"Yeah, I'll see you next year," Steve says as yet another girl turns him down. As soon as she's out the door, he turns to Robin. "I swear I'm striking out like I did at Scoops Ahoy."
"No, I don't think so. I think you're doing much worse," Robin replies with a laugh. "But really it's very entertaining. A great way to end my year."
Steve runs a hand through his hair and turns back to his abandoned stack of tapes only to turn back around as soon as the bell above the door rings. He turns around with a heavy sigh as soon as he realizes who it is.
"Great to see you too," Eddie says with a humorless laugh.
Robin cuts in before Steve can. "Don't take it personally. He's just unsuccessful in his mission to woo a lady and get a New Year's kiss."
"Really?" Eddie asks, leaning across the counter.
"I think I'm coming across as desperate."
"Because you are," Robin adds unhelpfully.
Steve shrugs. "Well sorry I'm a romantic."
"Sorry that you've never gone a year without a New Year's kiss since, what, middle school?" Robin asks, grabbing a stack of tape to put back on the shelves.
"Yes, and I don't want to break the tradition now."
Robin rolls her eyes as she walks away, and Eddie props his chin on his hand. "You're actually struggling to find someone?"
That's an understatement. Steve has gone beyond struggling and is full-on failing at the task at hand. "At this point, I would take anyone."
"Even me?" Eddie asks with a wide smile.
Steve stares at him for a moment and considers it, eyes dipping down to his full lips and back up at him. "Let's see if I can get anyone else first."
Eddie's hands dramatically clutch his chest. "You wound me, Steve. Am I really last choice for you?"
Steve raises his eyebrows at him and deadpans, "Absolutely."
Instead of the dramatic response, Steve expects, Eddie instead leans over the counter and lowly says, "I can change your mind about that if you'll let me."
Steve laughs and leans forward. "Yeah? How's that?"
Eddie runs a hand through Steve's hair, sending chills down his body as he lightly scrapes his nails on his scalp. His hand then settles on the back of Steve's head and drags him in close to whisper, "I guess we'll have to wait to see at midnight."
With that, Eddie gives him a wink and steps back. "Robin, tell me what movie to watch while I waste away the rest of this year."
Robin peaks her head out from a shelf and waves him over, and Steve doesn't register anything they're saying because he's too stuck on what the hell just happened between him and Eddie. Because yeah, he's a little kiss-starved and attention-starved, but even when he's given into his desperation with random girls, it didn't ever feel so... electrifying.
He snaps out of his bout of confusion when someone walks into the store. He perks up a bit when he notices it's a girl who is not only pretty but also very much alone. Steve gets his hopes up a bit as he does his spiel, "Hi, welcome to Family Video, is there anything I can help you with?"
The girl looks Steve up and down and lightly bites her lip before answering, "Yes actually. I'm looking for a romantic comedy. Something to give me some hope when going into the new year."
"You need hope when it comes to romance, too?" Steve asks as he leads her over to the romance section.
She giggles and twirls a strand of blonde hair around her finger. "Yes, but I was wishing it would come sooner. Maybe around midnight?"
Steve nods and chuckles. "Yeah, I know the feeling."
The girl is quick to find a tape and bring it to the register where Steve rings her up. As he hands her the tape, she asks, "So, do you have any plans tonight?"
And this is Steve's moment. He looks her up and down, staring at pink lip gloss smeared over full lips then her brown eyes that are... not brown enough. It's like they're missing the depth that Steve is used to for some reason as if he's expecting...
Steve swallows and glances around the store, spotting the head of curly hair quickly as he watches the interaction. Eddie gives him a thumbs up accompanied by a sad smile, but Steve gives him a genuine smile back. "Actually, I do have plans tonight."
The girl gives him a small oh before quickly hurrying out of the store, and Steve can't feel too bad about disappointing the girl when he sees a light blush spread over Eddie's cheeks.
"So, you do have plans?" Eddie presses as he makes his way back to the counter.
"It seems like I do," Steve replies, leaning across the counter.
"Mhm," Eddie hums and looks down, "And what happened to me being your last option?"
"I seemed to come to my senses," Steve flirts easily.
Eddie smiles and pulls a few strands of hair in front of his face, unsuccessfully hiding his blush. "So, I'll see you at midnight then?"
"I'll see you then," Steve says with a wink, his eyes following Eddie all the way out of the store and into his van.
Robin slowly makes her way to Steve's side and asks, "You know that he just stole a tape, right?"
Steve shrugs. "I'll make sure to let him know."
"And we're going to discuss everything that happened just now this year or....?"
"I'll save the panic for next year," Steve decides.
Robin smiles at him. "Good idea. You have other things to do tonight."
Steve laughs loudly and finds himself unable to stop smiling for the rest of their shift.
As he drops Robin off at her house, he gives her an obnoxious kiss on the cheek and says, "Happy New Year."
Robin scrunches her nose up as she wipes at her cheek, but she can't stop the smile that's spreading on her face. "Happy New Year, and have fun tonight!"
"I will!"
As soon as Robin is safely inside, Steve speeds off toward Eddie's trailer, trying to push down his nerves by giving himself a pep talk that he knows Robin would make fun of him for. He'll have to leave that part out when he retells everything to her tomorrow.
When he gets to Eddie's, he takes a minute to fix his hair in the mirror before making his way to his door and knocking quickly.
Eddie opens it with a surprised look on his face. "A big part of me thought you were joking."
"And if I wasn't?" Steve asks, hoping Eddie himself wasn't joking about the whole thing.
Eddie's eyes flicker down to his lips. "Then I'd let you know that we don't have to wait until midnight to kiss. There are no rules against kissing before then after all."
Steve smiles so wide, his face starts to ache. "You're right. There are definitely no rules about that."
Eddie almost immediately tugs him inside and is quick to close the door behind him before cupping his face and leaning in. "And you're sure you're not joking about this?"
"Absolutely," Steve says as his hands lightly rest on Eddie's back.
"Well, Happy New Year's Eve to me then," Eddie jokes before closing the distance between them and pulling Steve into a kiss that makes his entire being light up in a way that rivals all the fireworks that go off that night.
As they gently pull away, Steve whispers against Eddie's lips, "You're never going to be my last choice ever again."
"Yeah?" Eddie asks with a smile.
"Yeah," Steve says, kissing him again.
They lose track of time that night, but they still manage to get in a New Year's kiss at midnight. As they drift off in the early morning hours, Eddie announces that 86' may not have been his year, but 87' sure will be. And Steve can't help but think the same thing.
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Dismissed on a Technicality
Ok so Danny accidentally killed the joker. He was working part time as a taxi driver. Funny thing is that he got hired in the city next to Amity Park. The problem is some moron decided to have him drive aaaalllll the way from Amity to Gotham city. And Danny might have run over the Joker while there.
Look…he didn’t feel like a human. Danny (as someone half dead) can feel souls and he could only barley feel anything from the guy so it just looked like a blob in front of the road. He thought it was an animal or something! Danny was short on time so he was going pretty fast. And drivers Ed was very clear that one is NOT to swerve the car to avoid animals as it causes the car to go into other lanes and can cause a crash, especially in a big city. It’s sad, but it’s true, better to run over the poor animal.
So Danny hit the gas.
Only to be greeted with the face of a clown smashed into his windshield.
Danny stopped the car.
He got out.
Looked around at all the people of the city staring at him (no longer cowering as Joker went on a monologue, holding them at gunpoint while waiting for a bat.)
Danny looks down as the mangled corpse sprawled over the front of his taxi.
And he pulled out his phone and called 911 to report a car crash. In front of everybody.
When Batman arrived, Danny held out his hands and willingly let them be cuffed. Time to be taken to court!
Now one might think Danny would be panicking in this situation. After all, he just killed someone, even if it was on accident. But Danny had a different point of view and made it known in court.
It was a whole thing. Full courthouse, practically the entire city attending or watching on a live news feed. And who did Danny call to defend him as his lawyer?
Himself.
And this begins the most confusing and controversial court in the history of Gotham.
Now, what defines a human? Because according to the law it’s ‘anyone capable of speech or higher reasoning.’ But that cannot be. There are aliens and Atlanteans who fit those categories and they do not classify as human. And what about that demon the Justice League killed last week. The one with 2 snake heads and a hippo body? That thing could talk. What about being a Homo sapien capable of speech? But there is an entire city of talking gorillas. Therefore, the definition of human should be revised.
As for the Joker, he had many differences to the typical human. When he fell into a vat of chemicals it changed his very atomic structure physically and altered his mind mentally. Those gassed with Joker venom can be turned back but Joker’s transformation was permanent. Meaning the change occurred at the level of his very DNA.
Which begs the question. Is the Joker really human? And if not, is what Danny did really murder?
Let it be known that Daniel James Fenton is not trying to get out of his crime.
Despite his appearance, the joker was alive. He was breathing, had a heartbeat, and blood flowed through his veins (despite that blood being green).
So yes…Danny committed a crime. And he confesses in front of the entire court.
He confesses…to animal cruelty.
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«3! 2! 1! Happy new year!» Everyone screams excitedly all around them.
Then, as they tend to do, all the couples kiss. And for a stupid second, it feels like the whole world consists of only couples. It makes Eddie feel like there’s a giant spotlight on him, pointing him out in the crowd. Look, there’s the single guy. The virgin, with no one to kiss.
He looks at Steve, who’s right next to him. Steve’s got his arms around Robin, she’s got her arms around his neck, and they’re just done giving each other a kiss too, a big ol’ smack of puckered lips. Eddie wonders if he should look away, but then they release each other and Steve turns to look at Eddie, catching him looking.
So Eddie just hovers, awkwardly frozen in place by Steve’s gaze.
“You alright, Eddie?” Steve prompts, reaching out a hand to place it comfortingly on Eddie’s lower back. It feels so warm, makes Eddie feel all fuzzy. Or maybe that’s the champagne.
“I don’t have anyone to kiss,” he blurts, tongue loosened by alcohol and way more honest than what is good for him. “I’ve never kissed anyone before,” he adds lamely, because his drunk self apparently thought that was an important amendment to be making.
“Uhh..” Steve stares at him, confused. Like his gears are grinding away ever so slowly. He’s had plenty of the champagne too, Eddie knows.
“You could kiss me? I don’t mind,” Steve offers, and it suddenly feels simple. Yeah, why shouldn’t he? Steve’s just offering to help, it doesn’t have to mean anything. He kissed Robin too, so it’s no big deal, right?
He lets Steve’s hand on his lower back pull him in gently. They’re the same height, no need for Eddie to bend his neck at an awkward angle or anything. He just steps right into Steve’s space, their lips suddenly just an inch away from touching, their breath suddenly mingling.
I don’t know how, Eddie is about to say, but he doesn’t have time to before Steve closes the rest of the gap. His lips are soft and warm and plush as he puckers them against Eddie’s. It’s nice. And Eddie thinks that’s going to be it: just a sweet, chaste, innocent kiss among friends, before Steve will pull away again. He’d be okay with that.
But instead of pulling away, Steve presses his lips harder to Eddie’s. In surprise, Eddie parts his lips, to draw a breath, to say something maybe, and again Steve surprises him by catching Eddie’s bottom lip in his. Eddie’s breath stutters and he forgets everything about everything. He forgets that people are watching, he forgets that this wasn’t going to mean anything. He forgets how to stand on his own two legs, so he sinks into Steve’s arms, holding on to him desperately as he lets Steve deepen the kiss.
It's like fireworks are going off, not just in the sky all around them, but inside Eddie, too.
When Steve finally breaks the kiss and lets him go, Eddie feels like a changed person. New year, new Eddie. Now that he’s tried it, he never wants to stop kissing Steve.
And Steve, King Steve, he’s gotta know, the way he’s looking at Eddie grinning all smugly. It must be written clearly all over Eddie’s face.
“Maybe you can return the favor next year,” Steve says, and Eddie can only nod.
“Uh huh. I will.”
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