Robin enveloped me in a hug. “I promise I won’t say anything to anyone until you’re ready.”

I hugged her back. “Thanks. You don’t think Eddie’s going to take it wrong?”

Robin snorted. “God no. He’s been trying to be a good wingman to me these past few months. He might just embarrass you about how overboard he’s going to be about making you know that you are safe.”

“Steve the same way?” 

Robin laughed and looped our arms together as she guided us out of the restroom and back towards the table. It doesn’t look like we missed much, everyone still joking around the table like we only stepped out for a second. Eddie caught my eye as we got closer with a raised eyebrow, and I just sent him a smile. It’s not like I was hiding it from anyone here, but with Robin knowing, it felt a little easier. Like one broken egg had been cleaned up underneath my feet.

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[keycarabiner]

Hi! I'm Em. I write fanfiction for fun over on AO3!

♡ Nonbinary lesbian (they/them pronouns)

♡ 20s

♡ Hobby writer

♡ Currently writing stranger things fic (mostly steddie)

My inbox will always be open for any comments, questions, and requests.

Thanks for stopping by! ♡

Masterlist of fanfictions below the cut, sorted chronologically from most recent update:

AO3: mourningshowers

storge (G | 4.1k | 1/1 | part one of forms of love)

Steve Harrington is claimed by his mother the same night he arrives at camp. And it happens in the middle of the campfire sing-a-long, go fucking figure. 

Storge, or familial love, refers to natural or instinctual affection, such as the love of a parent towards offspring and vice versa.

carry me home (T | 10k | 1/3)

“I missed you,” he says honestly, the words muffled into Eddie’s skin, and something within him just— Clicks into place. Eddie doesn’t waste a second in climbing up onto the bed to hold Steve, too, his hands stroking up and down his back. Steve continues to murmur, “Even though back then, I didn’t really know you—I missed you so much when you were gone.” “Hey, hey, it’s alright,” Eddie says, and he draws back if only to run his hands through Steve’s hair softly, pushing the strands back just to lay soft lips at his temple. It feels like love, so it must be. Love. He needs it. So much he’s dizzy with it. He leans into the touch. Eddie smiles against his skin. “I never left.” Steve Harrington wakes up in a world where he is loved. It's not real.

any way the wind blows (M | 34.9k | 5/15)

Steve's mind is carefully blank. It has been from the moment his father walked him to one of the castle’s balconies, the one that oversaw his home kingdom in its entirety, and said the word betrothal.  He had suppressed every single thing, every emotion and feeling and conviction that had risen inside of him that very moment, and has continued to suppress them, and he will continue well after he is officially wed tonight—most likely until he takes his final breath. He had known for a while now that this would be his fate. He wishes knowing had made it any easier. From childhood, Prince Stephen of the Northlands has been a disappointment. When his parents forged a new alliance with the Southlands, he did not expect his own hand to factor into the treaty. Yet on the dawn of his twentieth birthday he finds himself being carted off to the capital of the Southlands to marry their infamous bloody-handed warrior, Prince Kas. Prince Kas’ reputation precedes him. But upon his arrival Steve quickly realizes that the Southlands aren’t all that they seem to be, and neither is his betrothed.

silver fox (G | 2.3k | 1/1)

Steve stops short. He meets Eddie’s eyes in the water-stained mirror, then his own. A beat passes. Before he knows it he’s crowding up way too close to his own reflection, pulling at his scalp this way and that and sure enough— There are a few hairs that glint silver in the dim bathroom light. “What,” he says again, as he feels his world slowly begin to implode around him. Grey hairs at twenty-one years old, he despairs silently. At this rate he will be almost entirely grey at age thirty, probably. “Kinda super sexy of you,” Eddie is saying, manhandling him a bit out of the way so that he can spit and rinse. “Silver fox Stevie. Ha.”

only i remain (your friend, eddie) (T | 9.5k | 1/1)

Dustin, I’m awake now. Finally. And I’m alive.

Dustin, Weird things are happening. Guess that’s just par for the course in Hawkins though, so I can’t say I’m all that surprised.

Dustin, This is the last letter I’ll be able to write.

hunter's moon (T | 17k | 2/2 | part one of moonstruck)

“What about your pack?” Steve asks, because, well— Werewolves are social creatures. Humans may not be right about the specific dynamics, the leaders and the runts and pack structures, but they got the general idea right. The idea that wolves have a distinct need for life, to be surrounded by it, sustained by it. There is no point in running beneath the glow of a full moon without people you trust. People who understand what it's like. “Don’t have one,” Eddie replies stiffly. “Don’t need one. I have my uncle. And my friends. Even though they’re human, they help with the whole socialization thing.” He’s a lone wolf, Steve realizes. That’s the smell that rolls off of Eddie Munson in irrepressible waves: it’s loneliness.

convalescence (M | 23.3k | 2/3)

Eddie met Steve the year he turned twenty, in a kitchen with peeling yellow wallpaper. Further down the line, he'll remember thinking that the wallpaper was dull in comparison to the glowingly beautiful boy stood at the stove. Even if the boy had the saddest eyes Eddie had ever seen, a deep brown and frosted over like the earth in January. You can be sad and beautiful, Eddie reasoned: wilted roses do not stop being lovely just because they’re looking down instead of up. Or, it’s winter and Steve is stolen.

baby love (G | 2k | 1/1)

Eddie looks better than he has in a long while. His hair is a little shorter and curlier than it was back in March and he’s wearing a short-sleeve Night of the Living Dead t-shirt, proudly displaying the healed, jagged scars that crawl up his arms and neck. His eyes are bright, his mouth fast, his posture relaxed, and he’s— He’s holding a baby. It’s shocking how quickly Steve’s mind goes hysterically loud one moment and then carefully blank the next.

stay safe (T | 4.3k | 1/1 | part 3 of first meetings)

“My name isn’t Junior,” Junior cuts in, like that’s the thing he should be concerned about, not the fact that Steve was calling out his perceived shitty relationship with his father. “Yeah, no shit,” Steve says. “But I don’t know your real name and Hopper calls you Junior, so.” “I’m Eddie. Eddie Munson. I’ve been in your pre-calc class all semester. And gym, but I never go.” “Oh,” Steve says. He recognizes the name, has heard it before, murmured in the halls of Hawkins High or on the back patio during a house party. He’d never been able to put a face to it. Never really cared to. It’s funny how quickly things like that can change. 

brighter in the dark (T | 13.9k | 1/1)

Eddie thinks that he’s probably judged Steve too quickly. He thinks Steve’s probably full of surprises, if the past two years are anything to go by. And then, of course, Steve just has to prove him right by stepping out of his BMW in a full sailor suit fantasy that not even the most depraved recesses of Eddie’s mind could have cooked up. Jesus. He’s got the little hat and everything. Cute tiny shorts, too, that are regrettably not as short as the ones included in the Hawkins High gym uniform, but still short enough for Eddie to be able to appreciate Steve’s legs. He has nice legs. Good knees. White socks pulled halfway up his calves, for some reason, stark against his golden tan skin. Wispy little hairs that probably go up his thighs. Eddie needs to stop looking at his legs. “Eddie Munson,” Steve calls as he approaches, his voice all easy and light like they’re actually friends. “Hi.” Eddie blinks at him. Because Eddie's life can never be normal, the summer of '85 finds him working a firework stand just outside of Starcourt Mall, catching up on school work, and tutoring Steve Harrington in all things D&D.

let the light in (M | 19.4k | 1/1)

Eddie’s blood sings out for him in a way that is distinctly not-human, and that’s really the final nail in the coffin. The proverbial one, at least. He’s not so sure what happened to the real one. “What did you do?” Eddie asks, when the horror fully sets in and takes over and the dread crawls up from his chest to claw at his throat and choke. He asks, desperately, “Steve, what did you do?” “What I had to,” Steve answers, and Eddie breathes out with decayed lungs, coughs up some more soil, and weeps. Eddie wakes up.

moonbeam (T | 6.1k | 1/1 | part 2 of first meetings)

Eddie hums. “We’ll figure something out,” he tells Steve, like they’re friends or something. Like they’ll see each other somewhere after this and won’t just let their eyes skip over one another’s faces—like they’ll actually call out to one another, sit down, catch up. Steve knows better. Knows their tentative alliance doesn’t exist outside of this mediocre 24-hour diner, at nearly midnight a few days after the Fourth of July. They both know it, Eddie’s just pretending not to. Strangely enough, it doesn’t stop Steve from saying, “Sure.”

in my life (T | 9.5k | 1/1)

Eddie will say goodbye to Dustin and Mike at the same time then move on to the rest. Two birds, one stone. And then he’ll be off. Easy peasy. Except it isn’t, because when has Eddie’s life ever been easy? He drives over to the Wheeler’s place down Maple Street, parks at the curb in front of the house. Stumbles up the front steps and raps on the door a bit. Is so lost in preparing his last-minute improvised goodbye speech that he doesn’t register the fact that Mike Wheeler isn’t the one answering the door until, well— “Eddie?” Steve asks, eyebrows furrowing. Eddie gapes at him stupidly. Eddie is leaving. Steve is doing his damnedest to get him to stay. Also, Holly Wheeler is a fairy princess.

you win some, you lose some (G | 2.3k | 1/1 | part 1 of first meetings)

Eddie hums. His eyes are blazing with something Steve can't really put a name to. “What were you and Hargrove fighting over?” “None of your business.” “Title of Best Car in the Hawkins High senior parking lot? Captaincy for the game in which you throw balls into laundry baskets?” He pauses, leans forward and grins wickedly. “A girl?”

chimera (T | 5.5k | 1/1 | part 1 of transmutation)

“Friend,” the demogorgon repeats. It reaches a hand up. Long and thin and veiny. Distinctly not human. Black beneath the clawed nail. The tip of its finger comes closer and Steve stops breathing right up until it gently brushes the denim of Steve’s vest. Not Steve’s vest. Eddie’s vest. Steve looks down. Jammed onto the finger is a chunky silver ring in the shape of a tombstone.

fixer-upper (T | 20.5k | 3/3 | part 2 of love letters verse)

Steve wakes up the morning of their two-month We-Finally-Got-Our-Shit-Together anniversary to find Eddie staring at him, crouched over at the foot of the bed with his round unblinking eyes like a fucking gargoyle. It should be creepy. Steve is used to this, though, so now it’s just kind of a thing that Eddie does. “What,” Steve says groggily, wiping the drool from his mouth. “Nothing, angel, go back to sleep,” Eddie trills. Or, two months after Steve and Eddie officially get together, Steve finds himself thinking about home, his heart, and how to let go.

you all the way down (T | 6.7k | 1/1)

Steve steels himself, grips his bat tight, and whips open the door. Instead of the kids, or Wayne, or any of the remaining basketball meatheads that have made Eddie’s life a living hell since the spring, a girl is standing on the stoop. She looks about Steve’s age, maybe a couple of years older. She’s short. Petite. She has freckles all over her round face, kind of like Robin does, with the same hair length, although hers is dark and straight with a chic cut to it. She’s wearing all black, ripped jeans and big heeled boots and an oversized denim jacket. Her dark eyes are ringed with smudged eyeliner and look wide, almost frantic; her hand is poised just above the door, and the dozens of thin silver rings on her fingers glint in the early morning sunlight. “Oh,” she says, her voice all airy like she’d run out of breath. “Oh, sorry. I… I must have the wrong place.”

in the meantime (T | 13.3k | 1/1)

Now that Eddie’s officially retired, him and Steve are engaged and they live in a huge house together in a state where apparently, it is currently at least a little bit legal for two people of the same gender to adopt or foster children together. They have a family; not some ragtag mishmash of people bonded by the trauma of surviving multiple apocalypses together, but an actual family. Two parents, a slew of children, and a home. The mismatched decor of the house suddenly makes a lot more sense, the pastel yellow color of the walls in the family room clashing horribly with the stuffed crow and plastic skull on the mantelpiece. It’s so them it hurts. Mike and El went off the grid for a number of years following the death of Henry Creel. Except it seems as though nothing is truly dead and gone, because the Upside-Down reawakens more than ten years later for reasons unknown. They soon find themselves calling everyone to come back to Hawkins and stop the end of the world from happening yet again. Some people have moved on, though.

two-headed calf; twice as many stars (T | 3.6k | 1/1)

The music has stopped. Eddie mutters something about a quick smoke break and slips out the front door, wood planks creaking and settling in his wake. The old guitar is abandoned against the wall. And who would Steve be, if he didn’t follow?

follow the sun (T | 11.1k | 1/1)

Eddie walks into a Michaels Arts and Crafts Store at 4PM on a Sunday stoned out of his goddamn mind and is immediately accosted by the image of Steve Harrington crouched over in the yarn aisle, wearing glasses and an apron over what can only be described as a grandpa sweater.

love letters in your lunch (T | 20.2k | 4/4 | part 1 of love letters verse)

Rumor has it that whenever any one of the seven or so gremlins that Steve has magnanimously decided to adopt sleep over at his ridiculously large and empty house, he’ll get up extra early in the morning and pack them all lunches in brown paper bags. He’ll make them breakfast, too, and drop them off at school with a ruffle of their hair, a slap on their shoulder, or a pep-talk, depending on the kid. Not that Eddie Munson, of all people, would know anything about it. It's October and Steve starts packing Eddie lunches for work. Eddie doesn't know what to do about it.

wake up the dawn (T | 7.6k | 1/1)

The worst part about the secrets is that Steve will eventually find someone else to share them with, someone else to show his big dorky glasses and play a subdued game of Two Truths and a Lie with, and Eddie will fade into the periphery, into the background, into nothing until he dissipates completely. It’s inevitable. That doesn’t make the dull ache right smack dab into the middle of his chest any less painful. Or, Eddie considers grief, hair, secrets, lullabies, and the unattainability of dreams.

[steddieficlets]

Title: Age Is Just A Number, Babe.

Pairing: Steddie, background ronance, oc x Steve.

Rating: SFW for now. Will change to NSFW later.

Tags for this chapter: age gap ( Eddie is 26, Steve is 40, although Eddie isn't featured in this chapter. It's more of a pre-warning), angst, fluff, bisexual Steve Harrington, stobin bromance, lesbian Robin Buckley, lesbian Nancy Wheeler, idealisation of the American dream, sex talk, silver fox Steve Harrington, male biphobia.

Summary: Steve Harrington is approaching middle age. He's single and miserable about it. What happens when he meets a mysterious young barman named Eddie Munson and falls head over heels? Lots of drama! Eddie has baggage, lots of it, which might just force Steve to confront some of his own.

When Steve Harrington was twenty years old, he imagined that life at forty years old would look like something out of his twenty year olds self dreams. For one, he'd be happily married with a cushy job that eventually led to an even cushier retirement and living in a nice house with those cliche white picket fences surrounding it. He'd be a father to at least two kids; the genders weren't important as long as they were happy and healthy. The imaginary Harrington family went on vacations twice a year and spent many holidays with auntie Robin. Oh, and they had a dog named Buster, a golden retriever that was loyal and protective to a fault, the epitome of man's best friend. Yeah, those naive dreams were once his personal visual novel when he slept at night. Who needed to read the latest Stephen King, they were creep-fests anyway, when he could just close his eyes and see the happy future that awaited him?

But life for Steve Harrington at forty years old was anything but a dream. His first wife, his high-school sweetheart Nancy Wheeler, had divorced him after only three years of marriage. Together, they had been the prom king and queen of the class of 1970. The couple that everyone wanted to be and were predicted to be together forever. Nancy told people after the divorce that the decision was mutual because it turned out they just wanted different things after the childish glamour of being Hawkin's High's most famous couple wore off. He wanted his nuclear fantasy. She wanted to be a hotshot reporter. Steve, on the other hand, didn't stop loving Nancy even once the divorce was final. It only settled in that things were finally over two years later when his best friend since junior high, Robin, asked him nervously for his permission to date, Nancy. He said yes and never asked how long the two women had harboured feelings for each other. Honestly, he didn't want to know. 

Marriage number two lasted longer a few years longer. Her name was Crystal, with long legs, long blonde hair, blue eyes, and a hefty pair of tits and ass. They were married within three months of meeting after a whirlwind romance full of wild adventure. For a time, those three months and beyond were a different life for Steve, the homegrown, corn-fed, all-American boy. They partied hard in clubs and at home, travelled all over, took different kinds of drugs, and had threesomes with other women, sometimes more, maybe a guy too, if Crystal felt like it. But as the years passed, Steve found himself once again, yearning for the life he used to dream of, or at least parts of it. Crystal didn't want kids or stability; she didn't want a Buster either. Things that she failed to mention, and Steve failed to ask sincerely for fear of having it all rejected when they were dating. Ultimately, Crystal left him when Steve suggested he wanted to have a threesome with another man and that he wanted to be the one to fuck said man. Apparently, Crystal was allowed to sleep with women. But when her husband wanted to fuck a guy, it was disgusting.

At least he had somewhere decent to live. A nice one-bedroom apartment on the northern side of Chicago where only a few blocks obscured his view of the stretching lake. People cared about the local community, and neighbourhood grandmas brought him brownies and pies on the regular and their pretty daughters in hopes they might catch his attention, but they rarely did. In turn, Steve took care of some odd jobs when they needed it, fixing stuff or painting a wall. He had a decent job as a paramedic with a pathway to Paramedic Chief if he kept playing his cards right. No one could say he wasn't a model citizen. But still, his life lacked love, kids, and a dog named Buster. Something that he lamented to Robin every Sunday morning when they met up for coffee while Nancy wrote at home.

"Maybe you're going about this all wrong," Robin told him before sipping on her decaf coffee, caffeinated gave her headaches.

"No shit, Rob." He deadpanned in return, folding his arms with a self-indulgent pout. Two women at the next table over hushed their conversation to stare and whisper over the muscle bulging out from Steve's plain white t-shirt. He shot them a small flirtatious smile. Still got it. Robin rolled her eyes, her lesbian immunity to the male physique stronger than ever.

"Look, I'm not exactly an expert on being a man. But you're still an attractive guy with a lot to offer. Chicks dig a well maintained man nowadays. It's 1997."

"My hairs grey–"

"Hot."

"What?"

"I read it in one of Nance's girly mags. Guys with naturally greying hair are the new black. They're representative of a man who will take care of you and treat you well."

"Rob, you know that sounds like horseshit, right?" Although, those were traits that Steve considered himself to have when it came to his partners, and he did have very impressive hair that had weathered well over the years. One thing Steve Harrington never missed was his monthly trip to the salon to maintain his lady killer mane.

"Yeah, but I was bored and the magazine was there. I think Nance only buys them for the fashion pages."

Steve sighed, then suddenly grimaced inside at how it might have sounded like he was wistfully reminiscing over Nancy. He wasn't. The subject of his waning love life always put him in a dour mood. But he said nothing, like always, and sipped his latte. "Mm, sounds like her."

Robin quickly drove the conversation away from her girlfriend and took the plunge into something she'd been thinking about for a while regarding her best friend. Leaning across the table, her denim-clad elbows resting atop the wooden surface, she looked inquisitively at Steve. "Why not try dating another man again?"

After nearly spilling hot coffee on himself in surprise, Steve went wide-eyed, staring back at Robin as his brain tried to process the suggestion. Date a man. He tried it back between his marriages to Nancy and Crystal, but with the AID's epidemic ravaging the gay community in the eighties. It'd been difficult and scary. He, Robin and Nancy went to so many funerals that he eventually gave up and met Crystal, who, ironically, ended up divorcing him for being queer. But that was in the past. Things could be different in 1997. The shock slowly melted away into contemplation. Having a man in his life sounded pretty sweet, someone he could be a dumbass with that'd laugh at fart jokes and farts in general. Nancy and Robin didn't care for them, sadly. Steve's only real male friends, Jonathan and Argyle, had moved to LA five years ago, where Jonathan opened a photography studio that Argyle ran. As much as he loved Robin, she was family despite no blood relation, and considering his shitty parents, he missed having that male presence. 

"Earth to Steve? Are you listening?" Robin's excited aura punched through his thoughts, and his head snapped up to meet her. "I've got tickets for next Friday to this new queer bar opening downtown called Hellfire. Maybe you could meet someone there."

"Maybe," he responded—the usual Harrington confidence wavering in the face of putting himself back on the dating scene. But maybe Robin was right. Perhaps this time, he'd find someone and get it right.

TBC.

[chrisbitchtree]

You just know that Steve runs to the drugstore for a box of hair dye the second he spots his first grey, even as Billy begs and pleads with him to leave it be.