#apologies to dustin

[livwritesstuff]

happy valentine's day pallies <3 threw this the office-inspired drabble together for funsies over the last few days and thought today was a good a day as any to finally post

“What the hell is wrong with Dustin?” Eddie asked as he walked through the open door to Robin and Nancy’s apartment, “I passed him in the hall and he’s ranting and raving like a goddamn lunatic. Barely even acknowledged me.”

“You got lucky,” Steve shook his head as the rest of the Party, scattered around the living room, gave a similarly over it-kind of response, “Also – hey. Missed you.”

Eddie dropped down onto the couch next to Steve and planted a kiss on his cheek.

“Ugh,” Robin groaned from the other end of the couch, “Either get a room or be gross later.”

“Missed you more, my love,” Eddie said loudly and pointedly as he settled in, and Steve ignored the way Robin rolled her eyes as Eddie draped an arm over his shoulders, “So…Dustin? What’s his deal?”

“He thinks he’s never gonna find love,” Lucas said from his spot on the rug, mouth full of half-crunched chips.

“Because he hasn’t dated anyone since Suzie,” Will clarified.

Steve watched Eddie’s eyebrows furrow.

“Uh, okay, didn’t they split, like, a month ago?”

“Yep,” Mike nodded.

“And didn’t Dustin just say last week that he’s happily married to his studies?”

“Dude,” Mike replied, “If you hadn’t been thirty minutes late, you would have seen us ask him these exact same questions.”

“Alright, gimme a fuckin’ break, man,” Eddie protested as Robin stuck a foot out and clipped the side of Mike’s head, “Not all of us are in college, asshole, living our most carefree lives. Some of us have jobs we're societally obligated to hold onto, Michael.”

“Anyway,” Steve cut in before Mike and Eddie’s bickering could derail the discussion too badly, “Dustin is apparently so desperate for love or whatever now that he’s trying to crowdsource a relationship.”

“And we’ve all been drafted,” Max said drily, “He wants us to set him up with someone at least once a month.”

“Each,” El added from beside Max in the armchair they're squashed in together.

“Each,” Max repeated with a nod.

“Jesus Christ,” Eddie blinked, “He needs to chill out.”

Eddie got a chorus of agreements in response, plus another snarky comment from Mike about how he could have told Dustin this himself if he hadn’t been late to their weekly movie night hangout, and then from there, the conversation spun into the Party’s usual overlapping pre-movie (waiting for the pizza to be delivered) chatter.

Eddie turned his attention to Steve.

“So who’s the lucky girl you’re siccing our deranged little buddy on?” he asked, voice just loud enough for Steve to hear over the surrounding conversations.

“I dunno,” Steve shrugged, catching Eddie's hand in his and starting to fiddle with the chunky ring on his pointer finger, “I don’t think anyone here is gonna put up with his shit, but…yeah, I dunno, I feel bad. I might try setting him up with Lauren – y’know, Andie’s friend she has over all the time?”

Andie is Steve’s roommate, who took Robin’s spot on the lease after Robin, the woman she is, U-Hauled with Nancy at a spectacular rate (barely a month into her and Steve’s lease). Steve couldn’t exactly blame her – Nancy’s brownstone is leagues (and leagues and leagues and leagues) nicer than the shitty walk-up he and Robin had barely been able to afford at the time. Plus, Robin was all kinds of apologetic about it – paid her half of the rent and everything until she found a suitable subletter.

Enter Andie, a women’s and gender studies major who Robin had met at their school’s SGA during her first semester of undergrad and who leans pretty much as far to the right on the good ol' Kinsey Scale as someone could. Both Steve and Andie had been a little on the fence at first, but as far as living with a half-stranger goes, he can admit that it actually went okay.

Case in point, he and Andie are both a good few years out of college now and neither of them have made any move to, y'know...move.

“Lauren?” Eddie repeated, “You mean, Andie’s straight friend? The one Andie is very actively and overtly trying to woo?”

“It’s not gonna work,” Steve insisted (because this has been a topic of conversation between the two of them for a while), “If she’s straight, she’s straight.”

“Well, yeah,” Eddie acknowledged, “But it’s not her I'd be worried about, Stevie.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“C’mon, Steve – it’s basically a lose-lose for you. If Dustin goes on a date with Andie’s straight friend that she is, once again, very overtly and obviously into, whether or not it goes well – whether or not it even happens, Steve – Andie’s gonna find out that you were the one behind it, and you’re living with her.”

“So?”

“Dude, you’re gonna get booted outta your place.”

“No way,” Steve scoffed at him.

“I’m telling you – hell hath no fury like a lesbian scorned. Have you seen Nancy at the bar when someone is trying to hit on Robin? The big guy in the clouds was cutting from the same cloth when he created these ladies.”

Steve rolled his eyes at his boyfriend's brand of ex-Catholic poetic.

“Well…whatever. It’s just an apartment. If Andie really has an issue…I dunno, I’ll just move.”

Eddie grinned at him.

“Oh really?” he says, “And who do you think’s gonna be taking you in? You’re a crazy neat-freak, you think it’s totally appropriate to watch sports during breakfast – I mean, seriously, I get wanting to watch Sunday Night Football or whatever, but listening to recaps before I've had a cup of coffee is borderline criminal – and you've got basically a thousand houseplants.”

“Yeah,” Steve gave a feigned nod of understanding, “Maybe I’ll just move in with my boyfriend – he could use some order in his life.”

“Okay,” Eddie said, straightening a little in his seat, “I’m in if you are, Stevie-boy.”

Steve felt his face fall just a little. He tried to laugh it off, but even he could hear how awkward it sounded, and he glanced around to make sure the rest of the Party was otherwise occupied.

“I mean...," he said slowly, keeping his eyes on their hands so he didn't have to look at Eddie and his ever-expressive face, "I’m not gonna move in with someone unless we’re getting married.”

He really won’t either.

He’d done that before with his first serious boyfriend a few years ago – it was kind of a U-Haul situation in its own right, and it’s how Steve’s apartment became Andie’s apartment that Steve pretty please asked to move back into four months later when everything went to shit with the boyfriend.

(Their landlord had raised an eyebrow at them when they asked to put Steve back on the lease he’d only just left, but he didn’t ask any questions.

“He probably thinks we’re, like, a total dysfunctional couple or something,” Andie had pointed out.

“If only he knew,” Steve shook his head, “He’s leasing to a pair of idiot queers who can’t get their love lives together.”)

So, yeah, the U-Hauling thing may work for lesbians (or, two very specific lesbians whose couch he's sitting on, at the very least), but it’s not for Steve.

He’s a little too intense for it, contradictory as it sounds. He’s been burned in the past by the notion that someone could be willing to take a step as big as moving in with someone, and yet still see their relationship as “unserious” enough to balk at other big things (things like meeting each other’s friends and family, and what to do if Steve had another seizure). He’s not interested in being burned again, thanks.

Not that he actually thinks Eddie would do anything like that – the opposite actually. Steve knows he won’t.

For as long as he and Eddie were friends, Steve had known it in a kind of way he didn't even think about, and he's known it in another way, in a way he couldn't not think about, ever since he eavesdropped on a conversation between Robin and Eddie.

“Steve’s boyfriend is a fucking asshole and I hate him,” Robin had said, because this was back when Steve was dating (and living with) his ex, who did turn out to be a colossal fucking asshole, but this was the first time Steve had heard that particular opinion voiced by one of his friends.

“Shit, okay," Eddie had replied, "Do I need to go kick someone’s ass?”

Robin had paused for a split second before saying, “No. You’d just finally decide to confess your love for him and make everything even messier than it already is.”

They'd both been quiet for another few moments, and then Eddie let out a frustrated sigh.

"Fuck, man, that blows." Another pause. "I just – I don't understand how anybody could get to have Steve like that and not worship every breath he takes. I'm telling you – if it were me, you'd be able to break me down into fuckin' molecules and still be able to find him there. He's the sun in the fuckin' sky, dude. How are people not getting this?"

Steve hadn't been able take any more than that, not without feeling like something within him would split in two, so he had gone back to getting snacks in the kitchen like Eddie and Robin had thought he was doing, and then he'd spent the rest of the night feeling a little nauseous in a way he couldn't explain.

To this day, Steve is pretty sure that neither Robin nor Eddie know that he'd overheard their conversation, but it's what led to him breaking up with his boyfriend nonetheless.

Nothing had happened between Steve and Eddie at first. Eddie had actually been in his own relationship at the time, despite his and Robin' conversation, though they inexplicably split only a month after Steve’s break-up (Eddie never gave the Party a reason why).

Not too long after that though, Eddie had shown up on Steve’s doorstep (in a goddamn rainstorm, no less, the theatrical bastard) to profess his undying love, and by then Steve had spent enough time reflecting on the last several years of his friendship with Eddie and had firmly landed on the conclusion that he was in love with him too.

And so here they are now.

Steve spared a quick glance at Eddie to see that he was wearing a cute, kind of confused look.

“Wait – Steve, have I not proposed to you yet?”

And Eddie's truly dumbfounded tone, Eddie's way of bringing Steve's attention back up to his face so Steve could see the cheeky grin he's still wearing, had relief flooding through Steve's veins and washing away any doubt or insecurity or fear because, as Steve might have let himself forget, this is Eddie.

“I don’t think so…” Steve replied, then he flipped their clasped hands over to show his unmistakably ringless ring finger, “Nope.”

“Huh. Well…look out, Stevie, ‘cuz that’s coming.”

“Oh really?” Steve asked, and now he’s got a big smile growing on his face too, and he ignored the way his heart was thrumming over what Eddie had just divulged to him, how matter-of-fact, how certain he'd sounded when he said it.

“Uh-huh,” Eddie nodded, and Steve is so in love with him it nearly hurts.

“You mean, like, right now?” Steve continued, still feigning confusion, still keeping up the bit like they weren't having a huge, important, real conversation right now, because they hadn’t been together that long, all things considered, and yet Steve wasn’t surprised to hear any of this because he felt it too.

Eddie rolled his eyes, “Not right now. Have a little faith, darling. Now would be pathetically unromantic.”

“Hmm,” Steve hummed his agreement, though a small part of him could acknowledge that now – happy and surrounded by all their friends – wouldn’t be the worst way to get engaged, but Eddie hadn't lost any of his flair for dramatics over the years, so he's not exactly surprised to hear that Eddie is picturing something more.

“I got it all planned out, don’t you worry," Eddie told him, looking all kinds of proud, “And it’s gonna knock your socks off, Steve Harrington.”

"Alright," Steve said as Eddie leaned away, leaned back into conversation with their friends, a tight squeeze to Steve's hand his only acknowledgement of the sheer magnitude of the conversation they'd just had, "I've been warned."

[lavenderstobins]

thinking abt steve having this shift from loving people so much that he’d die for them to loving people so much that he’d live for them. he makes robin laughs and he thinks that he wants to hear her laugh forever. dustin grins at him and he realises he never wants to see him sad

[unknowns-musical]

You know what, I'm gonna say this and you guys might hate me for it... But Flattop and Dustin are the Timon and Pumba of the show. They both fit the trope of the big sweet heart and smaller chaotic friend duo. But also Timon and Pumba like insects, Flattop and Dustin have interest in building materials.

[steviesbicrisis]

Give me Eddie and Steve who get together between season 1 & 2 (Nancy doesn’t get back together with Steve so Steve has plenty of time for ✨self discovery✨) and when Max arrives she sees them constantly fight/bicker/bitch each other around and she’s like “wow your adult lame friends really hate each other” meanwhile the rest of the party groans/rolls their eyes because they recognize the signs and having older friends is cool until they disappear to make out and you can’t leave because they’re your ride home.

[formosusiniquis]

intrada (sugar plum holly and her cavalier)

Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson; Steve Harrington & Holly Wheeler; Past Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler WC: 5708 | G | Tags/Themes: ballet, references to The Nutcracker, pre-relationship steddie, good babysitter Steve Harrington AO3

It was supposed to be a date that would merge their interests, something that had seemed classy enough for Nancy and athletic enough that Steve thought it would keep his interest. Supposed to be, in that when Steve had gotten the tickets -- begged his mom first for her and his dad’s season ticket seats and then for help finding a good seat when she said she wasn’t about to waste a sixty dollar ticket on a date -- he wasn’t even sure if it was the kind of thing Nancy would like. A year and a half into their relationship and he was only just realizing how surface level their conversations were, either talking about work or treating every conversation like an interview and parceling out information like they were afraid to reveal too much about themselves. So he was really working off of a jewelry box he vaguely remembered from her bedroom when he bought tickets for a ballet that wouldn’t even happen for another five months.

He wanted to have them when she got to Indianapolis, something to look forward to for their first Christmas together in the city. The Nutcracker, a classic supposedly but if anyone would know its cultural significance he figured it would be Nance.

And Steve isn’t an idiot, okay. He knows that Nancy isn’t exactly thrilled to be in Indianapolis, knows that she’s not happy to be at her safety school and not Emerson. Imagines having to wait to see if she made it up the waitlist all summer wasn’t the greatest experience; and he has to imagine because any time he wanted to talk to her about it she blew him off to focus on alternatives and next steps.

That’s why he does it. Hopes that having something to look forward to at the end of her first semester will help. Hopes that this is the first of many Christmases together, maybe a tradition that they can keep up. Going to the ballet together every year until eventually they’re bringing their daughter along with them. Maybe it’s too early to think about kids, but this is the kind of future he prefers to imagine over future careers and what he’s going to do with the degree he’s stumbling his way through. So he thinks about Nancy with pinned back curls in a nice dress humming along to songs they hear every year.

It was supposed to be that. Until it turns out that their relationship really couldn’t withstand being in the same city as one another. Until he’s forced to confront the hindsight that they never really talked about anything significant in the year they were doing long distance. Until Nancy tells him that she’s transferring next semester, and she isn’t interested in doing long distance; that she isn’t interested in continuing their relationship at all.

So Steve resigns himself to just being out the money for the two tickets. It’s not like he’s going to go to a ballet by himself, and it seems shitty to bring another girl to something that he imagined becoming a staple of his romantic future with Nancy. It’s not the first time Steve has cut his losses. (But he’ll die before he tells his mom she was right about not giving him her good seats.)

He honestly kind of forgets about the whole thing. Finals week has just ended. He’s pretty sure he flunked the one actual business course he took this semester to keep his dad happy, and he’s trying to figure out if he can change his major without screwing his whole life up. He’s ready to have a few weeks off. 

Then Karen Wheeler calls.

Karen is a nice lady, though if he’s honest he’s not that upset that she isn’t going to be his future mother-in-law. She’s a little… flighty, as his mother would say with a backhanded smile. He privately thinks she sometimes forgets that she has three kids, losing track of one or the other at any given time. So maybe he shouldn’t be too surprised when she calls him two months after her daughter broke his heart begging him to take Holly to the ballet.

“Nancy mentioned it off hand months ago, and Holly hasn’t stopped talking about it since. I know it’s a big ask,” she had said in a tone that made it very clear she didn’t entirely care and would think poorly of him if he answered the wrong way, “but if you still have those tickets it would mean the world if you could take Holly.” He hadn’t missed the emphasis on the you either. Clearly Karen had no interest in making the trip to Indianapolis and he hadn’t needed to ask about Ted.

He didn't think of himself as a pushover, but he did think of little, blonde, six year old Holly: too quiet and too shy for her age. Fighting to be seen by a negligent dad and a mom who loves her children, but cares about appearances just enough to be blind. And he finds himself saying, “It’s no trouble, Mrs. Wheeler, but could you meet me somewhere halfway?”

It’s not until they’re settled into their seats -- on the floor but in the back, a booth behind them occupied by a pretty boy in a headset that Steve refuses to look at for too long -- that he realizes that he has no idea what this show is even about. Holly has been quiet since he picked her up, the least surprising thing about this trip right above Mike glaring at him from the passenger seat of Karen’s car as he moved Holly’s booster seat, but she’s studiously flipping through the little booklet the usher handed them on their way to their seats.

“Thank you for bringing me, Steve. I’m sorry Nancy didn’t want to come.” It is somehow simultaneously the longest and worst thing Holly has ever said to him.

“I’d rather see it with you, Holly Jolly.”

He’s saved from having to find anything else to say by the lights around them dimming, a prerecorded voice letting them know that any photography is forbidden and to expect a fifteen minute intermission, a bright and bouncing song picks up once the talking stops. He relaxes in his seat a little, relieved to get a few minutes before he’s expected to entertain a six year old that he’s spent more time with today than he had the entire time he and Nancy had dated.

Now Steve, contrary to what he very much knows is the popular opinion, isn’t just a jock. He knows there’s no talking in ballet. He’s even been to one before this, when he was still a cute novelty in his suit and bowtie accompanying his parents to the theater. What he is, according to his old nanny, every teacher he’s ever had, and about half of his exes, is a selective listener. 

It’s not his fault though that his brain instinctively cues into different sounds. The buzz of the light above him louder -- and more interesting -- than a lesson on factorials. The sound of someone’s relationship imploding hard to tune out no matter how interested he is in his own conversation. So of course the sound of someone talking cuts straight through classical music.

“Someone remind David he needs to smile at his partner, he looks like he’s dreaming of a murder suicide.”

And it wasn’t hard to find exactly who the voice behind him was talking about. The only frowning face at this Victorian party who was glaring daggers at the magician who was bringing in new dancers.

“Well he should know better than to sleep around the cast shouldn’t he, Birdie?”

A practiced reader of body language, Steve could almost see, underneath the choreography, the traces of impropriety. David’s undisguised glare. The wistful way the woman in blue tracked him around the stage. The woman in pink who mooned at the woman in blue. It made him wonder what kind of things were going on backstage.

He expects that to be in. He doesn’t really do theater much, too many memories of pinched arms and snarling trips home, but he does remember the one rule is no talking. But it doesn’t stop, barely slows.

“If Mark sets himself on fire doing this stupid firepaper magic shit do we get to go home early?

“Sure, Robbie Bobby, I’ll swap out for the Rat King last show of the run. Jay can do my job and I’ll do his.

“Five bucks someone slips on the snow as they exit.”

He wants to know if that stranger wins the bet but the curtain closes and Holly is shy and asking Steve where the bathroom is. So instead of working up the nerve to turn and talk to the man behind him, he’s smiling his best mom-charming smile and asking the first woman with kids he finds to take his guest into the girl’s room.

By the time she’s out of line, and Steve buys her the doll and the novelty sucker she’d been pretending she wasn’t looking at, they slip back into their seats as the lights dim again. No chance to make his own witty jokes or observations, break the ice and show off some of the Harrington charm.

The first dance goes by with little fanfare and Steve’s almost disappointed. Holly is wiggling excitedly in her seat next to him, clutching her own little nutcracker, and he’s not even paying attention to the stupid show that’s got her so excited because he’s too focused on a snarky stranger he’d only even looked at once.

“Jeezus christ, is Tom stuffing his dance belt? That’s some Bowie level shit happening up there.”

He had almost given up, so it figures the guy decides to speak up once Steve’s attention started to shift back to the stage. He nearly chokes on his own tongue, eyes darting straight down to the issue in question. Holly, the sweetest kid he’s ever met, pats his back softly, hesitantly, like she’s only seen the gesture before. “There’s a water fountain by the bathroom,” she tells him in a library whisper, “I can stay here and not move.”

“I’m okay Hols,” he lies, ignoring the itchy, squeezing feeling at the back of his throat and forcing the cough away.

It’s easy to do when there's something else to focus on, “No, Lizzie, I’m not going to shut up. No one cares if I’m occupying the channel.” The stranger seems to be gearing himself up for a monologue, “I’m not going to miss my cue, I am the cue. Robin’s not going to miss her cue  because it’s to music. Her cue doesn’t exist without me and she knows all of these songs and what note her cue goes with because it’s the eighth fucking time we’ve done it this week. If you or props have something you’ve got to say clearly you can get a word in edgewise.”

A few numbers go by after that, quiet except for the occasional professional, “Light cue, go.”

And then a song he actually sort of recognizes starts. A pretty strawberry blonde with a dainty smile tip toes and spins across the stage to plucked strings. Holly is enchanted, perched at the edge of her seat she reaches a hand over to clutch at Steve’s sleeve. A ‘tell me someone in the world is experiencing this moment with me’ sort of gesture. Awestruck and world rocked, stars in her eyes. Any resentment, any hard feelings that might have still lingered at babysitting evaporated. He got to be the person that let Holly experience this. A moment just for her, no family to take second place for.

The dancer on stage spins, clearing the floor in a series of tight, controlled rotations. Her arms guiding each step, swinging out and pulling her in, the driving force of her momentum. She’s moving fast, it’s an impressive display. Something shoots off in the opposite direction of that controlled turn, almost distracting in its break from that clean motion.

“Tell Props Chris just lost an earring.

“Fine, tell Wardrobe then.

“I’m not being a creep, I know she’s your girlfriend, Birdie. I merely observed her earring launching across the stage like an arrow from an elven bow.”

It’s like catching half of an Abbott and Costello act, like who’s on first being done through a telephone. It’s a strange sort of connection, listening in on a conversation that isn’t meant for him. He thinks for a sad second that he hasn’t ever had a friendship like this.

The show is wrapping up, dancers from scenes past making their way through for quick appearances. Holly is vibrating in her seat. Dancers in intricate costumes glide across the stage to bow toward the petite dancer in the nightgown and the strawberry blonde, Chris, beside her. A few moments later it's finished, the lights rising up around them and he shifts his primary focus back to Holly. 

In the middle of the room, they had the best view of the stage and the longest wait to leave. Steve tries to be subtle as he shifts Holly in front of him, afraid of losing her if she's out of his eyeline. He doesn't want to baby her by making her hold his hand. She's wiggling in place, but she keeps herself small. Careful not to bump into the people slowly moving out of the aisle in front of them. 

“Hols,” he starts to whisper, not wanting to embarrass her before he asks if she needs to hit the bathroom again.

But she grabs his sleeve in a child's iron grip,  "Steve, I want to meet the princess."

It turns out, it's hard to find a way to tell an excited kid that there aren't meet and greets after a show like this. Pleading blue eyes and a nervous smile looking up at him, desperate but scared to ask for too much. The least he can do is try.

The guy behind them is still there. 

The back of their line, Steve isn't holding anyone up by taking a minute to look. He's lithe, all in black. Hair pulled up in a half-assed bun, a headset tangled in the curls. He's wrapping up a thick cord, Steve couldn't guess why, but it draws focus to a toned arm that he's curling it around.

“Hey man,” the booth is a little bit above them, forcing Steve to rise up on the tips of his own toes to make sure he's visible, “I know you're working but I wanted to ask. The girl at the end- I, uh, I overheard you say she's your friend's girlfriend is there anyway you could convince her to come meet us.”

The guy startled a bit, probably surprised at being addressed. If he’s embarrassed at being overheard it barely shows a soft flush that could be from the warmth of the room. "The girl at the end?”

"The princess,” Holly shouts, bouncing up and down to try to see over the lip that blocks her view of the booth.

A change falls over the guy, his smile softens and eyes widen. He carefully drapes himself across the board of buttons and sliders to look Holly in the eyes. "Oh she's even better than a princess, she's a fairy. The sugar plum fairy. Is this your first time seeing the show with your dad?”

“Steve's not my dad.” She tells him with a little giggle, no doubt comparing Steve and Ted in her brain.

“Holly is my ex-girlfriend’s little sister.” He places his emphasis carefully.

“There’s a lot happening in that sentence.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, my Lady Holly, I bet I could convince Chrissy to meet a fan.” He promises with a flourish, “As long as your companion doesn't care that her faithful company will definitely be there the whole time.”

“Are you part of the group?” Steve asks, confident enough in his read of the situation to lay on a bit of charm. Letting his eyes trail down the sprawl of the guy's back. A thrill of victory at the little nod he gets back. “Then I won't mind at all.”

“Rockin’ Robin, tell me you still have your headset on?” He directs into his headset, “Great, remember that favor you and Chris owe me? I've got a fair princess who would like to meet our dear Sugar Plum Fairy.”

There's a lengthy pause. Even without the music playing the response is too quiet to be made out through his headset. “I don't see how that's relevant.” He hisses, “and she didn't ask to see an awful hag so you don't really even need to be there.”

His face clears after a second, looking to Steve like he wants them both to pretend that the earlier conversation hadn't been overheard. “Go through that door at the end of the front row right beside the stage.” The auditorium has cleared out enough he's got a clear view of the door the guy points to. “You'll end up in a hallway with a locked door at the end, wait there.”

“And if someone asks us why we're waiting there?” Steve asks, “I can tell them..?”

“Eddie, I'm- I Eddie Munson told you to wait there, if someone stops you before I get there.”

It's hard not to grin now that he has a name, Eddie, so he doesn’t bother. He puts on his best smile, the boyish and winsome one that always flusters whoever it's directed at, at least a little. Eddie is no exception looking back down at his work quickly. Steve takes a little pity, turning his attention back down to Holly.

She's twisting in place, hands clasped in front of her, as she stares off into space. He feels bad immediately, too familiar with what it's like to be a kid forced to entertain yourself while adults talk above your head.“C’mon, Holly Jolly, let's go wait for your fairy.” 

She takes his hand the second it's offered, swinging it back and forth, humming one of the songs from the show. “Steve, do you think she's a fairy like Tinkerbell or a fairy princess like Barbie?”

“I don't know Hols, what do you think?”

“Tinkerbell is kinda mean to Wendy, but she can do magic and fly. But Barbie is really nice so if she were a fairy she'd be a fairy princess and have a crown and help people.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes! And this fairy looked nice when she was dancing, but it didn't look like she had a crown. Can you be a fairy princess without a crown?”

Holly was buzzing, bouncing in place, clearly over whatever earlier nerves she'd had about talking to him. With her back to the door that they were told to wait by, she’s started listing all the different jobs Barbie has had and why they should make a fairy princess doll -- Karen’s homemade Barbie clothes, he learns, are not as well made as the hand me downs from Erica and Mrs. Sinclair, so she needs the real thing. Holly misses the way the door creaks open, the woman from onstage inching her way out of the half opened exit. 

Chrissy presses a finger to her lips, happy to help her surprise Holly, Steve keeps listening to her talk about why there should be a Barbie movie. He only nearly ruins the surprise when the dancer pushes down on the front of her saucer like skirt and it smacks her in the back as it flies up, letting her exit the back room.

Focused on her story, Holly doesn’t notice as the woman crouches down beside her. Not until she says, “This must be the princess I was told about.”

The screech she lets out is so joyful he almost doesn’t mind that his ears are ringing. Steve finds his smile mirrored on a freckle-faced girl dressed in the same all black as Eddie who is sliding out the door now as well. She sidles up to Steve, letting Holly have her moment with the fairy uninterrupted. “And you must be the prince charming.”

“Shut up, shut up,” Eddie pants, coming to a bent over rest beside Steve, “whatever she’s saying ignore it. Fuck.”

“You jogged like twenty feet,” the girl says, clearly unimpressed.

“Sorry Nancy Reagan, I say yes every time.”

“There are children present, have some class, Munson.”

The child in question could be on another planet, that’s how much she’s aware of their existence, Steve thinks.

“I have class every Monday, Wednesday, Friday; Saturdays are fair game.”

“Oh! That’s why you look so familiar,” the girl says, she’s looking at Steve now but he’s not really sure why. “We were in the same Communications and Public Speaking class, Prince Charming. Steve, right?”

He did have that class last semester, the only one technically tied to the business major his dad wanted him to have that he actually passed. “I, yes- sorry I don’t. I spent most of that class zoned out waiting for my turn to speak.”

“No, yeah, I figured. You sat a row in front of me and always looked shocked when you got called on, then you’d brush your bagel crumbs all over the floor when you’d go to speak.”

“Yeah,” he agrees, not really sure what to say to that especially not when it’s being said right in front of a guy he was kind of into.

“Birdie holds the strangest grudges in the history of the world, take it as a sign of respect, Big Boy. She hated me for half of our music theory class because my handwriting didn’t look like it matched my general demeanor.”

“No, I hated you because you always smell like weed and never do the homework but somehow are still the professor’s favorite. And I still hate you for all of those things, but your unfortunate personality grew like mold on my girl- I mean grew on,” her face takes on a look of panic as she pivots her word choice. It’s confusing, at first, until he realizes he’s the source of panic. A familiar joke made with a friend, forgetting the new, possibly untrustworthy stranger until too late.

The siren song of new friends and a possible date is alluring, but with Holly in the room he does have to be careful of what gets back to her parents. He remembers Ted’s political alignments and gossip tends to reach his parents faster than he can. So he does his best at assurance, “Chrissy, right, she seems cool. It was nice of you guys to do this, Holly is probably only a little bit more into fairies than I am.”

Eddie sputters beside him, hard to tell if it’s a good sign or if Steve has just royally fucked up his chances at anything; but if it means easing Robin’s fears of queerbashing he’ll ruin his chance for a date every time.

“Into fairies,” Robin asks, nodding over to Chrissy, who’s showing Holly how she balances on the tips of her toes, “or…”

“I’m light in my loafers, or half, light in one-”

“Ex-girlfriend,” Eddie supplies.

“Right.”

“Worst way anyone has ever described being bisexual,” Robin says. 

“Sounds like a challenge,” Eddie says.

“It was not.”

“I really appreciate this,” Steve says again to avoid the argument. Chrissy is helping Holly spin around on the toes of her patent leather mary janes, she’s giggling as Chrissy holds her pointed finger helping her twirl and twirl. “How’d you all get involved in all this? You’re still in school.”

“They always need a little help around the holidays, normally the theater kids get first dibs but there’s only like five tech kids and they’re all working the school show so the music department gets next go.” Robin explains.

“Chis is a prodigy so she put in a word for us specifically,” Eddie adds. Before he leers and leans deep into Steve’s space, it’s not an unwelcome move. “Unless that was you fishing for friends, Big Boy. Trying to figure out if you’ll see us on campus?”

“Oh,” Robin exclaims, like the thought had never occurred to her. “Are you finished with your gen eds? Wait, what's your major? Eddie, show off your party trick.”

He isn’t a total loser, so he doesn’t fidget or blush as Eddie runs his heady brown eyes up and down the length of him, taking him in. “Business and Marketing,” he declares after a second, but he doesn’t sound sold on it.

“I’ve been thinking about changing it,” Steve isn’t sure if he’s admitting Eddie’s right or just trying out what it sounds like to admit that he’s sick of being everything he’s supposed to be instead of what he likes. “I took Children’s Psychology for the whatever requirement and it was a million times more interesting than Intro to Econ.”

It feels like it’s going well. When Nancy broke things off Steve had resigned himself to finishing out college without any real friends, dating around and hoping for something that stuck. Here with these people, he can feel something starting. He wants to take that feeling and capitalize on it, follow through on something so another good thing doesn’t slip away from him.

That’s not the kind of luck that he has though. 

“Steve,” Holly buzzes, grabbing his hand with no hesitation, “Fairy Chrissy said that I can be a dancer too! Can Santa bring me shoes like hers?”

Christmas is a week away, if Stever were guessing, he’d say the Wheelers have had Holly’s presents picked out and put away for most of the month. “I don’t know, Hols, Christmas is pretty close and the North Pole is pretty far. Do you think the mailman would have time to get all the way up there?”

Her shoulders slump, making Steve immediately feel like the worst person in the universe for crushing her dreams. “He's watching though, so I bet he saw you ask right now,” he does his best to smile, hoping it's comforting since it feels tight-lipped and desperate.

“Yeah!” She brightens, starts to hum along to the song just a little off pitch, getting more excited as she goes until she's murmuring, “Knows if you've been bad or good.”

“Hey Holly Jolly, why don't you tell Fairy Chrissy bye and thank you. We don't wanna be late to meet your mom.”

She's still singing but she nods, turning and shuffling back to Chrissy, still a few steps away.

“Would she know where to get those, Chrissy, the shoes that Holly would need?” He asks Eddie and Robin in a whisper, hoping Holly is distracted enough by her goodbyes that she won't hear.

“Are you..?” Eddie asks, a blush staining the tops of his exposed ears. “Ex-girlfriend?” 

The emphasis catches his attention and, yeah, he can see how that looks. “Her parents aren't going to drive up to the city before Christmas, but the town over does lessons.” Barriers to entry, that's what his marketing classes called it, maybe he did learn something. He wants to make it as easy as possible for Holly to get what she wants. “She's a good kid, she should get what she wants for Christmas.”

That blush spreads, bleeding down from his ears across his cheeks. “You're a good dude.”

“Steve, I said bye. Do we have to leave now?” Holly asks.

“Let me say bye too, Hols, and we'll grab a treat before we meet your Mom.”

There's a pen tucked behind Robin's ear that he snags before he can second guess what he's about to do. Grabbing her arm first, he scrawls his number across it. “I've got a place off campus, no roommates if you ever want someplace to hangout or to study,” he tells her. 

He grabs Eddie's hand next, rubbing his thumb along the palm and slowly writing the same number on his arm too. Keeping a hold of his hand for as long as he can. “I've got a place off campus, no roommates, if you ever want to come by and do something, have dinner?” He'll start there, let his interest be noted, and hope that Eddie is the type to like guys who dive in head first heedless of the water below. 

Steve can already imagine a future where he's sneaking into the booth with Eddie. Watching shows he's never heard of before with a warm commentary murmured into his ear. Gossip and behind the scenes rumor, distracting him from a plot that's less important than the company. Maybe next year, after double dates and a growing closeness, he'll be able to sneak Holly backstage and she can meet other dancers too.

Maybe next year, he'll be convincing Eddie, and the girls he hopes will be his new friends, to drive down to Hawkins with him to watch Holly do jumps and spins of her own in their small town showcase. Eddie was good with Holly, Steve hopes it isn't a fluke, he's always wanted kids.

He's probably getting ahead of himself. Falling into the same trap he'd built with Nancy that had gotten him here in the first place. The romantic in him wants to spin this all as fate, it could be true after all. 

Steve takes Holly's hand, they both wave goodbye, and leave the empty arts center. The winter sky is lit up by a full moon, fat snowflakes slowly float down to the ground beside them as they head back to his car, and for the first time since Nancy broke up with him he feels good about the future.

It's a long drive back to the McDonalds where he's meeting Karen, with Holly already dozing in the back seat, it's time that he can sit and be happy. Regardless of whether there's a message blinking on his machine to welcome him back home or not; what was supposed to be a relationship compromise ended up being the most fun he's had in weeks. So maybe Chrissy will tell him where to get Holly's shoes, maybe Robin will invite him for coffee or swing by to compare classes, and -- if he's really lucky -- maybe Eddie will invite himself over for dinner.

But, as he hums along to the waltz whose melody lingers in the back of his mind, the possibilities are something to look forward to.

[okartichoke]

How'd dustin prince manage to die in the bird retelling??

dustin princes lives au

happy early dustin prince birthday 🎉🎉 (sept 6)

Funnily enough, I've thought about how so many cases would change to work with wings, but somehow forgot (fitting for 2-1) about one where the cause of death is falling

so the biggest different is wellington originally plans to cause brain damage/memory loss/kill with a hit to the head. fire extinguisher can be switched for any heavy item if you so please

so ummmmmm here’s what happened

(eventually ends up being pushed over the railing, just like as in canon, and is unable to slow the fall enough with just the one wing)

richard wellington is my favorite not-very-smart one trick pony 💙💙💙 (i’m sorry my king, dustin prince, for making your death so comical 🤎🤎).

TLDR: Murder goes the same as canon, but wellington breaks prince’s wing before pushing him.

thank you for the ask lol !

Btw, Prince is a house sparrow, and Wellington is a common blackbird. He bleaches a stripe in his wings just like his bangs. both are just common birds (much to wellingtons chagrin)

link to masterpost

[cringengl]

Max complaining to a few members of the party about a fight her and Mike had and how she wants him to apologise.

Will piping up and saying: "it shouldn't be long until he goes to your place to apologise so don't worry!! Mike is always amazing at apologies so I'm sure this will get sorted out soon :))"

Everyone turning to Will in disbelief because the words "Mike" and "good at apologising" have never been uttered in the same sentence before.

(They have not experienced anything like the "it's Hawkins... it's not the same without you" line)

[steddieas-shegoes]

Read Vampire Eddie first!

Dustin shows up first.

They didn’t call him yet, he just seemed to have a fucking sixth sense or something.

Steve had fallen asleep in Eddie’s lap after crying it out, as anyone would do when their sort of friend/sort of enemy comes back from the dead (kind of) unexpectedly.

But he was woken up by a yell that either belonged to a young girl or Dustin Henderson.

“Steve! You better explain what the hell is going on!”

Steve’s eyes blinked up at where Dustin was standing in front of them with his hands on his hips. If it were any other time or day, Steve would probably be proud of him for it.

“Did you have to wake him up? He only just got to sleep.”

Steve sighed before he answered Dustin’s question.

“It was really late and you didn’t answer the radio. We were gonna call when we got up.”

“This isn’t wait to call news, Steve! This is show up at my door news. This is take an ad out in the paper news.”

“Dustin, you’re being dramatic.”

Dustin just stared at him for a moment before throwing his hands up.

“You’re. Sitting. In. Eddie’s. Lap. Steve, you realize he’s been dead for a month! A month!”

“I haven’t been dead for all of it! Only like, three or four days of it!” Eddie looked away. “Or at least that’s how my math is working. But I failed math a few times.”

Dustin was staring between Eddie and Steve.

“What do you mean?”

Steve was still trying to wake himself up. He apparently hadn’t been out for long, but it felt like he was pretty deep into sleep.

He suddenly felt Eddie’s fingers running through his hair.

“‘S not helping.”

“Go back to sleep, sweetheart. I’ll talk to him.”

Steve let his eyes close, but he still listened to them for a few minutes.

“And why the hell did you come to Steve? You barely know him! You could’ve come to me.”

“Dude, I didn’t pick this. I just appeared here.”

“What do you mean?”

Steve couldn’t see, but Dustin seemed to be calming down from the shock now, focusing on his natural curiosity.

“I just. Thought about being here I guess. Maybe I was delirious or bored. I was definitely lonely. It’s hard wandering that place for so long by yourself, man.”

“Yeah, I don’t know how Will did it.”

“I don’t know either. I’m not even completely human anymore and I was ready to give up.”

Steve was drifting, catching only a few words here and there.

“….explain….Steve….him sweetheart?”

“Just….and….I know….love….”

— — — — — — — — —

Steve woke up in his bed again.

The sun was shining much too brightly for it to be early in the morning, but he couldn’t think of the last time he actually managed to sleep more than a few hours.

He looked over to the bundled up mound under his comforter and everything from the night before came flooding back.

He heard a snore from the floor to his left and leaned over to see Dustin curled up with a blanket and pillow.

Steve has two guest rooms, one of which is frequently used by the kids when they stay over after movie nights. Why wasn’t he in those?

“He didn’t wanna leave either of us.”

Steve jumped at the sound of Eddie’s voice.

It wasn’t loud, in fact, it was barely above a whisper. But he’d assumed Eddie was asleep.

“Woke up a few minutes before you. Dustin snores so loud.”

Steve snorted and then lifted the comforter so he could look at Eddie, who was cuddling with one of Steve’s pillows.

Oh, that was cute

“Okay, I have to tell you something. I should’ve told you before.”

“What is it?”

“I can…kind of…read your mind?”

Oh no.

Oh no.

“Yeah. Sorry. I’m not trying to. You’re the first person I’ve been around so I figured it was just a new thing I could do, but I can’t read Dustin’s mind and we tried a bunch of things. I’m trying to block it out, but it’s hard when it’s just us.”

Eddie looked…was that shame?

Steve couldn’t let him feel ashamed for this. It was not only out of his control, but also a super shitty thing to have to deal with. Listening to Steve’s thoughts? Steve didn’t even like doing that.

“Hey. Be nice.”

“I’m not being mean to you!”

“Not to me! To you!”

Steve couldn’t help the confused look on his face.

Then he realized that if Eddie could read his mind, he could hear when he put himself down.

“You do that often?”

“What?”

“Treat yourself this badly?”

“Well…”

“Steve.” Eddie placed a hand on his cheek, rubbing his thumb back and forth along his cheekbone. “You know how amazing you are, don’t you?”

Steve shook his head.

What else could he do? He couldn’t lie. Eddie would know.

Eddie’s other hand was settled on Steve’s hip, squeezing his fingers just enough to ground Steve.

“Well, since I’m being honest this morning, let me hit you with another truth. This one’s been hanging around for years, and got much worse when you decided to make it worse in the Upside Down.” Eddie took a breath before continuing. “I’ve had a crush on you since your sophomore year. It’s so stupid, right? You were everything I was against. I actively fought with Tommy frequently and you just watched. But I’d always watch you when he was finally done and you’d just be watching me with this look. I don’t even know what it was, maybe I was reading too much into it because you were so god damn cute, I dunno. I’m rambling. Jesus Christ, I’m shutting up now.”

Eddie started to pull away, but Steve wasn’t gonna allow that. Not after that confession.

Not after he’d spent the last month mourning a lot of would’ve, could’ve, should’ve moments.

Steve pulled himself closer to Eddie, hands curling up against his chest, telling himself not to panic when he didn’t feel a heartbeat. He’s alive.

“I didn’t know then. I didn’t know why I looked at you like that. I didn’t know I could feel the way I did about girls and about you. I didn’t have anyone to explain it to me.” Steve’s breath stuttered as he looked up at Eddie, who was watching him with wide eyes. “But I know what it was now. You were pretty god damn cute, too.”

Eddie’s hand found its way back to Steve’s cheek. Steve leaned into it, letting his mind run through thoughts he remembers having about Eddie through high school, the Upside Down, and after.

“You really thought that? You’re not making this all up?”

“I wouldn’t make it up, Eds. You don’t have to believe me, but I want you to know that you’re amazing, too.”

“You two are disgusting.”

Steve and Eddie both jumped at Dustin’s voice, but smiled at each other before Eddie pushed the comforter off of their heads.

Dustin was sitting up on the floor, sleepy eyes still managing to glare at them in bed.

“Sorry, bud. Forgot you were there.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Dustin yawned. “I’m gonna go let everyone know that Eddie’s back and wants their blood.”

“Hey! I do not! I just want some blood, not their blood.”

“It’ll be fun to make them think so, though.”

“Dude, the way to break this news to them is not gonna be making them think Eddie’s Dracula.”

Eddie snorted at Steve’s words and Dustin shook his head.

“There is no other way to break the news. You two get whatever this is out of your system by dinner time. Everyone’s gonna want to see you.”

When Dustin had this particular tone, they knew they had to listen. Which was kind of annoying because they’re the adults, but whatever.

Steve was kind of just glad that Dustin was showing some emotions besides anger and sadness again.

“Fine. Don’t come back before 7. If you do, I’m not sorry for what you walk in on.”

Steve felt himself blush as Eddie spoke.

“Gross! Can you at least pretend I’m not leaving you two to have sex? Jesus.”

“Nobody said anything about sex. You’re such a teenage boy, Dustin.”

Steve giggled as he rested his head against Eddie’s chest.

Dustin didn’t add anything else to the conversation, probably sensing that Eddie was going to say more embarrassing things the more he argued.

“Seriously. 7:00. Be dressed and at least mildly presentable,” he said as he left the room.

Steve felt Eddie relax and wrap his arms around him, resting his fingers along his spine and tapping a melody. He did that a lot against his own leg or tables, Steve had noticed before everything happened. It seemed like a nervous habit, but he shouldn’t be nervous now. They’d done the hard part already; Admitted feelings and faced the possibility of rejection.

“Hey. What’s wrong?”

Steve didn’t want to look up at his face yet. Not if he was changing his mind.

“I’m. Well, I do need some blood.” He started to pull his arms away from Steve, like he was actually going to leave this very warm and cozy bed. “I can be back quick. I mean, animal blood seems to work pretty well so.”

Steve looked at him.

Really looked at him.

He shouldn’t do this.

He really shouldn’t do this.

“I mean I have plenty of blood. Like, if you didn’t wanna go out.”

Eddie stared at him, possibly not even comprehending what he was subtly (not really) offering.

“Uh.”

Steve tried not to feel too proud about rendering Eddie nearly silent, but considering how much Eddie always spoke, he counted it as a win.

“I mean, you don’t need much right? It’s like donating blood. People do it all the time.”

“Steve. I can’t. I can’t drink your blood.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not sure I’ll stop.”

Something about that made butterflies appear in his stomach, which is probably not the right reaction to someone saying they could drain your entire body of its blood. Steve was learning a lot about himself today.

“You’ll stop.”

“I’ve never had a human’s blood before, sweetheart. I don’t know if I could stop even if I wanted to.”

“You’ll stop.”

Eddie shook his head.

“I can’t take that risk with you. Not unless I know I could stop.”

“How else will you know if you don’t try?”

“I don’t know, but I can’t use you as a test subject. Especially not while we’re alone. Someone should be around in case I can’t stop.”

“We’ll call Robin then.”

Steve started to sit up so he could use the phone by his bed to call her when he felt Eddie’s hands on his shoulders.

“Steve. I don’t know if it’s a good idea. The few times I’ve drank from an animal that was still alive, they were like, hypnotized? I don’t want you to get like that. You wouldn’t have any control.”

Steve’s reaction was probably not what either of them expected, and it definitely wasn’t normal.

He whimpered. Like he was already being drained of blood.

And he was, kind of. It was all going to his dick.

Eddie looked like he might actually eat Steve. Steve was gonna be okay with that, actually.

“Steve. I have to go. I don’t think I have enough control.”

“Please.”

Steve sounded desperate, which was what he was. He’d be embarrassed about it if he could think about anything other than having Eddie’s mouth on his neck, teeth in his skin.

Steve was crawling into Eddie’s lap, wrapping his legs around his waist and arms around his neck, pulling him as close as he could.

If Eddie had any type of super strength, he wasn’t using it to push him away.

Steve counted that as another win.

“I can hear what you’re thinking. This isn’t fair to you. I have every advantage.”

“I want you to.”

“What if I can’t stop?”

His voice was quiet and Steve paused for a moment to gently cup his cheeks in his hands.

“I know you can. You’ve had every opportunity to hurt me, Eds. You could’ve hurt Dustin. You could have run from here by now and gone to anyone’s house and hurt them. But you haven’t. And you won’t hurt me. You’ll stop when you’ve had enough.”

“I don’t know that I could ever have enough of you.”

If Steve wasn’t fully on board with this before, that would have sold him on it for sure.

This may be a risk, but it was a risk Steve would rather die than not take.

“I trust you, Eds.”

He felt more than saw Eddie give in.

Steve rested his forehead against Eddie’s and closed his eyes.

He took a shaky breath, suddenly nervous that he’d made a fool of himself. He pushed the nerves down, though, knowing Eddie would leave if he thought Steve was having doubts.

“I want you to take what you need from me. Please.”

Part 3

TAG LIST: @bisexualdisastersworld

[xirayn]

A continuation of the merEddie AU based on the amazing art done by @maikaartwork. The ficlet for the kiss they drew is coming, Steve just needs to get some help first.

This is the first year Dustin is old enough to be a summer intern at Hawkins Aquarium and Institute of Marine Research. He spends his days educating guests on the animals and conservation efforts with weekly professional development and environmental advocacy courses. The position is also paid, which is nice, and he gets the aquarium practically to himself as he waits for Steve to finish up and give him a ride home.

He's watching the eastern rat snake climb her fake branch in search of a resting spot when Steve finds him an hour before he is usually done.

"I need to get into the restricted area of the aquarium," Steve states much to Dustin's surprise.

"Why?"

"The voice in my head needs help."

Dustin's eyes narrow. "Have you been talking to the lampreys again?"

"Yes, but they have nothing to do with this," Steve responds with an annoyed huff. Dustin is unconvinced.

"I think they might," he states plainly. "When was the last time you went on a date or talked with, I don't know, an actual human rather than a bunch of fish?"

"I talk to Robin all the time."

"Yet you won't date her."

"Boys and girls can be friends without -" Steve cuts himself off mid sentence. He sets his hands sternly on his hips. "You know what, this is getting us off-topic. Restricted area. Voice in my head. Plan. Go."

Dustin rolls his eyes. "That voice is called conscious thought, Steve."

"Ha ha. No. This was... something else. There is something - someone - who is hurt and alone, and I need to get them out."

"So we aren't just getting into the restricted area," Dustin observes, "we are getting whatever creature you think is calling you out?"

Steve hesitates for only a moment. That does sound pretty outlandish, but the call for help is still echoing in his mind. "Essentially. Yeah."

Dustin tilts his head in consideration. "How big is it?"

"What?"

"The creature," Dustin clarifies, "how big is it?"

"I don't know."

"Is it a siren trying to lure you onto the rocks or eat you?" An obvious question to Dustin, but a new one to Steve based on his look of surprise.

"A what? No. It doesn't want to eat me."

Sirens don't exist, for one. Except they might since there is something psychically communicating with Steve and they've run into things that supposedly didn't exist before.

"How do you know?" Dustin asks because if sirens do exist, it is a perfectly valid question.

"Because I felt it!" Steve throws his hands up. The snakes and other reptiles in the exhibits around them are as indifferent to the gesture as Dustin is. "It just needs help."

"Angler fish lure their prey in with a light on their-"

"I'm not prey!" Steve insists.

"Prey doesn't always know it's prey," Dustin counters.

"Then I get eaten, I guess, but I can't just ignore this. What they shared with me…" The mounting irritation drains from Steve's shoulder. Sorrow replaces it as he remembers the pain of captivity he was shown and the longing for home. "They just want to be free."

Dustin folds his arms across his chest. "That could, arguably, be a really bad idea."

Freeing non-native creatures was never a good idea. There was a whole workshop on invasive species that included how animals in captivity might suffer if released without the proper skills to survive. Media was also full of good intentions leading to the release of monsters.

"Which is why I came to the king of bad ideas," Steve says far too casually.

"Are you insulting me?" Dustin scoffs. "You're asking for my help and then insulting me. Seriously?"

"Do I need to bring up the coyote with mange you trapped in your cellar because you thought it was a chupacabra?"

Dustin frowns. "Considering you just brought it up- no."

"Voice in my head," Steve states to get them back on track. "Restricted area. Plan. Go.

Dustin sighs. "Fine. Do you think I can fit through the vents?"

Steve shakes his head. "They had to put grates in those because the octopus kept using them for midnight snack runs."

"Really?" Dustin feels like he should have heard about that, but he's only been an intern for a little over a month now.

"Yeah," Steve says dismissively, "It was a thing. Robin is a bit obsessed with her now."

"Like you're obsessed with the lampreys?"

Steve is clearly insulted by the accusation. He takes a moment to gape. "I am not obsessed with the lampreys. I am the opposite of obsessed."

"Sure." The one syllable is pure sarcasm. "Okay, so the other plan is we steal the badge of someone who has access."

"What do you mean we?"

"You aren't doing this alone."

"It's too dangerous." Steve's hands are back on his hips, but Dustin doesn't back down.

"If you get eaten, I get eaten," he states firmly. They have a silent standoff that Dustin eventually wins.

"Okay," Steve relents. He's learned in the few years he has known Dustin to not fight his loyalty. It was either agree now or be surprised when Dustin tailed him later. "Any idea who's badge we are going to steal?"

Dustin presses his lips together as he thinks. "There has to be people who do maintenance -"

"Maybe like the head aquarist?"

They both swing around to see Robin standing with a lanyard hanging from her finger. At the end is the badge of someone Steve doesn't recognize. He wonders how long she has been there and how much she heard.

"He left it in the food prep room," she explains as she holds it out to Steve.

He takes it, not bothering to ask questions even if there are quite a few that came to mind. The picture is of an older man with a receding hairline and white goatee. The text underneath reads: Wayne Munson.

New memories are sent to him. The sound of a kind drawl. Sweet and salty and tangy flavors masking the taste of decayed fish. Different textures. Something to look forward to.

Hope.

Steve looks at Robin. He smiles. She smiles back.

"Commence operation we're all getting fired."

[lighthouseas]

okay no one asked but here is what the party is doing in bath & body works (i am u.s. american and have no idea if they have this overseas, so uh. if they don't and u are confused: it is basically a store where you can buy scented candles and lotions and stuff and it gives you a headache when you walk in because of all the smells. basically all u need to know)

ok. anyway.

el: goes in. smells every candle in the store. tries every "try me!!" lotion and body spray. leaves with a bottle of hand sanitizer or something. almost accidentally signs up for spam emails at the register before max stops her

max: goes in to buy the same lotion/body butter/shower gel/whatever else scent every time. she sticks to what she knows. HOWEVER she is not immune to smelling all of the new scents on the shelves and gagging when they are all unequivocally terrible compared to hers (the best one, obviously) (she's so me)

lucas: smells all of the candles with el. jokingly shoves all of the shitty scents in mike's face to make him gag (mike does the same back ofc). ends up buying like 5 candles because they're on sale or something

mike: hates the store because it gives him a headache. goes in and buys something anyway because it's there. probably shower gel or something. maybe body spray if he thinks will will like it (he totally does not watch will to see what scents he likes and then buys them immediately after. why would he do that. he has Never done that.)

will: buys three different lotions because they're on sale and he can't pick which one he likes the most. engages in candle sniffing with el and lucas. also engages in spraying body spray onto the little testing strips with max and gagging because most of them smell terrible

dustin: yk those scent things that you plug into the wall and they stink up your house. yeah. he buys like 10 of those and everyone is terrified of going in his house because it's like walking into a bottle of perfume. he claims the scents calm him even though everyone else is about to pass out from the fumes

[honey-dont]

snowy dustin for @actual-dunwich-horror!!

[artiststarme]

All dead, all dead

Well, I had a rough day so I'm taking it out on Steve again. My apologies. I decided to title it after my favorite Queen song because I think it’s fitting. I hope you like it and please leave your thoughts in the comments!

I should warn you before reading it, you might need some tissues.

~*~*~*~

They’d lost. Steve stood in shock with Nancy and Robin as the clock chimed for the fourth time and knew deep in his heart that Max was gone. They felt the heat in the Upside Down as the world started to tear apart and could do nothing but run to the nearest gate, which happened to be the road where Fred died, and bust through as the portal continued to burn. 

“We have to get to the trailer park to pick up Dustin and Eddie,” Nancy said resolutely, the first thing anyone had said since hearing the damning chime. 

Oh fuck, Dustin! Steve immediately took off in a sprint. How could he forget his favorite kid, his little brother, his best friend besides Robin? He’d been so in shock about the probability of losing Max that he’d neglected to think about Dustin and Eddie in the trailer. Hopefully, they’d done their job well and were able to climb through the gate before it expanded, catching everything on fire in its way. Steve could see the split of the earth racing alongside him like a cut that wouldn’t stop bleeding. 

He didn’t let that stop him though, he kept running until he couldn’t any more. He body slammed the door of Eddie’s trailer while screaming for them to open it. “Dustin! Munson! Open the door, it's Steve! We have to go! Guys!”

When his shoulder caught the door just the right way and opened, he didn’t see Dustin or Eddie. They weren’t in the trailer which meant they were still stuck in the Upside Down. 

“Dustin! No, man, this wasn’t the goddamn plan! Dustin!” He screamed, trying to find a way to get back through the gate. The sheet was torn in half and the small kitchen table had a broken leg. “Fuck!”

“Steve?” He nearly gave himself whiplash with how quickly he cranked his head to look at the ceiling. 

“Dustin! Where’s Eddie? We gotta go, this place is about to go up in fucking flames.” 

“He didn’t make it. I tried to bring him home but I’m not strong enough, Steve.” Tears continued to drip from his reddened eyes. Steve was sympathetic, of course he was, he liked the dude. But they had to fucking move, now. 

“Henderson, I’m sorry but we can’t worry about that right now. The gates are spreading, you have to get out now. Stand on Eddie’s table and jump, I’ll catch you,” Steve promised him. 

Still crying silently, Dustin moved to fulfill Steve’s instructions. He dragged the Upside Down table to right underneath the gate and moved carefully to stand on top of it, favoring one leg significantly. Steve could see the flames of the expanding gates shining, moving ever closer, through the windows of the Rightside Up and Upside Down trailers. 

“It’s now or never man, let’s go. Jump Dustin!” The flames from the split earth were nearly on top of them now but he had to get out.

“But-” Dustin started but Steve cut him off.

“No Dustin, jump!”

Dustin didn’t question him again and he jumped through the gate. What neither one of them realized though was how close the blaze was. As Dustin jumped halfway through the gate, the entire ceiling of the trailer burst into flames in a ball of fiery fury. Steve was sent sprawling to the ground with the force of the quake. When he looked up to the ceiling where the chasm was growing rapidly, he saw the gate turn into fire and engulf Dustin. His face contorted in pain and he screamed a wail of anguish before he was ripped in half and eaten by fire. 

No. No, Dustin. Steve screamed as he saw what used to be Dustin turn into a cremated shell of soot. He screamed as he lost his little brother to the world that took away their childhoods and shattered their illusion of safety all those years ago. He screamed in grief as he realized it was his fault and if he’d moved just a little bit faster, maybe Dustin would still be alive and in his arms right this second. 

He had screamed his throat raw by the time the girls had caught up to him. They were both panting and Nancy pulled him out of the burning trailer in an act of desperate strength. He would never forgive her for making him live after seeing his brother burn. 

Her and Robin held him down just a few feet from what used to be Eddie’s home. He kept struggling to get back inside but they wouldn’t let him, pinning his limbs and whispering muttered reassurances that would never mean shit. 

The other residents of the trailer park ambled their ways outside, peering at the reddening sky and watching fractures open up throughout the park and town. Some of them looked at Steve in pity, watching as he grieved the one person that had believed in him from day one, the kid that gave him a family when he didn’t have one, and stuck by him even though Steve knew he was difficult to love. He wouldn’t recover from this, he couldn’t.

Steve’s grief overtook him and the raw pain that he was experiencing was enough for even the universe to have mercy on him. 

His mental break was strong enough to fracture time itself. Time rewinds and unravels.  The world goes black and when his eyes reopen, Steve is laying in his bed, all alone in his big house again. He goes back to a day when he still had a little brother, Max was still a bitchy little kid, and Eddie Munson had no knowledge of what the Upside Down was. And Steve makes a vow that he will not be going through that pain ever again. He was going to save them all.

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[emily-mooon]

A Collection of Images of (almost) all the times the ST characters are on the phone (or walkie talkie) PART 1

I scoured Google for some of these images as I want it to be easier for people to find since there are so many times in this show where they are on the phone (or walkie talkie). These are some of the perfect pfps to share with your mutuals as then it looks like you are all talking on the phone (or walkie talkie) with each other. Feel free to add more (do so once looking at all the images and all the ones on part two once it’s out so you know which one to go hunting for).

This is all the images I can fit on this post. I will link part two once it’s finished. A respective tag will be made and put in the search bar of my blog for easy access. Also if you do use one of these images as a pfp, you have no need to credit me since I didn’t really do a whole lot with them besides maybe cropping to make them more square.

[thegrimreepurr]

guys im normal listen im ssripusly eo normal i swear you gotta bieve me im soekahng truth trust me im such a believeabke person i would never eb anytjing other tajn normal cmon im being so fr rn im normal i sw

[sp0o0kylights]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

--and has never been happier in his life.

[sinclairstarz]

biting and gnawing on him